Monday Odds & Ends: Pushing Daisies, V, Neil Patrick Harris, Halloween and build a critter

+ I have no idea how I missed this before, but did you know that "Pushing Daisies" is living on in a 12-part series of comic books for DC Comics?

+ The other night I saw Neil Patrick Harris in a very old, very bad episode of "The Outer Limits" where he got to shoot an evil alien worm out of his nose. Barney would have been appalled. In other news, NPH will be doing a musical turn as a Gotham City villain in an upcoming episode of "Batman: The Brave and the Bold."

+ If you see a giant "V" in the skies next Friday, don't freak out -- it's just ABC's way of promoting the new "V" miniseries. The network has hired skywriters to write "V"s in the skies over some of the country's most popular national monuments. Cooler than a billboard, I guess.

+ Want to plan your Halloween-themed TV viewing? TV Tango has a list of upcoming Halloween programming including TWO showings of "The Great Pumpkin." Woo!

+ Early reviews are coming in for "Amelia," which opens this Friday, and they're pretty good for the most part. Really looking forward to seeing this...right after I see "Where the Wild Things Are."

+ So, io9 had this fake post about a genetically-engineered cat with radar dishes for ears. And it got me thinking, if you could play Frankenstein and use, say, five characteristics from any other creature -- living, dead or fictional -- out there, what would you build? I've been thinking about this...a lot...and I've decided I'd create the following:

A capybara with Ultraman's flying abilities, Henry Kissinger's speaking voice, roller skates on its paws and Sherlock Holme's powers of deduction. He would be the world's most lovable detective, and that would be my contribution to science.

What would you build?

Friday Odds & Ends: Tennant, Amelia, Havel and Holmes...the world's finest law firm

+ First off, welcome to all the new readers this morning. I'm absolutely tickled pink (which has given me a rare healthy glow) that you guys are enjoying the "How to Woo" list. I hope you'll take a few moments to check the place out and kick the proverbial tires. It's great to have you here!

+ Mo Ryan at the Chicago Tribune did a wonderful interview with David Tennant in conjunction with tomorrow night's BBC America debut of "The Next Doctor," the first of Tennant's last five specials. No, I'm not crying...there's just some dust in the air this morning...really, it's nothing...

+ The new trailer is out for "Amelia," the upcoming flick about Amelia Earhart starring Hilary Swank. I'm not a big Swank fan but I've been looking forward to this movie for a while now -- and not just because it also stars Ewan McGregor and Christopher Eccleston. Okay, a little bit because of that. Anyway, here's the trailer:



+ What a show-off! Vaclav Havel is showing again that he can do just about anything. (Except summersaults. I've heard the man is terrible with his tumbling.) The former playwright and president of the Czech Republic is set to make his directorial debut with a new movie called "Pic," described as "an absurdist look at the life of an ex-politician."

+ And in other Eastern European intellectual news, Jeri Ryan, formerly of "Star Trek: Voyager" will be joining the cast of TNT's "Leverage" playing a con woman. The best part about this item is that the only comments under the story were one, someone typing "no" in all caps for half the page and two, someone advertising "the first and largest cougar mingle site." Okay, then!

+ Den of Geek is showcasing new character posters for "Sherlock Holmes." Shall we perhaps begin our Friday morning with a gazing-upon of Robert Downey Jr.? I think so.