Creator Eric Kripke wants the show to continue, only not the same way it is now. He wants to get two new leads for the show and make it more of a light, music-oriented show, sort of High School Musical meets Rocky Horror Picture Show. OK, I made all of that up. But he does want to change the way the show is, so it can be renewed but be different, the way The X-Files and Buffy The Vampire Slayer changed their shows. He says that this upcoming season (season five in a long-planned five season arc) will "end with a bang."
Following its smash hit run on BBC1 in the U.K., Torchwood: "Children of Earth" is heralding its U.S. arrival next week by presenting the first seven minutes of the first episode, "Day One."
The week-long, five episode mini-series has already generated enough spoilers here at TV Squad and around the web, so we'll take care to avoid repeat performances here. For now, stateside viewers can visit BBC America's video page to watch the first seven minutes of the third season's first show in which Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) dies of Ptomaine poisoning.
The first 20 minutes of the same episode were already available on the BBC America On Demand channel included with some cable services.
So it's Monday afternoon and you're just in the mood to watch a movie where viking women battle big sea monsters or one where a girl gets involved with the men who race souped-sports cars (and one that doesn't have "fast" or "furious" in the title). What are you to do?
Well, AMC has come to the rescue! Besides putting great original shows like Mad Men and Breaking Bad on TV, AMC's web site is now streaming old B sci-fi, monster, biker, western, horror, comedy, and crime flicks.
Director Sam Raimi, the man who created such gut-wrenching horrors as The Evil Dead trilogy and Spider Man 3, takes his talent for disemboweling innocent people and chopping off limbs with a dull ax to television ... for a reality show?!?
13 - Fear is Real premieres tonight January 7 on The CW at 8 p.m. eastern. It puts 13 innocent (not really) people in the middle of a fake horror movie, and the last one standing on their bloody stumps takes home the grand prize.
The reality show aims to do for horror movies what Next Action Star did for action movies - rip them off and turn them into another schlock reality show that requires little to no creative ideas or thought.
His return to Days was supposed to be long-term, but it didn't work out that way. In a surprising, some would say typical, soap way, the phoenix will rise again. Stefano Dimera, in the form of Joseph Mascolo, is coming back to Days of Our Lives. His reign of terror will commence once more -- in early August. Meanwhile, the other big time evil-doer on the show, Victor Kiriakis, will become more moderate and good by comparison.
Evil on the soaps is, well, a necessary evil. You can't have characters who are happy and blissful all the time. You need the selfish, the greedy, the vengeful, all those evil types to keep the stories interesting.
Ali Lohan of E!'s Living Lohan wants to destroy her nonexistent career by starring in the remake of the 1986 movie Troll (the original starred Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Sonny Bono). "How fitting that she already kinda looks like one? Yeah yeah, we're more evil than the creatures she'll fight in the flick, we know," Kate Spencer of VH1.com jokes.
I hope we get to see Ali's audition, rehearsals, shoots, and any other drama that could involve Long Island's resident troll, Dina Lohan, acting like a crazed stage mother.
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.
Hey everyone! This time we've got something a bit different. We have two signed posters from the new horror anthology on NBC, Fear Itself. The posters are signed by episode writers Dan Knauf, Drew McWeeny, Victor Salva, Jonathan Schach and Scott Swan. Fear Itself premieres this Thursday at 10 PM ET on NBC.
To enter, simply leave a comment below before 5:00PM Eastern, Friday, June 6 simply telling us if you're planning to watch the show. As always, we'll randomly choose two winners amongst the eligible entries. Some other details:
To enter, leave a confirmed comment below stating whether or not you plan to watch Fear Itself on NBC.
The comment must be left before June 6, 2008 at 5:00PM Eastern Time.
You may enter only once.
Two winners will be selected in a random drawing.
Two winners will receive a signed Fear Itself poster (valued at $19.98).
Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
Everyone's got their own idea of what's truly frightening. I'm not talking about people or things who just are scary because they're dangerous or despicable. I mean things that truly keep you awake at night, afraid to turn out the lights. Afraid to be home alone. Afraid to fly on a plane. There are a few characters on television over the years who've stuck out more than others as being truly frightening to a handful of us TV Squadders, and we've put together a list (surprise!) of characters who have haunted us for years. If we're digging up old unforgotten nightmares of your own, well, sorry about that.
The list is numbered, but it doesn't necessarily mean these are ordered. Like I said -- we all have a different definition of what truly frightens us. Make sure you list your own in the comments. Click on a number below to get started. #10#9#8#7#6#5#4#3#2#1
Character: The weeping angels Show: Doctor Who Episode: "Blink"
A more appropriate title for this episode of Doctor Who would have been "Don't Blink", or even "Let's Prevent Annie from Ever Enjoying the Sculpture Garden of Any Museum Ever, Ever Again. Ever."
The weeping angels were a group of statue-like creatures that "killed" their victims by sending them backwards through time to live out their lives before their birth. The angels would freeze into stone if they were seen, but between blinks or in darkness, they could move extremely quickly to their victims. To prevent looking at each other, the angels would shield their eyes, giving the appearance that they were weeping. The heroes of the episode had to avoid the angels by taking the advice of the Doctor and always keeping an eye on the villains, never blinking.
As someone who usually watches horror films, just to supply obnoxious commentary on the bad effects or acting, and is more likely to get queasy at the thought of student loans than blood, I was surprised to find myself silently peering through my fingers, too scared to move, throughout the entire episode. At certain points, I even felt my eyes water a little bit, only to realize that I had stopped blinking several minutes ago. I think I was most impressed that the angels weren't ruined by cheesy effects or bad costumes, which, to be perfectly honest, aren't exactly rare in the world of Doctor Who. Instead, everything was executed in a way that was simple but brilliant. Between the blinks of a lightbulb, the angels would make their way across the room, arms outstretched and vicious teeth bared.
