By CJ Tiernan When you think of parodies, you think SNL on TV, Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker for movies (Airplane!, The Naked Gun, Hot Shots!) and "Weird Al" Yankovic for music. He has managed to lampoon the hit music of the day for a preposterously long time. Listening to "Weird Al" is a joy, a delight, and fun for the whole family. Here is a list of my 11 favorite studio albums by "Weird Al." Super Festivals from Ft. Lauderdale, USA, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons 1. "Running with Scissors" (1999) Best Songs The parody of Don McLean's "American Pie" about Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace called "The Saga Begins" is not only the first and most famous track from this album, but it might be in the running as his most recognizable song period. Other winners on this album include "Grapefruit Diet," a parody of "Zoot Suit Riot" by Cherry Poppin' Daddies, "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi," a send-up of The Offspring's "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)," and "It's All about the Pentiums" spoofing Puff Daddy's "It's All About the Benjamins. Reason it Rocks My favorite song of all time by Weird Al is the final track on this album, an 11 minute and 22 second epic called "Albuquerque." It's not a direct parody, but written in the style of, among others, The Rugburn's song "Dick's Automotive." It's largely spoken word, apart from the chorus, and is a meandering tale with delightfully little rhyme or reason. 2. "Poodle Hat" (2003) Best Songs The first track is a parody of "Lose Yourself" by Eminem called "Coach Potato." It goes through and lists a bunch of TV shows that were on at the time. A parody of "Complicated" by Avril Lavigne called "A Complicated Song" and "Ode to a Superhero" a parody of Billy Joel's "Piano Man" about the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man. Reason it Rocks The second track on the album is a "Weird Al" original titled "Hardware Store." It's a delightfully fast-paced song extolling the virtues of having a new hardware store open in your town. There is a moment towards the end wherein he musically blows through a list of a bunch of different possible purchases at a break neck speed that I cannot get enough of. 3. "Straight Outta Lynwood" (2006) Best Songs "Trapped in a Drive-Thru," a parody of "Trapped in the Closet" by R. Kelly, is a long, meandering tale with a delicious ending. It draws out the difficulty of deciding what's for dinner, wringing it out for every drop. "Canadian Idiot," a send-up of Canada lampooning Green Day's "American Idiot" and a song about the pancreas in the style of a Beach Boys founder (Brian Wilson), aptly titled "Pancreas," also hits the spot. Reason it Rocks The unquestioned star of the show here is "White & Nerdy." An anthem for all of us who check both boxes, this spoof of Chamillionaire's "Ridin'" hits the spot. A call to arms to let your freak flag fly. It was also the only "Weird Al" song to every chart inside the top 10 (9th) on the US Billboard Hot 100. 4. "Bad Hair Day" (1996) Best Songs "Amish Paradise" is on this album. Spoofing Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise" leads to one of "Weird Al's" best ever genre/subject mashups. I'm also a big fan of the spoof of the Presidents of the United States of America's "Lump" about Forrest Gump titled "Gump" and "Everything You Know is Wrong" in the style of They Might Be Giants. Reason it Rocks Step aside "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer." "Weird Al" would like a word. In the style of Soul Asylum's "Black Gold," "Weird Al" offers up "The Night Santa Went Crazy." As the title would suggest, Kris Kringle snaps and there is a handsome amount of Christmassy carnage. 5. "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D (1984) Best Songs This album starts off with a bang. "Eat It," a parody to Michael Jackson's "Beat It," is the first track and was his second highest-charting single on the US Billboard Hot 100 (12th). I'm a sucker for "Mr. Popeil," a parody in the style of the B-52's about direct response marketing guru Ron Popeil. "You could even cut a tin can with it, but you wouldn't want to" gets me every time. I also love the send-up of the Police's "King of Pain" titled "King of Suede" and "Weird Al" original "Midnight Star" about the various headlines you see in the tabloids at the supermarket checkout line. Reason it Rocks The final track on this album is another "Weird Al" original called "Nature Trail to Hell." It lampoons both slasher flicks and the 3-D glasses fad that movie theaters have gone through several times now in their history. This album also features a cameo appearance of the late, great Don Pardo on the song "I Lost on Jeopardy," a spoof of "Jeopardy" by The Greg Kihn Band. The song is about the game show "Jeopardy!," of which he was the original announcer, as well as the longtime announcer on SNL. 6. "Dare to Be Stupid" (1985) Best Songs Madonna's "Like a Virgin" was ripe for a parody and our boy Al delivered with "Like a Surgeon." "I was last in my class, barely passed" is not what one wants to hear about their surgeon, but remember that every medical class has someone who graduated last. Just let that thought fester during your next elective surgery. My favorite track on this album is "Dare to be Stupid." In the style of Devo, it delivers a delicious mantra for all of us introverts to rally around. I'm surprised "Weird Al" hasn't already produced a mockumentary entitled "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" (after a modicum of research, I've found that "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" is actually a real movie from 1977, and not just a joke about the name of a candy. Weird that it's a drama. Weirder still that's it's self serious with that name, even though it came out 50 years after the candy). Reason it Rocks Al's first foray into the Star Wars waters absolutely delivers. Coupled with "The Saga Begins," "Yoda," a parody of "Lola" by The Kinks, used to be a frequent set closer/encore for "Weird Al" concerts. 7. "Even Worse" (1988) Best Songs "You Make Me" in the style of Oingo Boingo and "I Think I'm a Clone Now" lampooning Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now" both hit on this album. That being said, the unquestioned headliner is the opening track, a spoof of "Bad" by Michael Jackson titled "Fat." He goes back to the parody-a-Michael-Jackson-hit-by-discussing-gluttony well and it's an absolute delight. Reason it Rocks My favorite track on this album is the final track and it's such a fun one because of its left-turn shock value. "Good Old Days," in the style of James Taylor, sounds like a down-home sweet and innocent song. Until it isn't. It makes me smile every time. "Melanie," a "Weird Al" original is in the same vein. 8. "Mandatory Fun" (2014) Best Songs This is "Weird Al's" last studio album (I'm not crying, you're crying) and he goes out with a bang. He has some really fun concepts like "Mission Statement," in style of Crosby, Stills & Nash, that drowns the listener in corporate jargon and "Sports Song" in the style of college fight songs that rambles through rooting for sports in a gloriously general manner. Reason it Rocks The best execution of these fun concepts is "Word Crimes," a parody of "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke (son of Growing Pains patriarch Alan Thicke). The song runs through grammar usage and its many pitfalls and misuses. As someone who only speaks English, I make a concerted effort to speak it as good as possible😁. As such, I am someone who harbors many of the grammatical pet peeves touched on in the song. It SPEAKS to me while also entertaining me. 9. "Alpocalypse" (2011) Best Songs "Skipper Dan," in the style of Weezer is so great. It follows someone who wants to be the pinnacle of acting, but it's hard out there so they end up as a tour guide on the Jungle Cruise ride. "Party in the CIA," which may be his greatest effort in conveying both the subject of the song (CIA) and the source of the parody ("Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus) within the title. He also lampoons Lady Gaga with the one-two punch of using her song "Born this way" to list her many unique style choices with "Perform this Way." Reason it Rocks The second track on this album is in the style of The White Stripes and is about a panelist regular on Match Game: Charles Nelson Reilly. Titled "CNR," this song sings of a larger than life figure à la Chuck Norris facts. This is my second favorite "Weird Al" song behind "Albuquerque." 10. "Off the Deep End" (1992) Best Songs "Weird Al" original "When I Was Your Age" and a parody of "U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer titled "I Can't Watch This" are strong entries. A send-up of Gerardo's "Rico Suave" called "Taco Grande" and a song about the middle of an Oreo aptly named "The White Stuff" parodying "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" by New Kids on the Block also represent on this album. Reason it Rocks The pièce de résistance here is "Smells Like Nirvana." A parody of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana, it largely lampoons the unintelligibility of Kurt Cobain's words in the song. Top notch! 11. "Alapalooza" (1993) Best Songs "Livin' in the Fridge" is one of "Weird Al's" very best. A parody of "Livin' on the Edge" by Aerosmith, it chronicles the aftermath of leaving leftovers to their own devices. "Franks's 2000" TV" in the style of R.E.M. and "Bedrock Anthem," a Flintstones song parodying Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Under the Bridge" and "Give It Away." I'm also a glutton for "Weird Al" original "Talk Soup." Reason it Rocks Jurassic Park was the biggest movie released in 1993. "Jurassic Park" was also the best song "Weird Al" released that year. It was a parody of "MacArthur Park" by Richard Harris. Let's break this down. "MacArthur Park" is the ridiculously delicious song that prattles on about someone leaving a cake out in the rain. Even more pressing: this Richard Harris is the same Richard Harris that played Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter films. [Insert exploding mind emoji here] Final Thoughts "Weird Al" had a career that spanned an incredible length of time. He has touched a number of different genres and styles, both timeless and incredibly moment-in-time. I've always gotten joy listening to him, ever since I was first introduced to him by my childhood best friend's older brother. This might be an overly broad statement, but I feel like everyone was introduced to "Weird Al" via a big brother. "Weird Al" ended up releasing 14 total studio albums. Below is a quick list of the 3 albums I left off my list. Please feel free to share your list in the comments. "Weird Al" Yankovic (1983) Best Song: "My Bologna" - "My Sharona" by The Knack Polka Party! (1986) Best Song: "Dog Eat Dog" - style of Talking Heads UHF - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Other Stuff (1989) Best Song: "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota" - style of Harry Chapin and Gordon Lightfoot

