[Goodbye, Chuck]

And so ends one of my favorite television shows.

Chuck hit that happy, feel-good spot that many shows have before -- from Avatar: The Last Airbender to Boy Meets World -- but it was unlike so many others. Really, how many well-paced shows do you know is a live-action-comedy-spy-drama?

I don't want to give away any spoilers, since I can't recommend the show enough (even when you have your doubts through its darker or less agreeable episodes). Right to the end, the show had some great throwbacks to the early episodes (making it worth ignoring occasional, gaping plotholes). Instead, as the series comes to a close, I thought I'd offer some fascinating trivia I learned from reading extended interviews with creators Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak.

Bear in mind that things changed so much over the series because of the chemistry among the cast and the constant threat of cancellation (most mid-season and season finales were written as a series finale, so they had to frequently find new ways to redefine the show).

Onto the trivia! (No spoilers, I promise)

• The show was originally had (and shot with) a female love interest for Chuck named Kayla, who was central part of the show (and even part of the pitch), but the chemistry between Zach (Chuck) and Yvonne (Sarah) made the creators change their minds and re-cast them as the heart of the show. That makes sense with how much they stressed Chuck's heartbreak over Jill in the pilot.
• Captain Awesome was originally intended to be a planted spy, but immediately became a favorite when everyone fell in love with him (after his only three lines), so they scrapped plans to turn him. Considering how he is the paradigm of athleticism, that brings a whole new light to his character and (in hindsight) you can really see how they would built that up. It makes it all the more amusing with the contrasting direction they ultimately took his character.
• Jeff and Lester were scripted with far minor background roles, but there limited screen time and improvisation really impressed the initial viewers. They actually had to tone down their roles because people originally thought they were secretly the bad guys. Talk about a red herring!
• They had big plans for C.S. Lee (Harry Tang) had he not left to join the cast of Dexter full-time, which means they would not have written him off so abruptly had it not been for that other (awesome) darker show. But could you blame him? He has such a fun role with Masuka.
• The unanimous opinion was that nobody liked Morgan early on, so they diligently worked on making as likable as they liked the actor, Joshua Gomez. Since Chuck started off his journey as the bumbling idiot, as he matured and progressed, they used that opportunity to creatively have Morgan slip into the missing "idiot" role. I never thought of it that way because they executed it so naturally and effortlessly, and I believe preserving that overall dynamic/contrast kept the show's heart.
• The first "big" change to Chuck and the Intersect was originally planned for season 1, had it not been for the writer's strike. In other words, they had it planned all along, contrary to my initial fears of what-have-they-just-done.
• They originally thought that they'd have lots of money so as an ongoing gag, Sarah would have a different, ridiculous cover each season, but they didn't have enough money to keep building new sets. And we all know how NBC ultimately felt about funding the show, don't we?
• Tony Hale's departure from the show was because NBC took away their money. They even wanted to have his character's twin brother come back to look for him (and take his place), but they couldn't afford having an additional cast member. Similar circumstances hold for the Julia Ling's character (well not the twin thing). Boo, NBC.
• Two of the episodes from Season 2 hailed as their very best succeeded, in their opinion, because they had money. Time and money. Thanks again, NBC.
• They purposely ended Season 2 with "To be continued" realizing that they could be "the biggest ***holes in the history of television", not knowing about a series renewal. Never paid attention to that!
• Fedak goes on the record as saying: "You know, I have no intention of actually having Casey kill Chuck" back in Season 1 (despite dropping hints in the show), so he secretly enjoyed their interactions more than the fans did. Sure, you can't off a main character in the first season, but it was still pretty tense.
• Linda Hamilton was looking to have a comic, warmer role (than her usual material) when originally approached by the creators, which worked out great for what they were seeking. She really was a great addition to the cast.
• Timothy Dalton liked to come in and talk to his writer, and perform the part with the writer prior to shooting as he wound onstage if not more. To think this is James Bond -- such an amazing actor!
• They purposely "made a decision for America" to not show Casey in a speedo in the "Kept Man" episode. I approve. The offscreen gag was good enough.
• The overall structure of the fifth season, though planned from the start, happened to emulate the previous seasons where after the first two-thirds, they focused on individual characters in standalone episodes before showcasing the final arc of the season. This is more of my own observation, but again, I'm impressed by how well they wrapped it up, and I like how they made it follow the style of the previous seasons, even if unintended.
• For the sky-diving sequence, they did multiple takes of a person in a cat suit diving from the plane. Hilarious.
• They originally entertained the idea of things going sour for some characters: having a Thelma & Louise off-the-cliff ending for Jeff & Lester (which ended up being integrated into the "Bo" episode) and killing off Casey's character early in the season. Neither of those happened, so I don't consider that a spoiler.
• They are working on a longer cut of the finale for the DVD. Now there's a must-have!

