The Sci-Fi Cast

Hold on to your ears, true believers. Marvel shareholders approved the Disney takeover earlier this week. The deal, which was valued at about $4.3 billion, went into effect on Thursday. Now, many fans are wondering what will happen to their beloved characters.

As we noted in August, things will stay the same, at least initially. Universal Studios will continue their relationship with the Marvel characters and Hasbro expects to continue to produce toys through 2017. As for movies, there’s a lot going on. Thor starts filming this month, Captain America is scheduled to begin production and July and Iron Man 2 should be released this May.

In other words, it doesn’t look like Mickey has Spidey in his clutches.

Yet.

There isn’t much to say here other than a bunch of Trekkies stripped down to their birthday suits and then painted on their uniforms. Definitely not Starfleet-issue. Best of all is what happend next: A bike ride around town!

The image after the break is most assuredly NSFW (you’ll see some dude’s “Captain’s Log” as well as everything these young officers have to offer), so refrain from clicking the link if that sort of thing bothers you.

Set phasers to “Oh God No.”

[Via Dinner in the Darkroom]

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From the Totally Awesome Department: Patrick Stewart will be knighted by Britain’s* Queen Elizabeth II.  The award recognizes service and achievement in all fields of society and is considered the highest honor for British citizens (Noncitizens may also be recognized). When men are made knights, they are called “sirs.” So let us say congratulations to Sir Patrick!

This will make him absolutely INTOLERABLE in 10 Forward.

*Who are the Britains?

Every trekkie knows that 2 Star Trek pilots were made. The first, “The Cage,” was rejected by NBC for being “too cerebral” (even back then they thought we were idiots). While “The Cage” was later re-packaged as “The Menagerie” Pt. 1 & Pt. 2, (beep once if you’ve seen it) the alternate pilot, starring Bill Shatner, ever aired.

Until now.

A German collector acquired a print which he shared with CBS. As a result, CBS will release this version on Dec. 15 as a part of the “Star Trek: Original Series – Season 3″ Blu-ray release. Above is a clip. Note the alternate opening monologue, title sequence and theme music. Also notable, the credits list George Takei as “Chief Physicist,” Paul Fix as “Ship’s Doctor” and Lloyd Haynes as “Communications Officer.”

We can’t WAIT to boldly see what no man has seen before!

[Via The Live Feed]

AMC’s ambitious remake of the short-lived, beloved television series, “The Prisoner” has finally aired (Part I at least). What did you think? Sound off in the comments below. Be seein’ ya!

Warning: The comments likey include spoilers. You have been warned.

Hide your gerbils! ABC’s re-imagined visitors have finally arrived. As their massive ships hover above Earth’s major cities, the scaly aliens attempt to infiltrate human society in very attractive costumes. The idea of seemingly benevolent aliens isn’t new, but it’s more compelling than clearly-defined good vs. evil. How will the contemporary Vs compare to their cheesy 80’s counterparts?

In a word: Pretty frakking well (OK, three words).

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This week we’re exposing examples of robots in pop culture that hinder the development of actual badass bots. If you missed the initial post on the subject, here’s a recap. Movies like I, Robot and that forthcoming Bruce Willis stink bomb feature pissed-off androids bent on human destruction. Who wants to fund a project like that? Number 5 scared the living hell out of me as a kid.

Go ahead, tell me that isn’t the scariest damn thing you’ve ever seen. It was an episode of The Bionic Woman that coined the term “fembot,” and they appeared in two multi-part episodes. The fembots didn’t have AI, but relied upon their programming. Plus, they didn’t mind when people dramatically tore off their faces to reveal the mechanics beneath.

The mindless, murderous fembots are creepy, evil and infiltrated my dreams for weeks when I was young. It’s the removable face that gets me. This also explains my fear of mannequins and CPR dummies.

Look here for more on why robots suck.

This week we’re exposing examples of robots in pop culture that hinder the development of actual badass bots. If you missed the initial post on the subject, here’s a recap. Movies like I, Robot and that forthcoming Bruce Willis stink bomb feature pissed-off androids bent on human destruction. Who wants to fund a project like that? Number 4 comes straight out of Dante’s Inferno.

It’s a given that if you build a robotic version of Beelzebub, things are pretty much bound to go wrong. The crew of the Palomino had to know things were going to go badly as soon as they spied the big guy. Eccentric scientist Dr. Hans Reinhardt paints his right-hand bot blood red, gives him whirling blades where his friendly hands should go and to top it off, there just *might* be a person trapped inside Max’s scary shell.

For kids who went to see The Black Hole, Disney’s low-budget answer to Star Wars, Maximilian was the stuff of childhood nightmares. Maximilian was a killing machine who never spoke a word and played the robotic bully to the lovable V.I.N.cent voiced by the talented Roddy McDowall. Perched on the edge of a galactic abyss, Max proved that even in the farthest reaches of deep space, robots are nothing but bad news.

Look here for more on why robots suck.

This week we’re exposing examples of robots in pop culture that hinder the development of actual badass bots. If you missed the initial post on the subject, here’s a recap. Movies like I, Robot and that forthcoming Bruce Willis stink bomb feature pissed-off androids bent on human destruction. Who wants to fund a project like that? Here’s the 3rd guilty party in our series.

This one isn’t even fair. They’re sexy. They’re handsome. They’re responsible for the genocide of the entire human race. Light years from the cheesy ‘bots from the original series (“By your command”), Ron Moore’s cylons gave the series the dark edge it deserved. The theme of man-made machines that rise up to destroy their masters isn’t new, but few have pulled it off with such grim perfection as Moore.

Even today, I can’t watch clips of human-like robots without thinking, someday this machine’s successors will burst into my home with bloodlust software running full-tilt. Seriously, can’t you picture this thing putting a gun to your head?

Yes, cylons were an easy choice. But for very good reason.

Look here for more on why robots suck.

This week we’re exposing examples of robots in pop culture that hinder the development of actual badass bots. If you missed the initial post on the subject, here’s a recap. Movies like I, Robot and that forthcoming Bruce Willis stink bomb feature pissed-off androids bent on human destruction. Who wants to fund a project like that? Here’s the 2nd guilty party in our series.

HAL 9000 is probably the most terrifying  of the lot. He’s faceless, emotionless and the Discovery’s central nervous system. When astronauts Dave Bowman and Frank Poole discover that the supposedly infallible HAL has made a mistake in 2001: A Spacey Odyssey, they decide to shut down all but its most basic functions. HAL doesn’t take too kindly to this, and gets a bit homicidal.

At that point, the movie is part haunted house, part beat the clock and the very reason we don’t have Gypsy, Tom Servo or Crow on NASA missions! Arthur C. Clarke has provided sci-fi fans with one of the most memorable characters of all time, as well a strong deterrent for AI in outer space.

Think of what could be. Planet Express Ship! The Infinite Improbability Drive! Forget HAL, he’s why robots suck!

Look here for more on why robots suck.