TVSquad

And when I say Sci Fi, I mean the network, not necessarily the content. I'm sure we could easily open up that oldie, but goodie, about what is science fiction and why certain things are ending up on the channel. We'll save that for another time though, as right now we should talk about JAG, with swords. Elliott (JAG) is set to star in Mirabilis. The four-hour mini tells the story of four knights who must come together to save their land, the titular town.

Elliott plays John, a knight seeking vengeance after his family was killed. He'll be joined by Natassia Malthe (DOA: Dead Or Alive. Yes, I watched it) as another of the knights, Perfidia. Perfidia is also John's love interest. The script is by Sam Egan (Jeremiah) and is being produced by Reunion Pictures. If you are wondering about the quality of production, I'll add that RHI Entertainment is involved and they are responsible for such Sci Fi treats as The Lost Empire. To be fair though, they also had a hand in Tin Man, so it could go either way. I'll watch it, but then I'm kind of the Mikey of bad sci fi. I'll watch anything, even SS Doomtrooper. It had Corin Nemec!

As Brad mentioned last night, a few new projects were mentioned during the Sci Fi Channel's upfront presentation. The one I'm most excited about (though at the same time frightened by) is the Battlestar Galactica spin-off, Caprica, which will have a two-hour "back-door pilot" shown probably later this year.

Another project mentioned which surprised me was Alice, described as a "modern day telling of Alice in Wonderland," much like Tin Man was for The Wizard of Oz. What surprised me about this is how Mark Stern, executive vice president of original programming for Sci Fi, reacted when I actually asked him about this idea last year during my visit to the sets in Vancouver.

Here are the weekly cable ratings, by number of viewers.

A note about these ratings. There are two ways to measure ratings, by household rating and by viewers. We choose to do them by viewers. Other sites might do them by households, so some of the numbers might be a bit different. The shows in the top 10 (or in the case of the regular networks, the top 20) will usually be the same, just rearranged a bit. For example, this week, The Closer was #3 in viewers but actually #2 in households. In viewers, Holiday in Handcuffs took that #2 spot.

And is anyone else made a little uneasy by the title Holiday in Handcuffs?

1. Monday Night Football (ESPN)

Here are the weekly cable ratings, by number of viewers.

What's this, a football game in the top ten besides Monday Night Football? I don't know how the Packers/Cowboys game on NFL Network came in second this week. Was it a pivotal game or something? I don't really watch football. Monday Night RAW shows up again (still not sure why it's considered two different hours instead of one, two-hour show), along with weekly favorite SpongeBob. Tin Man got great ratings for Sci-Fi Channel.

1. Monday Night Football (ESPN)

(E03) So, I thought that last night's Tin Man was a vast improvement from the first night. Sunday night felt like a Sci-Fi Channel rip-off of the original story -- slightly modernized with scarier special effects (scarier in comparison to the overall-wearing lollipop-holding munchkins).

By contrast, Monday night proved that Tin Man had its own story to tell. This was a story that would use the Wizard of Oz as a jumping off point and rethink the classic.

• At 8, CBS has Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer.
• NBC has a new, two-hour Biggest Loser at 8, followed by a new Law and Order: SVU.
• The CW has new episodes of Beauty and the Geek and Reaper.
• Also at 8: Food Network has Rachael Ray's Holiday Entertaining in 60, followed by A Barefoot Contessa Holiday and An Italian Christmas with Mario and Giada.
• At 9, Discovery has a new Dirty Jobs, then a new Everest: Beyond the Limit.
• Lifetime has the movie Holiday Wishes at 9.
• Sci-Fi has part 3 of Tin Man at 9.
• Another Christmas movie: Santa Baby, on ABC Family at 9.
• At 10, CBS has the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.
• ABC has a new Boston Legal at 10.
• There's a new Nip/Tuck on FX at 10.
• Bravo has a new Real Housewives of Orange County at 10.
• TLC has a new Miami Ink at 10.
• HBO has a new Costas Now at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

According to preliminary data, and as reported by Variety, Tin Man appears to have beaten virtually every record the Sci Fi channel has ever seen. It's 6.4 million viewers surpassed the 6.1 million who saw Steven Spielberg's Taken, back in 2002. Demo ratings were equally as strong, where Tin Man unseated 2000's Dune in adults 18-49, and Taken again in adults 25-54.

With reviews coming in either mid-range to downright negative, it'll be interesting to see how these numbers continue through the mini-series' three-night run.

(E02) After reading the comments about last night's part one of Tin Man, I'm a bit skeptical about how many people will (or won't for that matter) tune in tonight. Sure, plenty of people found it entertaining but those who hated it seemed to really loathe it.

For myself, I thought it was pretty good but I like the original story enough to find almost any variation of it amusing. I also know not to expect much from a Sci-Fi channel miniseries. So, I fully anticipated that the special effects would be inconsistent and the dialogue would be insipid.

Nevertheless, the actors were good, great even. Alan Cumming is a genius and Neal McDonough is good enough as the embittered ex-Tin Man. I didn't think that Zooey Deschanel was that bad either--so many people complained about her. She does have an abrupt delivery though (which doesn't work well with some of her mediocre lines).