Source articles [spoilers abound]: part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5

Thanks for a great five years, Chuck. As a quality show that still remains undiscovered by many, I look forward to rewatching you in years to come. And as a supportive fan, I went ahead and bought myself some Buy More merchandise, following the finale. Hats off to you, Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak.

As a bonus to any fans that come across this page, provided you've seen the show through the fifth season, you should watch the extended video interview with Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak at Google LA here.

[What Skyward Sword could have done better]

After 50 hours, I finally beat the main quest of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. The much anticipated latest chapter of the Zelda series fails to disappoint, further supported by the universal acclaim.

• Edge: 10/10 
• Eurogamer: 10/10
• Game Informer: 10/10
• Guardian: 5/5
• IGN: 10/10
• Nintendo World Report: 10/10
• Telegraph: 5/5
• Wired: 10/10

Like A Link To The Past and The Ocarina of Time, this game finally sees a true major revision to the series, this time with [highly-approximated] 1-to-1 motion controls (Note: I consider that the intermediate games, including Wind Waker [WW] and Twilight Princess [TP], simply introduced minor revisions to the OoT engine and framework).

Rather than rave about what this game did right (you can read that just about anywhere), I thought I'd focus on what it did differently and what it could have done better. However, unlike websites that have offered trivial complaints (Really? You're upset with an adventure RPG with fetch quests?), I'll offer the perspective of a Nintendo gamer that has seen how the series has progressed, as opposed to a critical industry reviewer that expects more of a game in the high-definition age.

---

First, here is a recap of five complaints I don't think were well-warranted:

1. The game has too many fetch quests. That's a pretty big staple of role-playing games, and it's through this sort of exploration that you learn about the environment. True, at times it can be a bit annoying to realize 'I'm done. Oh wait, but there's more', but in the grand scheme, that's the idea behind dungeons, only through interaction with non-player characters (NPCs) and their environments.

2. Too much revisiting past areas. One of the recurring comments I've read is that the game is 'dense'. Before playing, I didn't quite get what that meant, but it gradually made sense to me. One aspect is that each area has multiple sections and requires multiple trips, but each time you learn find something new, either discovering uncharted territory or having the environment manipulated in some way (I'll get into other aspects of its 'density' in a bit)

3. Not enough open areas. Some might call that lazy; I call that genius. Instead of the sprawling, empty environments of WW or TP, you have compact, busy environments with lots to do and directions to go (compare this to, say, Final Fantasy XIII's long, linear pathways). It really takes the game into three dimensions as you explore areas vertically. Though I miss the openness of Hyrule Field, with the sky (much akin to WW's waters), I think what they did here fits the game well.

4. Motion controls aren't 1:1. Well, they aren't really meant to be true one-to-one. I've heard complaints about re-calibrating, but I never had to do more than the requisite once per session. The motion controls are spot on and even have some flexibility -- you really could play it lazily on the couch turned on your side if you wish (Would you rather stand like a foolish pretend-swordsman as if in front of a Kinect?).

