While only a few of us (or is it just me?) dread The Amazing Spider-Man 2 set for release on May 2, 2014, Sony is moving forward on a third and fourth film, scheduling June 10, 2016 and May 4, 2018 for those films. Sony Pictures’ Chairman of Worldwide Marketing and Distribution, Jeff Blake, said in a press release, “Spider-Man is our most important, most successful, and most beloved franchise, so we’re thrilled that we are in a position to lock in these prime release dates over the next five years.” Yeah, sure. Whatever.

The Canadian based Sci-fi series Continuum, which is near completion of its second season up north, and just starting here on the SyFy Channel, has been picked up for a third season there. It’s a fairly good bet that Syfy will probably air season three sometime in 2014.

Not surprisingly, the recent story about the finding of lost Doctor Who episodes has turned out to be a hoax. The latest whispers are that this hoax played on more than just the fans though– it was played on the BBC itself. And at great cost. Allegedly there was one man in particular making all these rather bold claims regarding lost BBC episodes. For whatever reason, many higher-ups at the BBC and within the crew of Doctor Who felt this individual was on the level. This seems to be at least partly true, as former Who script consultant Ian Levine made the truth very clear on Twitter. “There will always be 106 Doctor Who episodes missing. And yes you can quote me on that .” An hour later, Levine added on Twitter: “My previous tweet was not ironic. I too wanted to believe ninety episodes had been found. I now believe none have been found. A massive hoax.” Sadly, this means we’ll probably never see those 106 missing episodes, which is a shame. I’ve had great dreams for seeing those William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton serials one day. And I think a lot of fans as well, considering anyone born after 1967 have never seen any of those Hartnell stories since they first aired.

We all know that Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy was an odd fit in the studios grand plan of adapting their most popular properties, as films like Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America, The Avengers and Iron Man 3 were really designed to set the comic book superheroes in the real world. What made them work even more was the fact that it was a shared universe, much like the comic book themselves. And up until The Avengers, it kept it that way – we have aliens attacking. And while Iron Man 3 returned to a more solid “reality,” it can no never be fully set in the real world. So the expansion continues this fall with Thor: The Dark World, to be followed by next May’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier and next August’s Guardians of the Galaxy. So, perhaps knowing it was an odd choice to follow all those other films, Marvel and Disney chose eccentric James Gunn to write and direct the film. It has also gotten an eclectic cast to add to the oddness of the comic book, as production begins this month in England, we know that Parks and Recreation actor Chris Pratt stars in the film, along with former wrestler Dave Bautista, Star Trek‘s Zoe Saldana, The Walking Dead‘s Michael Rooker, The Hobbit‘s Lee Pace and Ophelia Lovibond. Now Oscar winner Glenn Close along with former Doctor Who actress Karen Gillan have joined the cast. After them, another Oscar winner and an Oscar Nominee, Benicio de Toro and John C. Reilly, receptively were added. It’s an all-star cast for one odd movie. I really hope it works.

During the early days of TV in Britain, a lot of shows that went out over the BBC airwaves were saved, but due to various actor contract issues, a lot were never rebroadcast. While the BBC did not have a central archive back then, BBC Enterprises did keep copies of programs they deemed exploitable to other commercial markets. What they did keep had a tendency to be piled up in whatever property the network had back then –which meant that no one was keeping an eye on them or even cataloging what they actually had.

Starting in 1967, the BBC Engineering Department began erasing the master video tapes of Doctor Who, along with whole swathes of other late 1950s and early 60s TV shows. Beyond contract issues with the actors, along with other concerns, the BBC held the belief that there was no reason for this material to be kept. They cited the cost of video, which was high at the time, plus there was no place to store all these older shows, especially as they wanted to keep the newer shows they were producing for sales overseas . Plus, it was assumed, that with broadcasters across the globe converting to color, no one would want to buy old b&w TV shows. So while the Film Library kept programs that had been made on film, it was the Engineering Department responsibility for storing those master videotapes (despite the destruction of these masters, BBC Enterprises held a near-complete archive of the series in the form of their 16mm film telerecording copies until approximately 1972. The reason the BBC used that format was for overseas sales, as it was considerably cheaper to buy and easier to transport than videotape. It also circumvented the problem of different countries’ incompatible video standards, as film was a universal medium whereas videotape was not).

