American Masters: "Good Ol' Charles Schulz"

posted by Tygrrius @ 5:47 AM

American Masters: "Good Ol' Charles Schulz"
Original Airing: 10/29/2007

We don't review a lot of PBS shows here on The Film Frontier. In fact, this episode of American Masters is the first one. Why the sudden interest? This installment is devoted to none other than Charles M. Schulz, American master, American legend, American genius, and creator of Peanuts.

Having been born in the mid-1970's, I can't remember the first time I experienced Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the rest of the gang. Thinking back, it just seems like they were always there and I was pretty much born a fan. Most likely, my first exposure was not to Schulz' daily comic strip but to the myriad of television specials.

Back in those days, you had to watch stuff when it aired. The general public didn't have VCRs or other video recording technologies. Unfortunately, it thus took me years to see a Charlie Brown special in its entirety. I would wait for the forthcoming airing all day, nearly cheering through the animated logo for "A CBS Special Presentation" that always signaled one was about to begin. To this day, that logo makes me think of Charlie Brown.

The show would start and whether it was themed around Christmas, Halloween, Valentines, Thanksgiving, Arbor Day, or some other holiday, I loved it. Then, the inevitable would happen: the first commercial break. Much like the CBS Special Presentation logo marked the beginning of the special for me, the first commercial break might as well have marked the end of it.

Despite my enthusiasm for Charlie Brown and Snoopy, I was unable to make it through the commercials. Every time for years, it seemed, I would fall asleep. Later that night, someone would wake me up at the end to take me to bed and I would cry realizing I had missed yet another Snoopy cartoon.

"Good Ol' Charles Schulz" is a 90-minute episode of American Masters that I stumbled across while channel surfing a week or two ago. I'd not watched American Masters before, but it's fairly similar to A&E's Biography.

With only a high school education and art training from a correspondence school, Charles Schulz became artist and writer of the greatest daily comic strip. He penned 18,977 Peanuts comic strips in a fifty year period, never outsourcing any of the art or writing. Along the way, there were also the TV specials, movies, and plenty of merchandising.

"Good Ol' Charles Schulz" shows us that it was the daily comic strip, though, that kept Sparky (as friends called him) going. In a life marked by as much change and turmoil as that of you or I, the comic strip was his one constant.

The documentary is well assembled, drawing on contemporary interviews with friends and colleagues (including real-life inspirations for the "Little Red-Haired Girl" and Linus) and archival interviews with Schulz himself.

Close-up footage of Schulz drawing his deceptively simple-looking characters is priceless. The documentary also uses a very effective slide-book approach to displaying various installments of the daily strip, including the very first one back in 1950.

In 1965, Coca-Cola was interested in sponsoring the first television special based on Peanuts. The idea was sold on a Wednesday, and Schulz had the script ready by that Monday. The story? A Charlie Brown Christmas.

For that first special, Schulz had to battle CBS on a number of issues. He insisted that actual children voice the characters and that a laugh track not be used. CBS executives were also concerned about overt religious references appearing in a Christmas special (it seems that television executives have not changed so much over the years). None too pleased with the results, CBS was ready to turn the special into a big tax write-off.

Then, A Charlie Brown Christmas aired on December 9, 1965. The next day, the documentary notes, "all heaven broke loose." After a huge ratings smash, CBS quickly ordered four more specials.

"Good Ol' Charles Schulz" paints a portrait of a man who could seemingly connect to the entire world through his comic strip, but had trouble connecting personally with family and friends. He lived through his strip.

"Do you think God ever gets discouraged?" he asked a friend and reverend as he was going through a divorce from his wife of over twenty years. It seemed he threw himself into his work while experiencing his marriage problems, for the documentary notes that the period leading up to his divorce in 1972 was one of his most creatively productive.

Schulz married again in 1973, a 27-year union ended only by his death in 2000--just a day before the publication of the final Peanuts strip.

Speaking of his many fans, a tearful Schulz, battling cancer, told Al Roker in his last on-camera interview, "It is amazing that they think what I do was good. I just did the best I could."

* * *

Do you know the great thing about PBS? No commercials. I didn't fall asleep during "Good Ol' Charles Schulz." But I still cried at the end.

Overall Experience: 9 (out of 10)

Related Links
American Masters: Charles Schulz
Includes an excerpt from Schulz and Peanuts, the new biography by David Michaelis. You can also check airtimes for repeats of "Good Ol' Charles Schulz" in your area.

The Official Peanuts Site
Includes a revolving 30 days worth of classic Peanuts strips, historical info, and lots of great merchandise.

The Peanutizer
Which Peanuts character are you? I'm most similar to Linus, according to PBS' Peanutizer. As personality tests go, it's not exactly spot-on but it's still fun.

"This is a distinct philosophy of mine ... No problem is so big or complicated that it can't be run away from!"

