Monday, July 30, 2012

CW President Mark Pedowitz Talks Sarah Michelle Gellar's Return To The Network

As we all know, CW's Sarah Michelle Gellar double-trouble thriller Ringer was cancelled last fall. But today at the network's TCA press tour session, the network's President Mark Pedowitz insinuated that Smidge might be back!

After stating that Ringer didn't do well on any of the the prime platforms (ratings, social media and digital...poor thing), he added:
"That said, the fans are still writing me, they want it [back] desperately… Sarah Michelle and I have had many discussions… and the one thing we did come away with is when she is ready she would love to come back to The CW. We would love to have her … either as an actress or as a producer."

I would just love to see Smidge back on TV doing something awesome. And like we've all been screaming, Supernatural cast addition anyone? Make it happen Pedowitz!

'Dr. Horrible' to air on The CW on Oct. 9

Speaking of Dr. Horrible, Joss Whedon made the announcement at SDCC a couple of weeks ago that Doc Horrible will be shown on TV for the first time and how funny! The project created at a time to subvert and circumvent television will now be on television. Fine by me, the more that get to see how fabulous it is, the better. Anyway, now we have an air date - a slightly edited version of the masterpiece will make its television debut on Tuesday, October 9 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET) on The CW.

The only question is, what will be edited out? The average for 1 hr programming without commercials is anywhere from 40 to 50 minutes, depending on the network and with Dr. Horrible's original length at 43 minutes, I really don't think there's a need for this cut up. I hope they don't edit out any important quips related to hammers or penises.

Preach.


Friday, July 13, 2012

More SDCC Friday News: Dark Horse Joss Whedon Panel and More!

David Boreanaz jokingly proposes an Angel movie at today's Bones panel, quipping: "I would love to do an Angel movie. It got canceled because I think it run it's course...also, if you can call WB a network."

He went on to say "I think Angel ended the way Joss wanted it to end... Although the character continues to live on. I would love to work with Joss again, Tim Minear, David Greenwalt, David Fury... It was a great show with great writing. We'll see."


Joss is still undecided about directing Avengers 2 saying. “I have not come to a decision on directing Avengers 2 yet,” he said. “I am having too much fun with this (Firefly reunion) now.” Anyone who was naively expecting some sort of Firefly announcement today too was also just a tad let down. Still, we did get all that amazing reunion energy and fan love, so let's not look a gift horse in the mouth, mmmkay?



Later this afternoon, Dark Horse held Joss's annual panel in Ballroom 20 hosted by Super Scott Allie. Wearing a black Much Ado About Nothing shirt, Joss mentioned that they just finished post production on that film. Joss called Much Ado a "weird little piece". “We are submitting it to some festivals and hopefully someone will be submitting it to theatres...if not, iTunes,” Whedon said, adding that he wrote the score for the film, “It’s my first film score and if it’s terrible then, well, it was my first. Leave me alone.”



Newsarama has a full live blog of the Joss Whedon panel on their site. Some highlights:

Scott Allie, "We're building up to the end [of Buffy Season 9]. If you're reading it we're only halfway through, but we're working out the end with Joss right now"

New Firefly comics are in the works, to be written by the Whedon brothers.

There's one more mini-series coming up that Joss hasn't told Allie about yet!

Whedon said he is going from Comic-Con to London to meet with Warren Ellis about Wastelanders.

Joss says he “absolutely” would go back into TV because it’s where all the best storytelling is taking place.

Also, next season, Joss said "we'll have a special presentation by our friends at the CW who are airing Dr. Horrible on Television for the first time ever. And I think that's cool."

And on the Buffy subject?
Joss: "Well everyone loves a villain! If they believe that what they're doing is right that will be a good story.

"No one is completely evil except a COUPLE of guys and no one is completely good except for me. When I wrote Angel's scene when he slept with Buffy, I had no idea I was such a douchenozzle. When he just turned around and acted like he was blowing her off in his evil way, I put down my pen and couldn't believe I just wrote that and made him say that."

and

Joss: I think "The Body" is the best episode of television I ever wrote"

On The Avengers front, Joss gave a little love to Black Widow saying:

"I love her character in a way I don't love the others in that she has the most darkness in her. It's something Scarlett and I talked about right when we first met, that she has a really twisted past.. And that's something I had fun with making a little Noir in the middle of my superhero film.

"When we shot the first scene with her where she's all tied up, the producer Jeremy Latcham said this is the only scene in the movie that's in the shooting script word for word. I said that's depressing! But then the reason was, it just worked. I said look, it just works because it's my entire career in a scene 'Look, she's helpless! Whoops, no, she's kicking ass'."

