Tag: television (Page 3 of 3)

Kyle XY: Why, why, why?

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Kyle XY gives us another in a series of ABC Television’s efforts to bring the TV show’s audience on-line with a vaguely ARG-like game. Unlike The Lost Experience or Ocular Effect, however, this seems to be the ARG that can’t get off the ground. So far we have one site, MadaCorp, which is some kind of scientific research company. The site itself is slapped together with some not-too-interesting Flash bits, and has whole pages with no content of any kind. Clicking on “Our Jobs” takes you to a secret blog, where a mysterious insider talks about his efforts to bring the truth about Kyle to light, but the entries are obtuse and repetitive, leading this reporter to wonder if he’s the dumbest whistle-blower ever, or the “clues” are so convoluted that no one has been able to figure them out yet.

The show itself, running Monday nights on ABC Family, is a charming bit of science fiction in the guise of a family drama. Matt Dallas brings a kind of goofy innocence to the role of Kyle, and his interactions with the world make for some very funny and touching moments. The family Trager is bland California, however. The acting is competent, at least.

Overall, I can’t say that this has much to recommend it, and yet I can’t stop watching, either. I have this hope that something more will develop and make all those blog entries mean more than the insipid ramblings they appear to be currently. Also, I really want to find out why Kyle doesn’t have a belly button.

Lost and Found

oceanic.jpgABC’s hit TV series Lost has captured the imagination of its viewing audience since its phenomenal pilot episode. There are at least 8 different official and fan-created websites (one of which we reported on before the summer) to explore for more clues and fan-fiction about the Lost universe.

Warning: this article may contain spoilers for seasons 1 and 2 of ABC’s Lost.

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ReGenesis: Relaunch and Award Nomination!

regenesis.jpgTwo bits of exciting information coming out of the ReGenesis camp this week, one concerning the relaunch of the series on public television, and the other regarding the nomination of the ReGenesis website for a major Canadian award.

We last reported on ReGenesis back in October of 2004 when the series was first aired on Movie Central and The Movie Network, both subscription-based cable networks in Canada. The series included an ARG element, or “extended reality” to it. Now, almost a year later, ReGenesis is enjoying a resurgence in popularity with the broadcast of Season One on Canadian public television channel Global. (Unfortunately, there is no current syndication deal for any networks outside of Canada.) With the re-airing of the series on Global comes the relaunch of the web-based ARG. This is the first instance of an “replayed” ARG — that is, the reset and replay of an ARG that had previously run its course.

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War of the Worlds Latin Revelations

revelations.jpgA few weeks back, we reported on some mysterious posters and graffiti that was showing up around the country, all depicting the latin phrase, “Omnium Finis Imminet.” Word was that these could be the beginnings of a marketing campaign for the upcoming Spielberg adaptation of War of the Worlds, and this even seemed to be confirmed in a New York Times Article. This news caused many in the ARG community to clench various body parts in collective anticipation of another Spielberg-related Alternate Reality Game.

Paramount discounted these reports, however, and it was finally disclosed that these ads were for an upcoming NBC-TV series, Revelations. In addition, the New York Times subsequently published the following retraction:

“An article on Saturday about unusual subway advertisements included an erroneous identification from transit officials for the production whose ad featured a flock of birds with the phrase “Omnium Finis Imminet,” Latin for “The End of All Things Is Near.” It is an NBC television series called “Revelations,” not Steven Spielberg’s film version of “War of the Worlds.”

Well, it just goes to show you that you can’t always believe everything those pesky NYC Transit Officials tell you after all, let alone the New York Times! Alternate Reality Game? Nope. Stealth campaign gone terribly wrong? Absolutely!

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