You know, I was planning on making this an elaborate entry filled with lots and lots of trivia bits, videos, and psychobabble, but instead, I'm going to make this entry short and sweet.
It has nothing really to do with my like or dislike of the Smurfs. Truth be told, I loved the little blue guys. The reasons behind the short blog entry for today are strictly personal.
Until recently, right after I posted my entry on Homer Simpson, my Internet connection was lost for a day and a half, and it just now finally came back up. So, part of the reason why I'm cutting this entry short is because I wanted to make sure that I made my quota of posting one blog entry a day.
I'll make up for it on tomorrow's blog, I promise.
For now, let's talk Smurfs.
Although everyone's first chance meeting with the Smurfs was probably the cartoon series, which aired on NBC from 1981-1989, the Smurfs were created 53 years earlier, on October 23, 1958.
Originating from Belgium, cartoonist Pierre Culliford (who went by the pen name of Peyo) came up with the idea of the Smurfs in a rather unusual way. He was having dinner with a friend at the Belgian coast and he had wanted his friend to pass him the salt. For some reason, when Peyo asked for the salt in French, he said to pass the schtroumph. His friend found it amusing and replied back that when he was done schtroumphing to schtroumph it back.
And, so that's how the name began. Eventually, the word schtroumph was translated to the word Smurf in the Dutch language, which was adopted into the English language as well.
I could go on and on about all the individual Smurfs, and all the character traits that they were famous for...but considering that there were well over ninety-nine different Smurf characters created, it would take me forever to talk about, so I'll just bring up a few.
Certainly, everyone knows about Papa Smurf, who is the leader of the Smurf community, and who happens to be one of the very few Smurfs to wear red clothing, as opposed to the basic white. Then there's Smurfette, who happens to be one of the only female Smurfs in the whole community.
That had to make for some awkwardness.
Most of the other Smurfs were named after their personalities, and how they managed to fit those personalities. You had Clumsy Smurf, who could barely walk in a straight line without breaking something or getting hurt. There was Painter Smurf and Poet Smurf, two of the more artistic Smurfs in the whole community. Lazy Smurf really needs no description. As for Jokey Smurf, well, you can see him in action in this video.
Personally speaking, I would say that I am a combination of Brainy, Poet, Painter, and Jokey all rolled into one. Intelligent, artistic, crafty, and with a sense of humour.
Though, I'd never send anyone a package with explosives inside of it, because we all know how well it worked out for the Unabomber.
The Smurfs were not without controversy though. It has been suggested by a couple of writers that because the Smurfs all work together to earn a living and how they run the Smurf village, that the Smurfs have been accused of being communist figures. One person even took it one step further, and accused the Smurf community as a totalitarian and racist utopia. Allegations that the son of the creator of the Smurfs, denies.
Regardless of what your feelings are about the Smurfs, they certainly have made their mark on pop culture. I can remember going to my first grade classroom for Show and Tell, and at least one kid in the class would bring in a Smurf doll. Usually either Papa Smurf or Smurfette.
Personally, I would have rather had a Gargamel doll, and I know it sounds really strange to admit that, because Gargamel was supposed to be the main antagonist against the Smurf community, but I don't care. I always kind of liked the guy, and I think that was part of the reason why I adored watching the Smurfs cartoon. It was nice to see the Smurfs get their way most of the time, but Gargamel was quite hilarious to watch at times. I'll admit it.
And, speaking of Gargamel, while I haven't seen the live-action film of the Smurfs that came out a few days ago, I did see the clip of Hank Azaria playing the role of Gargamel inside of it. First off, kudos to make-up and costume designers. He looked so much like Gargamel, it was unbelievable.
It's hard to say how well the Smurfs will do in the box office, but at least it's nice to know that a new generation of kids will be introduced to the Smurfs.
Here's the trailer for the movie. Judge for yourselves.
As you may have figured out based on the image up above as well as the title of this blog entry, this blog is all about Homer Simpson.
The twist is, I plan to look at Homer Simpson under an entirely different microscope slide as most people usually do. In fact, I may end up taking an opinion that not a lot of people may have about Homer. I'll take that risk though, in hopes that some of you will agree with me, or even change your opinion.
First things first, let's get all the stereotypes out of the way, which will lead to the biggest misconception of the man of the Simpsons household.
There's the fact that he is portrayed as a gluttonous sloth like character. Donuts and Duff beer are probably two of his biggest weaknesses in life, and he would literally go crazy if he was deprived of either. I mean, you all remember that Halloween episode where no beer and T.V. made Homer something something...
There's also the fact that he has basically zero ambition to move ahead in his job, and that he spends more time actually avoiding work rather than going to work to get a decent day's work in. Though, in Homer's defense, you wouldn't want to go to work either if you had a narcissistic boss like Mr. Burns. I know I certainly wouldn't.
Then there's the idea that Homer doesn't seem to have the greatest intelligence in the whole world. In fact, one might actually come out and call him stupid, clumsy, idiotic, or even brain-dead in some instances.
Why, I'm sure we could come up with several examples. Burning his high school diploma and half the living room in the process while singing about how S-M-R-T he really is. Actually come to think of it, he actually burned down the whole house during his 'I don't ever want to go to church again'. He also managed to get himself fired numerous times (and was promptly rehired). He's stolen or destroyed items belonging to Ned Flanders. His abuse of alcohol has often lead to some rather dangerous moments for him, and I can't even begin to mention all of the various injuries that he has sustained over the years.
(Note to self...never steal a dumb guy's penny jar...)
And, then there's the aspect of Homer's personality that people seem hell bent on attacking...his role within the Simpson family.
Some would say that Homer is too self-absorbed to be a real husband to Marge and a real father to his children. I mean, granted, the guy will more than likely never be named Springfield's Father of the Year any century soon according to other people in town. There's been quite a few episodes that I can remember where Homer often put himself before his family. When he revealled intimate secrets about his marriage to the class he was teaching at the adult education center, it caused him to live in Bart's treehouse for a while. He ended up destroying almost everything Lisa owned in a couple of his hair-brained schemes. He has a tendency to egg Bart on in such ways that usually end up getting Bart either in serious trouble, or completely embarrassed, and he even accidentally locked Maggie inside a newspaper box.
Even in instances where he did get a chance to prove himself a hero, he sometimes bungled it up. His trip into outer space certainly didn't go off perfectly, and it's pretty hard to ignore the fact that he only managed to prevent a nuclear meltdown by a chance playing of eenie-meenie-miney-mo.
So, it's easy to see how some might have the opinion that Homer Simpson is a terrible father and a terrible husband, and that if one were to look up the word buffoon, his picture would be right in the middle of it.
