Created in 1938 by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, Superman may not have been the first costumed crime fighter of the comics world (Lee Falk's "The Phantom" hit the funny pages two years earlier), but he quickly became the exemplar of the American superhero — due in large part to the timing of his arrival.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor compelled the United States to officially enter World War II, kids were desperate to believe the world wasn't on the verge of becoming a fascist hellhole; and people were well aware that, to avoid this outcome, hundreds of thousands of young Americans were going to get blown to pieces on foreign soil. So what was the harm in occasionally escaping to a fantastical alternate reality in which a morally righteous alien (i.e. immigrant) continually thwarted the will of evildoers like Lex Luthor?
One of the most...
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor compelled the United States to officially enter World War II, kids were desperate to believe the world wasn't on the verge of becoming a fascist hellhole; and people were well aware that, to avoid this outcome, hundreds of thousands of young Americans were going to get blown to pieces on foreign soil. So what was the harm in occasionally escaping to a fantastical alternate reality in which a morally righteous alien (i.e. immigrant) continually thwarted the will of evildoers like Lex Luthor?
One of the most...
- 12/31/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Phyllis Coates, the first actress to play Lois Lane on television, has died. She was 96.
Coates portrayed the “Daily Planet” reporter and Clark Kent’s love interest for just one season on “Adventures of Superman.”
Coates, who also appeared in Republic Pictures serial shows and in films like “I Was a Teenage Frankenstein,” died Wednesday of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills.
Her daughter Laura Press confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter.
Coates grew up in Wichita Falls, Texas. She first took on the role of Lois Lane alongside George Reeves as Superman in “Superman and the Mole Men” (1951), a dark science fiction film. The success of the Lippert Pictures film — the first full-length theatrical feature starring the Man of Steel — brought about the production of a syndicated television show.
The first season of “Adventures of Superman” contained 26 episodes. “The Mole...
Coates portrayed the “Daily Planet” reporter and Clark Kent’s love interest for just one season on “Adventures of Superman.”
Coates, who also appeared in Republic Pictures serial shows and in films like “I Was a Teenage Frankenstein,” died Wednesday of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills.
Her daughter Laura Press confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter.
Coates grew up in Wichita Falls, Texas. She first took on the role of Lois Lane alongside George Reeves as Superman in “Superman and the Mole Men” (1951), a dark science fiction film. The success of the Lippert Pictures film — the first full-length theatrical feature starring the Man of Steel — brought about the production of a syndicated television show.
The first season of “Adventures of Superman” contained 26 episodes. “The Mole...
- 10/12/2023
- by Dessi Gomez
- The Wrap
Phyllis Coates, the first actress to play Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane on television, only to leave the Adventures of Superman after just one season, has died. She was 96.
Coates, who also appeared in Republic Pictures serials and in such films as I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, died Wednesday of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, her daughter Laura Press told The Hollywood Reporter.
A native of Wichita Falls, Texas, Coates first portrayed the headstrong Lois opposite George Reeves as the Man of Steel in the dark sci-fi movie Superman and the Mole Men (1951).
The success of that Lippert Pictures film — the first full-length theatrical feature starring the comic-book hero — led to the quick decision to start production on a syndicated show for television.
Coates segued to the series and got into jams as Lois in all 26 episodes of the first season...
Coates, who also appeared in Republic Pictures serials and in such films as I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, died Wednesday of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, her daughter Laura Press told The Hollywood Reporter.
A native of Wichita Falls, Texas, Coates first portrayed the headstrong Lois opposite George Reeves as the Man of Steel in the dark sci-fi movie Superman and the Mole Men (1951).
The success of that Lippert Pictures film — the first full-length theatrical feature starring the comic-book hero — led to the quick decision to start production on a syndicated show for television.
Coates segued to the series and got into jams as Lois in all 26 episodes of the first season...
