Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
No, that isn’t me when I first wake up. It’s actually a card that my buddy, Rafael Kayanan did for a Lord of the Rings trading card set. You can see that card and others when you check out this interview with Raf over at the Sketch Card Art Blog.
Fess Parker, best known for playing Davy Crockett in the 50’s and Daniel Boone in the 60’s died today at age 85.
Parker first gained fame playing Davy Crockett for Disney. Although he’d played supporting characters [many uncredited] prior to getting the starring role as Crockett, it was almost a fluke that he ended up in the lead. Disney execs were screening “Them!” to get a look at James Arness, who was being considered for the role of Davy Crockett, but they were so impressed with Fess Parker’s turn in a bit part that he ended up with the role that was make him known to millions.
After his run as Davy Crockett, Fess Parker appeared in several movies [perhaps the most famous being Old Yeller and guest appearances on tv. In 1964, he again put on a coonskin cap and hit the big time. Daniel Boone ran for 159 episodes from 1964 to 1970. Not long after, Mr. Parker left show business to concentrate on real estate, and a winery.
I was a fan of the Daniel Boone series as a kid and spent many hours playing “Daniel Boone” with my friends. I also had the Daniel Boone playset as a kid and spent even more hours playing with it. I can still remember getting to see Old Yeller when it was re-released in the 60’s. And of course watching Mr. Parker many, many times in his small but important role in the classic Them!
Mr. Parker is survived by his wife of fifty years, a son and daughter and many grandchildren. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and fans.
From Entertainment Weekly’s The Must List for March 19, 2010:
“SouthLAnd on TNT:
It’s been more than nine months since we last saw new episodes of this blood-and-grit cop series, but now it’s back and we couldn’t be happier. It’s the best drama since the NBC fiasco that led to its cancellation.”
I’d just add two things: 1] I totally agree and 2] Thank you TNT for bringing SouthLAnd back!
I’ve been a fan of 24 since uh, the first day… okay, the first show of the first season. In fact I’ve never missed an episode. So you can imagine my frustration at the recent talk that this could be the last season of 24, especially since this season is so good!
There’s been speculation that there will be a 24 movie [or series of movies] for years. Now there’s talk that NBC might be interested in picking up the series should Fox decide to let it go. If, FOX pulls the plug on 24, I’d rather see it stay alive as a tv series, so this is especially great news.
Last August I posted about a tv show called Lawman that would premiere in 2010. At that time I said that it looked interesting enough to make me want to tune in. Well, tomorrow night that will happen. Although the title of the show has been changed, my feelings about it haven’t.
The series is now called Justified and is based on an Elmore Leonard novella called Fire in the Hole. So at 10pm, I’ll tune in to FX hoping that my feelings are, uh, justified.
I’ve been a Lost fan since the first season premiere. I’ve never missed an episode and was really looking forward to the final season. I have to admit that I’ve been disappointed so far. I still record new episodes, but there’s no longer the rush to watch ’em.
What’s been buggin’ me is the alternate timelines/universes. Now what happens doesn’t seem to matter as much because it’s just one of who knows how many possible timelines.
Bah!
At least I’m not the only one who feels that way.
I’m still going to watch the final season and hope that it returns to old form.
In our on-going coverage of The Walking Dead moving from a comic series to a tv series… the website Bloody Disgusting reports…
…that a May 15 start date has been announced for the pilot episode of “The Walking Dead”, AMC’s live-action comic book adaptation being directed by Frank Darabont. Shooting will commence in Atlanta, GA.
For the full report, click here. Good times.
Patrick Sauriol at Coming Attractions has posted an exclusive review of Frank Darabont’s pilot script for AMC’s “The Walking Dead”. Darabont, who will also be directing the pilot is perhaps best known for his work as the screenwriter/director of “The Shawshank Redepmption”, “The Green Mile” and “The Mist”.
