A Medicinal Vacation

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Tonight Beckett goes to Starfleet Academy, anthony Daniel sells his memories, his Pedro Pascal fantastic. The Penguin hits pause and remember writers Stephen Candell, artist Roger Castel and director Robert Butler. All that and more on this edition of Multiverse Tonight.

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Books, sci-fi, fantasy and more. If you're looking for a roundup of geeky news, you're in the right place. This is Multiverse Tonight, and here's your host, thomas Townley.

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Hello everyone and welcome to the Palindromic episode 202. I'm, of course, your host, thomas Townley, and I'm well better. I had the surgery two weeks ago on my rectum, if you will. Surgery went well. It was a great hospital, the best hospital I've ever had surgery in. I mean, they put the IV in my elbow and not my hand, which whenever they put in your hand it bruises up like nothing else. Putting it in your elbow, oh so much better. They'd have some moments of wousiness afterward. That passed and then came the biggest problem. The biggest part of pain with the surgery is the first bowel movement afterwards, because you've already opened up a can of whoop ass on your butt. Well, now you're opening up an actual can of whoop. So that hurt but we got past. It had pain pills, sitz baths, got some witch hazel wipes. So now we're now I'm basically waiting to go back to work. I've been on medical leave. My medical leave actually expires in about a week, but unfortunately they can't get in the see me until day after that expires, so we'll still be still been in the limbo for a few days after that. The best parts about this is one I know if I ever, ever win the lottery. So help me, I need something to do. I need to open up a, open up a little store or something. Something to you know, keep me going during the day. Something for me to do. And two well, this is the first time I've missed Black Friday at the store in the 11 years I've worked there, which my work anniversary was just this, just a few days ago, and you know I don't miss it. I'm not going to miss it. More power to those who go shopping on Black Friday. I was you know, I've always. I was picked like a thing or two. I won't get my Black Friday discount that we normally get. We normally get like a little certificate that's worth an extra 15% off if we work Black Friday. Since I'm not working Black Friday, so I'm not going to get that certificate. But man, I usually don't find that much to buy in the store. You know, maybe I'll. You know, I'll buy some food. I'll stock up on food, maybe I'll buy. You know, maybe maybe a small prison or two, but typically I don't have that much money for presents. So yeah, it all works out. Anyway, you don't want to hear me about me. You want to hear today's batch of news. So let's start with a Star Trek news. And Star Trek news begins with Star Trek loredeck star Tani Newsom saying that the upcoming Star Trek Starfleet Academy series is quote a new side to Star Trek. Unquote. Now, starfleet Academy was announced this past April soon after Paramount Plus revealed that the upcoming Discovery Season 5 would be the series' final season and on. Newsom then tweeted that she joined the Starfleet Academy writers room and she will be panning episodes of the new young adult focused show while continuing the voice Lieutenant Beckett, mariner JG in Star Trek, loredeck, season 5. In an interview she did with Screen Rant about loredeck season 4's finale, talk did turn to Starfleet Academy and Tani Newsom spoke about what it's like since she joined the show's writer room. Quote it's a new side of Starfleet. It's a new side of Star Trek, which I think you can infer from the title. We just haven't seen this exact area and, yeah, I think that we're just leaning into that. I can't say enough about the people in the room. Like the team is maybe my favorite part of the job because everyone is so great and I feel like I've just made such great friends in that room. Everyone is so fun. Our showrunners, ox Kurtzman and Naka Landu, did such an incredible job of assembling just the best people on earth. Everyone is nice, everyone is fun. Everyone has a different set of skills. I love it. I think the audience is really going to love this show. I really do. Now, very little has been revealed about the plot or the characters of Star Trek Starfleet Academy and we don't even know the exact era the series has set so well. I guess we'll find out when the series debuts in 2025. Stephen Candell, the prolific screenwriter whose work over four decades in Tildian