Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 1847

Adorable Domestic Fox Is Trained Like a Puppy

Not even animal behaviorists can say what thoughts go through the heads of our animal companions (or if they are really even “thoughts”). It’s also unclear exactly what pets from different domestic species think about each other, but it does appear that some creatures are wont to copy another’s tricks.

Take for example, Riot the Red Fox. He’s been living with his owner Kristen, and her German shepard, Castiel, for at least a few years. And as you can see in the video below, Riot has picked up quite a few of Castiel’s old tricks. In fact, he’s learned so many tricks that Riot may actually out-dog the dog.



We found this video via i09, and it’s just a small sampling of the videos that can be found on Riot’s official YouTube page. In one of our other favorite clips from this channel, Riot embraces his inner dog as he literally barks at the neighbors’ dog. Now, that’s commitment to a bit!



We’re not Dolittles, but we’re really starting to believe that this fox thinks that he’s a dog. And Riot certainly seems to have bonded with Castiel. There are several videos that feature the pair together, but almost all of them play out like this.



But one of the most popular videos on this channel is the broad overview of what it’s like to have a fox as a pet. It looks like a fun challenge, but a challenge nevertheless.



What do you think about Riot the fox and his antics? Let us know what the fox says in the comment section below!

Image: Riot the Red Fox

Chaos Reigns! More Fox stories:

A brief history of Star Fox 2.
How they made Star Wars‘ crystalline foxes.
A  mariachi cover of a Star Fox 64 tune.

STAR TREK: TNG’s Predictive Script Is Like the Roddenberry Seasons All Over Again

“Space…what is the point of it? You have no idea. This is the Enterprise: a big circle with a porch. I’m the Captain Picard. Come with me!” That is the opening narration for Star Trek: The Next Generation, according to a predictive keyboard. It’s gloriously ridiculous and insane, but it would probably have been magnificent if Patrick Stewart had actually said it. And it’s just the tip of the iceberg from Botnik Studios‘ latest creation.

Via io9, the TNG predictive script was made by keyboards programmed with the language and syntax of the entire seven season run. Supposedly, these predictive keyboards are excellent for super-fast typing, but their true calling must be for comedy. “Here’s Looking at Q” is such a wild and insane look at the Enterprise’s crew that it would have been the standout episode in the show’s earliest seasons. It doesn’t make any sense or hold up to scrutiny, but it is freakin’ hilarious.

We used predictive keyboards trained on Star Trek: The Next Generation to write this bold new episode. https://t.co/Np8Wq0v9zQ pic.twitter.com/AwvNIXekGU

— Botnik Studios (@botnikstudios) February 1, 2018

It’s hard to tell where to begin with this one. Shall we start with Picard’s cat food party with Worf? Riker’s uncontrollable urge for new party drugs? Troi’s systematic mental torture of Geordi? Q’s sudden concussion? Or perhaps this instant classic line from Dr. Crusher to her brat of a son: “I should inject you with respect.” However, we have to give a special nod to Riker’s boast: “You think I need your help, Mister Data? I’m the first officer to convince a planet to explode, and I look forward to doing it again.”

There were some really shaky times for this series when Gene Roddenberry was still in charge of the creative direction. But in a strange way, this predictive script feels like it escaped from that era, and it is unintentional comedic gold. It wouldn’t win a Peabody award, but it did win our hearts with its inherent silliness.

You can read the entire Botnik TNG script here, but be warned: You’re gonna laugh a lot, assuming that you’re not a member of the Borg.

What did you think about TNG‘s encounter with the predictive keyboards? Let us know in the comment section below!

Images: CBS Television

Up for more Trekkin’?



Seth MacFarlane’s Star Trek fan film! (No, not The Orville.)
The history of the Mirror Universe.
Black Mirror‘s take on Star Trek is about toxic masculinity.