Saurol’s review is extremely positive and the following paragraph gives the best indication of why he thinks “The Walking Dead” will be a great series:
Contained in Darabont’s 60-page pilot script are all the elements to make the show a success. There’s plenty of horror that happens in those 60 pages. The director’s script covers the broad range of the zombie horror emotional spectrum, such as giving us moments of extreme gore (hey, any zombie TV show wouldn’t be a zombie show if it didn’t have folks being munched on!), moments of shock value (hey, you didn’t think that there was a zombie hiding behind that car, did you?) and the moments that I believe are the best indicator that The Walking Dead TV series has what it takes to transcend the boundaries of being simply labelled a horror show, the psychological horror scenes. Those scenes are the hammers that you’re going to remember and the ones that are going to propel this show to be viewed as something more important than just a scary show.
You can read the full piece by clicking here.
As a long-time fan of “The Walking Dead” comic series, I’m psyched as the television adaption moves closer and closer to my tv screen.
If you’re at all interested in the whole Conan vs Leno debacle then you owe it to yourself to read Mark Evanier’s summary of “What Went Wrong”. Evanier breaks it down to show how a series of immediate decisions created a long term disaster.
Both Conan and Leno were suffering in the ratings. I tend to agree with the thought that if all of the people rallying to Conan’s “side” had been watching his program to begin with, he wouldn’t have been bumped. I don’t watch either show, so I have about as much interest in how this turns out as I do who’ll be the next WWE champ. When this all settles perhaps Conan and Leno should schedule a grudge match on Monday Night Raw. Now THAT could be a ratings winner.
Tomorrow morning starting at 8am EST, the Syfy channel is running a “The Invaders” marathon. “The Invaders” premiered January 10, 1967. I was 8 years old and can still remember that scary, ominous music and then the opening…
The Invaders, alien beings from a dying planet. Their destination Earth. Their purpose? To make it their world. David Vincent has seen them. For him it began one lost night on a lonely country road, looking for a short-cut… that he never found. It began with a closed deserted diner, and a man too long without sleep to continue his journey. It began with the landing of a craft from another galaxy… Now, David Vincent knows that the Invaders are here… that they have taken human form. Somehow he must convince a disbelieving world that the nightmare has already begun.
I probably haven’t seen any episodes of “The Invaders” since they originally aired, but you can bet I’ll be tuned in tomorrow. In fact, I’ve got the DVR ready to record ’em all. I’m hoping that the eight year old in me won’t be disappointed.
I really like this ad for the new Fox series “The Human Target”. Seeing it reminded me that I should post a reminder about tonight’s premiere. “The Human Target” comes from a DC comic series about a body guard / security specialist. In the comic, Christopher Chance usually worked alone and would assume the identity of the person he was protecting. The tv series has tweaked the concept a bit [nothing wrong with that] and provided a supporting cast [nothing wrong with that].
From all reports the series works. Entertainment Weekly gives it a “B+” and the commercials that I’ve seen make “The Human Target” look like a fun ride. You can see if “The Human Target” hits the mark when it premieres tonight at 8pm EST on Fox.
The MTV Movies Blog is reporting that when asked about the Star Trek sequel, JJ Abrams responded:
“I have to admit the [‘Star Trek’ sequel] is really all about the Gorn.”
I hope that JJ Abrams was just throwing out an idea and is really considering using the Gorn for the next Star Trek movie.
Sure, looking back, the alien costume is really funky looking [yeah, I guess it was even when the original show aired], but that episode was always one of my favorites.
Can you imagine how scary-repulsive-cool the FX crew could make the Gorn look with today’s technology?
Yeah, bring on Kirk [Spock and the crew] vs the Gorn!
I was really disappointed when NBC cancelled “SouthLAnd”. I felt the show was engaging and showed promise of getting even better. Then TNT picked it up. I planned to do a post about the move and new episodes, but saw that Bill Crider had perfectly summarized the situation at his blog.
If you’re a fan of “The Wizard of OZ” [and if you’re not, how can that be?], then you’ll probably find this short animation of “How the Wizard of OZ Should Have Ended” amusing. I know I did.
Thanks to Miss Cellania for the original link.
Time magazine in partnership with CNN posted their selections for the 100 Best TV Shows of All Time. So, using just the shows on their list I came up with my top twenty which are posted below in alphabetical order:
Not a bad list, but how could “The Wild, Wild West” not have been on their Top 100? It would have easily made my Top 20.
