SciFi Friday (Sunday Edition): The Oceanic Six, Jericho, SNL, and the Disappointing Return of Amy Sherman-Palladino

This week Lost fooled us until the end with Sun in a flash forward and Jin in a flashback. We also found, to nobody’s surprise, that Michael (now Kevin) is Ben’s spy on the freighter. The producers had said that we would know all six members of the Oceanic Six after this episode, but being Lost there remains controversy as to who they really are. The five definite members are Jack, Kate, Sayid, Hurley, and as of this week, Sun.

There are several possibilities for the sixth. If Jin had been rescued and then died he would have still been the sixth, but his tombstone shows he “died” the day of the crash. As the tombstone is a fake this leaves open the question as to whether he really died or had to remain on the island. It did seem like he was actually dead when Sun and Hurley spoke of him at the end, but there could be misdirection there.

Michael (Kevin) and possibly Walt remain possibilities, but as they got off earlier most likely they have a different cover story or new identities. Aaron could be the sixth, but the producers had said he isn’t in one of the Oceanic Six during one of the podcasts on the show.

There are a couple of more unusual possibilities. We know Ben is alive and off the island in the future. Possibly he left the island assuming the identity of someone else. We certainly know he is capable of obtaining fake identities. It is less likely he would ever go with the people on the freighter. There have been suggestions that Christian Shephard really is alive and perhaps they claimed he was a living passenger on the flight. If so, then perhaps Jack wasn’t just calling for his father as a result of being drunk in last season’s finale.

Jericho is quickly moving towards the season finale, and it is not yet decided if this will also be the series finale. Ratings have not been very good so I do not expect it to survive. At least it looks like the show can go out with a good ending. The problems with Goetz are now resolved, although the repercussions of his killing remain to be seen. Most likely the final episodes will center around fighting the Cheyenne government and trying to expose the role of Jennings & Rall in the nuclear attacks on American cities.

The fourth season of Battlestar Galactica begins Friday, April 4th. If you aren’t up to date, the third season of Battlestar Galactica will be out on DVD on Tuesday. The stars of the show will be doing the Top Ten list on Letterman on Wednesday.

There were seven Harry Potter books, but there are going to be eight movies. The final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is being divided up into two movies. The first part is scheduled for November 2010 and the second part for May 2011. The Harry Potter movies are now the most financially successful film series in history, having surpassed the James Bond series after only five movies.

The Martha Jones trilogy has concluded for those watching Torchwood on BBC America. The next episode, Something Borrowed, features Gwen’s wedding, including an uninvited guest, and some alien sex.

Tracy Morgan responded to Tiny Fey’s recent “editorial” on SNL’s Weekend Update supporting Hillary Clinton because bitches get things done. Morgan responds by saying, “Bitch may be the new black, but black is the new president, bitch!” Morgan also questioned Clinton’s qualifications by saying, “I want to know what qualifies Hillary Clinton to be president? Is it because she was married to the president? If that were true, then Robin Givens would be heavyweight champion of the world.” Raw Story has the video and full transcript.

Parker Posey and Lauren Ambrose star in 'Jezebel James'

The Return of Jezebel James premiered on Friday, marking the return to television by Amy Sherman-Palladino after she left Gilmore Girls. Like Gilmore Girls, the new show begins with two women whose relationship differs from the traditional nuclear family. In The Return of Jezebel James Parker Posey has her estranged younger sister, Lauren Ambrose, to be a surrogate mother as she is unable to have her own baby.

Perhaps the show will develop over time, but there was no sign of the dialog and relationships which gave Gilmore Girls its strength. Under the best of circumstances it would be tough for Amy Sherman-Palladino to recapture the success of Gilmore Girls. I fear I watched half expecting Parker Posey to be Lorelei Gilmore. It was even more confusing with Lauren Ambrose as I couldn’t decide if she should be Rory Gilmore or if she should be Claire Fisher, her role on Six Feet Under. Either way, this was certainly a waste of Ambrose’s talent.

Reviewers have said that the second episode is better than the pilot so I will give it another chance, but this show won’t last long without considerable improvement. Perhaps A S-P should concentrate on writing a satisfactory finish to Gilmore Girls to make up for the season done without her.

SciFi Friday: Star Trek News, Doctor Who Movie Rumors, And Battlestar Galactica Clips

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There are now two upcoming Star Trek movie events. Slice of SciFi reports that the two-part Star Trek Remastered version of “The Menagerie” will be presented in selected theaters on November 13 to promote the HD-DVD release the following week. The screening will include an introduction by Eugene Roddenberry, son of Gene Roddenberry, and a behind the scenes look at the making of the remastered Star Trek series.

Some former cast members of the original Star Trek series are being honored. William Shatner will receive the Jules Verne Lifetime Achievement Award on Sunday, December 9. More information is available at Startrek.com. George Takei’s character might not have survived long into the second season of Heroes, but he has been imortalized by having his name attached to an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter:

Last week the Committee on Small Body Nomenclature of the International Astronomical Union approved the name “7307 Takei” for the asteroid previously labeled “1994 GT9.” The Takei reference will be used in the scientific community to identify this minor body from now on, presumably forever. Only about 14,000 asteroids have been named after specific people, out of about 400,000 such bodies known to exist.