5. The game doesn't have [insert feature available to other HD consoles]. These quibbles arguably have the least merit. A game can only be as good as the hardware it has to run it, and the best it can (and ought to) do is mask it, though true sticklers can see through it. So it could never have HD graphics running at 480p. With its limited processing power, it's impressive that it has as much going on as it does, especially as it is constantly determines your controller's movement. Holistically, it does very well against other games in terms of gameplay.

---

With that in mind, here are things I think they could have done better (or at least differently). Now bear in mind that I already consider this game a masterpiece -- I just wanted to touch upon things that could have used a bit more polish.

1. More relevant NPCs. Supporting chararacters are for the most part forgettable and don't matter to the quest. If you asked me, I couldn't name more than five Skyloftians and surface dwellers.

• Skyloft. Seriously, besides the main characters, the only Skyloftians I remember are Gaebora and Groose. I'm not looking for side stories as gripping as Majora's Mask's Anju and Kafei, but it would be nice to think your neighbors actually mattered to your life.
• Surface. Okay, there were races and mythical creatures. But if this is an origins story, shouldn't I find myself caring more about Gorons and the non-existent Zoras? We had a couple of communities, but I don't see why we couldn't have a few more spread out in an area, even if they were the same race. If this really is an RPG, why not have a few more "towns"?
• Interactions. In previous games, the "little guys" did more than just stand around; they showed up and even helped out during your quest. Maybe they were freedom fighters. Maybe they were sages. But they did more than just walk a pre-defined path and offer you hints. I don't care if he is the Hero of Time; he can still have people doing more than offering an occasional hint at a temple entrance.

2. A less annoying companion. They gave your guide Fi a unique personality, but sometimes she just got in the way. I appreciate that she took a while before revealing any hints about a boss's weakness, but then other times she spelled out what and where to fetch without giving you a chance to think about it.

• Statistics. I get that the probabilities add a bit to her "personality", but those 60-percent-really-means-100-percent scenarios got old very quickly. They could have made her seem like an automaton without spewing arbitrary greater-than-50 percentages. GlaDOS was a computer and she had spunk!
• Hand-holding. I understand accessibility, and I don't discourage in-game hints, provided their optional. So the fortune teller and Sheikah stones are fine for when you get stumped. Then you have those times when a NPC makes a reference and Fi immediately gives you the answer. Where's the fun in that? I understand that not everybody could remember earlier interactions (I may have been at an advantage in playing the game through within a week), but it's disappointing when she immediately ruins any "a-ha!" moment. If people really get stuck, let them seek it out!
• Growth. Part of what made TP's Midna so endearing was how she grew alongside you over the course of the game, making it said to see her go at the journey's end (Spoiler? Eh, not really -- the game had ended, the adventure was over). Toward the end, she really was your "companion". Meanwhile, Fi simply unlocks memories and reasserts her artificial nature, even at the conclusion. What gives?

3. Better sidequests. The sidequest for the Hylian shield is a worthwhile one, but everything else amounts to little more than a fetch quest for a heart container or rupees. How about hidden skills like in TP? I guess that's a Zelda standard, but it would have been nice to have integrated storytelling, exploration, or simply variety offered in Majora's Mask.

4. Fleshed-out backstory for the demon lord and his master. You only start to learn about the big bads at the tail-end of the quest, prior to which Ghirahim is mainly absent, save for a few cameos. It would have been nice to have Ghirahim (or background details) show up throughout (instead of in large chunks at the beginning, middle, and end of the adventure), and for variety, I would have preferred to gradually learn about his master through other ways (perhaps stumbling upon ancient artifacts or other cutscenes). See, with a last battle as epic as it was, it would have been nice to build up to it, and I felt a bit robbed with how it just came out of nowhere with explanation after explanation at the very end. In general, a lot of backstory was force-fed to you with little 'discovery' by the player.

5. More items and usage. OoT had tons of items you could use throughout, and TP had several items, though meant for specific areas. SS basically had eight critical items and a nice (but inconsequential) upgrade system. With environments as dense as they offered, why not incorporate new ways to integrate other items to allow for further exploration? Or even if the essential eight remain, having them more than a one-trick pony would have been amazing. Remember the magnetic properties of TP's iron boots? Or the joy of discovering the double-clawshots? I miss that extra bit of creativity.

