Before “Iron Man,” Guardians of the Galaxy,” and comic movie franchises ruled the box office, Sony Pictures had big plans to turn a different Marvel franchise into a hit. 

The studio set their eyes on adapting a graphic novel, "Powers," a police procedural that takes place in a world where having superpowers is the norm.

The series comes from Brian Michael Bendis, who started Marvel's popular "Ultimate Spider-Man" comic in 2000, and follows Christian Walker, a former superhero who has since become a detective while grappling with the fallout of losing his own powers.

Production for the series goes back to 2001, when it was optioned for the big screen. That never happened. 

Eight years later, in 2009, FX ordered a pilot for "Powers." Michael Dinner ("Justified") was set to direct. The show was cast with Jason Patric, Lucy Punch, Carly Foulkes (who went on to become the T-Mobile girl), and Bailee Madison in lead roles.

In 2011, Bendis announced that FX greenlit the project.

However, it never went through either. A premiere episode for the series was filmed, but in November 2011, Deadline reported the series was undergoing reshoots and "retooling."

FX ordered more scripts in 2012 for the series, but it never went anywhere. The network's president John Landgraf told reporters at a Television Critics Association's press tour "Powers" was "as difficult an adaptation as I've ever worked on."

Now, three years later, the series has found new life on Sony's PlayStation Network as the platform's first original series. Sharlto Copley ("District 9"),  Michelle Forbes ("True Blood") star as leads on the dark, gritty adaptation.

What changed?

Ultimately, it took a new medium and a fresh approach in the adaptation's premiere episode to help get "Powers" off the ground. 

How "Powers" ended up on Sony's PlayStation Network

Sony’s PlayStation Network has been searching for the right original series to produce for a number of years. 

“At that point and time we were starting to see original content on other services and in general, just kind of culturally start to pop,” Sony PlayStation's vice president of marketing John Koller told Business Insider. 

This was around the time when shows like “House of Cards” and “Orange is the New Black” were rising in popularity. 

“We said, ‘There’s something here. We know our gamers don’t just game 24 hours a day. They game and they watch shows as well. And they do other things in life,” Koller continued. “The two primary shows that they watched at that point and time were ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Walking Dead.’” 

The company’s sister division Sony Pictures came to PlayStation with a number of scripts including one for “Powers” back in 2012. 

“We all agreed that we needed to have content that was relevant and timely for the gaming audience, and so [Sony] Pictures came to us with a number scripts. We tested a handful of them with gamers primarily … and ‘Powers’ was the clear winner.”

With the series going nowhere at FX, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to breathe new life into "Powers" on a new medium.

"When they [Sony Pictures] heard that we were interested after they presented it, they doubled down and were able to extract it from another group, bring it over to us, and production started," said Koller. 

Casting for "Powers" was announced in summer 2014 for the series with Copley, Forbes, Susan Heyward, and Adam Godley ("Breaking Bad") announced.

Novelist Charlie Huston came onto the series as an executive producer and showrunner after becoming involved with the series during its second-to-last iteration over at FX.

"They wanted to write some additional scripts if they were going to move forward after they had shot their pilot," Huston told Business Insider. "I was one of the freelancers hired to do that."

Getting the series right

You could say the major reason "Powers" never went anywhere was because of the premiere episode. They all stuck strictly to the comics. 

Fans of the "Powers" graphic novel know the first six issues revolve around the death of a popular superheroine, Retro Girl, and bringing her killer to justice.

So the beginning of PlayStation's "Powers" series may come as a huge surprise. It takes a huge departure from the comics. Retro Girl's alive and well. In her place, a different hero is killed off at the series' start.

"All the previous approaches that I know of, they all killed her," Huston tells Business Insider. "Some of the previous approaches they killed her in the pilot, and solved the murder in the pilot. Some of the previous approaches killed her in the end of the pilot, and then they planned to solve it over the course of the first season. But they all killed her."

"That’s where my head was at coming into it because it’s that thing where your brain gets caught in, ‘It’s canon.’ You’re familiar with the story, and you think, ‘Well, that’s how it’s got to be," Huston continued.

"But, as we kind of plowed our way through it, and I thought more about it, there were a couple of things: 

One was, that, in the comic book, you only get to know Retro Girl after she died. Brian [Michael Bendis] and Michael [Avon Oeming] have said themselves that they didn’t expect the series to go more than five or six issues. So, they wanted to do everything all at once out the gate, because they didn’t think it was going to last. So, they wanted to kill the biggest hero in their world right away, and have that be the first case.

But that necessitated them killing a character that the readers didn’t have a chance to get introduced to and more familiarized with and care about. That had to happen retroactively. So, when I was looking at it, I was like, ‘Well, you know ... we’re introducing a great character. People would like to know this character’

And then, once we started really developing her and getting invested in it, it started to become a matter of, ‘Why kill her at all?’ 'Why introduce her at the beginning of the pilot and kill her at the end of the pilot?' 'Why introduce her in the pilot and kill her in episode four?' This is a great character."

And so Forbes ("The Killing,""True Blood") was cast as Retro Girl."It became important to me. I felt that the immortal, eternally youthful version of the character in the comic book was, for me, less relatable, and less useful for telling a certain kind of story about the burdens of celebrity and the burdens of power of her time," said Huston. "I thought that would be more interesting if we had an actress who’s actually been around and lived a life, as opposed to a 25-year-old who would have had a much harder time bringing that kind of gravitas to the world and who visually would be telling that story to the audience."

Why it took so long to get this show made 

It's taken about 15 years since "Powers" inception as a graphic novel to be adapted into a series. 

From the outside, it sounds like a series that got stuck in development hell. Huston doesn't see it that way.  

"To me, it’s less a story of development hell, and less a story of why can’t this get done, and more an indication of how compelling the book is and how everybody understood there’s something really strong and important here ... something worth pursuing and worth sticking with no matter what the obstacles have been," said Huston. "Brian and I have both said, there’s not necessarily a person or approach that really cracked this for us." 

