Stefan, Damon ‘will switch on Diaries’

By Catriona Wightman at Digital Spy

Warning: This article contains spoilers that some readers may prefer to avoid.

Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley have claimed that their characters Damon and Stefan will switch personalities in the next season of The Vampire Diaries.

“[Stefan] is always going to be protective of Elena, but there are times that he is going to be tempted by blood,” Wesley said. “He’s a vampire and he has malice inside him. I think it would be a mistake to ignore that.”

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BIO CHANNEL ADDS CHILLS TO SATURDAY NIGHTS THIS SUMMER

via the Futon Critic

BIO Channel brings “Celebrity Ghost Stories,” it’s most watched original series of all time, back to showcase more celebrities as they share their true, personal encounters with the paranormal and premieres the all-new series, “My Ghost Story” showcasing real people who captured their paranormal experience on camera. “Celebrity Ghost Stories” returns for a second season featuring 18 one-hour episodes on Saturday, July 17 at 10PM ET/ 11PM PT, followed up by the series premiere of “My Ghost Story” at 10PM ET/11PM PT.

“My Ghost Story” features true and astonishing stories of the paranormal, told by the people who lived through them – and actually caught it on tape. From moving furniture to dark apparitions to violent poltergeists, these harrowing eye-witness accounts of the unexplainable are transformed into more than tales with terrifying visual evidence. Everybody has a ghost story, but these people have theirs on film.

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‘Game of Thrones’ trailer to debut on HBO Sunday

By Maureen Ryan at the Chicago Tribune

Word began leaking out last night — via a tweet from HBO — that we’ll be getting our first look at “Game of Thrones” tonight on HBO.

Today, on HBO’s Facebook page, the network said this: “Tonight, turn to HBO at 8:45 ET/PT for a very special ‘True Blood’ pre-show and get a taste of what’s to come on ‘Hung,’ ‘Entourage,’ ‘Bored to Death,’ ‘Eastbound and Down’ and our newest dramas, ‘Boardwalk Empire’ and ‘Game of Thrones.’”

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Television is officially better than movies. Is this bad news for science fiction?

By Charlie Jane Anders at io9

It’s official, according to Entertainment Weekly’s Mark Harris: television is better than movies now. We’re in the middle of a summer of by-the-numbers movies, while TV is blazing new trails. Too bad science fiction rules the movies instead of TV.

Apparently this is the worst summer for movie box office in ages, according to Harris’ article – which came out before The Karate Kid became a surprise hit, so there’s that.

Meanwhile, it’s hard to dispute that television has become the more revolutionary medium in recent years, thanks to shows like Glee, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Lost, True Blood, Dexter and so on. But this is a hard message for genre fans to hear, at a time when the failure rate for science fiction and fantasy shows seems even higher than normal. And it’s hard not to notice that the standard list of ground-breaking, innovative shows usually only includes a couple of genre shows – while any list of the biggest movies of the past few years will be dominated by science fiction films.

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The case for a new Star Trek series

By Andrew Belonsky at io9

The televisual grounds are fertile for a new Trek installment. With Lost, 24 and Ugly Betty all off the air, and Sci-Fi smash Battlestar Galactica‘s cultural influence ebbing, viewers will be hungry for compelling action, adventure and romance. And space presents endless possibilities. But what would be appealing to people who have fond Trek memories, although aren’t rabid fans? The people like me [men 19-49] who can bring in big ratings? I asked some of my peers that exact question.

A new series would need to address timely, relevant questions. How does the Utopia-esque Federation of Planets incorporate its globes and colonies? How do you balance innate cultures with the Federation’s lofty ideals? “Star Trek is all about finding new cultures and, when possible, adding them to the Federation,” wondered my friend Teelin. “In the stories it always is a good thing, but in reality whenever that happens we force religion and bring smallpox.” The Federation would become the European Union of a fictionalized future.

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I’m really looking forward to Season 2 of the Vampire Diaries. I was ready not to like it when it started and I’m addicted now. And I’m so excited for Game of Thrones! Excited enough that I will buy HBO when the series starts. And I would love to see another Star Trek show. I miss Voyager.

What did you think of the Game of Thrones preview? What do you think of the Vampire Diaries spoiler? Do you think TV or movies are better?

By Rick Marshall at MTV.com:  First ‘Smallville’ Images Of Hawkman, Doctor Fate And Stargirl

There’s been a lot of buzz surrounding the upcoming two-part “Smallville” arc “Absolute Justice” — and not just because of the involvement of comics scribe Geoff Johns. Along with introducing Michael Shanks as Hawkman, the story will also debut a few more members of DC’s Justice Society of America: Doctor Fate (Brent Stait) and Stargirl (Britt Irvin).

And now Entertainment Weekly offers our first images of the JSA trio in costume — including the expected showdown between Hawkman and Green Arrow, who never did see eye-to-eye in the comics world.

“Absolute Justice” kicks off February 5 with the first of two episodes bringing the JSA into the “Smallville” universe.

More Details here

By Andy Grieser at Zap 2 News: Syfy adds Stephen King TV series supposedly based on ‘The Colorado Kid’

Novelist Stephen King is getting back into the television game, though this latest project has us scratching our heads.

