G4 TV - AOTB

Fresh Ink Online: Batman, Punisher, Spider-Man

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:50:00 -0800

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Fresh Ink Online host Blair Butler gears up for Thanksgiving with reviews of Invincible, Punisher, Irredeemable, Nola, and Phonogram The Singles Club. But is it Amazing Spider-Man or Batman and Brother Power the Geek that nabs the coveted Pick of the Week title? Watch and find out!

And tune in next week for a Turkey Day guest host spot by ultimate fighter and ultimate comic lover Nate “Rock” Quarry! Woo-hoo!!!

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Shawn Hatosy Of Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans Behind-The Scenes Interview

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:00:00 -0800

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This week, one of the stars of Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Shawn Hatosy stopped by AOTS to talk about the new film. Afterward, we sat down with Shawn to get the real dirt on what it was like working alongside Nicolas Cage and Xzibit on such a dramatic and edgy character study about a law man gone awry. Then, we begged him to give us details about the return of the TV cop drama, Southland and asked him to tell us what it was like working on the touching coming of age tale, Outside Providence. Check it out!

Gillian Jacobs From Community On AOTS

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:20:00 -0800

Today, on Attack of the Show Kevin and Olivia were joined by Gillian Jacobs. Gillian stopped by to talk about her show Community. Check out the behind-the-scene pictures to see the magic for yourself.

Creative Twitter Avatars

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:25:00 -0800

Artist Adam "Ape Lad" Koford created a set of Twitter icons based on the website's mascot. We can't get enough of them. Check out the full set here.

Community's Gillian Jacobs on AOTS

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:01:00 -0800

Community college just got a whole lot better looking. Actress Gillian Jacobs will be visiting Attack of the Show tonight to talk about her NBC series, Community with fellow stars Joel McHale and Chevy Chase. Find out firsthand on her thoughts about filming on a real community college campus, pole-dancing and getting in on the Twitter action. Tune in tonight at 7:00 PM!

_____s of the Day

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:59:00 -0800

Today's Weird Holiday - Name Your PC Day

Quote of the Day - "When dealing with the insane, the best method is to pretend to be sane." - Hermann Hesse

Word of the Day - obfuscate - (OB-fuh-skayt) - To make obscure or difficult to understand or make sense of. Example: It was difficult obtaining the intel from the spy because he decided to obfuscate the details of his past.

Record of the Day - Patricia Jones achieved the world record for the longest keyboard playing marathon by an individual. He played for 70 hr. and 57 min. at Teresa's Piano Gallery.

Born on this Day - Larry King - TV and radio personality

This Day in History - 1863 - President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address at a military cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. This speech became one of the most memorable speeches in American history.

Milton Berle Joke of the Day - "You can lead a man to Congress, but you can't make him think."

Actual Great Moments in De-Evolution: RFD TV

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:35:00 -0800

We here at G4 are so immersed in videogames and technology that sometimes we forget about the real things in life. No, not actual relationships, love or weird things like books, but the real American way of life. Farms. Tractors. People who live between Los Angeles and New York. Those places where our food comes from. That stuff.

So this week's Actual Great Moments in De-Evolution is dedicated to RFD TV, a cable network dedicated to rural America with specialty programming about horses, antique tractor shows, livestock auctions and agricultural news--everything that rural Americans probably deal with every single day in their life. Yeah, that's right. That popular rural lifestyle is now available with your regular cable programming between MTV's Real World and Mad Men on AMC. Actually, more like ESPN Deportes and that random channel that always plays weird Chinese dramas.

How can you miss out on specials like HEE HAW, a country variety show, Ms. Lucy's Classic Cajun Cooking or The Marty Stuart Show featuring the one and only country music icon himself?

As they say themselves, it's about time someone paid attention to rural America and by golly, we're watching (from the comfort of our Pottery Barn sofa and our 59" flat screen plasma TV)!

