Sci-Fi Storm

Alphanumeric! Canada-based Corus Entertainment has given a green light for Mainframe Entertainment – the television division of Rainmaker Entertainment that was developing a revival of ReBoot – to produce 26 half-hour episodes of ReBoot: The Guardian Code, the revival of the favorite CGI-animated series that ran from 1994-2001.

ReBoot was the first fully CGI animated TV series, long before it became the norm. It also used the computer jargon of the time and in-jokes that would entertain adults as well as kids. It followed Bob, a Guardian from “The Net”, who came to Mainframe to help protect it, especially during the “games”, which were started by the User. If a User won the game, an entire sector of the system – including binomes and sprites caught in the game – would be nullified.

In Mainframe he’s helped by local sprites Dot Matrix, her young brother Enzo, and Phong, the COMMAND.COM of Mainframe. And he’s often thwarted by Megabyte and his twin sister Hexadecimal, a pair of computer virii who want to take over Mainframe, and escape into the Net to infect other systems.

“We are thrilled to receive the greenlight from Corus Entertainment to move forward with the production of Reboot: The Guardian Code,” commented Michael Hefferon, President and Chief Creative Officer, Rainmaker Entertainment. “Technology is ever-changing and Reboot: The Guardian Code will utilize the very technology inherent in the concept of the show—and prevalent in kids’ everyday lives—to drive a new type of relationship across multiple platforms. Reboot: The Guardian Code and associated brand extensions will deliver mass appeal with a technology focus, empowering kids with the tools and confidence to chart their own course in a world that is increasingly dependent on and powered by technological knowledge.”

The series is quite dated – mostly in its terminology, and the names would likely be lost on people now. When it was produced, dot matrix printers still existed, and public awareness of the World Wide Web was only beginning (and “The Web” was a BAD place…) Now social media and gaming has taken over the real world. As such, the new show is going to get a lot of upgrades, and will in fact be a hybrid live-action and CGI series, as four teens enter the computer realm to save their own world. In addition, the show will be “multi-platform”, usually meaning there will be online/game tie-ins as well. From the press release:

Transcending age groups with appeal to kids, tweens and teens, ReBoot: the Guardian Code is an adventure-comedy series about four teens (Austin, Parker, Grey and Tamra) who discover that they’re next-gen Guardians with a mission to save the world, by defending it in cyberspace. The Internet revolutionized the world, but it also left it vulnerable to attack. With the help of VERA, the last surviving cyberbeing from the original Guardian Program, our heroes stream into cyberspace where they use their awesome code-based powers to battle viruses that have been unleashed by a ruthless hacker. Known only as the Sourcerer, he seeks to rule the world by controlling cyberspace. Original fans of the show will be happy to hear that Megabyte will be back and he’s getting a major upgrade. ReBoot will showcase leading edge technologies and bring coding into the mainstream for kids.

When Austin, Parker, Grey and Tamra are not trying to stop viruses from overloading a nuclear power station, or remotely opening a dam to flood a city, or playing Criss Cross Crash Hour with a city’s transportation grid, our heroes are being typical teens: arguing with their parents over curfews; dealing with crushes; or trying to avoid getting suspended for skipping class when they’re really on a cyber mission to save the world!

But what does this mean for our old friends? They don’t say, but we do hear that they will be involved, but perhaps only in minor or cameo roles. But the show will be linked to the original/

Stichers is the new SF procedural drama from ABC Family, and features a couple of faces familiar to fans of this site – Salli Richardson-Whitfield, who played Allison Blake on Eureka, and Allison Scagliotti, who played Claudia Donovan on Warehouse 13. It debuted last week, and episode 2 airs tomorrow night at 9/8c.

The show follows Kirsten Clark (Emma Ishta), a Caltech student who has temporal dysplasia, which causes her to have no sense of time. She is at odds with her roommate, Camille (Scagliotti), another Caltech student who is a computer systems expert and is trying to kick her out. Kirsten encounters Maggie Baptiste (Richardson-Whitfield), who leads the Stitchers program – a covert government project (the agency we are not given) which has developed the capability to insert or “stitch” a person into a recently deceased victim’s memory for a limited time, with the hope that they might discover the truth about the person’s death. Kirsten’s affliction makes her perfect to become a Stitcher.

Helping on the team is Cameron Goodkin (Kyle Harris, The Carrie Diaries), a brilliant neuroscientist and acts as a guide while Kirsten travels through memories; and Linus Ahluwalia (Ritesh Rajan, Campus Life), a bioelectric engineer.

The first episode was extremely fast-paced – perhaps a bit too much, as there is a lot to follow for an introductory episode, but that doesn’t prevent the characters from coming through. And their interactions allow for a good amount of humor to lighten up the intensity, especially the banter between Kirsten, Cameron and Linus. It will be interesting to see how this translates in the long run.

Of course I had to wonder about the length of the “exit password” that Kirsten needs to type in to exit the memories…I tweeted about the fact that something you’d need to type in quickly should be much shorter…almost instantly I got a reply from executive producer/creator Jeff Schechter, who said, “It used to be ‘iheartjeffreyalanschechter’, but my wife objected.” OK, everyone involved is fun to deal with…

Check out some introductory videos below on each of the Stitchers.
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Actress Nichelle Nichols, best known for playing Uhura in the original Star Trek, is currently recovering from a mild stroke suffered Wednesday night while she was at her home in L.A.

