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Showing posts from January, 2026

Imagine If... CBS Action Zone Lasted A Little Longer

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“There are fixed points throughout time where things must stay exactly the way they are. This is not one of them, this is an opportunity. Whatever happens here will create its own timeline, its own reality, a temporal tipping point. The future revolves around you, here, now, so do good!” - The Doctor DISCLAIMER: The following is an alternate history of CBS's Action Zone, a block that aired in the 1994-95 season and had continuity attached to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles until its final season on the network. This is purely speculative and a work of fiction, although some real-world elements were included and presented for realistic situations and scenarios. Neither this series nor its author are connected to nor reflect the views and opinions of CBS, Paramount Skydance, or any entity or persons mentioned and does not mean to infringe on the copyrights and trademarks of those parties. - JH In 1994, CBS launched a newly-branded action block to shake up its Saturday morning lineup. Th...

There Is Something Wrong With Our World (Remembering Dr. King Today)

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would have turned 97 on January 15 this year. On this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day... and yes, that's the official name of the federal observation of the third Monday of January is despite what the current administration wants to tell you... there is a weird erasure of what this brave man accomplished for civil rights in this country. It feels low-key and intentionally so this year. Events celebrating Dr. King are being cancelled nationwide, and the current administration has been hellbent on erasing his name and accomplishments in achieving civility, peace, equity, and brotherhood in this country and throughout the world. Dr. King actually won his Nobel Peace Prize. It wasn't given to him like a Best Dad mug a couple of weeks after Father's Day.  The media tends to downplay the holiday as a whole for the most part, often shortening it to MLK Day, which I'm sure our current administration will misread and use to chug raw unpasteurized whole mi...

Perceptions of the Second Fifth Channel

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 There are two groups of people who comes to mind when anybody talks about the legacy of UPN. The first group of people tends to talk about shows that played a huge part in their childhood like Moesha, Half & Half, One on One, Malcolm and Eddie, The Parkers, Eve, Girlfriends , All of Us , and Everybody Hates Chris and shows like Star Trek: Voyager, America's Next Top Model, Enterprise, WWE Smackdown, and Veronica Mars .  The second group tends to look at the channel in a mockingly light and love to talk about network failures like The Strip. Desmond Pfeiffer, Jake 2.0, Platypus Man, Shasta McNasty , and Homeboys in Outer Space. Home Movies oddly gets left out of this conversation despite it having only one season on UPN.  Go figure.  The reason UPN is popping up in conversations lately is because the creator of one of the channel's shortest-run shows died this week. Or, rather, the creator of the source material behind one of those shows. Scott Adams, the creato...

No Blind Faith (or I Think I Touched a Nerve)

I've been writing professionally since 1998, and over time, my opinions have changed a lot. Then again, that's just life. I'm not the easily-angered 20-year-old I was back then. In a way, I've tempered a lot in the nearly three decades I've been doing this. I've come to the point that I shouldn't get easily annoyed or angered by the media I consume, the folks who guide it, and the outlets they air on. That said, I can be frustrated with them, but I don't get angry about that sort of thing anymore.   I guess that's what you call growing up or something like that. I think you need to know where I'm going with this. I'm not a thin-skinned guy. When I'm wrong, I'll admit it. My opinions are malleable and always evolving.  I also don't have blind faith in anything, especially when it comes to the things I love and the media I consume.  Anybody who has known me for a while knows that I am the biggest Warner Bros fan on the planet. I...

Revisiting and Updating My Bucket List

In July 2024,  I made a bucket list  of things I want to do before I reach 55. Basically, a nine-year list of goals I want to accomplish or at least try just once. At the end of 2024, I recapped my progress. Eh, it could have gone better, but I did make progress. As for 2025, I think I did a lot, and it's time for another progress report. I know I have a long way to go. Some things are going to take a bit longer due to technical and life limitations, but they're still going to remain because, well, things change. Find love again.  Still the hardest thing for me to do. Losing my angel in January 2022 still hurts. She was my first real love. I've been moving on, but it's not easy. Especially after being with someone for over a decade. It sucks not having her in my life. It sucks I can't talk to her, tell her about my days, ask her about hers, and just tell her that I love her. I don't want to go on this journey of life alone. I'll find another girl one day, bu...