End of an Era: The Final Print Issue of Entertainment Weekly

It arrived every Friday, and boy, I could not wait.

I can’t say with any certainty if I purchased the debut issue of Entertainment Weekly in February 1989, but I know I began reading the magazine that year. In those pre-internet days, Entertainment Weekly featured writing like my friends and I talked. The stories were encyclopedic, the authors were folks like me (geeks if you will), and the sections became go-to sources of information.

It wasn’t long before I started subscribing as a means to avoid the vicissitudes of magazine stands and delayed delivery. I needed my entertainment fix every week.

The interviews were always in depth and interviewers mostly asked the same questions I would have asked were it me in front of a celebrity with a notepad and pen. It wasn’t long before I grew accustomed to the Top 10 Must List of the week, always cheering when a thing I loved landed on the list.

In those pre-internet days, Entertainment Weekly pretty much kept up with the times. The periodical evolved as the 1990s evolved and shaped and reshaped popular culture. I always looked forward to the big issue showcasing the fall TV shows (although those usually were double issues and I’d have a week without a new issue) or the summer blockbusters or the big music issues. When mega events like the relaunch of James Bond with Pierce Brosnan or the release of the first new Star Wars movie, I could not wait to read the content. The issues were mostly devoured in one sitting, maybe two. It was a rare weekend that ended when I hadn’t read Entertainment Weekly from cover to cover.

I moved from Austin to Denton, Texas, to Kent, Ohio, back to Denton and then back to my hometown of Houston. I carried the subscription with me everywhere I went. When my wife and I married, we discovered we both subscribed and we joined our subscriptions into one. When we moved to the Houston suburbs, Fridays were still a wonderful day when EW would arrive in the mailbox. I would usually consume the Must List between the mailbox and the front door, and, if the cover was particularly important, show my wife as I walked in the door.

A particularly great time to subscribe to EW was during the time when “Lost” was on TV. Every Wednesday, we’d get a new episode. Every Thursday, the folks at the office would hang out in the hallway and talk over what happened. But come Friday, I’d get the latest issue of EW. In it, Jeff Jenson, senior writer and “Lost” guru would recap the episode and deliver in-depth analysis of all the things in any particular scene, be it a book on a shelf or whatever might’ve been in the background. It was essential reading and I always enjoyed Mondays when I could bring Jeff’s wisdom back to the office.

Needless to say, Entertainment Weekly has been with me most of my adult life. I’ll admit I was sad when EW went from being published weekly to only coming out monthly. I’ll also admit I never understood why they didn’t just change the name to Entertainment Monthly. Why not?

But now, in April 2022, the 1,630th issue of Entertainment Weekly arrived in my mailbox, and it is the last one. The last print issue. EW.com has been a thing for I don’t know how many years, but now it’ll be the only thing. If EW could read the writing on the wall, realizing that just about everything is fast and digital and on the web, and shift to a monthly rate, then the shift to an all-digital format was also easily predicted.

Yeah, I’ll keep going to EW.com because the same content by the same writers is there. There’s even the same font for the various sections. And while I’m fully aware that my next statement will make me sound old, I’ll miss holding the printed magazine in my hands, getting the ink smeared on my fingers if I’m enjoying a cold drink while reading, and circling things with a pen to go and buy later.

The older one gets, the more one values things that have just always been there. And for 33 years, the printed version of Entertainment Weekly has been there with me, chronicling the pop culture events of my life, from my time as a college student to the middle-aged man I am today.

So long, old friend. Thanks for making the journey with me.

Embrace the Differences: The Raiders of the Lost Ark Novelization

Raiders of the Lost Ark turns forty today. Hard to believe, sometimes. I still remember watching Siskel and Ebert gush over the movie. Youthful though I was--twelve--Harrison Ford had already become my favorite actor because he was Han Solo. Who knew Indiana Jones was just around the corner.

To commemorate the movie's anniversary, I decided to do something I had never done before: read the novelization by Campbell Black. Yeah, I had the book back in the day. Yeah, I remember cracking it open. But I also know I never finished it. Heck, I don't even remember getting that far into the book before stopping it. I have no memory why. Unlike Star Wars--where I devoured every morsel of news, read every book, and bought every comic--I don't remember doing the same thing with Raiders. It is possible I didn't continue with the novelization because of the differences. Now, forty years later, those differences are fantastic.

Raiders is one of my Top 5 all-time movies. I have no idea how many times I've seen it, but those clips in the Siskel and Ebert segment are all familiar. It's probably one of your favorite movies, too. I can "see" the movie in my head when I listen to John Williams's brilliant score. But the novel was a nice breath of fresh air. 

Early Days of the Canon

Campbell Black is the pen name of Campbell Armstrong, a Scottish writer, who wrote over twenty-five novels. Few pieces of information exist on the internet about him, but his bibliography notes Raiders was this third, and final, movie novelization. 

In the one interview he did for TheRaider.net, Black comments that he "wrote Jones as I saw him. An adventurer, yes, but I always felt there was a slight melancholy side to him. I don't think Lucasfilm really approved of this, but from my point of view I couldn't write the novel if I had to base it on the character in the script - I found him shallow and shadowy, all action and no thought, and I wanted to add some kind of internal process to him, which I think I did. Up to a point."

As much as I enjoy the extensive universe other writers created with Indiana Jones (and Star Wars, too), there's something special about a single writer, very early on, looking at stills and the script and crafting a story as he sees it. No canon, no interlaced movies, no franchise, no established backstory, just a script and one writer's ideas on how scenes of a movie can be stitched together into a coherent novel.

Like Alan Dean Foster, who ghostwrote the Star Wars novelization, Black must have had access to an earlier script because the differences between the movie we know so well and the events in the novel are sometimes striking, but that's what makes the experience so rewarding. 

The Movie is Not the Novelization

I'm not sure what happened to my original copy of the novel. I had the version with black on the cover. The paperback I read this week was published in 1989, after Last Crusade, so it has a white cover. Soon after I started reading the South America prelude, I took a pencil and began annotating the differences.

In a movie, editors can make cuts and swipes and change scenes. You can do the same in a novel, but Black provides a lot of connective tissue between scenes. Just how did Indy get to Nepal? Well, Black describes in detail all the travel and driving Indy did, even throwing in a new character, Lin-Su. Granted, he doesn't do the same for the journey from Nepal to Cairo, but who cares.

I enjoyed the languid pace of the novelization. As much as I enjoy the movie and all that it delivers, there's something to be said for the same story delivered via text over a number of days. What Black does is what novels do well: get into the heads of the characters. We hear the inner thoughts of Indy, Marion, and Belloq. They all prove quite compelling in Black's hands, adding layers and nuances to each character. 

