Showing posts with label television. Show all posts
Showing posts with label television. Show all posts

Friday, January 19, 2018

Target has retro Defenders t-shirts


Holy 1970s!, but too late for Sweet Christmas!


These are at the Target at Skyline in Falls Church, VA

Sunday, January 14, 2018

DC in D.C. in photos (UPDATED)

IMG_20180112_193520_045
Here's my pictures, unsorted, unedited and barely captioned, theoretically, as Flickr seems to be having a problem arranging them:


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Cress Williams (Black Lightning on Black Lightning)

From Bruce Guthrie:

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Sarah Schechter (executive producer, Arrow, Black Lightning, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, Supergirl, upcoming Titans) - [who was very impressive to listen to]



From Warner Bros. television (I was sitting next to the very professional AP photographer who was hired for this job and enjoyed talking to him):

"DC IN D.C." 2018 PANEL PHOTOS (SAT, JAN 13)

THE ART OF THE MATTER: FROM SKETCH TO SCREEN panel photos: https://www.facebook.com/pg/warnerbrostv/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10156104885198777

Participants include executive producers Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter (Arrow, Black Lightning, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, Supergirl), Black Lightning executive producer Salim Akil and star Cress Williams, DC's Legends of Tomorrow stars Caity Lotz and Brandon Routh, The Flash star Danielle Panabaker and DC Entertainment's Geoff Johns.

THE MANY SHADES OF HEROISM: DC HEROES THROUGH THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN LENS panel photos: https://www.facebook.com/pg/warnerbrostv/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10156105038773777

Participants include Black Lightning executive producers Salim Akil and Mara Brock Akil with star Cress Williams, Oscar®-winning screenwriter/comic book writer John Ridley, The Flash star Candice Patton, Supergirl star David Harewood, Gotham star Chris Chalk, DC Entertainment comic book artist Denys Cowan and writer Alice Randall, and Black Girl Nerds founder/editor-in-chief Jamie Broadnax.


Participants include executive producer Sarah Schechter (Arrow, Black Lightning, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, Supergirl); DC's Legends of Tomorrow star Caity Lotz; The Flash stars Candice Patton and Danielle Panabaker; Gotham stars Erin Richards, Camren Bicondova and Jessica Lucas; DC Entertainment comic book writers Julie Benson, Shawna Benson, Shea Fontana and Mariko Tamaki; and comic book artist Agnes Garbowska.

THE PRIDE OF DC: THE ART OF LGBTQ INCLUSION panel photos: https://www.facebook.com/pg/warnerbrostv/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10156105086633777

Participants include executive producer Greg Berlanti (Arrow, Black Lightning, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, Supergirl), Freedom Fighter: The Ray star Russell Tovey and DC Entertainment comic book writers Vita Ayala, Marguerite Bennett, Steve Orlando and Mark Russell.


Participants include former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy; DC Entertainment comic book writer/former CIA counter-terrorism operations officer Tom King; Gotham recurring guest star J.W. Cortés, a 13-year Marine combat veteran and a police officer with the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority; comic book artist Mitch Gerads; and DC All Access host Jason Inman, an Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran; and Melissa Bryant, Director, Political & Intergovernmental Affairs, Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America.

"DC IN D.C." 2018 SIGNING PHOTOS (SAT, JAN 13)

Black Lightning series stars Cress Williams, China Anne McClain and Nafessa Williams signed for autographs for fans at the Newseum: https://www.facebook.com/pg/warnerbrostv/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10156105083103777
 

Friday, February 17, 2017

Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'Legion'

Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'Legion' And 'Planet Earth 2'



Syd Barrett (Rachel Keller) and David Haller (Dan Stevens) in the FX series Legion.
Chris Large/FX
This week's show brings a new voice to our fourth chair: Alan Sepinwall, TV critic at Uproxx and author (of The Revolution Was Televised and, with Matt Zoller Seitz, of TV (The Book)), is with us to talk about two new shows.