Huston doesn't credit the change in the pilot episode alone in helping "Powers" to finally make its way to screen. He says the ubiquity of comic book characters today help an enormous amount in knowing this is the right time to release the series which takes an alternate look at superhero lives. 

"To a large extent, what happened was, popular culture caught up with the book," says Huston.

"Superheroes became such a dominate force in the popular culture that all of this basic superhero 101 that a general audience needs to have for you to be able to riff on what a superhero is, and play games with the idea of what it would be like to live in that world as opposed to just telling stories that are really focused on the superheroes themselves," he added. " To be able to tell those stories, you need an audience that matured a bit in the genre and now we have it. So, as much as anything, it may just be the project needed ten years for the popular culture to catch up with how cool it is."

You can watch the first full episode of "Powers" below:

SEE ALSO: PlayStation's first original show is a dark, gritty superhero series for adults

Join the conversation about this story »

The current season 2 of Comedy Central's "Broad City" has featured some pretty incredible guest stars, especially for such a new show.

Seth Rogen, Kelly Ripa, Susie Essman, and more have made appearances on the cult favorite series about two twenty-something women just trying to get by in New York City.

We talked to "Broad City" creators and stars, Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, to find out how the cameos came to be.

Seth Rogen as "Male Stacy":

In the premiere episode of season 2, Seth Rogen plays Abbi's sweaty date who passes out in the midst of a hook up.

"With Seth, we wrote that part and we pictured him," Glazer tells us. "He's just so perfect for that part."

"Everybody loves him," she added. "He inspired us in writing that character and we reached out to him and we're so glad that he could do it because I don’t think it would have been the same episode without him."

Comedian/actress Susie Essman as Ilana's mom, "Bobbi Wexler."

The "Curb Your Enthusiasm" actress stopped by "Broad City" to play Ilana's lookalike mom.

"Susie Essman was a long time coming for us, we dreamed about her playing my mom for a long time, like, since the web series," Glazer tells us. "So we reached out to her and went to dinner with her. And in the same dinner she was like 'I’ll think about it' and then was like, 'I’ll do it.'"

"We’ve been seducing her," added Jacobson.

The casting was spot-on, see for yourself below.

Indie actor Bob Balaban plays Ilana's dad and Susie Essman's husband, "Arthur Wexler."

Ilana's brother is played by her real-life older brother, Eliot Glazer.

In the most recent episode, Kelly Ripa plays an outrageous version of herself.

"I play myself. I sort of play what I like to refer to as my alter-ego's alter-ego. So it's like an alter-ego twice removed,"Ripa said last week on "Live With Kelly and Michael.""It is a very different version of me."

"It's a party Kelly Ripa. A misguided Kelly Ripa," the perky morning show host added. "There may be booze. There may be other things! Who knows?"

Watch the very out-of-character clip below:

In the same episode, "Arrested Development"actress Alia Shawkat plays Ilana's doppelgänger love interest, "Adele."

Season one also featured a slew of celebrity guest stars, including executive producer Amy Poehler, Fred Armisen, and Amy Sedaris.

But despite Abbi and Ilana's improv background at Upright Citizens Brigade, the show is all pretty solidly scripted, including the celebrity cameos.

"For the most part, guest stars come in after the scripts are pretty locked," explains Ilana. "So the way we shoot is that we get the scripted versions down and then we do fun runs where we allow for more improv than the other takes, which is where we let loose a little."

And there haven't been an divas on-set yet, or actors uncomfortable with the sometimes risqué story lines.

"I don’t think anyone had much of an issue with anything," adds Ilana. "I feel like if something is too risqué, we’re like, 'we have to do this.'"

As for dream guest stars of the future, Abbi would love to get Frances McDormand or Richard Jenkins, while Ilana, true to her character's personality, says, "I think Drake would be really funny."

The season 2 finale of "Broad City" airs this Wednesday, March 18.

SEE ALSO: Here's how Danny DeVito saved 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' from getting canceled

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here’s the real reason why 'Shark Tank' investors get impatient

On Sunday, 71-year-old real-estate scion Robert Durst was arrested the same weekend as the finale of "The Jinx," the HBO documentary series about him.

But the AP made a critical error in reporting the news – it confused Robert Durst with Fred Durst, the 44-year-old former frontman of Limp Bizkit.

A jimromenesko.com reader first flagged the error that looked like this on AP:

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – A Louisiana State Police trooper says millionaire Robert Durst has been booked on weapons charges in that state – on top of a first-degree murder charge lodged by Los Angeles authorities. Trooper Melissa Matey told the Associated Press that an arrest warrant was issued for the former Limp Bizkit frontman and he was rebooked in the Orleans Parish Jail on Monday under two new charges.

It was only after Romenesko asked the AP’s spokesperson to confirm the Robert Durst/Limp Bizkit error that the story was corrected:

The Associated Press reported erroneously that Robert Durst is a member of a band. He is a real estate heir; Fred Durst is the former frontman of Limp Bizkit.

People on Twitter are having a field day with the error:

Robert Durst was arrested by FBI agents Saturday afternoon at a New Orleans hotel, a day before the final episode of the HBO series aired.

"FBI agents believed Durst may have wanted to flee the country, possibly to Cuba, as he registered under an alias at the hotel, paid with cash, and was found with fake documents," according to ABC News. Coincidentally, Saturday marked the first nonstop flight from New Orleans to Cuba since 1958, as pointed out by nola.com.

SEE ALSO: The LAPD insists Robert Durst's arrest was actually not connected to HBO's 'The Jinx'

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This billionaire's definition of success will surprise you

George R. R. Martin, author of the best-selling "A Song of Ice and Fire" fantasy series, indicated that the latest instalment could be finished this year.

Martin has worked on "The Winds of Winter" (TWoW) since its predecessor, "A Dance with Dragons", was published in 2011. TWoW will be the sixth and penultimate book in the series, which is currently being adapted into the award-winning HBO series "Game of Thrones."

The books — and TV adaptation — focus on the fractured fictional kingdoms of Westeros and Essos, and the court intrigue and bloody battles playing out between an expansive cast of dozens of characters.

