All but the first are the same joke, watching something other than a streaming show, But the first is a show, but with the complainer being someone (a dog) who normally would not be considered to be watching the show.
Sometimes on social media (or even IRL) when a dispute starts brewing, a bystander or observer will make remarks like “who’s bringing the popcorn?” or just put in the popcorn emoji, to indicate it seems more like an entertainment than a serious matter.
And as dvandom is suggesting, for most of these strips that’s how the catchphrase is functioning.
Good points, Dvandom and Dana. But it’s rather dark that they are treating the guy injuring himself at car repairs as an entertainment.
And speaking of popcorn, I thought the bird feeder being attacked by the squirrel looked filled with something resembling popcorn more than birdseed.
It seems like the first strip in the series is the only one that I get as a joke, since in my experience my cat likes to join me on the sofa when I’m watching TV and does seem to be annoyed if I start without him. All the other strips don’t make sense to me. These are all real-time events that are being watched, so you can’t really plan on watching something together when you don’t know it’s going to happen.
Why is the second strip in the series in black-and-white, and features characters that do not appear in any of the other strips? I’m not familiar with this strip, so I don’t know if they are regular characters (either the observers or the performers) or do I know why these two guys are hurling obscenities at each other in the kitchen of an elderly couple.
I’m also puzzled by the last strip in the series. Is the family standing in the hallway of an apartment building, listening to a voice coming out of a neighboring apartment? Where’s the joke?
Same joke.
I don’t understand the last one, either, but the others, while not truly scheduled like a TV show, can certainly be anticipated. The bird feeder/squirrel joke is a good example. I’m sure if you sat and watched the feeder for a bit it wouldn’t be long before a squirrel came along and attempted to get to it. Knowing that, perhaps the dogs had agreed they would go together to watch. Same idea with a dog rolling around in a yard, someone heading to work on a vehicle (they likely bang a finger/hand/whatever almost every time) and two people arguing.
@Bobanero, I don’t know why the 2nd one is in black-and-white, but it remains that way as archived on GoComics – https://www.gocomics.com/zackhill/2024/05/14 . One of the collaborators, John Deering, is known as an editorial cartoonist, which may contribute to the comments conversation at GoComics which assumes this is a partisan political argument, and tries to continue it into the comments.
The Zack Hill strip takes place at a boarding house, run by Zack’s mother, Jan, with the residents there making up a cast of extras, if you will. There are selected strips showing these characters at https://www.johnnewcombe.com/zack-hill . Jan is the woman in the first one, and Zack is the kid along with her in the car repair scene and the bottom scene. A resident called Carl is doing the car repair, and I think is also the left side of the arguers in the b-and-w one. Based on that guide page, the other arguer is Vince, and their audience is Mr and Mrs Belmont. The room shown in the bottom strip is occupied by Mr Grumbine, who never leaves the room; so the joke maybe involves the mystery of who he could be having this conversation with.
Maybe didn’t all work out, but still I would call it a good creative experiment!
@Mitch4 now that you mention it, I recall reading Zack Hill for a while back in the early part of the 21st century. The artwork style seems much different than I remember, which is why it didn’t ring a bell. It’s much clearer now.
Posted all together like that, the last one is the funniest one.
well, I was going to submit these (as a CIDU), but didn’t find the time, so thank you for posting it anyway. Dana K’s response is the most helpful. I still don’t get it, but it reminds me of Tabby in the strip Adult Children, which sorta makes sense.
Mitch4 (3): “it’s rather dark that they are treating the guy injuring himself at car repairs as an entertainment.”
That has long been common fare in TV or movies. E.g., did you ever watch the Three Stooges? For that matter, people have been paying admission to boxing matches for a long, long time.
Mitch4 (3): “it’s rather dark that they are treating the guy injuring himself at car repairs as an entertainment.”
Slapstick!
The last strip is playing on a running gag involving Mr. Grumbine, an ex-CIA curmudgeon who normally stays barricaded behind his door:
_ P.S. The missing coloration seems to be a periodic error at GoComics, it has occurred on three separate Tuesdays (and one Saturday) within the past six weeks. The syndicate‘s website shows the strip in color:
Comics I Don't Understand 
All but the first are the same joke, watching something other than a streaming show, But the first is a show, but with the complainer being someone (a dog) who normally would not be considered to be watching the show.