spans shows from Sea Hunt, the Star Trek, batman, the Barnaby Jones and man X to MacGyver, has passed away. He was 96. Candell died October 21st of natural causes in his Boston apartment, according to his daughter, elizabeth Elinger. Candell also wrote multiple episodes of shows the Millionaire, the Rogues, gidget, I Spy, iron Side, the Wild Wild West, it Takes a Thief, the New Mike Hammer, mission Impossible, room 222, the Magician Magal Center and many more Plus. He also co-created Iron Horse, a 1966 to 68 drama from ABC, and Screen Gems that starred Dale Robinson as a gambler turned railroad baron. Tom Weaver wrote in his 2005 book Earth vs the Sci-Fi filmmakers. Quote his resume reads like a baby boomer's dream list of must-see TV. Unquote. Candell had a hand in 14 episodes of the Lloyd Bridges starring syndicate adventure series Sea Hunt from 1958 to 1961. He also wrote two memorable episodes of Star Trek, mudd's Women and I Mudd, which guest starred Roger C Carmel as a lovable con artist, harry Mudd. Candell once explained Starlog Magazine the inspiration for Mudd. Quote I originally had the idea of a kind of a traveling salesman and con man the medicine salesman in the Wizard of Oz that ends up as the wizard and the interstellar con man hustling whatever he can hustle a lighthearted, colorful song and dance man version of a pimp, unquote. He also wrote two episodes of the anime series Mudd's, passion and the Jihad. Candell also contributed to five episodes of ABC's Batman, including the action-packed false face installment, guest starring Malachi Throne in 1966, and the Zoliak Crimes 3 parlor in 1967. That starred on the Joker and as an extra special guest villain the Penguin. He worked on 11 episodes of the Mike Conner starring series man X from 1968, 1973, and 17 entries of Richard Dean Anderson's MacGyver from 1985 to 1990. He produced the ABC show in his Hollywood swan song as well. Stephen Candell was 96 years old, and with that let's go on to the Star Wars news. Roger Roger. In the Star Wars news this past weekend, anthony Daniels, the actor who placed C-3PO in the Star Wars films, sold off his personal collection of costumes, props and scripts from the franchise. Now the BBC report that Daniels worked with the UK auctioneer Prop Store to sell his collection, including the iconic Gold C-3PO helmet the actor wore in 1977's A New Hope that he hoped had an estimated price of $1.22 million. In all, nearly 200 items were up for sale at the auction. Other notable highlights include the scripts Daniels used for production, such as the hand-anthotated dubbing scripts for the Empire Strikes Back and even parts from the Millennium Falcon. Daniels told the BBC about his selling of his memorabilia. Quote I did rescue those pieces of the Millennium Falcon from a bonfire at the back of Ellestree Studios after production finished on Return of the Jedi. Unquote. So why sell it now? Daniels went on to explain quote it feels like it is time. I realize I had these items and they're not unloved, but they are unlooked at. We don't have them crowding the sitting room. Well, I feel sad to part with them. No, I will enjoy the fact people cherish and display them. Unquote. Now Daniels also revealed that he had the opportunity to add his collection after production wrapped on 2019's Rise of Skywalker, but he said that he would take I. When told that he could take items off the set, he declined the opportunity, saying he had enough memorabilia already. Now the prop store auction ended this past week. Star Wars a new hope. The Anthony Daniels collection Star Screen Mesh Light Up C-3PO head went for a winning bid of 687.5 thousand pounds. This is British money, of course, and the Empire Strikes Back. Return of the Jedi. Pair of C-3PO hands went for 108,750 pounds. So not quite what he was hoping, but I'm sure he's happy to pass this stuff on to someone else. Now let's go on to the Marvel News, and we begin Marvel News with sources to Deadlinecom reporting that Pedro Pascal is in talks to play Mr Fantastic in Marvel Studios' version of the Fantastic Four. Insiders say that scheduling is still being worked out, but multiple sources close to the negotiations are saying it's headed in the right direction for Pascal to do this and his other feature projects. Well, mr Pascal has a full dance card right now. That includes Gladir 2, which is expected to go into production before the end of this year, as well as his popular HBO series, the Last of Us, which is expected to shoot next year as well, as well as Zach Kregger's weapons. Marvel had no comment. As for other members of the Fantastic Four team, that can now be worked out, as it was essential to figure out who'd be playing Richards before they could go out making offers to other people. The hope would be to shoot early next year, so expect this cast to fill out quickly, with director Matt Shachman currently in pre-production at Pinewood Studios in England. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige will produce. Pascal has had quite a run in recent years, including his Emmy-nominated role on the HBO series the Last of Us. He also has Zack Kroger's next film weapons as well, deadpool 3 has been delayed. Disney announced late Wednesday that the high profile 3quel will now open at the domestic box office on July 26th 2024 instead of May 3rd 2024. Now, captain America new role order, which had previously held at the late date, has been pushed back 9 months to February 14th 2025. And, in other moves, marvel's anti-hero-centric movie, thunderbolts, which stars Florence Pugh and Sebastian Shaw, has been moved to July 25th 2025. Blade, starring Mahershala Ali, has been delayed 9 months as well, moving to November 7th 2025, to my birthday, february 14th 2025. Now, both Blade and Thunderbolts were planning on going into production this summer but did not have the scripts ready in time when the writer's strike happened. So you know more time to think, I guess. In 1977, I was 1 years old back then July became Godzilla became one of Marvel Comics' biggest stars, headlining a hit solo series in the hearts of the Marvel Universe. Now, thanks to a new collaboration with Toho International, the Japanese studio's US-based subsidiary that has brought global sensation Godzilla to life, godzilla's adventures are being reprinted in Godzilla, the original Marvel Years omnibus. Now, marvel's take on Godzilla's grace export represent an incredible creative collaboration between two comic book pioneers Doug Manok, known for Master of Kung Fu and Co-creating Moon Knight and Herb Trembi, known for his seminal work on Incredible Hulk and Iron man. In October 2024, fans can dive into all 24 issues of this fondly remembered chapter of Godzilla's legacy, each one gloriously remastered and presented in color for the first time in this long-awaited omnibus collection. Now Godzilla rises from the depths in the United States and the Marvel Universe. See the towering scourge of Tokyo, march across America and battle some of the biggest and brightest of the House of Ideas had to offer, including the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, the Champions, nick Fury and the mechanized monster fighter Red Ronin. Godzilla goes west, travels through time to battle Devil Dinosaur and hosts one of Spider-Man's most gratuitous guest shots ever. But when Godzilla shrunk down to major size, the terrible Titan proves it can still be a tiny terror. Plus aliens, mutants, mad scientists and epic kaiju clashes with Godzilla's fellow towering Titans, including Bat, riragon and Y-yet Rigor. The omnibus is available now In February. Explore the limits of the Venom symbiote's startling potential in what If Venom, brought to you by two rising Marvel stars, writer Jeremy Holt and artist Jesse Herbos. This new five-issue limited series will put a bold twist in the Venom symbiote's origin as it's rejected from Eddie Brock and tossed around on a twisted trip through the Marvel Universe. As the symbiote crosses paths with various Marvel heroes, readers will be introduced to new symbiote-bonded versions of She-Hulk, wolverine, doctor Strange, loki and Moon Knight. Discover how all these characters grapple with their newfound power and find out who the symbiote will ultimately seek control of. Years ago, in a familiar church tower, the Venom symbiote was spurned by Peter Parker and found a willing host in the vengeful and wrathful Eddie Brock or at least that's the story you know. Get an all-new look at what makes the Marvel Universe's most sinister symbiote tick, starting with a journey that reimagines its earliest days, bonded to a host with a rage and temper entirely different from those of Eddie Brock. Quote having the opportunity to play within the Venom sandbox is cool. Having the opportunity to bond five iconic heroes to the alien Parasite is cooler. In doing so within the What-If concept, I've had an absolute blast crafting a linear, revisionist history that's proved me the latitude to introduce distinct versions of the anti-hero that we've all come to love. Deadline is reporting that here's that filmmaker Destin Daniel Creighton has decided to step away as director of Marvel Studios Avengers King Dynasty to focus on his other Marvel projects. This apparently appears to be an amicable exit, as Creighton remains fully in the Marvel Studios family. In