TVSquad

Do not adjust your web browser. You are now entering the Retro Squad, where we are reviewing past episodes of classic TV shows.

Even when I was a little kid, there were some things about the Super Friends (or Superfriends or Superamigos, or whatever they were calling it) that didn't sit right with me. Maybe it was because the confluence of superpowers all in one place just boggled my young mind. Maybe it was the mysterious change from Wendy and Marvin to the Wonder Twins that made me scratch my tiny noggin. Not sure. But those mysteries continue to fascinate me, even into adulthood. It's just that those mysteries are more sophisticated:

1. How did the Super Friends have time to hang out at the Hall of Justice? Every one of the SFs lived in different parts of the country: Batman and Robin were in Gotham City, for instance. So, did B&R commute from Gotham to Metropolis a few times per week? Did they use the Bat Plane or the Batmobile most of the time? Did they claim the mileage on their taxes?

I was looking over a "Where are they now?" feature our friends at AOL put together on the cast of Cheers, and a few of the mysteries of the long-running sitcom classic came to mind. These were head-scratchers big and small that made me wonder if the writers are the most clever geniuses ever to man a word processor (it was the '80s, after all) or, like in most sitcoms, consistency of story was the first thing to go if a good joke came up in the writers' room.

I guess I should just go over to Ken Levine's blog and ask him, since he wrote for the show for many years. But if I did that, I wouldn't get paid for it. So, after the jump are the biggest Cheers mysteries, starting with the biggest and most obvious one:

CBS held an "informal" press conference ("informal" being code for "take all the reporters in the massive ballroom and cram them in a meeting room a quarter of the size") for the hit show Jericho. On the panel were executive producers Carol Barbee and Jon Turletaub and stars Skeet Ulrich, Ashley Scott, and Lennie James.

First of all, let me say that the shock of the session came right away, when Lennie, who plays Hawkins, opened his mouth and a British accent came spilling out. I guess I need to watch more British TV, since he's been around for a long time, starring in shows like The State Within. Anyway, the producers fielded most of the questions, mainly revolving around the long break between halves of the season as well as what we'll find out about the various cast members this season.

National Geographic asks: were the moon landings faked?

I respond: No, no they were not.

However, if you want a little more substance to your answer, the National Geographic Channel is airing a six-part Behind the Mysteries airing January 23 through 25. The episodes will look into the aforementioned claims about the moon landings and ancient astronauts, Roswell, the possibilities of alien contact, life on Mars and the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle. The dates and times for the episodes are:

• January 23 at 9pm: Roswell
• January 23 at 10pm: Alien Contact
• January 24 at 9pm: Life on Mars
• January 24 at 10pm: Conspiracy Moon Landing
• January 25 at 9pm: Ancient Astronauts
• January 25 at 10pm: Bermuda Triangle

I don't pretend to have all the answers, but I do know that ancient astronauts did in fact exist. I've provided a video that proves this, after the jump. Only click ahead if you're prepared for the truth.

...ten Lost mysteries in need a-solving

Lost is one Pandora's Box that doesn't look like it's ever gonna shut. The mysteries unleashed by the series are hardly in short supply, and they are well cataloged online.

In an attempt to not appear entirely redundant, I've decided to focus on the 10 mysteries that I think even the writers can't solve. These are the mysteries that I doubt we'll ever get a truly satisfying conclusion to because, frankly, I'm not sure the writers always know what they're doing. Even if they do, the chances that Lost's eventual payoff could ever equal the energies fans have poured into decoding the show are slim. A false lead here. An obscure reference there. Lost's loose ends are going nowhere.