Hailing Frequencies Issue #290

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Excellent season finales for the Stargates and Battlestar Galactica! Way to go!

The season one soundtrack will be available this summer from La-La Land Records, which is pretty awesome, as the score for that show rocks the house.

The show's first season got the best ratings for any SCI FI Channel original series to date.

Okay, this movie has long been a guilty pleasure of mine. It's kinda lame and juvenile, but there are some really funny bits as Ringo Starr, Dennis Quaid, Shelley Long, and Barbara Bach parody 1,000,000 Years BC, Land of the Lost, and a host of prehistoric filmstrips I was forced to watch in junior high. Anyway, June 7th, Aleph Records has a CD coming for their new recording of Lalo Schifrin’s complete score. Aleph’s press release mentions one of my favorite bits "where mankind invents music, with Ringo and cast using gourds, sticks, bones, stones, and hollow logs." Oh, and they do it in harmony. Hee hee.

Pretty much nailing his career's coffin firmly shut, Christopher Eccleston has evidently hassled the BBC into making an apology for saying that Eccleston left the show because of its exposure, and that, in fact, he meant to do only one episode all along. BBC's head of drama and commissioning, Jane Tranter, issues the following media alert: "The BBC regrets not speaking to Christopher before it responded to the press questions on Wednesday 30 March....The BBC further regrets that it falsely attributed a statement to Christopher and apologizes to him."

Move-version scribe David Goyer wants to see Ryan Reynolds as the speedy guy on film. "It'll be curious to see if they can pull anything off beyond Batman and Superman," he told the SCI FI Wire. "Like if they can actually get The Flash or Wonder Woman on screen, and if so, can they be successful? That'll be the real test. If they can do Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, those ones, that'll be the test of whether or not they can give Marvel a run for their money."

Majesco's BloodRayne is in development for the PSP handheld entertainment system with two-player, co-op wireless multiplayer modes, and a playable second character. BloodRayne will be unveiled during the Electronic Entertainment Expo, May 18-20, in Los Angeles.

Robbie Coltrane told The Herald he's not sure he'll be back for Hagrid in Phoenix: "It's open to negotiations . . . I know the answer and it's 'I don't know'. That's that."

Rumor (and just who got this one started, Mr. Barnesandnoble?) had it that ordering Half-Blood from Amazon would get you the book as late as July 23, so Amazon.com has assured us that all orders will arrive on July 16, for no extra shipping charge. The book will be delivered via United Parcel Service Inc. and the U.S. Postal

Goblet of Fire's coming to theatres November 18, and Half-Blood Prince will be available June 16.

The Robert A. and Virginia Heinlein Prize Trust and Butler Library Foundation have chosen Meisha Merlin Publishing to publish The Virginia Edition: The Definitive Collection of Robert A. Heinlein. The project will have 46 titles: all of Heinlein's novels and short stories; all of his nonfiction titles; several volumes of his letters and personal correspondence; and the vast majority of his interviews, social commentaries, speeches and articles. The Virginia Edition will be sold only as a set in a limited edition of 5,000 sets. The first volume, I Will Fear No Evil, will be published in fall of 2005, followed by a new title every five weeks. No SRP yet.

We all got excited when we heard that David Fury (writer on Buffy and Angel) was going to be writing for Lost, and his scripts have been great. So it's with heavy hart that I relay that he's going to quit the show to work on 24 and The Inside (for FOX), and maybe get his own development deal. He told SCI FI Wire: "I spent seven years of my career in one place [working on Buffy and its spinoff series, Angel], and it's a lot of fun to work in different worlds. Lost was a lot of fun, and I have a great deal of gratitude for [series co-creators] J.J. [Abrams] and Damon [Lindelof]. I know the show will continue to be great, and I look forward to viewing it....I think my favorite [script] will always be 'Walkabout'...It helped set the tone for what the show could be outside of the pilot. It was also served so well by the performance of Terry O'Quinn and some great production values and direction."

