So, I Guess There Were Vampires in Fairy Tale Land

Anyone watching Once Upon A Time last night catch something in the background of Rumpelstiltskin's castle? Take a look at the screencap below:

Just what is that thing on display, to the left of the framed artwork?

Does this ring any bells?

The OUAT episode was written by the brilliant Whedonverse vet Jane Espenson, so I have to think that was an intentional shout-out (much like all the Lost Easter Eggs that keep popping up).

What I would go see at the movies this weekend

No, it's not a gauzy travelogue of self-discovery with Julia Roberts flitting around Italy and India, but I think this would be MUCH more entertaining:

I'll take potpourri for $7,100, Alex

Time for a linky roundup, y'all.

Great piece about the trailers for the new Star Wars games. I'm not much of a gamer today, but I would certainly watch a film or show developed by the people behind the creation of these trailers and games (and really, watch 'em in HD/Widescreen).

In honor of World Cup coverage, the 10 Most Annoying Sounds. Two of my personal annoyances not on the list: children in any way, shape or form, and the sound from when someone rubs their fingers across a fold of paper. That last one happens all the time in office environments, and makes me cringe, then makes me stabby.

Anyone else get caught up watching the Buffy marathon of Top 30 Viewer's Choice Best Episodes on Sunday? I did. If you're curious, here's the whole list. Not bad choices, and I think there are still a LOT of Spike fans out there.

Speaking of the Buffster, here's where you can find Whedonverse writers on your tube.

And one more: someone else joins the cult (Unreality). It's also fun reading "new to me" writeups on the Buffyverse from Cultural Learnings, and the AV Club.

You tell 'em, Stephen.

22 Fictional Characters Whose Names You Don't Know. (What does it say about me that I knew over half?)

What's a good foundation for law and government?

Dennis the Peasant: Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.

Arthur: Be quiet!

Dennis the Peasant: You can't expect to wield supreme power just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you!

Neither is talking, flaming shrubbery.

Absolutely adorable video of new Doctor (Matt Smith) and Companion (Karen Gillan) interviewing each other.

Dawgs fans could have told Cowboys fans this type of thing was coming.

Good thing Lady Gaga didn't go see Dr. Gregory House, because it's NEVER that.

Please (insert deity here), make this happen.

I lost my passion for American Idol this season, and Simon leaving certainly won't help rekindle it next year. But #3 on this list might do the trick.

Doing my part for government tabulations. And Geekery.

The census guy just knocked on my door. Since a couple of months ago, the future was uncertain, I never got around to sending my form in. He seemed like a nice dude, so I invited him in to ask his questions. While here, he met the cats, and of course, Mulder, being the aggressively friendly sort that he is, was all over him (in a good way). He recognized the name from The X-Files, and said he loved the show. He asked me if I watched Lost, and wondered if he should watch it on DVD from the beginning. (He'd NEVER SEEN AN EPISODE!). After 10 minutes of evangelizing, I had him convinced he was going to the library to pick up the first season tomorrow.

We also talked about The Wire, Friday Night Lights (which we had both seen) and The Sopranos.

I think I also completely sold him on Battlestar Galactica and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which he hadn't watched before.

I feel like I did a huge service to humanity today.

Too bad he wasn't from the Nielsens. I'm much more interested in having them count me.

Reconsidered: "Beer Bad"

For more about "Reconsidered," check this out.

"Beer Bad" has long been considered one of the worst, if not THE worst, episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's the 5th episode of season four, an underappreciated season that gets a lot of flack for the "Initiative" storyline, and Buffy's romance with white bread Captain America Riley Finn. Overarching "big bad" aside, S4 was about the transition to college, and "Beer Bad" takes on several college experiences: Buffy's emotional recovery from her experience with love and leave 'em douchebag Parker Abrams, Xander's attempt to fit in with the Scoobies even though he's not attending UC Sunnydale, and, of course, underage drinking.

The plot in a nutshell: Xander becomes a bartender at a local college pub. Four pompous dudes frequent the bar, lecturing everyone about sociological theories while quaffing pitcher after pitcher of their favorite microbew, Black Frost. Turns out, the pub owner has had it up to here with these guys and their dickish behavior, so he casts a spell on the "Black Frost" (his brother is a warlock) which causes all those who consume it to slide down the evolutionary ladder and revert, mentally and physically, to cavemen. The Buffster, seeking some laughs while attempting to get over Parker, has a few brewskis with these guys, and soon, the five of them are "questing for fire" on the campus. Violence and mayhem ensues, culminating in a big blaze in the Grotto (local coffee shop). Buffy, not quite as cro-magnoned as the four asswipes, winds up saving both Willow and Parker, who were there chatting about Parker's treatment of Buffy when the cavemen broke in, from the fire. Message? Beer Bad.

