Sci-Fi TV Monday: The Walking Dead, TRON: Uprising, Stargate Universe, The Cape Cloak & Dagger + more

In Sci-Fi TV this week Walking Dead appears here to stay,   Tron gets animated on TV, Marvel has big plans for TV, NBC shows off The Cape,  SGU’s creator pushes a fan conspiracy theory, and more including the latest television ratings, casting bites and new images and video previews.

 

GENRE TV NEWS

AMC’s Walking Dead renewed for 13-episode second season after strong premiere + new images

After an impressive record-breaking debut performance — 5.34M viewers / 3.6M within the key A18-49 demo — and a strong hold for episode two — 4.7M / 3.3M within the A18-49 demo — AMC has announced that they’ve picked up "The Walking Dead" for a 13-episode second season:

“The ‘Dead’ has spread!” said Charlie Collier, President, AMC. “No other cable series has ever attracted as many Adults 18-49 as ‘The Walking Dead.’ This reaffirms viewers’ hunger for premium television on basic cable. We are so proud to be bringing back ‘The Walking Dead’ again, across the globe.”

Season two has also been cleared internationally through Fox International Channels:    

“I wish all programming decisions were no brainers like this one,” said Sharon Tal Yguado, SVP Scripted Programming. “The Walking Dead is a TV masterpiece on so many levels. We want at least 10 seasons, if not more”

"The Walking Dead" airs Sunday nights at 10:00PM on AMC. Season one will comprise of six episodes. In other news, check out this amazing Google Map of all the appearances, deaths, events and locations from the Robert Kirkman comic book series [via Blastr].

Promotional stills for episode 1×03 – "Tell It To The Frogs" [more at TV Overmind]

Disney/Marvel has three live-action shows in development

Disney CEO Robert Iger spoke with the Wall Street Journal and revealed that the Marvel/Disney relationship has so far resulted in the development of three live-action TV series:

[With Marvel] we’ve taken back distribution, or bought back distribution from [Viacom Inc.’s] Paramount, for some critical franchises. Notably, “Iron Man 3″ will be distributed by us, and “Avengers.” We’re developing three live-action series for ABC and ABC Family. You can buy Marvel products at Disney stores. And we’re working on Marvel games.

One of those series is the previously announced "Hulk" for ABC, while another project is "Cloak and Dagger", potentially for ABC Family. That leaves one more series, and according to Heat Vision | THR, these are the projects that are being presented to ABC:

  • Heroes for Hire (focusing on ex-con Luke Cage offering to take on bad guys for a price)
  • The Eternals (a race of superpowered beings live amid humanity in secret, inspiring legends)
  • Agents of Atlas
  • Alter Ego (private investigator Jessica Jones takes on cases involving superhumans)
  • Moon Knight
  • Red Hood (a low-rent criminal discovers a cloak that gives him superpowers)
  • Ka-Zar (a Tarzan-type and his saber-toothed tiger must journey to the concrete jungle to seek justice)
  • Daughters of the Dragon (a dynamic female duo, one with a bionic arm and the other a granddaughter of a samurai, open a private-detective agency)
  • The Punisher (one man wages a war on crime; already adapted as two feature films)

TRON: Uprising TV series coming to Disney XD in 2012

Disney has announced that the animated TV series "TRON: Uprising" will debut on Disney XD in the summer of 2012:

The story focuses on an era of the "TRON" storyline that transpires after the popular 1982 feature film and before the story in Walt Disney Studios’ upcoming TRON: Legacy Its impressive list of artists, animators, directors, producers and digital technicians includes executive producer/director Charlie Bean ("Robotboy," "Samurai Jack," and "Powerpuff Girls"); and consulting producers Edward Kitsis, Adam Horowitz (both screenwriters of TRON: Legacy / executive producers of "Lost") and Justin Springer (co-producer of TRON: Legacy).

The new series will be preceded by a 10-part "TRON" micro-series that will launch in fall 2011 (also on Disney XD). The impressive voice cast for "TRON: Uprising" includes Elijah Wood as Beck, Emmanuelle Chriqui as Paige, Mandy Moore as Mara, Nate Corddry as Zed, Lance Henriksen as Tesler, Paul Reubens as Pavel, Reginald VelJohnson as Able and Bruce Boxleitner reprising his role as Tron.

Fox greenlights Orci/Kurtzman-produced TV adaptation of Locke & Key

Fox has given a greenlight to a pilot for the Roberto Orci/Alex Kurtzman-produced TV adaptation of the graphic novel "Locke & Key", Deadline reports:

Based on Joe Hill’s comic published by IDW Publishing, Locke & Key tells the story of Nina Locke and her three children, Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode, who survive an unspeakable horror and attempt to rebuild their lives at Keyhouse, their family home in Lovecraft, Massachusetts. It is a mysterious New England mansion, with fantastic and transformative keys hidden inside its walls that are also being sought by a hate-filled and relentless creature with ties to the Locke family’s past who will stop at nothing to accomplish his sinister goals.

