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TV Log
Hailing Frequencies #366
6.7.07
HELLO
And here's the three hundred and sixty-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.
Shhh. New Orleans doesn't seem to know it's summer yet. We're only getting highs in the low 90s and it's only raining every other day. Oh, and have you seen the new interactive weather map over at Weather.com?
THE 4400
The 4400's fourth season will introduce Meghan Doyle, played by Jenni Baird, the new head of the National Threat Assessment Command.
Penny Johnson Jerald will be in three episodes of The 4400 next season.
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
From SCI FI:
Executive producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick have decided that season 4 of Battlestar Galactica, SCI FI Channel’s Peabody Award-winning original series, will be its last. They will use the 22-episode season, currently in production, to draw the saga of humanity’s struggle for survival to a close.
"This show was always meant to have a beginning, a middle and finally, an end. Over the course of the last year, the story and the characters have been moving strongly toward that end and we've decided to listen to those internal voices and conclude the show on our own terms,” stated Eick and Moore. “On a personal level, it's been a creative privilege and an honor for all of us who work on the show and we know we'll be lucky to ever see its like again. And while we know our fans will be saddened to know the end is coming, they should brace themselves for a wild ride getting there – we're going out with a bang."
“We respect the producers’ decision to end the series and are proud to have been the home of this groundbreaking show. We have always known that Ron and David had a plan for ‘Galactica’ and trust that fans can look forward to a truly amazing final season," stated Mark Stern, Executive Vice President of Original Programming, SCI FI.
Production on the final 22 hours of season 4 is currently underway in Vancouver. An extended two-hour episode, “Razor,” will premiere in November 2007, setting the stage for the rest of the season to commence in early 2008.
WHAAAA!!!
FANTASTIC FOUR
Remember those commemorative quarters promoting Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer? Well, the promotion departments of Twentieth Century Fox and Franklin Mint forgot to check that it was okay with the U.S. Mint, which stated: "The promotion is in no way approved, authorized, endorsed, or sponsored by the United States Mint, nor is it in any way associated or affiliated with the United States Mint."
Fox says they didn't know they had to ask permission to mimic money, but it is, in fact, a federal crime.
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer opens June 15.
HARRY POTTER
A first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is going up for sale this on the 26th in London and may well make more than the $10-20,000 estimate.
 |
Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows, all 784 pages, flies to shelves July
21. The soundtrack to the film will be available July 1.
|
HEROES
We're going to see at least five new heroes on Heroes next season, including regular Dania Ramirez as Maya, with a superpower to be named later, a "sexy" and probably French boyfriend for Claire, an Irish mobster, 28-year-old mother, and woman who'll be looking after Micah.
NBC's Heroes got nominated as program of the year in annual Television Critics Association nominations announced on June 5. Winners will be announced July 21 in Beverly Hills.
Tim Kring has signed a Heroes-centric development deal with NBC Universal Television Studios for the next two years.
HIGHLANDER
ozzygreybeard sends word on Highlander: The Source from it's Website "Peter Davis and Bill Panzer of Davis/Panzer Productions, the producers, in conjunction with Lionsgate Entertainment, are presently editing and remixing the film. This final cut will be delivered to Lionsgate on or about March 15, 2007. Lionsgate will be releasing the film in September, 2007." Thanks!
JERICO
Fans of the show finally convinced CBS to renew this canceled show by sending 40,000 pounds of peanuts (it's an inside joke). CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler said the network will air all of Season #1 this summer, release the season on DVD September 25, and will possibly launch an online component to keep fans happy until the second season premieres next year.
LORD OF THE RINGS
Lord of the Rings has made so much money as a movie and merchandising franchise, I'm sure New Line Cinema couldn't have been too surprised May 30 when fifteen actors filed suit to get some of it. Specifically, they want 5% of "net merchandising revenue" split among all actors whose characters are portrayed on the merchandise: Noel Appleby, Jed Brophy, Mark Ferguson, Ray Henwood, Bruce Hopkins, William Johnson, Nathaniel Lees, Sarah McLeod, Ian Mune, Paul Norell, Craig Parker, Robert Pollock, Martyn Sanderson, Peter Tait, and Stephan Ure.
LOST
Lost - The Complete Third Season
MISC...
- The complete series of Irwin Allen's Land of the Giants will be released on DVD July 24, 2007. Thanks, OGB!
