Teepee vs. Wigwam: The Debate Continues

On Saturday night, I watched My Son, the Fanatic with bethje, who had seen it before in her film class. It was definitely an interesting film, but I really don't know why Netflix lists it as a comedy. Sure, there were some comedic parts, but I definitely don't think it came off as such overall.

And yesterday featured a new Sunday night animated lineup, so here are my thoughts. For an episode with such a wacky premise (a ten-year-old getting a driver's license and dating a pregnant teenager kind of seems more like a Family Guy plot, although I guess Bart DID have a fake license before), last night's Simpsons was actually a little subdued. Neither Bart's nor Lisa's lie (and I guess there was some nice thematic unity in that both of them were defrauding someone) really resulted in as much trouble as might have been expected. It was decent enough, though, and I did like how Homer's shenanigans were in the background, rather than the focus of the episode. A few of the jokes, like the businesses in the Flammable District and Bart's fantasies of favors the Mayor could grant him, were very much in classic Simpsons style. Also, North Haverbrook seems to have recovered from the monorail fiasco since the fourth season.

Family Guy did something that had been done in a somewhat recent Simpsons, with the protagonist thinking someone other than the man who had raised him might be his real father. The Simpsons writers obviously didn't come up with this plot concept, but I suppose the fact that both shows did it fairly recently shows how a lot of plot ideas just keep cropping up in different programs. Peter's real father turning out to be almost exactly like him might have been a bit predictable, but I liked Brian's sheepdog equivalent. (Incidentally, has it ever been explained why Peter's parents were separated? Someday I need to go back and watch the earlier episodes that I missed the first time around.) I think the funniest part of the episode was how neither Peter nor Lois had any idea how old Meg was.

Last week, rockinlibrarian told me she had had a dream that I was hiding E.T., so it's a nice bit of synchronicity that there was an E.T. parody on American Dad. It was interesting seeing someone who saw Roger being an alien as something cool and novel, and the abusive relationship angle added a clever twist. And the Mr. Pibb subplot was pretty funny. By the way, the TV Guide page says that the kid was voiced by Patton Oswalt, whom I sometimes get mixed up with Dick Van Patten. I guess they WERE both guests on The Weird Al Show. Actually, about all I know about Patton aside from that was that he opened for Camper Van Beethoven before. I think that was him, anyway.

The other day, I was de-friended by someone who'd semi-randomly LJ-friended me a little while ago. It's curious to me how fickle some people are about such things. I mean, I've had total strangers add me out of nowhere, only to remove me after a day or two. Maybe it's my breath? :P

And courtesy of shadarko (who friended me a few years ago without my really knowing who he was, and, for whatever reason, still hasn't de-friended me), a panhandler admits that he's most likely not Jesus. I love how, even when he's apologizing, he refuses to totally give up the scam. If you can find it in your heart to forgive him, please send one dollar to "Sorry Dude."