Prequels, Sequels and Awards

Tonight a new track movie, a Mandalorian movie, awards an Elf Quest movie, and remember Cindy Morgan, harry Johnson and Glenys Johns. All that and more on this edition of Multiverse tonight.

The book's 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 our host, thomas Townley.

Well, hello everyone, and welcome to episode 206 of Multiverse Tonight I'm, of course, your host, thomas Townley, and what to say it's cold outside I mean it is an only single digit outside, with wind chills down in the 20s and 30s, you know, you get frostbite in 10 minutes. Just a really nasty time of the year. I'm lucky that I have the show to give me something to do, or I'd probably go nuts on my days off because there's nothing to do, there's nothing to watch. But I have the show and this is also going to be an interesting week for me. I'm planning on getting my new car this week, my here's my choice, say 2021 Chevy Bolt EV Premier package. This, less than 10,000 miles, is just, you know, chef's kiss. It's in great shape. Or hold on here, or a brand new 2023 Chevy Bolt 1LT. So, on one hand, the newer Bolt, of course, you know, have a like eight year battery warranty, so if something goes wrong I'll be more covered, but costs, you know, $30,000. Versus the used Bolt with less than 10,000 miles, you know, seems great, seems perfect. However, I do have a bad history of getting used cars and having them, you know, fall apart on me. I mean, look at the car I just had fell apart on me before I even had paid off. Luckily I was within the last thousand dollars of paying it off. That's the bright spot. So, but still has warranty. You know, the used Bolt still has warranty on it. It has a two year limited powertrain warranty from the dealership and I think I'd be more than happy with it. It's way cheaper. It's nearly half what the new one is. So I think I'll kind of let the universe decide. If we go up to see the used one this week and the new one is still there, I'll take a look at the new one and I'll you know I'll weigh my options right there. But either way, I want to leave that dealership with a car under my body that is mine, because I've been driving my wife's car for the past two months and I think my wife wants her car back. Well, she'd rather have my mother in the last car which she's been driving, but I think I'd rather have. You know, she'd rather have her car back. Her mom would rather have her car back. I would rather have my own car. So yeah, that's where I'm at at the moment. Anyway, let's get on, and we'll start off with some Star Trek news. After years of stops, starts, stops, starts and stops, again and starts, paramount is restarting its effort to make another Star Trek movie. Toby Haynes, who directed episodes of Andor will apparently be helming the new feature, with Seth Graham Smith writing. Now, the plot is said to take place decades before the events of JJ Abrams first Star Trek movie. That was back in 2009. Abrams' bad robot will also produce the movie, and that's all the real information. We don't have confirmation of this movie exactly. It's just kind of more of like it's kind of hanging in the ether there. Frankly, let's not go back to the JJ Abrams verse. It was fine, it was a nice, you know, a nice saltine between, you know, between between courses of new Star Trek. We have good Star Trek coming out. Give Patrick Stewart the Star Trek Picard movie that he wants and that everyone else is craving, you know. Or or give us a movie where something else happens. I don't care, but let's not go back to JJ Abrams' track. It was okay, but it wasn't that good. As I said, let me get off my soapbox here and let's get back to the news. The Hollywood Creative Alliance held its third annual Astra TV Awards, which are formally called the HCA Awards, in Los Angeles. Now Star Trek aired the evening with seven nominations for Star Trek Picard and one for Lower Decks. Jerry Ryan won four Best Supporting Actress in the Drama Streaming Series for her role of Seventh Nine and Ryan, also tied with Elizabeth DeBicchi from the Crown and they and they beat out for for the honor and the pair beat out and Dowd from the Handmaid's Tale and Reed Duff from Bad Sisters and Lee Swallow from the Mandalorian, eve Houston from Bad Sisters, genevieve O'Reilly from Andorra, leslie Manville from the Crown, sir DeGeronis from the Night Agent and Yvonne Stravinsky from the Handmaid's Tale. So congratulations to Jerry. Also winning, terri Metallus picked up the award for Best Writing in the Streaming Drama Series for the Season 3 finale of Picard, the Last Generation. He beat out competition from Taylor Sheridan, tony