TVSquad

(S01E07) With the IOA and Stargate Command planning a risky rescue mission aboard The Destiny, Eli, Chloe and Young used the communication stones to head back to Earth and... indulge in a little drinking and sex!

The crew faced death again, Col. Telford came aboard to annoy everyone again, and Rush hovered on the fringe, skulking and whining about the military's plan of action. Again.

Still, I really enjoyed how everything played out this week. Finally Eli, aka the Star Wars-referencing funny guy, was given more to do than make jokes and pine for Chloe. David Blue really sold the scenes with Eli talking to his mother. I sensed a real longing from Eli to want to take care of his mom and prove himself to her out of love and respect. It was a good idea to have him pose as a co-worker. That way, we got to see what he really thinks about himself, his mother, and his current situation.

Ok, first of all, I think I already have a bit of a girl-crush on Sgt. Vanessa James. I mean, for cripes sakes, look at her. And I love that she told the guys she could whup their ass. You do not want to cross her.

Four episodes into Stargate Universe, and I'm starting to get hooked. I like that this week's episode, "Darkness," took place mainly on the ancient ship Destiny, which looks ultra-cool flying through space. The whole thing has a Firefly feel to it.

I'm also starting to get a better feel for the storyline and characters, thanks in part to their little bio recordings engineered by Eli. Most of the crew are in their 20s or 30s, and most would rather be anywhere but there.

I appreciated them trying to figure out the ship's systems -- waste, water, showers, etc. As some of the commenters have said, that probably would have been first on the list of things to do three episodes ago, even if Dr. Rush was having some power issues of his own.

I once again checked out Stargate Universe this week. Apparently, the first two episodes hooked me enough to watch this one, even though I'm still a little in the dark on the whole portal jumping / chevron stuff.

So I'll let you veterans talk about all the inter-dimensional Stargate stuff, and will just point out a few things I liked about this episode, part three of "Air." For one thing, I'm really liking the kid, Eli Wallace. He sort of grounds the series and keeps it from being completely in a sci-fi universe where none of us could ever imagine going, because that's exactly what's happening to him.

I'll preface this by saying that while I'm familiar with the Stargate franchise and recently watched the 1994 movie starring Kurt Russell and James Spader, I've only seen an episode here and there of the various TV shows. So this is my newbie look at Stargate Universe, which premiered Friday night. (And, uh, there really isn't that much on Friday night, and it happened to be on Charter's video on demand, so I checked it out after the premiere aired.)

I'll say right off the bat that it seems a little cheesy, so I'm wondering how it compares to the previous Stargate incarnations. The characters seem a little cliche:

• the blowhard politician with health problems (and his caring daughter), which resulted in the episode's most heartbreaking moment
• the nerdy guy with long hair and a sad past
• the nerdy kid who ends up being transported to a spaceship and helping the crew with important stuff
• the tough-guy military people with guns and crew cuts
• the gorgeous female crew members

When word broke that the Stargate franchise was moving into darker territory with Stargate Universe, fan reaction ranged from cautiously optimistic to downright angry. The anger mostly came from fans who felt jilted by Syfy's sudden cancellation of the veteran show Stargate Atlantis (it didn't help that Syfy announced the new series in a press release that also announced the cancellation of Atlantis). To some, it seemed like the fan favorite (Atlantis) had to die so the edgy new experiment (Universe) could live.

Universe –- a fine, scrappy show packed with great actors – might now be facing an uphill battle with some of its target audience members. Stargate fans unwilling to give the show a chance should know one thing: The franchise's spirit of adventure remains intact in the first three episodes of Universe. It is different and darker than Stargate: SG-1 and Atlantis – even blatantly dreary at times – but it's still Stargate.

During Friday's excellent Battlestar Galactica series finale, SciFi aired a preview for Stargate Universe, the new Stargate show starring Robert Carlyle and Lou Diamond Phillips.

SGU follows a group of scientists and civilians trapped on an Ancient ship, The Destiny, which forces them to travel throughout the far reaches of space. Along the way, the group struggles to survive and unlock the "secrets" of the ship's Stargate.

Robert Carlyle is a fine actor with an impressive resume (The Full Monty, 28 Weeks Later, 24: Redemption to name a few), but he'll always be the hard-drinking, C-word screaming, Ewan McGregor-slapping Begbie from Trainspotting to me. Which is why it comes as a surprise that he's been cast as the lead in the next Stargate series, Stargate Universe.

Carlyle will play Dr. David Rush, leader of a group of scientists and civilians trapped on a ship traveling through space. Word is that Dr. Rush, charged with finding a way to return his crew home, might not be the nice guy everyone thinks he is.

"They want me back in Washington, they can come and get me." - Jack

It's been a year and a half since we last saw Jack Bauer, staring out into the ocean and contemplating who knows what after saying good-bye to a comatose Audrey (Kim Raver). The time has gone by much faster for Jack though. In an attempt to find himself and figure out his true calling, Bauer has been wandering the world for three years. Wayne Palmer never re-gained the presidency following his memory lapse in season six and Noah Daniels (Powers Booth) finished out Palmer's first term only to lose a re-election bid to Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones). 24: Redemption (airs this Sunday, 11/23, on FOX at 8PM ET) finds Bauer in the fictional African country of Sangala on the day of Taylor's inauguration with everything to lose and nothing to gain.

There's been some scuttlebutt stirred up to suggest that next season's two-hour 24 prequel TV movie will be considered part of the 24 hours in Day 7, therefore leading some to think that there'll only be 22 episodes. But how could there only be 22 hours in a day, right? Well, TV being what it is, I'm sure they'd find a way to do two hours in one -- other shows do! -- but that won't be the case. There will be 24 hours, 24 episodes in the 2009 season of 24.

Part of the reason for all this confusion is an interview that actor Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty) gave to Premiere.com. Carlyle, who will be playing someone who'd been a mentor to Jack, said that the 24 TV movie, which is meant to cover what's happened since the end of Day 6 with the new Day 7, would apply to the Fox episode commitment. He told Premiere.com, "This is two hours in real time, and there'll then be 22 episodes."

TV Squad previously reported that production on the two-hour prequel to 24 season 7 was underway. Now, it's been learned that a few cast members have been added to that TV movie.

The movie has Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) battling terrorists in Africa while the new President of the United States Allison Taylor is sworn in. Already cast are Cherry Jones (as Allison Taylor), Robert Carlyle (as a mentor of Jack Bauer) and Carlos Bernard, who will be returning despite his apparent death in season five.

The new cast members are:

• Tony "Candyman" Todd (who also has a recurring role in NBC's Chuck) as cruel African dictator General Juma.
• Eric Lively (an alumni of the series The L Word and the brother of Gossip Girl star Blake Lively) as the president's son.
• Gil Bellows (best known for his role on Ally McBeal) as a State Department officer ordered to serve Bauer with a subpoena to appear before the Senate.

The project is scheduled to air on November 23rd on Fox.

If I didn't know better, I'd suspect that the constant rumours concerning the fate of actor David Tennant as the current incarnation of Doctor Who is nothing more than a ploy to keep news about the show constantly appearing in the UK newspaper headlines and sustain interest in the new series.

We now have another report, this time in The Guardian's Media Monkey column, which states that Tennant has indeed signed on for a third series, again, citing another "industry insider".