Tagged: ABC

REVIEW: Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels – The Complete Series

captain-caveman-dvd-e1377730738910-5290513In the 1960s, super-heroics were such the rage that ever era seemed to inspire a masked champion for Saturday morning fare. We had the Mighty Mightor who could been seen as an ancestor to his comedic counterpart, Captain Caveman, which also reflects the shift from dramatic fun to slapstick comedy (also showing how parents boxed in the animators).

Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels was created for Hanna-Barbera, shortly before they split to form their own outfit. It ran from 1977 through 1980 in ABC and the complete 40 episode series is now available on a three-disc set from Warner Archive. The series started off sandwiched as a part of Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics and Scooby’s All-Stars before gaining their own thirty minute slot. Brenda, Dee Dee and Taffy, the erstwhile angels, found a caveman frozen in a block of ice and thawed him back to life. Now, Cavey and the girls went around solving mysteries and getting in and out of trouble. Nothing new here except you’re mixing in the detectives from Scooby-Doo with super-heroics, all played for comedy. While a trinity is a common element in such shows, the girls and name in particular owe a lot to Charlie’s Angels, which had taken the nation by storm not long before.

Much as Mightor shouted his name to invoke his powers, so too does the Neanderthal crimefighter. In addition to the standard-issue powers, his ancient fur clothing contains an unending amount of gadgets for convenient use. Not only does the show feel familiar it sounds familiar with the hero voiced by the legendary Mel Blanc and narration from Gary Owens. The girls were voiced by the lesser known Marilyn Scheffler, Laura Page and Vernee Watson.

As was far too common at the time, the mysteries were never terribly challenging and the characters were allowed one personality trait each as if they were being rationed because of a budget shortfall. The antics are not terribly inspiring such as Cavey’s flying powers proving erratic only when he truly needed them. And while he eventually revealed to the audience his crush on Taffy, not that she ever knew it. He’s also saddled with stereotypical caveman speak which can prove grating after a few minutes.

Mildly entertaining, it’s disposable and forgettable stuff.

Dennis O’Neil: Old Bats Never Die

oneil-art-130502-9539867ZAP! BAM! POW!

I’ve written a lot about comics these – holy septuagenarian! – past 47 or so years, but I’ve never before used the faux sound effects lead that appears above. So. okay, why now?

I’ve always assumed and will continue to assume until the universe corrects me, that the aforementioned lead, perpetrated by a legion of journalists ever since comics have come to the attention of the multitudes, was inspired by the Batman television show that was aired on ABC from 1966 to 1968. Clever, y’know. Catchy. The video folk, in turn, got the faux onomatopoeia from old comic books; the stunt was, they superimposed these sound effects, lettered in garish display fonts, over fight scenes. The overarching agenda was to spoof Batman comics, particularly the Batman comics of the previous decade, by juggling contexts and emphasizing the goofy.

Batman as self-satirizing comedian? Okay by me.

But this form of comedy was much of a particular time and place, a brief, shimmering few years when the nation was in an experimental and iconoclastic mood. The mood changed – don’t they always, darn ‘em! – and after three seasons, Batman-the-television-star left the airwaves, and Batman-the-comedian joined the ranks of the unresurrected.

I’ll testify that comedian Batman deserves a place in the Batman pantheon and I’m sure that the show has its partisans, maybe fierce partisans. But is the world clamoring for a return of this odd form of humor? As I suggested a paragraph ago, it was unique to time/place Or so I’ve been believing.

People at DC Comics apparently believe I’m wrong. Our friends at the Comic Book Resources website inform us that “DC Comics will expand its digital-first comics line this summer with the debut of Batman 66, a series based on the classic television series.”

A number of ways this could go. Try to recreate the spoofy sensibility of the original. Do the comic as a period piece. Play Batman as a comedian using contemporary humor. Structure the stories as the old tv episodes were structured, with a cliff hanger half way through the story. Or do self-contained stories, the kind that were a staple of the old comics. Or do open-ended serials. Preserve the cast of the original. Recast with Batman’s current supporting characters. Mix and match all the preceding or – astonish and delight me with something I haven’t thought of.

I can’t help wondering how this project originated. From whence came the idea – editorial department or marketing department? Or some department in California? Not that it makes a lot of difference; there’s no mandated origin site for good stuff. But if there’s a reason to be skeptical, it might be that folk who can get projects going remember the joy that got from some entertainment when they were children and believe that the entertainment was supplying the job and not their own curiosity and innocence and, further, that they can recreate what they liked and, further still, that today’s audience will respond to the same kind of entertainment.

Let’s open our minds and see what happens.

Note: Thanks to Darren Vincenzo for alerting me to this column’s subject.

FRIDAY: Martha Thomases

SATURDAY: Marc Alan Fishman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marvel-Disney Connection Now Includes Once Upon a Time Hardcover Graphic Novel

  • News
  • March 28, 2013

onceuponatime-e1364506615533-4923551The connections between Marvel Comics and its sister divisions within Walt Disney continue to evolve. After the success of graphic novels tying in the quasi-related genre of ABC’s Castle, now the company is about to launch a graphic novel based on another ABC property, Once Upon a Time. It’s fully expected that in 2015, Marvel will once more publish Star Wars comics as the relationship between Lucasfilm, now a Disney vassal, and Dark Horse, comes to a conclusion. Should this continue, we can expect a continuing line of comics tied to other Disney properties, both film and television.

