Stargate Universe Takes a Walk on the Dark Side
September 30, 2009 by Cynthia
The Stargate franchise is like a family with the same parents but whose children are all very different. Stargate SG-1 is the serious, responsible oldest child and Stargate Atlantis is the fun, mischievous youngest child. So that would make Stargate Universe the odd, schizophrenic, middle child who has a tendency to light things on fire.
Yeah, what they’ve been saying all along is true — this is not your father’s Stargate.
I’m sure you’ve already heard the basic premise. A group of civilians, scientists and military personnel are forced through the Stargate in order to survive an alien attack on their not-secret-anymore base. Trouble is, instead of dialing home, Dr. Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle) decides to dial a mysterious gate address that he’s been puzzling over for years.
Everyone goes through the gate, gate room is destroyed, there’s no going back, which is a bad thing because they’ve arrived on the deck of an ancient starship that isn’t in shape to support human life. So, it’s a survival story more than a exploration story. It’s back to basics looking for food, keeping the air breathable, providing medical care and keeping everyone hopeful and undercontrol. Yeah. . . good luck with that.
Tonight: Meat Loaf Joins the Ghost Hunters
September 30, 2009 by Cynthia
Ghost Hunters: A Bat Out of Hell
Air Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2009, 9 PM on Syfy
Tonight, it’s a very special episode of Ghost Hunters as legendary performing artist Meat Loaf joins the team for an investigation at one of the finalist locales from last year’s “Great American Ghost Hunt” search, a haunted private island in Thousand Islands, NY.
Stretching over 4 acres, the island boasts a towering 10-bedroom mansion and boathouse. The area was formerly part of the Underground Railroad and was also used as a monastery. The Claudia family has owned the premises for the past 50 years; however, they may not be the only ones inhabiting the island.
Floating heads, phantom music and glowing figures have scared the Claudias and their houseguests senseless. It’s up to the Ghost Hunters to flush out the spooks and stop them from disturbing the peace.
Will the team solve the riddle of America’s most haunted island? Tune in to find out. (Pictured: (center) Meat Loaf — Syfy Photo: Don Heupel)
After Ghost Hunters, stick around on Syfy to see the TAPS team help Josh Gates out on a new Destination Truth.
Destination Truth: Ghosts of Chernobyl / Sal’awa
Special Guest Appearances by Ghost Hunters’ Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson
Caprica to Premiere at Film Festivals
Caprica, the much mulled over spin-off of Battlestar Galactica won’t premiere on TV until January of 2010. But if you live in either Woodstock, NY or Austin, Texas you can get a sneak peek this October.
Syfy is launching Caprica at several film festivals including the Woodstock Film Festival which begins this Friday, October 2, and runs through Sunday, October 4.
Caprica Producer/Director Jeffrey Reiner and star Esai Morales will attend the Austin Film Festival Saturday, October 24 screening as well as participate on panels.
There was also a screening last week in San Diego, so if anyone was there, stop on by and tell us about it.
Want the 411 on Caprica? Here you go:
Brian Austin Green Begins Smallville Arc
September 29, 2009 by Cynthia
Though we were introduced to his character this past week, Sarah Connor’s Brian Austin Green takes center stage in the upcoming episode of Smallville.
In “Metallo” John Corben (Brian Austin Green) is hit by a truck then wakes up alone in an abandoned apartment as a man-machine with a Kryptonite heart. Corben realizes he now has superhuman strength and sets out to exact revenge on the Red-Blue Blur, who he perceives to be an irresponsible vigilante. Against Clark’s (Tom Welling) wishes, Lois (Erica Durance) involves herself in the Red-Blue Blur’s investigation, and winds up getting kidnapped by Corben.
Want to see a clip? Click through the cut.
What’s a Kangaroo Got to Do With It?
Like Lost, ABC’s FlashForward is a puzzle show and the producers want to make sure you get that. During the commercial bumpers on the series premiere a voice-over instructed viewers to remember certain details, such as the kangaroo in the street, because they might be important.
I’m all for giving the audience a hand with the complex stuff, but if anyone missed the kangaroo, they should give up watching this show right now.
In addition to the obvious bits, there were also tons of clues hidden in the FlashForwards and on the mosaic info board Benford put together. For a closer look at those images, visit TV Fanatic.
