Sci-Fi TV Wednesday: The Munsters, Wonder Woman, Smallville, Supernatural, Stargate Universe, Caprica + more October 6, 2010
by Rosario T. Calabria , Filed under: Sci-Fi , trackback
The new fall TV season is just starting but this Sci-Fi TV update starts off with development news on a number of new shows, including the return of Wonder Woman. We also take a close look at how the season’s ratings are treating shows with who is up and who is down, plus tons of previews and more.
GENRE TV NEWS
Development news: The Munsters, Wonder Woman and more
Over the past week, four sci-fi/genre television projects were announced. First up, Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor is bringing his 2007 sci-fi concept album to the small screen in the form of the HBO miniseries "Year Zero":
“We are in [the development phase of] pre-production with HBO and BBC [Worldwide Productions] to do a miniseries,” Reznor said Monday. “It’s exciting. I probably shouldn’t say too much about it except that I understand that there’s a thousand hurdles before anything shows up in your TV listing. It’s been an interesting and very educational process and it cleared the HBO hurdle a few months ago and now we’re writing drafts back and forth. So it’s very much alive and incubating at the moment.”
BBC Worldwide Projections will serve as a producer and the project will be written by Daniel Knauf ("Carnivàle"):
…[Knauf's] busy with pages right now and revising the overall world Bible. It’s been an interesting collaborative effort but I’ve learned that [television development] moves at a glacial pace.”
Next up, The Ausiello Files is reporting that Bryan Fuller ("Pushing Daisies") is developing a remake of the hit TV series "The Munsters" for NBC. Described as "Modern Family meets True Blood", NBC has committed to a pilot. Guillermo del Toro is also attached in a behind the scenes role. Moving on over to Fox now, writer Brian K. Vaughn ("Lost") has teamed up with Sam Raimi ("Spider-Man") for a new series called "Smokers":
The high-concept drama, based on an original idea by Vaughan, is about a documentary crew following working class heroes who exterminate alien threats in deep space.
And last but not least, Warner Brothers has announced that they’ve reactivated development on "Wonder Woman", but as a TV series, not a movie. According to Deadline, the studio has tapped an ulikely name to write and produce the TV series: David E. Kelley ("Boston Legal", "Ally McBeal"):
Details on the reboot are being kept under wraps, and it is not clear if the new Wonder Woman aka Diana Prince will keep her signature powers and weapons, including her Lasso of Truth, her indestructible bracelets, her tiara and her invisible airplane.
Despite movement on the TV side, WB has not ruled out development of a movie based on the character.
Syfy renews Warehouse 13
Syfy has announced that their hit original series "Warehouse 13" has been renewed for a 13-episode third season to premiere in 2011. Ratings were solid this season — an average audience of 2.50M viewers and a 0.8 A18-49 rating — and the second season finale finished ahead of the first season finale by 10% in viewers and 14% in A18-49 rating. In their press release, Syfy notes that with DVR Live + 7-day data included (through 10 episodes), the show picked up nearly 1 million additional viewers (2.52M viewers through episode 10 with Live + SD vs. 3.43M viewers with Live + 7-day). Here’s an excerpt from the press release announcing the renewal:
In making the announcement, Mark Stern, Executive Vice President, Programming, Syfy, and Co-Head, Original Content, Universal Cable Productions, said: “Jack Kenny’s superlative leadership and the incredible talent of his cast and crew delivered an outstanding second season of Warehouse 13. We’re excited to see this successful series return next year, and to developing our next hit with Jack.”
Smallville and Supernatural have strong start to the new season
"Smallville" and "Supernatural" both had strong starts to their respective new seasons. "Smallville" drew 2.98 million viewers and a 1.3 A18-49 rating for its 10th season premiere on September 24. That was up 16% in viewers and 30% in A18-49 rating from the season nine premiere. "Supernatural", meanwhile, was down a bit from last year’s premiere, but considering the show switched to a new night, its season six premiere performance of 2.89M viewers and a 1.3 A18-49 rating — retention of 97 and 100%, respectively, from its lead-in — was equally solid. "Smallville" and "Supernatural" continue to air Friday night’s at 8:00 and 9:00 p.m. on The CW. Here are a few "Smallville"-related news bites.
- Episode 10×11 will be called "Icarus" [SpoilerTV]
- Series star Tom Welling will direct episode 10×09 – "Patriot", which involves "dolphins, explosions, Aquaman and Aquaman’s wife." [Matt Mitovich | Twitter]
- Dean Cain isn’t rulling out a return visit to "Smallville": "My character on Smallville, you know he’s immortal. So he wasn’t killed. So I could return. I don’t know, they haven’t contacted me yet." [On The Red Carpet]
- Kristin Kreak (Lana Lang) and Annette O’Toole (Martha Kent) are rumored to guest-star in the season 10 finale. [IMDB via SpoilerTV]
Promotional stills for episode 10×03 – "Supergirl" [more at OSCK]
Promotional stills for episode 10×04 – "Homecoming" [more at SpoilerTV]
Preview clip fro "Supergirl" [YouTube]
Watch more clips here and here
Set tour with Cassidy Freeman (Tess) [YouTube]
Interview with Allison Mack (Chloe) [via SpoilerTV]
Promotional stills for episode 6×04 – "Weekend at Bobby’s" [more at SpoilerTV]
Promo for episode 6×03 – "The Third Man" [YouTube]
Sneak peek at "The Third Man" [YouTube]
Poor starts for second season of Stargate Universe and Caprica season 1.5
So much for a new night bringing better ratings. The second season premiere of Syfy’s "Stargate Universe" sunk to a new series low of 1.175M viewers (off 20% from the season one finale). The previous low-mark for the series came during the penultimate episode of last season (1.178M / 0.4 A18-49 rating). Also, the season two premiere barely avoided tying a series low in A18-49 rating, drawing a 0.5. For some perspective, the premiere was down 50% in viewers and 44% in A18-49 rating from the much stronger series launch last fall (2.35M / 0.9 A18-49 rating).
