Paul's Occasional Media Recommendations
"The Venture Bros." (Cartoon Network)
Okay, I freely admit it: I watch a lot of TV.
I mean, a lot of TV.
I could blame it on the fact that I'm a musician, and thereby have a lot of free time; but I watched a lot even when I had a day job. I could claim that it's part of my job, as a musical satirist, to keep abreast of what's going on with the popular culture; but that'd be pretty much a load of horse hockey.
Truth is, I watch a lot of TV because I like it. So there. One could have lots of other, far worse hobbies, I bet.
And every so often, I like to proselytize about shows I like--shows that don't seem to get their proper due. And I try not to choose the obvious ones..."Arrested Development" is a wonderful, underrated show, but it's gotten tremendous mileage out of being an underrated show, with articles about how underrated it is being written roughly every three days. The original BBC version of "The Office" is tremendously funny, and was once kind of obscure, but actually did--against all odds--get its props and become popular (and of course, spawn an American remake; though at least this one doesn't completely suck moosedonger).
But I've always got my eye out for that next wonderful, doomed show. Which brings me to "The Venture Bros.", which airs on Sunday nights on Cartoon Network's late-night block of anime and -tion geared to the 18-35 dateless-male demographic, [adult swim]. (And if I didn't type it in lowercase with the brackets, they would probably send out the Cartoon Network goon squad to my house to mock my DVD collection).
Very briefly, The Venture Bros. is an animated comedy about Dr. Rusty Venture, noted scientist; his two mostly-clueless sons, Hank and Dean (part Hardy Boys, part Scooby-Doo Teen Gang); and Dr. Venture's super-competent bodyguard Brock Sampson. They travel across the world and into space and enjoy all kinds of mostly-science-related adventures.
"The Venture Bros." has a lot going for it; for starters, it's created by Jackson Publick (nee Chris McCulloch), a former writer for both the cartoon and live-action versions of "The Tick", so already it has an established "funny, hip, semi-obscure short-lived television series" pedigree. Second, it's got the voice of Patrick Warburton, which immediately earns it about 3,000 cool points.
But on top of all that, it's just damn funny. It helps if you grew up watching Jonny Quest, from which it borrows the basic setup and overall look-and-feel. The show, while generally adult-oriented, has appeal for both young and old, and isn't shrill and annoying in the process (a comment which has probably just put me on the wrong side of a lot of Invader Zim fans). While it's occasionally intentionally bizarre, it never shows the flop sweat of how self-consciously strange and hip it's trying so very hard to be. (I'm looking at you, Sealab 2021). And its initial charm doesn't wear off upon repeated viewings (it was good while it lasted, Aqua Teen Hunger Force).
It's just a smart, funny, good-looking show that deserves a wider audience that it will probably never get. That can work to one's advantage, through...a while back, I sent an e-mail to their production company, Astrobase Go!, inquiring about a t-shirt they used to sell (to add to my vast collection of oh-so-hip, obscure t-shirts). And while the shirts were discontinued (drat), the reply e-mail informing me so was written by Jackson Publick himself. And that was pretty cool; I guarantee you Jerry Bruckheimer wouldn't have written back personally.
- Paul
"The Venture Bros." (Cartoon Network)
Okay, I freely admit it: I watch a lot of TV.
I mean, a lot of TV.
I could blame it on the fact that I'm a musician, and thereby have a lot of free time; but I watched a lot even when I had a day job. I could claim that it's part of my job, as a musical satirist, to keep abreast of what's going on with the popular culture; but that'd be pretty much a load of horse hockey.
Truth is, I watch a lot of TV because I like it. So there. One could have lots of other, far worse hobbies, I bet.
And every so often, I like to proselytize about shows I like--shows that don't seem to get their proper due. And I try not to choose the obvious ones..."Arrested Development" is a wonderful, underrated show, but it's gotten tremendous mileage out of being an underrated show, with articles about how underrated it is being written roughly every three days. The original BBC version of "The Office" is tremendously funny, and was once kind of obscure, but actually did--against all odds--get its props and become popular (and of course, spawn an American remake; though at least this one doesn't completely suck moosedonger).
But I've always got my eye out for that next wonderful, doomed show. Which brings me to "The Venture Bros.", which airs on Sunday nights on Cartoon Network's late-night block of anime and -tion geared to the 18-35 dateless-male demographic, [adult swim]. (And if I didn't type it in lowercase with the brackets, they would probably send out the Cartoon Network goon squad to my house to mock my DVD collection).
Very briefly, The Venture Bros. is an animated comedy about Dr. Rusty Venture, noted scientist; his two mostly-clueless sons, Hank and Dean (part Hardy Boys, part Scooby-Doo Teen Gang); and Dr. Venture's super-competent bodyguard Brock Sampson. They travel across the world and into space and enjoy all kinds of mostly-science-related adventures.
"The Venture Bros." has a lot going for it; for starters, it's created by Jackson Publick (nee Chris McCulloch), a former writer for both the cartoon and live-action versions of "The Tick", so already it has an established "funny, hip, semi-obscure short-lived television series" pedigree. Second, it's got the voice of Patrick Warburton, which immediately earns it about 3,000 cool points.
But on top of all that, it's just damn funny. It helps if you grew up watching Jonny Quest, from which it borrows the basic setup and overall look-and-feel. The show, while generally adult-oriented, has appeal for both young and old, and isn't shrill and annoying in the process (a comment which has probably just put me on the wrong side of a lot of Invader Zim fans). While it's occasionally intentionally bizarre, it never shows the flop sweat of how self-consciously strange and hip it's trying so very hard to be. (I'm looking at you, Sealab 2021). And its initial charm doesn't wear off upon repeated viewings (it was good while it lasted, Aqua Teen Hunger Force).
It's just a smart, funny, good-looking show that deserves a wider audience that it will probably never get. That can work to one's advantage, through...a while back, I sent an e-mail to their production company, Astrobase Go!, inquiring about a t-shirt they used to sell (to add to my vast collection of oh-so-hip, obscure t-shirts). And while the shirts were discontinued (drat), the reply e-mail informing me so was written by Jackson Publick himself. And that was pretty cool; I guarantee you Jerry Bruckheimer wouldn't have written back personally.
- Paul
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