Maximum Overdrive
Vestron Video Collector’s Series
Blu-ray
Written and directed by Stephen King
Starring Emilio Estevez, Pat Hingle, Laura Harrington, Yeardley Smith, John Short
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Release Date: October 23, 2018

Maximum Overdrive marked the directorial debut of the most successful horror author of all time, Stephen King. The film and King’s direction were widely panned to the tune of 24% on Metacritic and a measly 17% on Rotten Tomatoes. Time has been kind however, as the film built a cult following over the years and now there’s a brand new collector’s edition Blu-ray out by Vestron Video.

Based on King’s short story “Trucks,” Maximum Overdrive is about a rag tag group of survivors battling sentient machines sprung to life due to a mysterious comet. While no one will confuse this with an Oscar-winning classic, or even a top King adaptation, there is a certain charm about this weird movie.

The Simpsons
Season 27 Episodes 5: “Treehouse Of Horror XXVI”
Written by Joel H. Cohen
Created by James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Sam Simon
Starring Dan Castellaneta, Nancy Cartwright, Julie Kavner, Yeardley Smith, Harry Shearer, Hank Azaria, Pamela Hayden, Kelsey Grammer
NBC
Air Date: Sunday, October 25th, 2015, 8pm

To crazed TV watchers, October means one thing: Halloween episodes! When I was a kid it was Roseanne. My parents and I gathered every year to watch the Conner family scare that crap out of us. At that point The Simpsons were just the weird yellow cartoon from Tracey Ullman’s show. Then I saw my first Treehouse of Horror episode, was introduced to Kang and Kodos, and the sweet sound of James Earl Jones reading Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven to a scared Homer, I was hooked. Since then, we’ve witnessed over a quarter century’s worth of Treehouse of Horror episodes, each with 3 scary Simpsons segments, including classics like The Shinning, Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace, and Citizen Kang. I never could have imagined that when I watched the first Simpsons Halloween special back in 1990 at the age of 8, I’d be able to watch the 26th edition of that same special with my 11-year old son. As usual, The Simpsons prove cross-generational and timeless.

Some spoilers and check out the “couch gag” clip below.

Usually when characters die on an animated comedy series, they’re back and perfectly fine by the next episode. But sometimes an animated series kills off a character permanently, whether it be because the actor who voices the character has to leave the show, there’s a dispute between actor and producers, or maybe because the show’s makers just don’t like that character anymore.

The last time The Simpsons killed off a character—or “did it,” as some like to say—was back in the year 2000 when Ned Flanders’ wife Maude fell to her death. Now executive producer Al Jean has revealed that another character will soon meet their demise.

The Simpsons
The Complete Twelfth Season
Starring Dan Castellaneta, Nancy Cartwright, Julie Kavner, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria
Twentieth Century Fox
Release Date: August 18, 2009

As far back as I can remember The Simpsons has been a part of my life. Growing up with the first family of Springfield, Any State USA since their Christmas special first aired in late 1989 I could see parts of myself and my own family in Matt Groening‘s brilliant creation. Being a reader, a bit of a brain, and somehow able to stand outside the rest of my family and observe their strange behavior with the perspective of a seasoned psychiatrist, I could always relate to oldest daughter Lisa (voiced by Yeardley Smith), while my dad (who I was named after) took after intellectually challenged yet well-meaning father Homer (voiced by Dan Castellenata) somewhat (at least when he was around). Mother Marge (voiced by Julie Kavner), full of motherly wisdom and ready to be the glue that held the family together at all times, naturally reminded me of my own mom Carolyn. Then there was underachiever (and proud of it) brother Bart (voiced by Nancy Cartwright), whose tendency to raise hell without a moment’s hesitation continuously brought my own younger siblings Sean and Lisa. Little Maggie (voiced by someone sucking on a pacifier) could be representative of us all when we’re at that age. Besides them there’s the show’s sizable supporting cast. Who among us has never had a Bible-thumping neighbor like Ned Flanders, or a greedy employer like Montgomery Burns? You may have had a conservative principal like Seymour Skinner or encountered a bartender like Moe. The townspeople who populate Springfield, a city which appears to be all American cities and none of them, may have come from the imaginations of a brilliant writing staff and voice cast (not to mention some very talented animators) but most of these characters are bound to strike a few of us as a bit familiar.