Category: TV Sci-Fi (Page 41 of 81)

TV Roundup: Shorter seasons for “Heroes,” ABC shows in limbo and more

April 24, 2009 /

– NBC wants shorter seasons from “Heroes,” according to AdAge.com. The network is looking for 18 to 20 episodes instead of the usual 25, with fewer in-season breaks. I’m all for shorter seasons, as shorter usually equals better.

– ABC has renewed “Lost,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” — no surprises there — “Brothers & Sisters,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Ugly Betty” and “Private Practice,” but “Cupid,” “Better Off Ted,” “Castle,” “Scrubs,” “Samantha Who?” and “The Unusuals” are still in limbo. TV.com thinks that “Castle” has the best chance of surviving.

– Television Without Pity lists 10 series that deserve a movie before “CSI.”

– Yahoo TV highlights 16 season finales that are coming up over the next five weeks.

24, Battlestar Galactica, Desperate Housewives, External Entertainment, External Movies, External TV, Gossip Girl, Heroes, Movies, News, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, TV, TV Action, TV Comedies, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

Currently on the Bubble: Half the Reasons I Watch Network TV.

April 21, 2009 /

Have you noticed an intoxicating scent of fear and desperation in the air recently? When you catch that scent wafting in from the general direction Hollywood, you know we’ve reached the time when the networks have begun to look very, very seriously at their schedules in order to determine which of the shows that haven’t yet earned pick-up notices for their next season actually deserve those notices. This year, the stench is particularly strong, what with the combination of Jay Leno’s new M-F 10 PM show killing five perfectly good spots for hourlong drama on NBC, the general economic situation, and the American public still not really having much of an interest in watching anything original. Keeping in mind, of course, that when I say “the American public,” I’m not talking about you…

“No, Mum, they haven’t officially canceled ‘Eleventh Hour’ yet. I’ll keep you posted, though, shall I?”

Nellie Andreeva at the Hollywood Reporter has put together a piece where she gives a rundown of what shows are still waiting to find out if they’re going to get a pink slip or a terse note saying, “Yeah, yeah, you’ve got another season, now get your ass back to work,” while Hercules over at Ain’t It Cool News has taken the work out of it for you and simply offered up three succinct lists: Likely To Return, Unlikely to Return, and 50/50.

Taking the “Likely to Return” list – “Ghost Whisperer,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Law & Order,” “Numb3rs,” “Southland,” and “Ugly Betty” – out of discussion for the moment, I don’t mind telling you that, between the other two lists, it’s highly depressing to see about half of my TiVo Season Passes get cited. (Not mentioned in the Hollywood Reporter piece is “Kings,” but I agree with Herc that it’s probably been left out because its permanent vacation at the end of its Saturday night death slot run is considered a given.) Regular Premium Hollywood readers will already know that our man John Paulsen has been covering the death knell of several of these shows and established his feelings on what he’d be bummed to see depart, but here are the five shows – one per network, so as not to be greedy – that I’d most like to see earn a reprieve from cancellation:

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External Entertainment, External TV, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, TV, TV Action, TV Comedies, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

Heroes 3.24 – “That hurt.”

April 20, 2009 /

Two full-fledged “comic book” episodes in a row? Has “Heroes” ever managed to pull that off…? If so, it’s been ages. Tonight’s installment may well have been the most successful portrayal of Sylar as a complex villain in the show’s history, revisiting the character’s established mythology in the midst of his new shapeshifting abilities and the curse they bring with them. Plus, c’mon, Clint Howard? Are you kidding me…? The show’s coolness factor just jumped exponentially.

Obviously, Sylar’s storyline has consistently been one of the strongest parts of the “Fugitives” saga, but this took it to new heights. I never would’ve guessed that the path to his mimicry of Nathan would take him on a psychological journey of such magnitude. When he questioned his identity as Agent Taub in the initial moments of the episode, it became clear that he was having some issues dealing with his transformation into other people. You don’t get much more disconcerting, however, than that sequence where he was flip-flopping back and forth from himself to his mother – once again played by Ellen Greene – in order to rationalize her death and his ongoing existence. (I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who felt the echoes of Norman Bates’ relationship with his mother in their discussions, was I?) Given that we’ve seen Sylar’s semi-soft spot with the youth of America in the past, I guess it shouldn’t have been too surprising that he was willing to give li’l Micah a pass. I don’t know how well the kid’s poignant speech will work in the long run, but, hey, it worked long enough to prolong his life for a bit, so that’ll do for now. Zeljko’s constant grumblings through the episode were highly entertaining, and you knew full well that he was eventually going to view Sylar as a loose cannon who couldn’t be controlled and needed to be taken out permanently (which he clearly must’ve known all along, anyway), but the one-two punch of the thrusting of the knife in the back of Sylar’s skull being followed up with Sylar’s brilliant episode-closing line was totally awesome.

Zachary Quinto’s performance this week was tremendous. Sometimes he takes his villainous rantings too far over the top for you to be able to take him seriously, but not this time. This was definitely a well-considered look at a complex character.

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External Entertainment, External TV, Heroes, Reviews, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

A Chat with Christopher Lloyd (“Knights of Bloodsteel”)

April 19, 2009 /

Whether you know him as Rev. Jim Ignatowski from “Taxi,” Dr. Emmit Brown from the “Back to the Future” Trilogy, or even from his brief but memorable stint as Harold March on Fox’s “Stacked,” the face of Christopher Lloyd is familiar to most of us. His latest gig finds him playing an elf named Tesselink for the Sci-Fi Channel’s two-night event, “Knights of Bloodsteel,” and we were able to wrangle a few minutes with Mr. Lloyd before he had to run off to a photo shoot.

Stay tuned for…

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Action Movies, Actors, External Entertainment, External TV, Interviews, Sci-Fi Movies, TV, TV Action, TV Sci-Fi

Ausiello: “Terminator: TSCC” is finished

April 15, 2009 /

EW.com’s Michael Ausiello says that “Terminator: The Sara Connor Chronicles” is all but done.

Resist the urge to nuke the messenger, but multiple sources are telling me that Fox will not be renewing Terminator: The Summer Glau Sarah Connor Chronicles for a third season.

“It’s done,” maintains a source close to the show. “Everyone has pretty much known for a couple of weeks.” Adds a network insider: “Consider it canceled.”

The one bright spot? Despite horrific ratings, Fox isn’t ready to declare SCC dead and buried — at least not officially. “No decision has been made yet,” insists a network rep. “We will be announcing our fall schedule on May 18.

I think the show’s slow pacing was ultimately its downfall. Fans of the “Terminator” movies are used to rock ’em, sock ’em action, and while the series had a few episodes that could be described that way, it had neither the budget nor the inclination to be a full-fledged action series. The final four or five episodes of this season were terrific, so from a creative standpoint, the series was about as good as it could be at the end.

It would be nice if Fox gave it another season, but I’m not holding my breath.

External Entertainment, External TV, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

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