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TV Log
Hailing Frequencies #360
4.27.07
HELLO
And here's the three hundred and sixtieth edition of "Hailing Frequencies."
If you want to be notified when this newsletter is updated, email me to be put on my "notification" list.
Sorry for the silence recently. Day job.
ALL OF ME
Yup, this 1984 Steve Martin/Lily Tomlin movie, which is not in the least dated and still funny as hell, is going to be remade. New Line has signed Queen Latifah to star this time around. Brent Goldberg and David Wagner are working on the script, and New Line wants Wanda Sykes in the Tomlin role.
Whatever.
DOCTOR WHO
Okay, we American Doctor Who nerds have good news. SCI FI Channel has indeed picked up BBC's third season of Doctor Who, which will debut in America June 6, 2007 with the Doctor Who Christmas Special: The Runaway Bride, guest-starring Catherine Tate. We'll finally get to meet (officially, anyway) David Tennant's new companion, Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), in the first official episode of the season, "Smith and Jones."
Doctor Who has also been sold to over 30 territories internationally, including Japan (NHK), Thailand (Channel 7), South Korea (KBS2), Australia (ABC), New Zealand (Prime), France (France 4), Spain and Portugal (People & Arts), Denmark (Danmarks Radio), Sweden (SVT), Holland (NOS, Channel 3), Italy (Canal Jimmy), Finland (YLE) and Norway (NRK). If I get any programming info on any of those, I'll let you know!
EUREKA
Season two premieres July 10. For my take on this show, go here.
HARRY POTTER
Despite being a big hit and receiving a lot of critical praise, Equus will close will Daniel Radcliffe leaves in June, according to the BBC. And that's a little creepy, IMO. The West End theatre evidently believes the play won't survive the loss of seeing Harry Potter naked. Ew.
Oh, and speaking of Potter, MAX Corp. and Warner Bros. announced that the final 20 minutes of Order of the Phoenix will be digitally 3D-ized for IMAX theaters. And that's a lucky break, too, because that movie's going to need all the box office help it can get, you know.
Check out the new international trailer for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The movie comes out July 13.
Scholastic Inc. is laying down the law for US libraries about just who can touch the last of the Harry Potter books before July 21. Libraries must provide names and contact information for each branch manager, or face being excluded from future embargoed titles.
LeakyCauldron has some Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix video game images up.
 |
Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows, all 784 pages, flies to shelves July
21. The soundtrack to the film will be available July 1.
|
Knitters! Check it out!
LOST
ABC has announced its May Sweep-timed series season finales:
April 26 – October Road at 1001p
May 8 – George Lopez at 8p
May 13 – America's Funniest Home Videos Part 1 at 8p
May 16 – According to Jim at 8p
May 17 – Ugly Betty at 8p
May 18 – America's Funniest Home Videos Part 2 at 8p
May 20 – Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Two-Part at 7p & 8p; Desperate Housewives at 9p; and Brothers & Sisters at 10p
May 21 – Dancing with the Stars (Performance Show) at 8p and The Bachelor at 901p
May 22 – Dancing with the Stars: The Results Show at 8p and Boston Legal at 1001p
May 23 – Lost at 9p
MISC...
- SciFi.com and Sci Fi Magazine announced that the organization's newest pilot, Outer Space Astronauts, will air exclusively on SCI FI Pulse. Viewers will help decide if the show gets greenlit.
- IGN has more images up for Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
- Another voice has been added to the chorus that another X-Files movie is indeed on the way. Exec. prod. Frank Spotnitz' official blog states: "A script is indeed in development, but I'm afraid that's all I can say. Thanks for your good wishes and support all these years." Ooookay...
- Ray Bradbury won a special citation from the Pulitzer Prize board on April 16 for his "distinguished, prolific and deeply influential career as an unmatched author of science fiction and fantasy." 'Bout time.
- Thursday's Smallville got a 2.5/4 while Supernatural got a 2.1/3. Friday's Ghost Whisperer got a 4.5/9.
- SCI FI Channel's Flash Gordon premieres August 10 and stars Eric Johnson. Hurley must be so excited...or would be, if he weren't...you know...
