Showing posts with label Best of Desdinova. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Best of Desdinova. Show all posts

Sunday, January 18, 2015

I COULD HAVE BEEN CHARLIE


The horrible events in Paris last week and the upcoming eighth anniversary of the original Desdinova the Super Villain of the Ozarks blog, made me ponder a serious question: Could an attack like the one at Charlie Hebdo happen here in the United States of America? Yes, as a matter of fact, it could have happened to me several times.

The original blog was a satirical jabs at what was going on in the news, with a few real news pieces hear and there. Much of the content was poking fun at the talk radio industry and a very popular talk radio show host here in Springfield, Missouri. At that time, poking fun at this guy was the equivalent of poking fun of the prophet Mohammed. His listeners were radical fanatics. Before I started the blog, I enraged his fans when the Springfield News Leader ran a article about his marathon broadcast during the ice storm with a photo of him, his wife and his dog. I posted a comment over on Ron Davis' Chatter blog about the photo, something like "Which one is his wife and which one is his dog?" I was the most hated man in Springfield, Missouri, because he supposedly cried about it on-air during his show. Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Let me explain that the persona of Desdinova started because this talk radio show host would go on attack people on Chatter and the Missouri Radio Message Board. He would say crude and disrespectful things about TV news personalities and other radio stations. Needless to say, I never felt one bit of remorse poking fun at this guy and trying to knock him off of the pedestal he had place himself upon.   

Let me say this from experience, talk radio personalities are some of the scummiest people in the world. They are heartless, mean-spirited jerks. Like the playground bully, they will call you names, insult you, and want to fight you, but when you retaliate and get the best of them, they cry and whine like a infant with a wet diaper. They then start their, "They are out to get me" routine. This causes their nitwit fans to feel sorry for them and rally to show their support. This guy was a master at that game. He had his audience believing that not only was I a threat to his well-being, but his life was threatened by "devil worshipers" and "anti-war activist."

From the moment I began the blog, the fans of this talk show host were leaving hateful and threatening messages on the blog. Several called for my death. There were also several blogs that sprang up to champion this talk radio show host and slam me. These bloggers were claiming I was "unethical" and "cowardly" because I didn't have "my real name" or "home address" on my blog. Really? Put my name and home address on my blog, so every hot-headed psychopath in Springfield and the world could see it? I wasn't stupid. I was a student at SMSU during the Normal Heart uproar when students had their tires slashed on their cars and one student had his home burned to the ground. Springfield gets violent with people who have a different opinion than theirs, especially when there is a charismatic figure agitating them.

I should also bring up here that those nasty comments by this guy left on Chatter and Missouri Radio Message Board were usually under the name "The Talk Radio Guy." So, he used an alias too, but because I was making him look like the fool that he really was, he and his sycophantic followers portrayed me out to be the bad guy (or super-villain). He was trashing local media right and left once on one of these sight, when I asked him (not knowing who he was) "What do you like - that new guy on K*** named John Jacob Jinglehimerschmit?"  At the time I didn't know his name, only that he used his first and middle names. The news director at the radio station I worked at recognized this guy as a someone, who had been fired from a radio station in Jefferson City, where he had previously worked. There this radio host used his real name and, oddly enough, his real name sounded like Jinglehimerschmitt. This "Talk Radio Guy" informed me of the name of the host at our competing radio station and then said that "I should have more respect for a talented broadcaster and true conservative." Note this was after he had slammed some of my co-workers and several TV news people.

So I found a way to needle him, that used to cause him to lash out at me on these message boards. I would refer to him using his current on-air name, but between the middle and last name I would add 'John Jacob Jinglehimerschmitt' and several great vocalise song titles from the 50s and 60s, such as "Doo Wah Diddy Diddy Do," "Rama Lama Ding Dong," "Papa Ooo-Mow-Mow" and others. I even added the 70s McDonald's Big Mac jingle to his name. He and his followers didn't like it, but everyone else thought it was funny.

