Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, CBS/NBC Premiere Dates, Lost, Heroes, & More - June 25, 2009

Wow, I did not expect to lead with this news this week. This was a very sad day in the entertainment world with the passing of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett.

Michael Jackson passed away at the age of 50 today in Los Angeles due to cardiac arrest. Wow is really all that can be said. That news just leaves you speechless. The internet was just crazy this afternoon when word started getting out and it actually shut down Twitter at one point at least. Just what does the story of his passing compare to? That is what I’ve been wondering all night. The worldwide impact that this story has had really has few that can compare. I don’t think we can really put it into comparison just yet until the tributes continue to play out over the days ahead. I’ve known all day that I would be typing up my thoughts on Michael Jackson for the Wrap Up and have been trying to think what I could write that would even do his career justice. I’ve found myself watching a lot of his videos on You Tube tonight. It’s like this news is still so shocking that it really hasn’t sunk in yet. I grew up watching Michael Jackson and listening to his music. I spent countless hours watching him on MTV as a kid, teenager, and beyond. The King Of Pop had an amazing career that has inspired so many other musical careers. He has always been one of my all time favorite singers. People often talk about having “it” when you are a performer. Michael had “it” big time and could take over a stage like few were able to do. Michael grew up performing with his brothers in the Jackson 5 and ended up going solo. To say how huge that he was in the 80’s is an understatement. He defined the words, music superstar. Thriller which was released in 1982 is still the highest selling album of all time selling over 100 million copies. 7 of 9 songs on that album were top ten singles. With that album and song, he is always linked to Halloween for me. When it’s time for Halloween, it doesn’t seem like it until you hear that song and/or see that video. One of my favorite albums of all time is still his HIStory album which came out in 1995. It was two discs with the first disc being a greatest hits and the second disc being new material. I was so excited for this album to be released and loved it. One of my favorite songs of his when I was little was “The Way You Make Me Feel”. I would turn the volume way up on the TV when the video would come on TV and I probably drove my parents crazy with it. Ha ha. 1992 saw a big time favorite pairing of mine. The two MJ’s. Michael Jackson and Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan appeared in Jackson’s video for “Jam” which was adopted as a big time basketball song. Jordan appeared in the video with the theme of it being the combining of their amazing talents. If you want to see a fun segment, watch the clip at the very end which has Jackson teaching Jordan how to dance. It is so great. I still remember when MTV would run weekend long marathons devoted to him playing his music videos, concerts, and any sort of documentaries. I would watch a lot of those marathons. Actually, I’m fairly sure that I have some of those marathons on some tapes somewhere. I would have loved to have seen him in concert cause I can’t even imagine how amazing that it would be. I watched several of his concerts on TV over the years and he was always incredible. I guess I’ll just go over some of my favorite songs of his in no particular order: Thriller, Man In The Mirror, Leave Me Alone, Another Part Of Me, Jam, Remember The Time, Who is It, Give In To Me, Will You Be There, Scream, Billie Jean, Earth Song, You Are Not Alone, and so many more. I do have to say that seeing all of these fans gathering in various places to pay tribute to him is just awesome to see. Jackson was said to have been performing at the Staples Center last night in LA rehearsing for his upcoming comeback tour in the UK. The worldwide impact that Michael Jackson made can’t be put into words. The world is definitely in mourning tonight at the loss of one of the biggest superstars, Michael Jackson.

The other sad news of the day was Farrah Fawcett passing away at the age of 62 after a long, horrible battle with cancer. This has been such a sad story to hear about over the last while to hear how badly she was doing battling this horrible disease. She is, of course, most famously known for her role in Charlie’s Angels.

Wow, this is a sad Wrap Up cause I also have to discuss the passing of Ed McMahon earlier this week. I have always said what a fan of Johnny Carson that I was and of The Tonight Show. Ed McMahon was a huge part of The Tonight Show. I can’t even tell you how many nights that I stayed up watching The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson with Ed McMahon right by his side. Ed McMahon was beloved and the people giving tributes to him and saying kind words has been great. He touched many lives and he will be greatly missed. One of the better comments that I’ve seen this week was someone saying that Carson must have wanted someone to hang out with and laugh with up there in heaven. Can you imagine the reunion that they are having?
Obviously, I want to send my thoughts and prayers out to everyone dealing with this these huge losses this week.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is already setting box office records as the movie had the best Wednesday debut box office ever. The movie did $60.6 million on Wednesday which topped Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which did $44.2 million in 2007. I have yet to make it to the theatre to see Transformers but I am going to get out there and see it this weekend.

Movie box office numbers for last weekend. 1. The Proposal - $33.6 million. 2. The Hangover - $26.7 million. 3. Up - $23.4 million. 4. Year One - $19.6 million. 5. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 - $12 million. 6. Night At The Museum - $7.8 million. 7. Star Trek - $5.5 million. 8. Land of the Lost - $4.3 million. 9. Imagine That - $3.2 million. 10. Terminator Salvation - $3.2 million.

I watched one of the most interesting and best behind the scenes featurettes ever for a DVD box set. On season one of Lost, there is a feature on how they shot the pilot episode. It is just incredible to watch. I was just in awe watching how they shot scenes including the plane crash among many things. Some good comic relief is watching them try to come up with the concept of the polar bear. Lots of good commentary from the producers on that one. Many of the cast are interviewed for it and they do talk to the cameras too at the time of shooting the pilot episode. One comment was just how amazing the episode was with them feeling like that they were on a movie set instead of a television show. If you’re a Lost fan, I highly recommend checking it out. I thought it was incredible and just a lot of fun.

After just returning to the creative end of Heroes late last year, Bryan Fuller is once again leaving the show. Not really sure what to make of it. That show has been so all over the place in the creative end over the last couple of years. It’s such a shame too cause the show was so great in the first season. That first season was a show that you just had to watch wondering what was going to happen next. The last couple of seasons have been so all over the place with it being impossible to remember who has what power and whatever. I did think that the show had gained some momentum in the last half of this season and Fuller was a part of that. So, maybe us Heroes fans should be concerned?

