Comedy 101 with The Last Of The Americans

(Scene starts with a smartwatch screen and a finger as it taps the screen and the 1994 American Gladiators plays as the scene cuts to a hand as it taps an app on his phone as it opens a portal, and it cuts to James and the characters he’s played until it cut to his face and the credit of “James Faraci” is shown as it cuts to “The Last Of The Americans'” current iteration then slides away to different images of Paulo Fonseca, Brenda Fonseca, Rebecca Yaun and Nick Yaun and the characters they’ve played until it cut to their faces and the credits of “Paulo and Brenda Fonseca & Rebecca and Nick Yaun” is shown and it then slides away to different images of Andrew Beach, and Ed Champion as the characters they’ve played until it cut to their faces and the credits of Andrew Beach, Ed Champion” is shown as it then slides away to different images of Eric Kurtzke, Renee Miller and Olivia Horvath and the credits of “Eric Kurtzke, Renee Miller, Olivia Horvath” is shown as the 0:00-0:21 mark of the theme song plays. Everything becomes a swirl of Reds, Whites, and Blues as the credits “Produced by First Choice Productions" “Executive Producers: James Faraci, Paulo Fonseca, Brenda Fonseca, Rebecca Yaun, Nick Yaun, Eric Kurtzke, Renee Miller, Andrew Beach, Ed Champion & Olivia Horvath” “Editing by Eric Kurtzke and James Faraci” “Written and Directed by James Faraci” are shown as the 0:21-0:26 mark of the theme song plays. We then see an image of James as he jumps through the portal and lands with half of his team on his right. The other half on his left is on a black background, and the title “THE LAST OF THE AMERICANS” is shown Lazer etched into Titanium as the last six seconds of the American Gladiators 1994 theme song plays. Cut to James in his office) 

TLOTA: 
I'm James Faraci, The Last Of The Americans, and the views I'm about to express are that of my own and some of yours. Let me play this clip. (Cut to the clip of The Joker as he says, "If you have to explain the joke, THEN THERE IS NO JOKE!" Cut to James physically) And I will have to post this (James pulls out a gigantic stamp and puts the word "SPOILERS" on the screen, then tosses it in the background.) I did that because I had to set up something I will discuss, JOKES! (Cut to current "Sitcoms" and Comedy movies of the past fifteen years as James does a voiceover.)

TLOTA (V.O.): And for a good reason, there has been a recent influx of people talking about how much comedy has lost its ability to be funny and make people laugh. There's a reason why I find Cheese Aging, Paint Drying, Hearing about Climate Change, and watching mold grow on a stale piece of bread more humorous than an episode of "Superstore," quite simply it relies on over-explaining the joke, relying on people laughing at the stereotypes and not landing one laugh out of me. I love a good comedy that can make me laugh; "Superstore" does not do that. Then we come to long-running comedies like "SNL," "The Simpsons," and "South Park." They've either gone to the well one too many times, or their attempts to stay relevant have left them in disrepair. (Cut to James in a lab coat at Sullivan County Community College)

TLOTA: This is why I am here at SUNY Sullivan Community College: to educate people about the science of humor! Welcome to Comedy 101, and I am your instructor, James Faraci, The Last Of The Americans! Let's start off with what makes a joke funny. (Cut to comedic movies and sitcoms as James does a voiceover)

