More links

Coverage of the Dr. Horrible panel at the Paley Festival (wow, that got like NO coverage this year... last year, I remember linking to about 12 different TV show panels), and Kristen Bell (who just earned her own tag on my blog) starring in another wedding movie.

More stuff!

Took a time-out from work to watch the Inauguration ceremony, and now I'm back with a whole bunch of TV news (since I know that's what you really care about).

Interviews with both the final Cylon and the character who died in Friday's episode. (I'm not spoiling because I want you all to watch the show!!) Also, Tahmoh Penikett talks about BSG and Dollhouse.

Good news on the Mad Men front - Matt Weiner's contract issues have been resolved, so he'll be back at the helm for season 3.

Rob Thomas is writing the Veronica Mars movie!! Which puts them one step ahead of the Dr. Horrible sequel, which is still in the "everybody wants to do it, but Joss hasn't actually written it yet" stage.

And finally, more casting news: Ted is getting a new girlfriend, but she's probably not the Mother.

TV stuff

If anyone's thinking as far ahead as the Super Bowl, The Office is the lucky show that gets the post-game timeslot, and it features Jack Black, Jessica Alba, and Cloris Leachman as guest stars.

Also, interviews with Amy Acker and Neil Patrick Harris, as well as Joss' review of the "Dr. Horrible" DVD.

Applied for another job today, which brings the total to 11 (12 if you count my ambiguous "I'll take any one of those 3,300 jobs" application to the Obama administration).

I kind of want to make these cupcakes for our office Christmas party, but then again, the snowmen seem like they'd be kind of a lot of work. I'm all for no effort.

If anyone's looking for a Christmas present for me, here's one. (You should buy it for yourself, too.)

Um, I'm behind on TV, which means I still haven't seen the first two episodes of "Leverage" or this week's "Chuck." I've gotten into this habit of going to bed really early, which kind of cuts into my TV watching time. Also, I started rewatching Angel season 1 and now I totally love Doyle (it may be the Irish thing).

Here's an update on the "5 suggestions to improve Fringe" I posted a while ago, which I am actually still watching (it helps that it's the only thing on Tuesday nights).

My cat is actually useful!

So, we seem to have settled into a nice compromise in the mornings. Chelsea appears to have learned what the alarm clock means, and doesn't wake me up before it goes off. Once it does, though, she's a little pest until I get out of bed. Which is helpful on days like today, when I just wanted to roll over and go back to sleep (and thus be late for work). The only trouble is that we haven't quite worked out the concept of the snooze button yet, so sometimes she pesters when I actually DO want to go back to sleep. We'll keep working on it.

Anyway, let's kick off with more Dr. Horrible stuff, since it's still my favorite thing ever. This blogger has ranked the singers in Dr. Horrible and Buffy's Once More With Feeling. Personally, I think Amber Benson deserves to be above Felicia Day, and Nathan Fillion should probably be switched with Sarah Michelle Gellar (did no one notice how off-key she was in some songs?). Overall, though, not terribly surprising.

Here's the eleventy millionth interview with Joss, and an interview with Tahmoh Penikett about Dollhouse.

Speaking of Tahmoh, word on the streets is that the last half of the last season of Battlestar Galactica will be supersized, although the exact details are sketchy. I can't remember if I posted the Caprica promo yet, so here it is just in case. And finally, an interview with Tricia Helfer, who's now guest starring on Burn Notice. (Sidebar: she should've done the Sweet'n'Low trick JM recommends for bleaching her hair.)

Oh, and this was posted in the comments, but I'm moving it out here for everyone to check out: the animated Buffy series (or at least, the first four minutes of it). There's also an interview with Jane Espenson that hints it may be making a comeback.

Okay, back

Well, again, TV Squad has a crapload of panel reports, including Battlestar Galactica (you can also watch the video of the full panel), Chuck, and Fringe, which is probably the one new show other than Dollhouse that I'm interested in.

Also, Dr. Horrible is again streamable for free from Hulu. So now you have NO excuse.

This is so nice, I just might sleep with the same girl twice...

Yep, still using Dr. Horrible quotes for titles.

So, OMG. I had a pretty crappy weekend, but it was Comic-Con weekend in San Diego, which means I have a shitload of links. Let's try to keep this organized.