fact, creighton is in talks with Marvel Studios about directing future movies. Creighton is currently busy on the Marvel Studios Disney Plus series, wonder man, which he co-created with Andrew Guest, who serves as showrunner. Now Creighton e-pies the series and will also direct the first two episodes. The series will resume shooting after Thanksgiving. Wonder man will be under the new Marvel Spotlight series banner, which is what there shows our standalone and not part generally of the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe. Destin is also currently working on the sequel to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Now, in 2021, following the success of Shang-Chi, creighton signed an overall deal with Marvel Studios and Hulu's Onyx Collective. Yeah good for him to know when to step back and work on other things. Taika Wattiti can't say much about his forthcoming Star Wars film, but he does have a joke that might pique his fans' sense of humor when asked if his addition to the popular franchise would still show fans the same Star Wars they know and love. The Thor, love and Thunder director animatedly told Variety on the red carpet for his series Next Goal Winds quote will be dramatic pause, a Taika Wattiti film. He also adds with a laugh it's gonna bleep people off. And now let's go on to the DC Comics News. And we begin DC Comics News with DC's the Batman spin-off series, the Penguin, being officially delayed. According to Deadline, the original Spring 2024 launch is being delayed by, of course, the WGA and actor strikes. The ciders make it no key if clarified on social media that this delay pushes the series from the expected Spring release to Fall 2024 with no specific window offered. The Penguin had never actually been given a specific release date, so your mileage may vary. Max has renewed Runchy, violent Animated Series Harley Quinn for a fifth season just a couple of months after season four finished its run. The anime DC show starring Kaylee Kowoko as Harley Quinn and the Lake Bell as Poison Ivy, has proven to be a hit for Max and it even has its own spin-off, kite man Hell yeah, coming in 2024. Harley Quinn has raised the comedic crowbar with every new season. We're excited to continue this partnership with Max and take our biggest swing yet for season five, said Peter Gardy, executive vice president of Alternative Programming at Warner Bros Animation In the statement. Now season four. Harley began working with the Bat family, creating Robin Nightwing and Batgirl, and Ivy assumed her new role as CEO of the Legion of Doom. As Harley started to embrace her more heroic endeavors, she and a heavy-budded heads in their relationship, but the end in the end lead to resolve their differences and teamed up with Batgirl and Catwoman to form the Gotham City Sirens in the finale. Maria Gabriella DeFuria, the Venezuelan actress best known for her roles in Fox Comics, animal Control and the Moody's, has landed a new break up part on the film's side, joining the cast of James Gunn's Superman Legacy. Maria will be playing Angelica Speica, aka the Engineer part of the Warner DC Flex villain team. Angie's powers stem from nanotechnology built into her body, the character created by Warren Ellis and Brian Hitch. She is the second DC character to bear the name of the Engineer and was first introduced in the Authority, volume 1, number 1, back in 1999. Also, anna Nagura has been picked to write Supergirl, woman of Tomorrow for Warner Brothers. In DC Studios, the project is a standalone film that will follow Colors or L, the cousin of Superman. Now, the film is still in early development and no director is attached at this time, and while plot details for this pick are still vague, the original comic that the title came from followed Supergirl as she gets caught up in a young Aileen Girls quest for revenge. The film is a big part of DC Studio co-chiefs James Gunn and Peter Saffron's grand plan to relaunch the DC universe that will start with Superman's Legacy, and for that film we'll begin next year. Now Nagura, the actress turned playwright, most recently penned her off-Broadway play which Way to the Stage, which debuted in 2022. And on the film's side, she is adapting the novel Mother's Look, lock Up your Daughters for 21 Laps Entertainment. Now let's go on to the geek news, and we begin geek news with Frozen 4 officially in the works. Disney CEO Bob Iger made the announcement during an appearance on Good Morning America. Now that means Frozen 4 is already being developed before Frozen 3 is even in theaters. Now some more good news is Jennifer Lee, the creator behind the first two Frozen movies, will be part