The Point – January 30th, 2009

Stop worrying about Super Bowl and let’s deal with more pressing issues like why is LOST looking backwards? Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet) and Michael Emerson (Ben) give us their perspective. MAD Magazine is slowing down (and Mike Gold isn’t happy) – but on the bright side, TORCHWOOD hits NYCon and today we get music from WATCHMEN PRESS THE BUTTON and you’ll Get The Point!

Transcript

Hello, it's Mike Raub and welcome to The Point where all parts of pop culture come together. Lost is taking a step back. Meanwhile, Mad is slowing down and Mike Gold's not happy about that. The Doctor goes biotic. There's music from Watchmen hidden today and sadly, Ab Fab may be back.

It's Friday, January 30th, 2009 and we get to The Point right now. This is The Point, The Point Radio, get The Point, Radio. I found guys… Well, after three episodes of Lost, hopefully if you've cleared off your DVR that is, you're a little less confused. But the question is, are you satisfied?

Without spilling too much to those of you who aren't caught up, we can simply say that the newest addition to the show is the element of time travel. If you think these changes are confusing for you trying to see how the pieces of the past fit together in the present, imagine how the cast feels. On the positive side though is actress Elizabeth Mitchell who plays Juliet. Oh, I thought it was fantastic because how else can you get to where they need to go if you don't create something else? And I know people are wary of time travel or they're wary of this or they're wary of it going too sci-fi.

But I think what always roots this is the way that the characters are drawn. You know, they do such a good job of that and the interplay between them and that continues. But the fact that there's this new kind of a little bit of a wave in there, but there's rules to it. There's rules to the whole thing just like there's rules to the island. We just don't happen to know what they are.

So we'll be figuring that out. But the time travel angle should be, in my mind, kind of complex and fascinating. Michael Emerson who plays Ben was enthusiastic too about the change. But like a lot of us, still just a little bit confused. So that's pretty shocking.

I mean, you think about it. I mean, the part of my mind that is a director or a producer says, how are you going to do that? That's going to mean a lot of special effects. That's going to mean, I don't know, that's going to mean some like story logic problems of a scale that we have never dealt with before. This season is, it's pretty wild.

It's Friday, January 30th, 2009. Here's what we're talking about in pop culture this week. Are you excited about more Watchmen material? Well, if you are, this is a good day for you. That's Desolation Row, done by My Chemical Romance, the very first piece of music to be released from the new Watchmen soundtrack on the way officially in a couple of weeks.

You know, the song originally was done by Bob Dylan, but when My Chemical Romance redid it, they said online in an interview this week, that they tried to record it in a way as it would have sounded back in 1985. Lots more music, of course, when the final soundtrack is released, including some classic songs by James Taylor and Simon and Garfunkel. NBC is trying to skew the show heroes to a little bit younger audience, at least online, by doing a presence on the site, Habbo.com. On the site, they're extending their popular hero's evolution of shoot.

And what it does is it gives the fans abilities to interact with the new Avatar hero through a variety of in-game activities. You might even end up with your own special powers and be recruited as a new hero. She was the bionic woman and lover or hater. Now you're going to see her by the side of Doctor Who, at least for one episode. Michelle Ryan, the guest on the Doctor Who Easter special and reportedly, according to the BBC News, she will be the companion of the Doctor in that particular episode.

But the facts aside, talk about rumors. Remember, Catherine Tate was also a companion in one particular episode of Doctor Who, and then a few months later, it went on to be the regular companion. So, who knows? Ah, big week for our old buddy Neil Gaiman. Neil, of course, picked up the Newbery Award earlier in the week for the Graveyard Book.

Now it's going to come to the big screen, and he's picked up Neil Jordan. As the director of that, Jordan, you might know, did the Crying Game in Dreams interview with a vampire and others. Cool new stuff, cool old stuff, and a lot more. It's all waiting at markwade.com. The Boom Studios editor in chief has launched his very own website with a lot of things, all free for the viewing, at least for the time being.

Up there, of course, is some comics as well, including the entire first issue of Potter's Field that's a critically acclaimed series that Wade has done for Boom Studios. Lots of blog entries and a lot of fun, too. Check it out, markwade.com. Did you hear they're talking about reviving the A-Team? Well, the Behind the Camera team for the feature film remake has already been put together, including Joe Carnahan.