Most of what I said was so harmless, so goofy and so outrageous, that I still can't believe anyone was upset about it. One thing that upset this talk radio host and his fans was jokes I made about "when I marry Paris Hilton." This guy had a deep and disturbing hatred for celebrities (which bothered me because I consider myself one), especially female celebrities...and especially Paris Hilton. I have been told by one person, who worked at that radio station, that this host would get violently angry when he read my blog. They knew I had mentioned Paris Hilton, because he would have a major meltdown in his office. He once screamed "HOW CAN HE SAY PARIS HILTON IS BETTER LOOKING THAN SARAH PALIN?," then he threw or kicked his waste basket across the room. To me, that sounds like someone with serious mental issues.

Most of the time what made this guy and his fans upset was basically that I made a snarky post that was the opposite of what he had said on his show that morning. Honestly, that was all I had to do to make people mad. If he said something like, "I think we should publicly execute anyone who drinks Diet Pepsi," I would say something on my blog like "When I the take over the world, I will force everyone to drink Diet Pepsi. If they resist, they WILL DIE! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" They next day, he would be on his radio show complaining that an anonymous blogger was a "threat to the him" and "the community at large" because of my "anti-American opinions" (a nervy accusation to make about me since he was a Canadian - BTW I have nothing against Canadians). All I did was reverse the crazy things he said.

As I mentioned before, the whole Desdinova persona was a combination of several pop culture villains. I thought everyone spent Saturday morning watching cartoon where a villain bragged about what he would do when he "ruled the world." Once I said in a post that "everyone will bow to me, Desdinova the Super-Villain of the Ozarks!!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" One of this guys little minions posted on my blog, "I will not bow to you. I will only serve the Lord Jesus Christ." That made me fell like dirt. Also the fact this person didn't want me to rule the world hurt my self-esteem. 

I was not a listener to his show, but I knew what he did, because he would post clips from his show on his radio station's website. Also our boss forced our news director to tape his show and give a report on what topics were discussed on that his show. I recently found a file of these reports at work and found that our news director noted "He had a rant about the 'masked anonymous blogger' ridiculing him."

You would think people in the media industry would find this funny, since this guy like to attack them. The News Leader editorial board was against "anonymous bloggers" and one columnist especially didn't like me because they were a big fan of this talk radio show host (also I had made light of one of her columns about how she didn't like a local urban legend being turned into a horror film). Also a family member, who worked at the time for another radio station cluster in town, mentioned me for an open position and was told I was banned from working there, because they thought my satirical website poking fun of a rival radio station's personality was "unethical" and "unprofessional."

Even people I worked with didn't support me. Two salesmen at the radio station cluster I worked for had a big man crush on this host and his radio station. They kept telling me that I had "no right to make fun of him" and they were going to reveal my identity to him. With co-workers like that, who needs enemies.

I will say that I had more supporters among the local TV news people and some of the people who had to work at the radio station with this talk radio host. I've heard some scary story about this guy threatening people and trying to fight people. He almost punched a legendary broadcaster in this community, when he visited the radio station, because he thought this man was Desdinova (which was the subject of the cartoon above).  Also heard a funny story about how this guy sent around a memo at the radio station saying he didn't want "homosexuals using the same bathroom as him" after finding a pink toothbrush in the men's room.

This guy may have jumped the shark when he claimed the mayor and other Springfield official were covering up the fact that a gang of devil worshipers were living in tunnels under Park Central Square in Springfield. That was what was so great about the old blog, because as David Letterman would say, "The comedy just writes itself." I immediately began posting about "my secret laboratory and hideout below the city at 666 Park Central Square."

Do I still receive death threats today? No. I've not received a threatening message in several years. One reason is, of course, I started a new blog that focused on retro pop culture and abstained from too much satire of current events. Also, that talk radio show host is no longer on the air. When he was fired from the radio station he worked for, I was like David Frye when President Nixon resigned and LBJ died or Yakoff Schmirnoff when the Iron Curtain fell.

