Flashback episode

Remember that time when I wrote about needing to finish my paper? And then I wrote about how I finished it? That was so cool. And then there was that time when I wrote I was going to write about kick-ass women movies and stuff, and then I wrote some lists about kick-ass women movies? And then I wrote my fourth list like that? And remember that time when Fonzie jumped the shark?

I just realized. I’ve now been blogging here for 1 month. So I thought it would be a good chance to reflect on what I’ve done. In the spirit of the clip show. Or maybe I’ll just reflect on clip shows.

Clip shows are a longstanding TV tradition. And one that’s likely to continue. Sadly.

And they really don’t work when you buy a DVD box set and watch episodes basically back-to-back. For instance, I recently discovered Alias, a fun show with a great kick-ass woman protagonist. We bought the first season on DVD, and proceeded to work our way through the discs in rapid succession. And then towards the end of the season, we got to the clip show. In the great tradition of a wafer-thin pretense to show some clips, the episode was “cleverly” set up as an interview between a government interrogator and the main character:

Interrogator: You’ve been working for a dangerous really, really bad organzation pretending to be the good guys. You claim that you didn’t know. Why should we believe you?

Agent Sydney Bristow: In my defense, check out these clips. [Some clips are aired.]

Interrogator: I see that you wore a number of different disguises.

Agent Sydney Bristow: Yes, that’s true. Many of them involving wigs. And look at these additional clips. [More clips.]

Interrogator: Wow. You sure used a lot of neato gadgets. Plus you spoke in different accents. I’m convinced.

It’s kinda hard to get nostalgic for episodes that you just saw within the last few days…On the other hand, my favorite clip show/flashback episode of all time is the second episode of Clerks, the animated series. (Yes, the second episode. Which includes flashbacks from the all the previous episodes.)

Hey, remember that time when I wrote about clip shows? That was awesome.