Now it is no secret that I am a huge fan of VHS, and since you’re reading this I would guess that you are too. In the last few years the VHS medium has been plucked from near extinction by devoted fans who just love the notion of the format. Homemade horror movies can be found online which proudly show that this is a VHS only film and sites such as Horror Boobsand Lunchmeat have sprung up all over the place supporting VHS. These VHS only movies are mostly made by fans of the medium and one such fan Dan Kinem, who with his fellow director Levi Peretic have created a documentary called Adjust Your Tracking, which focuses on what it is like to be a collector of VHS. I managed to grab an interview with Dan about the documentary, his other upcoming projects and why he loves VHS so much.
While there is no question NBC is in the shittier, ABC is a bit of a mystery. Their shows are good, and they have a loyal audience but somehow they have been trailing in network ratings. It becomes a little clearer when you take a look at their lineup. They have some very good dramas, Castle, Once Upon a Time, Scandal, Revenge, and even though Grey’s Anatomy should have ended years ago, people are still tuning in. Of course their reality shows are popular – Dancing with the Stars, and The Bachelor, but I ignore that those exist so there are neither here nor there. ABC’s problem area? Clearly their comedies. Don’t Trust the B sadly has been cancelled, Happy Endings is being moved, The Neighbors is in the basement, and if you can name any other ABC comedy besides Modern Family, congrats.
One has to imagine that ABC is wondering what they can do to get to the top. Luckily for them, some of their pilots looks to have great potential, one from a certain Joss Whedon most especially. Without further adieu, some of the best looking prospects for ABC this pilot season.
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Is there an upcoming show that has more geeks all atwitter than this one? I don’t think so. Of course the show itself is exciting but when they announced that Agent Coulson was actually not dead and Clark Gregg would be bringing his character to the ABC pilot? Well that just put a cherry on this fantastic sundae.
There’s been quite a few people added to the cast of this show since that announcement, including Ming-Na Wen from ER and Iain De Caestecker from the long running British soap, Coronation Street.
There is very little doubt that this will make it to series. ABC would be making a mistake of epic proportions if they let this one go.
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Another British import, Spy is about a somewhat unsuccessful man who in the hopes to impress his son, goes out to get a good job and somehow finds himself a secret agent. The British show was fantastic, thanks in part to the cast. I’d like to say the American version looks as promising but I can’t. Now I’m perfectly willing to admit this is just me, but I can not stand Rob Corddry and have a hard time seeing him as Tim.
The most interesting casting news on this show though, would be that of Ken Jeong. Granted he hasn’t been seen much on Community here lately so perhaps they are trying to write him out completely, or even sadder, he’s preparing for the end of Community all together.
If this version has one thing going for it, it would be that Simeon Goulden who created and wrote the British version of Spy is writing this as well. All that said, I’d probably watch this, well at the very least I’d give it a shot because I enjoyed the original that much.
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My love of the ‘Gone Too Soon’ Kings is no secret so you can only imagine how excited I was to see that Christopher Egan was in another pilot. Even better, it looks like a pilot that has potential.
[quote]Modern day show that weaves together a mythology that incorporates the legends of Dracula, Jekyll and Hyde, Frankenstein and Dorian Gray among others.[/quote]
Egan will play Dorian Gray and he has a fantastic cast around him including Tom Ellis (from the incredibly funny Miranda) as Victor Frankenstein, Janet Montgomery (this year’s short lived Made in Jersey) as Grace Van Helsing, and Fringe star, Seth Gabel. As if the actors weren’t enough, the writers just might be. After signing an overall deal with ABC, the creators of Reaper, Tara Butters and Michele Fazakas have been tapped to run Gothica. These two ladies also had a hand in Dollhouse which was another show canceled way before it’s time. Let’s just hope that Gothica turns the tide for them.
