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Review: ‘Sgt. Bilko: The Phil Silvers Show’ Season One

philsilvers-s1-dvd-3d-s1-6312504Phil Silvers perfected his fast-talking, scheming promoter character during his years on the vaudeville circuit and polished it in a variety of feature films so that by the time he debuted on his own television series, it was pitch perfect. His Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko became a template for comedy roles imitated by others across the pop culture spectrum. For example, the Baby Boomers grew up with the Bilko persona imprinted on Hanna-Barbera’s Top Cat. Silvers rarely varied from the character, using it to good effect in subsequent films and even the Broadway play[[[ A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum]]].

The series was originally called [[[You’ll Never Get Rich]]] but in less than two months after its September 20, 1955 premiere, it was renamed [[[The Phil Silvers Show]]] and was subsequently syndicated as [[[Sgt. Bilko]]]. It won the Emmy Award for best comedy three seasons running with Silvers winning once as best actor. Series creator Nat Hiken was a recognized comedy writer, now a series creator and followed with [[[Car 54, Where Are You?]]] and [[[McHale’s Navy]]]. Such was the show’s fame and success; it was among the first situation comedies to run on the first incarnation of Comedy Central.

To see what the fuss is all about, you can now own the first season, releasing tomorrow as Sgt. Bilko: The Phil Silvers Show, from Paramount Home Entertainment. There are 34 episodes on five discs along with just a handful of extras.

What you get is Sgt. Bilko, head of the motor pool at sleepy Camp Baxter in Roseville, Kansas. He and his platoon of career soldiers never had money and always sought a way to get ahead – one scheme after another from card games to horse racing. Invariably, it meant out thinking the camp commander, Col. John T. Hall (Paul Ford) or fellow sergeants. Aiding him were his corporals Rocco Barbella (Harvey Lembeck) and Steve Henshaw (Allan Melvin). Throughout the season, characters recur such as his occasional romantic foil Sgt. Joan Hogan (Elisabeth Fraser), but all were in support of Bilko.

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#SDCC: Overheard, Part 2

  • News
  • July 26, 2010

The concept that a comic book convention, which should be a wonderful
introduction for kids to the dazzling and varied world of comics
collecting–where a kid can meet and greet the creators he’s always
admired and ask questions and feel that much closer to the (to him)
magical process that brings super-hero adventures to him every month,
and perhaps even fantasize about a time when he’ll be on the other side
of that table, signing autographs or drawing sketches for kids that are
the age that he is right then–the concept that such a convention should
ever become a dangerous place, where young fans risk life and limb and
might be trampled by alleged “adults” trying to get a hundred copies of
the latest “hot” comic book signed so that they can tack on a few more
bucks to the selling price–

It is intolerable.

Intolerable.

And we should not suffer it to continue.

—Peter David, writing not about the stabbing in 2010, but about the Great Eastern Convention near-riot in 1993.

“Thanks, Comic Con. Show the Machete trailer after the stabbing. Very classy.” —Cole Abaius

“It was FREE, and I wanted it more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my entire LIFE.” –overheard by Scott McCloud in the last minutes of the con

“I’m sorry I was late. I’m rooming with six slave Leias and they
needed help with their bikinis.” –Bellechere, the Avatar Lady Death
model (Hat tip: Rich Johnston)

And the photo was brought to us by the ironically named FunnyOrDie.com.

Monday Mix-Up: The Casting Announcement Marvel Didn’t Make at #SDCC

  • News
  • July 26, 2010

They brought everybody else out this weekend, but there’s still one more role they haven’t announced yet… and in your heart, you know it’s right.

Make this happen, Joss Whedon. If you must, you can cast Ron Glass as his father.

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#SDCC: ‘Avengers’ cast together for the first time

  • News
  • July 25, 2010

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Newly-installed Avengers director Joss Whedon took the stage at San Diego Comic-Con to make the much-applauded formal announcement of who will be playing Marvel’s mightiest heroes. 

Returning Iron Man 2 stars Robert Downey, Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, and Clark Gregg, will be reprising their roles as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Nick Fury, Black Widow, and Agent Phil Coulson respectively, alongside Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Captain America (in The Avengers and Captain America: The First Avenger both), Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, and the newly cast Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk.

It’s certainly an accomplished cast, despite the apparent lack of the Wasp, and the star power coming off Bleeding Cool‘s photo is almost tangible. 

