Things I Kind of Wish Were Still Around: Volume Three: Addendum

Here're a few Stella shorts from the live stage show the Stella trio used to perform back in the day. I caution that the material in all of the shorts might not be exactly... family friendly, but they're funny as all get out.

(By the way, the first short, "Audition", is probably my favorite of the lot, and closest to the "Stella" TV show.)

Things I Kind of Wish Were Still Around: Volume Three

Stella was one of those shows that was under (and badly) promoted and died before it had a chance to catch on. Which is a real shame, since it could've found a "Flight of the Conchords"-esque following if it had been given half a chance. A simple enough premise -- and curiously not unlike Conchords -- a trio of idiots living in New York and their various, outlandish misadventures. More 'out-there' than Conchords, it's easy to see why it didn't catch on. I have a friend who enjoyed Conchords and eagerly watched every new episode, but he couldn't handle more than half an episode of Stella. Thing is though, once you get past the uneven pilot episode, Stella gets really great. In fact I still eagerly bring out the DVD collection of the show at least once a year to re-watch (and it's worth noting here that if you are interested in checking out this 2006 DVD release that you're in for a bit of work there -- it was hard enough to find when it was new, and even then I think I had it special ordered).

The best episode of the ten episode run was probably "Meeting Girls", which has the three leads that make up comedy trio Stella, Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, and David Wain, finding romance in a New York redneck bar after winning the respect of the bar's patrons with a Coyote Ugly style dance on the bar counter. I'm reluctant to go into greater deal to avoid revealing too much of the episode (and because my description sounds kind of lame and I'd hate to put anyone off from wanting to watch the show).

It's hard to write about Stella in such a way that'll draw people into the show, because it really is one of those things you have to see for yourself. If you have a good sense of humor, you'll probably enjoy the show. It was really cut off at the knees and given enough time could have found an audience, especially as the Apatow-style of comedy (which wasn't so far off from Stella) started to become popular a short time after the end of the show (in fact David Wain, one of the Stella trio and director of several episodes of the show, is probably better known now for his successful film "Role Models").

If you want to check out episodes of Stella you can find them at the Comedy Central page for the show (or the Comedy Network page for the show, if you're Canadian). Check it out. It's an all right show that I wish was still around.

Things I Kind of Wish Were Still Around: Volume Two

An event I still find myself referring to occurred in June 1996 while I and my eighth grade classmates returned from our "senior" class trip to Montreal, Quebec. The surrounding details remain vague -- I can't remember if the event happened before or after I was given a garlic flavored mint by my friend John in retaliation for dosing him with itching powder we'd acquired on the trip, or which of the five or so films we watched on the bus ride was airing (we'd probably already seen "Waterworld" and "Beaches" by that point, so it's might be "Powder" -- curious choices in hindsight for an audience of 14 year olds), but I'll remember the moment clear as day for as long as I live.

There I was, standing in line at the McDonald's, ready to order an Arch Deluxe meal with a medium diet coke. While hungry for the Arch Deluxe and the coke, I admit I wasn't terribly interested in the fries that came with the combo but thought I may as well get them, what with the savings accompanying the combo purchase. It was then that I overheard a classmate, Andrea Burns, mention that she was hungry, but only a little, perhaps enough for some fries. And so I leapt forward, offering that we pool our resources and get the Arch Deluxe combo, keeping the burger and soft drink for myself and passing along the fries to Andrea, while we both basked in the savings as this development.


In the years to follow, I've found myself recalling this event, pleased at how I took the initiative and used the combo as an opportunity to enjoy the savings and the unique taste of the Arch Deluxe. It's seeing it in the print and going over the details at length that I begin to wonder if the whole thing was really worth... I don't want to say 'bragging' about... but maybe bringing up as often as I have. I only reasonable excuse could be that I did so as a joke at first and my 'funny boasting' developed into sincere braggadocio. Still, whatever the case is, I've yet to have someone tell me the whole thing is dumb in all the years and all the times I've brought it up. And all things considered, I am pleased about the whole thing. About 400s words proud.

But anyway, what was my point? Oh yeah, the Arch Deluxe. I really liked that thing. I was pretty let down when they discontinued it. I mean, they kept the McDonald's pizzas around longer than the Arch Deluxe, and those made no sense. Pizza at a burger place? I guess the crust was pretty good.

