Over the past two years, ten million people have come to recognize Jeff Lewis as Vork, the quirky leader of The Knights of Good on Felicia Day‘s hit web series The Guild. After spending years doing stand-up and improv comedy with such troupes as The Groundlings and The Second City, he’s also turned his talents towards writing. His first film screenplay, For Christ’s Sake, is in post-production, and his other writing credits include episodes of Nickelodeon‘s Catscratch and Dreamworks Animation‘s Toonsylvania. While he’s made numerous web and television production appearances, very little information is available online to provide insight into the man behind the Guildmaster (though he did just receive a bit of “exposure” by appearing in nothing but a blue Speedo in a CareerBuilder.com commercial), so Jeff graciously took time recently to answer some questions for us.
ÜberSciFiGeek (ÜSFG) I love your CareerBuilder commercial! What kind of feedback are you getting from it so far, and how do you feel about your picture being sent as a gift all over Facebook?
Jeff Lewis (JL) The feedback from the commercial has been great. I love being sent as a gift. I think they stopped it and that makes me sad.
(ÜSFG) Did you have an active imagination when you were a kid?
(JL) Yes, I did. I read a lot of fantasy and science fiction books and after I would read a passage, I would close my eyes and play it out in my head. And I spent a lot of time with toy soldiers, having battles where I killed several Nazis. I love killing Nazis. To this day, I will buy any WW2 video game that involves killing Nazis. I will continue killing Nazis even when the game tells me I am done with a certain area or level. And when the opportunity arises to actually play a Nazi, I will kill myself immediately and laugh about it. I hate Nazis. I cannot overstate it.
(ÜSFG) Lots of artistic people struggle with other things considered normal, like sports, academics, and social interaction, but then thrive when they discover the arts. Did you have a similar experience?
(JL) For the most part. I loved sports though. Basketball and football. But I always struggled with academics. Knowledge is just not my… thing. And as far as social interaction, it wasn’t great. Especially with women. Especially with women. I am repeating that sentence for dramatic effect. I came from a place of assuming immediately that any woman I met was not interested. There was a time when a woman could be naked in my bed and I still would question whether she was into me. I definitely fared better in the arts. It’s a real boost to your confidence when people laugh at you. And then, of course, social interaction improves. Although I’m still not sure that my fiancée is really into me.
(ÜSFG) How old were you when you decided you wanted to be an actor?
(JL) It took a long time. I was in a state of denial for many years. I just kind of did shows but didn’t admit that I was an actor. It just wasn’t something my parents wanted me to do or raised me to be. I think I probably knew the first time I stepped on stage. I’m going to give you a number just because I think people generally crave specificity. 28.
(ÜSFG) You just finished wrapping season 2 of The Guild. What was it like being back together with the cast and crew? How different was it to actually have a budget this time around?
(JL) It was great being with the cast and crew. Quite seriously, I like everybody and we have a great time. Sometimes too good. Especially with Felicia and Sandeep, just because I’ve known them so long and so many of my scenes are with them. I look forward to working more with Vince and Amy and Robin because I really like them too. And I love the crew. Everybody’ s just really nice and we’ve gotten into a good rhythm. If there was a way we could legally, morally and biologically have an orgy without the sex and various fluids, I would like to do that.
It was a little different having a budget. Not as much on the set because the writing and acting has always been there, regardless of budget, but more seeing the finished product. It just looks great. I take that back now about on the set. There’s more people. It takes longer for me to walk back from craft service to the set. More people to get by.
(ÜSFG) I know that Felicia Day wrote the part of Vork for you because she thinks you are one of the funniest men she’s ever known. Does that mean she borrowed heavily from your real life personality? How much are you and Vork alike?
(JL) I don’t know how much she borrowed. Vork is very exact in his words and actions. Everything’s a little calculated. I think I’m more stop and start, not exactly sure where I’m going. And dumb. I think emotionally, we might be similar. Prone to instant anger, albeit disarming. And frustration. We both have that and I hope it comes out in a funny way. Basically (and sadly), I think she just thought I looked the part of an older gamer.
(ÜSFG) What’s going on with For Christ’s Sake? There’s a great website up at forchristssakemovie.com (love the choice of Orff’s “Carmina Burana” theme). Can you tell us a little bit about the film and how you came to write it?
(JL)For Christ’s Sake is a feature about a priest who unwittingly becomes an investor in his brother’s porn movie. It’s got a great cast. Jed Reese, Will Sasso, Alex Borstein, Sarah Rue, Michael Hitchcock and John Schneider (of The Dukes of Hazzard). I wrote it several years ago in a writing workshop class and gave it to my friend Jackson Douglas, a director, and he got the funding and directed it. We’re just waiting to hear about distribution now.
(ÜSFG) You visited Kiko on the set of Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine show this season. What was it like working with Kim Evey and her crew over there?
(JL) It was great to work with Kim. She’s awesome! I had never worked with any of the actors and we just hit it off. Very fun. And Kim is great to work with on The Guild. I think of her as the script Nazi on The Guild. Maybe not Nazi but more of a “the mom that would keep you in line” and I mean that in the best way. She’s the one that would say, “No, Vork would never keep a small boy in the basement” or “Vork would never be in a hotel room with two hookers and an eight ball”. You need somebody like that. To keep you true to the characters and to maintain that ensemble feel. And by the way, Vork WOULD keep a small boy in his basement.
(ÜSFG) You’ve had a lot of success lately as a writer. Are you changing your focus from in front of to behind the scenes?
(JL) I’m not sure that I’ve had that much success, but if you say so. I will say that for about two years, I kind of gave up on acting and focused almost solely on writing and that was a mistake and will never happen again.
(ÜSFG) What other projects have you been working on?
(JL) I’ve been doing stand up for about 6 months and that’s been fun and horrifying. I’m also writing a screenplay with a new partner and trying to write my own webisode, hopefully with the help of The Guild people.
(ÜSFG) Do you get recognized in public now?
(JL) Once in a while, I do get recognized. It’s always a little awkward. I’ve gotten so used to living in obscurity. It was always a goal of mine.
(ÜSFG) Are you a Whedonite?
(JL) I’m not sure. I love everything he’s done. He’s pretty amazing. I was very jealous when I saw Dr. Horrible. I wish I could write like that. Especially the songs.
Discovery Bay Games brews up more fun with Potions -- A Wizard’s Apprentice Game
Discovery Bay Games brewed up another magical batch of fun with their game Potions — A Wizard’s Apprentice Game. In Potions, the players are apprentices competing to become a wizard. The first apprentice to complete the potion assignment gets two Class Credit tokens. The first apprentice to collect five Class Credit tokens wins the game.
Potions uses a combination of dice and cards to build these potions. The cards are shuffled and each player is dealt four cards. The remaining cards are placed face down in the center of the players to create a draw pile. Then the dice are rolled to determine what kind of potion you have to brew up. There are three kinds of potions, six ingredients, and three types of applications of the potion. The first dice tells you what kind of potion you are making: Love, Wisdom, or Transforming. The second die is the first ingredient: Eye of Newt, Tooth of Dog, or Toe of Frog. The third die is the second ingredient: Lizard’s Leg, Wool of Bat, or Fenny Snake. The fourth die represents the application of the potion: Drink, Powder, or Ointment.
