"NO"ing Your Enemy...

After five episodes of "Agents of Shield" it's time to start figuring out who the threat is…

The ultra, super-secret, global espionage organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. has many missions and many threats, but who is the nemesis of the new television series?  When the series began it was thought that the hactivist organization known as "The Rising Tide" would develop into the primary threat, but that has not happened.  Tide has turned out to be, so far, the Marvel Cinematic Universe equivalent of Greenpeace/Anonymous.  Essentially a group with an agenda, but not a worldwide threat to freedom.

So who is that threat?

Who is the group that is researching the Extremis Serum? Who is the one distrubuting the Centipede device; with shadowed individuals searching for a way to create more super soldiers.  Could this be a newly active A.I.M. under mysterious leadership after the death of Aldrich Killian?  Might possibly the Mandarin actually have been the real leader of A.I.M.?  Was he a brilliant deception, not only playing the "out of work actor "Trevor Slattery", but actually playing the actor playing the actor?  In which case the Ten Rings would/could possibly be the organization behind Advance Idea Mechanics.

We all know that the show AOS operates in the Marvel Cinematic Uuniverse. And we also know that Sir Ben Kingsley has filmed a secret project for Marvel, possibly one of their One Shot films.  Were he to be revealed to actually have been the Mandarin then that would open up opportunities for the organization in the television show. Either A.I.M. or the 10 rings could wind up being an organization if the upcoming short/project that Kingsley filmed reveals this aspect.  Just a unlikely possibility, but an interesting one.

Then there is the other possibility.

Could the organization behind all this be Shields ultimate threat: HYDRA?  Let's face it, in the world of pop-culture G.I. Joe has Cobra to contend with, and in the Marvel universe Shield has Hydra as it's foil.  Could the organization behind all this, and much of the activity in Ironman 3 actually be Hydra?  It may have been working behind the scenes all these years without the world knowing it.   Having failed at taking World War II from the Allies and the Axis, perhaps it sought a more stealth route to power?

If it's tentacles have been working silently to strangle the world could we see one of its many leaders surface in the series?  Will we see, say Baron Zemo, Commander Kraken or Madame Hydra show up on the show, or are they reserved for the films, presuming Hydra shows up within the present day MCU.  Will then they be based on Hydra Island ?  All manner of comic geekiness would then explode.

If not these groups what about a variation of Zodiac?  They've already played a role in Shield's past in the Marvel One Shot: "Agent Carter".  Perhaps a strain of the organization survived into the modern world?  Another group to not rule out would be the Masters of Evil as they are an Avenger villain group.  If they're an enemy of Earth's Mightiest Heroes then they could be an enemy of the Agents of Shield.

There are several great organizations that can't be used unfortunately.

Disney may own Marvel, but the comic company licensed out their rights to several properties that prevent the Marvel Studios films/television shows from using them.  Anything related to Spider-Man, X-Men or the Fantastic Four are off base.  No mutants.  So the chance of seeing the Hellfire Club are nil.  With the Web Head out to Sony there would be no sightings of the Sinister Six.  Without Reed Richards and his associates no Galactus and no Victor Von Doom.

Or does Agent Coulson and his crew have another, unknown force to reckon with?  One not seen in the comics?  I would doubt this simply because there are so many villains and threats in Marvel's catalog to be used without having to create entirely new ones.  The opportunities are there waiting to be opened.  Of course, this is all speculation and could turn out to be fanboy ravings.

At least that's what Hydra told me to say...

Mighty Marvel...

As a DC Guy I don't like to admit this...

Marvel is simply cleaning up.  They are Pixar in tights and a cape really.  With all the success they've had in film, they've started to move into television.  First they moved into animation a few years ago and now they've taken their first step into live-action with "Marvel's Agents of Shield".  Development is starting to gather steam on a possible adaptation of the Marvel One Shot short, "Agent Carter".  Now, according to the trades they're about to go for a BIG expansion.

