Archive for the ‘Watching’ Category

The first hint I ever had that the funny things people said on TV were actually written by someone besides the actors was from watching M*A*S*H. This was a big deal for a 11-year-old.

Hawkeye: Looks like a pregnant bagpipe.
Trapper: Do bagpipes get pregnant?
Hawkeye: Sure they do, right after they make those funny sounds.

(I learned a lot of things from M*A*S*H, actually. I taught myself how to juggle after watching Hawkeye do it. I still know the closing stanzas of "Gunga Din" by heart. I'm pretty sure I could perform an emergency tracheotomy if I had to, and had a ballpoint handy. And I learned that good guys could make fun of religion — or, rather, religious people — and still be good guys.)

Frank: What are you doing there?!
Hawkeye: I just wanted to borrow your Bible, Frank.
Frank: Since when are you interested in the Bible?
Trapper: I peeked at the end, Frank. The Devil did it.

I even recorded the shows, although in those pre-DVR, pre-VCR days that meant me holding a 4-lb tape recorder and a microphone the size of a zucchini up to the TV speaker and hoping for the best. I had boxes of tapes, all duly labeled with episode names and season, and I listened to them over and over in the hopes of capturing that amazing rhythm of puns and snakebite-fast comebacks and just hilarious lines that served as my inspiration for what I wanted to be when I grew up.

A wiseass.

Also  a writer, although I didn't know that yet. It took a few years of steadily watching, and memorizing entire scenes to perform for my friends at school the next day, before I made the connection to the names in the opening credits. More specifically, I noticed that all my favorite episodes had "Larry Gelbart" on them. In the first four years, Gelbart wrote 97 episodes and had his hand in all the rest, sometimes up to his shoulder. Were Hawkeye and Trapper funnier when this guy was behind them, whispering into their ears? Was I not necessarily a M*A*S*H fan as much as a Larry Gelbart fan? OK, it wasn't exactly a Helen Keller "water!" moment, but it was a big thing for pre-pubescent me.

Frank: Colonel, you are not listening to me!
Henry: Uh, you'll have to speak a little louder, Frank. I'm not listening to you.

Of course most of the rest of the series was also brilliant and funny and groundbreaking, but never again quite in the same way for me. Gelbart and fellow producer Gene Reynolds and the other writers and directors and the cast had clearly been out to shake up television, push the boundaries, see what they could get away with. Language. Humor mixed with the horror of inhumanity. Characters with strengths and weaknesses and real changes that were still there the next episode. Episodes from the POV of a patient, episodes in letter form. Ending an episode of a  comedy sitcom with the devastatingly emotional blow of the death of a beloved main character, with no closing punch line to soften the blow. I was spoiled for quality television at a very early age and it's stayed with me.

So did the habit of obsessing over a show beyond what normal people would consider, well, normal. Even in high school when the show was slowing down I went for M*A*S*H bowling afternoons every week with my friends Eric Marle and David Story and Dan Schwieg, all of us in olive drab shirts and dog tags, swigging Sprite in martini glasses and keeping a poker game going in between our turns. But even then we still tended to gravitate toward the earlier shows when we quoted lines  (I was always Trapper).

It cheered me up no end when I bought the DVD sets and got both my sons completely hooked on the show. Finally they starting getting my references! Unfortunately that also meant they started realizing their funny dad didn't write all his own material, either…

BJ: Minding my own business is a full-time job. In my spare time, it's my hobby. I can't divide myself emotionally. I couldn't break my word to Peg, and not because God will send me to Hell without an electric fan or because it's not the right thing to do. I simply don't want to.
Hawkeye: You've got a lot to learn about messing up your life.

Larry Gelbart had a gift for humor and emotion that I envy still. Yes, yes, he worked for Sid Caesar and co-wrote Tootsie and Oh God! and co-wrote the book for A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum and many other notable accomplishments, but mostly he showed me (and the world) how to laugh, and he showed me what television was capable of. I am very glad tonight that I got the chance to tell him what his work meant to me; I wrote him a year back, as much of a gushing fanboy letter as I've ever seen, and while I'm sure his response was what he sent to everyone I still hope that my praise, added to the rest, cheered him up.

Gelbart died of cancer this morning at his home. He was 81.

Abyssinia, Larry.

Video: Season 3 – Episode 1: Expansion Time

The wait is over!

Well, actually for the members of the online megahit show The Guild the wait has just begun, as a huge new development in their lives arrives: the new expansion to their game.

"'The Spires of Dragonore!' New continent, new powers. Most importantly: new character hairstyles!"

But will it distract them from their problems? Last season Bladezz deleted Tinkerballa's character after she manipulated him, Codex got dumped by the hunky stuntman she liked and went to find Zaboo, who had apparently gotten over his crush on her with the help of the mouth of the stuntman's hottie roommate Riley, and Vork is… still Vork. Slaying goblins is starting to look a lot easier than all this real-life crap.

Episode one of the new season is now at MSN Video for your viewing pleasure (XBox Live gold members got it a week ago).  You can see it for free along with behind the scenes stuff, the Comic Con panel, the music video, and the previous episodes. But you really should order the Season One and Season Two DVDs for more stuff, commentaries, and because this sort of thing needs to be supported.

