TV SHOW – The One Thing That Would Make The GOTHAM TV Show Epic.

Lots of people seem to be very excited about the TV show Gotham. Lots of people, except me. That said, there is ONE thing they can do to make me excited to watch it. This is an article about that one thing.

In social media, I’ve made it clear that I wasn’t very interested in watching the new Gotham TV show. Everything I’ve seen or read about it doesn’t seem to interest me.

Thing is, I’d LIKE to be excited about it.  It’s another show based on a superhero comic. But there’s no superhero in it!

Below is some videos that previews the show, and explain what it’s about. You can watch them, if you want, so you can understand what I’m going to be talking about here:

http://youtu.be/Xjn_n4ixpMo

http://youtu.be/8oI_P4xGURY

http://youtu.be/xFfPxYEhKic

My Thoughts on the Show Based on the Preview

The show looks well produced, well acted, and well written.

BUT, from what I can see so far, the first thing that sticks out here and the worst thing about this show is that it DOESN’T have Batman in it. Bruce Wayne is eight years old and traumatized. He seems to be a side character in the show.

What does this show seems to be about? Basically, what I got from the video above is that the show is Smallville for the Gotham villains. Or maybe The Sopranos or Breaking Bad for Gotham villains.

Which actually makes it sound  interesting enough, except the video really emphasizes the police procedural aspect of the show. Which I could care less about, and it’s the one thing I don’t understand most.

They try to emphasize how this good cop, Jim Gordon, is going to make a difference in Gotham city. Which, if he manages to do, there’s no point in Batman showing up to save the city.

So really the show is about how this good cop can’t really do anything. And if he manages to succeed in doing something good, it would actually cause even worse villains to come into power, making the city worse.

This means the show is about how Jim Gordon, messed up and failed Gotham city. Why would I want to watch that show?

As a superhero nerd, when I hear the title “Gotham” for a TV show, I don’t think “Police procedural” or “Smallville for villains,” I think, BATMAN.

I’ve been thinking hard about the premise of this show. The way it’s being sold, doesn’t appeal to me one bit. BUT what WOULD make me WANT to watch this show?

I came to one conclusion.

The One Thing That Would Make the GOTHAM Show Epic

More of a Bruce Wayne Focus.

They can keep the Jim Gordon stuff and the villain stuff BUT as a superhero nerd, what I want to see is an emphasis on young Bruce Wayne. This is actually the perfect time to really focus on him.

This would be when he first starts getting the idea that he should become a vigilante. Early in the show, by the first, second or third episode, the idea to become one should take seed. That way the rest of the series could be about his obsession to become one.

I want to see young rich Bruce Wayne:

• Learn to fight – he hires one or many of the best fighters in the world to teach him to fight. Either as Bruce Wayne or using an alias.
• Learns to become an escape artist – Don’t know how but he needs to.
• Learns gymnastics – He kinda need this too.
• Learn  engineering, gadget making, chemistry, etc. – Lot’s of way for him to do this.
• Learns guerrilla warfare – Maybe he joins a military school or hires a mercenary to teach him all he knows, or maybe Alfred is ex-military.
• Learns Detective work – This is when it starts fitting in more with what is already in the Gotham TV show. He can learns detective work from Jim Gordon somehow.
• Learns to be a Hacker – This is ideal so that he could actually start messing and thwarting villains without revealing who he is by doing it in cyberspace.

All this stuff is set up for the ultimate point of all this stuff, young Bruce Wayne would be like a proto-Batman. A kind of “Robin-in-training.” He hacks and occasionally goes out into the city and does things in secret to help the police catch the bad guys, even as a kid.

Which is cool because is lays the foundation for why he doesn’t see a problem training Dick Grayson to become Robin. He remembered what he used to do when he was younger.

Gordon would only know him by his hacker name “DK” or “Dark Knight” or some other Batman like nickname. Gordon thinks Bruce is an adult, but he’s just a really smart kid, doing things to help him out.

That way, Bruce is doing Batman type things, which makes any success that Gordon has much more successful. And for superhero nerds like me, we get the secret joy of seeing a young Bruce Wayne be cool and Batman like.

And as the show goes on, you see the actor grow up and become more and more Batman like.

THIS would be the thing I want to see in this Gotham show. The young boy, Bruce Wayne, training and secretly helping the cops do good. Making Gotham safer, learning and failing, but slowly becoming a badass at a young age.

That would be cool, and I think that’s what seems to be missing in the trailers and previews that I’ve seen of Gotham so far.

I think that’s what Batman fans watching the show really want to see as well.

Are you Going to Watch GOTHAM?

What do you think? Would you like to see that in the Gotham TV show? Do you like what you’ve seen so far and don’t want to see what I suggested.

Do you think it looks fine the way it is? Let me know. Sound off on the comments below.

Also, if the stuff I’ve written happens in the show, let me know so I can start watching it because I’m not going to be watching this show based on what I’ve seen so far.

TV SHOW – Three Reasons Endgame is a Great Mystery Show for Gamers.

I found a great mystery show that appeals to the gamer in me. It’s called Endgame and I thought I’d write about why it’s such a great mystery show for gamers.

