Futurama/X-Men Mash Up

I love pop culture fan art like this. This is in imaginative look at Futurama if they were the X-Men. I like the idea of Captain Zapp Brannigan as Magneto, since he's definitely the villain.

[ThinkHero]

(GUEST POST) Comic-Con: Animation Domination Panels

By Kevin Taylor (@tayke2)


Family Guy Panel
The first part of the animation domination portion of the TV panels, the Family Guy panel was very entertaining. They started off showing 9 minutes of their straight to DVD release of their “Return of the Jedi” spoof coming out in December. It looks pretty hilarious and something I’ll definitely wanna check out. The panel included a few of the writers/producers, and some actors: Seth Macfarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth Green, and Patrick Warburton. The highlight of the Q&A was Warburton sharing a story of losing a golf bet with his friend and having to eat a brand of dog food that was later linked to mad cow disease, so he’s worried that he could die at any minute. Other then that, there wasn’t a whole lot of great stuff, except for Macfarline singing the “Down Syndrome Girl” song at the podium. That was pretty cool.


The Cleveland Show Panel
I only saw this panel cause it was between Family Guy and Futurama. I really had no desire to see any of this, and when they showed a 6 minute package real of the 2nd season, I did my best to not laugh at anything out of principle. I only laughed once and it was when they were on a plane to Africa. When Cleveland Jr. walked by, Cleveland said “Hey Junior, You know we are going to see our ancestry and where you came from.” And Junior responded, “no way dad I thought I was fucking Scottish.” After that, the panel, including Macfarlane, Jamie Kennedy, Mike Henry, Sanaa Lathan, Kevin Michael Richardson, and a few of the writers, did a script reading of a scene shot at Comic Con that was ok. Overall, a panel to forget for a show to forget.

Futurama Panel
The creators of the show, Matt Groening and David X Cohen were there, along with most of the cast, including Billy West, who voices Fry, the Doctor, and several others, Katey Sagal, who voices Leela, John Dimaggio, Bender, Maurice LaMarche, and Phil Lamarr, who voices Hermes. They showed a scene from Comic Con that they animated, which I thought was funny cause it basically made Cleveland Show look lazy. They also did a table reading themselves of a show that will air next summer, and the creators confessed that this upcoming episode is probably their favorite one they’ve created.

Futurama Returns Tonight!

I'm excited for the return of one of my favorite animated series: Futurama! The show went off the air years ago, but similar to Family Guy it proved too popular to fade away quietly. With stellar DVD sales and a resurgance of fans thanks to Adult Swim, Futurama is back and hopefully just as smart and hilarious.

Watch a sneak peek from tonight's episode below:

Tune in to Comedy Central tonight at 10pm EST/PST.

Recap of Futurama

Futurama	Weeknights, 9p/8c
Recap-O-Rama
www.comedycentral.com
Futurama New Episodes Futurama New Episodes Ugly Americans

Before the series returns on June 24, watch the video above to get a quick recap of what has happened so far. 

2010 Spring Television Wrap Up

The spring television season is over (only Glee is left to finish out its season in the coming weeks) so it’s time to take stock of how it all played out.

Mondays
How I Met Your Mother – After the 100th episode (Girls vs. Suits) the show really took a nosedive in terms of quality. The jokes weren’t as fresh or funny and they made absolutely no progress with the mother. The cliffhanger rests solely on Marshall and Lily’s shoulders with the decision to start trying to have a baby. The season’s cliffhanger is not even an event! It’s a decision to try to something. I’m still going to tune in next season, but I really hope it gets better and starts moving forward towards the mother or I may not want to stick through another rough patch.

Chuck – Another great season of Chuck in the bag! While it had it’s low points, a lot of that can be chalked up to the fact that the show had created a full 13 episode story and then had to scramble to tack on 6 more after The Jay Leno Show failed and they needed to fill their schedule. The show tried to go down a darker road and didn’t always succeed, but I admire it for trying. And while the Shaw storyline was annoying and unsatisfying, it actually made his eventual turn to the villain all the more engrossing. Without that initial shaky period, the season finale would not have packed as much of a punch.

Tuesdays
Lost – The entire season threw the audience for a loop with the “Flash-Sideways” storyline. We followed along not knowing how the two storylines could co-exist within one show and were rewarded (or not depending on how you felt about the finale) with a resolution. Many mysteries will never be solved, but I feel satisfied with the emotional and character story arcs.

Glee – For the second half of the season, Glee kicked up the music quotient and I think it suffered for it. There were many episodes that felt like a slip of a plot held together only by distracting you with a song and dance, none more exemplified this than this week’s “Funk” episode. There were some strong episodes like “Dream On” and “The Power of Madonna” so they have the potential to be great with just a many songs. I hope the season finale is as strong as their fall finale was. Either way, we’re in for at least two more seasons of the show since it’s already been picked up for a 3rd season despite not even finishing its first.

V – While the first half of the season was pretty lackluster, the show picked up when it returned from hiatus. I’m not sure if I’ll stick through until next season though because it doesn’t come back until midseason.

Wednesdays
America’s Next Top Model – The show has been going on for so long that, really, what more can I said? It’s formulaic and predictable, but I still tune in and enjoy it. I’ll be tuning in until there’s nothing to tune in to anymore.