Gillaroy, carla Banks, waddles and DeGel, jeng Logan, richie and David Reed and Peter Morgan. Metallus was also nominated for Best Directing but lost out to Nelson Craig from the Boys. Picard was also nominated for Best Streaming Drama Series but lost out to the Boys and Patrick Stewart lost out the Best Actor to Anthony Starr from the Boys. Also, brent Spiner was in the running for an award as well Best Supporting Actor but he lost to Michelle, to Jason, to another actor from the Boys and finally from Picard. Michelle Forbes was nominated for Best Guest Actress in the Drama but lost out to Regina Taylor from CSI Vegas. So congratulations to all the winners and losers. Also, we must mention that Lord Dex was nominated for Best Streaming Animated Series or TV Movie, but the award went to Attack on Titan. Jack Quaid was at the event as a nominee for the Boys as Best Actor in the Streaming Drama Series, so it sounds like the Boys did very well. It's a shame that Picard didn't get its due, but it's Star Trek. It's used to getting passed over the way it seems to go. Anyway, let's go on to the Star Wars news. Roger Roger. Star Wars news begins with its own moving news. Lucasfilm is banking on the Mandalorian and his little sidekick. Lucasfilm announced that the news of a new Star Wars film, the Mandalorian and Groku, to be directed by and produced by the Mandalorian creator, john Favreau Now details as to the plot of the film are under wraps, but it should commence production sometime this year. In addition to Favreau, producers on the product include Kathleen Candy and Dave Filoni. First introduced in 2019 with the launch of Disney Plus, the Mandalorian, aka Din Disharn, is a lone bellyhunter played by Pedro Pascal, who operates in the outreaches of the galaxy. His life takes dramatic turn when he is tasked with capturing a mysterious and adorable creature called Grogu, a fan favorite character are always known as the child or baby Yoda. Instead of delivering Grogu to his clients, the Mandalorian develops a strong bond with the little one and becomes determined to protect him from various threats. Their journey forms the heart of the series, exploring the Mandalorian's evolving sense of purpose and responsibility as he navigates the post-Empire galaxy. Now it's not been confirmed whether Pascal will necessarily reprice his roles the Mandalorian for the new film. At present, the fourth season is in development, favreau said in a statement of the new project. Quote. I have loved telling stories set in the rich world that George Lucas created. The prospect of bringing the Mandalorian and his apprentice Grogu to the big screen is extremely exciting. Unquote. Lucasfilm's President Kathleen Candy added John Favreau and Dave Filoni have ushered into Star Trek two new and beloved characters, and this new story is the perfect fit for the Big Screen. Unquote. Now the Mandalorian and Grogu lead an ongoing feature development slate at Lucasfilm that also includes films held by Charmine Obajnoy, james Mangold and Dave Filoni himself. Now this would set the film up to be the first from the Star Trek universe to hit theaters since the Rise of Skywalker back in 2019. Let's go on to the Marvel News, and we begin Marvel News with Marvel's upcoming Thunderbolts movie losing one of its biggest stars. This past Tuesday night, the Hollywood report confirmed that Steven Ewan has dropped out of the forthcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe film, which is expected to begin production sometime in the year ahead of the 2025 release date. The report cites the delay of the production start date as the reason for Ewan's exit. Ewan also works on Invincible, the Walking Dead, and Nope was first reported to be cast in the Thunderbolts way back in early 2020. Man, that seems like a lifetime ago, thunderbolts will have reunited him with beef director John Shrier and critter Lee Sungjin, both of whom have been attached to the project. Now, before we get to the full geek news, let's cover the awards news, starting with the Golden Globes. In geek awards, cinemec and box office achievement went to Barbie. Best Original Song was what Was I Made For from Barbie, and Best Motion Picture and Made went to the Boar in the Heron In the creative Artemis. Outstanding Infigital Achievement in Animation went to Extracalactic, more than I want to remember, the Simpsons, least of the Boy Scout and Star Wars Visions Creatures Reach. Outstanding Character Voiceover Performance went to my Rudolph for Big Mouth. Outstanding Fancy Sci-Fi Costumes went to House of the Dragon, the Errors of the Dragon on HBO Max. Outstanding Contemporary Costumes for a Series went to Wednesday for Wednesday's Child is Full of Woe. Outstanding Prostate Makeup went to the Last of Us Infected. Outstanding Contemporary Makeup Non-Prostate went to Wednesday for Woe, what a Night. Outstanding Constant Coordination for a Drama Series or a Limited Anthology Series or Movie went to the Boys. Outstanding Stunt Performance went to the Mandalorian, chapter 24, the Return. Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative went to Wednesday Wednesday's Child is Full of Woe. Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Period or a Fancy Program went to Gamble. Del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Season or Movie went to the Last of Us. Outstanding Maytale Design went to the Last of Us. Outstanding motion design went to Ms Marvel. Outstanding sound editing went to Prey. Outstanding sound editing for a comedy or drama went to the Last of Us. Outstanding sound mixing for a comedy or drama series went to the Last of Us. Outstanding music composition for a limited or anthology series went to Weird, the Alliankovic Story. Outstanding music composition for a series went to Wednesday. Woe is the loudest number. Outstanding original main title music went to Wednesday, went to Wednesday. Outstanding picture editing for a drama series went to the Last of Us. Outstanding guest actress in a drama series went to the Last of Us. Outstanding guest actor in a drama series went to the Last of Us. Outstanding television movie went to Weird. So congratulations to all those winners. Finally, in the Critics' Choice Awards, oppenheimer submitted its award season front runner status with eight Critics' Choice Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Christopher Nolan at the Critics' Choice Awards in Santa Monica. It was indeed a Barbie-heimer show at the CCAs, with Summer Rital Barbie finishing second with six wins, including Best Comedy. Emma Stone turned in the biggest upset of the night in taking Best Actress for Searchlight's Poor Things, and Paul Giamatti won Best Actor for Focus Features. The Holdovers Oppenheimer's haul also includes Best Acting Ensemble, visual Effects, editing, cinematography and Score, and Robert Dye Jr followed his Golden Globe win with a supporting actor and Divine Joy Randolph of the Holdovers' Fault Suit for Supporting Actress. Barbie also won for Original Screenplay Production Design, costume Design, hair and Makeup and Best Song for I'm Just Ken. The two awards were given out during the Grid Carpet Show went to Sony's Spider-Man Across the Spirvers, which took home Best Anime Feature, and the Holdovers star, dom Exessa, who took the Best Young Actor-Actress Prize. Congratulations to all those winners. Let's go on to the geek news, and we begin geek news with Apple TV Plus revealing details about the all-new Peanut Special Snoopy presents Welcome Home Franklin. According to the press release quote, launching February 16th, the new Peanut Special Snoopy presents Welcome Home Franklin uncovers the origin story of one of Peanut's most beloved characters and how he ultimately makes friends with Charlie Brown and the gang Acclaimed series. The acclaimed series also retiring this winter include the second season of the award-winning series Saigo Mini Friends, debuting January 26th, and the season two of the iconic and Emmy award-winning series from the Jim Heson's Company Fraggle Rock, back to the Rock, coming out March 29th. As Tony and Grammy Award winner and Emmy winner nominee David Diggs returns for season two alongside Academy Award winner Aaron DeBoy, emmy Award winner Brett Goldstein and Emmy Award winner Katherine Ahara in guest-starring roles. Fruit Stripe, a gum that has had a presence on grocery store shelves since 1969, has been discontinued. The gum, which came packaged with wrappers that doubled as temporary tattoos, was one of the first chewing gum brands that feature multiple flavors in the same package. Originally created by Beech Nut, a food company that now makes baby food, it eventually became the property of Ferrera, who are the current owners and the ones who today announced that the product has been discontinued but may still be found on store shelves as stock sells through Fruit Stripe, which featured a cartoon zebra mascot named Yipes and that memorable zebra-striped interior packaging, has always started to be offered on eBay for exorbitant prices, reflecting what happens more or less whenever one of these nostalgic brands goes defunct. In the statement, ferrera said we have made the difficult decision to sunset Fruit Stripe gum, but consumers may still be able to find product at select retailers nationwide. The