By CJ Tiernan Video games have become so much more than a way to pass the time or a device over which to bond. People make money, have careers even, based around the playing of video games. Isn't it wonderful? I'm not actually particularly good at playing them, and as I get older I find myself distancing more and more from playing, but I sure do enjoy it. My favorite games are largely multiplayer games. I don't play many solo games anymore. I find a little voice in the back of my head nagging at me to be productive when I'm just playing games by myself so, unless I'm like staying home sick or something, I don't usually fly solo. However, I do quite like to play with others. You'll find that my list is somewhat skewed toward my local multiplayer experiences. Since I first played Return Fire at my best friend's house in the mid-'90s on the original PlayStation (about half a decade before it was first called the PS One), I've enjoyed the experience. I even played some games on my dad's old Intellivision back in the day. I say all this as a preamble to acknowledge that I have biases and experiences which have influenced my list in a way that will probably differ from yours. That's cool. You can enjoy my list anyway. Below is a list of my Top 11 favorite Video Game Franchises that I've ever played multiple games in. 1. Resident Evil Games Played in the Franchise: Resident Evil 2 (original and remake), Resident Evil 3 Remake, Resident Evil: Code - Veronica X, Resident Evil: Outbreak, Resident Evil 4 (original and remake), Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil 6, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Resident Evil 8: Village Original design by Capcom, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Ah, my first love. There's nothing like it. I bought a used copy of Resident Evil 2 (It was two discs and you had to switch depending on whether you were playing as Leon or Claire) from Video Games Etc. for the original PlayStation after watching my friends older brother play it at his house. I loved not only the intense story, dramatic tension, and constant sense of dread, but also that my brothers enjoyed watching me play. It felt like we were playing together. Looking back on it, I don't know that one-player games are played with an audience like this anymore (I guess I could be way off on this. I know Twitch exists but I've never partaken). I went on to play almost all the games in the series (except for the original one) and even played multiple remakes. My youngest brother and I really bonded over these games and I absolutely love the addition of Mercenaries. It was added to Resident Evil 5 as multiplayer or co-op and that was the greatest addition ever. We played countless hours of Resident Evil 5 (Sheva Tribal!) and Resident Evil 6 on Mercenaries, trying to get an "S" on every iteration of characters. It was a brilliant add to bring multiple players into a world that had been a solo operation for so long. 2. Elder Scrolls Games Played in the Franchise: The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Bethesda Software, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons The Elder Scrolls games are simply amazing. They create such an elaborate and involved world it is simply unbelievable. You're transported to a time of swords and sorcery and slowly develop the ability to survive and thrive by advancing various skill sets. There is magic and mayhem afoot, and you get to join or disavow various factions. The biggest bummer about these games is that you have to wait so long between releases. The masses are hungry for more! It is easy to tell why it takes so long, though. The worlds are unspeakably livable. It is as though Bethesda has copyrighted (copywritten? copywrote?) magic and they're holding it hostage. One day, my friends, we will get to Elder Scrolls VI. One day... 3. Fallout Games Played in the Franchise: Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4 Pottero, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons This is another game wherein it feels as though we have to wait forever for the next installment. The aesthetic in these games is unbelievable. We're placed in a retro-future where the world was destroyed in an alternate past that had butler robots (C'mon, man. Why can't our past have butler robots?). You get to play as a naive person who has been dwelling in a vault and then traverse what is left of the world after nuclear annihilation. What's the deal with all this nuclear annihilation stuff? Do people with nukes not have some sort of auditor in charge of, like, making sure that people don't try and blow up the world? What's the benefit here? Once you launch a nuke and initiate the end of the world, you and everyone you know, and everyone you will ever know, are cooked. It's famously a bad move. The games, however, are famously great. 4. TimeSplitters Games Played in the Franchise: TimeSplitters 2 and TimeSplitters Future Perfect This is one of the entries on my list with the fewest total games. The 2 games I have played (which, not counting a new fan-released version just released for free online last month, consists of only 3 games) are simply incredible. Again, I mostly played this one in a multiplayer format. I grew up as the oldest of 5. I have 3 brothers and a sister. My sister wasn't huge into playing games, so that left me with 3 brothers. That, my friends, is the perfect number for some 4-player split-screen action. We played a lot of these two games. You had like a hundred different characters you could choose from, a delightful spread of maps and game modes, and some insane choices for weapons. You could also build your own multiplayer maps. Aw man, I used to love building maps for us to play at. You could use teleports and make the levels multiple-stories high. It was elaborate and so much fun. And weird. I liked how weird it was (you could play as someone whose head was a hand and someone who disguised themself as a robot using cardboard boxes). 5. Rock Band Games Played in the Franchise: Rock Band, Rock Band 2, and Rock Band 3 Harmonix, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Rock Band was a game changer. I'm not, nor have I ever really been (except for when I played the cello in elementary school), very musically inclined. I mean, I like listening to music, but I do so without a discerning ear. I like what I like and I can't necessarily extrapolate much beyond that. Because of this game, you didn't have to be a super musician to play super music. What a deal! I have a brother who plays the guitar (who initially got into it because of this and Guitar Hero) and a brother that plays the drums. That left me and my youngest brother to duke it out for vocals and bass guitar (once we got a second guitar, I got bass, he got vocals - and he got the keyboard in Rock Band 3). You can even randomly generate your band name so you can end up with something like Mouth Lung or Bacon Legislature. We went and named our band Epistaxis (which is the medical term for a nose bleed), but we may have swapped out an "I" or two for a "Y" because, you know, we're cool. 6. Madden Games Played in the Franchise: Madden 97, Madden 2002-2007, Madden 2009-2010, Madden 2012, Madden 15-16, Madden 18-25 I remember the very first Madden game I ever bought had Dante Culpepper on the cover (names that make you smile, anyone?). The bottom of the disc was cool because it didn't have just the normal silver color on it, it was like blue or purple or something. It was neato Toledo. I played my very first Madden at a friend's house on the Sega Genesis. I vividly remember having Edgar Bennett running up and down the field for my Green Bay Packers. Good times. Fun fact: during the infamous halftime show that featured Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson, and a wardrobe malfunction (I think you know the one), I completely missed the moment because my friend and I were squeezing a game of Madden in. We were trying to determine who would win in the actual Super Bowl. He rightly had his Patriots beat my Panthers. This game is such an ingrained part of the history of pro football during my lifetime. Not only is John Madden THE voice of football for so many, but it made football fun and accessible. Nowadays, countless players in the league actually play the game themselves (and play as themselves). They get recognized when they play so well on the field that they earn the coveted "99 Overall" honor in the game. As for the curse, well, when's the last time you thought about Peyton Hillis? 7. Call of Duty Games Played in the Franchise: Call of Duty, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (original and remake), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (original and remake) Activision, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons FPS (first person shooter) games are a staple of the video game world. From the first time I ever played Area 51 in an arcade (shoutout to movie theaters that used to harbor arcade games in their lobbies), I understood the appeal of the FPS. I don't condone taking a gun into the real world, but in a game, it's a blast (pun shamelessly intended!). My brothers and I spent countless hours at Terminal and Rust (Rust!) intermittently shooting at and hiding from one another. The levels were all seemingly designed with painstaking detail to ensure that I would always get sniped from a direction I wasn't looking (It was a real joy). The various weapon sets and perks and killstreaks and all sorts of infrastructure were perfectly manufactured and I simply didn't possess the skills to take advantage. But, game recognize game, it was/is a great series. 8. Ratchet & Clank Games Played in the Franchise: Ratchet & Clank (original and reboot/remake), Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando, Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, and Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction How many games are crafted with more glee than these ones? They are kinda ridiculous and bear unbridled enthusiasm at every turn. I love me some Captain Qwark, and the enemies are hilarious, but how about the guns? You can turn your enemies into a chicken (or a duck or a sheep or a snowman or a penguin, depending on the game). The game play is simple, but you have to do multiple play-throughs to get all the various collectibles and to up your arsenal to the Ryno (or its many sequels). It is crazy fun, ultimately straightforward, and an audiovisual (dare I say multimedia) delight. 9. Twisted Metal Games Played in the Franchise: Twisted Metal, Twisted Metal 2, Twisted Metal III, Twisted Metal 4, and Twisted Metal: Black Violence is rarely this removed from a sense of impropriety. It was largely just cars shooting at other cars. You didn't really see human beings and therefore any sense of wrong doing was largely removed your mind. In fact, thanks to the unlimited special cheat code, I could be Spectre and just fire my magic missiles at the bad guys while driving around and not seeing anyone and win in the blink of an eye. That all changed with Twisted Metal: Black. Aw man, what a game! There was a character whose special ability was literally to fling a dude onto another persons car strapped with dynamite and blow up while clinging to the car. You got to see graphic backstories and knife-twisting wish fulfillments. It was crazy and chaotic and an absolute treat, and it was one of the very first games we got for our PS2. It was a revolution. 10. Pokémon Games Played in the Franchise: Pokémon Blue, Pokémon Yellow, Pokémon Pinball, Pokémon Silver, Pokémon GO ArmenAir, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons I was mostly a PlayStation guy growing up but don't you think for one second I didn't have a GameBoy. Ooh, baby, I had an O.G. You remember those gray ones with the reddish purple buttons? Yep, I had one. I quite enjoyed it too until my brother took it, threw it in the air, and interrupted its natural, gravity-assisted arc with his own head. The LCD screen cracked and it was a gooey mess. R.I.P. (my brother's head was fine, by the way. Thanks for asking). After I got a replacement (an all black one with dark gray buttons), I was back to playing Tetris. I also got me some Pokémon Blue action. That was always the big thing: two versions of the game so you had to have friends and get different versions to be able to trade and complete your Pokédex. I didn't like that part because we had several Pokémon seemingly get stuck in the cord mid-trade. The person who had it didn't have it anymore but the person who was supposed to receive it never got it. Flawed system. Other than that, though, the games were awesome. I've definitely spent more hours on Pokémon GO than any other Pokémon game, but I did absolutely love Silver and Pinball. The Pokémon Pinball cartridge had a spot where you could put a battery so that the device would shake. I think they called it a rumble pack. It was awesome! 11. Midnight Club Games Played in the Franchise: Midnight Club: Street Racing, Midnight Club II, Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition, Midnight Club: Los Angeles I think the first Midnight Club was our first ever PS2 game. Dude, what a fun ride! You progress through the ranks in the street-racing game, getting better and better cars along the way. It was always one of my favorite racing games ever (my favorite racing game ever is Burnout: Paradise. I have bought the game 4 times for 3 different consoles over the years. It is awesome, but doesn't make my list because it's the only Burnout game I ever played) because it wasn't on a closed course. You were in among the common rabble. There was a chaos element with unsuspecting cars getting in the way and getting mad at you. Hilarious! (again, only within the context of the game. Not cool in the real world). In later editions, you could make real specific modifications to your car that affected not only the way it drove but the way it looked. Sick! While traditional racing games (Gran Turismo, Ridge Racer, etc.) seem to strive for authenticity, that's not what I'm looking for from a game. I want a game that gives me something that doesn't exist in the real world. That's the escapism I seek in a game. Final Thoughts Playing video games is so much fun. For me, it's always more fun with others. Lately, the games I've played the most with others is OverCooked and Rocket League. Those are fantastic games. Whatever you're playing, make sure you do it with great people and have fun. Don't be one of those toxic humans that says and does mean stuff to complete strangers online. Life is too short to harbor hate for any length of time. Be the love you want to see in the world. As always, if you feel my list has been botched in any significant way, please let me know in the comments. Thanks!

