generic-man's New Writeups

2003 World Series (thing)

2004-10-23T23:28:46Z

Florida Marlins 4, New York Yankees 2

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm a lifelong Yankees fan.

Quite probably the most anticlimactic World Series in Major League Baseball history.

In early October 2003, the baseball press was creaming its metaphorical pants. The National League Championship Series pitted the Chicago Cubs against the Florida Marlins in an unlikely matchup. Up in the Northeast, the American League Championship Series featured the greatest rivalry in pro sports: the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees.

For those of you who aren't baseball fans or don't have access to the Fox network, I'll be blunt: some Cubs fans and Red Sox fans believe their respective teams to be "cursed." The Cubs have not won a World Series since 1908 due supposedly to the Curse of the Goat¹. Boston has not won a World Series since 1918; some Boston fans claim the Curse of the Bambino is…

Pepsi Edge (thing)

2004-06-22T02:59:40Z

A low-carbohydrate, low-calorie cola made by Pepsico and introduced in the summer of 2004, Pepsi Edge is a direct competitor to Coca-Cola C2.

After the explosive popularity of the Atkins Diet across America in early 2004, many food and drink companies quickly rushed out "low-carb" versions of popular brands. Coke and Pepsi already have diet drinks that contain zero calories and zero carbs, but many long-time cola drinkers are put off by the harsh aftertaste of aspartame (aka Nutrasweet). Pepsi Edge is a soda which promises "50% less sugar than the average top 3 national colas," according to the bottle. Instead of aspartame, Edge uses sucralose (aka Splenda) as an artificial sweetener.

Pepsi Edge is packaged in 20-ounce bottles and 12-ounce cans with trade dress that more closely resembles regular Pepsi than Diet Pepsi. The packaging also sports a masculine blue-and-silver color scheme and a text layout reminiscent of the Europe-only…

Extreme Dodgeball (idea)

2004-06-19T04:25:04Z

"Tonight from the First National Memorial Field Colosseum at the Veterans Dome Stadium Complex, it's the fastest, deadliest and most ferocious sport on Earth -- Extreme Dodgeball!" -- Bil Dwyer

Extreme Dodgeball is a show produced by Mindless Entertainment and first aired by GSN (formerly Game Show Network) on Tuesday, June 15, 2004. The show brings the game of dodgeball to a national arena with a league of eight co-ed teams organized by profession. The first tournament has a top prize of $10,000.

Hosts and color commentators Bil Dwyer (Ultimate Fan League, Battlebots) and Zach Selwyn (a finalist on ESPN's reality show Dream Job) provide mocking play-by-play and commentary as each match progresses. Sideline reporter Jerri Manthey (Survivor 2: The Australian Outback, The Surreal Life)…

Mooninites (person)

2004-04-25T17:15:19Z

The Mooninites are Ignignot¹ (ig-NIG-not), Err (pronounced "ur," not "air"), and Cliff, all hostile alien creatures from the inner core of the Moon. They have appeared in the following episodes of the show Aqua Teen Hunger Force:

"Mayhem of the Mooninites"
"Mooninites' Revenge"
"Super Computer" (in a cameo)
"The The"
"The Cloning" (during the intro only)
"The Last One"
"Mooninites 3" (also known as "Re-Mooned")
"Moon Master" (also known as "Mooninites: Final Mooning")
"Deleted Scenes"

The Mooninites also appeared in a promotional video shown at the San Diego ComiCon and included as a special feature on the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Volume 1 DVD set. In the spin-off series Spacecataz, the Mooninites are pitted against their long-time rivals the Plutonians (Oglethorpe and…

Iron Chef America: Battle of the Masters (thing)

2004-04-24T19:58:30Z

A version of Iron Chef that debuted April 23, 2004 on the American cable TV channel Food Network. The Food Network partnered with the original Japanese producers of Iron Chef to bring two of the original's stars over for a series of battles with American celebrity chefs.

Each episode starts with a monologue by "the new Chairman" portrayed by martial artist Mark Dacascos (Brotherhood of the Wolf) introducing himself as Chairman Kaga's nephew. He introduces the three American Iron Chefs (Wolfgang Puck, Mario Batali, and Bobby Flay, who do not have other titles) and the two Japanese Iron Chefs (Masaharu Morimoto and Hiroyuki Sakai).

Unlike the original Iron Chef, Battle of the Masters foregoes lengthy introductions of the combatants and theme ingredients. The mood is serious and intense in sharp contrast to the…

Super Millionaire (thing)

2004-02-23T04:02:29Z

A quiz show hosted by Regis Philbin that premiered on the United States' ABC television network on February 22, 2004 for an initial one-week run. It follows the basic premise of Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? but adds two new lifelines and a top prize of US$10,000,000.

Gameplay

Up to 10 contestants are given a Fastest Fingers question in which they must place four answers in the correct order. The contestant who answers the question correctly in the shortest time advances to the hot seat and must then answer 15 multiple-choice questions correctly. The list below indicates the value of each question.

$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
$5,000 (*)
$10,000
$20,000
$30,000
$50,000
$100,000 (*)
$500,000
$1,000,000
$2,500,000
$5,000,000
$10,000,000

Asterisks in the…