January 2011 Archives - StayTuned Magazine

Roger Ebert retools “At the Movies”

January 31, 2011 StayTuned Staff

It’s not often you can say a show is adapting itself for a new generation while at the same time going back to its roots, but that just about sums up what’s going on with At the Movies. Having begun in 1975 on WTTW, the Chicago PBS station, as Opening Soon at a Theater Near You, the show starred a pair of fresh-faced Chicago movie critics named Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. It introduced “thumbs up” and “thumbs down” into the pop-culture lexicon and endured many incarnations over the next 30-plus years, undergoing title changes that included Sneak Previews, At […]

New Superhero Swoops Into Primetime: The Cape

January 18, 2011 Jeff Pfeiffer

“It goes back to the Grecians, the mythology of this. We’ve seen it in so many forms. … There is something incredibly visceral about the concept.” Australian actor David Lyons is thoughtful in our discussion of the idea of a hero who takes a stand against all that he believes is wrong, and why that type of character is so appealing to readers and viewers. As Lyons says, this idea has appeared in many forms throughout the history of human storytelling, but it is perhaps most prevalent and dramatic in comic-book form, appearing in characters such as Batman and The […]

Sarah Shahi Plays A Mediator In USA’s Unconventional New Legal Series

January 8, 2011 Jeff Pfeiffer

USA Network’s motto in recent years has been “Characters Welcome,” and this mission statement has helped launch a string of high-quality and popular series, such as Burn Notice, Psych and White Collar, all filled with memorable characters. But the network’s new drama Fairly Legal may be the most character-driven of all. Although it can technically be called a legal drama, star Sarah Shahi (The L Word) tells us that it is an “unconventional” one — also describing it as “cheeky” and “flirty” — and the pilot episode bears her out that this is a refreshing take on the tried-and-true law […]