Something Something Movies: Mummies

Movies

        I haven't done a movie in a while on this blog.  This is an interesting case of a movie,  not because it's new [made in the same year as I am posting about it].  Is that it did well, but not well-known?  That's because this movie is from Spain, but did get some worldwide release. I had heard about the movie and was kind of surprised it did well and even was like "I heard about this movie" when it was brought up.  "Mummies" not to be confused with "The Mummy", "The Mummy", "The Mummy" , or "The Mummy", or "Mummy Dearest" (that last one isn't real, yet), is again a 2023 movie, and is Spanish animation that Warner Bros. decided "eh let's distribute it". This is a movie I thought that would end as a random movie in a couple years on Tubi, but it didn't it was Hulu. (moving up!)   Mummies is directed by Juan Jesús García Galocha  and the screenplay by  Javier López Barreira and Jordi Gasull.   

        Mummies grossed  $52 million worldwide, against its budget of $12 million. It's the number 9th Spanish made movie in that ranking outside of its home market. (source)  That's pretty cool. 

        As I said before, I heard about this movie coming out, it was apparently delayed a bit, it was supposed to come out 2021, apparently. [I wonder why it was delayed what was going on then? Hmm anyway]  I didn't even know what it was but did see a quick trailer thing and wrote it down it to pick up on later, which might be a bad idea- for me.  Of course, you use a song like "Walk Like an Egyptian" or any other Bangles song, you've got me, well maybe. 

            I am also interested in media/animation that comes from outside the US. which is another reason why this movie made it my radar, before it was more known or whatever. Also, this is the part where I say the movie has an English dub, that's what we're working from.  They apparently worked with the United Kingdom to the dub, so it's British talk, so we have a Spanish movie about kind of Egypt (more on that soon), with a British English dub.   

            The movie starts with what be an incident where a character named Thut (too-it) [spell check is going to hate this post today] was a chariot racer but one day his wheel fell off and crashed. The awkward cut could make one think he died.  Umm... hmm.  The movie also sets our villain an archeologist. What's his goal? To be famous, that's what drives him. A simple goal. His name is Lord Sylvester Carnaby, voiced by   Hugh Bonneville , whom you may know from Downton Abbey or at least know of the series like I do, since didn't watch it.   There's also a running gag with him where his mom calls and they used the "Psycho" sound. Which someone found funny.  I'm not going to be saying the movie is perfect. Though I do hope they had his mother be a running gag ,because mummy, mummy. British... I'm going back now. 

         Silvester has found a tomb, like archeologists do, and notices that the mummy is not in the tomb. (He should have really checked if the mummy is in the museum)   He also notices there's a portal that leads to the underworld where mummies reside. I'm not sure why the mummies or Egyptians or whomever, yeah this going to be something I'll mention soon, would just everyone about the underworld. but I guess we need plot.  Also Silvester has two bumbling people working with him because sure. I do think it was funny later on in the movie, he can't even tell them apart- he was aware after all. 

He should really go after whoever made his moustache like that 

        I will also give a post spoiler: I didn't hate or dislike the movie, but it does have some things that do make it bit weak and could been improved slightly.  A balanced approach as always. (Also, it's really hard to be angry in text form, except on Twitter... Facebook.. Pinterest?) 

            The movie's intro is kind of creative, while the music for the start sounds generic, the intro is colorful and nice.   The movie has a setting of being a world were apparently mummies are alive and the people though look more like they would be if they weren't mummies. The world seems to be like an ancient city you'd think of as in ancient Egypt but also feeling doing like an ancient spin of current things.  There's a guy being a traffic light we see kids throwing around small piece of stones to send messages and look kind of like phones. I do like the concept here of having a kind of blend thing going on.  I will mention though, overthinking it might hurt a bit. The people -mummies look like they aren't dead, so they weren't going for a "Tutenstein" vibe of being a dead person but alive, uh undead. The only really mummy thing the characters have here is that they are wrapped up in gauze and if a bright enough light, in our world is shown upon them they give off a 'skeleton'? look.  Everything seems fine other wise, there's no jokes about body parts falling off or in that vain. I don't think it was a bad idea , there is some sense to the idea that this the after life and they have full skin and stuff.  The other ways the movie could have made the look work was have it be an alternate parallel  universe where ancient Egypt still runs the way it did or the fun part that that we think of, or time travel, time travel works. 