There’s rumors of upcoming movies. Cinematical speculates that Joss Whedon might make a sequel to Serenity. The Guardian says the BBC is considering a movie version of Doctor Who. SciFi Wire reports on rumors that Billie Piper might return for the movie or a three part special.

The season finale airs tonight for those watching Doctor Who on the SciFi Channel. My review was posted here.

SciFi Channel is revealing more information on Razor, the two-hour episode of Battlestar Galactica to air in November. They are preceding it with clips which will show during Flash Gordon and be available on line:

The Two-Hour Event

The special two-hour episode “Razor”, which will serve as a backdrop for the events of season four of Battlestar Galactica, tells the story of Lee Adama’s first mission as the commander of the battlestar Pegasus — and the harrowing tale of that ship’s desperate fight for survival in the immediate aftermath of the Cylon’s genocidal siege of the Twelve Colonies.

Lee Adama’s new XO, Major Kendra Shaw, is plagued by memories of her service and sacrifices under Admiral Helena Cain, who was able to save her ship during the Cylon attack — but only by making Shaw and her fellow officers rationalize suicidal battle tactics and brutal war crimes against their own people.

In the crucible of war, Shaw must let her hesitation and doubts burn away, until all that remains of her is the honed edge of a living human weapon — what Colonial veterans call “a razor.” But an edge so fine cuts in more than one direction. It can cleave an enemy to pieces … or it can carve away a person’s soul.

The Razor Flashbacks

The Razor Flashbacks From October 5 through November 16, SCI FI whets Battlestar fans’ appetites every Friday night with Razor Flashbacks during all-new episodes of Flash Gordon. All the flashback clips will be available on SCIFI.COM immediately after broadcast.

Written by Michael Taylor and directed by Wayne Rose and Felix Alcala, these intense, roughly two-minute segments tell the story of young William “Husker” Adama’s rookie Viper mission during the first Cylon war. In addition to fighting for his very survival against relentless Cylon centurions, Adama makes a terrifying discovery that will come back 40 years later to threaten him, the crew of the Pegasus and the survival of the human race.

This isn’t footage you’ll see in the premiere of Razor, so make sure to watch every Friday for a new flashback adventure, then see it again on SCIFI.COM!

The premise of another show being considered normally might not excite me but, considering that it is being produced by J. J. Abrams and written by Jill Soloway of Six Feet Under, it is worth checking out. The show “centers on a mobile notary who involves herself in the lives of those with whom she comes in contact.” Who would have guessed that a show about a family who runs a funeral parlor would have turned out to be one of the best shows ever to appear on television?

SciFi Friday

Heroes, which leads the ratings among SF shows, has joined shows such as Lost and Jericho to go on a hiatus after a cliff hanger. Poor Milo Ventimiglia. After playing the bad kid on Gilmore Girls and American Dreams, it looked like he was going to be a clear cut good guy as a hospice nurse. Then Peter Petreli was temporarily arrested after the attacks on the cheerleaders, and then we learn he has a quite explosive fate.

When Lost returns it will be moved to 10:00 to keep it from getting lost in the ratings against American Idol. Daybreak is to be moved due to low ratings, but hopefully the remainder of the series will be shown at some other time. One reason I decided to watch was the assurances that there was going to be a resolution of the mystery after thirteen episodes, while who knows if shows like Lost will ever have a rational resolution.
Normally I’d probably overlook a miniseries such as this on the SciFi Channel, but The Lost Room does star Peter Krause (Six Feet Under and Sports Night). Sci Fi Wire has some information on the show.

TrekToday reports that G4 is will be broadcasting Star Trek: The Next Generation in January in the same manner they handled Star Trek, including every bit of trivia they can think of. This includes the Picard Maneuver:

Among the statistics that will be calculated for the series are the “Picard Maneuver” — in which crewmembers tug their uniforms to straighten them — and “Data Saves the Day.” A few original series stocks will carry over to The Next Generation‘s Spock Market, including communicators and transporters, but many new ones will be introduced, including most of the major characters and the Borg Collective.

Boston Legal has had yet another former actor for Star Trek. This week Allan Shore faced opposing council played by Michelle Forbes (Ro Laren). Alan defended a right wing racist couple from a paternity suit over their twins, modeled white nationalist singers Lamb and Lynx Gaede. It was another episode in which they have Allen defending some aspects of conservativism for variety from his usual cases. In this case it was simple. No matter how vile the songs the twins were singing, and how vile the information they were being taught at home, there was still no justification for anyone else to seek custody. The writers didn’t seem to think that this was enough for Allan to fight for so they threw in the national security argument which was totally superfluous to the real issue here. It would have better to save Allen’s objection to the over-use of national security for another case. Another case on this week’s Boston Legal acted to glorify frivolous suits. A widow wants to sue God because her husband was hit by lightening while talking on a cell phone. They wound up hitting up the cell phone company, which paid off to keep the case out of court.

