Will Joss Whedon's 'S.H.I.E.L.D' Be The Success 'Firefly' Was Never Allowed To Be?

In 2002, Joss Whedon created and directed one of televisions biggest cult classics that only lived to see 14 episodes thanks to the FOX network. Now Whedon is back with a vengeance. Following the 2012 box office blockbuster 'The Avengers', also directed by Whedon, comes its successor, new television series 'S.H.I.E.L.D'.

Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division

The show is set to air on ABC and will be centered around S.H.I.E.L.D Agent Phil Coulson, a role to be reprised by Clark Gregg, who displayed Coulson in 'The Avengers'. The show is set to take place in the Marvel Universe and will be written/directed/produced by Whedon's 'Dr. Horrible' team which consists of Whedon, his brother Jed, and Marissa Tanchoroen. In an interview with Whedon, he stated "It's new characters. It needs to be its own thing. It needs to be adjacent. What does S.H.I.E.L.D. have that the other superheroes don't. And that, to me, is that they're not superheroes, but they live in that universe. Even though they're a big organization, that makes them the underdogs, and that's interesting to me." Implying that it will not feature appearances of Marvel superheroes. Watch the interview here.

Whedon has carried a massive success rate among the geek/nerd demographic with creations such as sci-fi space western 'Firefly', mini musical webseries 'Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog', cult classic 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' and mainstream success 'The Avengers'.

Hopefully with 'S.H.I.E.L.D' airing on ABC instead of FOX, we can hope that it lives to see more than just half of a season.

From Left to Righ: Jed  Whedon, Maurissa Tanchareon, Joss Whedon, and Zack Whedon

Are Shows Like ‘The New Normal’, in fact, the new normal?

It is a well-known fact that ‘Glee’ creator Ryan Murphy is known for pushing boundaries and addressing hot topic issues with his creations. Alongside his critically acclaimed series such as ‘American Horror Story’, ‘Nip/Tuck’, and ‘Glee’, comes his latest creation, ‘The New Normal’.

The series focuses around openly gay couple Bryan and Dave (Andrew Rannells and Justin Bartha) and their adventures in the process of seeking out and securing a surrogate mother so they can become parents and begin their family together. The show finds a sweet-yet-sassy balance of funny, while simultaneously tackling modern day issues. The show regularly addresses situations such as the everyday struggles of gay couples and their rights to adopt, marry, be open with their sexuality, and the use of surrogate mothers by same sex couples.

The show is currently facing mixed review and reception, as most shows that depict same sex couples do. Shows such as ABC hits, ‘Modern Family’ and ‘Happy Endings’ or FOX's 'Glee' are consistently put up against traditional sitcoms, such as ‘The Office’ that have been able to reach out and grab the ratings and approval of both the gay and straight viewers without addressing issues surrounding the gay community.

Following the footsteps of groundbreaking predecessor ‘Modern Family’, which features gay couple Mitchell and Cameron (Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet) and their adoption of a daughter, ‘The New Normal’ is facing the adversity of losing ratings to those who don’t approve of the lifestyle that these shows promote. Nonetheless they have risen to the challenge and are proving the fact that they have just as much right to display their views and choices through the medium of a sitcom as shows that promote “traditional” marriage and parenting do. The growing support for these shows clearly confirms that many viewers at home agree.

As long as shows like this continue to appeal to the LGBT demographic and their supporters, then it is an open playing field and anyone with visions similar to those of Ryan Murphy or Steve Levitan have just as much right and opportunity to present their views and opinions through television as that of fellow, more traditional Producers, Chuck Lorre (The Big Bang Theory/ Two and a Half Men) or Bill Lawrence (Scrubs/Cougar Town). Thus, the horizon of prime time sitcoms is broadening and taking on the challenge of presenting same sex couples and their issues by making room for shows of the same nature as ‘The New Normal’.

‘The New Normal’ airs Tuesday nights at 9:30pm Eastern/8:30pm Central on NBC.

Louis C.K. and fun. take on Saturday Night Live: Did Louis disappoint?

On November 3^rd 2012, Louis C.K. took to the 30 Rock Studio 8H stage for his very first appearance on the late night sketch comedy show. Fans of C.K. were more than pleased to hear that after his 27 years of being active in the comedy community, he finally made his way to the SNL stage.

Being a huge fan of C.K.’s writing, and his stand up myself, I held high hopes that this episode would be the pinnacle in the first season of SNL outside the Samberg-Wiig era. Sadly, I was mistaken. Louis did well, but great would not be my choice adjective to describe the sixth episode of SNL’s 38^th season. The show had its low points, but did have a few saving graces.

Of those saving graces, I would give the best sketch of the night, to either “Lincoln” or “Last Call.”

The first being a brilliant juxtaposition of the introduction of C.K.’s show that he writes and directs, “Louie”, into the life of 16^th US President Abraham Lincoln. Hence, the title ‘Lincoln’. Viewers that have not seen "Louie" might not have found as much humor in this sketch as those of us who have, did.

The latter of the two being a sketch featuring Kate McKinnon, Louis C.K. and Kenan Thompson in a bar setting where McKinnon and C.K.’s characters begin to find ridiculous “similarities” between each other into what spirals a ridiculous post-last-call hook up. I can say that out of all of the rookie first year Kate McKinnon’s performances go, this is my favorite.

As far as low points, the biggest one being a sketch called ‘Mountain Pass’ featuring Louis, Kenan Thompson, Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Kate McKinnon, Bobby Moynihan, Jason Sudeikis, and Taran Killam. This sketch boiled down to C.K. not giving a good performance, breaking character, and irritating the members of the SNL cast. Unfortunately, this was also the last sketch of the night, and it left viewers awkward and uncomfortable.

Saturday Night Live airs on NBC at 11:30pm Eastern/10:30pm Central time.

You can view Louis' episode here: