The New People was a 1969 TV series about a group of college students whose plane crashed on a small island. The accompanying adults perished, leaving only the young people. Fortuitously, the deserted island had been the planned location for a nuclear test, so the government had left buildings and supplies behind. For the stranded students, this is the start of "Year One" and an opportunity to create a new kind of society. Rod Serling wrote the pilot for the show that was a cross between Lord of the Flies, Lost, and a JG Ballard story dosed with 150ug of 1960s counterculture.
On Feb. 20, PBS' long-running science series NOVA airs "Mind of a Rampage Killer," an hour-long documentary on the neuroscience of teen rampage shootings: Newtown, Aurora, Columbine, and on the list goes.
What makes a person walk into a theater or a church or a classroom full of students and open fire? What combination of circumstances compels a human being to commit the most inhuman of crimes? Can science in any way help us understand these horrific events and provide any clues as to how to prevent them in the future? As the nation tries to understand the tragic events at Newtown, NOVA correspondent Miles O’Brien separates fact from fiction, investigating new theories that the most destructive rampage killers are driven most of all, not by the urge to kill, but the wish to die. Could suicide–and the desire to go out in a media-fueled blaze of glory–be the main motivation? How much can science tell us about the violent brain? Most importantly, can we recognize dangerous minds in time—and stop the next Newtown?
Miles (who's also my boyfriend) showed me the rough cut. It's really a powerful documentary. Do tune in. NOVA "Mind of a Rampage Killer" premieres Wednesday, February 20, 2013, 9p.m. ET, as part of "After Newtown" special programming.
Joe Sabia of the video music experiment project CDZA (also our collaborator in Boing Boing's in-flight TV channel on Virgin America!) asks, "What happens when you translate The Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song through every language on Google Translate.... and then BACK into English?"
In the LA Times, an interesting piece on the dangerous nature of working in reality television. As shows compete against each other to present the grossest, riskiest, and most outlandish spectacles, the men and women who labor on these productions are exposed to greater risk for injury and illness. — Xeni
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Rich Fulcher, comedian and writer whom some of you may know from his recurring roles on "The Mighty Boosh," shares this wonderful little musical video from "2012: Mashed," a new show debuting 28 December, 11.40 pm on Channel 4 in the UK.
"It's got some very bizarre and interesting videos on the news topics of 2012," Fulcher explains.
"What's good about the show is it doesn't cull clips from the internet but commissions various artists and internet gurus to do their thing."
The clip shared here, "Lonesome George," is about the last Galapagos tortoise to die, "done retro video game stylee."
During Saturday Night Live's all-star holiday special tonight, Samuel L. Jackson said the word "fuck," followed by "bullshit." It looked like an unplanned goof during a skit with Kenan Thompson.
"That cost money," said a surprised Thompson.
If so, any price NBC may or may not pay in FCC fines is a small price for the immediately renewed relevancy and mindshare this incident grants on the show. A verbal nip-slip, if you will.
"SAY CHRISTMAS AGAIN ONE MORE TIME!"
Below, Jackson's tweet immediately following the incident.
John Silva died last month at the age of 92. You are probably most familiar with his work as the inventor of the "News Chopper" — putting local TV crews in the air above parades and disasters in a helicopter. If that sounds like a pretty small achievement, consider the technical work behind it. Silva had to basically invent a streamlined, slimmed down television studio, taking the weight of necessary equipment from 2000 pounds to 368 pounds. On the maiden voyage, he actually climbed out onto the exterior of the helicopter, while it was in flight, in order to trouble-shoot his creation. (Via Deborah Potter)— Maggie
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Artist Jason Mecier, whose work we've featured on Boing Boing before, has completed a new art piece made from "25 lbs. of trash, recycling and found objects inspired by Honey Boo Boo," which took over 50 hours to create.
Jill Buzby contributed the photo below to the Million Puppet March Facebook page. "My middle child holding my childhood Grover and Kermit dolls," she explains. "They're nearly 40 years old!"
Ted Scouten is a reporter for the Miami CBS station WFOR, and was in New York City this week assisting in hurricane Sandy coverage for network "sister station" WCBS-NY.
From TV Newser: "Scouten, stationed in the Rockaways section of Queens, got a real New York welcome Monday as Sandy’s surge sent waves into the street and took him down, as shown on CBS This Morning." (thanks, @milesobrien)
It wouldn't be a legitimate hurricane without an almost-naked guy in a horse head costume running around during some poor local news person's live shot. This happened in DC.
There's a GIF too. Update: This is the guy! Jimmy Kruyne of Washington, DC. He planned the whole thing, but didn't expect it to go viral. His tweeted triumphant self-portrait below.
FOX40 Sacramento anchor Paul Robins was chatting with co-host Bethany Crouch outside AT&T Park Thursday morning after the SF Giants win, when a seagull crapped on him.
“I have to tell you Bethany," he says, “one of my goals in life is to make it on YouTube and I think I just did.”
During Saturday Night Live's all-star holiday special tonight, 
