23 years of this site still chugging along...
12 Monkeys preview: “Yesterday”
by Doc on Mar.04, 2015, under Television
On this sneak peek for Friday’s new 12 Monkeys, Ramse and Whitley visit Operation Spearhead. And don’t forget to watch the recap of last week’s episode! Tune in for “Yesterday” Friday night at 9/8c on Syfy!
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Katherine Nelson named Senior Vice President of Communications for Syfy/Chiller
by Doc on Mar.04, 2015, under Television
Industry veteran Katherine Nelson has been named Senior Vice President, Communications for Syfy and Chiller, it was announced today by Dave Howe, President, Syfy and Chiller, to whom Nelson will report.
In her new role, Nelson is responsible for overall communications strategy for Syfy and Chiller, including corporate communications, program publicity and talent relations. New originals on Syfy for 2015 which she will oversee include the scripted drama The Expanse starring Thomas Jane, and event miniseries Childhood’s End, starring Charles Dance. Based in New York, Nelson will oversee the networks’ communications teams in both New York and Los Angeles.
Nelson joins Syfy and Chiller from Esquire Network, a sister network within NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, where she had served as Senior Vice President, Communications since January 2013.
In making the announcement, Howe said: “Katherine is an accomplished communications veteran with a truly unique background and deep experience in promoting high quality, smart, provocative entertainment. She has proven herself to be strategic, creative and collaborative during her tenure at NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, and I know she will take Syfy and Chiller’s pioneering press efforts to new heights.”
At Esquire Network, Nelson developed and executed the communications strategy for the network’s debut in September 2013. A member of the core executive team, she contributed to the overall strategic direction of the network and oversaw all publicity and talent relations for its ambitious slate of original series and specials.
Nelson joined Esquire Network and NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment in January 2013 from SpaceX, the pioneering space transport company founded by Elon Musk. As Vice President, Marketing and Communications, she served as chief spokesperson for the company, and oversaw all areas of strategic communications and marketing, including corporate and internal communications, digital and social media, advertising, creative, events and commerce.
Prior to SpaceX, Nelson spent more than 20 years in the television industry. As Vice President of Communications for Discovery Communications’ flagship U.S. network, Discovery Channel, she was the leading strategist in communications planning, media outreach and award campaigns for many of the network’s highest-profile series and specials, including “MythBusters,” “Dirty Jobs” and the groundbreaking “Planet Earth.” Additionally, for more than 15 years, she led the network’s publicity campaign for the iconic “Shark Week” franchise. An acclaimed and award-winning digital strategist, Nelson launched award-winning Twitter brands @Discovery and @MythBusters. Also during her tenure at Discovery Communications, she launched multiple brands including TLC, Animal Planet and Science Channel, and managed communications for several additional networks and initiatives within the Discovery portfolio.
HotShot Trailer: Latest Avengers: Age of Ultron is chock full of action
by Doc on Mar.04, 2015, under Movies
Less than two months…opens on May 1st!
Paramount seeks rights to Bester’s The Stars My Destination
by Doc on Mar.02, 2015, under Books, Movies
Paramount is seeking rights to produce a movie based on Alfred Bester’s novel [asin=1876963468]The Stars My Destination[/asin], for Mary Parent (Pacific Rim) to produce.
Widely considered one of the best novels in science fiction (in the U.K. it is better known as Tiger! Tiger!), it tells the story of Gulliver Foyle, a man who is marooned is space for six months as the sole survivor of a merchant spaceship and becomes consumed with rage when a passing ship ignores his signals. He repairs the ship but is then captured and tatooed with a tiger mask on his face. He later escapes and has the tatoos removed – but it is only partially successful, with the scars appearing when he becomes enraged. He then embarks on a quest for revenge for those who left him to die.
Like many of the top novels in the genre, it may be a longshot for it to ever get to the screen (and like them there have been many failed attempts), but we can dream…
Mark Cuban and Ann Coulter to portray the President and First Lady in Sharknado 3
by Doc on Mar.02, 2015, under Television
A new Administration is taking office before January 2017! Syfy and The Asylum today announced that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban (Shark Tank) will play the President of the United States with political commentator/author Ann Coulter joining him as Vice President in the eagerly anticipated original movie Sharknado 3.
Previously announced cameos in the latest installment of the global pop culture sensation will include Bo Derek as May, the mother of April (Tara Reid); Jerry Springer, appearing as Mr. White, a manic tourist; *NSYNC singer Chris Kirkpatrick as a pool lifeguard, and Chris Jericho, who will portray Bruce the roller coaster ride operator.
