John “On The Spot”: Eric Deggans from the Tampa Bay Times “misses the mark” in a new article reviewing Allen Gregory/Beavis & Butt-Head.
Sorry if that offends anyone. I like Tampa Bay overall(huge Bubba the Love Sponge mark right here) but if this is the shit you guys have to read every morning on the way to work/school then I feel sorry for you. Pretty much this guy wrote an opinion piece about the return of Beavis and Butthead and the premier of Allen Gregory, and as such showed the city of St. Pete how much of a douchebag he really is. After the jump I’m going through this article line by line to tell ya what I think…
I’m all for freedom of speech and opinion(obviously thats why I created a blog). But, when you’re just plain beligerent to an audience of people, you deserve to be spanked. As such, I am holding your paddle Eric and I’m ready to smack!
“Now I know how my parents probably felt when they first saw an early episode of “The Simpsons”
Yea? What is that exactly? Probably realization that their kid was going to be a sub-par media critic NOT for the New York Times. Yep, I agree with that…what else?
“Pop culture references flying at the speed of light. Scenes that seem way too crass or explicit for television.
And a lot of humor young folks love that unfolds like an uninspired mess to older eyes, wrapped up in animation that looks too crude even for children’s television.”
Ummm..If you look at the upper right hand corner of your TV screen where it says “TV-MA” or at the various “Parental Advisories” that come on before episodes of when shows air, you would note that CONTENT IS SUITABLE FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED. You get a pretty fair warning that this isn’t children’s TV.
“I feel a tinge of that watching the work of Seth MacFarlane, the mastermind behind a growing list of animated comedies I have never found entertaining (Family Guy, American Dad and The Cleveland Show, so far).”
Yea but Seth Macfarlane makes more money than you.
“That notion bloomed fully while I was perusing two animated shows making their bows this week: the return of Beavis and Butt-head to MTV at 10 p.m. Thursday after 14 years, and the debut of Fox’s newest animated comedy, Allen Gregory, at 8:30 p.m. Sunday.”
PLUGS!
“To be honest, I didn’t like Beavis and Butt-head much when it first started in 1993, as dim-witted adolescent avatars for MTV’s young audience.”
Then what were you expecting exactly when watching the comeback episode? The show is about two kids who make fun of modern society/pop-culture. THAT’s THE SHOW! You later prove this in your own article when you write.
“It was kinda cool how creator Mike Judge (King of the Hill, Office Space) built characters that MTV’s audience laughed at — two geeky, know-nothing teens in a fictional Texas town who loved ridiculing stupid music videos — even while he was lampooning the very kids who watched them most.
This time, the pair take on clips from MTV’s own so-called reality TV series, cracking that “everybody’s mouth is always open” on 16 and Pregnant and noting when the Jersey Shore cast listed all their hookups on a chalkboard, “if they did this chart long enough, they could figure out where herpes began.” A side story line featuring the guys letting a scruffy hobo bite them repeatedly — they wanted to become werewolves, they mostly just got infections — was as skeevy as you might expect.”
I guarantee this guy loves Twilight and shops at HotTopic where he buys skin tight black jeans, white makeup, a cross chain, and fangs then sits in front of the movie theaters hoping women would notice him. Mike Judge was always one to take whatever modern society was into at the time(now its reality shows and shit vamp movies) show the people of the world(ON MTV mind you) that you are watching this and merely commenting on it. As a matter of fact Eric, they kinda have your job! They just do it better and is seen by more people(about 3.3 million viewers) so…ya know.
“But as creepy as the two Bs could get, they haven’t matched the grossest moments in Fox’s Allen Gregory, an odd little comedy starring the voice of Jonah Hill as a superprivileged kid forced into public school when his family’s finances take a hit in the recession.
Little Allen Gregory De Longpre wears a tan pantsuit and carries a briefcase, spouting self-obsessed patter like a Hollywood hipster schmoozing his way through the Ivy. In other words, he’s a super geeky target for public school kids focused on kickball and cursive writing instead of the latest Charlie Rose episode.
Still, it’s the segment where young Allen Gregory dreams of seducing his school principal — a sixty-something matron with back fat so extensive he can (and does) luxuriate in it — that feels as unsettling as anything Beavis and Butt-head ever committed to a broadcast.”
Yea? Did you see Dancing with the Stars recently featuring Chaz Bono? Or how about the Casey Anthony trial that was on EVERY FUCKING NETWORK. There’s a lot worse out there then sex jokes.
“Is it a satire of kid culture? A sendup of the cluelessness among some overly entitled heirs to wealth? Regardless of its target, Allen Gregory seems to miss the mark, showcasing pointedly odd characters in scenes that fall somewhere between amusing and perplexing.”
What mark did you have set for this show? Did you think it was going to blow your mind, boss? I mean if Family Guy isn’t going to grind your gears, nothing really will.
“Perhaps it’s all just too hip for this middle-aged critic to process. But my hunch is that the groundbreaking spirit of The Simpsons and South Park has yet to find its echo in these animated shows.”
So, Beavis and Butthead a show that actually ridicules what kids consider hip these days doesn’t fit you? Oh and by the way the South Park creators on more than one occasion have cited B&B as an influence to their show, is that groundbreaking enough for you?
“Of course, that’s probably just what my dad would have said about The Simpsons.”
Yea, maybe that or maybe “Go Outside”. Btw, I like how your “top five shows you should be watching” includes three bandwagon shows like “Dexter”, “The Walking Dead”, and “Sons of Anarchy” all of which get pretty decent ratings and probably don’t need your plugs. Why, don’t you try and discover shows that AREN’T already watched by everyone and be unique for a change, because judging by your article, originality has been removed from your spine YEARS ago.
I hope this turns out to be another Gravity Falls-type show with an overarching storyline.