Warm Fuzzy Viewings Five

Well, good evening!


It's pretty darn late as I type this. Late enough, in fact, on a Sunday night that instead of doing a full on, emphatic recommendation on something amazing, I'd rather do a Warm Fuzzy Viewing. It's one of those quiet, rainy Sunday evenings where the day has passed rather uneventfully (in my case, running a couple errands and making curry while watching the Emmys and doing laundry) and now I sit in the dark, typing away. This is basically prime time for a Warm Fuzzy Viewing, where in you watch something or do something that makes you feel like you're taking in this little, private thing that only you know about. Instead of a late-night cartoon, though, this one's on a game.

Super Metroid is, without question, one of the best and most critically acclaimed games ever made. It's so economical and perfectly designed in its experience that one feels guided through playing it without consciously realizing it's happening. You get nudged in the proper direction without explicit direction or hand holding, but rather through insightful, well conveyed contextual clues. My favorite part of this Super Nintendo classic has to be the moments immediately after the dramatic opening.


What unfolds is this: bounty hunter Samus Aran is summoned to a space station studying the deadly but lucrative Metroid by distress signal. Awaiting her arrival is Space Pirate Ridley, in the midst of stealing the titular Metroid. A battle ensues and Ridley escapes, as does Samus. Giving chase, Samus heads to the hideout of the Space Pirates, the planet Zebes. From there, a sprawling yet intricately constructed adventure takes place as Samus seeks to recover the captured Metroid. The arrival to Zebes is what necessitates this particular Warm Fuzzy Viewing.

 In masterful style, the player is introduced to the world in which the game takes place. Your iconic yellow spaceship lands on the surface in the middle of a rainstorm as night is falling. For a 16 bit game, it's a dynamic and mood-establishing stroke of artistry. There are no enemies present, no sense of urgency. It's just raining and dark out. You're left to your own devices to start the quest, slowly and with trepidation making your way into the Space Pirate lair. Its ominous and eerie - its quiet, a little too quiet. You make your way down into the interior of the planet, retreading old ground covered years prior. There's some familiar technology to make use of at the bottom of an abandons elevator shaft. Once you grab it, though, the spotlights go off and the guards come out in full force. The enemies are aware of your presence and the action starts. It's a fantastically crafted way to convey a sense of drama and adventure in  a game with almost no dialogue. 

I love this whole introductory sequence and how it unfolds in such a tense and quiet manner. You get to explore a silent, rainy world at your own pace. No one's around as you explore. It's no wonder this game routinely tops lists of the best games ever made. 

Warm Fuzzy Viewing Four

I haven't forgotten about doing these.

It's been a while since I've written any Warm Fuzzy Viewings. Not wanting to dilute the content of the site, I've held off until I felt I should contribute to a different section. So how about something that only seems to make sense at night? Maybe it's because it is set during the night, or because I watched them late at night in my parent's basement when I was in high school, whatever the reason - it wouldn't be right to watch it in broad daylight. I'm talking about the Meteor Shower Trilogy, also known as the Lost South Park Movie.

 Originally broadcast as three separate episodes in the summer of 1999, the Meteor Shower Trilogy has the main cast of South Park split up into their own stories. Cartman's story involves his abusive babysitter (and his obsession with the dated misfire that was Wild Wild West) while his mom attends a party at the Marsh's house to observe the titular meteor shower. Stan's episode is centered around the events of the party, where he's sequestered to the basement with a few other kids (including Butters!). At the party, a misunderstanding entices the involvement of the South Park police force, setting up a parody of the Waco incident in 1993. Kenny gets lumped into Kyle's story for an episode about camping and his Jewish heritage that gets weirder and weirder as the plot unfolds. None of what happens is intensely dramatic or of any permanence to the overall mythology to the show, it's just some bizarre and funny stuff. It's all set over the course of a single night, the three episodes occurring simultaneously.

I had wondered, when I saw the episodes ten years ago, if you could splice them all together into a single story. You may or may not recall my adoration of Fan Edits and how they re-contextualize stories with which we're already familiar. See where I'm going with this? Yeah - provided you know where to look on the ol' interwebs, you can find what's referred to as The Lost South Park Movie or The Meteor Shower. It's pretty loose and not to big on overlapping stories due to the way the individual episodes were written but it's still a very cool concept that only makes sense for me at night. I remember vividly the Sunday nights lying on the couch in the basement and howling at these episodes, loving the fact that they all took place over a single night. If you're interested, take a look around the web and see if you can dig 'em up. It's a cool concept. 

Warm Fuzzy Viewings Trois

Cold, quiet days here in Minneapolis. Makes the brain slow down. It's always dark this time of year, although the sunlight increases by tiny increments each day. How do you fight the monotony? It's a weeknight, you're exhausted, you can barely muster up the motivation after work to make dinner. What's to be done? 

You turn off the lights, crawl into bed and take in another Warm, Fuzzy Viewing. 

