Doctor Who unveils new logo
There’s a new Doctor coming in 2010, and the “Doctor Who” show has unveiled a new logo to go along with him. The new logo features stylized letters D and W arranged into a formation to resemble the Tardis. The full name is also spelled out in another version of the logo with new lettering, using the new D and W. Check it out in the above video.
- Matt Price
Online show The Guild coming to DVD, comics
Rather than spending her spare time playing online video games, actor/writer Felicia Day decided it would be more productive to write about them. Thus began “The Guild,” the popular online program now in its third season.
“Around the time I started writing ‘The Guild,’ I was very bored with what I was doing,” Day said in a recent phone interview. “I’m not necessarily your typical Hollywood girl. And I worked enough to keep the bills paid, but not enough to keep me occupied every day.”
She funneled that energy into “The Guild,” based on her experiences with online role-playing games. “The Guild” features the interactions of a group of gamers.
“If I make fun of the characters, it’s only because I’ve lived that or been that myself,” Day said. “So, hopefully there’s an authenticity to it because I am a gamer.”
Day, who plays Codex in “The Guild,” was in the cast of Joss Whedon’s Web series “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.” The series, which starred Neil Patrick Harris as a singing supervillain, recently won an Emmy.
“It gave a huge boost to online content in general, as well as to ‘The Guild,’” Day said.
“The Guild” soon will make its debut in yet another medium. A comic-book series, to be written by Day and published by Dark Horse Comics, is in the works.
“I like to write very verbosely, so I have to be a lot more Spartan with the words, and also think more visually,” Day said. One thing the comic book will do that the Web show does not is visit the in-game world of “The Guild.”
“We are going to go in the game world. That was one of the reasons that I wanted to do it,” Day said. “Because I could kind of invent this fantasy world that the characters were living in.”
Meanwhile, the Web series continues. Wil Wheaton is a guest star on Season 3 of the series, and Seasons 1 and 2 recently were released on DVD.
“I think that’s a really cool story of empowerment and how you don’t have to wait for permission to make your art and be able to get your creation out there,” Day said. “I just love the idea of opening the door for other people, and also doing things outside the system. Because I’ve lived in the system for a while, and it can be very frustrating for someone who wants to create.”
- by Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
DVD review: Desperate Housewives The Complete Fifth Season
Wisteria Lane moved forward 5 years since Season 4. The jump through time bred new mysteries explored throughout Season 5. Overall, the newest installment of “Desperate Housewives” made for an entertaining, soapy ride, but failed to match the series’ high points.
Edie Britt (Nicolette Sheridan) moved back into the neighborhood, with her new husband, Dave Williams (Neal McDonough). While Dave seems friendly enough, he has a dark secret that involves Mike (James Denton). Mike and Susan (Teri Hatcher) are divorced as the season begins, and each has moved on.
Bree (Marcia Cross) success as an author and caterer is enough to rival Martha Stewart, though her new career is causing some jealousy with husband Orson (Kyle MacLachlan). Gabrielle (Eva Longoria Parker) has lost her fashion-queen crown to care for her blind husband, Carlos (Ricardo Shavira), and her two young chubby daughters.
In the Scavo family, Lynette (Felicity Huffman) watches someone in her family begin a dangerous affair. Husband Tom (Doug Savant), in the midst of a mid-life crisis, starts a band with Mike, Dave and Orson.
A bright spot is Beau Bridges’ guest starring role as a handyman in the series’ 100th episode, “The Best Thing That Could Have Ever Happened.”
— Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
SyFy trailer for Phantom pilot
Found via Bleeding Cool, this trailer is for The Phantom pilot planned for Syfy. I enjoy The Phantom well enough. I recently watched the serial from 1943 with Tom Tyler, and although it’s quite dated, it’s not bad. I also remember liking the Billy Zane movie well enough, though it didn’t perform well in theaters. The Phantom was created by Lee Falk in a 1936 comic strip.
This modern take, with a different costume and a non-jungle setting seems to me to generic up the concept quite a bit. Without the costume and jungle, all you have is the generational aspect — which was explored in a sci-fi way in the cartoon “Phantom 2040.”
I realize the amount of hardcore Phantom fans that are out there probably aren’t enough to justify a new series, so the feeling is you have to mix it up from the original. I tend to prefer films that stick closer to the original concept, however. I think I’d prefer The Phantom as a period piece, though the generational aspect of The Phantom does tend to mean you can set it any time, just move another Phantom or two into the future.
- Matt Price
Quick thoughts about Smallville 9th season premiere – Savior
A few quick thoughts on the season premiere tonight. Light spoilers ahead.
* I’m OK with the new Matrix-y suit. It’s at least closer to a superhero suit than a red jacket. (Though just get the red and blue suit already!)
* Lois pining over the Blur is great.
* Callum Blue has great presence as Zod.
* Good scenes between Tess and Zod.
* OK, you knew they’d go there, but the kneeling before Zod, pretty sweet.
* Lois and Ollie had a nice scene together as she reminds him that she knows he can be a true hero.
* Clark has a good fight scene with solid FX.
* Touching, difficult scene near the end with Chloe and Clark.
