Top 5 Saturday Morning Live Action Television Shows - Saturday Morning Weirdness

The first thing I wrote for our Saturday Morning Weirdness was about my favorite cartoons and that was fitting because when I think of Saturday Mornings, my mind goes straight to Scooby Doo, Thundarr and the Super Friends.  After writing it, however, I realized that for me, that was only half the story.  I was also a huge fan of live action Saturday Morning shows and in some cases, liked them even more than their animated brethren.  Sure, they could be low production, cheesy affairs with stars that were washed up times three, but that was part of their charm.  So, here is my list of my personal Top 5 Saturday Morning Live Action Television Shows...I hope you enjoy it.

Your iZombie Catch-Up - Spoilers Ahead

iZombie is the best show currently airing on the television, it is better than everything on the prestige networks, Netflix and the Trivago app. Shit fucking rules and if you aren’t watching it you need to remedy that shit pronto.

By the way, I should let you know up front that I curse, a-fucking-lot.  I do not do this because of the cliché bullshit about people who curse having limited vocabularies, I am an underground rapper, my vocab game's been tight. I curse because cursing is fun. It is 97% of what is enjoyable about Quentin Tarantino movies. If you are so prim that your psyche may be fractured if besmirched by the language of the longshoreman, may I suggest catching up on the Downton Abbey recaps over at genteelsummations.uk. For the rest of you, I will be here every Tuesday with the hot and fresh takes on iZombie. For now, let’s get you up-to-speed.

Childhood for Sale: The Most Blatant Saturday Morning Toy Commercial Cartoon and Why It Was Allowed to Exist – Saturday Morning Weirdness

Not Pandering to Children is Like Leaving Money on the Table

Did you know that there was a time you could watch some children’s programming, and then could not go straight to the toy store and spend several hundred dollars on related merchandising? Two generations of children grew up with regular television shows targeted at their demographic that did not requisitely have oodles of games, toys, and bed sheets connected to these shows. Oh, you there were some commercial toys—superheroes, for instance, had been targeted for trinket sales pretty much right after Action Comics #1 debuted. Hanna-Barbera cartoons like the Flintstones and the Jetsons (which were not even targeted solely to children) might license their images to Colorforms or Shrinky Dinks, but you couldn’t get every Flintstones character in several outfits as action figures that fit perfectly within a Flintstones playset. It simply wasn’t done. And the reason for that is because American companies actually cared about the well-being of children at one time, instead of perceiving them as conduits to their parents’ wallets.

Top 5 Fridays: Top 5 Moments of the Earth 2 Series

Welcome back to another exciting installment of Top 5 Fridays! If you haven't kept up with comic news, DC has finally explained the mystery of what Rebirth is. In May, we'll be getting "rebirths" of many DC titles in an attempt for the creative teams to bring the characters back to what they were meant to be. Earth 2 is one of these titles, and after a year and a half of nothing but war, death, and betrayal, I welcome it with open arms. With that in mind, I decided to go back and look at some of the better moments on Earth 2 that made the series great in my eyes. As with all my lists, I'd like to remind everyone that it is my list, so if you don't see your favorite moments, I apologize. Let's begin!

DC's Legends of Tomorrow Episodes # 4 and #5 Review and **SPOILERS**

Directors: Antonio Negret (4) and Dermott Downs (5)
Writers: Sarah Nicole Jones (4), Phil Klemmer (4), Beth Schawrtz (5) and Grainne Godfree (5)
Release Dates: February 7, 2016 (4) and February 18, 2016 (5)

After, the great episode that was "Blood Ties", my expectations for the next episode were pretty high. I like the LOT cast and crew; and think the level of action and the scope that the show has is beyond compare. So when I saw episode 4 (White Knights), I was so disappointed, that I had to take a week off in order to look for the meaning of life. Unfortunately, I failed. Anyways, I'm back now and ready to watch and review both episodes that I missed. Will the second episode, redeem the first? Or will this two-parter become a blemish in the history of the show?

Wonder Woman #49 Review and *SPOILERS*

Going Against The Family

Written By: Meredith Finch
Art By: David Finch, Scott Hanna, Brad Anderson, Rob Leigh
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: February 17, 2016

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Woman Woman is SICK!...... is something I would be saying if I was still rocking slang from the late 80's/early 90's........ which I still kind of do....... except for "sick" and that wouldn't be true if I did....... Anyway, I'd also be saying that if the character was indeed sick and actually, neither of these meanings would be accurate for this comic, I just wanted to use "sick" because that seems to be what we're dealing with in this story arc, from Dr. Poison doing her poisoning thing in the last issue and now us dealing with Baby Zeke having a mysterious illness.......... Yeah, that was a lot just to lay out what's been going down with Wonder Woman, but coming up with opening paragraphs is hard sometimes.  Yeah, Wonder Woman's been rough lately, but with every issue I go in with fresh eyes, hoping that the new issue that's out will be the turning point for this series.......... so with that, I just want you to know that those fresh eyes I have....... well, they're getting a bit sore.  Let's jump into this issue and see if Wonder Woman can find a cure for this mysterious illness afflicting baby Zeke.  Let's check it out.