Josh Friedman ("Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles") is penning the adaptation, which Fox is eying for a potential summer run.

Syfy cancels Caprica and pulls remaining episodes until 2011; S1.5 DVD release still sched’d for December 2010

As we previously reported here on TrekMovie.com (see article here), Syfy has canceled the low-rated drama series "Caprica". At the time of the announcement, the network also said it was pulling the remaining five episodes of season 1. At the moment, the plan is to air them in 2011, however, there may be a way for fans of the show to get their fix this year because NBC Universal still has the Season 1.5 DVD release scheduled for December 21, 2010. On top of that, Space, which airs the show in Canada, says they will finish airing all of season one.

Stargate Atlantis fans intentionally killing Stargate Universe?

Now that Syfy has killed Caprica, fans of Stargate Universe are starting to get nervous. Ratings are dropping and even dipping below 1 million viewers. The move to Tuesday could be part of the problem but some thing that Stargate Atlantis fans upset over their show being cancelled could also be ‘punishing’ SGU out of spite. That is the subject of an editorial by SciFiNow called "Atlantis fans need to stop punishing Universe". What is surprising is that executive producer and co-creator Brad Wright seems to buy into this conspiracy theory, telling SciFiNow:

I don’t think if we for any reason go away, it is an issue necessarily of the quality of the product that we’ve been making. I think getting moved on the schedule has hurt us. And the fact that some of the fans that liked SG-1 and Atlantis were so angry that they have deliberately hurt us, which is unfortunate.

Of course it is possible that many fans of SG-1 and Atlantis just aren’t into the different style and tone of SGU. That appears to be the reasoning behind Syfy cancelling Caprica and greenlighting Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome, which appears to be bringing back the sci-fi action of rebooted Battlestar Galactica

In other Stargate Universe news, here is a sneak peek and some stills from this week’s episode "The Greater Good" [Syfy]

Watch another sneak peek here

Promotional stills for episode 2×07 – "The Greater Good" [more at SpoilerTV]

The Cape: New images, casting details and more

NBC has released new promotional cast photos for the upcoming midseason drama "The Cape", including a first look at The Cape (David Lyons) with his mask (which he won’t get until episode two), Vinnie Jones as the deformed reptilian criminal Scales and James Frain as millionaire supervillain Chess [via AICN]:

The series also stars Summer Glau. There’s also more news on the casting front [via AICN]:

  • Mena Suvari (“American Beauty,” “Six Feet Under,” “Rumor Has It”) will grace an upcoming episode as a girl named Dice

  • Thomas Kretschmann (“King Kong,” “Wanted,” “Valkyrie”) will have a major role in an upcoming episode

  • Elliot Gould (the “Ocean’s 11” movies”) has joined the series in a recurring role

And lastly, screenwriter Craig Titley ("Star Wars: The Clone Wars") has joined the writing staff and has already penned the series’ fourth episode, "Kozmo", which is currently filming. "The Cape" does not yet have a premiere date. Check out a clip from the series below.


PREVIEW Videos & Images

Chuck

Promotional stills for episode 4×08 – "Chuck vs. the Fear of Death" [more at Zap2It and SpoilerTV]

Promo for "Chuck vs. the Fear of Death" [YouTube]

Doctor Who

Set images [more at Alun Vega | Flickr]

The Event

Promotional stills for episode 1×07 – "I Know Who You Are" [more at SpoilerTV]

Promo for "I Know Who You Are" [YouTube]

Fringe

Promo for episode 3×06 – "6955 kHZ" [YouTube]

Sneak peek at "6955 kHZ" [YouTube]

On-set interview with Anna Torv, John Noble, Lance Reddick and Joshua Jackson [TV Guide / YouTube]

Set images [more at Nigel Horsley | Flickr via SpoilerTV]

Misfits

Season two trailer [YouTube]

No Ordinary Family

Promotional stills for episode 1×08 – "No Ordinary Accident" [more at KSiteTV]

The Sarah Jane Adventures

Promotional stills for episodes 4×09-4×10 – "Lost in Time, Parts 1-2" [more at Blogtor Who]

Promo for episode 4×08 – "The Empty Planet, Part 2" [YouTube]

Smallville

Promotional stills for episode 10×08 – "Abandoned" [more at SpoilerTV]

Sneak peek at "Abandoned" [YouTube]

Supernatural

Season six promotioncal cast images [more at SpoilerTV, (2)]

Set images [more at SpoilerTV, (2)]

Sneak peek at episode 6×08 – "All Dogs Go To Heaven" [YouTube]

V

Set video [YouTube more via The V Files]

Set images [more at Nigel Horsley | Flickr via SpoilerTV]

Season two poster [multipleverses]

TV BITES

  • Previously on TrekMovie.com: NBC Cancels JJ Abrams ‘Undercovers’

  • "Fringe" showrunners Jeff Pinkner and Jeff Wyman took time to answer several fan questions for the third season of the Fox series. Check out the two-part Q&A over at E! Online here and here.