The bloggers that were against me all disappeared around the same time. I guess without a hero to stand up for, they decided there was no point in going on. They may have moved to Facebook, but  who would want to "friend" them. One blogger made one post about me and that was it. He was especially upset that I said I wanted to ban country music. I only found the blog after I Googled the name of the blog. One blogger once posted a picture of Stalin on his website and linked it to my blog.
 
I should also point out that some of the worst death threats I got had nothing to do with this talk radio show host. It was about the case in St. Louis where a mother created a My Space site to attack her daughter's classmate, causing the girl to commit suicide. After that I stopped allowing comments on my blog. After that, a talk radio show host who worked for my company wanted me to reopen the comments so he could "debate me on the issues." I said to him, "Why do you want to debate the opinions of a guy, who wears a mask and claims to live under the city square with an army of robots and a death ray?" I honestly don't think he understood how stupid he and those others looked taking me so serious. 

Through all of this craziness, I never did fear for my life, because very few people knew who Desdinova really was. A former classmate from Lebanon tried to out me on another website, but I had that removed (kind of nervy for a guy named Bubba).

My enemies might claim to be "Standing Up For What Is Right," but as the killers of the Charlie Hebdo staff found out, killing is always against the law. It is even wrong to kill the Super-Villain of the Ozarks!!!Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!     


       


Tuesday, December 24, 2013

BEST OF DESDINOVA: MY FAVORITE CHRISTMAS STUFF

This is from 2007, the first year of the original blog. The bottom two items were related to movies released in December of that year.

It mentions my favorite Christmas movies, Christmas songs (and least favorite songs) and Christmas episodes of classic TV shows. I might add to the last one, the Christmas episode of Just Shoot Me entitled "How Finch Stole Christmas." It pokes fun at several retro Christmas TV specials.

I might also add to my least favorite Christmas songs Newsong's "Christmas Shoes." I think it may have came around post-2007 but has actually climbed all the way to Number One on the list, as Casey Kasem would say.

My Favorite Christmas Stuff

Sunday, August 25, 2013

BEST OF DESDINOVA: THE DARK KNIGHT WILL SUCK COLLECTION

The whole furrier over Ben Affleck being selected to play Batman in an upcoming movie reminds me of  a tiny blog post I made on the old blog that attracted some hatred on a minor national scale, rather than local Springfield/Ozarks hatred that I usually faced at that time.


I saw on another website some photos "preview" photos of the late Heath Ledger's makeup for the up coming Batman film The Dark Knight. It wasn't like the hardened grin of Jack Nicholson or even the clown face over a mustache like Cesar Romero, it was just gobbed and smeared on his face like a child playing the Joker to his next door neighbors Batman in the backyard.

The post was simple. You can read it here: I THINK THE DARK KNIGHT WILL SUCK. In this post I said two things that upset extreme Batman fanatics.
  1. I didn't like Frank Miller's Dark Knight comic books.
  2. I like the 1966 TV show Batman and the full length movie that featured the cast.


During that time, I was always surprised when I got a response outside of Springfield, Missouri. A comment was posted by a person who called himself "andrew." Not sure who he was but he claimed to be an assistant on The Dark Knight set (Yeah right!). He was not very happy with me. So, of course, I had to make fun of this guy on the blog. Here is the post: I UPSET A COMIC BOOK GEEK AND I STILL THINK THE DARK KNIGHT WILL SUCK.

I should point out that I had to stop allowing comments on the old blog in 2009, due to spam by get-rich-quick websites and some Libertarian guy who was planing to run for president in 2012. When I stopped the comments, the previous comments were no longer shown on the blog. Not sure why, but I still have access them through the Blogger dashboard. Here is the complete text of "andrew's" rant.

