This morning it was work, workout, and walkies. Then, taco lunch with friends followed by chocolate chip cookies, chocolate-covered pistachio gelato bars and…
Fan Expo!
These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.
The Green Room.
Somebody help me move this bar cart into the lobby.
This kid’s a natural!
Then, it was another round of walkies and dinner…
Note the Gudetama theme.
And, finally, it was a brief walk over to SOMA Chocolates for…what else?
Oh, and pistachio gelato.
I capped off my day with more walkies…and work.
BIG upset today in our Stargate: SG-1 Greatest Episode Tournament!
I honestly thought Abyss was positioned to take it all. But #14th seeded The Pegasus Project had other plans!
The tourney continues and, once again, the underdog is ahead…but not by much! Click on the link or head on over to twitter and vote!
The #Stargate#SG1 Greatest Episode Tournament Continues! Pick the winner between…
Today, I had lunch with former Dark Matter line producer Norman Denver. Yesterday, it was lunch with Utopia Falls writer Andrew Burrows-Trotman. Tonight, it’s dinner with former Stargate Executive Producer Robert C. Cooper. Saturday, it’s dinner with writer Gail Simone.
Lunch at Buca with ABT! We killed those desserts!
Aside from all the eating, it’s also all systems go on the development slate. Three pitches more or less locked down, and two to go. But perhaps more important than nailing down those pitches is nailing down the restaurants Akemi and I will be checking out while we’re in L.A. Any recommendations?
The Stargate: SG-1 Greatest Episode Tournament continues! The Fifth Race secures its spot in second round action with its big win over Solitudes.
Next up, it’s Abyss vs The Pegasus Project. And it’s surprisingly close early on. Click on the link and cast your vote:
The #Stargate#SG1 Greatest Episode Tournament continues with a new poll! Choose between…
11 hours in to our 24 hour poll and Window of Opportunity is showing why it is the #1 seed in the tournament, opening up a huge lead over its opponent in this round, Urgo.
The #Stargate#SG1 Greatest Episode Tournament Begins! Choose between…
If you haven’t voted yet, click the link or head on over to twitter and cast your ballot.
Tomorrow, #2 seed The Fifth Race faces off against surprising #15 seed Solitudes. I have a feeling this one’s going to be much closer. Could there be an upset in the making?
I’m thinking that, once we get down to our Final Four, we should do a mass fan re-watch of our semi-finalists. What do you think?
Lately on twitter, I’ve avoided all of the political discourse in favor of the far more heated debate on fried chicken sandwiches that has pitted Wendy’s and Popeye’s in online battle. Coincidentally, two weeks, Business Insider taste-tested fried chicken sandwiches from eight different fast-food chains, and THIS WAS THE RESULT.
I am…unconvinced. So much so that I think I’m going to do my own taste-testing of the eight candidates. Maybe sometime next week? Who’s in?!
Another big story today is the news that Disney and Sony couldn’t agree on a deal, thus putting Spider-Man on the outs in the MCU. Frustrating for longtime fans, yes, but there’s a silver lining in that this opens the door to the long-overlooked Japanese Spider-Man from the 1970’s. I mean, who doesn’t remember THIS – ?
No? Are you sure? Come on, have some respect. He fought a transformer!
Lately, I’ve been a little…exhausted. I’ve been averaging about four hours of sleep a night and have now resorted to sipping chamomile tea before bedtime. I’ve cut out my afternoon espresso zabaglione and keep my melatonin pills handy. And still, it takes me forever to fall asleep – only to not stay asleep for long. So, what sure-fire remedies would you all suggest for sleeplessness?
We have our last two contestants. The field is set. Here are your first round match-ups:
#16 Urgo vs #1 Window of Opportunity
The hottest episode coming into the tournament, Urgo rides a write-in vote and upset victory in the playoff round to capture the last seed. But it has a tough first round match-up against Window of Opportunity, a perennial Top 5 favorite that sailed into the tourney on the strength of a commanding seasonal win that saw it garner 71% of the vote.
#15 Solitudes vs #2 The Fifth Race
Shippers, rejoice! The Sam and Jack-centered Solitudes defied the odds and secured one of the last playoff spots as a late wild-card. But it’s going to have its work cut out for it up against one of show’s seminal episodes. Will The Fifth Race, another longtime Top 5 favorite, secure the victory or are things going to get cruvis?
#14 The Pegasus Project vs #3 Abyss
Two of Brad Wright’s best SG-1 episodes go head to head. On the one hand, you’ve got that much-anticipated SG-1/Atlantis crossover; on the other, there’s Jack and Daniel and, also, Ba’al at his nefarious finest. Still, Abyss may be the odds-on favorite to not only advance, but, perhaps, win it all.
