Sci Fi TV

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Sci Fi gets rights to "Star Trek: Enterprise"Sci Fi Channel has acquired rerun rights to "Star Trek: Enterprise" along with several other series, made-for-TV movies and miniseries.Its deal with CBS Paramount Domestic Television also includes a renewal of exclusive cable rights to the classic series "The Twilight Zone"; the TV show "Tales From the Darkside"; and such short-lived series as CBS' "Threshold," starring Carla Gugino, and "Wolf Lake," with Lou Diamond Phillips, as well as UPN's "Jake 2.0," starring Christopher Gorham, and "Haunted," featuring Matthew Fox. Other acquired titles include the series "Kindred, the Embraced," "Level 9," "Special Unit 2" and "All Souls."Sci Fi said it's planning to premiere "Enterprise," a "Star Trek" prequel that stars Scott Bakula and ran from 2001-05 on UPN, in early fall. "Tales From the Darkside" will premiere later this year, and the other acquired series will debut sometime during the 2006-07 season.Along with the series, Sci Fi has exclusive cable rights to five made-for-TV movies and three miniseries. The films include "Inferno," starring Jeff Fahey; "Lost in the Bermuda Triangle"; "Primal Force," starring Ron Perlman; "Sightings: Heartland Ghost," starring Beau Bridges and Nia Long; and "Trilogy of Terror II."The miniseries are "Invaders," which also stars Bakula; "The Langoliers," originally one of four short stories in the Stephen King novel "Four Past Midnight," which stars Dean Stockwell and Patricia Wettig; and "The Stand," also based on a King novel, and starring Gary Sinise and Molly Ringwald. Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

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Waterston, Heche among sci fi "Masters"Judy Davis, Sam Waterston and Anne Heche are among the long list of actors who have signed on to star in episodes of ABC's upcoming anthology series "Masters of Science Fiction."Malcolm McDowell, James Cromwell, John Hurt, Sean Astin and Brian Dennehy also have signed on to star in installments of the six-episode series, which is based on short stories by some of the sci-fi genre's top writers. The hourlong show is set to air during the 2006-07 season.Other actors starring in episodes are Terry O'Quinn (ABC's "Lost"), Elisabeth Rohm (NBC's "Law & Order"), Clifton Collins Jr. (ABC's "Alias"), Kimberly Elise (CBS' "Close to Home") and James Denton (ABC's "Desperate Housewives").In addition, physicist-professor Stephen Hawking will introduce each episode of the show, which is filmed on location in Vancouver, B.C.Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

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Shatner Launches Online Sci-Fi Contest

By Associated Press

 

 

NEW YORK -- William Shatner, aka Capt. James T. Kirk of the "Star Trek" TV series and movies, is looking for a spokesperson for his new science fiction DVD club.

 

He's launched an online contest and wants the voting public to select 10 finalists. Celebrity judges, including Chase Masterson from the cast of the TV series "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," will select seven additional finalists.

 

Shatner will pick the winner, who will be named spokesperson for the William Shatner Science Fiction DVD Club. The winner also will receive "a large cash award," according to the contest announcement.

 

Entrants must create a short video clip that shows why they have what it takes and submit it to http://shatner.blip.tv/. Deadline for entries is Sept. 30.

 

Aspiring actors, young filmmakers and budding film critics are encouraged to enter.

 

"This is an opportunity for new faces and new voices in the science fiction world to be seen and heard," Shatner said in a statement Thursday.

 

"Plus, this is a chance for passionate fans to be the first to discover the next M. Night Shyamalan or Brandon Routh, and help propel them into stardom," the 75-year-old actor said.

 

The "Star Trek" TV series ran from 1966-69. It spawned five spinoff series and 10 films

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Original 'Trek' Ventures to TV LandNetwork will mark show's 40th anniversary in September TV Land is going where, well, quite a few networks have gone before, acquiring rights to the original "Star Trek" series.The iconic sci-fi show will join TV Land's regular rotation in November, but the classic-television network will get an early start on the voyages of the starship Enterprise on Friday, Sept. 8 -- the 40th anniversary of the show's premiere on NBC.That night, TV Land will show four episodes from the series, including "The Man Trap," the episode that began the series on Sept. 8, 1966."'Star Trek' forever changed the landscape of television and science fiction, and to this day remains a cornerstone of pop culture," says Larry Jones, president of TV Land. "It continues to attract passionate fans, and we are thrilled to mark this monumental anniversary on TV Land."In addition to the premiere, TV Land will show the fan-favorite episodes "City on the Edge of Forever," in which Kirk (William Shatner) and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) time-travel to 1930s New York, and "The Trouble with Tribbles," featuring the little fuzzballs that take over the Enterprise. The anniversary marathon will conclude with "Plato's Stepchildren," which featured the first interracial kiss, between Kirk and Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), ever shown on television."Star Trek" will begin airing regularly on TV Land on Nov. 17. Episodes will also be available online on a new broadband channel at TVLand.com.

