i like this show lots and lots, but it does threaten to disappear up its ass in that it's all about wordplay (a wonder showzen carryover) first and foremost and zinging new age/religious horseshit is secondary. both of which makes xavier more limited in its appeal than wonder showzen was. so folks who aren't into wordplay or mocking new age/religious cliches are gonna be predisposed to not like it at all. that's what i think, anyway.
― there can be only but steam that smells of shit and weaklingness (Eisbaer), Monday, 15 February 2010 18:59 (fourteen years ago) link
show is funny but also creeps the hell out of me, esp since I only seem to catch it at 3 am
― iatee, Monday, 15 February 2010 19:02 (fourteen years ago) link
also, i think that this wonder showzen clip was a dry-run for xavier in so many ways:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1AHDNTXYSA
― there can be only but steam that smells of shit and weaklingness (Eisbaer), Monday, 15 February 2010 19:09 (fourteen years ago) link
Have you guys seen Final Flesh yet?
― Sex Sexual (kingfish), Monday, 15 February 2010 19:12 (fourteen years ago) link
this show fucking kills it
― plax (ico), Saturday, 27 February 2010 18:01 (fourteen years ago) link
Oh man... Final Flesh...
― Shannon Whirry and the Bad Brains, Sunday, 28 February 2010 01:53 (fourteen years ago) link
Final Flesh (From The Creators Of Wonder Showzen)
― Kevin John Bozelka, Sunday, 28 February 2010 03:21 (fourteen years ago) link
damnesia you is fukkin bonkers
― johnny crunch, Sunday, 4 April 2010 06:14 (fourteen years ago) link
also it helps 2 have subtitles turnt on 4 these epis so u dont miss joeks fyi
― johnny crunch, Sunday, 4 April 2010 06:16 (fourteen years ago) link
Yes! They're so densely packed (visually, aurally, mentally, etc.) that the closed captioning helps. And, in a way, I'm glad the episodes aren't half an hour each. At half that length, they're absolutely exhausting/exhilarating.
― Kevin John Bozelka, Sunday, 4 April 2010 06:23 (fourteen years ago) link
Just saw this for the first time. Wow, really amazing.
― Telephoneface (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 4 February 2011 20:00 (thirteen years ago) link
My iPod is named "Dark Notion" thx to this show – that episode cracked me up so hard (w/the ridic goth boy called himself Society and Dark Notion...I need to get this shit on DVD).
― totally small truffles (Abbbottt), Friday, 4 February 2011 20:12 (thirteen years ago) link
"Clutch the dark purple hairs of the galloping orangutan of normalicy and ride nigga ride!"
― Telephoneface (Adam Bruneau), Sunday, 6 February 2011 09:02 (thirteen years ago) link
"One time I created something called....a thurrito! It's a burrito, within a burrito, within the heart of that same burrito. Its a total mind-blinder, but you don't hear me bragging about it all over your face."
― Telephoneface (Adam Bruneau), Monday, 7 February 2011 21:07 (thirteen years ago) link
man i want to watch this right now
― plax (ico), Saturday, 26 February 2011 02:14 (thirteen years ago) link
We call them truth humps. We tend to judge each show by how many TH's we have per episode. Our minimum is 10, our maximum is 40. What's the THPM, like how many truth humps per minute. We also do the LLPM, how many lady-lumps per minute.
― johnny crunch, Sunday, 17 July 2011 03:01 (twelve years ago) link
AVC: Is Highway To Heaven the inspiration for Xavier? JL: We based it on Michael Landon’s life. If you really understood it, why would you ask that question? VC: If you took Michael Landon to his logical conclusion, that’s Xavier. But we always have taken a format and then tried to not make it parody or not just rely on the format as a mold for our nightmares.JL: I’d like to say we honor the format.http://www.avclub.com/articles/vernon-chatman-and-john-lee-of-the-heart-she-holle,64560/2/
JL: We based it on Michael Landon’s life. If you really understood it, why would you ask that question?
VC: If you took Michael Landon to his logical conclusion, that’s Xavier. But we always have taken a format and then tried to not make it parody or not just rely on the format as a mold for our nightmares.
JL: I’d like to say we honor the format.
