Sci-Fi Sunday TV: BSG, SGU, Lost, Heroes, Virtuality, Dollhouse, True Blood + more

This weekends update on genre TV news has a big update in the world of BSG with Caprica news and clips from The Plan, and Ron Moore’s other show Virtuality may still have a chance at a series. Plus we update the latest in the Stargate franchise, gearu up for the True Blood premiere and much more.

 

TV NEWS

BSG UPDATE: Moore talks Caprica + ‘The Plan’ Preview + more
"Caprica"
, the upcoming SCI FI Channel prequel series to "Battlestar Galactica", is on track and ready for the start of production later this month, says Ronald D. Moore:

"We’re working on the scripts. We start shooting in mid-June. We’ve got almost half the season written. Our biggest problem at the moment is money. We’re just battling budget, but that’s nothing new. So it’s going very well."

Moore also discussed the decision to premiere the show on DVD:

It was a decision of the network. They presented it to me and asked me what I thought about it. I thought, "Well, that’s a ballsy way to go." I think their internal reasoning was that we were going to have the pilot done so far in advance of when the series would premiere, and they wanted to capitalize on the end of Battlestar Galactica, with all the attention and press that would come with that. And it gave the audience something immediately, to sort of say, "And here’s the next one," to give them time to watch it, time for word of mouth to spread, and then set the table for the show to premiere in January.

For more, including Moore’s thoughts on the fan reaction to "Daybreak", "Battlestar Galactica’s" series finale, head on over to SCI FI Wire.

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan Promos

Teaser trailer

Clip [io9]

More BSG bites:

  • Battlestar Galactica cast members Mary McDonnell and Michael Hogan took part in the World Science Festival panel on artitifcial intelligence and ethics in New York on Friday night. [WorldScienceFestival via SCI FI Wire]
  • Katee Sackhoff (Kara “Starbuck” Thrace on "Battlestar Galactica", has joined the Fox drama "24". Sackhoff will play Dana Walsh, “a smart, competent, expert data analyst at CTU with a secret past who is involved with CTU agent Davis Cole (Freddie Prinze Jr.). [THR]

SG UPDATE: SGU and Stargate: Extinction news
Titles for three more episodes of "SGU: Stargate Universe" have been revealed, although they may be temporary. Episode 14 is tentatively titled "Lucid" and will focus on Dr. Rush (Robert Carlyle), episode 15 is titled "Sabotage" and episode 16 will be called "Lost": “The episode numbers and titles are subject to change, so nobody get too attached,” Joseph Mallozzi said.  Meanwhile a source tells TV Guide that fans of the Jack/Sam relationship won’t be disappointed in the two characters’ reunion in ‘SGU’: If it’s quality Jack/Sam time you’re looking for, you won’t be disappointed."  Rounding out this week’s Stargate-related news, "Stargate Atlantis" writer/producer Joseph Mallozzi reveals that the first draft of the movie "Stargate: Extinction" is complete and is being fine-tuned, while also revealing that "the character of Elizabeth will not be making an appearance."

Bryan Fuller: Heroes Is Back
Bryan Fuller believes that "Heroes" is back with season four, which he says will bring about "a new spirit": "Everybody has gotten really invested in the show, and we’re going back to the basics of the characters," Fuller told SCI FI Wire:

"I’m just excited about getting back to the basics and getting back to the real world and seeing what it’s like for HRG [Jack Coleman] to try to re-create a company when every version of it has failed in the past. And not only doing that, but going through a divorce and trying to hold his family together. And for every plot conceit that we have for a character, we have even more conceits for what’s going on in their personal lives that makes their plot story so much more complicated, because their emotional, personal story is so intrinsically tied with what’s happening with them. I like the balance of the personal lives that we’re telling this season."

Head on over to SCI FI Wire to read the rest of the interview.

Could Virtuality Become a Series?
Ronald D. Moore is hopeful that strong reviews and ratings for "Virtuality", which Fox will air later this month — June 26th at 8:00pm — as a two-hour "original science-fiction thriller movie" will leave open the possibility of the show being picked up as a regular series.  However, co-creator Michael Taylor strikes a much less optimistic tone about that possibility:

"I have to be honest, I think the scheduling of this the way it is… it does not look good. The chances are very slender. Slim to none — who knows? It would take pretty much a miracle for that to happen"…"Neither Ron nor I are holding our breath for a miracle. We’re just happy people have a chance to watch what we made."

