Tomorrow the sixth entry into the Mission Impossible film franchise: Mission Impossible: Fallout hits theaters. Given that I thought it would be a good time to take a look back at what makes these movies tick. You notice I say film and movies. I know that M:I was also a TV series that ran for seven seasons plus a reboot but honestly those shows have so little in common with the movie series I decided that they really qualify as their own entity. The TV show was an ensemble piece that has more in common with the Ocean’s 11 franchise…
Category: Geekdom Come
Troping the Riff- Bottle Episode
An unknown contagion has been detected. The station is under quarantine until further notice. Or maybe there was an explosion and we’re stuck in this room until help arrives. Maybe we’ve been taken prisoner and are stuck sharing a cell until we can make bail. However it plays out, the main cast is stuck in a single location for an entire episode. In this Troping the Riff post we take a look at the most cost-effective of tropes: The Bottle Episode. The phrase bottle episode originated with Star Trek: The Original Series. The crew often called these types of episodes…
Reference Humor: Bojack Horseman S1E11 “Downer Ending”
Nothing screams nostalgia like a 90’s sitcom and nothing says pop-culture like a show about a talking horse. Combine the two and you what you get is something unexpected, a dark comedy featuring rampant drug use and nihilistic narcissism. In this edition of Reference Humor, we take a look at one of the earlier episodes of one of my favorite Netflix shows: Bojack Horseman As always bold numbers represent the time at which the reference happened and Spoilers abound for a wide variety of films. Scroll down at your own risk. Okay, let’s get started. 00:11– Bojack’s publisher is Penguin…
Tropping The Riff: Star-Crossed Lovers
“From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life” (Romeo and Juliet, Prologue 5-6). It’s not the best line Shakespeare ever wrote, but it’s definitely in the running for the most influential. The tale of two lovers destined for disappointment and tragedy is a story as old as civilization itself. And while the old cliche in Hollywood might be that audiences love a happy ending, often it is the stories that end in heartbreak that stay with us the longest. In this edition of Troping the Riff we take a look at…
World Building 101-Languages
MajQa’ Dub. That’s Klingon for “Welcome Back.” I don’t actually speak Klingon, but Google translate does. Which should tell you two things right off the bat. The first is that in this edition of World Building 101 we will be talking about the importance of developing the fictional languages of your world. The second is that you better take your world’s languages seriously because, if you’re fortunate enough to find yourself with hardcore fans of your work, they sure as hell will. Now I’m not telling you to go full Tolkien, there is no need to invent a full language…
Reference Humor: The Venture Bros Season 4 Episode 12 “Everybody Comes to Hank’s”
You can say this for cartoon network, they certainly know how to get a good laugh out of the properties. This week on Reference Humor, we’re going to take a look at one of the early mainstays of Adult Swim, The Venture Bros. This show is perfect for our purposes as the entire series is just one big send up of the Johnny Quest franchise. As always bold numbers represent the time at which the reference happened and Spoilers abound for a wide variety of films. Scroll down at your own risk. Okay, let’s get started. 00:00 The episode title…
Reference Humor: Family Guy Season 8 Episode 1 “Road to Multiverse”
This week we take a look at a show which is known for relying heavily on pop-culture to make its jokes fly. To be honest I’m a bit hit or miss with Family Guy. But I picked an episode I haven’t seen before so we will see how this goes. As always bold numbers represent the time at which the reference happened and Spoilers abound for a wide variety of films. Scroll down at your own risk. Okay, let’s get started. 00:00 The entire episode is a play on the central premise of the show Sliders (1995-2000), which feature four…
Reference Humor: Futurama Season 4 Episode 1 “Roswell that ends well”
Futurama is a show known for mixing its more over the top plots in with subtler, satiric jabs. It is never afraid to lampoon the conventions of the Sci-fi genre in which it finds itself, or to draw parallels between the far-flung future and our here and now. I was curious though, as much as Futurama seems like its always winking and nodding at it audience, how much does it actually rely on reference humor to accomplish its comedy. And what better episode to put up as a sample then the Emmy-award winning season 4 premiere. As always bold numbers…
The Franchise- The Avengers
It’s finally here. After ten years, eighteen movies, hundreds upon hundreds of hours of television; on Thursday we will finally get to witness the culmination of the first three phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And in honor of the release of Avengers: Infinity War, I thought I would take a look at the titular team in this edition of The Franchise. Core Concept: “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” Its a bit cliche, but nothing sums up the Avengers better than this tag-line. And it may not seem like that separates them from other superhero teams, but this is when the genius…
World Building 101- Races and Cultures
Ogres. Ogres who need ogres. Are the luckiest Ogres in the world. At least I’m fairly sure that’s how the song goes. Hello there and welcome back to another edition of World Building 101. This week we’re going to be talking about Races and Cultures. Before we get started this is my cursory reminder that differing levels of melatonin do not a completely different race make. On this blog when we talk about race we’re talking about Elves, Ogres, Trolls, Orcs, Dwarfs, Martians, Vulcans, so on and so forth. I think the biggest mistake made by authors of genre fiction…