"Um i might be late on this comment but i came across your site and read what you have to say about the dark knight. First of all you may be suffering from being a douche bag. 2nd read a book and read history on wha batman is really suppose to be because nolan has figured it out. Burtons batmans were great then ruined by the next two obviously. The darkness is finally back with batman begins and the dark knight. i work for warner bro's as a PA, and ledgers makeup is supreme to what it is suppose to be. He is scarred in actuality, and the makeup just adds to the image because he obviously puts it on himself, he does not care what it looks like. Get your head out of your ass and go make some more web sites that just makes you sound ignorant and un educated. Yes i do study film, and you may not nonethelss, go watch the trailer again because you really need to if you took the time to make this website, and by the way did you try and justify the 60's batman show somehow?"

The first thing I noticed, that I mentioned in my blog response, is "andrew" apparently didn't know how to use capital letters.

With in a short time, the original blog post made the rounds of the fanatical Batman fans on the web. It was at one point the most read post on my blog. I even had my own thread on IMDB (That was removed for some reason). So, I decided to to be fair and go see The Dark Knight.

You must know something about me, I don't think I have ever hated a movie I saw at a movie theater. Only about two or three, but I just think that going to a movie theater is a special occasion.

Now for the irony of the original post; I saw The Dark Knight TWICE! The first time was at a Springfield movie theater. After that, I wrote this post: I DIDN'T LIKE THE DARK KNIGHT (but it didn't suck as bad as I thought it would). After that, I went to a drive-in at Aurora, Missouri, with some family members. I hadn't been to a drive-in since I was small, so I thought it would be great to go with them. The movies on the double feature was Babylon A.D. and (You guest it) The Dark Knight. Remember what I said earlier about not hating a movie I saw at a theater, well, Babylon A.D, was the only one I hated. It was confusing and Vin Diesel can't act. After sitting through Babylon A.D, I began to realize I HATED THE DARK KNIGHT! It was just a obnoxious and overblown action film with people dressed as characters from the Batman comic book.

At least two people posted comments agreed with me. A person named Eduardo posted this comment:
"You are entitled to like the old Batman. Although this is a new Batman supposed to be taken from the "The Dark Knight Returns" comic book series which relaunched the character in the 80's. What I think is lacking from the Christopher Nolan films is the atmosphere which was achieved by Tim Burton's first two Batman Films from 1989 and 1990. For me, personally, those were the best achievements of Batman on film, period. They struck a balance between looking like comic books, but looking serious nonetheless. The new film looks more like a Michael Mann film (ie. Heat) for the exterior scenes, there is not enough atmosphere. Gotham, usually a character by itself in all of the previous films, takes a back seat on this one. However, what I believe is that each generation gets their own "revamped" version of Comic Book or literary classics. For those who grew up in the 60's, the TV Batman by Adam West is the ultimate "archetype" of the character, for the children of the 80's its either the Dark Knight or Michael Keaton."
My favorite was from a person named Mike:
I agree that this movie looks terrible mostly because of the Joker's makeup. The joker is too vein to leave his house looking like a piece of street trash. Nice concept but you guys ruined the look of the character which is basically the most important part. Batman's outfit looks terrible and the joker looks terrible. It would be easy for anyone to play the Joker, he's an iconic character. Hopefully next time he hits the big screen they don't make him look homeless.
After that I found that there a have been several websites pop-up that not only point out what is wrong with The Dark Knight, but are called "The Dark Knight Sucks" or something to that extent. My favorite is a post on The Rawness blog.

The thing about the old blog is when I made many of the post, I was demonized as a horrible person who should be executed as an "enemy combatant" (Another Ozarks blogger actually called me that). Since that time, I've found that many of the positions I held were the right ones and the people and things I poked fun at deserved to be made fun of. Case in point: Many of the local talk radio people in town that I poked fun of was championing a former SMSU/MSU student who was suing the school because she claimed the students harassed her and the teachers failed her for not compromising her religious beliefs. One of our local talk radio show host (Thank God, he is no longer on the air) suggested that the buildings on campus be set on fire and the students and faculty be shot as they exited the buildings. A friend of mine on Facebook was a student in that department at the time. She and several other classmates had a discussion going on Facebook about this plaintiff and the lawsuit this week. Apparently, this person didn't work will with the other students...when she came to class. Also several mentioned she didn't have to be "the topic group" she said "harassed" her. As one person said, "The media never asked us about what happened or what she was like to work with."