- The worldwide online game market is forecasted to grow from $3.4 billion in 2005 to over $13 billion in 2011, according to a new report from DFC Intelligence. This growth will be driven by the increase in broadband households, higher PC penetration and more connected console video game systems, leading to a growing number of consumer subscription services, the emergence of online digital distribution and increasing acceptance of games as an advertising mechanism.
- CW's rerun of Smallville got a 1.5/3, while Supernatural scored a 1.2/2.
- Disney's bought Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simons' spec script All About Adam, about the biblical Adam as he trails Eve to modern-day New York after they have a lover's quarrel.
- CBS' Ghost Whisperer scared up a 4.2/8 this week.
- SCI FI Pulse has posted clips from Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster and Invasion of Astro-Monster, the latest Godzilla DVDs.
- John Hurt who be back for a cameo as Professor Bruttenholm in Hellboy 2: The Golden Army.
- DreamWorks and Parkes/MacDonald Productions have acquired the spec SF script Tester by first-time scribe Colin Trevorrow, about a war vet who discovers that the chip implanted in his brain is not medicine, but rather neurotechnology designed to control his body as a weapon of war, according to The Hollywood Reporter..
RANDOM DIALOG QUIZ
Can you name the movie? "Have you met the goon squad?"
Highlight to read the answer: The Black Hole
SHREKS
Katzenberg says to look for Shrek IV in 2010 and Shrek V in 2013
SOUNDS LIKE SCI-FI, BUT AHAHAHAHAHA
Rob Lowe was playing at the Principal Charity Classic Pro-Am at the Glen Oaks Country Club in Des Moines when his approach shot on the 4th hole hit a goldfinch. His statement: "That's unbelievable. Who comes here and kills the state bird? Only me."
HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SCI FI, BUT AAAAAAHH!!
There are rumors Amazon.com may buy out Netflix. The thinking is that Amazon could combine its Unbox download-to-own video service with Netflix's Watch Now online rental service.
SPEED RACER
Check out the real-car Mach 5 from the Wachowski brothers' Speed Racer movie, boys and girls.
Warner Bros has released Speed Racer basic plot line (spoiler warning):
"Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) is a natural behind the wheel. Born to race cars, Speed is aggressive, instinctive and, most of all, fearless. His only real competition is the memory of the brother he idolized—the legendary Rex Racer—whose death in a race has left behind a legacy that Speed is driven to fulfill.
"Speed is loyal to the family racing business, led by his father, Pops Racer (John Goodman), the designer of Speed's thundering Mach 5. When Speed turns down a lucrative and tempting offer from Royalton Industries, he not only infuriates the company's maniacal owner (Roger Allam) but uncovers a terrible secret—some of the biggest races are being fixed by a handful of ruthless moguls who manipulate the top drivers to boost profits. If Speed won't drive for Royalton, Royalton will see to it that the Mach 5 never crosses another finish line.
"The only way for Speed to save his family's business and the sport he loves is to beat Royalton at its own game. With the support of his family and his loyal girlfriend, Trixie (Christina Ricci), Speed teams with his one-time rival—the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox)—to win the race that had taken his brother's life: the death-defying, cross-country rally known as The Crucible."
The movies also stars John Goodman and Susan Sarandon.
STAR TREK
Retro review of "Angel One."
STAR WARS
Star Wars Legacy Revealed set a ratings mark for The History Channel and drove more traffic to history.com than any other show this year. See what happens when you pander to the nerds, Corporate America?!
IGN has a con report on Star Wars Celebration IV.
STARGATE
see.
THUNDERCATS
Warner Bros has optioned Paul Sopocy's origin-story script for a live-action Thundercats feature film, once again demonstrating that people will make a movie out of anything. In this case, we'll get the adventures of humanoid cats Lion-O, Tygra, Panthro and Cheetara who flee their ravaged homeworld, Thundera, to do battle with the evil sorcerer Mumm-Ra.
TRANSFORMERS
Transformers will have its world debut at Italy's Taormina Film Festival on June 21, then will take over four theaters in Westwood for its June 27 stateside premiere, then do its global premiere July 3 (moved up a day).
IGN has an interview up with Michael Bay about Transformers. Good bit: "Steven [Spielberg] called me I think a year ago last April, and my first thought was, 'No, I'm not interested,'" says Bay. "Just because I thought, 'O.K., how am I going to do a toy movie?' And then when I went to Hasbro I realized, 'O.K., start over and go for the realistic alien invasion robot movie on Earth.' So with that thinking in mind, that's how I went about it."