Belloq, for example, proves himself more competitive and mercenary than Paul Freeman portrays him in the film. With Freeman, you could almost side with Belloq in his quest for the Ark and the secrets it holds. In the novel, he's depicted very much as borderline insane with his single-minded devotion to getting the Ark and using it before Hitler gets his hands on it. 

Speaking of Belloq, something occurred to me that I never considered in forty years. It's regarding the headpiece to the staff of Ra. Belloq gets his version of the headpiece because the words are burned into Toht's hand. With that, Belloq makes his calculations. Indy, however, needs the Imam to read and interpret the words on the headpiece. Did Indy not know that language?

Key Differences

This is what you want to know, right? Well, let me get to it.

South America 

- The pit over which Indy and Sapito swing is actually obscured. Sapito nearly falls into the pit because he steps into the cobwebs covering the pit.

-Indy takes a swig from a flask as he reaches the idol. [Love this]

Berlin

There are a few scenes not at all in the movie. They are from the point of view of Dietrich, the main German officer as played by Wolf Kahler. Dietrich never trusts Belloq and we get many internal thoughts from the German. It also explains how Belloq came to be employed by Hitler. Later, during the Cairo scenes, we get a few more scenes from Dietrich's POV, irritated at Belloq's pomposity.

Connecticut

It is certainly implied that Indy is a womanizer, all but taking an undergrad per semester. This is part of the apparent--but never explained--backstory with Indy and Marion. Based on the book, she might as been as young as sixteen when the mid-twenties Indy had a relationship with her. 

Cairo

-There's a nighttime scene between Indy and Marion and whether or not they they'll hook up. It includes their actual first kiss and we get the skeevy take from Indy about how well the woman kisses versus the child from his past.

-The Imam who reads the markings on the headpiece is the one who puts into Indy's head the idea that no mortal should look at the contents of the Ark. It is the Imam's warning Indy remembers at the end.

Tanis Dig

-There is no scene between Belloq and Marion where she puts on the dress and tries to drink him under the table. In its place is Marion's seemingly being under Belloq's spell. They actually kiss and she all but succumbs to him. 

-Belloq actually sees all the lightening that floods the sky when Indy and his friends open the Well of the Souls. 

Truck Chase

-Toht is in the car that flies off the cliff. He dies here and doesn't get his face melted at the end.

-Black describes how the Germans discovered which pirate ship is carrying the Ark.

The Island

-We learn how Belloq arranged for him to open the Ark before delivery to Berlin.

-The scene where Belloq challenges Indy to blow up the Ark isn't here.

Verdict

The novelization is a nice addition to the wonderful movie. There is a place for both. Campbell Black's novel is a good story and a worthy addition to the canon we now have, even if much of what he comes up with (how Indy got the bullwhip) is overridden with subsequent movies and books. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and actually might continue with the novelizations of the next three films. 

Side Note

I went and located my copy of the comic adaptation and many of the scenes mentioned here are in there. Perhaps the Marvel comics folks and Black read from the same script.

Searching for the Yellow Paper and Finding a Gold Mine

I wanted it to be like it used to be, back in the day.

If you read this blog, I wax nostalgic about a lot of things. Ever since last year's 40th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, I've been in a forty-years-ago vibe. Not sure why. It's likely because 1980 was one of the big transition years: graduated elementary school and started middle school. Sure, getting to high school's a big deal, but for me, this was a huge one. It was the first time I went to a new school (I attended Chambers Elementary in Alief all six years), I started learning to play the saxophone, and it was a new decade.

Part of that forty-years-ago vibe is comics, and recently, I picked up my copies of The New Teen Titans. I am enjoying them and aim to keep re-reading them, now with my adult outlook on life.

As Inauguration Day 2021 occurred this past Wednesday, another image came to mind: Inauguration Day 1981. The teachers wheeled the TV into the classroom for us all to watch the swearing in of Ronald Reagan. By the way, for those old enough, was there ever a better thing to see when you entered a classroom than a TV or a film projector? You know the answer.

It was one of the first split screens I had ever witnessed. The American hostages, imprisoned for 444 days, were released on 20 January 1981, after Reagan was sworn in. I have no memory of what I thought on that day, but everything just seemed brighter. Throw in the space shuttle Columbia's inaugural launch in April and the spring of 1981 was a pretty good season for a sixth grader.

By 1981, I had already discovered the two comic book stores here in Houston: Roy's Memory Shop and Third Planet. My family didn't go out shopping during the week too often, so Saturdays were the days that included Shipley's Do-Nuts, Saturday morning cartoons, and trips to the comic store to pick up a few issues using my allowance. Great times.

Cut to this past Saturday. After I consumed some Shipley's do-nuts and watched Saturday morning cartoons on MeTV (and Wandavision), my son and I planned on going to Half Price Books. It had been awhile and we were both looking for some new-to-us music. But I also made a little promise to myself. I would look through the comic book section and buy an old comic. It didn't matter what it was or if there was only one. It didn't matter that I could easily download old comics on my iPad. It didn't matter that I could order a collection via Amazon and have it delivered.

I wanted to buy a comic, just like the old days.

How would I know what comic to buy? Easy. Just look for the yellowed paper.

Half Price gets comics of all shapes and sizes. Some are bagged and most are modern comics, so it's pretty easy to spot the older ones. Plus, those thick annuals are even more of a treasured find. A 64-page comic for a dollar? In fact, it was one of those that first caught my eye. A Bloodlines annual from 1993. Holy cow. When did a 1990s-era comic become old enough to be yellowed?

But a few comics away in that very same row was a group of comics, all with yellowing paper. My fingers walked to that stack and revealed the title: Atari Force #2. My fingers kept walking. There was issue three, four, five. I started counting until I got to issue twenty, advertised on the cover as the final issue. I quickly went back to two and flipped the comic in front of it. Special #1.

Holy cow. This was the entire run of a comic title I remember from the 1980s but never read. Here I was awash in nostalgia for the early 80s and wanting to buy an old comic. Why not twenty?

Sold.

As it turned out, Special #1 was not, in fact, the first issue. It was an issue released a year after the run ended. But my son--not a comic book collector at all--had actually picked up a few Atari Force comics at a Free Comic Book Day a year or two ago. Viola! He had issue #1.

Serendipity. 

Atari Force was originally a 5-issue series created by Gerry Conway, Roy Thomas, and Jose Garcia Lopez to accompany sales of Atari video game cartridges in 1982. This run started in October 1983 (cover date January 1984) and ran for twenty issues.

Just like the old day, I laid on the floor and read issues one and two and am already digging it. Where the letters column would have been was a short essay by editor Andy Helfer, bringing readers up-to-speed on what Atari Force was and is. Issue two has an origin story of the series penned by Conway along with Fact Files that focuses on the main characters, including major events in their lives. Fun to see some of those dates is still in our future here in 2021 while others are already in our past.