Today's entry is another one of many stellar Simpsons episodes. Mountain of Madness first aired over 14 years ago, during the series' eighth season, in what some consider to be the end of the 'Golden Era' of the show - just after the astoundingly good run of seasons 4-6, but just starting the season that gave us the fan-infuriating Frank Grimes. Personally I feel this is still in a good phase of the show, and arguements have been made on the internet about how what that magical, untouchable era constitutes and how it collectively is pushed forward with each passing year. As the show grew from its initial roots, fans said season 4 was too wacky and season two had the most heart. Back when season 7 was airing, it was the third season people claimed to be the best. When Homer went into space as an astronaut it was only season five! What I'm struggling to express here is that the show quickly became a source of insanity and fevered online debate. No matter the nerdly anger about perceived dips in quality, I still love it no matter the percieved quality changes. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but this particular episode was never a stand out, either. It was a middle of the pack offering, broadcast February 2nd, 1997, set in both winter and containging a hidden passage of sorts.   

Regardless of my Apologist stance on the Simpsons and my unwavering fanboy status, today's Warm Fuzzy Viewing is Mountain of Madness. One of the rare episodes that contains snow but not Christmas, it starts of with a fire drill that takes much longer than it should.

Mr. Burns: Is it supposed to take this long? What's a good time for a mass evacuation of the entire plant?
Smithers: 45 seconds.
Mr. Burns: And what's our time so far?
Smithers: I don't know, sir. This stopwatch only goes up to 15 minutes. 

Eventually Homer makes it out and barricades the door behind him, trapping his panicking coworkers. After the rest of the Nuclear Plant's crew has made it out (a great unspoken gag here being the broken second floor window, a couch having been thrown through it) Burns declares their ability to work together atrocious. A team building exercise is to be held on Mt. Springfield. It will be a pairs' race to the top, with the last team to arrive being fired. The Simpson clan drives up for the exercise, their car careening around the frozen parking lot like a pinball until it comes to a stop in the middle of the lot. Soon they get down to business at hand.

Burns: "This will be an ardous climb, one of the most grueling tasks man can...Simpson, did you bring your family?"

The Simpson clan head into the park's informational cabin to waste the day and the Nuclear Plant's team pairs off. Through the requisite twist of fate, Home is partnered up with Mr. Burns and Smithers is left on his own. Apparently Burns felt Smithers had "been a bit of a pill, lately." The teams start their journey and the adventure begins. Soon after the race starts, however, Burns uses a bit of wordplay and charm to convince Homer they should use a snowmobile to speed to the top, as it is Man using the best of his skills to cheat if possible. They beat all the other teams and arrive soon after.

Mr. Burns: We have several hours before the others arrive, let's say we get comfy. (turns on the fuse box) Now we have electricity. (turns on the gas) This propane tank will supply us with heat. And this doorknob, properly turned, will allow us access to the cabin. 
Homer: No going through the window for us!

As they sit back and relax before the buffet spread out before them (Burns: "From the highest pharoh to the lowest serf, who doesn't enjoy a good sit?") they toast to their success. The vibration of the glasses clinking sets off an avalanche, unfortunately, and Burns and Homer find themselves trapped in the cabin under tons of snow. Dementia quickly sets in and the pair descend quickly into madness, each creating snowmen for company. Their imaginations seizing control, they become paranoid and agressive. When Burns threatens Homer, he taunts him with "You and what army?" and immediately imagines an army of angry snowmen behind Homer. He panicks and screams "Stay back! I have powers, political powers" which Homer promptly sees as snow-versions of Mao Zedong, Abraham Lincoln, Ramses, Ghandi and Teddy Roosevelt. It's an inspired bit of lunacy, this cabin fever.

Somewhere around this time Lenny and Carl arrive on scene to find...nothing. They muse that maybe the cabin "was a metaphor, to find a better place inside all of us." Carl disagrees. "Nah, they said there'd be sandwiches." Figuring out something is amiss, Marge, a mountain ranger and the kids head out into the mountain forest to dig them out. 

As far as WFVs go - we have the snow/avalanche, we have a secret space (the cabin) and Homer attempts an escape tunnel. Not the strongest candidate for a WFV but it's a great episode with two strong elements that qualify this one.

Who will survive and what will be left of them? Will Homer and Burns tear each other to pieces? How does a rocket cabin fit in? And do the employees no longer get sandwiches? Tune in to find out!

Warm Fuzzy Viewings Deux

To compensate for the shortened post mourning Double Danger Comics, today I offer another Warm Fuzzy Viewing. Today's subject is the Simpson's episode "Skinner's Sense of Snow", in which a blizzard hits Springfield and traps the students at school before Christmas. This episode was originally broadcast December 17th, 2000, which seems completely impossible for an episode to be eleven years old and still seem like it's part of the 'newer' era. Let's dig in!

The episode starts with Homer being denied the opportunity to watch football because the family wants to see the Cirque de Puree (Homer: "But I wanted to see Brett Fav-re!" complete with French accent). When the circus tent is blown away the Simpson clan hightails it home, barely beating the impending snowstorm, which is described as a "Nor'easter meets a Sou'wester". When the storm rolls in, even the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant is closed. 