At the beginning of each hand, the player draws a fifth card from the deck in an attempt to match four cards with the dice. The player must then discard one of their cards so that their hand is back at four cards by the end of their turn. The card is placed face up in a discard pile beside the draw pile. If it is an action card, the action is done on the player of your choice. If the player does not have all four ingredients, their turn ends and the next player draws a card.
The action cards are fun ways to thwart your opponents’ success. Merlin’s Roll allows you to re-roll one Potion Elements die. Change allows to you change any element die to whatever you like. Take allows you to steal a card from another apprentice, forcing them to draw a replacement card from the draw pile and Spilled Cauldron forces a player to lose all of their cards and draw an entire new hand from the draw pile. After each successful hand, the winner collects 2 Class Credit tokens and the dice are rolled again for the next round.
Another twist on the game is the Apprentice Challenge. If you have at least one Potions Class Credit token, you can challenge any other player that you will have more matching ingredients than them in the next hand. If you don’t have more than them at the end of the hand, you lose a Class Credit token. If you do have more than them, you receive a Class Credit token even if you don’t win the round.
One point of confusion in the gameplay is setting down matching ingredients. The instructions say that you can set your matched ingredients face down on the playing surface so you are only holding the unmatched ingredients in your hand. The cards that are set down are still considered to be part of your hand, though, so when another player gets a steal card, these cards would be the obvious targets to take. The instructions don’t specify if they can be taken or if they are safe. We chose before a few games not to lay down cards, so as to randomize success when the steal card is played.
The box has a molded insert that neatly and securely holds all of the game pieces, and is small enough to store on an average bookshelf. The large dice are easy to read and the cards are thick, coated, and seem to be highly durable for many years of fun game play. Perfect for the fantasy lover, Potions is fun and fast-paced. While it doesn’t have a strong educational value, it might help younger players to understand the concept of mixing ingredients to make something new.
The game includes:
52 Playing Cards
4 Potion Elements Dice
20 Potion Class Credit Tokens
1 Potion Class Credit Token Bag
1 Cauldron Shaker Cup
The brilliant Emilie Ullerup has brains, brawn, beauty and moxie!
In just a few short years, Dutch-born Emilie Ullerup has done what many actresses only ever dream of: going from bit parts to award-winning, starring roles. Soon after graduating from Vancouver Film School, Emilie (pronounced like Amelia) started her career in 2006 with guest spots on shows like Blood Ties and Battlestar Galactica. She then landed the role of Ashley Magnus in the Amanda Tapping and Damian Kindler produced web series Sanctuary. It was the first series shot with RED cameras on greenscreen sets, and was the most ambitious and expensive direct-to-web series ever produced.
While Sanctuary’s world was still being rendered, Emilie was then cast as video game artist Kaitlin Joyce on CBC’s jPod (based on the book by Gen X author Douglas Coupland). jPod was critically acclaimed, won a global audience through positive word of mouth (and torrents, since CBC chose to regionally lock the episodes they streamed on their website) and was nominated for twelve awards, winning four. While jPod’s fate was still being decided, Sanctuary’s was set in stone: redevelopment for television. Emilie rejoined her castmates for thirteen episodes of Sanctuary, which broadcast internationally, as well as on SCI FI channel. The show received high ratings in all of its markets, securing it a second season. In case you aren’t counting, that’s two lead roles in two hit shows in two years, and a Leo Award for Best Lead Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Series for her role in jPod.
With the holiday season just wrapping up, Emilie set aside some time to talk with us about her recent successes and her plans for the future.
ÜberSciFiGeek (ÜSFG) Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today. I know you have been really busy and I’m sure your life has changed a lot over the last year or two.
Emilie Ullerup (EU)Sanctuary is really helping propel my career forward. It’s really exciting.
(ÜSFG) It is! I’m thrilled for you and we really appreciate how connected you are staying with your fans. It means a lot to all of them.
(EU) I LOVE MY FANS! They rock! They mean a lot to me. This business is at times so damn hard, and you get so much crap from all directions, that a strong fan base really helps to pull you out of the lows once in a while.
(ÜSFG) Everyone is thrilled every time you stop in and check the forums. And everyone I’ve talked to who has met you has just been very excited about how open and friendly you are.
(EU) I’m glad that I’ve been so well received. It’s a little scary being the “new young thing”. But it’s been a warm welcome.
(ÜSFG) I don’t know if you realize that sci-fi fans are fiercely loyal. We’ll watch anything you are attached to no matter the genre because we tend to get neglected by mainstream media so we are very thankful for people who work in sci-fi.
(EU) That’s good to know.
(ÜSFG) You’ve lived a lot of places in your life haven’t you? How does Vancouver compare?
(EU) Every place has its own charm. They’re all really great in their own ways. And they’ve all got less exciting things about them too. Vancouver is great for its outdoors, friendly people and it’s a major city so it’s just always open! You can always get what you any need time of day. I’m a fan of that.
(ÜSFG) I’ve moved a lot too, some big cities and some small towns and in addition to climate, I’ve noticed a lot of social changes. From one area to another, it seems there’s a completely different mind-set. Moving south, sometimes I feel like I’m on another planet, not just another part of the world. Has it been like that for you, too?
(EU) Oh definitely. There are places where it’s harder to build close relationships because you just don’t think the same way. And then there are cultures where you get each other instantly.
(ÜSFG) Yes, that’s how I felt in Seattle. I just felt like I was a part of it instantly. From everything I’ve heard, I think Vancouver would be like that.
(EU) Very similar.
(ÜSFG) Speaking of Vancouver, why did you choose Vancouver to start your career?
(EU) I wasn’t interested in going to L.A. right away. It seemed too big and too full of actors. I figured it was better to go to Vancouver where the talent pool is smaller, and then start a solid resume up here so that I would eventually be able to go to L.A. without being just “another new face”. I want to go there when there’s interest in me. It’s so easy to get lost in the movie machine down there.
(ÜSFG) Yes, well your plan seems to be working so far. You’ve gotten a lot of attention, not only with the success of Sanctuary (web and TV) but with jPod!
(EU) Yeah… I guess I have. It’s been an incredible ride. jPod was the best first experience for an actor. I still miss it.
(ÜSFG) So do I! I have to admit that after watching Sanctuary on the web, I was worried that I’d only see Ashley when I saw Kaitlin but Kaitlin was really a night and day different character then Ashley Magnus. I was surprised and delighted that I saw no shades of Ashley in Kaitlin. You changed personas very well. Are you drawn to a particular type of character, do you look for diversity in the roles you pursue, or are you still discovering what you want and enjoy in a role?
