Live with Five

• I’ve tried to remain optimistic about the reboot of the 1960s series Ironside, which NBC-TV has finally added to its fall 2013 schedule. However, a new video preview has raised my doubts. I’m particularly disappointed in the idea that “tough, sexy but acerbic”--and wheelchair-bound--former chief of detectives Robert Ironside (played here by Blair Underwood) has been moved to New York City, rather than keeping him and his crew in San Francisco, where the original Raymond Burr series was set. Watch the trailer for yourself here.

• In the aftermath of the poorly received 1998 movie version of The Avengers, I haven’t heard of any other serious efforts to adapt that durable, 1961-1969 British TV spy series for the big screen. However, if someone does decide to take on such an endeavor at any time soon, I hope he or she will consider a recommendation--spread recently on Facebook--to hire English starlet Jenna-Louise Coleman into the role of Emma Peel. The 27-year-old actress, currently appearing as Clara Oswald in Doctor Who, has demonstrated the requisite sass and style for the part (created by Diana Rigg), and she sure knows how to wear a black leather catsuit.

• Crime Factory No. 13 is now available.

• So is the fifth edition of ThugLit.

• And Black Scat Books, the small press started by California artist/author Derek Pell (of Missing Mysteries fame), has just released a paperback collection called Nickle Noir: The Art of John Nickle. Even if you’re not familiar with Nickle’s name, you may well know his artwork: he created the covers for Black Lizard’s line of Martin Beck novels, for instance. Nickle Noir contains the illustrator’s “best cover art and illustrations produced over the past 25 years,” including “moody crime scenes for novels by the likes of Ross MacDonald, James Swain, [Maj] Sjöwall and [Per] Wahlöö, and many others.” Examples of pieces from the book can be enjoyed here.