Articles by mike-gold
Wed Sep 16, 2009 — by Mike Gold
'Sarah Jane' Doubles Up!
And The Big ComicMix Doctor Who Reveal!
According to Doctor Who Magazine, the third series of
the BBC’s Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah
Jane Adventures will start up on Thursday October 15th.
This year the show will run twice weekly, on Thursdays and Fridays, and therefore conclude its 12-episode commitment in six weeks. The series runs two-part adventures, so one full “story” will run each week.
More significant, the two episodes which co-star (note: not cameo, but co-star) David Tennant as the Doctor will be broadcast right before Tennant’s remaining three Doctor Who specials.
So this is as good a place as any for ComicMix to bury the final line of dialog of Tennant’s final episode of Doctor Who. Therefore…
SPOILER WARNING!
Tue Sep 15, 2009 — by Mike Gold
Review: Tom Baker Returns As The Doctor
BBC Audio Releases Hornet's Nest
Author Thomas Wolfe told us you can’t go home again. That certainly hasn’t stopped a lot of folks from trying.
After an absence of nearly 30 years, Tom Baker finally returned to the role of the Doctor in the five-part, six-hour BBC full-cast Doctor Who audio play, Hornet’s Nest. The first part, The Stuff of Nightmares, was released in Britain earlier this month and is available from www.audible.com and www.emusic.com.
Of course, Doctor Who fans are so hard to please they make Star Trek fans look like they’ve had a Vulcan neck pinch. So how does the most long-lived and long-scarfed Doctor hold up after such a long layoff?
First, I should point out that the story, like Baker himself, is witty, charming, horrific, and over-the-top. If you don’t like that, you probably don’t like Baker. Here’s the high concept: taxidermied animals are reanimated with the implanting of origami-like brains infested with malevolent hornets. Actually, it’s quite an effective horror story.
The Doctor recruits his old UNIT friend Mike Yates, reprising Richard Franklin’s role, by planting an ad in the local paper that reads “Wanted: retired army Captain for light household duties and fireside companionship. Must tolerate mild eccentricity and strong scientific advice. Knowledge of Giant Maggots, Super Intelligent Spiders and Prehistoric Monsters a positive boon.” Both the Doctor and Captain Yates are obviously a lot older than they were when last seen, and the story takes place in contemporary time – Baker even notes it’s the 21st century. That makes Yates a pensioner, and the Doctor, well, a time-traveler.
It takes a lot of fine writing and even better acting to pull off such a concept, but that’s what Doctor Who does at its best and that’s what happens here. My wife and I listened to the CD while driving from Connecticut to JFK airport in New York City, which is generally interminable but, this time, entertaining.
It turns out Tom Baker can indeed go home again.
Wed Sep 9, 2009 — by Mike Gold
Warner Bros Gobbles Up DC; Levitz Out
Hey, It Worked For Disney...
In a not-unexpected move, Warner Bros. has taken complete control of DC Comics, renaming the company DC Entertainment and promising to integrate the publishing house's work into its existing divisions.
President and publisher Paul Levitz, an employee of the company for nearly four decades, is relinquishing those roles and will go back to writing comic books for the company. He will also be serving as both an editorial consultant and as a transition consultant for the new operation.
Rumors, of course, run rampant, the most persistent being DC's possible move to Los Angeles. Levitz has had an "I don't have to move west" clause in his employment contract, which adds fuel to this fire.
Unlike the Disney / Marvel situation, Warner Bros. is clearly moving DC's various operations into its mainstream, so it is logical to expect that a great many changes lie ahead. When Disney announced its purchase of Marvel, they said they were leaving its management team in place.
Full details from Warner Bros' official press release follows.
