by admin | Jul 6, 2025 | TV & Beyond Articles
Stephen Hillenburg’s 1999 animated series is downright surreal: it takes place under the sea, and all the characters are undersea creatures, which is easy enough to understand, but it also affects the aesthetic and soundtrack of retro-’60s Hawai’ian kitsch. Although underwater, the cartoon physics of the series still allows for burning fires and ordinary gravity, adding a note of dreamlike unreality to everything. The title character is a sea sponge, but one that looks like a kitchen sponge, and who walks around on spindly human limbs.
SpongeBob is played by comedian Tom Kenny, and the plucky, childlike hero adores his job as a fry cook at his local burger joint, the Krusty Krab. SpongeBob’s boss is the money-obsessed Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown), who possesses a secret formula to make the perfect hamburger (or Krabby Patties, as they are called). Mr. Krabs is in a rivalry with a rogue, villainous plankton named Plankton (Mr. Lawrence), who spends his life trying to steal the Krabby Patty recipe. There is something distantly tragic about SpongeBob’s life, in that he is a low-wage stooge for an uncaring capitalist junk-slinging establishment, and clearly has no ambitions beyond that.
But we forgive the series because SpongeBob is so relentlessly innocent and upbeat. He loves everyone, treats everyone like a friend, and giggles at most everything. His giant eyeballs make him seem eager and optimistic at all times, even if the world he inhabits can be nonsensical and cruel (“SpongeBob” owes a lot to “The Ren & Stimpy Show”). SpongeBob’s innocence often resembles the behavior of a child. Is he a child? SpongeBob is at least old enough to work as a fry cook, but behaves like he’s in elementary school. Perhaps some investigation is needed to find out the Sponge’s actual age.
What is SpongeBob’s actual birthday?
Nickelodeon
A little was learned about SpongeBob’s vital statistics in the episode “Sleepy Time” (January 17, 2000), wherein audiences got a good, hard look at SpongeBob’s driver’s license. For one, he is only four inches tall, meaning all the sea creatures in the series are tiny little tide-pool-sized critters. It also says that he has yellow hair, although SpongeBob is clearly a hairless sponge. The license also clearly states that SpongeBob was born on July 14, 1986. At the time of the episode, he would have only been 13. The Bikini Bottom driver’s license looks like a California license, where one cannot be issued a full license until the age of 16. It’s clear that Bikini Bottom operates by its own unique traffic laws. It may also be radioactive.
Of course, the license in question is seen in a dream sequence. SpongeBob, early in the series, dreamed of learning how to drive, but hadn’t yet passed his driver’s test. It’s entirely possible that SpongeBob was born in a different year. Indeed, when the license is flashed in the episode “Girls’ Night Out” (November 4, 2018), SpongeBob’s birthday has been removed. Given the character’s passion for burgers and driving, however, 13 seems like a logical age for the character to be.
Eventually, SpongeBob would be issued several non-dreamed licenses, of course, but a running gag of the series is that SpongeBob never got to keep them for very long. Often, a byzantine piece of bureaucratic nonsense would stand in the way. It is curious that SpongeBob lives in his own home, works a job, and pays taxes like someone over the age of 18, though. It’s possible that SpongeBob sought to be emancipated from his parents while he was still in junior high school. He could very well be a prodigy.
Of course, if SpongeBob was born in 1986, that would mean he is an older Millennial who turns 40 in 2026. Feeling old yet?
What is SpongeBob’s mental age?
Nickelodeon
“SpongeBob SquarePants” debuted on May 1, 1999, which means the title character was only 12 for the first few months of its first season. SpongeBob, however, doesn’t behave like a 12-year-old. Indeed, the series is about to debut its 16th season, making SpongeBob close to his 39th birthday. The character certainly doesn’t behave like a 39-year-old. Given his obsessions with childlike items such as bubbles, burgers, stuffies, and cars, SpongeBob behaves more like a really enthused 7-year-old. In rare instances, however, he seems to fully acknowledge that he is an adult in the adult world, notably when he is at work. He is a professional.
The website Odyssey Online took a good look at SpongeBob and found that he can be diagnosed with numerous mental disorders. Notably, he often enters dissociative fugue states, sometimes fancying himself a jellyfish or another creature. As we can see from his whirling energy, SpongeBob often has manic episodes. Many people have likely noticed that SpongeBob bears the symptoms of ADHD, as he is easily distracted to a fault; in the episode “Procrastination” (October 19, 2001), he can barely finish an essay called “What Not to Do at a Stop Light.” SpongeBob may indeed be his chronological age, but he merely has multiple personal issues that leave him behaving like a child.