(EU) I certainly always yearn to stretch my acting muscle. There are things that I’m not as good at, but will take them on anyway. I love the Kaitlin characters. The dramatic parts certainly draw me in but then I look back at jPod and realize that Kaitlin was pretty crazy too! I think that as long as I feel that I can be free in my work, that I can explore and not be restrained by anything, I am happy with any character. Ashley is most certainly a challenge for me though.
(ÜSFG)jPod received rave reviews, developed a demographic-bending cult following and was nominated for 12 Leo Awards going on to win 4 of them, including yours for Best Lead Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Series. Congratulations for that, by the way.
(EU) Thank you!! Ah, I still get a bit of a rush in my stomach when I’m reminded of that win.
(ÜSFG) That’s so cool though. I mean, like you said, it was a first show for a young actor. I imagine that it’s going to feel good for a real long time.
(EU) It will always be “the first one”. (Hopefully of a few more (blush))
(ÜSFG) I’m sure there will be more.
(EU) I wish… It was such an important win, because it solidified the fact that we’d been cancelled waaay too early.
(ÜSFG) Yes! I know we fans feel jilted. A lot of us are really sore about how it ended. How do you feel having the series cut short like that, especially after receiving so much praise and fan support? Has there been enough noise made by the “Save jPod” websites to actually stir any interest in a second season or at least a “special” to wrap up the story and let us know what happened to Kaitlin?
(EU) I think that jPod is dead though. I felt awful when we got cancelled. We all did. We were the tightest group, we had so much fun, there was incredible trust, and we all completely believed in the show. So to sum it up, BOO!
(ÜSFG) So, you said Ashley is a challenge to play. Why is that?
(EU) It’s really an art to master the balance in Ashley. She’s no bullshit but she’s also scared and sensitive and has to be likeable. So it’s a challenge to be a likeable “no bullshit” character, for me anyway. Especially because I had formed such a strong Ashley in the web episodes that bringing it back and making her softer felt wrong at first. It was like trying to put on a tight sweater on top of a really big one. I didn’t know how to make it fit.
(ÜSFG) Yes. Ashley was my favorite character in the web series. Of all the characters Ashley Magnus seems to have gone through the most drastic changes in the transition from web series to television. I know I’ve struggled a bit with reconciling the changes. Comparing the two incarnations, what are some of your favorite changes? What are some of your least favorite changes?
(EU) I like that she laughs more, smiles more. It allows for some of me in there but I do sometimes miss the ridiculously short Ashley. Shoot and then think. Later… a lot later… It was fun to explore such an instinctual character. That has disappeared a bit but I do think that she’s much more 3-dimensional now.
(ÜSFG) Yes, it seems our “Kick-Ash” has become a bit mellowed.
(EU) She is. Hopefully season 2 will allow for some real madness.
(ÜSFG) She does seem more fleshed out as a person and that’s a very good thing for character development.
(EU) It certainly looks that way.
(ÜSFG) It also leads to questions like, “why is there a man’s shirt in her closet?” and all sorts of things…
(EU) Ha haaaa, yes. That was Sam Egan. I love his ideas.
(ÜSFG) What would you like to see happen in Season 2?
(EU) I would love to see her get real bad.
(ÜSFG) Well, I think Ashley is an incredible character, you have so much to work with, fans who’ve seen you in other shows know the range you have and could do with her so everyone is eager to see how far you can take her back into a bit of the madness we saw in the webisodes but still remain someone we care about seeing heal, change, grow…
(EU) Hear hear! Thank you for the compliments.
(ÜSFG) You are most welcome! I am far too used to seeing actors being the same character in different clothes from show to show so I am THRILLED to see a truly different persona emerge.
(EU) Me too! I would love some sort of head to head conflict with mom.
(ÜSFG) That would be great to see! That was one of the discussions from the webisodes, how the mother-daughter conflict wasn’t explored the way it could have been.
(EU) I hope the Sanctuary team will feel the same way and give me some juicy, juicy stuff for us all to sink our teeth into. And hopefully season 2 will bring out something way different from season 1.
(ÜSFG) What kind of Ashley-centric episodes would you like to see happen in season 2?
(EU) Hmmm… Other than some badass ash-kicking?
(ÜSFG) Yes, other then more ash-kicking. You’ve got so many different directions she could go. If you could pick something really juicy and challenging, what do you think it would be?
(EU) It’d be fun to explore how the possibility of power could mess with Ashley. She’s young. She’s been introduced to some new powers. She’s not levelheaded at this point. What if she, just for an episode, got disgustingly power-hungry and turned into a Dana times 10.
(ÜSFG) Oooh… I like that idea.
(EU) It would also be great to see her come back to the good side and then have to be taught how to use her powers by daddy. She keeps messing up her teleporting. Instead of landing in Thailand, she lands in a men only steam bath in Turkey.
(ÜSFG) Oh, that would be one of those classic bits of TV that goes viral in web clips!
(EU) Ha ha ha.
(ÜSFG) Would she be embarrassed or like, “Hey”. 😉
(EU) I think a good mix of both. Depending on the men.
(ÜSFG) Back in the web series days, Ashley was nick named “Kick-Ash” because of all the fight scenes. While she’s been toned down a bit, she still sees a lot of action. Do you have a lot of fun doing the fight scenes and, as an actor, how does that compare to the more dramatic scenes you share with your costars like Amanda Tapping and Christopher Heyerdahl or the humor-laced “romantic” scenes with Robin Dunne?
(EU) I love, love, love all of them. The fight scenes are so great to get to do. We have the best stunt team and so fight rehearsals are a blast but I wouldn’t be happy without the dramatic scenes. I really, really crave dramatic scenes.
(ÜSFG) Your fight with Bam Bam (stunt man James Bamford) is what got you hired in the first place, isn’t it?
(EU) Yeah, I believe it was one of the factors. They sprung that on us in the callback session.
Emilie with James “Bam Bam” Bamford on the set of Sanctuary
(ÜSFG) I have seen people take screen caps of some of your fights and give play-by-play descriptions of the moves you are doing, like it’s a football game or something.
(EU) Ha, really??
(ÜSFG) Oh, yes. Especially the martial arts or military fans. They will name the moves you are doing.
(EU) It’s been really hard training but a great base to have, to know some moves. And it’s so satisfying to see the show and know that a lot of the fights are actually me, and not the double.
(ÜSFG) Yes, that’s been another comment frequently made, to see a single shot with no cut away and know beyond a doubt that YOU are the one making the roundhouse kick to someone’s face, and then in the very next scene you’re moving us to tears with a dramatic moment.
(EU) Aaaaaaw. You guys… :*
(ÜSFG) Did you watch sci-fi when you were growing up? Were you planning on getting into the Sci-Fi/Action genre or did you just sort of fall into it?
(EU) I honestly just fell into it. I didn’t have any concrete plans when I started the business. I just wanted to work! But sci-fi is a really fun genre. Anything is possible!
(ÜSFG) There have been very few actresses who have been able to establish themselves as action heroes. Are you getting action roles sent your way more than dramatic ones?
