Sci-Fi Storm

News about fake memorabilia isn’t new, but this one seemed a bit different. A Trekkie collector purchased three items in 2006 on auction from well known auction house Christie’s – a poker visor supposedly worn by Data (Brent Spiner) ($6,000), a table from the set ($6,600), and a uniform ($11,400). When he met actor Spiner in 2007 and showed him the visor, the actor pointed out it was not authentic. The collector said that he later found that the table was also fake, and the uniform was not unique (he claims it was represented as being unique). So he filed a $7 million lawsuit. Well, a New York court has ruled against him saying is is not entitled to “the massive recovery he now demands,” and is at best entitled for refunds on the visor and table. The uniform was apparently not represented as unique by Christie’s and therefore he is not entitled to anything. Seems like his eyes got a little too large – $7m?

SyFy has renewed both freshman series Stargate Universe and second-year Sanctuary from its Friday night staple lineup, giving both series new 20-episode orders. Some insights into the upcoming SGU half-season as well include more serialized episodes, and less reliance on skipping back to Earth – and finally some aliens.

Missed this earlier this week: Both V and Flash Forward have had their series orders reduced by an hour each: 12 and 24 total hours, respectively, one less than originally reported.

At least they are coming back, for now…ABC has announced that Flash Forward will return on March 4th, and V will return on March 30th. Flash Forward will avoid the Winter Olympics completely, and then it is planned to run it straight without repeats.

Chicago Tribune columnist Maureen Ryan interviewed Joss Whedon on what went wrong with Dollhouse, and what’s next. What happened? Well, basically Fox got shy in dealing with some of the subject matter, notably the pay-for-sex type clients. Note that there are two parts to the article – the main article and then the raw interview, the latter of which contains what might be spoilers for the final episode.

I wish I had this sort of excess money…a Louisville, KY man built out a home theater with a Stargate Atlantis theme…complete with a 10-foot diagonal Stargate which acts as a video projection screen, working pocket doors with a hand-wave sensor, and a star dome, and is controlled through a Control4 automation system. A slideshow shows the setup, and an equipment list is available.

The trailer for the next Star Wars spoof from Family Guy, called “Something, Something, Something, Dark Side”, is now available – Read More to see it. The special episode will air on December 22nd.

(continue reading…)

Perhaps its a bit of bad timing, but these things never bode well, no matter what the networks say – ABC announced that Flash Forward production has been halted for a week that has supposedly been “built in to the show’s schedule,” according to a network representative. But if that was the case, why announce it? Especially since it just had its lowest ratings yet and the co-showrunner exec left?

BBC America has announced the U.S. air date of “The End Of Time, Part 1”, the first of two that comprise David Tennant’s last as the Doctor. Part One will wait at 9PM ET on Saturday, December 26th. Read More to see a humorous sneak peek. “The Waters Of Mars” airs on December 19th.

(continue reading…)

Apparently viewers weren’t all that impressed with the first two hours of The Prisoner on AMC Sunday night…after gaining 2.2 million viewers that night, Monday night’s second two-hour set averaged only 948 thousand viewers – and I’m not surprised. The remake really didn’t have any of the things that made the original quirky or interesting (except Rover, and a few other nods to the original). I think Ian McKellan could have made an excellent Number 2, but it seemed like the whole point of his job, and of the Village itself, was muddled – although by the end of the second part it started to become obvious what was happening – it just wasn’t interesting, and very confusing. It seemed to be going for an abstract feel and a thought provoking ending, but it failed on both.