But then, as mentioned, fans love SpongeBob because of his feckless innocence. He manages to live alone with few issues (well, beyond bizarre cartoon issues that involve fires and explosions), and always clocks in on time. If SpongeBob does have ADHD, manic episodes, and is given to dissociation, he certainly has low support needs. He may very well be 39 at the start of the show’s 16th season. He may also look young, given the actual lifecycle of a real-world sea sponge.
What is the actual lifespan of a real seasponge?
Nickelodeon
Of course, SpongeBob, while an anthropomorphic creature, doesn’t have the anatomy of a human. He is a sea sponge. Thus, he would age like a sea sponge. And, as it turns out, sea sponges can live a very, very long time. Sea sponges are one of the oldest animals on Earth, with some fossil records dating back 600 to 800 million years. Because they have no tissues or organs, they are highly adaptable and can survive many drastic environmental changes. According to the website TheSea.com, sea sponges, in ideal conditions (i.e., no pollution or predators around), can live multiple centuries … maybe even several millennia. There is evidence that a known giant barrel sea sponge has lived for over 2,000 years. Some sponge species discovered off the coast of Canada (as covered by the Ocean Conservancy website) may be as old as 9,000.
Sea sponges, of course, are typically sessile, which means they usually adhere to a rock face or other solid object and remain attached there for the bulk of their lives. It’s only during the animal’s larval stage that it is motile, that is, can move around on its own.
SpongeBob is certainly motile, as he can walk around and drive a car. It’s entirely possible that SpongeBob’s species lives thousands of years, and that he, at age 12 or at age 39, has not yet matured enough to adhere to a rock face. He is mature enough to work a griddle and old enough to get a driver’s license, but he is, in the lifespan of a sponge, a mere child. If he were human, SpongeBob would be an adolescent by age 13. If he is expected to live about 9,000 years, then 13 is still practically infancy. He ages like Grogu, remaining childlike for centuries.
SpongeBob may have many millennia ahead of him. He is, on “SpongeBob SquarePants,” a mere larva. Make a movie about that.
by admin | Jul 6, 2025 | TV & Beyond Articles
unfortunate name changes from HBO Max to Max to HBO Max once again have caused much eye-rolling, viewers still log on to the platform to find something outstanding to watch. But where should new or potential subscribers start? Below, we’ve compiled a list of some of the great HBO Max shows that make a subscription worth the price.
The Pitt
HBO Max
The biggest HBO Max show of the year, along with the controversial second season of “Severance,” “The Pitt” is worth every accolade it has received. Created by “ER” producers R. Scott Gemmill and John Wells, alongside “ER” star Noah Wyle, the series follows life in the emergency room using a different lens. Wyle plays Dr. Michael “Robbie” Robinavitch, the attending physician at an emergency room in Pittsburgh. The series follows Dr. Robbie and his fellow healthcare professionals as they complete a laborious 12-hour shift.
The structure of “The Pitt” distinguishes it from other medical dramas. Every hour-long episode covers one hour of their shift, meaning the end of the shift marks the end of the first season. Told in real time, each story feels both urgent and interminable. The doctors and nurses are putting out dozens of fires every hour, but the real-time pace means we get to know some patients throughout several episodes, giving individual threads more gravity despite the show’s frenetic pace. Often called one of the most medically accurate shows ever made, “The Pitt” delivers both heartrending stories and thrilling action.
Hacks
HBO Max
The HBO Max series “Hacks” is a TV show about writing and performing comedy, though it’s not as laugh-out-loud as you would expect. But don’t take that the wrong way, as that’s one of its best qualities. An insightful dramedy driven by character growth and lined with absurd humor, “Hacks” lives up to the hype.
Jean Smart plays Deborah Vance, a veteran stand-up comedian whose Vegas show is losing its luster. Deborah reluctantly hires Ava (Hannah Einbinder), a 20-something comedy writer recently fired for a controversial tweet. Deborah and Ava are an unlikely pair, and their relationship gets off to a rocky start. As they come to respect one another, things shift, and they both evolve as collaborators and as comedians.
