Update: I apologize, I haven't been online much due to the holidays. I realized that there was an erroneous data point for Andrew Stanton in 2009 that was never supposed to be there. I missed it when I initially looked over the graph, but it's been removed now.

As we've been reflecting on the last ten years, we've been asking ourselves whether any true "masters" of science fiction and urban fantasy have emerged, especially in film and television. It's certainly been a decade of highs and lows, of old masters who've begun to fade and bright new stars just cresting the horizon.

To that end, I've attempted to chart the relative "master levels" of various directors and television producers over the several years. This is an utterly unscientific chart; I looked at the projects these folks have had since 2000 and assigned each one a "master level." The number reflects my understanding of the projects acclaim, its ability to attract an audience (i.e. box office/Nielsen numbers), its awards, whether it succeeded in something unusual (such as a relatively popular foreign language film in the case of Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth or Dr. Horrible's status as a breakthrough web film), and the nebulous sense that it add or subtracted from the individual's "geek cred." The numbers themselves are largely subjective and, of course, you should feel free to nitpick.

The greater purpose was to offer a watercolory sense of whether any "masters" have emerged from this crowd. Certainly, the last year has brought low some of the genres' promising potentials. Joss Whedon entered into the decade riding high on a Buffy/Angel cocktail. Though his name wasn't enough to overcome Fox's confusing treatment of Firefly, but the show's eventual cult popularity led to the Serenity feature film, and the Whedon brand helped make Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog an important moment for web-based content. Perhaps this all made Dollhouse — which has been, by turns, frustrating and brilliant — all the more disappointing, its impeding demise fairly readily accepted, even by Whedon's fanbase. Similarly, Ron Moore's Battlestar Galactica, despite being regarded by some readers as the most overrated scifi of the decade, was regarded by many as a turning point for smart, politically savvy space opera. But a rocky final season punctuated by finale filled with dei ex machinae left a lot of folks sour on the entire series. And the Wachowskis, while doing a solid (though Alan Moore-enraging) bit of cinema with V for Vendetta, never quite lived up to the promises of The Matrix.

But there have been plenty of masterful bright spots as well. Bryan Fuller gave us some beautiful urban fantasy with shows with Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, and Pushing Daisies, even if many of his efforts (including the truly amazing The Amazing Screw-On Head) were prematurely axed, or shafted before ever getting off the ground. Guillermo del Toro brought us to great heights with Pan's Labyrinth, even if his other eye candy films didn't hit the same heights.

So have we seen any masters? Peter Jackson has certainly come close. Granted, The Lord of the Rings movies are high fantasy, but they showcased Jackson's ability to handle a difficult epic in a way that not only pleased JRR Tolkien's fans, but also won him mainstream accolades. And his remake of King Kong, which should have been automatically anathema, proved both profitable and well-reviewed. The Lovely Bones has been his blip, earning him his worst reviews in 20 years. But it's more likely that 2009 will be remembered as the year Jackson introduced the world to filmmaker Neill Blomkamp, demonstrating that he has a good eye for new talent and the Hollywood cache to bring that talent to light. It's not for nothing that he made this year's power list.

Another power list member, JJ Abrams, has also given us a good spate of fun and thoughtful science fiction. While he didn't give us the decade's best monster movie, he did manage to reboot the Star Trek franchise in a way that was respectful to what came before and drew in folks who never turned into the TV shows. Of course, we still have yet to see as Lost will end and whether Fringe will survive.

Chris Nolan is on the list of promising possibilities for eventual masterhood. Although Memento wasn't science fiction, it took a "what if" concept (here, what if a man searching for his wife's killer had no short term memory) and portrayed it in a thoughtful, suspenseful, and ultimately heartbreaking way. And he not only shot fresh blood into the corpse of the Batman franchise, he made it Oscar-worthy. And now he's continuing the science fiction thread with Inception.

And, of course, there's the question of whether James Cameron will prove the kind of science fiction as much as he claimed to be the king of the world. His foray into science fiction television, Dark Angel, never fared particularly well in the ratings; it was eventually canceled in favor of Firefly, and it never achieved the posthumous popularity of the later show. But perhaps Avatar is the reinforcement of his previous scifi successes, proof that he can still be relevant where other long-time directors have started to fade away. Hopefully, we won't have to wait another 12 years to see his next installment.

Personally, though, after seeing the delightful Monsters Inc. followed by the superb The Incredibles and WALL-E, I have my fingers crossed for Andrew Stanton and Pixar Studios. Here's hoping that John Carter of Mars is something phenomenal.

