Ghostbusters 3:

So you might have heard that Sigourney Weaver says that Venkman (Bill Murray) will be a ghost in the new movie? And that her character's son, Oscar, will have grown up to be a Ghostbuster? People who've been paying attention to the rumors and chatter around this film are pretty sure she's just repeating old rumors — like Bill Murray reportedly told someone four years ago that he would only be in the movie if he played a ghost. And Weaver probably hasn't actually seen a script, since nobody else has yet, either. On the other hand, Murray playing a ghost could be sort of fun. [Screen Rant]

Transformers 3:

People have been circulating a draft script for this upcoming masterpiece. I don't for a scond believe that this movie has a script yet, and even the people who are reposting the script thinks it might be a fake. On the other hand, apparently a similarly rough draft script of Revenge Of The Fallen popped up online long before it came out, and was viewed as similarly wild — but turned out to be real. Plus, it's always entertaining to read these things, and it's probably better than the real script will be.

So apparently this draft script includes the Aerialbots, the Combaticons, Perceptor, Wheeljack, Ultra Magnus, and Shockwave, and is a big love letter to fans of the 1984 animated series. As it begins, hostilities between the Autobots and the Decepticons have gotten worse, and calls for the Autobots to leave Earth have gotten more shrill. Sam (who's now an intern at the Large Hadron Collider) finds another fragment of the Allspark, which could give off enough energon to power all the Transformers forever, if bombarded with the right kind of particles. Optimus sends for the Ark, and Sam invites Mikaela to come join him there for a romantic evening, or something, and then proposes to her. Sam and Optimus Prime are all set to examine the Allspark fragment aboard the Ark, when Megatron attacks, but then Starscream betrays him. And somehow this leads to everyone traveling back in time to 1982, where Starscream steals the Allspark and kills Megatron "twice in one day," has he puts it.

This means that all of the Autobots have to disguise themselves as period cars (would GM even allow this?) meaning Optimus becomes a Peterbilt Semi, and Mirage becomes a Pontiac Trans Am, but also sometimes a Formula 1 race car. And Sam meets his own grandfather, and realizes that he can erase the Autobot/Decepticon war from history by getting rid of the Cube. But yeah, it's almost certainly a fake. Click here to read the whole thing. [Comic Book Movie and Allspark]

Iron Man 2:

Robert Downey Jr. says the thing that made the first movie work was that it was grounded in reality, and the high tech looked like something out of Popular Mechanics rather than a galaxy-spanning saga. And with the Marvel Universe as crazy as it is, it would be easy for the next movie to be too wild, but he and Jon Favreau want to keep it grounded. And he explains how they'll avoid sequel-itis:

My take - Jon [Favreau] was in agreement, and Marvel supported us - was that once you tell an [origin] story pretty well, that's usually where things start to get dull, and one or two or three things start to happen over and over again," Downey explained during an interview with Rotten Tomatoes. "So, we made Tony Stark's challenges very much outside the usual realm of activity. As much as anything else, it's much more of a side job for him the second time around.

[Rotten Tomatoes]

Remember how we reported the first movie was totally improv, with almost no script to speak of? Olivia Munn (who's admittedly not one of the film's main actors) says it was much the same this time around. "There's a bunch of improv, over and over." And apparently Munn improv-ed so well, Downey Jr. stopped the filming to give her a round of applause.

Thor:

Ray Stevenson, who plays Volstagg, says he wears a fatsuit, but he's got muscles and isn't the "weeble-shaped" figure from the comics. And he says the character has a ton of "Falstaffian vigor," which makes sense given that Branagh is directing. [Superhero Hype]

The Sorcerer's Apprentice:

Apparently we first meet the apprentice as a young boy (Jake Cherry) and then later as a young adult (Jay Baruchel). And producer Jerry Bruckheimer explains why we should be excited:

"He's more like a rock star," producer Jerry Bruckheimer tells PEOPLE about the film, due in theaters July 10. Like the animated version, this Sorcerer's Apprentice will also feature those dancing brooms. "We did it in a realistic way," Bruckheimer says. "The [brooms] are really dancing and doing their thing."

How could it be bad? [People]

Daybreakers:

Here's an international trailer, which I don't think we've shown you before — it includes a bit more footage from this vampire-dominated future dystopia. [Reelz Channel]

The Wolfman:

A new international poster shows that the wolfman's powers include causing people's heads to float randomly and to be eaten by unnatural shadows. [ShockTillYou Drop]

Spider-Man 4:

Some have speculated that Bryce Dallas Howard could be back as Gwen Stacy, but she hasn't been contacted yet, which makes it seem less likely. Meanwhile, don't hold your breath for her to return as Kate Connor in Terminator 5 or 6 — she's not signed up for any further installments. (But she would defininitely consider it.) [Coming Soon]

Avatar:

The New York Daily News review has a pretty good summary of the film:

Sam Worthington is Jake Scully [sic], a paraplegic Marine in 2154 assigned to a deep-space moon called Pandora, where his consciousness controls an avatar, a clone of Pandora's indigenous, humanoid Na'vi people. As Jake lies in a high-tech tanning bed, his mind is in his blue Na'vi, which is 10 feet tall with pointy ears, cat eyes and a tail.

A scientist (a tough Sigourney Weaver) created the process to aid diplomatic relations with the Na'vi, since the air is poisonous to humans and space suits, apparently, get in the way. It's the last chance for the peaceful aliens - who know what the avatars really are - since a corporate goon (entertainingly weaselly Giovanni Ribisi) wants a valuable element buried deep under the "hometree," the Na'vi's spiritual center. And if diplomacy fails, a gung-ho sergeant (Stephen Lang, overdoing it) will get it at any cost.

Cameron counts too much on the connection we'll have to his goofy-looking blue man group, or with Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), the Na'vi warrior princess who helps Jake's heart go on. Saldana - Uhura in last summer's "Star Trek" - delivers a remarkably full-bodied motion-capture performance, but the mystic-tribal clichés around her suggest every Netflix queue on Pandora includes "Dances with Wolves" and "The Last of the Mohicans."

[NY Daily News]

And there's a new Czech TV spot, plus a big Panasonic tie-in commercial that you may actually have seen.

Harry Potter:

Tom Felton says Deathly Hallows will be truer to the book than any of the previous films. [Movies-Spoilers]

Doctor Who:

So Alexandra Moen, who plays the Master's wife Lucy Saxon, says she wasn't the one who picked up the Master's ring at the end of "Last Of The Time Lords." Since we last saw her, Lucy has been locked up in a big ominous castle-like prison, and it just got a new governor. And it sounds like she breaks out of there. She's decided to try and go straight, but she's not at peace — she's full of anger. And her scenes are mostly with the Master and a few other actors. [Digital Spy]

Lost:

Some more filming details: episode nine is definitely Alpert-centric, and the Black Rock is definitely a prison ship. Also, we see an Ilana scene taking place at an old hospital in Russia, suggesting that Ilana is tied in with Alpert's backstory somehow. Separately, there's a scene with Jin working in a hotel, and Sun was there too. Also filming in the same location was a Keamy/Omar scene, and Mikhail was there and spoke Korean. There was also a Jin scene involving the same community college where Hurley's asylum was filmed. And a scene at a nice house with Hurley and Alpert. [The Transmission via SpoilersLost]

Also, Sayid was filming a scene with a large group of the "temple Others," including Zoey, and probably Cindy and Zack. Also present: seven to 10 scientists, for some reason. [SpoilersLost]

The show is casting an E.R. doctor making rounds, an MRI tech, and an African American female lawyer who won't be pushed around, for its eleventh episode. [SpoilersLost]

And there's an extended version of the season six promo:

Fringe:

I really like these new wallpapers, which emphasize the "passing between universes" theme as well as more of Walter's oddness. [SpoilerTV]

Remember that set video we showed you last week that included Anna Torv getting blown around? Now it's her, plus a bunch of extras:

Supernatural:

I know we mentioned that Cupid would be showing up (along with Famine, one of the Four Horsemen) in the Valentine's Day episode "My Bloody Valentine." Apparently, he'll be doughy, out of shape and naked, and constantly giving everybody bear hugs. [TV Guide Magazine]

And we'll be meeting a holy man in episode 5x16, "Dark Side Of The Moon":

[JOSHUA] This benevolent — dignified, very Zen man in his 50's-70's is inflappable, simple, but not insincere. A Morgan Freemen type vibe. PLEASE SUBMIT ALL ETHNICITIES. GUEST STAR.

Could that actually be God? [SpoilerTV]

And after the rerun of "The End" the other day, they showed a new trailer for the next episode, coming January 21.