While Deborah and Ava’s relationship is the heart of the show, they’re surrounded by an eclectic cast of characters that fill out this zany world. These include Jimmy, Deborah and Ava’s manager, played by co-creator Paul W. Downs, and Jimmy’s consistently out-of-pocket assistant, played by the brilliant Megan Stalter.
Mare of Easttown
HBO Max
A water cooler show in the age of social media, “Mare of Easttown” gave HBO Max subscribers something new to look forward to every week. Kate Winslet plays Mare, a detective in a small Pennsylvania town. Legendary in the town for scoring the championship-winning point for her high school basketball team, Mare has grown cranky and cynical in middle age.
While investigating the murder of a teenage girl and the disappearance of another one year prior, Mare deals with many personal troubles that make it difficult for her to do her job. Mare’s no-nonsense, cantankerous attitude recalls many male detectives and anti-heroes of years past, but Winslet’s compelling performance gives the archetype new depth. Sporting a highly specific and accurate regional Pennsylvanian accent, Winslet won hearts (and an Emmy) for her portrayal of Mare.
The supporting cast is similarly phenomenal and includes Evan Peters, Julianne Nicholson, and Jean Smart, playing Mare’s long-suffering mother. If you watch “Mare of Easttown” today, you won’t get the experience of watching it with thousands of other obsessive viewers, but the show’s emotional impact hasn’t waned.
The Leftovers
HBO Max
Up there with the best HBO shows of all time, “The Leftovers” will sit with you long after the final credits roll. Created by “Lost” alum David Lindelof and novelist Tom Perrotta, the series takes place following an unusual apocalyptic event, where 2% of the world’s population (140 million people) disappeared without a trace. This event is known as the “Sudden Departure.”
We’re introduced to Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux), the chief of police of a New York town. His wife, Laurie (Amy Brenneman), is a member of the Guilty Remnant, a cult that believes life has no meaning. His son, Tommy (Chris Zylka), left to follow a pseudo-religious figure, leaving Kevin at home with his teenage daughter, Jill (Margaret Qualley).
It’s best not to describe the plot of “The Leftovers” too much, as any summary wouldn’t do the show’s profundity justice. At its core, the show reminds us that human connection acts as a salve for existential grief, a lesson that has only become more prescient since the series premiered in 2014.
Barry
HBO Max
Co-created and starring Bill Hader, “Barry” follows a hitman’s journey to Los Angeles. Tired of his life in the killing game, Barry (Hader) unexpectedly finds himself in an acting class and takes a liking to the discipline, as well as one of his classmates, Sally (Sarah Goldberg). Escaping his former profession isn’t so easy, and Barry struggles to find the balance between light and dark.
This humorous setup gives way to one of the most unique shows in recent memory. Initially, Barry’s foray into acting works as Hollywood satire and a metaphor for Hader’s experiences in the business. We soon get a peek inside Barry’s complex psyche, following the hitman as he looks for deeper meaning in his life.
The idea of dark humor doesn’t encapsulate the full picture of “Barry.” It’s hilarious when it wants to be, and terrifying when things get twisted. Its action sequences are just as good as any high-octane thriller. The tone gets darker as the series goes on, but you never know where “Barry” –- both the show and the character –- will end up.
Station Eleven
HBO Max
Based on the book of the same name by Emily St. John Mandel, “Station Eleven” takes place 20 years after a global pandemic destroyed civilization as we know it. Our protagonist, Kirsten (played by Matilda Lawler as a child and Mackenzie Davis as an adult), was an 8-year-old starring in a production of “King Lear” when the flu hit. She stayed alive thanks to Jeevan (Himesh Patel), a man attending the play.
When we meet Kirsten as an adult, she’s separated from Jeevan and living with a traveling theater group. Her community encounters a group of adolescent terrorists, while across the country, an isolated commune functions in an airport.
Though the coming of the apocalypse is an undeniably harrowing prospect, “Station Eleven” turns the end of the world into something beautiful. The series highlights the transcendent power of love and companionship, and the universal necessity of good stories to keep us going. Ultimately, “Station Eleven” is an antidote to despair.
Harley Quinn
HBO Max
Though many have bemoaned the coming of superhero fatigue in recent years, not all comic book adaptations are made equal. The HBO Max series “Harley Quinn” defies this glut of monotony in part because it’s not a superhero show at all. The series follows the title character (voiced by Kaley Cuoco) after she finally breaks up with Joker (Alan Tudyk). Harley leans on her best friend, Poison Ivy (Lake Bell), and creates a ragtag crew of supervillains.