- 10/12/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Joker has basically become as iconic as Batman himself in modern culture. These days, we're seeing just as much of The Clown Prince of Crime as we are of the Dark Knight, with "Joker 2" recently wrapping production and a fresh approach to the character from Barry Keoghan, who showed up in a scene from Matt Reeves' "The Batman" and could likely return in "The Batman: Part II."
Since Jack Nicholson's Jack Napier transformed into the iconic Batman villain in Tim Burton's "Batman" back in 1989, there have been several cinematic versions of The Joker, helping propel the character further into the public consciousness and raising his profile as an enduring pop culture figure. Of course, The Joker's history stretches much further back than the late-'80s. The infamous rogue has been a mainstay in the comics for more than 80 years, where he's been the focus of countless...
Since Jack Nicholson's Jack Napier transformed into the iconic Batman villain in Tim Burton's "Batman" back in 1989, there have been several cinematic versions of The Joker, helping propel the character further into the public consciousness and raising his profile as an enduring pop culture figure. Of course, The Joker's history stretches much further back than the late-'80s. The infamous rogue has been a mainstay in the comics for more than 80 years, where he's been the focus of countless...
- 8/21/2023
- by Joe Roberts
- Slash Film
So many of these Wtf happened to videos focus on a film that had behind the scenes issues or were catastrophic bombs in theaters and we dissect what went wrong, but every so often we here at Joblo like to examine what went right with a movie. In 2019, a movie seemingly came out of nowhere to become a cultural milestone that not only sparked controversy but also broke records. Sit back and put on a happy face as we figure out just Wtf Happened to Joker.
First appearing in Batman #1 in the spring of 1940, the character of The Joker, created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson, based off the 1928 silent film The Man Who Laughs, was originally meant to be a one off villain for the caped crusader who was going to die after his first appearance because Bill Finger thought that if there was a recurring villain,...
First appearing in Batman #1 in the spring of 1940, the character of The Joker, created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson, based off the 1928 silent film The Man Who Laughs, was originally meant to be a one off villain for the caped crusader who was going to die after his first appearance because Bill Finger thought that if there was a recurring villain,...
- 5/3/2023
- by Brad Hamerly
- JoBlo.com
Deadwood Creator David Milch Says It's A Waste Of Time To Feel 'Betrayed' By The Show's Cancellation
Here's a challenge. Read a random "TV shows canceled too soon" listicle floating around the internet. A series that will be on every single one (at least any that was written with a little bit of taste) is "Deadwood," HBO's gone-too-soon western.
The series ran a respectable three seasons (36 episodes) on HBO from 2004 to 2006, but ended inconclusively. The cast and crew also had more to tell. While everyone eventually got the chance to conclude the story with a two-hour wrap-up movie in 2019, "Deadwood: The Movie" was an epilogue, not a full new season of material.
Set in the eponymous South Dakota town during the 1870s, "Deadwood" was Shakespearean — literally, for most of the dialogue was written in iambic pentameter (and bounced from tragedy to farce just like the Bard's work did). The show was fairly faithful (but not bound) to history, with real men as the two leads: lawman Seth...
The series ran a respectable three seasons (36 episodes) on HBO from 2004 to 2006, but ended inconclusively. The cast and crew also had more to tell. While everyone eventually got the chance to conclude the story with a two-hour wrap-up movie in 2019, "Deadwood: The Movie" was an epilogue, not a full new season of material.
Set in the eponymous South Dakota town during the 1870s, "Deadwood" was Shakespearean — literally, for most of the dialogue was written in iambic pentameter (and bounced from tragedy to farce just like the Bard's work did). The show was fairly faithful (but not bound) to history, with real men as the two leads: lawman Seth...
- 10/25/2022
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
“We’re all of us haunted by our own fucking thoughts. So make friends with the ghost, it ain’t going fucking anywhere.”—Al Swearengen, Deadwood: the MovieSouth Dakota, 1876, in the wake of Custer’s folly: a mining camp whose most influential and conniving citizens hope to be annexed by the United States government as they machinate against each other in their unabating pursuits for more money, more power. It’s place is called Deadwood, a lawless, sordid camp inhabited by gold chasers and hoople heads, dope fiends and gunslingers, craven murderers and even a few honest, hard-working folk. Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), a pitiless saloon owner who sells sex and uses murder to eradicate threats of competition, one of the camp’s first settlers, is the unaccredited leader, but his surreptitious sovereignty is threatened by other scheming parties. A former sheriff from Montana named Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) arrives, hoping...
