martinjames-muzo

Love this show, it's better than anything we have here in the UK on the BBC (and other Brit terrestrial channels). I'm about the same age as AJ, and only recently realised there's this much quality on YouTube, having been seeing fairly unprofessional stuff on there in the earlier days in 360p etc.! During the COVID era, I watched music stuff from legends stuck in their homes, but took a while to pick up of this stuff. This is no.1 in my playlist. I'm also watching The Prisoner on there (in HD from 1967!). But otherwise, there is some great newer stuff on there nowadays, although this is my favourite for sure. Props to AJ, Hecklefish, Gertie, the dancing rodents and any other "humans" involved :)

Some reviewers here don't seem to understand cartoon-world, and certainly not Family Guy, one that's been through 23 years and characters shifting in persona. The latter I praise as it would have long been unwatchable if they were the same as season 1. Peter being a bit of a Homer rip-off, Quagmire constantly giggety-ing, and Stewie saying "Victory is mine", "Vile woman" etc. One reviewer complaining the plot's not feasible because Peter is such a different size to Quagmire must be new to this. What about their faces getting ripped off, then a few seconds later they're back to normal? That stuff has been going on since the earlier seasons. If you can't appreciate this, then stick with SpongeBob! As for the episode, it's not bad, just not up to my favourite era of around seasons 6-11. I like the odd cutaway, which this strangely lacks and I feel they could have had more fun around the underwear plot, so it's lost stars there for me. The Stewie and Doug plot is based around Strangers on a Train, a fifties Hitchcock film and done well for the limited time. It's a clever episode title. Brief Encounter being another old film about two strangers meeting in a railway-based situation, plus it being the reference to Peter and Quagmire's underwear adventure.

I'm currently watching some of the 1988 shows and surprised by how loud the audience are for the time. I expect they were told to act like that maybe to reflect its American cousin. I don't think the over-the-top shouting was on later episodes, more just clapping as the wheel went round (for some reason)! The set of the early series is distinctive, seemingly made of that big mess of wrapping paper that ends up covering the living room floor on Christmas morning. At the time of the first series, I was a teenage geek playing computer games and remember my parents watching it with that theme tune echoing up the stairs. As for the Metro City, I can almost feel the hard plastic and picture all that exposed paintwork in the interior. The shows I remember actually watching at the time were from around 1997, and on re-watching them I'm struck by how hyperactive the young Bradley Walsh was, like a child after having too much Ribena. I'm sure the resistance of the wheel varied over time, it seems 'fast' on the early series. Anyway, it's quite entertaining and broadcast at least a couple of times a day on the Challenge channel if you're craving a bit of quiz nostalgia.