Getting back to Moore, the co-creator/executive producer revealed that webisodes related to the show have been done and Fox looking into when and how they’ll be shown:

They were pieces of the reality show itself. We cut together a group of, I think, five or six webisodes that were essentially like watching the reality show on television. The idea was to put those on the Internet and let the audience build interest in the show as well. If the show had gone to series we were going to continue that as a very strong component. The reality series that you’d see week to week you would be able to watch as a series almost on the Internet at the same time, which I thought was really interesting. Studios and networks are constantly looking for ways to pull the audience across both lines, that there’s some kind of Internet component to an existing television show.

More interviews with Moore and Taylor can be read at io9 and Televisionary.  Check out a video clip below of the cast talking about what items they would bring with them to space.


Lost Last "Epic" TV Show? + Mathew Fox S6 and Casting Rumors Debunked
Jack Bender, a producer/director of ABC’s "Lost" says that the show’s finale will likely mark the end of epic TV shows:

"It’s going to be one of the last huge television shows in terms of size of cast and scope of production," predicts Bender, in town to lead a master class at the Banff World Television Festival.

"Given the fact that network television is changing, it may be one of the last great rides of this kind of big epic storytelling."

Bender also promises that the show will end on a "stimulating, satisfying" way:

"This show needs to be building toward a story finish. The audience can’t feel like the creative wheels are spinning and critically, there were times during the seasons before … where we were critically, and in terms of our audience, getting busted for spinning wheels a little bit."

Meanwhile Mathew Fox (Jack Shepard) was interviewed at the Monte Carlo TV Festival and spoke about the show’s sixth season.  Here are some highlights via The ODI:

1) He knew that in that Jack and Locke would have to go head to head quite a bit in Season 6. Now if he is talking about the real Locke or Darth Locke who knows? At least we will get a good dose of Terry O’ Quinn.

2) The opening scene in Season 6 will confirm what happened in the Season 5 Finale and that it will be both confusing and surprising at first.

3) About a third of the way through the season both time lines will be "solidified into one time" and there will be one linear time throughout the story on the island with no more flashbacks.

4) When describing the end of the show he uses several different adjectives and confirms talking to Damon Lindelof many times and that each time he does that it is surprising that it is so "moving". Some of the words he uses are Beatiful, Redemptive, Sad and ends with saying it is just Awesome!

I’ve included one of the clips from the interview below, head on over to The ODI to see the others:

And lastly, over the past week the following tweet was posted on a now-deleted account: "Lost Scoop: Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) returns for 4 episodes, Clarie (Emily De Ravin [sic]) for full-season, Shannon (Maggie Grace) for 6 episodes!"  The report was initially reported as a possibility, but has since been debunked by multiple sources.

Sarah Connor Chronicles’ Producer on What Would Have Been
"Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles"
producer James Middleton chatted with SCI FI Wire about the canceled Fox series and revealed that he remains passionate about continuing the show in another format, but cautions that he doesn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up:

"I feel like I don’t want to raise anybody’s expectations about what’s going to happen with those characters," Middleton said in an exclusive phone interview Wednesday while promoting Terminator: The Machinima Series. "I can tell you that I love those characters. I use a business term, and it sort of belies my emotional investment in these characters, but they are a great franchise asset. My passion for them is not diminished at all, and I’ll just leave it at that."

Middleton also agreed that the show’s second season/series finale could be interpreted as John Connor never growing into the position of resistance leader: "I think that that’s the right interpretation, because in the actual footage of the show, we see that Derek doesn’t recognize him," Middleton said. "So, by jumping into this future, he has erased his existence in a certain way, and we see that. We see that nobody recognizes him."  Head on over to SCI FI Wire to read the rest of the interview.

