"I Am the Night" Rewatch: "If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich" and "Joker's Wild"

Batman: The Animated Series

Today we have made it to the fortieth episode of B: TAS. That is pretty phenomenal. The time has really flown by, hasn't it? It's also a testament to the quality of the series that forty episodes in and we are just being introduced to one of Batman's classic rogues, The Riddler. Fun fact: The Riddler was the first villain in the 1960's Batman series. Let's find out how he fares in his debut B: TAS appearance.

"I Am the Night" Rewatch: "The Strange Case of Bruce Wayne" and "Heart of Steel" Parts 1 & 2

Batman: The Animated Series

It's always fun to watch B: TAS continue to do new things and introduce new characters. The two episodes we deal with in todays blog post do both. The first episode finds three classic villains working together and maybe my favorite two-parter in the show's history introduces the civilian identity of my all-time favorite Bat-character.

"I Am the Night" Rewatch: "Night of the Ninja" and "Cat Scratch Fever"

Batman: The Animated Series

One thing that B: TAS struggled with was trying to introduce antagonists outside of the comic book source material. They didn't always fail, but for ever Rupert Thorne there was a Sewer King. Sometimes it doesn't matter, because the villain is just a means to an end. Sometimes it matters very much. In this post, we will be dealing with one of the most memorable original villains that B: TAS ever introduced.

Doctor Who for Dummies: Series 2

Doctor Who - Series 2 (2006)

I finished Series 2! I'm super excited and proud of myself. The more I watch, the more into it I'm getting and the more I just want to plow forward. That's not something I ever thought I would say about "Doctor Who."

I have a lot of feelings about Series 2 that I've trying to get sorted out. I think overall, I liked it, but I liked Series 1 a little more. Sacrilege! I know! I think that your overall enjoyment of series 2 is based on how emotionally invested you are in the relationship between Rose and the Doctor. As someone who is not super into it, that definitely could have colored my opinion, but I don't think that's totally it. There are a handful of great episodes, but I don't think any of them stack up to the highs of series 1. Let's go into that a little more in depth.

"I Am the Night" Rewatch: "Robin's Reckoning" Parts 1 & 2 and "The Laughing Fish"

Batman: The Animated Series

I needed a little B: TAS break after the flaming garbage pile that was "The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy." I know that every show has stinker episodes, but sometimes they can stop momentum. Luckily, these next episodes are back to the quality level we've come to expect.

"I Am the Night" Rewatch: "Perchance to Dream" and "The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy"

Batman: The Animated Series

I feel really badly that it's been so long since I've posted one of these. I hate it. I was planning on getting to a three B: TAS blog post a week schedule after the new year. Life happens. Specifically, the stomach flu. I will spare you the gory details, but it's time to get this party started again. 

Doctor Who for Dummies: Series 1

Doctor Who - Series 1 (2005)

I love sci-fi, fantasy, superheroes. I'm sure you've gathered that from my blog. Or if you're a friend of mine, my home, my Facebook page, me in general. I'm sure I've mentioned this in a previous posts, but one of my biggest nerd blind spots is "Doctor Who." I mean, I'm aware of it. I have tons of friends who are super into it and have been pushing me to watch for years. An I have tried. God knows I've tried. I've probably watched the first two episodes of the rebooted "Doctor Who" five or six times in the past few years, but haven't gotten any further. Everyone kept telling me, I could skip Christoper Eccleston's Ninth Doctor and jump right into David Tennant's Tenth, but I'm not good at starting something in the middle.

So, what finally got me to finally watch this series all the way through? Well, it is Jodie Whitaker. Whitaker is taking over as the new Doctor when the 11th series of the reboot starts up sometime in 2018. She's the series first female Doctor in over 50 years. It's historic and I want to witness that, but I want to witness it in context. To be fair, I'm not really interested in watching any episodes prior to Eccleston's run, but I think that's OK. So, these are some general thoughts and impressions I had as I made my way through series 1 of "Doctor Who."

The Truth Is Out There X-Files Rewatch: Season Three

The X-Files: The Third Season

The third season of "The X-Files" premiered on September 22, 1995. This was really the season that the show started firing on all cylinders and showed audiences what it could do. The ratings were the highest they'd been so far and the show was nominated for and WON Emmys. The series was nominated for 8 Emmy Awards and won 5. I think one of the things that propelled the third season ahead of the previous two is that the show finally found it's sense of humor. Episodes like "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose," "War of the Coprophages," and "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" proved that the show could be funny, sometimes even poke fun of itself and still be suspenseful, scary and unsettling. A lot of this is thanks to writer Darin Morgan, who penned the aforementioned episodes and sadly, left the show after this season, not returning until the revived tenth season. Thankfully, the shows other stable of regular writers saw the returns on this episode and weren't afraid to incorporate humor and sometimes even ludicrousness into future scripts.

Before we start, I just want to say, that this is the first and only season of "The X-Files" I would recommend watching all the way through. I'll still list the mythology episodes, best MotW episodes and any you could probably skip, but even the ones. you could skip are good enough that if you didn't, it would be fine. Each episode has something worthwhile in it, something that distinguishes it and makes it worth your time. Here we go.

"I Am the Night" Rewatch: "Dreams In Darkness" and "Eternal Youth"

Batman: The Animated Series

Happy New Year blog readers! I'm excited to continue on our journey through B: TAS in 2018. On the off chance that you are watching along, these two episodes close out the "Volume One" DVD's and open the "Volume Two" DVD's. We've also gotten to the point where we are going to start repeating villains (I mean, besides Joker), which is kind of cool. So, here we go!