Stop That! It's Too Silly!

Legion of Superheroes Toon to debut in the Fall

According to the "Kid's WB ! on the CW," Legion of Superheroes will debut this fall on Saturday mornings. This animated series will feature Superboy (Superman as a teenager) and is set in the future, like the Silver Age comic on which it is based. This show will not follow the continuity of previous animated series, despite appearances by the Legion on both Superman and Justice League Unlimited.

Here's how the network describes the series:

One thousand years from now, a group of teenage super heroes travel back in time to recruit the greatest hero of all, Superman, and enlist him their fight against evil in the 31st Century. While their intentions were good, their time travel skills were not, and Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Brainiac 5, Phantom Girl, Bouncing Boy and Timber Wolf end up going too far back into the past, accidentally retrieving the young Superboy instead. Together, this unlikely Legion of Super Heroes bands together to defend the rights of all free worlds and uphold the laws of the newly formed United Planets. That is, if they don't kill each other first. Legion Of Super Heroes combines humor with high-stakes, grand-scale super heroics to create the ultimate sci-fi, super hero fantasy for kids of all ages. Each episode of this fast-paced, character-driven action comedy will pit Superboy and the Legion against otherworldly threats and adversaries who challenge the team on both super heroic and emotional levels.

No official pics of the show are available yet.

Also debuting on the network's Saturday mornings this Fall are new Scooby Doo and Tom and Jerry series.

Return of the Dynamic Duo

When The Batman returns this Fall, the title character will be joined by a familiar character -- Robin the Boy Wonder, now free of the the cancelled Teen Titans cartoon. Here's a first look at how Robin will appear on the show:

Here's how the network ("Kids WB! on the CW") describes the upconing season:

In the upcoming third season, the Dark Knight continues his relentless quest to rid Gotham City of its supervillains, but he’s not alone. Robin joins the team, and the fabled Dynamic Duo is also occasionally joined by Batgirl. Harley Quinn, Black Mask, Killer Moth, the Everywhere Man and a brand-new Clayface join the rogues’ gallery of villains, led by the Joker, Penguin and Riddler, who ceaselessly torment Batman and Gotham City.

The show has gotten better, but is still a little uneven. Here's hoping the addition of Robin (and more villians from the comics -- and the last Batman series) makes it moree interesting than bringing in Batgirl last season.

TV Turn-off Week

Yeah right!

Superman Returns video game trailer

Co-written by Marv Wolfman! See the trailer here. And an article about the game here.

Dog-Gone Funny!

Last week, I watched a documentary on Turner Classic Movies, called Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story, which highlighted the short subjects that used to run in front of movies from the 20s through the 50s. It was a fantastic film highlighting not only series that are still known today like The Three Stoooges, Our Gang ("Little Rascals"), Laurel and Hardy and more comedians, but many other types of shorts that you don't hear much about today. The documentary is included in a just-released Laurel & Hardy boxed set, and is well worth checking out.

What I want to spotlight now though is something I had never heard of befoe this and found utterly fascinating -- The Dogville Comedies. From a write-up on the documentary:

The Dogville Comedies, which spoofed hit movies of the day using dog actors, was the creation of Jules White and Zion Myers. Piano wire was used to hold the dogs in place and they were fed peanut butter to make the dogs' mouths move. Clips are shown from The Dogway Melody (1930) a parody of Oscar® winner The Broadway Melody (1929) and College Hounds (1930) in which the dogs played football.

Jules White's next project-- The Three Stooges. The clips the documentary showed on this series whet my apetite for more.

So, as always, youtube.com to the rescue . You HAVE to watch this. It's The Dogway Melody.

It is hysterical, and proably cruelty to animals, but it's WAY beyond dressing your dog in costume.