Emilie de Ravin (Claire) says she doesn't know yet if the baby will be normal or not. As she told SCI FI Wire she's happy with the birthing scene of April 6th's episode: "I think TV often skims over birth. They're usually not very realistic, and we were trying to go for as gritty as we could and as real as we could." And that's very nice, but, seriously, that "newborn" baby looked about three weeks old, at the least. When they come out, you know, they usually have squished heads. Yeesh.

Spoiler (highlight to read): Ian Somerhalder (Boone) has a one-year talent holding deal at ABC and Touchstone TV, according to Variety. As with Star Trek, no one on Lost is ever really dead.

Dark Horizons reports that Orlando Bloom (Will Turner) that the sequels began shooting in the Caribbean about four weeks ago. After that, the cameras go to LA for the rest of the year: "Will is the straight man who moves the story forward, and he continues that," Bloom said. "He becomes more of a pirate, but piracy is not in his blood in the same way it is for Jack Sparrow [Johnny Depp]." Bloom added: "There are plans to darken Will up a little, and make him a little more questionable, which will then resolve themselves."

ENT's fate isn't even to go down with dignity. Trek United is saying they're in secret talks with Paramount to save the show, but a Paramount spokesman denied the news to SCI FI Wire and says the show is absolutely, positively gone. Now a TrekUnited rep says Paramount executives aren't keeping up with each other's doings.

If you're interested in protesting the cancellation of ENT, try SaveEnterprise.com and/or The Enterprise Project. TrekUnited.com is trying to get fans themselves to pay for a fifth season. You can also write your own plea to Bonnie Hammer, Sci Fi Channel, and David Stapf, Paramount.

Ms. Bonnie Hammer
President and General Manager
Sci Fi Channel
1230 Avenue Of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

Mr. David Stapf
President
Paramount Television
5555 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038-3112

Hundreds of Star Wars fans are already in line at Mann's Chinese Theater, but to seem a little less like hopeless nerds, they do have a charity campaign going for the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation. You can call the ner -- uh, fans at a public payphone (323) 462-9609 and...I dunno. Call them nerds, I guess. The special rate for the call will go to the charity. The Liningup.net Web site says it has raised more than $6.200 in pledges this way.

"I think the Emperor is the incarnation of evil, and he's only really interested in power and manipulation...Nothing else gives him any pleasure. He's a Sith from way back, and they don't have a moral universe. They want to create power for themselves by destroying others. It's very interesting to play a character that is irredeemable. There are even real people that have that kind of motiveless malignancy. It's like watching [former Yugoslavian president Slobodan] Milosevic, somebody that only seems interested in power and manipulation....I'll miss [filming the SW movies], and it was great the last six years going to Australia to make a film...I think it's terrific for me that the final film is also my character's apotheosis. He really explodes in all his unbridled evil. Hypocrisy goes to one side and you see this creature for what he really is. It's been interesting to play the character in the last two movies on the sidelines, and now he moves into the middle. It's a very satisfying personal climax and a privilege."

Peter Mayhew's Chewbacca costume in Episode III is a "younger" Wookie, so his fur will be lighter. Mayhew, told SCI FI Wire:

"Chewie is one of those characters that never said a line throughout the whole of the three movies, and this one just finishes that off nicely. Chewie is a rock star anyway. He's one of those characters that you either love him or hate him and most people love him."

There's an online petition to get Revenge of the Sith seen by troops overseas at the same time as American audiences. Read about it here.

Spoiler (highlight to read): Here's the opening "crawl" for Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith:

Episode III explodes into theaters worldwide on May 19. Watch the trailer here and the behind-the-scenes featurette here.

Variety reports that Famke Janssen, who appeared to perish in the last X-Men movie, will be back for III, this time as the evil Dark Phoenix. Matthew Vaughn will direct. Hugh Jackman will return as Wolverine, and Halle Berry, Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart are "expected" to be there as well. McKellen, in particular, is said he's ready to go. They're hoping for a May 26, 2006 release..

Federal prosecutors won't allow Martha Stewart's electronic anklet to be removed during the filming of her show, because, you know, with all those cameras on her, she might escape.

This Week's Question: At Sandrine's, one of Tom's pool-playing holo-characters lays out his pick-up technique for Torres, who calls him (and Tom) a pig. What's the technique?