(EU) I am getting a good mix of both. I think there’s excitement when they know I have a bit of training ’cause there are many parts that call for a bit of action and it’s upsetting when your hero doesn’t know how to hold a gun properly, I think.
(ÜSFG) Yes. People notice the smallest details and when something catches their attention, it isn’t as easy to suspend your disbelief and get into the show.
(EU) Precisely!
(ÜSFG) So, with new roles coming your way, you were just cast in the film adaptation of Arcana Comics’ Paradox. Kevin Sorbo has been cast in the lead role as Detective Sean Nault, a homicide detective on an alternate universe Earth where Magic rules instead of Science. IMDb.com lists you as “rumored” but doesn’t list what character you are rumored to have been chosen for. What role have you been cast in and who is she?
(EU) Yeah, no need for the rumored part, I shot it already, just before Christmas.
(ÜSFG) Oh? Really? What can you share?
(EU) I actually didn’t think I could do it because I had only about two days available. I had laser eye surgery and then was going to Denmark for Christmas so they weren’t sure what I was able to do. I ended up getting a small cameo part as a nutty lab tech. Brenton Spencer, the director, did two episodes of Sanctuary. We really hit it off, so it was such a blast to get to work with him again. And I got to work with my very close friend, Steph Song, who did jPod with me! I’m so happy they made it happen despite the tight schedule I was on.
(ÜSFG) I was going to ask about Steph! I’m glad to hear you got to work with her again. She’s been cast as Lenore, a fairly significant role in the comic book.
(EU) Yes, she is the female lead. And her first introduction to sci-fi! Very exciting.
(ÜSFG) I’m really thrilled that she got the part and that you two saw each other. That was actually one of the questions I had here so I’m glad you brought it up! Any chance you could try to get her a bit more rooted in sci-fi, oh, maybe getting her a guest spot on Sanctuary?
(EU) I would love to have them on Sanctuary. Unfortunately I have very little say.
(ÜSFG) Do you still keep in touch with the jPod gang frequently?
(EU) Yes! I just saw David (Kopp) and Steph yesterday! And of course I live with the crazy klown now!
(ÜSFG) Yes, yes. I know that! It’s great to see you two together. What was it like working with him?
(EU) Kyle (Cassie) was great to work with. He’s a madman, so working with him is a challenge, a great challenge. He’s so intense and all over the place, that you really have to work hard to keep up. It was the best way to get to know one another.
(ÜSFG) Did you actually have scenes with Steph or were you just on the set at the same time?
(EU) No, we had a scene together. Me, Steph, and Kevin. Good times.
(ÜSFG) You’ve been working with the Sci-Fi Pantheon for a while now. With Paradox, it’s really broadened that list of actors. What was it like working with Kevin? Did you get to meet Chris Judge?
(EU) Chris was leaving set right as I arrived. So I didn’t get to meet him.
(ÜSFG) Aw. I’m sure you will eventually.
(EU) Kevin was great fun. He’s really laid-back and welcoming. He’s so easy to be around.
(ÜSFG) I’ve heard that about him. I was a Hercules fan from way back and everyone who met him said he was a “California Beach Boy”… really laid-back, easygoing, fun, charming.
(EU) Couldn’t have said it better myself.
(ÜSFG) So when can we expect to see Paradox hit the big screen? It’s listed as 2009 on IMDb but there are no dates yet.
(EU) You know what, I actually don’t know! I should find out.
(ÜSFG) Have you done any other projects since Sanctuary and Paradox that we can keep an eye out for?
(EU) Nothing as of yet. Everything kind of dies down at Christmas so it’s only starting back up right now. I’m very busy with auditions and such so that’s good. Hopefully something will come my way.
(ÜSFG) I’m sure it will. Thank you and good luck!
Paradox is currently in post-production, but look for Emilie Ullerup in Season 2 of Sanctuary later this year, and don’t forget to pick up the jPod DVD box set now available at Amazon.com.
The long overdue and eagerly awaited follow-up to Dead Like Me, "Life After Death" will be available on DVD February 17, 2009
Bryan Fuller is a genius. A self-professed Star Trek geek, he was such a huge Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fan that he set out to write for Star Trek. Because he had the talent and imagination to match the desire, he made his dream come true. When DS9 came to an end, he ended up working on Star Trek: Voyager but he felt restricted in his writing because the syndicated format prevented deep multi-episodic story arcs and he longed to write more emotional depth into his characters. During his tenure with Star Trek, this desire drove him to write Dead Like Me, which he quickly sold as a pilot. Dead Like Me is a deeply emotional and sometimes disturbing fantasy (what could be referred to as Urban Mythology) full of layered, ongoing storylines and flawed people.
I first saw Dead Like Me in reruns on SCI FI channel. I loved the story, the characters and the macabre events and how they entwined and unfolded to tell a very solid and entertaining story. I was disappointed to learn that it wasn’t getting picked up for a third season, another blow to sci-fi and fantasy fans like me who had just dealt with the loss of Stargate SG-1. In hopes of not only supporting the show (and praying maybe SCI FI would pick up a Season 3 if there was enough fan interest), I bought the DVD box sets. I was surprised when I watched them because of the mature content that I was seeing for the first time, some of which seemed to distract from the story for me. (The producing network Show Time is notorious for this though, even forcing Stargate SG-1 to put nudity in its premiere episode, something that has never been done since without harming its success as it went on to show for ten seasons before making its move back to direct to DVD films in 2008.)
While Bryan went on to other projects soon after production on Dead Like Me began, the show went on to gain a cult following that is still begging for more several years later.
Dead Like Me follows the life and after-life of smart mouthed and deeply antagonistic Georgia “George” Lass. Disillusioned with life at a very young age, she has estranged herself from her mother (whom she loves to offend and annoy) and her sister (who worships her but is virtually invisible to George) as her father drifts emotionally further away from the family. At the age of 18, her philosophy is basically that bad things happen to you whether you are a good or bad person, so why bother to be anything special. While drifting listlessly through life, feeling no particular desire or value for it, she suddenly loses it when struck by a toilet seat that fails to burn up during reentry from a de-orbiting Russian space station. Moments after her death, she meets Rube. He’s a Grim Reaper and the team leader of a group of Reapers. He explains to her that taking souls is a public service of the afterlife and, until her time comes to “go into the light”, she, too, will now have to fulfill that public duty. Reluctant and rebellious as always, George struggles with her new reality while trying to come to terms with the life she left behind and the new afterlife she’s facing.
In Life After Death, we catch up with George five years after her death. While she seems to have finally grown up and come to terms with her afterlife, suddenly everything changes again. It’s great to see a return of so many familiar faces. Rube, their no-nonsense team leader who hands out their daily assignments on yellow Post-its each morning at breakfast at Das Waffle Hause has gone missing and is replaced with a new leader who has a completely different approach to running the business of death; Roxi, the tough-as-nails cop and former dancer who was strangled in the 80s by an overly ambitious friend who wanted to steal her invention that would later go on to become an icon of a generation; Mason, a young man whose ambition in life to remain on a constant drug-induced high led him to drill a hole in his own head, seeking euphoria; Daisey, the Hollywood starlet-wanna-be who “died tragically in a fire on the set of Gone with the Wind“. While dealing with this new set of changes, George is suddenly confronted with her old life once again when she unexpectedly crosses paths with her mother, Joy, and sister, Reggie.
