Sci Fi TV

[cydonia 0]

USA Series Back For Summer

 

USA Network announced that its supernatural series The Dead Zone returns on June 18 at 10 p.m. ET/PT with a fifth season that will feature guest stars Sean Patrick Flanery, Martin Donovan, Kristen Dalton, Dedee Pfeiffer and Ben Cotton.

 

Meanwhile, The 4400 comes back for a third season on June 11 as a two-hour special, starting at 9 p.m. ET/PT, and will air in its normal timeslot Sundays at 9 p.m. starting June 18.

 

On June 4, USA will air The 4400 Special: Unlocking the Secrets, a one-hour clip episode that will catch viewers up on the story so far. It airs at 10 p.m.

[cydonia 0]

Torchwood Begins Production

 

LONDON—Russell T. Davies, creator of the Doctor Who spinoff series Torchwood, told SCI FI Wire the British show began production earlier this month and is definitely darker than its predecessor. "I would call it modern urban sci-fi really," Davies said in an interview here. "It's a little bit harder science fiction than Doctor Who is, although, again, it's very character driven."

 

Torchwood stars John Barrowman as 51st-century con man Captain Jack Harkness, who was originally introduced last season on Doctor Who. The ensemble cast also includes Eve Myles, Burn Gorman and Naoko Mori. "It"s quite dark," Davies said. "But when I write something dark, I automatically make it sunny at the same time, because I think that makes the dark darker and the funny stuff funnier. So I still very much have my tone of voice in it. But there are more adult emotions at play. When you see it, it will all make sense, because it's very different territory to Doctor Who. It's not about fleets of spaceships and invading monsters. It's more about ideas, like 'What if you could read someone's mind?' It's quite X-Filesy in that way. The X-Files has been off our screens for far too long, and it's a marvelous show. So we've got elements of that in it, because it works. But at the same time, it's set in a Welsh city, with a bisexual con man from the 51st century at the helm, so you've automatically got something sexier and sassier and a bit wilder in places. We've actually got six scripts in at the moment, and they're marvelous."

 

Not surprisingly, Davies has already enlisted some of the writers who have worked on the past two seasons of Doctor Who, as well as a few new faces. "Toby Whithouse, who wrote the Sarah Jane [smith] episode, 'School Reunion,' has written an episode of Torchwood that is marvelous," Davies said. "And there are a lot of new people as well, because, frankly, the best people are sticking with Doctor Who, because that's at the core of it. And we're bringing people with other skills onto Torchwood."

 

Davies added: "To be honest, just by being set in the modern world means it's a slightly easier show to write. The difficulty of Doctor Who is believing that you're in the world [in the year] five hundred zillion. But with a modern city, there are more writers who are well versed in the language of urban drama, so it's been easier to find writers for, and that's been paying off. It's not as effects-based, either. It's much more effects-light. There are a number of CGI shots per episode, but nowhere near the amount in Doctor Who. It's a lot more 'real' than Doctor Who is, but we're still sharing some of its sensibilities."

 

With two shows in production simultaneously, Davies admitted that his schedule is a bit hectic at the moment. But he added that he couldn't be happier. "I've actually got to start writing the next Christmas episode of Doctor Who, and we're starting to meet with the writers right now," he said. "That's why I would only ever write one or two Torchwoods every year, because there's a certain formula you can follow on Torchwood. But on Doctor Who, the wide open skies are open to you, and it's much harder to write as a result, so there's never a moment when I feel I can relax when I'm writing Doctor Who. There's never a moment when I think, 'This is easy!' But that's fine. That's what I need to keep going!"

 

The second season of Doctor Who is now airing in the United Kingdom on Saturday nights on BBC1. The first season is currently airing in the United States on SCI FI Channel, Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT. —Joe Nazzaro

[nsmallaz 0]

I love sci-fi

[BobbyD 2]

