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).

Warning: Some spoilers follow. If you don’t want to know, here’s the short, spoiler-free version of this post: It’s doing well and we like it. For the spoiler-rific version, keep reading.

First, the numbers. The November 3rd premiere posted a 5.0 rating/13 share in adults 18-49 and 13.9 million viewers total. In fact, it beat out the premiere of Fox’s heavily-advertised “The Cleveland Show” from Seth MacFarlane as well as “NCIS.” The second episode was seen by 10.7 million viewers and drew a 3.8 rating among adults 18-49. That’s a 27% drop from the premiere; not unexpected as 80’s nostalgia and pure curiosity inspired many of those initial 14 million viewers. Still, a 3.8 rating and 10.7 million pairs of eyeballs are enough to keep “V” on the air.

The story is just as promising. By the end of the first episode, we learned that the visitors have secretly existed among us for years. A resistance group has formed and one of the main characters, Ryan (filling the Robert Englund role as the cooperative visitor), is revealed to be a visitor, unbeknownst to his fiancée. In the 2nd episode, we’ve meet a foul-mouth priest and the FBI agent’s son who’s decided to become an agent for the visitors.

In other words, it’s moving along briskly.

This revamp of “V” is sexy, fast-paced and contemporary. Working with themes that Alien Nation and Battlestar Galactica addressed so keenly, “V” transcends the camp of Kenneth Johnson’s vision. Red jumpsuits and Yoko Ono-style sunglasses have been replaced  with smart suits and uniforms. More importantly, ABC is keen to address religion, trust and social class during prime time. Here’s hoping they’ve got the stones keep it going.

When The Clone Wars movie hit theaters, I avoided it. In fact, I still haven’t seen it. Likewise, I avoided the TV series. Then I heard some buzz about the show and finally gave in. A year later, I’m glad I did.

The first episode, Ambush, was great. In fact, it featured a side of Yoda that’s been absent for way too long. Instead of the backwards-talking (It wasn’t every single sentence back in the old movies), military leader, here was the reassuring Yoda. It was good to have him back.

The middle of season 1 started to sag, but by the end it was quite good indeed. A number of vicious bounty hunters appeared and brought some palpable tension to what’s certainly a show for kids.

Season 1 ended with a cliffhanger and season 2 picks right up where the action left off. Above is the teaser. Go ahead and tell us you don’t want to see it. We dare you.

There are few couples in all of science fiction more deliciously wonderful than Zapp “The Zapper” Brannigan and his hapless, defeated assistant, Kif. Originally intended to be voiced by Phil Hartman, Zapp was portrayed by Billy West and was based upon Shatner’s Captain Kirk. Even when he’s stripped of his rank after destroying the Democratic Order of Planets (D.O.O.P.), Zapp lands back on his two feet. Largely because of Kif.

Ah, Kif. Zapp’s assistant and Amy’s boyfriend, Kif is smart enough to recognize when Zapp’s about to get into trouble, but too timid to do anything about it. Some of our favorite Kif moments are his exasperated sighs. For example:

Leela: You know, Zapp, someone ought to teach you a lesson.
Zapp: If it’s a lesson in love, watch out; I suffer from a very sexy learning disability. What do I call it, Kif?
Kif: [sighs] “Sex-lexia”

If Kif and Zapp ever starred in a buddy road trip movie, we’d be first in line to see it. Here’s to Kif and the Zapper, one of our favorite sci-fi duos.

Eastwick

Based upon The Witches of Eastwick with Cher, Jack Nicholson and Susan Sarandon, the series stars Rebecca Romijn, Lindsay Price and Paul Gross. The trailer makes it look like Charmed meets Desperate Housewives, so if you like the idea of magic-wielding cougars, tune in. Have we mentioned Rebecca Romijn? “Charmed” indeed. ABC’s Eastwick will premiere on September 23rd at 10 PM.

