From the Couch Hole: Sometimes It Makes No Sense

Previously on FTCH, Pillion and Harry Potter were in a tangled web on a September morn with a step up to the buffet infinity featuring barbecue brisket chips and banana pudding cookies. This week is my sometimes annual ghost-hunt weekend. I’m with friends in Missouri for fellowship and exploring the Missouri State Penitentiary. More reporting on that later. The week there was one way out of the chamber of secrets and it was a free fall in crimson. Hey, little girl, who won the coyote vs. Acme vs. Mountain Dew Trolli? Remember, FTCH is the dimension of imagination.

Pop Culture Ephemera

• John D. MacDonald – Free Fall in Crimson (1981) (Published by Fawcett Publications): “People who become legends in their own time usually have very little time left.” This is the 19th entry in the Travis McGee series. It’s my fourth in ten months, and I’ve only got two books to the end of the series. The plot is a little less complicated than some of the previous books. Travis is hired to look into the cold case of the murder of a rich man and a question of the timing of his death in regard to inheritance. The investigation leads him to California and the reintroduction of a character from Book Four that I haven’t read yet. That takes Travis to Iowa and a film shoot with balloons and a side of porn and drugs. The darker themes fit well into the aging character. Travis is still dealing with the loss of Gretel from the last book, and a twist at the end puts his friend Meyer into a bad mental state also. The book ends with less of a conclusion than a respite as McGee is back on the water where he seems at home. It is a good entry, but I wouldn’t want to have started here. Everything in the last few chapters feel like the start of the next book.

Buy Free Fall in Crimson

• Star Wars: Andor – “One Way Out” (Disney) (S.1 E.10) (2022): ” I burn my decency for someone else’s future. I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I’ll never see.” – Luthen Rael. There was a one-shot and now we start the third of the three-episode stories. This is by far the best episode of the first season, so far. I have always liked the casting of Diego Luna as Cassian Andor. The guest stars are what fill out this episode. Andy Serkis as Kino Loy gives an impressive monologue. Stellan Skarsgard is his usual greatness with an insightful speech about what he has given up for the good of the Rebel’s cause. Those two speeches should have been separated by more content, but they elevate an episode that is on paper just a prison break story.

Buy Icehouse – Primitive Man

• Icehouse – “Hey Little Girl” (from Primitive Man) (1982): “Where will you hide / Where can you run to now.” This Australian electronic New Wave group had been plugging away for about five years before hitting it worldwide with this single. A true one-hit wonder, they could not duplicate this magic in a bottle. I was not surprised to read that songwriter and vocalist, Ira Davies, was influenced by Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music. I have been fooled more than once when hearing those first vocals that this might be a Roxy Music song. It doesn’t get much airplay on the New Wave or ’80s stations, so it’s up to YouTube to keep them relevant. Hopefully.

• Coyote Vs. Acme (2026) (Directed by Dave Green): “We’re a company of family values that values its family… of companies.” – Buddy Crane. There’s something almost too meta when the film about runaway corporate greed is shelved for a tax break because of corporate greed before being released a couple of years later. The film has the David vs. Goliath story behind it and in it. The title points the viewer at the direction of the message. It isn’t called Coyote vs. Roadrunner for a reason. For me, that was the more important message of the film. The last act of the trial balances that message of a corporation doing whatever it takes to turn a profit with the symbol of a coyote continuing to pursue his goals even after a string of failures.
  
  When we are first introduced to the law firm of Avery, Jones, and Maltese (two famous Looney Tunes animators and a writer), I hoped that Will Forte would be cut out of the Better Call Saul cloth. He isn’t, and that’s to the benefit of the film in the long run. Forte has to play a role closer to Bob Hoskins in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. He’s the emotional link between the humans and the animated characters. The film has a few low-energy scenes that remind you that the seven-minute cartoons were easier to fill with gags than the just over a 100-minute film. It’s a perfect balance of adult references, callbacks to the original cartoons, and gags for younger fans. I left thinking that this film created a world of toon-filled Albuquerque that is ripe for another story.

Buy A Few Good Men book

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) (Directed by Chris Columbus): “It is not our abilities that show what we truly are. It is our choices.” – Albus Dumbledore. When I made my list of my 100 Favorite Films in 2025, I picked five of the Harry Potter films. This was not one of them. It’s interesting to see the first two in theaters just a few days apart. There was definitely some improvements in CGI technology in that year between them. The cast is all back (sadly, the last appearance by Richard Harris as Dumbledore), and the world of Hogwarts is grown organically.
  
  It’s a fun film, and I enjoyed seeing it again for the first time in a long time on the big screen. What is it about it that makes it one of the lesser entries in the series? I think it takes the appropriate step forward in seriousness. Knowing where the series will end, there needs to be progressive steps forward towards the extremely dark and serious finale. Maybe it’s a combination of some of the juvenile humor surrounding the bathroom with Moaning Myrtle (a character that just didn’t translate book-to-film for me). Maybe it’s the last act of the film that is just a letdown. The spider story that reveals the Chamber of Secrets doesn’t carry the weight that even the chess match of the first film did for me. It’s a reminder that not every step in the journey is perfection (I’m looking at you Star Wars, MCU, Lord of the Rings, Spider-Man, Halloween, etc).

Buy Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Best of the Rest

• The song “Hey Little Girl” had enough of a cult following that you would expect a decent amount of covers in the early 2000s as those teen fans made their own music. Soulwax, a Belgian electronic alt-rock outfit, gave it a run through in 2004. It has a little Beck sound to me, who I think would do a tremendous cover version. I was not familiar with this cover until I went looking for covers, assuming there would be more than I found. Ultimately, it just makes me love the original more.

• The Agatha Christie stories and novels I have read in the year and a half since I started an informal project have all been Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple stories. I’m aware of the Tommy & Tuppence stories, but I haven’t read any of them yet. The best adaptations of Christie material have been period pieces. The Hercule series set to debut in 2027 will take place in the period it was written. The BritBox series set to debut this next week, Agatha Christie’s Tommy & Tuppence takes the mystery romance series and moves it to modern times. I’m not pre-judging it on that fact as much as I’m leery of any Agatha story being called “steamy.” The pressure to put modern morals on a 100-year-old story has big backfire potential. I’ll be watching either way.

• The last we saw Nathan Fielder, he was literally flying an airplane off into the sunset. Then out of the blue, A24 drops a teaser trailer for the documentary, You Can See Everything. It’s the story of Elizabeth Holmes (the lying owner of Theranos) as told by Nathan Fielder (the notorious liar for entertainment purposes). In typical Fielder style, he embedded himself with Holmes and her husband before her sentencing. There has already been an excellent documentary about Holmes and a mini-series (which I haven’t watched), but I can imagine a completely different perspective from Fielder. Coming to a theater near you in October.

Sunday Morning Tuneage Flashback

• Sunday Morning Tuneage from 9/19/2010, work was finally giving me a full weekend off. The boys had football going on almost daily back then. I am reminded how I had a stress fracture in my foot from standing on the concrete at work. I feel like it has never completely healed correctly. I was thinking I should start up Castle (ABC) as it started Season Three. I was right, but it would still be two years until I binged it to catch up. Fringe (FOX) and The Office (NBC) were starting new seasons and filling up my Thursday DVR. My Quick List of the week might be the most difficult to put in order, possibly on par with the Alan Moore list.
  
  My #48 Top TV Show of All-Time was So You Think You Can Dance (Fox) (2005-2024): This show was only five seasons in at the time I did these rankings. I was obviously over-influenced by all of the dance in our lives with Dee. In many ways, it was the superior competition to American Idol (FOX). The show devolved over the years after this into more behind-the-scenes stories and less actual dance on-screen. I don’t want to watch a 90-minute episode with 20 actual minutes of dance. I enjoyed the show up until the last couple of seasons (including a well-intentioned but messy children’s season), but in no reality is this in my Top 100 TV Shows of All-Time. If I do a ranking of the Top Reality/Competition Shows, then maybe we are talking about a Top Ten.
  
• BEST MUPPET SONGS OF ALL-TIME (2010)
  • 10. “Mah Na Mah Na” (1976) (The Muppet Show)
  • 9. “C Is for Cookie” (1971) (Sesame Street)
  • 8. “(It’s Not Easy) Bein’ Green” (1970) (Sesame Street)
  • 7. “Halfway Down the Stairs” (1977) (The Muppet Show)
  • 6. “Cottleston Pie” (1977) (The Muppet Show)
  • 5. “Movin’ Right Along” (1979) (The Muppet Movie)
  • 4. “Couldn’t We Ride” (1981) (The Great Muppet Caper)
  • 3. “The Rainbow Connection” (1979) (The Muppet Movie)
  • 2. “When the River Meets the Sea” (1977) (Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas)
  • 1. “The Wishing Song” (1977) (The Muppet Show)
    