In other news, executive producer Brad Wright explained why we still haven’t seen the planned ‘SG-1′ and ‘Atlantis’ direct-to-DVD movies:
"The only thing that is blocking the SG-1 movie or the Atlantis movie, the only thing, is the fact that the direct-to-DVD market has gone away. We were very fortunate with Ark of Truth and Continuum to be among the last very successful direct-to-DVD releases before it all stopped happening. The market has changed, and it’s still changing, and it’s not what it was. And, of course, there have been very big changes at MGM that kind of added to that."
Wright added, however, that there is a plan B: "We held on to a lot of stuff and were ready to go for a very long time, but that doesn’t mean it’s not gonna happen. We have a plan B, and I’ve been talking with MGM about it, and hopefully we’ll still get our chance."
Geting back to the ratings, week two of ‘SGU’ fell to yet another series-low in viewers (1.07M) last night, but was steady in A18-49 rating with a 0.5. The poor ratings news extended to the season 1.5 launch of "Caprica". Debuting on its new night, the show drew a series-low 889,000 viewers and a 0.4 A18-49 rating (tying a series-low). It’s the second time the show has fallen below 1M viewers. Compared to the season 1.0 finale, "Caprica" was down 19% in viewers and 20% in A18-49 rating. The season 1 average now stands at a dreadful 1.17M viewers and a 0.4 A18-49 rating.
Behind the scenes set images (including the first look at the "Destiny" bridge) [more at Collider]
Behind the scenes tour of the Stargate Universe set [Collider / Vimeo]
Promotional still of the Cylons [EW]
The Event starts strong…then fizzles + Other ratings highlights
As reported in our last column, the new NBC series "The Event" had a promising start — even managing to grow its audience over the course of its pilot — but ratings for weeks 2 and 3 reveal that week 1 was just a fluke and it could very well be the end of the road for the series. Here’s the three week ratings track:
- "I Haven’t Told You Everything" – 10.88M viewers / 3.6 A18-49 rating
- "To Keep Us Safe" – 9.06M viewers (-17%) / 2.9 A18-49 rating (-19%)
- "Protect Them from the Truth" – 7.56M viewers (-17%) / 2.4 A18-49 rating (-17%)
Losing 31% of your audience over the course of just three weeks (33% in the demo) does not bode well for future success.
Meanwhile, ABC saw a solid start for the poorly reviewed supernatural-themed drama "No Ordinary Family", which launched with 10.69M viewers and a 3.2 A18-49 rating. The second episode aired last night and drew 8.99M viewers (-16%) and a 2.7 A18-49 rating (-16%). Time will tell if audiences stick around, or if it experiences an ‘Event’-sized audience tune out. You’ll find more of my ratings analysis at the bottom of this column.
Promo for "The Event", episode 1×04 – "A Matter of Life and Death" [YouTube]
Promo for "No Ordinary Family", episode 1×03 – "No Ordinary Ring" [YouTube]
Jane Badler’s role on new V will last longer than expected
Great news for fans of new and old "V" alike. Jane Badler, who was recently cast for the upcoming second season as Diana — the mother of Anna who has been held in captivity for over 15 years — will stay on board longer than originally anticipated:
What originally looked like it would be only a few episodes of V looks like it might be a very open-ended role for Badler, who was filming the season’s fourth episode, “Unholy Alliance,” at the time of this interview. “I’m suspecting I’m here for a while,” Badler says enthusiastically. And during that time, will she do anything that could out-gross Diana’s eating of a guinea pig in the original show? “Actually, tonight I’m doing something pretty gross,” Badler teases, holding back from revealing any details.
Badler also offered some new details about her role:
“She’s strong, definitely,” Badler says of this new “Diana.” “She would do things that might seem cold-blooded, but I think she’s probably more fair. I definitely think that [Diana has] a totally different take on things than [Anna]. There’s a lot of conflict between her way of thinking and mine.” Badler also believes that her character will bring out sides of Anna that we’ve never seen before. “Your mother always has a particular power over you,” she explains…Even though the name of the character is Diana, I think they always intended it as an homage to Diana, and not necessarily the same character.”
Season two of "V" is scheduled to launch this November on ABC.
Set images [more via SpoilerTV, (2), (3), (4), (5)]
Summer Glau latest big-name guest-star for Chuck
You can add another high-profile guest-star to this season of "Chuck". NBC has tapped Summer Glau ("The Cape", "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles") for an upcoming episode, The Ausiello Files reports:
The Sarah Connor Chronicles siren and EW Sexiest Beast finalist has been tapped to play the Buy More’s rotating undercover agent in this season’s eighth episode, sources confirm to me exclusively.
On a disappointing note, none of the season four stunt casting has helped the show in the ratings. The most recent episode this past Monday drew a season-low 1.9 A18-49 rating and through three episodes, the season has averaged 5.52M viewers and a 2.0 A18-49 rating. That’s 10 and 9 percent, respectively, below the season three average (with a more pronounced drop when comparing the first three episodes of season four to the first three episodes of season three).
Fox casts female lead for Terra Nova
Fox has found their female lead for the upcoming prehistoric time-travel series "Terra Nova". British actress Shelley Conn will star opposite Jason O’Mara and Stephen Lang on the series. She’ll play Elizabeth Shannon, wife of O’Mara’s character Jim, who together with "their 3 kids – an ordinary family from 2149 who are transported back 85 million years to prehistoric Earth where they join Terra Nova, a colony of humans with a second chance to build a civilization."
