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Hailing Frequencies #356
3.22.07

HELLO

And here's the three hundred and fifty-sixth edition of "Hailing Frequencies."

If you want to be notified when this newsletter is updated, email me to be put on my "notification" list.

I got to the last level in Jewel Quest! Whee!

Now what do I do?

NEW AT THE SITE THIS WEEK

The Paris and Tuvok Holonovels - Voyager Idol is up on the main page.

If you have no idea what a P&T Holonovel is, you might want to read the explanation here.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA

SCI FI Channel has almost doubled the number of episodes for season four, going from 13 to 22 episodes. This includes a special two-hour extended episode to air during fourth quarter 2007, which will then be released on DVD.

Season three ends Sunday, March 25, 2007, with production on the fourth season cranking back up in May for an early 2008 premiere.

It won't interfere with her role as Number Six on Battlestar Galactica, but Tricia Helfer will dye her hair brown and play a prominent role in David Eick's Them, a show about alien sleeper cells on Earth which I'd like more if it didn't rip off the title of the best giant ants movie of all time. The cast also includes James D'Arcy, Rachel Nichols, Ben Feldman, and Reg Rogers. - TVGuide.com.

Battlestar Galactica exec. producer and The Bionic Woman re-animator David Eick has renewed his first-look deal at NBC Universal.

BIONIC WOMAN

And speaking of NBC's The Bionic Woman, Miguel Ferrer and Chris Bowers have joined Michelle Ryan for the regular cast. Ferrer will play Oscar, and Bowers the boyfriend.

Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck) will guest as Sarag, evil bionic woman, in NBC's pilot for David Eick's The Bionic Woman remake, starring Michelle. (However, I still don't think Starbuck's really dead.)

BUFFY

Dark Horse comics has had so many orders (over 100,000) for the first issue of its Buffy the Vampire Slayer "season eight" comic that it's already going forward with a second printing that will feature a full-bleed version of the Jo Chen cover, with some of the design elements removed for a cleaner look. It should be in stores March 28, a week before the release of issue number two.

DEAD ZONE

From SCI FI Wire:

Chris Bruno, who plays Sheriff Walt Bannerman on USA Network's supernatural series The Dead Zone, told SCI FI Wire that the upcoming sixth season will see the impending arrival of Walt's child with his wife, Sarah (Nicole de Boer), which he hopes will complicate things. The love triangle among Walt, Sarah and psychic Johnny Smith (Anthony Michael Hall) could use some heating up, Bruno added.

"The fact is they've kind of made him almost a perfect guy with no flaws, and it makes her dilemma that much more difficult, that there's just no way she'd ever leave this guy because he's such a good guy," Bruno said in an interview.

THE DRESDEN FILES

There's a fun bit on SCI FI Wire about the way the writers found to deal with making a TV series out of The Dresden Files book series:

The writers discovered one key to the show in the form of Izzy, the pet dog of writer Laurence Walsh, [head writer David] Simkins said. After joking around that Izzy would become werewolf food, the writers realized that every episode needed an Izzy; that is, a sympathetic victim. "What we begin to land on in each episode was we'd ask the question in the writers' room: 'Who's the Izzy?' Meaning, who was the character who was in danger or who is the character that Harry goes to help or save?"

BTW, I finished the second book in the series, Fool Moon, which was even better than the first. Review coming soon.

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK

Kurt Russell griped to EW about the proposed New Line Cinema remake of Escape From New York, especially regarding the rumors that Gerard Butler would play his character, Snake Plissken.

"I will say that when I was told who was going to play Snake Plissken, my initial reaction was ''Oh, man!'' [Russell winces]. I do think that character was quintessentially one thing. And that is, American," the actor advised EW.com. To Russell, his Escape From New York anti-hero wasn't just any other role.

"People come up to me and say, ''You played Snake Plissken.'' I didn't play Snake Plissken, I created him!"

