Category: tv

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Nickelodeon announces Airbender followup The Legend of Korra

'The Legend of Korra'

Some great news for fans of the cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender! We’re finally getting confirmation of the long-rumored new cartoon. Korra returns to the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender 70 years later, following Aang’s sucessor. Avatar Korra is “a passionate, rebellious, and fearless teenaged girl from the Southern Water Tribe.” Here are a few more plot details from the press release:

With three of the four elements under her belt (Earth, Water, and Fire), Korra seeks to master the final element, Air. Her quest leads her to the epicenter of the modern “Avatar” world, Republic City – a metropolis that is fueled by steampunk technology. It is a virtual melting pot where benders and non-benders from all nations live and thrive. However, Korra discovers that Republic City is plagued by crime as well as a growing anti-bending revolution that threatens to rip it apart. Under the tutelage of Aang’s son, Tenzin, Korra begins her airbending training while dealing with the dangers at large.

The series is headed up by Avatar creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and expected to premiere in 2011. This hasn’t been confirmed, but it’s worth noting that rumor mill has suggested that the series may feature some flashbacks to the characters from Airbender.

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Hayden Christensen sues USA Network over Royal Pains

Hayden Christensen and his brother are suing the USA Network over the comedic drama Royal Pains, saying that the channel ripped off the concept from a pitch they made in 2005.

I enjoy Royal Pains, but as someone who couldn’t even make it through a half hour of Jumper, I probably wouldn’t have tuned in if Hayden starred. (If that was even the plan.) I’m no lawyer, but seems that’s a point in the Christensen’s favor.

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Star Wars: Uncut is up for an Emmy!

Casey Pugh’s brainchild of collaborative fandom love is up against against network-producted fare for Glee and Dexter for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media – Fiction. Big congratulations to Casey and all who participated!

The Emmys are rarely a big deal for genre shows, but Lost is one of the few that have gotten plenty of love – and that adds up to twelve nominations for their final season, including Outstanding Drama Series. (Along with True Blood.) Matthew Fox, Terry O’Quinn, Michael Emerson and Elizabeth Mitchell are all up for acting.

Robot Chicken got two nominations, one for their ‘Full-Assed Christmas Special’ and another for Seth Green’s voiceovers.

As for the other genre nods, Ian McKellen got one for being the only part of The Prisoner remake that anyone liked, while Caprica, Stargate Universe, and V will duke it out with original flavor CSI for special effects.

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Shyamalan’s ‘Airbender’ burned by critics

M. Night Shyamalan’s movie adaptation of Nickelodeon’s much-loved Avatar: The Last Airbender cartoon has been controversial from the casting on down, spawning an entire movement of fans disappointed to see nearly all the leads in the Asian-inspired series cast as Caucasians. That’s been hard to miss, at least if you’re in fandom. But the film is opening this week and the reviews are brutal – even without the casting issue.

The grand poobah of movie reviewers, Roger Ebert, calls it “an agonizing experience.” While I’m not sure where he’s getting some of his facts,* little is spared from his critique, including ILM’s effects. (Ouch.)

*The story takes place in the future? Not in the cartoon. Misunderstanding or Shyamalanism?

Other reviewers aren’t much kinder: It’s currently running at 9% on Rotten Tomatoes. And even one of the few positive reviews calls Shyamalan’s script “wooden.”

While it’s hard to predict the reaction of consumers who propelled the brain–sucking Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen to #2 at the box office last year, between Shyamalan’s reeling reputation, the already overwhelmingly negative reviews, and the alienation of a core base of fans, things aren’t looking so good.

The most we can hope for is that the cartoon comes out unscathed: For fans, I can recommend Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Art of the Animated Series, which I finished this afternoon. It’s art and sketches from the original show, a nice look into the world the cartoon, and if you like Art of books, it’s hard to go wrong.

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Art you can appreciate: Sci-Fi Heroes

Artist Martin Firrell has begun developing a series of art videos about heroism and has changed his focus from real-life soldiers to sci-fi heroes.  It’s a mix of artistic video and interview. 

Some very interesting comments from Joe Flanigan, Kate Mulgrew and Nathan Fillion.

I’m not sure what the female fan’s reaction will be to Joe Flanigan’s opinion on what attracts women to the hero (second video in).  He raises an interesting point, though.  And Kate Mulgrew has some interesting comments about the difference between the male and female Starship captains.  Worth checking out.

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Gate Geek: Comings and goings

After 14 years, the much-beloved producer/writer/director Robert Cooper will be leaving the Stargate production house.  Cooper is responsible for the much-beloved episodes “200,” “Vegas” and “Unending;” to name just a few.

In other goings, the Official Stargate Magazine will be closing down in September.  (Its publisher, Titan, is the same company that puts out Star Wars Insider.)  Given the changes in the publishing world where fan magazines can’t pass on news anymore, this is kinda not surprising.

In happier news, fans of Richard Dean Anderson will be pleased to learn that he’s coming out of “retirement” (has he ever really stopped working?) for a recurring role on USA’s “Facing Kate.”