Deadline Hollywood says that Marvel is in the early stages of putting together a package of four television series and a mini-series totaling 60 episodes (presumably four series with 13 episodes each, and an 8 episode mini-series = 52) that it plans to take out to several media outlets.  Netflix, Amazon and WGN America are the services being eyed for the pitch of the unnamed shows. Whoever does bite will be asked to carry the purchase of all four shows and the mini-series.  No meetings have been scheduled yet as Marvel Television is reportedly packaging the projects and talent has yet to be finalized.

We have no idea which characters will be the focus of each/any of these shows but Marvel has thousands of characters to choose from (look how WDAS chose the little known group Big Hero 6).  There are several characters that I believe would be great properties for small screen adaptation.

One group if characters that this type of project screams for is "The Runaways".  It would almost play like a teenage version of "Supernatural" via superheroes in the place of paranormal.  Another property that might make for an excellent transition to television is "Cloak & Dagger".  The drama surrounding these two characters could provide a dark representation similar to something like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".  Lastly, a cult classic like "Power Pack" could provide an alternative to most of the Marvel programming audiences are used to seeing.

Not that I have any knowledge as to what shows they are trying to develop.  This is just some friendly, unwanted I'm sure, advice.  Oh , and if they want to hire me as a consultant just e-mail me.

Developing (literally)...

Star Wars: Return Of The Subtitle's Revenge...

     

There are so many things Star Wars fans are wondering about Episode VII...

Right now I think the most obvious question on fans mind's is what will it be called?  We had a rumor a few weeks ago that it might be "A New Dawn".  Now comes a rumor from Latino Review that George Lucas had two working titles before he sold it to the Mouse.

Return of the Sith

Rise of the Jedi

Kind of on the nose don't you think?  I mean, it would seem in line with what direction we expect the story to head, but could these really be the actual ones?  I doubt it.  It's not that some of the actual titles don't sound cheesy.  Phantom Menace?  Attack of the Clones?

To be fair, Star Wars is inspired by the old Flash Gordon serials and serials in general.  And many of these weekly chapters has corny titles.  So they might turn out to be correct.  But I wondered what other titles could be used?  What would I use? What would you title it?  Here are just a few cheesy titles I came up with.

A New Empire Rises

Dawn of the Republic

The Dark Encircling

A Galaxy in Peril

Battle for the Republic

The Chaos Factor

War of the Sith

Feel free to leave your own subtitle, it can't be any stranger than what is out there...

Secret Agent Plans...

Marvel's first foray into the small screen continues to unfold...

Three weeks and three adventures out and "Marvel's Agents of Shield" is slowly evolving into another Whedonesque narrative.  Almost all Joss Whedon's shows start off slow and cautiously adding layers of character and plot; building a story-like snowball that rolls down a mountain gathering momentum until it crashes into what becomes the season finale.

It took me till season two of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" to finally become addicted.  By the fourth episode of "Firefly" to need my fix of that series (my favorite Whedon show, "Objects in Space" was a great, sadly last story for the Browncoats of Serenity).  Something like "Dollhouse" took till the second season to grab me, although I feel it never found its true footing.

MAOS' Pilot started off setting the table in an intriguing world filled with pretty, bland characters that I wanted to like, but who seemed too distant to care that I cared.  The second episode "0-8-4", moved us out of the confines of New York and pushed the characters out into a broader world.  And it teases that there might be something to care about after all.  In its third episode "The Asset" appears to finally make me care about both the agents and the story.

And the story not only had double the villains, but also an origin issue of a super villain: Graviton.  I hope this means we'll have another episode featuring the repercussions of this one.  The character of Skye finally finds a purpose and chemistry with Ward starts to take affect (but he needs to unwind a bit to let us in).  The locales and globe trotting have continued to expand the perception of the reach of this super secret organization.  So the show is starting to grow on me after falling short of its huge expectations.

But is it good?

Or perhaps a better question would be: "Is it what I expected?"  The show is not perfect, but as long as it grows and gets better I 'll keep watching.  There are problems witht the show.  For one, the fights are badly choreographed (Buffy's were much better realized).  Bring in some choreographers to spring the fights to life and edit it a little tighter for the action, please.

