One Shot Posts: Simpsons in the Current Times

One Shot Posts Fox  Disney The Simpsons

           I'm not a big on the idea of shows that aren't like soaps running for on and on and on, and of course with "The Simpsons" many would have the same view about why it keeps running and running?  Mentioning "The Simpsons" in general then opens the door to the takes that surround the show.  Personally, I enjoy seasons 1-8, a lot more, but also still watched past season 8, in reruns and premieres, but at some point, around season 28 or sometime around then, I did kind of just stop watching every Sunday. I'd check in once in a while, especially the Halloween ones, but mostly checked out of the show.  

   

    When the multi day marathons on FXX happened, I'd probably be engaged with it for a while, but then around season 14 my engagement drops a little, but there are episodes I like and would be engaged to seeing. Same with TV reruns or streaming reruns. The thing I think that happens in some conversations about the show is the time you first see the show if you liked it, is the time your attachment to it is closest. When the show shifts in later seasons, and sometimes is rough and bumpy, it does feel a little strange and it's like an old friend has lost something about him and makes you feel kind of bad.   

        I think the thing that has to be kind of understood is that the Simpsons is still running, it's not going ever feel like season 4 again, it's impossible. If you want to watch season 4 it's easy to access, so the show continues and tries to find ways to adapt and live in our time. The show was essentially the 90's (including some eighties, just like how the 80's slightly carried into the 90's.)  When the times changed the show had to find ways to adapt to the current times, since the show is always about the current times.  That puts it at odds being what we know the show and characters. I think the best way is to think that the show was so good at connecting us to the characters and concept, that it's hard to see it be not exactly the same. 

This continues after the jump 

DCOM Doesn't Horse Around: Horse Sense

Disney  The lookback 

      This time we head to a 1999 Disney Channel Original movie with the Lawrence brothers well Joey Lawrence and his younger brother, Andy. (The Latter shows up in 4 Disney Channel Original Movies) At the time Andy was the voice of T.J on "Disney's Recess". "Horse Sense" premiered on November 20, 1999.  Let's get started. 

         The movie starts with Andy Lawrence playing a boy named Tommy who lives on a ranch in Montana. (Also shots of food, yum)  He's going on a trip to see his cousin Michael, who is played by Andy's older brother, Joey.  Tommy sets up some stuff for the movie, like there's some money issues and his father is no longer alive. (We paid money for the Lawrence brothers, we had to cut somewhere, Disney Probably) Michael lives in Beverly Hills (That's where I want to be) and he is better off than his cousin, you can see by his fancy room and alarm clock. He's more a lazy college student, who's also selfish which we need for the plot. 

The way he's wearing the sweater shows he's kind of a jerk/ Copyright Disney

         Michael has this new girlfriend named Gina, who is also a rich girl (She can rely on the old man's money) whom he seems to really like. He finally picks up Tommy after forgetting, and this is going to set up how this going to go with him and Tommy.  (The Disney movie is bold enough to mention Disneyland in the Disney movie ; Disney) Tommy's aunt and uncle get to be conveniently  out of the movie to make sure we make sure Michael can be a jerk. (Well done!)   It is kind of funny they make Tommy seemingly so nice, that anything done to him would make it seem like a worse slight than it already was.  You know what? This movie is a divorced dad is busy,which is why he's divorced, plot. Just swap out that with a selfish 20-year-old and cousin.  

It would be weird if his brother was playing as his father / Copyright Disney 

more after the jump

Fall TV 2022: The CW

The CW TvLookFall2022  Upfronts 

The CW has been through a lot this year, the network is in a spot of a potential sale from it's current parent owners : Paramount and Discovery,  the network has canceled more series than it usually does.  It's feeling downsized more than anything else.  

   

     Riverdale is ending, and the show is moving to midseason for it's final season. The Flash will be moving to midseason.  Nancy Drew is also moving to midseason. Supernatural prequel spinoff, The Winchesters,  and an acquisition  Professionals will be taking up Tuesdays. Stargirl moves from summer to Wednesdays in fall. It's joining Kung Fu which moved from midseason. 