It's downtown Hartford 

        I will talk about how it looks with characters more soon, but the animation is good. They spent $12 million on this movie and doesn't look bad, they could have really cut some corners, but they didn't- or give the appearance.  Some would try to compare it to Pixar/ Disney or DreamWorks/Illumination which is a dumb thing to do. This is a smaller operation and not even a Warner Bros. made the movie affair, from the country of Spain. I'm not going to say wow it doesn't look like "Minions Rise of Gru" or "The Good Dinosaur" which had budgets higher than this movie, where you could make Mummies , Mummies 2: Electric Tomb-alo, Mummies 3: Return of the Mummies,  Sekhem: the Movie,  Mummies 4: The Last Pharoah: Part 1, Mummies 5: The Last Pharaoh: Part 2: Part 1 , Sekhem 2, and Mummies 6: The Last Pharaoh :Part 2 :The Final Beginning, if you used the same budget of this movie each time. (Really went long on that huh?) I think it looks good.  I don't think it would be bad to look at for the 88 minutes it goes. 

            Back to the story, Thut (voiced in English by Joe Thomas, whom the UK readers, hello! will know from "The Inbetweeners")  was the guy we saw at the start, he is now like those retired sports stars who lives off his past, he meets with fans and ladies want him. (Just like umm nevermind) It also helps that he's young....uhhhh ok. He's also afraid of commitment an doesn't want to marry, I wonder how that will end up in the - uh oh. The next character is his little brother, Sekhem (sek-him)(voiced by Santiago Winder, whom you may know as the voice of Noddy from "Noddy, Toyland Detective", random)  He plays the spunky younger brother role who looks up to his older brother.  It also looks like Thut takes takes care of his brother like a single parent. They never showed any parents, which also makes me wonder, did-can-their parents die?  There is mention of like Thut being afraid of being killed at times in the movie, so I'm a little confused.   Sekhem wants his brother to get back into racing because he thinks it's really cool and thinks his brother was really good at it.  But because of the INCENIDENT  mentioned earlier - he won't. 

That crash was pretty cool 

          Starting with Thut, I do like how the character is introduced, while he's being embraced by fans and ladies, and taking autographs, he does give a bit of confidence without feeling too arrogant or unlikeable, With his brother, he's happy to see him, and seems to take care of him.  You also see he's not as confident as he showed by remembering the fear of the bad incident. I like how he does put on a fake confidence or maybe it's a bit of it he had from before the bad thing, either way, it works. We see him be kind like helping an elderly lady across the street.  The story isn't really about having to change as a person because of being over arrogant or unlikable to being someone who isn't and is, but someone who is shaken by an event that was bad and feels kind of lost about who they are; I think they went a good direction. I'll do a bit more on him, later. 

Weren't you in Downton Abbey? 

         The third main character in this movie runs into Thut, literally. Their first interaction is brief.  She is the princess and even does that thing where she wants to be more than just the princess. This is Nefer, (voiced by Elanor Tomlinson in English, I'm going to mention she was in Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging because I want to mention that. Her signing voice is Karina Pasian, who  is an American singer, and can speak multiple languages). Nefer gets a song , she sings that she's kind of tired of things being monotonous and wants to do more. Yes, one of those songs. No, it's a musical movie, but will have some music, but there's a reason for she wants to be a singer- but princesses can't do that.  I also kind of have to like that they decided that it wasn't just some random song, but that she was singing it and some others heard her singing, that was kind of funny. The other part of her plot is the plot she doesn't want to get married. I wonder who will get picked? 

She wants a whole new world.be part of our world... also is surprised to see you

         Her father , the pharaoh (voiced by Sean Bean, that's right Sean Bean!) tells his daughter that the phoenix bird with the help the goddess of love be picking her husband today. (That's helpful) Yes, they are doing a standard thing here where she doesn't want to, doesn't feel ready and wants things to move on.  The pharaoh seems to be a nice guy, but he also wants to keep tradition and hopes that his daughter will understand and want to keep tradition. Also, there's a stargate... what? 

I have a meeting some guy named Moses at 3pm 

        

            Sekhem is playing with a boomerang. (But wait a minute...how is)  This is the part where'd say that the mummy movie about living mummies that also have their normal skin and flesh and also can do pop music is being silly in having a boomerang, but (big but) no they did their homework. Ancient Egypt had boomerangs. Though not a really a children's toy, but the movie gets points for doing that, it's alright to have some fun too.  He's trying to throw it into a ringed statue and a lady opens a window at the same time throwing the boomerang off course, and hits the phoenix of love which lands where Skehem and Thut live.  Of course, you can see where this is going. 

This thing will help you get a mate, but not get channel 58. 

              Now that we have our three mummies and a pet croc of Skehem's named Croc, we can get to the characters' styling.  It is pretty basic, the people-mummies plus the livings are kind of basic there's that a lot that stands out for them. Except for the two henchmen they did make the people look different from each other to stand out.  When the movie enters the mummy world and goes to the children I can tell Sekhem out from the other kids.  Thut and Nefer don't look each other.  Humans in the living world don't look the same, and it works.   Also someone really wanted to make Thut and Nefer have an attractive look, so good for those character designers.  Croc is interesting as the only creature we really see in the film, it's a classic every animal acts like a dog thing, but he's cute and if this was a bigger movie there'd be Croc toys and plushies all over the place.  Of the mummy trio, Sekhem stands out the most in design, not just because he's a kid -whatever that means here-  though that make him the shortest, he's also bald minus the little side lock there.  I think if they had more budget or had a way to work in more expressions especially for him, it would have been even more interesting.   I can't say I feel they didn't put any though in the designs and the effort, again I think the movie works well with its limitation. 

