Entries Tagged 'NBC' ↓

Chief Justice Michael Stailey had the pleasure of sitting down with producer/director John Badham to discuss the relevance of Wargames in today’s technologically advanced world, the joys and pains of working on two current hit television series — Psych and Heroes, and how television directing has evolved from the late ’60s when he first got into the business.

TV Verdict: Two of your films have recently been given the Special Edition DVD treatment — Wargames to coincide with the release of the follow-up WarGames: Dead Code and Short Circuit to capitalize on WALL-E…

John Badham: We think WALL-E is capitalizing on Short Circuit. (He laughs)

TVV: Do you look at these films differently now, twenty years later, than you did when you were making them?

JB: Gosh, no. I love both of these movies and you hope that every movie you work on you’re going to be that excited about; that thrill, because you know it’s such a great script. In the course of your life, you’re gonna have to work on some stuff that maybe is not the greatest — for one reason or another — and reading both of these scripts, I’ll always remember my reaction to them, which was so positive and strong. “Whoa man, this is great!” Feeling that they both turned out really well even early on, that’s the strength of the script being decently done by the actors and the director. But if you don’t have a good script, you’re never gonna have something you’re happy with. All you can do with a bad script is dress it up and try and dance around it; do what Bob Fosse called “all that jazz,” to try and conceal the weaknesses of it. But when you get down to the heart of it, it’s still a piece of crap. But that’s not the case with these movies. You know, these movies stand because the characters are strong. Number 5 is a strong character. David Lightman is a character you just go “Aw man, I care about this kid. He’s in a lot of trouble. How’s he gonna get out of this shit?”

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So I got up fairly early to go catch the Heroes panel Saturday morning at Comic Con, along with several thousand other people apparently. Many of us remember creator Tim Kring’s rather public “mea culpa” regarding what occurred through Season Two. So at Comic Con, two things occurred, the first was the appearance of the whole cast, but they were barely able to take questions. The reason for this leads me to number two, the entire Season Three opener – which isn’t airing until September 22 – was aired for Comic Con audiences as a thank you for the continued support.

Oh yeah, Kring said to spread the word about the show’s return, so in agreement with this request, here is a spoiler-laden summary of the events of Season Three’s “The Second Coming”, after the jump:

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As is often the case with the behemoth known as Comic Con, things are constantly changing. As a result, I didn’t get to everything I had planned for the day. But, what I did cover was well worth the time investment.

Started the day by interviewing William Katt on the rebirth of the Greatest American Hero franchise, as unveiled at Thursday’s packed panel discussion with special guests Robert Culp and Connie Sellecca. With the blessing of series creator Stephen J. Cannell, Katt’s publishing company, Catastrophic Comics, will bring the series to comic book form by retelling the original pilot (with a few modern updates) and then proceed to fill in the gaps with many more tales of Ralph, Bill, Pam, and the suit. They’ll also be doing flash animation shorts, with Bob, Connie, and William voicing the characters. I’ll have the full interview for you shortly.

From there, it was over to the Marriott for a sit down with three of the original MST3K creators, Joel Hodgson, Jim Mallon, and Trace Beaulieu. Getting there early, I got to hang out while UGO did their on-camera interview, providing a little more insight into the show’s history. Then it was my turn for a less formal discussion, which ranged from the series origins to the nuts and bolts of what it took to create the show week in and week out. This was without a doubt the highlight of the day. At the moment, the interview is half transcribed, so with any luck I’ll have it for you before the end of Saturday.

Back to the convention center for Entertainment Weekly’s Showrunners panel, featuring producers Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies), Carlton Cuse (Lost), Damon Lindelof (Lost), Josh Schwartz (Chuck), and Josh Friedman (Sarah Connor Chronicles). As you might imagine, it ended up being very Lost-centric, but everyone seemed to find the humor in it, and we got some great insights into the other shows as well. The one Lost tidbit I wasn’t aware of is that the demise of Mr Eko was not according to plan. Apparently, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje came down with a severe case of island fever (the stir crazies) and wanted out of his contract, forcing Damon and Carlton to end Eko’s storyline long before they had originally planned. On the Sarah Connor front, Josh explained the casting of Brian Austin Green happened at the very last minute, less than a day before the character was schedule to shoot, and the entire staff thought Josh was insane for hiring him. Luckily for him, the move paid off in spades. And with regards to Pushing Daisies, the new season will pick up 10 months after we last saw our heroes, with all of them still desperately holding onto their respective secrets now tearing them apart. I’ll have the full report for you shortly. In the meantime, check out TV Verdict’s Twitter feed for live highlights of the discussion (typos included).

