Sci-Fi TV Sunday: Chuck, Fringe, Heroes, Lost, Smallville, V + more

In this week’s Sci-Fi TV, we’ve got news about Smallville producers pushing for a 10th season, NBC ordering six more episodes of Chuck, cancellation rumors surrounding Heroes, V original series creator Kenneth Johnson talking about the new ABC series (and his plans for a big screen version), plus updates on Lost and more, including the latest television ratings, casting bites, images and videos.

 

GENRE TV NEWS

Leonard Nimoy’s Role on Fringe May Come To An End
Speaking with the LA Times’ Hero Complex Blog, Leonard Nimoy revealed that he has filmed three scenes for "Fringe" and may not be doing anymore, despite interest from the creative team for him to return:

"I’ve done three appearances for them," said Nimoy. "I don’t know if I will do a fourth…"

But Nimoy was clear in that his decision isn’t based on the quality of the show, but instead on the future potential of his character, William Bell:

"They’ve asked me to do more, but we have to talk about where the character is going. So far my character, William Bell, and my appearances have been used to lay in information about this alternate universe and the experience of being in this other world. And that’s OK, but I don’t know yet what plans they have for really developing a dramatic story for the character. I’m waiting for a conversation about that."

"I think they’re [J.J. Abrams, show runner Jeff Pinkner and series creators Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman] talking amongst themselves now so they can present some kind of plan, a story arc of some kind," he added.

Losing Nimoy isn’t the only potential problem for the show, ratings are down this season and TV Guide has placed the show on their "on the bubble" list:

Issues: It’s been consistently fourth in its extremely competitively timeslot (opposite Grey’s Anatomy, The Office and 30 Rock, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Supernatural), despite actually posting gains for Fox on Thursday nights over last season. But the relatively healthy Tuesday audience it used to have is shrinking. 

Promo (aired during Game 1 of the World Series)

Damon Lindelof Talks Lost: Season Six
Executive producer/writer/show runner Damon Lindelof was at Golden Apple Comics in L.A promoting the release of his "Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk" comic compilation, but took some time to answer some questions about the upcoming sixth and final season of "Lost"  .  Here are some excerpts from his interview with E! Online:

For those fans of Lost who are invested in the romance on the show, will there be anything for them this year, or is this primarily a mythology season?

Lindelof: That’s an excellent question. Our focus remains where it’s always been: on the characters. And there are significant and emotional bonds, from both the friendship and the romantic angle, that we would be remiss in not exploring; we probably won’t be exploring them in the way that you think. That’s my official answer.

OK, this might be a little esoteric, but who is the leader, and why does it matter?

Lindelof: That is very esoteric. I don’t know, you look like a Jennifer—I think what Jennifer is referring to is in some of our Lost season-six promotional materials there are some hieroglyphics. Various hieroglyphic experts—who are those guys, by the way?—have taken a crack at interpreting what these hieroglyphics translate to, and one of the popular theories that is now emerging is that they translate to this question, "Who is the leader?" So if that’s what he thinks it means, you’d have to ask him. I don’t know why we would make people work so hard just to enjoy a poster!

Really? There’s nothing about Locke versus Sawyer versus Jack versus Sayid versus Ben?

Lindelof: Nope, nothing. Who cares about leadership?

In addition to that interview, some fan questions were posed to Lindelof by USA Today while he was at the Austin Film Festival.  Here’s a selection of some of the questions (read the complete Q&A session at this link):

Is the ending you envisioned when you first created the show still in place? — adanzis

That’s a great question. Yes, the actual ending ending is exactly the same as we’d always planned on it being, except we didn’t know if we were going to get there after two seasons, four seasons or after six seasons, so the road to the ending has had to change significantly. But the ending itself? Whether people like it or not, that’s the ending we’ve had.

Are we going to return to the numbers? They obviously played a huge role in the beginning. Then we got away from them and started focusing more on the characters. Will we ever come back to them? — Tommy F.

I like Tommy’s question a lot better than the way I usually hear that question, which is, "What do the numbers mean?" I can say one of the things we’re really focused on doing this year is trying to make the entire season as satisfying as possible. We know if we wait until the very last episode of the show to give answers or revelations there’s no way it’ll be satisfying, so we’re trying to give out that stuff as we go along. And all I would say is, this is the final season of Lost. We would be enormously remiss if we were to not evaluate the numbers and their significance.