PREVIEW Videos & Images
Chuck
Promo for episode 4×04 – "Chuck vs. the Coup D’Etat" [YouTube]
Doctor Who
Sneak peek at the Christmas special [BBC]
Fringe
Promotional stills from episode 3×03 – "The Plateau" [more at SpoilerTV]
Promotional stills from episode 3×04 – "Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep?" [SpoilerTV]
Season three set images [more at wynonna-photoblog via SpoilerTV]
Sneak peek at "The Plateau" [YouTube]
Haven
Sneak peek at the season one finale, "Spiral" [Syfy]
No Ordinary Family
Promotional stills for episode 1×04 – "No Ordinary Vigilante" [KSiteTV]
Sanctuary
Promotional stills from episode 3×01 – "Kali, Part 3" [more at Daemon's TV]
Promotional stills from episode 3×02 – "Firewall" [more at Daemon's TV]
Season three trailer [YouTube]
The Sarah Jane Adventures
Season four trailer [YouTube]
Watch more clips here
The Vampire Diaries
Season two promotional cast images [Blood Falls via SpoilerTV]
Promo for episode 2×05 – "Kill or Be Killed" [YouTube]
Sneak peek at "Kill or Be Killed" [YouTube]
Walking Dead
Trailer [ComicBookMovie]
TV BITES
- Fox has decided to shift "Human Target" back to its original Wednesday (8:00-9:00 p.m.) time slot. The show was originally scheduled to launch on Friday, October 1 but the second season will now premiere on Wednesday, November 17. [Fox]
- HBO’s "True Blood" was singled out by GLAAD as the most gay-friendly series on television. [THR]
- It may have received a ton of hype, but in the end, the Syfy original movie event "Sharktopus" didn’t garner any extraordinary audience. The two-hour Saturday night movie drew 2.5 million viewers on September 25. While that’s a solid number for a Syfy series, it falls well short of any record and didn’t even draw as many viewers as August’s "Lake Placid 3" (3.0M). [the live feed | THR]
- "No Ordinary Family" co-star Kay Panabaker considers the new ABC show to be "more grounded in reality" than other supernatural-themed shows: "The family doesn’t fight crime together, only Dad is trying to do that, she says. "The rest of us are trying to live our day-to-day lives and use the powers to make it a little bit better, a little bit sweeter." [TV Guide]
- Episode 1×07 of "No Ordinary Family" will be called "No Ordinary Mobster" and episode 1×08 will be called "No Ordinary Accident".[KSiteTV, (2)]
- …Meanwhile, episode 4×18 of "Fringe" will be called "Past Tense"… [SpoilerTV]
- …And episode 4×08 of "Chuck" will be called "Chuck vs. the Fear of Death". The episode will also feature a character named Adelbert De Smet who will star in two episodes. [SpoilerTV]
- Episode descriptions/synopses:
- "The Sarah Jane Adventures" – 4×01 – 4×02 – "The Nightmare Man". [BlogtorWho]
- "Chuck" – 4×04 – "Chuck vs. the Coup D’Etat". [SpoilerTV]
- "Chuck" – 4×05 – "Chuck vs. the Couch Look". [SpoilerTV]
- "Supernatural" – 6×04 – "Weekend at Bobby’s". [SpoilerTV]
- "Supernatural" – 6×05 – "Live Free or Twihard". [SpoilerTV]
- "The Event" – 1×04 – "A Matter of Life and Death". [SpoilerTV]
- "The Vampire Diaries" – 2×06 – "Plan B". [SpoilerTV]
- "No Ordinary Family" – 1×04 – "No Ordinary Vigilante". [KSiteTV]
- "Smallville" - 10×05 – "Isis". [SpoilerTV]
CASTING BITES
- Actor/comedian Rob Riggle has been cast in a guest-starring role on NBC’s "Chuck". Riggle will play Jim Rye, "a super smart, intensely positive, and slightly crazy CIA agent who’s brought in to help Chuck become an even better spy." Riggle’s guest spot occurs in episode eight, which features Summer Glau. [The Ausiello Files | EW]
- Lindsay Hartley is playing Mad Harriett in an upcoming episode of "Smallville", a minion of Granny Goodness… [UGO]
SCI-FI RATINGS (Based on final national numbers unless otherwise noted) [@TravisYanan]
Stan Lee’s Superhumans
Episode seven of this new History channel series dropped to 1.04M viewers (-38% / series low) and a 0.5 A18-49 rating (-29% / tying a series low). The season average is now 1.34 million viewers and a 0.6 A18-49 rating.
Destination Truth
- Episode 4×03 – 896,000 viewers (-22%) and a 0.4 A18-49 rating (n/c) .
- Episode 4×04 – 936,000 viewers (+4%) and a 0.4 A18-49 rating (n/c).
The season four average through four episodes is now 1.05 million viewers and a 0.4 A18-49 rating.
Beast Legends
Episode three of the new Syfy series drew just 642,000 viewers (-19%) and a 0.3 A18-49 rating (n/c).(Ratings were not available for episode 1×04).
Ghost Hunters
Episode 6×16 stayed even from the week prior, drawing 2.08 million viewers and a 0.9 A18-49 rating. The sixth season is currently averaging 2.14 million viewers and a 0.9 A18-49 rating.
Haven
"Haven" dropped to a new series-low of 1.41 million viewers (-11%) and tied a series low in A18-49 rating with a 0.4 (n/c) with episode 1×11 – "The Trial of Audrey Parker". The show is currently averaging 1.90 million viewers and a 0.5 A18-49 rating.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Week two of the new season of ‘The Clone Wars’ dropped hard in viewers to 1.69M (-30%), but held steady in A18-49 rating with a 0.5. However, there was an equally steep drop in the key K2-11 demo where the show notched a 1.9 rating (-32%). The season three average currently stands at 2.06 million viewers with a 0.5 A18-49 rating and a 2.4 K2-11 rating.
