Admittedly we’re not big TV watchers these days. We’re mostly fans of “Seinfeld” and “The Simpsons” re-runs, and whatever movie is playing on Syfy in America, but when we do watch, we’re very selective. Most popular shows these days just aren’t appealing to us. But out of the small portion of shows that we do watch, we decided to list five of the series in 2013 that kept us watching and wanting more.
Category Archives: List Junkies
Our Top Ten “The Simpsons” Episodes of All Time: 5. Bart of Darkness
5. Bart of Darkness
Season Six
1994
“Flanders is going to kill Rod and Tod, that’s horrible…! In principle.” This episode drew a little bit of a connection for yours truly, as I could pretty much sympathize with Bart’s situation, sans the lunacy. Breaking my arm years ago, I was excluded from many summer activities including sports, and yes, going to public pools. In possibly one of the best episodes I’ve ever seen, the summer heat wave is so bad in Springfield that a guitarist singing “Sunshine on my Shoulders” gets knocked cold by a passerby, and the ice cream man drives around the neighborhood announcing that he’s all out of Ice Cream.
Our Top Ten “The Simpsons” Episodes of All Time: 6. Cape Feare
6. Cape Feare
Season Five
1993
Sideshow Bob had plenty of appearances fighting Bart and his cohort Lisa. He even teamed with his brother Cecil, in a hilarious guest spot from David Hyde Pierce. But the best and pure quintessential battle that defined the immortal feud between Sideshow Bob and Bart begins and ends with “Cape Feare.”
Five Reasons Why I Love Felicia Day
Felicia Day began her notable career among her fans as a potential slayer in the final season of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” and from there went on to create one of the very early web series that was not only successful but is still very much adored by her fans. A true geek girl herself, Ms. Day portrayed human, realistic, and flawed fanatics of online gaming, and from there has dipped her feet in every aspect of fandom.
She’s voiced animated characters, video games, starred in movies, worked with folks like Joss Whedon, executive produces many series for fellow geek guru Wil Wheaton’s channel “Geek & Sundry,” and has guest starred on a ton of hit shows. Like just about every other fan boy out there I’m a huge fan and admirer of Felicia Day, and without further ado, here are five reasons why I’m going to be following her career for many years.
She created The Guild
I like to think of “The Guild” as the original “The Big Bang Theory,” except Day’s web series was much less a sitcom and much more a dramedy. Not to mention Day didn’t have much money to work with so she often had to get creative with every episode. Sets were re-used over and over, but with tricky directing and editing you could barely tell the difference. “The Guild” is a hilarious and often times surreal series about a group of online role players that unite when group member Codex is greeted by a fellow member who professes his love for her. From there, the series takes us in to great directions, including a convention, a hilarious house party, and a confrontation with a rival group of online role players led by an evil and smarmy Wil Wheaton. You can’t help but be sucked in by this series time and time again.
She’s Charlie on “Supernatural”
One of the few really good aspects of season seven of “Supernatural,” Charlie is a geek girl who loves Star Wars. She happens to work for one of the biggest corporate executives in the world who sadly happens to be a flesh eating monster intent on consuming humanity. When called upon by Sam and Dean for help, she reveals herself to be a master hacker, and proudly gay. Over the course of the episode, and her next appearance when she’s asked for help by a mystical princess who she seduces, we learn that she’s not only proudly gay but possibly loves women more than Dean Winchester ever has and ever will. Now that’s a shocker.
She out adorabled everyone on “Eureka”
“Eureka” was one of the final really good TV series from the Syfy Channel here in America, and before it was taken down in its prime, it merged with other hit Syfy shows and even brought on Felicia Day. Playing the socially awkward Holly Martem, she becomes the love interest for geeky character Fargo and also inadvertently falls in to the center of the massive plot in the series involving Eureka and America’s government. Given one of the more bittersweet storylines, Day really managed to give a great show a rather charming send off with a depiction of a truly entertaining character.
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
During the 2008 writer’s strike, creator Joss Whedon staged his own web series and musical that starred Neil Patrick Harris as an aspiring super villain building a freezing ray. Dr. Horrible is also a lovelorn everyday Joe who happens to have a huge crush on a neighbor of his who does laundry at the public laundromat every weekend. Played by Day, the character Penny is a sweet and kind volunteer worker for the homeless shelter who becomes the object of affection for Dr. Horrible and the pompous superhero Captain Hammer. With a beautiful singing voice and quirky performance, Day is the perfect love interest. It’s also the second time working with Joss Whedon.
