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Game Over CG Sitcom Debuts, Censored, Gets Machinima
Thanks to GamePro for its interview with the creator of UPN's new CG videogame-related sitcom, Game Over, which debuted last night. The interview notes: "For gamers, it's great to see in-jokes and cameos - like when the entire cast of Oddworld shows up in the first episode. But is prime time ready for a gaming 'toon?" Even before debuting, "Game Over has fallen prey to network censors", with dialog and risque CG nudity cut, and reaction to the show is mixed, but to promote it, UPN is giving away an interactive PC game/machinima download in conjunction with Fountainhead Entertainment, so "players are able to use ['Game Over' character Raquel] in interactive and non-interactive ways by employing Machinimation tools" - the download is available via FilePlanet. Update: 03/12 04:10 GMT by S : Reuters are reporting disappointing ratings for the debut episode.
risque CG nudity cut..
Got pics?
It wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. The characters were pretty good, and the CG was good. I'd give it 2.5 stars out of 4.
Crass, poorly written, pandering to its target audience. In other words, your standard UPN show.
Fail!
-Isaac
I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. For Entertainment Purposes Only.
Well, video actually. In WMV format. Here.
Enjoy.
If my answers frighten you, stop asking scary questions.
They should either let loose and shoot for getting cult status at the risk of losing mainstream ratings... (think Police Squad!) Or they can tighten up the premise in the hopes that it can last long term but risk alienating their original intended audience. (e.g. The Simpsons in recent years)
Those who complain about affect & effect on
Ok,
Why the hell was an animated ass censored out, yet NYPD Blue can show that fat guy's ass all day long and no one complains?
I really hate censorship of all kinds.
As revenge for reminding me of that, I summon memories of the Super Mario Bros. Super Show with which to smite thee. Do the Mario!
You can only watch it for 6 months, then you have to upgrade your TV.
But I hear the show will look twice as good every 1.8 years.
and it's actually a pretty brutal insult.
It's puritanical beliefs. The body is dirty, not because of hygene or doughnuts, but because people want to "sin". The only difference between the two has got to be that Denis Franz is not sexual in anyway. Nobody, and I mean nobody, not even on the internet, wants to see what he's got going on. In fact he's so not sexual, his naked ass is less sexual than something that doesn't even exist on paper let in a more nubile tactile form. In short the people who would want to have sex with a cartoon vastly out numbers those who'd want to have sex with Denis Franz.
Overall it feels like it was well written, then attacked by a commitee of executives. There are moments that are really funny and well animated, but there are clunkers, too. The fact that there ARE actually good jokes and references give me hope that it could become a good show if it gets time to mature. Seinfeld, and even the Simpsons didn't find their stride until a few seasons in, I'd like to see this show get that same chance.
A few game references I spotted:
-A guy comes out of nowhere and punches the dad while they're at a mall and he says, "What is this, Vice City?"
-The mom is an obvious Lara Croft wannabe, always raiding tombs looking for sacred artifacts to decorate her home with, she even has the dual pistols. Her daughter starts picketing outside the tombs for desecrating them.
-A sort of old, fat, and bitter Sonic knockoff named Turbo who they adopt as a pet and who encourages the kids to smoke and rob stores
-The oddworld cast, of course, (we even see Abe do his "sneak-by" move), which attacks Turbo at the end. They even got the names for a few of them right;
-The son skates through the mall, grinding on escaltors just like Tony Hawk games.
As another poster mentioned they seem to be flipping between standard sitcom stuff (the dad has to take his daughter to buy her first bra) and video-game-characters-as-a-family humor (their neighbors are kung-fu fighters who are constantly fighting off ninjas that are attacking their house). They need to find their balance between these. Some of the jokes are less than hilarious (the father brings all the manly stuff he can carry when they go to the ligere (sp?) shop), but there's some really funny stuff like when the daughters yelling over the cell phone wakes up the monsters the mom is trying to creep by, and the dad can't figure out how to drive the moms high-tech minivan ("Don't you drive a car for a living, dad?" "Shut up!").
The animation can be a little weak at times, but I can forgive that on a weekly show. I even saw a texturing problem when the mom was fighting the big rock monster at the end. The Turbo character annoys me for some reason.
Overall I'm willing to watch the show to see if they can iron out these problems. There's lots of good stuff they could do, there's always new games coming out. Think if Penny Arcade-style humor was made into a show, like this recent comic.
If it is any good, they will cancel it, and it if sucks, it will stay on the air for years.
Either way, we are screwed.
(Yeah, I am still bitter about FireFly, Farscape, Angel, etc...)
adl
My boring ramblings
Recently in Japan, video game characters are begining to get their own TV serieses (besides from Pokemon and Digimon being the most obvious). Some of them include a Sonic remake, a series on Star Ocean The Second Story (PS1 game), a Megaman series based on the Megaman/Rockman Battle Network GBA series, and a "sequel" series taking place after the .hack series (both the original TV series and the game series). When it comes to video games, the Japanese love those pixelated/polygon characters.
(P.S. Did you know they're even doing an online animated Manga/Comic as a prequel story to Metroid/Zero Mission? Look it up, if you understand Japanese)
I don't want to support TV piracy, but if somebody missed the show and wants to see it, you can find it here or here. (File is approximately 172MB.)
Since UPN will be following the minor networks' habit of repeating shows a few days later to cover up their lack of content (and saying it is for the "convinience" of the viewer) it would be interesting to see if the second showing has better ratings.
www.eFax.com are spammers
Any show I watch regularly gets canceled.
;-)
So it is you? Stop watching the shows I like!!
adl
My boring ramblings