Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Papers ready for pick up...

2008-04-30T09:43:00.002-07:00

Hello students,thank you for your patience.

Your essays are graded and ready for pick up in envelopes with your names on them, in a box just nside my cubicle (9th floor Ansin Bldg). Email me if you have any questions.

Have a good weekend.

Best Episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark?

2008-04-29T06:08:00.001-07:00

In no particular order, as it would be too hard to decide, here are what I find to be some of the best episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark? for people who might have forgotten how good it was.

The Tale of The Dark Music
This is the one wherein a kid finds out that in his basement, behind a creepy locked wooden door, lives some kind of creature. Whenever a certain music is played on the radio, the door unlocks and the creature emerges. They never actually show what it looks like, but at one point it takes the form of a giant porcelin (spelling?) doll that glides out to the boy, asks him in a creepy doll voice to "come play" with it, and is sent back shrieking when the boy shuts off the music. Eventually, though, the boy finds out that all the creature wants is food, and so he feeds a bully to it by tricking him into the basement. After the bully is gone, the boy finds a new bicycle, and a new way of getting things he wants: feeding the monster.

The Tale of Apartment 214
A girl moves into a new apartment building, and because she doesn't have any friends, befriends an old lady who lives there too. I can't remember all the details, but the girl promises to come over one night and instead hangs out with new friends, leaving the woman alone. Later, the woman appears and yells at the girl for abandoning her, saying that the night was special, because IT WAS THE NIGHT SHE DIIIIIED!!!

The Tale of the Dead Man's Float
A nerdy kid helps a hot girl with science, and together they discover a pool behind an old shelving unit (!) that has been abandoned for years because people kept drowning. The school reopens the pool, but the kids discover that the ghost of a boy who drowned there has been drowning people since, and that he's back and wants to pull more people under. The ghost is invisible in the water, and so the nerdy kid uses his science to throw some kind of chemical onto it that makes it visible, and if I remember correctly, it looked a bit like the mud monster on the cover of the "You Can't Scare Me" Goosebumps book.

The Tale of the Super Specs
A girl is given a pair of novelty "super specs" from Sardo's magic shop, and finds that when she wears them, she can see creepy black figures standing around in places that they can't be seen normally. Sort of like They Live, but a good episode nonetheless.

The Tale of the Silent Servant
Two kids on a farm find that the scarecrow can be ordered to do anything, so they order it to build a fence, and the next morning - fence! But then they order it to build something else, and it pulls apart the fence for wood. So they leave the scarecrow alone, until one of them accidentally orders it to kill someone by saying they wish they'd die. Then of course, they have to stop it.

Lost? No just drunk

2008-04-28T07:31:00.000-07:00

So I saw that their was already a lost drinking game, which was almost identical to what I was thinking off but hey lets make this work, if anythng you can combine the two to get a good buzz going, or maybe puke. The beer of the game is Foster's in light of the flight leaving from Australia. Or if you know the episode you are about to watch is about Desmond, honor the man and play with a Bottle of J&B Scotch Whiskey. You'll have more fun and lets face it the Desmond ep's are the bet anyways.

Arbitrary rule, Harmonize the Lost sound at the Title sequence, cheers then drink.

1. To start off the game when the episode starts the first person to prank call a person using only the numbers within the Vantezetti equation 4-8-15-16-23-42, and quote your favorite lost line, everyone is exempt from shotgunning a beer.

example (815) 416-2342

Hello?
"I looked into the eye of the Island....and it was beautiful"
What?
"WHOOOOO" (hang up)

2. Every time Juliette stares blankly, a staring contest becomes in affect, who ever breaks the stare first needs to drink.

3. Every time Sawyer uses a nickname (freckles, Chewy, Doc) drink. (If you wanna kick it up a notch take a shot of Jim Beam).

4. Every time Sun speaks Korean or Jin speaks English Take a drink.

5. Once Hugo says dude for the first time in an episode, everyone in the room must refer to anyone else watching with you as dude until Hugo says dude again. If you break the rule take a drink. Same goes for desmond and his go to phrase "Brotha".

6. If Sayid or Jack skeptically raise their eyebrows, everyone in the room must do so as well. First to drop their brows takes a drink.

7. Anytime there is a reference to the hatch, everyone one in the room places a hand on the ground. Last to do so takes a drink.

8. All sarcastic comments. (if made by a male character men in the room drink, if made by a female character, well ladies it's your turn).

9. If anyone see's a Dharma Logo Everyone must bow and say "Namaste", referencing the ending of the Dharma Training video. Last to do so takes a drink.

10. Anytime Ben weirds you out, and he will, Drink.

11. If John Locke says something that doesn't make sense, later in the episode where you find out what he was talking about, drink.

12. Anytime we flash back (or forwards) drink. If you wanna make it intresting again, due to the shows possible issues reguarding being stuck in time, last person to make a Back to The Future quote drinks.

13. If you have a "mindfuck" ending, and you probably will, chug a beer.

Enjoy kids.

Sylvia Brown Juice

2008-04-27T22:23:00.000-07:00

Looking for a way to spice up your daytime talk show then this is the game for you. Now I'm fully aware, Montell Williams, hardly supernatural television... But every once in awhile he has the "psychic" Silvia Brown on the show and she counts. So the rules of the game are as followed:

Everyone has their own full cup of beer and then there is the community cup that is filled to the brim with hard alcohol.

Now every time Sylvia uses an affectionate term to refer to someone ie: honey or sweetie, one person takes a shot from the community cup and passes it on to the next person who will have to take a shot under the same circumstances and pass. At the end of the show if there is any alcohol left in the community cup, whomever is in possession of the cup must chug the remainder.

Every time she tells someone that their loved one is dead everyone takes a drink.

Every time she tells someone that they will have a baby everyone takes two drinks.

Whenever she starts gnawing on that skanky claw she calls a fingernail every one drinks till she either stops or the camera cuts to someone else.

If she rolls her eyes take a drink.

Every time Montel overreacts (completely up to your judgment) the last person to throw something at the television must take a drink.

If Sylvia begins playing with the crucifix around her neck the last person to touch their nose must take three gulps.

If Sylvia somehow manages to pull her face muscles tight enough to squeeze a smile out, take a hit of crack and shoot yourself. The first person to do this wins!

This clip is uncomfortable :

By the way take a drink!

Drunk Like Me

2008-04-27T19:58:00.000-07:00

Sorry this is coming to you so late. I almost forgot about this entirely. Yikes! But without further ado I present my:

Dead Like Me Drinking Game

(This game could use addition/revision later on for improvement)

This is a game that requires lots of different alcohols, but is sure to be a lot of fun at your next Dead Like Me viewing party.

The game begins with everyone choosing their favorite reaper as their character. Choose between George, Daisy, Mason, Roxy, or Rube. Next everyone takes a bet on how they think the victim(s) of the episode will die (try to keep these vague such as shot, hit be an object, fall off something, etc.). Now with the characters chosen and the bets made mix the following drinks and pour the following shots, and distribute them according to the contestants chosen characters:

For George:

Drink: White Russian (Vodka, Coffee liqueur, Light cream)

Shot: Vodka

For Daisy:

Drink: Blazing Fire (Ice, Vodka, Gin, Light rum, Triple sec, Pineapple juice, Grenadine)

Shot: Tequila

For Mason:

Drink: Screwdriver (Orange Juice, Lots of Vodka)

Shot: Whiskey

For Roxy:

Drink: Green Scorpion aka The Jealous Bitch (Jack Daniels, Vodka, Blue Curacao, 7-Up, Ice)

Shot: Jack Daniels

For Rube:

Drink: Mystery Beverage (have a friend mix 3 assorted shots of liquor into your favorite fruit juice or soda. [note: you dont get to decide which liquors go in the drink])

Shot: Gin

Put this aside and don't touch them till the end of the game. Now grab an additional drink of anything you want (beer, wine, mixed drinks, hard liquor - keep it alcoholic!) and start the episode.

Character drinking:

If your character does one of the following actions at any point through the episode, take a drink of your beverage:

George:

says something incredibly cynical

Daisy:

reference having a sexual encounter with a movie star

Mason:

comes up with a clever scheme or con job

Roxy:

threatens to physically harm someone

Rube:

uses metaphor to explain something

Combos:

In certain circumstances two people can drink at once if the following action happens during their interaction:

George/Rube: Rube calls George “peanut”

Roxy/Mason: Roxy threatens/attempt to kill Mason

Mason/Daisy: Mason hits on Daisy

Ending:

Now with the episode ending the winners and losers of the bet should be determined.

If you're one of the winner: Take the shot. This shot represents your character.

If you're the loser: You have to do the shot and the finish the drink! The drink represents the way in which your character died! Make sure YOU don't die from alcohol poisoning

Twilight Zone Drinking Game

2008-04-26T15:17:00.000-07:00

You are now entering a dimension of alcohol and intoxication.

- Chug a beer every time Rod Serling appears.

- Sip a beer anytime a character smokes a cigarette.

- Chug a beer anytime the story takes place in the future.

- Take a shot if William Shatner is in an episode.

- Chug a beer if the episode was shot on video as opposed to film.

- Sip a beer if the apocalypse happens.

- Sip a beer if an episode involves airplane travel.

- Sip a beer if there is time travel.

- Chug a beer when any military figure is shown.

- Take a shot if Burgess Meredeth is in an episode.

- Chug a beer if there is an ironic twist.

- Sip a beer if there is a fictional government in place.

- Take a shot any time aliens are seen or mentioned.

- Chug a beer if a human is inappropriately suspected of being an alien.

- Shot of whiskey when some one drinks whiskey.

- Chug a beer if a monster is seen.

- Chug a beer if the devil appears and tricks someone.

- Sip a beer when robots are seen.

- Chug a beer if a person is not a person.

- Sip a beer whenever a planet that isn’t earth is mentioned.

- Chug a beer when children are evil.

- Chug a beer people refuse to believe the main character that knows the truth.

- Take a shot every time the theme music is heard.

With these rules you are sure to be drunk by the end of nearly any episode. Just be careful on New Years and Fourth of July when there are 3-day marathons!

TP does not stand for toilet paper: what about Bob?

2008-04-26T12:42:00.000-07:00

Here's my fourth blog, a tad bit late but better late than never.........

So this semester has been pretty awesome. We have watched some interesting shows, some awesome, some scary, some humorous and some downright SUCKY.

What I enjoyed and appreciated the most this semester was being re-introduced to Twin Peaks. I've seen most of the 1st season a few years ago, and I truly enjoyed it, but I never got around to finishing the series. The murderer of Laura Palmer was intentionally prematurely revealed to me by a malicious friend of mine (he showed me "Fire Walk With Me" before I had even started season 2. What a dick), and out of frustration I pulled the plug on watching the rest of the show. As we watched the pilot in class, I remembered the quirky little details and brilliant character traits which impressed me so in the first place. This resulted in me going to Newbury comics and spending 80 bucks I don't have on the deluxe Twin Peaks Golden Box Set. I spent a whole weekend in my pajamas, drapes pulled shut, phone turned off, and had a red wine and pizza date with the dreamy Agent Dale Cooper.

This show is fantastic. It goes from lightly eccentric, humorous events to downright terrifying circumstances that seem to have leaped from the depths of hell. I'm not one who gets easily scared, but after BOB magically appeared in the Palmer household and ravenously climbed over furniture to attack cousin Maddy, I spent the night on the phone with my boyfriend until I fell asleep from the Tylenol PM I took to weaken my terrified BOB anxiety.

In terms of the supernatural, BOB is the strongest supernatural element in the series. The show overall is very surreal and peculiar, but nothing is as directly linked to the paranormal/supernatural as BOB (and MIKE, who is essentially the same exact aspect that BOB is). Mark Frost said the inspiration for BOB was inspired by native American mythology, but never confirmed that BOB actually was a ghost/spirit. Lynch and Frost kept to ambiguity when it came to explaining all sorts of aspects of the show.

Due to lack of confirmation, it is sometimes questionable if one could even consider Twin Peaks to be a supernatural show, after researching the subject I found some interesting opinions of the phenomenon that is BOB:

"Some who reject supernatural explanations believe BOB may
be/have been a figment of Laura's or Leland's imagination (a
means of psychologically dealing with the trauma of incest
and adultery), or an alternate personality of Leland. The
caustic FBI agent Albert Rosenfield suggests that BOB is
simply "the evil that men do". The fact that so many TP
characters experience these spirits make such
rationalizations hard to logically support. Events in the
series following Leland's death (the Windom Earle arc) and
in FWWM also continue the supernatural themes."

BOB, played by Frank Silva, was actually a carpenter on the set. He accidentally appeared in a mirror on the wall while they were shooting a scene, and Lynch decided to keep it in because he liked Silva’s look. They eventually created BOB’s character from that moment, adding Silva to the cast. Talk about luck!

Overall, BOB is one scary mother*cker, regardless if he is a spirit or a psychological result.

TWIN PEAKS and WET SHEETS

2008-04-26T10:43:00.000-07:00

This one is for all of those nights we decide "Eh, I think I'm gunna get wrecked and pee the bed tonight. Cool?" Yeah, cool.
Here are the rules, the game is played with beer.

FUNNEL a beer whenever someone has sex with anyone else and they AREN'T cheating.

SIP a beer when sex involves cheating.

CHUG a beer when Cooper says something to Diane that is directly involved with the case.

SIP whenever Jacobi freaks you out.

SHOTGUN a beer when cocaine is actually shown, SIP whenever it is discussed.

SIP whenever an owl is shown or mentioned.

SIP whenever you think someone might get killed.

SIP whenever Leland cries.

SIP whenever you don't understand what is going on. (optional)

CHUG HALF A BEER whenever Agent Rosenfeld steals a scene.

SIP whenever Cooper takes way too long to make a normal decision (like order food).

SIP whenever the Log Lady confuses you.

SIP whenever they show a traffic light by itself.

CHUG whenever Audrey does something overtly sexual.

THAT'S IT! Hope it's as fun as the others. Wash those sheets!

The "I'm So Confused, Annoyed, Angry, Tired of this Godforsaken Bullshit I Need to get Blackout Drunk" game

2008-04-24T20:14:00.000-07:00

Alright, here we go

It took me a while to come up with something clever because I am a little scared of this concept. The last time I played a television drinking game my friend got alcohol poisoning, and I blame myself because the game was my idea: we watched Jackass and took a shot of rum every time someone got hurt.

Sooooo…….. I was thinking, while watching Lost, chug a beer every time you feel confused, but that’s too easy/deadly. Then I started narrowing down the possibilities of reoccurring Lost aspects. In terms of frequency, the type of alcohol varies.

Types of alcohol:

Beer, wine, whiskey, tequila, vodka, sake, Malibu.

Before the game starts, pour one shot of each alcohol and one entire beer into a giant mug. Also, one person is appointed the task of noting down every character that has a speaking part in the episode. The “rescuers” that just arrived on the island don’t count, because I haven’t memorized their names yet.

The game starts:

-Every time there is a flashback/flashforward: one can of Natty Light (or Coors Light if you’re a pansy) before the flashback/flashforward is over.

-When Sawyer says “freckles” take a shot of Southern Comfort

-When Hugo says “dude” take a HALF shot of tequila

-When Jack gives the stare down with vibrating eyeballs drink a screwdriver and develop daddy issues

-Snort a crushed up adderal whenever Ben’s daughter Alex rebels against him, boarding school-style

-When Jin speaks surprisingly good “broken” English, couple tiny swigs of sake

-When Claire mentions Charlie (this past season) drink two DIESEL malibu-and-cokes ( because she seems to have forgotten about him?).

-When Locke is on screen drink water, for survival

-When Juliette speaks you’re granted a 30 minute pass out because her voice is soooo soooothiiing. That also gives you the opportunity to think about her sweet rack and lezzing out with Angelina in “Gia”

-When Kate looks hot don’t do anything, just stare

-When Desmond says “brotha”, drink a sip of Christ’s blood (Yellowtail cabernet)

-When Sun is in her garden using her green thumb, do a hit off a small bowl (no water bongs or gravity hits people, we have to stay focused)

Now when the episode is over, everyone in the room has to name each character that said at least one sentence throughout the entire episode. The person who forgets the most characters, has to chug the alcohol concoction in the mug, and clean up the room when everyone passes out.

ENJOY

"The 4400" Drinking Game

2008-04-24T18:02:00.000-07:00

So I'm a total non-drinker and non-partier, so drinking games are pretty much foreign territory for me. I went with "The 4400", just to be different.

Take a sip if:
-anyone mentions "the 4400"
-anyone spouts exposition
-someone has family trouble
-a demonstration of mysterious powers occurs
(take two sips if it's someone other than Orson, since his problems were more ubiquitous but not as varied)
-Maia says something creepy
-Lily wistfully gazes off into nothingness
-the song "Worry About You" by Ivy plays
-Lily and Richard have sexual tension, despite him having romanced her grandmother

Drink a whole cup if someone actually speaks a well-formed piece of dialogue. Hell, you've earned it for sitting through everything else.

This was created with the pilot in mind, but it would surely work with others as well.

Red Dwarf Drinking Game

2008-04-24T11:44:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the good luck of us actually watching Red Dwarf in Class I can share the Red Dwarf Drinking game my brother taught me. He still kept the old game he came up with on his computer and emailed it to me.

All of you heard the really odd and funny song that played at the end of the episode. The Lyrics go like this.

Its cold outside,
There's no kind of atmosphere,
I'm all alone,
More or less.
Let me fly,
Far away from here,
Fun, fun, fun,
In the sun, sun, sun.

I want to lie,
Shipwrecked and comotoase,
Drinking fresh,
Mango juice,
Goldfish shoals,
Nibbling at my toes,
Fun, fun, fun,
In the sun, sun, sun,
Fun, fun, fun,
In the sun, sun, sun.

Now you can drink this with whatever you want, but I would personally recommend something light, beer would probably work best. You can do shots of things but considering the rules that might get you messed up allot more quickly (unless thats your intention). At the end of the last episode whoever sings the ending theme song coherently enough wins the game and is crowned king of the Smeg Heads.

What makes this game fun (or crazy depends on how you look at it) is that the game comes with a challenge level on how you go about it. The challenge is how many episodes you watch. There is:

Light - 1 to 2 episodes
Tricky - 2 to 3 episodes
Hardcore! - 5 or more episodes

So with your drink of choice in hand and challenge level figured out you watch your selected episodes and begin your drinking adventure. You take drinks revolving around each character and general things in the show.

Lister (the guy with the dreadlocks):

drink for every time Lister has a Larger
drink when Lister is seen eating a Curry of some kind
drink for every joke that calls Lister barely or not Human
drink every time a reference is made about his underwear (you would be surprised how much that actually comes up)

Rimmer (the guy with the H on his head):

drink whenever Rimmer does something mean to someone (pace yourself on that one)
drink for whenever one embarrassing fact is revealed about him or his family
drink whenever Rimmer mentions a famous general or battle
drink for whenever Rimmer mis-quotes one of the Space Core directives

Cat (the one everyone thought was a vampire):

drink whenever Cat utters the phrase "Old Cat Saying"
drink every time Cat Howls (about 8 to 10 seconds in you will see what I mean)
drink every time Cat praises his good looks (take a double if he mentions he is the center of the universe)
drink every time Cat "Smells" Something

Finish your entire drink if Cats alter ego Duane Dibbley shows up

Kryten (the android with the odd looking head):

Drink every time someone describes his head in a funny way
Drink every time he corrects Rimmer on a Space Core directive
Drink every time he speaks in binary
Drink every time he offers to kill himself for doing something stupid or to try to save the team
Drink every time he goes into a different mode "Smug Mode" "Lie Mode" etc.

General:

Drink whenever something gross happens (this is going to apply to Lister the most)
Drink whenever there is mention of a small furry animal, or a kipper
Drink whenever a hostile life form tries to kill them (take a double that if they can't shoot straight, take a Triple that if one of the crew mentions that!)
Drink whenever someone calls someone else a Smeg Head
Drink whenever they crash a Starbug

By the end of your number of episodes see who can sing the ending song the best. Whoever wins the losers toast to the king of the Smeg Heads and finish whatever drink they have left.

Have fun you crazy smeggers.

Kolchak - like Jaws, but with monsters

2008-04-24T03:16:00.000-07:00

Recently my boss lent me the two TV movies that resulted in the Kolchak: The Night Stalker series, The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler. And they’re pretty awesome.

Both were written by Richard Matheson, who I’m sure most people know is a hugely important sci-fi/horror responsible for such classic stories as I Am Legend, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, to name a few. Both are fairly similar in premise to the show: mysterious occurrences warrant investigation, evidence of supernatural influence is found but ignored by the authorities, Kolchak discovers the truth, but is unable to prove it. Despite being relatively formulaic, they are worth seeing.

-SPOILER ALERT-

The Night Stalker is set in Las Vegas, which is strange to see in 1972. Bodies are found around town drained of blood. A mysterious and creepy man is caught stealing blood from a hospital. Why would anyone want so much blood? They wouldn’t, probably, unless they were a vampire. This seems obvious to Kolchak, but of course nobody will listen to his outlandish suggestions. For most of the movie, The Night Stalker plays a lot like Jaws: despite the evidence suggesting that the mysteriously strong, bloodthirsty killer is a vampire, the various authorities continually ignore Kolchak’s pleas for action. Ultimately, it is he alone who finds the vampire’s house and brings with him a mallet and a wooden stake. Kolchak’s FBI friend shows up and after getting thrown around a bit, they work together to take him down. The old pull-down-the-curtain-to-reveal-sunlight trick is used, and after being weakened, Kolchak himself stakes the creature as the police rush in.

What’s great about The Night Stalker is that, while it shares many similarities to the episodes we saw in class, it treats its subject more seriously than them. There’s less emphasis on humor, for one thing, and Kolchak is far less willing to take crap from those who don’t believe him. Lots of yelling. It would be pretty awful if there were a real vampire killing people around town, and the movie does a good job of focusing on that aspect. Whereas many episodes of the show end with Kolchak simply losing his film, or not being believed, the end of The Night Stalker is a bit darker: the police do believe the man was a vampire, but tell Kolchak that they’ll charge him with murder if he doesn’t leave town and keep his mouth shut about it. They also force his dancer girlfriend out of town, and he never sees her again.

