My Experience With... Once Upon a Forest.

Yeah. I walked into it last week, didn't I?

(Here we go.)

Don't worry, I don't dread this movie. I actually really like it.

I couldn't have been much older than a toddler when I first saw this movie. My mother bought it waaaay back in the day when she was doing what any mother of a youngling would do: looking for entertaining videos and movies to keep her child calm, entertained, and stimulated for a period of time or two while she did other motherly duties. She slam-dunked on this one!

The story starts as three furlings are all running late to Furling Class, which I can only assume is a special tutoring school that may or may not be remedial or extracurricular. Whatever, I'm thinking too much into this. One of the students is a rambunctious field mouse named Abigail, who has a strong bond with her Dad. The second one is a food-loving hedgehog named Russell. He comes from a large family of one mother and a ton of siblings. Finally, there's Edgar, the slightly cowardly mole who has a bond with his mother.

Wait, does nobody in this cast have two parents?!

Not even Disney is that cruel!

They all make it to Furling class, where they're greeted by a young badger named Michelle, the teacher's (Cornelius) niece. A surprise was promised to them, and Michelle is (temporarily) worried that they won't get to see it. They all go in, and Cornelius lets out a prototype of a flying machine. In a scurry, the model gets broken. By the way, that's not the surprise. The surprise comes on an educational stroll.

Meanwhile, a man drives by and tosses an empty glass bottle on the street, leaving sharp shards behind. The furlings encounter the road and the shards and nearly get run over by a car. After redirecting the furlings, Cornelius leads them to the surprise... a boat.

I remember watching this with my

Mom when I got older, and asked her,

"Seriously? A boat was the surprise?"

Seriously, the boat paled in comparison

to a FLYING MACHINE PROTOTYPE,

but Mom did bring up a good point:

they are kids, and kids can

find anything really cool.

They take a ride down a calm river, or lake or something, but unfortunately a truck filled with gas starts going down the road. Remember the shards? They puncture one of the truck's tires, which sends the truck careening off the road.

Okay, I get the fact that they're teaching kids

not to litter, and that actions can have

consequences and that kids usually learn

through the most extreme circumstances,

but I'm gonna have to say that the chances

of that actually happening (based on no

research of my own here) are one in astronomical.

The driver is unscathed, and searches for help. Unfortunately, the truck gets damaged. The gas goes through the forest and starts killing all manner of flora and fauna.

The furlings get into trouble (again) when a series of events has them lose the boat. (You know, I'm quite sure this is definitely the remedial class.) Cornelius scolds them, but stops when he notices that the birds are not flying in their usual pattern. This is actually a good tip, guys, if you happen to notice wildlife. They flee home, but it's too late. The gas, though mostly dissipated, has destroyed a lot of the vegetation. Michelle starts running to her house, but doesn't come out. Abigail goes in after her, and sees that the gas has killed Michelle's parents.

Um.... that was heavy.

Believe me when I say

Your tiny child may not

get that on his/her own.

Abigail pulls Michelle out of the house without getting any damage herself, but Michelle's eyes and lungs are in bad shape. Cornelius explains that humans were the cause of what happened. When he was a furling himself, humans hunted badgers in the area. Cornelius and his sister (who we don't see again in the movie) escaped, leaving their parents to die at the humans' hands.

Okay, I forgive Disney of all of its

crimes against parenthood. Hanna-Barbera

has waaaaay too many missing parents in this flick!

Cornelius then sends the three furlings off to find herbs in a nearby meadow, so he could help revive Michelle. They have two days, though, and need to hurry.

Oh yeah, and then this tear-jerker lullaby:

Will whoever is cutting up onions stop?!

Also, check out this performance. It's pretty good.

Right. In. The. Childhood. Feels.

My mother and I concluded that Michael Crawford kinda sounds like Marty Goetz in this song.

They go off and have a grand adventure, facing natural and artificial obstacles along the way. They even run across a black bird church. No, I'm not even kidding. That is definitely a spoof of a black church. The hilarious part was... I was afraid of the preacher.

Little bit of history about me: I grew up in a historically NORWEGIAN church. Very low-key, and I'm pretty sure the church was just starting its integration (it's fully integrated now: there's some of EVERYBODY in there!), and I had the epitome of white pastors (prematurely white-haired in his 30s) who was very soft-spoken. I was unaware at the young age of 2 or 3 that black preachers existed, or race itself. I didn't know that preachers could even be high-energy, even at a funeral! That's right. A funeral.

