South of Nowhere

After obsessing over The Good Wife and subsequently running out of new episodes to watch, I set my aim on finding a new drama for my viewing pleasure. Since we're years removed from the last time I got into a romance show, that's the realm I shot for.

Romance dramas are another genre which I love with all my heart, but am extremely discerning with. The glitzy 90210 spiele is not my kind of scene, nor is the cheeky modern chic of the Sex And The City crowd. I'm more into the original WB aesthetic: Dawson's Creek, Gilmore Girls. A little more wholesome and moral, a little less overwrought or convulsing. I'm not sure if WB wholesomeness is all that true to life either, but the FOX sex & money mayhem just doesn't feel relatable to me.

I landed on South Of Nowhere, the groundbreaking Teen Nick original which I've had on my to-watch list for quite some time. Unfortunately I've never had the Teen Nick channel so I had never been able to see it. As it would happen, the reason I've waited this long to get it on DVD amounts to a misconception. Expository write-ups about the show (on Wikipedia, for example) portray it as being about a girl who questions her sexuality when she befriends a gay girl. I misinterpreted that as: a bicurious straight girl with a gay friend. Not as interesting of a setup, to me. But only a few episodes in, it becomes clear that both the girls are gay, and in fact the series revolves around the romance between the two of them. Ironically, by the end of the series it wouldn't be out of line to contend that Ashley (the friend) is some level of bisexual while Spencer (the first character), is solely interested in women.

South of Nowhere definitely has more of a WB feel than a FOX one. I loved watching it with the utmost of thoroughness. I couldn't identify an overarching theme or message in the series (which is something I like to find in a drama), but the characters are solid, the plot is decent, and the highest praise I can give any show: ...it had me frequently yelling at the TV screen! The twists were shocking and the emotional investment was immense. Not even The Good Wife has inspired quite that reaction in me. South of Nowhere is a uniquely beautiful and touching series, and very entertaining.

The cinematography is gorgeous. It has this definite "shaky cam" thing going on, which reaches a peculiar 'meta' level when at one point the main character starts carrying a camera around and randomly recording whatever's going on! I'm sure the odd angles and jittering must annoy a lot of people, but as a fan of found footage movies, I dig it. My guess would be it's done to foster a feeling of closeness to the action, or realness. Or even just to heighten the action itself, and add an extra modicum of suspense. In any case, it gives the series a very *literal* edginess and makes it feel distinctly cool, not to mention modern. Helping the mood is a [i]perfect[/i] soundtrack of hip alternative rock.

SoN was an incredibly innovative series, not just for being a drama about teen lesbians broadcast on a teen-oriented channel alongside the likes of Drake & Josh, but for being among the first programs in any demographic to star and revolve around lesbian characters, and for doing so with such grace and humility. Often when one of TV's various taboos is guillotined, it is handled with sensationalistic fervor to garner publicity and ratings, but South of Nowhere tells a subtle romantic tale with the quiet dignity befitting its story. As a result, South of Nowhere may never have recieved the notoriety it so clearly deserves. But, in exchange for fame, it was able to tell an endearingly sincere story that has touched so many lives in a way no other program could.

I found it fantastically refreshing to watch a romance show again. I wish I had any idea of where to go after South of Nowhere. I'm not sure there's another program like this on the planet. There are some interesting UK programs, e.g. Sugar Rush. But they're completely unavailable on DVD/legal download stateside, and who knows if they foster the wholesome WB perspective I like in a romance. It might be a long time before I get my romance fix again.

But at least I can look forward to rewatching South of Nowhere ad naeseum! ^^

The Epidemic of Teen Sitcoms About Pop Singers

In the not at all distant past, teen sitcoms were mostly about regular schmucks, from Clarissa Explains It All and Even Stevens to Unfabulous and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. You also had your share of relatively unique (often Sci-Fi) premises, like Phil of the Future or The Secret World of Alex Mack.

Teen idols making waves as temporary pop music stars was nothing new. But a few programs came around that changed the relationship between their music and their television fame. You can trace the concept back to earlier instances, such as Drake Bell's guitar-slinging persona in Drake & Josh. But the concept truly became formidable in 2006.

The TV film High School Musical became unfathomably successful upon its release in January of 2006. Shortly thereafter Hannah Montana premiered and took over the world, centering on a fictional pop singer posing as a regular kid. Next, a previously made mockumentary-style independent film was turned into a TV series by Nickelodeon, called the Naked Brothers Band. High School Musical proved beyond dispute that music from a kids-oriented program could garner A-list sales, while Hannah and the NBB showed how seamlessly the TV show and the pop music by the show's star could be integrated. It was a match made in synergy heaven, with the show and the music career effortlessly promoting each other to stunning new sales heights.

Somewhere around the time that the same concept stormed network TV in the form of likewise-ultra-successful Glee, the TV world began bubbling over with the same old idea from Hannah Montana & Victorious. It's just now reached a fever pitch where practically every sitcom on Nick and Disney follows this formula.

