Finally, that day we’ve been waiting for all year. The season premiere of Lost. I mean, Groundhog Day. Click to see the rest of that rodent-filled cartoon by the great creator of Cul de Sac, Richard Thompson.
As for Lost, yes, the recap/discussion thread will return tomorrow for this last season of nerdville’s favorite television program.
posted by Mark Coale
You have seven days to go back and re-watch old episodes to get caught up in time for the season premiere next Tuesday night (fittingly on Groundhog Day).
The Helper Monkey has been watching selected shows from all five seasons as a refresher course and has a few observations.
– The show is so much better without Charlie and Claire.
– Season Two Ben Linus/Henry Gale was just a tease of things to come. Michael Emerson = Show MVP.
– Jacob may not have “touched” Juliet in the Season Five flashbacks, but, according to Ben, he did cure her sister’s cancer.
– What DEADWOOD alums will appear in the final season? Surely there’s a role for Ian McShane as Daniel Faraday’s father or Charles Widmore’s brother.
Start your countdown clock….
[Posted by Mark Coale]
As some of you may know, tonight is Conan O’Brien’s last night as host of the Tonight Show. The story has been little covered by the media, so we thought we’d end the week with a brief comics-related tribute via the pages of MYTHOS SPIDER-MAN, a 2007 Marvel miniseries which had a brief O’Brien appearance. Artist Paolo Rivera covered it on his blog, and today newly promoted Senior Editor Steve Wacker also bids CoCo farewell. 
The moral of the story?
When you take that relocation package….make sure you really like the West Coast!
A few items we missed during down time:
AMC has greenlit a pilot for a WALKING DEAD TV series, based on the Robert Kirkman-Tony Moore/Charlie Adlard Image comics staple about a bunch of folks surviving in the Zombie Apocalypse. Frank Darabont will write, direct and executive produce. AMC is looking to boost its slate of original programming following the massive success of Mad Men, and greenlit another pilot at the same time. Let the casting suggestions begin!
§ Conan! What is best in life! To star in Baywatch, move on to Stargate and hear the cries of Lisa Bonet.. Part-Hawaiian model/actor Jason Momoa has been cast as Conan in the new movie which begins shooting in March in Bulgaria. The choice is a popular one with Stargate fans:
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After the Taiwanese CGI cartoon about Tiger Woods stunned the world, it was pretty obvious that Taiwanese CGI cartoon news recreations were the artform for a new era…but NO ONE could have predicted the game-changing genius of the new video depicting the Late Night Wars of ‘10. This one has everything.
A spoiler image in the jump. Seriously watch!!!
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If you’re in the Colonies on Boxing Day and missed the first part of David Tennant’s last episode of Doctor Who, remember you can watch it tonight on BBC America (9 PM ET).
Non-Spoiler Review: Can the Moffat Era please get here already? Part one of “The End of Time” had all the things that fans have grown tired of from the Russell T Davies era (ponderous narration, cutesy aliens). Thank goodness for the wonderful performances by Tennant, John Simm (great scenery chewing as The Master) and Bernand Cribbins as Wilf.
The second part of “The End of Time” concludes next week on New Year’s Day in the UK and the next day on BBC America, when we presumably will get our first look at Matt Smith as Doctor number 11.
Update: BBC America will run a super marathon of David Tennant episodes starting at midnight on January 1. Starting with “The Xmas Invasion,” BBCA will show a Tenth Doctor episode every hour until showing “The End of Time, Part One” at 6:45 on January 2, following by the premiere of “The End of Time, Part Two.”
Also, there’s a clip for next week’s episode already circulating on the net (specifically on Youtube).
[posted by Mark Coale]
Yes, Mythbusters will try and build Captain James T. Kirk’s cannon, with which he took on the deadly Gorn.
Can the world handle this clash of geekery?
[posted by mark coale]
A while ago, we told you about artist John Cassaday’s plans to pursue opportunities in directing, namely helming an episode of Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse. Via Cassaday’s website comes the news that his episode of Dollhouse, “The Attic”, will air on Friday, December 18th, at 9 pm EST on FOX.
