gedblog

If you’ve been watching season 4 of Battlestar Galactica then you may have noticed things have changed since last season, and not for the better. No, I’m not talking about the 4 new Cylon models or Lee abandoning the cockpit of his trusty viper. I’m talking about what Laura Roslin, or more correctly, Mary McDonnell has done to her once lovely face.

After watching last night’s episode and then doing a quick image search of the actress for comparison, I think it’s safe to say Mary has caved to Hollywood pressure and “had work done”. You can see in the comparison image that her cheek bones, jaw line and most noticeably her lips have all been altered since last year. The tell-tale mark is the up-turned crease at the edge of her mouth which seems to give her a permanent smile. Unfortunately it reminds me of the butchering that actress Rose McGowan gave herself in early 2007.

It’s sad because I happen to think Ms. McDonnell was one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood. She certainly didn’t need to prove anything to us or the establishment by altering her face. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly back in March of 2007, she confesses she had thought about getting a face lift for a long time, but that her husband managed to talk her out of it. Evidently his powers of persuasion aren’t what they used to be because when she appears on BSG now, all I can think is “When the hell did they get a plastic surgeon in space?” Hopefully she’ll turn out to be the final cylon, download and revert to the beautiful Laura we all know and love.

Speaking of podcasts, it seems I’ve taken my first steps into a larger world. Thanks to the group blog post regarding Battlestar Galactica, myself, Jen Segrest and Dave Caolo got together after the BSG season premiere and did a quick audio commentary of the episode. We’re not sure if it will turn into a regular thing just yet, but it sure was fun! The podcasts lasts a mere 13 minutes (ha!) as Dave, Jen and I discuss subjects including our picks of the final cylon models, connections to the original Battlestar Galactica, and Dave’s apparent fear of boxing and deep emotional turmoil.

If you’ve not watched the season premier of Battlestar Galactica season 4 yet, you’ll want to hold off on this until you catch up. Spoilers do not a great podcast make. But if you’ve watched and are in the mood for three geek’s views on all things sci-fi, then give it a try. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Listen in a browser window here.

Download the podcast here.

If you’re a sci-fi fan then you probably know that this Friday, April 4th, marks the return of Battlestar Galactica on the Sci-Fi Channel. After almost an entire year on hiatus, fans everywhere are finally getting ready to embark on the final season of what some have called the best science fiction show on TV. I’m not sure I would go quite that far, but BSG has been great and has successfully kept me wanting more thanks to the wonderful writing, gritty realism and unique characters that Ron Moore created more than four years ago. About the only downside to BSG starting up again is that the final episode won’t likely air until sometime in 2009. Yep, you heard that right, 2009.

Of course, the main puzzle on every geek’s mind is who will turn out to be the final 12th cylon model. My friend Jen Segrest IM’d me the other night to get my thoughts on the matter, which I was all too happy to volunteer. After about a 20 minute debate on the topic, we decided to make a geeky bet about our predictions. She picked Roslin (and you can make your choice in the online poll I created), but for me, there can only be one choice. Over the last four years I’ve wavered on who was and who wasn’t a Cylon, but one name keeps coming back to me - Gaius Baltar. I know you’re thinking that he’s too obvious a choice to be the 12th Cylon, but deep down it makes perfect sense, and here’s why:

• That pesky nuclear explosion - Waaay back at the start of the Galactica mini-series, Gaius Baltar somehow managed to survive an almost ground-zero nuclear blast that not only destroyed his home, but also killed the very first Six. The scene is in the opening credits of every episode and the series has never successfully explained how Gaius managed to come through this devastation with only a single scratch on his forehead.

• Religious symbolism - More than any other character, Baltar has wrestled with the existence of “God” in the BSG universe. At times he’s thought he was God’s instrument, at other times he’s abandoned God. Moore and the show’s directors love to depict him in religious poses even going so far as to make his appearance look like that of Jesus himself. It would be fitting if Baltar turned out to be the so-called “god” of the Cylons.

