Chris McGowan Has a QuestionLA-based writer, actor & improviser has a ton of questions, few answers

A writer that inspires me - Jane Espenson.

I’m a huge fan of the TV show "Doctor Who." If you're also a fan, this article is for you - it's pure fan speculation, references and thinking about the show! If you don't know the show or have been on the fence about checking it out, I plan on doing an article for the uninitiated to get you to try it out. For those unfamiliar with the show, this might be really specific and confusing but please hang tight - I have some other posts coming down the pike that will suit your fancy. Being a fan of the show and finding some of the forums and message boards a little hard to navigate to really read fan theories, I figured I'd lay out some of my own on my site. Why not, right?...

It's been a little while.  Sorry.  I'm still amongst the living and haven't abandoned this thing, whatever it is. I have a new plan for the new year that I'll be rolling out in the next few weeks. First, I'm going to try using #hastags in the titles.  If you want to read about Doctor Who, oil fracking, or the latest at the Large Hadron Collider, them lil' hashtags will make it easy to keep things sorted before you dive in and read.  I'll also try to build a search function to make it EVEN easier to find stuff. I'm also really digging Tumblr, so I'll try to bring interesting things from there to here so you get to see it and stuff. Also, I recently was part of ...

In a recent Esquire magazine article, a fave writer of mine, Tom Chiarella (who I don't think normally weighs in on all things nerdy) wrote an article about superhero movies.  Here’s the link if you want to read it:  http://www.esquire.com/features/man-at-his-best/dark-knight-assessment-0812 Tom’s basic premise is that for a superhero movie to succeed, it needs a joke.  A wink.  Breaking the 4th wall and having a chat with the audience might even be best.  He says that superhero movies that don’t “let the light in” - as in Nolan’s Batman trilogy - are basically total drags.  He’d rather see Spiderman, who at least “hoots” as he flies through the city on another reboote...

It was sometime in 2007. No, wait, let’s back up (*insert TARDIS noise*). The first time I caught a glimpse of “Doctor Who” was when I was maybe 10 or 11 years old.  I was flipping through the TV, probably on my way to “Full House” or “Family Matters,” when I passed the PBS channel in Chicago, Channel 11.  There I caught the tail end of a commercial for “Doctor Who.”  All I knew at the time was that it was a show on PBS (so it was probably educational / lame), that it was from England and that it was only for nerds. Now, I’m a nerdy guy.  I was an even nerdier kid.  I had pictures of video game characters on my bedroom wall.  I wrote my own comic books about ninj...

Good question. Multiple reasons, the biggest being that I just got done with writing and performing a solo show at this year's Hollywood Fringe Festival. But I've also had some other stuff happen to me that made writing posts seem trivial. I'll get to that in later posts. But I'll be updating this site in the next few weeks and some new posts up.

If you're a geek, like I am, you've probably heard the rumors and/or unofficial news that the iPad 3 is coming out next month. The first time I saw a commercial for the iPad, I was one of those guys that was like, "What a bunch of malarkey!  This is such a useless device.  If you have an iPod & a laptop, what the heck do you need this for?  It's a waste of money!" But as the commercials continued to play and as life went on, I'd see people with iPads.  At the office, at home, at improv rehearsals.  In coffee shops, at the mall, in the car in front of me.  Everywhere.  I saw this: And this: And this! But, “no,” I said, “this is pure marketing...

Of the many new shows this Fall, there’s one on Fox called Terra Nova. For a Doctor-Who watching, Final-Fantasy-playing and Velociraptor-loving person such as I, this show should be right up my tailpipe. It’s got: 1) Time Travel.   2) Dinosaurs. 3) People shooting and blowing stuff up. 4) This dog that comes up when you google search Terra Nova.   Should be up my tailpipe. But, alas, I have no interest. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Now I have not watched this show, so what gives me the right to bash it? I attribute watching bad shows to be like supporting a bad sports team. Why would a team improve if people will watch them no matter what (*cough * Chicago Cubs *cou...

I remember the day I discovered Friendster.  It was about 6 years ago and I had just moved to L.A.  MySpace was just starting to pick up steam, but Friendster was still IT.  You could add people, send them ‘roses’ (like “The Bachelor?”), and just see what they were doing.  Then, about a year later, like a drunk college freshmen coming home at 1am to the dorms, MySpace stumbled onto the scene making a ton of noise.  All focus and attention went to this Web 1.5 behemoth.  And it basically killed Friendster. Then, a few short years later, Facebook exploded.  We’ve all seen the movie. But now I’d say that we’re starting to get Facebook Fatigue.  Sure, it’s trendy to hat...

What’s an FAQ?  It’s a place where you can get more information about a particular thing, such as this website you’re on right now, done in a Q&A-style.  Like on Maury. Who are you?  My name is Chris McGowan.  I am a writer and improviser based in Los Angeles, who is currently not getting paid to do either.  For now.  Check out the full and lengthy bio that will be under "Me." Why questions?  I wonder a lot about stuff.  Sometimes the question might be rhetorical.  Sometimes I will want to rant.  Sometimes I really want to know some answers.  The topics will just be stuff I obsess over, so expect there to be a good dose of nerdiness.  I also think me having my h...