Yeah, “Ships passing in the night” is a weird title for a recap of “American Idol.” But what I mean is, some of the ladies’ performances on Wednesday were incredible or at least really good, while others were worse than last week. Some of the women keep climbing, while others are barely hanging on and risk falling off the ladder entirely tonight. Now that I’ve explained myself, let’s get on to the recap of the performances….
It’s an old story. You’re a superhero minding your own business and then you bump into someone who looks very familiar but, well, something’s just not right. Gee whiz but this person looks a lot like you and is even wearing similar clothes, but then you notice your new acquaintance looks like he or she is made from rocks, uses terrible grammar and does everything the opposite of you. (“Me want to not save world!”) Or the newcomer looks like one of your deadliest enemies, but turns out to be no Bizaaro, but as heroic as you are. What’s a superhero to do?
It’s an old superhero comic story that has yet to find its way into a big-time costumed-hero flicks — but at least it’s finally been used in a solidly entertaining and often slyly funny direct-to-DVD animated production. Rated a mild PG-13 for non-deadly “action violence,” Warner Home Video’s “Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths” shows us the fall-out of an alternate universe where the equivalents of our most famed superheros are essentially costumed Mafioso, while a bald guy named Luthor and a joker named the Jester vainly fight the power of organized caped crime.
When the alternate Luthor (Chris Noth) manages a reality jump into the original DC Comics Universe, he enlists the aid of most of the Justice League. And so, Superman (Mark Harmon), Wonder Woman (Vanessa Marshall), and a less than cooperative Batman (William Baldwin), become involved in a desperate quest to free Good Luthor’s universe from super-powered criminal domination by the vicious Crime Syndicate and it’s Jersey-thug-like leader, Ultraman (Brian Bloom) — and also to stave off the possible destruction of all existence by an off-his-evil meds Dark Knight of the Soul, Owlman (James Woods), and his only slightly more sane GF, Super Woman (Gina Torres).
The 72 minute direct-to-video feature was premiered at both of the coastal outlets of the Paley Center, and I attended the one located on Earth Prime’s Beverly Hills. Us members of the local geek press were allowed to commune with members of the cast and crew and, in my case, that started with the extremely busy animation casting and voice director, Andrea Romano. The loquacious performer and voice director, whose work includes everything from “Animaniacs” to “Spongebob Squarepants” and “Ben Ten,” is held in as high esteem by super-animation fans as any actor, writer, or director. Her work on DC superhero projects goes back to the early nineties and “Batman: The Animated Series,” which revolutionized superhero cartoons with quality writing from creators like Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, animation, and, thanks to her efforts, acting.
Trying to pin down the strangest series amongst Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim line-up is a fool’s errand. This, after all, is where a show about a crime-fighting Happy Meal can thrive for seven seasons, so it’s clear that anything goes, and then some. But absurdist comedy about talking food and drink is one thing. “Superjail!” is quite another. When Bullz-Eye was offered the opportunity to chat with two of the show’s executive producers, Christy Karacas and Stephen Warbrick, we couldn’t resist taking them up on their offer, if only so we could get at least a small hint of what kind of guys would create a show as insane as this one.
Bullz-Eye: Hey, guys!
Stephen Warbrick: Hi, Will.
Christy Karacas: Hi, Will!
SW: I don’t know if there’s too much differential between our voices.
BE: I think I’ll get the hang of it after I get talking to you guys.
SW: I’ll talk in a real Brooklyn-y accent, if that’ll help.
BE: Nice. That’ll definitely help. Well, I’m definitely a fan of the show…
SW: Oh, good!
BE: Now, I understand that “Superjail!” originated – indirectly, anyway – as a result of a short you guys did called “Barfight.” Is it true that it was just a case of one of your friends passing it on to someone at Cartoon Network?
CK: Pretty much.
SW: Yeah.
CK: It was funny. We made “Barfight,” we were going to enter it into film festivals, but it got rejected from every festival we were going to enter it into. So we were, like, “Fuck!” I mean, I stopped doing animation for awhile, and…Steve, I forgot what you were doing.