  • ABC has given a full-season pick-up to the new superhero drama "No Ordinary Family". With the back-nine order complete, co-creator and executive producer Jon Harmon Feldman discussed what that means for the rest of the season: "I mean, obviously we have thoughts and ideas and hopes in places we like to build to…We do have a lot of ideas that we’d love to explore on the back nine." [Blastr]

  • The first four episodes of the Syfy online series "Riese: Kingdom  Falling" are now available to watch online. You can watch new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday at Syfy.com.

  • Fox has layed off most of the writing staff for the upcoming Steven Spielberg-produced prehistoric time-travel series "Terra Nova". due to its previously announced production delay (preview in May 2011 / series premiere in the fall) "…because that pushed the bulk of episode production back until next summer, 20th Century Fox Television was faced with the prospect of paying a lot of writers to do not very much over the next few months. Instead, it decided to hand out a pink slip to any writer it did not have an overall deal with." ‘Trek’ vet Brannon Braga remains attached as showrunner. [Show Tracker | LA Times]

  • "Thundercats" producer Michael Jelenic says the new series — scheduled to premiere in 2011 — will have a simplified mythology: "One thing is that I tried to simplify the mythology a little bit," he said. "It’s a pretty complicated backstory that borrows from a lot of other sci-fi stuff, like Superman and Star Wars. In developing this, I wanted it to be a little more simple…" [Splash Page | MTV]

  • CBS has cut the season seven episode order of "Medium" from 22 episodes down to 13, a possible sign that the struggling series — currently averaging 6.34M viewers and a 1.3 A18-49 rating — may not see an eighth season. Despite the cut in episodes, "Medium" is actually on an up-turn in ratings. Last Friday’s episode drew a season-high 6.97M viewers and a 1.5 A18-49 rating, so all hope is not yet lost. [Blastr]

  • NBC is developing a supernatural drama series called "Vines". The show "centers on a troubled family desperate for a fresh start that takes over a Napa Valley winery whose ancient vines possess dangerous mystical powers". Mark Kruger ("The 4400") is the writer and Michael Aguilar ("The Departed") and Taka Ichise ("The Ring", "The Grudge") will produce. Hideo Nakata ("The Ring") may executive produce and/or direct. [Deadline]

  • "LOST" executive producers Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis have sold a sci-fi/fantasy/mystery hour-long drama script to ABC. The pilot, titled "Once Upon a Time" is described as "a modern-day take on fairy tales, with a female protagonist who comes from a unique background." [On The Air | Variety]

  • Episode 1×05 of "The Cape" will be called "Scales on a Train". [SpoilerTV]

  • Filming has concluded on seasons four and five of the ITV sci-fi series "Primeval". The fourth season will consist of seven episodes, while season five will comprise six episodes. [Den of Geek]

  • Episode 3×08 of "Fringe" will be called "Entrada". [SpoilerTV]

  • The BBC has announced that there will be a sneak preview of the "Doctor Who" Christmas special during the annual "Children in Need" special (airing on November 19). [Blogtor Who]

  • The second season of the UK series "Misfits" will premiere on E4 Thursday, November 11. [Den of Geek]

  • Check out an interview with David Eick about the upcoming BSG prequel "Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome" at Hero Complex | LA Times.

  • The season four premiere of "True Blood" will be called "She’s Not There". [SpoilerTV]

  • Episode 6×12 of "Supernatural" will be called "How To Train Your Dragon". [SpoilerTV]

  • Check out an interview with "Torchwood: The New World" executive producers Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner at Collider.

  • ABC will be hosting a live Twitter chat with "No Ordinary Family" star Kay Panabaker (Daphne Powell) and guest-star Jackson Rathbone ("The Twilight Saga") during the Tuesday, Novemeber 9 (8:00-9:00) episode "No Ordinary Visitors". You can follow the two on Twitter at @kaypandabaker and @NOF_JacksonR. [ABC]

  • The Syfy original movie "Red: Werewolf Hunter", which starred Felicia Day, drew 2.06M viewers (746,000 of which were in the key A18-49 demo). [via YourEntNow]

  • Toshinobu Nishizaki, the producer of the animated series "Space Battleship Yamato" ("Star Blazers" in the US), has died after he reportedly fell from the steamship Yamato which was set to make its trial voyage.  [Mainichi Daily via io9]

  • Various episode synopses/descriptions:

  • "Smallvillle" – 10×09 – "Patriot". [OSCK]

  • "Supernatural" – 6×08 – "All Dogs Go to Heaven". [TV Guide]

  • "Supernatural" – 6×09 – "Clap Your Hands If You Believe". [SpoilerTV]

  • "The Sarah Jane Adventures" – 4×09-10 – "Lost in Time". [Doctor Who News Page]

