Ack!
March 6, 2022 9:16 AM Subscribe
‘Bloom County’ to Bring Opus, Bill the Cat and the Rest of the Comic Strip to Fox As an Animated Series in Development [Variety] "The comic strip, created and written by Berkeley Breathed, is being developed as an animated series at Fox, through its animation studio, Bento Box Entertainment, as well as Miramax, Spyglass Media Group and Project X Entertainment."
I have a bad feeling about this.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:40 AM on March 6, 2022 [23 favorites]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:40 AM on March 6, 2022 [23 favorites]
FOX the network is not the same as FoxNews, I don't even think they're the same company anymore. And FOX has been a leader in developing animated content since The Simpsons started nearly 2 generations ago.
posted by hippybear at 10:32 AM on March 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 10:32 AM on March 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
This has been lurking in my Anxiety Closet for years.
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:35 AM on March 6, 2022 [19 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:35 AM on March 6, 2022 [19 favorites]
I have picked up a few of the collections of Bloom County at yard sales to keep them on the shelf for when my kids can appreciate them in about a decade. I still have a friend who our mutual friends affectionately refer to as Bill the Cat after the comic, I may even have a Bill the Cat for President button up in the attic somewhere.
I can understand the confusion about Fox Animation vs Fox News. It does strike me that Bloom County out of all the comics of that era (save Doonesbury) is antithetical to the whole Fox News vibe so strongly that I think it'd be a betrayal of it's self if it was anything but. That is, if Opus the penguin isn't molting from the sheer willful mendacious idiocy of Fox News this probably isn't going to ring very true as a series.
posted by Catblack at 10:42 AM on March 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
I can understand the confusion about Fox Animation vs Fox News. It does strike me that Bloom County out of all the comics of that era (save Doonesbury) is antithetical to the whole Fox News vibe so strongly that I think it'd be a betrayal of it's self if it was anything but. That is, if Opus the penguin isn't molting from the sheer willful mendacious idiocy of Fox News this probably isn't going to ring very true as a series.
posted by Catblack at 10:42 AM on March 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
Hmm. Seems likely to complete the transformation of Bloom County into a thing that Bloom County would have made fun of in its heyday. Some things should not be accomplished by committee. I would love for my cynicism and skepticism to be misplaced. But they're usually not.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 10:46 AM on March 6, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by Sing Or Swim at 10:46 AM on March 6, 2022 [7 favorites]
Perhaps everyone has missed the line, early in the article.. "“Bloom County” will be co-written and executive produced by Breathed."
And the encouraging description further down,
And the encouraging description further down,
“At the end of ‘Alien,’ we watched cuddly Sigourney Weaver go down for a long peaceful snooze in cryogenic hyper-sleep after getting chased around by a saliva-spewing maniac, only to be wakened decades later into a world stuffed with far worse,” Breathed said in a statement. “Fox and I have done the identical thing to Opus and the rest of the Bloom County gang, may they forgive us.”posted by hippybear at 10:49 AM on March 6, 2022 [15 favorites]
Which leads me to wonder how much of the online continuation he's done across years and years will be incorporated into this storyline. That in and of itself has been a wonderful thing to have. (Although it's been on hiatus since the visit by Hobbes, around early October. I assume Berke has "been busy".)
posted by hippybear at 10:51 AM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 10:51 AM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Neat. I guess.
I mean, it's been ages since I even thought about Bloom County. I suppose it could be fun, so long as Breathed can keep it from sliding into some sort of South Park-ish "shit on everyone's lunch" slog.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:00 AM on March 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
I mean, it's been ages since I even thought about Bloom County. I suppose it could be fun, so long as Breathed can keep it from sliding into some sort of South Park-ish "shit on everyone's lunch" slog.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:00 AM on March 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
Bloom County is one of the few things, along with Calvin and Hobbes, that is on my "nobody better ever fuck with this" list. I trust, if Breathed is involved, it will be true to the spirit of the comic. I'll wait until I actually see it before I decide whether it's good or bad.
posted by bondcliff at 11:03 AM on March 6, 2022 [10 favorites]
posted by bondcliff at 11:03 AM on March 6, 2022 [10 favorites]
Bloom County is one of the few things, along with Calvin and Hobbes, that is on my "nobody better ever fuck with this" list.
