From the Couch Hole: When It’s All Too Late, It’s All Too Late

Previously on FTCH, we said farewell, my lovely in Terminus to the Chips Ahoy weapons. The opus of toffee creamer gave us sweet love. This week was more of that weird transition between Summer and Fall weather almost daily. Some of the nice days I miss sitting outside on the bleachers watching my boys play football. Then there are those 95 degree days where I’m glad to be in the air conditioning watching football on the television. This week the time capsule gave us a clue as to the sign o’ the times. The big change was Jaws eating apple pie ala mode Oreos. Remember, FTCH is bigger on the inside.

Pop Culture Ephemera

• Clue (1985) (Directed by Jonathan Lynn): “Communism was just a red herring.” – Wadsworth. I enjoyed this movie when I saw it on VHS in the late Eighties. I didn’t realize how much of a cult classic it was until seeing it in a crowded theater in 2025. Tim Curry as the butler Wadsworth is a whirlwind. It’s like a one-man show meets comedic commentator on a film. The cast from the board game isn’t well developed, so it was a blank slate for writers. It’s partially a screwball comedy within an Agatha Christie inspired “locked room” mystery. Ultimately, with multiple possible endings, the story doesn’t matter as much as the fun of watching it unfold. I’m not the superfan like the woman sitting next to me giggling and repeating lines throughout the film, but I can appreciate that this is probably the best result when you adapt a board game.

Buy Clue the Movie

• Happy Days – “Time Capsule” (1977) (S.4 E.13) (ABC): “It’s my place! A man has gotta have a place to get away from everything. You understand that, don’t ya, Fonz?” – Howard Cunningham. The show is technically 14 episodes away from actually jumping a shark, but there are signs in Season Four that the decline is in place. For a show that will last 11 seasons, I am surprised in my rewatch how quickly the show lost consistency into the fourth season. This episode is one of the better ones of this season so far. Fonzie is more of his early-season self, but it’s still off putting that every time he appears on screen the studio audience reacts to his every word. The crew gets locked in the hardware store vault, and it allows some of the best moments when the core cast interacts together. Lynda Goodfriend plays Richie’s girlfriend, Kim. If she looks familiar it’s because she will join the cast next season as Richie’s future wife, Lori Beth.

Buy Tears for Fears – The Hurting CD

• Tears for Fears – “Change” (1983) (from The Hurting): “Where does the end of me / Become the start of you?” I hadn’t bought this album or even heard about it when I was in Toronto in 1983 and bought the 12″ single mostly because it was featured on an issue of Melody Maker. From the moment I put it on the turntable, I was in love with this group. That continues to this day. The song isn’t really about much other than “change.” The fun here is an awesome bass and the best xylophone solo of the decade. It’s one of a hundred songs that will never fail to take me back to a specific place and specific time.

• Prince: Sign o’ the Times (IMAX) (1987) (Directed by Prince): “If your body gets tired, keep dancing ‘cuz u gotta keep the blood flowing down 2 your feet. Brother Brooks will be ’round in a minute with a bucket filled in it squirrel meat. All thanks 2 God, may u live 2 see the dawn.” This was almost instantly my favorite Prince album and remained so until this day. The concert video was one of the best concert films of the ’80s. I’ve owned it on relatively low-quality DVD for years. I was excited to see it on IMAX this summer. The IMAX experience is excellent with the right crowd. The video and sound are good but not modern-day 4k quality. What makes this a good experience is the crowd. For the first time, I didn’t mind a crowd singing along, clapping and dancing.
  
  The band of this era is super tight and my favorite of his career. The star is Sheila E. on percussion. You get Dr. Fink, Eric Leeds, Levi Seacer Jr., Boni Boyer, and Cat Glover among others. The filmed vignettes and the Sheila Easton video for “U Got the Look” are the weak links. The songs like “If I Was Your Girlfriend”, “Housequake” and “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man” are highlights and there’s an energy here that shows Prince to be the hybrid heir to James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone. It’s just about as perfect as a concert film can be.