“Harley Quinn” offers no shortage of lewd humor and stupidly funny jokes. But while it functions like a comedy in many ways, the series includes more emotional resonance than one might expect. Harley and Ivy’s relationship drives the show, especially when their friendship turns romantic, canonizing a fan-favorite comic book couple. Harley’s experience ending her toxic relationship with Joker is similarly moving, making her a perfectly imperfect hero for abuse victims. With a stellar voice cast and the audacity to put every ludicrous idea on screen, “Harley Quinn” is a breath of fresh air.
Watchmen
HBO Max
Considered one of the greatest graphic novels ever published, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ “Watchmen” has held a prominent place in pop culture for the last several decades. In 2019, HBO Max released their series of the same name, a continuation of the novel set 34 years later.
Regina King plays Angela Abar, a police officer living in Tulsa, Oklahoma. When white supremacists attack the police force and kill most of the officers, the city passes a law allowing cops to hide their faces with masks when they’re on the job. Angela uses this new policy to become Sister Night, a vigilante hunting racists.
The white supremacists draw inspiration from Rorschach, one of the original “Watchmen” vigilantes, while Angela is tasked with discovering the identity of Dr. Manhattan and learning more about Hooded Justice, the original vigilante who mirrors Angela’s quest for racial justice. “Watchmen” delves into American history, especially the Tulsa Massacre, to connect the superhero-esque story to civil rights and the oppression of minorities, a topic few on-screen superheroes tackle.
Six Feet Under
HBO Max
Often described as one of the greatest television shows of all time, “Six Feet Under” more than holds up 20 years after it first aired on HBO. Created by “True Blood” mastermind Alan Ball, “Six Feet Under” follows the Fisher family, who run a funeral home in Los Angeles. Every episode of the show begins with a cold open featuring the death of a random person not connected to the main cast. Sometimes these deaths are tragic; other times, they feel oddly ordinary.
Such is the substance of the show, which features plenty of difficult moments and interpersonal upsets but never reaches the level of melodrama. Indeed, while the show is quite dramatic and heady at times, the drama is driven by the characters, not the other way around. For example, when one of the Fisher brothers, David (Michael C. Hall), comes out as gay, the reactions of his family and friends are as nuanced and distinct as the characters themselves.
Though “Six Feet Under” was critically lauded during its time on air, it’s strangely one of the more underrated HBO dramas of the era. You don’t need to watch the show’s final episode — arguably the best finale of all time – to comprehend its brilliance, but once you start watching, there’s no doubt you’ll keep coming back for more.
Somebody Somewhere
HBO Max
In “Somebody Somewhere,” cabaret performer Bridget Everett, also an executive producer on the show, plays Sam, a woman who returns to her hometown of Manhattan, Kansas, to take care of her dying sister. Struggling to adjust to life back in a small town, Sam leans on her best friend, Joel (Jeff Hiller), and her sister, Tricia (Mary Catherine Garrison), the embodiment of a Live Laugh Love sign.
Everett gives an incredibly grounded, moving, and funny performance. Throughout the series, she begins to find her community, mostly comprised of queer and trans folks like Joel, gains more confidence in herself, and rediscovers her passion for music and singing. (Everett has an incredible voice, and it’s an absolute treat every time she sings on the show.)
The perfect blend of funny and heartfelt, Sam and her friends find humor in almost everything, but also deeply care about each other’s well-being and personal growth. While some of Sam’s struggles, such as low self-worth, will be familiar to many viewers, “Somebody Somewhere” gives every character the space to be their weird, singular selves without catering to the masses.
Rap Sh!t
HBO Max
Though “Insecure” was the show that put Issa Rae on the map, her TV career didn’t end there. In 2022, HBO Max premiered “Rap Sh!t,” Rae’s second televisual creation. Inspired by real-life twosome City Girls, the show follows two aspiring Miami rappers, Mia (KaMillion) and Shawna (Aida Osman), who team up to create a rap duo.
The show delivers a send-up of the music industry in graphic detail. As Rae told the Los Angeles Times, “I thought Hollywood was crazy. The music industry, it needs to start over.” “Rap Sh!t” touches on several issues within the industry, including misogyny, cultural appropriation, and the expectation that female rappers need sex to sell records.
