Re-Evaluating Frank Burns

Let's give you a situation. The two most popular kids in school, the guys that have all the girls wanting to date them and all the guys want to hang out with them, have someone they don't like. This guy has different ideals from them, keeps to himself, hangs out with his few friends, and if he's paid attention to in a positive light at all gets extremely giddy. Now the popular guys go out of their way to torment this loner, making fun of his attachment to his mother and his fascination with a topic that they think is stupid. They play pranks on him, both physical and psychological, for their own amusement. Yes, the loner does some things to deserve the treatment, but not to the extent that he receives it, and if the two popular guys would just be a little bit friendly to him, he probably would come around (somewhat) to their way to looking at things.

The popular guys are Hawkeye and Trapper. The Loner is Frank Burns.

I grew up with MASH in syndication, both out of New York and Philadelphia (one of the benefits of growing up at the Jersey Shore), so I've seen a lot of the show. Since the advent of MASHcast, hosted by Rob Kelly, I have been watching it in order for the first time. This has led me to re-evaluate one of the staple characters, Frank Burns as played by Larry Linville.

Frank is not a nice person, being openly racist and judgmental of others as well as a serial adulterer, but there's more to him. When MASH was in full comedy mode, Frank fit in perfectly as the inept villain, always scheming to get Henry Blake thrown out and take over the 4077. As the show progressed into more drama, so did the characters. Well, everyone but Frank. Frank stayed cartoonish and that, along with what we find out about him, led me to a conclusion. Frank Burns is the product of bullying, has some kind of mental illness, and is quite possibly on the Autism Spectrum.

We've seen Frank lash out and pretty much anyone and everyone, but when someone other than Margret acts towards him with kindness, he becomes a playful puppy dog. It's revealed that his mother had to send out 30 party invitations just to get 4 kids to show up to his birthday. Frank grew up without any friends and that had an effect on him. He latches on to ANY affection he gets, the main source on the show being Margret, and without that he's completely lost. When Margret dumps him, he's completely lost in a situation where he has no friends at all, and he loses his mind.

Frank may have gotten through medical school, but his mentality, as shown on the show, has always been one of a child. Like I said, in the beginning this was fine but as the show around him got more and more realistic all I could see was a little boy, excited to play army, that was constantly being picked on by the popular kids and beaten down by the authority figures. It takes away from my enjoyment of the show, to be honest. That's why, if I'm not watching to keep up with a podcast, I usually skip the Frank episodes. I much prefer Winchester as a foil, since he can be just as abrasive as Frank, but has the capacity to defend himself.

Traveling?

In yet another follow-up post, one of the things that I've seen more than once on Live PD is the concept of a "Traveler" or "Sovereign Citizen". Here's an example:



Now I tend towards libertarian thinking, in that if what you do doesn't harm, or have the potential to harm, someone else then have at it. That's a lot different than these people, though. "I don't like it, so I'm not going to do it and the law doesn't apply to me because of that" is just stupid, especially where driving is concerned.

Not wanting a driver's license is fine, and I know at least one person who doesn't have one and won't get one. However, if you don't have a license, you aren't allowed to operate a motor vehicle. The license indicates not only that you are trained to operate said vehicle, but that you're continually able to do so properly. That's why those that can't have their driving privilege, and it is a privilege and not a right, suspended.

The fact that the officers dealing with this kind of thing can stay as calm as they do is amazing. I don't think I could take that level of stupid every day without losing my mind.

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What'cha gonna do when they come for you?

I'm old enough to remember one of the first "reality" shows on Fox, which followed the men and women of law enforcement. Of course I'm talking about COPS.

As the son of a former Police Officer, this was "must see TV" in our house. It was, of course, edited to give you the most bang for your half-hour buck, but it became it's own cottage industry. The show has lasted for 31 seasons (starting in 1989) and over 1,000 episodes.

The next generation of this type of show started three years ago on the A&E network. (Aside: Does anyone else remember when A&E stood for Arts & Entertainment?) This show is Live PD and does what COPS did, but ... wait for it ... LIVE! That's right, you can ride along with officers on Friday and Saturday nights and see the kinds of things they have to deal with.

