Ty Watches "American Vandal"

I was going to write about the NBA trade deadline today, but there is still about 20 minutes left to go, and I will give everyone my take on all the moves that happened tomorrow. Today I'm going to write about one of my new favorite TV shows.

Just last week I started to watch the show "American Vandal" on Netflix. I put this show on my instant queue right away, by shied away from it for awhile. I didn't quite know what to make of it. I thought that it was a serious crime story, a la the excellent "Making A Murderer", and I just couldn't handle another show like that at the time. I needed to find something that was more light hearted and not so serious. Sometimes I watch very serious shows and they just take it out of me. I feel almost exhausted after watching great shows like "The Wire", "Breaking Bad", "Legion" and sometimes even "Atlanta" can be super heavy. So, as I said, I needed a break. I kept putting "American Vandal" off.

As I was scrolling through Twitter one night, I saw a bunch of comedians tweeting that everyone should watch "American Vandal". This piqued my interest. The one person who pretty much convinced me to watch was Rainn Wilson. Many of you may know him as Dwight Schrute from "The Office". His tweet was very simple, but it just pushed me over the edge to finally watch the show. He simply said, "everyone needs to watch "American Vandal", that is all". See, very simple, but it worked.

That night I watched the first episode of this show, fully expecting it to be a hard crime drama, and it was not. It is one of the funniest shows that I have seen in a long, long time. The show does follow that "Making A Murderer" or "Law and Order" vibe, but it is so god damn funny. Now, full disclosure, I have only seen the first 2 episodes, but it works.

The story of this first season has to do with a senior at a high school in California who gets expelled for spray painting 27 penises on teachers cars during an administrative day. An administrative day means that the students get the day off, but the teachers have to be at the school. The premiere finds a random student deciding that he wants to get down to the nitty gritty and see if the accused actually did the crime. The student has a background in film making, and he just so happens to have a friend that wants to be a director, so, they reopen up the case and film it all. Everything that happens in that first episode is tremendous and hilarious. The way they shot the footage and how they put it on Netflix, it is magical. It is shot like a true crime story, and that is part of why I enjoy this show so much. They make such a childish act, spray painting penises on cars, and turn it into something that seems like a very serious crime. And as they continue to go on, everything just works. The 2 filmmaker students tell all sides of the story. They get the accused's side of the story. He vehemently denies doing the prank, even though he is the school's best prankster, and pretty much every other student is pretty certain he did it. We get the school board's side of the story. They basically just want this student, who they look at as a nuisance, out of their hair. We have new students involved. We have the class president, who claims he saw the other kid commit the crime, who may or may not be a total bull shitter. We get to meet the accused students buddies, they call themselves the Way Back Boys, which is so god damn funny to me for some reason, side of the story. These kids like to get high and pull pranks, but they staunchly deny that their buddy would do this particular crime. We get the kid's Spanish teacher, who has been a victim of the expelled kid's pranks before, mainly penises being drawn on her classroom board, side of the story. She is certain he did it.

"American Vandal" is a perfect spoof of true crime stories. I am on pins and needles and I cannot wait it see where they take it from here. The second episode ended on a major cliff hanger, and I will be very curious to see how they tackle that problem. If you enjoy spoof type TV shows, but also like crime dramas, I think you should check out "American Vandal". Yes, it is a very childish topic that they are tackling, but the way they do it is so phenomenal, that I don't even care how sophomoric the humor is. This show is awesome and I hope they do more seasons. I will most likely finish the first season by the end of the weekend, and I know that when I'm done I will want to watch more. "American Vandal" is awesome.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He would never spray paint a penis on anyone's car. Now if the car was really dirty, he may draw a penis with his finger in the muck covering the automobile.

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Another Look at Our Favorite Television Shows: "The Office" Edition

My wife and I are re watching the American "Office", and we are currently in the midst of the eighth season. When we started the re watch, I was kind of excited to watch this show that I loved so much. And, the first 4 seasons did not disappoint. They were just as good, if not better, than I remembered. I loved it all over again. Steve Carrell was so god damn good on that show. He was a great person to play the Ricky Gervais role as boss. He was ignorant, arrogant and did the uncomfortable humor so perfect. The stuff with Jim and Pam was phenomenal. The looks, the flirting, the shooting each other down, it was masterful stuff. Dwight was great. He is the co worker from hell, and he excelled at this. He would be a nightmare to work with. Really, everyone in the first four seasons is just great. They made it feel like a real office. I felt like I knew all these people. I definitely worked with these people when I did work in offices. The show was clicking on all cylinders.

Then, Jim and Pam decided to get married. I'm not as put off by this as most, but it still looked the beginning of the end of this show. Personally, I would have ended it after the wedding. But, they had built up new characters, Darrell, Ryan, Kelly, Angela, Oscar, Kevin, they all had story lines that were unfinished. So, I understand that they couldn't just end it there. I admit, they had some great stuff happen in the next couple seasons. Michael dating Pam's mom I thought was pretty funny. Holly and Michael having to break up brought out the awkward comedy. Getting Holly back on the show was pretty neat. Introducing Kathy Bates as Jo Bennett I was a fan of. Gabe was a solid addition. I mean, it helps a lot that Zach Woods is such a good and unique comic actor. I liked the stuff with Idris Elba. I was even a fan of Will Ferrell's three episode arc on the show. But, all the stuff after season 4-7 that I truly enjoyed was the Steve Carrell stuff. He was easily the best part of the show.

Near the end of season 7 Steve Carrell left the show. We all knew this was coming. Carrell said that he was going to leave the show to do movies. And, they handled his departure pretty gracefully. Yes, it was pretty corny at times, but I still found it funny and nice. I loved the last Dundies episode. I enjoyed watching him being annoyed by Ferrell, but eventually accepting him. Then when he up and left a day earlier than he had told people, I liked that too.

Now we have the Carrell less season 8 starting. When they premiered, it wasn't that great, but it wasn't that horrible. The search party stuff was pretty funny. Getting all the guest stars that they had was pretty cool. I mean, Jim Carrey, Ricky Gervais, Will Arnett and Ray Romano, they are no slouches. But, in the end they picked the most callous, uninspired choice to replace Michael, Robert California, played by James Spader. Admittedly, I am not a James Spader fan. I have just never really liked him. Also, after picking him to replace Michael, they wrote in the fact that he became CEO due to his way of talking to people and made Andy Bernard(Ed Helms), the regional manager. No character on "The Office went through more character changes than Andy Bernard. First he is cutthroat, then he is an ass kisser, then an idiot, then a bad salesman, then good again, then a pushover and finally, put in a position of power, only once again to fall from his high post. It is maddening. But, while currently watching the eighth season, I just am amazed at how much the writers, actors and directors just seemed to phone it in. They legitimately look like they are just going through the motions. What could have been a great spot for Rainn Wilson to totally take over the show, he just seems to be going through the motions. The writers wrote in a pointless subplot of Jim and Pam having a rocky marriage. They are supposed to be the perfect couple, then all of the sudden, they are constantly fighting and seemingly on the edge of breaking up. That is outrageous. Kevin becomes dumber by the season. Oscar and Angela magically become best friends out of nowhere. Meredith just falls further in the hole as an alcoholic. It is all just ham fisted and kind of dull. And the writing in the last 2 seasons is subpar at best.

Like I said, during the re watch, it just got bad. James Spader was the wrong choice to replace Steve Carrell. This show does not fit his roles that he usually plays. He is too serious for a show like this. I am waffling on if I want to finish the series or not. I seem to remember season 9 being even tougher to watch than season 8. But, I will probably finish it due to my OCD. I have heard rumors that some people previously involved want to bring the show back. I beg you, please don't do it. That would be such a bummer, and it would not work out. I'd still watch it, but I do not think it will be good.

I guess what I am trying to say, if you have the inking to watch "The Office" again, stick to the first four seasons. That was when the show was best. Don't bother with seasons 5-7, unless you are a big time Carrell fan, and don't even bother with seasons 8 or 9 because they are not very good at all. I'm glad I'm re watching the show, but it really took an unexpected turn the moment Carrell left, and it is for the worse.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He was going to rewatch "Boy Meets World", but has yet to catch up on "Girl Meets World". There is way too much quality television out there.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Ty Watches "Black Mirror" Season 4

I have just recently finished season 4 of "Black Mirror", and I want to break down, very simply, each episode, in my personal order. With this being said, there will be some minor spoilers. I will do my best to keep them minimal, but if you haven't watched the new season yet, watch it before reading this piece. Second, I LOVED every episode this season. I thought all 6 were fantastic and different and unique in only a way Charlie Brooker and the rest of the writers can do for a show like "Black Mirror". So, when I say "favorite to least favorite", every episode would get an A grade from me. Third, and final thing before I get into it, this is my own personal ranking. I am going strictly off what I liked about each episode and why I think one episode is better than the other. For a show like "Black Mirror", I purposefully stay away from social media while I'm watching the show. I don't want anything spoiled for me, and I do not want to hear what critics think of the episodes since they get to see them all well in advance. Those are my three rules. Here we go. Oh yeah, I will go from 6-1 by the way.

My sixth favorite episode of the season was "Crocodile". This is a very, very dark and brutal episode of "Black Mirror". There is a lot of murder and covers up that happen in this hour long episode. The acting is very well done. The actors are creepy and silent and fearful and worried in all the right ways. I really enjoy the idea of finding things out by using people's memories. The tech in this episode was very cool too. I like all the tech in this show in fact. The ending was brutal and one of the tougher things I have ever had to watch on TV. While "Crocodile" is a great episode, it is a very tough watch. Some very brutal things, unfortunate things, happen in the episode. Being a father made this one that much more rough. While still great, again, it is a tough, tough watch.