I'll write about the series when I finish, but one thing literally jumped off the page: Lopez's layouts. They are not always your standard number of squares on a page with white borders. He clearly had fun playing with borders and colors and styles and it's a joy to read.

What's also fun are the ads. From spaceship models based on Return of the Jedi and action figures based on DC properties like Warlord and Sgt. Rock (sold at Kmart) to Superman peanut butter and the NBC Saturday morning cartoon lineup (The Flintstone Funnies with Fred and Barney dressed as cops?), I enjoyed remembering those old days, even if for only a few minutes.

Bill and Ted Face the Music, Grow Old, and Teach Us a Most Excellent Lesson

It’s the little things in this movie that really stood out to me. Oh, and the big, goofy grin plastered on my face nearly the entire time.

1989

I’ll admit something here I’ve mentioned elsewhere: I didn’t go to see Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure because I knew what it was and wanted to see it. I went because the trailer for the 1989 Batman movie was playing before it. So basically, I bought a ticket for a trailer and got a movie as a bonus.

And what a movie it was. History major that I was (and am), I loved Excellent Adventure and saw it multiple times in the theater. And no, not just because the Batman trailer was attached. I enjoyed the film for what it was: an overly enthusiastic, charming adventure movie about a couple of Gen X high schoolers to which I could relate, even if I lived in the suburbs of Houston and they San Dimas, California.

The snippets of dialogue became engrained in my head and the culture. I mean, how many of us in the past thirty-one years have not thought about something being strangely afoot when we pass a Circle K? How many of us can recite Bill and Ted’s basic mantra: Be Excellent To Each Other. And Party On, Dudes!

Bogus Journey was different, but still good. I like the first one more largely because I could see myself in that story, but Bogus Journey had some marvelous sequences, most of which feature William Sadler as Death.

But that was it. For the past twenty-nine years, Bill and Ted 3 lived its own bogus journey in development hell. I didn’t think it would ever get made. Part of me didn’t think we needed it. Seriously, did we want to see Bill and Ted…old? Was there even a story there?

Face the Music: The Set Up

Turns out, there was.

The writing duo of Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon—the same folks who wrote the first two movies—proved there was a story worth telling. And a story worth viewing by all of us, especially the members of Generation X.

When we finally meet Bill and Ted in the third movie, they are fiftyish. Long gone are the heady days immediately following Bogus Journey when they saved the world and toured as Wyld Stallyns, complete with Death as the, um, killer bass player. Now, the lovable duo are ensconced in the suburbs, living next door to each other, married to the literal princesses from Bogus Journey, each with a twenty-five-year-old daughter. Bill’s daughter (played by Samara Weaving, kin to Hugo Weaving from The Matrix fame) is Thea and Ted’s daughter (played to a T by Brigette Lundy-Paine) is Billie. You see what they did there? Bill’s daughter is…Ted and Ted’s daughter is…Bill. [Cue air guitar]

The one thing they’ve not done is write The Song that will unite the world. [As an aside, I kinda thought that was how Bogus Journey ended, but what they hey.] In fact, they’ve sputtered into middle age, complete with marital problems. The two wives just want their respective husbands to recognize how co-dependent Bill and Ted are for each other and to channel some of that energy into their respective marriages. The daughters are just like their dads, complete with an intricate knowledge of music.

Which is when the future intervenes. The Great Leader sends Kelly, daughter of George Carlin’s Rufus, back in time to give Bill and Ted their mission: write The Song in 77 minutes or all of space and time will be destroyed. Taking a cue from their earlier adventures, the pair decide to travel into their own futures to meet their older selves and get the song that way.

In the meantime, the future wives have traveled back in time to get their younger selves to leave Bill and Ted.

And also in the meantime, Billie and Thea meet Kelly and the daughters take her time machine back in time to form a most excellent band for their dads. [Cue air guitar]

Face the Music Actually Says a Lot

While I’ll admit it took a few minutes for me to get into seeing Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter as old versions of their iconic characters, once the time traveling stuff started, it was all fun from there. Meeting their future selves didn’t necessarily pan out like they’d thought it would. Future Bill and Ted are bitter at losing their wives and their daughters and not having written the song. They blame Present Bill and Ted and actively try and thwart them. Thus, Bill and Ted become the villains…to Bill and Ted.

Hey, it worked for me. Why? Simple: what if your younger self could see how your life turned out?

Think about it. When you’re in high school, your head is full of dreams for your future. Whatever you want to be when you grow up, your dreams put you in the best possible version. You’re a doctor? Then you cure cancer. You’re a teacher? Then you educate the next president. You’re a baseball player? You hit the game winning home run to win the World Series. And if you’re a musician? Then you write the song that can unite the world.

I think few of us would even want to travel back in time and tell our younger selves how we turned out. You had the dream of being a musician? Well, now you have an office job in a cube (or at home, in 2020’s reality) and your guitar sits dusty in the corner of the room. You wanted to be a baseball player? Well, the injury you sustained in college killed that dream and you had to adjust.

Because adjusting is what we all do. We figure things out as we go along, rarely sticking to the dream path we envisioned. Some do, yes, and more power to them. But for many of us, how we envisioned the future may not necessarily be how we’re actually living in it.

Gen X Grows Old

Another obvious aspect of the film is the age of Bill and Ted. Reeves and Winter look great, but they still look middle aged, especially after having watched Excellent Adventure and Bogus Journey to prep for Face the Music. You can’t hide age.

Name your reunion movie in which beloved TV characters from your favorite show come together. Gunsmoke. The Andy Griffith Show. The Brady Bunch. Perry Mason. The Rockford Files. The Wild Wild West. Gilligan’s Island. Whatever. The original TV shows are burned into our consciousness, especially us Gen Xers who, as latch key kids, grew up watching reruns. Ron Howard is forever Opie (or Richie Cunningham) in our minds, the small youth walking and whistling with Andy. Bob Denver will always be twenty-nine or so, the lovable goof from the island.

But seeing these same actors play the same characters years or decades older is odd. (The Brady kids kind of get a pass because they had multiple spinoffs and we got to see them age up almost in real time. And I’m not talking about reunion specials when the actors gather to discuss their shows.) There’s something you have to get used to. Exactly the same with Bill and Ted (and William Sadler as Death).

They got old.

But so did we.

Many of us may not have access to our high school yearbooks anymore (I still have mine) but we have access to the movies of our high school (or early college) years. Up until 2020, Reeves and Winter, were forever frozen in 1989 or 1991. Reeves not so much because we saw him age up in his movies, but as Bill and Ted, they are like fossils, preserved in amber.

