According to the New York Times, the “Tales of the Black Freighter” segments from Watchmen will be released as a direct-to-DVD release.

The Times sees this as an attempt to boost lagging DVD sales. Of course to us geeks, it’s just cool that the pirate story will be shot at all.

Tales of the Black Freighter Coming To DVD was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

[  Mood: Sick ]
[ Currently: Breastfeeding my son ]
It is 500 years after the end of the world. The old gods are dead and their magic along with them. The world follows the Nameless on and the Word.

Maddy has magic and it keeps getting her into trouble. An outcast in her village, she has no friends, except for the pedler One-Eye who comes by once a year. One-Eye also has magic and he begins to teach Maddy how to use hers. During one of these lessons, Adam Scattergood witness the lesson. A bully, he begins to taunt Maddy. She turns the rune (the base of all magic) on him. Humiliated. Adam runs back to the village to rat on them. Maddy and One-Eye know the jig is up, and One-Eye sends Maddy into the Red Horse Hill, and ancient reminent of the time before the end of the world.

Author Joanne Harris has created an amazing fantasy story based on Norse mythology. She is essentially telling the story of what happened after Ragnarok. Maddy is really Modi and signals the start of a new age. Harris has opened up the possibility of a sequel with the ending, but it is a very nice stand alone novel.

[  Mood: Angry ]
This is the ninth in an ongoing seriers of entries where I look at the upcoming TV season. Why? Cause I am a TV junkie. I need a hit!

The networks have a special set of shows they call midseason replacements. These shows sit in the vault waiting for one of their predecesors to weaken and die. Or at least weaken and be taken out behind the woodshed and shot.

We have already covered the NBC contributions to this group. Let’s look at the other freshed faced kids who are waiting in the wings.

ABC
Lost
This series is back for its penultimate season. I predict that a new group of castaways, called the Cargoies will join the island team. Their name comes from the fact that they were illegal immigrants hiding in the cargo section of the plane. I also predict Locke will do something cool. This one will last the season and be back next year.

Scrubs
Not a genre show per say, but it has legions of followers among the geek set. The show has found a new home after NBC discarded it like a piece of used Kleenex. It too will the last the season. Next season? Depends on whether or not Zac Braff wants to do Garden State 2.

CBS
Harper’s Island
This series tells the tale of a group of friends who go to an island near Seattle for a wedding. And then a serial killer starts picking them off one by one. How festive! Don’t look for this to last. It is being retooled and recast as you read this. Wave bye-bye.

CW
Reaper
YEAH!!!! Sam, Sock and the Devil are back for another season of tomfoolery. Watching the boys go after the escaped souls is fun and, let’s be honest, casting Ray Wise as the devil is genius. To be honest, this show doe not have to get super high ratings to be renewed next season. It is on the CW after all. So hopefully this means more Reaper.

Fox
Dollhouse
This is the show that has caused the most buzz on the internet. Joss is back. And he’s bringing Eliza with him. And Fred/Illyria too! And FOX has increased their order fom nine to thirteen episodes. But FOX has broken our hearts before. The fans are already mounting a ”Save Dollhouse” campaign. Will this last? Hard to say, I hope for Joss’s sake it does, but FOX has burned me many a time. I am not holding my breath.

Sit Down, Shut Up
This animated show appears to be an Americanization of Bromwell High but without Natella, Keisha and Latrina. It has the voice talents of a bunch famous people. Will it last? The clips they have released don’t look funny, and it appears there is a laugh track. Not good.

The Cleveland Show
This Family Guy spin-off is getting hype. Not many details beyond this:

Will it last? Hard to say. American Dad has lasted this long and it isn’t very funny. Some people also say that about Family Guy. It has at least thirteen episodes. Beyond that, hard to tell.

Next time: back to your regularly scheduled Ubalblog.

[  Mood: Sleepy ]
This is the eigth in an ongoing seriers of entries where I look at the upcoming TV season. Why? Cause I am a TV junkie. I woke up in a pile of old TV Guides lst night.

