<![CDATA[io9: robot chicken]]> http://tags.lifehacker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/io9.com.png <![CDATA[io9: robot chicken]]> http://io9.com/tag/robotchicken http://io9.com/tag/robotchicken <![CDATA[Brian and Stewie Hit "The Road To The Multiverse"]]> Tonight, in the season premiere of Family Guy, Brian and Stewie go on a Sliders-esque adventure, traversing time and space to encounter the Griffins (and themselves) in numerous alternate universes, including a Disneyverse, a Post-apocalypticverse, and a RobotChickenVerse.

Since the show's inception, Family Guy has always been at its best when Brian and Stewie take off on their epic adventures, be it "The Road To Rhode Island", which earned the show its first Emmy nomination, or the recent "Road To Germany", where Brain, Stewie and Mort travel back in time to WWII Germany. Obviously Stewie has still been tinkering with time-travel technology, because tonight the duo visit alternate histories and alternate realities including one in which the Japanese won WWII, and a HottieVerse, where even Meg is a knockout:

Riffing on Planet Of The Apes, the boy-and-his-dog dynamic is turned upside down in Dogverse, in which humans are subservient to dogs, which includes a human Brian.

Other multiverses visted include; Disneyverse (yes, it's musical) A Post Apocalyptic 'Verse,
Robot Chicken 'Verse (thank you, Seth Green) and a Real Life 'Verse, which features a real baby and a yellow lab bickering. Undoubtably, "Road To The Multiverse" will take its place with the other amazing "Road To" episode of Family Guy and may just be - dare I say it? - the best one ever.

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<![CDATA[The Science Fiction Of Your Childhood Gets the Robot Chicken Treatment]]> Tom Root, Mathew Senreich and Seth Green are out to corrupt your Voltron memories with Titan Maximum, their new series about a squad of pilots who must battle a former member of their giant robot team — with sex jokes.

Titan Maximum, which will premiere on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim on September 27, follows Titan Force Five, a once-proud team of pilots who defend Saturn's moon Titan. Military budget cuts force the team to disband, and one of the pilots, Gibson "Gibbs" Giberstein (voiced by Seth Green), takes the news especially hard, vowing to destroy his former teammates and the whole of Titan.

Advance word on the show is that it's a send-up of classic science fiction, with a Robot Chicken twist. In other words, we can expect plenty of sex jokes and bathroom humor sprinkled in with our mecha-powered space battles.

[Sci Fi Wire]







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<![CDATA[Robot Chicken's Contribution To The Spore Universe is Explosively Demented]]> Maxis invited the creators of cult TV show Robot Chicken to come in and design special downloadable levels for Spore: Galactic Adventures. Here's the first documentary showing the masters at work, with literally explosive diarrhea.

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<![CDATA[Titan Maximum Will Prove That Children Shouldn't Play With Giant Robots]]> Not content with Robot Chicken slaughtering any sacred nerd cows that it can imagine and then some, Seth Green, Tom Root and Matthew Senreich are planning a long-form assault on the cartoons of your youth.

Cartoon Network has ordered nine episodes of Titan Maximum, a new series from the Robot Chicken creators as part of the network's Adult Swim programming. The show - a continuing story, as opposed to Chicken's sketches - follows former members of a Voltron-esque team whose vehicles formed the eponymous Titan as they try to reunite to save the universe from one of their own, voiced by Green himself. Producer Root explains the appeal of the show:

There were always teams of extraordinary young people with the fate of the universe in their hands... In reality, that would end terribly. The last thing you want when giant monsters attack is a bunch of teenagers in charge of defending you. 'Titan Maximum' is about what would really happen if a team of idiot kids was in charge of a 6-story-tall robot.

Even if the premise doesn't appeal to your inner cynical six-year-old, the writing staff might; amongst their number is Green Lantern's Geoff Johns and Amazing Spider-Man's Zeb Wells. The series launches in September; the Voltron revival has been postponed indefinitely as a result.

