In Sci-Fi TV this week, there’s confirmation from Fox that they will air all 13 episodes of Dollhouse this season, extended details on the pilot episode of V and possible casting news relating to original series star Jane Badler, Leonard Nimoy returning to Fringe, a rumored major death on Heroes and more, including the latest television ratings, casting bites, images and videos.
GENRE TV NEWS
Leonard Nimoy Will Return for 10th Episode of Fringe
Leonard Nimoy, recently coming off his portrayal of William Bell in the fourth episode of "Fringe", will again reprise his role as the character in the upcoming 10th episode. Due to the MLB playoffs, "Fringe" is on hiatus until November 5th. In the meantime, here are the descriptions for episodes 6-8 [via FringeSpoilers]:
"Earthling" – Thursday, Nov. 5th
Emmy Award winner Jon Cassar (24) directs as the Fringe Division takes on a puzzling investigation of victims who inexplicably disintegrate into ash. The shadowy case casts light on Special Agent Phillip Broyles’ (Lance Reddick) past and leads the team to the possibility of foreign fringe science."Of Human Action" – Thursday, Nov. 12th
When a kidnapping rapidly escalates into a hostage situation in New York, local authorities close in on the suspects only to discover that an unknowable force has mind-blowing consequences. The investigation intensifies and the mystery and threat deepen to unimaginable proportions when the Fringe Division identifies a link between the kidnapping and Massive Dynamic."August" – Thursday, Nov. 19th
A peculiar abduction occurs in Boston, leading the Fringe team to uncover details of the mysterious man known as The Observer. While the bizarre case takes center stage, Walter (John Noble), Peter (Joshua Jackson) and Astrid (Jasika Nicole) hit the lab to analyze unusual evidence and deal with Walter’s insatiable appetite for milkshakes.
Episode six – "Earthling" [FOX]
Promo for episode six – "Earthling"
FlashForward Renewed for Full Season
ABC has picked up "FlashForward" for a full season of 25 episodes, slightly more than the norm of 22 or so episodes. The show’s third episode this past Thursday stabilized in the ratings, drawing 9.07 million viewers and a 3.1 A18-49 rating, up 1 and 3 percent, respectively, from the week prior (which were series lows). ABC was also encouraged by the show’s performance in the live + 7 day numbers, with the series premiere improving by 2 million viewers (12.5 million to 14.5 million) and 8-tenth of a ratings point among A18-49 (4.1 rating to 4.9 rating). "FlashForward" is also the highest-rated new drama this season among A18-34 and ABC also emphasized the show’s strong performance in international markets (check out this PDF for details, courtesy TV by the Numbers). In other news, SpoilerTV has titles for episodes 9-11 ("Believe, "A561984" and "Buddha in the Ruins") and here’s a description for episode six "Scary Monsters and Super Creeps" (Oct. 29th):
Mark, Demetri and Wedeck try to connect Janis’ attack with a separate attack made on them; Olivia confronts Mark about his flashforward; Demetri and Gough track down a clue from Mark’s flash; Dylan goes missing from the hospital
And rounding out this week’s "FlashForward" coverage, click here to read a casting call for the show’s 12th episode looking for actors and actresses to portray 10 characters (one that will recur, and two others that may recur), and look below for the latest images and videos from the series. "FlashForward" airs Thursday’s at 8:00 p.m. on ABC.
Set images [more at SpoilerTV]
Episode six – "Scary Monsters and Super Creeps" [more at Pizquita and SpoilerTV]
Promo for episode five "Give Me Some Truth"
V Series Premiere Details + Jane Badler Talks Possible Cameo
ABC has issued a press release promoting the upcoming series premiere of "V" (November 3rd at 8:00 p.m.). Here’s the relevant excerpt from the release detailing the pilot episode:
In the premiere episode, "Pilot," an image of Anna (Morena Baccarin), the leader of the V’s, is projected worldwide as she speaks about everyone joining together and no longer being divided by country or separated by fear. She wants us all to unite, and is counting on a very important component of human nature — devotion. At first considered a threat, the V’s quickly become a fascination and a link to things that lay just beyond our reach. For Tyler (Logan Huffman), a teenaged boy, the V’s are his ticket to being a part of something big and something that offers hope. To Chad (Scott Wolf), an egotistical news anchor who wants to further his career, his exclusive interview with Anna begins his desire to dominate the airwaves. Father Jack (Joel Gretsch), a priest with questioning faith, is hesitant to believe in the Visitors’ righteousness and goes outside of the church in search of the truth. There are other dissidents who believe the Visitors aren’t who they say they are, including Ryan (Morris Chestnut), who is faced with a life-altering decision when the V’s show up. And to FBI Counter Terrorist Agent Erica Evans (Elizabeth Mitchell), who discovers, while investigating a terrorist cell, what lurks beneath the alarmingly human exterior of the Visitors, resisting this new world has never been more important — and never has there been more at stake. This truly is the dawning of a new day.
In other news, VisitorSite reports that the second episode of the series will be called "There Is No Normal Anymore" while the Post Gazette has an interview with Jane Badler (who played Diana in the original series). Badler says that she has had discussions with the creative team of the new series about returning to the show, albeit as a different character:
"I definitely think they’re looking for a different character," Badler said. "I don’t think they’re interested in bringing me back in the same guise. I think they want more of a surprise element so everyone would go, ‘Whoa!’ I think that’s more interesting to them and having it done so it makes total sense with lots of integrity. I’m sure I would be a Visitor but if I was going to be part of a storyline maybe I would be a judge or a lawyer but that wouldn’t be who I really am, it would be something twisted."
Promotional stills [more at VisitorSite]
Promo art [TV Guide and VisitorSite]
TV spot
Watch two more TV spots here and here
Major Death Coming to Heroes
A major death is coming to "Heroes". Kristin Dos Santos of E! Online reports that a "huge" character will be getting killed off shortly:
Sources over on NBC’s Heroes confirm to me that a major death is in the works, and this is not one that will go unnoticed by even the most casual fan.
It is huge.
Kristin couldn’t reveal the name of the actor, but did say that the leading character is a male and is one of the original cast. EW’s Michael Ausiello reported a death rumor (leaving out which show the actor appeared in), but it’s more than likely also from "Heroes":
According to my mole, the popular and well-respected leading man — who tapes his final scenes this week — was blindsided not just by his ouster, but by the tacky way in which it was handled. “He was hurt that the producers didn’t tell him first,” says the source. “He deserved better.”
Episode seven – "Strange Attractors" [more at Pizquita]
Promo for episode six – "Tabula Rosa"
Fox Will Air All 13 Episodes of Dollhouse
Although ratings for the second season of "Dollhouse" have been very low, the recently released live + 7 day numbers provided some good news. The numbers showed that the season premiere grew 50% (from a 1.0 A18-49 rating to a 1.5 rating). In light of that, Fox scheduling chief Preston Beckman recently announced that the network plans to run all 13 ordered episodes of the show’s second season:
“We’re going to run all the episodes,” Fox scheduling chief Preston Beckman said. “We’re not saying we’re happy with those numbers, or accept them, but we don’t have to overreact. During [November] sweeps we might have to jack up the numbers a little [with other programming], but we plan on completing the order for this show.”
A decision on a third season — or an additional episode order — won’t be made until all 13 episodes are run, but Beckman certainly doesn’t look forward to making that decision:
"If you cancel it, you’re an asshole; if you renew it and then don’t put it back on, you’re an asshole," he said. "I’m still paying for ‘Terminator.’ ‘Dollhouse’ has a small rabid fan base that in the world of social media seems bigger than it is. We gave them another season knowing full well we were going to burn in hell if we pulled it."
Series creator Joss Whedon is fully aware that the show may not last past these 13 episodes and says he’s taking the appropriate plans to write a 13th episode that will gave fans closure:
“We’ll definitely have closure, but will leave some doors open,” said Whedon, who’s currently shooting the eighth episode. “When we got our first numbers, which were bad, the first thing [Fox president of entertainment] Kevin Reilly said was, ‘You’ll have all 13,’ which was great. They’re not going to pull the rug out from under us.”