How you do fellow, mummies

           You can see where part of the plot is going.  Nefer and Thut are arranged to be married.  Thut doesn't want to marry Nefer and she doesn't want to marry her. They have the clear goal of not wanting that. To be frank, the movie is not going really going to do anything of a surprise any different of where you might be expecting it to go. (Unless you were expecting something different.) It's a simple movie, simple doesn't mean bad, it means it's not going for high complexity. I do like they do at least add nuance a bit. I do wonder how different anything they say or do is different in the original Spanish.  Yes, Nefer has simple motivations she wants to be a singer and do that and that's fine. Thut finds out that if he goes against wishes of the god, he'll lose his eyes and tongue. (That's a bit much)  One more thing to um set up for other part of the plot is a ring (I don't mean on the phone, Santa Baby) that they give to Thut to hold until the wedding day. Which is kind of stupid thing to do, like why? Hold the thing until the day of the wedding. 

Here's your plot device, sir.

             Since that's coming up soon, I'm kind of sad that this whole movie won't be taking place in this strange version of whatever they are trying do here. The idea of ancient world that also things like old fashion phones, the ones where you hold it up to your mouth and speak with the ear piece on the side  held up to the ear. [ This thing]  You see kids playing on stone smart phone shaped things. It's kind of messy fun. There's a part where apparently some guys are called to make it night time. There's a lot of fun moving parts to this movie that I wish had more going on here.  I'll this here, this environment and still having Nefer and Thut get to know each other as they find ways to not get married and have Sekhem and Croc there doing stuff could have worked too, no need for a villain and etc. Oh well. 

          Good thing, the guards picked the right one, would have been odd if they thought it was him or Croc. 

        I do like Thut and Nefer's interactions and yeah you can kind of tell that it's written that way. It also could have been badly done. Thut works well in this because he's not some playboy or big shot acting character who is like "Hey I get to marry a Princess and be all rich and stuff";  He doesn't act the way they could have stock had him act. Nefer does point out that he's some chariot racer, but that's her way of trying to make sure the wedding doesn't happen and that she didn't have a good view of him when she thought he was just standing the road there, but she's more against this whole thing than being against him for being "beneath her or something". Their banter is kind of fun and they are at least likeable, we're not supposed to be annoyed by them so, good work? 

They look like people who just met... oh yeah that's right 

more after the jump

So Weird: Banglebye

So Weird  Disney 

            I'm back with another look at a random episode of the late 90's/ Early 2000's Disney Channel Original series, "So Weird". This time we are taking a dip with season 3.  Season 3 is the final season of the series. The main character, Fi, decides to traveling , as the actress ,Cara DeLizia, decided to leave the series. They replaced her with a family friend, Annie, Alexz Johnson)  joining instead. (Didn't even do the Ben 10 route, of making Annie a cousin)  Season 3 also was noted for toning the show down from it's first two seasons.   

      The episode we look at today is season 3, episode 6 called "Banglebye" 

         The episode has Molly, Fi and Jack's mom, along with Jack, Clu, Carey, Irene, and Ned are in a town as Molly is speaking to a school, about music stuff , I guess.  Annie notices the kids at the middle school are seemingly acting very nice and respectful- unlike kids. Jack, Clu, and Carey notice later that the kids in the town aren't very acting like kids.  Some boys let Clu score a free goal in soccer. The place where group is staying, the owner's son , Kenny is playing a video game called Bangle Bye (roll credits!) The game seems to be powerful, when Clu and Jack play it , the next morning they are wearing shirts with ties, and acting like what I think yuppies acted like.  

Is he drinking both orange juice and tea? / Copyright Disney 

    

            This show is good at making it feel very creepy. It's also funny. It's kind of noticeable how much the episode like even about 10 minutes in has very much lacked having Annie.  But she does come up to the plot when Annie finds a remote that controls a plane and decides to fly it.  It lands in the yard of the neighbors. The man and woman that Clue and Jack saw earlier. The man isn't very happy that it did, because he's worried about his wife. (Gee, I wonder who is behind the video game?) 

Get out of here , Dennis, Mr. Wilson is ticked! / Copyright Disney 

            Annie begins to suspect that the video game is what made Clu and Jack. She finds a store with Carey that's selling the video game. The guy at the store, the same guy from before, is adamite that she and Carey take a game, it's even free.  (not even sure how he's supposed to make money, bros)  She does get tempted and it cuts to the next day, and Annie seems to be acting differently, but she is still normal and talking to the angry man from the day before. 

