The Cooper Emulation

Okay, it's official. I'm a "Big Bang Theory" collector.

That's kind of hard to do when there's nothing much available to collect - I have the poster, which I showed here earlier. (Sorry, I am STILL without DSL at home, so not able to link and use all the bells and whistles usually available!!!). My position as a collector of most anything I could get my hands on for this show became clear when I saw the episode "The Pancake Batter Anomaly" which aired on March 31st. Sheldon becomes ill and there's a big scene between Penny and him in his bedroom as she tries to take care of him. Sheldon's room has been seen before, and I looked over the art on his walls to get an idea what he had up, but couldn't make out anything except the comic books over his bed. In this show, though, you could clearly read something in green on a mostly black piece of art behind Penny's shoulder: House of Secrets.

That's funny, that's the name of my comic book shop. In Burbank. About a mile down the road from Warner Brothers Studio. And they sell lithographs by artist Ragnar that often feature the name of the store.

Here's an address:

http://www.artoffiction.com/HOS_Specialty.html

I went there the next day and found out that Sheldon has hanging in his room the two lithos you see above. So with barely a hesitation, I bought them. Of course, I'll try to have them framed the same way they appear in the show. It's kind of fun to think that unofficially Sheldon and Leonard go to the same comic shop I do. It's a great shop, and fairly close to Pasadena where the show is set. Only about ten minutes down the road without traffic - but then, there's always traffic. So maybe they get their regular Wednesday night comic book fix at a shop in Pasadena, but go to House of Secrets for the good stuff.

But the mere fact that I wanted these lithos largely because they were on the show makes it clear I'm a Big Bang Theory collector, which means even this relatively simple parking pass will remain in my collection forever.



Tonight's episode, "The Bat Jar Conjecture," is the second episode I went and saw in person, and it's as good as any to check out the show if you're not familiar with it. I'll be saving the parking pass and the little program that I got there. Sheldon Cooper would be happy to see how obsessive I've become about collecting from his show... just another fan who made the transition to fullblown fancollectorgeek almost before I even knew it!

Server problems!!!

A down DSL connection at home may interrupt / slow postings for about a week, but that makes this a very appropriate time to present "The IT Crowd." Perhaps truly my most active collection is DVDs, particularly television DVDs. About a year ago, I got a taste for Region 2 DVDs, having secured a multi-region player, and ordering shows I had seen on BBC America but weren't available here - most notably, "Life on Mars," especially its second season, which was available from Amazon UK a full 8 months before it was even advertised in the States.

The IT Crowd, however, showed up as a little "Amazon.UK recommends" one day, showing the odd little 80's style computer graphics you see on the box here. There's something about paying for shipping all the way across the Atlantic that makes me want to cram as much as possible into the box, so I thought I'd give it a look. I'm glad I did.



The title plays on the double meaning of "It Crowd" (cool popular people) and I.T. people (Internet Tech support). Jen is happy to find herself employeed at sleek and sexy "Renholm Industries," but ends up deep in the dark basement as "public liason" for the IT department - specifically, Moss and Roy, two geeky techs who keep the office littered with out of date hardware and comic books. These are definite fancolectorgeeks shown in their natural work environment. It's a case of terrific casting all around, but Richard Ayoade as uptight Maurice Moss does truly stand out - and in fact was the only cast member to make it over to an American pilot version (so far unaired) that placed Joel Hile of "The Soup" as his unkempt coworker Roy.



After viewing season one I immediately pre-ordered season two, and loved it. The first episode provides one of my favorite moments in television comedy - a synthesis of story, acting, and editing that had me laughing out loud even watching it alone. Both these DVDs are in my living room front and center of the shelves (to the left of the Rocketeer poster) for easy access. If you get a chance to watch The IT Crowd, I suggest you take it. You won't be disappointed.

So please be patient if I don't update as regularly for a few days. If Moss or Roy were here, I'm sure it'd be fixed faster.

The Striking Writers Interval

Returning to TV Monday the 17th is The Big Bang Theory, a CBS sitcom of interest to fan/collector/geeks, because it's about fan/collector/geeks.  The main characters, Sheldon and Leonard (TV geeks take pride if you notice the inside joke in their names) live in an apartment filled with science fiction posters, DVDs, framed comic books, and computers.  With their friends they watch Dr. Who and play Halo 3.  They also are genius physicists.  The story loosely centers around Leonard's interest in the pretty but non-genius girl across the hall Penny, a waitress at the Cheesecake Factory.  

Before the writer's strike interrupted the TV season back in November, only eight episodes of the show had aired.  In that time it quickly became a must-see show on Monday nights for me.  The characters are funny, interesting, and more rarely for a sitcom, their relationships grow and change.  They also tend to work in plenty of references for geeks, be they computer programmers or comic book collectors or even physicists.  I recommend it highly, and if you can't catch it Monday night at 8, you can watch it anytime here (see the full episodes on the right). If you're not familiar with the program, I recommend taking a look at the second episode, "The Big Bran Hypothesis."  Before the opening credits, you'll have seen the best of what the show is all about.  For the opening scene of the first episode after the pilot, that's pretty good, and in my opinion, the show has only gotten better.  Episodes are also available on iTunes.

Also, my good friend Jim Fanning has blogged about the show a couple times on his excellent (and personally inspirational) blog Tulgey Wood.  We also had the opportunity to attend the taping of the episode airing the 17th, and I have the feeling he's going to have something to say about it after the show airs.  (No pressure Jim!)  More excellent news, during the strike it secured a return for 9 more episodes this season and a full season this fall - so it must be making an impression at the network as well.

I've already managed to secure a collectible from the show.  During the weeks that the show was repeating and I was wanting some new connection with it, I searched Ebay and found

 the poster above.  Now, I work about two miles from Warner Brothers, I know people there, and my connection to get this poster was someone in Wisconsin who put it up for sale.  Go figure.  I have every intention of framing this poster, but for now, it remains rolled up in the tube I got it in, right next to my couch, waiting for me to measure it.  Rolled out here on my living room carpet and held in place by four non-related geeky items to photograph (Can you name them all?).

One further note - you can also download the theme song by Barenaked Ladies from Itunes for their magic price 99 cents.  It has a verse or two you don't hear on the show and is well worth it for fans.

Aside from recommending a great show to you, this is my first post that touches on a very interesting sub-genre of collectibles & fandom, which is the self-reflexive.  Comic books about comic collectors, TV shows about Role playing gamers, and movies about Star Trek fans have been on the uprise, and I've been fascinated with them all.  I'm not sure where it started - with William Shatner's "Get a Life sketch on Saturday Night Live?  With the Eltingville Science Fiction Fantasy Role Playing Horror Comic Book Club?  Or was it way back with Myron Victor, a cartoonist who lived in Metropolis and fought as Merryman in the Inferior Five?

In any case, on a weekly basis, I'll take a look at these here and see what these media are saying about themselves, and about the people who appreciate them most, the fancollectorgeeks.