After taking a break from the festivities to work on transcribing, I sat in on the Robot Chicken panel and man are those guys nuts. Seth Green and Breckin Meyer have the greatest rapport of two friends I have ever seen, and the rest of this cast of characters are a comedy series unto themselves. Highlights from this discussion include teases for what to expect in Season Four — Tentacle porn; A war between the Smurfs and the Snorks; a second Star Wars special with Carrie Fisher; guest appearances by Joss Whedon and Ron Moore; and an unseen behind-the-scenes look at the making of Indiana Jones. You know, they’ve repeatedly asked Harrison Ford to appear on the show, but his agent (who has been repping him since the early ’70s) had no idea what the show was and was floored that there’s an entire network dedicated to cartoons. Again, head over to the Twitter feed for more highlights and stay tuned for a full report. Oh, and just remember, if anyone asks, Breckin wrote the Emperor Palpatine sketch.

Finally, we closed the day with the MST3K 20th Anniversary Celebration, featuring all 11 creative contributors to the series’ 11-year run. The well documented split between the gang still seems somewhat palpable, with Joel, Jim, and Trace seated to one side of the podium, while Mike, Kevin, Frank, Mary Jo, Josh, Bill, Brigid, and Paul were on the other. Not to make more out of this than there is, it’s just interesting to see the interactions between them all. Hosted by Patton Oswalt, the evening opened with a musical montage and clips, followed by a moderated discussion. No questions were taken from the audience though, which was a bit disappointing. Kevin and Frank ended up talking the most, with Mike and Josh saying the least. It may be strong of me to say the evening was a letdown, but given my talk with the guys earlier in the day, perhaps my expectations were too high. In any case, the 20th Anniversary DVD set will be released October 28 by Shout! Factory and include four never before released episodes — First Spaceship On Venus, Laserblast, Werewolf, and Future War — four lobby cards, a Crow figurine, and the bonus materials I mentioned earlier, much of which is being recorded this weekend. I’ll have a more robust summary for you, alongside the interview later this weekend.

Preview for Day Three:
* Jamie Bamber interview
* Interviews with cast and crew for DC’s next animated feature — Wonder Woman
* Lost, BSG, Pushing Daisies, and Fringe presentations (time and crowds permitting)
* TV Guide Fall preview

It’s being reported that the supposed spin-off of NBC’s The Office isn’t in fact a spin-off at all. The show is now being talked about as a vague new series that may involve SNL star Amy Poehler and Human Giant’s Aziz Ansari.

Variety is reporting that while the show may have been rumored to be a spin-off… now it’s more than likely going to be a new series, with little-to-no connection to the hit NBC show.

I guess I’m going to just have to dream about someday getting Everybody Loves Toby.

Not to be outdone by The Office, NBC is unveiling Heroes: Going Postal on Monday, July 14 at NBC.com. While it doesn’t appear that any of the series regulars are involved, a new character enters the fray, and that’s saying a mouthful. Here’s the teaser trailer…

Like a shot of comedic espresso, the creative team behind NBC’s The Office goes online adventuring once again. This time, follow Kevin, Oscar, Darrel as they attempt to figure out how to pay back Kevin’s gambling debts. The series begins tomorrow, July 10 at NBC.com, but you can catch a sneak peek right here…

And as an added bonus, a little behind the scenes action as well…

Not one episode has aired and NBC is already changing up its fall schedule. Having shown their hand so early, these moves are to bolster the lineup against their competitors’ recently unveiled schedules. So what’s changing?

While those hour-long comedy blocks of Earl and The Office may have seemed like a good idea at the time, more intelligent heads have prevailed and the new Molly Shannon/Selma Blair comedy Kath and Kim has been shifted into the 9:30/8:30c pre-ER slot, beginning Oct. 9. This shifts those SNL Presidential specials into 8:30/7:30c slot, keeping that half hour warm until 30 Rock premieres on Oct. 30.

The other change happens on Friday, where the mid-season reality series America’s Toughest Jobs (yawn) kicks off the fall season on Sept. 12 at 8:00/7:00c and runs until Oct. 17 when the period action/drama Crusoe is unveiled. Jobs then moves into the Deal or No Deal spot at 9:00/8:00c.

Other NBC premiere dates announced include…

Sept. 22: Heroes kicks off with a full night event; one hour recap show, followed by two-hour season premiere
Sept. 23: Law & Order: SVU
Sept. 24: Knight Rider and Lipstick Jungle
Sept. 25: My Name is Earl (one hour); The Office (one hour); ER

Sept. 29: Chuck and My Own Worst Enemy
Oct. 03: Life

Having grown up with the first American Gladiators, I was super-pumped to watch NBC’s revival last January. Now, the second season has started, bringing a ton of new games and gladiators into the mix. It’s an awesome way to kill an hour.

But it’s not perfect.

