Stephanie at Comic-Con 2012 'Firefly' reunion panel

Stephanie at the Comic-Con 'Community' panel

Dick Clark was America's favorite teenager

Long before MTV, VH-1, iTunes and You Tube, “American Bandstand” was where young people went for the latest popular music. As the host of

“Bandstand” Dick Clark was the man responsible for introducing America to everyone from Elvis Presley to Madonna.

For over 30 years Clark, often called “America’s oldest living teenager,” brought the latest music, dances and fashion into homes around the country like an old friend who always seemed to know what everyone wanted to see and hear before they even knew it.

Clark passed away from a heart attack at the age 82 on April 18.

Clark began on “Bandstand” in 1956, taking it national in 1957. From that point on every major music act appeared on the show.

Clark’s chemistry with the dancers and his non-threatening image helped rock and roll music reach a wider audience at a time when it was considered immoral. He also had African-American artists on mainstream television and had integrated dancing with black and white teenagers when segregation was still the accepted practice. As such he is often credited with changing the course of popular music.

Following his success on “American Bandstand” Clark branched out and began to build a TV empire that included “The $10,000 Pyramid,” “The American Music Awards,” “TV’s Bloopers and Practical Jokes” and of course “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin Eve.”

Since 1972, Clark’s annual countdown from Times Square has been the benchmark of New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Following his stroke in 2004 Clark missed that year’s show but returned in 2005 and has co-hosted every year since with Ryan Seacrest.

Seacrest has often been compared to Clark and remembered his mentor in a statement.

“I am deeply saddened by the loss of my dear friend Dick Clark. He has truly been one of the greatest influences in my life,” Seacrest said. “I idolized him from the start, and I was graced early on in my career with his generous advice and counsel.”

As word of his passing hit the Internet, many fans responded via Twitter that New Year’s Eve wouldn’t be the same without Clark.

Clark’s loss and iconic status was commented on in a statement by President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

“With ‘American Bandstand,’ he introduced decades’ worth of viewers to the music of our times. He reshaped the television landscape forever as a creative and innovative producer. And, of course, for 40 years, we welcomed him into our homes to ring in the New Year,” Obama said. “But more important than his groundbreaking achievements was the way he made us feel – as young and vibrant and optimistic as he was. As we say a final ‘so long’ to Dick Clark, America’s oldest teenager, our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends – which number far more than he knew.”

For nearly 60 years Dick Clark has been a television staple. He kept America dancing and laughing through some of its hardest times. The legacy of his contributions simply cannot be measured, however they can be seen in the success of programs like “American Idol,” “The Voice,” “Dancing with the Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance,” none of which would have been possible without Clark paving the way.

Say hello to the best show in years: 'Awake'

Don't let the headline fool you. I am dead serious about this.

NBC's drama "Awake" really is that good. Possibly even better than that.

The show stars Jason Isaacs ("Harry Potter" films) as an LAPD detective who gets into a car accident with his wife and son. But, something strange happens.

His world splits into two different realities. In one his son died. Then when he closes his eyes to go to sleep he's in a world where his wife is the one who died.

In some ways it's pretty basic. But, the show goes further. We don't know if either is a dream. Or perhaps both are? Both realities could just be all in his head. The show does a neat thing by having him wear a colored wristband indicating where he is. He's wearing red with his wife and green with his son.

Since he's a detective, he's working on cases in both worlds. And they're starting to bleed together. He recognizes facts in one that directly relate to the other world. Like in the pilot, the suspect has red hair. So in the other reality he focuses on that (much to his partner's puzzlement).

The second episode (I always try to give shows two full episodes) builds on that with giving him a deeper insight into his family. His son questions why the clothes smell different, so he waits until he's with his wife again to find the answer out. Then he can go back and fix it.

The thought of him being crazy is not lost on the show. That is where his two therapists come in. In the "Red/Wife" reality BD Wong (who's amazing in everything he does) plays a no-nonsense therapist who isn't afraid to tell him that he's mentally ill. That keeping up two complex realities isn't safe.

On the other hand, in the "Green/Son" reality, Cherry Jones ("24") is more of a kind hearted therapist who seems impressed that he can not only keep these two realities going, but that he can problem solve in one to answer a question in the other.

And those two great character actors are only the tip of the great acting iceberg. Laura Allen ("The 4400") plays his wife, Dylan Minnette (Jack's fake son on "Lost") plays another, potentially fake son, Steve Harris ("The Practice") plays his current partner in one reality and ex-partner in the other. And Wilmer Valderrama, yes, plays his current partner in one and a regular beat cop in the other one. The shocking part? He's quite good here. Just goes to show that you just need a good part to play.

Laura Innes from "ER" just joined the show as the police captain and possibly something more sinister. I don't want to give too much away or spoil anything, but the end of the second episode turned the show on its side with a huge revelation.

"Awake" is also a show that is built upon great writing. The dialogue is great and the script is clear enough that you're never confused.

The bad thing is that the show is on the NBC death slot of Thursdays at 10 p.m. Remember when "ER" DOMINATED that time slot for like a decade? Now NBC has failed two shows, "Prime Suspect" and "The Firm," at that time.

Just give it a chance and check it out. You'll be hooked.

Finally the truth about spoilers is out

It takes a group of real heroes to tackle the big issue of spoilers. In this hilarious video, a group of nerd genre actors, including Nelsan Ellis, Masi Oka, Julie Benz and Michael Trucco get together to educate fans about the dangers of spoilers.

'Breakout Kings:' A televised kick to the gut

Regular visitors and viewers here at Inscaped know my love of the A&E show "Breakout Kings." I even named it one of my top shows of 2011.

The show follows a US Marshals task force that used convicts to help find criminals who break out of prison.

I love the show because it's always an edge of your seat thriller, along with dashes of comedy. The perfect balance as you would.

Promos for season two stated "A King will fall." I figured they would drag it out all season, maybe kill someone off during the finale.

Then I tried to figure out which convict would get it.

Little did I suspect that the major death wouldn't be a convict.

And that's what makes "Breakout Kings" an amazing show; the death came out of nowhere and kicked you right in the gut. I had no clue it was coming. That made the impact hurt more, but not only that but it was a beloved character.