Fans of a show, particularly one as universally well regarded as Buffy, often say "even the worst episode is better than anything else on TV." Is that true here? Kind of. I'd much rather watch "Beer Bad" than Supernanny, 90210, Private Practice or Jon's Wandering Dick and His Famewhoring Wife Exploit Their Children for Fun and Profit. "Beer Bad" is still definitely one of the lesser Buffy episodes, but it's not the all time worst. (There are some season one clunkers, and "Where The Wild Things Are," that easily rate below it).

In fact, there's quite a bit to like about "Beer Bad:"

• The season four opening credits are first rate.
• The fight sequence that opens the episode is well done.
• Sarah Michelle Gellar does a very fine (and funny!) job playing drunk (and playing cavewoman).
• Some classic Whedony dialogue:

Xander: mon girlfrere. Behold (holds up a fake id) Behold.

Willow: I don't believe this is entirely on the up and up.

Xander: What gives it away?

Willow: looking at it.


Buffy: Maybe I'm in his bubble and then pretty soon he's going to
realize that he wants more than just bubble Buffy and he'll pop me out
and we'll go to dinner and it could happen right?

Willow: Buffy. And as my best friend you need to stop thinking about
Parker. He's no good. There are men, better men, wherein the mind is
stronger than the penis.

Xander: Nothing can defeat the penis! Too loud, very unseemly.


Oz: Hey. You got a table.

Willow: I had to kill a man.

Oz: Well, it's a really good table


Willow: What did you do with Buffy

Buffy: I'm suffering the afterness of a bad night of badness

Willow: You didn't. Not with Parker again.

Buffy: No, with four really smart guys.

Willow: Four? Oh. Ow. Oh Buffy, are you okay? Do you wanna talk about
it?

Buffy: I went to see Xander. Then I saw Parker. Then came beer.

Willow: And then group sex?

Buffy: (Hits her) Gutter face. No! Just lots and lots of beer. It's
nice. Foamy. Comforting. It's just beer.


Giles: I can't believe you served Buffy that beer.

Xander: I didn't know it was evil

Giles: But you knew it was beer

Xander: well excuse Mr. “I spent the sixties in an electric Kool-Aid
funky Satan groove”.
Giles: it was the early seventies and you should know better.

• One of the four college douchebags was an early role for Kumar, Kutner and Obama staffer, Kal Penn.
• The beginning of Oz's attraction to the very sexy Veruca was well played here.
• The revelation of what was behind the devolution was understated and unveiled by the pub owner in such a matter of fact manner, it added to the comedy.
• Willow is such an empathetic figure, and so well acted by Alyson Hannigan, that you could almost go along with her falling for Parker's bullshit. How nice when she turned the tables and called him on his game (before they were both knocked out by the cavemen).
• And finally, when Buffy (still quasi-devolved) gets the apology from Parker, she whacks him with a stick. Nice.

However, despite all the reasons to appreciate "Beer Bad," the episode still fails on a macro level because the metaphor is just so heavy handed and simple minded. Buffy is a show that worked in metaphor a great deal, and when it worked (which is often), it worked gloriously ("Suprise" / "Innocence"). But here, the messages -- underage drinking is wrong, y'all! and booze makes you stoopid! -- are so unnuanced and hamfisted that it detracts from the other fun to be had with the episode. The reality of a college campus is that underage drinking goes on all the time, and not everyone becomes Amy Winehouse after their first brewski. It's fine to want to send a message, but surely there are more subtle and effective ways to get the point across without painting in such broad strokes. In fact, "Beer Bad" does more shaded work on other "messages," like the nature of the ego, superego and id (Maggie Walsh's lecture and Parker's games) or socioeconomic class struggles (the four asswipes pre-magic beer juxtaposed with Xander's struggles to fit in).

So, at the end of the day, how is "Beer Bad" once it's Reconsidered? Not as bad as it's made out to be, and definitely worth a watch now and again. C+

I'll take potpourri for $5,200, Alex

Sarah Connor Chronicles ratings are tanking. Will FOX yank it before the season ends?

Damn the planet! My ass is important!

Wanna read the script for the original Dollhouse pilot?

IF Magazine chats with Topher (Fran Kranz)

Why on earth would you get back together with someone who beats the shit out of you?

Mo Ryan chats with the writers of Friday's BSG episode, "Someone To Watch Over Me." She's also got a piece about those two writers, Weddle and Thompson, who are now with CSI: Original Recipe. (They're doing an eppy set at a sci-fi convention, that also features Kate Vernon! How cool is that?)

If you're a BSG fan, and you haven't yet read this epic post (3 parts, actually) from composer Bear McCreary, get yourself a cup of coffee and go do it now. Not only is it a fascinating look "behind the scenes" of the process for developing music for the show (especially for an episode for which music is absolutely critical), but it's also evident how much passion and thought goes into this remarkable series.

