This just in from Bob Tinsley:
Today at 6 PM PT/9 PM ET there will be a hangout on Google+ with the creators of the web series H+, a Bryan Singer property (don’t think HE will be there!). They will have the director and both principal writers “and others”. I was invited, along with almost 1300 of my closest friends, but I don’t know if you have to be invited to attend.
In case you had any doubts about Amazon’s TV production arm being for reals, Variety.Com today says that Amazon Studios is thisclose “to greenlighting a musical comedy series dubbed “Browsers.”
According to Variety, BROWSERS, written by David Javerbaum (THE DAILY SHOW, Emmys, Grammys, even Peabody Awards up the yinyang), was originally developed at CBS but didn’t make it past the script stage. Possibly because the premise – the adventures of 4 interns at a site not unlike HuffingtonPost.Com – seems to have even less potential than, oh, a series based on yours truly’s own duller-than-the-cobwebs-around-my-social-calendar life.
Still, good judgment has never been very important when it comes to television. And musicals can be fun if the music is listenable/dance-able. So we applaud Amazon for at least doing something and say, “Bring it on!”
For those who can’t get enough of CBS’s tired old “for over 40s only programming,” the network and Hulu have announced a licensing agreement which will allow Hulu Plus subscribers to stream thousands of episodes of series like MEDIUM, NUMB3RS, CSI: MIAMI, STAR TREK, I LOVE LUCY, TWILIGHT ZONE, and mucho mas.
According to Andy Forssell, Senior V.P. of Content for Hulu, ““CBS has a long history of producing truly great TV. Hulu Plus subscribers are entertainment lovers who spend their time watching shows they love, versus shows they might only just like. Those two facts make for a fantastic combination, because this collection of CBS titles are shows that people revere and that really matter to fans of great TV like our subscribers.”
You’re right, Andy, absolutely. Us crazy, web surfing CBS lovin’ kids just can’t wait to see shows that were old before our parents were born…especially shows like, oh, MEDIUM, NUMB3RS, CSI: MIAMI, STAR TREK, I LOVE LUCY, and TWILIGHT ZONE that we can get, and have gotten, for free in a thousand and one other places.
Once upon a time, way back before we were born, our boss, LB, ran into a little problem with his retirement, as in, “Holy shit, I’m outta money! Now what do I do?”
What he did was leave Santa Fe, NM, where he’d hunkered down, and return to L.A., embarking on a new career writing/showrunning TV animation series. His first animation gig was in 1994 as a writer for SPIDER-MAN on Fox Kids Network.
Running the show (as LB tells it, sneaking in good stuff whenever Executive Producer Avi Arad’s broad back was turned), was a very talented guy called John Semper. And, as big a cheese as he has been in TV animation, John is now devoting his energies to web series. Specifically this delightfully retro web series:
And here are some of the ways:
There is one problem with this, however: No awards ceremonies. No chance to give that speech you’ve been practicing for so many years.
And, yes, by “you” we mean…”we.”