At number 5 I have "Arkangel". Again, this is another tough one for parents to watch. I love the story behind this episode. I am one of those parents that have always said, "if I can put a chip in my kids head and see what they are doing at all times, I would". Well, "Arkangel" has me really rethinking that idea. "Arkangel" shows you all the problems that something like this could cause to your child. Kids with chips in their brains may not know how to properly process things like violence, eroticism, drugs and all the bad parts about growing up. I, just like the mom in this one, a great performance from Rosemarie DeWitt, am OCD, and I could never not look at my screen to see what my kids are doing. She shows a little more control that me, but I would have given in way earlier. This too has some very bad consequences. This episode should be shown to young adults that are contemplating having kids, what with all the advances in tech nowadays.

At number 4 I have "Black Museum". This was a very well done "parody" episode of "Black Mirror". A girl stops at a museum of crimes, and the majority of the exhibits are from past "Black Mirror" episodes. It was pretty cool to see them reintegrate stuff from previous seasons. The lady and the masks from "White Bear" where in there. The bees from the season 3 finale were there. The tub from "Crocodile" was there. The pad from "Arkangel" was there. It is neat. Fortunately "Black Museum" did not rehash these old "Black Mirror" episodes, but told new stories. The pain addict doctor story was nuts. The guy who puts his coma ridden baby mother's conscience in is brain was wild. But, the twist at the end was awesome. Since watching this episode, I have read that this episode was a kind of sequel to the "White Christmas" episode, and I can totally see the similarities. As I said, the twist near the end is incredible and very, very satisfying. This episode is pretty dark too, especially the pain addicted doctor. Also since watching this one, I have heard that some critics don't like it. Those critics are stupid. This was a great episode of "Black Mirror".

At number 3 I have my wife's favorite from this season, "Hang the DJ". This was one of 2 "Black Mirror" eps that have a "happy" ending. The idea behind this one, where you let a computer set you up and tell you how long you will be in a relationship with said person is so real, it is kind of scary. The 2 leads are wonderful. They have a great chemistry together. To see them go through a non-meaningful relationship, one right after the other, until they finally realize they need to be together is really sweet. That was my main takeaway from "Hang the DJ", how sweet and nice it was. My wife likes "Hang the DJ" more than the very well received "San Junipiero". Truthfully, I really like both the same. If you are looking for a nice and happy "Black Mirror", "Hang the DJ" is the right episode for you.

At number 2 I have the wonderful, and bleak, "USS Callister". Jesse Plemmons is amazing in this ep. He totally crushes his role as a put upon CTO of tech company, who is a creep that runs a virtual reality game in his apartment, placing the people he works with in a "Star Trek" type TV show. The whole way this episode was shot was awesome. It made me want to watch "Star Trek", and I have never had that feeling before. It was so cool and retro when they went into the video game world. Jesse Plemmons is very good at playing a creep. I actually felt bad for him at first, a "Black Mirror" staple, and then I found out how twisted he was and I wanted him to get what he deserved, which he does. The other actors in this ep, mainly Cristin Milioti, are awesome. They are subservient in the video game world, but in real life, they walk all over Plemmons' character. This is a classic "Black Mirror" episode. It is so perfect. Like I said, you feel bad, at first, for the main guy, find out he is a creep, then wish him or her the worst. "USS Callister" was awesome, and a great way to kick off the new season. It had me rapt and wanting to watch more. It is an awesome hour plus, and totally worth your time. 

Finally, my favorite episode of the season, which is ironically the lowest fan rated one on IMDB, is "Metalhead". "Metalhead" is the shortest episode in "Black Mirror's" short history. But, I was on edge for all 38 minutes. The episode takes place in a post apocalyptic Australia, I am guessing. It is shot in all black and white, and there are only 3 people in the entire ep. And, only one person makes it to the end, and she meets her demise as well. The three people go searching for something in a warehouse and they are greeted by a metal dog like creature that shoots shrapnel into their bodies so it can track them down, and wipe them out. It was a horrifying glimpse into what I expect the future to be like. The stuff that the one survivor from the initial meeting in the warehouse, the woman, goes through is pretty intense. Her attempts to get away from this murderous metal dog are heart racing and had me on the edge of my seat. "Metalhead" reminded me a lot of "Mad Max". Maybe that is why I liked it so much. I love heart pounding episodes like this, and "Metalhead" was perfect fro someone like me. This is a very sad episode, especially the ending, but everything leading up to that was fast paced and pulse pounding. "Metalhead" was the far and away winner of season 4 for me. I loved it.

With all this being said, "Black Mirror" rules, and season 4 was great. I highly recommend everyone check out this show, especially of you like seeing the dark side of new tech that we now have. "Black Mirror" is an achievement and a treat and I am so glad we have a show like this to watch now. I cannot wait to see where they go with the fifth season.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is not aware of a program where Head Editors put chips in their associate editor's head to track their writing output. Let's not tell Ty all about this.

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SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Ty Watches "Happy"

I have just recently caught up on the show "Happy!" on the SyFy Network. I have mentioned that I wanted to watch this show on the podcast before, and luckily for me, they had a 4 episode mini marathon last night. I watched 2 of them in real time and watched the other 2 this morning while my kids rested.

This show is insane, nuts, wild, jarring, dark, bleak, gory, filled with curse words, hard to watch at times, but above all else, totally awesome. I am fully in on this show. I am down 100 percent with what they are doing. The only thing that baffles me, why is it on SyFy? "Happy!" seems like it was destined for premium cable, networks like HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, etc. But, SyFy nabbed it. Hell, maybe they were the only network that wanted to take on a show this bizarre. But I say, good for them for taking the chance. This could be their "Always Sunny" for FX. No one else gave "Always Sunny" a chance, but FX did, and now, it is probably their best, and most well known and liked show. Maybe that is what "Happy!" will become for SyFy. We all know SyFy for the wacky and stupid D level movies they make. I believe they had the rights to a show like "Merlin", which my wife loved. And I know that they have weird make up reality shows. What all this tells me, SyFy was a niche, yet sometimes, dumb channel. They have average at best programming. But, "Happy!" could very well be changing all of that.

Like I said, this show is wild. It is based on a graphic novel, of which I have never heard of, but now want to read. It stars Christopher Meloni as a disgraced ex-cop in New York City. Meloni shines on this show. He is amazing. In fact I told RD last night, I feel like he took his character from "Wet Hot", and just made him about 10 times crazier, and it totally works. When he is introduced in the first episode, staring at his face in a dingy bar bathroom, it is great. He then proceeds to have a dream where he blows his brains out, but the way they shot it, it was like a fever dream dance sequence. It was AMAZING. What a great, great way to start off your show. It hooked me immediately. The colors flowing from his head, the weird dancers dancing around him and the upbeat music, it was just so perfect. When he comes to, things start to take place. We find out he is a disgraced cop. We find out that he is now a hitman for hire, of sorts. We find out he is a drunk. We find out he hangs with lowlife scumbags. He is just a down on his luck nobody.

In the pilot episode we also meet a little girl named Haley that gets abducted by the scariest looking Santa that I have ever seen. This guy that plays Santa on "Happy!" is an absolute creep. I literally get sick to my stomach anytime I see him on screen. I have to workout while I watch just so I don't turn my head away in disgust. Through this little girl is how we meet Happy. Happy is a blue unicorn that flies around helping Haley out. He is her imaginary friend. Happy is voiced by Patton Oswalt, and I cannot think of a better person to have cast to do this voice. His upbeat tone and nature is so perfect because of how different it is from everything else on this show. We only think that Haley can see Happy, but after brutally killing three gangsters that he was hired to kill, and falling out a window, we do find out that Happy has tracked down Sacks, that is Meloni's character's name, and Sacks can see him too. Apparently, minor spoiler alert if you haven't watched the show yet, Haley is Sacks daughter, and she sent Happy to find him to come and save her from this demented Santa that has kidnapped her, along with about 5 or 6 other kids.

In the first 4 episodes I have seen things on this show that have made me laugh, blush, feel sick, disgusted me and made me think about hours after watching. But, above all else, I keep going back because this show is very well made. It is brutally violent. I cannot understate that enough. I am talking about some "History of Violence" or "Eastern Promises" type stuff on a basic cable show. The show is also unedited. There are curse words and nudity in every episode. And the demented Santa is very terrifying. Do not, I repeat DO NOT let anyone under 18 watch this show, it will haunt them. But, I am 35, and I love it.

I'm excited to see where "Happy" goes form here. Happy and Sacks are now working together to find Hailey. There is an entire second story involving local mob and corrupt police. We have a mom dealing with the loss of her child. We have flashbacks to when Sacks was still a "hero".

"Happy!" is a very good crime show. I recommend people watch it with the caveat of knowing that it is not for the faint of stomach. It is brutal. But, check it out. Meloni is so awesome on the show, and Patton Oswalt is crushing it as a blue unicorn. I know it sounds weird, but it works.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He also has an imiganary friend who helps out in times of need. Walter the Wolverine is there to take Ty's abuse when Michigan Football is not doing very well.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The Best of Everything in 2017

Welcome to the final day of 2017. The year has featured a lot of good stuff, and a whole lot of stuff we want to forget, COUGH Trump COUGH. In order to celebrate we are going to focus mostly on the good stuff. Check out all of our best of the year articles, and enjoy the X Millennial Man 2017 Year in Review podcast. 

Oh, and have a Happy New Year.

The Best Films

The Best Television

The Best Music

The Best Podcasts

The Best Sports Moments

The X Millennial Man Year in Review

The Staff at SeedSing

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Ty is Going to Watch "Black Mirror"

This is going to be short because truth be told, I have a fever and I’m miserable right now. But, what makes me happy is knowing that season 4 of “Black Mirror” is currently on Netflix, and it’s just waiting for my wife and I to watch.

