On Tuesday April 17, the first season finale of The CW’s ‘Ringer’ aired, and many have doubted if the series will live to see a season two. Despite premiering to a strong figure of 2.8 million viewers in September, the ratings have been in a steady and ultimately precipitous decline to the point where just 1.16 million viewers watched Tuesday’s finale. The fate of the series is now in serious question.

This all marks quite a contrast from this time one year ago when ‘Ringer’ was one of the most buzzed-about and eagerly-awaited new pilots. It marked star Sarah Michelle Gellar’s return to series television after an eight-year break following a seven-year run on the critically-beloved ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’, and brought together an eclectic supporting cast including Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd and ‘Lost’ star Nestor Carbonell.

Originally developed for CBS by ‘Supernatural’ writers Eric Charmelo and Nicole Snyder, the series features Gellar in a dual role as twin sisters Bridget and Siobhan. In the pilot, Bridget, a recovering drug addict and former prostitute, was set to testify against a murderer when fear for her own life prompted her to contact her estranged, not to mention extremely affluent, sister Siobhan for protection.

However, once reunited, Siobhan faked her own death for unknown reasons and Bridget in turn assumed her sister’s identity in an effort to escape from her predicament, but consequently placed herself in even more danger due to her sister’s own problems.

The plot itself is perhaps indicative of why ‘Ringer’ failed to connect with a mass audience. From the first episode alone, ‘Ringer’ featured a convoluted story and a multitude of storylines. As the season progressed, further twists were introduced including, but not limited to: affairs, kidnappings, murders, corporate blackmail, faked assaults, and a paternity mystery which was not resolved until Tuesday’s finale.

With every twist, ‘Ringer’ became more and more of a plot-driven series which relied on sensationalism and shock-value as a means of compensating for its under-developed characters and rushed narrative developments.

Add this to the fact that ‘Ringer’ was paired on The CW’s schedule with the younger-skewing ’90210′, and that it aired opposite heavyweights ‘The Voice’, ‘Dancing With the Stars’, and ‘NCIS: Los Angeles’ which cumulatively attract upwards of 35 million viewers, and it becomes clear that ‘Ringer’ was not in the position to come out of the gate with an intricate premise which depended upon undivided attention from its audience from the get-go.

To make things even more challenging for the creative team behind the series, The CW placed ‘Ringer’ on a nine-week hiatus in the middle of its season, meaning that production on much of the second half of the season went on without any audience feedback.

Once ‘Ringer’ returned to the schedule at the end of January, it was too late to make any changes, and all The CW has been able to do is to sit back and watch the ratings drop in a year where almost all of its other series have been in significant ratings decline.

‘Gossip Girl’, ‘Nikita’, ’90210′ and newcomer ‘Hart of Dixie’ are all hovering around similarly low levels, but none had the expectations of success that ‘Ringer’ had, nor did they have the spectre of Gellar’s cult-classic ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ looming over their heads.

Now with its season wrapped well before May sweeps, a renewal for ‘Ringer’ is looking less and less likely. Even if The CW did consider giving it a last-minute pick-up, the new season would not premiere until September, meaning that the series would be off the air for at least five months, a break twice as long as the one ‘Ringer’ already went through this season and which already proved detrimental to any ratings momentum ‘Ringer’ may have had in its early weeks.

It would take a giant leap of faith on the network’s part, and an even larger creative restructuring behind-the-scenes for ‘Ringer’ to live to see another season.

The article ‘Ringer’ – TV’s Biggest Disappointment appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Comic Con is considered the biggest pop culture event in the East Coast. It is where some of the biggest names in Comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, toys and movies are hosted. This huge event kicks off on Thursday, with an introduction to the main panels.

Thursday’s special event will begin with a concert featuring Tom Morello, guitarist of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, as his Nightwatchman acoustic solo act. He will be accompanied by the Freedom Fighter Orchestra, and if that’s not enough, DJ.Z-Trip will perform along with Tom Morello.

Things will start to pick up on Friday, with a selection of panels to choose from, ranging from animations to movies and graphic novels. Locke and Key, which was such a big success at the San Diego Comic Con, will be premiering this year in NY. It will not be airing on Fox, airing instead at NY Comic Con for a one-time screening.

Later that day EA will display its new massive multiplayer online game, The Secret World, where characters will explore and discover dark cultural secrets, while also gaining skills that will be unique to the player itself. Comedy Central will be there to celebrate South Park’s Year of the Fan, in which a trivia game will give fans a chance to win South Park themed memorabilia.

