Recent cliffs notes

[sholio]

1. Signups for Hurt/Comfort Exchange close today.

2. I may be starting a new publishing venture because I totally need another of those right now, but details redacted for now. >.>

3. I made a Bill Maxwell gifset from Greatest American Hero a few days ago.


I owe a proper post or three about Greatest American Hero, which I was enjoying but doing FINE at not having too many strong feelings about, until one particular episode made the steel jaws of fandom feelings close around me like a bear trap. As they do. This is a show that was basically wrecked by network meddling, but there are times when you can see that it might have been really amazing and ahead of its time in multiple ways if the creators had been able to do what they wanted to do with it. A few years later the same creative team went on to do Wiseguy (... as well as like 50% of everything else that was popular on TV in the action genre in the '80s) and it's interesting to see this as an early run at things like having season-long continuity and interweaving the characters' personal and work lives, in a more farcical setting.

Also, I've been semi-joking with sheron that the show's writers had a functional portal to 2020. We've had episodes about a violent, right-wing religious cult co-opting the presidency and sparking LA riots, an outbreak of a disease that forces people to be quarantined for its 2-week incubation period, and an unscrupulous TV personality deciding to run for president on the basis of figuring out how to use celebrity to make people do whatever he wants. (That last one is probably a not-so-veiled swipe at Reagan, given the time period, but still.)

Comments

[sovay]

I owe a proper post or three about Greatest American Hero, which I was enjoying but doing FINE at not having too many strong feelings about, until one particular episode made the steel jaws of fandom feelings close around me like a bear trap. As they do.

Bill turned up hungover in the high school men's room and I had feelings.

(That last one is probably a not-so-veiled swipe at Reagan, given the time period, but still.)

Honestly, a lot of the Reagan era would give you a functional portal to 2020, alas.

[madripoor_rose]

Oh, did you hit the part where the assassination attempt on Reagan happened so they changed Ralph's last name from Hinkley to Hanley and then just never mentioned his full name again?

[silverflight8]

I looked at the hc ex tags and now the word "hurt" doesn't look like a word anymore.

[sheron]

I am sure I laughed for at least 3 minutes straight when the relevance to 2020 occurred to me. The alien radio picked up some vibes, for sure.

I'm also looking at your "DNW: ... references to current politics/pandemics..." signup and chortling.

[aelfgyfu_mead]

I love the gifs! Called BH in to see some of them.