Progress Report 39A. 29 May 2001
Eastlant Sci-Fi Group - 2000-2001 Season Progress Report 39A. 29 May 2001
This is a digest of recent Sci-Fi- and genre-related news as of 29th May 2001.
News & Notes
Group News:
Part B Lives On
Those of you who have been with us for several years will know that we usually stop publishing Part B of the newsletter between the Seasons. However, there are so many new series and seasons starting up during the summer that we intend to carry on with Part B as if nothing had changed.
I will however only list those series for which new episodes are still coming in, and any Non-Genre stuff that manages to avoid the ax. There may be a fair amount of those this year, as we have had a number of requests for shows such as West Wing to keep people entertained during the June to September Dry Season.
New shows for the summer include:
Witchblade
Ball & Chain (not the reality show – the one about the married couple with superpowers that only work when they are together – but now they want a divorce)
Lexx Season 4
Stargate Season 5
Chronicle
Dead Last
Night Visions (possibly)
And some specials, including:
The Mists of Avalon (July)
Robocop: Prime Directives (5 related TV Movies) (July)
The 8th Doctor (1996 TV movie starring Paul McGann as Dr. Who – not seen on US TV for over 5 years) (July)
The Young Indiana Jones TV Movies
There are also a few old favorites putting in an appearance, such as Earth: Final conflict from the beginning, and all 49 episodes of the original Outer Limits, all episodes of which are to air on SFC during the summer. We will of course be adding all of these to the library.
The Lone Gunmen Missing Episode
As we originally speculated, there were actually 13 episodes filmed of The Lone Gunmen, but only 12 aired. It now appears that the missing episode will air in July.
Sadly, this is not a resolution to the cliffhanger ending, but an episode from midstream that has no great effect on the main story arc. I did have the title of this episode somewhere, but I can’t lay my hand on it at the moment (Found it – “Cap ‘n’ Toby”).
Monthly Open Newsletter – A Few Gratuitous Insults
Given the response I got to my comments about Xena episode “Lyre, Lyre” last week, maybe I should insult a few more TV shows to inject some life into the potential contributors among you.
The next open newsletter is due out next week, and so far the contributions amount to “Zip”.
If you want to say anything, get your thoughts into me before this time next week please.
(Ironically enough, I had three responses to my Xena comment, which is exactly what I predicted).
TV News:
Spoiler Alert
The End of Buffy Season 5 has caused a lot of controversy among the fans. We are left with a choice of either ignoring it, which would be ridiculous, or making sure you know just how severe the spoilers are.
The First Three Articles Give Away How Buffy Season 5 Ends and Much More, so rather than include them here, we have shifted them to a special supplement of their own.
If you decide to read them, don’t blame us for spoiling the finale.
To Avoid Severe Spoilers, Do Not Read the Supplement to This Newsletter
Now back to the ordinary news.
Buffy/Angel Crossovers Unlikely
Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon told the Los Angeles Times that it's not likely there will be future crossovers with spin-off series Angel now that the two shows are on competing networks. Buffy moves to UPN in the fall, in the wake of fractious and failed contract renewal talks with The WB; Angel remains on the frog network.
"There's acrimony here, and I like to kid myself and say it'll fade," Whedon told the newspaper. "A lot of people got bruised. I haven't broached the subject yet [of future crossovers], and now's not the time."
Whedon added that one crossover had been planned for next season, but was recently dumped: Angel was scheduled to drop in on the Buffy gang, but another character will fill that role.
"They [Buffy and Angel] will and can reference each other, but the big emotions can't be about each other," Whedon said. "They haven't been for the past year. There will always be a lingering tie, but both do have to move on."
Devastator Heads For TV
Producer David Engel told Comics2Film that he's working on a proposed television series based on comic writer James Hudnall's Devastator series. Engel said he is developing the concept with Jerry Bruckheimer Television (C.S.I.).
Director Ralph Hemecker (TNT's Witchblade TV movie) is attached to direct Devastator. "We're hoping it's going to be Ralph's next series. Ralph has blown up from Witchblade and wants to do it," Engel said.
