“Set in 1980 at the fictional McKinley High in Detroit, Freaks and Geeks focused on two groups of outsiders: the stoners, tough kids and bad girls, and the brains, nerds and squares. The program quickly became legendary as a smart, funny and authentic testimonial to the (few) highs and (many more) horrors of high school for the kids who don’t fit in.” And, in a move that real-life freaks and geeks everywhere could relate to, the show got shoved into a locker by its network after only one season.
Shout! Factory pays respect to the cult series created by Judd Apatow (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad) and Paul Feig (The Office, Arrested Development) by releasing the Freaks and Geeks: Yearbook Edition, “The Ultimate Tribute to One of the Greatest TV Shows Ever.” The Yearbook Edition is presented as an authentic 80-page William McKinley High School yearbook, with front and back pages “signed” by the show’s characters. Packed with exclusive essays, trivia, memorabilia, rare photos, and episode synopses, it contains all the episodes and extras of The Complete Series 6-DVD set, plus 2 bonus DVDs filled with six hours of additional extras never before available in stores:
Museum of Television & Radio Panel Discussion
Complete Script for a Never-Shot Episode
Three Full-Episode Table Reads
Deleted Scenes
Original Cast Audition Footage
Raw Footage
Mr. Rosso Live in Concert
Sober Students Improv Players
Tales of the Secret Service
Photo Galleries
NBC Promos and EPK
Behind the Scenes
Seven Minutes in Heaven
Graduation
Thanks, Goodbye
“It’s one of the most insanely complete TV artifacts ever.” — Time Magazine
“An obsessive labor of love.” — New York Times
Series stars Linda Cardellini (ER), James Franco (Spider-Man, Pineapple Express), Seth Rogen (Knocked Up, Kung Fu Panda), and Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) graduated from Freaks and Geeks to go on to big Hollywood careers, so this box set serves as a career spotlight for them, as well as for the show’s many guest stars and cameo appearances, including Ben Stiller (There’s Something About Mary, Meet the Parents, Madagascar), Thomas F. Wilson (Back to the Future trilogy), Joel Hodgson (Mystery Science Theater 3000), Trace Beaulieu (Mystery Science Theater 3000), David Koechner (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, The Office), Kevin Corrigan (Pineapple Express), Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore, I Heart Huckabees), Allen Covert (The Wedding Singer and many other Adam Sandler movies), Matt Czuchry (Gilmore Girls), Claudia Christian (Babylon 5), Shia LaBeouf (Transformers, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), Samaire Armstrong (The O.C., Entourage), Ben Foster (X-Men: The Last Stand, 30 Days of Night), Alexander Gould (Finding Nemo, Weeds), Kevin Tighe (Lost), David Krumholtz (NUMB3RS, Serenity), Lizzy Caplan (Mean Girls, Cloverfield), Rashida Jones (Boston Public, The Office), Sarah Hagan (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and punk rock band Diesel Boy.
McKinley High lives on in the impressive and lasting legacy it leaves behind. Go Norsemen!
Well, my turkey (or, in some cases, tofurkey) stuffed friends, we literally just put the finishing touches on the disc. Is it worth fifteen hard-earned dollars? Absolutely. In fact, I can say without reservation that the Dr. Horrible DVD is worth $15.23 EASILY. More, if your dollars weren’t the hard-earned kind, just the kind you have lying around in your mom’s purse. God knows WE’VE worked hard to earn ’em. “Commentary! The Musical” is the most painstaking and exhausting piece of whimsey I have ever mistaken for a good idea. It has nearly twice as much music as Dr. Horrible itself — since you can’t really talk that much during a commentary musical or it sounds like a regular commentary. (Which we also have, with the stars and writers, plus making-of’s, ELE applications, and a few items left lying around by a notorious Bunny…) I can say without hesitation that I hesitate to say it’s great. And by great I mean ridiculous. It’s sophmoric, solopsistic, silly and the most fun I’ve had being exhausted since the fabled Mushortio itself. And everyone sings beautifullly. Which enrages me. I a little bit hate my friends now.
The listed street date is, by the way, a little later than we’d expected — I’m hoping Amazon is just playing it safe and we can beat that date. More on that as we learn it. Expect a twittering sensation.
Finally, I just want to say “thank you” to everybody who has supported this venture. We’ve been able to pay our crew and all our bills, which means a lot. What means more is proving that completely independent ventures can muscle their way through the blizzard of big-budget behemoths. (A blizzard of behemoths? Back to writing school, alliteration-junkie!) All that rhetoric about the future of entertainment that flew about during the Strike is still entirely true. We need to find our own way of producing entertainment. A lot of people are watching Dr. Horrible to see if it’s any kind of model — way more people than I expected — and it means everything to me to help pave the way for artists to start working and making a living from the ground up. There are a couple of real pioneers in this that I know personally: Felicia Day, I’m thrilled to say, and choreographer Chris Elam are both looking far ahead in terms of monetization and interactivity. Me, I’m more like Jimmy Stewart in “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”, but at least I’m out there. Thanks, he finally summed up, to you.
My story has become tiresome! But wait till you hear the songs.
Put your party hats on and make room for some cake; today marks the first birthday of Miga, Quatchi and Sumi, the mascots for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. And there’s even more reason to celebrate because the mascots’ cyber-sidekick Mukmuk is now featured in his own line of playful merchandise! In addition, starting today, a new animated video about Mukmuk that allows his fans to get to know him better will be available at vancouver2010.com/mascots, as well as a new interactive game featuring a flying Sumi.