WARNER BROS. CREATES DC ENTERTAINMENT Diane Nelson to Serve as President, DC Entertainment Paul Levitz to Segue from President & Publisher of DC Comics (Dateline – Burbank, CA) Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI) has created DC Entertainment Inc., a new company founded to fully realize the power and value of the DC Comics brand and characters across all media and platforms, to be run by Diane Nelson, it was announced today by Barry Meyer, Chairman & CEO, and Alan Horn, President & COO, Warner Bros. DC Entertainment, a separate division of WBEI, will be charged with strategically integrating the DC Comics business, brand and characters deeply into Warner Bros. Entertainment and all its content and distribution businesses. DC Entertainment, which will work with each of the Warner Bros. divisions, will also tap into the tremendous expertise the Studio has in building and sustaining franchises and prioritize DC properties as key titles and growth drivers across all of the Studio, including feature films, television, interactive entertainment, direct-to-consumer platforms and consumer products. The DC Comics publishing business will remain the cornerstone of DC Entertainment, releasing approximately 90 comic books through its various imprints and 30 graphic novels a month and continuing to build on its creative leadership in the comic book industry. In her new role, Nelson will report to Jeff Robinov, President, Warner Bros. Pictures Group, in order to best capitalize on DC Entertainment’s theatrical development and production activities and their importance to drive its overall business with each of the divisions of Warner Bros. Nelson will bring her expertise and more than 20 years’ experience in creative brand management, strategic marketing and content development and production to ensuring DC Entertainment’s dual mission of marshalling Warner Bros.’ resources to maximize the potential of the DC brand while remaining respectful of and collaborative with creators, talent, fans and source material. Additionally, Nelson will continue to oversee the franchise management of the Harry Potter property, which she has done since 2000, and also continue to represent the Studio’s interests with the author of the Harry Potter books, J.K. Rowling. Nelson will segue from her post as President, Warner Premiere but maintain oversight responsibilities of that division. (An executive succession plan for Warner Premiere will be announced shortly.) Paul Levitz, who has served as President & Publisher of DC Comics since 2002, will segue from that role to return to his roots as a writer for DC and become a contributing editor and overall consultant to DCE. This transition will take place as expeditiously as possible without disrupting DC’s business operations. In his new role, Levitz will be called upon for his deep knowledge and more than three-decade history with DC Comics, both as a comic creator and an executive. Besides serving as a writer on a number of DC Comics titles, he will be a contributing editor and consultant to DC Entertainment on projects in various media. Additionally, he will consult as needed on the transition and integration of the DC Comics organization into DC Entertainment and will utilize his unique experience, knowledge and relationships with the comics industry’s creative community to help achieve DC Entertainment’s goal of maximizing the value of DC properties. Further, Levitz will advise DC Entertainment on creative and rights-holder relationships, in particular regarding the legacy relationships that have been a part of DC Comics for decades. Widely recognized and respected for his support of writers, artists and creators in the comics industry, Levitz is best known creatively for his work with DC Comics, having written most of the classic DC characters, including Batman, Wonder Woman and the Superman newspaper strip. At Comicon International in 2008, Levitz was awarded the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award as part of the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the only industry executive ever so honored. “DC Comics and its super hero characters are truly touchstones of popular culture, and the formation of DC Entertainment is a major step in our company’s efforts to realize the full potential of this incredible wellspring of creative properties,” said Meyer. “Diane knows our studio as a creative executive, a marketer and a senior manager, and this varied background will help her effectively and creatively integrate the DC brand and properties across all our businesses. We’re also thrilled that Paul will remain involved with DC and we’ll be able to tap his expertise to help us reach our goals for this new business.” “It’s no secret that DC has myriad rich and untapped possibilities from its deep library of iconic and lesser-known characters,” said Horn. “While we’ve had great success in films and television, the formation of DC Entertainment will help us to bring more DC properties across additional platforms to fans around the world, while maintaining brand integrity and authenticity. Diane is a terrific choice to lead DC Entertainment, and with Paul in his new role as a valued consultant and contributing editor, both our company and comic fans win.” “Based on the great success we’ve had working with DC Comics to create some of the most popular and successful super hero films of all time, I’ve long believed that there was much more we could do across all of Warner Bros.’ businesses with this great body of characters and stories,” said Robinov. “The prioritization of DC and the creation of DC Entertainment is a great opportunity that reaches far beyond the film group. There are endless creative possibilities to build upon the