Nachokoolaid wrote:I have to totally disagree with you on the pop culture references. I think that they are a great part of the show. In fact, it's like a breath of fresh air sometimes when the show is so far up it's own ass.
In my opinion it's the popculture references that put the show up its own ass in the first place. Without the surprisingly complex and griping story that unfolded since the end of season 1 and the high hit ratio of the not-popculture-related jokes, I wouldn't even bother with watching every single episode.
But the reason they are effective is because they are usually pretty subtle. They aren't played in a heavy handed way (a la Family Guy or the Simpsons).
The Simpsons are still the masters of subtile popculture references. More than once I didn't notice when they did one, before they explained it in the audio commentary.(Of course that doesn't mean that The Simpsons doesn't rub them in your face from time to time.)
I bet about only 60% of the audience even caught the Raiders allusion. That was pretty clever, I thought. And if they didn't get it, then it was still a cool way for the Nazi's to die. And if they did, it's like a touch of added humor. Great execution, in my opinion.
The melting Nazis were one of the most memorable death scenes in one of the most memorable movies ever. So I'm pretty sure that there a way more than 60% (I say 95%) who got it. And it's as clever and subtile as making a bullet time shot when someone starts a jump kick, like in the millions of cartoons and movies who did during the last 10 years, just becuse they thought it was clever or funny to copy an iconic scene from an iconic movie.
Bloo wrote:and usually the pop culture references serve a purpose they just aren't there for the purpose of being there
Yes, there is a good reason why Dr. Impossible and his team look like the Fantastic Four. It's...oh, wait a moment. There isn't. It adds nothing to the story, except for the fact that the audience can point at the screen and yell: "Haha, this is like the fantastic four!" At least there was a good reason why the Scooby Doo characters are in one episode. It was because...no, sorry, they were just there to make the audience point at the screen and yell: "Haha, it's the Mystery Inc. only as adults and acting like famous serial killers."
nad how many people remember the 6 Million Dollar man episode where Steve austin goes after bigfoot and yet that has played a part in what 2, 3 episodes?
It's pretty much the most popular (and often parodied) episode of the 6 Million Dollar Man! And so far there wasn't an important reason why these two had to be there, apart from being a simple popculture joke.
tapehead wrote:I prefer to think that whatever else it is, it will always be a brilliant satire of comic-logic and lore and boys-own adventure because of it's twisted take on Jonny Quest.
It is without a doubt and that's the concept of it and I not just learned to accept it, the creators somehow managed to get the maximum out of that premise. However, I just can't stand it when they dumb their own show down by throwing in simple popculture jokes. It's lazy and feels to me like I would switch the channel in the middle of Breaking Bad, just to watch a few seconds of Robot Chicken. Maybe I'm spoiled, but if you wanna make me laugh with mentioning and making fun of movies, TV shows and comic books, you have to do more than just go: "Look, it's ________________!"