Boston Legal Lets Go of Four Actors Due to Zombie Apocalypse (BLITEOTW)

According to TV Guide, Julie Bowen, Mark Valley, Rene Auberjonois and Constance Zimmer won't appear during episodes of Boston Legal this fall. The underlying cause for the actors being dropped appears to be the Zombie Apocalypse which began this morning, though the particular reasons each of the actors won't be on the show next season vary.

A few of my friends, in the recently created Zombie Annihilation Unit of LAPD, have confirmed that Julie Bowen has refused to leave her house until society becomes more stable. Not surprising given the close proximity her house has to several Los Angeles cemeteries. The last thing I would want experience when walking out of my house is some dessicated and rotting starlet from the Silent Era trying to eat my brains. Particularly since I couldn't be sure whether the Starlet was doing it due to "hunger" or just jealousy that I was working.

As for Mark Valley, it seems he thought that he was as tough as his counterpart on the show and tried to "help" local law enforcement "take care" of the zombie problem. Well...now he's a part of the problem. I just saw his corpse moaning on exclusive TMZ footage.

I have yet to read any news regarding Rene Auberjonois and Constance Zimmer, but I would like to express my disappointment that Constance in particular won't be back. I have a big crush on her and would be willing to watch even a zombie Constance on the show. Just imagine how much more complex her character's relationship with Clarence might be if Clarence had to deal with the constant threat of having his brains devoured by his girlfriend. Could Clavant, or Clarice for that matter, handle that? I think not.

Vecna is Doing What?!

For those who have long wondered what the Lord of Secrets has been planning, the BBC has the scoop. It appears that, having achieved the status of Lesser God, Vecna has done what any intelligent, self-serving, deity in search of new followers would do. He has become a contractor with the US Military.

That's right, Vecna, the most reviled lich in Greyhawk history, the villain whose hand and eye have been coveted by the most greedy adventurers, has designed a "Teddy Bear" looking robot to help extract wounded soldiers from dangerous battlezones.

Who knew that Vecna was making Warforged? I thought that was the purview of Merrix D'Cannith.

Is this Lesser God...

Planning on taking over the world with these?

BEAR Image Source: Vecna Technologies, Inc.
Vecna Image Source: Wizards of the Coast.
Hat Tip: Ziggurat of Doom.

Star Wars: Saga Edition RPG to Have RPGA Support

Last night on Geekerati Radio, our own Eric Lytle gave his first impressions of the Star Wars: Saga Edition RPG. He'll be giving a full review of the game next week. His first thoughts, like those of many people, were very positive. What Eric didn't get into, but what has been troubling a lot of potential Star Wars players, is the apparent lack of product support that Wizards has planned for the upcoming year. This is especially true when it comes to Gamemaster support, which is apparently completely lacking so far. Wizards has officially listed only one RPG product, other than the core rulebook, for all of 2007, which leaves the working GM worried. The vast majority of products for 2007 are all part of the very successful Star Wars miniatures line.

ICv2 announced some good news for those working GMs today. It appears that Wizards will be providing RPGA adventures for fans to use in the upcoming Dawn of Defiance campaign. Let's keep our fingers crossed that this means more products for us to use in our campaigns.

Listen to Christian and Friends at Geekerati Radio

Geekerati Radio 6/11: "The Truly Independent and the Blatantly Mass Market."

The theme of tonight's show is "What does it means to be independent?" From films to roleplaying games, the panelists will discuss the tensions between "commercial" or "sell out" entertainment and what most consider to be independent.

You can listen to the show LIVE at 7pm PST tonight at www.blogtalkradio.com/geekerati, or you can listen to our show at a later time when you can hear our after show discussion. In addition to the discussion, we will be giving away a 10 day Guest Subscription to Lord of the Rings Online and a copy of Wicked Fantasy Factory's "Rumble in the Wizard's Tower" published by Goodman Games.

Listen in, participate when we have our "Film Trivia" moments where we ask panelists, and you, to name films based on criteria provided by "Cineplexity" cards. "Cineplexity" cards are a part of the entertaining "Cineplexity" game by Out of the Box Publishing.

Our show has no affiliation with Out of the Box games, but it's a great game and I think it can use all the free advertising it can get.

Future episodes of the show will include a rundown of Zombie Armageddon entertainment, a special episode this Wednesday, and an interview with SF/Fantasy author Susan Palwick regarding her newest novel Shelter.

I am Legend Preview Now Live

In 1954, Richard Matheson's I am Legend was published. The book featured a world depopulated due to the effects of a plague which infected its victims with an illness similar to vampirism. The novel's protagonist, the world's last "pure strain" human, explored the phenomenon from a purely scientific approach. He attempted to find out why and how what happened occurred, while simultaneously hunting the "undead" during the daylight hours. What begins as a simple monster hunt ends with the protagonist discovering not all of his victims were a scourge. In fact, Neville Morgan (the protagonist) finds that he himself is viewed as a monster by many of those he hunts.

The novel explored the psychological terror of being the last person in the world and the moral consequences of an "obsolete" organism murdering the next stage of life. Like later films of "Zombiegeddon" the book contained its share of social criticism and insight into the human condition.

The book has already been made into two films. Both The Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price and Omega Man starring Charlton Heston are classic films in the apocalyptic genre. One can also see echoes of the underlying narrative in Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later.

This December we will see the release of a third film based upon the novel. Will Smith stars as the protagonist in the Francis Lawrence (Constantine) directed version. The trailer for the film is live. The film also stars Salli Richardson from the great new SciFi series Eureka.

Cinerati Becomes Mysterious Galaxy Books Affiliate

All book recommendations at Cinerati will now include a link to Mysterious Galaxy Books where readers can purchase the selection from one of the internet's best independent bookstores. In addition to being a great place to purchase your books, the folks at Mysterious Galaxy host some of the most interesting panels each year at San Diego's Comic Con. Each year, Mysterious Galaxy provides the opportunity for fans to meet with many of their favorite Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult, Mystery, and Media Tie-in authors. Their website features a great page featuring Southern California authors, and after looking at the page you can see why they can sponsor so many excellent panels.

Mysterious Galaxy is what independent bookstores are all about.

In Preparation for the Upcoming Zombie Apocalypse

50%Mingle² - Free Online Dating

Given that there will be a Zombie Apocalypse next Wednesday, at least all signs seem to point to one occurring, I thought I might take a little quiz to see my likelihood of survival.

I guess having a coin-flip chance of making it is better than nothing. Now if only I knew which kind of Zombie Apocalypse in which I was going to find myself.