Also, I know it's a television show so the budget is limited, but couldn't they have a couple of matte paintings/digital shots set up to show us what they're talking about?  The villain's Malta resort is shown on medium shots and we kept hearing the Shield Agents talking about how big it was.  Didn't buy that.  How about an establishing shot showing a ginormous structure to add to the believability?  It would help to show the expanse of this world.

The characters were stiff in the first episode, but have begun up loosen up each outing.  This is good and if it continues that'll help myself and the audience go from liking to loving the crew aboard the bus.  I do find it interesting that each episode teases what happened to Agent Coulson.  I hope they don't reveal it too quickly and expect they won't.  My own thoughts are that Coulson is the product of a Petrie dish.  He's a clone or some variant thereof implanted with the memories of the dead agent of The Battle of New York.  And then I wonder/dream that the eco-terrorist group The Rising Tide will be revealed as a cover group for HYDRA.  Don't worry, I won't be hurt if I'm wrong.

But I do like wandering around in a world of super heroes.  It's fun watching how the governments of the world react to their existence.  I also get a kick out of seeing an idealized organization made up of good intentioned government workers working for a benevolent bureaucracy.  Only in Hollywood (and comics, I guess) could this exist.  It does come from a company that is known for telling great fairytales.  And I happen to like enchanted dreams.

I look forward to each episode of this show praying it doesn't turn into a pumpkin after midnight...

Echoes From Echo Base...

               

The success of ABC's "Marvel's Agents of S.H.IE.L.D." seems to be rubbing off on the Mouse…

While the show had an impressive debut, resulting in the largest audience for a drama in four years, the network and studio seem to be wanting to generate more internal content from all these acquisitions.  Remember that there was talk of a "Star Wars" television show for many years, and it was supposed to be a more mature take, a sort of "Sopranos" version of a galaxy far, far away reportedly titled: "Star Wars: Underworld".  But George Lucas and Rick McCallum squashed those fantasies with the reality of how much it would cost to make each episode (up to five million per episode).  Now with Disney's money behind it, many have hoped that those adventures might happen again.

From what I hear behind-the-scenes, Bothans are telling me that this is a good possibility. Although, it might not be the dark brooding adventure that was described. There is talk going on, but nothing definite yet as to what a new series could entail.  In fact, it may not even happen in the time it was originally set.  Again, preliminary talks are still going on so many things could change but right now there's a debate as to whether or not a television show would take place in between the Prequel Trilogy and the Original Trilogy, or should they go forward with a series that's between the Original Trilogy and the Sequel Trilogy.  This way they could play on the new mythos this new trilogy is creating.

Really right now it's just batting ideas around and seeing which ones work and which ones they want to pitch to the network.

They might still go with the "Deadwood in space" themed setting, but being as it would be on ABC it is unlikely that Disney would want it to be that dark. Not that they would want it to be for the little ones only, they just have a brand to protect and don't want to go too far outside it (it's a four billion dollar investment after all).  Kind of like a television version of in the movies Disney really doesn't want to go beyond PG-13 (R's are out of the question as it's kind of a family company).  But the narratives being discussed right now go back between making a series out of the stories they originally got written which will be set at the dawn of the Empire, or creating a whole new set of adventures after the destruction of the Galactic Empire set at the dawn of the New Republic.

Alan Horn and Bob Iger will likely weigh on on this but it will all be up to the decision of Kathleen Kennedy as to what direction they decide to go.  ABC wants to work with Lucasfilm and has had preliminary discussions on creating a series for the Alphabet Network.  Nothing is likely to be done before next year since the "Star Wars Rebels" and the ramp up for "Episode VII".  But if the brainstorming leads to a story they want to present, things could move faster .  I believe that Kennedy already has a lot on her plate and wouldn't expect to hear anything about a live-action till 2014 at the earliest.  In fact, I believe they want to get the Sequel Trilogy going before setting too big a foundation in television.  But this is Hollywood.  This is the entertainment business and rules don't always apply.

Sometimes magic happens when you least expect it...

Agent Carter Of Pre-S.H.I.E.L.D...