SciFi Friday: Save the Cheerleader, Save the World


“Save the Cheerleader, Save the World” is the unlikely tag line to this season’s newest television SF hit. This week I finally got around to watching two of the shows I’ve been recording until I could determine whether they are worth watching, Heroes and Brothers and Sisters. Heroes is reminiscent of X-Men except the mutants with super powers are living among us rather than separately in a school. It even has an intentional comic book feel which makes for an entertaining hour. It will never have the serious social commentary of Star Trek or Babylon 5, but that is not its goal.

Heroes starts out with the individual stories of people who find they have super powers, as well as the son of a genetics professor who discovered their existence. Ultimately they get together, and the paths of some of them cross in Las Vegas. It is probably inevitable that the politician and the stripper were among the first to meet. Also in Las Vegas we see the almost-perfect way to cheat and win. Once united, the heroes must prevent a nuclear explosion in Manhattan, but it appears that first they must save the cheerleader.

For those who have missed Heroes, NBC is running a three episode marathon on Sunday night.

The other recorded show I started catching up on, Brothers and Sisters, doesn’t fit into SciFi Friday, but any show staring Rachel Griffiths (Brenda on Six Feet Under) along with Callista Flockhart (Allie McBeal), Sally Fields (Gidget and The Flying Nun before many far more substantial roles), Ron Rifkin (the perfect villain on Alias), and Patricia Wettig (Thirtysomething) is worth mentioning. Ken Olin (Thirtysomething and Alias) is also executive producer.

Despite my irresistable urge to give Rachel Griffiths top billing above, the actual star is Callista Flockhart who plays a right wing television pundit, but do not fear being forced to listen to right wing drivel. Her professional life is only a small part of the show, and she is outnumbered by liberal members of her family. Reviews of the first episode were mediocre as it attempted to introduce several family members, but the show has improved tremendously from there. Perhaps the deciding factor, beyond the cast, which led to me watching rather than deleting these recordings was a review which said this was a show which could have been done for HBO. So far I’d rank it below Studio 60 and The Nine, but it is still among the top new shows of the season.

Newsweek reports on a new battle on Battlestar Galactica. Ron Moore and NBC Universal are fighting over the residuals for the web episodes.

Last week’s SF television highlight was on Doctor Who as Sarah Jane Smith got a chance to see The Doctor once again, and to properly say goodbye to him. Seeing her brief relationship with Rose will also remain a classic moment in Doctor Who history. K-9 Mark III, always the good dog, sacrificed himself but was rebuilt to be ready for the proposed new BBC television show featuring Sarah Jane. Next week, The Cybermen!

Doctor Who has also entered the Guinness Book of World Records. With over 700 episodes since it started in 1963 it is the longest running SF show. There have already been ten versions of the timelord, and The Sun reports we may be getting another. David Tennant is considering leaving after the third season of the remake, despite an offer of one million pounds from the BBC to remain.

Emmy Night

The Emmy Awards are coming up tonight. Even though it was greater during the Sorkin years, I’m rooting for The West Wing to go out with some major awards. Its a shame that the Lauren Graham Rule didn’t do enough. Some deserving shows and individuals are not going to be recognized tonight.

I’ve already reposted some of my old blog posts on Gilmore Girls and several science fiction shows. To get in the mood for the Emmys I’ll add some other old television posts, including The West Wing, 24, and Alias, below the fold.

UPDATE: Alan Alda wins as Arnold Vinick

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Sci Fi Friday

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While not much goes on in television SF over the summer, there’s a few recent news items.

Battlestar Galactica has an upcoming episode, The Story So Far, which recaps the first two seasons. It will air on some NBC affiliates and on Universal HD. (I wish Universal HD aired BSG episodes as they are broadcast on the SciFi Channel rather than months later). If you have not watched the first two seasons, I recommend that you do not, repeat, do not, watch this. If you haven’t seen the first two episodes, the only sensible thing to do before the third season starts is to pick up the DVDs of the first two seasons. They were just too good to settle for a quick recap. Just make sure you get Ron Moore’s remake, and not the dreadful original show this is loosely based upon.

Dr.Who will also resume with the second season in the US this fall, but the Christmas episode, which first shows the regenerated Doctor in action, will be held back until Christmas. I’m sure glad I downloaded the Christmas episode (as well as some of the second season) with bittorrent. Meanwhile, fans in Great Britain are getting ready for the third season–and I hope they continue to upload the episodes to the internet.

The Prisoner will return. A while back there were stories of a remake of the television show but I haven’t heard anything on this lately. Now Sci Fi Wire reports that Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins) will be directing a movie version.

Under the fold I’ll reprint some of my older posts on science fiction television, including Karl Rove with the Cylons.
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