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Sneak Peek: GRAMPA SIMPSON'S GUIDE TO AGING

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The Simpsons’ forgetful patriarch shares his invaluable insight on living to a ripe old age in Grampa Simpson’s Guide to Aging, which is in stores this week from Insight Editions.

They say, “Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it!” Then again, those who have forgotten the past are most likely living in the Springfield Retirement Castle, repeating themselves over and over again. Get to gabbin’ with the grand poo-bah of the Greatest Generation as he relives the glory days, and if you take time to listen, he may very well pass along some words of wisdom. So plug in your recliner and sit way, way back . . . as the elder Simpson explains and explains and explains it all to you!

In this fifth volume of the
Vault of Simpsonology series, Grampa Simpson gives some pieces of rambling advice to his biggest fans. Packed with a wealth of inserts and special features, this book is the ultimate Grampa Simpson treasure trove.

After the jump check out some sample pages from the new book (and impress your friends).

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Should You Join The 3D Animation Revolution?

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If you want to live out of your imagination, consider a career in 3D animation.

3D CGI is the art of using computer generated images to animate characters in a scene.

Until now, we have had 2D animation. Cartoons are a traditional form of 2D animation.

With 3D, there is a startling difference.

Now there is depth. Now there is realism.


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Win Family-Film PUPS UNITED on DVD!

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A rag-tag gang of international talking dog mascots must save the day and foil the plot of villains planning to sabotage the Youth World Cup soccer finals.


And we're giving away 3 copies!

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PARA ELISA (review)

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Review by Joshua Gravel
Produced by Jordi Carbonell Segura,
Alex Carbonell, Alícia Lacarcel Comas
Written and Directed by Juanra Fernández
Starring Ana Turpin, Ona Casamiquela,
Luisa Gavasa, Jesús Caba, Sheila Ponce,
Pep Anton Muñoz, Enrique Villén,
Pablo Viña, Frederic Tomàs, Rafa Núñez


Ana is in her final year at University and needs money for a post graduation class trip.

Her family can’t pay for it so she answers an ad posted at her school looking for a nanny. When she shows up Ana soon discovers that the nanny job was greatly misrepresented to her. The mother, Diamantina, is an eccentric lady who may have ulterior motives for bringing Ana into her dark and mysterious home.

Para Elisa is a tight film, which borrows heavily from other films, mainly House Of The Devil and Misery with a little Spider Baby for good measure, to create its own story.

Fortunately writer/director Juanra Fernández infuses enough of his own story and style to keep it from becoming derivative.

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BLOOD MOON (review)

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Review by Joshua Gravel
Produced by Fiona Graham, Mark Melvin,
Michael Vine, Samantha Waite, Jeremy Wooding
Written by Alan Wightman
Directed by Jeremy Wooding
Starring George Blagden, Tom Cotcher,
Barrington De La Roche, Shaun Dooley, Anna Skellern


Blood Moon is a film with a simple premise that works quite well.

Set in 1887 Colorado, the film concerns a stagecoach full of travelers and a pair of bank robbing brothers who come head to head at a remote supply stop and become the prey of a skinwalker.  All of this while a sheriff and a Native American tracker roam the woods searching for the bank robbers and the tracker warns the sheriff about the skinwalkers, the Native American folklore equivalent to the werewolf.

Now to say that Blood Moon is simply a Native American werewolf western is certainly correct, but don’t dismiss this indie film as a cheap monster movie.

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Sneak Peek: STAR TREK - SHIPS OF THE LINE POSTERS

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This past week, Star Trek celebrated it's 49th anniversary.

And thanks to Universe Publishing, comes an early 50th anniversary gift, Star Trek: Ships of the Line Posters, arriving in stores this November, making it a must-have Holiday gift for the Trekkie in your life.

Star Trek: Ships of the Line Posters will give fans something they’ve never had before: an up-close look at their favorite Ships of the Line artwork available for the first time as twenty-four, high-quality, single-panel prints. Conceptual artists and graphic designers breathe incredible life into the alien worlds, serene galactic vistas, famous missions, and harrowing battles from Star Trek history with these renderings of iconic Star Trek vessels. Each version of the U.S.S. Enterprise is featured in full glory, from Star Trek: The Original Series, the films, Star Trek: The Next Generation, as well as the spaceships featured in Deep Space Nine and U.S.S. Voyager. Also included are other United Federation Ships, Klingon Birds of Prey, Borg Cubes, space stations, star bases, shuttle craft, and more. Trekkers and fans of the novels will recognize the artists behind these amazing works, namely Doug Drexler, Tobias Richter, D. M. Phoenix, Koji Kuramura, John Eaves, Daren Dochterman, and Jenny DeSalle, who are all superstars in the tight-knit fan community.

