If you missed the last one…
A Guest Post
featuring words and graphics by: Benjamin Taggart
Greetings, and welcome to the third and final installment of a three-part series discussing how to watch TV. The previous article, subtitled Atompunk “Then” used a variety of TV series and movies from atompunk’s core 1950s and 60s period to create a watchlist via the fulfillment of as many as nine differently themed time slots: KIDS’, EDUCATIONAL, MOVIE, HALF HOUR №1, HALF HOUR №2, DRAMA, SCI-FI, FANTASY & HORROR, and LATE NIGHT. But that was only the beginning, because if it can be said that there was once an atompunk “then,” then it naturally follows that there must currently be an atompunk “now.” And, for this reporter, exploring the complete subgenre meant using the nine-slot formula to lay out a 30-day schedule, separating the “then” and “now” periods with something special in between. Here’s a full-color graphic…
For a full explanation of the nine-slot formula, see the first article, but the overall idea is that by looking for media to fill a specific slot, you’ll be able to find media that you otherwise might not have considered. In the meantime, let’s consider the aforementioned something special, i.e., the black square at the heart of the 30-day schedule pictured above, representing the now classic 1999 film, Blast From The Past…
With an all-star cast including Brendan Fraser, Alicia Silverstone, Christopher Walken, and Sissy Spacek, Blast From The Past tells the story of a 35-year-old man who was born in a subterranean fallout shelter before being sent above ground (for the first time) when the shelter’s rations ran low.
It’s not exactly atompunk, but it is a perfect bridge between the “then” and “now” watchlists due to the excellent exploration of the main character’s adaptation to 1999’s sociopolitical norms after being raised without any exposure to ideologies other than those of his atom-aged parents’.
And after being submerged in those self-same ideologies for the 18 days that it took to get through the “then” watchlist, watching Brendan Fraser’s triumphant transition was a big help. So, for the benefit of readers who thought that the text in the first graphic was a little too small, I hope you’ll find the following index equally helpful, breaking down the “now” watchlist’s component parts into numbered and easy-to-read prose, with easy-to-follow hyperlinks leading to their corresponding pages on IMDb…
01. Big Guy And Rusty The Boy Robot
02. The Fifties
03. MOVIE
04. On The Air
05. Danger 5
06. Futurama
07. Hello Tomorrow!
08. Ascension
09. Legion
10. Ginormo
And now that that’s out of the way, let’s take a closer look at each of the example list’s fun components, beginning with another 1999 classic, Big Guy And Rusty The Boy Robot…
Inspired by Dark Horse’s comicbook of the same name (written by Frank Miller and drawn by Geof Darrow), Big Guy And Rusty fits perfectly into the KIDS’ time slot, not just because of Rusty The Boy Robot, but because of what he represents: a more contemporary version of the themes explored in 1963’s Astro Boy, as well as those of the 1964 series, Gigantor.
Much like Big Guy, Gigantor wasn’t autonomous but was instead controlled by a human operator. In the case of the latter, the controller was a 12-year-old boy; in the case of the former, the controller was an adult man, but in the case of each, the big robot persona served as someone to look up to. And in the case of the kid-sized characters, each help young viewers to find their own kid-sized confidence as they watch Astro Boy and/or Rusty conquer big challenges.
The first season of Big Guy And Rusty was only a six-episode-long experiment, and it’s unfortunate that there aren’t more similarly-themed contemporary cartoons like it. But if you’re just looking for that familiar, atompunk aesthetic, you might consider Dexter’s Laboratory, the 2015 version of The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show, or even The Ren & Stimpy Show. But the next show on the example list fills the EDUCATIONAL time slot, a 1997 documentary series entitled The Fifties…
Covering hot topics like The Kinsey Report, the rise and fall of McCarthyism, Levittown, Miltown, the invention of fast food, and our contemporary use of the word cleavage, David Halberstam’s The Fifties is a comprehensive guide to the decade that gave birth to the (now extinct) American dream. But the whole point of using the nine-slot formula is to create a list that considers multiple points of view, so you might consider other nonfiction options like Let The World See, Space Race, or The 60s: The Beatles Decade. Until then, the next slot in the nine-slot formula is set aside for movies, and I found a few…
01. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
02. CQ (2001)
03. The Iron Giant (1999)
04. Naked Lunch (1999)
05. Meet The Hollowheads (1989)
06. Pleasantville (1998)
07. Fido (2006)
08. Tomorrowland (2015)
09. Asteroid City (2023)
10. The Dark Backward (1991)
11. Robots (2005)
Describing each of the example list’s “now” raygun gothic movies would mean writing an entirely separate article. But since I’m not going to do that, I’ll only say that if you’re an atompunk fan who likes Terry Gilliam’s retrofuturistic classic, Brazil, then you might also like The Dark Backward, Naked Lunch, and (especially) Meet The Hollowheads.
