At this point I’m trying to build Jimmy back up into the selfless person we all know him to be, so I figured his reasons for working at the theater where he was so brutally dumped needed a dash of sympathetic irony.
I really wanted to go more in depth with Jimmy’s realization of what he lost and his expression of how much Charlie meant to him. But at the same time, emotional hand-wringing is like standing still from a pacing standpoint.
So the idea is that Jimmy is paying for his sins at the scene of his greatest failure. It’s also the scene of his “rebirth” into the nice guy we’ve come to know him as.
I don’t know if there’s much more I can say about it than that.
Be sure to listen to The Triple Feature this evening. We record live at 9:00 PM CST over at Talkshoe.com. With any luck, our good friend Joe Dunn will be back in the saddle this week after missing out on our Oscar recap last week.
Odds are good we’ll be talking about Watchmen, since that’s about the only thing going on in movies this week. So if you’re looking forward to seeing it, spend an hour with us as we pontificate its importance.
One other thing – and I know it doesn’t have much to do with movies – but does anyone plan on watching Late Night with Jimmy Fallon when he takes over for Conan O’Brien tonight?
I’m not a big fan of Fallon’s, but I’m interested to see if he can emerge from this as his own man. So much of his shtick to me seemed stolen from Adam Sandler — what with his bits on Weekend Update with his guitar during his early days at Saturday Night Live. He seemed to mature a little when he was promoted to reading “the fake news” on Weekend Update a few years later, but he was pretty much Tina Fey’s puppet.
He did the movie thing. No one bought into it and he’s become almost a curious footnote in comedy known more for cracking up during sketches on SNL than actually being funny himself.
But I’ve been reading a lot of the press surrounding the show and it seems like he’s very enthusiastic about the show. Some of the stuff they say they plan on doing sounds a little unconventional in the late night format, but they really seem to have their sights set on the next generation of fans.
Conan O’Brien will always be *my* late night guy. I remember staying up to watch his first show and even though I was only 15 years-old, I could tell how awkward and nervous he was. A bunch of his jokes bombed in that first week. But the shows got funnier and he honed his own self-deprecating brand of wackiness and now he’s moving on to The Tonight Show. He graduated.
I guess the point I’m making is that if someone like Conan O’Brien can make it – a performer NO ONE thought would be around after a year – is it possible Jimmy Fallon can do something positive for himself in late night?
So what do you think? Will you be watching tonight? Do you have any bias against Fallon? Do you feel like you should watch – like it’s a tiny historic moment? Leave your thoughts below!
Dude, that's rough. But how did you end up here? Why work somewhere that's just going to remind you of that kind of heartache?
When Charlie left, I knew it was payback for a lifetime of bad behavior - karma for the lives I ruined. From that day on, I chose to be a better person.
Working here is my penance.
Long time reader, first time commenter. 🙂 Like the comic and have had a lot of laughs. I also like Tom’s relationship with his wife, it comes across as very genuine.. “Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes” type of thing.
But this storyline with Jimmy is nice try but no cigar. Jimmy didn’t really do anything wrong. Charlie was already on the road to try to be a better person when he met Charlie. A past chick comes up a plants one on him, and the art clearly depicts him not reciprocating, rather he seems shocked. Couple that with that she KNEW about his past. A past dalliance coming up and planting one and she calling off an entire wedding and oh so dramatically dumping the ring in the toilet? Too contrived. You could’ve stretched it out more. A past dalliance tempts him… lures him back into the freedom. He should’ve made the choice, crossed the line himself. Then Charlies anger would be justified. If he crapped all over the relationship, then the toilet scene becomes symbolic.
Anyhow, just my two cents. I know it was a big deal but don’t go sitcom when you try to stretch yourself creatively. I think there’s a lot of talent there and I’ve seen continued improvement. Almost like you didn’t trust yourself to really take it to the next level… But I could be way off.
Whoops.. I meant Jimmy was on the road to blah blah blah.. not Charlie… too early to be commenting apparently.
I pretty much admitted to it being a contrivance, so I’m not really shocked by the criticism.
I think it’s a case of wanting my cake and eating it, too. If the comic went full-tilt into long-term storytelling, I could have played things out a little more and placed more realistic temptations in front of Jimmy like you suggested. But I still like being timely and making gag-a-day comics about the newest releases. With Watchmen coming out on Friday, I’m starting to feel behind the 8 ball, so I’m wrapping things up kind of quickly.
