Posted 9:19 PM by Gene

ANOTHER DAY IN KING RICHARD'S FIRST-AMENDMENT-DEFENDING CONTROL PHREAKDOM:

Hollywoodland was produced by Focus Features, a division of GE's Universal Pictures, but rights to the original Superman TV show are held by a competing studio, Warner Bros. (A SISTER COMPANY OF THIS MAGAZINE AND WEBSITE) [Overemphasis added]. "It was difficult dealing with Warner Bros., because they were extremely protective of their ownership rights," says Coulter, a first-time film director who previously helmed episodes of The Sopranos and Sex and the City. [Doesn't that count for ANYTHING?!?!?]

Hollywoodland was allowed to use a Superman costume, because the fictional figure is so iconic it's considered part of the public domain. But for the original 1950s' TV show The Adventures of Superman, Warners had more legal clout. The studio was highly restrictive regarding the new movie's use of the TV show's original theme and famous introduction ("Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive. . ." ) "They looked at the opening title of the TV series down to the second," says Coulter. "We had to re-shoot the entire title sequence." As a result, Hollywoodland's version of the TV show's intro is a bit truncated, but only die-hard geeks will likely know the difference. "We re-did the voice-over, re-scored the music, and had to lose a refrain," says Coulter, a bit wistfully.

I think GE BANCORP AND REALTY should return the favor and do AN UNAUTHORIZED HISTORY OF PEOPLE WARNER -- and NOT ASK FOR PERMISSIONS.

And then PEOPLE WARNER should do AN UNAUTHORIZED HISTORY OF GE BANCORP AND REALTY and get LITTLE JEFFY FIRED.