An update posted yesterday evening on her official Facebook page by her publicist says that her CAT scan was negative and they are waiting on the MRI results, but she is “awake, eating, in good spirits and able to have full conversations. Her right side has shown minor signs or mobility loss but she is not showing any signs of paralyses.”

Well wishes from across Twitter – co-star William Shatner:

Thoughts going out to Nichelle. I hope all is going to be OK. Love, Bill

— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) June 5, 2015

And George Takei:

We understand #NichelleNichols has been rushed to the hospital. We don't have any diagnosis on her condition but our thoughts are with her.

— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) June 4, 2015

Our thoughts are with you Nichelle and a speedy recovery.

I actually missed earlier reports on this…but it is in production right now in New Zealand, will feature the return of Bruce Campbell as Ash, Lucy Lawless has a role and has Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert in charge.

Groovy!

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Defiance holds a unique record – it is now the series that has run the longest since I’ve visited the set. Warehouse 13, Being Human and Helix were all gone within 2 seasons or less. Haven still has the second half of it’s fifth season to air, and no decision on renewal has been made yet, but the film tax credit situation in Nova Scotia, where it is filmed, makes it something of a long shot…maybe I should stop visiting sets…

But Defiance remains, well, defiant. Season 3 premieres Friday, June 12th, and picks up seven months after the radical events of Season 2. With the collapse of the gulanite mines, the town of Defiance is rapidly becoming a ghost town – the Earth Republic has left and the farms are buried under snow, while Amanda (Julie Benz) is back as Mayor with Berlin (Anna Hopkins) as Lawmaker. The lack of gulanite means a lack of power generation, jeopardizing the stasis nets that protect the town. And a new threat wants the town destroyed.

Nolan (Grant Bowler) and Irisa (Stephanie Leonidas) wake to find themselves outside, with Nolan having remembered being removed from the stasis pod by two strange aliens he has not seen before. They return to Defiance, but the town has not forgotten what Irisa did while controlled by the Arkbrain.

Datak (Tony Curran), Stahma (Jaime Murray) and Rafe McCawley (Graham Greene) are hot on the trail Rafe’s wife Pilar (Linda Hamilton), who had kidnapped Alak (Jesse Rath) and then-pregnant Christie (Nicole Muñoz), and is keeping them and her new grandchild in her custody.

Defiance has not lost any of its momentum. We are introduced to two new aliens – Kindzi (Nichole Galicia, Django Unchained) her father T’evgin (Conrad Coates, The Strain), two of the Omec – a Votan race only mentioned before in hushed whispers and dread. Called devils, enchanters, “takers of the innocent”, they subjugated the other races in the Votan system and even would eat them. They were believed to be near extinct when the Votans fled their home system for Earth. They need gulanite for their ark, still in orbit – but can they be trusted when the other Votans say they should be killed on sight?

Also joining the show is Lee Tergesen (The Americans) as General Rahm Tak, a megalomaniac Castithan and leader of a Votanis Collective “death squad”, who sees the town of Defiance as a symbol that must be destroyed.

So now Defiance has two threats that need to be dealt with, in addition to the existing problem.

Oh, and I don’t think it is a good idea to get on Doc Yewll’s (Trenna Keating) bad side. Just sayin’…

I have to admit – when I first heard that CBS was throwing itself into the comics frenzy with an updated Supergirl, I was quite skeptical…it sounded like the network was just trying to get a slice of the pie with a property that had the potential to be hokey on the small screen, especially since the only previous attempt, the 1984 feature film starring Helen Slater, was dismal. And in the current environment of empowerment, the name itself seems to fall short.

But after seeing this, I am pleasantly surprised as it appears to take itself seriously yet still have fun with it – and even addresses the name in-show. I can’t help picture this as just a version of Arrow, where Felicity is the superhero instead, but I’m hoping that Melissa Benoist does well enough to establish herself as the character.
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Fox today confirmed the details on the return of The X-Files for a limited six episode run starting Sunday, January 24th, 2016.

The first episode will air immediately following the NFC Championship game. The second episode will air on Monday the 25th, at 8/7c. The remaining 4 episodes will air on succeeding Mondays at 8/7c.

Production will start June 8th, 2015 in Vancouver, BC.

It’s a good evening for Marvel on TV – ABC just announced among a slew of shows returning that both Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Marvel’s Agent Carter have been renewed for another season!

One moment links 8 minds in disparate parts of the world, putting 8 strangers in each other’s lives, each other’s secrets, and in terrible danger.

Sense8 launches on Netflix on June 5th.

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The CW announced today in their upfronts that they have already picked up DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, the official title of the proposed Arrow/Flash spinoff, for the upcoming 2015-2016 season.

From their release:

When heroes alone are not enough… the world needs legends. Having seen the future, one he will desperately try to prevent from happening, time-traveling rogue Rip Hunter is tasked with assembling a disparate group of both heroes and villains to confront an unstoppable threat – one in which not only is the planet at stake, but all of time itself. Can this ragtag team defeat an immortal threat unlike anything they have ever known?

The cast includes returning actors Victor Garber (Dr. Martin Stein, The Flash), Brandon Routh (Ray Palmer/Atom, Arrow), Caity Lotz (Sara Lance/The Canary, Arrow), Dominic Purcell ( Mick Rory/Heat Wave, The Flash), and Wentworth Miller ( Leonard Snart/Captain Cold, The Flash). Joining them is Arthur Darvill (Doctor Who) as Rip Hunter.

Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg and Sarah Schechter are the executive producers.