Friday
8:00 pm
Ghost Whisperer – CBS
When I was writing about Friday night, I completely forgot about Ghost Whisperer. It was like it there was a mental block in me acknowledging the existance of this show. Of course, it could have something to do with the fact that I think this show is only on the air because of Jennifer Love Hewitt’s breasts. I predict that Jen and her two perky friends will last the season. Then I hope they will be cancelled.

Next Time: The Replacement Fillers

Not only did I write the RevSF review of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but over at The Austin Chronicle I contributed the review for Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection.

Double your Indy… was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

[  Mood: Happy ]
[ Currently: Breastfeeding my son ]
This is the seventh in an ongoing seriers of entries where I look at the upcoming TV season. Why? Cause I am a TV junkie. Will work for TV.

During the football season, Sunday night is the animation zone. FOX’s block of animation is very geek friendly, although there have been recent rumblings on the RevSF Boards that The Simpsons have jumped the shark.

But after Football (which is like January), there is good news for geeks on NBC!

Sunday
8:00
Merlin – NBC
Apparently, before Merlin and Arthur were legends,

So this show focuses on these two young men trying to make there way in the world. Sounds like Mary Tyler Moore.

I want this to work. I want to fall in love with this show and have it last for seasons, but the description above makes me nervous.

I predict this will disappear fast.

9:00
Medium – NBC
This fabulous series returns for its fifth season. Alison is back with the DAs office so look for this show to be back on track.

10:00
Kings – NBC
NBC keeps telling us this is a modern day David and Goliath story. Careful reading of the show description shows that this is a genre show, although at this point whether it is urban fantasy, alternate history or sci-fi is hard to tell. I think this one is the one to watch. At least there is Ian McShane.

Next time: I missed Jennifer Love Hewitt’s breasts!!!!

While I realize not all of you are sports fans, I know most of you are comic book fans. I figured I’d share the latest Sports Illustrated super-hero-inspired cover that many of you would never see.

Illustration by Mark Bagley, Karl Story, and Alex Sinclair.

Latest SI cover was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

[  Mood: Distorted ]
[ Currently: Breastfeeding my son ]
This is the sixth in an ongoing seriers of entries where I look at the upcoming TV season. Why? Cause I am a TV junkie. I got the shakes!

Stereotypes would have you believe that Friday and Saturday is when we geeks stay home and hang out in our parents’ basement. So you would think TV would schedule hours and hours of entertainment for us.

But what we have is a wasteland. Maybe the programmers know something we don’t?

Friday
8:00 pm
Crusoe – NBC
This is an adaptation of the classic novel. Part of the show will be told as flasbacks, where you will get to see Sean Bean and Sam Neil. But Friday nights are a dead zone for TV. Given the amount of money NBC is spending on this show, I think we will get the 13 episodes ordered, but unless this takes off, no more.

9:00 pm
America’s Next Top Model – CW
Repeat of Wednesday’s episode in case you missed it.

10:00 pm
Numbers – CBS
Not a genre show per say, but Charlie, Amita and Larry are like the rest of us. Watch this show for them and the math, not the ridiculous story telling and the overacting of Rob Morrow and the other FBI agents. Interestingly enough, CBS and Texas Instruments run an education program based on the math in each show.

Saturday
9:00 pm
Knight Rider – NBC
A repeat in case you were watching Pushing Daisies on Wednesday. Until NBC cancels it and then it will be a Law and Order rerun. And if that rerun features Lenny Brisco, I think it will be a good thing.

Next Time: Sunday – post football season

[  Mood: Cool ]
[ Currently: Breastfeeding my son ]
This is the fifth in an ongoing seriers of entries where I look at the upcoming TV season. Why? Cause I am a TV junkie. It has been 6 hours since my last hit.

Thursday night is when two new British inspired series hit the airwaves. And an old one comes back. And yet again, we see thast programmers have acces to far better drugs than you or I.

