Wheel... Of... Fortune!

The online version of everyones favorite game show is now available here at Gamesville. Spin the wheel and compete for cash and prizes, just like contestants on the TV game show. Experience the thrill of television's most popular game show, produced by our friends at WorldWinner! Play today and let us know what you think in the comments section.

"Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!" is an animated children's television series created by Bob Boyle. The first season debuts on DVD today, and we spoke with one of the executive producers, Fred Seibert, about Wubbzy and what it's like to develop programming for preschoolers.

Thanks for joining us, Fred. What attracted you to Wubbzy? What makes this show different from other preschool shows?
The creator, Bob Boyle. I've worked with him for 10-12 years now on shows like "Oh Yeah! Cartoons" and "Fairly Odd Parents". He's a great guy, a relentless creative force, full of wonderful ideas and wonderful characters. What he's done, visually, with Wubbzy is take his love for Japanese vinyl toys and interpret them through his own visual style, and just made them irresistible.

Are there lessons you want kids to learn from watching Wubbzy?
Bob wanted the show to feature lessons for children with an underlying message of friendship. I think that came, in part, because he developed the show with his nine-year-old niece. Personally, I don't think TV is a great place for teaching lessons. I was, and am, much more interested in entertaining children with great characters and great stories.

How is Wubbzy different from other shows you've worked on?
Wubbzy is softer, friendlier, not as fast or as joke-oriented. But it's still very funny. Basically, Wubbzy is comedy for kids. Also, Wubbzy is a very huggable character. Each of the shows I've worked on have featured likable characters, but Wubbzy is the one you want to actually have as a friend.

Your company, Next New Networks, is about to launch its 20th video-oriented site. What's your goal with New New Networks?
It's our view that new media demands new programming. Video online should be about more than just repurposing last night's Daily Show. Cable can service thousands of different interests. But, in the real world, there are millions of different interests. Our goal is to create unique programming for the many different communities that are out there online.

Any last words before we go back to watching Wubbzy?
Just that we're so thrilled! The second season of Wubbzy just launched to record ratings, we have the DVD coming out, and the new toys have been really well received. So we're very thankful. We've been working on this show, in one form or another, for six years now, and it's really gratifying to know that you guys are as excited about Wubbzy as we are!

Recently we spoke with the creator and executive producer Josh Friedman of Fox's fall drama Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Today wer’re sitting down with the newest addition to this season's cast: Shirley Manson. Be warned, the following interview may contain minor spoilers.

Gamesville: You’re playing a new character on the show. How did this role come about?

Shirley: Josh Friedman contacted me and jokingly asked if I was interested in being on the show. I thought he was kidding so I jokingly said of course I would be. It turned out he was serious! The role was for Catherine Weaver,  the CEO of ZeiraCorp--and the brand new Terminator on the show . When I found that out, I jumped at the opportunity.

What’s Catherine like as a character?

She is pretending to be human so that, in itself, is interesting to me because she’s physically a human being, but is unable to bring what is essentially human to the table all the time.

I find it fascinating; this is a woman who is truly unassailable, because she’s a Terminator and a CEO of a very successful company. It’s really a lot of fun to play.

Given how popular the franchise is, how did you handle the pressure of stepping into the show?

I just didn’t think about the pressure, to be honest. I’ve been under a lot of pressure situations in my life through being a musician, and a touring musician. I have just come to realize in life you just have to block out people’s expectations and hopes and just try to concentrate on enjoying yourself and having fun. At the end of the day, that’s really all you have.

Do you have any other expectations for your character, any kind of arc you want your character to take?

I haven’t really stopped to think about it because I’ve enjoyed where they’ve taken my character so far, and I feel like I’m in good hands. I have noticed that all the Terminators on the show want to meet the other Terminators! We’re always making hints that it would be great fun to have us all take our super powers against each other. Other than that, I’m perfectly happy with where they’re taking it.

Are you continuing to work on music while taking on this new role?

Yes, I’m still working on music. I’m not a huge lead in the show so I have plenty of downtime, despite some of the crazy hours we work. I’ve been working all year on stuff and continue to do so. I have a lot of material and I’m intending to go in and start recording some of the songs next month, so we’ll see if I manage to pull it off.

Were your bandmates and friends shocked when they found out you were going to be playing this role?

No, I don’t think so. Particularly with the Terminator, it’s kind of coming from a similar place in some regards. It’s also coming from a sort of superhero standpoint in the way that comic book superheros grew out of feeling disempowered, and I think musicians in some ways do too. I think in some ways it’s a natural fit, even though it might seem peculiar to the casual onlooker. It makes sense to me!

