Joey Lawrence Masters a Hosting Gig
For those of you looking to cram your TiVo with dance competitions, this is some pretty great news!
TLC has tapped Joey Lawrence, fresh from either shore leave or the third season of Dancing With the Stars, to host Master of Dance, the latest edition to the show-us-your-moves canon.
Only this time, a contestant will be halfway through a dance when the powers that be switch the music, forcing the hoofer to prove he or she can really go with the flow. The person who can do that most proficiently will win $50,000 at the end of the six-part series, which premieres June 8.
"The winner of this show will be that person at the wedding or party who always has the right moves and knows every popular dance," said executive producer Craig Piligian.
Well, better that person than the guy who throws up on the bride or spills his drink on the stereo.
A new Heroes webcomic is on its way
A long time ago, on an Internet far, far, away, the creators of the NBC series Heroes decided that a weekly webcomic series would coincide perfectly with the show they were producing. I mean, Heroes is about superheroes. So, during the first season of the show, a different artist penned a short webcomic (about five pages long) that focused on the background of one of the characters, or introduced a new character not seen on the television show. Eventually, all 34 chapters of this webcomic were collected and sold as a graphic novel. All was good in the galaxy.
Then, the Dark Lord known as the Writers’ Strike took over our universe, and the show stopped production. This, in turn, stopped production of the webcomic as well. All was bad in the galaxy. Luckily for us, the strike was resolved and things went back to normal. And, while Heroes did not immediately return, it was guaranteed a spot in the upcoming 2008-09 schedule. So, all was somewhat good, once again. Except, something was missing…what about the webcomic?
Fear not, true believer, because the Heroes webcomic is returning to a browser near you. That information is courtesy of Mark Sable, one of the writers on the previous webcomic series and current writer on DC Comics Cyborg and Two-Face: Year One.
In an interview with Comicmix, Sable unofficially announced that the Heroes webcomic would be returning during the summer. The comics will feature people that readers and viewers have seen before, as well as a slew of new characters. Gosh, who isn’t a metahuman in the Heroes universe? However, the heroes will not be the meat of the story. According to Sable, the webcomics will focus on teams of agents that work for the Company that viewers have not seen before.
Sable said that he had a lot of fun writing this round of Heroes webcomics, mostly due to the fact that he was able to work more with the writers and the creators of the series than he did last time around. And, despite the tight canon that surrounds the web series, Sable was able to put more of his ideas on paper. Doing so allowed him to expand on the characters without totally destroying the tight background stories they each have.
TV in comics update: Buffy, Angel, The Stranded and Serenity
Angel: After the Fall - Issues #1 through #3
As much as I’ve loved having Buffy back with an eighth season, I had mixed feelings when I heard Angel would be coming back in comic form (and following canon.) Firstly, Dark Horse passed on obtaining the license for the series (a thing I believe they later admitted regretting), meaning the two series would, again, not cross-over into each other. Secondly, I had my own assumption of what happened after the events in the televised “series finale,” and I knew they were going completely away from that (not that I felt I was right, mind you, just that they were going for a far-out-there world that could really only work in comics).
I’m happy to report that I was totally wrong to think this series would suck. So far, at three issues in, I’m hooked and loving it. The writing is on-par with what we’re used to from the televised show, if not better. The shockers thrown at us early on make fans of the series hungry to read more. It would be difficult to discuss this series with anyone without giving away some sort of spoiler. If you’ve been wondering if the series is worth picking up, definitely give the first three issues a try. They may be hard to find, though, as I’ve had to go to the comic store on release day mornings to get a copy before they sell out!
The Stranded - Issue #1
This series bears mention because it’s something a television network put out, Sci Fi, along with Virgin Comics. other than that, it’s not television related … yet, at least. I do wonder if the network is trying a new approach by releasing a comic book first, with a show based on it second. So far I’m not sure they could pull it off with the effects intact.
The first issue definitely has me interested to see where they are going with the series, and has a kind-of anime feel to it, though in the theme and not the art.
Serenity: Better Days
This one nearly flew under the radar for me, and I’m glad I caught wind of it early enough to keep a lookout for it next month. This is another series that will be co-written by the man him self, Joss Whedon, and at least according to my contacts at Dark Horse, is considered canon in the Firefly universe. The series is only set to run for three issues, just like the previous series, Serenity: Those Left Behind (which, sadly, I never picked up but plan to.)
’Better Days’ takes place in the Firefly timeframe, even though its title indicates it’s more movie-related. Somewhat more specifically, the series takes place “before the movie and before certain people were iced.” Look for the first issue on March 12.
Star Trek Screenwriter Admits That William Shatner Cameo Is Still Possible
Star Trek co-writer Roberto Orci is now saying that William Shatner might appear in JJ Abrams’ Star Trek prequel/reboot after all.
“Still, it could happen,” Orci admitted after explaining to SciFi that the problem is two fold: “One, from our point of view, we are still hoping to find a way. Secondly, one of the difficulties that was brought up and discussed with Shatner when we all met him and pitched him ideas is that Trek fans are sticklers for their canon. [And,] unfortunately, Shatner’s Captain Kirk was killed in Star Trek VII [1994’s Generations].”
But Shatner will never be written into the script if the writers strike continues.
“From my point of view, it’s a very long shoot, and things change. It’s just whether we can figure it out.”
Call my cynical, but I continue to believe that a Shatner cameo has already written. Orci, Kurtzman, Abrams and Shatner have agreed to deny deny deny to keep the surprise, and many of Paramount brass have also been kept out of the loop. Could I be totally off base? Well, yeah…