Well, what if I could tell you that I will not only prove that statement to be false, but also provide examples in which Homer Simpson ended up being a romantic, loving husband to Marge, and a fantastic father to his three children? Will you believe it then?
In fact, I even have proof.
Why don't we start off with the romance first and work our way down?
Now, Homer and Marge upon first glance seem to be a couple that is absolutely mismatched. He's irresponsible, she's practical. He's impulsive, she plans things out. He's dangerous, she's safety-minded. He's easy-going, she's overprotective. Yet, somehow, these two end up respecting, loving, and being passionate with one another in every episode.
One of the most touching gestures between Homer and Marge that I can remember is the episode where Homer and Marge tell the kids about their very first prom together. Well, actually, they never really did go to the prom together. They were supposed to. Homer wanted to ask Marge out for ages, but didn't think that he was good enough for Marge to ever consider asking him out, so he lied and said that he needed a tutor in French. Things were going good until Marge discovered Homer's lie, and she slapped him and told him she never wanted to see him again. So, Marge ended up taking a snobby student named Artie Ziff to the prom, whom everyone seemed to like and respect. Homer knew he could never compete with Artie's looks, charm, and personality, so he walked away.
That is until Artie got a little too grabby with Marge, and ended up tearing Marge's prom dress. Marge slapped him, and demanded that he take her home. Once Marge got home, she kept thinking about Homer, and how despite his lie, she knew that she felt safer with Homer rather than with anyone else. So, Marge set out to find Homer, and when she did, he fixed her dress by tying a flower corsage around it, and the rest as you know it is history.
It's easy to see where one might make the mistake that Homer and Marge are incompatible, but the truth is that both of them wouldn't know how to survive without the other one. No matter how many times Homer makes Marge walk away from him, she always comes running back.
And, I see what your saying. Too much co-dependence in a relationship is not healthy. I would agree with you on that. But, in this marriage, I think quite the opposite is true. And, besides, wouldn't you want a partner who makes you feel needed? Marge does.
Besides, you have to admit that when they make up, they really, REALLY make up.
Homer and Bart admittedly have a relationship that is love-hate. At times, they can get along just fine, while in other cases, Homer really, REALLY wants to strangle his son to death, and has attempted to do so about 352 times.
Indeed there are instances in which Bart has purposely tried to push Homer's buttons. Certainly, the very fact that half the time Bart actually refers to his father by his first name instead of Dad, Pop, Daddy, or Father is a clear indicatior that Bart isn't exactly the most respectful towards his father.
Bart can get downright nasty to Homer at times, sassing him, causing Homer to strangle him...even causing Homer some bodily harm in the process. Though, Homer can do some pretty terrible things to Bart as well. It's hard to excuse the various times that he forgot to pick up Bart from sporting events (which lead to Bart and Homer both defrauding a Big Brothers type organization), and even in the Simpsons movie, he somehow ended up pushing Bart so hard in a daring competition that Bart ended up handcuffed to a lamp post naked after a nude skateboarding session down Main Street.
Still, Homer has stepped up in every way to try and be a father figure that Bart could admire.
Remember the episode of the Simpsons called 'Saturdays Of Thunder'? It aired way back during season three. Homer was upset because he had taken a parenting test in a magazine and in regards to Bart, failed miserably. He was determined to become a better father to Bart, so when he heard that Springfield was having a soap box derby, he wanted to help his song build the best possible car. Unfortunately, the car that Bart and Homer built ended up failing miserably compared to his competitors, and the end result almost destroyed the relationship between Bart and Homer forever.
By chance, Martin Prince ended up seriously injured when he crashed his soap box car, the Honor Roller, and after the Honor Roller was fixed, Martin insisted that Bart drive his car in order to beat Nelson Muntz. Bart agreed, though he worried that by doing this, he would hurt Homer's feelings. To Bart's surprise, Homer had a change of heart when he happened to retake the parenting test and passed with flying colours. This prompted Homer to cheer Bart on from the stands, which encouraged Bart to win the soap box derby, and cementing the bond between father and son.
Certainly, the bond between Bart and Homer still gets strained every now and then, but what father/son relationship doesn't?
That takes care of one of Homer's children. But, what about his daughters?
The above image is a picture of Lisa looking at a distorted image of herself in a spoon and complaining to Marge about how hideous she looks. It was the episode where Lisa got a caricature sketch of herself at a school carnival, which wasn't the most flattering image. Since then, Lisa developed a case of low self-worth, and obsessed constantly over her appearance.
Homer felt that by entering Lisa in the Little Miss Springfield beauty contest that it would help Lisa feel better about herself, because to him, Lisa was beautiful in every way. At first, Lisa was mortified that her father would do such a thing, especially since the picture that accompanied the application was the caricature that she despised. As soon as Marge explained to Lisa that Homer sacrificed a ride of the Duff blimp in order to send the application away, Lisa reconsidered.
That's one thing that always struck me as awesome about Homer. He can be incredibly self-obsessed and greedy when it comes to his dealings with other adults, but he'd gladly give away the shirt off of his back to help one of his children feel better. That's what a real dad should do.
So, Lisa entered the contest, she came in second to Amber Dempsey, Amber got struck by lightning, Lisa took over the duties, became a spokesperson against everything the Little Miss Springfield pageant stood for, and was unceremoniously relinquished of her title. Despite all that, Lisa was proud of Homer for helping her see the beauty that was always there.
Truth be told, of all the children that Homer has, his bond with Lisa is probably one of the sweetest and strongest, and that's despite the fact that in almost all cases, it happened purely by accident. Homer initiated the Daddy-Daughter days on Sundays initially to capitalize on Lisa's uncanny ability to pick winning football teams, but when Lisa discovered the truth, it took a lot for her to forgive Homer. Lisa gave Homer a rather cryptic prediction for Super Bowl Sunday, saying that if she still loved her father, the winner would be Washington, and if not, Buffalo. Fortunately, the right team won, and as far as I know, the Daddy-Daughter Day was still in place.
It's also hard not to mention the episode where Homer ended up getting a crayon removed from his brain, which caused him to regain the intelligence that he thought he never had. With a higher IQ, he really managed to get closer to Lisa (the brainiest of the Simpson clan), and he discovered a whole new world through Lisa's eyes. Sadly, the pressure of being smart was too great for Homer, and he made the decision to put the crayon back inside his brain. Before he did though, he wrote a letter for Lisa, telling her how proud he was to have a daughter who was smart, and how much more appreciative he was of her.
