Entertainment
How A Raunchy, R-Rated Sci-Fi Comedy Warned Us About Everything We're Currently Living Through
By Jennifer Asencio
| Updated
Mike Judge brought us the animated sitcoms Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill, which were full of sharp social commentary interwoven with cutting humor. He also wrote and directed feature films like the meme-laden Office Space and the sci-fi comedy Idiocracy. The latter predicted a future that seems like it’s already here.
Luke Wilson plays Joe, a fiercely average enlistee in the US Army who was hoping that he could pass his tenure in a lonely library, away from other people. However, the Army has other plans: they enlist him as a test subject for a top-secret project meant to freeze soldiers in time, to be awakened when needed. Also enlisted is Rita, a prostitute played by Maya Rudolph who has drawn the eye of the project director. The project is forgotten while they are asleep.
The project works extremely well, and Joe wakes up in 2505. The world has drastically changed and is facing a series of catastrophic challenges like famine and drought. Everything is automated and everyone seems to be pretty dumb. Joe finds out that he’s the smartest man in the world when run-ins with the law force him through an intelligence test.
He gets recruited by the President, Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Comacho (played to extremes by Terry Crews), to solve the famine or else he will wind up in jail in this terrible place forever. With the aid of Rita and contemporary local Frito Pendejo (a dumbed-down Dax Shepard), Joe strives to save the world so he can stay out of jail long enough to return himself and Rita to the 21st century.
Brought To You By The Creators Of Ass, And Ow, My Balls!
In Idiocracy, intelligence is seen as a disability, much like learning disabilities are viewed today. The number one TV show is called Ow, My Balls, and its single gag is that its lead repeatedly receives blows to the groin. The number one movie is called Ass, and it is a feature film that is entirely a farting butt. Justice, both the courtroom and the “House of Representin’,” is televised and sensationalized. Everyone’s clothes, no matter how simple, are covered in logos.
The world is controlled by the corporation Brawndo, whose main product is an electrolyte beverage that has replaced water. Everything is so automated that there is no way to reach a human, and nobody is smart enough to do anything about it.
If all of this sounds oddly prescient, well, it is. Anyone who has had to deal with automated customer service these days knows about the frustrating string of endless automated replies that never address the problem and are full of vague platitudes. This has largely occurred as our corporations increasingly turn to AI to cut costs, creating an amazing amount of enshittification, or the decay of a product over time as it draws more customers.
Over time, customers come to actually expect less quality, which is why some of us can remember when McDonald’s tasted good and a party there was the coolest thing in the world, while now it’s not even food anymore. And if you’ve ever had to troubleshoot or submit a ticket on X, you know a human has likely never seen it.
A Future We’re Already Living
Entertainment is growing more and more mindless these days as companies attempt to check inclusivity boxes rather than tell stories. Although the FCC is not owned by a corporation like Brawndo, the fact is that entertainment has narrowed to reflect only a certain point of view, and this emphasis has reduced the quality of the stories we are being told in all our media, from books to video games to TV and movies.
Lots of people are allowing themselves to be satisfied with Ass on their streaming services, TV screens, and especially our phones. With the equivalent Ass and Ow, My Balls readily available no matter where we are (as long as there’s a WiFi or cell signal), the ethernet has been inundated with meaningless content that just plays on automatic all the time. It becomes not only what we get used to consuming, but also background noise that never ends with autoplay.
He Warned Us, But We Didn’t Listen
To top it off, many popular franchises are being turned into almost two hours of nothing but a farting butt, for all what has been produced of them has been worth. This is just more enshittification, but applied to entertainment, which is just another product.
In Idiocracy, judgment and justice are meted out mostly through the court of public opinion rather than facts and legal proceedings. This starts out in the local courthouse, presided over by famous Mike Judge collaborator Stephen Root, and escalates all the way to President Machado’s speeches, filled with wrestling shouts, automatic gunfire, and cheering fans.
The world Mike Judge posits in Idiocracy is full of very stupid people who were selected by nature as they bred faster than smart people. Frito and his peers are so dumb that they’re easily distracted, drawn to sensationalism like moths to flame, and unable to solve even basic problems. Intellect is something pitied in this world, something that seems true today as colleges become degree mills and merit has been replaced by having the “correct” opinions. This has served to have the same effect as Judge’s centuries of natural selection, as people have been mesmerized by commentary from people more interested in remaining relevant than telling the truth.
Idiocracy is absurdist, almost a cartoon, running its premise to its most ridiculous conclusions, but that’s the point. It’s not meant to be an image of today but a warning of what might come. It was made in 2006, before a lot of the conventions it lampoons became culture and everyday life, so Mike Judge did not yet have to deal with endless phone menus and the degree to which almost every product in our daily lives has decayed. But it’s clear he knew it was coming, as this piercing comedy film shows through biting satire and fantastic attention to the world it created.
