Nothing too profound for this week’s Flashback, but I thought it might be bad form to miss another Friday without dropping something on you (sorry about last week…stupid work, keeping me from blogging!).
Whilst poking around on YouTube a while ago, I discovered that someone has been posting episodes from one of my earliest sci-fi obsessions. Yes, Loba is dipping all the way back into the year I was 9 for this one (although I thought I was younger than this…oh well), to bring you Misfits of Science.
Basic premise is that these two groovy California scientists, Billy Hayes and Elvin Lincoln (played respectively by Dean Paul Martin and Kevin Peter Hall), bring together these…well, misfits of science, to fight for truth, justice, and the right to dress in the most stereotypically gnarly 80s ways imaginable.
Billy is a “normie,” but Elvin creates and takes a super-secret potion that allows him to shrink from 7 feet down to, I think like 8 inches (thus becoming the first instance in history of a dude choosing shrinkage). The rest of the team is formed by “Johnny B” Bukowski (played by Mark Thomas Miller), a rad rocker dude with glowing eyes who can run super fast and blast lightning bolts from his fists thanks to being struck by lightning during one of his band’s concerts; Gloria Dinallo (played by Courteney Cox), a typically confused teen with typical teen issues…oh, and a pesky telekinesis problem; and Jane Miller (played by Jennifer Holmes), Gloria’s parole officer and Billy’s love interest. Throw in the dad from ALF and you’ve got your cast! Yeah. Oh, that I was clever enough to make that up.
This was a hot mess of pure 80s cheese all the way through. But I didn’t care. I loved this show. I tuned in to watch every episode that aired on NBC, and I remember being devastated when the show just disappeared. It was tough being a child of the pre-Internet information saturation, I tell ya! There was just something about the Misfits that I couldn’t get enough of. I’m not sure what it was though.
Oh, wait. It was Courteney Cox.
Even though I have a strong suspicion that she’s no longer completely biodegradable, I still adore her, and that all started with Misfits of Science. I was so happy when she re-appeared on NBC on Family Ties, totally related to her character on Friends (I, too, find it difficult to sleep if I know that there are still shoes lying out in the living room!), can’t get enough of Gale Weathers (okay, that’s somewhat of a lie…stop making Scream movies!!), and even own Masters of the Universe on DVD (Tom Paris and Gina Dinallo, w00ts!!1!). I even watched a few episodes of Dirt, but I can’t bring myself to watch Cougar Town. The thought of Courteney Cox being old enough to qualify as a “cougar” makes me feel old. Say it ain’t so!
[Loba Tangent: Seriously, Courteney, please stop with the plastic surgery. You’re beautiful as you are…but foreheads are supposed to actually move and your mouth isn’t supposed to stretch from one side of your face all the way to the other. Unless, you know, you’re going for that oh-so-sexy “New and Improved Joker Smile” look.]
Okay, back to the Misfits. It was a silly show, indeed, but it was fun silly. Well, I thought so at least. Of course, I was 9 at the time. What the hell do 9-year-olds know? At that age, I was running through mud puddles and wishing that Scooby Doo was real (I still regularly do one of these things, but I’m not telling which). But check it out for yourself if you don’t believe me. Just remember: If Johnny’s eyes are glowing, all your batteries are going to be dead and you’d probably better move out of the way of his fists…and if Gloria goes all negative colors, you’re about to either be hit by something or she’s about to fling you across the room. Don’t say I didn’t warn you either way…