But so is everything about growing up Gen X. Think about this: to the best of my knowledge, Bill and Ted are the only 80s icons we revisit in middle age. The Breakfast Club are still in high school. So are the kids from Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, Weird Science, Ridgemont High, St. Elmo’s Fire, the Goonies, and, of course, Ferris Bueller. They are forever young, forever looking to their futures and their dreams.

With Bill and Ted, however, we get to see them how we are now. Older, shaken from our younger dreams, and heading into the realm of being a senior citizen.

The Real Message of Face the Music: It’s Never Too Late

All of this talk about dashed dreams may seem like a downer—especially in 2020—but there’s an underlying ray of light in this movie: It’s Never Too Late.

One of the small things I really appreciated is the moment with Ted and his father. Played again by Hal Landon Jr., Captain Logan never got over his desire to set his son’s path in life straighter. In the first two films, military school was the answer. And in this one, he explodes to his son and Bill about their wasted lives. Because Gen X was basically labeled as the slacker generation, and we have dozens of films to reinforce the point.

But Captain Logan gets himself drug into the larger plot and he finally realizes that the thing Bill and Ted have talked about for thirty years was real. It all was. The father comes to realize his son really did make a difference to the world, and he apologizes for his misunderstanding. Here’s the father, nearing retirement age, figuring out it’s never too late to apologize.

Late in the film, Present Bill and Ted visit their elderly selves, the villains of most of the film. There, Middle-Aged Bill and Ted get to have a heart-to-heart with Elderly Bill and Ted and clear the air. Both versions of Bill and Ted realize it’s never too late to come to terms and appreciate all the choices they’ve made—and we’ve made—with our lives. We are the accumulation of every single decision we’ve made, the good ones, the bad ones, the cherished ones, and the anguished ones. I live with few regrets, but there are always the little things I wish I could go back and tweak. But all of that vanished the day my son was born. It was that day I realized each and every decision I made led up to that day, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.

Another small thing is with Bill and Ted’s marriages. For their entire adult lives, they’ve been blinded by their mutual affection for each other. Boy, to have a friend like that, huh? But during the movie and after meeting their future selves, they realize it’s never too late to reinvest in their marriages with their wives.

Then there’s the big little thing, the one the whole movie hinges on: Bill and Ted realize it’s never too late to pass the torch onto the next generation. Slight spoilers here, but ones you could pretty much see coming.

Their daughters go on their own most excellent adventure, drafting the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Louis Armstrong, and Mozart form the band to play The Song. But the fathers don’t have the song. They don’t even know it.

But they realize, even as the seconds are counting down to annihilation, that it’s never too late to help your children do great things, especially if that thing is to save space and time. The parents facilitate all that’s necessary to enable their daughters to do what they could not: unite the world through a song.

Conclusion

Yeah, this piece edged into heady territory, especially for a movie that’s often laugh out loud funny. But it has a lot of heart and emotion in this film. And I think it can speak to multiple generations. For my son, a college freshman, it’s a fun movie with lots of in jokes and over-the-top shots. I’m thinking Jesus walking on water next to George Washington as he crosses the Delaware River. Or how the two actresses playing the daughters nail their respective impressions of their fathers yet still make the characters unique.

But for us middle-aged Gen Xers, there’s an entirely different movie playing in front of our eyes. It’s a movie about our lives that we never expected, never saw coming, but is so important to many of us. We are getting older. Heck, we *are* old. We’ve become our parents and, with that perspective, we can reevaluate how our parents raised us. For me, I’ve long known my parents were most excellent role models and if I could follow their examples, I’d do well. But only after I became a parent did even more things come into view about my own childhood. Most of us have these realizations some time or other, and now Bill and Ted do, too.

It’s remarkable that a film about two genuinely lovable dudes who possess a genuine affection for each other and the world could deliver such a profound message to the world in 2020. I’m sure the screenwriters could never have dreamed the finished film would land the way it did: in few theaters and on demand (how we watched it) in the middle of a pandemic and an election year with racial strife and fellow Americans yelling at each other. If ever we needed Wyld Stallyns to sing their song, it’s 2020.

But we’ll have to satisfy ourselves with a genuinely funny and heartfelt movie, and also the realization that it’s never too late to look at our fellow humans on this planet and preach and act in the way Bill and Ted told us to do over thirty years ago: Be Excellent to Each Other.

 

The Road to The Empire Strikes Back: Episode VI: The Soundtrack

Today, I continue my look back forty years at the release of The Empire Strikes Back. Now, it's the soundtrack.

Here's the link to my YouTube channel when I discuss the music of John Williams for "Star Wars II."

The Road to The Empire Strikes Back: Episode V: The Movie Re-Watch

It was 40 years ago today that I saw the sequel to Star Wars for the first time. I watched it again yesterday after a long time not seeing it and I recorded some thoughts, including some rather emotional ones about Han and the carbon freeze chamber and what he did.

The video is up on my YouTube channel.

The Road to The Empire Strikes Back: Episode IV: Marvel Comics

Here's a link to my YouTube channel where I discuss the issues of Marvel Comics' Star Wars title in the months immediately preceding the release of The Empire Strikes Back.

The Road to The Empire Strikes Back: Episode III - The Muppet Show

Here's a link to my YouTube channel where I discuss the Star Wars characters guest-starring on The Muppet Show.

The Road to The Empire Strikes Back: Episode II: The Trailers

Today, I continue my video series examining the months and moments and mementos forty years ago leading up to the release of the very first Star Wars sequel.

Episode II focuses on the trailers. I have a little bit of Mystery Science Theater to this episode as we watch the trailers together.

Here's the link to my YouTube Channel.

Have a look and leave a comment letting me know what you thought of the trailer back then and now.

Enjoy!

Chicago 17: Thirty Five Years On

Thirty five years ago today, I was not even aware of the band Chicago, so I had no clue about their seventeenth album. But when I finally discovered them the next year, Chicago 17 was the first record I bought.

The New Approach Paid Off

Chicago 17 was the second album produced by David Foster. He had come on board for 1982's Chicago 16, changing the band's sound to match the new trends for the 1980s. I've often wondered what it was like for long time fans to hear the opening song from 16, "What You're Missing," and the brand-new, polished, and slick style. That record included "Hard To Say I'm Sorry," the mega hit, so when it came time to record 17, the band did more of the same.

Singer and bassist Peter Cetera was again front and center, co-writing five of the ten tracks. He either sings lead or is featured on seven of the album's songs. Foster knew how to make hit records, however, so no matter the costs, the band continued to ride their wave of popularity, this time to an even greater degree.

