Into the Twilight: Pay your Credit Cards on Time or Else

Twilight Zone 

           We're back dipping into the "Twilight Zone" another one from the 1985 series, because it's a fun series with different segments to talk about. This time, we are talking about an episode called "The Card" This is the first segment of the 13th episode of season 2.  (Lucky number 13) That first aired on February 21, 1987.

          You know those episodes of shows, usually in kids' media, where a kid gets a credit card, usually for emergencies and ends up going on a spending spree? This episode is that minus the kid,and instead of like parents helping them out at the end; it's darker.

                 A woman named Linda Wolfe is a mother and wife (This is important) and has been invited to a credit card company called The Card.  (That's  sign you might not want to join such a place) A woman working for the card tells Linda (and us) that she has a bad credit record, having been canceled by actual credit card companies.The woman talks about the facts of penalties and she has to pay weekly. Linda doesn't read the fine print.

If you take our pens we'll charge you $10,000

 
             Linda's husband warns her to be careful.  It's been a week, and that condition is that she has to pay comes up.  There the cat seen earlier has gone away and nobody but Linda remembers it existing.  Next,  she's getting a fridge and there's a problem with the credit card. The Card refuses to pay because she forgot to pay and has to pay them.  (They are tough) 

Ma`am we only take cash here

             There's a dog that we only see once, weird she was so focused on the cat. We get  hint that the Card might be the reason why things are going away.  Meanwhile, the dog is gone. The dog was named Scooby. (Is that legal?)  She still remembers the dog, but everyone else doesn't.  (This card company doesn't play) The husband thinks she needs professional help.  Linda says she doesn't plan to use the card anymore.

Mom. what's a dog ? 

           The Jeep Wagoner has other plans (I don't like how they have best car get attacked like this) She has to use the credit card, because plot reasons.   Meanwhile, at the card company they don't like that she used it and do something else.  She comes home and finds out she doesn't have children anymore.(They really want their money)  Her husband thinks she's losing her sanity.

Aah who picked this interior! 

      Eventually, she puts math together and figures out The Card might have something to do with  it. The next day, she goes to them. She sees her kids being put in the room she saw earlier. The woman at the card company says it was all in the card agreement. (Always read those things) The woman says everyone will be put in better environments. Linda writes a check and it has to clear, if not more penalties. Her husband is mad and he canceled the check.  Eventually, everything starts disappearing even her husband. Her card has her unmarried name on it.   She cuts the credit car but, that's no use and everything including her is gone.

The card 

      That episode was dark. The moral is read the fine print or don't have credit cards? If there is a moral.   The episode is interesting probably even more now, where terms and conditions are written and ignored, and cashless payment has increased.Though, many people use debit systems versus credit it still has a lot going with how modern the episode can feel.  It's an interesting episode.

 That's it for now, tune in next time when we ask for you to pay us your debts or your cat and dog are gone!

Peanuts Film Festival : Race for your Life, Charlie Brown

Peanuts 

        Our Peanuts Film Festival series continues with the Peanuts film from 1977.  That would "Race for your Life, Charlie Brown". This would be the penultimate film in the catalog  that was made when Schulz was alive. The movie first came out in Japan, then the United Sates in summer of 1977.  It's not a long movie, clocking in about 90 minutes, it would be good for a TV movie length to get about 2 hours on your station.

       The theme music is awesome. The movie is about summer camp. Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucky, Peppermint Patty, Marcie, Sally, Franklin, and Schroeder all together on a camping trip.  Sot he movie starts with the characters on a bus on the way to camp.  The bus has a tire blow out, while Sally tries to threaten a girl and didn't work.  They had the tire blow out just to have whatever that was happen.   Snoopy and Woodstock are riding  on a motorcycle because they are cool like that.

The only true stylish way to ride! /Copyright Peanuts 

      They make another stop before camp, so we can see Snoopy and Woodstock have root beer. Charlie Brown gets forgotten on the bus and has to hitch a ride with Snoopy. He should be happy that his dog isn't normal after all. At the camp, we meet the three villains of this movie , or more to be exact, antagonists, and their cat.  Snoopy is afraid of the cat, but Linus has a whipping blanket that scares them off.  (Marcie invents the idea of stay-cations)  Charlie Brown's goal is he wants to be a leader.
                   