Syfy has picked up 13 episodes of an original series, “Haven,” purportedly based on King’s novella “The Colorado Kid.”

The thing is, “The Colorado Kid” is about a young journalist who is told the story of a mysterious corpse, a man from Colorado who shows up in Maine in record time.

Here’s how the Syfy release describes “Haven”:

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From Daniel Fienberg at HitFix: ‘True Blood’ cracks the Producers Guild TV field

The Producers Guild of America announced the nominees in the television series and non-fiction television categories for the 21st Annual PGA Awards.

By Kathie Huddleson at Sci Fi Wire: Star Trek‘s never-aired ‘lost’ pilot rediscovered

Most everybody knows there were two pilots for the original Star Trek, but did you know there was a third alternate version? This blast from the past will be available on Blu-ray when CBS Home Entertainment releases Star Trek: The Original Series—Season 3 on Dec. 15, along with plenty of third-season extras.

“When we first discovered the original film print existed, we jumped at the chance to give Star Trek fans the opportunity to add this never-aired pilot to their collections,” said Ken Ross, executive vice president and general manager of CBS Home Entertainment.

Apparently a film collector in Germany—a well-documented haven of Trek fandom—found the 35mm film print several years ago and finally connected with CBS Home Entertainment and distributor Paramount Home Entertainment. The film was transferred to HD video and then digitally remastered by the Digital Restoration Department at CBS. And talk about a painstaking process. They went frame by frame to remove the dirt from 40-plus years.

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In honor of today’s DVD/Blu-Ray release of J.J. Abram’s Star Trek, OBS brings you the top five Star Trek Movies. Enjoy!

1. Star Trek-J.J. Abrams (2009)
Although it’s an alternate time line than the others, it really gets into back-story. Plus there are little “ins” for fans of the original movies.

2. The Voyage Home (1986)
This is my favorite of the original cast, just because Shatner is the least obnoxious in it. Plus, Spock mind-melds with a whale!

3. First Contact (1996)
Another one full of back story. We get to see how warp capabilities were discovered. And Data gets freaky with the Borg Queen.

4. Wrath of Khan (1982)
Great one liners. Plus the eternal “The needs of the many…” speech.

5. Nemesis (2002)
The last journey of the Next Generation crew. I had a very hard time between this and Insurrection. So check out both.

Learn Sign Language from Sanctuary’s Creature from the Black Lagoon

Bigfoot, a werewolf, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon walk into an episode of Sanctuary, and what do they do? Mostly, they trade sign language, perform mundane medical procedures, and wait for the episode’s true villain to emerge.

I’m not sure what I could have hoped for from this classic monster match-up — certainly not a cage match, but maybe abnormals playing poker? Alas, Sanctuary has not time for such frivolities. Our rubber-suited movie monster is Jack, a creature called a Plesky who has been living in captivity with werewolf Henry’s pal Rachel. Rachel has been socializing Jack and teaching him sign language; he’s basically like Koko the gorilla if Koko occasionally shot out deadly spores. Yes, Jack has shot his deadly, deadly spores into Rachel, who will die if Magnus and her team can’t find a cure.

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We review the 2009 sci-fi pilots you’ll never see

Just before every fall TV season begins, the excitement of new possibilities swirls through the air as we anticipate what new shows are in our future. That excitement fades once we realize that only a couple of shows are actually worthy and is dashed once we see promising shows like Eastwick and Dollhouse killed off.

So now that the cancellations have begun, let’s take a look at the season that might have been. Here are four pilots the networks passed on, with our take on whether they missed an opportunity to unleash something great (or even just mildly entertaining) on viewers:

Back, CBS
Boldy Going Nowhere, Fox
Captain Cook’s Extraordinary Atlas, ABC
No Heroics, ABC

More here

12 Sci-Fi Shows That Were Canceled Too Soon

Joss Whedon has become something of a tortured artist since ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ ended its highly successful seven-season run in 2003. Since Sunnydale was destroyed and ‘Angel’ got pulled right when it was finding its own identity post-’Buffy,’ Whedon has yet to find another long-running hit. It’s still hard to believe that a show as great as ‘Firefly’ only lasted one season!

Whedon’s bad luck continues with the recent announcement that Fox is pulling the plug on ‘Dollhouse,’ a series that had enough of a following — and potential — to warrant another season. Would ‘Dollhouse’ have really hit its stride further down the road? We’ll never know. Here are some other sci-fi television series that met their makers too soon.

‘Angel’
‘Bionic Woman’
‘Birds of Prey’
‘Brimstone’
‘Firefly’
‘Invasion’
‘Jericho’
‘The Lone Gunmen’
‘Millennium’
‘Star Trek: TOS’
‘Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles’
‘Tru Calling’

MORE HERE

Some of the Sci-Fi Pilots – it’s a shame we won’t ever see them. A few of them don’t sound that bad.

As for the shows that were canceled too soon, I at least agree with Angel, Firefly, Bionic Woman and Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Which pilots do you think would have been good shows?

And which of the canceled shows were your faves?