brilliant "oh hey, yeah" moment

[spatch]

Under a spoiler cut for those who have yet to see this week's Venture Bros. episode "Viva Los Muertos!" You may have already figured it out, but someone had to clue me in on Val.

Each member of the Scooby Gang parody was based on a real-life demented icon. Teddy was serial killer Ted Bundy, Patty was brainwashed heiress Patty "Tania" Hearst, Val was Valerie Solanas, author of the S.C.U.M. Manifesto, and Sonny was the Son of Sam, who of course claimed he received instructions to kill from his neighbor's dog.

Ben Edlund wrote the episode, and while he may be approaching the central characters from a different angle than Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer, he did an incredible job.

Comments

[modpixie.livejournal.com]

i'm assiduously avoiding reading this post, but i must admit some skepticism towards edlund's abilities. while firefly and the tick are some good TV, i thought "ice station: impossible!" was the most disappointing episode of the venture brothers that aired last season.

[eclecticavatar.livejournal.com]

I *heart* your icon!

[spatch]

I don't think Ben Edlund wrote Ice Station Impossible, or did he? I'll check the DVD. And I rather like the Impossible characters, I do admit, because taking the Fantastic Four to a literal extreme is pretty damn hilarious.

Edlund is hit-or-miss when it comes to the Venture Brothers. His "Bud Manstrong" episode a few weeks back was, frankly, terrible, and only picked up near the end. He tried to write Goofy Brock Samson instead of Brock Brock Samson, and it didn't work. I also hated Bud Manstrong's mom. Edlund just doesn't have the same handle on the Ventures and Brock as Doc and Jackson do.

But Viva Los Muertos! was an improvement, a much better showing, had a great opening, and helped take the characters further along in this season's story arc. Plus it got in a pretty twisted parody in the middle.

[toonhead-npl.livejournal.com]

Jackson Publick wrote Ice Station Impossible. I love love love the FF, especially this take on them. I didn't care much for the Manstrong one myself.

But I was so happy to see Stephen Colbert still doing his voices in Venture Bros. and Harvey Birdman. (They were probably recorded before he got his own show, but don't deny me this little pleasure.) I worry he'll give up doing voices even though it's only a few.

[hemlock-martini.livejournal.com]

I'm glad somebody else disliked the "Bud Manstrong" episode; I thought maybe it was just me. I couldn't watch more than five minutes of it--Manstrong's mom was so stridently annoying I couldn't enjoy it. Not even Ghost Lincoln drew me back in when I checked back fifteen minutes later.

And I hadn't figured out the serial killer angle from "Muertos" until you mentioned it. I had guessed that the talking dog was a Son Of Sam riff but hadn't realized that Edlund took the joke to a higher level. Oh, that Ben!

[modpixie.livejournal.com]

okay, "IS:I" is not the one i'm thinking of. i can't remember the name of the episode, but it was from early in season 1 -- the ventures end up going into space, brock "wrestles" an ugly russian scientist, and dr. v. pees everywhere. is this ringing any bells?

[spatch]

Oh, that was "Careers in Science." Yeah, you're right, Ben Edlund wrote that one. It was the first Bud Manstrong episode.

[spun-lepton.livejournal.com]

I was shocked to see Edlund had written it, as well. I thought Muertos was one of the strongest offerings of the season, actually. My favorite remains 20 Years to Midnight, of course.

Aww, I liked the Manstrong episode. So far the two episodes I've been less than impressed by are Hate Floats and Love-Bheits.