Random Banter #239 - Now 50% more tangible!

[Rater202]

Have you ever watched a show as a kid that had some reference that you were too young to ge and then it clicked for you years later?

There was a cartoon called Filmore than ran on ABC Kids and Toon Dinsey for a couple of years in the early 2000s, was essentially a 70s-style Cop Drama... About a middle school safety patrol. So like, someone selling fake baseball cards was treated like a Counterfitting Ring and the school mascot going missing was treated like a kidnapping.

Pretty much every episode was like that. To the point that it got canceled becuase the target audience didn't get the references and Disney didn't give a crap about ratings from the peripheral audience that did.

It's been like 20 years and I'm still running into things that are like "oh, yeah, that thing I watched as a kid makes more sense now."

[Peelee]

Have you ever watched a show as a kid that had some reference that you were too young to ge and then it clicked for you years later?

There was a cartoon called Filmore than ran on ABC Kids and Toon Dinsey for a couple of years in the early 2000s, was essentially a 70s-style Cop Drama... About a middle school safety patrol. So like, someone selling fake baseball cards was treated like a Counterfitting Ring and the school mascot going missing was treated like a kidnapping.

Pretty much every episode was like that. To the point that it got canceled becuase the target audience didn't get the references and Disney didn't give a crap about ratings from the peripheral audience that did.

It's been like 20 years and I'm still running into things that are like "oh, yeah, that thing I watched as a kid makes more sense now."

That doesn't sound abnormal at all. Like, the target audience for Animaniacs didn't get the references that Goodfeathers had, but they were still amusing to watch for the kids. 70s cop show about middle school safety patrol doesn't sound out of the ordinary at all.

[Rater202]

That doesn't sound abnormal at all. Like, the target audience for Animaniacs didn't get the references that Goodfeathers had, but they were still amusing to watch for the kids. 70s cop show about middle school safety patrol doesn't sound out of the ordinary at all.

I didn't say it was out of the ordinary. I said it got canceled becuase Disney didn't like that the target audience didn't get the references.

I just brought it up becuase, well... I'm still running into "oh, that thing I watched as a kid makes more sense now" stuff 20 years later.

Like, it was only the other day that I found out the significance of all the main characters being named after streets in San Fransisco.

[Peelee]

I didn't say it was out of the ordinary. I said it got canceled becuase Disney didn't like that the target audience didn't get the references.

Yeah, but the target audiences doesn't need to get the references, and I would be shocked if it was expected that they would. Again, it's like Goodfeathers from Animaniacs. The target audience isn't going to get the references, but they don't need to because it's still fun to watch.

I imagine there is a strong possibility that it was less "the kids don't get the references" and more "the kids don't enjoy it as much as other shows so they aren't watching it as much".

[Rater202]

Yeah, but the target audiences doesn't need to get the references, and I would be shocked if it was expected that they would. Again, it's like Goodfeathers from Animaniacs. The target audience isn't going to get the references, but they don't need to because it's still fun to watch.

I imagine there is a strong possibility that it was less "the kids don't get the references" and more "the kids don't enjoy it as much as other shows so they aren't watching it as much".

It was a statement from the creators that they were told that "the references are going over the head of the target audience" was the reason that Disney was giving the show the ax

It was a good show and is fondly remembered... It's just that a singificnat potion of the audience it attracted were older than the audience that Disney wante and Disney is weird about that.

[LaZodiac]

Have you ever watched a show as a kid that had some reference that you were too young to ge and then it clicked for you years later?

There was a cartoon called Filmore than ran on ABC Kids and Toon Dinsey for a couple of years in the early 2000s, was essentially a 70s-style Cop Drama... About a middle school safety patrol. So like, someone selling fake baseball cards was treated like a Counterfitting Ring and the school mascot going missing was treated like a kidnapping.

Pretty much every episode was like that. To the point that it got canceled becuase the target audience didn't get the references and Disney didn't give a crap about ratings from the peripheral audience that did.

It's been like 20 years and I'm still running into things that are like "oh, yeah, that thing I watched as a kid makes more sense now."

