TV
People of Earth – Season 1: Grade: B+
I wasn’t totally sold on the TBS comedy series People of Earth when it premiered a few months back. The series about a support group for people who’ve been abducted, err…, experienced aliens where it turns out the members of the group really were abducted started off a bit too broad but within an episode or two found its footing.
Wyatt Cenac stars as writer Ozzie Graham who starts off the series as a journalist doing a story about the abductees but quickly finds himself at the center of things when he’s abducted. The group, lead by Gina (Ana Gasteyer) quickly welcomes Wyatt with open arms if everyone there has their own issues. But People of Earth isn’t just about the abductee group, in a hilarious twist it’s also about the aliens doing the abductions too. There’s bug eyed monster Jeff (Ken Hall), lizard Kurt (Drew Nelson) and dreamy nordic hunk Don (Björn Gustafsson) who go about their day snatching people and erasing their memories in order to prepare for an invasion.
In many ways, People of Earth reminds me of the series Community, not so much in tone but the idea of a group of disparate people thrown together who only have one thing in common and are forced to deal with each other. The characters are interesting and the interactions within the group on People of Earth are pretty funny too. I especially liked the character of Father Doug (Oscar Nuñez) who runs the church the group holds their meetings at. He’s not too interested in the group until one night he experiences something which sends him down the path of abandoning the cloth and getting his old fusion-jazz band back together.
But what’s funniest and best about the show are those aliens. They’re so workaday just doing a job who are a little in over their heads which makes People of Earth work so well. Plus, I’ve got to hand it for whomever did the makeup for the aliens, especially the one for Jeff. It’s a wonderful appliance with the piece covering his entire head that includes blinking eyes and everything.
Even though TBS has renewed People of Earth for a second season I’d be down for a Jeff spin-off series!
Movies
Blade Runner 2049 teaser trailer/announcement
“Replicants are like any other machine, their either a benefit or a hazard.”
Toys
Aliens – Foam Replica – 36″ Alien Skull
This replica skull of the monster from the movie Aliens is awesome. At first I wondered if I were to get it what I’d even do with it, but then I thought that it might make a cool Halloween decoration to scare the kiddies with. Then I saw the cost, $270, which is just a few hundred bucks out of my traditional Halloween decorating budget!
The Reading & Watch List
- “Highway 84″: When they landed planes on the Autobahn
- The first fatal nuclear meltdown in the U.S. happened in 4 milliseconds
- What Would Happen in the Minutes and Hours After North Korea Nuked the United States?
This week in pop-culture history
- 1932: Nichelle Nichols, Uhura of Star Trek is born
- 1980: Altered States is released
- 1982: The Thing premiers in theaters
- 1997: The Postman premiers
- 1999: Galaxy Quest opens in theaters