Did you miss the crossover that Breathed did recently with Hobbes replacing Bill? It was Most Excellent.
posted by hippybear at 11:05 AM on March 6, 2022 [7 favorites]
Did you miss the crossover that Breathed did recently with Hobbes replacing Bill? It was Most Excellent.
posted by hippybear at 11:05 AM on March 6, 2022 [7 favorites]
Oh yes, I saw it. It was perfect. The fact that he can do that with C&H, I assume with Watterson's blessing, gives me hope for any Bloom County project going forward.
posted by bondcliff at 11:08 AM on March 6, 2022
posted by bondcliff at 11:08 AM on March 6, 2022
I'm not looking forward to this because in my mind, Bloom Country long ago transitioned from funny to sentimental; which, as I understand it, was part of the motivation for Bill Watterson--he saw Peanuts and Daily Circus become maudlin shadows of their former selves, and probably Bloom County as well, which had become the Opus Fellatio Hour when it transitioned to the weekend only format.
I'm starting to think that creators like Breathed who want to cash in and see their creations live on, should treat it like a network show that transitions creative staff. The Daily Show is arguably better now with Trever Noah than it was with Jon Stewart (Stewart was certainly a step up from Craig Kilbourne). Find a young, deserving stripper and offer them the chair, with actual autonomy to move it in a new direction. I'd rather see a failed revival with more Milo and Binkley than a doting senescence for Opus and Bill.
posted by fatbird at 11:09 AM on March 6, 2022 [8 favorites]
I'm starting to think that creators like Breathed who want to cash in and see their creations live on, should treat it like a network show that transitions creative staff. The Daily Show is arguably better now with Trever Noah than it was with Jon Stewart (Stewart was certainly a step up from Craig Kilbourne). Find a young, deserving stripper and offer them the chair, with actual autonomy to move it in a new direction. I'd rather see a failed revival with more Milo and Binkley than a doting senescence for Opus and Bill.
posted by fatbird at 11:09 AM on March 6, 2022 [8 favorites]
I would feel worse about this if BLOOM COUNTY had stayed good and been put to bed at a reasonable hour. It didn’t and it wasn’t.
.
posted by cupcakeninja at 11:10 AM on March 6, 2022 [8 favorites]
.
posted by cupcakeninja at 11:10 AM on March 6, 2022 [8 favorites]
FOX the network is not the same as FoxNews, I don't even think they're the same company anymore. And FOX has been a leader in developing animated content since The Simpsons started nearly 2 generations ago.
According to the article it's Fox Entertainment, which does seem to be owned by Fox Corporation, which means if this makes any money then it's making money for Rupert Murdoch.
(Other parts of what used to be Fox/Various-Century Fox did get sold to Disney, but apparently not this one.)
posted by trig at 11:24 AM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
According to the article it's Fox Entertainment, which does seem to be owned by Fox Corporation, which means if this makes any money then it's making money for Rupert Murdoch.
(Other parts of what used to be Fox/Various-Century Fox did get sold to Disney, but apparently not this one.)
posted by trig at 11:24 AM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Yup, looks like Bob's Burgers and various other good things also belong to the Murdochs (link to Fox Entertainment's profile on Fox Corporation's website, sandwiched between Fox News, Fox Sports, and Fox TV Stations).
Fox Animation, which was mentioned upthread, hasn't existed in over 20 years.
posted by trig at 11:37 AM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Fox Animation, which was mentioned upthread, hasn't existed in over 20 years.
posted by trig at 11:37 AM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Breathed had a sharp wit between 40 and 30 years ago, when the original run of Bloom County ended, which he has at best struggled to summon in his efforts since; I am deeply pessimistic that this will be anything worth watching.
posted by Pope Guilty at 11:43 AM on March 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Pope Guilty at 11:43 AM on March 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
Fox Animation, which was mentioned upthread, hasn't existed in over 20 years.
It also had nothing to do with anything anyone might associate with animation that airs on a Fox-owned network (including this thread).
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 11:46 AM on March 6, 2022
It also had nothing to do with anything anyone might associate with animation that airs on a Fox-owned network (including this thread).