of Frozen 4 as well, bob Iger said following the opening ceremony for Disneyland's brand new World of Frozen in Hong Kong. Quote Well, I'll give you a little surprise there, michael. Frozen 3 is in the works and there might be a Frozen 4 in the works too, but I don't have much to say about those films right now. But Jen Lee, who created Frozen, the original Frozen and Frozen 2, is hard at work with her team at Disney Animation. But not one, but actually two stories. For years at our Disney parks, we've been creating these large, immersive worlds. Essentially, they're the physical embodiment of some of the greatest stories that we've told Since, frozen being one of our most valuable franchises, as you mentioned, a very successful film. I think it's just right for building the place that Frozen takes place in. It's just a fantastic land that enables people to get immersed in the story of Frozen and interact with all of the great creatures from the films. Jimmy Kimmel is set to host the 96th Academy Awards Now. This will be the fourth time and second straight year that Kimmel has taken the gig. The ceremony is March 10th. On ABC, kimmel joked in the statement quote Always dreamed of hosting the Oscars exactly four times unquote. Now, along with MCing Hollywood's Biggest Night this past March, he also hosted in 2017 and 2018. After the latter show drew 10, then record low ratings, the broadcast was hostless in 2019, 2020, and 2021, and then the Oscars were heavily pandemic affected and stripped down, drawing their lowest ratings ever. The National Academy of Telgene Arts and Sciences announced this past Wednesday that voice actor Peter Cullen will be receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award. Cullen will receive his award at the Children and Family Emmy Awards on December 17th. Cullen, who has been a voice actor since the 70s, is most famous for the voice of Optimus Prime in the animated and live-action Transformers, eeyore in Winnie the Pooh and Xandar in GI Joe. Cullen has also done various voices for Scooby-Doo, assorted Mawkwai in Gremlins, ducktales, the Real Ghostbusters, sesame Street and many others. In the statement, cullen joked Are you sure they have the right Cullen? I spell it C-U-L-L-E-N. Seriously, though, I am humbled to be recognized by the Academy with this great honor". You know, it couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Now this news is straight off left field. A new live-action, the Legend of Zelda movie has been officially confirmed by Nintendo Now. For years, Nintendo has sworn off adapting its characters outside of gaming, partially because gaming adaptations had a track record of being pretty poor. Nintendo has one of the most infamous examples of a bad video game movie with the original live-action Super Mario Bros film that was universally panned. However, things have turned around in recent years as Hollywood has gotten a better grasp on understanding what fans want from these kind of projects and work in tandem with the developers to bring them to life. One of the biggest movies of 2023 was the Super Mario Bros movie, which grossed well over a billion dollars at the box office. Now Nintendo is saying its eyes on another massive video game adaptation the Legend of Zelda. Nintendo is joining forces with Sony Pictures to bring Zelda to the big screen with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes director West Ball set to direct the Legend of Zelda movie will also be produced by longtime Spider-Man producer, avi Arid. Nintendo game director Shigeru Miyamoto, in a statement, said I have been working on the live-action film of the Legend of Zelda for many years now with Avi Arid-san, who has produced many mega hit films. I have asked Avi-san to produce this film with me and we are now officially starting the development of the film, with Nintendo itself heavily involved in the production. It will take time until its completion, but I hope you look forward to seeing it. My, I'm interested in seeing. You know what comes of something like this. You know it. You know they did well with animation. Will they be able to pull it off with live action though? That's the. That's the two dollar question I Guess we'll see. Now some games Game news the game awards 2023 nominations came out and Game of the Year nominations went to Alan wake, to Baldur's Gate 3, marvel's Spider-Man 2, resident Evil 4, a Super Mario Brothers wonder, the Legend of Zelda, tears of the kingdom. And there's so many other good awards too. We will have them all in the show notes. A Super Mario's wonder, the Legend of Zelda, tears of the kingdom, picked up several nominations calling best game