Okay, first of all, TV Squad has a report on just about every panel, including Dollhouse, Heroes, Bones, and Dr. Horrible. Most important announcement from the entire weekend: There will be more Dr. Horrible! (Which is very good, because I'm running out of quotes.) Also, Dr. Horrible's remote control thingy (which he used to operate the van to steal the Wonderflonium) is a website he pulled up on his iPhone.

The Watcher has another report from the Heroes panel, as well as Battlestar Galactica.

There's lots of stuff about Dollhouse, including these video clips of interviews with Eliza, Joss, and Tahmoh, and another visit to the set. EW also has an interview with them (in which Eliza sings), as well as a two-part interview with David Boreanaz.

Um, Mario Lopez is on Extra now? That's a shame. But he's talking about Dr. Horrible, so he still gets cool points.

The only doom that's looming is you loving me to death...

...so I'll give you a sec to catch your breath.

It's a really slow day in work today - my boss and I actually took an hour-long trip to Starbucks because we don't feel like doing anything. I'm spending most of my time sending angry emails to BMG because they sent me a CD I didn't order. I get that whole bullshit about how they send you an email and you have to decline or they send you the CD, but I NEVER GOT AN EMAIL. Not only that, I never got an email saying they'd charged my credit card (which was expired, I haven't updated my information on the site in years, but they charged it anyway), and I never got an email saying anything was being shipped to me. If I hadn't seen the charge on my checking account statement, I'd never even have known about it. (I also never got the package, because my shipping information was also outdated.)

Anyway, lots and lots of Dr. Horrible stuff today. An online chat with Neil Patrick Harris, an interview with Joss (he also talks about Dollhouse), and an "oral history," which I think means, "All the people involved talk about how much fun it was."

And also, sort of related (it's all in the Buffy family), an interview with Jane Espenson about her projects (BSG! Buffy comics!).

Everyone's a hero in their own way...

You, and you, and... mostly me, and you!

Seriously, people. Not. Getting. Old. (Well, not for me, anyway...)

I swear, last Dr. Horrible article. I promise. Until the next one.

Also, more HIMYM scoop. I think Dr. Horrible has made me even more excited for this to come back, because, as I've mentioned before, NPH rocks my world.

Oh, so did I mention I went to see Mamma Mia on Friday night? Christi and I went out for clichéd Mexican food and clichéd movie night, where I regaled her with my most recent adventures in dodging creepy guys. :)

So, I saw Mamma Mia years ago, when it first opened on Broadway, and it's a manic, cheesy, makes-you-feel-like-you-just-did-a-lot-of-drugs kind of show. And OMG, that feeling is, like, magnified by 10 watching the movie. It was fun as a play, but it might be a little too out there to work well on screen. In any case, I was again impressed by the singing voices of famous people (apparently, Meryl Streep has had opera training?), and awesome, Amanda Seyfried from VM was the daughter! I didn't even know she was in it until I was looking up show times and saw her in the ad. Holy crap, Pierce Brosnan got old, but Meryl Streep did a good job acting like she was 20 years younger than she actually is.

You wanna know what's super disturbing, though? The chorus. Seriously. I don't know, maybe it works better on stage, but these random Greek people would pop up in the most inappropriate places to sing the chorus parts, and I kept looking at Christi and going, "OMG, that's creepy!"

Dude, you're not my nemesis.

I think Dr. Horrible has enough quotes to supply me with post titles for a year.

Anyway, Joss just did an online Q&A at the Washington Post, so go check out what he has to say. I'm particularly interested in his perspective regarding the lack of a strong female lead and his tendency to kill off lovable characters, since those are the two biggest criticisms I've seen of Act III. I think the first, obviously, stems from his self-proclaimed feminism - but I'm kind of left scratching my head and thinking, "When did Joss ever say that Dr. Horrible was meant to be a feminist work?" Just because he made a show about girl power and likes to write strong female characters doesn't mean that everything he does is going to be part of a feminist agenda. Some things are just for fun. (Also, it's a 45 minute web musical. How much character development do you really expect for a secondary character?)

Er, okay, you might want to stop reading now if you don't want to know how it ends...