True Blood: Season Two Premieres Tonight; Cast Talks
The second season of the hit HBO series True Blood kicks off tonight at 9:00pm.  Here are a few thoughts from some new additions.  Evan Rachel Wood describes her character Sophie as "half Patrick Bateman, half Paris Hilton. She loves to tell people what to do—like, she could tell Bill to go play Yahtzee or something—but she’s not going to sleep with him, because she likes the ladies."  More from Evan Rachel Wood at MovieLine.  Also, Ashley Jones talked with SCI FI Wire about here character Daphne:

SCI FI Wire: How will Daphne develop over the course of her episodes?

Jones: She definitely has an agenda. I’ve had to sign confidentiality agreements, but there’s a lot more to her than you think. There are so many things I want to say. The twists and turns are fascinating, and they were hard to follow and keep up with, because they’re so drastic and riveting. I learned about the character slowly, because I’m not sure I would have been able to grasp all of it at one time. She’s very complex.

More at SCI FI Wire.  Meanwhile IESB scored an interview with Deborah Ann Woll (Jessica Hamby), here’s an excerpt from that interview:

IESB: What can viewers expect from Season 2 and Jessica’s storyline?

Deborah: I see the second season, for Jessica, really being about growing up and maturing, and dealing with situations in a way that she can be accountable for her own actions and for things that happen, and looking for solutions. In essence, it is a coming of age story for her. She’s starting to deal with some of these problems and issues of being a vampire, a bit more like an adult would, in a way that I think Papa Compton would be proud of me, if he knew that that’s how I was responding.

Here’s the synopsis for tonight’s episode (head on over to SpoilerTV to read synopses for episodes 2-6):

A shocking murder outside Merlotte’s bar has the people of Bon Temps reeling; Sookie and Bill’s relationship is tested; Sam recalls an encounter he had with Maryann as a 17-year-old.

Behind-the-scenes/photo shoot [more at SpoilerTV]

Rolling Stone and TV Guide Magazine Scans [more at SpoilerTV]

Clip (click image below to watch four new clips) [io9]

Interview with stars Sam Trammell and Rutina Wesley

Joss Whedon Talks Dollhouse Season Two
Writer/creator Joss Whedon reveals that he’s two weeks into breaking episodes for the second season of the Fox series "Dollhouse" and says everything is going well:

"About two hours after starting to talk to the writers about story, I was back with such a vengeance, and so energized and so pumped because we really understand the show now. We understand what works, and what didn’t work so well or what we weren’t so thrilled about. We don’t have the onus of trying to be a big hit sitting on our shoulders. We can just be ourselves. And so the stories we’re breaking are pure, and exciting, and everybody’s on-board in the room, and it’s never flowed better."

Whedon also revealed that Summer Glau hasn’t signed on for any episodes yet:

"We’re still breaking the episodes," Whedon says, "but we didn’t honestly go into the season going, ‘Now how can we figure out how to service Summer?’ when we already have a huge ensemble. I adore Summer and she’s phenomenal, but I have to service the cast I have first. If something comes up that’s good enough, my God, I’d hound her. But the rumors of her becoming a big part of the show are greatly exaggerated."

Head on over to EW to read the rest of what Whedon had to say about the upcoming season.  In other news, TV Guide reports that Miracle Laurie, who played the character Mellie/November, won’t likely be back next season: "It would seem that Miracle’s storyline has come to a close."  And lastly, Dollverse reports that the show will have a presence at Comic-Con in San Diego this year, with Whedon being joined by star Eliza Dushku for a special 2-hour session on Friday, July 24th.  Audience members will have the first opportunity to watch an exclusive screening of "Epitaph One" (which was the final filmed episode of season one, but will be included on the DVD).  The floor will then be opened for a Q&A.

San Diego Comic-Con Schedule
Speaking of Comic-Con, E! Online has a list and schedule of all the show’s currently planned to have a presence at the event:

Wednesday, July 22:

6-9 p.m.: WB Pilot Preview Night

Thursday, July 23

TBD: Pysch

5-6 p.m.: Dexter

Friday, July 24

TBD: Caprica, Dollhouse, Eureka, Flash Forward and Stargate Universe

1-2 p.m.: The Big Bang Theory

2:15-3:15 p.m.: Past Life

Saturday, July 25

TBD: Lost, Sanctuary and Warehouse 13

10-11 a.m.: Chuck

10:15-11:15 a.m.: Eastwick

2:45-3:45 p.m.: V (including full pilot screening)

4-5 p.m.: Fringe

4:45-5:45 p.m.: Human Target

6-7 p.m.: Vampire Diaries

7:15-8 p.m.: MythBusters

Sunday, July 26

10:30-11:30 a.m.: Smallville

11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m.: Supernatural

Other TV-Show Panels at Comic-Con

Some shows expected to present panels (or at least something) at the Con include Ghost Whisperer, Legend of the Seeker, The Prisoner and True Blood. Dates and times for all these are TBD, but True Blood will probably land on the weekend.