Send your answer to scifi@about.com. All correctly answering trivia maniacs will have their names mentioned in the next letter. The first winner gets to make a request, anything they like -- within reason -- for the next "Hailing Frequencies" Issue. Please let me know if you don't want me to post your email address if you win.

Last Week's Question: Who sings a song (and to whom) about how a young man is "looking for his first embrace"?

Send in your best caption for the picture below. The best (as in, my favorite) entry will appear in next week's issue.

THIS WEEK'S WINNER:

"Well, it looks like I'm getting passed over for a promotion again." - LMATTMANN"

Honorable Mentions...

Kim: "Ever notice that as we get older we don't lose our hair?"
Janeway: "That's because we've cured baldness."
Picard: "What the...? No one told me!" - Alex

"How many uniforms have they designed, and the shoulder pads still stick out?!" - BTCHONWHLS

"...and do you, Ensign Kim, take Captain Janeway to be your..." [The things a guy's gotta do just to make lieutenant on this ship!] - sexualuniverse

"Must....Resist....urge.....to.....kill......old.....woman..." - David

"So tell me, Harry, are you still a virgin?" - Debra Smith

Captain Kim: "I can't believe how long it's been since Voyager made it home. Where does the time go?"
Admiral Janeway: "Here we go again. Another lecture on the Borg. If they only knew what I am about to do they would have to court marshall me." - Andy

This week's topic: At this point, what do you think would have to happen for UPN to decide to renew Enterprise?

I think if Enterprise had received really super ratings right after UPN's announcement of Enterprise's cancellation (as a way for Trek fans to get even), they would have thought twice about cancelling it... and maybe go as far as changing their mind. But now that there still has been bad ratings since the UPN announcement, Enterprise has an iron clad outcome. Even if ratings were to jump 200% once the next new episodes start airing again, I doubt UPN would renew the show. It may bring another Trek to the TV screen sooner, but it wouldn't renew Enterprise.

I was pleasantly surprised that UPN publicly let all fans and the show's studio (Paramount) know that they decided to cancel Enterprise in such a timely fashion because usually when network executives decide to cancel a tv series, they officially announce it in May. This means that the last episode for the season would have finished shooting long before, making it impossible for the producers to make an appropriate series finale. Fans were able to stop having to wait in anticipation for what would inevitably happen.

Why should they? Their stupid network sucks. They refused to promote the show, they contributed to the "sexing up" which destroyed the characters, and they're still dicking with viewers by pre-empting it for baseball. The real question is, what would have to happen for Paramount to decide to sell ENT to a station which would treat it properly, like SCI-FI or Spike? (The answer is, Gene Roddenberry would have to come back from the dead, fire Berman and rip up his contract, and threaten Moonves with recordings of Nimoy singing "Proud Mary" for all eternity unless he complies.)

* Pigs flying
* Gene Roddenberry coming back from the dead and haunting the producers until they continue the show
* Aliens invading earth and declaring Enterprise the only show allowed to be made
* A volcano erupting at the studios burning up every other show’s set.

Too bad. Not the most popular of the series', but it definately had its moments.

I've been watching reruns of that great show Earth 2 lately, and thinking how that show set a few precedents never before done. There have been many shows with starships, a few that were "lost in space" and some that were immobile such as Space Island One (a great show in it's own right), but Earth 2 had something special. It wasn't in space. Well, not counting the series premiere. It explored an alien world from the ground up, literally and figuratively. It brought down two groups of people, those that were meant to be there, and those that were never meant to be there, creating conflict within from the beginning. There was conspiracy (the council, fronted excellently by Terry O'Quinn [John Locke on Lost]). There was a handy assortment of guest stars in the form of condemned prisoners who had been living on the planet for many years, the first of which was superbly played by Tim Curry. Other than Lost in Space (the original series) they were the first, to my knowledge, to have child stars as central characters. The mystery of the native inhabitants was intriguing and original when compared to the standard alien races on virtually every other sci-fi show previously. For one thing, they didn't speak English! There was no communicative medium except for a surreal dreamscape interaction between the aliens and the pilot. There was also a genuine undercurrent of meaningful symbolism about the ecology and how we as a species must live more in harmony with the Earth, a message about the conservation of energy, recycling, leaving little or no impact on nature, and learning to adapt to a new and better way to live that doesn't deplete the planet's resources and it's ability to sustain itself and us. Earth 2 led the way in ecological science fiction, and it's a real shame, and a sign of the times, that it was cancelled in favor of shows where vicious aliens trying to conquer humanity is the only appeal. If there is anyone in Hollywood with a shred of environmental conscience, they should push for an Earth 2 movie to tie up the loose ends and bring closure to the characters and fans. Who knows, in this sci-fi quality vacuum, maybe it will spur a new series with a similar theme. Sci-fi with a positive message. What a concept!