many significant successes already achieved by my colleagues Kevin Tsujihara and the Home Entertainment Group in the videogame, home video and direct-to-platform arenas and Bruce Rosenblum and the Television Group in live-action, animated and digital series. Collectively, we have the ability to grow a body of properties highlighting the iconic characters and the diversity of the creative output of DC Comics.” “The founding of DC Entertainment fully recognizes our desire to provide both the DC properties and fans the type of content that is only possible through a concerted cross-company, multi-platform effort,” said Nelson. “DC Entertainment will help us to formally take the great working relationships between DC Comics and various Warner Bros. businesses to the next level in order to maximize every opportunity to bring DC’s unrivalled collection of titles and characters to life.” “After so many roles at DC, it’s exciting to look forward to focusing on my writing and being able to remain a part of the company I love as it grows into its next stage,” said Levitz. “It’s a new golden age for comics and DC’s great characters, and I hope my new position will allow me to contribute to that magic time.” DC Comics will celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2010 (NEW FUN COMICS #1, the first DC comic, began publishing in 1935), at which time more explicit details regarding DC Entertainment’s corporate and management structure, film and content release slate, creative roster and business objectives will be unveiled at a multi-faceted anniversary celebration and press conference in the first quarter of the year. Current DC properties in development and/or production at Warner Bros. Entertainment include: – “Human Target” is being produced by Warner Bros. Television for a mid-season debut on Fox. – “Midnight Mass” is in series development at Warner Bros. Television for consideration for the 2010-11 season. – “Jonah Hex,” Warner Bros. Pictures’ supernatural Western starring Josh Brolin, Megan Fox and John Malkovich, recently wrapped production in Louisiana. – “The Losers,” Dark Castle/Warner Bros. Pictures’ action-adventure drama starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana and Chris Evans, began principal photography mid-July in Puerto Rico. – “The Green Lantern,” Warner Bros. Pictures’ next big superhero tentpole release, recently cast Ryan Reynolds as the titular character. The film has a projected second quarter 2011 release date. – “Lobo,” based on the DC Comics anti-hero, has Guy Ritchie attached as a director; Joel Silver, Akiva Goldsman and Andrew Rona are producing for Silver Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures. – Warner Premiere’s direct-to-platform DVD animated release of “Green Lantern: First Flight” debuted July 28. – Warner Bros. Animation currently produces “Batman: The Brave and the Bold,” which airs on Cartoon Network. – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment released “Batman: Arkham Asylum” on August 25, a dark, action packed videogame adventure for Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system, PlayStation3 computer entertainment system and Games for Windows. Prior to being named President, DC Entertainment, Nelson most recently served as President, Warner Premiere since its founding in 2006. Warner Premiere is a Studio-based production company which develops and produces high-quality, direct-to-DVD and short-form digital content, including the highly successful line of DC Universe animated DVD titles, and also pioneered the development of the motion comics category. Under Nelson’s leadership, Warner Premiere functions as a full-service production entity with its own resources and release schedule, furthering the Studio’s mandate of being a destination for both established and up-and-coming talent to create stand-alone properties as well as experiment in new media. Before that, Nelson served as Executive Vice President, Global Brand Management, Warner Bros. Entertainment, with the primary responsibility of working cross-divisionally and throughout Time Warner to maximize and optimize all the various windows and outlets available to the Studio’s signature franchises, brands and event properties on a global basis. In this post, Nelson’s primary focus was the management of the Harry Potter brand, which she has overseen since the brand’s launch at the Studio in 1999. These efforts have helped drive the success of the brand to become the most successful film franchise of all time, as well as a respected consumer property that has generated billions of dollars for the Studio. At Global Brand Management, Nelson and her team of more than 15 employees worked in all media and platforms to support a number of other key franchise properties, including “The Matrix Reloaded,” “The Matrix Revolutions,” “Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight,” “Happy Feet,” “Polar Express” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” among others. Prior to overseeing Global Brand Management, Nelson had served as Executive Vice President, Domestic Marketing, Warner Bros. Pictures. Nelson rose quickly through the ranks, having also served as Senior Vice President, Domestic Marketing, Warner Bros. Pictures and prior to that, Senior Vice President, Family Entertainment, Warner Bros. Corporate Worldwide Marketing and Planning. She was also Vice President, Worldwide Corporate Promotions, a post to which she was promoted in March 1998, after joining the Studio in September 1996 as Director of Worldwide Corporate Promotions. Nelson came to the Studio from Walt Disney Records, where she served as Director of National Promotions. She is a graduate of Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications.
