Sci-Fi Storm

ABC, which has identified Robert Louis Stevenson’s Jekyll & Hyde mythos as something they want to mine for ideas, already has two potential series in the works. Hyde, announced last month from Sheldon Turner (Up In The Air, X-Men: First Class), is about a meek ER doctor who undergoes treatment for a degenerative eye condition, which has a side effect: when he goes to sleep his id manifests as Hyde.

The other version, simply titled Jekyll & Hyde, comes from Matt Lopez (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Race to Witch Mountain), and is a modern retelling, featuring a “female criminal psychologist who is drawn into the mysterious world of a brilliant but inhibited scientist and his volatile alter ego.” Sounds a bit like the magnificent Jekyll that came out in 2007.

Can TV handle two such stories – on the same network?

It’s another all-new Powerful Monday on Syfy, starting with the 4th season finale of Eureka!

Carter and Jo make a stop near a creek with Dr. Plotkin to check in on Taggert. Plotkin and Taggert continue their feud as Plotkin is there to pick up a scientific instrument that belongs to him, while Taggert is explaining why his own research benefits all life on the planet. All of a sudden, as Plotkin is retrieving his planted rod, Taggert’s truck is mysteriously sucked into the sky. Be sure to watch the clip and tune in to the season finale at 8/7c to see if Plotkin had something to do with it, or if external factors are at work.
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This seems rather unlikely at this point, especially with ZERO comments from either Starz or the BBC, who currently co-produce Torchwood, but after showing the conclusion of Torchwood: Miracle Day on BBC Australia, there was reportedly a tag at the end that said “JACK WILL BE BACK January 2012”. One person even took a video of the screen.

But is it real? The tag seems so – but for Torchwood to return in just 4 months (and they usually mean that’s when it returns to air) seems rather unrealistic, especially given no announcement. Torchwood: Miracle Day was announced over a year in advance and production began six months ago. It is not impossible but highly unlikely without announcements.

But does it mean Torchwood? It says “JACK” – is Captain Jack Harkness going to be back in Doctor Who, which might air in January in Australia? That also seems unlikely, given actor John Barrowman’s latest comments, but that would be more feasible if he was in this year’s Christmas episode (and it aired late in Australia). Maybe we’ll find out more in the coming days…

In case you haven’t heard (because you are somewhere stuck outside the space-time continuum), the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who is just two years away (sad that nowadays that seems to close, at least in the entertainment industry), and actor John Barrowman would LOVE to appears as Captain Jack Harkness on the show again, and appear with 11th Doctor Matt Smith (which would be his third Doctor, which I think elevates his multi-Doctor companion status to levels only exceeded by Elisabeth Sladen and Brigadier Nicholas Courtney, both of who sadly passed away this year).

But if you want to see them together, you need to ask the BBC, according to Barrowman. “I don’t think it’s a question of whether I would like to come back as Captain Jack, I’d be very happy to do that any time. I know the fans would really like that. But it’s a decision left up to the BBC and the drama department.” Captain Jack currently belongs with the Torchwood gang, which is still run by Russell T. Davies, whereas Doctor Who is now run by Steven Moffat. So it would really likely be up to Moffat to bring Jack back, and he isn’t talking about the anniversary much yet.

But it seems if you want to see it happen, it can’t hurt to start letting the BBC know…

In honor of the 45th anniversary of Star Trek (it was yesterday, but I was pretty busy), here is a neat infographic that puts the franchise into a timeline with a few other events…
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Following up to an earlier tweet (you are following us on Twitter, aren’t you?), Syfy announced today that they have renewed freshman series Alphas for a second season.

Mark Stern, President, Original Content, Syfy, and Co-Head, Original Content, Universal Cable Productions, made the announcement. Syfy is ordering 13 episodes of the breakout scripted summer hit from series producers Universal Cable Productions and BermanBraun Television to air in 2012.
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Powerful Mondays is back on Syfy next Monday, so here are the previews for Eureka and Alphas. If you’re looking for the Warehouse 13 preview, check out the separate article.
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Caprica star Alessandra Torresani (who played the first Cylon, Zoe Graystone) reunites with co-star Sasha Roiz (who played Sam Adama) who returns as the mysterious Marcus Diamond next Monday on Warehouse 13!

Torresani will portray Megan, a young girl whose destructive power seems to violently incinerate those around her. In trying to deal with this ability, Megan finds an unexpected confidante and friend in Claudia (Allison Scagliotti).

Also returning as guest stars from last week’s episode are Anthony Michael Hall (“Sykes”) and Kate Mulgrew (“Jane”).

Here is a quick preview of the episode, “Shadows”: Myka and Claudia are rummaging through an apartment in search of an artifact until they realize that it may be taking affect on the girl that lives in the apartment even though it’s not there. They decide they have to take her with them to find it and control it. Her landlord catches them leaving the complex and claims she’s two weeks late in paying. The situation escalates to anger and the girl affected by the artifact takes her state to a physical level of harming the landlord, and runs away in fear of her own power. You’ll have to watch the clip and tune in at 9/8c on Syfy to see if Myka and Claudia can not only find the artifact, but first find the person it’s controlling.
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Think River Song would make a good long-term companion for the Doctor? Matt Smith doesn’t think so. In a very brief article in The Sun, the actor currently playing the Doctor says, “I think River’s too independent to ever be a full-time companion. That’s what makes River great as a character. The companions and The Doctor are doing their thing, then whoosh – in comes the hair. It just messes The Doctor up.”

This sounds interesting…Showtime has signed on for a project with Stephen Spielberg (who seems to be involved in a lot of TV projects lately) and Steven King for a TV series based on King’s 2009 novel, [asin=1439149038]Under The Dome[/asin], produced by DreamWorks Television.

The premise of the book is that the small town of Chester’s Mill, Maine suddenly finds itself inside a domed force field, cut off from the outside world. The inhabitants are then forced to find a way to survive.

Wasn’t there an Outer Limits episode with a similar story?