In casting news:

  • Calrton Cuse confirmed that William Atherton will appear in a future episode. [Carlton Cuse]
  • TV Guide Magazine reported that Maggie Grace (Shannon) will be headed to Hawaii in November to shoot scenes for the show (possible with on-screen brother Boone, played by Ian Somerhalder). [via The ODI]
  • The show is looking for an actress in her early to mid 30s to play Kendall, a possible recurring character described "as an ‘intellectual beauty with a sharp edge to her wit. Caught committing corporate espionage and has to lie her way out," for episode eight. [SpoilerTV] 
  • In case it wasn’t obvious enough, [possible spoiler, so highlight to view]: It has been confirmed that Juliet is dead. [NY Mag’s Vulture]

Set images [more here, here and here]

Smallville Producers Pushing for a 10th Season
"Smallville"
executive producer Kelly Souders tells EW that she and her fellow producers “are really, really pushing for season 10,” adding “ We really hope it happens.” A few weeks back a 10th season wouldn’t have seemed like such a plausible possibility, but improved ratings — Friday’s episode drew a season-high 2.60 million viewers and a 1.2 A18-49 rating — has renewed hope in a renewal:

"I think the word still isn’t out there that we’re on Friday nights. So if people keep tuning in and telling their friends about it, I think [a 10th season] is quite likely."  

With the show nearly at the half-way point, Souders was asked whether the writers are approaching the end of the season a season finale, or a series finale and gave similiar responses to both EW and TVGuide:

"We’re just going gung-ho. We are planning to break a season finale and not a series finale. We have our fingers crossed. The fans have just been amazing. Nobody knew what was going to happen when we moved to Friday night and the fact that fans showed up and have been enjoying the show, it’s meant everything to us and I know it’s meant a lot to the studio and the network. I think that’s given us a much better chance of coming back for Season 10. We’re hopeful."

Head on over to TVGuide for more, including Souder’s thoughts on Chloe’s involvement in upcoming episodes. Rounding out the various interviews, Souders told EW that we’ll likely see Clark in the iconic Superman suit by the time the show comes to an end:

"We think Smallville from the get-go was about how a young man turns into Superman. And it’s really about the journey getting there. I can’t make any promises, but if it was ever going to happen, it would be at the very end."

Closing out this week’s "Smallville" round-up, executive producer Brian Peterson told Daemon TV that Zatanna and Martian Manhunter are heading back to the show this season in the now two-part episode "Society", penned by comic book writer Geoff Johns. The episode also marks the arrival of JLA members Hawkman, Doctor Fate and Stargirl:

"To be honest, there were so many characters and so much great story that people would’ve been robbed of some great moments if we kept it to just one hour,” says Sounders. “So now that it’s a two-parter, you won’t miss anything."

Check out the synopsis for episode eight “Idol”, airing November 13th, at SpoilerTV.

Episode seven – "Kandor" [more at OSCK]

Season nine poster [OSCK]

Promo for episode seven

Kenneth Johnson Encouraged by V’s Return to Television

Kenneth Johnson, creator of the original "V" TV series, told Variety that even if the upcoming ABC series doesn’t succeed, he’s happy to see the property back in the mainstream:

"If the show succeeds, it gives us an opportunity to go out with a one sheet that says, ‘You like the show, now see the original classic reborn,’ " Johnson says. "And if the show doesn’t do well, we can always say, ‘Here is the "V" you’ve been waiting for.’ "

Johnson didn’t retain the TV rights to the title, but he does hold the film rights and continues to have plans for a big screen version, one which he says he prefers to take the Independent route in making:

"When I discovered that I controlled the motion picture rights to ‘V,’ I suddenly had a lot of new best friends," Johnson says. "All the major studios, Fox, Paramount, MGM, Warners, wanted to buy the rights with a whole lot of money. They see it as a $200 million tentpole picture, and want to bring someone else to direct. I took a deep breath and said no."

"I got into the business to direct and do what I do," Johnson says. "So what we’ve been endeavoring to do is to set up an independent production and produce this movie for $50 million. So I can hang on to the director reins and make sure it gets done."