direction, best adaptation and Best art direction, best score I mean the awards you know Nintendo did very nicely this year, so again, we'll have all those in our show notes. Now on to other news. Nicola Coughlin is drawing the Doctor who universe. On Monday the BBC announced that Coughlin will have a guest starring role in Doctor who season 15 and the Cudi got was second season as the Doctor. Coughlin is known for her roles as Penelope Featherington Featherington lady whistled down in the Netflix's Bridgerton, claire Devlin and Dairy Girls and the Diplomat Barbie Diplomat Barbie and the Barbie movie, which also featured Godwa. The BBC is keeping the exact nature of Coughlin's role a secret for now, only teasing that Coughlin is set to make a big impact when she takes a trip through time and space in this exciting, undisclosed role. Whatever could it be, doctor who season 15 is filming right now. Peacock is finally ready to show the world Ted, its event series from Seth MacFarlane. All seven episodes of Ted, including a super-sized premiere, will debut on January 11th 2024 on the streaming service now. The event series serves as a prequel to the film franchise and We'll take fans on a quote hilariously arraigned nostalgic journey back to the 90s. According to the streamer. Now the fresh cast of characters include Max Berkholder, alanna Ubach, scott Grimes and Georgia Winningham, while MacFarlane will continue the voice, the stuffed animal Ted a New York trial judge as narrowed Warner Brothers Discovery's lawsuit against Paramount Global over the rights to stream South Park, the animated comedy featuring foulmouth children. In a Monday decision, justice Margaret Chan of the Supreme Court in Manhattan Disgusted dismissed the claim that Paramount's alleged deceptive practices violate a state consumer protection law. She also dismissed a claim that Paramount failed to act in good faith because that claim duplicated Warner's breach of contract claim. Lawyers for both companies did not immediately respond on Tuesday to request for comment. The litigation stems from Warner's 2019 agreement to pay more than 500 million to Paramount and Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators South Park, for the exclusive right to stream more than 300 old and 30 new South Park episodes domestically on HBO Max. Now Warner sued in February saying Paramount breached the agreement by providing only 14 new episodes and Diverting other new South Park content to its Paramount plus streaming service under a 90 900 million dollar agreement with Parker and Stone. So you know again, it's that he said. She said, technically, the Stuff on Paramount plus is our new episodes. They're more like, you know, many movies or specials. So yeah, it's, it's all in the eye of the beholder. And and finally we end with sad news, of course. Roger Carl Castle, illustrated behind some of the most memorable movie poster images of all time, has passed away. He passed away at 98, at the age of 92, and worse were just Warchester County, massachusetts. According to his post on his official website Now Castle is best known for work including imagery central to the posters of Jaws and the Empire's Trek's back. He also illustrated vivid book covers for the likes of John Steinbeck's East of Eden, jackie Collins, hollywood wives and WG Wells the Invisible man. His Jaws illustration was originally created for a pure Bench Lee's novel on which the film was based, describing the process of its creation creation. Castle remembered I did a very rough sketch and the publisher said that's great. Just make the shark realistic and bigger. Make him very much bigger and it worked. Bench Lee's book was a best-seller and universal execs knowing a good thing when they saw it used Carl's art in the movie poster. So you know, big love the him and this family you know, we all remember that iconic image. Next, robert Butler, the Emmy winning go-to pilot director who helped the first episodes of such claims series as Batman, star Trek, hill Street, blues and Moonlighting, died November 3rd in Los Angeles, according to his family, at the age of 95. Now, butler also co-created the Pierce Brosnan's starring Remington steel and Helm's, its pilot. Of course. He also directed the first episode of Hogan heroes in 1965 and was the and called the first shots and set the tone for Glenn Gordon, karen's, moonlighting, los Clark to New Adventures, superman sisters and the division. In 1973, he directed the William Holden starring the Blue Knight, the first four-hour television miniseries, nbc, and then got these CBS series adaptation of the Joseph Wampau novel that starred George Candy off on the right