Hee Haw (1969-1993) was one of several series inspired by Rowan & Martin’s Laugh In. Hosted by country singers Buck Owens and Roy Clark, Hee Haw is filled with simple cornball style humor, which I find very enjoyable.

I grew up on Hee Haw. In fact, that was what first got me interested in country music. Well, that and Dolly Parton movies from the early 80s. I know what you’re thinking. You think I just liked to look at Dolly Parton. Yes, she is pretty, but I liked her music as well as her classic films like 9 to 5, Rhinestone, and Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. (I was so young at the time I thought it was pronounced “Best Little Warehouse in Texas”.)

Anyway, Hee Haw has one-liners used in several different ways. Some of the main ones are in the “Cornfield” segment where random characters pop up and tell jokes to one another, and “Picking and Grinning” where Buck and Roy tell jokes while playing their instruments. Funny stuff, I’ll tell ya.

In a way, Hee Haw was labeled as a rip-off from Rowan & Martin’s Laugh In. Sure there are similarities, but it does stick out as a classic to me. There’s no political humor, it’s the kind of material that’s kept simple and I think that works a whole lot better.

One of my most favorite gags that I recall was about a guy who decided to get alligator shoes by wrestling an alligator. He won the fight, but was disappointed because the alligator was barefooted. Then there’s Archie Campbell in the barber shop telling fairytales like “Rendercilla” and “The Pee Little Thrigs”. Oh, that cracks me up.

The music on Hee Haw is also good. The most memorable songs are “Pfft, You Were Gone” and “Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me”. They talk about sad things here, but it’s still silly. Don’t you just love it?

Not too long ago at a convention, I’ve discovered that there was a Hee Haw comic book. I heard that there were only seven issues made and are very rare, but I found one.

Hee Haw, which features a creative group of performers, is and always will be a long time favorite of mine. Even though I’m not hugely into country music, this show still takes me back. I must confess, other than Dolly Parton and the Dixie Chicks, the only way I even know of any country singers is when they have made appearances on Hee Haw and sometimes The Muppet Show and The Dr. Demento Show.

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The StacheBros have done it again. In this YouTube video, Bowser tries to give group therapy to his minions, but they get easily sidetracked. Sounds hiliarious. Enjoy.

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Scream (Dimension Collector’s Series) is a teen slasher about a masked killer in the town of Woodsboro, who terrorizes high school students by calling them before stabbing. Oh, the magic of cell phones. The killer’s first victim is Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore). She was so pretty in that sweater. It goes well with her blonde hairdo.

After Casey and her boyfriend Steve (Kevin Patrick Walls) get murdered, the police arrive at the high school and interrogate everyone there. Unfortunately, they are still nowhere close to finding out who the killer is. It’s a real mystery here.

The killer’s next victim is Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell). He tries the same tactic on her. “Hello, Sydney.” But she’s not so easy to kill. Heck, she’s brave enough to punch out a reporter. “Nice shot.”

School gets out early one day and Stu (Matthew Lillard), who is a hilarious goofball, throws a party at his house and invites everyone. With the killer still out there, Randy (Jamie Kennedy) uses his knowledge of horror movies to help the others survive. Simple rules like, no sex, no alcohol, no drugs, and never say, “I’ll be right back”. Unfortunately, no one takes him seriously. The knowledge does pay off later, for those who actually listened.

Many horror movie references are featured in this movie, from when Randy tries to identify the killer to when Billy (Skeet Ulrich) relates his relationship to Sydney as “edited for TV”. Also keep an eye out for a guy dressed as Freddy Kruger. 

This is a great movie overall. It has lead to two sequels as well as a couple of spoofs. In a way, Scream was like a horror movie that was inspired by the creativity of other horror movies. It goes to show how popular the genre really is. I must ask though. Are motives really incidental these days?


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Tremors is a funny horror movie about giant worm like creatures with numerous snake tongues called graboids that burrow under the ground and snatch humans to eat everywhere they go. 

