Sci-Fi Storm

After Saturday’s debut episode of Starz’ Outlander series, based on the novels by Diana Gabaldon and produced by Battlestar Galactica‘s Ronald D. Moore and Sony Pictures, the premium cable network picked the show up for a second season. This is normal for Starz, who often pick up series after one airing, or even before – like with Black Sails.

The premiere of Outlander managed about 5 million viewers over the week, but perhaps more importantly is Nielsen’s new Twitter Ratings – a measure about the “buzz” of a show on social networks, which is perhaps a better early indicator of how interested and excited viewers are – where the show was number one among all TV series on its premiere day.

With the increase in interest of networks in buzz about their shows, producers have been organizing “live tweet” sessions with cast and crew, where they talk about the episode as it airs, giving behind the scenes info and interacting with fans, giving unprecedented access to the talent, and hopefully generated more viral interest in the shows.

Actor Steven Weber, who starred on the 90s sitcom Wings and more recently on Murder in the First, is joining Syfy’s Helix in a major recurring role.

Weber will play Brother Michael, a charismatic cult leader who just also happens to be a brilliant geneticist, trying to create a utopian society on a secluded island. The CDC investigators are led to this island after a new disease is found on a ship.

Don’t think the judges credentials are enough, and want to see them put their make-up skills where their mouths are? On Tuesday, September 2 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, Syfy debuts Face Off: Judge Match, an all-new original special showcasing the incredible talents of Face Off’s Ve Neill, Glenn Hetrick and Neville Page, as they go head-to-head in a special make-up competition for their charity. McKenzie Westmore will host the high-level and visually stunning competition.

For the first time in its seven-season history, Face Off fans will finally see the judges get their hands into the clay, pick up the brushes and show the audience their creative genius. For the competition, the judges will pair up with two team members — a former Face Off all-star contestant, as well as a former champion — to create a pair of living chess pieces designed to appear in a colorful, stylized fantasy film. In keeping with Face Off’s current season theme of “Life and Death,” one of the characters must be pure and pristine while the other is evil and twisted.

Joining the judges to assist in the competition are all-stars and fan favorites Roy Wooley (seasons 3 and 5), Miranda Jory (seasons 2 and 5), Wayne Anderson (season 4) and previous Face Off champions Conor McCullagh (season 1), Anthony Kosar (season 4) and Laura Tyler (all-star from season 2 and season 5 champion). At stake is a cash prize for the winning judge’s favorite charity and $5,000 for each of their team members.

The judges quickly learn what it’s like to be a contestant on Face Off. Over the course of three days, they showcase their incredible talents and enjoy some friendly competition as they push each other to create characters of astonishing quality. It all culminates with astounding creations, making for a tough decision. Multiple Academy-Award winner and world-renowned Hollywood makeup artist Michael Westmore (Mask, Star Trek and McKenzie’s dad), along with Academy-Award winning makeup artist Lois Burwell (Lincoln, Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan, War Horse, War of the Worlds) have the difficult task of choosing a champion.

Ve Neill is competing for A Window Between Worlds, a non-profit organization dedicated to using art as a healing tool for survivors of domestic violence. Glenn Hetrick is competing for The North Shore Animal League, the world’s largest no-kill animal rescue and adoption organization. Neville Page is competing for The Orangutan Foundation International, dedicated to the conservation of wild orangutans and their rainforest habitat.

Season seven of Face Off is in all-new episodes Tuesday nights at 9PM ET/PT on Syfy. In tonight’s episode, the remaining contestants are tasked with creating fantastically twisted tree characters.

Thanks to The Wrap, here is the Season 5 teaser for Haven, where Audrey – or not – gets really evil…

FYI, I will have an article closer to the start of Season 5 with an interview with Lucas Bryant and Adam “Edge” Copeland…I was fortunate to be able to visit the set yesterday during filming, although for production reasons I wasn’t able to take any photos of the set…

For those of you like me who have been eagerly waiting for years for a remake of the classic British SF series Blake’s 7, but where Georgiaville’s attempt would wither away after Syfy passed on it last year, and then with it rumored to be looked at by Microsoft for its fledgling XBox Live Network but Microsoft deciding last month to close Xbox Entertainment Studios, there is still hope that our band of rebels will return to take down the Federation.

The Nerdist released today some exclusive concept art for the production, and I confirmed with Leon Clarance, the executive producer for Blake’s 7 (and the upcoming Sense8) that they are from his production.

I agree with the Giger-esque look. Especially with the interior of the Liberator, I immediately through of the Nostromo from Alien, with the dark industrial look leading to the ultra-white corridor to Mother. The ship itself retains the “tristar” design, but looks far more industrial and as if it was build up over time and for many different purposes.

I might miss the beauty of the original though. In the original story, a derelict spaceship is encountered by a prison transport ship after an apparent battle in space. Blake, a political prisoner sentenced to life on a prison planet, along with a group of other prisoners, is sent over to secure the ship after several crewmembers were killed. Instead, Blake and the rest steal the ship and wage a guerrilla war against the oppressive Federation. The Liberator itself was highly advanced…faster than any Federation ship, with an intelligent computer system named Zen that was annoyingly stingy on information, saying, “Knowledge must be earned.” It had automatic repair systems so that an experienced crew was not needed. And it had a matter transport system the Federation didn’t have, with some interesting limitations. The beauty of the ship fit in with the mystery of its origin (which I thought was given too early in the show), and I was quite sad when it eventually met its fate.

The word is out…Haven returns with its super-sized fifth season on Thursday, September 11th, at 10/9c on Syfy! And I will incidentally be in the area where Haven is filmed this weekend, so who knows who – or what – I will run in to… 😉

I have no idea how this flew underneath my radar…but apparently at SDCC, JMS mentioned his plans for Babylon 5.

He’s said many times that Warner Bros owns all the TV rights to Babylon 5, and that he’ll never see more money from TV. However, when he negotiated the deal with WB, he managed to retain feature film rights for himself. It seems that WB would still get a cut, making it highly unlikely any other studio would touch the project – but JMS doesn’t have just any other studio in mind…he has Studio JMS, which now has had enough success that it is feasible for it to fund a feature film. So now he plans to have a script done by 2015, and WB will have one year to decide to move forward with it – otherwise in 2016 Studio JMS will do it.

It isn’t certain what form the movie would take, but whispers across the Interweb seem to indicate that it will be a reboot of some form.

On the season finale of Dominion, Alex and Gabriel finally meet face-to-face, while Michael recalls his darker days with Alex. Check out the sneak peek below along with “Inside Dominion” – and as an added bonus, check out the SDCC panel as welll! Then tune in for “Beware Those Closest To You” Thursday night at 9/8c!
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On the next Defiance, Amanda intervenes when Nolan tries to interrogate a suspected terrorist. Check out the sneak peek for “Slouching Towards Bethlehem”, plus “Inside Defiance“, and tune in Thursday night at 8/7c.
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Check out the extended trailer for Star Wars Rebels, the new animated series that will air on Disney XD starting in October.