Weekly Sci-Fi Thread (04/12/09)

04/12/09 | Kevin Davis

[KevinDavis]

This week in Scifi:

Mon:
8/7 -- CHUCK -- NBC
9/8 -- Heroes -- NBC

Tues:
10/9 -- Fringe -- Fox


Wed:
8/7 -- Lost -- ABC

Fri:
9/8 -- The Dollhouse -- Fox
10/9 -- Primeval -- SciFi

Sat:
8/7 -- Kings -- NBC

[KevinDavis]

Shows that had potential but didn't last long or just plain bombed..

1. Firefly -- Loved it from the start, but Fox screwed it up big time.

2. Earth 2 -- To PC for my taste.

3. Andromeda -- Good concept until Kevin Sorbo took over.

4. Space Above and Beyond -- Fox screwed it up.

[KevinDavis]

A big thanks goes to Visualops for the Banner!!

[buccaneer81]

“Lost” is all that’s left for me in primetime. But I have all 48 episodes of “Space:1999” on DVD.

[KevinDavis]

I’m in a Sci-fi funk phase...

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Don't know if Kings is SF, even if they are putting repeats on the Sci-Fi Channel. It is hard to characterize.

[KevinDavis]

Alternate History, but the show is done..

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Well Caprica is still coming soon, even if we know how it eventually turns out.

[nomad]

So when is 90210 meets starfleet coming out?

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Cancelled already?!? I am really out of the loop!

[KevinDavis]

Not officially but since NBC moved it to Saturdays it is about done..

[KevinDavis]

May 8th

[Vaquero]

So when is 90210 meets starfleet coming out?

WOW! cynical.

I am looking forward to it.

[Political Junkie Too]

I thought that's what DS9 was all about.

-PJ

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Most of DS9 was about Intergalactic warfare. with really repellant bad guys. It started out dull for the first couple of years.

[wally_bert]

Lost and Castle are pretty much my ABC primetime shows. In addition to SP1999, I have the UFO megaset too.

[exist]

Fringe— great show. Earth 2 sucks. Andromeda was ok but kind of dumb.

[Political Junkie Too]

:-)

Maybe it was the end of TNG.

Who will get Deanna?

What's with Jadzia?

Will the Doctor get the girl?

What about Odo's crush?

-PJ

[ebshumidors]

Too bad Sarah Connoer is over. I hope the movie does well and they bring it back.

[hsalaw]

I missed “Primeval” last Friday - what’s it like? What’s it about? I did see clips from the new SG-Universe, and it looks pretty dark and dismal. Any thoughts on any of these?

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

That was in between battles with that outfit who made the Klingons and Cardassians out to be wussies — the Gem Hadar, IMHO.

[exist]

Too bad Sarah Connoer is over. I hope the movie does well and they bring it back.

Ya I dug that show.

[TomGuy]

Some news from the TV news websites:

Kings is facing cancellation. However, the remaining episodes will be broadcast on Saturday nights.

Chuck, holding in the ratings, may be cancelled because NBC is giving 5 primetime hours to Leno next fall and may need the room for other programming. If so, The CW has indicated it might pick up Chuck.

Sarah Connor is probably not going to be renewed.

Fox may do another pull before the series finishes: Dollhouse. It may get pulled before the final episode(s).

Fringe will probably be renewed for next season.

Primeval season 3 has begun in the UK.

[LibertarianLiz]

Too bad Sarah Connoer is over. I hope the movie does well and they bring it back.

I was pretty sure it would be cancelled as well; but, Friday's "season finale" seemed to set up for a whole new arc. So, until I hear officially that it is cancelled, I will remain hopeful.

[Question_Assumptions]

Have you watched Chuck? It's not strictly science fiction but is quasi-science fiction in a classic Knight Rider or Air Wolf sort of way. As an added plus, it stars Adam Baldwin from Firefly. It does an excellent job of capturing the light 80s action drama feel. The first few episodes of the first season (more to follow at the end of the month) on on The WB site here and the later episodes of the second season on the NBC site here and on Hulu here. While it's threatened with cancellation, it's not dead yet.

How about Legend of the Seeker, a fantasy show in syndication by the team that did Hercules and Xena based on The Sword of Truth novels by Terry Goodkind. More serious than Hercules and Xena, it manages to keep some of the optimism and playfulness without being so silly. While some of the fans of the books are disappointed (book translations like this usually disappoint someone), it's done well enough in the ratings to get a second season. You can watch the first season so far on the show's web site here courtesy of Hulu.

[Question_Assumptions]

I give the people doing the new Star Trek big kudos for doing a preview showing with the military in Kuwait (see here and here).

[buccaneer81]

I guess I’m more of a straight-up “space” sci-fi fan, with a few exceptions, like “Lost” or non-space time travel (I miss Journeyman.)

[buccaneer81]

I have the UFO megaset too.

I need to get that as well.

[buccaneer81]

Don't know if Kings is SF,

I'd classify it as Alternate History a la the works of Harry Turtledove.