I have a further comment about possible change of actors in future Harry Potter movies.

We have watched all main actors go from late childhood into early teen years in the first three movies. Personally, I would like to see these same main actors continue in future Harry Potter movies.

So far, I believe only one supporting character was replaced in the third Harry Potter movie as a result of the original actor (Richard Harris) dying. His replacement was quite successful though I forget the gentleman's name. Even though I have seen actors replaced especially for age on British television series and on American soap operas, I find it difficult to adjust to different actors who do not look even similar to their predecessors. Some adjustments take at least several months and some adjustments have never been accepted by me.

Oh, well. What I am saying is that I hope the original main actors will be allowed to grow up in the Harry Potter movies as described in the actual books. And I truly hope the original supporting actors will continue with the Harry Potter movies as they all fit well into the stories as written.

I no longer believe that typecasting is an issue when an historical series of movies should be kept consistent throughout. I honestly worry that I might not accept changing any main actors especially for age from the 4th Harry Potter movie on. I do not believe the poll in the previous issue of Hailing Frequencies gave truly accurate choices on this topic. At least a section of the Harry Potter fan base would likely agree with my comments and outlook. I would not want to see future Harry Potter movies where the fan numbers might be decreasing because of actors changing.

Lost is spellbounding. The charactors are intriguing and the writing is riviting. The way the lives of the survivors is dribbled out increases our anticipation. We are part of what they are feeling. No one knows what the island is about or what its big secret is. Personnally, I think they traveled through a wormhole to another dimension. Or, the wormhole connected to an alternate time line. Talk about the possiblities. WOW!

Char

Next week's topic: Do you think the attitude towards sci-fi and fantasy as "lesser" genres is going away, or holding strong?

Send me something if you've got something to say. It can be about anything that's on your mind! (Please let me know if you don't want your email address to accompany your name in either contest or for the LTE.)

1 Sin City...........................$36,186,000
2 Guess Who.......................$43,171,000
3 Beauty Shop.....................$18,655,000
4 Miss Congeniality 2............$32,738,000
5 Robots...........................$105,798,000
6 Ring 2..............................$69,063,000
7 Upside of Anger.................. $9,516,000
8 Pacifier, The..................... $97,028,000
9 Hostage...........................$30,862,000
10 Hitch............................$171,829,000

1. Medium 10.1
2. Desperate Housewives 8.7
3. Lost 6.0
4. Alias 5.5
5. Point Pleasant 2.7
6. Smallville 1.9
7. Charmed 1.7
8. Enterprise 1.2

Stargate SG-1 1.8
Andromeda 1.5
The X-Files 1.5
Mutant X 1.4
She Spies 1.4
The Twilight Zone 1.4
Buffy 1.2
The Outer Limits 1.2
Angel 1.1
Ripley's 0.8

1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
2. The Da Vinci Code
3. Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith
4. Angels and Demons
5. The Time Traveler's Wife
6. The Hard Goodbye (Sin City 1)
7. The Five People You Meet in Heaven
8. Eldest (Inheritance 2)
9. A Dame to Kill for (Sin City 2)
10. Exile's Return (Conclave of Shadows 3)

1. The Incredibles
2. Finding Neverland
3. Star Wars: Clone Wars, Vol. 1
4. Phantom of the Opera
5. Bambi
6. Return of the King platinum edition
7. Star Wars trilogy
8. Star Wars: Episode I
9. Elektra
10. Star Wars: Episode II