The Life and Times of Tim

Excitement abounds in my household, as HBO is debuting an original animated comedy series called The Life and Times of Tim this weekend. Oh, but how that excitement has been tempered by the first promo I saw, which featured the main character (Tim, duh) with his lady pal in the video rental store (see picture). Guess what happens? The store clerk tells Tim that the porno that he rented is a million days overdue! And he does it in a REALLY LOUD VOICE, which is, like, so totally awkward! Hoo boy...a tired gag in a tired location that most HBO subscribers haven't set foot in since 2002. This doesn't bode well...

I watched more clips on the website. The show seems to have ripped off the Soup 2 Nuts (Home Movies, Dr. Katz) style wholesale. Yeesh! So it would appear that there is nothing very original about The Life and Times of Tim , but that doesn't stop it from being sorta funny. One clip, entitled "Corporate Challenge" (in which Tim's boss wants to do some "gay stuff") made me laugh. But seriously: the tropes, the timing, the pacing, the voice direction, even the crappy drawings...it all screams Soup 2 Nuts.

The show seems to have a decent pedigree, not to mention the backing of HBO. The creator, Steve Dildarian, has a background in advertising and attended SVA. There's clearly some talent behind this thing. And I'm sure it will have its moments. (I liked the arm wrestling bit on the airplane.) But I predict a pretty limp showing on HBO, followed by a quick trip into animation oblivion. Or to Adult Swim. Too bad. A missed opportunity!

Facebook, I'm Dead to You

So I was at the Austin Game Developer's Conference this past week. At some point during the conference, my Blackberry started exploding -- and no, it was not due to my amazing networking skills. Apparently, my Facebook account had spammed nearly everyone on my friends list with dumbass link posts on their walls. Meanwhile, I'm at a conference for three days with the means (laptop) but not the time (or, frankly, the desire) to deal with it. In any event, I am thusly laid siege by a barrage of emails like this one: "Dude, I think your account has been hacked..." and this one: "What the hell is this link?!?" and this one: "Change your fucking password!!!" Gee, great. Thanks, Facebook.

I will say this: I can appreciate Facebook as a platform and find it to be a pleasant distraction. On a "meta" level I can also see how it (and sites like it) are changing the landscape of how we communicate with each other. I also find it to be a giant pain in my ass, and therefore, Facebook: I'm dead to you. Our relationship lasted a little over seven months, and I never even got a blowjob.