He is also adamantly against the idea of making a cameo or playing any other role in it. "(Expletive) that! I am Snake Plissken! It's like Sean Connery always watching someone else do their version of Bond. I think one of the things, for instance, about Escape From New York that appealed to me was that it wasn't a special effects extravaganza. It's a quiet, dark world and it revolved around watching the behavior of this one guy. He's a fascinating character. In fact, he's the most complex character I've ever played

HARRY POTTER

Idiot kids with nothing better to do got into the sets for the Hogwarts Express train carriages and caused more than £50,000 worth of damages March 10th. If there were justice in the world, they'd all be turned into toads.

Official word has come that the Scholastic edition of HP and the Deathly Hallows will have 784 pages.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows flies to shelves July 21.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix opens July 13.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has a tentative opening date of November 21, 2008.

Knitters! Check it out!

HEROES

SCI FI Wire has spoilers for the season-end for Heroes.

INDY IV

EmpireOnline.com reports the rumor that the Indy 4 movie will be entitled Indiana Jones And The City Of Gods. I guess they'll be visiting George Lucas' house. (rim-shot!)

Cate Blanchett has joined the cast of Indy IV, says The Hollywood Reporter. No word on her role, but I'm guessing she's the love interest.

LOST

It's ratings are slipping -- though the last couple episodes have rocked, seriously -- but Lost has been renewed with minimum fuss for a fourth season by ABC.

MISC...

• Bryan Singer is getting Tom Cruise to star in his WWIII thriller, which begins production in the summer.
• Jay Russell's The Water Horse will get a teaser trailer with May's release of Spider-Man 3.
• GameTap's Myst Online: Uru Live has finally got a version for the Mac.
• Okay, this isn't sci-fi or fantasy, but it's cool. Nielsen Monitor-Plus has released advertising spending figures for the full year 2006, which increased overall by +4.6% compared to 2005.
• YouTube is hosting a user-generated awards show. Categories include most creative, most inspirational, best serial entertainment, best comedy and best commentary. Videos can be submitted at www.youtube.com/ through March 23. Winners will be posted on March 26.
• Happy 50th Birthday, Gumby! And to think, you were once just a little green ball of clay.
• Check out the trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.
• Babylon Fields' latest cast member is Kathy Baker.
• Last Thursday, Smallville raked in 2.8/5, while Supernatural scored 2.3/4
• Ray Wise will play the Prince of Darkness in CW's The Reaper.
• SCI FI has newed Ghost Hunters for a fourth season.
• IGN warns us not to waste our time with Sandra Bullock's Premonition.

PIRATES

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End opens May 25, so Disney Interactive will release video games based on the franchise May 22 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PSP, PlayStation 2, Windows PC and Nintendo DS. (Remember when "big merchandising was a toy in a Happy Meal?)

RANDOM DIALOG QUIZ

Can you name the TV show? "I think I know why Joan's in charge."

Highlight to read the answer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

SAD NEWS

Calvert DeForest (Larry "Bud" Melman) has passed away at the age of 85 after a long illness.

SHAZAM!

Scriptwriter John August wrote on his blog that rumors Jake Gyllenhaal might play Captain Marvel in the upcoming Shazam! movie are sham-tarded.

SPEED RACER

Warner Brothers has pushed up the release of Speed Racer by two weeks. It will now open on May 9, 2008.

SPIDER-MAN

Check out Spidy 3 images and videos at IGN.

Joining in with Toby Maguire's noise-making, Kirsten Dunst says it's time for a "break" from the Spider-Man franchise, and a fourth movie, at least one with her in it, won't be coming soon.

Spider-Man 3 will be released in IMAX and regular theatres worldwide May 4.

STAR TREK

David Gerrold's TNG script about a gay couple (with an AIDS allegory) has been redone for the fan series Star Trek: New Voyages. No word if they can get George to do a cameo. Read more at TrekToday.