 

NEW DVD ARTWORK

Red Dwarf: Back to Earth (June 15, 2009)

Region 2 DVD [DVD Active]

Robin Hood (June 29, 2009)

Season Three Region 2 DVD [DVD Active]

NEW VIDEOS

Fringe

Season One DVD trailer

Smallville

Season Eight DVD trailer

Vampire Diaries

Extended preview

TV BITES

  • Previously on TrekMovie: Futurama Returning With New Episodes In 2010 – Expect Trek Jokes To Follow
  • Marc Singer, star of the original 1980s sci-fi miniseries "V" and subsequent sequels, says that the time is right for a the upcoming ABC remake. [SCI FI Wire]
  • Jonathan Sadowski and Keir O’Donnell have been tapped to star in Ghosts/Aliens, a live-action comedy for Comedy Central. The property is also being developed by Paramount Vantage as a feature film. [THR]
  • ABC unveiled their fall 2009 schedule this past week, setting a Thursday, September 24th (8:00pm) debut for the David Goyer/Brannon Braga-guided sci-fi series "Flash Forward".  The show is the network’s lone sci-fi entry for the fall season, with the others — "Eastwick" and "V"  — being held over for midseason.

  • NBC has signed "Heroes" writers Aron Coleite and Joe Pokaski to two-year deals.  The two will continue to write for "Heroes", but will also start developing projects. [Variety]
  • The official website for the new SCI FI series "Warehouse 13" has launched.  Check it out at this link.
  • "Torchwood" actress Eve Myles reveals that the five-episode  miniseries "Children of the Earth", effectively serving as the show’s third season, definitely leaves the door open for a fourth season… [Wired]
  • …That sentiment was echoed by Russell T. Davies who told fans during a screening of the premiere episode "Day One" that he knows where he wants go to in the fourth season, even going so far that he’d like the show to go on for 10 years if viewers remain interested. [Den of Geek]
  • Three have been added to the cast of the upcoming SCI FI miniseries "Alice". They are Kathy Bates, Tim Curry, Colm Meaney and Philip Winchester. The series will premiere in December of this year. [THR]
  • Michael Shanks ("Stargate SG-1") will guest star in an episode of the second season of the SCI FI series "Sanctuary".  He’ll play a character named Jimmy. [SCI FI Wire]
  • Plot details for two season two episodes of Fringe have been unveiled…
  • …Plus, there’s a rumor that Peter (Joshua Jackson) will have a more "central and active" role in the investigations in the new season. [Fringe Television]
  • The BBC series "Merlin" makes its US debut on NBC this summer (Sunday, June 21st at 8:00pm) and star Colin Morgan gave an interview to reporters about the show.  Read it at SCI FI Wire.
  • "Doctor Who" producers have reportedly decided that new Doctor Matt Smith’s first villains he’ll face will be the Daleks. [Daily Star via Google]
  • Here are some plot details for the upcoming season 3.5 of "Eureka". [SF Universe]
  • Jensen Ackles (Dean Winchester) says that the upcoming fifth season of "Supernatural" will see the two Winchester bros. playing a crucial, but not necessarily pivotal role in the war between heaven and hell: "Are Dean and Sam (Jared Padalecki) really that important that they’re going to be the focal point of this apocalypse? Or are they just going to be caught in the crossfire, trying to use whatever they can to help fight for the good?" [E! Online]
  • Natasha Henstridge talks about the story and her character in the upcoming ABC limited series "Impact". [SCI FI Wire]
  • Dominic Monaghan, who’s appearance in one of ABC’s “House” promos fueled speculation of his return to "Lost", will instead be starring in ABC’s new drama "Flash Forward". [IGN]

MISC VIDEOS

Beaker

Beaker’s five-word acceptance speech at the 13th Annual Webby Awards

Watch "Ode the Joy"

SCI FI to Syfy Transition

 

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


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I love Beaker!

wow, lots of great info thanks. Poor Beaker. :)

I haven’t watched Caprica yet, but I need too.