I really love the Homer/Lisa bond because it seems the most realistic of them all. And, it also shows just how much Homer really did love his children, even if he wasn't always able to express it coherently.
And although you don't really see much of her in the Simpsons, Maggie is definitely the apple of her daddy's eye. Heck, the word 'Daddy' was Maggie's very first word! There have been many poignant moments that Homer shared with Maggie (well, aside from the locking her in a newspaper box). The one I think I remember the most is when the family is looking through an old photo album and Lisa and Bart remark that there are no pictures of Maggie in the book at all. It later shows a flashback to the time when Marge gave birth to Maggie, and how Homer was not excited about it at all. Homer and Marge before getting pregnant to Maggie were in a great place financially. They paid off all their debts, and they were free to do what they wanted. Homer even quit the power plant in spectacular fashion to work at the Bowl-A-Rama.
But then Marge got pregnant, and Homer was forced to go back to the job that he hated to be able to support the new baby. Homer was so bitter by the end of it all, that when Marge went into labour, Homer wasn't even able to look at his new daughter.
Until a newborn Maggie reached out and touched him...and Homer instantly fell in love with her at first sight. Suddenly, none of the other stuff mattered. It didn't even matter that Mr. Burns put up a sign in Sector 7G that said 'DON'T FORGET, YOU'RE HERE FOREVER'.
And, it is here that Homer explains that the pictures of Maggie are in the one spot where he could always use some cheering up.
And really, Homer's love and devotion for his wife and children are all that makes him happy in the end.
Because, when Homer rearraged the pictures of Maggie at the secret spot, it made a certain sign take on a whole new meaning...a meaning that Homer lives by each and every day for not just Maggie, but the rest of his loved ones.
In all the years that I have been a gamer, there are three things that I have noticed about video games that are based off of Saturday morning cartoons, movies, and other pop culture references.
1. In 95% of all of these video game releases, the gameplay stinks.
2. The video game sprites often look nothing like the characters that are actually in the movie.
3. The game usually takes less than 90 minutes to complete.
Playing video games that were based on movies and cartoon games, I can definitely agree with this. If you have ever played the NES versions of 'Back To The Future', 'Home Alone', or 'Ghostbusters', you know exactly what I mean. The games are pointless, hard to control, and by the end of it, you'd rather have all of your teeth pulled out than replay the game ever again. And, we won't even begin to talk about the travesty of the infamous E.T. video game, where that game was blamed as one of the factors for the video game crash of 1983.
There were some notable exceptions to this though. The Looney Tunes video games were pretty fun to play (specifically pointing out Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle as being one game that was challenging, but entertaining). Who Framed Roger Rabbit was a surprisingly fun game to play, considering that the company that made it also gave us 'Back To The Future', easily the worst video game I've ever played. Even 'The Simpsons Hit & Run' was an adventure to play from start to finish.
And then there are video games that seem more like you're playing a live action, interactive television commercial for the product that the character mascot.
It seems hard to believe, but a lot of corporations felt the need to market their product to children and teenagers by every means possible. This included taking popular mascots and having them star in their own video game. These games were released on a variety of consoles over the years. Atari, Nintendo, Sega, PlayStation, XBOX 360...no console was immune to these 'television commercial games'.
Over the years, such sponsors of these video games have been Cheetos, McDonald's, Burger King, M & M's, 7-UP, Coca-Cola, and even Purina Dog Food! Most of them have been forgettable, but a couple were decent enough. I've played a couple of them, and wasn't overly impressed, but then again, it did serve a purpose in mind, and they were fun enough, I guess.
There is one company that I have left out though, mainly because it's the subject for today's blog. And it stars this...um...cute? No, wait...ah, hell, let's just show it.
This little guy is what one calls a Noid. For many years, he was the claymation mascot of Domino's Pizza. You may remember him in various commercials that aired over the years, such as this one.
So, I suppose you're wondering why the company would have a mascot that seems hell bent on destroying the very pizzas that Domino's was hoping to sell to consumers all over the world? Maybe it was to prove that Domino's pizza was so delicious and tasty that it deserved to be enjoyed, and not destroyed. Or, maybe we just got satisfaction over seeing the Noid get thwarted yet again. The formula worked before as thousands of heartless kids prevented the Trix rabbit from getting his paws the disgustingly phoney-tasting Trix cereal, so I guess Domino's wanted to capitalize on the same success in humiliating and demoralizing its mascot as well.
Just for the record, I'd have just given the rabbit his stupid Trix. And, while I don't mind Domino's Pizza on the occasion, there are other pizza places that I find much better. If the Noid wanted to destroy the pizza, no skin off of my nose.
Anyways, the Noid actually ended up starring in two different video games. The first one came out in 1989, and it was simply called 'Avoid The Noid', much like the slogan that Domino's used in its commercials for years. The object was to deliver pizzas in a Noid infested building in '30 minutes or less'. Unfortunately, I've never played that game, so I can't really determine whether it was worth playing or not.
I have played the second game, released in 1990.
In 1990, the video game 'Yo, Noid!' was released in North America. It was classic promotion by Domino's Pizza. The weapons used in the game strongly resembled some of the weapons the Noid used in the television commercials. There were plenty of pizza references throughout the game, and the instruction booklet included coupons for a one dollar discount from the next pizza ordered from Domino's.
If this sounded like a marketing plan by Domino's to get more kids eating their product...well...that's because it was.
But here's the kicker. Having played Yo, Noid years ago, and remembering the gameplay and the challenge level that the game boasted, I admit that the game was a lot more challenging and much more fun than I initially believed that it was.
Above is a screenshot of the very first level of the game. As you can see, the graphics were pretty advanced for a 1990 video game. Of course, this was before the days of the Super Nintendo, and when the Sega Genesis was still brand new on the market. The video game company that made the game was Capcom, a video game company which had a previous reputation for coming up with video games that had fantastic graphics and believable sound effects. Notice how lifelike the Noid character actually looks here. No longer were commercial themed characters made to look like a whole bunch of computer pixels. Instead, you had an actual lifelike representation.
The levels were a lot more challenging than it was made to let on. In my previous experience with games that have marketing mascots as stars, the various levels were dull, unchallenging, or incredibly difficult to gain much control with. Not really so, as this video will show some of the gameplay.
It may look simple and easy, and not very challenging. Consider the following.
Each of these levels have a time limit. Sometimes the time limit is generous, other times, not so much. You run out of time, you have to start again, minus one life. You also do not have such a thing as a life meter, so you really have to be careful where you jump or how close you get to enemies, because if you so much as lay one inch of the Noid's ears on an enemy, or fall into a pit, well, it's your funeral.