Meanwhile, remember that sky writing campaign we talked about last week? Well ABC is abandoning it. THR Feed is reporting that the network has decided that they would rather spend their advertising money to promote the show in a different manner. There were also potential concerns about the potential environmental risk involved, but ABC didn’t cite that as a reason for pulling the promotion. "V" premieres this Tuesday, November 3rd at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC. The show will run for four weeks before going on hiatus until March, a decision executive producer Steve Pearlman discussed with SCI FI Wire:

"From the very beginning, there was going to be a break," Pearlman said on the show’s set in Vancouver, Canada. "We were planned originally to be on starting in November, and then we were going to be off the air for about six or seven weeks and then come back on the air in January. And I think … everybody kind of realized that that would put us up against American Idol … plus the Olympics."

Pearlman says that the 13-episode season will play out in four-episode chapters and that their hopeful the multiple cliffhangers will be enough to keep the audience interested over the lengthy break between episodes four and five:

"These [first] four episodes now have been designed very carefully [that this is] basically the first three weeks of the Visitors being here. … Episodes one, two and three following the pilot, the story … becomes much more about: There is no normal anymore, which is the title of the [second] episode."

"There are quite a few cliffhanger moments for many of our characters in that episode, and things that hopefully will be big enough events and the viewers will be hooked into these characters enough that the viewers will want to come back and see what happens to them in March."

Here are a couple other highlights from SCI FI Wire’s set visit:

  • Alan Tudyk guest-starred in the pilot episode as the partner of FBI counter-terrorist agent Erica Evans (Elizabeth Mitchell), but his status has been upgraded to a recurring character.
  • Just like in the original series, the Visitors are actually reptilian creatures disguised as humans. Producers remain tight-lipped when it comes to revealing whether we’ll see a full reveal, but they did say that there will be an off-screen “skinning” of an alien at some point in the initial set of episodes.
  • The Visitors make use of an alien language as an homage to Johnson’s original miniseries.

And lastly, ABC recently unveiled the titles and descriptions for episodes three ("A Bright New Day"–11/17/2009) and four ("It’s Only The Beginning"–11/24/2009). Head on over to VisitorSite to read the descriptions.

Promo: "Five Days Left"

Clip: "You Even Get a Uniform"

Watch more clips here

Music video (set to Muse’s new single "Uprising") [via EW]

Will This Be The Final Season of Heroes?
Season four may well be the last we see of NBC’s "Heroes". Airlock Alpha is reporting that NBC executives will ask "Heroes" producers to draw up an end plan for the series, with a possible overall series finale to air by May of next year.

“There isn’t much happening with this show in terms of audience, and giving it a ‘final chapter’ feel is something the network is considering to help allow the show to go out with a bang,” said the source, who asked not to be identified.

“To keep a show like this going despite its numbers requires some nostalgic connection to it, and while there are a lot of people here who were part of bringing ‘Heroes’ to the air, they are not in the decision-making capacities,” the source said.

Airlock Alpha notes, however, that a final decision hasn’t been made yet and likely won’t be made until closer to mid-season. Meanwhile, in casting news, SpoilerTV has a casting call for episode 14 "Let It Bleed" for a character named Mr. Nozawa: "50-60 Male. Japanese. Must speak fluent Japanese. Wise, dedicated restaurateur in DC. Sushi chef and owner is persuaded to close his doors for a loyal customer." And lastly, here’s a brief description for episode nine "Brother’s Keeper":

Episode eight – "Once Upon A Time In Texas" [CBR]

Promo for episode eight – "Once Upon A Time In Texas"

Episode eight sneak peek

NBC Orders Six More Episodes of Chuck
The news continues to get better for fans of the NBC’s "Chuck". Earlier in the week, multiple sources reported that NBC had ordered an additional six episodes for the third season, pushing the season total to 19.  The order has now been confirmed by Christopher Lawrence (Big Mike) who posted the following message on his Twitter account:

It is official! The announcement was made today on set. Chuck gets 6 more episodes! Thank you Chuck fans!!!