Wikipedia lists Meet The Hollowheads’ stars as Juliette Lewis, John Glover, Richard Portnow, and Joshua John Miller, which is strange, because the film really only has one star, Nancy Mette…
The only cast member to grace all four of the above screenshots, Nancy Mette’s unparalleled performance as Miriam Hollowhead expertly portrays the struggles of an extraordinary housewife solving her ordinary family’s less-than-ordinary problems (all while wrestling with the Lovecraftian fixins in her tube-filled bizarro-fiction kitchen). It’s a fantastically feminist cult classic, ambiguously set in what could be a dystopian post-apocalyptic future ripe with mutant monsters or on a weird semi-psychedelic exoplanet lush with alien anomalies… and the film’s genetically engineered household appliances all come factory-direct with Willy Loman’s money-back guarantee. I, on the other hand, can’t guarantee one of the other movies on the above list, Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City…
The film is visually stunning and boasts an all-star cast. And I’ve been a loyal fan of Wes Anderson since Bottle Rocket. Unfortunately, big names like Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Bryan Cranston, and even Tom Hanks all go to waste on a story with no real plot or ending. So if you’re looking for a period-appropriate dramedy with an appeal beyond its face-value aesthetic, try something like The Boat That Rocked, Dreamgirls, or the 1988 (or 2007) version of Hairspray. But the next item on the list is an unfortunately almost forgotten classic: David Lynch’s 1992 sitcom, On The Air…
Set in 1957, On The Air was Lynch’s surreal attempt to create a live-action cartoon centered around a fictional television program called The Lester Guy Show. It features familiar faces from the more popular Twin Peaks, but the face that breaks the mold belongs to Kim McGuire, AKA Mona Malnorowski, AKA “Hatchet Face” from writer/director John Waters’ 1990 film, Crybaby.
If you like Lynch and want to explore his sense of humor, then you’ll love On The Air, but it may be difficult to find, and the series’ surreal qualities can cause brain damage. So you might try looking for more mainstream half-hour alternatives like the original 1988 (or 2021) version of The Wonder Years, State Of Grace, or Brooklyn Bridge. But for another series that bridges the gap between cartoons and surreality, check out the wild Australian comedy, Danger 5…
Following the adventures of five special agents on a never-ending mission to kill Adolf Hitler, the first season of Danger 5 is a parody of 1960s action shows that looks as though it was imagined by bizarro versions of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson on crack. So if you’re looking to kick the crack habit, you’ll probably find fulfillment in the series’ eagle-headed humanoids, dinosauroid lizard men, and walking, talking, robotic German shepherds. Or, if you feel like blood-soaked and bullet-ridden audio-visual benders offer too much temptation, you might look up less hallucinatory atompunk alternatives like Hugh Laurie in Avenue 5 (no relation to Danger 5), Nick Frost in Mr. Sloane, or Simon Pegg in Hippies. Until then, the next item on the example list is the old American standard, Futurama…
Futurama was included on the example list because the next item was short by about 30 minutes. Still, with the voice talents of Tress MacNeille (AKA Dot Warner), Maurice LaMarche (AKA Egon Spengler from The Real Ghostbusters), and Billy West (AKA both Ren AND Stimpy), Futurama is a fun series that takes off in the year 2999, as foreshadowed by the 1962 standard, The Jetsons. But, unlike the Jetsons’ original squeaky-clean vision of things to come, Futurama puts the gun in the raygun gothic genre with a healthy dose of radioactive mutants, killer robots, and intergalactic invaders. And for the benefit of readers who’re tired of seeing it copied and pasted into each and every (single) list of atompunk TV series, check out these equally adult animated alternatives: The Venture Brothers, Archer, or Sealab 2021. And for atompunk fans who like drama, check out the 2023 series, Hello Tomorrow…
Filled with hovercars, robots, and rockets, Hello Tomorrow is another of the example list’s visually stunning options. And I’m happy to report that unlike Wes Anderson’s utterly pointless Asteroid City, Amit Bhalla and Lucas Jansen’s ten-episode opus is a brilliantly written and Technicolored exploration of not just the atompunk aesthetic, but, more importantly, the 1950s mindset, focusing on an earth-bound group of complex characters selling retrofuturistic houses in the promised land of a lunar Levittown… and I guess that was a problem, because, like too many other contemporary series (filled with great actors delivering great performances based on great writing) that get off to a great start, Hello Tomorrow was inexplicably canceled before it saw a very necessary second season.
