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| a weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves |
The month of June is ending soon, and this being the last Thursday of the month we are having another television-themed Thursday Movie Picks. This week we are exploring the fish-out-of-water theme, a theme that screams Ted Lasso — and it would have been the perfect pick as not only it features one hell of a fish-out-of-water character, but it's about football and Euro 2020 is happening right now. Unfortunately, my dumb-ass used it at the beginning of the year so I'll have to do without it.
Futurama (1999-2013)
I can't think of anyone fitting the theme as good as Philip J. Fry does as he's accidentally frozen in 1999 and thawed out on New Year's Eve 2999, and finds himself in a completely different world.
Prison Break (2005-2009)
The best series I've watched this year so far, it stars Wentworth Miller as Michael Scofield, a brilliant structural engineer who commits arm robbery so that he will be sent to prison and can help his brother, who is soon to be executed for a murder he did not commit, to escape. The fish is obviously Michael as it's the only non-criminal in that prison.
Ugly Betty (2006-2010)
Betty (America Ferrera) is a smart, sweet, and hard-working young woman who is hired to work at a fashion magazine. The problem is that she has a unique style, she is not thin and (conventionally) beautiful like her co-workers, and she is constantly reminded of it.
I used to watch Futurama so much when I was a kid. I saved Ted Lasso for this theme. lol
ReplyDeleteI used it at the beginning of the year because I'm dumb 😅
DeleteI was very close in picking Ugly Betty which is a good show and one I enjoyed. Futurama is a good show, not as good as The Simpsons but still so funny. I always laugh at the kept head of Nixon. I have not seen the prison break one.
ReplyDeleteI'm probably one of the few people who enjoys Futurama a bit more than The Simpsons. It's amazing how many years that series has been running and how they still manage to make good episodes, but there are some characters in Futurama that I just love more.
DeleteI didn't watch any of these regularly but saw random episodes of both Prison Break and Ugly Betty but started with both too late to really know what was going on so I never picked up the habit. Some day when they rerun them if I can catch them from the start I'll probably give them a try.
ReplyDeleteFuturama however just isn't my cup of tea.
Lots of choices this week, I went with one I loved in the 90's and two I watched all the time when I was a kid.
Northern Exposure (1990-1995)-Fresh from his residency at a big city hospital native New Yorker Dr. Joel Fleischman (Rob Morrow) discovers he is contractually obligated due to a student loan agreement to practice in Alaska for the next four years. Expecting to be on staff in Anchorage he is livid when he discovers that instead he is assigned to the remote village of Cicely. Once he arrives, he finds the residents a unique idiosyncratic lot totally foreign to Joel’s New York sensibilities.
My Favorite Martian (1963-1966)-During a ride around the universe a Martian’s (Ray Walston) spaceship nearly collides with a NASA rocket causing it to crash land in the hills near L.A. where he is discovered by young reporter Tim O’Hara (Bill Bixby). At first eager for a story Tim gives the Martian shelter while he works to repair his ship and passes him off as his Uncle Martin. They become buddies as Martin tries to both adapt to earthly norms and avoid the sweet but ditzy landlady Mrs. Lorelei Brown (Pamela Britton) from finding out the truth.
Green Acres (1965-1971)-Successful New York attorney Oliver Douglas (Eddie Albert) decides to chuck big city life and move to a broken-down farm in Hooterville along with his extremely glamorous but very reluctant Hungarian wife Lisa (Eva Gabor). Silly bit of ridiculousness (they lived in a penthouse apartment in New York but can’t afford to fix up the shack of a house in the country? He farms in a three-piece suit while she wanders around the dilapidated hovel in satin and feathers) is put over by the talent of its stars and a willful suspension of belief.
I've never heard of your picks before but My Favourite Martian sounds fun.
DeleteMy Favorite Martian is fun, great chemistry between Walston and Bixby makes it better than it should be.
DeleteNorthern Exposure is wonderfully quirky, very personality driven and low-key.
Green Acres is dumb as dirt but I love those Gabor women.
Futurama is such a great choice! Funny show and so many great moments. It's one of them few shows I've genuinely cried during (the dog episode... sobs). Excellent choices.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteFuturama is a great pick, I almost included it myself. :-D
ReplyDeletePrison Break was fun in the first few seasons, later it got silly.
ReplyDeleteWell technically Michael isn't really a non-criminal...he did have to commit an actual crime, I think it was some bank robbery, even if the point of the crime was to be sent to prison rather than for the money. So the brother Lincoln is the one that isn't a criminal since he is supposedly wrongly convicted.
I see your point, but I still think Michael is the non-criminal as he committed the crime on purpose (and still feels bad every time he has to do something bad) while Lincoln didn't kill the Vice President's brother but he was a small time criminal already.
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