Although Linus Van Pelt carries a blanket and sucks his thumb, he is also a decisive and serious intellectual with philosophical insight. He has wisdom beyond his years, and this paradoxical maturity helps him put up with his older sister, Lucy. He is not interested in romance, and he often rebuffs Sally when she vies for his attention. Linus is kind to his friends and strives to be ethical.

Star Trek: The Menagerie

posted by Tygrrius @ 5:23 AM

Star Trek: The Menagerie
Remastered Theatrical Presentation (11/13/2007)
Remastered Episodes #12 (11/25/2006) & #13 (12/2/2006)
Original Episode #16 (11/17/1966 & 11/24/1966)

I don't have a particularly large television, but even when I go to other people's homes who have gigantic TVs they never quite have that movie theater feel. Nothing compares to seeing Star Trek, Star Wars, or Superman on the big screen of a movie theater.

So, when I heard that CBS was going to release Star Trek: The Menagerie to movie theaters in a limited engagement, I was all over it. Not only was it a chance to see the remastered visual effects in the best quality possible, but it was also an opportunity to see William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and DeForest Kelley together on the silver screen again.

The presentation began with a short intro by Eugene "Rod" Roddenberry, Jr. He tells a fun story about his father setting up a projector for him when he was a kid and showing old reels of Star Trek episodes, including "The Cage" - the Star Trek pilot episode that makes up the flashback sequences of Star Trek: The Menagerie. He also tells the "too cerebral" story about NBC's rejection of "The Cage" and the unprecedented ordering of a second pilot that later sold the series.

After that, there was a feature about the making of Star Trek: Remastered, including a look at the HD DVD combo set being released next week. Since I follow the syndicated series rather closely, most of this was stuff I'd already seen. The best part for me here, though, was hearing the collective gasps of other audience members as the new effects were showcased. Incidentally, be sure to stick around after the credits because there is also a sneak preview of the second season set, coming in 2008. This resulted in even more startled but positive reactions as many audience members saw "The Doomsday Machine" and other episode enhancements for the first time.

No mention was made of the syndicated airings of the series, though I did plug it a bit to nearby fans. Star Trek: Remastered, unfortunately, continues to be almost a secret series in this area (and likely many others) due to its odd airtimes. You'll never find an episode starting earlier than 1 AM or later than 4:30 AM here. It's a real shame, considering the quality of work they are putting out. Hopefully the HD DVD combo set release will reach more fans.

Finally, the main event began. In what turned out to be a fortunate accident, I missed watching "The Menagerie" two-parter when it first aired on Star Trek: Remastered last year. So, for this portion, even I was in for some great surprises as I looked at these enhancements for the first time.

Besides the giant screen and great sound system, the other nice thing about the movie presentation (which will also be true of the HD DVD combo set) is that the episode is uncut. In the syndicated airings, about ten minutes of footage is excised to make room for the longer commercial breaks of today compared to 40 years ago.

The Enterprise is diverted to a starbase when it receives an urgent call from her former captain, Christopher Pike (Jeffrey Hunter in the flashback sequences, Sean Kenney in the current sequences). Upon arrival, Kirk discovers that Pike could not have sent the message for an accident has left him immobilized and unable to speak. As Kirk investigates on the starbase, Spock kidnaps Pike, assumes command of the Enterprise without authority, orders the starship to head for Talos IV, a forbidden planet, and leaves behind a rather angry Kirk.

There are many recurring Star Trek themes and concepts in Star Trek: The Menagerie, including emphasis on loyalty, duty, and friendship. Even Spock demonstrates that he believes the needs of the few or the one can sometimes outweigh the needs of the many.

The special effects upgrades are superb, some of the best work of the CBS Digital team behind Star Trek: Remastered. One of the best improvements to the series has been a more consistent look for the Enterprise. Pike's Enterprise looks noticeably different from Kirk's Enterprise (as it should, since there have been two major refits since then), but this distinction was usually lost in the classic airings of Star Trek because effects footage often had to be reused. Sometimes, the same Enterprise had two or three different looks in a single episode.

If you're a Star Trek fan, no matter how casual, and missed yesterday's screening, you need to run to your nearest theater showing Star Trek: The Menagerie for two more screenings on Thursday. You don't want to miss this.

Story: 10 (out of 10)
Performances: 10
Visual Style: 9
Effects Upgrades: 10
Music: 9
Overall: 10

For a listing of theaters and to buy tickets, go to fathomevents.com.

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Superman #670

posted by JediSheltie @ 7:29 PM

Nov7th RoundUp

Superman 670

The Third Kryptonian arc comes to a close, with the Third Kryptonian joining the rapidly swelling ranks of Krypton's survivors. The big reveal happened last issue, and this issue is mostly a cover to cover slugfest between Earth's contingent of Kryptonians (backed up by the World's Greatest Detective) and a crew of intergalactic bounty hunters who specialize in anti-Kryptonian warfare. As far as cover to cover slugfests go, this one delivers, as the tools and weapons the bounty hunters employ make it a believable fight for the Kryptonians' lives.