- 6/19/2019
- MUBI
Image Source: Warner Bros.
With Joker coming out this year, we're excited to see how director Todd Phillips will flesh out the iconic character in his first stand-alone origin story - partly because the point of the Joker is that he doesn't really have an origin. Not knowing quite how he became a murderous psychopath preserves his status as a terrifying figure; he's the incarnation of chaos. Having said that, Phillips didn't have a shortage of comic sources from which to draw inspiration. Given that the Joker came about in the '40s and is one of the first comic book supervillains ever, it's inevitable that writers would explore his history. If you're curious about how Joaquin Phoenix's portrayal aligns with past comics about Batman's foe, keep reading!
The Joker's Big Debut
The Joker makes his first appearance in Batman No. 1 in 1940. Writer Bill Finger originally planned to kill...
With Joker coming out this year, we're excited to see how director Todd Phillips will flesh out the iconic character in his first stand-alone origin story - partly because the point of the Joker is that he doesn't really have an origin. Not knowing quite how he became a murderous psychopath preserves his status as a terrifying figure; he's the incarnation of chaos. Having said that, Phillips didn't have a shortage of comic sources from which to draw inspiration. Given that the Joker came about in the '40s and is one of the first comic book supervillains ever, it's inevitable that writers would explore his history. If you're curious about how Joaquin Phoenix's portrayal aligns with past comics about Batman's foe, keep reading!
The Joker's Big Debut
The Joker makes his first appearance in Batman No. 1 in 1940. Writer Bill Finger originally planned to kill...
- 4/19/2019
- by Stacey Nguyen
- Popsugar.com
Recognition of the Joker’s significance stretches back to the character’s first appearance in April of 1940, when a last-minute editorial move saved the Clown Prince of Crime from a swift exit from Batman lore. Bill Finger, co-creator of the Caped Crusader himself, initially expressed a desire to kill off the villainous jokester before his ever-wise editor, Whitney Ellsworth, demanded that the character live on. And live on he has.
Over the many years that have passed since that fateful overturning of Finger’s creative decision, the Joker has appeared to us in many incarnations and iterations, the most notable of them being Heath Ledger’s interpretation of the character in 2008’s The Dark Knight. Now, with the release of David Ayer’s Suicide Squad, musician-turned-actor Jared Leto attempts to fill Ledger’s impossibly big shoes by adding new fervor and new flavor to the role.
However, while Leto’s...
Over the many years that have passed since that fateful overturning of Finger’s creative decision, the Joker has appeared to us in many incarnations and iterations, the most notable of them being Heath Ledger’s interpretation of the character in 2008’s The Dark Knight. Now, with the release of David Ayer’s Suicide Squad, musician-turned-actor Jared Leto attempts to fill Ledger’s impossibly big shoes by adding new fervor and new flavor to the role.
However, while Leto’s...
- 8/8/2016
- by Hayden Mears
- We Got This Covered
Thanks to a link provided by "Kick-Ass" writer Mark Millar, take a look @ the 1958 unaired TV pilot "The Adventures Of Super Pup" from the producers of the classic "Adventures of Superman" TV series, featuring the first television portrayal of the 'Superman' characters as non-humans:
"...'Pamela Poodle' is the victim of evil 'Professor Sheepdip', who has tied her to a rocket that will be launched into space. Only 'Super Pup can save the day..."
Television producer Whitney Ellsworth created a pilot that placed the 'Superman' mythos into a fictional universe populated by dogs instead of human beings.
The live-action actors were placed in dog-head suits to portray the canine versions of the characters.
