Top 5: Not So Dumb Blondes on TV

Another top five again I'm afraid, still very busy! However, this one is a little of bit of an unusual one.  I was thinking about an old episode of The Simpsons the other day, where Lisa finds herself being discriminated against because she is blonde. 

The episode had a good point, I've heard a few blonde jokes in my day, but it also made me realise that actually I've seen several blonde characters on TV who are were very intelligent. In fact, I've not really noticed any dumb blonde stereotypes, which hopefully means that certain negative stereotypes are becoming obsolete. 

Then again, when writing this list, two of the characters that came to mind have been on previous top five lists - which means either I have to watch more TV, or there is a small pool of characters to choose from. In the end though I did manage to think of more.

Anyway, here's my list of the top five blonde characters, who definitely are not dumb. Please tell me what you think about this subject in the comments!

1] Lisa Simpson - The Simpsons

The character who inspired this list is of course blonde, not that I really registered it until now thanks to her equally yellow toned skin. Lisa is academically very intelligent, a lover of literature, art and jazz. She is a member of MENSA, and gets involved in a variety of scientific pursuits such as astronomy and meteorology, as well as artistic ones such as music. Basically an all round Renaissance woman! 

2] Buffy Summers - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Perhaps not an obvious choice at first, but Buffy has a great variety of skills. She has street smarts, knows alot about the supernatural, and of course, and excels in martial arts and self-defence. On top of this, she proves to be academically above average when she gets a good result on her SAT tests, which gives her a variety of college options in one episode.

3] Seven of Nine - Star Trek: Voyager

A human turned Borg, Seven of Nine is basically a genius who's Borg knowledge gives her a technological edge over her Starfleet counterparts. In fact she is so smart, she is even invited to join a group of genius aliens, a sort of think tank, in one episode. As well as her scientific expertise, she is also an accomplished pianist and singer. She also helped create and run Voyager's astrometrics lab.  


4] Bernadette Wolotiz - The Big Bang Theory

A microbiologist working for a big pharmaceutical company, Bernadette was originally introduced as Penny fellow waitress friend at the Cheesecake Factory. However, it soon transpired she was doing the job to pay off tuition fees, and was working towards a PhD. As well as her study of microbiology, Bernadette proves in one episode to have a good knowledge of physics, and particularly experimental physics, when she shows interest in Leonard's work. 


5] Romana II - Doctor Who

A Timelord who joined the Doctor with the sole purpose of helping him find an ancient and dangerous device, Romana not only matched the Doctor in intelligence but hinted at having left the Timlord's Academy with better test scores - she left with a triple first! Blonde here in her second incarnation, she was also more relaxed but nonetheless still extremely clever. In one episode it turns out she has even built her own sonic screwdriver, with which she helps repair a spaceship, and which the Doctor seemingly tries to nick. In spin-off media Romana continues to do well beyond her travels with the Doctor, and becomes President of Gallifrey itself.

Five of My Favourite: Male Nerds and Geeks from TV

Well, here's my extra post, I'm doing a review this weekend. I thought I'd continue with another fun post, and since I've done the my top five female geeks and nerds, I thought I'd do my five of my favourite guys too. 

Please note as usual, that the list is in no particular order.

1] Sheldon Cooper - The Big Bang Theory

A theoretical physicist, a science-fiction geek and a gamer to boot, Sheldon is probably one of the most famous nerds on television at the moment. 

I have heard that some people in the nerd/geek community do not like the Big Bang Theory because it essential mocks nerds, and though I love the show, I can see what they mean sometimes. The other male characters can seem a little embarrassed about nerdiness, especially with their girlfriends, except for Sheldon. He doesn't apologise for being nerd - or anything really, but that's beside the point. In fact he is often surprised, and pitiful, that more people don't know or care about sci-fi and science - and I personally think that's one of the things that makes him so cool. 


2] Kowalski - The Penguins of Madagascar

You've probably all seen or heard of the four penguins from the Madagascar films who act like they're a special forces unit. Well the characters were so popular they got their own spin-off series - and it is fantastic. 

Kowalski is the genius inventor, scientist and general Q of the team - and probably my favourite character. Known for inventing incredible contraptions, he has a touch of the mad scientist about him. It should also be noted that despite understanding physics and once owning a Higgs Boson - he can't actually read. However, he is a penguin and unlike some other television scientists he can fight and is always involved in missions. 

