Watching the New Season

Posted by Bob Greenberger on September 28, 2009

Well, we’re a week into the new season and we’ve welcomed back older favorites and sampled some of the new shows, with others yet to debut.

Among the new shows, we really liked Flash Forward. It barely resembles Robert J. Sawyer’s novel (which is a fun read) but dramatically demonstrates the global chaos the 2:17 blackout causes. The cast is appealing but could benefit from a little more variety which I hope happens when Dominic Monaghan and others join in the coming weeks. I also have a quibble that the Los Angeles office of the FBI is suddenly empowered to take center stage in researching the mysterious event considering such a world wide phenomenon should have created in international intelligence task force to study the global threat.

We also liked Modern Family even though these days we rarely find sitcoms worth our attention (except The Big Bang Theory which remains hysterical). The mock documentary style may grow as tedious as the dad’s attempts at being cool but we’ll stick with it for now.

Mercy has some interesting characters and casting but wasn’t overly compelling. Last year taught us a new appreciation for the care and effort nurses make on their patients’ behalf and we hope some of that carries over here over and above the soap opera stuff. We’ll see how this one develops.

The Good Wife, though, is off to a stronger start and it certainly is approaching a legal show from a fresh angle. With luck it won’t be entirely somber but it sure is nice to see Julianne Margulies and Josh Charles back at work. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »

Destinies Recap

Posted by Bob Greenberger on September 26, 2009

Last night I had a great time on Destinies, chatting for about 40 minutes. The host, Howard Margolin, reminded me that I was his very first guest so it’s nice to be back there and with luck we’ll chatting again in April when the Wonder Woman book comes out.

Meantime, for those interested, the chat is archived at the website, along with my 2004 appearance as part of their archive.

Back on Destinies

Posted by Bob Greenberger on September 24, 2009

I enjoy supporting local efforts, as a result I was among the first guests to appear at Stony Brook’s I-Con and to grace the airwaves of Destinies, the science fiction talk show hosted by Dr. Howard Margolin. Every few years, Howard invites me back to talk about stuff and tomorrow night, I make my return after five years. We’ll be discussing, among other topics, Iron Man: Femme Fatales, which he has read and which you can next week.

We’ll be chatting starting at 11:30 p.m. EST tomorrow night and you can listen in live (WUSB, 90.1 FM) or online via streaming or check back for the downloadable podcast.

Completing Projects

Posted by Bob Greenberger on September 23, 2009

I find myself in an unusual place, professionally. Any minute now, the phone will ring, and the green light will be given on the DC project I’ve been tinkering with since the late spring. Until then, I am in limbo.

This morning, I delivered to Chris Cerasi the final files with updated information and corrections for my portion of the Essential Superman Encyclopedia. J-Z is now in the hands of DelRey’s copy editor and I will get one more chance to clarify entries or update them before they go to typesetting. Meantime, just about all of the graphics have now been selected and the book designers are getting ready to start. Should things work out as planned, this time next year the book should be a reality, on bookshelves from coast to coast. The nice thing about the repeated opportunities to adjust the text is that we continue to update the pertinent entries on current characters so the book will be as current as possible.

I await word on my revised two chapters of Wonder Woman and the minute I get their feedback, I can modify the remainder of the manuscript and then deliver.

The Howard Chaykin Retrospective is current being reviewed by Mr. Chaykin and with luck he will find it acceptable. Now it’s time to collect all the graphics and begin the actual design process.

I’m also nearing the completing of the project management work I’ve been doing as a part of Avalanche Comics Entertainment. We’re talking with clients about other projects but no contracts signed yet so we’ll see.

The only other paying project, a media tie-in comic book, remains in licensing approval limbo so I can’t do anything until the editor and I speak.