Mia and Shawna don’t begin the show as close friends, but as they get deeper into the toxic industry, they’re forced to lean on each other for support. Despite these serious issues, the show isn’t without humor, as Rae uses her trademark skill of bringing the awkward hilarity of existence to life. Formally innovative as well, “Rap Sh!t” seamlessly integrates social media into every episode, making it feel modern and immediate.
I’ll Be Gone In The Dark
HBO Max
Michelle McNamara’s “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” contains one of the most haunting final lines of any true crime book. I won’t reveal the line here, but suffice it to say the HBO series based on her book preserves the gripping tone of its source material.
Directed by Liz Garbus and executive produced by McNamara’s husband, Patton Oswalt, the series tracks her obsession with catching the Golden State Killer, the premise of her novel. Using McNamara’s words as narration, “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” follows her investigation into the infamous serial killer, highlighting the victims and their families as well as McNamara’s life, detailed in part by Oswalt.
McNamara was a brilliant writer and journalist, and it was her work on the case that led to the arrest of the Golden State Killer. Sadly, McNamara wasn’t alive to see justice done for his victims, as she died in 2016, before the book came out. (It was released posthumously in 2018.) The powerful series ties McNamara’s life and death to those of the killer’s victims, making a powerful statement about the misogyny and violence that’s endemic to our culture.
My Brilliant Friend
HBO Max
“My Brilliant Friend,” based on the famously anonymous writer Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels, accomplishes a difficult task. It transmits the unspoken thoughts and feelings of its characters on screen, making it one of the best but sadly least-seen shows on HBO Max.
Created by Saverio Costanzo and scripted in Italian, the series tracks a decades-long relationship between two best friends growing up in the 1950s. The story is narrated by an adult Elena, looking back at her relationship with Lila in years past. The girls both grew up in a working-class Italian town, where opportunities for young women were few and far between.
Different actors play Elena and Lila during three periods, giving us a visual representation of how they both change throughout the different chapters of their lives. The series has a real sense of time and place, focusing less on the context surrounding Elena and Lila and more on how they experience and interact with their environments. One of the most penetrating and complex stories about friendship, “My Brilliant Friend” draws you into a world that envelopes you completely.
Perry Mason
HBO Max
In 2020, HBO made the risky decision to release a reboot of one of the most popular series of all time, telling the origin story of the beloved lawyer Perry Mason. In this version, set in 1930s Los Angeles, Matthew Rhys plays Mason, a private investigator without much going for him. Joined by Della Street (Juliet Rylance), his assistant and co-investigator, and Paul Drake (Chris Chalk), a reluctant detective, Mason tackles cases that seem to be above his pay grade.
Rhys plays Mason with the perfect amount of dejection, self-sabotage, and ill-advised cleverness, molding Mason into a likable character with many flaws. Rylance’s Della Street diverges from the original character in several ways, one of which being the fact that she’s a lesbian. (Her love interest in season 2 is one of the series’ best additions.) And Chalk’s Paul Drake, a Black man in this iteration of the show, gives us access to a part of early Los Angeles we don’t often see on screen. These three sharply drawn characters make “Perry Mason” a compelling ride, allowing the series to address both broader social issues and personal journeys with nuance and care.
Sharp Objects
HBO Max
There are few better television collaborations than the one between “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” writer and producer Marti Noxon, filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée, and novelist Gillian Flynn, best known for writing the smash hit “Gone Girl.” The trio came together to work on the HBO adaptation of “Sharp Objects,” a ghoulish southern gothic based on Flynn’s 2006 novel.
Amy Adams plays Camille Preaker, an alcoholic reporter with a history of mental health issues. Camille returns to her hometown of Wind Gap, Missouri, to investigate the murder of two girls, but is forced to confront her traumatic family history and personal demons while she’s there. Patricia Clarkson plays Adora, Camille’s manipulative, controlling mother, and Eliza Scanlen plays Amma, Camille’s younger half-sister. Attempting to reckon with her mother’s treatment of her and extract Amma from her clutches, the situation quickly becomes too much for Camille to handle.