By CJ Tiernan We’ve all heard of the one-hit wonder. A band has a huge hit that everyone loves and follows that single up with…nothing. They never manage to recapture the glory of that one hit. It must be an odd existence to dedicate an entire career to music and only be known for one hit. Meanwhile, John Williams is out here getting nominated for an Oscar every year or two (seriously, he’s been nominated 54 times for scoring films). Well, this list is dedicated to the music artists that managed to achieve that breathtaking feeling of creating a hit song not once, but twice. Here’s my list of the Top 11 Two-Hit Wonders I’ve ever heard (They may have had more songs chart, but there are two unquestioned hits for each). 1. Eve 6 - Inside Out & Here's to the Night Formed by a few guys who signed a record deal while still in High School, and named after a character in an episode of The X-Files, Eve 6 was a flash of light in the mid-90s. I absolutely love both of these songs. In fact, I created a parody song called “I’m the Dark Knight” that follows the plight of a lowly billionaire playboy through the nights of Gotham City across three Christopher Nolan movies. You can access my music page here. 2. Golden Earring - Twilight Zone & Radar Love AVRO, CC BY-SA 3.0 NL , via Wikimedia Commons First thing I think of when I think of Golden Earring? Slappin’ da bass! The bass guitar interlude in Twilight Zone is wonderous! These are two ‘80s rock staples (correction: "Radar Love" came out in 1973. Ah, who we kidding. It's timeless). Enjoy them with maximum volume! Disclaimer: Twilight Zone the song is not related to The Twilight Zone the TV show. 3. Spin Doctors - Two Princes & Little Miss Can't Be Wrong I’m pretty sure if one was forced to craft a desert island scenario of ‘90s bands, you’d have to let the Spin Doctors on the raft. Both of these songs are so quintessential ‘90s. I love it! I’ve never seen them, so I’m just picturing DJs with stethoscopes. Thoughts? 4. Fastball - The Way & Out of My Head Do not look into the back story that inspired “The Way.” It is way sadder than one would expect from a song they’ve heard (and sung along to) a hundred times on FM radio. Jeez. Alright, fine. I’ll tell you. But remember, I cautioned against it. It’s about an elderly couple that went missing on a 15-mile journey and were found weeks later in a ravine, hundreds of miles from their destination. One of them had recently had brain surgery and the other was showing signs of dementia. Any relation? Who knows? It’s a mind-bending mystery. Obviously, it didn’t end well for the couple, but you can still appreciate the romanticized spin on the unsolved mystery by this band. Surprisingly, they threw us a curveball. 5. Paula Cole - Where Have All the Cowboys Gone? & I Don't Want to Wait Alright, the jig is up. I love me some 90s songs. You happy now? “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone" is a send up of classic gender roles but, as is a common occurrence when people write the opposite of what they mean, it was largely received at face value. To be fair, I try to avoid using my brain when listening to music so that it gets to my ears unfettered (and faster, obviously. No traffic jams on the cranial express). Oh, and her other song? It became the theme song for Dawson’s Creek. nbd. 6. Blues Traveler - Run-Around & Hook “Hook” is another song that is used as commentary on music. Substance is for the birds, they say; “the ‘Hook’ brings you back.” I mean, it’s not wrong. I love me a good hook. Let that be a lesson to all you prospective musicians out there, if you start in on the social commentary, you’re going to max out at two hits (with no minimum guarantee). 7. Dido - White Flag & Thank You If you don’t know Dido, you’re missing out. Or, more likely, you know her as the artist sampled by Eminem in his song about a fan: “Stan.” She is a singer/songwriter whose full name is Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O’Malley Armstrong. I can understand why she would have shortened it to Dido. Even her initials would have been longer than Dido. If you had to slap that name on the back of a sports jersey, they’d have to bend it around the number so dramatically it’d form a circle. 8. Five for Fighting - 100 Years & Superman (It's Not Easy) I’d argue that it’s less of an upset that Five for Fighting is on this list than it is that they have multiple songs. Hand up, these two songs congeal in my head to form one super, piano-laden soft rock hit track. Speaking of upsets: Five for Fighting is not a group of five people. It’s a dude named Vladimir. Am I the only thinking that Vladimir sounds more like a vampire that will reign for centuries than a mortal with 100 years to live? 9. Tone Loc - Wild Thing & Funky Cold Medina Tone Loc churned out not one but two hits that lead to what I’ve decided to refer to as “involuntary boogieing.” Go ahead. Try and listen to either song and keep your shoulders (or booty) from shaking and shimmying. And if that doesn’t do it for you, this dude was a ‘90s movie staple. Seriously, I don't think Hollywood would let you make a kids movie between '93 and '95 without throwing this guy in. He played Juice in Blank Check and a cop in both Surf Ninjas and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Juice? No thanks, I’m not thirsty. 10. Finger Eleven – Paralyzer & One Thing Fun Fact: these guys changed their name to Finger Eleven from Rainbow Butt Monkeys. That’s too bad because that very well may have made my Top 11 Band Names List that you know is coming. Finger Eleven is named to symbolize going against the grain and ignoring outside noise. I’m not sure what Rainbow Butt Monkeys symbolizes, but it’s hilarious. It reminds me that I haven’t used the phrase Butt Monkey as a pejorative in far too long. 11. The Presidents of the United States of America – Lump & Peaches I have often cited the song “If” by the band Bread as the shortest combination of characters between the band name and the song title. This band may fall on the other end of the spectrum. They have the largest difference between number of characters in the band name and song title. Believe it or not: I actually wrote a parody song to Peaches as well (Weird Al had beaten me to the song Lump). Again, link to my music here. Final Thoughts You know what’s better than a none-hit wonder? A one-hit wonder. And a two-hit wonder is mathematically twice as good, so... The point is, these are great music artists. They churned out some great jams. Some even managed to piece together a greatest hits album. These are my favorites that I feel qualify for this list. Please let me know if I missed any that you think qualify (I know there can be some debate on the subject). I actually pulled Corey Hart and Natasha Beddingfield off the list as I was creating it because I think they had too many hits to make the list (even though I’d only heard two from each). Thanks so much for taking the time to read this! Here’s a list of my favorite two-hit wonders that just missed my Top 11. Neon Trees - Animal & Everybody Talks Owl City - Fireflies & Good Time Quiet Riot - Cum On Feel the Noize & Metal Health (Bang Your Head) Mike & The Mechanics - The Living Years & All I Need is a Miracle Inner Circle - Bad Boys & Sweat (A La La La La Long) LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem & Sexy and I Know It Smash Mouth - Walking on the Sun & All Star The Rembrandts - Just the Way It Is, Baby & I'll Be There for You Fine Young Cannibals - Good Thing & She Drives Me Crazy The Edgar Winter Group - Frankenstein & Free Ride A-ha - Take on Me & The Sun Always Shines on T.V.

By CJ Tiernan TV shows are so much fun to watch and rewatch. You get an opportunity to really spend time with the characters and become immersed in the world. It can be pretty devastating when you come to find that your time in that world is cut short, or the peril your favorite characters were placed in never gets resolved. This is a list of my favorite TV shows that never made it to season 3. 1. Better Off Ted (2009-2010) Breaking the fourth wall is one of my favorite tropes in entertainment. When a character turns right to the audience to provide their insights, or cut the tension, it's delightful. And, when used well, it always gets me. In this show, the titular Ted is middle management at a huge company called Veridian Dynamics who keeps trying to convince us, the audience, that he isn't the bad guy when his boss (Portia de Rossi) foists him repeatedly into impossible spots. The company is so comically bottom-line driven that the humanity in the show is created by all the sympathetic characters charged with wild tasks, from being frozen alive to drugging a fellow employee surreptitiously and observing the results. Satirical and very funny. The research and development duo of Phil and Lem steal the show that tragically didn't make it to a third season. 2. Pushing Daisies (2007-2009) When it comes to world-building, this show is magical. It takes place in a fantastical world where a pie-maker (Lee Pace) has the ability to bring back the dead with a touch. The bummer is, once he brings them back, if he touches them again, they die and aren't revivable again. There is a narrator (the incomparable Jim Dale) and agoraphobic aunts (one has an eye patch) and a relentless Kristin Chenoweth. If you haven't seen it, check it out. Only, it will break your heart when it ends after only 2 seasons. 3. Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (2020-2021) I'm a sucker for a musical and a fun premise. This one checks both boxes. The titular Zoey accidentally develops the ability to gain insight into peoples deep and innermost thoughts and emotions. The way these innermost thoughts are expressed is a song-and-dance number that only she can see and hear. It's funny and dramatic and features Lauren Graham as her boss and Skylar Astin (Pitch Perfect) as both her friend and will they/won't they candidate. It only lasted 2 seasons, but they did create a satisfying Christmas movie conclusion. 4. A League of Their Own (2022) aitchisons from United States, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons This is a show based on the 1992 movie with the same title, which is, of course, based on the real life All American Girls Professional Baseball League born out of World War II. It is so good. They created new characters from the movie and you just fall in love with all of them. Well, the players, at least. The show takes place in 1943 and the women and people of color are treated how you'd expect people in that time to treat women trying to do a "man's job." The world the show builds feels so lived in and the struggles feel so real. Unfortunately, this show only got one season. Its hopes of a season 2 were smashed by the WGA writers strike, but the one season we got is perfect. Plus it stars D'Arcy Carden, who frequently stole the show in "The Good Place" and absolutely crushes it here. 5a. American Vandal (2017-2018) This is a delightful mocumentary that plays it so straight, if Netflix had slid it in the documentary column, I'd imagine a lot of people would have missed the joke. The same thing happened to "This is Spinal Tap" on its initial theatrical release. "Vandal" got 2 seasons, and each one followed a different incident at a high school. It very successfully lampoons the documentary style that exploded with the release of "Making a Murderer." Season 1 was better, but both seasons are worth checking out. It's such perfectly crafted satire. 