Nathan Fillion does Indiana Jones

Seems I got really stuck in tv shows that did an Indy themed episode. This week Nathan Fillion made my day by delivering a very Indiana Jones-ish scene in Castle season 2 episode 19. Take a look:

Nathan Fillion wants to be Indiana Jones - and meets the Mummy's Curse

Castle is a tv show about the author Richard Castle (played by Nathan Fillion) "helping" out the NYPD Detective Kate Beckett (played by Stana Katic) solving cases. In the episode Wrapped up in Death, a museum curator gets crushed by a falling gargoyle. He isn't the first member of a recent archeological expedition to die. It turns out there was a legend inscribed over the burial chamber the team unearthed warning that "all who gaze upon the face of the mummy are doomed." Was the curator just the latest victim of "The Mummy's Curse"? And if so, what does that mean for Castle, who snuck a peek at the mummy when no one was looking?

Watch the fedora scene starting from 05:22

The whole setup here is very funny because several times the name "Nathan Fillion" has been brought up by Indy fans as a potential new actor to play Indiana Jones. Most seems to have seen the SciFi movie Serenity in which Fillion plays a very Han Solo-ish captain of a small space-freighter with a crew of rogues. To really understand that film one should have seen the short-living tv series Firefly by Joss Whedon that tells the story of the same spaceship and crew in 14 episodes. The show was canceled at that point and the movie followed later to please the growing fan-base that loved that little SciFi gem ever since. Fillion can also be very funny as can be seen in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, a free internet show also produced by Whedon. Natan Fillion is very active on the web and recently he started a campaign to get him the role of Nathan Drake in Uncharted, the upcoming film version of a very successful game series. These adventure games feature a modern Indiana Jones-ish guy related to Francis Drake as the main character, who travels the world chasing after lost treasures and battling lots of baddies on the way.

See how all this fits together? I would even bet that Fillion explicitly asked for the Indiana Jones scene in Castle just to show that he can do the adventurous archaeologist. Not to long ago in the Halloween episode of Castle he did put on his old "space pirate" costume (his outfit from Firefly and Serenity) just to treat his fans. He is a geek and fan himself and for that he deserves to wear a fedora c|:)

Young Indiana Jones in the Curse of the Kah

Collecting Indiana Jones goodies is an adventure that leads to great discoveries now and then. One of my latest extraordinary findings was a children puzzle book titled "Young Indiana Jones in the Curse of the Kah" by author Owen Williams and illustrated by Paddy Mounter. This "Hippo Mystery?Puzzles" book was printed in 1993 by Scholastic. The 32 pages are in full comic illustration, which makes this book a comic book. At the same time the story is filled with puzzles and riddles, making this book a puzzle book. All the pictures are filled with a lot of tiny details, partially because of puzzles that ask the reader to find some detail but often just for fun.

Indy doing the mummy dance c|:)

The story is based on the first episode of the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles tv show (Young Indiana Jones and the Curse of the Jackal). But in this version of Indy's first adventure everything is a bit different to the tv version. The authors might have gotten an early draft of the tv script or maybe they have gotten the freedom to change the story to fit it to their puzzle needs. Anyway, having an alternate version of this Egypt adventure adds a nice touch to the story of Indy's life.
A highly recommended entertaining and fun read for children (and Indy fans).

How Indy Met Your Mother

Indiana Jones references are very trendy now. At least it looks like it as every popular TV show seems to have an Indy episode nowadays. And that's a good thing. Heck, I would not mind if they have an Indy episode every other week c|:)

Not long ago I posted about a Big Bang Theory episode, this time it is a How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM) episode from 2008. Episode 1 of season 5 of this sitcom might be old news for US folks but it has just been aired for the first time on German tv. The story related to Indy is about the main character Ted who will have his first class as an architecture professor. As a present from his friends he gets a fedora and a bullwhip, because a real professor obviously does need those.

Josh Radnor (Ted), Jason Segel (Marshall) and Allyson Hannigan (Lily) try out the whip in an alley

There is even a wiki page about this episode... They for sure had their fun doing this episode. Here another quote from the show by jack-of-all-trades Barney:

Barney: That, my friends, is the dominator 5000, the best bull whip on the market according to my whip guy. Yeah, I have a whip guy. [makes whip sound]

As I was looking for a picture for this post I stumbled over even more HIMYM Indy fun. The cast did
reenact some of 2008 most memorable film moments including a scene from a film we all know:

Colbie Smulder (Robin) as Spalko, Neil Patrick Harris (Barney) as Indy and Josh Radnor (Ted) as Mutt

''Smulders (left) didn't see Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (she says the key to Cate Blanchett was ''just look like a badass''), while Harris studied Indy hard: ''It's sort of a quarter-squint. The lips go down, 
 but there's a hint of a smile. But he's not amused, because he's always got other things in mind.''

Indy out of LEGO love

I have been visiting a conference in Munich again this year. Last year at the same conference I found a LEGO flagship store in my spare time and made some awesome discoveries that I had to buy. I returned to the store this year with high hopes of finding more lost Indy treasures. Sadly my trip was not fruitful. The time for Indy related goodies from LEGO is definitely over again. There was not a single piece left, not even in the bargain bin c|:(