• The Razor Prophecy - Consider the words of the First Hybrid from the extended DVD version of Razor: “Soon there will be four glorious new awakenings, struggling with the knowledge of their true selves, the pain of revelation bringing new clarity. And in the midst of confusion they will find that enemies are brought together by an awesome sense of belonging. Enemies now joined as one. The way forward, the once unthinkable, yet inevitable. And the fifth is still is in shadow, drawn toward the light, hungering for redemption, that will only come in the howl of terrible suffering. I can see them all - the seven, now six, self-described machines who believe themselves are of no sin, but in time it is sin that will consume them. They will know enmity, bitterness, the wrenching agony of the one splintering into many. And then they will join the promised land, gathered on the wings of an angel. Not an end, but a beginning.” Hat tip to Brad Templeton for this.

• He fills “the big shoes” - Some fans have speculated that the final model will be Dualla or Gaeta, or even Doc Cottle, but none of these characters have what it takes to make the final reveal dramatic enough for Ron Moore. No, the only characters that would fullfill those requirements are Adama, Roslin, Baltar and possibly either Starbuck or Cain.

At this point I don’t see it being Starbuck because we’ve already been there and done that. Moore also loves the Roslin character too much to make her a Cylon, and if Adama was a Cylon, then his children would be too and we’d have more than 12 models. We’re left with either Baltar or Cain. There are aspects to Cain’s character that makes her a good choice, but Baltar, IMHO trumps her dramatically.

You might have seen the infamous “Galactica Last Supper” put out last month. The image supposedly contains visual clues as to who the final Cylon is for those smart enough to decipher it. Entertainment Weekly says they’ve figured out that the final Cylon is the “missing figure” in between Tigh and Lee, and suspiciously Moore agrees with this assessment. The problem is I don’t believe a single word that comes out of Ron Moore’s mouth any more. As I learned with the “Starbuck is dead” meme that Moore spread in interviews and podcasts last year, his word counts for nothing, especially when his job is to keep us all guessing. Therefore I don’t believe EW when they say the final Cylon is not in the picture. They’re acting as a conduit for Ron Moore’s misdirection, pure and simple.

In the world of Battlestar Galactica, drama rules the day. Edwards James Olmos has said that the final season of BSG will be “hard to take”, a thought recently confirmed by Katee Sackoff. Will this lead to unpredictable plot twists and upset fans? Oh yes, and I think that’s what has made BSG such a popular show. You never know where it will take you next. Will Baltar be the final Cylon? My gut says yes, but even if he isn’t, I’m sure we’re all in for one hell of a ride. I just hope I don’t have to wait a year to find out if I’ve won this friendly blogger’s bet.

UPDATE: My friend and fellow blogger Dave Caolo chimes in with his thoughts about the final Cylon model. I won’t spoil it for you, you’ll have to go read it yourself. I love this line from his post: “…models like Number 6, Sharon, Lucy Lawless and the dude from Quantum Leap.” Man, he cracks me up!

This week I was confronted by no less than two glaring examples of poor or lazy design that I just had to share with you. I think they really illustrate how important our job is as communicators and how easily information can be miss-conveyed when designers don’t do their jobs well.

The first comes in the form of the DVD box art for the Oscar winning film, No Country for Old Men. I rushed out this week to snap up my copy of this fabulous tale starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin, only to find a glaring design error. Although not all of us are schooled in design principals like the Gestalt Law of Proximity, we can still determine when things aren’t “quite right”.

Apparently the designer accidently or intentionally miss-matched Tommy Lee Jones’ and Josh Brolin’s portraits with their names. Because it seems to be such an obvious mistake, some might try and argue that it can only be intentional. As I learned from our experience with the official War of the World’s icon set a few years back, movie studios have many rules about who’s name can appear first, second, and so on. Given that, plus the fact that Javier Bardem’s face is associated correctly with his name directly below, why not match Tommy Lee and Josh as well? There’s simply no good reason for it and I’m forced to conclude that the juxtaposition of Jones’ and Brolin’s images are a mistake. Apparently design accidents happen, even on multi-million dollar marketing campaigns.

The second example comes from the world of television, and if I didn’t know better, seems anything but accidental. The season 4 premiere of Bravo’s hit show, Top Chef, featured a typical audience poll via text message. Season 4 features a pair of female chefs that are not only competing against each other, but are also a couple. They’ve been together for 3 years and the question to viewers was “Do Zoi and Jen have an advantage in the show because they’re a couple?”. After several commercial breaks the results were displayed as you see in this screen capture. The graphic was not accompanied by any informational voice over of any kind and so you are left to determine the results in a fleeting glimpse of 10-15 seconds of actual screen time.