Two to bid up! First auction of ‘Star Trek’ stuff Over 4,000 items, including Shatner's uniform, Stewart's jumpsuitMSNBC.com NEW YORK - Trekkies will be setting their phasers to “bid” this fall when Christie’s holds the first official studio auction of memorabilia from all five “Star Trek” television series and 10 movie spinoffs.CBS Paramount Television Studios is cleaning out its vaults for the sale, comprising more than 1,000 lots totaling some 4,000 items, to be held from Oct. 5 to 7 in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the original “Star Trek” series, Christie’s announced Thursday.Fans and collectors will have a chance to acquire “Star Trek” artifacts ranging from models of the “Starship” USS Enterprise to Capt. James Kirk’s uniform or Capt. Jean-Luc Picard’s jumpsuit in an auction where Christie’s expects to raise more than $3 million.Other items to hit the block include props, weapons, prosthetics and set dressings unearthed from five Paramount warehouses.Among the highlights are a miniature of the Starship Enterprise used in visual effects for the film “Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country,” expected to sell for $15,000 to $25,000, and a replica of Kirk’s chair from the original TV series that was recreated for the 1996 “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” episode ”Trials and Tribble-ations,” which is estimated at $10,000 to $15,000.Fans with more modest budgets can train their sights on a host of Trekkie ephemera like the 10-inch Resikkan nonplaying prop brass flute used by Patrick Stewart as Picard in the episode “The Inner Light” in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” which carries a low estimate of just $300.Cathy Elkies, director of special collections at Christie’s, said the value of the objects was difficult to gauge because “we don’t factor in that emotional fury generated around this kind of material.”Past estimates for auctions associated with the likes of Marilyn Monroe or Jacqueline Kennedy, who enjoyed dedicated followings, have been far off the mark as actual sale prices soared to five, 10 and even 100 times presale projections.Many items gone forever“Star Trek” fans, with their Web sites, conventions and clubs, have proven among the most wildly devoted in all of pop culture.“To several generations of people, ’Star Trek’ was a cultural icon that represented our dreams, our hopes and our aspirations -- what we can become as a species, what we aspire to,” said Mike Okuda, a graphic designer on four of the TV series and seven of the motion pictures as well as co-author of ”The Star Trek Encyclopedia.” “And to have a tangible piece of that is to have a tangible piece of a dream.”With the original captain’s chair from the first “Star Trek” series in the Museum of Science Fiction in Seattle and the original Enterprise miniature at the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum in Washington, other items from the 1960s show could be the most sought-after at auction.Okuda said many of the first “Star Trek” props were reused, destroyed or disappeared. But the auction will feature a mustard-colored mini-dress from the first series as well as costumes worn by guest stars, such as a gown worn by famed attorney Melvin Belli who played an evil alien entity.“Star Trek” fans will get a peek at the collection when the memorabilia goes on tour this week in Germany. Other stops include San Diego, London, Las Vegas, Seattle and Los Angeles before a weeklong exhibit in New York ahead of the October sale at Christie’s salesroom in Rockefeller Center.Conceived by author Gene Roddenberry in the mid-1960s, the original “Star Trek” series debuted in 1966.The last TV series, “Enterprise,” set in the early 22nd century, about 100 years before the adventures of Kirk’s five-year mission, ended its run on the UPN network in 2005.

[cydonia 0]

Futon Critic

 

Friday, May 19, 2006

USA ACCELERATES DIGITAL DRIVE

Released by USA

 

Special Episode of "The 4400" Debuts on YAHOO! TV

 

New York, NY May 19, 2006 In a cable channel first, a special episode of USA Network's hit series "The 4400" will premiere exclusively on Yahoo! TV (http://tv.yahoo.com) as a Web offering for one week prior to its digital run on usanetwork.com and its broadcast debut on June 4.

 

With the success of The 4400 last summer, USA Network and its production partner CBS Paramount Network Television recognized the importance of familiarizing current, lapsed and new fans with the franchise via "The 4400 Special: Unlocking the Secrets" -- a powerful new, one-hour special capturing all of the big storytelling moments from seasons one and two. As a way of maximizing sampling and viewership, USA will employ an atypical rollout strategy by launching through digital distribution outlets before its broadcast premiere. "The 4400" special will debut and have an eight-day exclusive run on Yahoo! TV May 21st followed by video streaming on usanetwork.com and scifi.com on May 29th. The show will make its television bow beginning June 4th, across three NBCU broadcast outlets - - USA Network, SCI FI and Bravo.

