"Who wants to watch a Superhero Wannabe?"

Who says this isn't The Marvel Age of. . . well, what exactly is it supposed to be
"The Marvel Age of -" this time? Reality TV? Lowered Expectations?
Cynically Snickering at Comix Fandom?

Biff! Bam! and Zowie! live again, despite decades of Damage Control
and Marvellous efforts to rid comics of the public perception of campy drivel.

Face front, Stan! True Believers probably cannot see one character in this lot
with even the potential shelf life of that Marvel classic, "Night Nurse". Nope.
Instead of the promise of possibly pulse-pounding pulp-paper page-turners to be?
Well, we get something that looks like escapees from "Let's Make a Deal" stuffed
into MTV's "Real World". (Wasn't there a cartoon on Comedy Central that did
something similar?) One cannot really imagine a Graphic Novel waiting in the
wings for any of these rookies.

Okay, so even the most classic of comic book icons have not-entirely-original
concepts. Superman gets compared to Doc Savage, and both of them owe a debt
to Philip Wylie's novel "Gladiator"--amongst other inspirations--while Batman
follows in the footsteps of Zorro, The Shadow and a bit o' Sherlock Holmes.
For that matter, Zorro cribs Robin Hood's old act. Whatever. Truly NEW ideas
are few and far between. In the end, there is inspiration from what has gone before
OR there is lack of originality which brings nothing new to the table.
Any guesses what we have in this show?

Meanwhile (as they say), it projects the overall image that comicdom's fan-base
is just what the non-comic-book-buying public has always suspected, a sad lot of
ForbushMan-wannabes. The sort of nebbish who, they imagine, still lives at home
with his parents at age thirty-five, has neither social skills nor a social life,
and still reads "that trash". Could be worse, I suppose.
He could be addicted to "Reality TV" . . .

When did "Excelsior!" become just another word for packaging fluff, Stan?
'Nuff said!

Lady in the Water: M. Night's NOT All Wet

I'm an M. Night fan. I really liked SIXTH SENSE. I enjoyed the ride of THE VILLAGE, and I thought UNBREAKABLE was brilliant.

I'm having a hard time understanding why the critics are coming after M. so hard with LADY IN THE WATER. Surely it's not just because the film includes a clueless film critic. (No, it's not and don't call me Shirley!)

The characters in LADY aren't too far removed from the characters of SIGNS. They're caught up in a situation that has important repercussions for the entire world. The genesis of that situation overlaps with their mundane little world and creates an extraordinary scenario of incredible things happening to ordinary people.

A couple of the supporting roles may be slightly miscast, but when Paul Giamatti's character is finally called upon to release himself to his destiny, the result is a moment of sheer vulnerability that is both heroic and moving.

It seems to me that the critics who are trashing this film are unable to separate the man from the movie. They've decided M. Night's personal bedtime story is pretentious, and they seem to be responding by striking out with a pretentiousness of their own.

I saw a story about a writer who was inspired to fulfill his destiny in a world where the critics are often very wrong.

In fact, this time they're all wet.

LADY gets 3 hands out of 4.

Boo!

This is the show open for THRILLER THEATRE STARRING MARGALI.

The song is called "Boo!" and was written by the brilliant Niels Erickson, as a parody of Madonna's "Vogue."

The video clips are primarily from various episodes across the years, including one shot from an episode that has never aired.

Margali's minions include her ever faithful hand servant, Hans, the never seen program announcer Wendel and her ten legged mutant spider, Freddie.



We'd love to hear what you think.

Motel 666

Here's a blast from the past:

Motel 666 was one of Margali's favorite sponsors back when she presented the midnight movie on WDBD-TV in Jackson, Mississippi. THRILLER THEATRE STARRING MARGALI aired from 1990-1993 and earned three awards from the Mississippi Association for Broadcasting during its run.

Part of the reason for this blog is to expose the world to the madness viewers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia were blessed to see.



Once you get past "What the hell is that?" let us know what you think!

More to come, couch pumpkins, more to come.

Emmy Noms: Weak Laughs, High Anxiety & Ennui

Quickly, let's run through the Emmy acting nods. Time is precious this week.

Lead Actor - Comedy - You know...there's just not a lot of Lead Acting by guys to go around this season. I'm sure the actors nominated have done well, but I've never seen any of these shows. Guess I'm just watching too many scripted dramas lately. So, no comment.

Lead Actress - Comedy - Kaczmarek is the only actress I've seen of late, and I think her character became a bit too one dimensional towards the end of MALCOLM to merit this nom. Other than that, I don't care.

Lead Actor - Drama - Now we're talking. Excuse me, academy, but where the hell is Hugh Laurie's nom? You DO realize he's a British actor playing an American jerk of a doctor, don't you? Somehow, I suspect the viewing tapes for HOUSE should have been labelled "That's not how he really talks" Cool to see Keifer get a nod, but I dont' think he'll win. Marting Sheen will probably score a very PC one-two win to go along with his son Charlie in the comedy category. Won't that be sweet?

Lead Actress - Drama - Don't watch any of these, can't say.

Supporting Actor - Comedy - Totally surprised to G.O.B. scoring a nomination here! But I'd much rather see the statue go to Cranston. Hal was the heart of MALCOLM. Cranston cranked out some incredibly brave performances along the run of the series. The man is simply fearless when it comes to what he is willing to subject himself to for a few laughs.

Supporting Actress - Comedy - Man, it's a weak year for comedy, ain't it?

Supporting Actor - Drama - Gregory Itzin's weasel of a prez deserves to win this hands down. The supporting cast of 24 was so strong this year!

Supporting Actress - Drama - Which leads us to Jean Smart. I so want to see this duo take home the trophies.