  • "The Sarah Jane Adventures" – 4×11-12 – "Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith". [Doctor Who News Page]

  • "Chuck" – 4×08 – "Chuck vs. the Fear of Death". [ChuckTV.net]

  • "Chuck" – 4×09 – "Chuck vs. Phase Three". [SpoilerTV]

  • "Fringe" – 3×06 – "6955 kHZ". [Fringe Television]

  • "Stargate Universe" – 2×07 – "The Greater Good". [SpoilerTV]

  • "Stargate Universe" – 2×08 – "Malice". [SpoilerTV]

  • "Stargate Universe" – 2×09 – "Visitation". [SpoilerTV]

  • "Stargate Universe" – 2×10 – "Resurgance". [SpoilerTV]

  • "The Event" – 1×08 – "For the Good of Our Country". [SpoilerTV]

  • "The Event" – 1×09 – "Your World to Take". [SpoilerTV]

  • "No Ordinary Family" – 1×07 – "No Ordinary Mobster". [SpoilerTV]

  • "The Walking Dead" – 1×03 – "Tell It To The Frogs". [Zombie Diary]

  • "The Walking Dead" – 1×04 – "Vatos". [Zombie Diary]

  • "The Walking Dead" – 1×05 – "Wildfire". [Zombie Diary]

  • "The Walking Dead" – 1×06 – "TS-19". [Zombie Diary]

CASTING BITES

  • Landon Liboiron, Elisabeth Shannon and Naomi Scott will play young family members in Fox’s prehistoric time-travel series "Terra Nova" …[Hollywood Insider | EW]

  • ..Fox has also cast the final series regular on the show. Christine Adams ("The Whole Truth") will play Mira, "a battle-hardened resident of Terra Nova who gets to know the Shannon family." [Hollywood Insider | EW]

  • South African model/actress Tanit Phoenix ("Lost Boys: The Thirst") will reportedly be one of the contenders to play the lead in the new "Wonder Woman" TV series being written by David E. Kelley: "She will definitely get to screen test, says an insider." [what’s playing]

  • Rick Schroder will guest star in a January episode of "No Ordinary Family". He’s currently only scheduled to appear in one episode, but it’s possible he could return for more. [TV Guide]

  • Trent Ford, Daniel Gillies and Lauren Cohan have joined the cast of "The Vampire Diaries". They’ll play the vampires Trevor, Elijah and Rose, respectively: "They have deep ties to Katerina Petrova," said exececutive producer Julie Plec. [Ausiello Files | EW]

SCI-FI RATINGS (Based on final national numbers unless otherwise noted) [@TravisYanan]

Caprica

After hitting a series-low, episode 1×13 – "False Labor" increased a bit to 843,000 viewers (+17%) and a 0.3 A18-49 rating (nc). Then again, it really doesn’t matter any more because Syfy has already canceled the series and pulled all remaining episodes. As of now, this will serve as the final-aired episode of 2010 (on Syfy). The season average thus far is as follows: 1.08M viewers and a 0.4 A18-49 rating.

Stargate Universe

  • Episode 2×05 – “Cloverdale” – 1.01M viewers (+4%) and a 0.4 A18-49 rating (nc).
  • Episode 2×06 – “Trial and Error” – 967,000 viewers (-4%) and a 0.4 A18-49 rating (nc).

For just the second time in its history, "Stargate Universe" dropped below 1M viewers. The most-recent airing is a new series-low in viewers and ties a series-low in A18-49 rating. The season two average is now down to 1.07M viewers and a 0.5 A18-49 rating.

“I don’t think if we for any reason go away, it is an issue necessarily of the quality of the product that we’ve been making,” said executive producer and co-creator Brad Wright. “I think getting moved on the schedule has hurt us. And the fact that some of the fans that liked SG-1 and Atlantis were so angry that they have deliberately hurt us, which is unfortunate.”

Destination Truth

Episode 4×07 increased to 1.19M viewers (+19%) and a 0.5 A18-49 rating (+25%). That’s second only to the season premiere in highest audience of the season among viewers and ties a season-high in A18-49 rating. Worth noting, the show is up a total of 33% among viewers and 67% in demo since hitting season-lows with the fifth episode (0.894M / 0.3 rating) . Season four is now averaging 1.04M viewers and a 0.4 A18-49 rating.

Ghost Hunters

  • Episode 6×20 – 1.97M viewers (-11%) and a 0.9 A18-49 rating (-10%).
  • Episode 6×21 – 1.81M viewers (-8%) and a 0.8 A18-49 rating (-11%).

Also, the special Live Halloween edition drew 1.70M viewers and a 0.8 A18-49 rating last Sunday night. Season six is averaging 2.10M viewers and a 0.9 A18-49 rating (2.08M / 0.9 A18-49 rating with the Halloween episode).

