The LA Times is reporting that one of our favorite science guys appears to be having some health problems.

“Tristan Camacho, a USC senior who attended the lecture, said [Bill] Nye was walking toward the podium when he collapsed mid-sentence. “Then after about 10 seconds, he popped back up with much gusto and asked everybody how long he was out for and went on with a story about how a similar thing happened to him that morning.”

Nye attempted to finish his presentation, but exhibited slurred speech and a certain wobblyness of stance and was eventually led off stage.  Paramedics responded to the scene, but the LA Times was unsure if Nye was determined to need treatment.”

We certainly hope that what ever the problem is, it is minimal, and wish Mr. Nye a speedy recovery.

The LA Times‘ Hero Complex will be running an interview with Christopher Nolan later this morning, but before it went up, they have teased some very, very exciting Batman 3 news from it.

In a nutshell:

• The movie will be called The Dark Knight Rises.
  
• It will not be in 3D.
• The Riddler will not be the main villain.

A Guide to the (Arguably) Gay Characters in World of Warcraft (Border House)

This is an R/C Halo Warthog (Kotaku)

Review of Let Me In (The LA Times)

BioShock Infinite Is Totally Not About the Tea-Party, Guys (GameInformer)

Team Dance Fortress 2 (thejazzman9475)

I Am Ashamed That I Kind of Want to Wear This (Fashionably Geek)

Screens from Red UnDead Redemption (GamesRadar)

(pic via Bully’s Comics, click for full version.)

This Monday Cartoon Network will debut a new fifteen minute show featuring such segments as CSiCarly, 2010 Dalmations, Batman Family Feud, and, yes, Spy vs. Spy. Though the use of the MAD Magazine satiric philosophy and name for a cartoon show seems like it should have happened a while ago, but apparently the license was tied up in MADtv. However, the live action show aired its last episode in 2009, and so it is obviously time for a new television interpretation of the historic humor publication.

From the LA Times interview with the show’s producers, who between the two of them had hands in Robot Chicken, Crank Yankers, and our personal nostalgia trigger, KaBlam!:

Kevin Shinick: It’s one of the last things you see on Cartoon Network before it goes to Adult Swim, so there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t push the envelope and try and get away with something that could easily be done on Adult Swim, but because it’s Cartoon Network, every day we have our battles, and we win a lot of them. It really does get you in the mood. You will notice a shift from watching Cartoon Network, and then you get “MAD,” and then you g o into Adult Swim. It’s going to be a nice transition.

According to The LA Times, Blockbuster and its biggest debtors have already discussed their plans to declare bankruptcy by mid-September with Fox, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Disney and Warner Bros.

Blockbuster has lost a total of $1.1 billion since the beginning of 2008 and has been severely hamstrung in efforts to grow its business due to interest payments on $920 million in debt. Earlier this month the company announced that most of its debt holders had agreed to a forbearance on interest payments until Sept. 30, during which time it would attempt a recapitalization.

Blockbuster’s bankruptcy looks like it’s going to be something of a tangled mess of retail vs. Hollywood vs. digital connections.

Everybody Gets New Body Parts, Except… (Erica Henderson)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Sings Natural Woman (Underwire)

Close Encounters of the Punk Kind (iwantmyTVNOW)

The LA Times Talks to Ray Bradbury (LA Times)

Celebrities Who Are Geeks Now (Geeks are Sexy)

What the Book You’re Reading Says About You (FlavorWire)

Critique Scott Pilgrim, Not His Audience (NPR)

(picture via Half-Assed Commitment.)

Estranged member of the original group that put Star Wars: A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back together, producer Gary Kurtz has some strong but ultimately unsurprising words for The LA Times, regarding George Lucas and the creative motivations behind the later Star Wars movies.

Instead of bittersweet and poignant [Lucas] wanted a euphoric ending with everybody happy. The original idea was that they would recover [the kidnapped] Han Solo in the early part of the story and that he would then die in the middle part of the film in a raid on an Imperial base. George then decided he didn’t want any of the principals killed. By that time there were really big toy sales and that was a reason.

Well, we can’t say that we don’t prefer Han alive at the end of the trilogy, but gee, George Lucas makes bad writing decisions for the wrong reasons?

We are shocked.

The LA Times has a poster and sneak peek of Marvel‘s new cartoon show The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, coming out this fall to get kids interested in dragging their parents to the Avengers movie two years from now. You can watch it below, after our commentary.

SDCC Captain America Clip Had Thor Mention (Bleeding Cool)

Abin Sur Lies In State (Comic Book Resources)

Godzilla Redesign (io9)

Seth Rogan Talks Green Hornet 3D (Cinema Blend)

Neil Patrick Harris in Cast of Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (Comics Alliance)

Harrison Ford’s First Trip To Comic Con (The LA Times)

Marvel Studios Regains Rights to The Punisher (Comic Book Resources)

(picture via The National Post.)

Great Comic Con exclusive, or greatest Comic Con exclusive? This packaging has been made to look and feel (with the help of some strategically placed weights) as if it contains a tiny replica of Wonder Woman’s invisible jet, right down to, you guessed it, the invisibility.

(Bigger picture below.)

Read on...