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Posts tagged as “Heroes”

The Amazing Colbert-Man


Remember that thing about Stephen Colbert being in the next Spider-Man comic?

The New York Times just revealed a couple days ago that the villain Colbert will be facing is none other than…spoiler alert…a grizzly.
Well, actually, The Grizzly.
Who is that? Doesn’t matter.
What matters is that it is now the Number One threat on the Threat Down.


Go Colbert!

Also, Wired has a great little interview with Marvel’s editor-in-chief, Joe Quesada, and Amazing Spider-Man’s writer, Mark Waid.

Here’s a little excerpt:

Wired.com: What is it about Colbert that makes him worthy of safeguarding Captain America’s shield or becoming president of the Marvel Universe?

Mark Waid: Colbert’s worthy because he loves and respects our heroes. And in a world with J. Jonah Jameson in it, that’s an important qualification.

Joe Quesada: Colbert is a true American hero. He’s said so on TV, which means it must be true!

Remember that the issue comes out next week (Oct. 15 to be precise)!

Nine ideas to save Television – Part Two

Nine ideas to save Television – Part Two

Money, the Internet, ideas, pilots and big names are on the menu today with the conclusion of our 2-part article on nine ways to save the Networks and TV from going bankrupt.

5. Cost efficiency
TV episodes cost a whole bunch of money. That’s one of the many reasons reality shows began to be very popular a few years back.
Now, for better or for worse, shows are trying to get made more and more on the cheap.
An episode that is today made for 1 million dollars might be made tomorrow for 700 000.
Less money might mean more shows and ultimately more critically-acclaimed shows. Dialogue is cheap.

6. Webisodes
Every day brings its new web show it seems. They might not all be Emmy-worthy but they allow people to express themselves in ways that were not even possible a decade ago.
Web series are cheap to produce, a key nurturing element to vector original content.
And let’s not forget that “viral” part where a show generates tremendous buzz, leading them to jump screen.
Sanctuary, a web-based green-screen show, is now on Sci-Fi (starting early October).
Heroes and The Office both made webisodes that were talked about amongst fans, and beyond.
Although it is difficult to say if we will ever have 42 or 23-minute webisodes, the Whedon brothers showed everyone with Dr. Horrible that high-concept ideas could be made cheaply while maintaining that “it” factor.

7. Re-develop ideas and pilots
Not only would it save money in the long run but it would create an immense well of creativity. New perspectives might be endless.
A pilot needs to be tweaked just right to be almost perfect so why not keep it on the page until it is perfect?
HBO does it, so why not the Big Five?
Intervening on a project when there is a problem could be a great idea. The pilot of “Life On Mars” was leaked on the web and suffered harsh criticism, leading to an entire rethinking of its premise. The show may finally be quite different from its UK counterpart, for the better.
Although ideas should not stay in limbo forever, the right amount of “perfectionism” mixed with business could amount to new waves of shows.

8. Big names for big shows
The Big Five might not in a few years have big tent poles shows or even “appointment TV”.
One idea to try to counter that would be to keep banking on big names and linking them to big shows, therefore creating a package that would attract buyers.
Steven Bochco, David E. Kelley, Joss Whedon, J.J. Abrams, ever heard of these guys?
People might just watch the new show made by X instead of switching off the TV to play Second Life.

9. Take chances
No, it doesn’t go against ideas number 7 and 8, on the contrary.
New writers might offer a fresh perspective on a rotten concept.
AMC took a chance on a spec pilot that no one else wanted, and then Emmys were won.
If the Big Five want to get back some of what the cable has taken away from them, they need to take chances.
Chances on stories, chances on writers.
Big risks now means rewards down the road. Originality needs to happen.
Yes, some of the shows might fail, but television is a world of trial and errors. Mistakes are part of life.
If Cavemen hadn’t happened, we would have another horrible show on our hands. Thank God then that… Oh, wait.

Embrace change and get ahead of the competition.

Nine ideas to save Television – Part One

Nine ideas to save Television – Part One

The Big Five (CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, The CW) are in mortal danger.
TiVo, YouTube, Cable, Illegal Downloading and the Interweb are among the many threats against the networks’ current existence.
Their future might be unknown, but here are 9 ideas for them to catch up with today’s world and slow down the television crisis.

The first four ideas are coming up right now:

1. Shows all year long
Summer equals reality shows, network season is from September to May, and no one is watching TV on Christmas Eve.
True, but also false.
The web of scripted television is growing more and more each year. It first began on a “diversity” level. 3 networks became 4 and then 5 and then basic and premium cable changed the way TV was made, and viewed.
Now, cable has allowed another change to take place. A change in the season schedule. Or rather, seasons.
Summer reruns are (almost) a thing of the past. Make way for all-new summer episodes on every major cable network. From SciFi to AMC, USA or Lifetime, everyone is breaking boundaries where there is no need for them.
Even the main networks are now following the trend.
FOX is pushing its fall shows a month ahead of the competition, almost putting them during the summer. Last year, NBC wanted to be there at Christmas with The Office and Heroes. CBS has Flashpoint and next year NBC will have The Listener. And some mid-season shows are premiering around March instead of January.
Everyone can watch everything everywhere whenever. Seasons are obsolete.
And this brings us to…

2. VOD
Illegal downloading has been around for a while now and somewhat of a solution has been found.
Meet Video On Demand.
First ABC, now NBC, FOX, CBS, The CW and even Showtime. You name your network, you’ll have your online download/streaming service. And there’s also this little thing called Hulu.
ABC.com’s player (launched in 2006) attracted over 9 millions users last April.
DVDs will soon become a thing of the past, and so will Blu-Ray, real fast.
The future of distribution is online, and it is immaterial.
Missed an episode?
You can go to the network’s site, go to iTunes, go on HBO/Sho On Demand, or go to your friend’s house. You know, the one with TiVo.
There’s also Veoh, which has made a deal with ABC.
There’s money to be made (and is made) on the Internet. Ads are the only way we can get things for free.
Speaking of money…

3. Fewer ads
Ever felt the urge during your TV watching to switch channels?
Yeah, that’s what ads are for.
One of the many reasons people are looking towards other means of watching TV rather than actually watching it is because of the 17 minutes of ads per hour.
Fewer ads during a TV show means less channel-switching and viewers will stay on the channel. That’s damage control for you.
Fox is actively thinking about it with Fringe and Dollhouse which have about 55 minutes of actual content with minute-long commercial breaks.
Less ad also helps the creative process by giving a show space to expand rather than artificially cutting it in 6 little pieces.
Is less more?

4. Shorter seasons
The strike may have had other positive unforeseen side-effects.
Remember Dirty Sexy Money? Probably not, because it only had 13 episodes last season.
But that’s okay.
Less is definitely more when it comes to shows like Lost. A radically shorter season definitely helped the show to condense its mythology and get on with the answers instead of waiting around for 5 other episodes.
It might not be that good for the Big Five in terms of cash but in a qualitative way, it’s certainly a game-changer.

Now, combine shorter seasons with 55-minute long shows around the year available for free whenever wherever on VOD.
Boom.
Welcome to the new world, Networks.

More (crazy) ideas tomorrow!