Monthly Archives: October 2014

Arrow vs. Gotham

Gotham - Another Great Image (C) CW, this one found on Facebook

Gotham – Another Great Image (C) CW, this one found on Facebook

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say I want to take a moment to talk about the DC Universe currently being brought to life on the small screen.  Taking Starling City as presented in CW’s Arrow and Gotham in Fox’s Gotham as the two shows currently shining brightly and with the most episodes to date to talk about.  Yes, Flash now has two episodes out of the box, and will probably garner a few remarks, but Arrow is entering its third season, and with four very solid episodes already out Gotham has a head start on Flash in the department of world and character building.

Over the course of two seasons the CW has shown on Arrow that they can build a solid world.  Without a doubt that may be one of the show’s greatest accomplishments.  Someone who has never read the comic books (myself for instance) can come to the show, a novice when it comes to all of the characters, jump right in with the first episode, and understand virtually everything they are seeing and being exposed to.  Arrow takes the time to explain the things that need explaining, and speaks with authority about things like ARGUS so even when I am not sure what the abbreviation stands for, I am positive it holds meaning in their universe and if I needed to know, they would, in that moment at least, make sure I knew (whether or not I retain the information for the long haul).

Gotham‘s first four episodes do a wonderful job of bringing to life the complex world in which Bruce Wayne evolved from a confused boy seeing his parents brutally murdered into the man we will all come to know as Batman.  He is, right now, learning, discovering, in so many ways he is witnessing and becoming.  Directly and indirectly Bruce Wayne is being influenced by Gotham, and Gotham is helping the boy (whether it means to or not) form the foundation that will in turn create Batman.  Alfred and Detective James Gordon are solid male role models in his life.  Trying to help to understand what he is seeing, trying to explain the complexities of the world around him, and make sense of the way the adult world operates — recognizing that it is not always right, and sometimes our first instinct of what to do, what feels like an easy way to help is not necessarily the best way in which to offer aid.

Where Arrow is full of action and intensity as Oliver Queen and team Arrow take down those who have failed Starling City, Bruce Wayne feels powerless as he is forced by his age and lack of skills to sit by and watch the goings on of a corrupt Gotham.  Gotham is a show about the underside of a city, about the mob-era the inspired a boy to become so much more than it is likely anyone ever imagined he might be, and the criminals who challenged him, inspired him, and convinced him someone had to stand up for what was right, and give his city hope that Gotham could become a better place to live.

Gotham airs Mondays on FOX at 8 PM / 7 Central
Arrow airs Wednesdays on CW at 8 PM / 7 CentralArrowS03

If you haven’t already — check out our Arrow Podcasts:

 Arrow Season 2 Podcast – a spoiler filled discussion of Season 2 with John Mayo of ComicBookPage and Kay Kellam of PopArtsPlace

Arrow Season 1 Podcast – A spoiler filled discussion of Season 1 of Arrow, with John Mayo of ComicBookPage and Kay Kellam of PopArtsPlace

Wizard World Austin 2014 Panel

icon for podpress  Wizard World Austin 2014 Podcasting Panel [44:57m]:  Download

John Mayo, of ComicBookpage, was part of the Comics and Social Media panel at Wizard World Austin 2014 along with Derek Royal ofThe Comic Alternative podcast and Cole Houston of the Hey, Kids, Comics! podcast.

During the panel they answered a lot of questions about how to create a podcast — how to find your voice, what software to use, how to distribute a podcast, a lot of the nitty gritty information people interested in contributing to the world of podcasting might be interested in knowing.  They also discussed how they came to be podcasters themselves, and what they feel they bring into the landscape of podcasts.

From the Austin Comic Con 2014 Guide:
This panel will focus on podcasting and blogging as it relates to comics and comics culture. Panel participants will come from different perspectives of comics reading – mainstream, alternative, indie – and have varying experiences in covering comics reviewing, comics analysis, and comics/pop culture news. This will be an informative panel, providing a how-to introduction to those interested in podcasting and blogging about comics culture. Panelists will strongly encourage audience questions and participation, since much of the purpose of the panel is to inform and encourage audience members interested in social media as a platform to sharing ideas about comics and pop culture.

Email us at TheGuys@ComicBookPage.com with any questions or comment you have on the episode or post on our forum.

Join the discussion on our forum at: http://fourms.comicbookpage.com

This podcast episode originated on the Comic Book Page feed and  website: http://www.ComicBookPage.com

Forever vs. Person of Interest

The Tuesday night decision is rapidly becoming which to record (Forever or Person of Interest) and which to watch ‘by appointment’ as folks in the television industry like to refer to watching television shows when they are scheduled to air.

ABC's Forever, poster from the ABC.com Site

ABC’s Forever, poster from the ABC.com Site

Forever has great chemistry between the actors, and characters that continue to develop before our very eyes week after week.   The commercial for tonight’s episode of Forever shows a scene in which Police Detective Jo (Alana De La Garza) is sitting down over drinks or a meal with Dr. Henry Morgan (Ioan Gruffudd) and his roommate Abe (Judd Hirsch).  Now for those who have not been watching the show that may not sound like a scene with extraordinary comedic potential — but those who have been tuning in every week know that while Henry looks to be significantly younger than Abe, Henry adopted Abe when he was a newborn and is the only father Abe has ever known.  So when questions like “how do you two know each other?” come up, one can only imagine the awkward and entertaining conversation that will take place.