I say all that to say... the preacher voiced by Ben Vereen scared the DICKENS out of me when I was a kid. Mom said I would run out of the room and peek around the corner to make sure he was gone. Obviously now.... Mom and I are just a touch scared of him. Lol. We do love that scene, though. Oh, and oddly enough, I was used to Gospel music, so.... I was scared of him, yet loved the music. Weird conundrum.

I'm not going to tell you how it ends, because I've been beating myself up over the fact that I've been giving you guys spoilers in a lot of my posts. Just know that it will really get your emotions.

I love this movie. It holds so much sentimental value to me, and it's a great movie and my Mom and I love every moment of it. My Mom isn't even a fan of animated movies!

The music is great, the characters are charming, the story is great for kids to follow, and there's practically nothing that would greatly offend your kids. It might scare them a bit at times, but it's overall harmless. Some may not like the pro-environmental message, but in my opinion, it's actually the best way to present it. It shows the good and the bad in nature and in civilization, and shows how sometimes bad things happen and that we learn to move forward with completely changed lives.

This is about as good a film as you can get, in my opinion. I like films that challenge kids' minds while still being a good family film, like Fantastic Mr. Fox, or another animal-themed movie that I'm gonna write about next week.

🎶 Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh........ 🎶

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My Experience With... Fantastic Mr. Fox

I told you would see this meme in another post.

At long last, I've been meaning to do this one for a WHILE.

Okay, You know how you sometimes see a trailer for a movie and think one of two things:

• "I dunno, this could be stupid."
• "I dunno, this could be raunchy."

Well, I kinda thought both sentences for both of this movie, but it did pique some of my interest. However, I didn't manage to watch it for some reason or another. Then, I completely forgot about it altogether.

Then one day, in my college dorm room, I watched Cartoon Network's MAD. *sigh* I was at a low point in my entertainment life. I was not fully aware of what the internet was capable of, and for some God-forsaken reason I allowed myself to be subjected to stupid humor, even though I watched the comedic brilliance that is Homestar Runner for a good portion of college.

No. No, I'm not doing it.

I'm not going to post a link

or a video of the parody video.

I indeed found it that stupid.

Whatever the reason, I do have to owe that really dumb show some credit. They did this little parody called Fantastic Megan Fox. I had no idea who she was at the time, and the parody made little sense. But I did remember the movie Fantastic Mr. Fox, and thought that I should see it at some point.

I forgot about that movie again.

I guess I was either in late college or post college when I finally saw it. It astounded me. It was a really good movie! The characters were great and memorable, despite a rather large cast, its humor was pleasant, its dramatic moments were heartfelt, and its story actually drove, without relying on toilet humor. (I should mention that I cannot stand toilet "humor," considering it's waaaay overused and quite disgusting. There are exceptions, but still.) It's not above some of its usual movie cliches and formulae, including the "protagonist lies" plot device, but the reason it seems to work here is that the consequences are quite dire. Sure, the heroes survive, but life does not continue at status quo.

Several years later, I saw it in a Food Lion (they have some discounted movies there) paired up with Robots.

Yeah, okay, maybe I'll write about that in a

few weeks. I still have other posts in queue.

Anyway, I wasn't (at the time) too crazy about Robots from what I remembered, but there was no way I was going to give up this opportunity to purchase Fantastic Mr. Fox for $5. So I bought it, took it home and watched it. It was a great as I remembered it to be. I even got to read the Roald Dahl book. The movie was surprisingly close the source material.

Sorta.

Kinda.

It had the main characters in there (minus some kits), some extra side characters, and they pretty much duplicated the book's 3rd act. However, it added to the book. If you read Roald Dahl's classic, it reads like... a classic Roald Dahl story. It has plenty of adventure, lighthearted moments, heavy moments, and even some parts that will leave you scratching your head. The movie took that story and kicked it up to an 11. There was GREAT voice acting in it, and as aforementioned, it added a great deal of depth and realism to the story. They basically did with it what the people did with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I'm talking about the Willy Wonka version of the movie, not Charlie.

The movie starts off with a shot the main limerick in the story:

Boggis and Bunce and Bean

One Fat, One Short, One Lean

These Horrible Crooks

So Different In Looks

Were Nonetheless Equally Mean

Then a shot of the book, then it cuts to Mr. Fox waiting for his wife Felicity, who went to the doctor. She says that it's a bug. They're both fowl thieves, and they go out for some squab to the tune of Heroes and Villains.