Weird Al continues his onslaught of song releases with "Ringtone," and a video made in collaboration with Current TV's "SuperNews":

Next Tuesday he'll be releasing "Internet Leaks," a downloadable mini-album of the five songs he's produced since his last album: his T.I. parody “Whatever You Like,” his Doors pastiche “Craigslist,” his Jungle Cruise homage “Skipper Dan,” his Charles Nelson Reilly tribute “CNR” and "Ringtone." Look for it at iTunes, Amazon, and the usual places. And they'll be on a physical CD when his next album comes out:

The songs on “Internet Leaks” will all show up again on my next full album release, whenever that is (I’m assuming next year sometime, but there’s no way to  be sure). Some people may say, “Why should I buy the ‘Internet Leaks’ tracks now when they’re going to be on your next album anyway?” Well, if all you’re interested in is the physical CD, and you don’t mind waiting a year or so… you probably SHOULDN’T buy the tracks now. Nobody’s forcing you to buy the songs twice – I just wanted to make the tracks available so everybody could enjoy them as early as possible.

By the way, if you DO purchase “Internet Leaks” now, you’ll be able to take advantage of iTunes’ “Complete My Album” function when the full album becomes available. You’ll be able to painlessly add the missing tracks, and the full purchase price of “Internet Leaks” will be deducted from the cost of the album.

The hot new music video from The Guild, written by net-heartthrob Felicia Day and Jed Whedon and performed by Day and the rest of the Guild cast members (with Maurissa Tancharoen dancing and singing backup vocals, I believe), hit the web today and immediately leveled up to #1 in the iTunes Music Videos and held firm. And good, because it's a great pop song in its own right that becomes more addictive the more you listen to it.

Besides, how cool is it that a largely home-made music video by a group of talented geeks pushed Taylor Swift to #2?

Watch it for free above, check out the lyrics here, buy the video at iTunes and get the MP3 from Amazon And get ready for season three of The Guild to start August 25th on Xbox Live and September 1rst on MSN/ZUNE.

Season two of Dollhouse begins September 25 on FOX, and to get ready for it WatchDollhouseWeek.com is gearing up for another communal watching of the first season.

Beginning on August 14, join fans around the world in watching two episodes of Dollhouse back-to-back every Friday, a six-week communal re-watch of Season One in its entirety.

If you tweet about it while you watch (and you really should) add #dollhouse so others can follow along. Live international commentary, anyone?

The program schedule is up at watchdollhouseweek.com and it's set so that you'll finish the unaired 13th episode "Epitaph One" just before the premiere of season two.

Check watchdollhouseweek.com for more details.

Available on iTunes, Amazon and other fine MP3 retailers. Video is also at iTunes.

I've got two Dollhouse DVD sets to give away, one for the winner voted on by you people, and one pulled at random from all the entries. Why would you hire a doll?

The winner by vote is Mike Mueller, for "Because I have a perfectly good see-saw that's just sitting there. It's just sad."

And the random choice winner is David Pickett! (His entry, for the curious, was  "So i could talk to myself without looking crazy.")

Congratulations gentlemen, and thanks to every who participated! And a big thank you to Scott Neumyer from Click Communications for letting me do this.

If you didn't get one here, fret not. The Dollhouse Season One DVD hits the streets next Tuesday. All 13 episodes (including the unaired "Epitaph One")  and the unaired pilot, "Echo," plus commentaries, deleted scenes and tons of features. See my mini-review here.  Preorder it at Amazon for the best price: at the moment, $29.99 for the regular one, $47.99 for Blu-Ray.

Terry Moore has signed a deal with "Watchmen" producer Lloyd Levin to make an "Echo" movie.

This doesn't mean there'll be one, of course. Movie deals are delicate, frail things that fall apart for all sorts of reasons. But I'm really hoping to see it (assuming it's done right) and I'm glad to see Moore,  getting the recognition (and the six-figure option amount).

Of course, I'd rather see a well-done "Strangers in Paradise" movie…

"Echo" tells the story of a photographer who is preoccupied with her personal problems until she gets doused by liquid metal from a military experiment gone awry. She discovers she can now harness the power of a nuclear bomb, and soon the military wants its walking weapon.

If you're not reading it, you really should be. Check out the first collection, "Moon Lake", at Amazon.

The BBC has released the first picture of Matt Smith as the new Doctor, and I'm getting weird "Crossfire" flashbacks.

The newly reincarnated Doctor's new look will consist of "tweed jacket, bow tie, rolled up trousers and black boots."

OK, fair enough I suppose. Still a bit odd, very British, and slightly apart from humanity. I get that, I do. But it's not essentially different from most Doctorwear, is it? Whatever form he's in, he tends to dress like a professor. Admittedly a very odd or eccentric one at times, but none of the Doctors would look out of place wandering around the halls of higher education in a fog of tenure.

I say the Doctor needs to reflect more of the UK. Where's the docks worker? The politician? The indie artist with the three dozen piercings and the facial tattoos? The drag queen? Where's the Time Lord soccer hooligan, who travels back through time to correct bad calls and gently guide close games and ultimately save humanity?

Let's see some diversity, BBC.

Tonight on BBC America is the third season of Torchwood in a special 5-night event. Every night this week, from 9-10:15 p.m. (note the extra time) will be a new episode of an amazing story, far more intense than Torchwood has ever been. Captain Jack, Gwen and Ianto will face perils from an alien race that they could probably handle if someone wasn't trying so hard to kill them.

Tonight at 8 is "Inside the Hub," a special documentary that can help newbies catch up before the new episode starts. The rest of the week, the previous night's episode will be shown at 8, before the new one. And every night there will be a 15-minute behind-the-scenes special afterward. If you're a Torchwood fan. you can't miss this.

You cna read more about it in my article here. You can also read/listen to my interviews with Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto) and producer Julie Gardner.