The news in Scotland is all about homicidal yobbo lads randomly killing people.

The news from Wales is all about small shops and bakeries and rugby.

You totally get my vote for being in charge of television.

Hee! The train of thought was, "And McGoohan was coming out of Danger Man, so how could you replicate that angle? What secret agent TV shows are there? I guess 24. ...and holy crap, that would fit pefectly right now!"

Plus, the opening would work just as well with Kiefer shouting "WHO ARE YOU WORKING FOR?"

I suspect seeing it when I was in my early teens (on PBS re-runs) is why I have such an unholy love for it.

Oh, believe me, I'm saying "it's a mess" with a great deal of love.

I feel a need to post the article about biological hydrostats all of a sudden.

I may be misunderstanding the intent of the word (or lacking a different definition the word may have).

The way I used melodramatic overlaps with the other impression you quoted without seeming surprised at:

it's an awesome, trippy, allegorical, self-indulgent mess.

Certainly the self-indulgent part. Looking up the definition of the word (which isn't something I'd done before), I'm presented with:

Exaggeratedly emotional or sentimental; histrionic

And, yeah, that's kinda how it felt to me, as far as I got. Then I looked up melodrama itself.

drama, such as a play, film, or television program, characterized by exaggerated emotions, stereotypical characters, and interpersonal conflicts

Yeah, still pretty much down with that. I felt very flat in my responses to it, like the earth was being shattered...or like I was supposed to care one way or another about anything. I mean, it looked like I should care about the mental state of the characters, but I just couldn't.

I did like the bouncy balloon guards, though.

The news from Wales is all about small shops and bakeries and rugby.

Been to Wales. This is understandable and lovable. Plus, they're too busy DRINKING to go about killing folks.

Badass Squirrels

Hmm, sounds like the Peruvian Squirrel Pimps better watch out for the Russian Squirrel Mafia.

I mean, it looked like I should care about the mental state of the characters, but I just couldn't.

Well, it was basically just MacGoohan that you were supposed to care about (with occasional one-off characters you could also root for), and I think he was (intentionally) an allergorical figure as much as a character. And I think I remember you saying that his character put you off, so that would pretty much kill the deal right there. Me? I absolutely loved his smarty pants act, especially since around half the time he got the short end of the episode's mindfuck.

it was basically just MacGoohan that you were supposed to care about

I felt I should have cared about the antagonists too, otherwise there's not much of a conflict. I'm not equating caring about with rooting for. I just didn't find him interesting or involving, and didn't find them creepy/evil/anything with traction.

Hec, have you seen Selma Blair's new hair?

I love the look. If the apocalypse happened right now, she'd be even more styling.

slumbernut

It's not the first time I've heard of squirrel predation -- anecdotally, starving squirrels have been observed to stalk and kill birds.