If you look over in the left hand column, you will see that I am currently watching the Third Season of Columbo. I am a huge fan of the show and enjoy its formula immensely. The show doesn't try to outsmart you or fool the viewer, rather it shows the viewer the murder and the audience gets to watch as the famous detective unravels the mystery. It is an ingenious procedural format which plays wonderful games with the standard three act formula of screenwriting. It still follows the formula, you can set your clock to the "acts," but by shifting the murderer into the "hero" role the formula is altered enough to make it truly original.
Now to the main point. I remember playing a game of Trivial Pursuit, or hearing from a friend of a friend, that there is a question about Columbo's wife and what her first name is. I always thought this was an urban myth. In fact, I imagined that since one of the ways trivia game producers protect their IP is to put erroneous questions into the mix that the Mrs. Columbo question was one of these cases. In fact, upon checking I find that it is Columbo's suposed first name of Philip that is the urban myth (scroll down to Columbo).
The Season 3 Columbo DVD includes with it an episode of a show entitled Mrs. Columbo which has the wife of the famous detective solve a murder. The show should not be confused with the episode of Columbo entitled Rest in Peace Mrs. Columbo, rather it was an attempt to expand upon the Columbo universe though eventually Mrs. Columbo somehow became Mrs. Callahan and the show's title changed to Kate Loves a Mystery. So what is Columbo's wife's name? As the title change above indicates...Kate, played by Kathryn Janeway (I mean Kate Mulgrew).
I have viewed the Mrs. Columbo episode included on Season 3, and let me tell you...it nowhere near compares to the magic of a good Columbo episode. It doesn't even rank among the bad Columbo episodes for quality, not that there were many of those. Without the threat presented by Columbo's position as a Detective the investigation/interrogation techniques used by Kate (which bear remarkable similarity to those of Mr. Columbo) don't produce the narrative tension necessary. I found myself as irritated with Mrs. Columbo's questions as the murderer did, not to mention the mother/daughter solving the mystery together scene. It just didn't work for me. I guess I'll have to resolve myself to watching Murder She Wrote and Scarecrow and Remington Steele.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Hall of Fame Says No to Blyleven Again
One of the things I wish for is a sea change in the voting for Baseball's Hall of Fame. Writers like George Will and Bill James have sophisticated formula they wish to be used in determining who should be hall eligible, but my system is a little simpler. I wish that candidates for the Hall of Fame were only compared to individuals of their own position during their own era, rather than against some mythic standard of supreme excellence. The fact that Ryne Sandberg wasn't a shoe in is evidence that voters weren't analyzing him as a second baseman, rather as a "non-pitching player."
I do believe that currently voters have two categories they consider pitching vs. non-pitching. But I believe that the thought process should be broader than that. Ryne was the best second baseman in baseball for a decade, and he compares nicely to other Hall inductees at the position, yet he took time to get into the Hall. The glut of existing, and forthcoming, First Basemen with 400+ HR has skewed the thinking of the voters. Would Rod Carew be voted in today, probably (he had more than 3000 hits) but I think there would be questions.
I say all of this because voters seems to be beginning to take my idea into consideration, but only with regards to letting in relief pitchers. It appears the criteria are now pitchers, non-pitchers, and relief pitchers. This an odd parsing and seems to be to be the only reason Bruce Sutter is this year's sole inductee into the Hall. Pitchers like Bert Blyleven, who was great for his era, are ignored because they are being compared to Walter Johnson and Cy Young. Nobody compares to those guys, that's like saying you have to compare favorable to Babe Ruth, it's just crazy. By thinking of relief pitchers as a separate entity from pitcher it allows the voters to be more reasonable in their expectations of relief pitchers, hence why Sutter is in, but the voters haven't adjusted their standards for starters to match. I restate, players should be measured by their own era, who was the best when they played. In fact, I think maybe four or five players should be inducted every year there are certainly that many we can argue for.
Let me just show you how Blyleven and Sutter compare.
Blyleven:
Strikeouts per inning: .74 WHiP: 1.20
Sutter:
Strikeouts per inning: .83 WHiP: 1.14
As you can see Sutter's K per inning and Walks/Hits per inning are superior, but he also averaged less than 2 innings per game while Blyleven averaged 7.18 innings per game. Blyleven had a great career, steady and strong, but it wasn't a meteoric career, nor was it an obvious "the very best of all-time" career. But that shouldn't be the standard, at least not in the sense that you have to be better than everything that came before. If you honestly look at the HoF, you will find pitchers whose careers don't quite match Blyleven's.
My request to the voters? Stop wanting every Hall pitcher to be Walter Johnson. There is only one of those...ever. If that is your standard, have a Hall of 1.