A Very Special NERDIST NEWS TALKS BACK Asks a Familiar Question Again

This weekend is the big game! That’s right it’s the Super B…..sorry, one second…..yes…..oh, I see….no, no of course the NFL has a trademark and very expensive lawyers…I’ll try this again.

This weekend is the big game! A little something our attorney likes us to call the Superb Owl! Because around here we root for Team Public Domain! But that doesn’t mean we’re not excited to watch all those commercials this Sunday, so on today’s very, very, very special Nerdist News Talks Back we looked ahead to which ones we can’t wait to see, along with the one topic we have to address over and over again, the missing trailer for Solo: A Star Wars Story.



Joining host Jessica Chobot on today’s show was Nerdist Editor-in-Chief Rachel Heine, Alpha producer Derrick Paller, and Mothership writer Amy Vorpahl. What commercials is everyone most looking forward to this weekend? What about the Peter Dinklage and Morgan Freeman rap battle for Doritos and Mountain Dew?

And even though it feels like we talk about the missing Solo trailer over and over and over again, what’s the latest on that?

Don’t forget you can watch Nerdist News Talks Back live on our YouTube and Alpha channels every weekday at 1:00 p.m. PT. We’re here day after day, every day, and we’re always talking about the biggest pop culture topics.

That might be why sometimes we get a little deja vu, although for some reason that feeling always seems particularly strong on February 2nd.

What did you think of today’s very, very, very special show? Tell us in the comments below. It’s okay if you want to repeat yourself.

KEEP TALKING BACK WITH US IN THESE STORIES!

When will the X-Men and Fantastic Four hit the MCU?
Can  Black Panther  really be that good?
And finally, do you want a Mario Bros. movie?

Images: Lucasfilm

With FANTASTIC BEASTS, J.K. Rowling Is Pulling a Prequel-Era George Lucas

In 1977, George Lucas released one of the most indelible pieces of pop culture in history on an unsuspecting public. Star Wars took the world by force and has transcended entertainment to become a common world-wide touchstone. For exactly twenty years, it felt as if no other fictional world could ever reach the same heights as a galaxy far, far away. But in 1997, J.K. Rowling released the first Harry Potter novel. Now everyone you know can tell you which Hogwarts House they belong to. The jargon — Quidditch, Muggle, etc. — has entered our lexicon and our dictionaries.

The two creators also share a lot in common. Both were scrappy fighters, believing in their worlds when no one else did. Both centered their tales around Chosen One boys who learn lessons about morality, empathy, and sacrifice. Both spent years creating their fictional universes, applying rules and long histories to flesh out the narrative. Both tried to use their well-constructed lore to expand their cultural footprint. They both gave us so much, but cultivating a dedicated fanbase is like giving a mouse a cookie. We are both ravenous and exacting. And it now appears J.K. Rowling is on a collision course, repeating the mistake of prequel-era Lucas.

Oceans of ink have spilled combing through every misstep made by Lucasfilm when it comes to the Star Wars prequels. I won’t waste our time wading too deep, but to sum up: regardless of how you feel about the technical achievements or storytelling in the Star Wars prequels, the stilted and disjointed narrative focusing on politics and trade was a far cry from the easy and familiar Hero’s Journey Luke Skywalker undertook in the original trilogy. The resonant connections fans felt with Luke, Leia, and Han as they struggled felt absent from the prequels. It’s hard to connect with a whiny protagonist that murders children. Putting the focus on Anakin instead of Obi-Wan or Padme created a barrier to emotionally connecting with the audience. Everyone loves Darth Vader, but no one wants to root for him.

Now it seems J.K. Rowling is headed down the same path Lucas tread before her, though by another route. Almost immediately after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released in 2007, Rowling began sharing tidbits from her notes that never made it into the final novels. Fans learned trivial things such as Luna Lovegood’s profession and the names of every child born to the main cast. There were head-scratchers such as a simplistic view of American history, and there were shockers such as the fact that Dumbledore was gay. That last nugget of information was dropped back in 2007, which means fans have known Dumbledore was “canon-adjacent” into men for over ten years. Now she’s walked that statement back. Dumbledore will not be “explicitly” gay in the upcoming Fantastic Beasts 2, a story that sees Dumbledore dealing with the fact that the man he’s in love with — Grindelwald — is basically a Wizard Nazi. The backlash has been quick and brutal.

