Welcome back to TV or Not TV where I’ve spent far too much going crazy and looking for Easter Eggs.
I’m sure the above statement might be confusing, especially if you are any where near a calendar. The Easter Eggs I’ve been looking for are actually of the DVD persuasion. Still confused? OK, let me explain further.
As far back as time began, or the first time a programmer spent far too many hours being sleep deprived, people have been slipping secret items within their software to keep themselves amused and to give the end user a special treat. One of the earliest examples I ever encountered in my life was in the Atari 2600 video game Adventure. There was a wall in the game where your square character (literally it was a square people, not a blocky shaped man… the character was just a block with four equal sides) could grab a 1 pixel by 1 pixel dot that would allow you access to another secret room. I was 8 at the time and this secret made me feel like I was part of a secret club of people, even though I was just one of millions who could read a video game magazine. Ever since then the concept of the Easter Egg has held me enthralled.
If you’ve been reading this column than you know that the Internet Only three act show Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog was one of my favorite things to come out of the summer. After receiving my copy of the DVD I realized that something was afoot when it came to Easter Eggs. On the back of the package is a logo that says “Count the Letters UL +RD”. At first I had absolutely no idea what that meant, but I knew that it meant something. It had to be the first clue.
One of the obvious ways to look for Easter Eggs on a DVD is to start using the arrow keys on your remote around all of the menus. I tried this to now avail. After giving up in frustration I looked at my remote, I looked at the box, I looked at my remote and realize that in my constantly moving Up, Left, Right and Down so many times that I had the answers to the logo in my hand the whole time! Each one indicated a direction, laid out in the logo just like the navigation buttons on the remote. I was excited! I was exhilarated! I still had no idea what it meant!
In my menu explorations I had made a discovery that made me chuckle in that there was a Wiccan subtitle option. I decided to activate the option and start watching, hoping for a secret incantation or two. Instead what I saw was “Enter @ 0793529867”. My initial reaction to this was ?!?!??!. After regaining my compsure (and using a lot of patience in freezing the DVD just right to get the number) I copied the number down and Googled it. The most obvious thing the number turned up was the ISBN number for Mariah Carey‘s album Music Box. Again, elation and confusion raced through my vains. Two clues down and I knew absolutely nothing.
Fresh with my knowledge of an extra telling me something (that meant hopefully more than the extra having very bad taste in music) I began to look at other items as well. It turns out that the “The Music” featurette was the true gold mine in that two things occur. Felicia Day at one point mentions that she sometimes sounds like Mariah Carey. My ears perked up, and I rant he featurette back. Just as she once again said Mariah Carey I pressed the enter key and to my excitement I saw a countdown with a case of Wonderflonium on it. Hazzah! What does it mean though?!?!
Continuing on to the end of the featurette also had several letters in the credits that were yellow. These letters spell out “Enter at Act 2”. Wait, the movie has a tile specifically titled Act II! I quickly switched back and to my excitement and frustration if I hit my Enter button at just that moment hat Act II appears I was treated to another countdown with a picture of the Evil League of Evil member Professor Normal (who I had to look up in the credits to figure out who he was). There it was, something else right in front of my face and I didn’t know what to do with it.
Further exploration and paying close attention made me realize that there was a false chapter in the chapter selection menu titled “Moist Dries Up”. When I selected the chapter I used the previous clue to hit Enter and I received another countdown with a picture of Dr. Horrible. Awesome, another countdown. But what now?!?
After a few days of frustration I finally did what I swore I wouldn’t due, I turned to the Internet. What I found didn’t help much as others had discoverd what I had along with some tricks that seemed to work but didn’t quite seem right as there was no direct connection to how to get to them. Dejected I turned to pen and paper and began writing what I knew. I don’t know if it was seeing the clues written out or the fact that I had the case right in front of me when I realized that the countdown required action (as seen from my searches) and every one of the names pictured in the countdowns had the letters in them that we were supposed to be counting (the R, L, D, U’s). Excited with this realization I went to Act II, pressed enter and used my arrows to press Right, Right, Right, and Left. To my excitement I was given a behind the scenes clip! YES!
With nervous and giddy excitement I went to The Music featurette and and went to the mention of Mariah Carey and hit enter. As the Wonderflonium lay before me I pressed Down, Right, Left and Up. The interviews that flowed before me were amazing!
Lastly I triumphed as I went to Moist Dries Up and looked at the picture of Dr. Horrible and pressed Right, Right, Right, and Left. VICTORY!