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 11:46 AM on March 6, 2022
If anyone wants to accuse Berkeley of "selling out" (again), they can presumably direct their mail to wherever he's moved to after selling his $6.875 million home. Or presumably just stuff them into the motor of his speedboat along with all of those dollar bills.
posted by fight or flight at 11:54 AM on March 6, 2022
posted by fight or flight at 11:54 AM on March 6, 2022
Every time Bloom County comes up, I feel compelled to state that, of all the comic strips that started out at the Daily Texan, Eyebeam was the best.
posted by Bee'sWing at 12:04 PM on March 6, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by Bee'sWing at 12:04 PM on March 6, 2022 [6 favorites]
I'm not looking forward to this because in my mind, Bloom Country long ago transitioned from funny to sentimental
I would feel worse about this if BLOOM COUNTY had stayed good and been put to bed at a reasonable hour. It didn’t and it wasn’t.
Yes and yes. It had its moments, back in the eighties, but they were moments and that was the eighties. Breathed seems to have not gone Sc*tt *d*ms on us, and I don't begrudge him anything that he does with his IP or his motorboats or whatever. But this isn't something that I'm going to chase down, absent some really good reviews from MeFites whose opinions I'm in sync with.
I feel compelled to state that, of all the comic strips that started out at the Daily Texan, Eyebeam was the best.
Chris Ware also got started at the Daily Texan, and his early output (Floyd Farland: Citizen of the Future) was good enough to catch Art Spiegelman's eye, although Ware has since denounced his earlier work.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:47 PM on March 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
I would feel worse about this if BLOOM COUNTY had stayed good and been put to bed at a reasonable hour. It didn’t and it wasn’t.
Yes and yes. It had its moments, back in the eighties, but they were moments and that was the eighties. Breathed seems to have not gone Sc*tt *d*ms on us, and I don't begrudge him anything that he does with his IP or his motorboats or whatever. But this isn't something that I'm going to chase down, absent some really good reviews from MeFites whose opinions I'm in sync with.
I feel compelled to state that, of all the comic strips that started out at the Daily Texan, Eyebeam was the best.
Chris Ware also got started at the Daily Texan, and his early output (Floyd Farland: Citizen of the Future) was good enough to catch Art Spiegelman's eye, although Ware has since denounced his earlier work.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:47 PM on March 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
(On reflection, "denounced" may be a bit harsh, although I recall reading somewhere that Ware was actually trying to buy up and destroy all print copies of Floyd Farland.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:49 PM on March 6, 2022
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:49 PM on March 6, 2022
yes, purchasing and destroying is definitely on the mild side of the scale that also contains "denounced"
posted by hippybear at 1:13 PM on March 6, 2022
posted by hippybear at 1:13 PM on March 6, 2022
My main reservation is hearing the voices that get cast (even if under the supervision of Breathed). Suffice it to say, after a life of adoration of, and inspiration from, Bloom County, I alone know how these characters sound!
posted by barrett caulk at 1:39 PM on March 6, 2022 [10 favorites]
posted by barrett caulk at 1:39 PM on March 6, 2022 [10 favorites]
Eyebeam was great!
posted by doctornemo at 1:47 PM on March 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by doctornemo at 1:47 PM on March 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
My wife and I left stacks of Bloom County books around the house, and our children grew up with them. Among other things, it's how they learned about the 1980s and 90s.
posted by doctornemo at 1:48 PM on March 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by doctornemo at 1:48 PM on March 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
doctornemo, same here. My son, who is now 20, grew up reading my Bloom County books. He was likely the only kid in his 3rd grade class who ever knew who Caspar Weinberger was.
posted by replayer at 1:54 PM on March 6, 2022 [19 favorites]
posted by replayer at 1:54 PM on March 6, 2022 [19 favorites]
That is how I learned who Caspar Weinberger was, and at around the same age. It's also how I learned about drug legalization and why it would be a good idea. I'm surprised that papers printed the argument in the comics page in the '80s.
The new Bloom County is either sentimental, Boomery, or hammering on Trump jokes harder than Randy Rainbow. I'm not optimistic, but I won't moan about it. I wish that it would be a cartoon about the early, weird days of the strip, where all the characters shared a boarding house and yelled at each other about taking too much time in the tub, but I doubt it.
posted by Countess Elena at 2:33 PM on March 6, 2022 [5 favorites]
The new Bloom County is either sentimental, Boomery, or hammering on Trump jokes harder than Randy Rainbow. I'm not optimistic, but I won't moan about it. I wish that it would be a cartoon about the early, weird days of the strip, where all the characters shared a boarding house and yelled at each other about taking too much time in the tub, but I doubt it.
posted by Countess Elena at 2:33 PM on March 6, 2022 [5 favorites]
The animated version of "A Wish for Wings That Work" was both something I kind of enjoyed at the time, and was the last piece of Bloom County material I engaged with. I think I eventually decided the whole Bloom County thing was the wrong kind of sad for me to get anything out of.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 2:34 PM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Mister Moofoo at 2:34 PM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
hell yeah can’t wait for someone to finally take Ronald Reagan down a peg on TV
posted by DoctorFedora at 2:36 PM on March 6, 2022 [26 favorites]
posted by DoctorFedora at 2:36 PM on March 6, 2022 [26 favorites]
The new Bloom County is either sentimental, Boomery, or hammering on Trump jokes harder than Randy Rainbow.