Mukmuk, a small and friendly Vancouver Island marmot, is now a plush toy and featured on pins, T-shirts, playing cards, travel pillows and even a berry orange and blue toque just like the one he sports online at vancouver2010.com. Special edition box sets of Mukmuk with Miga, Quatchi and Sumi are now available. Mascot merchandise, including a variety of new Mukmuk merchandise, is available at HBC stores, including The Bay and Zellers, across Canada, starting today at 9:30 a.m. PST. It’s also for sale at Olympic stores, at vancouver2010.com and YVR, the Vancouver International Airport.
Best known for his loud cheers during games and races, as well as his unwavering support for his mascot buddies, Mukmuk entered the international spotlight one year ago when Miga, Quatchi and Sumi were introduced and he was named the first-ever Olympic and Paralympic sidekick. While the mascots travel across the country greeting people in person, until now Mukmuk existed in the vast world of cyberspace and in print where he interacts with the public through online games for the 2010 Winter Games as the driver of an ice resurfacer, hockey referee and even a curling skip. He has also acted as postmaster for public questions sent in about the Games.
“Since their introduction one year ago Miga, Sumi and Quatchi have been welcomed into the homes of thousands of Olympic fans. With the support of their friend Mukmuk, the mascots have worked tirelessly to spread a message of goodwill on behalf of Vancouver 2010,” said Dennis Kim, director of licensing and merchandising of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC). “Mukmuk himself has become incredibly popular — in fact he’s developed a great fan base, so in response, we’re pleased to offer this line of Mukmuk products to complement the popular mascot merchandise available.”
Today, Miga, Quatchi and Sumi will be handing out special invitations at HBC’s flagship downtown Vancouver store welcoming families to their birthday party on Saturday, November 29. Parties will be held on Saturday at five HBC stores in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland. The mascot trio will be on hand to visit with youngsters, pose for photos and hand out slices of their special birthday cake. The store locations are:
The Bay Park Royal (West Vancouver) from 9:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.
The Bay Downtown (Vancouver) from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
The Bay Metrotown (Burnaby) from 1:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.
The Bay Oakridge (Vancouver) from 2 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
The Bay Richmond (Richmond) from 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Mukmuk gets his name from the word “muckamuck”, Chinook jargon for food, because he loves to eat. He is enamoured with all the different types of food found in British Columbia, and is particularly fond of berries and mountain flowers. The Vancouver Island marmot is a species unique to the mountains of Vancouver Island.
A year ago more than 800 schoolchildren witnessed the mascot trio emerge from the mists of a magical West Coast setting of gigantic trees, soaring mountains and majestic ocean. Since then, the mascots have travelled across the country making friends and lighting up the faces of tens of thousands of youngsters and grownups alike at almost 300 public appearances in schools, hospitals and community events. They even paid a visit south of the border where they delighted crowds in Los Angeles and took part in an ice show during the opening days of the Beijing 2008 Summer Games. Highlighting their love of winter sports and the great outdoors, they have skated at Vancouver’s GM Place, travelled by dogsled in Calgary and even snow tubed at the Quebec Winter Carnival, and most recently-cross country skied at the opening of Whistler Olympic Park in BC’s Callaghan Valley.
The mascot microsite at vancouver2010.com has been immensely popular in its first 12 months. Its success includes more than 1.8 million page views, over 336,300 views of the animated mascot video page, more than 92,550 plays of the Operation Recycle game, and well over 500,000 page views of the mascots’ profiles.
The mascots, designed for VANOC by Vancouver-based Meomi Design, are a key component of the Games identity and a playful way to engage a young audience, and, at the same time, increase understanding of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
VANOC is responsible for the planning, organizing, financing and staging of the XXI Olympic Winter Games and the X Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be staged in Vancouver and Whistler from February 12 to 28, 2010. Vancouver and Whistler will host the Paralympic Winter Games from March 12 to 21, 2010. Visit vancouver2010.com for further details on programs and schedules.
Nothing is more macho than a dance battle! What could two people have to fight about? Leave it to the wonderful Wheel of Fun to spring this surprise on the guests. Who will end up the winner?
We at The Guild are very excited to announce that we have found a partner to help us make our show: Season 2, starting Tuesday November 25th, we will be brought to you by Xbox Live and Microsoft and sponsored by Sprint!
For those who know and love our indie production, you know it’s been tough to keep the cameras rolling. For Season 1 we were funded by our donors, and we are eternally grateful for that. It’s only because of you, the fans, that we finished the season at all. But with donations, we were only able to release one episode a month. For Season 2 we decided to look for a production partner to help us release episodes quicker and be able to pay our cast and crew in advance.
I don’t exaggerate when we say that we had DOZENS of offers for the show. But I was adamant that we be able to retain ownership of the show and have the creative freedom to keep the show close to its roots and to our fans. We started filming Season 2 on DVD proceeds and my own money, but in the middle of filming the first few episodes, Scott Nocas from Xbox Live approached us and they proved the perfect fit. They will be helping us reach out to new audience, as well as allowing the show, through the Microsoft network, to be seen by anyone across the globe who wants to: Still for free!
For those with Xbox Live, you will be able to download Season 2 episodes every week starting tomorrow, Tuesday, November 25th for free in HD quality on the Video Marketplace. For those only on the web, episodes will be streaming on MSN Video in a world-wide release, subtitled in 8 different languages across the world. You will also be able to download episodes in the Zune Marketplace for your mobile viewing pleasures. Season 1 is being re-released today across all those platforms, with subtitles in some regions, and we put together an additional Season 1 gag reel to celebrate the occasion, which you can watch in our new, revamped player on The Guild site. Thanks to David from Microsoft, Edgar Garcia, Webmasta and Kirstin from England and WooThemes Ninja for making the site happen this weekend!