Once again, the show is heavily laden with examination of the themes of life, death, love, family, ambition, temptation and a myriad other conditions of being human. For anyone who loved Dead Like Me, Life After Death will not disappoint. It is full of the same dark humor and wit that made the television series hugely entertaining. While Rube’s presence is sadly missed, they handled the absence well and the plot allows for it to stand alone or springboard into a new series or series of movies.
In the age of YouTube, comedy shorts are popping up in droves. With mostly lowbrow humor in these videos, Dave and Tom (David Beeler and Tom Konkle) stand out from the masses with their wit and writing, and performances that are carried primarily by dialog rather than sight gags. The fact that they’ve had over 12 million views might be because their sketches are filled with clever double entendres in the style of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. One half of the comedy troupe, Tom Konkle, answered a few questions for us about what they’ve accomplished so far and where they hope to take Dave and Tom next.
ÜberSciFiGeek (ÜSFG) I read on your website how the two of you met during a production. If you were both characters in one of the sketches you now write, what would that first meeting have been like?
Tom Konkle (TK) Well, it would have been a fairly looney occurrence I am sure. We’d probably have been like those two silly British old beans in our sketch The Secret to Happiness is a Bad Memory. A sketch where Dave would say “Hello.” And I would reply, matching his jovial quality like this:
Tom: Hello, as well. Funny meeting you like this, isn’t it?
Dave: What, in character?
Tom: Yes, I mean, here I am as Tom 2.0 and there you are as… sorry, I haven’t caught your name.
Dave: Haven’t thrown it actually.
Tom: I’m sorry… I don’t understand.
Dave: It’s a joke.
Tom: Not following you.
Dave: You said didn’t catch my name and I said I haven’t thrown it.
Tom: Ah. No. Nothing. Anyway, strange us meeting during one of our own productions and not even knowing each other yet, isn’t it?
Dave: Yes, that is odd.
Tom: (suddenly laughing deep and disturbingly) Hahahahahaha!
Dave: What?
Tom : Haven’t thrown it. Your name. HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Dave: Yes, I still haven’t.
Tom : I always enjoy a good joke as soon as I am made aware of it. Uh, what’s you name?
Dave: Dave.
Tom: Yes. Of course, what’s your name, Dave?
Anyway, you meeting as characters from a sketch might be a bit like that.
(ÜSFG) You both seem to be fans of British comedy, especially Monty Python. How did that come about and how does it influence your sketches?
(TK) Well, I think its more a matter of finding kindred spirits in British comedy, especially Monty Python. I can remember as a boy seeing the first episodes on TV and thinking, there’s someone who thinks the way I do about the world. The craft of writing and acting your own material interested me as I grew older, working in the profession of acting or writing other people’s things, so again Python was a blueprint for that. Sprinkle in my own flavors and Dave’s and my other influences, and hopefully a unique voice can develop.
(TK) Amazing. Highlight of my acting career. He got me into sketch and, frankly, was my major influence, so going and working with him in a two-man sketch show on TV was a dream. Cleese was a great person, gentleman and mentor who bothered to keep in touch. Wonderful time.
(ÜSFG) Do you work with your network of friends or do you hold auditions?
(TK) Both. Of course you work with friends in the business over and over or people become your friends as a result of working together so you go back to them but also, we are auditioning people now, particularly actresses, to expand our pool of talent we want to work with for the new web series Safety Geeks: SVI.
(ÜSFG) You’ve recently announced that Season 1 of Safety Geeks: SVI is on its way. What’s going on with SVI? When can we expect to see Season 1 rolling out, and what can we do to help?
(TK) We shoot at the end of February and hopefully we will be finished a few months after that and have it out as a complete season.
(ÜSFG) You’ve appeared a few times on Comedy Gumbo for C-Spot. How did you get involved in that group?
(TK) I had met Payman (Benz) and Sean (Becker), the two guys behind Gumbo (Awkward Pictures), a while ago at a film festival. Their film was showing and mine, called Who Makes Movies?, that I did with Chris Luccy was part of the festival and they liked the performance. We stayed in touch and it worked out that we could do a few sketches together in Gumbo. We also did a short, Behind the Cup: Two Girls One Cup, where I play the cup and Dave was the host.
(ÜSFG) You’ve created quite a collection of characters over the years. Where do you find inspiration for characters like Sir Reginald Bo-Hey No and Baxter Smalls?
(TK) I sort of channel them in the writing and rehearsal process. I know them very well and I like to play with these characters. Sir Reginald Bo-Hey No of the Invention with Brian Forbes series is finally taking off, mostly due to Koldcast.TV and their distribution of the show on Tivocast and iTunes, as well as their own website. Baxter was a labor of love with a director named Marcus and DP named Doug who I had shot a commercial with as Brahms, called Raisin Brahms, a very silly PSA for music arts education, and so it was a natural progression.
(ÜSFG) Speaking of Baxter Smalls, you’ve created a wonderful premise for a series with a great pilot episode and website to promote it. Can we look forward to more adventures with our favorite Time Traveling Documentarian?
(TK) Yes. Baxter Smalls continues to be in development. I look forward to playing him in a series again.
(ÜSFG) Are potatoes really evil? Do you eat potatoes in your house? What dark secrets are they the key to?
(TK) Well, potatoes can certainly be used for evil, they can be turned. For all the answers you must look for Beyond the Known online, about the potato conspiracy. It’s a sketch I used to do live and Gino C. Vianelli, who plays Art Gong in it, was always a champion of that sketch even when no one else was, and we finally did it for the cameras which was vindicating and fun. I like that bit.
(ÜSFG) You’ve been in several commercials recently, such as the Epson Artison series (Monkey, Bling and Art Critic). What’s been the most fun for you so far?
(TK) I just did a Coke commercial with my 3-year-old son that was special. It was a hard shoot as it was a night and, being three, he was a tired trooper. The Quiznos spots where I played silly British characters in scenarios was fun. A LOT of the commercials I have done have been strange, silly fun. I rarely do a “straight” product commercial so it’s great. I did a Carrier commercial directed by Christopher Guest that was incredibly rewarding to work on.
(ÜSFG) I thought your Star Wars: The Fate of the Duel parody was hilarious. What made you decide to add sci-fi to your list of comedic genres?
(TK) Love science fiction, HUGE library of books and DVDs. Star Wars got me into filmmaking, really. So it was a natural fit.
(ÜSFG) Who or what, exactly, is McFwap?
(TK) McFwap was my sketch troupe for many years. Very talented, funny people in there, many became lifelong friends and all of them had such funny ideas and performances. I loved it.