Starbuck's Top 25 Moments. And an interview with Katee. Airlock Alpha chats with Donnelly Rhodes -- Doc Cottle himself. (I always thought of him as "Dutch" from Soap prior to this).

A chat with Michelle Forbes (Ensign Ro, Admiral Cain, Tru Blood)

10 Alan Moore comics (other than Watchmen, of course) that you should read.

First PECOTA, now CHONE, predict a decent season for the Braves.

Pajiba gave a lukewarm review the Dollhouse pilot (as we all did, I think). In response to that, they put together a list of "great shows that started out weak." No quibbles with the list, and as you might expect, Buffy is on it, too. It's always a question that comes up when you want to introduce a newbie to Buffy: how much of the first season do you show them? Because s2 is when the show really hits stride, even though there are some standout eppys in that first, abbreviated season. While this might give us some hope for Dollhouse really elevating the game, there's a big difference between FOX and The WB and their ratings expectations. (Damn, do I wish Eliza's deal would have allowed the show to air on FX, where we weren't under the ratings Sword of Damocles each and every week). Anyway, when it comes to Buffy, you can check out an old post I did summarizing the "personal rating" (quality-wise) of that show and its seasons, and even check out the entire spreadsheet compiling them.

The AV Club chats with Eliza Dushku.

Collider chats with comic Patton Oswalt, who is a big fan of Firefly (he's even writing a comic coming up) and will also appear on Dollhouse.

Joss talks to Crave Online.

Mo Ryan talks to Fringe's "Mister Jones."

AICN talks to the science consultant for Watchmen.

Remember what book Ben was reading on Ajira Air 316? Ulysses, right? What's the last chapter in that book? Uh-oh.

Why being an iTunes hit doesn't quite matter yet for TV shows.

Steven S. DeKnight, writer of the best Dollhouse thus far, chatted with io9.

AV Club looks at 22 crucial film corpses.

Damn TV box digital converter thing! (I almost did this with a CD player, in an incident that shall not be spoken of again).

I'll take potpourri for $5,100, Alex

Go through all 7 seasons of Buffy in less than four minutes.

Ears and language rejoice! You will no longer be defiled by a Florida education. Emmitt is not coming back to ESPN. (With a list of his top 10 attempts at a coherent sentence, and video).

Sarah Connor ratings low, but steady. Dollhouse drops a bit, does okay in the demo. Can the show get in a groove and build?

Fringe moves production to Canada. Who cares? Walter can obsess about snack food in a basement anywhere. And The X-Files filmed there forever, before moving stateside late in its run.

TWOP looks at "familiar" characters in Dollhouse.

Mo Ryan continues her series of excellent interviews with BSG writers, this time with Jane Espenson. More here with the writers of "No Exit." She also chats with BSG and Dollhouse actor Tahmoh Penikett. (Between BSG and Dollhouse, typing his name is killing my spell checker).

And BSG composer Bear McCreary chats with another Final Fiver, Michael Hogan.

"Geek" shows (and Desperate Housewives and Grey's?) dominate the torrent downloads.

And the Oscar for best red carpet nipples goes to....

A really good list of the best movies about television.

Watchmen is coming! EW has a primer. So does TWOP. And geek icon Wil Wheaton saw the flick and says RELAX, it's AWESOME.

Info on the latest "standalone" story (about Faith and Giles) from the Buffy S8 comics.

Fast food ads vs. reality. The dream dies hard.

Five great careers derailed by the Oscar.

Cordy will be showing up on CSI.

Video of Matt Stafford showing some throwing skills (but not at the combine).

Good idea for Trek newbies: "Best of" samplers, with some very good eppy selections.

TIME has a Q&A with Joss.

This is Teh Awesomes. A "trilogy meter." Take a look.

In the SEC, who is each school's biggest rivals? Seems about right.

Looking back at the 2006 college recruiting classes. UGA's 2006 rank? 4th. Evaluated in hindsight? 4th.

The NYT talks to 24's resident nerd comics.

The 10 Worst Places to Work on TV.

Two little kids recreate the diner scene from Pulp Fiction.

From Jorge Garcia's blog, a look at the cake the folks from Ace of Cakes made for Lost's 100th eppy.

Pretty cool. Magenta isn't a color.

"Do I look like a ditchable prom date to you?"

That line is from a Season 3 episode of Supernatural ("No Rest for the Wicked"), spoken by the character below:

Which Supernatural Character Are You?

More on Supernatural. Created by BuddyTV

I'm okay with Bobby, who is one of my favorite characters from the show. In fact, I have a nice track record on the "who are you" TV quizzes:



Find out Which Lost Character Are You at LiquidGeneration.com!

Doctor Gaius Baltar

You are "Doctor Gaius Baltar".
Often paranoid and feel that your peers misunderstand you.
Are extremely intelligent, but can't handle power well.
You get into relationships which you are unsure about
and show emotion too much.

Which Buffy the Vampire Slayer Character Are You?

