I like an All Dressed crunchy chip too.
Pop Culture Ephemera
- Edward Abbey – Hayduke Lives! (1990) (Published by Little Brown): “High on the rosy canyon wall a wren sang out, flute notes falling in a bright cascade of quicksilver semiquavers.” Published posthumously, it’s almost like Abbey wrote two great short pieces about the desert, and then hurriedly wrote a totally unrelated story where they would serve as the bookends. My opinion of the book has changed just in the couple of days since I finished it. The sequel to The Monkeywrench Gang (1975) was a weird combination of rehash and parody of the original which already had its own level of parody. The book needed a good edit, that maybe there wasn’t time to do. The plot feels like a couple of short story ideas that are padded into a book length story. At 320 pages, there are about 180 pages of story ideas. Abbey was older and a little more horny than he was worried about the environment. I’m glad I finished the characters, but I hoped for more evolution in 15 years between books.
- Get Smart – “Valerie of the Dolls” (1969) (S.5 E.3) (CBS): “The little girl you let through customs was not a little girl. . . It was a little man! . . . [I]t was Little Louie Dunlap, a KAOS courier!” – The Chief. I’m into the final season of this show. In Season Four, the show had a few noticeable changes. The engagement/marriage of Max and 99 changed the humor of their relationship, and each episode became a parody of a film or television show. By Season Five, the show had moved to CBS and the pregnancy of 99 dominates too much of the humor.
This episode is a parody of Valley of the Dolls (1967) and two of the supporting characters were Mondo and Cane, referencing the documentary Mondo Cane (1962). With 99’s role changed, the stories made Larabee the straight man for Max. The difference being that Larabee is so clueless that he makes Max look like a genius. This film revolves around KAOS secrets that Max must discover at Valerie’s School for Expectant Fathers. The shows have some clever gags (like the earlier “Pheasant Under Glass”), but so much humor is now relying on slapstick that I’ve started to lose interest. I’m going to finish it through to the end because you know me.
- Bachman-Turner Overdrive – “Lookin’ Out for #1” (1975) (from Head On): “Success is a ladder take a step at a time / People will remember your name.” I am confident that for years I thought this song was by Steely Dan. There’s a jazz influence here that you don’t expect from the guys who are usually “Takin’ Care of Business.” I believe this to be the only BTO song that I would put on a Yacht Rock playlist. Just take a minute to listen to that flamenco-influenced guitar solo in the middle of the song. This is one of my favorites from 1975.
- Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991) (Directed by Kazuki Omori): “You fight for us once again. Our savior has come back to protect us.” – Mr. Shindo. The third film in the second relaunch of the Godzilla series started with lots of potential after the above average Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989). The 18th Godzilla film brings back King Ghidorah who we haven’t seen since Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972). In that film, Ghidorah was from outer space. Here he’s a mutant like Godzilla, created from three separate aliens in a nuclear blast.
The movie had potential in theory to match the excitement of Shin Godzilla (2016). The contemporary time story quickly devolves into a messy time-travel story with aliens. There are three main time points that include World War II with Godzilla as a dinosaur, current time with at varying times a world with or without a Godzilla and the future where Japan is the world’s most powerful country or not. I can’t even explain the twists and turns. I’m fairly confident that neither can the producers. There are some ill-advised nods to Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) and the English actors are horrendous. The thing that saves this film is the last 20-minute battle between Godzilla and King Ghidorah. It’s too bad that the positive momentum from Biollante wasn’t continued here, the monster battles are nice but without a decent plot there’s just not the same interest.
- The Legend of Ochi (2025) (Directed by Isaiah Saxon): “There are bears and wolves and something else. Something people fear is much worse.” – Yuri. I’m not sure what to think about this film. It’s part fairy tale and part adventure in the tradition of The Neverending Story (1984). We start on a hunt on an island in the Black Sea. The hunt is for a creatures called “Ochi” who are primate-adjacent animals who have more in common with Gremlins than animals we know in our world. This ends up being a female-empowerment story between young Yuri (Helena Zengel) and her mother, Dasha (Emily Watson). It’s fun to have a world-building film. In fact, the weakness of the film is probably that there’s too much time spent on letting the camera explore the island instead of developing a deeper plot. There are too few new fantasy films these days. Everything is a sequel to an established property. I loved looking at this film, but I didn’t get the emotional attachment to the Ochi that I expected.