Shawn Hatosy Talks Bad Lieutenant & Southland

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:55:00 -0800

Girls, get ready. Shawn Hatosy (Outside Providence, Alpha Dog) is stepping into the Attack of the Show studios tonight to talk about his new movie, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans with Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes and director Werner Herzog. And Southland fans, there's news for you, too! We'll also get the inside scoop from him about the second season of his series on TNT. So there you go. It all happens tonight at 7:00pm ET on the one and only G4.

_____s of the Day

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:54:00 -0800

Today's Weird Holiday - Use Less Stuff Day

Quote of the Day - "There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open." - Jawaharlal Nehru

Word of the Day - expiate - (EK-spee-ayt) - To atone, to make amends for. Example: She graciously expiated her guilt for being a terrible sister.

Record of the Day - Muhamed Kahrimanovic achieved the world record for most coconuts smashed in one minute. He crushed 81 coconuts with just one hand.

Born on this Day - Sinbad - comedian/actor

This Day in History - 1963 - The Bell Telephone Company came out with the push-button telephone.

Milton Berle Joke of the Day - "Remember those nights Cynthia... we would dance cheek to cheek. I'd rub my stubble against yours."

The Wii is Strong in This Darth Vader

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:17:00 -0800

What is this? A Darth Vader action figure ripped in half? Or possibly a clever way to hold your Nintendo Wii sensor bar next to your TV screen? We're going with the latter.

No news yet on when this fun Wii accessory comes out but it retails for $40 and will probably be out just in time for the Christmas shopping season. *Hint Hint*

Get Real with the Fake AP Stylebook Guys

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:40:00 -0800

Twitter may bring friends, celebrities and news headlines together, but sometimes there are those that take themselves way too seriously--like the the AP Stylebook tweets by the Associated Press. The Twitter feed provides an ongoing online guide to a proper stylistic tips for journalists. (Example: "Lowercase arthritis, leukemia, etc. Capitalize a name associated with a disease such as Alzheimer’s disease.")

Yeah, little known fact: professional journalists don't really know how to write. That's where the AP Stylebook comes in to tell us the correct way to spell things out and when to capitalize certain words.

So it was only a matter time before a group made a parody version. Meet the Fake AP Stylebook Twitter which always manages to bring a hilarious twist to seemingly serious notes on American journalism. (Example: Do not write that someone "sported a mad boner" unless you have sourced documentation of the madness of said boner.)

Attack of the Blog! recently caught up with the two founders of the Fake AP Stylebook, Mark Hale and Ken Lowery, to get the lowdown on their comedy project and their personal pet peeves.

(Our latest favorite Tweet: When writing front-page headlines, make sure they are clear, can be read while spinning and move the movie's plot forward.)

How did the Fake AP Style Book Twitter get started?

Mark: Ken showed me the real AP Stylebook's Twitter feed, since he knew I had a bit of a journalism background, and I checked it out and replied "I'm not sure if I'm sad or relieved that this isn't a joke feed," And off we went. He wrote a fake entry, I wrote a fake entry, he started a feed for it, and here we are, three weeks and 48,000 followers later.

Ken: We've done joke feeds like this before (@zombiehorde, @thisreallyhurts, @forevercon, and others), and mostly they were exercises in comedy, not unlike improv prompts. "Tell this kind of joke in this style. Now do a new one every day." For whatever reason, this is the one that blew up. Quite by accident, I'd like to add.

You can be honest. I'm guessing you were also inspired by the de-evolution of the English language, thanks to the Internet and people who don't kNoW hOw 2 tYp3. Wait, no?

Mark: A bit. I'll often joke that there should be at least a high-school level spelling test you have to pass before being granted internet access, but I'm only mostly joking. OK, partly. Like 1/8 joking.

Ken: I'm not too much of a formalist. If something "sounds" right, I let it slide-personally if not professionally. But there's a lot of basic illiteracy out there that just makes me scratch my head.

Ever See Those People Who Capitalize Every Word In Every Sentence? Doesn't that take longer to type than just, you know, doing it right?

Have you heard from the official AP people themselves?

Mark: We have fans on Twitter from the AP and were approached by a writer, but nothing came of it.