More on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Created by BuddyTV

Apparently, I'm kinda smart, kinda loyal, kinda star-crossed, kinda haunted and probably crazy. And might bring about the end of the world.

I think I've become Rupert Giles

Quick, when you think of Giles, what image comes into your head?

For me, it's probably something along the lines of this (from S6's "All The Way"):

Buffy : Is that why you're always cleaning your glasses? So you don't have to see what we're doing?

Giles : Tell no one.

I've worn glasses for years now, and for the life of me, I can't keep them clean from minute to minute. I must have at least 20 of those microfiber glasses cleaners stashed in every conceivable place: living room, bathroom, office, car, briefcase, kitchen. And it seems that I'm pulling one of those out to wipe them down every 10 minutes. I should probably go to Sam's Club and buy the lens cleaner in 55 gallon drums. I have no idea where all the glasses schmutz comes from. It's not like I compulsively decide to poke myself in the eye, with only the lens to protect me from becoming a cyclops. (Or Xander in S7!) I always take them off and put them on by the frame. I don't spray when I talk like Lou Holtz or Bill Cowher. I don't use them as protection when I'm dissecting corpses in the crime lab. I don't run out onto the balcony and stare at the sky during heavy precipitation. Yet I constantly see some type of smudge or particle on the lens that bugs the fuck out of me and I have to wipe it off.

I'm probably one psychotic break away from purchasing these:

I'll take potpourri for $3,900, Alex

Happy post-Turkey day to one and all. Hope everyone ate too much, drank too much and that your teams covered the spread. On to the random musings and linkage:

Are these the "Top 10 College Football Personalities?" You gotta love the first 3 at least. Hopefully, with all the coinage ESPN has now invested in the SEC, we'll see more of Ron Franklin, who, along with Uncle Vern, is kind of the narrator of Southern Football. (And kudos for mentioning the voice of college football Emeritus, Keith Jackson).

46 year old man "learns" to become a smoker. Welcome to da club.

Speaking of "smoking," now I know why Bella goes on and on for pages and pages about how beautiful Edward is.

Queen Amidala likes to do the dirty. A lot.

An unbelievably cool animated movie poster for Terminator: Salvation. A must see.

An Australian scientist finds out what happens when you don't buy into the global warming hysteria.

Time for Trekkies to come out of the closet? And now that there's energy in the movement, will morons in the Mormon church fund an initiative in California to ban Trekkies from getting married?

Chinese Democracy finally came out, to mixed to decent reviews. What other long rumored and gestating projects should finally see the light of day? Good news, some of these are close to fruition, and don't even need Dr. Pepper to mock them into existence. I'm particularly excited about 1, 8, 15, 17, 18, 26 and 28. But I won't hold my breath for all of them.

Go figure. Bottled water about the same as tap. I'll buy the bottles for convenience, but often at home, I'll just take an empty bottle, fill it up with tap, and stick it back in the fridge to chill. My taste buds and health haven't suffered. At least from that.

Pop culture perfection: The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade gets Rick-Rolled!

Hey, it's a new "blacksploitation" film. And it looks kinda awesome.

If you don't have it, you MUST go purchase it: The entire Buffy "Chosen" collection (that's the whole freakin' show, folks) on sale for $81.59.

Even if you are "the man," don't let "the man" keep you down. President O fights for his right to CrackBerry.

I've done this, and it's a beautiful thing: tell your TiVo what to record straight from your cell phone.

A great new blog that's been added to my google reader: Secular Right. Good conservative thinking, without all the judgmental, supernatural mumbo-jumbo.

Everyone saw "The Naked Man" on Monday's HIMYM, right? Here's a copy of Lily's "50 reasons to have sex."

And, a perfect way to end: a giant montage of different movies' "The End."

I'll take potpourri for $3,000, Alex

We didn't see it because of the unbearable bloat caused by the reality show host trainwreck, but Buffy won the voting for TV's most memorable moment.

Speaking of the Emmys, other than some of the awards themselves (yay Mad Men!) and Ricky Gervais and Don Rickles, that show was disastrously free of highlights. Josh Groban (!) did a polarizing medley of TV theme songs that people loved or hated. Personally, I thought it was great (he does Cartman, y'all!), but check it out for yourself.

A sequel to Unbreakable? Hmmm, a recent Shaymalan movie I might watch.

Hard to punch it into the end zone against 12 men. Pac 10 refs. Sheeesh.

Great bulletin board material for the Dawgs. Maybe not a funeral, but I'm gonna drink like it's an Irish wake. And here's a hysterical "reality show" reaction to those comments. And former NBA coach Eric Musselman talks black jerseys here.

I stopped watching Grey's long ago, but I might have to check this out. I know a lot of Alias fans hated her, but I think she's scorching hot (and she was great on In Treatment, too). Perhaps I just have a thing for foreign chicks with great lips and overbites (see Piper, Billie).