6. More aggressive enemies. I get that this is the first 'real' motion-control game, so they didn't want to make it too difficult. But enemies do a lot of defense and not a lot of offense, even toward the end of the game when they strike in numbers. This is further supported by my lack of use of the shield. I never had a shield break because I barely had to use it, and I barely had to use it because enemies didn't really attack me.

7. Less redundant messages. So many messages recur in the game. Over and over. And without the quick-scrolling (i.e. holding 'A') that we just had in Twilight Princess.

• Item collection. You'd think after my 50th Blessed Butterfly, I wouldn't need an explanation. The same goes for return visits to shop owners -- I know what I want, so stop telling me the same programmed message. In the same way that you could use the '2' button for explanations of controls, it would have done wonders to relegate repeat messages to an on-demand button press.
• Fi's reminders. Besides what I mentioned earlier, you have to admit that it gets annoying when Fi nags you about low health. You know, in case the constant beeping and flashing red didn't already tip you off. The same goes for low batteries. You can get a surprising amount of remaining play time from you current batteries from the first time she reminds you to change them out.
• Mini-game recaps. You complete a mini-game in a certain amount of time. The screen fades out with your time in the top-center. You return to a screen with your time in place. Now, the NPC reminds you -- as the text slowly scrolls by -- what time you scored. Of course, when you don't successfully complete the mini-game, you have to rinse and repeat. Come on, now.

8. On-screen map. While I appreciated the self-assigned beacons, there were so many times that I wish I had an optional map in a bottom corner (like in OoT), as I spent many a time pressing '+' to re-visit the map. Another alternative would have been faster loading times for the map (it didn't seem like that much to render).

9. More memorable tunes. Maybe it's too much to ask in an age of atmospheric music, but I'd even settle for nods to past Zelda themes, in the same way that later games had clips or remixes of their age-old music. Now, it says something that I was able to recognize the sand and fire dungeons in that final dungeon, so I guess that says something, but those were purely atmopsheric, now weren't they? Overall, the music was good and fitting, but not particularly memorable. Frankly, if it wasn't orchestrated, I don't think it would have had much to it.

[Edit, 12/23] Having listened closely to the entire soundtrack, I realized that the music was fairly referential, not just to itself but past games in the series. Characters did have their own music, much like the prevalent leitmotifs of Final Fantasy VI, but I still don't think the music was strong enough. Honestly, as I was listening the non-atmospheric music, usually I'd think 'That sounds familiar', as opposed to, say, 'Oh, that's Fi's theme'. A minor quibble, but I feel they could have done better.

10. Better integration of the harp. The harp was basically OoT's ocarina, except underutilized, not just in purpose but in execution. I remember a Nintendo official raving about how the harp was the perfect instrument for the game because you could pluck or strum. However, as I played the game, all I could ever do was juvenile strumming, so I consider that a missed opportunity. What made the ocarina from OoT so enchanting was that you could play tunes whenever you wanted and just for fun. Yes, it was nice to play along the background music but maybe it would have had a bigger impact if related more to your quest. 

---

In closing, these aren't particularly major gripes, and for what they did, they did a magnificent job. As the Zelda series progresses forward (particularly if it decides to continue building upon its origin stories), it would be nice to see actions b the acclaimed Hero of Time (i.e. you) actually shape the world. I recall games such as Chrono Trigger and Terranigma, which show the progression of time and the change in environment. I'm not looking for some sort of sci-fi time travel scheme, but it would be nice to demonstrate true progression in your (and the world's) growth besides characters simply asserting how much you've grown.

Regardless, this iteration in the series is the biggest leap forward since The Ocarina of Time, and I look forward to seeing how this series progresses.

[R.I.P. Steve Jobs]

The innovator behind Apple has passed, and articles glorifying his life sprung about the Internet like weeds.  Rather than offering some sort of poorly crafted tribute to a great man, I wanted to offer something meaningful based on all that he accomplished.

