Do Dump or Marry: Oh Captain My Captain

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I don't know why Twitter is a'flutter with wishes of a Happy 50th Anniversary to Star Trek today since the show's 50th anniversary isn't until September 8th (I think maybe IMDb started it?) but Borg knows it'll be a big deal all year, so we might as well run with it (aka I had already gathered up these pictures by the time I figured out the anniversary isn't actually today). And we did just get that teaser for Bryan Fuller's Star Trek show earlier this week!

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Anyway with all due apologies to Chris Pine...

... (who doesn't need our apologies, clearly he is doing fine) we figure a Trek-themed edition of "Do Dump or Marry" is pretty overdue. So we're going with the three Enterprise Captains (cue people who know Star trek way way better than I do explaining to me that there are other Enterprise captains or one of them isn't a "Captain" or something) -- James T. Kirk (William Shatner) from the original series and Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) from The Next Generation and Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) from Enterprise.

Give us your answers in the comments!

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Who Wore It Best?

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Super Silver Tights?

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poll by twiigs.com

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A happy 59th birthday to Scott Bakula (see more here) and 

a happy 34th birthday to Brandon Routh (see more here) today!

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Rossell Tovey Is Looking To America

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I was just reading a quote from Russell Tovey, the openly gay British actor with the most adorable gigantic ears on the face of the planet (see lots of him here), earlier this week where he was talking about all he's ever played are straight roles and how when he finally does play gay, as it were, it would have to be something special. I guess he found his something special - special indeed - he's taking a role on the new big gay series that HBO is putting together for the director of Weekend, Andrew Haigh. It's called Looking and it already has Jonathan Groff in the lead, along with Scott Bakula, Murray Bartlett, and Gayby's Matthew Wilkas - those latter two you can see below, for obvious reasons.

Good Morning, Bakula

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Scott Bakula and his extensive exploitation within Lord of Illusions popped to mind last week when it was Clive Barker's birthday and I've been meaning to get around to this since, so here we be.
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I have not seen Lord of Illusions since it came out - my only memories are of Scott Bakula's body and the movie itself being just straight up abysmally bad. Feel free to correct me if you've seen it more recently and/or have a fondess for it. What I hope we all can agree on is wanting to stare at some vintage Bakula. Because here's a bunch! 

Hit the jump for it.

Dean Stockwell Three Times

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A happy 76th birthday to the Cylon, the helpful hologram,

and the candy-colored clown. 

Oh Yeah, Now I Remember Why...

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... Quantum Leap was one of my favorite shows when I was a kid.

The Next Leap

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Dr. Sam Beckett of Quantum Leap was my 25th favorite TV character in my list of 25 favorite TV characters that I made way back in the day. I loved Quantum Leap. I haven't seen it in years and I actually think it might be time for an update. It's time has come. And now via DH comes word that that might be happening.

Actor Scott Bakula has confirmed that a script for a cinematic reboot of the "Quantum Leap" franchise is in the works reports Blastr.

Speaking about it the other week during Comic Con, Bakula says show creator Donald P. Bellisario is "working on the film script and has a big time Hollywood producer who wants to do it... Don did say that as he was writing, he told me he was having trouble, 'getting you and Dean out of my head.' But I know he will do it."

Of course the roles that he and Dean Stockwell played in the original time-jumping genre drama will go to younger actors, but Bakula is keen to be involved in some way saying "Dean and I will have a part in it somehow."

I don't much expect or need Bakula and Stockwell to be integral to any sort of reboot but it'd be nice if we got some hint towards what became of Beckett. He was still hopping about in time at the end, poor thing. Anyway, here's some gratuitousness from the episode where he leapt into a space monkey, just cuz (via):

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I Am Link

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--- That Is A Beautiful Suit - That is a beautiful suit, Chris Pine.

--- I Am So Old - Quantum Leap celebrated it's 20th anniversary last week, thereby proving it's only a matter of moments until my entire body is riddled with liver-spots. Check out a chat with the main Leap-er himself, Scott Bakula, over at SciFiWire.

--- Hugh's Ass Is One Of Them - The Vulture Blog at New York Magazine lists 15 reasons why you shouldn't download the leaked copy of Wolverine bur rather wait to see the flick on the big screen. Hugh's big ass is enough. Ass Is Enough!

--- On The Fringe - Fringe star Anna Torv has been making the interview rounds now that the show's back in a couple days (yay!) after a long Winter break. That link is spoilery, by the way. I am so totally into this show now, you guys have no idea. LOVE.

--- And finally, big bad Nathaniel of Film Experience fame has his first post at Towleroad - he's starting a weekly column - up today! So a big congrats to him on the new gig, and y'all go check it out and support the dude.
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Asking Bryan Fuller, Part the First: Pushing Daisies

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Have I got a treat for y'all today! I can cross a mighty big one off my bucket list, because Heaven itself opened up and rained goodness down by granting me some chatting time with writer and producer, self-proclaimed geek and me-proclaimed genius Bryan Fuller. Bryan's had his hands all up in everything from Star Trek to Heroes of course, but he's most fondly appreciated round these parts as the visionary behind the short-lived-but-forever-beloved Wonderfalls and the now-airing-on-ABC (Wednesdays, 8pm!) Pushing Daisies.

