The Lookback: The Lorax

Dr. Seuss  The Flashback 

              Haven't done a Dr. Seuss themed post in awhile (The Grinch, I guess) and might as well get back into adaptations of his books. I guess, it's time to begin. 

     

          "The Lorax" is a 2012 movie done by... (gets a message whispered) oh, really, are you sure? (whisper) alright, that's actually better news.   "The Lorax" is a 1972 special based off the book of the same , that book came in 1971. That is some turnaround. 

  

        

       This special ,like many other Dr. Seuss animated specials, was produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. They made "The Cat in the Hat" in 1971, and would go on to make "Dr. Seuss on the Loose" in 1973.    The special first aired on CBS on Valentine's Day 1972, meaning we missed the direct 50th anniversary.  (Oh well) 

  

         The 1971 book was Dr. Seuss writing about a topic getting steam at the time, the environment. The very first Earth Day had happened in 1970, and media were getting people to try and save the environment. 

The gray grasses are still growing though/ Copyright Dr. Seuss 

      

    The narrator to start the special is Mr. Green Acres himself, Eddie Albert sing about Grickle Grass  and something about the lorax. (roll credits) a boy with black hair, he has no name, so he's just a boy is a walking and meets a guy called the Once-ler, the only parts we see are his gloves, never his face. (It's hideous, and I mean the gloves they  are hideous shade of green) The Once-ler starts to tell a story about the Lorax.  

These aren't gloves uhhh/ Copyright Dr. Seuss 

    

      He says that area was once filled with trees and nature and how he once showed up and saw the pretty colorful Truffula trees. Mr. Bob Holt, voices the Once-ler  you may know him as the voice of Dr. John Doolittle in the 1970's animated series by the same company as this one. (what?)  He also voices the Lorax which makes it fun to see him have two different voices and argue with himself. 

      The Once-ler mentions how he built his factory on the land, and then started cutting down Truffula trees The Lorax shows up and says he speaks for the trees and tells him to stop cutting the down trees. Once-ler tells him he's making thneeds, which apparently can be anything you need.  (Probably should have grown more trees to make more of them things, but getting a head here) 

I'm the Lorax and I thneed to talk to you/ Copyright Dr. Seuss 

  

      Once-ler calls for help from his family to make more thneeds since the market is growing. The Lorax isn't getting any notice, but they don't care.  Trees being killed left and right. (poor trees)   Through the story, there's also the affects of the pollution from the cars and factory causing harm to the animals.  This should be called "Nobody Listens to the Lorax". 

   The area becomes a town for people to live in and the trees are mostly gone now. (not sure that'll  be good for the business)  For all destruction, the music is up beat and fun. (we bought 10 thneeds we didn't need just because of the music) 

Detroit 1950, Copyright Dr. Seuss 

       Eventually, 1,000,000 thneeds have been made and the Lorax shows up to try to get people to...oh never mind.  Oh the Lorax returns to talk the Once-ler and pleads for the trees and the  Bar-ba-loots, creatures, and they are leaving because their resources are going away.   

   

      I think  not seeing the Once-ler's face and most of his body was pretty genius, it gives him a detachment that fits with the story. We haven't been given any indication of what he's fully thinking or his emotions.  After the Lorax pleads to him and leaves, which is also interesting to see him not be aggressive towards the Lorax and allows him to speak, and let's him leave on his own.  We get a moment of the Once-ler having an internal discussion with himself about what's going on.  Mostly justifying it.  

  

    Anyway things are getting worse (this is a timeless statement) the Lorax mentions that more animals are leaving because of the environmental conditions of the area getting worse. The Once-ler says his point is that what should he do? Should he close it down, causing people to lose their jobs? The other thing earlier he says that if he didn't do it, someone else would have.  These are interesting things to spot in the story. 

Look at this! / Copyright Dr. Seuss 

  

       Walking fish. The Once-ler says he understands after more pleas, but the he hears his stocks are up. (And we have like 4 more minutes so...) This makes the Once-ler change his tune back to his normal standing, he tells the Lorax that he's gonna bake his business bigger, and then, the bad news : the last tree. (oops)   Therefore the thing he said would be bad that economics would go south if he shut down, happens anyway because of the tree being gone. (oops) 

This tree was 3 days from retirement/ Copyright Dr. Seuss

       Now it cuts back, to the Once-ler telling his story to the boy that he was left all by himself and a spot that said "unless". The boy wonders what means. Then the Once-ler gives him a tree seed and tells him to plant it, take care of it, grow more trees, the boy takes it , and that's the special.  

Cool! I can't wait to make Thneeds in 40 years!/ Copyright Dr. Seuss

   

       This special (and the book) does it's message very well, it doesn't feel like the message is muddled but it's also very finessed. The Once-ler isn't made over the top and evil, he's normal, to an extent, he's a guy that wants to make money and do something for progress and society, it's not his intentions were to be like "I'm going to kill all the trees" because evil. Also the idea, he wasn't paying attention to the idea that if he wasn't careful, the thing he needed the most of his business could die out anyway. 

