I am a Terrible, Terrible Blogger

In case you haven't noticed, I haven't been blogging nearly as frequently as I was during the last few months of 2010.  I really regret this, as I love blogging, but it's been difficult for several reasons.  Things have been very hectic at both home and work, leaving little time for writing.

I'm afraid I won't be able to go back to the Monday through Friday schedule I was maintaining through Halloween and Christmas, not anytime soon anyway.  I do have several topics in mind, it's just a matter of actually sitting down and having time to write the articles without distraction.  Please bear with me and be patient, and I promise to have interesting and fun posts soon.  They just won't be every day.  Taking part in Todd Mason's Tuesday Forgotten Movie/TV show/music/what-have-you has helped me stay focused on the blog at least a little bit, and as I said, I have some good ideas to write about--I just have to make the time.

Thanks, and stay tuned!

Tuesday's Forgotten Film: Cops and Robbers

Welcome back for my offering to this week's Tuesday's Forgotten Film/TV/audio-visual treat.  This week I discuss the 1973 crime comedy Cops and Robbers.

The film stars Cliff Gorman and Joseph Bologna as two NYC policeman who are burnt out on the job and are tired of seeing heartless crooks benefit from their crimes while honest joes like them struggle.  They therefore decide to become criminals themselves.  They don't want to make a lifelong committment to it, however.  They want to make one huge score that will set them for life, deciding to steal $10 million in untraceable bonds for a mafioso.  As is always the case with these sorts of things, plans go awry.  What becomes of our two antiheroes?

I'm not sure you'll be able to find out.  According to Amazon, the last DVD release was in 2003, and I'm not certain it's still in print, but I'm sure you can get a used copy in the usual places.  I only saw the film once a few years ago, and it was throroughly entertaining, and mixes comedy with tension well.  I was surprised to learn in my research that the script was written by Todd Mason favorite Donald E. Westlake, adapted from his own novel.

For more contributors to Tuesday's Forgotten, look here.

Thanks!

A Special Valentine with the Family Circus

Valentine's Day may not be until Monday, but I'm sure lovers will be celebrating the special day throughout the whole weekend. For an innocent way to enjoy the day, spend some time with the Family Circus. Enjoy!

Romie-0 and Julie-8

Valentine's Day is just a few short days away, and it's time we start feeling the love here. We can start by enjoying yet another far-out animated special from the early days of Nelvana Studios. This time, it's the classic love story Romeo and Juliet--with the principal characters as robots. I present to you Romie-0 and Julie-8 (not to be confused with R2-D2 and C3PO, but that's another love story altogether). Thanks!

Tuesday's Forgotten TV: Eerie, Indiana

Today's overlooked media find is the short-lived NBC TV series Eerie, Indiana.  The series focused on 12-year-old Marshall Taylor, who moves to the fictional Indiana town for his father's new job.  Marshall notices the town's strange vibe immediately and explores, along with another "normal" boy named Simon, to uncover as many of the weird occurences as possible.

The show only aired for one season from the fall of 1991 to spring of 1992, but the entire series is available on DVD as well as available for free on Hulu.  Here is the series first episode, involving a mother and twin sons who seem from another time.  Enjoy!

Tuesday's Forgotten TV: The Goodies

As I post this, it's going on Tuesday evening, so I apologzie for not posting this sooner.  My offering for Tuesday's Forgotten this week is the British TV show The Goodies.  I was reminded of this by Sweet Freedom's Todd Mason last week, and as I had forgotten about them, I thought they would be a good subject for this feature.

The Goodies were a British comedy trio specializing in broad absurdist humor, relying extensively on sight gags.  Think slightly more sophisticated than Benny Hill, but less so than Monty Python, IMO.   I saw a few episodes during the summer of 1983 when I was only 8 years old, and their wacky humor was the perfect fit for my sense of humor at the time (and, I'll admit, today).

Here are two samples of the show.  In the first, they are in pursuit of a giant kitten (named Kitten Kong), and the second clip shows them out to take down renegade kids TV show puppets (a common problem in any country).  Enjoy!