Adams gives one of the most incredible performances in TV history in “Sharp Objects,” and her co-stars are equally impressive. Vallée’s distinctive style, especially his manner of inserting quick bursts of flashbacks into the story as in “Wild” and “Big Little Lies,” perfectly aligns with Flynn’s restrained, mysterious prose.
by admin | Jul 6, 2025 | TV & Beyond Articles
conspiracy thrillers, with many of them tapping into people’s distrust of the government and authorities. From “Clear and Present Danger” to “The Fugitive,” the decade spawned a slew of flicks about seedy cover-ups and innocent folks being wrongfully accused of crimes they didn’t commit, resulting in some edge-of-the-seat entertainment that gave movie fans some food for thought. One of the best of the bunch, the Tony Scott-directed “Enemy of the State,” sees Will Smith and Gene Hackman (who might have reprised his character from “The Conversation”) play underdogs who join forces to take down corrupt politicians and the National Security Agency — and it almost received a television spin-off.
In the movie, Smith plays Robert Clayton Dean, a lawyer who sets out to expose the truth behind a Congressman’s assassination. In short, the official was whacked by his political opponents in the NSA over a bill, and Dean has the evidence to expose the truth. As you can imagine, the real killers don’t want to be exposed, and they do everything in their power to hunt down the lawyer. Fortunately for Dean, he has one ally in the form of Brill (Hackman), a former NSA employee who knows how to counter the agency’s dirty tactics.
“Enemy of the State” is an action-packed thrill ride that taps into topics like governmental corruption and the surveillance state, both of which are still relevant to this day. With that in mind, it’s easy to imagine a contemporary series that explores these ideas through a modern lens having some potential. However, in the end, the “Enemy of the State” TV show just wasn’t destined to be.
The Enemy of the State TV series teased a controversial premise
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
While an “Enemy of the State” TV series has the potential to be relevant in the modern age, it also makes sense from a commercial perspective. The original film was a box office hit, and it still holds up well after all these years. Back in 2016, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Jerry Bruckheimer was producing a small-screen sequel, set decades after the original film, for ABC. Morgan Foehl was tapped to pen the script, which would have told the story of an attorney and FBI agent teaming up to uncover a conspiracy after a spy leaks top-secret information.
While the details about the story were kept close to the vest, the premise might have been inspired by the scandal pertaining to former NSA contractor-turned-whistleblower Edward Snowden leaking documents about governmental surveillance in 2013. Ultimately, the project never materialized for whatever reason, but a show about whistleblowing and corrupt surveillance states might have been too controversial in 2016.
As of this writing, the proposed series appears to be dead in the water, but never say never. “Enemy of the State” found new fans of streaming following Hackman’s death, and that success can’t hurt in drumming up people’s interest in seeing more stories told in this universe. For now, though, we shouldn’t get our hopes up.
by admin | Jul 6, 2025 | TV & Beyond Articles
Heigl was just breaking through to the mainstream with “Grey’s Anatomy” when Penney’s film was being shot, and one might think that her presence would have led to decent box office receipts.
“Zyzzyx Road” became notorious, however, when Entertainment Weekly wrote about the film in 2007, pointing out that it only made — no exaggeration — only $20 during its theatrical run. Not $20 million, but 20 dollars and zero cents. Six people went to see it, each paying five-dollar matinée prices. Penney ended up refunding two of the tickets out of his own pocket, as they were purchased by the film’s makeup artist, Sheila Moore, and her friend. He wanted to let them in for free. As a result, “Zyzzyx Road” was the lowest-grossing major release of all time.
Zyzzyx Road only made $30 at the box office ($20 after refunds)
GoDigital Media Group
The portrait in EW is extensive and explicit and tells how the film came to be. It seems that Grillo was looking for someone to listen to his pitch about a crime story set in the Mojave desert, and Penney was happy to listen. Penney had previously written a few notable horror flicks like “The Kindred,” “Return of the Living Dead 3,” and the late William Hurt’s thriller “Contaminated Man.” “Zyzzyx Road” was his directorial debut, and he knew it was going to be a modest affair.
Shooting was brief, but it wasn’t without incident. Sizemore, on probation at the time, had been ordered not to buy any drugs and was busted for possession. Penney knew that the actor had been in trouble with the law and was struggling with addiction but wanted to give Sizemore a break, recognizing his talent. Luckily, the local authorities allowed him to finish shooting his scenes. Also, rattlesnakes were an issue, and Penney had to hire a special snake wrangler just to keep them away from the set. Heigl, although playing a teenager, was 28 at the time and was reportedly very game. One scene required her to fall on the ground in 110-degree heat onto a rocky ground littered with cactus spines. She did the take 10 times and never complained. She and the production crew just removed the spines with tape.
