One of the unintended consequnces of the writer’s strike last year (for the record, I was for the writers), was the opportunity for creative people to create content on the web that had a better chance of being discovered. Though the strike’s effects will be discussed for years, I’m not sure it was the best idea for the people who finance content creation (the studios and networks) to lock their doors when YouTube’s doors were wide open.

The strike is over, of course, but the non-traditional TV concept was proven, and is starting to thrive. Two really excellent examples of creative people creating compelling content are Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and The Guild (both star Felicia Day). Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion, both big stars in the “traditional media” world round out the cast of Dr. Horrible, and though I don’t recognize any of the other Guild regulars, they’re outstanding.

Buy Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog on iTunes, and watch The Guild free from their site or YouTube.

I absolutely love them both. The monopoly that the Hollywood “machine” has over video entertaining is evaporating. Shows like The Guild and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog make this very clear.

Cross-posted on KevinGossett.com, NGDGU.com and my blog on KEZ999.com.

The Fox television show House is the one show I was pining for during the writer’s strike. I’ve got the whole series on DVD/iTunes Download and am really looking forward to new episodes. I realized early on that the reason for my love of the show isn’t that it’s a medical drama - I’m not a fan of those, but rather that it’s a re-imagining of my favorite fictional hero, Sherlock Holmes.

They’re not shy about this, either. Holmes’ famous address is, of course, 221b Baker Street. House’s address is “221″ and his apartment is unit “B.” Like Holmes, House (see the naming similarity, too? “House,” “Holmes” - a house is, after all a home) is a lonely bachelor with a lost love, his sidekick is Dr. WILSON (Holmes’ is Dr. WATSON). Of course they’re both addicted to Opiates, as well - Holmes the straight Opium which was a real problem in turn of the century England while House has his Vicodin, an opiate based analgesic. I could go on. But I won’t. Even the creators of the show admit House is Holmes.

Growing up in the 70s, I couldn’t have cared less for Marcus Welby or Dr. Gannon of Medical Center. House/Holmes though? It makes medicine interesting, even if the show plays fast and loose with the facts. Like House, I don’t really want to get involved in the human stories of medical treatment. I like the puzzles.

So, given all that, and the fact that given the natural process of aging in myself and my parents, medical treatment is becoming a bigger and bigger part of my life, I realized this morning that I’ve learned 4 basic things from House.

1. Opiates can be really, really bad.

2. Doctors make mistakes.

3. Everyone lies.

4 Opiates can be really, really good.

Oh, and by the way, I took this quiz, and “stuck that primo! How rad am I?”

True fans will get the reference.

Saw the movie Jumper last night, and was one of the throng who made it #1 in the weekend box office results. All in all, it wasn’t the worst movie I’d seen recently (I gave up watching Ocean’s 13 DVD about 2/3 of way through. Ridiculous movie.

But Jumper was far from the best I’d seen recently. In fact, it didn’t come close to matching up to the excellent pair of books written by Steven Gould it’s “based” on, Jumper and Reflex, both of which are simply really, really good books, and recommended to me, by the way by new Dad Cory Doctrow. But I’m not all that disappointed in the movie either, since it should prove to be a great earner for Gould, provided his agent got a decent rights deal for the movie and the television spinoff the movie sets up.

Oh yes, no doubt about that. The Producers have set up a Highlander, Buffy style spinoff that may well be successful. The Highlander comparison was one I sensed just from the trailer, and confirmed in the mostly empty, with scattered 24 year old men sitting here and there, theatre. Here it is:

Highlander: The Series (of which I’m a fan, by the way): Immortals, secretly among us and pursued by an equally secret sect of “Watchers,” who track and in some rogue cases, kill the Immortals. The Immortals have a weakness. Being beheaded ends their lives, permanent-like. The main character, Duncan MacLeod, has as a close friend, Watcher Joe Dawson, who secretly helps MacLeod, at risk to himself and his standing in the Watchers. Action ensues. And a successful catalog as well.

Jumper: The Series (of which I may well become a fan): Jumpers, secretly among us and pursued by an equally secret sect of “Palladins,” who track and in some rogue cases DON’T kill the Jumpers. The Jumpers have a weakness. Being shocked with electricity disables their ability to jump. The main character, David Rice, discovers his mother is a Palladin, who secretly helps David, at risk to herself and her standing in the Palladins. Action ensues. And (probably) a successful catalog as well.

I think the people behind Highlander: The Series have made a lot of money, and I’m glad, because for the most part, it was a very good show with a lot of depth. It extended the film nicely, with the exception of the most recent movie, which is apparently without merit.

Technorati Tags:
Television, Movies, Highland, Jumper

The show that CBS couldn’t kill, Jericho, returned for a short season last night. Good episode, if a little awkward and missing a couple important characters. Great to see an excellent show back on the air, though.

If you haven’t seen Jericho, it’s the story of a small town in Kansas dealing with the aftermath of a nuclear strike that brings the U.S. to its knees. The only question is who did it? Was it Iran and North Korea? Or an inside job?

The evidence points to an inside job, and it looks like the show has shifted from dealing with the loss of the outside world and all its comforts to the drama of a new, reformed government that the citizens of Jericho aren’t sure can be trusted.

Oh yea, and a little revenge side story as the main character, Jake decides whether or not he wants to kill the man who killed his father in a clash between Jericho and a neighboring town.

Technorati Tags:
Television, Jericho, Armageddon

Great episode of House about change. Can people change? Ever?

With no apologies (at least from me) to Stephen Covey, a great blog post for Sci-Fi fans of all ilk…7 Habits of Effective Spaceship Captains.

BTW, though I’ve mellowed a bit, I’m still a solid Picard man.

Tonight was a happy night for me. House, delayed as have been many shows by the writer’s strike, returned with a new episode. It was a good one, though seeing a Christmas episode at the end of January was a little strange. More good news, another new ep coming after the Superbowl on Sunday.

Also, fans of Jericho who brought the show back after CBS canceled it are joyous at its return on February 12. Count me among the joyous, by the way. It’s a short season, some 5 episodes, all in the can before the strike happened.