Sometimes on social media (or even IRL) when a dispute starts brewing, a bystander or observer will make remarks like “who’s bringing the popcorn?” or just put in the popcorn emoji, to indicate it seems more like an entertainment than a serious matter.
And as dvandom is suggesting, for most of these strips that’s how the catchphrase is functioning.
Good points, Dvandom and Dana. But it’s rather dark that they are treating the guy injuring himself at car repairs as an entertainment.
And speaking of popcorn, I thought the bird feeder being attacked by the squirrel looked filled with something resembling popcorn more than birdseed.
It seems like the first strip in the series is the only one that I get as a joke, since in my experience my cat likes to join me on the sofa when I’m watching TV and does seem to be annoyed if I start without him. All the other strips don’t make sense to me. These are all real-time events that are being watched, so you can’t really plan on watching something together when you don’t know it’s going to happen.
Why is the second strip in the series in black-and-white, and features characters that do not appear in any of the other strips? I’m not familiar with this strip, so I don’t know if they are regular characters (either the observers or the performers) or do I know why these two guys are hurling obscenities at each other in the kitchen of an elderly couple.
I’m also puzzled by the last strip in the series. Is the family standing in the hallway of an apartment building, listening to a voice coming out of a neighboring apartment? Where’s the joke?
Same joke.
I don’t understand the last one, either, but the others, while not truly scheduled like a TV show, can certainly be anticipated. The bird feeder/squirrel joke is a good example. I’m sure if you sat and watched the feeder for a bit it wouldn’t be long before a squirrel came along and attempted to get to it. Knowing that, perhaps the dogs had agreed they would go together to watch. Same idea with a dog rolling around in a yard, someone heading to work on a vehicle (they likely bang a finger/hand/whatever almost every time) and two people arguing.
@Bobanero, I don’t know why the 2nd one is in black-and-white, but it remains that way as archived on GoComics – https://www.gocomics.com/zackhill/2024/05/14 . One of the collaborators, John Deering, is known as an editorial cartoonist, which may contribute to the comments conversation at GoComics which assumes this is a partisan political argument, and tries to continue it into the comments.
The Zack Hill strip takes place at a boarding house, run by Zack’s mother, Jan, with the residents there making up a cast of extras, if you will. There are selected strips showing these characters at https://www.johnnewcombe.com/zack-hill . Jan is the woman in the first one, and Zack is the kid along with her in the car repair scene and the bottom scene. A resident called Carl is doing the car repair, and I think is also the left side of the arguers in the b-and-w one. Based on that guide page, the other arguer is Vince, and their audience is Mr and Mrs Belmont. The room shown in the bottom strip is occupied by Mr Grumbine, who never leaves the room; so the joke maybe involves the mystery of who he could be having this conversation with.
Maybe didn’t all work out, but still I would call it a good creative experiment!
@Mitch4 now that you mention it, I recall reading Zack Hill for a while back in the early part of the 21st century. The artwork style seems much different than I remember, which is why it didn’t ring a bell. It’s much clearer now.
Posted all together like that, the last one is the funniest one.
well, I was going to submit these (as a CIDU), but didn’t find the time, so thank you for posting it anyway. Dana K’s response is the most helpful. I still don’t get it, but it reminds me of Tabby in the strip Adult Children, which sorta makes sense.
Mitch4 (3): “it’s rather dark that they are treating the guy injuring himself at car repairs as an entertainment.”
That has long been common fare in TV or movies. E.g., did you ever watch the Three Stooges? For that matter, people have been paying admission to boxing matches for a long, long time.
Mitch4 (3): “it’s rather dark that they are treating the guy injuring himself at car repairs as an entertainment.”
Slapstick!
The last strip is playing on a running gag involving Mr. Grumbine, an ex-CIA curmudgeon who normally stays barricaded behind his door:
_
P.S. The missing coloration seems to be a periodic error at GoComics, it has occurred on three separate Tuesdays (and one Saturday) within the past six weeks. The syndicate‘s website shows the strip in color: