Using the communications stones, Lt. Scott (BRIAN J. SMITH) and Camile Wray (MING-NA) use their time back on earth to visit those they’ve left behind. Camile returns home to spend time with her partner, trying her best to make the strange circumstance normal. Meanwhile, Lt. Scott learns a past relationship might not have ended as he thought.

Aboard Destiny, Dr. Rush (ROBERT CARLYLE) supervises the exploration of new areas of the ship. Looking for resources to make their everyday lives easier, the crew stumbles upon a piece of Ancient technology that carries the promise of a way home. While somewhat familiar with the find, Dr. Rush can’t guarantee the safety of using it, bringing him and Col. Young (LOUIS FERREIRA) to a standoff on what to do.

Pictured: (l-r) Ming-Na as Camile Wray, Reiko Aylesworth as Sharon — Syfy Photo: Carole Segal

Sanctuary: “Veritas”

- DIRECTED BY AMANDA TAPPING

Will (ROBIN DUNNE) goes up against the heads of the Sanctuary Network to defend Magnus (AMANDA TAPPING) who is charged with a shocking murder. But as the evidence stacks up against her, even Will has trouble finding a way to convincingly defend her innocence.

Photos: Syfy

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Director J.J. Abrams was joined by stars Zachary Quinto (“Spock”), Leonard Nimoy (“Spock Prime”), Zoe Saldana (“Uhura”), Karl Urban (“Bones”), John Cho (“Sulu”), Bruce Greenwood (“Capt. Christopher Pike”), Jennifer Morrison (“Winona Kirk”), Clifton Collins (“Ayel”), Faran Tahir (“Captain Robau”), Jacob Kogan (“Young Spock”) and Jimmy Bennett (“Young Kirk”).

Red carpet arrivals were followed by an elegant party under the stars where guests were able to fraternize with green girls, sample some red matter and get a close up look at the “final frontier” through the Observatory’s famous telescope.

Photos courtesy of Paramount

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When that pilot was deemed to serious for TV audiences, a second pilot was made with William Shatner in the lead. That is called “Where No Man Has Gone Before.”

According to The Live Feed, an alternate version of this pilot was made and up until now, has never been seen by the general public.

CBS says they were very excited to learn of the find. They remastered the rare film and they’re releasing it as part of the “Star Trek: Original Series – Season 3″ Blu-ray release due out December 15.

The Live Feed goes on to say that this piece of footage from YouTube is a widely circulated clip from that rare pilot.

Photo: Amazon

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Right now, it’s only 5 episodes and they’ll run on Tuesday nights starting on December 8.

Here’s what Syfy has to say about the series:

Series creator and executive producer, Russell Barrett took a complete do-it-yourself / hands-on approach to the creation of the show by developing, executing and editing the series right in his very home. He also enlisted childhood and hometown friends as series stars including, Adam Clinton (Commander Dick Amos), Stephanie Clinton (Lieutenant Sunny Hunkle), Jay Wendorff (voice of Kyle 14) and Dana Kirk (Operations Officer Donna Kennedy).

”Syfy fans have never seen animation quite like this before! The graphics may be basic and simple, but combining them with live-action elements has never been done in a series before. To say that it was a grassroots endeavor is an understatement. Russell literally produced this in his basement for more than a year, and that allowed him to create a unique series with a sharp, sly sense of humor.” said Mark Stern, EVP Original Content Syfy & Co-Head Universal Cable Productions.

Outer Space Astronauts is a futuristic comedy series about eight vaguely courageous, highly distractable military personnel who journey to the far reaches of the galaxy, seeking knowledge, adventure and whatever else they can come up with. On board the O.S.S. Oklahoma, this legion of misfits are led by a lackluster captain who would rather be planning the next “margarita Monday” than leading a mission against evil, much to exasperation of his by-the-book second-in-command. Regardless of being a comedy of errors, this team will surprise even themselves as they navigate their way around the solar system.

“Russell Barrett is a very dry, very funny guy who created his own part animated, part live-action space ship world in a series of episodes using his own style and vision of animation,” said David O. Russell, Executive Producer. “What more needs to be said about outer space astronauts who are in outer space working as astronauts, in outer space?”

Outer Space Astronauts was created by Russell Barrett, and is executive produced by Barrett, Scott Puckett and David O. Russell (Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees).

Meet the series characters:

Captain Bruce Ripley (Russell Barrett) is the worst captain in the fleet with the best reputation. He’s uninterested, bored and sloppy, yet manages to always get the job done.

Commander Dick Amos (Adam Clinton) should be the leader of the ship since he holds the most credentials than anyone, but even with his top performance record, Dick is always stuck behind the eight ball.