“I’ve had a dream all my life, and it was not this good,” Whedon said at the panel. “This cast is more than I could ever dream of working with, and I am going to blow it.”

(Not pictured: Nathan Fillion as Ant-Man. It’s not happening. Get over it.)

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#SDCC: Stabbing in Hall H– and how the studios and convention can ratchet down the tension

  • Uncategorized
  • July 25, 2010

sdcc-stabbing-arrest-9598142And I was so proud of us earlier at the convention.

We laughed hate-mongering yahoos Fred Phelps and his family off the stage.

But save a seat for someone in Hall H, and it’s grounds for being stabbed with a pen.

Which is what happened yesterday afternoon. When it was all over, one man was carried out on a stretcher and another was led off in handcuffs and a bloody shirt.

USA Today quoted San Diego Police Sgt. Gary Mondesir saying, “Two
males got into a dispute and one male stabbed the other male with a pen
around the eye socket. Paramedics arrived almost immediately and took
the victim to the University of California/San Diego hospital. The
suspect was taken away.

“We had officers inside the convention center and
they were there relatively quickly, and citizens had actually detained
the suspect,” said Mondesir.

Flashback: I was there twenty years ago when Rob Liefeld was throwing gold copies of Youngblood #1 into the crowd at a New York convention at the Javits center and nearly sparked a riot. The Javits didn’t have another comic convention there for almost a decade.

And now we actually have someone getting arrested for assault while somebody else is dragged off to the hospital.

So for all of you who are saying “Hoocoodaknown?” I suggest you go back to reading Johnny DC and Marvel Adventures. The grown-up comics are too much for you.

This situation is intolerable. What’s more, this can change and needs to, right away. Here’s how:

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#SDCC: The 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International Masquerade – UPDATED

  • News
  • July 25, 2010

The 36th annual Comic-Con Masquerade, sponsored by HBO’s True Blood, happened last night with 36 entries and 126 performers scheduled to entertain and awe thousands of convention goers. The Masquerade has been a runway for all the best costumes the Con has to offer. 

To participate in the contest, the costumes must be original, and participants are required to send photos of themselves creating their costumes. Costumes that have been entered in previous SDCC Masquerades or have won in previous contests are not allowed– which means that means audiences get something new to be dazzled by every year.

Since there is no theme, costumes can depict characters from movies, comics, video games, anime… anything the creator wishes. There’s no telling what to expect, which is part of what makes the Masquerade so exciting. Coordinator Martin Jaquish and other staffers look forward to the contest every year, and are eager to see what people can come up with.

This year, entries included “12 Signs of the Zodiac”, Mothra girls, and a mashup between the hit show Glee and Marvel’s X-Men, titled Mutant Directions.

We’ll have more photos and video up over the next few days as decent copies become available, along with the final results of the judging.

Updated 9:45 7/25: Videos from the Masquerade are slowly being posted online. Here are the “Best in Show” winners, the Vegas Villains.

Be sure to check out these performances, too. There were some great sketches this year!

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#SDCC: Warner Bros.: ‘Green Lantern’, ‘Sucker Punch’, and ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’

  • News
  • July 24, 2010

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Complete with some idiot in the audience with a vuvuzela, Warner Bros. showcased three upcoming new films in this Hall H presentation.

Green Lantern— Ryan Reynolds (Hal Jordan/Green Lantern), Blake Lively (Carol
Ferris), Peter Sarsgaard (Dr. Hector Hammond), Mark Strong (Sinestro), director Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, The Mask of Zorro) screenwriter Gerg Berlanti, and Geoff Johns (DC Chief Creative Officer and Green Lantern comic writer) all took a break from filming to show up and talk about the film, on a panel moderated by Geoff Boucher of the LA Times. A preview was shown, with Reynolds reciting the oath and the audience going nuts over it.

Reynolds was wearing a ring of his own, which he presented to an audience member. When asked about if it’s tough being married to a Marvel character (have they forgotten about Hannibal King and Deadpool? Maybe he converted…) he replied that “we probably have more comic books lying around then other married couples … although that might not be true for this crowd.”

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Not much here this time, just Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) and some new footage. The audience was screaming for the footage, but left disappointed.

Sucker Punch — Zack Snyder returned to Comic-Con with his first non-adapted project, in a film that seems to be part Inception, part Tank Girl (moderator Boucher prefers “Alice in Wonderland meets One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest“).