He's now set to direct. He's replaced John Singleton, who was the original choice for director. Ridley Scott is producing, and shooting starts in June. No casting as yet. No stranger to the courtroom himself, John Landis is now suing Michael Jackson for allegedly failing to pay profits over the last four years for the thriller video.

Now, Landis co-wrote and directed that music video back in 1983 when it made a huge splash. Allegedly, he is a due 50% of the net proceeds, and allegedly, according to the lawsuit, Jackson has not paid anything for the past few years. Few interesting TV pilots got the green light this week, including a remake of The Witches of Eastwick, based on that 1987 movie about three women who discover they have supernatural powers after a strange man moves to town. This one I'm a little ambivalent about. Fox is okay the US version of Absolutely Fabulous, based on the original, though it's going to be set in the US and keep the same basic type of characters.

Jennifer Saunders, who wrote and co-created the original British version, is going to be the executive producer, but allegedly will not be in the production. And ABC has ordered a two-hour pilot for something called Happy Town. It's a mystery set in a small town where a series of kidnappings took place seven years, and it's being billed as another Twin Peaks. Good point, radio! And now, you protect the rights and lives of people, citizens, right?

Oh my God! It's a cannibal! Stay back, cannibal! The guy on life support wearing a funny string tie is Alfred E. Newman, and he's an institution. Mad magazine is reaching issue number 500 this spring, and to celebrate, publisher DC Comics is cutting its frequency down to every three months and canceling its two sister magazines, Mad Classics and Mad for Kids. Despite adding advertising a couple years ago, America's seminal humor magazine is coughing up blood. Mad for, Mad for, the geomor, Mad for…

Mad used to be the cutting edge of adolescent humor, but as its creative staff aged, so did the magazine. The days when it would influence new generations, the underground cartoonists of the late 60s and 70s, the old weekly guys like Matt Groening and Tony Millionaire had long passed. It really wasn't until DC took over the reins that some vital new energy came aboard. Folks like political cartoonist Ted Rall, the darkly strange Bill Ray, the uniquely weird Mark Hempel, and many others. But even these guys seemed trapped by the Mad persona, while the venerable institution got clocked by the outrages of the day, the Simpsons, Beavis and Butt-Head, South Park, Robot Chicken.

Each beat Mad at its own game. It wasn't that Mad was unfunny, it was sadly irrelevant. DC had pumped up the frequency to monthly, allowing it to become somewhat topical. They've done some great stuff about Bush and Obama at a time when kids were getting more involved in current events than they had been in decades. But still, Mad was Mad and the institution strangled its growth. Mad forgot how to meaningfully fart in the swimming pool. All things must pass, but I gotta tell you, I think Mad's going before its time.

This is Weird Scenes Inside the Gold Line. I'm Matt Groening. I'm… The Point, The Point, The Point It's up to you, New York, New York Seven days and counting to the New York show, New York Comic Con. Age, you're number three for the show, bigger and better than ever.

And even at this late date, more and more things get added to the list. BBC America is now coming along with a look at Torchwood at New York Comic Con. Torchwood Children of the Earth, of course, is this year's series of Torchwood episodes. It'll be premiering at some point this year. We'll find out exactly when, when Eve Miles, who plays Gwen Cooper in the show, and director Euros Lin take the stage at the convention.

The panel is scheduled for Saturday the 7th at 4.15pm. This is, by the way, their very first US convention appearance as well. And I would imagine there'll be some sneak preview footage. Seth Green and Matt Seneridge, Breckenmeyer, and a bunch more, including Geoff Johns, putting together a panel to talk about Adult Swim's robot chicken now, of course, in its fourth season, and picked up a couple of Emmys too along the way. Catch all those guys also on stage on Saturday, and here's another one I don't think you're going to want to miss if you're a long-time comic fan. It is the Joe Simon Spotlight, Build the Secret Origins of the Comic Book World.