TLOTA (V.O.): There must be a rhythm to the joke being told. First, the setup and the payoff—there has to be something to set the joke up to be funny. Take, for example, the movie Airheads with Brendan Frasier, Adam Sandler, Steve Buscemi, and Joe Mantegna. Our heroes have already taken over a radio station with the hopes of getting their demo played and have, for all intents and purposes, held the staff and management as hostages. Earlier in the movie, we see the station manager looking into restaffing the station, and Steve Buscemi's character has just told Joe Mantegna's character about a crate of Easy Listening music. Seeing what Steve Buscemi's character has seen, the station manager's ruse is up. He tells everyone that the radio station is changing formats on Sunday at midnight, and everyone is fired. Pissed off, Joe Mantegna gives the best set of lines anyone would say in the situation, which leads to the payoff of Joe Mantegna's character going for the station manager's popular parts of the male anatomy and any other part of him that is exposed! Or, in a more classic example, in the episode "M*A*S*H," the episode "Adam's Ribs," Hawkeye and Trapper are mentally preparing themselves for lunchtime and back in the days of the Korean Conflict where "M*A*S*H" is set, lunch at the 4077 is usually met with dread anyways because it's army surplus from decades before everyone was born! The setup also includes that the lunch is either Liver or Fish; those have been the only options for ten days and possibly in the same manner. The blow-up of Hawkeye, as played by Alan Alda, is classic because once Igor says, "We have either Liver Or Fish." Hawkeye has had enough and has a breakdown, causing a chant from everyone screaming, "WE WANT SOMETHING ELSE!" when finally confronted by Lt. Col. Henry Blake, they mention something about Ribs. The payoff is for the rest of the episode as Hawkeye tries to get the ribs brought to Korea and then cooked for a meal. The twist is at the end, as they're about to enjoy the ribs, the conflict brings wounded, causing poor Hawkeye to lose his ribs and more of his sanity from the war. (Cut to James physically.)

TLOTA: Now, we move on to how to do Satire correctly. (Cut to different Satire movies and series as James does a voiceover)

TLOTA (V.O.): Satire must be used as a mirror to hold up to us and shout, "HEY, YOU DUMBASS MORON! YOU'RE BEING A DUMBASS MORON! QUIT BEING A DUMBASS MORON, OR YOU'LL DESTROY YOURSELF AND THE WORLD AROUND YOU!" One thing about satire is that it is something that everyone fundamentally fails and forgets; YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THE MATERIAL TO MAKE FUN OF IT! The reason "Galaxy Quest" remains the best satire of "Star Trek" is because it understands not only sci-fi but also understands the lives of the cast from "Star Trek," especially that EVERYONE in the cast hates the William Shatner espy as much as the few surviving cast members of "Star Trek" want to live long and piss on Shatner's grave! A Seltzer and Friedberg Satire comedy misses the mark because it focuses on making the material they're supposed to satire seem stupider than the actual material it's based on. "Scary Movie" and "Scary Movie 2" were the only two good movies in the whole thing because they understood the movies that the Wayans Brothers were satirizing AND the character types that the movies were in said movies. That is why "South Park," despite what I've heard about how intelligent the writing process of both Parker and Stone is, has permanently lost its way. Instead of making the adults even dumber than they are and everyone laughing at their stupidity, they glorify it, and everyone seems happily stupid. That is what we're supposed to be! (Cut to the clip of Robert Wagner's No. 2 saying, "Oy Gevalt!" in "Austin Powers in Goldmember." Cut to more comedies as James does a voiceover.)

TLOTA (V.O.): Now, while I have talked about Gross-Out and physical comedies, I want to point out some things I didn't get to the first time around. Primarily with physical comedy and slapstick, done right, and feeling like a ballet. In addition to what I have said there. I have to admit that this is a very easy form of comedy to mess up. If correctly done, then the humor of a good gross-out comedy is subtle, and when the gross-out moments are the effect of the cause. The first two"American Pie" movies worked because there was a balance between the gross-out and the humanity and the heart of the decent characters. Yes, the other movies in this franchise did have it, but when we see the cast in their late thirties acting like they did in their teens, it looks rather pathetic. When Joe Besser joined The Three Stooges, Moe and Larry's schtick of being unemployed, living together, unmarried, and acting like big children in grown-up bodies wasn't funny; of course, the humor around that time was more in the same tone as the 1950's sitcoms, not exactly a match to the comedy of the middle class thumbing the noses to the hoi polloi. As much as the firing from Columbia Pictures was a blessing in disguise. It had to make them re-work their act when Besser left it, and Curly-Joe DeRita joined the team; of course, not only did the shorts they made become successful on the small screen did that trio got more respect from everyone around them, but they also able to get more work on screen because of it. Their legacy was cemented, cast, and forged into immortal status when they stepped down from active entertainer status. (Cut to James physically back in his office)

