Category: TV Sci-Fi (Page 76 of 81)

Will “Origins” ever be revealed?

November 1, 2007 / Will Harris

It doesn’t look good at the moment, anyway. Whether it’s the fault of the impending writer’s strike or the recent drop in the ratings of “Heroes,” but the show’s heavily-hyped spin-off – “Heroes: Origins” – has been yanked from NBC’s early-2008 schedule, with no suggestion as to when we might expect to see the series…if, indeed, we ever will.

This is actually rather shocking news, given how much advance publicity the network had given the show, including the signing of high-profile directors like Kevin Smith and Eli Roth to helm segments within the 6-episode commitment; it’s also really going to piss off “Heroes” fans, who’d been getting psyched about the concept ever since it was first announced this past summer. Most odd, though, is that this seems to completely fly in the face of the new status quo with networks paying more attention to the bottom line of how a series will play both in its initial network airing and when it’s released on DVD…and lord knows the “Heroes: Season 1” set was a huge sales success. This is a show that the geek community – of which I am a proud member – has been embracing all along, and it’s a given that they’d continue to do so with the spin-off, especially with those two big names already associated with it.

I’d like to think that things will change for the better when this strike is rectified, and that NBC will come to their senses and reschedule “Heroes: Origins,” but at the moment, I’m grumpy as hell.

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

Journeyman 1.6: “Keepers”

October 30, 2007 / Ross Ruediger

This week’s installment of “Journeyman” was really hard to follow. There was so much going on, from pretty much every angle of the series as presented thus far, that unless you’ve been following the show from week to week, you’d have no idea what was going on. Yes, faithful viewers, the series has finally entered “The Continuity Zone.”

And that’s fine, because a series with a setup like this needs to go down these roads sooner rather than later. What’s frustrating is that the questions an average viewer has aren’t being answered: What’s Livia’s function?; Who’s behind Dan’s travels?; Is Dan restricted to traveling within the last 30 or so years?

The biggest problem with this episode was that it attempted to do so many things at once, and as a result left something of a hole in its core theme: The relationships between brothers. Dan found himself dealing with two brothers in the past that echoed the current gap in his relationship with his own brother, Jack. Aside from that, we saw references to the money stash last week, Katie trying to reignite her TV anchor career – which seems inexplicably ballsy given the life she’s been thrust into, and the assertion from a genius that time travel isn’t even possible. What does it all mean?

I did a little surfing and found an interview with creator Kevin Falls that was conducted last week. Go check it out by clicking here and then come back and see what I have to say.

Kevin Falls said: “Alex Graves and I are two guys who don’t believe in time travel, but we have a great respect for that genre.”

This hit me harder than anything else in the interview. Only the most involved of scientists and theorists are qualified to comment on the possibility of time travel, but I think the reason the genre survives is because of the romance that surrounds the premise. Why, as a showrunner, would you point out that you don’t even believe in the basis of your series? Do you at least believe in it insofar as the concept of the series allows? In qualifying your disbelief, does that inform viewers as to what they should expect as the series moves forward? I may be reading too much into Falls’ statement, but I can’t help but wonder what it means for “Journeyman” as a whole.

Kevin Falls said: “I think we owe it to the audience to find who Livia is, and who Dan is. I mean they were dating, and they are time travelers – why those two? That’s what we’re going to address in sweeps. You’ll know by episode 9, or actually 7 or 8 who Livia is. Then we’ll get into Langley and who he is up until episode 12, then god willing, towards the end of the season we’ll get into what this is all about in a global sense.”

So there’s a plan – a plan that involves the numerous elements we’ve been exposed to thus far. The Livia questions could be answered within the next two episodes. Langley, as I predicted, will be a major force. This is all great to know ahead of time, because there’s nothing worse than investing time in a series that ultimately fails to deliver. But frankly, statements about sweeps give me the cold shivers, even though I understand that’s how showrunners have to think.

Kevin Falls said: “I never watched ‘Quantum Leap’. I read the first 50 pages of ‘Time Traveler’s Wife’… “

Despite my constant comparisons to “Quantum Leap”, this doesn’t surprise me. But I think Falls and Graves could learn a lot by going back and checking out old episodes of THE series that did something of the same oh so successfully. My biggest criticisms thus far of “Journeyman” have been that I feel uninvested in Dan’s journeys outside of how they affect Dan and those close to him. Dan needs to be affected by those he comes into contact with and his journeys should mean more to him than “Another week, another leap”. That was always something “Quantum Leap” excelled at: You felt the weight of the travels on Sam Beckett’s shoulders.