   

         For the fans of the  All American series those will be on Monday nights  and Walker with it's new spinoff series , Walker :Independence  will be on Thursdays. Fridays and Saturdays are now all alternative programming.  Sunday will be with Canadian imports : Family Law and Coroner. 

  Here's the schedule all times ET/PT (Denver and St. Louis as well)  ; new series highlighted in Blue 

Monday 

8pm All American 

9pm All American: Homecoming 

Tuesday

8pm The Winchesters 

9pm Professionals 

      

Wednesday 

8pm DC'S Stargirl (new night) 

9pm  Kung Fu 

Thursday 

8pm Walker 

9pm Walker: Independence 

Friday 

8pm Penn & Teller :Fool Us

9pm  Whose Line Is It Anyway?

9:30pm Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Saturday 

8pm Magic with the Stars

9pm  World's Funniest Animals 

9:30pm World's Funniest Animals 

Sunday 

8pm Family Law 

9pm coroner (new night) 

Press Release after the Jump 

FALL TV 2022: CBS

CBS TVLookFall2022  Upfronts 

     CBS' fall line ups are not normally radically changed, and the structures have been mostly the same. This up coming season, there as has been a slight change to Thursday. For many years CBS had devoted 2 hours of comedy on Thursday ,especially after cutting the amount of comedy on Monday nights, but this season CBS has given the 9pm ET hour to a drama that being a new drama called So Help Me Todd . As two Chuck Lorre comedies have been canned, which is also interesting for CBS.  The cutting of comedies also seems to be a theme at networks as well.  Fire Country, a new drama, takes the Magnum P.I slot on Friday. 

    Wednesday is full reality show now, with CSI: Vegas moving to Thursday nights. The Real Love Boat  joins  Survivor and The Amazing Race. Sunday Nights have a new drama as well, with East New York taking up the post Equalizer slot.  NCIS: Los Angles moves down. 

      They have set up True Lies, a drama based off the film, for midseason.  Along with a few alternative series making their way to midseason as well. So far, it seems, CBS hasn't picked up a new comedy series. 

        

        There's not much other changes, otherwise CBS has a stable programming slate. Ghosts moves up to 8:30pm after Young Sheldon on Thursday Nights; the FBI shows still have Tuesdays and there's still 2 NCIS series on the line up.

Here's the line up all times ET/PT (unless otherwise noted) new series are highlighted in blue 

Monday 

8pm The Neighborhood 

8:30pm Bob ♥ Abishola

9pm  NCIS 

10pm  NCIS: Hawai'i 

Tuesday 

8pm FBI 

9pm FBI: International 

10pm FBI: Most Wanted 

Wednesday 

8pm Survivor 

9pm The Amazing Race

10pm The Real Love Boat 

Thursday

8pm  Young Sheldon 

8:30pm Ghosts (new time) 

9pm So Help Me Todd 

10pm CSI : Vegas (new time) 

Friday

8pm S.W.A.T (New Time) 

9pm Fire Country 

10pm Blue Blood 

Saturday

8pm Saturday Encores 

9pm Saturday Encores 

10pm 48 Hours 

Sunday 

7pm 60 Minutes 

8pm The Equalizer 

9pm East New York 

10pm NCIS: Los Angeles (new time) 

Press Release after the Jump

Fall TV 2022: ABC

ABC  TVLookFall2022  Upfronts 

       Football! Well sometimes. ABC is not going back to the full glory of having Monday Night Football on the network as most of the games will still be on ESPN, so ABC will still have some programs on a Monday night. What you won't be seeing is Dancing with the Stars which has moved to Disney Plus, at least for now. Summer staple Bachelor in Paradise will be running instead.  The series will be running twice weekly on Mondays and Tuesdays. 

