TVSquad

There are plenty of sci-fi TV shows made up in Canada. The Stargate series comes out of Vancouver -- as does Fringe. There's a proud ongoing fantasy tradition deeply rooted up there.

But, the city's local newspaper insists the best show in production in Canada's Pacific Southwest isn't on broadcast TV. It's a web series called Riese. The Steampunk-themed action series is set in another time in the kingdom of Eleysia. The title character (Christine Chatelain) battles through the countryside with a wolf avenging the death of her family.

She's fighting off a crazed, fundamentalist religious group -- the Sect. So, you can set your watch by how long the tunnel-vision crew over at Big Hollywood jumps on Riese as some sort of attack on traditional religion. (It's not.)

Here's a question for the ages: Who would win in a real fight: Peter or Nathan Petrelli? Could the power-nabbing Peter kick Nathan's high-flying ass in a no-holds-barred brawl? Or would the older, slimier Nathan have the advantage?

It's a tough call. I'd have to vote for WHO THE FRAK CARES?!

But Peter Petrelli himself, Milo Ventimiglia, hopes that people care about such hypothetical battles. In his latest attempt to corner the geek market, the Heroes star is co-producing Ultradome, a web series "where passionate fanboys settle hypothetical disputes in a special effects showdown."

Expect to see such fanboys, including Ventimiglia, duke it out on the web series in scripted – yep, scripted – fights to settle stuff like: Which franchise is cooler, Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings, or is Han Solo tougher than Indiana Jones?

And yes, you'll be laughing at it, not with it. Mostly because it's awfully unoriginal, unfunny, and it revolves around two of the most useless characters in the Heroes universe -- Eric Doyle (aka "The Puppetmaster"), and that d-bag who used to be HRG's boss at Copy Kingdom (who reminds you that he used to be the boss at Copy Kingdom two seconds after he shows up).

OK, maybe someone could make a good web series about The Puppetmaster (David H. Lawrence XVII is a good actor), but this ain't it. The five-and-a half minute opener, which premiered Monday, is mostly laughably bad, forgettable and uninspired.

Nowhere Man, that's what they call it, chronicles Doyle's attempt to go straight and work an office job. Copy Kingdom guy is his sleazy jerk boss who just happens to be dating the object of his affection.

Pity Felix Gaeta. First, he was almost shot out of an airlock. Then he lost a leg. Now, it looks like he's in for one long, terrible day in "The Face of the Enemy," the 10-part Battlestar Galactia webisode series that premiered today on SciFi.com.

Click through for more, somewhat spoilery, info about the first chapter of "Enemy," written by Jane Espenson and Seamus Kevin Fahey. You'll also find the full webisode schedule and a larger version of the new Season 4.5 poster featuring Starbuck's, er, chest after the jump.

The facts are these: In The Office webisodes that have been airing over the past couple of weeks, Oscar has been pissed. He showed up to work and had an outburst on his cell phone in front of everyone. It sounded like a lovers' quarrel, but Oscar refused to tell anyone what he was so angry about.

Oscar has always seemed like one of the more intelligent, reasonable Dunder-Mifflin employees, so I find it completely mind-boggling that he thinks he can scream at someone in the middle of his crowded office, not tell anyone what the deal was, and expect them to respect his privacy. He works in an office. These people have nothing else going on in their lives.

In this week's webisode, the Dunder-Mifflin employees beat it out of him and we finally find out what the deal is with Oscar's outburst.

Ever since Jimmy Fallon was named Conan O'Brien's successor in a surprise move by NBC, the SNL alum has faced a ton of criticism. Just about everything I've heard has been along the lines of, "WTF, NBC?" and Jimmy Fallon sucks." It's easy to knock Jimmy Fallon. He's twitchy, he couldn't keep a straight face during an SNL skit to save his life, and his big post-SNL career move? Freakin' Taxi.

Yes, there's a lot of ways to make fun of Jimmy Fallon, and as he proves in his second webisode, he hears you loud and clear. He knows you think he's a douchebag who doesn't deserve the job, but that's not going to stop him from trying to leave his mark on late night. So maybe it's just the part of me that cringes at schoolyard bullying, but whatever. I'm going to give Jimmy Fallon the benefit of the doubt.

Next year marks a changing of the guard for Conan O'Brien from Late Night to The Tonight Show. It'll be an easy transition for the fair-skinned one since he's already got a recipe for success: a die-hard audience, smart and inventive writers and puppets that curse.

The real challenge will be for Jimmy Fallon, Conan's Late Night successor, who hasn't had much TV time since he left Saturday Night Live for a movie career that made Chevy Chase's lineup look Lawrence Olivier-ian.

Variety reports that Fallon will first test the airwaves' waters instead of doing a full-blown cannonball by starring in some "webisodes" on NBC.com starting Monday.

Ah, office gossip. It's kind of the best. Everybody knows that office jobs are soul-crushing endeavors, so it's imperative that you find something constructive on which to focus. That thing may be your job, but let's face it: it's probably not. Instead, it becomes the lives of those around you. People who, if you had your choice, you would never speak to, much less get involved in their lives, yet you end up spending more time with them than you do your own family.

