Crazy Unoriginal
Last year when Uncle Phil came to visit, he just opened the door and walked in. There is some evidence he did the same this year in today’s new-run of For Better or For Worse. Not only does Elly not make an appearance until Panel 3 (implying that she was not the one who let Phil in), but Michael and Lizzie are reaching their arms out to Uncle Phil with their eyes closed, their arms out, and facing the wrong direction away from Phil. It is as if they are making a proclamation for the rest of the house to hear after Phil enters the house.
After this the joke is the usual “The kids will drive you crazy” joke. Lynn Johnson had done strips along this theme several times. All I can really think of to say is that the Patterson kids’ politeness is a vast improvement over the present-grabbing kids from the first year.
After this the joke is the usual “The kids will drive you crazy” joke. Lynn Johnson had done strips along this theme several times. All I can really think of to say is that the Patterson kids’ politeness is a vast improvement over the present-grabbing kids from the first year.
posted by howard at 10:28 PM
10 Comments:
I noticed a sort of multiplication-by-zero effect happening in most of the strips that had Elly dealing with her children; since she's the sort of person who never should have had kids, she over-reacts to the slightest annoyance. Mike doesn't pick up his toys, she goes crazy, a kid asks a question she's too dumb or squeamish or impatient to answers, she goes crazy, the kids leave food on the plate, she goes crazy, et cetera, et cetera.
All I can really think of to say is that the Patterson kids’ politeness is a vast improvement over the present-grabbing kids from the first year.
First new-run year; second original-run year. :)
DreadedCandiru2,
Mike doesn't pick up his toys, she goes crazy, a kid asks a question she's too dumb or squeamish or impatient to answers, she goes crazy, the kids leave food on the plate, she goes crazy, et cetera, et cetera.
“Being driven crazy by the kids” takes on a new meaning when it comes to Elly.
aprilp_katje,
First new-run year; second original-run year. :)
I’m glad you can keep it straight. I keep expecting John’s parents to come and visit for Christmas as they did in third original-run year.
I keep expecting John’s parents to come and visit for Christmas as they did in third original-run year.
Or maybe teenage April babysitting Paul at age 8, Rosemary at age 6, Christopher Nichols at age 4, and Richard Nichols as a newborn. Chasing after them would be Mr. B and Butterscotch.
Actually, I think I would enjoy a strip like that. As irritating as Lynn's lack of continuity can be, it is still more interesting than her bland rehash of jokes she has told better dozens of times before. I took a look at today's strip and I could barely muster the energy to say, "Meh."
As irritating as Lynn's lack of continuity can be, it is still more interesting than her bland rehash of jokes she has told better dozens of times before.
Too true.
I took a look at today's strip and I could barely muster the energy to say, "Meh."
It's almost as if she is trying to bore the snark out of us.
howard
“Being driven crazy by the kids” takes on a new meaning when it comes to Elly.
Especially since she was already most of the way there to begin with.
aprilp_katje,
It's almost as if she is trying to bore the snark out of us.
That could very well be the case. When Lynn tried to write stories taking the characters out of their usual surroundings, like the story of Deanna moving for example, she made hideous continuity errors which we gladly pointed out to her. She could be thinking, “I’ll do a story where Elly and John don’t know what to buy each other for Christmas. I’ve done that story so many times, there is no way anyone can complain about it.”
forworse
“Being driven crazy by the kids” takes on a new meaning when it comes to Elly.
Especially since she was already most of the way there to begin with.
There’s an interesting idea – strips showing whether or not Elly was crazy before she had kids, or if it really was the kids that drove her crazy.
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