Enjoy Stuff: Twosday! Stuff Strikes Back

It's Twosday! And to celebrate, Jay and Shua are taking a look at sequels. Not just movies, but TV, video games, music and more! Come have fun with us and Enjoy Stuff 2: Electric Boogaloo!   Today is February 22, 2022. Why is that important you ask? Well, if you are a numerophile then you might be really interested in the date 2-22-22. Especially at 2:22:22. For us, it means today is all about the number two! Specifically, sequels. Join us as we look into the the history and thought process behind making a continuation of a story.   News A Futurama revival has been ordered for Hulu RIP Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman Are you ready for a new Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers movie? It’s coming to Disney+ Soon we will get to see how Ralphie raised his kids in a Christmas Story sequel John Cena will be co-starring with the legendary stunt performer, Wile E. Coyote in Coyote vs Acme What we’re Enjoying Shua Received a very special retro gift from his lovely wife for Valentine’s Day. Two peanuts collections in paperback form from the 60s helped to spark tons of childhood memories. She used to read them endlessly and his drawing career began when he would copy the pictures from Books. Jay started a new series on Amazon Prime. Reacher tells the story of a muscular Stranger who wanders into town and gets accused of murder. Trust us, it’s better than we are making it sound.   Enjoy Movies! (and TV, Games, Music, and more!) Sequels have been around almost as long as movies. But when did they start adding numbers to a title to indicate that it was a continuation of the plot? We found the first evidence of a Roman numeral in a title back in 1957 with a movie from England called Quatermass II. Roman numerals became really popular after 1974’s The Godfather part II. We got a plethora of sequels with those parallel little numbering systems with Superman II, Star Trek two, Rambo II, and of course the iconic weekend at Bernie’s II. They don’t all have Roman numerals but a sequel really means that someone liked the first story and wanted it to continue. Why do we like sequels? Is it just a cash grab from the studios? Or is it because we just don’t want the characters and story to end?   Sequels aren’t unique to movies either. Television shows sometimes have sequels, but usually they’re called spinoffs. The Jeffersons was a spinoff to All in the Family. Laverne and Shirley was a spinoff for Happy Days, as was Mork and Mindy. The title numbering may be different, but they are still sequels.   Video games jumped into the sequel world. Sometimes they would differentiate from the original by giving it a similar title like Donkey Kong Jr. or Ms. Pac-Man. Or sometimes they maintained their cinematic quality by giving them numbers like Streetfighter II or Mortal Kombat II.   Even the music industry got into the sequel numbering game. Some iconic albums were numbered with Roman numerals like Led Zeppelin II, McCartney II, Queen II, and Van Halen II. Plus tons of Greatest Hits compilations will throw numbers on their titles to let everyone know you need to collect the whole set. Now that’s what I call music! Do you like sequels? Or do they annoy you that they may not be an original idea? Which one stands out to you?Let us know. Come talk to us in the Discord channel or send us an email to [email protected]