Dear Future generations,

I am flattered and deeply honored that young people, and people of many ages have come to afford me a somewhat iconic status. I do not wish to appear ungrateful, and I am glad I have been chosen as the unofficial face of revolutionary politics.

However, I feel I must tell you that I did not bust my ass fighting government forces in  the stinking hot Cuban countryside so my face could be worn on the chest of every douchebag who heard a Rage Against the Machine album.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good picture. My wife loved it. Even I was thinking of getting it put on a coffee mug, but that was just for me. And Fidel, I was going to send him one as a joke. But it seems that Cuba, in its revolutionary zeal has used me in much the same way Disney uses Mickey Mouse.

I am the Mickey Mouse of Socialism.

I am on everything from paintings, to mugs, tee-shirts, keychains, temporary tattoos, you name it. They even have a French restaurant called “Chez Guevara”. They don’t actually have a guy in a big foam Che Guevara outfit taking pictures with tourists…yet, but I’m guessing it’s not that far off. The irony that my anti capitalist message has turned into a booming business has not gone unnoticed and it is annoying the fuck out of me

So let me make myself very clear to you rich white college students…YOU ARE THE PROBLEM I WAS FIGHTING IN THE FIRST PLACE!!! You are the ultimate capitalist consumers, and no amount of novelty T-shirts and berets with Red stars on them is going to make you any less of a mindless consumer. Also when you hang my poster up next to one of Heidi Klum…the two posters are actually cancelling each other out, and all the girls you bring back to your room will  think you are a huge douche.

I would like to remind you at this juncture that I was captured and shot…several times, I might add, by Bolivians with backing from the CIA. It hurt like a bitch. But I was okay with doing it for the cause of ridding the world of the imperialist policies which are still creating crushing poverty all over the third world. I did not do it to give you a cool idea for a tattoo, you dumb fuck.

You want to do something revolutionary? Tell the Americans to drop the trade blockade with Cuba. They can’t possibly still be pissed about the whole Bay of Pigs/Missle Crisis thing can they? Jesus Christ The Americans dropped TWO NUCLEAR BOMBS on Japan, and they got past it enough to trade with America. I tell you what, open up trade with Cuba and I will personally throw in a free box of Che Guevara key chains.

And Elian Gonzales.

Viva Le Revolution,

Che

1:

Dear Kellogg’s:

You are no doubt aware that you are the manufacturer of Frosted Flakes. If you are not aware of this fact, you should be.  I am going to presume you are, indeed, aware. Of this fact.  You guys make Frosted Flakes.  Your “Frosted Flakes”, which are puffed corn of some variety or another, have the unlikely mascot of an anthropomorphic tiger, who wears a scarf for some reason. This he does, and I can only surmise, because Tony is a gang member, or possibly a barnstormer.

My primary concern, however, is not with the impractical attire of your talking tiger, but rather with his signature catchphrase (or that of the chorus of jingle singers who back him up, presumably because Tony threatened the lives of their families , or again, possibly, because Tony flew them high over the top of their Nebraska farms for $5 a ride) “The taste of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes brings out the tiger in you!”

Imagine my surprise when your frosted flakes had not, in fact, brought out the “tiger” in me, but rather brought out what my GP referred to as “The worst case of herpes I have ever seen”.

I would like a refund for the $7.88 I paid for a 61 ounce box. I would also like you to explain to me why it is possible to buy Frosted Flakes on Amazon, which, is patently ridiculous.

http://www.amazon.com/Frosted-Flakes-Cereal-61-9-Ounce-Box/dp/B00032C8T6

Sincerely,

RobbieRobTown

2:

Attn: Local Police Department, Traffic Enforcement Division.

Recently I received a photo radar speeding ticket, which I will not be contesting, despite the fact that you can clearly see my break lights on in the image. I was going too fast. 11km per hour too fast, which is roughly 5 miles per hour. I am sorry.

I am contacting you on behalf of The Environment.

The Environment wanted you to know that you can stop wasting virginal, first-growth forests to publish your bleached white, glossy paper pamphlet entitled “Do your part to drive safely!”

No one, not one person on God’s green earth, now or in any possible quantum future timeline, has or ever will have read that pamphlet.

