It’s A Puzzling Situation

The big accomplishment for the week was that we finally got the taxes done, so that’s one giant weight off of my shoulders. Every year I say I’m going to be better and file everything early. This is probably the best situation because if I aim to file them in April I probably won’t get around to it until sometime in August.

I also left the house a couple of times, which is pretty damn amazing as well. I mean other than to get the taxes done. On Sunday we went down to the Fisher to see The Book of Mormon. It was quite amusing and The Mrs had a great time. She always enjoys surprise date events. My only complaint was that for some reason the venue has taken to serving various snack foods. I don’t want to sound like a snob, but it takes something away from the whole theater experience when the person behind you is wrinkling candy wrappers and eating popcorn in your ear for the entirety of the second act. Ugh. People.

Speaking of theaters, I was fortunate enough to see an advanced screening of The Drop last night. It was an enjoyable thriller with plenty of tension. The set up is such that it keeps you guessing throughout, and while I might have some minor quibbles, I thought it was quite well done.

While at home, we have been reducing our screen time by working on puzzles in the evening. This has lead to a bit of a schism in that, like with most things, The Mrs and I have…let’s call them “complimentary views” on how things should be done. In this case it has to do with how we see and organize the world. I tend to see patterns and shapes, meaning that my plan of attack is to get all of the edge pieces situated, then work my way in to the center (LIKE A GORRAM NORMAL PERSON!) while she organizes the pieces BY COLOR. This is fine if the picture is something that has, I don’t know, a bunch of sky or something. It’s not quite as helpful if the picture in question is a bunch of quilts with the same patterns and colors repeated all over the place.

Listening To: I’ve just about finished The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones. Damn this is a great book. If you haven’t picked it up yet, I suggest you do so. Not only is it well written, but it also explores some areas of American history that the current administration might try to white wash (and yes I mean that literally) away.

Currently Reading: I can’t tell you yet, but it’s pretty damn cool.

Current Obsession: Due to my love of demons and hellspawn stuff and The Mrs’ undying love for all things Kevin Bacon related (except Kyra Sedgewick who she claims she is not at all jealous of), naturally we binged all of The Bondsman in a couple of days. While not a new idea by any means (see Brimstone below), it is a fun take on the demon bounty hunter genre and well worth a watch.

It’s another relatively quiet week of behind the scenes plugging away at things. One of those things is the secret thing I am reading at the moment. More information as new warrants

I’ve rambled in the past about the Olden Days when Fox was a struggling network still trying to find its footing, but watching The Bondsman led to a deep dive into shows which only lasted a short while on Fox (and elsewhere). The X-Files was undoubtedly one of the shows which kept Fox afloat in those formative years (along with The Simpsons, Married With Children, and football of the American variety). For quite a while the slot after Mulder and Scully was a horrible death slot of similarly Sci-Fi themed shows which due to budget restraints, shuffling schedules, and other corporate mismanagement were given short shrift.

The granddaddy of these is probably Firefly which could have been a long running series if it had been shown in order and not moved all over the programming block. Another one which still gets lots of love is the Bruce Campbell vehicle The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., a steam-punkish western. I do love both of those shows, but there are plenty of others that I would have liked to have seen go on for longer than they did.

Chief among these was one of The X-Files’ spinoffs The Lone Gunman (the other, Millennium with the amazing Lance Henricksen got a couple of seasons). Granted, there probably wasn’t enough material to continue the adventures of Frohike, Byers, and Langley, but that group was just so damn fun to watch.

There were quite a few horror adjacent titles that were bangers. Get any group of lycanthrope aficionados together and someone is bound to bring up Werewolf — the story of a young man trying to find the person who turned him to end his curse. The aforementioned Brimstone had a cop returning from Hell to collect a number of escaped demons, each of which was represented by a tattoo somewhere on his body. He was still heavily inked when the series bit the dust. Fangbangers will of course remember Kindred: The Gathering, loosely based on the game of the same name. I know some of you readers LARPed this great RPG. Other spooky shows included Wayward Pines, the ghost filled Tru Calling, and the humorous Scream Queens.

Perhaps not so fondly remembered were offerings like Space: Above and Beyond (which I remember as being amazing, but I haven’t seen it in decades) and Terra Nova, pretty classic sci-fi. M.A.N.T.I.S, and Dark Angel both had some super-hero vibes. The threat of computers and the terrifying new system of tubes called the internet popped up in V.R.5, Harsh Realm, and FreakyLinks which I am sure would all seem quaint (read: dated) when viewed today.

You want aliens and mysterious people? We’ve got John Doe and The Visitor. Aliens popped up again in Alien Nation one of the many spin-offs based on movies including Minority Report and Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles. Almost Human had a baby faced Karl Urban teamed up with robot Michael Ealy. Want more sci-fi and mystery combos? How about Houdini and Doyle and New Amsterdam?

Doll House. ‘nuff said.

Granted, there were plenty of sci-fi shows that didn’t get the immediate axe like Fringe or those who went on to live out their days on other networks, for better or worse (Sliders, The Orville). Still, thats a long list of shows to look at and wonder “what if.”

Also, and not at all sci-fi related, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that I can’t listen to the Billy Idol’s Greatest Hits album without thinking about Booker, the short lived spin off of 21 Jump Street.

No, not the movies. Stupid kids. Read a TV Guide some time.