I don't like paper work! Ban Papers!/ Copyright Peanuts 

          Peppermint Patty is with the other girls and they do this thing that will be used most of the movie, where the girls vote on everything. (Showing us  that democracy is a failure) The Europeans will laugh at Franklin for not knowing 24 hours time. Many parts of the movie is little sequences  of things that just happen then kind of just stop and move to the next scene.  Like the characters having physical training then doing camp stuff like making wallets.
               

We weed out the weak here at camp/ Copyright Peanuts 

             Finally, there are some events going on like tent competitions where different tent groups compete for different things.  Charlie's group doesn't do to well in the first time. Peppermint Patty's group also has a hard time with the bully group.

         The main meal of the movie is this raft race. (RACE for your life) The bully boys have a fancy raft that probably shouldn't be allowed, but apparently nobody official cares.  There are four teams , with Charlie Brown and the boys,  The Bully Boys, Peppermint Patty and the girls, and Snoopy and Woodstock. I like how Snoopy and Woodstock have a simple sail on a  little inner tube.

Other racers nobody cared about/ Copyright Peanuts 

               The girls continue their ballots and voting thing because that's how decisions should work. (democracy has failed)  The race takes a break at night as characters relax for the night, minus the bully boys who try to get a head start by going at night and changing the arrow that was warning racers about rock explosions.  Then it snows. (Alright then)

                                             Snow in summer! My kind of summer 

     The next day, the race continues. The three non-bully teams are close, not knowing anything that happened the night before. The rock blasting zone comes into play, the bullies could have ended up killing everyone else. Peppermint Patty thinks something is off, but Charlie Brown decides that this is a good way, and Snoopy already went that way.  Good thing they didn't die.  Snoopy saves the day, because that's why he exists.  Funny enough, the end up ahead of the bullies.

Good thing Charlie Brown can't die/ Copyright Peanuts 

      There's a storm because this movie needs action.  The bullies learn that teamwork is important. Snoopy lives a life lonely and depressed calling for Woodstock  and Woodstock calls for him as they look for each other. Will they prevail ?  Find out, after the Jump

Arthur : Season 5: The Election and Season 18: Arthur Calls it

Arthur PBS 

     
         We're back dipping into "Arthur" This is an election year, unless you are reading this in a non election year or something.... (Election year..noooooo why oh god no! The worst years ever are election years)  I had decided to look at an Arthur episode about an election.  (I came for the other episode you are writing about) 

         "The Election" is a season 5 episode , episode 6a, it's paired  with "Francine Goes to War" which is not strange to be paired with an election episode. It first aired on October 30th 2000, right before the 2000 election.   (Don't mention that!) 

Season 5 Episode 6a:  The Election 

  The cold opening: Muffy is being sworn in a president of the United States by Chief Justice Brain because I don't  know how that happened, I didn't think he was interested in law. Muffy  ties to steal JFK's line.  Arthur shows up and gets arrested because she hates him now. (Dang !)


          The episode:  Mr. Ratburn want to finish their unit in government in action by making a mock election. (hence the title)  Francine gets turned turned down by her peers to be president and Muffy convinces to her to be a Champaign manger instead. Buster suggests that Arthur should run. Muffy announces that she's running for president and Buster nominates Arthur and everyone cheers him on. So it's Arthur vs Muffy (an election worth having) and the campaign goes on.

             Arthur isn't taking it as much as Muffy is who has decided to use her money for this. (Give me money, Muffy!)  This makes Arthur want to get real plans and start getting to work.  (Finally) Muffy starts doing negative campaigning, because of course she does.  Muffy uses her part of the debate to promote her father's business.  Meanwhile, Binky thinks Arthur and Muffy are boring candidates and he would do a better job.  So, Mr. Ratburn encourages Binky to do a write-in campaign.  He asks Muffy and Arthur what they think and Arthur is like alright yeah. (Arthur is nice)  Muffy is like  no. Mr. Ratburn goes along and decides to let him run.

             Election day happens and Binky wins! Muffy  is sad.  She complains that she spent the most money and was the prefect candidate.  (wait hold on , oh no no no  no)  That's also why the cold opening had adult Muffy having adult Arthur getting adult arrested.