I brought you cookies to kill the garden with/ Copyright Disney 

        She talks to the woman who remarks that children kept running her garden, then they just stopped.  The ends up visiting the store where the game was being sold, which wasn't locked, hmm anyway, she and Carey see the man making the video game by adding hypnotism,  He easily gives the reason why he made this game, because he wants kids to be well behaved.  He blames his wife's heart attack on children.  He used to be a hypnotist.   

Oh no! I've been caught making pirated copies of Mariah Carey's Glitter Album/ Copyright Disney

              I like here how the man's intentions - while not the right idea, weren't evil, but misplaced. He wanted his wife to be comfortable. He seems to know it was wrong, and doesn't even really go after Annie and Carrey to force them to be hypnotized. Annie talks to him and tries convince but says he can't un do it.  Until, Carey says try to make a game 2. (sequel fun) 

   

            Man makes games faster than you can even get them now. His new game works and undoes the hypnotism. Jack and Clu are back to normal.  The other kids are back to normal again, and the woman's garden is back to being destroyed.  The woman seems to be back to moving around and gardening. 

             Yeah, it's a very light toned episode.  It still is kind of unsettling how Clu and Jack act, but it doesn't feel like anyone was in any danger, and the person who was behind it wasn't really a nefarious dark evil. It's not a bad episode, it's light, and straight forward though. It is lacking some bite that could truly have made it it feel more tense and a bit scary. I do like how they did kind of do something to make one think that Annie did play the game and got all hypnotized, and didn't drag it out too long to find out what happened.   

          It's probably a weaker installment if you compare to an episode from seasons 1 or 2, but it's not bad. There's some fun here. 

        That's it for now, tune in next time when we start a store and start giving away Nintendo DS's . 

The Lookback: CW 4 KIDS +

Children's TV The Flashback The CW 

                When I started doing these posts about former network children's blocks, it was inspired by the end of the CW's block in 2014.  That marked the real full end of a traditional children's network block as ABC, CBS, FOX, and later NBC (but at the time was doing pre-school based shows) all decided to move away from the market.   The only reason why any network airs anything on Saturday that's "for kids" is because of government rules.  

             Our story here  will take us to the last era of the CW's children's traditional children's programming blocks. This means we will be looking at the block , who's ending inspired these series of posts in the first place and even the rewrites I did later on for some. (Not this one, this one is new fully).  This is a look at CW 4  Kids, Toonzai, and Vortexx. 

         But First, Kids WB! 

           In 2006 a big shake up happened where CBS Corporation which owned CBS and UPN and gained UPN after a split with Viacom decided to not have that anymore and work with Warner Bros. meaning Time Warner, to make a new network called the CW.   For the purposes of our post, the children's programming would still be Kids WB! ,  a carry over of the WB network block.  

            In fall 2006, ironically, Kids WB! was the most stable thing about networked children's programming besides 4kids TV on FOX, and what was left of ABC Kids on ABC.  This was going to be  a short lived thing, even though Kids WB was renewed for the 2007-08 season,  a month into that season an announcement was made.

             On October 2, 2007, CBS and Warner announced that in fall 2008 KIDS WB would be going away and being replaced  by a block produced by 4 Kids Entertainment. (source)  They made a 5-year deal (highly confident weren't they?) to give over the 5 hours of Saturday morning to the company.  It was announcement of the last in-house network children's department. They blamed the softening ad market and competition from cable networks. (Probably the CW's own half sister networks too)  Ironically, this would be the 2nd time a network children's programming block that launched in the 1990's would be replaced by a block from 4 Kids Entertainment. 

                   The original intention was to launch the block in fall of 2008, but for whatever reason they moved it to start on May 24, 2008.  

            It's the CW, but 4 KIDS! 

               Kids WB! signed off on May 17, 2008,  which was way before it was supposed to, and that feels like of they were in a hurry or something. The next week, The CW 4 Kids launched. Which is a name, the other block was called 4 Kids TV.  But if you look at May 24, 2008, there's not much difference to it versus Kids WB, the week before.   This wasn't just a random arrangement between CBS and Warner and 4 Kids. 4 Kids had been the licenser the Pokémon anime  which aired on Kids WB!  and a few other anime that aired both FOX and the WB. Funny enough, Pokémon had been moved to Cartoon Network by the time Kids WB washed their hands and went to 4 Kids.  

            The summer 2008 line up was some hold overs of the KIDS WB line up "Johnny Test" aired for a bit, before making a move to Cartoon Network and soon a new company would be making that series.  Will and Dewitt reruns ran, Tom and Jerry Tales. 