All in all, for anyone who liked what they saw of Kolchak, The Night Stalker is definitely worth seeing. It’s well written, entertaining, and suffers only from the appearance of the vampire himself; modern make-up techniques would have helped, I’m sure.

The Night Strangler finds Kolchak in Seattle, where his former boss at the Las Vegas paper shows up and gives him a job. Another series of murders begins: this time, the victims are all young women whose throats have been crushed and an exact amount of blood taken from their brains. Strangely, residue of rotting flesh is found on the necks of victims. Again, with little support from authorities, Kolchak comes to realize that the killer this time is a man who has been alive since the Civil War, having concocted an elixir that defies aging – as long as it is taken every 21 years and is made out of the freshly extracted blood of young women. Seeing that similar murders have occurred every 21 years since 1889, Kolchak finds himself unable to persuade anyone to believe him, even his editor who was there for the vampire in Las Vegas. Eventually Kolchak finds the man living in “Old Seattle”, a part of town buried by modern Seattle, and stops him by destroying the elixir. Again, Kolchak leaves town, this time accompanied by his editor and an undergraduate student/belly dancer.

The Night Strangler is more like the show: more jokes, less plausibility. While not as good as The Night Stalker, it is still worth seeing. Everybody in the cast, Darren McGavin in particular, give it all they’ve got, and it really helps what could easily seem silly.

So again, if you liked Kolchak, both of these movies come on one DVD and can probably be acquired on the cheap. Or illegally pirated on the free, whichever you prefer.

MTV's Fear Drinking Game

2008-04-24T02:23:00.000-07:00

Drink for every contestant under the age of 21.

Drink every time a contestant is referred to by their “color”.

Drink every time there is a shot of the sky/moon.

Drink every time you hear from an “expert”.

Drink every time the navigator tries to comfort a contestant on a dare.

Drink every time a contestant on a dare gets mad at the navigator for trying to comfort them.

Drink every time a contestant on a dare says “you have no idea”.

Drink at the end of each dare: once if it is completed, twice if aborted.

Drink every time a contestant sees/hears/experiences anything that cannot be documented on film.

The Hex Drinking Game

2008-04-24T01:26:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer:
I don't recommend this game. Depending on the episode, you might die. Just saying.

The Hex Drinking Game:

Take a sip of beer:
-Whenever there is a sexual reference made
-If it’s a lesbian reference, take two sips

Take a gulp (more than a sip/less than a chug) of beer:
-Every time Ella looks scared when she shouldn’t be (since she’s been fighting demons for 500 years, you’d think she’d be used to it by now)
-Every time a Nephelum appears on screen.

Take a shot of Tequila:
-Every time someone dies (to take away the pain, of course)
-Also, if someone misses a drink, this is the penalty (they’ll be punished in the morning)
-If they missed the tequila game, then they must pay the penalty of two shots

Take a shot of rum/whiskey/vodka/whatever:
-If you’re watching season one and Cassie has just used her magic
-If you’re watching season two and Ella uses magic

Hex/Head Slap Game:
-Every time there is a flashback sequence everyone must yell “Hex” and slap themselves on the forehead. The last person to do this must take a body shot from the first person to do it.
-If it’s two females, everyone else takes a sip of beer, as well (to commemorate Thelma, obviously)

Azazeal Game:
-Every time someone says the name Azazeal, everyone must yell “Azazeal” and take a drink of beer. The last person to do it takes a shot of tequila.

Please for the love of god don't ever play this game.

2008-04-23T22:24:00.000-07:00

Alright, alright, this may very well get me disqualified since we haven’t watched the show in class yet, but seeing as how I’m not versed well enough in any of the shows to write a game for them, "The X Files" is the only one, but I haven’t watched that regularly in about 10 years, I figured I would do this.

I hope I get extra points for the fact that I was actually drinking while coming up with this game.

The following are instructions for the “Lost” watching night of debauchery.

I’m assuming everyone is going to begin watching at the very start of the series, and then watch every single episode in a row. If you’re not dead at the end of this drinking game, you win.

Pound a beer if the episode opens with a shot of someone’s eye.

Drink for the entire time the word “lost” is displayed on the screen.

Take a shot if someone says “don’t tell me what I can’t do”.

Take a bong rip whenever Claire screams, if she screams “my baby” or any variation thereof, follow the bong rip with a swig of beer before you exhale.

Chug a beer if jack seems to randomly know someone from the past for some reason (ex, when he first sees Desmond in the hatch and he’s all “you” and you can just imagine everyone else thinking “we’re stranded on a fucking deserted island and this motherfucker runs into someone he knows?”)

Take a shot if you forget that Boon(e) and Shannon are brother and sister, take 2 shots if you suddenly remember, and are grossed out.

Take a sip of beer when Sawyer uses a nickname, take 2 sips if he says someone’s real name.

Take a shot whenever someone calls Sawyer by his real name, take an extra pull from the bottle if you forget for a moment who the hell James Ford is.

Smoke a cigarette whenever there’s an overly glamorous shot of Kate, Sun, or even Anna Lucia, take a long swig of beer if said shot somehow involves water, or the character being soaking wet for some reason.

Take a hit from a joint whenever Hurly says “Dude”

Take a sip of beer when someone calls Hurly “Hugo.”

Pour a bottle of champagne all over yourself and your friends and into everyone’s mouths whenever Mr. Echo brutally murders someone.

Take a shot whenever someone says the word “Lost”

Take a shot of beer whenever someone comes to Jack for something that they could have done themselves. Take 2 shots of beer if Jack responds by giving them a disinterested look and an aloof attitude. Take 3 shots of beer if he claims not to be the “leader” of the group, when clearly he is.

Do a line of coke whenever Sayid does something horrible. Take a shot if he mentions how he swore he would never do it again, but does anyway.

Take a shot whenever you notice a “coincidental” use of those crazy numbers from the hatch (ex. the Oceanic flight number).

Take a shot whenever Lock displays irrational faith in the island.

Mainline a hit of heroin whenever Charlie does heroin

Take a hit from a joint whenever Jack uses a gun surprisingly well for a spinal surgeon who theoretically would have taken a Hippocratic Oath to do no harm.

Take a shot whenever we see a coincidental encounter during a flashback.

Smoke a cigarette whenever you wonder just what the hell Benjamin Linus is up to.

Drink a beer whenever you notice background characters that are never involved in anything, finish the beer if we discover their names.

Take a shot whenever Michael says “MY SON!” or any variation thereof (ex “stay away from my son!” “I need to do what’s best for my son” etc.)

Take a hit from the bong whenever two characters beat the crap out of each other.

Drink a beer while driving around the block whenever an actor from the show gets arrested for drunk driving, banished from Hawaii, and consequently has their character killed off.

Hey look! It’s the crazy black smoke! Smoke a blunt whenever you see the black smoke.

Drink a glass of French red wine whenever crazy Rousseau wanders dazed out of the jungle.

Take a swig of beer whenever Claire says “sorry Charlie” and try not to choke while you’re laughing at the fact that she just said “sorry Charlie.”

Take a sip of beer whenever Charlie calls Aaron “Turnip head.”

Take a sip of beer whenever Jin speaks bad English, and try not to choke while you’re laughing at the fact that the actor who plays Jin speaks perfect English.

Do a bump of blow whenever someone says “the others.”

Take a sip of beer whenever you wonder how the hell they don’t get lost wandering around in the woods on that damn island.

Hey, your friend passed out, write “Drive Shaft’s biggest fan” all over his body in sharpie, then sing “you are everybody” or whatever the hell their one hit song was, high five each other, and go outside to puke. Slow down on that coke, friend.

Run around the house with your pants around your ankles every time Kate can’t make up her mind about whether she wants Jack or Sawyer.

Con a friend or stranger out of all their money every time we see Sawyer do so.

Take a shot every time Jack puts himself at unnecessary risk completely ignoring the fact that he’s the only doctor in the group. Perform unnecessary surgery on a friend if Jack gets hurt or comes very close to getting hurt (suggested operations; appendectomy, breast implants, skin graft).

Take a shot whenever Locke looks like he’s thinking about something very pensively, chase it with a beer if he’s thinking about his father.

Take a shot whenever Jack looks like he’s about to cry.

Take a swig of beer whenever someone has an issue with their father.

Take a swig of a beer whenever there is a Dharma Initiative brand product.

DAISY CHAIN! If any of the questions posed in the show are ever answered, turn to the person to your left and perform oral sex on them.

Extra points go to anyone that can play a game of “never have I ever” that’s as badass as the one Kate and Sawyer play.

And finally, if you’ve followed all these instructions and at the end of a few episodes you aren’t confused enough to actually feel like you’re lost on an island, pat yourself on the back and get some goddamn sleep you crazy party animal asshole.

Dont tell me what I can't DO!: the game

2008-04-23T22:20:00.000-07:00

This is a Lost drinking game.

Note: proper preparation for this game requires you to buy a six pack of cheap beer at least two months in advance and leave it out and un-refrigerated in order to get that proper Dharma brand skunk beer flavor.

Anyways. Start with a delegation of everyone playing the game to one of the primary characters. draw straws to see who gets first choice of characters. You can choose from:

Jack. Kate. Locke. Sawyer. Michael. Sayid. Hurley. Charlie. Desmond. Claire/Aaron. Sun/Jin.

If you are Jack you must drink every time that: Jack is angry. Locke mentions Faith.
If you are Kate you must drink every time that: Kate runs... from anything. physically or metaphorically.
If you are Locke you must drink every time that: Locke does something unexpected/awesome. Jack mentions Science.
If you are Sawyer you must drink every time that: Sawyer uses a nick name.
If you are Michael you must drink every time that: Michael mentions "my boy" or brings up "my son"
If you are Sayid you must drink every time that: Use/Fix something electronic
If you are Hurley you must drink every time that: Hurley says "Dude".
If you are Charlie you must drink every time that: The song "You all everybody" is sung, heard, or mentioned.
If you are Desmond you must drink every time that: Desmond says "Brotha"
If you are Claire/Aaron you must drink every time that: Claire/Aaron are in mortal danger.
If you are Sun/Jin you must drink every time that: Sun lies or Jin is lied to.

you must also drink if your character sees someone dead.

OK. Now you choose an episode at random and watch. drink the liquor/beer/ soda-pop of choice and drink at aforementioned moments.

However. Everyone must drink if:

The Smoke monster is seen, heard, referenced, or ran from.
the numbers 4,8,15, 16,23,42 are mentioned, either together in sequence or individually.
A hatch is discovered or visited.
Ben reveals something that he has been hiding.
A Book is discussed

If you are watching an episode in which your character has flashbacks, Then everyone drinks when you drink.

The skunk beers:

IF, your character shows up in someone else's flashback, you gotta drink a skunk beer.
IF, your character kills another character, you gotta drink a skunk beer.
IF, your character says "live together, die alone", you gotta drink a skunk beer.

There you go. that should do the job.

My Drinking Game

2008-04-23T20:52:00.001-07:00

The X-Files Season 2 Drinking Game

This is only meant to be done should you be able to sit down and watch an entire season in a sitting. Or basically, devote an entire day to getting drunk and season 2 of The X-Files, which is my favorite season (Irresistible, Our Town, Humbug, 'nuff said).

Take a shot of whiskey every time that:
-there is a close-up of the monster's face, in which it snarls, eats something, or turns its head dramatically in a way that seems perfect for a teaser shot for the commercial (relevant to The Host, Humbug)
-every time an animal does something that it is clearly not supposed to be doing, i.e. running amok, attacking someone (relevant to Fearful Symmetry, Die Hand Die Verletzt)
-every time a member of a small religious group issues Mulder a weird sort of warning (relevant to Red Museum, The Calusari)
-every time Agent Scully is captured or restrained in some way (relevant to Irresistible, Our Town, Duane Barry)

Take a swig of beer every time that:
-Agent Scully says something to the effect of "But Mulder, that sort of phenomena is impossible"
-Agent Mulder gives some sort of sanctimonious speech about the nebulous nature of truth in the universe
-Skinner says something to the effect of "if you behave like this again, you're off the force"

Drink an entire glass of wine:
-Every time that an episode ends on a note that goes for poignancy but doesn't explain what actually happened or what, if anything, the proceedings had to do with aliens
-Every time that an episode opens with a murder before cutting to the opening credits, and the first scene after deals with Mulder and Scully examining the body
-Every time that they chase a monster of some kind, and it just barely manages to get away.

For a complete listing of Season 2 episodes:
http://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/susan/sf/tv/xfiles/xfiles2.htm

For information on alcoholism and helping those affected by it:
http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org/?Media=PlayFlash

Carnivale drinking game

2008-04-23T20:52:00.000-07:00

The game is played similar to "Kings" for those of you who know the game. What's different is the deck and how you draw. This game will be played with a deck of tarot cards, not a regular deck. There are "reasons to draw" which are cues from the show (listed below). Once you draw you do as the directions say according to what card is drawn (listed below). Drawing is done in a round robin fashion and it is suggested that it's played with beer.

Reasons to draw cards:

Anytime tarot cards are seen (excluding the credits), the next three people draw a card.

Every time Samson says “Shake some Dust” or calls the crew “Children”

Every time Samson is seen going into management.

Every time there is a close up of management curtain

Every time Jonesy mentions baseball

Every time there is nudity

Every time Sofie ‘talks’ to her mother

Every time Apollonia (Sofie’s mother) effects the world around her.

Every time Gabriel breaks up a fight.

Every time Ben uses his powers

Every time Ben resists using his powers,

Every time brother Justin controls someone

Every time brother Justin’s eyes turn black.

Every time Ruthie is seen with a snake.

Every time Iris does something ‘evil.’

Every time Justin acts incestual

Every time someone sees something that isn’t there.

Every time Lodz drinks Absinthe.

Every time Lila (the bearded woman) says something sexual.

Every time a tent is put up or taken down.

Every time we see the tattooed man.

Every time someone says “Every prophet in their house.”

Every time the song “Love me or leave me” plays.

Every time Henry Scudder is mentioned.

Every time Stumpy pitches the cootch show.

Every time someone mentions Babylon.

Cards:

Lesser Arcana:

Cups, you refill your cup.

Wands, choose a person to drink,

Swords: No-one drinks

Pentacles: You drink.

Major Arcana:

O: The Fool: Everyone drinks as long as they can.

I: Magician: Choose one male to drink.

II: The High Priestess: Chose a female to drink.

III: The Empress: All the women have to drink!

IV: The Emperor: All the men have to drink!

V: The Heirophant: The drawer of this card chooses someone to partner with. Whenever one of you has to drink, so does the other.

VI: The Lovers: Anyone who is in a romantic relationship drinks.

VII: Chariot: You and the people to either side of you have to drink.

VIII: Strength: Challenge someone to drink! Try to drink them under the table.

IX: The Hermit: You drink…alone.

X: Wheel of Fortune: Spin a bottle. Whomever is pointed finishes their cup.

XI: Justice: Get out of Jail free card.

XII: The Hanged Man: Guess what kind of card the next card will be (swords, wands, major arcane). If the guess is right, everyone else has to chug. If wrong, guesser has to drink.

XIII: Death: Finish whatever is in your cup.

XIV: Temperance: Everyone refills their cups.

XV: The Devil: Everyone but you has to drink.

XVI: Everyone on your half of the table drinks.

XVII: The Star: Everyone has to drink. Last person to start has to finish their cup.

XVIII: The Moon: Person across from you has to drink.

XIX: The Sun: Everyone throws their hands into the air. Last person has to chug.

XX: Judgment: The person who draws this card chugs, and everyone has to chug as long as the drawer does.

XXI: The World: First person starts drinking, next person follows…can’t stop until the last person who starts stops.

Keep 'Em Coming!

2008-04-23T19:58:00.000-07:00

Great drinking games so far, everyone! Keep 'em coming...

I am going to create one, too. I think mine will be for Carnivale...or maybe Buffy...or possibly Invasion!

I See Drunk Demons: A Very Supernatural Drinking Game

2008-04-23T18:48:00.000-07:00

In honor of the new episode of Supernatural premiering tomorrow night, here is a very Supernatural game to enjoy (if you’re 21+). I would recommend using beer for this unless the condition calls for something else.

- Take a sip every time Dean says “Sammy” (This alone could get you drunk in some episodes)

- Likewise, take a sip every time Sam shouts “DEAN!!!!!”

- Have a sip whenever Sam or Dean does. Make it a gulp if Bobby or John does.

- Take 2 sips whenever holy water is used

- Take 2 sips whenever Dean refers to his car as his baby/some other form of endearment.

- Whenever there’s a bottle of hot sauce, put some in your drink (Beware the mystery spot)

- Take 3 sips when Dean is called “A good little soldier” – make it 3 gulps if he calls himself that.

- Take a gulp every time there is a rack focus involving a gun. Chug your drink if it’s the Colt (note that this gun does not appear until episode 20)

- Take 2 gulps whenever Bobby spikes someone’s drink with holy water. In fact, take a shot whenever Bobby appears.

- Have 3 gulps when Sam or Dean is tied up – then high five your friends

- Finish your drink when bones are burned

- Whenever a Winchester dies, finish your drink. If they come back from the dead, have a shot. If it’s a cliffhanger – too bad.

- Take a shot if Sam or Dean appears less than fully clothed ;)

- Take 3 sips if there’s an exorcism. Chug your drink if someone other than Sam does it.

- Take 3 sips whenever someone thinks Sam and Dean are a couple.

- Finish everything in the liquor cabinet if they actually are

Punishments:

Whenever someone (correctly) guesses a plot twist, put holy water in their drink. If it was a spoiler, try to exorcise them. If it works, you win ^_^

Also...S.P.A?

2008-04-23T17:53:00.000-07:00

Satanic Penile Abuse?

The Twin Peaks Drinking Game: Let's Rock!

2008-04-23T17:34:00.000-07:00

First off: Drink once for every minute the opening credits go on (it’s a few).

Drink:
- Whenever Cooper drinks coffee
- (Chug if he says it's “Damn good”)
- Whenever Cooper talks to “Diane” on his tape recorder
- Whenever someone eats pie
- (Drink twice if it’s someone other than Cooper)
- Whenever Cooper says “Harry, you’re alright.”

Drink:
- Whenever someone admits to sleeping with Laura Palmer
- (Drink twice if someone admits they were in love with her)
- Whenever someone talks about how Laura had “a lot of secrets”
- Whenever they show that homecoming queen picture of Laura
- (Chug if you can hear her mother screaming as it's shown)
- Whenever someone gets arrested
- Whenever someone sleeps with someone other than their spouse

Drink when you see:
- stacks and stacks of donuts
- a stoplight blowing in the wind
- an owl
- red curtains
Chug when you see:
- the Man from Another Place (the little guy!)
- the Giant

Drink:
- Whenever Nadine talks about drapes
- Whenever the Log Lady talks about what her log saw
- Whenever Sarah Palmer (Laura’s mother) screams
- Whenever Leland sings or dances
- (Drink twice if he gets someone to sing/dance with him)
- Whenever someone has a spooky vision of BOB

By the end of a few episodes, you'll probably look something like this:

Ladies, Just Don't Get Too Drunk and Expose Your Northern Parts

2008-04-23T17:23:00.000-07:00

Since Northern Exposure is one of those shows that falls under different genres (drama, comedy, etc.) this game should be played with many different shots of the hard stuff. I suggest: Rum, Tequila, Vodka, and Gin.

To Begin: Players stand/sit in a line. Each player starts with one shot of one of the types of alchohol available.

[Suggestion: Use those disposable bathroom dixie cups as the equivalent of two shots, fill up cups half-way]

Intially, there is also a designated "Bar Tender" who does not participate, but refills shots as necessary.

To Play: Each person takes a drink whenever one of the following events occurs on the show.

If Dr. Fleischman mentions New York or his Judaism, the Bartender takes the place of any player of his choosing, and joins the game.

Drink:

(1 shot) In honor of the moose during the opening credits.

(1 shot) Whenever there is sexual tension between Maggie and Dr. Fleischman.

(1.5 shots) Whenever John Corbett/Chris makes you want to take his/your clothes off and get down.

(2 shots) Whenever made uncomfortable by Holling and Shelly's PDA.

(Pass your shot to the person to your right) Whenever Marilyn shows no enthusiasm.

(3 shots) Whenever something strange happens and no one acknowledges it (with the exception of Dr. Fleischman).

To Win: Be the last to pass out or give up.

Good luck!

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer Drinking Game: Are you Ready to Rock?

2008-04-23T16:13:00.000-07:00

Ok. First of all, I never drink. Hence my non-existence ever playing a drinking game, well if you count watching those getting drunk playing Beyroute or Asshole then I guess I have some hilarious experience to go by to get this started. So proudly, I sit at my computer watching the hockey finals to write my first and probably last drinking game based on one of my favorite vampire shows. How do I write one of these? I guess I should start by searching the web for a particular format of some kind. Ahhh... here we go, according to the always-trustful Wikipedia: the objectives of drinking games are to either simply drink competitvely for speed or to win via others becoming too drunk. So maybe writing a drinking game will be simpler than previously though. All right, let's give this wacky game a shot. Oh yea, and this game is recomended for beer rather than alcolol due to causing extreme embarrassment.

Rules:

While watching Buffy, preferably in a safely lit place, those playing the game should have pleny of red solo cups filled with beer handy because whenever you see Giles (the watcher/liberian) wiping his glass... you must chug ONE solo cup. Since this event occurs quite frequently and often times when plotting attack plains against the "Big Bads," you will notice it more now that I told you, the punishment is lessened. However, whenever you see Buffy and Angel kiss... you must chug TWO solo cups. Because this occurrence is rare, due to Angel not being able to experience true love or he will lose his soul, the punishment increases.

Having fun yet? I thought so. Be on your toes because whenever you hear/see Willow mentioning or practicing her Judaism... you must chug THREE solo cups. Allison Hannigan's character of Willow is jewish but her heritage is rarely explored within the series, hence the punishment is becoming too much for you now. You can hardly stand up. Already two of your buddies are pased out becasue Giles has wiped his glasses three times and it's an episode in which Angel and Buffy go through one of their many intimate struggles.

Oh the drama. Moving along, get ready because whenever you see Spike running in daylight with his handy blanket in tow attempting to hid his easily burnable skin.. you must chug FOUR solo cups. Not only is it funny, but it's another reason to drink a lot of beer during the game.