Wisely, Busiek includes Power Girl in the proceedings. Power Girl is all too often left out of the "Super Family" even though its the closest thing she has to a family unit outside the JSA. In the end... "the boy" saves the day, though. Could have done without that, but looks like my fervent hopes he's written out aren't coming to fruition as quickly as I thought they would. That being said, there is a Final Crisis on the way, and that is usually where the big "reset" button gets pressed.

As to the Third Kryptonian, Busiek made an interesting choice in having her be a refugee from Krypton's old Imperial Navy. Granted, I find this new addition to Kryptonian history somewhat strange ever since it was alluded to in the first post-Infinite Crisis storyline. Nagging questions like, "If Krypton had an interstellar navy, why couldn't ole Jor-El find a ship big enough for the whole family?" are just going to make my head hurt, though. I know, I know, it was the past, they elected scientists and become isolationists, etc. Still, I feel the whole origin narrative takes a believability hit if Kryptonians were literally "galloping around the galaxy" for so long.

I believe that whistling sound you've been hearing for months on end is Camelot still falling. Supposedly the Annual is just a couple weeks away, so we'll see how that one finally turns out as well.

"The Deadly Years" (Star Trek: Remastered edition)

posted by Tygrrius @ 9:52 AM

Star Trek (Remastered): "The Deadly Years"
Remastered Episode #48 (11/10/2007)
Original Episode #40 (12/8/1967)

"The Deadly Years" is one of Star Trek's best episodes, so I've been looking forward to seeing the remastered version of this one for some time. After visiting planet Gamma Hydra IV, near the Romulan neutral zone, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, and Galway experience rapid aging. The only member of the landing party not affected is Chekov.

McCoy runs multiple tests on Chekov (Walter Koenig) to determine why he's immune to the condition. Unfortunately, a lot of the ensuing fun moments from Koenig are lost in the syndication cuts to allow more time for the expanded commercial breaks of 2007.

As the aging Kirk, William Shatner proves once again that he is a top-notch actor. His portrayal is quite convincing, which makes the episode all the more realistic. Fantastic makeup effects by Fred B. Phillips also convey the illusion of age.

McCoy takes on a thicker-and-thicker Southern accent as he ages, in a wonderful performance by DeForest Kelley. "I'm not a magician, Spock. Just an old country doctor."

"Yes, as I had always suspected," retorts Spock.

The rapid aging effect will kill them all within a week unless McCoy finds an antidote. Meanwhile, Commodore Stocker is aboard, anxious to be ferried to Starbase 10. When Stocker assumes command of the Enterprise due to the senility of the senior staff, Kirk calls him a "chair-bound paper-pusher."

To top it all off, there's a showdown with the Romulans. "The Deadly Years" even includes references to previous episodes ("Balance of Terror" and "The Corbomite Maneuver"), a rare touch for the original series.

The updated effects by CBS Digital are mostly high-quality. We finally get to see multiple Romulan warbirds taking on the Enterprise, as indicated in the dialogue but never shown until now. The image quality, even on non-effects sequences, has never looked better.

All in all, an episode I'll remember in my old age . . . which won't be for some while I hope.

Dramatic Content: 10 (out of 10)
Effects Upgrades: 8
Overall Experience: 10

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Oct 31 RoundUp

posted by JediSheltie @ 7:13 PM

Action 858

I suppose Richard Donner knows as much about the original Legion of Superheroes as I do, thus he's not a writer on this new arc. The recent creation of 52 parallel universes has afforded DC the opportunity to have a couple Legions floating around, and reinstate the one that visited Super"man" when he was a "boy".

I am in no way, shape, or form attached to these characters in any way, so ultimately this book will pretty much need to stand purely on the story merits for me. I admit, I'll fanboy out for some things, but since I've never been LoS fanboy, I can't do it here. On the up side, this is a fairly strong start to what may be an engaging arc. Granted, Johns is coming off 3 issues of Bizzaro, so it's not like the last act has a chance of overshadowing this one.

For people like me, who are mostly clueless, Johns gives us a primer on the Legion's involvement with Clark's "boy-hood" in Smallville, showing them to be confidants he can trust with his own big secret. His fond boyhood memories are reawakened by a large version of "robot" Braniac, which turns out to be just a decoy to get his attention and eventually get him into the future. Or, more specifically, the future of the future. I'm sure that makes sense.

