TVSquad

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.

(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.

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).

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.

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.

Sick of me yet? Well don't worry, this the last post I've got for you about my trip ... probably. I felt it was right of me to conclude everything with some overall thoughts on the experience of visiting these sets, a quick rundown on what I've already posted (don't worry, it's just the links) and a consolidation of the images, including some new ones.

So, to start of, here's a quick rundown of what was already posted ...

It's hard to believe that the previous three set visits happened in one day, not to mention the three panels. The next day we were up at the crack of dawn and ready to embark on the last stop of our tour, the set of the new Flash Gordon series. We'd also be seeing some footage and artwork from the new Sci Fi miniseries and "re-imagining" of The Wizard of Oz, Tin Man.

I've been sitting on announcing this for over a month now, since there's all sorts of things that could go wrong and, well, plans can change. But now that I'm finally here I can let you in on what's going on. I'm flying clear across the country for a very good cause -- to visit the sets of Battlestar Galactica, Stargate Atlantis, Eureka and Flash Gordon, complete with Q&A's with some of the cast and crew. Oh, and I hear we're going to see a little bit of that Wizard Of Oz reimagining, Tin Man, while we're at it.

Stay tuned here at TV Squad for more updates as soon as I'm able to get online and throw something at you. I start out bright and early tomorrow morning, so if you've got any questions you'd like to ask folks involved with any of the above mentioned shows, fire away in the comments below. I'm hoping I'll be able to shoot some updates via our Twitter account, too, so be sure to check that out to see what I'm up to for the next few days, or you can follow the tiny widget after the jump in this post. Needless to say, I'm pretty frack'n pumped!

Remember when Brett mentioned Tin Man a few months ago? The miniseries, debuting on Sci Fi in December, is a re-imagining of The Wizard of Oz, this time set in the Outer Zone (note the acronym) and starring Zooey Deschanel (a total celeb-crush of mine) Alan Cumming and Richard Dreyfuss (who I don't have crushes on).

The miniseries is filming in Vancouver, and so is the new Flash Gordon series. Since both series use some of the same retro-futuristic sets, the folks involved with Flash Gordon will be making a few tweaks to certain Tin Man sets and incorporating them into the design for the planet Mongo, home of Ming the Merciless.

That's not a bad way to save production money, and it's not like it hasn't been done before. Once, while Leonard Nimoy was sick for a month with pneumonia, a horse from Bonanza was given fake Vulcan ears and played Spock for four episodes. That's why Kirk rode around on Spock's back for all subsequent episodes, so the series didn't lose its continuity.

The Sci Fi channel has brought in two writers from 24, Steven Long Mitchell and Craig Van Sickle, to reimagine The Wizard Of Oz as a mini-series called Tin Man. I suppose saying you hired writers from 24 sounds better than saying you hired writers/producers from She Spies...

I kid. I saw every episode of She Spies. Anyway, the post at Warp Section has some of the details for what they have in mind. Dorothy has become a "goth hottie named DG" while Oz is now the Outer Zone, an ethnically diverse alternate universe setting for DG's adventure.

The post also mentions that it will be a six-hour story, but Sci Fi Wire says it will be four. I guess we'll have to wait and see on that. This could really go either way. It's tough to mess with a classic, but I think Sci Fi has earned the benefit of the doubt with what they have done with Battlestar Galactica. Plans call for a 2007 release.

[ via Netscape.com ]