In trying to hunt for more Easter Eggs I paid closer attention to the beginning sequence where in the FBI and ELE warnings there is the flash of a picture of Bad Horse with three colored orbs that match the colors of the countdowns. I’m going to take this as a clue that there are actually only three Easter Eggs on the DVD. At press time I’ve sent an email to Jed Whedon to get confirmation. I’ll let you know what he comes back with.
So there, my friends, is my journey into the depths of a DVD and the payoff. I really hope that’s all that is present in the DVD since this journey was an exhausting one. If you want to see them yourself than you can pick up the DVD at Amazon if you haven’t already.
Now that I’ve given you the most non-TV related column possible let’s take a look at what is happening this week on television.
MONDAY
ABC FAMILY – 8:00 PM: Tonight they set the Wayback Machine on The Secret Life of the American Teenager as we see how Amy met Ricky. Not sure if this gimmick will play out or will just come across awkward and creepy. I’m voting the latter.
ABC – 8:30 PM: Ted finds out that Lily has been meddling in his past relationships to allow some to live or die on How I Met Your Mother.
ABC FAMILY – 9:00 PM: Kyle XY‘s series finale airs tonight and I’ll finally watch the entire series on DVD in a few months.
SCIFI – 10:00 PM: I’m sure you’ll be up to your ears from the computer guys at your work about the finale this week of Battlestar Galactica, so if they’ve finally sucked you in to watching this Friday you may want to get caught up with Battlestar Galactica: The Last Frakkin’ Special. Gotta love the name.
TUESDAY
CW – 8:00 PM: Ben wants to introduce the guys to his demon girlfriend on Reaper. If that isn’t awkward enough, same girlfriend was hired to kill Sam originally. Should be a fun evening.
CBS – 9:00 PM: We’ll see how keen Patrick Jane‘s powers of observation are when he’s temporariliy blinded on The Mentalist.
WEDNESDAY
HBO – 8:00 PM: Get ready for the season finale of Big Love with the previous three episodes airing back-to-back tonight. Oh so good.
ABC – 8:30 PM: The good news: you’re a new show that is the lead in to LOST. The bad news? Better off Ted would be better off dead. Oh well.
HIST – 9:00 PM: MonsterQuest gets together a bigger boat as they hunt for a 60 foot shark in Mexico. See what happens when you have no FDA restrictions?
THURSDAY
BRAVO – 5:00 PM: Here’s seven of the saddest words I’ve ever typed in a row: Five straight hours of The Million Matchmaker.
CW – 8:00 PM: Tess must have been taking a queue from Superman 2 (either the original or director’s cut) as she orchestrates an accident to try and get Clark to expose his super powers. I’m sure it will work out for her as well as it did for Margot Kidder.
NBC – 9:00 PM: Michael holds a party for his 15th anniversary with Dunder Mifflin on The Office and wouldn’t you know the new strict VP shows up? I’m sure it won’t be awkward at all.
FRIDAY
FOX – 9:00 PM: So we’re now at episode six of Dollhouse. This is purportedly the point where the show takes on more of that trademark Joss Whedon feel. You’ve been advised.
SCIFI – 8:00 PM: Battlestar Galactica ends it’s amazing run tonight and I have NO idea what the heck is going to happen (bet you thought I’d use the word frak didn’t you?).
SATURDAY
SCIFI – 9:00 PM: I can’t think of a better recipe for entertainment: last man alive in a city of zombies in I Am Omega. Too bad it’s on SciFi and it will probably suck.
FOX – 11:00 PM: The end is near for MADtv so tonight they roll out a best-of clips show.
SUNDAY
HBO – 9:00 PM: Tonight brings a close to a very powerful season of Big Love. It’s been so good this season I really don’t want it to end.
ABC – 9:00 PM: The good news: Edie finally confirms she’s been married to a psychopath on Desperate Housewives. The bad news: psychopaths don’t like to be discovered. Sorry Edie.
HBO – 10:30 PM: East Bound & Down also comes to a close tonight. This gritty and dark comedy has been both entertaining and discomforting at the same time.
– Will Wilkins wuz here.
Comments: 3 Comments
3 Responses to “TV Or Not TV: 3/16 – 3/22”Leave a Reply |
March 19th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Correction: Should have read: Lastly I triumphed as I went to Moist Dries Up and looked at the picture of Dr. Horrible and pressed Down, Right, Right, Right, and Left. VICTORY!
April 15th, 2009 at 10:28 am
my God, i thought you were going to chip in with some decisive insght at the end there, not leave it with ‘we leave it to you to decide?
May 19th, 2009 at 3:07 am
Just to keep you advised: The geniuses that brought you I Am Omega are bringing out “MegaShark vs. Giant Octopus.” No, I’m serious.