FALL TV 2023: The CW

The CW Fall TV Look 2023 Upfronts

                    

  It's been an interesting time for the CW, as the network had been sold to local TV station owner, Nexstar.  The network's fall line up will be dramatically different than its been for many years.  The network was for years a showcase for it's then two parent companies CBS and Warner using shows from their production companies.  This season, there will be only one show from that "All American".  "Walker", is the other series, that will be back in mid season. The rest of the line up is acquisitions from other countries, heavily Canada, and unscripted shows.   

            The status of  shows like "Gotham Knights",  "Superman &Lous", "All  American: Homecoming" haven't been given as of this writing.  CW unscripted shows like "Penn & Teller: Fool Us",  "Whose Line is it Anyway?" , "Masters of Illusion", and "World's Funniest Animals" are still on the line up. 

        The new line up brings something the CW hasn't aired in sometime: comedy series. These will air on a Tuesday Night line up: with "Son of the Critch" , "Run the Burbs", "Children Ruin Everything", and "Everyone Else Burns".   Drama series, that aren't "All American" are "61st Street" which was picked up from AMC, "Sullivan's Crossing", and "The Spencer Sisters".  Former (HBO) Max reality series FBOY Island moves to the CW. A spinoff series, "FGIRL Island" comes in the mid season. Sundays have been given over to "I AM" film documentary series. 

Here's the line up all times are ET/PT/ Denver/ Saint Louis unless otherwise noted.  All new series are highlighted in blue (uhh) 

Monday 

8pm All American 

9pm 61St Street  

Tuesday

8pm Son of a Critch

8:30pm Run the Burbs   

9pm Children Ruin Everything 

9:30pm Everyone Else Burns 

      

Wednesday 

8pm Sullivan's Crossing 

9pm  The Spencer Sisters 

Thursday 

8pm FBOY Island (Encore Epiosde)

9pm FBOY Island 

Friday 

8pm Penn & Teller :Fool Us

9pm  Whose Line Is It Anyway?

9:30pm Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Saturday 

8pm Masters of Illusion

8:30pm Masters of Illusion

9pm  World's Funniest Animals 

9:30pm World's Funniest Animals 

Sunday 

8pm  I AM Films 

Press release after the jump 

The Lookback: Kids WB!

The Flashback 

             The door that FOX opened just by existing is something of a television historical note that, if not for television or the media around today, would not exist in its current form. In short, without FOX existing as a broadcast network, there would have been no The WB or UPN, and probably no major vertical integration mergers where a movie studio with a TV studio would be co-owned with a broadcast network. There would have been no Disney owning ABC.

   

             In 1993, well November 1993, Warner Bros. , a large movie and TV studio which would also be a a factor in many successful TV shows, including the soon to be big and popular "Friends" for NBC, was going to start their own broadcast network. Called The WB. Their primary partner, since WB didn't own local TV stations, compared to how Murdoch bought TV stations before launching FOX, would be Tribune Company. (Source)  Tribune owned major stations in  the top markets  and a few other locals. (like the owners of the local station in Denver KWGN)    They also owned a cable channel feed of Chicago's WGN, which would also be of help.  

   

       The WB was going to launch in January of 1995, and was coming a market that as different than FOX came in. There was way more cable competition, which was hurting local independent stations. Maybe having a network would help these stations, that was a theory. Even when though there was an explosion of new , mostly UHF, indie stations coming on in the 80's the market had worked for the content. Including weekday and non-Saturday children's programming. This gave us the Disney Afternoon , which birthed us FOX Kids.   FOX Kids history should be noted here benefited from Warner Bros. programming in their assent to a top spot. 

            The WB network launched January 11, 1995, the KIDS WB block didn't launch until September 9, 1995.  In theory, if anybody could launch a powerful kids with animation block would well Warner Brothers. Again, they had success on Fox with shows like "Animaniacs" , "Tiny Toon Adventures" , "Bat Man the animated series". If someone was to make up a theory that Warner saw how well their stuff was doing but not fully reaping the benefits and decided to go it on their own and here we go; that could make sense. 

     

          “People think networks produce shows and networks seem to take creative credit, when in fact, studios are the producers. Now people know who should take the bow, and that’s Warner Bros. Studios Animation.”

                                                                                                                            (source)  

      Those words from Jamie Kellner, the first head of The WB.   He was also the former Fox president. Maybe the magic of FOX would help the WB. Though our post is only about the Kids block.