I'm also intrigued by his answer to the second question. I like that he acknowledges that most of his character deaths are pointless, and I agree with him that this one was different. In order for Dr. Horrible to fully become his evil persona, he needed to lose everything that was important to him. He needed to lose Penny. I've seen some suggest that his evil deeds could've repulsed her and he'd lose her that way, but then it becomes a different story. Because she's still alive for him to pursue. He can choose to give up his evil ways for the love of the girl and ultimately be redeemed (and, uh, Joss has already done that plot. Twice). But that's not the story being told. Dr. Horrible has no choice. He wanted something, and in the process of getting it, sacrificed what he really wanted. It doesn't work if there's a chance he can get her back.

It's a dark ending, but it's kind of brilliant in terms of Dr. Horrible's character arc - and knowing how it ends, I went back and watched the whole thing straight through, and it's a downward spiral that starts as early as the opening of Act II.

Anyway, moving on. Spoiler phobes can start reading again...

Battlestar Galactica news! Here's a report from the TCA panel on "Caprica." I'll admit, it doesn't really sound like it will resemble BSG in feel, but it still sounds pretty cool. Also, Grace Park drops some hints about what's coming up in the last half-season (and also kills a spider during the interview), while Jamie Bamber will be starring in Law & Order: UK. On the one hand, I cringe at the idea of that franchise expanding any more, but on the other hand, I'm kind of curious to see how different it is, given that it's based on the British legal system rather than the US. Plus, it's always good to see actors I like being employed.

And finally, the Friday Night Lights panel report, also from TCA. I'm curious to see how it all works out if they really air different versions on DirecTV and NBC. I will more than likely be downloading illegally, regardless of what Katims says.

I think this is what pain feels like!

Well, it's all about Dr. Horrible today. I hope you watched Act III this weekend, otherwise you'll have to buy it from iTunes. But who are we kidding? I'm gonna buy the DVD anyway. And the CD, even though some wonderful person on LiveJournal posted all the songs for download.

So, I'd be curious to hear people's thoughts. Without totally spoiling the ending, I was completely shocked... and then realized I shouldn't be, because this is Joss, and that is what he does. Suffice to say, it takes a turn for the serious. I was taken in by the singing and the silliness (there are songs about LAUNDRY, for crying out loud - how angsty could it be?), and I forgot who we were dealing with. But the more I watch it, the more awesome I think it is. (I'm really, really, restraining myself from making a "legendary" joke. I hope you all appreciate that.) Dr. Horrible's creepy "Slipping" is pure Sondheim, and Act III is worth it just for that. And of course, I've had various songs from the show running through my head all weekend.

Anyway, if you haven't seen it yet, I recommend shelling out the $4 on iTunes. I'll pay you back if you don't like it. Also, check out this interview with Neil Patrick Harris, who is my new TV boyfriend.

Now, on to NPH's day job - lots of news about HIMYM in this article. Apparently, Barney's Bro Code is being published, and Sarah Chalke will be back for four episodes. Also, more Barney/Robin! OMG!

Quick updates on other things - BSG will be back in January (yay!) and the Office spin-off is shaping up to be less of a spin-off and more of, well, a completely different, unrelated show. Whatever.

What a crazy random happenstance!

Yes, that's right, today is Dr. Horrible Day 2. Fraught with much fewer problems than Act I, I watched Act II on my lunch break. And I only have one thing to say: "The Hammer is my penis."

Okay, yeah, now you're just going to have to watch it to see why that's friggin' hilarious.

I still need to watch it about 3 more times (as I did with Act I), but first impressions were that I loved the opening duet (NPH has a fantastic voice! I had no idea... although I've since discovered that he played Mark in Rent, and I'm completely not surprised - and also just that much more in love with him), and Nathan Fillion does "obnoxious, self-involved asshole" like he was born to play that role. The ante has officially been upped, and I am eagerly awaiting Act III.

Especially for Megan, because I know she likes Scrubs - I don't normally watch it, but I can't really picture it without Zach Braff.

And in political news, Obama is ahead in the polls. Not that it means anything. It's July, for crying out loud.

"I'm texting. It's very important or I would stop."

If you still haven't been able to watch Dr. Horrible, try this link instead (or this one). It's clearly a success of internet-breaking proportions. I managed to watch it last night, and it's brilliant! As we all know, I am not predisposed to love everything Joss does (*cough* Firefly *cough*)... just most of it. If I wasn't completely in love with Neil Patrick Harris before this, I totally am now. I want to have his babies. And Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day are perfect for their roles. The music is catchy, the dialogue is witty, and the story is charming. So, what are you waiting for? Go watch it.