I thought I'd link to some articles I've read that shed some insight on his life beyond the well-known facts about Apple. These are more than just a history of his life (if you want that, feel free to watch the ABC World News special). Happy reading.

His Life

• Walt Mossberg: The Steve Jobs I Knew
• Brian Lam: My Regrets About Burning [Steve Jobs]
• Steve Jobs and the Reserved Seat
• Steve Jobs's Life Saving Legacy
• The New Adventures of Stephen Fry: Steve Jobs 
• Sean O'Neal: Steve Jobs Obituary
• What Everyone Is Too Polite To Say About Steve Jobs (added 10/9)
• On Steve Jobs's Passing (added 10/10)
• How My 1971 Article Inspired Steve Jobs To Found Apple (added 10/11)
• A Trip to Japan and His Signature Outfit (added 10/12)
• A Sister's Eulogy (added 10/30)

His Philosophy

• Stanford Commencement Speech [text]
• Steve Jobs on the Mac Keyboard
• Steve Jobs Didn't
• The Best Steve Jobs Quotes
• What I Learned from Steve Jobs (added 10/8)
• Steve Jobs's Real Genius (added 11/8)
• Steve Jobs in 1980 (added 12/15)

[Will the video become viral?]

viral video (n.): Viral Videos are online videos which gain mass popularity through Internet Sharing, such as entertainment websites, e-mail messages or suggesting a friend watch it. Heavy.com and Youtube.com are two well-known examples of media sharing websites which contain viral videos. Source: Urban Dictionary

This past weekend, my friend hosted a "Moonbounce Slip 'n Slide Party" (photos available on Facebook).

When you get a get a large group of twenty-something-year-olds together, mischief and mayhem is bound to happen. You also hope you catch the really ridiculous stuff on film.

Well, among the many stunts attempted on our slip 'n slide, we had the following unscripted, unintentional accident, now called the "Epic Slip 'n Slide Collision" (I think the term "fail" is both silly and overused). 

Thinking far to well of ourselves, we decided this video ought to featured on those shows that review viral videos, such as Equals Three or Tosh.0. Of course, that requires the video to actually become viral (or at least receive tens of thousands of hits) -- though by nighttime, it had already received over 350 views (not a bad start).

I posted the video to websites that tend to give exposure to funny videos (i.e. Reddit, Digg, Failblog), as well as my personal profile pages (i.e. Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and now here) so I thought I'd provide updates here on how its view count progresses (if it even does). Let's see how it goes!

[Fullmetal Alchemist anime convergence]

You may have heard of Fullmetal Alchemist. You may know that the story originated as a manga (comic). You may even know that there are two anime (cartoon) adaptations, Fullmetal Alchemist and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood -- both of which start with the same story but diverge part-way through. Though both were authorized by the original author, the latter is meant to be a faithful adaptation of the source material (which was only half complete at the time of the original anime).

Fans are split over which anime is "better". Like many, I think both have their merits (though I think Brotherhood wins hands down), particularly since the original focused primarily on character development and the consequences of human transmutation, while the newer, more plot-driven anime featured a significantly larger cast that simply could not hold the same amount of backstory. Critics actually claim that since the target audience for the later 2009 anime was mostly the same, they didn't need to tread the same water (and to an extent, I agree).

If you aren't aware of how quickly Brotherhood rushed through plot points, consider the following pacing for the first 20% of the anime series, which summarizes the first 30% of the source material.

