Steven Moffat takes over Doctor Who
Since Doctor Who found new life in 2005, Russell T. Davies has served as both executive producer and head writer of the series. Davies had announced that he would be stepping down from the position, and today, we learned the not-so-surprising news that occasional Doctor Who writer and creator of Coupling, Steven Moffat, will be taking over.
This is definitely a step in the right direction for the series, as Moffat’s previous contributions to the show have been some of the greatest highlights. For example, that chilling episode “Blink” (the one that made it impossible for me to walk through a sculpture garden without looking over my shoulder every two seconds) was his masterpiece.
Strangely enough, when I read this news, my mind immediately equated it with the addition of Brian K. Vaughan to the Lost writing team. Both Who and Lost are already incredibly bizarre shows, and it takes minds like Moffat and Vaughan to take these worlds to bigger, better and more fantastic heights. I was starting to get worried that Who was losing some of its excitement, but with Moffat running the show from now on, I have a renewed sense of confidence in the program.
Just… no more weeping angels, please. I like sleep.
The Best and Worst of 2007: Annie’s list
I was going to write a long, elaborate intro about how excited I am that it’s a new year, but I decided to make this image instead. Look out, Alec and Tina! There’s a weeping angel behind you! And check out how Heidi is super excited to be with the not-so-excited guys from Flight of the Conchords. And it looks like David Anders enjoys speaking in big speech bubbles. No, I’m not still buzzed from New Year’s Eve, I just have a little too much fun in Photoshop. However, I’m sure some of you are still somehow hungover from celebrating days and days ago, so let’s jump right in…
THE BEST
Lost: The pre-Brian K. Vaughan rut was a deep one., but the second half of Season 3 totally restored my faith in the show. Hell, the final moments of the season finale alone were enough to make me want to watch again. Now, I’m totally pumped for January 31st. I love that feeling of panicked desperation that I get when someone attempts to pull me away from a show I must watch from start to finish during its first airing. Am I twisted? Or a good fan?
Flight of the Conchords: What a discovery! Earlier in the year, I mused over the fact that most of my favorite shows, excluding The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, are completely defunct. Oh, and by “mused”, I mean “mourned”. Along came a ray of musical sunshine in my life in the form of Flight of the Conchords. I force my friends and family to watch the DVD all the time, in an attempt to spread the good word, and I think it has worked. No one I know can say the word “business” without tacking on “time” and a deep “aww, yeah”.
30 Rock: I must preface this with something that I say before just about any discussion I have about 30 Rock… I used to hate Tina Fey. Dare I say it, I loathed Tina Fey. Every time she popped up on Saturday Night Live, I wanted to change the channel, and when I heard that she had her own comedy series, I prayed that it would die a quick but painful death. Good thing God doesn’t listen to me, because 30 Rock is still on the air and I’m loving it. It is one of the few consistently funny programs on TV and the writing is always spot on. Way to go, Tina!
Doctor Who: Or, more specifically, the episode “Blink”. I loved the villains so much that the Weeping Angels were my choice for one of the scariest TV characters. Also, I recently decided that if I had to introduce someone to the Doctor Who fandom, I’d probably start by showing them this episode, which is sort of weird since the Doctor is barely in it. Oh! And here’s something I just learned today: All the weeping angels were actually actors in prosthetics, even though we never see them move. Fun fact.
Stephen Merchant: Ricky Gervais deservedly gets a lot of praise for his performance on Extras, but his co-writer, co-director and co-writer doesn’t nearly enough attention. Stephen Merchant’s performance as Darren, the manager, has been spectacular all the way through, and I was pleased to see him carry that all the way into the Extras finale.
Andy’s big Big Brother speech on Extras: I rarely show emotion while watching a show or movie. I can, have and will sit stone-faced during Puppy Bowl. It really takes a lot for a TV show to get me teared up, but Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant have managed to break me down… TWICE. The first time was during the series finale of The Office and the second time was during this year’s Extras finale. As Maggie sat alone in her crappy, darkened apartment watching Andy pour his heart out on Big Brother, my eyes started going nuts. I won’t get into it too much, but, as an artist, I found myself really relating to the speech, specifically this bit:
“I’m the worst of all, ’cause I’m one of these people who goes, ’Oh, I’m an entertainer. It’s in my blood’. Yeah, it’s in my blood cause a real job’s too hard. I would love to have been a doctor. Too hard. Didn’t want to put the work in. Would love to be a war hero… Too scared. So I go, ’Oh, it’s what I do.’
I can’t even begin to talk about all the times that those thoughts have run through my own mind. Oh, and Andy’s precious apology to Maggie didn’t help my sudden emotion either.
Hmm… I may have revealed a little too much about myself. Time to move on to The Worst of 2007 and use some snarky bashing to mask my own insecurities. Ahem.