Idiocracy is streaming on Hulu. Watch it instead of yet more Ass.
Entertainment
The Best Show On Streaming Has Been Canceled, End Of An Era
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
The advent of streaming completely changed how we watch television, allowing fans to watch whatever they wanted with the press of a button. This is perfect for avid entertainment lovers always looking for their next fix, but as an aging Millennial, I can’t help but think the prominence of streaming took something special away from the overall experience. Television used to be a communal ritual where we all watched the same things at the same time, excitedly sharing our thoughts on the latest shows with fellow fans; now, everyone is siloed in their own entertaining bubbles, enjoying their favorite programming in the stifling comfort of complete isolation.
However, one streaming show set out to change all that: The Last Drive-In on Shudder featured iconic horror guru Joe Bob Briggs hosting scary movies, offering commentary segments throughout where commercials might have gone way back when. While the Last Drive-In segments are available to stream on demand after a couple of days, they would premiere on Friday nights in a live broadcast that superfans would watch at the same time, all while chattering with each other and with Joe Bob (and his perky co-host, Darcy the Mail Girl) on social media. This made this the best show on streaming, but it’s the end of an era now that Shudder has canceled the show.
The Man, The Myth
Since he is something of a cult figure, you may need a primer on Joe Bob Briggs, especially if you’re a younger horror fiend. Joe Bob (real name, John Bloom) started out as a reporter for The Dallas Herald, and he specialized in a niche no one else cared about: shlocky exploitation films and gruesome horror movies you could only find at the local drive-in theater. To cover these movies, Bloom developed the persona of Joe Bob Briggs, a quippy, quirky redneck whose rants offered great insight into genre films while serving as a parody of the prim and proper reviews from film critics like Siskel and Ebert.
In 1985, Briggs made an unexpected jump from the printed page to the stage with a very successful one-man show, An Evening With Joe Bob Briggs. This raised his profile and proved he could entertain large crowds, and this led to an unexpected opportunity: he guest-hosted Drive-In Theater on The Movie Channel, which led to him getting his own show, the appropriately named Joe Bob’s Drive-In Theater. There, he hosted shlocky movies (typically horror films), complete with a tongue-in-cheek tally of things like how many dead bodies and naked breasts appeared in the film.
When Joe Bob’s Drive-In Theater ended, he took his unique brand of entertainment, hosting MonsterVision on TNT. There, he once again hosted a variety of films, but he offered more commentary than ever: rather than appearing only at the beginning of the film, Joe Bob would also pop up on commercial breaks, offering further insights into each movie. When MonsterVision ended, though, Joe Bob largely dropped out of public life, popping up two decades later in a farewell performance that ended up reigniting his career.
A New Era
In 2018, Joe Bob Briggs hosted a 24-hour marathon of movies for Shudder, all of which were initially broadcast as part of the horror streamer’s live feed. This was meant to be a final performance for Joe Bob, giving this old cowboy one last time on the saddle before he rode off into the sunset. However, the marathon proved to be insanely popular, with Shudder’s servers crashing due to the high number of fans all rushing to watch this genre legend dish dirt on spooky movies.
In response, Shudder ordered more specials from him before greenlighting The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs, a regular series. For the next seven years, Joe Bob hosted one of the most popular series on the streaming platform, and his most ardent fans tuned in to each live broadcast, using social media to connect the entire fandom (affectionately nicknamed “The Mutant Family”). Due to the show’s success, it really looked like Joe Bob would be doing this forever, but just a few days ago, he dropped some devastating news on his fans.
An Emotional Rollercoaster of Announcements
Joe Bob Briggs typically hypes up his upcoming shows on Shudder, offering cryptic hints and funny commentary on platforms like Facebook and X. Ahead of the season finale of The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs, he made a somber-sounding announcement about how important it was for all of the fandom to tune in for this episode. This led to rampant speculation from fans: some thought Joe Bob needed more live views to get his show renewed, and others thought he would be announcing his retirement because, at 73, he’s one of the oldest entertainers in the business and may be dealing with unknown health issues.
When the episode aired, Joe Bob and co-host Darcy the Mail Girl offered fans some good news and some bad news. The good news is that Joe Bob is quite healthy (or, in his words, “spry as f*ck”), but the bad news is that Shudder is canceling The Last Drive-In. The hosts have apparently known this was coming for a while, but they are currently forbidden from saying exactly what went down and why Shudder (which just updated its app in an attempt to gain more subscribers) suddenly decided to kill the only show that countless fans (myself included) subscribe to this streamer to watch.