Fear not though. Magic scrolls are littered all over the landscape, so you can use magic skills to kill off the enemies. As well, you're armed with your trusty yo-yo to kill enemies off. Later levels will allow you to employ such devices as the pizza crusher pogo stick, a gyrocopter, and a skateboard. And in case you need them, you can get an extra life for every 20,000 points you score, and given the mechanics of the game, scoring 20,000 points can be done as early as the first couple of levels.
You might also notice that there are little cards with bottles and roman numerals stamped on them. You'll want to get these cards in your journey. For after every odd level (Level 1, 3, 5, etc), you'll have to take part in a little card game that doubles as a...pizza eating contest?!?
Now, wait just a minute...isn't the Noid supposed to HATE pizza? I mean, he spends so much time trying to ruin or sabotage Domino's Pizza that for him to suddenly take part in eating the very things that he despises...it just doesn't make sense.
But it will if I tell you that Yo, Noid was a completely different video game release in Japan. Don't believe me? Now, here's the proof. Take a look at the pizza eating segment in the Japanese version...
Looks a bit different, eh? Instead of pizzas, you had weapons and other things. They both worked the same way. You had to score a higher score than your opponent to win the level. If you didn't win, you had to start over again from the beginning, though I don't quite remember whether you lose a life or not as a result. It's been years since I played the game, so my memory is a bit fuzzy. The pizza eating mini-game wasn't all that difficult, and it was fairly easy to win. You could also sabotage your opponents by doubling the pizzas that you could eat with the roman numeral cards, or using the bottle cards to spice up your opponent's pizzas to the point where they became inedible.
But the original name of the game was Kamen no Ninja Hanamaru (loosely translated, it means Masked Ninja Hanamaru), and it was a totally different game from Yo Noid. The mechanics were kept the same, and the music was more or less unchanged, but the design of the levels, and the storyline were tweaked. The game's object in Yo Noid became one where you battled against the Noid's evil twin Mr. Green through the streets of New York City.
As a result of this change in story, there did become some parts of the game that made no sense, such as the Noid's sudden craving for pizza. It was somewhat loosely explained that the Noid was eating the pizza as the main reason for trying to get Mr. Green out of town. I might believe it if the motivation behind it was for the Noid to get the main baddie out of the way so that he along could destroy Domino's Pizza from the inside out, but that never came to be. This prevented the game from being as good as it could have been.
Nevertheless, the Yo, Noid game was a fun distraction. It almost made me forget that the video game was more or less a commercial for Domino's Pizza, because of the skill level and the patience needed to fully beat the game. I have a confession to make here. There's fourteen stages in the game, and I only managed to make it to level eleven. It was really tough. I imagine that if I played it now, I could win, but as a nine-year-old, it was frustrating, as most games by Capcom tended to be.
Now, if you excuse me, I have to leave...I think I hear the pizza delivery boy now...
You know, I've always been fascinated by game shows and quiz shows. From an early age, I can remember always being fascinated by such shows as Jeopardy, Wheel Of Fortune, The Price Is Right, Family Feud, and Press Your Luck.
(Although the last one was because of those delightful little whammy creatures.)
The point is that whenever a game show was on, I would always be glued to the television. As I alluded to in the entry for Wheel Of Fortune that I did last month, one of the things that is on my bucket list is to appear on a television game show of some sort. I don't even need to win (though it would be nice). I just want the chance to go on one.
Game shows can be funny shows in that people can experience every sense of emotion when one tunes into them. They can cheer right along with the contestant for winning $100,000 on Wheel Of Fortune's bonus round. They can make a home viewer laugh every time a contestant tries to bear hug Drew Carey (or Bob Barker in the olden days) on The Price Is Right. They can make a person feel terrible for the person who missed winning Family Feud fast money by seven points. They can even make a person feel smarter after a contestant misses the first question on 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?'
A whole mixed bag of emotions comes with the territory of watching a game show, but for those of us who may be lucky to have been on a game show, I can only imagine how much greater those emotions can be.
In some ways, watching a game show is similar to watching a soap opera, or a really exciting movie. There's a whole bunch of twists and turns, and you never know how it's going to end. Sometimes, the endings are satisfyingly happy, and people walk away with enough money to change their lives. Sometimes, the endings are sad, where contestants end up with nothing but a copy of the home version of the board game based on the show.
At least, that's definitely what I think about game shows.
Some of the more interesting game shows that I've seen are ones that originated in the United Kingdom, because in many cases, a lot of them ended up on American television. Two I can name right off the bat are Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and The Weakest Link. I think that a lot of the ideas for the game shows there were so unique, and so interesting to watch that I couldn't help but do my blog entry for today on one of these shows.
I first began watching this show on the Canadian cable channel YTV. A lot of the shows that YTV aired on late nights and weekends were from overseas, so we got a lot of British, Irish, and Australian programming. The quiz show that I am featuring is one that could be classified as a peculiar hybrid of 'Hollywood Squares', 'To Tell The Truth', and 'Kids Say The Darndest Things'. Yet, it was a combination that made for an entertaining show that originally ran from 1994-1996 on BBC1.
Hosted by Ronnie Corbett, the show Small Talk debuted on July 24, 1994. The premise of the show was that you had three contestants trying to predict whether a group of nine or ten schoolchildren knew the correct answers to a question asked of them by the host of the show. They would win points based on how correct they were, and the person with the most points got the chance to play in the bonus round for the chance to win cash and prizes.
It was a simple question/answer game, but it was so much more than that.
For starters, each of the contestants had to decide whether the majority of the children knew the correct answer to the question. If they believed it, they would say yes. If not, they would say no. When the answer was revealled, those who got the correct answer would get ten points right off the bat. Then, each of the contestants would be set loose on the puzzle board, selecting a child, and deciding whether the child was right or wrong in answering the question. If they were right, more points would be added to the total. And, as you'll see, some of the children's answers range from slightly incorrect to a massive gigantic blooper!
In round two, the rules were exactly the same as round one, only the points were of greater value.
Now, after this round, the contestant who had the lowest score in the game was unfortunately asked to leave the show, and the top two competitors were allowed to play. Each question was worth 40 points, and the question round was more of a head-to-head competition. The one left with the most points at the end of the round would play the bonus round.
When we got to the final bonus round, the contestant would have to select five different children from the board. Each child had a point value that ranged in between 50 and 500 points. The children were asked questions, and the contestant as always had to guess whether the child knew the answer or didn't know. If they got the answer correct, they won the points. The object was to get over 500 points to win the grand prize. If they did not get 500 points, they would get one pound per point minus the amount of points needed to win.
That last one I had to post the link on, as YouTube was being kind of tempermental with me.