“… [I’m] starting to feel behind the 8 ball, so I’m wrapping things up kind of quickly”
Please do.
I kinda dig the last panel today, it feels like there should be a dramatic musical cue going on in the background. And I also would like to through in some continued defense for this storyline; contrived or otherwise, I just think it’s interesting.
As to Watchmen, I caught a preview screening Friday night and I have to say: it was awesome. Fairly accurate to the book, outstanding performances by the cast, a hefty does of violence, and some excellent visuals (both effects and sets). Definitely one I’m going to be seeing again.
Tom, I e-mailed you because I was interested in writing up transcipts for the comics. Is the job still available? I’d really like to help. I can shoot you another e-mail if you need me to.
On a different not, I am so excited for Jimmy Fallon to start hosting. I had such a crush on him when I was in middle school and I miss him on SNL. I was a huge fan of his Boston Red Sox character and he was always funny on Update. He and Tina were an awesome team. I’ve been waiting for his come-back.
Totalmoviefreak,
Sorry I haven’t responded to your e-mail. I’ve been jugging e-mail between people who want to transcribe and people who have already submitted their months!
I think transcripts are pretty much all sewn up. But I plan on replying to everyone and keeping your e-mails handy in case anyone flakes.
i saw watchmen today, and despite a few bits i disagreed with, i really liked it. i look forward to hearing what you thought of it. beware the many, many shots of the blue weewoo.
I’ve heard there is a considerable amount of smurf wang in Watchmen.
My soul is prepared!
i couldn’t agree more about ur thoughts towards Jimmy Fallon. I have no intentions on watching the show but i should give it a chance. also thats the time that i usually wind down so i may end up watching him more then conan!
i love how ur wrapping up the story. i really missed the stories you came up with for the strip. a while back you mentioned how you kinda stopped doing them cuz the strip was being printed in a local paper or something. and the ppl that would read that would be confused or something. which makes sense if they are only receiving one comic a week. what ever happened to that? if you know what im talking about.
and as gay as it sounds im glad to hear they didn’t cover up manhatten’s wang in watchmen. just means they stayed true to the source material. haha hopefully the message of the book comes thru in the movie as well!
and one final thing: are you watching the watchmen this friday? i had planned to book it off (being a big geek) but after seeing some clips and such i wasn’t overly impressed. so ill just wait till the crowds die off a bit. if there is any crowds. how do you think it will do? i have been reading around on forums and ppl are saying that this might be one of the biggest movies of the year. but im not too sure about that yet. your thoughts?
Kit,
You’re totally right about the storyline embargo tied to my relations to outlets that helped promote my strip.
Two years ago my comic appeared in a local alt weekly called Juice and they only saw one comic a month. Continuity comics were certainly out on that gig. Last year I was hooked up with FirstShowing.net – and I kind of censored myself there as well (in order to bring new readers up to speed)
2009 so far has certainly been about “circling the wagons.” So it makes sense that I have the opportunity now to tell a longer story when I’m responsible only to myself. It’s a good feeling and I appreciate your compliments for my effort.
As far as Watchmen goes — it’s a Must See for me this weekend. I don’t know if it’s going to be the biggest movie of the year or not. Speed Racer was supposed to be a pretty big deal last year and look how that panned out. Everything I’ve read about the movie is that it’s going to polarize audiences. Some people are going to absolutely love and others are going to absolutely hate it. In other words, the film won’t have legs. You can’t sustain huge box office on polarizing views like that. Look at Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull. Watchmen will make a big splash for a few weeks and then something else will come along. I don’t have high hopes for it’s box office dominance.
This week there is nothing in my life but Watchmen. Literally- I spent 7 hours in work today downloading related stuff and shaking like a giddy teenager on lemonade
Thanks Tom for letting me know. I’m always willing to transcribe if you need me 🙂
Hey Tom. I’m a first-time poster as well. I just wanted to let you know that I arrived here after you affiliation with FirstShowing. I missed seeing your strip over there, and migrated here to continue to follow it. One day when I have a chance, I’m planning on checking out your archives and reading up on some of the stuff that I missed. Great site, great work. I really enjoy what you’re doing here.
Jedi,
That’s very encouraging to hear! Glad that my time with FirstShowing captured your interest.
Still kind of waiting for Alex to announce that we’re – y’know – not working together anymore. But whatever. ;D