TLOTA: And that is because they understood comedy, not just the slapstick, but also how to evolve their style to fit the times and stay true to what worked for them. These days, comedy has lost its ability to be funny. Now, while I'm aware I won't make much of a difference in this case, what I do hope is that I am making people aware of the situation. I'm aware I'm not as funny as I was when I started. I can remember the chuckles when I made the joke I did when that guy said, "Two Funerals, One Wedding." in my "Crisis On Earth-X" review, saying "I'm more of a "Four Weddings and A Funeral" person, it died a painful death, not even a bare acknowledgment of the joke. That's worse than having to explain it. This is why we need to acknowledge comedy requires help. (Cut to today's comedy movies and sitcoms as James does a voiceover)

TLOTA (V.O.): Now, I will admit that I may not be as funny as I once was, but I am trying to improve my comedy and ability to be funny. Will I succeed? I plan to do so because people need laughter, whether it comes from me or my associates in my profession or from actual comedians, real comedy movies, and shows that are actually funny. I'd sooner rather get a good laugh from a comedy than an over-explanation of why a joke is funny. Telling your audience to understand doesn't make a joke funny. Letting them discover what is funny about the jokes is better than nothing when it comes to being funny. (Cut to James in his office)

TLOTA: Next month, the eleventh anniversary or, in my case, the eleventh hour, something will happen. I'm James Faraci, The Last Of The Americans, and that's my opinion.

What we miss, now that the world is over

(Camera turns on and James grabs the title card and hums “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It & I Feel Fine” for five seconds as James shows his handmade title card of a Nuclear explosion and the words “The End Of The World” and James puts it on the desk.) 

TLOTA: 
I’m The Last Of The Americans and the views I’m about to express, whatever. So guess what, even though there’s nothing really to talk about. I decided to list the five things we have missed since the world ended, and I had help from everyone in the bunker for this list. So, let’s get to it, the Top Five things we have missed since the end of the world.

(James puts on a CD in the background with “This is The End” by The Doors in the background, and James chuckles and says himself as he draws the title card and number cards Showing the “Top Five things everyone misses since the end of the world” and then a numbered card.)

TLOTA: Number five! Entertainment. I know this is a surprise, but I’m sure everyone was looking forward to listening to new music and watching movies, especially the new MCU movies! I mean, why not entertainment! Good, bad, indifferent, who cared? If we got something new, we could enjoy something to forget our problems, even briefly. (James pulls out a numbered card)

TLOTA: Number four! Religious differences, if you believed in God or had a religion that you believed in something good, then trust that things would be one of the few things that may keep you something to pull you through this nuclear nightmare. (James pulls out a numbered card)

TLOTA: Number three! Looking at the world at the right time. This one is personal to me because I loved to go out at night, get some fresh air, look into the night sky, and look for just a bare glimmer of hope. (James pulls out a numbered card)

TLOTA:

Number two! Cleanliness, being able to clean clothes, wash your food, clean yourself; basically, you will just smell like shit. (James pulls out a numbered card)

TLOTA: And at the Number one spot, it is everything! What else can I say? We miss the fresh air, fresh food, seeing the world outside of a radiation suit, tasting fresh water, having a stable power source, the high-speed internet and Wi-Fi, cellular communication, love, hope, and anything and everything we took for granted. All because we didn’t dare to stand up to...  (Power Flickers again) Fuck! The power is unstable again! I will fix this mess if it takes me everything I have left! See everyone soon. I’m James, Last Of The Americans, signing off! (Camera shuts off) 

 

How to survive in a Horror Movie

  (0:36 until the end of the 1994 American Gladiators theme plays as it cuts to James as he morphs into The Last Of The Americans with the half team TLOTA on his right and the other half on his left as the camera pulls back to see the slab with the markings “The Last Of The Americans”. Fade cut to James in his room at his house)

TLOTA:
I'm James Faraci The Last Of The Americans and Yeah still at home, and quarantined and Halloween is still happening and that's the most unbelievable part of 2020! (Cut to different horror movies as James does a voiceover)

TLOTA (V.O.):
I get why Halloween is still going on, that even though the world is no longer the way it once was we should have enjoy the scary slasher, spooky monster, bizarre type of movie that we need to see these type of stereotypes of people going through these types of fake horrors and I like them as escapist entertainment during these hard times. But the stereotypes seem to have become a punchline especially in advertising (Show GEICO Horror Movie Stereotypes ad. Cut to James as he facepalms himself.) 

