TVSquad

ABC's new version of V is coming next month, and I'm sure some fans of the original wonder whatever happened to lead alien Jane Badler. She made some movies and appeared on TV shows after V, but then went to Australia and raised a family and released a CD. But she might be coming to the remake: she had lunch with producers recently and may have some sort of role on the show.

And now, if you didn't see my post about it earlier this year, the big scene from the original V:

Noah Wyle is going from fighting vampires in The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice to fighting aliens for Steven Spielberg. The former ER doc has signed on to the Oscar-wining filmmaker's alien invasion pilot for TNT as the leader of a "ragtag" group of rebels set to make trouble for the alien baddies.

The series will take place months after the alien force has decimated the human population of Earth, leading Wyle and friends to strike back any way they can. (Thankfully, George Lucas' name has not been mentioned in any news surrounding this upcoming sci-fi project.)

Sigourney Weaver starring in a Lifetime movie? It happened. It's called Prayers for Bobby, and the three-time Oscar nominee is racking up the Emmy buzz for her lead performance as a mother whose life is changed by tragedy.

I spoke with Weaver recently about the film, the Emmy buzz, her next big TV project and more. Here's a preview of that interview:

Weaver on the benefits of working for Lifetime, and other cable networks:

"I think Lifetime, along with other cable networks, show very compelling stories about what it is to be human in a way that a lot of films don't now, except for small independent films. They're interested in a smaller canvas and I think those stories are very helpful for people and I think that they bring us together."

Steven Spielberg, the man behind sci-fi movie classics like E.T and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, is producing an alien-invasion drama pilot for TNT. The unnamed series would potentially take place on Earth six months after evil aliens wipe out most of humanity.

We still don't know if Spielberg will direct the pilot, but the award-winning filmmaker reportedly wants to cast Noah Wyle to play the potential series' lead. The former E.R. star would play the leader of a group of human rebels trying to bring down the big bad aliens.

The X-Files was a one-of-a-kind, groundbreaking show. It took the typical FBI detective show and spun it, but good. Add some aliens and government conspiracy and you've done one better than a weekly FBI caper.

And the extraterrestrial and supernatural make for some good quotes, starting with the pilot, when Scully refers to Mulder by his nickname from the academy: "Spooky Mulder."

Or how about Mulder's understatement of the millennium: " ... in most of my work, the laws of physics rarely seems to apply."

One of the pioneers on the technical side of the movie and TV industry has died. Stan Winston did makeup and special effects for several TV shows and TV movies over the years, including Amazing Stories, Roots, Manimal, Get Christie Love, and Gargoyles, as well as dozens of classic movies, including Iron Man, all three Terminator films, Edward Scissorhands, The Thing, Pearl Harbor, Batman Returns, The Wiz, Predator, Jurassic Park III, The Relic, Congo, Aliens, Invaders From Mars, Leviathan, Galaxy Quest, and many others. He also directed several movies, including Pumpkinhead and Ghosts, which he also wrote. He also created the costumes for the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special in 1978. Winston won several Oscars and other awards for his work.

Winston died of cancer in Los Angeles last night at age 62. He had battled multiple myeloma for several years and died at his home. At the time of his death he was working on the next Terminator sequel, Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins.

The truth is still out there.

David Duchovny, during an interview for the DVD release of The TV Set, reveals that the script for the long-awaited (seriously, it's been ten years!) X-Files movie sequel is indeed done and it looks like they're going to start filming in December.

Duchovny had no further details on plot, though he has hinted in past interviews that this will be more of a stand alone movie and not part of the mythology arc from the show and first movie (aw, come on, I want to know what's been going on with that whole thing the past several years). Duchovny does ask one thing of people: don't spoil the damn movie by leaking info about it. Thank you.

[via TV Tattle]

Well, this is too bad: the sci-fi show Dark Skies isn't going to be released on DVD as was originally announced.

Producer/writer Bryce Zabel announces on his blog that although The Crow multi-disc set is still on track to be released, Dark Skies won't be. He found out the news after coming home from Comic-Con. Sony has decided to cancel the release because getting the rights to the music used on the show would be too expensive.

Zabel says that he predicted this might be a problem a while ago and offered to work with Sony to get around the music somehow or use other music in certain scenes, but they never got back to him.

Perhaps. A few sites, citing an Empire Magazine interview with They Live star Roddy Piper, report that Carpenter was in talks with SciFi to develop his 1988 film into a TV series for the network.

