Counting for Thunder is inspired by the three years when Phillip Irwin Cooper, unlucky in work, money and love, went home to the Gulf Coast of Alabama to help out with a family crisis. Working through his past with his complicated family, some old high school chums, and the desperate and hilarious southern characters who grace his hometown, Phillip ultimately finds his own voice as his mother is regaining hers for possibly the last time.

Four employees of Island Fisheries come to a sun-scorched, isolated island to negotiate fishing rights with the sullen, paranoid islanders who have good reason to be afraid. Soon after the arrival of the four, a mysterious force the islanders thought was chained forever in the dark basement of the foreboding old Counting House is once again on the loose, savagely killing its women. Caught in a power struggle between rival island factions over how to stop the killing, the mainlanders are jailed. They manage to break out, but with a vigilante mob on their heels, can they reach the boat in time? They do, only to confront the mysterious, terrifying force.

An American institution turns fifty, and the disc release to mark the event is a very long (almost six hours) compendium of uncut historical segments from the show, without overdubs — Disc one features musical highlights and disc two dramatic and comedic highlights. It’s terrific background material, especially the music disc with the favorite characters both human and muppet. Plus some of my nostalgic favorites — it helps if you once had a baby or toddler in your lap, clapping along with you for these things. I can’t think of a better way to honor the show, and am ready for a followup, with more favorite segments.

Catapulted into overnight fame by their massively successful debut album, San Francisco indie rock band Counting Crows and their introspective frontman Adam Duritz were suddenly the biggest rockstars in the world, defiantly facing whatever came next. Counting Crows: Have You Seen Me Lately? captures this pivotal crossroads through revealing interviews and evocative 1990’s archival to craft a rare story of artistic integrity in the spotlight.