Oh, another thing I've gotta mention: the soundtrack. (How did I forget the soundtrack?) It's really good. They play a lot of either old songs or original arrangements, so it gives the film a more classic, timeless feel, along with the the filming and lighting.

They manage to get the squab, but Mr. Fox has them end up in a fox trap. At this point, Felicity mentions that she is not sick, but pregnant.

One plot hole later and a couple of years later, the family is living.... modestly.... in a hole in the ground. Mr. Fox gives up his thievery and becomes a column writer (basically a blogger for this crazy ancient invention called a "newspaper"), Mrs. Fox becomes a domestic housewife/SAHM, and the two have a young fox named Ash, who is every bit of an awkward tween boy -- he's short, unathletic, barely pubescent, and is trying to fit in with the world and please his dad. The family will soon add another fox. No, she's not pregnant again, but Mr. and Mrs. Fox have a nephew named Kristofferson, whose uncle has double pneumonia, and will need to stay with them, much to Ash's chagrin.

Mr. Fox goes out to find a new home, despite the fact that Mrs. Fox is comfortable where they live already, as it is a fox's place to live underground. Mr. Fox (whose first name we'll never know), pulls a Disney princess and wants more out of life, as he's approaching the age that his own dad died. Mr. Fox finds a tree house -- where we meet a weasel realtor and an opossum superintendent named Kylie -- and at first almost turns it down to find a pine, but then he sees the farms of Boggis, Bunce, and Bean. This rekindles his old wild nature, and he sets off to see his Badger lawyer to buy the house.

Badger pretty much thinks Mr. Fox is a nut. Boggis, Bunce and Bean are farmers, each with his own specialty and characteristics.

• Walter Boggis, the fat one, is a chicken farmer, who eats way more chicken than even Colonel Sanders could possibly handle. 12 whole chickens each day. Insert black stereotype joke here. There are too many.
• Nathan Bunce, the unbelievably short one, is a goose farmer, who only eats doughnuts stuffed with goose liver jam. Ew.
• Franklin Bean, the skinny one, is a sharp-shooting, maniacal man who farms turkeys and apples, and he only drinks his own hard apple cider. How his liver is functioning, I don't know.

Against Badger's warnings, Mr. Fox proceeds with the house purchase.

Now, I mentioned before that I abhor toilet "humor." Another thing I'm not a fan of is profanity, especially in a children's/family movie. Call me a prude, but it is what it is. However, this movie handles profanity quite nicely. Take a look:

That's right. They literally substitute every curse word possible with the word "cuss." That is brilliant. That is cussing brilliant. It's the best cussing thing I've ever cussing experienced in a cussing family film, cuss it! It keeps a nice air of innocence that's enough for a kids' film, plus older kids and adults will know exactly what they're trying to say, and everyone can laugh.

I would still watch the movie first though, if I were you, and you were the parent of a 4- or 5-year-old tot. This is still rated PG, and even though I personally didn't really see anything overly offensive, there are scenes that might be intense for the really little ones. Now, if you've got kids that are 18, 14, and 2, the youngest has probably seen Deadpool by now, and you're probably A-OK with that.

That was a joke.

Don't show an R-rated

film to a two-year old.

They buy the house, and there's a young fox on the horizon.

Yes. That is in fact, Kristofferson. Does that look remotely male to you? Also, what the cuss is with those "unaccompanied minor" tags? Why not just have it say what it really means:

You're never gonna unsee that, so don't try.

Anyway, Kristofferson is actually really athletic, tall, and loved by everyone... except Ash, who becomes jealous of him, as his likability keep's Mr. Fox's attention away from his son.

There's a kind of B-plot that goes along with the young kits, but you can kinda guess where it goes, so I won't expound here.

Mr. Fox thinks of a plan behind his wife's back, pulling in Kylie, the opossum I mentioned earlier, along with him. Kylie is willing to help, despite the fact that he's a tad cowardly.

I'm sorry, but this makes me laugh almost every time.

They successfully raid Boggis's farm, and bring the loot home, making it look like a butcher's shop purchase. Mrs. Fox becomes just a touch suspicious.

After some B-plot, the duo go after Bunce's farm, again successfully. Mrs. Fox gets even more suspicious.

On the third night, they go after Bean's farm, this time taking Kristofferson with them. Ash wants to go, too, but Mr. Fox, father of the year, sends him home because he's "too little and uncoordinated." They go to Bean's cellar and make off with some cider after an encounter with a security rat.

I just wrote that sentence.