Best of the Rest
- I’m excited to start hearing the positive reviews coming out of Toronto for Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025) that will debut on December 12th. I love these films so much that I hope it’s the last of them, so we can keep the reputation high. Sounds like we get a little less Daniel Craig, which is too bad, because he’s become my new Poirot-ish favorite.
- Entertainment Weekly (3/28/97): “Best Commercials of All-Time” #4: Alka Seltzer “Spicy Meatball” (1969) “Sometimes you eat more than you should.” The two things that always stick with me about the commercial are that it’s the rare meta commercial inside of a commercial and that at the time they found out that most people thought the ad was for spaghetti sauce. I still quote this commercial. It definitely belongs in the upper echelon of ads.
- Good new for fans of amusement parks. Six Flags announced an extension of their contract with Peanuts. The partnership has been strong since the ’80s at Knott’s Berry Farm. They expanded in the ’90s to Cedar Point (replacing a long partnership with the Berenstain Bears), Great America, Kings Island, and more. The extended licensing should bring more themed rides and merchandise to the parks. I support this partnership as another way to expose young children to the characters.
Sunday Morning Tuneage Flashback
- Sunday Morning Tuneage from 11/8/2009, the football-dominated weekends was ending for us after Caleb’s season ended without a win and Christian’s ended with the 8th Grade District Championship. My favorite night of the week was Sunday with Bored to Death (HBO) and The Cleveland Show (FOX). My list continued the theme from the past few weeks. CBS is difficult because they just stick with shows longer than most networks.
My #88 Top TV Show of All-Time was The Larry Sanders Show (HBO) (1992-1998): I’ll repeat what I still think is a good observation from 2009. This show falls into a weird in-between status. It isn’t well remembered because so few people had HBO during its run. But if it had aired on network television, Garry Shandling’s humor would have been muted because of network censoring. I would probably move this show up even further as we see the huge influence it has had on current parody shows. - SHAWN’S FAVORITE SHOWS THAT CBS CANCELLED IN TWO SEASONS OR LESS (2009)
- 10. The Bradys (1990)
- 9. Creature Comforts (2003-2006)
- 8. Joan of Arcadia (2003-2005)
- 7. Mr. Merlin (1981-1982)
- 6. Frank’s Place (1987-1988)
- 5. The Charlie Brown & Snoopy Show (1983)
- 4. Clue Club (1976-1977)
- 3. The Flash (1990-1991)
- 2. The Munsters (1964-1966)
- 1. The Honeymooners (1955-1956)
- SHAWN’S FAVORITE SHOWS THAT CBS CANCELLED IN TWO SEASONS OR LESS (2025)
- 10. Extant (2014-2015): This Spielberg-produced show with Halle Berry really had potential.
- 9. Family Dog (1993): This Tim Burton-produced and Brad Bird-directed series is so often panned as a failure. I think it was just ahead of its time as far as a dysfunctional family.
- 8. Apple’s Way (1974-1975): There could almost be a whole list of failed shows that went up against powerhouse shows on another network. The was up against The Wonderful World of Disney (NBC). The Earl Hamner Jr. produced show had a serious message aspect that was refreshing for a family drama.
- 7. Phyllis (1975-1977): I’m not even going to say that I liked the show much when it was on. I liked the character on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, but didn’t take to the spin-off. It’s here because it had potential and Cloris Leachman is wasted.
- 6. Logan’s Run (1977-1978): This is in the era of television shows based upon films. Gregory Harrison was good in the role of Logan 5. I feel like this is a sci-fi concept that has potential for another rebirth in serial format.
