Category: Opinion

munchman: ADVENTURE TIME is on its way to the Big Screen

Not our Beloved Leader Larry Brody but an astonishing look - & sound - alike!
Not our Beloved Leader Larry Brody but an astonishing look – & sound – alike!

by munchman

Yeppers, gang, Hollywood Reporter and Deadline, et al, have reported that everybody’s favorite totally crappy, cheap-assed sorta kids’ TV series is being developed into a feature film by Warner Brothers, which – of course – also owns the Cartoon Network where the show currently is shown.

ADVENTURE TIME is a totally nonsensical piece of drivel created by Pendleton Ward and follows the absolutely nonsensical adventures of Finn, a 12 year old boy drawn to look like, well, I dunno what those pictures look like, and his best friend, a dog named Jake. Together, they protect the Land of Ooo. At least, that’s what all the press releases say, but although the show has a lot of very vociferous fans including yer friendly neighborhood munchman meself, I have to admit that I have never figured out what’s going on in any episode because ADVENTURE TIME is a series that depends entirely on its audience already knowing the story and therefore being able to nod and wink and go nudge nudge.

So why does Warners want to make this into a film? I think it’s because contrary to the old saying “Never bullshit a bullshitter,” the bullshitters at Warners (AKA the execs who bought it) have in fact bought into the hipness of this fercochte show. And, truth to tell, muncherito thinks that’s wonderful, cuz if  Pendleton Ward and ADVENTURE TIME can make it into the branded tentpole circuit, so can we and whatever we create. read article

JOHN OSTRANDER: DEATH AND VANDALISM

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by John Ostrander

Writing a weekly column can be a funny thing at times, especially when you wait until the last moment to do it. Not only does it irritate your editor but the blamed thing can morph from its original topic. Such as this week. I started with one topic and then found two others that I wanted to comment on as well. I think I’ve found a connection within all three; let’s see if I can make it without stretching too much. Wish me luck.

We’ll start with the death of Leonard Nimoy, a.k.a. the original Mr. Spock in Star Trek. He was 83 and died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Spock was an iconic character not only on Trek or in science fiction but around the world. “Live long and prosper” was his signature phrase and his cool, logical, and scientific manner created an army of fans, me included.

My friend Lise Lee Morgan and I met Mr. Nimoy in person many years ago in a guest suite at a Star Trek convention. My friend Stuart Gordon had got us the opportunity and Mr. Nimoy was charming, engaging, and enthusiastic about Stuart. I liked him even more than I liked Spock. read article

Television’s Very Own Auteurs: Showrunners

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by Diana Black

Television auteurs? Can that be? Doesn’t the medium of TV by its very nature force everything presented on it to be “collaborative,” with the collaboration totally controlled behind the scenes by TV executives?

And yet – does anyone remember a fellow by the name of Gene Roddenberry? He certainly ruled the original Star Trek with an iron fist. And what about Joss Whedon and his control over Buffy the Vampire Slayer and, more importantly, the ultimate genre classic, Firefly?

Think about it. Both Star Trek and Firefly went ‘cult’ on a global scale. Star Trek has not only become deeply entrenched in pop culture over the last forty-five years, and the ‘Prime Directive’ is, according to Aaron Miller, recognizable in current US foreign policy. read article

Peggy Bechko: Creating a Flat, Two-Dimensional Villain

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by Peggy Bechko

Seriously. Here’s how to do it. Because there may be times when you actually want to create a ‘cardboard’ villain, one who is ‘hilariously’ even one-dimensional. There are times…

On the other hand you might want to go 180 degree turn and actually create a villain who has some moxie, some real reasons for villainous behavior.

Either way, read on. read article

Dennis O’Neal Watches His Character’s Translation from Comics to TV

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Gotham’s Doctor, Batman’s Saint
by Dennis O’Neal

You may have seen it yourself: the scene a while back in which James Gordon and Dr. Leslie Thompkins stand in front of their police department colleagues getting very well acquainted. It happened during an episode of Gotham and although the television Leslie wasn’t the Leslie Dick Giordano and I introduced in Detective Comics #457, I didn’t mind. I know that television shows are not comic books: they have different techniques, strengths, weaknesses, and that the story being told there on the tube wasn’t our story and that serialized characters have to evolve if they are to survive for decades, as Leslie has.

In the weeks since the television Leslie was introduced, we’ve seen her become her own person – witty, intelligent, feisty. Independent. I’d happily watch her if her name were Honorifica Flabdiggle, especially if Bertha, like Leslie, were played by the talented and truly lovely Morena Baccarin.

She was created – Leslie, not Honorifica- to serve the plot of the particular story we were working on, to supplement Bruce Wayne’s biography, and to add an element to the Batman mythos. read article