Or maybe that should be Agent Carter of the super-secret agency that becomes Shield...

If you haven't seen the Marvel One Shot: "Agent Carter" (a jewel of an extra on the "Iron Man 3" Blu-Ray/DVD, even the snazzy credits are cool.) then you've missed a fun little slice of female butt kicking.  It tells the story of what happened to Peggy Carter after the war ended.  At least thirteen minutes of it.  And it left me wanting more.

And it did the same to Marvel's Suits as the news comes that Marvel Studios is wanting to take the character and build a period series around her.  Forties espionage show?  Count me in.  Watching the beginnings of the spy agency could be a great idea for a show depending on how good the story is.

And that is where we are now with Marvel looking for writers to help them develope the pilot.  No confirmation that Hayley Atwell will return to play the character.  I hope that the beautiful and talented actress does play the role, unless they plan on making the show not part of the MCU.  But if they don't make it part of it, Marvel television would get very confusing quickly.  Can you imagine trying to figure out which shows are connected to the films?

Developing...

Agents Of Zeppo...

The most highly anticipated show this season has to be the "Agents of Shield" series...

Debuting on the Alphabet Network next month, the show based on the human exploits in a world filled with superheroes is the most high profile live-action series announced by any network this year.  At least any broadcast network.  Not to mention that it's from Whedon and takes place in the MCU.

Whedon did an extensive interview with Entertainment Weekly and discussed a laundry list of opinions, not all based on Marvel.  When describing the show, the director tonally said AOS is the series version of a famous "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer" episode:

The Zeppo.

If you're a fan of the cult series then you get a visage of what to expect.  In a world where these heroes take all the oxygen, others have to breath.  The world goes on,  people's lives continue.  Humanity is left to pick up the pieces and the show is about how normal people (that look remarkably pretty) deal with the repercussions a society after we come to terms with the existence of super powered underweared people.  Both good and bad versions of these beings.

Plus, being discribed as an "X-Files like model" by Jeb Whedon is a good thing also.  No shame in that kind of comparison.  Normal people investigating the abnormal parts of the life around us.  Watching this season develope will be interesting.  Joss Whedon's shows tend to get better as the seasons go on, like aged wine or cheese.  Here's hoping the show has a long, long run.

No more "Firefly" fates please...

From Yesterday, Today...

Another trailer for another remake coming to television this fall...

I don't know why the CW doesn't just change its name to The YA or The Twilight Channel.  Everything it does is directed toward this demographic.  But the CW Suits have taken "The Tomorrow People", a fun, British series from the 70's and have adapted it to the times where it'll fit right in between "The Vampire Diaries" and "Arrow" or several other shows.  It's going to be scheduled with "Arrow" this fall to maximize the success of that show, and hopefully the popularity of that show will transfer over to this one.  Suits think so at least.

For those of you that don't know, "The Tomorrow People" is based on a series about a genetically evolved group of people, hence "Tomorrow", that have jumped the strain of humanity and are ahead of their times.  They have powers and abilities that would classify them as superheroes or mutants.  And some might say that they're ripping off the current popularity of these shows and films, I'd have to disagree.  They might be taking advantage of those shows, but they're not ripping them off.

The British show was a great deal of fun.  With intriguing plot lines and very Doctor Who type of stories (with the quality of 70's Doctor Who effects, unfortunately).  I used to enjoy watching reruns of it on Nickelodeon in the early days of that network and my youth.  If the stories are as good as the original series, and the effects are better then the original series has a lot of promise.

If it's not, then it'll be no worse than some of the other shows on the CW...

Netflix's New Season...

For fans of the "Arrested Development" series tomorrow is the day you've waited for...

The Fourth Season of the show premieres on Netflix.  And by season, we mean season.  The entire run of episodes will be available all at once.  You'll be able to have a marathon if you want.  And some will.  Of course, if you watch all of them at once, what will you do then?

Cross your fingers that enough viewers see it and then hope that Netflix announces a Season Five?  Or a movie?  I personally think a movie couldn't contain enough of the antics of the show to make it as enjoyable.  So, if it's a hit we can only hope that Netflix comes to a deal with Mitchell Hurwitz, and he can bring back to cast for another season.  Then you'll have to wait for them to write, film, edit and then stream that one.

