TV Watchtower: When Sci-Fi TV Shows Fall Beneath The Guillotine

By Tiffany Vogt at Airlock Alpha

While shows like “Dollhouse,” “Battlestar Galactica,” “Stargate SG-1,” and “Stargate: Atlantis” and even “Lost” are given the opportunity to conclude their series with some semblance of a storyline wrap-up, more frequently networks just unceremoniously yank sci-fi shows off the air without the dignity of a proper send-off or good-bye – “Firefly” being perhaps one of the more glaring examples.

With Joss Whedon’s “Dollhouse” airing its final episode last month, this is a perfect time to analyze how sci-fi shows are treated by the networks when their time has come. Fortunately, with “Dollhouse,” Joss was given advance notice that Fox was not going to pick up the back nine episodes of the second season, and it allowed him the opportunity to wrap up the series.

That was unlike when Fox abruptly canceled “Firefly” a mere eight years before, which ended with Fox airing “Firefly’s” two-hour pilot as its swan song, a maneuver that still has fans scratching their heads in bewilderment. I mean who airs the two-hour pilot after a show has been canceled? It’s like rubbing it in the fans’ faces that a terrific show was forever gone.

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Will Steven Spielberg Save Science Fiction Television?

By Meredith Woerner at io9

Spielberg is ready to redeem the struggling genre of science fiction on television. His third genre TV show, Nine Lives, might be airing on NBC, and we think Spielberg could be the TV savior we’ve been hoping for.

Spielberg created Nine Lives for the Syfy Channel but it never saw the light of day. The 12-hour miniseries brings back Spielberg’s collaborator Les Bohem, who was a writer on Taken. The series was supposed to be centered on people who seek out near-death situations in order to reunite with dead loved ones. But the project never happened.

But the trades are now reporting that NBC is interested in bringing back this series, if Bohem updates the script.

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New trailer for Doctor Who highlights Matt Smith’s Time Lord

by Patrick Lee at Sci Fi Wire

BBC America has posted a teaser trailer for the upcoming new episodes of Doctor Who, featuring Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor and Karen Gillan as his new companion, which you can view below.

It’s not a series of clips from the episodes, but rather a kind of homage to past episodes and, especially, villains, such as the stone angels from the 2007 episode “Blink,” which happens to have been written by Steven Moffat, Doctor Who’s new show runner.

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From Vicki to Zoe: The Evolution of Robot Daughters on Television

Teresa Jusino at Tor

On Caprica, Zoe Graystone has become infinitely more compelling now that she exists only as an avatar. While we recognize Daniel and Amanda Graystone’s pain having lost their only daughter, we can’t help but be more fascinated by Avatar Zoe, who experiences life for the first time, despite memories that tell her otherwise, in the body of a seven-foot robot. Zoe is a well-written character and benefits from an intelligent performance by Alessandra Torresani. However, both the writers of Caprica and Ms. Torresani owe a great debt to another jewel in the science-fiction television crown.

I refer, of course, to Small Wonder.

Caprica wasn’t the first sci-fi show to center around a family with a robot daughter, and there are several similarities between it and its 1980s predecessor.

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I think Sci Fi shows are always judged more harshly than normal shows, and less well handled by the network (at least at Fox). Any show will fail if you don’t market it well or to the right audience, or if you change the time slot often, or the day of the week it’s on. I hope that with all of the sci fi movies doing so well lately it will give sci fi shows more opportunity.

What do you think of the Doctor Who trailer? Are you a fan of Caprica?

Maggie Grace, a.k.a. Shannon, returns to ‘Lost’ this season

by Jeff Jensen and Dan Snierson at Entertainment Weekly

Maggie Grace, who played Shannon on Lost, will return to the ABC drama later this season, executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse confirmed to EW.com. “We’re really excited about having her back on the show,” says Cuse, “and we have a good story for her.” The producers would not specify how many episodes she would appear in. An original cast member, Grace exited the show in season 2 when her character — the spoiled stepsister of Boone — was killed off, though she did resurface in a season 3 episode.

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Ian, Nina and Paul Interview

via Vampire Diaries Guide

TV Guide had a chat with Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder at the Hot Topic Tour.

Here is an excerpt:

Dobrev is holding out hope for Elena and Stefan, but admits here will always be outside factors toying with the strength of their relationship, which means anything can happen. “I think his presence always has an effect on their relationship, even if he doesn’t do anything. Even his existence complicates both their lives, so we’ll just have to wait and see,” said Dobrev. “You’re definitely going to see a Damon, Elena, Stefan trio, the three musketeers.”

That means more adventure past and present.

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Ian Somerhalder: More “Shenanigans” to Come on The Vampire Diaries

by M.L. House at TV Fanatic

The Vampire Diaries is on an extended hiatus, leaving fans to wonder about how an influx of new blood suckers will affect Mystic Falls when the show returns on March 25.