3] Pete Lattimer - Warehouse 13

Pete Latimer is the goofy, often childish partner of Myka at the Warehouse. He is also a comic-book geek and has collected almost every issue of The Iron Shadow, who his favourite superhero - we even see him wear a Iron Shadow T-shirt. 

4] Dr Rodney McKay - Stargate Atlantis

A physicist and  engineer who has worked with stargates, he is the Head Scientist on Atlantis. He's also the guy who normally ends up solving the team's big problem, whether that's fixing a machine or finding a way to escape a volcano in a spaceship. Hints throughout the series suggest he is also Star Trek and Batman fan. 

5] The Doctor - Doctor Who

I have to admit I was unsure about putting the Doctor on this list, unlike the others who are sort of just ordinary but very intelligent or passionate people, he is an alien. His people are more science based and inherently smarter than us. Then again this list includes a penguin so, I say no criteria applies. 

The Doctor of course has a vast knowledge of science, from astrology to engineering to physics and a myriad of other subjects. I guess he also seems to embody other traits I associate with geeks and nerds - passion for technical stuff, the fact his superpower is his intelligence, the fact he can often be goofy or speak in a load jargon. The Doctor is almost all knowing but also all round brilliant.

Five of My Favourite: Female Nerds and Geeks from TV

Okay, so last weekend I only managed two reviews after promising three - I can be excused for watching Game of Thrones? - so I'll be writing an extra post sometime over the next week. In the meantime, I thought I'd have a change of pace and a little fun since its the holidays, and do a list this week.

So, today's list is the my top five female nerds and geeks, in no particular order.

Note - on definitions of nerd and geek. I personally consider these positive terms, with nerd applying to people with interests and expertise in scientific areas, and geek to anyone who is very passionate about a particular subject. However, these are just my personal definitions - you may find others online or in a dictionary.

1] Myka Bering - Warehouse 13

Myka is not only super smart, with a great eye for details, but definitely a book nerd. She grew up reading H G Wells and many other classics in the bookshop run by her parents, and her ability to quote Shakespeare has even saved lives. 


[2] Col./Doctor Sam Carter - Stargate SG1

Though she's already turned up on one of my previous top five lists, I couldn't help but include her here. An astrophysicist and engineer, with an obvious passion for science, she is an expert in alien technology and the cleverest member of SG1. 


3] Claudia Donovan - Warehouse 13

A cool technical nerd, Claudia has amazing computer skills, allowing to hack into a system and find anything she wants. Something of an inventor too, she has been known to create several useful gadgets for use in the Warehouse, including an holographic projector and a periscope for Artie. She also gets pretty cranky when she ends up stuck in the forest with no good Internet signal whilst on assignment. 

4] Lisa Simpson - The Simspons

Perhaps one of the most famous nerds/geeks on television, Lisa is years ahead of her classmates. A member of MENSA, she has been interested in astronomy, helped Doctor Nick give her father a heart bypass and in one episode pretended to be a boy so she could learn maths in a more traditional way, after her school was serparated into girls and boys.

5] Doctor Amy Farrah Fowler - The Big Bang Theory

Again another one from my female scientists list. Amy, though not into science-fiction or comics like Sheldon Cooper, is a neurologist with a passion for medieval literature and playing the harp. Probably the smartest out of the Big Bang Theory girls, she seems to have a good knowledge of physics as well as biology.

Scene 54: Amazon Originals - Vote For Your Favourite Comedy Pilot!

So, if you haven't heard several online companies such as Netflix, Hulu and YouTube are planning too or currently airing, original shows produced or commissioned by them - and now Amazon has joined in.

Amazon has just aired a slate of pilot comedies and kids shows online, includng the television version of the film Zombieland and a stop-motion comedy written by the brains between The Big Bang, which are currently free for anyone in the US and the UK to watch online.

However, unlike traditional television or even like the other online channels Amazon is letting the public decide which of these pilots should be kept and turned into full series. It's doing this by not only letting people vote or rate the shows, according to the Los Angles Times, but by looking at which shows are watched all the way through and which are shared most on social media. 

Some have criticised this as gimmicky, but to be honest I think television shows have always been governed by a loose voting system - the audience viewing figures. If you like a show, you watch it weekly and add your number to the viewing figures, effectively voting for that show.

That doesn't mean however that certain shows don't get pulled because viewing figures are 'considered to low' or in the classic Firefly case, the channel fails to give the series a chance by putting it in the right time slot. 

This is what makes Amazon's idea for greenlight programmes so interesting, because it really has given the audience real decision power - and because all the content is online, there's no fear of missing your audience due to bad scheduling because its always available. 

