The Point – January 9th, 2009
Someone leaked the identity of the new Doctor and British Bookies want to know Who, Captain Kirk lands on the internet and Captain Marvel (and Black Adam) land back on the shelf. And Madballs, too? PRESS THE BUTTON and you’ll Get The Point!
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Transcript
Hello, it's Mike Raub and welcome to The Point, where all parts of pop culture come together. Somebody leaked the name of the new doctor and the bookies want to know just who. Captain Kirk has landed on the internet, Captain Marvel has landed back on the shelf, and MacWorld has ended with a fizzle. And oh yeah, Madballs are back.
It's January 9th, 2009 and we get to The Point right now. This is The Point, The Point radio, get The Point radio. Enterprise, Captain Kirk, come in. It may truly be the combination that leads to the final frontier, William Shatner and the internet. Now at first glance, it kind of looks like a side project to promote his new show,
William Shatner's Raw Nerve on the Bio channel. But Shatner's created a YouTube channel called The Shatner Project. And some of the videos you see are exit interviews from the show, not too much unlike the ones that Howard Stern used to run on his e-show a few years ago. But along there, there's also some fascinating one-camera tirades by Bill,
including one where he had some wonderful things to say about former castmate George Takei. You know, the whole thing makes me feel badly. Poor man. There's such a sickness there. It's so painfully obvious that there is a psychosis.
The Shatner Project is updated weekly and the best way I can describe it is, it's sort of like a live-action farsight calendar. Make your own decision at youtube.com slash William Shatner, and by the way, William Shatner's Raw Nerve is seen weekly on the Bio channel. The Point, The Point.
The year was 1986 and all the cool kids I knew were having freaky fun with something called Mad Balls. Now if you manage to skip a generation on one side or the other, let me try to visually or non-visually explain to you exactly what Mad Balls were. They were about the size of a tennis ball made of rubberized plastic and the balls really were little heads of grotesque creatures
that looked like they fell off the cover of an EC comic. Okay, you got that picture in your head? Well, here's one more fact. They were huge. They spawned a video game, tons of merchandise, and even Marvel Comics got into the deal with their children's comics, Division Star Comics.
They started out with a three-issue miniseries in 1986. The book continued with issue number four in 1987 and ran all the way up to number ten a year or so later. And then there was that wonderfully annoying commercial. Mad Balls, Mad Balls, Mad Balls, gross for one, gross for all.
We play with a Mad Ball, they're gross. Funny, yucky, sick, there's eight, so you can take your pet. We throw, catch, it's uh-oh fun. There's so much gross in every one. The Reaky Fun is what they're for. There's so much ugly, so much more. Gross for one, gross for all.
We play with a Mad Ball. We play with a Mad Ball. We play with a Mad Ball. Mad Ball. Freaky fun for everyone, sold separately from Amtoy.
So what's it all about? Well, Mad Balls are back. For somebody in your life you'd like to get involved with Mad Balls or maybe somebody's mother you'd like to really annoy, MadBalls.com is a place to go for photos and downloads and a really cool, nostalgic look at the 80s toys as well.
Again, it's at MadBalls.com. Get the point, radio, get the point, radio. I fought the law and the now one I fought the law and the now one Fall down to the gavel and the calendar.
Fox and Warner Brothers have agreed to let a judge decide whether Fox is entitled to an injunction that blocks the release of The Watchman. A lot of folks used to think that, well, if you threw enough money at it, everything would work out and Watchman would appear on the screen when it's supposed to in the first part of March.
Some of those same people don't seem as optimistic right now. In fact, they feel that probably there'll be some sort of ruling even before the January 20th deadline. Meanwhile, Warner Brothers is moving ahead with their marketing machine. There's a brand new video that got released this week on the internet,
this time featuring some of the parts behind the scenes of the Golden Age part of the Watchman story. And Jackie Earl Haley, who plays Roshak, was excited about that. This movie spans such an interesting length of time. It's such an interesting deconstruction of the superhero.
Really looking at it from a different reality, almost, you know, from the point of what would a world be like if people dressed up in costumes and got into the vigilante business. Business is what it all comes down to. We'll find out more as we get closer to January 20th.
Meanwhile, if you want to catch that video in its entirety, you can do so with our friends and comic book resources. The point, radio. It's Friday, January 9th, 2008. Here's what you're talking about in pop culture today.
Well, you really don't have to wait for anything to premiere on your television. There are ways to search out and legally see a lot of things way ahead of its time. For example, Showtime as the pilot of the new original series, United States of Terra, available as of yesterday on Netflix Watch Instantly service. That's a full two weeks prior to its premiere on Showtime.
