Author: Robert Greenberger

Creative Arts Emmys Given to Genre Faves

emmyaward-9041854With the Emmy Awards four days away, much so being made of the main event although many awards have already been given out.

The 2008 Creative Arts Emmys were presented and among the winners of note include:

Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or More went to the “Imaginationland”  special episode of South Park while the less-than-one-hour category went to The Simpsons’ “Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind”.

The guest acting awards were presented to Cynthia Nixon as Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for NBC’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series went to Kathryn Joosten for ABC’s Desperate Housewives. Joosten, one of our favorite character actors, notched her second win as Karen McCluskey. Accepting her statuette, Joosten declared, “This solves a problem. I have two sons, and now they don’t need to fight over which one gets this when I die.”

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series went to Glynn Turman for HBO’s In Treatment; and Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series went to Tim Conway for NBC’s 30 Rock.

The awards for Interactive Media were presented by Evan and Gregg Spiridelis of the online media company JibJab Inc. The award for fiction went to nbc.com’s Heroes Digital Experience. The nonfiction award went to Disney Channel Games Digital Media Event from the ABC Television Group, Creative Asylum and Walt Disney Internet Group.

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‘Kick-Ass’ Adds Duke

Slash Film is reporting that Clark Duke has been added to Kick-Ass’ cast as Marty, the would-be hero’s civilian pal. Duke has been previously seen on the internet series Drunk History Part 2, television’s Greek, and will next appear in the October comedy Sex Drive.

Moviehole’s description of Marty says he’s: “About 17, a chubby Caucasian high school student who loves comic books. He is Dave’s funny best friend. Together with Dave and Todd, he loves to go to comic book stores, and checks out the latest issues, while talking about school, girls, the futility of teenaged life, and the exciting adventures of MySpace insta-celebrity Kickass. He never suspects that Kickass is in fact Dave Lizewski — and neither would you if you knew Dave.”
 

Siegel and Shuster Society tops $50K

jerry-siegel-1976-4838910A total of $53,455 has been raised by the Siegel and Shuster Society’s fund raising efforts after just two weeks.  The $50,000 goal for exterior repairs to Jerry Siegel’s’ boyhood home was exceeded after week two’s auction haul of $18,996.  Two more weeks of auction will proceed while t-shirt sales will continue.  Once the auction ends, work will begin on both the exterior and interior of the home.

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Marvel Begins Original Digital Comics

Marvel’s Digital Comics will begin original material for the first time, with two strips based on this year’s movies, Iron Man and Incredible Hulk. In fact, the content will be based on the film versions not the comic book continuities so as to appeal to a wider audience. The stories will run weekly, with new installments showing up on Wednesday, the traditional “new comic day”.

Iron Man: Fast Friends, starting tomorrow, is said to focus on the relationship between Tony Stark and Jim Rhodes. It’s written by Paul Tobin, with art by Ronan Cliquet and covers by Dave Bullock.

Incredible Hulk: The Fury Files, launching October 8, will feature Nick Fury investigating Bruce Banner. It’s written by Frank Tieri, with art by Salva Espin and covers by Steve Lieber.

Both strips are timed to the impending DVD releases of the films with Iron Man due September 30 and Incredible Hulk due out October 21.
 

Comic Strip Tackles Spousal Abuse

Between Friends, an internationally syndicated comic strip, will tackle a spousal abuse storyline between now and November. The strip, conceived in 1994 by Canadian cartoonist Sandra Bell-Lundy, is carried in 140 papers via King Features Syndicate.

The strip, according to its website, is a contemporary comic strip that celebrates the essence and angst of three forty-something women friends. Maeve, Susan, and Kimberly have evolved with time, ala For Better or For Worse, with Susan and Kimberly now parents.

The mostly humorous strip is veering into serious territory for a change because "a friend of mine was involved in this type of situation when she was in her early 20s," the cartoonist told Editor & Publisher. Bell-Lundy. "She confided in me years later…." Bell-Lundy did field research, visiting women’s shelters to gain insight before embarking on the story.
 

Bluewater Announces ‘William Shatner Presents’

Bluewater Productions has added William Shatner to their growing line of celebrity endorsed comic books.  Following in the footsteps of Ray Harryhausen, Vincent Price and Roger Corman, Shatner will have comics based on his novels including Man O’ War and Quest for Tomorrow. These will be published as miniseries, continuing the stories with talent yet to be announced.