In other news, Scott Allie, who edits the Dark Horse comic "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" revealed that Joss Whedon has changed his mind about doing a comic based on "Dollhouse":
Dollhouse Preview images: Episode five – "The Public Eye, Part 1" [FOX]
More images: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
New Futurama S6 Details
"Futurama" co-creator David X. Cohen treated reporters at this year’s Florida Animation Con to a three-minute animatic of the first episode of the new season of "Futurama", which takes place after the ending of the recent DVD movie "Beyond the Wild Green Yonder":
To explain this clip, one must recall the last few minutes of the last DVD, “Beyond The Wild Green Yonder.” As fans might recall, the movie ended with the crew of the Planetary Express being pursued by Zapp Brannigan in a truly ginormous battle ship. The last scene has them jumping into a worm hole in order to escape while Fry and Leela kiss, expressing their on-again/off-again love affair.
Well, after a brief introduction by the Hypno Toad, we return to the action, finding out the worm hole is actually the Panama Canal of space-time ruptures. It has left them over Earth, with Brannigan hot on their heels howling his victory yodel. From there, the two ships crash, right in front of the Professor’s building. Somehow, Fry and the Prof do survive.
Be sure to head on over to Newsarama to read their complete report.
Alan Ball Talks True Blood S3
Alan Ball, creator of the highly-rated and critically acclaimed HBO series "True Blood" talked a bit about what he has in store for the show’s upcoming third season:
“After last season you would think things would sort of return to normal – but no, that’s not going to happen!” Ball told TV Guide Magazine. “No, there’s just as much weird stuff out there, and we’re going to meet some werewolves for the first time; we’re going to find out some roles vampires played in history, which is interesting and shocking and funny. It’s more of the same.”
“I have four scripts that I am going, four first drafts, and I’m going over them and making some revisions with the writing staff, and we’ve already cast a major role: the vampire king of Mississippi, who’s going to be played by Dennis O’Hare, which I’m very, very excited about.”
Ball also revealed that at least one character will be killed off next season: "Somebody is going to bite the dust and it’s going to be really good to see them get what they deserve," Ball says. The only clue that Ball offered was that "it’s a person we’ll be happy to see go." "True Blood" premieres its third season next summer.
NEW IMAGES
Battlestar Galactica
November Maxim featuring Tricia Helfer and Grace Park [more at Maxim]
Caprica
Set images [more at SpoilerTV]
Lost
Season six poster [Collider]
"The hieroglyphs spell out two Egyptian words, meaning ‘Who is the guide?’ or ‘Who is the leader?’" [Popular Mechanics]
Merlin
Episode seven [more at MerlinSite]
Stargate Universe
Set images [more at SpoilerTV]
Alaina Huffman and Elyse Levesque on the cover of the NY/NJ magazine Steppin’ Out [via SCI FI Wire]
Supernatural
Episode seven – " The Curious Case Of Dean Winchester" [more at SF Universe]
Episode eight – "Changing Channels" [EW]
The Vampire Diaries
Episode seven – "Haunted" [more at VampireSite]
Promotional art [VampireSite]
CASTING BITES
- Previously on TrekMovie: Jolene Blalock ("Star Trek: Enterprise") is joining the cast of "Legend of the Seeker" in a recurring role.
- Clarke Peters will star in the six-part animated "Doctor Who" spin-off ‘Dreamland’. [Telegraph]
- Todd Stashwick has joined the cast of NBC’s "Heroes". He’ll play a recurring role as Eli, part of the traveling circus and a character who has close ties to the carnival’s ringleader Samuel… [THR]
- …There are also two casting calls for the 13th episode of the show, which begins filming on October 21st. [SpoilerTV (and here)]
- The CW has cast Matt Davis to play history teacher Alaric Saltzman in "The Vampire Diaries". He’ll debut in the November 12th episode of the series. [TV Guide Magazine]
- Two casting calls have gone out for the sixth episode of "Lost". Check them out at SpoilerTV here and here).
