Ah, yes. Everyone’s favorite stereotypical Italian plumber finally appears on my list. How the brilliant mind of Shigeru Miyamoto came up with the idea of a short Italian plumber to be a hero probably should still baffle us since his first appearance in Donkey Kong 27 years ago. His success has been overwhelming and he’s now went on to star (or cameo) in 200+ video games. Mario games have ranged from platform, to puzzles, racing, educational, fighting, and sports. He is without a doubt the official mascot of Nintendo.
However, of all the Mario games Super Mario Bros. 3 is my favorite. Sure, other Mario games are absolutely magnificent (World and 64 would be a very close 2nd and 3rd), but even after being released in the US 18 years ago, it is easily my favorite video game of all time.
SMB 3 was such an improvement over the first two with the introduction of overhead view (for the worlds), an array of characters, mini-bosses, puzzles, games, costumes, and secrets. It is still enjoyable to play to this day (my brother-in-law, a friend of ours, and I completed it late one night a while back actually; gotta love the whistles). I have the game in two versions after all – the original NES and the SNES compilation of SMB 1-3 and Lost Levels. Overall though (for better or for worse), I do credit the game for really getting me into gaming and having a passion and interest in games.
And now the story of a wealthy family who lost everything, and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together. It’s Arrested Development.
And so began each episode of Arrested Development, the show that I, without a doubt, consider to be the best television show ever, and, according to this list, the best form of entertainment so far this century.
In the very first episode we are introduced to the quirky Bluth family on a boat party in Orange County, California. The patriarch, George Senior (Jeffrey Tambor), is about to announce who’s to take over the family business (a multi-million dollar housing development enterprise). The middle son, Michael (Jason Bateman) is expecting his name to be announced. After all, he’s the only hard-working level-headed one of the bunch. Much to his dismay and shock, he is not named but George Sr.’s wife and family matriarch, Lucille (Jessica Walter).
Shortly after the announcement, and about to give all hope of his family, Michael and his son prepare to leave the party and their family once and for all to go to Arizona, only to be interrupted by a sudden police raid. Apparently, George Sr. has been suspected of some shady accounting issues (and some “mild treason”) and all of the company assets have been frozen. Now, the rest of the bewildered and clueless family, who have grown up and lived on this company money, are left without their only source of income. It’s up to Michael to save the day.
Michael moves in to one of the company’s model homes with his son, George Michael (Michael Cera), a smart, shy, do-gooder. Unfortunately for them, they have share it with Michael’s materialistic and clueless sister, Lindsay (Portia De Rossi), Lindsay’s husband Dr. Tobais Fünke an out of work, sexually ambigious, nevernude, ex-psychiatrist (David Cross) and their daughter Maebe (Alia Shawkat) – an independent high-schooler who desires to be anything but like her parents. Still living in the luxurious condo adjusting to life with a husband in prison is Lucille, the queen bee alcoholic cold-hearted socialite, and her youngest son, Buster (Tony Hale), who on paper would seem like an average 12-year old except that he’s 32 and not at all socially adept. And somehow on his own is the oldest son, Gob Bluth (Will Arnett), a struggling magician illusionist who’s as bad at magic as he is with women, business, and any form of selflessness.
The show lasted three seasons, each shorter than the previous. It never became a full-fledged hit, but more like the most powerful of cult classics. It’s popularity exponentially increased due to DVDs, but sadly it was too late. FOX had a diamond in their hands but treated it like coal, tossing it around the schedules and giving it too little publicity. There was a chance it was to be resurrected on cable, Showtime or HBO, but it never happened.
Perhaps it was the progressive storyline that turned people off. Even I didn’t fully understand what was going on when I started watching it in it’s fifth week. Even though it is narrated (by Ron Howard) to catch you up, sometimes that wasn’t enough for some people to stay and enjoy it (it’s been said that if you watch three episodes continuously in a row, that’s when you’ll get hooked). It was often called the stupid comedy for smart people – and that’s probably true, too. The show definitely rewarded those who followed the story with sly, often missed remarks or nods to earlier incidents. Without a doubt, each scene – perhaps frame – has some bit of comedy somehow, and for those who know where to look and what to look for, it adds a new depth to comedy that no sitcom has ever been able to achieve. It truly is the Best. Show. Ever.
Frankly, I couldn’t find a decent clip on YouTube or MySpace. The only intersting thing I could find was a short clip from Countdown with Keith Olberman talking about the possibility of an Arrested Development movie.
[I GUARANTEE the rest of this will be finished by the end of the week (September 6th). After the list is complete I will post a special post with an announcement.