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles airs Mondays at 8:00PM eastern / 7:00PM central on Fox.

Many factors influence changing leaf colors--but weather has the greatest impact.

According to the U.S. Forest Service, it's the amount of moisture and temperature that affect the autumn colors. Warm sunny days and cool, but not freezing nights are the key ingredients for vibrant fall foliage.

Source: www.na.fs.fed.us/Spfo/pubs/misc/leaves/leaves.htm

A very sneaky, furry friend made his way from one side of the room to the other, undetected! Check out the video below to witness this sluth feline in action:

Want to share photos or video of your own favorite pet with the Gamesville community?

Send photos to: members@gamesville.com

In addition to your pet's picture, please be sure to include:

• Your Gamesville member name
• Your pet's most distinguishing personality trait

This week's Best Pet is Zack. The proud owner: Gamesviller Lee35g of Ontario, Canada.

Distinguishing Personality Traits

Lee35g says: "This is our puppy Zack. He is a Jack Russell / Bison mix and is the best dog in the world. He learned how to swim this summer and loves the water now. We take him fishing with us--he thinks the bobber is a ball and tries to go after it. He loves rocks and stones: His daddy throws them, and he fetches them and brings them back so he can do it again. He has just been the greatest friend anyone could ever want."

Want to share photos of your own favorite pet with the Gamesville community?

Send photos to: members@gamesville.com

In addition to your pet's picture, please be sure to include:

• Your Gamesville member name
• Your pet's most distinguishing personality trait

Looking for more ways to connect with Gamesville? We have another exciting announcement about how you can keep up to date with the happenings here at  Gamesville!

The GV team has begun posting updates on our Gamesville Twitter account.

What's Twitter? Twitter is a free service that lets anybody exchange ideas, thoughts and feelings in a few sentences or less. It can be really useful. And it can be an addictive, enjoyable waste of time. Wait--did someone say "addictive, enjoyable waste of time"? We're there! Connect with us on Twitter to get up-to-the minute updates on Gamesville, experience new useless web tricks, and more.

To give you an explination in plain english, The CommonCraft Show has created a video to explain exactly how people use and interact with Twitter:

Stay current with the latest news from the Gamesville Blog and the random musings of our team by following us on Twitter.

Congratulations, tonasketjim!

Yesterday, tonasketjim of Tonasket, WA won $4,999 playing Magic 21

Useless Fact!

Nestled in the Okanogan River Valley, the town of Tonasket has a rich Native American history. Tonasket was named for Chief Joseph Tonasket, chief of the Okanogan tribe of Indians that lived along the Okanogan River. The present town was platted on the east side of the Okanogan River in 1907 when banker Arthur Lund and five others formed the Bonaparte Land Co. The town was incorporated in 1927. Learn more...

Gamesviller Capserie of Erie, PA won $200 in our weekly GV Rewards Sweepstakes on August 2nd, and took a few minutes out of her schedule to talk with us about her win.

What will she be spending her winnings on? And what kind of game would she like to see on Gamesville next? Find out below...

Gamesville: What was it like when you realized you won?
I couldn't believe I won! My husband was at Boy Scout camp as a leader and when he called home, I told him - he was stunned and happy for me.

What will you spend your winnings on?
I will spend my winnings to make a special weekend for my husband and I in Canada. We have a wedding reception to attend in December and it will give us an extra night together.
 
What do you do for a living?
I am a customer service representative for a major health insurance company. I talk with thousands of people each year and love being able to solve their claim problems and assist with explaining their benefits to them. The downside is the occasional member who swears at me when they don't get the response they wanted.
 
If you were an animal in the wild, what would you be?
I would like to be a cheetah.  
 
What is your most treasured possession and why?
My most treasured possession is my family. Without my husband and my adult children, I would be very lonely. They are irreplaceable and are always in my heart and on my mind.
 
What does your Gamesville member name mean?
My member name: capserie - “caps” are my initials (including my maiden name) and “Erie” is the city I live in which is in PA.
 
What kind of game or service would you like Gamesville to make next?
Maybe Slingo for a payout or points to put toward the drawings.

Thanks, Capseire - and congratulations again on your win!

Recently the team at Gamesville had the opportunity to sit down with the creative minds and talent behind FOX's hit drama Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Creator and executive producer, Josh Friedman; and Lena Headey, who plays Sarah Connor, joined us to answer some questions about the upcoming season. Be warned! For those who missed the season two premier, the following interview may contain minor spoilers.

Gamesville: Hello, Josh and Lena.  Thanks for your time today.  