Fortunately, there are a ton of other dramatic options.
Thinking beyond the obvious options (Mad Men, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Queen’s Gambit, Masters Of Sex, Call The Midwife, and Fargo) seen on every other atompunk and/or retro TV list, try looking up The Playboy Club, The Trial Of Christine Keeler, Aquarius, China Beach, Spy City, or Monsieur Spade. Then, when you’re in the mood for some science fiction, check out the next series on the list, Ascension…
I unfortunately can’t describe the series in detail without giving away its major plot twists. But I can say that the premise centers on the descendants of a crew of 1960s humans who appear to be on an interstellar/multi-generational journey to another star system. It has six episodes, all of which are excellent, but again (despite claims to the contrary), the series was canceled without bringing the final episode’s cliffhanger to a satisfactory end. And although the list of dramatic retro alternatives goes on and on, to my surprise, there aren’t nearly enough sci-fi-based atompunk options. One of the most popular choices, Wandavision, doesn’t count, because the entire series doesn’t take place in an atompunk setting, but you might enjoy the Star Trek franchise’s Strange New Worlds (and, by extension, Discovery), Tales From The Loop, Granite Flats, Fallout, Cassandra, the alternative history series For All Mankind, the other alternative history series Man In The High Castle, or even the Stephen King time-travel series 11.22.63.
But, even though atompunk is about much more than just rockets and rayguns, what the genre really needs in terms of contemporary television is some good old-fashioned rockets and rayguns. So if you’re a writer, director, and/or producer who’s looking to work on a new project (within the safety net of something old), consider using 21st-century technology to revitalize an atom-age story like Kurt Vonnegut’s 1959 novel, The Sirens Of Titan, E. E. Smith’s Lensman series (which was made into a cyberpunk anime series in 1984), or the 1957 novel, Oms En Série, by the French author, Stefan Wul (which was made into an award-winning animated film in 1973 and into an awesome trilogy of comicbooks in 2012). But if you’re just an atompunk fan (like me) who’s looking to fill the nine-slot formula’s FANTASY & HORROR category, I reckon you’ll enjoy the example list’s next item, Legion…
Set in a weird, retrofuturistic world that draws its aesthetic appeal from the 1960s and 70s, FX’s Legion is supposedly based on the Marvel comicbook character of the same name, i.e., the son of the X-Men’s chief benefactor, Charles Xavier. However, although there are a number of references to mutants in the series, as well as an occasionally well-placed “X” somewhere in the background, there are no cameo appearances of more well-known X-Men characters or obvious references to the greater Marvel universe. Instead, the series explores the psychedelic side of being psychic with brilliant visuals and a mix of both sci-fi and supernatural themes that allow the casual viewer to completely disregard the Marvel connection.
Another great fit for the time slot would be another great comicbook-inspired series, The Umbrella Academy, but if comix aren’t your thing, check out the short-lived Lovecraft Country, or the unfortunately unsung Paranormal.
Whichever choice you make, there’s still one more slot left, the all-too-often overlooked LATE NIGHT. And the choice made for the example list’s LATE NIGHT time slot was a web series that you should be able to find on YouTube: Ginormo…
Premiering in 2023, Ginormo’s premise is that it’s a Japanese action/kaiju series that was made in the 1970s. Episodes average 10 minutes or less, and they unfortunately only appeal to people who think that that’s a long time. But, once again, the whole point of using the nine-slot formula is to create a list that considers multiple points of view. And the inherent advantage to that consideration is that it exercises the mental muscles that help to distinguish the difference between fantasy and reality. Pure fantasy contains no perspective other than your own, but, like it or not, the real world contains ideas that can shock, challenge, and even inspire you. So, like them or not, try filling your LATE NIGHT time slot with any of these potentially inspiring alternatives: The Spoils Before Dying, Rainbow: The Seven From Compound Two, Cell Six, or A Girl Named Jo.
And remember, once all nine slots are filled, you can watch them in any order you choose. You can watch them all in a day, divide the list in half to watch only a few each day, or watch as little as one or two at the end of a busy day. It’s the variety that matters, not the order in which you experience it. And the overall variety that the nine-slot experience offers is something you can share, because there’s something in it for everyone.
Benjamin Taggart has been an author and illustrator since he was old enough to hold a crayon. His illustrations have appeared on countless posters for bands and special events, his three picture books have been enjoyed by at least three people, and his journalistic endeavors can be seen in The Monarch Review, NOW Toronto, and Gonzo Today.
He lives on Earth but is open to other possibilities and is currently considering a small patch of land in the vicinity of Epsilon Indi.
© Benjamin Taggart
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