But then again the people who hated the old blog are the ones who put up websites or adorn there Facebook sites with pictures of the President Photoshoped with the bad makeup job Heath Ledger wore in The Dark Knight.

My opinions are why I'm considered the Super Villain of the Ozarks!!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!     

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

BEST OF DESDINOVA: DESDINOVA'S VALENTINE'S DAY IPOD PLAYLIST

These are the songs I'm listening to in my Ipod today.

Never My Love - The Association
If Tomorrow Never Comes - Joose
The Air That I Breath - the Hollies
You Made Me Believe In Magic - Bay City Rollers
You Can Do Magic - America
One Fine Day - the Chiffons
Biggest Part of Me - Ambrosia
All My Loving - the Beatles
For Love - Pousette Dart Band
Miracles - Jefferson Starship
More Than Yesterday - Spiral Staircase
Come Softly To Me - Jane Olivor
Heaven - Bryan Adams
Heatbeat: Its a Love Beat - DeFranco Family
I'll Be There - Jackson 5
(Your Love Keeps Lifting me) Higher & Higher - Jackie Wilson
Words - F.R. David
Love Will Keep Us Together - Captain & Tennielle
Total Eclipse of the Heart - Bonnie Tyler
This Magic Moment - Jay & the Americans
Together - The Intruders
Best of My Love - The Eagles
Just Like Heaven - The Cure
Shining Star - The Manhattans
You Are Everything - The Stylistics
True Love Ways - Buddy Holly
All I Really Want To Do - The Byrds
Take My Breath Away - Berlin
I Love You - Climax Blues Band
So Much In Love - The Tymes
I Would Die 4 U - Prince
Something - The Beatles
Kiss On My List - Hall & Oats
Cupid/I've Loved You For a Long Time - The Spinners
I'd Really Love to See You Tonight - England Dan & John Ford Coley
Soul Coaxing - Raymond LeFevre
There Is - The Dells
Do You Believe In Magic? - Lovin Spoonful
(If Paradise Is) Half As Nice - Amen Corner
Strange Magic - ELO
Touch Me - The Doors
I'm Believer - The Monkees
I Can Dream About You - Dan Hartman
Your Song - Elton John
I'm Your Puppet - James & Bobby Purify
Love Is Blue - Paul Mauriat
Cool Night - Paul Davis
Can't Fight This Feeling - REO Speedwagon
Like to Get to Know You - Spanky & Our Gang
Oh How Happy - Shades of Blue
Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper
You're My Latest, My Greatest Inspiration - Teddy Pendergrass
Happy Together - The Turtles
If I Had Words - Scott Fitzgerald & Yvonne Keely
La La Means I Love You - The Delfonics
Always on My Mind - Pet Shop Boys
Love So Fine - Roger Nichols & Small Circle of Friends
We've Got Tonight - Kenny Rogers & Sheena Easton
Because - Dave Clark 5
You Are the Sunshine of My Life - Stevie Wonder
Mind, Body & Soul - Flaming Ember
Lost in Love - Air Supply
Nights in White Satin - Moody Blues
The Look of Love - Dusty Springfield
Just You n Me - Chicago
When Doves Cry - Prince
Fallin In Love - Hamilton Joe Frank & Reynolds
Best Thing That Ever Happened - Gladys Knight and the Pips
Can't Help Falling In Love - Elvis
I Will Always Think About - New Colony Six
I Think I Love You - Partridge Family
Just Between You & Me - April Wine
Still - the Commodores
The Best of Times - Styx
Nice to Be With You - Gallery
If You Leave - Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark
Tonight's the Night - Rod Stewart
Love's Theme - Love Unlimited Orchestra
You've Made Me So Very Happy - Blood Sweat & Tears
When Will I See You Again - Three Degrees
An Old Fashion Love Song - 3 Dog Night
I Saw The Light - Todd Rundgren
Love Is All Around - the Troggs
You Showed Me - The Turtles
You're the One - The Vogues
Magnet & Steel - Walter Egan
The Promise - When In Rome
See Me, Feel Me - The Who
For Your Love - The Yardbirds
Working on a Groovy Thing - 5th Dimmenson
Afterglow - Small Faces
Make Me You Baby - Barbara Lewis
You’re the First, My Last, My Everything - Barry White
Wouldn’t It Be Nice - The Beach Boys
God Only Knows - The Beach Boys
Softly Whispering I Love You- The (English) Congregation
No Matter What - Badfinger
Everytime I Think of You - The Babys
Love Minus Zero/No Limit - Bob Dylan
Masterpiece - Atlantic Star
I Second That Emotion - Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
Going Out of My Head - Little Anthony & the Imperials
Thinking of You - Loggins & Messinia
More Than I Can Say - Leo Sayer
Precious and Few - Climax