But it wouldn't/can't be as much time as the amount between 3 and 4, right...

One Against 4...

So Micro$oft introduced their successor to the XBox 360...

And it's not called the XBox 720 like so many gaming geeks expected.  It's called the XBox One.  One?  Really, didn't they already have a one?  That means the fourth version of this will be called, what?  The XBox Two?  Confusing.  I guess they're going back to square one and starting fresh.  So now we know the competition that the PS4 will have.  But could they have made it look better than a late 70's VCR?

But it appears that the guys up in Redmond want to also become like Netflix.  Hulu has tried to be a Netflix competitor.  Amazon has started their own streaming service, HBO has hinted that HBO GO might eventually be a Netflix like service and now, it appears that the XBox Live service plans to have original content as well.  And they've lined up the Babe Ruth of film to start it off.

Steven Spielberg.

And not only him, but the television series that he'll produce for the XBox Live: Halo.  That's right, Halo is finally going to be seen in live-action.  Just as a television show, not a film.  Spielberg will be executive producing the series.  Not much information is available about the show other than the fact that it'll be exclusive to XBox Live.

There are a lot of competing platforms out there competing for your eyeballs.  It's creating an incredible amount of fragmentation in the marketplace.  The result is many more markets with smaller audiences.  Long gone is the night when a network would have fifty percent of the viewing audience.  Today, if you get ten to twenty it's huge.  And it's only going to get more fragmented.  But that means more choice, and choice is good.  And now with XBox One, you have another choice.

And with the Halo series, you'll have another...

Mission Statements...

     
   
 

          

Tom Cruise is building momentum for a fifth Mission: Impossible film...

While it was thought that Christopher McQuarrie would write and direct the film, another writer has been hired.  Drew Pearce ("Iron Man 3", "Pacific Rim") has been hired to pen the script for the next outing.  McQuarrie is still in talks to direct the film, but it's not known if he'll share the writing duties.

Given his pedigree it's likely he might still be involved in the script.  Pearce was initially the sole screenwriter on Iron Man 3 and Shane Black was hired as just the director.  But being a writer it was impossible to keep Black from coming in and doing some typing.  In the end he shared writer credit with Drew.  The same could happen with this next mission if Christopher wants to put his imprint on the page.

Nothing is impossible...

A Broadening S.H.I.E.L.D...

We now have an extended trailer for Marvel's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." series...

It certainly does flesh out the series to give us a better representation of what Joss Whedon has in store for us.  We get to see the mysterious figure that saves someone from a burning building, expanded take on the agents who we'll see every week, and a little more depth on why Agent Coulson returns (hint: Level 7).

So will this series make it beyond "Firefly" or "Dollhouse" into a second or third season?  Who knows, but in the world we live, having the exposure of being connected to "The Avengers" should give it a better chance of attracting and keeping an audience.  Maybe it'll make it to seven season's like Whedon's pinnacle: "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer" did.

Time will tell...

ABC Easy As 1, 2, 3...

ABC has released their fall schedule...

And the big news is "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." is on it.  And Tuesday is the night to set aside time or remember to DVR it.  Here is the full line up:


Returning shows/New shows

DAY                           TIME               SERIES

MONDAY:             
8:00 p.m.    “Dancing with the Stars”

10:00 p.m.  “Castle”

TUESDAY:             
8:00 p.m.    “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

9:00 p.m.    “The Goldbergs”

9:30 p.m.    “Trophy Wife”

10:00 p.m.  “Lucky 7”

WEDNESDAY:         
8:00 p.m.    “The Middle”

8:30 p.m.    “Back in the Game”

9:00 p.m.    “Modern Family”

9:30 p.m.    “Super Fun Night”

10:00 p.m.  “Nashville”

THURSDAY:          
8:00 p.m.    “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland”

9:00 p.m.    “Grey’s Anatomy”

10:00 p.m.  “Scandal”

FRIDAY:              
8:00 p.m.    “Last Man Standing”

8:30 p.m.    “The Neighbors”

9:00 p.m.    “Shark Tank”

10:00 p.m.  “20/20”

SATURDAY:             
8:00 p.m.    “Saturday Night College Football”

SUNDAY:              
7:00 p.m.    “America’s Funniest Home Videos”

8:00 p.m.    “Once Upon a Time”

9:00 p.m.    “Revenge”

10:00 p.m.  “Betrayal”

So now you know what you need to know...