        It's not directly telling you what to think, it makes you think though. You can see what could have been done that could have helped both sides and that there is a balance, and not following that balance is a mistake. 

    

   The animation is good,  the coloring is good and you can see how it's being used to as things get worse for the area. The songs are alright, not really catchy , at least to me, but work well. It tells an interesting story all together. 

    I guess, I should address the 2012 film a little. I think, many of the problems of the Dr. Seuss feature film adaptations is that they have to be long and have to add stuff. This is a simple story, it works for the short story and this specials is like 22 minutes long and there's still filler moments.  The 2012 movie didn't want to do that, it instead tries to add in other plots to make it work for a story. It also adds a villain.  I think it hurts the message.  This is not going to be a harp about the feature movie.

       

   I like the special, it works to the story and gives a message about the environment that doesn't feel forced or ham-fisted and that's important.  I think it presents the message that the Once-ler would have benefitted from being more conscious about the environment, while still making money, he could have  planted more trees.  I think showing that he has learned that lesson and telling the boy to not make the same mistakes was good.  It could have been done in a bad way, making it a good guy , bad guy situation , but this doesn't do that, it's more open and that's a way to have the people watching also understand.  

    

    That's it for now, tune in next time when we plant a tree. 

       

Easter: The Berenstain Bears' Easter Surprise

Easter 🥚 The Flashback

      Once again, it's time for Easter!  This is a holiday that doesn't get a bunch of holiday specials. So, I'm going to something that we don't cover cover really much this is from "The Berenstain Bears" based off the books  by Stan and Jan Berenstain, "The Berenstain Bears" started getting the next step of having TV specials. In 1979, like Peanuts, gets a start on the television medium with "The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree" then eventually , it had a few more specials. The third special is this one.  It aired on NBC on April 14, 1981.  

         This special was written and created by the Berenstains with music conducted by Elliot Lawrence with three original songs. 

   

         It starts in the past. (Woah)  There's a time when winter gets stuck and it seems spring isn't showing up. But first, it goes back to fall ( they re-round too far). The narrator (get used to him) mentions that Brother Bear is an only child. (uhh why did his parents name him Brother?) Even though he has friends like  Bill Bunny  and Finicky Frog. (Maybe being named Brother isn't that bad) Also Fred Firefly. 

 

F is for  doing doing stuff together

   

       Brother goes to Papa Bear (his parents were more presumptive too) and there's sequence about the boy asking questions. Also the first song,  which is about Papa trying to convince Brother that he knows answers to all questions, while Brother is asking a bunch of questions. This is is pretty fun sequence and song.  

Papa, was your name always Papa?

    

    Anyway, it's winter now, the special likes to mention that Brother is lonely because they are really making sure you remember.  (I remember!)  Winter has seemed to hang around for a very long time and the Bears are concerned and Papa says the seasons are stuck. Papa explains Easter, mostly focused on Easter Eggs, candy, and other other  treats associated with the holiday. The more sensible Mama explains more about spring in song form. (yay!)  She's focused on how Easter means new life  and miracles. (on the nose) 

"I'm sorry, I entered the wrong nest" 

      The special doesn't say the P word (poodle?) but it's saying Mama is pregnant. Brother notices that he can't sit on his mother's lap and he's wondering why. The parents don't tell their child this (that's a plan). She does mention an Easter surprise though.  Papa and Mama deflect and decide to visit Boss Bunny. 

They are proud of what they've done 

  

       Boss Bunny has apparently quit. Boss Bunny is apparently the area's official Easter Bunny. (How does one get that job, you have to a Bunny)  They also make a mention of alcohol as a rumor of why he quit. That's something, we aren't saying pregnant, but can mention an allusion to alcohol. Papa Bear is broken up, so is Brother who misses his Easter surprise. (That might be coming anyway) 

  

    Papa gets the idea to try and become the Easter Bunny himself. (Uhhh) He gets a song too. This plan fails.  Brother wanders the forest and Billy Bear shows up to play, and what a twist, but Billy's father is Boss Bunny. (So they do share a last name.)  They go to see the Boss. (They go to see Bruce Springsteen?) He's awoken by the bear's appearance. 

Easter? Bah Humbug

          Boss Bunny says that he's tired and doesn't care about Easter and Spring anymore. (I see)  Brother tries to convivence him , through song, to care about Easter again, and he makes his pitch why he doesn't want to.  The special has like 3 minutes left and decides to send in help: his mind is easily changed by a rainbow and now he's happy and also healed of pain (what?) and he's like yeah let's go make spring and Easter. (So, that's how that works) 

It's still weird the rabbits want to eat the chocolate rabbits

         It's Easter morning, Brother wakes up and remembers his Easter surprise, and he sees all the treats, but the real surprise is that he has a new baby sister. (What's her name?) (Oh, I'm surprised) Thus, this special was actually about the origin of Sister Bear.   