decision to sunset this product has not been taken lightly and we considered many factors before coming to this decision, including consumer preferences and purchasing patterns. The brand has struggled in recent years and in 2019, they rolled out Fruit Stripes gummy candy, which could be sold in bags rather than sticks, but you probably don't think of that when you hear the brand's name. So has any of you probably ever had Fruit Stripes gum? The flavor lasted oh, 30 seconds apiece, you know, just a few chews and just went away. So it's not like we're losing something great here and, who knows, someday some nostalgic company will probably remake it. Look what they did for Hydrox. Anyway, fox has given a script commitment to Elf Quest, a one-hour animated drama series based on the epic fancy adventure comic series created by Wendy and Richard Peany from Richard Rothman and Adam Rosenberg's Modern Magic. Susan R Hurwood's Ars Arneson from the Last Amazon will pen the series of adaptation and serve as showrunner and executive producer. Created in 1978, elf Quest, published by Dark Horse Comics, is a fancy story by a community of elves and their fictional species who struggle to survive and coexist on a primitive Earth-like planet with two moons. You know I've only been kind of tangentially aware that Elf Quest existed. You know I see pictures of it every now and then in like the previews, the comic book previews, but yeah, I've never had any real interest to have. So maybe it's time that Elf Quest gets its due. Columbia Pictures' Ghostbusters Frozen Empire has pushed up its release date one week, from March 29th to March 22nd, sony announced this past week. The movie positions the film to capitalize on another week of spring break viewership in a fairly open window, opening against Liongate's Mark Wahlberg adventure pick, arthur the King and focus features the American society of magical negroes, among other titles. So looking forward to that movie. Anyway, after the recent 7.6 earthquake in Japan on New Year's Day, the Pokemon company announced that they will be making a sizable donation for the relief effort. The Pokemon company is donating an amount of 500 million yen, which is roughly 350,000 US dollars, to the Japanese Red Cross Society and other organizations in an effort to help those affected by the natural disaster. In 2011, the Pokemon company formed the Pokemon With you Foundation, which aids in helping children following earthquakes and other disasters. With the donation, the Pokemon company released a statement when it came to its efforts to aid victims of the quake. We applaud them. And speaking of old things coming around again, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus is reopening in 2024. Now it may look different than it looked in the past. Once called the Greatest Show on Earth, the circus opened in 1871 and kept pumping people into the big top until 2017. Now new owners, field Entertainment, are looking for a little throwback magic. They told the Tampa Bay Times that the animal-free tour will begin in Tampa this weekend. Now, that's right. There's no animals. The clowns are going to be paying up and there's a robot dog in the mix, but don't worry, there's still a real acts of a kind. So gear for reimagining of the circus you may have attended as a child. Ceo Juliette Field Grossman said while previewing the circus at a Field Entertainment complex last fall. Quote we've spent several years now thinking and imagining what could be possible. The biggest thing that made a difference to us was a whole lot of soul surging. What is the heart of this property. So let's break down some of the differences, shall we? Dan Shipton and Ross Nicholson will be heading directing duties. They came from the Jurassic Live World Arena tour, so they've come around the block with a massive property before. So they go on to say that you won't miss the animal acts, and they wouldn't even know where to fit in an elephant anyway. Humans take center stage in this version of the iconic circus. They'll be performing acrobatic feats the same vein as Cirque du Soleil. There will also be a double wheel of Destiny, trapeze artists, human canvals. Three people will split the duties of Ringmaster, so this will be a modern day version. Now, clowns are also there. In this case it's a Ukrainian training trio who will help keep the energy up, and plenty of our hosts. You know so it will be. You know it won't be what you think about at the circus of the past. You know they're trying to reinvent it for the present, which, yeah, go to town. And finally, tonight we look back at those who have preceded us in death, starring off