Post your reviews: Adult Swim Comedy (3/24/02)

[randomguy]

Click here to review "Pizza Club". (http://adultswim.toonzone.net/episodes/episodes-hm25.php)
Click here to review "Ugly Zoe". (http://adultswim.toonzone.net/episodes/episodes-bb12.php)
Click here to review "Saddle Rash". (http://adultswim.toonzone.net/episodes/episodes-saddle.php)

[randomguy]

As for my thoughts, I thought tonight's Home Movies was gold. I mean, it worked on a million levels. I think the highlight of this episode was character interaction though. The principle focus of the episode was conversation, the way HM should be, and it was all extremely funny. My favorite moments were all of Brendan's talks with Andrew (seems like they're warming up to each other now), McGuirk stealing Lynch's bike, Brendan's documentary of Scab, the various bands, and pretty much everything else, like the movie, the music, the animation, you name it. The only thing I didn't like was the subplot with Paula', which felt tacked on and didn't really go anywhere interesting. I think some might not like Cynthia, seeing as how Brendan's infatuation with her makes NO sense, but I enjoy her character. Anybody who's ever had a crush from afar, the kind that don't make much sense but dominate you anyway, will understand Cynthia's role in HM. Plus, I think she brings out some genuinely interesting emotions in Brendan (I couldn't help but feel bad for the guy in the end). McGuirk's acceptance into pizza club was obviously symbolic for his role as a psuedo father-figure for Brendan (and Brendan's movie pretty much nailed that point also), which was interesting to me. In fact, there was really some fairly poignant stuff here. Overall, HM just seems to be getting better and better to me, and this episodes focus on a few principle characters, great dialogue, and a simple plot made it one of the better episodes of the second season. I give it a much-deserved A+

[spectre316]

I thought the episode was great in some aspects; and rather boring in others. Basically, we've already seen this whole Cynthia thing before - and in better fashion - in "Impressions."

But the good things about it were indeed really, really above average -- McGuirk's obsession to get Brendon's acceptance, and his obsession to get into "pizza club" were memorble moments.

Another bad thing, though: Dwayne's voice. It's gotten more cleaner... and I could understand EVERYTHING he said -- that's not how it should be! I liked him better, much better in earlier episodes.

Best moment? The Walter and Perry one. I loved that. I'm really getting to like those characters.

[Detra]

Home Movies -"Pizza Club"-
Another solid episode, not one of the best of the season, but good nonetheless. I liked McGuirk's obsession over the Pizza Club, the Perry and Walter thing was classic. I heard the outtake before this episode, good to see an image around that sound clip. Anyhow, YO MOMMA. Grade: A

Saddle Rash
Odd, the premise is very funny but it got bizzare and not making any sense real quickly. It was funny nonetheless, the scenes where the narrator ramble on were great. Grade: A

[Chibi Kageboshi]

I'm just going to rate them

Home Movies: Great episod grade being "A"

Baby Blues: A great episode aswell "A"

Saddle Rash: BORING "D"

[BlackTerror]

Home Movies: Pretty good episode, probably one of the better ones of late. Grade: A

Baby Blues: Okay, a step above the last few but not that great either. Is it me or is Wanda starting to look like a terrible mother? Grade: B- or C

Saddle Rash: Pretty decent, lot of dialogue based humor like Home Movies and some knowing winks at Westerns (which might be an odd choice for parody, since I wonder how many CN viewers watch old westerns). Grade: A

[Spaceman Spiff]

Home Movies: Pretty good. I, too, thought the best parts were with McGuirk and Andrew. Pretty funny overall. - A

Home Movies: Good also, though it seemed a bit slow at times. - B-

Saddle Rash: Boy, by the previews this looked terrible. I didn't really know what to expect. It took me a bit to get in the "mood" of the show, but once I did, I really enjoyed it. Hope it gets picked up. I really liked the graphical style of the show.- A

[Calhoun07]

Gee...I didn't like Saddle Rash that much. It was ok, glad I got it taped, but I would rather see Eltingville become a series. I guess I just could not get into the humor of the show. That doesn't mean it couldn't grow on me if it did become a series, as I was converted from hating Home Movies to absolutely adoring that show, so anything is possible. But the pilot for Saddle Rash seemed to fit more as a one shot deal for me than leaving me a desire to see the rest of the series.

[SSJ_Gogeta]

Saddle Rash: Great! The old mans ramblings and homoeroticism is damn hilarious! This show is gold. Pick it up CN! A+

Home Movies: Mcguirk, and his obsession with the pizza club was the highlight for me. Then there was Walter & Perry... Freaky... They are supposed to be "friends" right? They are funny, but aren't they under 10? Again, just freaky. A

[Calhoun07]

This may have been discussed before, but one thing I noticed in the recent episode of Home Movies is some kind of tension between Brandon's dad and the coach, as if the coach wants to be the father figure for Brandon. I know I am not the first to notice this, but it really stuck out in this episode. I think over all it was a great episode, and one of my favorites.