#13 Threads vs #4 Moebius Part 2
Coincidentally, two of the episodes that wrap-up the Jack O’Neil era of SG-1 face off here in first round action. Which one will have the final word in the tourney remains to be seen, but if there was any match-up that was primed for an upset, this would be it.
#12 Heroes Part 2 vs #5 200
One of the saddest episodes of the franchise’s 17 season run goes up against, arguably, one of its finest as fans are asked to choose between the poignant death of Janet Fraiser or puppets and invisible Jack.
#11 1969 vs #6 Lost City Part 2
The more humorous episodes continue their strong showing in the tourney with time travel romp 1969. But it is up against an enormously significant episode, rich with mythology – and boasting one of the greatest space ship skirmishes in franchise history: the Battle of Antarctica.
#10 Children of the Gods vs #7 2001
It’s the one that started it all vs. the encounter that may have ended it all via a massive bio attack. Although 2001 is the higher seed, Children of the Gods is in a great position to pull the upset here.
#9 Foothold vs #8 Ripple Effect
Two classic sci-fi concepts – alien invasion and alternate universes – go head to head in our final first round match-up. Foothold was the surprise winner of the season 3 poll, edging out Nemesis by a mere 1% of the vote while Ripple Effect eked out a somewhat easier win (by 3% of the vote) over Camelot in its seasonal match-up. Both episodes are a lot of fun and clearly have a lot of fans – but it’s the end of the road for one of them here.
The Stargate: SG-1 Greatest Episode Tournament kicks off tomorrow. Follow me on twitter (@BaronDestructo) for the latest – and don’t forget to vote!
Finally, while we’re on the subject of Stargate, I hear that Ben Browder’s latest movie, Hoax, is being released tomorrow and is now available for pre-order on iTunes and Epic Film’s Dread Central. Check out the trailer.
Over on twitter, four episodes are battling it out for a wildcard spot in next week’s Stargate: SG-1 Greatest Episode Tournament. Seven hours into the voting, and it’s surprisingly close.
Which of these four episodes should advance to the #Stargate#SG1 Greatest Episode Tournament? YOU decide! Choose between…
Have a feeling this one is going down to the wire.
Rainy day here today, but we took advantage of the occasional sunny breaks to take the dogs out – and us over to the Chinatown Festival where we enjoyed giant scallops, molten takoyaki, various meat sticks, lobster dumplings, banh mi, and my favorite: the pistachio popsicle!
If The Troop sounds familiar, it was one of my recommended horror reads back in the day – written by one of my very favorite horror author Nick Cutter (aka Craig Davidson)…
…who I also happen to be collaborating with on an adaptation of another one of his novels, Little Heaven. Perfect timing as Craig and I are just finishing up our pitch for the project. If all goes as planned, we’ll be taking taking it out next month.
Spent the better part of last night watching KPop videos. Now, I can’t get Blackpink, Fanatics, Momoland, and BewhY out of my head.
Here are the Top 10 Seeds (as decided by you, the fans) in next week’s Stargate: SG-1 Best Episode Tournament:
#1 – Window of Opportunity
#2 – The Fifth Race
#3 – Abyss
#4 – Moebius Part 2
#5 – 200
#6 – Lost City Part 2
#7 – 2001
#8 – Ripple Effect
#9 – Foothold
#10 – Children of the Gods
Each of the above received the most votes in their respective seasons. Seedings are based on overall votes received as well as percentage of overall votes cast.
And here are the first 4 (of our 6) wildcard entries –
#11 – 1969
#12 – Heroes Part 2
#13 – Threads
#14 – The Pegasus Project
Each of the above did not win their respective seasons but garnered enough votes (and a big enough percentage of the overall votes) to earn their spots as wildcard entries.
Which leaves only TWO spots for the remaining 8 episodes (either strong write-in candidates or those that received a significant number of votes or percentage of the overall vote for their respective season) :
GROUP A will duke it out in tomorrow’s poll which will pit:
Nemesis vs Lifeboat vs Torment of Tantalus vs Solitudes for the second to last wildcard spot!
GROUP B will face off on Sunday’s poll which will pit:
Full Circle vs Urgo vs Camelot vs Meridian for the last wildcard spot!
At which point, our final 16 tournament teams will be set!
Follow me on twitter @BaronDestructo for the latest tournament news!
Over on twitter, I’ve been posting polls asking fans to vote on their favorite episodes for each season. Today, we complete the preliminary entry round of our Greatest SG-1 Episode Tournament with Season 10. Click the link and cast your vote for one of the following four episodes:
What was the best episode of #Stargate#SG1's tenth and final season?
