Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Matthew LaVernon talks "You Just Got Mugged!" Season 3, other projects

Today, we sat down with You Just Got Mugged! series creator, Matthew LaVernon to talk about the upcoming third season of YJGM! as well as several of other upcoming projects.

When asked about what the third season would be like, LaVernon said, "The third is season is going to be incredible - we've completely changed the format this season and everything is going to be different. The comedy in the episodes will be much funnier and frequent and we have been given permission from Shocking Autumn to make the episodes up to 5 minutes long. When we had the 2-minute maximum, we kind of were restrained with the episodes and we weren't able to include all the jokes because we had to introduce the problem and solve it in such a short period of time. These 10 episodes will be the best yet of the series."

LaVernon also talked about secrets and surprises that would be included in the third season. "There is going to be a few major surprises - the biggest one is that there's going to be a new cast member. I won't say whether or not that new member is a main character and joins Billy, Jon, and Sheena or whether they'll just be a neighbor or a tenant or anything - and I won't say what the character is like - but I will say that we're very excited and people will really, really enjoy it - a lot."

The Jay Day also popped up while we were doing the interview. "It's been kind of weird to get back into things with The Jay Day because we made those original episodes back in August and September, so it was kind of weird to have to rewrite and reshoot and kind of just get back into those shoes again 3 or 4 months later - but I'm very excited to have that show return because the new episodes are fantastic. I'm not sure about the exact date that Shocking Autumn plans to start airing those episodes because it's completely out of my hands - but I'm very excited."

LaVernon also worked on new series The Mega Show as creator and director. "The Mega Show is going to be absolutely incredible. I have never done a sketch show before, so it was weird at first - but it's a totally whole other world of what I'm used to, but with the sketches it's just joke after joke after laugh, and it is great. It takes a long time to come up with ideas for sketches and to pave it all out and come up with jokes, but it comes naturally after a while."

You Just Got Mugged! Spin-off, You Just Got Viraled! was scheduled to premiere this month, but has not yet - which recently sparked rumors and speculation that the spin-off had been axed, before it even began airing, "I can confirm that You Just Got Viraled! has been pulled from the schedule and cancelled," LaVernon announced today, "I was included in the decision to pull it from the schedule, and I am happy with the decision. Right now I just want to focus on other projects, and maybe that particular project will resurface in the future." LaVernon also confirmed that the French versions of You Just Got Mugged! and The Jay Day had been pulled, after the French choreographers, directors, translators, and voice actors pulled out from the show.

Speculation revolving around Cabbie Carl's possible cancellation arose in December 2011, of which LaVernon was shocked to learn of. "Just because there hasn't been any mentions or announcements about Cabbie Carl in a few months doesn't mean it's cancelled. The 5-episode order for Cabbie Carl will be completed very soon, we only have 2 episodes to put the final touch on and the other 3 are completely done. It's still scheduled to premiere on the same date in April, and the pilot will debut at a private screening next month." Shocking Autumn confirmed that Cabbie Carl cancellation rumors were false in a statement released a few hours after the interview with LaVernon.

"Matthew LaVernon contacted us this afternoon about rumors regarding a cancellation of Cabbie Carl. We would like to confirm that these rumors are absolutely and positively false, and the series will premiere on April 11, 2012 just as we announced on November 6, 2011." Shocking Autumn announced in a prepared statement, "We can also confirm that You Just Got Viraled!, Le Jour Jay, and Vous Venes D'obtenir Vole! have been definitively cancelled in a mutual decision made by LaVernon and Shocking Autumn executives."

We also asked LaVernon about a possible fourth season of You Just Got Mugged! and LaVernon replied, "I talked about this with you guys back at the end of November - and my beliefs are still truly the same. I don't believe that Shocking Autumn be interested in a fourth season, and we have written the season three finale in a way that it could definitively serve as a series finale, if Shocking Autumn decides to cancel us. Truly, though, I have not even discussed the future of the series with Shocking Autumn passed the third season, so anything could happen when they announce the schedule on May 13th, and we will know for sure then. I'm sure private talks between me and Shocking Autumn will begin before that and I'll let you know, for sure."