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Unlike NBC that has a penchant for hyping crappy sitcoms (whilst ignoring their good ones) and CBS that just makes all crappy sitcoms, ABC has done pretty well. Okay, they’ve done well from a critical standpoint, obviously they haven’t done well on the viewers front because these great shows are getting canceled or just ignored. It really is a crime. However if Super Fun Night makes it to series and is then canceled or ignored, I will be crushed. Crushed!
First off, this pilot is being directed by John Riggi of 30 Rock. That right there should be enough but no, it stars Rebel Wilson and if that wasn’t enough, Keegan Michael Key of Key and Peele has signed on! Seriously, this show has so much going for it. Even it’s premise, while simple, sounds entertaining – Three nerdy female friends decide to have super fun every Friday night. That’s it, that’s all we know about it so far. Is it going to be like Big Bang Theory but with chicks? Who knows. One could hope the writing is better and that the audience will be there but we’ll have to wait and see.
I’m losing a lot of shows this year and if this one is picked up, rest assured, I will be watching. I’d be lying if part of me doesn’t hope it get’s picked up for the sole reason that it would give better odds to seeing Rebel Wilson on SNL.
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If you don’t know, I’m a huge fan of sibling relationships on shows. Of course if you’ve had the pleasure of reading previous Grizzly Bomb contributions of mine you are probably saying “we know! You like siblings! Stop telling us!” but I just thought it bore repeating. Anyways – I like watching sibling relationships.
I also like Steve Zahn. I also like Christian Slater. I also liked Kyle Killen’s shows Awake and Lone Star.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that a show by Kyle Killen starring Steve Zahn and Christian Slater as brothers just might be a show I’d watch.
[quote]Centers on the complicated relationship between two brothers, Clark, a bipolar genius in human psychology, and Ross, a slick ex-con, who solve their clients’ problems using the real science of human motivation and manipulation.[/quote]
Just on the surface, it seems a bit like Lie to Me but switch out facial tics for psychology. Best part of this casting is who is who. Because I always associate Steve Zahn as the Neil Diamond restraining order recipient/raccoon wrestler from Saving Silverman, I was pretty certain he would be the “slick ex-con” but I would be wrong. Zahn is actually Clark the bipolar genius (yea I can see that) and Christian Slater will be playing Ross.
One can hope that this won’t be a predictable crime procedural, and that it will last longer than both Awake and Lone Star.
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I want everyone that has a screenplay sitting in a desk drawer (or documents folder) to go ahead and dust it off because apparently the world is in desperate need of new ideas. I’m just going to float this logline out there and see what grabs you.
[quote]A late 19th century New York doctor and his family relocate to a frontier mining town run by a powerful, but mysterious tycoon. Unfortunately, they quickly realize that not everything in the titular city is as it seems. (Inspired by the Disney Parks ride Thunder Mountain Railroad.)[/quote]
In case you missed it… Inspired by the Disney Parks ride Thunder Mountain Railroad.
Every single time I’ve seen this show mentioned, my head explodes. I know I mentioned back in the NBC Dramas discussion that I appreciate the idea of a Western coming back to network television but this is not at all what I had in mind. If the fact that it’s “inspired” by an amusement park ride isn’t baffling enough, get this – it’s a drama. A drama, based on a railroad ride at Disney World/Land/whatever.
My “cyborg looks for love in the most unlikely of places, a retirement facility for astronauts” pilot isn’t looking so crappy all of a sudden.
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So there you have it! There’s some that are sure hits (S.H.I.E.L.D.) and some that have real potential, but it very easily could turn out that I have no idea what I’m talking about and Big Thunder will end up being a huge success and having a ten year run. You’ll find me in the corner, rocking and muttering to myself if that happens.
There are a few other shows filming pilots right now like a “Romeo and Juliet-esque” drama called Westside starring Jennifer Beals and Dennis Duffy Dean Winters and a comedy starring MadTV’s Will Sasso but outside of those actors I don’t find much appeal in the shows at all. Hopefully one of the above pilots will find their way to a series order and we can all sit back and laugh at those days when ABC finished behind NBC back in the spring of 2013.