One thing that struck me while watching Live PD, which we can now do with an Amazon Fire Stick and Hulu with Live TV, is just how much stupid there is in the country. People driving on a suspended license, others running from the cops over an infraction that would have just gotten them a ticket, and, worst of all, people that tell the officers how to do their job! That's right, there are those out there that tell the police, "You're not going to arrest me." That's right up there with telling them that you pay their salary.

If you have any interest in law enforcement and just what these men and women have to deal with, try and catch either the main Live PD show or the "Police Patrol" spin-off, which gives you certain incidents from the show but continuously. Be warned, though, it's a bit of a rabbit hole.

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Just A Bad Plan

One of the family viewing projects we have is watching an episode of Star Trek on the 50th anniversary of it's broadcast. So a couple of weeks ago, right on schedule, we watched "Wink of an Eye". The overall concept, people moving so fast as to be invisible to the naked eye, is a good one to explore. However, there is one major flaw that we found in the Scalosians' plan.

Here's the set-up: The planet Scalos underwent a dramatic upheaval that fundamentally changed the inhabitants. Everyone was accelerated to the point that the rest of the humanoids in the galaxy couldn't see them or interact with them. On top of that, all of the males were made sterile, so they couldn't reproduce on their own. Since the accident, they had taken a page from the Sirens and lured ships with a distress call, accelerating their crews, and using them to reproduce. It didn't work so well, though, as an original population of 900,000 is now down to 5. Still, they want to continue their plan with the Enterprise crew.

Now, let's take a look at the make-up of those last five. Take a look at this picture and see if you can spot the problem:

That's right, there are 3 sterile males and 2 (presumably) fertile females. That means that none of the women on the Enterprise can be used, since they would have to reproduce with non-Scalosians. Therefore, the plan is for the two female Scalosians to reproduce with the male crew to repopulate the entire planet. Sorry, but that doesn't work on multiple levels.

Let's look at the most obvious problem first - time*. Assuming the humanoid Scalosians have a gestation rate similar to humans, right around 9 months, and a similar recover time, 18 months is generally accepted, then time is a BIG issue. That means that each female would have to wait at least 27 months between impregnations, and that assuming that each fetus is fully viable. So a child would be born, on average, of once ever 13.5 months, and about half of them would be male, which does the population growth no good. That's never going to solve the problem.

The less obvious problem, but probably more serious one, is genetics. Even if you have about 200 possible fathers, you still will only have 2 mothers for over a decade, and any new mothers would be descendants of the original two. That's a pretty shallow gene-pool and it wouldn't take very long for genetic mutations to start showing up.

Then there's the issue that I didn't notice until sitting down to write this post - Where are the children? If this is such a successful program (that nearly whipped out the population in the first place) that Deela flat out refused the help of the entire Federation that Kirk offered, then where are the kids they previously had? Either she was so indoctrinated by previous generations to think that this was the only way or there were way more than 5 people left on the planet. Unfortunately, we are only shown and told about the 5, so I have to assume that they are it.

Like I said, I think this is a good concept for an episode, I just think there are too many holes in it for it to be considered a successful attempt.

* All time periods are relative to the Scalosian "normal".

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Claymation Comedy of Horrors

One of the staples that our family watches every year for the Holidays is "A Claymation Christmas Celebration" done by Will Vinton, who passed away earlier this month. In honor of his work, and because it's a tradition for me to post a video for Halloween, I present to you the "Claymation Comedy of Horrors". Enjoy.



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The Lost Art of the Long Shot

My wife and I have started a watch through of St. Elsewhere on Hulu and one of things that I noted is the number of long, uncut shots they have. What I mean here is having a single camera, using it to follow a character but then switching to follow another character or conversation, and maybe even switching AGAIN before finally having a cut to a different camera shot. What this does is just immerse the viewer in the world by making it feel like a real place.

