Activity for July 18

Comment - Who needs an Emmy when you've got clicks?
(Jul 18, 2009 - 6:56 PM)

I've lauded MacFarlane as a voice artist, both in terms of characters and as a singer, but to me, at this moment, Family Guy wasn't one of the top comedic shows this year (there may have been years when it was during its first run however). If even American Dad got the nod instead of Family Guy, I would have likely nodded in appreciation of that and maybe even been satisfied by that announcement, but Family Guy... it is being topped by other series right now.

I am not hating on Family Guy... it has its moments, but it just isn't the brightest and best that television has to offer, even from the mainstream of the culture. And the fact that I've been rather vocal about my dislike of humor based entirely on non-sequiteurs likely plays into that as well.

But then I learned something that is very relevant to this discussion. The reason Family Guy is nominated in that category is because the past couple of years, they have been foregoing entering the Animation race and have been exclusively going after that Best Comedy accolade. It seems it is an either/or situation... you can compete in animation or you can compete in Comedy, but not both.

Anyway, regarding the other major animation story we are discussing... the cast of Futurama wants 75K an episode, which given the sales of the series on DVD and the recent success of the movies, seems rather reasonable, especially when you think that the cast of The Simpsons had a salary dispute when they were making 125K an episode and they held out for around 3 times more than that back in 2004 (and their salary was only 30K back in 1998).

I said on another blog that perhaps this is karma for Billy West taking on the Ren role after Nickelodeon stole Ren and Stimpy from John K and kicked him out of a role he had created.
Comment - Who needs an Emmy when you've got clicks?
(Jul 17, 2009 - 10:36 PM)

Gah... I always felt if it wasn't going to be The Simpsons that broke that barrier, at least it would have been something like South Park....

But Family Guy. *facepalm* How many behinds in Hollywood has Seth MacFarlane kissed to get that honor?

Oh, and I suppose you've heard by now that Fox is trying to cast new voice actors for Futurama because the original cast wants too much money. FOR SHAME!
Comment - Wired editor accused of plagiarizing Web sources for 'free' book
(Jun 24, 2009 - 9:22 PM)

Ooh... that one has to smart. I was burning Elisabeth Hasselback pretty bad yesterday about plagiarizing a recipe book, but being an editor of a major magazine and getting busted for that... that one stings... and it should.
Comment - Loving the octothorpe; or, why Twitter's hashtags really do reflect reality
(May 29, 2009 - 7:17 PM)

Nah... it will be a totally elastic collision. Just you watch. ;)
Comment - A cultural event this weekend makes the case for geek culture
(May 22, 2009 - 11:16 PM)

Oh, how I loathe the yellow face. It mocks me so, and even though I am nearly reflective, it never seems to flinch when the light ends up shining right back in its face.

Is it wrong that I've been sitting in a room building fake robots and playing a fake guitar the past few weeks while ruminating on the fate of our mutual television friend, the plucky Ms. Suarez.

And isn't patchouli one of those odors, like that of a skunk or gasoline-soaked clothing, that indicates that while you aren't in the middle of something truly horrific, you will soon be enveloped by unpleasantness.