Adult Swim orders 'Titan' [Variety]

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<![CDATA[Robot Chicken Presents: Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan, The Opera]]> Wow, Robot Chicken has truly outdone itself. This adorable claymation rendition of an Italian stage translation of Star Trek II: Wrath Of Khan is fantastic stupendous. Especially the "lowering of the mind control eels" song.



via Topless Robot

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<![CDATA[Joss Whedon and Ron Moore Want to Kill Seth Green]]> Seth Green is currently guest starring on Heroes, but in this clip from tomorrow night’s Robot Chicken season premiere, Tim Kring wasn’t the first science fiction television producer he approached for work. Green and his Robot Chicken co-creator Matthew Senreich find themselves unemployed and ask Joss Whedon and Battlestar Galactica creator Ron Moore for a job. The meetings don’t go as well as they had hoped, but expose everything you secretly suspected about the producers.

The fourth season of Robot Chicken premieres tomorrow night at 11:30pm, or you can preview the entire episode online.

[via Whedonesque]

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<![CDATA[Load Up On Boba Fett Ewok Slaying Action]]> Get your fill of Die-Hard-quoting, over-compensating Boba Fett stop motion action - Robot Chicken's Star Wars II is now online over at Adult Swim. So kick back relax and watch Luke and Vader kick some major stormtrooper butt in the father and son dance competition. [Adult Swim]

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<![CDATA[Meet Bob Goldstein, Jedi Injury Lawyer]]> There is seriously nothing better than a Robot Chicken Star Wars joke. Seriously where else can you see the Emperor make Darth Vader cry like a little baby for teasing him that he killed his wife Panda Bear or whatever? It's the creme de la creme of Star Wars spoofery. Sunday's premiere of Robot Chicken's Star Wars Episode II is slowly approaching and I can barely contain my excitement. To tide you over, we present you all with this awesome clip of Robot Chicken's Bob Goldstein, personal injury lawyer to those viciously attacked by careless Jedis. The special airs on Cartoon Network at 11:30 PM.

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<![CDATA[Seth Green Spills All About His Directorial Debut, "The Freshmen"]]> From his role as the as the unflappable werewolf Oz on Buffy the Vampire Slayer to his part in co-creating TV’s lo-fi nerd-satire Robot Chicken, Seth Green has almost effortlessly amassed an adoring fanbase. The actor hopes to expand on that niche appeal with his first directorial effort for the big screen, an upcoming adaptation of his popular comic book, The Freshmen. We spoke to the ever-amiable, indefatigable Green about tweaking the title for the big screen, seeking advice from George Lucas, and his upcoming cameos in Entourage and Heroes.

Green conceived the story for The Freshman with Hugh Sterbakov, who penned the title with an assist from illustrator Leonard Kirk; Green and Sterbakov are currently scripting the film. Set on a socially stratified college campus, the Top Cow series follows the misadventures of a group of dejected students who acquire peculiar abilities after a lab mishap irradiates them.

io9: How did you decide The Freshmen would make a good movie?
Seth Green: Hugh and I conceived this a couple years ago as a film. What we found was the marketplace at the time was really unreceptive to comic-book properties. X-Men had just come out, and people were still hesitant to believe that a comic book could translate cause it had so much baggage [plot-wise]. So we had an opportunity to make a comic, and we said, “Well, fuck it. Let’s just entrench it in the marketplace.” Although the movie actually will be different than the book.

io9: It would have to be. First of all, there would be a whole lot of vomit.
Green: [Laughs] You know, honestly, Elwood [who can intoxicate others when he’s drunk] remains largely unchanged. He’s got it hard because he’s a straight-A dude who doesn’t really indulge in anything, and his views are so conservative. And the one night that he tries something new, like lets his hair down [by getting drunk], he gets fucked for life.

io9: So how will the movie be different from the book?
Green: The kids aren’t going to wear costumes, obviously. Except for Paula [who can enchant anyone into falling in love with her] and [the group’s powerless leader] Norrin. Cause Paula makes her costume, and Norrin—the costume’s all he’s got. We also had to eliminate characters just for the sake of telling a story in the most concise way. I don’t want to really talk about who, but it’s a heartbreaking thing to do.

io9: Is Ray, whose superpower is essentially having a huge penis, going to stay?
Green: Oh yeah. What I’m touching on are these personalities, and what happens to kids and where they’re coming from and what they go through. And how they become who they are. And that kid, that path—oh my gosh! All I can say is it’s gonna be heartbreaking.