But in 1978, with the intervention of record producer Ian Levine, who was a fan of the show, the policy of erasing Doctor Who (and other older BBC shows) ceased. But by then, the damage was done; the Film Library had only 47 episodes of 1960s Doctor Who –though they at one time held 53, but six episodes wereeither junked or went missing due to their poor archiving response, which left a total of 152 episodes of Doctor Who no longer held by the BBC (but the show is unique in one way, as all of its missing episodes survive in audio form, recorded off-air by fans at home).

But while the master video tapes of those early episodes -and eventually all of the 16mm versions as well were wiped- over the decades episodes have been found all over the world thanks mostly to those 16mm versions used for oversea sales and private collectors in England, so by the end of 2011, only 106 episodes remain missing – 12 serials totaling 44 episodes of the first Doctor, and 15 serials totaling 62 episodes of the second Doctor.

Still, efforts to locate missing episodes continue, both by the BBC and by fans of the series. Extensive restoration has been carried out on many recovered 1960s and 1970s (some early Pertwee stories suffered the same fate as the Hartnell and Troughton eras, though they’ve all been recovered) episodes for release on VHS and now DVD and Blu-ray. The surviving soundtracks of missing episodes have been released on cassette and CD. Two episodes of The Invasion (released 2006) and two episodes of The Reign of Terror (released this year) were reconstructed using animation and released with the surviving episodes of those serials on DVD/Blu-ray.

But as Doctor Who celebrates its 50^th Anniversary this year, Bleeding Cool is reporting a rumor that the BBC has found a significant number of these lost episodes acquired from “an eccentric engineer who worked for broadcasters across Africa with a taste for science fiction and a habit of taking things for ‘safe keeping.’”

And the site is saying this is not just a handful of episodes, but lots and lots; potentially all of the missing Hartnell episodes and many of the Troughton ones as well, most which have not been broadcast in the UK since their original air dates.

If this is true, this would be a significant financial boom for the BBC -despite whatever cost it would to clean them up with modern day technology- as well as Doctor Who fans across the globe, as anyone born after 1967 in the UK have never seen these missing episodes, along with the world wide fans who have not seen them at all.

The BBC, as typical, is mum on the rumor, though Bleeding Cool is confident that the broadcaster will announce this news in the near future.

In the shadows of the Rainbow is an unnerving ensemble family drama following the intersecting lives of a rural community in the wooded canyons and sunny mountain tops of Big Sur, California.

BrambleArch is the the avant-garde production company behind Another Stupid Day and the upcoming naturalistic musical The Amateur. The company is made up of partners Lauren Schneider (Red White & Blue) Tara Jane (formerly of production companies Strawdogs and Partizan), Lee Doud (Californication) and Embry..

The team’s first short film, Another Stupid Day, a dark coming-of-age story directed and starring Blaise, is currently playing the festival circuit.  They are currently in post-production with the naturalistic musical feature The Amateur, starring Nick Gomez (Looper, Walking Dead) Nathan Phillips (Chernobyl Diaries, Snakes on a Plane) and Sports Illustrated cover model Melissa Haro. The Amateur is slated for theatrical release in late 2014.

In the Shadows of the Rainbow casting is already underway with the award-winning film and television casting director Eric Souliere (Nip/Tuck, American Horror Story, The Kids are Alright) at the helm.

Blaise’s previous producing credits also include the acclaimed film Summit (Winner of Best Film at the UK Film Festival, 2012.) As an actor, he’s best known for his work in the Sundance pic Nobody Walks, stints on hit TV shows including: Weeds, The Office, CSI, Hawaii 5-0, and the lead in Blue Seraph Production’s mystery-thriller The Dark Place, directed by Jody Wheeler.

In the Shadows of The Rainbow begins principle photography May 1st, 2014 in Big Sur, California, with Blaise directing from his own script.

After the BBC announced the official 8^th season pick-up for Doctor Who, and Matt Smith saying he was staying, the actor has announced he’ll depart the title role in the upcoming Christmas Special to air on December 25^th, 2013.

“Doctor Who has been the most brilliant experience for me as an actor and a bloke, and that large

ly is down to the cast, crew and fans of the show. I’m incredibly grateful to all the cast and crew who work tirelessly every day, to realise all the elements of the show and deliver Doctor Who to the audience. Many of them have become good friends and I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved over the last four years.

Having Steven Moffat as show runner write such varied, funny, mind-bending and brilliant scripts has been one of the greatest and most rewarding challenges of my career. It’s been a privilege and a treat to work with Steven, he’s a good friend and will continue to shape a brilliant world for the Doctor.