More TV show premiere dates for the fall season. CBS has announced their premiere dates and here is when you can expect to see the new episodes rolling out. Survivor Samoa premieres on Thursday, September 17. On Monday, September 21, these shows will premiere: How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Accidentally On Purpose, Two and a Hal Men, CSI: Miami. Premiering on Tuesday, September 22: NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, and The Good Wife. CBS rolls out The New Adventures of Old Christine, Gary Unmarried, Criminal Minds, and CSI: NY on Wednesday, September 23. CSI and The Mentalist premiere on Thursday, September 24. On Friday, September 25, Ghost Whisperer, Medium, and Numbers premiere. On Sunday, September 27, The Amazing Race, 60 Minutes, and Cold Case premiere. The new show, Three Rivers, premieres on Sunday, October 4.

NBC also made these announcements. The Jay Leno Show premieres on Monday, September 14. The new season of The Biggest Loser will debut on Tuesday, September 15. On Thursday, September 17, SNL Weekend Update Thursday, Parks and Recreation, The Office, and Community all have their premieres. Heroes will premiere on Monday, September 21. On Wednesday, September 23, Parenthood and Law & Order SVU premiere. Law & Order along with Southland premiere on Friday, September 25. Premiering on Saturday, September 26 is the new season of Saturday Night Live. The new show Trauma will premiere on Monday, September 28. 30 Rock premieres on October 15. Chuck, Mercy, and The Marriage Ref will premiere at midseason.

All right. Here we go. I said that I would finish commenting on TV Guide’s Top 100 Episodes Of All Time. The top ten has been revealed. Some of the shows included are ER, The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy, Lost, Seinfeld, 24, and more. I’m just going to comment on a couple of them. The pilot episode for Lost was ranked at number five making it the only episode from Lost to make the top 100 which kind of baffles me. The pilot absolutely deserves to be ranked this high. It really was like watching a movie with how it was shot and produced. Just incredible. The first twenty minutes or so are a wild non stop run of action. Number one on the list goes to Seinfeld with “The Contest”. This episode was all about what the title says and it was the contest between the four which pushed the boundaries of network TV. I am also surprised to see that more Seinfeld episodes didn’t make the list. The link is here if you want to read the full top ten list: http://www.tvguidemagazine.com/feature/tvs-top-100-episodes-of-all-time-10-1-1467.html

TV on DVD releases for Tuesday, June 30. Eastbound & Down (Season One), Entourage (Season Five), Eureka (Season 3.0), Parker Lewis Can’t Lose (Season One), Stargate: Atlantis (Season Five).

You Tube Video Of The Week: Here is a tribute to Michael Jackson from You Tube with Michael Jackson and Michael Jordan paired together for “Jam” from 1992.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13ZGZexsaFo

Twitter Updates Of The Week: Just thought I’d pick out some random ones with people talking about Michael Jackson today. I also wanted to include Justin Timberlake’s comments to ET cause I was interested to hear what he had to say about Michael. "I can't find the words right now to express how deeply saddened I am by Michael's passing. We have lost a genius and a true ambassador of not only Pop music, but of all music. He has been an inspiration to multiple generations and I will always cherish the moments I shared with him on stage and all of the things I learned about music from him and the time we spent together. My heart goes out to his family and loved ones." Dick Clark had these comments: "I knew Michael as a child and watched him grow over the years. Of all the thousands of entertainers I have worked with, Michael was THE most outstanding. Many have tried and will try to copy him, but his talent will never be matched. He was truly one-of-a-kind."
Ok, now on to the Twitter updates today:
Ellen DeGeneres: So sad to hear about Michael Jackson. His music changed our lives. The world has lost an amazing singer and dancer. I will miss him.
Lance Armstrong:
 Terrible news about Michael Jackson and Farah Fawcett. My best to their friends, fans, and families.
Larry King: 
I interviewed Michael Jackson when he 12 and with the Jackson 5.
Soleil Moon Frye: 
I shared a few amazing moments with Michael as a kid+they left memories I will never forget. You were bigger than life RIP
John Mayer: I truly hope he is memorialized as the '83 moonwalking, MTV owning, mesmerizing, unstoppable, invincible Michael Jackson.
Arnold Schwarzenegger: We lost a great entertainer and a pop icon. My thoughts and prayers go out to Michael Jackson's family, friends and fans.
Eliza Dushku: Listening to MJ at photoshoot when we all heard~ surreal.
Taylor Swift: It just doesn't feel real.. Everyone is walking around backstage saying "Have you heard?".

Tough week in the entertainment world for sure. Take care and God bless!!

TV Guide's Top 100 Episodes Of All Time List, Network Premiere Dates, & More - June 18, 2009