Current or recent shows based entirely around the premise of an aspiring young singer or singers, with ties to commercially released music:

Hannah Montana
The Naked Brothers Band
Jonas L.A.
Big Time Rush
Victorious
How to Rock
A.N.T. Farm
Austin & Ally


Current shows that have included a subplot about one of the characters attempting to become a professional musician or that have included a character singing an original song (in at least one episode):

iCarly
Good Luck Charlie
Shake It Up
Jessie
Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures


Together that comprises every single notable sitcom currently airing new episodes on Nick and Disney (granted, I don't consider Nick's B-List sitcoms notable, they are: Supah Ninjas and Fred: The Show).

Technically, is a bunch of shows about aspiring singers less original than a bunch of shows about regular kids? Not necessarily. But the 'regular kid' premise has a sort of universal appeal. Even as a diehard, rabid, foaming at the mouth lover of pop music, having every show be about singing is starting to drive me up the wall. And I say that even as a likewise rabid fan of the current stock of teen sitcoms!

I don't need to tell you that I consider iCarly and Victorious the greatest ever entries in the teen sitcom genre, nor that I watch and adore nearly all of Disney Channel's current live action programing. If you read this blog, you know this. But with the recent premieres of Austin & Ally, and How To Rock, I just can't handle this identical premise any longer. Throw us fans a bone and give us another show about regular kids, or super-powered kids, or fueding siblings ...or lobsters on the moon, I don't care as long as nobody sings any songs. Jennette McCurdy has her own show soon to be made. Jen happens to be one of the most technically proficient singers on Nick or Disney. But if you bastards stick her in the 15th Hannah Montana remake, I will fucking cut you.

The Top 15 Greatest Adult Cartoons

TV is my flipping life, and there are a lot of amazing genres I wouldn't opt to live without. But the "Adult Cartoon" is quite possibly the best category. At their highest echelon, an adult cartoon combines all the laughs and feel-good rewatchability of the best sitcoms, with some of the highest quality story-telling from action and drama shows. Plus they categorically present a snarky, irreverent (and markedly hilarious) subtext that  pretty much defines my generation.

There's been a vast omnibus of excellent adult cartoons in the last few decades; so many great ones worthy of discussion that aren't included here, and incredible new entries coming out nearly every month! But I wanted to limit this list to the very best of the best, for now. I'm interested in someday compiling a much larger list. But for now, here is the ultimate creme de la creme of the adult cartoon genre!


1. The Simpsons 
Score: 20++
Influence: 5+ Quality: 5 Longevity: 5+ Uniqueness: 5

Its influence cannot be understated, The Simpsons invented the adult cartoon in the American conscioussness. Its outstanding quality has long since been ingrained in our collective culture. I don't really need to say much, because if you're not already familiar with this show then you're probably not familiar with any of these shows and you're probably not interested enough to bother reading this blog.


2. South Park 
Score: 20+
Influence: 5 Quality: 5+ Longevity: 5 Uniqueness: 5

Effortlessly defining the Adult Cartoon in both its extremes, South Park flits back and forth between gruesome gross-out humor and some of the most intelligent social commentary on TV. 16 seasons in, South Park is amazingly still among the most extreme shows in a genre which obsesses over one-upping itself and pushing boundaries. After all these years, no one has stepped up to the plate against their unprecedented and unsqueamish satire of public figures.


3. Family Guy 
Score: 18+
Influence: 5 Quality: 5+ Longevity: 5 Uniqueness: 3

FOX again heralded in a new wave of adult cartoon glory with this ceaselessly hilarious farce, borrowing The Simpsons' aesthetic without trepidation and empowering it with all the gall and irreverence of South Park. More recently, Family Guy has impressively been able to match both the unbarable grossness and the editorial commentary of South Park.


4. Space Ghost Coast to Coast 
Score: 17
Influence: 5 Quality: 3 Longevity: 4 Uniqueness: 5

This outstandingly influential first production from Williams Street, about a snarky contradictory super hero hosting a talk show, debuted in the early 90s and invented the Adult Swim gameplan for the next 18 years and counting, even before Adult Swim existed. Its antisocial and ocassionally nonsequitor comedy was handled with craft and Cartoon Network is still trying to equal it today.


5. Beavis and Butt-Head 
Score: 16
Influence: 4 Quality: 3 Longevity: 4 Uniqueness: 5

This trailblazing Gen-X classic, featuring the misadventures of two brain dead teens with a nack for music video critique, pre-empted the antisocial humor & live action spoofing in Space Ghost and the crudeness fixation of South Park. Sure Futurama and Family Guy both came back from the dead, but B&B's reputation is so strong it managed to ressurect itself 14 years later, and began airing new episodes last year!


