Gotham Suddenly Something We've Heard Before...
 I don't know whether to be really excited or kind of upset.
As you may recall, FOX ordered a DC Comics TV pilot, Gotham, a while back. At the time, it was reportedly going to focus on a young, pre-Commissioner Jim Gordon working his way up the Gotham PD ladder. It wasn't going to be a "Batman" show, per se, Rather, a police show set in Batman's city before Batman existed. How did the police deal with crime in Gotham before there was a Dark Knight?
Hold that thought...
On November 4, 2013 Kevin Smith posted an episode of his Fatman on Batman podcast with Paul Dini. The topic of Gotham came up and they asked, "Well, what if there WAS a Smallville-esque Batman show?"
They proceeded to have an epic conversation, throwing around amazing ideas for what could potentially be the greatest superhero TV show ever created. They would follow a young Bruce Wayne through high school, show him going off to train, have Batman's rogue's gallery also attending the same high school (obviously changing everyone's origins, but capturing the hearts of the characters).
If you haven't already, do yourself a favor and download and listen to Episode 51 of Fatman on Batman, after you listen to the latest Fanboy Planet Podcast.
 Okay. Remember that thought you're holding from two paragraphs ago? No? FOX picked up a Gotham show that was supposed to be about a pre-Commissionary position Jim Gordon.
Well, it's been reported today by "Deadline" that at a Television Critics Association media event FOX said that Bruce Wayne WILL be the focus of the show. It sounds like Smallville for Batman...just like Kevin Smith and Paul Dini COMPLETELY OUTLINED in a podcast.
Suddenly, everything about the show sounds awfully familiar to everyone that listened to that episode. IF somehow WB and/or FOX is going to credit or use Smith and Dini as creators on the show, then great. I'm not holding my breath for that because I haven't seen anything from Kevin Smith about that, and he typically isn't one to hold his tongue on announcements, especially when it comes to Batman.
At the time of writing this article, neither Mr. Smith nor Mr. Dini have responded to a message I left them (...OK, I sent them both a tweet that said, "I hope you guys get some credit for Gotham now that they're apparently going with your idea!")
What are your thoughts? Am I totally off-base here and this is not big deal? Or should Smith and Dini be swimming in gold coins a la Scrooge McDuck? Leave some comments on the Facebook page or e-mail Derek and we'll talk about it on the podcast.
Derek's note: The potential irony is that Smallville itself spun out of a proposed series fifteen years ago called "Young Bruce Wayne." And as io9 has pointed out, a few years ago, creators Jeffrey Thomas and Celeste Green half-kiddingly sent DC a proposal for "Gotham High," a humorous look at those high school years in which Bruce Wayne faces down all his foes as the freaks and geeks of his alma mater. All very different than what Fox originally announced "Gotham" was supposed to be.
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