TV news and shake-ups have been coming fast and hard the past week like a circus strong man’s hammer to the face. Let’s check out what the cathode rays have to offer in this Tune-In Tuesday round-up.
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Steward of Comedy Central’s comedy news program, Jon Stewart announced last week that he would be leaving The Daily Show, which he’s helmed since taking over from Craig Kilborn in 1999, sometime this year. A punch to the gut to many—especially folks my age who were in college when Stewart took the reins—the anchor and executive producer’s absence will be missed. While he joked last week that the Internet reaction made it feel like he’s died, Stewart cut through the bullshit of the, as he put it in his America: The Book, “info-tastic cluster-fuck of fact-ish-like material,” making his exit feel like a guide is leaving. Expect a lot more coverage of Stewart’s exit in the coming months. The guy was and is a class-act.
Gotham
As reported, Fox’s series that’s sorta-kinda about Bruce Wayne’s road to Dark Knighthood and Jim Gordon’s story as he negotiates the city’s criminal element and police department has laid the seeds to the origins of the Clown Prince of Crime, the Joker… maybe. On last night’s episode “The Blind Fortune Teller,” a character named Jerome was introduced the Gotham universe. Showrunner Bruno Heller is being coy about whether the circus kid will grow up to be the Batman’s greatest adversary or if the whole shebang is a red herring. Along with the possible-Joker, we are also introduced to the Flying Graysons—John and his future wife Mary—who will one day give birth to the Caped Crusader’s high-flying sidekick Robin, the Boy Wonder. I’m still on the fence about adding the Joker to Gotham’s already overly bloated mix of one-day villains, but Cameron Monaghan of Shamless fame gave a helluva performance of Jerome, whoever he might one day morph into.
Game of Thrones
Season 4 of author George R. R. Martin’s killfest book series-turned-HBO hit landed on DVD and Blu-ray today, so if you want to catch up in preparation of the season 5 premiere in April, now’s your chance. And with Martin going on record that HBO will be whacking characters that he never touched in the books, at least readers who consumed the novels will have some surprises this new season. And you don’t have to hear them say, “Welllll, in the books…” All bets are off, y’all! Hide your Sansas, hide your Snows!
Dreadstar
The Hollywood Reporter, er, reports that Jim Starlin, creator of Marvel’s Big Bad Thanos, Drax, Gamora, and scores of other cosmic heroes and villains for the publisher, will be adapting his Epic Comics’ character Dreadstar for the small screen. While no network is currently attached, Starlin has joined forces with Universal Cable Productions and Benderspink to make the tale of lone survivor of the Milky Way, Vanth Dreadstar, to TV. UCP’s executive vice president of development Dawn Olmstead said of Dreadstar, “Jim Starlin’s cosmic space opera is a great read it’s time for Vanth Dreadstar to make his television debut.”
[Source: The Hollywood Reporter]