Monthly Archives: November 2011

‘Community’ deserves to live

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If you’re not watching “Community” … why not?

If you pay attention to the comings and goings of TV shows, you might have heard that NBC has put its Thursday night comedy, “Community,” on hold for the foreseeable future. Maybe the show will come back after the first of the year. Maybe not until spring. Who knows?

Chances are this news doesn’t mean much to you. By virtue of the fact that “Community” is in danger of being canceled, it’s pretty obvious that the ratings are the suck.

So here’s a plea: Check the show out. It airs tonight — in just a few minutes, actually — but is available on demand and online.

Maybe an uptick in ratings will help convince NBC to put the show back on the air.

Why is “Community” worth saving?

Well, it’s funny, for one thing. But more than that, it’s offbeat. It is not your typical, laugh-track driven comedy.

Case in point: The recent third season episode “Remedial Chaos Theory,” in which the cast — misfit students at a community college — roll the dice to see who will answer the door when pizza is delivered and find themselves exploring several alternate realities. Any episode that includes a “fake goatee” nod to “Star Trek” without ever quite ‘fessing up to it gets my vote for funny and innovative.

Or the first-season episode about a campus-wide paintball game in which the participants quickly degenerated into cutthroat competitors. The episode mined every possible action movie cliche for big laughs.

Or the episode where the group manned a Kentucky Fried Chicken-themed spaceflight simulator. Or the episode that’s animated like an old Christmas special. Or the fake clip show!

Don’t be put off by what some might consider the oddball cast and plots. It’s a comedy about disparate types thrown together by circumstance, like “Friends” or “Seinfeld,” and it’s funny. And the cast is wonderful: Joel McHale, Chevy Chase, Danny Pudi and the adorable Alison Brie to name a few.

Here’s hoping “Community” gets a second chance. Like the “alternative realities” episode, there’s got to be a few possibilities left in the show’s future.

 

Family Circus: Zippy meets Jeffy

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I mean, really, who knew?

Well, obviously a few people knew.

When Bil Keane, creator of the daily “Family Circus” newspaper panel, died about a week ago, I noted in this blog that while Keane’s panel wasn’t my favorite strip — that honor falls to “Calvin and Hobbes” or “The Far Side” — you had to admire Keane for his staying power. Although he had turned over the strip to his son, Jeff, in recent years, he maintained it for decades after creating it in 1960.

Now, thanks to a terrific Comics Journal column by Bill Griffith, the creator of the offbeat “Zippy the Pinhead” strip, I have a newfound appreciation for Keane’s sense of humor.

Griffith writes about how he didn’t expect to have much in common with Keane and other grand old masters of the comics page until he met them at a National Cartoonists Society dinner in 1990.

Griffith said Keane and the other members of the old guard were surprisingly funny and profane and the farthest thing from their squeaky-clean strips that you could imagine.

Keane and Griffith hit it off and, a few years later, Griffith wrote a 1994 series of “Zippy” strips in which his character spends time in the world of “The Family Circus.”

Keane favored Griffith with a tip of the hat with a 1995 panel in which young Billy is dreaming of Zippy. Keane even asked Griffith to draw Zippy for the panel.

Now, if you can get past the fact that the mixing of the two comics is perhaps more disturbing than funny, I can’t think of a revelation that made me smile more and think more highly of Keane.

It’s unfortunate that we sometimes appreciate people the most after they’re gone. And while I will still no doubt shake my head a bit when I come across a “Not Me” or ghostly grandparents panel in “The Family Circus,” I won’t be doubting Keane’s good sense of humor.

‘The Walking Dead’ flashes back

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I don’t think any episode of AMC’s post-zombie-apocalypse series “The Walking Dead” has reminded me of Stephen King’s classic “The Stand” quite as much as tonight’s installment, “Chupacabra.”

Sure, it’s impossible for any end-of-the-world-and-after story to do anything but remind us of King’s epic. But tonight’s adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s comic book series had a couple of moments that evoked King’s masterpiece.

Spoilers ahead.

The episodes opens with a flashback to the early days of the zombie apocalypse as Shane, Lori and other survivors are stuck on the highway, watching in horror as the military drops napalm on a city — Atlanta, I’m guessing — to knock down an infestation of “walkers,” the show’s term for reanimated dead. The moment reminded me not only of “The Stand” but also “World War Z” and “The Strain,” two modern classics of the apocalypse.

But the moments most reminiscent of “The Stand” came when Daryl, the show’s new unlikely hero, is scouring the woods for a missing girl. He takes a tumble, ends up injured and gets a hallucinatory pep talk from an unlikely source: His brother Merle (Michael Rooker), the murderous racist from the show’s first season.