And here's a set video for 5x15, "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid", in which all you can basically see is Sam and Dean walking inside a house:

True Blood:

The show is looking for someone to play Alcide, who's described as "rough looking but articulate and basically decent," and he takes a liking to Sookie and may even have some mutual attraction with her. It sounds like he takes her out, given that we meet a giant nightclub bouncer who knows Alcide but is suspicious of his guest, Sookie. Also, an old-school Ob/Gyn examines Arlene with an ultrasound, and a pastor officiates at Eggs' funeral service. [EW and SpoilerTV]

Chuck:

As you've probably heard, we're done with Chuck's "reluctant spy" act. He's now a fully gung-ho spy, but he's also aware of how much his career puts his family at risk. And Awesome will get drawn into Chuck's espionage world to a much greater extent — and we'll get to see how awesome Awesome really is. As season three starts, we'll realize something awful has happened between Chuck and Sarah in the mean time, and eventually we'll learn just what that is. We'll also learn how crucial Sarah is to whether Chuck makes a good spy. Carina, Sarah's old partner from season one, will be back. And Jeffster will perform again in a very special episode. [TV Guide]

Also, Casey is going to have a lot to deal with this season — a secret from his past is going to come to light, and it'll make his life complicated. Also, he'll get more responsibilities at the Buy More, and will start to discover that Buy More may actually be his future. Meanwhile, Lester has a "Fight Club" episode where he goes nuts. And we'll get to see Lester's bedroom and his pajamas. [ChuckTV]

FlashForward:

Episode 13 will be called "Better Angels." [SpoilerTV]

Smallville:

Here's a new trailer for the next batch of episodes, starting January 22:

Heroes:

It's the death that sticks — for now, anyway. Tim Kring says we definitely won't be seeing Nathan again for the rest of season four. [Fancast News]

Additional reporting by Mary Ratliff.

Talking to the LA Times during a promotional Avatar interview, Sigourney Weaver was asked about the possibility of making an appearance in the third Ghostbusters movie:

As far as I know, I think Bill [Murray] is actually the only one in it.... That may be wrong — the last time I talked to Ivan was a couple of months ago. It's not meant at this point to be a reunion of our particular group of ‘Ghostbusters' at this point, it's a younger group. My only wish is that Oscar, my [on-screen] baby in ‘Ghostbusters II,' has grown up to be a Ghostbuster, too.

On the one hand, let's face it: Peter Venkman was the best character in the original movies, so if you're only bringing one back for the new one, it's the right choice. But on the other, no Dan Ackroyd, Ernie Hudson or Harold Ramis? Not even in cameos? That just seems wrong somehow. Here's hoping they changed their minds since Sigourney's last update.

'Avatar' star Sigourney Weaver as queen of sci-fi: 'Outer space has been good to me' [Hero Complex/LA Times]

Monday

The week starts off softly, with nothing worth watching until 8 p.m., when you have too many shows even for TiVo to choose from. Shall it be the second night of the so-disappointing-I-may-cry The Prisoner on AMC? New episodes of House on Fox (in which House treats a porn star and decides to bring together his dream team of minions) or Heroes on NBC (in which Tracey loses control of her ability, Matt fights inside his mind with Sylar and OH MY GOD PLEASE MAKE IT STOP ALREADY)? Or a marathon of nature doc redux Planet Earth on the Discovery Channel, which offers six hours of stunning footage and soothing Sigourney Weaver voiceover?

I'm saying TiVo Planet Earth for when you need to be reminded how amazing life can be, and watch House, because you know they'll get some good jokes out've the porn star patient.

Tuesday

While The Prisoner finishes up its run over on AMC at 8pm, ABC's V decides that it's time to copy - Sorry, I mean, "homage" - another sci-fi classic as Erica is forced to team up with a Visitor officer to protect Visitors from death threats in this week's episode, "Wow, do you remember Alien Nation with its buddy comedy pairing of human and alien cops? We sure do." Oh, wait. It's actually called "A Bright New Day."

(If you're in the mood for something a little more classic, Syfy is running an Outer Limits marathon from 8am through 3pm.)

Wednesday

With no new episodes of Mythbusters, you might as well spend the day either (a) not watching television, or the much-more-likely (b) flipping between Syfy's The Twilight Zone marathon (8am through 3pm) and AMC's classic run of Young Frankenstein (1pm), Ghostbusters (3:30pm) and, um, Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines (8pm). Someone's told them that T3 isn't a comedy, right...?

Thursday

As if the traditional Thursday evening crush isn't enough, Syfy are willing to suck your life away with a First Wave marathon from 9am through 3pm, and AMC are willing to contribute with the original Stargate movie at 2:30. Before you know it, you'll be choosing between Flashforward on ABC (Everyone keeps trying to solve their FFs just like they've been for the last few weeks, except Bryce is finally getting off his ass and wondering about his future girlfriend a bit more) and Vampire Diaries on the CW (Jeremy takes up drawing and Elena discovers something terrible, which may just be a future script for the show), both at 8pm.

And then you have to choose again between Fringe on Fox (The truth behind the Observer! And Walter wants a milkshake, with guest-star Kelis. Okay, sadly that part about a guest-star isn't true) and Supernatural on the CW at 9 (The Winchester Bros. team up with Bobby, Ellen and Jo to send Lucifer back to Hell. Don't be surprised if things don't go to plan, considering it's still relatively early in the season). We might just watch Community and 30 Rock instead, though, and catch up with everything else online later, if that's okay with you guys.

Friday

Relive the first wave of post-Lost network television with Syfy's Invasion marathon (8am through 3pm), before switching over to watch Dustin Hoffman worry about his paycheck in Outbreak on AMC.

Let's be honest, Fridays are really all about the evening shows, though; Smallville finally tries to get to the bottom of Lois' future abduction/visions on the CW at 8pm (Kneeling before Zod is optional, I believe), while CBS' Ghost Whisperer is worried about someone dying at the same time, which makes no sense. Wouldn't that just mean she'd have someone else to whisper to? Why do they never think these things through?

At 9pm, you can choose between Medium on CBS, wherein Allison develops a strange sensitivity to light, or Syfy's Stargate Universe, wherein everyone catches their breath and uses those weird psychic projection stone things to talk to those they've left behind. Alternatively, you could switch over to Cartoon Network for a new episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, before ending the night with the latest episode of Sanctuary at 10pm on Syfy.

Saturday

Syfy tries to get your attention with a triple bill of cut-rate dragon movies (In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale at 9pm, Fire And Ice at 11:30 and Dragon Sword on Sunday at 1:30 in the morning), but there's no way that can compete with AMC's quadruple bill of the Alien movies: Alien starts at 5:30, followed by Aliens at 8pm, Alien 3 at 11 and Alien: Resurrection at 1:30 on Sunday morning. The first two, at least, are worth it.

Sunday

Oh, people. You all know by now that Sunday is Venture Bros day, right? I don't know what else to tell you aside from that, apart from the episode being entitled "Self-Medication". Oh, and that it's on Cartoon Network at midnight, and is really the most essential piece of television in the entire week. Don't leave home without it.

Our sister site Jalopnik has a stellar collection of movie cars — both official and replicas. These are mostly fan-made, drivable replicas of cars and bikes from science fiction.

Batmobiles

Some of the more ambitious projects are the Batmobiles. You can actually purchase kits to convert various car models into an Adam West-era Batmobile. But some fans prefer to make their Batmobiles the hard way.

It took Leif Garvin of Stockholm 20,000 hours and $1 million to convert a 1973 Lincoln Continental into the Tim Burton Batmobile. It may not be quite as hi-tech as Batman's car, but it does feature a voice recognition system and rear cameras. [via Toxel]

Bob Dullam attracted massive amounts of attention when he showed off his homemade Tumbler from Batman Begins. Dullam made the entire vehicle from scratch, and even made his own Batsuit and props to go with it. [via Superhero Hype]

And frequent builder Grant Hodgson made a Tumbler of his own. [via Jalopnik]

Bob Causey helped Dullam with his Tumbler and decided to create a Batmobile of his own. Causey took on the Batman Forever version, complete with a remote controlled top. [via /Film]

Kaneda's Bike

There are plenty of models of the iconic motorcycle from Akira, but many of those are non-working copies. Neo-Fukuoka, not a fan group but a professional garage, created multiple, working copies of Kaneda's bike, some offered for sale. [via Riding Sun]

But another fan, Matus, is also creating a replica of the bike from scratch, although he hasn't yet progressed to the exterior.

Mad Max Vehichles

Mad Max vehicles are a perennial favorite among vehicle modifiers. There are impressive lists of fan-made Interceptors at Last Interceptor and Mad Max Movies. But one fan stands out above them all. Adrian Bennett didn't just transform a Ford Falcon Coupe into the famous vehicle, he moved himself, his car, and his entire family from England to a tiny Australian town so he could live out his Mad Max fantasies. [via SCI FI Wire]

Other Mad Max vehicles have gotten the fan treatment as well, such as this Yellow Interceptor made by Grant Hodgson (who also did one of the Batman Tumblers):

And Goose's bike by Mike Acebo:

KITT

Knight Rider's KITT is another favorite, and again there are kits you can purchase to give your car KITT's Cylon eye. Of course, the best KITT mods don't just change the outside of the car, but are also incredibly detailed on the inside, such as this converted 1984 Firebird, which speaks in KITT's voice [via Jalopnik:

And this 1992 Firebird:

Frankenstein's Car

The Gator Car from the original Death Race 2000 would have been more fun, but some Russian fans of the Death Race remake took an impressive crack at Frankenstein's car, starting with a Chevy Camaro. [English Russia]

The DeLorean Time Machine

A DeLorean is already a DeLorean with those retrofuturistic gull-wing doors. But add a flux capacitor, a temporal display on the dashboard, and a liberal sprinkling of light-up buttons, and you've got yourself Doc Brown's time machine. [Auto Blog]

Ecto-1

George Barris, who famously designed the original Batmobile among other TV cars, famously made a replica of Ghostbusters' classic car, one that is perpetually for sale. But others have taken on the Ecto-1 challenge as well. Ghostbusters fanatic Joe Kerezman created an Ecto-1 of his very own.