The pilot was filmed on the same sets/locations as "The Adventures of Superman", with all roles portrayed by 'little people'.
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Adventures Of Super Pup...
"...'Pamela Poodle' is the victim of evil 'Professor Sheepdip', who has tied her to a rocket that will be launched into space. Only 'Super Pup can save the day..."
Television producer Whitney Ellsworth created a pilot that placed the 'Superman' mythos into a fictional universe populated by dogs instead of human beings.
The live-action actors were placed in dog-head suits to portray the canine versions of the characters.
The pilot was filmed on the same sets/locations as "The Adventures of Superman", with all roles portrayed by 'little people'.
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Adventures Of Super Pup...
- 8/4/2016
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
It was in Vietnam, where he was serving in the Marines, that Jim Beaver had his first significant encounter with Shakespeare. “I was bored to death as most of us were there when we weren’t being terrified,” Beaver recalled. “And I stumbled across this old, beat-up edition of the complete works, and I thought, ‘I’ve heard this guy’s good. I’ll give it a read.’ And I did, and I thought it was fascinating.” Today, he still has that collection of Shakespeare’s complete works in his home. A couple years after finding that complete works, Beaver was back in the U.S., and as a college student in Oklahoma, he performed in a production of King Lear — that cemented his love of the Bard, said the actor, known best to Supernatural fans as Uncle Bobby and to HBO viewers as the prospector Whitney Ellsworth on Western drama Deadwood.
- 5/12/2016
- by Emily Rome
- Hitfix
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Jokers, circus masters and demonic dolls. Which TV characters terrify you? Den Of Geek asked its writers that very question…
The subconscious is a terrible place; dark, mysterious and peopled by spectres from the past. As a bit of a laugh then, we sent our writers journeying into theirs and asked them to drag out any TV terrors they found lurking in the shadows.
Some television fears had been ensconced there since childhood, others were more recent tenants. Some were morally terrifying; human beings with icy hearts capable of atrocities, others were simply… atrocities.
Join us as we count down in order of terror from the sort-of-creepy to the downright terrifying, the 50 TV characters that, for whatever reason, give our writers chills. It’s by no means an exhaustive list, so feel free to fill in gaps by adding your own peculiar television nightmares below…
50. Charn -...
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Jokers, circus masters and demonic dolls. Which TV characters terrify you? Den Of Geek asked its writers that very question…
The subconscious is a terrible place; dark, mysterious and peopled by spectres from the past. As a bit of a laugh then, we sent our writers journeying into theirs and asked them to drag out any TV terrors they found lurking in the shadows.
Some television fears had been ensconced there since childhood, others were more recent tenants. Some were morally terrifying; human beings with icy hearts capable of atrocities, others were simply… atrocities.
Join us as we count down in order of terror from the sort-of-creepy to the downright terrifying, the 50 TV characters that, for whatever reason, give our writers chills. It’s by no means an exhaustive list, so feel free to fill in gaps by adding your own peculiar television nightmares below…
50. Charn -...
- 10/29/2015
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
The notion of Batman refusing to kill people has long been misunderstood, thanks in no small part to the stagey deadpan of Adam West. With its onomatopoeia and West’s potbellied pedantry, the 1960s Batman adhered more closely to Susan Sontag’s camp than Bob Kane’s vengeful Dark Knight. It was DC Comics editor Whitney Ellsworth, not Kane, who decreed that Batman couldn’t kill. Ellsworth feared that readers wouldn’t sympathize with a guy who killed without remorse, and thus wouldn’t buy comics. Kane’s Batman was a mean son of a gun, though: In his very first solo issue in 1938, Batman gunned down a henchman, tossed another off a building, and hanged a third from his Batplane. (“He’s probably better off this way,” Batman intoned.) Two years later, he impaled a Chinese swordsman, threw an American disguised as a Chinese swordsman out of a window,...
- 8/25/2015
- by Greg Cwik
- Vulture
"The "Bat-Man", a mysterious and adventurous figure, fighting for righteousness and apprehending the wrong doer, in his lone battle against the evil forces of society... His identity remains unknown."