If Josh Groban's song medley and Melissa George are polarizing, the new detective on House was as well. House's seasonal "foils" can be that way (I hated Vogler, loved Stacy, hated Tritter, loved the "survivor" competition and Cutthroat Bitch) and Lucas follows in that tradition. Personally, I found him funny, quirky (in a good way) and entertaining. If indeed he gets "spun off" into his own show, I'd check it out.

How could anyone actually live like this? Hell, I know someone who actually tried to "raise" four kids in an environment like that. On a related note, in Columbus, this might have been called "the kiddie pool."

Damn, Joanie heated up the Emmys, no?

Beaver Fever! Damn. I watched some of that while I was falling asleep after a long day. Then I woke up after a bizarre dream (Sam and I were in a football stadium being attacked by alien spaceships) to find that the closing 3 minutes of the game were airing on ESPN. Life lesson: even Trojans aren't safe from an angry beaver. Given this stunning upset, could the Dawgs jump back to #1 with a win Saturday night?

Don't forget, Dexter returns Sunday night!

If you don't love the Buffster, we may be done

Last night, I caught up on Monday's season premiere of How I Met Your Mother, and it was de -- wait for it -- lightful. Both the A and B stories were funny and character-driven, and it was great to have this group of television friends back.

One of the plot points revolved around Ted worrying that his new fiancee, Stella, might not like his favorite movie (Star Wars). IO9 has a take on it here.

This struck a chord with me, as I've long contemplated the "pop culture relationship deal breakers." For some folks, it can be politics, sports or religion. (For the record, I've dated liberals, conservatives, jesus freaks, atheists, Gators, Vols, Bugs and even folks who don't think of football season as the High Holy Days). Or in Ted and Stella's case, it was a movie. For others, it can be music.

But my pop culture world revolves around the tube, and I've even kept a list on my CrackBerry, entitled "TV for S/O." (That would be Television for the Significant Other). I understand that not many chicks are going to be geeky enough to know the difference between a Romulan and a Klingon, or be able to explain the alien conspiracy on The X-Files. Hell, I can't even explain the alien conspiracy on The X-Files. Nor, apparently, could Chris Carter. But there are some shows that are just so transcendent and so important that it's critical your long-term significant other develops an appreciation for them. Perhaps they've never had a chance to view them. Or perhaps they've been turned off by a "silly" title (*cough* Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Battlestar Galactica *cough*), without ever watching the show with an open mind. However, if they've been exposed to your favorite shows and still don't feel passionately (or even positively) about them, it would make me wonder if there was something fundamentally wrong with them, and that we wouldn't be compatible in the long run. I've got scores of TV shows on DVD, about 50 season passes on the TiVo, and have seen every single episode of literally hundreds of different series. But here are the TV dealbreakers for me:

• Lost
• Arrested Development
• Buffy
• Angel
• Firefly
• Battlestar Galactica
• Mad Men
• Veronica Mars
• Dexter

What about you, TNRLMers? What are your TV (or Pop Culture) Deal Breakers?

I'll take potpourri for $2,400, Alex

Have y'all seen the early concept and make up tests for The Joker? There's some creepy stuff in there, but all things considered, I think they wound up with the best possible result for Heath's look in The Dark Knight.

Brad Pitt is officially on board for QT's Inglorious Bastards, and the rest of the cast could shape up nicely.

Casting for Lost.

Sci-Fi Wire's Top 10 Brilliant But Canceled*. 1 and 2 are just fine in my book. (And by "just fine," I mean that they deserve to be at the top of the list -- not that it was fine that they were euthanized because the drooling masses just didn't get it).

*"Canceled is one of those words I always want to misspell. Doesn't it seem like there should be another "l" at the end? Cancelled. Doesn't that look better? Like "judgment." Shouldn't it be "judgement?" I remember seeing T2 in the theatre, and when the credits came up, I was like "holy shit! They misspelled the title!"

Time article about the Jamaica Bay plane crash -- a real life event that played a prominent role in last Sunday's brilliant Mad Men.

Hamlet: The Facebook news feed edition. Fucking Funny.

Seized at a traffic stop. Can't we just kill ourselves cheaply? Christ on a cracker, I hate this state. Better yet, wouldn't it have been cool if this van had wrecked, and I had been behind it in traffic? "Help me. I'm pinned under the van. Can you call an ambulance?" "Sorry dude. I'm just picking up some free smokes." (on a related note, I hope no one inspects my duffle bags coming back from GA next month).

Speaking of smoky treats, on a lark I signed up for some online promotion Marlboro was running. I didn't win a grand prize or anything, and forgot about it. However, when I got home last night, I found a package in the mailbox. It was a delightful "thank you for killing yourself slowly" gift.