Filmore was such a ****ing good show. One of the major antagonists is just Hannibal the Cannibal except he's a graffiti artist. All the same vibes as Hannibal Lector, just, he draws on walls instead of eats people. It's incredible.

[Rater202]

Filmore was such a ****ing good show. One of the major antagonists is just Hannibal the Cannibal except he's a graffiti artist. All the same vibes as Hannibal Lector, just, he draws on walls instead of eats people. It's incredible.

"He did that with a golf pencil?"

[enderlord99]

I used three different oral-route antihistamines, two different oral-route painkillers, an oral-route substance synergistic with one of the painkillers, a topical painkiller, a topical antihistamine, and a topical burn-relief substance... and, all combined, that was just barely enough to briefly make my mosquito-bite go from "overwhelming" to "it's still itchy and painful, and it's also throbbing a bit, but I am capable of distracting myself from it with other things rather than being distracted from other things by it"

[Rater202]

Update on my Stepfathe'rs accident: The other guy is responsible and everyone knows it but my stepfather is on the line becuase the other guy hired a lawyer to avoid giving his statement to the provider.

Our only solace is that the other ******* probably had to pay a buttload of money to pull this off... And since he's also suing the provider he's probably gonna get his ass dropped.

[Metastachydium]

I used three different oral-route antihistamines, two different oral-route painkillers, an oral-route substance synergistic with one of the painkillers, a topical painkiller, a topical antihistamine, and a topical burn-relief substance... and, all combined, that was just barely enough to briefly make my mosquito-bite go from "overwhelming" to "it's still itchy and painful, and it's also throbbing a bit, but I am capable of distracting myself from it with other things rather than being distracted from other things by it"

Is this a dire warning not to ever visit wherever you live because you have crazy giant killer mosquitoes of doom, or more like a particularly nasty allergic reaction? Either way, you have my sympathies.

[enderlord99]

Is this a dire warning not to ever visit wherever you live because you have crazy giant killer mosquitoes of doom, or more like a particularly nasty allergic reaction? Either way, you have my sympathies.

It's mostly "I'm not currently used to mosquito-bites, because it's the first one in a long while, so it seemed worse than it is" but also the allergic reaction bit.

[Metastachydium]

It's mostly "I'm not currently used to mosquito-bites, because it's the first one in a long while, so it seemed worse than it is" but also the allergic reaction bit.

Yeah. Mosquitoes and allergies, those two are ugly stuff by themselves. I don't care to experience what all their powers combined look (and especially feel) like. I hope it got better in the meantime.

[Rater202]

After roughly three months of doing the literal bare minimum to manage my diabetes, not only is my sugar consistently in the desired range but my blood A1C is almost normal.

Additionally my rate of weight loss has stabilized and my blood pressure is exactly normal for the first time in a good long while.

[Mystic Muse]

After roughly three months of doing the literal bare minimum to manage my diabetes, not only is my sugar consistently in the desired range but my blood A1C is almost normal.

Additionally my rate of weight loss has stabilized and my blood pressure is exactly normal for the first time in a good long while.

Awesome! Hope things continue to work out in your favor!

[LaZodiac]

After roughly three months of doing the literal bare minimum to manage my diabetes, not only is my sugar consistently in the desired range but my blood A1C is almost normal.

Additionally my rate of weight loss has stabilized and my blood pressure is exactly normal for the first time in a good long while.

Hell yeah! You've got this bud.

[Rater202]

An example of bathos, the generation of humor from absurdity.

In the King of the Hill episode Dog Dale afternoon, a combination of Dale's negative reaction to a prank and a series of very unfortunate coincidences have resulted in him holed up in the top of a clocktower afraid for his life because the police think he's a mad gunman(and the police actively refuse to consider any solution other than "shoot him in the head" even after Hank talks him down so... He's fears are valid)

When he's finally convinced to leave the tower, he shouts down to the street "If you're going to kill me I want Bobby Hill to take the shot. He'll put me down clean."

Bobby, who is 12 or 13 at this time, just says "okay" and tries to grab the rifle out of a cop's hand. He would have done it.

[Mystic Muse]

Bobby is also canonically quite a good shot if I recall correctly, and that wasn't a one-off episode thing.

