POPCULTURE

Seth Rogen stars in "The Green Hornet," the feature adaptation of the popular comic book series, directed by Michel Gondry. The film, which also stars Jay Chou and Cameron Diaz, is being released by Columbia Pictures on January 14.

The Green Hornet made his debut on January 31, 1936 on WXYZ Detroit, the creation of the station's George W. Trendle, who also created the Lone Ranger (in fact, in mythology of the radio character, Britt Reid is the great-nephew of the Lone Ranger, John Reid). The series, which ran until 1952 on the Mutual and NBC Blue networks, followed the adventures of Britt Reid, a bored playboy whose life changes when he inherits his father's crusading newspaper, The Daily Sentinel. He saves the life of Kato, a man with incredible technical and martial-arts skills.  Kato becomes Britt's closest ally and transforms Britt's car into the Black Beauty, giving them an edge as they search for evidence to expose the city's underworld in the newspaper. When Britt and Kato witness a brutal mob hit, Britt invents his secret identity.

Following its successful run on radio, the Green Hornet ran in several comic books. In 1966, the character made the jump to the small screen for one season on the ABC television network, starring Van Williams as the Green Hornet and catapulting Bruce Lee, who played Kato, to stardom.