THE ROCK IS THE SEXIEST MAN ALIVE

THE ROCK

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has a new award to add to his resume. This week PEOPLE MAGAZINE named him the "Sexiest Man Alive". This is just another accomplishment that The Rock has gained in 2016. In April of this year, FORBES named Johnson as the highest paid actor in Hollywood. With his appearances in the "Fast and Furious" franchise The Rock has become the biggest action star in Hollywood. Along with hits like Central Intelligence with Kevin Hart, Johnson has also cemented his place as an action-comedy star. 

Next year is shaping up to be another banner year for The Rock as he will star in three big movies. In April of 2017, Fast 8, comes out. In the Summer, the Baywatch movie, based on the 90's TV show will debut and around December of 2017, he and Kevin Hart will star in a reboot of Jumanji which starred the late Robin Williams. 

During his wrestling career Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson  always referred to himself as "The Most Electrifying Man in Sports and Entertainment" and I say Amen to that. 

Class Dismissed, 
THE PROFESSOR

CONOR MCGREGOR IS THE MAN

Conor McGregor as UFC Champion

Last night at UFC 205 in Madison Square Garden, Conor McGregor defeated Eddie Alvarez and became the Lightweight champion. McGregor won by KO in the second round.  Now McGregor holds two titles as the Featherweight champion and Lightweight champion. McGregor became the first MMA fighter to hold championships in two different weight classes at the same time. 

McGregor is the UFC's biggest star since Ronda Rousey. MMA Fighting reports that McGregor wants a stake in UFC now that its owned by WME-IMG. With his brash attitude and his willingness to talk trash to any opponent, he has become their biggest attraction. McGregor has four of the five biggest Pay-Per-View buys in UFC history. WRESTLEZONE reports that UFC garnered a live gate at MSG of over 17 million dollars at UFC 205 with McGregor in the main event. That is the highest gate that MSG has ever had at a live event. 

Conor McGregor is now the King of MMA. How long he remains on top in both divisions remains to be seen. Right now he is the biggest mainstream attraction in combat sports whether it's MMA or boxing. Long live the King. 

Class Dismissed, 

THE PROFESSOR

R.I.P. ROBERT VAUGHN

Robert Vaughn

Robert Vaughn, one of the most prolific actors in film and television died on November 11th at his home in Connecticut. He was 83 years old. Mr. Vaughn is probably most well known as Napoleon Solo, the main character in the TV show, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. which aired from 1964-1968. He also had a great career in movies. 

As a fan, I first became aware of Robert Vaughn when he starred with Christopher Reeve and Richard Pryor in Superman III as Ross Webster. In 1960, Mr. Vaughn came to prominence in The Magnificent Seven alongside Yul Brenner and Steve McQueen. McQueen and Vaughn would work together again in 1968 in Bullitt. 

Mr. Vaughn had a very lengthy career in television airing in many classic TV shows over the last 60 years. During his career he starred in shows like Bonanza, The A-Team, Hunter, Murder She Wrote, The Rifleman, and Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. In recent years Mr. Vaughn made guest appearances in Law and Order: SVU and Coronation Street which is the U.K.'s longest running soap opera. 

Thank you Mr. Vaughn for giving me so many great memories. Your presence and talent will never be forgotten. 

THE PROFESSOR

LEXA DOIG HAS BEEN CAST AS TALIA AL GHUL IN ARROW

LEXA DOIG

Talia al Ghul is coming to Arrow . TVLINE  reports that Lexa Doig has been cast as the eldest daughter of Ra's al Ghul. Ms. Doig is a favorite in many sci-fi circles as her credits include Andromeda, Continuum, Stargate SG-1 and Saving Hope. 



Talia al Ghul

Talia al Ghul is the eldest daughter of Ra's Al Ghul and usually works alongside her father in his quest for world domination. She has been a lover and enemy of Batman and his associates. Talia is also the mother of Batman's son Damian. 

The big question will be how Arrow will use Talia Al Ghul. In the comics Talia is the leader of the League of Assassins. In Arrow Talia's half-sister Nyssa has disbanded the League of Assassins. Will Talia have her own sect of the League attack Star City? Will she be looking for revenge on the Green Arrow since he killed her father in season 3?

We will find out when Lexa Doig makes her first appearance as Talia al Ghul on Arrow in episode 10. 

Class Dismissed
The Professor

KNIGHT RIDER REBOOT COMING IN 2017

KITT FROM KNIGHT RIDER

Michael Knight and KITT are returning in 2017. BLEEDING COOL  reports that Justin Lin who directed Fast Five and Fast and Furious 6 will be rebooting the classic 80's TV series as a digital web series in 2017 for NBC Universal. Lin is teaming up with Machinima which has produced many reboots of classic franchises such as Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat.

The original TV show which aired on NBC from 1982-1986 starred David Hasselhoff who played Michael Knight who worked for the Foundation for Law and Government (FLAG) taking down criminals with help from his talking Super car KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand). KITT had many special abilities. Not only could he talk, but he could operate himself, was impervious to injury, could jump over things, and run at super speed.

