Does Touch Get the Math Right?

By: Dr. Keith Devlin, Source: The Huffington Post;

The new Fox TV series Touch, starring Kiefer Sutherland, has as one of its central characters a mathematically gifted, autistic, 11-year-old child Jake, played by David Mazouz. How accurate is the portrayal of mathematics in the show? Based on the first episode, the answer is, “Not very.” (The caveat is, it doesn’t really matter.)

The first number we encounter, by way of Jake’s disembodied voice (he does not speak, so we only hear him as a thought-track) is the golden ratio, approximately 1.618. Thematically, that’s good, since that number does occur a lot in nature, often by way of its closely associated Fibonacci sequence. Which makes it all the more perplexing that, midway through the first episode, we have Danny Glover’s character repeating a series of oft-recycled falsehoods about the Fibonacci sequence.

Warner Bros. fight with Superman creators is about to get uglier

By Matthew Jackson, Source: Blastr.com

The legal battle between Warner Bros. and the estates of Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster over the copyright to the Man of Steel has been raging for more than a decade, and the bad blood behind it has been boiling for much, much longer. It often looks like there’s no end in sight for this clash, but now Warner Bros. is taking steps to win the fight, once and for all.

The copyright battle began back in 1999, when Siegel’s widow filed a copyright termination notice on Superman that ignited a long fight with Warner Communications, parent company of both DC Comics and Warner Bros. Studios. In 2008, the Siegel family reclaimed their half of the copyright to the character, and the Shuster family is scheduled to get the other half in 2013. But that doesn’t mean Warner Bros. is going down without a fight.

American Reunion Helmers Go Back to the Future?

by Max Nicholson, Source: IGN

Hurwitz and Schlossberg reveal their pipe dream franchise.

American Reunion directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg have just inked a two-year deal with Universal. Now the question is, are there any other dormant franchises that the writer-director team are looking to tackle?

According to Moviehole, there is one Uni franchise that they’d like to resurrect — although they claim to be so terrified of screwing it up that it might just remain a pipe dream.

“We want Back to the Future, just come out and say it”, Hurwitz nudged Scholssberg into admitting. “That’s our favourite trilogy. We’re always having this conversation.”

Angry Birds Space Hits 10M Downloads in Three Days

By Angela Moscaritolo, Source: PC Magazine;

That’s a lot of pigs in space.

Angry Birds Space, the latest addition to the wildly popular Angry Birds franchise, has topped 10 million downloads in just three days. Game maker Rovio announced the milestone on its Twitter feed this morning.

The game was released last Thursday for iOS and Android devices, as well as Macs and PCs, with one of the biggest, and probably most expensive, promotional campaigns for a mobile game ever seen. And it seems to have paid off – just hours after its release, the new Angry Birds title was already at the top of Apple’s App Store charts in nearly 30 countries.

BBC renews ‘Being Human’ for a fifth season

by Aubry D’Arminio, Source: EW.com

The BBC and BBC America are conjuring up another season of Being Human for 2013. The show — which hinges on a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost living together — lost two of its original leads following season 3, leaving only ghost Lenora Crichlow. But promoting frequent guest werewolf Michael Socha (This is England) to the main cast and adding unknown Damien Molony as the new vampire turned out to be less of a Hail Mary than a successful reboot.

Grundy’s Web Pick of the Week: Rotten Tomatoes

Movies cost over $10 now. And that’s for 2-D flicks! A Hamilton may be a price that the market can bare, but not my wallet. Opportunity cost dictates that I must choose my films and the Grail Knight dictates that I must “choose wisely.” So wisely I shall choose with Rotten Tomatoes.

Disclaimer: RottenTomatoes.com isn’t exactly an obscure choice for a web pick. Most of you are probably familiar with the most popular movie review aggregation site on the ‘net. But, hey, if Hollywood has given up on being original, so can I.

‘Doctor Who’ series seven trailer unveiled – watch first footage now

By Morgan Jeffery, Source: Digital Spy

The BBC has released the first trailer for Doctor Who’s seventh series.

The sci-fi drama’s next run is expected to premiere in the autumn on BBC One.

The new clip – first screened for fans at the official Doctor Who convention on Saturday (March 24) – is mostly comprised of scenes from a forthcoming Wild West adventure, filmed on location in Spain.

Next on Earth Station One… Flash Gordon

Next week, the Earth Station One crew and special guests Dr Scott Vigue, Debbie Vigue, and Dan Johnson join Flash Gordon and company and travels across the vastness of the universe to thwart Ming the Merciless’ latest plot for universal conquest. Can our intrepid heroes save the universe? Tune in to the next episode of Earth Station One to find out.

ESO wants to hear from you. What are your favorite Flash Gordon moments? Drop us a line at http://www.esopodcast.com, at the ESO Facebook Group, email us at esopodcast@gmail.com, or call us at 404-963-9057 with your list. We might just read yours on the show.

The ESO Crew

Coen brothers’ ‘Fargo’ to be adapted for television by FX?

By Zeba Blay , Source: Digital Spy.com

FX is said to be currently in talks to adapt the Coen brothers’ black comedy Fargo into a television show.

The film, which was released in 1996, starred Frances McDormand, William H Macy and Steve Buscemi. It followed a pregnant Minneapolis police chief trying to solve a series of homicides.

Will ‘Clerks: The Animated Series’ Return in 2013?

by MTV Geek

That’s what Kevin Smith is promising on Twitter.

Kevin Smith has famously promised that after his hockey saga Hit Somebody shoots and wraps, he’s wiping his hands of filmmaking and concentrating his efforts on helping smaller films get distributed. But, that doesn’t preclude him from dabbling in work for the small screen, recently noting via his Twitter feed that he and the revitalized Miramax would be working together to resuscitate the short-lived animated series based on his first film, Clerks. According to Smith, he and Miramax are looking to bring the show back as a series of half-hour episodes sometime next year.