Why does Pete get to hang around on set? Oh, yeah: he’s the screenwriter! He must be still working on the screenplay, since as far as we know it hadn’t been finished when they jetted off to Ohio, then New York, then back to Ohio for all the Cliff Anger bullshit. When it comes to settling a discussion, “Let’s ask Pete” is right up (or down) there with “Let’s flip a coin.”
Tag: Mason Jarr
Gravit-ass
Epicus Doomus
June 21, 2016 at 11:45 pm
So, is Mason all stupid again now or what? He was kind of douchey when Les first met him, then he became a beloved Westview fixture, then a benevolent student of lost films and now he’s an idiot again?
What do a percussionist Prince protégé, the Boss’ backup band, a lowercase poet, and mass–energy equivalence have in common? Besides the most commonly used letter in the English languages, not much at all. “Gravitas“? Does Mason even know what the word means? Sheila E’s a helluva performer, but is more famous for her musicianship than her “dignity, seriousness, or solemnity of manner.” As Epicus points out, for all the “strip time” Mason gets, we don’t know much about him besides the fact that he’s a handsome movie actor. Is he making a joke here? The guy who writes and draws him sure isn’t.
People Who Need People
Perhaps Mason’s sudden-onset name change mania isn’t a symptom of his bipolar disorder. Recall how Les fed him that story about Pavarotti’s superstitiously carrying a bent nail for good luck (before planting one for Mason to find, in order to give him the confidence to get through a table read for Lisa’s Story). It wouldn’t take much to convince such a gullible sap that tacking an “e” onto his surname could bring good fortune…or maybe even “a new interview with People magazine“! Because, you know, that project he was involved with the last time People mag came knocking? Les and his fucking “kill fee” put the kibosh on that.
J…E…R…K…E
Professor Fate
June 20, 2016 at 9:35 am
It had been established earlier that Mason was bi-polar could this be the start of a manic upswing? And since we are well into production of the SJ movie wouldn’t this require modifications to all the publicity material? And shouldn’t he be talking about this with his agent?
Mason’s supposed mental disorder, which he disclosed last fall and which has not been mentioned since, could indeed explain his impulsive desire to change his name. It’s certainly not a logical choice: for starters, the added “e” would change the pronunciation from “jar” to “jar-RAY” (or even “zhahr-RAY”). It would be only a couple degrees less confusing than when Prince changed his name to 
.
Wheel! Of! Torture!
Greetings, dear snarkers, hate-readers, and beady-eyed nitpickers. Please allow me to share with you my horrifying realization: with Cody, Owen, Wedgeman, et al, having finally graduated from Westview High, Tom Batiuk no longer needs to depict “contemporary issues affecting young adults”. After forty-four years, Batty’s decided to ditch the high school madness plotlines and focus full-time on what he really wants to write about: the Starbuck Jones universe. Brace yourself for strip after strip about how TB imagines Hollywood movies are made. At least he used to take the trouble of lurking around his old high school to glean details of “real” high school life (and he’d still get it wrong).
With such thin material from which to spin the Starbuck saga, Batiuk’s going to need to pad and plod even more than he typically does, which brings us to today’s strip, which starts out promisingly with a cameo from Pat Sajak. Turns out to be more of Batty’s bait-and-switch, and not to spoil it for you but I feel I must: this whole week revolves around Mason considering adding an “e” to his last name.
Son of Stuck Funky 
