The WB is back … almost - VIDEO
I’ve long since given up hope for those flying cars we were all supposed to be piloting in the new millennium. Now, I’ll settle for that other years ago future dream, all of TV at your fingertips whenever you want it. We’re still a ways away from that one, but the new WB is another step in that direction.
The site is still in beta, so the amount of content leaves a little to be desired, but most of it seems to be working, and it gives a good idea of what will be waiting for everybody when the site goes live. They finally came through with my beta invite, and I’ve been poking around. Hit the gallery for the bigger screen shots of the various areas and interface, and join me after a jump for a quick tour in text. A word of warning, the embedded video after the jump will autostart. Beta.
The first thing you notice as you log in is that the site is very flashy. Characters from the various shows are floating in and out of the window. There’s just a lot going on. It’s impressive looking at first, but something I think that novelty will wear off quickly for most. You can get a look at the flashy graphics, and sign up for the beta, if you head over to beta.thewb.com. Luckily, there is plenty more to get to. As of now, the site is divided into eight different sections.
Shows: As you would guess, the link takes you to a page listing all of the shows on the site. Right now those shows include The OC, Smallville, All Of Us, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Friends, Dangerous, The Wayans Bros. Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill, Blue Water High, and The WB.com Originals.
Hovering over the tabs for the shows plays a clip, and clicking any of those will take you to the page for the show. Right now each of the shows have about five episodes available. Obviously, that’s going to need to be upped for the site to compete with the other sites doing this, but I’m sure that’s in the cards for the official launch.
Video: The video page gives you links back to the various show pages on the right, and a video window on the left that plays promos for them. I don’t quite get why you would use it. It seems to me that the people heading to thewb.com are going to have an idea what they are looking for. Perhaps once the originals come online it will serve more of a purpose to give you a peek at something you are not already familiar with.
Originals: Currently there are six shows listed on the originals page. Those are Sorority 4 Ever, Untitled Schwartz Project, Exposed, High Drama Despite All Oz, Lock Down, and Rich Girl, Poor Girl. Unfortunately, they are all still listed as coming soon, so we’ll have to wait and see if there is a gem hidden in there.
Games: The games are rather simple, but hold the potential for a nice diversion from work, if you are looking for one. They mostly play on the same games you’ve seen bouncing around the internet for years. Who is your best match in Tree Hill? It turns out mine is Peyton. There is also an OC memory match, some Friends trivia in Professor Gellar’s Pop Quiz, pop culture trivia with Gilmore Girls, Buffy’s Crossbow Attack, and Smallville’s Escape From Luthorcorp.
Celebs & Stars: This looks to be a portal for entertainment news and video. For now it is pulling news and videos from TMZ.com. I don’t see myself making use of this, because I already get more entertainment news than the average bear from other outlets, but it could be useful for some. I’ll be curious to see how that section expands.
WBlender: Another incomplete section, the WBlender will let you mix, mash, and blend videos from the site into your own creations which you can then share. There are a couple of examples. One has the Friends theme song redone with each word cut out of a scene from the show. The other is a collection of the many instances of Joey saying “How you doin’?”
Video Search: This is a section that really has potential. You choose a show and you can search the episodes for the text you are looking for. I picked a random quote from Gilmore Girls with Lorelai telling Rory, “You got your fabulous flair from me.” The engine correctly picked “Kill Me Now.”
Talk Back: As the name suggests, the fine folks at WB are looking for feedback.
So, that’s the basics of the layout. All things considered I’m pretty impressed with what they have so far. It’s a nice looking site, with some decent extras tossed in. But really, all of that stuff is mostly incidental. The site will sink or swim based on the content, and the player. Assuming that those episode counts grow, they should be in pretty good shape.
The player works exactly as you would expect, and the quality is in the same ballpark with its online rivals. I watched “Welcome To The Hellmouth” again, because you just can’t see it too many times. While you won’t confuse it with your DVDs, it played back smoothly and the quality held up when expanded to full screen. If you watch it in the browser window there is also a section below that toggles between a synopsis of the episode and random bits of trivia. In addition, they have the bonus of letting you share videos in a variety of ways. You can send them to your facebook profile, email a friend, or embed them in your site. I’ve added “Welcome To The Hellmouth” at the end of the post so you can have a look at the quality. It works well, except for that autostart thing.
Big Bang Theory: Where to find Sheldon’s shirts
If you’re a fan of The Big Bang Theory, you’ve probably wondered at some point where they get all the fun nerdy t-shirts that the character of Sheldon wears on the show. Well, I’m sure most of you, being internet-savvy and resourceful, have probably Googled each and every shirt and already have a spreadsheet up on Google Docs that is cross-referenced by episode and topic. But what about the lazy among us, who’d rather eat glass than stare at a spreadsheet all day?