On Amazon you can not only rate and review a programme in real time, but you can share the content through social media, so a few fans could potentially share and encourage a bigger fanbase through social media - and this would help vote that pilot in. 

Meanwhile programmes on BBC, ITV and 4OD channels may be shared and talked about over social media, but because those channels are still relying on television set audience figures, all that viewing time online does make much of an impression. For the Amazon pilots, social media and sharing is their direct link to gaining more viewers, more voters and a place as a full blown series. 

All in all, it'll be interesting to see what happens to the pilots and whether this system of direct audience participation and voting works or not. 

I shall be reviewing Zombieland the TV series pilot and the pilot for Dark Minions, the stop-animation from The Big Bang writers later this week. In the meantime go and watch and vote for yourself at Amazon and for more on the story, check out the BBC report. 

Scene 31: Five Fictional Women Scientists from TV

Yesterday was Ada Lovelace Day, is an annual event to raise awareness of women in the sciences. This includes engineers, technologists, scientists and mathematicians. 

To celebrate I have done a short list of some fictional female scientists from TV, that have hopefully been an inspiration to girls and guys who've watched the shows.

The list is in no particular order, and covers a range of genres, though generally I have ended up picking characters I am familiar with and that are in science fiction. I have also decided to stick to characters where it has been made clear that they are scientists or have degrees within the shows - for example, I have not included T'Pol from Enterprise even though she was the Science Officer, as it is unclear which science she works in.  

I have also included links other articles on the web, mostly Wiki entries, about the listed characters professions, and the different sciences. 

1] Colonel Sam Carter - Stargate series

Sam Carter was a theoretical astrophysicist, pilot and engineer, and one of the most intelligent female characters across the whole Stargate series. She was part of the original team along with Dr Jackson, Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c. 

2]  Dr Liz Shaw - Doctor Who

Liz Shaw was a scientist from Cambridge University who was recruited by UNIT. An expert on meteorites  with degrees in medicine and physics, she assisted the Third Doctor whilst he was at UNIT until she resigned to continue her own research. 

3] Abby Sciuto - NCIS

Abby is a Forensic Specialist working at NCIS. A kind, cheerful Goth, she is an expert in DNA analysis, ballistics and digital forensics.

4] Zoe Heriot - Doctor Who

Zoe was a scientist on board Space Station W3 when she met the Second Doctor. She is an astrophysicist, and a first class astrometricist with a degree in pure mathematics and a photographic memory. 

5] Dr Amy Farrah Fowler - The Big Bang Theory

Amy is a neuroscientist, who does research into addiction. She was introduced to show as a dating website match found by Raj and Leonard for Sheldon, who she is very similar too. The actress who plays her, Mayim Bialik, actually has a real Ph.D in neuroscience.


For more inspiration check out this video of some young female scientists and engineers showing off their projects in America. 

Scene 15: Comedy in the Community

So, I have not been writing this blog as regularly as I promised, apologises, I have been busy. I have also become a new fan of a comedy series which I have been addictively watching. That series is Community. 

Community is a comedy about a study group at a community college. The group is led by Jeff, an ex-lawyer, who starts it by accident with Abed, a young lad obsessed with films and pop-culture, whilst trying to flirt with a female student called Britta, check out the trailer below.

I first heard about it from the internet comic book artist Rogo (check out his stuff here), but I didn't take the time to watch the series, until I saw a video of Karen Gillian talking about the show and how it parodied of Doctor Who.  

I was also told once, before I'd watched Community, that it was better than The Big Bang Theory - another comedy I think is very good. Now, having watched the first and second season of Community, I'd personally say that they are quite different. Community's tone and humour is somewhat darker and crazier than Big Bang's. It isn't afraid to deal with the issues in life, but at the same time things usually turn out alright,and  there are sweet and innocent moments of fun in there as well - mostly from Abed and Troy.

One of the things that set Community apart though is that it is very meta - a word the TV show has actually taught me - which means its very self-referential. Like films about the process of filmmaking, Community draws your attention to how TV shows work, as they do it themselves. This is neatly done through Abed who likes to view live as a TV show. So for example, when it looks like the group is going to be stuck in a room searching for a pen Abed announces it must be a bottle-episode - or low budget episode as we might term it in the UK.


The show also uses lots of references, as mentioned before, and some of the best ones are when the whole episode is used for spoof, for example the episode Modern Warfare is an amazing war film/apocalypse tribute.   


So in short, if you're into comedy, film and television references, or just Chevy Chase, I suggest you check this out.