TLOTA:
Yeah, this type of thing has been in there since Time immemorial with the Horror Flick as well as most horror movies but ask yourself this, If you were in the same situation, would you survive? Actually the question is If you were in a Horror movie, How would you survive? (Cut to clips of Horror films as James does a voiceover)

TLOTA (V.O.):
For starters you'd have to have some common sense, in most cases is to be armed, heavily! I mean you'd give Rambo and Ted Nugent inferiority complexes. That is something best known from the Zombieland movies. Also to Double Tap the creature or monstrous murderer! Something else is to be well informed in mythos and lore. That is where the character of Luke in "Dracula II: Ascension" & "Dracula III: Legacy" which are straight to DVD sequels to the Wes Craven "Dracula 2000" is best at. He's aware of Vampiric Lore even though he cannot rescue the woman he loved and the team members that strangely are either embracing what they're doing and what they're becoming. Also important is to come up with plans that have contingencies, that is where someone like like the people around Ash from the Original Evil Dead Trilogy in the "Ash vs The Evil Dead" tv series is at his best. Though granted he occasionally has one or two gems but otherwise he follows another trope, the survivor with PTSD who knows what's going on yet they are shunned by normal people, that's the kind of guy to listen to. That is where more or less the one trope I think is perfect. Listening to those who have been through what you're going through. Another thing that is essential to survival, having a source of water and stock up on food. That was something that was a plot point in the Apocalyptic Comedy "This Is The End" the need for food and water for survival and of course finding belief in god and doing enough good in your life or coming clean with yourself can get you to heaven.  (Cut to James physically)

TLOTA: 
And even though survival is key in such situations, what happens to those who do survive what do their lives become. (Cut to "Halloween (2018)" as James does a voiceover)

TLOTA (V.O.):
This is where the tale of Laurie Strode, after numerous reboots and sequels that are no longer in cannon has gone to in the Halloween 2018 soft reboot. Her life no longer is about any emotional value, she has no joy or sadness in her life. She's disconnected from the world, disconnected from her family and disconnected period! The positives is that she was prepared in so many ways for Michael Myers return. She isn't scared to be honest about certain feelings towards certain things especially Michael Myers. That is also a double edged sword, the backlash of being a survivor means everyone thinks you're not mentally well and Laurie suffers from that reputation but it's the mentality that saves her daughter and granddaughter and shows in Laurie's daughter when she makes the switch from fraidy cat to stone cold bad ass in a split second. So even though surviving Michael Myers' first attack left her scarred, it also left Laurie wiser to who she could be and what she could be and what she needed to become to stop the evil of Michael Myers. (Cut to James physically)

TLOTA:
Then there is the only major negative to surviving, Survivor's Guilt. (Cut to clips of Horror films as James does a voiceover)

TLOTA (V.O.):
Even after surviving, you eventually come to a sad revelation of that every breath you take is one your friends didn't can give you feelings that you shouldn't be there. But that differential is what kept you alive when everyone else fell was not as smart as you to realize the fact you have to be a lot smarter than the bad guy.