Those exciting words started off a story in Detective Comics Issue number 27 in May of 1939, and the world was introduced to one of the most well-known and most recognized superheroes - The Bat-Man, as he was first called. National Comics (now DC Comics) was enjoying comic sales due to Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel's latest creation, Superman, and they were in the market for another caped crusader. Created by Bob Kane, he was little more than crude sketches until Bill Finger gave some suggestions that would make him iconic: The bat cowl, the color of the costume (Kane originally planned on having Batman wear a red union suit with black trunks and cape), and putting gloves on the hero.
The...
Those exciting words started off a story in Detective Comics Issue number 27 in May of 1939, and the world was introduced to one of the most well-known and most recognized superheroes - The Bat-Man, as he was first called. National Comics (now DC Comics) was enjoying comic sales due to Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel's latest creation, Superman, and they were in the market for another caped crusader. Created by Bob Kane, he was little more than crude sketches until Bill Finger gave some suggestions that would make him iconic: The bat cowl, the color of the costume (Kane originally planned on having Batman wear a red union suit with black trunks and cape), and putting gloves on the hero.
The...
- 5/30/2014
- Shadowlocked
Review Billy Grifter 26 Oct 2013 - 20:45
Despite its recent improvement, this week's Revolution takes a nosedive in quality. Here's Billy's review...
This review contains spoilers.
2.5 One Riot, One Ranger
After making some decent headway in the past few weeks, Revolution fell down a few holes of plausibility this week, and seemed incapable of scrambling out.
The major problem, and it had been festering away for some weeks in the background, was how to introduce back Bass into the mix without a long list of people just killing him immediately. It was always going to be a stretch, but the direction that they took ultimately seemed the least credible of all possible routes.
Part of the issue was that Charlie only needed to be saved once to join the Bass supporters club, entirely forgetting that he was responsible for the deaths of her father and brother, and a ton of other people.
Despite its recent improvement, this week's Revolution takes a nosedive in quality. Here's Billy's review...
This review contains spoilers.
2.5 One Riot, One Ranger
After making some decent headway in the past few weeks, Revolution fell down a few holes of plausibility this week, and seemed incapable of scrambling out.
The major problem, and it had been festering away for some weeks in the background, was how to introduce back Bass into the mix without a long list of people just killing him immediately. It was always going to be a stretch, but the direction that they took ultimately seemed the least credible of all possible routes.
Part of the issue was that Charlie only needed to be saved once to join the Bass supporters club, entirely forgetting that he was responsible for the deaths of her father and brother, and a ton of other people.
- 10/27/2013
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
[Spoiler alert!]
The power may have returned on Revolution, but Miles (Billy Burke), Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell), and Aaron (Zak Orth) are anything but powerful under the watchful eye of the Patriots.
That struggle only intensifies in this week’s episode, “One Riot, One Ranger,” with the appearance of Jim Beaver as John Fry, the titular ranger who, despite sharing a shaky past with Miles, may just be the key to defeating the Patriots.
“It’s not a very comfortable history , but there are circumstances that will force them to work together,” Beaver says. “They used to know each other years before, and...
The power may have returned on Revolution, but Miles (Billy Burke), Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell), and Aaron (Zak Orth) are anything but powerful under the watchful eye of the Patriots.
That struggle only intensifies in this week’s episode, “One Riot, One Ranger,” with the appearance of Jim Beaver as John Fry, the titular ranger who, despite sharing a shaky past with Miles, may just be the key to defeating the Patriots.
“It’s not a very comfortable history , but there are circumstances that will force them to work together,” Beaver says. “They used to know each other years before, and...
- 10/23/2013
- by Shirley Li
- EW - Inside TV
[Spoiler alert!]
The power may have returned on Revolution, but Miles (Billy Burke), Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell), and Aaron (Zak Orth) are anything but powerful under the watchful eye of the Patriots.
