It’s been another long year of great entertainment. It’s time for the seventh annual round of new honorees for the borg Hall of Fame. We have several honorees from 2019 films and television, plus you’ll find some from the past, and a peek at some from the future – 28 new borgs or updated variants in all, bringing the borg Hall of Fame total to 221.
You can always check out the updated borg Hall of Fame on our home page under “Know your borg.”
Some reminders about criteria. Borgs have technology integrated with biology. Wearing a technology-powered suit alone doesn’t qualify a new member. Tony Stark aka Iron Man was named an honoree because the Arc Reactor kept him alive, not because of his incredible tech armor. The new Spider-Man suit worn by Tom Holland is similar to Tony’s, but it’s not integrated with Peter Parker’s biology. Similarly Peni Parker, seen outside her high-tech SP//dr suit in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Black Manta from Aquaman are merely wearing tech suits. We’d love a reason for a Mandalorian to make the cut, like Boba Fett, or Jango Fett, or the new Mandalorian from the series, since nobody has more intriguing armor. Maybe the second season coming next fall will give us something new to ponder.
Also, if the creators tell us the characters are merely robots, automatons, or androids, we take their word for it. Again, integration is key, but in the Hall, once a member, always a member.
For most people making a hamburger, all you need to do is look to the McDonald’s basic menu to see what they’re probably grilling at home. Bun, burger, ketchup, mustard or mayo, onions and/or pickles, lettuce and cheese. The folks behind the Emmy Award-winning animated series Bob’s Burgers are trying to kick your routine up a notch with a new set of recipe cards spinning out of their successful book, The Bob’s Burgers Burger Book: Real Recipes for Joke Burgers. Series creator and producer Loren Bouchard has joined Cole Bowden, the guy behind the fansite The Bob’s Burger Experiment, to pull together a box set of burger recipes highlighting several of the joke burgers featured in the series in,The Bob’s Burgers Recipe Box: Real Recipes for Joke Burgers.
The box includes 35 recipes, each featuring a comedy burger variety Bob Belcher has featured as a “Burger of the Day” on the series, reference to the episode it was used in, a detailed recipe, and that familiar art style from the show. The surprise? The combinations of flavors throughout the recipe cards are legitimate–these are kind of ingredient combinations you’d find an iron chef putting together on the Food Network. They’ve also included five bonus cards with Bob’s Burgers animation artwork on one-side and a blank side to catalog your own recipes for yourself or future generations of eaters.
Recipes include the “The Six Scallion Dollar Man Burger,” the “Onion-tended Consequences Burger,” “Chèvre Which Way But Loose Burger,” “Onion Ring Around the Rosemary Burger,” the “It’s Fun to Eat at the Rye MCA Burger,” and dozens more. And for those who really don’t know what they’re doing, Bowden has included a starter card on how to begin.
Two new project books may give Daffy Duck’s “Pipe Full of Fun Kit #7” a run for its money for Bob’s Burgers’ fans. Next month coming to a bookstore near you will be The Official Bob’s Burgers Sticker Bookand The Official Bob’s Burgers Guided Journal, following up on Universe Publishing’s successful The Official Bob’s Burgers Coloring Book. You can usually tell when the people behind a fan-favorite property are the same people who create the tie-ins made for the fans. That’s the case with these two new books. Frequently ranked as one of the greatest TV cartoons of all time, Bob’s Burgers recounts the exploits of a family trying to run a burger joint. This summer Fox renewed Bob’s Burgers for its ninth season. And Bob’s Burgers is slated to come to theaters, as a film adaptation is in the works for release in 2020.
In The Official Bob’s Burgers Sticker Book, you can expect to find plenty of views of the restaurant and Bob, Linda, and their kids Tina, Gene, and Louise. You can combine images of their key “accessories” and put your own burger special up on the chalkboard. You can even invent and name your own custom burgers (you know you want to). You get 29 pages of stickers in all in a 5×7″ format book.