At first glance, the majority of viewers seem to think, yes, the couple does have an advantage since that result is circled and highlighted. But upon closer inspection, poll results reveal that a full 78% of viewers in fact think, no, Zoi and Jen do not have an advantage. For some reason, the graphic strangely highlights the minority opinion. Why would Top Chef want to highlight the losing segment? Could we be looking at yet another error (perhaps generated automatically by faulty poll software)? I think it’s far more likely that the show’s producers wanted to drum up controversy by highlighting the most dramatic result, no matter how small. If I was a guy who wore tin-foil hats, I’d say there could be other reasons for what they did, but I’ll just leave that to your imagination instead.

Although these issues don’t amount to the proverbial “hill of beans” in most people’s world, they do illustrate the kinds of problems that designers face all the time. As a wise man once said, “With great power, comes great responsibility.” Remember that as you use your design powers for good and not evil… like making scores of fans think Tommy Lee Jones is really Josh Brolin.

UPDATE: This week’s cell phone poll on Top Chef correctly highlighted the viewer choice with the most votes. As suspected the example I posted here is an error of some kind.

Sadly no, not that big giant head. I’m talking about the other one that goes by the name of John Gibson and who used (note the past tense) to host the conservative opinion show The Big Story on Fox News. Seems as though Gibson’s ratings have been in the tank for quite some time and Fox has finally decided to “re-tool” the time slot with America’s Election HQ instead. Just in case you don’t keep up with Fox, Gibson was the ego-centric, factually challenged, racist host who helped spawn the whole “War on Christmas” fantasy that has boosted Bill O’Reilly’s declining ratings these last few years. Here are some of the other winning moments from John Gibson’s all-too-long stint at The Big Story:

• Homophobic “jokes” upon the death of actor Heath Ledger

• Slander against Valerie Plame

• His xenophobic “make more white babies” rant

• Racist prognostications of Clevland high school shooters

• Spreading false information about Obama’s dad

My only regret is that Gibson won’t be around for Keith Olberman to put him on his “Worst Person In the World” segment as much anymore. Gibson is now the third big-named conservative commentator to be canned in recent weeks including Tucker Carlson and Melanie Morgan. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think the pendulum of public opinion is starting to swing back to the left, after eight dark years of right wing pablum. Who will be the next to get the sack? If I was a betting man I’d say keep a close eye on Laura Ingraham, Neil Cavuto and Chris Matthews, especially the latter. He’s one foot in mouth episode away from early retirement.

Good news everyone! Amazon.com has posted the release date for the second direct to DVD installment of Futurama. The Beast With A Billion Backs will be available starting June 24th and is now available for pre-order. According to Wikipedia, this second of four movies will feature the voices of Brittany Murphy, Dan Castellaneta reprising his role as the Robot Devil, and a personal favorite of mine, Professor Stephen Hawking. I’ve always enjoyed Hawking’s past appearances, especially Anthology of Interest I where he was part of Al Gore’s Vice Presidential Action Rangers.

Another of the Action Rangers, Gary Gygax, the inventor of Dungeons & Dragons, died yesterday and will be missed by geeks and nerds everywhere. It seemed strangely fitting to watch tweet after tweet pay homage to the man who so many young kids admired, even if they didn’t know him by name. It’s not an exaggeration to say that his creation helped shape popular culture including science fiction, video games, television and movies. Although I never played Dungeons & Dragons as a kid, I had a ton of friends who did and loved every minute of their fantasy adventures. His contributions to geekdom and Futurama, will be sorely missed.

If you’re the type of person who doesn’t mind mild spoilers, you can get a feel for The Beast With A Billion Backs over on YouTube where a rough series of scenes from the film has been posted. It does my heart good to see the likes of Morbo, Zapp Brannigan and Kiff Kroker back in their familiar roles. Although I did enjoy Bender’s Big Score, I think the story suffered a bit with the focus on time travel and the attempt to pick back up on Fry & Leela’s relationship. Beast seems like a good old fashion invasion story, on par with The Why of Fry, and really, how can you go wrong with that? I can’t wait!