We sure didn’t have to wait very long to hear of the next cast member announced for James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, following the casting of Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/ Star-Lord. The second member of the team has been announced, with Dave Bautista joining the film as Drax the Destroyer!
Irish Coffee is categorically delicious, and St. Patrick’s Day is a great time to make it (for breakfast, for dinner, for dessert, whatever). And you can make the best Irish coffee by simply using the right whiskey and a better cup of coffee. A good “mixing whiskey” (as opposed to a good sipping whiskey) is pretty easy to find and affordable. We might suggest Tullamore Dew or maybe Bushmills — solid mid-/mid-upper shelf stuff, since most of the nuance of a truly top-shelf whiskey will be lost when used for cocktails.
I imagine if I were to create a “bucket list” it would include items such as finding a way to convince Julie Andrews to adopt me (sorry Mom) and Gladys Knight to follow me around narrating my life in song. Also on that list would be to attend PaleyFest.
Named for William Paley, the man who took a small Columbia Broadcasting System and turned it into the CBS we know today (one would hope minus the dearth of crappy sitcoms), setting the standard for all modern television networks along the way, PaleyFest bills itself as “The Ultimate TV Fan Festival”. With two weeks filled with panels and autographs and things of that nature, it just might be. Luckily for those of us TV fans who do not live in Los Angeles, the folks over at the Paley Center for Media have teamed up with Hulu to bring the panels to the masses. The day after a panel, it’s been put up on Hulu in both clips and an entire session.
There have been some good shows like The Newsroom, Revolution and Once Upon a Time and even some shows we here at Grizzly Bomb watch and review such as The Walking Dead and Arrow. Panels like this are always fun because you get a chance to see the actors behind the characters and often get some behind the scenes/story info much like this clip for the Arrow panel.
Lest we ever doubt that writers and producers are listening to the fans’ reactions, we played a part in bringing Felicity Smoak up as a series regular! If you were looking for an example of social media having a direct impact on something, that would be it. Had Arrow aired even fifteen years ago, there’s a good chance Felicity would still have been this small character until enough people sent in letters and some email to the studio asking for more of “that blond IT girl”.
Another clip that I found to be interesting is to see Stephen Amell talk about how he approaches “island Oliver”.
These two clips are non-spoilers but there are a few in the rest of the panel session, which you can watch right here, so be warned. If you did not recognize the moderator for the panel, that would be none other than Geoff Johns himself, rocking the Aquaman hat.
The other show of note was The Walking Dead.
Now, I do not watch The Walking Dead (there is no need to tell me how awesome it is and how I’m missing out – I’m a big ol’ wuss and damn near pissed myself watching one episode and I’d rather not repeat that experience) so there is a chance these clips might have spoilers and if they do, I apologize.
However, I did watch the majority of this panel and if I’m honest, it’s because I’ve got a wee bit of a crush on Chris Hardwick. The man is just adorable, I can’t help it.
**Possible Spoilers**
I thought this was really interesting because in a show about the ‘zombie apocalypse’ and when pretty much everyone is on the chopping block at any moment (of course one would assume major characters would be safe, but stranger things have happened), I imagine the thought that they could be killed off is in the forefront of their minds.
Of course once this topic came up, there was no way I couldn’t include it. Living south of Atlanta, I can commiserate fully. Summer down here is awful. You step outside and you immediately start sweating and I can only imagine what kind of hell the makeup people deal with. It’s a good thing the characters are usually sweaty and gross because man alive, if they had to look fresh and clean? Those makeup people would be winning an Emmy each year and rightfully so.
Again, here is the whole panel, there may be spoilers so be warned.
So now that we all know what PaleyFest can include, who wants to go with me? I’m taking names for next year’s carpool, we can split the gas and all share a bag of beef jerky.
Big news from across the pond regarding two fan favorites, Misfits and Sherlock!
Tv Wise had news that it is pretty much a done deal for a fifth series of the superhero anguish show Misfits. It should air late 2013 and will be composed of 8 episodes.
My love of the 
Grizzly Bomb 