   Kids WB, took FOX's model of being a Saturday Morning and Weekday block. When FOX came in there were 3 other blocks on Saturday morning, but NBC was bowing out,  but three's also Nickelodeon on cable to worry about.  In fact, cable is part of the WB more than FOX.  In many markets the WB didn't not exist, even in the early days. In some markets, the cable company would pipe in a close by one, especially like Colorado Springs already having KWGN-TV in Denver on cable systems. (Hometown talk)  Remember I also mentioned the WGN cable feed, which was also a WB network feed (unless a sports game took that out)  that means for a selection of people the WB was a cable network, not a broadcast network.  Of course, cable brings in local TV stations that do have over the air, but the WB might not be over the air in some areas.  FOX Kids would be accessible than Kids WB! in some markets.   In major top cities that wasn't a problem since the WB would even be on prime VHF stations like Channel 11 New York, Channel 5 LA, Channel 9 Chicago.  

more after the jump

FALL TV 2023: ABC

ABC Fall TV Look 2023 Upfronts

    ABC has released their fall line up. Unlike CBS, which sent out a line up of confidence that the writers' strike will be resolved soon, and NBC which seems more willing to have some delays effect mid season as they seem to have stuff secured for the fall, ABC is going for heavy unscripted line up. 

            All it's scripted programming, save for reruns of Abbott Elementary is off the line up for the fall.  "Dancing with the Stars" has moved back from Disney Plus to the network, they've also added a new "Bachelor" series called "The Golden Bachelor" think "The Bachelor" but with older people.  

             Series like "Abbott Elementary", "The Connors", "The Good Doctor", "Grey's Anatomy" , "Not Dead Yet", "High Potential", "The Rookie", "Station 19",  and "Will Trent"  will be announced at a later date, again depending on the writers' strike length.   Shows like "The Rookie: Feds" and "Home Economics" are still TBD on if they will be renewed or not. 

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

 

Monday 

8pm Dancing with the Stars

10pm The Golden Bachelor 

Tuesday

8pm Celebrity Jeopardy

9pm  Bachelor in Paradise 

Wednesday

8pm Judge Steve Harvey

9pm Abbott Elementary (Encore)

9:30pm Abbott Elementary (Encore)

10pm What Would You Do? 

Thursday 

Tuesday

8pm Celebrity Wheel of Fortune 

9pm Press Your Luck 

10pm The $100,000 Pyramid 

Friday

8pm Shark Tank 

9pm 20/20 

Saturday

7:30pm/4:30pt College Football 

Sunday 

7pm America's Funniest Home Videos

8pm The Wonderful World of Disney 

Press Release after the jump 

Fall TV 2023: NBC

NBC Fall TV Look 2023 Upfronts

         NBC has released it's fall line up, a tick earlier than normal. Comedy is back on the table at the start of the season.  The hit revival of  Night Court will be back on Tuesdays along with a new series the return of Jon Cryer to network TV with Extended Family.  Tuesday also gets Quantum Leap .  Another interesting change is that the second night of Dick Wolf programming  where the Law & Order series were running has been cut to 2 hours with new drama Found taking the slot that was held by Law & Order: Organized Crime  on Thursday nights.  That program will be back in mid season.  Lopez vs. Lopez  has been renewed but status (as of this writing) for Young Rock hasn't been given yet. 

            The Voice keeps its normal Monday slot, with a new drama getting its AGT boost that being The Irrational .  The Chicago night continues on Wednesdays. Fridays is light fare with The Wall and Dateline NBC taking up the night. 

        Thanks to new college football rights, NBC will fill Saturday Night with Big Ten Football from 7pm ET/4PT and that or Notre Dame Football.  Sundays , of course, belong to NFL Sunday Night Football. 

           NBC feels secure in their line up coming to plan on time even with the writers' strike due to renewing shows early to get something done before the strike.   

             For mid season,  La Brea will be back, which was moved from starting in regular season to being a mid season replacement show. The drama was renewed for  6-episode season. Magnum P.I which NBC saved from cancelation, will have its 2nd half of its 5th season in midseason. 

                Also, the second season of Password  which is effected by the writers' strike is coming in the mid season.  Deal or No Deal is back on NBC, but with a twist , another America's Got Talent spin-off.  The Americas , a natural history series will also be airing. Also Canadian Drama , Transplant, is back in the line up, 

             Here's the full line up, all times are ET/PT, unless otherwise noted, and all new shows are highlighted in blue 

Monday
8-10pm The Voice
10pm The Irrational


Tuesday
8pm Night Court

8:30pm Extended Family 
9pm The Voice 
10pm Quantum Leap


Wednesday
8pm Chicago Med
9pm Chicago Fire
10pm Chicago P.D


Thursday
8pm Law & Order
9pm Law & Order :SVU
10pm Found 


Friday
8pm The Wall 
9-11pm Dateline NBC


Saturday
7-7:30pm/4-4:30pt  Big Ten Countdown/ Norte Dame Pregame (also live on Peacock) 

7:30-11pm/4:30-7pt Big Ten Football/ Notre Dame Football (also live on Peacock 

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

The Flashback: Rugrats Mother's Day

Rugrats   The Flashback 

            There really aren't that many Mother's Day themed specials, but at the same time it's not un common for a series to do an episode about the holiday. It's not  really a big let's gather around the TV holiday compared to what it really is for. (Same with Father's Day, which seems to have a harder time, in cases because of how TV is done in terms of seasons) 

             One hard of this holiday is those who don't have a mother for any such reason that arises. It can be hard, especially in terms if a mother has died.  There's a strangeness about that day for those in that situation. It especially can feel like a loneliness, but for a kid,  a lost parent is a big thing. That's probably why a lot of media - insert Disney joke about killing off the mom here- works that in such away.   