I love this show so much. I was hesitant to watch at first, thinking it was just going to be a horror genre show. “Black Mirror” is so much more though. The people are right, it is a modern day “Twilight Zone”. The subjects they’ve tackled so far, all centered around the bad sides of technology, have all made me think that all of it could happen. The show is so well written. The concepts for each episode are just perfect. I like the shorter seasons too. The first season only had 3 episodes, but I poured over all 3 weeks after I had watched them. The new season has 6 episodes, and I can’t wait to watch when I get back to full health. I’ve read some things about the new season, no spoilers though, and I’m pumped to see how they pull it off.

“Black Mirror” is one of the best shows on TV right now and everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, should be watching this show, especially now.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is near delirious from his late December sickness, but he is still a boss who writes. We appreciate it here at the virtual cube farm called SeedSing. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The Best Television of 2017

On to day 3 of my best of 2017 lists. Today we will look into TV. TV has been pretty good this year. For example, some shows that didn’t make my list include “Curb Your Enthusiasm”, “Master Of None”, “The Simpson’s”, “Love”, “Ghosted” and “The Punisher”, all of which I really enjoy. I also haven’t seen “The Young Pope”, “Rick and Morty” and countless other shows that have been recommended to me. At least not yet. When I made this list, I have to say, it was the easiest of all 5 that I will, or already have, done. I knew the 5 shows I wanted pretty quickly. Enough preamble, let’s get to it.

At number 5 I have “Search Party”. It is not secret how much I love this show. It is such a great concept. Millennials that have never had a tough time are put into a crazy situation that they created. Season 2 took the ending of season one and went in a crazy dark, yet often hilarious, place. We see these 4 entitled people having to deal with a real life messed up situation. The acting was tremendous this year, especially John Early. His turn this season was so great. He better damn well get Emmy consideration. While Early was the star, Alia Shawkat did a great job as Dory trying to cope with what she had done. And, she had to also deal with the fact that she dragged all her friends into this quagmire. I loved how dark this season turned and watching all the characters reactions. “Search Party” is well worth your time, and here’s to hoping it comes back for a third season.

At number 4 I have “ The Good Place”. The way the writers dealt with the results of the season one finale was perfect. It could have been a disaster, but they nailed it. The show was just as funny, but also poignant as season one. Ted Danson is a national treasure. He’s so good on this show. Kristen Bell seems to have found a perfect role for her as well. Everyone else, from Chidi to Jason, just wonderful. The true standout though is D’arcy Carden as Janet. She is awesome. She is funny. She plays a very crucial role. She is the best. I’m very excited for the show to come back in January, but this first half of season 2 has been wonderful. If you watch one episode from this season, watch the one where Chidi has to make split second decisions on a train. It’s a comedic piece of gold.

My number 3 show of the year is “Review”. Yes, there were only 3 episodes, but those 3 episodes wrapped this show up perfectly. We saw the full destruction of a human being by the end of the final episode. Forrest McNeil, expertly played by Andy Daly, let his job reviewing everyday tasks completely take over his life. He wasn’t a man anymore, he was a puppet. He did whatever people told him to do because he felt it was his job. It wasn’t. He crumbled so much so that his co host took over his job and excelled better then he ever could. I wish we had more “Review”, but the way they wrapped it up was so perfect for a show like this. It was gloriously bizarre from its season premiere all the way to its finale. “Review” is the perfect absurdist comedy show.

At number 2 I have “Legion”. “Legion” is the most unique show I have ever watched. I’ve never seen anything so trippy and visually stunning and attention getting in my life. Once an episode starts you cannot look away. It was quite an achievement to take a property like X-Men and do what Noah Hawley did. To set it in a mental institution was genius. What truly sets this show apart was Aubrey Plaza. She was incredible. The fact that she isn’t getting more award consideration is absurd. She was so great as Lenny, the crazy demon that lives in the main characters head. I used to only look at her as April Ludgate, but “Legion” changed that. She can do it all. I’m so excited for season 2, especially after how they ended season one. I need “Legion” back on the air ASAP.

And number one, “Nathan For You”. Nathan Fielder was back with his outrageous plans to help failing businesses again. He did a whole bunch of crazy stuff this season. He sold chili in a fat suit at a minor league hockey game, he helped people with warts get jobs as massage therapists, he started an asexual computer repair business and he made a smoke detector a musical instrument. All of this was perfect TV, and only something Nathan Fielder could do. What set this show apart from the rest of my list was one single episode, “Finding Frances”. I legit considered putting “Finding Frances” on my best movies if 2017 list. This was the best 2 hours of TV I think I have ever watched. It ranged from funny to sad to scary to depressing all in the course of 2 hours. It was a special achievement. Fielder could walk away from his show right now and it would go down as one of the best ever because of “Finding Frances”. The whole season was great, but “Finding Frances” was Fielder’s masterpiece. It’s truly stunning.

There you have it, my top 5 shows of the year. Come back tomorrow for my top 5 sports moments of the year.

Ty

Ty Watches "Search Party" Season 2

Last year around this time I wrote about a show I really liked called "Search Party". Well, "Search Party" is currently in its second season, and I have got to say, this season has been great so far. I'm so fully on board with the direction that they have taken this show in.

The first season centered around a group of stuck up, snobby, shitty and self righteous millennials. Alia Shawkat plays Dory, the main character, John Reynolds plays Drew, Dory's ex boyfriend, John Early plays Elliott and Meredith Hagner plays Portia. These are the stuck up trust fund babies. In season one Dory sees a missing person sign up in New York for a girl named Chantal(Clare McNulty) that they all went to college with. Since Dory doesn't have too much going on in her life, she doesn't really like Drew, she is basically a nanny for an over medicated adult and just seems bored, decides she is going to find Chantal. The first season takes you on twists and turns and is funny and kind of crazy. I really enjoyed everything that happened.

Now, and this is a big time spoiler alert for those that haven't watched any of the show yet, the finale of season one leaves us with Dory and her friends finding Chantal, but Dory and Drew have also killed someone. That someone is a private investigator that Dory gets involved with named Keith(Ron Livingston). Keith and Dory go on missions looking for Chantal, and they start to forge a bit of a romance. Drew finds out about this, and he, along with Portia and Elliott travel up to Canada to find Dory. When they get to where Dory is, Drew sees Dory fighting with someone, he goes to help her and he bludgeons Keith with an award nearby. Keith immediately falls to the ground. Drew and Dory put him in a closet and tell Elliott what happened, and the first season ends on a close up of Dory's face, with blood spattered on it, and she is crying.

That is how season 2 opens. We have a close shot of Dory's face, and we see a flash back to the incident and then Dory throws up in the bathroom sink. From then on it in the season 2 premiere, we see Drew, Dory and Elliott trying to figure out what to do with the body. I have to say, and this is going to sound very dark, but the way they handle the situation at first is kind of comical. They are in over their heads. They clearly have no idea what they are doing. Dory cannot seem to wrap her head around what just happened. Elliott trying to be the voice of reason is great. Drew is so far gone, he just wants to move on and move out of the country. Meanwhile, Portia has no idea what is going on because she is trying to hook up with some guy she met in Montreal. She does see the body when she forces her way into the kitchen to get a glass of water. She doesn't like what she sees, obviously, but she decides to help because these people are her friends. They go to bury the body in a shallow grave, and then they take Chantal home.

From there on out this second season has been nuts, but also spectacular. You get to see the toll that this awful event has taken on these kids that have never really had to worry about anything before in their lives, or really work for anything in their lives. Dory is a mess, but she keeps trying to cover her tracks. She runs into Keith's ex wife at one point, and decides to write her an email from Keith's computer. Bad idea. She cannot sit in a room by herself without having a panic attack. She sees Keith everywhere she goes. Her friends are starting to shun her. Portia is sad and lonely and trying to work on this play with a director that is clearly into her. She wants the attention and love, but she cannot shake the image of what she saw in that kitchen. She is very much out of her element, and that is causing her to not really trust anyone, especially Dory anymore. Drew shacks up with Chantal to get back at Dory, he buries the murder weapon after Chantal sees it at his place and he is trying to get a promotion that would send him to China. And he refuses to speak with Dory at all. And poor Elliott, side note, if John Early doesn't at the very least get some Emmy consideration for his role this season it would be a god damn shame, is unraveling at the seams. On the surface he seems fine, but inside he is losing it. His hair is falling out, he can't control his bowels in public, he is screaming the name Keith in his sleep and he is covered in a horrible rash. He is also writing a book, but he is writing it on paper towels and it is all nonsense. Where we just left off with him is in rehab. He is a mess.

This second season of "Search Party" has been everything I wanted it to be, but so much more. It is very, very dark at times. The humor is still there, which I love. You see the breaking apart of these friends that are all pretty bad people. These pretty bad people now have some really heavy stuff, that they caused, that they have to deal with, and watching all four of them separately deal with it has been wonderful. 

"Search Party" has upped its game in season two and I am so excited to see where they go with the last 4 episodes. I hope they make more, but I wouldn't be surprised if they ended it after this season. I highly recommend people seek this show out and watch it. It is so good. It is so well written and acted and the four main actors are doing something very special right now. Go watch "Search Party".

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He has never been Canada, and he has never accidentally killed someone. He plans on doing the first part and not the second.

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There are No Small Parts, Just Great Side Characters Like Teddy on "Bob's Burgers"

Craft Services is a tempting vice to fall into

Piggybacking on what I wrote about yesterday, I want to point out another side character on a show that I love. The character, Teddy, the show, Bob’s Burgers.