The episode order boost is yet indication that it’ll return early (perhaps in January paired with new episodes of "Heroes").   More "Chuck" news below:

  • A casting call for episode 10 – "Chuck Versus the Tic Tac" – is looking for four characters. [SpoilerTV]
  • Warner Bros. has announced a January 10, 2010 release date for "Chuck: The Complete Second Season" on DVD and Blu-ray. [via ChuckTV.net]
  • You can vote "Chuck" to be nominated in two categories for the "People’s Choice Awards 2010": Favorite TV Comedy and Favorite TV Comedy Actor (Zachary Levi). [People’s Choice]

NEW IMAGES

The Sarah Jane Adventures

Episodes 5-6 – "The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith" [more at Blogtor Who]

Supernatural

Episode nine – "The Real Ghostbusters" [more at SpoilerTV]

CASTING BITES

  • A casting call for The CW’s "Supernatural" is looking for two characters to guest star in the show’s upcoming 12th episode ("Swap Meat"). [SpoilerTV]
  • Paula Newsome will be joining the cast of ABC’s "FlashForward".  The actress will play a doctor for an arc that will likely begin airing in early 2010. [EW]


NEW VIDEOS

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan

Edward James Olmos Directs

More behind-the-scenes videos here and here

Doctor Who

Preview clip from "Waters of Mars"

Eastwick

Promo for episode seven – "Red Ants and Black Widows"

FlashForward

Promo for episode seven – "The Gift"

Episode seven sneak peek

Ghost Whisperer

Promo for episode seven – "Devil’s Bargain"

Legend of the Seeker

Featurette: "Season 2 Secrets"

Medium

Promo for episode seven – "New Terrain"

Sanctuary

Promo for episode five – "Pavor Nocturnus"

Episode five sneak peek


 

The Sarah Jane Adventures

Trailer for episodes 5-6 – "The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith"

Stargate Universe

Promo for episode seven – "Earth"

Supernatural

Promo for episode eight – "Changing Channels"

Clip from episode eight

The Vampire Diaries

Promo for episode eight – "162 Candles"

TV BITES

  • Brian Bendis provided some status updates on the "Powers" TV series in an interview with MTV.
  • Syfy is developing an American version of the BBC series "Being Human", which is about a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost ending up as roommates.  The network has ordered 13 episodes and plans to launch it in the summer or fall of 2010 as a companion to "Sanctuary". [THR]
  • "Battlestar Galactica: The Plan" has an Easter egg for original series fans.  Do the following the watch the clip: 1) Go to the extras menu, 2) highlight the Admiral to Director’s featurette, 3) navigate to the right with your remote, 4) you’ll see the BSG Seal appear — hit enter to watch the clip. [Darth Mojo]
  • "Dollhouse" writer Maurissa Tancharoen talks about the most-recent episode "Belonging" and what’s to come in an interview with io9
  • ..meanwhile, star Eliza Dushku tweeted a message from the set. [Eliza Dushku]
  • Sam and Dean will be switching bodies in the 12th episode of "Supernatural", hence the episode’s name "Swap Meat". [EW]
  • Enter the "Dinner With The Admiral" contest to win a dinner with Edward James Olmos of "Battlestar Galactica"… [UGO]
  • …Plus, check out an interview with Olmos where he talks about the show’s unanswered questions and his ideas for future BSG direct-to-DVD/Blu-ray releases. [io9]
  • Apostle Films, headed by actor Denis Leary and Jim Serpico, has secured the rights to the feature film "Gattaca" and are planning to develop it as a one-hour police procedural set in the future. [Variety via SlashFilm]
  • The second season of the ABC comedy "Better Off Ted" will premiere Tuesday, December 8th at 9:30 p.m. ET. [ABC]
  • Mike Medavoy and FremantleMedia Enterprises are collaborating on "Dinosaurs Resurrected", a multiplatform franchise that will included a primetime HD series for 2011. [Variety]
  • BBC America has announced the premiere date for the "Doctor Who" special "The Waters of Mars". The special will air on BBC America on December 19th at 9:00 p.m. ET. Airdates for the remaining David Tennant episodes will be announced in December (with the episodes expected to air over the holiday season). The BBC will release "The Waters of Mars" and the two-part finale will be released on DVD and Blu-ray high-def on Tuesday, February 2, 2010. [SCI FI Wire]
  • Casting notices have gone out for the upcoming third season of the hit HBO drama series "True Blood" reveals what we have in store for in the new season: werewolves, zombies, strippers, rednecks and more vampires… [E! Online and EW]
  • …You can read the complete casting call over at SpoilerTV
  • …For spoiler-related details revealed during the "True Blood" writers event hosted by the Paley Center, head on over to E! Online
  • …Meanwhile, Charlaine Harris, who writes the series of novels from which the series is based on, revealed that she may be close to putting a lid on heroine Sookie Stackhouse: I’ve signed a contract to write three more after the one that’s coming out in May, and they may be the last three," Harris said. "Probably by then I will have lived with Sookie long enough," adding "I hope I have enough sense to walk away before that happens." [CNN]

SCI FI TV RATINGS [Based on final national numbers]

Monday

"Heroes" drew 5.72 million viewers and a 2.5 A18-49 rating.  That was even from the week prior in total viewers, and up a slight 4% among adults 18-49.