As a result, I suddenly find myself with unexpected spare time on my hands. This has allowed me to return my focus to a collaborative spec project and did a draft today of my portion and now it’s in the hands of others. It’s one of several group spec projects on my desk and the one closest to becoming a reality so I’m kind of hopeful. With this done, it’s back to a graphic novel pitch and the young adult fantasy that needs a serious polish now that two people tell me it needs, well, a serious polish.

Of course, this could all change with an e-mail or phone call as it has over the last two years. On the other hand, those calls have slowed to a trickle which I ascribe more to the state of publishing than anything personal.

Now you know why I haven’t had much to say of late. It’s been slow.

The New Season is Underway

Posted by Bob Greenberger on September 18, 2009

Deb and I somehow managed to stay current with prime time programming throughout the summer and even wound up with a fairly empty DVR now and then. So, curious, we sampled the first season of Bones, a show we thought we’d like and had been recommended by several friends.

We borrowed the DVDs from Bob Rozakis and immersed ourselves over the last few weeks. Yesterday, Deb announced that we should program the series into the DVR and stay current; essentially skipping from season one to season five which I thought would be interesting.

Last night we settled in, watched one of the last season one shows and later watched season premiere. First of all, the show is engaging with a nicely varied number of cases while ensuring the cast all had something to do. Fitting in FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth into the world of the “squints” seemed like something odd at first until it became clear he needed them as they came to rely on him. Having him as the outsider is interesting and having Temperance Brennan a best-selling novelist while still being an investigator gives her some added dimension.

Her cluelessness to the world at large was an element I thought would be difficult to sustain season after season and I was pleasantly surprised to see, four years later, she was still struggling to understand colloquialisms and human nature. I’m not sure where Zack and Dr. Goodman went after season one but I’m sure we’ll find out as we catch up.  The dynamic in the lab without Zack to play off Hodgins, though, felt lacking.

Clearly we missed some interesting twists and turns at the end of season four but they nicely recapped enough for us to figure out where we are. The Will They or Won’t They vibe that was evident early in season one is clearly moving towards the Will They but it’s nicely complicated as Seeley has to figure out if his emotions are genuine or a result of his illness. How she feels towards him remains unclear but I’m willing to stick around and find out. It’s an appealing cast that works well together.

We then stayed tuned for the second season of Fringe. A largely engaging episode, it also felt somewhat fractured as they struggled to briefly recap what occurred last season and set up this season. Here’s the problem: Broyles is arguing for the Fringe Division’s life without once identifying all the successes they had last season along with the very clear and present danger in the form of the ZFT. And after building up Massive Dynamics as the company that could never be refused, to have Nina Sharp say they are powerless sounds wrong.

The entire revelation that there is a parallel world and it has nefarious designs on Earth-1, clearly ahead in technology, is also never really stated. By now, the FBI should be preparing a presentation to place the military on some sort of alert. Talk about needing Homeland Security. There’s also the unstated issue that this is a global threat so are there similar international Fringe divisions out there, and how much have they already figured out?

Meantime, we left Olivia going to NY to meet with William Bell. Something happened at the meeting and she returns from visiting Earth-2 by being hurled through a SUV’s windshield. We’re given no sense of how long she was gone so it’s hard to say how everyone should be reacting. Her transition across the dimensional void was painless one way and we’ve seen others crossover with an issue so this raises new questions.

I do like how Peter is more comfortable in his role and taking charge. His banter with FBI Agent Jessup was nifty and her line about her waiting her whole life for this stuff was nice to hear. How she fits into the ensemble could be interesting.

I don’t want to give things away but poor Charlie.

At least Gene the cow is back.

I’m hooked and intrigued; hoping things hold together a wee bit better.

Work Update

Posted by Bob Greenberger on September 15, 2009

The best thing for a freelancer is the phone ringing offering work.  Possibly the second best thing for a freelancer is the arrival of the printed work (or the check, depending on your circumstances).

Someone asked on one of the message boards recently if it ever gets old receiving the first copy of your latest book. The answer is an unequivocal no. I am reminded of that since the morning mail contained my contributor copy to