Finally saw the Caprica pilot. Started really slow and I came close to turning it off…. but it gradually got more and more interesting and by the end I was anxious to see the next episode.

It could definitely use a little more energy and excitement though.

Beaker is the absolute best! I loved the ‘Ode to Joy’ video. It was priceless.

SyFy = Epic Fail. I’m just sayin’.

#5: The phrase ‘epic fail’ and its constant overuse in itself is an epic fail. And more daleks for DW already??

#5

Agreed. It just shows how dumb our culture continues to get

Please, no more Vampires. Its getting old.

#5 and #7 I don’t really care for the change, BUT it’s great marketing. I mean you’re talking about it right? Whether it’s in a negative context or not, you’re still talking about it. That’s the whole part of marketing is to be in your evoked set. Popular media has also picked up on this, which equals lots of free advertising dollars. Stupid name, maybe, but it’s working.

On a side note I loved V. That and He-Man led me to Star Trek later in life. I just hope it’s done well, I’ll need something to fill the void of Lost.

Well, now that Dollhouse is renewed, I have to say that Summer Glau could only help the show. In fact, let’s replace Dushku with her Glau and I guarantee the show would improve 150%.

Also, Daleks for Doctor Who already? They’re beginning to be to Doctor Who what the Borg were to Voyager.

Dollhouse/ Daleks/ SyFY = EPIC fail.
Just couldn’t help myself. Sorry.

I would like to concur with 4 and 1, that indeed, Beaker does rock … and really, pick up the Muppet show on DVD – aged somewhat and yet at the same time has not aged at all – Mark Hamill, Vince Price, Peter Ustinov …. what is there not to love …

Easy mistake to make, but “Day One” is actually the second episode of Torchwood. “Everything Changes” was the series premiere.

12 – Plus John Cleese and Peter Sellers! And Sellers did not do much TV after he made it big in films. “Muppets” was often a great show.

Caprica is a little slow and starts as slow as watching mold grow. But I figure give it time and things may develop. I hope thing do if you wish to see more than a season.

Waiting to see the “V” remake. I remember it trying to jump on the post Star Wars/Sci-Fi wagon. The remake will need something besides finding a unused train ticket to the Lucas Express Train. Will they try to ad 3D to the HDTV format.

The best news in all this news is that the Sci-Fi venue is not slowing down, as it seemed to do after The Planet of the Apes movies closed the 2001 Odyssey Sci-Fi train.

Maybethis time the Sci-Fi wagon will keep us on track to colonize the Moon and start out Adventure or Trek into space.

Too bad about Merlin. When I heard it was coming, I grabbed it from the local library – and it really wasn’t very good. I think now that Jack Whyte has written A Dream of Eagles, you need to move forward in Arthurian tales to something more substantial… There are more interesting, more complex and far more exciting tales to be told with these characters. BBC’s Merlin is a step back.

Yay Beaker!

I’l be interested to see what a Moffat-as-showrunner Dalek episode will be like. I like it when the Daleks show up; what I _don’t_ like is when they’re used cheaply, dismissed all at once in a flash of too-convenient gimmickry, and in the process, de-fanged.

The first (new) season episode “Dalek” was all kinds of brilliant because it made a single Dalek a very scary thing. The season finale got rid of a mess of Daleks with a gimmick, but once was fine … things started to edge downhill from there, and by the time we had “Daleks in Manhattan” it was gimmicks on parade (though, kudos for putting Daleks in an art deco setting, because that was just brilliant visual thinking).

Call me starry-eyed, but I don’t think Moffat is going to let the “defanged Daleks wiped away with a gimmick” tradition continue. Whether it’s a Moffat script or one he shepherds to the screen as showrunner, I have confidence that we’ll see some badass Dalek stuff going on, something thought-provoking and clever. He’s earned that confidence, I think. Moffat seems very dedicated to Doctor Who that doesn’t compromise on brain to feed heart, and doesn’t compromise on heart to feed brain.