As Merle — whose return was teased in previews for this episode — taunts and insults Daryl into getting up and out of his predicament, a couple of echoes of “The Stand” came to mind: Nick Andros appearing to simple-minded Tom, telling him how to save injured Stu Redman, and also the internal battle going on inside Harold Lauder. In “The Stand,” Harold could turn bad or good and he struggles with his soul and his conscience before making a fateful and explosive decision. We haven’t yet seen what Daryl decides.

The episode also showcased the growing tension between Rick and Shane — who don’t yet know that Lori is pregnant and one of them is the father — and a freaky finale in which Glenn discovers the secret behind the peaceful farm in which they’ve taken shelter.

There are a lot of complaints online about the pace of “The Walking Dead,” but I’m enjoying it. Moments like those tonight, with Rick and Shane recalling their high school years and then debating the finer points of every-man-for-himself, and Merle’s brief appearance, are keeping me happy.

Paperback reader — for now, anyway

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I don’t have any memory of the first paperback book I bought. But I have many memories of the paperbacks I’ve loved.

Sitting in the school cafeteria reading Stephen King. Becoming lost in “The Hobbit” and “Watership Down.” Finding myself transported to another time with Edgar Rice Burroughs. Expanding my consciousness with Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison and Hunter S. Thompson.

While I’ve read some of my favorite authors and their stories in other mediums, the paperback will always be the format through which I solidified my love of books.

My first few paperbacks cost about 60 cents. Because I don’t buy as many paperbacks anymore — yes, this is another of those “I’m part of the problem” posts — I’m startled to see how much mass market paperbacks and trade paperbacks cost now. Nevertheless, I still buy them. My copies of “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and “Girl Who Played with Fire” are in paperback, as is “Devil in the White City” and others.

The photo above is of a homely bookshelf, tucked away in a spare bedroom in my house. It’s ugly as sin, the result of some cobbling-together my dad and I did 30 years ago. But it’s the home to most of my paperbacks. Dean Koontz and Robert Heinlein and John Varley and other favorites live there.

I love paperbacks.

So it was disheartening but inevitable to read the Crain’s New York Business article, “Trade paperbacks no longer worth the paper,” which notes that, with the rise of e-books, the publishing industry is pondering the future of paperbacks.

Paperbacks — specifically trade paperbacks here, but mass market paperbacks too, I’m sure — aren’t selling very well anymore. Sales were down 18 percent in recent months, even while e-book sales are up 8 percent. Electronic books are now 20 percent of sales for major publishers, notes the article, which was linked to on Twitter by publishing industry expert Sarah Weinman.

My point here is not to bury e-books — I’m for anything that promotes and perpetuates the reading of books — but to mourn the loss of paperbacks, if it comes to that.

The Crain’s article quotes a couple of people who say that trade paperbacks could be gone within a few years. Mass market paperbacks could follow, I suppose.

I can’t turn back the hands of time or reverse the flow of progress and wouldn’t want to do either. But I can’t help thinking, as we’re swept along in the current of change, about all the things that get lost along the way.

Used bookstores. The traditional platform for new authors. The cheap, fast read. The 10 cent paperback box at rummage sales, home of a million good stories.

Going, going …

 

New ‘Green Lantern’ has a lot to live up to

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For Cartoon Network, Warner Bros and animation producer Bruce Timm, launching a new “Green Lantern” animated series must feel like a tricky thing.

When the computer-animated series went into production, Warner Bros. had a big-screen “Green Lantern” coming, its first attempt to turn WB’s DC Comics stalwart into a big-screen tentpole starring Ryan Reynolds.

The movie probably seemed like a sure thing, another step in establishing a DC franchise in movie theaters much like rival comics publisher Marvel was doing with “Iron Man” and, concurrent to the “Green Lantern” movie, “Thor” and “Captain America.”

But the “Green Lantern” movie, released this summer, was pretty lackluster, while “Thor” and “Captain America” were hits that only built anticipation for next summer’s Marvel team-up movie, “The Avengers.”

All of a sudden, “Green Lantern” — and the Cartoon Network animated series — must have felt a little daunting.

The new show not only had to live down the live-action movie but also live up to “Justice League” and “Justice League Unlimited,” the Bruce Timm-produced animated series that stand as the pinnacles of comic book animated series.

Yes, I know that Timm and Paul Dini’s “Batman: The Animated Series” is widely regarded as the best animated comic book show. But for me, “Justice League” and especially “Justice League Unlimited” are tops. Really, where else could you get the best — hands down — outside-the-comic-pages adaptation of Superman, Batman and other marquee heroes as well as obscure favorites like Dr. Fate, Black Canary and Bwana Beast, for goodness’ sake?

Cartoon Network previewed the opening episode of “Green Lantern” tonight — the series begins airing regularly next year as part of a DC block — and I have to say that while the show has potential it carries with it more liabilities.