Oh, don’t get me wrong – I love “Journeyman”, but you’ll not find a more critical time travel devotee than the guy who’s trying to guide you on these journeys [i.e. me]. When all is said and done, I expect this show will deliver, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried that it might not. Luckily, Falls seems to indicate that NBC loves the series, so here’s to hoping that they continue to stay behind it.

Journeyman, TV, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

Heroes 2.6 – One Less Bell To Answer

October 29, 2007 / Will Harris

So Claire’s back, but Kristen Bell’s nowhere to be found. Is there some sort of ruling that the two can’t appear in the same episode? And as long as we’re asking questions, did cheers get dumber since I was in high school? I mean, they were never Shakespeare to begin with, but are they really busting rhymes about planting trees now…? Claire is so prone to being swayed by peer pressure…or, specifically, the words of one cute boy…that it’s a wonder she hasn’t been captured and utilized by The Company by now. Her avenging angel is clearly a man who’s in love with his power, but despite her concerns about his plan to get her onto the cheerleading squad, you can’t argue with the results.

HRG and Brother Voodoo are off chillin’ in the Ukraine, and it’s like Starsky and Hutch reunited. HRG is back to his bad-ass ways…and, worse, he’s intimidating the man who trained him in the first place. You know the guy’s not screwing around when he’s threatening to have Brother Voodoo removed all of his most treasured memories…and he starts with the day the guy met his wife! I like the ongoing comparison between Claire and HRG and how neither of them are being truthful to the other. And speaking of a lack of honesty, did anyone really think that Ivan was being truthful when he said that the company had changed…? Well, I guess it doesn’t matter now, after that “oh, shit” moment when HRG popped a cap right into Ivan’s forehead. (“That’s a hell of a powerful gun,” said my wife, when Ivan went flying backwards after the shot.)

Mohinder’s really between a rock and a hard place when the fate of Monica’s abilities are placed in his hands, but the big revelation is that Bob (Stephen Tobolowsky) isn’t just a bad-ass; he’s a DICK. When Mohinder finally snapped, I think it was fair to say that no-one believed Bob’s sudden recanting of his earlier threats toward Mohinder; Tobolowsky’s just too damned good at playing a complete skeeve, and Nikki’s appearance at the end of the episode was suitably ominous.

Sylar’s trying to sway Maya over to the dark side, but Alejandro’s not having any of it. To watch Sylar seem to soak up Maya’s power, though, was to witness sheer evil bliss, and his speech to Alejandro was downright chilling.

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

Scare of the Day: “Sometimes They Come Back”

October 29, 2007 / Will Harris

Movies based on Stephen King novels and short stories are a dime a dozen, but it’s pretty well documented that King’s track record for his adaptation has never been spectacular, and it’s only gotten worse in the years since he’s starting embracing television. After watching “Sometimes They Come Back,” however, one wonders why he opted to make it a TV move rather than a theatrical release; it’s actually one of the better films to have been based on one of his works.

Tim Matheson plays Jim Norman, an idealistic young teacher who returns to his hometown after a several-year absence – now with a wife (Brooke Adams) and son (Robert Hy Gorman) in tow – in order to teach at the local high school. The reason for his departure is an ominous one: his older brother was stabbed to death by a group of local hooligans, who promptly got their just desserts by having their car be hit by an oncoming train while they were still inside. Now, he’s back in town, but being older and wiser doesn’t mean isn’t still haunted by the events of his past…and we do mean that literally.

The second he’s back in town, Jim begins to find himself flashing back to the day of his brother Wayne’s death, and it only get worse when it turns out that the ghosts of the punks who killed Wayne have found their way back to town and into his classroom. They’re “up from Milford,” as they put it, and to make room for themselves in the class, they have to kill other students; unfortunately, no-one seems to see their death car, as it were, except for the victims and, naturally, Jim himself. It’s a horrifying situation for Jim, and it gets worse as the local law enforcement begin to suspect him in the deaths of his students; eventually, he realizes that the only way out of the situation is to confront the demons head on.

“Sometimes They Come Back” is an enjoyable flick that keeps the suspense level pretty high throughout, but it’s also the kind of film that’s best appreciated when one turns their mind off and simply accepts the premise. Otherwise, you’ll be asking questions about the consistency of the ghost’s rules…like, say, why they can be seen when they’re in the classroom but not when they’re tooling down the highway in their muscle car. Just don’t worry about it; just be creeped out.