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Sci Fi Makes Time for More 'Doctor Who'Second season premieres in SeptemberAugust 11 2006The Doctor is back in, albeit in a different form, at the Sci Fi Channel.The cable network has nailed down the rights for the second season of the latest "Doctor Who" incarnation, with a premiere date set for late September. The show's first season, which starred Christopher Eccleston as the title character, enjoyed a solid run on Sci Fi in the spring."We were delighted by the first season's success in the U.S., and can promise new thrills, new laughs, new heartbreak, and some terrifying new aliens in season two," says Russell T. Davies, executive producer and lead writer of the show.Eccleston won't be back for the new season; as has been the case for much of the show's history, a new actor will take the role of the Doctor.In this case, it's David Tennant, who starred in the BBC miniseries "Viva Blackpool" and played the young Barty Crouch in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." He'll be introduced in the two-hour season premiere, titled "Christmas Invasion," on Sept. 29. Billie Piper will be back as the Doctor's sidekick, Rose."Doctor Who" averaged 1.5 million viewers per week during its springtime run. While that's not at the level of, say, "Battlestar Galactica," which draws around 3 million viewers, it's still a decent number for a cable show. The show also significantly improved Sci Fi's ratings for its timeslot compared to 2005.

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Shatner To Return As Capt. Kirk -- In Video Game Forty years after first appearing in the original Star Trek TV series, William Shatner will again play the role of Captain James T. Kirk for the video game Star Trek: Legacy, due to be released in October. According to a press release from Bethesda Softworks, the game will span all of the franchise's series and also feature the voices of Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Avery Brooks (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), Kate Mulgrew (Star Trek: Voyager), and Scott Bakula (Star Trek: Enterprise). The press release noted that the game will allow players to test their "strategic and tactical skills in real-time combat featuring over 60 authentic spaceships, full damage modeling, and spectacular visual effects." It can be played by one player "or in the extensive multiplayer mode with a group of friends online."

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"Star Trek" Unveils New Captain's Logby Josh Grossberg Now they're really boldly going where no one has gone before. In news that will make Trekkers' hearts atwitter, all five Star Trek captains--William Shatner's Kirk, Patrick Stewart's Picard, Avery Brooks' Sisko, Kate Mulgrew's Janeway and Scott Bakula's Archer--are beaming aboard Star Trek: Legacy, a new videogame marking the 40th anniversary of the legendary sci-fi franchise. The game, due out this fall from Bethesda Softworks, will be the first time the five stars from the five TV series will team up for a Star Trek project. Shatner's deal with Activision, which previously held the game license, ended "in decay," and the show's most recent incarnation, Star Trek: Enterprise, fizzled out due to lackluster ratings and uninspired plots. Some fans and industry watchers believed the end was near "It's been around a long time, it's a staple of American life and I think we need something new and different," Shatner told the wire service, noting that he just couldn't resist returning to the part that made him a legend. "I couldn't imagine someone else playing Captain Kirk, even in a videogame, so I kind of got a little territorial." Joining him in the virtual Starfleet will be Stewart, returning as Captain Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation, the first Star Trek spinoff, which had a successful syndication run from 1987 to 1994. Also coming back is Brooks, who played Captain Benjamin Lafayette Sisko on the syndicated Star Trek: Deep Space Nine from 1993 to 1999; Mulgrew, who essayed Captain Kathryn Janeway on UPN's Star Trek: Voyager from 1995 to 2001; and, rounding out the captain's log, is Bakula, who portrayed Captain Jonathan Archer in UPN's Enterprise, which aired from 2001 to 2005. Legacy, available on PC and Xbox 360, will give fans the chance to command their own starship from 60 different vessels, from each of the Star Trek eras, as they do battle with Klingons, Romulans and the Borg. There will be both single-player campaigns and an online multiplayer mode. The actors--or their pixelated alter egos--won't actually appear in the real-time strategy game; instead, their voices will offer advice and help with plot development. "If it's a good game, keeping true to the characters the best they can, and having an interesting story that branches, I think a game can bring a freshness to the franchise like Star Trek," said Shatner, who last lent his voice to a videogame in 1997's Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. The thesp, whose Comedy Central Roast airs Sunday, knows a thing or two about breathing new life into Gene Roddenberry's baby, having written nine Star Trek novels detailing the continuing journeys of Kirk and friends as they seek out new life and new civilizations. His latest tale, Captain's Glory, finds the iconic character squaring off with Picard as the Federation faces a new enemy called the Totality. Meanwhile, Bethesda is prepping Star Trek: Tactical Assault for the PSP and the Nintendo DS, also due out this fall. Bethesda also plans to release a first-person shoot-'em-up arcade version called Star Trek: Encounters for the PlayStation 2 next month. Also coming this fall is four-disc Stat Trek: The Animated Series set on DVD, containing the 1970s Saturday morning revival of the series that featured the voices of the original cast. Paramount has set a Nov. 21 release date for the collection. The studio, which has also produced and distributed all 10 Trek movies from 1979's Star Trek: The Motion Picture to 2002's failed Star Trek: Nemesis, has signed a $22.5 million deal with Lost creator J.J. Abrams to pilot the 11th installment for release sometime in 2008. Abrams told TV Guide in an interview last week that he and screenwriting partners Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman are already deep into development on the new Star Trek, which will take the series back to its roots with a prequel focusing on the early days of Kirk and Spock. "We have an incredible beginning of a really dramatic story, and it very much honors the canon of Star Trek. On the other hand, it won't be like anything you've seen before," the Mission: Impossible 3 helmer told the magazine. "I think we have an incredible story, but we've sort of promised each other we wouldn't talk about the specifics yet. But I can say that we're actively working on it, we're in the middle of breaking the story and it's coming along great." Star Trek officially hits the big 4-0 next month. The original series debuted Sept. 8, 1966 on NBC.