We’re very excited and I hope you are too. This is a unique and a fantastic opportunity to make the world our audience and be able to fund our web show and make it bigger and better! Gamers and internet users don’t know the boundaries of continents, why should our web show. 🙂
We will keep you posted through this site and through our MySpace, Facebook and Twitter every week a new video goes up on the Xbox Live Marketplace, and link you to the MSN Video site and Zune download. If you have a chance to check it out, our new Forums and Community Site are a great place for us to allow our audience to blog, upload photos and chat with cast and other fans, so check it out!
Episodes will be released once a week for the whole 12 episode season, so we hope you enjoy them! XOXO
Felicia
Microsoft will be filled to the gills with The Guild.
The tech giant has an exclusive lock on the long-awaited second season of the cult favorite Internet series, which will be the first to be distributed worldwide simultaneously across Microsoft’s triple platform of Xbox 360’s Live Marketplace, MSN and Zune.
Sprint has signed on to sponsor the 12-episode run, making it the first marketer to test Microsoft’s new strategy to draw ad dollars with the combined reach of a gaming console, Internet portal and portable media player.
A scripted comedy chronicling the misadventures of a group of online gamers, The Guild premieres Tuesday on Independent Video, Xbox’s new channel devoted to original content. The Guild will lead a collection of ad-supported and fee-based programs, including such other game-oriented fare as The Jace Hall Show, Red vs. Blue and first-season episodes of The Guild.
Although launching with just five or six programs, Xbox has ambitions of expanding Independent Video beyond the gaming theme to embrace a broader audience. The channel is launching with the only other original deal it has done to date, the webisode Horror Meets Comedy from Safran Digital Group, which is not gaming-related.
After reaching 9 million views with a 10-episode season financed from viewer contributions via PayPal, The Guild emerged last year as one of the more buzzed-about webisodes. Its star, creator and writer-producer, Felicia Day, has become the face of the original Web production world, starring opposite Neil Patrick Harris in one of the few other success stories in online originals, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, created by Joss Whedon.
A key component of the deal allows for Day to retain the intellectual property rights to The Guild while collecting an unspecified upfront license fee. A who’s who of Web brands courted Day for rights to The Guild, from old-media companies to gamer-centric ad networks, though many insisted on retaining the traditional set of rights.
But Day had been holding out for more than a year in search of a deal that gave her control of the creative and business sides of The Guild. “I was adamant about holding on to the rights of my series,” she said.
As a result, Microsoft will not participate in revenue should The Guild eventually graduate to TV or film, though the corporation does hold on to any gaming-related extensions. Which is fine by Scott Nocas, group product manager at Xbox Live.
“We’re a software and hardware company,” he said. “If they want to do a movie deal, that’s not our core business.”
Four weeks after each episode of The Guild airs, it moves into a second window on Watchtheguild.com, home base for the first season’s episodes. However, Microsoft retains ad revenue in that window as well as in an unspecified split because episodes will air in an embedded MSN media player. Once the entire season is completed by the end of February, Day can make a new deal for a nonexclusive run beyond Microsoft.
An added plus for going with Xbox is that The Guild will be distributed day-and-date in nine languages in 26 countries where Xbox Live operates, reaching 14 million users. The Guild found unintended international appeal late in its run, according to Day.
Sprint will attach itself to The Guild in various ways from preroll messaging to branded entertainment; mobile phone Sprint Instinct is shown being used by one of the series’ characters.
Each Guild episode runs 4-7 minutes long. A separate holiday special is also covered under the deal, which will allow The Guild to shoot in high-definition for its Xbox window.
Before the introduction of Independent Video, which was deployed last week as part of a relaunch of the Xbox Live Marketplace interface, all TV and film content was available on a transactional basis. The Guild and Horror, which is sponsored by the Air Force, will be Xbox’s first free programs.
Horror also will be pushed through all three Microsoft distribution points but won’t move to MSN and Zune until after its Xbox run.
The deal was brokered by ICM and attorney Jamie Feldman from Lichter, Grossman, Nichols & Adler.
As mentioned in earlier articles, this summer I had a chance to speak with Felicia Day and Sandeep Parikh at San Diego Comic-Con. I videotaped the interview but, due to technical difficulties, experienced delays in getting the interview online. While I was able to get the interview audio and photos uploaded, the video tape is still trapped in a dead camera. I’m embarrassed it took so long, but am proud to announce that I finally have a transcript of their hilarious interview. Without further delay, I present Felicia Day and Sandeep Parikh from July 27, 2008, at San Diego Comic-Con.
(ÜSFG) We are ÜberSciFiGeek with The Guild at San Diego Comic-Con.
(FD) Hi. I’m Felicia Day. I am the creator of The Guild, the web series, and I was also in Dr. Horrible.
(SP) Are you looking at her or the camera?
(FD) Her.
(SP) You’re looking at… okay. I’m Sandeep Parikh and I play Zaboo on The Guild, and I created my own web series for Comedy Central called The Legend of Neil.
(ÜSFG) How did you come up with the idea for The Guild?
(FD) I was a World of Warcraft addict, so for two years I played World of Warcraft obsessively. But I’ve always been a gamer so when I quit, because I thought it was kind of affecting my life in a bad way, I wanted to write something and use my time more creatively, and I thought it was an appropriate thing to write about, a group of gamers.
(ÜSFG) Can you tell us about how you cast The Guild, the process of deciding who would actually be in it?
(FD) Um.
(SP) My part was written for me.
(FD) Okay. Well, I was going to say that but now that he puts it like that it’s not as funny or —
(SP) Ah… nice.
(FD) — or complimentary.
(SP) Colored man is not funny. That’s nice.
(FD) In fact, Zaboo, it was like a recasting. I was desperate for somebody.