• BEST MUPPET SONGS OF ALL-TIME (2026)
  • 10. “Cabin Fever” (1996) (Muppet Treasure Island): The best part of the movies were often the whole cast numbers. This song is all over the place in the best possible way. It encompasses about every musical genre possible. The hallmark of the best Muppet songs is how quickly this became a refrain for me in real life.
  • 9. “Happiness Hotel” (1981) (The Great Muppet Caper): Another group number that is the perfect combination of meta lyrics, chaos, and catchy music.
  • 8. “It Feels Like Christmas” (1992) (The Muppet Christmas Carol): Written by Paul Williams. This is the song that starts the transition of Ebeneezer (Michael Caine) during the Ghost of Christmas Present. I like this movie more than most fans, and this is one of the more memorable numbers.
  • 7. “Mah Na, Mah Na” (1976) (The Muppet Show): What a memorable first episode of their syndicated show. It might be the one Muppet song known by the most amount of people.
  • 6. “Movin’ Right Along” (1979) (The Muppet Movie): It’s a bouncy little number that pairs Kermit and Fozzy before they meet the rest of their friends. It’s mostly a bridge between classic vaudeville jokes. I have seen it 50 times and still laugh at “the fork in the road” joke.
  • 5. “Can You Picture That?” (1979) (The Muppet Movie): The best Muppet movies find a way to feature a Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem performance. This shows off the late-’70s, funk-rock influences, and it’s just a flat out jam to boot.
  • 4. “I’m Going to Go Back There Someday” (1979) (The Muppet Movie): I could pick almost any sad Gonzo song for this spot including “The Wishing Song” and “I’m Going To Always Love You.” This would be rewritten for Muppets in Space (1999). Gonzo has a way to get to the lonely heart of lyrics in a way that no other Muppet can pull off, which is why I think he appeals to so many adults.
  • 3. “(It’s Not Easy) Bein’ Green” (1970) (Sesame Street): This was Kermit’s signature song for a long time. It talks about the difficulty and acceptance of feeling different from others. The list of people who have performed this is impressive. The first best being Frank Sinatra’s cover, and my other favorite being the one by Van Morrison.
  • 2. “When the River Meets the Sea” (1977) (Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas): “There’s a patience in the river / Sweeping slow to the sea.” Written by Paul Williams. This is about as spiritual as the Muppets get in their songs. It’s an outlook on life that feels beyond religion. I love this particular version between Emmet and Alice Otter. There’s a nice version from 1979 with John Denver and Robin the Frog (both Emmet and Robin voiced by Jerry Nelson) in John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together. How important is the song? It was sung by Jerry Nelson at Jim Henson’s funeral.
  • 1. “The Rainbow Connection” (1979) (The Muppet Movie): “What’s so amazing that keeps us stargazing?” Written by Paul Williams and sung by Jim Henson, it’s comfort food for the soul. It’s an amazing way to start their first theatrical release. But it’s also so much more than that memory. The lyrics to this song are a Jim Henson policy statement. The Muppet philosophy is put in a neat single-song format. It has produced some great covers, but the original still hits the best.

Buy The Muppets: Kermit Singing Figurine: With Music!

1976 in Review

• September – Nova #1 (Marvel Comics): “Heed my thoughts, Man of Earth. For the fate of your planet now lies in your understanding. You have chosen to take my battle as yours, Earthling!” – Nova Prime. Cover by Rick Buckler. Written by Marv Wolfman. Art by John Buscema. I was late to the game on this title. The cover didn’t do much for me in 1976. It was only in the ’90s when I became more familiar with the work of Marv Wolfman that I discovered this interesting homage to Peter Parker and Spider-Man. Teenagers with super powers was sort of a regular thing in the Marvel Universe, but this cosmic take on the concept made for a great 25-issue run.
• September 9 – In Tokyo, JVC announced the debut of the first VHS (Video Home System) recorder. It would take a year to debut in the United States at a price equivalent to over $5,000 in today’s dollars.
• Sept.6 – Sports Illustrated. Rick Leach graced the cover of the College Football Preview issue. Bo Schembechler and Michigan looked to have an inside shot at winning the Big 10 and heading to the Rose Bowl. Few people saw Tony Dorsett and the Pittsburgh Panthers coming up with an undefeated season. Michigan would finish the regular season ranked #2 after a 14-16 loss to unranked Purdue. One-loss teams Michigan and USC played in the Rose Bowl with a Trojan victory. Pittsburgh beat No. 5 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl to secure their National Championship.

What the Hell Did I Put in My Mouth?

“Hey, hey
There once was a time
I should have known better then
Hey, hey
Although you may try
It won’t come your way again” – Icehouse