6
April
2007

Episode 37 of Upon Further Review!

Easter’s on the way, and just like the Easter Bunny himself we’re here with our usual basket (of, er, reviews) in Episode 37 of Upon Further Review!  In this episode we thank some listeners for their feedback and contributions before getting into the meat of the show:  first, we get a little crazy with our review of March Madness, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament; second, we return to Victorian London as we look at the Theatre for a New Audience’s production of Oliver Twist (and this isn’t the one you remember from the movies!); and finally, we take on a review request from a new fan with our foray into the world of web comics, Sluggy Freelance style.  As always, we appreciate your ideas, opinions and review suggestions…and of course, we hope you’ll tell friends where they can find a place to contribute the same sorts of things (hint–the initials are UFR)!   (As usual, podsafe intro music is provided by Sharif (“You’re My Girl”), outro by David Henderson (“We Gotta Go”).)

Reviewed in this show:

NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament

Oliver Twist

Sluggy Freelance

9 Comments

  1. Michael:

    Hey guys, thanks for the welcome! :) Great show as usual. My job is actually a really good one, I work as an artist at a video game studio in Oregon! But I can’t really concentrate and listen to music like most of my coworkers, so I was glad to find something interesting and entertaining to listen to like UFR!

    I’d definitely say Sluggy’s best moments were a few years into its run. I started reading it around the year 2000 or so and I think I managed to get into it as it was reaching its stride. I don’t remember now how I found it, just one of those links followed from some other website, I suppose. Early sluggy, while good, isn’t quite as good as the later material as the creator (Pete Abrams) found his rhythm.

    Thanks again for the warm welcome and the mention! Looking forward to more shows. :)

  2. admin:

    Hey Michael–our pleasure, and welcome to the UFR family. Point taken about the Sluggy timeframe…we tried to get as representative a sample as we could, but we definitely agree that the later strips seem much more sophisticated (as you might expect). Overall it’s a cool strip.

    What studio do you work at? We actually know the current president of Flagship Studios (which is working on Hellgate London), and we hope we may get a chance to interview him on a future show if schedules permit. Either way, as you will know after listening to the show Greg enjoys video games a lot, despite how little time he has to play them (sigh)…

    T.R.

  3. AJ:

    It would be wrong for me not to mention my alma mater’s ability to win at all things sport this year. Sadly, when I was there and spending my hard earned dollars on tickets this was not the case.

    Go Gators.
    http://gogatornation.com/

  4. admin:

    Amen to that, AJ–congrats to the Gators for their crazy athletic performance this year. And thanks so much for adding us to Senator Dodd’s iPod, so to speak! If we’re made his official “review team,” we’ll know who to thank… :) Welcome to all coming from the Dodd campaign!

    T.R.

  5. Michael:

    I work for Buzz Monkey Software. Not a big name studio, but we’re moving up the ranks. We’re wrapping up work on the new Tomb Raider: Anniversary title right now. Yeah I’ve seen the Hellgate London videos and previews. Looks like a pretty interesting game there! I wish I had the time to play more often myself. It’s a long running joke for anyone in the game industry that we must play games all the time, but in reality, that’s almost never the case it seems! When I entered this industry, my game playing days diminished pretty rapidly!

  6. admin:

    We’ve heard that about game industry workers before…it sounds like a cruel irony to us! But good to hear that things are going well. In fact both of us really liked the early Tomb Raiders, though the later ones started to get repetitive…hope your version is a solid one so perhaps we can check it out again.

    T.R.

  7. classic chris:

    $#@(%!$

    I just wrote a great piece that’s lost in the ether b/c i forgot to hit submit :-(

    but here’s the gist…

    it would be cool to hear the hellgate london exec, but equally cool for you guys to bring listener Michael in on a review of something in the video game industry. Would love to hear one of our own!

    and for theatre… in my opinion, there’s a distinct difference between theatre and musicals. to me, theatre means plays. musicals are so lavish and produced that it’s a shame to hear someone say they’re going to see a play and it turns out to be a musical. i love that you guys review theatre in all forms — keeps the culture alive — but would really love to hear a review of plays v. musicals or something like that. or, at least, just would like to hear the opinions of you and others here on the matter. my wife and I met in the theatre so many years ago, so I have a special place in my heart for plays, and there always was a tension if not feud between the musical theatre groups and the die-hard play production groups. what do you all think?

    thanks for a great show!!!!!!!! see you on 38!!!!!

  8. admin:

    We’re still working on the Hellgate exec, but it’s tough because they are due to release their game next month and thus he is working fifteen hour days trying to get everything done. Still, we won’t give up on the idea. As for theatre vs. musicals, we agree that they are distinct forms, but both equally valuable in their own ways, if you can watch the good musicals and not get caught up in the schlock. We may have more to say about that soon, as we will be going to a few musicals over the next couple of months! Didn’t know you met your wife through the theatre, but that’s great…Clea and I met through debate, and you see what happened there. ;)

    Greg

  9. classic chris:

    …yes, in both cases (theatre union and debater union) awesomeness ensued ;-)

    musicals can be very enjoyable and even thought-provoking, don’t get me wrong (and you didn’t). there’s just something about watching a play that’s so different and engaging (if it’s a good production, that is)…

    anyway, enjoy life!

    – cc

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