TLOTA:
So is Survival in a Horror is possible but is it worth it? I think so! (Cut to clips of Horror films as James does a voiceover)

TLOTA (V.O.):
Because being alive and seeing another day is better than knowing you were slaughtered by a monster in the last hours of your life. This is where being intelligent and having real common sense is worth it, especially if you're in the real world. It's easier than it looks but it's also a lot harder to live with what happened. But as long as you learn and the aftermath doesn't totally destroy you but instead makes you that much better as to who you are and what you want, learning to survive is the best way to get through any situation even against someone like Michael Myers, Freddie Kruger, Jason Voorhees, Norman Bates, Chucky and every other force of evil in a horror movie. (Show clip of Ash in "Evil Dead II" as he makes his sawed off Shotgun with his Chainsaw and says "Groovy!". Cut to James physically)

TLOTA:
Indeed Ash! Survival is Groovy! I'm James Faraci The Last Of The Americans and That's my opinion!

Why do Bio-Pics take such liberties?

(Opening begins at the 0:36-end mark from the theme from the final season of American Gladiators original run play the camera pulls back to see James and everyone else on top of a slab with the words “The Last Of The Americans” on it before cutting to James in his office)

TLOTA:
I'm James Faraci The Last Of The Americans and the views that I'm about to express are that of my own and some of yours. Napoleon Bonaparte said it best when he said "History is a myth that men agree to believe." Something tells me Hollywood says something similar to itself when making Bio-Pics "History Schmistory!" (Cut to clips of Bio-Pics as James does a voiceover)

TLOTA (Voiceover):
With a recent wave of movies like "Bohemian Rhapsody"telling the tales of Iconic musicians Freddie Mercury and the band he fronted "Queen"  & "Rocketman" telling the story on how young Reginald Kenneth Dwight became Sir Elton John people have been going to them with everyone saying "This is a good movie but it is not the real history behind Elton John or Freddie Mercury and his relationship with his bandmates Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor. And as I saw them and other movies about real people I saw things that didn't make much sense when I did research, I realized that the production companies behind them were as guilty as the filmmakers who did these movies. They obviously do somethings that for the sake of either time restraints or to either glorify or demonize certain people because they want to tell a story about someone. But should they? (Cut to James physically)

TLOTA:

And if they should, can they take as many liberties as they do?

(Cut to clips of Bio-Pics as James does a voiceover)

TLOTA (Voiceover):

I'm not saying that they totally fictionalize everything. I mean Elton John and the bandmates of Queen were obviously from Earth and Andy Kaufman was human, at least I think he was. Anyway, these movies have all one quality they distort facts either for time or for the sake of the story. "Amadeus" while factually is as accurate as cardboard told an interesting tale on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart which could get people interested in knowing more about the real story between him and Antonio Salieri. The Movie "Ray" is more factual in telling the tale of Ray Charles with the following exceptions. One) Ray did NOT just stand there while his brother drowned, he tried to save him and never blamed his drug addiction on what happened to his brother. Two) Georgia NEVER blacklisted Ray Charles for not playing concerts that were segregated. Three) When "Georgia On My Mind" became the state song of Georgia, Ray Charles was divorced from his wife. Four) Della Bea Robinson played by Kerry Washington was Ray Charles' second wife. He was divorced for some time from his first wife! Those were four facts that were either altered or omitted for the sake of the story or for the sake of time. So if we are missing facts for either the sake of the story or for the sake of time, What's the point in seeing it? (Cut to James physically as he grabs a Chicken Wire Fence)

TLOTA:
To get off our asses, go to a library and fill in the holes from the plots that the movies create! (A Chorus of Boos are heard as Bottles, Cans and other things are flung James' way!) LET ME EXPLAIN!(Cut to clips of Bio-Pics as James does a voiceover)

TLOTA (Voiceover):
If I were to take what happened in "Ali" at face value then I would miss out on certain things. Why did the marriage to Sonji fall apart? Who or what led Malcolm Little to the nation of Islam and Malcolm Little becoming Malcolm X? This is where finding real research to truly learn more about the movie you saw, you can know more after seeing a soupcon of the facts in the movie by learning more through research. I learned more about certain people that were vilified or glorified in movies when the reality is that they weren't either. So maybe the liberties that Hollywood does take have a purpose. Now I am saying that Hollywood will NEVER get one person's life right in two to three hours and I am NEVER going to defend Hollywood but if the Bio-Pics make people think and look up research on the truth then maybe there's some good to bringing a man's life onto the big screen. (Cut to James Physically)

TLOTA:
I'm James Faraci The Last Of The Americans and that's my opinion!