News Roundup from the 'Firefly' Reunion Panel #SDCC

OK, the party's over and it sounds like it was a very emotional one! If you're just joining the hubbub, in honor of Firefly's 10th anniversary a reunion panel was held at SDCC and news is coming in from all over. Here's a rundown:

Live Tweets below from the panel from @lisatwingomez, @VladaGelman, @loquaciousmuse, @KatatSDCChypable.com:

The panel starts with a Firefly montage video set to "Sexy and I Know it"

-Sean Maher fell to the floor when he saw the crowd

-The crowd goes WILD as they show and intro video saying they are getting back together with great clips from the season

-Nathan Fillion gets a standing ovation as he takes the stage

-Joss Whedon gets a standing O that lasts forever!!! Time to start the panel! The casts thinks they are funny and leaves the stage

-Summer Glau started crying after Joss came out.

-Joss: I haven't come up with anything new, so I hope people still watch this.

-Joss: this is the best cast I'll ever work with... We also had Alan

-Fillion very genuinely on the verge of tears tells the crowd about how Joss was the first person to take a chance on him as a leading man

03.52 pm via Nathan was asked what Firefly means to him: If I can get through this without crying it will be cooler. Fireflly was his first chance to be the lead and Mal was the best character he ever played.

03.56 pm What was it like to tell stories in this world of Firefly? Jose Molina says it was great being invited into the sandbox and how hard it was to not push his own likes which were more sci-fi. Their job was to watch westerns before they started writing to get the feel for it.

-Sean Meher never once felt it was science fiction always felt it was more post-apocalyptic science fiction. His favorite show was Arial

-Sean is so emotional and speechless at how many people are here

-Alan said Nathan made a game out of knowing everyone on the set's names; it brought everyone closer

-Just played the clip when Jayne gets his hat....Adam has it, put it on the mic

04.05 pm Adam tells the story of the hat:

A woman who worked in the office knitted a few hats and he asked to wear the hat through the whole episode. The hat fit perfectly and he just loved it. Adam is now asking a question to give away the Jane replica hat he has on stage. The question: the name of the planet that Tracy asked to be buried?

04.12 pm How important were the actors to bringing the story to life?

Joss: He remembers the audition process which was long and ghastly. These were the people before he wrote it. He feels like the moment he realized what he wanted that the actors were the people before he created them. Summer is just so crazy…the amount of vulnerability and strength she can protray is believable.

Joss: Jewel makes me cry and Gina is the most badass woman I've ever seen.

Joss: heart is broken because the entire cast is not here because I miss them so much

Joss: everyone knows that Nathan is the captain... even at the party at your house 3 weeks ago

04.15 pm Why was Nathan the perfect captain?

Joss: You have to make compromises….(Nathan waits patiently for an answer)

Restraint, dignity, there was never a moment where Joss didn’t think Nathan was the captain. he was there to make sure that everyone was doing their best work and having a good time. Most people don’t do that. A visiting actor was once rude to the females in the cast and Nathan let him know it wasn’t ok. Joss explains that you don’t want to see that!

Joss: I think that movie [Serenity] was the finest explain of a nervous breakdown. I was determined to get these actors back together.

04.21 pm Crazy fan stories? Nathan says a woman walked up to a Joss in the foyer of a building and went to speak and she broke down crying. joss: I kicked her

Adam: Do you remember that time when we were off the air for 10 years and then thousands of people showed up to see us.

Joss: Dark Horse's biggest selling hardcover of all time is A Shephards Tale

04.25 pm  Alan’s sister is an artist and he commissioned her to create a picture of Joss protecting a firefly from a bunch of Fox executives after they were canceled.
Alan: it's a beautiful painting. It has me in it.

04.26 pm  Would you ever consider doinng Firefly as an animated series?
Joss: I get it but I was thinking more of a radio show.
Firefly cast (Nathan & Alan) acting out a radio show sequel on the fly. This is fucking awesome.

Joss: I wanted the cultures to merge. Is interrupted by Sean laughing and blaming Summer

Where were all these fans a decade ago? Joss: in preschool
Joss: the 27 people that saw it when it aired loved it

04.32 pm  Nathan: When Firefly died I felt it was the worst thing that could have happened but looking back the worst thing would have been if it stayed dead.
Joss: can I get the credit for saying that?
Nathan: let's listen to the next intelligent girl in line [wearing a Captain Hammer/Mal shirt]

Fan: have you ever camped out all night for something, and if so, what? Joss: camping.

Last question at Firefly is so good that the whole crows goes "oooooh" and applauds

Would the finale have differed from Serenity if you had known it was the last season?

Joss: It would have been littler, Firefly had a smaller budget than Buffy and Angel. A lot of the reavers would have been off screen.  He would have delved more into the conspiracy as well as learned about Book and Inara.

