(Please welcome guest presenter Toni Rankin, whose many accomplishments include three blogs: Fanatic Space, Watching Sitcoms, and Watching CW ) And the Hulie goes to....
Arrested Development!
It is interesting to me that although Arrested Development was up against many other really great shows, some that are more current or that were on the air much longer, the little underdog beat out all the competition for Best Comedy TV Show. I'd have to say it was because of the great ensemble cast, who worked so well together and pulled off three great seasons of television that I want to watch again and again. I'm not even sure I could pick out a favorite episode, if I had to.
Trying to find one clip for this show was really hard. Not because there were no good clips, but because there were far too many. In the end I went for one that definitely shows off the zany and somewhat uncomfortable humor of the show, as well as the acting chops of Jason Bateman and co-star David Cross.
Hopefully, talks of a movie in the works will come to fruition soon.
After 20,000 votes, the Audience Favorite is also "Arrested Development."
The other worthy nominees were "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Chuck," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "Battlestar Galactica," and "Friday Night Lights."
(Please welcome guest presenter Toni Rankin, whose many accomplishments include three blogs: Fanatic Space, Watching Sitcoms, and Watching CW ) And the Hulie goes to....
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER!
To accept this award for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we had the Drs. Horrible, of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, who had this to say about both wins:
Dear Hulu Awards,
Thank you very much for awarding us (Dr. Horrible) the Best Web Original Award. We are a web original so it was absolutely the correct category to put us in. To be serious for a brief moment, we are flattered. It is a joy to work in this vibrant, new medium and we couldn't have done it without the support of the fans.
I would also like to take the moment to thank you for choosing Buffy as the Best SciFi/Fantasy Show Award. Buffy deserves many awards in our book and it's nice to see it still getting people's attention all these years later.
Thank you very, very much, The Doctors Horrible
(It may have already been mentioned, but, at least on twitter, the Doctors Horrible are Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen Whedon and we're honored that they chose to send us an acknowledgment of our awards.)
Now there was never doubt in my mind that BtVS is, was and always will be the best ever SciFi/Fantasy ever. Ad infinitem. Forever and ever and ever. Amen. That comes as no surprise to any one who has ever read any of my blogs, however, since I generally try to work some mention of BtVS and/or Joss Whedon into pretty much anything I write.
Because BtVS is my fave show ever, it did make it very difficult to choose a clip. Honestly, when I started to think about what episode, what moment really defined the seven seasons of Buffy, I just had no idea where to start. After wandering aimlessly around Hulu for some time, watching and choosing clip after clip, I realized I had to just pick something, one thing. So the clip I chose may not be what anyone else would choose, especially since the first season was so very long ago and the clip is from the second ep ("The Harvest," the second half of "Welcome to the Hellmouth"). If you watch the clip, you'll see a short bit of interaction between the the four main characters, Buffy, Willow, Xander and Giles, which occurs right after the first time they come together to defeat evil. There were similar scenes throughout the series and I just feel like it really sums up what the show was all about. Friends using good to overcome evil and save the world . . . a lot.
The other nominees in this category were: Angel, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly and Fringe. When three out of five nominees are from the same guy, you have to know his stuff is good. Based solely on the audience votes, their favorite was Firefly, which is, as noted another awesome Whedon series. So it was all win-win.
Here's what the show had to say about their boffo win:
Dear Hulu Awards,
Thank you very much for awarding us (Dr. Horrible) the Best Web Original Award. We are a web original so it was absolutely the correct category to put us in. To be serious for a brief moment, we are flattered. It is a joy to work in this vibrant, new medium and we couldn't have done it without the support of the fans.
[some portions deleted as they would spoil the announcement of another award(s). Please keep your eye out for the message in its entirety.]
Thank you very, very much, The Doctors Horrible
I'm not trying to drop any names, but, at least on twitter, the Doctors Horrible are Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen Whedon (writers, actors, singers, and all around fun guys) and we're honored that they chose to send us an acknowledgement of the award. Thank you, Team Whedon, keep up the good work and send us more Dr. Horrible.