The creator of the awesome summer show, The Middleman, talks to IO9. The season finale is going to feature an alternate universe, complete with goatees! And if the unthinkable happens, and the show is not renewed, what can fans do? Hmmmmmm. Plus, more appreciation for this hard to define treat.

Great extended interview with the creator of House.

Charles Van Doren, of the infamous quiz show scandals, opens up in a first person essay.

A very interesting look at the "Top 20 Albums of All Time." I think I have them all, except for Metallica.

Wait, if something is 55 million years old, does that make it older than 6,000 years old? Huh. Speaking of which, this made me giggle. Too bad I've already devoted that same automotive real estate to my alma mater.

And talking about the alma mater, welcome to the Bulldog portion of our broadcast:

7 and 24 seem to have their heads screwed on straight.

Will AJ Green live up to the hype? CMR seems impressed (and tells some interesting FSU stories). Also, Green outrunning Stafford's arm? Really? Was it a post pattern to Lawrenceville?

Uh-oh. Stewart Mandel opens up the can of worms again.

Carson Palmer says that 7 will be the first pick in the draft next year. Let's hope not. I want another year 'tween the hedges.

Online chat with Coach Richt.

Battlestar Galactica movie is officially happening. Jane Espenson writing, EJO directing, and the focus will be on the cylons. Awesome.

An amusing and fairly comprehensive run down of "Artificial Intelligence & Human Buddy Comedy Pairings."

A clip has surfaced from the Buffy animated series concept. Cute. A few years ago, I ordered a coffee mug with this image:

Howdy, y'all!

Welcome Park Benchers and Whedonesquers. While Liz, the maven of the "nerd girl" blog "The Park Bench" is on vacation, she's asked a series of guest bloggers to step in for her. I penned today's entry, about the singers featured in the Joss Whedon projects "Once More With Feeling" and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Regular TNRLM readers can check that out here. For those visiting for the first time, thanks for stopping by, and feel free to stick around and make yourself at home. There's beer in the fridge. But please use a coaster.

I'll take potpourri for $2,300, Alex

Joss talks about "nurture vs. nature" on Dollhouse. And here's a more extensive interview with him from The Hollywood Reporter.

If "dogs and cats living together!" is a harbinger of a Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man apocalypse, then the big guy may be on his way. This is just too damned cute.

Remembrances of being a spoiled only child. Every time I see one of these "retro toys," I always go "I had that one."

Speaking of GI Joe, have you ever wondered what a remake of John Carpenter's The Thing would look like filmed using GI Joe toys? Well, wonder no more. Awesome.

A Wonderfalls character (and maybe more than one!) will turn up on TV again. Damn, I loved that show.

An excellent summary of Mad Men's S2 premiere. After all the anticipation, it certainly didn't disappoint. And all the good buzz paid off: the show doubled last year's average viewership. Here's a video interview with the unbelievably gorgeous Christina Hendricks.

Al Gore's son will only date chicks with the initials "LL."

Along those lines, calculate your Ecological Footprint! My result:

"If everyone lived like you, we'd need 8.1 Planet Earths to provide enough resources."
"To support your lifestyle, it takes 36.1 global acres of the Earth's productive area."

And that's before I've purchased a new home here, opened up a new paper mill or told the checkout clerk at Harris-Teeter to use 1 sack per item with my groceries.

In praise of Dana Scully.

As if we needed another example of the theocracy's idiocy.

Here's a great podcast interview with Mark Sheppard (Romo Lampkin from BSG, Badger from Firefly). Funny, prickly, insightful dude, and he talks about the brilliance of BSG, complete dysfunction on the set of Bionic Woman, and an upcoming appearance on my favorite summer show, The Middleman. (Which, like me, he compares to the sadly short-lived The Tick).

The Jorts Jesus won't have his reputation sullied by Playboy. Because, of course, he wouldn't want to sully his reputation by associating with anything risque. So I guess he'll just have to drop out of school and go give circumcisions in third-world countries, now that this list has been published, right? On moral grounds?

Damn, Whoopi gets around. She should move here, where they would just call her "amateur."

More AV Club recaps of Buffy, S2, including an appreciation for the darkly ambitious and heart-rending "Passion."

Matt Stafford: "Overrated" or "The Truth?"

Is DJ Shockley making strides in Falcons camp? (No word from Lou Holtz on how JD Stokely is performing).

"Make the Bad Horse gleeful, or he'll make you his mare."

If you haven't yet watched Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog," do yourself a favor and get to it. Evidently, there were server problems yesterday, due to heavy traffic. But the easiest thing to do is simply go to iTunes and download the thing, so you can enjoy it for years to come. Act 1 is only $1.99, and since it's jam-packed with awesome, that's quite a value. As expected, Nathan Fillion as self-absorbed superhero Captain Hammer is smugly hilarious. Felicia Day as Penny is adorable. The songs are witty, funny and catchy. Simon Helberg, who plays "ladies man" Howard on Big Bang Theory, is another wannabe villain "Moist." Because he makes everything around him, well, moist. But Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible is just legen.....wait for it.....dary. Part 2 comes out tomorrow.