“Caprica” took all I hated about BSG and thrown out all I loved about it.

No no, Bryan Fuller, Heroes should NOT go “back to the basics.” The end of every freaking episode takes the characters right “back to the basics,” which means that over three seasons there has been NO character development. Hell, there’s been no STORY for the past three seasons – nobody ever DOES anything.

Here’s an idea; PROGRESS THE SHOW FORWARD!! Dammit!

God, enough with the BSG news. No one cares, Ron. You had your chance and look what you did?

Now, Dollhouse and True Blood! There’s a crossover *BEGGING* to be made. Anna Paquin and Eliza Dushku ramming each other with a double ended dildo while covering themselves in baby oil!

TELEVISION GOLD. When will the networks wake up to my way of thinking and make the shows that WE WANT TO SEE?????

“In fact, let’s replace Dushku with her Gla”

Yeah, if you want to replace ‘sexy’ with ‘alien-face’.

Really looking forward to Caprica and The Plan. I hope The Plan gets simutaneous Blu-ray release.

Dubious about the new Doctor’s first foes being the Daleks. It’s a Daily Star report and the British tabloid press habitually lies about entertainment ‘news’ to fill column inches. The Moff has said on numerous occasions that he wants the series to be about meeting new monsters.

That said, maybe all that time-locked Time War nonsense will be ended and they’ll restore Gallifrey!

Rosario – Re: the cast additions for “Alice”:

I believe Bates plus Curry plus Meaney plus Winchester does *not* make THREE.

“There Are FOUR Cast Additions!!!”

(sorry)

That Fringe trailer is great. That show really grew on me as the season progressed. And the whole ‘Alternate Timeline’/Leonard Nimoy thing (complete with lens flares) make me wonder if there is going to be a very subtle Trek connection.

JACK/SAM!!!!!!!!!! Ahem. I’m a bit nervous about the direction SGU is going in, but that provides much, much incentive for me to at least watch the first one.

quote:
“We’re still breaking the episodes,” Whedon says, “but we didn’t honestly go into the season going, ‘Now how can we figure out how to service Summer?’…

I offer my services to Mr. Whedon – I know how I would “service” Summer…

20 said
“Now, Dollhouse and True Blood! There’s a crossover *BEGGING* to be made. Anna Paquin and Eliza Dushku ramming each other with a double ended dildo while covering themselves in baby oil!”

You just lost all right to say anything intelligently or deeply critical…ever. If this is what you like on TV, then fine. But it’s based on this statement that I can see why you didn’t like (or should I say understand) BSG or Caprica. God forbid we should ask audiences to think.

You are the lowest common denominator to whom they’ve been trying to play to in TV for years. We’ve been lucky to get the little bit of quality programming we’ve gotten, in spite of folks like you.

As for DW and the Daleks. It’s not the first time and won’t be the last that a new Doctor launched by facing the Daleks. Hell, one of my fav Doctor’s, Patrick Troughton faced the Daleks in his first appearance. Sadly, that was lost to time and the idiocy of the BBC. I trust Moffat and agree with Ross, he’s earned a chance and he’s always had some of the best Doctor Who eps. I for one, cannot wait for this new incarnation!

PS: This is Anthony’s site and if he wants to write an article a week or day or month on BSG until the end of time…it’s his right. If you don’t want to read it, that then is your right. Otherwise, stop your bitchin’!

#27: “God forbid we should ask audiences to think.”

BSG stopped asking audiences to think a couple of seasons in, when they started dumbing it down, turning characters into mouthpieces, replacing subtle metaphor with ham-handed “hurrr hey lookit I read the papers, hurrr ….” and throwing out plot in favor of gimmick exploitation.

Not to be accused of “Bitchin’ ” but I have to agree BSG has been over for a long time. However I don’t have a problem with the occasional article. I refuse to watch Caprica and their “lets milk this for as much cash as we can” movie “THE PLAN”.

#30: “However I don’t have a problem with the occasional article.”

Likewise. This site has become virtually my one-stop-shop for genre SF news, and I likes it just fine that way :)

I love BSG and miss it bunches. So thanks for the news.