The Vampire Diaries
- Episode 2×01 – “The Return” – 3.36M viewers and a 1.6 A18-49 rating.
- Episode 2×02 – “Brave New World” – 3.01M viewers (-10%) and a 1.4 A18-49 rating (-13%).
- Episode 2×03 – “New Moon Rising” – 3.56M viewers (+18%) and a 1.6 A18-49 rating (+14%).
- Episode 2×04 – “Memory Lane” – 3.18M viewers (-11%) and a 1.5 A18-49 rating (-6%).
Though the show isn’t performing as well as it did last season — (3.66M / 1.7 A18-49 rating average) — it hasn’t hit any series lows.
Nikita
- Episode 1×03 – “Rough Trade” – 3.15M viewers (-1%) and a 1.1 A18-49 rating (-8%).
- Episode 1×04 – “The Guardian” – 2.68M viewers (-15%) and a 1.0 A18-49 rating (-9%).
The leash is longer for "Nikita" since it airs on The CW, but it’s dropping pretty hard. The four-episode average now stands at 3.15M viewers and a 1.2 A18-49 rating and episode four was down 25% in viewers and 29% in A18-49 rating from the series premiere (3.57M / 1.4 A18-49 rating).
CHART (9/13/2010 to 9/19/2010)
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CHART (9/20/2010 to 9/26/2010)
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Follow Russ on his blog: Your Entertainment Now and on Twitter: Twitter.com/YourEntNow.
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Comments»
With the ratings improvements of Smallville, I wonder if the final season of the show will lead to a spin-off/sequel show….Metropolis.
Or Lois and Clark: The Newer Advertures of Superman.
Let’s see Clark in the “suit” early in the final season of Smallville!
Nah, that would make too much sense!
The end is near for “Smallville”. Pretty soon, Harry Ballz will no longer have to endure Erica Durance!
“Fringe” is about the only sci-fi series that I care about on television right now. Everything is much too similar to each other.
Jeez, the first thing I see on the BBC reel before I click “play” is Christopher Eccleston — I put two and two together and nearly freaked out! :) Alas…
Ahh, Alison Mack. Smallville’s last remaining saving grace. I think she’s way cuter than Harry Ballz’s bete noire.
“Caprica” deserves better ratings, as does “Haven.”
I haven’t seen an episode of “SG-Universe,” but I hope the low ratings don’t keep it from going to dvd.
I do hope MGM does the SG-1 and Atlantis movies.
3+4
Listen, guys….since you brought it up, I think watching Durance all these years has been an END-DURANCE TEST on the audience!
Probably why the series is ending!
@6: Bah-DUM-bump (tsss)! :)
7.
Thanks, I’m here ’til Thursday and try the veal!
the best sci-fi on tv right now is smallville thats saying something
That BBC Trailer was a little misleading, as Matt Smith was seen in two different shows, the Nazi/German footage being from ‘Christopher and His Kind’ and most certainly not the Doctor Who Christmas Special
Oh and Smallville is still pretty good, and I wouldn’t be against the idea of a continuing spin-off!
Fringe is excellent! I love it!
I want to enjoy Stargate Universe, and I do, in a way, I am just fed up of the whole Dr Rush’s own agend thing, get over it, lets have them all singing of the same hymn sheet, it’ll be much more enjoyable then. The Young Vs Rush thing is teadious beyong belief now, it is wearing thin! They can then all work together, fly the ship around, explore, beat up bad-guy space ships and all that and we can all enjoy it, rather then the way it just sort of grates now…please fix it
I stopped watching the Stargate franchise when it began to morph itself into a Star Trek ripoff…I mean why introduce space ships?! Its all a bit embarrassing and now STU has meant that there journey to the dark side is complete! You might as well call it Gate Trek! or Star Gat…er…wait, sorry, they already have!!!
Sean I agree, the “bridge” design is a blatent rip of the definant. Also I agree with ProCarlG, very misleading and disapointing. Having all three doctors in the trailer, shows only one thing in my mind, which is sadly Matt Smith can’t hold up the screen like Eccleston & Tenant, and that the quality of BBC shows is not embeded within the last Doctor Who series.
@4
yeah i tought the same :(
first men on the moon looks good though.
I don’t know. I think that the Matt Smith season took a little while to get going, but once it did, it did great. As someone who jumped on the Doctor Who bandwagon with Ecclesston, I’ll just say it’s too soon to say anything negative about Matt Smith.
I actually do like the guy. I still would love to see a multi doctor story, and I appreciated how Moffat has tried on several occastions to tie all the doctors together.
David Tennant is my favorite doctor. I don’t think that can ever change. It says a lot that Tennant was so popular because Ecclesston was so good in the role in his lone season. It’s not easy replacing a popular actor in a role that he shouldn’t have left.
As great as Ecclesston was, Tennant was better. So the guy replacing Tennant has a strike against him. But I do think Smith is good. Ugly, but good.
For SyFy to move Stargate Universe to the 9pm Tuesday slot is horrible, particularly starting the season at the same time as the Big 5 nets start their season.
Between top rated NCIS Los Ageles, Dancing with the Stars Results Show and Biggest Loser, you’ve got a lot of viewers elsewhere.
I for one, am DVR’ing it, but this time slot is going to be the death knell, even worse than Friday Nights.
I am glad that Smallville is doing well. I have been with that show sionce it’s orignal pilot. They do keep teasing us with Clark and the Suit. But I do hope that have him put the Suit on and have hime Become Supeman with at least 1 or 2 Eps before the Series Finale. I like No Ordnary Family. That show has a lot of potential. The Event is ok. I will give it a couple of more Eps to see what diresction it goes. Could go either way with me. Oh and please. No more Reboots. Munsters and such. But i will say that if David E Kelly does a new Wonder Woman then I woiuld be very interested in his Project.
