Although we’re about settled into TV’s second wave of summer programming — namely, Breaking Bad, Louie, and Political Animals — it’s impossible to get too comfortable. Thanks to Comic-Con and the TCA tour, buzz for fall 2012 is nearly in full swing and has us bracing for the series of snap judgements we’ll have to make about the new season of television. As many showrunners have pointed out, it’s unfortunate that a TV show only has a limited window to prove itself. At the same time, we can’t complain when a series starts out with a bang. And, as shows like Breaking Bad have proved, a stellar start and well-plotted story development don’t have to be mutually exclusive. To follow up our recent look at the best opening scenes in cinema, we decided to recall some of the best TV pilot opens, taking into account style, innovation, and sheer ability to capture the attention of easily distracted brains. Have a favorite we missed? Please let us know in the comments! … Read More
Futurama
Your Favorite Cartoon Characters’ Baby Pictures
Everyone loves a good cartoon flashback, eh? You know – the ones where we’re briefly privy to our favorite characters’ lives as babies. Of course, some of these cartoons’ younger selves have become increasingly familiar through series like Tiny Toon Adventures and Muppet Babies, but we’re not complaining; we loved us some Muppet Babies. After the jump, we’ve gathered childhood snapshots of 25 popular cartoon characters and stuck ‘em in faux picture frames, just to keep it classy. Oh – and since it’s tough to choose between a young Ned Flanders and a young Mr. Burns, a few TV shows will appear more than once. Give them a look, and hit the comments to add photos from other cartoon characters’ fictional scrapbooks. … Read More
10 Fictional Alphabets You Can Actually Use
You’re probably at an age where writing notes to buddies in a bizarre alphabet is not a top priority, but let’s take a minute to remember the good ol’ days — when summer notepads were scribbled with secret scripts that only you and your closest friends understood. Sure, those years might be gone, but that doesn’t mean we all can’t rekindle our love of strange fake alphabets in a grown-up pop culture kind of way, does it? Who wouldn’t love to put, “Can read and write English in Tolkien’s Elvish” on a résumé? Or perhaps Hylian, the language of Link and Zelda? After the jump, we’ve gathered the alphabets and handy English translations of ten awesome fictional languages from film, television, literature, and a couple video games, all thanks to the brilliance that is Omniglot.com. Feel free to write us a note in your chosen language and leave it in the comments. How? There will be a good bit of scanning and linking involved, of course. We never said passing secret notes over the Internet would be easy. … Read More
The Peculiar Inspirations Behind 10 Cartoon Character Names
There are pretty much no rules when it comes to cartoon character names. So, if you had the exciting opportunity to name one, where would you look for inspiration? Your favorite weird friends? Your favorite politicians? Your favorite songs? Every now and then, we’ll come across a well-known cartoon’s truly peculiar background story. Really, who would’ve thought that Scooby-Doo would be the direct result of a Frank Sinatra song? Check out the fun inspirations behind ten cartoon character names after the jump, and hit the comments to let us know about the others that you’ve discovered over the years. … Read More
Fictional Space Colonies We’d Actually Be Down to Live In
We don’t agree with a lot of what Newt Gingrich says, but when he vowed to establish a colony on the moon, we have to admit that we were intrigued. Now don’t get us wrong, we think this is a ridiculous idea, but it did get us to thinking about what our ideal moon colony might look like. After all, if “honeymoons in space will be the vogue by 2020,” we’re going to want to know the coolest places to go. So we’ve put together this list of fictional space colonies we’d actually be down to live in, in case Gingrich needs a little inspiration for his base’s decor or government policies. And since they’re fictional, well, we don’t have to worry about that question of how to pay for it. One thing, though: there will be no children working as janitors. Sorry, Newt, but you can’t have everything. Click through to read our list of fictional space colonies we’d actually like to live in (or at least go to on our honeymoons) and let us know if we’ve missed any of your favorites in the comments. … Read More
10 Cartoons Inspired by Live-Action Characters (or Real People)
[Editor's note: While your Flavorwire editors take a much-needed holiday break, we'll spend the next two weekends revisiting some of our most popular features of the year. This post was originally published October 7, 2011.] Cartoon creators don’t always borrow personalities from live action film and TV, but when they do, it sometimes isn’t as obvious as we’d think. Have you ever noticed that Milhouse is a flawless animated rendition of The Wonder Years’ Paul Pfeiffer? And Doug Funnie’s retired neighbor? Y’know, that Dink guy who hangs around giving Doug strange advice? He’s most certainly an homage to Home Improvement‘s Mr. Wilson, the wisest man on the other side of Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor’s fence. Check out some quirky cartoons and their live equivalents after the jump, and hit the comments to let us know the others you’ve found. They’re everywhere. … Read More
10 Fictional Holidays from TV That You Can Actually Celebrate
It’s the holiday season, folks! Time to deck the hallways with diapers and fill a pot with shaving cream. Oh, you don’t celebrate Yak Shaving Day? What about Merlinpeen, the Verdukian Holiday of Mouth Pleasures? Or the Fraggle Festival of the Bells? For some awesome reason or another, television is full of weird fictional holidays. Robanukah, a day of drinking and doing the robot? Sounds good to us! This year, we’ve decided to spice up our age-old holiday lineup with some fictional festivities. Because, well — who wouldn’t want to observe a day about giving yourself presents? Dust off the ol’ Festivus pole, order a meat-lovers pizza, and Treat Yo Self to some fake TV holidays after the jump. … Read More
Iain Heath’s Incredible, Geeky Pop-Culture LEGO Sculptures
We were sold on the work of LEGO sculptor Iain Heath the moment we spotted his Freddie Mercury portrait at Super Punch. So we were thrilled to find that he’s got an entire Flickr site full of incredible, pop-culture LEGO constructions. Although there are a few funny political caricatures (Sarah Palin, Arnold Schwarzenegger), Heath specializes in recreating the nerdiest of characters and celebrities: Stephen Hawking, Futurama, Monty Python, Star Wars, the anime films of Hayao Miyazaki. Geeks, rejoice, in the gallery of our favorite Heath sculptures after the jump, then visit him on Flickr to see much, much more. … Read More
Fake Ads for 10 of Television’s Funniest Products
Bringing the mythic media of your favorite television shows to life, Fake Anything showcases fake ads and products inspired by the antics of your most beloved characters. And as expected, their site boasts a few fake testimonials that are good for a laugh — but their clever ad campaigns for shows like Arrested Development, Parks and Recreation, and Seinfeld (Death Blow!) are infinitely more amusing. We’re a little concerned that we’d totally buy Liz Lemon’s “Night Cheese” and enjoy it “while wearing a Slanket,” but once you see the product’s pretty tin packaging you might feel the same way. Hit the break for more TV ad goodies. … Read More
What’s On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds in Our Office
Today at Flavorpill, we were obsessed with the YA fiction-inspired poster for Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman’s latest film collaboration, Young Adult. We wished that we could be as popular on Facebook as Jesus is. We lost ourselves in New York Magazine’s “Encyclopedia of 9/11.” We wondered what Shepard… Read More
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