Wikipedia Wandering – 1/24/07

No idea if this will be a regular feature or not, guess we’ll see how people like it.

Basically, idea is this. Sometimes I just like to go through Wikipedia and look up something and read up on it. Usually stuff I’m somewhat familiar with or have heard about, and want to know more, or maybe something I used to follow, and stopped, and wondered whatever happened.

This week? TGIF.

I don’t quite remember how I got introduced to it, I think my parents were watching it on a slow Friday night, and I wound up tuning in on my own the week after, and the week after that, and so on.

Yeah, I was a lonely kid.

But, there were some amusing shows on there sometimes, and others were just… kinda there, you know?

For example: Baby Talk. Either a rip-off or spin-off of the Look Who’s Talking movies, the only other particularly distinct thing I remember about this show is that one ep started with the mom and dad(?) playing an NES, and she got killed by the first Goomba in Super Mario Bros.

…well, yeah, of course I would remember something like that…

Better shows were Step by Step(so I liked Christine Lakin, sue me), and some other stuff.

Yeah, I admit it, I watched most of it pretty regularly. Full House, Family Matters, Perfect Strangers, Boy Meets World… I was by and large a TV junky until I moved back to Wingate, and it started to wear off. But then, most of the kids I knew were assholes, so there.

But there are two I’d watch again in a heartbeat if I got the chance.

One is the short-lived Muppets Tonight.

Why?

Because Muppets rock, dumbass.

Another is Dinosaurs.

Yeah, you know the one. Baby Sinclair whacking Earl with a frying pan to the cry of “Not the Mama!”

This one I read up on earlier, and for whatever reason, it turns out I never got to see the show through to its surprisingly (well, somewhat… they ARE dinosaurs, after all) finale.

I do remember being creeped out by one episode in particular as a kid, however. It was episode 21: “The Clip Show.”

TV.com’s summary: A modern archaeologist documents the dinosaurs way of life and how things were when they came to the world actually before humans ever ruled the world and before they became extinct.

Basically, it was an episode of a family sitcom where you tune in one week and find out that everyone is dead.

I won’t say it scarred me for life or anything, I mean, logically, I knew it would turn out that way anyhow. They were dinosaurs, after all. But to tune in one week to a show you like and see all these characters you know are dead and being referred to in a past tense… it’s just kind of weird.

Anyway, Jim Henson productions did a bang-up job on this one, and hell, the first two seasons are even on DVD now, so it’s easy enough to catch up on, if you’re willing to drop 35 bucks on the set.

Continuing my wanderings, TGIF lead me to Dinosaurs, and in turn, Dinosaurs lead me to Anti-Barney Humor, which was a little more involved than I knew about, including lawsuits (that didn’t pan out too well, due to parody law working in the purveyors’ favor) and The Jihad to Destroy Barney, a bizarre role-playing game.

And, that’s as far as I’ve gone today.

I may or may not continue this, if this brought back any memories or stirred any interest, let me know, and maybe I’ll keep tabs on future “wanderings.”

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

David Oxford

David Oxford, or “LBD ‘Nytetrayn’,” as he is sometimes also known, is a freelance writer of many varied interests who resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.

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