The Official Bob’s Burgers Guided Journal is not your typical lined journal with only the title of the show on the cover. It has the potential to be a load of laughs. First, it’s full of 100 border images of main characters, joke images, and familiar environmental details, a different one appearing every two to four pages in its 5×7″ format. A cross between a book of writer’s prompts and Mad Libs, its 176 pages also include 58 prompt ideas. If you don’t want to just use the book as a standard writing journal, take up one or more of the prompts to get your writing going, like “The Person I’d Most Like To Glue To A Toilet And Why, Is…”, “In My Fantasy Where A Cow Kisses Me, This Is What I Say To It First…”, “If I Were A Terrible School Guidance Counselor, My Therapy Dolls Would Be Named…”, and “If I Had a Crazy Fever Dream, These Are The Toys I’d Want To Show Up to Fight And/or Go On An Adventure With.”
We have a variety of previews today, courtesy of Dark Horse Comics and Dynamite Comics. New series include a monthly based on the TV series, Bob’s Burgers. Another features a tie-in to the Alien universe, with Prometheus: Fire and Stone. A third series based on NBC’s Grimm begins this week with Grimm: Portland, Wu. And Matt Wagner’s anti-hero Grendel finds his way to 1930s New York in Grendel vs The Shadow.
Tomorrow, Dynamite is publishing the first Bob’s Burgers comic book series. Based on the animated show, it will be written by Rachel Hastings, Mike Olsen, Justin Hook, and Jeff Drake, with art by Frank Forte, Brad Rader, Bernard Derriman, and Tony Gennaro. And Grimm: Portland, Wu is a one-shot written by Marc Gaffen and Kyle McVey, with art by Daniel Govar.
From Dark Horse, Grendel vs. The Shadow features a story and art by Matt Wagner. Grendel will find its way to store shelves September 3, 2014. Also from Dark Horse, Prometheus: Fire and Stone, with a story by Paul Tobin and art by Juan Ferreyra, hits comic book stores September 10, 2014.
As part of its opening day reveal of San Diego Comic-Con International 2013 news, Dynamite Comics issued an unprecedented barrage of announcements. These include a new monthly continuing the NBC television series Heroes and a return of The Twilight Zone in the form of a monthly comic book series.
Comic book writer Cullen Bunn (Marvel’s Fearless Defenders and Deadpool) will be writing the Heroes comic book series, which he describes as a Heroes Season Five, following on the coattails of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The X-Files continuations of cancelled series in comic book monthlies. Airing from 2006 through 2010, the Heroes TV series was watched by fanboys and fangirls everywhere. The series chronicled the lives of ordinary people whose mysterious superhuman powers brought them together as part of a giant government conspiracy via a certain guy with horn-rimmed glasses played by Jack Coleman. The series featured a great cast of now well-known actors, including Hayden Panettiere, Ali Larter, Adrian Pasdar, Milo Ventimiglia, and Zachary Quinto. Claire, Hiro and Sylar will play a big role in the comic book series, according to Bunn.
The Twilight Zone will feature all-new tales of superstition and science written by SDCC 2013 featured guest, comic book legend, and former Babylon 5 writer J. Michael Straczynski. Straczynski said, “The immediate creative question to be resolved was: how do you transplant or adapt the TV anthology format into comic form? Individual stand-alone issues don’t give the issue-to-issue continuity you need to consistently bring in modern readers, and if it’s a year-long arc, it’s not an anthology. The solution: three four-issue arcs that are connected by theme, character, and location… so that in reading one arc you get one side of the story, with its own supernatural or science-fiction elements, then you turn the character around to another character in that sequence who has his or her own story for the next four issues… and then at the end, you connect all of these individual stories into one overlapping tapestry, so you could literally view the book as individual stories as initially published, or layer the pages to create one big story.”
As the spring TV season winds down, we thought we’d take a moment to reflect back on this season’s viewing, looking at what ultimately made our “must watch” list, and what didn’t. Look back to see our reviews, then check out our weekly lineup!
Let’s start with what didn’t make it for us:
The Firm. Although we enjoyed the performances, and the overall series mystery seemed intriguing, the focus on courtroom melodrama bogged this one down. The fatal moment, though, was an episode in which the Rules of Criminal Procedure were so wildly distorted as to kill any suspension of disbelief. Note to courtroom drama writers: We’ve all watched twenty years of Law & Order. You need to step up the writing if you want to succeed.