Wednesday

"Eastwick" remains weak overall — 5.02 million viewers and a 1.8 A18-49 rating — however the show rebounded from series lows last week (+5% in viewers and +13% in A18-49 rating).

Thursday

After a nearly 10 million viewer showing last week, "FlashForward" took a hit this week (perhaps because of Baseball on Fox).  The show dropped nearly 1 million viewers to 8.92 million (-10%) and shed 13% in A18-49 rating (to a 2.7).  We’ll see what happens in subsequent weeks — and when DVR data is revealed — but that drop in A18-49 rating is concerning.  Over on The CW, "The Vampire Diaries" returned after a one-week hiatus and posted its strongest numbers since its series premiere, with 4.18 million viewers (+8%) and a 2.0 A18-49 rating (+11%).  The increase transferred to lead-out "Supernatural" which grew to 2.92 million viewers (+13%) and a 1.4 A18-49 rating (+17%).  Note: "Fringe" was on hiatus this week.

Friday [Oct. 30th episode numbers are based on preliminary fast affiliate data]

"Ghost Whisperer" (8.28 million viewers and a 2.0 A18-49 rating) and "Medium" (7.69 million viewers and a 1.8 A18-49 rating) led CBS to another easy victory Friday night, however both shows were off from their week-ago numbers (-4% and -5% for "Ghost Whisperer", and -9% and -14% for "Medium").  Over on The CW, meanwhile, "Smallville" appears to be gaining some momentum.  Last night’s episode drew 2.60 million viewers and a 1.2 A18-49 rating–both season highs (+5% in viewers and +9% in A18-49 rating from the week prior).  After hitting a series low with the October 2nd episode (2.24 million viewers and a 0.9 A18-49 rating), "Smallville" has rebounded a solid 16% in viewers and +33% in A18-49 rating. Note: "Dollhouse" was on hiatus this week.

In cable ratings news, the October 23rd episode of "Stargate Universe" drew 2.01M viewers and a 0.8 A18-49 rating (-4% in viewers and -11% in A18-49 rating), while "Sanctuary" drew 1.69M viewers and a 0.5 A18-49 rating (-5% in viewers (-17%) in A18-49 rating).  Note: Ratings for last night’s episodes of both series will be known next week. Meanwhile, Syfy’s Wednesday night pairing of "Ghost Hunters" and "Destination Truth" continues to outperform Syfy’s Friday night lineup. Wednesday’s (Oct. 28) episode of "Ghost Hunters" drew 3.06 million viewers and a 1.4 A18-49 rating (-0% in viewers, n/c in A18-49 rating), while "Destination Truth" drew 2.14 million viewers and a 0.9 A18-49 rating (+7% in viewers and n/c in A18-49 rating). 

CHART (10/19/2009 to 10/25/2009)


Follow Russ on his blog: Your Entertainment Now and on Twitter: Twitter.com/YourEntNow.

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this is really good news. I see it now that heroes should decide to end running in the current state.

Can’t wait for “The Plan.”

Have stuck with Lost and am ready for whatever the ending is. I’m a little numb from all the filler and distracting minor characters who’ve shown up only to be killed. Ah well.

Heroes? What the hell happened? Dunno. Don’t know whether I care anymore.

Doc Who should be great fun. It’ll be tough to follow David Tenant.

Anyway… some good weeks of TV ahead.

NOOOOOO Heroes is awesome. Already having to say goodbye to 24, but I can see that there running low on ideas. But Heroes is definitely not, it would be like when TOS was cancelled.

I’m really excited about V. Kinda looks like Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke

I wish they would just tell us what the deal is with the flash forward thing already. Don’t make us wait to see entire seasons of the show complete with cliffhangers — I’m ready to see the series finale NOW.

Why cancel Heroes? It is doing better than shows like Dollhouse, Vampire Diaries, Smallville and Supernatural. This season the writing is back up to snuff. I say stick with it.. let it go another season or two before bowing out on a natural progression.