Our prediction: not well.

In the meantime, the main Vampire Diaries cast members gathered this weekend as part of a nationwide mall tour and answered questions from fans in Los Angeles. TV Guide Magazine was on hand for the event.

Asked what’s in store for Elena and Stefan, Paul Wesley replied: “There will always be conflict… Her mortality is a huge thing. What if she wants to turn? But for now they’re going to [be] a little less sort of serious and more like, ‘Let’s be a normal couple. Let’s laugh and do stuff that normal humans do.’”

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Stargate’s Latest Alien Characters Revealed: A Villain And A Rebel

By Meredith Woerner at io9

We’re eagerly waiting to find out more about the Lucian Alliance on Stargate Universe, since they were the bandits that forced the Destiny crew to flee in the first place. And new casting pages reveal a villain and a rebel.

We uncovered two new character sides for the first episode of the show’s second season. As we learned a while a go with SGU, their casting sides aren’t always 100% guaranteed to be the final script for the episode, and are often changed around to protect plot lines. But there are still some clues in each script.

The first casting slide is for a character named Ginn, a female science officer. Ginn is talking to Darlene, which is not a “real name” except for in Roseanne, so lets assume it’s actually a different character from the show. They are both in an interview room talking about what the Lucian Alliance wants with the Destiny.

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Steven Spielberg? Dinosaurs? Sign us up!

via Sci Fi Wire

Could Steven Spielberg soon be time-traveling back to Jurassic Park territory? We sure hope so! According to Variety, the director may soon take charge of the TV series Terra Nova, which would follow a family from 100 years in the future as they travel back through time to the prehistoric Earth of 150 million years ago.

The 20th Century Fox TV project would reportedly involve such elaborate sets and special effects that there’s been talk of skipping a pilot and greenlighting it directly to series production, since it would be too expensive to shut down and start up again during the downtime between the pilot and the series itself.

Read More here

I don’t know why Fox bothers greenlighting sci fi shows- they’re only going to cancel it in a year or two no matter how well it’s doing. And this sounds very Land of the Lost, which was hokey at the best of times. So unless there’s going to be some scientific accuracy and a lot less Gilligan’s Island style shenanigans, I’ll pass. I’m not happy about the Stargate news either. I wasn’t impressed with the Lucian Alliance in SG1. And when the writers have an entirely new galaxy to explore and create, and they use an old enemy? They’re passing up an opportunity to create a truly badass alien race to stick with what they know.

What do you think is going to happen with Maggie Grace’s character on Lost? What are you looking forward to on Vampire Diaries?

With the final season of Lost in full swing, we decided to honor the show in this months Tacky Merchandise. Since Lost is practically a cult classic even before it has ended, anything Lost related can be considered cool, so you might actually like some of what we highlight and some even go hand in hand. Here we go.

DHARMA Initiative Mosaic LOST TV Show Coaster

Hundreds of tiny LOST related pictures make up the Dharma symbol. Rich colored image applied to quality canvas and encased in acrylic.

What better way to capture the drippy condensation from your Dharma Initiative beer than with this Lost Mosaic Coaster.  Show your true Lost fanatical side that will be the envy of all your friends. And as you raise that beer can you can also show off the next item on our list…

DHARMA Initiative Cuff Links

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to guzzle back that beer in relaxed style, you will have to be wearing a nice button down collared shirt.  Heck, you’ll be the best dressed at the next keg party. Don’t fret though, if  your best bud is a tacky purchaser, the next item on our list might help your comfort.

LOST Dharma Beer T-Shirt

Oh my lord….this is sooo tackaaayyy!  This do-it-yourself-iron-on look, brings tacky to a whole new level.  But if your drinking Dharma beer I wouldn’t be surprised. Now if you could only get your hands on some real Dharma beer, your life will be complete, especially with this next item.

LOST Dharma Mixed Island Nuts

Keep em’ thirsty for the non-existant Dharma beer with some fake Dharma salty nuts. Maybe if you eat a few and drink enough you will see Polar Bears in your living room. I have an idea. Next time fool guests or even yourself, by mastering Photoshop, print out some of your own labels and anything in your pantry can resemble the Dharma pantry.

Frank Lapidus – CC Star Vintage Necktie Coin Purse

Relive the breath halting episode of when the helicopter crashed into the ocean, everytime you need some coinage.  It’s also great for looking for change when your playing quarters with your friends. Wink.

LOST Oceanic Airlines Luggage

“Never lose your items. Your bag will look like it just came flight 815 (or any other Oceanic Flight).”

Uh, right. It’s more like play with your fate. Attach this sucker to your luggage and see what happens.  Never mind that, you can totally confuse TSA and have some fun all at once.  You can even use the next item to really screw with their heads as you’re passing through the security check point…and possibly get pulled aside for additional questioning.  You didn’t have to catch that flight did you?