Terra Nova. This series just lost us. The pilot was serviceable and showed us the great potential the ideas behind this series had, but episodes quickly devolved into a weak combination of weekly world-destroying strawman threats (yawn) that just felt more and more incredibly contrived, and a confusing (and, IMO, un-needed) effort to create a dark, mysterious, earth-shattering plot with shadowy characters and alignments similar to the epic Lost. The last two episodes we watched (in January) were literally painful to watch, mainly due to the largely wasted potential that a time-traveling colony in the Cretaceous era. WeI’ve heard that the last few episodes in this season showed promise, but we won’t be tuning in unless we hear some positive buzz on the show once it starts again in the fall.
The Killing. This is the only show that Jason can remember where he actively rooted against it succeeding. The first season treated viewers with such contempt for their intelligence, after a promising pilot and first couple of episodes, and that means any resolutions for the plot or characters are unimportant.
Hanging on by a Thread:
Once Upon a Time. This one is still nabbed weekly by our DVR, but we missed a couple of episodes during the holidays and never bothered to get caught up again. There was nothing really wrong with it; we were enjoying it–but other series (see below) bumped it from the tight nightly schedule.
Ringer. See OUAT, above. The ongoing soap opera gained momentum after the midseason, but ultimately fell victim to things that held our attention a little bit more. Escalating outrageousness and cringe-inducing (in a good way!) plot twists raised the stakes for the series, so this one deserves a marathon to get caught up.
Falling Skies. Our review of this summer series here at borg.com remains unchanged; we saw great potential, and though the series had its issues, it also had its positive aspects, and we’ll be tuning in this summer when episodes resume on TNT on June 17th at 9pm Eastern Time. Hopefully the second season comes out with a bang and delivers on this series’ massive potential. And you can catch a promising glimpse of the season opener here.
30 Rock. One of the favorites of past years, it isn’t at the top of viewing lists anymore, though if the episode focus is on Liz Lemon and Jack Donaghy, it can still be magic. Because it only streams on his computer, it is tough for Jason to watch now.
So, what are the big winners this season at borg.com?
Lost Girl. We are loving this lighthearted adult urban fantasy! Satisfying world building based in European fairy lore combines with strong performances by the supporting cast to make this a weekly guilty pleasure. It’s like Buffy for grownups–what Angel was trying to be, only done right.
Awake. Launched in the same Thursday night time slot as The Firm, (which also hosted another fine debut series, Prime Suspect), this paranormal crime drama only gets better. Jason Isaacs makes a compelling lead, and the series writers have wisely increased the genre stakes for the series, giving it extra pull. They’re teasing the paranormal plot out very slowly, but when the moments hit, they pack a wallop. We’re looking forward to seeing the mystery build.
Grimm. Elizabeth’s personal favorite this season! After a compelling pilot, this series has taken a while to get going. But, as with Awake, they’re finally starting to really build the ongoing genre plot, adding complications to the established “monster murder of the week” formula. New characters and a stronger focus on the otherworldly underbelly have given Grimm a much-needed boost, and we were happy to see that it’s been picked up for another season! Friday nights just haven’t been the same without Chuck. One thing we’d like to see more of, please: strong women characters.
New Girl. C.J.’s favorite comedy of the past ten years and favorite series of the year. He still cannot believe each episode is only a half an hour, since the writers crammed so much into each show. Zooey Deschanel’s Jess is as put-upon as any classic female comedy lead in the Mary Richards variety, and is as brilliantly funny, smart and zany. The supporting cast only got better throughout the first season, but the funny stories didn’t really explode with humor until they finally linked-up Max Greenfield’s Schmidt with Hannah Simone’s Cece.
Psych. Still occupying the top spot in our must-watch lineup, the second half of the Psych season really delivered. From beginning (the great season re-opener guest starring Cary Elwes) to end (that CLIFFHANGER!), with very few missteps in between (not sure what to make of “Let’s Do-Wop It Again,” with Shawn in the hospital and minus Keenan Thompson), all around, the show’s still got it.