NEW VIDEOS
Eastwick
Promo for episode five – "Mooning and Crooning"
Ghost Whisperer
Promo for episode five "Cause for Alarm"
Lost
"Attack of the Show" Interview with Michael Emerson (Ben)
Medium
Promo for episode five – "Baby Fever"
The Sarah Jane Adventures
New season three trailer
Smallville
Promo for episode five – "Roulette"
Stargate Universe
Promo for episode five – "Light"
On-set interview with David Blue (Eli Wallace)
Supernatural
Promo #2 for episode six – "I Believe the Children Are Our Future"
The Vampire Diaries
Promo for episode seven – "Haunted"
TV BITES
- Bryan Fuller has turned in the script for the first issue of the upcoming "Pushing Daisies" comic book and has begun work with the show’s writers on the next three issues. [EW]
- Fox is considering an independent film based on the 1996-1999 TV series "Millennium". [ScreenRant]
- The CW has released the synopsis for "The Curios Case of Dean Winchester", the seventh episode of "Supernatural"… [SpoilerTV]
- …The synopsis for episode eight, "Changing Channels", has also been released and can be read at the Chicago Tribune.
- Season three’s seventh episode of "Chuck" will be called "Chuck vs. the Mask". The episode was written by Phil Klemmer and Michael Schultz will direct. [ChuckTV]
- The BBC has released the synopses for "The Eternity Trap, Parts 1 and 2", the 7th and 8th episodes of season three of "The Sarah Jane Adventures". [via Blogtor Who]
- Robert Llewellyn revealed that the UK television network Dave have commissioned scripts for a 10th season of "Red Dwarf". If greenlit, the new season would begin filming in 2010. [Liverpool Daily Post via io9]
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The mid-season finale of ABC’s "Desperate Housewives" will feature a plane crashing down into Wisteria Lane, and ABC sources are reporting that the crash may have a little Easter egg for "Lost" fans: "…the idea came up to have the Desperate Housewives plane be Oceanic."… [E! Online]
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…In other "Lost" news, the fifth episode will be called "Lighthouse" and will be Jack-centric. [The ODI]…
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…And here’s another round-up of some of the latest set reports: Small Filming Snipets, LA X – Teaser Snippet 1 (and 2), Latest Filming Updates and Snippets.
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"Stargate Universe" held steady in its second week, drawing 2.4 million viewers (the series premiere drew 2.35M viewers), but had solid growth in the key demos (+22% in A18-49 to 1.12M and +13% in A25-54 to 1.32M)…
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…Meanwhile, the second season premiere of "Sanctuary" drew 1.85M viewers (946,000 A18-49 and 1.15M A25-54). That was down 31% from last season’s premiere (2.7M) but, was on par with where the show left off in last season’s finale (2M viewers; 900,000 A18-49 and 1.13M A25-54). More details on my blog.
SCI FI TV RATINGS (Note: All ratings are based on the final national numbers, with the exception of the numbers listed for Friday. Friday’s numbers are based on preliminary fast affiliate numbers).
Monday
It finally appears as if "Heroes" has stabilized in the ratings. The show’s fifth episode this past Monday drew 5.55 million viewers and a 2.4 A18-49 rating. That was up 2% from the week prior among viewers and even in A18-49 rating.
Wednesday
"Eastwick" was mostly even from the week prior with 5.08M viewers (-1%) and a 1.7 A18-49 rating (-6%). The show is continually competing for last place in the hour, however ABC actually seems pleased with its performance [Deadline]:
"Eastwick has been the quiet success story," a top ABC exec tells me. "Especially because we put very little marketing money against it." So the series sounds safe for now.