Still, singling out directors and producers as possible masters might be missing the point entirely, even when we're talking about movies and TV. Alan Moore might well be your science fiction master, not just because he has written so many fantastic books, but also because those books have captured the imagination of so many directors in the last several years — albeit with varying results. And in the coming years we'll see how comic book writer Brian K. Vaughan — who has been working on Lost as well as the Buffy Season Eight comics — translates to the big screen when Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, and Runaways hit theaters.

So who, if anyone, do you see as your science fiction master? Someone from the list above? Perhaps Russell T. Davis for reviving and expanding Doctor Who? Or maybe writers like Jane Espenson, who have worked on so many of the shows we love? And, with filmmakers like Neill Blomkamp and Duncan Jones arriving on the scene, who might prove themselves master of the genre in the next ten years?

Graph by Steph Fox.

Here's a bonus chart, with more data:

And unlike The King of Kong, gamers Billy Gabel and Steve Rifton—the less fortunate of the two video game proteges—play Punky Pong, an old-school arcade game that apparently features a giant monkey and a Pong-like interface, but no plumbers and bananas instead of barrels. But Punky Pong does have a "kill screen," which Bones' writers appear to have taken quite literally.

Fox's official description reads: Steve turned his success into a lucrative partnership with a gaming referee and charged fans to play on the very machine that gave him the perfect score. But between sour business deals and bitter competitors, the team at the Jeffersonian must work to narrow down the many suspects with motive for ending Rifton's reign as gaming king.

Well, that certainly sounds like 48 minutes of network television I'll be watching!

The show airs tonight in the U.S. on your local Fox affiliate if you're interested. See if you can spot some of the subtle, fall into a coma and you could miss it product placement for James Cameron's Avatar!

The PlayStation Network has been a big hit with PlayStation 3 and PSP owners, and now Sony wants to bring the same experience to other areas of hardware, including televisions, MP3 players, ebook readers, and laptops. According to a Sony presentation delivered this morning, the same infrastructure that is used to deliver video and games to the PlayStation and PSP will be used to deliver games, video, music, and ebooks to other Sony devices. Consumers would connect to the Sony Online Service using a single user ID, meaning that most likely your PlayStation Network ID would also be your Sony Online Service ID as well.

The network would also be used for devices like digital cameras, allowing users to share their photos and videos directly with the PlayStation 3, PSP, or newer Sony televisions without requiring the use of a computer or memory card.

A unified service would further strengthen Sony as a brand, while giving users a unified interface familiar across all products. If they pull it off, it should be a real boon to the company, with hardware users knowing exactly what to expect when they purchase a Sony product.

Starting at 12:01am on Wednesday, November 18th, Wii owners in the UK will be able to download the new BBC iPlayer Wii Channel, giving them instant access to recent television and radio programs on demand without having to navigate to the service via the Wii Internet Channel. The upgraded service now features a full-screen interface for a higher quality experience overall. Nintendo UL general manager David Yarnton talks up the new channel.

"Our partnership with the BBC is another way in which Nintendo is looking to broaden the market for its products by offering compelling and relevant content to families. BBC iPlayer offers Wii owners another reason to turn their console on everyday and adds to the already established non gaming content on Wii that includes Wii Channels for news, weather forecasts and an internet browser."

Yes, another reason to turn your Wii on every day, along with all of those other perfectly valid reasons, which I am sure will strike me any moment now.

This "Eyes" ad, created by advertising group Cutwater with help from Anonymous Content, shows off the eyes of death - the eyes of Ezio's victims - before shifting over to some gameplay footage for those unmoved by those icy orbs. The ad becomes a bit more chilling when you realize that there's a clock somewhere striking 22 o'clock. Go ahead, count.

Assassin's Creed II | Eyes [Brainstorm #9]

I preferred the footage in this TV spot back when it had story and context to it, but the original version was far too long for the TV audience. No, slice that puppy up, toss in some catchy music, and the TV-viewing public will be cemented to the screen for all of 32 seconds.

Look for these ads to run on your magical box sometime early next week.

Variety reports today that the Project Runway game will likely feature the likenesses and involvement of co-hosts Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum. In addition to fulfilling our dream of a low-polygon count Klum barking at us in a video game, the Wii version is reported to feature Wii Remote and Balance Board support, the latter for walking one's chosen model down the runway.

