Failure To Launch

This week in our 101st EPISODE EXTRAVAGANZA (whoops) we treat ourselves with a locally-shot action extravaganza: Irresistible Force, a.k.a. POWER COP.

Detective Stone, who's too old for this shit (i.e. getting shot on a weekly basis) is thrown into a Die Hard Lite™ hostage situation with a brand new partner, rookie cop and all-round arse booter Charlotte "Charlie" Heller, played by 90s straight-to-video action star Cynthia Rothrock. There's an angry chief, a weiner kid, a by-the-book, pencil-pushing, city-hall-will-have-my-arse lieutenant, and even a surprise guest for us Aussies! What a way to celebrate 101 episodes of Failure to Launch! Certainly better than some Friends rip-off.

Reviewers: James Ferris, Alex Malone, David Shaw Soundboard: Andrew Cherry

This week on Failure to Launch, we raced through Our Thirties, a 2006 sitcom that, like all other sitcoms from the era, was trying to be Friends.

Our Thirties hook was a cast of characters with midlife crises on the horizon, examining what they wanted out of life. Turns out it's weddings. Weddings weddings weddings, heteronormative pairings and giving their friend who kissed a girl once shit for it decades after it happened. Also Peter Serafinowicz and Rashida Jones are in it, and thank God this failed so those two could go make something better.

Reviewers: James Ferris, Harry Brimage, Andrew Cherry Soundboard: Lisa Dib

At Failure to Launch, Halloween's not over yet!* Closing out this extended spoopy month is The Omen, a mid-90s attempt to serialise the 1970s film.

In this version, Hotshot Reporter JACK MAN and two other people we don't care about because their names aren't JACK MAN team up to fight some sort of... possessey, flying, snakey... thing? Also it has human helpers, maybe? Dunno, there's a fair bit going on.

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Reviewers: James Ferris, Harry Brimage, Martin Dunlop Soundboard: Andrew Cherry

*Cherry fucked up the releases and he's very sorry.

This continuation of the spooky month has us watching Ultraviolet, a 2000s attempt by FOX to adapt a British series about cops and vampires. There were cops, and there were vampires, but they might have… forgotten what those are.

Anyway, Idris Elba.

Reviewers: James Ferris, Alex Malone, Lisa Dib, Harry Brimage Soundboard: Andrew Cherry

This week's spooky Failure to Launch travels back to the 1970s, dipping into the US's trendiest fear of the time: Satanists!

These particular Satanists are silently guiding Jessica, a young woman, through life in the hopes that she'll one day birth the anti-christ. Unfortunately her car is struck by DACK RAMBO, a freelance journalist who immediately hits on her, and a whirlwind romance begins.

Sounds exciting, but it's mostly cats and wind. And DACK RAMBO.

Reviewers: James Ferris, David Shaw, Andrew Cherry Soundboard: Lisa Dib

This week on Failure to Launch, we watched a modern version of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, starring Adam Baldwin?

…that's honestly as much as we can say.

Reviewers: James Ferris, David Shaw, Harry Brimage Soundboard: Andrew Cherry

This week Failure to Launch examines a late-90s relic from MTV, Sorority. An attempt to riff on classic college comedies like Animal House, but with a twist: instead of misfit dudes fighting the stuck up arseholes in the snooty frat, it's all about misfit women fighting the stuck up arseholes in the snooty, uh... sorority.

Sounds kinda progressive, right? Well it was still the late 90s, so hahaha no.

Reviewers: James Ferris, Lucy Shaw, Alex Malone Soundboard: David Shaw

After his boss is killed and then he himself is killed (but not really), he teams up with a hot Walkman fence slash wheelchair-bound child race fixer, hangs out in a crypt and fights crime the 1930s way - wearing a little mask and punching people dramatically. Also, Niles from The Nanny plays an art dealer, but he's not in it much :(

Reviewers: James Ferris, Michael Williams, Alex Malone Soundboard: Skeletor

This week Failure to Launch takes a look at the 2003 (oh my god guys, it's so 2003) pilot for The Lone Ranger. It's got everything a great western should have, cute boys, top 40 hits, an extended drug trip sequence, y'know all the classic western stuff. When optimistic young college boy Luke Hartman is almost killed by a bunch of no good outlaws, he sets out on a quest for revenge that will see him steal from widows, investigate rice and maybe even learn to do sweet fly-kicks.

Reviewers: James Ferris, Harry Brimage, Lucy Shaw Soundboard: Andrew Cherry

This week's Failure to Launch examines a 1990 semi-supernatural cop show created by Wes Craven. Wes Craven! He's pretty good at stuff!

It's about a cynical cop teaming up with a possible lunatic to hunt a serial killer with a paranormal twist. One of them believes in the supernatural, the other is skeptical. Gee, that sounds like a good show, one that should probably star Mitch Pileggi, just like this one!

Welp.

Reviewers: James Ferris, Harry Brimage, Lisa Dib Soundboard: Andrew Cherry