Thursday
"FlashForward" was the most-watched sci-fi program for the week, with 9.07 million viewers and a 3.1 A18-49 rating. Fox’s "Fringe" continues to perform well below last season’s average, although it was up slightly this week among A18-49 (+5% to a 2.2 rating) and even from the week prior among total viewers (-1% to 5.78 million viewers). Also airing on Thursday night was The CW combination of "The Vampire Diaries" (3.88 million viewers and a 1.8 A18-49 rating) and "Supernatural" (2.58 million viewers and a 1.2 A18-49 rating). "The Vampire Diaries" hit a post-series premiere high among both viewers (+10% from the week prior) and adults 18-49 (+6% from the week prior), while "Supernatural" saw a modest 5% bump in viewers and was even in A18-49 rating from the week prior.
Friday
"Ghost Whisperer" (8.21 million viewers and a 2.0 A18-49 rating) and "Medium" (8.04 million viewers and a 1.9 A18-49 rating) again led the field on Friday night. Both shows were down slightly from their respective week-ago performances (-7% and -9% among viewers and A18-49 rating for "Ghost Whisperer" and -3% and -5% among viewers and A18-49 rating for "Medium"). Over on The CW, "Smallville" hit a season-high with 2.62 million viewers (+15% from the week prior) and a 1.1 A18-49 rating (+22% from the week prior).
Notes: Dollhouse did not air this weekend. It returns with new episodes October 23rd. As always, the chart for the previous week’s ratings follows below.
CHART (10/5/2009 to 10/11/2009)
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Follow Russ on his blog: Your Entertainment Now and on Twitter: Twitter.com/YourEntNow.
Yeesh… Fringe is dying out there. I really hope they keep it going.
As for Futurama, that certainly is good news!
Cho’s doing well in FlashForward. Great series, BTW.
Man!! I gotta watch that SGU show!!!
I really hope they keep Dollhouse going. Its hard to believe that it has poor ratings because its about the only original and actually good show I’ve seen on TV recently. I guess the American public has just been dumbed down as to what they want to watch.
V? V?
Come on… I got sick o’ me dates turnin’ inta’ iguanas in tha’ eighties! Enough! Feddie Kru’gar as a nice lizard? Awwwwwk! Beastmaster must save us all!
And whar’ arrrrr tha’ pumpkins? Tha’ pumpkins!!!!
Oh, Leonardo Nimoy has a few ta’ show us aftar’ tha’ World Series…
Hope it ain’t an all LA World Series…
But V?
Ye’ know one o’ them iguanas I dated did give me “V”-D…
I’m wit’ TOG- more Futurama… rather date a robot than a lizard… ‘course I’d get one o’ them VDs that make ye’ micro and soft…
But I do like them Cyclop chicks… one eye can’t catch ye’ stealin’ her bra… gotta’ use that double barreled slingshot ta’ fend off tha’ V…
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…
Everyone should check out Dollhouse, I was skeptical at first. When I first started watching the first season the first few episodes weren’t all that great, but it turned out to be a GREAT sci-fi show!
@ SGU is good can be better if they lost some annoying bits, like the charactor snippets, and body snatching call home thing is very cheesy really dont like that.
Dont like the design of the ship, doesnt play well camera work. looks terrible at any other angle then top and bottom.
Dont like the recording sphere visual effect.
It’s too bad that Heroes is sinking. If it’s Sylar that dies I will be done, done, done with it! Loving Medium and Fringe this season. Fringe seems to have it’s groove now. I hope Fox keeps it around… it’s like this milleniums version of The X Files.
Since the beginning Heroes has too many characters. They should kill half of them and not only one character!
Put Fringe back to Tuesday night so when American Idol comes on it’ll perform better! lol. The 900 pound gorilla’s CSI and Grey’s Anatomy are just too strong for Fringe to compete. Last season it was averaging 7-8 million viewers. Now it’s down to 5 million?
Oh yeah I forgot. They should do Heroes a favour and kill the entire show! If I knew how bad it was going to get I would of preferred a 13 part miniseries about season 1. The only good season.
SGU’s definitely turning out to be a good show. It’s had its low moments, but the quality is overall pretty consistently good.