Star Trek: Ships of the Line Posters mines some of the most dazzling and collectible art work from the show’s and movie’s extensive archives, including past years of long-running Star Trek: Ships of the Line calendar, books, and novel covers—including some that have not been seen in many years. This boxed collection of easily framed posters—each can be easily mounted in a standard 11” x 14” frame—gives fans an all-new, accessible way to display artwork from their favorite sci-fi franchise. Vividly reproduced on high-quality stock and including the artist’s name and the title image, these prints are perfect for decorating any space, from a dorm or den to bedroom or media room.

Handsomely packaged, it’s a serious collection of eye-popping art from the “Final Frontier” that will be treasured for years to come. These vivid recreations are there perfect way to kick off the upcoming celebration of Star Trek’s 50th Anniversary in 2016.

After the jump, check out six stunning preview images from the book.

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Kino Lorber Releases THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, Starring Lon Chaney, on Blu-ray and DVD

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Digitally restored two-disc collection includes both the 1929 theatrical version, restored
from 35mm archival elements, and the original 1925 theatrical cut, packed with bonus features
including choice of alternate music scores and lengthy excerpts of the 1930 sound re-issue

A forerunner of the American horror film, and one of the most lavish spectacles of the silent era, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA has inspired countless remakes and imitations. But none can rival the romance and mystery that haunt every frame of the Lon Chaney original. This definitive edition presents the 1929 theatrical version, restored from archival 35mm elements by Film Preservation Associates, highlighted by the Technicolor Bal Masqué sequence (in which the Phantom interrupts the revelry in the scarlet robes of the Red Death), as well as meticulously hand-colored sequences, replicating the Handschiegl Color Process.

The film is presented at two historically-accurate projection speeds (each with two different soundtrack options). Bonus content includes the 1925 theatrical cut (which contains scenes that were removed from the 1929 release version) and lengthy excerpts of the 1930 sound version (which no longer survives intact).

Kino Lorber proudly announces the definitive Blu-ray and DVD release of the silent horror classic THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, starring Lon Chaney, the original film version of the celebrated Gaston Leroux story about a mysterious phantom who haunts the chambers and catacombs deep beneath the Paris Opera House, which has inspired countless remakes and adaptations over the years. Lavishly produced by Universal (including the unprecedented, meticulous re-creation of the Paris Opera House on the studio backlot), and long considered one of the essential films of the silent era, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA has lost none of its power to frighten and entertain audiences since its release 90 years ago, thanks to the iconic performance of Lon Chaney in the title role.

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(John) Oliver's Twists

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By Erin Maxwell

Two weeks ago, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver took an in-depth look at the shady business of televangelists and the practice of seed faith, the theory in which a donation made to a church or group will plant the seed for future earnings. In the piece, the comedian-turned-cable TV freedom fighter made examples of cable spiritualists like Mike Murdoch and Kenneth & Gloria Copeland who urged their viewers to forgo paying off their credit card debt or cancer treatments in lieu of donations for the church.

The bit was both hilarious in the way it pointed out the sins of these ministers of Gods and disheartening in that they led their pious and mostly poor followers down a path which could lead to financial ruin or worse. Such as in the case of Bonnie Parker, who sought to sow the harvest of her seed rather than seek medical attention.

Viewers of the show took note and sprung into action, pressuring the IRS to start taking an in-depth look at these “warriors of God” who lived in multi-million dollar mansions while their followers lived paycheck-to-paycheck.

Oliver’s arguments also aided the Trinity Foundation, an org that protections God-fearing folks against religious fraud and televangelists looking to cash in on the kindness of others.


This wasn’t the first time that John Oliver has launched a movement or righted a political or social wrong. In fact, in the year and a half of being on the air, Oliver has become the cable TV voice of social justice.

His ability to take was is perceived as mundane, boring or uninteresting topics and find a way to make it relatable and even funny has helped more than just HBO’s ratings.

It’s helped society.

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Win AMERICAN HEIST on DVD!

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Brotherly love is put to the test in the chilling action thriller, American Heist. Unraveling a tale of two brothers torn apart and reunited by the reckless and perilous world of crime, American Heist brings the heat with an all-star cast, including Hayden Christensen (Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith), Academy Award winner Adrien Brody (Best Actor, The Pianist, 2002), Jordana Brewster (The Fast and the Furious franchise), Tory Kittles (Olympus Has Fallen) and recording superstar, Aliaune “Akon” Thiam. The captivating drama was a 2014 Official Selection at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival, as well as the New Orleans Film Festival.