I know exactly why this isn't used more often, since if even one person flubs a line/action, you have to start all the way back at the beginning. Add to that the expense of moving the camera around as necessary and it does seem like a hard thing to pull off. I still miss it, though. The feeling like you're walking through a real place, with all these little things going on around you, just pulls me into a show more than anything else.

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Make sure to check out the public poll over on the Patreon Page. Open until September 30th!

Ensemble Casts

One thing that we've seen more of on television in my lifetime is the ensemble cast, which I really like. That's not to say that shows with specific stars are bad, but you get more story possibilities with a large group. I think the best example of this is Hill Street Blues, and it's not necessarily because of the writing or acting, both of which are outstanding. No, it's because of the various types of characters.

Unlike NYPD Blue or Dragnet, which focused on the detectives, or Adam 12, which focused on the patrolmen, this show looked at everyone in the precinct from the Captain on down. This is something that most shows don't bother with. Just look at any Star Trek show and you'll see the focus on the senior staff, which is why "The Lower Decks" is always brought up as a great change of pace.

Seeing the same events from all sides, and being given completely identifiable, and flawed, characters from all walks of life was just great. I know that having regular casts of this size is cost prohibitive, but I'd really like to see more of this kind of thing. I understand wanting to focus on the "movers and shakers", but showing how it affects the people lower down, or even how the decisions of those lower down affect those above, adds a really nice dynamic to the storytelling.

What do you think? What are some of your favorite ensemble shows?

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Cartoon TV Themes 2

I was under the weather at the beginning of the week, so I didn't have time to write up a post. So enjoy these cartoon themes that might just be coming to a podcast episode at some point.



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My Favorite MASH

With the upcoming M*A*S*H-Cast, I've been thinking of my favorite era of the show. I mainly saw M*A*S*H in reruns on Channel 29, but we would occasionally watch it live. I know we were among the millions that tuned in for the finale.

In any case, my favorite time of the show was from where Winchester joined (Season 6's “Fade Out, Fade In (Part 1)”) to when Radar left (Season 8's "Good-Bye Radar: Part 2"). This is for a couple of reasons, and they are entirely personal, so your mileage may vary.

First, I never liked how Frank Burns was treated as a character. The Frank from the original movie was an army surgeon who was, perhaps, a bit over-zealous in his religious views. He became the enemy of Hawkeye and Duke simply because he was there and they didn't agree with him. That escalated to the point where Hawkeye pushed Frank so far that Frank attacked him. Still, Frank was a good surgeon and did his job.

Not so much in the TV show. Here, Frank is a bumbling dullard who is more akin to a child than a doctor. While I disagree with how the character was treated in the movie, I am outraged by how he's treated in the show. There are times when Hawkeye, Trapper, or BJ show even a slight interest in being his friend which makes Frank become a puppy-dog. They then squash this possibility, crushing him. It's like having the cool kids pick on a special needs child just because it amuses them, and I never liked it.

Replacing Frank with Charles was brilliant, in my opinion. Now you had someone who could give as good as he got, plus he was able to team up with Hawkeye or BJ against the other. That made for a much more interesting dynamic on the show and, also in my opinion, raised it on an intellectual level.

While Charles added something the show needed, the departure of Radar had it lose something. The innocence that Gary Burghoff imbues Radar with is sorely missed in the rest of the show. Not that I dislike Klinger, but his cynical take on being company clerk is just like everyone else's cynicism. There's no wide-eyed amazement at anything anymore, and that's a detriment to the stories.

Still, it's going to be interesting hearing Rob Kelly's take on each episode, along with his guests. Maybe they can change my mind on the Frank situation, but I doubt it.


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I'm Not Mad, Just Disappointed

It might be an aspect of getting older, but I've found that I just can't get worked up about entertainment anymore. There was a time where I would have gone off on a rant about Todd McFarlane giving Spider-Man mask eyes the size of his head, but not anymore.

Why, yes, my eyes do go from above my eyebrows to below my cheekbones.

Part of it could be that I'm just not going out of my way to watch stuff. I'm not current on any of the Marvel or DC TV shows. I pick and choose the movies that we go to see. I don't read any current comic books. Even so, if I do see/read something, I just can't get mad about it. I either think it's OK, or that it's not for me and move on.