And a fan calling himself "Venkman21" modified his from a Cadillac ambulance.

Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder

They may not hover, but fans can always pretend in their homespun landspeeders. [all via Interbent]

This puppy was made from a 1988 Ford Escort and is actually a licensed, street-legal vehicle.

This pre-distressed model, created by Daniel Deutsch, runs on batteries and can climb to 25 MPH — impressive, though not exactly putting the "speed" in "landspeeder."

Why the teeth and the clown's head on a pole? It's an art car from Burning Man.

And this last one — which is a bit heavier on the wheels — comes from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and annual Star Wars Day.

Additional reporting by Josh Snyder.

Gossamer (Looney Tunes)
Cute? Look at him. He's basically a hairy valentine in tennis shoes.
Terrifying? He tries hard, but he's ultimately no match for Bugs Bunny. Then again, no one is.

Giant Killer Rabbits (Night of the Lepus)
Cute? They're your average giant mutant bunny rabbits.
Terrifying? Actually, they just seem more adorable when they're gigantic and raiding people's kitchens. But I suppose that whole eating people business could be scary. Maybe.

Beep the Meep (Doctor Who)
Cute? Passably. It helps that he looks like giant puffball.
Terrifying? Absolutely. Meeps are a murderous species who revel in pain, torture, and galactic domination. And Beep is the worst of the worst and a notorious war criminal.

Stay Puft Marshmallow Man (Ghostbusters)
Cute? He's basically a giant version of the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Plus, I've had a soft spot for him since the cartoon.
Terrifying? He nearly destroys New York with his deliciously sugary body.

Lenore, the Cute Little Dead Girl
Cute? It's right there in the name.
Terrifying? Not on purpose, but let's just say you should probably keep your pets (and yourself) clear of Lenore.

Hello Cthulhu
Cute? He might be an unspeakable horror, but he's a huggable one.
Terrifying? Honestly, he's no match for Hello Kitty.

Mogwai (Gremlins)
Cute? Sure, for now.
Terrifying? Just try feeding them after midnight and see if they're still they're still so cute.

Wolvogs (Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood)
Cute? These genetically engineered dog-wolf hybrids look like adorable domesticated puppies.
Terrifying? They may look like dog pups, but wolvogs hunt and kill as vicious wolves.

Beryllium Miners (Galaxy Quest)
Cute? They look like little children, at least until they open their mouths.
Terrifying? They look like they'd happily chow down on any of the Galaxy Quest cast members.

Were-Rabbit (Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit)
Cute? Just about everything Nick Park designs is at least a little bit cute.
Terrifying? He's a strictly vegetarian monster.

Audrey II (Little Shop of Horrors)
Cute? Despite the teeth and the thirst for human blood, she is pretty cute when she's small.
Terrifying? Even forgetting the business about eating people and wanting to take over the world, Audrey II's most frightening aspect is her ability to convince milquetoast Seymour to kill for her.

Goblins (Labyrinth)
Cute? In an adorably ugly sort of way.
Terrifying? They're by no means the most critters in Labyrinth, but they do an impressive job of slinking around in the shadows and stealing infants.

Shmee (Squee)
Cute? Squee's teddy bear has seen better days, but he's still cuter than the Doughboys from Johnny the Homicidal Maniac.
Terrifying? Shmee provides emotional comfort for the perpetually terrified Shmee, but he also encourages Shmee to take violent revenge on his enemies. Of course, it could all be in Shmee's head.

Pac-Man (Blade: Trinity)
Cute? If you happen to like pomeranians.
Terrifying? It wasn't enough to make a vampire pomeranian; the vamps of Blade: Trinity had to create a mutant vampire pomeranian with xenomorph mouth.

Woodland Critters (South Park)
Cute? In a Disney sort of way.
Terrifying? Anything that comes out of Cartman's brain is automatically terrifying, but the woodland critters get extra points for possessing satanic powers and holding blood orgies. Also, they're trying to ensure the birth of the Antichrist.

Nubbins (Sanctuary)
Cute? It's doubtful anyone would bother taking care of the troublesome little things if they didn't resemble fat chinchillas.
Terrifying? They're basically tribbles with teeth. They're cute and cuddly until they start breeding and eating. And when they get hungry, they can take down the most vicious predator.

Bunnicula
Cute? He's your standard bunny: long ears, fluffy tail.
Terrifying? Maybe if you're a vegetable. Or a conspiracy-theorist cat.

The Denizens of Halloweentown (The Nightmare Before Christmas)
Cute? There's a reason they've been lining the shelves at Hot Topic all these years.
Terrifying? The Oogie Boogie is especially nightmarish, but the rest of Halloweentown gives a good scare, even when they don't mean to.

Sully (Monsters, Inc.)
Cute? That one child calls Sully "Kitty" throughout the entire movie pretty much sums it up.
Terrifying? About as scary as a monster from Sesame Street. But he does make his living terrorizing children, so we'll give him a pass.

Bun-Bun (Sluggy Freelance)
Cute? Yes, even while wielding a knife.
Terrifying? With a violent temper and the ability to produce switchblades seemingly out of no where, Bun-Bun is a force to be reckoned with. He's been known to slay telemarketers, the Easter Bunny, and anyone else who gets on his nerves.

Ickis (Aaahh!!! Real Monsters)
Cute? Unfortunately for him, yes. The small children he's supposed to be scaring frequently mistake him for a bunny rabbit.
Terrifying? Not as much as he'd like, but he gives it a solid try.

The Gingerbread Men (The Tick)
Cute? And delicious.
Terrifying? They're thoroughly evil and pretty clever, but because they're made without preservatives, they tend to go stale after a while.

The Gingerdead Man
Cute? This one falls a bit more on the disturbing side.
Terrifying? A psychotic killer resurrected as a knife-wielding cookie and voiced by Gary Busey? Actually, yes, it's pretty terrifying.

Reynardine (Gunnerkrigg Court)
Cute? Sometimes. He's trapped in the body of a stuffed wolf.
Terrifying? He's a body-stealing demigod, although at the moment he's confined to a single body. Still, he can shift into a pretty intimidating wolf form.

The Rabbit of Caerbannog (Monty Python and the Holy Grail):
Cute? From a distance.
Terrifying? It's not just the fact that the rabbit can decapitate you with its teeth. It's the awful can opener noise it makes when it does it.

Evil Children Everywhere
Cute? Creepifying to be sure, but reasonably cute.
Terrifying? Absolutely. It doesn't matter if they're banishing you to the cornfield or sacrificing you to the Devil; evil children are always utterly terrifying.

Note: This is not intended to be an exhaustive list, just a rundown of the eras in horror comedy. Feel free to suggest titles, or whole epochs, that we may have missed out.

The 1920s stage plays

In the 1920s, playwrights decided to spice up their stage plays by adding more horror elements, creating silly haunted-house and monster stories like The Bat, The Cat & The Canary and The Gorilla. Some of these, like Canary, got adapted to silent movies. The 1925 Lon Chaney film The Monster also features a comic-relief character, but isn't really a full-fledged comedy.

Abbott And Costello And Laurel And Hardy And So On

In many ways, the 1930s and 1940s were the heyday of the "clean" horror comedy, which featured monsters without any real gore or violence. Laurel And Hardy did A Live Ghost in 1934, the haunted-house movie The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case in 1930 and A-Haunting We Will Go in 1942. The Three Stooges also dabbled in horror-comedy with short films like 1943's Spooks!. And then going into the 1940s, Abbott and Costello, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, and Bob Hope, among others, brought the genre to new prominence. There's also the hilariously titled Zombies On Broadway. Let's put on a show!

1960s Anarchy

The 1960s saw a slew of trippy novels, movies and TV shows in which horror elements often jostled with comedic ones — several of Peter Sellers' 1960s comedies often veer into horror at odd moments. At the same time, monster sitcoms like The Munsters and The Addams Family ruled television with their zany portrayals of monsters who were just like us — almost. This was also the era that gave the start of the long-running Scooby Doo cartoons, and a slew of cute/funny images of monsters, from the Frankenberry cereal to the Count on Sesame Street.

Self-Aware Campiness

Susan Sontag published her famous essay on "camp" in 1964, but the 1970s really backed up the camp truck to our door, and dumped a load of glitter on our front steps. Horror comedy was no exception, with Vincent Price starring in two mega-campy Dr. Phibes movies, and other over-the-top horror films like Please Don't Eat My Mother and Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes taking over cinemas. Most of all, Rocky Horror Picture Show became a defining movie for a whole ripped-fishnets-sporting generation.

The self-aware horror spoof genre took off way more in the early 1980s, with movies like Creepshow mocking the genre's cliches. And in general, the horror-comedy movie genre really came into its own in the 1980s, diversifying into a bunch of thriving sub-genres.

Ghostbusters, Gremlins and more

1984 saw the release of both Ghostbusters and Gremlins, sparking a new onslaught of cute/scary monsters and ghosts, including four (!) Critters movies. I'd also put 1986's Little Shop Of Horrors and Haunted Honeymoon into this category: wide-eyed protagonists coming face-to-tentacle with weird, slimy or fluffy-but-nasty creatures. According to Box Office Mojo, both Ghostbusters films and the first Gremlins occupy three out of the top four best-selling horror comedy slots of all time.