Atari's deal with the Weinstein Company reportedly includes the option to release a series of games, so brace yourselves appropriately.

'Runway' poised for videogame makeover [Variety]

The original Left 4 Dead sold like gangbusters, thanks largely to word-of-mouth, positive reviews, and the $10 million that valve sunk into making sure everybody knew what the game was. The company now reaches even further, adding another $15 million worth of advertising for a game that is already one of its bestselling titles.

"We'll be supporting Left 4 Dead 2's launch with a $25 million campaign," said Doug Lombardi, Valve's vice-president of Marketing. "Left 4 Dead 2 has already set the record for greatest number of pre-orders in our company's history, and we're still over a month out from shipping."

In the U.S., that money translates into billboards, banner ads on gaming sites, and televised advertisements to run during UFC events and Monday Night Football. Europe will also see a ramp up in outdoor advertisements, along with print, television, and website ads.

It sounds like Left 4 Dead 2 will be everywhere you want to be over the coming month. Those of us already aware of the game will just have to wait patiently for release, practicing our "Yes, yes - we know" expressions."

We don't know much about the content of the appearance, other than our expectations: lots of Brutal Legend talk, some questions about Jack Black's involvement in the game, and Schafer likely having better comedic timing than Fallon. What we don't expect to see is Schafer or Fallon in a red jumpsuit.

The show should air on or around 12:35 AM in time zones that matter, broadcast on your local NBC affiliate. Check your TV Guide for more info!

Interrupting a football game between the San Diego Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers is enough reason to cause some sports fans to want to shoot someone, so slipping the new Modern Warfare 2 trailer in between plays is nothing short of marketing genius. Expensive marketing genius as that, as advertising during Sunday Night Football tends to run on the costlier side of the spectrum.

The new trailer, featuring in-game footage mixed with whatever that is in the image up there, should be dropping sometime after the show starts at 8pm Eastern. Don't worry - if you miss it, we should have it up shortly thereafter.

New 'Modern Warfare 2' trailer to kick off on 'NBC's Sunday Night Football' [USA Today]

The 50 minute one-off program was part obligatory primer, explaining genre types like platformer, shoot 'em up and MMORPG, as well as giving ample screen time to retro titillating fare like Beat 'Em And Eat 'Em. But Gameswipe offered thoughtful insight into topics like the mainstream coverage of games, bad writing in games, and a brilliant guest editorial from comedian Dara O'Briain.

While the show succeeding in touching on mainstream paranoia about games, in a refreshing, non-self pitying way, it seemed to spend a bit too much time of overly violent fare. The amount of airtime given to games like Manhunt 2, Grand Theft Auto, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand and, curiously, the new Wolfenstein seemed an odd choice.

The show hurried past more interesting games like Braid and Portal, ignoring some more important, more innovative entries in certain genres seemingly in favor of giving Wolfenstein more screentime. Mentions of less "important" niche games like Konami's self-parodying Parodius, the famously Engrish-ized Zero Wing and NEC's gaseous platformer Kato-chan and Ken-chan were cute, but the glossing over of games like StarCraft, Half-Life and others felt like holes.

But I'm nitpicking. The show was entertaining—far superior to the typical video game coverage on broadcast television—and worth watching, if you can access the BBC's iPlayer service. Me, I had to watch it on YouTube, which I'd recommend doing so sooner than later.

Charlie Brooker's Gameswipe [BBC]

Or maybe the writers of House MD just haven't played a video game recently, because the appropriately titled episode "Epic Fail" highlights some startling virtual reality type technology. Something we'd love to play, honestly. Kind of like a Brute Force from the year 2020 but played with VR helmets and Super Scopes. And just a little janky.

By the way, the interesting medical anomaly in this episode involved a video game designer whose hands start to burn and later has hallucinations that he's living in the video game of his own creation. Oh, and that video game designer likes to post his symptoms on the internet, soliciting medical advice from e-friends. That's the most believable part, actually.

Thanks to Myles for the heads up!

Dexter the Game follows the general premise of the Dexter television show. You play Dexter Morgan, the serial killer who only kills those who deserve it. You guide Dexter as he gathers information about his prey, stalks them, and eventually kills them in his usual fashion. The game is presented as a 3D adventure, with graphics that really give the previous generation of iPhones a workout.

"We are thrilled to give iPhone and iPod Touch owners a way to experience DEXTER in a fresh, engaging way," said Len Fogge, Executive Vice President, Creative, Marketing, Research and Digital Media at Showtime Networks. "The minute you begin controlling him and hearing his innermost thoughts, you are completely engrossed."