While taking different routes, both Lucas and Rowling have arrived at similar destinations. Tinkering with their worlds has brought them nothing but fan ire. The backlash against Lucas was for poor storytelling and stiff performances. Lucas missed what it was about Star Wars that resonated with is fans and the result was Lucas ultimately selling Lucasfilm to Disney. Meanwhile, J.K. Rowling’s mouth made checks she can’t cash. Adding LGBTQA+ representation after the fact resonated with fans that longed to see themselves reflected in stories at Hogwarts. Rowling also attempted to alleviate the blinding whiteness of her world by suggesting Hermione could very well be black. But once it was time to put an openly gay Dumbledore on screen, she demurred. Add to that her support of Johnny Depp despite credible allegations of domestic abuse, and you have a creator simply not connecting with their fan base.

Of course, it is the right of the creator to change their story however they see fit. Lucas and Rowling both created beloved fictional universes that succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. However, in that success, the rules change whether they like it or not. When you have churches springing up in the name of the Jedi, professional Quidditch teams, and literal representations of your vision come to life as theme parks, the dynamic shifts. Right or wrong, audiences will feel possessive of these properties they’ve poured time and money into. The desire to perfect or add-on to a creative endeavor is seductive. Not an author alive hasn’t felt the nagging internal voice whispering that one more pass and the draft will be flawless. But tinkering with a story is like pulling a stray thread on a sweater. Maybe it’s a flaw easily removed, or maybe tugging too hard will unravel the whole in ways you could never imagine.

Here’s Why the Internet is Upset at the New TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

The old order changeth, and there’s a new generation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles heading to Nickelodeon. Earlier this week, the first character designs for Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hit the internet and they were met with instant acclaim and adulation—just kidding. In fact, the internet hated them so much you’d think it was Captain America’s new shield. Today’s Nerdist News is going to explain why fans are losing their mother-bleepin’ minds over the new TMNT.

Join host and the only associate that Baxter Stockman didn’t turn into a fly, Jessica Chobot, as she walks us through the “radical” reinvention of the TMNT. For starters, the turtles have now been given individual body types and more unique looking designs. But the inexplicable part here is the decision to swap the personalities of Raphael and Leonardo, so that Raph’s the new leader and Leo’s the rude party dude.

See this angry looking rat? That’s the new Splinter.

Similar to how the Ducktales reboot turned Mrs. Beakley into a formidable fighting machine, this Splinter looks like he’s going to kick everyone’s ass. He’s different, but he’s still Splinter. Michelangelo and Donatello are also relatively unchanged, at least in terms of their personalities. But the bizarre new weapons for the boys are another puzzler. Is this show gonna take place in the future?

Then there’s April O’Neil, the girl who seemingly gets younger with every TMNT show. At this rate, April’s gonna be in preschool by the time the Turtles get their next television series. Oh yeah, and she’s black now. That’s another change that got an angry response from the crowd. Although if we should really be pissed about anything, it’s that energy baseball bat she’s got. What the hell, show? If it’s the future, can’t April do better than an energy bat?

What do you think about the Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles designs? Let’s discuss in the comment section below!

Don’t Have a Cow, It’s Turtle Time!

Watch Michaelangelo visit his namesake’s exhibit!
Some of their comics also made our Pull List.
And finally, pizza rat. Because Splinter.

Images: Nickelodeon

The Most Superb Owls in Pop Culture

Horned. Screech. Barn. Snowy. Owls are amazing and wonderful and bizarre. They can rotate their heads 270 degrees, their ears are usually asymmetrical, their eyeballs aren’t actually eyeballs, and some can spot prey from half-a-mile away. Can you do that? Spot your burrito from that far?

