In Praise Of…

Greetings, FRED followers. My name is Jason Lenzi, and I do lots of stuff.

“You’re who and you do what?”, I hear you asking already. “And where’s the review of ‘Letters to Juliet’ I was looking for?”. Well, it just so happens, that I was invited to be here, by none other than Ken Plume. And I happen to think that’s pretty, pretty cool. So, ya know, um, leave me alone.

Let me back up a bit, and explain everything. I make my living doing all sorts of things, some of which I can’t go into here for tax reasons. But mainly I work in the entertainment world, as a freelance producer/writer/what-have-you for television. And I work as a voice over artist, narrating shows, doing radio commercials, some animation, etc. It’s nice work, if you can get it, and finally justifies all the silly and annoying voices I’ve done my whole life. But a few years back I wanted to do something different, something that would get my mind off of the insanity of production, that would be a cake walk , that would once again, somehow turn a life long hobby into something that would earn me some money. So I started a toy company, called Bif Bang Pow! Simple, right?

Well, yes and no. Mainly no. But that’s beside the point. After a year or so, some folks started to take notice of what we were doing. One of those folks was Mr. Ken Plume, instantly marking himself as someone of exceptional taste, intelligence and good humor. I remember the call quite well. I was working as a producer/director on a piece of shit-, sorry, reality series- for an un nameable basic cable network that at one time used to play music videos (and no, it’s not Telemundo. Now stop asking me, please, it’s really not important), when my cell phone went off. I answered, and Ken was on the other end, complimenting our Big Lebowski and Flash Gordon (the movie) action figures. Which was pretty cool of him, as they hadn’t even come out yet. But what he’d seen all over the ‘net, he dug, and he felt compelled to get in touch. He asked me loads of questions about what else we had up our sleeves, and now, feeling comfortable, started to make suggestions. “Have you ever thought of doing something for The Venture Brothers ?” he said. “Yeah, as a matter of fact, I love that show”, says I, “but we kinda got our hands full right now, for a while anyway.” Hearing this, Ken started to sob uncontrollably. Like, really bad. Like, a mental breakdown type of sobbing. Through his muffled and snot filled pleading, I could kind of make out him saying that we were the only company that could do the show justice, and that he really wanted the toys to happen. Sooner rather than later, as he needed new toys to take into the tub to have wars with. Well, that’s how I remember it, anyway.

Eventually, because at that time I still had a heart made of honey and not marble, I gave in. “Ok, ok, I’ll do it. If you have a contact at the network, send them along and I’ll get to work on it. Now, please, stop crying”. That seemed to do the trick, and four years later, I’m happy to say that Bif Bang Pow! got the license for The Venture Brothers, and are about to finally bring little Ken’s dream to fruition. Which, in a way, is how I come to be writing this introductory column. Ken very generously offered FRED to me as a platform to write about whatever I like. I think it’s his way of paying us back for the millions of dollars we’ve already spent on the ‘Venture’ license, R and D, prototypes and marketing. So Ken, thank you for this opportunity.

If you’ve come this far, I can hear you asking another question: “What will I be rewarded with if I keep reading this crap?”. Well, I’m glad you asked. The truth is, I have no idea. I guess you’ll just have to stay with me, and bring along whatever you like as you enter this landscape, and hopefully your accessories will help you along the way. I CAN tell you, that I’ve decided to narrow my ‘whatever I like’ down a bit. Since I also guest blog over at Action Figure Insider, about the toy world, nostalgia and Bif Bang Pow!’s behind the scenes shenanigans, I may be steering clear of some of that at this address.

Chances are if you’re here and have been enjoying Quick Stop Entertainment all these years, and are digging what FRED is doing now, well, you’re probably a pop culture junkie of sorts, and most likely are prone to rooting for the underdog, the left of center, and cult favorites of the world. Which is good for me, because that’s just the sort of thing I’d like to write about: the forgotten, the unappreciated, the mocked, and the misunderstood.

I’m gonna call my column here “In Praise Of…”, as a small homage to Leonard Nimoy’s best television series, “In Search Of…”. Remember earlier when I said I did a lot of ‘stuff’? Well, I also LOVE a lot of ‘stuff’. Music, books, movies, tv, toys, and various other sundries. Now, not all of those things are loved by everyone I know. And some of them aren’t even LIKED by anyone I know. And some, well, they’re just plain HATED by everyone on the planet. But I thought that if anyone might be open to suggestion, or to having their horizons expanded, it’d be the FRED audience. And before you get there, I know, I know, there are literally hundreds of sites out there already that praise cult items on a daily basis, make obscure category top ten lists, and feature essays like “Why Timothy Dalton is the most underrated actor of all time”. (Well, he kind of is). I still like to think I’m going to be doing something different, and funnier, as big headed as that sounds. At the very least, I’ll be exposing my guilty pleasures to the world, without fear of arrest. I hope you’ll come along for the trip, it gets awfully lonely here in the cult wilderness. Make some popcorn, brew some tea, or make a sandwich and grab on with your free hand. You just might learn something. Back soon…

– Jason Lenzi

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