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Episode 3×07 “Assassin” drew 1.85M viewers (+3%) and a 0.4 A18-49 rating (nc). The third season is currently averaging 1.90M viewers and a 0.4 A18-49 rating. In the network’s key demo (K2-11), the show is averaging a 2.2 rating.

Hollywood Treasure

  • Episode 1×01 – 1.50M viewers and a 0.7 A18-49 rating.
  • Episode 1×02 – 1.39M viewers (-7%) and a 0.6 A18-49 rating (-14%).
  • Episode 1×03 – 1.13M viewers (-19%) and a 0.5 A18-49 rating (-17%).
  • Episode 1×04 – 986,000 viewers (-13%) and a 0.4 A18-49 rating (-20%).

Solid start for the new Syfy reality series, but the quick decline — two episodes aired per Wednesday night over the last two weeks — is obviously concerning. From premiere to episode four, the show is down 34% in viewers and 43% in A18-49 rating.

Fringe

"Fringe" returned Thursday night with a disappointing season-low 4.80M viewers (-8%) and a 1.8 A18-49 rating (-10%) for episode 3×05 – "Amber 31422". Season three is averaging 5.24M viewers and a 2.0 A18-49 rating in its tough Thursday night time slot.

Chuck

Episode 4×06 – "Chuck vs. the First Fight", which featured a guest appearance by Timothy Dalton, drew 5.47M viewers (+0%) and a 2.0 A18-49 rating (+5%). The season average of "Chuck" now stands at 5.43M viewers and a 1.9 A18-49 rating.

The Vampire Diaries

  • Episode 2×07 – “Masquerade” – 3.55M viewers (-2%) and a 1.7 A18-49 rating (nc).
  • Episode 2×08 – “Rose” – 3.63M viewers (+2%) and a 1.9 A18-49 rating (-6%).

The numbers for "Rose" mark a new season-high (ever so slightly beating the 3.62M tune-in for "Plan B"). As you can see above, the show declined slightly among A18-49 rating, so there’s no new high there. The season average for "The Vampire Diaries" is now 3.42M viewers and a 1.6 A18-49 rating. Compared to the final eight episodes of season one, TVD is up 4% in viewers and even in A18-49 rating (3.28M / 1.6 A18-49 rating).

Nikita

  • Episode 1×07 – “The Recruit” – 2.48M viewers (-12%) and a 1.7 A18-49 rating (nc).
  • Episode 1×08 – “Phoenix” – 2.41M viewers (-3%) and a 1.9 A18-49 rating (-10%).

New season-lows for "Nikita", and what I hinted at in our last column has happened: the show has dropped below 3M viewers for its season average (2.90M / 1.1 A18-49 rating). Even more concerning, "Nikita" is failing among the network’s key demos with season averages of a 1.0 rating among A18-34 and a 1.3 rating among W18-34. Contrast that to the season averages of its lead-in — "The Vampire Diaries" — within those demos (1.9 / 2.6) and you’re looking at retention rates of a dismal 53% among A18-34 and 50% among W18-34. A statistic that only gets worse when comparing strictly to the last episode (0.9 out of 1.9 = 47% and 1.1 out of 2.6 = 42%).

CHART (10/18/2010 to 10/24/2010)

CHART (10/25/2010 to 10/31/2010)


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

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FIRST!

Clone Wars is good. I watch it with my son quite often.

Wanna know what happens to Anakins padawan, though, as the series ends with Revenge of the Sith.

Will the SUPREME COURT talk paramount into getting another Star Trek TV show? Thats what i want to know…

SG-U suffers from the same thing Caprica did. Who do you cheer? Almost all the characters are so flawed, it’s hard to find a protagonist. Where’s the Kirk-Spock-McCoy, so to speak?

At least Caprica was bright and shiny *some* of the time. SG-U is so dark, both in script and cinematography. Perhaps instead of imagining some “conspiracy” of SG-1 and SGA fans, they might consider what made SG-1 and SGA so… watchable? The resilience of O’Neil(l), Jackson, Carter and Teal’c. The charm of Carson Beckett, the nerdiness of McKay and Radek… anyway… characters people could “live vicariously through”.

#2
Much to soon for another Star Trek tv show.

And SGU has an extremely repetitive plot, namely, Rush vs Young. I personally am a huge SG fan and am somewhat disappointed to say that I have not watched anything past the season finale for season 1 of SGU, I’m just not into it, it’s not very good and I’m open to many tones of film/TV, but when you create a franchise based on certain ways of doing things, you don’t completely renovate. It’s a bad selling tactic.

#1 I think they want us to be wondering about that. My theory is that in the end she finds out Palpatine is Darth Sidious and is killed before she can tell anybody. They’ve gone 3 seasons so far where we know Palaptine is the bad guy but none of the characters do, they can’t keep it up forever and still make it interesting.


Regarding “The Punisher”:
Actually there have been 3 Punisher movies, not 2.