Joss: I wouldn't have killed anybody. [Alan puts his arms up, everyone cheers]

Where "still flying" is a big mantra of the fan community what do they mean to you?

The crowd is going wild as Joss composes himself.  Joss: Only an idiot would try to follow that with a sentence.  When you come out with a create movie and you feel like you are in that world and it has become that.  When you tell a story you are inviting them into a world and the way in which you have inhabited it makes you a part of the world, like it is real.  It doesn’t feel like a show, I feel like there are spaceships and it is amazing.

Joss started crying when talking about what he would have explored with more seasons and knowing when the show was going to end.

Everyone on stage crying at fan reception....

Summer hugged Sean. Alan hugged Nathan's arm in emotion.

Whole audience gives a standing ovation. Joss/Nathan: Speechless and the crowd gives a standing ovation. Then the cast does for the fans!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's it! As we previously mentioned, Joss Whedon visited the line of fans waiting overnight, but now we hear he was drunk whilst doing it! Click here to listen to a GREAT podcast recorded on the Ballroom 20 line for the Firefly Panel at 8 am, courtesy of the SDCC Unofficial Blog.

Photos! Check out Miss Summer Glau representing the Firefly ladies, from EW:
Fillion, Minear, Tudyk, Glau, Maher, Baldwin, Molina
This was taken at the Science Channel’s roundtable
before the team’s panel. If that table looks familiar, it should -
Firefly‘s set designer remade it for the occasion.
Jose Molina's photo from just before the panel:


Photos of the panel itself by @TheOneTrueBix via @Firefly10th

Disclaimer for #Firefly10th panel via @stardotgeek
Hope some vid hits the YouTube soon!

Update: There is a live blog of the post-Firefly panel Press conference going on right now here: http://www.hypable.com/2012/07/13/firefly-san-diego-comic-con-fan-panel-and-press-conference-live-blog/


San Diego Comic Con Firefly Reunion Panel Today! #FireflySDCC

Today Comic Con goers are gearing up for today's Firefly Panel. This 10th anniversary reunion event will have Nathan Fillion, Joss Whedon, Alan Tudyk, Summer Glau, Adam Baldwin, Sean Maher, showrunner Tim Minear, and writer Jose Molina on hand. Even though the Buffyfest team is usually there to film panels in full, it probably wouldn't have been possible this year anyway because no cameras allowed in this puppy! Reason being, the reunion event is now being filmed for parts of it to be included in a special documentary coming on November 11 to the Science Channel. Cannot wait to see this and so jealous of everyone who gets to see it live and in person and not edited to shreds!

In addition to all of that fun, even though I don't ever remember participating in an overnight line-up at SDCC, word on the street is that Whedonites have been waiting all night in the rain for this panel! And in an extra special bonus plot twist: some time in the middle of the night, JOSS WHEDON, ADAM BALDWIN & JOSE MOLINA DECIDED TO CRASH THE PARTY! They worked the line, signed autographs and jumped in sleeping bags. Must have been amazeballs, although I must admit I'm slightly sad that Joss is not still wearing his infamous shirt from SDCC (and everywhere else) last year. Anyway, see below for some pics:

Photo Credits clockwise from top:
Joss working the line @egal
Joss signing @TheOneTrueB!x
Joss Jumps in a girl's sleeping bag @melslegacy


I mean, come on! Now do you happen to be at SDCC right now but decided to flake on waiting on that line, thinking you'd still have a chance to get in? Well sorry kiddo, that's not the way...but you still have a chance. Science Channel is giving away a ticket! Follow this link for the details and get cracking! The panel starts in just a little over an hour.

Everyone else not in San Diego, make sure to follow @ScienceAt and @Firefly10th where The One True B!x will likely be tweeting pics of the event.

And here is the Science Channel's commercial teaser for the event airing Nov 11:



Monday, July 9, 2012

Getcher Joss Whedon Action Figure with 'Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope' DVD Tomorrow!


We won't be attending San Diego Comic Con this week, so to celebrate the season I plan on buying the DVD of Morgan Spurlock and Joss Whedon's documentary film Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope. Figures of the creators themselves will be sold with the DVD at Toys ‘R’ Us stores exclusively upon it's release on July 10.

You heard me right: A TOY VERSION OF JOSS WHEDON will be packaged along with collector’s DVDs of C-CE4AFH. WTF?

We actually saw the crew filming Comic-Con Episode IV at SDCC last year. The film features Frank Miller, Kevin Smith, Matt Groening, Seth Rogen, Eli Roth and others sharing their thoughts on the hard core fans that make the pilgrimage to geek mecca. Screenshots of Joss's figure below along with description of his powers. Click images to enlarge and happy SDCC everyone!