At the end of each episode, you’re given a code word which you can use to unlock mobile content and the combo of words will supposedly spell out a significant phrase. You can find out more about that at the official FlashForward website on ABC.com.
From Kudos to Crackdowns: What the Critics Say About SciFi TV
September 27, 2009 by Cynthia
“It reaches the limits of one’s patience with Grade D fodder. This show is designed to scare an audience too old for Godzilla but too unsophisticated for Twilight Zone. That is obviously too big of an order for such a silly series.”
What classic scifi show do you think this Time magazine reviewer was referring to? You’ll find the answer when you read Mark Phillips’ blog covering what the critics had to say about early scifi TV.
Mark and I “met” virtually when we both began pitching stories about Irwin Allen’s TV shows to magazines such as Starlog in the early 90’s. Since then, he’s made quite a career out of tracking down crew members and guest stars — just about everyone who ever worked on an Irwin Allen production as well as other classic shows.
Together with his partner Frank Garcia, Mark wrote an extensive encyclopedia covering 62 scifi shows always trying to be as objective as possible about the material. During his research, he uncovered tons of critiques written when these shows were new and now he’s publish bits of them on his blog.
From the critic who said Lost in Space star Jonathan Harris gave the worst single performance of the year to the one who said Star Trek was a “dreary mess” — check out Mark’s blog and don’t forget to tell him that Cynthia sent you.
Photo: Amazon
Doctor Who the Next Doctor Comes to DVD
September 26, 2009 by Cynthia
For Doctor Who fans, Christmas is an extra special time of the year as it usually means a very special episode of the long running series.
In 2005, the Sycorax invaded, making it a lousy holiday for everyone on screen, but great fun for those of us watching. In 2006, The Runaway Bride helped The Doctor defeat another villain. And remember when Kylie Minoque met up with The Doctor on a space version of Titanic?
This past year, the people behind the show decided that one Doctor wasn’t enough for the annual holiday gala, so they added a second one. The episode is called Doctor Who: The Next Doctor and it’s now available on DVD.
What I love best about this special is that it’s set in 1851 and there’s something so classically beautiful about a Victorian Christmas. And even though The Doctor has traveled through time and space, London in the 1800’s seems to suit him best. In this go round, The Cybermen are stalking the town but will it take the work of two Doctors to save the day or is one not exactly as he seems?
Supernatural: The End First Look Vids
September 26, 2009 by Cynthia
Three vids from the very exciting upcoming episode. I really got a kick out of the last few seconds of the final clip.
Supernatural: Free to Be Review
September 25, 2009 by Cynthia
After last night’s episode of Supernatural, Free to Be You and Me, Castiel’s faith in the Lord is shaken as is my faith in the series as a whole. I wasn’t thrilled with the season opener, loved last week’s, am anxiously looking forward to next week but last night left me cold.
The entire episode felt disjointed and their usual rhythm was gone. I know many of you will say it was because the brothers weren’t together but I don’t think that’s the case. We’ve had other episodes with parallel storylines that worked, but this one didn’t.
Katee Sackhoff Needs YOU!
September 24, 2009 by Cynthia
There are plenty of people out there who have nothing but bad things to say about fans and fandom. Me? I say, fans know how to get things done. Their charity efforts are some of the best on the planet and to prove it, I’m going to ask you to do something simple.
This is for the Battlestar Galactica fans. We want you to fight for humanity by sponsoring Katee Sackhoff and her team, The Frak Up, as they take part in AIDS WALK L.A. on October 18
It’s so frakkin’ simple, any nugget could do it…
GO: www.AIDSWALK.NET/LosAngeles
CLICK: Take Action
SELECT: Sponsor a Walker
TYPE: Katee Sackhoff
DONATE: $25.00 or more
Katee will be matching donations up to $5000.
Also, one philanthropic fan will receive an autographed photo and season 4.5 DVD set.
I’m a firm believer in the idea that you get back what you put out there, so don’t hesitate on this one. Will you really miss $25.00 out of your bank account? Pass on those tall Starbucks coffees this month and give the money to Katee’s team. You don’t need all that caffeine but AIDS research needs the cash. Let’s show them the good side of fandom by making this happen.
Visit AIDSWalk.net/losangeles and donate now.
Photo: Syfy / NBC Universal