Sci-Fi Storm

Despite the pomp and circumstance with the one hour premiere party pre-show beforehand (anyone else think the “bar” scenes were all pre-taped?), the ratings for the 2-hour season premiere of Heroes dropped 25% over last year. I’ve only seen half of the premiere, and despite the recaps provided in the pre-show, I was still somewhat confused as to where everything stood. Bruce Boxleitner was a decent surprise though. Seems I had forgotten about it. Oh, and the train scene? Looked VERY fake.

I found out about this late last night, but was too tired to post: The 70s SF spoof Quark came out on DVD two weeks ago. This is one of those shows I remember from my childhood, and naturally the memories were better than the reality by today’s standards, but it was still a humorous take on the state of SF at the time. Created by Buck Henry (Get Smart), it starred Richard Benjamin as the title character who is captain of a space trash ship. Other characters included Gene/Jean (Tim Thomerson, Trancers), a “transmute” – sort of a dual male/female personality; Betty and Betty (Doublemint twins Cyb and Trish Barnstable), clones who argue which one is the clone; Ficus (Richard Kelton, in his biggest on-screen role), a humanoid emotionless plant; and Otto Palindrome (Conrad Janis, Mork and Mindy), the station commander. Episodes would often start with two other commanders being given prestigious assignments, while Quark would inevitably “take out the trash” somewhere, yet still end up embroiled in some sort of galactic issue.

The highly anticipated game Spore came out yesterday, but is there a scientific basis to the game? Just how did we evolve to have two arms, two legs, and walk upright? The National Geographic Channel’s How to Build a Better Being (Tuesday, Sept. 9th, 10pm ET) explores just that, and uses Spore to visualize it. Read More for the press release, and catch the first ten minutes here at MSN.

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Given the increasing weirdness of the television “season”, knowing when your favorite shows start is becoming something of an adventure. Fortunately fiziko over at Bureau 42 has already pulled together most of the known start dates. First up are Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (September 8th) and the new Fringe (September 9th).

Production on the third series of Torchwood as begun, according to the BBC. This series is given a title of Torchwood: Children of Earth, and “sees the team embarking on a single action-packed adventure as they battle for the future of the human race against the fiercest force they have encountered.” According to the article, this is a 5-part series comprising of one story arc, not the normal 13 individual episodes, so I’m not sure if there is more to be done, or if these are double-length episodes, or what. It will air sometime in 2009 in the U.K., and will probably follow in the U.S. shortly. Don’t forget – Torchwood – The Complete Second Season is release in the U.S. September 16th.

All is right in the universe again. After yesterday’s announcement of the end of Stargate Atlantis, the SCI FI Channel has given the green light to a third series, called Stargate Universe. “After unlocking the mystery of the Stargate’s ninth chevron, a team of explorers travels to an unmanned starship called the Destiny, launched by the Ancients at the height of their civilization as a grand experiment set in motion but never completed. What starts as a simple reconnaissance turns into a never-ending mission as the Stargate Universe crew discovers that the ship is unable to return to Earth and that they must now fend for themselves aboard the Destiny.” Uh oh…sounds a bit Voyager-ish…a longer article is here.

The SCI FI Channel has given the green light to a currently unnamed two-hour TV and DVD movie, which will follow the fifth and final (?!? did I miss a press release?!?) season currently airing. It will air on SFC first before being released on DVD. Update: Gateworld confirms the end. Apparently I’m not on the press release list yet…

The SCI FI Channel has announced another prequel TV movie for Battlestar Galactica, although this one doesn’t seem to go as far into the past as the upcoming Caprica, but the information is a bit conflicting. The new film (no title yet), which will be directed by Edward James Olmos, is supposed to deal with events before the original miniseries, but also supposedly deals with the aftermath of the nuclear destruction unleashed by the Cylons on the colonies. It will focus on Cylon Number One/Cavil (Dean Stockwell), Sam T. Anders (Michael Trucco) and Chief Galen Tyrol (Aaron Douglas).

RHI ENTERTAINMENT’S FLASH GORDON AND THE 10TH KINGDOM TO AIR ON ION TELEVISION FRIDAY NIGHTS BEGINNING AUGUST 1

(New York, NY – August 5th, 2008) RHI Entertainment (NASDAQ: RHIE), a leading developer, producer and distributor of made-for-television movies, miniseries, and other television programming, announced today that two of its most popular productions will be seen on the ION Television Network’s RHI Movie Weekend beginning Friday, August 1 (7/6c). Flash Gordon, a 22-hour adventure series, and The 10th Kingdom, a 10-hour fantasy saga, will be featured weekly in a two-hour Friday evening programming block. The special broadcasts begin August 1 with Episodes 1 and 2 of Flash Gordon. Starting August 8, ION Television will pair one hour of Flash Gordon with one hour of The 10th Kingdom each week. Read More for the rest of the release. A good chance to see either of these shows if you missed them.

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Over at our YouTube Channel I have uploaded some new videos, including a preview for the next episode of Eureka, “What about Bob?”, as well as some “infomercials” on some “interesting” products. You can also Read More to see the videos. In addition, check out to see what else is Made In Eureka.

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