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New Content: SFFTV

Jen here and I’m just going to come out and admit it:  I’m a TV whore!  In my defense, the vast majority of what I do watch is science fiction and fantasy genre television, but that doesn’t really lessen the fact that I watch way too much television.  To that end, we’ve decided that I should just run with this sad little obsession of mine and share it with all of you.  This means I’ll be sacrificing my summer for hours and hours in front of the boob tube, but I think I’ll manage (as long as someone is willing to bring me margaritas).  So check back with the Skiffy and Fanty show for reviews, news, and probably some ranting, about all things Science Fiction and Fantasy TV. Summer SF/F TV True Blood HBOs True Blood is entering its fourth season, which will loosely follow the story of the fourth book of Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire Mysteries, Dead  to the World.  This means we’ll get more werewolves, were-panthers, witches, fairies, and sex with Eric Northman (guess what I’m most excited about).  HBO has done an amazing job taking what is a solid summer reading urban fantasy series and turning it into a dark, well-crafted television show with enough variation from the original books that readers are still left guessing what is going to happen next.  I was blown away by the first season, less enamored of the second, and am still catching up with the third, but I have yet to be disappointed. Teen Wolf Teen Wolf premieried on MTV on June 5, 2011.  That means it should be easy to catch up on, but at an hour in length and the fact that it’s MTV programming and targetted at people half my age – this is going to be torture.  Those of us who remember the original Teen Wolf movie will be sorely dissappointed by this “reboot.”  The only things that have stayed the same are apparently the name of the main character and the fact that he’s in High School.  Gone is basketball, fuzzy dad, and Michael J. Fox;  in is Lacrosse, a werewolf bite, and some kid named Tyler Posey.   I’m just hoping I don’t get completely sucked into it, because the only thing redeeming about it might just be the fact that the werewolf teenager falls in love with a girl from a family of werewolf hunters. Haven When Haven debuted last year it took me a few episodes to get into it, but once the show had me in its claws… Well, let’s just say I’m looking forward to Season 2.  Haven is loosely based on Stephen King’s The Colorado Kid, which I haven’t actually read, but I imagine that was enough to give the show some street cred to draw viewers in initially.  The show was intriguing enough, with low enough production costs, that it’s back for a second season.  It centers around an FBI agent, Audrey Parker, who traveled to the small town of Haven to hunt down an escaped criminal.  She stays after discovering that the town is beset with supernatural emergencies and that her mother may have a connection with it.  I’ve enjoyed the dynamics between the characters of Haven, but I’m hoping that in Season 2 we’ll see that the rest of the town is actually beset with “The Troubles,” as opposed to the few highlighted in each episode.  Haven has just enough mystery to keep me coming back for more, but I have a feeling there are only so many tricks up their sleeves.  That said – the cliffhanger last season was REALLY weird and left me with my jaw dropped, so we’ll see what happens! Warehouse 13 A series about a couple of Secret Service Agent screw ups who are relegated to a super secret Warehouse full of supernatural artifacts?  What’s not to like!  It’s like watching the Raiders of the Lost Ark, MacGuyver, X-Files, and Moonlighting all at the same time.  Warehouse 13 is quirky, humorous, and exciting, with just enough darkness and dramatic tension to keep it from becoming completely ridiculous.  Unfortunately, at the end of Season 2, Myka – one half of the dastardly duo – left Warehouse 13.  The relationship between Myka and Pete was such a large part of the charm of this series, that the show may suffer for this decision.  That said, they did struggle with finding a balance between Pete and Myka as a romantic possibility, and Pete and Myka’s familial comaraderie. However, the testorone quotient jumps up with Myka’s replacement and SyFy risks alienating their 50% female viewership. Eureka Ahh, Eureka, how do I love thee?  Let me count the ways…  Eureka has been going strong for four seasons, and based on the twists presented in Season 4 I don’t see it losing steam anytime soon.  There were some nearly show-killing plot decisions in Season 2 and 3, but the veritable reboot at the beginning of Season 4 has almost erased that, leaving a world of possibilities open for the quirky little town of Eureka.  Throw in some Felicia Day and more WIl Wheaton and we should have a good summer on our hands.  SyFy had some issues (I honestly don’t know what they were) releasing Season 4.5 (usually they have a winter season), but those episodes have presumably become the Summer session episodes.  Hopefully the exceedingly long gap, with only 10 episodes in the previous season, won’t kill the viewing numbers, because Eureka is the only thing in Summer television that I actually look forward to. Falling Skies Six months after a devastating Alien invasion, the few survivors of Earth have banded together to fight back.  Falling Skies stars Noah Wyle, Moon Bloodgood, and Will Patton, so we’re at least assured of a great cast and solid acting.  TNT has aired some excellent programming and with Steven Spielberg as Executive Producer, it’s hard to come out and say that this show is going to fail, but it