(SP laughing)
(FD) Yeah. I’m kidding. I did write the part for Sandeep and I wrote the part for Jeff, who plays Vork. They’re in my improv group. I’ve done improv with them for years and I always thought they were the funniest people I knew, so why not write parts for them. And the rest of the parts we cast. A friend of my, Helen Geier, who actually is a casting director, she works professionally in Bones —
(At this point, someone drags a metal chair across the concrete patio with such force that everyone cringes painfully)
(FD) That was like the loudest noise ever.
(SP) Ya think?
(FD) That was horrible. That was a horrendous noise.
(SP) Anything can happen at the Comic-Con.
(FD) Wow. Okay, so people need to pick their chairs up and move them. This is my Comic-Con lesson. ‘Cause my Mojito brain is not tolerating this. Anyway, um, you can cut all that out. Let’s see —
(ÜSFG) But that’s the stuff people like.
(SP) What were you saying? You were saying…
(FD) So basically my friend Helen helped me cast the rest of the parts.
(ÜSFG) How long did it take to get it up and running once you had your cast and were ready to go?
(FD) You know, it takes a while to get a show — and it was just me and my two producers getting it, self funding it, getting everybody together, ya know, getting more patience, but once you decide to do something —
(SP) It was pretty quick, I thought.
(FD) Yeah, I —
(SP) It felt like you had the script out and then…
(FD) I had the script done, we did a couple rewrites, but once we decided to do it and I started rewriting it to be a web series, it was only a couple months.
(ÜSFG) Did you ever imagine that it would have as many viewers as it has had?
(FD) No, it’s been crazy. I mean, honestly, I didn’t really think of an end result. I just wanted to make it. The idea of making it, just the fact that I was able to make it was like a privilege. I don’t know, it just seemed like an insurmountable task to try to film something I wrote but, really, when you decide to do something, I don’t know, it just kind of fell in place. And the fact that it’s been so well received by fans is clearly not anticipatable. Is that a word?
(SP and ÜSFG) It is now.
(ÜSFG) We’ll put it in The Guild lexicon.
(FD) Okay, good. Thank you.
(ÜSFG) So, kind of along that same line, this labor of love, are the The Guild cast and crew finally getting paid or is it still just a labor of love?
(FD) Well, for the last two episodes we were able to pay the cast, or some of the cast at least, for their work because of donations.
(SP) Wooooo!
(FD) We got some, yes, and with the DVD sales we’re back paying everybody, so we have a budget, and so as soon as we pay for the expenses for the DVD and we, the cast, is next, and maybe sometime I’ll get something but, you know, for me it’s all about compensating the people who worked really hard for free on my show.
(ÜSFG) Now that the first season has wrapped up and we do have our DVD, what can we expect for Season 2?
(FD) You can expect more of the Codex/Zaboo… well, the Codex/Zaboo Saga really is not complete.
(SP) No, of course not.
(FD) So I think that we —
(SP) I will not quit!
(FD) He will not. I mean, let’s be honest, his character is not a quitter, so — but, you know, we don’t want to rehash the whole same beat. And I think we’re going to learn a little more about the characters we don’t know much about because it’s a large cast and it’s hard in a pilot situation to really establish all the characters and where they’re coming from so, ya know. And I want to keep it funny. That’d be good. Keep a balance between the gaming and the non-gaming, which is a challenge because, you know, especially with Dr. Horrible, we have a huge influx of maybe not-as-gamerish fans, which is cool for me because it means, ya know, I can bounce back and forth between the gaming and the non-gaming storylines, so I’m excited about it.
(SP) Basically, we don’t want to spoil anything —
(ÜSFG) Right.
(SP) — but there will be tons of making out.
(ÜSFG) Oooh…
(FD) No.
(SP) No, that’s not true.
(FD) With you, actually, it’s interesting, because Vork and Zaboo have this sexual tension.
(SP) Oh, you are giving that out. Ah. Yeah.
(FD) Vork and Zaboo have this sexual tension —
(SP) — and they just start making out.
(FD) Nobody wants to see that.
(SP) And then all your views drop. You get negative views.
(FD) They’re like, yeah, give me my view back!
(SP) Yeah, they somehow get an anti-view.
(FD) Not to insult you or Jeff. Well, much.
(ÜSFG) Like in a real guild, will characters quit and new ones join as the series progresses?
(FD) Um, well, like I said, for the sec– I mean, yeah, down the line, but for the second season I think it’s really about re-establishing the characters and really solidifying their personalities and taking them that one more step before we — I mean, because there are already six characters, so before I throw in a bunch of new characters I want to make sure that we know our main cast really, really well.
(SP) There’s so much to explore. Like Blades — I mean, I feel like you haven’t seen the tip of the iceberg with all these guys.
(FD) With everybody, with really even Codex. With everybody. And also, real life is always on the periphery for these people, like Zaboo’s mom kind of represented the real life aspect but, also, every single season is going to have that dynamic to it. There’s always, like, a struggle between the real life and fantasy life that they live and then the relationships that they have. You know, there will obviously be guest cast and who knows who might get killed off if they make me mad.
(SP) She always looks right at me whenever she talks about killing off characters. So weird.
(FD) You’re the only character that’s ever here, so, I mean…
(ÜSFG) With Codex being the priest in game, do you see her filling the same role in real life as healer of the group as they face those real world challenges?
(FD) I like the way you think. Yes, definitely Codex is the healer in game and she is the healer out of the game, and she’s the kind of person who always puts other people’s needs before hers because she maybe too afraid to confront her own problems. So, it’s a great way to avoid — of avoidance. And, yeah, I think she’s a nurturing personality and I think she does that with whatever aspect of her life we’re examining.
(ÜSFG) What other projects do you guys have planned for this year other then Season 2?
(SP) Well, I directed a… I just, ah… you want me to plug it right now?