io9: Not to be crass, but I just have visions of Boogie Nights.
Green: It’ll never be that graphic. But he does use it as a weapon. You know, it’s long and indestructible. [Laughs] I mean, there’s a protective sheath constructed for him.

io9: Clearly, this is an R-rated movie!
Green: Yeah, definitely. Your college experience should be rated R.

io9: Will the movie cover the origin story told in volume one, which also touches on the mad scientist’s evil plot?
Green: Essentially. So much of what works well in a comic won’t work well in a movie. So thematically we’re just addressing it. The Beaver [a character who’s turned into the animal] is prominent in the film, but I don’t know that we’ll get into that dam.

io9: You’ve said you’re looking at a $35 million budget.
Green: Hey, it’s all estimations. We haven’t budgeted the script or anything like that. But I know that I need this Beaver to exist in real life. And I know that’s gonna be expensive computer-generated graphics, over like 15 percent of the film. This isn’t an effects driven movie, though. This is a character-driven movie.

io9: Sort of like a purgatory tale.
Green: It’s similar to that. We do play it for laughs, but at the same time this is a very grounded story about real kids dealing with something significant. The changes that you go through when you leave high school and go to college are huge. You’re embracing your own identity for the first time, telling the whole world who you will be for the rest of your life. This is a world where superpowers don’t exist. And I’m not talking first season of Heroes. This is today, this is actually happening, this is right now.

io9: Did you go to college?
Green: I did not go to college. (A) I had terrible entry scores—I’m a bad tester, and (B) I was already working professionally in the field that I was pursuing. So it just seemed silly for me to spend my time in a scholastic environment. [Instead] I went to the used bookstore and just bought a ton of stuff that I wanted to read.

io9: Wouldn’t it be tough, then, to direct a movie about the college experience?
Green: Oh, I spent a ton of time at colleges. All of my friends were in school, and that’s where I’d discuss with them what their experiences were. It was really just responsibility for the first time. For the first time in someone’s life, they set their own alarm; they do or don’t go to school; they do or don’t eat properly. You know? They do or don’t do all the things they’ve been instructed are crucial. That’s what I’m fascinated by.

io9: How far along are you with the script?
Green: Well, we wrote a script and we wanna take another pass at it, but we got it on paper.

io9: Have you sold it?
Green: I spent a bunch of time talking to George Lucas about how he makes his movies. And I really like his philosophies. So we’re writing it, and we’re figuring it all out. I spent a good deal of time producing over the last eight years, so this kind of thing I can handle. We’re gonna partner up with somebody we believe in and who believes in us, and make the movie that we wanna make. At press time, we haven’t picked a producer.

io9: Would you reach out to George Lucas or Joss Whedon for advice about directing?
Green: Absolutely, yes, always. When you’re fortunate enough to get to work with masters, without being a nuisance, take advantage of that.

io9: When would you ideally like to start production?
Green: Um, well, schedule really becomes a product of availability. Hugh has a show that he’s sold to the Sci Fi network. He’s doing a bit of work on that right now. I’ve got Robot Chicken—we just wrapped [another] Star Wars [episode], which is gonna be out Nov. 16. Then I have a movie in April. So it always becomes about where do you put it? But what I will say is that I wanna make this movie. I’m really excited about it. I’m really excited to show it to people.

io9: What do you think of Hollywood’s almost indiscriminate love for comic books now?
Green: It’s making a universe. It’s creating, like, a taxable marketplace. I think that’s what Marvel’s been doing so succinctly: trying to combine all their franchises into something that’s just really serving the fan. What’s nice is that Hollywood studios are essentially banks and don’t really care what the content is as long as it’s turning a profit. They become more and more willing to trust these storytellers who’ve been telling good stories all along.

io9: Yet if you talk to most comics creators and editors, they’d probably argue they’re more or less left out of the process.
Green: Well, you know, everybody’s got their process. As a filmmaker I’m just excited by the prospect of a filmmaker putting their stamp on something that they already love. Jon Favreau was a huge Iron Man fan and look what he gave us.

io9: But there are comic-book companies that solely want to develop…
Green: I know. There is no such thing as selling out anymore. 50 Cent who is the hardest gangster—or at least sold as the hardest gangster around—made $50 million selling Vitamin Water. If you don’t have a clothing line and a record or a comic book or a scent, then you’re just not participating. And it’s a funny thing to accept, as a citizen of the world. I hope this doesn’t sound disingenuous, but I’m not driven by financial gain. All my life I’ve liked to make stuff. And I’ve found myself in a position of opportunity to make some of the things I’ve been wanting to for a long time. And I’m just taking every advantage of it, absolutely.