One image from the episode is posted on the site, but we’ve managed to procure two more EXCLUSIVE images. Click for larger versions.
Joel AND Mike episodes.
Only 5 so far, but hey, one of them is the great GIANT GILA MONSTER.
Posted by Mark Coale
The Boneville blogs reports that The Cartoonist will be airing on some PBS TV stations over the next few weeks. The Cartoonist: Jeff Smith, BONE and the Changing Face of Comics is a documentary by Mills James about the Bone creator and his journey to bring the story of the Bones to life. The film airs:
Thursday, December 10th at 8:30 pm on channel 15 WDSC in Daytona, Florida.
Sunday, December 13th at 5:00 pm on channel 36 MPTV in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Sunday, December 20th at midnight on channel 29 MPB in Jackson, Mississippi
Lost Season 6 Promo (CUATRO)
Remember. The Season Five DVD box set drops next week.
2012 came a little early today: Vinnie Tartamella writes to tell us that Bluewater’s comics biographies were discussed on The View today, specifically the Barbara Walters edition, for which Tartamella provided the cover. For those who work during the day, The View is an hourlong discussion show in which a variety of colorful yentas talk about this that and the other thing, endlessly. To be honest, if you turned a camera on The Beat and her pals in about 25 years, or your mom right now, it would be exactly like The View.
According to Tartamella, the ladies also showed the covers of the Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama bio comics.
You can see Babs seems pretty enthusiastic in these screen caps, but Elisabeth Hasselbeck, as usual, looks like she just smelled a ten-day-old egg/turnip/limberger casserole.
• Despite a 70 percent drop-off, TWILIGHT stayed atop the Thanksgiving box office. But it got some competition from a film where Sandra Bullock mentors an offensive tackle, proving that teaming up somebody small and cute with somebody big and scary (but likable) still works!
• The first official photos from THE LOSERS have been released!
Sexy, aloof, multiethnic team of tough guys? Check.
Hot chick in a lacy tank top? With guns? Double Check! Sign us up.
• Codpiece alert! EW has revealed stills from an episdoe of Smallville that features Doctor Fate, Stargirl, Hawkman, and Green Arrow.
It is definitely a comfort to us that we live in a day and age when television producers take the time and effort to make sure that a Dr. Fate costume doesn’t look stupid when worn by a real actor.
Thanks for all the birthday wishes, everyone. It was a great day, with unseasonably warm weather such as we never remember in a pre-global warming world, so thank you greenhouse emissions! We took a total internet vacation for the weekend so are just now returning to this wonderful, fact-filled world.
We got about 45 minutes into the Prisoner remake before deciding it was completely misguided and had no idea what made the original compelling — namely mood, tone, storytelling, suspense, etc etc. Adi Tantimedh has a nice dissection of the rather muddled theme of the remake:
Why remake a popular story if you’re going to toss everything that people liked about the original under the bus? The catchphrase and key theme of the original show was Number Six’ weekly decree, “I am not a number, I am a free man!” In an interview in last week’s New York Times, the writer of the remake said he felt the need to modify that sentiment into something more, moderate, less individualist, more… community-minded.
So the credo of the remake is, “I am not a number, but I want to be a member of a nice community that gets along with each other!”
Still trying to figure that one out.
Anyway, back to the trenches. Keep those, links, tips, and inside info coming!
As previously mentioned, Sunday night, AMC premieres the first episode of their reimagining of The Prisoner. To support this, there’s quite an extensive website up. They are also serializing a PRISONER graphic novel by M. Scott Veach, Mitchell Breitweiser and Hugo Petrus. The story is a prequel, exploring the background of the Village. Be forewarned, as Comics Alliance reveals, it’s actually a MOTION COMIC, but instead of taking existing art and awkwardly attempting to move it around, Terry Gilliam style, it was planned that way and stays in a flat-plane animation style. Palatable.