Hey. I say that Erica Durrence should be the next Wonderwoman. If only just to Annoy Harry Ballz. Lol. Ok .Just kidding Harry.
#16. You are correct. Tuesday Night is a night of Death for anything on Scifi. N.C.I.S with there extremly high ratings and yes I do watch those as well will Kill any show on Scifi. Wed night would be a much better night for Stargate or even on Friday night after WWE Smackdown. That show while I do not think should be on Sifi does bring in Good Ratings would be the best time slot.
I never thought I would’ve said this, but I believe we’ve reached the science fiction event horizon. One more series and the whole thing’ll just implode.
From the mind of Tony Whitehead comes a scify series of epic porportions. Even Horizon. This fall only on Sfifi.
I dont know about Tuesday’s being bad for the show. I think anybody that watches scifi doesnt watch the crap like dancing with the stars or cheap cop dramas like ncis. I dont. The only thing on tuesdays for me to watch is SGU and Caprica. No Ordinary Family I am giving a shot but we will see how long it continues to be entertaining.
Now one thing that might be hurting ratings is syfy HD on my cable (Charter) is the eastern feed so I get the show at 6pm here on the west coast. There is nothing else on tv at 6pm. But some people may not be home from work at that time or even know that its a eastern feed and all shows are 3 hours earlier. I however count on these things so that I can watch all my shows live rather than have to dvr or download them.
Oh and I really like SGU. I think it is beautifully written, the sets are great. I got soooo excited when I saw the bridge and even more excited when it moved upward and reviled the windows… sooo sexy.
I was never a big fan of stargate sg1. I only started watching Atlantis b/c of the ships and it was more space based. I for one love that it is more like star trek. I need my trek fix and this is doing it for the time being. People need to stop complaining about how its not like sg1 etc. Its a completely different show. Its more real than I think sg1 and atlantis where. Those were more comical, sgu is just more real.
Caprica is a smart show but SyFy’s hiatuses and split-season scheduling will kill it. This “season 1.5 premiere” episode didn’t seem designed to be a premiere but a mid-season episode that would run the week after the one before. I found it confusing even though I’m committed to the show, so I think an average viewer would have no chance! It was also unfortunate that although the show normally has characters wear “regular” clothes, this particular episode had a bunch of sci-fi stereotypical ornate robes because much of it was set at the universe’s version of the Vatican. I fear the worst for this series’ chances.
I’m super pumped for season 3 of Sanctuary, fantastic show. Gave up on SGU, tired of the same repetitive plot of who’s gonna take over the ship this time, Rush or Young *yawn*. And do I sense a theatrical release for a Stargate movie? I mean if there’s no TV show, no direct to DVD, then it’s either web released or theatrical and I’d love a theatrical Stargate movie, perhaps blending SGA and SG1 together, I dunno, excited to hear their plans nonetheless
I had high hopes for SGU but these were dashed because the show has not one character I can relate to or care about. No series can be produced by checking with the viewers each time they make a move to make a series that works…but they must see some of what they manufacture in the eyes of the people that they are trying to reach…not with an attutude if you don’t like the series we’re doing just don’t watch. You can not chase away the fan base looking for some new demographic with something new and completely different if what your producing doesn’t bring in new viewers but instead pushes them away. You can have very high production values, spend all the money in the world on sets and visuals and still come up empty on content. No one I know watches SGU, its a shame that so much potential is being wasted along with resources that could be better put into something else are being squandered.
What is the appeal of Smallville? I can’t believe it’s been on so long.
@27 Everyone must be looking at Erica, except when her lips are moving. :) Smallville has been tv popcorn. Tom Welling has totally understood Clark Kent from day one, and the show has good genes. The new character of Chloe added someone fans of the show could root for. You knew where characters stood, and the writing stayed true to character.
That’s where Caprica and SG:U both stink to high heaven. As others have commented, SG:U’s continued tedium between Young and Rush is pathetic. They’re both unwatchable narcissistic characters. I find myself routing for some of the lesser characters, and definitely Eli. They should have airlocked Young, Rush and L.D. Phillips’ character already. And brining back the Lucian alliance was a bad move.
They should make the best of it, and work together towards common survival. Which sad to say, Voyager actually did TOO good a job of, making it look TOO easy.
Caprica though, put a fork in it. What soap-operatic waste of good ideas. A full episode of Backtalk with Baxter Sarno would be more entertaining.
Actually thought the latest ep of SG:U was on target. Very dark, but at least there were fewer plot contrivances than usual. (Best bad Aussie accent: Space dingoes took my baby.) Caprica. BLECCH. It’s just bad on so many levels. They really ought to retitle it Caprica 1980. If Sanctuary must come back, can we write in a creature that devours bad Brit accents? Pleeeease! It might be fun to have Wonder Woman back on TV. Gotta get the writers, though. Kelley can do it, but gotta have writers.
My complaint about The Event is the way that it jumps around in time. An occasional flash back is fine, but I got mental whiplash trying to follow the pilot. I was hoping that they’d stop it once the series got going, but it appears to be some sort of signature, like lens flares. It doesn’t really add anything to the narrative, but the writer likes it.
Fringe is pretty much the only “new” show that I wait for and watch every week. There’s really nothing to compare, imo. It amazes me that Medium apparently beats Fringe every week.
31
“Medium” brings in more female viewers. “Fringe” is more male-oriented.
18
Don’t even jpke about that! I know its all in good fun, but we don’t want to kill Harry Ballz, now do we? :-)
The first two episodes of SGU season 2 have been very good IMHO. I think the Rush vs Young thing is going to be largely resolved in this next episode. At last they will discover the true mission of Destiny. Should be interesting to see where it goes.