The Songs: Side One

"Stay the Night" opens the albums with drummer Danny Serephine's snare hits, laced, as probably every drum sound was in the 80s, with reverb galore. The propulsive song, with quarter-note synthesizer, was the first single, a brave move considering the band was probably most known for ballads by the spring of 1984. Absent from this tune are the trademark Chicago horns, but guitarist Chris Pinnick really nails the solo, which could have been featured on any pop metal track that year.

"We Can Stop the Hurtin'' comes next and with it, the return of the types of songs featured early in the band's career: Robert Lamm as a vocalist, his social consciousness, and the Chicago horns: Walt Parazaider on sax, Jimmy Pankow on trombone, and Lee  Loughnane on trumpet. This is a traditional Chicago song, just filtered through the all the current trends of the 1980s: sequenced drums and synths. Even when I first heard 17 back in 1985, I knew the hits, but it was songs like "We Can Stop the Hurtin'" to which the band geek that I was gravitated. Again, for those fans from the early days, this must have been a welcome sound.

"Hard Habit to Break" was the second single and the first duet of the album. Cetera trades vocals with soulful Bill Champlin who had joined the band in 1981 to fill the deeper soulful voice vacancy of Terry Kath. While not written by any member of Chicago, it included all the best elements of the band for an excellent ballad that, over the years, became my preferred ballad from this record. Everything an 80s ballad needs is in this song.

"Only You" is that rare Lamm/Champlin duet. Throw in Cetera's prominent voice for a few transitional phrases and you have a triple vocal, another hallmark of the early years of the band. (I'm thinking "What is This World Comin' To?" from Chicago VI) Given the fact Cetera leaves after this album and "Only You" is the only triple vocal from this line up. The horn break is slight, but at least it's there. A nice album track, but, alas, the last time we'll hear Lamm's voice in the lead. Interestingly, as I've listened again to this album while writing this review, this is the song I keep singing.

Side one concludes with another ballad, "Remember the Feeling." Here, Foster and Cetera and in full-on ballad mode, with lush strings and solo piano. Say what you want about the band's direction and the choices they made, but Cetera can belt out a ballad performance with the best singers out there. One aspect I've grown annoyed with over the years--and it's not just Chicago that does this--is to have lead singer Cetera be his own backing singer. I would have enjoyed hearing Champlin and Lamm's voices (like you do with Hard Habit to Break) adding warmth to Cetera's crystal clear tenor. I've always linked this song with Chicago 16's "Love Me Tomorrow." Not sure why.

The Songs: Side Two

Starting off the second side with another uptempo song, Chicago again reminds listeners that they can do things other than slow songs and do it well. "Along Comes a Woman" is a stripped down tune, full of Serephine's sixteenth-note hit hat keeping things moving along. When you listen with headphones, you can hear Pinnick's guitar mimicking Cetera's vocals in the verse. It's a rather simple tune that I've always loved, especially the horn break.

It's also my favorite video the band ever made. Chicago did not make great videos, but in the MTV era, they had to. "Stay the Night" was humorous, but with "Along Comes a Woman," it was a take off the movie Casablanca with Cetera as Bogart.

"You're the Inspiration" was the massive hit off this album, and it's about as 80s as you can imagine. This tune would have been at home on any movie soundtrack. 80s synths, power ballad guitars, that particular riff, and Cetera's vocals all combine for a great song. For me, it's not one I return to often, but when I do, boy am I thrilled to hear it. This song is probably the textbook case of how to make a soft-rock ballad, complete with key change. In 1997, the group Az-Yet re-recorded the song, bringing their harmonies to bear, and it is glorious, especially the version where Cetera joins them.

"Please Hold On" was the first song I could remember actually having different versions on the CD and the LP. I owned both back in the day, and always attributed it to the space considerations on the actual LP. I prefer the longer version (only a bridge), but this is a terrific Champlin song. Propulsive with the synth bass, soulful in delivery, and featuring the horns, this is a tune that I always think about when I think of 17. It's one of my favorite Champlin-in-Chicago songs.

"Prima Donna" is an uptempo, guitar-driven song that fans of the band circa 1972 might've recognized as Chicago. Cetera sings lead and the horns are all over the place. Over the years, I've found myself drawn more to the faster songs rather than the ballads, and when I make a compilation CD or a playlist, this tune (most of the time) makes the cut.

"Once in a Lifetime" is a very 80s, synth-heavy song that nevertheless sounds like Chicago. Champlin sings on the verses while Cetera takes the choruses. You've even got a power ballad guitar in the mix, and the horns get one last good horn break that, one realizes, bears more than a passing resemblance to the horn breaks of "Here With Me" (1992) and "Free" (2006). Well, when something is good, it's always good. Great way to end an album.

Original Ownership

I've mentioned here before that I discovered Chicago in 1985 via the first greatest hits collection. Once I heard this band, I knew I wanted more. Turned out I already owned Chicago 17. How? Well, remember the days of the Columbia music service? You got 12 albums for a penny. Somehow, I ended up picking (or was given? The memory is hazy) Chicago 17, but hadn't listened to the album yet. What this likely tells me is that must have heard one of the songs on the radio and got the album. But I never put two and two together. Weird. Later in the 80s, I ended up getting the CD, but felt no compunction to get the remastered version in 2006.

How Chicago 17 Stacks Up 

Chicago 17 is the biggest album of the band's career. Arguably, it gave them the push they needed to keep making records. I think it's safe to assume the band would have continued touring, but the success of 17 enabled them to maintain a formula for the rest of the 1980s. Granted, they'd tire of the formula and try for something different (Stone of Sisyphus) and we know how that turned out.

In the 1980s, I preferred the sound of the band at that time, but as time went on, I gravitated away from the 80s sound. My favorite 80s record is Chicago 19, and I rank it in my Top 5 with CTA, II, V, and SOS. But Chicago 17 was the perfect album for the band at the perfect time. They built upon the successful re-imagining of themselves with Chicago 16 and continued it with Chicago 18. Of the three David Foster produced albums, I prefer 17 the most (although my heart is with 18, the first new record after I discovered the band). The production is crystal clear, not muddy, and I've quite enjoyed listening to it as a whole this week.

Yes, one can grumble at the lack or horns or Lamm's vocals or Cetera backing himself, but given where the band was in 1983-84, this was a great group of musicians working to make the best possible songs. And they knocked it out of the park. I can't imagine anyone who loves the music of not only the 1980s but Chicago itself not enjoying Chicago 17.

It is an 1980s masterpiece.

Comicpalooza 2019 - The Haul

One of the best things about attending Houston's Comicpalooza over two days is the ability to make a list.