Also showing up are Kevin James and James Mewes for a live performance of their podcast Jay & Silent Bob Get Old. The event will be ending with Corbin Bernsen, David H. Lawrence XVII, Diamond Dallas Page, Joe Eckardt, Marco Mannone, Vitaly Bokser and FrankieMuniz speaking about a family super hero, the Pizza Guy.

Saturday continues with DC: Talent Search, where professionals will explain what requirements are needed to become a DCE artist. Marvel will host a panel featuring all the biggest games to be released from Activision in 2012, which includes trailers, surprise reveals and a Q & A with the creators.

We expect to see the premier of the new Johnny Depp/Tim Burton film too. Lyndsy Fonseca, Maggie Q, and Shane West will speak about season two of Nikita, where Nikita and Michael are on the run with a black box full of dark government secrets. Attending is also the producer of the Marvel Vs. Capcom Franchise, Ryota Niitsuma, to discuss the launch of the new game next month.

The Death Valley cast, along with producers of the show, will discuss the difficulties of combining horror and comedy in one. Later that evening, cast members of AMCs The Walking Dead will talk about season one, and what to expect for season two, along with a sneak peak at said new season.

Saturday night will finish with sneak previews, and never before seen footage for two of the most anticipated movies of the fall and summer, respectively: Boy Wonder, and Marvel’s The Avenger.The Sunday introduction includes meeting the stars of Conan the Barbarian: Jason Momoa, Rose Mcgowan and Stephen Lang.

Also, the franchise that began in the 1980’s, Voltron, will feature all new toys and merchandise, plus an inside look at the new Voltron video game. There will also be a chance to get an exclusive look at some of Capcom’s upcoming releases: Dragon’s Dogma and Asura Wrath. There will also be a chance to hear about the latest on Dead Rising 2.

There is still a lot more coming up at comic con, so stay tuned for the latest news and updates.
CarlaVanWagoner / Shutterstock.com

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Wondering what action movie to see this summer? Consider Colombiana, an action/adventure starring Zoe Saldana as a young woman who witnessed both of her parents murder by the mob when she was nine years old. Similar to Angelina Jolie’s character in Wanted, she grows up to be a “stone-cold” assassin, embarking on a fifteen year journey to hunt down the mobster responsible for her parents murders and achieve vengeance. During this time, she works for her uncle as a hit(wo)man by day, and come nightfall she becomes a rogue killer. Responsible for over 22 deaths within four years, she is getting closer to her target and, typical of Saldana, is looking good while doing it.

As its name indicates, the film is set in Bogota, Colombia, though it is filmed in throughout the United States, Mexico and Paris studios. With a focus on Latin America, many message boards are questioning the stereotypes which may arise due to the setting in Latin American culture. The murder and expected drug use–along with the common misconception that Bogota is located in a tropical jungle when it apparently has a more similar climate to Chicago, rarely reaching above 65 degrees Fahrenheit– has many Colombian natives questioning the authenticity. One blogger wrote, “I just hope to find in this movie at least some slight interest on the true Colombia, and not some pretension of creating a Latin Lara Croft raised in a non-existing and decontextualized Bogota.” With a looped tagline in the trailer of “Never forget where you came from,” will the movie live up to a higher standard?

Directed by Olivier Megaton and produced by Luc Besson, the French pair will take on the challenge. Megaton is best known for Transformers 3 (2008), though some would argue that it was their least favorite installment of the series. In addition, Transformers 3 is his only English-language film to date, making for some speculation amongst movie goers if he will be able to deliver.

However, teamed up with mega-producer Luc Besson the odds are looking quite likely. Besson wrote and directed the 1990 box office hit Nikita, which was focused around a femme fatale assassin. He is also responsible for other action films, such as The Fifth Element and Taken, making him a veteran of putting action and powerful female characters onto the screen.

To add to the hype is Saldana herself, who has become cinema’s “bad ass female” through her roles in the highly acclaimed Avatar and Star Trek. Present in a wave of action heroines, Saldana continues to hold her role as a sexually empowered and machine gun wielding vigilante, prevailing above whoever has done wrong until personal justice is achieved. Will she help make Colombiana a box office hit that stays true to Colombian culture, while asserting her presence as a femme fatale?

The article Colombiana, Saldana Back on The Screen as Another Femme Fatale appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.