We will sit down with LaVernon again on May 13, 2012 following the announcement of Shocking Autumn's 2012-2013 season schedule at WebTV-Con so that we can discuss the new schedule with LaVernon and talk about the shows.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Our Ratings of The Twilight Saga franchise

Twilight - 7/10
New Moon - 2/10
Eclipse - 6.5/10
Breaking Dawn Part 1 - 5/10

By far, New Moon is the worst film of the series with its melodramatic scenes and annoying plot lines. The film also included some scenes that caused laughing - scenes that weren't supposed to be funny.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" ends iconic run

The philanthropic reality TV series Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (EM:HM) completed it's run on January 13, 2012 on ABC after 9 seasons and 206 episodes.

The show that helped dozens of families with disabled or troubled members live better lives; building new, amazing, accessible homes for underprivileged families and after an 8-year-run, the series has come to a close after the show experienced dropping ratings - and building magnificent homes in 7 days (along with sending families off to Disney World and other expensive locations) isn't the cheapest thing to do.

While the series has been axed, ABC has promised to continue to do occasional EM:HM specials.

The altruistic show has truly helped out and changed thousands of peoples lives and has inspired millions of viewers to give to the less fortunate. Thousands of people have donated their time, money, and help at each and every makeover. The builders of homes in the show incorporate people's safety, interests, and needs into the beautiful homes that they build, and their contributions have changed and inspired many people, and the show will be greatly missed.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Disney officially ends their four major series

As of Friday, January 6, 2012, Disney sucks and is no longer relevant.

Disney's major power-heads; the Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, and Miley Cyrus - have all officially ended their runs on the channel

The first show to end - Jonas L.A., which of course - starred Joe, Nick, and Kevin Jonas was cancelled after 2 seasons, and aired it's final episode on October 3, 2010.

The second to end - Sonny with a Chance neither really got cancelled, but it didn't really "end" either. Demi Lovato - who plays the main character, Sonny Munroe announced her departure from the show in April 2011. While it is proceeded by a spin-off called So Random; the spin-off doesn't feature (or even mention) Lovato's character at all, and has became a critical and ratings flop. The show ran for 2 seasons and aired it's "series finale" (which is in quotations because it didn't give viewers an ending at all. In fact it was practically a cliffhanger) on January 2, 2011.

The third show to bite the bust is Hannah Montana, which was the first of the 4 series we're talking about to air, The show (which stars Miley Cyrus as Miley Stewart, a girl who lives a double life as a normal teenage girl and a popstar sensation) started back in March 2006, and aired for four seasons. The show is arguably the most successful Disney Channel show in history, earning and being nominated for several awards (including Emmys and BAFTAs), 5 soundtracks, hundreds of types of merchandise, a movie (which earned over $155 milion in the box office), a concert movie (which earned over $70 million in the box office), and is credited for launching the career of Miley Cyrus, as well as her co-stars on the show, including Mitchel Musso and Emily Osment. The series finale aired on January 16, 2011 after almost a 5-year run.

And finally - Wizards of Waverly Place which has also been considered the most successful Disney show, too. This show, which is my personal Disney favourite, stars Selena Gomez, David Henrie, and Jake T. Austin - as siblings who have magical, wizarding powers. The show follows these 3 siblings becoming wizards living in the normal city of New York City, while trying to keep their amazing secret from the mortal world, and attempting to become the Family Wizard, who will keep their powers forever, while the other 2 siblings' powers are taken away and the 2 siblings become mortals, too. The show (which first premiered in October 2007 and ran for 4 seasons) consisted of 106 episodes and aired it's 1-hour series finale on January 6, 2012 - four days ago, making it the final series of the Disney "Major 4" powerhouse line-up. The series finale attracted roughly 10 million viewers - making it the most watched Disney Channel Series finale ever.

Now, if you'd excuse me, I will be calling my cable provider to cancel my subscription to Disney Channel, because Shake It Up and Austin & Ally are the biggest excuses for a show I've seen since - well - ever, and I don't want to rot my brain and burn out my eye-sockets watching those characters' faces and idiotic plot lines roll across the screen for 30 minutes an episode.

Jonas L.A., Sonny with a Chance, Hannah Montana, and Wizards of Waverly Place are the best Disney shows ever and no other shows will ever beet them. Thank you, Disney, for giving me my childhood with these fantastic 4 shows.