MoS Presents: Talking Ep. 2 (Download)

Jelenic previously co-helmed Cartoon Network’s ThunderCats redux which, like TTG!, was showered with judgment and loathing from old fans before any concrete details were known. That’s probably why he and Aaron Horvath have such a good sense of humor about it. At WonderCon 2013, they exhibited a self-deprecating wit and commitment to exaggeration that I found incredibly endearing while taking a few moments out for sincerity.

“Let me clarify: I am not sure the fans [of the old show] will love it,” Jelenic says. “They love these characters…and if it was up to them, they’d like to see a continuation of Season 6 and we’re not doing that. So they will see what we’re doing, which is completely not what’s expected, and that may rub them the wrong way, at least at first. What I do think is that people who come into the show fresh, [without] expectations of what Teen Titans are or what the show is, they are probably going to think it’s funny because, I’m pretty sure – Would you agree with this? – this is probably the funniest material ever written.”

“Yeah. It’s like top three at least,” replies Horvath, with missing a beat. Jelenic continues, “It’s like Seinfeld, Carol Burnett, and Teen Titans Go!.”

While the episodes will be self-contained, fans will get to see some favorites from the previous show but don’t count on them sticking around. Horvath states, “[C]ertain characters from the old show get pulled in, it might just be for a bit or something because there’s so much stuff to pull from…but we don’t want to hinge things on a character you had to have seen previously because I want it to be inclusive. I want kids to come to the show and if they don’t know who the characters are, I want them to get to know them.”

One of their biggest issues was making sure the quality of the writing stayed high without being repetitive, outside of running gags of course. “We gotta do fifty-two of these, that’s a lot, and Aaron’s very big on not doing ‘lame comedy’ or comedy that we’ve seen before and it’s a lot easier to write lame comedy than funny comedy, I find,” says Jelenic. “Because we’re not trying to do something you’ve seen before, we find ourselves doing weird episodes because that’s something we’ve never seen. You initially want to say, ‘That’s a terrible idea.’ He pitched this episodes about meatballs for…four months and I’m like, ‘I’m not doing an episode about meatballs.’”

Horvath laughs, adding, “It was a joke until it turned into a reality.”
“Well because there was a deadline,” Jelenic retorts. “It’s like, ‘Tell me more about that episode about meatballs.’ But then it turned out [to be] one of my favorite [episodes] even though it sounds completely stupid.”

For more details on the show and talk about face punching, watch the full interview embedded above and enjoy the bonus outtake directly above. And I’ll tell you one thing – I like Jelenic and Horvath. I appreciate their random senses of humor so I’m rooting for Teen Titans Go! and hope it’ll be a success. Even though I desperately want more new episodes of Young Justice.

Teen Titans Go! premieres Tuesday, April 23 at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT on Cartoon Network, with rebroadcasts running in the DC Nation block on Saturday mornings at 10:30 a.m. ET/PT, beginning April 27.

Credit: Gavin Bond for Netflix

At a roundtable WonderCon, the creative forces in front of and behind the camera gathered to talk about what drew them to the project, what it’s like making TV intended for binge viewing, and what makes Hemlock Grove different from anything that’s come before.

Bill Skarsgard plays Roman, a disaffected rich boy with secret undiscovered powers and some freaky blood issues who teams up with wrong-side-of-the-tracks new kid Peter to solve the town’s gruesome murders. “He wants to be a hero, so desperately. It’s like, if you have a psychological problem that you’re dealing with, if you can put it in a physical form [you can defeat it]. He has this battle with this darkness inside him, but he puts it in a physical form in being solving these murders ‘is a good thing, and that will be my redemption from this darkness I have.’ That’s why he’s so keen on solving these murders – his life kind of depends on it, in his own way.”

One of the most challenging parts for Landon Liboiron, who plays werewolf Peter, was shooting that elaborate and graphic transformation scene. “I was terrified. I was terrified, also, to see it. Because when you’re doing it, you don’t know what you’re doing, cause it’s such a kind of, you just don’t know if you’re doing it right, you don’t know if you’re looking phony doing it, and sometimes you just have to put your trust in the CGI guys, and prosthetic guys, and so really, you just kind of have too… take the leap, I guess. I was very, very nervous about it.”

As for Dougray Scott, he ticked off several reasons why Hemlock Grove spurred him to leap from features to television. “Working with Famke [Janssen] was one of the big draws…It’s complicated. The relationships were complicated… I’m Scottish. I’m clinically melancholic. I’m drawn to anything that’s fractured and f***ed up, but I love comedy as well. The black humor I love. And at times there is that.”

Janssen expanded on the complexities of the characters. “They are very real. The characters all are flawed, they’re all full of problems, there’s a certain thing projected to the outside world, and another inner world going on, but I do believe that most of like are like that. We’re programmed to be that way…”

Credit: Gavin Bond for Netflix

She is also a fan of how the show mixes up the character arcs. “There are episodes that really focus much more on one person and then another person again or then they all come together and so it’s somewhat non-traditional in that sense. It’s really different from the way we see the most episodic television.”

“Normally ‘restraint’ is not the word associated with me,” joked Producer Eli Roth when asked about having a non-network free rein with gore and still knowing where to draw the line. “But we also wanted to get into the story, we didn’t want to be like, ‘Hey, look, we’re on Netflix, we can rip someone’s guts out!’ I think gore, it’s like an ingredient in a pizza, it all has to serve the story. If you’re watching going, ‘What happens next?’ then it’s the right amount.”