*The Punisher (1989) staring Dolph Lundgren changed just about the entire story behind the character, and its easy to forget it was supposed to be based on a comic book.
* The Punisher (2004) staring Thomas Jane and John Travolta was much more closely based on the comics. The story was unrelated to the previous film.
*Punisher: War Zone (2008) staring Ray Stevenson focused on the “Marvel Knights” banner, emphasizing the violence and mature themes. Once again, it was unrelated to the previous movie.
There’s talk of a 4th movie too.

SGU is horrible, compared to SG1 and SG Atlantis. SGU feels too much like a rip-off of BSG and Voyager. If Caprica got cancelled, then I hope SGU gets taken down too, because Caprica was a 100x better show then SGU. PERIOD.

#4

Way, way too soon.

The Creator of Yamato Dies falling off a steamship Yamato??? YIKES!!!
Doesnt that sound kinda ominous or ironic or something>???Wish I knew what they were talking about? Steamship??/ Steamboy?

That Tron animated series sounds damned impressive….all star cast including TRON….and writers producers from several great shows…

Lets see besides, Fantastic Four, Hulk, Thor, Avengers, other proposals include Ka-ZAR(also Jack Kirby/stan lee and Eternals(Jack Kirby solo creation there)

And his family still gets nothing from Marvel disney??

SGU not as much fun to watch as any of the other Stargate shows..Yes it is very different in tone and darkness and that is probably the problem….
The other stargate series while no Trek to me were at least brainlessly fun to watch…SGU isnt….I keep trying to watch it..

Also luvs me some Fringe…But I missed it being on last week cuz I thought it was prempted by the World series sigh…

SGA fans aren’t punishing SGU. SGU’s just a bad show. The success of the stargate was the fun writing and light roles taken by the actors; SGU tries to be way, way too serious.

“Walking Dead” does for the tired zombie genre what the 2003 remake of Battlestar Galactica did for space opera; it makes it real, relatable and puts the spectacle right down to a human level. I love it; and it deserves it’s immediate success (two episodes in, and I’m as hooked as a walker in a feeding frenzy!).

This series has so much potential. And even though zombie movies have become a tired staple of horror movies, this show (with feature film production values, heartbreaking pathos and terrific acting) makes it fresh again. And as far as I know, on the television landscape, a weekly zombie holocaust survival series never been done.

It’s filled the empty, post-BSG void very nicely (and in a way that Caprica never did).

I watch SG-U and kinda enjoy it now. I think the conspiracy theory that SG-1 and SG-A fans are punishing SG-U is a little far fetched. Fans of the earlier show are simply not watching because the creators stole the Fun from the SG franchise and won’t give it back to us. It’s akin to finding out your favourite avuncular uncle has joined the Ku Klux Klan, plenty of meaty drama in that particular scenario but yer not gonna want to visit him quite as much as you used to…

SGU is struggling because it has lost the fun of SG1/SGA but doesn’t have the heft of a DS9/BSG. They should have brought in new blood like Michael Piller and Rick Berman did with DS9.

As for WALKING DEAD, i love it. It is great to see AMC do genre and do something with BREAKING BAD and MAD MEN quality. It would be great to see what AMC could do for a space based scifi show. Maybe Ron Moore should have taken his VIRTUOSITY concept to AMC.

And I cant believe i am going to say this, but SMALLVILLE is not bad. I havent seen all of Smallville, but i am enjoying this last season, but hope they dont tease the suit to the last minute (but they probably will). I think when showrunners know they are on their last year they step up their game sometimes. I hope they arent given another year, then they will go back to meandering.

I agree Anthony—other than missing chloe this season of smallville has been great especially when they pay homage to the mythos n legend like their reimagined scene of the helicopter with lois crashing–litlle homages like showing lois standing on supes red boots to fly remind us even the little moments of donners superman the movie with c reeves were so iconic–they pay better homage in small ways than anything in singers superman returns–I also liked green arrow revealing his identity like stark in ron man n paying the price–last weeks episode however not as good–the vigalante registration act–too similar to x-men who already did that prejudice against mutants much better–

And oh yes thank u again Rosario-your entertainment news column has been consistantly excellent–exhaustingly complete more informative than entertainment tonight–keep up the great work!

I have boycotted syfy ever since the insulting name change. It would take something major to get me to change my mind on this.

It would be great to see AMC do a space series, win a ton of awards—and rub SyFy’s nose in it!

SGU is a decent show with some good moments, but it simply is too much of a genre switch from SG1/SGA and cannot hold a candle to its fun characters. They got what they wanted: Stargate meets BSG. And they proved they couldn’t really make it work. I’ll be sad if SGU gets cancelled, but mostly because the universe was so rich, not because the show needed it. I doubt it’s going to improve much.

#17

With the talent they dish out on “Mad Men” and now “Walking Dead”, I have no doubt that they could. I’d love to see what their considerable talent pool could come up with too.