American Gladiators is suffering from the modern network style of editing other TV competition/reality shows settle for: quick cuts, dramatically close camera angles, and disorienting geography. Focusing on close-ups rather than the big picture might have worked well for Survivor, but they muddy the waters of Gladiators. The cameras will be zoomed in so close on events like Power Ball and Hang Tough that it’s impossible to judge who is winning. I understand that the producers want to make these things look exciting and visceral for a new generation of fans, but what’s the point when the games become an indecipherable mess?

The great thing about the original American Gladiators was that it was extremely close to feeling like a real sports show. The commentators (who were actually there, and not some disembodied cheese-voice) were former sports stars. The bulk of the action was filmed with long-to-medium shots, with any of the close-up or helmet cam stuff saved for the replays. Things just felt more real.

Now, I don’t doubt the authenticity of the new Gladiators. I’m sure those people are really getting hurt and running around doing funny games. But I don’t understand the harm is just cooling it in the editing room and letting the camera run, rather than editing it like the show is a sequel to The Bourne Identity.

NBC got a jump on the competition, announcing their fall schedule weeks ahead of the usual television upfronts. The only big surprise was the decision to create a half-hour politically charged version of SNL capitalizing on the Presidential race, something they missed out on during the writers’ strike. It also temporarily fills the void left by Scrubs, which jumped to ABC for its final season. Chuck and Heroes return to Mondays with brand new episodes, with the former hoping to avoid the sophomore slump that plagued the latter in 2007. Biggest Loser lends a hand to fat families, having exhausted the singles and couples route in previous seasons. The reboot of Knight Rider moves into the early slot of Wednesdays, minus the voice of Will Arnett as Kitt, due to a product conflict with his GM commercial deal (Kitt is a Ford). Here too, the hope is to avoid the disastrous fate met by the Bionic Woman last fall. Thursdays go supersized, which could mean overexposure for NBC’s bread and butter sitcoms. If the writing fails, look for those mid-season replacements to start showing up early — like Kath and Kim, an Aussie comedy remake teaming Molly Shannon with Selma Blair. (Poor Selma, she’ll be eaten alive.) Then again, anything may be better than an hour of Earl, given the lame coma story line they threw at us this season. Friday finds another remake in Crusoe, a period drama which blends the classic shipwrecked tale with MacGyver-like ingenuity. How original. Don’t expect this one to stick around for its full 13-episode commitment. All in all, another safe, uninteresting season from the Peacock. Will someone finally pull the plug on ER. Please?

For full details visit ( Variety )

Last night’s season finale, “Goodbye Toby,” was hands-down the best episode of this fractured season. The hour-long episodes always have a slightly different, more deliberately paced feel to them; I don’t know if I prefer them to the half-hour episodes, but I’m beginning to think so.

There were a number of new developments in this episode, the biggest being the departure of Toby Flenderson, the HR guy. He’s being replaced by a brand new HR person, Holly Flax (Amy Ryan, The Wire). From what I saw, Holly looks like a great fit for the Dunder Mifflin crew; she’s eager to learn, very sincere about her position, and also kinda witty. At first I was a little worried about Michael falling in love with her—if everyone in the office is in some sort of love triangle things might get a little tedious—but that idea seems to have been dashed by the show’s ending. She plays off Michael quite well, though, and forced him to show his more realistic, caring side a number of times throughout the episode.

The funniest moments in the entire episode were generated by the idea that Holly thinks Kevin is “slow.” Kevin’s character never changes, and yet when he’s placed in the context of being mentally challenged, suddenly everything he says takes on a different meaning: Kevin keeps the M&M’s on his desk so no one can take them, he can’t decide whether he wants chips or pretzels at the vending machine (while simultaneously thinking that a button is a piece of change), and he insists on crawling in to the moon bounce at the impromptu carnival. I can’t remember the last time I laughed that hard watching The Office, but I loved it.

The rest of the story lines moved along nicely. Jim and Pam’s love continues to blossom, and now the question is “When will Jim pop the question?” Sure, it feels like a repeat of “When will Jim ask Pam out?”, but its implications for a broader story (or a spin-off) are more important. The Andy/Angela/Dwight love triangle is very funny, and I’m going to enjoy seeing how that plays out over their projected 28 episodes next season. The “Michael is a ‘kinda father’” scenario should be interesting as well, although I was really warming up to the idea of Jan being out of the picture. And finally, Ryan getting arrested is a nice denouement for him. He started as a wide-eyed intern, became a big-shot corporate guy, and wound up in the slammer because of his own dirty ambition. Nice.

It’s hard for me to judge this season compared to the prior ones, mainly because it was split by the WGA strike. But these last few episodes have been very strong, with this finale being one of the best in recent memory.