- SCI FI Channel's Destination Truth debuts June 6 at 10 PM. The one-hour weekly series invites viewers along on one man's search for the truth while investigating stories of the unexplained across the globe. Josh Gates stars.
- Who Wants to Be a Superhero? returns July 25 at 9 PM
- Michael Bay says Autobot Optimus Prime will not have lips in his Transformers. No word about nipples.
NEXT
IGN's review sums up the general feeling on the Net:
Film adaptations of Philip K. Dick stories have a pretty spotty track record and Next, based on the author's short story The Golden Man, does nothing to improve their standing -- despite the efforts of acclaimed actors Nicolas Cage and Julianne Moore in the lead roles.
NOT SCI FI NEWS
...but I can't not mention that After a 28-year run (!), Bob Vila's show for CBS Television Distribution has shut down production. The season wasn't going well, with the Bob Vila Show averaging only 0.3 HH rtg, on par with last year, per TV Week.
PIRATES
Check out the trailer.
RANDOM DIALOG QUIZ
Can you name the movie? "He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy."
Highlight to read the answer: Life of Brian
SHREK
Sometimes, you just have to laugh.
Shrek rocked the whole "beautiful people of Disney" boat by having an ogre fall in love with a "cursed" beautiful princess and provide her with true love's kiss...and her own permanent status as an ogre herself. The message is simple: your insides matter more than your outsides.
Well, not so fast, says The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood says Shrek's a big fatty that children shouldn't admire pushing bad food on unsuspecting kids. In particular, they group objects to the use of Shrek in fitness-promotion ads, urging kids to exercise.
Only pretty people should be seen jogging on TV, and don't you forget it.
SPIDER-MAN
Sam Raimitold SCI FI Wire that his original plans for the third film were much smaller:
"Well, my brother and I had written in the story about another woman that recognized Peter and knew who he was at this dinner and that Mary Jane got jealous of her," Raimi said. "But Laura Ziskin, my producer, said, 'Let's make it Gwen...the fans would much rather have Gwen make an introduction now, and you can do what you need to do or someone can do what they need to do in the fourth picture with her, but at least you've introduced her, and they would appreciate that.'"
As he has discussed previously, Raimi added that it was Arad's idea to add the villain Venom to the mix. "Avi Arad, my partner and the former president of Marvel at the time, said to me, 'Sam, ... you're not paying attention to the fans enough,'" Raimi said. "'You need to think about them. You've made two movies now with your favorite villains, and now you're about to make another one with your favorite villains. The fans love Venom. He is the fan favorite.
Spider-Man 3 will be released in IMAX and regular theatres worldwide May 4. (Sony is denying the report from Reuters that video pirates in China have already been selling bootleg DVDs of the film.)
STAR WARS
In news that has totally made my day, Seth Green and Matthew Senreich are doing Robot Chicken: Star Wars, a 30-minute version of RC exclusively spoofing the Star Wars universe. They've got Mark Hamill, of course, but also George Lucas, Conan O'Brien, Seth MacFarlane, Robert Smigel, Malcolm McDowell, Hulk Hogan, James Van Der Beek, Donald Faison, Abraham Benrubi, Breckin Meyer and Joey Fatone. The special will premiere at 10 PM June 17 on Adult Swim. I absolutely cannot wait.
Clips from Fanboys, which heavily features the Star Wars fandom, among others, will premiere May 25 at the Celebration IV convention, followed the next day by a special panel discussion with the filmmakers.
Darth Vader? Meet Hot Air Balloon. Hot Air Balloon....
STARGATES
Friday, April 20, SG-1's rating for "Ling in the Sand" fell 30% from the mid-season premiere, while Atlantis' "Echoes" went down 15% from the previous week. Boo!
Gateworld has an interview up with Michael Shanks about his role on 24. He shows up Monday, April 30, as Mark Bishop, a Washington lobbyist and love interest for Lisa Williams. (She has good taste!)
X-MEN
Variety says that David Goyer will direct Magneto, the X-Men and develop a script by Sheldon Turner. As this is an "origin story," Ian McKellen may show up only for the finale, or not at all.
