News

Warner Bros. Unscripted Television, DC and R.J. Cutler’s production hub This Machine are developing a documentary about the iconic Mad magazine.

Oscar-and Emmy-winning director Jessica Yu will direct the untitled docu about the 71-year-old humor brand.

The feature-length doc will explore the origins of the magazine, as well as its irreverent, independent, and often incisive humor. Yu will also examine how Mad became a staple of American satire for generations and encouraged readers to question authority. Mad magazine, which is owned by DC, has authorized the doc and granted the filmmaking team exclusive access to its archives.

In April Al Jaffee, the cartoonist who gave Mad magazine its iconic back page by creating the publication’s fold-in feature, died at the age of 102. In 1964, Jaffee’s fold-in was featured for the first time in Mad magazine, marking the start of the methodic flip-through that Mad readers would do for decades.

Superpowered: The DC Story, a three-part Max Original DC documentary series co-directed by Academy Award® and Emmy®-nominated filmmaker Leslie Iwerks and Peabody Award®-winning and Emmy®-nominated filmmaker Mark Catalena, debuts Thursday, July 20 on Max.

Narrated by Rosario Dawson, Superpowered: The DC Story takes an unprecedented look at the enduring and influential legacy of DC, allowing fans to rediscover the universe of characters, as well as the iconic comic book company’s origins, its evolution and its nearly nine-decade cultural impact across every artistic medium. Featuring a wealth of interviews with the industry’s most prolific creators and the actors who bring their iconic characters from the page to the screen, Superpowered: The DC Story reminds us that at the heart of DC are the comics – the four-color fantasies that forever spark the imagination and instill hope.

Episodes:

Episode 1: The Hero’S Journey

For over 85 years, DC has...

It’s still an open question to whether Warner Bros. will be at San Diego Comic-Con in July. But even if the company skips the event, it’ll be there in spirit via the premiere date for a new docuseries about the history of DC Comics.

“Superpowered: The DC Story,” a three-part docuseries about the storied comic book company and the movies and TV shows it inspired, will premiere on Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max streaming app on July 20. For those keeping score, that happens to be the very first day of Comic-Con 2023.

And to get into the mood, you can watch the trailer above right now.

Narrated by Rosario Dawson, the series is codirected by Leslie Iwerks and Mark Catalena. Per the official description, it “takes an unprecedented look at the enduring and influential legacy of DC, allowing fans to rediscover the universe of characters, as well as the...

Coming off the success of the recent Indie Soap Awards and a successful winter full of fabulous new episodes, the web series community is excited about what's next. We Love Soaps TV is happy to offer our Indie Soap Spring Preview Guide with the latest news and happenings from returning shows to crossovers and spin-offs. Check it out below.

Season Premieres

Then We Got Help!

Season Two Premiere Date: March 18

Creator and star Julie Ann Emery offers a preview of the new season: "The thing I think I'm most proud of is Season Two is fully fan funded. We did a crowd funding campaign and we surpassed our maximum budget asked for. We may not have the biggest audience on the web, but our fans are Fierce!

"We used that money to improve our sound, get all our actors back, and add an impressive list of guest stars including Sam McMurray (Rasing Arizona,...

Mixing Comedy & Soap: A History of the Serialized Situation Comedy

By Doug Prinzivalli

As one of the producers of the hit web series Pretty - a parody hybrid of reality TV and soaps - I thought it would be a fun idea to take a brief look at the long history of the serialized situation comedy. The idea of mixing comedy with soap elements is not a new one - in fact it started over 60 years ago.

The First Hundred Years (CBS 1950-52) was a mildly humorous daily soap about newlyweds who are gifted with a bat-infested Victorian mansion. Sounds pretty wacky to me. After less than two years, it was replaced by something called The Guiding Light.

The Egg & I (CBS 1951-52) Based on a book by Betty MacDonald and the 1947 film (starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray) that followed, this show followed the misadventures of city folk...

Part 2 of the Big Bear Horror Film Festival recap. Read Part 1 here.

Saturday

After being up way too late the night before watching Golden Girls and Sex And The City reruns in my hotel room (P.S., I’m totally gay), it was time to get back to the Big Bear Horror Film Festival for a really great film, Die-ner (Get It?).

Yes, the “Get It?” is part of the film title, which I’m now publicly begging the filmmakers to change. Why? Because this film is so much smarter than the title. Die-ner (Get It?) is a well directed, well written and well acted serial-killer-plus-zombie flick that makes great use of its limited resources. I don’t want to give too much away, but I definitely recommend Patrick Horvath’s awesome motion picture.

As we walk out of the theater for a quick break, J.T. Seaton* and Michael Simon* join our gay horror cabal.

As I drove up the winding mountain road to Big Bear, CA in the pitch-black night, I wondered, “What’s gay about the Big Bear Horror Film Festival?” Answer: just about everything.

What I didn’t realize before arriving was that a large homo contingent would be in attendance. In fact, there were so many gays in this tiny mountain village, to write “out gay ____” before each name I mention would be a chore. So I’m going to denote all the gay up in Big Bear with a “*”.

The Backstory: Several months ago Bbhf founder Michael Coulombe* pinged me via this blog with some very preliminary info on the fest. Sensing an opportunity to spread my super-important opinions around, I offered myself up as a judge for the festival. Realizing what a publicity juggernaut this blog can be, he immediately said, “Yes!” and I was on board.

Over the next couple months,...