Speaking of Whedon musicals, one of my laments about iTunes was that the soundtrack to Buffy's "Once More With Feeling" wasn't availale in the iTunes store. I thought for a while that I was going to have to purchase the old fashioned CD and import it, but it turns out that the soundtrack is available on Amazon's digital downloads store. That was my first MP3 purchase there, but it worked like a charm. 5 seconds to install their "digital downloader," and OMWF was magically appearing into iTunes, even using the payment methods and account set up for "normal" Amazon purchases. Easy.

Anyone feel like singing today?

I'll take potpourri for $2,000, Alex

NY Times columnist loves Buffy.

An alien from another planet crash lands on earth during the 6th century, unleashes a monster, and works with the local vikings to kill it. Sound like fun?

Early report on True Blood, which will definitely earn a Season Pass on the TiVo.

TV Critics "Best & Worst" shows (that aired after Jan 08, so Mad Men won't be on it). Lost is at the top, which is nice. Also of note: 30 Rock and The Office at 3 & 4; House at 6; BSG at 7; In Treatment at 10; Big Bang Theory at 14; Torchwood at 16. At the bottom? Lots of reality, which is no shock.

I need to date a former GAP employee.

This title of this list seems redundant.

Silence! Dr. Smith insults the robot.

A Hearts of Darkness style "documentary" about the making of Tropic Thunder. Funny stuff.

Who are the best bands from each state? I'm glad that my favorite band, from "my" state, was rightfully recognized.

Hey, moron-in-charge -- if you're going to use a quote from one of the founding fathers, use the entire fucking quote. But I guess the line about "monkish ignorance and superstition" -- what we chose to escape and go to war over, along with unnecessary taxation -- conflicts too much with your dimwitted idea of a theocracy.

What colleges produce the most NFL starters? On offense, the SEC leads with 63. On defense, the SEC leads with 74. Within the hallowed SEC, the safety-vest wearing cousin-humpers lead the way with 20, followed by the world's best university with 19.

Also, the most hated CF programs of the last 25 years. Hard to argue with #1 and #2, but as always, I'd put their #10 as my #1. Fuckers.

Makes sense. Maybe that's why I'm so happy, bubbly and effervescent.

Holy Al Gore! The polar bears are safe! (unless Sawyer shoots them).

Into every generation, a slayer is born...

I think I referenced it before in one of my potpourri posts, but I'm really digging the AV Club's review of Buffy the Vampire Slayer from the beginning, especially since the reviews are being written by someone with only a casual previous knowledge of the series. All the thoughts, observations and analysis are from the point of view of a "newbie," and it's always great to see someone exposed to the series through fresh eyes. In fact, thought it brings up memories of one of the most traumatic periods of my life, I'll always fondly recall the joy I experienced sharing my favorite show, and one of the best shows on television ever, with my new "insta-family" over the course of a few months several years ago.

Here's a link to the recaps of the first three eps of season 2 on the AV Club, and if you haven't been keeping up, it's worth going back to the beginning and watching it all unspool. The writer, Noel Murray, generally posts reviews 3 at a time and does this a couple of times per week. It's a fun and entertaining journey through the entire series, and it will be interesting to see how the opinions shape up once we get to season 4, where the views of the fans start to wildly diverge.

Longtime readers of TNRLM will recall that one of the first posts I did was a summary of my own personal ratings and rankings of BTVS eps, from 1 through 144. (Aside: in the AV Club post, there's a question about assigning letter grades to the shows as you go along, and whether or not it's worth doing. I think from the POV of the reviewer it would be interesting, but there's also a good case to be made that things that would be a sold "A" in S1 might look like a "B" or "C" once you get deeper in, so the evaluations would have to be kind of fluid anyway. For my ratings, I did them after having seen the entire series all the way through at least 4 or 5 times). Actually, in that post I just hit the highlights -- top 10 and bottom 10 -- from my own exhaustive spreadsheet. At the time I did that post, I don't think google docs was a widespread application, so I had no way to actually share the entire thing. But now I do. If you'd care to peruse the entire thing, you can, by looking here. (Note: there are three "tabs" or pages. "Episodes" lists all the eps in chronological order, with a rating for each. "Summary" looks the same, until you get to the end, where I average out the episode ratings by season, to see how each season stacks up, which was rather surprising to me looking at it numerically. Which of course, doesn't take into account the overarching quality, throughline and arc of the season as a whole, but is informative and interesting. "Rankings" reorders the list from highest rated to lowest rated, and assigns a ranking to each episode from 1 to 144). YMMV, of course, but if you'd like to debate, agree or tell me to get a fucking life, feel free to in the comments or via the TNRLM email on the right.

No matter which way you go, it's always fun to re-experience one of the greatest things to ever grace the tube.

