I’m a little behind on the fall schedules … while I was dealing with a broken dishwasher, car problems and a blackout, FOX, CBS and The CW went and released their fall schedules over the past couple days; (NBC and ABC released theirs earlier).
So, the highlights:
–FOX adds two shows that I’m pretty excited about, the first being J.J. Abrams’ Fringe. Fringe, which FOX will show on Tuesdays in the fall, is about two FBI agents “who get called in to investigate the grisly deaths of every passenger on board an international flight just arrived at Boston’s Logan Airport,” per TV Squad.
–The second is Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse, which stars Eliza Dushku as a member of an organization that provides individuals with no memory for romantic entanglements, criminal activities or whatever the case may be. Dushku starts to get her memory back, and things go awry. Battlestar Galactica’s Tahmoh Penikett is the FBI agent who is hot on the Dollhouse’s trail … and, no doubt, will end up the love interest for Dushku’s character.
As I mentioned earlier today, the networks are presenting their fall schedules this week, starting today with ABC (NBC, which would have presented theirs Monday, instead did it in April).
However, there’s really not a lot to report from ABC, as their schedule isn’t changing much. We already knew that Lost, Pushing Daisies and just about every other show on ABC would be back next season … in fact, the only thing I was really waiting for was word that Eli Stone was officially renewed. It was one of the highlights of the spring, starting a little slow, but getting better and better with each episode. We almost took it off the TiVo after the first episode, but it soon became a must watch at our house.
So, what was added? Well, two shows jumped out at me: Life on Mars, based on the BBC series about a modern-day police detective who, after a car crash, finds himself transported back to 1973; and The Goode Family, a new animated series by Mike Judge about a very politically correct family.
Check out TV Squad for additional color and a complete list of what was renewed, canned and added to ABC’s schedule.
Cartoonist Mike Russell dropped us a note about his visit to the set of Twilight, the big-screen adaptation of the vampire book series by Stephanie Meyer. Check out his comic strip detailing his visit.
Joel Silver: Justice League “postponed,” Ritchie on Sgt. Rock?
Ain’t It Cool News has a Q&A up with producer Joel Silver, who talks about Speed Racer, Justice League (which he calls “postponed”) and Sgt. Rock, which he says he hopes to make with Guy Ritchie. (Thanks Ian).
The Ticker
–This week brings the regular network upfronts, meaning they reveal their schedules for next season, what shows stay, what shows go … that sort of thing. Yesterday NBC would have presented their schedule, but they bucked tradition and presented it back in April. We should have a report on ABC and The CW later today, followed by CBS on Wednesday and FOX on Thursday. Some info is, of course, already leaking out; Reaper will be back, while J.J. Abrams’ Fringe was picked up by FOX.
George, co-founder of Pittsburgh Comic-Con, was convicted in March in the 1990 killing of his first wife Barbara. A jury found that he shot her in the back of their Clinton Township, Mich., comic store, and staged the crime to look like a robbery.
Next week Circuit Court Judge James Biernat is expected to hear arguments on the defense attorneys’ motion to set aside the jury verdict.
That comic that appeared on Lost last night was Mystery Tales #40, with the cover featuring the perfect teasers for stories about a “Hidden Land!” and a “Voice Of Warning!” I swear, it’s like the writers went back in time and planted the comic just so they could use it in the show.
Incidentally, the book also featured some of Steve Ditko’s first work for Atlas.
Per the Hollywood Reporter, Lionsgate has picked up the film rights to the comic book Deal With the Devil, published by Alias.
Per the publisher’s website, Deal with the Devil “is the tale of a man who once had it all; family, faith, health, the respect and adoration of his peers, and the reputation as the best homicide detective in FBI history. In his last case, his prey became his hunter, and his career was ended in shame and worthlessness. Four years later, his nemesis returns to ask for… his help. Find out why in this thrilling journey through the darkness in a world where things are never what they seem…”
The first full issue, written by Mike S. Miller and drawn by Sherwin Schwartzrock, can be read here.
New Buck Rogers film on the way
Per Variety, a new Buck Rogers film is on its way, with Nu Image picking up the film rights:
Nu Image/Millennium’s Avi Lerner got the rights from the Dille Trust, which is run by the surviving family of series originator Frank Dille. Those rights had once been with Disney, but the Dille family was attracted to moving them to a small movie and gaining more control over the direction of the film.
Variety goes on to say that no one has been signed to direct the film, despite web rumors that attached Frank Miller to the film.