Can I eat this?  

   

              This is a simple special, fitting the simple style of the books, and goes with a celebration of spring and new life as a theme for Easter instead of the more religious themes, which isn't a surprise, but it is to be noted.  It's a fun simple special , you can tell where they they stretch and it keeps its main conflict simple and short, since Boss Bunny changes his mind so easily thanks to the power of a rainbow. (not the oddest thing I've written on this blog)  It does a good job focusing on the fun aspects of spring and how Easter's associated with it and the arrival of new life and rebirth.  

  

   That's it for now, tune in next time when we ask a kid named Killer, has killed.  

            

        

Short Lived Series: Grosse Pointe

Short Lived Series  The WB 

             So this different for  us to, might as well, plus it's a short-lived sitcom from the year 2000, which is now older than it was years ago.  (What?)  The series we're talking about is Grosse Pointe , a series that ran 17 episodes on the WB network. It was created by  Darren Star the creator of  Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, Sex and the City, Younger , and more! 

   

   This series was a sitcom that first ran after Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Popular , at least at first.  I'm going to frame this where it seems the WB was doing an older teen block with the Sabrina episodes being her in college, then this show and rounding out the night with "Popular" I can see what they were going for here.

  

      Let's get on with this show. What's it about? The start of the very first episode starts with a "previously on "Grosse Pointe" like you just walked into something and somehow missed it, then it has two teenagers riding in a car talking about the girl's pregnancy, then a crash, she's in the hospital, then it cuts to two people watching what we were watching.   Followed by the theme song which is the Tom Jones song "Sex Bomb" . 

 

   This show is parody of those teenage drama shows like the ones that Darren Star created above, and were on TV alot in the 1990's , kind of still around on the CW, but not as prolific as everyone was looking to create their own "90210".  this show takes place in the behind the scenes of  a teen drama set in Michigan.  And the show airs on the WB network, so it's a WB show about a fake WB show. 

The WB network presents a WB show  about a WB show /Copyright Darren Star

  

      In speaking of "Sabrina"  Lindsay Sloane is in this series, she played Valerie on Sabrina in this show she's playing almost the same character, kind of a loser with low self-esteem. So  Marcy Sternfeld  is just the Sabrina character but in a different person. The first episode introduces a new character , to their world, everyone is new to us named Courtney Scott, who is playing a girl named Laura Johnson who moved to Grosse Pointe , the town,  from West Virginia, the state (this joke is rolling) as she (Laura) is trying to get used to being a TV show set and finding her place and getting a handle on acting.  She's played by Bonnie Somerville, this means this show has someone playing someone who's playing someone else, my head hurts. Somerville's first series role as in a main was this show she later got to play on "The OC"   

What if we made a show about making a show about making a show with a show inside/Copyright Darren Star 

          The show again, is a parody and satire of those teen shows and the stuff that happens behind the scenes. The part where Courtney questions why she has to wear the outfit they pick for her and since the show takes place in Michigan it doesn't make sense.  Anyway, fitting of a teen drama, this comedy series has continuing stories.  At the end of episode 1, Johnny Bishop, played by Al Santos, might be falling for the new girl and making  Marcy, who likes Johnny, worried. So our series has teen drama behind the teen drama series drama. (there's layers to this) 

Why yes  Sarah Michelle Gellar did make a guest role here

      I also like how there's a someone who's whole role is to be a stand-in , of course he wants to be more than just a stand-in.  This show also really works if you liked or (hated?)  and know alot about "90210" they make those in-jokes and more character jokes too, about the genre. Like the Dawson casting, you know where like 30-year-old plays teenager, they do here having, the character , Quentin Barbary King, is balding older man. Also funny his actor Kohl Sudduth, was 25 or 26 when the show was on. 

mmm product placement... 

            Also another adding to the story, from episode 2, the reason why Courtney was added was because the network doesn't want Hunter to screw up, if she does they have a character to replace her with.  Instead, it turns episode 2 where Hunter now wants to get rid of Courtney as well. The plot works to where  Marcy ends up bonding with Courtney finding out that she has a boyfriend. Hunter tries to continue the plan. It really does feel like a teen drama mixed in with being parody.  Like backstabbing and staying on top being used as part of the plot.  

       

         So, my main point takes a teen drama style with it's characters and decides with the behind the scenes stuff and it having drama.  Episode 3, has more of Hunter trying to get things to go her way wit the show by trying to set up stuff  to work out for her.   It also seemed that Dave, the stand-in, might have a thing for Marcy, setting up that it seems.  

      Episode hallmarks seem to be ending with scenes of "coming next week on Grosse Pointe".  This matches up with the cold-opening doing scenes of either from the series or a previously episode. The one thing to also notice in this series is the words where they outright mention things that people might notice in these teen shows and in showbiz overall, it's sometimes noticeable. 

