Archive for April, 2008

South Park: Canada On Strike.

I’m not usually a South Park watcher, not because I have anything against the show but because it’s one of those programs that is just never really on my radar. Still, every now and then someone says to me, “Hey, try to see last night’s South Park” and I usually will make the effort. This week was one of those times. I’m glad I pulled it up. The title, “Canada On Strike,” kind of sums up the plot: Canada goes on strike in an attempt to get “some of that internet money.” Canada is, of course, a stand-in for the writer’s guild. Over the course of the episode Canada’s initial, simple plan for more cash is thwarted when they realize they don’t really have any leverage — and then their people start starving to death, buddy. The B-Story involves the boys trying to get some money to pay Canada so as to end the reruns of Terrance and Philip. Their plan involves posting a viral video and ultimately squaring off against the Star Wars Kid, Chris Crocker and a sneezing panda.

The episode was seldom LOL-funny, but it was extremely sharp in its satire. South Park has the enviable position of being the one narrative program on television that can actually remain somewhat current because their typical episode production schedule is something like six days. This is in comparison to The Simpsons where an episode takes six months. By the time they get their strike response on the air next October, I’m sure the laughs will be bigger, but the points will be far less piercing.

This would also be a good time to point out that a new website, South Park Zone, offers every single episode of South Park ever produced for free… and legal.

Watch Canada on Strike.

Posted by Rick on April 3rd, 2008 No Comments

The Riches and the art of villainy

Whatcha gonna do with that fork, bro?

I feel like television often gets short shrift when it comes to truly memorable villains. Perhaps this is because the nature of the medium requires it to keep moving and any villain truly noteworthy will eventually have to be confronted otherwise the danger dissolves from the story (even at seven I was never particularly worried that the Joker would ever pull one over on Batman). Television is medium more about foils. Whether it be Flanders, or Ben on Lost, or Phil Leotardo or even, I suppose, the One-Armed Man, the “bad guy” is often much more of an annoyance to the protagonist than a genuine source of terror. TV doesn’t see many Anton Chigurhs.

This isn’t to say there haven’t been some real bastards on the small screen. Recently, Hearst from Deadwood comes to mind. As does Anthony Anderson’s character from The Shield, Antwon Mitchell, and of course Marlo from The Wire. With the debatable exception of Marlo, none of those characters lasted much beyond a single season. I bring this up because Dale on The Riches is turning into one of television’s great villains. He’s always been a shadowy figure but Tuesday’s episode really brought his dark side to the forefront. What makes me optimistic about his future on the show is how his actions are derived from constantly being beneath other people. He wants what the Malloy’s have and hates the fact that they have it and he doesn’t. His problem is that in the hierarchy of human ability Dale is genetically a low-rung, and I think the motivation for much of his behavior is that he knows this. Add to that this new character, Quinn, one of the travelers just released from prison after 20 years. He is a far more sinister son of a bitch than anyone else on the show and even he towers over Dale. He makes him squirm (not the least of which due to the fork he jabbed into his arm). This in turn amps up Dale’s more evil tendencies. (The scene with he and Dahlia was brutal.) It is quite the clever dynamic, especially since Dale now feels like a character in for the long haul on the series whereas Quinn has a certain Ralphie Cifaretto quality about his appearance — maybe more plot device than human (certainly a villain, nonetheless).

I guess what I’m saying is that since Todd Stashwick is becoming such an amazing force of the show I really hope his character ends up sticking around… and that they are able to maintain his villainous ways.

Posted by Rick on April 3rd, 2008 No Comments

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