Top 10 Forgotten Gems

You’ll find out quickly that I’m way behind on the times. I was probably the last to find out Ben was dating J-Lo, WHAM! Is one of my favorite bands, and I just saw the Goonies for the first time last Saturday. I do, however, have a good memory for remembering things in the past that peaked my interest at the time. For example, thanks to a mindblowingly catchy commercial jingle, I still can confidently recite Stick Stickly’s mailing address:

Stick Stickly
P.O. Box 963
New York City, NY 10108

Anyway, that kind of nostalgic know-how has made me decide to comprise a list….

Top 10 Forgotten Gems.

1. Daria

An extremely entertaining dry-humored animated series that aired in the late 90’s that almost perfectly illustrated high school culture through the eyes of a girl who managed just about as many smiles in the show’s lifespan as I have fingers on my hands. Bootleg copies of the shows can be found in a few places online, but a DVD box set will most likely never come to fruition due to the lack of an audience and the amount of licensed music featured in the show. Daria, how I miss thee…

2. Unreal Tournament 2004

This game’s online community disappeared very quickly despite receiving stellar reviews across the board. Gamespot.com went as far as to say that ‘No other multiplayer-focused action game has this much to offer.’ The speed of Unreal Tournament’s gameplay could only be matched by the Quake series, but in my experiences with both, UT had the much steeper learning curve. In the end, I believe that was the game’s downfall. It lacked the noob-friendliness of a game like Counterstrike, with the complex, but effective movement system. It’s a shame very few play this game anymore, with I being one of those who has forgotten the game.

3. Alfred Hitchcock

My favorite film director of all time doesn’t get near the recognition that he deserves these days. I know this is completely cliché when describing his work, but no other director could even come close to his ability to create suspense in his films. It’s a shame he never won an Oscar for Best Director for any of his work. Nobody was nearly as resourceful in his time with his usage of camera work and sound either. If you haven’t seen Vertigo, Rear Window, or the original Psycho yet (I know there are others worth mentioning, but these are the most mainstream) kill yourself you need to go watch them. He also was the host of one of the best TV series’ of all time, “Alfred Hitchcock Presents…”

4. Sega Channel

Probably the closest thing to date to "gamer's heaven" was probably Sega Channel. Provided by TCI Cable for about $10-15/month, in addition to your cable bill, it sent a signal through a cable line and into a cartridge you inserted into your Sega Genesis, and provided access to a library of approximately 30 Genesis games every month on demand. I remember a contest they had once around the release of the game, "Primal Rage." They allowed you access to two characters, and once you completed the game on hard mode, they presented you with a number to call and a code to enter. The first person to call the number with the code won a Primal Rage arcade unit for their home as the grand prize, and a host of other consolation prizes were given out. I remember beating the game, calling the number, and about a month later receiving a prize check in the mail for $20. Heaven on Earth, indeed.

5. Playmakers

A cutting edge ESPN series that only lasted a season, unfortunately. It was centered around a team struggling to make the playoffs in an "NFL-like" league. Apparently the show was too "NFL-like" for the liking of NFL executives as they pressured ESPN to drop the show after only a season or they would pursue legal action. With homosexual players, players on steroids, players with drug abuse, etc. It truly was a male soap-opera, and it's a shame that the show only lasted one season.

6. Nintendorks.com

Ages ago, a team of Nintendo fanatics created a very humorous site and community of Nintendorks. I remember looking forward to reading the Daily Reader Comments, and Brandon's (one of the site admins) usually half-assed response to them. An example:

I think an author should do for videogames what Nick Hornby did for music. Don't ya think? - the wonder

Brandon: I think Nick Hornby should do it.

They still post on their forums, but rarely update the site. It's definitely worthy of forgotten gem status.

7. The Elephant Man

The Elephant Man is probably one of the most touching movies of all-time, and one of only three movies to ever bring tears to my eyes (Rudy and Shawshank Redemption being the other two). The movie is a biographical narrative of the life of Joseph Merrick (referred to as John Merrick in the film), who suffered from a severe case of Proteus Syndrome in the late 19th century. The Elephant Man was directed by David Lynch, who was Oscar nominated for his direction of Mulholland Dr. (the odd movie that somehow made a lesbian scene featuring Naomi Watts creepy instead of relentlessly arousing). This movie deserves a spot in any person’s library.

8. Tomba Series

Known by most gamers as “the caveman with pink hair,” Tomba came and went relatively under the radar of most PlayStation One owners. It featured fantastic side-scrolling platforming gameplay at a time when the genre was almost obsolete and most platformers had moved to 3-D. Tomba 2: The Evil Swine Return was definitely the better of the two games, as I spent countless hours slaving away at completely every trivial challenge the game provided. What could be more fun than kicking some evil pig butt?

9. Married With Children

Never has a bald shoe salesman with a mercilessly nagging wife been so revered in the eyes of males across the nation. Al Bundy was the true man’s man, and the show that featured him was fantastic, and somehow today, forgotten. It also did not hurt the show’s popularity to have a young Christina Applegate playing the prototypical hot blonde. I believe they still air the show sporadically on F/X, but it is a shame that many do not give the show the recognition it deserves.

10. SixSixFive.com

The blog before there was a blog, a young man with Munchausen syndrome created a blog with the intention of making six hundred sixty-five daily posts. While they did not end up being daily posts, the site provides some of the most engaging reading I have come across online. He opened up the site with “Transsexual Personals Week,” sparked my interest, and I could not stop reading it. I felt like I could relate to most, if not all of the posts and opinions of JSP (the “creator” of the site). The site is also my primary inspiration for creating this blog.

Some of these gems are more forgotten than others, but all of them do not receive nearly the recognition they rightfully deserve. Feel free to leave comments, and bow down to me let me know of other hidden gems.