Ken: Here's hoping we don't, at least in an official capacity. We're having fun, we're clearly satirical, and we're not really aiming our jokes AT them.

It's really common for companies, organizations, and celebrities to have a companion twitter to keep fans updated on the latest news and information. Do you think the real AP Style twitter takes it a little too far? I mean, what journalist would look on Twitter to answer questions about style?

Mark: Lazy ones?

Ken: There's quite a lot of questions they answer that are in the actual Stylebook, but I can see why they've got the account set up. The book is damn near obsolete the second it leaves the printing press, and having a constant updating online presence is wise on their part.

I understand that you work with a group of contributors. How does the submission and selection process work?

Mark: A bit of it is done over IM but mostly we stick to an email list. Someone will throw an idea out and we'll all work to tweak it, revise it, or reject it outright. At the end of the day the bureau chiefs who have worked any material up will send it along to Ken and me for inclusion in the Twitter rotation.

Any future plans for the Fake AP Style Book Twitter?

Mark: Just keep doin' how we do.

What's the best grammar joke you've heard so far?

Mark: Probably anything any of our contributors come up with. Those dudes are wicked.

Ken: It's hard to pick JUST one, but today, at least, this one is tops: "To show that words have been removed from a quote, use ellipses. If ellipses are removed from a quote, we got nothin'."

What's your favorite AP style rule?

Mark: Probably the one that started this nonsense for me, the "Dr Pepper" rule. Or maybe the one where you put a comma after the state name when writing about a city, such as "Hale lives in Louisville, KY, with his fiancee and some cats."

Ken: That "Web site" must be two words, and "Web" capitalized. I get the why of it, but that's one of those cases where no one BUT the AP is saying to write it that way. It's so old-fashioned there's probably sepia-toned photos of the thing at your grandma's.

What's your favorite personal style? For example, we here at G4tv.com enjoy jeans and nerdy t-shirts with witty Star Wars references.

Mark: Jeans, t-shirts, and the same style of black leather Reeboks that I've worn for about 15 years now. The only shirts I wear that have anything on them are either from Homestar Runner or my Dr. Blasphemy shirt based on a character from Rick Veitch's Bratpack.

Ken: I am lately rocking the jeans and flip-flops and pithy shirt, but have been known to go a little more formal with the button-up shirts. To help smarten up the look, I am incredibly handsome.

Should I have italicized Star Wars in that previous question?

Mark: Italics cannot be sent over the AP's--you know what? You do whatever the hell you want with Star Wars. I'm pretty much over it.

Why does the AP get to make all the style rules? Who made them the boss?

Mark: You ever see how they pick the pope? It's like that but all the wacky hats have PRESS cards in them.

Ken: Incidentally, we're sorry about you losing your Catholic readership.

Sony PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360?

Mark: I received the gift of an Xbox 360 about a year ago, and I use it every day for one thing or another, usually Netflix. Sometimes Ken runs me over in GTAIV.

Ken: 360. I mostly stick to the story-heavy RPG stuff, but whenever I want to run over Mark or the other FAPS contributors, it's GTAIV time. We have had some pretty epic battles.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Night Vision Goggles Review

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:02:00 -0800

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Odds are, if you're a gamer, you spent this past weekend destroying your friends in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer. The $60 you spent were well worth it, but do you sometimes think to yourself, "Should I have spent a little more money and gotten the Prestige Edition which features, among other things, the cool looking night vision goggles?" For those of you pondering this important question, AOTS Correspondent Blair Herter has your answer. Check out his review of the unique gaming peripheral and find out if you should rush to your local game retailer and trade in your copy for the whole kit and caboodle.

Note: Blair states that the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition includes a code to download Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. It does not. The code included only allows you to download the original Call of Duty.

J.J. Abrams Dishes on Star Trek DVD

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:54:00 -0800

We couldn't get enough of J. J. Abrams' Star Trek earlier this year, and now you can bring this sexy update to the sci-fi classic home with you. (Sorry, girls, Chris Pine is not included.)