The comic takes place in a future Los Angeles, where everyone has neural interface sockets in the backs of their necks. When a troubled ex-cop named John Black plugs in a mood chip to alleviate his sorrows, the tampered chip turns him into a programmed killer out to assassinate the mayor.
Engel and Hudnall previously teamed up to bring Hudnall's Harsh Realm comic to television, Comics2Film reported.
UPN Offers Enterprise Tidbits
UPN entertainment president Tom Nunan told the New York Post that the network's upcoming Star Trek series, Enterprise, will have a different look from previous shows. "The controls inside the ship look like the kind of controls we've seen on videos from inside the space shuttle and the new space station," Nunan told the newspaper. "The uniforms look like the NASA uniforms that we're more familiar with."
A preview of Enterprise during UPN's recent presentation to advertisers offered brief glimpses of the ship's interiors, which featured toggle switches and other mechanical controls. An earlier report suggested that at least some of the Enterprise crew will wear navy blue jumpsuit uniforms with black mock-turtlenecks underneath and colored piping along the shoulders and yoke. The uniforms also feature shoulder patches with the ship's insignia.
Enterprise will debut with a two-hour pilot episode, "Broken Bow," in the fall.
Rick Berman, co-creator of Enterprise, told the Chicago Tribune that the show goes back in time to re-energize the franchise. Enterprise, starring Scott Bakula as Capt. Jonathan Archer, takes place about 150 years before the events of the original Trek series.
"We ... produced 526 hours of television in the 24th century and three motion pictures, and a fourth one coming. It was time for something new," Berman told the newspaper. "For us, going back to a time when deep space travel was new to humans, it gives us a chance to truly see humans going where no man has gone before. It gives us a chance to deal with more contemporary characters, because they're closer to us now. And it also will give the fans, I think, a wonderful opportunity to see things that they know will be coming in future centuries in their infant stages, and seeing them being developed and worked out."
Editor’s Note: The Voyager Season finale contains the first very brief teaser trailer for “Enterprise”. It doesn’t give much away but it does show the show’s Logo and the new Font designed for this version of Trek.
Voyager Finale Draws 8.8 Million Viewers
The national ratings for the Voyager finale were a 5.5 with a 9% share. In the top 47 markets measured by the overnight ratings, Voyager did an 8.3 ratings with a 13% share.
Those are the highest ratings for the series since the Season 4 opener of "Scorpion, Part 2". UPN, of course, is hoping to get big numbers for the debut of "Enterprise" this fall. "First and foremost, the indicators from the Voyager wrap-up are that if we put the right kind of Star Trek programming on, there's great enthusiasm for it," UPN Entertainment President Tom Nunan told the Hollywood Reporter. "The Voyager finale bodes extremely well for Enterprise's premiere next fall."
'X-Files' Season 9 Talk
Fox big shot Sandy Grushow is talking about what he can regarding the coming ninth season of The X-Files.
While talking to Zap2It, Grushow cautiously spoke of what lies ahead for the series, saying, "I think it's really premature to talk about what next season's going to look like creatively. Chris (Carter) and his folks at 1013 (the show's production company) are all very excited and enthusiastic about doing another season. That they feel like they reinvented the show this year, that they feel like they can go even further in terms of its reinvention next season."
When asked if David Duchovny might still make an appearance in the season ahead, Grushow says, "He certainly made it clear that after eight years of doing the show he feels like he wants to move on with his life and with his career. But that's not to say that there isn't a possibility that at some point down the road he might show up."
Still, he adds, "I just wouldn't hold my breath."
It's Kent, Not Superman
Tom Welling, star of The WB's upcoming Smallville, told TV Guide that he won't be playing a certain blue-and-red-clad superhero. "I'm not Superman--I'm Clark Kent, before he was Superman. Not many people know that."
Welling also admits to worries about typecasting as the Man of Steel. "I actually thought that at the beginning," he told the magazine. "But, then I read the script, and there's so much to it that I'm not worried. It's quality stuff." Smallville will air Tuesdays at 9 p.m in the old Angel slot.