All right, I'm being a bit harsh. Let's lessen the damage a bit. Hope you have plenty more solo cups because whenever you hear Faith say "Five by Five"... you must chug ONE solo cup. This is a popular saying by the fellow slayer and is defined as a good situation or positive outcome. Now to slow down the pace for you slow drinkers... every time you hear a character speak in "Slayer Slang" such as adding -ness or -age to any word... you must drink TWO big sips of beer. In addition, anytime a producer of the series appears as an extra, such as David Greenwalt or Jane Espenson... you must chug FIVE solo cups. Since these moments are extremely rare, it's required that you drink more.

This game is not limited to other Buffy-isams, if you can think of more than add them and enjoy! Also, I found this link to another Buffy drinking game. Don't worry though, I didn't look at it until after I've finished writing the rules for my own so you can enjoy both at equal value.

Fill your favorite stein and get ready for...

2008-04-23T15:39:00.000-07:00

THE GHOST HUNTERS DRINKING GAME!

This show was made for drinking games. If you're not hammered by the first commercial break, you're doing it wrong.

THE RULES: Take a drink for each of the following...

Special rules listed in parenthesis.

Someone asks, "Is anyone here that would like to communicate with us?"
Steve screams because he saw a spider.
"Lets go dark" (finish your drink)
Grant says, "What the fedge!?" (frig also acceptable)
Jason explains what EMF means.
Anyone explains anything in front of the TAPS backdrop
Donna starts to get antsy in a creepy room
Jason says, "Well you know what we did..."
"Dude" (2 extra sips for "Dude, run!")
"That's freaky/wild" (extra 2 if followed by "Dude")
Any mention of plumbing, roto-rooter, etc.
"No way!"
"You gotta be kidding me"
Anytime someone shakes hands
Brian says, "Dude I just saw a shadow." (extra if its his own)
Anytime evidence was missed thanks to technical difficulties
Whenever Brian wants to claim orbs as evidence of a haunting (bonus chug if its legit)
Jason says "Grant and I..."
Grant says "Jay and I..."
Steve makes fun of Tango (2 if Tango is wearing a tiara).
They freak out over a thermal hit, which upon further review, turns out to be a reflection.
Jason gets bored and goes fishing.
Any mention of debunking (chug it if Andy said it).
Jason says "it's getting late."
Jason hears a noise and goes into "attack mode."
Any occurrence of FIST POUNDING (finish your drink).

PENALTY:

If anyone misses a drink, they must drink double the amount (removal of one article of clothing optional)

Enjoy!

Buffy- the drinking game... cause apparently everyone drinks?

2008-04-23T15:02:00.000-07:00

Alright so you have everyone choose a character. Depending on the season that is being watched. (More then one person can be the same person)

Buffy

Willow

Xander

Giles

Anya
Spike

Dawn

Tara

Joyce

Angel

Cordelia

Evil Master (s)

Faith

Any villian (vampire, monster etc)

-Whenever the scene* opens or changes the characters in the scene get to fill the empty glasses.

-When you're character appears you must drink the glass in front of you (if filled).

-If your character appears with a weapon you can give any player two drinks.

*the scene changes when the location of the characters change.

The truth is WAY out there if you're drunk

2008-04-23T11:29:00.000-07:00

Settle down, children. It's time for...

The X-Files Drinking Game!

This game is best played with beer, wine, or mixed drinks. If you would like to substitute shots of hard liquor, feel free to use the metric of 4 sips = one shot.

- A sip each time Scully comes up with a mundane reason for why something bizarre has happened.

- A sip each time Mulder introduces a laughably absurd theory in response.

- An extra sip if it involves Aliens or UFOs.

- Two sips each time Mulder's theory comes true.

- A sip if Scully still won't accept Mulder's theory, even when there's a startling amount of evidence to prove otherwise.

- Two sips when she finally relents.

- A big gulp if some giant, splashy UFO thing happens and Scully just so happens to be the only person who doesn't see it.

- Take a sip each time Mulder has an excited, expository monologue that explains an aspect of pseudoscience to Scully.

- Two sips if it involves an overly complected metaphor.

- Three sips if Scully responds with a witty retort.

- A sip each time Mulder says the word "truth".

- A sip each time Scully says the word "belief".

- A sip each time Mulder eats sunflower seeds.

- A sip each time there is at least one bee.

- A sip each time the black oil makes someone's eyeballs go milky.

- A sip each time A.D. Skinner scrunches up his face in frustration and begrudgingly allows Mulder and Scully to do something unorthodox.

- Two sips if there's a shot if him later in the episode, alone in his office and looking troubled.

- A sip each time Scully gets kidnapped or abducted.

- An extra sip if she gets knocked out.

- Two extra sips if she's tied up.

- A sip if Mulder mentions his sister's abduction.

- Two sips if there's a flashback to that fateful night.

- Three sips if Mulder says "now I understand!" once he flashes back to reality.

- A big gulp every time the Fox censors replace the word "necrophiliac" with "death fetishist".

- A sip each time Mulder drops or loses his gun.

- A sip each time Cancer Man either lights up or extinguishes a cigarette.

- A sip each time Frohike hits on Scully

- A sip each time Byers references the Kennedy assassination

- A sip each time Langly claims to be the best in the world at something.

- An extra sip if he claims to be the world's best hacker.

- A third sip if Frohike tries to argue the point.

- A sip every time there's a hypnotherapist.

- Two extra sips if a main character is the one to undergo hypnotherapy.

- A sip anytime someone dies.

- Two sips if they're autopsied by Scully.

- Three sips if a main character dies.

- A big gulp if they're somehow resurrected/found not to be dead after all.

- A sip each time Mulder and/or Scully ends up in a darkened forest, basement, or warehouse.

- Two sips if they start calling each other's names in the darkness.

- Three sips if they also have giant flashlights that cast very precise, clear beams of light.

- A sip any time Mulder meets with Deep Throat or X

- Two sips if he tapes the X to his window in order to call the meeting.

- An extra sip if he tells Mulder to keep his nose out of places where it doesn't belong.

- A sip any time any character actually says the phrase "X-file"

- Two extra sips if it's Mulder, and he's referencing some obscure X-file from 50 years ago that he just so happened to have been looking at last week.

- A sip each time an episode ends without either Mulder or Scully feeling like they got the full picture of what actually happened.

- As big a drink as you want if the ending voice over is so good it actually gives you chills.

The Hex Drinking game

2008-04-23T09:30:00.001-07:00

This is a drinking game for beer, and not suggested to be used with Hard Alcohols.

The Hex Drinking Game:

Hex Specific Rule 1: Buffy Comparisons
If an individual can make a comparison between Buffy and Hex, everyone else has to drink. This can be as obvious as "lead character has blonde hair!" to some convoluted argument about the use of color...as long as its a: original and b: not completely stupid, everyone else has to drink. If it happens to be unoriginal (e.g. someone already pointed out the lead character has blonde hair), or just too stupid, the declarer has to drink.

British rule 2: What did he say?
Every time something is said that isn't commonly used here in America, first person to yell what it legitimately means forces everyone else to drink.

British Rule 3: Prime time TV.
Every time some thing occurs that simply wouldn't be allowed in America (*cough nipple cough*), everyone has to chug for the entire length its occurring. This also occurs for things that people say.

Hex Specific Rule 4: So the story line is...
This probably shouldn't be a stated rule...but anytime you get bored / forget the plot is actually supposed to go somewhere, you drink. Just felt it needed to be stated for this show...

Twilight Zone Drinking Game

2008-04-22T21:29:00.000-07:00

Here's the Twilight Zone Drinking Game:

Take a sip:

-every time someone gives an insane laugh

-every time space travel is involved.

-every time space travelers disembark from an alien world

   -2 sips if they're wearing space suits

   -3 sips if they actually wear helmets.

Take a big gulp:

-every time the episode's protagonist dies.

 - 2 gulps if it turns out they have been dead the whole episode

 - 3 gulps if they turn out to be in Hell.

-every time the host appears as a character.

-every time a robot appears.

-every time a woman screams enough to break your speakers.

-every time you get totally lost in the plot line.

-take 2 sips every time an immortal/ageless character is involved.

  -4 sips if it's a mytholigical/religious character such as satan or death

  -take 6 sips if they die.

-take a gulp every time someone is paranoid about aliens

  -take 2 gulps if the aliens are real

  -3 gulps if the suspicions of malicious aliens were correct

  -if the aliens DON'T win, finish your beer immediately

-take a drink if Nuclear War starts and destroys the world

  -take 2 if it already had at the beginning of the episode

  -if the world ISN'T destroyed chug your beer and empty it.

-take a gulp every time someone thinks the protagonist is insane.

  -take 2 gulps if he really is.

-take a gulp every time paranoia tears 2 or more people apart.

  -take 2 if they kill each other

  -Chug your beer if they DON'T

and last but not least, empty a six pack if the episode has a happy ending.

Lost: some sources

2008-04-16T05:10:00.000-07:00

I don't know if some of you have stumbled upon these already, but after Googling and searching and culling some of the less interesting sites I found, here is a selection that may prove useful.

By the way, this method of doing online "research" is acceptable, although not a replacement for the use of scholarly articles or reviews/articles from professional publications (such as American Cinematographer which often has articles on TV shows). But, for newer shows that have not built up a great deal of scholarly writing, finding fan-based writing may be of some use, provided it is intelligent, insightful and/or illuminating in some way.

A website called "The Spoon" has some character analyses worth looking at.

This guy fancies himself a a bit of a philosopher and writes an analysis of virtually every character in the show. I was not too terribly impressed with his insights but then I did not read all of his posts....probably worth a look, if not for useful quotes at least for study of viewer response/blog-based criticism.

This site contains a number of links to discussions of a death pool analysis which is kinda interesting if you are one of those people interested in real or fictional death pools.

This one will probably require some sorting of wheat from chaff but hey, THE online forum devoted to Lost must be of some interest.

Then there is Lostpedia, which includes among many other things a very useful breakdown of Jung, Vogler and Campbell's heroic myth archetype so check it out...

...and here is a blog post also discussing the heroic myth as it applies to John Locke...

Now this one is interesting: I am not sure how much writing there is on Lost in this blog (you can link to more from this post), but seeing as this writer predicted in 2005 that there would be a character named "Hume" on the show (given the other literary, scientific and philosophical namesakes), this one might be worth a look...

The reviews at Salon.com are always worth reading, though I prefer former Salon critic Joyce Millman's writing to Laura Miller's (Millman has become the Boston Phoenix's TV critic).

I have no idea if this is meant to be tongue in cheek or not, but I don't care. This blog actually provides scientific analysis of character activity in terms of many spiffy, colorful PIE CHARTS. Wow. Or should I say, Yum.

Here is an excerpt from the book Living Lost which looks interesting.

This writer borrows their initial plot summary description from Wikipedia, but then goes into some interesting commentary that seems quite thoughtful and fairly insightful, if a bit esoteric (but then some of us like that kinda thing).

And here is an observation: a blog post/essay/online article that claims to be an "in-depth analysis" in all likelihood, isn't. I tend to distrust people who say they are really good at stuff until such time as they prove it to me (this pertains most especially to musicians, writers, and, well, use your imagination), so, anyway, that's my two cents, be gently forewarned.

Pushing Daisies and Carinvale's Death-Defying Powers

2008-04-14T22:03:00.000-07:00

Pushing Daisies premiered this season to much critical acclaim and worry. It's the type of beautiful, story rich, and quirky show that is usually cancelled one week in. Luckily it found an audience rather quickly and has been picked up for next season. This show is full of many supernatural plot lines and trademarks we've seen in other shows viewed this semester, especially our most recent viewing, Carnivale. However, hopefully it will not repeat the frequent trend of an early cancellation.

Pushing Daisies centers on the story of a boy, Ned, who discovers at a very young age, that he has the ability to bring dead beings back to life. He also discovers that with this great power also comes consequences, if he touches the formerly

dead person (or animal, or fruit, etc) it will instantly die yet again. However, if this being is allowed to live for more than one minute another equal entity will die as a result. These two rules are exemplified when his mother is saved from an aneurism, but a neighbor passes a moment later. Unfortunately Ned learns a little to late about the "no re-touch" rule a little too late and his mother also passes after a goodnight kiss.

In HBO's Carnivale, one central character, Ben Hawkins, must handle the ability of granting returned life in a similar fashion to the Pushing Daisies' lead. He has the ability to bring others back to life, but he must accept that someone else has to die in order for this to happen. Unlike Ben, Ned has some control over his gift (maybe Ben just never learned the one- minute-touching/no re-touching rule). While Ned's decisions often lead to tension, they never cause any tangible strain on his relationships or prevent him from using his gift. That is until Chuck discovers the truth, that is. Chuck (the girl next door growing up) is Ned's childhood sweetheart brought back to life, and his allowing her to remain alive causes the death of an funeral home undertaker (granted he was stealing from dead people, so there's no remorse for his loss of life). Additionally, it was Chuck's father's death that allowed Ned's mother to return to life for a brief period of time. Here Ned and Ben's struggle to manage their abilities is most paralleled. Both have been granted an amazing power, that they are often called on to use, for better or worse.

In addition to the life bringing death comparison, both shows also deal with dualities. This is clearly evident in Carnivale where its two main characters, Ben and Justin, are pitted against each other in the opening monologue. One is the creature of darkness, the other of light. In Pushing Daisies, there is no such specific plot line, however a major theme is of pairings. Ned has two loves in his life, his true (but untouchable) love Chuck, and the woman in love with him, his coworker Olive. Additionally, characters introduced are often brothers and sisters, Chuck has two aunts that cared for her after her father's death and Chuck was searching for caring a pair of monkeys when she was murdered (the importance of this has yet to be explained).

While Carnivale takes a look at good and evil through the power to give some life and take it away from others, generally its more lighthearted on Pushing Daisies. For the most part, this is a love story about two star crossed lovers brought together by supernatural powers. And who could use a little of that in our Sci-fi world.

Tarot Cards & Carnivale

2008-04-14T18:16:00.000-07:00

Tarot cards have a rather extensive and complicated history. The first documented painted deck was created in Italy in the 15th century. They were first widely publicized by Alliette, a French occultist, shortly before the French revolution. Tarot cards became increasingly popular in 1910, thanks to the publication of the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot. In the 20th century a vast number of different types of Tarot decks were created. Tarot cards continue to be a popular mode of divination.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Tarot card readings: the deck is first shuffled by the subject and then laid out by the reader in a ‘spread’ (certain pattern). The reader then turns over each card and interprets its meaning based on the placement of the card in the spread, the position of the card (inverted or upright), and the card’s inherent symbolic associations.

(Visit this site for more general Tarot information)

Carnivale’s opening sequence is heavily imbued with Tarot imagery. It also is really quite stunning. The sequence won an Emmy for “Outstanding Main Title Design,” in 2004.

Wikipedia eloquently describes the opening credits:

“The opening title sequence itself begins with a deck of Tarot cards falling into the sand, while the camera moves in and enters one card into a separate world presenting layers of artwork and footage from iconic moments of the American Depression era; the camera then moves back out of a different card and repeats the procedure several times. The sequence ends with the camera shifting from the "Judgment" Tarot card to the "Moon" and the "Sun", identifying the Devil and God respectively, until the wind blows away all cards and the underlying sand to reveal the Carnivàle title artwork.”

HBO has a rather in-depth explanation of the title sequence on its site.

The opening sequence includes, in order of appearance, these Tarot cards: “The World,” “Ace of Swords,” “Death,” “King of Swords,” “Temperance,” “The Magician,” “The Tower,” “The Sun,” “The Moon,” and “The Judgment” card.

All of the cards, with the exception of the two “swords” cards are from the major arcana. Depending on your Tarot source, or what type of deck you use, Tarot cards can have slightly different interpretations. The HBO site gives a rather general (and Carnivale specific) interpretation of the cards used in the opening. Nonetheless, HBO’s interpretations (which are set apart in quotes) appear fairly accurate in their generality:

The World – stands for “Completion, Perfection, and Eternal Life.” It is the world as imagined by the show— a place where good and evil both exist and battle one another. A world where hopefully good will pervade over evil.

Ace of Swords - “Ardent love, Ardent hate, A vanquisher is born.” Extremes of love vs. hate or good vs. evil are ever thematically present. The vanquisher in this case is Ben Hawkins, perceived vanquisher of Brother Justin

Death- “Transition, Change, Death” The images shown along with this card in the opening credits include scenes with the KKK, Mussolini, and Stalin. Brother Joseph would also be a manifestation of this.

King of Swords – “Powerful commander, a wise counselor, a judge.” I would think Samson or “management” would be what this card most directly refers to.

Temperance – “moderation, balance, harmony” Perhaps the balance between good and evil? That one is a bit tricky.

The Magician – “originality, confidence, skill. Inverted: lack of will” This is said to represent Ben Hawkins as well. Because the card is inverted, he has “lack of will” or a certain amount of unease with the gift of healing that he possesses.

The Tower – “sudden change, disruption, downfall” This represents the conflicts that the characters go through in their fight against evil (and each other).

Judgment Card – “renewal, rebirth.” Almost the “who will win: good or evil?” card in its placement with The Moon and The Sun (to the left and to the right).

The Moon – “deception, disillusionment.” Direct link to the devil or evil, Brother Justin

The Sun – “success, joy” Direct link to God, as represented by Ben Hawkins.

Now, I’m by no means a Tarot card expert, but Sandra Thomson is and she wrote a brief synopsis of the Carnivale series in relation to Tarot cards in a post dated November 1, 2003 (the series hadn’t ended yet).

In my search for information on this, I also found a fun “Carnivale” Tarot card game.

Interesting Fact: Carnivale has its own limited edition Tarot card deck. Purchasers were severely disappointed when the expensive cards had very simplistic designs, not the beautiful imagery of the cards shown in the opening sequence.

Twin Bricks

2008-04-12T16:15:00.000-07:00

Twin Peaks in Lego. Fantastic.

But DAMN if she isn’t the most annoying character ever…

2008-04-11T14:40:00.000-07:00

Now I generally don’t go for the whole anime “thing,” but I couldn’t resist this one.

Based off the Kirosawa film “the seven samurai” the show is called “Samurai 7”… pretty straightforward. However, it takes the principle of the story and puts it in a crazy universe of giant mechanical bandits, flying warships, and traditional ideas of honor and duty.

The samurai themselves seem to possess superhuman strength and agility. They can jump hundreds of feet into the air and slice through giant airships. The universe itself is populated with many odd creatures and has a strange and intricate history.

Among some of the other characters are a family of water priestesses, who have a magic crystal that they use for divining. The crystal can be used most basically for finding water, but the water also helps them do other things. The crystal can tell the priestess if someone is a good or bad person, or if she is in love. In the later episodes, the crystal seems to take on its own role and plays a bigger part in the story. The only drawback to the priestess family is the younger sister Komachi. Her English voice is the most irritating voice I’ve ever heard, and the character itself is just a plain annoying little girl who never shuts up. I’ve managed to get past this though, except that she has her own summary section at the end of every episode where she sums up whatever happened through her own childish idiotic point of view.

If you can get past this issue though, the show is straight pimpin, HELLA nasty. The samurai own up on all manner of things, and all prove their mettle.

Another thing I find interesting about the show, was what we were discussing in relation to Carnivale about the heroes journey. Each samurai has their own version of a journey that they go through. Katsushiro has arguably the most interesting arc, because he starts out as the naïve young samurai and matures when he comes in contact with battle. But Kambei Shimada has a great heroes journey as well, since even though he’s an all around badass, he is at first reluctant to join the crew. Kikuchiyo on the other hand, is overeager to joint the group, and Kambei allows him to follow them, but doesn’t accept him as part of the crew until he discovers Kikuchiyo’s hidden motives. Even the farmer Rikichi has somewhat of a hero’s journey as he proves himself more and more useful.

It’s a great show, and even if you don’t like anime, it’s just a good story. It’s also only about 25 episodes long, so it’s a very self-contained series, something that I find distinctly Japanese. Whereas in America if something is successful, they see how long they can draw it out and still make money, with this show it has a distinct beginning and ending, and when it’s over, it’s over.

Here’s some links, just the imdb page and wikipedia, in case you want to check it out.

Night of the Living... aww hell with it...

2008-04-10T19:20:00.000-07:00

Of course, that should have been, "Night of the Living Dummy," going back to the good old days of Goosebumps. Yes, I know Goosebumps were books, but it did make it to television for 4 whole seasons between 1995-98. I think it warrants a little discussion, especially considering a great deal of inspiration for R.L. Stine's spooky tales came straight from from past television shows, specifically from my favorite and yours, The Twilight Zone.

Some episodes of Goosebumps are dead ringers for the sci-fi classics from days of yore. Night of the Living Dummy (link goes to the second version) is one of them, paying homage (or ripping off, whichever you prefer) to Night of the Living Dead. However the story itself gains some of its content from another source... an episode the the Twilight Zone entitled "The Dummy." In it, a ventriloquist dummy seems to take over the life of his puppeteer, and they end up doing a little switcheroo, in which the puppet starts working the other man's strings. The Goosebumps version plays right off the idea presented in the Twilight Zone, the owner of the puppet gets the blame for all the misdoings of the dummy.

Another Goosebumps episode in particular is one called "Click" Here, a boy figures out that a remote control he just bought controls more than just the tv and stereo, he can stop, pause, and rewind everything around him. The Twilight Zone version, "A Kind of Stopwatch," a man who gets a special pocketwatch that's able to stop time, starts abusing his gift for all sorts of debauchery, breaks the watch, and is stuck in a world where time is completely stopped, the same fate as the boy in "Click." (Which also happens to be the title of a rather poor Adam Sandler movie, just to mention)

While some may say this is kind of a rip off of these classics, (which in a way, it is) it's also bringing these stories that entertained many a viewer in the 60's, to the kids of the 90's. It got kids to read, and when on TV, brought many fond memories of rushing home from school to a darkened basement with a few good friends and getting ready to be scared. And in my own case, it actually sparked my interest in the Twilight Zone, as I really wanted to know where these stories came from.

(More Goosebumps, just for fun!)