The Ticker
–We’ve already heard that Lana Lang and Lex Luthor were leaving Smallville, at least as series regulars, but now TVGuide.com reports that Allison Mack, who plays Chloe, may be on her way out as well. As folks have said in our comments section over and over, this show has lived past its prime.
–Speed Racer, the new Wachowski brothers film, opens today, as does “What Happens in Vegas,” starring Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz. But despite these two summer-friendly movies, The Hollywood Reporter predictsIron Man will reign again at the box office this weekend, saying “neither new film appears to be a match for the high-grossing holdover from Paramount and Marvel.”
Although this has been known since at least October, I’ll play along. Varietyreports that Brandon Routh will star in Dead of Night, an adaptation of the best-selling Italian horror comic Dylan Dog.
Initial reports had David R. Ellis directing the Arclight Films production. However, the trade paper now says it’s Kevin Munroe (TMNT) directing for Hyde Park and Platinum Studios. So, that’s new. Joshua Oppenheimer and Thomas Dean Donnelly wrote the screenplay.
Created by Tiziano Sclavi, the often-surreal Dylan Dog centers on a private investigator with financial problems and an Oedipus complex who focuses on the supernatural. Since it was first published in 1986, Dylan Dog has been translated into 17 languages.
Dark Horse Comics reprinted seven issues of the series in 1999 and 2002.
The Ticker
• Following the stellar opening of Iron Man, Marvel Studios has promoted Kevin Feige to president, and has extended David Maisel’s contract as chairman to 2010. [Variety, The Hollywood Reporter]
• Video-game publisher THQ has acquired the rights to the just-announcedMarvel Super Hero Squad animated series. This is part of Marvel’s multi-platform plan for the property, which includes a Hasbro toy line and a planned comic book and direct-to-DVD movie. [Variety]
• It’s been a while since we heard from NBC’s Heroes. Well, the silence has been broken with — surprise! — a report of a new cast member: Brea Grant (Friday Night Lights) will join the series as Joy, a character with super-speed. [Ausiello Report, TV Squad]
• And in even bigger Heroes casting news, Bruce Boxleitner apparently has landed a recurring role that initially had been modeled after Sen. John McCain. That character has changed, but Boxleitner is still on board. [Ausiello Report]
Rumor Mill
• What’s the only Hollywood project that has more cast members than Heroes? That’s right, X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The latest rumor is that Australian actor Tim Pocock has been cast as a young Scott Summers/Cyclops. So, how would that gel with the first X-Men movie? [Superhero Hype]
USA Today’s Lifeline Live Blog has (possibly?) the first 3D shot of Asajj Ventress, the villain from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. She appeared in the previous animated series, but she gets her 3D debut in the movie, which opens on Aug. 15.
The first trailer for the film, which sets up a future TV series, is set to air at 7:58 p.m. Thursday in all time zones on Cartoon Network and other Turner networks.
Meanwhile, George Lucas tells The Los Angeles Times that he won’t take any future Star Wars project past the death of Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi. So, say yes to more Anakin Skywalker, and no to anything post-Ewok celebration. (”Coatee-cha tu goo!”)
“There really isn’t any story to tell there,” Lucas tells the newspaper. “It’s been covered in the books and video games and comic books, which are things I think are incredibly creative but that I don’t really have anything to do with other than being the person who built the sandbox they’re playing in.”
Marvel Animation is breaking out its top characters for Marvel Super Hero Squad, a new “super stylized” animated series geared toward 6- to 8-year-olds. The show is expected to debut in fall 2009.
It’s unclear what “super stylized” means.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the 26 half-hour episodes will feature such characters as Wolverine, Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America, Thor and Fantastic Four in “humorous adventures” as they battle the likes of Doctor Doom, Magneto and Loki.
Marvel already has two cartoons set to debut next year on Nicktoons: Wolverine and the X-Men – you can see the new trailer here — and Iron Man: Armored Adventures.
Film Roman will provide production services for Marvel Super Hero Squad.
The cable network has ordered 13 episodes of the show, which stars Natalie Morales as a struggling young artist who’s recruited by a secret agency to fight evil. Matt Keeslar plays the title character, a sci-fi adventurer who serves as her guide.
The Middleman: The Collected Series, which gathers all three miniseries, is due out in July.
Well, it’s been seven wonderful years. Your support is what has made Smallville so successful, and I appreciate you all more than you know.