        Episode 4 is probably the most 2000 of the episode where Hunter wants to have a part in a new Oliver Stone film about the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, which is something very 2000. Somehow the Lifetime movie reference is still timeless, interesting.   Hunter has to gain wait for the role of Monica and it makes her become slightly nicer. The network people are worried about her weight gain because of the whole how TV networks want thinner actresses.  This is an example of the show pointing out things that happen in show business, especially at the time this show was out.  The people who work on the show seem to adjust a way to write this into their script, but then Hunter finds out she's not getting the part and she turns back into her normal self.  

   

        The episodes very much follow that same idea of having a center plot of slight drama mixed with comedic moments while it satirizes, teen dramas whilst giving some depth to it's own characters they don't feel like blank slates too much, you do get some investment from watching beyond the layer of it being a parody. 

     

       What makes this series work is the idea the series doing a parody doesn't just feel like it's pointing and laughing at what it's parodying. The characters are still interesting, and you get an investment in them. It does help that the people working on the show have experience in the content they are parodying, so they know how to do it. It doesn't feel like it's being spiteful and hateful towards the genre of teen dramas, but kind of pointing out the flaws and making you laugh with them.  There's a lot that makes this show work, if you like "90210" this show works for them and if you don't, it works for those viewers as well. Though, I think it work more for those who like those kinds of shows, due to the in-jokes. 

            Since this is "Short Lived Series" segment, you can guess where this is going. The show premiered as a Friday night on the WB series, between "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" which the WB picked up from ABC. That show was popular, and the WB, had the show be Sabrina be in college and an older teen show, but still kind of family safe.  The next show, being this one is slightly less family safe, and much of that lead-in might have not stuck around for this one, the show after this was "Popular" (that's the title). "Popular" which ironically was a teen drama.  They moved "Grosse Pointe" to Sundays, but the decision was made to end it after 17 episodes. 

        The show was pretty well acted as well, the cast playing dual roles was interesting, especially given the roles of having to cover two characters. The show is well casted, even if they were going for  a parody of mostly 90210, they also hold some distinctiveness. 

   

       Darren Star ended up alright, he was working on Sex and the City at the same time, he later created the TVLand series "Younger" which is like a teen drama but with older people.  (or uhh same age actor people?)  

         I won't say this series was ahead of it's time, it fits in with the time, plus it was in the right hands of someone who knew the genre that was being satired which makes it even better  and probably was the  best way to do it. It seems the people writing the show weren't too afraid to make a little fun of themselves and the business, which is also a good touch.  

               That's it for now, tune in next time when we figure out how to get some characters in our teen drama out of this love pentagon, eh, I guess we could just have them stab each other, that's drama! 

         

            

PSAs: Stay away from Trains 2 (Just in case the first time didn't work)

PSAs  Joshuaonline UK

  Previously, we looked at  British public information film that told people not to play around trains, by having kids  play around trains and get injured and killed in fun and interesting ways! (Read that here)  Later, we did a post about a Pif telling kids not to play on farms by killing them off in fun and intersting ways! We did this post 4 years after the train post  so weee. (Read that Here)  Anyway here we are with another British 70's  public information film about trains being the #1 enemy to children. 

      This one is called "Robbie" . "Robbie" came out in 1979 , and it has like 3 different versions, then they did it again in 1986 , where they just switched the host of the film.  We're going with a version from 1979 and we aren't that picky, as long as the quality is good. 

  This is one is hosted by Peter Purves, who was on "Doctor Who".  Peter tells us that 18,000 trains use the railway system and that he thinks trains are comfy. That this is story about a boy named Robbie.  Ahh the music is happy, what could wrong?   He tells us that Robbie got struck in tree once, then got lost in town trying to help a dog, he fell in a pond,  he loves football, and  trains. (uh oh)   He is eight-years-old and they never showed him "The Finishing Line". 

  

       The music is still happy and we learn that trains are great, are we sure this is about train safety and not go buy a train?   This could be a film about the how deadly soccer can be right?   They are really giving us a lot of soccer, but I think they are driving a point.  That would be last time he'd ever played soccer. Peter says that like someone telling you the time.   

He will never wear those shorts again

 

     Robbie's big brother named Burt says hey there's whole in the fence so they can cross the rail road that way. (uhh logic?) Robbie says you can't do that, and the people who did that were stupid because drunk people wanted to get an easier access to the pub. (The moral of the story is alcohol is bad)    His older sister Sally  also thinks there's a universal rule of holes cut inside means cross.

  

It's British law, there's a hole, you are free to go through it.

   

    Thanks to Robbie being convinced by being called a chicken (kids are dumb)  and they all cross the tracks. Meanwhile, a train minding its business  is minding its business. A kid falls down and Robbie goes back to help him.  The music is getting tense I'm scared.  Robbie's shoes get stuck and and instead of leaving them he tries harder and the train does something, it cuts a way after we hear Sally's screams. 