Its computer-animated presentation is workmanlike at best. While a few scenes had some of the visual appeal of “The Incredibles,” for example, more often the show looked like unfinished footage included as a DVD extra. Piggy-looking Green Lantern Kilowog looked plastic. The look of the show needs drastic improvement.

And I’m not sold on the premise of the show either. Remember “Star Trek: Voyager,” the series that pushed a Federation starship to the edge of the galaxy and left it stranded there while the ship and its crew struggled to make their way home?

This is like “Green Lantern: Voyager,” with Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and Kilowog stranded millions of miles away from home, facing the Red Lanterns, a cranky group of outlaw ring-wielders.

Maybe it’s an effort to ensure the show and its characters stand on their own, but I’m not digging the idea of a show that will never allow Green Lantern to bump into Superman or Batman. Not to mention the absence of my favorite Green Lantern of all time, John Stewart, the African-American hero who — for all of us who loved “Justice League” and “Justice League Unlimited” — simply is Green Lantern.

When “Green Lantern” comes back next year, I’ll definitely give it a shot. I hope the show has as much imagination as the premise of its title character. It will have to go a long way — and come back from a great distance — to equal previous treatment of the character, however.

 

 

Mysteries not for the faint-hearted

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Chelsea Cain’s mysteries are not for the weak of heart, and that’s not just a play on the “heart” element of most of their titles: “Heartsick,” “Sweetheart” and “Evil at Heart.” Cain’s tales of a Portland, Oregon cop and the love of his life — a beautiful female serial killer — are often filled with grisly, bloody moments.

At one point in the books, serial killer Gretchen Lowell takes police detective Archie Sheridan captive and, besides carving a heart in his chest, removes his spleen, for pete’s sake.

But gore isn’t the point of Cain’s books. And it’s an afterthought in her latest Archie Sheridan book, “The Night Season.”

Although Gretchen Lowell — nicknamed “The Beauty Killer” not because she is beautiful but because of the gruesome nature of her killing style — is a presence in this book (don’t worry, I won’t spoil how), Cain’s latest novel is really about Sheridan and the core of supporting characters the author has built up around him.

There’s Susan Ward, a newspaper reporter trying to survive the upheaval in her industry as well as encounters with homicidal maniacs; Henry Sobol, Archie’s partner on the force and a rock in his life; and a cast of characters that, four books into the series, feels as familiar and beloved as any in fiction right now.

Sheridan is an enormously flawed man. His infatuation with Lowell in the earlier books cost him his marriage and nearly his life. Far more realistically than might be expected for a thriller series, the books emphasize the toll that Sheridan’s bad decisions and his noble intentions have taken on him.

But readers who, in the past, might have thought Sheridan was a little too close to the edge might be happy to know that in the latest book, the only edge he’s in danger of stepping over is the banks of the swollen Willamette River.

Torrential rains have flooded the river and threaten Portland, and Susan Ward finds herself pursuing a new story: The discovery of a skeleton that might be left over from 1940s flooding that wiped out a small section of the city.

Meanwhile, Sheridan and Sobol and crew realize they’re dealing with more than a series of accidental drownings due to floodwaters. They are, in fact, dealing with a serial killer, one whose weapon of choice might seem over the top but is nonetheless pretty cool.

While Susan and Archie pursue their investigations, they’re thrown together and endangered — like the rest of the city of Portland — by the ever-rising floodwaters.

I’m glad I wasn’t reading “The Night Season” during our own winter thaw/spring rains. Cain vividly portrays the unrelenting rain, the tumultuous river and the dangerous nature of floodwaters. It made me want to check my crawlspace for rising water.

Who will take over ‘The Family Circus?’ Not me

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Regular readers of this blog might know that I’m not the world’s biggest fan of “The Family Circus,” the longtime newspaper comic strip — panel, actually — that presented the adventures of a typical American suburban family haunted by the ghosts of dead grandparents and phantoms called “Not Me” and “Ida Know.”

But today, in the wake of the passing of Bil Keane, creator of the comics page fixture, respect must be paid.

Keane started the cartoon in February 1960, according to the Associated Press obit for the man, who died Tuesday at age 89 at his Arizona home.

Keane was part of a generation of artists, including the creators of “Beetle Bailey” and “Hi and Lois,” who turned the mid-20th century American experience — family life, child-raising, the foibles of work (and in Beetle’s case, the peacetime military) into five-days-a-week chuckles.

As much as I love “Calvin and Hobbes” and “The Far Side,” the creators of those beloved strips couldn’t touch Keane for longevity. Although Keane had in recent years passed the strip along to his son, Jeff — immortalized as Jeffy — Keane cranked out the daily panel for decades.

