TV Show Review: Clone High

A show I fell in love with in my early years of college was the cult classic, Clone High. This show is once again a master classic killed by MTV before it even got a second season. This show is about high school clones of historic figures from world leaders like JFK to a goth Joan of Arc. The show has some sci fi elements, but is mostly a parody of high school dramas like One Tree Hill or Degrassi. It really feels like a 90s kid vibe with music numbers by many pop bands from the time and references to American Pie. The show is funny without going political or standing on a soap box. Clone High has really has great characters from the clone Gondi who has many funny adventures, from dealing with and getting high -- and that's where things get really trippy. The show has many subplots and once again handles the teen drama very well and makes fun of teenage angst. The show was cancelled before its time, but in recent years is getting two new seasons from HBO and could be out in the next year. As someone who grew up watching Degrassi and making fun of it, this show really goes out there and is both dramatic and funny, getting laughs at the expense of puberty. Look this show up on YouTube; totally worth the watch.

-- Grant Nelson

TV Show Review: Undergrads

Undergrads is a show that every child of the 90s and Star Wars die hard fans will love. This show is a cult classic from MTV and is filled with so much nostalgic and homage to Star Wars and nerd culture from the time. The show revolves around four high school friends who go to colleges in the same town. The show is funny as hell and is very relatable to college life here in Madison and really draws close to saint college town culture. The show really drives home the nerdom of the late 90s and has a very 90s college simplicity that I think we could all use these days. The show really satires young adult dramas from MTV at the time. The show only lasted one season, but over the past 20 years has been kept alive online by the fan base. The best part is that a Netflix movie is being worked on and will come out in the next year or so. This show was from a time before all the college politics we deal with now this and the failure of the Disney Star Wars' franchise will make for some very funny commentary. I recommend this show to anyone who loves adult animation, as well. In my opinion this show needs to go viral in college towns like Madison.

-- Grant Nelson (college student at Madison College)

Some late winter reading: The Warhammer Chronicles

I would highly recommended the Warhammer Chronicles for all you lovers of magic and brutal adult themed Lord of the Rings. These adult fantasy books will take you to a brutal and dark world consumed in war, complete with demons, orcs, witchcraft and really funny humor. Warhammer Chronicles is a range of Black Library stories set in the World That Was, the land that existed before the Mortal Realms.

The world is a dark parody of Middle Earth filled with many races such as elfs, dwarfs, beast men, lizard folk and, of course, humans. The world is very much in the state of an endless war between the forces of order and chaos. The books are filled with characters and points of view from imperial knights, dwarf slayers seeking epic deaths, kings and priests ruling an empire and fear, and so much more.

The books are very Tolken-like but dived deep into themes and settings from sex cults to witch hunters burning children in the name of the gods. I would highly recommend this universe to any fan of magic and gothic fiction.

-- Grant Nelson

Bill & Ted Face the Music Review

I watched Bill and Ted Face the Music and was filled with nostalgia from this latest film in the stoner rock epic. I found the older  Alex Winter, Keanu Reeves, and William Sadler actors to still have the magic touch on their characters. The film stars Bill and Ted in modern day with their lives falling apart around them as they fail to create their great rock song that will save the universe. The film takes them across time and space and hell to create this song that must save the universe in the next 24 hours. The film is filled with call backs to the older films and brings back many old faces like Death and new faces like Bill and Ted's daughters. The jokes are just the same as ever.  The film was very nostalgic and had more soul than most films I have seen in the past year. The music and overall humor were great and really felt like stoners from the 90s still being loveable funny goofballs. i have not grown much from the early 2000s so this film was a good fit with my kind of humor and storytelling. I would highly recommend Bill and Ted Face the Music.

-- By Grant Nelson

(Bill & Ted Face the Music) is a 2020 American science fiction comedy film directed by Dean Parisot and written by Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon. It is the third film in the Bill & Ted series, and the sequel to Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991).