TV

The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien: Four Emmy Nominations

Friday, July 9th, 2010

Proof positive of the effectiveness of being creative, original and actually funny: The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien has not only been nominated for one Emmy, but FOUR.  And Jay Leno’s Tonight Show received no nominations.  Not only that, but ratings since Leno returned have been worse than they’ve been since 1993.  NBC actually congratulated Conan, saying “We congratulate Conan and all our nominees on their creative accomplishments and their deserved nominations.”

Conan also tweeted about the nominations, saying “Congrats to my staff on 4 Emmy nominations. This bodes well for the future of The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.”

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Lost – Series Finale – Amazing Ending to an Epic Adventure

Monday, May 24th, 2010

I loved the finale to Lost.  It really closed up the series well and captured all of the characters very well.  In a lot of ways it reminded me of my favorite book in the Chronicles of Narnia, The Last Battle.  Here are some reactions from around the internet:

James Poniewozik, Time:

The great puzzle of the last season of Lost has been: how can both the flash-sideways universe and the Island universe mean anything? If Sideways is the universe in which Oceanic 815 never crashed, who cares what happens on the Island? If the Island is where the characters’ fates are sealed, how can there be any meaning to what happens in the Sideways?

The moving, soulful finale that Damon Lindelof and Carleton Cuse gave us met that challenge. The Island world, we learned, absolutely mattered to the physical fate of the survivors. (And sci-fi purists ticked over the spiritual ending should at least give it up for this: what happened, did, indeed happen.) And the Sideways world mattered because it was the culmination of the spiritual, moral, human lives–the souls–of the characters.

It mattered, it moved, and it achieved.

Liz Kelly, Washington Post:

If, as some said, “Lost” was to be judged by its finale then all I can say is Damon and Carlton pulled it off. I’ve been crying and laughing and basically an emotional basket case for the last 2.5 hours. I could not possibly have asked for anything more. I am in awe.

Henry Hanks, CNN:

Answers or not, as two-and-a-half hours of television, the final “Lost” was extraordinary, and I think it accomplished what it set out to do: It was a very memorable ending, and people will be talking about it for years to come. One thing I never expected was how emotional I would feel watching this finale, and reflecting on it.

Jeff Jenson, EW:

“The End” was an emotionally draining epic that had me crying with almost every single “awakening” and has left me mulling the true significance of the Sideways world, which was revealed to be a Purgatory-like realm created by the souls of the dead castaways themselves.

Maureen Ryan, Chicago Tribune:

Finales are hard. And I must admit that my expectations for the “Lost” finale weren’t high. Perhaps later in the week, I’ll go into the reasons that caused me to lower my expectations. Suffice it to say, I just wanted Sunday’s finale to be … not bad. I was hoping for a middling ending, to be honest.

Yet “The End,” the show’s final episode, was so much more than middling. The first two hours were exciting and emotionally engaging, especially when the island castaways in the Sideways world began remembering their “real” lives. Those “flashes” were powerful and many cast members did some of their best work in those scenes. I got chills as I saw Juliet and Sawyer talk about that coffee date. Sun and Jin, Charlie, Kate and Claire — all their recollection moments were moving and powerful.

But the last half hour or so took the finale to another level.

Rex Hammock, Rexblog:

I think the creators of the show did precisely what they should have done with its finale: They gave the series a conclusion, but did not make it conclusive. In the same way any great work (and I’m not ready to place Lost in this category) of literature, mythology, philosophy or faith, there is still room for interpretation existing that offers those who want fundamental, simplistic answers to have one: “they all died;” as can those who want ambiguity that can provide the foundation for a lifetime of debate: “where was that plane flying to?”

Young Justice: Animated Series on Cartoon Network – Fall 2010

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

One of my favorite comic book series was Young Justice.  The team consisted primarily of Superboy, Robin and Impulse (who is now called Kid Flash in the comic world).  Other original members included Wonder Girl, Arrowette and Secret.  The team’s guardian was Red Tornado.  The membership of the team changed as time went on.  Characters code-names changed, members came and went, and the series came to an end in 2003 as many of the characters joined Teen Titans.

This fall on Cartoon Network, the series that I never thought would happen is coming.  This is likely thanks to there already being a Teen Titans cartoon, so they don’t cause confusion by having another one.

