Comic/cartoon writer Dwayne McDuffie dies. A major talent in the superhero genre, he co-founded Milestone Media which produces multicultural comic books, including Hardware and Static. An African-American himself, he felt a calling to introduce black heroes into the culture — but, first and foremost, he was an excellent writer who told compelling stories.

I’m aware of his work because I’ve had the privilege of adapting some of his scripts for the Cartoon Network TV series Ben 10: Alien Force and Ben 10: Ultimate Alien (shows he also produced and story edited) for a line of books licensed for distribution outside the U.S. market. While the characters in those shows are mostly white, he filled them with universal emotions and motivations. His talent transcended race as he created a tone for the shows that combined just the right mix of action, humor and heart — with just enough edginess to be cool for kids. He was a master of the genre and will be missed.         

Latest Charlie Sheen rant shuts down Two and a Half Men. The show which celebrates bad behavior may be coming to an end because of the bad behavior of its highest-paid star. But, as his father Martin says, addicts like Charlie need our prayers not our scorn.

Jon Stewart interviews Donald Rumsfeld. The Daily Show host spoke with the former defense secretary with whom he obviously disagrees, hitting him with pointed but fair questions. Both men conducted themselves with dignity as the interview provides an example of how people can hold very serious political differences yet still talk to and (perhaps more importantly) listen to each other. View interview.  

Minnie Driver to star in Hail Mary. Not a faith-based feature film but a pilot for a CBS TV series in which she’ll a suburban single mom (I’m guessing named Mary) who teams up with a hustler to solve crimes. It might be a good show but the vaguely-irreverent title is likely to unnecessarily turn off some Catholics who, otherwise, might watch — while not even being controversial enough to garner the show much extra attention. Just as a practical matter, another title should be considered.

Titles are important. I remember back in 1997 when ABC debuted the drama series Nothing Sacred. Created by Jesuit priest Bill Cain, it was about three Chicago priests (one liberal, one conservative, one somewhere in the middle) and their conscientious efforts to minister to the people of their parish. While it intelligently tackled issues facing the Church, it was not disrespectful of the faith —  and, in fact, may have presented one of the most positive series presentations of the Catholic clergy in the history of television. But that name helped motivate opposition from the Catholic League and probably had some Catholics (and other people of faith) feeling like they were committing a sin just by watching it. In effect, the title shooed away the show’s natural audience.  If they had only called it Everything Sacred, it would have more accurately described what the show was about, and ABC may have had a major hit on its hands.