Sci-Fi Storm

Despite getting a back nine commitment, and then a surprise retooling and layoff, it appears that NBC has little hope for better ratings for Knight Rider, announcing an early season finale and stopping production after 17 episodes.

Following up on a previous story, Forrest J. “Forry” Ackerman passed away last night peacefully. He was 92.

You play with fire when you start remaking cult-status films, but Universal and Strike apparently are stocking up on Nomex: They plan to acquire the rights to the John Carpenter’s They Live, which was originally made in 1988 and was a vehicle for Roddy Piper’s attempt at an acting career. In it, Piper’s character discovers strange sunglasses that reveal that some people are in fact aliens, and they are exerting mind control on us.

It’s been thirty years, but the anniversary went by with only a little fanfare. On November 17th, 1978, fans were inflicted with the great pain of The Star Wars Holiday Special. It sounded good on paper – a bit of a variety show revolving around familiar Star Wars characters, Harvey Korman, Art Carney, and others, and the original stars. Too bad it was horrifyingly awful. It’s never been aired again, and although it seems that Lucas and others will now at least admit it exists, they still don’t plan to release it…ever.

Just got this in: the greenlight has been given for the Battlestar Galactica prequel Caprica for a 20 episode series, to premiere in 2010. Read More for a full press release.

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I tend to take things from Jim Hill Media with a large grain of salt, but this seems likely – Disney may be scaling back on the next installment of The Chronicles of Narnia, Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Disney has yet to greenlight the film, which was meant to be a tentpole for 2010, but that role is now being held by Prince of Persia: The Sands Of Time. Why? Prince Caspian took in less than half of what The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe did domestically, and Disney may be looking to cut the budget…