Joe will be on stage to answer questions, talk about the good old days, his work with Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and so many others. That takes place Saturday as well at the convention. And to add to the list of convention exclusives, the very first edition of The Warriors, based exactly shot by shot on that classic movie as well. Just one of the many convention exclusives and rare variants available at the show. One more time, New York Comic Con begins next Friday, the 6th of February runs Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the Javits Center in New York City.

And we will see you there. Get more information at NewYorkComicCon.com. The 4th Time Machine It's Friday, January 30th, 2009. Even at the risk of running into some disco, let's take a step back a few decades. 1979 Richard Nixon returned to the White House for the first time since 1974 when he resigned that office of President.

A 16-year-old girl who bragged to friends that she wanted to do something big to get on TV, opened fire at a California elementary school leaving two people dead, and alleged terrorist Patty Hearst had her prison sentence commuted by presidential decree just in time for her. In entertainment, the Golden Globes were handed out this week. Statues went to John Voight and Jane Fonda for the film Coming Home.

In the theaters, we saw Watership Down, Superman, The Love Bug, there was Magic, and a film that's a little charming after a few decades, Clint and That Little Monkey. Ever Which Way For Blue She turned me, ever which way for blue Comfortable night on TV with episodes of Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, and Three's Company on ABC.

Also, the end of the night saw Starsky and Hutch, but before that, it was Taxi. 1979 On the radio, a guy who started making records at age 13 with his band. Well, none of them were actually hits. That changed later on though when he joined the Egger Winter Group,

played guitar on three of their albums, and even wrote the hit song, Free Ride, for the band. He's best known though for one of the top disco anthems of the 80s. Here's Instant Replay and Dan Harpen. You set my lips on fire You run that dream through my heart

You've got a special that you've been Can't stop now, let's do it again You keep me dancing through the moonlight I feel a pleasure in your time And everything you've always had was

Oh, I can't get enough No, I can't get enough Instant Replay Got to have it Instant Replay

Oh, oh Instant Replay Got to have your love again Alright, step out of your platform shoes and let's go back just a little more. 1967

The bodies of the Apollo 1 astronauts killed in a tragic fire were laid to rest on this day. President Johnson asked Congress for more power to fight air pollution, and in Vietnam, B-52 bombers staged their closest raid to Saigon to date. In the movies there was something cool. It was a compilation of episodes of the hit TV show Man from Uncle,

in a feature film called The Venetian Affair. There was also Alfie, Jessie James, and Frankenstein's daughter, In Harm's Way, and Georgie Gurl. TV Tonight, it wasn't really a superhero, but it was Mr. Terrific and then I Dream of Genie on NBC. Later on, there was Run for Your Life, music of Perry Como, drama in The Rat Patrol, and Barbara Stanwyck in The Big Valley.

1967 On the radio, one of the most familiar rips of the rock and roll era compliments of a guy who he can't play in music at age 6. Later on, he formed relationships and even small bands with guys like Bill Wyman from The Rolling Stones, and Christine McVean, who's later being Fleetwood Mac. Then he met a 15-year-old jazz musician named Steve Wynwood.

Together, they formed a partnership and a group that produced a number of hits throughout the 60s. He was Spencer Davis. Here's Gimme Some Lovin'. My turn's pretty dry, my feet love to crawl, Crazy people knocking doors, I want to start more, Let me in baby, I don't know what you got, But you better make it easy, this place is hot,

And I'm so glad we made it, so glad we made it, Gimme some lovin', gimme some lovin', gimme some lovin', gimme some lovin', gimme some lovin', gimme some lovin', gimme some lovin', gimme some lovin', gimme some lovin', gimme some lovin', gimme some lovin', We're back on Monday on the far side of Super Bowl as we begin the week gearing up for New York Comic Con 2009, And another look at the movie Fanboys, which opens nationwide next Friday.

Director Kyle Newman is along to tell us why you don't want to miss this. The Point is produced by Malcontent Media and heard on great websites by ComicBigs.com, MichaelDavisWorld.com, Ravenswolfstudios.com, and CZComics.com. And you can catch us on iTunes, subscribe to us there as well, or hear past shows on GetThePointRadio.com, Same place where you can email me and let me know what you think.

That address is Mike at GetThePointRadio.com. May your team come out to be the winner and we'll see you again on Monday. GetThePointRadio.com Thanks for watching!