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Lights out for "Stargate: SG-1" By Nellie Andreeva

Tue Aug 22, 2:45 AM ET

 

Sci Fi Channel is grounding "Stargate SG-1," the longest-running science-fiction series on U.S. television to date.

 

The cable network has decided not to order additional episodes beyond the show's current 10th season, but it has picked up a fourth season of its more-popular spinoff, "Stargate Atlantis."

 

"Stargate SG-1," based on the 1994 movie starring Kurt Russell and James Spader, spent its first five years on Showtime -- which annoyed the show's producers by demanding full-frontal nudity -- before migrating to Sci Fi. Its 200th episode aired last Friday.

 

"Having achieved so much over the course of the past 10 years, Sci Fi believes that the time is right to make this season their last on the channel," Sci Fi said.

 

The show's ratings have softened in recent years and series star Richard Dean Anderson left last season, but it boasts a strong fan base, with as many as nine official conventions taking place worldwide every year. Producer MGM is exploring the possibility of taking the series to yet another outlet.

 

"MGM has tremendous amount of confidence in 'Stargate,' and we are vigorously working to continue the franchise," studio spokesman Jeff Pryor said.

 

The final three episodes of "Stargate SG-1" are slated to air on Sci Fi Channel next year. Both "Stargate SG-1" and "Atlantis" also run in syndication.

 

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

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Sci Fi Wire

 

Death Comes To Galactica

 

Ronald D. Moore, executive producer of SCI FI Channel's original series Battlestar Galactica, told fans that the upcoming third season of the hit SF series could see some fatalities among the characters. "Oh, there're some changes in the air," Moore said at the 64th World Science Fiction Convention, or WorldCon, in Anaheim, Calif., over the weekend. "We're going to lose some people this year. Not all of our friends are going to make it all the way." Moore declined to be specific, but said that the show's writers have finished breaking the story arc for the end of the upcoming third season.

 

Moore added that the upcoming season 2.5 DVD set will include a special 90-minute version of the episode "Pegasus," which ran only 60 minutes in the original broadcast. In addition, fresh material in the form of specially filmed "webisodes," Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance, will air on SCIFI.COM's SCI FI Pulse broadband network twice weekly, starting Sept. 5. The two- or three-minute shorts will serve as a lead-in to the new season and, although not essential to the plot, will enhance the viewing experience.

 

Moore was joined at WorldCon by executive producer Mark Verheiden, supervising producer Michael Taylor, story editor Anne Cofell Saunders, producers David Weddle and Bradley Thompson and SCIFI.COM senior vice president Craig Engler in screening a trailer for and talking about the upcoming season.

