Sci-Fi Storm

Need another Torchwood fix before the premiere on July 8th? Well, here’s more, courtesy of Starz:

So, I got a kick today, as a week ago I posted an article pointing out that Lucas never said he had 50 episodes “in the can” (i.e. completed and ready to air) like a lot of the news outlets seemed to think. Yet late yesterday the New York Post posted an article still saying the episodes were in the can, that was reiterated by The Hollywood Reporter today – both articles were later corrected. Deadline also followed the Post’s article, but I only saw it after the corrections to the other two so I don’t know if they had likewise made the same error. Anyways, I get to feel smug for a few minutes about my being correct a week before some of the major industry rags. 🙂

But in the meantime, E! Online has a fun article about “Five Ways to Keep New Star Wars TV Series From Sucking”. Although honestly, “No Jar Jar” should be higher up on the list. And we could easily expand it to 10 ways…or 20 I’m sure.

Hoping to see the Daleks soon? Don’t plan on it this series. Current man-in-charge Steven Moffat said in an interview for the Radio Times that he’s ordered them put to rest for a while. “There’s a problem with the Daleks,” Moffat said. “They are the most famous of the Doctor’s adversaries and the most frequent, which means they are the most reliably defeatable enemies in the universe.”

Back in March two possible titles for the two upcoming The Hobbit films had possibly been learned: An Unexpected Journey and There and Back Again (the last being the book’s subtitle). We now know these titles are official, and in that order. We also now know the release dates: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will debut on December 14th, 2012, with The Hobbit: There and Back Again following on December 13th, 2013.

At last, it will make them easier to talk about…

Actor Jeff Conaway, who starred in the movie Grease as well as the TV series Taxi and Babylon 5, passed away this morning after his family removed life support yesterday. Conaway, who had long been suffering from drug and alcohol addiction, was placed in a medically induced coma after being found unconscious on May 11th, suffering from pneumonia and sepsis. Early reports blamed a drug overdose, but this was later refuted, although reports still say that his painkiller addiction (exacerbated by both old and more recent injuries) may have contributed to him not getting medical help soon enough.

He was 60 years old.

Bobby Wheeler/Kenickie/Zack Allan, you will be missed.

Hollywood Treasure returns on Wednesday, June 1st, at 10pm ET/9PM CT…and this episode should be interesting to science fiction fans – because it features Robby The Robot from Forbidden Planet, who also made various cameo appearances on many shows and movies.

Does he still work? Check out the preview below!
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The Thunder Child science fiction webzine is proud to announce the first science fiction novel published by its creator, designer, and all around cook and bottle washer. (i.e., me).

The Coldest Equations (The People Out There) is now available for Kindle readers (and in a couple of days will be available for Nook readers.)

Simply go to Amazon, select the Kindle store, and type in The Coldest Equations. [Ed: or follow this [asin=B0052NSRKK]direct link[/asin]] (Don’t have a kindle? Download a kindle emulator for free.)

Have you ever wondered where writers get their ideas? Is there some alternate universe where events are happening, which writers tap into? No! But once a writer here, on Earth, creates a story — in particular, let us say, a TV series, and it is committed to celluloid, the world created by that series does surge into life as an alternate Earth…and there are millions of them.

And there are People Out There who have devised a method for transporting actors on Earth into the bodies of the real characters that now exist in these alternate earths…and vice versa.

Tracy Karlovassi is the star of the near-science fiction TV series, The Coldest Equations. In the future, the civilian space companies have become the power in the world, as they vie for control of the moon, the asteroids, and the near planets. Each corporation has a variety of security teams – teams that keep their own scientists and inventions safe from spying eyes, and teams that spy on and attempt to kidnap the scientists or inventions of other corporations. Tracy Karlovassi plays Miranda Rainbird, head of a security team for the Capablanca Corporation – one that spies on other corporations.

Season 3 of The Coldest Equations features a season-long arc in which Miranda Rainbird has been framed for a crime she did not commit, and is on the run from both friends and foes. As Miranda Rainbird, she would doubtless be able to prove her innocence and track down the real criminal with ease…but The People Out There have transported Tracy Karlovassi into her body, and what can a mere actress do?

(Especially, of course, when the people she meets may, or may not be, her fellow actors.)

This book is a lot of fun (*I* think, anyway) wth plenty of homages to classic SF TV, movies and books.

Take a look at either Amazon – Kindle Store, or Barnes and Noble’s Nook Store.

And visit the website at:
http://volcanoseven.com/TheColdestEquations/

So, remember that live action Star Wars series that George Lucas announced many moons ago, where he was planning 100 episodes but planned to have 50 or 60 in the can before bringing it to air? And then the project got shelved due to it being too expensive? Well, there has been lots of reports based on an interview George did for Attack Of The Show as part of the Star Tours re-opening and Star Wars 3D announcements that he said they have 50 hours already filmed – but it seemed very odd to me that they could have 50 hours filmed and then say that they need to figure out a way to make it cheaper. So I watched the interview, and he never actually says that it has been filmed – only that they “have 50 hours,” and that they are trying to figure out a way to make it “economically feasible to shoot the show.” That sounds to me like they’ve got scripts and perhaps some pre-production work done, but no actual filming.

Watch and decide for yourself:
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This past weekend was not only the opening of Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but also the grand re-opening of the Star Tours attraction, which now takes guests to 6 different planets and offers 54 variations of the ride. So there were all sort of extra things going on, including a dedication ceremony featuring the Master Jedi himself, George Lucas along with Anthony Daniels.

If you want to check out photos, videos, etc. of the event, I recommend heading over to Inside the Magic’s Star Tours coverage page, which has excellent videos and even an exclusive interview with Anthony Daniels, and then check out the video of this year’s Hyperspace Hoopla (unless you are going to an upcoming weekend, which in that case I don’t want to spoil the surprises…)

Seems a lot of people wanted to see how it would end…the series finale of The Event apparently saw a 15% ratings increase (1.5/4), and was the highest rated episode in the 18-49 demographic since last November.