Of course not. You’re not an owl. That’s the bad news. The good news is that we have plenty of owls populating our pop culture–from movies to TV to advertising–so we can hang out with them even when we’re not camping or attending an ancient magic academy.

With The Big Game (aka The Superb Owl) this Sunday, let’s use that pretext to celebrate a parliament of the superbest owls on the pop culture block.

X the Owl

Perpetually slightly sleepy and sounding oddly like Mr. Rogers, X was the most curious of the denizens in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. X was also the world’s biggest Ben Franklin fan, diligently studied for his Owl Correspondence School courses, and had trouble making up his mind (which totally makes him the Chidi of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood).

Mr. Owl

Who do you turn to when you need to know the unknowable? Engineering students at Purdue? No. A cartoon owl? Yes. Mr. Owl was wise, adhered to the scientific method, and, let’s face it, didn’t have time for this kid’s nonsense. Just eat the Tootsie Pop, man.

Big Mama

Don’t tear up or anything. It’s just Big Mama (voiced by Pearl Bailey) helping an adorable orphaned fox. This is the kind of nurturing kindness the world could use more of.

Ezylryb

Yes, Soren was the young hero of Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (aka Justice League: The Snyder Cut), but Ezylryb was the grizzled best. Voiced by Geoffrey Rush, the screech owl was cantankerous, but sincere enough to recognize when a young owl knew best. That’s real wisdom.

Owl

Infinitely intelligent or just long-winded? Where Winnie-the-Pooh is always unsure of himself in spite of his intentions, Owl is egregiously sure of himself no matter if he knew what he was droning on about or not. Still, he’s charming and kind (in his own way) and has excellent comedic timing.

The Owls of Twin Peaks

They’re not what they seem. So, what are they? And what do they seem to be? Your guess is as good as millions of others, and I hope David Lynch never explains it.

Hedwig

A snowy owl, Hagrid got her as a gift for Harry Potter (his first ever birthday present). Hedwig remained a close and intelligent ally, as well as a silent sounding board for Harry’s existential quandaries, and perhaps the most important symbol of Harry’s childhood innocence.

Archimedes

“If man were meant to fly, he’d have been born with wings.” Perhaps the ancestor of Owl from Winnie-the-Pooh, Archimedes (voiced by Junius Matthews) was delightfully puffed up, and so snarky that you just knew he kept a burn book somewhere in his birdhouse.

The Great Owl

Terrifying, other-worldly, ancient. The Great Owl (voiced by John Carradine) was accompanied by horn blasts and ghostly cobwebs, but if you braved his lair, and were worthy of his help, he’d tell you everything you needed to know to save your family.

 

Bubo

The best ever. No contest. Bubo was the R2-D2 of Clash of the Titans, a fierce companion that Perseus borrowed from Athena herself which was, for some reason, made out of metal and beep-boop noises. Did we mention how popular Star Wars had been? But seriously, Bubo was dependable and loyal, if not all that street smart. Or book smart. Or smart in any other ways.

What are your favorite pop culture owls? Give a hoot and comment below.

Images: PBS, Walt Disney

You love animals? We love animals.

Look at the world’s smallest kitty.
Otters are better entertainment than human athletes.
Star Wars, but with hamsters.

Hot Toys Unleashes EMPEROR PALPATINE and His Guards

We can argue all we want to about who Supreme Leader Snoke really is in the new movies, but there’s one indisputable fact about him: he learned his threatening dialogue from the OG Star Wars baddie, Emperor Palpatine. The various Darths get most of the glory, but the true puppet-master of the entire Galactic Empire wields only a cane, and wears the most basic of robes. Hot Toys‘ new figure of him, however, is anything but basic.