(ÜSFG) You have so many brilliant deadpan deliveries and one-liners, but so far I think my favorite is from Breaking the Language Barrier: “While some might drink from the fountain of knowledge, I merely gargled.” What have been some of your favorites?
(TK) That’s like picking a favorite child, really. Each line at the time is a snapshot of where I was comedically and what I was trying to accomplish, I can see when I see it again. I love the “Impossible as the proportional camel toe would be six inches across…” line that I wrote and got to deliver in the Safety Geeks web series promo. Invention has SO many. Lots in the television shows where my one or two lines were a deadpan line stuck in because they were part of helping make a larger project funny.
(ÜSFG) I’ve noticed a certain Biblical theme in some of your work. Is there some inspiration behind those? Do you have any fear of “divine retribution”? Are they mostly ad-lib or scripted?
(TK) The Biblical theme is there sometimes because it remains a sacred cow, which is intrinsic to comedy. Everything I do is very tightly scripted. I rehearse my improvs (no joke!)
(ÜSFG) What else are you working on right now, and what would you like to do in the future?
(TK) A feature called EMTs. I have several web series I would like to do, a few television scripts and work on some projects with others. Hopefully the auditions keep rolling in, as well, while I do my own thing.
First we brought you the podcast. Then we brought you the photos. Finally, we brought you the transcript. Now, for the first time ever, you can see The Video!
This is a high quality MPG. Please right click and “save target as” to download it to your computer. A low resolution, two-part version will be made available on our YouTube Channel very soon.
The beautiful and multitalented Kim Evey took some time out of her busy schedule to speak with ÜberSciFiGeek recently. She’s a writer, producer and actress, going easily back and forth from drama to comedy, and stage to screen (film, TV and PC). She’s appeared in such television dramas as JAG, ER, Crossing Jordan and Judging Amy, and starred as the romantic lead in the film Nowheresville, but she’s better known to millions of adoring fans as part of the driving force behind such viral video hits as Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show, The Guild and Mating Season (also known as Sexy Panda). We tried to find out a little bit about the woman behind the pigtails and the results were side-splittingly funny, as well as enlightening.
ÜberSciFiGeek (ÜSFG) Did you have an active imagination when you were a kid?
Kim Evey (KE) Always. I used to construct intricate cardboard furniture pieces for my neon pink and green clear plastic chess pieces. Mostly the pawns because they were the cutest. You’d think my parents would have gotten me Barbies. Or taught me to play chess.
(ÜSFG) How old were you when you decided you wanted to be an actor?
(KE) I don’t remember how old I was but I remember seeing Quinn Cummings on Celebrity Family Feud and I reasoned that the only way I was ever going to get on Family Feud would be as an actor because I asked my Mom if our family could be on it and she said “no.”
(ÜSFG) Lots of artistic people struggle with other things considered normal, like sports, academics and social interaction but then thrive when they discover the arts. Did you have a similar experience?
(KE) I was completely shy and socially retarded when I started high school so I did drama because it was the only way I could talk and get people to look at me at the same time. The fact that they couldn’t talk back unless their words were already scripted out was perfect for me. For some reason, in my high school class in particular, drama was where all the social misfits found solace. It wasn’t really like that in any of the other grades, just ours. Not to say that everyone in my class who did drama was a social misfit but those of us who were were particularly happy to have a place to go.
(ÜSFG) There is a brief biography on you on IMDb.com. In it, several shows were mentioned including the film Nowheresville and the one person show Within the Silence. You’ve done a lot of drama. What made you decide to turn to comedy and what inspired you to create a parody of a Japanese talk show?
(KE) In college I joined a comedy improv troupe and moved with them from Albuquerque to Seattle. I’ve always been the most comfortable with that Christopher Guest-ian type of comedy — parody so achingly real that it hurts to watch. Trying to make a living as an actor, I’ve really done whatever I could to pay the bills. Within the Silence was an educational touring show — most of the acting I did in Seattle was either educational or corporate video. Nowheresville was a romantic comedy indie feature that I’m convinced would have been a giant hit if it had starred actual celebrities instead of me and Henri Lubatti (who is actually much more of a celebrity than I am now). So I’ve always had my roots in comedy but now I really only get the opportunity to audition for television dramas. Gorgeous Tiny was actually the first sketch I ever wrote in Los Angeles. I wrote it for a class and we were supposed to write a real character in a non-real situation. Hence, Rick Pope and Kiko were born.
(ÜSFG) We’ve seen some great guest stars this season. Any other special guests lined up for the rest of Season 2 or for next season of Gorgeous Tiny?
(KE) Pretty much all the guests I’ve gotten are friends or friends of friends, with the exception of Ron Jeremy who we contacted through his agent. I think everybody assumed that we got access to celebrities because of our Sony affiliation but actually the opposite was true. Every celebrity we approached through Sony assumed we had a TV-sized budget and wanted to be compensated accordingly. So, for the next season, I need to hurry up and make more celebrity friends or I’m really screwed.
(ÜSFG) Will Panda or Unicow ever speak?
(KE) They speak the language of love in every episode. Just lean in real close and you’ll hear it.
(ÜSFG) Lick Poop… er… Rick Pope has really become a break-out character on Gorgeous Tiny, even being featured in his own Vlog. Was that planned or was it in response to on-screen chemistry and fan reaction? Will we see more Rick Pope Vlogs? Will Kiko ever return his feelings?
(KE) If we do get a season three pickup, that story line is definitely something I’d like to continue further. Part of the Vlog idea was just that Ryan Smith is one of the funniest improvisers ever, so letting him go as Rick was just excellent comedy. Ryan is really one of the best comedic actors I’ve ever met. He can actually play a funny straight man.
(ÜSFG) What happened to Episode 21? I can’t find it!
(KE) Yes, it’s strange that it seems to have disappeared from YouTube. You can see it on Crackle. Use the pull down menu to get to Season 2. It’s called “Episode 9” on Crackle, “The Taming of the Unicow.” Starring Phil Proctor of The Firesign Theater.
(ÜSFG) Have you thought about doing more films?
(KE) I like the way you phrased that. It makes it sound as if not doing more films is a personal decision that I have made for myself. It’s true. Every day, I wake up and think, “hmmm, should I spend the next few hours in bed, vacillating between showering or going back to sleep, ORRRRR should I do a film?” Invariably, I make myself feel better by calling my dreams “films” and going back to sleep. Please tell more film directors to put me in their movies. And then please tell me not to suck at my auditions for said movies. Thank you!
(ÜSFG) Your IMDb profile says you’re also an artist. Did you do any of the artwork we’ve seen in GTCMS or The Guild? Where can we see your work?
(KE) Who is responsible for these heinous lies?… I mean, um, yes, yes I AM an artist. You can see my work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Seriously, don’t they have people to check these things?
(ÜSFG) Any more 2 Hot Girls in the Shower planned? What other projects have you been working on?
