FINALLY Exploring the Mayhem That is "Rick and Morty"!

 After YEARS of seeing the ubiquitous clips of the ADULT SWIM animated series "Rick and Morty", I finally got around to sitting down and actually WATCHING to entire series starting from episode one, and holy HELL are they great!!!!

Using the template of the "Eccentric Genius Scientist" and "Wide-Eyed Naive Kid" as per the  "Back To The Future" parody short it originated from, this show skewered and paid homage to just about every sci-fi set-up, send-up and tried and tested trope, from time traveling, dimension hopping, multiple universes and evil clones, this show showcased 'em all!

Encapsulating the ideas/tropes into single episodes have made for some incredible shows, some of them off the top of my head include:

"Lawnmower Dog"

Taking on both the Stephen King story "The Lawnmower Man" and the movie "Inception", this second episode set the groundwork for the series, balancing goofy sci-fi shenanigans with sweet and touching moments as Morty's dog gains intelligence and creates an army of canines to take over the world. Only the love of a boy and his dog can stop it!

 "A Rickle in Time" 

After freezing time in the last episode of last season, it's time to set things going again. But a minor altercation between Morty and Summer creates a rift where there are two timelines. Attempting to fix the situation, the gang keeps creating new timelines over and over until the Time Police themselves have to step in!

One of the first clips I saw of R&M and one that never fails to entertain!

"Total Rickall"

Parasitic aliens multiply and take over households by infesting the hosts minds and creating false memories of them as loving members of the family. Rick is the only clear headed one but is slowly taken over as well, until they realize the parasites can only create happy memories and thus the dysfunctional family is able to identify the "real' people from the parasites- by their bad memories of tormenting each other! 

"Auto Erotic Assimilation"

First appearance  of "Unity", an assimilating hive mind that is revealed to be Rick's ex. An interesting character that is purportedly a featureless organism but mostly shown as a female woman resembling Tina Fey. Really dig this character and all the subsequent episodes with her(?).

"The Wedding Squanchers"

A wedding invitation to the union of Birdperson and Tammy leads to the entire family transported to an alien world for the festivities...only to find there is a conspiracy underfoot and the wedding becomes a bloodbath between Rick, his co-horts, and the Galactic federation!As olid storyline to wrap up season2 and a bonafide cliffhanger of an end!

"Pickle Rick"

The Smith family get counseling!

Already knew the images from this episode long before I ever watched the show, enough that I thought Rick turned into a pickle was a common occurrence! But it was the clips featuring family psychiatrist Dr. Wong online that really intrigued me and made me want to explore the show more! Like others, I really love the Dr. Wong character, as voiced by Susan Sarandon she exudes a real calm even when the story is going haywire!

“Morty’s Mind Blowers”

Hilarious take on the Inter-dimensional Cable episodes, this one featured Morty revisiting some of the times Rick has wiped him memory via a recall helmet. While reliving past moments, his frustrations at what he learns escalates til Both he and Rick have lost their own memories, leading to Summer's  classic “Oh Man, It’s a Scenario 4” quote!

“The Rickchurian Mortydate"

When snubbed by the President of the United States when asked for a selfie, Rick and Morty, (who are revealed to have been heretofore assisting the White House with all manner of extraterrestrial crises) turn their backs on the POTUS, and become enemies of America!

All this happening while Beth deals with the fact that she may be a clone created by her father while her true self roams the universe! 

Another awesome season closer.

“Star Mort: Rickturn Of The Jerri”

Explosive conclusion of several arcs including the Tammy/Birdperson Galactic Federation Manhunt and the Beth/Clone storyline. Like most of the best ones, this episode had its highly dramatic parts mixed in with the absolute silliness!

"Solaricks"

A re-setting on the Portal Gun sends all the characters not of the current timeline back to their source of origin, revisiting past story arcs and showing what happened since. One of the more serious Rick and Morty stories as we once again delve into the tragedy of past Rick and his beloved but ultimately doomed original family.

"Night Family"

In much the style of the excellent series "Severance", Rick creates a machine that activates the mind at night where your sleeping body does all the work that the person does not want to do while awake. Exercising to develop muscles, practicing to master musical instruments, these are all tasks where the family wants the benefits but not the work. And when they even make the sleeping selves do the chores like wash dishes, the night versions of themselves eventually rebel and try to take over.