But, y’know, honestly, I’m not entirely sure why “Sometimes They Come Back” has suddenly gotten a reissue; it might look better than it did in its previous release, but it certainly doesn’t have anything in the way of special features. Still, if you’re a King fan and this one’s flown under your radar for all these years, you might as well enjoy a version that looks pristine. Just stay away from the two sequels, which have precious little to do with either the original film or, indeed, anything King has ever written.

Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External Movie DVDs, External Movies, External TV, Horror Movies, Movie DVDs, Movies, Scare of the Day, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

Journeyman 1.5: “The Legend of Dylan McCleen”

October 23, 2007 / Ross Ruediger

Last week’s “Journeyman” preview made this week look like it was going to be a heavy drama piece about Dan and his son, Zack. Turns out what was shown in that preview was mostly this week’s pre-credits sequence. Gotta love those marketing guys. Zack did play a bigger part than usual, but I’ll get to that later.

This was the first episode to really begin complicating things (well, not counting the pilot anyway) and at least a half a dozen noteworthy developments occurred throughout the hour. All of a sudden Dan’s actions from last week — running around a city street in a tux and brandishing a handgun — come back to haunt him when a police officer shows up at their door asking questions related to a robbery that night. Of course Dan isn’t home – he’s busy trippin’, so Katie’s forced to deal with the law.

Dan’s mission this time centers around a Vietnam soldier, a Cambodian refugee and his attempts to bring the two back together. It was a moving story and one of “Journeyman’s” more complex outings as far as this aspect of the series goes. So far, Dan has yet to fail, but I’m wondering, how long can this last? Surely he’ll sooner or later somehow botch a mission? Livia told him a few episodes back that he needed to get hold of some older currency for spending in the past. Thanks to this mission, Dan acquired a huge stash of ‘70s-era dough, so he oughtta be set for at least the rest of the season, if not the series itself. Speaking of the ‘70s, so far Dan’s journeys have been restricted to points in his lifetime (much like “Quantum Leap”) although I’m not sure it’s been qualified that these eras are the only times to which he can travel. Also, Dan first trip this time dropped into a foreign country, right? That’s a first. (Please feel free to correct me on any of this.)

And what is the deal with Livia, anyway? This dame always manages to show up at just the right time when he’s traveling about, and yet her function remains mostly a mystery. Perhaps Dan is so caught up in this new life that he doesn’t yet want to ask too many questions, or rather press her too hard for info. In 1976, Dan also met up with his father (the ‘70s-era newsroom was a scream!), who ran out him when he was Zack’s age, which mirrored Dan’s relationship with Zack in this installment. But now Zack knows of his daddy’s “magic”, which was a nice touch for the ending. Speaking of the ‘70s, I noticed ads for both “Jaws” and “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” on the sides of buses, which was a nice diversion from the show’s usual marking of eras through music and fashion sense. (The “Rocky Horror” one went by so fast I almost thought I imagined it.)

But for my viewing pleasure, the episode’s greatest scene was when Elliot Langley (Tom Everett) showed up at the paper. This is the professor Dan contacted last week to find out more about tachyons – the guy who knew his father. The scene was as nebulous as it was tense, and said a lot while saying nothing at all. Is this guy good or evil or somewhere in between? Is it possible he’s even got something to do with Dan’s trips? Dan did talk to him on the phone in the ‘80s in last week’s episode, which is referenced here and then the two move on. I wish I had a transcript of their conversation because it was fascinating, and really amped up the sci-fi aspects of the show. This guy’s gonna be a big factor in the coming weeks.

That’s assuming we get to. “Journeyman’s” ratings haven’t been stellar and I’m not sure it’s building an audience (but I don’t think it’s steadily losing viewers either). Luckily it’s on NBC, the network which has been giving good shows more of a chance to build in recent years. If the show can just make it through season one and then get that season out on DVD, it should be flyin’ high. This isn’t a show about huge developments like its lead-in, “Heroes”. “Journeyman” is a quiet little series that is proving to require patience for payoff.

Finally, last week I called the ubiquitous cafe “SoLuna”. It’s just plain “Cafe Luna”…but there is a Mexican eatery a few blocks from my house called SoLuna, just so you know where I was coming from.