PLOT COMPRESSION: Brotherhood vs. the original manga

• FMA:B, 1: anime-only episode (it sort of fits between FMA, 13 and 14)
• FMA:B, 2: chapters 21, 23-24 (flashback, also works between FMA, 13 and 14)
• FMA:B, 3: chapters 1-2
• FMA:B, 4: chapter 5 (skipped 3-4)
• FMA:B, 5: chapters 6-7
• FMA:B, 6: chapters 8-9
• FMA:B, 7: chapters 10-11
• FMA:B, 8: chapters 11-13
• FMA:B, 9: chapters 13-16
• FMA:B, 10: chapters 15-16, 61
• FMA:B, 11: chapters, 17-19
• FMA:B, 12: chapters 19-23, 25
• FMA:B, 13: chapters 25-29
• FMA:B, 14: chapters 30-31 -- the last episode of season 1 (and the end of any overlap with the first series)

Episode 14 marks the last episode of season 1 and the end any material that overlapped with the original anime. Season 2 began brand new material, introducing Ling and the Xing nation, while slowing down the pace, though at times, time material gets summarized in conversation about off-screen events or flashbacks (or is omitted altogether). For example, the future episode 30 about the Ishvalan Extermination summarizes chapters 57-62.

So if you're a newcomer to the series, how do you cope how the series speeds through the exposition? I decided to challenge myself to determine just how to make the two animes converge, allowing one to experience the fleshed-out character development of the first anime ("FMA"), seamlessly blended into the second ("FMA:B") with minimal contradiction (or plotholes) of critical plot points. Though many may not realize it, filler runs rampant in the first anime, but I like to think that filler featuring recurring characters should remain.

Some details eliminated from the second that I felt added to the first (even if silly) include:

• The hijacking of the train (manga)
• The alchemy exam -- we see Ed through from the start of his adventure (anime only)
• Elicia's birth -- strengthens their connection to Hughes (anime only)
• Barry the Chopper's origin story -- adds a more "human" side to him (anime only)
• The fall of Yoki at the mines of Youswell -- referenced but not shown (manga)
• Black Hayate origin story (manga bonus chapter) 
• The mystery behind Ed's silver watch (anime only)

Another major difference between the two anime adaptations is the chronology. In particular, the first anime features an extended backstory from episodes 3 through 9 in which Ed becomes a state alchemist (in the later version, Ed has been an alchemist the entire time). For example, the tragic story about a chimera occurs around the time Ed gets qualified. My point in bringing this up is that if one wants to converge the adaptations, certain considerations must be made to avoid plotholes and other points of confusion.

But first, let's see how the two adaptations compare in terms of their plot arcs.

PLOT COMPARISON: the original anime vs. Brotherhood

• FMA, 1-2 ~ FMA:B, 3 -- Lior and the fall of Cornello.
• FMA, 3 ~ FMA:B, 2 -- the brothers' failed transmutation and backstory (flashback).
• FMA, 5 -- the brothers thwart terrorists on a train, introduction of Hughes (flashback).
• FMA, 6-7 ~ FMA:B, 4 -- Shou Tucker and the chimera (flashback in the original anime)
• FMA, 8 -- pseudo-filler featuring the human Barry, Ed's receives his alchemist name (flashback)
• FMA, 9 -- Youswell and the fall of Yoki (flashback)
• FMA, 13 -- meeting with Mustang (partial filler), Scar's introduction
• FMA, 14-15 ~ FMA:B, 5 -- confrontation with Scar
• FMA, 16-17 ~ FMA:B, 6 -- Marcoh and repairs in Resembool
• FMA, 18-19 ~ FMA:B, 7 -- the secrets in Marcoh's notes, investigation into Laboratory 5
• FMA, 20-22 ~ FMA:B, 8 -- the battles at Laboratory 5
• FMA, 23-24 ~ FMA:B, 9 -- the brothers recover in the hospital
• FMA, 25 ~ FMA:B, 10 -- Hughes's investigation into Laboratory 5
• FMA, 26 ~ FMA:B, 11 -- Rush Valley
• FMA, 27-29 ~ FMA:B, 12 -- reunion with Izumi
• FMA, 30 -- FMA:B, 13 -- Yoki meets Scar (the only scene that these episodes have in common)
• ...At this point in the series, the plot diverges considerably.

It's also worth pointing out the filler in the first third of the original anime (i.e. the episodes I left out in the list above). The episodes covered wayward plot points that didn't really contribute to the overall plot, usually dead ends or distractions.

