Wednesday Odds and Ends: "Alien" prequel, "Star Wars" games, "Better Off Ted" and sci-fi chicks

Have I got a boatload of tasty little nuggets for you this morning! Here they are, in no particular order:

+ Thank God, Hollywood is finally making an original movie based on an a totally original story. Hahahahaha, no, I'm just kidding. But they are making an "Alien" prequel with Ridley Scott apparently involved as producer and some guy who makes cool TV commercials about cars as director. I hope there's at least one scene of young Ripley at prom. It is a prequel, right?

+ Holy cow, have you seen this preview of the upcoming "Star Wars: The Old Republic" MMO/RPG game? I want to go to there NOW. Pretty, pretty lightsabers...



+ There are new episodes of "Better of Ted" coming our way on ABC this summer. Any show that features cryogenics as a punchline is a-ok in my book, so bring it on. The new episodes start airing on June 23.

+ Topless Robot has got their list of "Pop Culture's 10 Greatest Nerds." Apparently, none of us made the list, which is a complete and total crime.

+ Hey, look -- another list! This time, it's Total Sci-Fi's list of "25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi." To me, the inclusion of "The Fifth Element"'s Leeloo and the absence of "BSG"'s Laura Roslin is a cosmic wrong of the highest order, but I'm just picky that way. Also, have I told you I hate "The Fifth Element?"

+ Speaking of chicks, Spin has a nifty little music-based interview with Mindy Kaling from "The Office." Yes, if you've been wondering what this very funny woman has on her iPod, your days of waiting are over!

+ And finally, I discovered this little nugget of gold over at The Onion's AV Club. This person is blogging about their experience watching "The West Wing" for the first time. If you were a fan of the show, it's really fascinating to see it new for the first time through someone else's eyes. I definitely plan on following this blog as he makes his way through the series.

If all goes well later this afternoon, I'll be live blogging my first-ever experience watching that "Twilight" movie all the kids are talking about. (Or were talking about. Now they're talking about that other "Twilight" movie. I'm so old!)