Light-up throne, cane, Force lightning, Luke’s lightsaber hilt (version 2.0), and even a separate stand in case you somehow want to pose him looking at his chair instead of sitting in it…this is an Emperor who accessorizes in style. Sure, you could buy the basic version without the chair, but if you’re going to spend money on a Hot Toys figure, you’re already a high-roller so you might as well fork over the extra. And speaking of extras…

…the Royal Guard is also coming! Unlike the recent Black Series figure, which had hidden battle armor beneath the robes, this is a screen-accurate costume based on the 1983 design, years before Kir Kanos was a thing. These guards’ faces will remain mysterious, but rest assured that every evil wrinkle on Ian McDiarmid’s face has been lovingly, hatefully captured. Your feeble skills are no match for the power of Hot Toys sculptors.

Yeah, nobody’s tricking this guy into becoming a major cut-up. But you might want to pose him looking away from your bed, because waking up in the middle of the night to that face isn’t something we really want to be doing.

Are you ready to summon the power of your favorite online retailer to purchase this fully armed and operational figure? Let us know below!

Images: Hot Toys

More Star Wars:

Millennium Falcon: robots in disguise!
Star Wars books: where do we start?
Have you hugged a Hux pillow today?

Move Over, Super Bowl: We’re Watching Otter Bowl IV

Super Bowl Sunday isn’t a key event on my calendar; like most casual football fans, I watch for the fun commercials and stay for the salty snacks. But this year, I may just skip all that: as an alternative to the big game, the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach is holding their fourth annual Otter Bowl! Watching cute, fuzzy pals playing games and eating all day? Now that sounds like the ideal weekend sporting event.

The otters won’t really be playing football—although can you imagine little helmets made out of shells? I die at the adorable thought. No, these otters will be playing with enrichment toys, palling around with their otter friends, and eating lots, and lots of snacks. That last bit speaks to me on so many levels. Like any major competition there will be a commentator to walk you through the event, with an aquarium educator on hand to be calling the sure to be exciting play-by-play.

You can bet all your favorite otter players will be there—Betty, Brook, and the inimitable Charlie—along with all their otter teammates, back to vie for the championship. Oh, and the otter’s footballs for this competitive match? They’ll be made out of clams. Of course they will. I’m otterly wrecked by the cuteness. The big game starts at 4 p.m. on Sunday, February 4, and only lasts an hour because these otters are professionals. The cost of the show is free to Aquarium members and included with general admission for the public. For more information, check out www.aquariumofpacific.org.

Who are you rooting for in Otter Bowl IV? I’ve got a bucket of fish riding on Charlie. Let us know in the comments and if you attend Otter Bowl IV, tag @nerdist and @justjenn so we can enjoy the game with you!

Images: Aquarium of the Pacific
Get your game on with more Super Sunday stories:

The Castle Rock trailer is already online.
Peter Dinklage and Morgan Freeman have a Dew-ritos beef.
Mint chip bagel spread as a super-snack?

THE GOOD PLACE Offers Hope for Good People in a Terrible World

Warning: This post contains major spoilers for the season two finale of The Good Place.

 

There has been no shortage of wonderful, hopeful moments on The Good Place, but one ever-present, bleak truth has never been gone away: it’s hard to get to the real good place because the threshold to qualify as a truly good person is ridiculously high. And while the show’s season two finale, “Somewhere Else,” presented how the world makes it almost impossible to be a good person, it also gave us our best hope for how we can be anyway.

Most of us would fail to qualify for “The Good Place.” Tahani raised 60 billion dollars for charity and helped a tremendous amount of people, but that didn’t matter because she did it for selfish reasons. Chidi spent a life obsessing over what it means to be a good person and tried to put those lessons into practice, but none of that mattered because his personal failings undid all of that. And last week, when they all showed how much genuine personal growth they’ve made, the Judge said none of that mattered. “Better” isn’t good enough, only “good” is good enough. Michael thinks the whole system for judging human lives might be broken, and he’s probably right and that’s not fair, but we know what Sean said about “fair.” You want to be a good person you better the right kind of really good person.