Really the only character that didn't have a past haunting them (too much). In perfect television form, the clues were there all throughout the episode. We should have seen this coming, but didn't.

That is great writing. And a bit of showmanship. Tell everyone something is going to happen, but shock them WHEN it does.

And I'm man enough to admit there were a few tears when it happened. Great performance Laz Alonso.

FOX cancels 'Terra Nova' but is it dead?

Though it's not really a surprise that FOX canceled "Terra Nova," it is surprising that they made the announcement without seeing what happens with "Alcatraz," "The Finder" or "Touch."

While there were some fundamental problems with the quality of the show, it was improving by the end of the series and there were some interesting questions set for next season.

20th Century Fox is now shopping the series to other networks and I would suggest BBC America as the top choice. They've shown a preference for sci-fi programming and have a lot of experience producing quality supernatural shows on a budget, which is "Terra Nova's" main problem.

For the mediocre ratings it produced, it was an extremely expensive show to produce (which is hilarious considering how few dinosaurs we saw.)

If they get the budget under control and find the right path storyline-wise, this could be an enjoyable show.

If BBC America, Syfy and the other obvious networks pass, producers may want to consider Tim's suggestion of taking the story to a comic book. No worries of budgets there, and series like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" have continued in comics to great success.

The Aquabats love fun! (and exclamation points!)

One quick look or listen at the latest CD from The Aquabats tells you all you need to know about their new kids show "The Aquabats! Super Show!"

1. One, they LOVE exclamation points. Every song on "Hi-Five Soup!" ends with one. And so does everything on the show.

2. With songs like "Food Fight On the Moon!", "The Shark Fighter!" and "Poppin' a Wheelie!" you can expect the show to follow the same zany logic.

And it doesn't disappoint. The best way I can explain it is if "Yo Gabba Gabba!" (lead singer also created that show) had a child with "The Mighty Morphing Power Rangers" (old school, not the new crap.) And add a bit of "Ren and Stimpy" in there.

Yes, it's crazy. And very campy. But, isn't that what makes a kid's show great?

The show follows the same storyline as the band's music does; they are a group of superheroes saving the world from evil.

As a frame of reference here is just a sampling of things that happened during the first episode:

Rip Taylor showed up as a genie.
The bad guy was a man sized ant. Named Man Ant! of course.
A baby calf on roller skates pushed down some stairs.
Space bees!
An awesome song called "Hamburger Rain"

Seems like an odd assortment there, eh? Yes, but it works. The show if funny without being too stupid. It also goes pretty fast. Not enough time for dull parts.

The first episode even had a fake commercial for Harry Hider, the fake moustache that helps block bad breath, hides gum chewing and helps with ventriloquist acts.

I fell in love with the band at the last Coachella and bought some of their stuff right away (like "I went to the store AT Coachella and bought a CD" right away). So I got the humor and how the band is.

As a test I showed the first episode to my 11-year-old niece and she was laughing along. I even caught her singing "Hamburger Rain" to herself the next day.

"The Aquabats! Super Show!" airs Saturday mornings on The Hub. Or try to find it online for those who have cheap cable like I do.

'Walking Dead' news! The Governor's coming to town!

"The Walking Dead" has been one of the most compelling shows on television over the last two years. And how could it not be? Character-heavy, post-apocolyptic zombie-war on the same network as "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad." It's tailor-made for comic book nerds and horror fans to swoon over.

"But," says Me Of Two Years Ago, "how far can they take this? How much of a story is there really too be had without treading the same waters that have been treaded for 60 years?"

"You sad fool," says Me Of Today, "You have no idea the hell that's coming."

POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW

All fans of the "Walking Dead" comic series knows that the TV show is setting up for the brutalist of storylines: THE GOVERNOR.

Here's a mix of what is known from the comics and how I see it going down:

So Randall is the timebomb for the whole setup: Rick saves him from the Walkers and, not knowing who he is or where he comes from, takes him to the farm for medical attention.

Turns out Randall is from WOODBURY, the brutal, gladiator-esque home for humans. Woodbury is ruled by The Governor, a man whose charm is only matched by his soul-less acts of torture.

Of course, The Governor is going to want to see this farm when Randall gets free and alerts them, which will lead to the Rick that comes along in the comics: the shaken, desperate and animalistic survivor.

It's been announced that David Morrisey of British fame will play the ruler of Woodbury, but the question of what kind of Governor he will be is up in the air.

If the show stays true to the comic, we could see some gut-wrenching scenes of torture, decapitation and truly weird zombie-love.

Knowing how the television world works, there may be some clever and tasteful omissions on the part pf the show runners.

Let's say for now that the truth of the show's third season will rest on the addition of Michonne, the mysterious, sword-weilding queen of badassery who takes on The Governor like a sushi chef a couple times. (Notice that eye-patch above? That's a preview.)

If she is not added in, we'll know the show will try to ease through the story arc without getting cancelled. On the other hand, if Michonne comes out of the forest swinging near the end of this season, hang on to your sheriff's hats; it's gonna be a wild ride.

'Walking Dead' episode 2.8 'Nebraska' recap

What a great way to start the second half of Season 2! A pick axe to a zombie head that looks like it was made for 3-D.

"Nebraska" was a tense goodbye to the possibility of hope for the characters on the show. While the obvious metaphor for the pursuit of hope was the search for Sophia, there was a lot of deeper soul searching in this episode: Dale and Shane continued their moral standoff, Shane showed some guilt (or at least some compassion) to Carol and Rick begins to realize the person he must become in order to protect his family.

Speaking of the Grimes family, they've emerged as the First Family of the apocalypse. Which is amusingly accurate at times: Rick the President, trying to keep peace when war is on their porch; Lori the First Lady, doing everything she can to heal people after "Barnegeddon" and their son Carl, who has one of the most interesting developments in the show so far.

Carl has been through a lot. He accepted his father's death. He attached to Shane, who is slowly turning into the Mad Max of murder. Carl's father then miraculously reappeared. Then Carl was shot while enjoying a deer encounter. Then he had to see his father shoot his girlfriend (or friend that is a girl). Sounds like a pretty nasty coming-of-age, no?

