I'm not sure when the last time we did an open thread was, but what the hey. . .let's go ahead and do one now. As always, I'll throw a topic out there, but you don't have to restrict yourself to that. Use this time to discuss whatever you want to, and get to know some of your fellow community members. As far as the topic I want to toss out there, here it goes. . .
Monday night will see the airing of the final episode of one of my favorite television shows, that being House, M.D. Yes, I know that every episode of House is, for the most part, the same. . .patient comes in with mysterious illness, House and his team spend 50 minutes misdiagnosing the patient while getting up to various shenanigans, and House has a miraculous revelation in the last 10 minutes that saves the life of the patient in danger. The House character is just so damn good, though. . .Hugh Lawrie is outstanding in the role, and has been for as long as the series has been on the air.
But, in honor of the final episode of House, M.D., I'd like to present a few television shows that I wish were still on the air. Some of you are probably fans of these shows as well. . .at least, I hope so. We'll start with one of Minnesota's finest exports:
Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Yes, Mystery Science Theater 3000, or MST3K, was the product of Best Brains, Inc., based in lovely Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Its run encompassed several networks, starting out at KTMA in the Twin Cities (which is now WUCW), moving to Comedy Central, and ultimately ending its run on the Sci-Fi channel. Over the course of its run, MST3K produced 198 episodes and one feature film. Knowing our audience, we could probably have an entire MST3K discussion.
Couple more after the jump. Follow me!
Most Extreme Elimination Challenge - Ever seen that show Wipeout? Well, this is its much better, much funnier predecessor. mXc used to air on Spike TV, and was an adaptation of an actual Japanese TV show called Takeshi's Castle in which people undertook various physical challenges. And by "adaptation," what I mean is "the addition of bad overdubbing and English commentary filled with numerous double entendres." Under the watchful eye of Captain Tenneal, the contestants managed to get themselves bent into all sorts of various shapes over the course of an episode while commentators Kenny Blankenship and Vic Romano mocked their every move. I never did get any word of what the contestants won, if anything.
Code Monkeys - One of the many good things that was on the G4 Network before it went straight into the toilet (right around the time they merged with Tech TV), Code Monkeys was a series about a 1980s video game company called Gameavision. The two lead characters were the neurotic Jerry and his stoner friend Dave, but there were a lot of other interesting storylines as well. As you can see, the animation style looks like something out of old-school Nintendo, and there were lots of video game gimmicks built into the top and bottom bars on the screen as well. And, yes, I used the trailer for the Season 1 DVD because. . .well, most of what's available on YouTube would probably offend a lot of people. But, if you have Netflix, the series is available for streaming. It's an acquired taste, but in my opinion it's a pretty good one.
And that's what I've got. . .with that, the open thread is open!