The Survivor Survivor Pool: Week 1

After all that time and all the hype, the premiere of Survivor: One World is over.  Whew!  As predicted, 18 hard-bodied women and men pranced on the beach for a Survivor style battle of the sexes.

There were a few surprises in the One World premiere however, including the shocking fact that the two tribes will be forced to share one beach which is contrary to the typical Survivor precedent where each tribe is provided with their own beach.  And by "shocked," I mean I'm not surprised at all.  The producers of one of the most popular reality shows on television have assembled the hottest looking group of cast members ever to fight for the idol, of course they have them shacking up within walking distance of each other.

Since this week was the premiere of the new season of Survivor, that also means it was the debut of Nerdsburgh's Survivor Survivor Pool experiment.

Because we are sensitive to the plight of DVR viewers, check out this week's Survivor Survivor Pool results and spoilers after the jump:

Comic Book Men and Full Metal Jousting: Reality TV takes a turn for the nerd

It would seem that everybody has a reality show these days.  Wives of mobsters, people that live in swamps and gals with big tushies that make sex tapes with celebrities have somehow all hoodwinked one network or another, shrewdly convincing them to send cameras all over creation in hopes of capturing cutesy moments from a bunch of unfamous nobodies for the undying entertainment pleasure of all the world to witness.  Excuse me, I just barfed a little in mouth.  

Don't get me wrong, some of those shows are highly entertaining in a I-had-chocolate-cake-for-breakfast guilty pleasure kind of way, but I'm certainly not going to waste valuable DVR space on watching them unless I have to.

Another unanticipated, yet equally as unfortunate, backlash of the explosive popularity of reality television programming is that most people in their "real" real lives are convinced that their work or living situation would make a great reality series.  As a self-proclaimed television expert, I would like to make a gross generalization and assume that whatever it is you, and by you I mean YOU, do on a daily basis probably isn't that interesting.  I mean, do you really want to watch pharmaceutical reps chit chat about tanning salons for half an hour a week?  Yeah, me neither.  

Fortunately for me, and all of my fellow Nerdsburghians of course, AMC and The History Channel have saved us from the mundane hell of pedestrian 15 minute fame whores and taken full nerd advantage of the reality television boom with their latest super original programming Comic Book Men and Full Metal Jousting, both of which premiered this past Sunday.

Action Figure Showdown: Liam Neeson vs. Patrick Stewart

In the ongoing battle of Star Wars vs. Star Trek, this YouTube video pits Liam Neeson's action figure of Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn against Patrick Stewart's Captain Picard mini me. 

As a die-hard Next Generation Trekkie, I didn't think the action figure showdown set-up was all that fair to my favorite bald-headed Captain but it sure was fun to watch.  Thank you Graham Norton Show and BBC America!

'Chronicle' delves into the psyche of the anti-superhero

It was bound to happen sooner or later that superhero movies were going to become less about heroes and more about ordinary people becoming "super." 

While I do love the idealism of a Christopher Reeve Superman, I much prefer the acknowledgement of the inevitable flaws of human nature that exist in Michael Keaton's brooding Batman and even the turbulent inner conflict in Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark.  But take away the polish of production and the red robotic suit of armor and at the end of the day we might ask ourselves...what if being a superhero wasn't about a virtuous strong-man saving the world by fighting bad guys?  What if a regular person, with regular person problematic idiosyncrasies, suddenly had "super human" powers thrust upon them?

Peter Parker was faced with this dilemma, as were most of the X-Men mutants, but each of whom had an influential figure in their lives to guide them along that rocky road of becoming responsible members of the society of heroes, i.e.  "with great power comes great responsibility."

But not all of us have an Uncle Ben or a Charles Xavier to help us survive the puberty of super power acquisition.  Some of us, if bitten by a radioactive spider, just have to muscle through in a world full of skeptics, scientists and publicists that would probably fear, scorn and exploit such abilities.  Enter Chronicle, the latest in the craze of non-heroic superheroes.

Shot in the "found footage" style, made famous by the fake-umentary horror classic The Blair Witch Project, Chronicle "chronicles" the lives of three teenage boys who gain their superpowers after snooping around a suspicious hole in the ground one afternoon.

Although I find the first person camera technique a little tired this late in the game, I am intrigued by the anti-hero aspect of the story.  I like the idea that just because a person has a superhuman power, doesn't mean they intend to use it for the good of mankind.  Humanity is constantly tempted and to ignore such struggles is to ignore the gift and the burden to live our lives with the free will to do as we please.  Humanity by nature is fickle and often swayed like a metronome between the equally strong pulls of both good and evil. 

Can a person be inherently good?  Isn't every human at the mercy of evil's occasional temptation?

Chronicle also made waves recently in the YouTube world by filming and posting a test flight of human-like robots over the New York City skyline.  The stunt was both innovative and totally entertaining to watch.  I don't know much about the future of humanity in the event of a super power epidemic, but I do know one thing...if I ever got the power to fly, checking out the view from the clouds above the Big Apple is top on my list. 

Star Trek: The Next Generation cast to reunite at Calgary Expo

Star Trek: The Next Generation is celebrating its 25th anniversary and the whole gang is getting back together.  The only problem is...the party is in Canada.  Wah-wah.

Don't get me wrong, the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo seems like a wonderful place for our favorite Starfleet retirees to reunite.  It just so happens that Calgary is suuuuuperrrr far away from me...and the rest of my east coast nerd fans, of course.

However, with a guest list like this one, it looks like I might have to start saving now for a little trip up north.  It is no small feat to acquire the round-up of popular TNG stars, especially the elusive Patrick Stewart.  Without further ado, here is sneak peak at who is attending the Calgary Expo this spring:

The Calgary Entertainment & Comic Expo

April 27-29, 2012

Featuring Special Guests - Sir Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Michael Dorn, LeVar Burton, Gates McFadden, Wil Wheaton and Denise Crosby

GASP!!!

And that's not all!  The Calgary Expo is also presenting an event called Star Trek® TNG EXPOsed which will feature "a full-cast reunion of Star Trek: The Next Generation® to be held at the Calgary Stampede Corral on the evening of Saturday, April 28, 2012."  Although this is a separate ticketed event, it will be the only time that all 9 cast members will be together in one amazing, can't miss panel. 

I have nothing else to say except I will find a way to get there, Canada or no Canada, I will be there.  Stay tuned.