I'll take potpourri for $1,800, Alex

Think you know grammar? Well, I do. Or rather, I did. Check out this ass-kicking grammar quiz. Ouch.

A fun look at "The Measure of a Robot" in chart form.

Dish on the new season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

TV Squad has been revisiting Buffy and Angel this week. A few highlights:

• The quotable Oz. Make sure to click through to the large selection of quotage.
• The quotable Doyle. Same thing with the larger collection.
• Evaluation of, and links to, Buffy trivia questions.
• A look at Buffy's birthdays, parts one and two.

Buffy even helps in Baghdad.

A cool collection of "War of the Worlds" book covers.

Bruce Wayne, as seen through the cable news tabloids. Then go check out the rest of the stories and videos at Gotham Cable News (yes, it's a joint promotion with my mortal enemy, Comcast, but all the Dark Knight stuff rocks).

Johnny Miller had to apologize for referring to Rocco Mediate as "Tiger's pool guy?" Because it offended Italian-Americans? Wha? Huh? That doesn't even make sense from a racial or ethnic stereotyping sense. This "pool guy" thing could get out of hand, and give people the wrong idea about Italian-Americans.

Birds peck out Barbie's eyes, and other entertainment musings

HBO's addictive nightly-airing psychology drama In Treatment has been renewed for a second season. That's fantastic. This is a great show, with outstanding performances. You wouldn't think that people sitting around a room talking for half an hour every night of the week would be that compelling, but it is. Both Gabriel Byrne, and the revelatory Mia Wasikowska, should be remembered at Emmy time (and everyone else was good, too, mind you). I didn't realize this, but apparently Paul's practice is in the DC 'burbs. I think I'll give him a call and see if he takes my insurance. Based on season 1, he'll "fix" me, fuck me or I'll kill myself. He's not my type, so the odds aren't bad.

I get a blog from the Eureka team in my RSS feed, but their posts are all fucked up. Headlines, body copy and pix all come across as separate posts. Weird. Nonetheless, the show is returning soon (w00t!) and they've cast one of my favorite "under the radar" actresses as Carter's sister, Ever Carrdine. (See the separate elements of the post here). I originally noticed her in one of FX's first attempts at original programming, Lucky. Hell, I'm a huge fan of the whole Carrdine clan. John was one of the first Draculas I recall. David was Kwai Chang Caine, and of course, Bill. His brother Keith was most recently on Dexter's superb second season as an FBI agent romancing Deb and looking for the Bay Harbor Butcher. Another brother, Robert, was in Revenge of the Nerds, and is Ever's father. (Interesting trivia I just found on Ever's imdb page: her babysitter as a child was Anne Lockhart, who geeks will remember as the sexy Viper pilot "Sheba" on the original Battlestar Galactica. And Anne's mom June was the Robinson matriarch on Lost in Space).
If you've never watched Lucky, you should check it out, if you can find it online or on DVD. It was a 30 minute dramedy about a gambler in Vegas, and featured John Corbett, Billy Gardell and Craig Washington. Good stuff.

An early look at JJ Abrams new FOX show, Fringe. Yep, I'll be setting the season pass for this one.

The international trailer for the must-see Coen Brothers movie, Burn After Reading.

Birds peck a Barbie that looks like Tippi Hedren. Buy it for the girls!

Smidge has good taste in male roles to play. Dexter Morgan? JR Ewing? Thomas Magnum? Eric Cartman? Alex P. Keaton and Hank Moody? Awesome.

With Burn Notice returning next month, here's an interview with Bruce Campbell. And a bit more about Burn Notice can be found here.

Tyler Durden, and uh, the narrator, sing about Penis, the goddess of love.

The Spider-Man cartoon theme song. Yeah, if you read this blog, you probably know it by heart. But did you know The Ramones covered it, too?

In Plain Sight is growing on me. I enjoyed the pilot, but the second one, about a kid, left me flat (that almost always happens when urchins are on my TV). Last week's, featuring Missy Pyle as a con artist bride who scams her husbands out of their money (wait - is there another kind?) was funny, well acted and well constructed. Mary's partner, Marshall, is a master of the deadpan. Where has this guy been? He's great. The only thing that continues to annoy is Leslie Ann Warren as Mary's mom. Does she play anything other than "Leslie Ann Warren?" She's always the same ditzy, trashy, sexpot character (most recently on Desperate Housewives). Hey, good work if you can get it, but the exact same bug-eyed, breathy and over the top performance time after time grates.

A list of the 10 best sci-fi television shows. I read this because in a previous post, the author named the 10 best sitcoms of all time, and put Arrested Development at #1, so that earns some DAP in my book. I could quibble about the ranking and order (and is Buffy really "sci-fi?" And if so, where's Angel on this list?), but I totally <3 the top choice, and it also includes several of my favorites. Check it out. Whatcha think?