Lieutenant Sunny Hunkle (Stephanie Clinton) With a name that equally matches her ‘sunny’ disposition, the sweetest girl in the galaxy gets along with everyone. She doesn’t mind that her ‘secret relationship’ with Dick should remain a secret, she’s cool, calm and easy going.

Intern Jimmy Peck (Peter Burns) has been Captain Ripley’s right-hand man since their college days. A bit simple-minded, or just eternally naïve, Jimmy has a way of coming through just when you thought he was completely useless.

Pilot Johnny Boothe (Benjamin Nurick) shouldn’t be flying or driving anything as he holds the most citations for reckless piloting out of anyone (a record he states proudly!). Boothe’s disregard for safety and his addiction to speed however has saved many a day on board the O.S.S. Oklahoma.

Kyle 14 (voice: Jay Wendorff) is one of the first artificial humans to be given a post on an OSA ship. He’s the most state-of-the-art android in existence and “waaaay better than the Kyle 13 model.”

Chief Weapons Officer Andy Matheson (Laura Valdivia) has saved the life of every crewman on the ship more times than they can count. His enormous stature and history of big time whuppin’ sometimes intimidates his fellow crewman except for Brimley.

Weapons Officer Chad Brimley (Tony Bravo) likes to find other’s weak spots and poke at it with a stick. He has excellent skills, and is highly intelligent in weapons development and ammunition science, but his motivation for work isn’t always top notch.

Operations Officer Donna Kennedy (Dana Kirk) and technology don’t mix. She tries in vain to hide her ‘fear of all things that plug in and beep’ from the crew, but on a ship which functions solely from the latest technology, her technophobia gets the best of her.

Chief Mechanic Pinto (Steve Millunzi) is a human monkey wrench. If something is broken, Pinto can fix it – which is great, because things tend to break quite frequently!

Ka’ak (Jacey Margolis) is from another planet and skilled in all areas of space travel. Despite her super-model looks, her mangled use of English is a good tip-off to her alien roots; not to mention her blood-red skin!

Logo courtesy of Syfy

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The 1968 series stars Patrick McGoohan as a man caught in a nightmare. After leaving his super-secret job, he is kidnapped and wakes up in The Village, a happy, Waldenesque town where people are numbers and no one is allowed to think for themselves. Under the watchful eye of Big Brother, Number Six, as he is labeled, must decode the secret of The Village so he can escape and get back to the real world. . . that is if the real world still exists to return to.

This Blu-ray features a newly remixed 5.1 surround sound track and hours of bonus footage including:

• ‘Don’t Knock Yourself Out’: a feature-length documentary chronicling the production
• Two Brand-New Featurettes: ‘The Pink Prisoner’ and ‘You Make Sure it Fits!’
• Newly restored original edit of ‘Arrival’ with an optional music-only soundtrack featuring Wilfred Josephs’ complete and abandoned score
• Ooriginal edit of ‘The Chimes of Big Ben’
• Production crew audio commentaries on seven episodes
• Archive textless material, including the title sequence with clean  themes by Ron Grainer, Wilfred Josephs and Robert Farnon
• Image Archive with over 1200 stills
• Production Paperwork Archive, featuring scripts, call sheets and press releases (DVD-ROM Feature).

I love behind the scenes materials, so that DVD-Rom feature makes me giddy with joy.

If you would like to win the original The Prisoner: The Complete Series on Blu-Ray (remember, this will not play on your DVD player, you must have a Blu-ray player), here’s how you enter:

ENTER TO WIN

Leave a comment on this post with the answer to this question: If you were a number, what number would you be?

Deadline to enter is November 18 at midnight PST. Winner will be notified by email and will have three days to respond.

US only please.

Photo: Amazon

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Air Date: November 6 on Syfy

With the situation on board the Destiny dire, General O’Neill (RICHARD DEAN ANDERSON) and Home World Command orders Col. Young (LOUIS FERREIRA) to execute a high risk plan concocted by the IOA scientists which, in theory, could return the crew to earth. Col. Young tries to buy more time so that he can consult those on the ship whose lives are at stake. While using the communication stones, Camile Wray (MING-NA) is approached by IOA representative Dale Strom (CARLO ROTA) who suggests that she steer opinion on the ship in favor of the plan. 

Eli (DAVID BLUE) and Chloe (ELYSE LEVESQUE) are allowed to use the communication stones to visit earth and their loved ones for what may be the last time. Their homecoming is not what they expected and the two try to drink away their worries at a club (featuring Janelle Monáe), but are unable to ignore the looming fate of the Destiny that they have left behind.