Posting on his blog, Martin announced that he's pulling out of the World Fantasy Convention in Saratoga, because he has "too many things on my plate." But he added the caveat that he may change his mind "should I complete and deliver WINDS OF WINTER before these cons roll around."

He suggested that progress on TWoW is going well, and could be realistically completed this year. Previously, the author's publisher said there were no plans for publication in 2015. And past books in the series have also been mired by delays: Martin originally intended to finish "A Dance with Dragons" by 2006, but after numerous holdups, it was finally released 5 years later, in 2011.

For this reason, Martin previously said he won't"play games with news about the books," and that the announcement of when it is complete would be "straightforward and to the point."

So, considering his statement about the completion of the book, it looks like this is a strong indicator that he doesn't envision many holdups.

As progress on "A Song of Ice and Fire" continued to drag on, fans of the book have grown increasingly concerned about its TV adaptation "Game of Thrones" overtaking the events of the books.

The producers of the show, David Beinoff and D. B. Weiss, were told by Martin about how the books will end, and they have no contractual obligation to wait for the books. With season 5 of the show about to begin next month, it has already almost caught up with the events of the books, with some storylines almost certainly set to overtake the books this season.

Martin's latest statement won't stop Season 5 from spoiling some aspects of the series for book readers, and it's no guarantee that the TV show won't ultimately conclude before the books do. But the fact that he is at least discussing the completion of TWoW is being taken by many in the community as a very positive sign.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: HBO just released another new trailer for 'Game of Thrones'

PlayStation launched its first original series, "Powers," March 10.

Based on the graphic novel of the same name, "Powers" is a cop procedural set in a a world where people with super abilities have become the norm.

Reviews for the series have been pretty lukewarm, but "Powers" showrunner Charlie Huston isn't paying attention.

Business Insider recently spoke with Huston who explained to us why he doesn't pay attention to critics. 

Here's his answer in full.

Huston's quote has been slightly edited for clarity.

To do this, whether it’s writing a book or just producing a show and writing a lot of the script ... there’s a lot of will power that’s involved, and if you second guess yourself constantly then you stop moving forward. And particularly in TV production there’s no room to be questioning your decisions because it moves so stinking fast. 

Once you’re in production, you just have to have self confidence, even if it’s a bit of an act — which as it is for most people I think in life. If you admit too many critical voices into your head, you just start doubting yourself and you start doubting your own instincts. You have to believe that you’re there for a reason, that people have trusted you with the material. You know, Brian [Michael Bendis] and Michael [Avon Oeming], the creators, and the people who have trusted Sony and PlayStation have trusted you with a lot of f’ing money. 

A lot of people have come on board to bring their creativity and their intelligence, and their hearts to it. You have to believe it’s all happening for a reason, and that you have something to say and your choices are valid. A good review or positive feedback from somebody or positive critiques from someone will flare out in my mind within minutes, but harsh words will linger in my soul forever. Who needs it?

"Powers" launched on the PlayStation Network March 10. New episodes are released every Tuesday. The first episode can be watched on YouTube, here.

SEE ALSO: Why this popular superhero comic took over 10 years to get made

AND: Here's how much PlayStation's first original TV show cost to make

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: George Clooney goes on a quest to save the world in this new 'Tomorrowland' trailer

It's almost April, and Netflix has put out its list of releases for the month.

What's in store? Darren Aronofsky's "Noah," the newest season of "Sons of Anarchy," and the long-awaited Netflix original, "Daredevil."

If you're a fan of the "Leprechaun" series, there are a few installments from the franchise. 

We'll continue to update the list throughout the month.

Let's get to it!

Here's what you should check out on Netflix in April:

TV

"Daredevil" (available 4/10)

The first season of Netflix's anticipated reboot will prove whether Marvel can make fans fall in love with the blind, crime-fighting lawyer Ben Affleck tried to bring to screen in 2003's critically-panned film.

"Halt and Catch Fire" (available 4/8)

The first season of AMC's series about the rise of the computer.

"Sons of Anarchy" (available 4/25)

The seventh and final season of FX's crime drama starring Charlie Hunnam. 

Movies

"The Babadook" (available 4/14)

The indie film, which brings a character to life from a story "Mister Babadook," is one of the creepiest films we saw last year.

"Hot Fuzz" (available 4/16)

Simon Pegg's British comedy which sees his London cop heading to a quiet town that isn't what it appears to be.

"Noah" (available 4/18)

If you skipped out on Darren Aronofsky's adaptation of the biblical story starring Russell Crowe and Emma Watson, here's your chance to see it.

Here's the full list of April releases:

Available 4/1

"And Now ... Ladies and Gentlemen ..." (2002)
"Bandolero" (2000)
"Barnyard" (2006)
"The Beautician and the Beast" (1997)
"Bound" (1996)
"Buffalo Soldiers" (2001)
"The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course" (2002)
"Down to Earth" (2001)
"Leprechaun 3" (1995)
"Leprechaun 4: In Space" (1997)
"Leprechaun 6: Back 2 tha Hood" (2003)
"Suicide Kings" (1997)
"Sunset Strip" (2000)
"Underworld" (2003)
"Whiteboyz" (1999)
"Wrong Turn at Tahoe" (2009)

Available 4/2

"Life Partners" (2014)
"Sinbad: The Fifth Voyage" (2014)

Available 4/3

"All Hail King Julien" (Season 1) Five new episodes
"Derek" Netflix original special
"Starry Eyes" (2014)
"The Quiet Ones" (2014)

Available 4/4

"Delta Farce" (2007)

Available 4/7

"Preservation" (2014)
"Wilfred" (Season 4)

Available 4/8

"Halt and Catch Fire" (Season 1)

Available 4/9

"Crank" (2006)
"Pioneer" (2013)

Available 4/10

"The Awakening" (2013)
"Broken" (2013)
"Burning Bridges" (2014)
"Confusion Na Wa" (2013)
"Finding Mercy" (2012)
"Finding Mercy 2" (2014)
"Flower Girl" (2013)
"Forgetting June" (2013)
"Knocking on Heaven's Door" (2014)
"Lagos Cougars" (2013)
"Lies Men Tell" (2013)
"Mad Couple" (2014)
"Mad Couple 2" (2014)
"Marvel's Daredevil" (Season 1) Netflix Original 
"Matters Arising" (2014)
"October 1" (2014)
"Onye Ozi" (2013)
"Ties that Bind" (2011)

