craigjclark

Looking for the most unusual show on television? Well, look no further, because you've found it. "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" is more than just an animated talk show starring a washed-up '60s cartoon hero and his evil sidekicks. It's also a deconstruction of the superhero mythos, an attack on the culture of celebrity, and both a celebration and interrogation of the pop culture wasteland from which it sprang.

It's also one of the funniest shows that has ever been -- and ever will be -- on television. It features episodes that make you scratch your head ("Story Book," "Woody Allen's Fall Project," "Brilliant Number One"), ones that take you behind the scenes and show you their process ("Transcript," "Table Read") and ones of such dizzying inventiveness ("Jacksonville," "Pavement," "Joshua," "Knifin' Around") that they make you glad that someone, somewhere thought the idea of giving Space Ghost his own talk show wasn't so stupid.

"All right, my little unhappy monkeys."

Made in 1952, between "Robinson Crusoe" and "Wuthering Heights," this may not be one of Bunuel's major films, but it contains several of his key themes and recurring images, starting with the ceremonial washing and kissing of feet. The film also goes into the politics of submission and domination, the effects of long-term sexual repression, and -- of course -- sewing.

Bunuel understood obsession and was able to convey it on screen like no other director. As irrational as his characters can get (and Francisco gets plenty irrational in this film), Bunuel knows that we all have our hangups which seem normal to us, no matter how grotesque they may look to an outside viewer. (There's a reason why the alternate title for this film is "This Strange Passion.")

Believed lost for decades, this series is finally available on DVD (well, five episodes of it, at least), and it is definitely one of the great comedy finds. Written by and starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Marty Feldman, it is one of the clearest forerunners of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" (along with "Do Not Adjust Your Set," which has also been given an archival release). Not only that, it shows four bright, young comedians clearly having fun with the medium and producing some high-quality comedy.

The series even features Eric Idle in various bit parts, so some of the cross-pollination that lead to the creation of Python was already taking place. Pity the other eight episodes are still lost.