Teddy has become my second favorite character, only behind Bob Belcher. Teddy is the handyman that sits at the counter and eats burgers all day. He was barely used in the first season, but the longer the show has been on, his story line has grown exponentially. It came to a great head on an episode entitled Uncle Teddy. Bob and Linda go out of town and Teddy steps up when they need a babysitter. Teddy is almost too eager to prove himself to Bob and Linda and the kids. He wants the kids to think he’s fun and cool, so he kind of gives them free reign. He trusts them so much so, Tina thinks it’s okay to have a party in the restaurant. This of course backfired, and in a moment of brilliant writing, when a teenage boy makes fun of his weight, Teddy screams at him about his cholesterol levels. I still laugh to this day when I watch that episode and that line comes up.

There is so much more Teddy now. We have found out that he was a young stud that acted as an extra in movies. We also found out that the movie set was his downfall. That’s when he started to, “hit craft services pretty hard”. We also see that he helps Louise when she wants to prove that Thomas Edison wasn’t maybe the great man that some think. The Topsy episode is great for many reasons, Teddy being one of them. He also helps Bob hide from his in laws when he gets “stuck” in the wall of the restaurant. And most recently, we found out that he is a hoarder that had a pretty rough childhood.

The most recent Thanksgiving episode was phenomenal because it was mainly based on Teddy and his family. Jay Johnston has brought about a humility, yet hilariousness to Teddy. He has made this not very important character nearly essential to this great show. In fact,

I like Teddy more than Clegg, and I love Clegg. I hope they continue to make him an essential person on the show. Every time he is a main character in an episode I’m thrilled. Let’s keep it that way. Here’s to Teddy.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He used to work in the entertainment business, and his downfall came when he started to hit the floss sugar pretty hard. We are all glad Ty got over that traumatic part of his life.

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There are No Small Parts, Just Great Side Characters like Clegg in "Eastbound and Down"

We all could use a good wingman like Clegg

After finishing up "Vice Principals" last week, I decided I wanted to revisit "Eastbound and Down". In the past week I have gotten through the first season, and the show definitely holds up. But, this piece is not about another great Danny McBride and Jody Hill show. It is about a character that I feel like is incredibly underrated in the first season.

Obviously Kenny Powers, Rachel, Cutler and Stevie are the best, but why do more people not talk about how awesome the character of Clegg, played by Ben Best, is? He is a star in the first season. I'm not bull shitting you either. I am a big time Clegg fan. For those that may not remember, Clegg is either the owner, or more likely, just a bartender, of the local bar,  Sha Boom's. He shows up in the first episode when the local lady of the town starts to hit on Kenny. He has one of the best lines when he kicks her out, telling her, "you need a shit ton of Valtrax". It made me laugh just as hard when I saw it the other day as it did the first time I saw it. Clegg then motions to Kenny that they should go do some cocaine. So, we find out immediately that he has some kind of job at the local bar, and he is the town drug dealer.

From there on out in the first season, Clegg is looked at as the guy to get Kenny whatever kind of drugs he needs. In actuality, the more I think about it, he is just as pathetic and needy as Stevie, he just doesn't show it as much. I love when he and Kenny are getting high in their first scene together, and Clegg explains how he left college to follow around Widespread Panic. He, in between snorts of drugs, tells Kenny that he will burn him some of their stuff, but, "only the choice cuts". I cannot tell you how many times I heard those exact words when I was at the many, many Widespread Panic shows that I used to go to. It is oddly familiar, but also a true glimpse into how much Clegg wanted this washed up baseball "star" to like him. He is willing to anything that Kenny asks of him from that point on. Kenny needs drugs, Clegg gets them for him. Kenny needs a chauffer to Ashley Schaffer's BMW for his "celebrity" appearance, Clegg is the man for the job. Kenny needs steroids, Clegg finds a guy. Even when Clegg ditches Kenny at the BMW store, after huffing glue, or maybe paint, with the local homeless people, to have an encounter with one of the female homeless people, he blames himself. Kenny takes him out on his jet ski, acts like everything is cool, then slides him off and reprimands him for leaving him at the dealership. Instead of calling Kenny an asshole, and telling him he is selfish, he apologizes. He takes all the blame. He then makes it his mission to get Kenny the steroids that he now feels he owes him for leaving him high and dry. So, while Stevie is way more forthcoming with his desires to do whatever Kenny wants him to do, Clegg is the same. He just doesn't come off as bad, or pathetic, as Stevie. Even when Kenny goes back to the dealership to have a showdown with the guy that ended his MLB career, Clegg shows up with the wrong drugs for Kenny, but he still shows up with something that Kenny wants, takes and doesn't pay for. Kenny wants steroids, but Clegg couldn't get some in time, but he still brings him oxycotin. And, as I said, Kenny keeps it, and never pays for it. In the first season's finale, Clegg even mentions something about Kenny paying him for all the stuff he has given him, and Kenny just kind of blows him off and changes the subject. And, Clegg seems to just forget about it anyway.

I love this character. I believe, as I said at the top, that he is the most underrated character in the first season. He is so funny and riddled with drugs and is another in a small line of 2 people that want Kenny Powers affection. Go back and watch season one of this show and try and tell me that Clegg isn't awesome, but also, just as lowly as Stevie. Ben Best did so awesome with this person they had him play, and the further I get into my re watching of this wonderful series, the more I hope he still shows up from time to time. Here's to Clegg.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He doesn't know the drugs, but he definitely knows the choicest cuts of Widespread. He will burn you a copy if you like.

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Ty Watches "Vice Principals" Series Finale

This past Sunday was the series finale of "Vice Principals". I've been a fan of this show from day one. I have even said, and RD disagrees with me, that I think it is a better show than "Eastbound and Down". Don't get me wrong, I adore both shows, but I like the darkness and the seediness of "Vice Principals". That is not to say that "Eastbound and Down" wasn't dark at times, but it was always filled with some comedic element. When "Vice Principals" got dark, it stayed dark.

The series finale was a prime example of how far they could go with this show. I felt that the finale was a perfect ending to the show. I know that Danny McBride and Jody Hill and David Gordon Green had always said that it was only supposed to last 2 seasons, and the way they ended it was stupendous. They do not need to do anything else. They closed up every story line perfectly. I was so pleased with what I watched. After I finished the finale, I watched it yesterday, I felt a sense of completeness.

Everyone involved with this show, be it acting, writing, producing or directing, did a wonderful job. Danny McBride was awesome as Neal Gamby. He could have settled into a Kenny Powers esque character, but he went the opposite direction. His character had a soul. He had a conscience. He did some bad things, but his heart was, for the most part, in the right place. He is the hero. Walton Goggins deserves a god damn Emmy for his role. He was the absolute best thing about this show. He was conniving. He was a bad, bad man. He had a troubled past. He constantly lied and cheated to get what he wanted. He was just flat out evil. But, in the end, he came through for his buddy, that is a minor spoiler alert. All the bad stuff he did, he finally, kind of, redeemed himself. Goggins and McBride were the stars, and who the show was based around, and it was a perfect pairing. I did not know how they would fit, but they had tremendous chemistry on screen. I fully bought into their journey and friendship.

Outside of the main guys, pretty much every supporting actor was great too. Georgia King as Amanda Snodgrass, the sometimes love interest of Neal Gamby, was so good. She was tough, no nonsense and didn't put up with Gamby's bull shit. Her arc, especially when she started to date Fisher Stevens, an excellent addition, as a YA novelist, was so good. The fact that she took pride in Gamby's love for her book, which by all accounts sounded pretty bad, showed how naïve, yet faithful she was to Gamby. Kimberly Hebert Gregory as Dr. Belinda Brown, the ire of Gamby and Russell in season 1, was just as good in her much reduced role in season 2. She found a new school, but she popped up here and there to debunk some theories and curse out Russell when he came to her for help. She was so good in season 1, and I did not know how they would incorporate her in season 2, but they found a nice fit for her to come back. Edi Patterson as Ms. Abbot, had a much expanded role in season 2, and she owned it. She was nutso. She was crazy. She had all kinds of ulterior motives, and Patterson crushed in this role. Sheaun McKinney had a bigger role as Dayshawn in season 2, and he was great. He was always there with a joke, but also good advice for Gamby. I loved him in this show. I could go on and on. Dale Dickey was a great addition this season. Busy Phillips and Shea Whigham were just as good this season as they were in the first. All the other teachers at the school, excellent. The cast was one of the best parts of the show, and everyone involved really leaned into their roles.

What truly made this a great show was the writing. As earlier stated, it was dark, but it was also funny, sometimes moving and had a nice mystery involved in the second and final season. I love this show so much. The finale has one of the best guest appearance that I have seen. RD texted me and told me this before I watched it, and he was one hundred percent correct. The finale is crazy. All the stuff they pack into about 34 minutes is nuts, but it works. I loved the whole series, but the finale was exceptional.

I will miss "Vice Principals", but it is going out on top. It ended perfectly. You can always watch it on HBO Go or On Demand, or anywhere you may watch TV. I'm glad that I watched it in real time. It was a show that I looked forward to every week. As I said, I'm sad it is done, but I will remember it as one of the best shows I have ever watch. Watch this show. When Danny McBride, Jody Hill and David Gordon Green get together, they usually knock it out of the park, and with "Vice Principals", they hit a grand slam. What an excellent, phenomenal show.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The Head Editor agrees that "Vice Principals" is one of the greatest shows ever, but the first ten minutes of "Eastbound and Down". that belongs in the Louvre.

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Ty Watches "Big Mouth"

Last week I finally got around to watching "Big Mouth" on Netflix. I was waiting until I caught up on other shows to watch, and when I finally sat down and binged the show, and I was very happy with what I saw. I was pretty sure I was going to like it when I saw Nick Kroll was the co creator. I'm a big Nick Kroll fan. Then I saw some of the other people involved, and I was on board. Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Jessi Klein, Jason Mantzoukas, Seth Morris, Kristen Bell, Maya Rudolph, Fred Armisen, Richard Kind, I could go on and on with the people I am a fan of on this show.