 

USA Network will also expand "The 4400" content on usanetwork.com, one of the website's largest communities, by creating a "Central Intelligence" for all things related to the series. The expansion will include web exclusives such as audio pod casts, weekly character blogs, weekly writer and producer blogs, behind-the-scenes interviews, character back-stories and preview clips. The centerpiece of the site will be Maia's Interactive Diary, which is thematically linked to the show and its characters. Created by Glow Interactive, the same creative force that developed the enormously successful interactive Monk's Mind Game, Maia's Interactive Diary will help viewers find clues to the mystery of The 4400 on a weekly basis.

[cydonia 0]

Dresden Gets SCI FI Pickup

 

SCI FI Channel has ordered 11 episodes of The Dresden Files, a supernatural detective series based on Jim Butcher's best-selling books, the network said. Nicolas Cage's Saturn Films and Lionsgate TV will produce the series, which kicks off with a two-hour pilot in January.

 

Paul Blackthorne (24) plays Harry Dresden, a Chicago-based private detective who has the powers of a wizard. The Dresden Files will shoot in Toronto.

 

David Carson directed the pilot, which was written by Hans Beimler (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) and Robert Wolfe (Andromeda); they will serve as executive producers of the series, along with Cage, Norm Golightly and Morgan Gendel.

[cydonia 0]

4400 Returnees Revealed

 

Ira Steven Behr, co-creator of USA Network's SF series The 4400, told SCI FI Wire that the series will bring back guest stars Peter Coyote and Jeffrey Combs in the upcoming third season, but that fans may have to wait a bit to see the resolution of last season's cliffhanger, which featured the mysterious reappearance of Billy Campbell's Jordan Collier. "We're gong to tease this a little longer, partially because Billy Campbell is on a tall ship cruise around the world as a crew member, not as a passenger. He's up there in the riggings," Behr said in an interview earlier this year. "[but] it will be worth the wait, that's all. We've come up with an idea for him that I think is very good, and the way you saw him at the end of last season, with that beard and that hair, I think, is going to play a part in his character, so that might give you some idea." At the end of last season, fans saw what appeared to be 4400 leader Collier on a beach, though he was supposedly assassinated earlier in the year.

 

Behr added that the new season will bring back new regular cast member Karina Lombard as Alana Mareva, who was introduced as the love interest of Joel Gretsch's Tom Baldwin last year. "I think she's going to be in 10 out of 13 episodes playing Alana, Tom's lover and 4400 member," Behr said. "And I think that relationship and her abilities are going to have a big impact this season."

 

Next season will also see the return of "the equally lovely and talented Jeff Combs, who I worked with numerous times in the past," Behr said, with tongue in cheek. Combs, who worked with Behr on various Star Trek projects, will again play Kevin Burkhardt, a brilliant but troubled scientist who played a key role in last season's finale.

 

And former series regular Peter Coyote, who played the nefarious NTAC chief Dennis Ryland, makes an appearance. "He's in for a nice couple of episodes," Behr said. "Peter came back last year at the end, in those two episodes, and he ... scored hugely. He was in what could be an unsympathetic role, I'd say, and yet made it so cogent and so clear and his point of view was so well-stated that you just want to see more of him. ... We're not going to see Dennis Ryland back as the head of NTAC. Those days are certainly gone. But he will still play a decisive role in the series, and I think that he'll have a lot of fun." The 4400 returns with 13 new episodes starting June 4. USA Network is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM. —Patrick Lee, News Editor

[Persiaa 0]

(Sci-Fi Geek) But I may get banned from this thread. I have caught a few episodes of SG-1, not bad. Enterprise was ok, especially whenever the vulcan chick was in the decompression chamber... I wonder if Sci-Fi will pick up Enterprise? Probably too expensive.Battlestar Galatica...I have tried to watch it. Everyone tells me how great it is, but I think it sucks. Acting is better than the original, but just doesn't work with the low budget. I mean the colonial vipers fire bullets for crying out loud! Couldn't they spend a little extra for a few lasers or something? I enjoyed the original BG, despite the cheesiness and bad acting!

Whew, I thought I was the only one who couldn't get into BSG. I do like Stargate and Stargate Atlantis.SciFi has to make the worst movies, though. It's odd, since some of the miniseries are good (loved Taken). I think my favorite series was Babylon 5.I'm also a 4400 fan.