FILLER: The original anime

• FMA, 4, "A Forger's Love": Filler about an alchemist named Majihal during the brothers' quest to learn about human transmutation.
• FMA, 10, "The Phantom Thief": Filler about a hunt for a cat burglar, Psiren, on the brothers' way back to report to Mustang about Lior.
• FMA, 11-12, "The Brothers Elric": Filler about two imposters that have assumed their names while hearing about a Philosopher's Stone that supposedly nears completion. Trivia: This was based on the light novel, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Land of Sand.

Some say the first anime focuses on character development without cohesion of the plot, whereas the second does the opposite. Well, I think this way you get the best of both worlds. Below, you'll find each suggestion, with increasing amounts of "Brotherhood" footage (and consequently, decreasing amounts of the original anime and its plotholes), along with some supporting details at the break. Each offers more "high definition", at the expense of rushed plot development.

Bridge 1: Reunion with Izumi 

• Scheme: FMA through #27 (skipping 4, 10-12, 16), then FMA:B #13
• FMA: The Elrics and Winry arrive at Rush Valley, but Izumi drags them back to Dublith. We learn about their first meeting as Izumi realizes the Elrics' secret. Meanwhile, Mustang investigates a certain murder before he and his team transfer to Central.
• FMA:B: Izumi expels her students. Mustang and his team transfer to Central. Scar recovers and meets his master, before crossing paths with Yoki. The Elrics encounter chimeras in Dublith.
• Transition: Some scenes are omitted (being stranded on an island), whereas others are repeated (transfer to central, the chess game).
• Plotholes: In FMA, the Elrics are dragged back to Dublith, whereas in FMA:B, they choose to go to Dublith. With the jump between the reunion and expulsion, you never learn about the Elrics' being stranded on an island. Izumi and Ed talk about the "truth", which is only gently alluded to in the original anime.

Bridge 2: The follow-up investigation into Laboratory 5

• Scheme: FMA through, #24 (skipping 4, 10-12, 16), then FMA:B #10
• FMA: After the incident in Lab 5, Ed recovers in the hospital. Al confronts Ed about his current state but running off. Al encounters Scar, who has been recovering in a refugee camp, and the two go on a rescue mission. Along the way, Al reunites with Ed and Winry, who begin to understand Scar. 
• FMA:B: Ed and Al are back in the hospital where they decide to return to Dublith and visit Rush Valley along the way. A certain murder takes place and Mustang begins to investigate.
• Transition: Since part of the latter half of the Lab 5 incident does not exist in the second anime, there is less focus on the outcome.
• Plotholes: The first anime introduces the female Sloth and Barry meets his end, but these are contradicted by the introduction of a different Sloth and recurring appearance by Barry.

Bridge 3: The aftermath of Laboratory 5

• Scheme: FMA through #22 (skipping 4, 10-12, 16), then FMA:B #9
• FMA: This features the extended Lab 5 incident, including Tucker, Kimblee, and the prisoners. Scar, Al, and the others encounter the homunculi while the military invade the laboratory.
• FMA:B: Winry arrives to fix Ed's automail. Al confronts Ed, but they resolve their differences. Scar recovers in a refugee camp.
• Transition: Except for the plotholes, this actually has a smooth transition between the two series.
• Plotholes: We learn part of Scar's brother's backstory and receive hints about the homunculi's origins, which has different context in the latter series.

Bridge 4: Battles at Laboratory 5

• Scheme: FMA through #19 (skipping 4, 10-12, 16), then FMA:B #8
• FMA: Scar recovers in a refugee camp after battling Lust and Gluttony. The Elrics decipher Marcoh's notes and decide to sneak into Lab 5. Meanwhile, Scar hunts down the Elrics to Lab 5.
• FMA:B: Al and Ed continue their fights. Afterwards, the Elrics are rescued by their escorts, not an entire military force.
• Transition: This is a fairly smooth transition, featuring the manga's Lab 5 events (not the extended version found in the first anime).
• Plotholes: In Brotherhood, Scar is nowhere to be seen in Lab 5, and Al encounters Barry for the first time with prior backstory. Having Lust kill off Marcoh (when she clearly doesn't in the later series) can prove confusing later on.