I mean, the old Bloom County literally swapped his brains with a feral cat...
posted by credulous at 2:36 PM on March 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
I mean, the old Bloom County literally swapped his brains with a feral cat...
posted by credulous at 2:36 PM on March 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
(incidentally, it could be worse; I recently found out that there was a Doonesbury musical, then I looked up the plot and I died of cringe. To my knowledge, Bloom County has never tried to do a musical, even though it had a band and actual songs)
posted by Countess Elena at 2:37 PM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Countess Elena at 2:37 PM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Bring back the Major! And Senator Bedfellow! And Cutter John!
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:58 PM on March 6, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:58 PM on March 6, 2022 [6 favorites]
more skin on Love Boat!
posted by Countess Elena at 3:07 PM on March 6, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by Countess Elena at 3:07 PM on March 6, 2022 [11 favorites]
This time, why not the worst?
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 3:18 PM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 3:18 PM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
oop ACK!
posted by Harvey Jerkwater at 3:38 PM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Harvey Jerkwater at 3:38 PM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Yay! Also, Noooooo!
posted by aquanaut at 3:39 PM on March 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by aquanaut at 3:39 PM on March 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
Weber Herzog as Bill the cat.
posted by clavdivs at 3:43 PM on March 6, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by clavdivs at 3:43 PM on March 6, 2022 [5 favorites]
Wont they have to rescue Bill from where ever it was he went when Hobbes showed up first?
posted by mbo at 4:39 PM on March 6, 2022
posted by mbo at 4:39 PM on March 6, 2022
Oh, you don't know? Here's where he ended up. [twitter link]
posted by hippybear at 4:51 PM on March 6, 2022
posted by hippybear at 4:51 PM on March 6, 2022
Bloom County brought me so much joy back in the day, and nothing can ever take that away from me. If this series is good that's just icing on the cake. If not, oh well, I still have the books. And my vintage Penguin Lust t-shirt, which I should probably turn into a pillow or something.
posted by indexy at 5:16 PM on March 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by indexy at 5:16 PM on March 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
Disappointed it took so long for someone to write “oop ack”.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:28 PM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:28 PM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Pear pimples for hairy fishnuts?
posted by sainttoad at 5:54 PM on March 6, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by sainttoad at 5:54 PM on March 6, 2022 [12 favorites]
And my vintage Penguin Lust t-shirt, which I should probably turn into a pillow or something
You can get a new one if you want.
posted by hippybear at 5:57 PM on March 6, 2022
You can get a new one if you want.
posted by hippybear at 5:57 PM on March 6, 2022
And my vintage Penguin Lust t-shirt, which I should probably turn into a pillow or something
hippybear: You can get a new one if you want.
Should I ever go on the dating market again you can be sure. An Opus t-shirt featured in the meet-cute of my first serious relationship.
posted by indexy at 6:29 PM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
hippybear: You can get a new one if you want.
Should I ever go on the dating market again you can be sure. An Opus t-shirt featured in the meet-cute of my first serious relationship.
posted by indexy at 6:29 PM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
> To my knowledge, Bloom County has never tried to do a musical, even though it had a band and actual songs
Billy and the Boingers! One of the books had a cheapo floppy record insert with two tunes. The B-side was titled "U Stink But I (Heart) U"
posted by Hardcore Poser at 6:40 PM on March 6, 2022 [6 favorites]
Billy and the Boingers! One of the books had a cheapo floppy record insert with two tunes. The B-side was titled "U Stink But I (Heart) U"
posted by Hardcore Poser at 6:40 PM on March 6, 2022 [6 favorites]
You guys are over there detailing the minutiae of FOX ownership while I'm just lurking in the back here stunned that Miramax still exists in any form.
posted by xigxag at 6:50 PM on March 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by xigxag at 6:50 PM on March 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
I didn't see this upthread so sorry if it was asked/mentioned, but...