“Zyzzyx Road” opened at one theater, the Highland Park Village in Dallas, Texas. Penney four-walled the theater (that is: he rented it) for seven days. “Zyzzyx Road” screened once a day, at noon. As mentioned, six people went. Four, minus Sheila Moore and her friend, who got their money back.
One might wonder why “Zyzzyx Road” didn’t premiere in Los Angeles or have a little more fanfare. It turns out there’s a reason it had a tiny release: Penney was trying to avoid paying SAG-level salaries.
Zyzzyx Road wasn’t supposed to have a theatrical release
GoDigital Media Group
According to the EW article, Penney would have had to pay his actors a higher rate if the film never got a theatrical release. In order to circumvent the rule, he plunked down $1,000 of his own money to four-wall a tiny theater in Texas, just to say that, yes, “Zyzzyx Road” had the required week-long theatrical run. The film had to play, even if no one showed up. Six people came, but the film still screened seven times. According to Penney, he wasn’t so concerned about a widespread North American release since he was still negotiating the movie’s international distribution. He was able to get over $300,000 in European DVD sales and was so chuffed (and so busy) that he hadn’t yet given any thought to a proper, studio-backed North American release.
Unfortunately, the fact that “Zyzzyx Road” only made $30 was noticed by the website CHUD.com and then subsequently reported on by Variety. Sadly, once the $30 gross was reported by the trades, “Zyzzyx Road” immediately became notorious. It was the worst possible press for a movie that was barely going to see the light of day as is. No one wanted to touch a film that had the reputation as the lowest-grossing movie of all time.
When “Zyzzyx Road” eventually reached the DVD market in Europe, it finally started to make some of its money back. The film was late released on DVD in North America in 2010 and was made available for digital download in 2012. Given its reputation, it’s likely that “Zyzzyx Road” has at least broken even by now. And even if it had lost its entire $1.2 million budget, it still lost less than some of Hollywood’s more notorious bombs. Just 2025’s “Snow White” alone may have lost hundreds of millions of dollars for Disney.
by admin | Jul 6, 2025 | TV & Beyond Articles
the “X-Men” franchise is not the only superhero title Jackman has been a part of. There’s some where he essentially plays a superhero in a non-comic book movie, like the Easter Bunny in “Rise of the Guardians” that is essentially bunny Batman, or his very brief voice cameo in “Free Guy,” a very bad movie with shoehorned-in superhero easter eggs. But there is another role Jackman had in what is a great animated superhero sitcom with a uniquely Australian vibe that more people should have watched, a show that all but disappeared from the conversation — Hulu’s “Koala Man.”
“Koala Man” is created by Michael Cusack, who also created “YOLO” and co-created Adult Swim’s flagship series “Smiling Friends.” The show is developed by Cusack alongside Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit (the great “Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy” and the upcoming miracle that is the “Spaceballs” sequel). The show takes place in an alternate universe where the Titanic didn’t sink, but the United States is completely destroyed (other than Hollywood, which is now an island), leaving Australia as the world’s lone superpower, and Nicole Kidman as its queen. This is a superhero sitcom about Kevin Williams (Cusack) as an average middle-aged family guy who is also the rather average superhero Koala Man.
A fun take on animated superheroes and sitcoms
Hulu
“Koala Man” feels in many ways like an extension of the “Rick and Morty” and “Solar Opposites” sensibility, with a surreal sense of humor hiding within the mundane. Indeed, the story is basically a what if scenario for Jerry Smith, if he was Australian and had the self-confidence to try and play hero.
Cusack brings his “Smiling Friends” sense of humor to “Koala Man,” going from a quiet and grounded family sitcom to an extremely comic book-y space, introducing Lovecraftian monsters, a league of superheroes, and bizarre creatures and powers while still very much being a mundane world. That contrast between family drama and superheroics is straight out of the Sam Raimi “Spider-Man” movies (which are a big inspiration for the show). After all, this is a show about a man going through a midlife crisis so bad he decides to turn into a superhero. Underneath the laughs lies an emotionally complex story that isn’t afraid to get really dark.