“Analyze Piss”

Under orders from his therapist, Rick tries ignoring his enemies, giving to the rise of Jerry as Town Hero when he defeats "Piss-master" in duel. But as Jerry rises in stature, Rick discovers the underside to the villain’s failures. Also a commentary on the ups and downs of viral trending!

Another thought-provoking well-written episode!

"Air Force Wong"

The return of Unity and her Hive-mind and also Family Psychiatrist Dr. Wong make for an excellent episdoe, this time with Rcik fighting off Unity’s invasion of Virginia while at the same time dealing with the possible romance between Dr. Wong and the President!

The Smith family take a back seat for this one and the entire episode is given to the always intriguing ongoing dynamic between Rick and Unity!

"The Fear Hole"

R&M already poked fun at David Cronenberg in an earlier episode, but I think the Fear Hole counts as a true homage to the genre: existential crises and psychological trickery are all on the plate here as Morty and Rick jump into a door to their deepest fears only to find that their worries are deeply layered and multifold!

Those Wacky Brady Bunch Movies

If you’re going to be doing a Cinematic remake of a 60’s or 70’s television show, probably the best way to go about it is the way that Paramount did it with their two wonderful BRADY BUNCH movies. Not really true “remakes” of the show, these were more like 2 hour long Saturday Night Live Skits, spoofing the Brady Bunch as well as paying homage to the show.

While the show did paint the Bradys in a zany caricature light (a family eternally happy and stuck in their 1970’s styles), it was really just poking gentle fun at the show, because just like Forrest Gump or Chance the Gardener, no matter how eccentric the family got, their innocence and good natured ways always made them come out unscathed and victorious!

As Silly as the movies got, they still retained the basic fundamentals of the show, which was the love they had as a family and their honest hearts. All the actors really nailed their parts: Gary Cole and Shelly Long as earnest patents Mike and Carol Brady, and especially Jennifer Elise Cox's hilarious take on troubled middle child Jan! And GOD DAMN, is Christine Taylor as Marcia just the hottest thing this side of Maureen McCormick or WHAT?! She’s absolutely freakin’ HOT!

So much attention to the "little" things made you know that these writers were REAL fans of the show- things like "Pork Chops and Applesauce" scribbled on the grocery list chalkboard or "Pilgrim Costumes" written on a box in the garage, these were fun little tidbits that you only "got" if you watched the show a lot as a kid! And the biggest laugh I got was when guest star Tim Matheson (posing as Carol's long lost husband) trips out on magic mushrooms and the psychedelic vision he sees is...the BRADY KIDS cartoon with Marlon the Magic Bird and Ping and Pong the Pandas! AHAHAHAHAHA, TOO FUNNY!

So I loved both THE BRADY BUNCH MOVIE and its sequel, the aptly titled A VERY BRADY SEQUEL, but somehow I’d only owned the first movie, and that was on VHS! So I was very happy to see that they’d actually managed to put BOTH movies on a VERY affordable DVD set at Wal-Mart- $13.00 for this “BRADY BUNCH OF MOVIES” set! It was time for some Marcia viewing!

This cool set included both movies as well as a made-for-TV one called “The Bradys In the White House”.  Unlike the two cinematic ones, however, this one (though still starring Gary Cole and Shelley Long as Mike and Carol) was a total misfire, and all the sensibilities of the actual show were ignored in favor of vapid slapstick. Oh Well, that wasn’t why I bought the set anyway!

The Set rounded things up with another made for TV movie, GROWING UP BRADY, a movie based on Barry “Greg” Williams book of the same name! Williams himself introduces and narrates the show, giving his version of the Brady bunch as how it was to grow up on the set (and of his lifelong love of Maureen McCormick, who can blame him!) and it ended up being a nice conclusion to the Marathon session!

