In article , Sweet Zombie Jesus wrote:
undertoes
the whole
doubt it
The whole thing looked like a badly-done Web Cartoon.
I imagine The Fashion Club (from "Daria") would LOVE this show, though. Every human being depicted, save for Mr. Fish, was SO PERFECT IT HURT.
Vapid show, vapid animation, lousy writing...but perfectly in character with MTV's true focus. My prediction: they'll shovel money into this until it kicks over. And they'll probably rob "Daria" to do it.
--.\\<-H--
I hope you're not right. I missed SG's premier (not that I was going to watch it), but every impression that I've gotten from others tends to tell me that it was a big honkin piece o' crap. No one seemed to like, so probably no one will watch it, and if no one is watching, it doesn't matter how much money's dropped into it because it won't have the ratings to attract advertisers.
Mike Quinn [email]
I....actually glanced at this thing. Don't worry, it's a goner. We may get two more episodes out of this but that's about it. Save your energy for Daria's new episodes.
Jeff M.
In article ,
I missed the premiere, there's a replay of it just before the mini-marathon before #408, I was going to catch it then, I may still, but from what I've heard I may not.
If SG got the same deal as Daria (i.e. 13 eps per season) it'll probably be split up in a 6-7 or 7-6 block, either way, if it's as bad as most people are saying, it'll be on the air through the first block and the remaining shows will never see the light of day. Remember Super Adventure Team? The Brothers Grunt? The only truly sucessful animation shows on MTV were/are Celebrity Deathmatch, Beavis & Butt-Head, and of course Daria. When MTV hits the mark it hits a bullseye, but when it misses, it misses by many miles/km. Basically MTV animation is all or nothing. For the record I never really got into Downtown, by the time I actually caught a few eps it was cancelled, so I can't offer an opinion on that show.
I'll give it a chance, but from what I've heard, MTV has missed badly on SG.
He who is saving the rest of his energy for the new Daria eps,
A.J.
In article , [email] wrote:
I did finally see it, and to paraphrase: I came, I saw, I wanted to hurl. I give it 6 or 7 shows tops.
A.J.
On Fri, 30 Jun 2000 04:40:28 GMT, [email] wrote:
I thought it was funny if viewed as a self-parody, but anything more than a few episodes is too many.
Kyl� The Jeff Huson of alt.sports.baseball.chicago-cubs
Well believe me it was. I don't know what really compelled me to watch it (hey what else is on at 10:30 on Monday nights?) but the whole time I watched it I was like, is this supposed to be funny? Is this supposed to be a plot? Frankly the two "spies" annoy me to death and so dose pratically every other charecter. It won't last that long, I give it 6 episodes, tops.
BTW I'm Nancy. I'm pretty new here so if you wondering who the hell I am theirs your ansewer =).
~Nancy
Last night there were 2 other shows which had my attention, so I decided to tape Spy Groove & watch it later. Although I wasn't exactly moved by the previews (especially the voiceover during the Daria-thon this weekend -- you know, the one that sounds like some guy peeing into a bucket), I chose to reserve judgment until I saw the first show. Besides, I wasn't all that crazy about "Downtown" when it first aired, & by the time I became a fan of the show & started taping the shows, it had gotten the ax.
Well, I rewound the tape & watched the first ep of Spy Groove.
Twice.
Not because I liked what I saw the first time but because it was SO AWFUL that I had to watch it again on the chance that it would improve!
OK, there may have been a funny line here & there (none worth recalling at the moment, and that's not a good sign), but overall, I can't think of anything redeeming about it.
[Begin rant]
O-KAAAAAY -- where to begin . . .
1. Helen O' Troy. First of all, as an African-American woman, let me state that I personally resent the hell out of the way she was depicted. One of the most insidious stereotypes depicted here -- big lips, big booty, tight clothing,Frederick's of Hollywood slut-heels; she screamed sex freak from head to toe, even though she was supposedly the brains behind this whole spy outfit. Just when I thought progress was being made with characters such as Mack Mackenzie & the Landons, a thousand backward steps were taken with this character. Helen makes Mammy or Aunt Jemima seem progressive. Would probably cause even Li'l Kim to cringe.
2. All the women on the show. Scantily clad & skanky-looking. Makes Bond girls -- past & present -- look like nuns.
4. Agent #2 & Agent # 1 (that's the order in which they always seem to be mentioned). I can't help but wonder if their names are supposed to follow in the tradition of 007, Agent 86 or Agent 99 -- or if their monikers are scatalogical references (further evidenced by the fact that #2 has brown hair & #1 is a blond). Or maybe I'm reading too much into that. Or maybe I'm not.
