TV Series

[Jules]

I just finished Avatar The Last Airbender and it was just SO GOOD! The writing, the character arcs, the filler episodes, the acting, everything! And it's soo funny! There were times I had to pause it to finish laughing because I didn't want to miss the next thing they said!

Not gonna lie; doesn't strike me as a show you would have watched. I've never seen it, myself.

I like a little bit of everything and a lotta what I like

[Tawmis]

Hasbro is currently streaming episodes of the original GI JOE, for free, commercial free, on Youtube.

[DeadPoolX]

Hasbro is currently streaming episodes of the original GI JOE, for free, commercial free, on Youtube.

The original GI JOE, from the 1980s? That's pretty cool, although the animation quality is nowhere near as good as I remember. It still beats a lot of 2D animation done today, though. Have you guys seen the atrocity that is ThunderCats Roar? Ugh.

One thing that always bugged me about GI JOE (well, actually a lot of things annoyed me...) was the PSA at the end of the show. They'd have a few kids about to do something stupid, like drink bleach, and then suddenly there'd be an adult male — a complete stranger! — standing in their kitchen lecturing them. None of the kids thought to ask, "Who the hell are you!?" or "What the hell are you doing in my house!?"

As for advertisements, that's neat that Hasbro is showing them ad-free, but I use an ad-blocker, so I get everything ad-free on YouTube. Honestly, I wouldn't be totally against watching ONE ad before the video, but the problem is there are often ads that interrupt videos. There's no way I'm putting up with that and I don't feel bad because many YouTubers have sponsors now.

[Semi-Happy Partygoer]

Anybody else been watching His Dark Materials?

[Rath Darkblade]

One thing that always bugged me about GI JOE (well, actually a lot of things annoyed me...) was the PSA at the end of the show. They'd have a few kids about to do something stupid, like drink bleach, and then suddenly there'd be an adult male — a complete stranger! — standing in their kitchen lecturing them. None of the kids thought to ask, "Who the hell are you!?" or "What the hell are you doing in my house!?"

I'd never seen the GI JOE cartoons, but that sounds completely random. Why are these kids drinking bleach in the first place? And where did this adult male come from? Did he just appear out of thin air?

As for advertisements, that's neat that Hasbro is showing them ad-free, but I use an ad-blocker, so I get everything ad-free on YouTube. Honestly, I wouldn't be totally against watching ONE ad before the video, but the problem is there are often ads that interrupt videos. There's no way I'm putting up with that and I don't feel bad because many YouTubers have sponsors now.

I agree. I sometimes watch YouTube videos, but more often, I use it to put some music on that I'm curious about, or some calming music. The last thing I want is some obnoxious ad in the middle of some soothing music.

Anybody else been watching His Dark Materials?

I'd never heard of it, but I googled it and found out why: I don't have HBO.

[Tawmis]

Anybody else been watching His Dark Materials?

I tried. I can't get behind the humor. It's like if THE OFFICE was made into a show about Vampires, with the odd humor turned up to 11.
To be fair, I only made it through one or two seasons of THE OFFICE also.
Which is odd, I admit, because I typically like the silly/dumb humor. But something about both His Dark Materials and the Office.

EDIT: Scratch that. I have no idea why I confused His Dark Materials with What We Do In The Shadows (for some reason I thought it was called His Dark Majesty or something, and thought, "Oh, maybe it's called His Dark Materials."). Then I saw Rath's post about HBO, and was like, "Wait - it's not on HBO. Oh. Wait. No. I am thinking of the wrong show."

So the correct answer is; no, I have HBO, but I've not seen it.

One thing that always bugged me about GI JOE (well, actually a lot of things annoyed me...) was the PSA at the end of the show. They'd have a few kids about to do something stupid, like drink bleach, and then suddenly there'd be an adult male — a complete stranger! — standing in their kitchen lecturing them. None of the kids thought to ask, "Who the hell are you!?" or "What the hell are you doing in my house!?"