But in this episode, it's more about the repercussions of taking actions to survive. Whether it's moral or not, everyone would have to side with Shane in his death romp, shooting a barn full of undead former family members. But it then becomes Rick's duty to clean up his mess, leading to the most intense Mexican standoff in TV history: The Rick/Hershel/Mystery Guest showdown.

It starts off as two fathers deciding which is more important: a harsh, desolate reality? Or suffering for their family? They overall consensus of the moment seems to be that they need to take charge to salvage what they can from two emotionally wrecked families.

But it's not "Walking Dead" without a heavy dose of "Oh S#*%!" and "Oh no!"

Before the group can get back to their farmhouse, two unfamiliar faces stumble into the bar. In the zombie apocalypse, this can only mean bad things. After a simple talk and a quick urination on the floor (Philly people! geez...), it becomes apparent things have gone from bad to worse when the new faces want in on the farmhouse. So Rick makes the decision that needs to be made: a headshot on the leader and a few well placed shots on the urinator.

This move was interesting simply because it takes away Shane's main bargaining piece. Since day one, Shane has been "The Man of Action," the one who will make hard decisions. But now Rick has put down a young girl who has turned and now he has killed two men who tried to push in on his land. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see what happens when Shane is no longer the only badass.

Now for comic book fans, we know what this could mean...

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!




SERIOUSLY!!!!!



So this is eerily similar to the beginning of the Governor storyline. Which, if true, means there is some HEINOUS material on the way. So much so that all of us who read ahead into the darker parts of the story have to wonder: How the hell will they pull this off? 80% of the series coming up will be unairable! Will they stay remotely true and be the first show to have straight up torture on television? Will they ease the brakes on it and give us a watered down version? Or will they skip the storyline altogether?

Give me your thoughts below!!!

PS: Dave Navarro was on TheTalking Dead. Note to prospective stars: If you're into a show and get a chance to discuss it on TV with a producer from the show, try not to complain like a jerk the whole time.

'The River' puts it all out there... unfortunately

......sigh....

Yeah, I'm one of those people who is kind of obsessed with the "found footage" craze. And yes, I'm quite comfortable admitting it. It's done wonders resurrecting the horror genre, and it's teaching our cynical generation to just enjoy something for an hour and a half before hating it. (see www.greatideaspodcast.com, Episode 2) Shameless plug. Did you think I'm above it? Well, I'm not.

And all of the progress that "found footage" has made recently- the "Paranormal Activity" franchise, "Quarantine" (a remake of a foreign film, "REC." The sequel to that, "REC 2," is one of my top five horror movies of all time), etc.- is dashed and reduced by ABC's "The River."

For starters, taking the found footage and applying it to the long term potential of a television program is like giving a toddler the New York Times and asking them to summarize the business section for you. It's just not the place for such a request. Audiences will lose faith in a novel idea faster than the toddler will use the newspaper for confetti.

The duality of this two-hour train wreck will be it's undoing. The acting pulled you in, in a "maybe it'll be like Lost and spawn a couple of careers" sort of way. But the moment you're in, you start absorbing elements: a lost father, a misguided son, a guilt-filled wife, a dedicated film crew of friends.

Sounds like a solid start? Well then let's flip the coin and check this plot unfold. We've got a scary bat-creature, possession, ghosts, a mysterious tribe of locals, magic, dolls in the trees (WTF???), dolls in trees watching people, so on and so forth to the point where you'll ask yourself aloud "What the hell is all of this?"

It seems that the writers of the show have a ton of ideas, but they decided to take the un-"Lost" route and throw them all at you at once, as if they know time's not on their side.

By the end of the two hour debut, I had only one question: why would I want to watch this again? Week to week, do I want to put so much effort into deciphering what is and isn't important in all of the plot points being hurled at me?

At least MY side of the issue is simple: NO.

Getting locked up with 'Alcatraz'

JJ Abrams just knows how to get to me.

Yes, the director and creator of shows like "Lost" and "Alias" has a free pass from me, but there are always limits to that.

Abrams' lifetime pass is good for a full episode of a new show of his. While I thought "Person of Interest" was a good show, it wasn't enough to keep me interested week after week.

Now "Alcatraz" on the other hand...

The show's premise is that the island jail of Alcatraz never closed, everyone inside vanished and it was covered up. Now cut to the present and these missing people are now showing up. And they haven't aged a day.

Before we get any further, yes it's kind of like "The 4400." The people here also has no memory of where they have been.

It's also like "Lost" in a sense that each episode flashes back and forth from the time on Alcatraz to the present. Each new episode follows a returning prisoner or guard and a special group tracking them down.

Jorge Garcia from "Lost" plays an Alcatraz expert and comic shop owner who provides valuable info on each returnee.

Sarah Jones plays a San Francisco cop who stumbles into the mystery when her grandfather (an Alcatraz prisoner) kills her partner.

Rounding out the team is the super creepy Sam Neill ("Jurassic Park") and Parminder Nagra ("ER").

Here's what I like about it: It's "Lost" enough to a point where it can be mysterious but not annoying. Yes, there are giant mysteries to solve, but they do answer a lot of questions so far in the first few episodes.

Obviously the how and why are they back won't be answered right away. But, we get enough breadcrumbs to keep us coming back.

The chemistry is great, especially Jones and Garcia. It's very much a ragtag partnership, but it works on so many levels.

Another interesting side note is how they explore each returnee. While we don't know their motivations (some come back to steal things, others kill), we do see how horrible their lives were on Alcatraz.

The show does a great job walking the line between explaining why they're bad and almost making the audience feel sorry for them. The guards and warden are a-holes. Above and beyond "just doing their job."

This week brings the first guard coming back, which should bring a new interesting take to the show.

Check it out.

"Alcatraz" airs Monday nights at 9 p.m. on Fox.

Best of the Super Bowl ads

At this point the big game has become as much about the commercials as the actual game being played. With that un mind here are my choices for the best of a mediocre bunch.

1. Clint Eastwood for Chrysler



2. Samsung brings back The Darkness




3. Doritos Man's Best Friend



4. Metlife with every cartoon character



5. "The Voice" with a surprise guest

NBC shows that it's still fun in Super Bowl ad

Here's proof that NBC still loves "Community" in its all-star Super Bowl commercial.