[Peelee]

An example of bathos, the generation of humor from absurdity.

In the King of the Hill episode Dog Dale afternoon, a combination of Dale's negative reaction to a prank and a series of very unfortunate coincidences have resulted in him holed up in the top of a clocktower afraid for his life because the police think he's a mad gunman(and the police actively refuse to consider any solution other than "shoot him in the head" even after Hank talks him down so... He's fears are valid)

When he's finally convinced to leave the tower, he shouts down to the street "If you're going to kill me I want Bobby Hill to take the shot. He'll put me down clean."

Bobby, who is 12 or 13 at this time, just says "okay" and tries to grab the rifle out of a cop's hand. He would have done it.

IMO that whole interaction was one of the best shows in the series, and it's already a very good series.

[Rater202]

Bobby is also canonically quite a good shot if I recall correctly, and that wasn't a one-off episode thing.

The episode where he picked up sport shooting as a hobby had Hank and Bobby come in second in a father-son competition and they'd have won if not for Hank having his own psychological hangup regarding the use of firearms as a result of cotton's abuse. At this point Bobby has taken a single gun safety class and practices maybe two or three times at a range.

To yeah, that wasn't just Crazy Dale being Crazy Dale, there's a logic to Dale's request.

[Form]

After roughly three months of doing the literal bare minimum to manage my diabetes, not only is my sugar consistently in the desired range but my blood A1C is almost normal.

Additionally my rate of weight loss has stabilized and my blood pressure is exactly normal for the first time in a good long while.

Nice. Sounds like you've got this well in hand.

Bobby, who is 12 or 13 at this time, just says "okay" and tries to grab the rifle out of a cop's hand. He would have done it.

Damn, don't **** with Bobby I guess.

[Peelee]

Damn, don't **** with Bobby I guess.

He's also an amazing meat grader to boot.

[Rater202]

Nice. Sounds like you've got this well in hand.

the bad news is is that he change in diet I'm on means that a brand of honey mustard(less than one gram of sugar) that I used to like now tastes just a little too sweet.

Damn, don't **** with Bobby I guess.

Not only is he a crack shot, but a later episode established that he can quickly and cleanly kill something that he loves if he feels it's necessary and won't feel too bad about it: When he has reason to believe that Bandit, a raccoon he befriended, is rabid and about to attack his Dad Bobby puts him down.

It's established afterward that Bandit wasn't rabid, which is good news becuase it had previously injured both Hank's Dog Ladybird and neighbor dale and the concern that they had rabies was a major plot point in the episode, but... Bobby still doesn't feel that bad that he did it. He just buries Bandit and moves on.

He's also resistant to psychological torture: In one episode discipline is belevied to be an issue so grandfather Cotton Hil, a decorated veteran of World War II, pulls some strings to get Bobby enrolled in his old Military Academy.... Only to get pissed off and take it over upon realizing that it's gone soft(IE, that it's actually providiing a well rounded education and doing things that will ensure that teh tudents grow up to be healthy, functional, and productive members of socierty instead of abusing them into barely fuctional people who are able to kill the enemy and not much else like what happened to Cotton.)

While in charge of the school cotton does everything in his power to break Bobby down and build him back up and he... can't. He makes Bobby rake the entire grounds of the school and Bobby cracks jokes about eating the leaves. He makes Bobby eat an entire day's worth of leftovers from the cafeteria and Bobby enjoys it. He makes bobby strip down to his underwhere and sit on a block of ice and bobby just sits there and takes it like it's not a big deal even after he's melted through it all the way to the floor.

Not even three days of solitary confinement did anything to the kid. The door opened he got up, walked out, and cracked a joke. He was a hero to the other kids at the Academy for that.

So yeah, don't **** with Bobby Hill.

[Dame_Mechanus]

So yeah, don't **** with Bobby Hill.

Bobby Hill, for all the jokes about "that boy ain't right," is very clearly a well-adjusted young man who is learning his lessons and is going to grow up to be an excellent, inspiring person. Helped substantially by the fact that he has parents who love him, even though his father very obviously finds it challenging and difficult at many points. Heck, even though Hank frequently finds it tricky to relate to Bobby, repeatedly insists that the boy ain't right, and expresses confusion about the ways that his son chooses to be... whenever there is the slightest hint of someone else coming down too hard on Bobby, not respecting him, or seeing him as foolish, Hank shuts that down like it's a day late on the electric bill.