Available 4/12

"The Identical" (2014)

Available 4/13

"Video Game High School" (Season 3)

Available 4/14

"The Babadook" (2014)
"Goodbye to Language" (2014)
"Kink" (2013)

Available 4/16

"Hot Fuzz" (2007)

Available 4/17

"Baby Daddy" (Season 4)
"Chris D'Elia: Incorrigible" Stand-up 
"They Came Together" (2014)

Available 4/18

"Noah" (2014)

Available 4/21

"A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night" (2014)

Available 4/25

"Sons of Anarchy" (Season 7)

Available 4/26

"The Nutty Professor 2: Facing the Fear" (2008)

Available 4/27

"National Treasure" (2004)

SEE ALSO: Everything leaving Netflix in April

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Netflix's new 'Daredevil' show looks way better than Ben Affleck's version of the superhero

It's that time again.

Netflix has announced the titles leaving the streaming site next month, and we're sad to see some of these go.

Two very different comedies, each with a big cult following, will be taken down April 1: "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" and "Clue: The Movie."

If you're a horror fan, make sure to watch the original "Friday the 13th."

There's also Robin Williams' Oscar-nominated performance as a crazed DJ trying to bring some laughter to the troops during the Vietnam War, "Good Morning, Vietnam."

And, sadly, Netflix has swept the leg of the original "The Karate Kid."

Here's everything that’s leaving. We've highlighted some favorites.

Leaving 4/1

"28 Hotel Rooms"
"Annie" (1982)
"Astonishing X-Men: Dangerous"
"Astonishing X-Men: Torn"
“Astonishing X-Men: Unstoppable"
"Baby Genius: A Trip to the San Diego Zoo"
"Baby Genius: Animal Adventures"
"Chalet Girl"
"Clue: The Movie"
"Coneheads"
"Friday The 13th" (1980)

"Friday the 13th: Part 2"
"Friday the 13th: Part 3"
"Friday the 13th: Part 4: The Final Chapter"
"Friday the 13th: Part 6: Jason Lives"
"Friday the 13th: Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan"
"Gentlemen Prefer Blondes"
"Get Shorty"
"Good Morning, Vietnam"
"Guess Who"
"Inventing the Abbotts"
"Jane Eyre"
"Jeepers Creepers 2"
"Les Miserables" (1935)
"Madeline"
"Miral"
"Mystic Pizza"

"Mystic River"
"Pee-Wee's Big Adventure"
"Philadelphia"
"Reindeer Games"
"Sense and Sensibility" (1995)
"Shadow of the Vampire"
"Taking Lives"
"The Amityville Horror" (1979)
"The Cable Guy"
"The Karate Kid" (1984)
"The Karate Kid Part II"
"The Karate Kid Part III"
"The Quick and the Dead"
“The Whole Nine Yards”

Leaving 4/10

"Sleeping Beauty" (2011)

Leaving 4/12

"Paranormal Activity 4: Unrated Edition"

Leaving 4/16

"The Woman Who Wasn't There" 

NOW SEE: What's coming to Netflix in April

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Netflix's new 'Daredevil' show looks way better than Ben Affleck's version of the superhero

Long before Robert Durst was in the news for the explosive HBO documentary"The Jinx" and his recent arrest, the 71-year-old real estate heir gripped the nation in 2003 while on trial for the murder and dismemberment of his Galveston, Texas, neighbor, Morris Black. 

While many considered the case a "slam dunk" in finally putting Durst behind bars after the murder of his best friend and "disappearance" of his wife 21 years prior, Durst's high-powered defense attorney claimed self-defense and he was acquitted of murder.

Those who had been following the high-profile case went nuts after the verdict, including Jon Stewart.

In a 2003 "Daily Show" clip titled "Where's The Head?" Stewart says: "There's one case we need to talk about and that's the multimillionare Robert Durst, who had been on trial for — well, it's kind of a funny story — dismembering his neighbor. Things didn't look good for him after he admitted to dismembering his neighbor, but yesterday he was acquitted by a jury."

"And since he's from New York, that's gotten quite a bit of play here in the city, so I wanted to show you some of the headlines."

"The New York Times, generally not known for their ironic, humorous take on things — 'New York City Real Estate Heir Is Acquitted of Murder in Texas: Durst, Who Cut Up Body, Argued Self-Defense' — that's as close as the New York Times will come to making a joke on the front page. That's like the New York Times just going, 'Can you f------ believe it?!"

"But here's what's so wonderful about New York, the different newspapers give you different takes. For instance, there was a slightly more subtle approach from the Daily News."

"And of course the New York Post strikes a more cautionary pose — 'Run For Your Lives!'"

"So, the guy who cut up his neighbor is free — go justice system!"

Watch the full "Daily Show" clip from 2003 below:

On Saturday, Durst was arrested by FBI agents at a New Orleans hotel, a day before the final episode of the HBO series "The Jinx" aired.

"FBI agents believed Durst may have wanted to flee the country, possibly to Cuba, as he registered under an alias at the hotel, paid with cash, and was found with fake documents," according to ABC News. Coincidentally, Saturday marked the first nonstop flight from New Orleans to Cuba since 1958, as pointed out by nola.com.

SEE ALSO: Fred Armisen plays Robert Durst in this amazing 'SNL' sketch from 2003

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 6 Crazy Things Revealed In HBO's Explosive New Scientology Documentary 'Going Clear'

With its second season coming to a close Wednesday night, Comedy Central's "Broad City" has quickly become a cult favorite.

The show's casual and off-the-cuff feel is part of the appeal, but behind-the-scenes there's a long writing and production process before anything makes it onto the air.

"Writing is the first act of our three act experience of the show of acting, shooting, editing,"one of the show's stars and creators, Ilana Glazer, tells Business Insider over the phone. 