That struggle only intensifies in this week’s episode, “One Riot, One Ranger,” with the appearance of Jim Beaver as John Fry, the titular ranger who, despite sharing a shaky past with Miles, may just be the key to defeating the Patriots.
“It’s not a very comfortable history , but there are circumstances that will force them to work together,” Beaver says. “They used to know each other years before, and...
The power may have returned on Revolution, but Miles (Billy Burke), Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell), and Aaron (Zak Orth) are anything but powerful under the watchful eye of the Patriots.
That struggle only intensifies in this week’s episode, “One Riot, One Ranger,” with the appearance of Jim Beaver as John Fry, the titular ranger who, despite sharing a shaky past with Miles, may just be the key to defeating the Patriots.
“It’s not a very comfortable history , but there are circumstances that will force them to work together,” Beaver says. “They used to know each other years before, and...
- 10/23/2013
- by Shirley Li
- EW - Inside TV
If there's a lesson the characters on "Breaking Bad" are doomed to learn and forget and learn again, it's this: Nothing ever works out the way you think it will. Children are born with cerebral palsy; drug lords have to pay taxes; making meth is boring. Walt and Jesse have always lived as if the only two options they would ever face are life or death, and most of the time that's been the case, whether they've been trying to escape kidnappers or stranded in the desert on a cook gone wrong. But the real hell of their current situation is only now being made clear to them. They're trapped. Jesse even spelled it out for Walter in the previous episode, but the older man wouldn't listen. Walt was still convinced he was in a high-stakes battle of wills with Gus that had paused but not resolved, when in reality,...
- 7/25/2011
- by Daniel Carlson
Breaking Bad, Season 4, Episode 2: ‘Thirty-Eight Snub’
Written by George Mastras
Directed by Michelle MacLaren
Breaking Bad gained another Deadwood alum (to go with series regular Anna Gunn) this week – though probably as a one-scene wonder. Jim Beaver – aka Whitney Ellsworth, or Bobby if Supernatural‘s more your speed – graces the cold open this week as Saul Goodman’s go-to guy for untraceable weapons, Lawson. Walt has come to Lawson for a very simple reason: after the events of last week, he feels as though Gus needs to be taken out. So Walt buys himself a snub-nosed pistol small enough to hide behind his jacket. In questioning Walt, Lawson unknowingly exposes just how far down the proverbial rabbit hole Walt has gone over the last couple of seasons, displaying how he’ll rationalize his way into doing whatever awful thing his mind tasks him with. “It’s for defense.”
This past week,...
Written by George Mastras
Directed by Michelle MacLaren
Breaking Bad gained another Deadwood alum (to go with series regular Anna Gunn) this week – though probably as a one-scene wonder. Jim Beaver – aka Whitney Ellsworth, or Bobby if Supernatural‘s more your speed – graces the cold open this week as Saul Goodman’s go-to guy for untraceable weapons, Lawson. Walt has come to Lawson for a very simple reason: after the events of last week, he feels as though Gus needs to be taken out. So Walt buys himself a snub-nosed pistol small enough to hide behind his jacket. In questioning Walt, Lawson unknowingly exposes just how far down the proverbial rabbit hole Walt has gone over the last couple of seasons, displaying how he’ll rationalize his way into doing whatever awful thing his mind tasks him with. “It’s for defense.”
This past week,...
- 7/25/2011
- by Simon Howell
- SoundOnSight
In his 30-plus year acting career, Jim Beaver had done everything from "Dallas" to "Matlock" to "NYPD Blue" to features like "Hollywood Shuffle" and "Sister Act." But Beaver went from steadily working jobber to in-demand character actor when he was cast as Whitney Ellsworth in HBO's "Deadwood." That role, as perhaps the moral heart of a marvelously amoral show, opened the door for extended turns on programs including "Day Break," "John From Cincinnati" and, of course, "Supernatural." It also led the producers of CBS' "Harper's Island" to target him for the character of Sheriff Mills. Since I'm writing this story,...
- 6/27/2009
- by Daniel Fienberg
- Hitfix
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