Learn Sign Language from Sanctuary’s Creature from the Black Lagoon

Bigfoot, a werewolf, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon walk into an episode of Sanctuary, and what do they do? Mostly, they trade sign language, perform mundane medical procedures, and wait for the episode’s true villain to emerge.

I’m not sure what I could have hoped for from this classic monster match-up — certainly not a cage match, but maybe abnormals playing poker? Alas, Sanctuary has not time for such frivolities. Our rubber-suited movie monster is Jack, a creature called a Plesky who has been living in captivity with werewolf Henry’s pal Rachel. Rachel has been socializing Jack and teaching him sign language; he’s basically like Koko the gorilla if Koko occasionally shot out deadly spores. Yes, Jack has shot his deadly, deadly spores into Rachel, who will die if Magnus and her team can’t find a cure.

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We review the 2009 sci-fi pilots you’ll never see

Just before every fall TV season begins, the excitement of new possibilities swirls through the air as we anticipate what new shows are in our future. That excitement fades once we realize that only a couple of shows are actually worthy and is dashed once we see promising shows like Eastwick and Dollhouse killed off.

So now that the cancellations have begun, let’s take a look at the season that might have been. Here are four pilots the networks passed on, with our take on whether they missed an opportunity to unleash something great (or even just mildly entertaining) on viewers:

Back, CBS
Boldy Going Nowhere, Fox
Captain Cook’s Extraordinary Atlas, ABC
No Heroics, ABC

More here

12 Sci-Fi Shows That Were Canceled Too Soon

Joss Whedon has become something of a tortured artist since ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ ended its highly successful seven-season run in 2003. Since Sunnydale was destroyed and ‘Angel’ got pulled right when it was finding its own identity post-’Buffy,’ Whedon has yet to find another long-running hit. It’s still hard to believe that a show as great as ‘Firefly’ only lasted one season!

Whedon’s bad luck continues with the recent announcement that Fox is pulling the plug on ‘Dollhouse,’ a series that had enough of a following — and potential — to warrant another season. Would ‘Dollhouse’ have really hit its stride further down the road? We’ll never know. Here are some other sci-fi television series that met their makers too soon.

‘Angel’
‘Bionic Woman’
‘Birds of Prey’
‘Brimstone’
‘Firefly’
‘Invasion’
‘Jericho’
‘The Lone Gunmen’
‘Millennium’
‘Star Trek: TOS’
‘Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles’
‘Tru Calling’

MORE HERE

Some of the Sci-Fi Pilots – it’s a shame we won’t ever see them. A few of them don’t sound that bad.

As for the shows that were canceled too soon, I at least agree with Angel, Firefly, Bionic Woman and Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Which pilots do you think would have been good shows?

And which of the canceled shows were your faves?

The Vampire Craze: An In Depth Analysis Of The Hottest Male Vampires

www.guidetobeautyschools.com:Vampires are sort of, what’s the word, in right now. I mean, if you haven’t been living in Antarctica this past year, you may have noticed a very obvious trend. Remember way back in the day when every guy wanted to be Neo from The Matrix because he had that cool trench coat and could do sweet flips? Those days are long gone. Today it’s all about fangs and an aversion to sunlight. Goth is back. Pale is the new tan. Here’s a countdown of the greatest, most stunning, most please-bite-me-now creatures of the night ever. I’ll tell you what works, what doesn’t work, and why I want – no, need – to be alone in a dark alley with them.

20. Stuart Townsend as Lestat in Queen of the Damned

He’s no Edward Cullen. Stuart Townsend plays Lestat not with boyish good looks and designer sunglasses, but with very pale features, long hair, and incredibly intense eyes. In fact, they may be a little hypnotic. Anne Rice’s Lestat is a bad ass. He’s a killer. He’s on the fringe of society, and unlike the soft and cuddly vampires we’ve become familiar with of late, he loves the taste of blood. I don’t care how sweet and innocent the girl, Lestat will never go vegetarian. Costume designers and make-up artists have managed to combine the bad boy image with obvious sex appeal. In mesh tops, black leather pants, and tattoos, here is the vampire you should probably never invite inside, but hey, if mistakes happen, at least you know you’ll die happy.And, if mesh tops and a lot of blood play just aren’t your thing (to each her own), maybe you’ll love his sexy French accent. There’s something to be said about a guy who can roll his r’s as well as Stuart Towsend.

