Pop Culture – Fancy Boys Club

Every Episode of King of the Hill, Ranked

August 1, 2025by Brandon Andreasen1 Comment

King of the Hill is one of the most beloved shows in television history. A show that never went over the top, never lost it’s believability, and built characters that had a shelf life long before the initial run of the series. While many shows (looking in your direction, Simpsons) lost their way after obliterating every plot twist and premise possible, King of the Hill never felt out of place. It was always that cozy blanket or perfectly worn in shirt in the form of a Sunday night animated show.

The sophmore effort of legendary writer/producer Mike Judge, KOTH feels completely different than his first show, Beavis and Butthead. Even as different though as the shows felt, they felt like they existed in the same time and place. Judge tends to keep the shows he makes as slightly askew versions of the world he grew up in and lives in. Tom Anderson from Beavis and Butthead could very easily by Hank Hill’s actual father. Dale Gribble is what happened when you gave Beavis the internet.

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Comedy, Music/Movies, Pop Culture

Which is the Lesser of Two Evil Popeyes?

January 10, 2025January 10, 2025by rikimjadamsLeave a Comment

Yet another beloved old cartoon and comic strip character IP (intellectual property) has come into the public domain. This time, it’s everyone’s favorite sailor man- Popeye.

Now, to be clear, while there are 2 evil Popeye movies (so far) coming this year, neither is attached to the Twisted Childhood Universe, affectionately referred to as the “Poohniverse”, which kicked off with Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey in 2023, followed by the sequel in 2024.

To be clear, those movies rule.

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Misc., politics, Pop Culture, YouTube

Military Atrocities, Nü Metal, & Me.

January 7, 2025January 6, 2025by rikimjadamsLeave a Comment

20 years ago I was boots on ground in Iraq for the first time. Roughly 1.5 million Americans can say something similar as veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).
Many were in their 20s, and for many it was their first experience ever leaving the US.
I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to adequately put into words what deployment felt like. I write fun goofy articles. I don’t write about the fucked-shit. I don’t have the language.
I don’t have the nerve.

But I’m not writing about my experiences in Iraq. I’m writing about something that came before. Something I still to this day can’t get out of my brain. A bit of brainwashing that I don’t think any generation of US troops before could have ever imagined.

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Music/Movies, Pop Culture, Uncategorized

My Sincere Pitch for a New Muppets Movie

January 5, 2025January 6, 2025by rikimjadamsLeave a Comment

When the pandemic started in 2020, part of my escapism from the dread of the moment was going back and rewatching the entirety of the old Muppet Show. And it felt good, letting the nostalgia wash over me, but also it made me sad. As I continued watching more Muppet content, the movies, then the later TV shows, I felt like something got lost along the way, and it was the earnestness with which the Muppets and even the humans around them behaved. Even in moments of commentary or weirdo subversion, there was a genuineness that I felt fell away a bit. Recent years felt like there was more snark, more bite, more irony, even in how we as viewers engage with the Muppets. I was pleasantly surprised by the Electric Mayhem focused show with Lilly Singh and Tahj Mowry from a few years back, that felt like a love letter to music through the heartfelt lens of the Muppets. And it gave me hope that perhaps more Muppets could be coming. Then news came that a certain Warner Bros owned streaming service might be looking to off-load Sesame Street, and I didn’t just have hope, I had an idea, a movie pitch for how to reunite the Muppets and the folks of Sesame Street for the first time since the early 2000s.

I guess in order for this to happen Disney would have to buy the rights to Sesame Street to have them under the same umbrella as the Muppets. I’m not here to discuss the pros and cons of monopolistic IP hoarding and such. I’m here to talk about Muppets. So…

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Comedy, Music/Movies, Pop Culture

Riki’s Righteous Xmas Playlist

December 16, 2024January 6, 2025by rikimjadamsLeave a Comment

Look, if you’re trapped in the capitalist hellscape that is the US, you’re a conscript in the war against Christmas, whichever side you fall on. I mean, Christmas won, it’s fucking everywhere. It’s inescapable. Our borders are contained within Santa’s vast panopticon whether we like it or not. Because this is THE capitalist holiday. This is the grand devotional, our wallets made sacrifice to prove our love to each other.