I really like SGU, but then I never liked the other SG shows. While, I generally don’t have a problem with lighter space opera, there was never anything that grabbed me about either series. Maybe SGU would have faired better if it wasn’t stuck with the Stargate name. Maybe that misled both fans of the other series and non-fans who would have liked it. I don’t know, but I feel SGU is good because it’s about characters. Characters who are flawed, yes, but still heroic. In general I see it as a story about people trying to be civilized when cut off from all civilization. I’d hate to see it canceled and wish people would give it the chance it deserves.

Sci-Fi channel is to busy working furiously on “Sharkasaurous llV: The Revenge of Willy!” to worry about producing a solid Science Fiction series at the moment. :]

Give me a break everyone. SGU is vastly different because the situation is different. You try being billions of light years away from home without a supply line and back up and let’s see how “fun” you are. It’s clear that the SG-1 actors have embraced/endorsed this series. Fans should too, if SGU goes down because of fans, its highly likely that the producers won’t make any more movies. So jump on board SGU’s bandwagon. It has its moments of fun but given the situation, seriousness is most definitely called for.

SGU is simply bad and boring. Brad Wright with his conspiracy theory just doesn’t want to admit it. He is using SG1/SGA fans as scapegoats to divert attention away from his own failure, to make an interesting series.

I have no interest in SGU whatsoever, I liked the previous versions just fine, thank you.
But I’m not out there forcing people not to watch the darned thing! Geez

SDF, feel free to drink your kool aid. It’s like fashion, SGU is a pair of dungarees and no one in this day and age wear dungarees anymore. But if you want to, feel free to.

People have tried it [SGU] and it doesn’t look nice and is unimaginative. It’s unfortunate I can’t ask TPTB of SGU for a refund of my time back.

@SDF – “SG-1 actors have embraced the series.”

What gave you that idea? That they are happy to take a pay cheque from the show runners doesn’t imply anything other than they like to get paid. More importantly Michael Shanks has pretty publicly trashed the show on a blog & has said at Cons that he doesn’t & won’t watch it.

SGU is proof that the Stargate writers simply cannot write very dark and intelligent science fiction. They can write fun shows with fun characters. They cannot write the next BSG. SGU is making the same mistakes that were made with the previous shows. Ethical questions are swept under the rug and plots are reset by the next episode.

At least SG1 and SGA had characters that the viewer could care about. Few viewers would care if all the SGU characters were killed at the end of this season. A character driven show where no one cares about the characters is doomed to failure.

The Walking Dead is my favorite new show of the season, easily surpassing the over-hype of Boardwalk Empire. That was one of the best pilots I’ve seen since LOST.

I’m glad it got picked up for a second season!

And here I thought SciFi fans were nice people. All you people do is complain. I’m not drinking koolaid, I guess SGU is just for a smarter audience.

#4—not necessarily, if they go for perhaps the adventures of the U.S.S. Kelvin under Capt. Robau in the years leading up to the opening scene of the 2009 film…

@ 30

I think a series about the USS Kelvin is a very bad idea. We already know how and when they will die. A new series should play after AFTER the new Star Trek movies.

#30

And call it….

Drumroll please…..

Star Trek : Badass

I don’t have a problem with SGU, but I work Tuesday nights, the only way I had to watch it was online. Now I can’t do that because they stopped posting episodes to drive up the live ratings.

HEY SYFY CHANNEL!! GET WITH THE TIMES, NERDS LIKE TO WATCH STUFF ON THEIR COMPUTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SGU was hoping to carry the SG1/SGA fanbase and include the BSG fanbase, but it has failed to capture both. I tried to watch it, but like a few other comentators here, I find the characters to depressing. In BSG, SG1 and SGA you generally had someone to look up to and admire, an Admiral Adama, General O’Neal, etc. What you have in SGU is a commander who is flawed and weak in the eyes of SG demi-god O’Neal and has comitted attempted murder/manslaughter along with a crew of misfits, including the civilians. The whole premise had promise, and with an iconic leader would have worked well.

So lack of fan-base is no conspiracy among SGA fans, it is simply no interest. The switch-aroo stone thing had me bothered from the start, conveniently allowing the stranded people to go home and have sex and switch out so someone else is having sex in your place, and allow SG1 plots to prop up the storyline with SG1 guest appearances. This show didn’t need anyone from SG1 if it was properly done. Like DS9, with a cameo from Picard, all SGU needed was a couple of cameos in the begiining, and perhaps one cross over character as an option, and with a whole galaxy to explore with a super startship should have had its own vehicle without relying on any other previous characters or plots.

But thanks to the writer, nope, it doesn’t work. They blew it, so I hope it gets cancelled to be replaced by some thing better.

Is it too early for a new Star Trek show? Moore has already said he would get involved. Make sure it isn’t an ‘Enterprise’ and go with the new timeline from the new movie with a different starship and crew, and there may be potential.

