"Mad" Cartoon Series Debuts

The new cartoon series based on Mad Magazine, Mad debuts on the Cartoon Network on Monday September 6th at 8:30 pm (ET, PT). The usual gang of idiots takes their parody-heavy satire to TV with features like “Avaturds,” “CSICarly,” and “Toys4Brats,” plus such Mad Magazine staples as “Spy vs. Spy,” Alfred E. Neuman, and cartoons by Don Martin and Sergio Aragones brought to life.

The Mad animated series was one of three new series (including the DC Comics-based Young Justice) announced by the Cartoon Network last spring.

SYFY Developing 7 New Shows

With the exception of a teenage vampire romance (and maybe pimply bloodsuckers are already passé) the list of Syfy Channel projects under development covers most of the current trendy subjects including superheroes, zombies, and aliens. The cable channel announced this week that it is developing seven new scripted series including Ball & Chain, the story of 2 ex-lovers who are given superpowers when they narrowly escape a meter impact. The twist is they only have the powers when they are in close proximity with each other.

Another new series Me and Lee stars former Six Million Dollar Man Lee Majors in a show that echoes the adventures of TV’s original bionic man. Three other science fiction-inflected series include Orion, a swashbuckling space opera about a female relic hunter that is described as “National Treasure meets Firefly,” Sherwood, a Robin Hood saga set in the 23rd Century, and Human Relations, which focuses on an office temp in a high tech ad agency who discovers that his boss and co-workers are all aliens scheming to conquer the world.

Legendary is a half-hour mockumentary featuring Kevin Sorbo as an exaggerated version of himself, a former syndicated TV star who uses his knowledge of the myths of Hercules to defeat an assortment of modern day monsters.

If AMC’s adaptation of The Walking Dead is a hit, Syfy will be ready with its half-hour series about the ZEROS (Zombie Extermination and Removal Operations) squad charged with defending Marshall City from a constant stream of zombie invasions.

First Look at Green Lantern's CGI Togs

The new issue of Entertainment Weekly provides the first look at Ryan Reynolds in his full CGI-created Green Lantern drag. The new look, which differs from the comic book GL costume, appears to feature different shades of green rather than the traditional mixture of green and black used in the comics. Unfortunately the high tech ribbed material depicted in the CGI image, which appears to be durable enough for the patrolling of Sector 2814, didn’t exist on the set where Reynolds wore a motion-capture suit, which evidently wasn’t enough to prevent the star from suffering a separated shoulder during filming.

The most controversial element of the “look” of the new Green Lantern is the treatment of his eyes. The filmmakers have definitely attempted to give the space patrolling superhero’s eyes the blank white look, but he does appear to have pupils, which makes it look like the designers were attempting to have it both ways.

The more successful aspects of the suit include the famous “Green Lantern” logo and way that power ring effect is depicted. Of course it’s impossible to really judge the effect of Hal Jordan’s CGI costume until it is presented in full onscreen mode, but it definitely appears to have possibilities.

Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon in "X-Men: First Class"

The cast for Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class re-boot is rounding into shape as the studio announced today that Jennifer Lawrence will be playing Mystique and Kevin Bacon will portray the film’s chief villain.

Lawrence, who is currently starring in Winter’s Bone, will play the blue mutant shapeshifter, who was portrayed by Rebecca Romijn in the first three X-Men films.

Fox has not released any information about the character that Kevin Bacon will play, though Variety is reporting than fan speculation is centering on Mister Sinister as the villain for the origin story that stars James MacAvoy as the young Charles Xavier and Michael Fassbender as the youthful Erik Lensherr (Magneto).

'Thor' in 3-D

Marvel will release two 2011 summer blockbusters, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, in 3-D, according to the Los Angeles Times. Both went through principal photography in 2-D, but special effects were done in 3-D from the beginning, according to the report.

Thor will be released on May 6th ,and Cap will be released on July 22, 2011.

'Jane Austen Zombie' Scribe Signed for 'Dark Shadows'

Seth Grahame-Smith, the Charles Dickens of the mash-up novel who began the craze with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, has been signed to write the screenplay for a feature film based on the long-running vampire soap, Dark Shadows. Johnny Depp is attached to star as Barnabas Collins and Tim Burton will direct, a combination that pretty much insures that the Dark Shadows film will have a great chance to be a blockbuster, if it gets made.

Warner Bros. has not yet announced a date for the film, though Variety reports that it was included on a list of up to 20 films that Warners plans to release via IMAX through 2013. Scheduling for Dark Shadows is complicated, because Johnny Depp reportedly wants to take some time off after finishing Pirates of the Caribbean 4 and Burton is involved in numerous projects.

Grahame-Smith is already working on an adaptation of his historical mash-up Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter for Burton (producer) and Timur Bekmanbetov.

Nicholas Cage in 'Ghost Rider 2'

Nicolas Cage, who played the title role in Ghost Rider, revealed that he’s got a deal to reprise his role in Ghost Rider 2 on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on Thursday night. The film will be directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, who co-directed and co-wrote Crank. They also co-wrote Jonah Hex.

Columbia has been under pressure to start production soon to retain its rights to the property, and there was some question as to whether the film could be made in time with Cage in the title role.