Back in March of 2007 I first wrote about the Rebuild of Evangelion project that was being produced by Studio Khara in partnership with Gainax. Part 1 of Rebuild was released September 1st, 2007 in Japan and will hopefully make it’s way to American audiences on DVD soon. Through the magic of the Internets, we’re now getting our first glimpses of this re-imagining and re-editing of the cult-hit anime.

Evidently those industrious techno-nerds at NERV have been busy upgrading the Magi’s defense software to the latest versions of Mac OS X. The screen grab in question clearly shows Misato presiding over a giant OS X loading cursor while Shinji’s reserve battery power dwindles in his battle with Shamshel. I always knew Misato was at the top of her game, and this proves it! All kidding aside, the new version looks very slick and compelling.

It’s easy to see from this simple clip that the entire look of the series has been improved tremendously. With luck, the new visuals, faster pace and re-worked ending could make Rebuild worthy of the original Evangelion and introduce this classic anime series to a whole new legion of fans.

Major hat tip to David Lanham for this post!

Digg It!

Growing up, one of the things my friends and I did to keep ourselves amused was hold mock game shows. Our favorite was a play on Name that Tune called Name that Show. Each week, a different kid in the neighborhood was in charge of taping theme music from anywhere from 10-30 TV shows. We’d then get together on Saturday afternoon and see if we could stump each other with our selections. We even gave bonus points out for quick answers.

So now I’m pleased to present Name that Show, in blog format! Were you a TV junkie growing up? Grab a pencil and paper and get ready for a romp down memory lane. For extra fun, grab your significant other and see who scores best!

How to score: For each one of these TV theme shows you guess correctly, give yourself 10 points. Some shows are more difficult than others and have 5 additional bonus points if you guess before the time indicated (or just at all). When you’ve finished all ten shows, check the inviso-text answer key at the end and tally your points. Then post your total in the comment thread (unless it’s too embarrassing to share) for the rest of the world to see. Have fun and let me know what you think (too hard? too easy?).

• • •

Action/Adventure
1974-1978

Of course you knew this one, right? But did you guess within the first 35 seconds? If so, give yourself +5 bonus points for being a major geek of the 70’s. But before you vacuum the shag carpet, invite the friends over, bust out the fondue and get all cocky, you better think again. They only get harder from here.

• • •

Comedy
1968-1970

I’ll admit I didn’t watch this show in first run since I wasn’t alive then, but I came to know and love it in re-run heaven. Anyone from New England might have a slight advantage here, but I suspect the humor from this beloved show based on a hit film of the same name is universal. Give yourself +5 points if you guessed it at all. Yeah, it’s that hard.

• • •

Documentary
1976-1982

One of my favorite TV shows of all time, and if you know me, then that’s enough of a hint already. Even if you never watched this show first hand as a kid, I’m willing to bet you still know what it is thanks to the distinctive theme music. The track includes a bit of narration at the end that might help those in the dark.

• • •

Action/Crime
1975-1976

This short-lived TV show of the 70’s spawned a bunch of siblings and its music might initially be confusing to the uninitiated. However, if you’re quick on the draw and guess this one before the main theme starts at the 20 second mark, you’ve well earned those +5 bonus points.

• • •

Adventure
1978-1979

I just love the funk that oozes from this groovy 70’s theme song. This one will probably be either instantly recognizable or you won’t guess it at all. For those who manage to snag the solution, there’s an extra 5 points in it for you if you guessed correctly within the first 10 seconds. A tall order perhaps, but not for fans of this classic show.

• • •

Mystery
1977-1979

This childhood favorite aired on ABC and had a memorable opening credits sequence. Chances are the name of this one is right on the tip of your tongue, so give yourself an extra 5 bonus points if you managed to uncover the clues and identified this riddle correctly.

• • •

Adventure/Sci-Fi
1983-1984

Quite possibly the hardest show on the list, it aired for only one season on ABC. You know those shows that TV executives decide rip-off from popular movies? Yeah, this is one of those. If you know what movies were blowing away audiences in 1982, then it might not be game over (no Googling!). Five bonus points await you for guessing this one correctly.

• • •

Mystery/Thriller
1970-1973

This spooky show aired for three seasons in the 70’s and managed to walk away with two prime-time Emmy awards in the process. It was so scary, I wasn’t even allowed to watch it as a kid, which was just fine with me. The bit of narration at the end might help you identify it, but perhaps not.