First up is Legion, the FX adaptation of a somewhat lesser-known Marvel story compared to some that have come to the screen. The show stars Dan Stevens, whom you may remember as Matthew on Downton Abbey, and was created by Noah Hawley, who most recently did FX's adaptation of Fargo. We talk about its structure and characterizations, and its combination of psychiatric questions and superpower ones.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Obituary for anti-Saturday morning cartoon crusader in the Post


Peggy Charren, 86: Longtime advocate for better children's TV [online as Peggy Charren, advocate for improving children's TV programming, dies at 86]

 
By Matt Schudel
Washington Post January 24 2015
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/peggy-charren-advocate-for-improving-childrens-tv-programming-dies-at-86/2015/01/23/e5085916-a323-11e4-903f-9f2faf7cd9fe_story.html

"Why can't children's television be more like a good children's library, with lots of diversity," she said in 1983, "and less like the comic-book rack in the local drugstore?"


Monday, October 14, 2013

Thoughts on Superheroes: A Never Ending Battle part 2

Thanks to WETA, I've gotten an advance look at the new 3-part documentary Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle directed by Michael Kantor who co-wrote it with Laurence Maslon.

“Great Power, Great Responsibility” covers 1959-1977, two time periods termed by fans as the Silver and Bronze ages. The Silver Age is considered starting when DC reintroduces its Golden Age heroes such as the Flash and Green Lantern in new, science-fiction themed identities. The Bronze Age begins roughly by Jack Kirby's leaving Marvel for DC, and Stan Lee stopping writing in favor of promotion. The merging of the two periods is somewhat uneven.

Fewer key creators appear in this segment, and include Stan Lee, Neal Adams, Denny O'Neil, Len Wein, and Gerry Conway.

Jarringly, Marvel's early 1960s books are discussed before the DC comics that made them possible. Received wisdom is that the Fantastic Four was conceived as a response to DC's success with the Justice League of America. Whether that's true or not, DC certainly reinvented the superhero before Marvel did. Instead the film opens with Marvel, switches back in time to DC and then jumps forward to 1966's camp Batman tv show. Marvel universe co-creators Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko are also given short-shrift.

From there, while noting DC's comic books withering on the vine when the show is cancelled, director Michael Kantor moves on to socially relevant comics such as Marvel's introduction of the African prince the Black Panther. Unfortunately, more credit may be given to introducing characters including  Luke Cage, Hero for Hire and the Panther than is deserved. But Bill Foster's commentary, as a black man reading comics, is at this point and is fun to watch, and I'll defer to his viewpoint.


Comics slowly-growing social relevance is tracked via the use of an issue of Spider-Man to warn against drugs, even though the Comic Code Authority wouldn't approve it. DC followed that up with an issue of Green Lantern / Green Arrow by Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams that had Arrow's superhero sidekick Speedy as a heroin addict. The section on GL/GA is among the best in this segment, and includes some old film footage of the creators talking about the series at the time. Another good section is Jim Steranko's take on how he reinvigorated Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. DC's attempt to depower and do something similar with Wonder Woman is held up as a triumph of feminism, but the comic books sold miserably at the time. Her successful television show (1976-1979), and commentary by Linda Carter round this section out.

Kantor then moves achronologically again, and switches to a "backlash" against sunny and optimistic superheroes while the real streets of New York are mean and gritty. The death of Spider-Man's girlfriend Gwen Stacy (1973) and the introduction of the Punisher (1974) are held up as examples. The Punisher gets more cultural significance than he deserves - as the film points out, characters such as Dirty Harry had already been successful in movies. Comic books were just following a trend, as usual. The character didn't really take off until the late 1970s when Frank Miller reworked him in Daredevil, and then he truly boomed during the 1980s grim-and-gritty years. Issues from the same year have Spider-Man driving a Spidey-mobile and fighting a hopping villain called the Kangeroo.