Next For Netflix...

More specifically, what series could be next for the streaming channel...

And by series, I mean cancelled series.  We've all heard of the new original content that they're going to be debuting over the next eighteen months, but the major buzz right now is for "Arrested Development" season four.  And we know a lot of other companies have pitched their cancelled shows (Terra Nova) to Netflix.  Their CEO has even talked about it, but the prospects for the resurrection of some shows was dampened by their diminishing returns of potential new viewers (Firefly).

That said, what other shows would make for a great addition to their lineup?

Imagine the return of your favorite show that the suits at some particular network decided to can?  There are many shows that would have been great were Netflix around when they got cancelled.  Batman 66?  Star Trek after 68?  Sadly, it's a little unrealistic to dream of these, but what about shows that have been put on ice in the past five or so years?  If AD can be brought back after seven years, it's possible some of these could too:

24 - Yeah, I know it just got picked up by Fox.  I'm simply giving it as an example of something with obvious potential, and who wouldn't love to have all 12 episodes viewable n demand?  Jack Bauer on Netflix would be a great draw if the Fox Suits were to make the bad decision to cancel it again.

Pushing Daisies - This show has a huge cult following and a critical pedigree that falls in line with Arrested Development.  This would be a strong pony for Netflix's growing stable of high quality shows.  Bryan Fuller's series is comedic drama filled with wit, clever humor and compelling stories that would be a great addition to their line of shows.

Boss - A lot of people were disappointed in STARZ for cancelling this show after only two seasons.  Kelsey Grammer's portrayal of a defeated Chicago mayor with physical problems that he claws back was critically acclaimed.  It was a surprise that the network let it go.  Could Netflix take this series and bring it back to life?

Fringe - Ok, it's a stretch, but this show was so bizarrely weird I'm sure there would be a way to explain the continuation of the series that fans would buy.  After all, alternate universes could pick up the show, right?  And I think that Netflix would love to get into business with J.J. Abrams.

Young Justice - Having picked up four shows from Disney, an original series from DreamWorks, and more on the way, the streaming service is looking for content for families.  This is a popular show amount the young male demographic, and superheroes seem to be a thing right now.  So...

Dollhouse - Joss Whedon's show took some strange turns and found trouble finding it's wheelhouse at times, but it has a fascinating plot, beautiful ladies and it was being produced by Whedon.  Maybe they can pick up a few years later with everyone's memory being wiped and everyone spending the entire season looking for answers as to who the bad guy is (hint: Fox Suits).

Flash Forward - Ok, this is a guilty pleasure for me.  If you've followed the site, you know I was a big fan of the show.  As the season when on the stories got a bit disoriented, but I'd like to see what else happened to the characters on the show.  And really, doesn't David Goyer have too much time on his hands?

Cupid - I'm referring to the original series (Jeremy Piven), not the reboot which didn't interest me.  The tale of a man that thinks he's Cupid and wants to help people fall in love.  It's a simple plot, but Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars) takes the plot and interesting characters through stories that you just can't help but fall in love with.

The Middleman - A geeky series that lasted one season was based on an obscure comic book about a female artist recruited into a secret agency to fight evil.  It was quirky and fun.  There were only twelve episodes made, and fans of the show hoped for another season to the ABC Family show, but to no avail.

Reaper - How could a show about the grim reaper only last two seasons?  A man turns twenty-one and finds out his parents sold him to Satan to be his "Reaper" that has to collect souls that have escaped from hell.  It's a fun, clever show that lasted two seasons.  I'm sure there are plenty of people that escaped from hell he could go after on Netflix.