"It’s pretty stressful, the deadlines come quickly," she adds, "but those deadlines actually make us feel like we’re running around Broad City, too. It has the same feeling of the show and we feel like the process of rushing to come up with good ideas for an outline and make it into a script, the process feeds the product."

Despite the improv backgrounds of "Broad City" creators and stars, Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, the show is actually written by a whole team of writers.

"What it looks like is a room of writers who we came up with here [in NYC] in the comedy community, and we all come up together with these bigger concepts of what the episodes could be and we all kind of write every episode," Glazer explains. "We come up with the outlines and a writer or a writing team may go off and write the script but I think the whole writers' room is all over every episode."

Adds Jacobson: "Yeah, because the script then comes back into the room and we all go over the script together. The whole process is very collaborative."

And for the most part, all actors stick to the script.

"The show is very, very much scripted," says Glazer. "We use some new little details in and out of scenes, but we do stick to our script a lot. Just in general, how it works on set is we do two or three scripted takes and then we say to the actor: ‘Okay, now just put it in your words, just so it feels natural.' What we usually end up taking from people’s improv is flourishes people put on." 

Adds Glazer: "The way the shows feels very present and in the moment is exactly how we write it. Our No.1 goal is always the comedy and the funniest thing over other goals of like plot, or where they end up. I feel like we’re very much about the moment that the characters are in and what’s the funniest expression of their experience."

Jacobson agrees that one of the most important aspects of the show is keeping the characters and their story lines in the moment.

"I don’t think there’s so much huge growth happening," she says of her character. "I think it’s just like, you’re in your twenties, you may envision where you end up but maybe it’s just better to focus on the day ahead of you, and that’s what the show does."

But, Jacobson says of the future of the show, "Ideally we just get to continue playing with things we find funny and exploring New York and the different facets of New York. I don’t think that I could speak to any kind of plot of where we want to go because I think it’s more about this exploration and playfulness of the show that I want to take to another level."

And while Glazer and Jacobson are off "exploring New York," they tell us that Comedy Central let the duo do their thing.

"We love working with Comedy Central," says Glazer. "Their main thing is to nurture our artistic vision and we’re so lucky that we are at the network right now. The people there are great, they just get it. They get the artistic process, and we get to continue to refer to our work as 'art' and think of it that way."

The network does, however, offer a few pointers here and there.

"We actually like their notes when they give them to us, which they do," Glazer says of working with Comedy Central. "They’re just like our other executive producers, just like Amy [Poehler]. They give outlines on drafts. We don’t take every note, but we really appreciate them. It’s happily collaborative."

As for that other EP, Amy Poehler, who helped bring "Broad City" from web series to network TV, both Glazer and Jacobson have nothing but praise.

"Just working with her and getting to know how she operates in all of the different roles she plays as a producer, as an actor, as a businessperson, it’s just sort of learning how she operates has been the biggest thing for me," says Jacobson. "It’s a good person to watch and learn from."

"But on a specific level," she adds, "I think she has a bigger picture view of the show. We’re so in the show that she sees it from a step back, and that lends to looking at things from a different point of view, which is really important."

SEE ALSO: Here's how Comedy Central's 'Broad City' lands such epic celebrity guest stars

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Adam Sandler may finally have a hit with 'Pixels' — watch the awesome trailer

While watching "House of Cards," which brands do you notice the most?

Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) can usually be spotted on her Apple iPhone. Remy Denton (Mahershala Ali) is usually around a Buick. Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) is always wearing his IWC watch.

In total, 105 real-world brands appear in season three of "House of Cards." 

That may sound like a lot, but it is actually a decline from the 129 brands and the 134 brands that appear in seasons one and two, respectively, of the Netflix political series.

Concave, a market research company that tracks and analyzes brand presence in entertainment content including TV and film, tracked the branded companies in all three seasons of the show.

Concave provided Business Insider with a list of all the brands it found in "House of Cards."

Here are the top 10 featured in season three:

Apple
IWC
Chevrolet
Washington Nationals
Avaya
Cartier
Nokia
Samsung
Blackberry
Dell

Below you can see the top 20 brands across all three seasons:

The list of most visible brands across seasons differs slightly. Samsung moves up the list, while CNN and NBC also appear in the top 10.

Here are the top five brands used by the different characters in the show. 

As noted in the slide above, Apple is among the top five brands of four actors, while Samsung is associated in the top five brands for seven actors. 

Nokia, Dell, and Samsung are brands used by secondary characters including Heather Dunbar (Elizabeth Marvel) and Seth Grayson (Derek Cecil).

How long are you seeing all of these brands on screen?

According to Concave, brands are visible for nearly four hours in season three. That's more screen time than in season one but less than in season two. 

But you probably wouldn't notice most of the brands.

Under 10% of the brands seen on screen across each season are close-ups.

Here's the difference in how Concave discerns the different categories of visibility.

The brands you'll most likely recognize are the ones with close-up or obvious appearances. In season three, those are Apple, Louboutin, Samsung, and Dell.

While Apple may be the brand with the overall most visibility across seasons, as Concave notes, 24% of Samsung's screen time is in the form of close-ups.

Below is the full list of 105 brands seen in season three. 

How many did you spot?

You can view the full study from Concave here.

SEE ALSO: A 'House of Cards' actor lied to keep one of the biggest secrets of season 3

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The new trailer for Season 3 of 'House of Cards' is terrifying

British actor and comedian James Corden took over hosting duty for Craig Ferugson on "The Late Late Show" on CBS Monday night. 

Corden, who is a big star in England, is not yet a household name in America. However, after just one night, he proved that he could fit right in, as he already got a chance to bond with one of America's favorite stars. 

Tom Hanks stopped by the "Late Late Show" to reenact the actor's most iconic movies in just eight minutes.

Watch the full, funny video here:

Corden also got help from a few other famous faces.

Mila Kunis appeared as a guest and revealed that she is "maybe" married to Ashton Kutcher.