An Unknown Future
The silver lining in all of this is that Joe Bob Briggs and Darcy the Mail Girl plan to take their show somewhere else, but they have not yet confirmed where this will be. We likely know where they will not go, and that is Tubi. On X, Joe Bob retweeted a post from Damian Maffei that didn’t explicitly name Tubi but accused “that free streaming app with all the ads” of being a streamer that has been known “to edit movies. Cut things down, and zoom in on scenes.”
Many have pointed out that Tubi doesn’t do this and just streams whatever print of the film they can get, but the implication of the retweet is that Joe Bob doesn’t like the free streaming service and is unlikely to take The Last Drive-In over there. Unfortunately, this brings us no closer to knowing where Joe Bob and Darcy will land and when they’ll start hosting movies again. Until they confirm anything, all fans can do is speculate while mourning the loss of the best show on streaming.
The Drive-In Will Never Die
The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs was unlike anything else in the streaming world: it featured eclectic horror classics, insightful commentary, and gonzo humor, all while letting fans share the magic together through live broadcasts. It brought the entire Mutant Family together, allowing us to bond over everything from Joe Bob’s signature rants to the shlockiness of our favorite films. Fortunately, the man himself has confirmed he will be returning and keep gracing us with his unique brand of comedic criticism powered by decades of arcane horror film knowledge.
That announcement fulfills the prophecy of something Joe Bob has been reminding us of at the end of every episode since the new show began. A promise, a mantra, and a fervent hope, all rolled into five little words that the Mutants are clinging to now more than ever: “the drive-in will never die.”
Entertainment
Beloved Always Sunny Character Announces Long-Awaited Return
By TeeJay Small
| Published
FX’s It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia is widely considered to be one of the greatest television comedies of all time. Even though the screwball series began with a rag-tag crew of misfit twenty-somethings who could barely light a soundstage, the show has evolved to have some of the most jaw-dropping moments on television. While it’s been a blast watching the gang lie, cheat, steal, and double cross each other for the past 17 seasons, most fans agree that the show’s biggest draw is its growing rogues gallery of bystanders.
These wacky side characters, most of whom appear significantly worse for wear with each passing appearance on the show, include street urchin Rickety Cricket, Ben the soldier, and the bizarre, incestuous family known as the McPoyle clan. Thanks to a post from Guillermo del Toro on X, we now know that one of the most iconic McPoyles is coming back for Always Sunny‘s 18th season. The character, known as Pappy McPoyle, is a family patriarch, proud bird owner, and occasional eyeball snatcher, who last appeared on the show’s 11th season.
The Pap Is Back!
In case you missed it, legendary filmmaker and three-time Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro is the decorated thespian responsible for bringing Pappy McPoyle to life. You might not recognize him under the billowing beard, Gandalf-length white hair, and dirt that covers his entire face. As the story goes, del Toro first raised the possibility of doing a cameo appearance in Always Sunny while he was working with series star and co-creator Charlie Day on the 2013 film Pacific Rim. As they discussed the role, the Oscar-winner became committed to the idea of playing the most depraved and disgusting character the Sunny crew could conjure, and Pappy was born.
To date, Pappy has made his way onto It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia just twice, though he’s made a big impact on fans even with his limited screen time. He first showed up disheveled and ornery during the events of season 8’s “The Maureen Ponderosa Wedding Massacre,” and later took the witness stand in season 11’s “McPoyle vs. Ponderosa: The Trial of the Century.” According to the show’s lore, the entire McPoyle crew sprang forth from his mighty loins, along with one unnamed McPoyle who attempted to devour him upon birth. Fear not, intrepid viewer: Pappy ate him first.
Over A Decade In The Making
Last time we saw Pappy McPoyle, he was sicking his Pocono swallow on a courtroom full of unsuspecting people, and demanding that the bird snatch the eyeball of everyone’s favorite Harvard-educated lawyer. The interaction concluded with sweeping pandemonium, leaving fans unsure if Pappy was arrested by the court bailiff, or if he slinked off into the night, content to feast upon his freshly-snatched peeper under the cover of darkness. It’s been over 10 years since that episode aired, so we’ll have a lot of catching up to do once Always Sunny‘s 18th season finally arrives.
Guillermo del Toro’s social media post is quite cryptic. It doesn’t provide much direct information, other than an overt confirmation that Pappy McPoyle will return. For now, we’ll just have to wait for new episodes of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia to release in order to find out where he’s been, where he’s headed, and what avian horrors await under his hat.
Entertainment
Winona Ryder's Raunchy, R-Rated 80s Comedy Still Shocks Audiences Today
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Old-timers love to wax philosophic about the good old days of cinema and how modern Hollywood just can’t create anything quite like the hit movies of yesteryear. A frequent theme of these complaints is that certain subjects have become taboo, which is why we no longer get R-rated comedies filled with nudity and transgressive humor. Most of the time, these gripes are overblown. While there are still plenty of transgressive movies out there, studio execs prefer to play it safe with big celebrity films for fear of scaring off the audience.
