Those who watched this weeks episode of “How I Met Your Mother” knows that Barney often uses his friend’s name, “Ted Mosby”, during his one night stands. On this past episode, one girl mentioned a website she created, TedMosbyIsAJerk.com. As usual, the site does really exist, and in the very long song that plays on the site, we get this reference…

I know the truth about you Ted Mosby you look, talk, and act like a real human being but I know what you really are you’re a cylon and your only goal is total annihilation of the entire human race I talked to my best friend Dr. Baltar and he told me so don’t tell me that you love me don’t tell me you have feelings you can’t have feelings you’re a FRAKKING TOASTER!

The song is 20 minutes long, but funny. I like how HIMYM always brings their online references into the real world. Past ones I can remember are the Robin Sparkles MySpace page, and Barney’s Blog.

Was it worth the 13 minutes of my time to hear the Cylon reference?

More news coming for Doctor Horrible. Over at the Official Site they have a poster [right] for the show. Also, the fan site DoctorHorrible.NET has news on the casting of a “Big Bang Theory” physicist.

We can also reveal another member of the cast, Simon Helberg who plays Howard in “The Big Bang Theory”on CBS on Mondays at 8:00pm et/pt.

The poster is a teaser without mentioning the title, but it’s nice looking. Having Helberg join the cast is interesting. Bringing the same style he gives Howard on BBT to Horrible seems like a fit.

Whedon’s “Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog“ is moving fast. Another fan has posted her experiences on-set in her blog. Here is an excerpt:

I was blessed to have played a volunteer at the Homeless Shelter Soup Kitchen and another short scene where I’m (I think?) featured. I can’t divulge too much just for the sake of Mr. Whedon’s privacy, but you’ll probably see it, nonetheless.

Here’s how it went down, for your die-hard Whedon fans out there:

Be aware the the scene she describes is probably a spoiler (skipped over it myself). This project sounds better and better each day. Let’s hope it’s successful and Joss will continue to develop this more content this way.

I’m not sure why I added “Miss Guided” to my DVR queue, but I’m glad I did. I finally got around to watching the 4 debut episodes this past Friday, and it was really enjoyable.

Judy Greer is a funny actress. I was leery that she could carry a shown on her own, but those fears were quickly put to rest. The show is funny, quirky, and acted well. Even the cameos by Aston Kutcher and Jamie Lynn Spears didn’t take away from the core of the show.

The support cast as well provides a great environment for the comedy, especially Chris Parnell. Brooke Burns is neither great nor bad. She fills the role well but nothing special.

During the writing of this post, I noticed that only 7 episodes were filmed. Also, the way ABC is treating the show is poor; showing 4 episodes in 9 days, and debuting it at 10:30PM. I worry that this show was forgotten before it aired, and it’ll be lost by May.

First “Jezelbel James” is dumped after 1 episode, now “Miss Guided” is forgotten before air. TV is a strange, strange land.

The UK’s Empire Magazine has just released The 50 Greatest TVShows of All Time. Here’s the list:

50. Quantum Leap
49. Prison Break
48. Veronica Mars
47. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
46. Sex and the City
45. Farscape
44. Cracker
43. Star Trek
42. Only Fools and Horses
41. Band of Brothers
40. Life On Mars
39. Monty Python’s Flying Circus
38. Curb Your Enthusiasm
37. Star Trek: The Next Generation
36. Father Ted
35. Alias
34. Frasier
33. CSI
32. Babylon 5
31. Deadwood
30. Dexter
29. ER
28. Fawlty Towers
27. Six Feet Under
26. Red Dwarf
25. Futurama
24. Twin Peaks
23. The Office
22. The Shield
21. Angel
20. Blackadder
19. Scrubs
18. Arrested Development
17. South Park
16. Doctor Who
15. Heroes
14. Firefly
13. Battlestar Galactica
12. Family Guy
11. Seinfeld
10. Spaced
9. X-Files
8. The Wire
7. Friends
6. 24
5. Lost
4. West Wing
3. The Sopranos
2. Buffy The Vampire Slayer
1. The Simpsons

Shows that I am happy to see on the list: Seinfeld, Buffy, Lost, BSG, Doctor Who, Angel, South Park, Curb, Band of Brothers, Veronica Mars, and Quantum Leap. Even though I am an “Alias” and “Prison Break” fan, I don’t think they earned a place on the list.

