How can you define a decade? Through television, of course. The 1990s featured many memorable TV moments, providing a fascinating picture of the decade. In this book, 99 episodes across all major television genres are discussed--from police procedurals, hangout sitcoms, and cartoons to game shows and much more. Some of these episodes became iconic and helped define the '90s; other episodes reflect events in the world at the time.
The four-part trilogy returns in an all new trade paperback collection. Fry, Leela, Bender, and Professor Farnsworth's clone/ward Cubert take an intergalactic trip, and when they return to Earth, they find the planet uninhabited. First, our merry band of messengers must fight off alien invaders bent on claiming the planet as their own. Then they must go in search of their missing colleagues as well as billions of citizens from Planet Earth. But "where are they?" soon turns into "when are they?" and "how" and "why" also make a little appearance. And before long the intrepid crew quite literally goes to hell and back again. Will the world ever get back to normal, or is everyone totally boned? Yes, there will be time travel—so bring a change of clothes!
Groundbreaking! Does for TV shows what Leonard Maltin’s guides do for movies! Forget movies! Sales of TV DVDs are outpacing all other categories, according to Video Store magazine. The Simpsons, 24, Lost, Desperate Housewives, Alias, even old chestnuts like Columbo and Home Improvement are blowing out of the stores as fans and collectors rush to buy their favorite shows, compact and complete. How do buyers know which shows are the best, which season contains that favorite moment, which episode features that guest star? They don’t—not without their trusty copy of 5,000 Episodes No Commercials which gives full information on every sitcom and drama released on DVD, whether in season-by-season sets, individual episodes, best-of compilations, specials, or made-for-TV movies. Almost 500 pages of listings include year of original airing, information on audio and video quality, extras, Easter eggs, and more. Every couch potato is sure to heave up off the sofa just long enough to buy 5,000 Episodes No Commercials!
Matt Groening developed together with his friend and colleague David X. Cohen the TV-Show Futurama, set in New York in the year 3000. Groening describes his ‘vision of the future’ in Futurama as corporate, commercial and confusing which is not what he expects it to be, and it is not necessarily valuing this world as good or bad. Thus, the assumption of this study is that Futurama presents a stereotyped science fiction-world that deals with themes and problems of our present time. This becomes clear when looking at the excessive use of allusions and references to political and historical events as well as to popular and classical culture. The creators comment that way on topics that concern us – or at least should concern us – today. The task of this study is to identify these topics and references (focusing on America as a political entity), and thereby discuss the points of criticism Futurama raises.
Since late evening cartoons first aired in 1960, prime-time animated series have had a profound effect on American television and American culture at large. The characters and motifs from such shows as The Flintstones and The Simpsons are among the best-known images in world popular culture; and tellingly, even series that have not done well in prime time—series like The Jetsons, for instance—have yielded similarly iconic images. The advent of cable and several new channels devoted exclusively to animated programming have brought old series back to life in syndication, while also providing new markets for additional, often more experimental animated series. Even on the conventional networks, programs such as The Flintstonesand The Simpsons, not to mention Family Guy and King of the Hill, have consistently shown a smartness and a satirical punch that goes well beyond the norm in network programming. Drawn to Television traces the history of prime-time animation from The Flintstones initial extension of Saturday mornings to Family Guy and South Park's late-night appeal in the 21st century. In the process, it sheds a surprising light on just how much the kid inside us all still has to say. Drawn to Television describes the content and style of all the major prime-time animated series, while also placing these series within their political and cultural contexts. It also tackles a number of important questions about animated programming, such as: how animated series differ from conventional series; why animated programming tends to be so effective as a vehicle for social and political satire; what makes animated characters so readily convertible into icons; and what the likely effects of new technologies (such as digital animation) will be on this genre in the future.
Join Fry, Leela and Bender and the rest of the Planet Express crew a thousand years in the far-flung future, in the all-new Futurama Adventures with stories that'll have you laughing today
First published as two two-part, comic book mini-series, these hard-to-find comics are collected together for the first time in a hardcover collection, encased in a die-cut slipcase, and packaged with a reprint of the Eisner Award-winning issue of "Simpsons Comics."
This book takes an ecrocritical approach to analytical readings of animated feature films, short subjects and television shows. Beginning with the "simply subversive" environmental messages in the Felix the Cat cartoons of the 1920s, the author examines "green" themes in such popular animated film efforts as Bambi (1942), The Simpsons Movie (2007), Wall-E (2008) and Happy Feet (2008), as well as James Cameron's live action/animation blockbuster Avatar (2009). The discussion extends beyond American films to include the works of Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, including the Oscar-winning Spirited Away (2002). Also evaluated for their pro-ecological content are the television cartoon series South Park and Futurama. The appendix provides a list of film and television titles honored with the Environmental Media Award for Animation.
Join circus stuntman Oscar Diggs as he goes up in his balloon and is blown all the way to Oz at the time when both wicked witches are still alive an??? kicking! The people of Oz mistake Oscar for a might??? wizard and, ever the showman, Oscar plays along. I??? one sidesplitting, suspenseful scene after anothe??? Oscar becomes the ruler of Oz, builds the Yellow Bric??? Road and fights off the wicked witches. Staying on jump ahead of two wicked witches is no easy feat bu??? Oscar's wit and bag of tricks help him carry the day Filled with suspense, How the Wizard Came to O??? is sure to keep readers turning pages right to the en??? With over 30 black-and-white pictu
