Report 28A. This is a digest of recent Sci-Fi- and genre-related news as of 13 March 2001.

News & Notes

Group News:

The Immortal Rolls In

Thanks to trader David Cross, we now have enough Immortal Episodes to make some sense of the first season.  Although we do not yet have them all, we can now offer a few episodes as a taster for anyone who wishes to try the series.  Don’t rush to send for these, however, as we probably won’t get to edit them this week. The shows will still appear as “coming soon” on this week’s part B but by next week, we hope to have some episodes listed in this section.

TV News:

Lots of Trek news:

Here are several items of news on the end of Voyager on Trek 5, some of it corroborated, some of it not.  Rumors are flying thick and fast, and will continue to do so for several months yet.  As we start to make sense of it, we will let you know what is reliable, but in the meantime, we will just report what we hear and leave it up to you to decide what you believe.

Familiar Voyager Faces Return

Bryan Fuller--co-producer of Star Trek: Voyager—told an Internet journalist at the Sci-Fi Channel that the series' last few episodes will see the return of some familiar faces. "We will see in the last few episodes some of the characters we've seen previously," Fuller said in an interview. "We'll see Lt. [Joseph] Carey [played by Josh Clark] and Lt. Vorik [played by Alexander Enberg] again, who are two recurring characters on the show in previous seasons."

Fuller added, "We're going to see some Talaxians. We're going to see the hierarchy aliens again, from [the sixth-season episode] 'Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy.' ... We're going to thread through some familiar faces to keep the audience happy. We will see [Dwight Schultz as Reginald] Barclay again, definitely; I'm not sure if we'll see [Marina Sirtis as] Troi in the final two hours."

As for Voyager's ultimate fate--whether it gets to Earth sooner than later--Fuller wouldn't say. "I've got mixed feelings about it," he said. "Voyager's always been an episodic show, as opposed to a serialized one like Deep Space Nine. There are also plot elements threaded through the last few episodes, where we have a sense of getting to the ultimate goal, without being quite so blatant about it. So within the last few episodes, we feel it building to some sort of crescendo, ... [but] there's no serialized arc. ... I'm of the opinion that Voyager has always been about Capt. Janeway's quest to get her crew home. ... If they do get home in the final two hours, that would be the end of that story, as opposed to getting back to Earth and telling several stories after that. It would be anti-climactic. ... The story should end with them getting home or not being able to get home ever."

Fuller Mulls New Trek

In the same interview, Star Trek: Voyager co-producer Bryan Fuller said that he's considering signing on to the upcoming fifth Trek series, though he remained coy about the series' details. Voyager executive producer "Brannon [Braga] has told me a little bit about the next series, and everything that he's told me sounds really exciting."

Fuller added, "I hate to sound like the same old interview that people have seen time and time again, but he's told me some things in confidence that I can't discuss. But I think it will be very exciting. They'll be able to do things with the characters that a lot of the other modern-day Star Treks haven't been able to do. The characters will be much more accessible in a fresh way that the audience will be very excited about. And the premise is just very cool."

Fuller said that Braga asked him tentatively if he'd be interested in joining the writing staff of the next series. "Whether that comes to fruition remains to be seen. A part of me would love to be involved with Star Trek. ... Voyager was my first job in the industry, and I've been working on it for four years. And it will be odd to leave the show. But on another level, it would be good for my career to leave the show, ... to expand myself as a writer and continue to grow creatively. When you keep writing the same type of show over and over again, there is the danger of stagnating. But then again, ... when it's science fiction, the lid is blown off any sort of limits, because there's a broad variety of stories you can tell: romances, comedies, high-concept science fiction. You have a freedom in science fiction that you don't have in, say, NYPD Blue."

Wang Vents About Voyager

Garrett Wang--Harry Kim on Star Trek: Voyager--told SFX magazine that he was disappointed at being rejected for director training on the series, according to a report on Fandom. "I'm the first actor to be turned down for a directing gig," Wang reportedly told interviewer Paul Simpson.

Wang added, "Is this a racial thing? I truly wonder. I don't know. I'm sitting here thinking, 'Well, why else?' Other than during season two and season three, where I had some problems not being punctual, which got me in hot water at one point in time. ... But I've grown past that. I first asked in year five, then again during year six, and they said no again. The beginning of this year I asked a third time, and again I was told no."

