janradder

My sister just sent me this in an email.

Ahh, what memories it brings back.  I woud watch it faithfully each Thursday night after coming home from swimming practice, the smell of chlorine filling the living room, my hair still wet and brittle (from said chlorine).  I really don't know why I watched the show again and again, week after week.  I hated it.  I was, however, obsessed with superheroes and this was a show about a superhero, albeit a lousy one.  Each week, I would hope, nearly pray that William Katt would finally learn how to use his suit and become a regular superhero.  But he never did.  The show was a one note joke, banged over and over endlessly -- here was this guy who was given a suit with super powers but he didn't have the instruction manual (I can't remember why) and so he was doomed to endlessly fly like a cat flung by its tail trough space, legs and arms flailing helplessly as he tries to keep from crashing into the ground or a wall or a building or people which he invariably always did.  Needless to say, for those who have not seen The Greatest American Hero, the joke became stale somewhere in the middle of the first episode.  And, still, I watched faithfully, hoping for a different outcome.

My disappointment and dissatisfaction with The Greatest American Hero was only matched by my equal displeasure in the John Ritter vehicle, Hero At Large.  Yet, as with GAH, I would inevitably watch HAL each time I saw it was on HBO at my grandparents' house.  I don't know what I thought would happen.  Maybe I thought that this time I'd like the movie.  Maybe I thought it would end differently.  Neither ever happened.  The movie always ended the same way it always did and I hated it just as much as the first time I saw it (but really, what should I have expected from a film that starred an actor who would later go on to star in both Problem Child 1 and 2?).

(And yes, I must admit, I knew the words to and loved the theme song, Believe It or Not.  Sadly, I also liked Christopher Cross.)

    Yes, the Taco Bell ad for Nachos bel Grande has replaced last year's John Mellencamp "This is Our Country" ad as TV spot most likely to make me go out and hurt people.

    It's not just that I've had to watch it at least 127 times over the last two weeks as I watched the ALCS and World Series (and we're only into the first game of that.  Lord help me, if this series goes a full seven I can not be held responsible for my actions) though that certainly hasn't helped.  It's one of those ads that annoys the hell out of you the very first time you see it.  With each repeated viewing it only grates further upon your nerves so that it becomes like that guest at the party who you can't get out the door and it's two in the morning and every one else has left and they keep telling you they really should get going but then they don't and you just smile.

    Where to start?  First there's the full of himself actor who plays the older brother who thinks that he has to deliver his lines in a full frenzied top of his voice manner because that's what makes it funny (punctuated by his "Yah?!" in response to his brother's question.  Of course in an alternate version -- because it was such a great idea, they made two -- he doesn't say "Yah?!" but "Cha?!").  Then there's the younger brother trying the nachos (with chili) and nodding his head approvingly (which is annoying in itself) but because of the cutting, it looks like his older brother is romantically feeding him those nachos and that is just ooky.  And then there's the mimed whip crack by the younger brother as the soundtrack plays Devo's "Whip It" to imply that the older brother is whipped when in fact, he's merely a hypocrite because he's violated two of his three "Rules to Live By" ("Yah?!") -- real men don't own lap dogs and never date a girl with dragon tattoos (it really is pathetic that I know these rules and, unfortunately, I will probably go to my grave knowing them).

    I swear that if I see this ad one more time I'm going to Taco Bell  where I will "always get chili on my Nachos bel Grande" (rule number 3 for those who don't know) and then I am going to go out and hunt down each and every one of the people responsible for making this ad.  When I find every last one of them, I will sit them all in a small room and force feed them nachos while I repeatedly say "Yah?!" and mime a whipping motion to the beat of Devo's "Whip It"  until they either pass out or die.  Is this extreme?  Yah?!

So about twenty years or so ago, when I was on the high school swimming team, a friend and I used to amuse ourselves during the diving portions of meets (anyone who's been to a swim meet knows how incredibly dull and quiet the diving portion is) by imagining one of the divers leaping from the board only to find himself airborne, powered by the incredible force of his own flatulence. He would circle the pool, a brown cloud trailing behind him, waving happily to the crowd. A young child would point to our flying friend with a huge grin shouting, "Look Mommy, Look!" and then wave excitedly back. This scenario, of course, became all the more amusing due the the fact that we were to remain completely silent, thus making it all the harder to keep from laughing and drawing numerous stern, angry, murderous looks from our coach. We'd revisit this idea over and over during each meet and well past the point that it was funny to anyone but ourselves. We thought it would make a hilarious movie. At the same time, I don't think either of us thought it would appeal to anyone except the few losers and dorks like us.

Now, imagine my surprise when I walk into the video store and find this:



If the clip won't play, here's the link to the trailer:

http://www.liberatedfilms.com/film-118451-Thunderpants%20-%20Trailer


Did I really miss my chance for cinematic immortality?