Originally posted at PrimeTimeGeek.com.

PTG Episode 121 is brought to you by the Prime Time Geek Message Board over at SomaCow.net. Yes, our poor, neglected message board is finally getting some love in the form of a new topic asking YOU, our listeners, to suggest which summer TV shows you’d like us to review while our main shows (well, what’s left of them, anyway) are on hiatus. At this point we just want any suggestions, although anything on premium cable channels is off the table. Hey, we admit it, we’re cheap and we don’t pay for the premium channels. For more info and to take part in shaping what we at PTG spend a part of this summer rambling about, head over and make a post!

In this episode we pay tribute to the career of the late Dennis Hopper, in particular talking about his more high-profile roles and his occasional forays into sci-fi movies. Hopper was nothing if not prolific–he loved to work and thus put together a considerable volume of appearances in TV and film, most of which ranged from forgettable to downright weird. In addition to listening to our thoughts on the subject, you might want to check out SCI-FI Wire’s list of his awesome (and awesomely BAD) sci-fi roles, which covers a few we don’t touch on.

In addition, we also say goodbye to animation producer Peter Keefe, who will perhaps be best remembered for giving children of the 80s the gift of Voltron, Defender of the Universe. As a fan of Voltron myself, I spent many a weekday afternoon after school watching Voltron episodes and then singing the theme song for a least an hour afterward, (’cause the darned thing was so heroic and catchy) running around with friends forming the ‘Blazing Sword’ and slicing RoBeasts in half.

As funny as it may be to think I was the only dork doing this, Voltron struck a chord with children all over the world, and along with Robotech is considered one of the trailblazers in terms of leading the way for anime fandom in North America. Voltron itself remains a popular property, and die-hard fans eagerly await a feature film apparently in the works. Personally, I find that prospect just slightly more frightening than a Tobey-Maguire produced Robotech live-action feature, but that’s just me being a cynical adult hoping his childhood memories aren’t sullied by something less than magnificent on the big screen.

Also in this hour, we say good-bye to FlashForward, which ended its one-and-done season last Thursday with a cliffhanger finale full of questions that apparently will never be answered. The only question that matters, though, is would viewers care or not if those questions were never answered, and apparently ABC didn’t think so, and honestly, neither do we. For all the great performances and fine moments of character drama scattered throughout this very uneven season, FlashForward never really got it all together, and never consistently made us care about most of its characters. Taking a four-month break in the middle of the season didn’t help matters much, either. It’s a shame, because on a personal level, I REALLY wanted to like this show and see it succeed, but at the same time, I could never seriously imagine how a second season would have worked. Spend another year investigating and trying to stop a second worldwide blackout? Yeah, that ship had sailed. So bon voyage, Mark and Olivia Benford, Demetri Noh, Lloyd and Dylan Simcoe, Stanford Wedeck and Janis Hawk, Simon Campos, D. Gibbons and Suspect Zero, and all those visions of April 29th, 2010. It was a fun ride, occasionally, but in the end it turned out that the most important people who didn’t have flash-forwards, and thus had no future after April 29th, were the showrunners.

We wrap the hour by reviewing two of last week’s more heralded DC Comics releases, War of the Supermen #4 (Robinson, Barrows), which turned out to be a colossal letdown, and Green Lantern Corps #48 (Bedard, Syaf) which promises VERY good things for the “other” Green Lantern title. Enjoy!

It’s hard to believe BSG has been gone for as long as it has already–the final episode of Season 4 aired on March 20. Perhaps it’s because the images and scenes from the series finale are still so vivid in my mind, makes me feel as though I watched it just last week. Of course, not everyone was happy with the way the series ended; as with everything else throughout the show, nothing was pat, nothing was neatly tied up, nothing was uncomplicated, and that, I know, frustrated viewers who for once wanted a straight answer out of the show runners. Battlestar Galactica: The Plan , which was supposed to answer many other questions, really didn’t make much of an impression on fans or TV viewers. Perhaps the idea of seeing previous events in the series through the eyes of the Cylons wasn’t enough of a hook for fans to get excited about the made-for-television film. Whatever your feelings about how the series ended might be, we as fans are all pretty much unanimous in how we feel about how the series began, so if you feel like revisiting the beginning, why not pick up the blu-ray version, available now for pre-order? You won’t have long to wait for it–copies hit store shelves on Tuesday, January 5th. Battlestar Galactica: The Plan is available now.

Or, if you don’t feel like indulging your BSG nostalgia on video, how about with some of the awesome action figures and toys released through Diamond Select and available from Entertainment Earth?