Corden's "Into the Woods" co-star Meryl Streep stopped by in a pre-taped video, as did Lena Dunham, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Simon Cowell, Chris Rock, Eddie Redmayne, Joel McHale, Simon Cowell, George Lopez, Billy Crystal, Katie Couric, Chelsea Handler, Shia LaBeouf, Allison Janney, and CBS President Les Moonves. 

But one of the biggest surprises was Jay Leno, who controversially came out of retirement to take back the "Tonight Show" while Conan O'Brien was host. In the video, Leno trains Corden to be a late night host "Whiplash" style. Leno also proves he at least has a sense of humor about his reputation, as he ends the video by claiming, "in three months, this show will be mine."

Corden's reign is off to a solid start: Nielsen estimates that his "Late Late Show" is 17% above the Late Late Show season average when Ferguson hosted from September through mid-December.

It is hard to tell yet whether those numbers will remain consistent, given that there is always a curiousity factor in the first night of somebody's hosting tenure. But given that a lot of successful late night hosts, including Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Fallon, took time to establish their comedic voice, it is promising to see how much confidence Corden has right out of the gate. Things could change even more in September once he has Stephen Colbert as a lead-in.

Now, if only he could get Hanks to stick around for a few more episodes.

SEE ALSO: Who is James Corden?

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's what everyone gets wrong about the WWE being fake

Warning: If you're not caught up with "The Walking Dead," both the show and the comic series, there are some spoilers ahead. 

"The Walking Dead" season five finale is Sunday evening at 9 p.m. 

Right now, Rick and his group are living (relatively) safely behind the walls of Alexandria. (Though after last week's episode, Rick may be messing up the group's chance at living zombie free.)

If you're a fan of the series, and especially the comics, you're probably wondering when the next big villain is coming to town.

Many people think it's Negan, a foul-mouthed, hot headed, tyrannical leader of a group called the Saviors. (We've talked a bit about him here and here.) 

However, creator Robert Kirkman previously told us at New York Comic Con in October that it will be a while until we see the fan-favorite from the comics. At a previous Con in Arizona, Kirkman mentioned to fans that we could be waiting around until season 9. Of course, that could have been in jest. 

If Negan's not coming soon, who does that leave? 

Throughout the past two seasons, the series has been dropping some hints about at least one other group who's around.

You may recall seeing zombies maimed with what looks like the letter W (or M depending on how you look), but no one really seems to know what that means.

Warning: Big potential spoiler ahead.

There are two theories in "The Walking Dead" fandom and online about the marking.

Perhaps the best guess is that this is a nod to The Whisperers, *spoilers* a group who wanderers around wearing masks made out of zombie skin in order to blend in with the dead. *spoilers* 

The Whisperers were first introduced in issue 130 which was released August 2014. 

Since it's a pretty recent storyline, the group is still shrouded in a lot of mystery. We don't know where they come from, the size of the group, their motives, and if they're necessarily a real danger to Rick and the other survivors. 

I've held off on writing about this because it didn't seem relevant to the current progression of the series; however, it was brought to our attention that a fan on imgur made a fantastic connection which ties the present Whisperer storyline in the comics to season 3 of the show.

Basically, you're going to want to head back and re-watch parts of season 3, episode 12 "Clear" before the finale airs Sunday.

In the episode, which aired March 3, 2013, Rick, Michonne, and Carl head back to Rick’s hometown in search of guns. 

There, they find Morgan (Lennie James), the man who took Rick in and told him about the zombie apocalypse back in season one. 

While Morgan now has a big storehouse of guns, he appears to have gone a bit mad. That's understandable considering he lost both his son and wife back to back since the world changed.

There’s one part in particular fans should revisit in this episode.

At one point, Morgan, who doesn't recognize Rick, lunges towards and stabs the series' protagonist. During Morgan's confusion, he shouts out, what, at the time, sounds like a bunch of nonsense. 

If you revisit the clip now, Morgan actually says something of great value that makes a lot of sense.

Rick asks Morgan if he knows him.

Morgan's response is "People wearing dead people's faces."

Rick responds to the claim, but ultimately shrugs it off.

Again, at the time, Morgan's comment sounded like a bunch of gibberish especially since he didn't appear in the best mental state. The Whisperer characters also didn't exist in the comic series at this point.

The knowledge of them now changes the context of that line entirely.

In season 3, Rick leaves Morgan back in their hometown.

Since then, viewers know Morgan's character has reappeared and has been following Rick's trail to catch up with his group.

At the same time, we've been seeing strange markings on trees and have come across the letter "W" on walkers in various episodes.

However, if they're not the Whisperers, the show has at least been hinting at some sort of group that is going around wreaking havoc.  

In season 5, episode 9 the group visited Noah's old home which we learn was ravaged by another group. Written on the back of a wall was a sign that mentioned "wolves not far."

If you go back even further to season 4, the cannibal crew holding Rick's clan hostage mentioned a group that came in and ruined their way of life. A few of them were locked up in a train car.

(Again, not sure if these are people from the same group, but if “The Walking Dead” ties all of that together, you have to admit, it’s pretty brilliant.)

Either way, people are guessing this “wolf group” may be based on a ruthless and savage group from the comics coined the Scavengers, who, as you could probably guess, are looters who go from place to place taking whatever they can. They're led by a man named Derek, and, in the comics, are in the DC area. 

I won't say much more about them here, but we'd be surprised if we don't get a real glimpse at the group behind the "W" markings.

If it's not the Whisperers now, "The Walking Dead" has already laid the groundwork for them. At this point, it's seeming more likely we'll see the Scavengers in some iteration. We'll most likely see a brief glimpse of Morgan again, too.

One thing's certain. Something big is happening Sunday night during the series' 90-minute season finale. "The Walking Dead" has been building up to it for awhile.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: There's A Good Reason 'The Walking Dead' Creator Doesn't Use The Word Zombie

Later this year AMC is launching a spinoff series to its most popular show, "The Walking Dead," and we finally know its name.

Creator Robert Kirkman revealed the name of the companion show on Twitter. Get ready for "Fear the Walking Dead."

Previously, the show went by the codename "Cobalt."

"Fear the Walking Dead" has already been confirmed for two seasons.