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

BEST OF DESDINOVA: A QUICK THOUGHT ON THANKSGIVING (I STILL DON'T LIKE THOSE STUPID PILGRIMS


Originally posted on the Desdinova - Super Villain of the Ozarks blog on November 26, 2009.

On this Thanksgiving Day, I want to get something off my chest. The one thing I never liked about Thanksgiving was the emphasis on the pilgrims. I didn't want to study about the pilgrims, because they were boring and dull. The pilgrims were always presented as so-holier-than-thou people that we could never measure up to. However, in a college course I had to read pilgrim diaries. These were not only boring, but the pilgrims spent most of their time having sex. The pilgrims have to be the most overrated group in history, next to the dorky founding fathers. Of course, opinions like this one is why I'm considered the Super-Villain of the Ozarks!!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Friday, May 4, 2012

THE NEW BLOGS FIRST BIRTHDAY

May 6th will mark the first anniversary since I started the New Adventures of Desdinova the Super Villain of the Ozarks. While the support has not been overwhelming, I will say I have had only one negative comment, which wasn't published because it wasn't very coherrent. I have also found out something about doing a retro blog. Response to a post can be very slow. I might post something and not receive a comment until a month or two later. I am trying to build a group of readers, both old and new.

Some in the Springfield area say they miss the vicisous satirical humor of the old blog. Part of my reason for changing was my humor may have upset people that could eventually hire me for a job. I've heard a rumor that I may have been blacklisted by some of the local media outlets. I'm not sure if that will hold water since there is so much turn over in the radio industry these days. Of course, since I hold a media degree, I could always work in TV or newspaper (except the News Leader - I think I've hacked them off).

Another good thing about this switch is that I appeal to people outside the Ozarks. I'm always surprised by the places the visitors to this new sight come from.

For awhile I linking the new post to the old blog. That got to hectic. The only thing I have posted on the old blog recently was another failed April Fools gag. I messed it up and it posted too early (March 31st). However, I will place this post on the old blog as well, I hope that I can get some of the old subscribers and readers to come over here.

Looking at stats I'm surprised at what has been popular and what hasn't been popular. It may have been labeling or something. As I said earlier some post may be around for awhile before they take off. One that is not in the Top 10 but always surprises me when it gets hits is an old Campbell's Soup ad featuring a recipe for an easy hollandaise sauce. After the Countdown to Halloween, I thought I would lead up to Thanksgiving with recipes from old magazines and readers. That idea didn't excite folks but over time that one post has had several hits here and there, because people specifically look for it. Apparently, it was something people remember and that was what I wanted this to be.