Co-stars Robert Duncan McNeill and Roxann Dawson have been allowed to direct. "One by one they all got their slot, and I had always said to myself, 'Save the best for last. I'm going to come in there, show them little old Garrett, the youngest one on the show coming up with this amazing episode.' ... I waited, but when I did ask, I was turned down by [executive producer] Rick Berman."

Wang added, "I know that Rick Berman said something to the effect that he's not running a directing school here. Well, you could have fooled me! Everyone from Next Generation gets a guest shot. Everyone from [Deep Space Nine] who has an inclination gets a shot, and everyone but Garrett from Voyager gets a shot. You put two and two together and try to figure it out. It's unfortunate, it really is, but all I can really do is wait until the next series begins, and go and ask again."

De Lancie Almost Done With Q

John de Lancie--Q on Star Trek--told free-lance SF columnist Ian Spelling that his next appearance as the omnipotent alien would likely be his last. De Lancie will reprise the role in the upcoming "Q2" episode of Star Trek: Voyager, co-starring with his real-life son, Keegan, who plays Q2.

"It's been 14 years since I first played Q [on Star Trek: The Next Generation], but I've only done a total of 10 or 12 episodes,'' de Lancie told Spelling. "I was just a little relieved after that last scene in 'Q2.' I don't think I will be playing Q again. I could be wrong, but I'm not counting on it. The character has come from the bad boy to being the status quo, really."

De Lancie added, "If anything, I felt I had kind of done a handoff with `Q2.' I'd be surprised if they brought a Q character back, but if they did, there's now another Q, and that person, who happens to be Keegan, could go off and play it." "Q2" is slated to air March 28.

Voyager Rumors Run High

Phyllis Strong--co-writer of the last regular episode of Star Trek: Voyager before the two-hour series finale-- said that interest in the show's last few episodes is so high she actually saw news about her own script on the Internet--while she was still writing it. Strong--who co-wrote the episode "Renaissance Man" with Mike Sussman--said she was typing the script when she checked the Web and was surprised to discover rumors about her own story.

"I wondered if they came up with anything good," she joked during an interview on the Voyager set. She added that she doesn't understand the obsession. "I think it's great. And well deserved. But again, I'm new to it, so a lot of what's been generated has come from seven years of ... creating characters and ... stories," she said. She added, "I like Star Trek a lot--it's great," she said. "But I don't live for it."

"Renaissance Man," centers on the Doctor (Robert Picardo), developing the ability to assume the form of various crewmembers. The episode was being shot the week of March 5 and is the last non-arc episode scheduled to air. In one scene, the Doctor assumes the voice of Capt. Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew); in another, he morphs into Lt. B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson). The episode is directed by Voyager veteran Mike Veja.

Production of the finale is scheduled to begin in the next week or two. The cast and crew will commemorate the series' seven-year run with a wrap party on April 11.

Enterprise Rumors False?

The Trekker Newsletter is debunking rumors about the upcoming fifth Star Trek television series, originally posted by TrekToday. The rumors suggested that the new series will be called Enterprise and will be based in the 22nd century, with a starship crew that includes Capt. Jackson Archer and a young Vulcan T'Pau.

But the newsletter reported that the show's character list--which was purportedly based on casting information from Paramount--is fraudulent. "A very reliable source to the Trekker Newsletter today said that the character list TrekToday released a few days ago is a fraud, and not the actual premise or characters Brannon Braga and Rick Berman wrote up as series five," the site reported. "This is a very reliable source, although I'm not allowed to reveal his identity, so I have to leave him anonymous."

Editor’s Note:  I’m sure someone said something like this last week, didn’t they?

Voyager Finale Details Leaked?

The TrekToday fan Web site reported several rumors about the upcoming series finale of Star Trek: Voyager, which it said would be called "Endgame." The two-hour finale begins production in a week or two and is slated to air on May 23.

Basing its report on what it says is casting information from Paramount, the site reported that the finale's first part would take place 23 years in the future, after Voyager has returned to the alpha quadrant. Tuvok is in an asylum, claiming that Capt. Kathryn Janeway is an impostor, the site reported.

The finale will also feature several new characters, including Lt. Miral Paris, the daughter of B'Elanna Torres and Tom Paris; Sabrina, the nine-year-old daughter of Naomi Wildman; a male Starfleet doctor in his 40s; a beautiful woman in her late 20s-early 30s named Lana; a 19-to-22-year-old Starfleet Academy cadet; and a tall and intimidating Klingon male in his 30s.

Voyager executive producer Kenneth Biller has previously hinted that the finale would feature the Borg.

Editor’s Note:  Maybe after last week’s information, we had better also take this information with a pinch of salt.  We shall see.

RoboCop: Prime Directives to Air on SFC

The Sci-Fi Channel will air the U.S. premiere of the original miniseries RoboCop: Prime Directives, based on characters in Paul Verhoeven's 1987 feature film RoboCop, the network announced. The four-part, eight-hour miniseries will air this summer.

RoboCop: Prime Directives--from producer and director Julian Grant--picks up the story where the original feature film left off, centering on the half-man, half-machine Officer Alex Murphy, played by Page Fletcher. Joined by mercenaries, Murphy fights against enemies both new and old, including David Kaydick (Geraint Wyn-Davies), a character named partly in homage to SF author Philip K. Dick.

Dark Angel not Renewed?

At a recent convention, one of the production staff of James Cameron’s Dark Angel, seemed to let the cat out of the bag that the series was not to be renewed.  In answer to a question on future episodes, the unnamed staff member answered that he was not sure, “especially as Fox haven’t yet decided to renew the show”.

In questions that followed, it was revealed that although the show was gaining good ratings and hitting the right demographic, it had proved very expensive, going over-budget on 10 of the episodes made so far, and also Fox were not impressed with the show, calling it “ponderous and unexciting”.

Thanks to Peter Willis for this information. We haven’t been able to corroborate this yet, but Peter is one of our associates – a volunteer who joins our convention teams when we call on him, and we have never known him to be unreliable.

More when we have it.

BEWARE SERIOUS BUFFY SPOILERS BELOW

If you want to avoid this section, quickly scroll down to the “Spoilers End” Banner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buffy Mom Is Really Dead

Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon told TV Guide that Buffy's mom really died in the recent heart-wrenching episode "The Body," despite fan speculation that Dawn's touch might bring her back. "Dawn's special energy will not bring Joyce back," Whedon told the site. "Some people thought that at the beginning of the next episode, she was going to touch her and heal her with her Dawn powers. I'm like, 'People! Missing the point!'"

The episode dealt with the death of Joyce Summers (played by Kristine Sutherland) and the aftermath among Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her friends. The episode included the long-awaited kiss between Buffy regulars Willow (Alyson Hannigan) and Tara (Amber Benson)--but without any advance promotion and in an unexpected context.

"They are basically living together, so they're probably already kissing," Whedon said. "[Therefore,] to make a big deal of the kiss would have been totally wrong. It belongs somewhere where you least expect it, where it is completely organic, and you breeze by it." Still, executives at The WB initially asked Whedon to remove it from the episode. "The WB sort of balked, but they got over it really quickly," Whedon told TV Guide. "I was like, 'The kiss is in, or I'm walking.' But not in the sense of, 'Let's get into a fight,' [but] actually to avert one. ... Just to say, there is no middle ground here. This belongs in the show. ... There was one discussion, and there was only one."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SPOILERS END

 

 

Movie News: 

Thunder Shoot Postponed

Production of A Sound of Thunder--Renny Harlin's time-travel movie based on the Ray Bradbury short story of the same name--has been postponed indefinitely because of time constraints associated with impending actors' and writers' strikes, Variety reported. Star Pierce Brosnan had asked for another rewrite of the script by Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer, and the producers decided they didn't have time to do the rewrite and shoot the film before the July 1 Screen Actors Guild strike deadline, the trade paper reported.

The delay would affect Brosnan's availability; he's scheduled to begin work on the 20th James Bond movie this year. A Sound of Thunder was set to begin shooting in Montreal on April 16; filmmakers had already opened a production office in the Canadian city, Variety reported. The $80 million film is based on a Ray Bradbury's 1952 short story about a big-game hunter who time-travels to hunt a dinosaur, but accidentally kills a butterfly--an event that could change the course of history.