The point is that the show was a cute little game show that I found myself strangely glued to. It proved that little schoolchildren from Britain had an interesting way of looking at the world, and honestly, if more shows could showcase the innocence and thought-processes of little kids in such a manner, I think it would make television a lot more fun.
It seems a bit of a stretch to bring up a book that I read in high school English class and tie it to a popular reality program that I myself admit to being shamefully addicted to. This time, is an exception.
Has anyone heard of the George Orwell book Nineteen Eighty-Four? It's a book that is set in a dystopian future where an entity known as 'Big Brother' can spy on the dictatorship he has created through people's television sets. The people of the world had to be sure to mind their P's and Q's at all times, because as the slogan of the book stated, 'Big Brother Is Always Watching'.
In 1997, a group of Dutch producers and showrunners were in a brainstorming session at an independent section of the Endemol television production company, and the idea for a reality show came into place. Loosely based on the Orwell novel, the idea was to take a group of complete strangers, lock them inside a house filled with dozens of cameras and compete for the chance to win money.
The television show debuted in 1999 in the Netherlands, and immediately became a huge hit in the country. Other countries would soon follow suit with their own versions, including Britain, Australia, Brazil, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.
When the first season of the American version of Big Brother premiered on July 5, 2000, it came in with mixed reactions. In the year 2000, reality television was a fairly new trend. MTV's The Real World was well established, and Survivor had premiered a little over a month earlier to huge ratings. Hosted by CBS news personality Julie Chen, Big Brother hoped to have similar success as Survivor, but it took a while for it to get there.
It almost seems like a whole different show, doesn't it? That's because in the first season of the show, there were no bells and whistles, no food competitions, not much of anything other than ten people in a house. Each of the houseguests were locked away inside a house with cameras on them twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, for three months. Depending on how well the houseguests got along with each other, the three months could fly by quickly, or they could be a living nightmare.
During the first season, houseguests were nominated for eviction (or banishment as it was called the first season), and home viewers could phone in their votes to evict someone from the house. It was the way that most of the current seasons of Big Brother perform their eviction ceremonies, and it seemed a good idea in theory, except that due to the public vote, the more colourful personalities were banished first, leaving the dull as dishwater houseguests remaining.
As a result of this, Big Brother's ratings weren't as strong as they really should have been. Beginning in the summer of 2001, when the second season of Big Brother premiered, there were some major changes, and by season seven, you had what was pretty much the game that American viewers are seeing now, with a few twists along the way, which has helped the show make it to its thirteenth season. A season that is currently on the air right now.
So, what were these changes?
Beginning with season two, the game added the Head of Household room (abbreviated HoH). There would be a competition after each eviction to determine who would be the head of household each week. With the position came a lot of perks. They could have their own private room, a whole bunch of goodies, letters and photos from home, and they were guaranteed safe for the week. However, they were also responsible for choosing two houseguests for eviction. Unlike the first season, where the houseguests were voted off by America, the houseguests themselves got to decide who was going to go home. In earlier seasons, the votes were pre-recorded, but later on, the votes were made on live television.
The very next year, in 2002, the show introduced the Power Of Veto. A competition was held for this advantage as well, and the winner could choose to take someone who was nominated off of the block while guaranteeing their own safety (Veto holders could not replace people who they removed off the block). Later on, the veto power would become golden, which meant that nominees could take THEMSELVES off of the block. Either way, the HoH would have no choice but to put up a replacement nominee.
Another change over the years have been to the food competitions. In season one, the houseguests had to win money for food by competing in challenges. By season two, the rules were changed. Sometimes, you'd have situations where the houseguests were divided up into two teams, and the winning team would get food for the week. Or, sometimes, houseguests would play for foods for each of the seven days, and if they missed it, they would not get food for that day.
Instead of getting food, losers would be subjected to a diet of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches up until season seven. Beginning with season seven, the PB&J was replaced with the often vile concoction known as Big Brother slop. And when season eleven premiered, the food competitions became Have/Have Not competitions where losers would be eating slop, sleeping in discomfort, and taking chilled showers.
There's been a lot of seasons of Big Brother over the years, and it seemed like with each season came a new twist. Big Brother 4, for example, reunited people with their ex-lovers. Big Brother 6 had secret partnerships. Big Brother 11 divided people into stereotypical high school cliques. And last season was the Summer Of Sabotage, where we had not one, but two saboteurs wreaking havoc in the Big Brother house.
I'm not exactly sure why I got so addicted to this show. I've watched every season since season one, and each year definitely has high points and low points. I guess maybe it's because it allows us to really peep into the souls of others, and I think maybe we get to see what makes people the way they are. Through the show that airs thrice weekly, as well as the live webcam feeds that people who have a lot of money and/or free time can engage in, we really get to know the people inside. Unlike a lot of reality shows which seem scripted, Big Brother is the ultimate in realism, and it's difficult to hide who you really are in front of all those cameras.
Would I want to do Big Brother? Absolutely. Television cameras don't freak me out in the slightest, and I could totally play the game to win. If only I weren't Canadian, I'd gladly send in an audition tape. For now, I'll just have to write about it here.
Of course, I can't end this blog on Big Brother without talking about some of the people I loved (or hated) on the show's history. Some of the people were ones that I could relate to, and who I would have loved to have seen win (and in the case of a couple, they did). Others were incredibly stupid and annoying, and just plain evil.
So, let's meet some of these contestants over the years who I liked...and some who I disliked.
LOVED: Big Brother 2's Dr. Will
You can't really have a Big Brother entry without mentioning one of the greatest players of all time. Dr. Will Kirby appeared on season two of the series (as well as the All-Stars season five years later), and immediately, his gameplay was that of being a smooth operator. He lied to people's faces, and he used his charm to make people vote the way that he wanted people to vote. Early in the game, he formed the Chilltown alliance with Mike Boogie and Shannon Dragoo, and when the alliance was mostly voted out, Dr. Will changed his strategy. He purposely made himself the most annoying person in the whole house, and purposely told people he was going to lie to their faces. Why? Because he had the idea that it would get him to the final two, because he made everyone in the house believe that if they took him to the final two, they would automatically win. He purposely never won HoH because he wanted others to do his dirty work for him. In the end, Will was in the final two with Nicole. Because Nicole played the game far too emotionally, and screwed up her answers to the jury in the final episode, Will ended up winning the whole game. He tried to employ this strategy in All-Stars, and it almost worked, but he ended up coming in fourth. But nobody can match the success that Will had in the game, and I doubt anyone else will.
