June 19, 2011: Sunday Showdown!

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Clockwise from the bottom left:

• For the second consecutive Sunday the Lockhorns open up the showdown with a scene involving movie rentals (at least this time they have DVDs). Perhaps in a decade or two they'll start having disagreements over their shared Netflix Instant Watch queue. In addition to it being about rentals, the joke again is about Leroy's alleged inability to stay awake through a feature length movie. Is this going to be a new common source of mockery for Leroy? Should I create a new tag for it? Also, I really hope Loretta's personal "after Leroy" movie is rated PG or below. Loretta gets the first point.
• In a triumphant moment of personal victory, Leroy demonstrates to Loretta and her ever sour looking mother just how much progress he has made against his illiteracy problem. He boldly proclaims how he can finally begin to understand all the nasty discussions and conversations they once blatantly spelled out in front of him. I guess they'll just have to settle for insulting him directly to his face from here on out. Leroy ties it up 1-1.
• We find the Lockhorns at the end of a particularly heated exchange inside their mustard yellow limbo dimension. The vibrations caused by Loretta angrily stomping away with those massive hooves must register at least a 4.0 on the local Richter readout. Loretta's comeback is simplistic yet effective. Sometimes for all the wordplay and clever barbs, you may be best served by just calling the other person stupid. Loretta takes the lead 2-1.
• Leroy must have gone through some bit of effort to find that massive novelty pill cutter for his dig at Loretta. I think he could have made essentially the same crack using a paper trimmer, but I guess the ridiculous pill cutter makes for an amusing visual pun. Judging by the use of the pill cutter, Loretta appears to have problems under cooking her lima beans. While still inedible, the fact that they still look like lima beans instead of some gray industrial sludge makes this one of her most successful dishes yet. Leroy ties it up and forces a deciding fifth panel.
• Loretta comes through as she has so often done in the clutch with another well played fifth panel. I found her little deck of cards analogy to be more clever than usual. She could have also incorporated the spade by adding "...and afterwards I'd bury him with a spade", but I suppose that would have led to a more cumbersome line. Actually now that I think about it, there are a multitude of poker/playing card analogies that could be made (flush, pairs, joker, etc.). I'm sure Loretta has a personal notebook full of them. Loretta takes an exciting Sunday Showdown 3-2.

Official Count:

Leroy - 65
Loretta - 61

Push - 44