with Cindy Morgan, the actress best known for playing Lacey Underall in Caddyshack and Lori Lori Laura Yorry in Disney's original Tron film. The Palm Beach Sheriff's Office told TMZ that Cindy's roommate called the cops to their Lake Worth Beach home on December 30th 2023, saying she returned home from a holiday trip, knocked on Cindy's door in the residence but got in a response. The roommates told officers she smelled a strong odor emitting from inside and called 911, knowing that she had last seen her alive. On December 19th, cops went in and found Cindy dead in her room. No foul play was suspected. Morgan gained notoriety for her performance as the blonde bombshell Lacey in the 1998 Sports Comedy Caddyshack, which starred Bill Murray, chevy Chase and Rodney Dagerfield. Morgan said in a 2012 interview that Caddyshack was her first film and she'd say that the end product was so completely different it was originally about the Caddies, so quote. So at first I had nothing to lose to audition. It was fun. All I did was focus on making the person sweat, look him in the eye, do that thing many women know how to do. Unquote. She also starred in 1982's Tron as computer programmer Laura Baines and Yori, her alter ego in the sci-fi fantasy films Computer Generate World. She returned to the Tron world in 2023 in the video game Tron 2.0 as Maya. She had guest spots on the lift boat, vegas and ships and appeared on multiple television series throughout the 80s and early 90s, include Bring them Back Alive, hawaiian Heat Masquerade, the Fall Guy, tough Cookies, beverly Hill Bunts, falcon Crest, matt Locke, manchuso, fbi Hunter and the Larry Sanders Show and also worked on TV movies such as the Midnight Hour, salmons Universe, dead Weekend, amanda and the Alien, and Out there. Morgan's other film credits include 1979's Up Yours, 1995's Galaxies and 2006's Open Micers. Her most recent role was voicing Mason's mother in the 2022 indie film Face of the Trinity. Cindy Morgan was 69 years old. Our next actor, harry Johnson, was an actor with scores of credits spanning 40 years that ranged from the original Balstar Galactica to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, several Dick Wall series and the famous Harry and Louise commercials. Died January 2nd in Los Angeles after long illness at the age of 81. Born on December 27, 1942 in Plainsville, new Jersey, he's often credited as Chip Johnson in the 70s and 80s and was among the last contract players for Universal Studios. Johnson began his screen career with the multi-part pilot episode of Balstar Galactica in 1978 and won the guest star on dozens of TV series, including MASH, quincy, me, the Incredible Hulk, simon and Simon, the Grist of American Hero, Highway to Heaven, the A-Team, la Law Dynasty, who's the Boss 30-something, melrose Place, party of Five, roswell, resurrection to Boulevard, judging Amy, days of Our Lives and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He was also a prolific additional dialogue recorder or ADR voice actor and also worked on multiple need for speed video games. Johnson's most successful period came running the voiceover, or looping groups on multiple Dick Wall shows for more than two decades, including all of the Law and Order and Chicago series. He also appeared in such features as Real Genius, orlock and the Spitfire Grill and in several TV movies, notably starring opposite Batman alum Adam West in the 1981 sci-fi telepick Time Warp. Johnson famously played Harry in a string of Harry and Louise TV and radio spots in the 93-94 that targeted Bill Clinton's health care plan, funded by the Health Insurance Association of America to the tune of 15-20 million. The spots were so successful. One famous line was If you let the government choose, we lose that the Democratic National Committee eventually ran opposing ads. Johnson and Louise Claire Clark reprised their roles for election year commercials in 2000 and 2004. Harry and Louise resurfaced again in an ad that premiered during the 2008 Democratic National Convention and again the following, that time for a commercial for President Barack Obama's health care plan. The spots were parodied during the 2006 Oscars, broadcast with a voiceover by Stephen Colbert. Johnson later authored books under the name Harry Castle. His first novel was 2013's Fugitive Romance, the fictional memoir of a Hollywood screenwriter, and his second book was a short story collection called Miracles and Misfits. As I say, short stories and poetry have appeared in a variety of literary journals and periodicals. His wife told Deadlinecom that Johnson loved the sale and was renowned with colleagues for