Remember the days when a movie came out in theaters, then you waited a year or so for it to come out on video (and going back a bit further, waited for it to be in on VHS or Beta, depending on which player you had), and then waited even longer for it to hit television?
With cable on demand and quick transitions to DVD, that timeframe has been completely destroyed for me. I watched Bobcat Goldthwait's superb film World's Greatest Dad (starring Robin Williams in a beautifully understated performance) on demand a couple of weeks ago. It's out in theaters this weekend.
I'm also looking forward to seeing Rob Zombie's The Haunted World of El Superbeasto. Zombie has a great, dark imagination, and the voice talent he's assembled for this animated feature is tremendous. Rosario Dawson and Paul Giamatti are the big names, and there is a laundry list of great cult actors like Sheri Moon Zombie, Danny Trejo, Clint Howard, and the always entertaining Sid Haig. I also have a soft spot for stand-up comedians, since I cover that world often, and this boasts Tom Kenny (yes, he is Spongebob), Brian Posehn, and Harland Williams.
Thank you, Mike Judge. I really needed a pick-me-up after watching that depressing video of Soleil Moon Frye dressing up like Punky Brewster to celebrate 1,000,000 Twitter followers. And this video of Beavis and Butt-Head promoting your new movie, Extract, did the trick.
Ah, "Master Bateman!" Sometimes it's the simple things that help you get through the day.
Before Doctor Who fans say good bye to David Tennant in the BBC's final three specials of 2009, they'll get a little extra colorful bonus Tennant from the Beeb's Red Button service and the Who website.
Doctor Who: "Dreamland" is the show's first venture into "3D" CG animation, and that makes for a stylistic representation of the Tennant's tall, skinny Time Lord. Writer Phil Ford (a veteran of both live action Who and Torchwood) takes the The Doctor to a diner in Roswell, New Mexico where all manner of alien shenanigans are going on.
American fans won't get to see the six-part series in its first run, as they're blocked out of video feeds on the BBC's websites. If only there were other websites that showed online video (illegally) posted by fans. Oh, well.
According to its creator Todd McFarlane (via his Twitter account), an animated version of his comic book anti-hero Spawn will be returning to the airwaves in 2010. Spawn last had an animated version on HBO in 1997 (and it had adult content such as nudity, profanity and violence to boot).
Honestly, other than a few cult followers of the comic book, has anybody even heard of Spawn anymore? The character pretty much jumped out of the mainstream once the experiment that was Image Comics failed. Yes, I know Image is still around and the creators are still involved with it, but it was intended as an experiment to see if comic book creators could run a business as a collective. Most of the founders spun off into their own companies and it failed.
Spawn is too adult of a character to ever reach the mainstream anyway. It can't really be marketed to children. If the animated series does return (or get a reboot), it would be best served on Adult Swim (or one of the pay channels that would let it go uncensored).
Being a big fan of Cartoon Network's goofy Batman: The Brave and the Bold, I'm really looking forward to the debut of Marvel's Super Hero Squad. The show premieres Sept. 19 on Cartoon Network, and Marvel has already launched a teaser site featuring a fun video preview that could turn out to be the show's opening montage.
Super Hero Squad is based on the toy line and video game of the same name. It features cute and cuddly versions of Marvel heroes, like Wolverine, Iron Man, and the Hulk, protecting Super Hero City from a pint-sized Dr. Doom and other baby baddies. Judging by the preview video, the show will even make room for kid-sized versions of more obscure characters like Fing Fang Foom and MODOK.
Family Guy's Star Wars parody, Blue Harvest, was arguably the most popular and influential event episode in the show's history. So, the bar is set high for Seth MacFarlane's Empire Strikes Back send-up, Family Guy: Something, Something, Something, Darkside.
According to Fox's news release on the upcoming DVD, the plot sticks to the same lines as Empire: "Darth Vader (Stewie) is hunting the rebel Luke Skywalker (Chris) and his troops relentlessly across the galaxy."
Last week, our own Mr. Bob Sassone posted Family Guy's Emmy campaign video. It was a wee bit aggressive towards both The Office and Brian (who just wanted to relax after a nice shower, poor fella), and now it looks like Stewie isn't quite done yet. Videos were made for the rest of the nominees, including 30 Rock, Entourageand Weeds.
All the new videos are available here. Although it's pretty repetitive -- nay, incredibly repetitive -- it's kind of amusing to hear the jabs against each show.
I haven't watched The Clone Wars. I'm officially done with that franchise and don't want to get into a new cartoon (or that live-action show that's coming up). Star Trek, yes. Star Wars, no. But it has its fans, and this video celebrates that fact ... or something. It will make kids chuckle (maybe) but older fans grit their teeth and say "maybe that Ewoks song wasn't that bad after all." The show returns October 2.
Lucasfilms told us at Comic-Con that the new season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars promised more sophisticated storylines and higher stakes. It is war, after all. And they promised us bounty hunters. One of the most popular classes of characters in the franchise was conspicuously absent during the first season.