ABC TV show LOST prop Kate Airline Flight 815 2 Tickets

Show these at the boarding gate and you will surely make all everyone ‘lost’. “Security!!!”

Lost Characters Stitchmarkers  (baby bracelet)

Aww, how cute.  Even someone who is a Lost fanatic will have a hard time with these. They scream baby bracelet! I highly doubt your baby is a Lost fan.  Maybe they would work for a Lost Themed baby shower. Hey, whatever floats your freighter boat, right? Wait…are you naming your child Aaron? Is your name Claire? (Cue the Twilight Zone music). What ever you do don’t drink anything a man name Ethan gives you.

LOST Hanso Foundation Dharma Las Vegas Casino Poker Chip

I don’t even know where to begin with this one. It’s worth zilch at any casino. It’s a piece of plastic and it’s going for $5?  I’m just shaking my head.

LOST TV SHOW COLLECTOR OCEANIC FLIGHT 815 PILOT WINGS

I remember when they used to give these out, during the Pan Am days. Do you remember Pan Am? No? Well, that’s because they’re not in existence (any longer), which is something in common with Oceanic Flight 815.  If you need to spend $12 on plastic wings, you need to get out more.

LOST Dharma Wall, Table Clock

Just what you need to check the time and make sure you’re pressing the Hatch button in time. Doesn’t need batteries and time tripping is not included.

We hope you enjoyed this months Tacky Merchandise edition. Would you actually purchase any of these items? Come on, you can tell us.

Week 2: More Lost questions answered! More raised!

Scifiwire.com has hit the nail on the head with this article:

Oh, Japanese Dude, why does everyone on this damn island who actually knows something have to talk in riddles?

All in all, while Tuesday’s episode, “What Kate Does,” moved the plot along and left us with 15 more new questions, the episode answered very few questions from previous episodes.

NEW QUESTIONS FROM THIS WEEK’S “WHAT KATE DOES” EPISODE:

134. Why do the Temple Others have to torture Sayid to “diagnose,” him and why do they think he’s been “infected” and “claimed”?
135. Did the Smoke Monster infect Sayid when he was shot, kind of like an Evil Dead sort of thing?
136. Does this mean that the Man In Black actually orchestrated Sayid’s “infected” resurrection by posing as Jacob and asking Hurley to take Sayid to the Temple save his life?
137. Why do the Temple Others agree to let Kate and Jin go after Sawyer and insist “It’s very important he get back safely”? Why do they care?

143. Will Losties Kate and Claire hook up so that Kate can take her “back to Aaron”?

146. What does Japanese Dude Dogen mean when he tells Jack that being claimed and going evil “happened to your sister”? WTF?

147. What happened to Lostie Clairewhile she was missing, and how did she end up looking so Rousseau-esque?
148. Did the Smoke Monster do that to her hair?

ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS WE’VE ALREADY RAISED

1. Who is Jacob? Apparently he’s a ghost now, along with possibly being God. Maybe. (“LA X”)

8. Is Locke dead? Our Locke is alive in the new Altverse. However, he’s dead in the old Lostverse, according to the Locke-ness Monster. In fact, he filled Ben in on all the details of what Locke was thinking as he was dying when Ben strangled him. Nice touch, that one. (“LA X”)

Read more here

I have to admit that I am getting really frustrated with Lost. I’m ready to give up. I’ve been wanting answers for so long that it’s become annoying.

I hope they start to give fans the answers we need.

What do you want answered in this season? Are you feeling frustrated with the lack of answers?

By Annalee Newitz at io9: Neil Gaiman Confirms That He’s Written An Upcoming Episode Of Doctor Who

At last addressing the long-bubbling rumor that he would be writing for Doctor Who, award-winning author Neil Gaiman has confirmed that he’s penned an episode for the second season with new Doctor Matt Smith. He even shared the working title.

Gaiman announced this fangasm-worthy news via venerable British SF magazine SFX:

“As anyone who’s read my blog knows, I’m a big fan of a certain long-running British SF TV series. One that started watching — from behind the sofa — when I was three. And while I know it’s cruel to make you wait for things, in about 14 months from now, which is to say, NOT in the upcoming season but early in the one after that, it’s quite possible that I might have written an episode.”

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by Glenn Diaz at Buddy TV: Is ‘Caprica’ Becoming Too Soapy?

If Caprica co-creator Ron Moore were to be asked, the unequivocal answer would be yes, because that was that intention in the first place.

Three episodes into the Battlestar Galactica prequel, human drama may have had a longer share of the spotlight than robots and overtly futuristic stuff on Caprica, but that’s kind of the direction it was headed for, adds Moore, to differentiate it from Battlestar.
“It was kind of important to David Eick and I that the show not be about just another Battlestar or yet another war series, but to really be different on a fundamental level to what Battlestar was,” he says.

On the most recent episode of Caprica, we finally got an explanation as to why in the world did Amanda Graystone crucify her daughter Zoe in front of the whole (grieving) world. And the reason is, well, it just came out.

Read More here

By Kathie Huddleston at Sci Fi Wire: Why Michael Shanks thinks Stargate SG-1 is history

It looks like Stargate SG-1 may finally be dead, at least according to star Michael Shanks, who played Dr. Daniel Jackson on the series, which ran for 10 seasons and spurred two DVD movies in 2008 and two Syfy spinoff series.

“Given the amount of time lag that’s gone on between us doing the movies, I suspect that we might be very far away from, if ever, doing another DVD movie. This might be the closing of the book on that particular [chapter of the] franchise,” said Shanks, whom we caught up with while he was promoting his guest-starring role as Hawkman in The CW’s two-hour film Smallville: Absolute Justice.

“Never say never. It’s always a possibility. But I think everybody’s moving on to a certain point, and with the new show doing well, everybody’s focusing their attention on that. The SG-1 idea is somewhat on the back burner, which is a little bit unfortunate, because I think one more story would have been a great way to bring Rick (Richard Dean Anderson) back in and really go there. But you know, business is business.”

Read More here

By Graeme McMillan at io9: Does Lost’s New Code Spell Out The End?

Love Lost but bored by the numbers? A new code has been released online that claims to explain the end of the series . . . if you make the right choices. Potential spoilers!

The code appeared on the Twitter of Lost site Dark UFO on Friday:

626110432547f398491fad32d6add11b #lost http://goo.gl/YaGj

followed by the explanation, “Crack that code and you’ll know the end of LOST ”

Read More here

I hope that there’s another Stargate SG1 Movie. Stargate Universe just isn’t the same. And I think the Doctor Who episode by Neil Gaiman will be awesome. He wrote an episode of Babylon 5 too, and that was a good one.

What do you think of the Lost code? Do you watch Caprica?

The Twilight Saga News Wrap-up:
STEPHENIE MEYER HINTS THAT SHE MAY RETURN TO THE “TWILIGHT” SERIES

New edition of ‘New Moon’ DVD revealed for Best Buy

Peter Facinelli Reveals Twilight ‘Eclipse’ Fight Training Fiasco
David Slade says ‘The Twilight Saga: Eclipse’ is in ‘phase 1′ studio screening

Movie News Wrap-up:
2010 Preview: The Last Airbender

‘Harry Potter’ Commercial to air during the SuperBowl

IS “REPO MEN” LIKE “REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA”?

Author & Book News Wrap-up:
STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND IS THE CATCHER IN THE RYE OF SF

THE HOUSE OF NIGHT SERIES BREATHES NEW LIFE INTO THE VAMPIRE GENRE

Books to lure teenagers away from the phone.

THE 10 MOST USEFUL GADGETS FROM SCIENCE FICTION AND COMICS

Burned cover art and release date

TV Show News Wrap-up:
Smallville Trailer Finally Shows The JSA In Action

‘True Blood’ Finds Alcide’s Protective Sister

Merlin’s magic comes to Syfy’s primetime lineup in April

SURROGATES AND CAPRICA: SPLENDID SCI FI WARNINGS AGAINST TRANSHUMANISM

OBS Fun News Wrap-up:
OBS AUTHOR PROFILES: KAMI GARCIA & MARGARET STOHL

CHARACTER PROFILES: LOST EDITION 5

OBS RECAP & REVIEW: LOST, SEASONS 4-5

OBS FEBRUARY ‘JOIN THE FORUM’ CONTEST!!!

FEBRUARY BOOK CLUB GIVEAWAY

FEBRUARY BOOK FACE OFF: MOST ROMANTIC

CHARACTER PROFILES: EDITION 6

BOOK REVIEWS: MELISSA MARR – FRAGILE ETERNITY

OBS RECAPS & REVIEWS: MERLIN S1 – EPISODE 6

MOVIE REVIEWS: CARRIERS

BOOK REVIEWS: KELLEY ARMSTRONG – DIME STORE MAGIC

OBS RECAPS & REVIEWS: MERLIN S1 – EPISODE 7

OBS TOP 5/10: GREEK GODS EDITION

OBS RECAPS & REVIEWS: LOST S6 – EPISODE 1: ‘LA X’

POLL OF THE WEEK: “WHICH IS YOUR FAVORITE GOD OR GODDESS?”

NEWS BITES: LOST FINALE

OBS RECAPS & REVIEWS: FRINGE S2 EP.15 “JACKSONVILLE”

OBS PRESENTS: FAN ART MADNESS – LOST EDITION 3

OBS DIRECTOR PROFILES: CHRIS COLUMBUS

OBS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: ANDREW O’CONNELL

Have  a great new week everyone!