But for the time being, I must continue.]
Far too often I discover something late in the game or sometimes too late, after the fact, behind the times. My number five, Seinfeld, is one of these such things. I didn’t begin to actually sit down, watch, and enjoy the show until it’s final season in 1997-1998. Of course, I’ve heard of the show, but didn’t pay too much attention to it. When I began to actually sit and watch it on Must-See TV Thursdays or in syndication, I realized that this is a damn funny show. Sure, I was fourteen, but I knew what passed as a brilliant sitcom, and I knew this was damn funny show.
For those of you who don’t know much about Seinfeld, allow me to introduce you to the 21st century. You are currently reading this on a com-put-er. It’s connected to the in-ter-net which is a “series of tubes“. But seriously, unless you’ve been living under a rock or in the boondocks of Gibson County, it’s a show about four Manhattans, George, Kramer, Jerry (Seinfeld), and the beautiful and endearing Elaine. Together they sit. And chat. And have realizations. Stuff happens. Nothing major. Most of the show is in a diner or living room. But, all this simplicity is what makes the show great. It’s often toted as a “show about nothing” and it absolutely is a show about nothing. Because we have too much sh*t going on in our lives, do we need a show adding stuff? NO! We need nothing but a good laugh. Thank goodness for syndication. And DVDs.
So who is this Jerry?
He’s a man of reason.
He’s a man who knows what’s important.
He knows how to deal with people.
George? What’s he do?
He knows his capabilities.
He sticks with his gut feeling.
He’s cultured.
Who is this… Kramer? This man of… mystery?
He never has the same day twice.
He knows how to have an adventure.
He’s an everyman.
And that beautiful goddess? Elaine is it?
She know’s how to get what she wants.
She’s a brilliant and talented actress.
She knows how to get people talking.
Still not convinced it’s brilliant?
Here’s a brillaint parody of JFK.
Kramer digs through George’s subconscious.
Kramer digs up the old Merv Griffon Show set.
Jerry goes too far.
George and Jerry plan a surprise chance encounter.
Yes, I realize it’s been 61 days since my last post. To be honest, I’ve lost a lot of interest in writing. Sure, certain things have occupied my time, but really I’ve just not had much to write about. Yes, I know I had a certain obligation to finish this list (though I see no contract…) and after Laura’s MySpace comment I realized the least I could do is finish out the list before I close this site down.
That’s right, I do plan on closing adrienapolis soon, and my #1 post will likely be my last. I will leave it up for a week or two after I post, copying important and memorable writings from the site, and then close shop. It was a good run (3 years), and I may someday come back with a more structured idea.
Oh well, let the list continue on.
6. A Song of Ice and Fire
Two years ago I would not have believed a fiction book, let alone a fantasy series, would make this top ten. But it is an amazing piece of literature, one that any fantasy, sci-fi – actually ANY reader – would love. It has it all: sex, violence, drama, comedy, dragons, a cunning dwarf, beautiful princess, heroes, brutal kings, kingslayers (seen below), kinslayers, and numerous creatures and villains that would give anyone nightmares. So far there are four books in the series, with the fifth coming this year (maybe) and two more after that. Each book is 800 pages give or take filled with the aforementioned criteria and all are written very well by the genius that is George R.R. Martin. Simply put, this is the modern day version of The Lord of the Rings – just with a little more brutality and little less magic.
Each chapter is in the viewpoint of one of the main characters (which shifts from book to book) and the cast the Seven Kingdoms and abroad continues to grow (it has been estimated at 1000 different names/characters). However, as you read, do not get too attached to the characters you follow, because even the primary characters are not safe from war, murder, and executution. Or boars.
Back in high school I was still exploring what exactly is this electronica genre all about. I of course would reguraly watch Amp and 120 Minutes to get all the info and check online (via a 56K modem… shudder) new and popular electronica music.
An artist that I saw popping up often at that time was Fatboy Slim. He had just released his sophomore album, “You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby” and it became one of the largest electronica mainstream hit. Two songs became popular singles (reach NOW status) – “Rockefeller Skank” and “Praise You”.
However when I did buy this album I was surprised to find out that EVERY song is outstanding, some more so than the singles. In fact, the first song “Right Here, Right Now” (see video below) claimed the No. 2 spot on my now outdated “Top 100 Songs” and the last song “Acid 8000” claimed the No. 5 (oh, and it’s one of my ringtones).
It was one of my first electronica albums and still to this day remains my favorite album of all time.
Check out music video of the week for Fatboy Slim’s best video ever.