Val (Kevin Bacon) and Earl (Fred Ward) are a couple of handymen, who do odd jobs all over the town of Perfection. Other characters trying to survive include Melvin Plug (Robert Jayne) the practical joker, Burt Gummer (Michael Gross) the over prepared ammo supplier, his wife Heather (Reba MacEntire), and others. 

Of course the real stars of this movie are the graboids. They’re blind, but have super hearing, super strength, and super patience when it comes to hunting for victims. It may be safe up on the roof tops, but the graboids never give up. They could even take down buildings if they wanted to.

As Burt and Heather gun down a graboid that breaks into their basement, it took everything they had, including a flare gun and an elephant gun, to take it out. Talk about thick-skinned. The graboids also seem to get smarter as their graboid buddies get killed, especially old Stumpy. Luckily there are only four of them.

Now that I think of it, I’m not so sure if this movie is really part of the horror genre. One thing’s for sure, It’s a real classic.

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Before Bowser Jr. was part of the Super Mario Bros. franchise, King Koopa had seven other children from Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World who have recently made a comeback on New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Here’s what I remember most about them.

Larry Koopa: He’s one of the youngest Koopalings and the weakest fighter, but don’t underestimate Larry. On the cartoon series, his specialty was sneaky deviousness. I guess that’s why he was renamed Cheatsy.

Morton Koopa Jr.: His biggest asset is his big mouth and maybe that star tattoo over his left eye. At least I think it’s a tattoo. Morton (renamed Bigmouth) is a real chatterbox on the cartoon series. As for Morton’s fighting skills, he’s a bit slower than Larry, but quicker with his wand.

Wendy O. Koopa: She’s the only sister of the family. Wendy is a material girl and a spoiled brat like Princess Morbucks from The Powerpuff Girls. On the cartoon series, she was renamed Cutie Pie and her tantrums are what made her my least favorite Koopaling. On the video games she sure had a thing for throwing deadly rings and having large spiked pillars in her castles. I’m guessing that the “O” must stand for “Obnoxious”.

Iggy Koopa: At first I was under the impression that he was a wild and crazy Koopaling. However, he always held back in that area until recently on New Super Mario Bros. Wii when he got creative with that chain chomp chariot. On the cartoon series, Iggy was one of the youngest twins named Hop who is playful in a deadly way. He’s just not what you would expect.

Roy Koopa: He’s one of the first Koopalings to attack with the stomp method that the Sledge Brothers use. On the cartoon series, let’s just say that Roy (renamed Bully) is not the kind of Koopaling you’d want to face in a dark castle. Though I like his sunglasses. I wonder if Roy ever takes them off.

Lemmy Koopa: This Koopaling has a thing for bouncing balls, which makes him difficult to pounce on because he’s so high off the ground. That also makes him playful in a deadly way. On the cartoon series, he is Hip the other youngest twin.

Let me backtrack a little bit. You hardly ever see Hip and Hop apart. They’re so close that they even tend to finish each other’s sentences. The Koopaling twins are labeled to be six years old while the others are in their teens.

Ludwig Von Koopa: He’s the oldest Koopaling and one of the toughest with his fighting skill. On the cartoon series, Ludwig is a mad scientist and was renamed Kooky Von Koopa. He has brains and brawn. Now that’s a rarity with villains. In his first appearance on the Super Mario Bros. 3 NES game Ludwig had the same stomp method that Roy has, but he was described to have had all the fighting skills of his other siblings combined. No wonder Ludwig shows different skills on each of the later games. Too bad he never showed them on the cartoons.

Having these classic Koopalings return was definitely part of what made New Super Mario Bros. Wii a huge success. I wonder if their long absence was from brain trauma, considering how many times Mario and Luigi have jumped on their heads. And of course the lava baths some of them had from the Super Mario World game for Super NES.

At one point I thought that Bowser Jr. was a replacement to modernize the franchise, but I’m glad he wasn’t. Bowser Jr. is merely the eighth child to the Koopa family, and Bowser is still single? Dude, if the Mushroom Kingdom had reality TV, I can somehow see this leading to something like “Octo-Dad”.

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