Sci-Fi-related stories
Posted Nov 14th 2009 11:49AM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Stargate, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S01E08) So that was bleak. But don't worry,
Stargate Universe will hit the reset button next week, and everything will be peachy. Well, as peachy as things can get aboard
The Destiny.
While some fans have been pushing for
SGU to ditch the drama for more action and adventure (like
SG-1 or
Atlantis), this week's episode tried to offer a compromise: An off-world adventure that turned dark and caused a lot of drama for the characters.
The crew faced death – you know, like they do every week -- but this time they were struck by a dangerous virus and attacked by a pack of nasty fang-toothed worm things. But this episode wasn't really about combating a virus or an evil alien entity. It was about seeing how the characters would react after staring into the dark abyss of certain death.
Continue reading Review: Stargate Universe - Time
Posted Nov 12th 2009 11:28AM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Programming, Doctor Who, Reality-Free
The miniseries
Torchwood: Children of Earth was a huge ratings and critical success. It was only a matter of time before show creator Russell T. Davies started talking, officially, about moving ahead with another season of
Torchwood.
Davies told
TV Guide that
Torchwood is likely to be renewed for a fourth season. The BBC
has yet to officially green-light a fourth year, but Davies said he's already working on ideas for the further adventures of Captain Jack Harkness and crew.
"The recession has hit British television, but fingers crossed, it will be a go. We expect things to start to move in January. We've got great ideas for the show. I think there's a further lease on life for many years to come, but certainly for a [fourth season]," Davies said.
Continue reading Torchwood creator talks season four
Posted Nov 11th 2009 1:02PM by John Scott Lewinski
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Programming, Reality-Free, Webisodes
There are plenty of sci-fi TV shows made up in Canada. The
Stargate series comes out of Vancouver -- as does
Fringe. There's a proud ongoing fantasy tradition deeply rooted up there.
But, the
city's local newspaper insists the best show in production in Canada's Pacific Southwest isn't on broadcast TV. It's a web series called
Riese. The Steampunk-themed action series is set in another time in the kingdom of Eleysia. The title character (Christine Chatelain) battles through the countryside with a wolf avenging the death of her family.
She's fighting off a crazed, fundamentalist religious group -- the Sect. So, you can set your watch by how long the tunnel-vision crew over at
Big Hollywood jumps on
Riese as some sort of attack on traditional religion. (It's not.)
Continue reading Is Canada's best science fiction TV show not on TV?
Posted Nov 11th 2009 9:04AM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Smallville, Video, Reality-Free
So that silly pair of purple-clad superheroes, The Wonder Twins, are coming to
Smallville this Friday. I can think of worse things that could happen to the show: Kristin Kreuk could return (shudder), for example, or Clark's bare chest could start to sparkle in the sunlight, ala Edward Cullen. Now that would be truly terrible.
But Zan and Jayna nerding up the joint? Sounds like fun to me.
Being a fan of the veteran superhero series, I'm not embarrassed to say that I'm looking forward to seeing the live-action Twins bump fists this Friday. (I wouldn't even mind a cameo from everybody's favorite blue monkey, Gleek, but sadly I don't think that's in the cards.)
Continue reading Smallville: Maybe the Wonder Twins episode won't be so bad
Posted Nov 7th 2009 12:30PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Stargate, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(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.
Continue reading Review: Stargate Universe - Earth
Posted Oct 29th 2009 9:36AM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Industry, Smallville, Reality-Free
Smallville really is the show that won't die.
After more than eight years, numerous cast departures, and countless recycled plotlines,
Smallville might be
headed for a tenth season, producer Kelly Souders told EW. Somehow, the veteran superhero series manages to stay on the air while shows like
Southland and
Trauma can't seem to make it past season one.
Smallville has experienced a drop in ratings since its recent move to Friday nights on The CW, but Souders says the drop off hasn't been that bad. Last week's episode, "
Roulette," attracted 2.5 million viewers, a season high for the series. It shared third place in the ratings with ABC for the 8 p.m. hour. That's not terrible for a CW show in its ninth season.