The Walking Dead. The second season of this series just got better and better, with deeper storylines, clever surprises, and a real aura of uncertainty around favorite characters survivability. And the season finale was one of the best of the year (Michone!!!). It’s the one series I simply cannot wait to resume in the fall.
Community. This is Jason’s only show he will watch in real time. The characters keep developing and adding depth and when the writers create a personality quirk, it is in service of character and not the story of the week. He would visit the Greendale campus (and did as a background extra) to see all the characters, but attending Greendale would be the worst decision of his or anyone’s life except for those that want to learn to make a diorama.
House, M.D. After Dr. Greg House (Hugh Laurie) drove his car into Dr. Cuddy’s home we thought this series was pretty much done for. We still had doubts that we’d need another season after House’s prison stint. Then BAM! This last season is on par with the best of its eight season run, especially because the writers have let Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) be Wilson, Chase (Jesse Spencer) be Chase, and Russian bride-in-name-only Dominika (Karolina Wydra) almost make it as House’s single perfect mate. Although Charlene Yi and Odette Annable are fine as Drs. Park and Adams, the show still struggles with the one note Cameron/Thirteen replacement role. We wish we had Amber Tamblyn back. Although Omar Epps’s Dr. Foreman pretty much vanished, Peter Jacobson’s Dr. Taub continues to amuse to the bitter (?) end.
Fairly Legal. Although we’ve fallen behind thanks to new diversions like Awake and Lost Girl, the sophomore season of this unusual, lighthearted legal drama continues to entertain. Star Sarah Shahi is cute and engaging (although we liked her better as a cynical cop in Life and as Gus’s adrenaline junkie girlfriend in a guest spot on Psych), even if her harried approach to life gets a little exhausting. We’re hoping for a bigger role for Gerald McRaney this season.
In Plain Sight. We’ve let the final season of this solid crime drama get backed up on our DVR, but from what we’ve seen so far, they’re going to round the series out nicely, with the same sharp dialogue and complex relationships that have given this series staying power despite a history of scheduling mishaps. It’s nice to see Tangie Ambrose (Agent Parmalee) get a stronger role, Tia Carrere is always fun, and all things considered, I think everyone prefers baby Norah to Jinx and Brandi.
Parks and Recreation. April Ludgate, Andy Dwyer and Ron Swanson continue to be three of the best characters on television.
A few other shows we’re thinking about, but haven’t mentioned here before:
Surburgatory. Jason has no clue what makes this interesting. He laughs and that’s a big part. The supporting cast (Alan Tudyk (Firefly), Ana Gasteyer and Chris Parnell (SNL) and Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm) is just so, goofy and fun. Mostly, it is earnest father and daughter relationship of the two leads, Jeremy Sisto and Jane Levy.
Modern Family. The second season of this award-winning series was side-splitting. Better than the great comedic actors and fantastic use of the “mockumentary” format is the terrific writing of the scribes behind the show, particularly Jeffery Richman & creator Steven Levitan. The stories of the three households making up the dysfunctional Modern Family intertwine effortlessly to create the funniest half-hour on network television.
CSI (Crime Scene Investigation). After a dozen seasons in the bag and numerous cast changes, CSI could easily be slipping off of most people’s radar, especially with the mid-season exit of long-time favorite Marg Helgenberger. And though it will never likely recover the viewership it enjoyed when William Peterson was on the cast, the new additions of Ted Danson and Elisabeth Shue has been a breath of creative fresh air. After missteps with recently departed cast, especially the badly conceived Dr. Ray Langston character portrayed by the excellent Lawrence Fishburne, the series seems to be back on an even keel and cranking out the crafty, clever alternative plotlines to the rote procedurals currently on the air everywhere else. Amen.
Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23. Only four episodes in, but having James Van Der Beek play a cartoon version of himself, keeps paying funny dividends. If that lasts, this will be a keeper.
Mad Men. Jason got rid of his cable and finding this show in a legal manner can be tough, but he knows it is worth it.
Archer. Jason says, “Give me the voice of H. Jon Benjamin in crazy spy situations or give me death!”
Bob’s Burgers. Jason says, “Give me the voice of H. Jon Benjamin in crazy burger joint situations or give me death!”