Takei Leery Of Enterprise
Original Star Trek star George Takei told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he's leery of UPN's upcoming fifth Trek series, Enterprise. "It seems the people who took over don't have the [same] feel for the show as Gene Roddenberry," Takei told the newspaper. "Each subsequent spin-off keeps going down in the ratings."
Takei, who played Hikaru Sulu, added that he feels the more recent Trek incarnations lack Roddenberry's ''values, his sense of adventure. Deep Space Nine was the polar opposite of what Gene stood for: our creativity, our ability to work together with diversity."
Editor’s Note: This is an unusual change of attitude for George. Although he has always been one of the most outspoken Classic Trek cast members, he usually voices his opinion and once the decisions are made, he “gets with the program”. There is a slim possibility that his failure to get a series based on his character as Captain of Excelsior has left a slightly bitter taste in his mouth, but even so, I find this statement unusual.
Dr. Who News
In the same week that rumors have begun to surface yet again about a possible new Dr Who series on the BBC, SFC also announced that they are to air the US Dr. Who TV movie. This hasn’t been seen for several years, so if you are short of this item in your DW collection, we should have it available within a couple months or so. Keep an eye on Part B.
Movie News:
Law Reveals A.I. Meaning
Jude Law--who plays a robot gigolo in Steven Spielberg's upcoming A.I.--told Premiere magazine that the movie has a deep meaning, according to a report in Cinescape. "The message, perhaps, is that if we do create artificial life, we will be responsible for them, we will be their gods," Law said. "We will choose what they have, what they're good at. But the one thing we can't program is love. Love is untranslatable."
Law added that it took some adjustment for him to act alongside actual robotic constructs, the magazine reported. "They were so real, so funny, so amazing," he said. "I had to match them. You realize the oddity of working in films. Bottom line is, you're shooting a scene; it doesn't matter who you're opposite: him, her, that. It's all relevant. It's all believing, isn't it?"
As for playing an artificial intelligence, Law said, "When we started, I kept picturing this geek in a workshop, building me. What would he have put in me? What could I do or not do? Then I realized I was the geek. I was the guy building me, programming my brain, deciding how emotional, how expressive he could be. Steven would say, 'Go for it, make him as human as you want. Let me remind you of the rules if you go too far.'"
Apes Finds Missing Link
Tim Burton, director of the upcoming remake of Planet of the Apes, told the New York Times that his film links apes and humans. "It's about apes and humans creating a new behavior," he told the newspaper. "It's about how we perceive ourselves and how we perceive apes. They terrify us because they are so close to us and so far away."
The new film, with a script written by William Broyles Jr. and revised by Lawrence Konner and Mark D. Rosenthal, pits humans against apes after hero Mark Wahlberg crashes his experimental spacecraft in the year 2029, the paper reported. Wahlberg meets a chimpanzee human-rights activist played by Helena Bonham Carter.
Burton studied ape behavior to shape his vision of the simian characters. "Part of the reason they have survived so long is that they are so strong," Burton said. "And the chimps aren't what you think at all. They can be scary. They may smile at you and look cute, but there is darker behavior beneath the surface."
Editor’s Note: I am not the greatest Tim Burton fan in the world, but recently I saw the “Apes” trailer and I have to say that I am impressed. I particularly liked the ape make-up. Instead of stylized apes as in the early movies, he has developed creatures that are man-like but appear to have evolved from a different branch of the evolutionary tree. In this way, the dark-skinned, hairy creatures are far more sinister than Roddy McDowell and his cronies could ever hope to be.
Limits Heads For Screen
MGM has made a deal with Victor & Grais Productions for a big-screen version of The Outer Limits television series, now airing on The Sci-Fi Channel, Variety reported. The project will be co-produced under the Trilogy Entertainment banner, the trade paper reported.
MGM president Michael Nathanson told Variety, "The idea of an Outer Limits film is extremely exciting, and we look forward to seeing where these veteran producers take us." Producers are seeking a writer.
Part B Follows Shortly.