In Defense of... THE XFL?!?

(Opening begins at the 0:36-end mark from the theme from the final season of American Gladiators original run play the camera pulls back to see James and everyone else on top of a slab with the words “The Last Of The Americans” on it before cutting to James in his office)

TLOTA:
I'm James Faraci The Last Of The Americans and the views that I'm about to express are that of my own and some of yours and welcome to another edition of "In Defense Of..."(Show pics of maligned pieces of pop culture while the fanfare from the Olympics  play and James comes up after Vanilla Ice slides back and his right hand thumbs up and the words "In Defense Of..."  before cutting to James physically.)

TLOTA:
Well, it's Super Bowl Season and as usual for New York Jets Fans most are ending their lives in a myriad of different ways. But apparently there is hope in 2020 as a new Football league is coming in and it is run by... (Cut to an image of Vince McMahon before cutting to James looking scared). Well hopefully he won't make the same mistakes he did the first time, I mean it's not like he's going to try and revive (Cut to the XFL 2020 logo and James shouting "GODDAMN IT VINCE!" before cutting to James physically) Okay, maybe it won't be the same as it was in 2001, maybe he learned more in the time in between then and now. Lord willing and the crick don't rise! But maybe there is a small amount of good that came from the 2001 attempt to change the game or perhaps Vince knew what he was doing the first time around. (Cut to XFL 2001 footage as James does a voiceover)

TLOTA (Voiceover):
Let's face facts The 2001 XFL season was doomed from the start! But I think even Vince McMahon knew that and for what it's worth it did somethings right. For example a rule was made that on any stoppage of play the clock would start up again once the ball was spotted. But that happened after a very, VERY DISASTEROUS MISSTEP done by the league on a Saturday Night telecast as it went into double overtime which forced Saturday Night Live to be delayed and well it wouldn't surprise me if Lorne Michaels went this level of nuts on Dick Ebersol (Cut to James in a green screen looking like a very battered, bloodied and bruised Lorne Michaels.)

Lorne Michaels:
DICK EBERSOL NOBODY EVER (BLEEP)ING DELAYS MY SHOW WHICH I HAVE FOUGHT TO STAY ON FOR THIS (BLEEP)ING LONG! YOU AND (BLEEP) MCMAHON WILL NEVER DELAY ANOTHER EPISODE OTHERWISE I WILL (BLEEP)ING BEAT YOU TO DEATH WITH YOUR (BLEEP)ING XFL FOOTBALL! (Cut to a very nervous James peering up and out from behind his desk before cutting to more XFL 2001 footage as James does a voiceover)

TLOTA (Voiceover):
But there were more lessons learned because the Arena attendance numbers for the XFL depending on where you hear it from was doing well for itself. But the problem lied in the fact that this was meant to be a Televised Program first and a sport second. Something the new XFL will hopefully avoid making it a sport first and a TV program second. Then of course Vince went down the Gimmicks route. Starting off with an attempt for a rivalry between Rusty Tillman and Jesse Ventura the Then Minnesotan  Governor which went nowhere because Rusty Tillman didn't want anything to do with it. Then came the most absolute cheapest ploy for ratings, Vince McMahon was going to have a cameraman inside the Cheerleaders Locker Room which went... well... just watch. ( Show fantasy clip of what happened inside the Cheerleaders locker room before cutting to James physically)

TLOTA:
Okay Vince whatever Crazy pills you were on at the time please tell me you're no longer on them!

