Rock the Cradle premiered on MTV last night, and it was interesting. First off, let me say, go Jesse Blaze Snider! Woo!

Anyway, taking a look at the show, it was a good time, and it was interesting seeing a HUGE range of talent. For example, Chloe Lattanzi, daughter of Olivia Newton-John, wouldn’t make it to Hollywood on American Idol. Steve Walsh of the Eagles’ daughter  Lucy Walsh was incredible, and really deserved the “protected” spot.

The judging is all over the place, with judges rarely agreeing across the board- that’s perfect. It means they’re actually giving their individual opinions and EVERYone has different opinions. I don’t mind that at all, though I did quickly figure out who I’ll be agreeing with, and that Belinda Carlyle is batshit crazy. Although, she was right on Lil B Sure, as he was not the “best vocal performance of the night” like Larry Rudolph said- he was flat on 2 of his last three notes, but I digress.

Then there’s the host, Ryan Devlin. Wow, was this guy terrible. He has no charisma, he is NOT funny, his delivery was off, his timing was off when coming back to him, and he had his head and neck cocked forward the ENTIRE show- it was painful to watch, and bad enough that I fast forwarded (thank you tivo!) every time he spoke and someone else wasn’t around.

Don’t worry if you missed it, there’s something like 10 showings of the first episode in the next 3 days alone. It’s worth taking a look at, and I have a feeling once the first couple cullings take place and we get rid of the crap, the competition should get interesting.

Quick bits on every competitor after the break: (more…)

Holy Smokes, ya’ll! Cartoon Network just announced a brand-spanking new Batman cartoon series coming 2008! It’s called Batman: The Brave and the Bold and it’s a take on the classic Batman comic book series, by the same name (but without the Batman part), where our caped crusader teams up with a different DCU hero each week! Yay! This is pretty darn awesome!

With the recent end The Batman cartoon on Kid’s WB it sure is nice to see that DC still has some terrifically fun and exciting ideas up their sleeves to keep their characters alive and well in the cartoon world! Plus, is that modern day Blue Beetle in the pic with Bats and classic Green Arrow? Why, yes it sure is! With Wolverine and the X-Man, Iron Man, and the current Spectacular Spiderman, it looks like this could be the year of the comic book cartoons! Bring on the fun!

Ahoy! Shots in the Dark IS the official podcast of Shotgun Reviews, so we thought we’d hit you up with an all review episode (after the Gatling Geek news segment, of course). We went a little outside the box, though. First, Janelle reviews The Sims 2: Freetime, the likely final expansion pack to The Sims 2, and even gives you a sneak peak of The Sims 3, due out next year.  Then we take a deep look at the first 7 “episodes” of Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield’s FreakAngels; the completely free webcomic. Head over, take a listen, subscribe through any and all podcasting services, and be a better human being. Or Warren Ellis will send the arse eels. It’s your choice.

 Listen Right Here!!

I’ve been pondering what seems to me to be a big blunder: the Sex and The City film. However, I think that I’ve just heard of one that might be bigger: Kathie Lee Gifford will now be hosting the fourth hour of Today on NBC.

Let me rewind a minute: I liked Sex and The City. And I liked the end of the series, which essentially wrapped the characers in a nice little bow. By opening the story threads back up (and by shuffling off Big, one way or another, a fact that’s all but guaranteed in the trailer), the creators risk angering fans who felt like they had a complete run of tales capped by a fitting ending.

And that’s just part of it. Even at its peak, Sex didn’t have TV’s biggest audience. Granted, syndication has spread the audience a bit, but let’s look at the HBO numbers. During its final season, the show was regularly drawing 7.9 million viewers. An additional 3 million joined for the series finale. If we call the base audience 8 million, and call the base ticket price $10, then the studio needs to get every single one of those people in the door to make $80 million. Granted, that would be decent box office, but not an earthquake. Additionally, sources place the budget (pre-advertising) at $65 million. I suppose that it could break even, or function as a loss-leader for DVD sales. At the same time, you’re risking a lot of goodwill by undoing that “happy ending”.

What do you think?

Looks pretty badass if you ask me! Color me excited!

ABC’s new quirk-fest sitcom Miss Guided (get it, “Miss” because it’s about a female ex-nerd and “guide” because she’s a guidance counselor at her old High School, wow, what a zinger of a title!) is a show with loads and loads of potential, it practically screams “this show is funny, so laugh,” but the execution of all that potential left me feeling a mixture of “haha, this is kinda cute” and “eh, not that impressed”.

I certainly can’t blame the charming and enjoyable Judy Greer, who is always fantastic in any second-banana role she’s ever played in all her numerous second-banana roles (best-friend to hot-girl-movie-star mostly). Greer is very likable, adorable and strives to add every ounce of goofy facial expressions in her acting arsenal to enliven her performance.

For me the problem with the show was in the humor; it was all too much, too fast, too soon. It was as though the creator and writer tossed everything she could into every second of the show to prove that this sitcom was going to be really, really funny - so stick around and watch, don’t leave, it’s still hilarious!