io9: How big of a comics fan are you?
Green: I think there’s a misconception about me and the size of my comic-book geekiness. I grew up reading comic books. My dad and I did together, and I learned how to draw and I got interested in that storytelling. But around ’96, I just flat-out stopped buying them. The whole collecting market started frustrating me cause all of these companies were doing these ridiculous multiple printings with different covers to gouge the average fan. And I just found the whole thing grotesque and turned my back on it.

io9: Do you want to make anymore comics?
Green: I didn’t write The Freshman. We co-conceived the characters and the stories. I haven’t really given [creating more comics] a lot of thought. You know Geoff Johns is a buddy of mine, and he writes comics all the time. Oh my gosh, that guy is awesome. He and Matt [Senreich, Robot Chicken’s other co-creator] are going to make a movie. But, no, I haven’t really thought about it cause I haven’t had a story I wanted to tell in that medium.

io9: If Joss asked you, would you ever consider taking on the Buffy comic?
Green: See, I don’t think I’m instinctive for those characters or that content. I always put myself in their hands. I was like, “Write me something awesome.” And they never disappointed. I don’t think I’d be a good candidate. I don’t think I have valuable instincts for those characters.

io9: What was your costume this Halloween?
Green: I’ve prepared a Dr. Henry Jones Sr. costume. I love Sean Connery in The Last Crusade. I was Axl Rose one year. That was a very strong costume.

io9: Superficially, you’d appear to have a fascination with Amish people—what with The Freshman’s Amish character, Liam, as well as your role in Sex Drive.
Green: I dressed up as an Amish person when I went with [actor] Todd Grinnell to the Playboy party a few years ago. But I don’t really have some kind of fascination. It’s just come up a bunch recently.

io9: Can you tell me a little about the upcoming Star Wars episode of Robot Chicken?
Green: Oh my gosh, I cannot wait for people to watch this. It exceeded all of my expectations. We have a little bit of a linear story—we kinda discuss the bounty hunters. I’ve always been interested in those guys and who they are and how they got there. Do they have agents, or did they answer an ad? Do those guys compete all the time? Do they hate each other? Are there rivalries? What’s the story? So, start to finish, it’s the bounty hunters story. And mixed up throughout are channel flips that are all over the universe and timeline.

io9: You’re all over the place lately. What can you tell me about your upcoming spot on Heroes?
Green: Oh, I can’t [laughs].

io9: I know that you and your old buddy Breckin Meyer play comic-book nerds in Atlanta who help one of the Heroes.
Green: You possibly know more than I’m allowed to tell you. Yeah, Breckin and I are both in it. And all our scenes are together.

io9: And shots from the set reveal that you have a beard that sorta makes you look like Morgan from Chuck.
Green: Oh. Wow. That hurts a little bit.

io9: Oh, please. You know the girls love you, Seth.
Green: [laughs]

io9: Would you ever do another Star Trek spoof on Robot Chicken and have Zachary Quinto voice Spock?
Green: Not for Star Trek, no. Zach came on and did a Sylar bit for us. And he did some other stuff. He is so funny. He has got to do a comedy, cause he always plays these really scary and serious characters and he’s so fucking funny. We don’t have any new Star Trek bits. We want to see the movie first.

io9: The next episode of Entourage is intriguingly titled, “Seth Green Day.” Explain.
Green: [Creator] Doug Ellin asked me if I wanted to come and do something. And I was like, “Of course I do!” [Laughs] And me and Kevin Connolly get to fight some more. That’s funny. It’s so silly.

top Seth Green photo courtesy of bonniegrrl

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<![CDATA[Robot Chicken Star Wars: Making All Your Action Figure Dreams Come True]]> Kings of stop-action figure animation, Robot Chicken, are bringing us another Star Wars-themed special. And if it's half as good as the previous Emperor Darth Vader Office Call, we're all in for a good time. Who can forget when the killing of Jar Jar Binks over and over, thanks to RC. The special premieres November 16. Adult Swim]

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