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

Episode 52 — Schizophrenic Computers, Weird News, and Bad Movies

http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/www.archive.org/download/TheSkiffyAndFantyShow4.0a–SchizophrenicComputersWeirdNewsAndBad/Sandf–Episode4.0a–News–SchizophrenicComputersWeirdNewsAndBadMovies.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSOur super special episode is here.  Half of it, anyway.  Jason Sanford, John Ottinger, and Adam join us for a discussion about the SF/F/H movies coming out in June, some really weird science news, and film adaptations of SF/F books.  A few jokes are had at Shaun’s expense and Inception gets what’s coming to it… (This episode is half of a much larger recording.  The second half is discussion oriented and is focused on religion in SF/F and our thoughts on why fantasy literature fairs better than science fiction.  I expect that episode to go up on Monday, if not earlier.) Tune in and enjoy! Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 52 — Download (MP3) Intro, Upcoming Movies, and News (0:00 – 56:16) Yellow Brick Road (at Bloody Disgusting) (We’ll ruin the movie for you:  the bad guy is foot fungus contracted in the woods.)  X-men:  First Class (IMDB) (Somewhere Stan Lee is wiping his butt with $100 bills.) Super 8 (IMDB) (In which J. J. Abrams ruins some trains and childhood innocence…) Trollhunter (IMDB) (UV lights also work on Newt Gingrich.) Green Lantern (IMDB) (Ab porn.  That’s all this is.  Two hours of a hot guy’s abs.) Transformers:  Dark of the Moon (IMDB) (Whatever…) Bradley Cooper Anxious to Adapt Dan Simmons’ Hyperion (Which will come out right after The Hangover:  Alcoholics Anonymous Edition.) Adolf Hitler Had an Army of Talking Dogs ($10 says they learned by watching re-runs of Mickey Mouse…) Pyramids (Possibly) Discovered in Tanis, Egypt Using Satellites (We’ll find the Ark and start melting Nazi brains…) Scientists Inflict Computers with Schizophrenia (Isaac Asimov wakes up and says, “WTF?  Did nobody read my frakking books?”) Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). That’s all, folks!  Thanks for listening.  See you next week.

Viking Amoeba

A New Viking Amoeba Recruit from Sam Sykes

We have a new recruit, and this one is definitely on fire.  He’s going to light things up.  The Internet will be ablaze with heated conversation.  We’re pretty sure you’ll have the hots for him.  Really.  We do. How are you enjoying my puns?  Not even a little laugh?  Really?  Fine.  If you’re going to be that way, then I’ll leave you with the following: The Vastatiotor — Castellan Ustulanthis Strength 6; Intelligence 5 Special Ability:  Scorched Earth (If Castellan is involved in combat, inflict 1 point of damage to all enemies on the field oncecombat has ended and an additional 2 if Castellan dies) (Tome of the Undergates by Sam Sykes)  If you want to see the other additions to the army, check out our Viking Amoeba Army page.

Blog Posts

Interesting Fact: Peter Orullian's on the Cover of Tome of the Undergates by Sam Sykes!

Don’t believe me?  See for yourself: You can click the image to see a larger version.  There aren’t many large pictures of Peter Orullian on Google, but you can clearly see that his beautiful face was the inspiration for the white-haired sea ninja on the cover of Sam Sykes‘ book.  One might also wonder whether Sykes took inspiration from Peter’s progressive rock voice… A smart listener would wonder why we’re mentioning these two authors at all.  To which we say:  that’s our magic secret.

Torture Cinema Polls

Torture Cinema Poll #2: Pick Our Next Movie!

You know the drill:  pick one movie you’d like us to review at the end of June for our Torture Cinema feature!  We promise to hate you no matter which one you choose. Feel free to suggest titles for future polls in the comments.  We’re itching to know which movies you hated or have heard were bad!

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

Episode 51 — Torture Cinema Meets Batman & Robin

http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/www.archive.org/download/TheSkiffyAndFantyShow3.9–TortureCinemaMeetsBatmanRobin/Sandf–Episode3.9–TortureCinemaMeetsBatmanAndRobin.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSWe’re back and pissed off.  Why?  Because our listeners chose Batman & Robin in our Torture Cinema poll and forced us to watch it.  Thanks a lot, jerks! The good news is I’ve “hidden” Arnold Schwarzenegger in the episode, which should bring you all some joy while we die of asphyxiation. The other good news is that next week is all about our special edition episode of the show!  It won’t be live, unfortunately. Technology seems to hate us. But it will be filled with our friends:  Jason Sanford, John Ottinger, Adam, and your lovely host regulars! Tune in and enjoy! Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 51 — Download (MP3) Main Segment:  Torture Cinema Meets Batman & Robin (0:00 – 38:15) Batman and Robin (IMDB) (Again, we hate you all.  May you burn in the fiery pit of Stephenie Meyers’ stomach!) Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). That’s all, folks!  Thanks for listening.  See you next week.

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