I’m not a big fan of mystery shows. I know it’s one of the most popular story genres in the world. I’ve just never really been captivated by it.

The new BCC Sherlock show has been the only mystery show to really have me coming back for more. Mostly because the portrayal of Sherlock is so well done.

Well, I’m signed up for Hulu Plus and they often run ads for a show called Endgame. It immediately caught my eye because it was about a gamer. A chess grandmaster in fact.

I put it on to see what I thought, and ended up watching all 13 episodes back to back. I loved it.

Not only where the characters great and the mysteries fascinating, but it totally appealed to the gamer in me. So here’s the three reasons, if you’re a gamer, it might appeal to you too:

1. It’s Show About a Chess Grandmaster

The most high profile and respected professional gamers in the world are Chess Grandmasters.

These people have dedicated their lives to playing and mastering the game of Chess. Often these people are little eccentric.

The Grandmaster in this show, played by actor Shawn Boyle, is no exception. To make things worse, this guys is suffering mental trauma after seeing his fiancé was murdered outside of the hotel he was staying in. This has caused him to be afraid of stepping out of the hotel he’s in.

The show revolves around him solving mysteries without ever leaving the hotel. Often using his friends that work in the hotel to help him out.

There’s even a student who helps him out for the “payment” of playing Chess games against the Grandmaster.

2. It Features a Few Games

As you would expect from a game featuring a Chess Grandmaster, Chess is played quite a bit. That said, it isn’t the only game played in the show.

Poker, Checkers (played blindfolded), Chaturanga, and a fictitious MMORPG are also played on the show.

Most of the time though, Chess is played. And in one particularly great show, the Chess games are literally a matter of life and death.

3. It Shows the Benefits of Being a Gamer

Playing Chess has given this guy a keen eye and a very good memory.

The show really shows the benefits of having sharpened his mind playing Chess. It also shows how being good at the one game can come in handy when playing others.

Although the amazing nature of the Grandmasters abilities are a little on the fantastic side, it’s still a lot of fun to watch how this man’s mind has benefited from years of playing Chess.

So much so, that it made me want to start playing more Chess, ha ha ha.

Really Fun and Worth Watching

I really recommend Endgame. Especially if you’re like me and love table top games. That said, if you’re mostly a video gamer, you’d still get a kick out this show. It may be an analog game but it’s a game none the less.

It’s fun to see a show where gaming is such a benefit.

TV SHOWS- How Doctor Who, is Like Bugs Bunny.

Bugs Bunny, Superheroes, Cugel the Clever, and The Odyssey are not exactly the first things that come to mind when thinking about Doctor Who. But they all have a connection.

In this week’s post I’m going to write about this.

You can either watch the video below or you can read the post.  It’s the same thing, only I draw a picture in the video:

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Explaining  The Doctor

I was trying to explain the appeal of Doctor Who to a friend of mine who hadn’t watched the show.  I was a bit lost for words, I wasn’t sure how to describe the show.

I mean, I could just say,

“It’s about a Time Lord and his companion who travel through space and time and have great adventures,” but that doesn’t quite cut it.

I would then try to describe the character of The Doctor comparing him to a type of hero they might be familiar with.  That way they had a “feel” of what the character was like. But then, I couldn’t think of any.

Was that why he was so appealing? He was so unique that he created his own archetype?  This got me thinking.

Why did I like him so much? What did I like about the show.  What appealed to me?

Doctor Who is a Superhero

Well, for starters, his stories are Superhero stories.

What I mean by this is that, Doctor  Who is written in stories that Superheroes would feel perfectly at home in.  Some incredibly powerful villain, has some sort of plan to destroy, enslave, or conquer, the Earth, some race of people, Time itself, or the entire Universe and it’s up to The Doctor to stop it.

It’s something that you imagine Superman doing. But instead, you have some dude in a suit, tie and a screwdriver, with no superpowers at all, doing the job.

But how? How does he do it? Most superheroes end up having some kind of super fight to get the job done, but The Doctor has no powers.

Well, he does it with his wits.  The Doctor is really smart and really clever.  He solves these super villainous dilemmas with his brain.

Is there any other hero that does something like this?  Is this a preexisting heroic archetype?

The Doctor and Bug Bunny

At first, I thought, no…but then I remembered Bugs Bunny.

Bugs isn’t strong.  He often gets bullied and picked on. When the antagonists pushes him too far though, he pushed back.

Not with his muscle but with his mind.

He outwits his opponents and makes them look like fools.  This is very reminiscent of what Doctor Who does.

Okay so now we have two characters who are similar Bugs and The Doctor.  But are they it?

Doctor Who and Cugel the Clever

Well…no. Actually, Jack Vance wrote a fantasy character that I really love named: Cugel the Clever. He is a character in the Dying Earth series.

He’s a really wimpy, underhanded jerk and a thief who gets himself in all kinds of horrible situations, but then he would have to think his way out of them.

The personality of this character different than that of The Doctor. Cugel is no hero, but the archetype is the same.

So how far does this archetype go?