Veronica Mars - Hey, I can dream, can't I?  Just imagine all those Kickstarter fans that would pay nine bucks a month to see a new season of this show?

I'm sure there are others that you'd like to see.  These are just ones we here at Blue Sky would be interested in giving mouth to mouth so that they come back from that shining light.  Somewhere down the road I have a feeling when a show gets cancelled, there'll be a call that day to Netflix, or maybe even Hulu or Amazon.  If the show has a connected following then it might have value to go on.  Essentially, some of these shows can/will be like a sports free agent.  If they're let go by one team, they can try out for another.

It's a new game out there...

A Rising Tide Lifts All Ratings...

It's not very often a trailer for a television show generates this much hype...

But this is no ordinary television show/series.  It's got connective tissue to the biggest blockbuster film of last year.  That alone means that the S.H.I.E.L.D. trailer would get a lot of buzz.  The fact that it also comes from the director/writer of that show, and he directed and co-wrote the pilot is another major reason eyeballs will not only be on this tease for the series, but the show as well.

Joss Whedon has moved from talented writer, to cult creator, to frustrated genius, to blockbuster film maker over the past decade+.  It's about time that people outside Whedonesque got note of the amazing work this storyteller can do.  Avengers let him burst forth onto the silver screen with a vengeance  and now he'll have an opportunity to blend the D.N.A. of that film into the television world.

The viral campaign for the show has also kicked into high gear with the launch of the We Are The Rising website.  Not much is there yet, but as we move closer to the launch of the series you can expect more content to be added.  The network has a lot riding on this show.  And so does Marvel.  It's their first big jump into live action series.

But it won't be their last...

A Badge Required To Enter S.H.I.E.L.D...

During tonight's episode finale of "Once Upon A Time", the Mouse is going to tease us...

But until then we have this peek at what the show might be from the app Vine. The ABC Suits are going all out with hyping this show.  I'm sure that Joss Whedon must be happy to have the support for his fledgling, new show.  The Fox Suits just never gave the support for "Dollhouse" when it was on the network.  I've never understood why a broadcaster will invest millions of dollars in a show and not properly try to promote/expose it to the public.  But Hollywood is filled with stories such as these.

Watching that makes you have to wonder who will show up on this show....

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As if they'd want to feel the repercussions of the newly uber-powerful Joss Whedon, the programming heads of ABC have green lit his new television show, it just hasn't been made official to the public yet.  I know, shocking news.  But now fans can look forward to Marvel's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." on the network schedule.  Mid season or fall slot?  The announcements have been planned for today, with a major publicity event for Sunday.  Whether it happens exactly then or not, it the series will go forward.

A large marketing campaign will commence shorty afterward, leading up to the broadcast.  Expect a big roll out when the series debuts, and something that Whedon has always had trouble with: support and a prominent  time slot (sorry "Dollhouse").  Having the success of that little film last summer has given him a lot of wiggle room to have his way.  And with the exposure of the series of very popular superhero films, it'll have a great chance for people to see the show about a top secret organization officially set in the MCU.

Will there be more series that he watches over?  Doubtful with his busy schedule.  There's only so much time the man has between sleep.  It's not like he's Guillermo del Toro.  Jeph Loeb will be the guiding hand behind Marvel's ventures on the small screen.  Whedon has a lot of plates twirling in the air right now with the biggest coming out in 2015.  But we'll go inside the secret organization before then.

How deep we go, only Joss knows...

UPDATE:  The Hollywood Reporter is saying that it's official.  And as we mentioned, you'll get your first look at the show on Sunday night at 8pm.  The official presser:

Clark Gregg reprises his role of Agent Phil Coulson from Marvel’s feature films as he assembles a small, highly select group of Agents from the worldwide law-enforcement organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Together they investigate the new, the strange, and the unknown across the globe, protecting the ordinary from the extraordinary. Coulson’s team consists of Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), highly trained in combat and espionage, Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) expert pilot and martial artist, Agent Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker); brilliant engineer and Agent Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) genius bio-chemist. 