The new series debuts on AMC Sunday night at 9 pm. It stars Jim Caviezel as Number 6 and Ian McKellen as Number 2. While we’re neutral on the need of this remake, we’ve got our DVRs set.
On the PLUS side, you can watch all the ORIGINAL Prisoner episodes on the AMC website, and the site for the original series is top notch. We just can’t get enough of these production photos! More in the jump.
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As widely reported yesterday, Joss Whedon’s latest TV series, Dollhouse, got the axe from Fox yesterday. The show had gotten one reprieve, but low ratings had led it to be pulled for the crucial November sweeps, so the cancellation has zero surprise factor. On the good news front, all 13 of this year’s episodes will be aired — including the one directed by cartoonist John Cassaday. With one less show to run, Whedon may make more Dr. Horrible shorts, or continue his interest in “binge drinking,” as he wrote on Whedonesque.
Now call us naive, but why does anyone even bother trying to do quirky, intelligent programming on network TV any more? While Dollhouse undoubtedly needed a network budget, it would have been a hit on SyFy, AMC or Bravo. No wonder Time’s Jeff Bewkes says “multichannel TV” (once known as cable) is beating the nets to a pulp. .
I’m sure The Beat will have more on this later in the week but don’t forget that the new version of The Prisoner starts on Sunday. And, as a tie-in, the Thomas Disch novel is back in print too.
[It's been a big month for artist John Cassaday. The final issue of PLANETARY shipped after a years long delay, marking the end of a 10-year-long chapter of his career. Even more importantly, he's currently in Los Angeles prepping to direct an episode of Dollhouse, the Joss Whedon-created show about Echo, an unwilling spy who is forced to use a technology of shifting personalities.
While Cassaday is on the short list of premier comics artists for his work on PLANETARY, ASTONISHING X-MEN, CAPTAIN AMERICA, and hs recent covers for Dynamite, his directing roots go back as far as his career as a professional cartoonist, as told in this interview; it's something he has always had in the back of his mind. (At one point he was announced as the director on an adaptation of his own GN I AM LEGION, a project that is now on indefinite hold.) However, the Dollhouse gig is one that fulfills lots of dreams for Cassaday.
What does it take to direct dramatic TV? What's it like to work with Joss Whedon? Is Cassaday leaving comics? Read on for the answers!]
The Beat: Directing? Why directing? How long has this been going on? Was this your childhood goal?
John Cassaday: Directing has always been half the dream for me, the other half being comics. Friends I had growing up would tell you exactly that. I always knew what I wanted, which was to be a visual storyteller…to tell those stories the way that I saw them… I believe there’s a tangible cross-section of thought here. When I read a comic script, I often see the scenes behind a camera—the shots, the movements and sound, the actors… At times, I’ve read screenplays and see the comic page. These things blend in my mind, so I do my best to shape them into what is needed. I believe in cinematic storytelling, whether it’s on a comic page or on film.
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According to an article in the Sunday New York Times, The Twilight Zone turned 50 years old last Friday.
It’s easy to mention “To Serve Man” or “Time Enough at Last” as your favorite episodes, but what are your favorite “hidden gems?”
Here are a few of mine:
- “Long Live Walter Jameson” – Just how old is Kevin McCarthy’s history professor?
- “Back There” – A time traveler (Russell Johnson aka the professor from Gilligan’s Island) tries to save Lincoln.
- “Will the real Martian Please Stand Up?” – Which diner patron is part of an alien invasion?
- “The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank” – A rural man (James Best aka Roscoe P. Coltrane) shows up at his own funeral.
- “Steel” – Lee Marvin takes place of his robot boxer in a fight likely to kill him.
Tip of the hat to Peter Sanderson for pointing out the article on his Facebook.
It might not be new (since the Star Trek movie reboot has been out for a few months now) but there was no way after seeing these in the grocery store tonight that there was not going to be a post on THE BEAT about them.
I mean. Seriously. Star Trek Eggos.