        So, let's talk about Rugrats. Again, I've said before this is one of my favorite animated series, and top Nicktoon. My favorite Rugrat character has always been Chuckie.  When you watch some of the first few seasons [ I have to clarify here that I'm talking about Rugrats and not Rugrats 2021, I'm not calling the original version Rugrats 1991, because no]  a viewer could notice that Chuckie didn't seem to have a mother character. It was him and his dad for the most part. It was never really addressed in the episodes. There's only an oft mention in season 1, when Didi says to Chuckie, his Mom and Dad will pick him up in the morning.  Chuckie's Dad, Chaz, works and that's the reason why Chuckie would be over at Tommy's house a lot more than even the twins, might have been the single father. 

            Rugrats ended in 1994, but the reruns were very popular and Nickelodeon decided "eh, let's bring it back" and there were two specials devoted to the holidays of Passover and Chanukah   In continuation this special is counted as part of season 4, a revival season of sorts.  Originally aired on May 6, 1997.  The episode is simply called "Mother's Day". 

            Rugrats being a show with babies/toddlers as main characters (Chuckie and Angelica would be more toddler, they toddle ;p ) it puts an interesting view on how they view the holiday. Angelica being Angelica is the one making her mother a gift. She's the one, like usual, who tells Tommy, Phil, and Lil  that it's Mother's Day and what the holiday is for. She's at least not lying to them this time.  

                This inspires them to want to give their own mothers some gifts. Rugrats being Rugrats, also gives the adults story arc and plot. Didi wants to take her mother out for a good day, Stu is trying to make an invention, which goes wrong, of course. (You have to love his quirks and Didi's patience) Which will later become a plot where Betty helps him by trying to train his robot to be a good mother.

  

        Chaz comes over to the Pickles' family home with Chuckie. He has something he wants to talk about something with Didi. He has a box of stuff that belong to Chuckie's mom and doesn't want Chuckie to find it. Chuckie goes to be with his friends and they tell him they are looking for gifts for Mother's Day, and mentions he doesn't have one. The way it's said by Christine Cavanaugh, the voice of Chuckie, really makes it impactful. It's said softly with confidence and you can also hear how it kind of breaks a bit. He also decides not to go looking for gifts with his friends, "it's for kids with moms." 

Copyright Paramount 

  

        That and it going back to Chaz seeing his usual awkward self, but can also see how he misses his late wife it's something else and can tell he doesn't want the stuff around because it makes him miss his wife. The episode doesn't say death outright, which is interesting, because this show had said it before, there's a whole episode where Chuckie (interesting) is sad a bug died, and it says death. But networks S&P are weird.

           It's a really emotional thing for this kind of show to do, it's not even laid on think or melodramatic, it just kind of feels oft from the show's normalcy but it's not being overly focused on it in some strange way that it works. [ I tear up]  The episode puts in levity and  fun, as well, like Stu is getting attacked by his robot. 

            Tommy, Phil, and Lil's search for Mother's Day gifts is sweet. Again, it's working with their young age as they try to find something around the house and yard that they think their mothers would like. It's also sweet where they have memories about their mother like Phil and Lil giving their Mom, their first laugh and Tommy first seeing his mom.  Chuckie says he doesn't remember much, but a scene he has in a dream.  "You can't give presents to dream." This special  does get to me, it always has, which is actually why  I've had this on the list to write about for years, but never did.  

Copyright Paramount 

         I like how the trio want to help Chuckie by finding him a mom, It's sweet and kind of funny at the same time. (And the plot of the second movie)  The suggestions are , again, fitting for them like Spike, the dog. (woof) Chuckie working along with it is kind of fun too.  (Lil pretending to be Chuckie's Mom is someone's fanfiction, you're going to leave this in when you post it, aren't you?) 

            It's kind of funny how much the episode lacked Angelia until she wonders what the babies are doing. Angelica decides to be Chuckie's "Mommy" (Uhhh) which since she's Angelica means she just wants something done for her. I mean, if she was going to really be his mom, she would be on the phone all the time, and then gives him almost anything he wants. I do feel bad for Chuckie, he was so happy that Angelica wanted to be his mom. It's thing the show does where the babies forget Angelica does things. 