Which is more than can be said for Dollhouse sadly. Not that the show doesn’t have moments of brilliance (last week’s episode was one for instance). But it hops so readily between good and dull that it’s hard to have strong feelings about it one way or the other.
Joss Whedon should take a break from TV for awhile. I haven’t liked a show of his yet. All are pretty overrated.
I hope ‘V’ has some character quality this time, in the eighty’s it seemed like all you needed to get a spot was if you fit in a lizard uniform.
In theroy is should since Sci-Fi TV has gotten past the ‘lets put space something on TV to match the Star Wars interest.
Any scifi fans i highly recommend sanctuary-the acting from all the leads is incredible -dr magnus played by amanda tapping is wonderful-lotsa action and very smart stories with monsters, historical figures like nicholas tesla who happens to also be an ageless vampire etc…wow i luv it- that and fringe are both excellent-as someone already said fringe is like a modern x files with a bit more humor which is character based..
SGU is really good. I’m pleasantly surprised.
looking forward to see the next episodes
Whoo more Red Dwarf!
you said Dollhouse twice
futurama good
bring back TSCC
dollhouse was good in season 1 coulda been stronger. a little week on the opening. only saw 201, was terrible. drop it. rather watch firefly.
fringe is good woth the next to nothing that ive seen.
heros never and wont.
SGU getting better. i say drop the entire floating ball bit. and forget about its visual. dont like the personal life stuff with the bodysnatching. other then that its tech can stay.
What’s wrong with you people? Heroes is good again this year.
OK. It’s time to declare a moratorium on “Olivia”s. There’s Olvia Dunham on Fringe, Olivia Benford on Flash Forward and Olvia Benson on Law & Order: SVU.
Come on – talk about a lack of creativity… Sheesh!
Heroes storylines make Star Trek time travel and technobabble make complete sense. I could never understand how people could get into that show and call Star Trek every bad name in the book. Talk about denial. If they kill Sylar I know a few people that might not watch anymore.
Sylar is my favorite character in hereos, if he goes, I go. But I doubt that the suits who have managed to kill off many a show for dumb decisions, like moving fringe to Thursday, I doubt they will kill of Sylar, he is to unique to the show.
TSCC needs another chance. The Screenrant stuff about Millennium is extremely dubious.
Of course they could do some great Millennium films. A couple of straight-to-Blu-ray/DVD films would be great, especially if they keep to the style and tone of the first season (one of the best seasons of any show ever INHO) and avoid blowing it by going out-and-out bonkers like Morgan and Wong did in season two! I’d love to see Frank Black and Lucy Butler in a final showdown!
Oh and a couple of X-Files straight-to-Blu/DVD films would be nice as well. I’m watching season nine properly for the first time and I really like Doggett and Reyes as The X-Files’ ‘Team Two’. Do a Mulder/Scully film featuring ‘Team Two’ and follow it with a ‘Team Two’ film with M&S as a cameo!
Not sure about any more Red Dwarf. After Back to Earth, I wonder if it’s had its time.
Agreed, Dom TSCC died early.
Anyone look at the Maxim BSG shoot? Holy Higgs! The video is hot as hell. They’re over-glammed, but I’m not complaining…
Stargate Universe is actually quite good. It just needs some time and it should do well.
Glad to see David Tennant making a guest appearance on “Sarah Jane Adventures.” Not too long before we see the end of his fantastic run as the Doctor. Godspeed, Ten! Godspeed!
TSCC is dead, they just moved it to Friday to finish the job. I just hope thet don’t do the same by leaving Hereos on Thursday, there is to much competition.
The suits strike again !! How many good shows are killed off by bad decisions, Going way back, Space above and beyond was a great show, TSCC, DH soon (although I don’t understand how DH was renewed and TSCC was not. Josh has not had good luck lately with his TV shows. You almost hate to start watching a show during the first season, because chances are, it will not last long. And lost on it’s last season, what’s left, FF is good and I am glad to know it was green lite for a full season.