In the first of The Office's new webisodes, Oscar gave his co-workers the gift of gossip when he was caught screaming at someone on the phone. In fairness, when you're on a cell phone and you're yelling in the middle of a crowded office, you kind of lose your expectation of privacy. Oscar, however, does not see it that way. He refused to explain himself, which naturally makes everyone all the more interested. This week, the investigation into Oscar's freakout continues.

Just because I write about TV doesn't mean I keep up with every single thing about it. Sometimes, things fall through the cracks--which is why I was pleasantly surprised when I checked my mail the other day and found a DVD with brand new Office webisodes. I'm used to these appearing during the summer, as a way to tide the fans over until the new season starts. However, we're smack dab in the middle of season 5 right now, and we still get four new Oscar-centric webisodes. It's a Thanksgiving miracle!

In this series, called "The Outburst," everyone in the office overhears a very angry Oscar yelling at someone over the phone. Of course, his coworkers do what they would do in that office, or in any other office in the world: they spend the rest of the day obsessing over the phone call and trying to find out what it was about.

Watch the first of "The Outburst" videos after the jump.

And thousands of Heroes fans around the world say "well, duh."

Heroes creator Tim Kring admits that there might be a little bit too much going on in the show's universe. At a NATPE LATV Festival panel discussion, Kring says that there might be so much content going online -- and so many employees working on the online content -- that it sort of takes away from the experience of the show and the storyline, especially if you have a creative team working online that really isn't close to the team that works on the TV show. Sounds like he's referring (strongly) to the much-maligned second season of the show.

He also thinks that all of the product placement and corporate sponsorship that the show has doesn't help either.

Ah, summertime. The heat, the haze, the traffic, the lack of The Office; what's not to hate? Luckily, the brilliant folks behind The Office have been busy figuring out ways to tide us over until the fall. Starting Thursday, July 10, NBC.com will be airing Office webisodes. For those of you who like your Dunder Mifflin-ites live, Mindy Kaling (Kelly) will be hosting the Office Games in Scranton on Saturday, July 19.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to participate in a conference call with Mindy Kaling and Brian Baumgartner (Kevin) as they discussed the webisodes, Office Games, friendly competition and the status of a few MIA Dunder Mifflin employees.

July is right around the corner, which means just one thing ... new webisodes of The Office. Starting July 10th, you'll be able to tune into the NBC website to view the latest adventures of the characters that normally don't have top billing during the normal seasons. And yet, they are just as funny (sometimes funnier) than the big stars that grace the show week after week.

As we reported back in May, this set of webisodes will feature Darryl, Oscar and, most prominently, Kevin. The plot of these webisodes are a bit fuzzy from the previews, but it seems that Kevin is in a bit of financial trouble and needs to take a loan out in order to cover some losses. During this time he is taken under the wing of Darryl, who helps Kevin reach his goals. All that, and we get to see Darryl wear a suit.

There are two videos after the jump. The first features scenes from the upcoming webisodes. The second is a behind the scenes look at the episodes by stars Oscar Nunez (Oscar), Craig Robinson (Darryl) and Brian Baumgartner (Kevin). It's here that we learn that Brian has filmed the webisodes sans pants. Something that us fans probably didn't want to know about.

And 90210 makes the news again this week! But I don't mind because I can never get enough Bevelry Hills, 90210 (or Bev as I affectionately call it). Ian Ziering will be developing webisodes with social-networking titan MySpace. These web shorts will be based on Man Vs. Monday, a film Ziering directed, produced and even starred in two years ago. The webisodes will be about an office slacker who has trouble getting through his Mondays after his crazy weekends.

Why the choice to develop the shows with MySpace? "In the entertainment industry there remains one constant: change. I believe the digital world presents tremendous opportunities for the producers who understand it, and I am launching a digital production company, iMan Productions, to take advantage of this opportunity," Ziering told a press conference. Is he on to something here?

Ziering will also star opposite Heather Graham and Jerry O'Connell in the comedy Baby on Board to be released later this year.

NBC announced today that webisodes for The Office and Heroes would officially premiere on NBC.com starting in July. Seems like all that chit-chat that led to the WGA Strike cease-fire is finally showing some results.

The Office webisodes will premiere first in early July and will focus on Kevin's gambling issues and how he plans to pay for his debts. We got a taste of his competitive side in this past week's episode when he started betting on holes at the golf course. The summer series will also feature Stanley, Oscar, and Darryl. This is the second series of webisodes for The Office, which premiered The Accountants back in the summer of 2006.

NBC boss Ben Silverman tells TV Week that in 15 years, we won't really be using TV for anything except launching a show and to watch big "event" shows like American Idol and The Super Bowl.

I have to agree with one of the commenters at TV Week who says that if NBC wants us to go online to see the final scene of a TV show, then we're going to change the channel and watch something else. I don't want to have to work to get my entertainment. It's television; I want to sit in front of it with a cold drink and maybe some Doritos and watch something from start to finish. What's next, movies that end with a giant "GO TO IRONMANMOVIE.MARVEL.COM TO SEE THE EXCITING ENDING TO THIS FILM!"? Or maybe we can purchase a DVD of the ending as we head out the theater door?

I think that Silverman is right when he says that TV networks and shows will have to have some sort of online companion if they want to stick around. But that's nothing new, the networks and most TV shows already have all that. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Personally, I think that in 15 years we're still going to have our TV sets in our living rooms, though the computer/TV merge will be a lot better and in every home.