I'd never seen the GI JOE cartoons, but that sounds completely random. Why are these kids drinking bleach in the first place? And where did this adult male come from? Did he just appear out of thin air?

I believe DPX was being sarcastic about the "drinking bleach" and referencing that Agent Orange Guy in the US Oval Office, who mentioned injecting some form of bleach to get rid of Covid. (Biden made the joke/reference that Trump said to drink bleach.)

But they did the same thing most of those 80s cartoons did; and that was put a PSA after each episode (typically with the theme of whatever the episode was about). So for example if a character betrayed his friend, because he wanted something from an enemy, but then it didn't turn out right because the enemy turned on him too; there'd be a PSA about knowing who your friends are, and that knowing who to trust, and sometimes, going the easy route isn't the best route.

Here's an example of a GI JOE PSA.

[MusicallyInspired]

WandaVision is exceptionally bizarre and I love it. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.

[DeadPoolX]

One thing that always bugged me about GI JOE (well, actually a lot of things annoyed me...) was the PSA at the end of the show. They'd have a few kids about to do something stupid, like drink bleach, and then suddenly there'd be an adult male — a complete stranger! — standing in their kitchen lecturing them. None of the kids thought to ask, "Who the hell are you!?" or "What the hell are you doing in my house!?"

I'd never seen the GI JOE cartoons, but that sounds completely random. Why are these kids drinking bleach in the first place? And where did this adult male come from? Did he just appear out of thin air?

I believe DPX was being sarcastic about the "drinking bleach" and referencing that Agent Orange Guy in the US Oval Office, who mentioned injecting some form of bleach to get rid of Covid. (Biden made the joke/reference that Trump said to drink bleach.)

But they did the same thing most of those 80s cartoons did; and that was put a PSA after each episode (typically with the theme of whatever the episode was about). So for example if a character betrayed his friend, because he wanted something from an enemy, but then it didn't turn out right because the enemy turned on him too; there'd be a PSA about knowing who your friends are, and that knowing who to trust, and sometimes, going the easy route isn't the best route.

Here's an example of a GI JOE PSA.

Yeah, I was exaggerating (a little) and being sarcastic, but I wasn't referencing some whackjob's idea of using bleach to cure COVID. I didn't even know of that until now! I just used "drinking bleach" as a ridiculous example because of the massive amount of damage it'd do to your esophagus and anyone who did try it would likely be a Darwin Awards winner.

The PSAs were always so cheesy, too. Granted, it was the 1980s, so it sort of worked, but even as a kid I rolled my eyes at them because the kids in them were so unbelievably stupid.

WandaVision is exceptionally bizarre and I love it. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.

WandaVision sounds like the name of a Marvel-approved sex toy.

[Tawmis]

WandaVision is exceptionally bizarre and I love it. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.

Phew. I didn't hate it. But neither did I like it. It's too... slow?

[Rath Darkblade]

To be clear: no-one told anyone to drink bleach, except for QAnon Conspiracy Theorists. The POTUS's remarks about injecting disinfectant under the skin sound remarkably similar.

Granted, I know almost nothing about QAnon -- but the little I've heard of them makes them seem to be divorced from reality. Is that right?

It would be funny if it wasn't so sad. According to LiveScience (as of 11 August 2020), there were -- and are -- over 2,000 conspiracy theories out there about COVID-19, most of them advocating dangerous "cures", such as drinking lots of very strong alcohol (or alcohol made from datura, a highly poisonous plant). Naturally, this either killed people or makes them very sick.

It's gotten so bad that both the makers of Lysol and Clorox had to put warning labels on their products, urging people not to drink them. I'd have thought this was too obvious to need a warning, but then I've read plenty of Agatha Christie novels, including one where the symptoms of drinking hydrochloric acid are shown. ("Murder in Mesopotamia", IIRC). Even if I hadn't read this book, it should be obvious that drinking a strong acid (like bleach) is a stupid thing to do.

Maybe QAnon leaders (if they even have leaders) should be prosecuted for encouraging people to do stupid and dangerous things? I don't know, I'm not a lawyer ...