Troma comedies in the 1980s and beyond

Troma deserves its own category, for its sheer volume of output if for no other reason. Although it's best known for the Toxic Avenger films and Surf Nazis Must Die, there are just so many weird, over-the-top and just plain wrong Troma films out there, you could fill a bookshelf with the DVDs. And really, Troma is just the tip of the iceberg of a slew of direct-to-VHS and direct-to-DVD movies that we've seen in the past 20 years ago, with a ton of cult auteurs pushing the boundary between scary and funny.

1980s Werewolf/Vampire Humor

Teen Wolf (1985), An American Werewolf In London (1981), Fright Night (1985), Mr. Vampire (1985), Once Bitten (1985), Vamp (1986) and Love At First Bite (1979) were just some of the cocaine-fueled laughs at Universal monsters. Here's a photo of Grace Jones at a vampire strip club, from Vamp.

Body Horror/Comedy

The Reanimator films and Brian Yuzna's Society, among others, take the David Cronenberg trope of the human body being transformed into something gooey, icky or disturbingly awful, and they find the silliness and subversive humor that lurks just behind that, with gore, decapitated limbs still moving and lots of oozing goop all providing opportunities for slapstick and discomfort. The 1980s were also the heydey of Frank Hennenlotter's over-the-top violence and bodily destruction, in films like Basket Case. I'd also stick Peter Jackson's Dead/Alive into this category. In many ways, this genre has been the gift that keeps on giving, as evidenced by the awesomeness of 2006's Slither.

The Rise Of Sam Raimi

Classic Sam Raimi films deserve their own category, especially the Evil Dead films and Army Of Darkness. Bruce Campbell in his prime, rocking the chainsaw hand, against the legions of dead. Good times.

Christopher Moore

No discussion of horror-comedy would be complete without mentioning the 1990s and 2000s novels of Christopher Moore, especially his vampire classics Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story, You Suck: A Love Story, and Bite Me: A Love Story, plus his zombie Christmas tale The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale Of Christmas Horror.

Creature Features

Tremors (1990), Arachnophobia (1990), Lake Placid (1999) and Eight-Legged Freaks (2002) were just some of the slew of tongue-in-cheek monster-rampage films that came out in the 1990s and early 2000s. My fave is probably Lake Placid, just for the amazingly deadpan performances by Bill Paxton and Betty White, among others.

Buffy Etc.

Joss Whedon's Buffy empire, including a movie and two television series, pretty much deserves its own category, and it came along with a slew of other TV shows and books featuring (frequently female) heroines facing tongue-in-cheek magical/horrific threats, including Charmed and Xena: Warrior Princess.

The Chucky and Leprechaun Films

I have no idea where those fit in, so I'm putting them here. These are like the silly counterparts to the already quite silly Jason Voorhees and Freddie Krueger films. Chucky is a weird doll that comes to life and attacks people (I guess — I've only read a comic-book adaptation) and there have been a million films about a silly leprechaun going around disemboweling people and controlling their minds. And rapping. And dancing.

Horror Spoofs

The Scream films in the late 1990s jumpstarted the slasher-movie genre with their knowing humor and sly horror-movie references. And then with the release of Scary Movie in 2000, the floodgates opened. There have been a ton of horror spoofs, many of them with the word "Movie" at the end of their titles. Plus the upcoming Transylmania, which exactly one person is excited about. (And we know where you live.)

Zombie Rom-Coms

Shaun Of The Dead, Planet Terror, Jennifer's Body and Zombieland all, to some extent, use the reanimated dead as a backdrop for character-focused comedies. (Okay, so the rom-com thing in the subhed is stretching it slightly — they don't all feature love stories, exactly. But some of them do.) Zombie comedies that are less character-focused include the Nazi epic Dead Snow, the zombie slave masterpiece Fido, the zombie sheep masterpiece Black Sheep and the incredibly nasty Zombie Strippers. Plus Bruce La Bruce's Otto, Or Up With The Dead People. Oh, and there's also last year's Poultrygeist: Night Of The Chicken Dead. No, really. There's also Jon Heder's webseries Woke Up Dead.

Meanwhile, in the world of books, many people see Max Brooks' Zombie Survival Guide as humorous, rather than as the indispensible handbook it is. There have also been a decent number of funny zombie books, including Breathers: A Zombie Lament by S.G. Browne, the mash-up Pride And Prejudice And Zombies, and several others.

Not entirely sure how it fits in, but horror spoof John Dies At The End, by Cracked.com editor Jason Pargin (under a pseudonym) is selling like hotcakes on Amazon.

Sources include Wikipedia, BoxOfficeMojo, IMDB, Scared Silly and the book Laughing Screaming: Modern Hollywood Horror & Comedy by William Paul.

Additional reporting by Mary Ratliff.

Frankenstein Conquers The World

Because, sometimes, a monster has to save the world from a Godzilla-esque other monster, who's threatening (where else?) Japan.

Dracula The Superhero
We'd love to say that we can't blame Dell Comics for trying to cash in on the Batmania of the 1960s by turning Dracula into a superhero, but... Well, it's Dracula as a superhero. Even worse, it's a modern-day Count Dracula as a scientist who accidentally swallows some formula that allows him to transform into a bat and then decides to fight crime in a purple jumpsuit. Seriously, in what world is that a good idea?

Supporting Team Spirit Is Some Kind Of Good-Doing, Right?
Maybe werewolves were meant to be working for a common good. Exhibit A:

Frankenstein's Monster... Hunter
Ignore the shortlived attempt to turn the character into a superhero from the same people behind the Dracula superhero (Although we're slightly charmed by the secret identity "Frank N. Stone"); the best comic version of Mary Shelley's creation is undoubtedly Grant Morrison's sullen hero from the Seven Soldiers series, packing heat and a grim demeanor as he dispatches demons, alien invasions and deals with his former Bride, who just so happens to be a reanimated agent of a secret government agency investigating weirdness. Freaks have never had such a strong defender as this son of Victor Frankenstein.

Zombies Can Do More Than Shuffle
It's hard to make a case for zombies being good guys; they're mostly unthinking forces of brain-eating chaos, as opposed to particularly malicious. And yet, who could argue that this didn't improve their life just a little bit?

Werewolf By Night
His name is Jack Russell, people. Whoever said that the 1970s wasn't the age of Mighty Marvel Bad Ideas?

Buffy The Vampire Slayer In General
Vampires with souls, sarcastic werewolves in bands and demons with perfectly justifiable fears of bunnies. Joss Whedon's calling card may have specialized in making heroes out of monsters - even Dracula helped out the Slayers in the Season Eight comic series - but he made sure to keep them interesting even after they'd seen the light (Metaphorically so, in Angel's and Spike's cases, of course).

Dracula Saves Hallowe'en

Any movie that has a plot where Dracula has to save Hallowe'en because the classic horror monsters are seen as funny rather than scary already has our love, but where The Hallowe'en That Almost Wasn't goes horribly wrong isn't even the Munsters-esque treatment of the characters, but the casting of Judd Hirsch as Dracula. There's just no way to find that man scary, sadly.

We Ain't Afraid Of No Ghosts (1)

'Nuff said? No, wait...

We Ain't Afraid Of No Ghosts (2)

Definitely 'nuff said. Paranormal Activity would've been so much better if it'd been Casper visiting instead...

Ghostbusters 3:

Don't count on Bill Murray being in this threequel — he tells Britain's Absolute Radio that he won't do the movie unless the script is really good. (How long have they been working on this script, and still nobody has read it, including the director?) [Latino Review]

New Moon:

Some more promo pics highlight the pasty-faced brooding. [Movies-Spoilers]

Snowpiercer:

We already wrote about this film, which Bong Joon-Ho is adapting from a French comic book. The official English title appears to be Snowpiercer, and Bong says he wants to film in 2011. The class-ridden survivors on a train traveling through the frozen world wind up struggling and fighting amongst themselves. [Collider]

Lost:

Set pics show that Randy Nations, Hurley's old boss at the Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack, is coming back — except this time around, probably Hurley will be Randy's boss. One more pic at the link. [SpoilerTV]

Fringe:

Leonard Nimoy returns as William Bell in the season's tenth episode. And Astrid is going to be getting out of the lab a lot more — and she has a big arc with Walter coming up. The writers know Astrid is a "diamond in the rough," and they are looking for ways to expand the character. [EW]

And here's a behind the scenes featurette on tonight's episode, "Dream Logic."

