23 years of this site still chugging along...
Programming Alert: Haven moves to Friday 7/6c next week!
by Doc on Oct.02, 2014, under Television
Haven is moving to Fridays again! The drawback – it will be airing at 7/6c – earlier than Syfy usually programs first run original content. The NFL has really messed up Thursday night programming for networks (and not to mention my fantasy football teams), so apparently they move is to get out from under the Thursday Night Football shadow. But since WWE Smackdown owns the 8-10pm slot, 7pm was the choice. Presumably it should do at least as well if not better there, although I wonder if some of the viewers may shift further into the Live+3 and Live+7 numbers.
See the launch trailer for Syfy’s Ascension
by Doc on Oct.01, 2014, under Television
Starting November 24th, Syfy’s Ascension is a six-hour limited series event in the vein of past Syfy mini-series such as Taken, Alice, Tin Man and Battlestar Galactica.
In 1963, the U.S. government launched a covert space mission sending hundreds of men, women and children on a century-long voyage aboard the starship Ascension to populate a new world. Nearly 50 years into the journey, as they approach the point of no return, a mysterious murder of a young woman causes the ship’s population to question the true nature of their mission.
Tricia Helfer – known and loved by million as Cylon Number Six in Battlestar Galactica – is part of the cast. She will play Viondra Denniger, a beautiful, manipulative and dangerous power broker on the Ascension.
Brian Van Holt – star of Cougar Town and The Bridge – will play William Denninger, captain of the ship and Viondra’s husband. A natural leader, William quickly rose through the ranks after playing a heroic role in a fire early in the spacecraft’s voyage. While his professional life is solid, William’s marriage to Viondra is anything but.
Andrea Roth, star of Rescue Me, will play Juliet Bryce, head doctor of the Ascension. Her relationship with her daughter, Nora (played by Jacqueline Byers) is difficult and strained. Nora, for her part, is a young woman under intense pressure to follow in the family’s footsteps of being a doctor despite her own dreams.
Rounding out the cast are Brandon P. Bell as First Officer Oren Gault, who was born on the lower decks of the ship to maintenance workers and must investigate the aforementioned murder; Tiffany Lonsdale as Chief Astronomer Emily Vanderhaus, the older sister of the murder victim; and PJ Boudousque (Pretty Little Liars) as one of the ship’s maintenance workers.
Ascension is created and written by Philip Levens (Smallville), who will also serve as Executive Producer and Showrunner.
HotShot trailer: Interstellar
by Doc on Oct.01, 2014, under Movies
WOW!!! Now we know something about the plot…
Domenic Cooper joins Marvel’s Agent Carter
by Doc on Sep.30, 2014, under Television
Domenic Cooper will return as Howard Stark, Tony Stark/Iron Man’s father, for the ABC series, Marvel’s Agent Carter. Cooper played the role previously in Captain America: The First Avenger, as well as Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter, which helped prompt the creation of the series.
The series stars Haley Atwell as Peggy Carter, the role she also played in Captain America: The First Avenger, and is set back in 1946, after Steve Rogers disappears and Carter joins the secret Strategic Scientific Reserve, a forerunner to S.H.I.E.L.D.
Haven preview: “Much Ado About Mara”
by Doc on Sep.30, 2014, under Television
On Thursday’s Haven, Dwight and Nathan argue about what to do with Mara as she continues her rampage through the town. Check out the sneak peek below along with the latest “Inside Haven“, and watch “Much Ado About Mara” Thursday at 8/7c.
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Is Star Wars: The Clone Wars still not finished?
by Doc on Sep.26, 2014, under Television, Video/DVD
It seems like the great people at Lucasfilm behind Star Wars: The Clone Wars, despite getting ready for the debut of Star Wars: Rebels, aren’t quite ready to let go of their previous saga just yet. With six seasons, a novel, a comic and more, and the “lost episodes” released on Netflix, it seems they still have some stuff left over.
StarWars.com has now release 3 unfinished stories plus another short story reel that have “proxy” animation (one of the intermediate steps before the full animation is rendered) but the voices and story are in place. Check them out here, along with the “Clone Wars Legacy”, about how they story, and the untold stories, fit into the Star Wars Saga.
Syfy renews Defiance and Dominion
by Doc on Sep.25, 2014, under Television
Syfy has announced that they have given a 13 episode third season order for Defiance, as well as a 13 episode second season for Dominion. Both series are produced by Universal Cable Productions and are slated to return with all-new episodes in 2015.
Kevin Murphy (Desperate Housewives, Caprica, Hellcats) will resume his role as executive producer and showrunner of Defiance while Vaun Wilmott (Sons of Anarchy) will continue to fill the same posts for Dominion.
Season to date, Dominion and Defiance are the top two cable programs in the Thursday 8-10pm time period among P25-54s. With most current Live+7 data, both series are averaging 2.7 million total viewers, 1.2 million viewers 18-49 and 1.4 million viewers 25-54. Drawing an especially engaged social audience, Dominion was the most social drama on Thursdays across all of TV in tweets (15.4K) and tweets per unique (8.0).
Set in the near future, Defiance features an exotically transformed planet Earth, its landscapes permanently altered following the sudden – and tumultuous – arrival of seven unique alien races. In this somewhat unknown and unpredictable landscape, the richly diverse, newly-formed civilization of humans and aliens must learn to co-exist peacefully. Redefining the transmedia experience, Defiance has distinguished itself with an unprecedented partnership between Syfy and Trion Worlds, by creating the first-ever true convergence of television and online gaming.
Based on characters from the hit theatrical film Legion (2010), Dominion is an epic supernatural drama set in a transformed post–apocalyptic future, 25 years after an army of lower angels, assembled by the archangel Gabriel, waged a war of possession against mankind. The archangel Michael, turning against his own kind, chose to side with humanity. Rising out of the ashes, are newly fortified cities which protect the human survivors. In Vega (formerly Las Vegas), the largest of these cities, two houses vie for control over the people and the stage is set for political upheaval and a dangerous power shift. Meanwhile, a rebellious young soldier begins a perilous journey as the war escalates between the human race and the angels that are hell-bent on destroying humanity. Dominion is produced by Universal Cable Productions and Bold Films.
Spike TV developing Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy for TV series
by Doc on Sep.24, 2014, under Books, Television
It’s been nearly six years since we reported that AMC was working on a TV series based on Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy of novels, with then-Sci Fi Channel passing on it before that. Alas, instead of reporting that it is finally coming to the screen, it’s back at square one…Spike TV is now working on the adaptation, focusing on [asin=B000QCS914]Red Mars[/asin] to start, with Vince Gerardis (Game of Thrones) producing.
It may remain in Development Hell still, but at least it hasn’t disappeared…
Syfy gives Hunters from Gale Anne Hurd 13-episode straight-to-series order
by Doc on Sep.23, 2014, under Television
Syfy has given a straight-to-series order for 13 episodes of Hunters from producer Gale Anne Hurd’s Valhalla Productions and Universal Cable Productions. The series will be based on the [asin=076536848X]Alien Hunter[/asin] series of novels from Whitley Streiber.
No casting has been announced yet. Natalie Chaidez (V, Heroes) will pen the first script.
The books follow the story of Flynn Carroll, a police detective who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his wife. In the process he attracts the attention of a secret organization, one run by shadowy figures who may not be of this world…
Haven preview: “Spotlight”
by Doc on Sep.23, 2014, under Television
On the next Haven, Dwight and Duke deal with a new danger that threatens to burn the town to the ground. Meanwhile, Nathan helps Mara hide from a mob of angry Haven citizens. Check out the sneak peek, plus the latest “Inside Haven“, and tune in Thursday at 8/7c on Syfy!
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