Thursday
8:00 pm
Smallville – CW
Supes is back for his eighth season of angst, guest stars from the DC universe and hair gel. Gone is Lex and Lana is only back for a few episodes. In their place Doomsday and a yet to be named female villain. What is the fate of this show? Well it’s on the CW so it doesn’t have to meet the ratings standards of the other four. It will last the season, but I think this one is on its last legs.

9:00 pm
Supernatural – CW
The bros are back for season 4. You know Dean ain’t going to spend it on meat hooks so look for Sammy to get him out if hell posthaste at the premiere, leading to another season of BroYay moments. And unless one of these boys wants out, there should be a season 5.

Kitchen Nightmares – FOX
This is the old returning British show. It should be classified as reality/horror given what Ramsay finds in the walk in fridges of the restaurants. If the Brothers Winchester bore you, counting the number of times that Ramsay has to be beeped might be more your speed.

10:00 pm
Life on Mars vs Eleventh Hour
Two new series based on British Shows. Two genre shows. Up against each other. Do the programmers think this is Mortal Kombat?

Life on Mars – ABC
Sam Tyler is in a car accident and wakes up in 1972. Yup 72, not 73. That’s how we will tell the difference between the US and UK versions. The year it takes place. Well that and whether or not Gene Hunt is rocking the perm or not. Will this last? Hard to tell. It is up against ER and another genre show. I’m giving this a 50/50 chance.

Eleventh Hour – CBS
The British version saw Patrick Stewart as a government science expert who investgates things like cloning, UFOs and why According to Jim is still on the air. Kind of like X-Files and ReGenesis. The US version does not have Patrick, so again I’m giving this a 50/50 chance.

Next Time: Friday and Saturday – the nights mommy lets you stay up late!

[  Mood: Confused ]
This is the fourth in an ongoing seriers of entries where I look at the upcoming TV season. Why? Cause I am a TV junkie. Who wants to sponsor me?

I am not a TV programmer. I can not pretend to know what the process is for putting together a TV schedule. (Insert dream sequence involving mokeys and poo throwing here.) But I do know that it makes little to no sense to have genre shows go up against each other cause you are splitting the audience.

So then what the heck were they thinking with Wedneday at 8:00 pm? We have three, count’em, three genre shows up against each other.

Wednesday
8:00 pm

Pushing Daisies – ABC
This was the first new show renewed last season. Quirky, funny and romantice, it won over critics and audiences with its tragic tale of Sam, the pie man, whose touch can bring someone back to life, but then send them back to death if he touches them a second time. If this show produces the same kind of quality as the first season, it should do well.

Bones – Fox
This procedural has sci-fi elements, making it a genre show. Plus it has David Boreanz who, thanks to having played Angel, would turn a period romantic drama where he is dressed in hose and wearing a white wig into a genre piece. Bones has done well enough that Fox has kept it around for three seasons. It will also do well as it draws enough of the normals to keep its ratings up.

Knight Rider – NBC
This is the show I am putting on deathwatch. The two hour pilot was meh, with its best bit coming at the end when the Hoff showed up. Since Hoff ain’t going to be in every episode, this show is starting off with a handicap. Add to the fact that Pushing Daisies and Bones will pull off viewers and this is one show that I think is going to disappear fast. Or is going to perminantly relocated to its repeat slot of Saturdays at 9:00 pm. And then cancelled. Do not get attached to this show people. NBC has just as bad a track record with genre shows as FOX. Remember seaQuest, Earth 2 and Journeyman?

America’s Next Top Model – CW
OK, not genre, but one of my guilty pleasures. One that makes the Husband Unit roll his eyes in disgust. I love the photoshoots and the two Js. Fabulous!!!!! Thank goodness this repeats on Fridays.

And that’s it for Wednesday. Three genre shows, all at 8:00 pm. The rest of the night is free for us to watch the ones we’ve taped or catch up on dusting the action figures.

Next time: Thursday – You are (bleeping) kidding me.