Straight Thuggin It

2008-04-10T18:15:00.001-07:00

Homeboys in Outer Space. Some of you may be wondering what I'm talking about, others may recognize it as the name for the extremely campy sci-fi spoof on the now defunct UPN. The show starred Flex Alexander and Darryl M. Bell (probably better known as Ron from A Different World) as a pair of odd couple freelancers who trolled several galaxy's looking for odd jobs. The duo flew around in an old beat up car with wings attached to it that they affectionately dubbed the Space Hoopty. The "hoopty" was piloted by an on board computer by the name of Loquatia that had a wild attraction for Darryl's character Morris and a great disdain for Flex's character Tyberius Walker. Loquatia's name comes from the latin word lo-qua-cious, meaning talkative or full of trivial conversation - think of her as the Dee (of What's Happening) of outer space. In the short span of the shows existence it had several notable guest stars including: Casey Kasem, Gary Coleman, George Takei, Little Richard and Tempestt Bledsoe. However, due to horrible, horrible ratings and a backlash from members of the NAACP the show was canceled after only six episodes... Now don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of this show, it relied on heavy racial stereotypes that could work when the premise is actually funny. This show was one of those car crashes that you can see coming a mile away yet somehow those onboard are completely oblivious to it. With that said, here's a clip of the opening theme. Enjoy!

Big Sci-Fi with a Little Budget

2008-04-10T15:59:00.000-07:00

Since we haven’t had the time to really go into that great realm that is science fiction, I thought I would bring up a series near and dear to my heart – which very few people around here have heard of. Red Dwarf ran for 8 wonderful seasons from 1988 to 1999 – an excellent run for a sci-fi comedy. Now what makes Red Dwarf different from all others of its kind is that it (for seasons I - VI) was filmed with a live studio audience. That’s right; a show that takes place on a mining ship that is 6 miles long is shot with a live audience.

For those who aren’t familiar to the series (which I imagine is nearly everyone – it was a British show that started running when we were babies), Red Dwarf follows the misadventures of David Lister, the last living human on the ship, Arnold Rimmer, a hologram, the Cat, an evolved form of an ordinary housecat, Kryten, an android, and Holly, a computer program who occasionally switches gender. Now, something that really adds to the overall humor of the program is how small the show’s budget was and what they did to work around it. For example, the only thing that distinguishes the holographic people from the living ones is an H on their foreheads. And even though they’re on a huge ship, we only ever see a few rooms. In order to not offend people, Red Dwarf developed a rather catchy language of swear words – all based on the word ‘smeg’.

Despite it all, Red Dwarf has had more than its share of notoriety. An episode from 1994, entitled “Gunmen of the Apocalypse” won an International Emmy Award. The series has also won a British Science Fiction Award and the Royal Television Society Award for Special Effects. Surprizingly, in 2007, the show was voted "Best Sci-Fi Show of All Time" by the readers of Radio Times magazine - despite the fact that there hadn't been new episodes since 1999.

Now, it might seem odd to suggest that a series that ran for 8 seasons ended before it’s time, but Red Dwarf seems to have done just that. The final episode of season VIII does not have a definitive conclusion. Keeping in mind that there were 2 years between the release of seasons VI and VII, it could be that they are just waiting for the right moment to add more to this epic series. Over the years, there have also been many attempts to make a Red Dwarf movie…maybe someday they’ll be able make it reality. Anyway, Happy 20th Anniversary Red Dwarf!!!!

For more information, click here

In the not-too-distant future...

2008-04-10T05:00:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you put a man and some robots on a satellite and force them to watch awful movies?

Only one of the greatest shows of all time, Mystery Science Theater 3000.

First airing on a Twin Cities UHF station in 1988, the show went through multiple channel and schedule changes, but still kept the original idea and spirit. In the beginning, a research facility janitor named Joel Robinson (played by series creator Joel Hodgson) is sent into space by his bosses. He is forced to watch terrible movies, and his reactions are studied. His only companions on the satellite are the robots he himself built. Two of them, Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo, join him in the theater to joke about the films. Hodgson eventually left the series in its fifth season, and the head writer, Mike Nelson, was brought in as the new host/victim. The evil mad scientists that ran the game were replaced by one of their mothers, along with an omniscient alien with his brain in a pan and a primate (literally) professor.

Though the outer space setting would definitely seem to firmly cement the show in the “science fiction” column, the connections often were somewhat tenuous. As the theme song says, “if you’re wondering how he eats and breathes, and other science facts, just repeat to yourself 'it’s just a show, I should really just relax'.” The characters constantly flouted the laws of science and physics, doing things like taking sharp left turns in space and venturing outside the satellite without any sort of protection from the vacuum of space. However, many of the movies they were forced to watch had science fiction, fantasy, or horror themes. (A rule from which they often deviated, even in the years on the SciFi channel, who were far more strict about it than Comedy Central had been.)

Part of what makes the show so significant to us is its postmodernist nature. The structure was mostly its own, but the jokes during the movies were PACKED with references. They range from the lowbrow (dish soap commercials and Hagar the Horrible) to the erudite (Mark Rothko and Archduke Ferdinand). It’s difficult to catch everything they say the first time. This makes the show ripe for rewatching multiple times. You always catch something you missed before. Attempts have been made to compile a sort of reference for the sources of all of the quotes, but these aren’t always very thorough.

MST3K was a bizarre concept that somehow caught on. It starred nobody famous or glamorous, had production values lower than some of the films they watched, and every episode is two hours long. However, the intelligence that clearly existed in the crew was able to show through in its own unique way. Unfortunately it ended in 1999, with reruns continuing only for a couple years more. However, its spirit lives on.

For more information, there are many comprehensive website dedicated to the show.
MST3K.booyaka.com
Satellite News
There are also many episodes available on DVD (or on YouTube).

They Be Huntin' Vampires!

2008-04-09T22:15:00.000-07:00

As I was scouring the Internet after Buffy week, I came across an interesting article from The Independent, which is a newspaper from the United Kingdom. The article is entitled, “The Real Vampire Slayers”. Alright, are you interested? Here’s a link:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/europe/the-real-vampire-slayers-397874.html

For those of you who have decided not to actually read the article, let me summarize it now. The article talks about the filming of a documentary for the discovery channel, called “Real Vampires”. I had never heard of it before, so maybe you haven’t either. An archeologist, Dr. Timothy Taylor, who studies visceral human behavior (such as cannibalism, or human sacrifice – hey, remember that?), had been studying the culture in the Romanian town of Transylvania (for those who don’t know, yes, it really exists) for several years. He had been drawn there, as many people often are, by the stories of Count Dracula. As many often do, when they travel to this part of the world, they want to learn about the REAL Count Dracula, Vladislav the Impaler. No, folks, that’s not just a nickname, it was also a hobby of his. If you want to learn more Vladislav, here’s a link to a wikipedia article on him.

Getting back to the article, Taylor decided to venture to Transylvania with his partner, Kathryn Denning, and a film crew. They wanted to study not only Vladislav, but also the vampire beliefs that are ingrained in the culture there. You see, the vampire slaying came out a period when there was sickness in the world (there was an outbreak of rabies at the time), and a great fear of dying. Somehow this fear of dying turned into a fear of those who seemed to not die. At the time, not much was understood about death, particularly of corpses. Certainly strange things can occur in a dead body that has not been properly cared for (it can even explode).

They are very ritualistic in the caring for the dead. They may present gifts of food for the dead for up to seven years after a death. If someone is determined to have become a strigoi, which is basically like a demon (or vampire), then there is also a ritual for that as well. The chest of the body must be opened in a specific way, and the heart cut out. The heart is then taken outside of town and burned. The ashes from this are then ground up into a powder and put into water. The victim who is being haunted by the strigoi must then drink this mixture. Ew.

The strigoi are the real world equivalent of vampires. They don’t actually suck blood, but are believed to feast on the heart (in other words, the soul) of the victim. Since this culture has such a strong believe that blood is like the energy or power of the soul, it is not hard to see how the legend turned into actual blood sucking.

The article reminded me about the stories of real zombies several years ago. Apparently the real world equivalent comes from a Voodoo practice. A Voodoo witch would use a substance from a puffer fish, which would paralyze the victim to the point that they appear dead. As is often found in third world areas, bodies are usually buried very quickly, as there isn’t the kind of preservation available, like we have in the U.S. Soon after the body was buried, the witch would retrieve the body and wait for it to come to life. There is the thought that sometimes the oxygen deprivation may have caused brain damage. However, most who have studied the supposed (yet, mostly unfounded) practice think that it was more likely that the when the victim woke up, the witch would brainwash them into slavery. You can check out more information for yourself here.

X: Japan- Apocalypse Style.

2008-04-09T22:10:00.000-07:00

Well, since we've been talking so much about the end of the world, I figured I'd talk about how our neighbors to the east have handled the Apocalypse in their respective media. Probably the best example of Japan's attempt to handle the end of the world is the series Ekkusu, which translates simply to X.

X is a manga and Anime series created by Clamp, a creative team made up of four japanese women (a rarity in the manga business). X is Clamp's attempt to push into apocalyptic fiction, something vastly different than their previous titles (they were previously known for creating shoujo manga, which literally translates to manga aimed at young girls). It combines elements from various end of the world scenarios, both secular and religious, with its own mythos.

The story takes place in 1999, just before the Millennium. Many different individuals with superhuman abilities gather in Tokyo (which is to be the battleground for the End of the World) and choose sides. The series follows the anti-hero Kamui Shirō, a young man returning to Japan for the first time in seven years in order to fulfill his mother's dying wish and protect those dear to him. The two sides of the war, calling themselves the Dragons of Earth and the Dragons of Heaven, are vying for Kamui's strength, as each side believes him to be the one who holds the key to the future of fate of the world. X follows Kamui on his own heroic journey, where the emphasis of the story is placed on his choices and how they affect the world around him, all while he attempts to reconcile his possible roles as either savior or destroyer of the world.

One of the most interesting aspects of the story is the physical manifestation of ideological concepts (that are never overtly stated) in the Dragons of Heaven and the Dragons of Earth. The Dragons of Earth represent the belief that conflicts between man and nature cannot be resolved peaceably, and that humans are on an irreversible path that will ultimately lead to the murder of the planet itself unless they are stopped. As such, their mission is to destroy the earth in order to allow it to rejuvenate itself. Conversely, The Dragons of Heaven represent the belief that conflicts between man and nature can and must be resolved peaceably, and that humanity is no less precious than the Earth itself.

X ran as a serialized manga in the publication Monthly Asuka from 1992 until 2003 when the creators put the story on hiatus without developing an official end to the series. It was animated into a feature film in 1996 with relative success in Japan, and five years later it was made into the much more successful TV series which ran for 24 episodes (a standard running time for a two-season anime) and was much more successful at exploring the original mythos and characters' back stories into the narrative, albeit in a much more violent manner.

If you're interested, you can find X on the shelves at pretty much any video store with an Anime section (Pioneer Entertainment bought the American distribution rights and released the series with both English and the original Japanese voices). I highly recommend it if you're looking for a bit of action.

The Many Lives of Sabrina

2008-04-09T15:52:00.001-07:00

In 1962, a character named Sabrina the Teenage Witch appeared in the comic book Archie’s Mad House. Readers liked the character, and so she appeared in several Archie Comics throughout the '60s until the publishers decided to give her her own comic book in 1971. Sabrina the Teenage Witch was published from 1971-1983, running for 77 issues. The principal characters from the comic book that later appear in the television series of the same name are Sabrina Spellman, her aunts Hilda and Zelda (who are also witches), the Spellmans’ sarcastic talking cat Salem (who used to be a warlock), and Sabrina’s mortal boyfriend Harvey, who is unaware that Sabrina is a witch.

In 1996, Hallmark Entertainment produced a TV movie for Showtime based on the Sabrina comic, starring Melissa Joan Hart, who had gained popularity from her days as Clarissa on Nickeldeon’s hit series “Clarissa Explains it All”. In the movie, Sabrina’s parents send her to live with her two eccentric aunts. On her sixteenth birthday, Sabrina finds out she is a witch. With a point of her finger, she can now change her clothes and her test scores, but as her Aunt Zelda tells her, witches can't interfere with the human heart, because "love is too precious for anyone to tamper with." The movie was a success, and ABC greenlit a series based on it. Despite differences in characters and casting, the TV movie served as the unofficial pilot. "Sabrina" ran from 1996-2003 on ABC and was part of the popular TGIF lineup along with “Boy Meets World”.

The show was clearly influenced by supernatural sitcoms "Bewitched" and "I Dream of Jeannie", as well as the 1980s sitcom "Out of This World", about a teenage girl who is half-alien. Like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" (which has a very similar title but came first, mind you) was based on a bad movie of the same name and featured a teenage girl with supernatural abilities who was otherwise a normal teen. However, "Sabrina" followed more of a traditional sitcom format than "Buffy" (and Buffy was probably more of a badass). Sabrina deals with being a teenager while learning more about her powers and the secrets of her family. When Sabrina's parents got divorced, right before her sixteenth birthday, they sent her to live with her witch aunts, who they knew would take good care of her and teach her about her powers. Sabrina's father is a warlock, but her mother is a mortal. Now that Sabrina is a witch, she will turn her mortal mother into a ball of wax if she looks at her.

The show takes place in the fictional town of Westbridge, located near Boston, MA. This creative choice as well as the choice to name the Spellmans' warlock cat "Salem" are obvious references to the Salem witch trials that took place in these areas of Massachusetts in the 1600s. Sabrina often takes trips to the “Other Realm,” another dimension where witches and other supernatural creatures live. When in the Other Realm, Sabrina often deals with Drell, the head of the Witches’ Council, played by Penn of the comedic illusionist duo Penn & Teller. Barbara Eden of “I Dream of Jeannie” also shows up to play Sabrina’s Great Aunt Irma in several episodes.

In true postmodern fashion, Melissa Joan Hart showed up once in a while playing the character of Sabrina Spellman in other ABC shows in the TGIF lineup, including the television adaptation of “Clueless,” “Boy Meets World,” and the very short-lived series “Teen Angel” and “You Wish”. "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" also spun off two more TV movies – “Sabrina Goes to Rome” and “Sabrina Down Under”. After Sabrina graduated high school, we watched her take her wacky witchy antics on to college. This was when I stopped watching, because the cast completely changed (Punky Brewster and Amber from "Clueless"?!) and it just wasn't the same. The franchise later returned to its animated roots with a prequel, “Sabrina: The Animated Series,” with the younger Sabrina voiced by Hart’s younger sister and Hart voicing the two aunts. Talk about milking a franchise for all it's worth.

Regardless, this was a show that was very important to my preteen years. I'll never forget the episode when Sabrina didn't have a date to the dance, and her aunts helped her make a date out of "man dough" (and it was Brian Austen Green from 90210. Sooo '90s.)

Lost Spoilers of Season 4.

2008-04-09T13:17:00.000-07:00

To many this topic is too tiresome but I just can't stop thinking about it and what might happen in the rest of the season. This season has been the best by far. The major episodes when finding out who will be the ultimate survivors or why they are even being called the oceanic 6 were the best ones. We know Hurley, Kate, Jack, Sun, Sayid are definite survivors because we have seen their flash forward. As for the last survivor we know Michael and Walt make it off the island but they are undercover and we really don't even know what is going on with them. So, I surmise they are not included in the “Oceanic 6”, because then it would be 7. We know Michael is suicidal but the Island has control over him still and won't allow him to kill himself- yet. Desmond's episode was the best by far. It was so well done with the jumping from one state of mind to another. Whether or not the Island was controlling this, I am not sure. The time change continuum- what is that all about? Will Desmond survive to see Penny again? Faraday-the scientist- writes "If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant." That’s pretty intense, it’s like saying he will be eaten by the time continuum also, but apparently it doesn’t affect everyone. Sayid made it out alive.

Alright, so Desmond is saved- for now- and Ben is saved. Ben isn’t one of the Oceanic 6, like Desmond, but he survives it all. It makes me wonder how a man can be so hated by everyone yet never be killed… He must have some power that controls this island and its happenings- though no powers that can make someone love him (Juliet in mind). Anyways, we see him in Sayid’s episode where Sayid is actually working for Ben… that was a shocker WHYY would Sayid ever work for that lying bastard. It really makes no sense unless Ben has something Sayid needs/loves/wants… so maybe Ben is using him. It just shocks me.

The 6th person hasn’t been mentioned, that I am aware of. It can be argued that Aaron is the final survivor, I don’t buy it. Aaron wasn’t on the roster when the plane crash- therefore, could he actually be the final survivor when he didn’t exist when the plane took off? I think that could be swung either way. My guess is that he isn’t. Kate’s episode was predictable, probably one of the more boring of the new season so far (The Other Woman being the worst). The moment we find out she has a kid in the future I knew it was Aaron, it wasn’t hard to pick up on at all, what is more weird about that than anything is Jack’s reaction to her raising Aaron. Does Jack find out he is related to Aaron, and doesn’t want anything to do with him? What exactly is his problem with Aaron? We saw in an earlier season of Lost that Jack and Claire are related by the father Shepard. He appears all over the island at random times, so there is something very fishy going on with this man/spirit. We have seen him this season in episode one (if you freeze frame) when Hurley sees the house of Jacob… there is a flash of Shepard. It really just blows my mind.

As for people who they can now kill off in the show, well we have Jin and Claire. Do we think they die of something horrible? We will find out. In the Sun/Jin episode we see Sun’s flash forward and Jin’s flashback (probably). There could always be a crazy time warp continuum thing going on there. Or, Jin could be undercover/ just not dead. JJ isn’t one to just let a character go- they generally find their way back into the script. Since Kate has Aaron- what happens to Claire, she probably dies. Any number of things could happen; I am pretty excited to see where that leads.

Up next I would love too see Ben’s story, I bet everyone is waiting for it, likewise with Locke. I know people aren’t fond of Locke this season however, we don’t really know why he is being all aggressive towards friends and then easy going with Ben. How does that make any sense? I think everyone needs to give him another chance, but we will really find out what’s going on when we get his point of the story, which I am longing for. Maybe he isn’t going crazy- how do we know. Now, I kind of cheated because I was reading the Lost Magazine at Borders the other day and there was an interview with a staff writer. Spoiler- so they are going to bring back Richard aka Bens lackey or whoever he was. He is the guy that hadn’t aged in 30 years, he was one of the originals on the island or as they called themselves the “hostiles”, during the Dharma times. I love his character, I think we can learn a lot, and I want to know more about them.

This show just keeps me guessing after every moment engaged with it. It’s really obsessive but I just really want to know more- they better wrap it nicely at the end with a bow and cake. I don’t want to be left outside in the dark, alone- with my teddy bear and no food. If that made any sense…

Ouroboros

2008-04-08T17:07:00.000-07:00

While watching Millenium, we talked about the Ouroboros, as depicted to the right. It is a serpent devouring its own tail, and symbolizes multiple things, such as death, but also infinity. I personally knew a few ideas that presented the Ouroboros in other names, and decided to do some research to see where it else comes from.

The Ouroboros has shown up in many religions of cultures, from all over the world. Alongside being a serpent eating its own tail, frequently the story also includes it from being of the sea, or relating to the sea in some fashion. The story also has a lot to do with the combination of death and rebirth, as one may assume from the picture.

One of the earliest stories of this is Tiamat, the Goddess of the Salt Water, which also represents chaos. She's in the Babylonian creation myth, in which before the sky and the earth, there was only the ocean, Tiamat. Tiamat begot all the other gods, and thus was at the head of the chain (for those interested in Matriarchy, Goddess' like Tiamat and Gaia show women may have once been in control of the world). Paranoia broke out among the younger gods, and a bunch of murders likeable to a war occurred. Tiamat was displeased by this, and decided to drown the world (Great Flood anyone?), but Marduk cut Tiamat in two. Her separation became the heavens and the earth, and from her death all life came.

The one I know best is Jormugandr, form Norse mythology. Jormugandr is one of Loki's three children (four if you count Sleipnir), and has a large presence during Ragnarok. Jormugandr is described as a serpent so massive that it lives at the bottom of the ocean where the world is largest and goes across all of it to the point where its biting its own tail. As such, Jormugandr is known as the Midgard Serpent (Midgard = Norse World, so aka The World Serpent). When Ragnarok does finally come, Jormugandr will rise from the sea and poison the seas and skies. Thor will battle Jormugandr, and kills him by separating Jormugandr's upper jaw from his lower jaw to the point that it rips Jormugandr in two (*cough TIAMAT cough*. Unfortunately, in Ragnarok basically every God dies...and in the fight Thor is poisoned, and the stress of tearing Jormugandr asunder lets Thor only take a few steps forward. But, the tale of Ragnarok continues in that a few key Gods survive, and bring out a better world for us all. There are a few other Norse tales that also have large serpents biting their own tails.

While on the concept of Apocalyptic events...lets look at the Apocalypse. Leviathan is the sea serpent, and one of the enemies of man when the end comes. The word Leviathan means "Coiled," and being a Sea-serpent you get an image of a serpent biting its own tail. Some pictures of Leviathan depict him as such. I am actually much less aware of Leviathan's presence in the Apocalypse other than that seas will rise and help drown us out.

Well...so far it looks like Ouroboros is evil. Quetzalcoatl is the opposite, being one of the 4 major Aztec gods. Quetzalcoatl name symbolizes a flying serpent, and is the god of the sky. While not the god of earthly water, Rain (and as such floods) would fall under his domain and control. Quetzalcoatl's story is a little different, in that he helped created the world, and then he departed on a boat of snakes into the ocean (which if we know our American history, Spanish come back and are mistaken for their long lost God). Quetzalcoatl has been liked to Vishnu of Hinduism, who has also been described as Flying Serpent, and seen with the Ouroboros.

There's a bunch more too. Such as Hinduism having a serpent that circles the worlds ocean and helps keep the world at balance. A good amount of various African and Asian mythologies also have presented the concept of the Ouroboros in various forms.

Dead Like Who?

2008-04-08T16:14:00.000-07:00

Ok. For those of you who haven't seen the prematurely canceled Bryan Fuller created (2003-2004) Showtime television show, Dead Like Me, just imagine Six Feet Under but the plot doesn't unfold around people who live and work in a funeral home, but instead centers around a group of people who are grim reaper's. Sound confusing? It's quite simple really. The main character and narrator, George (a wonderfully sarcastic young women) died at the tender age of eighteen, by of all things, a flying toilet seat that fell out of the sky from space. Sound bad enough? It gets worse. Upon realizing that she was dead and after getting over her frustration, she quickly learns that she was kept on this planet to fulfill the duties of a grim reaper. Their duties are simple, remove the souls of the living shortly before their death and escort them to the "afterlife."