                The moral of the story is that elections work better when you give people a third choice. (Whoa)  It is funny that Binky's write-in works because he knew his audience was offering stuff that people wanted to hear even though he couldn't deliver it. Arthur was a nice guy and offering the idea of working together to get things done, Muffy was going with funding things like a mad woman and trying bribe with perks and getting things slightly negative.

           It's not really a satire  on elections or anything more than just an episode of Arthur being Arthur and Muffy being Muffy but in election fun. Maybe WGBH didn't want to wade into some weird outrage and just of wanted to tell an election story. That's fine, it's  a good episode with some fun jokes and hints. It's funny that Binky is the guy who goes around saying I could do that better then actually runs to prove it, putting his money where his mouth is. The moment where Ratburn asks Muffy and Arthur about Binky running, gives a us great short tap into their characters, that by season 5 you would already know, Arthur is willing to let him run because why not? The more the merrier. Muffy is like he's going to ruin my chances, she was confident she was going to win  and yet something about Binky startled her.

          It does remind me of school campaigns with the snacks and stuff , that was fun. Anyway It's  a fun episode.  Not the best Arthur episode, but they all can't be the best , some just can be good.



More after the Jump

Time Warp Trio : 2105

One Shot Posts 

              Time for another One Shot Post, where we look explore something  that doesn't quite fit into our other posts  categories.  Though, in theory this could be a lookback, but oh well. I am looking at at the Discovery Kids (and NBC) series "Time Warp Trio" produced by WGBH ran from 2005-2006, and based off books of the same name . The concept of the series is about 3 boys who end up time traveling thanks to a magic book given to a boy named Joe, whose Uncle gave him the book.

         For this post, I'm looking at episode 2 which is called 2105.  (There's a good reason, if you look at the date of the post) 

              The episode starts as many of the episodes do with the three characters in danger  in some random time spot the book has randomly sent them to, mostly because Joe doesn't understand the book that much, it  happens for plot reasons, just like when the book gets lost somewhere, that's the main plot device each episode, because the book is somewhere and they have to get it back to get home.

 
           It is funny that title sequence gives away something before this episode, but hey, why make two theme songs?
 
         The episode starts in present day (2005) Sam, Joe, and Fred are at the museum with their class.Sam brought the book because Joe gave it to him because they were talking about a  magic square.  Fred is me and wonders what the next world series is going to be like  in a month. (He's a man of culture)  Because of the mistake of him pressing 2105.  The robot that was going to kill them wasn't , it was actually, an aggressive ad bot. (The future is a mess)

Where's  the book/Copyright WGBH 

             They are in the year 2105 and visiting the 2005 room where its September 17 2105 and the room has September 17 2005.  Funny enough a working computer, so that worked.   The book is missing or at least in theory, because it was hiding in plain sight. They get fired and thrown and can't get the book.  They notice three girls (who look kind of like them) looking at them, they run and a chase sequence happens.

Psst, we should get them!/ Copyright WGBH

             2105 world is kind of like ours with aggressive advertising and food costs too much. The girls show up again and they have to out run them. The girls invite them to their house. Also 2105 has music eye glasses.  The girls tell them that they wrote them a letter to meet them on September 21, 2105, because time travel is messy.  Also, in case you don't tell,  these girls are these guys great grand daughters. I do like how they each had grand daughters that look like them, each had one, and they are friends. (that's good loyalty there)

                     

Grandparents...Great/ Copyright WGBH 

      Jodie tells them this news and how she has the book too, and the boys faint. (reasonable)   Samantha tries to take them home using a watch from great grandfather Sam, The watch isn't very stable though and leap around and make it to the year 2106 where the Red Sox are playing the Yankees for the ALCS.   They notice that Samantha is missing, then they find her, well half of her.

                                                 Lost some weight/ Copyright WGBH 

             Sam does math and says that they have to find the book or the girls will disappear .  They go back the museum to sneak into the 2005 room to get the book.  (With a fun spy sequence)  The museum woman shreds the book and makes the girls disappear. (dark)  Good thing that watch exists, and Sam uses it to rewind time again to stop her from the shredding the book.  The plan works and they make it back to present time.


           

                This is a fun show, with some historical stuff, though not this episode. Seeing the boys meet their grand daughters is fun and they will become part of the series as it went on.  This episode is fun episode with some interesting steaks to see how the boys have to get back or the grand daughters would be gone forever.  The 2105 is kind of interesting, how it doesn't go too far how things work ,but still has some interesting things and some things that  maybe could exist in the future.  Sam's eye-pad for example. If you can find the show, it's a good one to check out. The books are fun too, and some kids would like them, so check those out too.