[MMM1 1]

I'm ready for the 4400 but it sounds like we are going to have to wait awhile for Billy Campbell

[soho2chelsea 3]

oops just saw this thread I just made a thread for the 4400. Caught a couple episodes today. Interesting show

[cydonia 0]

oops just saw this thread I just made a thread for the 4400. Caught a couple episodes today. Interesting show

That's okay. I think it deserves it's own thread now that it's starting it's 3rd season.How about from here on in we move all 4400 discussion to the new thread?MMM- yeah, I think we'll have to wait. Maybe he'll have shaved his beard by then

[BobbyD 2]

(Sci-Fi Geek)  But I may get banned from this thread.  I have caught a few episodes of SG-1, not bad.  Enterprise was ok, especially whenever the vulcan chick was in the decompression chamber... I wonder if Sci-Fi will pick up Enterprise?  Probably too expensive.Battlestar Galatica...I have tried to watch it.  Everyone tells me how great it is, but I think it sucks.  Acting is better than the original, but just doesn't work with the low budget.  I mean the colonial vipers fire bullets for crying out loud!  Couldn't they spend a little extra for a few lasers or something?  I enjoyed the original BG, despite the cheesiness and bad acting!

Whew, I thought I was the only one who couldn't get into BSG. I do like Stargate and Stargate Atlantis.SciFi has to make the worst movies, though. It's odd, since some of the miniseries are good (loved Taken). I think my favorite series was Babylon 5.I'm also a 4400 fan.

I'm with you Persiaa...I will have to check out 4400...when does it come on?Geez, the Sci-Fi flicks are really, really bad...Where's MST-3000, when you need 'em?

[cydonia 0]

Bobby D - there is a 4400 marathon on today on USA. There is also a one hour recap show that will get you up to date on the story airing at 9pm on USA (I think it's 9pm - check your listings).

[BobbyD 2]

Bobby D - there is a 4400 marathon on today on USA. There is also a one hour recap show that will get you up to date on the story airing at 9pm on USA (I think it's 9pm - check your listings).

Awesome, thanks, Cy...I'm turning to it as I type....If I can remember what station the USA Network is.

[cydonia 0]

About BSG - it took me a while but now I'm totally into it. I still love the original as well. I don't get why the vipers fire bullets and why Commander Adama has to answer a phone. I mean they are flying in friggin' space ships after all. :)I am a late fan to SG-1 so I don't like it as much as Atlantis which I've watched from the beginning. The only reason I started watching SG-1 was b/c Ben Browder and Claudia Black (both from Farscape) joined the cast.I have the first 3 seasons of Babylon 5 burned on dvd and need to sit down and watch them sometime before I get the rest of the seasons. I have heard so many good things about it. I've heard since I like Farscape, I'll like Babylon.Another sci fi show that I loved when it was on was Alien Nation. Don't know if anyone remembers that one, but it was quite good. It's also out on dvd now.Too much to watch, not enough time.

[BobbyD 2]

Alien Nation was a series? Woah..Looks like I got some work to do...and some DVD's to buy.

[abomb 0]

Another sci fi show that I loved when it was on was Alien Nation.  Don't know if anyone remembers that one, but it was quite good.  It's also out on dvd now.

OMG-- I used to love that show---I loved it better than the movie. I used to watch it religiously (Friday nights, if I recall correctly) and it lasted two seasons (I think). Gary Graham and Eric Pierpoint stared in the series.

[cydonia 0]

Wow, did it last 2 seasons? I know I watched every episode. I have the dvds - I believe it's just the first season. I'll have to check again to make sure.I think it was on Friday nights and I remember being heartbroken when it got cancelled. I should be used to it now, every show I like seems to get cancelled.

[alpierce 9]

About BSG - it took me a while but now I'm totally into it.  I still love the original as well.  I don't get why the vipers fire bullets and why Commander Adama has to answer a phone.  I mean they are flying in friggin' space ships after all. 

Adama uses what looks like an old wired bell telephone because his was the only ship in the fleet that was not modernized with networked computers. It was one of the few reasons it survived the attack.Personally I have never agreed with the fact that most if not all weapons use bullets. They have FTL engines but use weapons that belong in a WWII movie. Edited June 5, 2006 by alpierce

[cydonia 0]

One more slightly sci fi show (more in the vein of the XFiles) - Miracles. It aired on ABC in 2001 I believe. It got jerked around the schedule and then cancelled. It starred Skeet Ulrich who played an investigator into supposed miracles for the catholic church. Great show so of course it was treated unfairly and canned. I have the dvds of its one and only season and would watch them again tomorrow.Any one else remember this show?