(Pictured: (l-r) Elyse Levesque as Chloe Armstrong, Louis Ferreira as Col. Everett Young, Haig Sutherland as Sgt. Hunter Riley, David Blue as Eli Wallace — Syfy Photo: Carole Segal)

SANCTUARY: Pavor Nocturnus

Dr. Helen Magnus (AMANDA TAPPING) wakes up on the floor of the Sanctuary with no recollection of why or how she got there. Disoriented and bewildered, she discovers her office scarred with bullet holes, equipment broken in pieces and layered with dust and the lab left only with devastating remnants of a horrific battle scene.

With no signs of life to be found, Magnus is completely baffled and shaken. To gather her thoughts, she steps up onto the Sanctuary’s rooftop parapet, but is shocked by the scene before her. Instead of the lights of New City, she looks out to a dark, cratered landscape…the city is decimated.

Magnus fashions a makeshift weapon as her only defense and moves out into the city, determined to find some clue as to what has happened to the world. While surveying the destruction, she is attacked by a ferocious, inhuman creature with an ear piercing shriek as its battle cry. Cornered and near defenseless, Magnus catches a glimpse of her attacker’s face. It is scarcely human with pale skin, soulless eyes and shrieking with fury as it prepares to finish her. Suddenly, without warning, a sonic blast hits the beast from behind, killing it and saving Magnus.

Relieved, she looks up to see two men, heavily armed. Before she can ask any questions, one of the men draws a stun gun and fires it at Magnus, taking her down.

When she awakens, she finds herself in an abandoned warehouse with the same two men. They aggressively hose her down, scrubbing her skin raw and leave her soaking wet, shivering and distraught. Exhausted, she curls up on the floor confused and temporarily defeated. When a third man enters the room, she braces herself for another assault.

But she is both surprised and relieved when she realizes the man standing before her, although hardened and battle-scarred, is none other than her colleague and friend Will Zimmerman (ROBIN DUNNE).

She starts to ask him questions, but he forcefully shuts her down and accuses her of being an imposter. He explains coldly that she could not possibly be who she claims because Helen Magnus… died three years before.

Stunned and with far more questions than answers, Magnus knows only that she must escape from Will and find a way to understand the nightmare her world has become. (Pictured: (center) Robin Dunne as Dr. Will Zimmerman — Syfy Photo: Jeff Weddell)

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**Best Buy – Collectible Gift Set with four pack of badge pins. (As seen in photo)

**Hollywood Video – Rent/Buy any Star Trek DVD and be entered to win an autographed poster of Uhura (Zoe Saldana).

**Transworld (FYE/Coconuts/Suncoast) – Collectible Steelbook packaging.

**CVS – Consumer Offer. Buy $15 (or more) in iTunes gift cards and get the DVD (single disc) for only $9.99 (First week only).

**Target – Limited Edition Collectible Starship Enterprise Packaging on both 2-Disc DVD and 3-Disc Blu-ray. (Video available at above download link).

**Amazon.com – Star Trek Limited Edition Replica Gift Set (Three-Disc + Digital Copy) [Blu-ray]

CANADA
**Best Buy Canada – 3-Disc Special Edition Blu-Ray Collectible packaging – Easily assembles to become a Star Trek U.S.S. Enterprise DVD Package! (same as Target in the US).

**Future Shop – Exclusive 2 Disc Steelbook Edition and 3-Disc Blu-Ray Steelbook Edition.

**HMV – Limited Edition Blu-Ray Gift Set – includes Star Trek 3-Disc Blu-Ray set with Digital copy and Four Replica Starfleet Division Badges.

**Wal-Mart Canada – Exclusive Lenticular o-sleeve package on the Star Trek 2 disc DVD.

Photo courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment

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When it came to playing John Robinson,  the fatherly part was new for actor Guy Williams, but the strong and brave part was a no brainer as he had spent two years portraying that swashbuckling, western hero, Zorro!

This past Tuesday (November 3, 2009) Walt Disney Home Entertainment released all 78 episodes of  Zorro on two Walt Disney Treasures DVDs.

The Walt Disney Treasures releases are truly something special. They come in unusual numbered tin cases and in this case, they each come with a collectible Zorro pin and a photo postcard. These black tins with gold lettering are a fitting homage to one of the most popular TV shows of the 1950’s.

In Zorro, Guy Williams played Don Diego de la Vega, a playboy by day he fought corruption by night, garbed in black, with a mask, a cape and a rapier as his choice of weapon. Zorro was full of action from chase scenes on horseback to exciting sword fights. It also had original Disney music and some terrific guest stars such as Mousekteer Annette Funicello and future Batman villain Cesar Romero. It was a terrific series that launched a cultural icon which would be copied and remade dozens of times in the movies and on TV.