There have been several scenes where Henry, despite physically appearing to be clearly younger, has clearly been fatherly towards Abe, and these two talented actors have pulled the scenes off with such heart and authentic performances that the viewers find themselves willing to believe there just might be a universe in which this is possible.  By contrast there have been scenes where the indulgent son Abe has been picking up the slack for his somewhat absent minded professor dad, always in very minor ways, but in a subtle manner that says he knows when dad gets curious and intrigued, dad is going to get caught up in his lab experimenting, or go off investigating, and Abe just smiles, helps him on with his coat and like a proud son encouraging his father to keep on making him the most popular kid in school because his dad is the coolest on the block.

Person-of-Interest-poi-bannerAs for Person of Interest, last season took a serious turn away from the original premise.  It was that premise that fascinated and drew in so many viewers.  When given 1 single piece of information about a person, and told they need help, our lead characters set out to do what they can.  (That piece of information is a social security number that enables them to find their name, and from there hopefully more information.)  Reese, Finch, and now Shaw, Fusco and sometimes Root, do not know whether the person they are out to help is a victim who needs protecting, or a criminal who needs to be stopped — and usually set on a better path.  What they know is they are a Person of Interest (and irrelevant to those looking for terrorists and major national threats).

Person of Interest appears to be taking a turn back towards its foundation, with Fusco (a once corrupt cop who has had a spectacular arc over the course of the show as Reese stepped in and pushed him into helping people instead of working with other corrupt cops) now partnered with a new cop in the homicide division — Reese, instead of trying to hide from the system Reese finds himself trying to work within it, to a degree.  Most of our main characters are hiding from the evil machine Samaritan that came online at the end of last season, and as a result Finch is now a college professor by day, and reluctant team member by night, as he wrestles with his conscience trying to determine if all their efforts actually amounted to accomplishing anything good.  Did they truly save anyone?  Help anyone?  Or did just as many people get hurt despite their good intentions?

As an added bonus with Person of Interest, we get the occasional appearance of Elias — aka Enrico Colantoni.  His appearances are almost always a highlight.

Forever and Person of Interest are two very different shows, and yet they are both high quality programs that leave viewers like me with the tough decision every Tuesday at 10 PM (9 Central) do I tune into Person of Interest on CBS, or record it because I need to flip over to ABC for my weekly dose of Forever.

Scandal vs. Madam Secretary

Madam Secretary continues to pull in a good size audience (well over 10 million viewers) each Sunday night on CBS, despite the fact that Sunday means audience members have to pay attention to sporting events and make sure they know what time the episode will actually start.  Thankfully we live in a modern age where the crawler at the bottom of the screen is often used to announce exactly what time both Madam Secretary and The Good Wife will begin if it is different than what was announced in television guides.

So how does Madam Secretary measure up to Scandal?  Both shows are set in the Nation’s Capitol.  Both shows theoretically center around solving problems of great import and keeping our nation running.

The primary difference is that Madam Secretary has thus far focused primarily on big problems.  Treaties between nations, treason, an operatives cover being blown while he is over seas and the decision having to be made does the government send in a Seal team ala going after Bin Laden or are diplomatic channels used to recover him.  Complex issues are faced every week, and in the end someone, somehow, comes up with a remarkably simple solution.  The twists and turns of the episode keep you wondering how these characters will pull it out, and how the real folks in Washington, D.C., get things done.   There are subtle reminders not only about how much goes on that we will never see, but about how nations care who extends their hand first to shake on a deal, and that words matter in public statements that may well end up in the history books.

Madam Secretary can give someone unfamiliar with the workings of political machines a lot to think about.   Scandal on the other hand delves into the behind the scenes in an entirely different way.

Scandal explores exactly what the title implies.  The Scandals Washington, D.C. wants to make go away, where Madam Secretary is focusing on the events of their world and trying to cope with them.  It might be fair to say where one is looking purely inside the beltway, the other has a much broader view, looking outward, where Scandal is exploring the hidden secrets of the lives of those who govern a world in which I’m grateful is fantasy, Madam Secretary rips multiple headlines at a time, turns them into an engrossing episode, and by the end of the episode I feel as though I have some understanding of just how complicated a world we live in… and why I am grateful I never chose to make a life for myself in our Nation’s Capitol.

For some, Washington, D.C., is the land of dreams, hope and potential, for others it is a place of back room deals, seedy plots, sequestrations, a land where two political parties take pride in being loyal opposition.  Madam Secretary and Scandal are both imaginary works, taking very different perspectives on the same basic location.   Where the President in Madam Secretary relies on his Secretary of State to solve the problem of the episode, in Scandal the problem of the episode needs to be solved by Oliva Pope, a keen problem solver, but someone who, in most episodes, is not a part of the political machine.

If you are watching one show, give the other a try.  Both Madam Secretary and Scandal have a lot to offer in terms of making you stop and think about how Washington, D.C. functions, how you might wish it functions.  Where Madam Secretary highlights the complexities and details of politics and makes me marvel that anyone survives treading in those waters Scandal makes me particularly glad that is not the world we live in.

Madam Secretary airs Sunday nights on CBS.
Scandal airs Thursday nights on ABC