Well Bryan took up my proposal (no, not that one... or that one... or that one...) and answered two rounds of questions, and today I present you with Round 1 which has to do with Pushing Daisies. There are some very very slight spoilers ahead, specifically for tonight's episode, and some info on a future episode (that made my head explode with candy-flavored fireworks), so do tread lightly if you're sensitive to those sorts of things.

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JA: Hi Bryan! Let's jump right in. I live in terror of Ned and Chuck's every swinging extremity. I'm probably damaging my brain from cutting off its oxygen due to how much I'm holding my breath because of their "Touching = Death" plight. Promise me right here and right now that I have nothing to fear in that you would never have them accidentally brush elbows in the hallway causing Chuck to drop instantly dead mid-episode.

Bryan Fuller: I promise. Right here. Right now. Although if it had to end that way, it would end with a kiss.

JA: This is less a question than a suggestion: Perhaps you remember the Evil Leapers from Quantum Leap? How about an Evil "Dead-Person-Toucher" to challenge Ned? And relatedly, how about an easy name similar to "Leaper" for what Ned does instead of "Dead-Person-Toucher," which has a taste of the necrophiliac.

BF: "Deliver Us From Evil" (the first of Quantum Leap's Evil Leaper trilogy) didn't roll out until the fifth season. [ed. - Geek!] So in our fifth season, Pushing Daisies will follow suit and roll out the Savory Pie Maker with a witching dead-person-touching finger of his own .

JA: On the serious tip though, do you have any plans to address where Ned's reanimation power came from? Is it just an "act of god" or will we find out there was an ancient African tribe that gives the power to One Girl Pie-Maker In All The World To Fight The Powers Of Darkness?

BF: You know, I kind of want that to remain magical. Midichlorians really bummed me out.

JA: Speaking of acts of god, how lenient is the network with some of the more risque bits? Like in tonight’s episode "Bad Habits" you have the corpse of a nun exclaiming, basically, that there is no afterlife. Any notes from the higher-ups on that? Or does the general air of sweetness counteract any of the more bitter flavors you inject?

BF: There was a lot of discussion on how we depicted the nuns in that episode, that line in particular. How Aaron and Gretchen (Berg and Harberts, who wrote the episode) rationalized it was this: no nun who is actually a nun ever questions their faith. We didn't want to take any pot-shots at religion or people of faith in an episode about nuns because we're bigger than that, goddamn it. Or rather, God damn it.

JA: One of the things about Daisies that consistently brings me pleasure is your impeccable taste for casting great character actors in small roles. Missi Pyle, Molly Shannon, Diana Scarwid, Mike White, Paul Reubens... I could keep going (no really - I really really could). That's not even touching the ones that you've given permanent roles to - Ellen Greene for the love of god. Any dream guests you'd kill to have?

BF: Holy cow. There are quite a few. I'll start with Toby Jones.

JA: And please tell me the rumor that Caroline Dhavernas and/or Beth Grant will be showing up to sate us Wonderfalls-geeks’ insatiable lust has truth to it?

BF: Beth Grant has reprised her role as Marianne Marie Beetle in our eighth episode. She competes with her muffins against Ned and Olive and their pies in a Comfort Food Cook-Off and it's really f-ing funny and one of my favorite episodes for all sorts of reasons, not the least of which is Kristin Chenoweth's rendition of the Bangles' "Eternal Flame." [ed. - OH MY GOD.]

Speaking of network notes on risque bits, we got one for this episode regarding a cast member's risque bits during a slow motion sprint.

JA: Lee Pace dressed as a priest. I don't really have ... any question here... moving on...

BF: It is a recipe for excommunication.

JA: Could you just cram Kristen Chenoweth in an envelope and send her to me? She's tiny! I promise to treat her right, and only make her sing show-tunes on very specific occasions.

BF: Yes.

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See how that goes? By the end I've always whittled everybody down to single-word answers. And the slow backing away. And all the paperwork with the restraining orders. It's exhausting!

A huge thanks to Bryan for taking time out of his busy schedule crafting the world's most romantic and colorful show about death to indulge my fan-boy prattle. And y'all go watch Pushing Daisies! ABC, Wednesdays, 8pm EST. Tell your friends!

And stay tuned - Next Wednesday
comes Round 2 of the interview!

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My Favorite 25 TV Characters

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This week's fad appears to be making this list - naming your favorite 25 television characters of all time. And now that I'm proficient with the list-making, can do!

I should mention that this seems to have started, or least my interest was piqued by it, with the one the only Joss Whedon making a list of his own... In which he names not a single one of the characters he created. Which sure, tis humble and all, but I call bullshit. Love ya, Joss, which is why I cannot let such a blasphemous list stand!

Now, at times it's seemed as if I watch too much television, but I actually have a pretty limited scope. I watched some as a kid, and then I didn't watch much TV at all through college, really, and then post-college I got into a few specific shows pretty hardcore. The list shall reflect my smaller-than-most (and, yup, decidedly Joss-centric) preferences, then.