Some things, like most rational humans, I react to with anger. If instead of a ticket, you had faxed me  a photocopy of your middle finger, I would have nodded my head and said “Yes, even though I was obviously correcting my speed, I was still speeding, and I deserve this middle finger coming through my Brother (TM) FaxBuddy 9000″. What I object to, If I may extend the metaphor, is that you then sent me, accompanying the middle finger, a photocopy of your sweaty balls.

How could you have imagined I would react positively to this missive? Did a committee at City Hall form a task force with the Local Police to generate this idea? At this meeting, did someone say the following?:

“Hey, When these guys get their speeding ticket, they are going to be in a receptive mood for some traffic safety tips. Let’s hire a writer, and publish a pamphlet at taxpayer expense.”

No one said exactly that? Strange, because the impression you gave me is that someone did.

Do your part to help the environment, and don’t sackfax me.

Sincerely,

RobbieRobTown

It’s December first…the day we are all legitimately allowed to play Christmas music and tear open that first little Advent Calendar Flap and eat the first waxy, tasteless chocolate of the season. In the spirit of the holidays, I’d like to suggest you follow @TheNorthPolar on Twitter, if you are the tweeting sort. He’s a disgruntled Elf I created last year at work as a promotional project. I had so much fun with it I’ve decided to make it an annual thing. Here are a couple of Binky Tweets to get you started.

“For Halloween this year, Rudolph went as the guy from the Operation game. I’ll give him that one, that was pretty funny”

“Okay, people, for the last time, the lyric is NOT “Good King Whatsiface looked out”

“Tim Allen came by looking for work. So sad.”

“I’m still taller than Tom Cruise.”

For more Festive Holiday Tweets follow Binky @TheNorthPolar. and for those of you who were kind enough to read this shameless self promotion all the way through here is some bonus Tbinnsing…

and for the ladies…

Happy Holidays!

For those who don’t know, which I have to assume is all of you because if you DID know you are taking WAY too much interest in my personal life, I am in the process of developing a half hour comedy show. I’ll spare you the painful details about how many times I’ve had to rethink the concept owing to being beaten to the punch, but I believe I’ve hit on something that works now. We’ll leave it at that. I have a producer attached, who got us a little funding to write a pilot, and then, something rather marvelous happened.

Our project got accepted into the NSI Totally Television Program. NSI, in a nutshell is a non profit organization dedicated to developing Canadian film and television. They flew me and my producer out to Toronto and we did a week long TV boot camp…working with story editors, getting the basics of structure, learning to pitch, and even setting up very educational chats with writing agents, executive producers and broadcasters. It was an invaluable experience that I will treasure even if the show goes nowhere else.

In short, NSI Rules and I cannot thank them enough. Check them out for yourself here.

Being in such a creative environment, it was inevitable that I would come up with a number of concepts for new tv shows. Every one of which is a complete winner, I’m sure. Because I always think of you fondly, Oh Loyal Correct, I’m offering you a sneak peak of my genius which will no doubt be on a TV screen near you soon. Enjoy…

Reasonable Gout – a one hour procedural that takes place in a law office. The lawyers are the very best in the city… but they make poor dietary choices and have a pronounced limp.

Goin’ Down! - A hilarious half hour sit com that takes place in the world trade centre during 9\11.

TED: Man, I’m late… I have a plane to catch

(Cue laugh track)

The Aaron Sorkin Show - a great new talk show where Aaron and his celebrity guests wander through hallways talking very quickly. Guests rarely get a word in edgewise.

Nobody Puts Baby in a Coroner – A New CSI Style crime procedural starring Jennifer Grey. In the pilot episode, she solves the mystery of who killed her career.

Casey Anthony Daycare Nightmare - A Reality show that follows Casey Anthony around as she tries to put the past behind her, avoid vigilante justice, and follow her dream of opening a daycare that caters exclusively to clients who don’t like their children.

HA HA!! LOOK! MIDGETS!!! – TLC finally comes right out and says what they mean. First step in a network wide rebranding from TLC to TMC (The Midget Channel)

Anne Hathaway Eats a Popsicle – Very slowly. A new flavour every week. Spike TV has already shown some interest in this one.

"Wait a minute, you are telling me it's either the popsicle thing, or Bride Wars 2? Some agent you are. I'll take the popsicle thing."