Almost like Buffy, George has a "watcher" figure named Rube who she meets daily at the local cafe to receive her daily reaping assignments, which includes the first initial of the name (and last name) of the soon to be deceased along with the time and location of his/her death. On top of all this, George and her fellow reapers still have to worry about having a normal job (George is a secretary at a typically annoying office appropriately named "Happy Time Temp Services") all a while making sure that the rent is paid on time every month. Also, although the reapers are still "alive" and people can see them, they are not physically the same people that their family/friends knew. Their appearances are distorted and they look nothing like they did in their previous life.

Throughout her short journey on television, George goes through many personal battles that she must face while accepting her death and new job as "watcher among the dead" alongside those who have lived a longer life than she did and have also accepted their grimly faith. For example, in the first season episode titled "Curious George", George must accept the fact that she might never see her family again. However, it may not be so easy for an eighteen year old to accept on face value. Instead, she returns to her childhood home and although her family doesn't recognize her, she still wants to be part of their lives. Quickly learning that it may not be as easy as she thought, George learns the important lesson of the dead hanging around their past, which goes against all the rules of the reaper guidelines.

I could go into further details about why I love the show, but instead I will explain the reason why I chose to write my blog post on Dead Like Me. Besides its obvious connections to the supernatural, D.L.M is another example of one of those brilliant shows that got canceled way before their time. Just like Arrested Development, Wonderfalls (also developed by Bryan Fuller), and Freaks and Geeks just to name a few. D.L.M is a precious gem among recent crappy television and without the repeats on the SCIFI Channel, I might have never discovered/fell in love with its brilliant character development and dark/twisted story-lines.

It's been recently announced that a direct-to-DVD movie will be released soon, which is set two years following where the television show left off. So unlike some of the other shows mentioned above (Arrested Development will hopefully be made into a movie, YAY!), Dead Like Me will have some closure for the fans and I can't wait to watch more of the reaper's crazy adventures! Ok, now I'm off to watch more television, in the mean time... tell me what you like about the show or other shows that were canceled too early that you thought didn't get their fair run.

More info on Dead Like Me.

Two-faced baby worshipped as goddess

2008-04-08T10:17:00.000-07:00

How's this for a sign of the end times?

Baby born in India has two faces.

Carnivale Bibliography anyone?

2008-04-08T10:01:00.000-07:00

For those of you contemplating writing your second essay on Carnivale, I have a bibliography of articles and such that may prove helpful (there is not a whole lot of academic research material available on the show specifically). Email me if you would like a copy and I can arrange to leave a copy for you in my mailbox, or leave a few of them outside my office.

Remember, your abstract is due on Thursday! Please bring a copy of it to class. Email me with any questions.

Your third blog post is due Thursday as well, although for those of you who have not done it yet, you may have until Friday...one extra day.

2008-04-07T16:41:00.003-07:00

That black and white image at the top of my last post wasn't supposed to be there.

That's Howard Hughes standing atop the Spruce Goose.

It was supposed to be this.

Lost in Space, Old Versus New

2008-04-07T16:19:00.000-07:00

In the late nineties, early oughts, we as Americans were subjected to what seemed like an unremitting barrage of terrible sci-fi(The Thirteenth Floor, Batman and Rpbin, and The Avengers) and based on television (Charlie's Angels, 'nuff said) films, but I think it can be argued that by far the worst film of this entire period was Lost in Space, a film that was based on a 60s television show that mercilessly sucked on all eight cylinders. It was painful. It was unwatchable. It was the movie that finally beat Titanic for the top spot on the weekend chart. I will always defend Titanic, even though I can admit its flaws, but seriously, this is the alternative? Lost in Space?

For those of you who might happen to be one of God's favorite's who have not seen the film, let me explain it to you. In the future, a family gets lost in space. That's about it, but to complicate things, they go through time as well as space, and Gary Oldman is with them. Naturally, the hero is Matt LeBlanc, who spends his time shooting at different things he doesn't understand/disagrees with, and has this metal mask that makes it look like the movie is going to be cool for a second, but of course isn't. They even pick up this big-eyed space pet. Sweet Jesus.

But the real accomplishment (in honor of the Pulitzers, which were announced today) is that they were able to make something worse than the original television show. The plot was essentially the same, save that Gary Oldman's character was in fact a mincing pedophile who never had anything better to do on this desolate planet than hang out with Bill Mumy. There was really only one set, which was pretty lousy, and they never get off the planet.

What's the lesson here, though? That when utter crap takes itself seriously and we don't get to see Dr. Zachary Smith preening about and making weird insults at a big robot, the ability to watch it at all goes way down.

To see Jonathan Harris pretend he didn't make the world a worse place, look here.

Everybody hates John Locke.

2008-04-02T22:10:00.000-07:00

... no not THAT John Locke...

So I’m in a unique position writing this post because as everyone knows, I have not seen any of the episodes from the new season of “Lost”. I absolutely despise watching shows on television, being forced to sit through commercials and then have to wait a week (at least) to find out what happens. As such, I have seen all the episodes up until this point, but I have watched them on DVD. That being said, I am in a unique position, because I don’t know (nor do I wish to know) what is happening currently on the show.

But getting back on track, from what I gather listening to everyone I know who watches, everybody hates John Locke… everyone but me that is.

I constantly have arguments defending Locke, and while I understand why people hate him, I will qualify my defense of him with the statement that I’m not defending the character, his actions or motivations, I am defending the structure of the character, as a character.

Few people can deny the allure of the villain, and while there are many different types of villains, John Locke is one of the most entertaining types of villains. He is ambiguous, but all knowing. He’s not a mindless brute like a zombie or an “I know what you did last summer” type. He is calculated and mysterious. Just the fact that we had to wait until the third season to find out what the hell happened to his legs meant that we were constantly in a state of wonder, and constantly questioning him. Was it something huge like a train wreck, or perhaps he was paralyzed saving a bunch of drowning orphans from a great white shark. Maybe he was paralyzed drowning a bunch of orphans in a bathtub, or, likelier still, maybe his injury had nothing to do with drowning orphans at all! Like him or not, one couldn’t help but wonder what happened to him.

We also can’t help but wonder generally what his deal is. A great example of his mystery is early on, when he’s walking to the hatch (remember that thing?) with boon (remember that guy?) and he says that it’s going to rain, and then it starts raining immediately. He may be a prick, but it’s hard to deny the fact that he’s in tune with the island somehow.

Benjamin Linus is another great example of a villain in this same vein, and when the two of them get together its villain-tastic.

Admittedly, Locke comes unraveled in the later episodes, but early Locke is a lot of fun to watch. The villains are always the most fun part to watch, even when we look at simple superheroes, the heroes are always defined by their villains, Batman has Joker, Mr. Freeze, Two Face, etc. Spiderman has all of his lame villains, and Superman is just a stupid flying jerk… but I think I’m getting off topic here. Everyone loves villains, just look at this crazy guy’s page about villains, I even found an instructional page on how to become a villain .

John Locke is a great villain because you’re never really sure that he IS a villain, and ambiguous villains are the best. I think it was in the movie “Unbreakable” where Samuel Jackson’s character is talking about two different types of villains, and he says that you always have to look at the eyes, for the most dangerous types, you can see it in the eyes.

You might have to make a metaphorical deal with the devil... and by devil I mean Robot Devil, and by metaphorical I mean get your coat.

2008-04-02T21:46:00.000-07:00

So we haven’t really talked about animated shows.

Nor have we talked about one of the finest animated shows ever created… I speak of course of “Futurama”

Amidst the science fiction genre are all manner of supernatural beings and situations. Aliens and robots are standard characters, and we can visit all different kinds of planets and situations that would not normally be possible. The beauty of "Futurama" though, is that all these things are done in a very intelligent way. Listening to the audio commentaries on the DVD, one can see just how much (sometimes unnecessarily complicated) thought goes into a lot of simple decisions. In a first season episode where the characters are on the moon, the animators and directors had long conversations about how to properly depict the moon, what side would be lit, what part of planet earth you would be able to see from the moon, and how the leftover lunar lander would be depicted.

In a later episode involving time travel, the writers and directors deliberately chose situations and events that would be rare, appropriate for the show, and SOMEWHAT plausible for the situation. They made the directorial choice to have time travel be something that could happen, but not happen so much that it could be done whenever the characters wanted.

In addition to the various supernatural characters and events on the show, “Futurama” does what any decent science fiction show does, and it does it very well at that. It comments on present day society. An entire show is dedicated to global warming, for example. Feminism, various prejudices, organized religion, and even issues regarding Native Americans are all fodder for the science fiction institution. Science fiction shows can get away with a lot of things that shows set in the present day cannot. The robot character Bender drinks and smokes cigars and is generally a self centered mischievous troublemaker, but he is a robot, so it’s ok.

“Futurama,” like most shows that were cancelled too early, has a very dedicated fan base that picks apart every episode, discovering all the nerdy in jokes, and techno-speak. There are many of these fan sites, but I stumbled across this one in case anyone was interested.

All in all, “Futurama” was a great show with compelling characters that supported its wonderfully fun vision of the future.

Finally, all I have to say is "I apologize.... for nothing!!"

Postmodernity in TV's "Buffy"

2008-03-29T08:34:00.000-07:00

The American Heritage Dictionary defines the word 'postmodern' as "Of or relating to art, architecture, or literature that reacts against earlier modernist principles, as by reintroducing traditional or classical elements of style or by carrying modernist styles or practices to extremes." We can find examples of postmodern cinema dating back into the 60's and 70's, but television was slightly slower to embrace this concept. In fact, most of the postmodern risks that Buffy takes can be traced directly back to another groundbreaking program that we watched in class - Twin Peaks.

Genre blending? Buffy has it. Its main thematic basis lies directly in the world of horror, of course, and the show often takes on the "Monster of the Week" format that The Outer Limits and The X Files, (among other programs) have popularized. Structurally, the show varies throughout the years, often switching back and forth between an almost procedural, detective drama and a soap operaesque coming-of-age dramedy.

Buffy also plays with the idea of the mundane seeming supernatural and the supernatural seeming mundane. Often, Buffy and Willow can have no problem slaying a vampire or banishing a demon, but hit a brick wall when having to deal with a relationship problem. In one famous episode from season 3, The Zeppo, Xander loses his virginity in a manner that feels far more surreal than any of the apocalyptic monsters that Buffy is fighting at the same time. Later on in the series, nostalgia also plays an incredibly large thematic role. In seasons 4 and 5, every character on the show questions their trajectory in life as their tight-knit group from high school begins to dissolve.

The show also deals a lot with cultural references, especially to other forms of media. Buffy, Willow, and Xander call their monster fighting group "the Scooby gang", in reference to the mystery machine crew in the old cartoon show Scooby Doo. They will often make reference to other famous fictional sleuths (The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew) and refer to monsters in relation to monsters they (and we) have seen in the movies. In fact, the entire vernacular that is used by the primary characters on the show is rife with postmodern references and a unique take on language twisting that empowers our young protagonists.

Many of the gothic tropes we saw in Twin Peaks are present here, too. The victim/tormentor dichotomy is seen here (especially in the Buffy/Spike relationship), as well as the presence of doppelgangers. The idea of a locus of evil is present in the Buffyverse with the existence of the hellmouth, and the importance of dreams and nightmares is always clear: there are even a few episodes that take place entirely in the subconscious. While the identity dyads don't permeate quite as far in Buffy as they do in Twin Peaks, they are still present - especially in the characters of Angel and Spike, who constantly fluctuate between their good and bad selves.

Still, there are probably even more instances of postmodernity as well as similarities to Twin Peaks, but how related are the two shows, exactly? Do you think that Whedon borrowed heavily from Lynch, or did the earlier series simply pave the way for 90's television at large? Feel free to comment so we can discuss this further!

Blacks Supernatural Television (BST)

2008-03-27T20:49:00.000-07:00

In honor of Black History Month... Wait, that was last month? This month is Women's history month. Well how about I just throw some black chicks in and get two birds with one stone?

Historically Blacks have been underrepresented in the Media. It is only been within the last 30 years that the Black experience has been exhibited on television sets. Shows with largely if not all Blacks casts such as What’s Happening, The Jeffersons, Good Times, In Living Color, and Girlfriends have garnered both critical acclaim and strong viewer support. Blacks have had successful runs in comedy and drama. However, for whatever reason are underrepresented in supernatural genres. So this blogpost will extol those characters from some of our favorite supernatural television shows.

Guinan, played by actress Whoopi Goldberg, was the resident bartender of The Starship Enterprise. She hails from a planet that was killed by the Borg and her civilization can live much longer than humans. As an Alien she has the ability to sense when things are wrong with others, this often comes in handy when her patrons have issues that they need to work out. Actress Whoopi Goldberg was a huge fan of the television show and actually approached the producers to see if they could find a roll for her.

Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge, the other Black crewmember aboard The Starship Enterprise. La Forge was not only Black but disabled. Blind from birth he wore a VISO (Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ Replacement) that enabled him to see electromagnetic radio waves, infrared, ultraviRolet, but not normal light perception. La Forge is a Human born in the futuristic year of 2335 in the African Confederation of Earth. When he travels back in time he is responsible in helping to create Earth’s first warp-capable vessel and was one of the first to achieve contact with the Vulcan race.

Micah Sanders, one of the youngest heroes on the television hit Heros. Micah is a technopath that has the ability to communicate with machines and electronics. Micah is extremely intelligent but comes from a chaotic household. He has to go on the run with his mother when she fails to repay a debt borrowed from a loan shark. Later on in the show he is kidnapped by his father when he walks in on them having a fierce battle.

Walt Lloyd, the youngest survivor of Oceanic flight 815. Walt is just getting reacquainted with his estranged father Michael, when their plane goes down on the mystical island. Walt exhibits some form of supernatural power that has yet to be explained. He shares a close relationship with fellow survivor, Locke. In the season 3 finale after fleeing the island Walt appears to Locke who has been shot by resident ass hole, Benjamin.

One of my favorite appearances by a Black actor in a supernatural television show would have to be Kendra played by Bianca Lawson in television’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Kendra was the vampire slayer who once stated “that was my favorite shirt… That was my only shirt” moments after a vampire from the hellmouth of Sunndale tore the shirt she was wearing. Kendra appeared to be a native of some island in the Caribbean. Although no place of origin was given this could be assumed by her accent. Kendra unfortunately only appeared in three episodes before she was killed making way for morally corrupt vampires slayer, Faith.

Saturday Nights with the Midnight Society

2008-03-27T20:44:00.000-07:00

Most of us will remember our childhood television lineup very fondly. In fact, 90’s nostalgia apparently happens to be very in right now. Girls remember our crushes on Jonathon Taylor Thomas, guys playing with Pogs and everyone wearing those sneakers that lit up when you walked. The mid 90’s demonstrated that Nickelodeon was the go to place for the most popular children’s programming. While stations like ABC aired shows like Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Nick just seemed to have the best selection. The channels offered shows like the variety show “All That”, the cartoons “Ren and Stimpy”, “Doug”, and “Rugrats”, sitcoms like “Clarissa Explains it All” and “Salute Your Shorts” and great contest shows like “Guts” and “Legends of the Hidden Temple.” However the channel also offered great supernatural TV. The shows that I remember particularly are Ah! Real Monsters, Alex Mack, Pete and Pete (in a magical realism way) and most specifically “Are you Afraid of the Dark?” All of these shows are great examples of supernatural TV in one of its most fun forms. In adult supernatural TV, the supernatural is always seconded guessed and sometimes, if not unconvincingly, can ruin a show completely. Due to the audience, children’s shows can allow for even the cheesiest supernatural elements and have a successful run.

“Are You Afraid of the Dark?” (intro linked) adapted the anthology series format, starting each show with several friends calling themselves the Midnight Society meeting by a campfire to tell scary stories. It aired regularly Saturday nights during SNICK along with three other shows. Now I don’t know about you guys, but I remember having to prep myself before watching the show to deal with how scary the episodes were. Even now, clips of the show will pop into my head and give me chills. The episode “The Tale of Laughing in the Dark” was about a kid who steals the nose of a cigar-smoking clown he doesn’t believe is real. He instantly regrets this when the clown comes to life. I wouldn’t hesitate to blame my fear of clowns on this particular episode. “The Tale of the Captured Soul” tells the story of a family who vacations in a house where the owners are slowly stealing the life of the visiting family through the mirrors. “The Tale of the Pinball Wizard” is usually one people remember, where a boy gets stuck inside a mall after dark and suddenly finds himself stuck in a life size pinball machine. While none of these plots seem particularly scary now a days and most if not all are borrowed plots, at the time, I always tuned in to scare my self to death every Saturday night.

The sad thing about this is, is today’s Nickelodeon is relatively barren of not just supernatural TV, but good TV in general. While Sponge Bob Square Pants has it’s moments, the channel is filled with shows like Drake and Josh and The Amanda Show. My younger sister watched shows like “That’s So Raven” and “Lizzy Maguire” that had a supernatural tinge, but they didn't air on Nick and played to an older audience. The show "Fairly Odd Parents" is particularly hilarious for older people who get the jokes, but I don’t see it having the following that 90’s Nick shows had when we were growing up. When they did revive “Are You Afraid of the Dark” recently it missed the mark of what the original show had tried to accomplish. While most of the Nickelodeon shows I watched growing up had a more surreal element to them, today’s shows are mostly lame varieties or sitcoms and this is truly a shame.

If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant.

2008-03-27T09:41:00.000-07:00

First of all – I was lucky enough to catch “Sunshine Days,” one of the final episodes of The X-Files, on the Sci-Fi channel this week. Supercreep Michael Emerson (Benjamin Linus, everyone’s favorite d-bag from Lost) stars as a killer who is obsessed with the Brady Bunch. Good stuff.

However, what I REALLY want to talk about is “The Constant,” the 5th episode of Lost’s current (fourth) season.
(**WARNING: For those who are a little behind, or potential future Losties, DO NOT READ THIS POST. THERE ARE SPOILERS.** Sorry, but this episode was too good not to be talked about.)

This episode is a Desmond episode, which is always a good sign. Desmond is, in my opinion, not only a total babe with a sexy accent, but the best character on the show. (Proof: In Jack’s flashbacks, he drunkenly mopes around a hospital whining about his Dad and his ex-wife. In Desmond’s, he drunkenly sails around the world and travels through time.) The last time Des tried to leave the island, he did not succeed on his compass bearing and ended up back exactly where he started, drunk, exclaiming that the island was in “a bloody snowglobe”.

This time, he’s heading to the mysterious freighter offshore in a helicopter, whose pilot is instructed by physicist Daniel Faraday (an awesome new character) to follow a strict compass bearing, or else “side effects” will occur. In a recent episode, we saw Faraday conduct an experiment that revealed that time moves differently on the island than it does in the outside world. This has been one of the biggest reveals of the series, and potentially explains a lot of things: perhaps this is why pregnant women are dying, and perhaps this is why it seems as though not as much time has passed when we see the Oceanic Six back in the real world.

When the helicopter hits turbulence, Desmond’s consciousness from 1996 enters his 2004 body, and his consciousness jumps uncontrollably between 1996 and 2004. Long story short, Faraday helps the “unstuck in time” Desmond. We learn that Faraday had been studying time travel, which does not occur physically but occurs within the consciousness. The writers did their research, because some of these theories are actually somewhat grounded in reality. Here is a very interesting article on said topic from Popular Mechanics. Dealing with time travel is tricky, especially when you want to avoid creating a temporal paradox, which we’ve seen dealt with before in “Back to the Future.”

Basically, the answer to Desmond’s problem is to find a “constant,” something important to him in both 1996 and 2004 that can anchor his consciousness in time. And of course, his constant ends up being his true love, Penny. (Even when Lost gets cheesy, it’s still great.) Penelope Widmore is a great character (and she looks a lot like Frank Black’s wife on Millennium). She is the great love of one of our principal protagonists as well as the daughter of possibly the most evil man on the show, Charles Widmore, the man behind the plot against the island. Penny is one of the few connections between those on the island and the outside world, and the show’s producers have said that she is an extremely important character in the overarching mythology of the show.

My roommate also pointed out to me that the final season of Felicity, another J.J. Abrams show, had its protagonist traveling through time, and the only person who believed her was her true love. Awww.

EDIT: I just found this and I had to share it with you all. Pretty awesome.

Buffy reading & assignment

2008-03-27T06:41:00.000-07:00

Next week we will be viewing and discussing Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Oh joy! Because we will be slightly abbreviating our cobverage of Buffy, I'd like to generate some discussion/response to the articles on htis blog. As you might expect, you will evaluated on your response participation as if we were having an in-class discussion. As well, I would like to have a one-page response combining reaction to/thoughts on the following two articles for Tuesday (you may email this). Along with reading the Krzywinska article in the reading packet ("Hubble, Bubble, Herbs and Grimoires") for next Tuesday, be sure to check out Jason Winslade's article on Slayage.tv, Teen Witches, Wiccans, and “Wanna-Blessed-Be’s”: Pop-Culture Magic in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Since the topics are similar, you might consider comparing and contrasting the two articles.

There are a plethora of sources on the web on Buffy, and many academic articles. Slayage has an undergraduate page as well, for junior scholars to submit essays for online publication.

And for the true fan, you can purchase collectible action figures!

End is the Beginning: Post-Apocalypse in TV

2008-03-27T06:11:00.000-07:00

So we have been talking this week about the millennial anxiety and the End of the World, but what about the stuff that happens after the end of the world. That's right, I'm referring to the Post-Apocalypse.

There seems to be a proliferation of this genre that wants to look at the world after a cataclysmic, "End of Days"-esque event happens. In recent memory, the series Jericho comes to mind, a show about the lives of citizens in Jericho, Kansas after 23 nuclear missiles detonate across the country and leave the world in blackout and disarray. The wonderful, but short lived, Firefly often refer to Earth being a dead planet, devoid of life, which is why we set out into space, another post-apocalyptic theme in popular fiction.

It's no surprise this is such a popular theme. I did some digging into the Book of Revelations, as well as into some other popular scriptures and theories concerning our impending doom, and none clearly state the death of all humanity as we know it. Therefore, there should be this flicker of hope that in the face of such a disaster that a few will survive, and this brings about two thoughts: 1) Will I be one of the survivors; and 2) What will it be like. These two questions, I believe, perpetuate the post-apocalyptic genre as a whole.