      Abbott Elementary gets the prime Wednesday 9pm ET slot; three new series  have been added with Alaska, The Rookie: Feds, and Celebrity Jeopardy!  .  This also means the Tuesday comedy block has been put way with. "The Wonder Years" was renewed, but won't on until midseason.   "A Million Little Things" also has been shifted to midseason 

 Here's the line up all times ET/PT (unless otherwise noted)  New series highlighted in Blue 

Monday 

8pm Bachelor in Paradise

10pm The Good Doctor 

Tuesday

8pm Bachelor in Paradise 

10pm The Rookie: Feds

Wednesday

8pm The Conners 

8:30pm The Goldbergs

9pm Abbott Elementary (new night) 

9:30pm Home Economics 

10pm Big Sky (new night) 

Thursday 

8pm Station 19 

9pm Grey's Anatomy 

10pm Alaska 

Friday

8pm Shark Tank 

9pm 20/20 (two hours) 

Saturday

8pm College Football 

Sunday 

7pm America's Funniest Home Videos

8pm Celebrity Jeopardy! 

9pm Celebrity Wheel of Fortune 

10pm The Rookie 

Press release after the jump

Fall TV 2022: NBC

NBC TVLookFall2022  Upfronts 

 

     NBC has decided to make Friday Night their comedy, an interesting move, for the one of the traditionally lower rated nights of network TV.  NBC schedule is not a big difference from previous years like The Voice is on Monday and Tuesday Nights, Chicago shows on Wednesday, Law & Order shows on Thursday Nights.  The revival of Quantum Leap gets a Monday post- The Voice airing, while La Brea and New Amsterdam get post Voice Tuesdays.

         NBC's Friday is the most change as mentioned above, but first they will be airing quiz show College Bowl  on Fridays in the 8pm ET hour with Dateline taking up it's normal two hours. From November, comedies take the 8PMET which includes "Young Rock" and a new series "Lopez vs. Lopez" .  The rest of NBC's comedies are waiting in the wings most likely for mid-season.  "The Blacklist" is also waiting in the wings. 

        For those who don't watch network shows on networks, NBC programming is moving from Hulu to Peacock next day streaming. 

   

  Here's the Line up  

             All Times ET/PT (unless otherwise Noted) new programs highlighted in Blue 

Monday 

8-10pm The Voice

10pm  Quantum Leap 

Tuesday

8pm  The Voice

9pm La Brea 

10pm New Amsterdam 

Wednesday 

8pm Chicago Med

9pm Chicago Fire

10pm Chicago P.D 

Thursday 

8pm Law & Order

9pm  Law & Order :SVU

10pm Law & Order: Organized Crime 

Friday 

8pm  Capital One College Bowl 

8pm Lopez Vs. Lopez (November) 

8:30pm Young Rock (November) 

9-11pm Dateline NBC 

Saturday

8pm Drama Encores 

9pm Dateline Weekend Mystery 

10pm SNL Vintage 

Sunday 

7-8:20/4-5:20pt  Football Night in America (also live on Peacock) 

8:20/5:20pt   NBC Sunday Night Football (also live on Peacock) 

Press Release after the Jump 

A Charlie Brown Watch: To Mom (and Dad), With Love

Peanuts 

     Oh no, they did it again with a Peanuts special being called "Snoopy Presents: To Mom (and Dad), with Love"  no Charlie Brown. With that again put aside, apparently, Apple, Wildbrain and Peanuts have decided that they have to make up for the idea there were no Peanuts specials  from 2011 to 2020 by giving three in the span of 5 months.  This time, they are going for a holiday not really covered in Peanuts : Mother's Day.  

 

         "How can Peanuts do Mother's Day, there's no shown adults rrrrrrrrr!" That guy then proceeds to tear his shirt and scream into the street, which is weird.  Yeah, the one thing Peanuts is known for is not showing adults in the strip, but have been shown in some specials, this special won't but it's not like it hasn't been done. 

  

              "To Mom (and Dad), with Love" I'm just going to call this "To Mom" for short later on, because yes, (good reason) first came out May 6, 2022 again on Apple TV Plus. (The streaming service that gives you that fresh new car feeling)    It's 38 minutes again, because they really like that length.  