United States of Terra is the show that was created by Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody and it stars Tony Collette as a suburban housewife with multiple personalities. Also appearing on Netflix will be the season premieres of the secret diary of a call girl with Billy Piper and the L word. Those are premier on Netflix on the 18th of January,
just a tad before their regular network premieres. And speaking of sneak peeks, Sci-Fi Wire has an exclusive sneak peek of the final episodes of Battlestar Galactica. In his new material, we promise you that, but nothing is really going to spoil anything. So much for seeing The Rock and that Black Adam costume.
The guy who was in the announced screenwriter for the Captain Marvel movie has said on his website that the film is no longer going to be made. John August is the writer who was the announced person to be in charge of the script for the movie and on his website he talks about his battles with clueless studio executives and helpless writers. Get the full details on his website at johnaugust.com
While it was a rough fourth quarter for a lot of people, in November Devil's Dew Publishing was creeping up the list to possibly become one of the top five publishers, according to the Diamond Publishing lists. However, in December they didn't release any product. It was a tough time, but they're back on schedule now.
This week sees the release of Mercy Sparks No. 2 and Rest No. 2 from Devil's Dew. And they promised at least a dozen new releases through the end of February and a new publishing schedule for 2009 coming very soon. That'll include Vampire Hunter D, Bionic Commando, and Humanoids. The race to eBay is on this week when fans opened up their copy of X-Men Manifest Destiny No. 5 from Marvel.
What they saw inside was actually X-Men vs. Spider-Man No. 3. Yes, it was a misprint and copies are being recalled. Reprints are being sent out to stores. And look for those error copies to turn up on eBay even as we speak. Markdown January 23rd for the premiere of the new animated series Wolverine and the X-Men on Nicktoons.
It's of course produced by Marvel Animation and then this series will air regularly on Fridays. After that, starting at 8pm Eastern Time. There's also a new tie-in website, rumutant.com. That premieres in just a few days on January 20th. If you go there, you can check your DNA to find out if you're really a mutant.
And if you belong at Professor Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters. There'll be clips of the series, interactive games, and a lot more. By the way, in case your schedule doesn't allow you to catch the series, don't worry about it. Nick's going to offer it on their video on demand service beginning on January 19th. WGN America has formed a new partnership with the World Wrestling Entertainment folks to begin airing.
Actually reviving an original show from back in the 90s. WWE Superstars begins on WGN in April. It's a 60-minute weekly series produced by the WWE featuring various superstars from all of the three different WWE franchises. The program will air Thursday nights at 8pm. Again at 11pm. There'll be a third time to catch it on the weekend on WGN.
Looks like there's going to be no big ooze on us coming out of CES this year. At least not so far. Down the road though at the final Macworld conference. Apple announced DRM-free tracks being available to iTunes users, which is good news for a lot of folks. They also announced some updates to Apple's iLife and iWork software.
Those will be available in stores later this month. But that was pretty much it for the Macworld finale. The World Finale. Condiversity still smolders on the choice for the next Doctor Who, 26-year-old Matt Smith. And in some cases, there's even a little profit to be made.
Bookmakers in England reduced odds unexpectedly on Smith landing the role right before the announcement came. In a BBC television special last weekend, it was seen by nearly 7 million people. One bookmaker, Patty Power, took in some 40,000 pounds in total. But he also said that the odds on Smith getting the role fell from 33-1 to 10-1 not too long before the show aired on the BBC. So who leaked the secret?
Well, it probably wasn't Matt Smith. He was doing his best to keep everything under wraps. What I did actually when I got the role is I paced around the room for about three days. Because I didn't know what to do, so I'd sort of just get up and then I'd come back and then I'd sit down and then I'd watch a bit of TV and I'd just sort of smile and go, I'm the Doctor. And then a complete nightmare not being able to tell anyone because…
Well, because obviously it's like any secret. You sort of… it bubbles up inside you and the longer you keep it, the more mad you've got, I think. And the more you're trying to suppress it. And then I'll be in my flat watching the TV and sort of Doctor Who will be on and my flatmates there and I'm watching it going, Oh God, love to share the new Doctor.
But I can't, you know? And it's… but it's also quite exciting because it gives me a sense of mischief that I know something that the rest of Britain doesn't know. Just for a bit, you know? Privy to, you know, call information. Back at the BBC, new executive producer Steven Moffat commented on the rich history of the show and as how much of that he feels comfortable in using when he takes the helm.
These are all available to us and we… I mean, I'll be honest, the… He always hesitate to bring back something. I mean, fans always, always look back. Shows always have to look forward. That's a brand new audience every year, particularly for Doctor Who because it's a children's show. And he bring back something from, you know, if I brought somebody back, if you bring back Sally Sparrow in 2010, she hasn't been on screen since 2007.