(ÜSFG) Plug! Plug!
(SP) Is it time? Is it time?
(FD) Plug! Plug! Plug! Plug! Plug!
(SP) Oh, I made a Comedy Central web series called The Legend of Neil. It’s on Atom.com and Felicia… (holds up promo post card) these are her panties.
Sandeep Shows Off Felicia's Panties
(FD) It’s true. I’m in episode three, I’m a fairy, and it’s very cool.
(SP) She plays a fairy. It’s about a guy who gets sucked into Zelda and has to fight his way out. Like, a regular Joe Schmo, beer-guzzling dude, and he gets sucked into the game and encounters all the characters and creatures, and they are much realer then you think.
(FD) It’s really funny, and I’m in the third episode, and I’m a fairy, and I’m a — see, it is really cool, because I’m a tiny fairy!
(SP) Yeah, we turned her into a seven inch tall fairy —
(FD) It’s very exciting.
(SP) — which was fun to do.
(FD) It’s a little racy.
(SP) It’s a little racy. It’s a little more South Parky then I would say The Guild is.
(FD)The Guild is layered, has complexer characters, and then is hilariously funny, while yours is, you know… has the shtick.
(SP) Wow.
(FD) I’m just totally kidding here.
(SP) Wow.
(FD) It is really funny.
(ÜSFG) But it will have a built in audience because a lot more people have been exposed to Zelda than have been exposed to The Guild and World of Warcraft.
(FD) That’s true, and a lot of people, like —
(SP) That’s true. I think there will be. We were actually talking about this last night — well, we weren’t, but my friends and I were talking about this last night — and it really actually does touch upon, like, two different markets and I hope that ultimately there will be a lot of crossover.
(FD) But I think it’s the same —
(SP) This is more kind of like, people who love South Park, like the frat boys…
(FD) It’s a little more frat boy, but at the same time it’s, like — I was talking to somebody about it at the Browncoat booth — the Buffy fans aren’t necessarily gamers.
(SP) Right.
(FD) But, it’s like a, ya know, a —
(SP & FD) Venn diagram.
Felicia and Sandeep Illustrate a Venn Diagram of How Fan Bases Overlap
(SP) See, here’s our Venn diagram —
(FD) — and then there is… you know, everybody’s touching —
(SP) — and then —
(FD) — it shows it’s not that far to go from one…
(SP laughs and continues moving his fingers to cover her hands)
(FD) You know, I’ve had enough.
(ÜSFG) All right. Were there any artists, panels, guests here this weekend that you guys were just dying to see, had a chance to see, or…
(FD) There were other things going on besides my signing?
(SP) Right.
(FD) Because I literally didn’t see anything. I mean, all day… I mean, literally.
(SP) I didn’t see anything.
(FD) I have not walked around.
(SP) I didn’t have to do half as much as you did, ’cause I wasn’t in Dr. Horrible —
(FD) That’s true.
(SP) — and I didn’t get to see, like, anything else, so I couldn’t even imagine…
(FD) I didn’t get to do anything, at all. But it was — I mean, you know what, but this afternoon maybe I’ll get, like, two hours of walking around buying stuff but it’s… yeah. I mean, I’m not complaining, because it’s great to have something to show fans and interact with them. But it has been, like, sad that I couldn’t go to some panels, but I did — while I was signing, one of the Browncoat people brought down Jacqueline Carey, the author who writes the Kushiel’s Dart and all those series. I’m a huge fan and I… you know, sometimes fans meet you and they’re really nervous, and I’m like, “Why are you nervous? I’m just a person.” But I got so nervous when I met her, I was a blithering idiot. So, uh, now I understand that.
(SP) It’s so funny.
(FD) It is funny how you geek out over certain people. Like, I can meet somebody hugely famous and I’m like, “Oh, okay.” But when you’re surprised with somebody whom you admire, and you just really…
(SP) Right. Well, it was the same when, the first time I met Joss. Like, I never really met him before and I am a huge Firefly fan, and I was on the set of Dr. Horrible and I just kinda — my girlfriend worked on it, helped out on the set. She helped with props and stuff like that. I walked on the set and everybody was like, “Oh, Zaboo,” because they had heard of the show from you. And I was like “Oh, cool” and they were about to start shooting and then someone was like, “Oh, Zaboo!” And I kinda, like, I couldn’t really see them, and I was like, “Don’t mess up the shoot to say hi to Zaboo.” But then Leah, my girlfriend, leans over and she’s like, “That’s Joss Whedon.” I was like, “Oh, I’m a–”
(FD) And then you get sweaty —
(SP) Yeah, I was like —
(FD) — and you’re like, “Uh… I don’t know what to say to you right now. I’m really nervous.”
(SP) But, no, he was totally cool because… because he liked The Guild and was a fan of what we’ve done, it was really easy to engage him and have, like, a normal conversation with him.
(FD) Really?
(SP) I thought.
(FD) Well, I’m still a geek. I get, like, trembling. I mean, not around Joss… not that he’s not trembling worthy.
(SP) He’s super cool, though.
(FD) Yeah.
(SP) He’s super down-to-earth, which I thought was…
(FD) Well, that’s why his fans are so loyal, I think. ‘Cause he’s just awesome.
(SP) Right.
(FD) And relatable.
(SP) Well, I got to meet Wil Wheaton, which I was very excited about. I know you’re, like, super friends with him, but I love him.
(FD) Yeah. I’m not super friends.
(SP) Well, whatever.
(FD) I mean, I’m not… This is going on the Internet and he’s going to be like, “Hello, Felicia, we’re not super friends.”
(SP) He’d really say that?
(FD laughing)
(SP) He would, like, go out of his way to say that specific…?
