Welcome back, Fanboy readers, I missed you guys. For those of you who read my other column, Fatherhood, (every other Tuesday in your friendly neighborhood Accent section) you know where I went. For those of you don't, shame on you. But you can catch up this coming Tuesday. So without further ado ...
It's been almost a week since Sunday's Emmy Awards so I won't beat that dead horse. I will however let you know that thanks to a new style, and let's face it, a lot of Neil Patrick Harris, the awards show jumped a million viewers from last year.
It's the most watched Emmys since '06 and the general consensus is that Harris will host every awards show from now until his eventual death.
What's another word for glee? How about happiness?
And that's what I'm filled with since "Glee" was picked up for a full season. The Fox musical/teen comedy is doing wonders in the ratings with its unique mix of high school comedy and musical numbers from all genres. "Break Your Windows" by Jazmine Sullivan to "I Wanna Sex You Up" by Color Me Badd? Yes, please.
Sir Michael Caine is finally giving us some straight shooting regarding a possible follow-up to "The Dark Knight" and any casting rumors that might be floating around.
"There is nobody, there's no script, there's nothing," Caine told MTV News. "It can't possibly be made before 2011 because 'Inception' (from "The Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan) is such a big picture."
And what about Johnny Depp as the Riddler?
"Johnny Depp is great in anything, but there is no Johnny Depp in this Batman," he said. "They tell me in no uncertain terms."
This week I had a chance to see both "District 9" and "Inglourious Basterds." Quick review: I loved them both.
And while both were great in their own way, it's very hard to compare the two. But there was one element both films had in common: a scene that was very hard to watch.
And as I sat there wincing, I began to think of some other films that elicited the same response. So with "Halloween II" coming out today, I thought this week we might look at 15 films that made us shudder at the screen.
According to the Canadian scientific journal, Infectious Diseases Modelling Research Progress, "if zombies actually existed, an attack by them would lead to the collapse of civilization unless dealt with quickly and aggressively."
Finally, someone is doing some real research into this.
Conducted at the University of Ottawa, the study used common ideas about zombies to get its data. "We model a zombie attack using biological assumptions based on popular zombie movies," said Professor Robert Smith. "We introduce a basic model for zombie infection and illustrate the outcome with numerical solutions."
In their paper, the researchers concluded that humanity's only hope against a zombie invasion is to "hit them [the undead] hard and hit them often."
Professor Neil Ferguson, a U.K. government advisor on infectious diseases, said the study had many parallels to some infectious diseases but said the key difference was that "zombies can come back to life."
So it seems that our favorite crazy person is quickly filling up her TV dance card.
After announcing her "American Idol" resignation on Twitter, Paula Abdul has quickly gotten herself a couple of new jobs and potentially a few more.
The hand-clapping diva has already locked up a guest spot on Lifetime's "Drop Dead Diva," and now comes word that she is in talks to guest star on ABC's "Ugly Betty."
Abdul would play a new temp at Mode who forges a friendship with secretary Amanda.
This all goes along with "Idol" producer Nigel Lythgoe's comment that he would like to get her as a guest judge on Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance."
Sunday nights have become an amazing night of TV watching. With "Hung," "Entourage" and "True Blood" currently on tap, next month then adds "Dexter" to that list.
This past Sunday, as I sat watching Bill Compton trapped in a hotel room with his maker on HBO's "True Blood," I realized something: There are a lot of really cool characters on television again.
So I thought that this week I would give you Fanboy's 15 Coolest Cats on Television starting with No. 15 ...
With another Comic-Con in the books, I thought it might be a good idea to take a look at the week that was and break down some of the big news that was unveiled at the four-day event in San Diego. "True Blood": It was a big weekend for the HBO vampire smash hit. First off was a presentation by Charlaine Harris, author of the books the TV series is based on, who announced that she had just signed a deal to write three more books. With nine already on the shelves, the TV series has plenty of material to continue for some time.
HBO also announced that an official "Tru Blood" beverage will be released on Sept. 10. Is it blood? Cherry juice? V8? Nope. According to HBO, it will be a fizzy orange drink. Orange drink? C'mon HBO. Couldn't even make it red?
Oh, one last thing. For those of you who have read the books this may not be a surprise, but for the rest of us keep an eye out for a possible love triangle between Bill, Sookie and a certain Norse vampire. Should be interesting...