These events seem to rightfully tick off the farmers, and they meet to plan to kill Mr. Fox. Mr. Fox, feeling as confident as ever, decides to try to sneak out one more time with Kylie, and gets caught by his wife. He badly lies his way out (with no help from the opossum), but she lets them go, anyway. This time, all three farmers are hiding behind some bushes. A breeze gives carries their scent to Mr. Fox, but it's too late. Mr. Fox and Kylie make it back inside, but...

We caught the tail, but we missed the fox.

That's only a sliver of the consequences going these animals' way. Their home eventually gets dug up, the tunnels are ruined, and many animals are homeless and in ruin.

Also, this happens.

I don't often question these things. I just dance along.

The only positive side to all this is that because of the farmers' relentless efforts to dig up their nemesis, all of their farms are left unattended. The animals eventually steal all that the farmers have. This makes Mr. Bean very unhappy, and he thinks of a plan. Meanwhile, the animals are having a fantastic (rim shot) time in their new tunnels, partying, eating, and making merry. I'll bring the little kits back in, because they actually serve some purpose to the story. Ash, determined to make his father proud of him, decides that he's going to steal his dad's tail, and enlists a reluctant Kristofferson to help him. The two get caught, and Ash escapes back to the tunnels, while Kristofferson gets caught by Mrs. Bean and gets locked in a crate.

Back in the tunnels, Mr. Bean's plan springs into action. He floods everybody out into the sewers with his apple cider.

*sskknnxxchch!* That never gets old.

Ash catches up and reports Kristofferson's capture. To add insult to injury, the only way out of the sewers, a single city manhole, has been blocked by a car parked right on top of it. Yeah... that's one of very few points of this movie that don't make sense. Barring the anthropomorphism, of course. Mr. Fox eventually decides he'll surrender and give up his own life to save the others.

The rest of the animals try to find an alternative way to survive, but run into the security rat, who delivers them a ransom note. The farmers mistook Kristofferson as the Foxes' son. Ash clears it up, leading to Rat's attempt at kidnapping him. Ash's screams reach Mr. Fox's ears just in time, and he makes it back to find Rat attempting to kill Felicity, who tried to rescue Ash. A final showdown results in Rat's death, and Mr. Fox plans a new mission to rescue Kristofferson, retrieve his tail, and take some revenge on the farmers. This time, however, he uses all of the animals' talents, rather than try to rely on his own sly whit.

I really hate to give away good points of the movie, so I say DON'T WATCH IF YOU DON'T WANT THE MOVIE SPOILED. If you don't particularly care, please watch. You won't be disappointed.

Even Ash gets in on the fun, helping rescue Kristofferson, and saving Mr. Fox and Kylie, which finally has Ash earn his Dad's favor.

Then this scene happens:

Alright. I'm gonna question

this one. What the cuss??? This

had absolutely nothing to do 

with the plot of the book or 

the movie. It's barely even

 explained in the movie!

Anyway, we leave off with loose ends tied. The farmers sit at the manhole, waiting for the fox to emerge, Kristofferson's dad has been reported to have gotten a health upgrade, and the animals find a way to survive in the sewer system.

I'm not gonna give away the scene that goes along with the closing song, but here's the track, anyway.

So there you have it. Fantastic Mr. Fox. If you've never read the book, you should. If you've never seen the movie, you should. They're both from the same classic underrated story. It's even more fun if you watch with others. My mom and I both love this movie, and I think I can safely say it's our 2nd favorite, behind Once Upon a Forest.

I'm gonna have to write about that, aren't I?

What's your favorite underrated... thing? Movie, book, toy, song... it can be anything.

Shameless plugging time!

Check out my YouTube page here.

My Experience With... Zumba

As I previously promised in a YouTube video on Tuesday...

Here's the review.

I remember when Zumba was just beginning to be a craze. Women (and some men) were dancing like they all originated from Latin America, and everybody was losing weight because of it. What wasn't to love? Heck, XBox even got in on that game!

For me, however, I was not really able to find the time to squeeze in a Zumba class. Not an official one, anyway. The most I did was the "Hokey Pokey" song by the Puppies. Which, by the way, is an awesomely fun song to dance to.

See how fun that was? Well, I kept putting off actually attending a Zumba class, until I went to my gym and saw they offered it there. This was months ago, by the way. I still put it off. Last month I went, and there was only the instructor there. I was a little self-conscious about joining, so I went to the exercise machines instead.

This past Monday, I went for it. I figured it was dancing, and that shouldn't be hard, right? I used to go out dancing all the time, not to mention the number of Just Dance YouTube videos I danced to, so this should be a piece of cake, right?

