Baby Yoda's Merchandising Bonanza

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Tonight, Star Trek 4 is back on. Baby Yoda is hotter than sliced bread. And there's trouble on the title I love. All that and more on this edition of Multiverse Tonight. And here's our host, Thomas Townley. Hello everyone. Welcome to the sci-fi edition of Multiverse tonight. So uh did you get anything interesting on Black Friday? Um I did. Uh you may have noticed that I sound different. That's because I uh bought myself a brand new AT 2020 mic from Sweetwater.com. Um I also upgraded my TV setup with an Amazon Fire TV cube. You know, it's it's nice to be able to tell my digital assistant to turn on the TV. You know. I also picked up a few Blu-rays from work. And uh, you know, other than that, not much. You know, I pretty much have my eyes on convention season next year. You know, 2020 is going to be an excellent year for uh the conventions that I go to. Anyway, enough of that. Let's get on with the news. Star Trek 4 is apparently back from the dead. The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that the Legion and Fargo creator, Noah Hawley, will be directing the fourth film based on the in the JJ verse. The uh film is, of course, a a completely different movie than the Quentin Tarantino movie that has been gestation for a couple of years now. And this is a totally different movie than what was in the works earlier this year that would have had Chris Hemsworth back as Kirk's father. Mr. Hawley will produce the movie with his 26 keys shingle alongside Bad Robot. No idea on when this movie will be made or distributed. And uh just to uh note that the uh merger between CBS and Viacom is expected to close tomorrow, so you know who knows how that will affect this. CBS Television Studios and the Television Academy Foundation are joining forces to launch the Star Trek Command Training Program, a new internship program for college students. The program will launch in 2020 and will reflect the Star Trek franchise's core values of inclusion and diversity. The program will place two interns per semester on a current Star Trek series based in LA. Selected interns will actively engage in the writer's room, wardrobe design, onset production, animation, and post-production. The Academy will oversee the application, vetting, and enrollment of the interns, and CBS will do the mentorships and program curriculum. The Academy Foundation will also give the interns lifetime professional support through their alumni program. The application period starts now through January 21, 2020, with final selections being made at the end of March. William Chatner has been awarded the Order of Canada, one of Canada's highest civilian honors. The award is given to Canadians for outstanding achievement, dedication to the community, and service to the nation. Honors are given out by the Governor General of Canada from nominations from the public with recommendation from the Order's Advisory Council, who was actually appointed to the Order back in 2017, but he was too busy to accept the award back then. Well, good on you, Mr. Shatner. Dr. Seuss Enterprises is firing back at Comic Mix after they lost the case over Oh the Places You'll Boldly Go, a parody of Oh the Place Places You'll Go, which was a book that's commonly given at the graduation time. According to Bloomberg Law, quote, Comic Mix prevailed on summary judgment in March after more than two years of litigation. The trademark claims failed because the title didn't mislead consumers, and artistic style and font aren't prop are protectable trademarks. The US District Court for the Southern District of California ruled, unquote. Now Dr. Seuss Enterprises is appealing the ruling, and they're back being backed by the Motion Picture Association of America, whose amicus brief said, quote, there is nothing original about merely combining or mashing up protected expression from two copyright works that justify such a sweeping exception to the normal rules of fair use, unquote. Well, when a decision is made, we'll let you know. Jack Johnson, a production illustrator for Star Trek The Motion Picture, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2490 Excellence in Production Design Awards. Jack has worked as a production illustrator, concept artist, or art director on dozens of films such as Goonies, Edward Scissor Hands, Independence Day, and Beetlejuice. The award will be given out on February 1st, 2020. Creation Entertainment has announced that the 2020 Star Trek Vegas Convention will be held on August 5th through the 9th at the Rio Suites Hotel in Las Vegas. The con will see the return of the Nevada Pops Orchestra on Saturday night. Now, if you'd like to see me go there someday, you can always donate to my Patreon or coffee links. Those, of course, uh you can reach via our website. Anyway, let's get on with some Star Wars news. The Mandalorian's baby Yoda character seems to be causing baby fever online ever since the character debuted in the first episode of the series. While not actually Yoda, the character will have merchandise hitting store shelves soon, just in time for the holidays. His image has been plastered on shirts, mugs, bags, phone cases, and tumblers on the shop dis on the Shop Disney site. It's not great merchandise and kinda seems rushed. Hopefully, better merchandise will be coming soon. JJ Abrams had a unique reaction to the death of Supreme Lear Snoke in The Last Jedi. He laughed. Talking with Rolling Stone, the director of The Rise of Skywalker said, quote, When I read his first draft, it made me laugh because I saw that was Johnson's