The fans of Doctor Who around the world are unlike any other; they dress up, shout louder, know more about the history of the show (and speculate more about the future of the show) in a way that I’ve never seen before, your dedication is truly remarkable. Thank you so very much for supporting my incarnation of the Time Lord, number Eleven, who I might add is not done yet, I’m back for the 50th anniversary and the Christmas special!

It’s been an honour to play this part, to follow the legacy of brilliant actors, and helm the TARDIS for a spell with ‘the ginger, the nose and the impossible one’. But when ya gotta go, ya gotta go and Trenzalore call

s. Thank you guys.

Matt.

Now the search is on to find his replacement, with show runner Steven Moffat saying:

Every day, on every episode, in every set of rushes, Matt Smith surprised me: the way he’d turn a line, or spin on his heels, or mak

e something funny, or out of nowhere make me cry, I just never knew what was coming next. The Doctor can be clown and hero, often at the same time, and Matt rose to both challenges magnificently.

And even better than that, given the pressures of this extraordinary show, he is one of the nicest and hardest-working people I have ever had the privilege of knowing. Whatever we threw at him – sometimes literally – his behaviour was always worthy of the Doctor.

But great actors always know when it’s time for the curtain call, so this Christmas prepare for your hearts to break, as we say goodbye to number Eleven. Thank you Matt – bow ties were never cooler.

Of course, this isn’t the end of the story, because now the search begins. Somewhere out there right now – all unknowing, just going about their business – is someone who’s about to become the Doctor. A life is going to change, and Doctor Who will be born all over again! After 50 years, that’s still so exciting!

Another big question will be if Moffat will be staying with Who as well, as like Matt Smith, the Christmas episode would be the best time to depart. Months ago, when the idea of Moffat possibly leaving surfaced, Luther creator Neil Cross was rumored to be the one to fill in the slot if Moffat was leaving. The writer, of course, poo-pooed the idea. Cross, who also wrote two episodes in Doctor Who’s seventh season, The Rings of Akhaten and Hide, went on to run Crossbones, an NBC “limited run” series scheduled for midseason next year. Production on the show in now on, and by the time Doctor Who goes back into series production in February, Cross should be available.

2013 is a gap season –the next season will not begin into the fall of 2014- so Moffat can work on Sherlock, his other BBC series. He’s mentioned more than once, while enjoying the work, he’s tired and spends a lot of time away from his family. This upcoming Christmas episode is a perfect time to leave as well.

As for who will take on the role of the Doctor is unknown, of course. Still the producers have time, as the Christmas episode will not begin filming until late August or early September. But I bet the months leading up to that filming will be fun.

Let the rumors begin.

While the idea of director Steven Soderbergh and long-time collaborator George Clooney doing an adaptation of the 1964-68 TV spy series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. sounded like a potentially good idea, once Clooney dropped out for medical reasons and Soderbergh flew the coop soon after, perhaps  Warner Brothers should have just acknowledged that a reboot of the show should’ve been put into turnaround, where it could eventually pass from executives thoughts. But that seemed not to enter the WB’s mind, so they shuffled the movie to British director Guy Ritchie, who has successfully made two Sherlock Holmes films for the studio, so I’m guessing they thought he could do the same to what is, though, a distinctly American TV series. Sherlock Holmes has wide appeal, yet the U.N.C.L.E. franchise ran its course before the end of the 1960s and has spent very little time in syndication since. But the studio soldiered on, casting Tom Cruise as Napoleon Solo –first played by the legendary Robert Vaughn (Armie Hammer was already set to play the David McCallum role of Illya Kuryakin). But soon after, however, Paramount announced that they were fast-tracking Mission: Impossible 5 to begin production towards the end of the year, which would’ve put Cruise in a bind as the tail end of U.N.C.L.E.’s production would have left Cruise little time to prepare for M:I-5. So Cruise decided to drop out of U.N.C.L.E. to focus all his energy on the fifth film in that “other” classic 1960s spy series.  Now, what is becoming increasingly an everyday thing for studios looking to promote unique American productions, they’ll farm out the lead role of Napoleon Solo to British actor Henry Cavill, who is donning an American accent to play the All-American super hero, Superman, in the upcoming WB film Man of Steel.

