Once Upon a Geek

Be on the lookout for a new Doctor Who role-playing game soon from Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd.  Best estimate right now is that the game will be released in the first quarter of 2009 (only a few scant months away really).  Cubicle 7 is responsible for games such as SLA Industries, Starblazers Adventures, and Victoriana.

The game will be strictly focused on the current Doctor Who TV series (or NuWho as some people call it).  In order to include material from the original Doctor Who series (1963-1989), it would require an entirely different licensing agreement.  If this game is a success, I’m sure expansions including old series material would most likely follow.

The developers have finished their playtesting and are finalizing a few tweaks.  The format will be a box set with at least three books, one of which will be an Adventures Book.  There is lots of speculation as to what else will be included in the box set, but nothing has been announced yet.  We do know the developers hope to throw some cool perks into the box.  Personally, I’m excited about the box set format.  For years, most RPGs have been in sourcebook format.  Producing a box set harkens back to the early days of RPGs and makes me feel all nostalgic!

The really big hurdle in the near future is BBC approval.  While the BBC signed off on the deal conceptually, they still have to look at the finished product and give it their official stamp of approval.  I’ve heard that typically the BBC doesn’t care about game mechanics, but more about how their characters and properties are presented.  Based upon everything I’ve heard from the Cubicle 7 guys, I think their reverence of the source material will shine through into the game just fine.

Doctor Who RPGs have met with varied success (see FASA Doctor Who RPG and Time Lord), so naturally I’m skeptical as to how a new game would work.  Based upon everything I’ve read so far and what Cubicle 7 has developed in the past, I believe this will be a great RPG for Doctor Who.  I can’t wait.

Visit the Cubicle 7 Doctor Who RPG forum for discussion and announcements regarding the game.  You can also stay abreast by reading THE HEART OF THE TARDIS, the RPG developer’s blog for the new game.

You may have already read about this on THE UNIQUE GEEK listserv, but I just had to mention it here. I’m totally obsessed with this stupid Knight Rider GPS!  I don’t own a GPS, I don’t need a GPS, and I don’t particularly want a GPS because I either know where I’m going or I can read a map myself.  However, this Knight Rider GPS is soooooooooo tempting!

In case you haven’t heard, Mio is releasing a Knight Rider themed GPS to be sold exclusively through RadioShack.  What makes this particularly cool is the voice of the GPS belongs to William Daniels, the original voice of KITT from the 1980s Knight Rider TV show.  When I first heard about this GPS, I was guessing it would be Val Kilmer doing the voice since he currently does for the new Knight Rider series.  Therefore, I couldn’t care less because the new series isn’t all that great and I can’t stand Val Kilmer.  I’ve always felt that his acting is hollow and wooden.  Y’know, the more I think about it, him playing an emotionless computer sort of makes sense. 

Now that I know this GPS is voiced by William Daniels, I can’t get it out of my mind! In addition to his voice, there are LED lights along the left and right side that light up as the GPS speaks.  The lights are representative of the old voice box on Knight Rider (see image to the right for reference).  This GPS also comes with other bells and whistles such as antiglare touchscreen, and you can choose from over 150 male and female names (including Michael).

I’m curious if there are any “Easter egg”-like items in the GPS, for things such as “Turbo Boost” and “Super Pursuit Mode”.  That would be fun!

While I think this is one of the coolest geek toys of 2008, I just can’t see myself shelling out the $270.  That price tag is a little too steep for me, especially since I don’t really want a GPS anyway.

If you know me, then you know I love the TV show “Chuck”.  I didn’t watch much TV last season, but I sure as hell didn’t miss an episode of “Chuck”.  Funny, action-oriented, clever, geeky, and a beautiful Australian blond.  That’s a recipe for awesome.

The good news is that the season premiere of “Chuck” airs on NBC on Monday, September 29.  Check out the official NBC website for details. The even better news is that the season premiere can be seen online a week earlier (Monday, September 22) on Hulu.com according to the “Chuck Online” fansite.

If you haven’t seen these already… check out these cool, yet subtle costumes from Dragon*Con that I saw this year.

If you need something to tide you over until the season premiere, you can watch older episodes of Chuck online through NBC.com or Hulu.  Additionally, you can check out the “Chuck” comic book from Wildstorm (see an earlier post of mine for details).