Battlestar Galactica Apollo and Dualla Action Figure 2-Pack
Battlestar Galactica Cylon Six Bust
Battlestar Galactica Boomer and Athena Action Figure 2-Pack
Battlestar Galactica Cylon Centurion Action Figure

Some of these items are part of Entertainment Earth’s Year-End Sale and some are pre-order items, so click on the images or links above and check things out depending on what you’re looking for. Cool stuff all around, trust me!

(Feel free to groan at that one–I did.)

We also sincerely hope that you’ve gotten all your holiday shopping done, ’cause trying to get some done today will be a battle you do NOT want to fight. Here in Orlando, for example, the traffic literally just outside my door heading to the Mall at Millenia and its satellite stores is already moving into nightmare territory, and I don’t even want to think about what parking must be like right now. However, if there are a few people left on your list of the “geek” persuasion and they don’t mind just getting a printed confirmation number for something you ordered online today along with a VERY sincere Christmas card, we have a few gift ideas for you. First and foremost, from Amazon.com, check out all the home media options for one of our Top 5 Geek Movies of 2009, District 9.

We’ll be revisiting District 9 for a tiny bit during this Saturday’s show, as it has much in common thematically with last week’s blockbuster theatrical release, Avatar, so be sure to set aside some time Saturday night for that. For now, we stick by our recommendation of District 9 as one of the year’s best in terms of honest, unflinching storytelling that epitomizes what the best science fiction has always done: examine an issue within humanity that is difficult to tackle without removing it from its current historical and social context. Plus, it’s startling in its sudden, gut-wrenching action and violence–if you’re not slackjawed at what you witness through the course of the film, then you’re far too desensitized for your own good.

Back to last-minute gift ideas, Entertainment Earth has begun their annual Year-End Sale, and they’ve got quite a bit you might want to check out for a gift to someone else or for yourself!

• Batman: The Dark Knight Batarangs Replica
• Star Trek Death Of Spock Kirk and Spock 2-Pack Figures
• Bettie Page Red Lingerie 6-Inch Statue – EE Exclusive
• Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi (Episode III) Statue

Trust me, there’s something for EVERYBODY at this sale, so do click on the links or images above and check things out–every purchase you make through those links supports PTG, as you well know by now, so don’t get miserly now!

If you’ve already got the home video covered for the would-be Griffyndor or Slytherin on your Christmas list, then perhaps you might want to check out some of the REALLY cool stuff they have over at Entertainment Earth for Harry Potter fans. Click on the images below for more details–my favorites have to be the wall scrolls with the House heraldry on them-too bad they won’t be available until January, but you can still pre-order one!

• Harry Potter Half-Blood Prince Action Figures Series 1
• Harry Potter Gryffindor Crest Wall Scroll
• Harry Potter Slytherin Necktie
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Lunch Box

Cyber Monday may be gone for 2009, but it’s still a great time for shopping at Entertainment Earth. Their Gift Rush Sale is on now, with almost 500 items marked down for holiday shopping, so be sure and check them out. Remember, using the links in this post or on this site to make your purchases supports PTG, so use ‘em!

Originally posted at PrimeTimeGeek.com.

PTG Episode 74 is brought to you by more Geek Holiday Shopping tips. In this episode we once again bring to your attention to LA Times columnist Geoff Boucher’s wonderfully geektastic blog, Hero Complex. In particular, we spend time talking about Part 1 of his 2009 Holiday Geek-Gift Guide and the suggestions for gifts therein, which include the Tauntaun Sleeping Bag, sold exclusively through ThinkGeek.com, pictured in the image above. Part 2 of the Geek-Gift Guide has a couple of more suggestions for you if you continue to be stuck on what to get for the geek in your life. My favorite item from Part 2 BY FAR: the Star Wars Garden Jawa, available through StarWarsShop.com. Yes, garden gnomes good, garden Jawas BETTER.

And Tauntaun Sleeping Bag FTW.

Also in this episode we gave a shout-out to Sci-Fried and some of their upcoming gigs. We can now bring you complete information on their New Year’s show here in downtown Orlando:

So here’s the sitch:

• The Event: New Year’s Geek
• The Date: Saturday, January 2nd, 2010
• The Location: Club 57 West – 57 W. Pine Street in Downtown Orlando
• The Lineup: Captain Dan and the Scurvy Crew, Sci-Fried, Marc with a C, Emergency Pizza Party, Krondor Krew
• The Time: 8PM-2AM

With that lineup, it promises to be a great night of geek rock and nerdcore, so if you’re local to Orlando or you plan to be in Orlando around New Year’s, head downtown and join in the celebration of geek! We’ll keep reminding everyone listening about the show right up until the show date, and you better believe we’ll be down there right after the live show that night ends. Good times! Enjoy the podcast, and don’t miss tomorrow night’s live broadcast!