http://www.avclub.com/articles/vernon-chatman-and-john-lee-of-the-heart-she-holle,64560/2/
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 4 November 2011 20:47 (twelve years ago) link
p excited 4 the heart, she holler tbh
― johnny crunch, Saturday, 5 November 2011 02:04 (twelve years ago) link
ahahaha oh this
― lovely cuddly fluffy dope (imago), Thursday, 16 January 2014 22:18 (ten years ago) link
show is pure noize
― beef in the new era (wins), Thursday, 16 January 2014 22:47 (ten years ago) link
yh it rly is rly it rly rly is
― lovely cuddly fluffy dope (imago), Thursday, 16 January 2014 22:49 (ten years ago) link
If is an amazing show
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 16 January 2014 22:54 (ten years ago) link
Iiiit
<3
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 16 January 2014 22:55 (ten years ago) link
heart she holler was unwatchable doe
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 16 January 2014 22:56 (ten years ago) link
yep
― polyphonic, Thursday, 16 January 2014 22:57 (ten years ago) link
this is like uh they finally made a show for ppl whose smartness and silliness are in eternal conflict for zenithal occupation of their brainspace
― lovely cuddly fluffy dope (imago), Thursday, 16 January 2014 22:59 (ten years ago) link
i miss this show
― spread to fuck the fruit (Eisbaer), Sunday, 16 February 2014 03:56 (ten years ago) link
fairly certain this is the greatest tv show ever made
― You cannot interrupt his tea stirring because it is his holy trick (imago), Monday, 3 March 2014 19:44 (ten years ago) link
The Squatopia episode probably my favorite. I just rewatched it last night for like the 10th time and discovered something new: the juggler guy in the very beginning throws three fireballs into the air, yet only catches one in his hat. The other two fall out of the sky at different parts in the rest of the show. One sets the fascist on fire and the other kills the punk rocker who is trying to kick out the slave.
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Sunday, 16 March 2014 17:29 (ten years ago) link
"Dreams, they are the hurricanes that wash the soul-filth from the super-dome of our night-mind."
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Sunday, 16 March 2014 17:36 (ten years ago) link
This is probably the most subversive TV show ever aired.
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Wednesday, 19 March 2014 16:04 (ten years ago) link
It's epically anti-authoritarian.
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Wednesday, 19 March 2014 16:06 (ten years ago) link
Like, it blows past any political/social/spiritual concepts of authority and finds Reason at the heart of it all and just eviscerates it.
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Wednesday, 19 March 2014 16:08 (ten years ago) link
I dunno; I think its deliberate obtuse random weirdness, great tho that is, can undercut any subversion. The show is so acutely bent that none of it could justify that "sub-" prefix; it's not slipping under anybody's radar anytime room.
The show's aesthetic is a great pairing with Tim & Eric's, tho; grotesquery and absurdity thru early 90s VHS tech vs late 90s 1st-gen home PC 3D software.
― President Frankenstein (kingfish), Wednesday, 19 March 2014 16:31 (ten years ago) link
so this (co-written by vernon chatman but the brainchild of another pomo animation genius called david oreilly) is fucking incredible
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxPyN6IK1tM
― verhzleyavbtreleambreb (imago), Wednesday, 14 May 2014 00:26 (nine years ago) link
httpsssss httpsssssssssssss
Interesting! I really like the style. Looks sort of airbrushed.
― ▴▲ ▴TH3CR()$BY$H()W▴▲ ▴ (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 16 May 2014 16:30 (nine years ago) link
Has its own thread now.
― verhzleyavbtreleambreb (imago), Friday, 16 May 2014 16:54 (nine years ago) link
Ask it here, I guess: why would ILX rather discuss Tim and Eric than PFFR?
― imago, Wednesday, 12 November 2014 19:19 (nine years ago) link
Tim and Eric are currently releasing content and PFFR aren't.
Also, the last thing PFFR made -- The Heart, She Holler, in 2011 -- was really bad imo.
Xavier, Wonder Showzen, and Delocated are all aces though.
― polyphonic, Wednesday, 12 November 2014 19:42 (nine years ago) link
The Heart She Holler also existed in 2013 and is coming back in a few weeks for a third season. It definitely is their hardest project to enjoy, I think, but they're still active. I was thinking of them when "Too Many Cooks" was getting so much attention just recently... seems like a PFFR-influenced kind of thing (maybe not directly, but the sensibility is sort of similar).
