Pinball in the BG of American Dad

I know I've mentioned this several times, but since I got into pinball, I've been on the lookout whenever I watch tv/movies/etc. for pinball machines.  I think it's extra funny when pinball machines show up in animated features, shows, or comics, because (and trust me on this one) pinball machines are HARD TO DRAW!  It's really interesting to see how the various angles/proportions/components of a pinball machine are handles.  What buttons are included is interesting.

I've seen pinball machines pop up in a couple different episodes of American Dad!, and I thought that I would post them here for posterity.

 This is a pretty serviceable image, but I don't know what's going on with the front of the cabinet?  I see the coin mech, but then there are is a lot more mechanical whatnot just stuck on there, like the control panel of Buck Rogers' starship.

 Ha ha, what!?  Is there a plug on the back of the machine?  You could plug something into the pinball machine?  The legs are pretty funny, and the simplified machines in the background kill me.  Anybody have a guess what they are referencing?

The "Eight is Enough" pinball machine actually showed up in two episodes.  That game next to it is either supposed to be Stern's Nascar or Bally's Indianapolis 500 or Bally's Corvette.

Racing: The game where several opponents vie for position in a competition of speed!  Now with cars!

Pinball in the West Wing

I mean in the show...not the actual West Wing.  If I could get confirmation that in the very deepest inner sanctum of government, there was a pinball machine, I would be ecstatic.  No, however, I am talking about the Martin Sheen classic, West Wing,  The show ran seven seasons from 1999-2007.  I'm on season 3, presently, and earlier in the season, the cast of main characters is in a bar somewhere, presumably in New Hampshire.  The camera pans across the bar and there is a man playing a pinball machine.  Or... I should say that the man appears to be playing the machine.  I've gone over this clip again and again, and I don't think he is actually playing.  Can anyone out there in internet tell me what is going on on the DMD?  Is this actual gameplay?  The game in question appears to be Junkyard.  I would not be surprised if this poor extra was just asked to pretend that he's playing pinball, but there's a part of me that also wants Aaron Sorkin to be, like, "keep playing!  I want you to be getting jackpots when the camera's on ya!"

Great Simpson's Pinball Joke

I was watching an old episode of The Simpsons the other day and there was the great joke that had to do with pinball.  I just thought I would share it here.  Listen to the joke HERE

Fantasy Arcades: Gilmore Girls

It's a no-brainer that now that I'm cued into pinball, I always keep my eyes open for whenever a machine pops up in a TV show.  Recently, I've been obsessed with Gilmore Girls.  I had thought that I knew every square inch of the tiny CT town, Star's Hallow, but at some point in season...5?...there was a scene that took place in an arcade!  Let's see what they've got!

Alright!  Pinball!  A Night Rider machine. For the life of me, I can't figure out what the machine just to the right of it is.  The character pictured (Luke) keeps on passing in front of the camera at the PERFECT point to obscure my view.

Cool!  A Revenge from Mars machine!  Hmmmm, it doesn't seem to be working, though.  Someone should call the operator.  Between those three pins, "Chase the Rainbow" (!?!?!), a Galaga machine, and a couple other assorted video game cabinets, Star's Hallow has a pretty good arcade going!  My biggest question is with the machine that the character is playing in the image to the left.  The art on the side is, without a doubt, from the Megaman X series (a video game series that was for the Super Nintendo).  I'm really curious as to what that cabinet is from.  I've been doing some research, and I can't find any evidence that there has been a cabinet version of any of the Megaman X games.  Maybe it's a cabinet just running an emulator?  

Link: Pinball in the Movies

I stumbled on this site a while ago, and I realized that not everyone might be clued into its greatness.  This is Pinball in the Movies, a subsection of the Pingeek.com site.  Here, there is a list, gathered from 2001 of the appearances that pinball makes in various movies.  The attention to detail is awesome.  There are some movies like Jurassic Park 3, where a pinball machine is only featured in a bar, SUPER briefly.  It's listed on the site!  It's really fun to check out!

Token Bag!!!

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned Aladdin's Castle in a post, the arcade in my local mall that was part of a chain owned by Bally's.  I have MANY MANY MANY fond memories of that arcade.  It eventually changed into Dream Machine and then left the mall, but I'll always remember going there and playing the TMNT arcade game, the Simpson's game, that bonkers Aerosmith music revolution game...  So, I'm digging through some old affects the other day and I stumble upon THIS:

It's the token bag that I used to use for Aladdin's Castle!  AHHHHHH!!!  I was inseparable from this thing as a kid!  I put ZBots in it, Keshi, Tokens, Quarters, you name it!  I'm so happy to have it back in my life again!  I can't wait to take it to PAPA 18 THIS WEEKEND!!!

In a side note, I've tried to save a token from every arcade I've been to, but I CANNOT find my Aladdin's Castle token!  This is a total travesty in the Jon Chad universe.  If anyone has any leads before I take the search to eBay, let me know!!

Pinball in Montreal. Amusement 2000 Plus

My girlfriend and I recently celebrated our 2 year anniversary by spending some of her winter break in Montreal.  Because we knew that the weather was atrociously cold, we imagined that we would be spending a lot of time indoors.  Reading, going to museums, you know, vacation stuff.  Never one to step foot in a new city without doing my homework, though, I did a cursory look at what pinball might be around, and I found two machines at Amusement 2000 Plus in downtown Montreal, right on St Catherine!!  I have gone up and down that street so many times, but I could not remember AT ALL ever seeing an arcade. 

I called 2000+ and they said that they had Metallica and ACDC, both LEs.  I have not gotten a lot of play time on either machine, so I was pretty pumped.

The best part of 2000+ was how it looked!  I used to go to Aladdin's Castle when I was a kid and 2000+ reminded me SO MUCH of it!  The colors were bright, the lights were blazing, and the architecture was bonkers.

Sadly, the Metallica was out of order, so all I got was a couple of games on the ACDC.  My first game didn't go well, and I just flailed about.  The second game was amazing, and I really lit up the board, getting a replay on my first ball.  When everything was done, I had gotten around 65 million, which is maybe the highest I've ever gotten on a Stern game. 

The highlight was during a multiball where I (on purpose!!) managed to get all four balls on the right flipper.  "Tess!!!  Tess!!  Get your camera!  Get a photo of this!  I'm doing it!!"

Pinball dynamo Bowen Kerins had the high score on the machine, and it felt cool to be playing a machine that had felt his metered and masterful touch!  Overall, the ACDC was in great repair, and 2000+ was clean, maintained a moderate noise level, and was a total joy to play in.  Next time I'm in Montreal, I'll make sure to stop in again.

Pinball Art Video (with Justin Packer and John Popadiuk, Jr.)

I stumbled on this video last month and COMPLETELY forgot to post it here.  It's a really great video that goes into the collaboration between pinball designer and artist.  The art that Justin Packer is putting out is AMAZING and I hope that I can see the machine they are working on up close and personal SOON!!  Link HERE!