I want people to remember pop culture from the past, but still try to respect the curent pop culture. I hated when old timers trash and slamed the things I liked when I was a kid. I'll admit I have been kind of hard on The Waltons here and country music, but that has to do with the culture of the Ozarks and my personal experience. Some have laughed that this new blog have become a repository for obituaries of famous people. Usually I link to another sight on those, because of time contraints. However, I feel they are good drawing cards to the blog and some of them are overlooked by the search engine home pages these day.

Here is the TOP 10 MOST POPULAR POST IN THE FIRST YEAR:
  1. HOW TO WRITE ONE OF THE CURRENT CUT & PASTE COUNTRY SONGS
  2. I STILL DON'T LIKE THE WALTONS
  3. CUTTING LOOSE (AN ODD 70s COMPILATION LP)
  4. BORING BACK TO SCHOOL CLOTHES THAT PHOEBE CATES CAN'T EVEN MAKE SEXY
  5. WHO SHOULD REPLACE CHRISTIAN BALE AS BATMAN?
  6. DESDINOVA'S LIST OF TV GREATEST WESTERNS
  7. LOOKING BACK ON FIVE YEARS OF BLOGGING
  8. SHERWOOD SCHWARTZ OBIT
  9. THE FART HEARD AROUND THE WORLD ON TV
  10. WHO REALLY KILLED JAZZ-HORN ROCK? NOT PRESIDENT NIXON
I'll keep blogging and you keep reading.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

BEST OF DESDINOVA: THE MOD SQUAD WAS COOLER THAN 21 JUMP STREET (Sorry Johnny Depp)


I realize many people of my generation will hate this post. There will even be some Baby Boomers that will hate this post.

In TV history, there were two cops shows that featured young people going undercover to investigate crimes involving other youth. These shows were the Mod Squad, which ran from 1968 to 1973. The other was 21 Jump Street, which ran from 1987 to 1991.

I remember watching an episode of 21 Jump Street when it first air on the then-new Fox Network and thinking, "This show sucks. I hope they come up with a better show than this or this network with go the way of Dumont and Overmyer Networks." The show not only ran longer than I expected, but Fox has survived, thanks to several great shows like the Simpsons, Family Guy and In Living Color.

It was about this time that a purchased a book called The Best of Crime and Detective TV: The Critics Choice by John Javna and Max Allan Collins. In this book, they list the TV show, Mod Squad, as one of the worst cop shows ever. They practically trash the show (They also slam Charlie's Angels, which makes me wonder about these guys).

I had only seen the Mod Squad reunion movie from the late 70's, but I still thought it probably had to be better than 21 Jump Street for the simple reason it was made in the late 60s/early 70s. As many of you readers know I have always had a special place for the psychedelic era.

I bought a VHS tape a few years ago that featured two episodes of the Mod Squad. I liked it quite a bit and wanted to buy another, but they were taken off the market for some reason. A year ago, I bought a DVD of the first season of the Mod Squad. It featured a longer version of the pilot episode which was on the VHS tape I had earlier. I have enjoyed it very much and plan to buy another DVD set of the show.

A few nights ago, I found the entire first season of 21 Jump Street on DVD at Wal-Mart for $5. I wondered if my opinion of 21 Jump Street would have changed after seeing more than one episode of the Mod Squad. Maybe I would be blown away by the show which gave us Johnny Depp. It turns out, I was right the first time I saw the show. It still sucks.

While people often malign the Mod Squad for being dated, 21 Jump Street is a product of it's time too. It comes with the things of the 80s that I hated. Bad part is some of those attitudes are still with us, thanks to the Fox News Network. As a matter of fact, I suspect that Bill O'Reilly wrote a few of these scripts under an alias. I bet Sarah Palin was a Jump Street fan.

The Mod Squad was from the age of peace, love and "Do Your Own Thing," while 21 Jump Street was from the age of "Just Say No," "Positive Peer Pressure," "overachieving" and "Vigilante Justice." Also, the characters on 21 Jump Street wear the clothes of that era that my mom forced me to wear. When I moved out and went to SMSU, I started dressing more like the Mod Squad.