Extreme Couponing - SURPRISE!!!! I DIDN’T MAKE THIS ONE UP!!

Keep Calm and Carry Naan – A new sit-com starring Russell Peters as a waiter in a Toronto Indian restaurant who gets to make all those jokes white people like, but technically aren’t allowed to make.

One Guy, Two Girls, a Pizza Place and One Cup : Do not order the soft serve. Ever.

So there it is…my future television empire. and you wanted to cancel your cable. Pshaw! PSHAW I SAY!!

More than I hate the TV Show “The View” and that is saying a lot.

Just for the sake of context, please take a listen to as much of this as you can stand. I made it about a minute and a half in.

The View by Lou Reed & Metallica

Did you listen to it? Then the first thing I need to do is apologize for making you listen to what sounds like a shitty beat poet on open mic night poorly dubbed over an even shittier garage band improvising a “Jam”.

Remember witnessing the birth of Spinal Tap Mark Two where they improvised a free form jazz odyssey in front of about 50 people at the amusement park? This track makes Spinal Tap Mark Two seem like Pink Floyd during the Dark Side of the Moon sessions.

The upcoming album is called LULU, and while I can’t possibly judge the whole album by one track, we must keep in mind that they collectively listened to the whole album, and decided, “Yes, THIS is the song that will hook everyone…this song is Tits and Ice Cream and people will love it, and in no way will it make them want to drive red hot railroad spikes in their ears and scream ‘MUSIC IS DEAD, WHAT WAS HEARD CANNOT BE UNHEARD!!!!’ ”

Advertisements for the album have been banned in the London Underground, (which is apparently not so much velvet as it is concrete) because it looks too much like graffiti. But secretly I think they banned it because it sounds too much like shit.

Now to be fair, I’m not a huge Lou Reed fan, I like the song “Perfect Day” even though it makes me want to curl up in the corner of an unfinished basement and weep. You gotta love “Take a Walk on the Wild side.” and I like “Waiting for the Man”, and “Sweet Jane” But Lou Reed has gone on record as saying it is the BEST thing he’s ever done. Honestly. Here’s the quote…

“In recent interviews Reed has pronounced the album to be the greatest thing anyone has ever recorded, while the thrash titans have revealed that they were moved to tears during album sessions.

“This is the best thing I ever did” explained Lou Reed in a recent statement. “And I did it with the best group I could possibly find. By definition, everybody involved was honest. This has come into the world pure. We pushed as far as we possibly could within the realms of reality.”

The BEST.THING. HE. EVER. DID. No Lou…the best thing you ever did was heroin and Nico. Probably at the same time.The best thing ever recorded? I don’t even think Paul McCartney has the balls to say that about Sergeant Pepper, and Paul has NO hesitation in telling you exactly how awesome he is. And I assure you, nothing about this indicates you are anywhere NEAR “A Day in The Life.” It can’t even carry “When I’m 64″‘s nutsack, never mind the deeper tracks.

It has come into the world pure shit. You pushed one out alright.

Of course Metallica wept…If I saw my career spinning into the toilet I’d weep too! And let’s talk for a minute about Metallica. Unlike Admin Rock who is all Depeche Mode-y, and Robbierobtown and his prediliction for the quirky, poppy and unheard of I am a Rock and Roll guy through and through. I dig Metallica. I don’t even think they sold out on “The Black Album” It’s a fucking awesome album. But they have had plenty of missteps, the biggest being “St. Anger”. Or at least it was. Do yourselves a favour, Metallica…start hanging around with people who will say “No” to you. You already recorded with a symphony orchestra. That’s your ONE indulgence. Everyone gets a free pass on that one. And I guess I can see you wanting to work with an icon…but was David Bowie busy? Or did he just realize what you and Lou didn’t, that this was a COLOSSALLY bad idea, with two styles that won’t mix unless ONE OF YOU MAKES CONCESSIONS. For a collaboration to work you have to meet in the middle, not just do your own thing and not give an inch so it sounds like you aren’t even recording in the same building. I’ve heard youtube mashups by 12 year olds that fit together better than this.

So to sum up, While I can’t trash an album I haven’t heard this song stinks. “Dead mouse in the middle of a month old egg salad sandwich in a shoe in the trunk of a car in Georgia in July” stinks. How much do I hate it?

