Where to start working through the Star Wars canon

But where do you start when going through the new Star Wars canon? www.canonkillerbase.com lets you track your progress through the rebooted Star Wars canon. Media is shown in a chronological timeline. There are so many books, comics, TV shows and games to chose from, it can be tough to know where to begin

With the Star Wars new Expanded Universe canon, the question you need to ask yourself is: what do I want to know more about?

If you’re interested in the time before the Empire, there’s a lot of interesting stuff in the Clone Wars TV show. You see the Jedi at their height, in great numbers fighting the good fight and coming to terms with going from Peacekeepers to Warriors. You see the toll the Clone Wars take on the Galaxy, which help explain and enrich a lot of the prequel trilogy.

If you’re interested in the rise of the Empire, the books Tarkin and A New Dawn (along with some short stories) have been put together into anthology literally called The Rise of the Empire. You also can’t go wrong with Lost Stars, a book that looks into the life of enlisted men and women, as well as the every-day lives of worlds controlled by the Empire. You get to see the Galaxy from the perspective of average people, rather than the lofty experiences of the Jedi.

If you want to know more about the big gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, there are a whole series that come under the umbrella of ‘Journey to The Force Awakens’, including the much discussed Aftermath series that aims to show exactly what happened after the Battle of Endor.

If you’re still not sure where to start, we’d recommend the Marvel Star Wars comic series. Set after A New Hope, this series answers a lot of questions like: How did Luke continue his Jedi Training without Obi-Wan (and later, without Yoda)? How did Darth Vader find out Luke was his Son?  and generally fills in a lot of gaps of what happens between films in the original trilogy. The Comic series expands beyond one story, with Darth Vader, Leia, Chewbacca and even Lando featuring in their own adventures which often overlap. The Vader Down storyline crosses over the Star Wars and Darth Vader comics. The artwork in all these series is fantastic, and really reflects the aesthetic that we all know and love from the Star Wars Universe.

Why Homer Simpson is the great lost mind of his generation

I love the Simpsons. Way, way, way too much. I have a complex theory about how the reality the characters experience is constantly in flux to get away with the various inconsistency's in the time-line on the show (Homer and Marge getting together in the 70s and 90s). One of the things I think about is the fact that Homer, every once in a while, shows flashes real knowledge or insight. He can understand complex issues in an instant, but most of the time he's classed as the quintessential happy-idiot. Another thing is that the level of his stupidity changes moment to moment. Sometimes Homer can't understand the simplest of things , for example responding to a new name:

But when he changes his name to Max Powers he instantly knows what's what. My theory is as follows: Homer Simpson is an incredibly smart man. However, due to circumstances beyond his control his intelligence is severely limited - he just can't assess much of his brain.



The following list outlines the main contributing factors to Homer's stupidity.

1) Repeated Blows to the head

Quite early on we saw Homer getting hit in the head, and it just keeps getting more and more intence. Theres an episode where a drawbridge closes on his head, and numerous times we've seen him hit by baseballs etc. Also, Homer was once hit repeatedly hit by Drederick Tatum:

This could be a lot worse if it wasn't for...

2) Homer Simpson Syndrome
Homer suffers from a completely unique genetic defect called Homer Simpson Syndrome. Its like he has a hard-hat on under his skull. These kinds of blows to the head could kill a normal man, or leave him a vegetable, but due to his condition Homer is able to absorb most of the blows. Its unsure if the condition effects his intelligence, but it seems to be implied that he has a smaller brain because of it - this one could go either way.

3) The Simpson gene

Homer used to be as smart as Lisa in school, but slowly his intelligence started to fade due to the Simpsons gene which effects only men in the family. Bart is effected by the same condition, and sadly his intelligence faded too. Homer was once a bright young individual, this has been proven.