STAR WARS

Okay, the world just gets weirder all the time. To "celebrate" the 30th anniversary of the release of the original (and best) Star Wars movie, The US Post Office is replacing 400 mailboxes around the country is "highly visible" locations with versions that look like R2D2. I can only imagine that the Post Office is trying to remind people that it's "with it," and we should go back to sending letters instead of email. But I think mostly they're just going to end up with a lot of stolen mailboxes. If they have any sense, when the promotion is over, they'll auction the rest off to nerds. The USPS also going to sell a commemorative Star Wars stamp starting March 28. Check out the Website.

STARGATES

Sky One wants to know your "favourite" Stargate SG-1 episodes. Enter to win an autographed SG-1 script and a complete set of DVDs. Winning episodes will air March 31-April 1.

Brad Wright has confirmed to Gateworld that Richard Dean Anderson will appear in the upcoming movie Stargate: Continuum.

Okay, this news bit includes major spoilers for the Stargate Atlantis episode, "Sunday," which has yet to air in the US (though it's not like it's hard to see it now, if you know what I mean). Do not highlight the following unless you want to be spoiled: This website is scheduling a protest outside Bridge Studios in Burnaby, BC, Canada, where Stargate Atlantis is filmed. March 22nd from 12:30 - 2:00 PM, fans will gather to celebrate and hear the world-class Scottish Pipe Band, The Highland Celts of Canada. The group will play traditional pipe band tunes including “The Dark Isle,” the song played in the episode Sunday during Carson’s memorial. For more info, and how to buy the T-shirt and all that read more here!.

SUPERMAN

Several Websites are reporting the news (unconfirmed) that instead of having a sequel to Superman Returns, Brandon Routh will just play Supie in a Justice League movie. Director Bryan Singer, however, has since said he's still planning to do a Superman Returns II.

Yet more rumors have it that Christian Bale's Batman will be a member of the Justice League movie, perhaps doing it as his third Batman movie for which he is currently under contract.

TMNT

IGN has a review of the soundtrack, which is thinks is lacking oomph, and a review of the film itself, which is the "best yet" for the bandana'd reptiles:

Previous Turtle outings featured either traditional two-dimensional animation or live-action martial artists, neither of which really preserved the Frank Miller-influenced original designs of the characters. Here, however, the Turtles look fantastic -- truly as realistic as a bemuscled, mutated turtle likely ever will -- and their moves aren't curtailed by cumbersome suits or cartoon simplicity. When they square off against members of the Foot Clan, statuesque soldiers or especially each other, the moves are fast as lightning (to borrow a familiar phrase). The centerpiece battle between Raphael and Leonardo is a study in beauty and dexterity (both from physical and animation perspectives), and shows the characters at the absolute peak of their abilities being put through the kinds of action that only the comic books have thus far successfully conceptualized. At the same time, the four personalities are also revived with remarkable accuracy.

TIN MAN

SCI FI Channel has finished the casting for its take on the Oz motiff, Tin Man, with Zooey Deschanel, Alan Cumming, Richard Dreyfuss, Neal McDonough, Kathleen Robertson, and Raoul Trujillo, and shooting should begin in late March for a December 2007 premiere. The story's about a girl living a dull life until she's thrown into The Outer Zone (O.Z., get it?) which is oppressed by dark magic, including winged monkeys and a long and winding road.

TOP MOVIES TODAY FROM THE NUMBERS

1 300...........................$138,927,393
2 Wild Hogs....................$108,095,623
3 Premonition................$21,012,534
4 Dead Silence...............$9,350,710
5 Bridge to Terabithia... ...$76,132,974
6 I Think I Love My Wife...$6,921,924
7 Zodiac.......................$30,156,352
8 Ghost Rider.................$111,243,220
9 The Number 23............$34,571,000
10 Music and Lyrics.........$48,065,459