He also brought a lot of the kick-ass actresses from the film, Emily Browning, Vanessa Hudgens, Carla Gugino, Jena Malone,
and Jamie Chung.

Kevin Kelly, liveblogging at G4 said of the shown footage: “Wow,
this movie looks like a fanboy’s wet dream: robots, giant mech suits
(that look very Big Daddy-ish), dragons, biplanes, samurai swords, hot
girls in sexy outfits …. But
it’s still hard to tell what it’s really about. A young girl gets
checked into a mental institute when she’s young … and enters some
sort of fantasy world.”

As soon as video leaks out, we’ll have it for you here on ComicMix.

#SDCC: World’s Smallest Parade Thrown for David Hasselhoff (with video)

  • News
  • July 24, 2010

International superstar actor reality-tv judge drunk semi-naked hamburger eater, David Hasselhoff, worked the crowds of thousands hundreds dozens in attendance as he strutted his stuff to promote his next TV hit show The Hasselhoffs. Hoff, who hasn’t been seen since his YouTube starring role as “drunk idiot that quit “America’s Got Talent” too soon” (but he’s beloved in Germany folks…) walked the streets amidst a police escort behind a few mock KITT’s, dancing Baywatch cheerleaders, and a bus wrapped to promote the upcoming A & E reality show, whilst the crowd was pelted with the PA version of the Knight Rider theme and a few of Hoff’s hits covers.

David Hasselhoff can be seen soon at his upcoming Comedy Central Roast on August 15th, led by his emcee, Fox’s only living creator Seth “I have 3 shows and only 1 set of jokes” MacFarlane. If this isn’t a sign of the impending apocalypse folks… I don’t know what is. Go ahead, and watch the video clip for proof of the impending doom and downfall of civilization itself.

#SDCC: ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and how it all comes together

  • News
  • July 24, 2010

The popular CBS sitcom Big Bang Theory had its day at Comic Con on Friday. A special screening and Q&A were conducted by the cast and crew of the show. Wil Wheaton moderated the panel, and members included actors Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, Kunal Nayyar, and Simon Helberg, and executive producers Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady.

The Bare Naked Ladies surprised the audience when they came out on stage
to play the full version of the Big Bang Theory theme song. Hundreds of fans sang along with the band, which was made simple since printed sheets of the lyrics were handed out prior to the panel. Here’s video:

Fans asked the stars geek-appropriate questions, such as “If you were a superhero, what ability would you have and what would be your name?” Nayyar would be Awesome Man with the ability to make things awesome, and Helberg would have the power to fly but would not tell anyone so he could join a basketball team and jump in the air longer. 

The panel talked about the show and what it has been like working on it. Parsons commented on Sheldon and Penny’s relationship, saying, “There is absolutely chemistry. Sibling chemistry. And don’t you say otherwise.” (Several fans push for a relationship between these characters.) They spoke of how the cast plays ping pong in between shooting, and how Cuoco was the first among them to get a Kindle. 

It was revealed that Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, will guest star in season four. Mayim Bialik of Blossom will also be back in season four as Sheldon’s potential love interest. Wheaton himself is likely to come back as Sheldon’s arch-nemesis. When a fan suggested that the crew film an episode at Comic Con, Lorre and Prady shot down the idea, Lorre adding, “We’re an indoor cat,” and they wouldn’t know how to film at a convention.

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#SDCC: ‘A Contract With God’ Big-Screen Bound

  • Uncategorized
  • July 24, 2010

a-contract-with-god-9647692If there’s a better place to announce a silver screen adaptation of pioneering 1978 graphic novel A Contract with God than the presentation of creator Will Eisner’s namesake awards, I can’t begin to imagine it. 

It’s true: Denis Kitchen, Eisner’s literary estate executor, made the unexpected announcement at the presentation of the 2010 Eisner Awards at San Diego Comic-Con. The New York Times’ Arts Beat column jumped right in with details after the announcement was made, and it looks like the adaptation of A Contract with God will have four different directors: Alex Rivera, Tze Chun, Barry Jenkins, and Sean Baker. Comics veteran Bob Schreck will be one of the producers.

A Contract with God is an incredibly important work in the history of the graphic novel. It wasn’t the first (It Rhymes With Lust can probably claim that honor), but Eisner’s heartbreaking story of a Jewish immigrant community in New York remains one of the most influential on the development of the medium.

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