Pity the Fools

June 30, 2007 7:07 PM

Mike Essl and Greg Rivera are kinda obsessed* with Mr. T. *(polite understatement)
posted by miss lynnster (29 comments total)

I searched but it was hard to tell if it was a double. If so, my apologies.
posted by miss lynnster at 7:08 PM on June 30, 2007

Wow.
posted by lazaruslong at 7:15 PM on June 30, 2007

if you watch the whole video it kind of wins you over.
posted by radiosig at 7:33 PM on June 30, 2007

I am pretty sure that I reached this level of obsession about Lego and probably Capsela as well.
posted by feloniousmonk at 7:34 PM on June 30, 2007

That would be a scary obsession, if it weren't for the fact that they seem to be completely reveling in the silliness of their Mr. T love.

And the dolls are just fantastic. (They remind me of my 2002 halloween costume.)
posted by jack_mo at 7:40 PM on June 30, 2007

My favorite part was where they went through all their Mr. T memorabilia.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 7:40 PM on June 30, 2007

Here's an ebay promo done on them as well.

Turns out I actually own one of the Mr. T collectibles they feature. It was a birthday present from my best friend in 1984.
posted by miss lynnster at 7:47 PM on June 30, 2007

Can we please just kill every American who remembers the 80's? Or at least the ones that are responsible for all this shitty ironic appreciation of the decade's celebrities? Or kill me, so that I don't have to see really talentless ironists get celebrated?
posted by Mayor Curley at 7:50 PM on June 30, 2007

Consider yourself dead, Mayor Curley. If you ever post again on MetaFilter then we'll know it's some kind of fraudulent sock-puppet action.

Please stay dead. K thanx!
posted by Eekacat at 8:08 PM on June 30, 2007

oh, they're fools alright.
posted by russmail at 8:28 PM on June 30, 2007

Hey, hey, hey! Threaten eachother all you want guys... just make sure you don't start bringing your mothers into it. kthx.
posted by miss lynnster at 8:32 PM on June 30, 2007

'I pity the foolish mortal who dares defy the Golden Guardian!'; Or, Mr. T as drawn by Jack Kirby.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:22 PM on June 30, 2007 [1 favorite]

Mister T had (has?) a new show on TV Land called I Pity the Fool. (You would never have guessed that title, huh.)

I caught a few episodes, and actually... honestly... really enjoyed them! It's a reality show where families, or friends, or coworkers bring in Mr. T to help them resolve their issues. Funny, and touching at times.

The kind of obsession in that link is hard for me to grasp. Maybe I am just too lazy to be so obsessed. It's a lot of work! But I do remember we bought my little brother a Mister T soft doll for his birthday. He loved The A-Team, and Mister T especially. His doll talked when you pushed a button. It said numerous phrases, but the only one I can remember is (ready? huh?) "I pity the fool."
posted by The Deej at 9:29 PM on June 30, 2007

That guy - Mike Essl - went to my high school.
posted by BLDGBLOG at 9:42 PM on June 30, 2007

I feel exactly the same way about Mary Poppins EXCEPT I do not spend any money collecting Mary Poppins crap to fill up my house. What would be the point?
posted by bukvich at 10:14 PM on June 30, 2007

Totally absoludicrous.
posted by itchylick at 11:11 PM on June 30, 2007 [1 favorite]

Mr. T ate my balls.
posted by erikgrande at 11:58 PM on June 30, 2007

More fun with Mr. T, previously.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:37 AM on July 1, 2007

I always like seeing him get the giggles when he does "In the Year 2000" on Conan.
posted by concrete at 12:46 AM on July 1, 2007

Kinda obsessd?. They're helluva obsessed.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 1:06 AM on July 1, 2007

I'm not a huge fan of anybody, but if I had to get GPS navigation directions from a celebrity voice, Mr T would be close to the top of my list.
posted by BrotherCaine at 1:09 AM on July 1, 2007

concrete:

A goodly bit of chuckles. Especially watching Mr. T unable to keep a straight face during his entry.

Cheers!
posted by Samizdata at 6:16 AM on July 1, 2007

can you imagine having all of that stuff with your face on it?

it's like being a pharoah...some sort of god-king.
posted by geos at 7:30 AM on July 1, 2007

I was thinking that too.

And after seeing clips from his reality show and some of the weird weird industrial shorts he's made, I'm also amazed by two other things. 1) That he can still pull off that hair nearly 30 years later (seriously, it's IMPRESSIVE!), and 2) That he's kept up with the times & not become a joke... even though the stuff he's done would humiliate anyone else & end their careers. I think that the key is he always had an obvious love for children and those kids are now grown & still hold a soft spot for him in return. Nobody has a bad opinion of Mr. T as a person that I've ever heard of. They might not be interested in him, but most admit that as a person he genuinely seems like a nice guy. Dare I say it... he's an eccentric national treasure of sorts.
posted by miss lynnster at 7:56 AM on July 1, 2007

Mod note: a few comments removed - take STFU talk to metatalk or email, jesus.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:20 AM on July 1, 2007

Why would Jesus want to be told to STFU?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:09 AM on July 1, 2007

I can't tell someone to Starch Their Forensic Underwear without it getting deleted? WTF?!? (welshman turn fruity)
posted by vronsky at 9:59 AM on July 1, 2007

Mr. T is a great guy. I can't name many stars of his era who can approach his humanitarianism. I still kick myself for not going to see him in my hometown on Halloween 1989, when he was in town for an anti-drug rally.

His hip-hop LP Mister T's Commandments is still phat as ever, especially "Don't Talk to Strangers."

The 12" single Treat Your Mother Right is also mandatory listening.
posted by porn in the woods at 1:30 PM on July 1, 2007

porn in the woods: I bet you kept saying, "Oh, I'll go later."

Then when you got there he was gone. You asked the mall guy when he would be back, and he said he didn't know!

*weep*
posted by papakwanz at 2:12 PM on July 1, 2007