Judging by this fun video you wouldn't guess NBC was in fourth place.

'Smash' is NBC's last hope

If you've turned on a television or been to the movies in the past month or so, you've seen ads for NBC's new musical-drama "Smash." The show follows the production of a Broadway musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe.

With an all star cast that includes Anjelica Huston, Debra Messing, Jack Davenport, Brian d'Arcy James, Christian Borle, Megan Hilty and Katherine McPhee, the network is swinging for the fences with this one.

They previewed the pilot on several media platforms and while it's a really great show, it's not as mainstream as it needs to be to attract the audience NBC is hoping for.

Huston is perfect as a successful producer using the show to stay prominent during a messy divorce, Messing and Borle are fun as a composing team who are drawn out of vacation for the show, and Davenport is fantastic as the show's brilliant a-hole director. However, the real stars are McPhee and Hilty as the two actresses fighting to be Marilyn.

McPhee is the young newcomer with a spark, while Hilty is the experienced chorus girl looking to finally be a lead. They both nail their respective parts, though McPhee's character seems a touch more likable.

The series has stellar behind the scenes talent as well with executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (the guys behind "Chicago" and "Hairspray"), original music by Tony winner Marc Shaiman and executive producer Steven Spielberg.

With all those heavy hitters it's no surprise the show is great. It's one of the best new shows to come along in some time. Acting, writing, production, it's all there.

Unfortunately, the theater storyline may turn off mainstream audiences after the curiosity of the pilot wears off. Viewers don't have to be lifelong theater geeks to like the show, but, it helps.

For non-theater fans like Tim, it may be hard to invest in the show each week to keep tabs on the progress the Marilyn show is making.

With that in mind, NBC should have pulled back on the promotion and been a little less desperate for attention.

I sincerely hope the show is a hit, but if it's not a blockbuster out of the gate, NBC has left themselves no place to go.

Don Cornelius' 'Soul Train' legacy

The passing of famed “Soul Train” host/executive producer Don Cornelius of an alleged self-inflicted gunshot wound may overshadow his contributions to pop culture; however his influence on black culture and music should never be forgotten.

It’s impossible to overstate the impact Don Cornelius had on the music industry. Before MTV and You Tube, there was “Soul Train,” “the hippest trip in America.”

Everyone from The Jackson 5 to Marvin Gaye to Stevie Wonder to Aretha Franklin appeared on the show in the early years. It was the place for black artists to go to reach a national audience.

Cornelius began “Soul Train” in 1970 as a weekday afternoon dance party on Chicago TV. The show’s popularity attracted bigger sponsors which allowed it to become nationally syndicated.

For 35 years and 1,117 episodes “Soul Train” showed black audiences who the hottest acts were, what the latest fashion was and what the newest dance moves were.

For many black families the weekend didn’t start until “Soul Train” went off on Saturday mornings. Missing an episode meant being out of the loop and considered uncool.

Beyond giving a voice and face to black culture, “Soul Train” also bridged the gap between white pop artists and black audiences with early appearances from Elton John and David Bowie.

Changing music trends and declining ratings led to the show’s demise in the late ‘90s, however its influence lives on at every house party, prom and wedding that features a “Soul Train” line.

Cornelius’ influence lives on in networks like BET and Centric, and the inclusion and domination that black artists have on mainstream music.

In the words of the great Don Cornelius, “as always in parting we wish you love, peace and soul.”

Super Bowl commercial preview: Ferris is back!

Tim and I are products of the 1980s. e love the music, TV and movies. One 80s classic that has stood the test of time is "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."

Matthew Broderick is the quintessential high school smart ass who cuts class with his best friend and girlfriend, and ends up having the best day ever.

Though he's never confirmed it you know Broderick has been offered giant paychecks over the years for a sequel. Well now the wishes of 80s babies everywhere have come true in the form of a Honda Super Bowl commercial.

A Q&A with 'Spartacus' boss Steven S. DeKnight

With the premiere of "Spartacus: Vengeance" Jan. 27 at 10 p.m. on Starz, creator/executive producer/writer and all around fun guy Steven S. DeKnight had a conference call with reporters to talk about all things "Spartacus."

So…no character is safe at any time…how do you go about deciding which of the characters should go and when, and is there any character that you wish you still had for this upcoming season?

Yes, there's always a question. On this show characters literally get the ax. I think ultimately for me it comes from how is the story best served by a character death. I don't ever want somebody to just die. It needs to have ramifications either emotionally or towards the plot. So that's always the number one driving force of who do I kill.

And do I miss people? I don't regret killing anyone, but of course John Hannah, number one. His presence was just so fantastic on the show and he was such a joy to work with and write for. He's definitely - he had to go, but that was a painful one.

Liam...captures the essence of what Andy started (as Spartacus) but makes it his own.

What drew us to Liam is that we didn't want to try to duplicate (Andy). I mean, that will never happen. He was such a singular, amazing talent. But we wanted to find somebody that had the same base qualities of compassion. I told all the actors when they auditioned that even though Spartacus may fly into a rage now and then, he never comes from a place of anger, it's always from a place of a wounded heart. And we really felt like Liam captured that essence.

Beyond the vengeance, which of course is the primary thing, what kind of a journey are Spartacus and the other characters on this season?

Well with Spartacus this was always planned to be the season where he goes from a man really searching for his personal redemption in the death of his wife and his feelings of responsibility for that, that's why he wants to exact the vengeance, and transitioning him into a true leader. And it's a very, very bumpy ride for him to go from someone that we see in Season 1 who he's a good man, but he is much more concerned about himself and his wife. Everybody else is secondary. This is where he starts to move into caring more about the group and putting their needs above his own eventually.

I love to take people on journeys. Crixus definitely goes on a journey. Even characters like Agron, which was one of the two brothers in Season 1 that we didn't get to know that well, has a major story. Everybody grows up in this season.

Have you had any criticisms of the show and have or would you adjust anything based on negative feedback?