DESPISE: Big Brother 2's Justin
Remember Justin Sebik from Big Brother 2? No? Well, he ended up being the first person kicked off of the second season, but not by the houseguests. He was expelled from the game by producers.
During the first week of the show, Justin's behaviour was very erratic. He threatened to kick houseguests, and punch female houseguests in the stomach. Class act, he was. The final straw came during a late night conversation that he was having with Krista Stegall. For some reason unbeknownst to anyone, Justin picked up a knife, held it to Krista's throat and asked her if she would still love him if he killed her.
Not the smartest thing to do in front of dozens of camera's. Justin was called to the diary room, and was expelled on the spot. Meanwhile, Krista launched a lawsuit against CBS for what Justin did (even though she seemed to go along with it, causing her stock to fall with me as well).
Justin was the first person to be expelled from the game...but certainly not the last.
LOVED: Big Brother 3's Danielle
During season three, before the jury was sequestered in a separate house, the jury members got to go home and watch the diary room feeds by the final two. Unfortunately, Danielle was incredibly mouthy in her diary room confessions, outrightly making fun of houseguests and calling them stupid. It ultimately landed Danielle the second place position in the competition because the jury saw Lisa as more personable.
So, why do I still love Danielle? Because she made it to the final two in what could be considered to be the show's best secret alliance. Before The 4 Horsemen and the Brigade alliance, Danielle formed an alliance with Jason. Over millions of games of chess, they stuck together, bringing people in to give them votes and cast them aside once they were done. Not one houseguest suspected Danielle and Jason working together until the very end. Danielle spearheaded the alliance, and rode it all the way to the final two. Although Jason ended up being the only one who voted for her to win, it was still a valiant effort. She also appeared on the All-Stars season.
FACEPALM MOMENT: Marcellas REFUSES to use the Veto to save himself
Did you know that the Golden Power of Veto made its debut the same season as the Power of Veto? The very first golden power of veto appeared at the very end of season three. As I said before, the person who held the power could take himself/herself off of the block. Marcellas was on the block with Amy, courtesy of then HoH, Jason. As it so happened, Marcellas ended up winning the Golden Power of Veto. It was perfect. He could use it to take himself off the block, Jason would be forced to put up Lisa (since he would never put up Danielle), and either Lisa or Amy would be going home.
Except MARCELLAS NEVER USED THE VETO!!!
Marcellas mistakenly believed that he was being used as the decoy by Jason to ensure Amy's ouster. He believed this so much that he felt as though he didn't need the veto. As a result of this, Jason't decision was made easy, and Marcellas was kicked out of the house.
After witnessing that act of stupidity, let's move on to an act of brilliance:
THUMBS-UP MOMENT: Nakomis' 6-Finger Plan
Upon first glance, Nakomis doesn't really seem all that threatening, greenish yellow hair aside. She actually looks like someone that you'd want to know. But, she implemented one of the greatest plans ever during the week she won HoH on season five of the show.
One of Nakomis' biggest threats in the game was Jase. Jase was in a strong alliance (one that included her long lost brother Michael 'Cowboy'), and he had won the Power of Veto twice, saving himself and his showmance Holly from the chopping block. Because of these wins, his attitude and ego grew to the point where he was becoming a nuisance, and Nakomis had enough.
Because Nakomis won the HoH power shortly after, she knew that she had to make two decoy nominations so that when the veto was used, she could instead put Jase up, ensuring his exit. The very first case of backdooring someone successfully, if all went well.
She had an alliance with six people. Karen, Will, Diane, twins Natalie and Adria, and Drew (who had been floating between Nakomis' alliance and Jase's alliance). Jase was on the other side with Michael. Marvin was a wild card, so Nakomis decided to make him one of the nominations, with Diane being the other one.
Diane was pulled off the block by Veto winner, Drew (since Drew was in a showmance with Diane), and Nakomis wasted no time in putting Jase up. Jase was shocked, but figured he was safe since he assumed Marvin was the target. Instead, Jase got the shock of his life when Nakomis' alliance kicked him out instead.
It was a risky plan, and it wasn't exactly foolproof, but it got Nakomis' biggest threat out, and it was brilliance the way it went off.
Now, I won't go on to say that the entire Friendship alliance was all that bad, at least in my opinion. I liked Maggie (the eventual winner of BB6), and Beau was funny as hell to watch. But, the way the alliance came together was pretty much a disaster, and the level of gameplay was so ridiculous that is it any wonder why people didn't like them? Sure, Maggie won the game, but at least she made some moves that got her farther in the game. Ivette was an emotional basketcase, April got into a war of words with Howie and Janelle, and Jennifer betrayed Kaysar by putting him up after promising him that she would keep him safe. The biggest joke of all? The alliance had hoped to prove that by building friendships, they could survive the game. Nice idea in theory, but only one person can win the prize. Maggie ended up winning because she kept her cool and stayed calm under pressure, while April, Ivette, Beau, and Jennifer buckled under pressure, got into fights with people who could have awarded them the money, and even turned on each other! Still friends?
LOVED: Big Brother 6's Janelle and Rachel (no...not THAT Rachel)
There's really not that much to say about Janelle. At first, I really wasn't all that fond of her, mainly because I found her to be somewhat on the abrasive side. But as my disgust for the Friendship alliance rose, so did my respect for Janelle. She won more individual competitions on Big Brother 6 than any other houseguest, and she ended up winning several 'America's Choice' competitions based on sheer popularity. Part of the reason for her popularity was that unlike some of the other houseguests in the house, she never let friendships cloud her judgment. She had her eye on the prize, and she ALMOST succeeded in getting it.
But, I also liked a lesser-known houseguest from Big Brother 6. Rachel was actually my favourite BB6 houseguest. She was beautiful, intelligent, and she had to have a lot of patience if she agreed to bring Howie as her secret partner! But, what immediately drew me in to rooting for Rachel was how clever she was. She won the first HoH, and she was also the one who found the secret room in the Big Brother house, and was often the voice of reason when it came to the various bad blood between the houseguests. Unlike Howie and Janelle, Rachel didn't get involved in the house drama as much, and when she was evicted, even most of the Friendship alliance (save for Ivette) had positive things to say about her. I really wish she could have gone farther, because Rachel was definitely a breath of fresh air.
WORST CAST EVER: Big Brother 9
This was in my opinion, the WORST CAST EVER. Let's see...of all the houseguests I actually LIKED...well...Sharon wasn't too horrible. Sheila could have her moments, but I wasn't as annoyed by her. Amanda was a bit annoying with the bueno thing, but I grew to admire her by the end. And, well...that's it. Here's some info for you.