(tip of the hat to the always-right Kurt Busiek who posted this on his Facebook page.)
Congratulations to Michael Emerson, for his Emmy win tonight, for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. You can keep your Don Draper. I’ll take Benjamin Linus as the best character currently on series television.
How long ’til Lost starts again?
We know that one will not be enough, so here is another.
This Austrian TV classic was around on Twitter the other day after Art Brut’s Eddie Argos first pointed it out. While America is wallowing in the torpor that is Melrose Place and can’t get a bus ticket out of Cougar Town, you begin to wonder if what we really need is a show about a dog that can play pool and assist with autopsies.
“Inspector Rex” has been on for a dozen years (more or less) in Austria, where it is extremely popular, although the pooch recently moved to Rome, where presumably, he steals spicy meatballs. In Australia, the show is said to have “A cult following.” Probably because of stuff like this:
During a scene in which Stockinger claims that Moser “doesn’t understand women at all now”, Moser tells Stockinger, “Don’t say that word. Every time you say ‘woman’ he [Rex] runs off with my laundry”. Stockinger asks him what Rex does with it, to which Moser replies, “He washes it”.
If that doesn’t convince you that this is the greatest TV show of its time — based on the opening credits alone– then this brief scene is sure to sway you — and also prove that some dogs can act better than many humans.
This week’s New Yorker contains many things comics … a cover by Ivan Brunetti, a print ad for the Vertigo Crime Line (props to DC for outside-the-box marketing) and a story on HBO’s upcoming series Bored to Death in Brooklyn. The show is notable because it is written by sometimes comics scripter Jonathan Ames, and the cast includes characters based on some of Ames’ friends…including one based on his THE ALCOHOLIC collaborator, Dean Haspiel, portrayed by comic (of the other kind) Zack Galifianakis.
Galifianakis, who plays a comic-book artist named Ray, said, “I bike to the set every day.” He was walking a bit stiffly, and he reached down to rub his right knee.
“What happened to your knee?” Thirlby asked.
“I don’t know how it happened,” Galifianakis said. “It just slowly started getting painful and then more painful.”
“You need to go to a doctor,” Thirlby said.
Strange. Unknown, perhaps to the writer, or maybe even Galifianakis, the REAL Haspiel sustained a broken knee many years ago and walks with a bit of a limp. Even more oddly, the story continues…
The next scene was outside Ralph’s Meat Corp.: Schwartzman is running down the street with a limping Galifianakis (his knee injury had to be written into the script), and they bump into Thirlby.
Odd. Is this a reverse King Mob/Grant Morrison-like case of real life spilling into the fictional? Will Galifianakis soon start taking off his shirt at parties and talking about webcomics? Developing.
Via PR, STARZ and Eagle One Media are making motion comics for Street Fighter and Voltron: Defender of the Universe, which will be broadcast on the Syfy channel and then be available for download via the usual suspects.
Will people actually want to sit around their TV watching motion comics in HD? Hm.
Eagle One Media announced today details of an agreement with Starz Media’s Manga Entertainment to make animated motion comic productions of Street Fighter, based on the CAPCOM video games, and Voltron: Defender of the Universe, based on the worldwide popular anime TV series, available for broadcast and digital download distribution. Both motion comic series will be broadcast on the Syfy Channel over several weeks beginning September 28th during Manga’s popular Ani-Mondays programming block. Following the Syfy broadcasts, the motion comic episodes will then be made available for purchase with Starz Digital Media’s distribution partners by digital download through outlets including: iTunes, Xbox Live, and PlayStation Store.
Animated motion comics utilize the storyline and dialog from existing published comics and with the addition of voice-over, special effects, music, and animation, creates a fast paced video adaptation for the viewer to enjoy through various medium. Previously, Eagle One Media’s animated motion comics had only been available for purchase on DVD. Aside from its animated motion comics based on Street Fighter and Voltron: Defender of the Universe, Eagle One Media has also produced such content based on The Terminator and the Micronauts properties.
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