SciFi Weekend: Supermoon; Doctor Who Mini-Episodes Time & Space; Anna Torv as William Bell; Girls of Dillon Texas In New Roles; V Season (Series?) Finale; Being Human Renewed

Just went outside to see supermoon. I am a little disappointed that nobody put a giant S and a cape on it.  This week we start with a mini installment of Doctor Who prepared for Comic Relief charity fund-raising, which explains the problem with Amy Pond’s short skirts,plus a lot of timey wimey stuff:

In other Doctor Who news, a fan is suing the BBC claiming he first came up with the character of Davros for a competition at age 13.

Anna Torv spent this week’s episode of Fringe with William Bell possessing her body. TV Line interviewed Torv about playing this third role on the show:

Make no mistake, Anna Torv herself was agog when she first learned of the twist – one that forced into her repertoire a third Fringe characterization. “This is not one I had been asking for!” the actress admits with a laugh. “I was in shock for the first day, and then I think I hyperventilated, and then I called John Noble to say, ‘Can you please help me?’”

Torv’s reasons for turning to Walter’s portrayer were twofold. “When you are about to do something you’re kind of freaked out about, you want to be able to look up and know there’s a safe place to go to – and it’s there in John’s eyes,” she explains. And because Noble was in most of Leonard Nimoy’s scenes as “Belly,” Torv says, “I wanted to know what that relationship was like.”

Because she is Australian and already affecting an American accent for her portrayal of Olivia/”Bolivia,” Torv studied tapes of Nimoy’s Fringe work as well as consulted with the show’s dialect coach. Ultimately, though, she had to just jump in with both feet. “I’m no good at doing voices, mimicking people, so once I realized, ‘S—t, I can’t do this,’ you just take a deep breath and go for it.”

Bell’s most unexpected and equally unorthodox “return” promises to have a significant impact on the “machine” storyline that has Peter fretting over his fate as well as that of this universe. As Torv notes, the late genius “has a lot of information that we don’t have, so he’s an awesome resource for the team. And for Walter to have someone to work with is another [advantage].” Or could it be a liability…?

And as one might imagine, Olivia’s “possession” puts a pin in her nascent romance with Peter. “Well, yeah,” Torv confirms with a laugh. “I don’t think Peter is going to want to go to bed with William Bell!”

In other words, it’s business as usual for that oft-interrupted relationship. “Every time they sort of get it together,” Torv says, “something gets in the way.”

The episode was also significant for first showing this universe’s version of Lincoln Lee. There are also plans to add a new female FBI agent. Next week returns to the alternate universe, and the hotter version of Olivia.

The first picture of Adrianne Palicki as Wonder Woman has been released. Another Friday Night Lights star, Minka Kelly, is seen below, with costars Annie Ilonzeh and Rachael Taylor, in the remake or Charlie’s Angels.

The final two episodes of V were among the best the show has aired. Of course there continued to be many holes in the plot, and they dragged some things out of nowhere to make it work. This included Anna having a new egg to quickly replace Lisa, suddenly finding out about project Aries, and Amy having the ability to bliss the entire earth. (Besides, wasn’t the Aries project from Life on Mars?)

If V returns for a third season there will be major differences after the season finale. Presumably the Aries project will replace the Fifth Column, which was never very believable as a force to fight the alien invaders, and at least three characters are dead. While it is not uncommon for characters to return for the dead, and the quick shots of characters post-death left open the possibility they might be saved by alien technology, I’ve seen a few interviews which make it clear they really are dead. V producer Scott Rosenbaum is also hoping for a chance to continue the storyline further:

That choice, to end V with a cliffhanger despite being very much on the bubble for a renewal, was made back in October. In the middle of production, ABC told Rosenbaum that the show’s order was being reduced to 10 episodes, leaving the writer-producer with little time to figure out how to finish up Season 2.

“We had been given an initial episode order of 13, so I had planned a 22-episode season,” Rosenbaum tells EW, referring to the usual “back 9″ pickup that most shows receive if they’re delivering strong ratings. “When they reduced the order, I had to make a decision. I didn’t feel like it was possible to wrap the show in that amount of time, so I said, ‘You know, I’m going to hope there’s another season, because I’ve pushed the story too far [and] it won’t make sense [to conclude it this soon]. I don’t feel like the audience will feel like we’ve earned those moments.’ So I’m going to keep my fingers crossed and leave it organically where I think the show should end after 10 episodes. I went with hope, and tried to make it feel like a satisfying conclusion.”

The result, Mother’s Day, features several character deaths and a guest appearance by Marc Singer, who starred in the 1980s original V mini-series.

Though some fans have been impatient for all-out war to break out between the Resistance and the Visitors, Rosenbaum says he’s always wanted at least one full season to properly set up the conflict — something the show never received (the first season was only 12 episodes). If he does get a third round, Rosenbaum promises to deliver fireworks. “What’s so interesting,” Rosenbaum says, “is I feel like the best of the show is ahead of itself.”

If  the show doesn’t return, this version of V will always be remembered for one line:  “Now that’s how you kill your mother.”

Syfy has renewed Being Human (US version) for a second season and the BBC has renewed Being Human for a fourth season. I haven’t watched either version yet. Anyone have any comments as to whether they are worth watching, and if so which is better?

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