I do believe that currently voters have two categories they consider pitching vs. non-pitching. But I believe that the thought process should be broader than that. Ryne was the best second baseman in baseball for a decade, and he compares nicely to other Hall inductees at the position, yet he took time to get into the Hall. The glut of existing, and forthcoming, First Basemen with 400+ HR has skewed the thinking of the voters. Would Rod Carew be voted in today, probably (he had more than 3000 hits) but I think there would be questions.
I say all of this because voters seems to be beginning to take my idea into consideration, but only with regards to letting in relief pitchers. It appears the criteria are now pitchers, non-pitchers, and relief pitchers. This an odd parsing and seems to be to be the only reason Bruce Sutter is this year's sole inductee into the Hall. Pitchers like Bert Blyleven, who was great for his era, are ignored because they are being compared to Walter Johnson and Cy Young. Nobody compares to those guys, that's like saying you have to compare favorable to Babe Ruth, it's just crazy. By thinking of relief pitchers as a separate entity from pitcher it allows the voters to be more reasonable in their expectations of relief pitchers, hence why Sutter is in, but the voters haven't adjusted their standards for starters to match. I restate, players should be measured by their own era, who was the best when they played. In fact, I think maybe four or five players should be inducted every year there are certainly that many we can argue for.
Let me just show you how Blyleven and Sutter compare.
Blyleven:
Wins: 287 Losses: 250 ERA: 3.31 G: 692 GS: 685 CG: 242 SHO: 60 SV: 0 SVO: n/a IP: 4970.0 Hits: 4632 Runs: 2029 Earned Runs: 1830 HR: 430 HBP: 155 BB: 1322 Strikeouts: 3701
Strikeouts per inning: .74 WHiP: 1.20
Sutter:
Wins: 68 Losses: 71 ERA: 2.83 G: 661 GS: 0 CG: 0 SHO: 0 SV: 300 SVO:--- IP: 1042.0 Hits: 879 Runs: 370 Earned Runs: 328 HR: 77 HBP: 13 BB: 309 Strikeouts: 861
Strikeouts per inning: .83 WHiP: 1.14
As you can see Sutter's K per inning and Walks/Hits per inning are superior, but he also averaged less than 2 innings per game while Blyleven averaged 7.18 innings per game. Blyleven had a great career, steady and strong, but it wasn't a meteoric career, nor was it an obvious "the very best of all-time" career. But that shouldn't be the standard, at least not in the sense that you have to be better than everything that came before. If you honestly look at the HoF, you will find pitchers whose careers don't quite match Blyleven's.
My request to the voters? Stop wanting every Hall pitcher to be Walter Johnson. There is only one of those...ever. If that is your standard, have a Hall of 1.
What Hasbro's New Deal With Marvel Might Mean for RPGs
Hasbro and Marvel have entered into a 5-year licensing agreement, "under which Marvel has granted Hasbro toy and game rights to its renowned Super Hero universe that includes franchises such as Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, X-Men and Captain America. Through the agreement, Hasbro has obtained the rights to develop products based on Marvel’s globally-known universe of over 5,000 characters in a wide range of toy and game categories -- including action figures, role play and preschool toys, board games and puzzles. The agreement covers both the “classic” comic book look of the characters as well as product lines inspired by Marvel-themed movies."
Ordinarily such a licensing agreement would, while financially a big deal, not be seen as particularly out of the ordinary, but there are some interesting factors to consider with regard to this event.
First of all, the license guarantees Marvel $205 million in royalty and service fee payments, of which $70 million would be payable on the theatrical release of Spider-Man 3 and $35 million upon the theatrical release of Spider-Man 4. This is of particular importance given tha Marvel has recently decided to fund it's own film studio by creating an independent funding entity worth $525 million last year.
The second important consideration is Marvel's historic connection to Toy Biz Inc. Especially since according to the Toy Biz website Toy Biz is a division of Marvel Enterprises, Inc. ™ & © 2005 Marvel Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved. According to Marvel the new agreement with Hasbro will result in lower royalty payments from Hasbro than came from Toy Biz, which makes sense since Marvel and Toy Biz are the same company. What the shift to Hasbro signifies is a desire by Marvel to continue seeing revenue from its intellectual properties while reducing the overhead costs of production. In the past, Toy Biz was responsible for manufacturing costs and royalty costs to the parent company thus expenditures, and thus risks, as well as profits were internal. Now the risk is external and the payments are internal. This is a significant change in the Marvel model. When Marvel was going bankrupt it was Toy Biz who merged with the financially unstable company and secured Marvel's place in the market. Now that most of Marvel's debt is paid, it appears that the companies are preparing to separate.