This was a big week in the Fanboy world with two premieres that we've waited some time for: "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" and the season premiere of "Entourage."
Let's take a look at both.
Sunday night has become a great night again on HBO with a two-hour block of "True Blood," "Hung" (which if you aren't watching, you should be) and now, "Entourage."
It's been nine months since we last saw Vinnie Chase and the boys get back on their game when Vince was offered a part in a new Martin Scorsese picture called "Gatsby." And with bated breath we waited -- only to be let down by a dull and untimely season premiere.
A lot has been said about the plot lines of "Entourage" being the same every season: Vince gets girl. Vince loses girl because he cheated on her with another girl. Vince gets movie. Vince loses movie. Vince gets a better movie. The gang fights. Everything is great in the end, but the truth is the show has never really been about the plot. It's about the friendships and the characters we've grown to love.
And with this season premiere, HBO is lucky we do, in fact, love these characters.
While a few terrific lines are thrown out, the episode is basically dull. The only thing saving it are the interactions of Ari, the agent, and Lloyd, the gay assistant, who is now demanding a promotion.
And how about at least being relevant? Vince appears on "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno as host, and jokes backstage that they will save a racier story for Conan who airs at a later hour. Come on guys, the Leno/Conan switchover has been planned for what, two years? You didn't think that when your premiere aired months after the switch that it would be a bit dated?
But while the season kickoff was lacking, we'll stick around. Because it's "Entourage." And we love these guys.
He's coming to your theater with Ryan Phillippe and some guy named Val Kilmer...
MacGruber!
Ahem...sorry about that. But yeah, those "Saturday Night Live" parody skits about a bumbling MacGyver-type are coming to the big screen.
Phillippe and Kilmer will co-star next to SNL regulars Kristen Wiig and Will Forte in the spy comedy, with Forte co-writing the script with SNL writers Jorma Taccone and John Solomon.
I'm going to stray a little off topic here for a minute but not that far. This has been a pretty strange week in the world.
First up, Perez Hilton. If you haven't heard, the uber-blogger got himself in a bit of a scuffle this week in Canada with Will.i.Am of the Black Eyed Peas.
Quick recap: Hilton was apparently ripping Will on his Web site. The Black Eyed Pea was none too thrilled and confronted Hilton. Hilton, in retaliation said some nasty things including a certain homosexual slur. Mayhem broke out and Hilton was punched.
Here is where it gets interesting. Hilton claims he got the black eye from the Pea. Will.i.Am says it was a random person that hit him. The band's manager, Polo Molina, has since been charged in the attack.
And while Hilton might have had a legitimate beef, it was his tactics to obtain justice that draw his character into question.
Instead of calling the police, Hilton took to Twitter. "I was assaulted by Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas and his security guards," Hilton tweeted. "I am bleeding. Please, I need to file a police report. No joke."
Yup, instead of dialing 911, the blogger decided it was a much better idea to pull out his cell phone -- the same cell phone he could have dialed 911 from -- and tweet.
Regardless of which side you take here, this is a prime example of Internet abuse. For Hilton, who has over a million followers, a Twitter call for help resulted in hundreds of calls to local police asking them to help. Not to mention the fact that all signs point to Hilton's instigation of the incident. If I go to a bar and begin insulting another patron, I can expect that some fisticuffs might ensue.
But I guess you wouldn't expect someone who draws dirty things on AP photos for a living to get that.
There's nothing better than a good comedy and beginning this weekend you'll have the chance to see a great one.
Some people know director/producer Todd Phillips as the driving force behind the Will Ferrell/Vince Vaughn vehicle, "Old School." I can guarantee you that after people see "The Hangover," he'll be known a lot more.
"The Hangover" is a new take on the typical road trip comedy. Four friends set off to Las Vegas for a bachelor party. Craziness ensues. Our cast is left to deal with the aftermath. The aftermath in this case however involves a stolen police car, a tiger, a chicken, Mike Tyson and a prostitute. Oh, and one of the gang has gone missing.
It's been almost a week since Sunday's Emmy Awards so I won't beat that dead horse. I will however let you know that thanks to a new style, and let's face it, a lot of Neil Patrick Harris, the awards show jumped a million viewers from last year. 