The other nominees for the final vote were:
National Geographic Animals
National Geographic Environment
National Geographic Travel
Spacerip
OK, let's be honest. When you look at the rest of the nominees, it's no wonder that Dr. Horrible swept the category (it was also the audience vote favorite, netting a Awards-Season-best 99% of the vote). I could not remember what other shows were in this category originally, so I looked it up. Here's a link to the entire category on Hulu: http://www.hulu.com/channels/Web
I would have thought that at least some of those had to be more interesting than National Geographic specials. But if not, it just proves that one thing we need way more of in this world (and on the web, of course) is Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.
Although I love the entire thing, I think probably my favorite part is watching Dr. Horrible (Neil Patrick Harris) singing "Brand New Day" (clip above). Just the way that slow smile builds on his face and we get to watch his mouth move along rapidly. Then he does that thing with his fingers . . . .you have to see it to get what I'm saying, but as Felicia Day sings in Commentary! The Musical (by the way, if you don't have the DVD for Dr. Horrible yet, Commentary! alone is worth the price), "that intro's unreal."
(Please welcome guest presenter Tamara Brooks, a regular contributor to the excellent site Zap2It)
And the Hulie goes to....
Ghostbusters!
Here's a word of thanks from the Ghostbusters peeps themselves (aka the producers):
Upon hearing of its recent Hulu "award," the group denounced the hoax, seeing through the ruse to lure the group into an alternate paranormal universe. After learning that Hulu is not one of Zuul's demon henchmen, but in fact a well-respected, totally non-evil video site, the Ghostbusters would like to retract its initial rejection of the award and express their gratitude for such an honor. To celebrate, the group will release Ghostbusters on Blu-ray High Definition, June 16, 2009.
People just can't resist the glory of Peter, Ray, Egon, and Winston. Infinitley quotable, funny, smartly written, well-acted, and awesomely directed, years and dozens of viewings later it's still one of my favorite movies of all time. And clearly I'm not the only one who feels this way.
After 20,000 votes, the Audience Favorite is also "Ghostbusters"
Kitchen Nightmares becomes the second piece of content to garner multiple Hulu Awards, coming off of a big win in the "Best Competitive Reality Show" category. In order to win this highest aggregate award, KN had to steamroll the biggest and best names in the reality show business.
Here's what we had to say when Gordon Ramsay cursed his way to the top of the competition:
The celebrity in question is bad boy chef Gordon Ramsay, a man whose constant stream of furious expletives has turned him into the unlikely face of British fine cuisine. American viewers may not be aware that Ramsay's hit "Kitchen Nightmares" is a British export that has been given a slight makeover for US viewers.
The formula is as predictable as a sunset, yet compelling in its details. A local restaurant is on the brink of financial ruin. Desperate to keep the doors open, they ask Ramsay for help. He comes in, tastes the food, and pronounces it inedible. He spends the next couple of days exposing any dirt he can, with the focus on filthy kitchens and unhelpful personalities. Typically, he identifies a scapegoat, whether that's the owner or a manager. He berates the owner on everything he can until the owner breaks and agrees that major changes are needed. Then Ramsay retools the menu, gussies up the dining room, and hosts an event that fills the restaurant to the brim with paying customers. Afterward, Ramsay pronounces the restaurant cured of its ills, and rides off into the sunset.
The success of the show is based on Ramsay's proven entertainment factor, as well as the innate interest we have in seeing behind the scenes of the local restaurants that serve us our food.
Fans will be excited to hear that Fox has announced a third season for this fall.
There's also a lot of buzz on the web regarding the actual fortunes of the restaurants featured on the program. How many failing restaurants are actually given a new lease on life by Ramsay's one-week visit? According to Wikipedia, 10 of the 21 featured restaurants have been closed down, with two others changing ownership since they were made over by Ramsay.