Third, what does this mean for Role Players? According to Marvel Chairmand Morton Handel, "Commencing in 2007, a wide range of toy and game categories – including action figures, role play and preschool toys, board games and puzzles – will be produced by our new licensee, Hasbro." Role playing products are a part of the licensing deal. What the new Marvel rpg, if any, produced from this deal will look like can only be guessed at, but it does look like a bright possibility.
In good news for Hasbro, the license can be extended past the five year term, dependent on the number of other entertainment properties released during that timeframe.
Ordinarily such a licensing agreement would, while financially a big deal, not be seen as particularly out of the ordinary, but there are some interesting factors to consider with regard to this event.
First of all, the license guarantees Marvel $205 million in royalty and service fee payments, of which $70 million would be payable on the theatrical release of Spider-Man 3 and $35 million upon the theatrical release of Spider-Man 4. This is of particular importance given tha Marvel has recently decided to fund it's own film studio by creating an independent funding entity worth $525 million last year.
The second important consideration is Marvel's historic connection to Toy Biz Inc. Especially since according to the Toy Biz website Toy Biz is a division of Marvel Enterprises, Inc. ™ & © 2005 Marvel Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved. According to Marvel the new agreement with Hasbro will result in lower royalty payments from Hasbro than came from Toy Biz, which makes sense since Marvel and Toy Biz are the same company. What the shift to Hasbro signifies is a desire by Marvel to continue seeing revenue from its intellectual properties while reducing the overhead costs of production. In the past, Toy Biz was responsible for manufacturing costs and royalty costs to the parent company thus expenditures, and thus risks, as well as profits were internal. Now the risk is external and the payments are internal. This is a significant change in the Marvel model. When Marvel was going bankrupt it was Toy Biz who merged with the financially unstable company and secured Marvel's place in the market. Now that most of Marvel's debt is paid, it appears that the companies are preparing to separate.
Third, what does this mean for Role Players? According to Marvel Chairmand Morton Handel, "Commencing in 2007, a wide range of toy and game categories – including action figures, role play and preschool toys, board games and puzzles – will be produced by our new licensee, Hasbro." Role playing products are a part of the licensing deal. What the new Marvel rpg, if any, produced from this deal will look like can only be guessed at, but it does look like a bright possibility.
In good news for Hasbro, the license can be extended past the five year term, dependent on the number of other entertainment properties released during that timeframe.
Friday, January 06, 2006
Comedy Central Expands Motherload Lineup.
Last November Comedy Central, a division of MTV Networks and part of "New" Viacom, launched its broadband-optimized channel Motherload. The web-based channel featured original programming for online viewing (currently Motherload is incompatible with Firefox 1.5) by technically savvy consumers. In addition to a launch of five "broadband exclusive" shows, Motherload offers a number of services like previews/highlights/extras from existing Comedy Central programming. Motherload was created to both take advantage of a new medium while supporting existing Comedy Central Programming.
January 6, 2006, Comedy Central announced their 2006 development slate for the broadband entertainment site. Lou Wallach, senior vice-president, original programming and development, discussed upcoming developments:
A Comedy Central press release discussed what shows may be featured on Motherload in upcoming months.
Recently Comedy Central has received criticism for pulling the second run of a South Park episode which featured a bleeding Virgin Mary Statue. The follow up showing was pulled after Catholic groups loudly protested the episode's content. I think it is possible that with sufficient pressure from individuals who want to watch the episode, the network would likely re-air the episode or at minimum make it available to view on Motherload. We at Cinerati don't know why some people don't understand that South Park pokes fun at everybody. Number One believes that comedy fans who only want to experience Schadenfruede-esque humor and never be the brunt of a joke ought think about what that means.
January 6, 2006, Comedy Central announced their 2006 development slate for the broadband entertainment site. Lou Wallach, senior vice-president, original programming and development, discussed upcoming developments:
Our 2006 broadband development slate further represents COMEDY CENTRAL's commitment to developing and producing quality programming exclusively for this digital platform," said Wallach. "There is such a wealth of talent and content in the broadband arena. With the launch of 'MotherLoad' we have become the comedic hub for broadband content. Top comedians, actors and writers are looking to COMEDY CENTRAL as the launching pad for their broadband shows.
A Comedy Central press release discussed what shows may be featured on Motherload in upcoming months.