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD! (in case you still haven’t seen the film and were planning to do so on home video, just skip down to the next boldface type)

While opinion was certainly mixed on whether or not Terminator Salvation succeeded in revitalizing the Terminator franchise, there were a few things about the film that most people could agree on: 1) Despite the film being marketed with Christian Bale at the forefront, the actor who really made an impression on audiences was Sam Worthington, who we’ll see again very soon in Avatar; 2) the use of Guns ‘n Roses “You Could Be Mine” during the film was a creative and fun little nod to Terminator 2: Judgment Day and probably one of the better crowd-pleaser moments in the film, however brief it was; and 3) digitally inserting Arnold Schwarzenegger for the T-800 cameo was cheesy as all hell and probably one of the worst moments in the film. We here at PTG gave it a “C” when we reviewed it back in May in Episode 22; indeed, we weren’t even sure if it was better than the Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, but opinion on that question varied widely as well.

SPOILERS END HERE.

If the Terminator fan on your Christmas list just couldn’t wait for the holidays and they’ve already purchased their copy of Terminator Salvation on home video, fear not! Check out all this cool Terminator stuff from our friends at Entertainment Earth:

• Terminator Salvation Bobble Head
• Terminator 2 Judgment Day Pescadero T-800 12-Inch Figure
• Terminator Salvation T-600 Voice ‘N Vision Skull Helmet
• Terminator Salvation Movie Lighter

In case you didn’t know, Entertainment Earth’s ‘Cyber Monday Sale‘ runs through this entire week and covers a HUGE selection of products, so be sure to check out all the other stuff they have if nothing ‘Terminator’ jumps out at you as far as a great gift idea–their Free Shipping offer for purchases over $59 has been extended to Christmas Eve, as well! Please use the links in this post to access Entertainment Earth’s site and make your purchases–doing so helps to support PTG! Happy Shopping!

PTG Episode 42 is brought to you by every G.I. JOE episode ever made. They’re all now in one big collector set by Shout!, available over at http://www.gijoecollectorsset.com/. Watching any portion of this really is great preparation to watch the new film, G.I. JOE: Rise of Cobra, because the film really IS just a live version of the cartoon, for better or worse. Not sure what that means? It’s all in the podcast.

Also in this episode, Gary Holmes from Just Push Play takes a quick break from his adventures in beer over at Willow Tree to call in and talk more about AFO X and Swords of Orlandia 3, which he helped write as well as reprising his role as Prince Hesperis (sp?). We also take time to remember and reflect upon the work of screenwriter/director John Hughes, whose works in the 1980s, including Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and Weird Science, but also Ferris Bueller’s Day Off , National Lampoon’s Vacation, Home Alone, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Career Opportunities, and so many more, are considered by many to be genre classics and the finest, funniest films to come out of that decade. His most memorable works always seemed to be able to strike an emotional cord with just about everyone, because he often would start with stereotypes we all were all familiar with and them humanize them, turn them into 3-dimensional, real people with real problems that we could relate to. He had an amazing sense of humor and a true talent for writing comedy, but all that laughter was grounded in a sense of genuineness–though his lead characters might appear at first glance to be stereotypes, they are never caricatures unless he wished them to be. John Hughes, thank you for sharing your tremendous talent with us, and rest in peace.

Iron Man Armor photo by Rob Allstetter

PTG Episode 38 is brought to you by, well, what else: San Diego Comic-Con. Yes, we weren’t ACTUALLY there, but with all the information we’ve tried to digest over the past four days, it certainly feels like we were there … without all the cool swag, pictures with VERY cool people, and jet lag, that is.

Speaking of information, though PTG’s two volunteer on-site correspondents for this episode, Jeremy Reinhard and James Wright, did an awesome job of conveying what they had seen and heard up until Saturday evening, there was certainly so much more information that came out of this show that I know folks are going to want to read about, if they haven’t already. So here are a few links to check out for news and articles covering topics we didn’t get to cover during this episode:

From Thursday:
-James Cameron presents a first look at “Avatar” (Hero Complex)

-Superman: Two Worlds Panel, featuring Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka, James Robinson, Sterling Gates, and Superman editor Matt Idelson (Newsarama)

-Mondo Marvel Panel, featuring Marvel writer/editor Jim McCann, Jason Aaron, Matt Fraction, and Spider-Man editor Steve Wacker (Comics Continuum)

From Friday

-Caprica/Battlestar Galactica: The Plan Panel, featuring BSG producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick, Caprica showrunner Jane Espenson, and actors Edward James Olmos, Esai Morales, and Grace Park (Newsarama)