 

When asked whether the show was still true to his initial vision, Moore said he felt it was on track, but that there had been surprises along the way, from both writers and actors, that made both the storyline and the characters richer.

 

"One of the great things about writing for Ron is you do feel empowered to try things, and it doesn't have to be ... what was in the story outline," Weddle said. "I'm sure many of you remember in season two, where Callie shoots Boomer. That was never in an outline. That wasn't a planned moment. ... [Writer] Toni Graphia called Brad [Thompson] and [me] one day and said, 'You know, I think I want Callie to shoot Boomer.'"

 

Moore agreed: "There's nothing like reading a script and being surprised," he said of his reaction to the change. "It's the experience of watching the show." Season three of Battlestar Galactica begins airing Oct. 6. Galactica will air Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT. —Nephele Tempest

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'Star Trek' May Go Where It Went Before Rumors sped at light speed on the Internet Tuesday that Paramount is working on an enhanced version of the original 79 Star Trek episodes that it plans to sell as a syndication package to broadcast stations. According to the reports, state-of-the-art visual effects will replace those in the series, new music will be added, and the show will be offered in high definition. Presumably, the new series will also be packaged for sale on high-definition DVD after the syndication package airs. The website DigitalBits, however, observed that "rather than going with a proven effects house, CBS has chosen to do the new CG work in-house. One hopes that they've got someone with REAL Trek effects experience and knowledge involved in the effort -- and they they're taking care to preserve the look and feel of the original shots."

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'Star Trek' Goes Digital

Remastered original series adds CGI effects

August 31 2006

 

 

The original "Star Trek" series is going back into syndication next month, but the show may not look quite the same as fans remember it.

 

CBS Paramount Domestic Television, which syndicates the series, is remastering the old episodes to include computer-generated effects and re-recorded music, in hopes of offering a vision of the future that doesn't look quite so dated. All 79 episodes of the show will eventually get the digital treatment, with several fan favorites undergoing the retouches first.

 

"'Star Trek' redefined science fiction and constantly pushed the envelope with concepts that were ahead of their time," says John Nogawski, president of CBS Paramount Domestic TV. "By giving the series a digital upgrade using the best technology available today, it will continue to be a leader in cutting-edge television programming as we introduce the series to a new generation of viewers."

 

Related Stories

Original 'Trek' Ventures to TV Land

Lest visions of the "special edition" "Star Wars" films that offended purists start dancing in your head, fear not: The remastering won't be inserting any new scenes into the episodes. Instead, CGI artists will be updating the relatively low-tech special effects available in the late 1960s with present-day technology.

 

Exterior shots of the Enterprise and other spaceships will be replaced by CGI-created ships, with the new Enterprise based on precise measurements of the original model, which is now housed in the Smithsonian. Battle scenes and shots of space from the bridge of the Enterprise will be redone, and matte paintings used in exteriors will be replace with computer-generated backgrounds that give a better illusion of depth.

 

The episodes will also feature a re-recorded score and a remastered version of William Shatner's opening narration.

 

"Star Trek" returns to syndication on Saturday, Sept. 16 on 200-plus stations across the country.

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Lights out for "Stargate: SG-1" By Nellie Andreeva

Tue Aug 22, 2:45 AM ET

 

Sci Fi Channel is grounding "Stargate SG-1," the longest-running science-fiction series on U.S. television to date.

 

The cable network has decided not to order additional episodes beyond the show's current 10th season, but it has picked up a fourth season of its more-popular spinoff, "Stargate Atlantis."

Wahhhhhhhhhh :ph34r:

 

I was thinking last Friday that they need to defeat the Ori and move on; they're becoming the Bori.

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Lights out for "Stargate: SG-1" By Nellie Andreeva

Tue Aug 22, 2:45 AM ET

 

Sci Fi Channel is grounding "Stargate SG-1," the longest-running science-fiction series on U.S. television to date.

 

The cable network has decided not to order additional episodes beyond the show's current 10th season, but it has picked up a fourth season of its more-popular spinoff, "Stargate Atlantis."

Wahhhhhhhhhh :ph34r:

 

I was thinking last Friday that they need to defeat the Ori and move on; they're becoming the Bori.

 

I agree. I'm quite bored with the Ori.

 

I honestly like Atlantis better but that's probably b/c I haven't watched SG1 from the beginning so I'm not as invested in it.