We can't talk about the post-apocalypse in television without making mention of Japanese Animation. The proliferation of these themes in Japanese Animation can much be attributed to the anxiety surrounding the bombings of Japan in World War II. The bombs were Japan's own personal little apocalypse and to this day the country still remembers them well. As time goes by, at least one show or movie devoted to these themes come out yearly. The most well-known of these, I believe, would be Akira. Taking place in a post-WWIII Tokyo, Japan has suffered another cataclysmic casualty in the form of yet another bomb. Having rebuilt again, the new Neo-Tokyo is now a hotbed of crime and gang wars and insurrection that cannot be held back. Another less known title was Hokuto no Ken, or Fist of North Star, after yet another world ending disaster, the whole planet has become a desert, and the few people left living, are left impoverished and barely clinging to life. With no order, gangs and other criminals roam the land doing whatever they feel, desecrating life along the way.

It is no doubt that often the picture of these worlds are gloomy at best, with little order or sense of restrictions, but the fact that people can still hang on to life despite how terrible it might be, I believe is a triumph of the spirit that viewers respect. I hope to see more from this genre as the years go on.

Paranormal State

2008-03-27T05:36:00.000-07:00

This show was brought up a few times in class, but has yet to really be discussed.

I’ve been a pretty loyal watcher from the beginning, due to the correlation to Penn State University (The Paranormal Research Society [PRS] featured on the show is compiled of a group of Penn State students) and my general interest in ghosts and hauntings.

For those of you who haven’t seen the show, or haven’t devoted much thought to it, here’s a basic synopsis:

[Monday nights, 10 pm, A&E] A team of Paranormal Researchers from Penn State University travel to different locals on the request of people experiencing paranormal phenomena. The show focuses on host Ryan Buell, who’s now working on a second degree at Penn State, as he leads viewers through the process of paranormal investigation. This process commonly revolves around interviewing the victim/subject of paranormal experience, bringing in a renown psychic (more on that later) to flesh out the story behind the paranormal experience, holding a sort of séance at “dead-time” (3:00 am) in which to communicate with any spirit or demon present, and then concluding with usually a blessing placed on the residence and a summary by Ryan Buell.

The show is a half-hour docu-drama, according to A&E’s Paranormal State website.

This mixture of documentary and drama lends to the shows, oftentimes, excessive media effects. These effects include a distortion on Buell’s voice, to make him sound as if he’s speaking into a tape recorder (leads more to misunderstanding than anything else) as well as strangely distinct, possibly volume-altered, sounds that occur during “dead-time” séances. And its half-hour format is effective and possibly necessary since most episodes leave the viewer with very little to prove that they’ve just watched something paranormal occur, but due to the short time-frame of the show, it’s presented almost as if the PRS couldn’t fit in everything that occured. If you’re hooked – like I unregretfully am – this format sucks you in every time.

Some things that do boost the credibility of the show (if anything can) are the two main psychics Buell often utilizes, Chip Coffey and Lorraine Warren. Whereas you might not recognize Coffey’s name, Warren was one of the investigators of the Amityville Haunting case. These two are great, regardless of their psychic abilities; they’re also fun to watch. Coffey sometimes gets possessed and that’s always a treat (there is a great episode where Warren and Coffey are working on a case, Coffey gets possessed and Warren slaps him out of it) and Warren is very sweet and also very old.

Something the show lacks is general clarification. There are often demons or spirits or psychic children, but not so often is the explanation as to why they may exist, how, or what the difference is between something like a demon or spirit. Another thing is Ryan often blesses the homes where paranormal activity has occurred, in the vein of Catholicism. The “why” of this, over other religions and ceremonies, is never discussed.

All and all, if the show isn’t believable, it is personable, and definitely will make you question the next time you see something out of the corner of your eye, or that door that seems to just keep closing by itself.

Psychics: Real or Fiction? Who knows!?

2008-03-27T01:13:00.000-07:00

Psychics. Are they real? Is it possible that one can know something, or sense something, that they could not otherwise using their normal five senses? Or is it all based on the belief in mysticism and a few parlor tricks?

What exactly does it mean to be a psychic? It is believed that a psychic individual can sense things (such as events in the past, present, or future) that they had no involvement in, nor could they have otherwise known about, or sensed using their normal five senses. It is believed that certain individuals possess what is called extra-sensory perception (ESP, as it is commonly called).

Can these powers really exist? Many claim to possess such powers, and even many more believe very strongly in its existence. The question is, has there been any concrete scientific evidence to suggest that there might be some kind of extra sense in some individuals? So far the answer to this question is no. James Randi, a former magician, turned paranormal skeptic, has been studying this for many years. Randi has said in interviews over the years that he wishes that he could be proven wrong, that science could be proven wrong, but it has not yet happened. In fact, his education foundation has for many years allocated one million dollars as a prize for any person who can prove under controlled circumstances that paranormal activity exists. No one has been able to claim the prize as of yet.

I am sure you have heard about psychic detectives before. You have probably heard how some police departments use psychic consultants on a regular basis to help solve crimes, and to locate victims, often with much success. The truth of the matter is that these claims are greatly exaggerated. In fact, no psychics have ever officially been given credit for helping to solve a crime by the F.B.I. or other law enforcement agency.

You can find a brief overview of psychic detectives here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychic_detective -or-
http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/police-psychics.html

Many of these so-called psychics are actually more like private detectives. They may receive inside information that helps them with their miraculous answers to the unanswered questions to the crimes. USA Network actually has a television show mocking this very idea, called Psych. It’s a comedy about an aspiring detective who solves crimes using his excellent observational skills, and then purports to be psychic in order to aid police in their investigations.

Despite the lack of scientific evidence, it is not that hard to find individuals who swear to the belief in psychic abilities. Why do people believe in something so strongly despite lack of evidence, or rather strong evidence against something? I think it comes out of a search for answers to the unexplained, or the unbelievable. If you recall, after 9/11 a 16th century “prophet” called Nostradamus came into popular culture. People looked to the parallels between his vague writings of his supposed prophecies for answers as to why 9/11 happened. This is probably why shows like Millennium were, and still are, very popular. It plays on the hope that there is more to humans than meets the eye. It allows us to believe that we too might possess some kind of extraordinary gift, and gives individuals a chance to fantasize about it.

This is of course a very basic summary of psychics. There is so much more information than I could fit into such a small blog post. But to answer the question, do psychics exist? Scientifically speaking, probably not.

For more information, you can start by looking at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychic

The 90's and Disaster Movies

2008-03-26T21:48:00.000-07:00

After last class, I started to think about other examples of where we've seen pre-millenial tension and anxiety, and it didn't take too long to remember the crap ton (roughly 7.99993 times greater than a metric ton) of disaster movies that started to downpour upon us starting in the mid-1990's. With the rise of computer graphics during this time, responsible for stunning visual effects sequences in movies like Jurassic Park, and perhaps some influence from the coming new millennium, a revival in the disaster genre had been sparked.

One of the first successful movies to come from this was Twister, and that reminded me of a made for tv movie that I had forgotten about until just now... Night of the Twisters. I was a little obsessed with this movie back in the day (it was on then Fox Family almost constantly). For those unfamiliar with the plot, here's a little refresher, straight from IMDB:

"A Nebraska farm community is plagued by a storm with a series of tornados acting against normal patterns. Dan is left at home to look after his baby brother Ryan along with his friend Arthur while Dan's mother is at work. His stepfather goes to check on his grandmother. When a tornado destroys the house, Dan and Arthur attempt to re-unite the family."

This movie, and many others that followed (Independence Day, Deep Impact, Volcano, The Perfect Storm, just to name a few) really played on some of the fears society were having leading into the year 2000, and with the idea of an impending apocalypse, interest in these movies were massive. Even now we still like to see Earth get its ass kicked in as many ways possible, Cloverfield being one of the more recent examples of disaster movies. If an influx in disaster movies leading up to a possible apocalyptical millennium, then perhaps we're going to see a similar increase in world destructiveness in movies leading up to the next expected end of the world date in 2012.

A little info on disaster genre

AND the best clip from Night of the Twisters

(yes, with the flying fridge of death!)

Twin Peaks' influence on Veronica Mars

2008-03-26T21:38:00.000-07:00

So I've been on a Twin Peaks binge since we began it in class- I only just found out who killed Laura Palmer! And it's begun to remind me of my favorite show from last year, Veronica Mars. The similarities are mostly contained to the excessive detective work, however there are elements of the supernatural in this teen/murder mystery/sassy comedy.

The premise of Veronica Mars' is a teenage girl living in Southern California solves mysteries using the resources of her detective father. Sounds like Nancy Drew, no? But this blonde sleuth isn't as wholesome as her 60s counterpart, full of sarcastic insights and bitter world views. Each season (well the first 2, CW forced them to change the format in the third- which is why it's bad) has a central mystery that Veronica is working to solve. Through each episode she is set up to aid a classmate or one of her father's clients in solving their cases. These cases often lead Veronica to learn something new about the main mystery.

What Veronica often learns has to do with the seedy underside of her high class home town of Neptune. Like in the innocent lumber village of Twin Peaks, Neptune seems innocent enough on the outside, however replace cozy suburbs with McMansions. But no one is what they seem, from Veronica's pill popping, cult joining classmates to their high class parents squandering money and beating their children. Often those we think are the wrongdoers, like the motorcycle gang leader, Weevel are actually the most supportive people in town; akin to Donna's misperception of the innocent Harold. On the flip-side, those we least expect are often the ones causing the most harm, like the Christian parents who lock their daughter in a closet and Josie who burns down her own mill.

As for Supernatural elements, Veronica Mars mainly shows this in the first

season when dealing with the death of her best friend Lily Kane. Lily's death is the catalyst in Veronica's change from average high schooler to super sleuth. Her determination to find Lily's true killer is often obstructed by her own classmates or disapproving town-members. However, Veronica often visits Lily in her dreams, similar to Cooper's meetings in the Red Lodge or with the Giant. Lily always encourages Veronica to continue her search, leading her to put the puzzle pieces of Lily's death together. Lily's brother Duncan is also subjected to hallucinations and dreams of his dead sister. His family being the leading opposer to the idea that Lily's killer has not been caught, dismisses Veronica (and her detective/former sheriff father's) beliefs. After speaking with his recently deceased sister, she explains that the killer has not been found and the logic of the Mars investigators makes sense.

Finally, also in similar fashion to Twin Peaks, Veronica Mars was cancelled well before it's time, giving fans no comprehensive conclusion to all the mysteries poured into the show. With as loyal a cult following we can only hope that Veronica's Lily Kane mystery will live on with Laura Palmer. And we may get to see more of Mars creator Rob Thomas, as he has just signed on to EP the remake of that other hit 90s show 90210!

In other supernatural news- you can check out Veronica Mars' star Kristen Bell in the up coming Fanboys movie (about a bunch of Star Wars fans trying to sneak on to George Lucas' ranch), a role that scored her a cover with Geek magazine!

Wait! I blinked and the Show was Cancelled!

2008-03-26T19:34:00.000-07:00

Over the years, many supernatural television shows were cancelled before their time. Millennium is just one example of a program forced to end too soon. When this happens, shows are required to create new endings (if they even get enough advanced notice to be able to write and shoot a new end). Some shows are not so lucky and are just cancelled out of the blue.

Threshold was one such program. It premiered in September 2005, and was cancelled in November of the same year, with four episodes unaired. I had fallen in love with the realistic nature of the program and was devastated when it was cancelled without warning. For those who are unfamiliar with the show, Threshold was the story of a scientist who writes about what should be done in worst-case scenarios. One of her plans, Threshold, was put into effect when aliens landed on Earth and began taking over by infecting humans, turning them into the aliens. Dr. Molly Caffrey then gathered a team and set out to understand the aliens and what should be done about the threat. A year after the show’s abrupt ending, a DVD was released with the four episodes that were never aired and a special reel explaining storylines that would have happened if the show had continued.

Threshold, like Millennium, got the time slot shuffle, which spelled disaster for what looked to be a very promising show. Far too many shows suffer this fate, supernatural or otherwise. You know, writing this made me sad for the shows that have been lost far too soon (and shows that have gone on way, way too long).

A poor mans "Tales From The Crypt?"

2008-03-26T18:43:00.000-07:00

So every Tuesday and Thursday as I am getting ready to go to class I always turn my TV to the Sci Fi Channel. I have been noticing that around that time they will normaly be playing mini marathons of X-Files, Outer Limits, Jake 2.0 etc. One morning I'm going through my guide and it says "Tales From the..." So I think oh its Tales From the Crypt but when I turn to the channel, I see this low quality show with cheesy effects that is called Tales From the Darkside. I had never heard of this show before and no clue what is was about.

Turns out that Tales From the Darkside had aired from 1984 to 1988, and was created and produced by George A. Romero of all people! The show was an anthology series very similar and inspired by The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits but tended to deal more in horror stories very similar to Tales From the Crypt. Each episode would be its own story that usually ended in a plot twist of some kind. Some of the episodes were written by Romero himself, but most episodes were adaptations of famous books or stories, even Steven King's short stories were adapted for the show. Despite only being on air for 4 years it had enough success for its own movie.

The two episodes I saw were My Ghostwriter - The Vampire where a writer discovers a vampire and agrees to store his coffin in his apartment in exchange for his life stories and becomes famous. The other one being The Enormous Radio a story in where a couple buys a new radio but it can pick up the personal conversations of couples from around the area. I have to say that while both episodes were interesting and creative they certainly did not seem scary, it did not even seem that well made and quite funny because of its low production value.

Even the opening screams low quality, I mean come on Are You Afraid of The Dark? had a scarier opening. despite its cheese factor and not being that scary, it still seems like a cool show with some creative aspects. So the next time it is on in the morning as I am getting ready to go I will be happy to see what creative/hilarious story will come from it.

So in closing I just have to ask, has anyone else seen or heard of this show?

Fuzzy/Digital “Monsters” and Other Japanese Gaming Consoles that Saturated the American Buying Market.

2008-03-26T16:48:00.000-07:00

Say the word Pokemon and kids all over the world know exactly what your talking about, Fun and Excitement! Although I was never a big fan of the franchise, it dominated and took over the gaming world during the end of the twentieth century. Switching to different mediums such as movies and television, the beloved Pikachu and company were soon featured in everything from trading cards, video games, and even action figures that were all dedicated to these cute little furry creatures hailing from the east that easily accommodated their growing audience.

This "miniature world" of animals and people insatiately became the new "it" toy and consumers couldn't get enough, buying up anything they could to please their crying children. The growing influence of imported Japanese goods was quickly influencing the buying market and soon toy shelves across the nation became saturated with toys and other gadgets aimed towards kids and their curiosity towards different outlets of escapism. However, Pokemon wasn't the only phenomenon imported from the east that caused toy-craving frenzies.

Who could forget the lovable Digi (digital) Pets that populated the market during the end of the century? We all walked, fed, and played with our pets electrically and got sad when they weren't loved enough, which untimely resulted in death. Although the thought of owning your own electronic Dino or Dragon was appealing, the fad quickly died out. Even before the Digi Pets, the Nintendo Game Boy was welcomed into the arms of video game lovers. At last, video games were made portable and distracted us all, even from our original Nintendo gaming system. Originating in 1989, the Game Boy sold over 32 million units since its initial release and still goes strong with the DS (Dual Screen) released in 2004 to the next booming generation of gamers.

Since this semi-recent outcry of toys and gadgets, the Japanese electronic industry was booming and America quickly cashed in. After the original Nintendo (85') and the popular 64 (96') gaming systems, Sony Playstation 1 and 2 had successful runs within the gaming realm. All systems released thousands of titles that entertained the youth and reflected a culture of consumers. Even more recently, and possibly the most popular gaming console currently available, is the Nintendo Wii. Released in 2006, the Wii has sold millions of units and is still selling out to a point where they're still hard to get two years later.

In short, without these beloved gadgets, what else could distract us so beautifully from our boring everyday life? Being raised in a generation where it's impossible to think of a world without the Nintendo, I couldn't think of a better life filled with not only colorful graphics but also colorful characters.

More info on Japanese Gaming Systems.

Supernatural Simpsons

2008-03-26T15:47:00.000-07:00

Millennium was one of those shows I remember being horrified of when I was growing up. I know for some 10 to 13 year olds supernatural television like Millennium and the X – Files were weekly television viewing, but for people who just recently got over being afraid of the dark, the images from these shows could cause endless nightmares. Now after viewing them in class, and partaking in this blog which tells me “Don’t Be Afraid of The Dark” I see the interesting merits of such programming.

I am not sure if the episode we watched in class is considered a classic millennium episode or not, but I can see some of the reasons it failed and The X-Files succeeded. The X-files is enjoyable even to a casual fan because of the dry wit and appeal of its lead actors Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny. The characters of Mulder and Scully transcended the X-files by becoming a fixture of 1990s pop culture, even appearing on The Simpsons. Frank Black’s bleak darkness like the show itself probably was too intense for American audiences. If you can’t be spoofed on the Simpsons you are never going to make it as a series.

In fact, much of the knowledge I have about supernatural television shows comes from various Simpsons parodies over the years. Each Halloween we can look forward to a new “Tree House of Horror” episode of the Simpsons. While the quality of the Simpsons has gone down by most standards over the years, as the series approaches its 20th season and the strange airing of the “Tree House of Horror” episodes after Halloween may be seen as a sign of a weaker cultural impact. Many of the parodies will stand the test of time as testaments to supernatural television that may be remembered more than the films and shows they spoof themselves.

The Twilight Zone, Star Trek, The X-Files, and countless other supernatural television shows and films have been parodied on the Simpsons. The seemingly endless syndication of the Simpsons will make the supernatural television parodied live on forever and entice television viewers to revisit the supernatural past.

I knew it would only be a matter of time before I would blog about the Simpsons, but at least it is something other than Lost. Although I have to admit watching Millennium and seeing John Locke (Terry O’Quinn) with a mustache and hair was highly enjoyable. Also, the villain pharmaceutical worker who poisoned Frank Black was the evil president Charles Logan on 24. When I Lost and 24 cross paths my mind begins to explode!

Prue vs. Paige Debate

2008-03-26T14:37:00.000-07:00

Three sisters all with magical powers, what should they do? Save the world perhaps. What makes them different from other good witches is the fact that they hold the power of three. This is the greatest power and only these three sisters have it to fight demons and make the world a safe place. These sisters Prue, Piper and Phoebe are descendents from a magical family tree. There is history of magic through the female line. At the beginning of the series Charmed these three sisters find out they are magical so they begin the long journey of fighting demons and risking their lives on a daily basis. All the women in the family seem to have trouble with guys from demons to angels/whitelighters whom they aren’t allowed to be with, no one ever seems truly happy. This hardly seems to be the problem, since Phoebe marries the Source of all Evil, but at the end of season three Prue dies. Prue, the oldest of the three sisters, dies and the Power of Three dies with it leaving no story. What’s that all about? Whether you watch the show or not, you know its bad when they kill a main character that drives the show every week. For example, no one likes the second guy who played Darren on Bewitched.
They bring a new “charmed” one to the show, Paige. She is supposedly a secret child that was given up at birth but qualifies to be next in line to the Power of Three. I totally don’t buy this, and hate her character from the start along with many other people who was watching the show at the time. Everyone liked Prue and wanted her back basically. So, Paige was the secret child Patty, their mother, had from the love affair she had with her Whitelighter. All the fans were mad; I’m guessing a good percent of viewers stopped watching after Prue died. I wasn’t so quick to give up on the show. I love the weekly kills and mythological creatures that came around. The Book of Shadows grew over the years and so did Paige’s character.
Since they brought her into the picture her character was very personable and interesting. While we all love Prue, I do think Paige was able to live up to the job. I mean she did last 4 years which is more than half the run of the series. I was reading some Prue vs. Paige forums and it was definitely clear that people, overtime, enjoyed Paige’s character more than Prue’s. Both had similar powers but Paige was half Whitelighter. Paige was the better asset and all was forgiven for the death of Prue. I still don’t like how they “mended” the Power of Three, but you gotta keep the show going somehow.

Here's one forum about the debate.

Valenzetti, Lost, And The End of The World

2008-03-26T13:06:00.000-07:00

So as of recently in class we have taken it upon ourselves to discuss everyone’s favorite topic…the end of the world, the apocalypse, the piece de résistance of our own mortality. Daunting yes, scary, oh yes, but dreadfully entertaining none the less.

What better story line for a show than the impending and inevitable end to our world and humanity’s constant efforts to stop it. Shows have done this for years. Specifically in class these past few weeks we have gone through 2. Millennium and their apocalyptic Y2K ending and the X-Files with their unstoppable aliens.

I can’t say that I was a huge fan of these programs during their run, however after watching my first few episodes of the X-files I’m change my tune on the sci-fi classic but Millennium is a just seems like such a downer and….wait what was I talking about? Oh yeah, the whole end of the world thing. After all this talk of Nostradamus and the impending 4 horsemen I figured I would try and relate this to something in modern times that I can relate to. And that something was the fan favorite “Lost” a show who’s MO is blowing peoples minds week to week.

Now Lost isn’t exactly a show that lays everything out there for it’s audience, you gotta look in the back corners and search the internet for info. Finally after a little digging I found Enzo Valenzetti, a fictionalized Mathematician who “Anecdotal reports indicate that Valenzetti, at the request of the United Nations, devised a complicated algorithm capable of predicting the exact date of the extinction of the human race.”
http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Enzo_Valenzetti

Leave it to lost to make the weirdest and most in depth side story line that gets maybe 8 seconds of air time a season.

Through his formula he came up with the numbers 4:8:15:16:23:42, in which some how represent the exact end of the human race. Any fan of lost knows the importance of these numbers. For one, they are Hurley’s winning lotto numbers, which after winning he is surrounded by death and destruction. But most notably the numbers served purpose in the hatch a place where Desmond would enter the numbers into a computer every 108 minutes so he could do what class? That’s right! Stop the world from ending! The numbers even appear written in invisible ink map on a door within the Hatch itself (Translated Version of the Map on the door) and seen on the elusive Dharma training videos, and in the secret HANSO Tapings.

Check this youtube video, if you're a fan and you haven't seen it get on it.
HANSO TAPINGS

Some people suppose that the purpose of the Dharma initiative is to find away to prevent this Valenzetti equation, possibly saving humanity. Who knows really, I guess we will all have to wait and see. Damn this Lost universe for making the end of humanity so in depth and weird……but oh so cool.