[Big Big Truck]

Hi, first post. :)

I really like how Home Movies has started to have a longer-running story arc. I've liked it from the first night it aired, but it's cool to see something I thought was just an episodic mishmash develop running themes.
I miss the squigglies, though. And "Starboy and the Captain of Outer Space" was by far one of the best of this season IMO.

The Battle of the Bands segment was hilarious, especially the freaky 80's throwback band.

I had to get back to work, so I only listened to Baby Blues and Saddle Rash. I really dug the music in SR...

[Shnay]

Strap yourselves in, boys and girls. This may be long.

Home Movies, "Pizza Club": Very good episode for a number of reasons, and definately the best of the last few episodes. The most important element of this episode was, of course, the characterization, which was expressed with excellent dialogue and atmosphere. There were basically three major scenes that (directly) established the relationships Brenden has with his father and with McGuirk. They were the first meeting in the pizza restaurant, the confrontation at the soccer game, and the final scene, introducing the newest member of the "Pizza Club."

Not only did these reveal a great deal about the characters and their relationships, but they were also hilarious, while keeping many of the trademarks of the "HM style." In the first dialogue between Brenden, McGuirk, and Andrew, we see just how much Brenden means to McGuirk, Brenden's discomfort in the presence of both of them, and the insecurties of both Andrew and McGuirk. But the way we see this is what sets Home Movies apart from so many other show. The exchange between the characters grows from an awkward moment into a tense and chaotic situation where they are all talking at the same time and all hiding how they truly feel. This "talking at the same time" style of dialogue is so refreshing for a TV show. Conversations in life don't end in a punch line, and they're not scripted. This epsiode found a nearly perfect balance between realistic characters and dialogue and wacky comedy.

I say it finds a balance between the two because, as desperate as he was, McGuirk would not have asked Walter and Perry to start a pizza club. They put that in for comedy, and it worked wonderfully. That was just hilarious.

A few final points: the Paula subplot just didn't work at all. Not only didn't it work comically, but I think it took a little something away from her character. After seeing her enthusiatically write her terrible novel last week, and then seeing her desperate and wacky behavior this week, it seems her character is being treated with a little less respect on the show. Not a huge deal, just what sort of came to my mind as I was watching (for the record, I know why they had her do all that, I just didn't like that they did). Brenden's movie was great, I felt it got back to the early style of the movies that I love. And, lastly, the pizza place in this episode looked exactly like the neighborhood place I go to...but, none of you care...so, um...moving on.

Baby Blues, "Ugly Zoe": I thought this had some really good moments, especially the stuff with Rodney, Zoe's worsening condition, and her Hitler/Chaplin mustache/scab. I didn't think it was a great episode, but overall pretty solid.

Saddle Rash: I wasn't expecting too much from this one, but I was very pleasantly surprised. This had plenty of great moments throughout, and, for me at least, all of the humor worked. I'm still up in the air about a series, becasue I'm not sure if they could stretch the premise into a few episodes (but, I suppose you could say the same thing about Eltingville). However, if they could continue this level of quality, I'd be giddy about this as a series.

Space Ghost, "Suckup": It had Brak. It had gravy. That's enough to be considered "good" in my book. I also loved the early scene with John Henson: "So, do you use shampoo, or other products to treat your deformity?" "Well, I have a skunk spot." "Really? We hadn't noticed." Good stuff.

Space Ghost, "Marketability": Different...but the good kind of different. I thought a few of the jokes fell a little flat, but most of it was pretty funny. Both episodes had a very old school SGC2C feel.

ATHF, "The Bus of the Undead": Well, it was a big night for the guy who does the Jason/McGuirk voice. He also did one for Saddle Rash and ATHF. Anyway, this is a good episode, but I don't think it's one of the best. It still has some really great moments, though like "Do what I say 'casue I say it," "Assisted Living Dracula," and "The 'D' stands for Dracula...I rented the headphones."

Sealab, "Free Radio": Same as ATHF, good but not the best, with some really good moments. How can you not laugh at Capt. Murphy (along with his sidekick Sparkplug) as a rude DJ? Really good stuff like "the ultimate zing," and the line "Yeah, well, thanks for the f'n backstory" from the foul-mouthed FCC guys are hilarious. (I gotta start using the word "fignuts" more often).

Well, I'm done, I swear. I probably should have stopped about three paragraphs ago...I think I'm getting carpol tunnel syndrome. Seriously though, sorry this was so long.

[Cactusjack1999]

Ohhh boy.

Home Movies - An ok episode. Not much in the way of a story or anything. Last weeks was better IMO. DVD!!!!!

