If you like Family Guy, but not television award shows…

you may have missed the introduction to the Emmy Awards featuring Stewie and Brian Griffin of Family Guy.  Enjoy!

What could happen now on Frisky Dingo? [Warning: Spoiler]

I’ll keep this brief.  After seeing episode 204 of Frisky Dingo on AdultSwim.com and then on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim last night, I’m very curious to know how the writers plan to resolve the fact that both Killface and Xander Crews appear to have been shot repeatedly at pointblank range by the mystery assassin chick.  Unless it tuns out that neither was actually shot, it strikes me as though they have written themselves into a corner.

Also, can anyone tell me why the heck the show is called Frisky Dingo?  I don’t recall anything on the first season ever explaining the meaning of the title.

Attended Family Guy Live Chicago last night…

and I must say, as funny as the writing for Family Guy is, the actors who do the voicework managed to improvise some great additional bits.  We got a sneak preview of a new plot line coming this season, as Chris Griffin begins work at a local convenience store managed by a man named Carl, voiced by none other than Jon Benjamin, known for Jason and Coach McGuirk on Home Movies.

In addition to reading a full episode, the actors fielded questions from the audience and sang some classic Family Guy songs as well as a new one – Alex Borstein (Lois) and Seth McFarlane (as Peter) sang a bawdy rewrite of Neil Diamond and Barbara Streisand’s You Don’t Bring Me Flowers, aptly retitled You Don’t Eat My P***y – yep, they went there.

We also got to see a sneak preview of a few scenes from the season premiere, Star Wars-themed episode.  Fans of Family Guy and Star Wars alike will get a kick out of the episode.  Since I haven’t seen it all yet, I can’t compare it to Robot Chicken Star Wars, but Seth Green assured the audience that he and Seth McFarlane consulted with one another to ensure that their humor would be complimentary between their respective Star Wars spoofs.

More details on upcoming Futurama DtV releases

Ok, so it doesn’t look like Futurama will ever be coming back as an animated series. However, the good news is that they at least have titles and anticipated release dates for four direct-to-video (DtV) movies. Thanks to IMDB, you can stay up on what’s happening with these shows, all of which appear to have the complete original cast back together, as well as some special guests (Sarah Silverman, Mark Hamill, Al Gore, Coolio) – yay!

Bender’s Big Score! – According to Amazon.com, Bender’s Big Score will be released on November 27, 2007 and is available for pre-order.
The Beast with a Billion Backs – The second movie title that is also a double entendre (see “Beast with two backs”).
Bender’s Game – Playing off the title of Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game, I’m curious to learn more about the plot.
Into the Wild Green Yonder - I don’t even know how to approach this one.

A public outrage…

at least among the cartoon-watching crowd.  I love Adult Swim and, sans cable, Adult Swim Fix that much more.  I understand that the folks at Williams Street need to make a living and can’t just share their whole cartoon collection all at once.  However, I have a strategy that would allow them to do just that, and with a minor impact to their viewers.

We of the cartoon-watching ilk are a highly specialized demographic.  The things we like differ in some major ways versus the general population.  Why then, are we forced to watch Washington Mutual, Sprite and Go Army! commercials.  If I could sign up and have exclusive access to the entire library at Williams Street, I would gladly watch 2-4 highly-qualified ads per 30 minutes of show.  Ted Turner wins, because he gets a piece of the Cartoon Network/Adult Swim/Williams Street ad revenue, and cartoon lovers everywhere win because we get to watch all of our favorite shows.  Even the cartoon studios could just charge a small royalty (out of the ad revenue of course) and make more than by NOT selling DVDs to those of us who prefer the online format.

Plus, maybe, just maybe, those links to cartoons on Adult Swim Fix would not expire every Friday afternoon as new shows replace the previous week’s line-up.

Happy good times – old school Superman DVDs for $1

Sometimes it seems like there is nothing better than getting a good deal.  I’m doing some handywork around the condo, which brought me to the Hyde Park Elston Ace Hardware (5420 S. Lake Park Ave, Chicago, IL).  On my first trip, I bought stain, polyurethane, sand paper and rags – guess what I’m doing?  On the inevitable second trip, I picked up the stirring sticks and gloves… and two DVDs of original Superman cartoons for $1 each!  Apparently this Ace Hardware, and possibly others, are selling Cartoon Craze DVDs, each containing about 1 hour of classic cartoons, at the bargain price of $1.  Nestled amidst $9.99 live action DVDs, I almost missed these, but my spidey-sense apparently helped me out and I found two gems to add to my collection.

Hidden episode of Samurai Champloo

Just so no Champloo fans miss this week’s episode on Adult Swim Fix, pay attention to the fact that there is more than one page of shows this week.  Or click here for Samurai Champloo episode Cosmic Collisions.

[Linked shows available for viewing until Friday, September 7]

Is Frisky Dingo on its triumphant return in season two?

So, I wasn’t particularly impressed with episode 201 of Frisky Dingo, available for viewing last week on Adult Swim Fix.  The whole “Killface solving global warming and running for president” plot twist was a bit too farfetched for me – other shows like Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Robot Chicken provide enough random plot dynamics to keep me satisfied.

Because I enjoyed season 1 so much, I thought I would give Frisky Dingo a second chance and watch episode 202.  It seemed particularly short and unimpressive, until the last 15 seconds.  No spoiler here, but I have to say that my curiosity is renewed and I am very interested to see how the show will continue to develop this season.

 [Linked shows available for viewing until Friday, September 7]

Sometimes life just doesn’t make sense

[Linked episodes only available for viewing until mid-day on Friday, August 31]

 I don’t understand why Shin Chan Episode 9 has, as of this posting, attained almost 60,000 more views than the next most popular show available on Adult Swim Fix this week.  The episode is only rated 6/10, less than that of the 2 next-most-watched shows – Frisky Dingo Episode “201″ and Robot Chicken Episode “Rabbits on a Roller Coaster” - each of which is a premiere and ranked 7/10.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not opposed to Shin Chan, especially when he is awkwardly horny with his mom’s friend.  However, I would have thought that premiere episodes of Adult Swim shows would fare better against a re-run.  I’ve even watched the episode of Shin Chan, which I recall having seen once before, and couldn’t figure out why it got so many views.  Can someone please shed some light on this subject?

As far is it currently goes…

In the absence of cable – the most sound decision I have made in the last 6 years – I have been getting my Adult Swim Fix on none other than Adult Swim Fix  However, where I used to watch with reckless abandon every Friday evening and into the weekend, I now find myself focusing exclusively on Venture Brothers reruns and Samurai Champloo serials.  My friend Fred turned me on to SC about 2 years ago and I’ve been hooked.  I just wish that AS would start displaying imported anime the way it should be viewed, in Japanese with English subtitles.  As for VB, I’m not sure quite why, but the show just grew on me in a way that surpassed the other shows in the comedy block.