Weekend Box Office Estimates: March 16-18, 2007
300 (Warner Bros.) $31.2 million - 2 wk total $127.5m
Wild Hogs (Buena Vista) $18.8 million - 3 wk total $103.9m
Premonition (Sony) $18.0 million - opening weekend
Dead Silence (Universal) $7.7 million - opening weekend
I Think I Love My Wife (Fox Searchlight) $5.7 million - opening weekend
Bridge to Terabithia (Buena Vista) $5.1 million - 5 wk total $74.9m
Ghost Rider (Sony) $4.0 million - 5 wk total $110.2m
Zodiac (Paramount) $3.1 million - 3 wk total $28.9m
Norbit (Paramount/DreamWorks) $2.7 million - 6 wk total $92.4m
Music and Lyrics (Warner Bros.) $2.2 million - 5 wk total $47.4m
Source: Box Office Mojo

TOP BOOKS SCI-FI/FANTASY @ Amazon, 3.22.07

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
2. For a Few Demons More, by Kim Harrison
3. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
4. White Night: A Novel of The Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher
5. Storm Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1), by Jim Butcher (my review)
6. Magic Item Compendium (Dungeons & Dragons Supplement)
7. Fool Moon (The Dresden Files, Book 2), by Jim Butcher
8. Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson Series, Book 2), by Patricia Briggs
9. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
10. 1984, by George Orwell

TOP DVDs SCI-FI/FANTASY @ Amazon, 3.22.07

1. Peter Pan (Two-Disc Platinum Edition)
2. Eragon (Two-Disc Special Edition)
3. Children of Men (Widescreen Edition) (read my review)
4. Pan's Labyrinth (Two-Disc Special Edition)
5. Stargate Atlantis - The Complete Second Season
6. Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
7. The Little Mermaid (Two-Disc Special Edition)
8. Firefly - The Complete Series
9. The Pretender 2001 / The Pretender - Island of the Haunted
10. Alice in Wonderland (Masterpiece Edition)

TOP SCI FI NETWORK SHOWS - Nielsen Galaxy Report, 2/19 - 2/25/07

Heroes 8.2
Lost 7.6
Ghost Whisperer 6.4
Jericho 5.5
Medium 5.4
Smallville 1.9
Supernatural 1.2

TOP SCI FI SYNDICATED SHOWS - Nielsen Galaxy Report, 2/19 - 2/25/07

Alias 1.9
Smallville 1.6
Stargate Atlantis 1.4
Stargate SG-1 1.2
Star Trek 1.2
Farscape 0.6
The Outer Limits 0.5

INSANE TREK TRIVIA

This Week's Question: Mr. Homm only speaks once. What does he say, and in what episode?

Send your answer to julia.houston@gmail.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 is from last week's first winner, Jim: In the entire TNG series we only saw one other Galaxy Class starship. What was its name and who was her captain?

Answer: U.S.S. Yamato captained by Donald Varley. We saw it early early in the series, season 2, I think. We saw it twice (sorta). The first time was in "Where Silence Has Lease" when it was not a real ship, but was instead created by that energy guy with the blue face. The second time was in "Contagion" when it blew up. It had a different NCC number each time.

First winner
Michael

Second winner
Doug

Third winner
Patty

Fourth winner
Neil

CAPTION CONTEST

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

[Insert caption here.]

Last week's topic: How's the balance of hot babes versus hot guys in sci-fi and fantasy these days? Even, or not?

***

Don't care. Just bring on more of the hot guys.

BTCHONWHLS

***

Next week's topic: Profiles in History is having an auction on April 5, 11 AM PT, with items to include Christopher Reeve's costume from the first Superman movie, a Batsuit worn by Val Kilmer in Batman Forever,a Wicked Witch of the West "Winkie" guard costume from The Wizard of Oz, Yvonne Blake's costume designs for Reeve and Marlon Brando, Leonard Nimoy's Spock tunic from the first season of Star Trek, an H.R. Giger Alien creature suit, Arnold Schwarzenegger's costume from Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Hugh Jackman's Wolverine claws from X2, Samuel L. Jackson's stunt-fighting lightsaber from Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones, and the Staff of Ra headpiece from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

If you could have any single piece of movie/TV memorabilia, what would it be, and why?

Send me something if you've got something to say.  It can be about anything that's on your mind!

HAILING FREQUENCIES CLOSED

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Julia Houston