Mar
28
2008
Review: ‘New Amsterdam’ – Keep The Change
From SyFy Portal Comments Off - Star Trek
The following contains MAJOR SPOILERS for the "Keep The Change" episode of the Fox series, "New Amsterdam." "My name is John Amsterdam, and I'm an alcoholic.""Hello, John." I'm all for socially relevant stories (I'm a Star Trek fan, after all), but the Alcoholics Anonymous theme in "Keep The Change" left me cold. Here's what happened this week: A homeless man's best friend on the street dies of an apparent overdose, but he's sure it was a homicide. Of course, the police don't buy it, but John does, and sees in the homeless man something of himself about 40 years ago -- an alcoholic in need of help. John flashes back to the 60s when he apparently was a stage performer. (Really, what hasn't John done in the past?) A friend named Frank helps John enter the AA program by giving ...
Mar
28
2008
‘Sanctuary’ Has Evolved For Television
From SyFy Portal Comments Off - Sanctuary
It started life as a green screen Web series, but that doesnÂt mean "Sanctuary" has to limit itself when it moves to television. Quite the opposite in fact as the move to television has allowed the series to widen its scope a little. "The fact is it's already evolving," series star and executive producer Amanda Tapping told SciFi Wire. "Our pilot that we're now going to start shooting is very different from what you've seen on the Web. But [Magnus] is still this crazy character. She's 157 years old, and she's very eccentric and very sexy and very unapologetic. I love it." The series, which was created by Stargate veteran Damian Kindler and co-written by Martin Wood, sees Tapping tackle the weird, the bizarre and obscurely paranormal through her work at a Sanctuary for all things ...
Mar
28
2008
‘New Amsterdam’ Loses 50 Percent Of Audience
From SyFy Portal Comments Off - New Amsterdam
There may not be a long life in the cards for "New Amsterdam." The show has now officially lost more than half of its premiere audience after posting a 3.9 rating/6 share, according to Fast National ratings from Nielsen Media Research. That is a significant drop from the 8.3/12 the show premiered with on Fox less than a month ago, and could spell the eventual doom of a show that actually finished behind sagging ratings from "Dexter" on CBS. Granted, "New Amsterdam" didn't have a tremendous amount of material to work with as its lead-in was a "House" repeat, but it still lost a significant portion of the 4.8/8 the hospital drama was able to garner for Fox, according to Zap2it. Among the major networks, "New Amsterdam" finished last for its timeslot well behind "Dancing With the Stars" ...
Mar
28
2008
Prepare To Be Adapted: At Stories End
From SyFy Portal Comments Off - Movies
ACT I Recently Brian K. VaughanÂs acclaimed comic book series ÂY: The Last Man came to an end with Issue 60. No, it wasnÂt canceled. It just ended. Vaughan decided it was time to finish the story. Now New Line Cinema is developing a film with screenwriter Carl Ellsworth (ÂDisturbiaÂ), director D. J. Caruso (ÂDisturbiaÂ) and producer David S. Goyer. Now, IÂm puzzled. How strange, an ongoing comic book series ending? It seems so logical, but if you look at all the ongoing comic book titles out there (IÂm not counting miniseries) I can think of only a few that had real endings. Not just some half-ass attempt to wrap up some storylines and try to leave things so open that the characters could get picked up elsewhere for another title or the book could later be brought back. And you know what? ...
Mar
28
2008
SyFriday: Please Do ‘Children Of Men’ Right
From SyFy Portal Comments Off - Movies
It's easy to be guilty by association. I know that because one time when I was like 8 years old on the mean streets of Johnsonburg, Pa., a bunch of my friends thought it would be great to start throwing rocks. So they did, and they ended up hitting someone's mom, who obviously got angry and called our parents. I didn't throw a single rock, but my dad looked me straight in the eye and told me that it didn't matter if I threw a rock or not. I was still guilty by association. In Hollywood, there's no such thing as being guilty by association. Instead, like everything else in the world of television and movies, it's the exact opposite. You're not guilty by association, but you can gain success and acclaim simply by being associated with something. Sometimes, I wonder if that is what's happening ...