James (Christensen) owes his life to his older brother Frankie (Brody) after taking the rap for a crime they committed together. Now, Frankie is released and back on the streets with no money and no place to go. He turns to his underworld connections and convinces James to join him in hopes that one last job will be the solution to change both their lives.


And we're giving away three copies!

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The 7 Most Annoying Video Game Characters

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I'm not a violent person. I do get mildly irritated by the general public at times, but don't we all?

However, as someone who has gamed all her life, nothing is as bad as an annoying video game character because you have paid for that experience and will often have to spend up to 40 hours listening to or playing as them when all you want to do is punch them in their big dumb face.

Here are the 7 most annoying characters I've come across in games (in no particular order):


Slippy Toad (Star Fox 64)

Look at his stupid, gormless face...yeah great job getting hit again Slippy...great job *face palm*

Animals flying awesome fighter jets in space.

That last sentence is amazing.

However, there is one character in this game who, upon opening their mouth makes my skin crawl. Slippy is beyond annoying, utilising a high-pitched tone (I thought frog croaks were low?!) to blurt out useless advice during combat.

Slippy is distracting and constantly gets into trouble leaving the rest of the crew to come to his rescue ALL the God damn time. Granted, I think I might possess a greater hatred for Slippy than most.

You see, growing up I absolutely loved the 80s cartoon Bucky O'Hare, I was obsessed and to this day still own the comics. In Bucky O'Hare, which is not unlike Star Fox, the Toads are the bad guys so maybe deep down Slippy isn't that bad, I mean he has excellent mechanical expertise, maybe I just have an inherent prejudice towards toads?!

Or...maybe Slippy is an annoying little turd and I am completely justified in my loathing?

Yeah, I'm going to go with that.


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The FORCE FRIDAY Awakens

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By Atlee Greene

I remember the first time I saw The Phantom Menace action figures on the shelf at my local K-Mart. It was about a month away from the opening of the film, and all of the attention was on the devilish looking Sith Lord, Darth Maul.

I rummaged through a cardboard sea containing Chancellor Valorum and Captain Panaka, but where was the new villain that was going to take the Star Wars franchise into the new millennium?

I asked the store clerk if they happen to have any Darth Maul’s left in-stock.

He proceeded to laugh at me with his head cocked back while holding his belly as if he was Santa Claus. I looked at my invisible wrist watch to signify my displeasure over his world class customer service skills. His laughter ended and was followed a gruff sounding reply of “Dude, you had to be here at midnight to get that thing.”


What the hell was he talking about?

The store hours were clearly marked 9:00 am – 10:00 pm.

Later on, I discovered the phenomena called a midnight release where die hard fans of a particular franchise line up hours in advance and are the first patrons to buy merchandise or see the correlating film. In the case of Star Wars figures, the in vogue item on everyone’s list is the evildoer who wields the red lightsaber….

Lesson learned.

Last Friday, the Star Wars marketing machine kicked into high gear for “Force Friday.”

This was to mark the first time that merchandise for the upcoming The Force Awakens film would be released to the general public. There were several items on my list, but the apple of my eye were the 6’ Black Series figure of the new cross guard lightsaber wielding foe, Kylo Ren.

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DRAGON CON: "The Party That Everyone's Invited To... And The Guest List Keeps Getting Longer and Longer"

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I’ve been going to Dragon Con for 18 years.

My first one was in 1997, right after I graduated from high school. My dad gave me a choice in graduation gifts. The first option was we could go see U2 live in concert. I was a huge U2 fan and had been begging for years to see the group play live. I was stoked with option number one.

But then dad made things complicated when he dropped choice number two.

Instead of going to see U2, he said we could instead buy two four-day passes to Atlanta’s Dragon Con and get a room at The Hyatt downtown, one of the convention’s host hotels.

Actually, the choice wasn’t really all that complicated now that I think about it.

Save for a really small (and kind of terrible) Star Trek convention held at the Macon Coliseum, I’d never been to a con before, and the idea of spending four days at one that prided itself on running around the clock held infinitely more appeal than a two hour U2 concert.

Dragon Con 2015 came to a close on Monday.

Tuesday morning, I got an email from the convention’s media relations team, proudly announcing that attendance for this year’s show managed to exceed 70,000. In 2014, the con saw roughly 65,000 attendees, a number that was up from 2013, which was up from 2012. When I first attended back in 1997, there were nowhere near 65,000 people.