Final Grade - C-

Baby Blues - Good episode. Very funny. I liked the whole "Up Periscope" and the thing with that guy on the boat (I'm being really detailed aren't I???) that Bizzy has to use the defribulator.

The whole Hitler thing did kinda kick this episode down a few notches.

Final Grade - B-

Saddle Rash - God this thing was just about as retarded as Greedo shooting first wasn't it??? CN shoulda opted to have this shown as weekly installments as Web Premier Cartoons and not on AS. Half the stuff "Slim" did just freaked me out too.

Final Grade - C-

[Mr. X]

Pizza Club - Not the best HM ever, but definitely worth watching for the scenes with McGuirk v. Brendan's Dad, and McGuirk's pizza club with Walter & Perry. Classic! Also, the Behind the Music parody was pretty funny. A-/B+

Ugly Zoe - Yawwwn! Seemed to me that it was totally out of character for wholesome breadwinner-type Darryl to pretend the babysitter was his wife--I didn't buy it. Still, a show with George Takei and Philip Baker Hall doing voiceovers can't be all bad. C+

Saddle Rash - Opinion on this board seems divided right down the middle. I thought it was great. Home Movies-style dialogue, a great graphic look, awesome music, and some inspired weirdness (come on, an armless gunfighter!!). It had the (for lack of a better description) Loren Bouchard-style improv-y dialogue, but a more polished feel to the art & animation. Pilot vs. pilot, I liked this way better than Eltingville, but I hope both shows get picked up. It shouldn't have to be one or the other. A

SGC2C, ATHF & Sealab reruns- all funny. Still finding gags I missed the first time round.

[Tails Prower]

Aqua Teen - All Episodes of this series deserve and A...theyre all so funny...even after reruns.. "Monster MothMan come back! *slips* MY BANNANA!" Man Dr Wierd is so funny. "ITS JUST A DAMN BUS!" ~Frylock

Its the only show i watched...i was reliving Megaman X3 on my Dreacmast all night. :-) A++++ For ATHF.

[Killtacular]

Paula isn't getting treated with less respect.

It's just that Paula is having a nervous breakdown. She's been out of a job for several episodes now, the bills are piling up, and her attempts to find jobs have failed, as well as failing at becoming an author.

On her attempts to get into Brendon's movies... she is NOT trying to star in a Brendon Small film. She said so herself.

She wants to use Brendon's camera, actors, and equipment to make her OWN films. That's why Brendon found a script in Paula's hands when he stumbles onto her later in the episode, as well as why Paula brushes the editting hardware.

The reason isn't too hard to comprehend. Paula's spent all of this money on Brendon, and practically none on herself, and Brendon's done nothing to improve her life outside of winning a trophy at a local film festival.

Paula probably wants to make a rough movie, get an agent, and pitch to a studio to produce, with Jason and Melissa as the actors, and that is most likely why they are more upset about it than Brendon is.

[Mike Spiegel]

Hey there, this is my very first post and I'm very happy to be on this message board. I'm a huge Adult Swim fan and I just can't wait to meet all the people here. But first, can someone help me with something? How do I get a pic for my posts? You know, the one on the left under your username.

[Mike Spiegel]

Sorry, but being the true idiot that I am, I forgot to read the FAQ's. Never mind.

[Calhoun07]

The only reason I would want to see more episodes of Saddle Rash is to see how they come up with fresh ideas for Slim to be a gunslinger. It really struck me that gag would get old quick, real quick, and I guess that is the reason I didn't gravitate towards the idea of it being a series. I thought that the show would quickly rely on just one or two jokes and keep repeating those and the scripts would get old real quick. If it could be done successfully, then that would be cool, but not while sacrificing space for Eltingville.

[Shnay]

Originally posted by Matt Wilson

Paula isn't getting treated with less respect.
It's just that Paula is having a nervous breakdown. She's been out of a job for several episodes now, the bills are piling up, and her attempts to find jobs have failed, as well as failing at becoming an author.

It seems to me that if she was in such a dire situation that she would react differently. Now, obviously, people always don't act "logically" when they have a nervous breakdown, but I think we've seen that Paula tends to take her problems with a stiff jaw, and usually stays strong in times of difficulty. Perhaps her problems became too much to bare, but I'm not sure there is enough evidence to support that. It seems that the show, and her character, have been treating her unemployment very lightheartedly, like its not that big of a deal. I think this was more an act of boredom than an act of a "nervous breakdown."


On her attempts to get into Brendon's movies... she is NOT trying to star in a Brendon Small film. She said so herself.
She wants to use Brendon's camera, actors, and equipment to make her OWN films. That's why Brendon found a script in Paula's hands when he stumbles onto her later in the episode, as well as why Paula brushes the editting hardware.