TOP MOVIES TODAY FROM THE NUMBERS
1 Fracture.......................................$13,592,000
2 Disturbia......................................$42,331,236
3 Vacancy........................................$9,165,391
4 Blades of Glory..........................$102,388,158
5 Hot Fuzz.......................................$7,208,000
6 Meet the Robinsons......................$83,119,069
7 Perfect Stranger...........................$19,078,457
8 In the Land of Women...................$5,607,436
9 300............................................$205,284,199
10 Are We Done Yet?....................$40,184,303
Weekend Box Office Estimates: April 20-22, 2007
Disturbia (Paramount/DreamWorks) $13.5 million - 2 wk total $40.7m
Fracture (New Line) $11.8 million - opening weekend
Blades of Glory (Paramount/DreamWorks) $7.8 million - 4 wk total $101.1m
Vacancy (ScreenGems) $7.6 million - opening weekend
Meet the Robinsons (Buena Vista) $7.1 million - 4 wk total 82.2m
Hot Fuzz (Rogue Pictures) $5.8 million - opening weekend
Are We Done Yet? (Sony Revolution) $5.2 million - 3 wk total $39.6m
In the Land of Women (Warner Bros.) $4.9 million - opening weekend
Perfect Stranger (Sony/Revolution) $4.1 million - 2 wk total $18.1m
Wild Hogs (Buena Vista) $2.9 million - 8 wk total $156.2m
Source: Box Office Mojo
TOP BOOKS SCI-FI/FANTASY @ Amazon, 4.5.07
1. Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
2. The
Children of Hurin: Deluxe Edition
3. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
4. Slaughterhouse-Five
5. All Together Dead (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Bk. 7)
6. No Humans Involved , by Kelley Armstrong
7. Storm
Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1)
8. White
Night: A Novel of The Dresden Files
9. The
Time Traveler's Wife
10.Cat's Cradle
TOP DVDs
SCI-FI/FANTASY @ Amazon, 4.5.07
1. Night at the Museum (Widescreen Edition)
2. Deja Vu
3.
Babylon 5 - The Lost Tales
4. Pan's
Labyrinth (Two-Disc Special Edition)
5. Children
of Men (Widescreen Edition)
6.
The 4400 - The Complete Third Season
7. Peter
Pan (Two-Disc Platinum Edition)
8. Stargate
Atlantis - The Complete Second Season (read
my review)
9. Firefly
- The Complete Series
10. Twin
Peaks - The Second Season
TOP SCI FI NETWORK SHOWS - Nielsen Galaxy Report, 4.2-4.8.07
Lost 7.2
Ghost Whisperer 6.2
Medium 5.7
Jericho 5.1
Smallville 1.6
Supernatural 1.6
INSANE TREK TRIVIA
This Week's Question: What was sort of odd about Neelix' pasta?
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: In what non-Trek production was William Shatner's character dismayed to discover that the ship had no bridge?
Answer: Airplane II.
First winner
Lou
Second winner|
Neil
Third winner
oriley
Fourth winner
Doug
Fifth winner
Jim
Sixth winner
Debbie
Seventh winner
Leonard
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.]
THIS WEEK'S WINNER:
"Darling, you have a split end!" - Patty
Honorable mentions...
“Your skin is so silky soft and smooth!”
"Why thank you, Logan! It’s that new Regenerating Night Lotion from Dove.” - Neil
"Logan, you're really gonna run when you see what just came out of your ear!" - Doug
"NOOO! A GREY HAIR!" - Debbie
"My career is over, I tell you! OVER!!" - BTCHONWHLS
"I don't care if Willard IS your favorite movie, get rid of these damn rats!!!" - Ozzygreybeard
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR"
Last week's topic: Indiana Jones IV and Jurassic Park IV...How do you know when a series is tapped out?
***
A series/franchise is tapped out only when there are no more believable stories to tell. If Indy is doing something age-appropriate and interesting, then Indy IV will be a good film. it's when TIIC try to force a character to do something not credible, not possible, inappropriate, or plain stupid (Nemesis and Insurrection) or try to shoehorn other characters into the shoes of the originals to find something new to do in the old universe (Star Wars I, II, and III) that the shark is jumped.
evay
***
Well, that "IV" thing kinda gives it away.
BTCHONWHLS
***
Next week's topic: Stargate SG-1 lasted for ten years. What other sci-fi show on TV right now do you think might make it that long?
***
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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