The Old South Turns medieval for Black Knight

Martin Lawrence's upcoming time-travel comedy film Black Knight is currently shooting in North Carolina, where huge medieval sets have been built. "It's about the medieval period, and they've moved in and built a humongous fort with a moat and a drawbridge and the whole works," the state's film commissioner, Bill Arnold, told journalists. "They're shooting on that set outdoors and then at a medieval village that's built close by and then also in the soundstages at Screen Gems."

At the Screen Gems lot, "there used to be a back lot [covering] about a four-block 'New York City' area," Arnold said. "A lot of films that ... shot there ... using that back lot were, like, Billy Bathgate. ... They tore that down and built the medieval [set]."

Lawrence plays an employee of a medieval-themed miniature golf course who travels back in time to the real thing. "[There's] jousting and horses and a lot of that," Arnold said. "Of course, the jousting takes place outside. They've got fields, where they've got battles being fought. There are some swinging-through-the-air things on chains, interior-type things, sword fighting, and, I think, there's a fall off the top of the castle, which is about four stories high. It's a dashing type of movie. There's a little lake back there that's being used as well, so they're able to do the whole movie without ever having to move off the lot." Black Knight is slated for an early 2002 release.

'Knight Rider' Movie?

In a Yahoo-sponsored chat session the other night David Hasselhof told fans about plans to resurrect the popular 1980's show about a talking car for the big screen. Says Hasselhof:

Michael will be brought "out of retirement after being frozen, because he was injected with a fatal poison. Devon, who is now the great-great-grandniece of Devon, Michael's boss and mentor, is now running the Foundation for Law and Government, which is called FLAG. She, with her new partner (a very young Michael Knight type), will team up with the original Michael Knight and the new K.I.T.T. to carry on what will be the Knight Rider 3000 in the future.

Freddy Vs. Jason Plot Detailed?

Dark Horizons reported rumors about the storyline of the proposed Freddy vs. Jason movie. Citing an anonymous source, Dark Horizons reported that the script for the film--which combines characters from the Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th film series--is being written by Matt Thompson and Camren Burton.

The movie tells of an evacuation of Springwood residents to Camp Crystal Lake, where a witch, Jamelyn, has resurrected Jason Voorhees to avenge the death of her son at the hands of a cult. Jason has other ideas, though, and ends up facing off with Freddy Krueger in a twisted dreamscape maze.

'Blade 2' Shoots

As of Monday, shooting on Blade 2: Bloodhunt has officially begun, according to Variety. The film will be shot entirely in the Czech Republic, with shooting taking place on Prague soundstages as well as numerous locations. Guillermo del Toro is directing with a script by David Goyer.

 

Odds and Ends: Short items not worthy of an article in their own right.

As UPN unveils its mid-season replacement schedule, no decision has been made on the future of the fall series Level 9, which ran Fridays in the 9 p.m. slot. But UPN entertainment president Tom Nunan told the Reporter that the series is unlikely to return in the fall. The network has four unaired episodes of the show.

Fox will develop the fantasy movie Nothing Up My Sleeve, based on a pitch from novelist Jack Flynn, for Peter and Bobby Farrelly to produce, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film tells the story of a down-and-out magician who accidentally gains real magical powers that he has trouble controlling. Flynn will write the script, his first, the trade paper reported. Peter Farrelly, Flynn's former classmate at Columbia University, will produce the project with brother Bobby through their Fox-based Conundrum Entertainment, the trade paper reported

Landscape Entertainment is developing a time-travel romantic comedy based on two interconnected novellas by SF writer Harry Turtledove: "40 Counting Down" and "21 Counting Up," Variety reported. The two books tell the story of Justin Kloster, who goes back in time two decades to 1999, when he and his wife begin dating, to confront his younger self, the trade paper reported. The first novella is told from the standpoint of the older Justin, the second from the perspective of the younger Justin. The as-yet-untitled film will be produced by Landscape founder Bob Cooper and co-produced by senior vice president Marc Rosen.

The upcoming syndicated SF television series Tracker moved closer to a fall premiere with news that it has been signed up by stations representing more than 70 percent of the markets in the country, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The series centers on an alien bounty hunter on Earth.

 

 

 

Part B Follows Shortly.

Best wishes,