-I’d rather be the “Oil up Boy” on the set of Jersey Shore than listen to this again.

-I’d rather breathe through a gas mask lined with Courtney Loves used “bender” panties for a month than listen to this again

-I’d rather sit through a Marathon of those horrible “_______ Movie” Movies with Fran Drescher, who would be drugged enough to find them hilarious and would bray out laughter at every non joke, than listen to this again

-I’d rather let my son play on Eric Clapton’s balcony than hear it again.

-I’d rather listen to Nickleback.

It’s like a punch in the soul nuts with brass knuckles. Amnesty international is looking into banning the album based on Human Rights violations with regards to torture laws. Someone should put their nose in it, smack them with a newspaper and say “BAD MILLIONAIRE ROCK STARS!!!! BAD!!”

So yeah. I did not much care for that. At all.

Jim:

A while back here on my comedy website thing, which is highly regarded by my mom, I invited Emma Stone to enter the “Win a Date with RobbieRobTown” contest. She did not enter then, nor has she submitted an entry since I reopened the contest earlier this summer.  To be fair, Emma Stone hasn’t the foggiest idea who I am, or if I am charming, homicidal, or both. So, to preface this letter without any further speculation, I am not writing this to tell you to keep your mitts offa my lady, as such a statement would be untrue, sexist, and incalculably fucktarded.

I am addressing this letter to you because we are fellow Canadians and fellow entertainers. The interwebs are all aflutter about your intent. Were you being sincere, yet creepy? Were you exploring an unusual marketing strategy? Did you two have some kind of secret tryst which you could no longer bear to disguise? Irrelevant, all. Jim, I am writing you this letter because of the genius of what you have done. Please hear me out.

Every joe-average nerdy person has had a crush on a celebrity. Mine are rare, but I have had a few (Emma, looking at you). On a much more personal and revealing note, I think celebrities should know how confused and sweetly unrequited these celebrity crushes can be. In the depths of my nerdiest despair, I have sometimes watched and re-watched a movie (yeah, okay, Zombieland) and searched online in vain to see if somehow I could come up with a way of actually meeting this celebrity. I think these fantasies, while obviously immature and implausible, are kind of cute. The imaginary journey never ends well for me. Usually, I meet some celebrity (yes, yes, I meet Emma Stone specifically) at a ComiCon party because I have a connection with one of the big corporate sponsors there, and we chat, and she’s really nice, and we live such different lives that she sensibly ends the conversation and goes about her business. Everyone who has ever been a fan of a performer knows the weird mixture of feelings that accompanies the simultaneous sense of knowing someone well through their work, and yet rationally understanding that they are total strangers.  The closer I actually get to a chance to meet a celebrity, the more heightened (and therefore more hilarious and tragic) my celebrity crush can become!

I have a mutual friend of Malin Akerman, did you know that, Jim? True story! I’m a performer-comedy type guy, so I know people who know people, but a friend of mine is an acquaintance of hers and she was willing to pass on a message to THE Malin Akerman from me at one point. The Watchmen was big in the theatres, and I was lonely (Surprising news, right? When am I not lonely? God, and I have a whole website to whine about it on) and this friend said “Yeah, I know Malin, you really want to meet her?”. Of course my answer was “Yes!”, but then I was completely paralysed.

What would I say?

“Oh, hi, successful famous artist. I am an unsuccessful, unfamous artist. Are you one of the 297 fans of my music on Facebook? Perhaps you are a fan of my improv comedy work- I’m on local cable access right now, you know, 5 nights a week! How much did I get paid for that, you ask? Oh, nothing. What is that you asked? Yes, the only TV in my 602 square foot condo IS a Samsung, thank you for noticing!”

That’s where the fantasy ends for us normal folks. What could we say to impress someone who impresses us so much already? What makes me seem special, other than my boyish good looks (Yes, yes, SPCMike, other than my scarred, hideous face and lice problem). There is a kind of begrudging hopelessness about celebrity crushes.