(KE) Yes, we’re shooting more this week. I just got so busy with The Guild that I didn’t have time to do anything else. Or, rather, the time I had was spent oozing around in a little gelatinous puddle of my own tears. I’m not currently working on anything else. STOP TORMENTING ME WITH YOUR HORRIBLE QUESTIONS!!! I’m not working on anything else, nobody will put me in their films and I have no artistic talent! SATISFIED?!?! Actually I have another series I want my husband to shoot but he’s too busy painting God on our dining room ceiling.
(ÜSFG) Are you a Whedonite?
(KE) I’m half Whedonite, half Korean. The whole Buffy phenom passed me by but I loved Firefly and I love Dr. Horrible so I don’t know what I’m waiting for. Why don’t I just go right now and buy and watch all of Buffy?
Over the past few weeks, fans of The Guild have been eagerly awaiting the release of new hilarious episodes of our favorite web series and, as expected, Codex and the Knights of Good have not let us down. With three episodes and the Christmas special now out, we thought this would be a great time to catch up with the cast and find out what they’ve been up to. As a Christmas gift from ÜberSciFiGeek to all of you, here is the first of several upcoming interviews.
Amy Okuda plays Tinkerballa, a Ranger in the “Knights of Good” guild. As anyone who’s played World of Warcraft or Everquest with me can attest to, I have a soft spot for the Ranger/Hunter toons (slang for in-game characters), so that automatically makes Tink one of my favorite characters. As busy as she is between school and the holiday season, Amy was kind enough to set aside some time to answer a few questions for ÜberSciFiGeek.
ÜberSciFiGeek (ÜSFG) Did you have an active imagination when you were a kid?
Amy Okuda (AO) I think all young kids have very good imaginations. But I was the kid in preschool that escaped from the classroom everyday to talk to flowers… so I guess I could say I had a pretty active imagination… haha.
(ÜSFG) How old were you when you decided you wanted to be an actor?
(AO) I got into acting very recently, probably like junior year of high school. I started dancing in 7th grade, and my dance teacher and friends would tell me to get into acting too since they make more money… so I did, and I ended up really liking it.
(ÜSFG) Lots of artistic people struggle with other things considered normal, like sports, academics, and social interaction, but then thrive when they discover the arts. Did you have a similar experience?
(AO) I think my experience is the furthest from that. Acting and the arts were not a part of my life until about 7th grade. I played basketball for about 9 years, since I was 5 — that was my life. I was basically a tomboy and thought I was going to get into college through basketball, but realized I was Asian and would grow up to be about 5″1 and 95 pounds… haha. But I would say I grew up with a very normal life. I went to school, had a lot of good friends, played sports, you know, the usual. Then I started really getting into dance in high school and started independent studies my junior year, so that’s when my life started getting “not normal” I guess… haha. But my boyfriend was going to school so I still got to go to my senior prom, which was nice. But I was lucky and got to experience a lot of different things in my life — like being a student, an athlete, a dancer, an actor, etc., and I think that’s what makes me different from other actors who have been in the business all their life.
(ÜSFG) You just finished wrapping season 2 of The Guild. What was it like being back together with the cast and crew? How different was it to actually have a budget this time around?
(AO) I absolutely love every single cast member and crew that works on the show. Me and Robin, who plays Clara, especially got close, and I’m so thankful that everyone is so supportive and nice. I couldn’t imagine working on a show with people I hated. Well, now that we are sponsored and have a budget, we got to shoot the whole season in a shorter amount of time, which was nice compared to shooting episodes months apart. But it’s not completely different from shooting season 1; it’s still so much fun and I love it just as much as I did shooting the first season.
(ÜSFG) Other than your Mario Kart addiction, are you anything like Tink?
(AO) Tink is basically me when I was, like, 10-11 years old. That’s when I was really into basketball, and I was such a feisty little kid. I didn’t take crap from anyone; I was so competitive and thought I was the toughest thing. One time, a boy was, like, looking at me and trying to talk to me and I snapped at him and said “What are you looking at?” To me, that’s such a Tink line. When I quit basketball and wasn’t in such a competitive environment all the time, I really mellowed down, and I’m glad I did, because I honestly probably wouldn’t have any friends… haha.
(ÜSFG) I know you did the “LOL” episode of Californication with David Duchovny. How different was that filming experience from The Guild?
(AO) Well, the big difference was that I only had to memorize one sentence. HAHAHA. But it was kind of cool because I only had, like, a tiny part but I had my own little trailer, a wardrobe person, make-up artist, and they even had a stand-in for me, which was kind of weird. But you know, other than that, there’s just a lot more people on set, and I got to see David Duchovny… lol.
(ÜSFG) You’ve been busy at the University of Southern California. Have you had time for anything else, and, if so, what other projects have you been working on?
(AO) My main project for the next 3 years is to graduate! I really wish I could go out and audition and work as an actor more, but right now my main goal is to get a degree, and live life like a normal college girl. My mom always told me college is the best time in your life, and I really want to live it up and treasure my time at USC, especially because there is so much to do there besides go to class, and I don’t want to miss out on anything.
(ÜSFG) Do you get recognized in public now?
(AO) Umm, I got recognized once at El Torito; it was kind of a weird experience, but it doesn’t happen much. I get a lot of friends and family telling me, “Oh, my friend was saying he/she was looking through the Internet and saw you on The Guild!” or random old friends Facebook-messaging me and being like, “WTF, you’re in The Guild?”
(ÜSFG) Are you a Whedonite?
(AO) I’m not exactly sure what being a Whedonite entails, but I definitely enjoyed Dr. Horrible. I think everyone did a great job on that.
(ÜSFG) Is there anything else you can think of that you’d like to share?
(AO) Umm, I don’t think so, just KEEP WATCHING THE GUILD. 🙂 lovelovelove
Evil has returned to haunt the keep… The lich has been reincarnated. Hero, the immortal king, defeated the lich years ago, but now the lich has returned, hungry for vengeance, leading his army of undead. But valiant adventurers have invaded his lair and seek to fight their way to his throne, in order to confront him and send him back to his grave. Whether you are the lich or the adventurers, in order to triumph, you will need to prove yourself with the wisdom to choose the right path, the strength to strike down your enemies and the luck to forge your destiny! Whether you prefer the hardness of stone, the finesse of paper or the edge of the blade, your fate is in your hands!
When it comes to role-playing (RPG) card games, there is usually an investment of time and energy to learn to play that can often be intimidating for an inexperienced or first-time player. Like a traditional card game, winning or losing is a mixture of strategy, luck, and the combination of cards in your hand. In RPG/Strategy card games you “build” a deck, customizing your selection of cards before the game begins, to play to your strengths or game strategies. Many card games I’ve picked up require a huge investment in “boosters” to build a useable deck, and then you have to find someone to play with, typically facing your deck against theirs. While luck, strategy, and skill is involved, usually whoever has the best cards wins. Unlike other games I’ve played, Hero: Immortal King (or Hero IK) from Asmodee Editions is ready to play right out of the box. While you can buy additional boxes to build your own deck, it is not necessary in order to play the game. Also, you don’t pit your cards against someone else’s since both players use the same deck.