New York, NY (March 28th, 2013)—Dive into the immersive world of ABC’s Once Upon a Time like never before as Marvel Entertainment and Disney-ABC Television Group are proud to announce Once Upon a Time: Shadow of the Queen, an all-new original graphic novel hardcover inspired by the popular series. Plotted by series writer & co-producer Dan Thomsen, and co-written by Corinna Bechko (Planet of The Apes), this landmark release fits into the official continuity of Once Upon a Time and features the lush art of Nimit Malavia, Vasilis Lolos, Mike Del Mundo, Stephanie Hans and Mike Henderson.

Welcome to Storybrooke, a small New England town where seemingly regular people go about their everyday lives with no idea who they really are – the fabled storybook characters we all grew up with! It’s real, all of it! But Fairy Tale Land is not the “happily ever after” you may have heard about – their stories continued, and the Evil Queen cast a Dark Curse over their homeland.

In Once Upon a Time: Shadow of the Queen, the Evil Queen has, quite literally, captured the Huntsman’s heart. With the Huntsman a slave, experience the never-before-told tale behind their twisted relationship—and what happens when a good man is forced to do bad. And when Regina cooks up yet another devious plan to capture Snow White the Huntsman comes face-to-face with his past — including an independent spirit in Red Riding Hood that just may match his own.  Can these two break free of the forces that bind them and save Snow White?

The release of Once Upon a Time: Shadow of the Queen marks the first official graphic fiction tie-in to the hit ABC Studios series.

“Once Upon a Time fans are in for a treat with this incredible story that reveals some shocking secrets about Regina and the Huntsman”, said David Gabriel, SVP Sales, Print and Digital Media. “It’s been a pleasure to work with ABC to create a line of high quality original graphic novels that bring new fans into comic stores and also allow us to introduce great franchises like Once Upon a Time to our die-hard fans.”

“Shadow of the Queen will bring fans a whole new thread of the intriguing backstory between Regina and the Huntsman – in a uniquely Marvel way”, said Adam Sanderson, SVP Franchise Management for the Disney-ABC Television Group.  “We hope this brand extension will further deepen the engagement our viewers have with one of ABC’s signature series.”

When put to the test, where will the Huntsman’s loyalties lie?  Has the Evil Queen stolen his heart in more ways than one? Find out in Once Upon a Time: Shadow of the Queen available on September 4th in book stores, comic shops, the Marvel Comics app (for iPhone®, iPad®, iPod Touch® & Android devices) and online in the Marvel Digital Comics Shop.

Keep Joss Whedon’s “S.H.I.E.L.D.” from being cancelled!

  • News
  • August 29, 2012

English: Joss Whedon at the 2010 Comic Con in ...We would like to get ahead of the curve and start the first official campaign to keep Joss Whedon’s S.H.I.E.L.D. on the air and avoid premature cancellation.

Never mind that the show was just announced yesterday. Ignore the fact that there has been no casting for the series yet. Forget that Whedon has a contract with Marvel for the next three years. This is a Joss Whedon television show. The clock is already ticking down to its inevitable demise.

We don’t know how it will happen this time. It could be a remade pilot, or a pilot put in at the end of the season. It could have its budget cut. It could be put on Friday night, always a favorite. It could have the network shot out from under, but it’s unlikely that could happen to ABC (although not impossible). It could be a combination of all of them.

But this time, we can get a head start! Because we know that people are going to be trying to strangle this show as soon as humanly possible, we can prepare months, nay, years in advance. We can create cool social media campaigns! We can start making t-shirts, and buying up eyepatches in bulk for the inevitable mail-in to executives claiming that if they’re so blind as to cancel a show as brilliant as this, they should have Nick Fury’s eyepatches! (However, threatening to pluck out network executive eyes, while fun to contemplate, should be saved for later when we start sending telegrams.)

So we’re calling on you, faithful ComicMix reader. Retweet this post! Like it and share it on Facebook! Digg it! Put it on Reddit! Use StumbleUpon! Heck, even use LinkedIn, even though it’s supposed to be for work! There’s no time for work! This is important! This is your new job now! Click all those buttons below this article! Joss Whedon’s vision depends on you! If you don’t do it, he won’t be able to take your favorite characters and emotionally torment them… and mess with their heads… and then gratuitously kill off your favorite one, just because he was in a bad mood that day…

…nah. Joss wouldn’t kill off S.H.I.E.L.D. agents just for the heck of it, would he?

ABC Greenlights ‘S.H.I.E.L.D’ Marvel Pilot Co-Written by Joss Whedon

  • News
  • August 28, 2012

joss-whedon__120808043648-275x439-8125649

ABC has ordered a pilot for S.H.I.E.L.D, a live-action series from The Avengers writer-director Joss Whedon, Marvel TV and ABC Studios. The project is based on Marvel’s peacekeeping organization S.H.I.E.L.D (which stands for Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate or Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division) found in both the Marvel comic book and feature film universes, including the blockbuster 2012 movie The Avengers, in which S.H.I.E.L.D director Nick Fury, recruits Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, and Thor to stop Thor’s adoptive brother Loki from subjugating Earth.