To Writer, Contributing Editor and Overall Consultant to DC Entertainment
Mon Aug 31, 2009 — by Mike Gold
Disney Eats Marvel: The Analysis
Commentary and Analysis
So the mouse is eating the spider. What does it all mean?
Poke around the Internets and you'll see a lot of hysteria. Comics fans aren't happy; they're worried Disney will Disnify the whole thing. Movie fans are worried the Marvel flicks will have all the weight and depth of your average Disney movie. Theme park fans are concerned about Universal losing their franchise just so Ant-Man and the Wasp can fit into "It's A Small World After All."
Calm down. Assuming the deal gets approved by Marvel's stockholders – which is likely – and the government – which is likely but not as certain – contracts are contracts and Disney would rather spend the next five years buying other things than paying for litigation. Paramount will still release those next five Marvel Films films, Universal will continue to maintain their current lifespan (however long that might be) with the Marvel rides and that fat lady who's knocking the poo out of Captain America's winged head in those commercials, and the comic books will continue to be published.
Well, most likely.
Marvel's been trying to pattern itself after the Disney business model for at least the past four or five owners, so it's no surprise that the House of Mouse took preemptive measures. Disney can't mess with their theme parks right now – I mentioned the contractual obligations and, quite frankly, business ain't what it used to be. The Disney characters and the Marvel characters are not a good theme park fit: the latter are not grandmother-friendly.
I doubt Disney will interfere with publishing very much, at least not in the short run. They have a very bad track record in the publishing fields, and the racks are littered with their cancelled product. They're in the licensing business; that's what they do and what they know. If the overall comic book publishing field continues to deteriorate they might do what they did with their other product and simply license it all out. It would be wonderfully ironic if Mark Waid's Boom Studios gets the franchise, and I'll bet you Mark feels the same way.
If there are any changes, they are likely to take the form of a reorientation of the Marvel characters towards the teen-age male market. Disney is weak in that demographic and can use some bolstering up. And bringing Marvel Comics back to the teen-ager friendly arena isn't necessarily a bad thing. It worked for Lee and Kirby and Ditko and Thomas and Buscema; today there are more than enough really good writers and artists to address that market in a contemporary manner.
So I don't think we'll see Doctor Doom threatening The Little Mermaid. Don't hold your breath for that Sinister Seven Dwarves movie. The Hulk probably will not stomp Goofy. Stan Lee will not be frozen and placed on the shelf next to Walt Disney and Jim Henson. All that's a pity. Disney has no sense of humor. Just ask the Air Pirates.
The fact is, big business has never, ever been able to understand the American comic book industry. We defy the Harvard MBA mentality, and I'm proud of that. If DIsney does what Disney does best and the publishing business doesn't implode, nobody will notice a thing. The Avengers 3 will make more money than publishing could lose.
Unless Dean Jones is cast as Nick Fury.
A 33 year veteran of the comic book industry, Mike Gold is ComicMix's editor-in-chief. Portions of this blather appeared in today's The Point podcast.
Mon Aug 31, 2009 — by Mike Gold
Disney Eats Marvel - Update 1
S-P-I...D-E-R...M-O-U-S-E
One minute after today's Wall Street opening, Marvel Entertainment's stocks jumped 25%, to over $48 a share.
Disney will be allowing Marvel to continue to operate under its own name.