Projects in consideration to premiere on "MotherLoad" include (all titles listed are working titles): "All Access: Middle Ages" This hilarious VH1 clip-show parody is from Littleman, the gang behind MotherLoad's hit series "I Love the Thirties." The new show includes such episodes as "Most Awesomely Bad Plagues," "Worst Breakups: Henry VIII & Anne Boleyn" and "Best Crusade Ever." "How To Live" From writer Steve Kerper, "How To Live" is a show about a modern dysfunctional family, but produced in the style of 50's-era educational reels. "Fanboy" "Fanboy" is a live-action scripted series about an obnoxious comic-book geek. The series was developed by Hungryman, the commercial production company that works with Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry. "Good God" "Good God" is a live action comedy, a la "The Office," about God's workplace environment. This show is another Hungryman production. "Golden Age" This animated show comes from Augenblick Studios, whose animation has appeared in COMEDY CENTRAL's "Shorties Watching Shorties" and MTV2's "Wonder Showzen." Each episode of "Golden Age" features a profile of what happened to long-since-retired cartoon characters. For example, "Jerome" the gumdrop from the "Let's Go Out to the Lobby" film strips that played before movies in the 70s, was afflicted with numerous abuse problems. "Daisy Garden Story Time" A dark & twisted "Reading Rainbow" parody from Nick Gurewitch, the artist behind cult comic strip "The Perry Bible Fellowship". "My Wife, The Ghost" This series is a dark parody of the 50's-era supernatural sitcoms such as "My Mother the Car" and "Bewitched." "MotherLoad Presents" Taped in front of a live audience at New York's own Ars Nova Theater, this series features some of the funniest, strangest and most unique bits from NYC's alternative comedy scene.
Recently Comedy Central has received criticism for pulling the second run of a South Park episode which featured a bleeding Virgin Mary Statue. The follow up showing was pulled after Catholic groups loudly protested the episode's content. I think it is possible that with sufficient pressure from individuals who want to watch the episode, the network would likely re-air the episode or at minimum make it available to view on Motherload. We at Cinerati don't know why some people don't understand that South Park pokes fun at everybody. Number One believes that comedy fans who only want to experience Schadenfruede-esque humor and never be the brunt of a joke ought think about what that means.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Everything You Need to Know About Roleplaying Games
8 bit D&D attempts to show what a "typical" roleplaying session is like, while simultaneously addressing rpg critics.
Now that I have made the cartoon sound sophisticated...the group it focuses on is more like your typical High School aged gaming group, though some of their behaviors are universal. In fact, anyone who has played an rpg has had a session similar to the one portrayed.
The opening prologue is a parody of the "rpgs = satan" crowd, best represented by Jack Chick, who have attacked the fantasy elements of rpgs.
Now that I have made the cartoon sound sophisticated...the group it focuses on is more like your typical High School aged gaming group, though some of their behaviors are universal. In fact, anyone who has played an rpg has had a session similar to the one portrayed.
The opening prologue is a parody of the "rpgs = satan" crowd, best represented by Jack Chick, who have attacked the fantasy elements of rpgs.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
CBS and Viacom Once More Separate Publically Traded Entities
In 1999, the merger of CBS and Viacom was the largest media merger in history. At the time, it combined CBS (aka the old folks network) with Viacom's long list of youth oriented cable networks. The deal was described by CNN as move to get the "network of Dan Rather in touch with the MTV generation."
In December 2005, Paramount Pictures (a unit of Viacom Inc.) purchased Dreamworks SKG, increasing the catalogue of the media giant. Also in December of 2005 MTV announced , in what can only be called a flexing of synergistic media giant muscles, that it would be venturing into the digital download musical arena. But it appears that the recent activity partially helps to shore up Viacom after it decided to separate its businesses into two publically traded entities.
January 1, 2006 marked the first day that CBS and Viacom will become CBS Corporation and New Viacom Inc. While CBS will hold many of the former television properties of Viacom, it appears that MTV Networks will move on to the "New" Viacom.
I guess Dan Rather and the MTV generation didn't get along too well after all. Or maybe they did. After all, CBS brought in the New Year with a Dan Rather interview of Bill Clinton the sax playing star seen on MTV in 1992. Maybe CNN forgot that the MTV generation was voting in 1992 when they wrote their story in 1999.
In December 2005, Paramount Pictures (a unit of Viacom Inc.) purchased Dreamworks SKG, increasing the catalogue of the media giant. Also in December of 2005 MTV announced , in what can only be called a flexing of synergistic media giant muscles, that it would be venturing into the digital download musical arena. But it appears that the recent activity partially helps to shore up Viacom after it decided to separate its businesses into two publically traded entities.
January 1, 2006 marked the first day that CBS and Viacom will become CBS Corporation and New Viacom Inc. While CBS will hold many of the former television properties of Viacom, it appears that MTV Networks will move on to the "New" Viacom.
I guess Dan Rather and the MTV generation didn't get along too well after all. Or maybe they did. After all, CBS brought in the New Year with a Dan Rather interview of Bill Clinton the sax playing star seen on MTV in 1992. Maybe CNN forgot that the MTV generation was voting in 1992 when they wrote their story in 1999.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
My Choice for the Rose Bowl!
It appears that some Marvel Golden Age Superheroes share my love of the USC Trojans.
Image copyright Hasbro, Characters Trademark Marvel Comics Group.
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