Squeezy for Sheezy

2008-03-25T17:19:00.000-07:00

My first post was on the X-Files, but it was broad and unspecific. Now, lets get into some of the gross details, shall we? That is why we love it so, after all. The grossness of the monster-of-the-week episodes are the icing on the proverbial cake, secretly underlining the brilliance of the show as they were overpowered by the highly addictive conspiracy theory story line of the "mytharc" episodes. I believe that now, looking back on this AWESOME show, what is the most memorable are the monster-of-the-week episodes. The conspiracy theory episodes were highly exciting, but now I barely remember half of the shit that went on. So much happened! Black ink? Russia? The bees? The dude with the metal teeth? I remember these things but not entirely in context. Shame on you poor excuse for an X-Files fan: me.

As we all know, "Home" is without a doubt the most disgusting, disturbing, effed-up episode of the series, so I won't even bother. I do, however hold a man named Eugene Victor Tooms close to my heart. The 1st season episode "Squeeze" is about a hibernating mutant cannibal who emerges every 30 years to harvest five human livers in order to suvive his next 30 years of hibernation. Oh, and his eyes turn yellow when he spots someone that looks yummy and he can squeeze his 5'11 frame through vents and chimneys. WHAT?!??! Who comes up with this stuff? Glen Morgan and James Wong, that's who. Brilliant men. I actually came across a funny fake interview with Tooms himself. It's pretty hilarious.

I'm an early season X-Files buff, and another one of my early favorites is the episode "The Host". This one might possibly be more disgusting than a liver-eating mutant who spend most of his days covered in body-fluid paper mache. In "The Host" people are attacked and bitten by an unidentifiable creature living in the sewers. When it attacks, a worm-like specimen is inserted into the victims body and they act as an oblivious host. This episode doesn't offer much resolution, or even that much of a story come to think of it, but the creature is just so immensely disgusting its one of the more classic episodes. Besides the grossness, what is of significance in this episode is Mulder's confrontation with Skinner about the closing of the X-files and his confiding in Scully that he considers leaving the bureau, but these interactions aren't too significant in regards to the series as a whole.

Anyway, enjoy and embrace the grossness. And remember, their more scared of you than you are of them...... right?

OBSESSIVE NERD

INTERVIEW

Oh Snap, The X- Files!

2008-03-21T19:47:00.000-07:00

So what happens when you have two sex-starved FBI agents and a bunch of spooky shit … Don’t ask me, I hardly watched the show. And for good reason, as a child I would stay up “late” on Friday nights to watch Unsolved Mysteries with my mother. I was completely transfixed by the show, starring at the television unblinking. I wasn’t that I enjoyed the show, more like enthralled. Unfortunately when it was time to go to bed in my big room, with all of the lights out, and no one to protect me or at least be sacrificed while I got away should things go bad, my imagination would get the best of me. In my mind little green men will pull their spaceship up to my backyard break in through my window and abduct me. I’d look out the large window that was just inches from my bed and whether it was my imagination or not see “things” looking back at me. Of course I would come to the realization that I lived in Queens, not Nebraska, and I was Black not White, the chances of being abducted by aliens was preeeetty slim – Or was it…

What kept me away from watching the X- Files was the fear of the unknown. Don’t get me wrong, like most young kids I thrived off of a good spook. I enjoyed sitting in pitch-black rooms trading scary movies with my cousins, watching movies like Nightmare on Elm Street, or Jason. When Michael Jackson’s Thriller would come on MTV I was the one ripping my cousins hands off of their face just as the undead were pulling themselves from their graves. But there was something about shows like the X- Files or Unsolved Mysteries something about the unknown that made it more feasible and as such, much more real to me.

I could easily look at television and say “you know what, I don’t think this Freddy guy with the melted off skin and the axe to grind is going to try and kill me in my sleep” and even if he wanted to he couldn’t that’s not humanly possible. But at night staring up at that great expansion of darkness, how could I know exactly what could or could not be lurking out there. In the ocean and on the earth itself, we are constantly finding new species of animals, so who is there to say that there isn’t something out there that doesn’t want to come down here kidnap some people and play with their butt-holes?
This is where the strength of the X- Files lies, that gray area. Although they do deal with storylines that could be fantastical in nature there are also those instances where either through science or sheer ignorance the events within can be open to possibility. As was bought up in the X- Files article a major theme in the television show was the idea of skepticism, believer vs. non-believer. Having no firm conviction (either for or against) is more frightening than believing to “know” one way or another. The dichotomy of the show exhibited through Mulder’s beliefs vs. Scully’s skepticism together is what created this gray area. Neither was right and the other wrong, things that appeared one way could turn out to be completely different later on. A viewer's "belief" in what was truly happening in the show changed frequently enough that they were never able to become definite on what was really going on. "Trust no one..." Thanks, but I'd rather deal with monster's that I know probably don't exist...

We Know Your Out There

2008-03-20T21:17:00.000-07:00

When reading the X-files article i was particularly fascinated with the description and analysis of the episode “Hollywood AD”. This sort of self-conscious tongue and cheek parody is endlessly amusing and particularly intriguing to me. It got me thinking of other shows today that try and accomplish the same kind of self parody without being too overt about it.

South Park, for one, accomplished this notably in its first season through “Terrence & Phillip”, the foul television show watched by the children. “T&P” stands as a representation of “South Park” as it is a cartoon that should not be watched by children or, as the intro states, anyone for that matter. Yet time after time the children sat and watched the two characters use inappropriate language and make vulgar and disgusting jokes. As for myself, I, at the tender age of 12 or 13, watched them watching the program, and became equally corrupted.

Scrubs, on occasion, has been known to flaunt its self consciousness from time to time as well. Once a season an episode will come around where the narration will be taken over be another character, giving the program a chance to show us what the lead character look like in another point of view. I think this works particularly well in “Their Story” where we finally get to see what the lead, JD, looks like when he goes off into one of his day dreams, all from the point of view of an entirely different character. The humor of this scene is played upon quite well by the fact that not only do we see how ridiculous he looks, but also how much it annoys the other characters.

I feel the self conscious humor of shows like these play an important part in making the audience feel as though the show they are watching is aware that they are there, and that they know how how the show looks to them, rather than to just itself. It adds a level of interactivity to television which i feel is very well received.

Skepticism

2008-03-20T13:26:00.000-07:00

After remembering about the X-files, the word Skepticism wouldn't leave my mind. Somehow the shows skeptic attitude made me believe in these things more and more. While not necessarily to the point of pure paranoia and conspiracy theories, but "Maybe there are aliens out there."
My mind jumps, and I begin to think about how this is so successful in paranormal documentaries like Destination Truth and Ghost Hunters. The skepticism displayed in these shows makes me question, and believe more, in real supernatural events.

Paranormal State, devoid of Skepticism, does the opposite.

Paranormal State is an A&E show, Mondays at 10pm (9Central), about a group of college students who are investigating paranormal events. This takes the same formula that other shows of this type use, like Ghost Hunters and Destination Truth. Each episode has 1 or 2 "cases" to investigate, and one entire case is gone through before the second one is introduced. Each case starts with the "lead investigator" (Ryan in the case of Paranormal State) giving an introduction into the case, and a brief synopsis of what is going on at the supposedly haunted site they'll be working on. After that, they arrive on site and interview those occupying the location, while also getting research about the place done, to learn as much as they can beforehand. Then there is a single night spent at the location to attempt to spot and document the phenomenon. This is all followed by a closing session in which the lead investigators give their ideas as to whether the place is haunted or not, and whats the best course of action for it.
In shows like Ghost Hunters and Destination Truth, the investigation attempts to be unbias. They come in with equipment to try to pick up small things, like infra-red video cameras to pick up tiny heat signatures, recorders in hopes of catching Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP), and maybe even personal experiences. Many of these episodes end in no evidence, or even finding scientific reasons as to what is actually occurring (like the "Fear cage," which is a high amount of electricity in an area from a generator or something that makes people paranoid, and potentially even cause hallucinations). At the 'worst,' they'll say "We got some spooky evidence that we currently can't substantiate, and we have to say its paranormal at this time." Rarely is it "Your place is haunted, we need an exorcism...now."
Paranormal State is the opposite. The team goes in believing everything they hear. Heck, one of the major team members is an 'Occult Expert' because they deal so often with demons. Their investigation is cleverly named "Dead Time" where they often just sit in rooms and have seances. Occasionally the group will disprove something, but its not what there mission is apparently set out to be. They are more likely to bring in a "Psychic" to feel out energies than they are to disprove anything. This show has ended with them exorcising houses, and has a constant feel that we, the audience, need to believe all this is happening...even if the show doesn't have a single image of anything disturbing other than bad acting.
The show attempts to be so dead set on being true, that it feels scripted. Perhaps its just editing as clever as John Edwards show, but their Psychic and Mystics, with "No prior knowledge," are able to guess whats haunting the houses in the first guess pretty well. And the fact that there was an under story that the lead investigator, Ryan, was being chased by the demon Belial (every mention of Belial in the show was actually bleeped out to 'protect' the audience from his wrath) went through a few episodes really makes the show hard to believe. It comes out so often believing everything, and expecting the audience to follow, that it ruins its own credibility.

But maybe the show is true in claiming to be 'reality TV.' Maybe these events are real, and 100% proof of the existence of the paranormal. Maybe the occult expert is right and Belial, the ruler of Northern Hell, has nothing better to do than haunt people for having messy houses. If its all true, its lack of skepticism makes it impossible to believe. After episodes of Ghost Hunters, even if they disprove a haunting, I still go to sleep thinking "What about that next house..." Its skepticism that really keeps our minds focussed on an idea, and allow for the potential of hauntings, demons, and alien abductions to exist.

But one compliment to Paranormal State; it did have the coolest ad campaign. Two huge billboards that used ultrasound to shoot messages to passerby's that sounded like whispers that you could only hear at specific places? Yes, included and you can see it here due to the magic of youtube.

X-Philes!

2008-03-20T06:39:00.002-07:00

This blog post is difficult for me...
Because, well, I never watched the X-Files.

I don’t think I had anything against it. It was just always that show on “FOX” for me. But perhaps FOX snobbery is undeserved, they have aired some gems like Arrested Development...at least I hear it’s a gem, I didn’t watch it because it was on FOX....

Anyway, so, in order to understand the popularity of the show better, I thought it best to go right to the fan source: the X-Philes.

What is convenient about all this is that, as we discussed in class, the X-Files came to popularity with the rise of the Internet. So popping “X-Philes” into google leads to a variety of results.

Who knew that there were so many different factions of X-philia?

The first link that pops up is the “X-Phile Finis Romantics Society.” Yeah. This was (the site is no longer active) a coalition of like-minded X-philiacs who wanted to see their beloved Mulder and Scully wait until the end of the series to explore a romantic relationship. Fair enough, I’d say...keep that tension and expectation charging on into the unknown.

Another X-Phile site is specifically dedicated to Mulder.

Oh David Duchovny, how you slayyyy me. With that boy-next-door mousy-brown hair and that voice with that distinctive back-of-the-throat-sort-of-in-his-nose tonal quality...mmmmmhmmmm. I understand you, you “X-Philes for Mulder.”

But on a more serious note: This site was last updated on April 4, 2002. There’s a poignant mission statement on the site’s main page:

“The latest statements issued from X-Files Central (most particularly those recently printed in the September 22, 2000, issue of Entertainment Weekly) have led us to conclude that the amazing contribution David Duchovny has made to the success of The X-Files over the years - in his portrayal of Mulder, in his writing and direction, and in his sheer dedication - has been all but forgotten in the face of 1013 and Fox Inc.'s pursuit of a new format for the show. *Mulder* himself appears to have been forgotten.”

It’s nice to see that this fan site had a motive beyond Duchovny’s cute squinty eyes.

And then you’ve got websites such as this.

Fan fiction! The place where an X-philiac’s desires can come true. It’s great. I love the concept of fan fiction. Why wait for the creators of the show to give you what you want when you can just give it to yourself. (Not intended to be a sexual innuendo.)

This site is divided up into neat things such as “Category Listings” and “Story Listings” in order to help the X-philiac navigate with more efficiency. But it’s a little dated looking, lacking in pizzazz, much like the other two sites I already mentioned.

What’s interesting about all three of these sites is none have been, or appear to be, updated in a while (the last story submitted to the fan fiction site was in December).

Whereas the show has ended, it seems like the upcoming film and reruns should keep the Internet buzz a little higher than these websites suggest.

However, I feel like it may be the fault of these sites and not a lack of general interest. Like the X-Files, the Internet started slow, and then took off. The use of websites to generate and maintain the fan base went hand and hand with this. Whereas the X-Files tried to adapt and change with the times, it seems that these websites, in format and style, are stuck in their original structure.

It’s time to get your act together X-Philiacs! Drum up some hype and make the next film a summer blockbuster! You just may get a third film in the pipeline...

X-Files: A Better Twin Peaks?

2008-03-20T06:33:00.001-07:00

I must be honest. I was never a fan of the X-Files, and largely, I am still not. However, examining shows like the X-Files for class has gotten me somewhat interested in exploring these types of shows much deeper. Before this class I had no idea what Twin Peaks was. I had certainly heard of it, but knew very little about it. When we watched the episodes in class, I became interested in seeing more, largely due to the fact that it is quite a unique show. When reading the Strange TV article about the X-Files, I noticed there were quite a few references to Twin Peaks. This got me thinking about the two shows. There are a lot of similarities there.

Let’s take a look at some of the similarities between the pilot of the X-files and Twin Peaks. The show starts with the mysterious murder of a young, attractive female. Because of the mystery surrounding the case, a special agent of the FBI is called in to investigate, who is known for, shall we say, his somewhat strange and interesting practices. Which show am I talking about here? Exactly. Both. Now, of course, there is a large difference here. Twin Peaks largely surrounds the single case of Laura Palmer’s death, while X-Files seems to largely contain a case per episode: the monster of the week, as others have so eloquently put it. I think this what makes the X-Files more watch-able, since the story arches are smaller, as opposed to the series-long main arches of the soap-opera-esque Twin Peaks.

Both the X-Files and Twin Peaks seem to have an interesting self-awareness. There is a campy-ness to them, while still attempting to be at the very least somewhat serious: The X-Files does a much better job with its seriousness than Twin Peaks. Even the grotesque humor is an indication of this. Agents Cooper/Mulder are able to see the dead as objects, and often may be able to joke about them; whereas Agent Scully/Sheriff Truman, don’t seem to be able to share the same abilities.

Throughout the X-Files series, there are many episodes that one might call experimental. I can recall the X-Cops episode that was a parody of another Fox show at the time: Cops. While Twin Peaks ran too short to have ever explored these kinds of episodes, I do feel that the campy-ness is shared between them. I think that because the X-Files largely tried to keep a seriousness about itself, these episodes were a release of sorts: a tip of the hat, if you will, to the very overt campy-ness that Twin Peaks has.

Now up to this point, I have not even mentioned the supernatural similarities between the two shows. I feel that this is a fairly obvious connection for anyone who has seen an episode of both shows, or has even a little knowledge of the genre of the shows. Certainly both shows surround the topic of the supernatural, or the paranormal, which is, within the show, met with a great deal of skepticism. However, the X-Files deals largely with the idea of alien invasion of earth; an idea that never really appeared in Twin Peaks.

Certainly this is just a basic overview of the similarities. If you’re interested in further reading, there is one short website that I found that deals with the cast crossovers between the two shows. Apparently there was a lot:

http://www.angelfire.com/il/Fetterolfs/xfiles.html

Far From a Damsel in Distress

2008-03-20T06:02:00.001-07:00

The article on The X-Files made me think of something I really appreciated about the show.

Gillian Anderson, who played Special Agent Dana Scully through the series' entire run, was an attractive woman, and yet her character was consistently allowed to remain intelligent, tough, and dignified. (And appropriately dressed!)

Ms. Anderson clearly realized that her show was not Baywatch, and that she was the "anti-Pam". Interesting considering that the network was apparently looking for a Pamela Anderson type at first.

The show pokes fun at its unconventional views. Any jealousy between the two or resentment of others was generally played in a humorous fashion, such as in "War of the Copropahges", as mentioned in the article. Scully's maternal relationship with Mulder is also sometimes played for humor. I remember one particular episode, "Detour", wherein Mulder asks Scully to sing to him while stranded in the woods. Her chosen song? Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World".

When watching the pilot the other day, I noticed that her character was treated this way almost from teh beginning. While in the hotel in Oregon, there is a scene where she is seen taking her clothes off for a shower. When she notices the marks on her back, she runs into Mulder's room in her bathrobe. However, there are no lingering glances and no inappropriate comments. Both are only concerned about her well-being.

I think this speaks volumes about Mulder and Scully's relationship. While there may be some lingering, unconsummated romantic tension (I never really saw it, personally, but I watched most of the show while in elementary and middle school), they clearly have a respectful, professional relationship. They can work well together and be friends, but she is not forced into a position of always having to be sexy around him. The show didn't try to sex anything up with a lasting exterior love interest, either. Scully apparently had a boyfriend in the original drafts of the pilot, whom was subsequently written out. Too often, women on television are shown to have a constant need for men in their life. Scully may well have needed Mulder, but he was primarily an intellectual foil, not romantic.

In the book Fantasy Girls: Gender in the New Universe of Science Fiction and Fantasy (ed. Elyse Rae Helford) Linda Badley argues that Scully is not as progressive as some may think.

...Scully subverts patriarchal heteronormativity through her role as both a cybercop and forensic investigator, penetrating inert, male bodies with an unfeminine, carnivorous promiscuity (p. 81). On the other hand, Scully’s powerful position vis-à-vis alien(ated) men is destabilized and subsequently contained through the introduction of an abuse survivor/abductee narrative.

While I can see where she's coming from, I disagree with her view. Yes, Scully was abducted and abused. However, she was far from a hapless female. Mulder was never consistently having to save her; sometimes, he got captured and had to be rescued by her as well. The characters were not treated especially differently in this regard.

Dana Scully paved the way for many other strong female characters in supernatural or science fiction TV shows. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Captain Janeway of Star Trek: Voyager, Xena, Zoe Washburne of Firefly, etc. However, I think the character she had to strongest influence on was Willow Rosenberg, also of Buffy. Scully didn't quite have the quirky cutesyness of Willow, but both women were strong, intelligent, and a little geeky. They got to play botht the heroine and the victim, as did the male characters on their series. I think this is the most natural way of showing real human strengths and interactions.

(They're also both redheaded. Mustn't forget that.)

Six Degrees of David Duchovny

2008-03-20T00:20:00.000-07:00

Many of the shows mentioned in the X-Files article have multiple strong interconnections, from Twin Peaks all the way up to Lost. The X-Files thus serves as a prominent link in a postmodern web of supernatural television that began in the early 1990s, capping off strange TV in the 20th century, and allowing the form to successfully carry over into the 21st century.

The shows in this web all display traits of postmodernism – stylistically and referentially, they are extremely self-conscious and formally experimental. They deal with conspiracy theories and monsters. They have their own mythological arcs that take us in unexpected new directions. They suggest that there are supernatural forces at work in the world and explore them using both reason and spirituality. But they don't take themselves too seriously - they parody themselves. The paranoia they place on us is ultimately comforting when we realize that everything really is connected, just like that Kevin Bacon game. Let's try it with The X-Files.

Twin Peaks, as we all know, was super awesome and changed the face of television forever. Nine members of the cast of Twin Peaks – including David Duchovny in his unforgettable turn as a transvestite DEA agent – later appeared on The X-Files. Richard Beymer (Tony from West Side Story and Ben Horne from TP) appeared on the show. Don S. Davis (Bobby Briggs’ father on TP) played Scully’s dad. Michael J. Anderson, aka The Man From Another Place (the dancing, reverse-speaking dwarf), appeared in the episode “Humbug” that was mentioned in the article. Anderson was also later on the short-lived but critically acclaimed supernatural HBO show Carnivale.

The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., which aired the hour
before The X-Files, was co-created by executive producer Carlton Cuse, one of the showrunners for Lost. Like many other shows we have discussed, Brisco County is highly multi-genred, combining buddy comedy, sci-fi, Western, and drama. Brisco was initially seen as more promising than The X-Files, but it was cancelled after 27 episodes. Starring Bruce Campbell of Evil Dead, the show developed a cult following, featuring odd guest stars such as Timothy Leary parodying himself. How postmodern! Brisco’s other co-creator, Jeffrey Boam, worked on HBO’s Tales From the Crypt, a horror anthology series in the vein of The Twilight Zone that ran from 1989-1996 and also featured appearances by cast members from other supernatural shows, like Miguel Ferrer and Kyle McLachlan (who also directed an episode of Crypt) from Twin Peaks.

After the success of X-Files, Chris Carter created a new show, Millennium, which aired from 1996-1999 on Fox. The show was critically acclaimed but did not last long, yet it propelled further the career of Terry O’Quinn, best known for his role as John Locke in ABC’s Lost. Conceived as a more mature companion series to X-Files, Millennium was set in the years approaching the new millennium and was compared to the film Seven. A crossover episode with The X-Files (which was mentioned in the article) occurred after the show ended.

All of these shows connect, influence, and allude to one another, much like the characters on Twin Peaks and Lost all interconnect. In interviews, Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, the executive producers of Lost, compare themselves to Scully and Mulder, Lindelof being the empirically-minded one and Cuse willing to leap beyond logic. This is reflected in the Scully-and-Mulder-like tension (without the sexual part) between Jack Shepard and Locke.

This interconnectivity and allusiveness of this "web" is highly postmodern, on a much larger scale than we see within the individual shows. When you look at it this way, it’s easy to understand the “geek culture” that becomes associated with a lot of these shows. A loyal fan base can be recruited by facilitating a search for clues, connections, and answers. As postmodern subjects, we strive to make sense of the complexities of the world as well as the media we consume. Thus, it's people like us who can provide the cult status shows like these need in order to stay on the air. (Or in my case, if it's too late, to catch them on DVD.)