[Semi-Happy Partygoer]

I tried watching Call Me Kat recently but doubt I’ll continue past the pilot. It’s not a patch on Miranda, the UK series the show’s based upon.

[Tawmis]

Even if I hadn't read this book, it should be obvious that drinking a strong acid (like bleach) is a stupid thing to do.

I won't go into the long details of it - but back in the early 90s - I knew someone (one of my friend's girlfriends) who went to prison for murder. When she and I were writing back then - she'd tell me horror stories of girls on cleaning duty who would drink bleach to try and kill themselves, rather than be in prison. So if it wasn't already obvious to me back then (which it was, because my mom used to use bleach to kill EVERYTHING - from germs, to spiders, to snakes) - the horror stories she shared from those letters were pretty gruesome.

I tried watching Call Me Kat recently but doubt I’ll continue past the pilot. It’s not a patch on Miranda, the UK series the show’s based upon.

I'd never heard of either of these.

[DeadPoolX]

It's gotten so bad that both the makers of Lysol and Clorox had to put warning labels on their products, urging people not to drink them.

Rath, there are warnings on curling irons that state: "for external use only." Think about that for a moment.

[...] she'd tell me horror stories of girls on cleaning duty who would drink bleach to try and kill themselves, rather than be in prison [...] the horror stories she shared from those letters were pretty gruesome.

Yeah, bleach will strip the lining from your esophagus. You're better off drinking sulfuric acid. Sure, that'd do a ton of damage and cause horrible pain, but it CAN potentially heal properly, whereas bleach... well, you're screwed.

[goatmeal]

Lyrics to the brilliant Dead Milkmen punk rock song, "Bleach Boys":

"Bleach Boys"
By The Dead Milkmen
From the album "Beelzebubba" (c) 1988
========================================

I've got some buddies, and we all drink bleach;
You know we practice what we preach.
We're not a drunken bunch of frat boys, trashed on beers,
Or a stoned bunch of hippies with no careers.
I wanna drink bleach with a Georgia Peach.

My pals and I all drink Clorox,
Or eat snowy bleach right out of the box.
Teenage suicide rate shot high,
And we understand the reasons why:
Bleach does more than whiten your socks.

(Chorus)
Don't you wanna hang out with the bleach boys, baby,
In a world where ministers murder golf pros?
Don't you wanna drink some bleach tonight?

Maybe there'll be a party at the beach;
We'll bitch about life and chug-a-lug bleach.
No one's getting high and no one's getting drunk;
We got a case of bleach stashed in my trunk.
I wanna die with Clorox within reach.

I'm very proud of the respect I've earned,
And my voice is very deep 'cause my throat got burned.
Bleach keeps you young, so I've been told,
'cause no one who drinks it lives to get old.
'Drink it with a chaser' was the first thing that I learned...

(Chorus)
Don't you wanna hang out with the bleach boys, baby,
In a world where midgets run for mayor?
Don't you wanna drink some bleach tonight?

'Had 26 friends in the beginning,
But now it seems our numbers are thinning.
Some people drive fast, others love to bet,
Still others snort coke in a private jet.
But drinking bleach is my way of winning.

(Intentionally bad guitar solo)

(Chorus)
Don't you wanna hang out with the bleach boys, baby,
In a world where welders own our schools?
Don't you wanna drink some bleach tonight?

I'm so bored I'm drinking bleach (repeat)

[MusicallyInspired]

WandaVision is exceptionally bizarre and I love it. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.

Phew. I didn't hate it. But neither did I like it. It's too... slow?

I'm really enjoying it. I don't know. It takes me back to those old shows like Lost in Space, Gilligan's Island, Andy Griffith Show, Abbott and Costello Show. Charming silly old TV shows (at least the first two episodes). Totally out of left field and things keep changing but there's hints at something sinister going on and I can't wait to find out what it is. But in the meantime, I'm really entertained by the content so it doesn't feel slow to me.