The plans for Marvel TV projects are interesting and I love the agressive plans being made. I somehow think Punisher could work better on TV than in the movies. All would be interesting although an “Eternals” would be really cool. And a nice little nod to Jack Kirby too.

SGU for smart people eh, SDF? What’s with the sex? Writers worried it’s too dumbed down that they have to use sex to make the show more intelligent? With each pelvic thrust, it will prop up the IQ of the show and the ratings? How’s that working out for ya and the ratings? Seeing any positive trends yet with each pelvic thrust?

Seriously? That’s your argument? Who are you going to fool? Not me, not the average viewer, but as long as it fools you right?

Is it really too much to ask for civility on this site? For crying out loud, what’s wrong with trying to darken the Stargate franchise up a bit and make it a little more realistic. All I see here is bitter SG-1 and SGA fans.

Sex is part of real life Tropicana. Try growing up.

#29 – Sorry we can’t all reach those lofty heights on which you reside, SDF. I guess we’re all just “too dumb” to appreciate something that you, with your vastly superior intellect, are able to do. Please, I beg you, forgive us wretches our faults and imperfections; we’ll try harder, really we will!

#36 – And all I see here is an arrogant jacka** who thinks he knows better than us “unwashed masses” what’s good and what’s not.

#19

It would be even better to see AMC and Ron Moore do a Star Trek series. I know Paramount/CBS would probably never allow it, but… {sigh} … a guy can dream….

OK, I can’t hold back any longer. After reading watching all of you and other sci-fi fans elsewhere, I have to say this:

Science fiction fans are their own worst enemy! No wonder studios and execs treat the genre and us fans with such disrespect and enmity! You all frakkin’ bring it on yourselves! You deserve to be treated so badly and unfortunately as a result the genre is treated just as poorly!

We should ALL support ALL science fiction, period, end of story! If you don’t like a particular show or how it was changed, that’s fine. Don’t watch it. BUT STOP CALLING FOR THE CANCELLATION OF SHOWS! NO true fans of sci-fi should EVER actively call for the cancellation of any genre/cult show! I may not care for some of the very shows you guys praise here, but I will not list them, NOR will I ever call for them to be cancelled or decry them in public.

The same goes for those who “hated” JJ’s new TREK and publicly call out against it! Or those of you who constantly ask for better or smarter science fiction but then won’t support such shows as CAPRICA or SGU that speak to a deeper human condition in a more dramatic way all because it’s different or “where’s the action, dude?”

It’s called drama and just because it’s not filled with battles or even as much comic relief as you might like, doesn’t mean it’s not well written or good. It definitely shouldn’t cause you to call for its cancellation or, even worse as some of you morons have done, cheer at its cancellation! Cheering after a show is cancelled? Really? You deserve what you get, then!

You all wonder why sci-fij/fantasy is treated as it is by the networks and studios? Take a good long look in the f%$king mirror!

You all make me sick.

CE

PS: I’m sorry Anthony, I just couldn’t “listen” to the self-destruction any longer without saying something. Forgive my harshness.

22… “So jump on board SGU’s bandwagon.”

No. And I’m not a ticked-off SG1 or SGA fan, I gave up on both of those shows too. SG1 went on much too long (it became too much a space show with the stargate seemingly an afterthought in its final seasons, and SG1 should have called it quits when Anderson left) and SGA was ruined by nonstop cast changes after an excellent first season. I watched the first half-season of SGU and was not impressed. The gloom-and-doom storyline might appeal to some fans, but it’s just not my angst. Some shows can pull off the “relentlessly bleak” concept (none better than BSG) but SGU did not.

30… I really don’t get all the Kelvin fans. Captain Robau was an idiot who got his ship destroyed and a large number of his crew killed because he evidently missed the Starship 101 class that taught “keep a safe distance from anomalies”. In my book, he rates slightly above Harriman as worst Trek movie captains.

The ONLY way a Punisher TV series will work is on a HBO, or Showtime…

I thought there already was a Moon Knight tv series in development??

I’d love to see Luke Cage, Jessica Jones (doubtful…) or Ka-Zar series, but they’d never work in a current series landscape.

R.I.P. Caprica…your triumph? You were unlike your predecessor…Your failure? You were unlike your predecessor…

Is there enough of a mythos and interest in Wonder Woman to make it work each week as a series? A movie would be interesting but I don’t think the show will survive. I’ll at least check out the pilot.

SGU sucks, cancel it already and make way for something else.

@42 We “all” make you sick? How ’bout being a little more focused with your disdain? Some of us do not do the things you’re complaining about, yet you addressed your rant to the entire grouping of ‘science fiction fans’.

SY FY are the ones PUNISHING us with SGU – not vice versa… be real…

@#11

You speak divine truth sir.

The Walking Dead is TV brilliance.

I absolutely love it. A zombie apocalypse with intelligence and great drama.

It really does fill the hole perfectly that BSG left when it ended.

All hail the Walking Dead…