On Friday, I like to scour the rows and rows of vendors, just seeing what they have. Some have dollar bins of unbagged comics while others have all the vintage things collectors love. Unless I see something I just gotta have and buy it on the spot, I start a list. I write down the item, the row, and the price. In that way, I can mull it over when compared to all the other things I see and ask myself do I really want that thing. I get to sleep on it and make a decision.

And yes, if the item has been sold, well, then I guess I really didn't need it.

Yesterday, I went back around and bought most of the things on my list. What I didn't find were any of the black-and-white Essentials (Marvel) or DC's Showcase that package something like 500 pages of comics into a single $20 book. Love those, and I have almost a shelf full of them. I wonder if the price point is off nowadays or if the Epic Collection (which is in color) now trumps the B&W ones.

These two titles I've heard about for a long time but never cracked. These are both volume 1s. I found Howard the Duck Volume 2, but I figured I should read the first to verify it's something I'd like.  The Shang-Chi stories (you'll see another one down below) is another title that evidently got better over time. Looking forward to reading it.

I've seen this blog and book for a few years and figured now was the time to try it out. I suspect the title says it all, but I'll y'all know when I've read it.

There's a vendor who is one of those small one-man shops. He always has an assortment of things, and this book, battered though it is, caught my fancy. For $3, why not?

One of best things about a con like Comicpalooza is the number of vendors with dollar books. Even better? The ones for $0.50! The Deadly Hands was a dollar, but the rest were half that. You might notice the Young Romance and ask why? Well, I've just started listening to the audiobook version of MARVEL COMICS: THE UNTOLD STORY by Sean Howe and he mentions Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's days writing and drawing romance comics. Talk about serendipity? I basically followed my observation from Friday.

I think I'm most looking forward to this. It is volume 1 of the collected newspaper comic strips. I'm really curious to read these stories, especially as they start in 1979, a year before the big Vader reveal, to see how Russ Manning approached the Star Wars universe. Truth be told, I've also got a hankering to re-read some of the old Marvel comics as well.

That's it for Comicpalooza 2019. Let know what you got in the comments.

Podcast Review: TechnoRetro Dads

I have eaten more sugary cereal since I started listening to this podcast than I have for the past decade.

And I love it.

All Things Retro

Podcasters Shazbazzar and JediShua are a few years younger than my fifty, but together, we are brethren. We grew up in the 1970s and 1980s when Saturday morning meant only one thing--cartoons!--there was only a single Star Wars film, and only three networks. It was the age of toys, toys, toys, and awesome cereal aimed precisely at kids. It was a great time to be a kid, and these dads share the love with each other, their families, and all the Earbuds (their affectionate nickname for fans of the show).

A Typical Episode is a Mini Variety Show

I'm not entirely sure how I stumbled onto this show, but it took only one episode for me to become hooked. Shazbazzar hails from Alabama while JediShua lives "a mile high in the sky" in Colorado. New episodes drop on Monday morning. Each week is themed and they focus on a particular aspect of something we Gen Xers remembered. This week was Batman (since nearly everything this week was Bat-themed). Almost always, the main focus marks some sort of anniversary, like this week with Batman's 80th birthday.

But before they reach the meat of the show, there is news. Some of it is of the personal variety. They are, after all, dads. It's right there in the title. They talk about their kids or some other neat little retro item. Then, as they segue to the geek news of the week, they have what I've come to really enjoy: back and forth jokes. Again, just like a variety show, one of them will provide the setup and the other the punchline. And, these jokes are almost always relating to the week's theme. Each week, my own family has learned I come home at the end of my workday with my phone in hand, ready to play the joke segment.

The Awesomeness of Cereal

In just about every episode, there is some sort of news about cereal, be it a new flavor of a legacy cereal, a new cereal to stand alongside all the brands we've come to love, or just a memory. Leading into this segment is a particular theme song. Not sure if they made it or if an Earbud did, but it always brings a smile to my face.

Like I wrote at the top, I've started buying cereal again. I'm pretty strict with my diet during the weekdays--I avoid sugar crashes at work by not having any--but as this year rolled around, I've been bringing home boxes of Captain Crunch or the smaller single varieties of Frosted Flakes or Fruit Loops. Why? Specifically because of the joy Shazbazzar and JediShua share in their love of cereal. Heck, I even went out and bought the new Hostess Honey Bun cereal just to taste it.

Now, I'm actually slowing down on the cereal aisle, looking at all the boxes I so recently glazed over.

Saturday Mornings Were Nirvana

Speaking of theme songs, the tune that leads into the Saturday morning cartoon segment could have easily been pulled from season 2 of Scooby Doo. Remember the times when the crazy monster would chase the Scooby Gang and a song would break out? That's what I'm talking about. The vibe is spot on.

In this segment, Shazbazzar and JediShua chat about various Saturday morning cartoons they loved. Being a few years younger than me, their Saturday mornings went into the 80s, but it's still fun to hear them wax nostalgic. What have I done as a direct result of this segment? Spent some Saturday mornings watching cartoons. Eating cereal. Yeah, it's great.

High Quality Each Week

I'm not too sure how much time it takes for these two to record and produce a 77-minute podcast every week, but the production level is high. Background music, canned laughter, and great sound make listening to each episode a happy one. And there's new banner art every week, also keyed with the week's theme. It's a lot of work, but you can tell it's work they love.

RetroZap Network

The TechnoRetro Dads podcast is part of the RetroZap Network. I could summarize what they have to offer, but that would be an entirely new blog post. Better you just head over there yourself and see if any of the podcasts and articles strike your fancy. If you love the stuff I write about and Shazbazzar and JediShua talk about each week, you'll find something to love.

A Weekly Habit

I've enjoyed this podcast from the day I listened to my first episode. It is my favorite weekly podcast, and a Monday just isn't a Monday without Shazbazzar and JediShua.

TechnoRetro Dads is a clean, positive ray of sunshine celebrating the glory days of our Gen-X childhood, a reminder of how good we had it back then, and how awesome we Earbuds have it today.

I highly recommend this podcast.

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My Gen-X History with Batman

This month marks the 80th anniversary of Batman's first appearance, and today is when Detective Comics #1,000 will be published. I'll be stopping by my local comic shop today to pick up a few copies--darn you variant covers!--and having a good read tonight. Head to your comic store today and join in on the celebration.

Batman has been around for eighty years. Everyone has a story of how they were introduced to Batman. This is mine.

The Early Days

I was born in the last year of the Batman ‘66 TV series. Debuting in 1966, the Batman TV show with Adam West as the Caped Crusader and Burt Ward as Robin was a massive pop culture touchstone. By the time the 1970s rolled around, the show was in syndication, usually on one of the various UHF channels around the country. In Houston, it was Channel 39. As best as I can remember, Batman was on weekday afternoons. He was one of the shows I’d watch when I came home from school. Since we had a color TV, I got to absorb all the technicolor brilliance of the show.