Mon Aug 31, 2009 — by Mike Gold
Disney To Buy Marvel
House of Mouse Takes Over House of Idea
Disney Entertainment, owner of damn near everything in the entertainment world, is planning on purchasing Marvel Entertainment. The purchase price is purportedly $4,000,000,000. That's four billion, for the zero challenged.
No word on what will happen to the current crew of Marvel employees, but as of this writing the House of Idea is not expected to move to the west coast.
More as this story develops.
Thu Aug 20, 2009 — by Mike Gold
Tintin Banned In Brooklyn!
But it won't stop Spielberg
The Brooklyn (New York) Public Library has removed Tintin au Congo from its shelves. If you want to read the graphic novel, you've got to ask for it and risk that "what are you, a bigot?" glower from the librarian.
In an act of insane political correctness, somebody looked at the tome and bitched about how Africans are portrayed as monkeys. So instead of actually reading the damn thing, the librarians protected their professional butts and pulled the book. If you want it, you've got to make an appointment to see it.
This isn't the first time such a fate fell on Hergé's popular munchkin. Borders, the always-on-the-verge-of-bankruptcy mega-bookstore chain, moved Tintin au Congo from the graphic novel section to their adult section. Hey, that's where I go for my racist children's fiction.
Stevie Spielberg, the well-known racist director of Amistad and Schindler's List, remains on track to release his Tintin movie in 2011. Co-written by Doctor Who show-runner Steven Moffit, the movie stars the obviously insensitive Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg, Cary Elves, and Andy Serkis.
No word on whether the Brooklyn Public Library and Borders are going to hide the works of Mark Twain.
Sun Jul 12, 2009 — by Mike Gold
Chicago Comic-Con To Host John Ostrander Benefit
Veteran Comics Creator Fighting Blindness
An auction will be held at the Chicago Comic-Con (nee Wizard World Chicago) the evening of
Saturday, August 8, 2009 to raise funds for comics veteran John Ostrander, who
is undergoing a series of operations and medical treatments to fight off
blindness.
A 27-year veteran of the comics field, Ostrander, has long been suffering from glaucoma. Recently, John underwent a series of operations that might have saved his remaining eyesight. Progress has been made but he faces considerably more treatment in the months ahead.
To help Ostrander cover his costs, a committee has been organized called Comix4Sight. Solicitations for the benefit auction have gone out, and the response from the comics community has been overwhelming.
“The cost of these John’s procedures has been astronomical, and are only partially covered by insurance. And by ‘partially,’ I’m being polite,” committee co-chairperson Mike Gold disclosed. “John has to go up to Boston repeatedly for treatment, and on two occasions thus far he had to spend a week there for the actual surgery.
“Like so many other Americans John is without sufficient medical coverage to cover these types of expenses; sadly, his insurance will expire in about a year,” Gold noted. “With the assistance of Peter Katz and Wizard Entertainment, Adriane Nash, Mike Raub and I have organized a benefit auction to raise funds for John’s medical expenses. We will be having this auction Saturday night at the Chicago Comic-Con to be held at the Rosemont Convention Center near O’Hare Field on August 6th through 9th.”
Original art, signed scripts, comics memorabilia, autographed books and similar items are being donated to the auction. “Within the first 24 hours we’ve received pledges of contributions including original art and signed books by Howard Chaykin, David Lloyd, Dave Sim, Norm Breyfogle, Dick Giordano, Dennis O’Neil, Hilary Barta, Kevin Van Hook, Mark Badger, Michael Davis, Rick Stasi, Paul Gulacy, Joe Landsdale, and, of course, John’s GrimJack collaborator Timothy Truman. We’re getting commitments every day,” committee co-chairperson Adriane Nash stated.
“We’ve set up a website – www.comix4sight.com – that will be carrying updated information about both the benefit and the auction items,” Nash continued. “We’ll also be posting the results of the auction, and any items that came in too late for the benefit will be auctioned off at the site. We will donate any excess revenue to other comics professionals suffering from major vision issues or to The Hero Initiative.”