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New Denver the Last Dinosaur TV Series and Movie in the works

Saturday, April 10th, 2010

Do you remember the cartoon series Denver the Last Dinosaur?  This was a show that I used to watch when I was younger, about a group of teenagers that found a dinosaur egg that hatched, and the dinosaur that came from it became their friend and they had many adventures with him.  The show was highly acclaimed as being a very educational series as well.

World Events Productions, the company that holds the rights to this and Voltron, as well as created this series is currently at work on a new series as well as a potential film version.  They’re doing the same with Voltron, with Voltron: Panthera Force (now under the production title: Voltron Force) premiering this fall, and a live-action movie in active development.  It should have come as no surprise that they would also be interested in exploring a rejuvenation of another one of their properties.  Especially considering that the original series was recommended by the National Education Association for its engaging, non-violent storylines.

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Conan O’Brien’s The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Conan O’Brien’s The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour has been announced.  Not only is Conan’s tour missing Michigan, but the two Chicago shows sold out pretty much instantly.  The only tickets left are the high cost ones that come with gifts and, if you’re willing to spend about $800, a meet and greet with the man himself.  While that would be really great to do, I have a wedding this year, and thus, don’t have the extra cash to pay for at least 2 tickets for a meet and greet, no matter how great an opportunity that would be.

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Voltron Panthera Force and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles announced for Nicktoons this Fall

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

At its 2010 annual upfront presentation which featured top talent across the worlds of television, music and film, Nickelodeon today announced a slate of new programming that will be added to the network’s 2010-11 schedule.  Among the announcements are two shows that I am interested in.  Voltron Panthera Force and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are both going to premiere on the Nicktoons network, which I am not sure that I have.  No big deal, though, as the internet can deliver just about anything that you find on TV.  Especially properties as popular as these.

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Please Release The Wonder Years on DVD and Blu-ray – #1

Friday, February 12th, 2010

This is the first entry of another column that I’m planning on writing somewhat regularly.  It’s pretty self explanatory, so I’ll just get right to the point.

The Wonder Years

Here’s a show that has many hurdles to overcome to ever be released on DVD and Blu-ray.  It is a fantastic show that deserves a great release with interviews and features galore.  The show would be an instant hit on DVD, and could potentially help to bring back some of the DVD market that has hit a slump with the current recession.  I think that the time to restore all of the footage should be taken to make the release worth owning.

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A New Ghostbusters Cartoon – Coming Soon?

Monday, February 8th, 2010

I’ve been re-watching my complete collection DVD set of The Real Ghostbusters in the last few days.  It looks brilliant on my HDTV.  I’m hoping for a release of the late nineties series Extreme Ghostbusters on DVD sometime soon.  It was one cartoon that didn’t get a fair shake, potentially because of the much darker subject matter of the series.  The Real Ghostbusters rarely delved as deeply into dark topics.  When it did, the good guys weren’t the ones doing it.  Extreme Ghostbusters is fundamentally flawed in that regard, but in favor of a complete collection, I’d love to have it.  Especially because the two parter Back in the Saddle brings all of the original Ghostbusters back for an adventure.  Which leads me to the topic of this article.

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Turles Forever: A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Team-Up Dream Come True

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

Turtles Forever – The mere premise of it was mind-blowing.  A feature length adventure featuring a team up of the TMNT team of the 80′s-early 90′s cartoon as well as the 90′s-early 00′s cartoon versions of the heroes.  When I first heard about it, I couldn’t believe what I was reading was actually coming.  Not only that, but I was surprised by just how soon it was going to be released!  It was originally going to receive a theatrical screening, but plans for that fell through.  Instead, it premiered on TV one Saturday morning.

There is no word of a DVD release yet, but the studio is working on it.  It was created as a direct-to-DVD feature film, but since the rights to the TMNT have been sold to Nickelodeon, there are issues that need to be tied up.

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Oprah Interviews Jay Leno about Tonight Show, Conan, and shows his true character

Monday, February 1st, 2010

If anyone was still on Leno’s side in the Conan vs. Leno battle for the once great, now defunct The Tonight Show, this interview should help you to finally take a side.  That side will undoubtedly be Conan’s as Leno fails to make himself look like a gentleman in the whole thing.  I’m going to point out the hypocrisy of Leno, as well as his failure to think beyond himself, even when he’s claiming to.

What I’m going to do is quote the important parts of the interview, and I might comment on the quote, if I feel it necessary to elaborate on what should be fairly obvious.

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