Lena Headey: Hello.
Josh Friedman: Hey there.

GV: In the beginning of the series you talked about having somewhere to go with the character, could you talk about what the gradual progression Sarah is on this year will be?

LH: It’s been an interesting season.  I feel that Sarah has taken a backseat in terms of being proactive and taking care of business.  I think that we’re going to see a lot more of John taking control and making steps towards becoming the man he has to be.  And I think this season for Sarah is kind of her losing slight control over pretty much everything, and my feeling is that there’s a slow madness sort of happening in her because she feels that everything is kind of out of reach right now.

GV: How cool was that for you to play?

LH: It’s calming.  I mean, the stuff is calming, but will be more visceral I think, but it’s been strange coming from such a ferocious side of her to being, feeling very pressured, like all control has gone from her.

GV: I feel like there’s a lot of anger in your portrayal of Sarah Connor, and I was wondering if you could talk about that and whether she’s kind of partly angry at John because he’s the reason she can’t have a normal life.  

LH: Yes, I think there’s some truth in that.  I think that Sarah’s pretty complex. I absolutely think that her anger is partly at her son and her situation, obviously.  And I think that’s what it is, her frustration in dealing with that as she can’t really throw down with her son.  But I think there’s a rooted anger also with everybody that comes to advise her and say she should do this and look at it this way, and I think she would love to say, “… you all,” and she can’t for various reasons.

GV: Josh, in the show you have one character who is supposed to eventually be the salvation of mankind, which makes him obviously pretty central.  That being said, the show is called The Sarah Connor Chronicles.  What’s the balance you have to be walking at all times, sort of remembering what the name of the show is and who the star is, but also looking to the future?

JF: Well, it’s challenging.  I think that it’s very doable.  The Sarah/John relationship is the central, I would say that it’s the central relationship in the show, and I think that, at different times, there can be different shifts in terms of the power dynamic or the proactivity.  Lena talks a little bit about her character taking a back seat to John.  I think that it’s a parent/child struggle, and watching the push and pull of that dynamic, to me, is fascinating.  So I sort of look at them as a pair.  Ultimately, yes, it’s called The Sarah Connor Chronicles and it’s about how does this parent of this special child deal with that, and it’s challenging.

GV: You have some really great action and special effects on the show.  Can you talk about finding the balance between that and keeping the humanity going?

JF: At this point, it’s sort of become an organic thing for us.  I think we sort of have a sense of how much action to have in any given episode.  It does shift sometimes.  Sometimes you, in terms of the realities of production, you don’t have the time or money to do big things all the time in every episode, which I’m happy for. I kind of enjoy writing smaller, more character-driven episodes. To me, it’s a drama.  It’s still a family show, a family drama that is in the science fiction world and has action in it, but it’s still, I think, character first for me.

GV: I’m wondering about addition of Shirley Manson. What was the casting decision behind getting her on board?

JF: I’ve known Shirley for a couple of years now. Whenever I’d see her, I used to joke with her about coming on the show to do one episode or something like that because she never acted.  And we’re like, “You know, you should come, do one thing, come be a scary terminator for an episode or do something like that,” and she always said, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’re never going to do that.”  And then this year, when we started casting, I actually wasn’t thinking about her for this part.  We’d just started casting this part, and then somewhere about a week into casting, I thought I want to bring Shirley in and see if she’s up for it, see if she wants to do it. I e-mailed her and said, “Do you want to come in and audition?”  She said, “Well, yes, I’m coming back in town on Sunday.”  She came and she did it, and she’s just got an incredible charisma.  She’s always prepared, and her learning curve in terms of the craft part of it has been very high so far.  It sort of just happened organically, but she also had to go through the entire audition process just like any other actor.  She was given no extra points for being Shirley Manson.  I think in some ways, she was given minus points by people who thought maybe she couldn’t do it.

GV: And would you characterize Shirley’s character as a nemesis?  Are we allowed to call her evil at this point?

JF: Oh, I think evil is a bit strong.  I don’t think of any of these characters as evil, I think that they’re very focused.  They have a plan.  It’s not personal, like there’s some evil back story where there’s revenge necessary.  I think that there’s a plan that she has in place.

GV: So are there any guest spots you can tell us that are coming up for this season?

JF: Busy Philipps from Freaks and Geeks and and Dawson’s Creek is going to come on for a few episodes.  Most of the guest stars die when they come on.  I don’t know, I can’t really say.

GV: Alright, well I guess we'll have to wait and see, thanks for the time.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles airs Mondays at 8:00PM eastern / 7:00PM central on Fox