Anywhozle, Jim, what you have done is give a much needed boost of confidence to every human everywhere who has ever loved an artist. If even you, JIM MOTHERFUCKING CARREY can be smitten by a star, and be forced to make your feelings public through the only avenue that you have, then that means something both sad and wonderful: Even famous celebrities have sweet unrequited loves that they have no means of , uh, requiting. Sure, I’m sad about being outcompeted by a famous person, but you are very funny and very successful, and a rather good actor, I think.  Even still, JIM MOTHERFUCKING CARREY had to send a sad, sweet message into the ether to try to heal his heart.

With the proviso that your message to Emma was intended as sincere, it rings painfully true for a lot of us- Not because it is directed at Emma Stone (who is awfully charming) , but because you have hit a raw nerve that most of the normal folks out here have. I need to speak to you now as a fellow comedian. A lot of great comedy comes from truthful things, however, Jim, if this all turns out to be a clever ploy to do some Hollywoood weirdness I can’t comprehend, then I must insist you do us all a favour: Tell no one that you didn’t mean it. It is such a nice boost to the ego to think that someone as popular and famous as you could be smitten, and forlorn, and a bit sadly desperate. I would be most displeased to find out that you were pulling a fast one on us. If this was a piece of slick guerrilla theatre, or bizarre performance art, don’t tell a soul. Let the rest of us mere mortals go on believing that love is tough, even for you. We’d be heartbroken to discover that you replicated the sad, and I suppose vaguely funny emotions that nobodies like me honestly feel, and then exploited them as a joke.

Anyway, I hope it’s all real, I really do. I hope That Emma Stone sees it as complimentary, and I hope she enters my contest (but not really, because I’m funnier when I have a lot to complain about).

Oh, and if this does all turn out to be totally real, I wish you a speedy recovery from your sadness. I personally hope that I will one day feel the same way about Emma Stone as I currently feel about The Refreshments. Do you remember that first Refreshments album? Wasn’t it awesome? Where are those guys now?

Thank you for sharing that with us Jim, and don’t betray us little folk by making a joke at the expense of our vulnerabilities.

Sincerely,

RobbieRobTown

P.S. Emma, I know this is terrible timing, but the contest is still open. The rules, as a reminder, are that you must submit your ideas for a dream date with me, via email, or in comment form below. The disqualified entrants in past lived outside of the Americas, or suggested illegal activities. I’ll be here, waiting I guess, and listening to “Fizzy, Fuzzy, Big and Buzzy”.

I caught the trailer for “Cowboys and Aliens”, and watched a couple of genres collided head on. It didn’t exceedingly awesome, but I’m long past betting for or against films based on trailers made by marketing guys. It did get me thinking about summer blockbusters, and what gets put up on the screen.

I’m pretty sure I’ve railed about this sort of thing before, but it does seem to me that as nerds/pop culture fanatics, we seem to be getting everything we want these days. The majority of summer films for the last few years have a comic book films, or sci-fi/fantasy. I’m not so sure it’s a good thing.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there have been some great things on TV and in the theatres. Games of Thrones is a pretty great looking show (though the shakiness of the writing is hard to ignore sometimes), and things like The Walking Dead and Lord of the Rings are awesome to have around. It just seems like the community is an 8yr old who asked for some cake, and is now being served nothing BUT cake.

And the cake isn’t even that good anymore. The last couple of superhero movies aren’t being met with comments about how awesome they are, or how they’re like a dream come true. It’s mostly “It was better than X, not as good as Y”. Is that the sort of praise that makes you want to run out to the theatre? “the New Pirates of the Caribbean is better than the last two.” Well, the last two were pretty damn crappy, so what exactly does that tell me? (full disclosure, I haven’t yet see Thor, Green Lantern or On Stranger Tides yet).

I’m not even saying cancel them all, kill anything nerd-like. I think there’s a happy medium, and we’ll all be better off when Hollywood starts to grow bored with mining our culture. There were Superhero and Space movies before they became omnipresent, and there will be after.

There’s a downside to the popularity as well. Dc and Marvel see the popularity of say, the Avengers films, and start increasing the number of Avengers titles and cancelling other books to make way. If you look at the Marvel line (DC gets a momentary pass due to the fact that they’re launching 52 new titles, but they’re guilty of the multi books per character as well), over the last few years, books are categorized, and fit in to a “family” or line. Between Spidey, X-Men, and the Avengers, there’s very little that doesn’t fit in one of their orbits. We know they won’t sustain that many titles in one area, it’s a mining operation at best.