There are also rules to making the list. They are as follows:

No puppets or cartoons.
No mini-series.
No reality show people.
All characters must be regulars on the show.

Anyway, let's get on with it!

MY FAVORITE 25 TELEVISION CHARACTERS
OF ALL TIME!!!
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25. Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula), Quantum Leap - One of the first shows I was addicted to. I think I was a little bit in love with Scott Bakula. I haven't seen the show since it was on originally, but man was I obsessed.






24. Alex P. Keaton (Michael J. Fox), Family Ties - I was, unfortunately, a child of the 80's, meaning I pretty much wanted to be Alex. P. Keaton in Middle School. I still tear up when I hear that song from the finale ("What do you think / I would giiiive at this moment..."), when Alex had to choose who he loved. God I'm a dork.

23. Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage), The Wonder Years - I may've wanted to be Alex Keaton, but in reality I was a bit closer to Kevin. Which is wonderful, in retrospect. Just replace Winnie Cooper with Sean Jones (...sigh...) , and there ya go.






22. Peg Bundy (Katey Segal), Married... With Children - Okay, so I had this dream while this show was still on that Peg Bundy was my mother and I was sitting beside her in a hospital bed as she died. I still remember her bouffant hair-do all matted down on the pillow and all the tubes... it was awful. Loved her ever since.




21. Darlene Conner (Sarah Gilbert), Roseanne - There was this episode where the whole Conner family was going to be in a commercial for the restaurant, so Roseanne made them all act unlike themselves, and Darlene had to wear some frilly girly dress and her hair in pigtails, and when they finally saw the commercial everyone else had been edited out and it was just this slow-motion shot of Darlene in this get-up smiling and eating a french fry and I swear to god I still laugh uncontrollably just thinking about it.

20. Capt. Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), Firefly - Mmm Captain Tight-Pants.










19. Christian Troy (Julian McMahon), Nip/Tuck - Mmm Doctor No-Pants.










18. Sharon Tyler (Katie Finneran), Wonderfalls - The lesbian sister who stole the entire far-too-short-lived show for me. She turned putting on a seatbelt whilst angry into slapstick gold.








17. Mr. Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), Lost - Jesus-stick!











16. Elaine Benes (Julia Louis Dreyfus), Seinfeld - My favorite Seinfeld moments all involve Elaine. Probable fave - throwing George's toupee out the window, screaming, "I don't like this thing! And this is what I'm doing with it!" Or something like that.


15. President Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell), Battlestar Galactica - Like Joss Whedon said in his own list, this is the role McDonnell was born to play. Yet another reminder that Emmy voters are complete and utter buffoons.


14. Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell), Veronica Mars - Let's not embarrass myself again.






13. Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter), Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Angel - I went into watching Buffy with some sort of completely unfounded hatred of Charisma Carpenter. I'd never even seen her in anything; I just, for a reason I cannot even remember any more, hated her face. It was about the time (Season 3, episode called "Lover's Walk") that she discovered Xander was cheating on her with Willow and she fell through the floor and was impaled by a steel bar that she won me over. Yes, that's what it takes for me to love you! Impaling!

12. Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan), Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Willow probably would've placed higher if they didn't do that horrible "magic = drugs" storyline in the 6th season where all she did was breathe through her mouth. Other than that irritating character moment, I adore Willow. Willow and Tara forever! Then not. Sigh.



10/11. Marshall Flinkman (Kevin Weisman), Alias + Chloe O'Brian (Mary Lynn Raskjub), 24 - TIE - Let's hear it for the computer geeks! The two best things about their respective shows. They steal every shot they're in. And when they're in danger, I am more frightened than any other time.

9. David Brent (Ricky Gervais), BBC's The Office - Oh... awkward. Gervais is a genius.







8. Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty), The Golden Girls - My favorite Golden Girl, the one with the most inappropriate one-liners to clutter my childhood.

Be well, Estelle!



6./7. Anya (Emma Caulfield), Buffy the Vampire Slayer + Winifred Burkle (Amy Acker), Angel - TIE - My favorite side-ladies of the Whedon 'Verse. Both of whom met horrific ends. Damn you, Joss.

5. Dr. Kimberly Shaw (Marcia Cross), Melrose Place - OHMIGOD SHE TORE OFF HER HAIR. The craziest bitch to ever not really exist.








4. Tim Canterbury (Martin Freeman), BBC's The Office - I am still in love with Tim. Those final scenes of "The Office Special"... goosebumps still.






3. Pee Wee Herman (Paul Reubens), Pee Wee's Playhouse - My childhood personified. Scary, I know.






2. Jerri Blank (Amy Sedaris), Strangers With Candy - Inappropriate. Disgusting. Mean. Infected. Clueless. Amy Sedaris, will you marry me?






1. Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Buffy the Vampire Slayer - I could write hundreds of words saying everything I adore about Buffy, but I'll spare us both. She is a perfect creation, an icon for our age, and SMG hit practically every note just right. Love.