Best wishes,
Eastlant Sci-Fi Group - 2000-2001 Season Progress Report 39A. 29 May 2001
This is a digest of recent Sci-Fi- and genre-related news as of 29th May 2001.
News & Notes
Group News:
Part B Lives On
Those of you who have been with us for several years will know that we usually stop publishing Part B of the newsletter between the Seasons. However, there are so many new series and seasons starting up during the summer that we intend to carry on with Part B as if nothing had changed.
I will however only list those series for which new episodes are still coming in, and any Non-Genre stuff that manages to avoid the ax. There may be a fair amount of those this year, as we have had a number of requests for shows such as West Wing to keep people entertained during the June to September Dry Season.
New shows for the summer include:
Witchblade
Ball & Chain (not the reality show – the one about the married couple with superpowers that only work when they are together – but now they want a divorce)
Lexx Season 4
Stargate Season 5
Chronicle
Dead Last
Night Visions (possibly)
And some specials, including:
The Mists of Avalon (July)
Robocop: Prime Directives (5 related TV Movies) (July)
The 8th Doctor (1996 TV movie starring Paul McGann as Dr. Who – not seen on US TV for over 5 years) (July)
The Young Indiana Jones TV Movies
There are also a few old favorites putting in an appearance, such as Earth: Final conflict from the beginning, and all 49 episodes of the original Outer Limits, all episodes of which are to air on SFC during the summer. We will of course be adding all of these to the library.
The Lone Gunmen Missing Episode
As we originally speculated, there were actually 13 episodes filmed of The Lone Gunmen, but only 12 aired. It now appears that the missing episode will air in July.
Sadly, this is not a resolution to the cliffhanger ending, but an episode from midstream that has no great effect on the main story arc. I did have the title of this episode somewhere, but I can’t lay my hand on it at the moment (Found it – “Cap ‘n’ Toby”).
Monthly Open Newsletter – A Few Gratuitous Insults
Given the response I got to my comments about Xena episode “Lyre, Lyre” last week, maybe I should insult a few more TV shows to inject some life into the potential contributors among you.
The next open newsletter is due out next week, and so far the contributions amount to “Zip”.
If you want to say anything, get your thoughts into me before this time next week please.
(Ironically enough, I had three responses to my Xena comment, which is exactly what I predicted).
TV News:
Spoiler Alert
The End of Buffy Season 5 has caused a lot of controversy among the fans. We are left with a choice of either ignoring it, which would be ridiculous, or making sure you know just how severe the spoilers are.
The First Three Articles Give Away How Buffy Season 5 Ends and Much More, so rather than include them here, we have shifted them to a special supplement of their own.
If you decide to read them, don’t blame us for spoiling the finale.
To Avoid Severe Spoilers, Do Not Read the Supplement to This Newsletter
Now back to the ordinary news.
Buffy/Angel Crossovers Unlikely
Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon told the Los Angeles Times that it's not likely there will be future crossovers with spin-off series Angel now that the two shows are on competing networks. Buffy moves to UPN in the fall, in the wake of fractious and failed contract renewal talks with The WB; Angel remains on the frog network.
"There's acrimony here, and I like to kid myself and say it'll fade," Whedon told the newspaper. "A lot of people got bruised. I haven't broached the subject yet [of future crossovers], and now's not the time."
Whedon added that one crossover had been planned for next season, but was recently dumped: Angel was scheduled to drop in on the Buffy gang, but another character will fill that role.
"They [Buffy and Angel] will and can reference each other, but the big emotions can't be about each other," Whedon said. "They haven't been for the past year. There will always be a lingering tie, but both do have to move on."
Devastator Heads For TV
Producer David Engel told Comics2Film that he's working on a proposed television series based on comic writer James Hudnall's Devastator series. Engel said he is developing the concept with Jerry Bruckheimer Television (C.S.I.).
Director Ralph Hemecker (TNT's Witchblade TV movie) is attached to direct Devastator. "We're hoping it's going to be Ralph's next series. Ralph has blown up from Witchblade and wants to do it," Engel said.