To tell the sad, geeky truth, I've had a few nightmares about Daleks. Yeah, I said it was sad, okay? But there's no doubt that the Daleks are nothing compared to the angels. Look, there's even been a vote on it! The angels beat the Daleks and The Master by a huge percentage to take the top spot as the Scariest Monster of the latest Who series. The numbers don't lie, folks: Angel statues are super-creepy.
And then, as if to guarantee no one could comfortably turn their back on a statue ever again, the episode closed with this warning:
The new channel launches on March 1. Sitcoms Online has the full schedule here. As Kevin pointed out, it's all recycled content, but it's good recycled content (at least to a horror fan like myself), so I'm not complaining. Aside from the TV series, the new channel will also feature movies like The Shining, Psycho, Cat's Eye, The Andromeda Strain, and some of those great Abbot and Costello Meet [Blank] flicks.
One final thought: No Tales From the Darkside? What's up with that nonsense?
Last month, I started taking a course in basic video techniques. The first day of class, the professor gave us a large packet on all the number one no-no's of amateur filmmaking. The next evening, I happened upon a few episodes of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace and suddenly, I saw everything in that twenty-four page packet spring to life before my very eyes. The hilariously cheesy effects, poor acting, and continuity so awful that it would have made even Ed Wood weep... Somehow, within six short episodes, this show had done every television "don't".
The Sci Fi chanel has their hands full this year, with a ton of original programming coming down the pipeline, which can probably be attributed to what I'm calling the Battlestar Galactica effect. That's a whole different channel from what debuted in 1992 as a place for Paramount and Universal to recycle old material.
Helping to buoy up the 400 hours will be Sci Fi Saturday: The Most Dangerous Night on Television, which debuts an original movie every Saturday. They showed us a couple of teasers, which actually pretty slick.
We're live at the Television Critic's Association 2007, sitting in on the NBC/Universal morning presentation. One little tidbit they've just dropped is that they will be launching a new channel on DIRECTV called Chiller. It will focus on horror and sci-fi, and feature series like Tales from the Crypt and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, as well as movies like The Shining, Blade Runner, and Psycho.
While the channel is tailor-made for horror fans, they are just using this new channel to recycle old content, and it would be nice to see an original show or two. I can already smell a "Who Wants to be a Serial Killer?" reality show to fit with the Fangoria crowd.
I've never been a huge fan of author Bret Easton Ellis' work, but there's no denying that his cocaine and greed-fueled tomes Less Than Zero and American Psycho are key to understanding the "greed is good" 80s. Ellis is back to help us define another decade - this time with the help of Showtime. The network has teamed up with Ellis to create a "horror-tinged" soap. Called The Canyons, the show focuses on a group of 20- and 30-somethings in Los Angeles dealing with career and relationship issues. The twist is that their "fears and anxieties manifest themselves as monsters and apparitions, which may or may not be real." Sounds like a half a dozen Buffy episodes.
Following its smash hit run on BBC1 in the U.K., Torchwood: "Children of Earth" is heralding its U.S. arrival next week by presenting the first seven minutes of the first episode, "Day One."
So it's Monday afternoon and you're just in the mood to watch a movie where viking women battle big sea monsters or one where a girl gets involved with the men who race souped-sports cars (and one that doesn't have "fast" or "furious" in the title). What are you to do?
Director Sam Raimi, the man who created such gut-wrenching horrors as The Evil Dead trilogy and Spider Man 3, takes his talent for disemboweling innocent people and chopping off limbs with a dull ax to television ... for a reality show?!?
It was big news in the world of daytime when Joseph Mascolo exited Days of Our Lives a few months ago. After all, Mascolo's Stefano Dimera was hailed as the 
Ali Lohan of E!'s 
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.
Hey everyone! This time we've got something a bit different. We have two signed posters from the new horror anthology on NBC, Fear Itself. The posters are signed by episode writers Dan Knauf, Drew McWeeny, Victor Salva, Jonathan Schach and Scott Swan. Fear Itself premieres this Thursday at 10 PM ET on NBC.
Everyone's got their own idea of what's truly frightening. I'm not talking about people or things who just are scary because they're dangerous or despicable. I mean things that truly keep you awake at night, afraid to turn out the lights. Afraid to be home alone. Afraid to fly on a plane. There are a few characters on television over the years who've stuck out more than others as being truly frightening to a handful of us TV Squadders, and we've put together a list (surprise!) of characters who have haunted us for years. If we're digging up old unforgotten nightmares of your own, well, sorry about that.
Character: The weeping angels
Not long ago Kevin
Last month, I started taking a course in basic video techniques. The first day of class, the professor gave us a large packet on all the number one no-no's of amateur filmmaking. The next evening, I happened upon a few episodes of
The Sci Fi chanel has their hands full this year, with a ton of original programming coming down the pipeline, which can probably be attributed to what I'm calling the Battlestar Galactica effect. That's a whole different channel from what debuted in 1992 as a place for Paramount and Universal to recycle old material.
We're live at the 
I've never been a huge fan of author Bret Easton Ellis' work, but there's no denying that his cocaine and greed-fueled tomes Less Than Zero and American Psycho are key to understanding the "greed is good" 80s. Ellis is back to help us define another decade - this time with the help of Showtime. The 
The TV Squad Podcast: Linda Purl talks about The Office, we talk spoilers, and more
Ask TV Squad: Ghost Whisperer and more!
The TV Squad Podcast: Bill Scheft of The Late Show, Cake Boss, Mad Men and more