Tonight, Alison Haislip catches up with director Abrams to talk about what fans old and new can hope to see in the November 17th DVD release, including the special 3-disc Blu-ray edition for those hardcore Trekkies.

Tune in to Attack of the Show tonight at 7:00pm to see what he has to say!

Would You Drink This? Tofurky & Gravy Soda

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:51:00 -0800

There's a time to celebrate the holidays and a time for eat for holidays but there's never a good time to drink the holiday food you're supposed to eat. Would you guys try a bottle of Tofurky and Gravy flavored Jones Soda? I sure wouldn't, even if it is 100% vegan and a portion of the proceeds went to charity. Turkey (and tofurky) was meant to be chewed, not sipped.

Jones Soda Co, we admire your creativity in soda flavors but I think you've gone too far this Thanksgiving.

Fresh Ink Online: Batman, Daredevil, Booster Gold

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:10:00 -0800

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Host Blair Butler hips you to the latest comics on the stands in this week’s Fresh Ink Online, including Daredevil, Punisher Max: Kingpin, Booster Gold, Luke McBain, Supergod, Crown of Shadows: Locke and Key, and the Batman Doc Savage Special. And please don’t freak out that she didn’t get to pick up this week’s Green Lantern Corps. Blair is already upset enough and you don’t want to make her cry. Seriously. She will cry.

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Weird Al Yankovic Behind-The-Scenes Interview

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:10:00 -0800

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It was certainly a pleasure having musical satirist, and perhaps the funniest man on wax, Weird Al Yankovic on AOTS this week and it was even more of a pleasure getting The Weird One to open up and talk about his greatest hits album, The Essential Weird Al Yankovic, his process for crafting a new album, his touring life and what he does when he's not in the studio. He even discussed his long time friendship with G4's Chris Hardwick, geeked out about his upcoming shows with post-punk rockers The Pixies and gave a shout out to the fans. All hail Weird Al!

Attack Of The Staff: Alison Haislip, On-Air Talent

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:25:00 -0800

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We have a special treat for you today. Normally, we hand pick one of the AOTS staffers, whom you never see, and put them out on front street. However, this edition of Attack of the Staff will focus on someone you know well, or at least you think you do, our own Alison Haislip. Recently, she sat down with AOTB and went on at length about growing up in a small town in New Jersey, her passion for acting, her musical prowess, what it was like becoming a part of the G4 family, the wild adventures she's had traveling the world for your amusement and what she does when she's not in front of the cameras. If you really want to know more about Alison, you'll definitely want to watch the above video.

Felicia Day And Elyse Levesque Stop By AOTS

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:30:00 -0800

Today on Attack of the Show Chris Hardwick was joined by Felicia Day. Felicia Day is perhaps best known for creating and staring in The Guild. She wasn't the only lovely lady on today's show either. Elyse Levesque also stopped by to talk about her roll on Stargate Universe. Check out the behind- the-scenes pictures to see for yourself.

Behind The Scenes With John Hodgman

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:39:00 -0800

John Hodgman is a man of many talents. In addition to being 'PC' from the 'Mac vs. PC' Apple commercials, he is an acclaimed author, comedian, and correspondent on The Daily Show, where he serves as their Resident Expert on...everything. He will also lend his voice to the new season of Venture Bros., so Adult Swim fans, get ready for greatness!

We were lucky enough to capture Mr. Hodgman when he came in to visit the AOTS Studios, to talk with him about his greatness, what it's like to work with Mr. Jon Stewart, his intelligent brand of comedy, and a possible case of miscasting in the 'Mac vs. PC' commercials. John is a man of comedy and culture, and this Behind the Scenes video is not to be missed. Enjoy!

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Backstage with Weird Al Yankovic

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:41:00 -0800

It's always a warm, fuzzy feeling when "Weird Al" Yankovic takes a moment to stop by the studio, sit down with Chris Hardwick and wow us with his good humor. So keep that good feeling going with these behind the scenes photos of Al on set.