Flour Power

Yes! More Futurama episodes!

HitFix is claiming that Futurama will return to Comedy Central in June, with the first episode being aired on the 24th.

I say: "That's about time!". The show aired from 1999 to 2003 when it was cancelled. Despite a huge fan base and numerous petitions to bring it back, all we got was a few "extra-long episodes": Bender's Big Score, The Beast with a Billion Backs, Bender's Game and Into the Wild Green Yonder. Then last year Comedy Central finally announced that the network had ordered 26 new episodes to premiere this year. A few months later, fan enthusiasm was temporarily tempered by reports that the vocal talent might be replaced for the run of new episodes, but eventually the full cast reached new agreements and Philip Fry, Bender, Leela and the rest of the Futurama gang will sound very much like we're used to them sounding.

(via HitFix)

The sixth, and final, season of ABC's Lost starts today, and I'm pretty excited about it. Both because I'm curious to see what the creators of the show have in store for this season and because I'm sick of new mysteries and questions being introduced and hardly any of them ever being answered. At least this time it has to come to an end. Somehow...

I don't know exactly when it started but at some point during the last 5 years the show has been running I kind of started hating it. Every single episode added new complexity to the already intricate plot. The amount of unanswered questions, of unsolved mysteries, of downright weird stuff is now so big that I'm sure it's impossible to sort it all out in just one season. The fact that they introduced time-travel in season 5 doesn't make it any easier.

On the other hand, I just love the weirdness and complexity of the whole thing. I love to read the theories of people (with way too much free time) about the events of the latest episode, theories sometimes derived from the analysis of screenshots from a bunch of different episodes. I enjoy wondering about what will happen next, and then be surprised with something completely unpredictable. I even like the fact that some of the things are not explained right away and remain a mystery episode after episode after episode...

Weird, uh?

This "love-hate relationship" lasted for more than 5 years. And it's finally coming to an end! I just hope I won't be too disappointed.

If you think you need a very quick summary of what happened in the last 5 seasons, check out this video (it doesn't even scratch the surface...):

And here's the trailer for the final season:

Ominous...

I've recently started my own rerun of the TV show How I Met Your Mother. It's currently one of my favourite sitcoms, although I don't think I've ever mentioned it here (shame on me!). And so, in the episode "The Limo", from season 1, Barney Stinson presents his "Get Psyched Mix", which consists of a compilation of songs that should get you pumped up:

(...) my own personal "Get Psyched Mix". Now, people often think a good mix should rise and fall, but people are wrong. It should be ALL RISE, baby! Now prepare yourselves for an audio journey into the white hot center of adrenaline... Bam!

Here's the list, thanks to the hard work of some guy at TV Squad with a hi-def TV, a DVR, and a lot of time in his hands:

1) I Wanna Rock - Twisted Sister
2) You Give Love A Bad Name - Bon Jovi
3) Lick It Up - KISS
4) Paradise City - Guns & Roses
5) Dancing With Myself -- Billy Idol
6) Rock You Like A Hurricane - Scorpions
7) Panama - Van Halen
8) Talk Dirty To Me - Poison
9) Thunderstruck - AC/DC
10) Dr. Feelgood - Motley Crue
11) Round and Round - Ratt

I went one step further and created a Youtube playlist with the songs, so I can get psyched more easily. Here it is, Barney's "Get Psyched Mix", the TV version.

"TV version? Is there another one?" Yes, there is! After the episode the HIMYM writers Barney posted a completely different list in his blog:

1) You Give Love a Bad Name - Bon Jovi
2) The Humpty Dance - Digital Underground
3) Come Sail Away - Styx
4) Don't Stop Believin' - Journey
5) The Transformers Theme Song
6) You're the Best Around - Joe Esposito
7) High Enough - Damn Yankees
8) Jessie's Girl - Rick Springfield
9) Rock You Like a Hurricane - The Scorpions
10) Hip Hop Hooray - Naughty by Nature
11) Change of Heart - Tom Petty
12) Run Away - Slade

So, if one mix is not enough to the desired level of psyched-ness, here's the Youtube playlist for this other list - Barney's "Get Psyched Mix", the blog version.

