Hey lol I’m back

It’s been a little while! I got a new phone so I finally redownloaded SpaceHey (yeah, my storage problem was THAT BAD). So I should be more active now. Maybe.

I feel like a few things in my interests have changed since I last was here lol. So first of all, I haven’t really been watching much Smosh lately. Idk, I just slowly lost interest after they discontinued sketches, and even more when Anthony stopped appearing very much. Wish him the best, though. I still tune in sometimes.

What has replaced Smosh for me is my recent hyperfixation on Ben Schwartz, which started after I watched the first two Sonic movies in January so that I could watch the third one. My friend has been trying to get me to watch Jury Duty because James Marsden is also in that, but I followed Ben’s social media after watching the trilogy and then found out about The Earliest Show from there lol, which was great. So now I’ve just been going through his filmography instead (except Music, I’m avoiding that movie like the plague). I’ll finish Jury Duty eventually.

So yeah, I’ve been watching a bunch of Ben Schwartz things, which has been interesting. I watched some rated R stuff for the first time when I went through my Bo Burnham hyperfixation but House of Lies was a real change of pace for me lol. My first Showtime show.

House of Lies was definitely a very flawed show, by the way, but there were enough good things about it that I got way too invested. I love how it went from comedy/drama to just mostly drama and then season 5 was basically just a sitcom lol. I’m sure fans of the show hated that when it was airing, but I just went into this for Ben Schwartz and the more dramatic stuff didn’t always resonate with me that much. So i actually loved seeing the characters in a different type of style. Only downside is that it feels like a COMPLETELY different show at times lol. The show is so far from perfect but the characters are pretty well-written (mostly) and there’s a decent amount of episodes so I find myself thinking about it more than I expected.

One of my favorite Ben Schwartz things that I’ve watched is definitely The Afterparty. Season 2 was just okay due to a number of different things they did, but season 1 was super fun. It does slow down a bit at times, but it’s great. One problem with season 1 is that some of the genres don’t feel very committed to, but the payoff is in the consistencies when everything comes together at the end. Season 2 has the opposite problem where they commit so hard to the film genres, but then there are so many inconsistencies that it hardly feels like we’re following the same mystery. Also, some of the genres in season 2 feel too similar… there are some standout episodes like the mom’s episode, but it drags so much at times. I’ve seen some people say that season 1 has the better overall story but season 2 has better specific episodes, and I would probably agree with that. There’s some great cinematography in season 2, but season 1’s conclusion is so great and the setting feels more effective for the story.

Anyway, I love Yasper a lot lol

Most recently, I’ve FINALLY been watching Parks and Rec because of this whole thing. It’s been on my watchlist for years at this point. I’m almost caught up to the point they’re starting at for this weekend’s batch of episodes on Comedy Central, so I’m gonna try and watch it on TV for the full experience. This show is so great and so funny. I’m in love with Jean-Ralphio and Ben Wyatt and the whole cast is really so endearing. Leslie Knope resonates with me as a character lol, I think I can be kind of similar to her.

I also watched Space Force because of Ben Schwartz, which is another Greg Daniels project. By the way, I also love Tony lol. Space Force was flawed but had so much potential (another victim of the way streaming services do things). It got so funny in the second season, and WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE DON’T GET TO SEE TONY’S ARC???? I feel like if it had the chance to find its voice, it could’ve been a great sitcom. So sad about it. Anyway, coincidentally, I’ve also finally been watching The Good Place, which was created by Mike Schur. Interesting to see their separate creations and then P&R.

I’ve also watched some mid-to-bad things because of Ben Schwartz lol… namely Die Hart 2 (and the first one because I needed the context) — which he was definitely one of the best parts of — Happy Anniversary, and The Intervention. Okay, one of those is distinctly the worst and it’s Die Hart 2. The other two were alright. I think The Intervention was just not my type of movie, it’s probably objectively better than Happy Anniversary.

I also watched Standing Up, Falling Down and that was pretty good. Little more serious than funny but I was invested. The journey of a guy who feels lost in life and like he’s behind his peers… really resonated with me lol.

Also watched Renfield. Flawed but very fun and very rewatchable. Renfield is so babygirl. I feel bad for not seeing the movie in theaters. I can imagine a world where the movie actually succeeded and Universal reimagined the failed Dark Universe franchise around it. And there’s actually some material for a sequel… sigh. Don't get me wrong, the movie isn’t really laugh-out-loud funny most of the time. It’s very much the self-aware humor that is kinda tired now. But it’s still a fun movie. I feel like if they had kept the dance sequence in, the campiness would have been more pronounced.

I’ve come to realize throughout this journey that a lot of Ben Schwartz characters (in comedies, at least) are silly guys with a lot of bravado that secretly are really sad and alone and just want to impress people and… I think I may have a favorite archetype. This makes sense considering how much I loved Zach Stone is Gonna Be Famous.

I’ve also fallen down the Jake and Amir rabbit hole because of this, where Ben just always plays an annoying guy (to the other characters) lol. Some of Jake and Amir definitely doesn’t age well but it’s a funny series for the most part.

I also actually went to see Ben Schwartz & Friends! Our show was totally off the rails lol but I enjoyed it. Love Lauren Lapkus too. I hope I get to see another show.

Next up on the watchlist: Undercovers, Mayne Street, Coffee Town, This is Where I Leave You, and Party Down (because Adam Scott). And Jurassic World Chaos Theory season 3!!! I still haven’t seen it.

What else have I been interested in? So, through researching House of Lies stuff, I found out that GetGlue/TV Tag/Telfie was a thing and I’m SO MAD I missed out on it. Highly possible that I try to get stickers I want that people are reselling. Apparently there was supposed to be a revival last year, too, but they canceled it and deleted everything. :/ I’m really into Letterboxd rn so I’d love it a lot. Probably even more. Can we PLEASE bring it back somehow? And give them a better name, ‘cause I think the terrible names they’ve had did not help.

I never got hooked on TV-logging sites but GetGlue seems so appealing because of the collectible aspect and how it encourages immediate social interaction. That really makes it seem more fun than other sites. Another reason I want it back is just because I’d like to see more promo stuff for streaming series. It kinda is sad looking at how much random promotional stuff there was for something like House of Lies, and then seeing how shows like The Afterparty get next to nothing in comparison. These days, you need at least 3 seasons to get anything like that. I miss peak cable days lol

Well this has turned into me mostly talking about Ben Schwartz lol. Okay.

Uh, I also redownloaded proseka so I’ve been playing that again! Went to see the movie in theaters with a friend. It was alright as a movie, but really super fun as a fan event, you know? The aftershow was so cool.

…That’s pretty much it, I guess. Lol