The Great Geek Manual » Television

Dr Horrible at the Emmys

PipedreamerGrey — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:00:43 +0000

Yeah, this is everywhere this morning, so you’ll have seen it a dozen times before your RSS Feeder makes it this far down your morning rounds, but it’s my blog. So, there. Laugh, sofa monkies!

RIP: The Middleman

PipedreamerGrey — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:00:53 +0000

God damn it. American television networks do it again. The Middle Man, the best bit of comedy produced since Buffy and the only decent current sci-fi apart from Dr. Who, is now “hibernating in a high tech vat” indefinitely.

Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. Just this weekend, I finally got my brother to watch it, and we were just agreeing how brilliant the series was while were watching the Academy Awards. I should have know that would jinx it for sure.

According to the New York Post, a network rep exclusively confirmed to PopWrap that, “ABC Family has decided not to renew the series for a second season.” However, over at the MiddleBlog, the series’ creator seems mildly optimistic that something might happen if the DVD box set of season one sells well this summer, and he’s quick to assure fans that one more comic is forthcoming. The comic will tell the story planned for the unaired series finale.

I’m scrambling to find a write-in campaign to join, but efforts to save this amazing series are almost as scattered as the series’ ratings. If anyone has any suggestions, post them below!

Better off Ted Teaser

PipedreamerGrey — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:00:33 +0000

It looks as if ABC is launching a series that’s going to be a cross between SciFi’s Eureka and NBC’s The Office. The first episode looks like it’ll be a hoot, but the networks are infamously bad at maintaining consistent quality in the off-the-wall comedy genre.

On the other hand, while the show is likely going to disappoint audiences eventually, it’s exciting to see that the networks are continuing their trend of geeky programming. It’s just going to break my heart when the next generation fills out the 18 – 26 age bracket and the cycle of geek programming fades away (probably in favor of some stupid hipster/emo cycle).

Source: YouTube

Sarah Connor Chronicles Preview

PipedreamerGrey — Tue, 22 May 2007 13:00:09 +0000

When I first heard that Fox was set to produce a television spin-off of the Terminator trilogy, I had seriously mixed feelings. Low budget series centering on a character attempting to avert doomsday by achieving a series of difficult and vague feats while on the lamb has been done to death! I don’t think that I need to expound or even offer proof for that opinion for the readers of this blog. I’ll just say that every time the SciFi channel runs a First Wave marathon, I go read a book. However, things suddenly began to look up when I saw the trailers for this series.

To begin with Summer Glau, who played River Tam on Fox’s Firefly, plays a Terminator in the series. Take a second to absorb that. That skinny little girl has just been typecast for life. She’ll be playing bizarre ass-kicking sci-fi characters in obscure sci-fi series until she’s sixty. Still, alone, she’s enough to guarantee I’ll be tuning in this January.

Second, the trailer isn’t half bad. I’m not saying it has the intellectual sophistication of Les Miserables or effects of the Matrix, but it’s not the shoot-out punctuated car chase scene I had expected. The trailer gives me the sense that the producers may be aiming for story arcs rather than self-encapsulated episodic action fixes. If so, I say bravo!

Finally, after browsing through the series’ Wikipedia entry, it seems that Fox isn’t skimping on the talent. This isn’t Fox’s normal grab-bag cast of unknowns flavored with B-movie rejects. In addition to Summer Glau, Sarah Connor will be played by Lena Headey of 300 fame, John Connor will be played by Thomas Dekker of Heroes, and Richard T. Jones of Judging Amy. They also seems to have a great line-up of veteran special effects crew.

Kristen Branan: won Visual Effects Society Awards for “Best Visual Effects in a Television Series” for Firefly and Battlestar Galactica.
Jose Perez: won a Visual Effects Society Award for “Outstanding Models and Miniatures in a Broadcast Program” on Battlestar Galactica.
Eric Withee: The Matrix Revolutions, Serenity and Conspiracy Theory.
Steve Graves: Battlestar Galactica, I, Robot and Interceptor Force 2.
Saeed Faridzadeh: Æon Flux and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

All in all, it seems as if Fox has really committed itself this time, even giving the series one of it’s coveted primetime Sunday timeslots. So let’s all begin praying that the series’ ratings are high enough that the Sci-Fi channel picks it up like Stargate SG-1, before Fox gets around to canceling it permanently like the thirty or so other sci-fi series it’s spawned.

The series is set for to premiere in January, and will air on Sunday nights from 9-10 pm ET.

Source: ComingSoon.net

Robot Chicken Star Wars Special

PipedreamerGrey — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 12:00:33 +0000

Adult Swim’s Robot Chick will be airing a thirty minute Star Wars-themed special, produced in co-operation with Lucasfilm. The special will air on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swin on June 17 at 10pm. And, considering that they’re announcing it more than a month in advance, they’re evidently expecting quite the turn out.

The upcoming special isn’t Robot Chicken’s first parody of the Star Wars. The show has previously run three Star Wars skits, including “Bush vs. Star Wars,” “The Empire Strikes Back,” and “Emperor’s Phone Call,” which features Darth Vader calling Emperor Palpatine collect with the bad news of the Death Star’s destruction. It was that Death Star sketch that caught the attention of Lucasfilm, prompting the development of the special.

Series creators Seth Green and Matthew Senreich will collaborate with Lucasfilm on the production. George Lucas will reportedly even go so far as to lend his voice to his animated persona, along with Mark Hamil. Other voice talent will include Conan O’Brien, Seth MacFarlane, Robert Smigel, Malcolm McDowell, Hulk Hogan, James Van Der Beek, Donald Faison, Abraham Benrubi, Breckin Meyer, and Joey Fatone.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter