TVSquad

Some lovely soul has uploaded a full video collection of Saturday's New York Comic-Con's Venture Bros. Spotlight, during which creator Jackson Publick confirmed the rumors of a third and fourth season. I reported on my experience in this post, but be sure to watch the videos as well if you want to have a good laugh. The Season Two DVD trailer alone is worth it. Oh, and if the audio in the beginning sounds rather poor, trust me when I say that's exactly what things sounded like in the room. All the cheering and laughing made it really difficult to hear.

Fun Fact: In the sixth video (around 2:20), you can hear me share an obscure pop culture moment with Mike Sinterniklaas when he talks about Monkey... Marvel at the unusually high voice that suddenly squeaks, "Yeah! Journey to the West!" to Sinterniklaas. Yup, that was me. I swear, my voice is much more silky and sultry when I'm not talking to Dean Venture.

Anyway, enjoy the videos after the jump. I'm going back to count the number of times that any of the Venture Bros. guys may have looked at me in the front row.

(S17E21)

Ned: We want you to teach alternative theories to Darwinian evolution.

Skinner: You mean Lamarckian evolution?

Last night The Simpsons took on creationism versus evolution, pitting Lisa against the rest of the town. This isn't the first time the show has tackled the issue of science and religion, most notably in the "Lisa the Skeptic" episode in which the supposed skeleton of a dead angel is found. Last night's episode had some good moments, but it did feel like they were treading upon somewhat familiar ground and not saying anything especially new.

The best episodes of The Simpsons contain several layers, mixing the absurd and sophomoric with the heartfelt and sincere. Seventeen seasons down this long road with no forseeable end in sight, it's normal to catch an occasional episode where everything doesn't quite fit, even if some elements still work.

That's just my long-winded way of saying last night's episode didn't exactly rock my world, but there were parts I liked. As far as the "gags" they all pretty much left me cold. I don't think I had a single "laugh out loud" moment, though Homer going through a mill in the beginning in order to get his rubber duck back into a charity race was a fun bit of Chuck Jones-inspired insanity. Also, seeing the expressions of pure elation on the faces of Rod and Todd when they use a see-saw correctly for the first time was amusing. Bart's relationship with his surrogate monkey mother had several nice little subtleties, and I loved how easily he fell into the role of "son," immediately taking advantage of his fake mother's natural instinct.

At the heart of the episode was Marge and how she teaches Flanders and his two sons that it's okay to take risks and get hurt once and awhile. It's that element of humanity that's in all the best Simpsons episodes. Even if it was a bit weak in this instance, I'll call it okay but forgettable. Besides, next week is the Ricky Gervais episode, and I have slightly larger hopes for that one.