TV Guide is currently doing their list of the Top 100 TV Episodes Of All Time. As of this writing, they have revealed everything but the top ten. Everyone is obviously going to be pulling for their favorite shows from over the years. I just thought I’d pick out some of my random favorites and discuss them and where they are ranked.
14. Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Once More With Feeling. Oh yeah!! Loving that this episode got this high on the list. Yep, seen it multiple times and own the soundtrack. This was an amazingly written episode with so many songs coming out of it that are so catchy that they will remain in your head for a long time after watching it. This episode has inspired many reenactments across the world with fans performing the episode. When I went to a Buffy/Angel convention a few years ago, one of my main things to do during the weekend was to make sure that I watched the musical with a group. Many others felt that way as well as many people were watching it. That and the fact that it was playing on no telling how many TV’s in the dealers room. That left Robia LaMorte to give a funny one liner during her Q&A that said how her favorite episode was Once More With Feeling when she arrived but after seeing five thousand times, she questioned if she could just watch “Hush”. Ha ha. Once More With Feeling is my favorite Buffy episode easily!! Really having to fight the urge to not put this in the DVD player!!
15. The Cosby Show: Goodbye Mr. Fish. Classic Cosby episode!! Rudy’s pet fish passes away and a funeral is planned for it. All goes well with it until Rudy gets tired of the funeral during it and wants to do something else. The whole thing is capped off by Dr. Huxtable’s line of “we got dressed up for this!!”. Great stuff.
21. Friends: The One With The Embryos. This may be my favorite episode of Friends. Either this or the prom episode. It almost feels like the Phoebe stuff gets in the way during this episode which is greatly overshadowed by the trivia challenge with Chandler and Joey against Rachel and Monica with the apartment on the line. The questions and answers in this episode are great!! Warning to people playing me in Friends trivia, I am tough to beat when it comes to questions from this episode. Ha ha.
39. The Wonder Years: The Pilot. Come on, Kevin and Winnie. Enough said. Round one of these characters’ story.
56. How I Met Your Mother: Slap Bet. My favorite episode of How I Met Your Mother. I’ve hooked several people on this show just by having them watch this episode. Simple plot. Barney and Marshall make a bet on what Robin’s secret from her past is. The winner of the bet gets to slap the other one in the face as hard as they can. Things get even more entertaining when Lilly is made to be “slap bet commissioner”. This episode was so popular that the slap bet has been revisited several times. This episode also gave a song that you’ll be singing forever. Let’s Go To The Mall. Try and watch this episode and not have that in your head. Yeah, good luck with that!!
60. The Big Bang Theory: The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis. Wow, check out the still young in production, Big Bang Theory getting on the list. This is a fun episode that has Sheldon going crazy when Penny gets him a Christmas gift only for him to have to do his usual Sheldon thing of freaking out and evening things out with her. The payoff of this episode is HUGE in the last few minutes!!
76. Family Ties: The Real Thing Part Two. One of my favorite 80’s shows. Always loved this show!! I just wish it got more air time on TV in reruns. This is the episode that had Alex going to stop Ellen’s wedding.
78. Angel: I Will Remember You. Want a tearjerker of an episode from Joss Whedon? Here is your episode. Oh, I have a friend watching Buffy so I have to tell him now to skip ahead to the next paragraph!!! About to discuss some spoilers!!! Nothing to see here!! A human Angel gets to finally have his romance with Buffy. All is well….for a little while. You knew it couldn’t last and we get the moment at the end where it never happened and the memories of it are gone. Well, except for Angel. Buffy never has a memory of it. Great episode!!
81. Smallville: Rosetta. Christopher Reeve returns to the world of Superman and plays Dr. Swann. This is a huge episode of Smallville which helps Clark learn more about himself and his history. Seeing Christopher Reeve and Tom Welling together on screen was great!!
92. Party Of Five: The Intervention. This is the episode where EVERYONE stepped their acting game up!! This is an incredible episode!! The Sallingers confront Bailey on his drinking problem and it goes as bad as you would expect it to. Lots of yelling, hurt feelings, and a punch being thrown.
100. The Brady Bunch: The Subject Was Noses. The moment that has spawned so many spoofs from all over the entertainment world. Marcia gets nailed with a football in the nose leaving her screaming “oh my nose”. Come on, everyone has to know that Brady moment.
So, I’m waiting to see what the top ten is. Maybe I’ll discuss those next week. Can’t believe there has not been any Lost in this list so far. Surely it will appear in the top ten!! If you want to check out the list, here is a link to #20-11 and you can find the links to rest on that page: http://www.tvguidemagazine.com/feature/tvs-top-100-episodes-of-all-time-20-11-1450.html

TV Guide has a story on Brian Austin Green and Smallville. Check out the story here: http://www.tvguide.com/News/Smallville-Brian-Austin-1007034.aspx

The CW has announced some start dates for shows in the fall. The season premiere of Smallville will be on Friday, September 25. I still don’t like the sound of FRIDAY. Grrr. 90210 and Melrose Place will premiere on Tuesday, September 8. One Tree Hill will now start at 7pm central time on Monday nights leading off the night followed by Gossip Girl as both start on September 14. Vampire Diaries will premiere on Thursday, September 10 along with the season premiere of Supernatural. America’s Next Top Model premieres on Wednesday, September 9. The CW’s new show, The Beautiful Life launches on Wednesday, September 16.

Likewise, ABC has announced premiere dates for their shows. Dancing With The Stars (September 21), Castle (September 21), Grey’s Anatomy (September 24), Flash Forward (September 24), Modern Family (September 23), Cougar Town (September 23), Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (September 27), Desperate Housewives (September 27), The Middle (September 30), Hank (September 30), The Forgotten (September 22), America’s Funniest Home Videos (October 4), Supernanny (October 16). And going with the move to Friday and late start theme, Ugly Betty will premiere on October 9. What is up with the networks and their moves to Friday nights along with late season starts? There are a few shows that have yet to get premiere dates.

If you’re going to Comic Con, start making your plans on what panels that you want to go to. There are a lot of great ones being added all the time. The panels were a ton of fun last year. My favorites included Smallville and the Dr. Horrible panels. Kristin over at E Online has a good listing of the announced dates and times so far which include Lost, The Big Bang Theory, Smallville, Chuck, Supernatural, and more.
http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b128285_check_out_comic-con_tv-show_panel.html?utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=rss_topstories

The CMT Music Awards were held in Nashville earlier this week and here is the run down of the winners.
Video Of The Year: Taylor Swift for “Love Story”
Male Video Of The Year: Brad Paisley for “Waitin’ On A Woman”
Female Video Of The Year: Taylor Swift for “Love Story”
Group Video Of The Year: Rascal Flatts for “Every Day”
Duo Video Of The Year: Sugarland for “All I Want To Do”
Collaborative Video Of The Year: Brad Paisley and Keith Urban for “Start A Band”
USA Weekend Breakthrough Video Of The Year: Zac Brown Band for “Chicken Fried”
Wide Open Country Video Of The Year: Kid Rock for “All Summer Long”
CMT Performance Of The Year: Alan Jackson, George Strait, Brad Paisley, and Dierks Bentley for “Country Boy”
Director Of The Year: Trey Fanjoy
Nationwide Insurance On Your Side Award: Gloriana
Great to see the fan voting come in with a win for Gloriana!!

Quite a bit of talk this week about Paula Abdul and Kara DioGuardi not being signed to a deal for the next season of American Idol. Will they be back? I tend to believe so but that is just my opinion. Having one of the three original judges not on the show would be bizarre. I would like to have Kara back as well. I enjoyed having her as a judge this season and thought she did well.

One week till Transformers!!

Movie box office numbers for last weekend. 1. The Hangover - $32.7 million. 2. Up - $30.7 million. 3. The Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3 - $23.3 million. 4. Night At The Museum - $9.6 million. 5. Land Of The Lost - $8.9 million. 6. Imagine That - $5.5 million. 7. Star Trek - $5.4 million. 8. Terminator Salvation - $4.7 million. 9. Angels & Demons - $4.1 million. 10. Drag Me To H*** - $3.9 million.