The comic takes place in a future Los Angeles, where everyone has neural interface sockets in the backs of their necks. When a troubled ex-cop named John Black plugs in a mood chip to alleviate his sorrows, the tampered chip turns him into a programmed killer out to assassinate the mayor.
Engel and Hudnall previously teamed up to bring Hudnall's Harsh Realm comic to television, Comics2Film reported.
UPN Offers Enterprise Tidbits
UPN entertainment president Tom Nunan told the New York Post that the network's upcoming Star Trek series, Enterprise, will have a different look from previous shows. "The controls inside the ship look like the kind of controls we've seen on videos from inside the space shuttle and the new space station," Nunan told the newspaper. "The uniforms look like the NASA uniforms that we're more familiar with."
A preview of Enterprise during UPN's recent presentation to advertisers offered brief glimpses of the ship's interiors, which featured toggle switches and other mechanical controls. An earlier report suggested that at least some of the Enterprise crew will wear navy blue jumpsuit uniforms with black mock-turtlenecks underneath and colored piping along the shoulders and yoke. The uniforms also feature shoulder patches with the ship's insignia.
Enterprise will debut with a two-hour pilot episode, "Broken Bow," in the fall.
Rick Berman, co-creator of Enterprise, told the Chicago Tribune that the show goes back in time to re-energize the franchise. Enterprise, starring Scott Bakula as Capt. Jonathan Archer, takes place about 150 years before the events of the original Trek series.
"We ... produced 526 hours of television in the 24th century and three motion pictures, and a fourth one coming. It was time for something new," Berman told the newspaper. "For us, going back to a time when deep space travel was new to humans, it gives us a chance to truly see humans going where no man has gone before. It gives us a chance to deal with more contemporary characters, because they're closer to us now. And it also will give the fans, I think, a wonderful opportunity to see things that they know will be coming in future centuries in their infant stages, and seeing them being developed and worked out."
Editor’s Note: The Voyager Season finale contains the first very brief teaser trailer for “Enterprise”. It doesn’t give much away but it does show the show’s Logo and the new Font designed for this version of Trek.
Voyager Finale Draws 8.8 Million Viewers
The national ratings for the Voyager finale were a 5.5 with a 9% share. In the top 47 markets measured by the overnight ratings, Voyager did an 8.3 ratings with a 13% share.
Those are the highest ratings for the series since the Season 4 opener of "Scorpion, Part 2". UPN, of course, is hoping to get big numbers for the debut of "Enterprise" this fall. "First and foremost, the indicators from the Voyager wrap-up are that if we put the right kind of Star Trek programming on, there's great enthusiasm for it," UPN Entertainment President Tom Nunan told the Hollywood Reporter. "The Voyager finale bodes extremely well for Enterprise's premiere next fall."
'X-Files' Season 9 Talk
Fox big shot Sandy Grushow is talking about what he can regarding the coming ninth season of The X-Files.
While talking to Zap2It, Grushow cautiously spoke of what lies ahead for the series, saying, "I think it's really premature to talk about what next season's going to look like creatively. Chris (Carter) and his folks at 1013 (the show's production company) are all very excited and enthusiastic about doing another season. That they feel like they reinvented the show this year, that they feel like they can go even further in terms of its reinvention next season."
When asked if David Duchovny might still make an appearance in the season ahead, Grushow says, "He certainly made it clear that after eight years of doing the show he feels like he wants to move on with his life and with his career. But that's not to say that there isn't a possibility that at some point down the road he might show up."
Still, he adds, "I just wouldn't hold my breath."
It's Kent, Not Superman
Tom Welling, star of The WB's upcoming Smallville, told TV Guide that he won't be playing a certain blue-and-red-clad superhero. "I'm not Superman--I'm Clark Kent, before he was Superman. Not many people know that."
Welling also admits to worries about typecasting as the Man of Steel. "I actually thought that at the beginning," he told the magazine. "But, then I read the script, and there's so much to it that I'm not worried. It's quality stuff." Smallville will air Tuesdays at 9 p.m in the old Angel slot.