foot. Butler also held two episodes of the Twilight Zone, the fifth season installment, caesar and me starring his old friend Jackie Cooper, and the encounter, and Also worked on the Dick Van Dyke show, the Untouchables, dr Kildare, the fugitive, walt Disney's wonderful world of color, gunsmoke, hawaii 5-0, kung Fu, I spy, colombo, the Waltons and Ironside. He also received the director guild of America's in inaugural lifetime achievement award, intelligent erection in 19 in 2015, being awarded alongside James Burroughs, the king of the sitcom pilot 14 years earlier. He was also present with the Robert B Aldrich Award Achievement Award for recognition for his decades of service to the guild. Butler was pals with screenwriter Lorenzo sample junior, who developed Batman for ABC, as their wives had known each other since they were kids, so simple was delighted when producer William Dozer Hired his friend to bring the caved crater from the comic books to life in late 1965. Butler said in 2016, book Batman, a celebration of the classic TV series written by Bob Garcia and Joe Des Desirous. Those year knew me when he was a CBS boss and I was a very efficient associate director. He knew me as a guy who knew production and would give the job done right. Butler took 21 days to film the highly-towed pilot episode of Batman, split into two half-hour installments that aired on January 12th and 13th 1966, and featured Frank Gorshan as the Riddler, employed handheld cameras and Dutch angle shots that showed the villains in slanted environments. They were crooked after all. Butler then helmed another pair of the two parters in the Adam West starring series, ones that featured the Penguin and Mr Freeze, played by George Saunders. Butler had also directed two episodes of Gene Ronberry's the Lieutenants, the military drama from 1963-1964, and the writer-producer asked him to tackle the caged. The original pilot episode for Star Trek in 1966, starring Jeffrey Hunter as ship's captain alongside Lerny Moy as Mr Spock, he recalled in a 2004 interview for the Archive of American Intelligent quote I read the script and said this is just a palette of science fiction. I remember talking to my wife about it and saying this is too nuts, I don't know whether to do this. She said ah, why don't you do it? So I did, unquote. Nbc saw the show and said we like it, we want it, we don't understand it, do it again. So another pilot was ordered and William Shatner was in for a hunter. The cage wasn't broadcast in Santarity until 1986, though some of Butler's footage was reused for the two-parter the Menagerie and for the pilot of Hill Street Blues, the landmark Stephen Bocco Michael Kozell Cop Show that aired on NBC from 1981 to 1987, butler said they wanted to look messy. Michael Zinberg, then NBC's VP of Development at Time, said the pilot was the single most compelling screening he'd ever seen and killed the room. As good as a script as it was, it wasn't until Bob Butler put his hands on it that it became Hill Street Blues. He was an adventurous thinker and took everything that had been done before and launched it into a whole new level. Hire any director and you don't get that show unquote. Now Butler won an Emmy for directing the pilot episode after receiving two trophies for the Blue Night miniseries. He was nominated several times, seven times in all, including twice for the pilot for Moonlighting. Again. Robert Butler, the director of pilots, passed away November 3rd in Los Angeles. He was 95 years old, and that brings us to the end of this edition. Now be sure to check us out on social media. We're at Twitter at Multiverse Tom. We're also on Facebook and Instagram as well, and now you can friend me on threads at Multiverse tonight. And if you found value in the show, feel free to contribute. Check out our show notes, visit our T-Public store and so much more at the brand new Multiverse Tonight dot com. And if you're a subscriber, be sure to share this with your friends. And if you're brand new to the show, please be sure to subscribe and leave some feedback. Let me know how we're doing. Special thanks to Shane Ivers for our intro music and Lobo Loco for the outro theme music. Thanks for watching this edition of Multiverse Tonight. We'll be back in two weeks with more sci-fi and comic book news and watch and, sooner or later, another episode of the Spinner Rack as well. Now please exit the universe in an orderly fashion. Good night. Multiverse Tonight is a production of half-big genre productions. Copyright 2023. All Rights Reserve. Multiverse Podcast is part of the Popcos, the Culture Podcast Network. Find out about our other podcasts at popcostheculturecom.