5b. Chernobyl (2019) "Chernobyl" only ran for 5 episodes. However, it ran as a miniseries so there was never any intention of extending it beyond one season. For that reason, it technically doesn't belong on this list of cancelled shows. The thing is, it's so stinkin' good I couldn't leave it off the list. It is perfectly crafted. It follows the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the USSR. It is so intense to watch not only the brutal aftermath of a nuclear disaster from a cost-of-human-life perspective, but also the unscrupulous government leaders at play. To watch a government put a stranglehold on the flow of information feels disappointingly timeless. 5c. Dopesick (2021) This is another miniseries that doesn't technically count as cancelled. It was a Hulu original that ran for 8 episodes. It brings to light the opioid epidemic from a fascinating swath of perspectives. We get to follow doctors, pharmaceutical sales reps, Big Pharma head honchos, and drug addicts. It is a really devastating, powerful tale and is based on the non-fiction book Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America. I highly recommend it. It is both compelling and educating. 6. The Flight Attendant (2020-2022) This show follows a flight attendant (Kaley Cuoco) who flies around the world (as opposed to domestic flights). That could be fun, you think. Well it gets better. She is a bit reckless with day drinking and sleeping with strangers and ends up awaking next to a dead man, with no idea as to the events that led to it. The show is a mystery/thriller, peeling back layers like an onion or an ogre. It is a really fun ride, especially the first season, and has some scene-stealing co-stars in Zosia Mamet and Rosie Perez. Alas, a third season couldn't find a seat on the plane. 7. Laid (2024) Speaking of Zosia Mamet, this is a TV show that stars Stephanie Hsu as a party planner and Zosia plays her best friend and roommate, AJ. The premise of the show is that all of the people Ruby (Hsu) has slept with are dying one at a time, in close succession, and in the order in which she slept with them. AJ makes a comically elaborate murder board to try and wrap her head around the situation. I'm tempted to avoid recommending this show because it was canceled after one season and they leave the situation unresolved. Then again, it's very funny. 8. Utopia (2020) The premier episode of this show is one of the greatest episodes of TV I've ever seen. It really sets the table with an awesome premise. There is a delicious amount of death and destruction. A group of comic book fans get their hands on a copy of a comic that proves to portend future events and cajoles them into the unenviable task of having to save the world. It features John Cusack and Rainn Wilson in supporting roles and starts with a bang (but does fade a bit as it goes along). Still really fun and I highly recommend it. 9. Single Parents (2018-2020) The show follows a small group of single parents with pretty much nothing in common except their 7-year-olds. The show is so fun and the acting of the kids is terrific. It only lasted 2 seasons, but I could have gone for plenty more. Plus, it stars Taran Killam, Leighton Meester, and Brad Garrett. 10. The Mick (2017-2018) Kaitlin Olson stars as "Mickey," an unwilling long-term babysitter of her niece and nephews. She is a con man (con woman?) and largely unreliable and unsuited for the task at hand. Her charges are also rich kids and very privileged. It leads to some delightful clashes. The child actors in this show are fantastic and Olson is obviously great in everything. 11. Trophy Wife (2013-2014) Bradley Whitford is good in everything. I love that guy. He plays a lawyer who gets re-re-married to a young woman. The show follows the woman (Malin Åkerman) and the interpersonal dynamics between her, Whitford's ex-wives, and their children. It is a great comedy. Highly underrated and tragically cut short after a single season. The child actors in this show are phenomenal as well. Final Thoughts It's always crushing when a show you fall in love with has the plug pulled. Perhaps it's even a bit rude of me to be suggesting a bunch of shows that will only leave you wanting more, should you dare to dip your toes in the water. But I want to showcase some TV shows that I love, and that I feel got short shrift, so I had to share my list. It's totally possible that you have a completely different list. I'd love to see it! Below is a list of a few of the shows that just missed making my list and could help further activate yours. Wandavision (2021) Trial & Error (2017-2018) Archive 81 (2022) Stumptown (2019-2020) Reaper (2007-2009) Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006-2007) The Night Of (2016) No Tomorrow (2016-2017) The Good Guys (2010) Persons Unknown (2010) Galavant (2015-2016) Dilbert (1999-2000)

By CJ Tiernan Characters are such an important part of a TV Show. Because the story unfurls over a long period of time, you get to spend so much more time with a TV character than a movie character. If you can't stand a character, or don't understand where they're coming from, you might just jump ship on the show altogether (so you better have some good ones). When you get two characters, who are either friends or partners, that can play off one another, especially for comedic effect, it's the best. I highly enjoy watching characters that like each other and can rely on one another for anything. Below is a list of my 11 favorite duos I've ever seen on TV. 1. Shawn and Gus - Psych Sue Lukenbaugh from Sacramento, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons Shawn Spencer and Burton "Gus" Guster are the best of friends. However, they have disparate personalities. Shawn has reckless confidence and routinely charges into situations headlong without a plan and just wings it. Gus has a much more conservative approach, working a reliable 9-5 and operating (in most instances) as some version of the voice of reason... or a scaredy cat. Over 9 seasons, we see all sorts of strains on their friendship and business partnership, yet they always stay strong together. 2. J.D. and Turk - Scrubs John "J.D." Dorian and Christopher "Turkleton" Turk are best friends that start the show as medical students at a teaching hospital. The show balances comical, over-the-top surreal moments, courtesy of J.D.'s wild brain, with genuine heartfelt and moving moments. The balance of comedy and drama is awesome in this show, and the backbone of the heart is the dynamic between these to friends/coworkers. 3. Phil and Lem - Better Off Ted Phil Mymen and Lem Hewitt are brilliant lab partners. They are also comically averse to any levels of conflict. They aren't the main characters of the show, which is different from most of the other duos on this list, but they bring more humor than any other characters. They work for a company that puts the bottom line above the idea "just because we can, doesn't mean we should" to spectacular effect. Phil and Lem are essentially inventing fantastical creations that sometimes backfire. The way they talk to each other is funny, but they play off each other really well. 4. Scooby-Doo and Shaggy - Scooby-Doo This is the first of three animated duos on the list. Scooby-Doo and Norville "Shaggy" Rogers are friends and coworkers, working with their fellow hippies solving mysteries for the aptly named Mystery Inc. aboard the aptly named Mystery Machine. This duo is fun because Scooby-Doo is a dog that talks while Shaggy is a human (whose hair is shaggy). They are very similar because they always get scared and they're always hungry. Their ability to eat in the face of danger is downright inspirational. #SquadGoals 5. Troy and Abed - Community Troy Barnes and Abed Nadir are best friends who both attend the same community college. They are part of the same Spanish study group, but will often hang out with each other separate from the rest of the group. They have impossibly vivid imaginations and tend to do really elaborate things that are typical of much younger kids, like pillow forts and imaginary morning shows. They are aspirational for their ability to entertain themselves without any level of fear from outside opinions on what they're doing. 6. Phineas and Ferb - Phineas and Ferb Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher are stepbrothers that, during their summer vacation respite from school, attempt to make every day fun by creating various and impossibly elaborate inventions and contraptions. They bring in the other kids their age to also enjoy said contraptions. They are inclusive and always striving to maximize the fun. They are positive and oblivious to the obstacles in their path or the reason as to why their inventions always disappear and they have to start anew the next episode. It's an all-time great animated show and they are great brothers. Stick around for the end of the episode, where Ferb tends to utter his one and only line to maximum effect. 7. Cory and Shawn - Boy Meets World When I was growing up, Boy Meets World was part of ABC's TGIF lineup, in addition to being available on TV as reruns on the Disney Channel. Cory Matthews and Shawn Hunter are best friends and the show lasted long enough that we got to follow them from Middle School all the way to College. Shawn was the cool kid who gets into trouble and Cory was the more buttoned-up, conservative kid. They are fiercely loyal friends and it was really nice to see Middle School, High School, and College stories play out as a kid. These two were the quintessential TV friends of my youth. 8. Steve and Dustin - Stranger Things Steve Harrington and Dustin Henderson are friends with an age gap, pushed together through impossible and life-threatening circumstances. Steve is older. He's the cool kid and actually starts the show as a bully. Dustin is younger and nerdy. They quickly develop a brotherly dynamic. Throughout the seasons of the show, various members of the "Scoops Troop" pair up, but none are as fun as the friendship between these two. 9. Mulder and Scully - X-Files Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully work for the FBI and are sent on cases that tend to feature possible paranormal phenomena. Scully is the skeptic and Mulder is the one who "wants to believe." Scully, a medical doctor, was initially brought in to try and quell Mulder's openness to the paranormal. They begin as partners that develop into friends that develops into a tricky romantic relationship. The show is long, spanning 11 seasons and 2 movies, which gives you an opportunity to really get to know the characters and their back stories. 10. Chuck and Morgan - Chuck Chuck Bartowski and Morgan Grimes are lifelong best friends that are always together and always there for one another. Then Chuck accidentally becomes a secret government asset, as he has classified information downloaded into his brain. It puts their friendship under pressure as Chuck has to start lying to Morgan. Morgan always remains loyal and is the ultimate best friend. The show is great and so is the friendship. 11. Stewie and Brian - Family Guy Another man and his best friend, only the man is a baby, and the dog is a highly sophisticated, martini drinking, talking dog. Stewie Griffin and the family dog, Brian Griffin, go on all sorts of adventures, including traversing time, and their dynamic is a lot of fun. They are both so much more than the rest of the family gives them credit for so when they team up, they get to realize their potential. It is always a treat to get to a Stewie-and-Brian-centric episode. Final Thoughts Friendships are so much fun to see play out on TV. In many instances, they are aspirational for their loyalty or the degree to which they spend time with one another. The duos listed above are my favorites, but I'm sure I missed some of yours. Please let me know which ones I left off in the comments below. The one that just missed my list was Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic of Mike and Mike in the Morning, a long-running radio show that was simulcast on ESPN. Thanks!