4) Other Brain damage
Homer has mentioned various incidents in this past that could have caused brain damage - Holding his breath until he passed out, taking part in lab tests for medication etc. Also his raging alcoholism - the amount of booze he drinks can't be good for his brain, and we all know how hard it is to think with a hangover. Not to mention the dangerous chemicals he comes into contact with every day at the power-plant. Its not exactly an ideal environment.

5) The crayon in the brain

This is the big one. If it wasn't for the crayon in the brain Homers startlingly  high intelligence would only be muted by the factors above. While Homer was a child he passed the time shoving crayons up his noise. Most of them came back out, but one remained in his head - and its been there ever since. Its been shown when Homer has the crayon removed from his brain, his intelligence sky rockets. He's no Einstein, but certainly above average - able to function above most of Springfield. Tragically, Homer is happier as an idiot so he has Moe put the crayon back ('That's right - I'm a surgeon!').

My point being, Homer was above average after the crayon was removed - think of how smart he'd be without the other things holding him back! If he never got hit in the head, if he didn't drink all night and work in a hazardous environment all day, if he wasn't subject to the various genetic defects that plague him. What a waste of a potentially brilliant mind.

Amazingly, Homer can still overcome these things and have moments of amazing insight or shows of intelligence. Shown in the episode where they go to China (You guys are commies? Why am I seeing signs of rudimentary free markets?) or Italy (Well, what am I supposed to do about it? Transport water from distant cities? / Why couldn't you remain a series of independent states, trading and occasionally going to war?) He can also have flashes of insight in a more emotional sense - undertading a situation and doing what's needed to make it better for his family.

So, what do you think? Is Homer the great lost mind of his generation? Can you think of any other contributing factors to his low-intelligence?

Find out for yourself by watching from The Simpsons - The Complete First Season or reading Simpsons World The Ultimate Episode Guide: Seasons 1-20

I'm going to add more examples to his article as time goes on.

The Office s07e20 review

When I heard that Michael was leaving The Office I didn't really know what to think. The UK version was centred around David Brent, but the US version has grown to so much more. They might be able to pull it off, the writing is so good. Ricky Gervais talks about why the show needs to continue in his blog: (there's no direct link so I'm just gonna copy and paste the entry)

There are lots of cynics (or maybe just people not in the actual business of making TV shows) asking the question, "Oh why don't they just axe The Office?" I of course pulled the plug on the original version after a measly seven or so hours of television. I stand by that decision and believe it's part of the reason why it, and the franchise in general, has been so successful ever since.

So why isn't the American version afforded the same reverence?

I suppose it has gone on a very long time and the loss of Steve Carell could mean the end of an era, but let me explain something; In the US TV industry, a show as successful as The Office will never stop.

Here's why.

If you can keep going for about 70 episodes you can get a low level syndication. That is, sell the series you've already made and been paid for to a second broadcaster at 100% profit.

The real magic number though is about 100 episodes. Then you can strip the show across 4 days a week at a given time for about 6 months a year. (We're on about 150 episodes at the moment and have another season commissioned.)

200 episodes means you can do this the whole year and then start again. This can be done on more than one channel of course, and in as many countries as will take it. One network alone could pay $100 million to show the reruns.

Now ask that question again; "Oh why don't they just axe The Office?"

Seems like a silly question now doesn't it?

So, y'know, its all about the money. There's some rumours flying around about who's gonna take over, Catherine Tate being one of the options (urgh), but if this new episode isn't just some one-off guest apprentice it looks like Will Ferrell is set to take over. I have no idea how I feel about that.

I don't have anything against Will Ferrell, his man-child ways and easy slapstick comedy does piss me off in large doses, but so did Steve Carell before I first got into the Office. Ferrell seemed to have calmed for the show, and it does work I guess. He's a little too high-profile for me too watch the show and really believe it, with the exception of Carell I didn't know any of the main cast before the show started and to me the cast are the embodiments of their characters. I know Ferrell from too many other things.