FlashForward:

In the Oct. 29 episode, Lloyd Simcoe knocks on the Benfords' door, and Mark is not happy to see his wife's future lover. Meanwhile, Lloyd's autistic kid Dylan recognizes the house, and the Benfords' daughter Charlie, from his own flashforward, and feels an immediate connection with the place. [TV Guide Magazine]

New set photos show Demetri on a bike. More at the link. [SpoilerTV]

How scary does episode six, "Scary Monsters and Super Creeps," get? Look at some new promo pics. [Pizquita]

Doctor Who:

One new still showcases the alien monster from this animated story, Lord Azlok (David Warner) as he menaces Colonel Stark (Stuart Milligan.) The other one shows the Doctor entering a 1950s diner. [BlogtorWho]

Supernatural:

A new pic from the "Changing Channels" episode shows Sam and Dean stuck in Grey's Anatomy. Full version at the link. [EW]

And here are a few pics from "The Curious Case Of Dean Winchester," in which Dean gets hella old. [SF Universe]

Smallville:

The episode "Roulette," in which Ollie gets drugged and beguiled by Roulette, also contains a twist involving Chloe and Oliver. [EW]

And here are a ton of pictures from the episodes "Crossfire" and "Roulette" — including what looks like Clark smooching Lois in the Planet offices. [Kryptonsite]

Star Wars: Clone Wars:

Here's a clip and new image from Friday night's new episode, "Senate Spy":

Heroes:

We'll finally get some more of Mohinder in November, and at least half his scenes are with Hiro Nakamura. (I'm guessing, he'll be concocting some magic fix for Hiro's brain problem.) Also, don't hold your breath for Sylar to get a love interest. [EW]

Todd Stashwick (The Riches) will join the show as Eli, part of the carnival storyline — he has close ties to Samuel. [THR]

And in case you really thought it was Hiro who was going to bite the dust, the show is casting three Japanese-speaking actors for episode 4x13. One is a policeman who detains a local citizen in Tokyo for outlandish and potentially dangerous antics. There's also a grumpy ramen vendor who encounters a confused hero, and a woman who is accosted by a teenage purse snatcher. [SpoilerTV]

Stargate Universe:

Here's a sneak peek from Friday's new episode, "Darkness":

Sanctuary:

And here's a sneak peek from Friday's episode of this Syfy show, "End Of Nights Part 2":

Now that the show has established its setting and characters, the second season will play around more with the interpersonal relationships. We'll see more of Henry, plus a lot of the newly introduced Kate Freelander. The relationships will all move around. [SF Universe]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.

Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters 1 and 2) is officially on to direct Ghostbusters 3. Bloody Disgusting confirmed his involvement along with this little juicy script detail.

Apparently, the sequel takes place when the paranormal researchers "reopen" their ghost removal service after it has been closed for quite a few years.

Please, let their first client be the Mayor's idiot son or the angry doctor's child, because nothing would give me more pleasure than to hear Bill Murray, who is confirmed to have some sort of involvement, deliver this gem again....

Noting that the Ghostbusters films owe a great to old horror comedies, from Abbott and Costello flicks to the 1970s children's series The Ghost Busters, YouTube user whoiseyevan created this faux trailer from over a dozen films and TV shows, recasting Dean Martin as Ray Stantz, Bob Hope as Peter Venkman, and Fred MacMurray as Egon Spengler. And personally, I think the 1975 Ghost Busters theme is a great improvement.

[via Coilhouse]

According to the eBay seller, investments2001, the car used to be the property of Universal Studios:

This is the real Universal car not a copy. The car runs and drives good it has new tires on it know [sic]. The car is in a car Museum right now, when it goes on tour it draws a VERY VERY LARGE crowd.

Sadly, it drew a less impressive crowd - and even less impressive bids - on eBay. Despite 32 hopefuls, the car failed to meet its reserve and went unsold after the auction ended last night. We wish we knew what the reserve actually was... or that the seller had realized that the last Ecto-1 on eBay went for almost $20,000 less.

1959 Replica/Kit Makes [eBay]

Ghostbusters 3:

Harold Ramis says the third movie definitely won't go the Batman Begins route of being super slick and high-tech — the Ghostbusters crew are not suddenly going to be sporting amazing gear, or skulking around in suits with built in pecs for that matter. What made the original films funny was the low-tech nature of the gadgets. It's always going to be about the pseudo-science and the characters. And it sounds like he's pretty opposed to having it be too heavy on the CG fight scenes where everyone's flying around. [Making Of via Slashfilm]

Zombieland:

Writer/producers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick talk more crazy zombie action. Like, every single ride at the amusement park gets used to kill zombies at the end. Zombies go flying off one of those blast-off things that shoots the seats up and down. There are "multiple roller coasters." They add:

There's this great moment where this thing called the Rattler, which is this huge thing, pendulum-type device that has all these seats around the outside and it swings back and forth and the seats turn. Columbus runs underneath it and it just misses him. And then some zombies are chasing him and it comes back and just , just knocks them all out of the way.

And separately, a Hummer gets jumped into a lake. Also, there are flashbacks, including one showing the start of the zombie outbreak, and main character Columbus' first meeting with a zombie. But the movie doesn't bother to explain why the zombie outbreak happened — because, hello? Zombies. And the Columbus-Tallahassee friendship is sort of a Felix Unger-Oscar Madison thing: Columbus is scared of everything, Tallahassee is totaly fearless. Oh, and Tallahassee starts the movie with a craving for a Twinkie, and the whole movie is his quest to get his hands on one. He talks very rhapsodically about Twinkies. And there are plot twists, and a couple of zombies who are more important the others. But no "boss zombie." Tons more info on this movie at the link. [Slashfilm]

G.I. Joe:

How hot will this movie be? Burning hot, according to a new poster. Also? Ice cold. Posters don't lie. [SpoilerTV-Movies]

Fringe:

The first scene of this show's second season is a killer — literally and figuratively. And Kirk Acevedo's Charlie appears in the season opener, and you'll never believe what happens to him. (Possibly, something that keeps him from being in the rest of the season? Just guessing here.) [EW]

Apparently the character Luke Goss plays in the season premiere is called Lloyd Parr. [Fringe Television]

Lost:

Not really spoilers so much as rumor patrol. But TV Guide's Matt Mitovich speculates that Claire may come back as the latest disguise for the mysterious enemy of Jacob, now that his Locke masquerade is over. And apparently it's definitely not true that Matthew Fox and Malcolm David Kelley filmed some scenes together back in season one, for use during the final season. [TV Guide]

Smallville:

The famous S-shaped shield logo will be all over this show next season — including on Clark's chest. But meanwhile, there's no truth to the rumor that the show's producers are talking about creating a spin-off called Metropolis. (And how would that differ from the current show format, exactly?) [EW]

FlashForward:

There's a new casting call for the show's second episode. We meet Bhadra, a fifty-something East Indian professional woman who is well-spoken and controlled, and she'll be in at least two episodes. Also definitely recurring: the nine-year-old autistic kid Jimmy, who can only focus for short periods of time and is disconnected the rest of the time. Another possibly recurring character is Anastasia, a forty-something government worker who butts heads with others on a regular basis. A fourth possibly recurring character is the sonographer who conducts an ultrasound on a pregnant woman — maybe Sonya Walger?

And it sounds like our FBI agents travel to a small town (via helicopter, maybe since, there's a helicopter pilot who gets one line.) In that town, we meet the small-town sheriff, an attractive, plain-spoken woman named Keegan. And we also meet a suburban housewife named Kiki who owns a cupcake shop and gets involved in a situation that's out of her depth. There's a playground scene where a "ringleader" named Zack and his sidekick Anna provoke one of the kids, and various other kids discuss what they've "imagined." Plus we meet elementary school teacher Ms. Gerber, and the principal, Ms. Byrne, who handles a sensitive matter with tact. [SpoilerTV]

And here's a new promo:

Stargate Universe:

Alaina Huffman (Smallville) plays 1st. Lt. Tamara Johansen, a medic who's quite skilled but insecure. And those insecurities get amped up massively when the team is thrown to the other side of the universe. It's a chance to play a character who's more conflicted than the tough-chick roles she usually plays. [TV Guide]

Warehouse 13:

So eventually we'll learn that there's a whole complex mythology behind the number "13" in the warehouse's name. The Syfy Channel sent us a transcript of a conference call where producer David Simkins explains:

In our mythology the first warehouse was created by Alexander in an effort to keep hold of the artifacts that he, you know, collected on his wars. And it didn't last - it didn't last long because Alexander died young but then the library at Alexandria was a warehouse too where research and development and things were stored and books.

And so we've kind of tracked the chronology of empires and our feeling is that the warehouse has moved from empire to empire throughout the ages, moving to the country that was best able to protect it. It was in the Western Roman empire, the Hunnic empire, the Byzantine empire, you know, all the way up through the Russian empire, the British empire, and then finally the United States. It was always - it always located itself in the empire that was best able to protect it.

And it was early, early on in warehouse - in one of the early warehouses in iterations, it was established that a board of directors essentially would be in charge of it, an ever-changing sort of like I guess a Supreme Court called the Regents. And the Regents were in charge of deciding when and where to move the warehouse. I think the longest it lasted was in the Western Roman empire for about 500 years and the shortest was about 14 years in the - I think it was the (Khmer) empire.

[SyFy]

Here are some promo pics from episode four, "Claudia." [SpoilerTV]

Eastwick:

No, you didn't have a weird nightmare that ABC was making a soap opera out of the John Updike novel and the Jack Nicholson film — it's really happening. And apparently, the pilot includes strings plucking in the background and a wise old narrator voice. [KansasCity.com]

The good news is, the pilot is directed by David "pilot king" Nutter. The bad news? Apparently it's full of "stilted acting" and "cringe-inducing dialogue." Apparently the script is full of double entendres — the devil is swinging some pipe — and one of the three witches, Joanna, goes from shy librarian-type to sexy minx by letting down her hair and removing her glasses.