Mar
28
2008
Ratings Just Below Average For Final ‘Jericho’
From SyFy Portal Comments Off - Jericho
"Jericho" got a bit of an audience boost for its final episode compared to the previous week, but the series finale ended up with viewership just below its second season average. "Jericho" earned a 3.8 rating/6 share according to Fast National ratings from Nielsen Media Research Tuesday night, slightly below its season overnight average of 3.9/7, The numbers, however, were up nearly 9 percent over last week's audience, which was a series low. "Jericho" finished last in its 10 p.m. timeslot behind "Primetime" on ABC (7.0/12) and a rerun of "Law & Order: SVU" which gave NBC a 5.7/10. For the final time, "Jericho" didn't get much help from its lead-in, "Big Brother," despite holding nearly 100 percent of the reality show's audience. But that was after the network lost nearly 38 ...
Mar
28
2008
‘Jericho’ Ending Leaves Door Open
From SyFy Portal Comments Off - Jericho
This story contains MODERATE SPOILERS of the series finale of "Jericho." While Tuesday's series finale was meant to provide some closure to "Jericho" fans, there was an effort to at least keep some storylines at bay in case another network or cable channel decides to pick up the series. "I've always said that the alternate ending doesn't wrap up the series," executive producer Carol Barbee told Matt Webb Mitovich of TV Guide. "It just lets you know that everyone is OK and it closes out this seven-episode arc. But we could definitely keep it going." And keeping it going is exactly what Barbee is trying to do by shopping the series around, which reportedly has earned some interest from SciFi Channel which is airing reruns of the show. In the finale, Hawkins (Lennie James) goes face-to-face ...
Mar
28
2008
Review: ‘Jericho’ – Patriots And Tyrants
From SyFy Portal Comments Off - Jericho
The following contains MAJOR SPOILERS for the "Patriots and Tyrants" episode of the CBS series, "Jericho." Since it had to end, I am glad "Jericho" was able to go out in grand style. I canÂt imagine anyone can find fault with this episode. Even though a ton of major events took place, this episode, strangely enough did not seem rushed. Perhaps itÂs just sentiment, but everything just seemed perfect. This episode sported more heroes than "Heroes." Instead of super powers, these heroes possessed something much more valuable: free will and the innate sense of right and wrong. Everyone seemed to act heroically, but in different ways. Hawkins and Jake raced from Cheyenne to Texas to intercept and deliver the bomb to proper authorities. Eric resisted temptation to join up with the corrupt ...
From SyFy Portal Comments Off - Jericho
CBS may be showing the series finale of "Jericho" on Tuesday, but no one can blame the fans for not doing their part. At least not in the eyes of showrunner Carol Barbee. "I think our fans have been amazing," Barbee recently told Matt Webb Mitovich of TV Guide. "Our fans are not professional marketers. They are people with lives who gave so much of their time and energy and money to keep us on the air. They did more than enough, more than their share. We could not be more grateful to them. There's a limit to what a fan base can do when you're trying to reverse a slide in ratings." Barbee said she had a 24-hour head start to inform the cast and crew about the cancellation before it was announced publicly on Friday, and she was assured by CBS that they were measuring "Jericho's" audience ...
Mar
28
2008
Beyond The Mirror: ‘Jericho’ Not Cancelled Here
From SyFy Portal Comments Off - Jericho
I was talking to my counterpart there in your universe, who I like to call the "Mirror Michael Hinman," about how "Jericho" ended its run Tuesday night. He says the show ended way too soon, and it was something he looked forward to watching each week. Well, in our alternate world here, "Jericho" has been running strong for nine seasons. In fact, CBS made an expanded order this year of 35 episodes because families just can't enough of "Jericho." Me, I'm not that big of a "Jericho" fan. Dropping bombs on cities and killing millions of people, that's what I used to watch in Saturday morning cartoons. It was very similar to a story point in one of my favorite cartoons in the 1980s called "Gargamel." I don't know if you had that cartoon in your universe or not, but the cartoon centers ...