By CJ Tiernan When you watch the Pilot episode of a TV Show, you get to see the foundation. You are given some sense of who the players are and where the story is headed. However, many shows have their characters evolve and grow as the show goes on. This leads to the need for new characters. Anytime a TV Show can introduce a new member into the established cast, in a manner that is additive, it's impressive. It requires great writing to establish a need for the character and great casting to bring in someone who can mesh with the preexisting cast and crew. Below is my Top 11 List for the best characters that I've ever seen added to a TV Show after season 1 that either become series regulars or at least get a character arc that lasts more than 1 season. 1. Parks and Recreation - Ben Wyatt & Chris Traeger (Adam Scott & Rob Lowe) First Appearance: S2E23 - The Master Plan This is easily my favorite add to the series regulars of any TV Show. Not only do they bring in both the love interest for Leslie Knope and Anne Perkins (you have to say her name how Rob Lowe says it in the show. I don't make the rules, you just have to), but you also get addition by subtraction by removing the aggressively milquetoast Mark Brendanawicz. Endless comedy is milked from the addition of these two characters and they help the existing characters grow and develop further. It is a win-win of the highest magnitude. 2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Spike (James Marsters) First Appearance: S2E3 - School Hard "Buffy" ran for 7 seasons, surviving the switch from The WB (remember the frog in the top hat?) to UPN, and spawning a spin-off that ran for 5 seasons of its own (Angel). From jump street, this show was awesome and codified elements of the American vernacular still used today. Adding Spike (a Billy Idol look-alike who canonically claimed that Billy stole his look) led to not only some great Slayer v. Vampire showdowns, but also created one of the most complex characters ever. He operates as a tortured soul, regardless of whether or not he actually has one. Spike also has my favorite song in the musical episode "Once More with Feeling." 3. Supernatural - Castiel (Misha Collins) First Appearance: S4E1 - Lazarus Rising Now Supernatural ran for 15 seasons, so they probably were going to have to add a character or two along the way to continue soldiering on (although they did establish a routine pretty early on of killing and then bringing back the same characters with regularity). "Cass" was my favorite addition. For those not in the know, Castiel is an angel. He brought Dean back from Hell and then kinda becomes friends with Sam and Dean Winchester. The character helps bring some levity and humor to the show because he isn't an all-knowing being and doesn't handle his existence on Earth with maximum proficiency. Misha's portrayal is top-notch. 4. Bones - Lance Sweets (John Francis Daley) First Appearance: S3E4 - The Secret in the Soil Dr. Sweets is a shrink that shows up to observe the relationship of Booth and Bones. Neither initially hold him in high esteem, perceiving him as too young and disrespecting his profession, respectively. However, they grow to become something of a dysfunctional family. Sweets appearance lends itself to a great deal of humor and, over time, also draws out more personality from other members at the Jeffersonian. Spoiler Alert: When they killed him off at the beginning of season 10, it was a shocking and jarring moment that I wasn't expecting. Plus, we all love John Francis Daley. He burst on the scene as a kid in "Freaks and Geeks" and has since gone on to co-write and direct several great movies (like Game Night and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves). 5. Psych - Woody (Kurt Fuller) First Appearance: S4E7 - High Top Fade Out Woody is the coroner and, as the show goes on, he becomes not only a friend/acquaintance of the main cast but also a crazy person. His eccentricities perfectly match the humor of the show and of the main character Shawn. "The Woodman" is also a member of the crew during the best episode of the entire series, the Hangover-esque "Last Night Gus." Psych is my favorite show of all time. You tend to be precious of a show when you love it this much and so it can be difficult to add a character for more than a small arc. However, they essentially added a second Shawn, an absolute wild-card. Kurt Fuller is fantastic in the role and was justifiably included in the movies as well (as of now, they've made 3 movies since the show ended). 6. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Frank Reynolds (Danny DeVito) First Appearance: S2E1 - Charlie Gets Crippled A rich man who willfully abandons the spoils of high-society in favor of debauchery and squalor is a unique take on a character. Rather than the more standard rags to riches story, we see a man who is riches to rags. On purpose! I love it. Danny DeVito fell in love with the show after the first season and wanted in. The cast (who also created the show and write the episodes) said heck yeah when given the option to bring him on and the rest, as they say, is history. Watching Frank's relationship with Charlie, which seems so much more wholesome and genuine than the one he has with his kids, Dennis and Dee, is wonderful. 7. Breaking Bad - Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) First Appearance: S2E8 - Better Call Saul Obviously this was a pretty good add to the old rolodex. Not only was this character a ton of fun, he earned a critically-acclaimed spin-off that ran for 6 seasons. If we've learned anything from movies and TV, it's that bad guys need lawyers. Saul Goodman doesn't always seem to have all the answers, but he seems to have contacts to be able to pull off all sorts of different criminal-underworld shenanigans. Bob Odenkirk's work on both shows is phenomenal and worthy of praise, especially for a guy who started in sketch comedy. 8. Stranger Things - Robin Buckley (Maya Hawke) First Appearance: S3E1 - Suzie, Do You Copy? As a member of the Scoops Ahoy gang, Robin is instantly endearing. Someone who can mess with Steve is worth the price of admission. While it can be difficult to add characters to a show that already has so much going on with its different characters, this add was a blast. Stranger Things is one of the greatest TV Shows I've ever seen. It is so fun and immersive and the setting in the '80s bears endless fruit. Adding Robin (and an entire mall) to the equation in season 3 elevated the show. 9. Veep - Richard Splett (Sam Richardson) First Appearance: S3E1 - Some New Beginnings Saraa.kom, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons Richard Splett is one of the weirdest and funniest TV Show characters of all time. Sam Richardson offers such a straight-faced, understated approach to ridiculous line after ridiculous line. Oh man, to be someone on set that got to watch that must have been fun. He must have been cracking up the cast non-stop. He plays a volunteer during the titular character's campaign for presidency. Here is a link to a supercut of just his great moments in the show. Please enjoy when you need a moment of sanity. 10. Breaking Bad - Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) First Appearance: S2E11 This is the second of 3 characters added in 3 different episodes of season 2 of Breaking Bad on my list (good show). Giancarlo Esposito plays this role with such delightful restraint. His character is just really cautious in his endeavor to be a criminal and watching his strategy juxtaposed against Walter White's approach is fascinating. It becomes clear early on that their partnership is going to end in a blaze of glory. I love how every character that is added to the show has the potential to both help and hurt Walt. He needs them and doesn't want to need them and that Catch-22 drives him nuts and frustrates his sense of control. It is a perfect character add. 11. Breaking Bad - Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) First Appearance: S2E13 - ABQ Jonathan Banks has the perfect face. He has kind of Droopy Dog-esque jowls that showcase so much wear and experience right on his face. He can convey a message without saying a word. It is such a delightful and underrated performance. From his beginning to his end, he is captivating. He also taught me the concept of half-measure and full measure. This is a character that feels essential to your criminal enterprise and he also feels so real. This addition was a wonderful accent to one of the most perfect shows of all time (salute to show creator Vince Gilligan). Final Thoughts TV Shows are living things. As the seasons go on, the world of the show and the characters within it evolve and grow and learn. It leads to the need for new characters. Some of these new characters can become some of our favorite characters in the whole show. When that happens, you just have to show some respect to the runners of the show that they were wiling to take a risk and shake up what's working to help the show grow and evolve. I've seen a lot of shows over the years and these are my faves in the ones that I've seen. If you have a favorite character that was added late to a show and I didn't include it on my list, please let me know in the comments. Thanks!

By CJ Tiernan When creating a sequel to a movie, often the deciding factor is whether or not the first one was successful. For that reason, a sequel (or prequel or remake) has a lot to live up to. So when a sequel is able to surpass the greatness of the original, it is worthy of standing up and taking notice. Below is a list of my 11 favorite sequels to movies I've ever seen that I felt were even better than the original. 1. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) Rundvald, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons This movie is a unique example on the list. It is a new movie following these same two characters, Wallace & Gromit, but is the first one in the series that isn't a short film. The main reason that it is both so high on my list and exceeds the greatness of the original is the comedy. I have spent the past 20 years of my life endlessly quoting this film and all its great lines. It is one of the funniest movie of all time and highly under-appreciated (as animation often is). If you haven't seen this movie before, get your act together, find a friend, and throw this one on. I refuse to believe you will be disappointed. Plus, it's stop-motion animation, which is such a fun cinematic style! Funniest line: "Because of these?" 2. The Dark Knight (2008) "The Dark Knight" came out when I was in College. My roommates and I watched this thing over and over and over again. We basically had it running on a 24-hour loop in the living room like the TV section of an electronics store, showcasing the greatness of the technology. I don't know if you've heard of this Christopher Nolan guy, but he's pretty good. Batman is a story that has made its way to theaters many times before, but no one ever made the story this cool. Heath Ledger gives one of the greatest performances of all time and is just about the coolest villain ever. Lasting question: "Why so serious?" 3. Top Gun: Maverick (2022) Speaking of cool movies, I give you Top Gun: Maverick. This is one of the greatest movies I've ever seen. The action and tension are relentless. It has a lot of nostalgia and nods to the previous iteration, but is unquestionably capable of completely standing on its own. It also features Glen Powell and Monica Barbaro before their careers completely blew up. Words to live by: "Don't think, just do." 4. Thor: Ragnarok (2017) This is the 3rd movie featuring Chris Hemsworth as Thor (5th if you count the first 2 "Avengers" movies). The first one had the funny moment in the cafe where he spikes a coffee cup on the ground and shouts "another," but we didn't know Hemsworth was this funny. "Thor: Ragnarok" is non-stop funny. Taika Waititi created a superhero movie that was hilarious without being a spoof. In conjunction with James Gunn on "Guardians of the Galaxy," he helped change the MCU and spun it in a less self-serious direction. Also, the music in this movie is sick. The battle at the beginning and again at the end on the Bifrost Bridge are fantastic. Greatest Improv: "He's a friend from work." 5. The Suicide Squad (2021) "Guardians of the Galaxy" stands as one of my favorite trilogies of all time. All 3 movies are fantastic. Usually, there is a miss or two in the midst of a trilogy. Even with that high praise, "The Suicide Squad" is my favorite superhero movie James Gunn has done (He also did Superman in 2025 and Super way back in 2010). From the hilarious misdirect at the start, to the comedy throughout, this movie rocks. And they make some of the violence very funny. Who doesn't love funny violence? Most ubiquitous credo: "I cherish peace with all my heart. I don't care how many men, women, and children I need to kill to get it." 6. The Muppets (2011) Jason Segel co-wrote and starred in this movie that felt like a little bit sequel and a little bit reboot. It was a lot of bit awesome. The first movie from way back in the '70s is incredible. The song Kermit sings at the beginning from a bog, "The Rainbow Connection," is one of the most enduring songs ever written for a movie. And yet, I thought this movie was better. Barely, but better. It utilizes a lot of the same tricks as previous Muppet movies, like meta humor and celebrity cameos. It is a sweet tale and musical delight. Existential query for our time: Are you a man, or a muppet? 7. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) Of all the movies on this list, I have seen "Christmas Vacation" the most (actually, maybe second behind "The Dark Knight"). It is a seasonal staple. It perfectly highlights the highs and lows of the holiday season and then turns it up to 11 with a splash of kidnapping at the end. There are so many little visual gags that you can spot after having missed it the previous 20 years you watched it. I love the extravagant effort by Chevy Chase's Clark constantly going unrewarded, only to have him turn around and believe that everything will work the next time. It's fun to watch him slowly go mad. Sincerest apology: "I'm sorry, this is our family's first kidnapping." 8. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) Ah, the Tom Holland Spider-Man. Holland seems like such a kid that he is so perfect for the role. Tobey Maguire never struck me as a kid, so his story was harder to buy. The first iteration, "Homecoming," is a great movie with a fun villain. I like "Far From Home" more because the stakes get ratcheted up and it pulls Spider-Man out of his element, as he is playing a road game in Europe. The Jake Gyllenhaal villain is also a lot of fun and there is an element of "I don't know what to believe" that keeps you off balance as you watch. Best comeback: "Bitch, please! You've been to space." 9. Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018) 8 movies. The Mission: Impossible saga made it up to 8 movies! That was a very impressive 3-decade run, showcasing Tom Cruise's relentless pursuit to make fun and entertaining movies. Fallout is the best of the bunch. From the world's greatest fight scene in a bathroom, to the helicopter chase scene/battle, this movie has such great set pieces. While the missions rarely feel impossible, I do love the high stakes. Plus, who doesn't love it when they pull off the face to reveal they're one of the good guys instead of whoever's face they were wearing. Classic! Helpful advice: "Open your chute when the system says. Not before, and definitely not after, or the last thing that goes through your mind will be your kneecaps." 10. Fast Five (2011) I stopped watching the "Fast & Furious" series after they dropped cars from the sky but before they went to space. Other than the 3rd one, I quite enjoyed them. "Fast Five" is my favorite. It introduces The Rock and turns "Fast & Furious" into a heist film. Now, I'll agree they really drifted from the street-racing roots of the original, but it's not my place to judge. I'm just here to plop down in the cinema for an entertaining flick. If it departs from what I was expecting, as long as it's a good one, it's fine with me. The safe scene at the end is so epic. Spin for the win: "I ain't negative. I'm just positive you're going to screw it up." 11. Twisters (2024) I loved the first "Twister" movie. It was a great story and had a wonderful balance of comedy, drama, and romance. The thing is, the new one blew all of those elements out of the water. Now, it is fair to question whether or not we should believe the quantity of tornados they're exposed to throughout the film is realistic. Brother, realistic is for the birds. Give me the action! This movie is a non-stop white-knuckler with some sweet relationships and fun characters. If you haven't seen this movie, do yourself a favor and check it out. Tips and tricks: "You can always trust a guy who puts his face on a t-shirt." Final Thoughts Sequels always have an uphill climb to live up to the original. They also have the benefit of not needing to reintroduce you to all the characters. Sometimes that allows the filmmakers to be able to just throw you straight into the world to perfect effect. I am sure that I left some of your favorite sequels off the list or perhaps you just preferred the original to the new movie in some of these instances. Whatever the case, please let me know in the comments below. Thanks! I've also left a small list down below of movies that just missed my list. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) Kong: Skull Island (2017) Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) The Dark Knight Rises (2012) Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) Final quote: "I do wish we could chat longer, but I'm having an old friend for dinner. Bye."

