Designing the Perfect Engineer for Prometheus

Designing the Perfect Engineer for Prometheus

You many not know Neville Page's face, but you're sure to recognize the sci-fi creatures the veteran concept designer has created in the last few years. Page talks about crafting the pale-skinned giants in Ridley Scott's Alien movie.

London 2012: Social Media Takes Its Toll on Olympics

London 2012: Social Media Takes Its Toll on Olympics

Twitter has allowed viewers, pundits and athletes to weigh in at will. The result: Overloaded networks, player expulsions and at least one arrest.

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Home Movies, “Get Away From My Mom”

Home Movies, “Get Away From My Mom”



“Get Away From My Mom” (season 1, episode 1; originally aired 4/26/1999)
Bearing the headline “Animation’s New Wave,” the cover of the July 12, 1997 edition of TV Guide finds three of the period’s cartoon icons—Hank Hill, Daria, and Dr. Jonathan Katz—riding high on a giant swell. (Noticeably absent: any of the kids from South Park, who were little more than a month away from making their debut on Comedy Central.) The magazine’s focus on primetime animation wasn’t a cheap excuse to fill empty pages during dead summer months—the mid-to-late ’90s was a legitimate boom time for cartoons on TV, particularly those aimed at teenaged and adult audiences. On Fox, King Of The Hill succeeded where shows like The Critic had failed, proving that fans of The Simpsons were willing to tune in for an additional half-hour of animated fare every ...

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CBS Developing 'Brady Bunch' Reboot With Vince Vaughn

Nobody wants this!!  Who wants this?  Nobody!


CBS Developing 'Brady Bunch' Reboot With Vince Vaughn



The multicamera comedy project would revolve around a divorced Bobby Brady who remarries to form a new blended family.

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Comedy: Great Job, Internet!: Wiki Fun: “Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo” is grammatically correct

Comedy: Great Job, Internet!: Wiki Fun: “Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo” is grammatically correct



We’re all familiar with the city of Buffalo, New York (home to the lowly Buffalo Bills), as well as, you know, buffalo (not to be confused with bison). But the word “buffalo” has another meaning: It can be used as a verb that means “to bully or intimidate.” And now, armed with that arcane knowledge—and with a helpful assist from the all-seeing eye that is Wikipedia—you can confidentially say to your friends and loved ones that the following sentence is grammatically correct: “Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.”
According to a delightfully dense Wikipedia entry, the sentence has been kicking around ever since it was first discussed in 1972 by an associate professor at the University Of—wait for it—Buffalo. Though confusing at first, it can be better understood when you realize the sentence is referring to buffalo (the animals) from Buffalo (the city ...

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Jenji Kohan, Mary-Louise Parker Reflect on Final Season of 'Weeds'

TCA 2012: Jenji Kohan, Mary-Louise Parker Reflect on Final Season of 'Weeds'



"I think the finale is beautifully written," said Parker. "I cried when I read it."

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How the summer movie season expanded

How the summer movie season expanded

Dustin Rowles looks at how studios learned to look beyond the summer release schedule:

They were releasing too many tentpoles in a short period of time, and they were cannibalizing each other. The studios adjusted. The box-office release schedule evolved. The summer season expanded. Months that used to be dumping grounds became profitable. Big budget films were finding unusual times to exploit audiences.

Gradually — and we’re still in the midst of this expansion — studios began to realize that Memorial Day through the first of August and the holiday season between Thanksgiving and Christmas were not the only times a a studio could release a $100 million film. They could also make money in January. And March.

Horace Deidu came to many of the same conclusions — with charts! — when he looked at movie release schedules. The summer pattern is still dominant, but an increasing number of titles have made $100+ outside of that window.

In fact, for 2011, the only months that didn’t have a $100+ title were January, September and November. And November was an oddball — it’s traditionally a big month.

Small Fire Burns Porch of Venice Boardwalk Structure

Small Fire Burns Porch of Venice Boardwalk Structure

A minor fire Sunday damaged the porch of a turn-of-the-century home on Venice's Oceanfront Walk.
Apparently, the fire damaged only the porch of the blue, two-story, shingle, wood-frame house, which was reported on fire about 12:20 p.m. at Sunset Avenue.
The house has been used for a number of businesses and events over the
past few years, including a medical marijuana club and MTV set for one its
summer reality shows. Situated next to the vintage-1922, brick Gingerbread
Court complex, the house is often vacant.
It was unclear if the structure was rented when the fire started.
No injuries were reported.
According to a Venice web site, police were able to put out the fire
within about 10 minutes.
--City News Service

Meet the Man Who Put the '@' in Your E-Mail

Meet the Man Who Put the '@' in Your E-Mail

Who invented e-mail? That's a bit like asking, "Who invented the internet?" Even those with intimate knowledge of its creation can't agree on the moment it actually came to life. But amid all the bluster over the origins of e-mail, one man holds a claim that resonates well beyond the rest. Ray Tomlinson is the reason there's an '@' symbol in your e-mail address.