― Jouster, Sunday, 16 November 2014 07:04 (nine years ago) link
imo THSH is amazing
and yeah, cibdidersarion of their place in the cultural cabin inspired by talk of tooo many books
― imago, Sunday, 16 November 2014 09:44 (nine years ago) link
early talk about The Shivering Truth would seem to place it in the 'extremely promising' category
― imago, Friday, 9 February 2018 11:14 (six years ago) link
Whoa. Never saw this, until just now. The babies episode. This is amazing and hilarious.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Friday, 9 February 2018 12:38 (six years ago) link
chomsky honk
― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 9 February 2018 14:47 (six years ago) link
Escape to Squatopian Freedom is amazing
― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 9 February 2018 14:48 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rwPPrxjqKY
― am0n, Friday, 9 February 2018 16:22 (six years ago) link
"you're the sad figment of my twisted psyche's tragic dividend"
― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 9 February 2018 23:42 (six years ago) link
i rewatched this over the weekend. one of my favourite shows ever for sure
― khat person (jim in vancouver), Tuesday, 13 February 2018 22:52 (six years ago) link
vernon chatman has been a writer on South Park for years - he voices Towelie
― Piven After Midnight (The Yellow Kid), Sunday, 5 July 2020 03:35 (three years ago) link
no I knew that I just don't think I've heard his voice in a non SP thing for a long time
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Sunday, 5 July 2020 09:01 (three years ago) link
the full list of guest stars is great. s2 closer for example has julia davis and miranda july
― imago, Sunday, 5 July 2020 09:49 (three years ago) link
the PFFR rolodex is wild
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Sunday, 5 July 2020 09:53 (three years ago) link
this show is basically "what if black mirror was good" + a ton of body horror and jokes
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Sunday, 5 July 2020 09:59 (three years ago) link
i would say more (chris morris') jam than black mirror, but with a seriously unhealthy helping of malignantly reified abstract existential tropes
― imago, Sunday, 5 July 2020 10:06 (three years ago) link
well, I just found out about this show
― frogbs, Monday, 26 September 2022 21:51 (one year ago) link
it's just your meat
― imago, Monday, 26 September 2022 21:52 (one year ago) link
oh this is ILE, oops. watch XRE folks & tata
― imago, Monday, 26 September 2022 22:00 (one year ago) link
I've never seen the whole thing, just clips, but the phrase "what doth life?" enters my brain regularly
― change display name (Jordan), Monday, 26 September 2022 22:15 (one year ago) link
my god there are an insane amount of jokes in this show
― frogbs, Tuesday, 27 September 2022 03:26 (one year ago) link
oh my god the baby eating episode is one of the most deranged things I have ever seen
― frogbs, Tuesday, 18 October 2022 18:45 (one year ago) link
if you mess with thee, she will punish thine
― frogbs, Thursday, 27 October 2022 21:23 (one year ago) link
okay I've been seeing a lot of Xavier references/clips online lately which is odd because I genuinely don't think I'd ever heard of it before and I'm pretty sure I was watching Adult Swim during the time it was on. maybe it really was way ahead of its time.
amusingly one common experience seems to be people who fell asleep with the TV on, woke up at 3 AM and saw a bit of it then fell back asleep, only to discover much later it actually wasn't part of some weird dream
― frogbs, Friday, 8 September 2023 18:50 (seven months ago) link
the burning person episode i'm guessing? lotta significant crystals being lost atm
― imago, Friday, 8 September 2023 18:55 (seven months ago) link
Maybe having a resurgence because you can watch it on Max now?
I tried showing some to my wife and her opinion was that it's very much of its time, lol.
― 50 Favorite Jordans (Jordan), Friday, 8 September 2023 18:55 (seven months ago) link
could be, also seems several people have uploaded it all to YouTube which I'm sure has helped a lot. previously you could only find clips and compilations.
I agree the show fits into the Tim & Eric/YTP stuff that was popular in the mid-00s but it also sometimes reminds me of those Vine/TikTok compilations where it's just a bunch of really strange/unpredictable humor coming at you really quickly and there's no way to really describe what's going on or why it's funny
― frogbs, Friday, 8 September 2023 19:06 (seven months ago) link
xra's energy is still to be found in the work of, say, podel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_n8toR4Bxo
― imago, Friday, 8 September 2023 19:10 (seven months ago) link
hell yes, more of this stuff please
pilotredsun maybe fits too though his stuff is less funny and more downright unsettling
― frogbs, Friday, 8 September 2023 19:16 (seven months ago) link
another podel while i think
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLJiIZt0FEY
the key isn't just weird shitposting, it's weird shitposting that's had loads of effort and paralogical thought put into it
― imago, Friday, 8 September 2023 19:18 (seven months ago) link
maybe conner o'malley speedrunning southland tales in 10 minutes counts too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm6VOgmv9-c
― imago, Friday, 8 September 2023 19:23 (seven months ago) link
yeah a lot of my favorite things are ideas that are incredibly stupid or insane that regardless have crazy amounts of effort put into them, it's why I love On Cinema and Lasagna Cat and even Neil Breen films. XRA just makes you feel like a pure observer, there's some internal logic to how it works but nothing you can figure out or predict, you can't discern a thing about the writers' views, and you can't identify with a single character outside of maybe Popo the Gorilla
― frogbs, Friday, 8 September 2023 19:27 (seven months ago) link
hah yes "Rebranded Mickey Mouse" definitely fits especially the second half which in pacing and plot basically IS an episode of XRA
― frogbs, Friday, 8 September 2023 19:29 (seven months ago) link
all happening so quickly, and so inaccurately
― imago, Friday, 8 September 2023 19:30 (seven months ago) link
great show
― flopson, Saturday, 9 September 2023 22:59 (seven months ago) link
i have bad news and a snack for you
― frogbs, Monday, 11 September 2023 14:54 (seven months ago) link
Computer, explain!
"Xavier, according to my research, something very weird has happened here"
― frogbs, Friday, 6 October 2023 13:39 (six months ago) link