That new Star Wars TV show is starting finally! No, not the live-action one. No, not that other one with the seedy underbelly of Coruscant. The one from the Robot Chicken guys! But CGI! Remember that one? …No? Oh. Well, here’s the trailer for it. Honestly, I’m sure kids will eat this comedy up and enjoy this more than I ever will – because I’m not the target audience, clearly. But it just looks so average, with nothing really new brought to the table. Many of these Star Wars jokes have simply been done to death. Oh well, at least Seth MacFarlane seems to still be doing a good job as the Emperor. Read more…
The seventh season of Doctor Who is right around the corner, on Saturday, September 1. But that’s still more than a whole week away! Should fans really have to wait even longer for more of the Doctor? The BBC doesn’t think so, as they will be releasing five webisodes of a miniseries they’re calling Pond Life. Read more…
Hype for Season 3 of Game of Thrones has been building slowly but surely, and one of the most-awaited casting announcements was who would play Mance Rayder, the King Beyond the Wall. Well the news finally broke: Ciarán Hinds will be tackling the role! He’s probably most well known for his work in the excellent TV series Rome, but he’s also been in films like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Munich, to name a few. I imagined Mance a bit younger, perhaps, but I have no doubt of Hinds’ talent – I think he’s an excellent choice. May 31st, 2013 can’t come soon enough. Read more…
How would you like to have Game of Thrones-favorite, Tyrion Lannister, as a statue for your desk or display case? Dark Horse will soon be releasing a 10-inch figure of “the Imp” on February 20th featuring Tyrion in his ‘battle pose’ as he leads the defense of King’s Landing. While it’s great to see a model of Tyrion, it still looks a little off in the face to me. Perhaps I’m just spoiled by Hot Toy’s face sculpting! Tyrion Lannister will retail for $199.99 and can be pre-ordered here. Read more…
Though sci-fi is an incredibly broad genre, modern sci-fi can occasionally feel pigeonholed into following the most popular franchises. That’s why this map by Ward Shelly is so fascinating, even if it’s been around for a while. It charts the growth and many off-shoots of fiction to show where science fiction came from and its relation to other genres and its own subgenres. From the horror of Frankenstein to the fantastic ideas of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, through the pulp magazines and dystopian novels, all the way to the Star Trek and Star Wars explosion, it’s an intriguing look at where some of our most popular stories come from. Read more…
For Doctor Who fans lucky enough to live within spitting distance of Manhattan, BBC America is planning a special season premiere screening on August 25th. While they haven’t nailed down an exact venue quite yet — they’ll be updating us with details via their official blog — attendees will be shown a special screening of the series 7 opener “Asylum of the Daleks,” followed by a Q&A with Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and executive producer Caroline Skinner! Ironically, tickets will be sold for just $0.11, along with a dollar surcharge. I know you can just stay home and watch the series premiere for free, but who would want to pass up a chance to chat up the 11th Doctor or the beautiful Amy Pond? You have no idea how jealous I am of you New Yorkers.
I know many of you are really hyped for the return of Doctor Who this fall. BBC knows it too, and this new trailer for season 7 runs the gamut of episode stories, from “holy crap that’s a ton of Daleks” to “dinosaurs on a spaceship” to “dark, dramatic, body-carrying.” I think it’s an easy thing to say that this upcoming season seems to have a little bit of something for everyone. Looks to be another fantastic ride!
BBC America will be airing four all-new Doctor Who documentaries leading up to season premiere of Doctor Who next month. The line-up starts on August 4th with The Science of Doctor Who. I’ve been seeing plenty of ads for it while trying to catch mid-day reruns of Battle Star Galactica, so I’m already a little excited. Next up is The Women of Doctor Who, set to air on the 11th, followed by The Timey-Wimey of Doctor Who and The Destinations of Doctor Who on the 18th and 25th respectively. Is it just me or does the “timey-wimey” bit seem like a reach? I’d like to think the science would pretty much cover all that, but perhaps they realized that a little too late. Oh well, I know I’ll be watching them either way.
Alexandre Dumas is the talented Space:1999 fanboy behind this handmade model of the Swift spacecraft. The Swift was one of the cooler spaceship designs from Space:1999 and was featured in the episode Brian The Brain. In the series the Swift was a support shift which could make an interstellar trip: Read more…
I watched Walking Dead for two seasons and I enjoyed it. Although I enjoyed picking it apart and chuckling at some of the silly decisions made. So perhaps I didn’t truly enjoy it, but when it picked up the pace it wasn’t half bad – and this new trailer from Comic-con seems to indicate that the staff are doing their best to keep it going. The introduction of the Governor will be especially fun, as he’s a cut-throat villain to the end, and an antagonist the show desperately needed. Walking Dead returns October 14th.
Because the new cast members for the upcoming season 3 of the wildly popular HBO fantasy TV series are pretty much perfect (especially Paul Kane as Thoros of Myr and Dianna Rigg as Olenna Tyrell). SDCC also brought us news of the date for the start of the new season, which will be on March 31st. It seems so far away, but I’m sure it’ll be here before you know it.
Here’s an excellent little video to cap off your weekend: YouTube user Joel935M decided to do some rotoscoping in After Effects and combined two already awesome properties into one. Star Wars and Game of Thrones should go together pretty well, right? How about that fight from season 1 between Eddard Stark and Jaime Lannister? But now, they have lightsabers. I think that’s all that needs to be said. Hey Joel, you should try this with more scenes, or why not go the whole way and just give everyone in GoT lightsabers? One can dream!