take and his voice. I got to watch cuts of the movie as he was working on it as an audience member. And I appreciated the choices he made as filmmaker. That would probably be very different from the choices that I would have made. Just as he would have made different choices if he had made episode seven. What did surprise unquote. What did surprise him? Luke Skywalker. He went on, quote, I felt the biggest surprise how dark Luke was. That was the thing that I thought, oh, that was unexpected. And that's the thing. The Last Jedi undeniably succeeds at, which is constant subversion of expect of expectation. The number of things that happened in that movie that aren't the thing that you think is going to happen is pretty fun. Unquote. Now, in that interview, JJ also talked about Ray's path, since the Force Awakens, and how she's taken to the force like a fish to water, even faster than his mentor, Lu than her mentor, Luke Skywalker. JJ said, quote, yeah, spooky, right? Abrams with a he's he's he said with a smile, it's a fair point. It's not an accident. Not an accident. Nothing is ever an accident. Anyway, respawn entertainment star Respawn Entertainment, Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order, has revealed a striking piece of backstory about Starkiller Base. Namely, that used to be the Jedi Planet Ilum. The planet was located in what was known as the Unknown Regions and was a sacred Jedi site where Padawans would harvest their kyber crystals for their own lightsabers. However, after the fall of the Jedi, the Empire mined the planet and used crystals for their primary weapons on the Death Stars. Apparently, the first order went even farther using Plant's core to destroy the new republic. The game is now available on PlayStation 4, Xbox, and PC. You got tickets for the opening night of the Rise of Skywalker. Why not go dressed in style in your new Star Wars sneakers from Adidas? There are three different styles to choose from. The Ultra Boost SNL, which was designed after the X-Wing fighter with grey and orange colors, and the phrases stay on target and the force will always be with you on them. The Ultra Boost 2019 is inspired by the Millennium Falcon and features a metallic yarn upper with metallic elements throughout, including the heel counter and cage. These elements will meld with a gray and blue upper and will come emblazoned with the phrases jump the light speed and of course never tell me the odds. And the uh Adidas Alpha Edge 4D with a uniquely 3D printed midsole and was inspired by the Death Star. The shoe's midsole will still be in the 4D line signature mint green, while the upper will be a matte black. It'll come with That's No Moon and The Power of the Dark Side printed on the shoe. These shoes are now available on the Adidas website and of course are not very cheap. And uh while we're on the subject of Star Wars merchandising, Instant Pot has hopped on board with the Star Wars collection of Instant Pot cookers exclusively at Willem Williams Sonoma, including a 6-quart R2D2, Stormtrooper, or Darth Vader at $100 apiece, a small 3-quart BB8 at $80, and an 8-quart Chewbacca for $120. These pressure cookers, these pressure cooking, slow cooking, rice cooking, steaming sauteing, yogurt making, and have a warmer option. There are other appliances from William Sonoma, including a Han Solo in Carbonite Roaster and a Porg Pie bird. You can go to the go to their site for more information and availability. Now, let me take a moment to wet my whistle. Hey everyone, we'll get right back to the news. But first, I'd like to tell you about our new affiliate, Stitcher Premium. With Stitcher Premium, you get all your favorite podcasts, but you get them all with no ads. That's right, no audio ads, no banner ads, not even ads on the archives of some of your favorite shows. You also get access to Stitcher Originals like Marvel's Wolverine, The Long Night, It's Array's Fruit, and Cold Cabanas Pro Wrestling Fringe. You also get access to bonus episodes, access to new releases first, and access to the hundreds of comic albums at your fingertips, and so much more. To get started, just go to Stitcher.com slash premium and enter promo code Multiverse for a free month. After that, pay just $4.99 a month, and you can save even more by going yearly for just $34.99. That's nearly a $25 savings over the monthly rate. So go to Stitcher.com slash premium and enter promo code Multiverse today. Ah yes, water, the source of all life. Our story begins here. Anyway, uh let's get on with the geek news. The end of the year, of course, starts awards season. This time it's the Hollywood Professional Association, or HPA, awards. They hand out their awards last week at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. The winner of Outstanding Color Grading Theatrical Feature went to Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse. Outstanding Color Grading for TV went to Game of Thrones for the episode Winterfell. Outstanding editing for television over 30 minutes went to the Stranger Things episode chapter 8, The Battle of Starcourt. Godzilla King of Monsters won outstanding sound theatrical feature. And the Haunting of Hill House, episode 2, Storms, won outstanding feature, outstanding sound for TV. The Lion King won outstanding visual effects theatrical. While Game of Thrones the Bells won the visual effects were uh for uh TV for a show under 13 episodes, and the Orville and the Orville episode Identity Part 2 won for a show over 13 episodes. Congratulations to all the winners. Disney Plus and Netflix are coexisting, or now. According to a report in Business