WESTWORLD
Billy Ray is writing the script for the Westworld remake for Warner Bros. and told SCI FI Wire:
"There is no director attached...I would resist the idea of directing it myself, not that they've offered it to me, because I don't want the pressure of that kind of a budget sitting on my shoulders....I love the basic idea of the movie, which is that our amusements can kill us....I also think the movie provides a great platform for exploring how sometimes machines can behave like humans while humans can sometimes behave like machines."
TOP US MOVIES TODAY FROM THE NUMBERS
1. Knocked Up............................................$39,246,570 5
2 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.......$225,491,113
3 Shrek the Third........................................$261,139,048
4 Mr. Brooks...............................................$11,995,692
5 Spider-Man 3...........................................$319,846,841
6 Waitress.................................................$9,901,428
7 28 Weeks Later........................................$26,923,152
8 Bug........................................................$6,463,835
9 Gracie.....................................................$1,646,000
10 Disturbia................................................$76,973,750
Domestic Weekend Box Office Estimates: June 1-3, 2007
Pirates: At World's End (Buena Vista) $43.2 million - 2 wk total $216.5m
Knocked Up (Universal) $29.3 million - opening weekend
Shrek the Third (Paramount/DreamWorks) $26.7 million - 3 wk total $254.6m
Mr. Brooks (MGM) $10.0 million - opening weekend
Spider-Man 3 (Sony) $7.5 million - 5 wk total $318.3m
Waitress (Fox Searchlight) $2.0 million - 5 wk total $9.4m
Gracie (Picturehouse) $1.4 million - opening weekend
Bug (Lionsgate) $1.2 million - 2 wk total $6.1m
28 Weeks Later (Fox Atomic) $1.2 million - 4 wk total $26.6m
Disturbia (Paramount/DreamWorks) $1.1 million - 8 wk total $76.7m
Source: Box Office Mojo
TOP BOOKS SCI-FI/FANTASY @ Amazon, 6.7.07
1. Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
2.The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
3. The
Harlequin: An Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Novel
4. The
Children of Hurin: Deluxe Edition
5. Maximum Ride #3: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports, by James Patterson
6. Sacrifice (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 5)
7. His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass)
8. Slaughterhouse-Five
9. Fahrenheit 451
10. Master of Dragons (Mageverse, Book 8)
TOP DVDs
SCI-FI/FANTASY @ Amazon, 6.7.07
1. Heroes - Season 1
2.
Pan's
Labyrinth (Two-Disc Special Edition)
3. Ghost Rider (Widescreen Edition)
4. Lost - The Complete Third Season
5. Stargate SG-1 - Season 10
6. Night at the Museum (Widescreen Edition)
7. Smallville - The Complete Sixth Season
8. The Fountain (read my review)
9. The Dead Zone - The Complete Fifth Season
10. Firefly
- The Complete Series
TOP SCI FI SYNDICATED SHOWS - Nielsen Galaxy Report, 5.14-5.20.07
Alias 1.5
Smallville 1.5
Star Trek 1.3
Stargate SG-1 1.2
Stargate Atlantis 1.1
Farscape 0.5
The Outer Limits 0.5
TOP SCI FI NETWORK SHOWS - Nielsen Galaxy Report, 5.7-5.13.07
Lost 7.3
Heroes 6.6
Ghost Whisperer 6.1
Medium 5.3
Jericho 5.2
Smallville 2.2
Supernatural 1.7
Battlestar Galactica 0.3
INSANE TREK TRIVIA
This Week's Question: Name the only two Trek characters we've actually seen in a sonic shower.
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: Vash really knew how to do a mean oomax. Who once did it by accident?
Answer: Mrs. Lwaxana Troi
First winner
Jim
Second winner
Debra
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:
"The winning design for Project Runway 2027" - Kathryn
Honorable mentions...
"Arrid® Extra Dry helps keep me dry and odor-free, even in the steamiest of environments! See?" - Neil - www.TVsGreatestHits.com
"Now that we have the band back together, I wanted to preview the stage attire we all will be wearing." - ozzygreybeard
"V is for VIAGRA (tm)." - Perry
"Pleeeease don't stand soooo close tooo me...Pleeease don't stand soooo...no, I'm serious. You need to back up there, buddy." - BTCHONWHLS
"Don't cry for me, Argentin--er, Latvia!" - Stephen
"Khaaaa-a-a-a-a-a-nnnnnnnn!" - Stephen
"Boy, defeating the villains, saving the universe, and getting the girl is a great way to shed some pounds!" - Stephen
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR"
Last week's topic: Why is it so much fun to debate the intricacies of sci-fi ships and weapons, do you think?