I wonder if there is a websites that keep track of good sci fi / fantasy tv show that were never given a chance. TSCC was only given 1.5 seasons before being moved to Friday. Seems like the viewing audiance just wants to see Dancing WTS, survivor, Idol, reality shows which are cheap to makeand really dump down the audiance. I really like Hereos, and it’s got better, people need to give it another shot, at least more than a coiple episodes. I guess I should consider myself lucky that I got 4 seasons of Hereos, because the way things sound, this might be the last season.
Jane Badler should return to V as Diana. She was great in the original series.
Jane Badler as Diana is a must! Do not go the Tom Zarek (Richard Hatch) route on this one, it would be a definite mistake! Jane Badler as Diana was ‘V’ for the ’80’s! Please let her be the link between old and new like Leonard Nimoy for Star Trek 2009! She is the most devious character ever, and should be utilized to the extreme as the mastermind (puppetmaster) behind the scenes with Anna as a figurehead for humanity. Diana should be the brains behind the Visitors as she always tried to be. Perhaps she was successful in killing off the Leader in the finale of ’80’s version ‘V’ and is now the Grand Leader herself with Anna as her poster child? It would and will be great to see Ms. Badler on tv again after all these years… can’t wait for nov. 3rd!
Let’s hope the new Red Dwarf is more like hilarious series 7 than the abysmal series 8.
(Come back, Rob Grant!)
Lost needs to come back cause who wants to effing watch Red Dwarf?
I’ll try to catch an episode of SGU and see what they’ve come up with. But I must admit, I lost interest in SG-1 a long time ago.
Stargate sorta went the way of DS9 with the heavy religious overtones. The Ascended types battling it out on our plane of existence is very Prophets v. Pah-Wraiths. I don’t mind some religious content. But the latter seasons of both DS9 and Stargate suffered from being little more than Bible stories in space. Rather than having the main characters’ skills and wits being the focus in overcoming overwhelming odds, as was the case in the earlier seasons of both shows, the writers simply cheated. When the audience knows a supernatural being will intervene and save the day regardless, there’s no suspense.
Say hello to Benjamin “Moses” Sisko. Watch as the great savior destroys Pharaoh’s army [Dominion Fleet] by collasping the Red Sea [wormhole] with help from God [Prophets]. Now, if you take that and simply replace Sisko with Daniel Jackson, the Dominion with the Ori or Gouald, and the Prophets with the Ancients.
It is the same show!
24. Bren
I reckon I’ll be keeping an eye out for the US edition of Maxim in my local branch of WHSmith! Probably both eyes! ;)
32. JohnWA
It depends: part of Kirk’s personal drive (although it’s clear he’s a Christian in the dialogue of several episodes) in TOS is for the right of man to determine his own existence free from the interference of ‘Higher Powers’ be they the god Apollo, Organians, or the M5 Multitronic System.
That said, the very nature of the Star Trek universe is that it is heavily populated with ‘advanced’ beings such as the Q, the Organians and so on, meaning there will always be situations where they might interfere. I don’t mind religious material in science fiction. It’s to the detriment of science and science fiction to deny outright the ***possibility*** that there might be (a) supreme being(s).
Unfortunately Battlestar Galactica suffered when the ill-read atheist bigot brigade went on the march to complain about the ending of the series when anyone with half a brain always knew Galactica’s roots were in religion: I mean, it’s based on Moses, the plagues and the Exodus, with a dash of the Book of Mormon, for crying out loud! :0
#4 DollHouse has more sexual content than I want to watch with my 13 year old. Many people think its a good show, but we’d rather our kids see violence than sex. Easier to talk about I guess.
Oh and bring back TSCC!
@33
While I see your point about the “supreme beings” seen in Star Trek and other science fiction, I think that JohnWA’s point is that when writers rely on the intervention of “supreme beings” as conflict resolution, the viewer has no reason to care about the conflict in the first place. It is a common, and much-maligned, writing crutch to build up situations going from bad to worse to much worse to “oh crap, we’re doomed” so that the only way out of the mess is the Deus ex Machina, the literal “god from the machine” appearing out of the blue to put things right. That’s just lazy writing.