Also joining the cast of Sharknado 3 will be Ryan Newman, who will play April and Fin’s (Ian Ziering) daughter Claudia Sheperd, with Jack Griffo portraying Claudia’s friend, Billy.
Featuring stars Ian Ziering, Tara Reid and Cassie Scerbo (Nova), Sharknado 3 will premiere on Syfy in July, causing mass destruction in Washington, D.C., before roaring down the Eastern Seaboard and into Florida.
Anthony C. Ferrante will once again direct, based on an original screenplay by Thunder Levin.
Sharknado 3 is a production of The Asylum.
When it aired last July 30, Sharknado 2: The Second One became Syfy’s most-watched original movie ever.
SF author Larry Niven becomes SFWA Grand Master
by Doc on Mar.02, 2015, under Awards, Books
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) today announced that the 2015 recipient of the 31st Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award is none other than one of our favorite authors, Larry Niven!
The multiple Hugo and Nebula winning author is best known for his [asin=0345333926]Ringworld[/asin] novels that helped define the megastructure genre, but he was also a prolific writer of short stories set within multiple universes, and teamed up well with other authors, notably Jerry Pournelle, with whom he shared several Hugo and Nebula nominated novels.
SFWA President Steven Gould said, “One of the great honors of being SFWA president is the announcing the latest Grandmaster recipient. One of the drawbacks is only getting to name one at a time when we have several worthy candidates. I take great pleasure in naming Larry Niven as this year’s Damon Knight Memorial Grandmaster. As Lev Grossman said in Time Magazine about Niven’s work, “It’s a bravura demonstration of technology and psychology both playing off and feeding back into each other. This feedback loop — so fundamental to great science fiction’s power — is at the heart of Niven’s work: we create tools, and our tools shape the world, but they also shape us, in unintended and unexpected ways.”
“I’ve always wanted one of these. It does definitely mean I’ve gotten old,” said Niven. “I’ve been publishing fiction for more than fifty years now. I’m convinced I picked the right career.”
Niven joins 30 other Grand Masters, with names as prestigious as Bradbury, Heinlein, Clarke, Asimov and more.
Bravo, Master.
CW plans Arrow/Flash combo spinoff
by Doc on Feb.27, 2015, under Television
Having managed to successfully spin off The Flash from its DC Comics-sibling series Arrow, CW wants to strike gold again…but rather than do it with another DC property, they are going to pull again from Arrow – with some Flash thrown in as well.
No title has been given to the project, but the plan is to pull together some of the secondary characters from both shows into a new series, starting with Ray Palmer/The Atom (Brandon Routh) from Arrow and Dr. Martin Stein (Victor Garber) and Leonard Snart/Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller) from The Flash. Also planned to be part of the show is actor Caity Lotz, who played Sara Lance/Black Canary on The Arrow but was killed off, it is uncertain what role she may play.
Syfy will pay tribute to Leonard Nimoy Sunday
by Doc on Feb.27, 2015, under Television
Syfy will honor the extraordinary legacy of Leonard Nimoy with a special five hour programming salute this Sunday, March 1 from 9AM-2PM (ET/PT), kicking off with his role in an episode of the original Twilight Zone series; his guest star arc on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the final Star Trek original cast movie, Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country.
9:00AM The Twilight Zone/”A Quality of Mercy”
9:30AM Star Trek: The Next Generation/”Unification: Part I”
10:30AM Star Trek: The Next Generation/”Unification: Part 2”
11:30AM Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country
SF community mourns Leonard Nimoy, 1931-2015
by Doc on Feb.27, 2015, under Movies, Obituaries, Television
The science fiction community has lost one of its icons today…Leonard Nimoy, who (and I know I don’t need to say this) gained fame as the “pointy-eared, green-blooded, inhuman” Vulcan first officer Spock on the original Star Trek, passed away early this morning at home from end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to his wife Susan. Nimoy had announced he suffered from the disease last year, likely caused by smoking, even though he gave up the habit 30 years ago.
Nimoy also had some success as a writer and director, doing both on several of the movie installments of Star Trek, and he also directed the successful Three Men and a Baby.
Most recently he starred in the rebooted Star Trek film as well as a cameo in the sequel, plus had a recurring role in Fringe.
All we can say right now is, Live Long and Prosper.
Helix preview: “Cross-Pollination”
by Doc on Feb.25, 2015, under Television
I’ll leave the description off on this one since it is a spoiler if you haven’t watched last week’s episode yet, but check out the preview for Friday’s new Helix, “Cross-Pollination”, airing at 10/9c on Syfy!
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