Showbits

In 2012, four Marvel superheroes combined their franchises into one summer blockbuster: The Avengers. This team consisting of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and The Incredible Hulk was assembled by agents of the secret military agency known as Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division — SHIELD for short.

ABC wants to know more about this agency and has ordered a television pilot. Best of all, they're tapping Avengers director Joss Whedon — creator of Buffy, Dollhouse, and Dr. Horrible — to co-write and possibly direct.

Just as SHIELD did, Whedon is assembling an all-star team, and graphic designer Adam Levermore wants in. He has worked on the Battlestar Galactica, Serenity, and The Guild franchises, which he feels make him the perfect candidate to work in the super nerdy world of superheroes. Although I'm not familiar with his name and only vaguely familiar with his work, I have to admit that he makes a convincing case for his application to the SHIELD series:

I'd hire him. Wouldn't you?

And if you don't get the closing joke to Adam, you need to see "Once More, With Feeling"!

(Hat tip to Cheezburger)

"Captain" Lou Albano — best known as a professional wrestler in the World Wide Wrestling Foundation, appearing as Cyndi Lauper's father in her "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" music video, and for playing the title role in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! — passed away yesterday at the age of 76.

As noted when Showbits observed the passing of Bam Bam Bigelow, wrestlers rarely live a long and mellow life; the rigorous demands their profession places on their bodies leaves too little opportunity for such convalescence. For Mr. Albano to have lived to 76 is quite an achievement, and a well-deserved one. No matter his role on-screen or off, he always seemed like a genuinely nice guy — often imitated, never duplicated — as evidenced in this personable interview:

Best wishes, Captain Lou. May many angels join you in doing the Mario.

The writers' strike has left many Hollywood denizens with plenty of time on their hands. So, like the rest of us slackers, they're playing video games — except when they do it, it's newsworthy.

Jesse Alexander, co-executive producer of Heroes, was recently on Major Nelson's Xbox Live podcast. From time indices 1:51:06 to 2:32:15 of this 53-megabyte file, Mr. Alexander talks about his past writing video game scripts for Activision; why writers are king in television, but not movies; why the upcoming Heroes game won't suck like the Alias game did; and the similarities and differences between, and the convergence of the television and gaming media.

Personally, I'm not sure just how similar the two media are. They've been talking about "episodic gaming" for awhile, but we've not seen anything approaching 22 installments of one-hour weekly morsels. Though a single game might last longer than that, its cinematic experiences have been achieved only via pre-scripted, non-interactive sequences that take the player out of the game. It doesn't seem anymore effective going the other way, either: the interactive features offered by next-gen DVD formats are garnering little enthusiasm from consumers. It seems cinephiles want cinema and gamers want games. Astonishing!

Convergence overlooks the unique strengths of each genre. I enjoy television and games for different reasons and would hate to find them lost in a hybrid exhibiting the strengths of neither.

Audio interviews with two spacefaring luminaries have recently become available.

The first (courtesy TrekToday.com) is Garrett Wang on the James Madison show (iTunes). It's not the best interview: it starts off a bit slowly, the reception occasionally drops, and at one point, Mr. Wang puts the host on hold while he takes another call. But there are some fun stories as he reminisces about playing Harry Kim on Star Trek: Voyager and the interplay he had with other Star Trek and UPN actors. Tune in to the James Madison podcast tomorrow for a similar interview with Robert Picardo, who played that show's holographic Doctor.

The other interview (courtesy TheForce.net) is a brief one with Anthony Daniels, aka C-3PO, wherein he talks about science, Star Wars, and scouting. His message on the importance of science in the present and future of society is spot-on and would be right at home in Scientific American or Point of Inquiry.

FatFreeFilm, a podcast by and for directors, has an interview with Leonard Nimoy. Topics include his transition from acting to directing to photography; experiences behind the camera of Star Trek III and Three Men and a Baby; the hardship of independent film; the digital revolution; and the benefits of being typecast as a Vulcan.

I am not a filmmaker, nor do I have any aspirations to be — but I nonetheless found Mr. Nimoy's insider perspective engaging.