Tell me if this sounds familiar: as a kid, I knew the show was funny, but I didn’t get the high camp under I grew older. No, as a youth, there was Batman, battling evil-doers yet always finding time to instruct Robin in the proper way to act and live one’s life. He was always teaching. I had great parent and grandparents so I had good role models in real life, but it was also neat to have someone like West’s Batman telling me additional things about life.

Oh, and am I the only one who thought Robin was a goner when the giant clam swallowed him whole, leaving only his twitching green-shoe-clad foot exposed?

A highlight was when the same channel would broadcast the 1966 Batman movie. Here, for a full two hours, our heroes fought the fearsome four of Joker, Riddler, Catwoman, and Penguin. Every Sunday, when the Houston Post would publish their TV guide for the week, I would read through it with pen in hand. I'd circle all the shows I'd want to watch, paying special attention to Friday night's movie on Channel 39. It was a great week when the Batman movie would play.

Super Friends

If I’m being honest, the Saturday morning cartoon, the Super Friends, was probably my next iteration of Batman and Robin. The Dynamic Duo fought for truth and justice alongside Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman. The teenaged sidekicks were Wendy and Marvin and their "Scooby," Wonder Dog. With animation, you were able to tell stories above and beyond the limitations of live action. The show came on around 7:00am or 7:30am so I’d have to make a point to wake up early enough to catch the animated Justice League. I did most Saturdays.

Mego Action Figures

By the time I was aware of things and asking for specific toys, Mego had begun producing dolls, er, action figures. I had quite a few of them. It's remarkable in this day and age when Marvel and DC are so separate to think that one company produced these dolls and often advertised with Batman and Spider-Man, to say nothing of Joker and The Lizard. Those dolls were fantastic because you got to make up your own stories.

And who didn't want Mego's The Batcave? It was too expensive for my family, but my mom took a cardboard box and created my own Batcave to play with. I can't remember my reaction back in the day, but I played with that thing. Who else's mom did the same thing?

Discovering Comics

Again, with the murkiness of time, I finally figured out that the Batman on TV was the same Batman I saw on comic books sitting in the spinner racks at grocery stores, drug stores, and corner convenience stores. My parents are readers so anything I read was likely good with them. And I devoured comics. It wasn't just Batman, but judging by the sheer number of Batman comics I still own, he was always my favorite.

Of all the titles, however, it was The Brave and the Bold that I enjoyed most. A staple of the 1970s, Brave and Bold was the team-up title where the Caped Crusader would join forces with another member of the DC Universe and battle some villain. With World's Finest teaming up Batman and Superman, this was my introduction to the wider character list DC had in the vaults.

Brave and Bold played a crucial role in solidifying, for me, my favorite Batman artist. Jim Aparo was the lead artist after a certain date. He drew most covers and most interiors. His was the name I first started associating with Batman, and it would be interesting those times when Aparo did the cover but some other artist did the interior work. He drew Batman as a lean fighting figure, with just enough of a cape to be fearsome but not overly dramatic.

By the late 70s and into the 80s, the growth of comic stores meant I didn't have to rely on a nearby Stop n Go to maybe have the latest issue. Here in Houston, it was Roy's Memory Shop over on Bissonett. A couple of years ago, I got to meet the man himself. No doubt my story was much like others he heard.

Batman Grows Up

One of the reasons I like my history of Batman during my specific lifetime was when I hit the higher teen years, Batman got darker. In 1986, Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns was published. It was a massive hit. For better or worse, it showed a "real world" Batman who did what he likely always did if only you stopped to think about it. When he fought, he broke hands and arms. Gone, seemingly, was the other famous nickname, The Dark Knight Detective. Here was a brute of a man ready to punch out the lights of anyone who crossed him.

Seriously, can you imagine this image being published at any other time?

Frank Miller's story, along with his Year One tale, ushered in the dark phase of Batman's career. It also brought us our first major motion picture.

Batman 1989

I have written before about the massive pop culture moment the 1989 Batman film was. In the spring of 1989, I snatched up everything in the newsstands about this movie. Starlog magazine ran a feature story. Heck, I saw the first Bill and Ted's movie just because the trailer ran before it.

I worked in a movie theater that glorious summer of 1989. Ever since then, the true Batman Day for me is June 23. Here's my take. Thanks Michael Uslan!

On television, the excellent Batman: The Animated Series debuted. Taking Tim Burton's vibe from his two movies, this was a dark version of Batman, but, crucially, it retained lighter elements. There's a reason why many folks consider this version of Batman to be definitive on screen.

The Burton era segued into the Joel Schumacher era. I enjoyed Batman Forever--especially Jim Carrey's Riddler--but the fourth film, Batman and Robin, even I didn't like at the time. It got me to thinking: If this is the kind of Batman movie they're going to make, then just don't make any. They didn't for a few years. Then Batman returned to the screen.

Christopher Nolan's Batman

By 2005, I was only buying the major titles in the comics, usually in trade paperback editions. With the cover prices going up--and the writer's desire to tell good stories that took up many issues--it was a more cost-effective way to consume Batman stories. Besides, much of the way Batman was portrayed was the grim, unsmiling Bat-God who could anticipate anyone's next dozen moves. Some of the stories were great (Hush) while others I can barely remember.

But there was a new movie on the horizon and it looked great. Batman Begins snuck up on people, especially seeing as how the title character didn't even appear on screen until the halfway mark. But when he did, it was one of my favorite Bat-Scenes. It was from the point of view of the villains as the Batman makes his first appearance in Gotham. It was brilliant, but not as brilliant as the next film.

The Dark Knight was a masterpiece. My wife is not a huge comic-book movie fan, but she loves The Dark Knight. Heath Ledger's Joker commands the screen, but everyone else delivered a stellar performance. It was so good, Nolan should have just stopped. But, of course, they made a third. Shrug.

Up To Today

For the past decade, Batman and I have walked parallel paths. The animated Batman: The Brave and the Bold TV show reminded everyone that a humorous Batman is still okay and can live side-by-side with his darker version, both on screen and on page.

I was fine with Ben Affleck as Batman, but the movies he was in weren't great. Although that sequence of him taking out that room full of goons in Dawn of Justice was spectacular.

Comics-wise, Scott Snyder's The Court of Owls run was stellar. Completely loved it, especially considering we got something brand-new that fit in the universe in the seventh decade of the character's existence. I've enjoyed Tom King's run on the character, but I've only read here and there.

Maybe it's my age, but I'm ready for there to be another lighter Batman. He can stand next to the grim avenger we have now, but the pendulum's got to swing sometime, right?