I figured that I would continue with my TV recommendations to help anyone that may be looking for something to watch in this summer of reruns. My next recommendation. Lost!! If you’ve never seen Lost and want to give it a shot, be prepared to get very addicted to this show. This is the most smartly written show on TV. It constantly is making you think on what could be happening. The show follows the story of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 on an island. The survivors soon learn that something is not normal about this island. They learn more about each other and we also learn more as well through flashbacks of the characters lives before they arrived on the island. Such a great group of characters and actors. Lost was my summer viewing show last year. I quickly got addicted and was thankful to not have to wait on new episodes and seasons like fans who were with it from the beginning. I can’t tell you how many times that I would think that I am just going to watch two episodes. Then, I had watched about eight by the end of the day. Ha ha. Crazy cliffhangers. Each episode ended with me saying “ok, I’ll just watch one more”. That continued for a while until I finally just had to call it a day. If you’ve never seen Lost, just watch it. It is incredible. The writing is amazing. The acting is amazing. The scenery is amazing. The bottom line is that the show is amazing. Make sure to watch it from the beginning too. You’ll enjoy it MUCH more. It is a show where you need to see it from the beginning.

The LA Lakers are NBA champions once again after defeating the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals. Kobe’s first championship without Shaq and you know that this championship is a huge thing for him. This was the first time where the team was just truly his and not a two man team. I really expected Orlando to give them a tougher series especially after they defeated Boston and Cleveland. NBA Finals ratings were down from a year ago but I think that was to be expected. I say that because the history between the Lakers and Celtics was enough to drive viewers to tuning in last year.

TV on DVD releases for Tuesday, June 23. Monster Squad (Complete Collection), Reba (Season Six), Tom and Jerry (Chuck Jones Collection).

You Tube Video Of The Week: This is the Superman Celebration 2009 Fan Film contest winner called Villains Day Off.


Wishing all of you a great weekend!! Take care and God bless!!

Superman Celebration 2009 - Q&A Session With Justin Hartley, Phil Morris, Beverly Washburn, & Noel Neill - Metropolis, IL - June 13, 2009

The 2009 Superman Celebration continued today with the main event of the weekend. Saturday brought a big crowd to Metropolis, IL. In attendance were Justin Hartley and Phil Morris from Smallville along with Beverly Washburn and Noel Neill. Several different autograph sessions took place with the stars along with many different events to attend.

The question and answer session took place this morning in Metropolis with Justin Hartley, Phil Morris, Beverly Washburn, and Noel Neill all taking part in it. Lots of fun and laughs. Justin and Phil were doing a ton of joking around. Everyone was cracking jokes. Each person was presented a Superman of Metropolis award except for Noel. Noel has been in attendance so many times that she already has the award. So, they gave her an official Guiness World Records certificate for helping out last year with the record setting of the most people dressed as Superman in one place which was 122. She was the official starter for the event.

I’ve recapped a lot of the Q&A with the questions that were asked by people in attendance. Keep in mind that Justin and Phil got most of the questions when reading this.

Q&A Highlights:

Justin Hartley:
Question: A little boy asked a question regarding Smallville asking “do you really like Lois Lane in real life? “ Big applause to the question from the boy as it was really funny.
Justin laughs and says “we’re friends. We’re both married….to different people. Yeah, she’s lovely. She’s great. My wife is actually here” Crowd laughs.
Host: “Which had nothing to do with the way you answered the question."

Any truth to the rumors of a Green Arrow spinoff after season nine of Smallville?
Justin: “I don’t know. Some people talk about it and I always just say that right now I’m doing Smallville. It’s not something that I would want to spend my time thinking about when I’m doing Smallville. I think it would be a disservice to my Green Arrow on Smallville and I’m just focusing on that right now.”

Question: A boy asks, can you really shoot a bow and arrow in real life?
Justin: “I could shoot you right now kid. (laughs) Yeah, I can. I couldn’t before the show. I took a class in high school for like two weeks that you have to take after swimming and right before basketball. I did some really intense training cause you gotta look like you kinda know what you’re doing but yes, I can. Thanks for the question.“

Question: What is your favorite part about being Green Arrow?
Justin: “I like playing Oliver to be honest with you. When I’m doing the Green Arrow thing and killing bad guys or whatever, it justifies everything that Oliver kind of does. Oliver is not that smooth around the edges and he has some rough spots. The reason that he is able to get away with a lot of that stuff is because of what he does as Green Arrow. Another really cool part about playing him is that I have a four year old daughter. So, I just don’t even tell her that it’s a show. I just tell her that I’m a superhero. She doesn’t know so she goes to school and says this is my mommy and she’s an actress. This is my daddy and he’s a superhero. Then, I’m in the background and I just say that’s right and I have superhero friends so who is going to argue?” This was a really funny story!!

Question: What can we expect for season nine of Smallville?
Justin: “Well, I just had a meeting the other day with the producers. It’s going to be a lot about finishing things that have been built up over the course of the series. Hopefully, they’ll be bringing him back and dive into him a little more (pointing to Phil). Obviously the show is about Clark’s journey and it’s been this buildup for so many years and it’s getting to the point where it’s coming time. So, it will be interesting to see how they handle that. Then, everybody else’s character, I didn’t really get into any of that. I think that maybe they’re going to break me down a little bit and see what happens. See if I can go even darker. I’ll be so dark that I’ll be, like, purple. (laughs).“

Question: How did you get to be the Green Arrow?
Justin: “I did a pilot for the creators of Smallville. A different show and I did the pilot for them. The pilot didn’t go and often pilots don’t go. They called me maybe a couple of months later and said we have this role for you and would like you to do it and here is what it is about. It was great for me because I hadn’t gotten offered a lot of stuff at that point. I was auditioning constantly trying to get the job. So, when someone says I have this offer for you, I didn’t even know what to do. I had done a lot of work for them on the pilot and from that, they said that this guy would be fine for this.“

Question: Do you miss working with Michael Rosenbaum?
Justin: “No (jokingly laughs). I love Michael Rosenbaum. I’ve said this before but I think for like the first day that I met him that I was like this (awed face) because I go ‘dude do you wake up every morning and does someone sketch you on a pad because you’re like a drawing?’ The guy is, I’m not joking, top five funniest people I’ve ever met in my life. He is completely inappropriate all the time and that makes him completely appropriate. He’s a great actor and he’s the intethesist of Lex Luthor. We have a ball. He’s one of those guys that when you’re around, your abs just kind of hurt. Just a great guy and I miss working with him. He’s fun.”

Question: Do you feel you relate more to Oliver Queen or Green Arrow?
Justin: “That’s a good question. It usually depends on what kind of day he is having”. He then joked about reading through the scripts and seeing the lousy things that would be happening to Oliver and thinking this is a bad day for Oliver. He really thought on this question and had a tough time answering it. “Probably Oliver. Although, I think about being a dad and it’s about Green Arrow. I’ll tell you how I can relate to both of them. Oliver is great because on the surface he’s a millionaire and he has this and he has that. You look at him and think wow everyone wants to be that guy and he’s this tortured soul, he’s missing his parents. He feels responsible for so many things. Then, what appeals to me about Green Arrow is the fact that he’s mortal. I always liked Batman so, for me, it’s fun to see a guy go out there and put it on the line cause he could actually die if he is shot or get injured. For me, the vulnerability on both sides is what appeals to me. “



Phil Morris:
Question: Did you come into acting to follow in your dad’s footsteps?
Phil: “At first, I really wanted to do everything but this cause I’ve gotten this question all my life. As a young, fairly strong young man, I’ve wanted to do my own thing. Obvioulsy, I’m following in his footsteps to a degree but I never got into it to try to eclipse anything that he ever did because there is no way that I could hold a candle to him. He was a legend. He did a great show with Mission Impossible. I honor his legacy. Without him, there is no me in many, many ways. He really was a great father, mentor, and trailblazer for me as an African American actor. So, I’m just happy that people even mention me in the same breath with him and I really appreciate your question because I love him and he looks down on me and blesses me every single day. “

Question: How has the Martian Manhunter’s character being killed in the comic books affected your career or if at all?
Phil: “Well…..” (and points to the Celebration as a whole). “It has affected it. I have been in this genre for a while, done a lot of Star Treks so the sci-fi adventure genre, I just jumped all over it. This is my foray into live action comic book superhero portrayal. I had done a lot of it, voiceover wise, and that has been great. What the networks and studios don’t realize is how fervent, and loyal, and honest and honorable that you fans are when it comes to what we do. I’ve been saying while we’ve been signing for people is that without you there is no us. It’s absolutely true. I find that to be especially strong in this comic book area. My career has been effected mainly through the fan base and how they’ve supported my work and then went on to see me in Seinfeld and then come back and say that they had no idea that I was that funny. It gives the fans another perspective of who I am as an actor. As a comic book freak which is what I am, I’m honored to play John Jones because I honor the fandom of comics. I honor the medium and genre of comic books. So for me, it’s a great honor to play him. I think other actors may not feel that because they didn’t grow up with comics the way that I did. I’m digging it big time and that’s pretty much how it has affected my career. I love it.”

Question: Since you worked with Jerry Seinfeld and he’s a big Superman fan, do you still keep in contact about your Smallville progress?
Phil: “I left him a couple of messages but I didn’t hear back from him. Jerry and I love some of the same things. We’re big Superman comic book guys. Big race car guys and stuff. Working with him on that show was just an honor. These were really strong professional actors and you want to work with the best people that you can in this game. I couldn’t have chosen people that were any better at their craft than to work with the Seinfeld crew. I was happy to be involved in a show that a lot of people loved and took to heart. I think that he thinks it’s kind of cool that I’m doing Smallville but I have not heard from him.”

Question: Do you remember your first comic book?
Phil: “I do. And it was 1966, Cleveland, OH. My grandmother took us to a drug store. It was Tales of Suspence from Captain America and Iron Man. They did a run of that until they wrote them off into their own books. I think I have about 100 of those but I have about 20,000 books.”

Question: Is there any chance of Martian Manhunter getting his powers restored?
Phil: “I hope that in season nine that Clark helps a brother out there. I did lose them SAVING HIS LIFE. (laughs) I think they can kick me a couple more powers. Give me invulnerability. Just give me a few. I don’t need them all. I like that he’s more of a normal guy cause I think it gives him more of a dimension as that character so I couldn’t have had that fight scene if I had my powers still cause I would have broken him. I was hoping that they would give me more of that to do so I could use my martial arts skill and display that without really like killing anybody. With John’s power which is about ten amounts of Superman, I wouldn’t be able to do as much so I’m hoping that they just bring me back so I can play more of the human John Jones and then Clark and his wisdom will help me out."




Beverly Washburn:
Question: Did you enjoy doing Star Trek?
Beverly: “I loved doing Star Trek. When I did it, it was the orignal one in the second season. So, it really wasn’t all that big then. I had no idea 42 years ago that it would go on to be such a phenomenon now and be all over the world. I don’t know if any of you saw that particular episode. It was “The Deadly Years” where we all get old and I die of old age. At least I got to die in Captain Kirk’s arms. What I couldn’t figure out was that I died and wasn’t even wearing a red shirt. (laughs)”

Question: Share a story about Clayton Moore who played The Lone Ranger?
Beverly: “I have a funny story about Clayton Moore. He wore that very tight costume. I guess he didn’t want, I don’t know how to stay this, visible panty lines. So, he didn’t wear any underwear. There was a scene that we filmed in Utah where I get kidnapped and Lone Ranger and Tonto come to my rescue. He gets up on Silver and rides off. As he got up on the horse, his pants split open so he had his bare butt hanging out. So, the director, as a joke, just let the film keep rolling so they could show it in the outttakes. The running gag on the set was the lone ranger was riding off into the sunset as he was mooning everybody."

Noel Neill:

Noel Neill discussed several topics including her statue that the groundbreaking was held for on Thursday and also George Reeves. When asked about the statue, Noel joked that “they won’t let me take it home”. She was asked if there were any other statues of her anywhere else to which she jokingly said not that she knew of. Noel always gets asked about George Reeves every year and what it was like working with him. She is always very complimentary of him and said today “George was a wonderful person and a good actor. We miss him”.


Questions for everyone or had multiple people answering them:

Question: Is there any souvenirs that you guys keep from the set that you keep in your houses?
Noel: “Bodies.”
(Big laughs on that comment.)
Beverly: “I have William Shatner at my house as we speak.”
Noel: “Lots of different things that people bring you from different outfits and towns. It’s really nice”.
Phil: “The best stuff is that. The fans bring you something nice or maybe a great drawing of your character or some momento. What you bring to us means way more to me than a studio sending me their obligatory gift. It’s like that card that they send you for your birthday that means less to me when I’m here and I get a photograph of my dad from you or I get a drawing from a young man or woman. It just touches my heart and that is what means the most to me.”
Justin: “It’s true. I try to keep all that stuff with gifts that I get from people. I do have one thing that I took from my previous job. I was on a daytime show and I took the lead actress. I really do have a body. (laughs).” Justin was talking about his wife of course. '

Question: Why doesn’t Superman fly in Smallville?
Justin: “My take on it is because he’s Clark. He’s not Superman. We’re closing in on that time though, aren’t we?”
Phil: “The creators said early on no tights, no flying. That was their edict on Smallville because every other television show that had shown Superman went right for the suit and all that . What they were trying to do was to create a reality around him, which I think, has been very successful. Even as he is gaining his powers, every power that he got was a surprise and a shock. It was much more real. When you put him in the primary colors and tights and stuff, it kind of dilutes that or weakens that. So, they’re waiting for him to say, hey, I am Superman to fly. We haven’t gotten there yet. Green Arrow and John Jones we’re trying to get him there quick, fast, and in a hurry, trust me. (laughing).”

Question: A kid asks what is your favorite superhero?
Phil: “The Green Arrow”
Justin: “The Martian Manhunter. “
Host: “What do you think of these guys Beverly?”
Beverly: “They’re both hilarious and it’s my first time meeting both of them. It’s a honor to me too. Just really nice to share the stage with all of them including Noel. We have a lot in common. We both worked with George Reeves. Mine was a small part but still. We’re both in the greatest show on Earth. She is the only person on Earth that makes me feel tall (laughs) and I love them.”

Question: How hard are the stunts?
Justin: “I do have a stunt double. He’s excellent. I like to do all my own stuff. There are certain things that I can’t do cause I’m not a stunt guy and I don’t know how. There are certain things that I can probably do but they won’t let me. That leaves the hard stuff and the dangerous stuff for him. I actually have two guys that kind of pop in back and forth. They’re great. I’m horrified of heights. There will be a scene where I’m standing on the side of the building and I’m roped on to the building and there is no way that I can fall. I’m dizzy cause I’m just horrified. I do it cause I think eventually I’ll get over it but I haven’t yet. These guys are standing up there joking around talking like it’s nothing to them. It’s a completely different craft and I have the upmost respect for those guys. These are the guys that you walk up to and say ‘we’re going to set you on fire today’ and they say ‘cool’. It’s the small stunts that you get hurt on.“
Phil: “Well, I don’t do as many stunts as Justin does. I had one fight scene recently and got shot. These guys are craftsman and artists. I would never take away their craft. I’m a martial artist so when it comes to fighting, I’m the one that is going to do it because I’m the one that knows how to do that. If it’s going to represent me, I’d rather have me in there but when it comes to the things that they do well, I step back and take notes cause Justin is right. They’re like ‘you’re going to fall off of that building, roll, and then we’re going to put you on fire’ they’re like ‘sweeeeet’. They are a wonderful group. Stuntmen are phenomenal and have great energy too.“
Noel: “We had a wonderful stunt director. We didn’t do much though. Kellogg’s wouldn’t let us.”
Beverly: “Most of my work was when I was a child actor. They don’t really let children do stunts. When I did the Lone Ranger, there was a scene where I am supposed to ride off on my pony and I was just so dying to do that. They actually wouldn’t allow me to do it because of insurance purposes and because I was a minor. If I had fallen off, it would have been a problem. So, they got a little person and dressed her up like me and put the wig on and everything. So, if any of you saw that movie and you see me fly off into the sunset, it was my stunt double.”

Some other miscellaneous topics covered included the push to still get Noel on Smallville, whether directing was something they’d like to do, and more. One boy asked if Tom Welling would be coming to Metropolis? Phil really talked big over how much effort that Tom puts into the character and how that makes him not have a lot of free time on his hands especially with him having a family as well. Phil said that Tom always talks about that with how he works so hard to make that character be great for the viewers. The Allison Mack plan from last year was shut down immediately when the host of the Q&A said that there would not be any hug requests going on which was funny. You might remember last year about the guy that asked Allison for a hug and got it. Might as well shut that idea down from the beginning this year cause you know someone was going to ask. Ironic thing after that was the first question was a guy wanting to get into the business and wanted their help on getting his foot in the door. The host joked that he remembered to say the hugs remark but forgot about people wanting to get into the business. It was a funny moment and Justin took the guy’s card as well. Funny moment to start off the Q&A session.

Overall, fun weekend. Plenty of fun events to attend and there is usually always something to do over there. Just keep an eye on the schedule so you know what events that you want to attend. The weather stayed nice for the most part with the only rain happening, for when I was there, on Thursday night. I have only one real small criticism today is that the timing for having the stars standing in front of the Superman statue really is bad for the fans. Two years in a row now that I’d like to have those great pics but I’m not giving up my spot that I’ve been holding for a long time at the Q&A to get the pics. It would be nice if they could do that after the Q&A where everyone is able to move more freely and get a chance to see it. I’m sure the autograph session tickets will be a topic of discussion. I think the sessions are a good idea and whether you like the idea of it or not probably depends on whether you have a ticket. ha ha. I got a ticket last year but missed out this year and I was in line early on Friday. The sessions seemed to go well last year when I was in there but I didn't see it close up this year so I can't comment on it. I didn’t hear any talk about it either among the public so I don’t know what the overall feedback was this year.

I want to give a thank you to the city of Metropolis for hosting this every year. Everyone works really hard on the event and they deserve a ton of credit for it. Very fun weekend.

Wishing all of you a great rest of the weekend!! Take care and God bless!!

2009 Superman Celebration Is Underway!! - June 11, 2009

The 2009 Superman Celebration is underway in Metropolis, IL. The opening ceremonies were this evening along with the groundbreaking for the Noel Neill statue. At the opening ceremonies, we had a very fun sketch acted out by people playing Superman, Lex Luthor, and Lois Lane along with others. It was a really fun way to kick off the Celebration. After that, we had the presentation of the Guiness Book Of World Records award that was set last year at the 2008 Celebration for most people dressed as Superman in one location.

After the opening ceremonies, it was time for a very special ceremony for the first lady of Metropolis, Noel Neill. The long awaited statue that will be made in her honor had its groundbreaking this evening. Noel Neill took part in the ceremony and spoke to the crowd. She was driven up to the location of the statue in a classic car which was a very nice touch. She spoke to the crowd and it was just great to see her take part in this ceremony. I’m really excited to see this statue get done. Such a great honor for her!! This was just the first night of the Superman Celebration. The other guests will be rolling into town for the weekend. A major Smallville presence as the lineup includes Justin Hartley, who plays Green Arrow; and also Phil Morris who guest stars as The Martian. Also in attendance are, of course, Noel Neill (the first lady of Metropolis and played Lois Lane on the Adventures of Superman) and then Beverly Washburn (played on Superman and the Mole Men). Plenty more Superman Celebration coverage to come.  For more info on the 2009 Superman Celebration, head over to:  http://supermancelebration.net/

Fanboys, Spiderman, WWDC, & More - June 11, 2009

So, Fanboys is officially one of the hardest movies to find to watch. I did get to see it and enjoyed it. Basically, the story is that it is about a group of Star Wars fans which takes place in 1999 before the release of The Phantom Menace. The friends all were close years earlier but had grown up with some growing apart. I’m not going to go deep into spoilers obviously but will set the story up. The group gets together at a Halloween party where we learn that one of them has cancer with it being unsure if he will be make it to the time of the opening. The plan is set in motion about taking a trip to Skywalker Ranch to sneak in and see the movie way before it opens. I liked how the story was setup during the making of featurettes on the DVD extras. The producer talked about how the group may have grown apart but how Star Wars is their common bond that ties them together. Yeah, the humor in this movie and language was a bit much for me at times so I had to get past that. The story is a lot of fun and you’ll see many Star Wars cameos throughout the movie. It really is nice to see how the Star Wars community embraced the movie. Kristen Bell. Yes, Kristen Bell is in it which is always a plus!! She is fantastic in this movie and had me cracking up laughing several times. She had one line involving Alf which had me laughing out loud. If you’re a Star Wars fan, give the movie a look and see what you think. This movie has been talked about for several years so I was happy to finally see it. Like I said, the humor gets too crude for my liking but I liked the story so I just had to get past it.

The New York Post got some exclusive news on Spiderman 4 when producer Todd Black spoke to them on it. Kirsten Dunst is in for the movie which will open on May 6, 2011. They also have more scoop on the rumors about the story for Spiderman 4 which you can check out at this link: http://blogs.nypost.com/movies/archives/2009/06/exclusive_spide.html

The digital TV transition is here once again after being delayed earlier in the year. The transition will happen tomorrow.

I had heard so many bad things about Superman IV with many telling me to not bother watching it. You know? I didn’t hate it. I thought it was all right and liked it better than Superman III. Best one of the four was definitely Superman II for my liking.

Apple made rumblings this week at their WWDC presentation on Monday afternoon. It is so fun to follow this as I watched this with friends. There is no live video or audio allowed as Apple puts it up online later on in the day. So, what do you have to do? Follow the live updates of the people that are in attendance to get the announcements. Actually, follow someone who has a web show who is following the event. Get all that? Cali Lewis and Leo Laporte did an excellent job following the action from WWDC. If you watched Leo Laporte, you saw that someone had a live streaming video going from inside the room. I couldn’t believe that it stayed up as I was sure that Apple would shut it down. The running commentary by the show hosts was great as they would give more insight and details behind the announcements. The big news of the event was that Apple was unveiling the new iPhone 3G S which includes video capture. The now old iPhones are going to be available for $99. You could literally feel the tension during this whole thing with people just thinking “hurry up and get to the iPhone stuff”. Ha ha.

Movie box office numbers for last weekend. 1. The Hangover - $44.9 million. 2. Up - $44.1 million. 3. Land of the Lost - $18.8 million. 4. Night At The Museum - $14.6 million. 5. Star Trek - $8.3 million. 6. Terminator Salvation - $8.2 million. 7. Drag Me To H*** - $7 million. 8. Angels & Demons - $6.5 million. 9. My Life In Ruins - $3.2 million. 10. Dance Flick - $1.9 million.

The extras for the Smallville season eight DVD have been announced. Here is what has been announced: Deleted Scenes, cast and creator commentaries, a featurette on Doomsday, and In The Director’s Chair: Behind The Lens and Calling The Shots with Allison Mack which will look at her first time in the director’s chair for Smallville.

I’ve been rewatching season one of Chuck with friends and am really enjoying it. This is such a great show and if you haven’t seen it, you really need to check it out. Season two is even better than season one.

TV on DVD releases for Tuesday, June 16. Burn Notice (Season Two), Everwood (Season Two), The FBI Files (Season Three), Family Guy (Volume Seven), House Of Payne (Volume Four), I Can’t Believe I’m Still Single (Season One), Lost (Season One and Two which are the new Blu-ray releases), Saving Grace (Season Two), Secret Life of the American Teenager (Season Two), Transformers (Season One – 25th Anniversary Edition).

You Tube Video Of The Week: Chad Vader after a visit to the dentist. These Chad Vader videos are hilarious. Glad that I found this series a while back.

Conan's Tonight Show Debut, & More - June 4, 2009

Conan O’Brien kicked off his start on The Tonight Show on Monday night. I really enjoyed the first show and found myself laughing a lot. Same Conan just at a different hour and that is a good thing. The opening montage was great stuff!! I’m talking about the montage where he runs from New York to Los Angeles. That was shot so well. Perfect finish with him getting locked out and then driving the bulldozer through the wall. Just a really fun way to start the show off and a good song to go along with it!! I also liked the tram segment with him traveling around with the tourists. I laughed quite a bit at that as well. Tonight Show tradition held up with him taking shots at the LA Clippers. That must be a requirement as a Tonight Show host. I was really looking hard at the set to see what the changes would be. A lot of the look of it is a real throwback to the Johnny Carson days. Only thing that I wasn’t crazy about was where they have Andy Richter positioned. They have him behind a podium beside the audience. It just seems kind of uncomfortable having him standing there through the show. Melendez had a chair when he was out there and it looked much more comfortable. Great to see Conan and Andy back together. Overall, big thumbs up from me on Conan’s first show!!

Viewers tuned in big to see Conan’s Tonight Show debut getting a 7.1 rating which was the best number for a Monday night episode of The Tonight Show in four years. It was the seventh highest Monday rating since 1992 when Leno took over The Tonight Show.

NBC has announced the start date for Leno’s show in the fall. The show will start on Monday, September 14 at 9pm central time.

Gloriana has announced when their album will be released. August 4 is the date so Gloriana fans need to mark the date on their calendar. I know I will be.

Movie box office numbers for last weekend. 1. Up - $68.1 million. 2. Night At The Museum - $24.3 million. 3. Terminator Salvation - $16.4 million. 4. Drag Me To H*** - $15.8 million. 5. Star Trek - $12.6 million. 6. Angels & Demons - $11.3 million. 7. Dance Flick - $4.7 million. 8. X-Men Origins: Wolverine - $3.8 million. 9. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past - $1.9 million. 10. Obsessed - $657,001.

Microsoft made news this week at E3 unveiling Project Natal. What is that? Well, you basically take the Nintendo Wii and take away the controller. No controller necessary. It is very impressive looking!! If you haven’t heard about it or seen it, here is the trailer that Microsoft has released about it. Definitley check it out. http://www.xbox.com/NR/rdonlyres/DA33AEC8-03F0-442C-BA95-257CB5B761F5/0/vidProjectNatalAnnounceHi.asx

My normal thing to do during the summer is to find a new TV series to watch on DVD. Since there is a definite lack of things to talk about when it comes to TV, I thought I could spend some time recommending some various shows over the next few weeks. Current and also shows from the past. Maybe I’ll be able to get you hooked on a new TV show. Shocker, shocker. I’m starting with Veronica Mars. This is a show that I loved!! Written by Rob Thomas and starring Kristen Bell, this show was one of the smartest written shows that I have seen in a long time. Kristen Bell plays Veronica Mars who works with her dad who is a private investigator. Her personal life has taken a major hit when her best friend, Lily, was found murdered. She was dating Lily’s brother, Duncan. However, Veronica’s dad, Keith who used to be sheriff, named Lily and Duncan’s father as the main suspect in Lily’s murder. Their father is one of the rich families in Neptune so there was a big backlash over Keith naming him as a suspect. With the backlash, the popular crowd at Neptune High that Veronica had been hanging out with turns their backs on her. Veronica must now adjust to life including her trying to solve the mystery of what happened to her best friend. Kristen Bell is GOLD in this show. She is incredible and throws out witty one liners that I’ve seen few deliver so well. Lots of mystery in the show obviously with the private eye story but there is a great mix of comedy and romance to go along with it. Great show and I miss it very much!! If you want to see season one, it is available for free viewing on The WB.com until June 29. After that, they will be putting up season two. Check it out here: http://www.thewb.com/shows/veronica-mars/

Finally, there is news on the talked about Transformers DVD box set. Shout! Factory has released the details on the box set which will include all 98 episodes of the original cartoon series. They are restored which will make the anti-Rhino set people very happy. Rhino did a lot of messing with the episodes which got to be really annoying. Shout! is really working to put the episodes back in their original form. The box set will be sixteen discs and will run $140. The box set looks like the matrix of leadership which looks really cool. There will also be some new extras on the box set as well. For more info on the set including how to preorder it, head over to: http://www.transformerscollectorsset.com/

TV on DVD releases for Tuesday, June 9. The Cleaner (Season One), Danny Phantom (Season Three), Father Knows Best (Season Three), Get Smart (Season Three), Perry Mason (Season Four – Volume One), Reaper (Season Two), The Shield (Season Seven), Survivorman (Season Three), Whose Line Is It Anyway? (Best Of).

Twitter Update Of The Week: @taylorswift13 "I just impulsively bought my cat a shirt that says "Hottie". I have no idea why. Maybe I shouldn't have days off."

Video of the Week: Conan travels from New York to LA.


Wishing all of you a great weekend!! Take care and God bless!!

Dr. Horrible DVD Review - June 4, 2009

Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog is now out on DVD and I wanted to share my thoughts on it. If you haven’t heard of it, this was the Joss Whedon and company project that was done during the writers strike last year. They took the project straight to the internet where it was a phenomenon. Dr. Horrible was originally able to view for free and was so popular that it crashed their website the first couple of days of release. That Whedonverse is a loyal bunch!! Dr. Horrible stars Neil Patrick Harris, Felicia Day, and Nathan Fillion. Harris plays Dr. Horrible who is a super villain in training ready to prove himself worthy to join the Evil League of Evil. Dr. Horrible has to battle his arch nemesis, Captain Hammer, while also realizing his feelings for a girl at the Laundromat by the name of Penny. This is a musical and Buffy fans will love it as it is, of course, very Once More With Feeling like. The music will get into your head and the story is a fun one. The cast does an amazing job and they had a great time doing it. I’m hoping that this internet phenomenon will encourage more to try out these kind of projects. The DVD itself is a lot of fun as well. Even if you’ve seen Dr. Horrible already, there is plenty more on the DVD for you to enjoy. I say that in full confidence cause I watched it around the time that it was released online. There was plenty more good stuff to watch on the DVD. There are two separate commentaries. One with the cast and the other is a musical commentary. Yep, a newly written musical which is used as commentary on a musical. Follow that? The cast is reunited with new songs. Lots of fun. I especially laughed at the song which has groupie #3, Stacy, singing a song about how she paid Joss $10 for a solo on the musical commentary. Then, Neil steps in at the end to reveal that he had paid Joss $15 and the solo was now his. Funny stuff. Really clever writing on it. Another fun extra on it is based on the contest done a while back with fans able to send in their videos to apply for The Evil League of Evil. The best ten were picked out and put on the DVD. There are some really good ones on there that had to take a lot of time to do. Variety of picks with some focusing more on the editing, some on the music, and others. I have to admit that the one that I laughed at the most was the animated one which was basically the character just wanting to meet Felicia Day. Then, he goes into a love song that he wrote for her which goes along with pics of her including him put into the pictures. I thought it was hilarious. I loved the idea of this contest for an extra and looked forward to seeing what fans could come up with. They didn’t disappoint. Like I said, this is a very fun musical and another Whedon hit. I just hope that we eventually get a sequel.