Finally, here are a couple “Chuck” season two commercials to get you jazzed.

Don’t worry, it’s almost Friday.  Sometimes a Thursday just needs a little 1980’s cartoon action…

See, now didn’t that cheer you up a bit?  There are very few things that Bravestarr can’t make feel a little better.

FLASH WEEK continues here at ONCE UPON A GEEK…

Today I decided to highlight some of Flash’s exploits captured for television.

This first clip is probably the best TV Flash moment ever! It stars the Wally West Flash from the Justice League Unlimited episode “Divided We Fall”. The voice was provided by Michael Rosenbaum.

This next one is from “Justice League: New Frontier” starring the Barry Allen Flash.  The voice was provided by Neil Patrick Harris.  Yup, that’s Doogie playing the fastest man alive!

This next one is the opening of the 1960’s animated series.  If you play this one, be aware that the first few seconds are just a black screen.

The opening & closing credits from the 1990 live action “Flash” TV series starring John Wesley Shipp.  Love that Danny Elfman theme!

Here is a nice clip of Impulse on Smallville played by Kyle Gallner.

Normally I don’t go in for the fake music videos on YouTube, however, the following is a good one that showcase’s Kid Flash on the recent “Teen Titans” cartoon. The voice for Kid Flash was done by Michael Rosenbaum, the same guy who did the voice of the Flash on the Justice League cartoons.  By the way, an added bonus to watching this music video is that I didn’t have to suffer through an actual episode of “Teen Titans”. 

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t include a clip from the totally camp 1979 “Legend of the Superheroes”.  Wow, this is really terrible.

Sorry that I’m missing a few clips of the Flash, however, I have my reasons:

• I couldn’t find any decent video recordings to post that highlighted the Flash character in the “Justice League” live-action failed pilot from 1997.  However, here is an image of Kenny Johnston in costume from the show.  Be thankful this pilot failed.
• I was surprised that I wasn’t able to find any decent scenes starring the Flash from the Super Friends cartoons.  Very disappointed in that.
• I didn’t include the Flash appearance from ”Superman: The Animated Series” and/or “The Batman” cartoon.  I felt he was too similar to the Justice League version to merit posting a video of it here.

Enjoy!

Other than the Doctor Who dynasty of shows, I don’t watch much television.  However, there is one new show that I have totally fallen for in the past year… “Chuck” on NBC.  The show is about a computer geek who is catapulted into a new career as the government’s most vital secret. With the government’s most precious secrets in Chuck’s head, NSA’s John Casey and CIA’s Sarah Walker assume the responsibility of protecting him. The show is a mixture of action/adventure and sitcom, with just a dash of angsty romance.  Somehow they’ve hit upon a magical formula that just works.

If you haven’t seen the series, you can watch a few episodes (including the pilot) at the official NBC web site for Chuck.  The series features the hilarious and brilliant Zachary Levi as Chuck.  Sara Walker is played by one of the hottest women to come out of Australia, Yvonne Strahovski. John Casey is played by fantastic Adam Baldwin.  The supporting characters are also awesome (pun intended, if you watch the show)!

Recently Wildstorm comics started a six-issue mini-series based upon the show.  It’s being written by series co-executive producer Peter Johnson and series writer Zev Borow, so it’s not just some lousy throwaway spin-off.  The first issue came out last month (hopefully you can still find it in stores), while the second issue is slated to come out this week.  I felt that Issue #1 was well done.  Since its being written by people from the actual show, you get the sense that they got the characters “voices” right.  I love the homage to Gilligan’s Island in the beginning where Chuck plays Gilligan and his boss plays Skipper.  Funny stuff!  Also, some former Chuck adversaries make appearances in the comic, so that was fun.  Finally, there is a one-page back-up called “Captain Awesome’s Tips for Being Awesome!!”  That was great… or dare I say AWESOME!  All told, I think the comic mini-series is off to a good start.

There were also a few recent Hellboy II: The Golden Army commercials featuring Chuck.  Check them out below.

 Chuck hangs with Hellboy…

Better head to the Buy More…

If you can’t view the embedded videos, just head over to the official NBC web site for Chuck.

For all you “Aquaman” haters out there, a special request from me…  Please resist your natural instinct to simply skip reading this post.  The TV show was surprisingly good.  After reading this post, who knows… you might find yourself willing to give it a try.  C’mon, live a little!

Until the other day, I had never seen the live-action “Aquaman” failed pilot from 2006. Here was a show that conceptually should have been really bad. After all it spun-out of Smallville, was not picked up by WB/CW, and c’mon… it’s Aquaman. Let’s be realistic, even though I love the character, how good could a show be about a guy who can talk to fish, right? And if WB/CW turns you down, you know there must be issues.

The amazing thing is that it was actually pretty good. Well, at least as good as Smallville back when it was at its best. Even my wife enjoyed the pilot, expressing that she would watch further episodes if there had been any. This says a lot since she’s not a geek and typically doesn’t enjoy the same shows as me.

After seeing the Aquaman pilot, I’m surprised it didn’t get picked up by WB/CW. The formula for the show was similar to the popular Smallville: a likeable hunky hero with secret powers; a mysterious past even the hero isn’t fully aware of; lots of angsty scenes; strong supporting characters; good special effects; and beautiful women everywhere you turn. On that last note, having the show take place in the Florida Keys allows for a built-in mechanism to show girls in bikinis constantly. You’d think that would have resonated with the WB/CW execs. Even the proposed titles followed the formula; the working titles for this show were “Mercy Reef” and “Tempest Key”.

During season five of Smallville, they did an episode featuring Aquaman. Turns out that was the highest rated episode for the season. While the Aquaman pilot wasn’t exactly a spin-off from this episode of Smallville, it was inspired by it. For the Aquaman pilot, the creators kept some of the same concepts from the Smallville episode, but changed the character of A.C. around a bit and got a much better actor.

The basic premise is that A.C. (short for Arthur Curry) is able to breathe underwater, is extraordinarily strong, can sort of sense feelings from sea life (at least dolphins), and can swim at amazing speeds (we see him swimming and keeping pace with a fighter jet at one point). Though he makes efforts to protect the ocean and sea life from time to time, for the most part he’s a slacker with no direction. He’s in his late teens/early 20s and he’s passing time working in a bar and running a dive shop in Tempest Key, Florida. He’s been aware of his powers all his life, but was not aware where they stem from. By the end, he discovers that he’s an exiled Atlantean Prince and that his life will be full of danger now that his fellow Atlanteans know where to find him. He agrees to allow the local lighthouse keeper (also an exiled Atlantean) to help prepare him for the challenges to come.

There was a neat subplot hinted at in the pilot about the Bermuda Triangle and a possible connection to Atlantis. As viewers we were witness to a few people acting strangely that had apparently disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle decades ago, yet were back now and hadn’t aged a day. There was a FBI agent investigating these phenomena and he was trying to recruit a fighter pilot that A.C. had saved. Looks like this could have unfolded into an interesting plot.

The episode had a great cast. A.C. was played by Justin Hartley who later went on to star in Smallville as Oliver Queen (a.k.a. Green Arrow). Hartley really did an great job in all his scenes. Whether he was swimming underwater or above the surface, you could feel a connection with him. He was just as good as Tom Welling (Clark Kent in Smallville), if not better. A.C.’s adopted father was played by Lou Diamond Phillips; the lighthouse keeper and mentor was played by Ving Rhames; his best friend/co-worker was played by Amber McDonald; the investigating FBI agent was played by Rick Peters; and a potential love interest/fighter pilot was played by Denise Quiñones.

They did a good job drawing in elements of Aquaman’s comic book origin, while creating a new and fresh story. The writers of the show obviously cherry-picked the bits of Aquaman’s various comic book origins they wanted to use. For example:

• In the show, A.C. (as an infant) and his mother were found on Mercy Reef lost and with no identification. They were found by Tom Curry, Coast Guard Officer.
• In the silver age comic book origin, Aquaman’s mother was found by Tom Curry, lighthouse keeper. In the modern age comic book origin, Aquaman was left to die by the Atlanteans on Mercy Reef.

• In the show, A.C.’s mother was secretly the exiled Queen of Atlantis and he was the Prince. Eventually, Tom and A.C.’s mother are married, while Tom adopts A.C.. Later in life, the local lighthouse keeper agrees to mentor A.C. and help develop his abilities.
• In the silver age comic, Aquaman’s mother was also the exiled Queen of Atlantis. Tom and Aquaman’s mother do eventually marry and their offspring is Aquaman. In the modern day origin, a teenage Aquaman meets a lighthouse keeper who educates him in the ways of the surface world. This lighthouse keeper is named Arthur Curry.