At its core, "Big Mouth" is about teenagers going through puberty. "Big Mouth" hits all the important moments, both male and female, that make puberty such a drag. We get zits, wet dreams, periods, awkwardness with the opposite sex, weird feelings that go through your body, getting hair where there was no hair before, hormones, virtually everything that makes this such a tough time in young people's lives. After watching the first episode I told my wife that this was, by far, the best representation of going through puberty, at least from a male perspective. Puberty stinks. It is the worst. It is so awkward and challenging and there is so much change and new things that do not make sense. And "Big Mouth" captures that perfectly.

Andrew, voiced by John Mulaney, is one of the main characters, and we see a lot of the bad sides of going through puberty through his eyes. He even has a hormone monster that is always at his side telling him the wrong thing to do because, as we all know, our hormones are way out of whack when we are teenagers. We see the wet dreams, the constant urges, the will to fight when told something he didn't like, the yelling at parents, the horribly awkward encounter of asking a girl to be your girlfriend at 13. It is all there, and Mulaney, and the writers, completely nail it. Nick Kroll is his buddy that is a bit behind, as far as growing up goes, but he is just as good. You see the jealousy, the fighting, the wanting to be involved, trying to get girls himself, even drinking at his sister's high school party. Kroll's character also wants the hormone monster to get him, but he is not ready. In fact, that is a very good through line for the first season. Jessi Klein represents the female lead, and as far as I can tell, she is great at showing how rough this time of life can be for girls. She has a bad experience with white shorts, her mom and dad are always fighting and she has crushes on 3 of her different friends that happen to be boys. Klein is great. Jason Mantzoukas is cast perfectly as the crazed 13 year old that cannot control his urges. He also has a crazy home life, and he loves magic. The relationship between him and his pillow, voiced by Kristen Bell, is gold. Nick Kroll and Maya Rudolph play the voices of the male and female hormone monsters, and they are my favorite parts of the show. The hormone monsters tell these kids to give into their urges, and they also have a very odd relationship with each other. But, their lines always made me laugh, and also reflect on how true that situation was at age 13. Richard Kind is great as Andrew's dad, who has a big problem with scallops, and also constantly complains. Rudolph and Fred Armisen play Nick Kroll's folks, and they are almost too loving and caring. They are always eager to give advice that their kids may not want to hear. There is a great few scenes in an episode where Nick doesn't want to be babied anymore, so his mom starts to take care of Jay(Jason Mantzoukas), who is hard pressed for the love of a mom.

I have nothing but good things to say about "Big Mouth". It is perfect in every way. It gets across its message so well, and I am so pumped to see what they do with season 2. The only warning I will give, the show is animated, but it is not a kid's show. My son walked in one day while I was watching it, and I had to turn it off immediately. It is filled with curse words. Anyway, I highly recommend "Big Mouth" for anyone and everyone that went through puberty. There is no show that better represents that time in your life.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He still waiting for the hormone monster to get him. Being a bald prepubescent boy is one of strangest things ever. Something only Charlie Brown knows about.

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Ty Watches the Incredible "Nathan for You" Finale "Finding Frances"

I think I may have witnessed the greatest 2 hours of television ever last Thursday. The season 4 finale of "Nathan For You" was simply perfect in every possible way.

The episode was entitled "Finding Frances", and Nathan Fielder made it his personal mission to help a guy that impersonates Bill Gates, he was in earlier seasons of "Nathan For You", find his long lost love from 50 years ago. This episode was so well put together. From start to finish I was totally in. The episode played more like a movie than a show. The people involved with putting this all together nailed it. I had heard Fielder, while doing the podcast circuit, say that the finale was going to be 2 hours, and it was very different from what his show is usually about, and I was intrigued. The whole season was great, but "Finding Frances" was stupendous. It almost felt like a series finale, and while that would make me sad, what a way to go out.

As I said, the episode was all about this man, Bill Heath, a Bill Gates "impersonator", trying to track down his high school sweet heart. The episode started with Fielder explaining that Heath had started to come around his office more after he had asked him to do some DVD commentary for the show. All the while, the cameras were rolling, as they always are. What Fielder and crew showed was Heath constantly losing focus and bringing up a former girlfriend names Frances. He became so obsessed, that when they found out where she used to live, Bill convinced Fielder to go back to his home state of Arkansas and track her down. This is where the show changed from TV to a movie. It played out like a missing person mystery, but with Fielder's excellent dry wit sprinkled in.

When they arrived in Arkansas, Fielder pulled out all his tricks to try and track Frances down. They tried to go to the high school and find her, but they were turned away. Not to be outdone, Fielder and Heath pretended that they were filming a sequel to the movie "Mud" that was shot in Dumas, Arkansas. They even made "Mud 2" hats, and had an extra from "Mud" come in and audition for a role. After hearing that they were making a sequel, the people of Dumas were more than willing to let Fielder and Heath go through old stuff in the library and all over the school. They eventually found what they were looking for, a 1957 yearbook with Frances in it. They got the picture, and Fielder flew a man out who has been on his show before that can make a picture of what people will look like when they age. He took the picture of Frances, and did the best he could. Bill Heath seemed to think this was a great. They took the picture and posted it all over Dumas with hopes that someone would call. One kid did, thinking it may be his great grandma, but after meeting her, it was not who they were looking for.

Heath decided after awhile that he was going to stay with his niece. This is when some revelations started to come out. We found out that Bill wasn't always a Bill Gates impersonator. We found out that he may have cheated on Frances. We found out that he tended to over exaggerate things that he may have remembered. We got to hear a bunch of letters that Frances had written to him many years ago, with each one getting worse and worse for Bill's "reputation". It was so awesome.

After finding out that Bill acts differently around women, Fielder decided he was going to set him up with an escort, but only for flirting. When he tells Bill his plan, Bill says, "I don't mean to be crass, but you have to know where you are sticking it". This was disgusting and hilarious. It is also the only time I have ever seen Nathan Fielder crack. He laughed and said, "Jesus Bill". It was so good, my wife and I watched it three times in a row. But, having already paid the escort, Fielder decided to hang out with her himself. From the moment he saw her, he was in love. He may have been faking it for the show, very likely, but he showed real interest in Maci. In fact, he kept hanging out with Maci throughout the entire episode. Every time they met, it got more and more awkward. Fielder just wanted the attention, and Maci kept pushing to try and get more money from him. The scene with them making out was so uncomfortably awkward and perfect. It was only something Nathan Fielder could pull off.

We eventually got back to the plan of finding Frances. They found her on Facebook after an extensive search, which included a Dumas High School 57 year reunion, which had Bill singing and dancing. It was so god damn funny. What they found on Facebook was not great for Bill. Frances was on her second marriage, and she now lived in Michigan. Bill, somehow, convinced Fielder and crew to fly him out there, and they could come along too. Before they left, Fielder wanted Bill to practice what he would say to Frances when he saw her, and how he would react to her husband. They hired the actor from "Mud" as the husband, and Fielder flew in an actress from LA to portray Frances. The scene that followed next was so awesome and weird and uncomfortable and perfect. His interactions with the actress, like hugging, kissing and rubbing her leg, was so far across the line. The stuff with the guy playing the husband was filled with yelling and pushing. Finally Fielder made Bill wear a wig and act as Frances, and this seemed to open his eyes that maybe he shouldn't come on so strong.

Once they got this all figured out, they took off for Michigan. Mind you, they had been gone from LA for over a month now. When they got there, they stayed one night in hotel and headed to Frances' house in the morning. While driving, they barely spoke a word. When they got to Frances' home, Bill got cold feet all of the sudden. He decided that he wanted Fielder and the crew to come along, but Fielder squashed that pretty quick. Bill finally decided he would call her first. They spoke on the phone for about 15 minutes. The first couple were Bill creepily asking Frances if she knew who she was talking to. She did not know, for the record. After Bill revealed himself, they spoke about the past and present. Frances seemed happy, and this upset Bill so much that he decided he did not want to go to her home anymore. They both decided then and there to go back home.

When home, Fielder talked about how lost and upset he felt about the whole thing. He kept speaking about lost love and how he couldn't rekindle a past romance. Bill showed up one day at the office to give Fielder a present, a serving dish. But, we come to find out that he is there to ask Fielder to set him up with the woman that played Frances in their practice session. He did, and they met up. But, the episode ended with Fielder talking about love and everything involved, and we came to find out that he was sending a letter to Maci, the escort. Fielder flew back to Arkansas, this time by himself, to meet up with Maci, They held hands and talked, and a drone shot ended the episode by flying away as the 2 of them spoke.

"Finding Frances" was perfect. It gave us a delusional old man trying to rekindle a failed romance. It gave us the best type of uncomfortable moments that this show thrives on. It gave us the best Fielder moment ever, him breaking and laughing. This was just perfect, perfect TV. I highly recommend everyone watch this episode. It is the best thing that has been on television in quite some time. "Finding Frances" may very well be Nathan Fielder's masterpiece. It is wonderful.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He once went to find the lost love the head editor. All they had to do was look in a mirror, and the person the head editor had always loved was right in front of them.

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The Monsters Live on Charlie Brown's Street

Give this as a treat on Halloween and expect it to go through your window as a trick

Happy Halloween. Please enjoy this post from holidays past. The article was originally posted on October 31st, 2015.

Today is Halloween.