NBC has finally announced the fate of Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal, nearly two weeks after announcing their fall slate. The series, while not the break-out they hoped for, none the less settled in nicely in its Thursday slot. While critically lauded, with most saying the show was creatively better than FOX’s The Following (which catered to the same audience and trampled over the same ground), it was criticized (much like The Following was) for being too violent and gory (The series made headlines in April when an episode featuring children-turned-murderers was pulled upon Fuller’s request and the NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City dropped the series). The show will return at midseason, with a 13 episode order (though Fuller said he sold the show to NBC as a 13 episode seasons, culminating in a five year run).

With the huge success of the James Bond film Skyfall, it was only natural that producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson would want Sam Mendes to return and helm the 24th Bond film. But Mendes, who’s first love is the theatre, told them that he had two projects in the pipeline -the West End production of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and King Lear- that would be done first. While Bond 24 had no release date, it was assumed that it bow in November 2014, which meant production would need to start in January. So the producers, understanding his commitment to the theatre, decided to search for a new director. That started the rumor mill of who could do the film, with Christopher Nolan being the frontrunner. But Nolan (who has made it known he would love to direct a Bond film) is deep in pre-production on Interstellar, which begins filming towards the end of summer, so that means he was out as well. Now it looks like the Bond producers will wait for Mendes, which would effectively delay the next film for a year. So now  James Bond 24 will bow in November of 2015.

Locus Online takes a look at SF Grand Master Jack Vance, an influential science fiction author of the post World War II era, who passed away on May 26 at the age of 96.

For many fans of Babylon 5, the departure of Michael O’Hare (who played the Commander Jeffrey Sinclair on the J. Michael Straczynski created series) was a huge blow to a syndicated series that faced an uncertain future during its five year run. Some felt it odd, considering how much groundwork was being laid on Sinclair –both during the shows first season and what had been established before the shows start. Sinclair seemed to be important cog within JMS long-term, five year arc.

But in 1994, after the first season had wrapped, it was announced that O’Hare would not return for season two, and Bruce Boxleitner was announced as O’Hare’s replacement (albeit, a different character). At the time, the reason for his departure was explained as creative and that O’Hare –who spent a good portion of his acting career in the theater- wanted to return to the stage, that the rapid aspect of TV filming was something he could not adjust to.

But at this weekend’s Phoenix ComicCon, Straczynski spoke about O’Hare (and three other cast members who’ve passed since the shows end) and revealed a secret that he’s kept for 19 years, that O’Hare’s struggled with a severe mental illness and had asked to be replaced. While others on the series knew little of his fight, Straczynski said he was willing to shut down production until he got his illness under control, but O’Hare said no, averse to the idea that other people should be forced out of a job until he could get better. The actor would eventually return for a single episode in season two and completed the character’s arc in a 2-part episode during season three.

Both O’Hare and Straczynski kept a pact and the actor requested that his illness be between them. While Straczynski was willing never to reveal it, saying he would to take to his grave, it was O’Hare who suggested it only kept held until he was in his grave.Tragically, O’Hare would die in September of 2012 following a massive heart attack that left him in a coma -one he would never wake from. He was only 60. This Con in Phoenix was the first time since the actors passing that Straczynski felt he could talk about his late friend.

He also talked about Richard Biggs, Andreas Katsulas and Jeff Conway, who left us in 2004, 2006 and 2011 respectively. Biggs, Straczynski revealed, was almost entirely deaf and that he had to learn not only his own lines, but the lines of everyone else in his scene. He would read his colleagues’ lips to know when it was his turn to speak. Straczynski said that Katsulas faced cancer “with a grace and courage I’m still in awe of to this day.” Katsulas, near the end of his life, called for a “last supper” with Straczynski and they talked and laughed through the night. “Tell me all the dirt. Tell me all the shit that went down behind the scenes that we never knew about. Who am I going to tell?”

According to Straczynski, Jeff Conaway took responsibility for his failing career and difficult life situation that brought him to audition for a small “day” role for Babylon 5. “He came in knowing he was starting over again,” Straczynski said. As Conaway was leaving the audition he turned to Straczynski and, “Give me a chance to do this … I’ll make you proud.” It took some lobbying before he became a regular, but Stracynski developed a deep respect for Conaway.

Just after Cartoon Network aired the final episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars fifth season, it was announced that there would be no sixth for the award  winning and critically acclaimed animated series. For some, this was not a huge surprise. Since Disney acquired Lucasfilm last summer, many had speculated on what would be the future of anything Star Wars related that would not be airing on any Disney owned channel.