  That's it for now, tune in next time, we would look for our lower halves again.

The Loud House : Season 5: Episode 1: Schooled!

The Loud House Nickelodeon 

           Yes, I know , mostly moved these posts to our sister blog,but this episode is special enough to have on Joshuaonline.  (Send your complaints to us!) 

                    The Loud House ,as of this writing, has four seasons under its belt , and was renewed for a sixth season just before the premiere of the fifth. The series will be in the small club of Nickeloden's animated series to go have a sixth season, after already being in the small club of being a Nicktoon to get a fifth series, and small one of lasting more than one or two seasons. (Done blathering here) 

             The fifth season was promoted as changing the show up a little, taking the characters and moving them around. The idea was that Lori, the eldest Loud child, would go from being a High School senior and go to college. Plot lines talking about this were mentioned in episodes in the third and fourth season.  Lincoln would go from fifth grade to sixth grade in middle school. (Some middle schools in the US start at 6th grade, some start at  7th, but his starts at 6th).  I guess put Lilly in preschool because some people put kids under 4 in preschool, apparently. 

            This episode is the first episode of season 5, it's called "Schooled!"  The Loud House has done 1/2  long or actually 22 minute long episodes, (we've covered at least 3 of those) this the first time they've done 44 minutes.(Give or take a couple minutes)  That's a lot of breathing room for an episode, let's see how they that.  (Wow that intro was long!) 

           This episode's plot is focused on three things from the description: Lincoln gets a class that is different than his friends, and ends up in Canada (what?) , Lori, starting her new time in college has dorm troubles,  and Lilly and potty training.

          The episode starts with something we've not had in episodes in some long time, Lincoln talking to the audience. (I missed this. ) Lincoln has list of things to do.  He explains everything that is going on, like Lori is going to college, Lilly is potty trained now, and he's going to middle school.  Some background plots are happening as well, like Lynn being a hall monitor at school and Leni trying to figure out what to wear.  The goodbye to Lori isn't a big extended thing, it's more a quick goodbye, and she's off.

Beep Beep / Copyright Nickelodeon 

         Lincoln is optimistic, while is friends are worried about the first day.  There's even a musical number , which is unexpected. The song is called "We got this" it's a pretty good song,about how they'll fine at school and how they are a great team.  The other sing about their worries.  Of course, they won't be fine, that's how this works.  So they have this new teacher who seems cool, she's nice.  Lincoln finds out a clerical error and got the wrong class, because he forgot to turn in a form.The list from earlier coming into play.

We are here about the oh is that cake?//Copyright Nickelodeon

           He finds out that he has a different class. Meanwhile, Lilly is dropped off at preschool. (Also Lynn Sr. is over 42 years old)  The show forgets the parents have day jobs though, as they just apparently, hang around the house.   Also, Also, Lori is a college and finds a floor for a dorm, that's too quiet and wants their quiet.  Lynn helps Lincoln escorting him to his new class,which is in a trailer.  The teacher is more an unpleasant fellow, and the classroom is really hot. (The heat being hot) The parents find out the Lilly can't go to school because she's not potty trained, even though we saw her being trained earlier.  (Keep a pin in that)  Yes this episode switches between the plots like this.   Lori is having an awful time, so is Lincoln.  The episode has a nice touch of having Lincoln and Lori saying the same thing and being worried. 

                I'm calling this part one, since that was the first eleven minutes. It does a good job of setting up the plot threads and what we are expecting. Also, forgot to mention Leni's mini plot will have a little play.  It's also nice to have some Lincoln focus since the show has seemed to have lost that.

 Also, because this post is long we say, join us after the jump

MSNBC makes some Weekend Changes and 1 Early Morning Show Change

MSNBC  Cable TV News 

             MSNBC is adding programs to the weekend primetime with Alica Mendez and Joshua Johnson hosting weekend shows.   Also, the name "Way too Early" Returns with  Kasie Hunt, with her show on Sunday Evening ending this Sunday.   Also, current "First Look" anchor  Yasmin Vossoughian is moving to weekends. 