I can’t help but notice that only an American airdate for Doctor Who: The Water of Mars is mentioned in the article.

Does the the November 15th at 7 pm on BBC One and BBC HD Channel in the UK and Ireland not warrant a mention?

*starts chant*

It’ll be better then Planet of the Dead
It’ll be better then Planet of the Dead
It’ll be better then Planet of the Dead
It’ll be better then Planet of the Dead
It’ll be better then Planet of the Dead
It’ll be better then Planet of the Dead

I fully support Heroes ending this year. The show is beyond saving. They’d basically have to create a whole new show to fix it. Granted, it has improved this year but not enough.

Fringe needs to move back to Tuesdays. It can’t compete with CSI and Grey’s.

Why they cancel shows I haven’t had a chance to see yet I’ll never know. Aren’t they aware of my personal needs? Pshaw!

A few comments on Smallville: I have no clue what the program is up to now, but when it first ran, it struck me as a show for the younger set, so I never really got into it. That is, for the same demographic as Lone Tree Hill, or whatever you call it. But now that I feel certain they’re incorporating some actual otherworldly elements of the traditional Supes mythos (Supe’s origins, his finding the Fortress of Solitude, etc.), I’d be interested in knowing how it’s going to go. (Yes, I know they’ve probably incorporated such elements before, but I’ve always missed those.)

A few comments about V: I like it. That is, I like the idea of it. I’ve kinda been pushing the idea in my mind. I saw the original NBC version back in the 1980’s, with Jane Badler, which is now good campy fun, and I must say this new one should knock it out of the park. Here’s hoping. Here’s hoping, as well, that it will incorporate lots of Trek references — just because.

A few comments about Doctor Who: Not all that available for viewing on my schedule, but the theme music alone is worth the cost of admission.

Finally, don’t know much about Dollhouse. Also, FlashForward irks me for the reasons I implied above. For some reason, I want it to end already, and it may be because of some comment by some producer or something that said that FlashForward ain’t sci-fi. Well, if you say so.

One of the big stories is Jay Leno’s 10pm show’s massive tank to below “Top Chef.” He has fewer viewers now than ENT did at the end, if I am not mistaken.

Headlines ask “Is NBC dead?” I think most people don’t care.

Heroes should have been a season long TV series. The first season was pure gold and was simply amazing. The second season was okay for what os was in trying to wrap up some loose ends from the first season. The third season was totally unnecessary and went the way of The Dark Knight and made everything very disturbing and depressing. The fourth season… Nothing has happened yet and I am board as hell with it. I’ve seen every episode of Heroes and I really wanted it to end during the first season finale. Oh well..

As for FlashForward, I’m happy that a new and interesting show is on the air. It’s an interesting concept. I just don’t hope it goes on for ever and gets boring and repetitive. I givve this show a season (two, if it’s lucky enough) before it goes down hill drastically.

Being a HUGE comic book fan, Smallville should had ended a long time ago. At this point they are totally milking the franchise to death. I stopped watching it after the fifth season and I thought it could had ended there. I think the ninth season should defiantly be its last.

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan looks like a great conclusion to the epic TV series. I can not wait for Caprica to begin!

I saw the original 1983 TV miniseries V and thought it was a cool idea, however I thought they went about it very poorly. I hope the new version can hold its ground.

All in all, I think it will be a decent season for science fiction TV shows.

Fringe needs to stay around.

Ah alas, Heroes was amazing, but the major hiccup that was season 2 derailed the show so much it became mundane and forgettable. . .

V looks really cool, though I have a weird Earth : Final Conflict feeling about it, dunno hope it aint so.

My dirty little secret for this TV year is Eastwick, I say this in full anticipation of being ridiculed, but I dont’ care, I like it.

Eastwick? Bah, it’s not the same without the Jackster in it. Get Nicholson to do a cameo, and then maybe we’ll talk. :-)

Incidentally, apparently there’s been a sequel written about the lives of the Eastwick girls after Nicholson’s character bit the big one (or did he?). Wonder if the series is based on that, or what.

#14, Its not, The Widows of Eastwick is a sequel to the original book, its not very good. . . imho

It is a shame that television shows aren’t allowed to have a bad season anymore. I’m glad Heroes didn’t get the axe. It had a lot of potential and I think it still does.

