News

Duane Earl Poole, a writer and producer for Aaron Spelling, Hanna-Barbera and Sid & Marty Krofft whose credits include Hart To Hart, The Love Boat, The Smurfs and Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, died of cancer on April 1 in Studio City, California. He was 74.

His death was announced by his husband, Frank V. Bonventre.

Born in Prescott, Arizona, Poole was raised in Kennewick, Washington, Poole began working for King World Productions in Seattle after graduating from the University of Washington. He relocated to Los Angeles in 1975 to work for Hanna-Barbera, and soon became a prolific writer of such Saturday morning cartoon fare as The Great Grape Ape, Scooby’s Laff-a-Lympics, The All-New Super Friends Hour and The Smurfs, among others.

Poole also wrote for Sid and Marty Krofft, whose bizarre, colorful live-action shows rivaled Hanna-Barbera in Saturday morning popularity. Far Out Space Nuts, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, The Krofft Supershow and...

Michael Constantine, who played Gus, the father of Nia Vardalos’ Toula Portokalos in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” by far the highest-grossing romantic comedy of all time, died on Aug. 31. He was 94.

Constantine’s agent confirmed the news of his death to Variety. He died of natural causes.

“My Big Fat Greek Wedding” scored a domestic gross of $241 million in 2002; No. 2 on the list is “What Women Want” with $183 million. The film drew a SAG Awards nomination for outstanding performance by the cast of a theatrical motion picture.

As Roger Ebert recounted, Constantine’s Gus “specializes in finding the Greek root for any word (even ‘kimono’), and delivers a toast in which he explains that ‘Miller’ goes back to the Greek word for apple, and ‘Portokalos’ is based on the Greek word for oranges, and so, he concludes triumphantly, ‘In the end, we’re all fruits.’ ”

Variety said: “Constantine fares...

Lifelong friends Kate (Mamrie Hart), Evie (Grace Helbig) and Charlie (Hannah Hart) are in a rut. Kate spends her days at a middling job and her nights alone or on failed dates. Evie is married with the in-laws from hell, wandering from one charitable cause to the next. Charlie has the girl of her dreams but just can't seem to pull her business (or her act) together. On the eve of Kate's 30th birthday, she agrees to let Evie and Charlie throw her a party. But what's supposed to be a simple celebration becomes a wild who's who of past and present, and things quickly spiral out of control.

We have the first trailer and poster for Dirty 30, and it could be the sleeper hit of the fall. It reunites Electra Woman and Dyna Girl duo Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart, pairing them with comedian Mamrie Hart for 86 minutes...

The spandex adventures of Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart are set to arrive. At the Tribeca Film Festival, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl director Chris Marrs Piliero said that the series, which stars Helbig and Hart as plucky superheroes, will be a launch title on Fullscreen’s upcoming subscription video service, which arrives on April 26th.

Electra Woman and Dyna Girl is a reboot of a 70s TV series from Sid and Marty Krofft (whose journey to the digital world is a whole story on its own). The new version of the show comes from Fullscreen and Legendary, which are hoping to leverage the star power of the content creators cast in the two titular roles. Between their respective channels, Helbig and Hart count more than five million subscribers.

The first four episodes of the show screened during its Tribeca panel, and its clear that Fullscreen and Legendary are playing...

Emanating from their studio in Cincinnati, Ohio, The History of Bad Ideas sees hosts Jason, Jeff and Blake talk about all things geeky on their podcast. Whether it’s rumours of the latest comic book movies, debating who really is the worst villain of all time, discussing the latest comic issues or just wondering about life in general, you are sure to have a fun time with them! In theory.

If you haven’t listened to the show before (why not?) you can check out previous episodes of The History of Bad Ideas podcast on iTunes and look out for new episodes here on Nerdly each and every week…

Episode 118: Hobi Goes to Warshington!

The Hobi Gang are fired up as Blake and Jason talk the Walking Dead cliffhanger season finale while Jeff tries to pay attention! The guys talk Opening Day in baseball, draft a new Walking Dead...

Take a look @ the new trailer revealing more footage of actresses Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart as superheroes 'ElectraWoman' and 'DynaGirl', in a feature reboot of the 1976 female superhero team:

The original ElectraWoman and DynaGirl, produced by Sid and Marty Krofft, was a live action science fiction children's television series. 

"Electra Woman and DynaGirl" aired 16 episodes in a single season as part of the umbrella series "The Krofft Supershow". 

When later syndicated in the package "Krofft Super Stars" and released on home video, the 16 segments, each 12 minutes long, were combined into eight episodes.

"...deliberately lampooning the superhero combo of 'Batman' and 'Robin', taking many of its cues from the earlier "Batman" 1966 TV series...

"...the show followed the crime-fighting exploits of female caped crusader 'ElectraWoman' (Deidre Hall) and her teen sidekick 'DynaGirl' (Judy Strangis), who worked in their off-time as reporters for a magazine.

"In each episode, the duo...

A smart, witty and fresh twist on the cult-classic television series from Sid & Marty Krofft, the all-new feature-length comedy Electra Woman and Dyna Girl debuts on digital June 7 and on DVD July 5 from Legendary Digital Studios and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Further expanding into film from their YouTube origins, where combined they have generated more than 415Mm views, comedians Grace Helbig (The Grace Helbig Show) and Hannah Hart (My Drunk Kitchen) transform into the ultimate superhero duo in this exciting new action comedy. Electra Woman and Dyna Girl follows two small-town female crime-fighters that move to Los Angeles in order to find superhero stardom. The film also stars Andy Buckley. U.S. fans will also have the opportunity for an early look with Fullscreen.

Electra Woman and Dyna Girl comes fully-loaded with exclusive bonus content, including audio commentary with Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart; a "making of" featurette that takes...

Cable TV marketing vet and former Oxygen Media president Jason Klarman has joined online video company Fullscreen as Chief Marketing Officer. In the newly-created position, Klarman will lead marketing strategy for the brand, the company’s integrated marketing business and originals on Fullscreen’s entertainment service, including The Outfield, and Legendary Digital Media’s Electra Woman And Dyna Girl, in addition to live event franchises. He will report to George…...

Watch out, Wonder Woman and Black Widow: Electra Woman and Dyna Girl are the newest names in the female superhero business. Fullscreen and Legendary have just released a teaser trailer for their upcoming digital series Electra Woman & Dyna Girl, starring YouTube sensations Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart.

Based on a 1970’s show of the same title from producers Sid and Marty Krofft, Electra Woman & Dyna Girl tells the tale of Electra Woman (Helbig) and Dyna Girl (Hart), two crime-fighting caped crusaders from Ohio who move to Los Angeles to eliminate bigger problems. In the teaser video, Helbig lightheartedly describes the show as “a survival of friendship in a world where survival is questionable.” The digital star also says Electra Woman & Dyna Girl is like “DuckTales meets Superman meets, like, an E! fashion review show,” which Hart immediately agrees with.

After announcing Electra Woman & Dyna Girl back in February 2015, Fullscreen and...

Sneak Peek the first footage of Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart as superheroes 'Electra Woman' and 'Dyna Girl', in a reboot of the 1976 female superhero team:

The original Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, produced by Sid and Marty Krofft, was a live action science fiction children's television series. 

"Electra Woman and DynaGirl" aired 16 episodes in a single season as part of the umbrella series "The Krofft Supershow". When later syndicated in the package "Krofft Super Stars" and released on home video, the 16 segments, which were each about 12 minutes long, were combined into eight episodes.

"...deliberately lampooning the superhero combo of 'Batman' and 'Robin', taking many of its cues from the earlier "Batman" 1966 TV series, the show followed the crime-fighting exploits of female caped crusader 'Electra Woman' (Deidre Hall) and her teen sidekick 'Dyna Girl' (Judy Strangis), who worked in their off-time as reporters for a magazine.

"In each episode,...

Dynamic duo Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart are YouTube superstars - and let's not forget Grace has her own TV show on E! - who are now superheroes, thanks to the digital reboot of the '70s series Electra Woman and Dyna Girl. Grace and Hannah explain how they evolved the characters, in particular their crime-fighting wardrobe, to transcend the old-school idea of "girls in costumes," what they learned at superhero boot camp, and why being at Comic-Con International: San Diego was a "surreal" experience. Plus Grace even calls out Hannah for her geeky fan-fiction-writing past!

San Diego Comic-Con 2015 has released their full schedule for Saturday, July 11. For your convenience, we have pulled out all of the movie, TV and DVD related panels and events below, but you can can visit Comic-Con.org to check out the full schedule including comic book and video game panels. Take a look at all of the movie, TV and DVD events that will take place during the first day of Comic Con.

10:00am - 11:00am SpongeBob SquarePants

The cast of SpongeBob is back! All your Bikini Bottom favorites are on hand to perform Idiot Box at a live table read as chosen by the fans online. Featuring Tom Kenny (SpongeBob), Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick Star), Rodger Bumpass (Squidward), and Dee Bradley Baker (all other Biukini Bottomites.. Following the performance will be a Q&A with the cast and creative director, Vincent Waller. Plus, a sneak peek at a...

Lionsgate and Comic-Con International have a new hire to lead their joint video-on-demand subscription service. Seth Laderman will lead the initiative as its new Executive Vice President and General Manager.

Laderman will be responsible for developing programming for the Comic-Con streaming service. The new Evp and Gm will work to secure movies and TV shows from Lionsgate, create short-form content exclusively for subscribers, and curate archival footage from the past 45 years of Comic-Con’s existence.

Laderman comes to the Comic-Con video service with plenty of relevant and impressive digital leadership experience. The executive was Senior Vice President of Legendary Digital Networks, where he oversaw the development of brands such as Chris Hardwick’s Nerdist Industries and Felicia Day’s Geek & Sundry after both were acquired by Legendary Pictures. Laderman also helped bring Legendary and Fullscreen’s upcoming Electra Woman and Dyna Girl reboot to fruition.

“We intend to differentiate our...

This Week in TV News is a compliment to the Week in Review feature, which will now be focused on film news.

AMC has guaranteed two seasons to the prequel companion series of The Walking Dead, as per THR. The announcement was made earlier this week, and comes as somewhat unsurprising news. The Walking Dead continues to be one of the channel’s highest rated shows, with its popularity showing no signs of waning as the show’s fifth season rolls along. In addition, AMC has found similar commercial and critical success with Better Call Saul, its new series that is itself a spinoff of Breaking Bad.

There’s no set title for the series as of yet, and working titles have included Fear The Walking Dead and Cobalt. The first season, much like the show that spawned this spinoff, will consist of six episodes, with creator Robert Kirkman working...

Costumes for the highly anticipated reboot of the ’70s TV series Electra Woman and Dyna Girl have been revealed! Produced by Legendary Pictures, the web series will star the internet’s own Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart as superheroes who move from Akron to La in hopes of fighting big crime, only to find out they’ve got competition.

Helbig is known from the YouTube channels MyDamnChannel, DailyGrace, and It’sGrace, as well as collaborative projects like Hey USA, and the film Camp Takota with YouTubers Mamrie Hart and Hannah Hart (no relation). She will also be hosting her own talk show on E!, starting April 3. Hannah is the amazing and hilarious visionary behind My Drunk Kitchen, a fabulous cooking and drinkin’ show on Hannah’s YouTube channel MyHarto.

Now, a bit about the costumes, which were seen on A Grester Story and on the show’s official twitter page.

Sneak Peek the first images of Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart as superheroes 'Electra Woman' and 'Dyna Girl', in a reboot of the 1976 female superhero team:

The original Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, produced by Sid and Marty Krofft, was a live action science fiction children's television series. 

"Electra Woman and DynaGirl" aired 16 episodes in a single season as part of the umbrella series "The Krofft Supershow". When later syndicated in the package "Krofft Super Stars" and released on home video, the 16 segments, which were each about 12 minutes long, were combined into eight episodes.

"...deliberately lampooning the superhero combo of 'Batman' and 'Robin', taking many of its cues from the earlier "Batman" 1966 TV series, the show followed the crime-fighting exploits of female caped crusader 'Electra Woman' (Deidre Hall) and her teen sidekick 'Dyna Girl' (Judy Strangis), who worked in their off-time as reporters for a magazine.

"In each episode,...

Some may be too young to remember, but Electra Woman and Dyna Girl was a live-action Saturday morning superhero series from kids' TV legends Sid & Marty Krofft that ran for one season in 1976. Today, a new set of photos and a video announce the return of these two crime fighters. They will now be featured in an all-new web series from Legendary that will debut later in the year.

Youtube celebrities Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart will now take over the roles of Electra Woman and Dyna Girl from original cast members Deidre Hall and Judy Strangis. The series will follow the crime-fighting exploits of two female caped crusader who work in their off-time as reporters for a magazine. No further details have been revealed at this time, as shooting on the web series continues this week in Canada.

The web series will be directed by Chris Marrs Piliero (who...

Legendary Digital Media and Fullscreen have partnered with YouTube phenoms Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart in an updated version of Sid & Marty Krofft‘s classic 70’s TV series Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, bringing the property to a new generation of viewers. Fullscreen will debut and exhibit Electra Woman and Dyna Girl in the U.S. with Legendary Television Distribution overseeing global distribution. Sid & Marty Krofft will executive produce the project.

The reboot will start internet superstars Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart as the seventies icons (shut up, this is my article). The series, comes on the heels of Helbig’s crossover from YouTube fame to television as the host of a late night talk show for E! which premieres in April. Both Helbig and Hart have large social media followings with a combined total of over 10 million subscribers and followers over all of their YouTube and social media platforms.

Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart will soon have a claim to fame as two female superheroes. The YouTubers have teamed with Legendary Digital Media and Fullscreen to bring the online video masses a reboot of the 1970’s TV show Electra Woman and Dyna Girl.

Electra Woman and Dyna Girl tells the story of two superheroes who leave Akron, Ohio, for Los Angeles, California, to find better crime-fighting opportunities. However, the two women endowed with unique powers reach the City of Angels only to find far more competition (both internal and external) than they were expecting. Helbig will star as Electra Woman and Hart as Dyna Girl.