That follows the pattern of the films, if you think about it. While the first film was technically Episode IV: A New Hope, it was only branded as Star Wars. The stakes were raised and things got much better with the next installment, complete with official subtitle. Rise of the Bounty Hunters even sounds like an episode in the film franchise.
This web-only video below is part of the "Where's My Emmy?" campaign to convince people to vote for Family Guy. It starts out funny (with a joke or two about The Office) but then turns really unfunny when Stewie starts to beat up Brian.
It seems that all of television is slowly losing its identity. The History Channel doesn't cover history. TV Land clogs their airwaves with run-of-the-mill reality shows. Comedy Central gives Carlos Mencia his own show.
It must be hard to draw in the kind of ratings the average television executive expects (average=viewers who are willing to commit mass suicide if they miss a rerun of Chico and the Man) when you're anchored to one theme or genre. But it's not impossible.
One network that seems very close to giving up entirely is the Cartoon Network. According to the Los Angeles Times, CN's new lineup of live-action, reality-based programming is tanking in the ratings and rumors are swirling that the CN may drop the "C" in its name. Does the head of Radio Shack now work for the Cartoon Network?
The first time I saw South Park, it was the original "Christmas card," Santa v. Jesus, that was floating around the Internet in 1996. I was living in Buffalo, and my roommates, who were also my bandmates, and also network administrators, had downloaded this new cartoon. As I remember, it took a while to download, more than an hour, possibly two. We watched it before band practice, several times, standing around the guitarist's computer in his room, all of us laughing our asses off.
It was crude in every way - the animation, the language, cheap shots at Brian Boitano for no discernible reason. Of course, rehearsal was repeatedly derailed that evening as we spouted all the wonderful new expletives we'd just learned, and accused each other of ham lust. When it was announced a few months later that Comedy Central had picked it up as a show, none of us could imagine how they would get away with it. It would have to be a completely neutered version of it to even make it on the air.
Cartoon Network picked Thursday to announce a lineup of new, green-lit shows and the return of a couple successful 2008 outings.
The two new original comedy animated series include Regular Show and the intriguingly entitled Horrorbots. The former was developed by the network's sort of "animator in training" developmental system, Cartoonstitute.
Regular Show is created by J. G. Quintel and was developed as a short for the development program. In each episode, "two bored groundskeepers, Mordecai (a six-foot-tall blue jay) and Rigby (a hyperactive raccoon) are best friends who spend their days trying to entertain themselves by any means necessary, much to the displeasure of Benson (their boss, who is a gumball machine) and to the delight of Pops (an older, lollipop-headed gentleman)."
Well, it's official: Family Guy's little mastermind is gay.
There have been lots and lots of hints about Stewie Griffin, but in an interview with Playboy (I read it for the articles - and also the pictures of naked women), creator Seth MacFarlane reveals that yup, the little one is gay. In fact, they had an episode written where Stewie comes out after a problem at school, but decided not to go any further because it's "better to keep it vague."
In other Family Guy news for this season, Lois finds out she's Jewish, and Rush Limbaugh and Karl Rove will make guest voice appearances on the show.
Seth MacFarlane might have one of the most overrated shows on television right now (in my personal opinion, of course), but he hasn't let that cloud his realism when it comes to its future.
He of all people realizes that the best shows are the ones that left people hungering for more long after they left the airwaves. You following me, Scrubs?
MacFarlane told the Edmonton Sun and TV Guide Canada's resident TV junkie Amber Dowling that he has seen the future of Family Guy's finale and hopes it will come to an end while it is still on top.
Remember the days when a movie came out in theaters, then you waited a year or so for it to come out on video (and going back a bit further, waited for it to be in on VHS or Beta, depending on which player you had), and then waited even longer for it to hit television?
Before 
According to its creator Todd McFarlane (via his Twitter account), an animated version of his comic book anti-hero Spawn will be 
Being a big fan of Cartoon Network's goofy 
Family Guy's Star Wars parody, Blue Harvest, was arguably the most popular and influential event episode in the show's history. So, the bar is set high for Seth MacFarlane's Empire Strikes Back send-up, Family Guy: Something, Something, Something, Darkside.
Last week, our own Mr. 
Lucasfilms told us at Comic-Con that the new season of 
The first time I saw South Park, it was the original "Christmas card," Santa v. Jesus, that was floating around the Internet in 1996. I was living in Buffalo, and my roommates, who were also my bandmates, and also network administrators, had downloaded this new cartoon. As I remember, it took a while to download, more than an hour, possibly two. We watched it before band practice, several times, standing around the guitarist's computer in his room, all of us laughing our asses off. 
Cartoon Network picked Thursday to announce a lineup of new, green-lit shows and the return of a couple successful 2008 outings.
Well, it's official: Family Guy's little mastermind is gay. 
Seth MacFarlane might have one of the most overrated shows on television right now (
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