I think this is actually one of the reasons that her character is in fact being treated with less respect. When she was teaching the class, her difficulties could be excused due to the class' lack of talent and disinterest. But, when she writes a horrible, trashy novel, and is desperate to make a no budget movie with her eight year old son and his friends...it just seems like she may not be the "creative writer" we once thought she was. Writers are certianly entitled to failures. But we saw a few bad failures in a row, so you can either view it as a good way to show her professional struggles, or dumbing her down for comic relief. I'm part of the latter category, but can definately see where you're coming from.


The reason isn't too hard to comprehend. Paula's spent all of this money on Brendon, and practically none on herself, and Brendon's done nothing to improve her life outside of winning a trophy at a local film festival.

Firstly, I know the reason isn't hard to comprehend, that's what I tried to state in the review. Second, he's a kid. "Hasn't improved her life outside of winning a trophy"? I consider myself pretty cynical, but I still think that a kid can "improve" the life of a mother just by being a (relatively) good kid. As far as the editing machine goes...I just like to pretend it isn't there, because it really shouldn't be (but I won't get into that again).


Paula probably wants to make a rough movie, get an agent, and pitch to a studio to produce, with Jason and Melissa as the actors, and that is most likely why they are more upset about it than Brendon is.

I don't know about all that, seems like a pretty big assumption out of what seemed to be a tacked on subplot. But if that's what you got out of her holding the script, well go with it.

(I really didn't intend to turn this little piece into a big thing. But, I've never been one to not defend my opinions...in length :D )

[J-chan]

Oh lovely, I get to review in a bad mood because my psychologist is a liar and thinks I don't know what I'm feeling.

Let's see what I can remember.

Home Movies: Beautiful. I LOVED this episode. Wonderful interaction with Brendon, his dad, and McGuirk. There isn't much for me to say that hasn't been said already.. hmm, I'll just wait quietly for the next exciting episode.

Baby Blues: Err.. I didn't pay very much attention because I just got Bomberman Tournament and it was more interesting so I focused on that instead. Rodney was pretty funny though. Wasn't my favorite episode in any case.

Saddle Rash: Another listen-only, until about 3 minutes from the end, when my GBA's batteries died. I'd like it if they aired it again. I think I could like it.

SGC2C: The first one had Brak. So I loved it. The second one reminded me of a video I saw when I took Marketing class a couple years ago, it was just as lame. The ending of the ep was great.

ATHF: My favorite episode. Assisted Living Dracula is brilliant. And I love Mothmonsterman. "It's... a reverse vampire! It CRAVES the sun! You can tell by the markings on the tires." "It's a damn schoolbus!"

Sealab: One of my favorites. The I Hate Marco Show, Zing of the Day... makes me want to start my own pirate radio station. "Yeah, well, f*** you......... sir."

[randomguy]

I don't know about all that, seems like a pretty big assumption out of what seemed to be a tacked on subplot. But if that's what you got out of her holding the script, well go with it.

Yeah, I second that emotion. No offense Matt... but I don't see enough proof that Paula is actually an aspiring filmmaker who needs Brendan's equipment. Sorry, but that seem like a REALLY strange theory.

[The Drizzle]

The pictures won't load on the Baby Blues review page for Ugly Zoe. It's the same on the YYH page for Yusuke is Back. I need my pictures! lol

[BlueAngelGal]

HM I agree with the minority here...I really enjoyed the "Starboy" ep, but this one...well, it just seems like a cartoon should be funny. Sure, there were rare moments, and I did find the whole McGuirk thing to be touching, yes...but y'know, it just wasn't funny, and while poignant moments can be good, an episode with almost no laughs isn't quite the same, y'know? B-

BB - Eeh. Not great, not awful, just eeh. C

Saddle Rash - On first watching, I was more bored than anything else. Then again, I don't think I was giving it my full attention, either. I have a natural dislike for Westerns, which doesn't help. Parts of it I did like, so it's probably worth another watch...the jury's still out on this one. I (incomplete)

SGC2C - Anything with Brak is a plus, and Brak plus gravy is always good, so the first one was decent. The second, however, was a rerun that wasn't very good the first time. C+

ATHF - It's funny how I hated this show instinctively, but now that I've forced myself to watch it a few times, it's growing on me. :) Meatwad cracks me up -- but he also drives me nuts, 'cause I swear that voice has been used somewhere else recently, in another cartoon, and I can't place it. Not the greatest ep. I've seen, but not bad. B

S2021 - Again, I hated this show instinctively, but it's growing on me. A pretty good ep overall, but the beginning was the best part (when he was bored and everyone kept ditching him). B-

Did anyone else notice, btw, that The Popeye Show seems to have been seperated from AS now? It's still there, but I noticed they didn't run an AS promo for it, and they ran a Boomerang bumper before it instead. I wish they'd make up their mind.