As for the plot? Auntie Bun (Veronica Cartwright) tells some kids at the local historical society that the town of Eastwick is rumored to have had witches in the past, and there may still be magic there. And then three women each find a special coin, and they each make a wish at the town's fountain — to have a different life than their current ones. And then the mysterious stranger Darryl Van Horne shows up and buys half the town, granting the three women's wishes in the process. He buys Joanna's newspaper, and gives her the freedom to write the stories she wants. He reopens the candle factory, giving Kat's husband her job back. And he gives Roxy the struggling artist/single mom the excitement she craves by sleeping with her and helping her get more money. But all the people in these women's lives are resentful of their new friendship and sorta-empowerment. Eventually, visions, hospital-bed omens and old records prove Darryl Van Horne isn't who he claims to be. [Futon Critic]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.

BEST:

Spot, Data's Orange Tabby Cat from Star Trek: The Next Generation
Who: Data's number 1 friend that didn't wear a Devo-esque visor on his face.
Why he's awesome: He's probably one of the only cats in the universe that has an infinitely advanced AI at his beck and call.
Bonus points: Anything that pisses Riker off is a big plus in my book.

Willis the Bouncer from Robert Heinlein's Red Planet
Who: A sound mimicking furry ball that every kid should have as a friend.
Why he's awesome: In a 1960's era future, when a dog just won't cut it, the only way to really impress the kids at school is with an alien that doubles as a soccer ball. And here's a clip from the Fox miniseries adaptation.

R2D2, Star Wars
Who: The yin to C3PO's (annoying) yang that brings logic and light to any situation through a series of flickering lights and bleeps.
Why he's awesome: He's a moving trashcan that manages to be more likeable than most of the Star Wars palz extended cast.

Porthos, Captain Archer's Beagle from Enterprise
Who: Easily one of the more tolerable characters on Enterprise. Mostly because he didn't talk.
Why he's awesome: He's a beagle! How can beagles not be cute? Also, I feel like after the unfortunate Scotty related transporter incident, he deserves a nice memorial.

Ampersand, Y the Last man
Who: The world's ending, every man is dead, you're an aspiring escape artist pining away for your lost girlfriend and you're all alone. What do you do? Have crazy monkey antics with your favorite jungle friend with a punctuation mark as a name.
Why he's awesome: Not to spoil too much, but he may or may not be humanity's key to getting the XY's back in action.

Lockjaw
Who: Marvel's own alien bulldog and member of the non-human branch of the Avengers.
Why he's awesome: He's super strong, can eat anything and once latched onto the Thing.

Dog the Robot from Half Life 2
Who: Alyx Vance's No.1 go to robotic buddy who helps when your path is blocked by other dimensional beings or just wants to play fetch with your grav gun.
Why he's awesome: He's a giant robot with the personality of a dog. Do you need more?

Pen Pen, from Neon Genesis Evangelion
Who: A genetically altered super smart penguin that lives with Misato Katsuragi during the Angel apocalypse.
Why he's awesome: While the series has moments of intense despair and darkness, you can always count on jerky, anime humor involving naked people and penguins to brighten your day.

K-9 from Doctor Who
Who: Dr Who's multi-generational robotic canine companion.
Why he's awesome: He's gotten a series of spinoff stories and was even parodied on South Park.

Nibbler from Futurama
Who: Nibbler is part of an ancient race of Nibblonians who protect the universe from giant glowing brains that make everyone stupid. Er, Stupid-er.
Why he's awesome: He can eat about 1,000 times his body mass to, uh, produce dark matter.

Gaspode, from Terry Prachett's Discworld series
Who: A talking dog with human intelligence that attempts to bring "Hollywood" to Discworld.
Why he's awesome: He's an endless source of snarky remarks and regularly uses his speech to manipulate humans when he needs food.

CJ-7
Who: A puff ball with a body that guaranteed to produce family friendly fun times.
Why he's awesome: CJ-7 can help you repair torn relationships with certain parental figures and bring people back from the dead.

Einstein, Doc Brown's dog from Back to the Future
Who: You might be under the impression that a certain Family Ties alum might be the Doc's best time traveling friend in this series, but you'd be wrong. This adorable little terrier follows Doc whenever her goes.
Why he's awesome: As long as you ignore the craptacular animated television series, Einstein is always cute, helpful and never obnoxious.

Ein, Cowboy Bebop
Who: A super brained corgie that gets stranded on the Bebop.
Why he's awesome: Although they never really get into it in the series, Ein is a "data dog" that possesses super intelligence that allows him to answer phones and steer cars.

Bubastis, Ozymandias' lynx from Watchmen
Who: When you're a super genius David Bowie impersonator with the world at your fingertips what do you do next? You create a genetically engineered psychedelic colored lynx as a companion.
Why he's awesome: He takes one for the team for the sake of furthering an evil plan for his master.

Gizmo, Gremlins
Who: The main furry faced protagonist of the Gremlins series.
Why he's awesome: While I'm pretty much a fan of all the gremlins, I can't deny the greatness that is Gizmo channeling his inner Rambo.

Seymour from Futurama
Who: Seymour is a part of one of the most tear jerking episodes of Futurama involving Fry recounting the story of the most loyal dog that ever lived.
Why he's awesome: Did you see the last scene? He's the most loyal dog that ever lived! Also, we can rest easy knowing that alternate timeline Fry gave Seymour a great life.

Bronx from Gargoyles
Who: Bronx is the dog version of the Manhattan gargoyle clan. During the whole series you only see one other gargoyle beast, but unlike Budeka, Bronx gets a whole episode devoted to him befriending an Amish kid.
Why he's awesome: Gargoyles are already pretty high on the cool supercreatures scale, but add a dog personality to the mix, and you've got gold.

Roach from WALL-E
Who: They weren't lying when they said that after the world ended there would be nothing left but cockroaches. Fortunately, the end of the world also gave them charming personalities!
Why he's awesome: Making me want a roach as a pet is an epic win in my book.

Kevin and Dug from Up
Who: Kevin is a rare, brilliantly colored giant bird that Carl and Russell accidentally find in Paradise Falls. Dug is sweet golden retriever with a collar that allows him to talk.
Why they're awesome: It takes a lot to make slapstick giant birds funny, but Pixar does a magnificent job. And Dug? He's exactly what I imagine an actual talking dog to sound like. SQUIRREL!

WORST:

Tribbles from Star Trek
Who: Fuzzy, purring little meat pets that take over the original Enterprise.
Why they suck: Pets rocks were bad enough, why would they think that a massively multiplying furry pet rock would be better?

ALF
Who: Alien puppet that takes over a really lame sitcom in the 80's. If ever you want to torture someone without the use of waterboarding, show them and episode of ALF… or Small Wonder.
Why he sucks: Look me straight in the eye and tell me you didn't scream in horror when you saw that clip.

Snarf, Thundercats
Who: A fat alien cat that ends every sentence with an annoying "snarf!" sound.
Why he sucks: Is he a lizard or a cat? I'm going to go with meth induced demonic lovechild.

Teddy from A.I.
Who: An animatronic intelligent Teddy Rucksbin from the future that accompanies David in a search for the Blue Fairy.
Why he sucks: Ok, now I understand that some people might take issue with Teddy's position on the worst list but he's a toy that's alive. That's pretty much the worst nightmare of most 8-year-old kids. And me.

Slimer from Ghostbusters
Who: A green ghost that terrorizes the Ghostbusters team by covering everything in slime.
Why he sucks: For those of us born in the mid 80's and watched the Ghostbusters cartoon first, we expected to see cool ghost antics when we finally saw the movie. Instead, we were greeted with a grotesque blob that was pretty evil.

Div-x from Penny Arcade
Who: You might remember the Sony Dix-X player, an ahead of its time technical marvel.
Why he sucks: According to Penny Arcade Comics, he's a foul-mouthed drunk that's teetering on the edge of killing us all.

Pets from Children of Men
Who: When the world's gone infertile, people turn to animals to provide comfort in the end of humanity.
Why they suck: I have nothing against the animals in Children of Men, personally, but seeing all the dogs, cats and birds cluttering people's homes can be an ominous image.

Selacious Crumb from Star Wars
Who: He's a little fox-lizard thing that hangs out with Jabba the Hut and laughs at all his lame jokes.
Why he sucks: Everybody hates the skinny jerk in the corner with the stupid laugh.

Gleek from Superfriends
Who: The alien monkey pet of the Wondertwins.
Why he sucks: Usually if he was featured in Superfriends, you could count on him popping out to end the episode on a lame joke.

Independence Day Dog from Independence Day
Who: If you're like me then you probably laughed at the idea of a ball of flame chasing a golden retriever down a tunnel.
Why he sucks: Was it really necessary to have a slow motion explosion behind a dog? And wouldn't all that heat ultimately cook them all in that storage locker?
Then Again:...he's immune to explosions. And that's pretty cool. Dodging fire like that, he's like a canine Neo. Maybe he should have been best?

Space Buddies
Why they suck: I'll just point you in the direction of this.

Queequeg, X-files
Who: A Pomeranian adopted by Dana Scully and eaten shortly after by the legendary Big Blue.
Why he sucks: He was found snacking on his previous owner.

Krypto
Who: Superman's dog. Enough said.
Why he sucks: I hate pet versions of superheroes. Also, why does he need a cape?

Muffit from the original Battlestar Gallactica
Who: Caprica used to have a variety of tracker dogs but sadly, none of them survived the Cylon attack. Instead a group robotic dogs are created to replace them.
Why he sucks: Is he an ewok? A fuzzy, metallic gremlin on meth? You decide.