AbFab on DVD

I got the ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS DVD Box Set from my friend Car on my birthday since she remembered how much I loved that show back in the day…

I've got just about all of the original two seasons episodes on VHS tape dubbed off the TV back when Comedy Central was showing it, but thought it’d be really NEAT to finally have the complete series on DVD, but one thing is puzzling me and in fact bugging me about the DVD set:

For SOME REASON, the awesome theme song "This Wheel's On Fire" has been COMPLETELY cut out of the show and now the credits have been replaced by this instrumental music!!

GADS, that’s REALLY irritating, because the song is SO MUCH part of the show. When the show begins, they have a teaser/setup of the episode, then after a joke, it would go right into the drumroll intro. And more importantly, the END of the show, after the end credits ran, they'd tack on one final scene or joke, and then freeze frame with the refrain of "THIS WHEEL SHALL EXPLODE!!!!" Was always SOOOO Funny!

Instead, now it has laughter and that instrumental track. BOOOOO!

WHA HOPPENED? Did they lose the rights to that song?  ARGH!

Anyway, it sucks because even though I've got the DVD, I’m still gonna end end up watching my VHS copies of the show!

Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries presents: Jean Rasey!

Back in the days when The New Mickey Mouse Club was consuming most of my life, I also had a mild passing interest in the Sunday night Crime-drama Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries, the show based on the best selling juvenile fiction novels and starring teenage heartthrobs Shaun Cassidy, Parker Stevenson and Pamela Sue Martin.

Pamela Sue Martin! Like most guys my age, most of the main reason to tune in to the show was to see the pretty sleuth go through the motions, and so when a friend of mine told me he’d picked up the Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries DVD Box Set of the first season, I couldn’t wait to borrow it and take a step back to those childhood crushes of yesteryear!

  The show itself was about as much as I’d remembered (the stories themselves were your basic TV mystery drama yarns like Quincy and Charlie’s Angels) and Pamela Sue was as charismatic and pretty as I’d remembered…but there was one person I hadn’t recalled at all, and that was the character of Nancy’s tomboy friend George Fayne.

 As all readers of the original Nancy Drew novels know, best friends George Fayne and Bess Marvin usually accompanied Nancy as she went about uncovering clues and solving mysteries, and though I don’t know what became of Bess, it was nice to see (along with “sort-of” boyfriend Ned) some of the other regular book characters making appearances in the show!

 The show was paired up with the Hardy Boys show, and so maybe the producers wanted to give Nancy a “partner” in the TV series, and they surely found one in George Fayne! As played by pretty actress Jean Rasey, I found myself loving every scene that George was in, and I think it’s safe to say that (at least at THIS time in my life) she really MADE the show for me!

 Jean Rasey! How in the world did I forget about her? This gal was so much fun, and I think she really brought the George character to life! I’d always thought having a girl named “George” was funny reading the books, but to see it attached to this beautiful, sunny girl just made it all the more ironic!

  And the thing I loved most about Jean Rasey’s portrayal of George is that she managed to capture the character’s tomboyishness while still managing to look cute as heck!  One of the great joys of re-watching the series after all these years is watching George’s stuttering “scaredy-cat” shtick that would give Shaggy a run for his money performed with such cute and spunky gusto!

 I was so intrigued by my discovery of Jean Rasey, that I went right to Wikipedia to find out more about this wonderful actress…only to find no page exists for her! Man, that is really sad. IMDB still had a bit about her, though it was disheartening to read that she’d only done a few more television show appearances (all between 1975-79) and nary a show since! Sigh. Oh Well, I'll always have my Nancy Drew reruns to satisfy me!

BTW...While searching for information, I came across a "Facebook" page featuring a pretty lady named "Jean Rasey"... is this the Jean Rasey?! :)

Comments from the original VOX Post:

jean rasey wrote: Feb 21, 2010 

Yes....this is Jean Rasey.

zinkognito replied to jean rasey’s comment: Feb 24, 2010 

WOW!!!!!!!

Dunno If I'm REALLY lucky enough to have garnered a comment from THE lovely Jean Rasey, but on the off chance it happens to be, I MUST say that it is a THRILL indeed to hear from you!!!!