Dexter the Game is now available for $5.99 in the iTunes App Store. As a bonus, anyone who purchases the game gets a code to enter them in a sweepstakes that could score them a walk-on role in season five of the show. Happy hunting!

I never imagined in a million years that I would have cause to thank 90210's Jennie Garth for anything. It just goes to show how funny the world can be, unless you're watching the Today Show.

Former MTV boss Peter Einstein is behind the show, and he thinks he knows why video game shows "have failed in the past."

From what we've seen in the past a lot of the focus has been more outside of the games, with presenter reviews, stats, interviews with creators and only a bit about the games themselves – as one assumed that you only ‘play' games you can't ‘watch' them.

So, wait a sec. This means we're going to be watching people play games? Casual games? Sounds like it.

By taking the rich production values of many games today, using the story line or game objective, [production company] Ginx creates a TV production from a TV viewers point of view. We feel this concept provides a fun, entertaining TV event which is appealing mostly to the casual gamer.

Has anyone gotten a look at this yet? Is this really what's going on? Like, a documentary of one man's struggle to master Boom Blox?

Update: UK reader The A Drain says he's seen the show and files this report:

I managed to catch the first episode of this entirely by accident while browsing channels having breakfast the other day.

It's the same old drivel other shows are, but without as much talking. A 20-something girl bounces around the screen making sexual allusions for 5 minutes, then you get a 5 minute clip of a game, no commentary, simply game footage that's all.

Then you get two 'reviews' if you can call them that, in which a random dude voices over uninterrupted game footage, they reviewed both Ghostbusters (failing to mention that it's PS3 only for now in Europe, and called it multiplatform) and Red Faction Guerrilla. Essentially, they took a typical casual standpoint while doing the review, they gave no review score, avoided any and all technical aspects, and spent roughly 10 minutes saying "It's great you can smash stuff wiv a hammer!/Trap ghosts!"

Same typical uninformed drivel as other shows, except with a different girl bouncing around.

Ex-MTV Boss Targets Games TV [MVC via Joystiq]

In case you don't understand the video, Pure Pwnage is coming to Canada's Showcase cable channel in 2010, with eight full episodes worth of socially inept Jeremy's antics beaming directly into the televisions of our neighbors to the North. To put this into perspective, Showcase shows reruns of House. Pure Pwnage is going to be airing on the same channel that airs reruns of House. The world is a strange and wonderful place, isn't it?

Enlisting the help of an AV installation company from Williamsville, NY, Patti cut a hole in her ceiling, reinforced the roof, then had a 300-pound rig installed that includes a projector and some mirrors. Which, combined, gives her son a 100-inch screen to game on. Directly above his bed.

I bet he loves it. Me, I couldn't sleep with the thought I had a 300-pound Damacle's Nerdsword hanging over my head, which could crash through the roof at any time and crush me to death. Not really the stuff "sweet dreams" are made of, that.

Exemplary Mom Builds 98-Inch Screen Inside Kid's Bedroom Ceiling [Gizmodo]

Tiger came on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon show last night to see if he could make up for his humiliating loss earlier that day, and after a bad start on both their parts, Woods did manage to pull out on top, but it definitely wasn't a pretty round of golf.

The reality show is seeking gamers with an unhealthy attitude toward the hobby, giving you a national basic cable venue through which to vent your spleen and have your psychological addictions empathized with and/or roundly mocked by MTV viewers. MTV producers are looking for people with personal relationship problems or anyone considering going to rehab to kick their gaming habits.

The full description should give you a better idea of what the producers are looking for—a complete and total wreck of a person.

Have video games totally taken over your life? Is your game play increasingly getting out of control? Have your friends or family confronted you about your gaming habit? How about your marriage or personal relationships – are they being affected? Is it difficult to balance work and gaming time? Do you sometimes skip doing homework or household responsibilities to play? Have you played video games as a way of escaping your problems? Has your game playing habit become so encompassing that you may need to go to rehab to kick it? If you can identify with any of the above, MTV wants to hear from you.

True Life's show topics cover everything from "I'm Obese" to "I Hate My Tattoos" to "I'm a Mixed Martial Arts Fighter." The show has previously covered gaming with the episode "I'm A Professional Gamer."

MTV True Life Wants to Know - Are you Addicted to Gaming? Casting Call [via Siliconera]