Talking Mission Hill - Kevin's Problem (or Porno for Pyro)

I liked Kevin's bling blong noise though :) Go ahead and tease but I think it's cute :3

Relistening to this episode, I'm wondering if Kevin's autistic/aspergers traits aren't anyone heading psychology off on the curve or anything, but just talented writers writing very well-observed comedy. Not that anyone was specifically trying to nail down anything specific, but if they're writing from life and doing a good job nailing down the specifics of this kind of person, they can't help but stumble across some revealing truths. The writers of this episode didn't have to KNOW they were writing a character on the spectrum in order to write one.

Matt Bixler! Hello!

Oh man, I didn't think about it for that reason but I haven't been hung over in a while. Probably pretty good post-workout though so maybe I'll pick one up to try. I'm about to go to the grocery store and I think even the non-Asian ones here in the Portland area carry it.

littleterr0r

I want to add that it's not "supposed to taste like sweat" -- the word's in there because it's meant to replenish nutrients you lose when you sweat a lot. I'm not the biggest fan of it, but it's GREAT for a hangover, especially compared to overly-sweet American sports drinks. Pair it with some Calorie Mate and you've got a good start to recovering from too much alcohol consumption.

nina matsumoto

I don't normally buy Pocari Sweat at any of the Asian supermarkets around here but it was a GODSEND in the humidity of a Japanese summer.

littleterr0r

Kevin really does give off strong young republican vibes this episode, especially with his claim that Griffo and C-Dog aren't all that innocent and willingness to let them go to jail and potentially ruin the rest of their lives (given that they would likely face much shittier opportunities with this on their records combined with the fact that they don't seem to be in a high economic bracket already) to avoid some personal, sex-related embarrassment. While Andy does seem a little too... well, right, in this episode (especially compared with his uncomfortable sexual pursuit in the last one), I'm glad someone was there to say these things at least. And you guys are totally right, George really gets fucked over by this and the show barely acknowledges it. I get that a) it's a show and not reality and b) this is meant to be part of the joke, but in reality Griffo and C-Dog would still absolutely be punished for the theft itself. We don't see Kevin lie to questions under oath specifically, but it's very questionable territory since he was still omitting a large truth throughout the whole process, and I think at the very least there'd be some further investigation/ questioning to ensure that Kevin's actions were in fact unintentional. But yeah, cartoon, so this kinda inaccuracy happens. I've learned to try to live with it given that almost all dramatized courtroom scenes are at least somewhat factually inaccurate (for instance, EVERYONE asks leading questions all the time and are rarely called on it).

Dylan (batmanboy11) Freitag

I dunno, he's pretty clearly got a sexy magazine in front of him so....

nina matsumoto

Boy, if Talk to the Audience episodes read the comments for the side series, this would take the cake

Alex Irish

Something I never caught until now, what must Griffo and C-Dog have interpreted from their perspective? That nerdy guy who came to school a week ago scolds them in a store and then *immediately* goes to masturbate. The must assume he has some weird fetish.

ChemyChems

I cam here to expect a long post from you about Beck and you didn't disappoint.

Angel

I like smut!

mavrick

Until this recap series forced my hand, this was the only episode of Mission Hill I had ever seen because I caught the courtroom scene on Adult Swim. I seem to recall the ads running with that "manipulating myself to pornography" line quite a bit, so I think I wound up believing the show was a lot dirtier than it actually was. Which is all to say... this is pretty hilarious, but it's maybe not the best second episode to go with when you're struggling to establish a show and build an audience. Somebody made the wrong call.