Continue reading Smallville producers pushing for a tenth season
Posted Oct 26th 2009 12:29PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: TV on DVD, Battlestar Galactica, Reality-Free
Leoben, that tricky toaster, was right: All of this
has happened before, and all of it is happening again.
Battlestar Galactica: The Plan retells major events from the first two years of the celebrated sci-fi series through the eyes of the Cylons. It weaves together recycled scenes from the series with new footage to reveal a first-hand account of the Cylon agenda, or "plan."
The result is a film that feels incomplete, episodic and disjointed. It plays less like a movie and largely like a disk full of high quality bonus material. Most of what happens here feels irrelevant to the series -- almost like it was tacked on to the
BSG mythos to satisfy completists and hardcore fans. Still, it's worth watching to see Dean Stockwell carry the film with a fearless performance as the scheming and duplicitous Brother Cavil. The veteran character actor takes center stage in
The Plan, and your enjoyment of the film will rest largely on how much you like, or dislike, Cavil and his major role in the series.
Continue reading DVD Review: Battlestar Galactica: The Plan
Posted Oct 24th 2009 1:57AM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Stargate, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S01E05) "Why am I watching this on TV?" – Eli Wallace
This week's episode of
Stargate Universe picked up right where last week's left off, with
The Destiny heading straight for a star and, presumably, oblivion. Thankfully, "Light" featured less of those tired
Real World-esque confessionals from last week, but the first few acts really dragged, and it was hard to wrap my head around that out-of-nowhere love scene between Chloe and Scott (more on that in a bit).
With only 17 people able to fit aboard the shuttle, Col. Young came up with a lottery system to decide who would escape to a nearby planet and who would remain aboard the ship to burn. I was expecting a riot to explode during the lottery drawing, but Greer was able to quiet the storm with one swift blow to a Marine's face. The respectful relationship between Greer and the quiet and noble Young is a welcome addition to the series. I like how Greer has Young's back, and it seems like Young might inspire Greer to become something more than just an angry brute with a meditative side. And watching Rush do something other than stress and shout was a nice change of pace.
Continue reading Review: Stargate Universe - Light
Posted Sep 30th 2009 10:00AM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Interviews, Celebrities, Reality-Free, Dollhouse
In last week's
season premiere of Dollhouse, we learned that the usually empty-headed Echo is becoming self-aware and is now able to access memories from her many personality imprints.
This puts her in a very dangerous place, star Eliza Dushku told reporters during a conference call this week. While a self-aware Echo might be more fun and challenging for an actor to play than a "dumbed down Doll," Dushku reminded us that any sign of Echo's evolution in the Dollhouse might get her sent to "the attic," aka Doll hell.
The vulnerable Echo will be looking for allies this season, Dushku said. She and former FBI agent Paul Ballard (Tamoh Penikett) "may possibly be trying to bring down the Dollhouse from the inside," she teased. During the conference call, Dushku also talked about the unaired first season episode, "Epitaph One," working with Summer Glau, and she teased more origins and back stories for the show's other characters.
Continue reading Eliza Dushku on Dollhouse, Epitaph One, and Echo's evolution
Posted Sep 29th 2009 2:02PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Stargate, Early Looks, Reality-Free
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.
Continue reading Stargate Universe -- An early look
Posted Sep 23rd 2009 10:21AM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S01E13) It took a while, but
Warehouse 13 finally broke away from the stale case-of-the-week episodes (and the stale dialogue) to become the summer's most amusing slice of sci-fi TV. The shift happened a few weeks ago when Roger Rees' smug and sadistic baddie, Macpherson, showed up to make trouble for the team.
Macpherson turned out to be the big bad
Warehouse 13 was missing all along. He was an ex-Warehouse agent with a vendetta against Artie and the regents. His evil plots forced Artie and the agents to bond and trust each other, and they also gave the show a real sense of danger and purpose. Oh, and Macpherson also gave us Claudia and Leena, apparently.