S.H.I.E.L.D. will be written by Whedon and frequent collaborators, his brother Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen. Joss Whedon also is set to direct the pilot, schedule permitting. Production on the pilot, which marks the first live-action Marvel TV project to get a green light, will start immediately. Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon and Tancharoen executive produce with Jeffrey Bell and Marvel TV’s Jeph Loeb.

The project had been in the works at Marvel TV and ABC Studios for some time. Earlier this month, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that it had signed an exclusive film and TV deal with Joss Whedon, which included him writing and directing The Avengers sequel and develop a live-action series for Marvel TV and ABC, both owned by Disney.

This marks a return to series television for Joss Whedon, creator of cult favorites Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Firefly and Dollhouse. Husband and wife writing duo Jed Whedon and Tancharoen co-penned with Joss Whedon Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and also have worked on Dollhouse and Spartacus.

In addition to S.H.I.E.L.D, Marvel TV has a couple of other projects in development at ABC Studios, including a Hulk series.

Related articles

The Point Radio: GRIMM & ONCE UPON A TIME – Fairy Tales Are Hot


This season, fairy tales are the thing with two distinctively different shows springing firm the same familiar tales. This weekend, NBC premieres GRIMM while ABC had a great premiere for ONCE UPON A TIME just days ago. We speak to the cast & creators of both shows to see just where things differ.

The Point Radio is on the air right now – 24 hours a day of pop culture fun for FREE. GO HERE and LISTEN FREE on any computer or mobile device– and please check us out on Facebook right here & toss us a “like” or follow us on Twitter @ThePointRadio.

Muppet Wizard of Id pilot

Monday Mix-Up: ‘The Wizard of Id’ meets The Muppets!

  • News
  • March 28, 2011

muppet-wizard-of-id-1895701In the late 1960s, Jim Henson and cartoonist Johnny Hart teamed up to produce a pilot for a TV series based on Hart’s and Brant Parker comic strip The Wizard of Id. According to the Henson Company blog, the response was pretty positive, but by the time ABC made the decision to move on it in 1970, Henson had already moved on himself to work on Sesame Street.

Take a look and see what you think. Although it does remind me a bit of King Friday XIII from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, it works suprisingly well, doesn’t it?

Hat tip: cartoonbrew.

First Look: ‘Lost – New Man in Charge’

  • News
  • July 22, 2010

Courtesy of ABC, here’s a first look from the  original, brand new 12-minute Lost
chapter called “New Man In Charge” which offers a look at what Hurley (Jorge
Garcia) and Ben (Michael Emerson) do as the new Island overseers.

This
bonus feature will be available on both LOST: THE COMPLETE SIXTH SEASON
and LOST: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION which debuts on Blu-ray & DVD on August 24,
2010.

‘Lost’ rules the Internet

  • News
  • April 15, 2009

While the networks and studios try and figure out how to make serious profit from airing their productions online, a new study shows that ABC’s Lost is the king of the net. According to Nielsen VideoCensus statistics, there were 35.8 million video streams of full-length episodes, clips and other shortform content.

The report stated that “130 million unique users watched 9.7 billion streams, up nearly 39% from March 2008 and up nearly 9% from February’s benchmark.” Viewers watched 169.3 minutes in February compared with 190.3 minutes in March.

As to where people watch the content, YouTube is the top spot with 5.47 billion video streams and 89.4 million unique viewers for March with Hulu in second place with 348 million streams and 8.9 million unique visitors, followed in popularity by Yahoo, Fox Interactive Media, MySpace and the Nickelodeon suite of sites.

Of the networks, ABC ruled the roost with CBS slowly gaining ground. As for the programs themselves, with Hulu not offering show specific breakdowns, the numbers indicate Grey’s Anatomy was number two with 19.7 million streams and 1.2 million unique viewers trailed by Dancing With the Stars, Family Guy, The Office, The Simpsons and House.
 

Television Notes

  • News
  • December 6, 2008

Sam Raimi’s entry into reality game shows, 13  Fear Is Real, has been given a January 7 premiere date on the CW. Contestants are brought to a haunted house and must endure challenges akin to the sort found in the modern day horror film. The challenges., though, are also designed to exploit each contestants greatest fear and the last person standing will win  $66,666. For those who miss out, the series is scheduled for repeats on Friday nights, beginning January 9.

ABC’s very full midseason inventory has meant the network could trim their orders from across numerous new shows.  Cupid, yesterday, had its order of 13 episodes trimmed to nine, including its pilot. Castle and The Unusuals had their 13 episode orders cut back to ten each.

Showtime has ordered a third season of David Duchovny’s Californication. The 12-episode season is expected for late 2009.
 

Categories

Archives

Everything you need to make great comics!

comicmix-pro-300x69-2

Nucleus X

Bookshop Zaks