The winner of BB9, Adam is now in jail for drug trafficking. Another houseguest, Matt, was his accomplice, who is also in jail.
Joshuah was probably one of the meanest S.O.B.'s in the history of the show, doing and saying some rather disgusting things to Amanda and Natalie.
Chelsia had a mini-breakdown, and James had a meltdown, and Natalie was just insane.
It just was a terrible, terrible season.
BEST CAST EVER: Big Brother 10
Compare the cast that appeared after Big Brother 9's cast of criminals and insane asylum patients, and well...there is no comparison. With a couple of exceptions, Big Brother 10 was one of my favourite casts to appear on the show. The casting was so diverse, ranging in age from 22 to 75 years of age. The cast of characters were quite fantastic. Memphis and Dan ended up making it to the final two, and had the best game strategies out of all the previous players, and Dan ended up winning it all. Memorable contestants included sweet Keesha, sassy Libra, adorable Renny, and...well...the guy below, who entertained me for all the wrong reasons...
DO NOT EVER WANT TO SEE AGAIN: BB10's Jessie and BB11's Chima
My first impression of Jessie when he appeared on Big Brother 10 was 'whoa...what muscles he has...in his head!!!'
Normally, I'm not one to make wisecracks like that, and honestly, I'm not one to make judgment calls on looks. Certainly, Jessie was proud of his body, and it showed. But his attitude was incredibly immature and juvenile. He claimed to be 23, but in reality, he acted like he was a spoiled eight-year-old child. He threw temper tantrums when he didn't get what he wanted, and he acted like he was God's gift to women.
He was invited to join the cast of Big Brother 11, and when he was evicted, his harem of women (Chima, Natalie, and Lydia) reacted like this.
Good riddance. And, since I brought up Chima, I may as well include her here too. Remember how I said that Justin wasn't the only houseguest to be kicked out of the Big Brother game? Watch Chima's self-destruction below.
Note to all of you out there...if you ever appear on Big Brother, don't destroy their property.
BEST BIG BROTHER ROMANCE: Jeff and Jordan from Big Brother 11
There's really very little to say about Jeff and Jordan. They were one of three couples brought back to play on Big Brother 13, but their relationship actually began on season 11. Unlike most showmances which fizzled out, this couple has been together for almost two years. They fell in love, developed a relationship, and ended up competing on The Amazing Race together. Part of the reason this couple works is because neither one of them let their relationship affect their gameplay (and vice versa). They love each other, and they respect each other, and aren't threatened by other people, which is why I think their relationship will last longer than...
WORST BIG BROTHER ROMANCE: Brenchel from Big Brother 12
Sadly, these two (Brendon and Rachel) were brought back to season 13 after a tumultuous Season 12. They ended up developing a romance in the Big Brother house, only they were nowhere near as cute as Jeff and Jordan. Rachel and Brendon strike me as being perfect for each other but for all the wrong reasons. They're both insecure. They both pitch fits when they don't get what they want. They're jealous of other people interfering with them (Rachel accused all the people who were evicted of getting in between her and her man as the reason behind why she wanted them out).
The only plus they both have is that they are very good at competitions, and can usually pull off a win when their backs are against the wall. Unfortunately, their 'devotion' to each other often rubbed others the wrong way, and often, their tendency to play the game emotionally lead to hurt feelings and angry confrontations.
Just ask Ragan from season 12.
As of this writing, Rachel and Brendon are now on the block together after they ganged up on Daniele (who originally appeared on Big Brother 8 with her estranged father, Evel Dick), and Daniele took the opportunity to bust up Brenchel for the second time.
Guess in the end, Daniele got in between her and her man. :D
So, there you have it. Highs and lows of Big Brother. Agree with the list? Disagree? I'd love to hear from other Big Brother addicts on your thoughts!
Leadership is a quality that some people seem to possess naturally. In a lot of cases, if you were to stand in a room with a group of strangers, chances are you could separate leaders from followers, right?
Ah, but sometimes, it's not quite so cut and dry.
Sometimes a person can look at someone and think that there is no chance in hell of them ever showing any sort of leadership. Whether it be physical appearance, background, or even how they handle emotions, some people are automatically dismissed as being capable of leading a puppy to a fire hydrant, let alone an entire group of people.
Sometimes though, it just takes one slim chance for a person to really prove himself or herself as a capable leader. Sometimes, they have to be in the right place at the right time. Sometimes, it takes a crisis for people to shed their inhibitions and take charge in order to make a difference.
There's one person I can think of who stepped up in all of the above situations.
Certainly, Ernest P. Worrell (played by the late Jim Varney) was never the...how you say...sharpest tool in the shed. He was klutzy, simple-minded, personification of a Southern redneck if ever there was one. Yet, in a lot of cases, a lot of brilliance was inside young Ernest's heart. It just took certain moments for it all to come out.
Take Ernest's very first movie, Ernest Goes To Camp. The movie, which was released in theatres on May 22, 1987, takes place at Kamp Kikakee, a summer campground which has ties to a native tribe that lived in the area long ago. There, Ernest works as the camp's maintenance man. Although he does his best (and by best, I mean that his intentions were good, though his work was often shoddy), maintenance isn't what Ernest wanted to do. Deep down inside, he wanted to become a camp counselor in hopes of being a leader and a friend to a group of young campers.
Unfortunately, he is forced to take on mundane and often disgusting tasks.
So, yeah...needless to say that Ernest's dream of becoming a camp counselor wasn't exactly in the cards.
Although, that didn't stop Ernest from giving one hundred and ten per cent into the job he had. He became really close with the granddaughter of Chief St. Cloud (the tribal chief who owned the land that Kamp Kikakee was built on), who was a nurse at the camp. Through his friendship with her (and despite his dislike for shots), he learns the Kikakee sign language so that he can be able to communicate with her grandfather.
One day, the head counselor at Kamp Kikakee received word that six boys from a detention centre were going to be placed at the camp for the summer as part of a rehabilitation program for juvenile delinquents. Due to the boys previous criminal records and misdemeanours, no counselor at Kamp Kikakee wanted to have anything to do with them, except the ruthless Counsellor Stennis. The decision was made for Ernest to drive the camp bus to the detention centre to pick up the six boys.
Unbeknownst to Ernest, this would be the first step in his ability to prove himself as a leader. It was just that nobody knew it. Even Ernest himself didn't realize it.
