Report 20A.This is a digest of recent Sci-Fi- and genre-related news as of 19 January 2001.

News & Notes

Group News:

Thanks to Everyone For Your Kind Thoughts

Having spent most of this week in various hospital waiting rooms, I have to say that the many messages and good wishes received from our contacts all around the world have been of great comfort to me.

My father-in-law is recovering well from his surgery and the doctors are confident that he will make a full recovery.

I apologize for the lateness of everything this week.  I will try to get back up to date as soon as possible.

PLEASE NOTE: Some of this week’s newsletter has been formatted on my laptop, and I am sending it out from there, so it may look slightly different to how it normally appears.

Also, I apologize in advance but I just don’t have time for Part B this week.  I will bring the entire thing up to date next week.

Outstanding Confirmations

An incident this last week has highlighted the need for you to confirm receipt of tapes.  On Saturday I received a flaming e-mail from someone who was missing a tape that was mailed in October.  I’m afraid that I e-mailed back and told them that we would replace it, but that this would be the last tape they receive from us.

If you have tapes that you haven’t acknowledged, do so please. As a result of this incident I am changing the conditions for replacing a tape.  We will continue to replace any tape lost or damaged in transit, provided that you contact us within 30 days of receipt of our message telling you it is in the mail. Beyond that, I think our responsibility has been fulfilled.

I also intend to refuse in future to replace lost tapes sent to third party and post box addresses. Another recent incident where we mailed tapes to an address other than the person who communicated with us is just about to cost us over $80 for replacement tapes and we are not amused.

A new operating procedure will be drafted and sent out to everyone so that you are up to date on our terms and conditions.  Any existing clients who already have tapes sent to 3rd party or post box addresses may rest assured that we will honor our original agreement with them.

I have to admit that I am irritated by this whole issue.  At one point I swore I had had enough of this, but my good wife cooled me down by reminding me that for every idiot we get, there are 100 good decent fans, and it is those people that we do this for.  I now have a new mantra – “I will not let the morons get to me”.

We are doing our best here to provide a service to our fellow fans. Please remember that when you switch on your computer with the intent of bending our ears for some perceived failure or shortcoming.

We are reasonable people. Talk to us.

Stereo/Mono Compatibility

This only applies to anyone taking tapes in NTSC.  We have had several reports recently from people who received NTSC tapes apparently with no soundtrack. This turned out to be a fault on one of our dubbing machines.  We don’t think it is worth repairing, as the machine is still quite capable of recording in stereo, but what it means is that if you are using a Mono VCR and need tapes from us in NTSC, please tell us so that we can make sure your tapes are not done on this machine.

TV News:

UPN News

According to reports from the winter Critics tour, UPN will air the final two-hour Voyager on Wednesday, May 23.  The night before they will air a one-hour retrospective on the show as well as the all-time favorite episode as voted on by fans (what if it's a two-parter?).

UPN also talked about their mid-season shows, Special Unit 2 and All Souls, but have yet to announce when they will show them or on which night.

UPN is also working with Wes Craven, who is developing a series called "Ghost in the Machine", with Todd McFarlane, who is developing "The Terror", and with Michael Piller, who is developing a weekly series based on Stephen King's "The Dead Zone".

Sounds to me as if writing a TV series is a bit like selling a house – you have to wait for the chain to catch up with you.

Cast, Producers Reveal More Trek

Kate Mulgrew--Star Trek: Voyager's Capt. Kathryn Janeway--got misty while talking to reporters about the show's impending finale, the official Trek Web site reported. "Seven years is a long time to be, as we say, 'in the trenches' with people who were initially strangers and who have become more intimate to you than those in your personal life," Mulgrew said, her voice cracking, during a press briefing in Pasadena, Calif. "I mean, it's very deep. I love them. ... It's been a marvelous journey with these guys."

The entire cast joined Voyager executive producers Rick Berman and Ken Biller at the UPN Winter Press Tour 2001, sponsored by the Television Critics Association. About the end, Berman said, "Resolving the series has a great deal more to it than just the question of does the ship get home or not? And I think to compact it down to a simple question like that is unfair to what we're hoping to accomplish in the final two-hour episode."

In response to a question whether filmmakers would use any Voyager cast members in the next Trek movie, Berman replied, "We may. We may." Berman also said that there is a possibility, albeit remote, that a two-hour television movie could be made based on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. "I think it's a possibility, but nothing that's in any kind of serious discussion."