OR submit a write-in vote. 10 winning episodes from each season will make the tournament along with 6 popular wildcard entries!
Today, I had back to back meal/meetings. First up was breakfast with former Utopia Falls Production Assistant Leah Tomlinson. We discussed writing, directing, producing and, of course, Seinfeld.
Then, it was lunch with former Dark Matter director and stunt coordinator John Stead (who also did a little work for us on Utopia Falls) – who really should be on more production radars as he is really one of the best directors I’ve ever worked with.
So, I’m circling the last week of September to be in L.A. There are a lot of people I want to meet, a lot of places I want to visit, and some major projects I want to pitch. Yes, sir – pitch in September, receive word of a green light October-November, put together a room for early January, be in prep for April and in production on the show’s first season by June. After that, it’ll be smooooooth sailing!
Finally – Akemi is upset because I informed her that the Sorting Hat would definitely place her in Hufflepuff. I assured her that, even though I was Slytherin, we could still be in the same classes – just different houses. She’s not having it.
Least year was my best reading year ever. An insane number of books. This year…not so much. Blame it on the fact that I was in production. Or juggling multiple development projects. But, really, you can chalk it up to the fact that I’ve been watching a lot more, catching up on film & television. Yes, I’ve been watching a lot -but, surprisingly, enjoying very little. Or maybe it’s not all that surprising.
Among the shows I’ve watched over the past few months and enjoyed:
Fleabag
Barry
The Good Place (seasons 1-2)
The Boys
Euphoria
And then roughly four times that number of shows I started and abandoned. Finding a good genre show has been especially tough. Why? Well –
Yes, yes. BIG ASS budget. Yes, yes. Stellar casting. Yes, yes plenty of buzz. But is it any good? Do I LOVE THE CHARACTERS? More often than not – no.
In all fairness, there are plenty of sci-fi shows I’ve yet to watch – the new Star Treks namely. And, like most, I am particularly looking forward to checking out the new Picard series. But, really, given the number of new genre shows that get released on a monthly basis, you’d think the batting average would be somewhat better.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. Every show will have its fans and your mileage may vary. I’m just coming at it from the point of view of someone who has produced 350+ hours of genre television, written 100+, showrun 100+, but, more importantly, has been a HUGE sci-fi/fantasy/horror fan all of my life. And, interestingly enough, it would seem that I’m not the only one who has grown tired of the recent wave of dark, dreary, mean-spirited entertainment. Certainly audiences, but not the decision-makers. Not yet anyway.
Which strikes me as altogether bizarre. As new shows crash and burn and executives scramble to figure out how to produce the next big hit, I’d suggest looking at what has already been a hit – and why – then reverse-engineer. Take Supernatural for example, a series that has run a mind-boggling 15 seasons. What’s the secret of its success? Is it its supernatural underpinnings? Its monster-hunting premise? Or, perhaps, could it be the brotherly bond at the heart of the show?
Stargate: SG-1 ran for 10 seasons. Why? Was it the cool wormhole effect? The creepy alien villains? Or, maybe, could it have been the camaraderie at the core of every episode?
What about Star Trek? What do its various incarnations have in common besides spectacular visual effects and awesome spaceships? Well, there are the various crews at the center of each series that feel very much like a family.
Oh, come to think of its, there’s one more like variable. All of the afore-mentioned are also a lot of fun.
Hmmmm. A fun genre show. Imagine? That couldn’t possibly work outside of the shows mentioned (Supernatural, Stargate: SG-1 and Star Trek). And Star Trek: Atlantis, Farscape, Doctor Who, The X-Files, Firefly, The Orville, Stranger Things, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and all those DC Universe shows.
Yep, the secret of successful television will remain a mystery.
So that’s the plan. September. That’s when I want to be in L.A., pitching my new show. I’ve got a couple of great projects, approximately 400 hours of produced television experience, a dedicated and talented crew, and a loyal fanbase. Honestly. What else could they ask for?
Of course, I just have to, uh, finalize a few things between now and then. Strategize. Get some answers. Book the meetings. And then it’s go time!
Speaking of meeting – today, we caught up with the amazing Jen Blood who has been gifting us a slew of awesome Sujia and Lulu-themed gifs on twitter.
Jen is in town for EH Con Canada, but took time off from her busy schedule to come downtown and check out the local chocolate scene – namely SOMA Chocolate.
Then she swung by our place for what was undoubtedly the high point of her Toronto trip = actually meeting Suji and Lulu. P.S. Nice shirt!
Checking out Suji’s masterpieces.
She also came bearing gifts – this snazzy Spider-Man outfit for Lulu. And a Vikings jersey so that the dogs will have to split their allegiances between Minnesota and New Orleans.
