Dracula on PBS cartoons!

By cracky, its Wednesday, August 25, 2010 and today is special, because today its not all about Batman. That's right, today the Laundry Crisis takes a rest. My harebrained theories on possible connections between Darkseid and The Black Glove are cooling gently.

Today is a day without Batman.

Because today... its really all about Spider-man.

PBS MAKES YOU THINK!!

There was a time that when you were a kid and you get out of bed at an insane hour of the morning you could turn on regular television and be entertained, even on the weekdays. VOLTRON was on at six in the morning and, by Buddha, I'd be up to watch it. And VOLTRON wasn't alone. I truly think I'm the only person who remembers THE BIONIC SIX because I was the only nutter up at that time of the morning watching television. And there was HEATHCLIFF, M.A.S.K., and BEVERLY HILLS TEENS... not that I would watch BEVERLY HILLS TEENS, but I had the option! We didn't have cable, but there was stuff to watch on TV even as a kid in the mornings on the weekdays.

But things are different now. Now almost everyone has cable, or satellite TV or whatever. Everyone but me. And the weekday cartoons have died off. I think one channel shows one cartoon and the rest of the morning its infomercials. The other stations all have their morning news shows. So what do you do if you want to watch cartoons in the morning and don't have cable, especially if you have little kids in the house? You turn to PBS. Because you have to. And because I have to, I have thought about it way too much. And because I have a blog I can now inflict these thoughts upon you.

* I am fascinated by the Man in the Yellow Hat on CURIOUS GEORGE. He works in museum, has a nice condo and a house in the country, and is a published author. He's been on expeditions to the antarctic. He was chosen to go into space on a mission. This guy must have a resumé as long as my arm, and I'm still not entirely sure what he does for a living.

* While I'm thinking about CURIOUS GEORGE, I know he's a cute little monkey, but I live in constant dread of the day he grows up, tries to achieve his male dominance of the house hold and goes off on the man in the yellow hat like the opening scene of 28 DAYS LATER.

* I wonder how much it costs to go to the private school that SID THE SCIENCE KID attends. They're fully stocked with a ton of educational stuff, have an great facility, and only four students.

* I have finally adjusted to the fact that dinosaurs and brightly colored on DINOSAUR TRAIN and that they ride on a train that goes through tunnels that can take them through time. The fact that they all talk was pretty much a given. However the undersea train station just killed me. I still can't figure out how the hell they built it.

* I often think that the residents of SESAME STREET live in constant fear of the monsters that reside there. I think they put up with all the counting and such to keep them pacified for the sake of the children. What with seemingly all power creatures about that can change you into things and control the weather its smart to stay on their good side. I just know that the day the garbage truck finally shows up, Oscar will start the uprising.



* I don't know if POCOYO is very educational, but the fact that its narrated by Stephen Fry makes me feel smarter.

* I find myself worrying horribly about Cliff Hanger on BETWEEN THE LIONS. That poor bastard has been stuck there for a while. I do admire his tenacity hanging on for so long instead of just giving up and plummeting to his demise. That and his grip strength. I admire that too.

* I enjoy THE ELECTRIC COMPANY much more than I probably should. The only reason i watched it as a kid was because Spider-man was on it. The new show is a lot of fun but there is a distinct lack of Spidey.

I just read an article about people hooked on Cable. At first I just wanted to dismiss them as pathetic losers, but really it seems like we're all getting 'pushed' into getting some pay TV service or another. Big thing like switching over air broadcasts to lame digital signals from the superior analog signal, to small things like a lack of decent cartoons to watch. It just feels like the fix is in sometimes.

I wonder what Clifford the Big Red Dog would do.

A BRIEF WORD FROM UNCLE STAN



COMIX!!

Got an early peek at DRACULA: THE COMPANY OF MONSTERS #1 from BOOM Studios and I freaking loved it. Maybe it hit me at just the right time having watched a good chunk of BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA on TV last Saturday during their Keanu Reeves marathon. Maybe it was just my basic geek nature. This first issue sets up so much great stuff that I'm salivating for issue 2. Wirters Kurt Busiek and Daryl Gregory split this story nicely between exposition on Prince Vlad the Impaler in the 15th century and a modern day corporate drone on an assignmnet that he doesn't understand.

Scott Godlewski handles the art chores nicely on here. He manages to not only nail down the modern day setting but also the 15th century history lesson. Not a bad range at all.

This has a pitch perfect horror movie set up. Normal guy just keeps getting in deeper and deeper in the a weirdness that he wants no part of. It didn't end like I expected, but that just got me more eager to see the next issue. Honestly, I was expecting this book to be about Dracula somehow now in the 21st century and running a company. They wisely twist this into a corporation looking to make Dracula their latest corporate asset.

They're looking to wake the devil. Expect all hell to break loose when they do.

MUSIC!!

Because today, its all about Spider-man.




That's all for now. Please enjoy the remainder of the WTF portion of your week. See you Friday. Behave yourselves. And if you can't, put it on YouTube.

4 comments:

Paul said...

I remember the Bionic Six. I even remember the theme song. And I had the toys, Brain One, the jeep, a couple of other things.

Marty Nozz said...

Was it on at six in the morning where you lived?

Paul said...

Nope, it was on in the afternoon from what I remember. I'm trying to remember what shows it was paired with. Early morning was for Silverhawks, from what I recall.

Marty Nozz said...

Interesting. We had Silverhawks and Thundercats in the afternoons. It seems the afternnon cartoons on regular TV have gone the way of the dodo as well.