Sci Fi gossip 6/26/02
DustBunny
Craig McCracken, creator of The Powerpuff Girls, told SCI FI Wire to expect
a rock-opera episode next season on the Cartoon Network. "We're going to be
starting episodes in August, and there's a rock opera that we've been
waiting to do," McCracken said in an interview.
"We've already written it, but the final board hasn't been finished, so
we'll be starting up on that. It's kind of like Jesus Christ Superstar. It's
'70s rock opera music, like Tommy. We basically wrote the main villain part
for Jack Black from Tenacious D. When we wrote it, he was just an
underground and L.A. comic guy, but now he's blown up, so we're hoping he'll
be a fan of the show and agree to do it."
Budgetwise, McCracken said casting Black would be the only aspect of the
show that could incur additional cost. "If Jack Black is costly, it will
raise the price a bit, but not from a production standpoint. It's just
another 22-minute episode."
And don't expect any similarities with other genre show that recently did a
musical episode. "I didn't know there was a Buffy musical," McCracken said.
"When we did Dexter's Laboratory, [Powerpuff producer] Genndy [Tartakovsky]
did an opera of Dexter's, so we just went, 'Well, we should do a rock opera
for Powerpuff.' We had thought of it a long time ago, and it just hasn't
come to being finished yet. We've had the idea for a while, and it was one
of the final episodes of the last season, but we didn't finish the last
season, because they wanted to start the movie, so we put the show on hiatus
to do after the movie." McCracken directed an animated theatrical film based
on the series, which opens July 3.
TV Academy Bites Buffy
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, snubbed repeatedly for Emmys, found itself
inadvertently left off the official nominating ballot of the Academy of
Television Arts and Sciences, TV Guide Online reported. When the academy
sent out ballots earlier this month, Buffy's musical episode, "Once More
with Feeling," was omitted from the best drama writing category-an oversight
attributable to human error, an academy spokesperson told TV Guide. Series
creator Joss Whedon directed and wrote the critically acclaimed episode,
including all of the music and lyrics.
The spokesperson added that the problem has since been resolved. "We sent
out a notification to the voters, which allowed them to cast their vote [for
'Once More with Feeling'] almost immediately," the representative told TV
Guide Online. "It was basically a supplement to the ballot. The situation
was rectified ASAP, and there were no repercussions from it."
But observers told TV Guide that they believe the mistake may cost Whedon
his drama writing nomination. The error does not affect Buffy in other
categories in which it is under consideration, including best drama series
and best lead actress (Sarah Michelle Gellar).