Like a lot of football fans, I’m pumped for the playoffs. The last day of the regular season was yesterday and Wildcard weekend starts in a few days. The energy is high to say the least.
While laying in bed last night after Sunday’s slate of games, a scary thought popped into my head. In a few short weeks, football will be totally over and I’ll have nothing to watch really. I’m not a basketball guy, hockey is fun but I never got into it and who below the age of 65 watches baseball on TV anymore?
So I decided to try to find a new show/movie series to watch and fill my time. Then it occurred to me, why don’t I blog about it? I know everyone LOVES my opinions and are clambering to hear more of them. Well y’all, you’re in luck.
Introducing the newest series here at Blind Owl Blogs: Whatchya Watchin’. In this series me, or one of the BO Blogs contributors will pick a show, movie, YouTube series or whatever to recommend or caution you against. Who knows where this will go and how long it’ll last (see punishment blogs which lasted about a week and a half), but why not try something new right?
Since I thought of this, I figured I’d start it off.
I’ve always been a fan of adult cartoons. The Simpsons is my favorite show of all time and I’ve seen the majority of Family Guy, South Park, Futurama and even new stuff like Big Mouth. First of all, they’re easier for me visually. The contrasting colors and basic scenery is easier for me to follow. I also have an incredibly stupid sense of humor, so these shows hit that right on the head.
Unfortunately, there aren’t too many of these kinds of cartoons out there and when it comes time for me to relax, I end up going to the same old stuff. I’ve rewatched most of the series I mentioned at least twice, and instead of searching for something new, I just fall back on what’s comfortable.
Thankfully, one of my beep ball teammates has a similarly childish sense of humor to me and has recommended several series that I really enjoy. As a matter of fact, he is the reason I watched Big Mouth in the first place. Well, he came through for me again.
While hanging out, he asked my wife and I if we had HBO Max. Of course, being a cheap bastard, I am not going to pay for that. I have the bare necessities of TV streaming and that’s it. I mentioned that the only reason I would get HBO Max is to watch all of the seasons of SOuth Park. He responded with “Oh I’ve got to show you Tim.” I think I responded with, “Who’s Tim?” Well, my mind was blown.
“Tim” refers to the HBO show “The Life and Times of TIm” (TLaToT). It’s an animated show created by Steve Dildarian. Who you’ve probably heard do voices for Family Guy before. The show follows the life of Tim, who is a guy in his mid-twenties living in New York. The show covers his relationship with his girlfriend, her parents, his work life and a bunch of other topics.
The first thing I noticed about the show when my buddy threw it on, was the theme song. It is an old school country song called “I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive” by Hank Williams. Which I’ll put it here so you can have a listen.
Well, that song kind of says it all.
Without giving anything away, Tim ends up in some incredibly awkward situations. This is clearly evident in the first episode which is entitled, “Angry Unpaid Hooker.” Just the sound of Tim’s voice just reeks of painful awkwardness. And every bit of it is hilarious.
One unique thing about TLaToT, is that each episode is like 10 minutes long and somewhat disconnected from each other. Almost like the creators wanted you to watch them randomly. But there is a bit of a story as you continue to go through the series.
SInce this show was new to me, I assumed it was newer in the world. Well actually, it debuted way back when I was in high school in 2008 and ended in 2012. That explains the technology the characters use and some of the references that are made. Before I knew this, I just assumed it was kind of a joke that everything in TIm’s life and at his OmniCorp office was outdated slightly. Unfortunately, the show only ran for 3 seasons, which kind of sucks. But, unlike shows that hang on for too long (like a lot of the shows I mentioned in the intro) it didn’t decline much in quality. I like every episode that I’ve seen.
While watching TLaToT, you’ll notice a lot of familiar voices. First of all, Tim’s friend and coworker Stu is voiced by Nick Kroll. Some of the other main characters have voices you’ll recognize from other cartoons of that era. Not only is there a good cast of recurring characters, there are a ton of guest voices that pop up as the show goes along. Names like Bob Saget, Daniel Tosh, Jeff Garlin, Cheri Oteri and Aziz Ansari provide voices as some hilarious characters.
Hands down, my favorite character is The Boss. For the first couple seasons, you never learn his name. He is simply referred to as “The Boss.” Although you do learn his dog’s name is Keith in an early episode. The Boss’s antics are some of the funniest parts of the show. It’s gotten to the point when I hear The Boss say Tim’s name, I giggle a little bit. I’ll sum it up with a quote from my beep ball buddy as we discussed the show via text a few days ago, “If only we had more people in this world like The Boss! The world would be a better place!” Truer words have never been spoken in human history.
I’ll end by giving The Life and Times of TIm an A overall. It’s laugh out loud funny from episode to episode. It’s relatable and nonsensical at the same time. It balances old sitcom situations, and newer age scenarios that we all still encounter today. I fully recommend it for anyone who likes stupid humor. It also doesn’t suck up your time like some longer shows. You can throw on an episode while doing whatever and make basic tasks a little more entertaining. But if you’re like me, you’ll want to binge the whole series in a weekend.