MAD Cat from Inspector Gadget
Who: Dr. Claw's chortling fat feline.
Why he sucks: He's the quintessential evil cat meant to taunt the hero. Plus Dr. Claw regularly beat the crap out of him and he seemed to be ok with that.

Frank the Dog from Men in Black
Who: An alien stool pigeon using the guise of a small pug.
Why he sucks: He made me remember "Who Let the Dogs Out" existed.

Gir, Invader Zim
Who: Invader Zim's mentally disturbed robot helper that was given to him as either a joke or sabotage. Probably both.
Why he sucks: Yeah, yeah Gir is really cute, but he's amoral, evil and would gladly watch you die a fiery death while bursting into a fit of giggles.

Astro, The Jetsons
Who: The Scooby Doo knockoff of the 21st century.
Why he sucks: It might have worked with the Scooby Gang, but there's only room for one charismatic dog with a speech impediment ‘round these parts.

Lamar, Half Life 2
Who: The neutered headcrab that resides in Dr. Isaac Kleiner's laboratory.
Why he sucks: Crabs are rarely a good thing. Head crabs are a double whammy of bad.

Joshua from Dark Angel
Who: A transgenic dog-man with an affinity for painting and crappy comedic timing.
Why he sucks: There was only one good thing that came out of season two of Dark Angel and that rhymes with Smensen Shackles.

Honorable Mention: Blarp from the Lost in Space remake.

Geoff Manaugh, creator of BLDG BLOG (and occasional contributor to io9), is known for his spellbinding, science fictional interpretations of architecture. Inspired by the building that housed the old Ghostbusters headquarters (pictured), as well as the forbidding New York telephone exchange building, he's come up with an idea for the movie that involves a haunted telephone system and angelic neurobiology.

It's worth quoting at length from his post:

It's 1997. NYNEX is on the verge of being purchased by Bell Atlantic, after which point it will be dissolved in all but name.
But all hell starts breaking loose. Pay phones ring for no reason, and they don't stop. Dead relatives call their families in the middle of the night. People, horrifically, even call themselves – but it's the person they used to be, phoning out of the blue, warning them about future misdirection.
Every once in a while, though, something genuinely bad happens: someone answers the phone... and they go a little crazy.
Thing is – spoiler alert – halfway through the film, the Ghostbusters realize that NYNEX isn't a phone system at all: it's the embedded nervous system of an angel – a fallen angel – and all those phone calls and dial-up modems in college dorm rooms and public pay phones are actually connected into the fiber-optic anatomy of a vast, ethereal organism that preceded the architectural build-up of Manhattan.
Manhattan came afterwards, that is: NYNEX was here first.
It's worth recalling, in fact, that NYNEX – at least according to Wikipedia – actually stood for New York/New England, "with the X representing the unknown future (or 'the uneXpected')." It's like Malcolm X's telephonically inclined, wiry cousin.
So the phone system of Manhattan – all those voices! all those connections! leading one life to another – starts to act up, provoked by its dissolution into Bell Atlantic... and the Ghostbusters are called in to fix it.
Fixing it involves rapid drives from telephone substation to telephone substation, from library to library, all while Dan Ackroyd's character keeps receiving phone calls about a family crisis... his ex-wife is calling... his dad is calling... they're urging him to stop this whole, crazy Ghostbusters business... He starts acting funny. The voices on the phone say strange things. They call at strange hours. He feels kinship with public pay phones; they sometimes ring as he walks past. He tries to call his family back – but they're not answering.
Harold Ramis starts to suspect something.
In the background there are shadowy figures called out to fix transmission lines – but they are actually wiring something up... something big...
The whole movie then leads up to the granddaddy of them all: an electromagnetic confrontation inside the windowless, Brutalist telephone switching tower at 33 Thomas Street (rumored haunt of the ghost of Aleister Crowley).

You can read the rest here, where he goes into more detail that makes the idea sound even more fascinating. I love the idea of the telephone system being haunted, because at this point telephone systems are so ancient that they have begun to seem spooky. That is, they are as ancient and spooky as the NY subway system, which as you'll recall had a role in previous Ghostbusters movies.

I'd love to see a movie like this get made, but I'm dubious about whether it could fly in Hollywood. I could, however, imagine it as a plot arc in Supernatural - if it were the phone exchange in Lawrence, Kansas.

via BLDG BLOGhttp://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/nynex-embedded-angel-of-new-york-city.html

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen:

New concept art shows Skids (one of the comedy robots) and the unnamed "purple motorcyle Autobot," one of three female motorcycles, I guess. The other two are Arcee and Chromia. (I thought the three motorcycles joined together to form Arcee, but apparently not.) [TFG2 and TFG2 via Transformers Movie Chronicles and Seibertron]

At one point, Sam's mother utters the line, "Hi, professor — I'd do anything for an A." The comedy stylings of the "twin Transformers" are also hilarious. The movie goes way downhill about halfway through and just turns into one long, nonsensical action sequence. [Culch]

And here's yet another Entertainment Tonight segment on the movie, which hopefully won't start autoplaying in an annoying fashion. [TLAMB]

Ghostbusters 3:

The new team of five newbie Ghostbusters, including two women, was in the outline that the movie's scriptwriters pitched, confirms Ivan Reitman. But there's no telling what the final script, due in about a month, will contain. [MTV]

New Moon:

Some new photos prove this movie really is made of cheese. [IGN]

Torchwood:

An Australian trailer and a BBC America featurette for the upcoming "Children Of Earth" miniseries. [Life, Doctor Who & Combom]

The first episode of "Children Of Earth" includes a big, huge revelation about Captain Jack which fits in with the story's theme of "sins from the past." (I'm guessing it's his daughter.) The first episode hits the ground running, and only gets more intense as it goes along — but star John Barrowman says that's only a five out of ten, compared to the intensity of the other four episodes. And there's still time for flirty banter. Barrowman doesn't rule out one more meeting between David Tennant's Doctor and Captain Jack. [Chicago Tribune]

Lost:

Shannon (Maggie Grace) may be making a return visit to the island next season, despite being dead. At least, Grace said she's going back to Hawaii soon. [E! Online]

FlashForward:

Wherever you think this show is going after the first episode, you'll be wrong. There are three "acts" to the first season, and the first "act" consists of the first seven episodes, in which the pieces are all moved out onto the board. And each of those first seven episodes contains at least one "holy shit, I didn't see that coming" moment, where you'll realize things are way different than you thought. Also, the first "flashforward" that everyone sees takes them to April 29, 2010 — which isn't when the season finale airs. So we'll actually catch up to the flashforwards before the season ending. Also, Seth MacFarlane's character, Agent Kirby, will be recurring. And the kangaroo you see on the street in the pilot will also be back. [Futon Critic]

Also, you'll see early on that characters lie about what they saw in their "flashes," or withhold some information. [Time]

Fringe:

The season opener will be called "New Day." [Fringe Television]

V:

After watching the pilot, you get the impression that someone we thought was a series regular is actually only guest-starring in the first episode. [EW]

Heroes:

Rick Worthy (aka Simon, the most underused Cylon on Battlestar Galactica) is in talks to join this show's cast as Matt Parkman's new partner, an experienced and capable L.A. cop whom Matt can lean on for advice. [Hollywood Reporter]

The show is going to explore the characters living "everyday, normal lives," and yet coping with the fact that they've been through this crazy series of events, James Kyson Lee tells TV Guide. And Ando is going to get better at controlling the laser-beam blasts from his hands, and he and Hiro are going to start a new business together, involving glitter and spandex. Yes, really. (Isn't Hiro still a mega-zillionaire? I miss him being a lowly office worker.) [TV Guide]

Warehouse 13:

This show's first batch of episodes will have the titles "Pilot," "Resonance," "Magnetism," "Claudia," "Elements," "Burnout," "Implosion," "Duped," "Regrets" and "Breakdown." [SpoilerTV]

True Blood:

Here are the titles and synopses for this show's July episodes:

July 12: "Shake and Fingerpop"
With Jessica in tow, Bill and Sookie head to Dallas to carry out Eric's vampire-reconnaissance mission — but a surprise awaits them at the airport. At the Light of Day Institute, Jason falls victim to a practical joke, but has the last laugh when the Newlins anoint him for a higher calling. Maryann throws Tara a birthday party at Sookie's, attracting much of Bon Temps to its Bacchanalian revelry. Sam postpones his departure from town to attend the bash, connecting with Daphne in the process. Having barely escaped Fangtasia, Lafayette (finds himself reluctantly pulled back into Eric's orbit.

July 19: "Never Let Me Go"
In Dallas, Sookie connects with one of her own, then joins Bill and Eric for a strategic summit at the lair of the missing vampire, Godric, attended by his lieutenants, Stan and Isabel. Meanwhile, Jason shows his mettle at a Light of Day boot camp, and is rewarded for his hard work with a gift from Sarah. Rebuffed by Tara in her relocation efforts, Maryann decides to cast her spell on the staff of Merlotte's, softening Tara up towards her new "family." Eric shares a little-known secret about his past with Bill, and Sookie makes a decision that might solve the Godric mystery — or get her killed.