At any rate, we meet the six boys at the detention center. Bobby Wayne, Crutchfield, Vargas, Danny, Chip, and Moose. Each one of them were responsible for different crimes, and five out of six of them had very little respect for authority. Only the youngest one, Moose, even so much as attempted to show some respect towards Ernest. This proved true when the gang played a game with Ernest where they covered his eyes while he drove the bus and almost plowed into a dump truck from Krader Industries. Luckily, Ernest and the boys made it to the camp in one piece, though Ernest's credibility was tainted momentarily for allowing himself to be distracted.
At the same time all this was going on, Krader Industries was hatching an evil plot of their own. Since Krader Industries was a mining company, all they were interested in was extracting rich deposits of a valuable metal to sell for a huge profit. They went to great lengths to get what they wanted, even employing a rough and burly foreman (played by the late Lyle Alzado) to forcibly evict families out of their homes so they could knock them down to get the metal.
Problem was that the biggest area that had the most to extract was located directly underneath Kamp Kikakee, and Chief St. Cloud had made it clear that he was NOT selling his land, no matter how much the company paid him.
Back at the camp, the delinquent boys were not received well by the other campers. In particular, two campers named Pennington and Brooks were especially hard on the group, antagonizing and berating them at every opportunity. The boys also tangled with the staff. They even went so far as to shove a lifeguarding tower that Counsellor Stennis was seated on into the water, causing Stennis to suffer as broken leg (though to the boys credit, they only reacted after Stennis threw Moose into the deep end of the water despite his cries that he could not swim.
However, Ernest happened to be around at the time of this, and Ernest managed to pull Moose to safety, securing the first bond of trust between Ernest and the delinquents. Eventually, after Ernest was assigned to be the boys counsellor after Stennis' fall, the other boys reluctantly agreed to give Ernest a real shot.
Although, poor Ernest's attempts at being a good counsellor to the boys didn't exactly start off so...swimmingly.
Things did gradually improve though, and it was Ernest's enthusiasm for the outdoors that seemed to be infectious to the boys as well. When the camp hosted a model building contest, Ernest helped the boys build a full Indian teepee. Afterwards, Ernest and the boys gathered around a campfire, along with Chief and Nurse St. Cloud. It was here that Nurse St. Cloud told them the legend of the blade, the stone, and the arrow, where loosely translated meant that if a warrior was pure of heart and strength, none of the weapons could harm him.
Though I won't spoil the ending entirely for you, this legend plays a very key role in the ending.
After the campfire session, the delinquents are heartbroken to see that the teepee that they built had been doused in flammable liquid and set ablaze. When all signs pointed to Pennington and Brooks, the delinquents retaliated in such violence that it almost cost Ernest his counselling job. Fortunately, he was given one last chance to get the boys straightened up, and after a pep talk, the gang was more than willing to rebuild what the other campers took away from them.
Unfortunately, shortly after this, Krader Industries tries once more to get the chief to sign over his land, but he's just as stubborn. Cruelly, Krader decides to use Ernest's ability to communicate with the chief through the Kikakee sign language. He tells Ernest that the paper the chief is signing was a petition to conserve the land, when in reality, it was to seize control of it. The chief, going by what Ernest was signing him, signed the paper, bringing an end to Kamp Kikakee.
Or, so they thought.
While Nurse St. Cloud insisted that they could fight Krader in the court system, Ernest knew that the proceedings could take a long time, and by the time they got through, the camp would already be in shambles. Ernest and the gang made the decision to confront the foreman of Krader, where he promptly received a huge beating for his trouble. The group of boys were extremely disappointed that Ernest couldn't fight back against the foreman. Even Moose, who was Ernest's biggest supporter, sadly admitted that there were some fights that you just couldn't win.
Afterwards, Nurse St. Cloud tended to Ernest's injuries, and Ernest was beating himself up for allowing Krader to get as far as they had. More importantly, he felt as if he failed his campers for not being able to do more. Despite Nurse St. Cloud's efforts to cheer him up by commending him on his bravery, Ernest wanted to be alone. It's here that the most touching moment of the film occurs.
What they wanted was a hero, all I needed was a friend. That gets to me every time.
That's all Ernest really wanted to be...he wanted to be a friend to those who really needed one. Ernest took a chance on six boys that were essentially by themselves. Everyone around them had given up on them. Their parents. Their peers. Even other campers and counsellors had turned their backs on the group of misfits.
Not Ernest. Ernest would have given up his life for theirs in a heartbeat. He saved Moose from drowning, he taught the boys the meaning of teamwork, and he helped the group of boys form a real brotherhood amongst themselves. He helped show them that when times got tough, they could count on each other to get through. More importantly, he used the power of leadership to make it happen.
Imagine. Ernest P. Worrell. A leader.
So, when Nurse St. Cloud heard the boys (save for Moose) badmouthing Ernest, and calling him dumb, she completely lost it, and told the boys a few home truths, saying how they were dumb for not knowing who their real friends were, and how Ernest had sacrificed so much for them so that they could have an inkling of what a life without crime and fear could be like. She pretty much called them selfish little twits, which looking back on the movie was a label that befit almost all of them.
The boys realize that they were a little too hard on Ernest, and together, they set out to find Ernest so they could apologize to him for the way they treated him. Ernest graciously accepts the apology, and the group of misfits no longer really see themselves as such.
There was still the matter of trying to force Krader off of Kikakee grounds. Nurse St. Cloud was insistent on trying to use the legal channels to fight the battle, but Ernest was quite clear that 'they ain't gonna get this camp'. Ernest, Moose, Bobby, Crutchfield, Vargas, Chip and Danny immediately used their skills learned by building the teepee project to build a giant catapult that was capable of launching lantern bombs, fire, and other...nasty surprises.
And, would you believe that Ernest's gang weren't the only ones involved in the fight? You also had the goofy chefs at Kamp Kikakee taking part with their food catapult (and where their signature dish of Eggs Erronious proved to be the substance that finally knocked a peg or two off of the burly foreman at Krader). You even had a couple of surprise comrades that decided to stick around camp to help the team out. You'll probably figure out who I mean if you read this blog entry closely.
Not bad for someone who even doubted his own leadership abilities.
Admit it...upon first glance at Ernest fixing the Kikakee sign (on an upside down ladder), you really didn't expect Ernest to be much of a leader.
But, give him the right time with the right people, and you'd be surprised to see what he could do. He not only managed to kickstart the battle of Kikakee vs. Krader, but he took six boys who really had no shot at making it in life, and transformed them into confident young men who had a brand new outlook. They never did a proper sequel to Ernest Goes To Camp (unless you count the adventures where he saved Christmas, went to jail, and was scared stupid), but I'd like to think that those boys grew up to be fine, respected pillars of the communities where they would end up, and that every summer, they all got together at Kamp Kikakee to remember the one person who never turned their back on them when everyone else did.