In the case of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry would make a clear distinction between beings of seeming omnipotence or omniscience and the worship of these beings as “gods” by lesser lifeforms. In this sense, accepting the existence of “supreme beings” is not in question – the blindly obedient “religions” organized around them are seen as the problem.
Although I don’t automatically have a problem with religious themes in science fiction, I do question the intent. If you want to make your setting feel familiar to the audience, it makes perfect sense to include religion. If you want to portray the tension between science, which seeks to explain the order and chaos of reality, and religion, which wraps it all up with “god made it that way,” you’ve got my attention. However, if you’re just using science to create a problem but then religion to solve it, don’t call it Science Fiction, call it Fantasy.
I was an avid watcher of Battlestar Galactica and I wasn’t aware of any criticism from “the ill-read atheist bigot brigade.” I was disappointed in the end of the series because it felt like the writers painted themselves into a corner and the only way out was to fall back on the tired old “god’s plan” cop out. For a show that prided itself in having a final resolution in mind from the start, it should have ended much better. Oh well, I still enjoyed the show as a whole.
You might also reconsider using phrases like “ill-read atheist bigot brigade” unless you actually intend on being insulting. I have found that far more “theist” individuals could be defined as ill-read bigots, unless you count the one particular book that they happen to think explains everything.
#34 Lore “…we’d rather our kids see violence than sex. Easier to talk about I guess.”
I… Well… I guess… Nope – just speechless.
Yeah, I’m going to have to agree that BSG has a pretty deus ex machina ending (literally!). I’m actually a somewhat religious person myself and I didn’t mind the whole god thing in BSG to begin with. But it seemed like lazy writing in the end.
@38
I suppose I should have mentioned that I didn’t have any problems with the amount of religion in Battlestar Galactica. It was right there from the beginning and integrated into the setting – and even given that, the end was still disappointing.
36. FrequencySpike
You see, I thought that the moment All Along the Watchtower musical themes that had been running through the show tied together with Starbuck using the notes to type in the jump coordinates that led to our Earth was awesome.
It hearkened back to Leoben telling her she’d find Earth early in season one. Also, higher powers were at play from the very earliest episodes with Head Six guiding Baltar, with Laura Roslin’s visions and the questing themes linked to Kobol. To me, it all ties in very nicely. Deus Ex Machina, in my view, is when a solution comes out of nowhere (as often happens in Russell T Davies’ abysmal Doctor Who episodes.)
In comparison, Galactica simply lived up to its themes as sci-fi version of the Exodus. And, compared with the original show, it was a good deal more circumspect about higher forces guiding the fleet. There were no glowing ships full of angels bringing Apollo back to life, there was no Iblis, although the possibility exists that Kara went to join the angels, as was intended for the original Starbuck in Larson’s shows.
Also, as Head Baltar points out at as he walks through time square, humans have existed in a cyclical pattern of creating AI, then humans and AI mutually destroying one another. The hope was that, after so many cycles, the pattern would corrupt and the outcome would be different. Effectively, both iterations of BSG (and the possible new film version) could be part of those cycles.
Of course, that’s just my reading of it, but both Galacticas always struck me as being about humans caught in a higher plan, trying to keep control.
And now we have the movie ‘The Plan’ coming up which puts Dean Stockwell in the lead role(s) and will apparently make you want to rewatch the entire show following some of its revelations.
I’m impressed, I need to say. Really scarcely will i come across a blog that’s both educative and interesting, and let me tell you, you have hit the nail on the head. Your theory is actually excellent; the issue is something not enough people are discussing wisely about. I’m happy that found this with my search for something relating to this.
i think the beauty of the marathon is that it opens itself up to any definition of respect. for you, it is doing it as fast as you can. for someone else, it is doing as many as they can in one year. for me, it is oh, who knows, i am not even sure i can capture the incredible feelings i have when running 26.2 and put them into words. i just feel more like myself running than i do any other time, and this is esp true when racing. its a beautiful sport because as much as it punishes us, it allows us all to be punished in our own way.