While the format and platform of the Electra Woman and Dyna Girl project is yet to be determined, Fullscreen is on board to release the project in the U.S., with Legendary Television Distribution handling global distribution. Music video director Chris Marrs Piliero is set to helm the project,...

Fans of Sid & Marty Krofft are well versed in the 1970s oddity Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, a super hero series about two women crime fighters that spoofed of Batman and his sidekick Robin. It was a segment shown as part of the 1976 Saturday morning series The Krofft Supershow and starred soap opera queen Deidre Hall and Judy Strangis. In 2001, the Krofft's decided to reboot the property as its own half hour comedy series, which continued the story of the original, only now Electra Woman has retired from crime fighting to live in a trailer park after Dyna Girl ran off with her husband. Markie Post of Night Court fame took on the role of Electra Woman in this failed series, while Anne Stedman played the former sidekick Dyna Girl. The pilot of which has resurfaced and is notable for its brief appearances by Aquaman and The Flash, while other DC notables get mentioned.

In 1976, Sid and Marty Krofft ("H.R. Pufnstuf") created Electra Woman and Dyna Girl for their series The Krofft Supershow. There were sixteen 12-minute segments, that featured Deidre Hall ("Days of Our Lives") as Electra Woman (played by ) and Judy Strangis ("Room 222") as her sidekick Dyna Girl. For whatever reason, Warner Bros. commissioned a new version in 2001 with Markie Post ("Night Court") as Electra Woman and Anne Stedman ("That '70s Show") as Dyna Girl. Where the original version was a spoof on the 60's Batman & Robin television series, this new version was a cynical take on superheroes. Markie Post's Electra Woman is portrayed as former superhero who has become trailer park trash. She's hooked on booze, and has a mighty chip on her shoulder because her original Dyna Girl stole her husband. Watch the pilot above and be on the lookout for brief appearances by The Flash...

It's being reported that veteran character actor Norman Alden has passed away at the age of 87. He died of natural causes on July 27th in a Los Angeles nursing home.

Alden had a long career that included playing the soda shop owner in Back to the Future and the color-blind cameraman in Ed Wood, as well as providing voices for animated films like Disney's The Sword in the Stone and 1986's Transformers: the Movie.

Television audiences recognized him from playing Professor Frank Heflin in Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, Coach Leroy Fedder on Norman Lear's Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and Johnny Ringo on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp TV series. Other TV appearances included Gunsmoke, The Untouchables, My Three Sons, Bonanza, Charlie's Angels, The Mod Squad, Mannix, The A-Team, and Jag.

His voice could be heard on Hanna-Barbera cartoons,...

Oh, alas. Rest your sorrowing gaze on the gap, the fracture, the breach, the crack, the cavity, hole, crevice – might it even be a lacuna? – and join my lament.

And what, exactly, is that lament? And the gap/fracture/breach and the rest…what are we referring to here?

Well, in case it’s not obvious by now…we’re complaining about the absence of superheroes in the television season that’s a’borning. Not that such an absence is exactly novel. Since Superman made his video debut in 1952 – the Man of Steel was TV’s first costumed superguy – there have been more years without broadcast superheroes than years with them. But they have been sprinkled throughout the schedules in an odd, here-and-there fashion.

Some of them may have been among your favorites. Remember Captain Nice and Mr. Terrific? The Hulk? Electra Woman and Dyna Girl? Shazam? Isis? The Flash?...

Here at AfterElton.com, people aren't shy about naming their TV crushes, whether it's a sometimes-brooding, sometimes-happy-go-lucky roguish time traveler, a gruff, strong-willed police officer or a cable TV decorator stud. But there had to be someone who started it all for each of us. The one who first made our young selves one day notice that there was more to these TV shows than just the spaceships, cartoons, and things blowing up. Someone who made our pulse race and previously non-tingly parts go all tingly.

That was the hot topic of conversations at the AfterElton break room this week: Who was your first TV crush?

The responses we got varied quite a bit. Some people remembered the teen idols of their youth, some people remembered a character who didn't make the wardrobe department work very hard, while others remembered someone who ... surprised us.

But we don't want to just hear from Ae writers.

Sid and Marty Krofft created a legacy of colorful weirdness, and a window into their strange psychedelic world been captured in an upcoming DVD release.

We got our paws on this new DVD, titled Sid and Marty Krofft's Saturday Morning Hits, and found a great compilation of many of the Krofft brothers' wonderfully strange shows. The DVD includes an episode each from many of the series that the creative brothers helped to establish.

And, oh boy, are they wonderfully strange - I sat and watched Sigmund & the Sea Monsters, Bugaloos, and Electra Woman and Dyna Girl and they are absolutely a blast from an age gone by. Of the three, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl was likely the most entertaining, with its catchy theme song and spandex wearing super-heroines. For an extra kick, I found that horror favorite Sid Haig appeared in the episode as an evil and malevolent Djinn!