     Starting September 19th, MSNBC's new weekend afternoon and prime time line up starts. 

        Yasmin Vossoughian will anchor two hours of "MSNBC Live" on Weekends from 3-5PMET. 

     

Vossoughian will deliver sharp reporting and analysis from years of international journalism taking a no-nonsense look at the day’s important stories and focusing on solution-based conversations.

                                                                        -via press release

            "American Voices with Alicia Mendez" will air on Saturdays and Sundays from 6-8PMET.

                 MSNBC anchor Alicia Menendez will focus on the biggest political stories of the week while elevating news on under-reported issues with under-represented voices that require a national platform.

                                                                      -via press release

          "The Week with Joshua Johnson"  will air Saturdays and Sundays  8-10pmet .

               MSNBC anchor Joshua Johnson will connect everyday people, newsmakers and trailblazers for candid conversations about each week’s big stories, thinking through the challenges we all face and prepping viewers for the days ahead.

                                                              -via press release

              MSNBC is also bringing back the name of the program "Way Too Early" the original program replaced the repeat of "First Look" at 5:30amet, in 2009  and ran until 2016 when they replaced it and merged it with "First Look" to create "Morning Joe First Look" from 5-6amet.   Kasie Hunt  will be the new anchor of the program, this launches on September 21st.




Press release after the jump

Dcom Uses AI to make music : Pixel Prefect

Disney 

         You know about those concerts where they have now passed singer doing holographic shows which seems to be the weirdest thing ever? I think this movie is the reason why those things exists, at least in theory?   "Pixel Perfect"  is a Disney Channel original movie (duh) from 2004.  The fun thing there's also an "Arthur" episode where Arthur and friends find out that a band they like is all holograms, meaning the tech was so good that they were able to fake solidness. (That episode came out before this movie way before)   It is kind of strange that the concept of having musicians that aren't human be used.   We also can talk about Vocaloids but, we really should talk about this movie.

         It starts Ricky Ulluam , who at the time was also on Disney Channel's (probably second to last male leading star original series , yeah)  "Phil of the Future".   This is his only DCOM (Usually when I've talked about DComs they've had leading actors be in more than one film)   Ricky plays a teenager named Roscoe who can work computer  SCIENCE. He shows his friend , Sam, (played by Leah Pipes) a cat he made out of pixels (get it?!)  He's right his father isn't impressed by the fact he made a holographic cat.

                                          Woah man , what did I eat? / Copyright Disney


           Remember the Honda Element? This movie does, that's Roscoe's car. (Not really important to the movie just wanted to mention it) Also this movie takes place in Colorado because Colorado plates? (hmmm)  Sam has a band called the Zeta Bytes (get IT!) Sam is good at singing but not at singing and dancing therefore she's not good apparently.  The music guy says that people don't care about the sound they care about the image.  (MTV ruined everything)  Sam likes
Avril Lavigne because yes.   Also, there's a sub plot of Ricky and his father seem to be far detached from each other. 

          Ricky then gets an idea  where he creates a holographic girl named Loretta. He doesn't tell them about their band that she's not a hologram and they can't tell because that's how science works.  Lorretta is played by Spencer Redford. 

That's the power of  Gatorade/ Copyright Disney  

  

   I do like to talk about the music in these movies and this time a lot of the music was made for this movie.  Loretta Modern is a hologram, what?  They found out the fun way when Sam tripped and went right through Loretta.  We get this line later on , "You're in my liver".    Sam doesn't seem to like this idea much also, here's another important thing, they can't do outdoor concerts, because holograms don't work outdoors. (It's a union thing) 

          

                Why does Roscoe's dad park his car on a hill, what madness is this? There's a school dance  and it's time for Zeta Bytes to star and see if Loretta can pass the test. I think they got an A.  I think the A I model wants to be free and play in the radio.  I think Roscoe is falling in love with Loretta. There's a very awkward double date with Sam, Roscoe, some guy I don't care about, and Loretta.  Then the movie gets goofy for a second because it's also supposed to be a comedy.

people will do anything for social media clicks/ Copyright Disney 

 
               Roscoe asks Sam if he could keep Loretta because he's afraid his father will find out and bad things will happen or something.  Sam and Loretta don't seem to get along which is how most people feel about their Windows Vista computers. (yes we did a very out dated joke)  Later on Sam finds out that Roscoe used some of her features for Loretta , either that or he's going to kill her and is planning to use her body parts for something.  Meanwhile, people find out that Loretta is a hologram and they don't mind , in fact they are impressed!  Woah. 