Radio Announcer: The following schools are closed today; Shelbyville, Ogdenville, Ogdenville Tech, and Springfield Elementary... (Bart and Lisa gasp in surprise)...My Dear Watson Detective School. (Bart groans) And lastly, Springfield Elementary School...(Bart and Lisa cheer) …is open! (Bart and Lisa groan) And it's open season on savings at Springfield Menswear... which is closed.

 The few students whose parents forced them to attend are made by Skinner (the only faculty member not off at a caucus) to watch the delightfully terrible holiday movie 'The Christmas That Almost Wasn't, But Then Was'. Taking cues from Mystery Science Theater's expertise, the old movie is rife with production errors, like a Grip walking into the shot, or cardboard props for sheep falling over, mid-take. It's best summed up by Milhouse's complaint about the protagonist singing to the romantic interest: "Why won't he stop singing? He's been wooing her for 45 minutes!" When the projector catches fire (Nelson: "Ha ha! You shoulda got the DVD!" Skinner: "This IS the DVD") the class tries to leave, only to find themselves snowed in. 

Bart: "We're trapped in the school!"
(Wailing)

Milhouse: "We're gonna miss Christmas!"
(Even louder wails)

Skinner: "I fixed the movie!"
(Loudest cry of all)

Realizing the kids haven't made it home yet, Homer and Ned venture out in the blizzard to rescue them with a makeshift plow.

Flanders: Well, I'm all for rescuing the kids, but I wish you hadn't sawed off my roof. (cut to show part of Flanders’ roof sawed off)
Homer: My car, your roof; it's only fair.
Flanders: But it's my car.
Homer: Well, yeah.
Flanders: Hey, whatever happened to the plow from your old snowplow business?
Homer: I never had a snowplow business.
Flanders: Sure you did, Mr. Plow. You're wearing the jacket right now. (Homer turns, revealing he's wearing the “Mr. Plow” jacket)
Homer: I think I know my own life, Ned. (sings "Call Mr. Plow, that's my name; that name again is Mr. Plow".)   

En route to the school they hit a fire hydrant and freeze to the spot. Running the engine to stay warm, they are overtaken by fumes and pass out, giving way to Homer dreaming he is a Sultan in the Middle East (Homer tells a maiden: "Bring me my Ranch Dressing hose!")

The kids are forced to spend the night in Springfield Elementary and Ned and Homer are trapped in a fume-filled car! Will they survive? Will the kids miss Christmas? Will they have to finish that terrible movie? Watch Skinner's Sense of Snow to find out! (Available in the Season 12 box-set or on Simpsons Christmas Vol. 2.) 

It's an excellent episode in which we have one of the prime ingredients - the snow storm trapping the kids in school, on top of Bart trying to escape via Secret Snow Tunnel! I love shows with blizzards trapping people in places - one of my favorite memories of this winter has to be the massive and record setting blizzard in December. I watched from my condo as the city buses just flipped their signs over to 'Not In Service' and made everyone get off where they stopped. It was nuts, the whole city shut down. As a result we stayed inside, cooking awesome and elaborate food all day. 


I think what I love about being snowed in is having to dig in and go into that 'survival mode' or try to entertain yourself with whatever is around. You're forced to make the most of your immediate surroundings instead of thinking that something outside or elsewhere is better. This episode hits that feeling square on - blizzards, do your worst! 

Noises In The Vents

To make my first foray into the heading of Warm Fuzzy Viewings I'm focusing on a segment from a Treehouse of Horror episode that I could write about for page after page. The Segment, titled The Thing and I, from Treehouse of Horror VII, broadcast October 27, 1996, The piece is one of my favorite Simpsons Halloween segments ever written. In a plot that preys on our childhood fears of 'something in the attic', the essence of the story is that Bart's formerly conjoined twin brother Hugo has been chained in the attic and fed a bucket of fish heads for the last ten years. According to Dr. Hibbert he was "too crazy for Boy's Town, too much of a boy for Crazy Town," and was confirmed to be evil after a routine soul smear. Homer's decision to chain him up was, in his words, "the only humane thing to do." 

The segment starts off with the Simpson clan hearing noised in the attic and seeing fleeting images in the vents, a thoroughly creepy start to a scary story. When Marge and Homer deny their efforts to find out more, Bart, Lisa and Maggie use some unsupervised time to dig into the mystery. Here's why it qualifies for consideration: 

- most of the story takes place at night 
- Simpsons kids investigate during a rain storm (Homer: "See Marge? Who needs a car wash you can drive around in the rain?) 
- Kids hide in the closet to escape Hugo (with requisite fake-out gag involving vases 
- Air vents and Attic mysteries! 

Basically if it had started to snow halfway through this story it would have hit all the qualifiers for a Warm fuzzy Viewing. The Thing and I is an eerie, not alone in the house, the calls are coming from upstairs kind of story that cements exactly why this show excelled at Halloween specials.