SomeBloke

I've seen him at least 5 times (maybe 6?? can't remember right now), last time being the Colors tour. Would love to see a Hyperspace tour but who knows when it'll be safe to hold a concert again...

nina matsumoto

(WARNING: THIS ENTIRE POST IS ABOUT BECK. SKIP IF YOU DON'T CARE) First off, I want to make it clear this isn't a David Niven situation because I have never had a crush on Beck and it's a big pet peeve of mine when people assume so. I can be a fan of someone and respect their work without being attracted to them. (It's especially irksome how this weird misconception only happens with male celebrities I'm a fan of, never female celebrities.) I also don't think Bob looks that much like him though I kinda see where people are getting it from -- I'm just overly familiar with what Beck actually looks like, enough to see the differences. (For starters, Beck isn't 6'2".) One of the things I've always admired about Beck is how he's never tried to rely on sex appeal. He's always fully clothed and his dance moves are awkward and goofy. Even when he released a "sexy" album like Midnite Vultures, the lyrics were silly and bizarre, staying true to his "brand." So coming out on stage wearing hot pants and bending over really isn't in character for him, but I guess that was part of the joke?? He's the last person you'd see wearing karai pantsu so Andy was understandably shocked and upset. He's not exactly a fashion icon either. In the past decade or so, he's started dressing more maturely, but in the late 90s he was still mostly wearing vintage T-shirts and jeans. He's never really leaned into Japanese culture either, until now, actually -- his latest album Hyperspace (which came out the day Bob and I got engaged!!) uses no English on the cover, just Japanese katakana. That's about as close as he's gotten to tapping into Japan, asides from the song "Hell Yes" and its music video (which wouldn't be released until 5 years after Mission Hill). Anyway, I distinctly remember this scene when watching this episode when it first aired, and appreciating the reference because I think it was the first time he'd ever been mentioned on a show I watch. His relationship with scientology is complicated and I won't get into it here except to say: I feel like he's always tried to distance himself from it without basically disowning his family, with whom he also has a complicated relationship. It is interesting that he stated "I'm not a scientologist" as soon as his divorce from a bigtime scientologist was made public (also, his previous fiancee, who broke his heart, was not a scientologist). He's never really acknowledged dating Winona Ryder; they were just seen hanging out for like a month. They were probably dating but he's an extremely private guy so I don't think he wanted to talk about it. Sea Change was about his breakup with his fiancee Leigh Limon (her name always makes me laugh because I just think of "Lee Lemon" from Futurama), who he was with for 9 years, until he found out she had been having an affair. I love all of Beck's music videos and you can always count on him to have awesome ones. He directed a lot of his videos in this era, too. It shouldn't be surprising to Andy that he wins an MTV Video Music Award in this scene, because he was nominated for -- and won -- a ton of awards in 1997 for "The New Pollution" and "Devils Haircut" (rightfully so!). He has so many good, iconic MVs, that his MVs started referencing his past MVs! (see: "Uneventful Days" and also "Heart is a Drum" to a lesser extent.) There were no MVs for Mutations, and only one single was released ("Tropicalia"). It really is an amazing album and I'm fine with it being more low-key as a release, since he went crazy with Midnite Vultures. "Deadweight" is a good song and the MV was directed by the amazing Michel Gondry (another artist I deeply admire). I always use it as an example of a clever way a movie soundtrack MV can incorporate clips from the film. I have never seen "Life Less Ordinary," but I owned the soundtrack CD, because this was back when I bought any CD with a Beck song on it. It's directed by Danny Boyle and I love his work so maybe I should check it out, but it was very poorly received so I dunno. P.S. I was actually going to hold back from commenting on this episode because I knew my comment would end up too long but you guys encouraged it! P.P.S. "Guero" is pronounced like "where-oh" P.P.P.S. Just wanted to add that, while I was glad he finally won an Album of the Year Grammy award, I wish it wasn't for Morning Phase.... that's my least fav album of his.

nina matsumoto

Big Beck fan here. I was that odd kid in 6th-grade wearing a shirt w/ the dancing girl from Midnite Vultures' cover. I've been lucky enough to see Beck on 4 separate occasions: - Mutations @ the Wiltern - Midnite Vultures @ the Greek - Sea Changes @ Long Beach's Terrace Theater * The Yoshimi-era Flaming Lips opened - Just last year, Colors @ the Greek Almost saw him perform that album he put out exclusively as sheet music, but I had a prior engagement. And, yes, Mutations is a brilliant work. Also, "Jackass" is spiritually a Mutations song while "Diamond Bollocks" is essentially an Odelay song.

Bennett Billard