Monetary contributions would also be gratefully accepted by check or through PayPal at www.comix4sight.com. Individuals and corporations interested in making contributions should send them to:
Mike Gold and Adriane Nash
arrogantMGMS
304 Main Avenue,
#194
Norwalk, CT 06851
Sat Jul 11, 2009 — by Mike Gold
Deadpool Becomes Green Lantern
No, Not Guy Gardner
After months of speculation and jerking around, Warner Bros. announced the casting of Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern in their forthcoming movie of the same name.
No stranger to the world of super-characters, Reynolds most recently played Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. He will be reprising that character in the forthcoming solo movie. He also played Hannibal King in the third Blade movie and, at one time, was alleged to play The Flash in the movie project that disappeared in a wink.
The husband of Scarlett Johansson, Reynolds beat out Bradley Cooper, Jared Leto, and Justin Timberlake. He'll be playing Hal Jordan, the off-again/on-again GL who dominated the continuity over the past half-century.
Green Lantern is produced by Donald De Line and Greg Berlanti and written by Berlanti, Michael Green and Marc Guggenheim. It will be directed by Martin Campbell for a 2011 release.
No word on who's playing Ch'p.
Mon Jul 6, 2009 — by Mike Gold
Trevor Von Eeden, ComicMix Resolve Conflict
The Original Johnson Moves Forward!
Writer / artist Trevor Von Eeden and graphic novel producer ComicMix LLC have resolved their differences and are completing work on The Original Johnson, the biography of controversial African-American heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, an international celebrity whose career and behavior became the pivotal point in early 20th century race relations.
The concerns that separated the sides were not directly related to Von Eeden’ story or art, nor over financial or rights issues. They were of a technical and procedural nature, but were nonetheless important to both sides.
Work is once again underway on The Original Johnson and new material will be posted weekly at www.comicmix.com as soon as there is a sufficient backlog. The story has been entirely written and penciled and has been approximately one-third inked. Color artist George Freeman has resumed his efforts on the series.
The first volume of the printed version of the 240 page graphic novel will be released through IDW Publishing later this year.
“I have nothing but the highest praise for Trevor as a storyteller and as an artist, and I think The Original Johnson is the crowning achievement in his distinguished career,” ComicMix editor-in-chief Mike Gold stated. “Trevor and I go back to his days on Black Lightning at the very start of his career, and I am personally very happy we have resolved our outstanding issues so that we can all get back to doing what we do best: make real ass-kicking comic books.”
Von Eeden noted, “Part of the appeal to working with Mike and ComicMix is that they’re letting me tell the story of Jack Johnson my own way – the way this important story needs to be told. I’ve been working on The Original Johnson for over 12 years, doing an intense amount of research and honing my artistic skills. So it’s great to see that the book will finally reach its fruition.”
Both Von Eeden and ComicMix would like to thank in appreciation Thomas Kjellberg, of Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman in New York City, for his assistance in mediating this matter.
Tue May 26, 2009 — by Mike Gold
Doctor Tennant Gets Animated - Again
It's A Two-Who Tuesday!
Well, David Tennant is continuing his buyer's remorse by voicing a second Doctor Who animated story.
Dreamland, the seven-part, six-minute per part story, which really isn't a sequel to the animated episode The Infinite Quest as much as a new, separate story, will also feature the voice talent of renown actor David Warner. Like Tennant, Warner participated in several Big Finish Doctor Who audio adventures.
The episode has been written by Russell T. Davies stablemate's Phil Ford, a regular behind both The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood. He also co-wrote the upcoming Doctor Who special, The Waters of Mars, expected to air in November.
Like The Infinite Quest, Dreamland is expected to be released on DVD after initial broadcast. Who might actually be airing the show in the States (pun not intended) remains unknown at presstime.
Tue May 26, 2009 — by Mike Gold
Who's Hanging Around?
David Tennant To Guest With Sarah Jane
Sure, this is David Tennant's last season as the Doctor in Doctor Who. But, clearly, he's not going out quietly.
On the heels of his appearance on John ("Captain Jack") Barrowman's song-and-dance show Tonight's The Night (Glenn's got that one here on ComicMix) comes word that he will guest as the Doctor on a two-part story in the new season of The Sarah Jane Adventures, coming to the BBC this fall -- prior to his terminal closing three-parter.