I suppose this is why I just don't get the "This is the greatest/worst movie/TV Show/comic book EVER and if you don't agree with me, it's because you're not smart enough to understand!" I've heard that WAY too much, especially with regard to any DC movies starting with the Nolan Batman stuff. Look, it's great that you feel so passionately about something, but there are all kinds of tastes out there. Just because you think this is the best depiction of your concept of Batman doesn't mean someone who doesn't even like Batman has to agree with you, even if you accuse them of being stupid for not doing so.

There's enough entertainment that I know I like, or that I think I'll like but haven't watched/read yet, that I really don't need to seek out any of the stuff that I'm pretty sure I won't like.

Now get off my lawn!

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New Bit of Tech

As longtime readers know, we cut the cord almost 2 years ago. Since that time, we've been using an HD antenna for local channels, but most of our viewing is done via streaming. This was done through our PlayStation 3 system, but I had recently noticed a lot more glitching with services. Things taking to long to load, or freezing in the middle of playback. This didn't occur on the same apps on my tablet, so it wasn't an internet issue. Sadly, we concluded that it was time for an upgrade. Since we've had the PS3 for 6 years, we certainly got our use out of it.

So, on the day before Thanksgiving, the above system arrived at our door. It's a PS4 Pro, Star Wars Battlefront 2 edition. While we don't have a 4K TV, our current TV still being in working order, I do plan on getting one eventually. That, along with the 1 TB hard drive and better processing power, lead me to the Pro version. We've been using it successfully for 2 weeks and I can gladly say that the problems I noticed before are now gone. As an added bonus, I now have access to more games and I might just get to play online with my friends. (That will require scheduling to line up, as with everything else.)

Now I'm waiting for Final Fantasy VII: Remake to come out, as the original is the reason I bought a PlayStation in the first place.

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Spooky Bats & Scaredy Cats

Yes, I know that Halloween was 2 days ago, but I didn't want to sit on this for another year. I saw this when it first came out and since it's claymation, I wanted to see it again the next year. However, I didn't remember the name of it, so I could never find it. Luckily I managed to uncover the video this year, and I wanted to share it with all of you.

Let me know what you think about it. I seem to be biased towards pretty much anything claymation, but I think this is a cute concept.



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Magic Highways USA

I got REALLY busy this past week and haven't had a chance to write anything coherent. So, in place of that, I give you a classic episode of the Disneyland TV Series, Magic Highways USA. It's really quite interesting to watch and see just how much they got right, or at least close.



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Streaming

Since we got rid of cable & satellite, our family watches a lot of stuff on streaming services. Primarily we use Netflix and Hulu, but also occasionally Amazon Prime and Crunchyroll. Recently, Disney announced that they are pulling out of their Netflix deal and starting their own streaming service. Unfortunately, I think this is a bad move.

CBS has already said that the only way to see Star Trek: Discovery (after the first episode) is on their own pay service. This has caused a lot of fans, myself included, to already decide not to watch it. While I have no problem with companies deciding what they think it best, they need to understand why the "Netflix Model" works so well. One work, variety.

There are very few streaming services that I would consider paying for that had such a narrow focus, and yes I consider Disney to be a narrow focus. I can watch a huge amount of things on the services that I use, some of which I can't see anywhere else. However, there are things on there that I'm not fond of, but that my wife and daughter love to watch. That variety makes it worth the monthly fee.

One way that Disney can make this work, for me at least, is to do what the WWE service does. Open the vaults. Give the viewers things that it is impossible to find elsewhere. Put the entire, unedited and uncensored, run of Disneyland and Wonderful World of Color on there. Put out those cartoons that we can't get on TV or YouTube. Heck, give us Song of the South and I'll sign up on the first day.

I think that the Walt Disney Company has had some great ideas and business strategies, but if they're just going to show their movies on this service, I don't think this is one of them. If they go the WWE way, it can be successful. If they follow CBS's idea, I think it will fail.

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Second Season Shake-Up

What happens when your TV show has enough ratings to get a second season, but not enough to be a convincing hit? You go through what I call the "Second Season Shake-Up", where things are changed to, hopefully, get more people watching. This has been going on for pretty much as long as TV has been around, and can be small changes (Checkov coming onto the Enterprise) or large (like with Space 1999).

One of the biggest changes was seen with Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. In the first season, the stories were kind of a balance between fighter dog-fights, police work, and diplomacy. Everything started and ended on Earth, and Wilma Deering was a high ranking officer (a Colonel) in the Earth Defense Force.

Then we come to the second season, where the base of operations is the spaceship Searcher, whose mission is to find the "lost colonies of man" (a little too Battlestar Galactica there, Mr. Larson). Buck, who was working with the EDF in an unofficial capacity, is now on the Searcher with even less of a role. He's more of a passenger that sometimes does missions, if the Admiral begs him enough. The less said about changing Wilma into a "space car hop", the better.

Personally, I tend to like the more minor changes (a la Star Trek), but I'm also not a network executive.

If you want to hear more of my thoughts on the Buck Rogers TV show, check out this episode of the podcast.

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Jack Webb TV Shows

Thanks to streaming services, especially Hulu, we've been watching a good amount of old TV shows. Among those are the 2nd version of Dragnet and Adam-12, both produced by Jack Webb, who also starred as Sgt. Joe Friday on Dragnet.

One over-riding theme on these shows is the purity of the main characters. Friday and Gannon on Dragnet are by the book, incorruptible cops. They solve crimes, and dish out facts, in a straight forward way. The same can be said of Malloy and Reed, the patrolmen on Adam-12, although they tended to have a little more personality.

I completely understand that these are not nuanced shows. They present the law and order side of things and show why the other side is wrong thinking, almost to the point of propaganda. That appeals to me, though. If you went by D&D alignments, I'd be Lawful Good, so this is right up my alley.

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Buy-In Characters

From http://talesofadequacy.wordpress.com/

There is something to be said for having a "buy-in character" for various groups in works of entertainment. Those characters that an audience member can see a little bit of themselves in. One type of these characters that I never really liked was the kind that was only there for kids. More often than not, these characters were either useless or annoying. Sometimes both at once.

Some examples I can think of would be Wendy, Marvin, & Wonder Dog on the original Super Friends. These "Junior Super Friends" were there simply to give kids a reason to watch the show.

I'll let that sink in for a moment.

Yes, Hanna-Barbera Productions thought that a cartoon about Superman, Batman & Robin, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman wouldn't have kids watching it. Ugh.

Another type of character was the "Hey kids! Watch this! We've got a kid on here who's super smart!" character. I'm talking about the Wesley Crusher/Lucas Wolenczak character. You know, the kid who's smarter than the adults. The one who can figure out the solution to the problem quicker and better than the highly trained officers. Yeah, that's something I have no time for.

Don't get me wrong, Wil Wheaton & Jonathan Brandis did a great job with what they were given, I just don't think those are the right kinds of characters to have on shows. I would much rather have watched Star Trek or SeaQuest without those characters on them, or have them there but just as regular kids their age. The Super Genius (TM Wild E. Coyote) bit is what made me not like them, and their over use as the Deus Ex Machina made me dread episodes that featured those characters.

Personally, I would much rather all characters be there for a story purpose, and not to attract a certain type of viewer. Series like Firefly had a great range of characters and not a kid among them. Not to mention the original Star Trek, where kids were guest stars but not regulars. I'm pretty sure the show was fine in the under 18 demographic, even with that "lack" of someone the kids could identify with.


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Superman on Supergirl

As I'm sure you're all aware, they are going to put Superman on screen in the new season of Supergirl, and not back-lit or blurry, either. As a Superman Fan, I can tell you that I'm thrilled about this. I do have a few things to say, though.

First, I'm happy to see a new actor take on the role. Of those that have played the Man of Steel, and are still with us, we have Brandon Routh & Henry Cavill, both of whom already have roles in DC properties, so they were out already. That leaves Tom Welling, the man from the Smallville TV series. Since he spent 10 years of his life as Clark Kent already, I don't think he would have come back anyway.