(And who says blogging doesn't have its little rewards!?) AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Thanks so much for commenting!

jean rasey wrote: Feb 24, 2010 

Hahahaha! No thank you! & Yes it is me Jean Rasey and Yes I am back acting....again thanks for your very kind words.....:-)

zinkognito replied to jean rasey’s comment: Feb 25, 2010 

Ms Jean Rasey~

You're VERY welcome! That's great news to hear, and we'll certainly be looking out for your new endeavors!

From Wednesday Addams to Cricket Montgomery : Lisa Loring

Lisa Loring went from cute child actress on The Addams Family 

to gorgeous vixen on As The World Turns!   My recollection...

Back around 1981 or so, my friend Herb and I were talking about the Addams Family and the Munsters. As readers of this blog know well, I am a fervent supporter of the Munsters Camp, but did watch the Addams Family as well, especially to see Carolyn Jones as Morticia. I wondered aloud what had ever happened to her, and Herb piped up, “Hey, she’s on this one soap opera that my mother watches- this one political soap called CAPITOL!” I went kind of, “Whaaa?” and he said that the show would be on later on in the day (about 2:30), and we could check it out! Well, it came on, and  I have to say it was a pretty interesting show, although it was a shock to see Carolyn Jones looking more like Endora than Morticia!

At some point watching Capitol, Herb suddenly remembered something else about our initial conversation. “Hey, I just remembered - that girl who played Wednesday is on As The World Turns!” I said “What, you’re talking Lisa Loring?  How old is she now?” He thought about it and said “I dunno, probably 20 years old or so…but I think you’re gonna like it...She plays this chick called Cricket Montgomery, and she’s SUPER PRETTY!”

  Well, that was all I needed to hear, and we tuned in to As The World Turns, but  it was anticlimactic as Cricket didn’t appear in that particular episode. It wasn’t until a few days later that I was up at Herb’s house with the television going on in the background when he finally pointed  to the TV and said- “There! That’s Wednesday Addams!” I quickly ran to the set and saw Lisa Loring in all her grown–up glory. Herb wasn’t kidding- She was FINE! Cute little Wednesday Addams had grown up into a gorgeous BABE!

We actually ended up tuning in to CAPITOL  and AS THE WORLD TURNS a bit during that summer, There were pretty interesting storylines going on, and with pretty actresses like Kimberly Beck-Hilton and Deborah Mullowney on CAPITOL, what’s not to love?  Throw in Lisa Loring in AS THE WORLD TURNS, and you had a pretty full soap watching schedule- and there was still gals like Eileen Davidson on The Young And The Restless to discover! Ahahahahha…

  Nowadays you can still find Lisa Loring appearing at conventions and events, still supporting her fans, and there's even a cool video clip of her on TV Land reminiscing about her child star days back in the sixties! Check It Out!

More Fave TV: The Munsters

I’m going to come right out and say it…when I was growing up; I was INFATUATED with Lily Munster! I mean, I liked Yvonne De Carlo as an actress and all she did, but I was IN LOVE with the Lily Munster Character she played!

   It all started when the local channel here began re-broadcasting The Munsters on TV. The show was SO Witty and Funny! The stories were well scripted and the ACTING was top-notch! Fred Gwynne played lovable Herman Munster, Al Lewis played crotchety Grandpa, Beverly Owen played cute Marilyn and even Butch Patrick was a terrific kid actor...

  Then there was Lily! Watching the show now, I can clearly see what made her so attractive to me. She was kind, giggly and tough as nails all at once, and Yvonne De Carlo played her character 100%. I don’t know, maybe it was the long draping hair or her flowing gown or even that BAT pendant she wore ‘round her neck.

 I remember there was a time that I was SO obsessed with Lily, I would force my friend to stay up with me so I could catch Yvonne DeCarlo on the “Nite-Owl Theater” at 2:00 in the morning in shows like “Salome” and “Criss Cross” (the latter is still a movie I love watching!) I remember going to the library to Xerox stills of her in those BIG reference books! AHAHA! Heck, I’m STILL in love with her!

  In any case, I loved watching the Munsters. The stories were usually great, and even when they were mediocre; I always still had lovely Lily Munster to keep me occupied!

Some of My Favorite Episodes:

“Tin Can Man”

Eddie creates a robot for the school fair. When the robot breaks down, Herman takes over. The audience is in awe because they think he’s a robot. HERMAN thinks they’re in awe because his jokes are so funny.