(FD) Well, you know, it’s the same thing. I don’t like overstepping myself or being braggy.
(SP) Okay. Well, but you guys are friends.
(FD) We’re acquaintances.
(SP) You’re acquaintances.
(FD) Bordering on friendship.
(SP) Well, you guys were talking to each other, and I hadn’t met him, and I was excited to meet him, so I got to meet him at the con and that was exciting for me.
(FD) Yeah.
(SP) Because I’m a huge Star Trek: Next Generation nerd.
(ÜSFG) Are you guys getting recognized in public now?
(SP) Yeah.
(FD) Yeah, a lot. I mean, especially in this concentrated area. It’s crazy. I mean, I can’t walk a couple feet. It’s cool because it’s the indie side that recognizes us more —
(SP) Totally.
(FD) — and then it’s like when you’re in the corporate side people are like, “Oh, it’s the Aston Martin from James Bond.” But we’re in the comic side and, like, the graphic artist side, and the Browncoats side. It’s like, we get recognized a lot more. Which is cool. I mean, like, I’m an indie girl.
(SP) I think people, like, think they know you more, too —
(FD) Yeah.
(SP) — so they’re like, “Hey, how’s it going?” They, like, come to you like they’re your friends. It’s, like, disarming.
(FD) It’s not… it’s less… it’s almost like, yeah, it’s less fannish. It’s more like, “Hey, how is it? I follow your Twitter.”
(SP) Yeah.
(FD) Or my Facebook.
(SP) Yeah. It’s cool.
(FD) Yeah, I like that.
(ÜSFG) One last question.
(FD) Okay.
(ÜSFG) Worst case scenario, one day the Internet crashes and it never comes back. (both gasp) What would you do?
(FD) I don’t even know why you would do that to me.
(SP) Ooooh! Why? Why… what is this…
(ÜSFG) Well, you know, all of the Terminator hype.
(ÜSFG) Apocalyptic scenario.
(FD) I don’t even want to go there. I mean, it’s so traumatic. I just got my iPhone. I’m connected 24/7. I don’t know why you would even try to rob me of my passions.
(ÜSFG) I’m sorry!
(FD) Um, I would just be reading fantasy novels like I do anyway.
(SP) Yep, pretty much. That’s… yeah, I’d be reading fantasy novels. I’m a dork.
(ÜSFG) Is there anything else that you want to say about The Guild, Legend of Neil, anything that you did this weekend?
(FD) Uh, no… I just want to — I guess I would say “Thank you” to the fans because, I mean, Dr. Horrible doesn’t have PR people. You know, The Guild doesn’t have PR people. This is all grass roots stuff and it’s, like, really revolutionizing the Internet and how people get their entertainment, and I think it’s a turn for the good.
(SP) Right.
(FD) And I love the fact that they made it, all of it, as big as it is. So, thank you! Thank you!
(ÜSFG) Well, I want to thank you for talking to us today.
(FD) No problem.
(ÜSFG) We’re really looking forward to The Guild. We’re looking forward to The Legend of Neil, and we’re really excited at how big Dr. Horrible has been and look forward to hopefully a return of Penny in our own idea of…
(SP) Woo hoo!
(FD) That would be great!
(ÜSFG) …spinning off.
(FD) That would be great!
(ÜSFG) Thank you so much —
(FD) Thank you, Raven.
(ÜSFG) — I hope you guys have a great time at the rest of Comic-Con.
Every fall new shows come on the air and we are left wondering, “Is anything worth watching?” Most seasons, I’d have to say “No”, but this year has had some surprises. It used to be that shows would air new episodes during the fall and spring and then play repeats during the holidays and summer. Anyone who had missed a show might find themselves thumbing through channels late in season one or season two and fall in love, allowing those viewers to plan around watching the show and getting caught up on the repeats and excitedly ready for the new episodes.
The trend nowadays though is to air a show for 3 or 4 episodes, put it on hiatus for a month and play another 2 episodes, and then cancel the show before it’s even found an audience. This sure doesn’t help the networks draw viewers or help the viewers decide what to make time for, especially when most of what they do discover runs the risk of sudden death. Hopefully this will help steer you to a few new (or newer) shows that deserve a following. From the really good to the just good fun, here are a few shows I’d recommend you check out if you haven’t already.
Fringe
I’ve already commented on and will continue to rave about Fringe. I think it is the best new show on television. It’s the only show that consistently keeps me guessing with the plots without being so convoluted that I feel the writers are making it up as they go along. The characters are richly layered and enjoyable. The actors are well understated in their performances, which lends credibility to the characters, even John Noble as Walter, who could easily try to take it over the top and maybe get away with it but it would not be such a treat to watch.
Anna Torv doesn’t have the typical Hollywood blonde appearance. As Agent Olivia Dunham, she is beautiful, but not stunningly so, and they’ve played down her beauty by the way they dress her. While her business attire is very classy and looks great on her, they seem to be sending the message that Olivia has no idea just how beautiful she is, and she dresses work-sensible with little attention to aesthetics. She’s the kind of intelligent and attractive woman you can see in any number of professional jobs so she doesn’t come off as the typical glamorous beauty studio execs put in a show to sell it to the young male audience. She’s believable as an intuitive and driven woman who won’t be satisfied until she has her answers — all of them.
I never watched Dawson’s Creek so I have no previous conception of Joshua Jackson to be broken. As Peter Bishop, he’s the right balance of seething sarcasm and charming wit. He seems to try to come off as untouchable, unmoving and apathetic, but then an expression suddenly crosses his face and you see the walls come down, revealing an unguarded pathos that leaves you wondering where the game ends and man begins. Phillip Broyles as Agent Lance Reddick tends to glower in every scene. He ranges from being intimidating to conspiratorial without a whole lot more in between. We haven’t seen much of an opening or range in him yet but, as Olivia stated to him recently, “We don’t know each other well enough for you to say something like that to me.” I plan on sticking around to find out just how well they do get to know each other.