SheldonShirts.com comes to the rescue. It shows screen shots of every shirt Sheldon wears in each episode and where you can get that particular shirt. It also shows where you can get the shirts that the other main character, Leonard, wears, as well as the the belt buckles worn by their perverted buddy Howard. They also make some suggestions for shirts the nerd heroes should wear in the future, as well as provide links to some other stuff that was shown on the program. It’s a good way to waste a couple of hours, whether you’re a nerd, a geek, or neither. It’s especially good for those who are need to find their favorite geek or nerd a birthday present. To those people, you’re welcome in advance.
[via Pop Candy]
Venture Brothers 3.x cast photo made public
Jackson Publick (a pseudonym for Christopher McCulloch) has released the cast photo for The Venture Brothers Season 3 on his LiveJournal blog. You have to scroll down a little to see it. It has many old characters in it along with many new ones.
A few characters, such as J.J. Venture and Jonas Venture, Sr., appear twice. I don’t know what that means, but it does come across as foreshadowing. Clones, perhaps? The Venture Brothers has a history with cloning.
Most suspicious is the absence of Dean Venture from picture, one-half of the two Venture Brothers for whom the series is named. Another case of foreshadowing, or just an error on the part of the creator? I wonder.
(Update: On Publick’s blog, he mentions in a comment that Dean wasn’t included because there were no real character design changes for him. So much for my conspiracy theory.)
On the same page are a few screen shots from the coming season. I just caught up on season 2 a week or so ago, so I’m really looking forward to season 3.
[via Ain’t It Cool News]
Harvey Dent Making Phone Calls Across the Nation! Dent’s Website Completely Revamped!
If you receive a call from a number marked 1-000-000-0000, pick it up, it’s Harvey Dent and he wants your vote! The Dent viral campaign for The Dark Knight has kicked off something fierce this evening. Not only are the prerecorded calls going out from Dent himself, but IBelieveInHarveyDent.com has been uploaded with a boatload of information. We’re talking a “Dentmobile” that will be touring the nation shortly. Here is the transcription of Dent’s phone message (thanks to Slashfilm reader The Addict). You can now hear the message in mp3 format on the official site as well. Is it just me or does he sound like Henry Rollins?
“Hello, I’m Harvey Dent, Assistant District Attorney of Gotham, and I’m calling to ask for your support. We all know what’s wrong with Gotham. Crime is out of control. And instead of protecting our streets, too many cops have become criminals themselves.
This is why my mission has been to stamp out police corruption, and this is why I’m considering a run for district attorney. But I can’t do it alone. I need to know if you, the people of Gotham, want change. Do you want a Gotham free from the grip of criminals and the corrupt? Are you ready to join a crusade to take back our city? If this is a change you desire, if you are fed up with living in fear, go to ibelieveinharveydent.com and see how you can join the struggle to take back our city. I’m ready to fight for Gotham, if you are ready to fight too.”
After the jump I’ll break down what’s been added to the site…
There’s not a whole lot of revealing information on the site, but there is a lot of pro-active potential for movie fans. The site aesthetic (screen shots via Hollywood Chicago) is pretty cool as well, totally sending up current American politics on the web and doing it better than many of the presidential candidates. To support Harvey Dent’s campaign for Gotham District Attorney, you can download an array of banners and the site suggests rather intensive ways to get involved and submit your participation for presentation on the site…
• Get your friends together and spell out Harvey Dent in human letters
• Get a video of your school’s cheerleading team yelling out chants for Harvey Dent
• Try to cover every square inch of someone’s cubicle area with Harvey Dent posters
• Write and perform a “Take Back Gotham” song
• Make up a “Dent Dance” routine
• See if you can get up a Harvey Dent sign in every single window of your dorm building
• Turn your own car into a “Dentmobile”
• Arrange a Dent parade down Main Street
• Make a human pyramid with other Harvey Dent supporters
I like the third one. Way to instigate an office war to end all wars faster than stealing a red stapler. And what the hell is a “Dent Dance” routine? Even with a few beers in and having just watched Craig Ferguson I can’t imagine what such a dance would look like. The deadline to submit all of this stuff directly to the site is March 26th. Feel free to send me or Peter emails with your attempts, especially the dancing (get to it Sexman!).
What I find most intriguing is the rocking tour schedule for the DentMobile. No pics provided. Here’s hoping there’s not a van split in half with leopard upholstry and black lights on one side in the actual film. Actually…no, that would be dumb. Hah. No specific times and dates are given as of yet but a map is provided and as you can see, this is quite an extensive tour. Why a Gotham D.A. hopeful has to pull a Van Halen, I’ll never know. Harvey Dent is probably big in Japan as well.
All in all, pretty cool stuff. Well that’s pretty much it ladies and gents. Get to making your Harvey Dent human pyramids, it’s late Friday night and the moon calls for it, especially if you’re at SXSW!