Like all great Disney DVD’s, this one has some very rare goodies. In addition to the complete first and second season, you get several Zorro specials that aired on the Disneyland TV show in 1960.

On the Second Season DVD,  Leonard Maltin and Guy Williams Jr. take you on a tour through the Disney archives and give you a detailed look at the original Zorro costumes and licensed merchandise. Zorro playsets, wallets, rings, even roller skates! And for only .59 cents you could own your own Zorro mask and whip.  I am a huge collector of licensed TV Toys (I even wrote a book about them), so this is my favorite feature on the DVD.  There’s also a collection of rare behind the scenes photos including one of Guy Jr. himself dressed as Zorro. Very sweet. Guy shares his memories of his dad and tells a great story about a special surprise he received from Walt Disney himself.

Guy Williams fans will really enjoy the “Behind the Mask” featurette. Here, co-stars and friends talk about Guy and how he came to the role of Zorro. There are fun stories about how he developed that truly awful accent and how he handled the large number of stunts on the show. The best quote comes from one of his female co-stars who had this to say about Guy, “he was a Latin gentleman with a wicked sense of humor who made women feel extremely feminine.” Funny, one could use that same phrase to describe Zorro himself.

One of the rarest treats on this DVD is a home movie clip of Guy Williams playing Zorro in front of the fans at Disneyland. He rides in on horseback, waving to the crowd, then has a sword fight on the top deck of the showboat. It’s a short piece with no sound, but I’m so glad they included it.

All of that is only one DVD set. There are even more surprises on the other!

The Walt Disney Treasures Zorro collection is more than a DVD. It really is a collectible, from the packaging to the extras, to the care that was put in to remastering these old TV shows and presentation of the special features. It’s a must have for Disney fans, Guy Williams fans and anyone who loves a good superhero — it’s Zorro!

Photos courtesy of Walt Disney Home Entertainment

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The publishers say the “160-pages of black and white photographs shot with the soon-to-be-extinct Type 55 Polaroid film captures the intensity of the male subjects.”

And boy, what subjects. . .   Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights), Ian Somerhalder (Lost,Vampire Diaries), Chace Crawford (Gossip Girl), Ryan Kwanten (True Blood),  Jerry O’Connell (Crossing Jordan), Justin Chon (Twilight, New Moon), Justin Hartley (Smallville), Mark Wystrach (Passions), Gilles Marini (Sex and the City),  Victor Webster (Mutant X),  Will Estes (American Dreams), Jim Caviezel (The Prisoner), Travis Van Winkle (Friday the 13th, Transformers), Jesse Metcalfe (Desperate Housewives),  William Fichtner (Prison Break, The Dark Night) and lots more. Sadly, the only thing missing from this book are either one of those Supernatural boys.

About Face is cloth bound, 160 pages, 10.25 x 12.50 inches, and signed, with a limited-edition of 1500 copies and so it does come with a hefty price tag — but hey, that’s what holiday gift giving is all about.

You can see some of the photography and order a copy at Pixie Press Worldwide. The publisher will be donating a portion of the profits to the children’s charity Smile Train.

Book cover courtesy of Pixie Press Worldwide via Newscom.

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Though it sounds like the plot of a bad sitcom, Being Human is actually a startlingly real and emotional TV series that shows the very best and the very worst of our species.

Now, the company that produced the series is preparing a 13 episode American reboot to premiere on Syfy in Summer 2010.

“Being Human is a smart, contemporary, young and imaginative series that reflects Syfy’s new brand positioning. We are very excited to adapt this for an American audience and bring it into Syfy’s family of programming,” said Syfy president Dave Howe.

Mark Stern, Executive Vice President, Original Content for Syfy and Co-Head, Original Content for Universal Cable Productions added, “We’ve loved this project and been tracking it for a while. Being Human definitely distinguishes itself as something new and different in a landscape filled with familiar supernatural fare. In adapting it, we intend to work closely with RDF to keep the wit, insight, and humor of the original, while opening up the series for a new audience.”

“We’re incredibly proud of our British series and had a tremendous amount of interest in adapting the project for the States. With Syfy’s unwavering passion and dedication for the show, we’re confident it can be as successful here as it is in the UK,” said Chris Coelen, CEO of RDF Media USA.

Personally, I’m very curious about this idea of remaking a series for American audiences. We tried it with The Office and it worked, but Kath & Kim was a huge failure, and what happened to the US version of AbFab?

Being Human has a pretty basic plot that isn’t influenced by the country of origin, so adapting it should be pretty simple — as long as they manage to keep the balance between the dark sense of humor and the “human” drama.

Photo: Being Human from BBC America

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