Buy Prince – Sign o’ the Times CD

• Jaws (50th Anniversary) (IMAX) (1975) (Directed by Steven Spielberg): “Y’know, that was the time I was most frightened, waitin’ for my turn. I’ll never put on a life jacket again. So, eleven hundred men went into the water, three hundred sixteen men come out, and the sharks took the rest, June the 29th, 1945.” I don’t seem to go more than a few months without this film coming up as a reference, on a list or on a project. This year with the 50th Anniversary, I vowed to see it twice in theaters. The IMAX release was a bonus. I’ve seen it as part of an Alamo Drafthouse Party, watched the Jaws @ 50 documentary, and spent hours reading a coffee table book on the production. I wasn’t bored even a single second on what has to be my eighth or ninth time seeing it in theaters.
  
  Bill Butler doesn’t get enough credit as a great cinematographer on this film. In IMAX, there were scenes that I felt like I was seeing for the first time. The depth of field of the ocean is impressive. For the first time, I realized what a character the long horizon was in the film. The beauty of knowing the film word for word is that I spend time watching the edges of the screen. Spielberg’s use of townies lends a feeling of reality that few films can attain. There is something to see from corner to corner. The IMAX projection also highlights the John Williams score which rattles the seats in that first scene. This is the film that made me fall in love with going to the movies. This is the film that made me fall in love with watching movies over and over to discover their secrets. I might need to seek out that 3-D showing before it leaves again.

Buy Jaws – 50th Anniversary Edition 4K UHD

Best of the Rest

• I’m surprised it took until 2007 for someone to sample Tears for Fears’ “Change”. But I’m not surprised it was David Guetta for his Pop Life album. Pretty straightforward dance music for 2007, you can imagine it in front of a huge festival crowd dancing along. I like these type of songs that seem made just to entertain.

• Entertainment Weekly (3/28/97): “Best Commercials of All-Time” #5: Wendy’s “Russian Fashion Show” (1985) “Having no choice is no fun.” I have to give some props to Entertainment Weekly for not picking “Where’s the Beef?” as their #5 commercial. It’s probably not that funny to people who didn’t live through the era, but the Cold War humor is strong here. The year of 1985 is so strong for commercials that you could have a Top Ten list just for that year that are still influential. Wendy’s advertising that they give you lots of choices, including bacon, was big at the time too.

• It is always chancy these days to change a logo or motto. You might get Cracker Barrelled. Changing from “Just Do It” to “Why Do It?” seems to fit the mood of these days. For critics of the change, I wonder why it’s so wrong to tell people to keep trying even if they fail at first. And for those clutching their pearls, last year was the “What If You Can?” campaign.

Sunday Morning Tuneage Flashback

• Sunday Morning Tuneage from 11/1/2009, finally a beautiful fall day and we only had to wait until November. Football season was finally starting to wrap up with lots of losses except for Christian’s 8th grade team that was into the District Championship for the second year in a row. The list of the week was a continuation of the previous week, and I find this one more interesting.
  
  My #89 Top TV Show of All-Time was South Park (Comedy) (1997-Present): Just gotta say “Wow.” I was amazed when I wrote this in 2009 that the show was still around. It’s 27 seasons in, and the show is as relevant as it’s ever been. I have much respect for what they are putting out here consistently. I remarked then and it applies now, you can miss a season or two and just drop in on the show and it’s going to make you laugh at some point each episode. At over 300 episodes, it’s hard to deny the impact of this show.
  