Martian Manhunter #9 Review and *SPOILERS*

The Iron Giant..............Manhunter

Written By: Rob Williams
Art By: Eddy Barrows, Ronan Cliquet, RB Silva, Eber Ferreira, Marc Deering, Andy Owens, Gabe Eltaeb, Tom Napolitano
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: February 17, 2016

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Martian Manhunter has been on a hell of a ride since this series began and this ride has taken us from Martian Manhunter's suicide, to us finding out that he separated himself into different personalities, to him causing not only the end of Earth, but the magically recreated Mars from the past........ Yeah, it's been crazy.  Most currently though, Martian Manhunter has decided that he will fight for the people of Mars in a strange war that was kind of laid out like it was meant to be between Earth and Mars, but appears to be more of a civil war between the human residents of the Red planet and it's people against Ma'alefa'ak and his forces.  It's kind of up in the air about what's going on with that though because with all that plot thrown at us we also have a mysterious Martian boy, who seems to be the key to everything, but who for the most part has remained enigmatic about his role.  That's a lot of shit right there and with my looming questions about how this Mars could have existed for twenty years, (from what we learned from the now adult Alicia) while Earth and it are just now looking like they're about to collide.  Let's jump into this issue and see what goes down between Alicia and Ma'alefa'ak's war mechs as they go head to head in what may be the final fight for Mars.  Let's check it out.

Arrow Season 4 Episode 14 "Code of Silence" Review and *SPOILERS*

Here comes the BOOM!

Director: James Bamford
Writers: Wendy Mericle, Oscar Balderrama

First Aired: February 17, 2016

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Another week, another adventure in Star City. Last week, we had a miniature version of a League of Assassins Civil War, which lead to the dismantling of the League...but more importantly had Malcolm throw his hat in with HIVE. While that's going on behind the curtain, Oliver's Mayoral Campaign has one competitor standing in his way, but she definitely isn't on the lawful side of things. How is Oliver going to handle this woman who is clearly working for a dark organization? How will Damien use the information given by Malcolm be used? Am I done procrastinating? YES, I AM, so lets dive in...

Superman: American Alien #4 Review

Man of Tomorrow

Written by: Max Landis
Art by: Jae Lee, June Chung and John Workman
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: February 17, 2016

This book is one of my favorites out right now and while you don't really know what to expect each month, I go by the motto, "In Max Landis We Trust."  That is a total turnaround from how I felt before that first issue came out, but of course, that was before Landis blew my mind.  This series has transitioned from fairy tale to dark and gritty and then last month gave us pure hilarity.  All the while giving us more heart than any main Superman book has shown since the beginning of the New 52.  So, It's with a smile on my face that I start this month's issue...Let's see if it's still there at the end.

Secret Six #11 Review and *SPOILERS*

You Are Beautiful, In Every Single Way

Written By: Gail Simone

Art By: Dale Eaglesham and Tom Derenick, Jason Wright

Letters By: Travis Lanham

Cover Price: $2.99

Release Date: February 17, 2016

*Non-Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

She’s got poise and grace, and a badly-scarred face, it’s Strix! She was treated real bad and now she speaks through a pad, it’s Strix! She’s a cold-blooded killer in leather, and she really likes ice cream—even in chilly weather. She’s down with the Secret Six, it’s Strix! We’ve come to love the character in the pages of Secret Six, but because the group’s members take people at face value and don’t pry, we don’t know a whole lot about her past. All that’s about to change with this issue, that kicks off a new story arc for the team! I can’t wait to learn more about our favorite Talon, can you? You can? Well why don’t you read my review while you’re waiting!

Titans Hunt #5 Review and *SPOILERS*

Those Who Cannot Remember The Past Are Condemned To Repeat It

Written By: Dan Abnett

Art By: Paulo Siqueira, Geraldo Borges, Hi-Fi, Carlos M. Mangual
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: February 17, 2016

*Non Spoilers and Score AT The Bottom*

Memories are funny things...... I mean we remember events, places and people, but they're not always as accurate as we assume they are......... you know, since we remember them and all that and after reading this issue, I find that memories are even funnier than I thought.  In this series we have a group of heroes, who for the most part have no idea of one another, with maybe the exception that they might have heard about one of them somewhere down the line, but no real direct connection and yet, they all have a past that none of them can recall. We've spent four issues seeing hints dropped and coincidences thrown in that give these characters a past and now that some of them have come together, it's time to find out who is pulling the strings for this forced walk down memory's forgotten lane.  Things might begin to move faster though since in the last issue, we saw that the villain behind this: Mister Twister, has captured Herald and plans on using the musically inclined hero that memory and time forgot to call the rest of the Titans together.  Let's jump into this issue and see what goes down and if more of our team come together.  Let's check it out.