His TekWar, written with Ron Goulart and an unnamed fourth title round out the commitment between the actor and the publisher. TekWar will also be a continuation. All four are scheduled to come out in the first quarter of 2009, available in comic shops as the hoopla surrounding the reboot of Star Trek edges towards its May 8 release.

The TekWar universe was adapted previously by Marvel Comics in the early 1990s and ran for 24 issues, written solely by Goulart.  Darren G. Davis, president of Bluewater, has promised the ongoing series will be more faithful to the source material which ran in nine novels.  It was also adapted as four telefilms and a one-season syndicated series starring Greg Evigan.

Bluewater’s publisher Darren Davis said in a release, “Mr. Shatner is a savvy businessman and a creative mastermind. We’re honored to be partnering with him and are confident our efforts will create comic books both his fans and ours will embrace.”

“With all of these comics, I have final approval," Shatner told the Los Angeles Times. "This is not a licensing arrangement; this will be me involved very directly throughout the process. They are going to do adaptations of my ideas and also sequels; they will be in the stores in March of 2009. I loved comics as a kid. I used to sit under the sheets with a flashlight and read Superman when I was six in Montreal and now, with the comics as they are today, it’s thrilling, really.”

Of the old Gold Key comic adaptations of Star Trek, Shatner enthused, "Oh, they were great. They always made me look so skinny."

Anatomy of a Rumor

This is how a rumor starts.  A star visits a studio and is spotted leaving, carrying something that might be indicative of something new.  In this case, someone spotted Eva Longoria visiting the offices of Marvel Studios and was seen walking out with a stack of comics.  Suddenly, the spies at Film School Rejects has concluded she had a preliminary meeting to discuss her participation as Janet Van Dyne, a.k.a. the Wasp, in the planned 2011 Avengers film.

Could they be right?  Sure.  Could she have been paying a social call about any number of things?  More than likely.

Is this newsworthy?  You decide.

Of course, it does give us an excuse to run a picture of her in a wasp-like outfit.
 

‘Chase’ Gains Host

Veteran actor and host Trey Farley (Bend it Like Beckham) will host Sci Fi Chanel’s latest reality show, Chase.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Chase will be an hour-long show following contestants playing laser tag against one another for prizes.  Each week will pit contestants against one another in landmarks around Los Angeles.

The channel has ordered six episodes and the series will debut November 11 in the 10 p.m. slot.
 

‘Heroes’ to Cast Light on Bell’s Elle

"I actually like where [the writers have] taken the whole storyline this year for everybody, including Elle," Kristin Bell told Sci Fi Wire about her participation Heroes season three.

Her character, the electrically-charged psycho Elle Bishop, will be seen in some 13 episodes this season. Her connections to the other characters will be explored showing she is more than just the daughter of Robert Bishop (Stephen Tobolowsky), one of the earlier generation of powered people.

"They’re showing more of her human side," Bell told the site. "She’s this vaguely barbaric, unfeeling, antisocial adaptive killer who’s coy. However, she’s had some tough decisions to make [over the years, and the writers are] giving her more depth. There are flashback scenes showing that she’s intricately woven into people’s lives before you met her. She met a lot of [the characters] before she was introduced on the show."

Season three, entitled, Villains, kicks off one week from tonight at 9 p.m. on NBC.
 

‘Kung Fu Panda’ Sequel Bundled with Original

kung-fu-pandaKung Fu Panda was a critical and box office surprise hit when it opened in late June. Now, it is surprising people again as Paramount Home Video has announced that the November 9 DVD release will come bundled with an original tale.  The Sunday release comes two days ahead of the traditional street date for books, CDs and DVDs.

The double pack of Kung Fu Panda and Secrets of the Furious Five will retail for under $25 according to Hollywood Reporter.  The single disc version of the feature film is expected to retail for under $20 in a standard edition.  A Blu-ray version is also anticipated for the same date.

The new story, will explore the established characters’ backgrounds with Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman lending their voices once more as Po and Master Shifu respectively.

The DreamWorks Animation film grossed $213.8 million during the summer, making it a hugely profitable CG-animated hit.