Sci-Fi Storm

Leonard Nimoy, having just finished filming his final guest appearance on Fringe, plans to retire from acting after working in the industry for 60 years. “I want to get off the stage” he said, but it pleased that his famous character will live on with Zachary Quinto.

Few TV shows have fans 40 years after they first aired. Star Trek is one… Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is another.

VTTBOTS expert Linda Delaney brings us tinto the world of the show, to find why this is so.

Check it out at http://volcanoseven.com/TheThunderChild/AmazonOnlyReady/VoyageCharacters.html

Did a double-header today – first we watched How To Train Your Dragon in 3D, and were incredibly surprised – it was a great movie, with great detail in the animation (the characters breathe!) and a great story. And if the main dragon’s face and expressions seemed a little familiar – this is Chris Sanders’ first feature after leaving Disney, where he created Stitch. Although I think there was a little blend of Doctor Who Sea Devil in there as well. And apparently all older Vikings are Scottish 🙂

The second feature was Tim Burton’s take on Alice In Wonderland (not in 3D though). Not as dark as some of his other features, it definitely had his stamp on it. However, at times it was a bit confusing, the dialog was hard to understand, and some scenes couldn’t hold my attention (but after one movie and lunch, I so much wanted to close my eyes). I think it is worthy of a second look though…

Matt Smith’s debut as the Doctor this past Saturday broke records for BBC America, becoming the channel’s most watched telecast ever. For those who were apprehensive of the new Doctor, have no fear…although he is different (as were they all), and the production has a slightly different feel, my spy network over the pond and my own peek into the future shows that the show is in good hands…read on for the press release.
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Tomorrow is the big day for Doctor Who on BBC America…so here is one more video, from the big premiere in NYC…
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The Hollywood Reporter’s Barry Garron reviewed the upcoming second version of Riverworld on SyFy (their first attempt was in 2003), and the results were not pretty at all…”Bottom line: Disjointed and preposterous” are the first words, and “…it is hard to single out any character as being more one-dimensional than the rest,” later on. Not exactly ringing praise. However, there was one bright spot: Where the father and son production duo of Robert Halmi Sr. and Jr. typically aim for the international market, making it ” heavy on action, special effects and attractive stars and skimp on clever dialogue, skillful plotting and character development. In that sense, “Riverworld” does not disappoint.” Riverworld airs Sunday, April 18th, at 7pm ET.

Really? It appears that the reason we get movies like Mega Piranha is because someone is watching them. The made-for-SyFy movie took in 2.2 million viewers – outdoing Caprica‘s best ever as well as the typical Stargate Universe episode. I’m not one of the 2.2 million – I couldn’t get past how bad the trailer looked…was it meant to be a farce?

Speaking of regenerations, the BBC posted an article about the difficulties each Doctor faced with each regeneration – both on screen and in the media. When the idea came up of “regeneration” to replace the lead actor, a memo was released that likened the experience of regeneration to a Time Lord like a bad LSD trip – “The metaphysical change… is a horrifying experience – an experience in which he relives some of the most unendurable moments of his long life.” It also mentions how each of the Doctors during the original run (Peter Davison is not mentioned, ironically the youngest Doctor until Matt Smith) had trouble getting accepted. Patrick Troughton was a “half-witted clown,” reaction to Jon Pertwee was “hardly enthusiastic,” Tom Baker was “loony,” Colin Baker was “too stern” and “too aggressive,” and Sylvester McCoy reached an all time low approval rating – but his first companion, Mel (Bonnie Langford), was hated even more…

Here are a couple more videos as we anticipate the return of Doctor Who…and you may notice on occasion a countdown timer on the right…
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Starting June 11th, visitors to the Kennedy Space Center will get to see a live 30-minute show based on the Star Trek franchise which explores space age technology, and incorporates the audiences as new cadets at Star Fleet Academy.