The change from newsstand sales to direct market sales in comic book stores occurred in this time period, and is arguably the most important factor in sustaining superheroes, but I don't believe it was mentioned. Overall this episode probably tries to cover too much time in a period when comic books changed a lot. I still enjoyed the show, especially the creator interviews.

All 3 parts of the documentary air locally on WETA at 8 pm on October 15th.  

Images courtesy of Grand Comics Database.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Clay Jones cartoon on Rachel Maddow's show


 Rachel Maddow used a cartoon by Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star cartoonist Clay Jones on her tv show. She took Jones' cartoon, which showed a teacher lecturing Presidents Obama and Bush on foreign policy, and riffed on "the Beltway media's distorted perspective on the killing of Osama bin Laden."
 
I asked Jones about it, and he said, "The funny thing is, my editor passed over this cartoon so it didn't run in our print edition... but it did make my blog and was distributed by my syndicate, Creators."

Friday, January 07, 2011

New superhero TV show The Cape reviewed in Express

It's a generally positive review:
 
McDonough, Kevin / United Features Syndicate.  2011.
New High-Flying Hero: A cop transforms into a caped crusader in a new NBC drama.
[Washington Post] Express (January 7): 35

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Stan Lee's Superhumans premieres on History Channel tonight

Stan Lee's tv show Superhumans premieres on the History Channel tonight. If you've got FIOS in Arlington, you'll be able to see it.

Their website says:

About Stan Lee's Superhumans
Throughout history, the forces of evolution and genetic mutation have endowed humans with astonishing new abilities and features. It's a process that continues to this day, and nowhere is it more evident than in the fascinating world of Stan Lee's "Superhumans."

Co-hosted by Stan Lee, the legendary creator of the X-Men, the series scours the globe for the real-life counterparts of Lee's characters–people with unique genetic traits that translate into remarkable powers. These include a man whose body is powerfully magnetic, another who can withstand deadly levels of cold and yet another whose brain performs complex calculations at staggering speeds.

In each episode, these "superhumans" undergo tests that may help explain their amazing gifts, while viewers discover the long history of people with extraordinary powers. Daniel Browning Smith, who's been dubbed the most flexible man in the world, hosts this thrilling journey into the farthest reaches of humankind.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

The Real World: D.C. features a cartoonist of sorts

The Real World: D.C., a reality show thing filmed on Dupont Circle this summer, features Andrew, a would-be cartoonist of sorts. The Express and the LA Times mention his chosen career in passing. I'm sorry I didn't find out sooner so we could have had a ComicsDC event over the summer with him. On the other hand, he didn't contact us either.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Batman on the History Channel this week

Batman Unmasked: The Psychology of the Dark Knight

History Channel
Wednesday, July 16 09:00 PM
Thursday, July 17 01:00 AM
Monday, July 21 10:00 PM
Tuesday, July 22 02:00 AM

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Nov 28: Shrek the Halls?

During the Peanuts' Thanksgiving show, we just saw an ad for what appears to be a made-for-tv movie, Shrek the Halls. I'm sure this has potential - remember the Star Wars Ewok holiday special?

Monday, November 19, 2007

Nov 20: Peanuts cartoons on tv

Peanuts cartoons are on tv at 8 pm. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is followed by He's A Bully, Charlie Brown. Writer's strike? What writer's strike?

Nov 21: Ben 10 movie on Cartoon Network

AT 8 pm, Cartoon Network's Ben 10 animated series converts to a live action movie in Ben 10: Race Against Time.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Post squishes SpongeBob

See "'SquarePantis': Squeezing The Life Out of SpongeBob" by Tom Shales, Washington Post Staff Writer, Monday, November 12, 2007; Page C01.

And just to put an aposite image in your head, yesterday I missed this Persepolis review: "Artful Women" by Nora Krug, Washington Post Book World Sunday, November 11, 2007; Page BW11