One of the things I’ve always liked about Smallville is how Clark is always dressed in red and blue. This is done to provide almost a future echo to the viewers as the colors represent Superman’s costume. The same was done here with A.C. He’s always wearing green and orange. I know it’s a bit corny, but I love these kinds of comic book nods.

Funny aside… while the credits were rolling on Aquaman, my wife noticed the name Patrick A Duffy as a First Assistant Director. Well, if you know your Aquaman history, Patrick Duffy (from eventual “Dallas” fame) played in a TV show called “Man from Atlantis” which was basically a live action Aquaman TV show in the 1970s. Turns out the Patrick A. Duffy from the Aquaman pilot is a different guy than the Patrick Duffy from “Man from Atlantis”. Oh well. It still gave us a chuckle to think he would have been involved in this production.

Interestingly enough, the creators of the Aquaman pilot felt so strongly about it (even after being turned down by WB/CW) they released it via the web. It premiered on iTunes and was the most downloaded TV show for over a week. Additionally, it’s been released through other online platforms and done extremely well with those too. Pretty impressive for a guy who can talk to fish.

While there are no plans to pick up this show or concept again, it really merits watching. You can find it through a number of various methods. If you are a comics fan or ever enjoyed watching an episode of Smallville, I urge you to give this a try. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

A recent episode of Doctor Who entitled “Midnight” struck me as very reminiscent of an old Twilight Zone episode named “The Shelter“.  Both stories took place in a very confined place with a small cast in a dire situation.  As emotions ran high, the concept of human decency came into question.  I love high-energy, high-stress stories like these that tackle the human condition.

In “The Shelter”, a group of neighborhood friends argue over the right to be in a bomb shelter (truthfully the right to survive) as they believe nuclear missiles are soaring their way.   The family with the bomb shelter is locked inside while the other neighbors demand to be let in.  Arguments ensue and emotions become extraordinarily tense.  In desperation to survive, these neighbors are willing to sacrifice the feelings of others, the right to private property, friendship itself, and ultimately they submit to violence.  As the neighbors smash through the bomb shelter door, the air raid is called off as a false alarm.  Thus the former friends are forced to live with what they said, their actions, and somehow return to their normal lives.

In “Midnight”, a group of tourists trapped on a tour bus argue what to do when an unexplainable presence possesses one of their own.  The danger they face by being trapped is very real (immediate death by solar exposure if they open the door to the broken-down tour bus).  The question becomes: what do they do with their fellow tourist who is now possessed by the very creature that trapped them.  At least two people have already died, and the tourists believe they may be next.  As in “The Shelter”, the instinct to survive drives everyone to terrible choices.  While panic ensues, emotions boil over and the tourists decide to murder their fellow tourist who has become possessed.  Part of the drama in this scene comes from the fact that the tourists are about to kill the wrong person.  In the end, the tour hostess sacrifices herself to destroy the possessing entity.  Since its science fiction, the high tension level is blamed on the alien presence. However, the emotional impact of the story works just as well without the sci-fi excuse.  Again, the band of characters are forced to live with what they said, their actions, and somehow return to their normal lives.

Really great claustrophobic and frantic storytelling in both.  I’ve always believed that science fiction is at its best when it uses outlandish settings in contrast with very real, down-to-earth dramatic situations.  Check out both stories, definitely worth your time.

Here is another installment of KID WHO! This time we decided to watch the classic episode, “The Curse of Peladon“.

“Kid Who” features reviews of Doctor Who episodes from the perspective of a child. These short audio interviews are between myself and my eight-year old step-son.

You can play the audio file right here on the Once Upon a Geek site with the handy-dandy player below!  Running time 1 minute and 36 seconds.

If  you’re unable to play the file above, please download it here.

I thought a poll might be fun today!  So… who is your favorite actor to play “The Doctor” on Doctor Who?  I’m excluding David Tennant and Tom Baker from the poll because they always top the list of favorites.  This way, I thought you might have to work a littler harder to choose.

Please use the poll in the right-hand sidebar to vote.  If you are reading this blog on LiveJournal, please visit my main site to vote.

I’ve even added an option for people, like Serv, who would rather see Doctor Who die a slow and horrible death.