I think the show started off well, when Ferrell started talking to everyone he seemed to fit okay, if I could put his fame out of my mind - then he started abusing Andy and telling Jim and Pam he didn't care about their kids - the funniest stuff in the episode, but a meanness that didn't feel right in the show. There's something about the comedy that's so light-hearted and fun, even when things get serious, that made Will Ferrell's power-mad antics seem awful within the context of the show. I think that was my main problem with it.

Well, lets see how it goes. This could be awful, the Office could be one of those shows that were once great but begin to become awful, or the quality of the writing could carry the show through even with questionable casting. (I'm thinking the show should finish with Carell leaving, but that's just me.)

Overall I'd give this episode MIXED THUMBS UP.

Watch the classics, before it all got weird with The Office: Seasons 1-5

How I Met Your Mother s06e19 review

Barney met his dad... because of a letter he sent. I don't even remember him sending that letter, but the season had aired weirdly this year with some weird long gaps.

John Lithgow plays Barney's dad. I couldn't really get behind that as the last thing I saw him in was Dexter, and he was a crazy evil serial killer in that, just pretending to be a nice family man. So, when he was a a nice family man in this episode I couldn't shake the feeling he was planning to kill Ted and the gang in horrible ways as soon as he could. Who knows, maybe he sliced Ted up a bit off camera. He'd deserve it.

This seasons been a bit heavy, Marshall's dad died and now Barney meets his dad who's been missing for something like 25 years. Marshall's dads funeral was a moving moment, but this episode just seemed hollow. I don't like Barney as a interesting three dimensional character, I want him being funny and banging chicks. Its what he does best. We have the rest of the cast to have deep moments, just let Barney be funny. Jesus wept.

I did quite like the idea that everyone has a gap in their general knowledge that makes them seem like idiots - Robin thinking that the North Pole is not a real place, Ted mispronouncing chameleon etc. Its true, we all have things like that. I thought that the Rolling Stones were American 'till I was 19. When people found out they ridiculed me for days. The ones that the cast brought up seemed a little forced though... maybe I just didn't like the episode much.

Not much to say about this episode really, not many gags, weird casting and Barney not being funny enough.
FOUR THUMBS UP

Watch it all on Amazon: How I Met Your Mother: Season One

Californication s04e11 review

How is it the penultimate episode already? It seems like 2 days ago the first two episodes were leaked online. The season has been great, I thought the trial would come and go within the first 5 episodes and the rest of the season would focus on Hank making a movie. Not so, this season has shown a broken Hank dealing with the consequences of his actions in a way he's never had to before. Its not slowed him down, but still.

Hank was found guilty, which I really didn't expect, and in the opening shots we saw the gang dealing with the news - badly. Charlie wept like a child. I just feel bad for Hank now, everyone knows he's innocent(ish) but he's facing jail time. Hanks described as an 'outlaw' by an old friend and Becca pleads with Hank to be a normal boring 9-5 dad (which leads to a 50s-Sitcom style dream sequence that almost kills the episode). Becca has some great moments this episode, despite her pissing me off somewhat this season. Hank tells her that he wants to 'forget reality' for a while and Becca communicates to Hank, without actually saying it, that that is exactly what his problem is.

I think I've always wanted to be an outlaw. Hunter S. Thompson, Bill Hicks - these are the people I look up to, but I could never cut lose and live like Hank. I think its why I find Hank such an appealing character.

The gang all get high together and talk of old times, remembering that they were once great - and wondering how it all went wrong. Hank is the centre of this little group, but he needs them all to survive. I think in their heats they all want to go back to being two couples, getting drunk and having a laugh, but its just out of reach. Its sad times.

I'm looking forward to next week and seeing how this all wraps up. There's another season after this, but to me this feels like the last. The whole season has been about his mistake from the start of season one, and we re-lived the infamous Nun scene that opened season one this episode. Maybe this will be the last great season, but who knows the show seems to have just got better to me, without losing sight of where it all began - a rarity. Most shows find out what works with the fans, then do that to death and ignore everything else. Califonication is a cut above.

EIGHT THUMBS UP.