Back in 1988, though, we got Heathers, a star-studded film that could absolutely never be made today. That’s because this black comedy explores some of the most taboo subjects modern audiences can imagine, including school shootings and teen suicide, and it does so in the funniest possible way. If you’re ready for the most mean-spirited, hilarious movie of the ‘80s, then it’s time to grab your favorite flavor of corn nuts and stream Heathers for free on Tubi.
The ’80s Are Sexier Than Ever
The premise of Heathers is that the high school of a sleepy Ohio suburb is ruled with an iron fist by three popular and ruthless students: the titular Heathers. New girl Veronica desperately wants to join their clique, but her priorities seem to change when she meets a brooding and mysterious transfer student. When he helps her with a prank that turns out to be deadly, it’s soon clear that nobody’s lives will ever be the same.
The young cast of Heathers has some titanic talent, including the late, great Kim Walker (best known outside this film for Say Anything) as the ruthless leader of the Heathers, a shark trawling her high school for prey. That would-be prey includes a character played by ‘80s icon Winona Ryder (best known for Little Women) and a fellow Heather played by ‘90s icon Shannon Doherty (best known for Beverly Hills, 90210). But the real star of this black comedy is Christian Slater (best known for Very Bad Things), who does his best Jack Nicholson impression while creating one of the most compelling villains in cinematic history.
The Film That Blew Critics Away
Even though it was a critical darling (more on this very soon), Heathers was a box office bomb upon release, earning a paltry $1.1 million against its modest budget of $3 million. However, it quickly gained a cult following on home video, and this eventually led to two very different follow-up projects. The first was a short-lived television series that only got 10 episodes, while the second was an immensely successful Broadway musical, which can currently be streamed for free (check it out, it’s weirdly good!) on The Roku Channel.
When Heathers came out, it hit the critical world with all the impact of a bomb blast. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 95 percent, with critics praising the film for its dark humor, cynical characters, and subversive plot line. They also noted that this movie was a serious game-changer, one that left a permanent mark on every teen comedy that followed in Heathers’ bloody footsteps.
Heads Up, Hollywood: There’s A New Sheriff In Town
Heathers is one of those black comedies that never pulls any punches, and the film is that much stronger for it. It’s a movie where two characters make an accidental murder look like a suicide, and they keep doing so to cut out the worst of the student body like a cancer.
That’s already bleak enough, but the cherry on top is that the idiotic high school leaders assume this is part of a nationwide problem where youngsters view suicide as trendy. In a modern age where influencers can’t even say the word “suicide,” the movie’s in-universe song lyrics “Teenage suicide/ Don’t do it!” are transgressively funnier than ever before.
In the wrong writer’s hands, the ghoulish plot would be as dead as our main characters’ growing number of victims. But the script by first-time screenwriter Daniel Waters (he would go on to write such ‘90s bangers as Batman Returns and Demolition Man) will keep you laughing, even when the subject material is something you’re never supposed to laugh at. Heck, this is a film that dares to transform topics as taboo as school shootings into just another macabre punchline.
You’ll Definitely Preach About This Movie
It helps that Waters has such a solid handle on writing for young characters, and he does a pitch-perfect job of transforming the fictional Heathers high school into something universally recognizable. You might not have had to deal with a literal group of Heathers growing up, but every high school has their imperious, “too cool for school” cliques, just as every high school has a quirky new kid who tries to look like a mysterious rebel. High school is all about trying different identities on for size, and Heathers is shockingly adept at comedically navigating the gap between how we appear today and what we hope to look like tomorrow.
Of course, this tight script would be nothing without killer performances from actors like Christian Slater, who is at his charismatic best as a new kid out to make his daddy issues everyone else’s problem. Winona Ryder, meanwhile, is perfect as an ingenue who can’t decide whether she wants to join the elites of her high school, or take the time to discover what she really wants (which may or may not involve the cute new boy who keeps causing trouble). But the biggest revelation of this film is the late, great Kim Walker, whose Heather Chandler character is the perfect embodiment of sarcasm, style, and sex appeal (not to mention corn nuts).
Punch It In
With lines like “f*ck me gently with a chainsaw,” Heathers established itself as one of the greatest black comedies ever made. Will you enjoy watching this ‘80s classic, or will it leave you wanting to kill this film and make it look like an accident? The only way to find out is to grab your remote (preferably with a Big Gulp Slurpee from 7-Eleven in your other hand) and stream Heathers for free on Tubi.
The Best Show On Streaming Has Been Canceled, End Of An Era
Collin Morikawa (back) WDs from Players Championship