5. David Boreanaz as Angel in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel

Even though he was kind of a stalker in the first season, Angel made girls around the United States swoon – myself included. Apparently David Boreanaz was only meant to appear in a select few episodes of the first season, but the overwhelming support from fans not only caused Joss Whedon to keep him in the series, but motivated him to create a spin-off TV show entitled, Angel. And who can blame him? Not only does Angel have one of the all time epic forbidden romances with vampire slayer Buffy Summers, he kicks major ass. With billowing black coats, very gelled hair, and an incredibly chiseled face, Angel is sort of the perfect male specimen. And while some may gripe that he sometimes loses his soul when he achieves perfect happiness, his evil, soulless, counterpart is even more entertaining to watch. To start with, he wears leather pants on a regular basis and becomes ten times more snarky. It’s not only fun to watch, it’ll convince you that the bad guys probably do have a lot more fun.

More here

And I won’t tell you who were the first three, hehehe. This list does have some of my favorite vampires and I loved the reason the writer gaved us What did you think of the list?

A bit of vampire history for your Halloween bash

www.baltimoresun.com: WARNING: This is gonna get gross.

The subject here is vampires. Sorry, but it’s that time of year. And this year bloodsuckin’ is … well … bloody, bloody hot.

Be still thy bleeding hearts.

Seems like prime time for a Hallowed Eve’s bash that’s drip-drop-drippin’ with the gory, the gross, the all-in-bloody-good-fun. Not even the Count himself would have counted on so many — young and old — being so bitten by this O-positive plunge.

This vampire thing goes back, all the way to antiquity. Old blood indeed. The trail begins in ancient Persia, where someone discovered a vase depicting a man struggling with a blood-sucking creature. The Aztecs, too, got in on the sanguineness, convinced that offering a victim’s blood ensured fertilization of the Earth.

In the mid-15th century, vampirism got a boost from Vlad Tepes Dracula, Prince of Wallachia, an ancient kingdom that’s now part of Romania. Ol’ Vlad — whose middle name, Tepes, means “Impaler” — is remembered as a bloodthirsty tyrant who ordered thousands of people impaled. Four centuries later Bram Stoker made him a poster boy for vampires with his 1897 “Dracula.”

More here

How many vampire history did you know?

CREEPY VAMPIRE TEETH PACIFIER

 www.geekologie.com: As if babies aren’t scary enough already, now you can get $7 vampire teeth pacifiers that make them look like they’re gonna suck blood instead of breast milk. No way — not from this teat!

Billy Bob pacifiers for babies with personality. You will receive this hilarious, Lil’ Vampire Billy Bob pacifier. It is brand new in manufacturers’ packaging.

More here.

OK, that is just plain frightening! Would you buy this as a gag gift for a preggers friend?

Has Vampire merchandise officially gone too far?

 CELEBRATING ANGEL’S 10TH ANNIVERSARY

www.sequentialtart.com: This column is dedicated to the memory of Andy Hallett (the actor behind the demon Lorne), who passed away earlier this year (and was only two weeks older than me — scary!). As column editor, I’ll start off our discussion ….

 But where do the hell do I start? There’s so many things that made this series one of the best to ever grace the small screen: a highly imaginative concept; intricately-woven stories with twists upon twists; deeply complicated characters; snappy and insightful dialogue; sets with character all their own (the hotel; demon karaoke club Caritas; the offices of Wolfram and Hart); well-crafted make-up and props; stunning special effects; brilliant acting … and to think I almost missed it all!

More here.

ZOMBIE WALK THE STREETS IN MICHIGAN AND MARYLAND!

www.delsquacho.com:  The fine folks at Zombie Walk Detroit figured out that, to motivate that apathetic, they’d need a hook. That hook: the walking dead. That’s right, they use the unholy power of necromancy for charity, which is pretty cool if you ask me.

This was the second zombie walk I’ve participated in. The first claimed over two hundred zombies, and raised enough money for over six thousand meals.

More here.

www.carrollcountytimes.com: Down Main Street they went, covered in fake blood and roaring at any inquisitive bystanders or passing cars.

 The third annual zombie walk was organized by Ruckus Productions, an independent horror film company that started in 2007. Zombies marched from the 140 Village Shopping Center to the Carroll Arts Center, finishing the day with a free screening of “Night of the Living Dead.”www.ruckusproductions.com, almost immediately and he hoped to have the film of this year’s walk up by Halloween.