Insider, Disney Plus has yet to have a major impact on Netflix. Piper Joffrey analyst Michael Olson suggests he has not seen an increase. Saying, quote, We have not seen an increase in the percentage of Netflix subscribers who expect to cancel Netflix in favor of Disney Plus. In other words, most existing Netflix subscribers appear to be trending towards multiple streaming video subscriptions, unquote. So I guess the question for 2020 becomes, how many streaming services are too much? Doctor Who's showrunner, Chris Chibnell, is not going anywhere. In fact, he's already working on season 13. In an interview with Radio Times, Chibnell passed b pushed back against rumors that said he would be leaving the show. Rumors that have been going around since 2018. He told Radio Times, quote, please write this verbatim. Somebody made it up. It was a lie. It's 100% grade A, shall I say nonsense? Or shall I say bull bleep? We're already planning the next series after this series. Unquote. He uh went on to say that they would be taking more storytelling risks this season. Quote, it feels like a step up. It's probably more ambitious than last year. Scale, storytelling, everything. I would say we are aiming to keep moving forward and up. There are bigger moments this year. Last year was a recruiting year for the show, and I think we managed to recruit some people for the show. We're building on last year. There are lots of new faces, a few old faces, and there are some things trickling through which might be important. It's different. I think you always need to take new big rest from a storytelling point of view. Doctor Who will be returning with season twelve in 2020. M Night Shaman's Apple TV show hasn't even premiered, but Apple has already given the show a season 2 second order. The first third the first three episodes of this of Servant debuts on Apple TV just this week. The show is about a young troubled couple who replace their newborn baby with a lifelike doll after their baby dies from health complications. It stars Lauren Ambrose, Nell Tiger Free, and Rupert Grint. You know, sounds a lot like the Steven Spielberg movie AI. Wonder how it compares. An analysis of viewer data collected and analyzed by broadband choices shows that viewership of The Walking Dead started going down after Negan's first appearance in the season six finale Last Day on Earth. The first episode of season seven saw the gruesome executions of Abraham and Glenn. However, it's not all bad news. Season 9 saw a noticeable uptick in the ratings, and the current season has been the highest-rated season on Rotten Tomatoes. Well, everything must come to an end again and again. This time by Netflix. Show host Jonah Ray revealed the bad news in the post, saying, Quote, So Netflix decide to not do another season of MST3K. We're off to get down in Lilyhammer, while the OA helps us take it one day at a time. We will be in group therapy with Tuca and Bertie, Jessica Jones, and Lady Dynamite. The seasons will be run by Gypsy with Naomi Watts. He tweeted in a that in a thread that name checked the other shows that Netflix, of course, has cancelled over the over the years. He went on to note that MST3K has always found a way a way to figure out how to survive, singling out runs on Comedy Central, Sci-Fi, and also using Rift Tracks and Cinemac Titanic. Now and he went on to uh add to that, quote, now if only I could convince Shutter to pick us up and let us share a night with Joe Bob Briggs, unquote. MST3K, as it's been as it's been known, originally ran on Comedy Central for seven seasons, then it went to sci-fi for three more seasons. It was revived by the 2015 Kickstarter campaign, and Netflix bought it for the bought it for the for itself uh after that. Now the show is again homeless. Could it find a new home? I guess we'll just have to wait and see. HBO, Apple, NBC, Amazon. You wanna take a crack at this? Come on. Anybody. We'll take anyone at this point. Finally tonight, we say farewell to actor Michael J. Pollard. He's best known to sci-fi fans for his guest appearance on the Star Trek episode Miri in 1966. He also acted in Lost in Space, I Spy, the Andy Griffith Andy Griffith Show, and The Lucy Show. He also played the homeless man in the Bill Murray holiday classic Scrooged and Mr. Mixaplik in the Superboy TV show. He's received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role of C.W. Moss in 1967's Bonnie and Clyde. He died at the age of 80 in Los Angeles from cardiac arrest. And that will bring us to the end of another sci-fi edition of Multiverse Tonight. Now, be sure to check us out on our social media. We're of course at Twitter at multiverse tom. We're also on Facebook and Instagram as well at multiverse tonight. And uh if you'd like to contribute some money, please visit mtpodcast.com to go to our uh Kofi, to go to our coffee or Patreon as well, and be sure to visit multiverse tonight.com and check out our affiliate marketplace links, the link to our Tea Public store, show notes, and so much more. And uh if you're a subscriber, please be sure to share us with your friends and if you're brand new to the show, please be sure to subscribe and leave us with some feedback and let me know how how we're doing. Special thanks to Shane Ivers for our intro music and Luba Loco for our outro theme music. Thanks for watching the sci-fi edition of Multiverse Tonight. We'll be back in just a couple of days with the comic book edition. Now please exit the universe in an orderly fashion. Good night. Multiverse tonight is the production of Half Big Genre Productions Copyright twenty nineteen. All rights reserved.