Sci-Fi Storm

Warner Bros and MGM announced today that the added third installment of The Hobbit, now called The Hobbit: There and Back Again (using the extended title of the book, which was The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, and was originally to be used for Part 2), will be released worldwide on July 18th, 2014. This means there will be a shorter wait than between Parts 1 (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which opened this December 14th) and 2 (now retitled The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, which opens on December 13th, 2013) to finally see the conclusion of Peter Jackson’s extended take on the classic book.

This is where it all seems to start going wrong…don’t forget, Doctor Who starts TOMORROW in the UK, US and Canada!
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Would it be so bad to have a butler?
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When horses electrocute themselves, bats flee during the day, and snakes all disappear, it can only mean one thing: Bo is going to have a tough time…check out the next new episode of Lost Girl this Friday at 10/9c!
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Now this one is just silly…subtitle it, “Ood in the Loo…”
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Now we know what the “live action Marvel TV series” is that was reported when Disney struck a deal with Joss Whedon in the wake of his The Avengers juggernaut: S.H.I.E.L.D., a TV series based on the peacekeeping organization that runs throughout the Marvel universe and prominently in The Avengers.

ABC has given the green light for a pilot to be written by Whedon, his brother Jed Whedon, and Jed’s wife, Maurissa Tancharoen – the team responsible for Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, and have worked together on various other projects including Dollhouse. Joss Whedon may even direct if his schedule permits.

So, you are asleep when the Doctor bursts in and rambles, but then realizes he’s too early in the timeline, and then says everything is perfectly fine, go back to sleep…could you?
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There have been a couple of mini-series remakes in the past few years that involve a well-known source material that features a twist at the end – A&E’s Andromeda Strain in 2008, and AMC’s The Prisoner in 2009. When you have source material that is so familiar to fans and the climactic twist is so well known, how do you remake it and still make it interesting? That’s the key…and given the two I mentioned, it can be met with varying degrees of success.

A&E upcoming mini-series remake of Coma, which comes from the team of Ridley Scott and the late Tony Scott and airs next Monday and Tuesday at 9/8c, has that same task…based on the 1977 Robin Cook book that was made into a 1978 movie directed by Michael Crichton and is well known enough that those familiar with it already know what the conclusion is, it has to add not only it’s own spin on the story but on the climax.
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I head various reports from Fax Expo Canada that it was said that the Canadian SF series Continuum, a futuristic police drama starring Rachel Nichols (Criminal Minds) as a police officer from the year 2077 who finds herself in the present day while pursuing convicted terrorists who escape into the past, was picked up by Syfy UK, and that a US outlet had been signed but not announced who. Now it seems that the US outlet is indeed Syfy, picking up the 10-episode series which was also given a second season order recently.

This mirrors their pickup of Lost Girl, another Canadian production that was acquired but they didn’t announce when it would air until the second season of that show was in production, and Syfy is airing both seasons straight through.

We may get an official announcement soon – no later than the October Digital Press Event I’d guess (and hopefully I’m attending again this year).

T-5 days until “Asylum of the Daleks” airs…but you don’t have to wait to get back in the groove with Doctor Who! As planned, the BBC is releasing a 5-part mini web series online starting today to help see what life was like for Amy and Rory while the Doctor isn’t around (and a bit about the Doctor when they aren’t around…) Check out part 1 below, and check each day for another episode!
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