What are your thoughts on the list?

The guy who had his apartment used as Doctor Horrible’s lair during filming of Joss Whedon’s new web series, “Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”. He posted a diary on LiveJournal:

Anyway, Joss needed a lair for his Supervillain and I happen to *live* in one.. They were incredulous when Otto told him that he knows someone who lives IN the exact place he needed. My friend Otto was the AD on this film and was actually the reason they were shooting at my house. Joss wanted / needed an apartment that had been turned in to a Evil Super Villain Lair with a couch and place for a computer.

Apparently they didn’t really believe him that he knew someone with Just The Place- they thought he might have just known someone who had a lab bench set up in their house or something. Oh no. When they saw the pictures from the location scout, they were *very* pleasantly surprised.

It must have been a surreal experience for the guy. He goes on to describe part of the filming and what went on. I wonder if Captain Hammer needs a place to hang out?

Joss Whendon (Buffy & Serenity) is currently developing a musical web-series called “Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”. More details have emerged over that last week, and the fan site DoctorHorrible.net has this description:

During the WGA strike Joss Whedon started writing a three part musical series for the internet. Each of the three episodes will be approximately ten minutes each.

Co-writers for the internet feature are Joss’ brothers Zack and Jed and Jed’s Fiancé Maurissa Tancharoen . The writing and shooting have been completed and the series is now in post-production.

“It’s the story of a low-rent super-villain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he’s too shy to talk to.” says Whedon.

“Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” will star Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible, Nathan Fillion as Captain Hammer, Felicia Day as Penny and a cast of dozens.”

This is exciting in so many ways. First, Neil Patrick Harris in a musical! Nathan Fillion working with Joss again! Also, when someone as respected in Hollywood as Joss Whedon starts making content specifically for the web, it goes far in legitimizing the medium. Hopefully this is just the start of quality (but network unfriendly) shows coming to the internet.

The cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer got together, five years after the show went off the air, to remember the good times. CNN has the highlights:

Gellar also reminisced about auditioning 11 times before landing the role of Buffy Summers.“All my friends felt sorry for me because I was on a midseason replacement on a network no one had heard of on a show based on a movie that wasn’t all that,” the 30-year-old actress said.

Whedon made sure to say that there was little to no chance for the show to come back on the air, or any sort of official reunion to happen.

But I have been keeping up with the Season Eight comics that have been coming out monthly for the last year or so. I’ve been enjoying them, and while I miss the show I was actually glad it bowed out when it did, rather than overstaying it’s welcome.

As rabid as I think Buffy fans still are, I think most of them have moved on. So while a reunion movie would be sweet, I’d rather just see the cast get together and talk about the good times.

Now if Fox would just let the “Buffy Horror Picture Show” events to start back up again, all would be well.

Update!

I’ve found an excellent article on TV Guide that contains much more juicy information from the panel!:

Quote of the day: Summing up the appeal of writing for a show like Buffy, Greenwalt said, “There’s nothing like taking all your pain and misery and shoving it into good-looking people’s mouths.”

This article has a lot more information, and Buffy fans should definitely go check it out. They also have a little more context for Whedon’s remarks about a Buffy movie:

Whedon acknowledged that “so many stars would have to align” in order to pull off a Buffy movie. “But,” he added, “I think it would be really cool.”

I still think that a Buffy movie wouldn’t really be necessary or needed. But if they brought back Oz, I’d be first in line for my tickets.

Those of us who know the facts may find it strange that many people don’t believe that humans walked on the moon. Where there is scientific controversy, you can usually find Mythbusters. The Bad Astronomy Blog has information on an upcoming “Mythbusters” that tackles some of the “myths”:

The build team — Kari, Grant, and Tory — went to Marshall Space Flight Center to use a vacuum chamber there (it was even reported in the local paper). Looks like they’ll be recreating Dave Scott’s famous feather and hammer drop from Apollo 15, as well as the hoax claim that dry lunar regolith can’t hold a footprint, and how the flag can wave in a vacuum.

