TVSquad

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

• The All-New Popeye Hour - Popeye and Friends
• Burn Notice - Season 1
• Californication - Season 1
• Dynasty - Season 3, Vol. 1
• ER - Season 9
• Galaxy High School - The Collection
• The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle - Complete Series
• Jericho - Season 2 and Complete Series
• Meerkat Manor - Season 3
• The Naked Brothers Band - Polar Bears
• Popeye - Vol. 2: 1938-40
• The Real McCoys - Season 3
• Sabrina The Teenage Witch - Season 4
• The Suite Life of Zack and Cody - Lip Synchin in the Rain
• Transformers: Animated - Tranform and Roll Out
• Wanted: Dead or Alive - Best Of

Here is a pleasant letter I got this week from a fan named Everett Mason...

Everett writes, "Hi Paul, I'm trying to remember a 70's anime. I know it was about a boy from outer space that had powers. It was in black and white. It might have been called space boy or something like that."

Well, clearly the answer is Astro Boy. Even if you have never seen the show, I'm sure most of you are at least familiar with it. The character has been one of the more successful crossovers from Japanese animation to America.

Raising the dead, robot/human relationships, melting families and naked tiger-like humanoids. By reading this list you probably think I'm talking about stuff that happens on shows like Battlestar Galactica, Lost and According to Jim. Obviously, you would be wrong...except for the According to Jim thing. No, all of these events took place in cartoons made in the 1980's.

I may be wrong but I think last week's question may have been the first one to go the entire week without being answered. The question was, "In the TV Movie, The Nashville Grab, what was the name of the restaurant chain owned by Conaway's character Buddy Walker?" The answer was Spaghetti in a Sack. I swear, it really was.

This week's question comes form a Transformers fan who really made me work.

Michael Fantauzzo asked me, " Who did Blackarachnia fall in love with?"

You've still got today to enter our latest giveaway of Beast Wars: Transformers complete series DVD set if you haven't already. Make sure you comment on the applicable post (linked above) before 5:00PM Eastern today or be left out.

Good luck!

Hey everyone, it's time for another free giveaway. This time, though, we've only got one set of these. The good news is the winner we choose will get seasons one, two and three of Beast Wars: Transformers -- the entire series! Just post a comment below stating what your favorite Transformers character is (from any series.) We'll randomly select the winning entry from all eligible comments.
And now we present you with the legalities of the contest. (Read them. Please.)

And now we return to E! True Hollywood Story -- Optimus Prime.

The early 21st century wasn't kind to the Autobot leader. With revenues from his successful 80's cartoon drying up, the accumulated losses he took from his investments in WorldCom and Enron, and the disaster that was the short-lived game show Autobot or Decepticon, Optimus Prime could barley put a cube of Energon on the table. He tried to get back in television with small bit parts on According to Jim and Still Standing but no one was really watching.

Both Toon Zone and ICv2 have written of a supposed Entertainment Tonight report that there will be a sequel to the recently-released Transformers movie (which has already been a line of toys, several animated TV series, a comic book and a feature-length animated film).

However, my scan of the ET site has not brought up anything of the sort, and while a couple articles from other sites do allude to the possibility of a sequel, I see nothing that could be construed as an official announcement.

To honor the release of the Transformers movie, I thought today would be a good time to reminisce about the original heyday of the vehicles and weapons that were 'robots in disguise'. Of course, I am talking about the 1980's, when Transformers cartoons ruled the weekday afternoon airwaves.

Oh, what a glorious time that was for the tween set! Running home from school, dropping our books on the kitchen table, then plopping ourselves down in front of the television to watch Transformers, G.I. Joe, Thundercats, and M.A.S.K. right before our parents called us to the table for dinner. Sure, we ended up not doing our homework. Okay, our grades slipped. Yes, we had to repeat 9th grade a few times. Still, it was a time we would never forget!

With the theatrical premiere of The Transformers approaching fast, it should come as no surprise that Hasbro and Cartoon Network are developing a brand new animated series featuring the robots in disguise.

Transformers Animated, slated for a January debut, would be the ninth series based on the toys. In this new series, rather than constantly pitting themselves against the Decepticons, the Autobots will instead fight a human enemy. The new series will also NOT be based on the new film version, though obviously the producers are hoping for a hefty boost from the movie to get a new generation interested in the franchise.

There are two new Transformers movie trailers on YouTube. The live action movie comes out on July 4th- it's directed by Michael Bay, who does a lot of horror films but also big blockbusters like Armageddon and Pearl Harbor.

The trailers are short and fast and it's kind-of hard to see what's happening, but basically mechanical-looking monsters are chasing people and crushing cars. The trailers reveal that the movie is about the Autobots protecting the humans from the Decepticons, who have apparently come here to exterminate us (they're like Cylons!).

I watched both trailers (they're super short) and I had two thoughts: 1) Awesome!, and 2) This is going to be dumb. It looks cool but it also looks just slightly stupid, as fake machines are chasing people down the street and whatnot. Of course, I will still plop down my $10 to go see it in the theater because, where else would you see such a thing?

Check out both videos after the jump (the second one is best) and tell me what you think in comments.

Hey, everybody, here's a few tasty tidbits from the world of animation for you. Please chew carefully:

A fourth trailer for The Simpsons movie was released not too long ago. Most of you have probably seen it already, but if not, I've placed it at the end of this post. The brief shot of Lisa fainting over the cute boy gets me every time. The animation in that sequence is unlike anything they do on the TV series, which leads me to believe this movie is going to kick twelve essential kinds of ass.

This is the 27th in my twelve-part series where my friends (that's you) and I (that's also you, but in this case: me) try to learn all we can about a subject by turning to that great teaching tool known as television.

Many people will tell you that whether or not a person ultimately believes in a supreme being is a matter of personal choice, hopefully arrived at through study and reflection. This is not true: both atheism and religion are based on cheese, and which of the following items most interests a person, this:

Our buddies over at Autoblog can hardly contain themselves over these photos of the new Transformers action figures (they're crazy for cars, and cars that turn into robots are their ultimate dream). The newly-styled gizmos will be released this summer, in conjunction with the live-action Transformers film which comes out on July 4th. The figures are designed based on the style of the movie, of which we've seen only a few clips.

The new Transformers look tougher than the plastic ones I remember as a kid (I had three brothers, so Barbie was out). Specifically, their faces are a little more mencing. Even Optimus Prime has been updated with a new paint job. And check out the Optimus Prime Arm Blaster. It would be okay for a grown woman to have a Transformer on her desk, right?

Paper Robots has created its greatest achievement: Optimus Prime. This site gives downloadable instructions on how to cut-out and shape your very own Transformer... and it actually turns into a truck.

I downloaded the instructions and it looks simple enough that even a person like myself, who has absolutely zero craft-making skills, can master it. You just need a color printer, an exacto knife, tape, and the ability to fold paper. This is going to make an awesome addition to my desk, right next to the Dwight Schrute bobblehead doll.

Click here to see photos... and here to see an Optimus Prime with a shout-out to Say Anything).