She hasn’t let her Anxiety control her life
It’s well known among Ms. Day’s fan base that she suffers from anxiety, an illness that often sometimes cripple those afflicted by it. Take it from someone who knows. Through acting, and self expression, Day has managed to learn how to seemingly cope with and often overcome anxiety and has become a admired and respected public figure among fantasy, science fiction, and pop culture fans alike. Anxiety can’t be cured, but it can be conquered with enough practice and experience, and Day has shown what had work can accomplish. It’d be a shame if her anxiety deprived us of the outgoing and hilarious personality we know today.
Our 25 Favorite “The Beatles” Songs of All Time
It’s been almost thirty five years since John Lennon was murdered outside his home, and though his death was tragic and inhuman, Lennon’s spirit and artistic influence has lived on for decades. Lennon was a voice for peace and rallying people to think outside the box and question the status quo, and his influence began with his work in the Beatles as one of the most iconic, if not the most iconic rock band in music history. In celebration of Lennon’s memory, here are twenty five of the best The Beatles songs we’ve ever heard. I’d like to thank you on behalf of Cinema Crazed, and I hope I passed the audition.
Our Top Ten “The Simpsons” Episodes of All Time: 7. Itchy & Scratchy Land
7. Itchy & Scratchy Land
Season Six
1994
The writers on “The Simpsons” pull off one of their many excellent satires of classic films with “Itchy & Scratchy Land,” this time spoofing “West World,” and “Jurassic Park.” Much in the realm of “The Shinning,” the episode doesn’t so much mock the films as they twist the conventions of the narrative to fit the comic elements of the series. With summer now on its way, Bart and Lisa are convinced by Krusty the Klown to go to Itchy and Scratchy Land. Bart and Lisa do whatever it takes to go there, even convincing them that Bart’s dead. Dead serious about going to Itchy and Scratchy Land.
Our Top Ten “The Simpsons” Episodes of All Time: 8. Behind the Laughter
8. Behind the Laughter
2000
Season Eleven
“Behind the Laughter” is one of those episodes of “The Simpsons” where nearly every single word of the teleplay is quotable. You could pick out your favorite lines, and go through the entire script from beginning to end. It’s a lightning in a bottle spoof of the popular “Behind the Music” series. The often self important VH1 Documentary series gets the Simpsons treatment, profiling America’s favorite family. Ad hilarity.
It also presents a tongue in cheek satire of “The Simpsons” and how they went from a cute animated show to a worldwide phenomenon in the nineties. With immense exaggerations, of course. “Behind the Laughter” is a look at how the family grew in popularity and their inevitable saturation on pop culture. The writers are never afraid to mock the actual Simpsons’ over abundance of popularity in the nineties, profiling their goofy music albums (they actually had albums), enormous roster of guest stars, and their often contrived episodes that put new twists on characters. Including the episode where we find out Principal Skinner is not actually Skinner.
There are numerous hilarious moments to be mined here, from the creation of Homer strangling Bart as a popular gag, Richie Rich replacing Bart in future episodes of “The Simpsons,” Bart’s paying Lenny and Carl to kiss, to their pondering “Hey, did we ever get that money?” There’s also Homer’s declaration “Fame was like a drug, but what was even more like a drug, were the drugs.” Host of “Behind the Music,” Jim Forbes, even takes part in the fun with nuggets like “But reckless spending and interracial homoeroticism were just volume one of the Encyclopedia Self-Destructica.”
With a guest spot from Willie Nelson, “Behind the Laughter” is never afraid to take shots at stunts from “The Simpsons,” mocking them with sharp writing, all the while fabricating endless bits of witty and laugh out loud gags. That includes the Simpsons living in MC Hammer’s old mansion, Marge singing her version of “I Shot the Sheriff” (with a smile!), and Lisa’s accusation that the family gave her anti-growth hormones. Prompting Homer to argue “That’s ridiculous. How could I even get all five necessary drops into her cereal…? What?”