Then again, it's not unique to Bobby. The series consistently shows Hank himself not as the obvious punchline or parody of specific beliefs that he could be, but as a reasonable and caring man who has some bad cultural assumptions and default views of the world but also a genuine love of his family, friends, and vocation. Luann steadily evolves from being a ridiculous idiot into a capable and resilient woman who clearly did not just learn from Hank but actively worked to understand her limitations and how much she was really capable of.One of the reasons I love the series despite in many ways not being the target audience is the fact that the writers clearly love the characters and wants them to be inspiring, likable people... who also have their foibles, just like everyone else. But they're not punchlines for it.

I tell you what.

[Rater202]

Bobby Hill, for all the jokes about "that boy ain't right," is very clearly a well-adjusted young man who is learning his lessons and is going to grow up to be an excellent, inspiring person. Helped substantially by the fact that he has parents who love him, even though his father very obviously finds it challenging and difficult at many points. Heck, even though Hank frequently finds it tricky to relate to Bobby, repeatedly insists that the boy ain't right, and expresses confusion about the ways that his son chooses to be... whenever there is the slightest hint of someone else coming down too hard on Bobby, not respecting him, or seeing him as foolish, Hank shuts that down like it's a day late on the electric bill.

Then again, it's not unique to Bobby. The series consistently shows Hank himself not as the obvious punchline or parody of specific beliefs that he could be, but as a reasonable and caring man who has some bad cultural assumptions and default views of the world but also a genuine love of his family, friends, and vocation. Luann steadily evolves from being a ridiculous idiot into a capable and resilient woman who clearly did not just learn from Hank but actively worked to understand her limitations and how much she was really capable of.One of the reasons I love the series despite in many ways not being the target audience is the fact that the writers clearly love the characters and wants them to be inspiring, likable people... who also have their foibles, just like everyone else. But they're not punchlines for it.

I tell you what.

It's also a world that feels lived in. Stuff happens in the background that we only get hints to like... Khan was friends with Buckley. He spoke at Buckley's funeral, he broke down and admitted to crying "a river of tears" for Buckley when he criticizes Luanne for keeping her emotions bottled up and deflecting onto other topics. Buckley willed Khan his favorite trampoline... Which implies that for all his general idiocy that Buckley was at least responsible enough to have his affairs in order.

We barely see any of that, just hints at it in few episodes, but those hints are enough to show that the world still exists when the main characters aren't there.

[LaZodiac]

God King of the Hill is a good show.

On the topic of Bobby Hill being an icon to aspire too...

"Here's 300 dollars to break up with Connie."

"Save that money for our wedding."

[Dame_Mechanus]

God King of the Hill is a good show.

On the topic of Bobby Hill being an icon to aspire too...

"Here's 300 dollars to break up with Connie."

"Save that money for our wedding."

"Bobby, you'd better go. If my dad catches you here, he'll make me play that song he wrote about you."
"Fat White Lump is about me?"

[Fyraltari]

God King of the Hill is a good show.

"God-King of the Hill"? What is going on on that hill?

[LaZodiac]

"God-King of the Hill"? What is going on on that hill?

No see that's just the backstory of Elden Ring.

[Peelee]

Not only is he a crack shot, but a later episode established that he can quickly and cleanly kill something that he loves if he feels it's necessary and won't feel too bad about it: When he has reason to believe that Bandit, a raccoon he befriended, is rabid and about to attack his Dad Bobby puts him down.

That's not a good representation of the episode. A large chunk of it was Bobby trying to hide or otherwise protect Bandit, and he was significantly conflicted about hunting the racoon.

[Rater202]

That's not a good representation of the episode. A large chunk of it was Bobby trying to hide or otherwise protect Bandit, and he was significantly conflicted about hunting the racoon.

Yeah, but when push came to shove he still put Bandit down when it looked like it was nessesary.