If I had to choose one, the TV mix would be my choice, and I would add "You're the Best Around", "Don't Stop Believing" and "The Transformers Theme Song" from the blog mix to it.

What about you? Which one is your favourite?

In the first episode of season 13 of the popular British motoring show BBC Topgear, the identity of The Stig is revealed. The Stig is a recurring character in the show, the expert race driver that never shows his face. Its identity has been thoroughly speculated upon, with several names popping up and people saying there is more that one Stig.

Here's the clip that shows The Stig removing his helmet and revealing that he is in fact Schumi:

Now why would they just reveal it like that and end the mistery around it? I'm guessing something else is going on and this is part of some marketing stunt. Let's wait and see.

Was watching the first 9 episodes of Arrested Development yesterday and the whole time I was convinced that Michael Bluth (the main character) was the same guy as Captain Malcolm Reynolds from Firefly. I ended up figuring out that's not the case, but I still think they're very alike.

The graphic above was created using the Look-Alike Builder, courtesy of Totally Looks Like.

The most famous television family now has its own set of postage stamps. The Simpsons are the first TV characters to have their own exclusive stamp while their show is still in production. The show's executive producer, James L. Brooks, had this to say:

We are emotionally moved by the Postal Service selecting us rather than making the lazy choice of someone who has benefited society.

Was watching an episode of Flight of the Conchords – more specifically “Love is a Weapon of Choice” – when I had one of those “I didn’t know X had an appearance in this show” moment. It turns out it wasn’t really Jennifer Aniston, but Kristen Wiig instead. The similarities are amazing, though:

The graphic above was created using the Look-Alike Builder, courtesy of Totally Looks Like.

Not a single day goes by without another crazy thing from Japan surfacing on Teh Internets. A lot of them are gameshows so weird that make me think the creators must have been on crack when they came up with the idea. And the fact that there are people actually watching them certainly tells a lot about how fucked up some Japanese must be.

I’ve selected a few of those for your enjoyment. They sure make me smile every time I watch them.

The first is a show that puts primarily crustaceans into a small fish tank to watch the fight that inevitably follows due to both creatures being in such a small place. Behold, the “Crustacean Deathmatches”!

Next up is a show where the contestants are placed in a classroom and watch a video of a funny situation. When they laugh, they lose, and get hit with a stick.

Human Tetris. Enough said! I’m embedding the original version, although the rip-off made by the Italians with bikini-clad hotties is much better.

And I couldn’t finish this post without mentioning the great “Takeshi’s Castle”. An “army” of contestants try to conquer Takeshi’s castle, but first they must overcome a series of obstacles that end up reducing their ranks considerably. Here’s a compilation of some of the best knock outs. You got to admire the courage and determination of these people:

Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Michael Richards, the 4 main characters of Seinfeld, are set to appear in a multi-episode story arc of Curb Your Enthusiasm, which was created by and stars Larry David - one of the brains behind Seinfeld. For most of them it's not the first time they participate in an episode of the show (all of them except Michael Richards appeared in previous episodes), but it will be the first time all four Seinfeld stars have appeared together in a scripted TV show in 11 years, since Seinfeld went off the air.

Although we won't get to see them as Seinfeld, George, Elaine and Kramer, this should be quite fun anyway. I now have an excuse to watch all the episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm before the new season starts in September.

I want to dedicate this song to all my French-speaking friends that had the extraordinary experience of listening to me making a bit of fun about their language

And in case you're wondering where this comes from, it's part of the Flight of the Conchords TV show. Flight of the Conchords is a two-man (Bret and Jemaine) band from New Zealand that developed a cult following with their "guitar-based digi-bongo a capella-rap-funk-comedy folk". The TV show features them trying to achieve success as a band in New York City, and not quite making it... Highly recommended.