Even if you just celebrate “the holidays”, the holiday party you’re at is gonna play Christmas music. Because, well, there’s just a fucking lot of it. And more every year. And worst- a lot of it fucking sucks.

But not all of it. So if you find yourself in control of the tunes and you want to make the most of the theme, I offer you this fine tuned playlist to keep things interesting

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Music/Movies, Pop Culture, Uncategorized

“Have You Heard of Martini Ranch?” by Riki MJ Adams

December 9, 2024December 8, 2024by rikimjadamsLeave a Comment

“Have you heard of Martini Ranch?”
It’s a question that I ask of anyone who gets to know me on a long enough timeline. More often than not, I’m not even met with a faint glimmer of recognition. Which always blows my mind until I remember that I also had to be introduced to Martini Ranch long after it had ceased to exist.

I remember exactly how it happened, I was working as a truck driver in 2017, and I had a lot of time to listen to podcasts on the road. A personal favorite was the Witch Finger Horror Podcast. I’d started listening to it as a fan of the band Kittie (who still rips by the way and just dropped a phenomenal album back in June), because the vocalist Morgan Lander was one of three hosts along with Megan Rae, and Yasmina Ketita of Rue Morgue Magazine. As I was listening to episode 19, titled “Near Dark and our tribute to Bill Paxton” (he had died earlier that year) I heard the name Martini Ranch for the first time.

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Music/Movies, Pop Culture

So You Don’t Have To: A Limp Bizkit Concert

July 21, 2024by Brandon AndreasenLeave a Comment

Everything feels vaguely off. It’s not the mind altering drugs. It’s not the fact that I’d competed in two hot sauce eating conversations during the afternoon. It was because everyone around me looked like they had been arrested at some point for stealing Catalytic Converters.

No, I wasn’t at a penal colony. Or a job fair for Port-A-John workers, or a Kid Rock cruise. I was at a Limp Bizkit concert. Desperately trying to figure out how I got there, and spastically trying to figure out how to leave if all the cans of Zyn go empty in this joint.

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politics, Pop Culture, Uncategorized

Built The Burn Thee Silver Mt. Zion – written by Jordan Holmes

July 11, 2024July 10, 2024by The Fancy BoysLeave a Comment

I am out to hurt your feelings! I am out here intending to cause you pain! I want you to feel personally attacked by what I am saying because I am also under attack.

I am under attack by a deluge of voices telling me where we are in relation to 1930s Germany and then saying, “Uh oh”. UH OH!? Motherfuckers Uh Oh? What in God’s fucking name are we doing here?

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Pop Culture, television

The Angel, The Devil, and The Bear: examining the new season of the most talked-about show where everyone calls each other “Chef”

July 10, 2024July 10, 2024by Matt DrufkeLeave a Comment

Over the last week, I watched the new season of The Bear (F/X and Hulu) with hesitation. Like most of the world, I have loved the first two seasons, set in a Chicago restaurant. But there seemed to be a growing cloud over this new season, which was decided to release in one installment perfect for mass consumption. People were not happy with the storylines that were given and how the season was told. Look, every show, no matter how good, has a season that is not up to the usual standard of excellence (looking at you, season 4 of Fargo). So I went in expecting to not have the reaction I had with the earlier offerings. Turns out, I had nothing to be worried about.

Season 3 of The Bear fucking rules, you guys.

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Comedy, Pop Culture, television

Jack Baker’s Best Moments on the WGN Morning Show, Ranked

July 5, 2024July 5, 2024by Brandon AndreasenLeave a Comment

Jack Baker is, by all accounts, a very successful local comedian. He is the main editor on this very site, has a Youtube special, and this weekend, he will be headlining the Comedy Vault in Batavia on July 6th at 7 pm. Buy Your Tickets Here. To help drum up interest in his set, he was tasked with going on WGN Morning News on Wednesday to talk about his special, his life, and ostensibly, his lifelong war against milk.

This is a big deal for any comic. But as any comic worth his weight in cheap liquor knows, we are also a very vindictive bunch who doesn’t want to see anyone else succeed! With that in mind, let’s take a look at Jack Baker’s WGN Morning News appearance and go over every bit, then rank them at the end!