Joining them on their journey into mystery is new recruit and computer hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet). From Executive Producers Joss Whedon (“Marvel’s The Avengers,” ”Buffy the Vampire Slayer”); Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen, “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” pilot co-writers (“Dollhouse,” “Dr.Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”); Jeffrey Bell (“Angel,” “Alias”); and Jeph Loeb (“Smallville”) comes Marvel’s first TV series. “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is produced by ABC Studios and Marvel Television.

They haven't announced if it's for fall or a mid-season on the schedule.  We won't have to wait long though.  ABC will announce their fall schedule on Tuesday.

ReflecTRONs...

Don't derez...

With the apparent end of Uprising, I thought we'd reflect on what it was and what could have been...

The world that they expanded on from "Tron: Legacy" was amazing.  The animation is some of the best I've seen on television, and the stories were surprisingly complex and well thought out.  Sadly, it wasn't enough.  And it seems that after a while, the Mouse got tired of promoting it, eventually relegating it to a late time slot when it wasn't expected to succeed, just wither and die like a vine with no sunlight.

Perhaps if the DVD/Blu-Ray sales are good enough, or the showings on Netflix and other places get enough viewers it could be brought back.  Not likely, but possible (ala: Family Guy).  Then there is the chance that maybe a straight-to-DVD film could be made?  Maybe a series of them even, so they could tie up the loose ends and flesh out the world some more?  It's Hollywood, anything could happen, nothing could happen.

Here is a cool montage of the show/series that you might find interesting.

The entire Comic-Con panel for the show from last year, or the sizzle reel if you just want to see that.

An interview the Hollywood Reporter did with Bruce Boxleitner.

And then there are all these interviews with the cast and crew.

Disney XD released the first episode, "Beck's Beginning" free for all to see last year, and it's pretty good if you haven't seen it.

And if you care to give it a try, there's always a petition you can sign to let the Suits know that you care.

But the Grid will survive, and in a couple years we may take another trip there...

Lucastv...

This is only a test... 

The Mouse has created a monsters...

Star Wars all the time.  It seems to be in the news every other day, which is why we keep having stories about them.  This one seems logical, and makes sense based on the fact that Disney now owns Lucasfilm.

At an ABC Paul Lee president was asked about doing more Star Wars for the network.  While speaking in an article with Entertainment Weekly, he mentioned that he'd love to work with Lucasfilm more now that they're part of the Disney family.  But the quote that really stood out was that he/ABC were taking a look at the Star Wars television series that had been put on hold.

While it's not a guarantee that the show will be picked up by the network, it is a positive note on the long talked about series.  If they like the project, and can make the expensive budget work (reportedly 5 million an episode), then perhaps we'll see a green light for the project later this year.  That means if all the stars align then we could possibly see a Star Wars series by next fall.

Now, you must remember that this is Hollywood, and it's rare that such an alignment takes place at all, much less quickly.  But this is a property that most networks would kill to have access to.  Bob Iger talked about exploiting the Star Wars property across the many platforms the Walt Disney Company owns and this would be a golden opportunity to do so.  It's there for the taking if Lee can be convinced that the price is right.

And we must remember that it doesn't have to be the only thing they use.  It's up to Kathleen Kennedy and ABC to decide on sever other properties in the vast Lucasfilm library (not all of which are Star Wars).  Imagine another Saturday morning television show?  It could be an update of "Droids" or "Ewok" (god forbid).  A new Star Wars Holiday Special (not likely)?  How about solo adventures of Han Solo and Chewie?  Clone Wars is likely to make it to Disney XD, or maybe even broadcasts on the Saturday morning schedule.  Perhaps a tale of new Jedi making their way through the galaxy?

And there are other properties the company could use that are more obscure, like "Willow" for instance.  What if they were to take that story, and hire some talented writer to take it and make a fantasy television show out of it?  A revision of it along the lines of what happened recently with "Battlestar Galactica" with Ron Moore (who just happens to have written one of those Star Wars episodes).  The possibilities are limitless.  Even an animated series on Indiana Jones could be an attractive possibility.

Another chance for me to get up on my soapbox...