2Good4Utube: Jane Curtin in OC and Stiggs

Robert Altman directed a campy teen comedy, which basically means- a bad movie on the surface is a pretty good satire beneath that surface.

But the best part about this movie is Jane Curtin, who drinks the entire time. There exists no Youtube videos.

Please take my word for it.

TV Moustache Week: Ned Flanders

As we draw to an end of TV mustache week, we must mention possibly the greatest mustached man on TV for the last 20 years- Ned Flanders. We recapped some pretty cartoony characters, so it feeds the irony beast that perhaps the most serious of these recaps is about a cartoon character. Or not, you really shouldn't read that much into these posts.

We know who Ned is: strong christian morals, overtly friendly, a push-over, a widower, a surprising physique, a lefty, raised by beatniks, constantly upbeat, 60 years-old, a genuinely nice guy whose self is governed by his beliefs and is disciplined enough to follow through on them, and all his life he wanted purple drapes.

We know him- so let's talk about his mustache, and really the path he carved out for other mustaches to follow.

Ned is, simply put, a nerd. It is within that nerdy annoyance we have in him, that we see a part of ourselves in. Never betraying that bond with the audience, and taking it to ridiculous heights and emotional places--- why that's just strong TV. Ned is a character full of quirks. His mustache just happens to be a visible quirk (and he refers to it, such as: his "Nose Neighbour," "Mr. Tickles," "The Ole Soup Strainer," "The Cookie Duster," "The Pushbroom," and "Dr. Fuzzenstein.") It's not outlandish that Ned has a mustache. It's just fact that he does.

The season 16 episode, "Home Away From Homer", Ned moves Humbleton, PA, where everything is more dopey sweet than he is. In Humbleton, Ned is asked to shave his mustache, which he refuses. Truly a great moment for mustaches on television. For all his christian morals, pent up anger at his parents, and responsibilities in raising 2 sons- Ned never gives anything less than himself. Ned Flanders, one of the dorkiest people ever shown on TV, showed television, nay the world, on how to not look so dorky while wearing a mustache.

Great mustache TV characters are not the star of their show. They are the perspective, after all who wouldn't want to see the world through the eyes of a man with a strip of hormonal hair on their face. Mustaches themselves are a kooky attribute, and the men who carry them don't make themselves more kooky by having a mustache. They make the mustache more serious by being themselves.

Oh, and if you ever get gum in your mustache- just freeze it and hit it with a hammer.

TV Mustache Week: Ron Mother Fuckin' Swanson

There's not much to say here. There is just reverence in the glory and the majesty of a man glorified by self-discipline, masonry, and a pyramid of other great things.

It's TV mustache week, and I'd be remiss to talk about the (if not the most) prolific mustache of recent tv. The Swanson mustache is intimidating, thorough, and necessary. It is both a stop sign and a proceed with caution sign. It encapsulates the confidence, grit, and essence of Ron Swanson.

Mustaches are inherently creepy/ dad-ish/ something-to-judge-someone-by. DUH: having a mustache is saying you have a mustache. Ron is a reasonable man. Nothing says reasonable like growing hair on your face with pride. Other characters we discussed this week (Officer Jay, Mike Watt) have mustaches as more affectation, where it highlights their serener side. Not saying Ron can't show emotion (not counting anger, Ron's relationship with Leslie is that of her earning his trust and him responding well to her work ethic and attitude). Ron Swanson is more brute, and his mustache is less affectation and more 'calling card'. It's a mustache that let's you know what you're in for. Be wary of the man who has grown this. Ron is the apex of the goofy cartoon character with a mustache (My Name is Earl) and the too serious to be nothing more than a mustache (Magnum PI). A fully realized character that every word he speaks and step he walks only adds to his legend.

Not only is Ron pioneering new grounds for TV character's to have mustaches, he is also stating those rules (via Pyramid):

"Facial Hair: full, thick, and square. Nothing sculpted. If you have to sculpt it, that probably means you can't grow it.

TV Mustache Week: The Sarah Silverman Program's Officer Jay McPherson

The Sarah Silverman revolves accordingly around Sarah Silverman, giving her all the wacky and leaving the basis of reality to her co-stars.... none more than her sister Laura and Laura's boyfriend Officer Jay McPherson. Jay acts the part as foil to the boisterously crass and unapologetically juvenile Sarah. Jay and Sarah's relationship is like that of another mustachioed TV icon, Ned Flanders to neighbor Homer Simpson.

Jay's 'aww shucks' vibe is a perfect contrast to Sarah. Sometimes indulging her (laughing at a joke at her 9/11 tribute) and mostly listening to Laura, Jay is responsible and is reasonably angry- which makes Sarah's shenanigans that much more devious and off-putting.

He's an aficionado of 'gentle-comedy' and a classic small town cop. He's the type of guy to say things like hootenanny and "Listen, I don't know who put a nickel in you, but it's time to make change! " and really mean them. This leads me to believe that his mustache is genuine, that without that mustache- he would lose some of his happy demeanor.

His mustache makes him 'Officer Jay' the friendly officer who speaks at schools, helps people, and puts up with a person who constantly insults him and kills his turtle. He would still be those things without the mustache, but it'd be creepier, like a more rogue cop who is friendly. Jay's mustache represents comfortability and control, two strong factors Jay himself brings to the show.

Also- Jay Johnston is legend. Mr. Show, Moral Orel, and this turn here on The Sarah SIlverman Program.

TV Mustache Week: Spaced's Mike Watt

Great mustaches on TV are mustaches that don't undermine the character, but are subtle portrayals of confidence of a character. They don't distract, they enhance.

Mike Watt is a very big leap of a character. He's always seen in military fatigues, and always on military time. Mike's a military character, so even in that realm the mustache makes sense. The mustache is part of his uniform of himself. But Mike's uniform is merely the hard outer casing, as we see Mike as a sensitive, Tim-loving failure who revels in his obsession.

Mike is cartoony enough to have stolen a tank and taken it to Euro Disney and to hold hands with his best friend Tim, but also serious enough to rise to the rank of Sergeant in the Territorial Army, and when Tim and roommate Sophie's relationship grows together- Mike feels hurt.

Mike Watt's mustache represents a facade, while that facade encapsulates who Mike is. Spaced is a show about somewhat contemptible slacker types, Tim and Sophie, dealing with their life and their relationship. The characters around them (a struggling painter, a fashionista working as a dry cleaner, a lonely landlord, and a military nutjob) are shown as lovable and/or sources of humor. It's not that we relate to Mike, it's that we care about Mike and accept him as that guy who always has gun's on him. And of course, that guy has a mustache. With Spaced, and it's commitment to fast-storytelling, pop culture, and non-sequitars--- we have the perfect vehicle to get to know and understand that mustache.

Embedding disabled, but see Mike's take on the male psyche and how men relate to each other.