For others, it was horrible news. The Clone Wars series was the most adult of all the animated products that were spun off from the movie franchise, and under the helm of a great creative team, showed that Star Wars could be fun, dangerous and well-written despite the baggage left by George Lucas and his prequel movie series. The show ran for five seasons on CN, where it enjoyed good ratings and hundred plus episodes, which now made it available to aired daily. The storyline was set between episode II and III of the theatrical movies and detailed the life of the Jedi -including Anakin Skywalker and Obi Wan- during the early rise of the Empire.

But for some, perhaps influenced by the prequel series, felt that the show needed to move further away from the origin movies. Now this may happen, as Disney and Lucasfilm have announced a new animated series set to begin airing in the fall of 2014 on Disney XD. Called Star Wars Rebels, it will be set in the 19 years between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Much like Clone Wars, this new series will detail the rise of the Rebels, now that the Empire is full control of the galaxy. The series three executive producers are Dave Filoni, the point man on The Clone Wars, screenwriter and producer Simon Kinberg (X-Men: First Class, Sherlock Holmes), who wrote the pilot, and Greg Weisman, whose credits include well-regarded work on Young Justice and The Spectacular Spider-Man.

Beyond that, not much is known. I would speculate that Darth Vader and The Emperor should make appearances on the show, though I would assume they’ll not be the main focus of it (but not having them appear would be criminal). Neither should they detail early (and or teen) life of either Luke or Leia, as we saw the lives they lead -in a roundabout sort of way- in the first six movies. Neither should Han Solo for that matter, or Yoda or Obi Wan or Chewbacca. My guess is we’ll see more of the droids again -the one continuous thread through out the Star Wars tapestry.

Expanded Universe novels, I’m also guessing, will probably help influence some of the stories set in that time period, but that is just speculation.

Actor Matt Smith, the current incarnation of the Doctor on -of course- Doctor Who, has confirmed he’ll return for the series 8th season in 2014 (or, depending on your point of view, the 34th season). While it’s been known for a while that Jenna-Louise Coleman was already set to continue playing current companion Clara for season 8, speculation on Smith’s future as the Doctor was in question.

While he enjoys playing the role, much like David Tennant, other roles beckon -Smith is currently filming his first US based movie in Detroit called How to Catch A Monster, which is the directorial debut of actor Ryan Gosling. And for some actors, especially ones in science fiction cult series like Doctor Who, there is always the sense that staying too long can damage the career. Even Tom Baker, who played the traveling Time Lord the longest, seven years, has now said he stayed too long.

“People are always going to ask because they care about the show.” Smith told The Sun’s TV Magazine. “But I take it year by year. And this year is going to be the biggest one in the show’s history.”

He’s already shot the 50th Anniversary Special and will return to Wales in July to begin filming the 2013 Christmas Special. Filming on season eight should begin towards the end of the year or early part of 2014, with a probable debut on TV sometime in fall of next year.

With N0S4A2 (Nosferatu), author Joe Hill hems even closer to the odd, the weird and the often horrifying universe of his father, Stephen King.

This is  a  creepy, suspenseful novel of the supernatural, where a man in a 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith kidnaps kids and takes them to a place he calls Christmasland.

Of all the holidays, Christmas remains my favorite, even if it’s lost all meaning. I love the decorations, I love the music (which is odd, because it’s so religious and I’m not very religious), I love the sweets and all the other food that goes with those 6 weeks that starts at Thanksgiving. Yeah, presents are great, but for me they pale next to the colorful lights, the sparkling tinsel, and the smell of pumpkin pie and gingerbread cookies (love the odor, but not a huge fan of the taste).

Here in N0S4A2, Hill gives us a very dark side to the holiday. Charles Manx has a totem, one that enables him to traverse our world to an “mindspace” dimension where Christmas exists all the time (ever since I saw the fourth Indiana Jones movie, the one with the aliens who don’t come from space, but from other dimension, the whole innerspace crutch seems a bit nonsensical to me, mostly because then the writer really does not have to explain too much about the internal logic of how a man and a car, or a girl and bridge can do what can be done in the this book). The Wraith, which could be the cousin to Stephen King’s Christine, exists here in our world, but is also able to open a doorway to Christmasland, where Manx drives them down the highways of his mind. It sort of preserves them in their young innocence, but it also sucks the life out of them during the car ride. What’s left of the children –empty husks, really – is stored away like cans of corn in the dark pantry of his demented mind. Thus, these kidnapped children now can live worry free life and never, ever be hurt by the outside world, or (the reason for Manx’s demented idea) by their parents. Much like Neverland, the kids never need to grow up.