Zombies and Werewolves and Killers, Oh My! - The Monster of the Week

2008-03-19T22:11:00.000-07:00

So I was floating around the internet after reading the X-Files article, reading whatever I could find. I became obsessed with what appears to be a pronounced divide and unresolvable conflict in the fandom of the show: Which do you prefer, the serial storyline episodes about alien abductions and government conspiracies, or the Monster-of-the-Week episodes with a new baddy to battle in each story? Personally, when it comes to the X-Files, I prefer the big picture, even though it is the minority of the episodes (according to the article, only 61 out of the 182 episodes followed the mythology arc). However, as a Cartoon addict, I must profess that I prefer the fresh, adventure feel of the new-creature-each-week type of storytelling that is most often used by animated programs (which I am a professed fanatic).

The concept of the Monster-of-the-week (also known as “freak of the week,” which I prefer because, well, it rhymes) format is relatively straightforward and requires only a few loose conditions. First, the program in question must have an episodic format (self contained episodes within a larger story matrix). Second, there generally is a new antagonist each week, usually a one-shot character, appearing to confront the main characters and subsequently defeated, often never to be seen again.

Sometimes, these new creatures are simply tools being utilized as soldiers for the main, recurring adversary/adversaries. Probably the most notable use of this is in the Power Rangers franchise (known in Japan as the Super Sentai series). In Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, which catapulted the franchise into the lives of American children, the five Power Rangers battle a group of evil space aliens led by the witch Rita Repulsa, who creates a new super monster each week that terrorizes the earth until the Rangers destroy it (and also it’s giant form, where they utilize their giant robot Megazord to re-kill it). In these stories, even though there is a new threat to Earth every episode, there are still recognizable forces

behind the threat that can be identified.

Why is this format so popular? One word: syndication. Shows that are designed to be episodic with one-shot villains are more inductive to a television practice called “stripping.”

Let’s say, for example, that Captain Planet just got done stopping Dr. Blight from causing a nuclear reactor meltdown. After the initial broadcast of that episode, it will be leased to independent stations all over the world to be played whenever they wish to, and in whatever order they desire. The self-contained episode could easily be broadcast directly before an episode from two years earlier (where, say, Looten Plunder was attempting to hunt and poach an endangered species) without any real continuity or story conflicts.

So fear not, Batman: The Animated Series fans. The Joker, Penguin, Riddler, and Catwoman might be locked up in Arkham Asylum, but Clayface, The Scarecrow, The Ventriloquist, and Killer Croc are still out there, waiting for their week to entertain you. Pick your poison.

Brisco County Jr: Not Only an X-Files Lead In

2008-03-19T20:49:00.000-07:00

Growing up my parents were fairly obsessed with the X-files. So obsessed in fact that they banned me from watching it with them. It's selfish but in retrospect understandable; they didn't want to deal with my questions or fears while they were trying to enjoy their favorite bit of TV.

However, I was allowed to watch the show seen before the X-files, that was briefly mentioned in this weeks article, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. A western starring the extremely charismatic and handsome Bruce Campbell. Now, you might think that Joss Whedon was completely revolutionary when he sought to combine the western genre with Sci-Fi Fantasy, but our favorite Lost creator Carlton Cuse was doing this years before.

Brisco's narrative centers around an ex-lawyer turned bounty hunter seeking revenge for the murder of his father the Marshal, Brisco County Sr, by the criminal John Bly. Along the way Brisco Jr. meets up with the zany inventor Professor Wickwire, a chemist, physicist and experimentalist! The Professor constantly supplies Brisco with new inventions to aid him on his bounty hunts. One such invention is the amazing rocket car, which is a rocket converted to run on train track rails.

Most episodes feature either a new technological inventions (from motorcycles to denim jeans) or references to future fads (Elvis impersonators and sobriety tests). Brisco also referenced other TV shows on at the time, naming one character Dr. Quintano, medicine woman. Brisco is not only on the hunt for the the lawless but also "the coming thing." This "thing" is never named but embodied in these many advancements and discoveries. The numerous references to future events allows for a great amount of sarcastic and tongue in cheek humor.

Brisco County Jr. is yet another postmodern, self-referencing, genre crossing show. Like the X-Files, most weeks feature a new villain but they are all part of the same master story line. And like Twin Peaks, numerous genres are employed to tell the complete story. Bruce Campbell himself is a legend for his part in Sam Rami's Evil Dead films, and his cult following and acting style are responsible for the legacy that Brisco leaves.

Finally, a major plot in Brisco is the hunt for the Orb, which was discovered in a mining cave and gives the possessor superhuman strength and abilities. In one episode it is used to save Brisco's life and he begins the search for it when he realizes Bly and his gang may use it for evil. We later discover that the Orb is an electromagnetic wave particle net that harnesses energy captured from the space-time grid and it was sent to the old west from the future. Does this sound like anything else Cuse has had a hand in?

Basically, what I surmise from this is that Brisco County Jr. will to come to the future and save all the Losties just in the nick of time in true Brisco fashion. To read more click here!

Postmodernism? Where?!

2008-03-19T19:40:00.000-07:00

With Anime Boston just around the corner, it seemed appropriate to discuss anime for this post – it’s just good timing. To be honest, when I was reading the article “It’s the Libidinal Economy, Stupid: The X-Files and the Politics of Postmodern Desire” my mind kept connecting the concepts in the articles to the various Japanese animated programs that I am so fond of. Just for the record – anime is not cartoons.

I’m just going to pull a random anime out of my collection and see how it connects to the article. Ouran High School Host Club – a most interesting title, though not one that would be directly thought of as having supernatural themes, at least, not at the surface level. The only overtly supernatural element of the series is the school’s Black Magic Club, whose members are highly stereotypical. This can be taken as an attempt to parody other animes that are based out of schools that are outlandishly fantasy and out of the ordinary.

For example, the president of the Black Magic Club, Umehito Nekozawa, carries around a puppet that his family has worshipped as an image of a cat god. Nekozawa himself is commentary on the stereotypical vampire – he is allergic to light, sunlight especially is poisonous to him. For these reasons, he wears a long hooded black cloak over his school uniform – he even wears a black wig to cover his blonde hair. Though this is a postmodern look at the vampire, for the most part, vampires in animes don’t behave like Nekozawa (for example, Alucard and Seras Victoria from Hellsing).

Another group parodying another anime genre is the football club. In a school that is for the children of wealthy elitists, the football club seems out of place. Other than the various martial arts clubs, the football club is the only sports club we see in Ouran. They have an immense rivalry with the Host Club (more specifically, neither group understands why the other exists). This is typical of animes that revolve around a sports team – members of the team can never see beyond the boundaries of their own group, and they love to hate other teams (usually belonging to another school).

Ouran, like Twin Peaks and the X-Files has deep elements rooted in postmodernism. So don’t tell me ‘it’s just some cartoon’.

Forget the Aliens and the Supernatural. Its people that scare me

2008-03-19T19:32:00.000-07:00

After reading the article in class and seeing the pilot episode on Tuesday, I was reminded of the reasons why I enjoyed the X-files. It was not for the really impressive story lines, or the chracters that made you want to follow there adventures into the unknown. I realized the main reason why I liked the X-files so much was when I was a small child it used to terrify me, and to this day certain epsidoes still give me the creeps.

I also realized that the majority of the shows that frightened me so much had nothing to do with aliens, demons, or general supernatural beings or occurences. What really frightened me was the episodes that revolved around real people doing terrible things, or the graphic realistic gore showed. There are 3 episodes that come to my mind that always gave me the heebie jeebies.

The first one "Fire" way back in season one, where an assassin with pyrokinetic abilites takes out Brittish dignitaries in front of their families, burning them alive. The one scene that frightend me the most was when he was trying to burn the children alive, and Mulder had to save them. So the assassin sets the entire hallway on fire in a amazing use of Special Effects. I remember that scene so graphically with the kids screaming that I had nightmares of killers who would set me on fire.

We talked about in class how one of the reasons why The X-files was so good was its clinical depiction and graphic portrayal of violence and gore which brings me to my next scariest episode "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose". Mulder and Scully must go to various psychics to try to solve a murder spree. To me the episode itself was not too scary it was one actual moment in one scene. Clyde just trying to help his neighbor looks at her little dog. He then gets a flash and we see a shot of the same little dog graphically eating the womans intestines. The shot is less then 5 seconds but it was so graphic and disturbing, that to this day I can't watch this episode with out getting creeped out.

The last one that freaks me out is one we actually talked about in class, "Home". Home terrified me so much I couldn't watch it all the way through. I remember my brother told me not to watch this episode but I snuck back into his room to watch it anyway. The episode was so scary that when it got to the part where Mulder and Scully unrolls the full amputee mother on the cart she starts to scream, then I started screaming and ran out of the room and could not get to sleep. Besides the gruesome sight, what just terrified me after thinking about it was this was not aliens, or creatures these were people twisted twisted people and I knew that is scarier then any monster that could get me.

X-files is loved for so many reasons, but for me its because that even after all of these years it still sends shivers down my spine.

Do the means justify no end?

2008-03-19T19:27:00.000-07:00

I can't for the life of me remember why, but I watched the Series finale of X-Files. Having only ever seen a hand-full of episodes, This seems odd. I recall, however, being attracted to the show at the time. Enjoying it when I did watch it. Being intrigued by the mythology. But, never particularly caring enough to watch it. What I remember of that decision came in part from Fox's marketing. In which the "truth would finally be revealed". In retrospect this seems as if it was probably the only reason I took special care to watch the ending. Now, I Deduced, I will finally understand what's going on. Now, I will be there when the answers come out. Now, I will get to be in on everything, without having to go back to the beginning and watch every episode.

The truth would set me free.

Needless to say, I didn't know what the fuck was going on. I felt silly. I was let down. My master plan had been foiled. The next day at school my best friend (a die hard X-Phile) however, shared my discontent. He didn't know what happened either. I played along of course. It was better to appear as if I had seen every episode and had no idea why the show ended the way it did than admit to my posery. And while I still can't consider myself a true X-file fan, I at least am able to understand those who do geek out over the stuff's discontent with the ending. Unsatisfactory and Anti-climactic (So I have been told) the show resolved nothing.

Now, television seems to be a fickle mistress, and long running shows generally seem to hit their stride a few seasons in. And American television's need to continue a show until it runs out of steam generally leaves little spunk and fire for a finale. However, such things are needed, nay, demanded of in show such as X-Files by its oh-so obsessive fans. Closure is important, indeed.

The trend, unfortunately, just seems to be contrary to this notion. With the X-files and Twin Peaks both ending unsatisfactorily, one must question wither or not it is even possible to end a show, that lives on questions, with answers. These aren't movies after all, dealing with an one-hundred plus episode story arch just can't be easy to conclude.

This brings me, of course, to LOST. I can't tell you how many times I've been asked, "do you think there will be a satisfactory ending?" or "do they even know what they are doing?" and (sometime after a new episode is aired with a sigh and the undeniable sound of defeat in their voice), "They just keep bringing up more mysteries... when will we get answers?" Now, I have seen every episode of Lost, and the thing that just keeps pulling me back is the desperate hope that every one of my questions will be answered, and in a satisfactory and awe-inspiring way. I absolutely must understand four-toed statues and smoke monsters, invisible bearded cabin dwellers and Numbers. If I don't get my answers, the last 5 years of my television watching life will have been in vain.

But, somewhere in the back of my mind, a very quiet voice is preparing me for let down. Because, ending or no, there will be discontent. There will be arguing. There will be discussion and engagement. And you have to ask yourself, if I have invested this much already into the questions, why aren't my answers just as valid. Lynch suggested that having no ending to Twin peaks was a more satisfactory conclusion, the ambiguity and the speculation leave more to the audience. And, wither or not this was truly intentional, mysteries left unsolved do leave a lingering attachment. A story un-concluded just begs to be re-visited and poured over, looking for that little clue that will put you ahead and bring you closer to your answers.

One wonders if inconclusive endings are just secret cover-up marketing campaigns to boost DVD sales.

Nevertheless there is something fun to it, despite its cop out appearance. More importantly it gives us a reason to argue and moan, which, seems to be as good a goal as any for a piece of fiction to exist.

THE DAWN OF THE FANSITE, THANKS POSTMODERNISM

2008-03-19T19:15:00.000-07:00

In the beginning, there was Twin Peaks....and it was good. It was a Postmodern show that got people talking. It caused people to take an interest in what they were seeing. It forced them to use their minds. Leaving questions unanswered, endings open marking the dawn of a new age in postmodernist TV programming. It had all the makings of a David “Lynchian” masterpiece, meta references, genre blending, gender bending and confusing plots. Fans of the show couldn't get enough. This spawned the ultimate in fandom....the fanzine. A periodical dedicated to the universe of the show. But it was short lived. The show was canceled and never had the chance to fully develop.

This was not the case for Twin Peaks successor The X-Files, a program heavily influenced by Twin Peaks even using the same themes of the unknown. But how did a show with such little commercial appeal at the start succeed while using many of the same Postmodernist style and ideas. The answer lies in the vast cyberspace of the Internet. (Strange TV)

Sure "the man" would lead you to believe that the internet was created for the sharing of free information, but we all know that in actuality it was created so sci-fi fans could zing each other anonymously behind handles such as Scullyslave62, as well as discuss their favorite shows. The internet and the X-Files arrived on the scene at the perfect time. The X-File’s tech savvy 90’s audience had this new found ability to communicate and blog on what is now known as the Fansite. The internet in general allowed for the pinnacle of postmodern TV. Creators were allowed to extend their universe beyond the fictional small screen. Enacting alternate storylines, interacting with fans themselves, breaking down that fourth wall in essence marking the pinnacle of Postmodern in TV.

In 1993 this was something that was brand new. A common plane where X-Philes could freely mingle with each other from the comfort of their own Lazy-Boys. Perhaps if Twin Peaks had the advantage of such a communal meeting place such as the internet it could have had a better shot.

Today The Fansite has allowed shows that function outside the realm of normal TV to flourish. The most notable fan following is in the realm of Joss Wheadon at his fan site http://whedonesque.com/. Where fans are going beyond the show and now divulging into his life.

Fans of lost have now taken a hold of the the wikipedia software and developed an encyclopedia of fan information on everything from character bio’s all the way to every theory ever thought by the fan base. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lostpedia

So while it’s my theory that the internet is what allowed the X-Files to truly become the hit it became, what it boils down too is the X-Files was able to set itself apart from failed programs such as Twin Peaks due to the fact that while the material was Post Modern fantastic, it constantly remained buried in the realm of the real. It kept grounded. (Strange TV 123)

Booker, M. Keith. Strange TV Innovative Television Series from The Twilight Zone to The X-Files. December 30, 2002. Greenwood Press.

Lost in Postmodernism

2008-03-19T17:07:00.000-07:00

I never really got into the X-Files when I was growing up. I did see the X-Files movie, which I enjoyed even with only a basic understanding of the show, although surely I would have got more of the inside fan stuff if I watched the show.

While reading the article It’s the Libidinal Economy, Stupid: The X-Files and the Politics of Postmodern Desire I was continually reminded of the show Lost, a show I have become fairly obsessive with over the past year. It seems to me that there are some striking parallels between the two shows as postmodern television programs.

Speaking “postmodernly”, the format of Lost allows for many television references, both inside and outside of the show. The flashbacks of the characters that take place during each episode allow the writers to delve into varying television genres. Just as it seems The X-Files lends itself to self-reference to itself as a TV show and other genres of shows that have existed since television was invented.

The multitude of characters on the show often allows each flashback to parody different genres of television. Commonly the show will veer into medical, courtroom, family-melodrama, fugitive, or comedic farce in the flashbacks of particular characters on the show.

In addition to referencing familiar television norms, Lost in later seasons will reference itself in ways akin to The X-Files. The “Jose Chung” episode of The X-Files referred to in the article reminded me of many aspects of Lost. In particular the Rashomon motif in Lost, which provides the audience with new views and intricacies from the crash scene that began the series.

One particular episode of Lost in the third season called “Expose” parodied the show itself. While generally considered one of the worst episodes by fans, including myself, it defiantly used postmodernism as its’ basis. In this episode we see the death of two basically unknown characters, which were introduced earlier in the season and then not heard from for weeks. The show begins with one of their deaths and the characters on the island commenting on how they had no idea who these people were. Referencing the fans of Lost own confusion of who these characters were.

The episode also has a flashback explaining the entire linage of these two characters arrival on the island, in the Rashomon manner, showing how they had been on the island all along despite never being major players in the plot.

Before arriving on the island, the female character Nikki is revealed to be a television actress who is killed as a guest star on a show called “Expose.” She comments to the director of the show that everyone knows what happens to guest stars on TV shows. This whole exchange and exercise of self-reference foreshadows her death as a guest star on Lost.

Considering that the storyline of these characters had little to do with the storyarc of the season and the mytharc of the entire series, it seemed to only serve as an outlet for the writers to parody themselves and the nature of the show Lost.

Check out lostpedia for more info! Fansites!

Mulder and Scully: Their Unresolved Sexual Tension Is Killing Me!

2008-03-19T16:47:00.000-07:00

In the X-Files article, the author briefly touches upon the subject of the somewhat sexual relationship occurring between our two favorite agents, Mulder and Scully. This formula is nothing new to writers, especially those who want to keep an audience literally hanging on to their seats to see what will really happen between the two, if anything. The sexual tension is on! And oh boy, do we want to see it. Is it the creepy voyeur in us all? Or is it our preconceived notions of "pretty women and hot man... why aren't they doing the nasty?" getting in the way of their casework investigations and our desire to see their private lives get steamy.

The media cashed in on this concept with a very sexual issue of Rolling Stone that featured the twosome in bed (naked!) and made our slash-fiction wet dreams come alive, at least in a fictional way. I won't use examples to explore this issue presented in the show because we all know what I'm talking about. Instead, I will use examples from other shows to explore these preconceived notions that make us want and NEED them to take their relationship to the next step.

Take for instance, That 70's Show (98'). We all wanted Donna and Eric to get together. Why wouldn't we? The writers made us wait two seasons to see the action and it was well worth the wait. This remained a constant joke throughout the show and many story lines revolved around their quirky, "are they or aren't they", relationship. Another example, and I doubt that anyone has ever linked this show to the X-Files, is Saved by the Bell (89'). Who doesn't remember the ever so popular Zach Morris and Kelly Kapowski? Who the writers paired together just to satisfy our desires of the popular guy and the pretty cheerleader finally being brought together. Their antics entertained us for four years and in the end they eventually got married, (Woot!).

Even Buffy the Vampire Slayer (97') couldn't resist this formula. First introduced as the bad vampire guy, "William the Bloody", Spike always had a special fondness for Buffy and in season four they finally gave way to their feelings. This is, after the installed chip in his head that left him a useless vampire who couldn't harm the innocents. Although their relationship didn't last, due to the fact that he died to save the Scooby Gang and everyone else in Sunnydale. Their relationship (referred to as "Spuffy") pleased the fans because it was what they wanted and the writers of Buffy were all about listening to the fans and intergrading their ideas into the series.

More info is located here about unresolved sexual tension ("UST") presented in television and movies.

Story Arcs Leading to Addicted Fans

2008-03-19T14:24:00.000-07:00

well first off if anyone was interested I found all the transcripts of the show here. I was just searching and I found that, it seemed pretty cool.

I really am lost at what to say here. I dont know the show well enough to get deeply into a topic. When reading the article I found the term Mytharc to be appealing. So I have been searching google for anything I might find about mytharcs. At one site I learned all about the Lone Gunmen and all they want to do is know the truth. So these three guys will go at any cost to find this truth and expose it to the media. When I think about government conspiracies I immediately think of Alias. This show I watched religiously and that was basically the whole show how the government was hiding all these horrible things. I dont know if that alone allows the term Mytharc to suggest what Alias is, but there was definately a story arc to the show. It needed to be watched weekly in order to understand it. As for shows like Buffy and Charmed, well they had the mythology behind it, they had the monster-of-the-week episodes.

All of these shows that I have mentioned have a huge following. The fan fiction is extrodinary. Each show X-files, Alias, Buffy, and Charmed can all be found easily and in all languages. People become pretty obsessive about their TV shows. Shows that provide lots of questioning and hardly any answers will probably gain a greater response from the fans becuase there is so much to talk about. Everyone likes to share their thoughts about their show, and they want to hear what other people think. That has to be why Fan Fiction is so popular. I haven't ever read it, but who knows I might start becuase some things looked appealing to me! Anyways, the more the views get involved with the characters and the story line the more theories and ideas will be evolved ending with endless websites dedicated to all these shows that have appealing story arcs.

The Truth is out there and Josh Gates is going to find it.

2008-03-16T20:33:00.000-07:00

After reading The X-Files article, I was inspired by the idea of the search for the truth and thought to bring up a paranormal documentary television show that is well worth checking out.

Being an avid fan of the Sci Fi channel series Ghost Hunters, it was hard to miss the show advertised for the following time slot, Destination Truth. The show documents host Josh Gates as he searches the lesser-known places of the earth for evidence relating to world famous and local legends. From the Chilean Chupacabra to the Mongolian Death Worm, Gates and his team of people, and their high tech equipment, go marching through jungles in search of the truth.

Initially I had very little interest in the show. The actual content wasn’t something I wanted to learn about and documentary/reality TV has constantly disappointed me. It was when Josh Gates guest hosted on this years Halloween edition of Ghost Hunters and guest investigated on an episode of Ghost Hunters International that I was really interested in watching the show and the reason I’m highly recommending it to everyone in the class. Josh Gates fabulously hilarious. I tuned in for an episode with my cousin and not only did we learn some interesting facts about the South African Tokeloshe, like its diet of choice: sour milk, but were highly entertained throughout the entirety of the show. Gates’ personality makes a great television show out of something that could have been dreadfully boring. His humor, persistence with the locals, and for merit of the show, thoroughness of his investigations, lead the audience on a grand adventure through countries I doubt anyone will be visiting any time soon.

Recently the show made a huge break through regarding the Yeti legend. Gates and his team found large unexplainable footprints in the wilderness of Katmandu. Brief, but national coverage was given to the find, this being one of the many articles covering the discovery. However, Gates is not quick to jump to conclusions, he admits that they found something, but as to whether or not it is an actual Yeti print, he believes is inconclusive.

Destination Truth is a great show to sit down and enjoy. It asks the audience to really wonder if these legends could really exist in these unexplored territories. Even if you aren’t interested in learning about Cambodia’s Wild Man on this week’s upcoming episode, Gates himself is well worth tuning in for. The show airs Wednesdays at 10pm on the Sci Fi channel.