THE WORST
Mary Kate Olsen on Weeds: After all this insane hype about MKO’s guest spot on Weeds, I expected a lot more. What I ended up watching was a mediocre performance of a character that could have been played by just about any young female celeb. I mean, a dry humping pothead? Yeah, real stretch there, young Hollywood. I guess that’s what I get for having high hopes for an Olsen.
Heroes: Personally, I love ensemble shows and films. I have no idea why, but bring out something like Lost or Love Actually, and I will sit through it and lovingly admire the dynamics of each and every character. However, Heroes really lost its cool points this season. I mean, it’s not even worth my energy to blame the writers’ strike, because as soon as the Wonder Twins that bleed black popped up in the beginning of the season, I knew the show was going downhill. In fact, the new characters, from the super lame boyfriend to the sparkly Veronica Mars, were all pretty terrible, save for Mr. Adam Monroe and his fierce katana work (I may or may not be saying that just because I have a thing for Julian Sark).
And don’t even get me started on Peter ripping off his shirt every five seconds. I totally understand the importance of a little bit of fan service, but it started getting ridiculous this season. “Whoa, why did they just set Peter on fire? Is he going to take off his shirt? Yup. Yup, there he goes.” If the writers keep this up, they’re going to start running out of believable excuses. “In Episode 3, we find that Peter suffers from a severe skin condition all over his torso and it can be cured only with hot oil massages. As it turns out, he’s allergic to clothing!”
Project Runway: Boo, designers, boo. This season has been the absolute worst. I keep waiting for something exciting or inspiring to happen, but with six episodes down and almost nothing to show, I’m starting to lose hope. Maybe it’s time to take a break and let the talent pool grow again.
American Idol: American Idol, you are the bane of my existence. You have poisoned my generation’s pop culture cred and for that I will never, ever forgive you. That is all.
… OTHER (not to be confused with The Others)
The Writers’ Strike: Let me put this bluntly: I desperately want my shows back. Reality shows ain’t my bag and I’m running out of things to write about. But then again, I love the writers and I want this to end happily. Goodness knows that us fans (and aspiring writers) will just have to be patient if we want that to happen.
Marvel Studios and Brian K. Vaughan Developing Runaways Movie
I knew it was going to happen eventually, Marvel Studios has announced that they will be brining Brian K Vaughn’s Runaways to the big screen. Vaughn, best known for the critically acclaimed Y: The Last Man Series (also in some stage of development with DJ Caruso and possibly starring Shia LaBeouf), created Runaways in 2002 with Adrian Alphona, and is also penning the screenplay. It should be noted that Vaughn is also a co-producer and writer for LOST.
The series follows a group of teenagers discover that their parents are an organized group of super villains called The Pride. On the run from their homes, the group bands together and begin a journey of discovery, both of their parents’ origins and of their own inherited powers.
Unlike most other books in the Marvel universe, the individual Runaways story arcs are collected in small, manga-sized trade paperbacks. In 2006, the series won the Harvey Award for best continuing/limited series. Geek god Joss Whedon, a vocal fan of the book, took over the series after Vaughan and Alphona left at issue #24 of the title’s second volume.
Marvel is not ready to set a date for this latest adaptation or the previously announced Ant Man.
source: THR
Y: The Last Man Trilogy?
We’ve been following the development of a movie adaptation of Pia Guerra and Brian K. Vaughan’s comic book series Y: The Last Man for a while now. The Vertigo branded comic book series is the best I’ve ever read. Eagle Eye and Disturbia helmer D.J. Caruso has been attached to the project for a while now, and now tells USA Today that it might become a trilogy of films:
“For me, thematically, the most important thing and the reason I want to do this is … I don’t want to say it’s the end of the innocence, but it’s actually a man-child who has to become a real man now,” Caruso says. “I think it’s a really simple, beautiful theme, but at the same time, the movie’s really pop-culture entertainment.”
While the original plan was to squeeze the entire series into one movie, Caruso says the film will cover the first 14 issues of the comics. He adds that this opens the door for a trilogy.
People have always told me that they envisioned Y: The Last Man to be a extended television miniseries. I’ve always believed that the film had major big screen appeal, especially with the influx of post apocalyptic storylines. But the idea that Caruso is planning a trilogy has me ecstatic. There are just so many cool storylines explored in the 60-issue series. And while the first 14-issues are some of the best, I’ve enjoyed how some of the themes have developed in later issues.
Caruso also confirmed that he has had “preliminary discussions” with Shia LaBeouf to play Yorick Brown. But Shia has not yet officially signed on for the film. Anyone who has read the series can see that Shia would make the perfect Yorick.
Y: The Last Man follows Yorick Brown, a young amateur escape artist, and his Capuchin monkey, Ampersand, the last two men on Earth. Something (speculated to be a plague) simultaneously kills every mammal possessing a Y chromosome - including embryos, fertilized eggs, and even sperm. Society is plunged into chaos as infrastructures collapse and the surviving women everywhere try to cope with the loss of the men. Yorick goes on a mission to find his girlfriend Beth, who was on vacation in Australia.