Yes, of course. I think the show just welcomes criticism. Especially when we first started out, if everybody remembers back that far, this show was universally hated. We got off to a rocky start. Rob Tapert, my incredible producing partner, and I always say that first episode was by far our weakest one where we were trying to figure out the show and it took a while to get going.

So we took a lot of criticism for too much sex, too much violence, everybody hated the language, not the cursing but the actual language of the show. It just took a while for everybody to warm up to it. Early on I got a lot of criticism about how people speak, which I steadfastly refused to change.

One of the other things that I'm still to this day getting comments about is, and I put this in air quotes, “all the gay shit” in my show. People asking me to tone it down, which I always say no. I mean, as far as I'm concerned it's barely in there to start with. And it was part and parcel of this world and it's part and parcel of our world now. So I just - yes, I ignore that. If people want to stop watching the show because two guys kiss, well, I shrug my shoulders. You know, that that will always be in there.

Every now and then somebody will say something about oh it's too violent, oh there's too much sex, but that's the show it is. So basically I guess my answer is sure we get criticism, but, you know, thankfully STARZ is very supportive and we get to tell the story we want to tell.

Prior to coming back for another season professional athletes have to attend training camp to get in shape. Is there something similar that the actors must go through to appear on “Spartacus?”

Yes. We have a boot camp every year that it's for new people coming in and our returning cast to bone up on their fighting skills and to help them get back into tip-top shape. I think we're one of the few shows that actually - the men have it rougher than the women because the men are often practically naked all the time with just a little bit of strategic covering. So they have to watch what they eat and train like crazy for the entire shoot of the show, which is incredibly difficult. But I think the evidence is up on the screen that they literally work their asses off.

Is there a character that you wish you could squeeze in more, but you just haven't been able to yet?

Yes…we have so much story we try to put into each episode that some characters we don't get to pay enough to. We felt that way Season 1 with Oenomaus. We felt like there was so much going on with Spartacus and his journey and Batiatus that he got a little bit of short shrift. So we wanted to do more with him in “Gods of the Arena” and we wanted to do more with him in this season, which is really nice to do.

We have so many characters, it's a bit of a juggling act because we don't want to short change anyone. But yes, I'd say Oenomaus was the one that we felt was underutilized at first and we tried to bring him more to the forefront.

Writers always say that as they develop a series they pick up things from the actors and incorporate them into the way they deal with the characters and stuff. Are there any changes or different approaches now that you've switched from Andy to Liam?

Actually no. We had a discussion before we started writing this season of should we tailor the show for Liam. My feeling and Rob and STARZ, we all agreed, was that no, what we should do is write Spartacus as Spartacus and Liam will bring what he brings to it and it will be a different take, but what he says - what Spartacus says and what he does will still be consistent with the Spartacus that we know.

You've got awesome stunt coordinators…how much do you write into the script, say the action and the sex, and how much do you leave it to the director and the stunt coordinators?

Al Poppleton (stunt supervisor) is just phenomenal. The thing that he does for us, it would not be Spartacus without him. On the page, it depends on what we're describing. Generally if it's a big battle, we'll give the high points and let them work it out. If it's a more intimate one-on-one battle, we'll be more detailed because we'll want the specific moment. I always try to build a fight with specific emotional moments in it. And then Al and his team will fill in the detail, expand on it, they'll suggest things. So it's kind of 50/50.

With the sex scenes, again, if there's a specific emotion we're looking for, we'll get into a little more detail. Otherwise, we tend to just describe what kind of lovemaking is going on. The words that keep popping up are tender, gentle, vigorous. Vigorous pops up quite a bit as you can imagine. So that's usually a little less detailed. And again, we're more concerned on the writing side with conveying the emotional beats of what's going on in that situation and we leave the actual technical what's touching what, who's kissing where to the director and the actors.

“Spartacus: Vengeance,” how does that compare to some of the earlier work that you've done on, “Angel,” “Dollhouse,” “Smallville,” etc.? Is it easier or is it more difficult? It's a different type of show than those, but what are some of the differences between your previous work and the work you're doing now with “Spartacus?”

First and foremost, I always credit Joss Whedon for really starting my career. I was working on “Undressed” when he hired me on to “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and then I went to “Angel” where he gave me a chance to direct and then I linked up with him again on “Dollhouse.” Words can't describe how much I've learned from the man.

The biggest difference with this show for me is that all my other work was on broadcast networks and this is premium cable. So Al Gough, my old boss from “Smallville” who watches this show, I bumped into him and he chuckled and he said when he watched “Spartacus,” he calls it DeKnight unleashed.

And that's exactly how I felt when I got this opportunity that I didn't have to deal with standards and practices anymore. I didn't have to water things down, I could go to places, not just sexually, not just with the violence, but good characters could do bad things, which is often very difficult to get the network to sign off on. And bad characters could do good things. I got to work in a very gray world, which I think is where the most interesting drama is.

And it's also been the hardest thing I've ever done. Because I had the bright idea of creating a very different kind of language and the way people speak, which is not natural and it doesn't come naturally to write it. So it takes a lot longer to write and it's a bit more of a pain in the ass, but the result I think was very successful in conveying the sense of a different time in history.

Do you consult with historians to help keep the show authentic?

Yes. I have two fantastic historical consultants, Aaron Irvin and Jeffrey Stevens. We brought them on from the start. And they're absolutely instrumental. I bring them into the room every now and then; they get all the outlines, all the scripts. They give us copious notes.

We always say on “Spartacus” that we want to be respectful to history, but our first goal is to be entertaining to the audience. So sometimes we do have to bend historical facts and shift things around. But we always try to be very respectful and they are just two fantastic guys that have really contributed a lot to the show.

One of the things I really like about the show is as masculine as it is, the female characters also get equal time to tell their stories…tell us what Ilithyia, Lucretia, Mira, what their stories will bring in this upcoming season?

Without giving anything away, Ilithyia and Lucretia, which is two of my favorite characters to write especially when they're with each other, they continue their frenemy dance in a very convoluted, unexpected way. What happens between those two is not what you would think is actually going to happen, especially based on where we left them at the end of Season 1. They are in fine form totally. They really continue that storyline in an amazing kind of way.