“Family Portrait”

 A Magazine has chosen the Munsters as THE American Family, and has come to interview them and take pictures. Harvey Korman is hilarious in this one!

“Eddie’s Nickname”

Eddie is teased at school because he’s short. Grandpa gives him a milkshake to make him grow…instead, he grows a BEARD!

Fave Line:

Grandpa:” Eddie, with that beard, you look just like Mitch Miller!

“Eddie: “WAAAAHHHH!”

“Follow That Munster”

Herman has been taking a course in detective work, and has been going out at nights

doing footwork. Lily thinks he’s cheating on her. Her suspicions seem to be true when she confronts him with a girl he’s guarding.

Fave Line:

Herman” Lily, You may not believe this, but I’m Secret Agent 702!”

Lily “Herman, YOU may not believe THIS, but I’m SONNY LISTON!” POW!

“Just Another Pretty Face”

Herman gets struck by lightning, and his face gets horribly disfigured. That is, his face changes to a regular human face, or rather, Fred Gwynne without any makeup on! What a neat episode!

and my two faves of all time:

“Don’t Bank On Herman”

 Herman and Grandpa are mistaken for bank robbers, and are given a cache of money. After an angry Lily tells them they cannot keep the money, the two break into the bank to put back the money.

Fave line:

Herman (counting)”18200, 18200, 18300 dollars!”

Lily: "Herman, I have some news for you.”

Herman: “Yes, Dear?”

Lily: “We only HAD $680 IN our tax account.”

Herman: “Really?”

Lily: “Really. You Know what this means now, don’t you?”

Herman “Yes I do, dear….It mean our bank gives a generous amount of interest!”

Lily: ‘It MEANS Herman, that you have GOOFED IT AGAIN!”

and

“Herman’s Rival”

Herman lets unreliable Uncle Lester borrow money for an investment. Lily thinks the bank account is short because they’re poor, so as not to embarrass Herman, she secretly goes out to work at a Tea House to make extra money. This is fine, but Herman thinks she’s seeing someone behind his back!

The ending confrontation between Lily, The tea House owner and Uncle Lester is TOO FUNNY!

Another one of my very favorite Sitcoms of the sixties!

Favorite TV: My Favorite Martian

My first exposure to My Favorite Martian was actually a spin-off type kid’s cartoon that aired in the early seventies under the same name. I was only vaguely aware that this was based on an actual sitcom. Like the Hanna-Barbera cartoon spin-off Jeannie (based off, of course, I Dream Of Jeannie) these were tweaked characters and storylines aimed at kids.

  It wasn’t until the early eighties when NBC started running the original My Favorite Martian television show late at night that I finally got to see what the REAL show was all about, and I was instantly captivated. The first thing that struck me was how YOUNG Bill Bixby was! I was a kid used to seeing Bill change into the Incredible Hulk every week, and to see him as a loveable, klutzy reporter Tim O’Hara was unbelievable! I hadn’t seen Ray Walston in anything before this, but he would always ever after be Uncle Martin to me whenever I saw him later on in movies like Fast Times at Ridgemont High and the Stephen King TV movie The Stand.

   The show’s premise was simple: Martian crashes on Earth, makes friends with a News Reporter, pretends to be said reporter’s long lost uncle until he can get his spaceship fixed, wacky hijinks ensue as they try to keep the secret under wraps, with lots of special effects to help save the day. But it was more than that…

   One of the things that immediately struck me about My Favorite Martian was how much heart the show had. The sitcom balanced zany slapstick with nice, touching scenes, and you really got the feeling that these two guys loved each other just as much as if they were real Uncle and Nephew.

   Then there was Lorelee Brown. Tim’s ditzy Landlady, played by gorgeous Pamela Britton (she of Blondie fame), was a perfect character for the sitcom and a great balance for the two male lead actors. Like Gladys Kravitz in Bewitched,, she was always around to “accidentally” bump into some Martian shenanigans which they would spend the whole episode trying to “fix”, but unlike Mrs. Kravitz, she was really a lovable neighbor, and the boys adored her.