Footage of their space center visit was shown on a local news station (video here).

I am surprised it took Mythbusters so long to attack this “myth”. They always thrive on controversy, and this is one of the largest ones out there. The only one large are the 9-11 conspiracy myths.

I first started following Bad Astronomy’s Phil Plait when he debated the “hoax” with Joe Rogan on Penn Jillette’s Radio Show a few years back. I recommend downloading the old podcasts for the shows for anyone interested in the subject.

Fan films are commonplace now, even higher quality than some studio productions (as with Star Trek: Phase II). But, in 1998, distribution of your fan film was limited to conventions and trade shows. Then came Kevin Rubio’s TROOPS, a mashup of Cops and Star Wars, it was funny, clever and well produced. Not to mention, widely distributed via the internet.

Over at the official host of TROOPS, TheForce.Net, they have a letter from director Kevin Rubio remembering the anniversary:

I don’t think most people ever plan on being the first in anything. I like to think that, as with TROOPS, it happens by accident more often than we realize. And while I have done other things in the entertainment industry, including the up coming new series: THE CLONE WARS, But TROOPS is still by far my most recognized and well known contribution in the world of entertainment. And I think it is so because so many other talented people contributed to it.

I’m told that TROOPS inspired a lot of people to make their own film of “fan film”, and that I’m happy to share in the thanks and blame for that. but I’ve always though that the medium of film is at its best when there is a collaboration between many talented individuals - each adding to the whole, making it better than it was before.

It took me days to get the entire 10 minute to download back then, but it was worth it (in a day when most people didn’t know what the internet was). If you have never seen TROOPS, what are you waiting for? It was a huge achievement for its day, and still stands up to today.

The Dollhouse news is starting to rush in. Over at TVGuide.com Ausiello has the scoop on the current list of principal characters:

ADELLE DEWITT
The fortyish iceberg who runs the Dollhouse where the human Etch-a-Sketches reside

PAUL BALLARD
The thirtysomething G-man who is slated to become an offbeat love interest for Dushku’s “impressionable” Echo

BOYD LANGTON
Echo’s handler and father figure

TOPHER BRINK
The technogeek who enjoys his job as a Doll programmer maybe a little too much

SIERRA
The knockout Doll who is as close to a friend as Echo has

VICTOR
The distractingly handsome Doll who is called upon to play everyone from Errol Flynn to Robert DeNiro

NOVEMBER
The Tracy Turnblad of the Dolls

DR. CLAIRE SANDERS
The beautiful older woman with whom Topher is smitten

Included in the article is some dream “casting suggestions”, of which some are not far fetched at all. Ben Browder would make a great “G-Man”. What do you think of the character list? How about TVGuide’s casting suggestions?

You have to agree that the remote control completely changed the way we watch television. It is one single invention that has had a huge impact on our lives, even though it really only performs a small function. But according to io9 it wasn’t created to help us be lazy:

Television was a new medium in the late 1940s, with few shows and still fewer channels, but McDonald already felt it was being ruined by advertisers. Unlike the untold legions who have shared his opinion, then and now, McDonald was in a position to do something about it. He was the president of Zenith Electronics Corporation. McDonald ordered his engineers go to work on a device that would allow viewers to mute the damn things, thus making ads unprofitable and leading to their demise. Or so he hoped.

This is fascinating, because if you look at a lot of television’s peripherals, so many of them are designed to help us avoid advertising. Tivo and DVRs? Sure, they help us watch things later, but most people admit that fast forwarding through the commercials is their favorite part.

In fact, avoiding ads is one of the reasons I tend to watch tv through websites or on DVD instead of when it originally airs. In fact, there’s so many ways not to avoid advertising that it has become a very big deal to television producers everywhere. When you try to watch The Sarah Conner Chronicles on Fox’s website, you have to sit through the same ad multiple times during each “break.” It’s only one ad at time, but really, I’m no closer to buying a Juke than I was when the show started. To watch quick clips on most network websites, you have to sit through an ad first. Plus, just like on TV, they’re usually louder than the show. I tend to reach for the mouse and mute the computer during ads, or I’ll switch to another tab to quickly check my email before the show starts.