Modern Family – My favorite show on air right now. Hilarious and heart-warming without being schmaltzy, most of the time. I hope they can keep it up during the 2nd season. While it doesn’t win the awards that Glee has, but I feel it’s more consistent and just over all a better written show.

Cougar Town – While I initially was skeptical of the show for its title and Courtney Cox’s Jules was kind of annoying. But as the show progressed it found its voice and balance. I don’t know if they’ll change the title to reflect this new balance, but I know I’ll be watching regardless of its title.

Happy Town – What a disappointment that was. I hope Amy Acker finds a project worthy of her talent. If you’re one of the few who liked it, they’ll be airing the remaining episodes this summer.

Thursdays
FlashForward – What started with such promise quickly started to disappoint with superficial characters and storylines that didn’t always make sense. It had one some considered the worst series finale ever, since it ended exactly how it began.

The Vampire Diaries – I love this show far more than I should feel comfortable saying. It keeps me guessing on what’s going to happen next. The story moves at rocket speed and the chemistry between the three leads makes for a very convincing love triangle. I love the flashbacks and period costumes; I love the friendships and relationships; I love the soundtrack. It had one of the best season finales with a twist and cliffhanger that I couldn’t predict.

The Office – Maybe it’s the addition of new, really funny sitcoms like Modern Family and Cougar Town, but I’m finding I like this show less and less. It’s been diving more into the uncomfortably awkward territory, rather than the hilariously awkward it excelled at previous seasons. It’s rumored to be Steve Carrel’s last season next season and I would be perfectly fine with that being the end of the series. While the show has a strong supporting cast, I just don’t see it going on without Michael Scott.

Fridays
Caprica – While it took a while for me to warm up to the BSG prequel, it definitely had me hooked by the time it went on hiatus. It explores technology and theology in interesting storylines that build realistic characters. While doing a fair bit of techno-babble, it also makes it all seem meaningful and still understandable. The show is just smart! We’re only halfway through the first season and I hope it gains more viewers so it can stick around a while longer.

Sundays
Family Guy – I no longer have any motivation to consistently tune in to this show. The episode where the entire half hour was spent abusing an unconscious Stewie just for the “pay-off” of Lois and Peter having the same idea on how to hide his injury was just not funny, no where near as funny as a joke needed to be to redeem that episode. It had a great season premiere but every other episode has been either forgettable or so bad that I feel like I wasted my time. With South Park and the return of Futurama, I don’t know if I’ll be putting in the time to keep up with this show. If my roommates keep up with it, I probably will too.

And with that, so ends the 2010 midseason television season. What did you all think? Are you as glad as I am to see FlashForward and Happy Town go? As disappointed with how the 2nd half of Glee as I am? Or as happily surprised by Capira? Let me know in the comments!

2010 Summer TV Premieres and Schedule

Summer TV is a slow time for the medium, filled with reality and reruns. However, in the past few years more networks have been getting into summer scripted shows and the cable shows are becoming top quality themselves.

Check below for the cable summer premiere schedule from The Hollywood Reporter.
For the broadcast schedule, check it out over here HERE.


June 3
Burn Notice (USA), 9 p.m.
Royal Pains (USA), 10 p.m.
June 6
The Hard Times of RJ Berger (MTV), 10 p.m.
Drop Dead Diva (Lifetime), 9 p.m.

June 8
Pretty Little Liars (ABC Family), 8 p.m.
  June 13
True Blood (HBO), 9 p.m.
June 15
Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List (Bravo), 9 p.m.
June 16
Top Chef (Bravo), 9 p.m.
June 20
Leverage (TNT), 9 p.m.
June 22
Hawthorne (TNT), 9 p.m.
Memphis Beat (TNT), 10 p.m.

June 24
Futurama (Comedy Central), 10 p.m. 
June 27
Hung (HBO), 10 p.m.
Entourage (HBO), 10:30 p.m.
June 29
Rescue Me (FX), 10 p.m.
Louie (FX), 11 p.m.
July 9
Eureka (Syfy), 9 p.m.
July 11
Children's Hospital (Adult Swim), 10:30 p.m.
July 12
The Closer (TNT), 9 p.m.
July 13
White Collar (USA), 9 p.m.
Covert Affairs (USA), 10 p.m.

July 14
Psych (USA), 10 p.m.
July 24
Being Human (BBC America)
July 25
Mad Men (AMC), 10 p.m.
My Boys (TBS),
Aug. 1
Rubicon (AMC)
Aug. 16
Weeds (Showtime), 10 p.m.
The Big C (Showtime), 10:30 p.m.
Aug. 17
Melissa & Joey (ABC Family), 8 p.m.
Aug. 20
Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town (IFC)

What summer shows will you be watching? I'm definitely watching Mad Men and Psych, but will also be checking out The Gates and Pretty Little Liars. The show I've been eagerly anticipating is an old one that I've missed so much - Futurama! My favorite of the cartoons-for-adults genre (The Simpsons, Family Guy, Venture Bros., etc) is back after being prematurely canceled and then briefly resurrected for TV movies. Now it's back to form with a series order from Comedy Central and hopefully can live up to the standard it set the first time around.

What summer shows will you be watching? Or do you chose to spend your summers catching up on good TV you missed the first time around (Six Feet Under, The Wire, Sopranos, etc)?

Futurama: First New Teaser Trailer

Thank you Comedy Central, for bringing this show back from the grave!

[via io9]