Executive Producer Russell T. Davies promised it won't be just a cameo. "This is a full on appearance for The Doctor as he and Sarah Jane face their biggest threat ever."
Ah, yes. Biggest threat ever. You'd think both the Doctor and Sarah Jane would be a bit tired of that phrase. Still, it's a living.
Oh, and K-9, now the star of his own Australian-produced teevee series, will be back with Sarah Jane, the kids whose lives she jeopardizes each week, and their big father-figure computer.
Thu May 21, 2009 — by Mike Gold
Upfronts Day Four: Some Cable Stuff
The Palin Kid's Latest Spin-Off
On the heels of the broadcast network’s fall announcements comes the never-ending trickle of cable commitments. As is their wont, many of these shows will debut in the summer months (like, June) when broadcast network series are on hiatus.
TNT will be showing us a hospital series starring Jada Pinkett Smith called Hawthorne, Jerry Bruckheimer’s got a cop show called Dark Blue that stars Dylan McDermott, Mark Burnett’s got a new reality series called Wedding Day, and this December a series with an impressive pedigree called Men of a Certain Age starring Ray Romano, Andre Braugher and Scott Bakula.
truTV has a bunch of “reality” shows that fit square into their format: a behind the scenes show called NFL Full Contact– the sort we used to call a “documentary,” Conspiracy Theory with Governor Jesse Ventura, U.S. Special Ops: Declassified – a program that outs our nation’s terrorist hunters, and Full Throttle, another behind the scenes look at Ballard's Full Throttle Saloon biker bar in Sturgis, South Dakota.
TBS has some inexpensive stuff lined up: a talk show starring George Lopez, an animated sitcom about suburbanites who used to live “down below” called Neighbors from Hell, and, of course, they’ve picked up Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns and The Bill Engvall Show.
MTV has a new series ripped from today’s political headlines called 16 & Pregnant. There hasn’t been a teevee series with a more self-descriptive title since The Jack Paar Program.
Wed May 20, 2009 — by Mike Gold
Upfronts Three-Point-Two: The CW
Hey, They're Still In Business!
The last of the broadcast nets revealed themselves this morning, and in a fit of original thought they’re giving us a lot more of the same.
Angelenos, The Beautiful Life, and The Vampire Diaries are being added. They’re about pretty but dangerous residents of Los Angeles, struggling fashion models, and a family of vampire brothers, respectively. Oh, and they’re bringing Melrose Place back. Holy 90210, Bat-brain!
The Gossip Girl spin-off got spiked, as did the CW’s entire attempt to program Sundays. The night is being returned to the individual affiliates.
On a personal note, the only sitcom I’ve actually enjoyed (non-animated) all century, Everybody Loves Chris, played its last, last Friday. Just like the show’s creator Chris Rock, the titular Chris dropped out of school when forced to take the 10th grade over. He may or may not have passed his GED; the show ended with a wonderful send-up of The Sopranos finale. It went out in style.
Smallville will be back. Now that he’s flying, please give him the big red S. C’mon. The movie sucked. Kal-El’s Superman without the cape, and the “red-blue-blur” is just stupid.
Wed May 20, 2009 — by Mike Gold
Upfronts Day Three-Point-One: CBS
Sty in the Eye?
Here’s what CBS is adding:
Mondays: Accidentally On Purpose (Jenna Elfman sitcom, surrounded by the usual sitcoms)
Tuesdays: NCIS: Los Angeles, (following NCIS and starring LL Cool J), The Good Wife.
Wednesdays: Same old stuff – The New Adventures of Old Christine, Gary Unmarried, Criminal Minds and CSI: NY.
Thursdays: More of the same – Survivor, CSI and The Mentalist.
Fridays: Medium (picking up what NBC no longer wants) will be between Ghost Whisperer and Numb3rs.
Saturdays: Nothing new here.
Sundays: Three Rivers (organ transplant donors).