Hero IK is designed for two players, with one player as Adventurer and the other as the Dungeon Master (DM), but it also includes rules for a Solitaire game so you can play the game as soon as you crack it open. In the role of Adventurer, you have to navigate your way through the passageways (represented by Dungeon Cards) of a dungeon in search of the Final Monster. As the DM, you can use a series of ambushes and traps to foil the Adventurer and keep him from reaching the Final Monster. Instead of scoring, a series of colored chips is used to keep track of how courageous (Courage tokens possessed by Adventurer) or demoralized (Fear tokens possessed by DM) the Adventurer is. If the Adventurer runs out of Courage tokens before beating the Final Boss, the game is over. In addition to the Fear and Courage tokens, the Adventurer has Mana tokens that can be used to access special abilities, and the DM has Tenacity tokens that can be used to boost Dungeon Cards’ attack strength.
In the solitaire game there is no DM, so traps, ambushes, and other special attacks don’t come into play. Instead, the use of Fear tokens is modified. Whenever the Adventurer loses a fight and a Fear token is added to the DM’s pile, the new number of Fear tokens is selected from a list of scenarios to tell you the outcome. For example, in The Lair of the Lich’s easy scenario: If the DM gains a second Fear token, “The Greenskins are mobilized. Greenskins gain a bonus of +1 Strength”. There are three Solitaire scenarios included in the instruction manual: The Dead of Night (Easy), In Search of Abunakkashii (Medium), and Meet the Lich (Difficult). You can create your own additional scenarios or download more from Asmodee Editions.
Presently there are three Hero IK games: The Lair of the Lich, The Infernal Forge, and the Den of Dementia. They all follow the same gameplay rules and can be played individually or combined to build a customized deck. The cards are even numbered in the lower right-hand corner so you can easily separate them if you decide to play the standard game again.
While most of the battles are decided with the role of a die, plus whatever special skills, abilities, or attacks the Adventurer (or DM) adds, the Greenskins (kind of like trolls) have a different way of settling things in a two-player game: Rock, Paper, Scissors. This brought about a few laughs when timing was off, so you might want to play a few rounds of RPS with your partner before the game begins, just to make sure you aren’t showing on the third count when they are going on the fourth. The game is fairly well-balanced, but is geared towards the Adventurer. The DM only has so much they can do, but it is fun to watch the Adventurer squirm as you lay ambushes to thwart their progress. In The Lair of the Lich, there are no trap cards, but they have been added to The Infernal Forge and Den of Dementia, as well as additional heroes, monsters, and Final Monsters to make things a bit more difficult.
The instruction book is actually more detailed than you realize the first time reading it through, and it is a bit difficult to understand until you actually start playing the game. Maybe I’m a slow learner, but I used the book for just about every hand for the first five or six Solitaire games I played. Every time I played, I learned more or understood an aspect of the gameplay I didn’t really get before. The cards have everything on their face that you need to know once you know how to read them, though, and eventually the book won’t be necessary except for the Scenario chart when playing the Solitaire version.
After familiarizing myself with the Solitiare version of the game, I played Hero IK as DM with my 15-year-old son as Adventurer. He used to play Yu-Gi-Oh! and other similar games when he was younger, so learning a new, more mature card game appealed to him. About halfway through our first game, when I asked him what he thought about it, he replied, “Much better than Yu-Gi-Oh!” As we discussed the game, we both agreed that while it is fun the way it is, its real strength will be in the unlimited possibilities opened up once it is customized. We are already making plans for customizing our game rules and decks once we are more confident with the three standard games (with and without constructed decks).
The cards are about the same size as, but more durable than, standard game cards, with rounded edges to cut back on getting dog ears on the corners. The artwork is a Manga or Anime style that at times reminds me of the animated films The Lord of the Rings and The Last Unicorn. In addition to the 60-card deck, there are two die (one standard 6-sided die and one 8,10 or 12-sided die) and 28 tokens. Everything stores away in a sturdy box about the size of a paperback novel. The lid fits snugly so it will be easy to take the game from its place on your bookshelf and toss it in a bag or backpack when you head out to hang with friends. It’s fairly easy to learn how to play and, after many of the possible scenarios have played out, Hero IK has lots of potential for expansion and customization without getting bogged down in some of the more complicated game rules seen in other games. Some hard-core gamers might say this is a watered down or “lite” version of a RPG/Strategy card game, but that would be overlooking the possibilities of this streamlined and enjoyable game. Whether you are a solitary gamer, one who doesn’t have time for long games, or someone who has wanted to try their hand at a card game but has been too intimidated to try it, I recommend picking up Hero: Immortal King.
Contents
• 4 adventurer cards
• 7 equipment cards
• 48 dungeon cards
• 1 final monster card
• 1 6-sided die
• 1 12-sided die* or a 10-sided die** or an 8-sided die***
• 4 Mana tokens
• 4 Tenacity tokens
• 10 Courage tokens
• 10 Fear tokens
Hero IK supports 1-2 players, ages 9 and up. Game length: about 30 minutes.
Hero: Immortal King: The Lair of the Lich, Hero: Immortal King: The Infernal Forge, and Hero: Immortal King: Den of Dementia are distributed by Asmodee Editions (US), a subsidiary of Asmodee Editions (France).
Normally reruns wouldn’t be a big deal, but this one will be to sci-fi fans and geeks around the globe. In November of last year, NUMB3RS aired an episode featuring three-time Emmy award winner Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future) and Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: The Next Generation). I missed it the first time around, so it will be nice to catch it this time. In this episode, titled “Graphic”, a comic book convention becomes a crime scene after a deadly robbery leads to the disappearance of an extremely rare comic. This show already wins geek points with me for starring Rob Morrow (Northern Exposure), David Krumholtz (Serenity), Judd Hirsch (Independence Day) and Peter MacNicol (Dragonslayer), but a scan of the convention room makes my heart go pitter-patter. Creatures and characters from every comic book, movie and TV show you can imagine make an appearance here, in what can only be viewed as an homage to geeks everywhere. Even if you don’t tune in regularly, set your DVRs for 10:00 PM ET on Friday, December 26, and wallow in all the geeky goodness of it.
I’ve been keeping an eye on the Star Trek website, looking for new content, news, spoilers and photos. I hadn’t been there lately, so I stopped in today to look around and was thrilled to see the site has been pepped up. It’s interactive now, so you can walk through the halls of the USS Enterprise.
In addition to a gallery of images and downloads, you’ll find a new trailer featuring James T. Kirk as a car-thieving child in one scene, and in another scene we find out if he’s a boxers or briefs kind of guy while he locks lips with a woman in his bed who appears to be Uhura. Sex in Star Trek? Yep. Will and Deanna, eat your heart out. Kirk finally gets some real on-screen action. Sure, it was always implied that Kirk made the rounds, but little appears to be left to the imagination this time around.
Check out the new trailer, download some images and look for Easter eggs at startrekmovie.com.