I expected that many of you already know this. Ty has talked about what he  likes about Halloween (The Simpsons) and what he generally dislikes (everything else). We even had a great conversation about the good and bad on Halloween (beer good, puns bad). What I think many people can agree with is that the entertainment around the spookiest of holidays is pretty darn good. I may not like haunted houses, but they are very impressive pieces of theater. Cracked.com writer Adam Tod Brown does a much better job describing the experience of haunted houses better than I could (read his latest piece on an intense experience). The best horror and slasher movies tend to be campy, innovative, or just plain scary. It is a genre that covers all of the human emotional spectrum. Television also gets in the Halloween act, and there have been some timeless television mined out of the spirit of All Hallows Eve.

In my humble opinion there is not a better, or more timeless, piece of Halloween entertainment than "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown". First airing in 1966, this special has been going strong for almost 50 years now. I always feel like the fall / winter holiday season has started when I see Linus and Lucy Van Pelt come out their front door and the Vince Guaraldi Sextet breaks into the jazz number "Linus and Lucy". That is the sound of the holidays to me, and I hate jazz. The characters set the mood with very little dialogue. In the first five minutes you get Lucy being snobby, Linus being emotional, Snoopy being innovative, and Charlie Brown being put upon. The animation and artwork are magnificent. You can easily see that it is fall in this community. The colors give off a feeling of briskness. During the Snoopy - Red Baron sequences the art work starts to resemble surrealistic paintings. Watching "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" is like taking a stroll through the best art museums of the world.

The actual story is as timeless as the animation. Linus has an incredible belief that all the other kids ridicule him for. Linus does not waver from his belief, coming back stronger after his eventually disappointment. Sally has a crush and just wants to be with her beloved, but even she demands justice (restitution) when the night was taken away by a crazy belief. Snoopy's imagination is educational (look up all the spots he walks through in France during World War I), and exciting. The kids may be mean to each other, especially Charlie Brown, but they still all do everything together.

The kids are definitely cruel to poor Charles, but the adults in this town are psychopaths. I know the adults never appear as main characters in the Peanuts universe, but the actions attributed the grown ups paints a picture of horrible people. Who in their rational thinking mind would give a kid a rock on Halloween? If that had been me, the rock would have gone through the givers window. What gets me is that Charlie Brown did not just get one rock, he got a bag full of them. The adults all decided to pick on this one, bald, chubby, little kid. Charlie Brown may not be good with scissors, but he still deserves some candy. Give him the Mounds bar or Whoppers, or even candy corn. 

Surprisingly this is not the cruelest thing done by the adults in "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown". The Van Pelt parents not only let their young son go hang out in a pumpkin patch on Halloween night, in Minnesota no less, they leave him there all night. Lucy has her alarm set for 4:00am to get her shivering little brother and put him to bed. Were the Van Pelts too drunk and could not be woken up? Were they still out drinking? Monsters, the whole lot of them.

"It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" is the greatest piece of Halloween entertainment ever created. I hope your holiday festivities include a viewing of this classic. It has everything one wants in Halloween entertainment. The joy of the children, the imagination of the creative, the belief in mystical creature, and the terror of a group of adult monsters. Do not miss or you will have just wait till next year. You and Linus will just be waiting for the Great Pumpkin.

RD Kulik

RD is the Head editor for SeedSing. While he was writing this piece his wife used RD's bald head as a model for her pumpkin carving. Good grief. Come tell us what holiday entertainment is the best by writing for SeedSing.

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Ty Watches the New "Duck Tales"

In August I came home from basketball one evening and my wife and kids were watching "Duck Tales". I naturally assumed that is was the old version, the one I watched as a kid, but was surprised to find out that this classic show was being rebooted. I was a little hesitant at first. As I already stated, the original was a classic. But then my wife told me who was involved with the new version. I was then on board.

First, it is a Disney XD show, and for the most part, they do good TV shows. Disney XD is not your typical children's show network. They make stuff that parents enjoy watching too. Then my wife told me who was in the cast and I was for sure on board. The voices of Huey, Dewey and Louie are Danny Pudi, Ben Schwartz and Bobby Monihan. I love Danny Pudi. He is pretty good in everything he does, and he was phenomenal as Abed on one of my favorite shows, "Community". I love love love Ben Schwartz. Everything he does, I am a fan of. I also love that he loves basketball. Ben Schwartz is amazing. He is great in movies and TV shows, most notably "Parks and Rec" as Jean Ralhpio. That role is second to none, and only someone like Ben Schwartz could have pulled it off. Bobby Monihan was the only reason I held on to watching "SNL" as long as I did. I loved every character he played on that show, especially Drunk Uncle. I also loved his bit parts in movies and other TV shows he was in that I saw. His animated show on FX, "Chozen", has to be one of the most underrated and hilarious shows I have ever watched. This new version of "Duck Tales" nailed it with casting the three main characters. They also nailed it with the rest of the casting. Scrooge is voiced by David Tennant. I do not watch the show "Dr. Who", but I know that it has a rabid fan base, and he played Dr. Who. He is perfectly cast, what with the English accent and all. Launchpad McQuack is voiced by Beck Bennett. He is one of the decent current "SNL" cast members, and he has had funny turns on shows like "Ghosted", and I'm sure he is going to start doing more and more big time things. Kate Micucci, who I adore, is the voice of Webbigail, and she brings the perfect energy to this role. Then as you go down the line of people who have showed up in some of the 8 new episodes names like, Jim Rash, Margo Martindale, Josh Brener, Kimiko Glenn and Marc Evan Jackson, all have done voice work. That is a who's who of improv comedy people and good character actor people. I love that the creators of this new version of the show are using not as well known, more up and coming people to do the voices of these classic characters.

When you get passed the names on the show, the episodes are really well done. The animation is wonderful, the stories are well written and well acted and all the people involved are giving it their best shot. The show can be dark sometimes, which I enjoy too. For example, Josh Brener shows up as a tech wiz who is only fleecing people so he can become a billionaire. He actually gets kidnapped by a super strong, easily annoyed bald eagle during the episode. The darkness come when Huey realizes that Brener's character is a phony and is so upset with himself that he looked up to a creep like him. That is dark for a kids show. Of course they played it for laughs, but I loved that the writers went there. In that same episode, Scrooge and a cousin of his plot against Brener, and that got dark too. There is an earlier episode when Huey, Dewey and Louis go out on a boating trip and leave Webbigail behind. She thinks she is making a new friend when she meets someone by the pier, but this person is just trying to get close to Scrooge to get his money. Again, that is some dark stuff for a show made for kids.

For as hesitant as I was about a reboot I have got to say, I enjoy the hell out of this new version of "Duck Tales". It is funny, dark, witty and made for both adults and kids to enjoy. I don't usually like the shows my kids watch, they don't like when I watch "PTI" either, but "Duck Tales" is a ton of fun. I love the theme song as much as my son does too. When we walk to school we will bust into singing it out of nowhere. I highly recommend anyone with kids that wants to watch a show that would appeal to them as well to check out this new "Duck Tales". A new episode comes out every Friday I believe, but you can also watch it On Demand. That is how we do it. Check this new "Duck Tales" out if you haven't already. I'm pretty sure you'll like it as much as me, my wife and my kids do.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is wondering if these improv comics do these new "Duck Tales" cartoons live. That must be tough on the animators.

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Ty Watches "Nathan for You" Season 4 Premier

Last night was the season 4 premiere of the wonderful "Nathan For You". This show is the perfect blend of humor, humility, weird ideas and some of the best deadpan comedy that I have ever witnessed. Nathan Fielder is a master of his craft. He is so good at what he does, and on "Nathan For You", he gets to show that ten fold.

I've been on board with this show from day one. I became a fan of Fielder's when I first saw him on "Jon Benjamin Has a Van", a one season long, hilariously underrated comedy on Comedy Central. He is the best. He has gone on to do many other things, most recently being in "Tour De Pharmacy" with one of the better roles, but "Nathan For You" is his baby and he takes great care of it. The show is based on his business ideas that help businesses that are on the down turn, or that have fallen on hard times. He claims that he went, "to a one of the best business schools in Canada, and got really good grades" during the intro. They even show his grades, and he has a few A's, some B's and one C. He got average grades, which makes the premise of the show even better. Some of his stuff from the first couple of seasons have made national news. He did Dumb Starbucks. He was the one that made it look like a pig was saving another animal from drowning in a lake. He convinced a realtor to become the "Ghost Realtor", who would guarantee that there were no ghosts in the houses she was selling. He created Summit Ice. This is the clothing apparel company that gives all of its proceeds to Holocaust awareness. He had someone ghost write a self help book, which I bought and read, called "The Movement". He's done a lot of crazy, but also sometimes very good stuff for people. He knows that there is comedy in what he is doing, but the people he goes to help are not aware. They are looking for legitimate help, and he wants to provide them with it. And while he knows that the show is comedic in nature, he does it all in a good nature.

Now, before I get hammered for calling last name a premiere, I'm fully aware that last Thursday they did a celebration of sorts and revisited some of his past customers and where they are now. But, for all intents and purposes, last night was the season 4 premiere, and it was just as wonderful as every other episode. In this episode, Fielder goes to a diner in LA that isn't the hopping place that it once used to be. The diner used to be pulling in money and customers left and right. But now, while still having a solid customer base, they weren't doing as great as they once did. Fielder arrived at the diner and met with the owner. First off, the owner kept telling Fielder that he was trying to get on "Diners, Drive Ins and Dives", and Fielder had to keep reminding him that his show wasn't Guy Fieri's show. It was hilarious. The guy kept bringing it up, and every time, Fielder had to shut it down, and he did it in the only way he could, with pure deadpan comedy.

