Of Marshmallows and Teenage Witticisms

It doesn't take much for LLK to make a strong push for the canceled Veronica Mars. Several years ago, I took her up on her recommendation.

The recommendation delivered. And, quite honestly, it makes sense to recommend the show at any occasion.

I've been devouring the show (presently streaming on Netflix) lately, and it has progressively hit me.

This fucking show has everyone.

Rob Thomas, most recently of Party Down fame (another show canceled despite critical reception), seems to either have influential friendships, or a knack for creating shows that people what to involve themselves with. If I had to hazard a bet, I would guess it's some combination.

So, to avoid butchering the explanation of why VMars is so amazing (and it is), I'll simply point you to your Wii, blue ray player, or computer to stream that shit. But what I will do is illustrate the eerie encompassing of other shows. If you judge people by the company they keep, this list should be illustrative.

1. The "Wet Hot American Summer" contingent: The greatest movie ever, this program incorporated two actors from Wet Hot: Ken Marino, who plays the asshole detective Vinny Van Lowe, and Paul Rudd, who makes an awesome asshole guest appearance as Desmond Fellows, an "aging rocker." For anyone with taste, this should automatically clinch.

2. The "Simpsons" contingent: Dan Castelleneta, aka Homer, makes a guest cameo as the sociology professor. At one point, one of the actors exclaims "Doh!" as he walks away. Very awesome.

3. The "Home Improvement" contingent: Ok, so if you're like me, you haven't thrown away a single "Tiger Beat," especially those with JTT gracing the cover. Both JTT and ZTB have guest appearances, which induces such a strong nostalgic reaction that I'm half-tempted to reach for the nearest Boyz to Men cassette I have laying around.

4. The "Just Shoot Me" contingent: Enrico Colantani, who plays Keith Mars, obviously was in Just Shoot me. So it makes sense that they should bring the actress that played Maya in the third season.

5. The "Boy Meets World" contingent: A bit of a stretch since there's only one actor, but Rider Strong (porn name), who blessed this world as Cory's wrong-side-of-the-tracks bff Sean, resurfaces as the asshole college kid.

6. The "Freaks and Geeks" contingent: Samm Levine, who was in another too-soon canceled show, "Freaks and Geeks," graces us with his presences as Samuel Horshack, in the same episode with Strong, above.

Honorable Mentions: "Laguna Beach," "Celebrity Sex Tapes involving Heiresses."

I know I'm missing some, but I'd like to think that the above list shows that Rob Thomas keeps good company, and makes good tv that is cut down too soon.

Enjoy!