***
I have been collecting ST blueprints since they first came out with the simplest ones in the 70's. To me, it's fun to imagine how something as massive as Kirk's Enterprise (24 stories tall) and Picard's Enterprise (42) could bank and maneuver through the void of space. I also HAD to know where the bathrooms were, since we never saw one in three years of the original series. How far is it between the sick bay and the shuttle bay, the bridge and sleeping quarters, etc.
I 'graduated' to other series and sci fi novels and like to discuss how much power it would take to move these monsters; how it would be like to actually live and work for months and years at a time without seeing anything outside the window but blackness.
Sometimes it's funny to think back on how impossible some Sci Fi vehicles of the past were in terms of the interior space they were the supposed to have. EVERY Irwin Allen series comes to mind in this case.
Regarding weapons, I think that depends on which series/species you talk about. Apart from the photon/phaser cannons on DS9, I think most ship's weapons systems are fairly routine these days. To me, the Defiant still stands out as the best fighting machine from Sci Fi. I was fascinated by the phaser's on Kirk's Enterprise in the 60's, but they seem so ordinary in the 21st century. The SW light saber is SO cool, even though in actuality it's somewhat impractical except in close quarters.
Jim
***
Because anything goes, my guess is as good as yours and either the plot holes are too easy to criticize, or there aren't any plot holes...that's about all I can think of. You made a reference to Ten Titans; was that a type for Teen Titans or were there ten of them? I haven't been paying much attention to that particular series.
Stephen
[Smarty-pants. - Julia]
***
[on last week's topic: What do you think about the Times' argument? Does there seem to be more escapist TV in sci-fi and fantasy lately? Do you think it has a connection to our tense times? ]
My honest opinion is that the question is poorly worded. First, when I saw "The Times" I thought I was missing something. Was this a reference to some article in a Times newspaper? Then I realized that this is the same question that has been debated for years in other forums like sociology classes and film schools. In those settings the question was regarding the trend toward burlesque and slapstick during WWI and silly musicals during WWII. The conclusion, then as now, is of course. However, the current times are complicated both by the moral grayness of the issues (fighting "ISMS" instead of uniformed enemies), the gigantic variety of media, and the apparent drop in quality of options (this is debatable especially by those too young to remember the real hollywood golden era-the 1970's and '80s).
As to this week's question: Why is it so much fun to debate the intricacies of sci-fi ships and weapons, do you think? I do find some small pleasure in this issue because so often, both in novels and in video, the writers do a very poor job of conceptualizing/visualizing battle scenes. So often I find that the writers and sometimes directors just get it wrong in terms of where ships are in 3D space and where battle strategies would take them. Being that it is human nature to find fault and to prove others wrong and yourself right, many enjoy this kind of debate. Also it is inspirational-"If I worked for NASA or Star Fleet I would build a ...."
New question suggestions: The question of why Star Trek is the most successful entertainment franchise in history (5 live action series, several animated and video game series, 10 movies (still counting), hundreds of novels, more than 750 hours of video, conventions, even some PhD dissertations on S.T....) is debated endlessly. William Shatner has said that every thing Gene Roddenberry touched was successful because he had an optimistic view of the future. He has also gone on record saying that the Enterprise series ended early and the franchise has faltered because it was damaged by the pessimistic direction it has gone in since Ira Steven Behr has taken over.
(Long set up for the questions.... )
Is the optimistic-Roddenberry view of the future the reason for the success
of Star Trek generally? If not what else?
Is the darkness of the post Roddenberry/current Ira Steven Behr Star Trek the
reason why "Star Trek: Enterprise" failed?
We know the benefits of the "optimistic future sci-fi." How many have chosen careers and made real impacts on improving life as we know it- in health care and technology as well as politics-because they were inspired by Star Trek and optimistic sci-fi generally. But is there a down side? Have others suffered (as I have) from the sci-fi optimism of Star Trek? (Why do I have to suffer-stuck here in the past- with poor health, trapped on this globally warmed and polluted planet, facing mortality when we could be living in the future with its instant cures, doubled life spans, utopian Earth, and no financial constraints?)
***
Next week's topic: Sci-fi and fantasy TV shows lead the pack in promoting themselves on the Net. Would you say that online promotional materials actually do encourage you to get involved in TV shows?
***
Send me something if you've got something to say. It can be about anything that's on your mind!
HAILING FREQUENCIES CLOSED