After the guy got over his Guy Fieri stuff, he finally let Fielder tell him his plan. Fielder let the man know that he always saw an uptick in business when a celebrity would leave a big tip. This is true. When famous people leave a crazy tip, it is shown all over the news. The problem Fielder found was that no real celebrities wanted to do this for his show. He found another route though, and he auditioned some celebrity impersonators. It was hilariously sad to watch these people try and get this meaningless job. The Ace Venture/Jim Carrey impersonator was equal parts hilarious and sad. Fielder showed the tapes to the owner, and he picked a guy that was a Kramer impersonator. This led to a whole new set of problems. First, the racist stuff. Enough time had passed that most people brush that off now. But, he needed someone with the name Michael Richards to give him their credit card info, and this was met with all no's, obviously. Next, he found a guy that was willing to legally change his name. This scene was great because of the negotiation between the 2. With the name change came new problems though. They needed a 4 week period where the name change was announced in a publication. So, Fielder hired back the guy that ghost wrote "The Movement", from last season, to be the head editor of a newspaper he called "The Diarrhea Times". This was all perfect Nathan Fielder and "Nathan For You" stuff.

Once the 4 weeks passed and the name change was set, Fielder had the whole crew of the restaurant, and his Kramer impersonator ready to do the deed. Before I continue, please watch the Kramer guy try and figure out how to be Michael Richards and not Kramer. It is gold. Anyway, the Kramer impersonator does all the things Fielder had him do, the staff reacted as they were supposed to, and sure enough, the story made local news. It was on a local LA news station the next day. Fielder, to hammer home his point, had this story be the headlining story on the last issue of "The Diarrhea Times". It was tremendous.

I am so happy that this show is back. It is one of my favorite things on TV right now, and probably ever. Nathan Fielder is so funny and this show is so perfect for him. I'm so excited to see where he takes this season. I have heard that the season finale is going to be 2 hours long! I can't wait. It was a long 2 years to wait for the new season of "Nathan For You", but I'm so happy it is back and I am so happy that it will be in my life for the next couple of months. This show is perfect.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is trying to figure out who is best to help a struggling business. Should you go with Jon Taffer or Nathan Fielder? Either way, the audience will always win.

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Ty Watches "Vice Principals" Final Season Premier

This past Sunday "Vice Principals" returned to TV. I loved the first season of this show. Anytime that Danny McBride and David Gordon Green get together, save for "Your Highness", I am completely on board. They did great work with "Eastbound and Down", and they are doing it even better, in my opinion, on "Vice Principals". That is very high praise from me. "Eastbound and Down" is one of the greatest shows to ever appear on TV. It was perfect in every possible way. But, I feel like "Vice Principals" is darker, funnier and just a sight bit better. The show is so dark.

The opening scene of the season 2 premiere was intense. I watched it while sitting on the edge of my couch. It only got darker, but also funnier from there. Spoiler alert if you haven't watched the first season yet, McBride's character got shot in the school parking lot by a masked person. I didn't know if the show was going to come back, or if they did, how would they treat what happened? Would McBride be dead? Would he be paralyzed? Who did it? Why did this person do it? I had so many questions. So, when they announced that they were doing a second season, and it would be the last season, I was pumped.

I watched the season 2 premiere yesterday when I finally had a chance to sit down. As I said, they had that crazy dark opening dream sequence, and then the show snapped back to its comedy roots. McBride was awoken by his daughter, and she told him breakfast was ready. What made this so funny, he was staying at his ex wife's house, played by Busy Phillips, and her new boyfriend was his live in nurse. If people remember my review from season one, one of my favorite characters is Busy Phillips new boyfriend. He is so nice to Phillips, her daughter and, especially, McBride. That is hammered home in the season 2 premiere. McBride seems to think he needs a wheelchair and a lift to get up and down the steps, but we find out that he was shot in the shoulder and the hip. He is not paralyzed, but he acts like he is. He has become so reliant on the chair and the lift.

Later on Walton Goggins shows up to give McBride his medicine, so we find out then that he and McBride still hang out. They successfully got the new principal fired, and now Goggins has become principal of the high school. He does find time to help out McBride though. They go on walks and feed ducks. McBride tells Goggins his plans for getting Dr. Brown back, he believes she shot him, but Goggins says that everyone in town, including the police, say that it was a stereo thief that was spooked by McBride's presence. McBride doesn't believe that, and neither does Goggins. But, they have to go along with it so no one will find out all the terrible things they did to Dr. Brown in season 1.

At this recent walk in the park, Goggins gets McBride to get out of his chair and walk. He needs him back at the high school. Goggins is having a hard time being the full time principal. He goes on to explain how hard it has been by describing all things he has to do for the parents and administrators by describing it as "the worst gang bang I have ever been a part of, and believe me, I have been in some gang bangs". McBride returns to the high school the day after his last encounter with Goggins, and that scene was hilarious. He has the student choir sing "Tears in Heaven", and McBride is so very uncomfortable the whole time. It was comedic gold.

The episode did get dark when McBride found out where Dr. Brown was living now and confronted her in the restroom of a restaurant she was at with her kids. She told him she did not shoot him, and at this point, McBride tried to pull a gun on her. It slipped out of his arm, still using humor even in dark scenes, and rolled to her feet. He then pulled the sword out of his cane and told her not to move. She explained then all the reasons why she wouldn't shoot him, and even showed him a tattoo of him and Goggins holding hands and eating shit. She has put them behind her, just like gin, and got it tattooed on her back, as is her way. She then tries to tell him that she thinks it may have been Goggins that shot him because everything worked out for him. McBride storms into the school the next day and asks Goggins if he shot him at their meeting spot in the woods. Goggins is appalled, and starts to walk away. McBride apologizes, and this is when we hear about how bad it is to be principal. Goggins shows him a binder filled with possible suspects of people that could have shot McBride. They seem to be back in business as partners in crime again.

The final scene of the first episode shows McBride getting his gumption back and tearing into students that are acting up at lunch. It was great, and he is most definitely back. I'm very excited to see how this second, and final season, goes. I want answers, hilarious scenes and dark shit to happen, and I'm one hundred percent sure that "Vice Principals", Danny McBride and David Gordon Green will deliver. Everyone should be watching this show. It is amazing.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is right that "Vice Principals" is an awesome show. It is not better than "Eastbound and Down". I mean the first ten minutes of that show's premier is the greatest piece of entertainment man has ever created.

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Cloves and Fedoras: Go Check Out the Awesome Comedy "I'm Sorry"

Cloves and Fedoras is Seed Sings reviews for little known pieces of pop culture.  Feel free to contact us with your own submissions of undiscovered gems that must be known.

While listening to the podcast "How Did this Get Made" a few weeks back they had Andrea Savage on as their guest. I do not remember which movie they were talking about, but I knew that Savage and Jason Mantzoukas were both cracking me up. I am already a big time fan of Mantzoukas. I have sang his praises many times on the podcast and the website. He is a funny dude and I really enjoy the characters he plays. I vaguely knew of Savage. She has shown up in bit parts on shows I watch like "The League" and "Veep". In fact, she plays the president on "Veep". She was also in a very underrated, short lived Comedy Central show, "Dog Bites Man" that everyone should check out. She is also very funny in the movie "Step Brothers". She has a smaller role, but she does wonderful things with it.

Near the end of the podcast, both Savage and Mantzoukas, while doing plugs, plugged a show that Savage created that Mantzoukas was a co star on. The show is called "I'm Sorry" and it is on the TruTV network, and it is glorious.

After hearing about "I'm Sorry" on "HDTGM", I wanted to check it out and I was glad that I landed on it while channel surfing. My wife came into the living room while I was watching it and she sat down and finished the episode with me. We both loved what we saw. The show was hilarious. We were lucky enough to see that TruTV was having an all day marathon on Labor Day leading up to the season finale. We recorded all the episodes and the finale. We had 10 episodes on our DVR and we blasted through them in about 3 days. We would sit down after putting our kids to bed, say we were only going to watch one, then we'd watch 3 or 4. We could not get enough. The show is so funny. The wit, the jokes, the acting, the writing, the directing, it all comes at you so fast and furious and it is all hilarious.

First off, Savage is an absolute comedic genius. she is so damn funny on the show. Her jokes and acting are top notch. She makes me laugh harder than anyone else on the show does. It makes sense because it is her show, but she ups the comedy to a whole new level. Tom Everret Scott plays her husband. You may know him from "That Thing You Do". He is great on "I'm Sorry". He is quieter and kind of just plays off Savage's fast paced comedy, but he has his moments. There is a great scene after they see their marriage counselor that I do not want to spoil but Scott is so funny, sad and reverts back to being his quiet self immediately. It is the best moment of season one. Both Savage and Scott have great chemistry too. They play so well off each other. Their daughter is equally funny. She is 5, just a child, but Savage and crew write some great lines for her. Some of the stuff she says blows my mind because she is so young, but being on this show, I guess it should be expected. Her mother, played by Kathy Baker, has great moments too. She is very funny. Martin Mull, who plays her father, has a tremendous character arc that is one of the funniest things from season one. The aforementioned Mantzoukas plays her writing partner, and every scene he is in is awesome. He is so god damn funny on the show. He is still playing a kind of disgusting character, but it is nowhere near Rafi from "The League". He actually gets to be human in this role. Mantzoukas is great, and I am so glad that he is getting chances to play different roles in movies and TV shows lately. He has earned his shot.

There are also a ton of people in the current comedy world that show up on this show in small roles. Gary Anthony Williams is great as a stay at home dad that is friends with Savage. Steve Zissis as "shorts guy" has a very funny, very small role in the show. Judy Greer is great as one of Savage's friends who rally enjoys to see Savage squirm. Allison Tollman, in her 2 episodes, is very funny. Nelson Franklin as Savage's brother, is really good. Morgan Walsh is great. Pretty much everyone one of Savage's friends that show up for an episode here and there are just wonderful and I love when I see them on the screen.