By one measure, this is a pretty dismal score. About half of the restaurants are gone, despite Ramsay's much-ballyhooed best effort. On the other hand, half of the businesses have actually been saved by a simple makeover. It's a glass half empty/glass half full kind of thing. I think the show would be better served by being a little more honest about the rickety ground that some restaurants have been left on at the end of the week.
Still, there's another measure of success for the show. In a Hulu-landscape chock-full of crappy reality shows fueled by crappy reality stars, one man stands head and shoulders above the rest. Congratulations to Gordon Ramsay and the other minds behind Kitchen Nightmares!
After 20,000 votes, the Audience Favorite is "Top Chef"
The other worthy nominees were "Biggest Loser", "Project Runway", and "30 Days."
It is interesting to me that although Arrested Development was up against many other really great shows, some that are more current or that were on the air much longer, the little underdog beat out all the competition for Best Comedy TV Show. I'd have to say it was because of the great ensemble cast, who worked so well together and pulled off three great seasons of television that I want to watch again and again. I'm not even sure I could pick out a favorite episode, if I had to.
Trying to find one clip for this show was really hard. Not because there were no good clips, but because there were far too many. In the end I went for one that definitely shows off the zany and somewhat uncomfortable humor of the show, as well as the acting chops of Jason Bateman and co-star David Cross.
Hopefully, talks of a movie in the works will come to fruition soon.
Nearly 20,000 audience votes were registered, and even though the fan favorite was Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which got my vote, too), the judging panel's votes outweighed the audience, pushing Arrested Development to victory.
The other nominees in this category, that moved their way up through the voting process to be the best of the best were "30 Rock," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "The Office," "Saturday Night Live," and "The Simpsons"
(Please welcome guest presenter Sam Christopher, who, along with his cronies, runs the awesome SciFi site Axiom's Edge)
And the Hulie goes to....
28 Days Later!
Seems the fans and panelists were on the same wavelength here, as both chose this seminal work as the Best Horror Film on Hulu, over such worthies as John Carpenter's The Thing.
And it is a seminal work; what Romero and Russo did in inventing the modern zombie picture in the original Night of the Living Dead (see Best Classic Movie) writer Alex Garland and Academy Award-winning director Danny Boyle did with this film, which reinvented that sub-genre for the postmodern era. Gone were the slow-moving reanimated dead whose sole purpose was to feed on the living, replaced by relentless sprinters with a biological imperative to do nothing more than spread the disease which made them the blood-thirsty automatons they've become.
The story is simple: Animal rights activists in England break into a laboratory and free a monkey infected with a new disease called Rage, which sweeps the nation and wipes out virtually the entire population in weeks. Jim (Cillian Murphy) wakes from a bicycle accident after 28 days to find a nearly empty London. He then hooks up with other survivors Selena, Frank and Hannah (Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson, and Megan Burns, respectively). They then end up in a military facility run by Major West (Christopher Eccleston), where Jim makes a wonderful, and somewhat devastating discovery.
The isolation-- the desolation-- that Jim must feel upon waking to find that everything he's ever known is gone is captured very well by this film. We as an audience are drawn into his personal hell as every step, every corner he turns leads him further into this Twilight Zone-esque scenario. We feel his fear as he wonders, "Where is everyone?" And then we feel his abject horror as he wonders, "Where are my parents?", especially as more and more of the reality of the situation is revealed. Then, whereas Jim is our Everyman, we are given a tour of how others would deal with this situation: Selena is the survivor who will do anything to protect herself, Frank and Hannah are the people who hide away hoping the situation will work itself out, and Major West is the military man who holds his team of young men together by any means necessary. While none of these people are completely us, we see pieces of ourselves in each of them.
This is a marvelous film that, in the tradition of the best in sf (speculative fiction), uses an extreme situation to tell us something about ourselves and about the world around us.
After 20,000 audience votes, the Audience Choice was also "28 Days Later," with a hefty 51% of the vote.
The other nominees were "John Carpenter's The Thing," "Naked Lunch," "When a Stranger Calls," and "Christine."
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