To say that Dragon Con is a growing behemoth of a show is gross understatement.

But that’s by design. Dragon Con has never been about just one specific fandom.

It’s never been a comic book convention, or a Star Trek convention. It’s never been a Doctor Who convention or an anime convention.

Rather, it’s been all those things, and more. Video games, board games, space exploration, Buffy the Vampire Slayer; if there’s a fandom for it there’s a home for it at Dragon Con.

While conventions like San Diego’s Comic-Con International have caught flak in recent years for not holding true to their founding focuses, Dragon Con has managed to mostly sidestep that same criticism as there’s never been one founding focus.

It’s the party that everyone’s invited to and the guest list for that party keeps getting longer and longer.

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AND IN THE END: The "Last" Adventures of Superman and Batman

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by Benjamin C. G. Jones

Say the titles out loud.

Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?

Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? 

Similar, are they not? Parallel, in fact, and each is based on the concept of the “last” story of its respective hero.

Yet to read the two stories, one after the other, is to encounter a world of differences.

The endings began with Crisis on Infinite Earths, the landmark maxi-series meant to integrate all the worlds of the DC Comics multiverse into one consistent universe.

The “consistent” part never quite worked out, but the old multiverse did end, not to be replaced for about twenty years.

And since all of the company’s superhero titles were, in theory, starting fresh, many familiar characters saw their stories end, even as many of those characters were meant to continue in a very similar form.

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Force(d) Friday…

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By Gavin Hignight


I’m about to completely alienate myself from all my nerf-herdery nerd buddies…

Sorry in advance to my diehard friends. I hope Force Friday was everything you wanted it to be. I hope it was just as glorious as the midnight madness for Episode 1 toys. I very purposely decided to sit this one out.

To be honest, I really don’t like the idea of “Force Friday”.

Do I like toys?

Hell yes.

Am I excited about the new films?

Oh hell yes. I’m admitting right here and now, in one Force Awakens trailer when we saw the Falcon… tears in my eyes. In the next trailer when we see Han and Chewie… tears in my eyes.

I’m not sure I’ll get through the movie without a therapist and boxes and boxes of tissue.

Make your tears even more collectible!

I can’t wait to get toys and action figures of the characters and ships from the new film… that is if I like the new film and the new characters.

It seems like a very foreign idea in this day and age, but I want to go into this film not knowing much.

And that has been a battle.


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Win LOVE & MERCY on DVD!

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The critically acclaimed musical biopic about the fascinating life of the Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson, Love & Mercy stars Golden Globe nominee John Cusack (Best Actor, High Fidelity, 2001) stars in “one of the best performances of his career” (The Hollywood Reporter) alongside Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine, Looper) as troubled musical genius Brian Wilson at two pivotal stages of his life – the 1960s, at the peak of The Beach Boys’ fame and the 1980s, as Brian reclaims his life after a mental breakdown. They are joined by Elizabeth Banks (The Hunger Games franchise) as Wilson’s present-day wife Melinda, and two-time Golden Globe winner Paul Giamatti (Best Actor, Barney’s Version, 2011; Best Actor, John Adams, 2009).

Love & Mercyis an unconventional portrait of Brian Wilson (portrayed by both John Cusack and Paul Dano), singer and songwriter for The Beach Boys. The film intimately examines the unique journey and ultimate salvation of this musical icon, whose success came at an extraordinary personal cost.


And we're giving away 3 copies!

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Gaiman Speaks! King Honored! Sacks Remembered! Mieville Adapted! Book Club Reinvigorated! & More!

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By Alex C. Telander

Obama Honors Stephen King 
In addition to Sally Field and Alice Waters, Stephen King was awarded the 2014 National Medal of Arts.

Worldreader & Opera 
Worldreader, a global nonprofit dedicated to improving literacy in the developing world through digital books, has partnered with Opera Software to extend reading to even more people.

Neil Gaiman Interview 
In a recent interview, bestselling author Neil Gaiman talks about writing and his books, and more importantly also about censorship.

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Read an Excerpt of New Thriller, ENTRY ISLAND!

