Transylvania Television Season One DVD Review

I don't even remember how long ago it was, but my friend Troy sent me the link to a clip on YouTube called "Burger Czar". I clicked and watched a clip of a orange Yeti and a Frankenstein style monster try and order less than healthy food at a drive through window. I never laughed harder. I sent the clip to everyone I knew.

I've been a fan ever since.

As time went on and more and more episodes of Transylvania Television came out, I fell further in love with the show. The hijinx of Furry, Count LeShoc, Batfink and Dwayne became something that I cherished with the release of every new episode. When Season One ended, I could not wait for Season Two to start on July 4th of this year.

As of August 4th, you can bring home the fun of Season One encased in this amazing DVD!

It's got both versions of the pilot. The version that aired on TV and the shorter, condensed version. Plus tons of HILARIOUS outtakes.

It also has all the my favorite episodes from Season One; LeShoc Goes Online, Bat's Butt and more!

There are also videos from the shows past like it's original promo where you will notice slight differences that have been made.

There are also other rarities that you may not have seen before like the VERY funny "Hey Hitler" sketch.

Really the only bad thing that I can think of to talk about on this DVD is how sometimes the menu seems to sometimes have a mind of it's own. When I click on Pilot, it ends up showing me the entire season.

All in all this is a MUST HAVE DVD for fans of entertainment. Not only are these gentlemen creative and hilarious, they are really nice guys. I had the joy of meeting Gordon Smuder and his wife Jennifer Menken at Chicago Con 2009. They were the highlight of a rare large epic fail of a convention.

You can see new episodes of Transylvania Television every Thursday at www.transylvania-tv.com or subscribe to the show via iTunes.

Also, don't forget to check out sculptures of classic style ray guns and steam punk props at www.myspace.com/puppetforge and the incredible creations of Jennifer Menken can be viewed at www.wildcargo.etsy.com

Frank Darabont to bring Walking Dead to AMC

If you can't wait for the new George A Romero film, Survival of the Dead, it looks like something may be on the horizon that might just tide you over.

AMC is close to finalizing one of the richest development deals ever with Frank Darabont to write and direct a series adaptation of the Image Comics graphic novel series "The Walking Dead," penned by Robert Kirkman. Gale Anne Hurd of Valhalla Motion Pictures and David Alpert of Circle of Confusion are also on board to exec produce.

For those who don't know, the story is set among a group of zombie survivors of an apocalypse who are led by a police officer, Rick Grimes, in search of a safe place to live. Numerous editions of the "Walking Dead" graphic novels have been published since 2003.

Joel Stillerman, AMC's senior VP of programming, production and original content, said the project appealed to them because of "the quality of the storytelling" in Kirkman's work. The series will stay faithful to the tone of the original novels, he said.

"This is not about zombies popping out of closets," Stillerman said. "This is a story about survival, and the dynamics of what happens when a group is forced to survive under these circumstances. The world (in 'Walking Dead') is portrayed in a smart, sophisticated way."

Darabont and Hurd pitched the project to AMC and several other outlets. There is no studio attached yet. The duo's involvement made the project a must-have for the cabler, Stillerman said.

The Doctor vs John Connor

Here is the second match in round 1. The Doctor vs John Connor.

The Doctor is a 904 year old Time Lord, an extraterrestrial from the planet Gallifrey, who travels time and space in an internally vast time machine called the TARDIS. The Doctor is vastly intelligent, but sometimes very arrogant. As a Time Lord, when he is on the verge of death, he can regenerate, changing every single cell in his body to save his life.

John Connor is the last best hope of human kind. In the post apocalyptic future, John Connor leads whats left of humanity in a battle against the machines called Terminators. The machines sent back Terminators to kill John Connor at varying points in his life, but were never able to get the job done.

...and the winner is.

First and foremost let me tell you that the podcast will be a day or two late. By going to comic con in Chicago, I forgot to get certain things set up, so bare with me. However I will announce the winner of the first match-up here.

As you can see, it's Captain Jack Harkness! Jack won by 2 votes. TWO votes.

So ladies and gents, here is the winner of the first match in the first round of The Vinyl & Villains Pop Culture Smackdown Tournament!

The next match will be up shortly.

He's Back

He's been gone a long time, and come October 14, 2009...