...

...

...

WRONG!

There were a couple of several factors I hadn't considered:

1. Zumba is so much more than a dance class. These are dances that you jump into, non-stop, and the repetitive moves target different portions of your body.
2. I'm not much of a cardio person anymore. I used to be a slim, athletic, healthy basketball player. Now I'm an obese (I don't look it, but I've checked the chart), somewhat sedentary, slightly unhealthy basket case who wants to wear clothes again. Cardio is not what it used to be. It used to just leave me short of breath for a few minutes. These days, it could kill me.
3. You dance for the entire time. Even in my school dance days, I'd need to sit out every now and then. Of course, the fact that they had slow dances in between helped.
4. My heart rate actually rises very quickly. This could be due to weight gain, but my heart can easily hit its cardio zone a lot faster than it used to.

As far as the enjoyment factor goes, I did legitimately have a good time. I like the fact that I get to dance again, and this should get easier in a few months. I think, however, that Zumba is most enjoyed by girls with insanely gorgeous figures and a BMI from 18-23.

I was sore the next day, by the way. My fat was hurting. MY. FAT. I guess that's a good thing?

What do you think? Should I go back again?

What's the craziest thing you've ever done?

My Experience With... ALF (BONUS POST)

OH. MY. GOSH. How could I forget this wonderful number?!

My Experience With... ALF

Okay, guys, expect these about once a month, if that.... I haven't made as much "writing time" as I used to. I'm seriously trying harder to be more disciplined in writing.

About a month and a half ago, I was walking into the den of my house. My dad was in there, and the TV was on (I think I might've been watching The Andy Griffith Show, details are a bit blurry). The commercials were on. All of a sudden, I saw the last part of that theme song that I posted up there -- did you watch it??? -- and saw that it was coming to MeTV as part of its summer lineup. My reaction was pretty similar to this...

...buuuuuuut I had some kind of food in my mouth at that exact moment (again, blurry). So instead, I simply did a closed mouth scream while jumping up and down and pointing at the tv like an idiot, and pretty much ending with this dance:

Why was I so excited over an old aardvark-looking puppet?

Back in the day, people used to watch recorded videos at home on things called VHS tapes. They always stayed in place when you stopped it, there were no obnoxious menus or ads, and you could fast forward and rewind (if you were kind) any time you wanted to. Sometimes, you could even buy BLANK tapes, and record anything at all. Many people (myself included) used to record sitcoms and other TV shows -- as well as home movies, but I digress -- when they couldn't watch them at the time of their airing, and then watch it all at a later time... usually on a Friday night. It had its pitfalls, but at least it worked, overall.

My parents used to record lots of things, from classic music videos to sitcoms, movies, and beyond. I was fortunate to have watched quite a few things from past media, such as Michael Jackson, Chaka Khan, Family Ties, and of course ALF.

Being a young, barely school-age child, most of my TV viewing involved some sort of puppetry, whether it was Lamb Chop's Play-Along, Kidsongs, or anything involving Muppets, ALF just naturally appealed to me. Thank goodness it was a clean TV show, eh?

Well..... my parents wouldn't have allowed

me to watch it past its theme song.

In those days, I wasn't really allowed to watch many sitcoms. It just makes sense, I suppose; I wouldn't necessarily want my extra-young child to be exposed to foul language, nudity, sexual themes, violence or overall non-kiddie topics.

(Sorry future progeny, you'll be at least

10 before you can watch Courageous.)

Anyway, because such grown-up, mature sitcoms were often accompanied by THE COOLEST THEME SONGS EVER, my parents would let me watch maybe the introduction (if it were clean) to the show, then the theme song -- Why deny your child a musical opportunity? -- and then have me leave the room. Fine by me, really. I just went and watched an old tape or played with my Barbies, anyway.

And yes, my favorite theme song was the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

You're welcome.

As aforementioned, ALF was a rather clean show, so my parents had no objections to my watching the full episodes that were recorded. The very first episode I ever saw was season 1, episode 26 (yes, I had to look it up), "Come Fly With Me." In this round of Alf's earthly shenanigans, Alf subscribes to a ton of magazines, in hopes of winning prizes. One actually does promise prizes, but only if the family goes on a trip. The Tanners, Alf's host family, end up flying with the Ochmoneks, their nosy neighbors who know nothing of Alf's existence. To the Tanners' surprise (and chagrin), Alf stows away on the trip.

