In some ways, spinoff novel authors have less freedom than movie writers. For example, we know Timothy Zahn is not going to kill off John Connor in “Trial By Fire” (July 2010). On the other hand, as “Salvation’s” John Brancato reveals in a blog post, screenwriters can be handcuffed, particularly on blockbuster movies, owing to the perception that simpler […]
TV shows lost to history (Review): Despite crew-versus-network turmoil after “James at 15,” this next batch of episodes feels like a logical continuation.
Greg Cox’s “Cold War” (October 2009) is the first spinoff material to come out after “Terminator Salvation,” but it’s actually another prequel story, like “From the Ashes” and “Sand in the Gears.” The major tie-in to the film is the backstory of General Losenko; his story in the wake of J-Day alternates chapters with that of an […]
The very first “Terminator” spinoff materials – the Now comics – explored the Future War, but aside from flashbacks/flash-forwards, it took another two decades for the Future War to be explored on screen. This makes “Terminator Salvation” (2009) stand out among the saga’s screen incarnations, even though the plot points and themes will be familiar to readers […]
TV shows lost to history (Review): Dan Wakefield’s groundbreaking, fondly remembered show would go on to influence “Dawson’s Creek.”
There are safe tear-jerkers, like TV’s “This Is Us” (where we kind of chuckle at the fact that it makes us cry), and then there are brutal ones, like “Manchester by the Sea” (2016, now streaming on Amazon Prime), the first film from writer-director Kenneth Lonergan since 2011’s bizarrely underrated “Margaret.”
Around the same time that the novel line provided a “Terminator Salvation” prequel with “From the Ashes,” IDW – the seventh (and, as of now, final) comic company to hold a “Terminator” license — launched its line with a four-issue prequel story called “Sand in the Gears” (February-April 2009). Unlike the book, it doesn’t introduce any film […]
Even as Fox deemed the “Terminator” franchise not popular enough to renew “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” for a third season, the movie wing of the franchise was betting the TV network was wrong. From the ashes of “Chronicles” rose the “Terminator Salvation” franchise, which would eventually rank second only to the “T2” franchise in […]
TV shows lost to history (Review): “Century City” stands out from other law procedurals by imagining how things will be in the near future.
I like “Swingtown” (2008, CBS, available on DVD and Amazon streaming) almost entirely for the way it recreates the Summer of 1976, yet it’s totally defensible as a legitimate one-season wonder on its overall merits, thanks to its wonderful characters and portrayal of changing societal values. For me, the buzziest part of the show – the fact […]