      

Murderer! Oh well never hmmm

         Next we see the Mom doing mom stuff, minding her business, when the cops and her eldest son show up and tell her that her son has been hurt, he's alive, but not well.  The British cops put the tea on for the mom.  Robbie's mother finds out he lost both feed and broke some bones. Meanwhile, Sally lost the ability to speak and  possibly her sanity.  (dang)  

She'll never even touch a fence again

            The film ends with stuff to tell its viewers about how deadly trains can be  and how to be safe.  Then a scene of him being placed in a wheel chair. 

I'll run for congress instead, wait I'm British, I'll run for British congress, shut up I was run over or electrocuted by a train!

 

 In 1986, they redid the narration switching out Purves  with Keith Chegwin, because kids might know him better from Saturday Morning British TV, versus guy from episodes of Doctor Who they probably didn't rerun anymore.   

Great, our narrator regenerated 

       This one was liked more than "The Finishing Line" for school teachers and others who would be showing these things because TFL was either too shocking or maybe was kind of silly.  There are more than one version of for different safety measures on the train. I just wrote about version 1, which is about non electrified train lines but you know what? Let's do another version.

       Most of this one is the same exact thing happening, minus one change: at the part where they are not wanting to cross the rail lines, Burt throws Robbie's soccer shoes and they land on an electrical line. (do the math , it's shocking!)   Burt tells him that it's dangerous, Robbie says only the wires are dangerous  not the other stuff.  Robbie decides he wants to get his boots, but  the others tell him no, but he uses a metal pipe and well... math.  

This film is shocking 

     So it cuts back to the part where the mother meets the cops and the older brother there.  This time Robbie also isn't dead (he's hard to kill) but he was electrocuted. It's actually weird how the police lines and mother's lines are the same , like they had to make these lines abstract to fit the three scenarios, the only part they put some different lines and in are the parts that different scenarios happening.

        They also use narration to fill in the gap for what happened. So yes Robbie was electrocuted by the high voltage but some how lived so yay?  Sally is still in the hospital for she was shocked a different way.  Not sure how they got his soccer boots off this time, though.  

       

            Then they reuse the same thing where you should stay safe on the rails ways because trains are fast and might not see you on the rails, they really just changed one part but kept everything else the same it's kind of odd. Robbie is still in a wheel chair and his face being half burned makes more sense now than the first time. (what?) 

          There is a third version where Robbie gets electrocuted by the rails.   I  haven't found that one, but I'm sure they repeated themselves besides that one part.  The main idea is don't do anything near the train rails or you will never play soccer again. (Insert other stuff you like to do here)   

       It doesn't have that shock or almost unintentional goofiness that happened with "The Finishing Line" but it does do a service of telling kids to stay away from trains, unless you are riding one. It's just not as fun to write about about because it's not weird and has a low kill count. (what?) 

         That's it for now, stay tuned next time, when we talk to people about why trains scare them.  

It's a Lookback, Charlie : It's the Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown (Re-Write Edition)

Peanuts  

    Time for another one of my re-write posts, as I've done with other posts,this is away to either take an old post and expand, refresh, and fix up, and this one might need that. (You can red the original one here) 

    This is the 32nd Peanuts special , that first aired on CBS (The Charlie Brown Station) on September 27th, 1988.  This Peanuts special is not like the others in many ways.  I like to think of the 80's Peanuts specials being a period of just whatever they felt like doing, CBS was paying... and all the holidays had been done, so why not? 

   

    This special is another hour-long special (46 minutes without ads) and following "Snoopy! The Musical, the animated version" . This one is about Spike, one of Snoopy's brothers he actually becomes more prominent in the 1980's and 1990's strips  where Charles Schulz must have decided to write more about the desert beagle instead of the famous one.  Spike is named after Schulz's childhood dog and his character lives in Needles, California. 

      There''s a simple  format to Spike's strips, he's alone in the desert, so he's interacting with things more than people. He's writing letters, and has some of his own adventures, much like his brother.  

   "It's the Girl in the Red Truck" starts with a shot  of a desert and a red truck. Wow the animation is amazing, eat your eyes, Pixar, go away anyone else, the desert looks so real and life-like, like wow! The scenery is amazing, it's beautiful, this was made in 1988? wow, we've not advanced at all.  This was peak animation. 

Beautiful/ Copyright Peanuts 

     Alright, I've dragged the joke out too long. This special is hybrid. (it runs on gas and electric) When it cuts inside Spike's home, which is a cactus, the internals all animated, when spike looks out he's animated but the rest is live-action.   This was not even the first time Peanuts had done hybrids like this and they've done it after this for ads as well. But those were ads this was a special.  It also wasn't made in 1988, it took four years to make this and it was delayed, they actually wanted it to air in March.   Hmm? What other live-action/ animation thing was coming out in 1988? (Hmmmmm)  They wanted this out in March because later that year "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" was coming out.  It's funny, they both were being worked on around the same time.  This is not going to be that well done in production,but it's not awful, it's good for CBS. (Cheap But Serviceable-- someone said maybe) 

It's like animation with real life backgrounds/ Copyright Peanuts

     The music is interesting, it takes it's own direction, instead of being jazz it's something. 

It kind of sounds like old video game music or it's for a desert travelogue. This special is 50 minutes long and it will fell 50 minutes long.  The credits say starring Snoopy's Brother Spike, since he doesn't speak, it's very correct.  It's also starting someone named Jill Schulz. I wonder who she is, so besides having his daughter play the girl... (more on her soon calm down)  his son Monte helped with the script. (oh)  

    

    I also have to say, since Spike is added in later, because animation, that means they had some camera people out in the desert just taping desert, without other people to put Spike in later, that's kind of funny.  They also bought some fake cacti to use because the real  ones might not have been in the right spot. (what does even mean?)    

   

    Hey there's Charlie Brown, you remember him,  but he won't be her long. He's just here to remind you, you should be watching a different Peanuts special where he and Snoopy are there longer.  They just are there to tell you his name is Spike incase you didn't see the credits, and fill time between some Spike walking the desert scenes. They are reading a letter Spike sent, and it leads into a the red truck and girl. (Finally, took forever for this special to Girl in the Red Truck) 

The special Charlie Brown-ed before it Girl-ed /Copyright Peanuts 

   

      If you have a strong attention span , this special is for you. Spike and the girl wave back and forth when she drives by.  This is feels like they really wanted to fill out that 50 minutes.  Finally the red truck gets tired, and decides to break down right near spike. The girl (I'll say her name soon, don't worry) hears Spike's French practice tapes, which is interesting for a dog that doesn't talk to be learning.  She's seems impressed by the tape and learns his name is Spike. I do like the blend of animation and not in this movie.   She takes up most of the dialogue because someone has too, as she starts to fix her truck.  

I'm the girl not in the red truck/ Copyright Peanuts

        She asks Spike would he like to come with her and he decides..yes., I think I will. Also safety first message, they make a point of mentioning that Spike but his seatbelt on and how smart he is for doing so. (Click it or die it) It got my attention.  They go to the diner  and we get scene where Spike knows the diner owner, Molly. Classic Peanuts dogs favorite drink is root beer, he's a regular customer. (That's the world I want to live in) 

                

Nice of this place to serve cartoon dogs/ Copyright Peanuts

           Molly and Jenny (going to use her name now) are talking and giving us some information about Jenny and some stuff about a guy should be coming back.  Jenny is an aerobics instructor as well.  Back to the red truck, since it's in the title it needs love too.  Again, this special is really filling out it's  50 minutes; though, it is nice to see Jenny and Spike spending some time together.  There is an awkwardness to using Spike, because Jenny has to do all the talking essentially to fill in space, it's like when Peanuts characters are with Snoopy or an adult and have to do the lifting. 

Standing on the dock of the bay, there's  a lady looking a nothing/ Copyright Peanuts

         Spike gets to watch TV at Jenny's nice house, I like how the remote switches from real to animated when the need for Spike to use it. Hey, it's Jeff!  You know Jeff.  Fine, Jeff is Jenny's boyfriend, at least I hope he is, and he comes into the house and is surprised to find Spike and thinks he's a wild animal, and doesn't like that he's in his chair.  You can feel the tension, is Jeff jealous of Spike? (Find out... after the jump) 

This is my chair. I love this chair !/ Copyright Peanuts

Saint Patrick's Day: A Look at "Lucky"

Nickelodeon  St. Patrick's Day 

          Since this blog usually (well actuallyyyyyyy) posts on Thursday and this year Saint Patrick's Day falls on a Thursday, we decided to look at something that would work for the holiday. The problem is that Saint Patrick's day as a holiday doesn't get much media; there's no "A Saint Patrick's Day, Charlie Brown", and not much really given to the holiday in that respect.   Many times it's written as away to get your characters drunk or something. 

         I would go deeper and try to find some stuff that can work for the holiday, and I guess a Nickelodeon special works, it's about a leprechaun. This gives a leg up and making a "Lookback" post before it old enough to be one.  

     "Lucky" is  2019 Nickelodeon animated special  (It's 42 minutes long, it's a special)  that premiered on March 8. Just in time for the holiday, and they've not really aired this special much sense that first year. (Oh)  

    It was directed by Casey Leonard who worked on "Breadwinners" and  the animator on "Out of Jimmy's Head". It's done in 3D CGI animation because of course it's done in 3D CGI animation. It was written by two "Kim Possible" writers Both Roth and Bill Motz , along with Bart Coughlin  who worked as a writer on "Alvinnn!! and the Chipmunks" and had been the arts part of animated movies. 

        The story starts with a leprechaun named McSweeney who was minding his own business, whilst carrying his gold around, which is not a smart thing to do, because someone or something might want to take that gold, like a dragon who takes his lucky pot gold. (Which means it's not that lucky is it?)   The luck was undone and the family has been affected by this including our main character named Hap McSweeney. (The McSweeney's were lucky in getting love though) 

       He's late for school because of the bad luck.  You'll also notice that the house the family lives in , is very crooked, the parents seem to be more accepting of the stuff than their son.   Hap does an anime girl is late to school run, minus the toast, and it let us see his place where he lives and notice all the mystical people creatures that live here like elves, gnomes, etc. 

Friendship is dangerous/ Copyright ViacomCBS

    At school we meet Hap's friends (the true luck is friendship) they are going to Houlihan Tower, which is some rich guy's house.   (Gee, I wonder if ... hmm)  The guy who lives in this city called Fortune City (which is bit much) in the mansion is named Harry Houlihan the luckiest man in town. (Gee, I wonder if...) 

        This movie isn't animated like a big budget movie, but it not badly done either, it has maybe at least Nick Jr/ Disney Jr. quality level of CGI is at least good, and not too bad for a TV special, it's on par with that level and that's not bad. 

        We meet, Harry Houlihan, if he's not evil, then he's dressed incorrectly for someone who's not evil.  Hap ends up in a room where Harry has his security cameras being monitored, by nobody, and he notices that the guy who looks evil  has his family's gold right there.  How convenient.  (He's also voiced by Mark Hamill) 

That's not Willy Wonka/ Copyright ViacomCBS 

   Back at school, Hap tells his friends what he saw and  wants to get family's gold back. The friends decide to want to join him and get the gold.  If you think this is moving a little quickly, it is , but it's a 42 minute special, we don't have time for dragged out stuff, which at least removes some of the filler that could happen, because we have to get straight to the action and plot. That being they are going to try and sneak into the mansion during a big gala to retrieve the gold. 

        They dress up to blend in with the gala.  It's a heist movie!   They make it to the spot where the pot of gold is being held, but Harry is watching from the surveillance room, still getting evil vibes from him.  We get a cool explosion to get the doors open.  Harry shows up and being evil, and fun fact: Harry is not just evil, but also is an evil dragon. (what a twist!, the dragon part that is) 

How to train your dragon to also be a man who is beloved by a City because of immense luck that he stole from a leprechaun / Copyright Viacom CBS 

           Now we get a them versus a dragon fight, as Hap is free to go get the gold, while is friends are fighting Harry the dragon.  Hap is able to grab the gold , that pot has his family name on it.  It cuts to his house to see the rain storm that was just happening over their house move away. The parents are happy too  The dragon breaks free from the friends and captures them threatening to drop them into the lake of magma running there. 

            This movie is going for the real luck is the friends we make along the way, and Hap decides the best idea destroy the gold by throwing it into the magma, and I think dragon guy dies.  He didn't die, because apparently we can't kill villains in this movie, but he has bad luck. (uhh, so death would have been the better outcome for him) 

             The movie ends with Hap being more used to his life being this way now and a change of perspective (and reusing scenes we  had before, yay!) 

    

        Again, this is not a bad special, it checks the marks of the story and is pretty fast paced to fit 42 minutes of content and that's fine. It's a fun treat, the story is simple, it goes for the real luck is the friends you have along the way, and the message of changing your perspective, that the parent characters give in the start. You can understand why Hap was invested in changing his situation, and his parents being mostly optimist characters. 

      His friends are interesting, though not too much is developed on all of these characters since we don't get that long, but you do at least understand their characteristics in basic form and their roles. Going back to the animation, it's not bad and it's good for TV. The villain  is obvious, but you know what? It's better than forcing a surprise villain. 

  

   The comedy is fine, a kid would like it a little more, but it's not bad.  It's a little fun, watch it for Saint Patrick's day, you can watch it anytime really, but give it a look.  

       That's it for now, tune in next time when we take our pot of gold on a walk, hope no dragons want it. 

        

NewsNation: Expands programming, "Donlon Report" ending

NewsNation TV News 

           Nexstar owned, Chicago-based news channel, NewsNation  is making programming expansions and changes once again. 

             Already expanded on weekends as of March 5, "NewsNation Prime" weekend version is on for 3 hours 7 to 10pm Eastern.  

  

          Since February 24th, News Nation had been doing a special report news cast at 11pm Eastern  with Prime anchor Marni Hughes and "On Balance" host Leland Vittert. This program is now permeant and will be anchored by  Hughes and Vittert. 

     

     "Morning in America" which launched in September 2021, as a 7-10am Eastern morning show will be expanding to four hours from 6am Eastern come June.  This will be replacing an hour of off-network dramas that currently air in the hour. 

           Also another NewsNation original host is leaving, Joe Donlon, who started when the network launched as a news program in primetime as co-anchor in September 2020, moved to his show in March 2021, "The Donlon Report", will be leaving on March 25. 

   

   Starting March 28, early evening news program, "Rush Hour" will be running 2 hours from 5 to 7pm Eastern.