A Batman For Everyone

If this little history does nothing else, it proves there's a type of Batman for everyone. You want the Bright Knight? Adam West is your guy. Ditto for the animated Brave and Bold. Want the dark grim avenger of the night? Lots of choices. You can pick and choose anything you want.

But for me, there is no one true Batman. The character has reflected his times for eighty years. He has evolved, but not necessarily changed. The character Bill Finger and Bob Kane created in the latter days of the Great Depression lives on. The foundations are as solid as the rocks of the Batcave. What subsequent creators do with the template is where the magic happens.

Batman has been my favorite comic book character for my entire life, and I don't suspect that's going to change. It's been a great eighty years, and I'm looking forward to eighty more.


P.S., this post is the 900th post for this blog I started twelve years ago. Hard to believe. It's been a blast, and I thank you for reading.

Top 5 TV Theme Songs

This week on The Ralph Report with Ralph Garman and Eddie Pence, the pair revealed their Top 3 Favorite Prime Time TV Theme Songs. Ralph's picks were Mission: Impossible, Batman, and The Rockford Files. Eddie, a few years younger, skewed to the 1980s with The A-Team, The Dukes of Hazzard, and The Fall Guy. While Ralph gave Eddie a hard time over The Fall Guy, I always enjoyed the tune, but then again, I enjoyed all six of their picks.

So what about mine? Well, I gave it some thought and here are my Top 5, in no particular order.

Gilligan's Island

I'm a big fan of old-fashioned theme songs that tell any new viewer what the show's about. Think also: The Brady Bunch, all three of Eddie's picks above,

The X-Files

With a show about weird things happening in a decade where conspiracy theories became mainstream, composer Mark Snow captured it all in this eerie theme.

Dallas

Why Dallas? I'm not sure. I was not an avid watcher. I latched onto the series when J.R. was shot, correctly guessed the culprit, and then slowly stopped watching soon there after. But that theme is one I catch myself singing frequently. Weird. But this song manages to snag both the modern west (guitar licks) and the classic western (those french horns) in one song.

The Greatest American Hero

There was a time when Mike Post was the go-to guy for TV theme songs. This is my favorite. It's a time-capsule song that not only tells you what year the show debuted but also the wistfully happy spirit of the show.

The Love Boat

Another song I catch myself singing. How can you not when "Love" is the first word? I'm a pretty dorky guy and sometimes, I'll speak the lyrics to my wife if it's been a few days since I've seen her roll her eyes.

As a kid in the late 1970s, when new programs were actually shown on TV, Saturday nights were The Love Boat and Fantasy Island.

To bring it back to story, The Love Boat was one of the first shows (not a Scooby-Doo cartoon or a TV sitcom) where I recognized a pattern. And that pattern was almost always by the clock.

First ten minutes: all characters introduced and on-board crew subplot presented.
Next twenty minutes (30-minute mark): antics of crew and new characters.
Next ten minutes (to 40-min mark): breaks-ups and trouble
Next ten minutes (to 50-min mark) make-ups
Final ten minutes: disembark the ship, arm in arm.

Stranger Things, Part 1

My nostalgia typically runs through the 1970s. That was my first decade of life (born in 1968). It included KISS, Star Wars, comics, Legos, elementary school, Saturday morning cartoons, and many more discoveries. The 1980s was the decade I came of age: Middle school, high school, music, girls, movies, graduation in 1987. Not sure why, but I tend to overlook the 1980s in my trips down nostalgia lane. Not that I didn’t have a great time in that decade. I did. I had a pretty great time during those years. But I rarely return to them.

So it came as an interesting curiosity when I saw the trailer to Stranger Things, the 8-episode TV series from Netflix. Perhaps I had been away from the 80s for so long, mentally, that everything in this trailer piqued my interest. To be honest, I got pretty darn excited about seeing the show. The trailer itself seemed to check off just about every 80s visual reference you could imagine. Camera moving across backyard a la ET? Check. Flashlight emerging from elevator, also reminiscent of ET? Check. Boys on bikes? Check. Boys finding an “ET” and bringing her home? Check. Wait a second. Are all these images from ET? No, but Stranger Things is a love letter to Steven Spielberg’s films and Stephen King’s books. It's even got "Stephen King" font on the title card! Oh, and John Carpenter’s film scores.

I’m up through Episode 5 of the show, and boy am I digging this series. The creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, lather on so much 80s goodness in just about every shot and line of script that it’ll make you wonder if Netflix didn’t just discover some long-lost TV show from 1983. Heck, if you were to play a drinking game where you verbally identify a shot or a line of dialogue from an 80s movie, you’d be smashed halfway through the first episode. But all of this 80s love is not played ironically. This is real, genuine love of the era and its movies.

The basic plot is revealed in the trailer. Will, one of a quartet of young nerdlings, disappears after he rides home at night after a terrific game of Dungeons and Dragons. Winona Ryder is his single mom who was working. His older brother, Jonathan, is a loner who likes to take pictures with his camera and worked an extra shift the previous night. Quickly they realize Will is missing and things get started.

The leader of the young nerds, Mike, convinces his pals that they can find Will whereas the cops and adults cannot. In their nighttime hunt, they discover a girl. She won’t say anything. Her shaved head makes her look odd as does the tattoo of “011” on her forearm. They take her back to Mike’s house and hide her in the basement. Quickly, they figure out she has some special powers. She also knows where Will is: “Hiding.”

Meanwhile, Mike’s sister, Nancy, is infatuated with a boy, Steve, sort of a bad boy. He’s slept around but she’s a bookworm. Her friend, Barb, warns Nancy that Steve’s no good, but Nancy only has googly eyes for the handsome lad. Barb and Nancy go to a party at Steve’s house while his parents are away. Nancy makes some questionable choices and Barb bides her time outside on the diving board. Until something snatches her.

Sheriff Jim Hopper is a divorcee who self medicates. In typical fashion in a show like this, initially he’s reluctant to listen to the wailings of Will’s mom, chalking up her words to a frantic mother. But soon, however, he changes his mind.

Needless to say, all of these plot threads start to converge around episode 4. And I’ll freely admit that I’m in the dark on where this show is going. I’ve got a general idea, but I’m willing to just let the show take me where it will.

Oh, and Matthew Modine is now playing the Peter Coyote role. Bonus points if you get the reference.

I’m enjoying the heck out of this show. Ryder is great as the crazy-with-worry mother. I remember thinking during the first episode “How old must I be if Winona Ryder is playing the mom?” Old enough. All the cast are doing great. The youngsters are straight out of a Goonies casting call, but I’m fine with that. Absolutely love the music! Pure early 80s synth moody soundtrack.

I’m definitely looking forward to finishing this series. It’s a television highlight of the summer.