Will the Green Lantern film change the course of the books? Will they start homogenizing characters to make them more screen ready? Certainly a certain Shield slinging character recently was removed to align things up with a new movie. The X-men dressed in black leather for a while when the first film came out.

Maybe it’s just me, but even the big screen releases don’t make me crazy excited anymore. I think it’s symptomatic of too much cake. I’m a big Green Lantern fan (full disclosure: Since Blackest Night, it seems to have fallen off the rails), but I wasn’t jumping for joy about a movie coming out. None of this year’s blockbusters made me excited. I’ll catch all of them at some point, none of them in the theatre. I’ll see Avengers next year, as my Whedon crush will outweigh the fact that I think the Avengers are the most boring team in all of comics.

Will I go to Cowboys and Aliens? Probably not. I like Harrison Ford, but he’s not really the Harrison Ford I know and love. Daniel Craig? meh. One good reason to go…

Your thoughts? opinions? cake?

As part of our continuing service to you, The Correct, we continually find things for you to be in favour of. In our crazy, fast paced, webmanic society, it’s easy to miss something. Our “A Case For” series presents something (a TV show, film, Book, Band etc) that might deserve a look.

Dollhouse ran only two seasons on Fox, the network where Sci-Fi series are teased to the audience then cancelled with extreme malice. It simply didn’t get the ratings, which is odd, considering it aired Friday nights at 9 pm and was constantly pulled from the schedule.

Unlike a lot of our “A Case For” shows, I truly suspect many of our readers and fanboys in general haven’t actually seen it. Thus, a short introduction is in order.

Dollhouse is set in an underground facility beneath Los Angeles. It is one of a number of such facilities, which exist to provide humans for rental to the wealthy. These rental engagements range from straight up prostitution to spy type stuff. The operatives or “dolls” (as they are called, hence the title) are individuals who have their memories stored on hard drive, and then are wiped and loaded with new personalities and skills sets suited to the engagement at hand. This is a voluntary arrangement, with the doll being restored after a contracted period of time, with no knowledge of their time in the house afterward. Each Doll has a handler, someone hired to watch the doll, ensure that nothing happens to them that isn’t part of the contract.

One of the dolls, a woman known as “Echo” (Eliza Dushka), develops a glitch. She’s able to retain some memories between wipes, and begins to develop a permanent personality in addition to what is loaded or wiped. Dollhouse focuses on her efforts to regain her memories.

It seems in this day and age, we have to instruct people about how to view, and I know I hate it when people tell me to watch X number of episodes, hang in there, it gets better. In Dollhouse’s case, we have about a half dozen introductory “X of the week” episodes, but then the story arc kicks off, and never looks back. It seems like Joss made a few bland episodes to keep the suits happy, then got down to doing what he wanted. Because it really does take off with a bang after that.

1. The Concept

There’s never been a show quite like Dollhouse. It’s a little bit Mission Impossible in that there are new missions and challenges every week, but it becomes so much more than that. Where other shows would be happy to simply play with the concept of new memories and different situations week to week, this is Joss Whedon, master of character and plot.

So Dollhouse takes its central concept (“What if you could treat someone’s mind like a hard drive”), and starts poking and prodding at it, carrying it out to extremes. it tackles the concept of the self, of what makes you who are. We get to watch this world changing tech at work, and see what happens when our characters realize it can’t be put back in the bottle.

I think that’s my favorite thing about Dollhouse, that it doesn’t settle for just having a cool idea, it theorizes the consequences of that idea.

2. It’s a Joss Whedon show.

It’s no secret that I’m a Whedon fanboy. I love his dialogue, his characters, and his storytelling. He rarely mis-steps, and I’ve yet to see anything he’s done (had control over the outcome of ) that I haven’t liked. Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dr Horrible, all of them are worth your time and attention. Hell, I’ll even go see the Avengers movie because he’s directing.

3. Epitaphs

The final episode of each season sends the viewer into the future, and shows us the outcome of the actions of our characters. They’re not happy and shiny. Without spoiling much, Epitaph One and Epitaph Two give us two visits in to a future where the genie is totally out of the bottle, and how it affects the players. Not to mention that they feature completely new characters, through whom we see the outcome of things as they come in to contact with familiar things. It’s a pretty bold gambit. Oh, Fox decided not to air Epitaph One, cuz well, they’re dumb.