And that story was a big inspiration to Roth. “Brian wrote such a wonderfully twisted novel. I was so impressed by his research. In particular his research about the root mythology of what Bram Stoker based Dracula on. The oupirs and vargos and all these things that are literally the original, original folklore that the very first novels, the very first writings, were based on. But setting it in this world where bio-tech has risen out of the ashes and these new monsters are being created. And we loved the idea of doing something new, that was bold, and having every episode available for you. Really approaching it like a 13 hour movie. We wanted to make a really really cool, interesting creative world.”

Director Deran Sarafian elaborates that Roth wasn’t in it just for superficial gore. “One thing that Eli told me early on, which became the thing we kept, that we followed, was ‘Look at a rock. If you’re gonna film that rock, don’t film the rock. Film what’s underneath the rock.’”

McGreevy, who adapted his novel for TV with Lee Shipman, said, “It’s a high concept show- the show does have a pretty dense and elaborate mythology, but the point of entry was really about these two young guys finding themselves, and finding themselves in each other. And that was definitely the emotional through-line of the show”

Shipman added, “One of the most attractive parts of the Netflix deal is that we could write almost the entire series upfront before we shot a frame, and so we could really structure all these arcs, characters and stories, like a movie. And that’s how we consume TV. That’s how we know Netflix users consume. They binge watch. We wanted to make people stay up way past their bedtimes.”

All 13 episodes of Hemlock Grove are available for streaming now on Netflix

On Wednesday , Feb. 20th at 7pm, you can see DARK SKIES with fellow scary movie enthusiasts by registering here and getting there early enough to snag a seat. Easy peasey.

The official synopsis:

From the producer of Paranormal Activity, Insidious, and Sinister comes Dark Skies: a supernatural thriller that follows a young family living in the suburbs. As husband and wife Daniel and Lacey Barret witness an escalating series of disturbing events involving their family, their safe and peaceful home quickly unravels. When it becomes clear that the Barret family is being targeted by an unimaginably terrifying and deadly force, Daniel and Lacey take matters in their own hands to solve the mystery of what is after their family.

STARRING: Keri Russell, Josh Hamilton, Dakota Goyo, Kadan Rockett, Josh Stamberg, LJ Benet, and J.K. Simmons
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY: Scott Stewart (PRIEST, LEGION)

And one of the tv spots (Ah! Creepy kids!):

Please note that RSVPing through the website does not guarantee you a spot. Seats are first come, first serve.

In addition to seeing how Kaldur’ahm handles his newest Bad Guy Errand, we’ll see some more developments on storylines not explored in last week’s mid-season premiere and see the return of some old foes. Timeline-wise this seems to pick up directly after last week’s episode (perhaps some events even overlapping). Regardless, this should be interesting. Excited!

Check out the clips below and the pics below that to get a sneak peek…

‘Young Justice’ airs at 10:30am EST/PST on Cartoon Network as part of ‘DC Nation’

Clip 1

Clip 2

‘Once Upon A Time’ airs 8pm EST/PST on ABC, premiering Sunday, September 30th

While intriguingly cagey and noncommittal, the duo did reveal some solid tidbits including the the nature of Snow and Charming’s relationship after enduring so much as Mary Margaret and David, how flashbacks will continue to function, and why a certain beloved character had to die.

‘Once Upon A Time’ returns Sunday, September 30th with the Season 1 primer special “Magic Is Coming” at 7pm EST/PST and the Season 2 premiere at 8pm EST/PST on ABC

Green Lantern: The Animated Series was the biggest surprise for me in its debut season. I was very impressed by how they were able to take some fairly complicated comic lore and translate it so well not only into a original, compelling, cohesive story, but one that’s suitable for kids and fans. So, after introducing two additional Lantern Corps, covering the creation of a third, stopping a universal cataclysm, and being otherwise awesome, what could you possibly do for an encore? Introduce Guy Gardner and hint at another universal cataclysm, of course.

Everyone’s favorite jerk makes his debut as Hal Jordan returns to Earth after a lengthy absence. We also get introduced to the Manhunters, scourges of the galaxy and the Guardians biggest secret (well, second biggest if you count the “Blackest Night” prophecy which may or may not exist in this animated universe…but I digress). It’s possible that they’re acting on their own but it’s far more likely they’re agents of the Big Bad of Season 2 – either Sinestro and the Yellow Lanterns or the Anti-Monitor. Yes, I said the Anti-Monitor which means we might get some alternate universe action sometime mid-season.

“Young Justice” © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. “Young Justice” and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © DC Comics

As excited as I am for Green Lantern: TAS‘ return, I’m even more amped for new Young Justice episodes. When we last saw everyone, Miss Martian was getting a little heavy handed with her psychic abilities, Lagoon Boy was captured by agents of the Light along with other kidnapped teens, Nightwing orchestrated Artemis’ “death” so she can go undercover with ex-Aqualad/current Black Manta Kaldur’ahm (which no one else knows about except semi-retired Wally West), and Clone!Roy managed to track down Original!Roy with the help of his ex-wife Cheshire and their baby, Lian.

We pick back up pretty much where we left off – the young heroes struggle to deal with their grief as the Roys attempt to reconcile their situation. But Original!Roy doesn’t seem much into making peace since we see him brandishing a rocket launcher, one-armed no less. That’s skill.

Below are some clips and a photo gallery to further whet your appetite for the animated glory that awaits.

‘DC Nation’ begins at 10am EST/PST with ‘Green Lantern: The Animated Series’ followed by ‘Young Justice’ at 10:30am EST/PST on Cartoon Network

Green Lantern Clip 1

Green Lantern Clip 2

Super Best Friends Forever

Young Justice clip 1

Young Justice Clip 2

‘Supernatural’ premieres Wednesday, October 3rd (I know, I know) on The CW