• SHAWN’S FAVORITE SHOWS THAT ABC CANCELLED IN TWO SEASONS OR LESS (2009)
  • 10. Angie (1979-1980)
  • 9. My So Called Life (1995-1996)
  • 8. Townies (1996)
  • 7. Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974-1975)
  • 6. Karen Cisco (2003-2004)
  • 5. Kingdom Hospital (2004)
  • 4. The Addams Family (1964-1966)
  • 3. Sports Night (1998-2000)
  • 2. Invasion (2005-2006)
  • 1. Twin Peaks (1990-1991)
    
• SHAWN’S FAVORITE SHOWS THAT ABC CANCELLED IN TWO SEASONS OR LESS (2025)
  • 10. Agent Carter (2015-2016): Mostly because Hayley Atwell is wonderful as Peggy Carter. The 1946-1947 setting made this a refreshing change to the normal television superhero fare. There was potential here to tell some unique stories that was lost.
  • 9. My So-Called Life (1995-1996): I only learned to appreciate this show after it was cancelled. Claire Danes was great in a series that somehow didn’t fall into the teen sitcom or teen soap opera trap.
  • 8. Townies (1996): What a cast. Starring Molly Ringwald, Jenna Elfman, Lauren Graham, and Bill Burr, this show should have found a bigger audience. It was short-lived and in the middle of an era when ABC was too quick on the cancel trigger finger.
  • 7. The Time Tunnel (1966-1967) / Land of the Giants (1968-1970): Irwin Allen had a good run of television shows in the ’60s.
  • 6. Bosom Buddies (1980-1982): I think this probably ranks high because I was 12-14 years old when it aired. Hanks and Scolari had great chemistry.
  • 5. Open All Night (1981-1982): It’s rarely remembered. It’s the story of a family that lives above their 364 Store (a convenience store open every day except Christmas). There are some similarities borrowed for Bob’s Burgers (Fox), but this show remains a unique sitcom that just didn’t find an audience.
  • 4. Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974-1975): There were some clunkers in this single-season show. The more important point is that we wouldn’t have had The X-Files (Fox) without this show.
  • 3. Pushing Daisies (2007-2009): I propped up this show while it aired without having watched it. Now that I’ve watched most of it, I can say that sometimes the reviews are correct. This show was groundbreaking and unique. I love the mix of humor and drama in this fairy tale type of setting.
  • 2. Invasion (2005-2006): This show was up there with one of my most disappointing cancellations. I don’t know if it would still hold up today. I loved William Fichtner in this alternative telling of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. There was so much left on the table when this series was taken off the air.
  • 1. Twin Peaks (1990-1991): I wasn’t sure how to handle the technical third season on Showtime in 2017. With the 26 years between seasons, I feel comfortable blaming ABC for abandoning one of the most unique television series of all-time. I still watch these first two seasons every two or three years. The storytelling, acting, and directing set the tone for premier television to come. I consider this 1990 pilot to be the start of our current era of quality television.

Buy Twin Peaks: From Z to A Blu-ray

1975 in Review

• September – Detective Comics #451 (DC Comics): Cover by Dick Giordano. Written by Dennis O’Neil. Art by Ernie Chan. “He’s driven… he’s burdened with a compulsion to battle crime! It isn’t pretty– it’s simply what he does… what he needs to do! Don’t pity him– but don’t condemn him either!” – Bruce Wayne. Commissioner Gordon sends Batman to San Lorenzo Island to stop an assassination without many other clues. It’s a good philosophical story about Batman’s methods as a detective.
• September 5 – Squeaky Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson, attempts to assassinate President Gerald Ford in Sacramento, CA. She didn’t put a bullet into the chamber of her .45 when she put it against his chest and fired. Days later, President Ford would be seen wearing a bulletproof vest in appearances in public.
• September 8 – Sports Illustrated: Barry Switzer was in his third season as the coach at Oklahoma. They were on their third season of probation that included no television appearances that would be lifted if they made a bowl. They ran their undefeated streak to 28 games before a shocking loss to Kansas. They finished out with a winning streak and landed in the Orange Bowl against Michigan. The would defeat #5 Michigan and #1 Ohio State would lose to UCLA in the Rose Bowl, making Oklahoma the National Champions for 5th National Championship.

What the Hell Did I Put in My Mouth?

“And something on your mind
Became a point of view
I lost your honesty
You lost the life in you
When it’s all too late
It’s all too late” – Tears For Fears