5. The running joke. Patience proved not to be much of a virtue for Agent #2 -- or for me either, because I kept hoping for the show to get funnier. What was the point of this plot, to piss off viewers? If so, then Plan B accomplished (to quote perhaps the funniest line from this ep -- & that ain't sayin' much, my friend).
[end rant. . . for now]
I truly hope MTV isn't siphoning off Daria's production money for this series. If that should be the case (Michelle, you'll let us know, yes?), I will be posting the address to write to MTV's VP of Programming, & let him know that we don't want those spies stealing candy from our baby Daria.
Having said everything I just said, I will still watch the next couple of episodes before deciding whether I'll write this cartoon off for good.
But from what I saw last night, the sound of someone in a urinal seems like an appropriate background for Spy Groove's ads. The sound of #1, for a show that's so far a steaming pile of #2.
Chirping (& ranting) through the night,
Cricket
On 28 Jun 2000 00:17:12 GMT, [email] (Cricket) wrote:
Cricket, you are made of sterner stuff than I. One viewing was plenty for me, and I had a LOT of trouble just making it through the first viewing.
I can think of only one really redeeming thing about it-- the visual concepts were kinda cool. Nothing great, because, as someone else (Michelle?) put it, it was animated like a Flash cartoon, but the really vibrant colors used were kinda neat. Other than that, well, it was a waste of good ink and paint. It was over the top on the ref-o-meter, and I must say that I've never heard a cartoon do quite so many product placements in just the narration. Yipes.
If MTV really wants to redeem itself for the abysmal way it treated "Downtown," (a series I *really* enjoyed), then it could always buy the rest of Kevin Smith's "Clerks" cartoon series and actually air them in the proper order. (ABC pinheads.)
You'll get no argument for me on that one. She looked sort of like a parodized Grace Jones. Were I Grace, I might sue. ;-)
That was one disturbing bit about the show-- the women were pretty much just scenery, if you will.
Heh. For a premiere, I'd've gone with something a little better for a villain, anyway.
Probably not. I picked up on that early on, too. But the characters are so, well, bland that it doesn't really matter what you call 'em.
In fact, I thought that most of the characters were just plain flat. Flat and dull.
Yup. I felt the distinct urge to switch to the "Paint Drying" or "Grass Growing" channels.
That address is, as usual, availble at my website, along with the addresses of C5 and the ABC (in Oz.) There's a link to it on the TV Listings page.
I wouldn't sweat worrying about "Daria" losing $$ to this show. "Daria" already has a fixed budget through Season 5 (which is in production right now, I believe...) Viacom/MTV know better than to mess with a successful show... I hope... Besides, I don't think SG is long for this world, anyway.
Now as for a 6th season of "Daria," well, all I gotta say about that is START WRITING NOW. At least, start writing now if you live outside the US. That way, your letters will arrive when the US folks start up again. Either way, I think we should do our level best to make sure that we get that 6th season.
Why bother, when you can do something so much more productive like sort your recyclables alphabetically by product name? Time is just so finite, I wouldn't want to waste the odd half-hour on a show that was just a pile of dingo's kidneys. ;-)
Agreed. I didn't find anything to warrant a repeat offense on my part. ;-)
rich.
"Joseph Stalin, grab my armored muu-muu and together we will leave this foul Earth behind." -- Toon-La.
Cricket wrote:
(Snip)
I've written one big IMHO here of course....
(Snip)
I agree on both points, though this is in some ways the normal MTV mentality. Scantily clad women for the people too cheap to get the Playboy channel and get their kicks from that.
And just weird out everyone else....
Actually, I couldn't keep them sorted until I heard this mnemonic device.:)
Well, I found it funnier than that. For instance, the cartoon standard of passing something over and over again like "a palm tree and a juice bar... a palm tree and a juice bar... a palm tree and a juice bar". Also, the rather surreal "hip" environments - the giant fish tank, the knee-high water in the other place (is this why the guy was named Fish?) - and the complete shallowness of the two main characters.... I found that rather funny. While some parts were horrible, some parts were - dare I say - good. While it makes for an inconsistent show, it's better than the total mediocrity or inanity of most of the newer shows on TV. While I wouldn't go out of my way to watch it, if it was on at a time I happened to be passing through that channel, I'd certainly sit through a few more episodes before passing judgement.
Len
Cricket said:
outfit.
She's meant to be a parody of the way that black women were shown in late 1960's - early 1970's TV and movies. However, I agree with your basic point, because the way that black women were shown on those shows was usually pretty insulting ... even MORE insulting when the intent was to go "see how hip they are?"