Unfortunately, that's all we know, and it doesn't look as if the interview is on Empire's Web site. Nevertheless, I think this could be a really cool idea. They Live was a lot of fun in a campy, B-style sort of way, and its not-so-subtle plot of aliens trying to control mankind through subliminal methods is something that could be easily fleshed out into a full series. In the film, Piper's character, John Nada, finds a pair of sunglasses that allow him to see the various subliminal messages broadcast across the city: OBEY, CONSUME, etc.

If you're not familiar with the name "George Noory," than you're probably not one of the three million listeners who tune into his radio show, "Coast to Coast AM" every week.

"Coast to Coast AM," which was founded by Art Bell in the '80s, is a radio show that focuses on conspiracies, aliens, paranormal activity, and the like. You know Penn and Teller: Bullshit? This would be the polar opposite of that show.

On June 13 at 11:00 p.m., Noory will host a special on Sci Fi called Into The Unknown with George Noory. Among Noory's guest for the 30-minute special are actor Gary Busey, who will talk about his near-death experience; and paranormal expert Joshua P. Warren.

(S11E10) Holy crap! Nancy loses some of her hair in this episode, just like Marge did in The Simpsons episode "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious!" Quick, somebody make a video so we can expose how King of the Hill is ripping off The Simpsons!

Anyway, this wasn't a bad episode, but it wasn't anything that great either. It felt like a snapshot of a typical day in Arlen, which means it's probably not a bad episode to show someone unfamiliar with the series, but for long-time fans, it took us places we've already been to many times before.

As usual, Dale is obsessed with aliens, and his constant yammering about the vernal equinox and his pestering Nancy about cooking the right food for the aliens has stressed her out so much her hair starts falling out. Naturally, going back to the bliss she once felt with her former lover John Redcorn starts to seem like a good idea.

No, not the wacky talk show version on The Cartoon Network. I'm talking about the original cartoon that aired in the mid-60s.

Space Ghost and Dino Boy will be released on July 17. And since this is one of those "it's not official yet but it's definitely happening" deals, no details about extras or features have been announced yet, but expect something in the next week or so.

I remember watching Space Ghost when I was a kid, the repeats not the original (I'm not that old), but I remember the show as being teamed up with another superhero named Frankenstein, Jr. Anyone else remember that? I distinctly remember the deep-voiced announcer saying, "Space Ghost!...And Frankenstein, Jr...Jr...Jr," the word echoing for a few seconds. Was this maybe two Hanna-Barbera shows being repackaged for the 70s?

[via TVShowsOnDVD]

National Geographic asks: were the moon landings faked?

I respond: No, no they were not.

However, if you want a little more substance to your answer, the National Geographic Channel is airing a six-part Behind the Mysteries airing January 23 through 25. The episodes will look into the aforementioned claims about the moon landings and ancient astronauts, Roswell, the possibilities of alien contact, life on Mars and the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle. The dates and times for the episodes are:

• January 23 at 9pm: Roswell
• January 23 at 10pm: Alien Contact
• January 24 at 9pm: Life on Mars
• January 24 at 10pm: Conspiracy Moon Landing
• January 25 at 9pm: Ancient Astronauts
• January 25 at 10pm: Bermuda Triangle

I don't pretend to have all the answers, but I do know that ancient astronauts did in fact exist. I've provided a video that proves this, after the jump. Only click ahead if you're prepared for the truth.

Every single thing that gets aired on television is also beamed into space. It's not instant; the transmissions are limited by the speed of light (which means the aliens living on Wolf 424 are just now getting to watch the first season of Hanging with Mr. Cooper), but they're out there and there's no taking them back.

It's odd to consider, but it's true: what we air on TV is our first introduction to the universe. If aliens do exist and they decide to study Earth, the first thing they'll probably look at is our TV broadcasts. Later on this week, I'll be writing about the five worst shows to represent humanity (a lot of them are on MTV), but I wanted to introduce the topic today because I just can't stop thinking about what aliens might think regarding our curious habit of airing a few hours of a burning log every Christmas.

Scientology fascinates me, and not because I have any desire to be a part of whatever the hell it is. I'm just inexplicably drawn to beliefs and practices I would never personally adhere to because I'm interested in what drives other people, especially if aliens might be involved. The "religion" claims to have ten million followers, and there's obviously something about it that attracts celebrities. Do those Hollywood peeps know something about it we don't, or is it just another trivial and meaningless fad like Kabbalah?

48 Hours recently did a show on Scientology, specifically Jeremy Perkins, a paranoid schizophrenic who stabbed his mother to death. Perkins parents were Scientologists (his mother was a senior auditor at the Church of Scientology in Buffalo, NY) and did not believe in psychiatric treatment. You can watch the episode here. I have not watched it yet myself, but feel free to take a look and share your reflections in the comments.

[via Digg]