Was there a Bloom County special or miniseries in the 90s? For some reason I swear I remember an animated Bill the Cat (at the very least) and maybe Opus?
Or ... am I thinking that uh... Mallard Fillmore?
posted by symbioid at 7:10 PM on March 6, 2022
Was there a Bloom County special or miniseries in the 90s? For some reason I swear I remember an animated Bill the Cat (at the very least) and maybe Opus?
Or ... am I thinking that uh... Mallard Fillmore?
posted by symbioid at 7:10 PM on March 6, 2022
A Wish For Wings That Work is a thing that happened, came out in 1991 or so. I don't know if there was more.
posted by hippybear at 7:17 PM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 7:17 PM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Remember the strip where one of the other characters pointed out that Opus is actually a Puffin?
posted by jamjam at 7:20 PM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by jamjam at 7:20 PM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Every time Bloom County comes up, I feel compelled to state that, of all the comic strips that started out at the Daily Texan, Eyebeam was the best.
It's like y'all are trying to erase Nutty, The Kitten with Testicles for Legs from history.
posted by lefty lucky cat at 7:50 PM on March 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
It's like y'all are trying to erase Nutty, The Kitten with Testicles for Legs from history.
posted by lefty lucky cat at 7:50 PM on March 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
Remember the strip where one of the other characters pointed out that Opus is actually a Puffin?
I believe that was Binkley's revenge for Opus comparing him to a carrot.
posted by Ickster at 9:54 PM on March 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
I believe that was Binkley's revenge for Opus comparing him to a carrot.
posted by Ickster at 9:54 PM on March 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
And he'd also told the harsh truth about Knight Rider and the Monkees to Steve and Lola, respectively.
Now I gotta go find that book to see if my brain has actually held on to that info for all these years, when I can barely remember what I did today.
posted by Ickster at 9:55 PM on March 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
Now I gotta go find that book to see if my brain has actually held on to that info for all these years, when I can barely remember what I did today.
posted by Ickster at 9:55 PM on March 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
wow I actually genuinely love the idea of pretending the show is topical commentary from 40 years ago
Berke, if you're reading this, we promise not to claim it was our idea first
posted by DoctorFedora at 10:17 PM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Berke, if you're reading this, we promise not to claim it was our idea first
posted by DoctorFedora at 10:17 PM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Hopefully the theme song is done by Billy and the Boingers.
posted by oldnumberseven at 11:55 PM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by oldnumberseven at 11:55 PM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Simpsons was an immediate hit. Seems like an easy greenlight back then.
Studio Network execs back then were just dopes in suits. Not like today.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:13 AM on March 7, 2022
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:13 AM on March 7, 2022
hell yeah can’t wait for someone to finally take Ronald Reagan down a peg on TV
Growing up in the seventies, I discovered my parents had a compilation of cartoons from the local newspaper’s principal cartoonist. I studied it closely but I felt my pithy observations about the foibles of Robert Stanfield (head of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1967 to 1976 and perforce Leader of the Opposition through those years) went unappreciated on the playground.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:38 AM on March 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
Growing up in the seventies, I discovered my parents had a compilation of cartoons from the local newspaper’s principal cartoonist. I studied it closely but I felt my pithy observations about the foibles of Robert Stanfield (head of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1967 to 1976 and perforce Leader of the Opposition through those years) went unappreciated on the playground.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:38 AM on March 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
wow I actually genuinely love the idea of pretending the show is topical commentary from 40 years ago
Reagan sucks!
posted by credulous at 5:43 AM on March 7, 2022
Reagan sucks!
posted by credulous at 5:43 AM on March 7, 2022
I guess in the 1989-1990-1991 stretch, Bloom County and Twin Peaks and Eurythmics all ended. Not a one of them stayed gone though. Jim Henson did, alas.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:12 AM on March 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:12 AM on March 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
FOX the network is not the same as FoxNews
It's not the same nazi-propaganda machine as FoxNews/SkyTV, but the profits still go to the GodEmperor and his battle to destroy democracy.
posted by pompomtom at 6:15 AM on March 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
It's not the same nazi-propaganda machine as FoxNews/SkyTV, but the profits still go to the GodEmperor and his battle to destroy democracy.
posted by pompomtom at 6:15 AM on March 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
(If you like the thing, see the thing. Just don't pay for it.)
posted by pompomtom at 6:16 AM on March 7, 2022
posted by pompomtom at 6:16 AM on March 7, 2022
A Wish For Wings That Work is a thing that happened, came out in 1991 or so.
