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What I’ve Been Watching: September 20, 2018 TV and Movie Review Journal

What I’ve Been Watching is a daily journal of reviews for every film, short film, TV episode/special, and web video I watched today (September 20, 2018). Posts will be published almost every day, usually in the morning or early afternoon, and will be updated throughout the day as I watch more media. I love a wide variety of content including almost every genre, medium, and type of story. This includes a lot of niche, weird, or lesser known content so you will never know what to expect in these daily journals. My goal with this post series is to find at least a few hidden gems that each reader has never heard of but will enjoy (and if you have the same unique taste in TV and film that I do, it will hopefully be a cornucopia of things for you to watch). Most titles are being watched for the first time as preparation for new list posts and other content on this blog, though occasionally I will re-watch old favorites as well.

Feel free to use the comments as an open discussion of the titles you’ve been watching, your thoughts on the content I reviewed today, and also as a place to suggest titles for me to watch (especially titles similar to the ones I enjoyed today). If you enjoy these review journals and you are interested in watching a title I reviewed, buying or renting it via the included Amazon links (or this link) is a great way to support this blog. It costs you nothing extra and a small portion of the proceeds goes to us to keep this blog running.

<- Yesterday’s What I’ve Been Watching Post


Bugs Bunny’s Howl-oween Special (1977 TV Special, Animation, Directed by David Detiege, 24 Minutes)

With Halloween quickly approaching (it seems like the calendar just turned the page to September a few days ago but the month is already almost over), it is now time to start kicking off our Halloween coverage on Geeky Hobbies. Unfortunately, my first Halloween special of the season was pretty disappointing. Bugs Bunny’s Howl-oween Special combines several less than classic Halloween-themed Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts together to form a 24-minute TV special that first aired back in 1977. This is done in a pretty haphazard sort of way with some of the stories having next to nothing in common with each other. Since the TV special jumps around between shorts (with some newer bridge material in between), sometimes oddities like Witch Hazel changing color back and forth happens, which is quite lazy and distracting.

The shorts included in Bugs Bunny’s Howl-oween Special are: A-Haunting We Will Go, Broom-Stick Bunny, Hyde and Hare, Hyde and Go Tweet, A Witch’s Tangled Hare, Claws for Alarm, Scaredy Cat, Transylvania 6-5000, and Bewitched Bunny. Unsurprisingly, most of these shorts involve Witch Hazel and/or Dr. Jekyll’s Hyde formula (and sometimes Mr. Hyde himself). Other than those two recurring elements, the special is pretty much a random assortment of cartoon antics that have a bit of a Halloween theme to them. The main reason I am disappointed with Bugs Bunny’s Howl-oween Special is because it just isn’t very funny. These are far from classic Looney Tunes or Merrie Melodies cartoons and there are only a few funny moments included. Among the few highlights are Bugs and Witch Hazel making fun of each other’s looks and Bugs’ impersonations of Mr. Hyde and Witch Hazel. Otherwise, the rest of the humor only generated a couple slight chuckles from me.

Overall, Bugs Bunny’s Howl-oween Special is far from a classic Halloween special. It’s especially disappointing due to this being the only Looney Tunes Halloween special ever made (and it barely qualifies as one due to the reuse of old material). I would suggest skipping it and just watching the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons included in their full form. Skip It.

Rating: 2/5 (Below Average)

Watch Bugs Bunny’s Howl-oween Special: DVD


Stats:

  • Total Days Recorded: 2 (Logging started on September 19, 2018)
  • Total Titles Watched:
    • Today: 1
    • September 2018: 4
    • All-Time: 4
    • Average Per Day: 2.0 (-1.0)
  • Watch Time:
    • Today: 0:24
    • September 2018: 3:03
    • All-Time: 3:03
    • Average Per Day: 1:32 (+0.00)
  • Films Watched:
    • Today: 0
    • September 2018: 2
    • All-Time: 2
  • Film Watch Time:
    • Today: 0:00
    • September 2018: 2:18
    • All-Time: 2:18
  • Short Films Watched:
    • Today: 0
    • September 2018: 1
    • All-Time: 1
  • Short Film Watch Time:
    • Today: 0:00
    • September 2018: 0:21
    • All-Time: 0:21
  • TV Episodes and Specials Watched:
    • Today: 1
    • September 2018: 1
    • All-Time: 1
  • TV Episodes and Specials Watch Time:
    • Today: 0:24
    • September 2018: 0:24
    • All-Time: 0:24
  • TV Seasons Completed:
    • September 2018: 0
    • All-Time: 0
  • Web Series Episodes and Videos Watched:
    • Today: 0
    • September 2018: 0
    • All-Time: 0
  • Web Series Episodes and Videos Watch Time:
    • Today: 0:00
    • September 2018: 0:00
    • All-Time: 0:00