     For Clarity:

     

• "News Nation Prime" weekends expanded to 7 to 10pm Eastern from March 4th 
• Live newscast at 11pmet to continue, anchored by Marni Hughes and Leland Vittert
• "Donlon Report" is set to end on March 25, and will be replaced by a 2nd hour of "Rush Hour on March 28
• "Morning in America" will expand to 4 hours from June (planned)

  "On Balance with Leland Vittert", "News Nation Prime with Marni Hughes" ,"Dan Abrams Live "and "Banfield" will be staying at their times and hosts from 7-11pmET.  

Press release after the jump

The Lookback: ABC Weekend Special : A Different Twist

The Flashback  ABC

             Come with us to the world of  the "ABC Weekend Special" again as we dip once again into the world of ABC's historical specials series, (this or the Afterschool Special)  Today we dip into season 7, with a special I found just recently (meaning I could watch it now) and decided, eh why not?  

     This time we are taking a look at "A Different Twist" which first aired on ABC on March 10, 1984. 

     Our main character is a girl named Christi who seems to be a good singer and also there's an audition for "Oliver!" at the community playhouse.  It's being done by a movie star named Phil Grey. Christi is played by Allison Smith, who later have a role in the good sitcom "Kate and Allie" as Jennie Lowell, she's also done other roles into adulthood as well. Grey is played by Peter Gallagher, whom you might know from The OC or Covert Affairs.   

One time the credits match up and help us!  

         Christi is very interested in the idea of the play, but there's one problem: it's boys only, and she's a girl.  (Very well said, there)  Christi really wants to be in this play, and we have like 18 minutes left, so she's going to do something.  Well since she's a going to be an actress, might as well act as a boy,  so double acting. (This is a plan) 

               Christi dresses like a boy using her friend's brother's clothing, she also seemed to have cut her hair. She also made up a name of Chris. (took forever to think of that?)   She seems to have been able to come in very well, and there's of the course the boy for school named Tony and she has to make sure he doesn't figure it out.   (I wonder if he will figure it out) 

Meet our new main character , Chris 

         She also has to be careful in what she says because whoops.  There's a moment where she slips and says Phil Grey is cute and had to find away to that. Also some are suspicious about her thinking s/he a snob.  Also when a boy has a mouse, she doesn't want to hold it. (squeak!)   Also she's wearing a hat and if you remove that hat,  Tony, would figure out that it's her, even with the haircut. (It's like Clark Kent or Perry the Platypus apparently)  

Hard to tell really

  

           Phil tries to help "Chris" get over some nerves thinking that he had some nerves. Tony did help out too, and they seem to have a nice bond.  Some other boys show up and they are going to play video games, and now it's funny to hear "Oliver!" music while some kids are playing at an arcade.  There's a montage of  Christi doing "boy stuff" as well. 

In their habitat, boys challenge each other for dominance

 

                 I do have a question that runs through my mind during the scenes she's with her friend, they're still going to school right? So wouldn't someone notice her shorter hair, or uhh something? It's a thought that popped into my mind. (yes it did)  Christi also says that maybe she and Lizabeth misjudged boys and maybe they aren't as bad they thought.   Lizabeth says that Tony only likes her because he thinks she's Chris not Christi then stomps off. (why?) 

    I'm going to leave 

   

   That doesn't matter, because later Lizabeth is called by Christi because she needs a boy shirt , since she forgot one and oooh, I wonder what will happen.  Christi hides, instead of keeping her jacket on because that's how one gets found out.  Tony and couple other boys go into the same prop room where she's hiding and start faffing around, thankfully, she doesn't get found out.  She is also having doubt about doing all this and wants to quit this act. (There's also  like 3 minutes left, so we have to wrap this thing up) 

Well... I mean the play has to go on so... you can stay

         Christi decides on this the day of the dress rehearsal to reveal she is a girl.  She explains herself  and then explains that she made a mistake on prejudging boys before pretending to be one. Also Grey is impressed with this, and he asks the boys what do they think, Tony vouches for her as well and everything ends up working out in a nice little box, isn't that nice?

         It's a simple story, girl dresses like boy to get boy part , but it's not bad. I like how she learns her pre-convinced notions of boys weren't right and that she got to have fun and do stuff, and maybe the boys, though not  as much focused on, learned something too. It does feel it has to get to resolution a little too quickly near the end.

       

   I think some may find in our CURRENT TIMES (tm) that it might feel a little dated , but there is still some value to the story and there are still differences people have that understanding each other, or attempting to, is always a good timeless message.   Christi is not that much of a character to stand out, but she fills the role pretty well,  and you can see her plight. They showed her being a good singer at the start and was interested in the play, and did well in acting as a boy and as a boy who also is acting as another character, even more layers if you add in that this is an actress acting as a kid who acting as another kid to be another kid. (stop that) 

            

                 There's not much of anything I'd fine bad in this special, maybe the pacing at the end, because they wanted to fit in a music number from "Oliver!" but otherwise it was pretty well done and interesting.    

 That's it for now, tune in next time, when we dress up as Abe Lincoln and scare people as they think he's back for revenge.