Old Friends Due On Voyager

Star Trek: Voyager executive producer Ken Biller told the official Trek Web site that the second half of the series' final season will bring back familiar faces and offer a few surprises. "You're going to see Q again," Biller said. "I won't tell you much about it, but you will see Q before the season is over in a very fun episode."

Biller added, "We might see Barclay and Troi again. ... And we're doing a really fun slam-bang time-travel episode called 'Shattered,' in which the ship gets split into a bunch of different time zones from the past, present and future, and Chakotay has to take Janeway from the past through a tour of her own future. And she suspects him because in her mind he's a bad guy, because she hasn't left Deep Space Nine yet."

Biller described the upcoming episode "Lineage" as "a real acting tour de force for Roxann Dawson and Robbie McNeill that takes them through their first marital crisis, but also has a big science fiction concept at the center of it."

Capital punishment and the 9-to-5 corporate culture will be put under the microscope in "Repentance" and the two-part "Workforce." "Shattered," "Lineage" and "Repentance" are scheduled to air this month, and "Workforce" in February.

Biller also remarked on the possibility that the upcoming fifth Star Trek series might not premiere next fall, as originally hoped. "I think a little breather would be healthy, and make the audience wait for it and want it," he said. "But I don't make those decisions. Those are all studio and network decisions."

Editor’s Note: This was probably overtaken by events before it was even said.  If anything delays the new Trek Series, it is likely to be the impending writers’ strike – see article below which I just found.

New Trek Awaits Writers’ and Actors’ Strikes

Rick Berman, who is developing the fifth Star Trek television series with partner Brannon Braga, told reporters that impending strikes may affect whether or not the show debuts in the fall. "Yes, we could deliver it then," Berman said during the current critics' tour in Pasadena, Calif. "As to whether that's going to happen, I think, again, it's going to have a great deal to do with the impending strikes."

As for a possible television movie based on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Berman said, "I think that idea has been thrown around a bit, but it's not something that has been focused on greatly. I think it's a possibility, but nothing that's in any kind of serious discussion now."

Ninth X-Files Season Not Yet Certain

Chris Carter told reporters that he's not sure there will be a ninth season of Fox's hit series The X-Files, according to the New York Post. "I know there are plans to make it to season nine, but we're not quite there yet," said Carter, whose contract expires at the end of the current eighth season. "So I can foresee trying to write a movie in the next year, year and a half, maybe two years, but it all depends on ... what's going on with the TV series. But our plans have always been to put [original co-stars] David [Duchovny] and Gillian [Anderson] in those movies."

Duchovny (Fox Mulder) would likely not appear in the next season and is only appearing in half of this season's episodes. Duchovny returns to the show on Feb. 25.

Editor’s Note: This is far more likely the opening shot in the negotiations for his fee for Season 9 than any real evidence that he doesn’t want to do it.  This show is the unchallenged Jewel in the Crown for Fox, and they will not let it go without a fight.  Bear in mind that they own the show, not Chris Carter, and if necessary, they would probably promote one of his assistants to run the show rather than see it just fade away.

And how strange ---------- immediately after writing the paragraph above, I found this little gem of information:

X-Files Hinges On Gunmen

The X-Files creator Chris Carter told the New York Daily News that a ninth season of his hit Fox series may depend on how the network treats his new show, The Lone Gunmen. Carter feels burned by the way Fox handled his short-lived series Harsh Realm last season, and it's a major point in talks about the future of The X-Files, the newspaper reported.  "I'm really interested in their promotion and support of The Lone Gunmen," Carter told the newspaper. "I want to make sure that they are supporting us completely and not just partially."

Carter is also said to have taken issue with the network not adequately promoting the coming spin-off series by taking advantage of the connection between Gunmen and the creators of The X-Files.

Carter added, "They said they would promote through the first eight episodes [of Harsh Realm]. Well, it didn't go eight episodes. For me, that was a dishonesty." Fox canceled Harsh Realm after just three episodes.

In addition, Carter also notes that he has concerns on whether or not The X-Files can continue to carry on creatively and with quality into another season, saying, "I hope there is a ninth season. But it's all about how can we make it good. It's creative, it's not financial. Is there a reason for a ninth season; are there stories to tell? And that's going to be a determining factor."