Season 1 was good too y'know: Californication - The First Season

30 Rock s05e17 review

its my way... 'till pay day WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN

When the whole 'Queen of Jordan' episode started I thought it was just a cleaver into - I was a little pissed when I realised it was a full episode, but that quickly went away when it was one of the most brilliant episodes ever. The satire in 30 Rock is spot on. It goes right up too the line of being too much, but never actually crosses it. Jack trying his hardiest not to seem gay was the highlight of the show, as Jack is the highlight of most episodes. His whole speech about playing football in college and the repeated shot of him falling over had me laughing out loud.

D'Fwan was an amazing character. His first words on screen 'D'Fwan forgot his catchphrase!' coupled with the close-up and amazing expression was priceless. All the way through he nailed every line he had. 'I'm not just a gay hairdresser. I'm also a homosexual party planner.' If he was a real person on an actual reality TV show, I would not be surprised. 

The subplot with Frank and his old teacher didn't really do much for me. The idea was that Franks teacher from School slept with him in the 9th Grade (dunno how old that would make him) and has just got out of jail - but he's never grown up so she doesn't want to be with him anymore. The one good part of that plot was the line where the teacher asked Frank how he knew where she worked - 'Its just one of the benefits of dating a registered sex offender.'

Queen of Jordan was just everything wrong with reality TV. Reading other reviews online it seems some of the scenes and ideas were targeting specific TV shows, ones that I guess don't air over here in the UK, but I wouldn't watch them even if they did.

I'm glad shows are back after a couple of weeks off, and the Office is back next week so everythings back on track!

EIGHT THUMBS UP


watch it all blah blah 30 Rock: Season One30 Rock: Season 230 Rock: Season Three30 Rock: Season Four

House... just house.

happy people are not intresting

I'm just gonna say it - House should have ended last season. Maybe even before that. There's only so many times I can hear Foreman say 'What? There's only been a handful of documented cases in the past 50 years!' before I start to disbelieve that they're gonna come across these cases.  This last episode showed House saying that loving Cuddy made him a crappy doctor... but that she was worth it. I just didn't believe that scene, I thought House must be playing everyone to get away with something.... but no, it was real. That's not then House we love. House should have ended one of two ways. One: he's addiction finally caught up with him and he died (the best ending) or we see him finally get with Cuddy and we're left to believe they live happily ever after.

What we have now is a happy House, with no real conflict (apart from him thinking 'should I be happy? Yeah probably'). I don't give a shit about the supporting cast any more, their problems are laughable. Divorce? Room mate issues? Wilson gets a dog? What happened to staff members struggling with there own mortality, forced to experiment with drugs? Also that new redhead staff member... worst actor ever. Who the hell is she? Her thing is she's smart but naive about the real word - something that has been done far better, and more subtlety, before.

I watch it now due to some sense of loyalty to the show. It used to be amazing, and the one off weird episodes (like ones that happen only in Houses mind) can be television at its best. I still get chills when I think about the episode where House was shot, and he hallucinates an entire episode. The man who shot him features in the hallucination and gives House some hash truths:

"You pretend to buck the system, pretend to be a rebel, claim to hate rules. But all you do is substitute your own rules for society's. And it's a nice, simple rule: tell the blunt, honest truth in the starkest, darkest way. And what will be, will be. What will be, should be. And everyone else is a coward. But you're wrong. It's not cowardly to not call someone an idiot. People aren't tactful or polite just because it's nice. They do it because they've got an ounce of humility. 'Cause they know that they will make mistakes. They know that their actions have consequences. And they know that those consequences are their fault. Why do you want so bad not to be human, House"

Brilliant. Now? I couldn't care less. I hope the show gets better again, or ends on a high. Anything but this pointless limbo.


MIXED THUMBS UP

See House at his best in House, M.D.: Season One, House, M.D.: Season Two, House, M.D.: Season Three, House, M.D.: Season Four, House, M.D.: Season Five