By CJ Tiernan Formed in Chicago in the early '70s, Styx is an American rock band with maximum style. They deliver positive vibes and hope through the power of sound. Comprised of original members Dennis DeYoung, James "J.Y." Young (no relation), John "J.C." Curulewski, Chuck Panozzo, and John Panozzo (brothers), these guys rocked through the '70s and '80s with long hair and musical attitude (Tommy Shaw would go on to shred in place of J.C. by 1976). I love Styx. They are my go to pick-me-up band and my favorite musical artist of all time not named Weird Al. They are the kings of the power ballad. Below is a list of my Top 11 favorite Songs by Styx I've ever heard. Ralph Arvesen, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons 1. Come Sail Away (1977) - The Grand Illusion This is a gateway Styx song. It was the one that got me hooked. In the summer of 2005, my family went on a cruise that was a big family thing courtesy of our grandparents. It was awesome. It was also the genesis of my dad going out and purchasing their Greatest Hits CD so he could blast Come Sail Away from the car as we drove to the airport. It was a game changing moment for me. I obviously have a very happy memory associated with this song but, beyond that, I listened to the whole album (and burned it onto my iPod - what a time). I couldn't get enough and it was all thanks to this song. This song literally has the phrase "a song of hope" tucked in among its lyrics. What more do you need to know? 2. Blue Collar Man (Long Nights) (1978) - Pieces of Eight A lot of Styx songs will start soft and then crescendo to epic heights. Not so with Blue Collar Man. It proffers a delicious, power-chord laden synth part right out of the starting blocks. It's game on from there. 3. Renegade (1978) - Pieces of Eight In the Steel City, the Pittsburgh Steelers play this song to rally the defense in the second half. Mike Tomlin took over in 2007 and has never had a losing season. The Steelers started the tradition just a handful of year prior. I don't want to be the guy that confuses a causal relationship with a correlation but, c'mon, you do the math. Styx brings energy with basically every song, but this one has a short preamble and then a literal scream to kick the heavy stuff into gear. 4. Rockin' the Paradise (1981) - Paradise Theatre Speaking of energy and shouting, this song starts with a shout. I feel like the drums really drive the energy of this song. This also has some weird and random energy. At one point, you can hear someone shout "mashed potato" (which I think is a dance). The harmony on the refrain is fantastic. 5. The Best of Times (1981) - Paradise Theatre This song has my favorite harmony of any Styx song. You crank the volume up in the car or the headphones when that refrain trumpets in and it slaps you in the face with unbridled glory and majesty. Styx songs are both rock and roll and sweet and tender, which I feel is an unsung part of their operation. They don't just melt faces (although Tommy Shaw and JY will NOT hesitate to melt your face), they tickle you right in the ventricles. It's like reading poetry to an arena full of crazed fans. 6. Crystal Ball (1976) - Crystal Ball Here we once again experience the ebb and flow of the magical Styx formula. It starts soft and ends softer, but puts the fasten seatbelt sign on for the chorus. This is the biggest hit from the album (clearly they knew it was coming, they named the album after it). It is also the first album in which Tommy Shaw entered the fold. He wrote this song on his first go with the band. Dude's got chops. 7. Show Me the Way (1990) - Edge of the Century This song peaked on the charts in the top 5 on the Billboard rankings. It placed Styx in unique company as a band that had a top 5 single in three different decades ('70s, '80s, and '90s). This song stands as testament to both the greatness of Styx and their longevity. It's also a hauntingly beautiful song with which I can't help but to sing along. It is a song about keeping faith in a "world so filled with hatred." Fun fact: it is both number 7 on my list and track number 7 on their greatest hits album (sorry, that may have been a waste of the sacred phrase "fun fact"). 8. Suite Madame Blue (1975) - Equinox You savvy musical maven, you. I know you're hip to all the scoops of musical knowledge in the world, because you opted to read this list about an epic rock band. Nevertheless, I will disclose a small crumb of musical knowledge because, quite frankly, I didn't know it and had to research it (read: I Googled it). A "suite" in music is a small collection of distinct pieces, usually connected is some way tonally or thematically (a "suite" in a hotel, meanwhile, is sweet!). This is a term that dates back to before they invented Plymouth Rock. You can definitely feel why they called this song a "suite." There is a hard right turn about halfway through where they get all patriotic and it becomes almost a different song. It's fun! 9. Man in the Wilderness (1977) - The Grand Illusion The Grand Illusion album was the 7th Styx album and was released on 7-7-77 (or 7-7-77 if you live in Europe). I find that delightful and satisfying, and it was done intentionally for luck (the closest I have to a similar story is that on 06-06-06, I went on a Jack the Ripper walking tour in London - we didn't catch him). While Paradise Theatre slightly edged out this album for best selling Styx studio album of all time, The Grand Illusion is generally considered their best and most complete album. While the B-Side of Pieces of Eight contains four of my Top 12 favorite Styx songs of all time, I think the nameless, faceless "they" could be right. It has banger after banger. One of the bangers that didn't make the Greatest Hits album is this bad boy. Belting "sometimes I feel like a man in the wilderness" in the shower is more cathartic than any activity has a right to be. 10. Pieces of Eight (1978) - Pieces of Eight Pieces of Eight refer to the Spanish Dollar, a large silver coin of yore. They remain in the public consciousness courtesy of our love of pirates. They're famously pirate booty. Robert Louis Stevenson included them in his novel Treasure Island. Because they were large coins and valued by weight, they would often be sliced into smaller parts (usually 8 slices, like a pizza) to be more practical. 1/8th of a Spanish Dollar is a "Piece of Eight." Can you imagine us employing this strategy today? Aw man, the checkout line at Target would be anarchy. Anywho, the song is lovely. 11. Don't Let It End (1983) - Kilroy Was Here When I pop into my song app of choice on my phone and put Styx songs on random, this is the first one I play (the message in the song is clear: keep 'em coming). It is, as so many Styx songs are, a ballad filled with hope belted out by Dennis DeYoung. How did we get this far without name-dropping Dennis DeYoung? He was the face and spine of Styx for so long. He wrote by far the most songs for the band and is responsible for penning and lead singing 7 of their top 8 songs, according to the Billboard charts (Tommy Shaw's Too Much Time on My Hands was the lone exception). He has a unique vocal style (that I struggle to match whilst crooning in the car) and a flair for the theatric. His fingerprints are all over the band and it wouldn't be a thing without him. Final Thoughts Obviously, I love Styx. I've given you my elevator pitch on why they're fantastic. I hope you clicked the links to rock out to any of those songs you hadn't heard before or, if you knew them all already, rocked out to them again because they're phenomenal. Normally this thing just ends with me thanking you for reading this (genuinely, if you've gotten this far, I really appreciate it) and challenging you to call me out in the comments if you feel I've erred in some significant or noteworthy way. Not this time. We have a call to action, my friends. Styx, the band I love so much, needs your help. Even though they are eligible, Styx has not only NOT been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, they haven't even been nominated. That's disgusting. We're talking about a rock band that rode the airwaves with prog rock, soft rock, hard rock, and pop rock and haven't even gotten a whiff. That's a shame, man. It's borderline unforgivable. They were the first band to have four consecutive multi-platinum albums and have sold over 54 million records worldwide. Write your local congressman or start a petition. Why are you not mad about this? Get mad! This is an outrage that must be resolved posthaste. Good day.

By CJ Tiernan Laughter is famously the very best medicine. It adds some levity and perspective to life. Life is too short to push through day in and day out without stopping to laugh at the absurd things all around us. In my opinion, stand-up comedy is best when the comedian taps into something we all see and experience, and subverts expectations or looks at in a way that none of us have thought about. It is a satisfying thing to hear, because not only are we Rolling On The Floor Laughing Out Loud (ROTFLOL) but we also feel seen. Below is a list of my Top 11 favorite comedians I've ever listened to. 1. John Mulaney Best Album: New in Town (2012) Dominick D, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons While his self-titled sitcom did NOT become the hit that Jerry's Seinfeld did, his stand-up is second to none. Mulaney is a master story teller. His most recent work has reflected on the mistakes of his youth (lots of drugs and alcohol) but his early work as a naive, bright-eyed, bushy tailed man about town is unparalleled. He has great observational humor, but my favorite is just his recounting of stories from his perspective. It is masterful. 2. Brian Regan Best Album: I Walked on the Moon (2004) I vividly remember on a church mission trip out to Montana (from Iowa), listening to Brian Regan for the first time. My friend AK-47 (not his given or legal name) had me listen on his iPod (remember those?) to "Brian Regan: Live." It was a game changer. He is my favorite in the observational humor vein. His style can be brash, loud, and simple-minded, but his observations are second to none. I have endlessly quoted his routines since I first heard them and will recommmend his work to anyone and everyone I meet. You can't top him. He walked on the moon. 3. Mitch Hedberg Best Album: Strategic Grill Locations (1999) Ah, Mitch Hedberg. Gone too soon. He is the master of the one-liner. With respect to the greats that came before him like Henry Youngman and Steven Wright, Mitch is the best. He is part ridiculous, part brilliant and all of his jokes and observations come across with humility, as though they are throw-aways. There are very few comedians in the history of being funny for a living to ever generate anywhere near the laughs-per-minute rate of Hedberg. 4. Jerry Seinfeld Best Album: I'm Telling You for the Last Time (1998) Seinfeld is a technician. His ability to find the perfect word or phrase to maximize a joke and then emphasize the words just right is untouchable. He is one of the first, if not the first, humans you think of when you think of observational humor. Just as he and Larry David did on the show, he is so in tune with the world around him and he's able to use snippets of reality to twist in to comedy gold. Gold, Jerry, Gold! 5. Bo Burnham Best Album: Inside (2021) Bo is a musical comedian. He is the head of the class in the subject. He can jump from genre to genre effortlessly, and can switch from the impressively poignant and profound to the lowest common denominator. He is also probably the one that I've seen address mental health in the most impressive manner of any comedian. He was also a wunderkind and is the only one on (fun! 3 straight words that start with "on") my list who is younger than me. 6. Steve Martin Best Album: Let's Get Small (1977) Yes, I'm aware that there were comedians before Steve Martin. However, I see Martin as the O.G. He was an absurdist maestro and would showcase his other skills as a banjo player and magician in his acts. His autobiography "Born Standing Up" is the best non-fiction book I've ever read. He is today's Renaissance Man, having been a stand-up comic, an author, an actor, a screenwriter, a director, a magician, a Grammy-winning banjo player, and creating and starring in a TV show. He has also looked the same since, like, the '70s so there may be witchcraft involved (another skill!). 7. Kumail Nanjiani Best Album: Beta Male (2013) Nanjiani is one of the most charming comedy performers. He is great at observational humor but also, because he is originally from Pakistan, he is able to have self-deprecating, culture-clash observations that sometimes leave himself as the humor source. Ever since I first heard his bit about the drug "Cheese," I pronounce the word "heroin" in the manner he pronounces it (don't worry, it's not like heroin comes up in daily conversation. I, uh, don't roll with that flavor of crowd). 8. Aziz Ansari Best Album: Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening (2010) Aziz is an incredible ball of energy. His incredulity at the way other people behave in his stories is so endlessly delightful. He also offers a sing-song delivery that is so deliciously quotable. I'm often triggered by everyday things and words to think of some of his stories and observations. Talking about thread counts on sheets: "this lady's like 'I got 700 back at my house. It's like sleeping in lotion.'" 9. Nate Bargatze Best Album: The Tennessee Kid (2019) All of Nate Bargatze's humor seems to come from how dumb he is. Most one-trick-pony comedians don't work for me, but his style is so endearing and humble and his affect is charming. It works. I loved watching him on SNL, because it seemed like he finally jumped the shark and people got to know him and see him (also his patriotic sketch was a killer). He has such an understated delivery that it feels like he doesn't know how funny he is (even though he is literally making people laugh for a living so, he probably knows). 10. Louis C.K. Best Album: Live at Beacon Theater (2011) His story telling is incredible. He is able to take you to a time and place where something happened to him or around him, and he just perfectly paints a hilarious picture. His health and appearance are big pieces of his work, and he is so in-tune with his observations of the world. I like when he breaks down the transgressions of someone around him. He takes a mundane action and successfully paints it as absurd. His bit about people wanting to do "their favorite thing" is one I think about all the time. It helps me laugh instead of scream. 11. Demetri Martin Best Album: These Are Jokes (2006) Demetri Martin is one of the weirdest comedians I've ever seen. He does his comedy very straight-faced, but with absurd content. He has done comedy alongside drawings and while using the guitar and even used Will Forte as a back-up vocalist. The ideas that come from this man's mind are wild and the world is a better place for having him in it. He is a one-of-a-kind and had to be included on the list. Final Thoughts Comedy is subjective. What makes one person laugh, may not connect with someone else. I have listened to 100s of stand-up comedy specials and these 11 people are, in my opinion, the best I've ever heard. I know that my list is not the same as everyone else and I think that is fun and cool. Please include the comedians you feel I've failed to include on my list in the comments. Thanks!