Season One of TNG was pretty lousy. There were the horribly racist episodes (Code of Honor, Justice); sexist episodes (Angel One, Haven); and the just plain condescending episodes (The Neutral Zone; Symbiosis) where Picard 1.0 preaches the gospel of saying no to drugs, country music, and Wall Street.

In today’s competitive environment, TNG probably wouldn’t have made it pass the starting gate. Yet, the show didn’t really come into its own until Season Three or so.

lets be honest here. TNG only survived because it was Star Trek in name only. Eastwick can run circles around it. Easwick=great. TNG=crap

For its time TNG was ok, there was very littke sci-fi in the late 80’s. And when it came into its stride, it was one of the best.
I get really annoyed that shows get cancelled in America before they get a chance anywhere else, or worse, a great show that gets the chop due to an “executive decision” despite its popularity. Yet the plague of reality TV is sweeping the globe at a depressing rate, leaving little or no room for creative television.

Wonderfalls, Dead Like Me (oh how i miss thee)

I like this site, but I never will understand the TNG haters on here.

Heroes is awful. Why is it on? And to the loser who says Eastwick is better than TNG, why are you at a Trek site and not at a Eastwick site?

Also, TNG wasn’t on a network, it was syndicated.

Sorry buddy, face the music……TNG catered to a small but loyal fanbase. This is why the show failed as a motion picture series. It just is not that great. Trek 09 got it right…….Bravo Kirk, Spock, and McCoy.
Eastwick rules!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

hey i loved earth final conflict-i think that was a great series ahead if its time-i think the wraith from stargate atlantis were a ripoff from efc…

10 years of Smallville?? Tom Welling will be on a walker by that point!

# 20
I am not a hater, so dont even try that crap with me. I just think its true that 20 or so years ago it was the norm for a show to develop over its initial seasons to become great, now greatness is demanded immediatly, and odd decisions are made. Some series get picked up for 20 episodes before a pilot is seen, others get a dear john after a dozen. . .

#22

I have to admit I haven’t seen Eastwick, so I’m not going to bash it. However, it would probably be best for you to wait until the show has finished its seventh season before comparing it to TNG.

#17 & #22: Duke, while you are certainly entitled to your opinion, I have to adamantly disagree that Eastwick is better than TNG. Eastwick has that odd “Desperate Housewives” feel I can’t shake.

As a TV show, TNG was an absolute success and I would actually argue that there are more TNG fans than TOS fans. (Excluding the demographic of this website.)

22 Small but loyal fan base? LOL! Star Trek fans were the fan base! Apparently you fogot all those movies, books, TV episodes, and the fact that it helped DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise to get made? Hilarious.

Back up a bit – people actually WATCH 30 Rock??

I love Fringe, best SciFi on telly in my opinion…much better then anything, even SG:U, though I am giving it a chance

Oh and Doctor Who…November 15th…aaactually can’t wait!

@17, 22: While people will endlessly argue about which Starfleet captain is the best and which television show is the greatest, there’s no way anyone can say TNG sucked. It’s just boggling. You sound like a looney in the face of its high ratings (remember, it was direct to syndication too) and critical praise.

#27 has it right. Fact is TNG connected with a younger audience; the fact was that the people who had grown up with Kirk and Spock were getting old, and pretty much every review of the TOS movies threw in a geriatric joke or two. They simply couldn’t be taken seriously any more. At some point a refresh is required. The TNG movies for the most part bombed because of poor marketing and fundamental story flaws (whoever though the moral dilemma in Insurrection would be difficult? Whoever thought Kirk getting shot in the back would be a great ending?)

I am looking so forward to Waters of Mars on November 15th in the UK. The promos look very good. I enjoyed Planet of the Dead.

SG.U is okay but nothing special. I plan to keep watching and give it a chance. I am a huge SG.A fan. I want it to succeed.

A little off topic, but the Sara Jane Adventures are fantastic this season. I loved the Dr. Who cameo in the Sara Jane’s wedding episode. Hopefully it will be shown on SyFy or BBCA later on for those in the US.

“Lost” rocks.

A little off topic but: “Terminater: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” fans. The Terminater franchise is up for sale. I just read it on AOL and there was no mention of TSCC. The rights to the name are for sale, the first two movies are not.

#24 Harry Harry Harry, again with the Smallville hate talk. What, nothing negative to say about Erica Durance? Are you really John Glover?

