Friday, January 30, 2009

Testees


The series follows two friends (Steve Markle and Jeff Kassel) as they work as human test subjects at Testico, a product testing facility. Besides being an obvious play on testes – including the descended double "e" in its logo – the name of the show plays up the vulnerability of test subjects, which is the source of much of the humor in the series.


Peter Cooper (Steve Markle): Peter is somewhat neurotic and awkwardly unsuccessful with women. He seems to dwell on the negative realities in the world, failing to enjoy life in the moment. His negativity is more subtle than aggressive. He’s a good-hearted person. Peter is slightly anti-social. He likes playing video games and DVDs like Girls Gone Wild. Despite his negative traits he’s still likeable and is rarely loud or obnoxious. He’s a bit of a slob and paranoid about the unforeseen effects of the experiments. It’s usually Peter that gets the short end of the stick. Peter has dreams of being rich but doesn’t do anything to get there.

Ron Mitchell (Jeff Kassel): Ron is slightly more normal than Peter. He doesn’t mind being a guinea pig as much as Peter does. He justifies his choice of occupation by deeming it a necessary service to society. He’s generally more composed than his pal and slightly better with women. Most people would admire his loyalty and ethics. Like Peter, he strives for a better life. He’s vaguely more aware of the real world than Peter is but he’s still a complete slacker and a tad naive. In the end he’ll always do what’s right, but it might take him a little time to figure it out.




Episode 6: Herfume
Original Air Date—13 November 2008
Peter and Ron are given a cologne that is supposed to attract women through pheromones. However, it turns out to only work on old, fat, unattractive ones, who are turned into zombie rapists.


Check out other illustrations from the TV series Testees by Jim McDermott and Shawn McManus.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Moe, Larry and Curly





The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. They were commonly known by their first names: "Larry, Moe, and Curly", and "Moe, Larry, and Shemp", among other lineups. The act originally featured Moe Howard (born Harry [Moshe] Moses Horwitz in 1897), brother Shemp Howard (born [Shmuel] Samuel Horwitz[1]), and longtime friend Larry Fine (born Louis [Levi] Feinberg). Shemp was later replaced by brother Curly Howard (born Jerome Lester [Yehudah-Leib] Horwitz) October 22, 1903. When Curly suffered a debilitating stroke in 1946, Shemp rejoined the act. After Shemp's death in 1955, he was replaced by bald-headed comedian Joe Besser, after the use of stuntman Joe Palma to record several "Shemp" shorts after his death. Eventually Joe "Curly-Joe" DeRita (born Joseph Wardell) would replace him. After Larry suffered a serious stroke in 1970 he was unable to continue performing. Emil Sitka, a longtime actor in Stooge comedies, was contracted to replace Larry—but no film was ever made with him in the role, although publicity photographs exist of him with his hair combed similarly to Larry's posing with Moe and Curly-Joe. However, Larry's paralyzing stroke in 1970 effectively marked the end of the act. He died in January 1975. Moe died of cancer a few months later.

The Stooges' hallmark was physical slapstick comedy punctuated by quickly-delivered one-liners, within outrageous storylines.




Check out other illustrations from the TV series Testees by Jim McDermott and Shawn McManus.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Mr. Moto with Peter Lorre

* Think Fast, Mr. Moto (1937)
* Thank You, Mr. Moto (1937)
* Mr. Moto's Gamble (1937)
* Mr. Moto Takes a Chance (1938)
* Mysterious Mr. Moto (1938)
* Mr. Moto's Last Warning (1939)
* Danger Island (1939)
* Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (1939)