After Eleanor went back to Earth (or at the very least a simulation of it) for a literal real life test, we saw how the world did everything it could to keep her from being her best self. Working hard, telling the truth, and being selfless led to lawsuits, lost friends, and diarrhea, and that’s because life is full of bad people. Everything around us–greed, selfishness, apathy, anger–fights against our desire to be better people, and the harder we try to be good the more pointless it can seem. When things seems to be easier the worse you are as a person, why make things harder on yourself by being good? Especially when it isn’t clear there is any “moral dessert” to gain, in this life or the next?

The Good Place has given empathetic reasons why someone might be bad before, like when we learned about Eleanor and Tahani’s parents. That didn’t let them off the hook though, they still were still earmarked for the bad place. Because no matter how much our parents, friends, or the entire world sucks, there’s no excuse for giving in to it. Ultimately we are responsible for ourselves.



So basically to reach a paradise we don’t actually know exists and avoid eternal damnation we have to make our lives as hard as possible in a world that fights our attempts to be good people while rewarding mother forking shirtheads. And even then it might not be enough. When you put it like that it seems stupid not to just say “fork this?” and not leave a note.

But despite telling us the world mostly sucks and being good means eating a lot of shirts, “Somewhere Else” was the show’s most hopeful episode yet. Michael’s nudge (Ted Danson bartending!) to Eleanor, by reciting her own words back to her, was a gorgeous moment, but the way his question about “what do we owe to each other?” pushed her to seek out Chidi–who had just kissed her at the Judge’s–was the show’s most beautiful scene ever.

Because no matter how terrible things are, no matter how futile our attempts to overcome that reality, there is one idea that can help us be the people we want–and need–to be: “we are not in this alone.” All of the progress Eleanor, Tahani, Chidi, Jason, and Michael have made was only possible because they supported one another and selflessly gave of themselves.

They aren’t good people on their own, but they make each other good people.

It was a stunning season finale because it provided real, tangible hope. Yeah, it’s really, really hard to be truly good, almost impossible even, but we can do it if we stop worrying about ourselves and worry about one another. And if that seems like a battle you’re fighting alone, you’re not.

What did you think of the season finale? Tell us in the comments below.

Images: NBC

 

ONE-PUNCH MAN Artist Will Do a BACK TO THE FUTURE Manga

For the past three decades, there’s never been a comic book adaptation of the Back to the Future trilogy, but that’s going to change later this year thanks to One-Punch Man artist, Yuusuke Murata. Back to the Future co-writer Bob Gale will be overseeing Murata’s upcoming manga adaptation of the film, which will include new story material that didn’t make the theatrical cut.

According to Anime News Network, Murata announced the Back to the Future manga at an event in Tokyo for Ready Player One. The new adaptation will be called BTTF, and it will be serialized online at Kono Manga’s site, with collected editions to follow in Japan.

Although the initial report indicated that only the first Back to the Future movie would be adapted, the accompanying illustration clearly features characters and details from all three films. That includes Doc Brown’s future wife, Clara, and Marty McFly’s famous hoverboard. If Back to the Future II and III are also included, this would also be the first comic adaptations of those films as well.

IDW is currently the North American publisher for the Back to the Future comics that take place before, after, and during the trilogy, as well the adaptation of Telltale’s video game. Gale is also heavily involved with those comics as a writer and producer, so that may give IDW the edge if the publisher decides to bring the BTTF manga to this country. But if not, we’d be shocked if another manga publisher didn’t pick up the rights.

Are you eager to see Back to the Future as a manga serial? Make like a tree and leave a comment below!

Images: Kono Manga

We got mucho manga right here:

Godzilla manga roars its giant-yet-undersized head.
The Justice League manga should have an easier time erasing mustaches.
“I am Groot manga.”