Macpherson returned to twist the knife one more time in a season finale packed with surprises, red herrings, and a few insane artifacts (Timothy Leary's psychedelic glasses? That was a good one.)
Continue reading Warehouse 13: Macpherson (season finale)
Posted Sep 21st 2009 8:02AM by Mike Moody
Filed under: OpEd, Reality-Free, Fringe
Fringe isn't exactly the most original show on TV. Critics and audiences have been comparing it to
The X-Files since it premiered last season. Like
The X-Files,
Fringe offers up creepy cases of the week and an overarching sci-fi conspiracy/mystery plot that helps build the show's rich mythology. In
The X-Files, the conspiracy thread had something to do with shady government officials working with aliens and black tar – or something like that. In
Fringe, it's called "The Pattern," a series of unexplainable events all seemingly connected to one William Bell and his company, Massive Dynamic.
Show creators Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and J.J. Abrams have acknowledged the influence of
The X-Files on their show, but do
Fringe and
The X-Files actually take place in the same fictional universe?
Continue reading Do Fringe and The X-Files take place in the same fictional universe?
Posted Sep 9th 2009 2:01PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
I know what you're thinking. Joss Whedon already did that with
Firefly. But you see,
Firefly was quite different than the
western Chuck producer Scott Rosenbaum is developing. See,
Firefly was a space-based science fiction with western elements. This project is a western with sci-fi elements.
I know what you're thinking. Michael Garrison already did that with
The Wild Wild West. But you see-- I'm not going to do all that again. Actually, the description leaves things a little vague, so I've taken the liberty of filling in the blanks with only my sleep-deprived mind and a healthy dosage of Diet Dr. Pepper to guide me.
Rosenbaum's official descriptions include "a gunslinger caught between worlds" and a nod to
Planet of the Apes. Post-apocalyptic? They're adapting Stephen Kings'
The Dark Tower?! Hardly. I do suspect a future time when we've reverted back to the trappings of the Old West. Either that, or a parallel world. I don't really care, I've been itching for a good western since
Deadwood had to go.
Posted Aug 30th 2009 1:03PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Celebrities, Reality-Free
I think we all can agree that musical episodes are a bit passé these days, but if there's one show that can still pull it off, it's gotta be
Eureka.
Syfy's quirky series already has that whimsical tone and vivid color palette we're used to seeing in Hollywood musicals; so it comes as no shock that
Eureka will feature a two-part musical episode next season.
Eureka's Deputy Lupo, Eric Cerra, dropped the news in a
recent interview with Sci Wire about the show's upcoming fourth season. Cerra complimented the singing voices of co-stars Joe Morton, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, and Colin Ferguson, but admitted that she has some trouble carrying a tune herself. "... I don't sing. I can't, and I don't, so I'm going to have to take some singing lessons. I'm a little nervous," she said.
Cerra also confirmed what our own Jason Hughes
reported last month,
Eureka's fourth season will be its longest yet with 22 episodes. Season three concludes Friday, Sept. 18.
Posted Aug 28th 2009 2:29PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Stargate, Celebrities, Reality-Free
I'm eagerly anticipating the Oct. 2 premiere of Syfy's
Stargate Universe, the third show from the popular sci-fi adventure franchise. We've all read the reports about
Universe being "darker" and more "serious" than its predecessors,
Stargate: SG-1 and
Stargate Atlantis, but star David Blue has a slightly different perspective on the show.
In a recent interview with
SciFi Wire, the
Universe cast member said the show is "not as much darker as it is more real." Blue said the characters on
Universe are less like characters in a sci-fi epic and more like real people dealing with an extraordinary crisis.
"You can say 'darker,' because in some ways it is, ... but when you really get down to it, it's like everyday life. That's kind of what I like about it," he said.
Continue reading David Blue on the realistic tone of Syfy's Stargate Universe
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