               Now the Zeta Bytes are famous or something.  well mostly Loretta because yes.  This movie is actually better without trying to be comedy , as it does a good job with it's story message. Like how show that the music industry might care about the image more than the music (uhh Disney might be un self aware with that), if you create a holographic person are they a person? Especially, when Loretta wants to be more than a hologram and has emotions. 

     There's this scene that shows the internet in a fun way like a search engine being a guy driving a vehicle. It's really fun interpretation of the internet.  Sam figured out that Roscoe is in love with Loretta because yes and Sam states the obvious that she likes Roscoe.  Now it's time for Roscoe and his father to talk out stuff.


      Later, woah the music industry people want to work with the company Roscoe's dad works for to make more holographic singers  because they don't have to be paid ,fed , and stuff. (OOOH)  Loretta has also been purchased because as they said she's property not a person , in their words. Roscoe doesn't like that.  His father actually stands up for him as well.  The former rapper who works with the record company lets Loretta run through his phone to the internet. 

 Later  on Sam decides to pretend to be Loretta and falls over and injuries herself, and this movie has really gotten dark.  Loretta shows up at the hospital then she scarifies herself and goes inside Samantha's brain because that's how science works.    Then  movie turns into album covers.  Loretta works to convince the Sam in Sam's mind to come back to earth. Loretta decides to be creepy and take over Sam's body, but only to feel that rain. (I'm not taking back my creepy statement)  I mean the parents are confused and horrified.  Then She leaves Sam's body allowing Sam to come back and  Loretta is dead now. Yep.  Sam lives and it seems her band has become a slow jams group.


          I think Roscoe and Sam are together now or something.  Also Loretta became a ghost or something ? What?  Help! 

                    This movie is very good, for the most part it doesn't even feel like a standard Disney Channel movie or at least are more modern one.  I think it has a lot of questions that makes a viewer think about things. One of the things that makes a great contrast of how humans strive to be perfect but the thing that was prefect wanted to have imperfections and feel things.  The story is more dramatic but doesn't feel moody like I'm watching a Wb network show from the same time period.   Infact, that part where it gets goofy on the double date felt the most of place for the movie. 

First Watch: WGN America does News in Primetime

WGN America News Nation  Cable TV News  Opinion 

     From 1978 to 2014,  WGN America (known of a few years as Superstation WGN) beamed WGN TV channel 9 from Chicago to America.  It aired Chicago sports and WGN News. During the last decade of that time it aired WGN's  last hour of Midday news and the nine pm news. You even got the lottery.  WGN America pulled that in 2014.   Viewers who missed WGN Chicago news could watch online as modern world had allowed for that, but it was a change.

    In 1980, Ted Turner launched CNN, the first 24 hour cable news channel, over time though the idea of a cable news channel being there just for the news has kind of died.  In 2014,  Al Jazeera America tried and put on a good product , but it had low  ratings and when oil prices dropped AJ thought it would be better to cut loses and give up in 2016.  (AJ is owned by the Qatari government)   Most  American cable news is more about how to keep viewers watching with excessive use of breaking news, debates and annoyance.   MSNBC started as a news channel with NBC News and Mircosoft found success in not doing that and instead having opinion shows that lean politically left, doing the mirror of FOX News leaning to the right. 

              Cable news has  an average of 700,000 viewers watching their daily prime time programming, FOX news leans towards the 2 million mark, MSNBC in the 1 million. CNN tried middle of the road and doing the news, but their prime time has filled with panels or the anchors being talking heads themselves.    The prime time programming has become more join a camp you like and get daily affirmation.  It does make the country look more divided and like Twitter, doesn't offer a full picture of society because  they are fighting for a small amount of viewers compared to the population.  Most Americans trust local news over any  other media, with The Weather Channel  being the highest in trust for a national news channel.

       In 2019, Nexstar, a large local media conglomerate, bought the Tribune Company, which owned WGN and WGN America.  Nexstar owns mostly local TV stations whose main thing is local news. They have alot of them, the largest owner in the country. They have reporters at stations who work in the television markets  most national stories are someone's local story.

more after the jump