his wit and the habit of bringing a brightness to sets, making a work a pleasure Along with Christine, his wife of 15 years. Johnson is survived by his stepchildren Oliver and Penelope. Harry Johnson was 81 years old and finally tonight Glenis Johns, the upbeat, lean lady with the British charm who starred as the spirited feminist mother Winifred Banks in Mary Poppins, has died. She was 100 years old. Johns lived in West Hollywood and died Thursday of natural causes at an assisted living facility in the area, according to her manager, mitch Clem, to the Hollywood Reporter. A multi-talented actress, dancer, pianist and singer, johns earned a best supporting actress Oscar nomination for playing the widowed saloon and hotel owner Mrs Firth in Fred Zimmerman's Australia set the Sundowners in 1960 and memberably saying Send in the Clowns, which Stephen Sondheim wrote just for her and her Tony Ward Wing performance as Desiree Armfelt in the 1973 production of A Little Night Music, the Husky Voice. Johns was nominated for a Golden Globe for portraying the daffy older socialite who was stirred by the young stud she meets on the beach in the then controversial film about sex, the Chapman Report, and the year later was starring her own short-lived CBS series, glenis, in which she played a mystery writer and amateur sleuth and layer as Lady Penelope P-Soup, opposite Rudy Valley as Lord Marmaduke Fogg in the last season of ABC's Batman. Now, walt Disney himself loved Johns sparkling on-screen persona and recruited her to play Mrs Banks, who needs a nanny to take care of her two children in Disney's Mary Poppins in 1964. In the film she memorably performs a song Sister Suffragette Of Welsh Heritage. Johns, whose father was Mervyn Jones, made her early movie mark in Light British Fancies in Miranda 1948, hulter Skelter 1949, and Madeline and Mad About Men 1954, in which she played a flirtatious mermaid who gets involved with a real life romance. On the Strength of her popularity, she ventured to Hollywood, where she portrayed Mary Tudor in the Sword and the Rose and the wife of the Scottish freedom fighter in Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue, to Disney films that also starred Richard Todd and were released in 1953. She also played Maid Jean, the Danny K's love interest, in the Court Jester, 1955, and. Glence. Johns was born October 5, 1923 in Pretoria, south Africa. Her mother was Concert Penis Al Steele, who gave birth to her daughter when she was on tour After collecting more than two dozen gold medals for dance competitions throughout England. She had agreed to teach ballet by age 10. Johns made her movie debut in England at age 13 in South writing, a country drama that starred Ralph Richardson. She was later gained recognition for playing the title role in Peer Pan on stage at the age of just 19. And 1944, she appeared with her father and as his daughter in the Halfway House and also worked in the Magic Box. Johns also starred with Richard Burton, lilith Beth Taylor and Piero Tool in Under Milkwood, an adaptation of Dylan Thomas' fanciful story about the village of Largaygoop. She made her Broadway debut in 1952 in Girdie, starring a lot opposite Charles Lawton in a 1956 revival of George Bernard Shaw's major Barbara and appeared with Rex Harrison in a revival of the Circle in 1989. From 1988 to 1989, johns portrayed a senior citizen in an Arizona retirement community and the life of one-time Mr Ed Star, alan Young, in the CVScom Coming of Age. More recently, she stood out as the sprightly grandmother in Dennis Leary's the Reff and had a similar role in While you Were Sleeping and Superstar. Married four times, johns had one son, the late actor Gareth Fourwood, during her marriage to Anthony Fourwood, and she has no survivors. Kalenis Johns was 100 years old. And with that, 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, as well as Blue Sky and Threads as well at Multiverse Tonight. Now, if you found value in a show, feel free to contribute, check out our show notes, visit our T-Public store and so much more. Head on over to MultiverseTonightcom and if you're a subscriber, thank you very much. Be sure to share this with friends. And if you're brand new to the show, please be sure to hit that subscribe button. Leave some feedback. Let me know how we're doing. Special thanks to Shane Ivers for the 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 this feed for more shows. Now please exit the universe in an orderly fashion. Good night. Multiverse Tonight is a production of half-baked genre productions. Copyright 2024, all rights reserved. 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