Bridge 5: Marcoh's notes

• Scheme: FMA through #17 (skipping 4, 10-12), then FMA:B #7.
• FMA: After visiting Resembool, the brothers and Armstrong head back to Central to find Marcoh's notes.
• FMA:B: The team arrives in Central and find that the library burned down, but they meet Sheska, who can generate Marcoh's notes.
• Transition: Pretty smooth, actually, and my preferred timeline. Episode 16 reveals to Ed what he learns on-the-spot about Scar's crimes (in FMA:B, 5).
• Plotholes: This scheme avoids the re-introduction of Marcoh (unlike the following scheme), but his implied death from earlier might seem confusing. Furthermore, having his story be the "canon" means that the military killed doctors (in the original material, they were ordered, but didn't carry it out). This contradicts a major plot point, but I think it's forgivable, if you don't connect the dots about who those doctors were.

Bridge 6: Marcoh's introduction

• Scheme: FMA: through #15 (skipping 4, 10-13), then FMA:B #6
• FMA: The Elrics find and rescue Marcoh from Scar. Marcoh reveals his backstory in the Ishbalan Massacre. Scar battles the Elrics but flees to the sewers when outnumbered by Marcoh, Mustang, and their troops. The military takes Marcoh into protective custody.
• FMA:B: On their way to Resembool, the Elrics learn about Marcoh from Armstrong. After catching up with him, they learn about his research. The brothers and Armstrong continue on to Resembool.
• Transition: The recap at the beginning bridges the episodes adequately as an off-screen summary. But who really wants to sit through Marcoh's backstory twice?
• Plotholes: In the first anime, Marcoh reveals the nature of the doctors' death (which differs from their fate in the newer anime, as revealed later), but if you ignore the hints about their identities, you can pass this by. Also, the first anime gently alludes to the Sloth's origin, which the second redefines several episodes later. However, considering that Scar and Marcoh encounter each other for the first time later (FMA:B, 29), it makes more sense to ignore this "first" confrontation (FMA, 15) that only exists in the original anime. Just rationalize that Scar didn't recognize Marcoh as part of the military.

Bridge 7: The night of the chimera

• Scheme: FMA: through #9 (skipping 4, then FMA:B #5)
• FMA: Continuing a flash back, after the death of a certain chimera and Winry's abduction (pseudo-filler), the Elrics are sent to investigate Youswell. Flash forward to the Elrics approaching Lior.
• FMA:B: Directly after the Shou Tucker incident, the Elrics encounter Scar for the first time. Mustang explains the Ishbalan Massacre.
• Transition: The show already jumps around (Lior, transmutation, Tucker, then Youswell). Since the original anime had an extended flashback, you have to know that after episode 9, you're back to present day.
• Plotholes: The time (flashback vs. present day), locations (alley vs. house) and cause of death of the alchemist (murder vs. reported execution) vary between the two. Since Ed wakes up from a nightmare, I guess we can chalk it up to being haunted ever since. Oh, and in the second anime, Ed didn't know the chimera had died. Overall, kind of confusing.

My recommendation is to go with the 5th scheme (i.e. FMA through #17, skipping 4, 10-12, then FMA:B #7), though I admit that last scheme has the advantage of featuring the most crisp, high-definition content.

Now, jumping seven episodes into Brotherhood may skip over some (minor) details and foreshadowing points unique to the series (like all references to "Father"), so it may be worth seeing the introductory Brotherhood episodes 1 and 2 between FMA episodes 13 and 14 (since the new episode 2 goes into details not covered in the original episode 3). But that gets kind of messy, huh?

What you then get is the same story from the second with greatest character development possible from the first -- and free from filler! Dince there aren't many episodes, they also all fit on one data DVD, which you could call "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Volume 0". Not bad.

Sources:

• Wikipedia - List of FMA episodes, List of FMA:B episodes
• Fullmetal Alchemist wiki
• Actual show footage