Fringe airs on Fox on Tuesday nights at 9/8 central. The entire series is currently available online at fox.com, so if you have missed it you can catch up now.
Pushing Daisies
This is Season 2, technically, but Season 1 was cut off by the writers strike, so let’s call it Season 1.5. If this was last fall, I’d be saying this is the best new show of the season but, alas, with a handful of episodes already on the air before this season’s premiere I can’t rightfully give it that title. I can, however, still call it amazing, wonderful, funny, entertaining, surprising, charming, unique, well written, well acted and absolutely endearing. Pushing Daisies is a brilliant show. It was the only new series I watched last season and the only season premiere I was anticipating this fall. In a TV wasteland filled with rehashed reality-based cops and over-sexed doctors, this is a refreshing treat.
The ensemble cast is a delight to see each week and the storytelling is a gem! One of my biggest peeves in series television is how predictable the plots are. It’s truly a pleasure to be able to enjoy a show and be genuinely surprised with the story twists. When I first began watching it, I was hooked right away. Pushing Daisies is a fairy tale-like fantasy with romance, murder and mystery. It tells the story of the Pie Maker, Ned (played adorably by Lee Pace), who has a gift for bringing dead things back to life with a touch. That may sound amazing at first thought, but imagine trying to eat a cheeseburger or some fried chicken when anything dead that touches you comes back to life. One touch brings the dead back to life, a second touch makes it dead forever, but after having a few meals wander off his plate, I’m sure vegetarianism suddenly sounded like a wonderful idea.
Ned runs a pie shop called “The Pie Hole” where he creates the most luscious, fruity desserts you will ever have the pleasure to savor. Olive Snook (the incredible Kristin Chenoweth) is his employee, who goes unnoticed by Ned as she pines over him. Enter detective Emerson Cod (Chi McBride), who sees Ned’s “gift” as a cash cow. What better way to solve a murder then to ask the victim, “Who killed you?” Everything is going fine for Ned and Emerson until a case brings Ned face-to-casket with the love of his life, Charlotte “Chuck” Charles (Anna Friel), his long lost, childhood friend. Unable to help himself because he’s so happy to have her back in his life, he refuses to touch her again, and suddenly the living dead girl is added to the mix.
While there is an ongoing storyline, each episode stands well alone. With the help of a narrator, we are escorted along the stories from week to week, so it’s safe to tune in now without feeling too lost. I’m not sure why ABC keeps playing two episodes and then taking it off for two weeks before playing the next two, but I fear they are sabotaging the best show on their network. It hasn’t been renewed for a third season yet, so hopefully they will actually play the episodes every week so people can start watching it again.
You can tune in to ABC on Wednesdays at 8/7 central or catch the full episodes on abc.com.
Sanctuary
I’ve been following Sanctuary since I first saw an interview with Stargate SG-1‘s Amanda Tapping on YouTube. She mentioned a new series she was producing directly to the Internet so I looked it up and discovered the rattling gates on the website, sanctuaryforall.com. The eerie music and wind-blown creaking gates were as intriguing as the idea of a fully virtual set. I checked back every few days and, finally, one day there was a tiny little link that said, “join the team”. The following week I received an email inviting me to beta test the site, and thus began my submersion in the world of Sanctuary. Part of the draw for me was my disillusionment with the way networks treat their sci-fi and fantasy viewers. Our shows are always the first to get yanked. The idea of cutting out the middle man and going directly to us, the loyal viewers, was exactly the revolution I was looking for.
When the SCI FI Channel opted to make it into a television series, I immediately had reservations. How would their touch affect our beloved show? Did this mean the revolution was over and we as a subculture had lost again? My trust in the series creators — Damien Kindler, Amanda Tapping and Martin Wood — kept me loyal, but when the series premiered in October I had mixed feelings. There was a fair mixture of scenes from the original web series and new footage in the expanded plot, and over the first 4 episodes I struggled with it, because every time I seemed to buy into the re-envisioning, they’d throw in an old scene and suddenly my mind was snapped back and I had the sense that everything was wrong. “That’s not the way it happened,” I thought to myself. Still, I really loved the concept and the people involved in the project, so I held on to my hope and kept viewing. I’m really glad I did.
Now that the original web series footage and stories have come and gone, I find it much easier to get caught up in the plot. While I was able to see some of the plot turns coming, I have to admit that they are getting better with each episode. I now really want to know what happens next. I now feel like the changes are an improvement. I’ve finally been able to separate the web series and the TV series and can truly enjoy the show. Anyone who never saw the wepisodes won’t have the same problems I had getting attached to the series.
Inspired by the works of classic science fiction and fantasy, and graphic novels such as The League of Extraordinary Gentleman, Damien Kindler’s Sanctuary tells the story of Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping), a Victorian-era scientist who has devoted her life to tracking down rare, exotic and often mythological creatures and abnormals (people and creatures who have, through genetic mutations, become something other than “human” as we know it). She is assisted by her daughter Ashley (the incredibly talented Emilie Ullerup, who stole our hearts as Kaitlin in jPod last year), her tech guy Henry (the adorable Ryan Robbins) and her new protégé Will (Robin Dunne). Will is new to the environment, to the world that he never imagined was real. As he becomes submerged in this new world, so do we. The series is shot in Vancouver, so a lot of familiar faces keep dropping in, including other Stargate alum like the amazing Christopher Heyerdahl, who juggles roles here as he does on Stargate Atlantis.