SW: I don’t even remember. (Laughs)
CK: But, yeah, for a couple of years, it was just floating around, and our buddy Dave Hughes, one of the editors on it, worked at Adult Swim and showed it to them, and they got in touch with us and were, like, “Hey, why don’t you try pitching a show here?” So that was pretty awesome.
SW: Yeah. (Laughs)
BE: Well, it’s definitely the kind of show where you just absolutely do not know what’s going to come next.
SW: Well, that’s good. We try to keep you on your toes. (Laughs)
BE: But how do you approach writing an episode of the show? I mean, do you just take a general premise and then go completely apeshit from there?
SW: Yeah, we’ll definitely have one general premise, and then try to build maybe one or two smaller subplots off of that, and then just go from there and keep adding and subtracting things until it feels right. And then you’ve got to get it approved, and that’s a whole different thing. (Laughs)
BE: Given what I’ve seen in there, I have to wonder what wasn’t approved at various times.
SW: Ah, it’s usually the weirdest things. Nothing violent ever gets kicked back. It’s usually weird little things.
CK: It’s usually weird copyright things, like, “Oh, that’s a name of something,” or stuff like that, which is really surprising. We thought we were going to get really censored, but they’ve actually been pretty cool about encouraging us to push it.
It’s happened many times in the past: a character is introduced to a television series as a one-off, but because of either fan interest of a burst of creativity from the show’s writers, they’re brought back. Sometimes they become a recurring character, but in some cases, they go on to become a full-fledged series regular. Such was the case with Kimber Henry, Kelly Carlson’s character on the long-running FX series “Nip/Tuck.” Kimber made her debut in the show’s pilot episode, but by Season 3, she was officially considered to be part of the main cast right up until the show’s final season, when she bowed out, so to speak. Now that “Nip/Tuck” is wrapping up, Bullz-Eye was able to chat with Carlson about her character’s legacy, including how Kimber grew in prominence, the way she came to her end, and, of course, all the sordid stuff that went on in between.
* On Kimber’s evolution from the pilot: “When you take a character like that, with not much background and history, it starts in the eyes, you know what I mean? And that’s simply what I just tried to do: to try and bring some depth to her, and some emotion, for the audience to connect with. Otherwise it’s boring. ‘Cute girl, yeah, who cares,’ you know? That’s not how you get your female fans. I wanted to bring some layers to her that everyone could relate to or understand.”
* On sex scenes: “Julian (McMahon), in the pilot, totally broke the ice with me the first day. The pilot was so graphic, and it was our first day working together…I mean, it was brutal. It was really an uncomfortable situation for both of us, and I had never done a love scene, but he is a funny, funny guy, and he broke the ice for us. After that, the recurring characters were much more nervous than I was. After awhile, it just became routine for me, like I was a broodmare or something!”
* On Kimber’s death: “I wouldn’t have wanted a happy sendoff for her, because it wouldn’t have fit her character at all. It just wouldn’t have. But I have mixed feelings about it. I don’t mind that she died at all. I think that’s absolutely appropriate. But I thought it was fairly quick. I don’t know. Visually, it wasn’t that stimulating for me to watch, so I’m lukewarm on that.”
You can check out the rest of the interview with the gorgeous Ms. Carlson by clicking on the above graphic. I mean, you could click right here, but, y’know, if you’ve got a chance to click Kelly Carlson directly, why wouldn’t you take it?
“Night Court” is one of those series which is fondly remembered as a sitcom staple of the ‘80s, but as much as I watched it during the course of that decade, it’s one which has always left me looking back and wondering, “Did I only like it because I was a goofy kid?”
My predominant recollections of the show always seemed to involve Judge Harry Stone (Harry Anderson) making bad jokes and pulling wacky faces afterwards or Bailiff Bull Shannon (Richard Moll) being a loveable dimbulb as he stared blankly at the bizarre events unfolding around him, saying only, “Ooooooookay.” Obviously, I remembered lascivious prosecutor Dan Fielding (John Larroquette) and his never-ending stream of come-ons, but was it possible that they were merely a sporadic oasis of legitimate humor in the midst of a whole lot of silliness? In short, what if – God forbid – “Night Court” had aged poorly and wasn’t nearly as funny as I’d remembered it?
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