If Caprica is cancelled does that mean Battlestar Gallactica never happened?
Ok… so here goes:
The reason #13 why the Doctor Who special isnt shown much in trailers is because the BBC and Steven Moffat like to keep things under wraps. We wont see any major spoilers till Children in Need as per usual… that included Ecclestone and Tennant.
I think Matt is a fantastic Doctor, he isnt to Tennant levels yet but he’s only been in 1 series so far… compare it to the campfest that was Ecclestones first year and we have a better product.
Onto SG;U and I am really starting to enjoy the series, 1.0 was poor and boring… 1.5 was innovative and challenging. I cant wait to see more of The Destiny although I am dissapointed at the Defiant rip-off if only for the reason DS9 was my favourite of the Treks
And finally to Smallville, Season 10 has started tremendously… Unfortunately we wont see Clark in “The Suit” till the finale in my opinion however, I have a feeling Jor-el will give him his reward and he will wear it for his final battle with Darkseid. An inspired choice for the final antagonist :D
Honorable mention to Caprica…. it deserves soo much better then it gets right now. I put it down to poor advertising on Sci-Fi’s part and not the writing, cast or product itself
First Men In The Moon? Really? Fascinating.
The direct to DVD market disappeared?? Good Lord man, where did all those people go to? All of us thousands upon thousands that bought the direct to dvd stargate movies and made them PROFITABLE. Now we are all missing!! Quick! Call BBC America and get Sherlock Holmes on the phone .. or Dr. Who! We have another mystery on our hands that would make an excellent series.
Or ……. perhaps this just explains why MGM Studios are a bunch of monkey’s that couldn’t make money if you showed them how to print it. Let’s see: The Stargate franchise. James Bond franchise. Lord of the Rings franchise. The Great Movie Musicals and much, much more. Bankrupt. Huh?
Also, TV executives need to know there are hundreds of channels, with dozens upon dozens of shows and only 300 million people in the USA. Not every show is going to set a 25% share every week. Not even 10%. I am so tired of seeing a good show start to be cut down after a few weeks.
Although I hope SGU blows the ship up really good and soon. Maybe they should crash on Caprica? And btw, bring back Atlantis if you want better ratings and, I dunno, make money.
I’m a big SG-1 & Atlantis fan but SGU lost me after half the first season. The previous two series I liked most of the cast, this one I don’t really care about either of them, maybe Eli but that’s about it. I’m with CanOpener12256 about bring back Atlantis but SyFy is trying to get more ratings with WWE SmackDown which I won’t be watching. If I want to watch SmackDown on syfy I’ll wait for Sharktopus vs. Mega Barracuda or something
Speaking of Stargate I’m looking forward to Sanctuary’s new season, love Amanda Tapping.
Been trying to watch the event but the back & forth through time is starting to get to me. Since I’m @ work when it’s on I DVR it or watch it on demand then I can kind of fast forward through some of it.
I think if there is going to be a spin-off of smallville it should be the justice league. I would love to see that.
Oh no, a Munsters remake! The last series called ‘The Munsters Today’ was absolutely aweful and cringeworthy. The original series wont be topped. leave it alone i recon.
Greg
UK
I didn’t even know that the new Caprica show was airing this week until it was in the middle of the episode. Thank goodness for TiVo… I was able to record the 12AM rerun.
I saw Three Doctors in that BBC promo. :)
Also–Patrick has gone grey! Holy cow!
I have an idea why “No Ordinary Family” dropped significantly from episode 1 to episode 2. It was the last 30 seconds of the first episode.
They spent the whole time in the first episode avoiding as many cliche’s as possible. There’s some teen angst, but none of the “rebellious teen troublemaker” mallarkey. There’s some conflict between the parents, but none of the “our marriage is falling apart” chestnut. And, given the essentially magical premise of the pwers, they still show *some* respect for physics (though more in the second episode).
—-SPOILER—–
But THEN – In the Last 30 Seconds, they dump in the standard “boss as villain” conspiracy crap. I was really interested in seeing where they took this until THAT dog turd was laid in the path.
It doesn’t surprise me that Caprica’s premiere suffered – they barely promoted it! Who even knew it was coming back? Syfy has no one to blame but themselves on that one. It’s a shame, because the show is easily the best thing on their network.
As for Matt Smith, he clearly has nothing to worry about. He absolutely ruled as the Doctor in Series 5. Can’t wait till the Xmas Special and Series 6!
18+32
“Durance…next Wonderwoman”
That would only work if you made HER invisible and we can see her plane!
Supernatural – Best Show on Television.
I like smallville but would it kill them to spend some money on a Decent Superman costumer, and a decent supergirl costume as well. Compare these against the one Reeve wore in the first superman film, or the one worn by the Actress in supergirl.
They don’t even have to be super retro, but maybe retro modern like Superman Returns, without looking like plastic of course or being all fake cgi.
Also pay for the rights to use John Williams superman theme, the generic replacement elevator music stinks.
A Munsters Remake is a TERRIBLE IDEA. Leave it Alone-Let Future Generations discover it. The Event and Undercover not doing well-BIG SURPRISE. You know Both were Greenlighted by the Three Idiots who almost destoryed NBC(Jeff Zucker, Angela Bromstad, and Jeff Gaspin). They either gives up crud(Leno vs. Conan), or they have good shows but don’t give them a chance(a Recent Version of KNIGHT RIDER, for Example).
#45
“That would only work if you made HER invisible and we can see her plane!”
You’d also have to make her mute so her voice couldn’t let you know that it is Erica Durance!
#49
Good news for those turned off by the crap NBC has put out lately. Jeff Zucker will soon step down when Comcast buys NBC Universal. Also, I have to disagree with your assessment of the recent “Knight Rider”. It was pure crap.
