The Robman on CBC's The Hour

CBC Television's The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos has posted the clip of me -- Robert J. Sawyer -- talking about the future of transportation which first aired Monday, January 2, 2007.

It's a funny clip in a way. They recorded me in front of a green screen, and then simply keyed in a plain white background (rather than shooting me in front of a white background to begin with). And although it's a canned piece, they played it to The Hour's live studio audience, so it ends up with a silly (but appreciative) laugh track. Anyway, here it is. (3 minutes, 45 seconds)
 

CBC's The Hour features Robert J. Sawyer and Karl Schroeder

CBC Television's The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulous, which airs at 11:00 p.m. local time coast-to-coast in Canada, is doing a three-part series on the future to kick off the new year.

The three segments will air Tuesday, January 2; Wednesday, January 3; and Thursday, January 4. Each segment features a different theme, and a different person making the predictions. One segment is on the future of transportation, and SF writer Robert J. Sawyer is interviewed; another is on the future of warfare and SF writer Karl Schroeder is interviewed; the third is on the future of humanity, and George Dvorsky of the Toronto Transhumanist Association is interviewed. But which segment will air on which night hasn't yet been determined.

The Hour is a national current-affairs show produced by CBC Television in Toronto. The segments in question are produced by Nick McCabe.
 

Robby the Robot guest stars on Stacked

How can you not love this show? The episode I watched today, "Gavin's Pipe Dream," includes an appearance near the end by Robby the Robot (an absolutely spot-on perfect recreation of the robot from Forbidden Planet).

It also has a funny bit in which Christopher Lloyd's ex-NASA-scientist, who never throws out anything that's still good (he has a garage full of Tang), pulls out his cell phone, and it's one of the original, gigantic 1973-vintage Motorola cell phones.

(For another cool Robby the Robot appearance, see this AT&T commercial on YouTube.)
 

Stacked

I've watched three episodes now of Stacked, the short-lived Fox sitcom starring Pamela Anderson as an unlikely bookstore clerk, and, you know what? It's charming, funny, cute, clever, and intelligent.

The show's characters include a failed novelist, and a physics professor (played by Taxi's Christopher Lloyd), and the setting is a lovely little independent bookshop. As someone who writes, and as someone who used to work in a bookstore, I'm actually really enjoying this -- and so is Carolyn, so you can be sure it's not just Pammy that this has going for it.

The creator and head writer is Steven Levitan, who created Just Shoot Me and wrote four episodes of Frasier. The whole series -- the 14 episodes that aired, plus 5 more that never did -- is now out on DVD. Remember, if you dismiss it at a glance, you're simply judging a book by its cover ... and we all know that's not fair. :)