[dan1123]

Dollhouse had I believe its first worthwhile episode last Friday. The NSA interest, the break-out of Echo, the weirdness of the head of the corp being a customer, and the insertion of the message into one of the dolls all made for a good platform for future gov’t intelligence involvement (why wasn’t this the case in the first place?).

[buccaneer81]

Fringe— great show.

They lost me when they showed the Toronto exterior shots subbing for Boston (I mean, come on, send a second unit camera crew to Boston for a week and get some establishing shots.) That along with references to landmarks and geography in the Greater Boston area that are all wrong. Either cheap or lazy production.

[Question_Assumptions]

That’s fine and understandable, especially with Legend of the Seeker (some people mix their fantasy and science fiction and others don’t). I also miss Journeyman a great deal. It was an excellent show, too. In fact, of that whole original Monday night NBC line-up (Chuck, Heroes, Journeyman), I liked the show that was cancelled (Journeyman) and the show that’s teetering (Chuck) better than the anchor show that seems to be making money for NBC (Heroes). With Lost, my guess is that there is an old crashed spaceship on the island, which will ultimately make it science fiction.

[Question_Assumptions]

I’m really enjoying Kings and I’m sorry to hear that it’s already on the chopping block.

[wally_bert]

Chuck is a big favorite here. I like all of the people on it. Another thing about Chuck is that it gives backstory and character development to other characters than the main three.

[wally_bert]

Ed Straker was one tough hombre. I haven't run a disc through in a while. Need to at some point.

[buccaneer81]

With Lost, my guess is that there is an old crashed spaceship on the island, which will ultimately make it science fiction.

Like "Sphere?"

[wally_bert]

Primeval is about a small group of people who get caught up in rifts in space/time where weird and violent creatures show up around England. There is also some time travel and political agendas in it too. On the whole, I like it.

[buccaneer81]

Ed Straker was one tough hombre.

A bit more mentally balanced than John Koenig at times ;-)

I always wondered how Koenig passed the psych evaluations for the Lunar Commission.

[Question_Assumptions]

I’m currently guessing Anubis-headed aliens. We got to see the back of the statue and it was definitely Egyptian, holding an ankh, and looked like it had animal ears (we already know it had 4 toes). In the basement of the temple, we see a carving of an Anubis-headed creature summoning the smoke monster.

[Question_Assumptions]

I think Chuck has both excellent writing and excellent acting and I’ll be incredibly disappointed if it gets cancelled. Got to love Casey’s picture of Ronald Reagan and the reaction he gave when the general told him that the 80s are over, too.

[Question_Assumptions]

I always wondered how Koenig passed the psych evaluations for the Lunar Commission.

It makes sense if Straker signed off on the evaluation. There were a lot of mind games and issues in UFO, not only Straker's marriage and son but the episodes with drug trips and hallucinations, not to mention the mind games they played with Foster and other characters.

[wally_bert]

I always did like Koenig myself, probably the best of the main cast.

With everything being remade and imagined, I have pitched a few ideas in my head and sort of tried applying JMS's scriptwriting book to them.

[wally_bert]

Somebody on Chuck remebers Ronnie and apparently in a good way. He isn't made fun of.

I half imagine that the lady general was the one female on Fulcrum's high council. The typical traitor is necessary I guess.

Last week's ep with Chevy and Scott in it was really good.

Gotta love Big Mike and the losers at the Buy More as well as Awesome. Jeffster Rocks! - Awesome (Not Really)

[exist]

They lost me when they showed the Toronto exterior shots subbing for Boston

That makes sense.

[buccaneer81]

It makes sense if Straker signed off on the evaluation.

Yeah. It's a sure bet it wasn't Simmonds.

[buccaneer81]

I always did like Koenig myself, probably the best of the main cast.

As a kid in junior high, I identified with Alan Carter.

[Question_Assumptions]

I think the writers of Chuck remember the 80s, in general, in a good way. Most of the cultural references are from the late 1970s and 1980s, which is a bit strange given that the character Chuck was probably born around 1980.

[nuke rocketeer]

[i]I missed “Primeval” last Friday - what’s it like? What’s it about? I did see clips from the new SG-Universe, and it looks pretty dark and dismal. Any thoughts on any of these?
[/i]

Primeval was not that bad, not that good either. Watchable with potential to be good. Run of the mill Brit SCi-Fi.

[wally_bert]

Carter was the cool one and the guy to be like. I had almost forgotten about him. It has been a while since I have popped a disc in.

[LiberConservative]

Dr. Bishop is a creepy freak show. One episode he says: “oops.” Astrid asks: “What happened?” Dr. Bishop says: “I just got an erection.” They lost me after that. It was a weak show, anyway.

[wally_bert]

It has a lot twists in it and takes a few episodes to get going.

The newest Dr. Who, Planet Of The Dead was on Youtube today and it was good watching. UNIT was involved. UNIT was one of my favorite elements in the old series with Lethbridge-Stewart and Benton. I look forward to the real airing. There was also a preview for the next special which also looked really good.