• At 8, NBC has the season finale (fall finale?) of Chuck, then the season finale (fall finale?) of Heroes, and then a new Life (special night - part 2 airs Weds at 10).
• ABC has A Charlie Brown Christmas at 8, followed by new episodes of Samantha Who?, Notes from the Underbelly, and October Road.
• ABC Family has Christmas specials starting at 8: The Year Without A Santa Claus, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer & The Island of Misfit Toys, and Nestor The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey.
• TNT has a new Christmas episode of The Closer at 8, then a new Saving Grace.
• Also at 8: Food Network has a new Good Eats, followed by a new The Secret Life Of...
• At 8:30, ESPN has the Patriots/Ravens game.
• At 9, FOX has a new K-Ville.
• USA has a new Monday Night RAW at 9.
• Lifetime has the movie A Dad For Christmas at 9.
• Sci-Fi has the second part of Tin Man. It's on at 9 as well.

Check your local TV listings for more.

From 1996-2000, NBC had a modest hit on their hand with The Pretender, a show in which main character Jarod used his abilities to assume other people's identities to help those in need. Kind of a Quantum Leap with identity theft instead of bodysnatching. Creators Steven Long Mitchell and Craig Van Sickle, also of Tin Man, reportedly told SCI FI Wire they'd like to bring back the show in the digital medium. The relaunch, or continuation, could even feature original star Michael T. Weiss in the title role again.

They've reportedly brunched Weiss and begun laying the groundwork for the project, so it seems it's a done deal, just what exactly it means and when and where we'll be able to see it remains unclear.

(E01) Like many people, I am a big fan of The Wizard of Oz. For a little warm fuzzy nostalgia, I'll put on the original movie with Judy Garland. I've read Gregory Maguire's The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (and loved that version too). I even own the soundtrack to Wicked (although I've yet to see the show). And who can forget The Wiz?

I guess it was only a matter of time until the Sci-Fi channel added their version to the ever-evolving list of stories about Dorothy and her journey through Oz. Tin Man aired last night on the Sci-Fi channel from 9-11 p.m. ET/PT and will continue tonight and tomorrow night (same channel, same time).

We began last night with D.G., the Midwestern waitress who speeds to work on her motorcycle, has weird dreams, and believes there's something more to life than waiting tables and windy prairies. D.G., unlike the gentler Dorothy, is a little too tough at times. I don't mind her talking back to everyone but I do mind her going after longcoats with a stick when she sees the men beating up Tin Man's family.

• At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes, followed by a new Amazing Race and the movie Pictures of Hollis Woods.
• ABC has a new America's Funniest Home Videos at 7, then new episodes of Extreme Makeover, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters.
• NBC has a new Football Night in America at 7, then the Bengals/Steelers game.
• There's a new CW Now on The CW at 7.
• At 8, FOX has the BCS Selection Show.
• If you like You've Got Mail, check out 1940's The Shop Around The Corner, the movie it was based on. It's on TCM at 8.
• HBO has Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project at 8.
• At 9, The CW has a new Life is Wild.
• Lifetime has Finding John Christmas at 9.
• Food Network has a new Iron Chef America at 9, then a new holiday Dinner: Impossible.
• Showtime has a new Dexter at 9, followed by the season finale of Brotherhood.
• Also at 9: Sci-Fi has part one of the Tin Man miniseries.
• At 9:30, FOX has a new American Dad.

Check your local TV listings for more.

If you haven't entered our latest giveaways yet, here's a reminder that some are ending today. You've got until 5PM Eastern today to enter the Dr. Katz complete series giveaway and the Christmas Time in South Park giveaway. You've got until next thursday to enter The OC complete series DVD giveaway and the Gilmore Girls season seven DVD giveaway. Lastly, you've got until next Monday to enter the big Tin Man prize pack giveaway (iPod Nano!)

Just head on over to the post linked above, read through the rules and make the applicable comment there (not here!) We'll notify the winners next week.

Good luck!

As you can see, we're doing something different this week with giveaways. We have a bunch from Monday, two from earlier today, and now this. So, what the heck -- time to give away more stuff!

This time we've got something a bit different. Sci Fi's pulling all the stops on promoting their upcoming TV movie, Tin Man (airing December 2), and I'm pretty jealous of the winners of this one. Two winners will receive a blue 8GB Apple iPod Nano (one of the new, fat ones), a very cool Tin Man board game (pictured above, with metal game pieces) and a Tin Man comic book. Read on for details!

There's a preview for the upcoming SciFi Channel miniseries Tin Man up on YouTube. It's a more modern and sinister take on The Wizard of Oz. The video is also embedded after the jump.

Apparently, the Outer Zone (Oz. Outer Zone. Get it?) is ruled by an evil sorceress named Azkadellia (what? Not Elphaba? I guess you'll have to stick to the musical for that). Following in the tradition of the strong female protagonist, Dorothy "DG" Gale is now a midwestern waitress caught in a freak storm that transports her to the Outer Zone where she has to kick butt and take names.