So what is your favorite way to avoid advertising? Is there any chance that McDonald’s dream of eradicating commercials will ever come true?

Tina Fey is a very intelligent and funny actress. Not to mention a talented writer. As writer/producer/star of 30 Rock she’s proven that she’s a Hollywood powerhouse. According to The New York Times, she will be the first host of the post-strike Saturday Night Live:

The first show back on the air since the strike by the Writers Guild of America was expected to end on Tuesday, after three months, will probably be the NBC series “Saturday Night Live,” which returns on Feb. 23. (Tina Fey will be the host that night; Ellen Page of the film “Juno” is committed for March 1.) That NBC late-night production missed nine shows during the strike and will try to replace a number of those between now and May.

I love Fey, and greatly miss her from SNL both at the Update desk, as well as the writers’ room. In my opinion, SNL is usually best watched on Sunday morning via DVR, because there is usually only 20 good minutes to watch. But occasionally the guest host seems to improve the show, and Fey definitely has the potential to turn out a great show.

Just announced on StarWars.com (even has tomorrows date) is the word that a feature film version of Star Wars: Clone Wars will appear in theaters before the television series kicks off.

A new era of Star Wars entertainment begins in 2008 when Star Wars: The Clone Wars, from creator George Lucas, premieres as an all-new feature film in August, followed by the television series debut in the fall, in a partnership announced today between Lucasfilm Ltd., Warner Bros. Pictures and Turner Broadcasting System Inc.
…
Star Wars: The Clone Wars will open in North American theaters Friday, August 15. International release dates will be announced soon.

I’ve heard criticism that this is the wrong era of Star Wars to focus on, but I disagree. This is when Jedi were Jedi. Remember, Episode 2 gave us the start of the Clone Wars, and Episode 3 the end. Star Wars: Clone Wars tells the story between the 2 movies. So I guess this would be Episode 2.5.

By the way, this will be the first Star Wars film not to be distributed by Fox. It’ll be strange not to hear the familiar fanfare at the beginning of the movie.

Top on my list of most anticipated new projects is the upcoming Joss Whedon/Eliza Dushku thriller, Dollhouse. The WGA stike worried us, but it was already ordered pre-strike, so Joss is getting back to work on the scripts post-strike. An interview with IO9 has more on Joss’ current projects.

What about Dollhouse will draw in your Buffy and Firefly fans?

Well, Eliza (Dushku). Duh. It’s very different than the stuff I’ve done before, but at the same time it’s still a very hardcore examination of the human condition. It really sort of boils it down to who are we, how are we programmed, what do we need, what is okay about us, and what is really not okay. It’s the most morally gray thing I’ve ever done. I think it might actually anger a lot of my fans, but there are questions I still have to ask. Ultimately I think it will intrigue them because that.

This type of show is perfect for Joss and Eliza. I enjoy when he explores the “morally gray” as he sometimes did in Firefly and Angel. Eliza’s character seems similar to her “Tru Calling” character, with a little of dark-Faith sprinkled in. The more I hear about this project the better it appears.

Yes, there were many problems with the Star Wars Prequels. But you have to admit that one of the coolest things that was accomplished by them was bringing Samuel L. Jackson into the Star Wars Universe. In a recent interview with MTV, Sam dropped hints that he may be voicing Mace Windu in the upcoming Star Wars: Clone Wars television series.

“And Sam Jackson sounds game to return.”Yeah, absolutely,” Jackson told MTV News today when asked if he’s interested in voicing the Mace Windu character in the new series. “I would love to,” Jackson said when asked if he’s ready to be the ill-fated Jedi warrior once again. Most exciting of all? Jackson confirmed that Lucas and company have expressed interest. “I have talked to them about it,” he said.”A lot of people love that character,” Jackson continued, pondering the continuing adventures of the only Jedi on record to wield a purple lightsaber.”