By CJ Tiernan Every now and again you hear a song in a movie and it sticks with you. It becomes an ear worm you want to hear again, well after the movie is over. While a lot of the most memorable music in a film is either a pre-existing song or it is part of a musical, sometimes there is a song that is written for a movie that stands all on its own. Below is a list of my Top 11 songs that were written for a movie that wasn't a musical. 1. Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Jr. - Ghostbusters (1984) I mean, c'mon. Who ya gonna call? How can this be anywhere other than number one? I might choose this song as my walk-up song at a baseball game or to listen to as I charge into battle. It gets me so amped! Yeah, there was a slight case of plagiarism there, but, I mean, who among us, right? Besides, the directive to Ray Parker Jr. was to make a song that sounded like the Huey Lewis and the News' song "I Want a New Drug." If you want it to sound like that, you might need to borrow a note here and there. Plus, Huey Lewis now has a (legally mandated) writing credit, so every time I listen to the song, he gets a shekel. Everybody wins. 2a. Everything is Awesome by Tegan and Sara feat. The Lonely Island - The Lego Movie (2014) The positivity and energy this song generates is like few others in the history of music. It is the perfect tone-setting sequence for the comedy and energy of the movie. "Stepped in mud, got new brown shoes" is my favorite line, but the song is toxic positivity turned up to 11 and I absolutely dig it. Plus, who doesn't love them some Lonely Island? 2b. Cat People (Putting Out Fires) by David Bowie - Cat People (1982) Truth be told, I've never seen the movie "Cat People." It is one of three movies on this list that I haven't actually seen. The song was used in one of my favorite movies of all time, however, in "Inglourious Basterds." It is used in the scene toward the very end where they burn down the theater. There is a lot of tension in both the song and the scene and they work so well together. It would be neither the first nor the last time that Bowie wrote a song for a film, but in my opinion stands as his best. I like to believe that David Bowie wrote this song method (which is to say he dressed as a cat). It wouldn't be the oddest thing into which that spaceman dipped his toes. 2c. Mad World by Michael Andrews feat. Gary Jules - Donnie Darko (2001) Alright, I've sandbagged you again. This is a song originally written by the band "Tears for Fears" in the '80s. It was written as a bit of a pop song (as much of the '80s were a brightly colored wonderland, I feel like most music in the '80s was pop, but I don't know. I was barely there). The version crafted for "Donnie Darko," however, is much darker and more brooding, matching the tone of the film. Because I attached a bit of an asterisk to the last 2, I decided to make them 2b and 2c and give you a couple bonus songs. 3. The Power of Love by Huey Lewis and the News - Back to the Future (1985) Huey Lewis again! Man, these guys were kind of a big deal in the '80s, huh? As the story goes, he was approached to do a song for the movie by the creators of the film (Robert Zemekis and Bob Gale, plus producer Steven Spielberg) and Mr. Lewis denied them, because he was uninterested in writing a song called "Back to the Future." They didn't want to put him in a box, so they said there were no requirements or stipulations on his choices for the song. He decided they could simply use whichever song he wrote next which happened to be "The Power of Love." It has no real connections to the plot of the film but, fun fact: it's dope! It is also a commonly used song title. I checked and it seems that title has been used quite a few times, most notably by Jennifer Rush (with great covers by Air Supply and Celine Dion) and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. The Celine Dion version is exceptional. 4. Little Wonders by Rob Thomas - Meet the Robinsons (2007) Rob Thomas was the lead singer for Matchbox Twenty. They only had, like, 20 amazing songs there in the back half of the '90s and into the early aughts (are we still trying to make "aughts" happen?). And yet, this stands as one of his very best. It has a soft but magical quality to it, perfectly befitting of the film. "Meet the Robinsons" would definitely make the list if I created a Top 11 most underrated Disney movies. It is so dang funny. My siblings and I still quote it to this day ("They all hated me.") Plus, I'm always a sucker for a story that follows an inventor. I love inventors in movies. 5. I'm Just Ken by Ryan Gosling - Barbie (2023) This movie is SO pink and this song is SO perfect. I could not stop listening to this song when the movie came out. It is outstanding. Yes, I know, the Academy Award for best original song went to a song from this movie and it wasn't this song. Eh, what are you gonna do? Just because a bunch of people whose job it is to know good songs failed, it will not stop me from making my list in my image. "I'm just Ken" is a song that is over-the-top dramatic and hilarious. Now please, permit me to brood in my Mojo Dojo Casa House over the fact that Billie Eilish and her brother won over this song. 6. Lose Yourself by Eminem - 8 Mile (2002) I never saw this movie. That doesn't mean that I haven't sung along to this song a thousand times (plus the delicious "Weird Al" version: Couch Potato). I absolutely love it. It came out around the height of my Eminem fandom. Even though I never watched it, I feel like I have a good sense of the movie because the song does such a great job of painting a picture of Eminem's character's backstory. Good ol' Marshall Mathers has really come a long way, as the line "Mom's Spaghetti" from the song became a restaurant in Detroit. They even sell pasta sauce for $13/jar. That's a delicious way to lose yourself a pretty penny. 7. Don't You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds - The Breakfast Club (1985) This song was written for the movie, but not by the band that performed it. It was written by a producer and a guitarist (Keith Forsey and Steve Schiff, respectively) who then proceeded to seek a band to play the song. They got some no's, including from Simple Minds, before finally locking them down. The rest, as they say, is history. It is one of the most iconic tracks in all of '80s filmdom (I know, I have several on the list already). I use the phrase "end it like an '80s movie" far too often this far into the new millennium, but when I utter that phrase, I picture the end of this movie. You've got this song blasting while they freeze-frame a fist in the air. Pure greatness. 8. Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins - Top Gun (1986) Oh ho ho! This song oozes coolness like The Fonz or an endothermic reaction. Because of "Danger Zone," the Top Gun Soundtrack was the top selling soundtrack of '86 and one of the best selling soundtracks of all time (to be fair, it isn't the only track on the album. Miami Sound Machine, Berlin, Loverboy, and Cheap Trick also have songs on there). I liked "Top Gun: Maverick" more, but this song (and the theme song to the movie) is a banger! 9. Holiday Road by Lindsey Buckingham - Vacation (1983) National Lampoon was a magazine that ran from 1970-1998. Its hey day was the '70s, and it operated as a national spin-off of a humor periodical started at Harvard (aptly named The Harvard Lampoon). They lent their name (and two of their writers) to the 1978 release of Animal House. They would proceed to launch movies in the intervening years, including the Vacation films. "National Lampoon's Vacation" was written by John Hughes, based on a short story he'd written for The National Lampoon years earlier (called Vacation '58). There is a fantastic documentary that details the rise (and fall) of The National Lampoon called "Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead." Oh yeah, and the song. It's delightful! Lindsey Buckingham was a member of Fleetwood Mac so, you know, some musical chops there. It is a great Holiday song and a great road-trip song. 10. Always Look on the Bright Side of Life by Eric Idle - Life of Brian (1979) Eduardo Unda-Sanzana from Antofagasta, Chile, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons Of all the songs one could sing whilst being crucified, this one may be the most chipper. Sung by Eric Idle (who also wrote the music and lyrics) in a cockney accent, "Bright Side" has become the most popular song that is performed at British funerals. That is a level of comedy that not even Monty Python could have hoped for. It is, as the name would imply, a song imploring a positive spin on things, complete with a whistled section of the song. Idle also used the title for his memoir, a so-called "sortabiography." 11. Eye of the Tiger by Survivor - Rocky III (1982) Yeah, I never saw Rocky III. I haven't seen most of the Rocky movies. I saw "Rocky Balboa" and the first "Creed" in theaters and that was about it. Thing is, you don't need to have seen any of the Rocky movies to rock out to this song. That guitar comes in nice and spicy right off the bat and you are off the races. My assumption is that the song is used for some sort of amped-up training montage, but again, I haven't seen it. The real question is, have you heard "Weird Al" cover the song? His rendition, Rye or the Kaiser, will get the juices pumping too. Final Thoughts Obviously, some of these songs transcend the movie to such a degree that you don't have to have seen the movie to listen to (and love) the song. I have listened to every song on this list loads of times outside of watching the movies they're in (including the "Weird Al" songs). There are a slew of songs written for movies every single year (you knew that, you've seen The Oscars) so there are plenty to choose from. I'm sure your list differs from my own. That's fantastic! Let me know what you've got in the comments below. Thanks!