Somewhere tonight, Barfy and Sam are missing their master, although Jeff Keane can probably be assured that his father will still be hanging around, in spectral form, looking over his shoulder with an amused expression, as long as the panel appears.

‘The Walking Dead’ turns up the drama

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Tonight’s episode of “The Walking Dead” had it all. Illicit sex. The results of illicit sex. Family conflicts. Conversations on how to rebuild society after the end of the world.

And, oh yeah: A zombie.

(And some spoilery stuff, so beware.)

Now a few episodes into its second season, the AMC drama continues to give us some of the scariest, queasiest moments on TV. Tonight the “yuck” moment was an unfortunate attempt to get a zombie out of a well on the remote farm where the survivors of the zombie apocalypse have gathered.

That moment followed the scary bit, as the band of survivors lowers Glenn (Steven Yeun) on a rope down into the well as bait for the zombie.

Why? Well, apparently to avoid contaminating the well with zombie innards. But it doesn’t work out.

Glenn has the best scenes in the episode, acting as zombie bait, reacting to the idea of riding a horse and getting propositioned by the farmer’s daughter during a drug store scavenging trip that reminded me more than a little of “The Stand.”

As last week’s episode demonstrated, the interactions between the humans and humans are always more interesting than those between the humans and zombies. Deputy Shane’s shocking, last-minute act from the previous episode was back-burnered tonight. But I think we can feel a Shane explosion coming, can’t we?

Maybe that explosion will come courtesy of Lori, the wife of hero Rick and former paramour of Shane. Tonight Lori found out she was pregnant. Is Rick or Shane the father? And who can picture reed-thin Sarah Wayne Callies with a belly?

The preview for next week’s installment was nearly as good as tonight’s episode, as it showed us a glimpse of Michael Rooker, back as Merle, the violent racist the group encountered in the first season. When Merle comes back, what happens to his brother, Daryl, who has become a tender-hearted, crossbow-wielding cornerstone of the group?

We’ll know next week.

How early the “Grinch” stole Christmas

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I don’t want to sound too Grinch-like about this, but all the Halloween candy isn’t eaten yet and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is already on TV.

The 1966 animated adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ story is justifiably a classic. The great Chuck Jones animation. The wonderful narration by Boris Karloff. The singing of Thurl Ravenscroft. Max!

But, really TBS? Showing the Grinch on Nov. 5?

I don’t mind the “Christmas creep” — the early onset of Christmas music, decorations and more — as much as some people. I’m not one of those purists who says there’s no place for Christmas shopping or Santa Claus before Thanksgiving.

But Nov. 5?

If you’re perfectly okay with this but missed tonight’s airing, TBS is reportedly showing the special again on Nov. 13.

Maybe I’ll be ready for it by then.

 

Nostalgia with a cap on it

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I drink a couple of bottles of Diet Pepsi — Diet Coke when necessary — a day, but when I was growing up, pop — as we called it — was a fairly rare thing for us.

Maybe that’s why the memories associated with it — the taste, the smell but also the look of the bottles and various Pepsi accoutrements — are so memorable.

We ate dinner tonight at a local restaurant with lots of nostalgic decorations, the kind of place that Moe from “The Simpsons” described as “a place with a whole lot of crazy crap on the walls.”

Among the nostalgic decor was something I’d never seen before: Metal Pepsi bottle carriers.

I don’t have any memory of those and I wonder if they had even been available around here.

I do have vivid memories of the thick paper cartons that six glass bottles of Pepsi, Mountain Dew and other drinks came in. We would get a six-bottle carton of Pepsi on a trip to the grocery store and, a week or so later when we made our next shopping trip, we would buy another.

A big part of that return visit, of course, was returning the empty glass bottles for deposit.

We would save the bottles as they were emptied over the course of a week — remarkable that they lasted that long, but we drank things like milk and water more than pop in those days — and return them to the store in the paper carton. We would show the carton full of bottles at the supermarket office and get the deposit back — a nickel or quarter or whatever it was for the six pack.

I also have vivid memories of the liners of the Pepsi bottle caps. For much of the time that I remember, the bottle cap liners were made of plastic and, at least some of the time, the caps were imprinted with pictures of American presidents. You could collect all the presidents and paste them on some sort of official game card and then … well, I have no idea. I don’t remember ever collecting all the presidents, even though there were only about 17 chief executives to that point.

Kidding.

Before the plastic liners, which the Interwebs tells me were introduced in the 1960s, were cork bottle cap liners. I can’t remember if Pepsi ever conducted games with the cork liners, although I do remember digging them out of the bottle caps for some reason. I remember that because of how easily they fell apart.

I know soft drink companies still do the occasional bottle cap game. But it’s hard to imagine kids today laboring over fragile cap liners, carefully pulling them out of the caps and collecting them for some unimaginable prize.