Sci-Fi Storm

There has been a lot of rumors swirling that the expected 50th anniversary super-episode of Doctor Who next year might be Matt Smith’s swan song as the river of the TARDIS…but now the British tabloid The Sun is reporting that Matt Smith has said he’s stay on Doctor Who through 2014, after being convinced by showrunner Steven Moffat having created a “brilliant” series.

Smith said, “It hasn’t been written yet but the idea is as brilliant and as mental as you’d expect from Steven. So there’s a lot to look forward to. When Steven was going to pitch the next season to me not long ago, he said, ‘Are you ready to cry?’”

As for the 50th, he said, ““Steven will do something brilliant. He’ll do something grand or maybe something very simple but he’ll come to it as a fan. He’ll go, ‘What would I want to see?’ ”

Now, I’ll wait for independent confirmation, but it’s a hopeful sign.

It seems I’ve forgotten to post a preview for tonight’s Lost Girl episode – or last week’s for that matter! My apologies to the friends of the Fae…so here’s a sneak peek for tonight’s episode, “The Girl Who Fae’d With Fire”, airing at 10/9c on Syfy!
(continue reading…)

Grimm returns in just a few days! In the meantime, see what happens when Munroe meets Nick’s mother, and tune in next Monday at 10/9c on NBC!
(continue reading…)

Writer-actor Mark Gatiss, who is no stranger to the Doctor Who franchise having penned several episodes and also appeared several times, has been tapped by the BBC to write a drama detailing how Doctor Who originally came to be in 1963 and since, according to the BBC’s official Doctor Who twitter account. The drama will air on BBC TWO next year during a celebration of the show’s 50th anniversary.

Titled An Adventure in Space and Time, Gatiss describes it as, “This is the story of how an unlikely set of brilliant people created a true Television original. And how an actor – William Hartnell – stereotyped in hard-man roles became a hero to millions of children. I’ve wanted to tell this story this for more years than I can remember! To make it happen for Doctor Who‘s 50th birthday is quite simply a dream come true.”

Doctor Who show runner Steven Moffat, who will executive produce the drama, also said, “The story of Doctor Who is the story of television – so it’s fitting in the anniversary year that we make our most important journey back in time to see how the TARDIS was launched.”

In next Monday’s Alphas the team investigates a string of Alphas-related crimes before realizing the Alpha they’re looking for is one of their own. Tune in to Syfy Monday night at 10/9c.
(continue reading…)

Could an artifact be behind a sudden rash of geniuses at an east coast prep school? Find out next Monday at 9/8c on Syfy!
(continue reading…)

Disney CEO Bob Iger announced during the company’s regular earnings call that Joss Whedon is on board to direct a sequel to the blockbuster movie The Avengers – big news enough – but then also said that Whedon is also developing a live action series using Marvel characters! More when we get it…

Update: Marvel Studios confirms the deal, along with a targeted 2015 release for the sequel. Whedon also has an exclusive deal for film and television development with Marvel Studios until the end of June 2015.

In two separate suits, both Marvel and NBCU/Syfy are being sued for alleged trademark and copyright infringements.

Marvel (along with Disney corporate sibling Buena Vista Home Entertainment) is being sued by the German luggage manufacturer who made a special luxury briefcase used in the movie. Not because if its use in the movie, however – they had permission – but because Marvel/BVHE planned to distribute a [sfs=1253]special box set of Avengers movies[/sfs] in a replica attache case, and they haven’t received permission for that – yet.

In the other case, Preston Asevedo, a Louisiana artist, filed suit against NBC Universal/Syfy and the creators of the show Dream Machines over the use of a piece of art that can be seen on the outside sign of the Parker Brothers’ shop in each episode of the recently aired first season of the show, where the brothers and their team build custom futuristic vehicles for celebrities and charities. Check out the images below of the original work and the one seen in the show:

It isn’t just similar – it looks like someone took the original, inverted it and dressed it up. It also appears that Asevedo had contacted the Parkers, who acknowledged that they used a variation of the art for their own logo but were unable to determine who the original artist was, and wanted to work with Asevedo to give him credit and remuneration. But apparently they weren’t able to reach and agreement, and Asevedo filed suit.

Lesson learned – unless the art is provably in the public domain, make sure you get permission or don’t use it…

The first season of NBC’s hit series Grimm hits the shelves tomorrow on [sfs=1251]Blu-ray[/sfs] and [sfs=1252]DVD[/sfs] tomorrow, not far in advance of the return of the series next Monday, August 13th, at 10/9c! A perfect time to order it and review before the new season starts!

In the meantime, check the clips below and full description of the set!
(continue reading…)

The official Twitter of Doctor Who tweeted earlier this evening that British actor Richard E. Grant, perhaps best known in the U.S. as Dr. Jack Seward in 1992’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Bob Cratchit in Patrick Stewart’s A Christmas Carol but is well known in the U.K, will guest star in this year’s Christmas Special of Doctor Who.

Grant is no stranger to the actual role of the Doctor, however…he’s unofficially filled the role twice. He first appeared, albeit briefly in the 1999 Comic Relief special skit, “Doctor Who and the Curse of the Fatal Death”, written by none other than current showrunner Steven Moffat and which starred Rowan Atkinson as the Doctor and Absolutely Fabulous‘s Julia Sawalha as his companion Emma, whom he intends to marry. But after a confrontation with the Daleks and the Master (Jonathan Pryce), he regenerates several times, first into the “handsome” Doctor (Grant), then the “shy” Doctor (Jim Broadbent), then the “smooth” Doctor (Hugh Grant), but in the end regenerates one more time, into a woman (Joanna Lumley).

He then also starred as the Ninth Doctor in the 2003 animated online adventure, “Scream of the Shalka”, before the revival of the series. When the series was to come back, he was reportedly offered the role, and regrets turning it down. It later went to Christopher Eccleston – and thus is appearance as the Ninth Doctor was relegated to unofficial status.