The Doctor and The Odyssey

Odysseus/Ulysses from The Odyssey is exactly this archetype. This famous tactician of the Trojan War got into all kinds of dangerous situations which he couldn’t get out off just by fighting. He would get into dangers that would do Superman proud.

He used his wits to get out of all those situations, just like Bugs, Cugel and The Doctor.

The Doctor’s Archetype

So it turns out, The Doctor does have an Archetype and it’s a very old one, which explains why he works so well.

I personally think that the ultimate appeal of this Archetype is the, “that could potentially be me!”  factor.  You think to yourself, maybe if I’m clever enough, I could be just like that guy. Heck, I know I want to be as clever The Doctor.

Well, realizing this has made me better able to explain The Doctor to people. Now I days,  when I describe Doctor Who to someone who is unfamiliar with the show, I say this,

“The Doctor is like a Superhero without any powers, who fight super villains through out time and space, by using his wit and cleverness. Like Odysseus from the Odyssey.”

And you know what I think would be cool? If at some point they write an episode  where The Doctor  teams up with Odysseus. That would be epic.

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TV SHOWS – Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Vs. DC’s Arrow

Who’s better, Marvel or DC?

Marvel and DC have been rivals for a long time. They both have a universes full of unique superheroes a they’re in constant competition for the same audiences. They have been for years.

Now a days, their competition has gone beyond comics.  They’re rivalry has extended to movies and TV shows.

I’m going to be writing about this in this post. You can either watch the video or read the post. It’ the same thing…only, I draw in the video:

(Some of the links below are affiliate links. Thanks for your support.)

Who is Winning What?

As of the time of this writing, Marvel is beating DC with their live action movies. , and of course, The Avengers, are kicking butt at the box office.

Meanwhile, DC has only three Batman movies and one Superman movie. And the Superman movie turned out to be very divisive. On top of that, they’re desperately shoving Batman into the Superman sequel in order to try to catch up to the success of The Avengers.  It comes across as sloppy and rushed.

On the other hand, DC superhero animated movies and TV shows are running circles around anything Marvel is producing.  It’s been doing this for years. Marvel is only now trying get some kind of serious animated cartoons going. I have yet to be impressed with what they’ve come up with.

Now Marvel and DC have started another battle…

Marvel and DC’s Fight over Live Action TV

Smallville was on for ten years. DC had a superhero presence on TV for years.  It was the only game in town and personally, I loved that show.

When Smallville ended, Arrow took the baton. It’s now on it’s second season.

After the enormous success of The Avengers, Marvel decided to join in, with their show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Headed by Joss Whedon, Director of The Avengers, Serenity, The Cabin In The Woods. Creator of shows like: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dollhouse, and Firefly. And web series like, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, this show has some pedigree.

Meanwhile Arrow, is a step up from Smallville and is doing some very interesting things.

So  how do these two shows tack up to one another?

To be fair, Arrow has been on the air longer, there have only been, as of the time of this writing, six episodes of S.H.I.E.L.D. aired.  I’ve only seen four so far.

I’m going to compare the first four episodes of Arrow to the first four episodes of  Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. so see with company has it “right,” Marvel, or DC.

The First Four Episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

I have to say, the first episode of S.H.I.E.L.D. was fun with a lot of promise.  A tad bit too snarky, and it had a few redundant characters. But overall, it had a lot of promise.  The promise being, that we were probably going to see a lot of superpowered characters from the Marvel universe, possibly making an appearance.

After watching the first four episodes, I can say, this is not the case. The show has not really had any “fan service” at all when it comes to seeing more characters make cameos from the Marvel Universe.  It’s mostly about the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on assignments that may really didn’t deal with super humans, except in the pilot.

So far it hasn’t really delivered. And some of the episodes, like the second episode, really comes across as low budget show.

I really want to like this show but so far, it’s pretty “meh.”  Shows like Alphas or Warehouse 13 have covered similar territory in a better way.

Marvel has a huge universe to plunder from and they seem to be ignoring it.

I hope they remedy this soon.

The First Four Episodes of Arrow.

As for Arrow, after watching the pilot, I was hooked.  It was just good.  It didn’t have the promise of a good show, the pilot WAS a good show.  Not only that, all four of the first episodes where really great to watch.  There wasn’t a bad one in the bunch.

And “fan service?” In the first episode we got to see Deathstroke‘s mask, a character from the comics.  By episode three, they had introduced Deadshot, another character from the comics.

Arrow has taken the great stuff that the last three seasons of Smallville got right and plussed them up.

It’s lit well. I doesn’t look cheap. It has attitude and flair. I like the characters.  I like the struggle.s between them. I like the way the stories unfold and the take they’ve taken with the character.

I’m addicted to this show.  I have yet to be disappointed.

Which one is better Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or Arrow?

Well obviously, from my description of Arrow, it’s Arrow.  So far, in four episodes Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has promised more than it’s delivered.

While Arrow has delivered from episode one and hasn’t stopped.

Watch them and decide for yourself.

As for me, so far, between Marvel and DC, DC is doing a better job with their live action TV superhero shows than Marvel is.