                I do like to mention the 38 minutes here because the first minute is Woodstock flying around as he goes to Snoopy  and wakes him up. (That was a good minute)  It also shows Charlie Brown kicking a football (reeeee he can't do that, even though he's been shown to kick one, just that Lucy messes things up when she holds it, reeeee) and this leads to more sports because football practice, which um, that's different, Charlie Brown has a football team. (what?) 

 

Lucy almost had a "My Nose" moment / Copyright Peanuts/Wildbrain

         This special has the water color styled backgrounds again while the animation quality is still pretty good (they really want the 2000's specials to feel bad about themselves).

    Peppermint Patty and Marcie show up and it's about Peppermint Patty getting there to be the coach of the team.  You, the person reading this post, might be wondering we are 3 minutes in and no Mother's Day, where the plot?  I say, how do you do know this was 3 minutes in?  Pig Pen shows up with a fancy wrapped gift and has to explain why he's late to football practice. (He prefers soccer?)  The fancy wrapped gift is mother's Day. (They are playing football in Spring, is this the USFL?) 

This is the AAC / Copyright Peanuts/ Wildbrain

       The other kids are like, woah, Mother's Day is tomorrow? Woah! (If you are not reading this on a Saturday before Mother's Day it's not tomorrow) Peppermint Patty quickly changes the subject, because we need more football stuff. (we do?)  Charlie Brown is talking to Linus about what his mother likes and wonder what Linus is doing for Mother's Day. He's going to write her a special letter. (Thanks son)

More after the Jump 

Those PSA episodes: Punky Brewster says Just Say No

PSA 

           I've not done a "Those PSA episodes" segment in some time, wow. I guess this is time to do one and so we head to the 1980's NBC sitcom "Punky Brewster". For the new, "Those PSA Episodes" is a segment where I talk about episodes of shows that are trying to be like public service announcements or are trying to get a message across.  

      Our Show: Punky Brewster 

      What is it trying to tell the audience? : Don't do Drugs/ Don't fall into peer pressure with drugs 

  

            

        This episode comes from season 2 it's called Just Say No  from the year 1985.  The title is going off the famous 1980's to 1990's campaign of the same name.  This was from the War on Drugs years that was taking an approach from Nancy Reagan to tell kids "Hey kids, just say no to drugs"  It spawned something like Just Say No clubs where kids would be making pacts not to do drugs and say no when someone offered them drugs. 

       This, of course, being the 1980's meant that they also would go to television for their message. (read: this post isn't going to be about the politics of drugs or if policies worked or not or anything, because no, we are just here to look at media and that's what we'll do.) NBC (see National Broadcasting) series "Diff'rent Strokes" had Nancy Reagan appear to spread her "Just Say No Message".  

      Now our episode directly.  The first half the episode is Punky and her friend Cherie faffing around and meeting these girls who call themselves "The Chicklets". They are dressed like how the 2010's thinks the 80's looks.   The girls like that Punky and Cherie have a nice tree house (it is nice) and think to invite them to join the club...and also use the tree house.  These being older girls impresses Punky and Cherie and they want to join.  There's even a moment where the younger girls dress like the older ones and make their parental figures  freak out.  Maybe setting up these two won't be of help for the rest of the episode, but thankfully the plot says they have to let the younger girls hang out with the older ones. 

They are a gang , it's a gang episode / Copyright NBC 

  

      We don't to get to anything major yet, for entire first half until the last minute. It's kind of easing you into the rest of the episode by making you think this is going to be some silly fun about joining a club with older girls and maybe wearing funny outfits and stuff. Well it's NOT!

    Also there's a weird Michael J Fox joke, were young girls concerned about him not being short in the 80's?  (80's people send me your answers!)  Anyway, uh oh commercial break is coming up what are we going to do to make sure you are staying on and not flipping to ABC to watch whatever the heck ABC was airing?  The one girl, Emily, pours open a container of drugs!  What drugs? All the drugs! 

Eww, I'm not touching that... those are on the ground copyright NBC 

         

          More after the jump