* Brian Austin Green put in a nice, suitably unsettling performance as John Corben (whose destiny was more or less revealed in the trailer for next week).
I like how the premiere set up a premise for the season and put Clark on a timeline. I thought season 8 also started with a bang, but had some slowdowns in the middle and end. We’ll see if season 9 can stay on an upward climb.
Your thoughts?
- Matt Price
Smallville’s 9th season promises to be ’spicy’
WORD BALLOONS
“Smallville” kicks off its ninth season tonight, as the young Clark Kent (Tom Welling) comes ever closer to his eventual destiny as Superman.
Clark gets closer to the traditional “Superman” costume this year as well, wearing a long, black coat and a shirt bearing the “S”-shield. Clark also finds himself drawn closer to Lois Lane (Erica Durance).
“Lois is dealing with being smitten with Superman, and also still kind of finding Clark irritating,” Durance said at the “Smallville” panel at Comic-Con International in San Diego. “It’s going to be really spicy.”
Welling isn’t just starring in “Smallville,” he’s also a producer.
“I enjoy the production side very much,” Welling said at Comic-Con. “For the last few years, my interest in what happens before we get to set has increased. And this year, I play a larger part in that.”
At the close of season eight, Tess Mercer, played by Cassidy Freeman, encountered the Kryptonian villain Zod (Callum Blue).
“The first episode starts with me and Zod,” Freeman said in a recent interview. “I figure out who he is.”
Zod appeared earlier in “Smallville” when he possessed Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum), but now Zod appears in Smallville in the flesh. Mercer replaced Lex Luthor as the head of LuthorCorp after Luthor’s disappearance.
“The relationship between Zod and Tess is very loaded,” Freeman said. “She’s kind of all business.”
“Smallville” moves to Friday nights this year, but Freeman said it shouldn’t be a problem for the long-running show.
“We already have a pretty strong fanbase,” she said. “With Friday nights, you might need a big gun to draw people in, and we hope ‘Smallville’ can be that big gun.”
- by Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
Stacey Thunder to be honored in Tulsa
Stacey Thunder
American Indian actress Stacey Thunder will join the cast of “Crash” in its second season, debuting this Friday, Sept. 18. The actress will also be honored at the National Center for American Indian Enterprise at the black-tie Native American 40 Under 40 Recognition Reception to be held at the 2009 Indian Progress in Business Event (INPRO) in Tulsa on Friday.
Based on the motion picture “Crash,” the TV series stars Dennis Hopper and Jocko Sims. Along with Thunder, who will play Judith Turandot, new cast members this season include Eric Roberts (”The Dark Knight”), Linda Park Dana Ashbrook and Jake McLaughlin (”In the Valley of Elah”).
Click past the cut for the full release.
Tuesday TV quote challenge
I didn’t blog on Labor Day, meaning I didn’t post a Monday movie quote challenge. So instead, here’s a Tuesday TV quote challenge. Identify who said the following quote in what TV show in the comments!
“I mean, what’s not to like? Custard, good. Jam, good. Meat, good!”
DVD review: Smallville Season 8
Young Clark Kent moved closer to his eventual fate as Superman in the eighth season of “Smallville.” Clark Kent (Tom Welling) becomes a regular reporter for “The Daily Planet” and begins to have feelings for Lois Lane (Erica Durance).
The eighth season of “Smallville” was the first without show creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, or Clark’s former girlfriend Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk). The show also had to replace Michael Rosenbaum, who had played Lex Luthor on the show since its inception. While the shadow of Lex still looms large over Smallville, two new players held their own as villains of the piece.
The new head of Luthorcorp is Tess Mercer (Cassidy Freeman), a marine biologist turned hard-hitting executive with ties to Green Arrow’s secret ID, Oliver Queen (Justin Hartley).
Davis Bloome (Sam Witwer) is an EMT who develops a crush on Clark’s best friend, Chloe (Alison Mack). Chloe, however, is engaged to Jimmy Olsen (Aaron Ashmore). But the reasons that Bloome is drawn to Chloe may be something more sinister than a simple romantic spark, as Bloome’s character darkens as the season progresses.
The season starts strong and has a great run through episode 11, “Legion,” written by Geoff Johns, who has written some of the best “Superman” comic books of the past decade.
The midseason arc with the return of Lana Lang slows down the Lois-Clark romance and puts a hiccup into the season-long momentum. Some of it is regained in “Eternal,” as Tess figures out Bloome’s secret, but the season doesn’t finish quite as strongly as it began.
- Matthew Price
Metallo coming to Smallville – and Wonder Twins?
TV Guide Magazine shares a first look at Metallo, as played by Brian Austin Green, in the upcoming season of “Smallville.” I gotta say, this actually looks pretty cool. I’m a little more worried about the rumor that The Wonder Twins may make an appearance on this season.
Still, I’m excited about the upcoming season, with Zod, something resembling a Superman uniform, and Geoff Johns writing an episode featuring the Justice Society.
For more from “Smallville,” look for a two-part interview with Cassidy Freeman (Tess Mercer) coming up on Nerdage and at NewsOK in the coming weeks, as well as a review of the Season 8 DVD of “Smallville.”
- Matt Price