July 26: "Hard-Hearted Hannah"
Accompanied by Isabel's human boyfriend Hugo, Sookie embarks on a dangerous mission to locate Godric. Meanwhile, Bill is shocked when a vampire from his distant, more violent past resurfaces in Dallas. In Bon Temps, Daphne presses Sam to get comfortable in his own skin(s); Hoyt continues his unlikely courtship of Jessica; Andy interrogates Lafayette about his disappearance; and Tara and Eggs take a detour while on a road trip. At the Light of Day camp, Jason faces difficult emotional and physical choices.

Impact:

Salon.com has the funniest review ever of this Syfy Channel miniseries which is unaccountably appearing on ABC instead. A giant meteor goes flying towards Earth and smacks into the Moon, causing effects that are felt for many long, boring days afterwards. People resolve their differences and/or fall in love in the face of impending armageddon. Every few minutes someone says something like "But that makes no sense!" And then they have another boring conversation about "brown dwarfs or mass or gravity."

Actual dialogue from Impact:

"We have no other choice, sir. You can't hide from gravity!"

"Look, I can't even answer the questions on 'Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader,' but even I know the moon is not capable of manipulating gravity at this level."

"We are a part of something here that's going to be written about in the same context as Newton and Einstein. I know you don't want to miss out on that!"

"Science has very much come under question these last few days. But, it's all I have."

There's a scene where an old guy is driving in his car, and it suddenly floats into the air in a very Mary Poppins way. The whole Salon review is well worth reading, it's a masterpiece. Unlike Impact itself, by the sound of things.[Salon.com]

Apparently, that brown dwarf? It actually gets embedded in the Moon. Oops. That's not good. Also, the President is a straight shooter who doesn't understand all this sciencey talk, and there's a gruff stupid general, who wants to keep secrets from the Chinese and the Russians even though the world is ending in a few weeks. And we see how the scientists' families are affected by the fact that the scientists have to go off and try to figure out how to save the world. [Cinemablend]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.

Star Trek 2:

Is this movie Trek 2 or Trek 12? You decide! In any case, co-writer Roberto Orci hints that some more changes to the timeline could happen in the sequel, although nobody's scribbled so much as a napkin so far:

I think the major lesson we learned is that fans were willing to accept differences and surprises, provided that they were somehow echoes or inspired by canon. We still have to be true to Star Trek the next time around, but we've also been blessed with being able to be unpredictable. And that doesn't mean we can just be shocking for no good reason and just throw everything away. ... It still has to echo everything that Star Trek has been.

[Sci Fi Wire]

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen:

Now it's the trade journals' turn to review this movie. Variety says the special effects are improved and the robots are more expressive, but nothing else has changed. When Sam goes to college, he attends a frat party that appears to take place in a strip club, and then he's "treated to a sort of lap dance by a Decepticon posing as a nymphomaniacal freshman." (But they didn't get the "Desexycon" memo.) And there's a shot of John Turturro in a G-string. Because you demanded it, whoever you are. At one point, Optimus muses, "If God made us in his image, then who made Him?" The big forest battle leaves Optimus Prime ready for the scrap heap. The actors have to shout to be heard over the noises and the thunderous music.

The Hollywood Reporter says the movie is an Indiana Jones-style quest for a 1,000-year-old "matrix" that will bring life back to the stricken Optimus Prime. And the movie is basically 147 minutes of colored metal flying around and people shouting loudly and quickly, so you can't understand what they're saying... but you don't really need to know what anyone's saying anyway.

Empire Online says there's a notable moment during the big robot-smackdown in Egypt, when Devastator (made out of several construction vehicles) is cilmbing a pyramid. The camera tilts so we can see Devastator's underside, and two wrecking balls dangle in our faces. Yes, Constructicon tea-bagging is here. Also, dogs hump each other, robots hump human legs, and the camera is glued to Megan Fox's torso. There are 42 robots, including one that can become a jaguar, one that can become a Dyson vacuum cleaner, and one that can become ball bearings to get inside secure facilities. You won't remember which robot is which, and there are four gremlin-esque bots that seem interchangeable. The Fallen can toss tanks around using his jagged staff. (Oh, and the Fallen is voiced by Tony Todd, not Leonard Nimoy as hinted a while back.) In the movie's opening Shanghai sequence, Optimus jumps on the face of a giant unicycle and tells it to "pull over." [via TLAMB]

We3

The comic-book adaptation I'm most excited about is still on track. Producer Don Murphy says he has a director for this film, John Stevenson (Kung Fu Panda) — and the film will be live-action, with a combination of CG, puppetry and real live animals. The cyborg animals' voices will be realized as a sort of robotic monotone, reflecting the fact that the animals have electrodes in their larynxes. Murphy's still looking for a studio for this picture, though. [Sci Fi Wire]

Ghostbusters 3:

During an interview about the new video game, Dan Aykroyd teases what you'll see in the third movie:

Well, for sure we need new recruits. We need a whole new team of Ghostbusters, because the generation of my Ghostbusters are all getting hip and knee replacements. Also, we don't have the strength to handle the heavy equipment to catch the ghosts. We need fresh and new blood to fill up the uniforms. That's the first element we need. And if we can train them with the ethics we had and a similar sense of humor, I think we can have good characters and a good story there. I think as far as bringing back the old cast it will be more like in the new STAR TREK — with cameo styles. But for now, I call this video game our third sequel.

[iF Magazine]

The Time Traveler's Wife:

This time-traveling romance put up a new website, with the following synopsis:

Clare (McAdams) has been in love with Henry (Bana) her entire life. She believes they are destined to be together, even though she never knows when they will be separated: Henry is a time traveler, cursed with a rare genetic anomaly that causes him to live his life on a shifting timeline, skipping back and forth through his lifespan with no control. Despite the fact that Henry's travels force them apart with no warning, Clare desperately tries to build a life with her one true love.

[Time Traveler's Wife via Sci Fi Wire]

Shorts:

Here's the new poster for this Robert Rodriguez joint about a kid who finds a rainbow stone with magical properties. [IGN]

The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Some new set pics show Monica Belucci and Nic Cage... I have a bad feeling about this. [SpoilerTV-Movies]

Fringe:

A casting call for the series opener includes three new characters. There's a nurse in her early thirties, who takes care of a patient after an accident. She has olive skin and dark hair, but "could be a dark-skinned caucasian." She seems trustworthy, chatting with a patient in the hospital room, but it's clear there's something weird about her. And the actor should be able to portray an assassin.

Also, there's Rebecca, a "real-looking," not glamorous girl in her late teens, early twenties, around 1978. She gets "stoned beyond belief" on some concoction that Walter was working on back then, and talks in a "sexy/funny/scary stupor." And finally, there's Lloyd Parr, a "hyper-competent" guy in his thirties to early fifties. They're seeking a "strong character actor" who can play someone out of John Frankenheimer movie. [SpoilerTV]

Heroes:

Here are the first set pics from season four. Claire is on campus, with her roommate Gretchen (the black-haired woman behind her) and they're going to some kind of anti-war rally. (I love how this show keeps up with what the kids are doing nowadays.) And she pauses to chat with some cheerleaders. More pics at the link. [The ODI]

Lost:

I don't think Michael Emerson has seen any scripts for season six yet, but he says he's got a vague sense that Ben still has an important role to play in season six, and he "hopes" Ben survives until almost the last episode. And he says that it's entirely possible Ben will escape any retribution for his crimes. If the island itself gets destroyed, Ben will still find a way out, says Emerson:

Ben is a great man for the secret exit. Ben always has an escape, I think. It may be a piece of wood, floating on the ocean. Or it may be a rope, or a secret door. Or, you know, an Ecuadorian passport and a plastic bag, something like that. He's probably going to survive

[E! Online]

Flash Forward:

A couple new promos for this ABC series based on Robert J. Sawyer's book. [FlashForwardSeries.com]

Chuck:

Not sure if this is a spoiler or just speculation, but TV Guide's Matt Roush believes the new shorter season of this show will feature fewer annoying subplots at the Buy More. [TV Guide via Chuck TV]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.

Reitman, who helmed the first two movies 25 and 20 years ago, tells MTV News he may direct the third one as well. Dan Aykroyd has already been hinting around at a premise, which would see the original team (or at least Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Harold Ramis) joined by a younger generation of recruits, including a woman or two. A script is already in the works, by The Office's Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, and should be completed within a month.

We loved the first Ghostbusters (out on Blu-Ray next week in time for its 25th anniversary, y'all!), the second not so much, and Reitman's recent directing efforts are pretty hacktacular (Evolution may have a few closet supporters, but is there anyone out there who'll defend My Super Ex-Girlfriend? Anyone?) So we're dreading Ghostbusters III, especially if it falls into Reitman's hands again. At least one hint of good news may keep our well of hostility-loving pink goo from boiling over: Reitman may just be too darn busy to direct, forcing him to hand his nuclear backpack over to Ramis (Groundhog Day), who is Aykroyd's first choice anyway. Cross your fingers — but remember, don't cross the streams.

UPDATE: Ramis just gave an interview to ComingSoon, in which he says he doubts that Reitman wants to direct. (Though he'll undoubtedly nab a producing credit.) Ramis adds that he himself may not want to direct, but that all four of the OGs (original Ghostbusters), including Ernie Hudson, are on board, and that everyone's just waiting for the script. Also, he confirms that the story idea, on which he collaborated with Stupnitsky and Eisenberg (who also wrote Ramis' soon-to-be-released prehistoric spoof Year One), will involve a younger team of ghoul grabbers. "It's not about us running around," he says. "We'll be introducing new people."