Skynet is sexier than ever!

Come to think of it, sexy isn't really something Skynet is usually associated with at all. Shiny would probably be a more appropriate description. Though I must confess to a few improper thoughts about Robert Patrick back in the day. But I digress, Skynet is sexy NOW and it's all because of their new face of cosmetics, I mean, CEO, Shirley Manson.

I'll admit to some bias here. I love Shirley Manson and everything she does. Well, except for when she cut off all her hair and dyed it blonde, but hey, people yell at me for that on occasion too. Her addition to the cast of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was a cool choice. Making her a Terminator was even cooler.

This is precisely why I avoid spoilers at all costs. Although I had my suspicions during the episode it was nerdtastic watching Shirley (Catherine Weaver) transform at the end. Fox is calling her model the T-1001, one step above Robert Patrick's character from Terminator 2. Even though the Connor's have taken out a few regular Terminators already in the show, and rather easily I might add, we know that the 1000 series are harder to kill. From what we've seen of her character so far it's becoming apparent she's not here for the Connor's at all but only to insure the development of Skynet. Does that mean if she passed one of them on the street she'd keep on walking? We'll see.

Another great reason for having Shirley in the cast is they get to take advantage of her musical talent. Bear McCreary, of Battlestar Galactica fame, also composes for TSCC and was thrilled when he heard about the casting. He was worried about using another song after the well-postioned montage to Johnny Cash's "The Man Comes Around" last season but he eventually, um, came around.

A traditional song called "Samson and Delilah" was chosen to kick of the season. It's been recorded by a wide variety of artists over the years including the Grateful Dead. McCreary and Manson's version will be included on the first soundtrack to the series and he explains his composing process in depth on his blog if you want to know more. Here is how it was used in the show.

Awesome, right? Unfortunately the only not-so-awesome thing also occurs within the first five minutes. My Venture Bros. pal James Urbaniak (Sarkissian) gets killed off. I was so disappointed! I thought he was going to play a big role in the second season and I was really looking forward to him playing a serious villain. He shared some positive news on his livejournal from TSCC story editor Zack Stentz: 

Just because we killed you...doesn't mean we didn't love you. Many were the discussions in the writers' room about the fate of "Dr. Venture," as we referred to the character. And since what happened in the attic is in many ways the central trauma of season two, we're going to be seeing more of Mr. Urbaniak in a future episode.

It may not be a permanent gig but it's something. And as a little aside, Urbaniak also announced he started recording for Venture Bros. Season 4 already so that's good news too.

Anyway I'm really looking forward to this season of TSCC. I always thought there was so much untapped potential in the plain old liquid Terminators. Though there has to be something different about Shirley's model, hence the 1001. Could it be some sort of emotion or what passes for emotion for a Terminator? We saw Cameron profess "love" in the season premiere and Shirley told a dead man, "the feeling's mutual." Who cares about emotions? She's sexy.

Slayer returns to Sunnydale

After the final episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer you thought it was all over. No more Scoobies, no more Sunnydale. Then came along Season Eight in comic form! We breathed a sigh of relief as we got to step back into their quirky world, albeit in Scotland. Just when you thought you'd never see it again, Sunnydale has been resurrected (much like it's many inhabitants over the years). A new Buffy the Vampire Slayer video game comes exclusively to Nintendo DS this year. 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Sacrifice is currently under development by Beast Studios in Romania (quite an appropriate name considering the project). Twentieth Century Fox in cooperation with 505 Games plans to release the game in Europe by November.

Sacrifice is described as a 3-D survival horror game which combines third-person and first-person gameplay. Playing in first-person, or "Challenge Mode," will give you an increased difficulty level. As Buffy you will be able to unlock over 20 "Slayer weapons" throughout 24 levels to fight the vampires and demons you come across. Also unlockable are spells to increase Buffy's supernatural and physical abilities. You'll come across familiar characters from the show like Angel, Spike, the Master, Caleb, the First and of course the Scoobies, but it doesn't look like you'll be able to play them.

Stakes (no pun intended) are high as Buffy is charged, once again, to reseal the Hellmouth. The original story is being penned by Robert Deshotel, writer of one of my favorite Buffy episodes, The Puppet Show. Strangely enough, the game is set after the Season Seven finale but you'll be able to explore Sunnydale High and the Bronze. If you're a fan of the show you realized that's a rather obvious contradiction. None of those places exist after season seven. I guess it's safe to say this game is not canon but rather holding hands with canon.

"Buffy's return to videogames is great for long-time fans of the franchise and we hope the huge market reach of the Nintendo DS will help to create new fans too," said Rowan Tafler, Global Brand Manager at 505 Games. Somehow I doubt anyone who isn't already into Buffy is going to pick up this game but I am, so I will. There have been several Buffy games over the years but I never bothered with them because I didn't think they'd be that great. Though I heard good things about the Xbox version from 2002.

Elie Dekel, Executive Vice President Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising said, "Although there are no new productions of the series there is an enduring legacy that lives on through syndication, comic books and video games like these." Even with the popularity of Season Eight, I find it odd that there is still enough interest to warrant a Buffy video game. Then again it's only going to be on the DS so production costs must be low. The fact that Sacrifice is being released first (possibly only) in Europe strikes me as odd too. Are we going to have to go to war with Europe to decide who likes Buffy more? I hope not, I like Europe. And so does Buffy.