Mira is as we left her in Season 1, she really responded to Spartacus and was falling in love with Spartacus and Spartacus had compassion towards her, but I wouldn't call it love. Where we move with them, they have moved into a quasi-relationship, but it's a relationship that's very bumpy and rocky and may or may not work out in the end.

Just based on the first few episodes of the series or rather the season, it seems like Ashur is setting up his next few moves. Talk a little bit about his motivations as far as vengeance is concerned. Has he put getting payback against certain people ahead of pushing himself further up the ranks or what his priorities are as a character?

What I love about Ashur and the way Nick Tarabay really brings him to life is that Ashur is a guy who ultimately doesn't really think he's the bad guy. He's just a guy trying to navigate the choppy waters of life. He comes from a place, and we explored this in Season 1 and in “Gods of the Arena,” of deep insecurity where he feels like he is disrespected and not treated as well as he should be. Those deep seated feelings of insecurity are what really drives him to get to the top.

In this season he's out for vengeance against the rebels because he was just - he was being promoted to being in the Ludus with Batiatus, being Batiatus' right-hand man, he had finally been elevated and then Spartacus literally topples him off his perch and ruins everything for him. So he's got an ax to grind there. And he also tries to ingratiate himself back in with the Romans.

You also set it up in “Gods of the Arena” that Ashur would have a bone to pick kind of literally with Crixus. Is that something that we can expect to be addressed?

Oh yes, he hates Crixus. Absolutely hates Crixus. That's something we played and set up in Season 1 and referenced - one of the things that I love about long form television is that we reference that Crixus crippled Ashur in a fight and then we saw that at the end of “Gods of the Arena.” So he has always had it out for Crixus to get his revenge.

Where did you decide how they speak? Is it based on any kind of Latin or did you just kind of come up with the way that they talk to each other?

For me, I studied as a playwright so I was deeply steeped in Shakespeare, which is really my main influence in the dialogue. Not to say that it's Shakespearean. I think this is - I call this Shakespeare extra, extra light. I always say the language is a cross between Shakespeare and Robert E. Howard who wrote all the Conan stories. So it's kind of a mash up between those two.

It's absolutely not historically accurate. When people bring that up to me about, well, they didn't speak this way in Latin, I always point out, well, in Shakespearean times they didn't speak in iambic pentameter, but that's an affectation to give it a style, which is exactly what we wanted to do on this show. And again…about five scripts in after we had done this I realized holy shit, I got to keep writing this way for the rest of the series, which is extremely challenging.

Can you talk about the production treatments and visual effects that go into each episode because it's such a beautifully filmed and unique series?

Yes, it's a massive amount of work. This show because of the time period we're using, every single thing on the show we have to make. Everything down to the chairs, the furniture, the jewelry, everything is handmade. So it's an extremely time consuming process.

A lot of people have asked me, well, how much of it is green screen, our green screen is basically the background, the backdrops. All of the sets you see, they're real. We built the Ludus, we built the training square, all we use - the only use of CGI is in the backgrounds with the sky and the landscape beyond our sets. So it takes an amazing amount of work and our team in New Zealand just does an incredible, incredible job. And we shoot everything digitally and then we run it through a post process to get the colors right and to give it that really rich, rich look.

Where is Lucretia's story leading her now that she doesn't have a husband anymore and now that she doesn't have the Ludus or any kind of work to support herself?

She's in a bad state. As seen in the trailer, she's not doing too well when we first find her. Which is not surprising; she's very lucky to be alive. A lot of people have asked, well, last we saw her she got stabbed in the stomach and sure she was twitching at the very end of Season 1, but how is it possible she survived. We do explain how she survived. It's a few episodes in and then we tell you what happened.

For her, she is a shattered woman. And this season is about her putting the pieces of her life back together and trying to move forward. And along with moving forward, much like everyone else this season, she does have some scores to settle. She's going to have to be incredibly crafty and smart about her maneuvering because now she has absolutely no position whatsoever. She's living off the kindness of strangers at this point.

The second season had already been written when you decided to make “Gods of Arena.” So did you have to rewrite the second season because of the prequel? And if so, how far did it interfere in this new season?

We actually were already working on Season 2. We had written the first couple of episodes and we had a layout for the entire season when unfortunately we found out that (Andy) was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, so we stopped working on that and hatched the plan to do “Gods of the Arena” to give him a chance to recover. We were finishing up “Gods of the Arena” when unfortunately we found out that his cancer had returned and he had to permanently step down from the role.

So at that point, after having done “Gods of the Arena,” yes, we went back and we retooled the first several episodes and made adjustments. And also because we had had time off from the season, when we came back we saw some things we wanted to change story-wise. For example, episode 2 used to be episode 3. There was a different episode 2 that once we looked at it, we decided, yes, it's not really moving the story along and we had an entire script for it, so we threw that script out, took some of the elements, married it with episode 3 and then moved on from there. But that was really the biggest change that episode 2 was a completely different story.

Why “Spartacus?” What made you go into this kind of series?

The concept was sold to STARZ before I had heard about it. Rob Tapert, Josh Donen, and Sam Raimi sold the idea to STARZ of doing “Spartacus” in a “300” style. Because we are all big fans of Zack Snyder's work on “300” and how he technically pushed the art of filmmaking and they really wanted to see if they could do that on a television show.

So the concept was sold to STARZ and then STARZ was looking for a writer to come in and spearhead the project. I was working on “Dollhouse” at the time when I got the call from my agent that Sam Raimi and STARZ wanted to do a gladiator series and that's all I knew. I didn't know it was “Spartacus” when I went in.

I'm a big fan of period piece movies, especially the sword and sandals epics, but I'm the first to admit history was not my strong point and the only thing I knew about Roman history was Stanley Kubrick's “Spartacus.” So I had a lot of reading and catching up to do when I signed on.

The problem about history is that everyone knows how the story is going to end or everyone thinks they know. Are you already 100 percent certain that you'll follow the historical facts or if there is any chance of changing things and not following the historical facts?

I will follow the historical facts. Entertainment is our job on “Spartacus,” so we will have to take characters, take two or three characters, form them into one character, shuffle some events around to make the story work, not only for production reasons, but just for clarity. But yes, we will basically follow historical facts. In reference to how Spartacus dies, most people think he was nailed to the cross like we see in Stanley Kubrick's movie. That's not actually what happened.