4. Topher

Topher Brink is a smartest man alive, in his own opinion. He’s responsible for the upload technology that makes the Dolls possible. He’s a genius on the brink of madness, who basically lives in his office, and cares for nothing except that which he cares about. He’s constantly having to stop an explain things to those around him, not without a healthy dose of condescension. In the second season (Possible Spoiler, but not really,) in order to solve a particularly difficult problem, he loads one of the Actives with his own brain scan, allowing him to spitball with himself. This is a landmark moment, with two actors playing the same character. Fran Kranz (whom I hadn’t seen before) is wonderful in the role, making the unlikeable Topher very likeable. Apparently he’s in “Cabin in the Woods”, Joss’s foray in to the world of horror due out this year.

5. Great Casting

If you’re any kind of a Sci-Fi fan, Dollhouse has some of your favorites. Alan Tudyk has a great role , which I will say no more about, except that he’s fairly brilliant. Angel’s Amy Acker has a regular role, Summer Glau shows up in the second season and Alexis Denisoff does as well. Tahmoh Penikett (BSG’s “Helo”) plays an agent trying to prove the identity of the Dollhouses. Other BSG alums Michael Hogan and Jamie Bamber each have a guest star spot.
Tbinn’s favorite Patton Oswalt has a great episode, and of course my close friend Felicia Day appears in each of the Season Finales.

Olivia Williams is great as Adelle DeWitt, the manager of Dollhouse L.A. her battles are fought mostly at the corporate level, and she does a wonderful job of walking the line between businesswoman and concerned “parent”.

And of course we have Eliza Dushku, who plays Echo. She’s called on to play a thousand different characters, and pulls it off well. I was always partial to her as Faith, the uninhibited ne’r-do-well Slayer on Buffy, and she brings a lot of that attitude to Dollhouse. She took a lot of grief from the web for her role here, but I think she does a great job.

and now, of course, the pictures of cast members that you’re waiting for.

Echo – Eliza Dushku

Mellie – Miracle Laurie

Sierra – Dichen Lachman

Adelle DeWitt – Olivia Williams

Bennett Halverson – Summer Glau

Dr. Saunders – Amy Acker

Mag – Felicia Day

And that, folks, is A Case for Dollhouse.

You can pick up the DVDs through Amazon (We have an affiliate program, so if you use this link, we get a little taste.)

If you have a show or film or book or band you’d like to make a case for, we’d love to hear from you. Read the rules below, and drop us a line.

send you entries to admin@thecorrectness.com

Check out the previous installments to see how it’s done.

by Guest Columnist and mother of my child, Mrs. Tbinns. Take it away, sweetie.

Thank you.

Dear Correctness,

It has recently come to my attention that my husband’s handle has become a verb for posting gratuitous photos of beautiful women, often in next to nothing. To make matters worse, none of these so called lovely ladies are me, so I started to think (stew) about the matter to a degree. As I thought (stewed) I realized that at least 4 of the correctness regular 12 readers are women. Between the casting couches and motivational posters alone the constant Tbinnsing make us feel a little left out? Really Correctness, 1/3 of your readership feels marginalized and will click onto more friendly websites.
But I digress. Perhaps it is time for the boys of the correctness to ask their female readers what they want to see. We have a lot to contribute. Like this motivational poster:

Perhaps we want to discuss and appreciate the merits of someone who works hard at their chosen profession.

Excuse me! I would like to check that book out!

These men have been hard at work.

We also have ideas on what a casting couch should look like:

Not nerdy enough? We can nerd it up some for you and discuss Battlestar Galactica:

Vs. Firefly

We have an interest in Star Wars too.

Or we could make a case for Daniel Craig’s James Bond vs Pierce Brosnan or Sean Connery.

Don’t forget that it was in fact me that gave you the idea for your popular smackdown series by first starting the argument over who would win in a fight between Batman:

And Wolverine: (my money is still on Wolverine).

or was it Thor…

vs. Captain America?

Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Where was I? Oh yes… to suggest that we women are not affected by the Tbinnsing nonsense is disrespectful. We want to visit a site that speaks to us on intellectual level as well as bring us stories of interest about people who are at the top of their fields such as actors,

athletes,

musicians,

and activists.

And also Liam Neeson.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

As part of our continuing service to you, The Correct, we continually find things for you to be in favour of. In our crazy, fast paced, webmanic society, it’s easy to miss something. Our “A Case For” series presents something (a TV show, film, Book, Band etc) that might deserve a look.

Admin Rock is a big fan of Joss Whedon, as evidenced by “A Case For Buffy” and his letter to Joss Whedon. Anybody who devotes so much time and effort to tell great stories while having abuse heaped upon them by the fanbois deserves some accolades.

******************************************************

1. Something Different

The mix of old west and Star Trek. It’s the last frontier meets the final frontier. The characters are believable. The are gritty they have problems people can relate to. They almost never get along with each other. They all have little hang ups that make them a pain in the butt for each other to be couped up with in a broken down flying chicken of a space ship.

Admin_Rock: I love the use of new vs. old, the fact that there are broken down things and people in this universe. It gives a very real feeling. I never had a problem with Western Sci-Fi aspect. It gives the show a unique feel and creates some interesting quirks.

2. Backstory

They have a great back story. A civil war that encompasses all the planets in the galaxy. A Federation that wants to govern all the worlds and make them all better whether they like it or not. The outer rim worlds resist and are crushed. As a result we have the Captain. Mal Reynolds who is just barely keeping his ship in fuel and food in the galley, going world to world looking for any way to make a buck. Legal or other wise. Along the way the pick up some unlikely passengers that just keep staying on the boat. One a fugitive Doctor and his sister. The doctor has taken his sister from a government facility that has been using her as a weapon. A preacher that is often at odds with the captain over his career choices, and a prostitute who the captain harbors more than a fondness for.

Admin_Rock:Whedon is great at populating his shows with strong characters, all of whom have their own stories. Even the much maligned (unfairly) Dollhouse has big expansive story lines and rich characters. River’s past and Book’s past bring complications to the characters, and provide a through line for viewers to dig in to.

3. Serenity

The ship. The ship is like I said a flying chicken. It is broken down most of the time and is just a pile of spare parts. But the ship is like a central character itself.

Admin_Rock: I’m not sure I see the chicken, I always though Serenity looks more like a horse, or a saddle for same. I do love that it’s constantly in need of repair, that the crew quarters are small and cramped, and only accessible by a small hatch. The mess hall area looks like a farmer’s kitchen, which is awesome, and one of the main sets on the show is a big ol’ hangar.

4. Jayne

The man named Jayne. He’s rude, he’s crude, he wants to be in charge, & he has a IQ of sixty. He either wants to kill it or have sex with it. What’s not to like about a guy like that.

Admin_Rock: Jane is great. It’s pretty rare to have a main character with such a strong self-interest, to the extent where he occasionally screws over his own team when it suits him. He calls a spade a spade, and doesn’t knuckle under easily, though he’s a big fan of the chain of command.

5. Reavers

Reavers. They’re like a cross between zombies and the Borg. The fly around in space with unshielded reactors. They are completely mad. They catch you, then kill you and rape you but not in that particular order.

Admin_Rock: Reavers! Great bad guys, creepy and scary. What really sells them is that the crew are AFRAID of them. What makes the viewer concerned is that there is some kind of reaction to these guys. People whisper when they talk about them. If Serenity (the film) made a mis-step, it might have been giving them a solid origin, de-mystifying them. But still, REAVERS!

This show is well written. In fact I have talked several people into watching it and after they get past the pilot episode they are hooked. Lets face it, pilots are ground work shows and you need another episode to show how great you are. Why this show was dropped who can say.

Admin_Rock: For me, I was sold from the point in “The Train Job” where Mal tries to give the flunky the money and a message, and is thwarted. What happened next was a bit shocking, and made me say to myself “Well, this is a show I need to watch”. It plays with hero conventions well, it’s funny and exciting. Really sad it didn’t stick around longer.

********************************************************

If you have a show or film or book or band you’d like to make a case for, we’d love to hear from you. Read the rules below, and drop us a line.

send you entries to admin@thecorrectness.com

Check out the previous installments to see how it’s done.