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Entry Island has a population of 100 people, and the wealthiest of them has just been murdered. Montréal homicide detective and insomniac Sime Mackenzie is assigned to the case, but the investigation appears to be little more than a formality – the evidence points to a crime of passion, implicating the wife. But during Sime’s initial interview with Kristy, he is stricken by familiarity, swearing he has met her before, even though this is clearly an impossibility. Haunted by this strange certainty, Sime’s insomnia is punctuated by vivid, hallucinatory dreams of a distant past on a Scottish island in which Sime and Kirsty play main roles. These dreams become even more sensational when Sime and Kirsty realize they both own family heirlooms carved with the same crest – Sime a ring, and Kirsty a necklace. The conflict between the professional duty he must fulfill and the personal destiny Sime is increasingly sure awaits him begins to threaten the investigation, the cohesion of the police team, and his career.

The result is a dueling narrative: a first-person account of The Highland Clearances, a significant past event that reveals a growing web of connections and a present-day investigation of a mysterious crime. As The Daily Express says, “May is the master of painting a vivid picture or his chosen landscapes and weaving a fascinating plot. The researched he has packed in to this well-paced dual tale is impressive…An absorbing read from a writer at the top of his game.”

Already the winner of the Deanston Scottish Crime Novel of the Year and the ITV Crime Thriller Club Best Read of the Year in the UK, Entry Island goes on sale tomorrow in bookstores and e-tailers in the United States.

After the jump, check out the first chapter of this exciting new thriller.

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FOG! Chats With MST3K's JOEL HODGSON!

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Interview conducted by Stefan Blitz

It's been more than a quarter of a century since comedian Joel Hodgson donned the red jumpsuit to play Gizmonic Institute custodian Joel Robinson, who found himself shot into space by the somewhat notorious Dr. Clayton Forrester and his assistant TV's Frank, where he would be forced into watching cheesy movies while they monitor his mind on the beloved cult television series, Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K).

While Hodgson is known by the masses primarily for his work as the creator and initial star of MST3K, fewer know that the brilliant comic spent years on the stand-up circuit, co-wrote Seinfeld's first special, Jerry Seinfeld: Stand-Up Confidential, was a staff writer for The Jimmy Kimmel Show, and currently co-stars in the Yahoo! series Other Space, Cartoon Network's Steven Universe, and serves as the creative lead for media for the aerospace company, Cannae Technology, as well as touring with his one-man show, "Riffing Myself," which chronicles the creation of MST3K.

Joel took some time to chat with FOG! about movie riffing, his inventions and the Joel vs. Mike debate.


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Win MODERN FAMILY SEASON 6 on DVD!

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The honeymoon is over, but the laughs continue in Season Six of “Modern Family,” winner of five consecutive Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series. As freshly hitched Cam and Mitch acclimate to the realities of wedded bliss, Phil and Claire find their marriage stressed by annoying neighbors, Thanksgiving dinner gone awry and Claire’s online snooping. Meanwhile, a spy-camera drone wreaks havoc in Jay and Gloria’s backyard and a close call on the highway leads to amusing changes in various members of the Pritchett-Dunphy clan. It all adds up to the funniest season yet of this brilliant and acclaimed comedy.

And in the spirit of family, here's some interesting Modern Family trivia:
  • Nolan Gould, who plays "dumb" Luke Dunphy, has actually been a member of Mensa since he was 4.
  • Full name of Manny's character is Manuel Alberto Javier Alejandro Delgado
  • Eric Stonestreet is a Kansas native who wanted to become a clown as a kid. In fact, his childhood invention of “Fizbo” the clown has now been resurrected on Modern Family.
  • Julie Bowen was 8 months pregnant with twins in the Modern Family pilot.
  • During the early seasons, Jay would constantly forget that his son Mitchell was gay. Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who plays Mitchell, says the idea came from his own real life experience since he had to come out to his real father three different times over a period of several years.

After the jump, enter to win a copy of Season 6 on DVD!

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Read An Excerpt of DOCTOR WHO: BIG BANG GENERATION

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In Doctor Who: Big Bang Generation, the Doctor finds himself leading a crew of misfits—including Legs (the sexy comedian), Dog Boy (the ammunitions expert), Shortie (who handles logistics), and Da Trowel (the excavator and historian)—in an attempt to thwart the theft of a pyramid that recently emerged from a time portal in Sydney Cove. Battling monsters, alien assassins, and con artists alike, the Doctor and his team must protect the glowing pyramid in order to avoid an explosion that would make the Big Bang look inconsequential.

Author Gary Russell has written more than thirty-five fiction and nonfiction books on subjects including Doctor Who, The Lord of the Rings movies, Frasier, and The Simpsons. He has served as editor of Doctor Who magazine, creative producer at Big Finish Productions Ltd, and script editor at BBC Wales. He now works at Planet 55 Studios in Australia.

After the jump check out an excerpt of  Doctor Who: Big Bang Generation available now!

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