One of the great things about the story of Spartacus is that there's only fragments left in history that gives bits and pieces. Most of those talk about who won this battle, who won that battle, so there's not a lot of…emotional detail in it. So we are going to basically follow history, but the audience will still be, I think, surprised by how we wrap up the story.

Whenever anybody says to me, you know, well, everybody knows how the story ends, why should they watch, I always reply everybody knew that the Titanic sunk and yet the movie made a billion dollars. People obviously want to be along for the ride, even if they know the eventual outcome. The trick is to keep it exciting all the way up to the end and then make that ending powerful and emotional and I think people will show up.

You've mentioned Robert E. Howard as an influence and inspiration for…the show. What do you like about writing genre fiction and do you feel some people take the show less seriously because it's genre?

Oh, absolutely people take it less seriously. There have been some great, great genre shows on the air that got no love from the Academy. “Battlestar Galactica” comes to mind, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” comes to mind.

We're kind of the redheaded stepchild. I think one of the most amazing accomplishments of J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof and “Lost” was winning that Emmy for a genre show. I mean, it's an incredible accomplishment.

What I love about it is that it really opens up the possibilities of what you can do. It's a little more restrictive on “Spartacus” since despite all of its trappings, it's not a fantasy show. We can't bring in magic, there are no monsters, everything has to have a real world logic to it. A bigger pulpy logic, but definitely a real world logic to it. It was much easier on “Buffy” when we needed to solve a problem and somebody had a mystical doodad that could help us out. That's always a lot easier.

What I also love about genre is just the way you can really heighten emotions and use the situations as metaphors and just make it as powerful and emotional as possible.

What do you feel like the evolution of the series has been up to this point? You talked a bit about the rocky start at the beginning of the series and finding a vision for it. What do you feel like that is now?

When we first started off this was Rob Tapert and Josh Donen and Sam Raimi and I, this was our first foray into premium cable. And suddenly the shackles were off and I can't speak for my partners, but I think I stripped down naked and ran a little crazy through the streets in the first couple of episodes before I found the right tone.

If you look at that first episode there were moments that you see the glimmer of what the show will become, but we were trying to really find ourselves in the story, the language, the visual, the directing, the acting, everything was trying to find an equilibrium, which took us a few episodes to get to.

Once we found that, we started to really find the right element of the show that each episode needed. And we knew we needed a certain amount of action. We knew that emotions really needed to drive the story. It had to be emotionally based, no matter what was going on, no matter what - whether it's an orgy that's happening, if there's an orgy going on, it can't be about the orgy. It's got to be about who wants what from whom and what's the maneuvering and what's the emotional stake.

And it’s the same thing with a fight. When Crixus and Spartacus fight Theokoles in the arena in the middle of Season 2, it couldn't just be about a fight. What it was really about were these two men trying to find a common ground and come together.

So that's really how it developed is just episodes now concentrating on what are the emotional stakes. It's very easy in a show like this to get lost in all the shiny objects that are around you all the time. And I do consider the sex and the violence are the shiny objects. Just finding a balance between that kind of pulpy entertainment and some true human emotion.

Your world is beautifully realized as sets both digital and physical, the costumes, everything works great together. After two seasons does the research and actualization of the world become easier or is challenging your designers an active concern as you develop scripts and locations for the show? Which of those visual accomplishments are you most proud of?

It becomes easier, it never becomes easy. Much like the writing, once we locked down how to do it, it doesn’t become as frustratingly impossible. It's still difficult, but, at least we have a handle on it. And it's the same thing for the physical aspects of our show. We have just such great people. Iain Aitken (production designer) and Barbara Darragh (costume designer), who does our costuming, which is just gorgeous. They put so much effort into it.

When you're on the set for “Spartacus,” you know, yes, there's a green screen background and you're not outside, but when you're on a set, I'm thinking particularly about Batiatus' Ludus, you just can't imagine the detail that is actually into this set. It's like stepping back in time. It looks so real when you're actually on it.

It's the same thing with the costuming. The costuming is just absolutely gorgeous. And yes, you know, not 100 percent is historically accurate. We made that decision early on that we needed the costuming to have an elegance and a beauty to it, a bit of an enhancement of a more simple Roman style.

And the visual effects too. If you look at - from the first episode in Season 1 to the last episode in Season 1, you can really see how we started off we wanted to be very much a graphic novel and we all felt we went a little bit too far in that first episode, it was a little too over the top, so we started to dial back and refine the visual effects.

It's hard to say what I'm most proud of in these areas. Every time I watch an episode, I just marvel at the sets and the costumes and the lighting, the cinematography, the visual effects. It's just - it's amazing that so many different disciplines have come together to make this such a visually stunning show.

Do you think you're now too spoiled to go back to broadcast TV at any point?

Quite possibly. I will never say never, but this often comes up in the writers' room where I say oh boy, I don't know if I could - one of the most daunting things about broadcast networks is I don't know if I could do 22 episodes a year now.

One of the great things about only doing 10 to 13 episodes in a season is that you really get to handcraft each episode. When you do 22, there's usually about five episodes that you just don't have time to fix and you just got to throw your arms up and say, well, that one didn't work, we got to move on to the next one. Which thankfully in premium cable, you just have more time. You know, I think I could definitely put up with the constraints of not being able to curse or show nudity or be overly violent, that I think I could do, but for me it's 22 episodes a year that would be difficult.

Big fan of Lucy Lawless since “Xena” days…how has her insanity presented any new avenues or challenges in writing?

The tricky part is you can't have a character be bat shit crazy for the entire season like that. That's a shtick that gets old fast. So it was transitioning her into lucidity where she starts off obviously very, very, very damaged and broken and watching how she puts the pieces back together and tries to reclaim her life is really the juicy part of the storyline. And Lucy of course does it so brilliantly. I've been a big fan of hers, too, since the “Xena” days and am still thrilled and impossibly shocked that she's one of the stars of our show.

When the season begins, we see that Crixus is on the search of Naevia. Is this something that's going to take place throughout the whole series or will it be resolved early on?