[cydonia 0]

OMG-- I used to love that show---I loved it better than the movie. I used to watch it religiously (Friday nights, if I recall correctly) and it lasted two seasons (I think). Gary Graham and Eric Pierpoint stared in the series.

The dvd release for Alien Nation is titled "The Complete Series". It's 6 double sided discs. What haven't been released are the 4 or 5 movie specials that followed after the series was cancelled (thanks once again FOX). It aired in 1990-91 season. Could it be that long ago? Time flies.

[abomb 0]

OMG-- I used to love that show---I loved it better than the movie.  I used to watch it religiously (Friday nights, if I recall correctly) and it lasted two seasons (I think).  Gary Graham and Eric Pierpoint stared in the series.

The dvd release for Alien Nation is titled "The Complete Series". It's 6 double sided discs. What haven't been released are the 4 or 5 movie specials that followed after the series was cancelled (thanks once again FOX). It aired in 1990-91 season. Could it be that long ago? Time flies.

Thanks for the update--and yeah--I guess I must have been counting the 4-5 tv movie specials after the tv series ended. Wow--that does seem like a lifetime ago-

[Hoyaheel 1,874]

Has anyone been watching Eureka?? My husband and I are LOVING it! I prefer my scifi with a large dose of humor, so this show really hits the spot for me! We missed the pilot last week but it re-aired on Monday so we caught it and the new episode last night.Until I checked the cast online, I totally thought that Jack Carter was the same actor who was in Keen Eddie. How could it NOT be? They look and act exactly alike!! (Colin Ferguson, from Coupling, is in Eureka, while it was Mark Valley in Keen Eddie) Totally blew my mind when I looked up the casts and it wasn't the same guy....Oh well.

[cydonia 0]

I'm watching Eureka. I have to admit I don't love it. I like it enough to keep watching, but I was a bit let down with the pilot. I did enjoy last night's episode more so I hope it'll grow on me. The lead actor does look like Mark Valley who played Keen Eddie (and is now on Boston Legal). And I really like the mother of the autistic child.

[cydonia 0]

Televisionary

 

BBC Three Ignites "Torchwood"

 

BBC Three has announced that it will make Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood the "centerpiece" of its fall schedule, launching the "sci fi crime thriller" series in October. No plans are currently in place to import the series Stateside, though our neighbors to the north will be able to catch Torchwood on CBC.

 

Spinning off of one of Doctor Who's most memorable characters, Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), Torchwood will be set in present day Cardiff (that's Wales to you lot) and will surround a group of covert criminal investigators called the Torchwood Institute, an organization commissioned by Queen Victoria and tasked with investigating alien technology. The team will be headquartered at The Hub, located beneath Cardiff Bay, the site of the TARDIS' landing in "Boom Town" and the location of the rift discussed in "The Unquiet Dead."

 

Created by current Doctor Who writer/producer Russell T. Davies, Torchwood stars John Barrowman as bisexual time traveller/con man Jack Harkness and Eve Myles as former police officer Gwen Cooper. Astute Doctor Who fans may remember Myles from the Who episode "The Unquiet Dead," where she played the role of the similarly named Gwyneth. (Whether Gwen and Gwyneth are the same character has yet to be confirmed, but the fact that Myles' previous Who episode dealt with the rift adds credence to that theory.)

 

Joining Barrowman and Myles are Bleak House's Burn Gorman, who will play Torchwood Institute medic Owen Harper, and Absolutely Fabulous' Naoko Mori, who will reprise the role of Toshiko Sato from the Doctor Who episode "Aliens of London."

 

Doctor Who writer/producer Russell T. Davies has written the first of thirteen episodes. He'll be joined on the series by writers Chris Chibnall, co-creator of Life on Mars, and P.J. Hammond, creator of 1980s cult classic Sapphire & Steel (which starred Mori's Absolutely Fabulous castmate Joanna Lumley), among others.

 

Torchwood is, of course, a clever anagram of Doctor Who and was originally used as a codename for the current incarnation of Doctor Who, before taking on a life of its own during the series.

 

I can only hope that we here in the States will eventually be lucky enough to watch Torchwood, though I'm still waiting for an official announcement about when Sci-Fi will air the second (sadly, Eccleston-free) season of Doctor Who.