Ruckus said pictures of the event would be up on their Web site,

And in addition to creating the film, this year Ruckus set up a canned food drive benefitting Carroll County Food Sunday.

More here.

These events look like a lot of fun!

Did you go to either event? Would you go?

newuniversity.org:

Generally, fans greet the cancellation of their beloved shows with shock, anger and disbelief. No television mogul may be more familiar with these feelings than Joss Whedon.

Whedon is the brain behind popular cult television shows “Angel,” “Firefly” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” All of the shows, according to him and his fans, were cancelled before they had a chance to fully flush out their stories. “Buffy” was forced off the air when its star, Sarah Michelle Gellar, refused to come back for an eighth season. With little warning, the show’s spin off, “Angel,” was quickly replaced with a reality TV show before it could produce its sixth season. “Firefly,” though critically acclaimed and with an extremely loyal fan base; was cancelled half-way through its first season.

Seeing the success that the X-Men spinoff comic has had, Whedon decided to move his most famous series, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” into the world of comic books.

Teaming up with Dark Horse Comics editor Scott Allie and artist Georges Jeanty, Whedon produced the first issue of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” on March 14, 2007. It was a direct continuation of the series, picking up a year and half after where it left off. Twenty-five issues were planned, one a month for just over two years.

The move became a phenomenal success. Fans instantly responded with joy to see their favorite characters once again, even if it was not on television. Critics applauded the use of the medium’s strengths. Stories could be told with no concern of budget restrictions, the only limit became Whedon’s imagination. Entertainment Weekly called it “One of the top 20 events of 2007.” The demand jumped from 25 issues to 40.

MORE HERE

I agree that too many of Joss Whedon’s shows have been forced out before their time – the best was yet to come. I have always been a fan of his work.

I’m glad that through comics, Buffy lives on. Have you read the Buffy comics?

Gerard McGarr, Unreality Shout;

Vampires have come a long way since those old Hammer Horror movies, haven’t they? I don’t quite recall when the change took place, but I suspect it might have been Buffy and Angel who introduced a more glamorous version of vampire relations to our generation.

OK, there were movie adaptations of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire, but Buffy suddenly brought vampires to a whole new audience – lovestruck teenagers.

Vegetarian Vampires……

Louis de Pointe du Lac establishing a vampire character who was horrified by his compulsion to drink blood – the first of the vegetarian vampires?

Louis was followed throughout the years by abstaining vamps such as Mick St John in Moonlight, the Cullen family in Twilight, and even integrationist vampires like Bill Compton in True Blood who drink synthetic blood.

Working Together, or Alone…..

Earlier vampire movies, undead would often work alone.

Read more HERE

I do agree vampires have changed over the years, but I think that’s a good thing if they didn’t change we would basically be reading the same story over and over again.

Do you read old or new vampire stories? Maybe you read both? Which do you prefer? Have vampires changed alot over the years?

iesb.net has an interview with Misha Collins about Supernatural: In 2008, Misha Collins joined the cast of the television series Supernatural as the character Castiel, an angel sent to Earth by God to release the series lead character Dean from Hell to fulfill a job. Q: So many times in contemporary society, people think of angels as being nice, fluffy, cupid type things, and forget that in religious texts, they were bad-asses. How do you feel about getting to portray that? Misha: I was really hoping that it was going to be a fluffy, winged, cherubic, sweet angel, maybe with hearts on his lapel. It’s too bad that I have to play a bad-ass, smiting angel. He’s scary and sexy, at the same time. I wish I didn’t have to do that, but it’s cool. I think it’s a much better version. Honestly, I don’t think they would have done the other version, except maybe for comic relief. Q: How involved are you now in Supernatural? Ae you full-time or part-time? Misha: I think I’m 6/7ths time. I have a contract for the whole season, so if they kill me, they have to pay me anyway. It’s a good deal. Q: What can you say about this season, as far as what your character will be up to? Misha: Sam and Dean triggered the apocalypse. You can notice that I don’t imply myself as being culpable in this, but they triggered the apocalypse, at the end of last season, and now the apocalypse is unfurling and we’re trying to mitigate the damage. We don’t start off this season on the best of terms with one another. I’m a little angry at them for screwing up. More here I like how they’ve decided to portray an “angel” – scarey and sexy sounds good to me. LOL. What do you think of the description of Misha Collins character? Do you think they chose the right person for the character? Why or why not?