Though there is no timetable as yet for determining if X-Files will go on, the producer adds, "I hope the talks can be done a lot sooner than last year, and we would know, so I could have time to spend with the final episode. I really believe they want the show back and will put everything in order to get the show back."

That may include promoting Lone Gunmen to the level Carter thinks the program deserves.

 

Editor’s Note Continued:  So, this supposed doubt about the 9th Season could well just be a way of warning them not to screw him over on TLG.  Odd that.  CC didn’t want to do TLG at first, it was actually Fox that pushed for it.

If these people were anything other than TV Executives, I would suggest that this was dumb and petty, but as they are, why should today be any different?

Carter Promises X-Files Answers

The X-Files creator Chris Carter and executive producer Frank Spotnitz told the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press that four February episodes will reveal much about Scully's pregnancy. Mulder, meanwhile, will make his return in the Feb. 25 cliffhanger episode before the show goes into reruns until April 8, the newspaper reported.

"The pregnancy will be played out through the end of the season, but the episodes in February will explain much more of the context," Carter told the newspaper. After that, "the finale for this season will be the finale for the eight years of the show," Spotnitz promised. "The ninth season, if there is one, will be a whole new ballgame."

Neither Carter nor Gillian Anderson (Scully) is contracted for a ninth season of the venerable series. "They might be able to do this without me," Carter said. "I just don't know how it'll work out yet. But everything else is set though a ninth season. David [Duchovny] is only obligated for the last half of this season. But we have [new cast members] Annabeth [Gish] and Robert [Patrick] ready to go." Carter added that he still plans on making another X-Files film, which will be a stand-alone story.

Nikita Answers Will Come

Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, creators of and consultants to USA Network's La Femme Nikita television series, said in a recent chat that the fifth and last season will answer a lot of questions. Specifically, the writers said that the show will deal with Nikita and Michael's relationship, answer the question of why Nikita was brought into Section One, reveal who is Nikita's father and fill in the blanks in Walter's past. "You won't be frustrated by the time the season is over," Surnow said.

Roy Dupuis (Michael), meanwhile, will return in the season's fifth and seventh episodes, and will step behind the camera to direct the sixth.

Surnow and Cochran said that it was unlikely there would be more Nikita once the current season ends. They added that they weren't surprised by the outpouring of support from fans protesting the show's premature cancellation last year. As a result, USA brought the show back for an eight-episode fifth season this year. "We weren't really surprised, because the fans have been loyal," Cochran said. "We were delighted, not surprised. ... The enthusiasm and the loyalty of the fans has been the single most rewarding aspect of working on the show."

Anne Rice Pilot Ordered

NBC has ordered a pilot for Angels, an hour-long series from horror novelist Anne Rice, Variety reported. The trade paper offered no details about the proposed series.

Rice is best known for her Vampire Chronicles series of novels. A feature film based on her best-seller Queen of the Damned is currently in production.

Angels is one of several pilots the network green-lighted. If picked up, it would be only one of many similarly named series on television, including The WB's Angel, Fox's Dark Angel and CBS' Touched by an Angel.

Moore Confirms Pern Pitch

Ronald D. Moore--a longtime Star Trek writer and now co-executive producer of The WB's Roswell-- announced that he has pitched The WB a show based on Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series of novels. Moore said in an interview that he wrote the first script for the proposed show, which is being developed by Fox Regency, and that he is awaiting a go-ahead from the network for either fall or mid-season next year. Timing depends in part on upcoming writers' and actors' strikes this year.

"We're just waiting to see if it will be picked up or not," Moore said. "The script was very well received. It's a project I've been thinking about for a long time. Now it's just a question of yes or no. I hope to hear about that really soon." Moore said the series would be a live-action show that he will run. No one has been cast yet. "It's a series that I had read back when I was in college, and it always stuck in my mind as an interesting world, a different slice of sci-fi that hadn't been explored," Moore said. "It has a huge following. ... The characters stuck with me through the years. ... I remember the mental images that always stuck with me. It seems at this point in time that it's a show you can do on TV because of the technology."

Moore's series has nothing to do with a previous

***** CATE's note added July 2006, my newsletter seems to cut off at this point. Also there seems to be no newsletter for 19 A. If I later come across the end of this newsletter or number 19 A then I will add them to this blog, but the may not be in order. Cate 12 July 2006***