And yet, this is still a comedy, one with unequivocally Aussie bogan humor. There are plenty of Australia-specific jokes, like a jab at Australian actors going full Hollywood, and also a parade of Australian stars like Hugo Weaving and Miranda Otto. As for Hugh Jackman, his role as Big Greg is more or less Hugh Jackman himself, a beloved celebrity with a hugely impressive physique that steals the scene any time he’s around.
Unfortunately, “Koala Man” hasn’t been renewed for a season 2, and given the show came out in 2023 and there has been no word of its future — plus, Cusack is likely busy with more “Smiling Friends,” it seems Koala Man has hung up his cape. Still, it’s a fun season of TV worth watching, whether you’re a superhero fan or just want a different kind of animated sitcom.
by admin | Jul 6, 2025 | TV & Beyond Articles
the most monstrous people in sitcom history, which makes it incredibly difficult to narrow down the single worst thing they’ve ever done. All the way back in the very first season, Charlie (Charlie Day) pretended to have cancer, the guys made a fake jihad video, and Mac (Rob McElhenney) claimed to have killed an abortion clinic doctor in order to have sex with a pro-life protester, and things have only escalated from there.
The show is now going into its 17th season, having been on the air for 20 years, and in all of that time the gang have done enough terrible things to put the combined casts of “Seinfeld” and “Friends” to shame. If we’re putting it purely in legal terms, there’s arson, imitation of a police officer, cocaine distribution, numerous instances of assault, statutory rape, and murder, and that’s not even counting the time they locked all of their enemies in their burning apartment.
There’s one scene in “It’s Always Sunny” season 13 that took the gang’s truly unhinged behavior to new heights (or lows, depending on how you look at it), and we get to see it all depicted on screen in bloody, brutal fashion. While Frank (Danny DeVito) putting dead bodies in soup is pretty horrific and it’s uncomfortable to even get into the logistics behind Dennis (Glenn Howerton) and “the implication,” watching Mac and Charlie violently beat multiple children, possibly to death, has to be the worst thing the gang has ever done.
Mac and Charlie pummeled some preteens in The Gang Gets New Wheels
FX
In “The Gang Gets New Wheels,” Mac and Charlie decide to get themselves some bicycles to make up for the fact that their childhood bikes were stolen by neighborhood bully Shawn Dumont (Tyler Labine). Unfortunately, just as they’re starting to enjoy their new wheels, Dumont’s son and several of his friends steal the bikes, repeating what happened some twenty-odd years before. When they try to address it with Shawn, he blows them off, and they’re too chicken to try to fight him, so instead they decide to take their rage out on the kids.
What happens next is some of the gnarliest violence against children since Pennywise ripped off Georgie’s arm in “It,” as Mac and Charlie pummel the living daylights out of the boys, picking them up and throwing them around like rag dolls and then kicking them when they’re down. There’s something about it that’s really funny, especially if you were bullied as a child, but it’s also really horrible. After the two of them bolt and jump into Dennis’s new Range Rover after completing their carnage, Charlie screams that he thinks he killed one of the kids and Mac agrees with him, shouting “He did! I saw him! I think the kid’s dead!” Sure, Mac and Dee (Kaitlin Olson) pushed a sleeping kid down a waterslide in “The Gang Goes to a Water Park” and he might have drowned, but Charlie and Mac’s violent vengeance upon the kids was ultimately way worse because it was so intentional and intense.
Mac and Charlie went way off the deep end
FX
It’s kind of funny because while all of the members of the gang are heinous in their own ways, Mac and Charlie are usually a little less evil than Frank, Dennis, and Dee. They’ve been at the very bottom of the food chain for their whole lives, both in the gang and even before, when they were just best friends from seriously unhealthy homes, and they almost deserve a moment to really let it all out … even if it shouldn’t have been directed at a bunch of children too young to even remember 9/11. While it’s way less cathartic than Charlie’s big emotional break down at the end of season 15, it’s also funnier because of just how hard it goes. Mac beats a kid with a trash can lid and Charlie screams in a kid’s face after throwing him against a car several times, for heaven’s sake, as if they’re some kind of badasses for beating up a bunch of boys.
While Dennis’s (alleged) murders of both his ex-wife Maureen “Bastet” Ponderosa (Catherine Reitman) and Dee’s date in Ireland are pretty bad, at least they were both adults. Mac and Charlie may be man-children, but those actual children never stood a chance.