I come from a quoting family. I'm sure it's like yours, in which about 98% of your inside jokes come from shared moments in front of the TV set. One classic line is when Alf is all dressed up, ready to travel, after the Tanners agree to go on the trip.

[Alf walks into the room, dressed in tropical clothes]

Alf: I'm ready!

[The Tanners look at him awkwardly.]

Alf: [picking up on the nonverbal cues] Uh-oh... [takes off sunglasses] Am I going alone?

Willy Tanner: No, Alf... We're going.... alone.

My Dad and I especially love this part, since once I was so excited at the prospect of going on a trip that I packed my suitcase before they even made a decision, and it's reminded us of that dialogue since then.

By the way, I don't think we even went that time.

The Tanners have no choice but to keep Alf in the hotel room, while they spend time with their neighbors. Thankfully for Alf, he has the prize -- a talking toaster with an accent somewhere between robot and Mexican -- to keep him entertained.

This..... is my absolute favorite part of the episode.

HAAAAA!!!

That part gets me every time!

Just go with the catfish thing.

I don't wanna spoil

it for you guys out there.

I should probably not give away the ending, because it's just too much to write here. Besides, as great as this was, it wasn't even my favorite episode!

That would be Season 1, episode 2, "Strangers in the Night." And I'm not exaggerating when I say "favorite episode." I can't tell you how many times I've watched this episode. My poor DVD player... one Christmas (or birthday, again with those fuzzy details!) my loving parents decided to get me ALF season 1 on DVD. I remember it costing quite a bit because it had just come out on DVD. I bet it costs a lot less now, since the entire series is out, plus it first came out years ago.

*Checks Best Buy*

Yep, the whole series costs

about $43 now. Quite the

difference from the past.

Words could not express how happy I was. I don't think I was as happy with each new Barbie doll combined! That's. Saying. A lot. Plus, I guess my poor parents didn't think they put themselves through enough torture, knowing that within a week their daughter would be quoting almost every episode. "Strangers in the Night" probably the one episode that I used to quote VERBATIM.

I was an odd child. You should've seen

toddler me conduct with Bugs Bunny in

exact gestures during "Long-Haired Hare."

I'm not even kidding. EVERY. MOVE.

So you can imagine the fun I had watching this one. Basically a night turns into a fiasco. Lynne (the daughter) and Kate (the mother) are off to a bridal party, leaving Brian (the son) and Alf (the alien) under the watch of Willy (the father). However, Willy has to go to the office for a work emergency. Alf offers his services as a baby-sitter, promising to keep out of trouble by watching Psycho on TV -- great idea, right? -- but the parents turn it down, and Mrs. Ochmonek is chosen to watch young Brian. They of course lock Alf up in their bedroom, ordering him to stay put.

I really do not feel it's in good conscience to tell you the whole episode, but it gets crazy. At one point, Alf is in a blue dress. I'm gonna leave it right there. Hopefully, you and your family will find as many humorous quotables as my family and I did.

My second fave episode is their first Christmas episode. I'll keep this brief, since I know you've been reading quite a bit already. Willy tries to find a Christmas tree for the family, but waited until the last second. He ended up getting a fake tree. Not the good kind you find at Wal-Mart in late September, either. This one made Charlie Brown's tree look like the kind that you find in Wal-Mart in late September. Naturally, this draws disappointment and disapproval from family and neighbors, so Willy and Alf go and find a real tree. I'll leave the ending for you to watch.

That's it, really. This was the show that transitioned me from kiddie shows to sitcoms and TV dramas (or at least what was on PAX TV back then). It was appealing to all audiences, and not offensive to anyone, really. People (not my parents) might've overreacted, in my opinion, to Alf (who was probably well over 200 years old) drinking beer, but I don't object to that being limited to just the first two episodes. The cat addiction is way funnier. My tweenhood years with just season 1 was reason enough for me to jump up and down and scream in muffled tones. It's a good show, if you ask me. I know some people love it, and some hate it, but then again, you could say the same about Homestar Runner, and you may know by now how much I love it.

I have been watching the TV re-airing for over a week, and it's great just to see how much of it I remember, how much I've forgotten, and how much I get now that I'm older. And I hope to see it someday with my tween kids.

Oh, what the heck. I was probably 5 or 6 years old when I was first watching this, my future progeny will probably be younger than that. They'll have to wait a few extra years before watching shows like "Dragnet" or "Adam-12," though.

See you next week! (I hope, I hope, I hope.)

What's your favorite old/childhood TV show?