Mar
28
2008
Moore Makes Directorial Debut In New ‘BSG’
From SyFy Portal Comments Off - Battlestar Galactica
Ronald D. Moore may have brought the series to life four years ago through a backdoor pilot, but in all this time he has never directed a single episode. That is, until now. "I'm very excited," Moore told SciFi Wire. "It should be a treat to work with the cast and crew in a different context. It's my first time out. I'll make plenty of mistakes, but I'll have a good support system to sort of save me from myself. And it'll be fun." Since it originally launched as a four-hour mini-series, ÂBattlestar Galactica has been met with critical acclaim on all fronts. And according to Moore, that in itself will set quite a challenge as there isnÂt likely to be a shot that hasnÂt already been tried in the hard-hitting series. ÂThat's the kind of trap you try not to fall into, because then you ...
From SyFy Portal Comments Off - Battlestar Galactica
The final episodes of "Battlestar Galactica" return to its rightful place in front of the cameras Tuesday as executive producer Ronald D. Moore makes his directorial debut. The 12th episode of the fourth and final season begins shooting, and co-executive producer Mark Verheiden is saying very little about what the episode is about. "It will probably run the usual 42-ish minutes and I can almost guarantee it will be shot in beautiful color," Verheiden wrote in his blog. Verheiden did talk briefly about what it was like to be back at work following the prolonged Writers Guild of America strike that forced production to shut down mid-way through the fourth and final season. "I never cease to be amazed at what a freight train it is when you're in the middle of production," he said. "Drafts ...
Mar
28
2008
NBC Split Could Mean A Stronger Bonnie Hammer
From SyFy Portal Comments Off - Battlestar Galactica
The power behind the SciFi Channel and the USA Network may soon get an opportunity to put that talent to the test. Bonnie Hammer, who has made a name for herself as head of the two strongest genre cable channels over the years, could be in charge of a new production division that would focus solely on producing original programming for both NBC Universal's SciFi Channel and USA Network. The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Universal Media Studios could be looking at a split, putting the studio that feeds broadcast channels like NBC and other networks in one division, and Hammer with her cable work in another. That would be a big split for Universal Media Studios, which right now produces 13 broadcast television shows including "House" and seven cable shows that include "Battlestar Galactica." ...
Mar
28
2008
Can Sackhoff Find A Role Like Starbuck Again?
From SyFy Portal Comments Off - Battlestar Galactica
Very often, when an actor plays a role in a television series as critically acclaimed as "Battlestar Galactica," they find it difficult to find equally great or better roles once the series ends. Katee Sackhoff, who plays the pivotal role of Kara "Starbuck" Thrace in the series, is facing such a dilemma. She is concerned about finding parts as challenging and powerful once ÂGalactica's fourth and final season ends. "It's extremely difficult," Sackhoff said in an interview with SciFi Wire. "It's a definite worry. People ask me if I'm worried about being pigeonholed in science-fiction, and definitely not. That's not a fear of mine at all." Sackhoff, who has most recently been seen as Sarah Corvus on "Bionic Woman" and as a doomed woman in the recent straight-to-DVD "White Noise ...
Mar
28
2008
Tahmoh Penikett Cast In ‘Dollhouse’
It's kind of spectacular when worlds collide, and when Ronald D. Moore and Joss Whedon met up during the writers' strike, they did more than just dump a few hundred-thousand pencils. Whedon's confessed love for "Battlestar Galactica" has yielded its first offspring. Tahmoh Penikett, best known as Capt. Karl C. "Helo" Agathon to BSG fans, has been cast in Joss Whedon's upcoming series, "Dollhouse." Casting news is starting to leak out about the much-awaited series created by Whedon and Eliza Dushku. Penikett will play Paul Smith, an FBI field agent who's been chasing the urban myth of the Dollhouse and becomes a twisted romantic foil for Echo (Eliza Dushku). Others cast in the show all qualify as candidates for tongue twisters, but if "Dollhouse" doesn't get "FOXed" over the ...
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