This week, the SCI FI Channel put the pilot episode of a new series, The Amazing Screw-On Head, online for fans to watch and comment on. It's based on Mike "Hellboy" Mignola's comic book, and the animation does mimic his art surprisingly closely. And hey, Paul Giamatti voices the lead, a sort of secret-agent/superhero consisting of a detached metal head who can link up with various special-purpose bodies to fight the evil of Emperor Zombie (voiced by David Hyde-Pierce).
It seems fairly obvious why SCI FI would want to run this up the flagpole before commissioning a ful series: It's a deeply weird show. It's dark, it's strangely hilarious and offhand about the grimmest things, and it's got demons and vampires and, well, a secret-agent/superhero consisting of a detached metal head.
I've only seen the online version, which makes me wonder whether the slight chop in the animation is because the frame rate's been downsampled for the online version, or the original looks that way too. It takes a little getting used to, but ultimately, it reminded me of Peter Chung's herky-jerky Aeon Flux style. Except that the deadpan, off-the-wall humor is a little closer to The Tick.
Anyway, check it out, and let SCI FI know what you think, so they can decide whether it's worth producing more of this show, or they should just sink all their capital directly into more Battlestar Galactica.