I'm surprised Omar Epps didn't get a nom. I'm not surprised the cast of GILMORE GIRLS was left out - what a crappy year for that show. But by far, the biggest omission is Hugh Laurie. The man is brilliant.

Agree? Disagree? Discuss!

It's Not TV. It's 24.

The Emmy nominations were announced earlier this week, and now that we've all had some time to digest the list I suppose it's time to put in my two cents.

My first reaction was to note that once again HBO dominates the other networks in total nominations with 95 - that's more nominations than NBC and CBS combined. But it's not really an apples to apples comparison, is it? After all, as they say, it's not TV. It's HBO.

The second thing I noticed, was that while ABC led the broadcast networks with 63 noms, for a second year FOX is has closed the gap with the more established nets, scoring 41 nominations compared to NBC's and CBS' 47.

That's significant.

The 'Big 3' nets each program 22 hours per week. FOX supplies 15 hours. So let's do some math, shall we?

ABC earned 2.86 nominations per hour programmed. NBC and CBS scored 2.14. FOX passed them by scoring a 2.73.

Last year, with ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT scoring multiple nominations, FOX scored 3.33.

What's my point? I suppose it's this - the network that has a reputation for shock and awe reality like WHEN ANIMALS ATTACK and WHO WANTS TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE? is actually proucing more quality programs per hour than the so called Tiffany network, CBS.

And the network that once derided FOX's early reliance on unscripted fare, NBC, has now succombed to the beast itself. THE APPRENTICE, LAST COMIC STANDING, THE BIGGEST LOSER, don't seem to be Must See TV in America's or the critcs' eyes.

Moving on to specifics, the show with the most nominations this year is 24. Huh? I mean, it's riveting television, but 12 nominations? Wow.

BEST DRAMA - HOUSE, 24, GREY'S ANATOMY, THE SOPRANOS and THE WEST WING.

THE SOPRANOS season was not its best, but I'm not going to argue the nom - but THE WEST WING? Really? Was it really better than the incredibly mystifying and addictive season two of LOST? Hardly.

BEST COMEDY - ARRESTD DEVELOPMENT, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, THE OFFICE, SCRUBS and TWO AND A HALF MEN

Another wow. Apparently, I'm not watching the best comedies on TV anymore. Apart from ARRESTED, I have never seen an episode of any of the nominated programs. And I watch a LOT of TV, people. A ridiculous amount of TV. It's like cocaine for me. How is it, I'm not watching any of these shows? Could it be that they're on opposite some of the best dramas on TV? Yep, that would be the reason! Oh well, that means I'll be pulling for ARRESTED to score a second win here. The finale was simply brilliant. Annyong!

Of note, EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND didn't get a curtain call nod, but ARRESTED did. Hmm.

Later in the week, I'll ruminate a bit about the acting nominees and what might be a change in the tide in the Vareity/Music/Comedy category.

'Til then!

Superman & Lois Lane: Things We Forgot We Forgot

SPOILERS BELOW

Hansel and I are fresh from viewing SUPERMAN RETURNS last night and I've got a few things that need to be said.

First, this new guy wearing the tights - it took me a good thirty for forty-five minuites to stop comparing him to Christopher Reeve. It's amazing how definitive Chris was for this role. Every word that came out of Superman's mouth, every gesture, every bumble by Clark Kent brought comparison to the way Christopher did it before.

But then something happened. I don't know when, or why, but at some point, Bryan Singer's story emerged victorious over my struggle againt willful suspension of disbelief - and I started enjoying myself.

This is quite a decent film. I found myself surprised at the direction the story took several times. The script managed to supply the characters with a depth that was unexpected.

I loved the fact that Supes had to struggle against the physics of the real world when trying to save an airplane, that the metal of the craft buckled while he was trying to slow it down, that a wing gave way and snapped off whle he was trying to slow it's spinning out of control. It helped place Superman in the real world, illustrating that while the man inside the cape may be impervious to bullets, he can make mistakes.

And this Superman makes mistakes. It is his mistake in judgement that is blamed for Lex Luthor's freedom. This Superman is a jealous man, a hurt man, a very lonely man - and that helps make him Every Man.

There was one particular moment in the film that struck me as more than the an obligitory homage to the films that came before. During a crisis that requires him to fly out into the Atlantic Ocean for a rescue, Superman sees a giant trough opening up in the sea floor. When he realizes this rip in the sea floor is heading straight for Metropolis, you can actually SEE the character remember the earthquake in the first film that claimed Lois' life. Again he must decide between her and the fate of many more souls. Nicely done.

The visuals are great. Most of the modern CGI stuff looked really, really sharp, though there were a couple of instances in which an animated Supes looks just a bit too cartoony. And while the crystal island is awesome, I found myself wondering how in the world owning such craggily, crappy, unfarmable land would vault Lex Luthor to global domination.

My one nagging issue with the film really didn't bring itself to the forefront of my mind until an hour after coming home. At the end of Superman II, Supes wiped Lois Lane's memory of her love affair with him with a magical kiss. It was done to protect her, to relieve her of the pain of being in love with him, yet being unable to be with him. Cleary in Superman Returns, Lois has no memory of knowing Clark Kent's secret identity. Yet, when she delivers big news to Superman in the hospital, it's clear she remembers being with him. In fact, the memory of that relationship is central to a lot of conflict within Lois' relationship with her son's father.

So, if somebody can explain to me how Lois remembers only a bit of what transpired in Superman II (Lex clearly remembers EVERYTHING that happened in both films), I'd love to hear from you.

The film's a bit long, and drags a bit after the big climax. Was it necessary to go on for another 20 minutes after the story was finished? Perhaps the hospital visit, and the evnts that transpire therein, could have been worked into the middle of the movie, providing Supes with new motivation to save a world that thought it no longer needed him.

What do you think?

I'm going to give it three hands up out of four.