First off, let's discuss the theme song and opening credits. The theme song of the Mod Squad was composed by Earl Hagen. Hagen created a tough and fast pasted cops show theme, augmented by a psychedelic/garage band organ. The visual was the main characters running through a dark warehouse.

The 21 Jump Street open featured a theme song sung by the cast that sounded like a bad Debbie Gibson song ("You're gonna learn something when we meet you after school" GAG!). The visuals were goofy clips of the cast from episodes. This gives you the impression you are watching a bad sitcom.

The overall plot of the shows are different in that Peter, Linc and Julie ("One White, One Black and One Blonde") were juvenile delinquents paying their debt to society by becoming undercover detectives. They did carry guns or badges. They often questioned the ethics of what they were doing. Yes, they do use quite a bit of the slang of that era. Pete seems to use the word "heavy" a lot, Julie says "groovy" quite a bit and Linc made the phrase, "Solid, Brother" a part of TV history.

On 21 Jump Street, Hanson, Penhall, Hoffs and Loki are cops who look young enough to infiltrate high schools. They carry guns and badges. When the Jump Street cops aren't whining about lawyers and judges "letting off" the people they bust, they insult each other.

The villains on Mod Squad are never the kids, but old, white guys trying to make a money by selling drugs or killing young people. One villain, played by Dabney Colman (Who else?) tells his sister, "Your hippie friends are driving down the value of my real estate." One villain is a Bill O'Reilly-ish talk show who tries to rape Julie. Yes, the message of the Mod Squad could be "No such thing as a bad kid" and "Don't trust anyone over 30."

On the other hand, 21 Jump Street embedded with the 80's idea of "young-people-are-evil." The criminal is always young. Everything from gun toting gang members taking a school hostage to a group of cocaine pushing, preppy-boys who gang-rape/murder a girl to sexually-repressed, pyromaniac Catholic school girls (No, I didn't make this last one up).

Jump Street episodes usually end with a PSA/lecture from the cast about under-age drinking, drug abuse or abstenence. Mod Squad ended with a crane shot of the characters and somber jazz music as the characters contemplate what just happened. Truth is the Mod Squad has a more expensive look to it than Jump Street.

Yes, this has probably been a useless rant, but I had to get this out of my system. I'm sorry Johnny Depp couldn't have been like Clint Eastwood, John Travolta or Bruce Lee and gotten his start on a good show. As a matter of fact, he has said he hated the show.

Just remember, the Maharishi says never drink campaign from a paper cup. Solid, Brother!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

BEST OF DESDINOVA: Why Does Radio Hate Halloween?

Desdinova - Super Villain of the Ozarks: Why Does Radio Hate Halloween?

NOTE: This was before I started ending these kind of post with "Opinions, like this one, is why I'm considered the Super-Villain of the Ozarks!!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

BEST OF DESDINOVA: Sarah Overstreet Needs to Get a Life!

NOTE: Before you read this post from May of 2007, I want to point out that while I often did not agree with former Springfield News Leader columnist Sarah Overstreet, I was not a Sarah Overstreet-hater. I later had a post in which I agreed with her on a need for improving the storm drainage system in Springfield. I also slammed the News Leader when the fired her. They basically replaced her and other journalist with a bunch of right-leaning simpletons, who get weekly rants on the editorial page. Unfortunately, when you Google Sarah Overstreet's name this article comes up.

I also want to mention that one of the articles I mention in the post was removed by the News Leader. I found someone named Jim Nasium (Now that's funny) copied and pasted it on this KC Chief's fan forum.

I fixed the photo of the poster of Andy Milligan's The Ghastly Ones. I also attached it to this post. Tomorrow, I will give you my opinion (Shock! Desdinova has an opinion!) on how a movie about this legend of the Springlawn Farm should be made.    


Desdinova - Super Villain of the Ozarks: Sarah Overstreet Needs to Get a Life!




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