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It’s no secret that I’m a cartoon and comic book fan. Some of my favorite cartoons have always been the old DC cartoons (Superfriends, Superman, Batman). Recently, Warner Home Video released the 1977 New Adventures of Batman and the first season of the Adventures of Superman from 1966. Both sets were great (and replaced a few homemade sets of mine). I’m guessing they sold fairly well, because Warner has announced even more classic DC animation.

Super Powers Galactic Guardians added Cyborg to the Super FriendsLook for Aquaman and the Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians to hit DVD on October 23rd. It doesn’t surprise me that another set of Superfriends is being released. Aside from the original 1973 series with Wendy, Marvin and Wonder Dog, the upcoming Legendary Super Powers show and the Galactic Guardians will complete the “series” releases of SuperFriends. Hopefully sometime in 2008 Warner will release the All-New SuperFriends 1-hour episodes, along with all the additional 7-minute shorts that were created between 1980-1983.

Aquaman Animated DVD CoverAquaman is the release that really surprises me. He’s never been that popular of a character and would be the last series I expected to see on DVD. It makes sense after thinking about it. After these two releases in October, I expect we’ll see DC/Warner release the 1966 Filmation Batman Cartoon, along with the second and final season of the Adventures of Superman 1966 series. That only leaves the original DC Animated shorts (featuring the Justice League, Hawkman, Flash, Atom, and the Teen Titans) and Superboy. Considering the legal ruling in 2004 that the Siegels owned the rights to Superboy, I don’t expect we’ll see that set anytime soon.

Muppet Show Season 2 DVD set featuring a Miss Piggy coverFinally, we’re getting another season of the Muppet Show in just a few weeks on August 7. The first season set was great, but the good guest hosts didn’t start showing up until Season 2. You’ll see great shows featuring Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, George Burns, Rich Little, Peter Sellers, Lou Rawls, John Cleese, Elton John, and many more. With the exception of a few great Season 3 shows (Alice Cooper, Harry Belafonte, Raquel Welch), I think Season 2 was probably the best “season” of the show. Not only that, but the set looks to include a few great features and even one show I don’t think I’ve ever seen.

* The Muppets Valentines Special – Starring a young Mia Farrow, Kermit, and some Muppets you might not recognize, this extremely collectible special has aired only twice since 1974, and never before been released on DVD.
* Weezer and the Muppets – The music video for “Keep Fishin'” featuring Weezer backstage at The Muppet Show.
* The Muppets on the Muppets – Personal and revealing interviews from Kermit, Gonzo, Rizzo, and others that will make you laugh, and may even make you cry.

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If you’re a fan of the show LOST, the you owe it to yourself to check out the LOST Easter Eggs site. They’ve got tons of pictures (screen caps) from the shows and have found tiny connections from episode to episode that I never would have noticed. Definitely a great resource for taking a close look at past episodes and it’s spoiler free.

Another great section on the site is the LOST Books page. Sawyer, and others, are often reading. The books they read are selected on purpose and often relate to theories about the show or themes being played out in the episode.

They’ve got several other blogs linked together and they form a nice, mini-site. A few others that are worth checking out are the Lost Connections, Theories, and Answers. Be careful, you could spend (waste) a lot of time reading all the posts.

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This weeks LOST was probably an episode that divided fans. I’ve not been following on-line comments about the show for some time, but I did read a the comments penned by one of my former college professors:

Darlton and company (the writers) had a problem on their hands: they had made a mistake by introducing N and P (I suspect their inclusion was forced on them by the ABC suits, hoping it would increase the show’s international appeal). How to get rid of them? “Expose” did the deed and did it in a self-conscious, self-referential, oroboric (snake-biting-its-own-tail), self-congratulatory way.

On NPR’s On Point this week, Damon Lindelof confesses that the beginning and the end of Lost have not been a problem; the problem is the middle. “Tap dancing,” as Lindelof admits, is fun to watch, but not for long. “Expose” was narratological tap dancing. Self-conscious fun while it lasted. But then he also admitted that the episode might be the best Lost candidate yet for shark-jumping.

Jump the Shark or not, it was an enjoyable episode. it reminded me of an episode of Tales from the Crypt. I don’t think every episode has to be a “mythology” episode to be exciting. It’s great to learn new secrets, but it’s also fun to spend time with the characters, especially Hurley and Sawyer (and watch their interactions).

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Boy, this story sure has been all over today and it actually makes me happy.

No, LOST isn’t coming to an end anytime soon, but the producers and ABC have announced they will decide when the series ends. This means the writers and producers can plot a course for the show and stick too it, eventually winding up with a planned ending. This should keep the show from wandering on for years and allow the final season (since they know when it will be) actually wrap everything up as planned.

Kudos to ABC for allowing this to happen and here’s to hopefully 4 more years of LOST after this one, since they producers have announced that 7 years is the magic number.