Thank you so much! I finally got to watch the kiwi in a flightless birds support group that says, "An Albatross! At least your wife didn't leave you for an Albatross!" That line has been in my head for 30 years.
posted by soelo at 6:49 AM on March 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
Thank you so much! I finally got to watch the kiwi in a flightless birds support group that says, "An Albatross! At least your wife didn't leave you for an Albatross!" That line has been in my head for 30 years.
posted by soelo at 6:49 AM on March 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
I guess in the 1989-1990-1991 stretch, Bloom County and Twin Peaks and Eurythmics all ended. Not a one of them stayed gone though. Jim Henson did, alas.
As someone who graduated high school in 1992, this all added to the fundamental feeling that high school and college were literally different worlds. Democratic rule for the first time since I was 5, grunge music, the X-Files, the Animaniacs, Jurassic Park -- the early 90s was a heady time, man.
As for TFA, middle school me would have been super excited. Middle aged me? Eh.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 7:14 AM on March 7, 2022
As someone who graduated high school in 1992, this all added to the fundamental feeling that high school and college were literally different worlds. Democratic rule for the first time since I was 5, grunge music, the X-Files, the Animaniacs, Jurassic Park -- the early 90s was a heady time, man.
As for TFA, middle school me would have been super excited. Middle aged me? Eh.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 7:14 AM on March 7, 2022
Me, a guy who hasn't paid attention since the end of Outland: "Steve Dallas? I thought he ran off with Mark from Doonesbury?"
From Wikipedia:
"At the end of Outland in 1995, Steve came out of the closet and admitted he was gay. In his final appearance in the comic, he had married a man (Doonesbury's Mark Slackmeyer) and was thinking about adopting children.
However, in Opus nine years later, Steve was back to his babe-mongering ways after enrolling in the "Rev. Doogle De-Poofta" which used shock therapy to attempt to "cure" homosexuality; in a form of conversion therapy. Steve was depicted as a middle-aged man with thinning hair and a noticeable paunch."
Gross. The re-fratboyization and centering of Steve Dallas seems very off.
posted by Earthtopus at 7:15 AM on March 7, 2022 [4 favorites]
From Wikipedia:
"At the end of Outland in 1995, Steve came out of the closet and admitted he was gay. In his final appearance in the comic, he had married a man (Doonesbury's Mark Slackmeyer) and was thinking about adopting children.
However, in Opus nine years later, Steve was back to his babe-mongering ways after enrolling in the "Rev. Doogle De-Poofta" which used shock therapy to attempt to "cure" homosexuality; in a form of conversion therapy. Steve was depicted as a middle-aged man with thinning hair and a noticeable paunch."
Gross. The re-fratboyization and centering of Steve Dallas seems very off.
posted by Earthtopus at 7:15 AM on March 7, 2022 [4 favorites]
Ack ack ack ack.
posted by rachelpapers at 8:45 AM on March 7, 2022
posted by rachelpapers at 8:45 AM on March 7, 2022
The re-fratboyization and centering of Steve Dallas seems very off.
Steve's been through a bit of a journey in the past few years, and while he's still an alcoholic scheming womanizer, he's much less that centrally than he used to be.
posted by hippybear at 6:12 PM on March 7, 2022
Steve's been through a bit of a journey in the past few years, and while he's still an alcoholic scheming womanizer, he's much less that centrally than he used to be.
posted by hippybear at 6:12 PM on March 7, 2022
Bloom County was created by a boomer and has always been boomery. It hasn't changed; you have. (I don't think its being "boomery" is necessarily bad. I've always kind of mildly enjoyed it, from when it first appeared, but never found it consistently brilliant.)
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 12:32 AM on March 8, 2022
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 12:32 AM on March 8, 2022
I do wish they'd kept Steve gay. Just have him revert back to his old personality, but he's hitting on dudes!
posted by pelvicsorcery at 3:18 AM on March 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by pelvicsorcery at 3:18 AM on March 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
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(Seriously though, this is neat. Good for Berkeley. Maybe he can finally get a bigger boat.)
posted by fight or flight at 9:28 AM on March 6, 2022 [6 favorites]