(Cut to XFL 2001 footage as James does a voiceover)

TLOTA (Voiceover):

Then came the fact that the then titled World Wrestling Federation and XFL cross promotion in the early days of the XFL. We had Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson who played in College Football with the Miami Hurricanes to open the show and vignettes with The Undertaker and Stone Cold Steve Austin just to name a few people who should NOT have been promoting the XFL. What they should've done was have NFL legends who could've gone to training camps and advise rookies on what has to happen and give the upstart league a bit more credibility.But for whatever reason they decided against it. Hopefully they'll go that route this time. Then came a mission statement to "Evolve the sport while bringing Football back to it's roots." to para-quote Brian Zane from "Wrestling With Wreget" Okay, what roots back to the 1980's-90's era of Football where physicality was meant to be intense? The social paradigms that we had during the turbulent 1960's & 1970's? Or the Gentlemen violence at the start of the beginning of the sport until the 1950's? . The idea of bringing anything back to the way it was has not and will NEVER work because everything moves forward.The XFL should've been an evolutionary step forward for the NFL as to how to perform on TV not an attempt to take it back to a day it can never return to because it says that The XFL is out of touch and behind the times. If anyone thought that what that what Colin Kapernick got old timers upset well think again. There were legends in the sport that felt that young upstart Joe Namath was killing the sport. (Cut to James physically)

TLOTA:

This is why Vince's competitors in the Pro Wrestling business have failed. Why Herb Abrams UWF failed. Why the AWF went under. Why so many indie companies that Vince McMahon ran out of business and the XFL 2001 season failed because it tried to take something back to a point it can never go back to. So heed my words if anyone says they're out to bring something back to it's roots, RUN LIKE HELL AWAY FROM IT BECAUSE THEY WILL BURN THEMSELVES TO THE GROUND AND POSSIBLY TAKE YOU DOWN WITH THEM. Now back to whatever it is I was talking about.

(Cut to XFL 2001 footage as James does a voiceover)

TLOTA (Voiceover):

 By the "Million Dollar Championship" came out Ebersol and NBC were out of the XFL but Vince said there'd be a second season that is until UPN poached Buffy from WB and UPN expected Vince to foot the bill by cutting Smackdown by a half an hour or ending the XFL. Vince took the route all successful businessmen took. He put his money into the venture that was making the money and not costing him badly. With some of the lowest ratings to ever hit TV the XFL ended on a Pfft. But maybe that was part of McMahon's plans. See the reaction to the product as it was and see where it can go. (Cut to James physically)

TLOTA:
As a matter of fact, I am going to go out on a line and say that the XFL 2001 season was in fact, the stress test season.

(Cut to a "Bar Rescue" episode in the middle of a Stress Test as James does a voiceover)

TLOTA (Voiceover):
A "Stress Test" is something businesses and companies do to see if everything can do well under pressure. If they succeed they will get a lot of people interested in what will happen and every employee will succeed when the kimchi hits the fan. It just surprised me that it took Vince this long to react and then try the XFL again. But this did help an alternative sports league get credibility. (Cut to clips of Arena Football League gameplay as James continues as His Voiceover) The Arena Football League got more recognition and more mainstream viewership. (Cut to NFL & other sports as James does a voiceover) And then came the fact that sports are now being filmed in the same way the XFL filmed and they've been putting mics on coaches and players as well as interviewing in mid-game so Vince may have changed how professional sports are done and some of the XFL players like Rod "He Hate Me" Smart and Tommy Maddox went on to win Super Bowls as well as The CFL Grey Cup.  (Cut to James physically)

TLOTA:
But after nearly two decades since the inception of the original XFL does it deserve all the ridicule it deserved? Not really.

(Cut to XFL 2001 footage as James does a voiceover)

TLOTA (Voiceover):

Okay it was horribly produced, put together on the fly and cost Vince McMahon and Dick Ebersol money and credibility but watching the game play itself and how the player performance on-field was amazing and hopefully Vince learned enough to make sure what happened the first time with the XFL won't happen again when the new iteration of the XFL begins. (Cut to James physically)

TLOTA:
I mean Vince has done worse. (Cut to clips of "The Three Stooges" on Monday Night Raw, John Laurinitis running both Raw and Smackdown into the ground, The first brand split, all the times John Cena got over and newer talent was buried unnecessarily, The Invasion storyline, All of the WWE Reality shows and finally The Montreal Screwjob before cutting back to James) Yeah Vince, I never forgot and neither has the fans. I'm James Faraci The Last Of The Americans and that's my opinion.