Questions about anything

[AlittleMayhem]

Does anyone know of any really good autistic characters in any kind of fiction (though preferably in TV and film) that aren't savants/geniuses/lacking in emotion/socially awkward to the point their robots/any other stereotypical trait? It's for a graded unit on my college coarse.

The only one I can think of is Abed Nadir from Community (which I don't watch but know roughly about)

And please don't answer sarcastically like, 'LOL good luck on that one' because this is really important to me!

 

[Drtooth]

I must've missed a whole bunch of episodes of Community. Did they ever actually say Abed was Autistic? I haven't kept up on it much lately, but I swore they basically said his tendencies were more of a way to mask painful feelings. Especially with his uptight parents. I did see one recently where Troy was leaving the show and Abed came up with this real intense way of trying to hide those feelings he'd have to deal with via a really weird intense game of "the Floor is Lava."

Only Autistic character I can think of is Carl from the episode of Arthur where they teach about Asperger's (which I hope I'm spelling correctly). Sorry I can't be of more help.

 

[charlietheowl]

Does anyone know of any really good autistic characters in any kind of fiction (though preferably in TV and film) that aren't savants/geniuses/lacking in emotion/socially awkward to the point their robots/any other stereotypical trait? It's for a graded unit on my college coarse.

The only one I can think of is Abed Nadir from Community (which I don't watch but know roughly about)

And please don't answer sarcastically like, 'LOL good luck on that one' because this is really important to me!

I have not seen an episode of this show since attending a lecture in school about the same topic you're researching, but there's a young character in Parenthood that deals with autism. I don't know exactly how the depiction is, but from the clips I saw in the lecture it seemed to take things seriously. I hope this helps.

 

[D'Snowth]

OH BOB SAGET!

 

[Bridget]

Do you think that a Muppet would sound good singing Royals?

 

[minor muppetz]

In many episodes of The Wonder Years, when Winnie appears for the first time in an episode, there's often special music that plays. Kinda sounds like a guitar solo, with some "ah-ah-ah" sounds. Was this tune composed especially for the show (I'd like to call it "Winnie's Theme") or was it an existing tune that they just used a lot? Considering the heavy use of '60s pop tunes on the show, I'd be a little surprised it was written for the show, but then again I don't think the show re-used pop songs too often.

 

[minor muppetz]

Are the Simpsons "Complete Guide" books still in print separately? It seems the first "Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family" used to be easier to find in stores than the follow-up books (the sequels seemed to only be easy to find around the time they came out. Good thing I got those sequels when I did). Then after "One Step Beyond Forever" (featuring seasons 13 and 14), there weren't any new guides for a few years.

And then a few years ago, a big book was released called Simpsons World, featuring info on every episode from seasons 1-20, even giving EVERY season 1-8 episode a two-page spread (the first book only gave two-page spreads to select episodes, while later books did it for every episode). And they didn't at least put out a separate book covering seasons 16-20. The point of the early follow-up books was so fans wouldn't be forced to buy an updated version of a book they already had. I've never bought Simpsons World, it's too expensive (and unfortunately, you can't even read it in the store, as it was wrapped in plastic).

As I said, it seems like "The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family" was easy to find for years, while Simpsons Forever, Beyond Forever, and One Step Beyond Forever were mainly easy to find for a short while when they were new, and I haven't seen any copies of the first book since the updated "Simpsons World" came out (not that I really need to find copies of those earlier books). So are all of them still in print?

Man, the fact that they put out official Simpsons episode guide books is one reason I wish it would end, so they can finally finish the books.

 

[minor muppetz]

What makes a work a "cult" hit or classic or whatever?

I've thought about this for a long time. Recently I looked at a TV Tropes page for cult shows and movies and such and mentioned on the TV Tropes thread how I was surprised to see that Muppets and Sesame Street weren't included, and people told me that those are too well-known to be cult series, or were too well-known when they began and that a program becomes a cult favorite long after it started. But then that page listed things that I think were popular when they started or in their heyday. I saw Looney Tunes and Peanuts listed, and I feel those are as well-known and liked as the Muppets (I recall in the discussions section at TV Tropes people questioned the fact that South Park was listed).

And I saw a book a long time ago called Cult TV, which lists various cult television programs (haven't seen that book in years, it was at my high school library and I haven't been able to find a copy anywhere else). There were sections on "Lost Cults" (shows that were cult hits at one point but by 1985 had lost their cult status, I wonder if any of those regained their cult status since), "underground cults" (short-lived or fairly obscure shows with cult followings, kinda like how Muppet fandom seems underground), four-page sections on shows that were considered major cult hits at the time the book came out (I wonder if any of those are now "lost cults"), and a page listing "future cults", shows that seemed to have the potential of being a cult series but hadn't quite made it there at the time (I wonder if any of those made it by now... the only shows on that list I remember are Cheers and Green Acres).

But many of the shows in that book are shows that I'm sure were big at the time of their original broadcasts. Shows like Burns and Allen, I Love Lucy, Rocky and Bullwinkle (surprisingly the only animated show in the book), The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the first five years of Saturday Night Live (okay, so maybe that wasn't too successful until its second season...).

In other words, what makes something a cult TV show or cult movie?

On another topic: Have any fast food kids meals ever been rereleased as Happy Meals/Big Kids Meals/whatever-the-restaurant-calls-them? Today I saw a list of the top 25 greatest Happy Meal toys of the 1980s, and felt it would be cool if McDonald's would rerelease those toys (of course they'd need to work out licensing for most of the toys). Wouldn't it be cool if they rereleased old Happy Meal toys like the Muppet Babies or Tiny Toon Adventures ones?

 

[D'Snowth]

I'm pretty sure you've asked this before... and more than once too.

Basically, something is a "cult favorite" when it's generally rather obscure and not too well known by the general public, however, has its own small following of fans that like it. The Muppets are too well-known to be cult favorites, as well SST, they're both too much a part of mainstream media and pop culture. When something is under that mainstream pop culture radar, yet has a following of some sort, that's when something's a cult favorite.

 

[D'Snowth]

Talcum powder causes cancer now?