HE'S BACK!

That's right, the X-Men oldest and greatest foe, Magneto returns in October to the pages of Uncanny X-Men. They are keeping things very tight lipped as to what will be going on, but issue 516 will be the first part of the seven part storyline entitled, NATION X.

No word as to whether or not this will tie into the current Dark Reign storyline that is encompassing the Marvel Universe. Or whether or not Magneto will break Norman Osborn's neck. (seriously, can someone do that, quick?)


Uncanny X-Men #516 is written by Matt Fraction with pencils by Greg Land (yeah, I know)

MACHETE Has Been Cast!

If you are like me and thought that one of the better fake trailers from the double feature GRINDHOUSE was Robert Rodriguez's MACHETE, then you should also be like me and be excited about a few other things as well.

According to VARIETY, Machete has been cast and is a week into production! Aside from Danny Trejo, who will play Machete, the film also stars Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, Steven Seagal, Lindsay Lohan, Cheech Marin. Don Johnson and Jeff Fahey will have supporting roles in the film as well.

This is some great news to come out of the Rodriguez camp. Updates will be given as they come available. Now, where is that feature version of "DON'T"?

Captain America vs Captain Jack Harkness

Captain America is the Sentinel of Liberty. The beacon of hope. He is a super solider and was frozen in the 40's and defrosted in the 60's where he lead the Avengers to many a victory of the forces of evil.

Captain Jack Harkness is a time traveller and former con man from the 51st century. He is also immortal and the leader of Torchwood, a British organisation dedicated to combating alien threats.

The 1st Annual Pop Culture Smackdown!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages. I give to you the 1st Annual Vinyl & Villains Pop Culture Smackdown. This is an image of the overall bracket, which will start up tomorrow with Captain America vs Captain Jack Harkness!

There will be a poll to vote on, but please leave your comments about why you voted the way that you did!

Let the Smackdown begin!

Vinyl & Villains Episode 4: Nagging Parents

The episode in which Ron reviews Green Lantern: First Flight, talks about BBC America, Battlestar Galactica and how Wolverine has joined the Epic Fail Club.

Battlestar Galactica Named Top Show

This Saturday in Pasadena, the Television Critics Association named Battlestar Galactica top program of the year after the show failed to garner an Emmy nomination for dramatic series.

Variety reported:

"It certainly feels appropriate that we received the acknowledgement from the people who were champions of this show from its outset," Mark Stern, exec VP of original programming at Syfy, told Daily Variety. "Critics really adopted this show early on and, in a weird way, this feels like a conclusion to the process.

You can see "new" Battlestar Galactica when the original movie THE PLAN hits Blu-ray and DVD on October 27th.

The Battlestar Galactica prequel series CAPRICA will kick off with a two-hour premiere on January 22 at 9pm EST and will then air Fridays at 10pm EST.

Edward Norton In The Avengers?

Marvel's President of Production Kevin Feige has said that he'd like to see The Hulk in The Avengers and said at the San Diego Comic-Con that "it's safe to assume that there will be some members of the Hulk universe" in the movie as well. So if Hulk is to appear in the The Avengers, does that mean Edward Norton will reprise the role? Norton is staying tight lipped on the subject.

I won't comment on that, just because they [Marvel] keep a pretty tight reign on what they are letting out. I'll let them say.

The Hulk is scheduled to appear briefly in Iron Man 2 much like Tony Stark did in The Incredible Hulk. Norton is signed on to do another Hulk movie, but no word as to whether or not that means he will show up in The Avengers.

Are The Futurama Voice Actors Back??

They're back if you believe what was printed in the Toronto Star. According to the article the casting call that Fox sent out about voice actors was nothing more than a bargaining ploy.

The Star reports that the voice actors signed a new contract after weeks of rather intense salary negotiation.

As late as last week, the network was threatening to replace the original voices of Matt Groening's cult-hit cartoon, to the point of actually announcing a casting call for voice actors to replace them.
The compromise agreement, with the studio paying more and the actors accepting less, comes after the announcement of a 26-episode pick-up here by Comedy Central.

The producers downplayed any reports of recasting at this years San Diego Comic Con. Yet it looks like, without any kind of official confirmation, that the cast is back. Let's be honest, it's not Futurama without them.