By CJ Tiernan Adele was born exactly 2 weeks before me, in May of 1988. Her album titles are, or have been to date, named for the age at which she writes and composes them, though they're usually released a year or two after that. That means it is very easy for me to track what age Adele is when she releases these albums and compare myself at that same age to her. (Yikes! I changed my mind. I'm not interested in doing that.) Her first album was 19. Her huge, game-changing album was her second album: 21. It was released in 2011. I had just graduated college, I was unemployed. She released one of the greatest albums of all time at the age of 22. Comparing any further will just hurt my feelings. I love basically every single part of this album. All the songs are tremendous, emotional, and powerful. I listened to this album on my iPod over and over again while mowing my parents lawn in the summer of 2011 (ah, the iPod. What a time to be alive!) I clearly wasn't alone, because it was the best selling album of the year in both 2011 and 2012. Worldwide! Below is a list of my 11 favorite songs on the album (spoiler alert: there were only 11 total songs on the album, if you don't count deluxe releases and exclusive bonus tracks). Kristopher Harris from Charlotte, NC, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons 1. Someone Like You 2. Rolling in the Deep 3. Set Fire to the Rain 4. Turning Tables 5. Take It All 6. Don't You Remember 7. Rumor Has It 8. One and Only 9. He Won't Go 10. I'll Be Waiting 11. Lovesong Final Thoughts Raw emotion seems to permeate this entire album. Adele herself referred to this album as a break-up album. You can feel the power of her vocals and her words in each and every song. Interestingly, the song I ranked last here is the only one she was not involved in writing. It is a cover of a song by The Cure. Apart from "Chasing Pavements" from her album "19" and "Hello" from her album "30," this album contains every single one of her best songs (an argument could be made to also include "Skyfall," as that song did earn her an Academy Award for best original song). That is pretty great praise for an all-time great vocalist. Please let me know in the comments if you feel I have these in the wrong order. Now get out of here and go rock out to one of the greatest albums of all time again on your audio streamer of choice. Thanks!

By CJ Tiernan This two-human combo was a racing comet through sound and space. They whizzed by, lit up the night sky, and then – poof – before we knew it, it was over. Alan Menken was the composer and Howard Ashman was the lyricist for an absolute musical dream team. They wrote songs for Disney staples like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin, as well as an Off-Broadway reimagining of Little Shop of Horrors that became the basis for the 1986 movie. That’s right, these guys helped craft the soundtrack of your childhood. Then, in ’91, Ashman died from complications with AIDS at the age of 40. Menken has continued on the Disney path, writing songs for Hercules, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Tangled (among others) and been nominated several times for Tony Awards for his work on Broadway. But this list is designed specifically to honor this wonderful duo. Here are my Top 11 Favorite Songs by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. Enjoy! 1. Under the Sea - The Little Mermaid (1989) Benoît Prieur, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons Disney’s three animated movies released prior to The Little Mermaid were The Black Cauldron (1985), The Great Mouse Detective (1986), and Oliver & Company (1988). It is largely known as the “Dark Age” of Disney Animation. I kinda liked The Black Cauldron (and who doesn’t love Billy Joel?) but I get it. The Little Mermaid ushered in what became known as the Disney Renaissance. I get that too. Four of their next five releases were The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. That’s one heck of a run. Menken and Ashman were no small part of that. "Under the Sea" is my all-time favorite Disney song. Given that I have both Beetlejuice and its sequel in my Top 500 movies of all time, you can reasonably deduce that I’m susceptible to the charms of Calypso music. The island beckons and I want to be toes in the sand with a beer in hand. That’s the message The Little Mermaid is sending, right? (or maybe I’m confusing it with a Corona commercial). 2. Suddenly, Seymour - Little Shop of Horrors (1986) Little Shop of Horrors is my favorite live-action musical movie. The music is phenomenal and I really enjoy how none of the characters are really winners. I mean, Audrey II is a winner in the sense that it keeps getting what it wants (which, Spoiler Alert if you haven’t seen it, is to eat people and take over the world) but otherwise, it’s a tale of the disenfranchised… and a love story. It is a tender song, but unfortunately the word “suddenly” is forever and inextricably linked to an item found in the grocery store. You’re walking through the aisles, minding your own business when BAM! “Suddenly Pasta Salad” makes an appearance. 3. Be Our Guest - Beauty and the Beast (1991) Be Our Guest is sung by Mrs. Potts and Lumiere. These are anthropomorphic household accoutrement, welcoming Belle to Dinner, played by Angela Lansbury (of Murder…She Wrote) and Jerry Orbach (of that John Mulaney bit about Jerry Orbach’s eyes... and also Law & Order fame). We did Beauty and the Beast as a stage production my Senior year of High School and I played the highly-memorable, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Cheese Grater. I got to juggle on stage, which was a lot of fun. Also, how polite is the name of this song? When I worked at Target we always had to refer to our customers as guests. They were rarely polite enough to necessitate such a moniker. 4. Friend Like Me - Aladdin (1992) Robin Williams, much like Howard Ashman, is an entertainment figure that was simply gone too soon. In this film, at the height of his powers, he brings an energy and singularity to The Genie that I don’t know has ever been matched in animation. No one could riff and improv like Robin Williams and it’s startling to hear how much he was able to do that within the confines of an animated character. In Friend Like Me, he sang this jazzy, swing song with gusto and power, matching the towering height his character was capable of reaching. That being said, I still struggle with calling that thing a lamp. It looks nothing like any lamp I’ve ever used anywhere in my whole life (and I’ve been to Europe twice!). 5. Part of Your World - The Little Mermaid (1989) The “I Want” or “I Wish” song is a musical staple. It paints a picture for the audience, in a florid, visual manner, for the desire(s) of the main character. This is the first of two such songs on my list (see #9 for the other). In fact, Ashman and Menken may have churned out two of the greatest such songs ever. There is raw emotion in this song, with words sometimes almost whispered (or escaping the body uncontrollably) that really crafts some complex feelings for what could otherwise be dismissed as a kid’s movie. The feeling of not belonging to your own tribe and wanting to be somewhere that's just out of reach taps into a universality that really makes this song sing. Plus, who doesn’t love a song that can work in so many non-specific nouns (gadgets, gizmos, whozits, whatzits, and thingamabobs all in a short rat-a-tat-tat). 6. Kiss the Girl - The Little Mermaid (1989) Back to the island music! This is a smooth song with a call-and-response vocal element. We’re in an impossibly blue lagoon, rooting for this guy to kiss this girl, even though she can’t speak. It’s, uh, not aged well when viewed out of context but, I mean they’re animated characters so no one got hurt. The real problem is who designs a spell that way? The one way a spell doesn’t ruin your whole world is if a handsome young guy kisses a pretty young girl? Outside of an Amish colony or a family reunion (north of the Mason-Dixon), I think the odds are actually pretty good for a kiss. 7. Skid Row - Little Shop of Horrors (1986) Skid Row – noun – ramshackle neighborhood, wrong side of the tracks, rundown area of New York City. It is not the ideal, perfect place. It is a place you end up, not the place you aim to go. However, this song has the most wonderful juxtaposition between the place they sing about and the way they sing about it. It’s like a ‘60s doo-wop with background singers that just appear out of nowhere. It’s wonderful! There is allegedly no relation to the band of the same name (“18 and Life” and “I Remember You” are two of their biggest hits), but the band did also change their name from The Skids to Skid Row in 1986 so… 8. Beauty and the Beast - Beauty and the Beast (1991) Beauty and the Beast (the movie) stands out for several reasons. It was nominated for Best Picture before the field expanded to 10 movies and before there was an animated movie category. It was that good. The scene of Beauty and the Beast (the song) stands out because while the characters were still hand-drawn in the normal, 2D fashion, the ballroom itself was computer-generated 3D. It was seriously groundbreaking at the time. Disney pulled it off with a little help from their friends (aka Pixar). It, uh, it worked. It’s a breathtaking moment (and Disney/Pixar has become quite the partnership). 9. Somewhere That's Green - Little Shop of Horrors (1986) The actress that plays Audrey (the first one, the human) has this extremely distinct voice that she manages to use as both a speaking and singing voice. It is a lispy, high-pitched yet soft voice that appears almost nowhere else in the universe. So, we must give a shout-out to Ellen Greene. In fact, she portrayed the character in the original Off-Broadway run before doing the movie four years later. In the song, she lists all of these things that she wants out of life and it is so enduring and funny because they are such small, simple desires like a “disposal in the sink” and “plastic on the furniture” and a “big, enormous 12-inch screen” TV. You can’t help but root for someone who dreams so hard and yet so small. 10. Arabian Nights - Aladdin (1992) The music in Arabian Nights is transportive. We know, just by the sounds and instruments used, that we are in a faraway land. This is a trick of the mind. The style of music is known as Hollywood Orientalism (Yikes! Are we still using that term?). It is a style of music that has evoked the Asian and North African setting in media for many moons, but isn’t all that indicative of the music that is made by the people that actually live in those areas. But it gets results. The brain is designed to constantly be on the lookout for shortcuts. Much like a Senior nearing the end of High School, it is infected with laziness. This is a cheat code that’s frequently exploited by the score of music and TV. Such is the case here. Don’t hate the players, hate the game. 11. Poor Unfortunate Souls - The Little Mermaid (1989) This song is classic musical theater. It harbors a blend of spoken-word lyrics with opportunities for the singer to plant their feet and belt out a note or two. This is the only song on my list that is sung by the villain. We naturally root for the good guy, the protagonist of the picture, so perhaps this is subconscious bias on my part. Nevertheless, Ursula the Sea Witch (a bad guy name if ever there was one) is dressed in black and has eels as henchmen so there is no mistaking the sinister aura surrounding her. Quick trivia: do you remember the names of her evil eels? I’ll stall while you think of it. Take a look at the title of the song again. There is such a rhythm (a wonderful word that lacks traditional vowels) to it. Like the up-down of iambic pentameter. These Ashman and Menken guys might have been really good at their jobs. (The names are Flotsam and Jetsam). Final Thoughts If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend the documentary on Howard Ashman that is simply titled “Howard.” It was a Disney+ release that really gave a great account of his life and accomplishments. His partnership with Alan Menken was his greatest professional achievement and he never got to fully realize the rewards. He won an Oscar posthumously for the title track of Beauty and the Beast at the 1992 Academy Awards. This duo was OP and who knows how the history of animation changes if Howard didn’t have to leave us too soon. This concludes my list of the greatest songs by Ashman and Menken. Please let me know in the comments if there is one you love that I missed. I have a couple that just missed my list that I’ll leave down below. Thanks! Have a great day! Prince Ali - Aladdin (1992) Gaston - Beauty and the Beast (1991)