However, they have cast Tyler Hoechlin in the role, who is 28 as of this writing. That's a bit of a problem for me. You see, Superman was already around, and trusted, when Kara first arrived on Earth. That means he had to be around 22 years old, at the youngest. Now it's 12 or so years later, which means that he'd be in his mid-30's, at least. We also have James Olsen. Actor Mehcad Brooks is 35 at the time of this writing, which means that we have a Jimmy Olsen who is older than Clark Kent!

Last, and certainly not least, I want the writers to remember that the show's name is "Supergirl" and not have Superman around to save the day all the time. I liked how they handled it in the first season, making it all about Kara with Clark in the background, if he was there at all. That should continue, but I'd love to see some Kryptonian family bonding going on at the Fortress.


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The High-School-Ization of Fandom

Well, not so much of a rant, as a "Get Off My Lawn"

In the show that came out this past Tuesday, Trentus Magnus & Michael Bailey were talking, in part, about the High-School-Ization of Fandom. What Magnus said was that High School was the last time you were expected to be good at everything (ie all of your classes) and that fandom had become where you now must like every aspect of geekdom, be it movies, TV, the original comics, etc, or you can't call yourself a fan.

While that's a perfectly valid way to look at it, I have a different take on that phrase. Something I've noticed a lot more in the age of "internet anonymity" is more of the clique mindset, as many have seen in High School. What I mean by that is the "I think this is the best <insert medium> representation of <insert character> and if you don't agree, then you aren't really a fan of him/her!" attitude.

I might be odd (OK, I know I am, but stay with me) but I'm able to compartmentalize things. For example, where Superman in concerned, I can see the George Reeves version, the Christopher Reeve version, Tom Welling version, and the Henry Cavill version all* as valid ways to go with the character. I obviously like some more than others, but that's my prerogative. On top of that, I don't think any of them have to match 1:1 to the comics version, or any of the various carton versions.

Do I think someone that who likes Tom Welling but doesn't like Christopher Reeve is an idiot and "not a real fan"? Heck, no! It means that they're an individual and I respect their opinion. It affects me not at all, so there's no reason to get upset by it. If you're stuck in the High School mentality, though, where popularity is based on your public persona, and how much that matches the "cool" group, then you might just fall into the group think and start blasting people that dare to have their own tastes.

To those people, the one's that think their opinion is the only right and valid one, I say ... well, this is a family blog, so I can't really say it, but I think you get my meaning.

BTW, here's the link for the episode in question. Worth a listen, in my opinion.

* I didn't include Brandon Routh in the list because he's, essentially, playing the Christopher Reeve version and not his own.

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Supergirl / Flash Bandwagon Jumping

I know that I'm getting crotchety in my middle age (remember, I'm mentally 25 years older than I am physically), but very now and then I find something that just puts a smile on my face as big as my daughter's. One such even happened earlier this week as we watched, live for a change, an episode of Supergirl guest starring The Flash.

This is the kind of team-up I have always loved in the comics. Not the, now tired, "I don't know who you are so I must fight you" trope, but a straight up hero helping hero story. The Flash breaks the dimensional barrier and ends up on yet another Earth, where he "saves" Kara Danvers. Secret Identities are exchanged (which is one point that still irks me) and the two heroes team up to solve the weekly plot.

Since it's Supergirl's show, she manages to get a lesson from The Flash, as it wouldn't do to have character development of the guest star, and they end with Barry going back to his own Earth. However, there are several geek-out moments in the episode, both for the audience and the characters, and it's just such a fun episode that I couldn't help but cheer at certain points.

THIS is how superhero team-ups are supposed to be! THIS is how superhero properties are supposed to be handled! Not dark and brooding with everyone asking "But what if they turn against us?" No, this was fun and well grounded in the source material, right down to the heroes calling each other "Girl of Steel" and "Scarlet Speedster". Heck, the promo image is a huge homage to the comics!

The only thing that might (yes, might) have made it better is if a certain 5th Dimensional Imp had been responsible, but that's been done before.

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