Batman and Robin Eternal #20 Review

Reset Button

Written by: Tim Seeley
Art by: Roge Antonio, Geraldo Borges, Allan Passalaqua and Marilyn Patrizio
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: February 17, 2016

We are almost there guys...the end of Eternal is in sight.  I know that I've been a bit of a Negative Nancy at times during this season, but it's been a long ride and sometimes I get a bit cranky.  Once we get to Wally World, everything will be alright.  I mean, it's definitely open, right?  Sure it is, which is good because I wouldn't want to force John Candy to let us ride the Whipper Snapper.  That would be messed up.  Messed up indeed.  Since we don't have to worry about that, I'm going to let you take the wheel of the Family Truckster while I review this week's issue.  Here goes...

Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death #2 Review and *SPOILERS*

Beware of Dogs. And Plants.

Written By: Amy Chu

Art By: Clay Mann, Seth Mann, Jonathan Glapion and Art Thibert, Ulises Arreola

Letters By: Janice Chiang

Cover Price: $2.99

Release Date: February 17, 2016

*Non-Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Man, wherever Poison Ivy goes, trouble seems to follow. She tries to save the environment by taking down polluters, and she gets sent to an insane asylum. She takes a job at Gotham City Botanical Gardens, and her mentor dies of poisoning. She poisons some guy that pisses her off, and he gets poisoned. Okay, maybe that was all her fault. Point is, she leads a complicated life, and it’s made even more complex by her own weird narcissism and set of ethics. All she wants to do is create animal-plant hybrid monsters, is that so wrong? The Saga of Miss Swamp Thang continues in issue #2 of Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death, and I reviewed it, and you can read on to confirm the existence of that review!

The Flash Season 2 Episode 14 "Escape From Earth-2" Review and **SPOILERS**

You Can Achieve Super Speed With the Care Bear Stare

Starring: Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker et al.

Story By: Todd Helbing and Aaron Helbing, David Kob

Directed By: JJ Makaro

First Aired: February 16, 2016

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

The last time we left Flash & the Gang, they were in rough shape on Earth-2: Cisco was beaten up at a warehouse where Zoom had committed a double homicide against members of his crew, Barry was captured and being held by Zoom in his special warehouse for weirdos, and Harrison Wells of Earth-2...well, he was pretty much okay, worried about daughter but otherwise unharmed. Meanwhile, on Earth-1, new metahuman Geomancer is calling out the Flash and Jay Garrick is doping with a drug called Velocity to try and stop him! Will our heroes prevail? Well, there's another episode next week, so most likely. But read on to be sure!

DCAU Tuesdays: On Leather Wings Review and **SPOILERS**

Writer: Mitch Brian
Director: Kevin Altieri
Release Date: September, 1996

Welcome to Weird Science's best written section: DCAU Tuesdays. As many of you may have realized, I did not post a review last week. That was because I was busy doing very important things like eating, laundry and vacuuming.

Anyways, today I am reviewing the very first BTAS episode: On Leather Wings. Right out of the gate I'm going to say that since this episode has Batman fighting Man-Bat, there is a good chance I will like it. (I'm a very big fan of Batman punching anything or anyone with super powers.) So with that in mind, lets get into the nitty and gritty details of this whole sordid affair.

Earth 2: Society #9 Review and *SPOILERS*

Let's Get Political

Written By: Dan Abnett
Art By: Jorge Jimenez, Alejandro Sanchez, Travis Lanham
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: February 10, 2016

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Oh Earth 2, will you ever find a direction.............. and if you do, will it ever be something that people can gravitate towards?  If you've read all of the Earth 2 stories, you'll know that this series has been struggling for awhile and I was really hoping that Dan Abnett coming on this series would straighten it the hell out and give us some serious re-imagined Golden Age character action and get the bad taste of World's End out of our mouths and even though I didn't mind our first outing with our new writer last issue, it seems that the "Society" in the title is taken a little bit too seriously.  I mean, when this book was first announced I jumped for joy because I thought we were finally going to get these heroes banning together and becoming a team, but from what it looks like, it's going to be more about the society on this new Earth.......... or as it's called in this issue, Earth-2.......... being that this is actually our character's second Earth.  Alright, let's find out all about the society of Earth-2 and what our heroes are going to do to make it work or tear it apart.  Let's check it out.

Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Five Chapter #9 Review

Freedom Terrorist Fighters

Written by: Brian Buccellato
Art by: Bruno Redondo, Juan Albarran, Rex Lokus and Wes Abbott
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: February 16, 2016

Injustice continues and while I liked the action that Hawkman brought to the book last week, it was more filler than I want (and expected) in the final year of the book.  By the end of the issue, the sexist Hawkman was put in his place and I'm hoping Buccellato gets things rolling again this week.  Let's all join hands and find out, shall we?

The Weird Side #7

 Story and Art by: Paul B.

I knew that having the extra JFTHOI podcast on breakfast cereal would get Paul's creative juices flowing and also tried to bet Eric that there would be something in this week's Weird Side involving my Mom and generic cereal.  He wouldn't take the bet because he knew it would be in as well.  I love it and it is like taking a time machine back to 1982.  Enjoy this week and I'm already taking bets that next week's Weird Side will have at least one panel with Eric's infamous "Valentine's Day Problem".

-Jim

Bloodsport Movie in a Gif - Just For the Hell Of It Mondays

If you've listened to our podcast, you have to know that one of my favorite movies of all-time is the 1988 classic, Bloodsport.  Jean-Claude Van Damme, Donald Gibb, Forest Whitaker and the biggest badass of them all, Bolo Yeung as Chong Li, all laying down the smack down and some of the most quotable lines ever.  I don't know how many times someone has asked me directions and I tell them "Very good, but brick not hit back."  I seriously want everyone to watch it, but if you have an attention span problem like me, it's hard to sit through an entire movie.  So, for this week's JFTHOI Monday, I give you the reason Al Gore created the Internet...the Bloodsport movie Gif.

Wonder Woman ‘77 Chapter #15 Review and *SPOILERS*

Gastric Relief for the Wonder Woman Intolerant

Written By: Marc Andreyko

Art By: Richard Ortiz and Christian Duce, Romulo Fajardo Jr.

Letters By: Wes Abbott

Digital Price: $0.99

Release Date: February 15, 2016

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine’s Day with their insignificant other. I say “insignificant” because one person I know you didn’t spend time with was Wonder Woman. For one thing, she’s a fictional character and cannot really “spend time” with anyone. But for another thing, the new chapter of Wonder Woman ’77 came out today, not yesterday. You might have been waiting up for her to show, clutching a bouquet of paltry posies and a lame Valentine’s Day card that you spent forty minutes picking out at the pharmacy, but she didn’t arrive, and instead showed up a day later as if to say, “I’m not deaf, I’m ignoring you.” Yes, Wonder Woman sees your weak attempts to get her attention, and she doesn’t care. She’s Wonder Woman for Hera’s sake! There are more important things for her to do than assuage your feelings. Look, just read my review of chapter fifteen and maybe you can glean a little but of what it means to be in her presence. Because let me tell you, nothing you’re doing now is going to get her to come over for dinner.

Logan’s Run Marvel Comics #6 and #7 Review and *SPOILERS* - Just For the Hell Of It Mondays

When You’re a Cub, You’re a Cub All the Way

Written By: John Warner

Art By: Tom Sutton & Terry Austin, Don Warfield (#6), Tom Sutton & Klaus Janson, Phil Rache (#7)

Letters By: Joe Rosen (#6), Denise Wohl (#7)

Cover Price: 30 cents

Cover Dates: June, July 1977

*Non-Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Okay, I’ll admit that Logan’s Run February has been kind of weird so far. For one thing, Logan’s Run is not really the sort of intellectual property that’s deserving of a month-long multimedia examination. Furthermore, this is being featured on a website primarily dedicated to comic books, not novels and films. Well here at the halfway mark of Logan’s Run February, I’ve got something to put you back in your four-color comfort zone as I review the Marvel Comics adaptation of Logan’s Run, the movie! Actually, I’m going to specifically review the two issues beyond the film adaptation that Marvel published before cancelling the series, but I’ll be writing about the entire run as well. Why am I wasting your time talking about the things I’m going to write? Read on, you’ll find I have written them!

Weird Science DC Comics Podcast Episode 58: DC Comics on a Raft and Wreck em

Jim and Eric get together after last week's marathon and crank out another long one.  We find out that Eric had some Valentine's Day performance issues, World War One involved an alien invasion and one real big reason it's good that Jim didn't win the lottery.  They also talk a whole lot of DC Comics including the books that came out this week, the news and so much more. And remember... Making two cows cry by dragging them to Wisconsin!!!