TV
Disenchantment
I was a huge fan of the Matt Groening created series The Simpsons from its debut until about the year 2000. Until then, I’d been nuts for the show, going as far in the pre-internet days to purchase books about it where I made notations and even wrote down scraps of witty dialog I liked between boughts of laughter while watching episodes. And, when Futurama premiered in 1999 I remember thinking as the credits for the first episode aired, “Welcome, my new favorite show.”
I was never as big a Futurama fan as I’d been a The Simpsons fan, I only ever lasted a few seasons with that one, but even so if I didn’t dig Futurama those early seasons of The Simpsons, especially the Conan O’Brien years, are gold to me.
Now comes the next Matt Groening created series Disenchantment on Netflix.
The setting here is a fantastical land where princess Bean (Abbi Jacobson), elf Elfo (Nat Faxon) and demon Luci (Eric Andre) all team together to destroy their boring lives. Bean is sick of being a princess and wants to live like normal people while Elfo comes from a place where everyone is happy all the time and he wants to experience some “real-life.” Bean is set to be married and is terrified of being locked into this life. She, along with Luci, decide to ruin the wedding, accidentally impaling the groom in the process and running off where they find Elfo. The three run from the brother of the groom and now new groom into the unknown and adventure.
I thought that Disenchantment was interesting, if it’s probably not something I’m going to keep watching. I think that I might not be the demographic for this show, it’s very much in the vein of risqué Adult Swim series, and this might be why it didn’t connect with me.
Then again I like lots of stuff, some of if mainstream and some of it weird and off-beat, so it’s odd that I found Disenchantment so lacking. Getting through the first episode was a bit of a slog and I don’t think I laughed once during it, though I did giggle when Elfo’s village is revealed where some of the residents have their names on their shirts ala Shirt Tales and some of their names describe their character traits.
I think what I liked so much about those early The Simpsons seasons was that it was a show with a big heart, of which is lacking in Disenchantment, though maybe that comes in later episodes? If you’re looking for a series that delivers joke after joke at the expense of characters, then Disenchantment might be for you.
I’ll probably give this one a few more episodes to see if things improve after the first one.
I really should look at Disenchantment more like a funny Dungeons and Dragons rather than a realistic cartoon but one thing I kept thinking while watching Disenchantment is how Bean is this princess, and all she wants is to have a “normal” life like the people she hangs with in taverns and sees while she’s being taken home from a night of drinking back to her castle. But the “normal” people she strives to be seem to have terrible lives, and the only reason she can go out drinking and not face any consequences for her actions is because she’s a princess. If she really was one of the “normal” people she’d be out toiling in the fields with the rest of them and would be dead by 25 from some random plague.
What To Watch This Week
Ocean’s 8 – Tuesday
The sequel/reboot to the popular series of Ocean’s… movies is set to be released on digital download this week.
Deadpool 2 – Tuesday
The hilarious second Deadpool movie is out on Blu-ray and DVD this week too. This set includes the theatrical as well as a director’s cut of the movie, dubbed the “Super Duper Cut,” and contains material not seen in the theatrical release.
Ash vs Evil Dead – Tuesday
The final season of the underrated by everyone, myself included, Ash vs. Evil Dead series is also out this week on DVD and Blu-ray. This reportedly will mark the final appearances of Bruce Campbell as the title character since he “retired” form the role earlier this year.
The Terror – Tuesday
The first season of one of the best TV series of the 2017–2018 season, The Terror, gets its DVD and Blu-ray release this week.
Curse of the Demon – Wednesday
The terrifying British horror flick Curse of the Demon aka Night of the Demon airs this week on TCM. This is a slow-burn movie where it’s never clear whether or not what’s happening on-screen is natural, or super-natural and also was part of the inspiration behind the Drag Me To Hell movie.
The Reading & Watch List
- How Crete changed the course of World War Two
- An oral history of the original Death and Return of Superman, 25 years later
Cool Movie & TV Posters of the Week