If you are a fan of classic authors like Jules Verne, H. Rider Haggard, H.G. Wells and Edgar Rice Burroughs, you may not just like this series, but love it.
True to its original simultaneous international release, it is being shown worldwide, so check your local stations if you are outside of the U.S. and request it if no one is showing it yet. For those of you in the U.S., you can catch it on the SCI FI Channel on Friday nights at 10/9 central or on scifi.com.
Legend of the Seeker
Harken back to the glory days of syndicated science fiction and fantasy television. With shows like Highlander, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess, The Adventures of Sinbad, Time Trax and many others, the 90s was a virtual smorgasbord for adventure-hungry geeks everywhere. With the success of films like The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, fantasy is making a comeback, and it’s very refreshing to see. Legend of the Seeker, brought to us from the same team who brought us Hercules and Xena, is based on the Sword of Truth series of books by Terry Goodkind. There have been some pretty harsh reactions from fans of the books, as can be expected with any show based on a novel, but, overall, it’s higher quality and less campy than the previous endeavors of the New Zealand team. While plot deviations will always be a zone of contention with fans, so far my only quibble is how cheery everyone is. They are on a grand adventure together and there are some heavy moments, but the overall cheer level is higher than I would expect from people who are in constant mortal danger. Still, I’m enjoying it for what it is: a light-hearted fantasy saga that doesn’t take itself too seriously and aims to entertain, not make history. Hopefully it will have the legs to walk on for at least a few years.
Legend of the Seeker tells the story of Richard Cypher (Craig Horner), a simple Westland farm boy. A respected and well liked member of the community, a hunter and tracker, he discovers he isn’t who he thought he was when the magical Confessor Kahlan Amnell (Bridget Regan) arrives from the Midlands in search of the powerful wizard Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander (Bruce Spence). Zed was entrusted with hiding and protecting The Seeker, a child of prophecy who would save their land and people from the ruthless Darken Rahl (Craig Parker). After discovering the truth of his birth, he sets out with Zed and Kahlan to discover his heritage and save his people.
You can use the Legend of the Seeker website, legendoftheseeker.com, to look up your local listings and find out when it airs in your neck of the woods.
Are you ready to take the first step on the one true path to becoming a ninja?
The deadly wisdom contained in Ask a Ninja Presents… The Ninja Handbook: This Book Looks Forward to Killing You Soon is quite likely to lead to your untimely demise if properly followed, and the manual’s numerous “killer” illustrations are not for the faint of heart and/or humourless, so, as the back cover advises, “carefully consider the joy of your soft-headed ignorance before you begin to run, flip, and jump along the Ninja Path.”
“After much debate and in a spirit of morbid amusement, the International Order of Ninjas has chosen to produce The Ninja Handbook, the first-ever secret ninja training guide specifically designed for the non-ninja,” as transcribed by Douglas Sarine and Kent Nichols, the award-winning creators of the online series Ask A Ninja. “Most non-ninjas who handle these delicate, deadly pages will die — probably in an elaborately horrific and painful manner,” a prediction that most likely applies to the audiobook as well, “but whether your journey lasts five seconds or five days or (rather inconceivably) five years, all those who bravely take up this text and follow the tenets and trials laid out within will die knowing they were as ninja as they possibly could’ve been.”
In the words of the Ask a Ninja ninja, “Remember: People do not take the Path, the Path takes people.”
You’ve been honorably warned.
(Fellow ninja fans and ninjas-in-training can be found lurking in the shadows at the Official Ninja Book Club.)
Ask a Ninja Presents… The Ninja Handbook: This Book Looks Forward to Killing You Soon is distributed by Three Rivers Press, a division of Random House. For more information, visit Ask a Ninja and the official book website at Ask a Ninja Book.
Holy poop! I just got word from Tony Janning (Neil) that The Legend of Neil was named in The Hollywood Reporter‘s Top 10 Webisodes to Watch! Here’s the full list:
Mayne Street (ESPN) Coma (Crackle.com) Get Hit (Ifc.com) Web Therapy (I.studio.com) Blah Girls (Myspace.com) Get Your War On (236.com) The Legend of Neil (atom.com) Republicrats (msn.com) The Line (Crackle.com) The Secret World of Sam King (Bebo.com)
I don’t know if this is the order and we’re number 7 because I have yet to see the article but if so, that would creep me out because I just received word that we’re being picked up for 7 more episodes, and we’re planning on premiering the new season at Comic-Con which is in July, the 7th month of the year. And my birthday is in July. And there are 7 colors of the rainbow and 7 deadly sins and I love rainbows and deadly sins! And this makes 7 coincidences if you include the coincidence of there being 7 coincidences as one of the 7.
Update on November 21: Finally got a link for The Hollywood Reporter article! http://bit.ly/18dZK [PDF file]
“The planets are living powerful beings and the sentient species that occupy their surfaces are their children. They face a crisis when their elemental lifeblood begins to seep into the children, eventually culminizing into a soulstone which gives them great powers, but at the cost of their life and eventually that of the planets’ too. One childless planet, Earthsong, is given the task of retrieving these children from their homeworlds and bringing them to her surface where they are safe. She is given tools made of Siderean, or star, element which allow her to remove the soulstone from its host and both back to their planet of origin. Visiting children remember little of their previous lives while on Earthsong and when they return they recall only glimmers of what occurred during their time away. These individuals often build up legends and myths around their strange and fragmented memories of alien species.”
Earthsong: Volume 1
A young woman named Willow awakens to find herself on a mystical world with no memories of her former life. She soon discovers that not only are the residents of this world fantastical creatures of ancient lore, but the planet itself is alive and conscious… and in grave danger! Caught in the middle of a terrible struggle, Willow must come to terms with a harsh reality not of her choosing.