More on the 24 movie - I find it hilarious that they didn't realize the problems with setting part of the season in Africa until Jon Cassar flew there and it took 36 hours just to get there. I'm pretty sure I said that, like, as soon as I heard the idea. Oh, well, at least they got a movie out of it. Also, in season 7, apparently the Senate panel before which Jack is forced to testify is a stand-in for all the critics that dissed season 6. Well, good, because I've been waiting for someone to explain to me WTF was going on in that season.

Here's an interview with Jon Hamm, the star of Mad Men. If you haven't watched this show, definitely check it out (AMC is airing a marathon of season 1 on July 20th, before season 2 premieres on July 27th).

Also, it seems Amy Poehler will be starring in the Office spin-off. I'm not a big fan of Amy, so that's kind of whatever news to me. I'm still waiting to hear what the spin-off is ABOUT and whether it has any real connection to The Office before deciding whether I'll watch it.

One final funny bit - it's good to know that even J.J. Abrams doesn't know what's going on in his own shows: "I watched a few minutes and was so confused. I was like, literally, it was impenetrable. I was like: 'I know I should understand this. I read the - who the [expletive] is THAT guy?!'" That... doesn't really make me want to watch Lost.

Dr. Horrible broke the internet

I still haven't seen it yet, because the website was down all during my lunch hour. Apparently, their server was completely overwhelmed. Not surprisingly, Whedonesque.com is also down. You can buy it off iTunes, or just wait a bit and hope for the best.

I should start drinking coffee...

Well, I'm almost recovered from the weekend (and yes, I realize it's Tuesday). No need to go into my adventures on Friday night (Kelly was scandalized). Despite evidence to the contrary, I really didn't drink all that much, but I only got about 3 hours of sleep, so I was ridiculously tired all weekend. And this after an entire week of saying, "I need a day to just catch up on sleep."

Kelly came to sleep over on Saturday, and I put my "get people addicted to BSG" plan into action. We also watched "Chance" (OMG James Marsters in a dress!) and I finally broke out the Angel DVDs (OMG puppet Angel!), which I've owned almost a year and still hadn't watched.

Anyway, today is Dr. Horrible Day! So go watch it. Now. I'll wait. (I don't have comments on it because I can't watch in work. Rest assured I will be singing through my lunch break.)

Okay, so, in other exciting news, Kristen Bell is definitely returning to Heroes. Yay! Love her.

The Mole was back last night and I was completely proven wrong when Alex got executed. I kinda had a suspicion when he was the only one to earn money in the bungee jumping game (which would have been really easy to sabotage without being noticed), but I still physically flinched when he got the red screen. I'm undecided as to who my next suspect is. I'm thinking I might go with Clay, since he was on my list until he got in a fight with Paul. But then again, it's hard NOT to get in a fight with Paul. I'm still going on the assumption that the super-obnoxious people (Paul and Nicole) can't be the mole, because they draw too much attention to themselves, but maybe Clay finally got into it with Paul to make people think he wasn't the mole for that very reason. I'm definitely ruling out Craig, because of his almost dying, and also Mark because you just can't fake that much neurosis (or if you can, he's the best actor ever). I have a suspicion that bitchy Nicole is gonna win the whole thing... unless she's the mole.

Uh, let's see... I also started watching My Boys yesterday. It's decent, although not on par with the other comedies I watch (How I Met Your Mother and The Office). Definitely a summer show, because if I had a full schedule, I don't think I'd waste my time on it. I've still got two more discs of season 1. Next up I think will be Arrested Development.

This is a really nice, nostalgic article about Billy Joel. I think he was my first real musical interest, so listening to his songs is like remembering my childhood. Both my parents were fans - my first experience was listening to their old records of Songs in the Attic and The Stranger. Not to mention that I stuck with playing the piano as a kid mostly so I could learn to play Billy Joel songs.

And finally, this may seem a bit hypocritical in a post where I talk about The Mole, but you all know my general position on reality shows. And seriously, one isn't bad. One hundred seventy-two new reality shows, on the other hand, is what's wrong with television in this country. The mind boggles.

Joss strikes again

So, there's about eighty million bajillion articles about Dr. Horrible this week, but there's also this interesting update that mentions a movie, "Cabin in the Woods," which Joss wrote with fellow Buffy writer Drew Goddard. So, if you haven't gotten enough Whedon lately, that's one more thing to look forward to.