Takei Leery Of Enterprise
Original Star Trek star George Takei told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he's leery of UPN's upcoming fifth Trek series, Enterprise. "It seems the people who took over don't have the [same] feel for the show as Gene Roddenberry," Takei told the newspaper. "Each subsequent spin-off keeps going down in the ratings."
Takei, who played Hikaru Sulu, added that he feels the more recent Trek incarnations lack Roddenberry's ''values, his sense of adventure. Deep Space Nine was the polar opposite of what Gene stood for: our creativity, our ability to work together with diversity."
Editor’s Note: This is an unusual change of attitude for George. Although he has always been one of the most outspoken Classic Trek cast members, he usually voices his opinion and once the decisions are made, he “gets with the program”. There is a slim possibility that his failure to get a series based on his character as Captain of Excelsior has left a slightly bitter taste in his mouth, but even so, I find this statement unusual.
Dr. Who News
In the same week that rumors have begun to surface yet again about a possible new Dr Who series on the BBC, SFC also announced that they are to air the US Dr. Who TV movie. This hasn’t been seen for several years, so if you are short of this item in your DW collection, we should have it available within a couple months or so. Keep an eye on Part B.
Movie News:
Law Reveals A.I. Meaning
Jude Law--who plays a robot gigolo in Steven Spielberg's upcoming A.I.--told Premiere magazine that the movie has a deep meaning, according to a report in Cinescape. "The message, perhaps, is that if we do create artificial life, we will be responsible for them, we will be their gods," Law said. "We will choose what they have, what they're good at. But the one thing we can't program is love. Love is untranslatable."
Law added that it took some adjustment for him to act alongside actual robotic constructs, the magazine reported. "They were so real, so funny, so amazing," he said. "I had to match them. You realize the oddity of working in films. Bottom line is, you're shooting a scene; it doesn't matter who you're opposite: him, her, that. It's all relevant. It's all believing, isn't it?"
As for playing an artificial intelligence, Law said, "When we started, I kept picturing this geek in a workshop, building me. What would he have put in me? What could I do or not do? Then I realized I was the geek. I was the guy building me, programming my brain, deciding how emotional, how expressive he could be. Steven would say, 'Go for it, make him as human as you want. Let me remind you of the rules if you go too far.'"
Apes Finds Missing Link
Tim Burton, director of the upcoming remake of Planet of the Apes, told the New York Times that his film links apes and humans. "It's about apes and humans creating a new behavior," he told the newspaper. "It's about how we perceive ourselves and how we perceive apes. They terrify us because they are so close to us and so far away."
The new film, with a script written by William Broyles Jr. and revised by Lawrence Konner and Mark D. Rosenthal, pits humans against apes after hero Mark Wahlberg crashes his experimental spacecraft in the year 2029, the paper reported. Wahlberg meets a chimpanzee human-rights activist played by Helena Bonham Carter.
Burton studied ape behavior to shape his vision of the simian characters. "Part of the reason they have survived so long is that they are so strong," Burton said. "And the chimps aren't what you think at all. They can be scary. They may smile at you and look cute, but there is darker behavior beneath the surface."
Editor’s Note: I am not the greatest Tim Burton fan in the world, but recently I saw the “Apes” trailer and I have to say that I am impressed. I particularly liked the ape make-up. Instead of stylized apes as in the early movies, he has developed creatures that are man-like but appear to have evolved from a different branch of the evolutionary tree. In this way, the dark-skinned, hairy creatures are far more sinister than Roddy McDowell and his cronies could ever hope to be.
Limits Heads For Screen
MGM has made a deal with Victor & Grais Productions for a big-screen version of The Outer Limits television series, now airing on The Sci-Fi Channel, Variety reported. The project will be co-produced under the Trilogy Entertainment banner, the trade paper reported.
MGM president Michael Nathanson told Variety, "The idea of an Outer Limits film is extremely exciting, and we look forward to seeing where these veteran producers take us." Producers are seeking a writer.
Part B Follows Shortly.
Best wishes,
posted by Catherine Jemma at 8:10 PM
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