That being said, it is time for me to start the next chapter of my life and career. I hope that I gave you some enjoyment over the years, and that you found my portrayal of Lex Luthor to be satisfying. I am truly grateful, as Smallville fans are the best fans out there. I sincerely hope that you will continue to follow my career through my hair growth period and beyond.
So who’s gonna give Clark heartburn next season? Doomsday, and a mystery female villain:
The Smallville bosses go on to tease a new breed of villainy for Season 8, including the arrival of Doomsday, “the legendary, unstoppable destroyer” who will present Clark with “his ultimate challenge.” (Doomsday, of course, is the only character in the DC Comics universe to have killed Superman.)
Also to be cast for S8 is a female villain who “will be familiar to many fans and will set her sights on Clark in ways Lex never could. Intelligent, brilliantly manipulative, and dangerously sinister, [she] has one more weapon in her arsenal: Her mutual attraction with Clark may prove to be as deadly as kryptonite.”
Variety reports that Creative Artists Agency has picked up as a client the estate of Will Eisner, with plans to package his creations for film, television and other media.
Eisner’s best-known creation, The Spirit, is being adapted as a movie by Frank Miller for release on Jan. 16, 2009.
Eisner, who died in 2005 at age 87, left an extensive, and influential, body of work, including A Contract With God, and Other Tenement Stories, The Plot: The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and John Law.
The Variety article mentions Blackhawk, Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, and Uncle Samas among Eisner’s creations. However, those properties aren’t owned by the Eisner estate.
The popularity of the 1966-68 Batman TV series apparently knew no bounds. In the upcomingBat-Manga!, Chip Kidd and Saul Ferris look at the show’s reach into Japan, but now Ethan Persoff posts a bootleg 1960s Batman and Robin comic from Vietnam, in which the Dynamic Duo travels around in a submarine and fights some sort of pirates. There may or may not be an alien space ship. Oh! And Robin turns invisible.
The “digital network,” which launches in beta next month, will air shows that once appeared on the broadcast network, such as Smallville and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and new content created specially for the site.
Warner also is launching KidsWB.com, which will feature a mix of classic Looney Tunes segments, original short-form cartoons, and games.
Original content on TheWB.com will include the thrillers Exposed and Lockdown.
The WB television network broadcast from 1995 to 2006, when it merged with UPN to form the CW. Kids’ WB ends this spring, after which the CW will outsource its Saturday-morning programming block to 4Kids.
Stumptown isn’t the only convention this weekend: There’s also the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo, which kicks off tomorrow morning at the Round Up Centre at Stampede Park.
Comic-book guests include Jo Chen, Marko Djurdjevic, Gene Ha, Amy Hadley, Stuart Immonen, Karl Kerschl, Jim Mahfood, Joshua Middleton, Cary Nord, David Petersen, Darick Robertson, Steve Rolston, Greg Rucka, Cameron Stewart, Ethan Van Sciver and Mark Waid.
Plus, George Takei and Tricia Helfer are going to be there. What more can you ask?
Unbootlegged: The Venture Bros. season three preview reel
Thursday April 24, 2008, 1:24 pm
Quick Stop Entertainment has posted the “official” Venture Bros. season three preview reel that was shown in New York last weekend. It’s available in a couple different formats for downloading, or you can watch it right here:
New Hancock footage debuted during American Idol last night … at least I think it was last night. We watched both of this week’s episodes back-to-back in extreme fast-forward mode so we didn’t have to endure the torture of Jason Castro and David Archuleta, but stopped long enough for the graphic novel-esque Ford Fusion commercial, David Cook’s performance and this, which probably gives a better feel for what the Hancock film will be like than previous trailers:
I just stumbled across this preview for Mighty Avengers #12 — out today — which has me jonesing for my guiltiest of guilty pleasures, that 21st-century MacGyver called Prison Break.
Guest artist Alex Maleev did cast the lifeless Dominic Purcell as Nick Fury, didn’t he? I’m not imagining it?
Now, put away your pitchforks: This isn’t a “swipe”; it’s just an apparent instance of an artist basing his depiction of a character on an actor (see Ultimate Nick Fury). I find the practice distracting, because instead of getting into the story I end up scanning crowd scenes for the supporting cast of The Sopranos. Or, worse, I “hear” the dialogue in the voice of the actor.
There’s a third problem with “casting,” of course: that the Nick Fury in Mighty Avengers ends up looking nothing like the Nick Fury in any of the other mainstream Marvel titles. But that’s still preferable to imagining Purcell’s monotone recitation of all of the Colonel’s lines.
