south park season 12 pt 1 subsector 8 form 26b microfieche

with the conclusion of season 12 part 1, aggrocrag readers will soon finally be treated to a post about something other than south park. ...soon. for now, more 'park it is.

last night's journey to days of field trips yore brought with it the first predictable cartman/butters episode of the series. the formerly novel and always brilliant recipe instantly became formulaic, and some may even say it had echoes of shark jumping (...say it ain't so!). besides that, i was irked by one specific, tiny line that hopefully is not a sign of something bigger to come: the police officer commenting on how annoying the people at the 1800s village are for never breaking character. it was a non-sensible diagetic oversight that played down to a dumb audience--something south park is fantastic at rarely doing. add this to a season without a single real bright spot (besides the 30 seconds of butters singing "what what in your butt," which loses replayability quickly and illuminated their struggles to pick up on potentially brilliant plot lines) (and perhaps the kenny/cheesing episode, which was by far and away the best of the first half of the season but still terrible compared to the classics) and it looks like we may be in for a bumpy ride to the finish.
we should note that it's still the best show on tv.

in other news, matt groening (sp?) interviewing david chase at the writer's guild this past week was exactly as fulfilling as most wga events: i left saying "it was worth the 10 bucks and howevermany hours of my life...but just barely." if you're around in late april and may, though, james l. brooks and judd apatow are coming 'round the bend...

things i've learned during--and, in one way or another, as a result of--the strike

-jon stewart is even funnier a person than i had given him credit for.

-it's always sunny in philadelphia is hysterical. charlie is one of the greatest characters ever.

-robot chicken is what happens when family guy has no allegiance to main characters.

-as hard as this is to admit to myself, i actually get lonely without my favorite shows having new episodes. i hated the last season of 24, and i was not particularly looking forward to this one, but jack bower's absence in my life is certainly felt.

-the simpsons can still actually be funny. that 90's show, season 19 ep 11, was one of the best i have ever seen. the BTTF reference...incredible.

-the wire is hands down the most brilliant television show ever made.

-nick gas really is dead. i love the n, but i was fine having it a few hours a day on noggin. the world is a sadder place without gas.

kwik-e-mart

great observation by buster zalkand a few weeks ago that hit home today:
the simpsons created a sarcastic, purposefully generic version of 7-11 and then almost twenty years later licensed this generic version back to them. amazing.