   In addition, she loosely played a romantic interest in Uncle Martin, and several episodes were based on the chemistry the two had with each other. One of my favorite episodes was Martin and The Eternal Triangle, where a gentleman named Andre attempts to woo Mrs. Brown, and you really find out how much Uncle Martin secretly likes her.

Other episodes I really loved:

"Never Trust a Naked Martian"

Against Uncle Martin’s warnings of not messing around with things he doesn’t understand, Tim touches Uncle Martin’s antennae, and slips into Limbo.

   Hilarious Moment: Uncle Martin can only see Tim through a mirror, but when Mrs. Brown passes by the mirror, she sees Tim's image, so he freezes and pretends he’s a picture.

"Gone But Not Forgotten"

Uncle Martin gets a sliver of his antennae in his finger, causing everything he touches to disappear. Rather than have to explain why the furniture is invisible, they hide it and pretend they’ve been robbed!

  Hilarious Moment:  Tim and Martin taking out the invisible furniture as a delighted Mrs. Brown watches…she thinks they’re doing charades!

"Three To Make Ready"

 Part of Uncle Martin wants to return to Mars. Part of him wants to stay. And part of him is undecided. So Martin splits himself into three so he can rationally discuss it with himself. Of course trouble is bound to happen when they have to explain THREE Uncle Martins!

  Hilarious Moment: Tim tossing and turning in his sleep, mumbling : “This Uncle Martin went to market.. this Uncle Martin stayed home. This Uncle Martin had roast beef… and that’s all the Uncle Martins there are…….AND THAT”S PLENTY!”

"How Are Things in Glocca Martin?"

 Tim’s long lost Uncle Seamus crashes in, and upon witnessing Martin doing some Martian-ish activities, believes Uncle Martin to be a…Leprechaun!

  Hilarious Moment…, Ah geez, too many to pick from, but I do love the ending teaser dialog: Tim (laughing): “Imagine in this day and age two grown up people actually believing that you were a  Leprechaun?” Martin: “I wouldn’t laugh, Tim…YOU believe I’m a Martian!” Then he turns slowly to the camera and winks!

   The My Favorite Martian series ran for three seasons, two seasons in black and white, and one season in color.

Bill Bixby went on to The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, The Magician and of course The Incredible Hulk. Pamela Britton and Ray Walston even made guest appearances on some of Bill’s shows as well- Pam in The Magician, and Ray in The Incredible Hulk!

I Love Season Five Jeannie Best!

A few years back when SONY Pictures had just  gotten around to releasing the first season of I DREAM OF JEANNIE on DVD, I was proclaiming my love for the sitcom’s FIFTH season as my favorite (out of the show’s 5 seasons), because in the last season, Jeannie and Tony were engaged, so Jeannie’s character changed from being his Secret Genie whom no one saw, to Tony’s WIFE whom everyone knew (though still secretly a Genie, a la Bewitched). This meant that Jeannie spent most of the time in “real” clothes, and each episode featured gorgeous Barbara Eden in the Sexiest Sixties outfits and the shortest skirts you ever laid eyes on! It was Heaven!

Well, it’s been quite a wait for me, but HALLELUJAH the day has finally come, and “I DREAM OF JEANNIE –THE FIFTH AND LAST SEASON” has FINALLY been released! I just got my copy from Amazon.com yesterday, and have been watching each episode back to back, in a frenzied marathon, and I must say: IT WAS WELL WORTH THE WAIT!

Oh my Gosh Barbara Eden looks just luscious here- every episode features her in several different outfits, and I’m always on the edge of my seat waiting to see what she’ll be wearing in the next scene! And to see these episodes in DVD quality is really the icing on the cake!

Anyway…Enjoy some of my fanboy captures of Jeannie sans Genie Costume, rocking the Mini-Dresses!

Hahha, I know this may seem like I went overboard, but the fact of the matter is, there were many, many more outfits I loved that I just couldn't capture because there never was any clear shots of them. Curses!

PS- It’s still a shock to see the “Sony Pictures” logo and theme after the ending credits…

I’m SOOOO used to the old “Screen Gems” theme appearing after the song!

It's kinda sad, in a way...Though it was kinda creepy as a kid, I miss that tag!