Looking forward to V. Loving Heroes, in fact I think that this is the best season so far. Smallville I’ll see on dvd, Doctor Who I think I might have to finally torrent after all three specials are out, don’t think I can wait til Feb.

Yes! TSCC needs to be brought back.
KEEP Dollhouse on hiatus.

#11 Gorn: I can agree Smallville isn’t the sparkling show on a hill that it was in 2001, but if you stopped watching after season 5, you missed a great season 6 & 7. Season 8 was weak, season 9 is plodding along. You have to give props to Tom Welling. He plays the charactor better than ever. He does not give that “Oh I wish I wasn’t here ” type performance we got from Avery Brooks the last two seasons of DS9.

Funny how they won’t do what all the fans want to see, and what would make the show a whole lot better, until the last episode. Probably be one shot of him in the suit as he flies off and they end with what they should have had a lot soon.

#36 Lore, Lore, Lore, as I told you before, I LIKE Smallville, but, hey, when is this particular “kid” going to finally leave home and fly on his own?

p.s. and, oh, yes, Durance still stinks! :>)

Heroes has become terribly formulaic and un-original after the second season. It’s time to end the show.

While I’ve never been a “fan” of the Stargate series (oh, I enjoy the show enough to watch if I’m channel surfing and it catches my attention) I actually really enjoyed Stargate Universe. Sadly, I’ve only seen the pilot so I don’t know how it’s been progressing. While I initially thought of it as “Stargate does Voyager \ Lost In Space” I think it’s really more of “Stargate does Space:1999”. Both shows featured crews with no way to get home stuck on a “vehicle” that they had no control over. Since I loved the atmospheric moodiness of S1 of 1999, and the general concept of a crew on a journey that they have no control over….I’d like to see more.

Other than that…..the only show in this list that I watch is Dr. Who. And I’m really stoked for the end of Tennants run. It was a great run, but I’m looking forward to the new Doctor, companion, Tardis, and well……everything! The way this show is set up is quite simply, pure genius. There is no other show that can have the kind of “jump on point for new viewers” that Dr. Who can. This is about the only show I’m stoked for these days. Well that and Season Four of The Venture Brothers.

#41 But have we unmasked you as a disgruntled “JOHN GLOVER”?

Harry, if you actually watched you’d know. Jor El told him he still thinks of himself as a human, and flying is un-natural to a human, and as we learned in season 3, he’s afraid of heights.

BTW Erica Durance is HOT! When did a women require anything else to be on Smallville. Even the producers (On DVD comentary) stated that as long as the lighting is right, the hair and make-up is done right, and they have their beautiful young cast, Smallville works. Obviously much more is required to make the show work, but without those key elements they know there would be no show.

Let me throw this rock out there. How about Erica Durance to play SARAH PALIN in the movie.

That Smallville season 9 poster looks like amateur nonsense.

32. davidfuchs

TNG died partly for the same reason as the TOS films: the cast were too old. They should never have gone to movies with TNG anyway, as it wasn’t a style of show suited to the cinema.

Trek movies needed fresh blood even back then, as in a return for Kirk, Spock and McCoy to their youth, not a bunch of actors jaded from a seven-year run on TV. I mean, where else would you make films in a a sci-fi action-adventure franchise where the cast are all heading into their 50s and 60s?

TOS got away with it because of its strong cast and iconic characters. TNG was a talkier show, completely out of its depth when pretending to be an action movie series. Looking back, rather than cancelling TNG, they should have kept it running on TV, with various regular characters moving on, becoming occasional guest stars and new ones joining, perhaps bringing in the Enterprise-E, the Dominion War and even marooning the Enterprise in the Delta Quadrant for a time!

Problem with TNG, VOY and ENT was that they were all really the same show. It would have been better to call them all TNG, keep them in the same time period and have done with it.

#44-46

Lore, Do I SOUND like John Glover?

“Erica Durance is HOT!”

Bah! If you go to Malibu Beach and throw a stick, you hit a dozen of THAT!

Can’t the women be HOT and have SOME acting talent?

So, the producers of Smallville think that due to better viewership this season, they might get to “reward” us with a tenth season? Don’t they know that we’re watching in the HOPE that it’ll finally wrap up instead of going on forever?

So I guess we have to stop watching it in order for them to bring this sucker to a close, then view it on DVD afterwards. I wish they had the same quality ethics as the Lost producers, but clearly not.