It was the TV show that made many of us want to buy a telescope, so it’s only fitting that the cast of Star Trek celebrate their DVD release of the new movie at the famous Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.

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”).

Read More – Star Trek Stars Party at Griffith Observatory

V: A Bright New Day

Air Date: November 17 at 8:00 on ABC

AS 100 DIPLOMATIC VISAS ARE BEING ISSUED TO THE NEW VISITORS — ANNA AS THE 1ST — ERICA STARTS TRACKING A DEATH THREAT WHILE PAIRED WITH A V OFFICER, ON ABC’S “V”

“A Bright New Day” — Chad reports from the Peace Ambassador Center as 100 diplomatic visas are being issued to the first wave of American Visitors, with Anna getting the 1st, but not everyone agrees with the decision. Meanwhile Erica has started tracking a death threat while paired with a V officer, as she actually has to protect the V’s, and Ryan starts reaching out to his old friends to build up opposition forces and help fight-off the V’s.

(ABC/MICHAEL COURTNEY) MORENA BACCARIN

The first quarter of the new TV season is coming to a close. With their biggest episodes running this month for sweeps, we can now look forward to weeks of reruns for the rest of 09.

But before they go, here’s a quick look at where I stand with the current crop of futuristic, non-realistic, ghostly, ghastly, makes-you-wonder, shows on TV.

V: The Series

We’re only a few episodes in but I’m into V for the long haul (which means waiting until Spring of 2010 for the second half of the season.) I’m enjoying the pace of the reveals, I like the characters a lot and I see Visitors everywhere I look. I think this show is so fitting for the climate we live in today, even more so than when the original was made. The idea of sleeper agents among us, living next door, ready to turn on us at any moment. No one is safe and I really feel that from Elizabeth Mitchell’s character. I’m also very intrigued by the idea of a priest as one of the story’s main heroes. Religion keeps cropping up in all of my favorite shows and that, I believe, is also a sign of the times. (ABC/JEFF PETRY) JOEL GRETSCH, ELIZABETH MITCHELL)

V gets an A

The Vampire Diaries

Read More – Fall 09 Scifi Report Card: Part 1

Tonight marks the series premiere of the much-talked about (around here, anyway) remake of the 60’s series The Prisoner.

The first two parts will air tonight, then two more parts for the next three days. Plan on paying attention because this isn’t a fluffy, action series. The Prisoner is loaded with twists and turns and clues are left like breadcrumbs all along the way.

Jim Caviezel stars as Number Six. We’ll travel with him to The Village and we’ll learn what happens when one tries to escape. But why would you want to? The Village is a lovely place where everyone is all smiles and sunshine. But series co-star Jaime Campbell Bower says that all smiles all the time is kind of creepy and we must agree.

Read More – Tonight on The Prisoner: Arrival / Harmony

There’s good news and there’s bad news. The good news is we have a first look video for this week’s episode of Supernatural called “Abandon All Hope. ” There’s more good news in that it stars Mark Sheppard as the deliciously evil Crowley. That’s not Mark in the photo there. He wasn’t in any of the promo photos for this episode but Dean’s looking right at him, so that’s something. . . huh?

You may know Mark from his recurring role as Sterling, Nate’s biggest foil on Leverage, which is already a six-degrees-of-Supernatural because of Aldis Hodge and Chris Kane. Mark also played Romo Lampkin on Battlestar Galactica and we love, love, love seeing him on TV.

Now for the bad news: this will be the last new episode of Supernatural until January 14 2010. It’s true. Got it straight from The CW and I’m not happy about it either. We usually get one or two new episodes between now and the holiday break but I guess since they premiered the show so early this year, they have no choice but to break early.
Read More – Supernatural: Abandon All Hope First Look

Thanks to a kindly film collector in Germany, Star Trek fans will now get to experience the third pilot that was made to pitch the original 60’s series. Everyone knows about “The Cage.” This pilot had Jeffrey Hunter as the first Enterprise Captain, and much of the footage was used in the  flashback episode “The Menagerie.”

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.
Read More – Rare Star Trek Pilot Coming to Blu-ray

STARGATE UNIVERSE : Time

Air Date: November 13 on Syfy

Visiting a newly discovered jungle planet, the crew is amazed to recover a Kino by the gate. Downloading the Kino data, Eli (DAVID BLUE) discovers video of the team, which appears to have been shot during an earlier visit. The mystery of the video’s origin becomes a secondary concern as members of the team start falling ill. Unable to return to the Destiny for fear of spreading the infection, the team sets up camp in the jungle to try to isolate the infection there. Little do they know that when night falls, the illness will be the least of their worries.

SANCTUARY: Fragments

Air Date: November 13 on Syfy

Dr. Helen Magnus (AMANDA TAPPING) fights to save the life of one of the Sanctuary’s research scientists who was viciously attacked by a seemingly docile Abnormal. Baffled by the creature’s uncharacteristic behavior, Henry (RYAN ROBBINS) tries to figure out what, or who, caused the domesticated Abnormal to react so violently.

Syfy Photo: Carole Segal

Syfy has decided to try something really different – a half-hour comedy series called Outer Space Astronauts. The series is a combo of live-action and 3d Animation, so that alone makes this a pretty special treat.

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).

Read More – Syfy Debuts New Comedy Series

Hmmm…that title might not be the best way to word this. . . how about, here’s a fun video of Torchwood star John Barrowman rocking out to Beyonce’s “Single Ladies.” I don’t know if it’s for real or fan made, if you know, let me know — but it’s guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

Thanks to Small Screen Scoop and my Twitter buddy Jessica Rae for the tip.

Supernatural: “The Real Ghostbusters”

Air Date: November 12 on The CW

IT’S A SUPERNATURAL CONVENTION! — Super fan Becky (guest star Emily Perkins) uses Chuck’s (guest star Chuck Benedict) phone to trick Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) into attending a Supernatural fan convention, complete with fans dressed up as Sam and Dean. One of the activities is a live action role playing game, but things quickly turn sour after a real ghost appears on the scene. Jim Conway directed the episode with teleplay by Eric Kripke and story by Nancy Weiner (#509).

Click here to watch a clip from tonight’s episode.

Photo: David Gray/The CW ©2009 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.