There will be a resolution. Not exactly early on, but it will resolve itself. That's all I can say.

You signed a two-year overall deal with STARZ, I was curious if that was only pertaining to “Spartacus” or if you were putting together some new projects?

Yes, no, it doesn’t just pertain to “Spartacus.” I'm actually at the moment writing a new project for STARZ that it's super extra crazy top secret that I can't even give you a title. But there is something new in the works. Now it's in the very, very early stages. It has not been green lit. I've been sent to a pilot script, but there's many, many, many hoops to jump through and stages to pass before it'll get green lit and announced as a show. But all I can say is it's big and very, very exciting.

Hopefully that won't affect anything that's going on with “Spartacus” in the future?

I don't think it would. No.

Tale of two movies (turned into TV shows)

I should have know I was in trouble when we did our TV fantasy draft.

Thinking clearly wasn't really a top priority, if you look at my list. The only shows I was really excited for were "The River" and "Awake" (which, who knows when that's starting.)

All the other shows are "I guess I'll watch that." And look what happens...

Two new television series based off successful movies.

First up is the new animated Fox series "Napoleon Dynamite." I think what made the movie popular was there was nothing like it at the time. It was weird, but not too weird and a lovable level of clever.

The TV show tries to catch lightning in a bottle by using everyone from the movie. While that does create a nice consistency, other issues prevented me from enjoying it.

Maybe the problem is that the movie was one thing, a one and done type thing, but more of it just doesn't work. Heck, I love root beer floats, but too much of it and I get sick of it.

Like a lot of new comedies this season, I just didn't find it funny. There was one moment in the pilot that made me smile: parts of the episode take place at a kid's pizza place and there is a robot band performing just like at Chuckie Cheese's when I was a kid. They got details right that made me smirk and think good thoughts.

But then the main plot of the show, an acne skin cream that turns you into a rage monster, brought me back to reality. While cute at points, it's beyond stupid at others.

The ratings were pretty good, so maybe I'm wrong.

On the other side is the new NBC drama "The Firm."

Based on the John Grisham novel, which then was turned into a 1993 Tom Cruise movie.

Yes, a book turned into a movie turned into a television show. Way to keep it original NBC.

The show stars Josh Lucas as Mitch McDeere, who is coming out of 10 years of Witness Protection after the events of the film.

You see, Tom Cruise might have taken down the firm and made a deal with the mob, but the US government finds a way to take down the mob using the information he provided. Hence, Witness Protection.

But, McDeere is the most unlucky man on the planet because not only is the mob after him again, but he AGAIN joined an evil firm.

Instead of an evil Gene Hackman to deal with, this McDeere has an evil, yet sexy, Tricia Helfer ("Battlestar Galactica") to worry about.

And here's my major problem with the show: flashbacks.

Listen, er look, "Lost" was one thing, but I'm not getting into a bunch of shows that do the whole flashback thing EVERY episode.

Part of each episode follows the present day where McDeere is running for his life. Then a majority of the episode is the past where he does a case of the week. Oddly enough the first two episodes were young men murdering people.

Other than the flashback issue there isn't much else wrong with the show. The acting is great. Lucas does a great job, in fact he does such a good job you're not even thinking about Tom Cruise. The first episode got a tad boring halfway in, but saved itself with a good ending.

I really don't know if I can, or want to, invest the time to watch this each week. Especially when "Alcatraz" (review coming soon) does the flashback thing better.

Pass and, maybe, pass.

'Justified' back with an edge

It's one of the hardest things in the world for a TV show to follow up a critically acclaimed successful season.

Season two of the FX action drama "Justified" was a masterclass in storytelling and acting, leading to increases in viewers and award recognition.

However, last night all that was left behind as "Justified" began season three, right where season two left off with Raylan shot after bringing down the Bennett clan.

Following a trip to the hospital to assure fans that Raylan was indeed ok, the action jumped ahead three weeks with him still recovering and on light desk duty. He's not quite the sharp shooter viewers have come to rely on and he pays less attention to details, which gets him in trouble later in the episode, but as evidenced in his showdown with Boyd, he's still Raylan.

"Justified" is at its best when Timothy Olyphant's Raylan and Walton Goggins Boys are going at it, which happened before the opening credits in last night's "The Gunfighter." There is this on again-off again love/hate relationship between the two that has a familial dynamic that is always compelling to watch.

They're like relatives who fight to the death all the time, but the minute somebody else gets involved they've got each other's backs.

In the absence of the dearly departed (and sorely missed) Mags Bennett, season three's big bad is Detroit gangster Robert Quarles played by the excellent Neal McDonough. Quarles is a sharp dresser whose deadly nature is obscured by his appearance.

However, his business with the dixie mafia immediately lets everyone know he's just as ruthless as Mags, plus with no connection to Harlan he is a complete wildcard.

McDonough is often the tortured hero, so it was a nice change to see him go all out as the villain.

"Dexter's" Desmond Harrington also showed up as fugitive killer yet very stylish Fletcher "Ice Pick" Nix. He enjoys torturing his victims by engaging them in a gun draw that he will inevitably win thanks to his trusty ice pick.

This technique of course backfired when he tried it on Raylan and led to him being shot. However, executive producer Graham Yost has already said that Nix is not dead and he hopes to bring Harrington back later in the season.

Meanwhile Boyd's crew of Arlo, Devil and Ava are trying to figure out what to do with the Bennett's stolen marijuana. Once Boyd tells Ava to burn it, Devil doesn't want to take orders from a woman, which leads to the best moment of the night. Ava tells Devil her fried chicken is to die for then changes his mind via frying pan.

The Ava/Boyd relationship is perhaps the most interesting and underrated one on the whole series. They seem to have evolved to part Johnny and June, part Bonnie and Clyde. All of which makes their scenes second only to Boyd and Raylan.

The only major flaw from last night was that it needed more Boyd, which will hopefully happen in the coming weeks as viewers get a glimpse of the real reason why he had himself thrown in the same prison as Dickie Bennett.

There was a definite edge to last night's premiere, with the show going into a completely different direction from season two, yet still keeping the core qualities that makes "Justified" one of the most anticipated series of spring.