Want to wear the proud lion of the Lannisters? Or maybe sport the sharps antlers of the Baratheons? Society6 user Vanadium has created some very bold designs made to look like sports team logos, but featuring the various houses from the series A Song of Ice and Fire (aka Game of Thrones). They’re nicely done and look excellent on the various shirts available – these will definitely stand out in any t-shirt collection! Check out all the designs on his page! Read more…
There’s an unfortunate lack of decent Doctor Who t-shirts on the market, or at least, ones properly licensed from the BBC, but that’s been changing as of late. Starting July 11th, Her Universe will launch three new officially-licensed Doctor Who tees! As the name of the store implies, these shirts were designed exclusively for the ladies, so unless you’re looking to pick up a gift for that special someone, or happen to be fortunate (or, unfortunate) enough to fit the sizes, you guys may be out of luck. Read more…
A newsletter signup showed up on the Adult Swim website yesterday, emblazoned with images of the Team Fortress 2 cast and a warning: next week there will be new details of an Adult Swim and Valve team-up. This, of course, set the internet ablaze wondering what this could possibly be. This past week Valve has been running a small ARG within TF2, dropping hints that their final animated short, Meet the Pyro, could be coming out next week. Could Adult Swim air it on TV? Or perhaps they’ll show the annual TF2 Community video awards show, the Saxxy Awards? We’ll find out soon!
I think I echo most people’s sentiments when I say I hate political attack ads. However, these are just fantastic: Mother Jones Video on YouTube has created three short attacks ads that could’ve spawned from the Game of Thrones universe. One attacking Daenerys, one for Robb Stark, and one for Joffrey. There are minor spoilers for events in the second book/second season but nothing too deliberate. Watch the Joffery ad above, then check out Dany and Robb after the jump. Read more…
Earlier today, my wife was enjoying her latest obsession, NimbleBit’s Pocket Planes for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Similar to their previous free-to-play management sim Tiny Tower, you use bitizens to grow your business but rather than building floor after floor of shops, instead the game focuses on transporting passengers and cargo between destinations for income, allowing you to unlock more planes, and so forth. Any way, while she was playing through the game, she noticed that a piece of cargo she had to transport, labeled “Time Machine,” resembled a certain blue police box. Just to make sure she wasn’t crazy, we snapped a photo. Look familiar? Any way, I’m told the game is fun and addicting, though, I can’t imagine how. If time management sims are your sort of thing, check out the app for free and be mindful of the in app purchases, as you can easily rack up a hefty bill if you’re not careful!
Movie studios have been a little wishy-washy lately, haven’t they? No surprise, I suppose, given the economy, but here we go again: Paramount Pictures has reportedly halted work on Michael Bay’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot. You know, the one in which they weren’t teenage mutant ninja turtles, but were just ninja aliens that kind of looked like turtles. But maybe they were at least still teenagers. Or something. It was originally planned as a 2013 holiday release but with Paramount tossing out the pre-production staff and pushing the date back to May 2014, it looks less likely for the film to happen anytime soon. Who knows what’ll happen – perhaps it’ll start back up to meet the May 2014 date, or maybe it’ll just fade away till the next inevitable reboot. One can only hope!
Although Steven Moffat’s remained rather tight-lipped about the upcoming season of Doctor Who, its been known that production on the latest episodes featuring Jenna-Louise Coleman has been underway. While we’re still at loss as to what to expect beyond the departure of Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill in the 5th episode of new series, these latest promo photos from the BBC gives us a small glimpse of what to expect. The Doctor has some sharp new threads and Coleman looks to be dressed in your everyday street clothes, so perhaps her character might not be too far from the norm. The TARDIS can also be seen in the background. A few more photos are available after the jump.
Here’s the trailer for the upcoming season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars! Five seasons in, and I’m astonished that Star Wars: The Clone Wars remains on the air. Not because it’s a terrible series, but simply because I had so little faith in it to begin with. I must admit that I’ve never really given it a chance — especially since its clearly geared towards a younger audience. Its fans are a dedicated bunch, not all of which are kids, and the very fact that its lasted this long seems to imply that I must have overlooked something. I’d venture that I owe it to myself, and to everyone else out there, to at least give it a try, starting with this trailer right here. Likewise, if you’ve seen the series and think its worth everyone’s time, please let us know.
Ever wanted to sit on your own Iron Throne, from Game of Thrones? HBO knows you want to, and has made a life-size, fibreglass and resin throne just like the one in the show, for the low, low price of $30,000. It runs seven feet high and five and a half feet wide, so yes, it’s very life-size. Who would buy this though? Fans of the series with money to burn, I assume. Where would you even keep this? In your garage? Make a dedicated “throne room?” Oh, to have a house large enough for my own throne room – that’d be the life. If any of you readers picks one of these replicas up, let us know. Because I want to see where you will be keeping it. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on May 31, 2012 in Television
Okay, so maybe there really isn’t any reason you need to own these classic episodes in stunning “high definition” — after all, how high definition could you expect from a series filmed in the early 50s. Still, owning all 153 episodes of the original series in one pristine collection might be worth your time. Set to hit stores on June 5th, The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series Blu-ray box will feature all of those episodes supposedly remastered for high definition. That being the case, I would imagine they some how got hold of the original film reels, but I’ve yet to see just have enhanced the footage might look. The set will retail for $400, but if you preorder through Amazon, you can cut that down to $230 — not bad, right? From what I understand, they’ll also be included the original unedited version of each episode so you can compare and contrast for yourself. Anyone brave enough to pick this set up and give it a try?
I don’t think I need to say much more than the title already says. The incredibly important song from Game of Thrones, “The Rains of Castamere” will be featured in the second soundtrack for the show, releasing June 19th. However, it’s performed by one of my favorite bands, The National. Yeah, this is awesome, and the world is beautiful. I’m certainly still interested in the rest of the soundtrack, but this is just a perfect cherry on top. I’m glad The National has been so involved with “geeky” projects, like this and Portal 2. Mainly because we get great music out of it!