• • •

Sci-Fi
1970-1971

I told you these would be difficult didn’t I? And you thought this was gonna be a cake walk. A full 5 extra points await you if you correctly name the British import with the swinging theme music heard here.

• • •

Drama/Crime
1977-1983

I shouldn’t even award bonus points for this one it’s so easy. If you don’t know the name of this show, then chances are you’re too young to remember a time before remote controls, CDs and cheesy cop shows. You’ll need to be quick to get these 5 bonus points though, keep an eye on the second hand!

• • •

The Amazing Inviso-Answer Key

Got all your guesses written down and bonus points ready to tally? Then roll your cursor over the block of text below for the answers to this edition of Name That Show. It’s like magic!

• Show 1 - The Six Million Dollar Man
• Show 2 - The Ghost & Mrs. Muir
• Show 3 - In Search Of…
• Show 4 - S.W.A.T.
• Show 5 - The Amazing Spiderman
• Show 6 - The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries
• Show 7 - Automan
• Show 8 - Rod Serling’s Night Gallery
• Show 9 - UFO
• Show 10 - CHiP’s

How Did You Score?

145 TV Junkie / You know all the words to The Courtship of Eddie’s Father
120 - 140 Couch Potato / You can name all six Charlie’s Angels
80 - 115 Armchair Warrior / You probably remember who shot J.R.
30 - 70 Average Joe / “Porkchops & applesauce” is just what’s for dinner
0 - 20 Bookworm / You don’t even know how many castaways there were

Being the huge Trek geek that I am, I’ve been eagerly awaiting two Original Series episodes in the newly remastered HD format. The first one, The Enterprise Incident has yet to air and should be impressive when it finally does. The second episode is a fan favorite through and through and it makes its debut this weekend.

The Ultimate Computer is noteworthy for its many action sequences and edge-of-your-seat drama centered around a computer that is put in control of the Enterprise during war game exercises. Some Trek Remastered episodes have been more successful than others. I have high hopes for The Ultimate Computer, and judging from these images released from Ain’t It Cool News, I don’t think I’ll be disappointed.

Take one super successful TV show and mix in greedy network executives. Next, assume your audience has the collective IQ of a school of goldfish, add some big explosions, plus a cute, “geeky” female co-star and you have The Discovery Channel’s latest attempt at lighting in a bottle - Smash Lab. Think of it as Mythbusters minus all the things that makes the show great like science, likable cast members, humor & having a point. Only after watching the first episode online did I start to appreciate what the executives at Discovery are trying to force feed their viewers.

Smash Lab premieres this Wed., Jan. 16th at 10pm on The Discovery Channel and I can’t remember the last time a network so blatantly ripped off its own property. Unlike Mythbusters where Jamie, Adam and crew propose common fallacies or myths and then set out to either prove or disprove them, Smash Lab’s main purpose seems to be blowing stuff up just for the fun of it. They’ve couched the premise of the show as “picking apart tech and piecing it back together for new and better uses”, but don’t let that fool you. Smash Lab producers obviously needed a science angle to justify the show’s obvious parallel to Mythbusters. But judging from the harsh comments on the Smash Lab blog about the lack of science and shamless product tie-ins, they’ve even managed to screw that up.

The thing that bothers me most about Smash Lab is that the people at The Discovery Channel must think Mythbusters fans will lap up anything, as long as it has C4 strapped to it. Sure, I howled when Adam and Jamie packed 2 tons of high explosive into a cement mixer and basted it into a million little pieces. I loved seeing a hot water heater become a ticking time bomb, and I went ga-ga over rocket powered cars. Despite all this, I have no plans to tune into Smash Lab.

Adam and Jamie were the first, and the best at what they do. Along the way they somehow managed to pick up Tori, Kari and Grant, three of the funniest, smartest and most resourceful sidekicks any TV host could ask for. If Discovery wanted a Mythbusters spin-off, they should have given this terrific trio their own show and let Adam and Jamie fill the ranks with the fabled Mythterns. This new show seems like a giant end run around the Mythbusters, whom I’ve watched loyally now for over five years. I’m sure the suits at The Discovery Channel hope Smash Lab will launch to the stratosphere, but I have to say, I’m hoping it’ll just sit and explode on the pad.