Having Jackson voice the character would be amazing. He is a great talent, and has such a distinct voice that I believe would enhance the series if he were a part. Yes, voice acting is a special talent that not every actor can do well, but Jackson has already proven he can pull it off.

(via theforce.net)

The fate of the Oscars isn’t certain, so who knows what exactly will go on the stage come February 24th, but the Academy is trying to generate some good press by revealing the design of the Oscar Stage. The Press Association reports:

Creating this year’s set is production designer Roy Christopher, whom Gil called “a genuine artist”.

“He has an ability to use space and to make space work for him, unlike any other scenic design artist that I know,” he said.

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Reactions around the internet are mixed. I like it quite a bit, but I’m a big Oscar fangirl. I think I like almost everything they’ve done since I started watching it so religiously about fifteen years ago.

The Academy is asking the WGA to tell them what kind of ceremony they’ll be allowed to have, and hasn’t heard any definitive word yet. But the WGA is rather busy these days.

I know I will watch no matter what, but I’ll be very sad if it turns out to be as boring and useless as the Golden Globes.

“V” was a phenomenon when it debuted in 1983. Even at 11, the allegory to the rise of Nazi Germany was not lost on me. When Abraham painted “V…for victory” it reinforced the tone the filmmaker was setting. It was a political thriller wrapped in Sci-Fi. Now, over 20 years later, Kenneth Johnson is releasing a sequel novel, “V: The Second Generation”. In an interview at IESB.net, he mentions the possibility of bringing it back to TV.

So when we did the DVD release, I got them to cough up a little money so that we could go back and remaster it. I was standing on the dubbing stage and watching the last scene where Faye Grant, my leading lady, sent a message into deep space trying to contact an enemy of the visitors hoping that “the enemy of my enemy might be my friend”. She even talks at the time about how it could take years and maybe even a generation before such help might possibly come back…

The Sci-Fi channel, actually, really wanted to do it but Warner and the Sci-Fi channel hadn’t been able to make a deal on anything. It’s a corporate problem that Time-Warner has with NBC/Universal. It’s like Ford and Chevy trying to get together and make a car…

Certainly in V: The Second Generation I’ve got enough material for at least two sequels. So we’re in serious conversations with that. Or we were right up until the writers strike. Now we’re sort of stalled until that passes. But there’s a lot of very interesting things happening with V, particularly in the motion picture world, because people have to come to realize the enormous fanbase that V has around the world.

“V” came out when Star Wars was at the height of popularity, and holds almost the same childhood sentiment. Robert Englund was the complete opposite of Freddy, Marc Singer was almost as ‘bad’ as The Beastmaster, and Jan Badler and Faye Grant were strong leading ladies. The second mini-series “V: The Final Battle” was good, bringing Michael Ironside in as a real bad-ass. But it wasn’t a complete end to the saga. When the weekly series appeared, it failed to live up to the awesomeness of the mini-series.

The series originally aired 1 weeks after we got our first VCR. It was the 2nd thing we recorded, and I still have that VHS lying around somewhere. I really hope that this comes to be.

During this unscheduled hiatus caused by the writer’s strike, like many, Allison Mack has taken it as opportunity to do new things. “Alice and Huck” is a short story penned by a friend of Allison’s, Robert Gray. This short film is a collaboration between Allison Mack, and her friends Kaleena Kiff (director) and Robert Gray (writer). It is a project Allison has allot of passion for. On her official site she writes:

It also felt so good to be a part of a project from its inception, to be a part of creating something from start to finish and really feel like I was a part of the whole process. I can’t tell you all how incredibly fulfilling this was. I so encourage all of you to be a part of something like this at some point in your life. Find the thing that you love doing, the thing that you feel the most inspired and excited by… And do it! Just fuckin’ dive in and do it! It’s so satisfying!

It is an interesting project, and I hope it is widely enough available so that her Smallville fans can see it. Below is a like to three videos with behind the scenes footage and interviews.

• Alice & Huck Teaser
• What is Alice & Huck
• Alice & Huck: Collaboration and Inspiration