6. Futurama 
Score: 16
Influence: 2 Quality: 5 Longevity: 5 Uniqueness: 4

Matt Groening's second foray into the genre likewise ranks as one of the funniest and best-crafted cartoons in the ilk. All the classic, plot-based sitcommery of The Simpsons is retained, plus a stronger dose of flippant, modern mayhem and a setup that remains unique in the sea of shows based around Simpsons-esque family units.


7. The Boondocks 
Score: 15
Influence: 2 Quality: 5 Longevity: 3 Uniqueness: 5

The Boondocks is a marvel of craftsmanship. It expertly mirrors the cynical, world-weary humor of Daria while coming closer than any to matching the harsh Juvenalian satire of South Park. Equipped with gorgeous, anime-inspired art (possibly the best-animated of all adult cartoons), it tackles hip hop culture in ways other programs never could.


8. Aqua Teen Hunger Force 
Score: 14
Influence: 3 Quality: 3 Longevity: 5 Uniqueness: 3

Aqua Teen was devised to take Space Ghost the next step further, with stronger misanthropy, more preposterous nonsequitors, and more mania per minute. And it succeeded, it's still by far one of the funniest, most nonsensical programs Adult Swim has ever aired.


9. Daria 
Score: 14
Influence: 3 Quality: 4 Longevity: 3 Uniqueness: 4

The antithesis of Beavis and Butt-Head, Daria concerns the fairly realistic daily life of a precocious bookworm who circumvents the evils of high school and misguided adults, never failing to inject her seething disillusionment into every facet of life. Daria is of uncommon style and displays an admirable bit of wit.


10. King of the Hill 
Score: 14
Influence: 2 Quality: 4 Longevity: 5 Uniqueness: 3

To follow-up Beavis and Butt-head, Mike Judge gave us a tempered and smart look at a more 'down home' living mentality with traditional-or-die farther Hank, his goofy and unmasculine son, and a townful of zany Texan cohorts. It's remarkably subtle for its genre, and consistently manages to be both fun and funny.

11. The Venture Brothers 
Score: 13
Influence: 2 Quality: 4 Longevity: 3 Uniqueness: 4

This exceedingly creative spoof on Super Hero and action/adventure mythos, about a former boy-adventurer and his Butterfly-themed arch nemisis, proved that Williams Street isn't the only collective capable of skewering classic cartoons. Impressively, the show has weaved various references and plotlines into a rich mythology of its own. Hopefully there will be more programs like it.

12. Home Movies 
Score: 13
Influence: 4 Quality: 3 Longevity: 3 Uniqueness: 3

Awkward, quirky humor at its finest, neurotic egos bounce off of each other as three kids try to shoot their own moves in their back yards (among other places). A similar disposition to the venerable Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist, but with stronger characters and funnier jokes.

13. Metalocalypse 
Score: 12
Influence: 3 Quality: 3 Longevity: 3 Uniqueness: 3

Shades of the bumbling antics of Beavis and Butt-head combine with the tropes of metalhead culture, accented with dazzling high-quality animation (a first for Williams Street), in this show about the exploits of an ultra-successful death metal band that has more or less taken over the world despite being incopetent to so much as keep themselves from killing themselves.

14. Archer 
Score: 12
Influence: 3 Quality: 4 Longevity: 2 Uniqueness: 3

The creator of Sealab 2021 and Frisky Dingo brings a more coherent adherence to plot, and all the original vitriolic impiety of its predecessors, to the FX network's excellent Arrested Development-esque 007 spoof. Could this be the start of a much wider reach for the Adult Swim aesthetic?

15. Sealab 2021 
Score: 11
Influence: 2 Quality: 3 Longevity: 3 Uniqueness: 3

Featuring the zany antics of an often ill-fated underwater science lab (despite no science being accomplished therein), Sealab 2021 uses the Space Ghost setup of refashioning an obscure cartoon into a brutally absurd cacophony of destruction and pulls it off nearly as well as Space Ghost itself. It ranks as one of Adult Swim's most classic pieces.

Notes:

- This is not my personal favorites list, that would be a fairly different list. The shows here were, quite transparently, ranked based on a few categories: influence within the genre (particularly when it concerns trend-setting and style-defining works, and how many new shows they inspired), overall quality (the cleverness of the writing and the funniness of the jokes), longevity (how long the show was able to last and how much broadcast replay it sustains), and uniqueness (how stark and original the show was when it premiered, and how many similar counterparts it has today). It goes without saying that any artistic hierarchy is wrought with subjectivity.

- Entries on the list were limited to the *genre* known as 'Adult Cartoons,' so other adult-oriented animated programs (including but not limited to anime) are inelligible, as were shows not explicitly aimed at a teen/adult audience (e.g. The Ren & Stimpy Show).

- Rankings might seem pretty low for a lot of shows, but I stuck to a simple out-of-five system for convenience's sake. Tabulating more complex rankings for each show would have been difficult, just keep in mind I'm ranking them against the highest possible standards. All 15 programs here are truly top-notch, incredible, and deserving of the most earnest accolades.