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George Takei Returns to Star Trek

 

Even though Star Trek was canceled in 1969, that isn’t stopping George Takei from filming a new episode. Yahoo! News reports that the out actor is getting back into character as Lieutenant Sulu for a 50-minute Internet download in which he will age 30 years. This is the 16th such download produced by James Cawley, who will step in as Captain Kirk and who finances the fan productions through money he’s earned as an Elvis impersonator. In regard to the plot, Takei said, “My coming back is crucial to the existence of the Enterprise. It's classic drama, and it's rip-snorting good.” Now, if only it’s as sexy as Battlestar Galactica, we’ll beam right up.

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Tennant Answers the Call of 'Doctor Who'

By John Crook, Zap2it

 

 

If someone told you David Tennant has found the role of his career, you probably would reply: "Who?"

 

And you'd be exactly right.

 

The 35-year-old Scottish-born actor isn't yet a household name in the United States, but back home in the U.K. he's a star who is approaching supernova. After a career that included a memorable song-and-dance turn in BBC America's "Viva Blackpool," Tennant gave a chilling performance as Berty Crouch Jr. in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." The hot Scot also stars in the title role in the October season "Masterpiece Theatre" of "Casanova."

 

Yet Tennant's biggest career boost to date may be a role he has dreamed of since childhood, as the newest incarnation of "Doctor Who," which begins its second season on the Sci Fi Channel on Friday, Sept. 29.

 

Fans will remember that Christopher Eccleston played the ninth incarnation of the Doctor during the first season, which climaxed with a tense episode in which he vanquished a deadly invasion by his old enemies the Daleks, but not without a terrible cost to himself, forcing him to regenerate himself into a tenth incarnation of Doctor Who (Tennant, who made a cameo at the end of that episode).

 

"The fantastic thing about the regeneration process is that every time the Doctor goes through it, he changes to an extent," Tennant says. "So, as an actor, you get to work on a blank canvas, where you don't have to worry too much about what has gone before.

 

"It's interesting, because he's always going to be the moral egalitarian, humanitarian, slightly wild, slightly anarchic bloke that he's always been. But because he's getting older, he's moving on. He's seen it before, every alien creature with a superiority complex."

 

The transition between Eccleston and Tennant is addressed directly in the new season premiere, "The Christmas Invasion," which opens as the regenerated Doctor and his traveling companion, Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), arrive back in England via the Doctor's TARDIS, a craft that resembles a classic British phone box (for newbies, TARDIS is an acronym for Time And Relative Dimensions in Space).

 

The holiday season is approaching as the craft crash-lands, and Rose's mother, Jackie (Camille Coduri), and boyfriend, Mickey (Noel Clarke), are taken aback as Rose emerges with an unrecognizable Doctor who blurts out "Merry Christmas!" before collapsing.

 

As the episode progresses, Rose frets that the "proper Doctor"isn't with her anymore, as Tennant's character sinks into an apparent coma just as Earth is threatened on several fronts by sinister Santas, spinning killer Christmas trees and an aggressive race known as the Sycorax that threatens to make a third of the entire human race commit suicide unless the British prime minister (the glorious Penelope Wilton, reprising her role as Harriet Jones) submits the global population into slavery.

 

In a risky creative decision, Tennant spends the majority of the episode lying unconscious in a bed, but when he rallies, predictably, in time to save the day, he certainly erases any doubts Rose has that he is fully in charge.

 

"David Tennant is like a whole new lease of life," says Russell T. Davies, the executive producer who resurrected "Doctor Who" after a 16-year hiatus and gave it a vibrant new life.

 

"One of the dangers of success sometimes is that one can get too complacent,"says Davies, whose previous projects include the risk-taking "Queer as Folk." "Putting David at the helm, means we're all reinvigorated because we have got to be just as good, if not better, just for him. So it's actually very exciting, but at the same time, it's scary.

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Stardate 2006: Star Trek Props Auctioned

AP

 

 

It looked like any other auction, until you noticed the guy with pointed Vulcan ears. Christie's boldly went Thursday where no auction house has ever gone before, kicking off a three-day sale of Star Trek memorabilia. From costumes and props to blueprints and furniture, the auction featured more than 1,000 lots from the archives of CBS Paramount Television Studios.

 

The bidding started quickly, with battles taking place on some of the early lots. Bids were accepted on the floor, on the phone and on the Internet. A captain's chair once belonging to Jean-Luc Picard from the bridge of the Starship Enterprise-E sold for a gavel price of $52,000 far beyond the presale estimate of $9,000.