I don't trust her/ copyright Paramount 

            She has him doing her work of making her Mother's day gift. (Grandma?)  She also renamed Chuckie, Blaine. (The heck?)  She's right Blaine is a TV name. No offense to people really named Blaine, you just live in TV Land... (after the Everybody Loves Raymond reruns)  I kind of feel bad for Chuckie because he's so happy.  It is kind of cute that Angelia acts her like mother a bit. 

        That goes south, because we can't have nice things, when she wants him to get a hat for her sculpture and  oops, because she changed her mind to a flower, and she wants one where a bee flies on it. Chuckie respects and fears the bee and really wants to get the flower, but his friends think its insane. They stand up for him and she uses fake guilt on him. Chuckie ticked off that be and then it flew into his mouth. That was something. 

Chuckie's war cry/ Copyright Peanuts 

            She decides to disown him. She throws the babies into a closet, for time out. Chuckie says doesn't deserve a mom. I love how his friends help him and they mention that Angelia sucked as a mom. (Our fact checkers say: true)  I also like how the friends  saying what a Mom is, helps him decided that his Dad is a good choice.  Chuckie's Dad of any of the parental figures on the show, I've always felt was the best of the parents on the show, he cares heavily about his son and even understands his fears. There's a whole episode where he tries to break into the Pickles' house when he wanted to be with Chuckie in a black out.  I do remember there being posts about the parents on this show being "bad parents" but that's never been my thought- maybe Angelica's sometimes.   Stu and Didi care for their son and later sons, they seem to be a new parenting couple and the mom uses books to help her, she wants to do the best, as an example. I mean, you kind of need the parents to not be hovering over the kids for the episodes to work anyway.  

            Chuckie and friends find the box Chaz had given to Didi to hide. (good work, Didi, didn't even try to put that somewhere) Chuckie finds a picture that's the lady from his dreams- his mother. He grabs the picture. I like how Angelica's  mom  appreciates her daughter's gift,  Didi's plot, remember she had a plot?, works out Everything culminates well.  

Oh great, you made dinner!/ Copyright Paramount 

             The episode then hits you. Chuckie runs over to his father and presents him the picture. There's a dead silence [sorry for the term here] even the music gives up. You see a smiling Chuckie presenting this picture to his father as a gift.  It even pans around the room a bit (also close that door, you're letting the angry bees who want Chuckie's blood for trying to eat their own in).  His father deflects it, because again you can see he's not wanting to talk about with Chuckie  and his own sadness comes into it. Chuckie thinks his father didn't like the gift.  

copyright Paramount

         This special presents everything well. Didi talks to Chaz and says maybe he should talk to Chuckie about the stuff in the box. I like the line of  missing her together. Chaz agrees and starts to talk to him about the stuff in the box.  The episode also implied she got some sort of sickness that probably caused her death.  There's a poem. This whole part of the special always gets to me.  

            The ending is also optimistic, Chuckie shows his friends' his backyard and telling them his mother is in the flowers, clouds, grass, sun, and wind.  It's a sweet ending. 

        It's a finely crafted special that Rugrats hit out of the park well. The idea that Mother's Day doesn't have to be over the top and grand, just a showing of appreciation and care is fine. Simple things are worth value. Charlotte loves the work Angelica put into her sculpture for her , doesn't care if it's broken. Didi' s mother loves being with her daughter and doesn't need fancy $80 mud. Stu didn't have to give his wife a fancy invention gift, she loves the simple flowers both her son and husband give. Betty's part where she tires to program the robot to be motherly, shows her dedication and how much work she loves being a mother. She loved their gift of a plunger. Chuckie realizes his Dad pretty much fills the a role of both a father and mother to him, and he loves his father. Then he and father have both lost someone close, and the last minutes are a well done thing. 

            It can be a hard time for those who might not have a mother to share it with, for any reason. For those that do, don't sweat it, the simple things and just showing love and care is good.  This is a great episode of Rugrats. Even if it goes off the model of the imagination of other episode[meaning, where the Rugrats pretend something is something else] and uses it's groundedness well.  I can't help but tear up watching this episode, and it's not even melodramatic, and I think that's why it works. 

        It was nominated for an Emmy though it lost to "The Simpsons" , but  (big but) this episode should have won.  It's a great episode from a great series.  Mother's Day, the episode, is the idea of relationships that can be had with a mother and shows that some don't have that. Chuckie realizing that his father does everything for him was a good showing in how he has something to appreciate even if his mother is gone.  It can be a hard holiday for some,  for any reason, but it's also good to be able to value in the simplest ways. It also shows that losing someone special is hard and getting those thoughts out can be hard. It's something you don't see much in these kind of shows, but glad they did it.   

   

        That's it for now.  Happy Mother's Day.