"Regular Show" [CN, 2010] Season 1

JG Quintel, like Pendleton Ward, used to work on Flapjack, and his simplistic style is easily detected here. Difference between this and Adventure Time is, this show is even more bare-bones that AT, meaning what he is trying to do is even easier to detect. And what is he trying to do? Something arty, you might say, something subtle, hence the ironic show title. This is true, but there's more to the story than that--Quintel is also trying to depict what is like for two guys to hang out and be lazy slackers. He doesn't really care, in other words, about being funny or even just plain good--what's far more important to him is simply having creative control over his own show. In case you ever wondered what happened when someone took being subtle, which is usually intended in small doses here and there, and made an entire show out of it, in case you wanted to know what happens when someone makes a show where things happen and that's it, this is the answer. And boy, is it boring. Grade: B Minus

"The Big Bang Theory" [CBS, 2007] Season 2

I'll be honest, this was not what I was expecting, given all the hype surrounding this show. It's just so superficial--no, wait, pandering, yeah, that's right. Pandering to whom? To nerds, who else, who are the only ones who will understand all the science and history references. I would say it's kind of sad, given that they clearly aren't even trying to be genuinely funny, but it's clear that this doesn't apply. Why? Because the only people to whom this show will really appeal to, other than nerds, are those who think watching nerds fail at social interaction is amusing. This is also known as schadenfreude, and It's nothing special. Grade: C PLUS

"Gravity Falls"

My pessimism was misguided. Not only that, though--this show is so many un-Disney-like adjectives it's hard to keep up, like "vibrant," "subtle", "relatable"--it seems they've finally tried to get inside the teenage psyche. Alex Hirsch has shown me here a reason to believe in Disney Channel again, to take it seriously, and not only that he has a sense of humor too, one that you can never get away from, even in the serious parts. It's also way more cynical than you would expect from this channel, all of which represents an underlying devotion to cataloguing what normal people actually think and do. And yet ultimately it's limited by its own cynicism. Grade: B

"Family Guy" [Fox, 2009] Season 8

Being truly miraculous in its awesomeness solely because the producers can deconstruct, condense, simplify, hyperbolize especially, all of the aspects of everyday life; and then rearrange them so as to “milk” them for humor, MacFarlane concentrates instead on only that humor which survives for just a moment—then dies. Therefore, one is left staring, aghast, into the void—in fact, it’s actually as though the jokes collapse in on themselves. But of course this is all just an effect of the notorious “selling-out/downhill” effect to which every (AC) show must fall victim sooner or later. And indeed, isn’t this one kind of overdue? Bwah ha ha! GRADE: C-

"Adventure Time (With Finn & Jake)" [CN, 2010]

It would be scary if this was actually identical to its obvious counterpart Flapjack--however, the most obvious difference is that the formermore unfocused and, dare I say it, whimsical, although the topics are remarkably similar all the same. This is here carried out much further than one could ever imagine, dragging along with it the two main character's attitude, one of--not exactly flippancy, most of all blithe, selfish optimism. Which is very obvious on its own, but not as much when one considers all of the highly mellifluous implications this has all across the plot. So this is not just about being "outwardly inoffensive," as a uber-snob would put it, but about the show's very title, and the aforementioned eagerness that invariably accompanies it, at least according to Finn. This Pendleton Ward renders in an abrasive (yet not inaccessible!) style evocative of Flapjack, and with a plotline much more expedient than you would expect from such a comedy. But this creates a startling effect that itself is a major part of the show's appeal. Grade: B PLUS

Hellooo...!

Did any of you notice that there weren't any posts on here for over 6 weeks after the promised final date? Of course you didn't. Anyway, I'm back! And there will indeed be some published before Christmas--probably a lot.

In light of the tremendous burden that is high school, I have had to cease publications of reviews for some time, as you have noticed.

Therefore the bimonthly consumer guide will now be published on the last day of each month, in its entirety, dichotomized into the Turkey Shoot and Consumer Guide nominal as usual (before, anyway). Thank you all for your mandatory-so-you-don't-really-have-a-choice cooperation.