 

The chair itself is covered with burgundy-dyed imitation leather, and features simulated control panels in the armrests hardly high-end or high-tech. But the cheesiness factor didn't scare off devoted fans of the show, who filled the midtown Manhattan auction.

 

"This is historic from the standpoint of science fiction," said Gary Sekulow of Atlanta, who purchased a pair of consoles from the fictional bridge of the fictional Starfleet. He nevertheless hailed the chance for fans to purchase something authentic, and said the consoles would become part of his home theater.

 

The original television show, with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, ran for three years and launched 10 movies and four television series. The auction is one of several events being held to commemorate the 40th anniversary of "Star Trek," which boasts some of the world's most avid fans.

 

But the "Trekkies" in attendance didn't show up in costume for the event, as they might for one of their annual conventions. It was instead the auction house employees wearing the "Star Trek" costumes, including the ears made famous by Nimoy.

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Sci Fi Goes to Town on 'Eureka' Again

Original series was picked up for a 13-episode second season

 

It doesn't take a genius to keep a good thing going, and the folks at the Sci Fi Channel are no fools when it comes to their popular show "Eureka."

 

The original series about a secret town full of geniuses has been picked up for its second season, producing 13 more episodes chock full of brainy goodness.

 

Set in the titular small town hidden by the U.S. government, "Eureka" revolves around the hyper-intelligent residents who live in environment that nurtures brilliant thinking, the next big invention and state-of-the-art education and healthcare. But just because great minds are gathered together, doesn't mean they think alike. Like any small town, the denizens have their share of problems, exacerbated by their odd circumstances. Jack Carter (Colin Ferguson) is the everyman U.S. marshal who stumbles upon the secret government research facility after separating from his wife.

 

'Eureka' Showcard

Stars reprising their roles for the second season include Ferguson, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Joe Morton, Jordan Hinson, Ed Quinn, Debrah Farentino and Matt Frewer.

 

"Eureka's" two-hour premiere on July 18 drew more than 4 million viewers, making it the most-watched episode of an original series in the channel's history. About 1.7 million of those viewers were in the key adults 18-49 demographic, and 1.9 million fell in the 25-54 age range.

 

The first season concluded this past Tuesday, Oct. 3 and beat out The CW's premiere of "Veronica Mars" in the key male 18-49 and 25-54 demos. Overall, the show is a consistent Top 10 cable finisher for Tuesday nights and has been a Top 5 program for nine weeks out of its 12-week run.

 

"Eureka's" second season will begin production in Vancouver this spring, so it can return next summer.

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'Superhero' Flies Back to Sci Fi

Evildoers, beware. A second season of justice is coming your way.

 

Dust off your cape and pull out your Roget's. "Who Wants to Be a Superhero?" will be back to find that undiscovered crimefighter with a memorable image, unusual powers and a hyperbolic turn of phrase.

 

The Sci Fi Channel has renewed the hit reality series starring the legendary Stan "The Man" Lee for a second season. The show, produced by Bruce Nash's Nash Entertainment and Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment, will be expanded to 10 hour-long episodes.

 

"After all these years as a writer, I never thought I'd be on the other side of the camera starring in a far-out TV series", says Lee in a statement. "But, now that I've had a taste of it, there's no stoppin' me! And here's a confession: While we were having a ton of fun with our first season's episodes, we kept saying things like, 'What a shame we don't have time to add this zany idea or that outrageous gimmick.' Well, now we've got the time! The great guys at the Sci Fi Channel have unleashed us to cook up ten new, wilder-than-ever episodes. So, Heroes, hang on to your Spandex , 'cause the best is yet to come!"

 

On the show, Lee selected a lucky few from thousands of hopefuls who created their own superhero alter egos -- from designing their own costumes to dreaming up a specific attitude and point of view. The chosen ones then live together in a secret lair and compete in challenges to test their mettle and demonstrate that they have the necessary virtues to be a superhero. The first season saw the wannabe heroes facing off against a supervillain, braving towering heights and attack dogs and coming to terms with the dark secrets in their past.

 

"The next season of Superhero promises to be even more exciting than the first. Expect bigger and more thrilling challenges, and more unexpected twists and turns this season," promises Executive Producer Nash.

 

In the end, Matthew Atherton, aka Feedback, was declared the winner and thus will be immortalized in his very own Dark Horse comic book created by Lee.