As a fan of the 80's TV show I will be interested on what aspects of the original show that this new reboot keeps and what it changes. With most of our technology mirroring KITT now some 30 years later it will be interesting to see how update KITT's technological advances.

It will also be interesting to see what they do with Michael Knight. In the original series he starts off as Michael Long a police detective and former Army ranger that is shot in the face while undercover and thought dead. He survives and receives a new face thanks to FLAG and takes on a new identity as Michael Knight, a "man who does not exist".

With Justin Lin and Machinima's great record of success, I think the Knight Rider franchise is in very good hands. 2017 should be a really good year. The year of the Knight Rider.

Class Dismissed,
THE PROFESSOR

SMALLVILLE'S 15TH ANNIVERSARY

THE CAST OF SMALLVILLE

Fifteen years ago Smallville debuted on the WB (now the CW network) in the fall of 2001. The producers of the show turned the town of Smallville into a character unto itself. Clark Kent's arrival in a rocket ship caused a meteor shower and changed everyone's lives. Today there is an explosion of superhero movies and TV shows on every channel but in 2001 that was not the case. In syndication you had Hercules and Xena but they were starting to wind down their runs.  Most networks were focusing on teen dramas once the WB network found success with Dawson's Creek. 

The genius of Smallville was that it was a superhero show mixed with teen drama featuring a young Clark Kent who is 16, in high school, and finds out that he is an alien. In Smallville Clark Kent (Tom Welling) was a nerd, an outsider who never fit in. He was in love with his best friend Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk) but he couldn't say anything because she was in a relationship with the football captain. Like any regular teenager that deals with puberty, Clark's powers would manifest themselves at awkward times. All these things made Superman who has been portrayed as so perfect since the end of World War Two, more relatable to the audience. 

One of the biggest reasons that Smallville succeeded was because of the relationship between Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) and Clark Kent. As fans we not only got to see the evolution of Clark Kent into Superman but we also see how Lex Luthor becomes the man he is. Through the machinations of his father Lionel Luthor (John Glover), Lex becomes the tyrant we know him to be. Clark and Lex start as friends but over 7 seasons Clark and Lex become enemies as they both embrace their destinies. 

As Smallville moved on they introduced new characters and other heroes into the show. Characters like Lois Lane (Erica Durance) and Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) entered Smallville. When Kristin Kreuk and Michael Rosenbaum left the show in season 8, the relationship between Clark and Lois became the centerpiece of the show until its end in season 10. 

TOM WELLING AS CLARK KENT/THE BLUR IN SMALLVILLE

In Season 8 Clark moved to Metropolis and embraced his superhero identity known as "The Blur". As a fan I always wanted to see Tom Welling in the classic Superman suit and I always thought it was wrong that he never wore it on the show. In hindsight, Clark never needed the classic suit and his "blur" costumes were very modern and would fit well in today's superhero culture.  

Since it ended in 2010, superheroes have become big business in movies and television with Marvel and DC battling for supremacy. The CW network has garnered big ratings with shows like Arrow, Flash, Supergirl, and Legends of Tomorrow on its programming slate. Today, Warner Brothers has struggled to make Superman relevant with movies like Man of Steel and Batman vs. Superman being critically panned. Its possible that if they stayed with the formula that Smallville started they might be more successful. 

Smallville was one of the most successful TV shows ever, airing for 10 seasons. It introduced Clark Kent and Superman to a new generation of fans and delighted longtime fans. 15 years after its debut, it is still fondly remembered as a precursor to what we see now.

Thank you Smallville. 

THE PROFESSOR

A DYNASTY REBOOT IS COMING TO THE CW

DYNASTY

Dynasty, the hit prime time soap from the 1980's is being rebooted for the CW. TVLine reports that Gossip Girl creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage are writing the pilot for the reboot. The original show centered around a young secretary, Krystle Jennings (Linda Evans) who falls in love and marries her rich boss Blake Carrington (John Forsythe). The show also featured Joan Collins as Alexis Carrington who came in as Blake's ex-wife and was the main cause of conflict on the show. The show ran from 1981-1989 and helped launch the career of Heather Locklear.

TVLine reports that one of the new ideas that Schwartz and Savage plan to introduce include changing Krystle Jennings ethnicity from a Caucasian woman to a Hispanic woman. This isn't the first reboot that the CW has done as they've done reboots on Melrose Place and Beverly Hills 90210.




Lucas Till as MacGyver

Bringing back old shows from decades past seems to be a staple in today's TV landscape. The new MacGyver reboot starring Lucas Till garnered over 10 million viewers on its premiere two weeks ago and had over 9 million viewers last week according to Variety. Now ABC is planning on doing a reboot on Magnum P.I. focusing on Magnum's daughter Tommy and Netflix is doing a reboot of the old 60's TV show Lost In Space according to TVLine. All of these networks are hoping for the successful launch that MacGyver has had. 

Hopefully Dynasty will enjoy the same success as MacGyver when it debuts on the CW. I'm sure CW will capitalize on the producers connection to Gossip Girl to form a loyal fanbase. The question is: how many of those fans will care about the show and how many fans who loved the original series will want to watch this show? Only time will tell. 

Class Dismissed, 
The Professor