- 5. Fast Times (1986): It’s Amy Heckerling with executive producing by Cameron Crowe. This should have been an easy adaptation to a weekly high school comedy. The bones were already set up in the film. They needed to just get away from the movie cast. They didn’t. Patrick Dempsey as Damone and Dean Cameron as Spicoli just didn’t capture the imagination. This was decent, but it really should have had better success.
- 4. The Flash (1990-1991): I love that John Wesley Shipp as Barry Allen ended up as part of the Arrowverse on the CW. The series was low tech, as were most weekly shows in this era. It was a fun show at a time when superhero shows and movies were rare.
- 3. Square Pegs (1982-1983): CBS couldn’t find a home for this great teen comedy that feels like a John Hughes television show. It was lost on Monday nights and got cancelled in a single season. This is still my favorite Sarah Jessica Parker role as Parker Greene.
- 2. Planet of the Apes (1974): I watched this but didn’t appreciate it enough when I was six. I love this show as part of continuity for the series. James Naughton is good as Major Burke.
- 1. The Munsters (1964-1966): Defeated only by The Batman airing opposite of it, this show should have gone on four to five seasons. I have appreciation for all the different levels that the writers were operating. It is still a chuckle for me each episode. Let’s not forget that it’s got one of the best surf guitar theme songs of all-time.
1975 in Review
- September – Avengers #139 (Marvel): “…never mind me. Attend to that arch fiend!” – Beast. Cover by Gil Kane. Written by Steve Englehart. Art by George Tuska. Wasp is still recovering, Beast is on a tryout with the Avengers, and Yellowjacket (Hank Pym) battles Whirlwind on the streets of New York City. I didn’t like Whirlwind as a villain, so I probably skipped this one when I saw the cover.
- September 20 – The American Soccer League Championship is played to a 1-1 tie between the New York Apollo and Boston Astros after nine sudden-death overtimes. Commissioner, Bob Cousy, former Boston Celtic, declares a co-championship.
- September 8 – People: Cher and Gregg Allman had gotten married in Las Vegas just days after her divorce from Sonny Bono was finalized. Gregg appeared on Cher’s television show; they did a poorly received album together; they had a child, Elijah Blue; and ultimately, she didn’t keep him off of heroin. The relationship was one of the first I remembered as being a weird combination. Even today, we find certain relationships like Swift and Kelce to be an odd dynamic.
What the Hell Did I Put in My Mouth?
Boo Berry (2025)
The Monster Cereal I look forward to the most is always the Boo Berry. The Count Chocula is the best flavor. The Boo Berry is the flavor that gives me the most comfort nostalgia. I like his Muppet persona in this picture. I’m partial to Muppets that wear hats (like Fozie), although his hat should be a little smaller. I need more multimedia entries with these characters this fall. I definitely think they are missing out by not having more commercials.
Wavy Lay’s: Loaded Nachos
The 2025 summer lacked much in the way of new flavors, which was odd for the industry. They are making up for it in a major way this fall. You are about to see an overload of chip reviews over the next month. I’m not even sure I can get to all of them. These Loaded Nachos are one of three Football-themed releases. I love the Wavy line, so these were the first I wanted to try. Nothing too out of the ordinary. It’s a bit of a crossover between a cheddar chip with a sour cream and onion chip with a little chili powder mixed in. Better than the Pringles Loaded Nachos, but that’s not a flex. I enjoyed them, especially the crunch, but I don’t think I’d purchase another bag with so many choices out there.
Kroger Kettle Cooked:
All Dressed
The Lay’s version of All Dressed were released initially in Ruffles and then again in regular Lay’s. I believe these Kroger Brand chips are the first Kettle Cooked All Dressed that I’ve seen here. I don’t mind Kroger Brand in general. These are a little less tangy than the Lay’s version of All Dressed. I’m getting more salt and vinegar than barbecue out of these. I’d love to see Lay’s get these into their Wavy or Kettle Cooked branding.
“Yes, I found out all the tricks of the trade
And that there’s only one way
You’re gonna get things done
I found out the only way to the top” – Randy Bachman