 

"'Who Wants To Be A Superhero?' was a success for us on many levels last summer," says Sci Fi's Executive Vice President Mark Stern. "The show garnered great reviews, attracted a record-breaking number of younger viewers to the Channel, and held its own against some very stiff competition on Thursday nights."

 

The show averaged a 1.1 household rating and increased the number of 18-49 viewers by 74 percent. Those under 18 tuned in as well, with 30 percent making up the total viewers. Overall, the show brought 2.9 million new viewers to the channel.

 

The second season is scheduled to air next summer.

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'Battlestar' Returns to So-So Ratings

Peabody-winning drama is way down from its July 2005 premiere

 

An unprecedented wave of acclaim and publicity failed to earn record ratings for "Battlestar Galactica."

 

The Peabody-winning SciFi series had its third season premiere on Friday (Oct. 6). While the cable network is boasting that the audience of 2.2 million total viewers was up by a whopping 2 percent over the Season 2.5 average and that its 1.4 rating among adults 18-49 was up by 4 percent over the Season 2.5 average.

 

"Battlestar Galactica" was, at least, Friday night's top cable series.

 

However, the fact that goes unmentioned in SciFi's press release, is that the Season 2 premiere of "Battlestar" attracted 3.1 million viewers back in July of 2005.

 

In other returning cable ratings news, last Wednesday's "South Park," the Comedy Central animated hit's midseason launch, pulled in 3.4 million viewers, most of them concentrated in the 18-49 demo. That was the show's best midseason launch since 2000.

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Galactica" Coming To NBC?

Posted: Wednesday October 11th 2006 4:09am

Source: BSG Site

Author: Garth Franklin

 

Word has begun to circulate that NBC's acquisition of "Battlestar Galactica" is in the "waiting for the ink to dry" phase at this moment, and an official announcement could be days away reports BSG Site.

 

The program, which returned for its third season last Friday, continues to delight fans and critics alike though ratings wise the series did drop in viewers for its third season premiere.

 

The talk is that the show may make the move to NBC as a mid-season replacement to shore up a weak Fall line-up of shows with high profile disappointments like "Kidnapped", "Friday Night Lights" and "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip". Its sole big new hit has been the sci-fi centric "Heroes" which continues to grow each week in viewers and its third episode pulled in 13.3 million viewers on Monday night.

 

The question is will the show remain intact in its move from cable to free-to-air networks. One of the show's big draws is its dark and edgy examination of issues, most notably this season seeing some controversial criticisms of terrorism and US foreign policy mixed in with its sci-fi trappings.

[BobbyD 2]

Bionic" Babe Makes A Comeback

Posted: Tuesday October 10th 2006 12:21am

Source: Assorted Sources

Author: Garth Franklin

 

 

 

"Battlestar Galactica" executive producer David Eick and "Alexander" screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis are teaming to remake "The Bionic Woman" for NBC reports the trades.

 

Eick and Kalogridis will executive produce a new take on the 1970s "Six Million Dollar Man" spinoff in which Lindsay Wagner played tennis pro-turned-superwoman Jamie Sommers.

 

Instead of focusing on terrorism and militarism, the new "Bionic" will explore the role of professional women in contemporary society and how they juggle their various roles.

[BobbyD 2]

NBC Revives "Bionic Woman"

By Natalie Finn

 

 

 

What if Alias' Sydney Bristow had superhuman hearing and mechanically enhanced limbs? And what if she didn't fight evil geniuses, but instead spent her multi-outfitted days as a high-powered ad exec or head of a Fortune 500 company?

 

Picture all that and you just might have the contemporary reworking of the 1970s sci-fi-action series The Bionic Woman that Battlestar Galactica executive producer David Eick and Alexander scribe Laeta Kalogridis are developing for NBC Universal Television Studio.

 

Prompted by the critical and ratings success of Battlestar Galactica, which airs on the Sci Fi Network, Eick said in Daily Variety Tuesday that he had been looking for another series in the Universal vault that seemed primed for a redesign.

 

(BSG's original version lasted only one season, from 1978 to 1979, but, as many space-themed adventure series are wont to do, it developed quite the cult following.)

 

Eick apparently found what he was looking for with The Bionic Woman, a spin-off the The Six Million Dollar Man that for three seasons starred Lindsay Wagner as tennis pro Jamie Sommers, who was literally put back together after a sky-diving accident and then used her talents--ultra-fast legs, super-strong arm, great hearing--to fight crime. And eventually marry Six Million Dollar Man Steve Austin, of course.