("Hip" being usually equated with "having absolutely no sexual inhibitions or long term goals." For the white middle class boomers this was a game they abandoned when they grew up, of course; the stereotype tended to stick on blacks, though. And thus your disgust, and mine.)
character.
Yeah. Incidentaly, I totally agree with you that Mack and Jodie are extremely positive characters; the more so because they have recently started to go into them in some greater depth.
Hey, at least Aunt Jemima wasn't slutty ... and I never argue with a woman bearing maple syrup :)
For PANCAKES! What did you think I meant? ;-)
Who was that?
Oh, that's just _classic_ for the genre being spoofed, though. ALL parties are attended by hordes of slutty young women who dance and ooh and ah and very little else.
Heh-heh-heh ... I noticed.
I think it's a spoof on the whole "code number" business. Also, the implication is that they don't have much in the way of true identities.
Of course, _Get Smart_ did THAT particular joke FAR better. To the point that, even after _marrying_ her, Max never found out 99's real name :)
I think that this was an attempt at "characterization."
As a one-shot I found the show funny; I don't see enough here to support a continuing series, though.
Sincerely Yours, Jordan
In article ,
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character
Ouch! I was expecting a cult following after watching the premiere and it's getting the smackdown instead!
But enough with the homsexual undertones...
I, for one, thought it took the off-the-wall tone of Clerks:TAS and made it FUNNY. Same hypersimplified visual stylings, same empty dialogue, but for the love of mercy, at least I laughed.
Afer watching a number of ambitious shows fall flat, and can't complain about actually laughing at (and with) this one.
until
Serves me right for missing the season premiere last night. Three VCRs in this bloody place and I didn't set a single one! (and before you ask, they aren't all mine)
Terrence Briggs Peace to you...
[email] wrote:
*ahem*...Trinity? As in Trinity University in San Antonio?
*grin*...if so, I attend St. Mary's University here in San Antonio...Providence HS had their graduation ceremonies at Laurie Auditorium and apparently Duran Duran performed their one San Antonio date back in '89 at said auditorium...if not...*whoopsie*...
I watched five minutes of it accidentally while flipping the channels.
I immediately resumed flipping around.
I got *nothing* out of it. A whole load of pretentious bullshit, maybe. But anything *good*? I don't think so. In fact, I can't even remember any snippet of dialogue because nothing I heard really meant anything.
The one thing that made me feel better was the brand-new "Daria" ep. I've watched it twice thus far and intend to watch it again. Only music videos from Arcadia, Japan, and David Sylvian make me feel this way...oh yeah, and "Three to Get Ready" (1987 DD documentary). Gawd that was such a brill ep.
LI
In article ,
Yessirree. After four years in rec.arts.animation, someone FINALLY noted the alma mater of Barney the Dinosaur.
Auditorium and apparently Duran Duran performed their one San Antonio date back in '89 at said auditorium...if not...*whoopsie*...
In Laurie? Where parents, aunts, and uncles the world over were tearing each other limb from limbto get tickets for our graduation?! Why not the Alamodome? It only holds 100,000 people.
At any rate, I'm now an alum, so any attempts to get me in on the SA Daria Fanclub are right out. (And I'm supposed to be attaching my Deja.com email address to these posts, but mI'm bypassing that rule just this once for clarification's sake.)
and
Heh. It was eitehr that or Family Law, ya know :)
maybe.
remember any
And I can't recall anything off hand myself, except "Maybe I won't tell you." Context was soon forgotten...
To be frank, pretentious isn't a word I could attach to this show. I cold provide a semi-comprehensive list of other animated series for which this applies, though.
I'm in the right newsgroup for it :)
music videos from Arcadia, Japan, and David Sylvian make me feel this way...oh yeah, and "Three to Get Ready" (1987 DD documentary). Gawd that was such a brill ep. <
Like I said, serves me right for missing it. Knowing MTV, though, it'll be reruns at least three times before the next new episode :) BTW, what's the schedule for Daria reruns?
Terrence Briggs Peace to you...
In article , [email] wrote:
Try http://paperpusher.simplenet.com to find the most accurate schedule of Daria showings on MTV in the US. 96% accuracy rate if I remember correctly.
HTH, A.J.
hey, "whats everybody looking at? nothing!" ehe, i wish someone encoded them downtown episodes, that show was awesome, i thought spy groove was funny, i caught most/all of the jokes, poor clerks cartoon was cancelled after 2 shows off abc :(
"Michelle Klein-Hass" wrote in message news:[email]...
we
actually
address...sorry about the spamblock.