#37
MGM. Stands for “Massively Gigantic Morons”!
MEMO to whoever comes up with this ratings tables – Nikita is not a SF nor a Fantasy show.
MGM should be the other way around—GMG, as in “Gone Money Gone.”
Still loving Caprica, but even I only knew about the moved-up premiere a few days in advance. Great job, Poor Literacy Channel. I still don’t know why any SF show that spends any screen time on relationships between characters gets called a “soap opera.”
The Event is keeping me moderately interested, but their big reveal in episode 2 means they’re going to get compared to V (which I haven’t seen.) Better distinguish yourselves fast, guys.
@6: Dude, really? You blew a perfect opportunity to use the phrase “Durance vile”? I mean, you don’t get that very often.
I doubt “The Event” is going anywhere. It is still growing viewers out of barely-breathing “Chuck”, and week 3 (which was the best episode yet IMHO) lost viewers mainly because it was no longer opposite Fox’s flop “Lone Star” (”Lie To Me” always seems to hold on to “House’s” audience.) and a very big NFL Monday Night game. 7.5 million viewers isn’t something NBC can afford to throw away these days. We’ll need to see if “The Event” stabilizes at that level next week, which I suspect it will. And if it does keep falling, I really don’t see what NBC has they can plug into that time slot that will do any better. “Undercovers” is doing even worse in a much less competitive time slot.
That said, can someone explain to me exactly what kind of time-warp “The Event” is in? All three episodes seem to have characters going from Washington to Alaska or vice-versa, in about an hour. I know the show keeps shifting time periods on us “two hours ago…”, “14 days ago…”, but that doesn’t explain a prisoner in Alaska getting to Washington DC in the time it took the FBI to arrest Sean in the Server Room.
And the cover-up of the airliner? Really? Shouldn’t there have been thousands of people in Miami on TV saying “We saw a big jetliner over the President’s compound, but then it just disappeared in a swirl of light!”
“The Event” needs to tighten up its writing some. It’s getting better, but the believability quotient is dangerously low.
53… You’re assuming the “big reveal” is the truth. So far, the only thing we know is that the President’s assistant said it was the truth. He might be wrong. My money is on he’s wrong. His explanation is much too easy, there’s got to be more to it that that.
53.
I hesitated to use “durance vile”, meaning long term imprisonment, mainly because the actress in question never “captured” my interest. You are correct, in the respect, that watching her try to “act” was indeed a punishment. Over the last nine years I’ve been held captive by the show, not by the amateurish posturing of Ms. Durance.
But, thanks for bringing that to our attention, Majicou, you old wordmeister, you!
@55: Well, fair point there.
@56: No problem at all. You can find me in the Yellow Pages under “Needlessly Obscure, Archaic Phrases.”
Is this a typo?
# “I Haven’t Told You Everything” – 10.88M viewers…
# “To Keep Us Safe” – 10.88M viewers (-17%)…
How can the same number of viewers be a 17% drop?
So glad Fox came to their senses and moved Human Target back to Wed.
It would have sucked having both this and smallville showing at the same time on the same day.
This will actually be the third reboot of the Munsters – they had that “Munsters Today” thing with John Schuck as Herman (IIRC), which was pretty awful, and then the Munsters TV-movie, with Veronica Hamel as Lily, which was actually pretty good.
60… And Edward Herrmann (”Gilmore Girls”) was a pretty good Herman Munster, too.
@10: I’m pretty sure the footage of Matt Smith talking to Michael Gambon was from Doctor Who.
The reason for the hard drop in viewership for the Clone Wars’ second episode for this season is simple—Jar-Jar was in it!
Really, why do they insist in occasionally putting him in the show? I’ve yet to find the Star Wars fan, young or old, that actually likes that character.
Okay, rant over.
Gawd, I hope this version of The Munsters is better than “Munsters Today” that was done, that was so painful to watch that I couldn’t make it through a full episode, ever.
Just my humble opinion, but I’d scrap all those series and make a top-story-quality 26th century Star Trek show instead…
They don’t get it. We don’t want new Munsters. We want well written contemporary sci-fi. End the soap operas, the silly premise crap like The Event, and give us good stuff.
Caprica is so unappealing I won’t even go to a friend’s house to watch it.
Hey Harry. How about Erica Durence in the next Star Trek Series. Lol. Ok Just kidding. Bob Orci do not get any ideas or Harry will go crazy.
I’m much preferring Stargate Universe to Atlantis. Loved SG-1, love Universe…Atlantis, well, meh. @11 loving the whole Rush v Young thing. UK v USA; brains v brawn, not knowing who is the good or bad guy…excellent (btw this is not a socio-political comment). (I’m suspecting Rush is the good guy). Especially with the Brit accented IOA character on Earth…does the UK have a fourth Stargate (i.e Egypt (US), Russia, Antarctica as the first 3)? Why would they want to scupper SGC plans? Does the Brit SGC predate the American? What interests do they have? (OK those last points are pure fanfic, but so what?)
@28 Don’t like Eli. I appreciate he’s the ‘POV’ character, but he always takes me out of the action. I’d be happy to see him killed. For me not realistic to have your stereotypical basement nerd transported into outerspace on one of mankind’s most important missions – - the whole character seems like fanw**k to me.
SGU, however, is the ship-based series I’ve been waiting for: gritty, realistic, serial, great characters (esp. Rush and Young, excepting Eli). Like reading a good book: can’t wait till the next episode. What Voyager should have been.
I am glad that Jane Badler is becoming a semi-regular on V.
On a more humourous note, I can three reasons Erica Durance rocks.
67.
Go crazy? Ya got that right, pal! :>)
#64
spot on. It was extremely painful to watch. Has to be one of the worst remakes in TV history.