For a long time, Manx has been able to do what he thought right, until he met a seventeen year-old girl in 1996, Victoria McQueen. Much like what Manx could do, when Vic was a child in the mid 1980’s, she was able to leave her squabbling parents behind, and with her Triumph bike and a magical bridge, she could go anywhere. First not understanding what it was she could do, Vic used the bridge to find lost things. But like any magical thing, it began to take its toll on her. But a near fatal accident put her trips behind her.

Until a decade later when a much troubled Vic uses her thoughts and her bridge that brings her into the contact with Manx and his able henchman (or Renfield, if you will), Bing. But Vic is able to escape, saved by a fat young man who will –as time moves on- becomes Vic’s lover that produces a son, Bruce Wayne Carmody.

Now, more than a decade later, Vic remains a troubled woman. She is damaged by her parents, her magical bridge and life in general. Despite this, she still loves her son Wayne and –though she seemed never to admit it out loud for a long time- Lou, the geek that saved her. But the past, much as the theme in many of his dad’s novels, never stays there, and Manx (caught and imprisoned and who died there, but was able to walk out even after his heart was removed) never forgot the one girl who got away.

But as much as Manx wants Vic to pay for what she did to him, his real target is her son Wayne, and an epic battle for control over the soul of a 12 year-old boy is about to begin.

It is clear that Joe Hillstrom King inherited his father’s droll, gothic style humor –that includes the rhyming Bing and stuttering Liberian who possess some version of what Vic and Charles Manx can do. And much like his dad, Hill is able to create wonderful, believable characters. We see Vic go from being a messed up kid, to a messed up parent and it all rings true. And Manx can come across, at times, as a sympathetic vampire. I mean he does horrible things in pursuant of his goals, but he is not evil in every sense of the typical horror novel tropes (and something King has done in his later novels as well , especially in Under the Dome where we meet Big Jim Rennie. He is a horrible person, but evil? And in 11/22/63, King paints Oswald much more human. Yes, he’s still a bitter man and a wife-beater, but was he evil enough to kill a president?).

Also, if Joe Hill is to be the next Stephen King, he seems to be fine with the comparison (he decided to use a pen name early in his career in hopes of getting published on his own merits, not his name. The story goes that not even his publishers of his story collection 20^th Century Ghosts and his first novel, Heart-Shaped Box, was aware of his lineage until shortly before they were release), as he drops some references to his dad’s work, including a nod to The Dark Tower and the True Knot, the “vampires” that will take on Danny Torrance in this September’s long awaited sequel to The Shining, Doctor Sleep.  Then again, this whole book is sort of rift on his dad’s ‘Salem Lot (which borrows heavily from both the classic silent film Nosferatu and Bram Stoker’s Dracula) and, as mentioned, Christine. And Hill also names a character after his mother, Tabitha.

It’s a bit over long, but the characters are strong and the story creepy enough to keep you reading. I’ll admit it kept me turning the pages. Again, the whole “inscapes” aspect leaves me feeling a bit unfilled with what it actually is, or was, but Hill’s abilities as a writer have grown. Heart-Shaped Box was a strong debut, and Horns (which will be a film starring Daniel Radcliff) –though a more conventional Twilight Zone tale- was still wonderfully mean.

But now we’re back and more news is to come on genre shows, movies, animation and issues for today’s gay audience.

In the meantime, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been picked up to series for the fall. In a big, ballsy move by the alphabet network, they’ll air it on Tuesday opposite the number #1 drama on TV, the aging (but still pulling in ratings other broadcast networks dream about) NCIS. Which means both shows will be going after the same male demographic. The question is can S.H.I.E.L.D. and ABC wrestle away any of male skewing fans of that veteran procedural to their male skewing adventure series that begins soon after the big screen adventure (and mega-hit) The Avengers?

Clark Gregg reprises his role of Agent Phil Coulson from Marvel’s feature films, as he assembles a small, highly select group of Agents to investigate the new, the strange and the unknown around the globe.

It’s be interesting to see if NCIS –which after ten seasons, remains one of the most watched dramas week-in and week-out- can keep those same numbers once the Joss Whedon executive produced series debuts (and which leaves the CW, NBC and FOX to pick-up any stragglers who won’t watch either of them). But S.H.E.I.L.D. will have to prove itself from the word go, so I see it that the ball is in their court.

Here’s the trailer: