The Mantis-Eye Experiment

Sorry, I've been slacking. Awesome update over at Jackson's Playhouse (from uh, almost a week ago) with various production tidbits, and a few things that will entice you:

...We even got wind of our tentative premiere date today: June 11, 2006, in the coveted 11:30pm Sunday night slot. This is only terrifying because the aforementioned premiere episode, produced seventh, is scheduled to be delivered to the network a mere week before that...so good God, I hope nothing goes wrong with that one. The first season DVD, consequently, is supposed to be released some time in May. And I guess I can tell you who's doing some of the packaging art now...it's Bill Sienkiewicz. And if you're a closet geek fanboy product of the comics of the 80's and 90's like me...well, you can imagine how much that excites me.

So there's a pretty concrete start for the season, as well as a general release window for season one on DVD. There's also a look at some of the character designs (and backgrounds, of course) for season two... some familiar, some not so much. Looks like it's going to be interesting at any rate! And now, I'm off to bed.

Well, end of the year, kids. The Mantis-Eye Experiment started up in November of 2004 after season one ended, so this has been the first full year the site has been up. It's been a pretty good year; lots of changes made from the initial site. I switched to PHP so I could actually make stuff like polls, the encyclopedia (which seems to get quite a few advertisements submitted every so often) and all sorts of other nifty stuff like themes and such. It's been a great learning experience for me, and even though no new episodes aired this year, I think that may have been a good thing (for me anyway) since I got to play around with fixing stuff up.

Of course I want to thank you guys, my readers. The site had an average of 15.8k hits per month, with the highest coming in October with a whopping 20,774 hits, which is pretty good I think. Most successful web site I've ever run anyway. All your comments and e-mails have been much appreciated. All you folks who sent in stuff for me to add to the episode notes get a big thank you as well. Finally we'll have more to add this year! Only a few more months. You can hang in there... because you don't have a choice.

Many thanks in specific, to anonymous reader who sent in this announcement which helped cement this site's status. Also livingfruitvirus from the SA forums (among others) who has supplied me with lots of excellent information since he's all crafty and has insider info. Also to Havocware, who has sent in a ton of episode notes. You guys kick ass!

Another big thanks are in order to Mike (not me), owner of Mancubus.net who, like you, is a big Venture Bros. fan, and has been awesome enough to host this site free of charge. I'd give him a big hug if he wasn't in another state and I didn't have this cold (I hope it's not bird flu, I heard I should be worried about that).

Thanks are also in order to Cartoon Network for finally renewing the damned show and not making all my efforts for naught. I know the show didn't have amazing ratings at first, but they improved a ton, and it has pretty good word of mouth, and all the AS execs really seem to like the show. Be sure to tell your non-Venture watching friends about it when season two starts so we can assure a season three, maybe even a season three with a bigger budget? Let them borrow your season one DVD set if they don't believe how great you say the show is.

And finally an extended thanks to the Venture Bros. crew. You know, those crazy guys and gals who actually make the show come to life. They're probably working their asses off on it at this very moment, and without them this site wouldn't exist. I've actually been in contact with a few crew members who have sent me notes, corrections, tips or just plain 'great site, keep it up' remarks. They've all been super nice (and, in the case of Doc Hammer, super funny, though I still say Violator is better than Black Celebration) and I just wanted to mention that to score some points or something. Seriously guys, I'm a 45 min train ride from Manhattan, and I own a camera. You know where I'm going with this!

Jackson Publick, in specific (who I have never talked to), since he seems to be just about the nicest guy in the animation industry. Not only did he create (along with write, direct, act in, produce, storyboard, design and so on) this super-awesome show, but he takes the time out to write a production journal and answer questions in the comments. That's pretty much unheard of in this industry, so you guys should consider yourselves lucky.

So that's it. Sorry for the stupidly long update, but I just felt some things had to be said. Everyone have a safe and happy new year, and remember, new episodes in 2006! The year of Venture! Have a good one.

The Publick Nuisance updates keep rolling in! Apparently VB is not returning to the lineup, but the series pilot, The Terrible Secret of Turtle Bay will be airing on Christmas night at 1:30am EST.

In sadder news the DVD release has been postponed, so it appears my counter is somewhat obsolete now. I'm wagering the new season will be starting up by June, so releasing the DVD a week or two before that would make the most sense. There's no concrete date for season two set just yet though.

Jackson also provided the first ever production journal for the pilot, which was missing from earlier journal entries. Lots of cool info about it as well as the origins of Venture Bros. in there, so read up, kids! And have a happy whatever the hell you celebrate!

Looks like the Publick Nuisance updates are coming in Faster and Furiouser than ever before! The writing phase is nearly done, and post-production (that's biz talk for 'stuff you do after you get the actual animation back from Korea) is about to start on the first episode. Post usually takes around a month per episode, so you can feel happy knowing that there will be a single completed episode of the Venture Bros. before February.

There's also some more production art you can check out; backgrounds and even a few character designs... including what appears to be Brock Samson's junk. Interesting.

In other news, it appears the show will be returning to Sunday nights on December 25th at 1:30am EST, according to the AS.com schedule. I have no clue if it's a special one-time showing or a full-time return to the lineup since that's the last week on the schedule for now, but it is listed for a full half hour, so it doesn't appear they're showing the Christmas episode.

Finally, new poll up. Not very exciting at all, I just figured I haven't made one in a while, so I may as well make some use of the system I so graciously made for myself. If you're in the northeast like I am, enjoy the snowstorm!

Ho, ho, ho and all that stuff! Some more good news, sort of. On top of VB returning to FNF on the 23rd, A Very Venture Christmas will be airing on December 14th at 12:30am EST (which is technically the 15th, but you've heard that before), so you can catch it then if you haven't seen it before.

Also, some minor Noodlesoup news, Noodlesoup founder Jeff Nodelman has left Noodlesoup to pursue his own independent portfolio (yes I know the article is dated Oct. 21st, I'm slow to the game here). According to Jackson this won't have any impact on Venture Bros. production, so don't worry your little heads. Also that article contains a single tidbit about the upcoming DVD which will be here in a little over 98 days!

At the same time, the studio is increasing emphasis and is investing in services for commercials and entertainment projects, including the production of 13 half-hours of the second season of “The Venture Bros.” for The Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” program block. Noodlesoup also produced a live-action “Venture Bros.” spoof special for “The Venture Bros.” DVD release. The studio produced the initial 2003-04 season of the series.

Quick update for all of you upset about the complete lack of Venture Bros. anywhere. It's not coming back to TV yet (probably not until season two starts next year), but after a barrage of angry e-mails (like, four or five... maybe even six) AS has caved to the tremendous pressure and will be putting VB back on Friday Night Fix starting December 23rd. I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty damned close to a certain holiday which may or may not have a Venture Bros. Christmas Special themed around it. And yes, I'm talking about Kwanza. So anyone who hasn't seen this not-often-played episode, this may be your last chance to see it! Thanks to Mike (not me, there's more than one of us) for mentioning that to me.

Okay, now there's news. Jackson has a new update for you to read... uh two days ago. Ten scripts almost done, with another written by Ben Edlund (creator of the Tick) on the way. That leaves two more to be written, for those of you counting. Also lots of info on voice recording and a couple really kickass background images that will be used in the show. Also apparently the style of the art (backgrounds mainly) has changed somewhat to be more like those from the old cartoons (like Johnny Quest) that Venture Bros. is a parody of (in a loose sense of the word parody, really).

Also apparently it takes about 38 weeks to make a single episode. But you already knew that.

Oh, and I should mention that the show is no longer appearing on Friday Night Fix, so there is no nowhere you can watch Venture Bros (unless you live in Canada, but I don't know if Teletoon is still showing it), though there are only 113 days until the season 1 DVD is out. I should put one of those nifty countdowns somewhere on the main page. Probably where the schedule is, since a schedule for a show that's not on is kind of pointless. Good night!

Since there's not much Venture-news I'll just report on tonight's FNF schedule since it's the only place you can actually see Venture Bros. anywhere right now (I also just noticed I haven't updated the schedule box on the front page, whoops, fixed now!):

The Boondocks - Garden Party
Squidbillies - Chalky Trouble
12 oz. Mouse - Spider
Aqua Teen Hunger Force - Revenge of the Mooninites
Robot Chicken - Plastic Buffet
Venture Bros. - Ice Station Impossible
Space Ghost Coast to Coast - Explode
Minoriteam - Operation Blackout

Yes, I know 12 oz. Mouse is horrible, but there's nothing we can do to change that. At least not until I rule the world. And hey, only 131 more days until the season one DVD! And, uh, a number higher than that until season two starts... okay have fun. Oh yeah, I added another poll because I haven't done that sort of thing in a while. Polls are keen! Can't you just picture the Monarch singing Tomorrow? I'd go see Little Orphan Monarch anyway.

Lack of news makes for lack of updates. However, I will mention that you missed Doc Hammer's art show. Don't feel bad though, because I missed it too... it's a shame too because I was actually in NYC on Tuesday, but I didn't get there until 5ish and I had to be somewhere at 6:30 and my stupid ass decided to walk forty blocks. So yeah. At any rate, you can read Doc's wrap-up on the event which includes some Venture-tidbits. For instance the voice recording for the premier episode is complete. Also apparently Jackson and Doc like walking thirty blocks, so maybe I should join their club if such a club exists.

In other news, I think I forgot to mention it (but I may be wrong), but AS has a few new Venture-related products you can purchase from them, if you so desire. You can buy a long-sleeved The Monarch shirt, a skull logo messenger bag, and this InuYasha knit cap... no wait, forget that last one. That's all for now.

Early morning update for you kids. Adult Swim has finally decided to start posting the Friday Night Fix schedule. So even though VB will be off the air following this weekend, you'll still be able to catch it on the internet every Friday night until at least October 28th. Here's the showings:

October 7 - Eeny, Meeny, Miney... Magic!
October 14 - Tag-Sale, You're It!
October 21 - Home Insecurity
October 28 - Ghosts of the Sargasso

For those of you who haven't been paying attention, Friday Night Fix shows every Friday from 11pm until 6am on Adult Swim.com.

I've also added a new poll, which I'll admit is silly, but it's hard to think of questions sometimes. Enjoy!