 

But in the 21st century, much of the Bionic Woman is going to be left on the cutting-room floor, so to speak.

 

"It's a complete reconceptualization of the title," Eick told the trade, saying that their heroine won't necessarily be fighting high-concept crime. "We're using the title as a starting point, and that's all…It's using the idea of artificial technology as a metaphor for what contemporary women sometimes feel is necessary to do everything that needs to be done."

 

Cool, right?

 

Um, maybe. The Bionic Woman purists out there aren't so sure they like the sound of Eick and Kalogridis' "meaningful departure" from the original concept.

 

"What's the purpose in referencing Bionic Woman only to say 'Yeah, this is nothing like that.' How is this a spinoff?" wrote one fan on SuperHeroHype.com. "It's like making a tough and gritty police drama and calling it Punky Brewster."

 

Another concerned Woman-lover agreed. "The exciting aspect of the original show was the use of bionic ability in espionage and saving the world!" he said. "What has made Galactica so successful is that the relaunch kept the best aspects of the original storyline, then fleshed it out with character driven drama."

 

A third fellow was worried "that this is going to be some kind of post-modern semi-satire about suburban life. Desperate Housewives with more stunts."

 

NBC can only wish.

 

Maybe sci-fi fans will be surprised, though. Eick said that Kalogridis agreed to a meeting with him in the first place because he was pitching The Bionic Woman.

 

"She basically indicated to me that Bionic Woman, and the possibility of one day being able to do a [new version] on it, was one of the reasons she got into showbiz in the first place."

 

So their heart is definitely in the right place. It looks as if timing will probably be a factor, too. In 2002 the USA Network was looking at a new edition of the show, but plans obviously fell through.

 

The Bionic Woman's other half, the Six Million Dollar Man, hasn't had much luck, either, in his bid to return to celluloid.

 

Comic book and Star Trek lover Kevin Smith penned a screenplay in the mid-1990s for a feature film version; then, in 2003, Jim Carrey hopped on board to play the title role for Dimension films with Old School director Todd Phillips behind the wheel.

 

That project is currently indefinitely on hold along with seemingly every other upcoming Carrey film, and the rights to the story are reportedly tangled up in litigation between Miramax (Dimension's parent company before the Weinstein brothers left) and Universal, which produced the original series starring Lee Majors.

[BobbyD 2]

Terminatrix Hooked on Sci Fi's 'Painkiller'

Actress will star in and co-executive produce comic book adapation

 

How can you top being a killing machine from the future? Stepping into the shoes of an indestructible superhero isn't half bad.

 

Kristanna Loken, best known for playing the T-X in "Terminator: Rise of the Machines," will star as the Sci Fi Channel's action heroine "Painkiller Jane," which is slated for 22 one-hour episodes.

 

In the drama based on the Jimmy Palmiotti and Joe Quesada comic book, Loken stars as DEA agent Jane Vasko who's in a covert operation to hunt for "Neuros," genetically enhanced people with superhuman mental powers. Early on, however, she learns that she also has extraordinary abilities that allow her to heal and regenerate fully from any injuries, making her pretty much invulnerable. Of course, she still feels the pain, so it's not all gravy.

 

As she continues her pursuit of the Neuros, they just might be the answer to why her body has undergone this particular transformation.

 

Loken will pull double duty as a co-executive producer on "Painkiller Jane" along with showrunner Gil Grant ("24," "NCIS").

 

Insight Film Studios, in association with Starz Media and Kickstart Comic Arts Studio, will produce the project, which begins production in Vancouver in November. Sci Fi will premiere the series in Spring 2007, followed by a domestic broadcast weekly syndication window in the fall.

 

Loken's other film credits include "BloodRayne" and the upcoming Uwe Boll film, "In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale." On TV, she'll guest star on Showtime's "The L Word" this coming season. She's also appeared on "Sliders," "Mortal Kombat: Conquest" and starred in Sci Fi's miniseries "Dark Kingdom."

[Hoyaheel 1,874]

Did anyone else watch the Dresden Files 1st episode, Sunday? I thought it was slightly gory, but hubby and I both gave it a thumbs up to catch a 2nd episode.....

[cydonia 0]

Did anyone else watch the Dresden Files 1st episode, Sunday? I thought it was slightly gory, but hubby and I both gave it a thumbs up to catch a 2nd episode.....

 

I watched it and liked it. I wasn't bowled over but it has potential. I like the guy who plays Dresden.