My cat is psychotic

Chelsea broke the blinds last night. She spotted a bug on the ceiling, and rather than sit on the floor staring up and whining ineffectually like she usually does, she attempted to climb her way to the ceiling to get it. She jumped from the back of the sofa onto the window and clung to the blinds for a second before falling down, almost taking the lamp with her. She’s completely nutso.

Also, she keeps tipping her water bowl. I thought getting the new, heavier, no-sliding bowl would help, but she’s tipping that one, too. So last night, I pulled out the heaviest bowl I could find and put that there, and she STILL spilled water all over the floor. I don’t know what to do, other than glue the damn thing to the floor. I think she tips them – sticks her paw in and tips the bowl sideways until the water sloshes out. I’ve seen her try to do that a couple times. The bowls are usually upright when I check them, but there’s way too much water for her to just be splashing it around.

Anyway, lots of fun stuff today. First, a write-up with some awesome pictures for Dr. Horrible. I'm so in love with this already, and I haven't even seen it. Also Joss-related, an article about the Buffy comics and Buffy's visit to the future.

Apparently, Jane Espenson will be writing the BSG movie that as of yet no one is starring in. And EJO is directing - cool beans.

And finally, why David Tennant is the awesomest person ever.

More stuff

Matt Roush has a preview of Dr. Horrible. Sounds like it's gonna be fan-freakin-tastic.

Also, Grace Park floats the possibility of the Battlestar movies being greenlit... assuming the rest of the cast hasn't already moved on to other jobs, seeing as how none of the actors have been contacted about a movie.

Quiet week?

Who knows... they've reached a tentative agreement on the budget, so it's possible that this week might not be crazy hectic. Of course, school code negotiations are still going on, so who knows. At least it's a short week - yay 4th of July!

I had kind of a busy weekend, with going home Friday night (Patches was friendlier than ever; she must have been lonely), and then rushing back here Saturday morning so I could get to Jenn's beer fest/barbecue. That was fun, and I got a bit of a sunburn, but it's already starting to look tan. I was on call on Sunday, but Teresa didn't need me, so I just cleaned my apartment a lot in preparation for my parents, who might be dropping by today on their way home from NY.

I also managed to get caught up with the last couple episodes of Doctor Who. Steven Moffat rocks my world. I'm pretty happy that he'll be taking over for Russell Davies, because he writes the best episodes. Of course, he also comes up with the freakiest shit, so thanks, not only do I have an irrational fear of statues, I am now even more terrified of the dark than I was before. But the Doctor says I have a good reason!

We finally have premiere dates for Dr. Horrible - or you can read it straight from Joss himself. Word on the street is that, despite today being the deadline and no agreement has been reached, SAG doesn't plan to strike, otherwise who knows, we might've gotten a Dr. Horrible sequel. :)

Psych is coming back soon - yay! Check out what James Roday and Dule Hill have to say about the new season.

Is it over yet?

Holy crap, I can't wait for the budget to be over. I've been driven to drink 3 nights this week (and that'll be 4 by tomorrow - Jenn is hosting a "Beer Fest" at her house this weekend). I have to go home tonight, because my parents decided to go on vacation and need me to check in on Patches. Someone in work said, "Don't they have any neighbors or friends who live less than 2 hours away that could do that?" which is a very good point. Eh, parents?

I do appreciate the complete disregard for my schedule. /sarcasm Setting aside the fact that I had plans this weekend (so I'm now going to be rushing back on Saturday to get there in time), this is budget week! Teresa needs us to be around. Fortunately, John could take Saturday, so I'm working Sunday. There's a reason they told us not to plan vacations for this time of year. And my mother even asked me, "We're thinking about going away this weekend. How is that for you?" and I said that it was a very bad weekend and could they please wait until July. And they said, "Tough, we're going anyway." Nice.

Anyway, I'll stop bitching now. Mad Men is coming back soon, isn't that exciting? The link's got pics from season 2, and this feature talks about the Mad women. There's also a trailer up for Dr. Horrible, which looks like classic Joss. Neil Patrick Harris was, like, born for a Joss show.

Meanwhile, the threat of an actors' strike is still looming. Weird to think that the writers' strike actually helped TV shows by facilitating early filming for next season, meaning they'll be better prepared in the event the actors do strike. Also, this is a handy feature to keep track of who's coming and going on all your favorite shows.