(more…)

According to USA Today, check out the link below, both Iron Man and Wolverine (with a few X-Peeps) are set to blow up the network early next year!  In my humble fan boy opinion this is way cool for many exciting reasons, and I shall list them briefly here:

1) Now that Kids WB is no longer (yup it’s true) where else are we gonna get our Superhero cartoons from? It’s nice to know there is another network out there willing to step up to the plate (come back to us Cartoon Network!).

2) Having Superheroes on Nicktoons is a rather big change from the Sponge Bobs and Doras normally on the network! If these shows do well we just might be seeing a whole new set of comic inspired awesomeness on some other toony networks (come back Cartoon Network! We need you! Look alive Fox Kids, time to bring in the heroes!)

3) Although I am rather nervous about a teen Iron Man (yes, you read me right, it’s a teenage Iron Man, ugh), and the continuous over-saturation of Wolverine (can’t we just call the show the X-Men?) this can only bode well for the future of the comic book medium. Superhero cartoon shows = more kids growing into comic fans.

4) I just can’t wait to see the White Queen on the Wolverine and the X-Men show, hubba hubba! Let’s see how they get her past the little ones and their impressionable minds.

Check out the full story here: http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2008-03-17-marvel-nicktoons_N.htm

Spider-Man: the animated series, this ain’t. First off, I have to say, when I saw the trailers via the Internet, I became curious. It reminded me of how Batman is represented nowadays with a more anime-influenced style. However, I bit the bait and really dug it. It takes Peter Parker back to his science origins and back in high school. The stories show something the movies barely touched on since they focused on comic book villians. The show actually had Spider-Man taking on petty thugs and bank robbers. I’ve always believed if nobody stops the small guys, that just gives them a chance to become bigger threats.

(more…)

Brought to you by me browsing around facebook.

After reporting that actors who play Lex Luthor and Lana Lang (Michael Rosenbaum and Kristin Kreuk) are not returning for the 8th (and hopefully final) season the television series Smallville, exec producer Al Gough gave TV Guide’s Rich Sands an update on the duo’s contract talks. “Kristin will be back for a portion of the season — likely the first third,” he said, “and Michael… quite frankly, those negotiations are just getting started. So there’s no word one way or the other whether he’ll be back next year or not.” Though KryptonSite is reporting that Allison Mack has not, in fact, signed on for next season. While it’s possible that she hasn’t officially signed on the dotted line, my rock-solid source insists she will be back for “a minimum of 18 episodes.”

Now, on the heels of those reports, it is rumored that Lori Lemaris will be replacing Lang as the main love interest to Clark.

I’m a HUGE fan of the show, and it’s trying to become the juggernaut again by bascially doing fan-service. It’s working…to an extent, however I am seriously just trying to ignore the madness that was the 6th season. Ugh.

Funny or annoying? You decide!

 http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/#mea=227152

The wonderfully inspirational TV show Made is a hidden gem amongst all the vapid, drunken, twenty-something-dunder-heads usually infesting MTV’s reality show offerings. Yup, believe it or not, there is an actual reality show out in TV land that isn’t soulless and exploitative! MTV’s Made is as entertaining as it is winningly motivational. The show provides a normal, average teen (no celeb parents here) who as a goal – typically one who fits squarely into one of the traditional High School social class structures; like a nerd, a brain, a flamboyant drama kid, a band geek - and gives the kid a coach and six weeks to achieve said goal and become the ice skater, the Hip Hop dancer, or the Pro Wrestler!

The genius and power behind Made is that each of these kids has to stretch far past themselves to accomplish their dream; like the most recent terrific episode featuring a gay Choir singer who wanted to connect with his tough, older brother and to also show his bullies at school that is far more than just the gay kid, by becoming a Pro Wrestler with TNA Wrestling! After six weeks of dedication this determined teen got into the ring and battled it out in a three-way tag team wresting match in front of all his family and friends!

(more…)

Lately, my three-year-old discovered the Super Friends. He’d seen a couple of random episodes of Justice League, but he’d never watched anything in a cohesive way. As it is, I have all the sets that have been released so far, and my wife and I decided that if he was interested, then we should probably let him start with the younger-skewing Super Friends.

By this point, he’s totally into them. Like any burgeoning comic fan, he probably enjoys the “Challenge”/Legion of Doom season the most; however, The Legendary Super Powers Show and Galactic Guardians seasons are making a run for the top.

His sudden fandom has given us a couple of funny moments.

(more…)

We are . . . THE DREGS!

A little deep background: This is an edited version of the first episode of the two-part Dregs of Humanity story from “It’s Your Move”. IYM was a sitcom starring a young Jason Bateman as an inveterate teen con artist. In this one, he concocted a fake band (made with biology class skeletons) after he screwed up the booking for the school dance; this clip contains the concert bit and the infamous interview sequence. The second part was delayed for some time as President Reagan gave a speech that pre-empted the second part. Though the show only ran during the ‘84-’85 season, its reputation grew and it enjoyed a lengthy syndicated run on USA in the late ’80s/early ’90s. The two Dregs episodes are far and away the most fondly remembered bits of the series.

Look for the animated Martian Manhunter and Dr. Fate at seven seconds! Remember, those two never appeared on the television program. (For the record, neither did Steppenwolf, who clocks in a touch earlier).