Greg
UK
65. Markonian… “Just my humble opinion, but I’d scrap all those series and make a top-story-quality 26th century Star Trek show instead…”
Just as long as it isn’t that depressing, bleak universe the “Destiny” books created. Or the ST 2009 universe with Vulcan and Romulus gone. Bleh,
Delicious ladies!
Oh come on Harry. You wouldn’t want to see Erica as a Capt of the Enterprise. Lol.
Capt MIke,
make her a “red shirt” so she gets killed off before the opening credits!
Yeah, that would work!
What’s up with not citing Firefly after Summer Glau’s name? The only reasonable is you figured we all already knew.
Ok Harry. We can all Email Bob Orci and get her into the Next Trek Movie and have her be a Red Shirt and Die a realy horrible Death. Just for you.
No Ordinary Family has been pretty lame so far. I’ve watched the first two episodes, but I’m not sure I can endure more. It won’t last. Too bad for The Thing guy…sorry, I can’t remember his name. Michael something, right?
#51 — MJ
We’re treating Nikita as a genre show. Spy fits into genre (same goes for Undercovers).
#58 — Will
Yes, that’s a typo. It should be 9.06M, not 10.88M for episode two.
Thanks for catching the error. It’s corrected now.
Congrats on Season 3. Now please explain why it was taken off the air in Canada suddenly and with no explination. Same happened to Drop Dead Diva.
Pity
If I can be perfectly frank, they can probably make Supergirl a bit older (24+) and bit less dowdy and I would be happy as a clam.
Frankly, Supergirl’s competition is Wonder Woman, and the both of them are very nice indeed.
78.
ah, ah, ah….this conversation started with casting “the flake” on a TV series.
Nobody said anything about a movie career. Bad enough having her on the boob tube!
You’re a sneaky one, Capt Mike! What are you, her agent?
78+83
Well, if the next film takes place in the (nu)mirror universe, they can cast Erica Durance as a disobedient “red shirt” who gets punished by spending the whole movie in the agony booth!
Yes, but that would require some real acting from the person in the agony booth.
That automatically disqualifies Ms. Durance.
Hey Harry. Im not her Agent. Im from the Terran Empire and I love making people feel Agony. But you you make a good Officer in the Terran Empire.
85
I didn’t say it would require “acting” on her part! The production crew could set up an actual functioning agony booth that would deliver real electrical shocks (non-lethal of course) which she would most certainly feel and remember for the rest of her life. And you, Harry Ballz, could play the officer in charge of operating the agony booth. You know you’d love that!
No 3-D conversion for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.” Warner cites not enough time for November 19 premiere. Yea. Conversions from 2-D to 3-D generally suck. See “Last Airbender.” Part 2 is supposed to come out in both.
Here’s the story with trailer.
http://berniebasementblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/no-3-d-for-harry-potter-and-deathly.html
#87. You would make a great Officer in the Terran Empire. Nice Thinking.
90
Thanks!
ooops! I meant to 89!
DAMN TYPOS!
87.
Even with a REAL agony booth, I doubt you’d see any REAL emotion!
Blood from a stone and all that!
Harry. Maybe she would be a Vulcan. No real acting required for her.
Oh, one thing that I forget regarding Star Trek, when I posted a comment on Warner not releasing “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1″ in 3-D. (# 88) I’m going to say this over and over again. If Paramount is thinking of releasing Star Trek (2012) in 3-D, film it in 3-D. NO CONVERSIONS. Conversions generally suck. The photographic quality for Star Trek must be commensurate with Avatar. If there is no 3-D quality from a conversion, i.e. it looks dark and useless in 3-D then don’t release Star Trek in 3-D as a conversion. Come on, Paramount, If you’re want to make extra money on 3-D then spend the dough to film it in 3-D.
92
Well, in that case, she’d make an excellent Borg drone…..buried in ice!
That would be the only way for anyone to resist her bad acting!
#94.
If Trek goes 3-D, I think you can count Abrams out as its director.
The best “Doctor Who” moments in that video are seeing Eccleston and Tennant again. :lol:
I don’t like SGU. It is boring and depressing. And the ratings decline is really extreme, see here:
http://forums.sgusucks.com/showthread.php/133-Ratings
I am glad that Smallville is still doing well in its 10th season. There aren’t many series out there, which last so long on TV.
Shoot Trek 12 on video and i won’t watch it. The Cameron 3-D thing is video and not film.
#99.
And Abrams went out of his way to make sure his Trek was “filmed.”
It’s amazing to me everyone isn’t singing Matt Smith’s praises, especially since even the worst moments of Series 5 look like absolute gold in comparison to the 2009 specials. But hey, I remember everyone trashing Tennant for quite a while after he replaced Eccleston. But now he’s ‘the best Doctor ever!’, so hey, we’ll see where we are in a few years.
101- Yeah. When Tennant started, it was like, “oh, please, this guy’s NOT going to work.”
Matt Smith has done a great job right from the start.
It’s just the Doctor’s “magical” reappearance at the end of the season finale that leaves me worrying about the direction the writing for the series is taking.
SGU is almost great, but they keep randomly dropping the interesting storylines. i.e. Rush gets stranded and kidnapped by aliens but we only get to see the part where he gets rescued… wtf? Then we spend a whole episode with dream Daniel Jackson talking to Rush about numbers and resolving nothing? Could we think of anything more annoying or more boring if we tried? Put D-Jack and ONeil on the ship and put a gun in their hands if you want to have fun with the old characters. Lets fight the aliens and have the emotional drama that happens with that happen naturally. For a show that’s trying to copy Galactica, they’re not doing a very good job.
100. Disinvited – October 10, 2010
#99.
“And Abrams went out of his way…
…to make sure he got a real nice lens flare.” : )
80 — thanks Rosario for the clarification.