-24 Day 8 Panel, featuring actors Kiefer Sutherland, Katee Sackhoff, Freddie Prinze Jr., and showrunner Howard Gordon (Hero Complex)

-Marvel Cup ‘O Joe Panel, featuring Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada, also with writers Jim McCann, Jeph Loeb, Dan Buckley, C.B. Cebulski and Steve Wacker (Comics Continuum)

From Saturday

-DC Universe Editorial Presentation, featuring DC Comics Editor-in-Chief Dan Didio, Senior Story Editor Ian Sattler, and writers Gail Simone (Wonder Woman, Secret Six), James Robinson (Justice League: Cry for Justice, Superman), and Andrew Kriesberg (Green Arrow/Black Canary)(Newsarama)

-Iron Man 2 Panel, featuring director Jon Favreau and actors Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johanssen, Don Cheadle, and Sam Rockwell. (Hero Complex)

From Sunday

-Smallville Panel, featuring showrunners Kelly Souders and Brian Petersen, actors Tom Welling, Allison Mack, Erica Durance, Justin Hartley, Cassidy Freeman, and Callum Blue, and special guests Jeph Loeb and Geoff Johns (Comics Continuum)

-DC Universe Online Panel, featuring creative director Jim Lee and writer Marv Wolfman (Newsarama)

And of course there was tons and tons more … good luck soaking it all in!

Prime Time Geek Episode 30 is brought to you by Add This. Help support Prime Time Geek by using the “Share” button at the end of this and every entry, provided by Add This, to share this page on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and more than a dozen other social networking sites. And if anyone makes fun of you for listening to such geeky fare, don’t you worry. I know PLENTY of people who will beat them up or sit on them for you. Just let me know … and offer to buy them lunch once the deed is done.

PTG Episode 30 brings you the return of the Summer Movie Review, focused on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, as well as the DC Comics Spotlight, focused on Green Lantern #42, the finale of the ‘Agent Orange’ arc. Good stuff, certainly, and ordinarily either one of those might be the highlights of an episode of PTG. But this was no ordinary week by any means.

I know quite a few people who believe that bad news, particularly news about prominent deaths, comes in “threes.” Last week seemed to provide more evidence to support this superstition, right up until Sunday, June 28th, when news broke of the death of TV pitchman Billy Mays.

Rest in Peace, Billy Mays

Obviously, that news broke the morning after this episode was recorded, so you won’t find any mention of it during this hour as we remembered those that the celebrity world lost this week, Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson. I heard a lot of people say last week that they would remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard this week’s news, particularly the news about Michael, but somehow I doubt as time passes that many will remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard about Billy Mays’ passing. Hopefully, he’ll be remembered the way that print and online publications were choosing to portray him, as one of the hardest working men in television, a family man who genuinely enjoyed what he was doing and was grateful for the opportunities that came his way. I can’t say in all honesty that I enjoyed his on-air “sell and yell” persona all that much, but I can certainly respect and remember him for the sheer volume of work the man put together, his consistency, his enthusiasm, and his example as someone who spent his life doing what he loved. It’s quite likely that in the days ahead, as the aftermath of Jackson’s death takes hold of the media’s reins, the story of Mays’ death will quickly drop off the radar, as our world’s morbid fascination with the eccentric Jackson has, with his death, now found new “life”. For that reason alone, I offer this humble hope for someone else entirely. Rest in peace, Billy Mays.

Imzadi, by Peter David

On Thursday, May 21st, renowned comics writer/novelist/screenwriter Peter David (The Incredible Hulk, Supergirl, Fallen Angel) appeared at Coliseum of Comics at the Fashion Square Mall to meet with fans and sign autographs, ahead of his scheduled appearance the following weekend at the Orlando Area Science Fiction Society’s OASIS 22 Convention. The Eisner-award winner and bestselling author of numerous novels set in the Star Trek, Babylon 5, and Alien Nation science fiction settings as well as in his own original settings (Sir Apropos of Nothing, Tigerheart) took a few minutes to talk to us at the start of the signing, and in those few minutes he lived up to his reputation of being as outspoken in his views as he is prolific as a writer. During the interview he shared his thoughts on advising aspiring writers, the current plight of the publishing industry in North America, and what he would do to fix the business model currently in use by the comics industry. He also talks about the fan fiction project currently exploding on his personal website, peterdavid.net, a farcical sequel to Twilight entitled “Potato Moon.”

Thanks to Aaron Holland over at Coliseum of Comics for allowing PTG to monopolize Mr. David’s attention for the interview, and to Mr. David himself for granting the interview as well as signing my first edition hardcover copy of the Star Trek: The Next Generation novel Imzadi that will never see the light of eBay or half.com as long as I live.