TVSquad

Syfy has become known not just for cheesy sci-fi and horror flicks but also remakes, or "reimaginings," of several classic films and shows. They had Children of the Corn recently, they had Tin Man (a modern take on The Wizard of Oz), and they have an Alien Nation remake in the works (not to mention Quantum Leap).

They're also doing Alice, which is their take on Alice in Wonderland. Here's the trailer. It premieres December 6.

TV Squad already reported that the Sci Fi Channel (that won't be for much longer) is doing an Alice in Wonderland modern remake a la their previous Wizard of Oz remake, Tin Man. For those who didn't know, it's called Alice.

Well, they've done some casting and it turns out that Kathy Bates is the Queen of Hearts and Tim Curry is playing a character called Dodo (who in the original novel was a caricature of the author). Given his malevolent smile, I would think Curry would be better suited as the Cheshire Cat.

I'm surprised they didn't give the title character the surname of Liddell (instead they went with Hamilton). I can only surmise that they wanted to minimize any possibility of litigation.

Frankly it wouldn't surprise me if we learned at the end of the four hour mini-series that Alice was on a bad acid trip. That would be my adult interpretation of the novel.

I loves myself some Ron Livingston. It's mostly due to his laid back lead role in Office Space, but I'm always impressed by that "everyman" thing he does so well. Alas, I've never seen Relative Strangers, the 2006 comedy starring Livingston, but I and everyone else will have a chance to catch it on Comedy Central on March 17 at 10:00 p.m.

Livingston plays a psychiatrist named Richard Clayton who sets out to find his birth parents, only to find out they're trailer trash with the surname "Manure" (played by Danny DeVito and Kathy Bates). I'm liking this movie already based on the talent alone, and as The Waterboy demonstrated, Bates knows how to play a hick.

UPDATE: An early draft of this post mistakenly identified the movie as a new Comedy Central series. That was my mistake, a result of misreading the press release. Thanks to those who pointed that out. I promise to report with greater care in the future.