EPISODE 237 - On The Ball

I’m on the ball this week. I’d like for that to mean I ran a tight ship, didn’t flub on reading any stories or make any sort of technical goof (not that any of this happened this week). But alas, it just means I was literally on a ball. I pulled a Leo LePorte and hosted the show while poppin’ a squat on a big ol’ silver exercise ball. I have to say, I understand why Leo does it. Not only is the ball comfortable to sit on, it makes you a little more energetic by having you in a sort of half standing, half sitting pose. Oh yeah, and you can bounce on it! That’s always fun. Drinking started much earlier in the day as we gathered to watch some football before taking to the airwaves. Luckily the football we were watching did not involve one, Manti Te’o. If you don’t know who this guy is yet I must ask what part of the galaxy you currently live in? The Notre Dame linebacker is in some hot water as he has allegedly made up a fantasy involving a fake girlfriend who died of cancer just hours after his grandmother’s death. He claims he was fooled by an Internet prankster. By the way, the two apparently only had an online relationship. However, after finding out she wasn’t real and the photos of her were stolen from some woman’s Facebook page who is very much alive, he continued to talk about her in interviews as though the girlfriend did exist. Plus, his dad was quoted as saying the girl came to visit Te’o while he was on break at home in Hawaii. Some think he’s playing the sympathy card as some sort of inspirational publicity stunt. The question is, was he in on it? Or was he genuinely fooled by a cyber-prankster? The investigation is just getting started. We’ll know soon enough. As I mentioned, we’d been drinking so some of us may be a tad buzzed on this episode. We’re just as chatty and obnoxious as ever, so really there’s no difference. Fox got chatty last week with two big announcements. They’re introducing a new Animation Domination block to late Saturday nights where they can test out short, new concept series. One of which, AXE COP, was created by a 29-year-old comic book artist and his 5-year-old brother. It’s been around on the web for awhile now as a comic strip. So those of you who are a fan of the birthday cake-eating superhero can now catch up with him in full animation form come July 27th. Fox also announced that they’re breaking the FX network into two channels. Similar to the Turner-owned TNT and TBS, FX will focus on drama programming and FXX, as it’s being called right now, will do comedy. That network is expected to premier sometime next Fall. And our beloved IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA will likely move to the new channel. This makes me nervous. But we’ll see. Meanwhile they’re also renaming their Speed and Fuel networks to Fox Sports 1 and 2 respectively. Those channels will be direct competition to ESPN. REVOLUTION, FRINGE, THE WALKING DEAD… these shows all have something in common. It’s both flattering and frustrating for those who pay to have them made. They, along with seven other TV programs made the top-ten list for the most (not so legally) downloaded shows of 2012. TorrentFreak.com, the website we often turn to for news regarding the Bureau of Acquisitions compiled the list. There’s an interesting statistic involving the only three shows on the list that are on premium cable channels. Tune in to hear about it! And finally, Hollywood is showing that they truly and deeply need ideas from anywhere they can possibly scrounge them up. We’ve seen them rape classic cartoons, plunder comic books and desimate our childhood toys and memories. As they continue to mine those entertainment sectors along with video games, novels, TV shows and even board games, there’s yet another place they’ve turned to for a movie script… the Internet… more specifically, Reddit. If you’re unaware of Reddit, it’s a website that’s been around for quite some time. It’s a sort of forum/social network/online community/link dump. There are some magnificent and some terrifying things to be found buried deep within the bowels of Reddit’s databases. One idea, Warner Bros. didn’t have to dig for at all. It was featured on the homepage. Likely what turned the studio onto it. A former Jeopardy champion wrote a thread asking whether current day military soldiers could defeat the Ancient Romans if sent back in time. It started as a 350-word short story and the response has been overwhelming. Now it’s up to 3,500-words and, as I said, is being optioned as a movie script. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I’m talking about using ideas from the Internet as movies, not this particular movie plot. On one hand, it allows regular folk a foot in the door to the elite, members only club that is motion picture production. Someone can potentially bypass the WGA process and have their idea quickly brought to life. On the other hand, Hollywood is a drug addict, and is currently addicted to terrible ideas and unnecessary remakes and adaptations. At this point, they’ll snort up just about anything. Without a riff raff filter we could see even worse movies on the way. I’ve got a plot for a movie… a college football player makes up a terminally ill girlfriend to gain sympathy on his way to a BCS championship. It’s a moving story of personal loss and hilarious comedy high jinks. I don’t know if it belongs on the Lifetime channel or as a summer blockbuster. Perhaps I’ll post the idea on Reddit and let the chips fall where they may. What’s that you say? Somebody already had this idea? Damn! Oh well, at least I get to bounce on a ball. SHOW LINKS: Notre Dame Football ESPN College Football Stats: Manti Te’o Axe Cop Official Website FX News Corp Most Pirated TV Shows of 2012 Guardian: Reddit thread inspires Warner Bros time travel movie Heard In This Week’s Open: Fired Up New DVD Releases for Tuesday, January 22nd: The Men Who Built America End of Watch Young Justice Invasion Destiny Calling (Season 2) The Paperboy Tai Chi Zero Death Race 3: Inferno Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning For a Good Time, Call… Deadly Blessing (Collector’s Edition) Hansel & Gretel: Warriors of Witchcraft