"I'm Sorry" is a gem. I highly recommend that everyone watch this. It is a great show for couples, especially married couples, to watch together. Like I said, there has only been one season, so it is easy to catch up. Every episode is on TruTV On Demand, and they are about 25 minutes long. The show has been picked up for a much deserved second season, and I cannot wait to see where they take it from season one. Go watch "I'm Sorry", it is one of the funniest new shows on TV.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is a big supporter of shows married couples can watch together. Shows like "The Red Shoe Diaries", "Coed Confidential", and "The Erotic Traveler".

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We Need to Talk about the Awesome Jemele Hill

Respect it all, or not at all

ESPN is in the news once again for being shallow, callous, timid and stupid.

Jemele Hill had the right to tweet whatever she wanted to the other day, and for ESPN to come out and apologize on her behalf was an absolute joke. Hill is right. That monster, and monsters, that are currently in Washington right now are the biggest bunch of racist assholes that may have ever been in office. And yes, I'm counting the people that were in the government in the 19th and early 20th century. What we have in office right now is a terrifying group of horrendous racists, homophobes, yes men and women, people who will not chastise and condemn white supremacists, people who want to roll back long lasting Title IX laws. Basically, we have the scum of the Earth trying, and failing, to run this country. These morons are more interested in denying climate change, claiming that there is fault on both sides when talking about Nazis and trying to fatten their own pockets. This current "government" has no clue.

So yes, I stand with Jemele Hill. She can say whatever the hell she wants when she goes on her own personal Twitter account. I don't care that she is a Michigan State grad, she was using her free speech and ESPN decided they needed to chastise her. This is horrendous. Why do they constantly do stupid stuff like this? Is it the fact that Hill is a big time face of the network now, and she is even bigger when it comes to football? Most definitely.

ESPN is so in the bag with the NFL and the owners that they will not let anyone that talks about football say one bad thing about the higher ups. Look at what happened to Bill Simmons when he called out Roger Goodell. The same Roger Goodell, when asked about Colin Kaepernick, said he wasn't a "football expert". Did ESPN go out and protect one of their most popular employees? Of course not. They fined, suspended and eventually fired him. Look what happens when Tony Kornheiser bad mouths the NFL on "PTI". He gets suspended and loses a good chunk of money.

The thing with Hill though, she wasn't attacking the NFL. She was going after the "president", which the majority of the country does now. That oaf is not fit for the position that he is in right now. Everything Hill tweeted was one hundred percent correct, and I have thought the same things many times over the past 7 and a half months. Hell, I have said as much on the "X Millennial Man" podcast, and written about it more than enough on the website. Hill was in no way out of line.

I would have taken it even further. That goon in office right now is a cancer to society and many, many people are saying the exact same thing that Hill tweeted the other day. I have no problem with what she said, as previously stated, and not many other people do either. In fact, she has gotten a wealth of support from many people, including big name people. Colin Kaepernick is one of her biggest supporters. Michael Rappoport has become one of her biggest aides, especially on Twitter. I love the videos he has been making since all this came out. Many political pundits have agreed with her. She has so much more support than anyone could have ever imagined, but ESPN does not care about that.

I ask again, why?

Why did ESPN feel like they had to come out and issue an apology? Can grown people not speak their mind anymore if they work there? Is the talent supposed to keep their mouth shut no matter how bad the injustice is? Do we live in the 50's again where no one can talk back? Is it because she is a woman? I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I think the answer to all these questions, at least from ESPN's side, is yes, and that is a crying shame. Did they issue the apology because that douchebag in office has a bunch of NFL owners in his hip pocket? Yes, and that is horrifying. ESPN is more worried about sponsors and money than letting a grown woman speak her mind. What a crock. Apparently the only time grown people can talk at ESPN is when they are told too. That is ridiculous as well. Let these people talk. They have minds of their own and they should be allowed to express their feelings while not at work, which is exactly what Hill did. We most definitely do not live in the 50's anymore, so speak your mind Hill. You are extremely popular with the younger viewing audience, so even if ESPN is stupid enough to let you go, you will get picked up quick. Hell, it may be for the best. As far as her being a woman, I think that most definitely had something to do with this. ESPN got scared when Erin Andrews started to speak her mind, but she got out and got a better gig at Fox. Like I just said, Hill will get a job in half an hour if she leaves or is let go at ESPN.

This is all ludicrous and a just flat out stupid. Keep speaking your mind Jemele Hill. You have the right to free speech, and that is something that no one, especially not ESPN can take away from you. I stand with Jemele Hill.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He likes to hustle people at pool. His trick is to convince someone that Ty can pull of a trick shot of hitting a ball over a stack of money. When the money is down, Ty grabs it and runs. It doesn't always work

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SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Ty Watches "Bar Rescue": The Lucky Irish Saloon Edition

"Bar Rescue" was back with a new episode, and it was a classic. This was one of the episodes that I will fondly remember because it was so down the middle, and so perfect.

Taffer and crew traveled out to a smaller town in Florida, I believe it was Davenport, to a bar called "The Lucky Irish Saloon". Right off the bat, the name threw me for a loop. That is a very weird name. This bar had all the typical resounding success right off the bat. The 2 owners bought the bar, turned it into a big time money maker and eventually married each other. They were in love and forking in the money hand over fist. They seemed to have everything going in the right direction. Then, as with almost all the bars on the show, things turned for the worse.

The owners began to fight in front of employees. The employees became afraid of the husband that was the bar owner. He is an old school Irish guy and he talked down to all his employees. He was a real piece of work. It got so bad that the wife owner divorced the husband. But, they remained business partners and lived in the same house. That is a recipe for disaster. After the divorce, things went from worse to horrible. The employees despised whenever the husband owner was there. As I said, he would degrade them, and when he left, the employees would jump for joy. One of them said that they felt like a weight was off their shoulders. The wife owner, after the divorce and the bar starting to go under, basically gave up. She was at her wits end. She was in debt almost 300,000 dollars and was ready to throw in the towel. She tried "Bar Rescue" as a last ditch effort.

Of course this was way too juicy for Taffer to pass up, so he went to rescue this place. When he showed up, he did his usual recon. This time around he brought 2 experts, Phil Wills, his mixology expert, and Vic Vegas, his food expert with him. They watched from outside in the van like they always do. What they saw was a travesty. The drinks were so poorly made. They showed 3 of the exact same drinks all side by side, and they were different shades of color and each had different tastes. The staff was slow. They were deliberate, but very slow and didn't have any proper training. The wife owner kind of kept to herself and just stayed away from all the action. The kitchen was basically for show. They did do bar munchies, but that was it. They had a single fryer for that. Every patron in the bar was there to smoke more so than to buy drinks.

The icing on the crap cake that was this bar was the husband owner. Instead of running his business, he was hustling patrons at pool. He was taking money from the bar to play people in pool to try and win some extra cash for himself. And in between pool games, he would openly yell at the staff. This guy was an ass. In fact, Taffer sent in Vegas to do some in house recon, and what he saw made him very upset. Vegas walked in with a baseball hat on and sat at the bar to get a beer and food, all in the façade of trying to get the husband owner to challenge him in pool. Vegas had a beer, didn't say much about it, and ordered some food. The food was frozen and greasy. It all looked disgusting. The husband owner eventually walked up to him, and Vegas urged him to play some pool. The husband finally said yes, and this was when Taffer blew his lid. He stormed into the bar and immediately started to berate the husband. He must have called him an asshole 15 times in under a minute. He yelled and screamed and forced him to give the people he hustled their money back. The husband tried to fight back but he realized that he had no business to even try and fight Taffer. He relented, paid the people back and closed up shop.

After Taffer ordered them to clean the place up, the staff all sat down and had a heart to heart. The husband owner said he would ease up so they could get their bar back to being a money making machine. This guy's 180 with his attitude was incredible. He was so easy to give up his bad attitude and make a change. The next day Taffer showed up with his experts and they got to training, but not before Taffer explained why he went after the guy the night before. It was unnecessary, but also hilarious. Training was kind of so so. First off, the kitchen needed to be a one item menu because they wanted the bar to stay a smoke friendly establishment. They decided on beer braised hot dogs that they would sell for 99 cents. It was a great idea. The bartender training was a little tougher. The bartenders were inexperienced, and that showed when they tried to make the fairly easy cocktails that Wills taught them. Stress test was an absolute disaster. They couldn't get the drinks out right, or on time. They have 5 and 6 people deep and the bartenders were almost immediately drowning. The food was coming out on time, it is just hot dogs, but it was going to the wrong tables and the wrong people. They had horrible systems in place. The best/worst thing though was a gentleman who took a seat on his stool and the stool exploded. It was a riot. After about 2 hours, Taffer told the owners to shut it down. He moved them to a different bar to train while his construction crew fixed the place up, and the staff, I must say, worked pretty hard. They seemed like they wanted to be successful.

The next day the crew showed up at the newly renovated bar and had their big reveal. The name was changed to "Lucky's Corner Pocket", due to the husband's love for pool, but it sounded more like a sexual innuendo to me. The inside looked much better. No exposed wires, the place was clean, a new bar top, new stools and new POS systems and, of course, a lifetime subscription to Partender. The re launch went great, as always, and everything seemed to be going smooth. Even the divorced couple were smiling and hugging each other, which forced my wife to say, "I bet you they both get lucky with each other tonight".

At the 6 week check up, the bar sales were up 32 percent from the year before and everyone, even the ex husband and wife, were getting along great. I love when "Bar Rescue" comes back after a couple week hiatus and gives me a classic episode like this one. I need more of these. I'm sick of the "Back to the Bar" ones, which they are doing this Sunday. I want more of the timeless classic like "Lucky's". This was a fun watch.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He likes to hustle people at pool. His trick is to convince someone that Ty can pull of a trick shot of hitting a ball over a stack of money. When the money is down, Ty grabs it and runs. It doesn't always work

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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