Unlike the original series, which takes place on the East Coast, the new series will be set in Los Angeles. The series will star Kim Dickens and Cliff Curtis along with Frank Dillane and Alycia Debnam Carey.

Season one will comprise of six one-hour episodes, and will debut on AMC in summer 2015. Season 2 will air in 2016.

We don't know much else about the show, but the first trailer for the series will debut after the 90-minute finale of "The Walking Dead" Sunday evening.

We'll have more on it then.

SEE ALSO: "The Walking Dead" may have teased one of the next big villains back in season 3

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: There's A Good Reason 'The Walking Dead' Creator Doesn't Use The Word Zombie

For years fans have wondered how the zombie apocalypse started on "The Walking Dead" series and in the long-running comic series. It looks like we may finally find out starting this summer.

The first short teaser trailer for "The Walking Dead" spinoff series, "Fear the Walking Dead," debuted during the season five finale of the AMC show.

The companion series, which will be set in Los Angeles, California, hints toward a flu-like virus that is going around.

"Fear the Walking Dead" will air on AMC late summer 2015.

SEE ALSO: "The Walking Dead" may have teased one of the next big villains back in season 3

Join the conversation about this story »

On Monday, Comedy Central announced that 31-year-old South African comedian Trevor Noah will replace Jon Stewart as host of "The Daily Show."

"The Daily Show" joked:

Noah humbly responded to the announcement.

The reactions, so far, have been overwhelmingly positive.

 Looks like Comedy Central picked the best candidate for the job.

SEE ALSO: Here's the guy who's going to replace Jon Stewart on 'The Daily Show'

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Watch Jon Stewart break it to his audience that he's leaving 'The Daily Show'

Maisie Williams is a busy young woman.

She's one of Westeros' most fierce and fascinating characters on HBO's "Game Of Thrones," playing Arya Stark, which has its fifth season premiere on April 12th.

And now she's about to enter the TARDIS in BBC's decades-old show, "Doctor Who."

The show's official twitter account announced the casting today with a picture of Williams in front of the famous TARDIS console (that's The Doctor's famous space ship). According to the announcement, Williams will be a guest star in the show.

We're not sure yet how many episodes she'll be in or who's she playing yet. But the show's official website published a feature about her appearance with some quotes from both Williams and "Doctor Who" executive producer Steven Moffat.

Williams said of her casting, “I'm so excited to be working on Doctor Who as it’s such a big and important part of British Culture. I can’t wait to meet the cast and crew and start filming, especially as we’ll be shooting not too far from my home town.”

Moffat chimed in, “We’re thrilled to have Maisie Williams joining us on Doctor Who. It’s not possible to say too much about who or what she’s playing, but she is going to challenge the Doctor in very unexpected ways. This time he might just be out of his depth, and we know Maisie is going to give him exactly the right sort of hell.”

The show has received mixed reviews since actor Peter Capaldi took over the role of The Doctor at the start of last season. It's certainly gone in a much different direction than the show did with the popular Matt Smith playing the doctor for three seasons previous.

Williams will act alongside Jenna Coleman who announced she'll be reprising her role as The Doctor's all-important companion Clara Oswald again for season 9.

This news will almost certainly be a popular one for fans of both "Game Of Thrones," and "Doctor Who."

SEE ALSO: See the real-life locations used in Game of Thrones

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 'Game of Thrones': The Iron Throne is a terrible investment

Grantland's Bill Simmons seems to have a scoop regarding why "The Daily Show" hired 31-year-old relative newcomer Trevor Noah to replace Jon Stewart instead of a big name.

Simmons tweeted to his 3.47 million followers following Monday's Comedy Central announcement:

Simmons followed up by tweeting:

Most people seemed to disagree with Simmons' "very realistic" report about Amy Schumer possibly taking "The Daily Show" host job.

After Jon Stewart announced he would be leaving"The Daily Show" back in February, Amy Poehler, Louis C.K., and Amy Schumer's names were all widely tossed around as possible replacements.

Salon wrote at the time of Amy Poehler: "If she wants the job, it’s probably hers," explaining that logistically the timing would be perfect. "'Parks and Recreation' is coming to an end this month, so Poehler is free. She has an incredible amount of anchor cred from her years co-hosting 'Saturday Night Live’s 'Weekend Update' and knows how to deliver absurd punchlines with a disarming twinkle in her eye. Poehler also has that wacky best-friend quality that would give the interview segments an unpredictable appeal."

Salon also praised Louis CK as a potential replacement, writing that he has "precision timing, an Everyman affability, and is one of the finest comedic minds of his generation." But, noted Salon, "Would he give up his groundbreaking FX show for the demands of hosting 'The Daily Show?' He’d be brilliant, but Louie is best when he’s exploiting his own human foibles for laughs."

As for Amy Schumer, The Hollywood Reporter noted that "Comedy Central could also promote from within in a different way by moving Amy Schumer to 'The Daily Show'" from her successful 'Inside Amy Schumer' show on the network.

While Simmons argued that Schumer didn't want "The Daily Show" gig because she "knows she can make movies, the comedian only has one film in the works, due out in July. 

Stewart doesn't yet have a specific departure date, only saying "later this year."

But as LaughSpin notes, "None of this takes away from Trevor Noah being a great choice to fill the 'Daily Show' host chair. He’s a fresh young face with international acclaim on the cusp of exploding here in the United States. He will give the show a different outsider perspective, not unlike John Oliver."

Jon Stewart is also excited about his replacement, saying: "I’m thrilled for the show and for Trevor. He’s a tremendous comic and talent that we’ve loved working with. In fact, I may rejoin as a correspondent just to be a part of it!"

SEE ALSO: Twitter had great reactions to Trevor Noah being chosen as Jon Stewart's successor

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Watch Jon Stewart break it to his audience that he's leaving 'The Daily Show'

Warning: There are some minor spoilers ahead for "The Walking Dead" season finale.

"The Walking Dead" ended its fifth season Sunday night answering a lot of fan questions.