That's three years. There's some kids for whom that is ancient history. So I'm not against it again, but it's not what Doctor Who's about. I think Doctor Who is absolutely centrally being what it has to be when he walks out the TARDIS and everything is new. Everything is new. That's the format. He walks out and he's completely new. No friends, no enemies. Everything is brand new.
They have a paradigm story like that, which I would cite from the old series like The Arcan Space. Everything is brand new. You don't ever see it. You actually just see the Arcan, but you know, you don't… It's just a one-off. And that's what Doctor Who is really like. With all the press attention this past week, Mavna recalls just what got him involved with the Doctor in the first place. Well, because I was a fan when I was a… from being a very small child.
So I always loved it. I was very excited about Doctor Who. And like a lot of people involved in it, like Russell and David and Phil, you know, one of the… and he's telling me it's ridiculous, but he's true. One of the things that initially got me interested in television was I'd be reading what tiny bits of nuggets of information I could get at it about how the monsters are made on Doctor Who. I mean, that was what made me interested in it.
It's a huge part of me growing up. So I just never, ever thought I'd write for it, because on more or less the exact day that I became quite a big name in children's television many years ago, the axe doctor who was like, you know, I've waited 26 years and missed it by an afternoon. It was just crazy. So I'm glad I've got an opportunity to rectify that in a very major way. It was incredibly exciting to work on the 2005 series, and it's very, very exciting to be taking it over. Of course it is.
Come on, it's one of those things. It's Sherlock Holmes, it's James Bond, it's one of those mighty things that you want your crack at. Matt Smith and Steven Moffat step into the spotlight in 2010. Meanwhile, the next Doctor Who special with David Tennant is set for release in just about 90 days. It's January 9th, 2009. Let's step back just a bit. 1984. And it was this week that Harrison Williams, the first U.S. senator in almost 60 years to be convicted of a crime, was sent to federal prison.
Some members of a Farmington, Connecticut community protested after a city-wide month-long ban on watching television caused them to miss a major NFL game that led to determine who was going to be in that year's Super Bowl. And a 12-year-old California girl spent nine days in solitary confinement after refusing to testify against her stepfather in a child molestation case. She said she did so because she didn't want to destroy her family. And theaters, most of us this week, went to see the movie with the best soundtrack. The film may look a little rusty, but the soundtrack still sounds great. It's the big chill.
You also bought tickets this week to see Yentl, Silkwood, DC Cab, Terms of Interment, and Scarface 2. Television Tonight on CBS. There was a show with a great premise, a great set of writers, but probably a theme song that sounded more like an after-school special. Again on CBS Tonight, it's New Hearts. Also episodes of After Mash, that's incredible. A special on superstars and their classic cars. And the ABC movie premiere of a film that would get lots of awards over the years. Something about Amelia. On a radio, a band that could have had a second hit, except they got into a lot of trouble about just who owned this song.
It was a tribute to the three stoogees jump in the saddle and the curly shuffle. Let us shuffle back a couple more decades. On this day, Senator Barry Goldwater accused President Lyndon Johnson of fostering an atmosphere of hate that he felt led to the assassination of JFK. Richard Nixon hinted he might be a candidate for president in 1968, and an Idaho miner was gratefully rescued after spending 27 hours trapped over 1,100 feet underground. In the movies, there were lots of interesting titles like A New Kind of Love, Straight Jacket, The Wheeler Dealers, Lord of the Flies, Disney Sword and the Stone, but Carrie captured the screen at number one with Charade.
Later on TV, Ro Haid was at the top of the list. There were also episodes of The Nurses. The beginnings of The Muppets were on the Jimmy Dean show. There was an episode of Donna Reed and… Hi, welcome to our show. Hey, what's going on around here at this hour in the morning? You told me that! No, you want to step five days to sleep just like pulling teeth to get you up. Now that it's my turn to sleep, you're up at the crack of dawn.
Time machine! It was almost like a showbiz fairy tale a couple years ago when Motown superstar Mary Wells missed a recording session and backup singer Martha Reeves stepped in to cut the demo. Flash ahead a couple of years and you've got yourself a major Motown act in Martha Reeves and the Vandelos. Already on the charts a couple of times, this was their next number one this year called Quicksand. The more I fight it, the deeper in love I can. Each time you call me, I feel nothing but emptiness. It's how I think of you this way from your heart.
I can say you like Quicksand. Quicksand, yeah. Pulling me closer and closer to making me love you. I need you. I need you. I need you. The Point. Easy to reach at Mike at GetThePointRadio.com. See you on Monday. GetThePointRadio.com