Art is taken over by Gary Frank, and that's apparently a huge deal. At least, most comic media outlets seem to think it is, so I'll take their word for it. Frank worked for Marvel for some time exclusively, thus the primary reason I'd never heard of him until this point. Since it is such a "big deal" I'll comment on the art. It's... okay. I found myself neither blown away nor peeved by it. Frank goes with a less hyper-muscled Clark than most artists, something I generally have no trouble with. Were I to nitpick, I'd say Clark's face kept looking gaunt, like he had the flu the entire time.

Overall a good issue, and I'm finally looking forward to the next issue of Action.

Justice Society of America 10

Speaking of having some spare worlds to play with, Johns has another trans-multiversal refugee appearing the latest issue of JSA. This one is a slightly bigger deal for me, as I recall the original Kingdom Come to be one of the best pieces of comic fiction ever produced. Now I'm getting a 3 issue sequel featuring Kingdom Come's central character- Superman.

I'll try to hit the highlights of Kingdom Come, since Johns nicely dovetails the very existence of the JSA with them. In a world where Superman retires because the "hero" that kills the Joker is set free after Superman takes him in for murder, the descendants of the original generations of superheroes are running wild, untrained and unguided. He returns from retirement to try and clean up the mess, but that road is paved with the best of intentions, and it ends in big nuclear explosion.

Basically, this Superman is here, with the JSA, the organization that sees itself as responsible for providing the guidance and training that up-and-coming superheroes need. Needless to say, KC-Superman says the JSA disbanded and most of them were dead in his world. The absence of this stabilizing force in his world helped lead to the eventual tragedy at the end.

For a comic in which very little actually happens (KC-Superman basically sits in the JSA meeting hall), there's a lot of necessary exposition, and cool Alex Ross art, that brings everyone up to speed. The ending of this issue recalls the ending to the first part of Kingdom Come, which may or may not, be a good sign.

As the issue closes the JLA arrives, and the set up for the next issue is that Clark and KC-Superman are going to have a chat. That, alone, should be 10 kinds of awesome.

See, I told you I could fanboy out.

Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Superman Prime

posted by JediSheltie @ 7:09 PM

Oct 24th RoundUp

Ah, time, time, time.

Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Superman Prime

Since I've commented elsewhere on the site about this, I can't let this review get away from me.

I called bull honkus on the "coming of age" excuse Johns used for the name change before reading the comic. In retrospect, that was unfair. I should give him a chance to prove his case. My conclusion after actually reading the comic... bull honkus. Note that I'm not saying this is a bad comic, just that it didn't strike me as a "coming of age" story, as "Superman" Prime acts like the petulant child he's always acted like.

There's no really progression in the state of the character. The story, and art, flips between the "current events" of the Sinestro Corps invasion of Earth, and, "S-Prime's" backstory on Earth Prime. It's interesting to note that this kind of switch between Ordway's "old style" art and the more modern art of Woods and company was supposed to be used to similar effect in Infinite Crisis but the delays caused the addition of many different fill-in artists which caused that aspect of the work to be somewhat muddled.

S-Prime is pretty much every kid who wanted to grow up and be Superman, the difference was, he actually got the chance. It lasted about two seconds before his universe was eaten by the Anti-Monitor and he was tossed into the original Crisis on Infinite Earths. A long detour through a pocket dimension watching his parents die over and over again, and out he pops for Infinite Crisis, all bat-*#!@ insane.

The interesting things about the book aren't really the backstory pretty much everyone is familiar with, but a peak into the current motivations of S-Prime, who, it is revealed, has not forgotten who actually did the whole parents killing thing. Turns out S-Prime has his own agenda for the Anti-Monitor and his new pals in the Corps. Not that the assembled forces of the JSA and Teen Titans really know or care, they just try to put him down before he can "reach sunlight."

Now, I hate to be "that guy", but the central conceit of the modern part of the story is that S-Prime is "weakened" in his solar armor and is trying to make around the globe to the sunlight so he can recharge. I just have to point out that he appeared in space before heading to Earth. Even if we assume he was in the Earth's shadow the whole time, there's still a whole bunch of solar radiation out there. It seems it was an effort to make the fight at least seem reasonable, as S-Prime has already demonstrated a "Silver Age" power level.

The fight that ensues sees a macabre bit of humor involving Risk, who's last encounter with S-Prime went just about exactly as well as this one does. We learn, off page, that the 3 Kryptonians (-girl -girl -man) regrouped and kicked the Cyborg's tail when they turn their attention to S-Prime. That's about the time the sun comes up.

It seems the big fight now turns to the new Ion, something I'm not particularly happy about. I realize this is a Green Lantern arc, but S-Prime is also kind of "Superman Family" problem, and I hope they don't just have him sit it out.

Other than those nitpicks, and the whole "it's-not-a-coming-of-age-story" thing, it wasn't a bad comic, really. I think some amount of pure honesty would have been nice concerning the name change and the lawsuit, but ultimately it doesn't matter.