Morgan (Lennie James) returned(!) and has finally been reunited with Rick (Andrew Lincoln) after trying to catch up with him for a few seasons. We also finally have an idea of who's been marring zombies with "W" markings on their heads.

As we noted Friday, they're a group called "the wolves" who have been hinted at for some time. We've only seen two of these people so far, and have no idea how large their group may be. Currently, it looks like they'll be one of the greatest dangers to our group in the Alexandria safe zone.

While we'll have a spinoff companion series to look forward to late this summer, the sixth season of "The Walking Dead" won't air until the fall.  

Where do we go from here?

Here are a few things we learned during the series' aftershow, "The Talking Dead," hosted by Chris Hardwick.

Morgan will be back for at least one episode 

James coyly told "Talking Dead" host Hardwick he could confirm his fan-favorite character will return for at least one of the next eight episodes. We're sure we'll see him in more.

The Wolves (and their zombie herd) will most likely be at the center of the first half of season 6.

In the finale Sunday night, we were introduced to two of the wolf characters who have marked themselves with the letter "W" on their heads. 

The duo have acquired quite the zombie herd, which they keep locked up in old food trucks to fool other apocalypse survivors.

After trapping Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Aaron (Ross Marquand) briefly, they got a hold of some images of Rick and his son Carl (Chandler Riggs). It's probably only a matter of time until they track down the Alexandria community. 

The season will be filled with some of their "most ambitious stuff yet"

Showrunner Scott Gimple sent in a note for Hardwick to read live on "The Talking Dead" teasing the season ahead.

Most interestingly, he mentioned humans will not be the bigger threat. (Maybe those wolves aren't much to worry about.) So it looks like those two wolves may not be the greatest concern for the Alexandrians.

Here's Gimple's note in full: 

“For a good while now, humans have been the bigger threat. At the start of our next season, that will change. I said the show reinvents itself every eight episodes, and we’re doing it again, friendos. Now, that these characters know that they have what it takes to survive, what are they going to do with that power? How will they choose to live? Beyond answering those questions, we’re currently putting into motion some of our most ambitious stuff yet, and things are going to get very big, loud, and scary.”

Season 6 of "The Walking Dead" should return to AMC later this fall.

SEE ALSO: "The Walking Dead" spinoff may finally tell us how the zombie apocalypse began

AND: "The Walking Dead" could go on for 12 seasons

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: There's a good reason 'The Walking Dead' creator doesn't use the word zombie

Warning: Some spoilers follow if you're not caught up with "The Walking Dead."

"The Walking Dead" aired its season 5 finale Sunday night.

The episode revealed two members of "the wolves," a mysterious new threat to Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Daryl (Norman Reedus), and the rest of the community in the Alexandria, Virginia safe-zone.

The wolves, who have been teased throughout the season, appear to be a version of a group in the comics called the scavengers, who are introduced in the comic series in issue #75.

Now that the monthly comic series is at issue #140, a common question among fans is whether the show will catch up with the comic series, and, what would happen if that does eventually occur.

We caught up with Kirkman at New York Comic Con back in October where the creator assured us fans have nothing to worry about. There's plenty of material for the AMC series for seasons to come. 

"We have a huge head start," Kirkman told Business Insider. "We’re many many years ahead of them [the comics] and Charlie Adlard and I continue to crank issues out every month. So if we continue and the show continues, the material we’re working on right now would be season 11 or 12."

"And by the time we get to season 11 or 12, we’ll be like five or six years ahead of that," he adds. "Really at the pace that the show is going and the comic is going, they’ll never really catch up."

Not many series make it to 10 seasons and beyond. If its run does last that long, "The Walking Dead" would be in a select group with shows including "M*A*S*H" (11 seasons), "Frasier" (11 seasons) and "Two and a Half Men" (12 seasons). "The Simpsons" is now in its 26th season.

Kirkman's aware of that and the possibility that at any point zombie fatigue could in, but he says they're well prepared.

"The show could fade in popularity and end at some point," said Kirkman. "We’re certainly aware of that and we have game plans in place for that if it were to happen." 

"I would argue that our show isn’t solely a zombie show. It’s a survival show," Kirkman adds. "If you’ve been paying attention to the comics the zombies certainly fluctuate from being very in the forefront to being very far into the background and not being a very big part of the comic at all. And I think the show will follow a similar trajectory. So, I think as long as we can kind of be more than just a zombie show, we’ll hopefully be okay if there’s ever a big backlash to zombies but who knows what the future holds as far as the show’s popularity goes. We’ll see."

SEE ALSO: "The Walking Dead" spinoff may finally tell us how the zombie apocalypse began

AND: Everything we know about season 6 of "The Walking Dead"

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: There's a good reason 'The Walking Dead' creator doesn't use the word zombie

Seth Green may be known for his role in “Austin Powers” or as the voice of Chris Griffin on “Family Guy,” but he’s also the mind behind one of the most successful animation houses.

His company, Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, produces Adult Swim’s successful stop-motion animation series “Robot Chicken,” which is known for its raunchy antics and slew of celebrity voices.

But now the company is bringing its unique brand of humor to the WWE Network.

Monday, WWE announced Stoodios will make the first adult comedy short-form series for the network called “Camp WWE.” The show will depict their superstars as 10-year-olds attending a summer camp run by WWE owner Vince McMahon.

“Vince wants it as raunchy as ‘South Park’ and as adult as ‘Archer,’” Green told Business Insider.

Green says the show is only in the development stage, but he did reveal it will be in 2D and will feature classic WWE stars from decades past as camp counselors or in cameos.

“The campers think Sasquatch is in the woods and they discover it’s Andre the Giant, stuff like that,” said Green.

This isn’t the first time Stoopid Buddy Stoodios has worked with WWE. In 2014, they created a stop-motion series called “WWE Slam City,” which is based on the Mattel action figures of the same name.

Here’s one of the “Slam City” episodes below.

Green tells us “Camp WWE,” which is slated to air late 2015, will be completely different.

SEE ALSO: Brock Lesnar extends contract with WWE - won't return to MMA

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This Sports Illustrated swimsuit rookie could become the next Kate Upton