I suppose since I'm a vegetarian it doesn't really matter that the Arch Deluxe isn't around anymore, but I really enjoyed it back in the day. Yeah. It was all right.

Things I Kind of Wish Were Still Around: Volume One

I can't remember how or why this popped into my head just now, but the more I remember Marvel Comics' X-Force/X-Statix, the more I wish they were still around in some capacity.

Honestly though, there's an appeal to something that ends after a good sized run of stories over a handful of years. X-Force/X-Statix ran regularly for three years and forty issues from 2001 through 2004, with an additional five issues in 2006; not a bad run by any stretch, and not unlike the brief runs of other things I've enjoyed (The Office, Arrested Development, Veronica Mars, Justice League Unlimited). That's not to say I enjoyed the run as it was coming out, not entirely -- while I followed the early issues of X-Force based on the previews of Mike Allred's artwork, I stopped following the series with #119. Not because of the quality of the titles, but mostly because I started my first year of college and kept mostly to series I'd been following for more than four issues in lieu of ridiculous expenses. Over the next few years I kept up with the series through the odd issue discovered in dollar bins, finding about five or six that way.

It wasn't until the release of the 2006 five issue limited series X-Statix: Deadgirl and the various character profiles in the monthly Marvel Handbooks out at the time, that my fondness for the series was stirred full-on. I started with the second volume of X-Force, figuring that since I'd read all but one of the issues in the first volume I was fine (I should add for folks curious, that the whole run started with issue #116 of X-Force, ending with issue #129, and then relaunching with #1 of X-Statix for another 26 issues). Thankfully once I'd finally tracked down a copy of the out-of-print first volume I found a nice twist at the end of the missing issue. From there I started buying up X-Statix volumes, finding all but the third which introduced a Princess Diana analogue intended to have been the real-deal until Marvel got squeamish (and, if allegations are true, it was this bit of business that upset the X-Statix boat and lead to the end of the run).

The bright side though to a run being cut short like that in mid-stream is that it doesn't run the risk of growing stale or repetitive, and because it was contained to a few years it usually hasn't gone off in different directions and tangents with new characters (usually at the expense of older characters) and reads or watches more like a novel. And because the run was so short it's easier to review the whole thing in one go over a few days or a week, the long-form equivalent of a single-sitting, I suppose.

(It's at this point I pause to caution that, while reviewing this posting before hitting the "publish" button, I noticed a few spoilers below, so if you haven't read the series or if it's been long enough that some of the story bits aren't widely known, I advise against continuing, at least until the last image.)

Peter Milligan and Mike Allred crafted a remarkable series that was set in Marvel Comics Universe but fit into it's own little corner, only touching lightly on events or situations happening concurrently (while similarly being seldom referred to during to during said events or situations outside of the rare group-shot or handbook). Sure the "high-concept" take on the book was superheroes-as-celebrities, but the big appeal was in the characters. The four leads -- the Orphan, the Anarchist, U-Go Girl (who, despite having died at the end of the first major arc, continued to factor heavily into the series), and Doop, quite possibly Marvel Comics most ingenious creation: A mutant potato with it's own language and power on-par with the Mighty Thor. It's understandable that X-Force/X-Statix has been pretty much kept to the side of things when one of it's leads bears that kind of character description, but come on -- that's bloody brilliant. One of my favorite call-backs to the series in Marvel's similarly clever but more successful series Runaways is the Doop doll owned by one of the leads. I could give or take the X-Men story by Milligan that brought back Doop because of how oblique the whole thing was though.

Sadly the whole X-Force/X-Statix series is out of print. I really wish they'd revisit it down the line since the run stands as one of my favorites and, like myself, I'm sure Marvel would find new fans for the series who missed out the first time. It's really an example of comic book perfection for me. Not to say it doesn't falter or that the quality is consistently top-notch, but it's emensly enjoyable and ultimately satisfying -- even the Deadgirl series, which is a nice coda for the run, wrapped up in a engaging bit of story in it's own right. If you, dear reader, are lucky enough to find either the issues are collected editions, I heartily recommend snapping them up, since you're in for a treat.

And that's the story of something I kind of wish was still around (but it'd be fine that it isn't, so long as the books were still in print).