Tuesday, May 13, 2014

TUESDAY NEWS DAY - "GOTHAM" O'BSERVATIONS



Another TV dimension will be getting its own version of Bruce Wayne (if not Batman) and Gotham City on Fox.  'Gotham' will be exploring the origins of the future commissioner James Gordon and of the villains who have an attachment to the city.  (With the 1960s series 'Baman', I always wondered why the villains kept coming back to Gotham City after being defeated by the Caped Crusader again and again.  Why not try their luck elsewhere where there were no super-heroes?  Why not Llanview?  Genoa City?  Bay City?  Fernwood?)

'Batman' is the official televersion for the Dynamic Duo and Gotham City in Earth Prime-Time.  The TV special years later, even though it starred Adam West and Burt Ward, has been deemed ineligible because of incarnations of other super-heroes who contradict their official portrayals in the main Toobworld.  'Birds Of Prey' takes a different approach to the Bat-mythos, but it also must occupy a different TV dimension.  For that one, I'm thinking Evil Toobworld suits it best.  Ladies, suit up!

For this new 'Gotham', the first villain announced to be given his own origin story is the future Penguin, Oswald Cobblepot. (I always hated that name.  Whoever came up with it was treating this member of the Television Crossover Hall Of Fame as a joke.  Luckily it never came up in the 'Batman' series, so we might not have to accept that as his name in Earth Prime-Time.)

Apparently, Cobblepot is a low-level psychopath whose ambitions are masked by a civilized veneer.  Before he becomes a lawless legend, Oswald Cobblepot will be working for a gangster named Fish Mooney.

As the series progresses, Fox has promised that it will delve into the early lives of Catwoman, the Joker, and the Riddler.

For fans of 'Doctor Who', the son of Third Doctor Jon Pertwee, Sean Pertwee, will be adding another alt-dimensional character to his resume of TV characters.  Having already appeared in 'Elementary' as a modern-day Lestrade, and after being summarily dispatched as the King's cousin in the first five minutes of 'The Tudors', Pertwee will now be playing the new version of Alfred Pennyworth, the butler at stately Wayne manor.  In this incarnation, Alfred is a former Marine, (probably Royal and not a US one), who cares for young Master Wayne after his parents are murdered.

Since the series is being produced for Fox, I'll be curious to see if 'Gotham' eventually has a crossover with 'Sleepy Hollow'.  At least then we'll know what dimension should house the new series.  

I'll be checking out the first couple of episodes.  Eventually I guess I'll just wander off, since it won't have any impact on my main area of focus, Earth Prime-Time.....

BCnU!

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