FlashForward

FlashForward is based on the Prix Aurora Award-winning novel of the same name by Robert J. Sawyer. It stars Joseph Fiennes and John Cho. The premise is interesting: For some unknown reason, everyone receives a glimpse of their lives 6 months into the future. It only lasts for two minutes and seventeen seconds, but no one misses it. Some even witness their own death. The FBI sends detective Mark Benford (played by Fiennes) to investigate. ABC’s FlashForward premieres on September 24th at 8 PM.

Dollhouse

Joss Wheadon’s nearly-canceled Dollhouse resumes a well-deserved second season in September. For the uninitiated, Dollhouse tracks the lives of impressionable agents who are fitted with a personality and skill set in order to complete a task, only to have all memory of the event erased as soon as the objective is achieved.

The show really grew on us last year and we’re looking forward to the next chapter. Fox’s Dollhouse premieres on September 25th at 9 PM.

Others with fall premiere dates include The Ghost Whisperer (Sept. 25 on CBS at 8 PM), Smallville (Sept. 25 on CW at 8 PM), Fringe (Sept. 17 on FOX at 9 PM), Supernatural (Sept. 10 on the CW at 9 PM) and Vampire Diaries (Sept. 10 on CW at 8 PM).

If you were expecting news on V, The Plan or Caprica, we’re sorry to disappoint you. The Plan is tentatively scheduled to air in November of this year, while the others won’t hit the airwaves until 2010.

Earlier this week, AMC announced that they’ve gotten the rights to turn Robert Kirkman’s comic serial The Walking Dead into a series. As a devoted Walking Dead fan I’m both elated and horrified by this news.

First, the good. Krikman’s ongoing story (more on that later) is tremendous. Zombie horror is nothing new, but Walking Dead’s approach is fresh. It follows a group of unlikely survivors in a zombie-riddled world as they fight — the undead and each other — to survive. The typical ingredients like bloodthirsty undead, violent battles and a sinking distrust are in place, but Kirkman doesn’t rest on the tried-and-true zombie formula. I won’t give anything away, but the “how” and “why” aren’t what you’d expect.

Now for my trepidation. Krikman’s motivation in writing The Walking Dead is to have a zombie story that doesn’t end. In the epilogue to the first book, he explains that the one thing he’s hated about every zombie move he’s seen is the end. His story is far-reaching and slower moving than we typically see on TV. Plus, by the end of the first volume of books a large number of characters have been introduced. Characters who don’t go away very quickly. The storytelling develops slowly and naturally, and the character’s emotions are real.

So what can we expect from AMC? It’s still an unknown quantity. AMC has produced two fantastic shows as of late, Mad Men and Breaking Bad. Additionally, Frank Darabont is on board to write and direct. Frank is a three-time Oscar nominee and director of The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. What all this means is that the show is (probably) in good hands.

As I said, I’m both excited and anxious about this show. Here’s hoping it’s fantastic. The story deserves it. In the meantime, enjoy the fan film above.

Earlier this week, Craig Engler, who runs the SyFy Network’s Twitter stream, posted a couple of teasers about Caprica, the forthcoming BSG sequel. He revealed that a rough cut of the 1st episode is being shown around the network. Additionally, he was enthusiastic about a conference call with producer Jane Espenson (@capricaseven on Twitter).

Other rumors are appearing as the show’s January 22nd premiere approaches. According to Sci Fi Wire (an official blog of SyFy), Patton Oswalt will play the host of a late-night comedy show across “…several episodes.” I’m nervous about the selection. Not because Patton isn’t funny, he is. I’m thinking of John Hodgeman’s jarring appearance on BSG.

Additionally, Entertainment Weekly reports that Buffy alumnus James Marsters will join the cast for what they’re calling “… a sizable arc” as the terrorist leader Barnabus Greeley.

We’re very excited about the premiere of Caprica. If you’ve seen the pilot, check out Episode 32 of our show to catch our reactions. So say we all!

Elizabeth Montgomery

She’s best known for playing Samantha on Bewitched, but I enjoyed her performance as a soldier in the Twilight Zone episode, “Two.” She and Charles Bronson play the only people on Earth after a long and bloody war. The catch: they’re members of opposing armies. Eventually they learn to abandon their hate and begin life anew. It’s a fun yet predictable episode, and Elizabeth turns in some nice acting, despite the fact that her character doesn’t speak.

Anne Francis

Angelina Jolie has nothing on the lovely Anne Francis. Most famously, Anne played Altaira “Alta” Morbius in the classic Forbidden Planet. This landmark sci-fi movie was loosely based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest and was nominated for academy awards, pushed special effects forward and featured the first appearance of Robby the Robot.

That’s all well and good, but for me, Anne never looked as charming as she did in “The After Hours.” In this episode of The Twilight Zone, Anne wanders into a department store to buy a thimble for her mother. She’s brought to the mysterious 9th floor which houses just one counter, one employee and one thimble for sale. As she investigates the “rude woman” who waited on her, she becomes agitated and is asked to rest in a back room.

She wakes up after the store has closed and returns to the 9th floor, where a group of mannequins seem to call her name and surround her. At last she realizes that she herself is a mannequin who has returned after enjoying her turn living in the “real world.”

It’s a creepy episode that moves along briskly and features an absolutely beautiful Anne Francis.

Mariette Hartley

No wonder Spock fell for Zarabeth … she was played by Mariette Hartely. When he and Bones tried to follow Kirk through the atavachron in the episode “All Our Yesterdays,” Zarabeth was waiting, having been exiled there. It isn’t long before she gets a certain science officer’s green blood boiling, and we don’t blame him.

She also played Sandra Horn in The Twilight Zone’s “The Long Morrow,” in which her beauty inspired an astronaut to endure 40 lonely years in space.

Catherine Schell

Fans of Space: 1999 will remember the beautiful and talented Catherine Schell who joined the cast as a regular in season 2. She also appeared in Doctor Who in 1979 and currently runs a hotel in France. Who knew?

Now, I know what you’re thinking. “No Barbarella?!” That’s right, no Barbarella. Why? Eh, that character was too cartoonish, too over-the-top. Not that Jeri Ryan in that Starfleet uniform wasn’t silly, but you know what I mean.

Was there anyone that we missed? Let us know.

When The Plan was announced at the end of Battlestar Galactica’s run, I feared that it would be a lame attempt to recapture the glory of the series (see “After M*A*S*H“). Now that the teaser trailer is out, I’m starting to get excited about it. There are references to several episodes in the brief clip which need a thorough examination.

One thing is clear: Cavil was behind everything. The genocide, the plot’s shocking moments, the works. In Kobol’s Last Gleaming, Boomer shoots Adama twice in the chest. Ultimately he survives. In the trailer, we see Cavil reprimanding her for botching the job and not shooting him in the head. We can only assume that took place after she was assassinated by Cally and resurrected on the base ship.

Later, we see Cavil and Six conspiring to discredit Baltar’s Cylon Detector. As you’ll remember, the test required plutonium, which Six suggested be taken from one of the Galactica’s nuclear warheads in the episode Bastille Day. Baltar estimated that it would take over 60 years to test the whole fleet (numbering almost 50,000 people at the time) in the episode Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down. Plus, it supposedly produced a false negative on Boomer, so it was indeed discredited.

In another scene, Cavil is telling a battered Ellen that the cylons will attack the fleet at 33-minute intervals, which was the premise of one of our favorite episodes, “33.” Speaking of Ellen, we even see Saul (with both eyes intact) debating the ethics of killing Ellen. “Some would call that murder,” he says to Cavil. Of course, Saul goes through with it in the episode Exodous, Pt. 1.

In season one, Doral stormed the Galactica with a suicide vest, posing as a reporter. In the Plan clip, we see Cavil handing him that vest.

After viewing the trailer and seeing the familiar stories from a new perspective, I’m hopeful that The Plan will avoid being gimmicky and offer a compelling look at the collection of stories we’ve come to know as the genocide of humanity. Edward James Olmos directed, and we know he has a deep affection for these characters. Here’s to November.

* “Zaprudering” is a neologism derived from the Zapruder film, the amateur 8mm film that is the only known visual record of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It’s used here to indicate painstaking analysis of the trailer.

Good news for Battlestar Galactica fans. A brand new trailer for The Plan has hit the web. Since you’re a rabid BSG fan like us, you’ll remember that The Plan tells the story of the destruction of Caprica and the 12 colonies from the cylons’ perspective. We cannot wait to see it, if only because it’s new BSG. Fortunately, it looks like it’ll actually be very good.

Look for The Plan on SyFy this November. Click to watch the new trailer.

Fans of the dark and brooding UK scifi series Torchwood should mark their calendars. BBC America will air the special abbreviated series 3 of the hit TV show over five consecutive nights beginning on Monday, July 20th. Judging from the trailer available on the BBC America website, the 5-part mini series promises to pack quite a punch and brings familiar characters face to face with the death of fallen friends.

We’re glad Torchwood is returning, we just wish we had a full season to look forward to instead of the smaller mini-series format that seems to have swept through the dramatic worlds of Doctor Who producer Russell T. Davies like a wave of mutant Daleks. Like its spin-off companion, the new season of Doctor Who will be presented in very small chunks, spread over an entire year instead of the standard 13 or 24 episode blocks TV goers are used to. Hopefully, in the end, quality will win out over quantity.

Fans of Battlestar Galactica have another chance to own a small slice of the show thanks to a new series of eBay auctions. Propworx, an official auctioneer of Battlestar Galactica props & costumes has some tantalizing items up for sale. Some of the cool props that caught our eye were the BSG Pyramid Ball, the trademark Battlestar tank top and undershirt worn by the Colonial military and a cool set of BSG colored binders, complete with cut corners.

These items would make perfect additions to any BSG fan’s collections, but they do come with a price. The binders alone are currently selling for over $400 and who knows how high they’ll go before the auction is completed. If you’re looking to pick up any of these awesome items from BSG, you better act quick. Many of these auctions end later today so you don’t have time to waste. Have fun!

[Hat tip to Louie Mantia for this post]

“… My heroes are Jonathan Swift, and Albert Schweitzer. Many of them are unknown people I’ve met which I consider remarkably brave, patient and understanding. But I have less of that collection of heroes than an overwhelming affection for humanity. I think the human race is just a fascinating creature.

I know that humans, even today, capture and torture people and commit war and all of that. But that’s because they are still children and children are violent. But I refuse to think any other way about the human race but that they are beautiful children. They will, in the end, persevere.”

- Gene Roddenberry

I’ll never forget the time had the privilege to meet Mr. Gene Roddenberry. One fateful day back in 1978, my father clipped an article from our local newspaper that the creator of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry, was coming to speak at our town’s high school. I had been addicted to Star Trek ever since I first started watching television and my parents knew I’d be excited to hear Roddenberry speak about how he created the show, as well as his other projects. To say I was excited was an understatement.

I marked the date on my calendar and counted down for weeks until the night arrived when we went to see him speak. I was only nine years old at the time and somehow expected that everyone in our town would attend the event. After all, this was the great Gene Roddenberry and he was to talk about the best thing to ever hit television, Star Trek. I felt crestfallen when only about 1/3 of the auditorium filled that evening to hear him. If this seems strange, you have to remember that up until the release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979, Trek was considered a second rate kids show seen only in syndication at all hours of the night. The series was still establishing its status as cult hit, which is probably one reason why Gene was appearing in small towns like Laconia, NH where I grew up, giving lectures to barely filled halls.

None of this mattered. I sat raptured and listened to him speak for a little over an hour about his early career in the military and how he later sold the idea of Star Trek to NBC by couching it as a western in space. He told funny stories about on-set antics and the classic tale of how Nichelle Nichols almost left Star Trek after the first season, but decided to stay at the behest of Dr. Martin Luther King.

Prior to that night I had always imagined Gene to be someone of tall stature and forceful voice. It surprised me to learn he was a humble man, who spoke quietly about his creations and who often dotted his remembrances with humor and gentle wit. He thoroughly enjoyed his career as a writer and producer, but hated having to cow tow to network TV executives. He fully believed in the power of the human spirit, but acknowledged that man’s history had been littered with cruelty and destruction. He closed his speech and then treated us to blooper reels from all three seasons of the original Star Trek series.

When the applause had finished and the lights came up, my father asked if I wanted to try and meet him. At first I was afraid and thought it was best to simply leave. My dad reminded me that I may never have this chance again and so I agreed. We walked to where Roddenberry stood talking to fans and after a few moments, my dad introduced me and I got to shake Gene’s hand. I didn’t realize then how lucky I had been to actually meet the creator of Star Trek in person, but I know now. Roddenberry’s talk inspired me to do well in school, dream about what the future of the human race held, and solidified me as a Trekkie for life. For all of this and more, I am deeply grateful.

From one wide-eyed kid to another, thank you Gene, you are missed.

Exciting news for fans of the classic BBC scifi series Doctor Who this week. Doctor Who Magazine is reporting that the third season (or ’series’ as they are called in the UK) of the Sarah Jane Adventures will feature a two-part episode with starring David Tennant as the Doctor himself. Fans will remember that the Doctor and Sarah Jane parted ways at the end of School Reunion in a bittersweet goodbye that set the stage for Elizabeth Sladen’s return to regular television with her new kids series.

While The SciFi Channel picked up the first season of Sarah Jane, U.S. audiences have so far missed out on season 2 so there’s no telling if we’ll ever get to see Tennant and Sladen together again here in the U.S., at least through official channels. Hopefully BBC America will pick up where the SciFi Channel left off and air this new, exciting adventure from producer Russell T. Davies and writer Gareth Roberts. Head on over to the Den of Geek for more info about this Who-tastic tale.

The excitement continues to build around ABC’s reboot of “V” (read our initial thoughts here). Above is a promo with some scenes that didn’t appear in previous clips. Are we crazy, or is this going to be good?

[Via SF Universe]

Now that Battlestar Galactica has ended and Caprica* has jumped far away, SciFi Network executives hope Warehouse 13 will fill the void. It’s set to premiere on July 7, which is just about a month away. This post will let you know what to expect from the network’s would-be flagship show.

Premise

Think The X-Files: Storage Division. Secret Service agents Myka and Peter are sent to the US government’s super-secret Warehouse 13, right in the middle of nowhere, North Dakota. It’s so secret, in fact, that our heroes — fresh from an assignment with the President of the United States — are unaware of it.

The warehouse holds all of the top-secret items the government has collected since its inception. The problem: Something has gone missing, and Myka and Peter must find it. Additionally, they’re asked to keep an eye out for anything else that deserves a slot on the shelves.

It’ll be a comedy with some drama and lots of gee-wiz special effects.

Cast and crew

Eddie McClintock plays renegade agent Peter. He’s appeared in a great numer of TV shows over the years, but does he have any sci-fi cred? Unfortunatley, the answer is “No.” Eddie has been on big shows like Friends, Bones, Desperate Housewives (though, how Marcia Cross still looks good after all these years is a bit of a science fiction mystery) and House, but nothing in the genre.

The lovely and talented Joanne Kelly plays agent Myka, the show’s “by-the-book” character. Unlike Eddie, Joanne has got decent nice sci-fi cred. She appeared in an episode of Supernatural,  three episodes of the short-lived Dresden Files and 2005’s Solar Strike.

A male loose cannon FBI agent paired with a rules-bound female agent to investigate the government’s involvement with the supernatural … sound familiar, anyone?

Behind the scenes it’s even better. The 2-hour pilot was written by Farscape creator Rockne S. O’Bannon, Battlestar Galactica co-exec producer Jane Espenson and D. Brent Mote.

Twelves episodes have been shot, including the pilot.

Getting our hopes up

We want this show to be good. There’s a lot of potential: The stuff inside the warehouse is limited to the writers’ imaginations, and we like dramas with a little comedy on the side. Keep your fingers crossed.

*For more on Caprica, check out our episode #32.

Deep Space 9 – Season 5, Ep 18
Quark wants to pay off his debts, but it may end up costing him his life.

When Quark realizes his finances are in the space toilet, he takes up an offer to broker weapons for his cousin Gaila. The latinum flows like wine, but so does the ill-will of the rest of the crew when they realize what Quark’s doing. Dax disowns him and Sisko puts him one stolen, self-sealing stembolt away from the nearest airlock.

All in all, the plot is solid but even the inclusion of a funny O’Brien b-story and the super-sexy companion of arms dealer Hagath can’t rescue this one from being more than what it is – a filler episode. As Ferengi stories go, this is one of the weaker ones, but the scene where Kira, Sisko and Odo give Quark the good cop / bad cop / blob cop treatment is priceless. That said, the lack of any meaningful character development earns it the rank of lieutenant. Worth a watching, but don’t divert the fleet to do so.

The first television serial that grabbed my attention was V. If you’re unfamiliar, I’ll explain the plot’s basics. Aliens arrive on Earth in enormous ships and convince humankind of their altruistic intentions. Of course, they’re really reptilian bad guys who want to replenish their planet’s exhausted natural resources by robbing Earth of her own.

Also, they eat gerbils.

V was replete with 80’s cheese and typical sci-fi conventions and plot twists (who can forget the V baby?). When we first heard of the pending remake, we were cautious. Could it possibly be good?

I know you can’t judge a project by a 90 second trailer (The Phantom Menace is proof of that), but these clips have gotten us excited. Above we see the ships arrive and human kind’s terrified response. Here’s what V has going for it:

1. The Aliens are sexy. Morena Baccarin plays Anna, the alien leader. I’ll be quite happy to stare at her for 40 minutes a week. Not to mention Lisa on the New York mother ship, played by Laura Vandervoort.
2. It’s not on Fox or SciFi. Fox has a hair trigger when it comes to under-performing TV shows (not to mention a very broad definition of “under-performing”), and SciFi’s scheduling is managed by a monkey. I feel that ABC will give it a shot it wouldn’t enjoy elsewhere.
3. The special effects look good. That brief scene of the shuttle taking off from a landing pad looks great. BSG set a standard for FX on TV. It seems ABC is answering the call.
4. Religion is front-and-center. BSG demonstrated that heavy-handed religious themes in a prime-time television show, when done right, are compelling. The clip above suggests that we’ll find a similar tactic in V.

We’re still not 100% convinced that this is going to be good, but we’re certainly encouraged. Let the invasion begin! Watch another clip after the break.

For more of our thoughts on the popularity of sci-fi “reboots,” check out Episode #31.

The LA Times is reporting today that the SciFi Network will be releasing complete video of BSG’s visit to the UN. Until now, only brief clips have appeared on YouTube, including Edward James Olomos’ awesome “One Race” speech. If you’re unfamiliar, Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Ronald D. Moore and David Eick were invited to speak to the UN about the show’s impact on issues of humanity in contemporary society. The event was moderated by Guinan Whoopi Goldberg, and very well received. Plus, how cool do they look behind placards that read “Caprica”?

Update: You can watch all of the videos here.

[Via The Flickcast]

If you love the Oscars, but hate having to stay up until 2am, and wish they’d give awards in your favorite BSG categories, then have we got the episode for you! The long-awaited Toastie Awards are being handed out and you have a front row seat right next to Jack Nicholson (as a seat warmer).

Join Dave, Jen & Ged as we announce the best and worst of the Sci-Fi Channels’s Battlestar Galactica as voted by you, our nine listeners. This is a fun one filled with suspense, drama, comedy and a few twists & turns so you won’t want to miss it.

Warning: The Toasties contain spoilers for all four seasons of BSG, so if you don’t want to know who frakked whom or who bought that big space farm in the sky, then don’t listen.

Original post date: 4/11/09
Duration: 33′33″

Links for this episode:
Rolling the Hard Six
Lucy Flawless Fan Site
Billy Crystal Opens the 69th Academy Awards
Old Glory Insurance

If you’re like us, then you’re probably still stinging over the Sci-Fi Channel’s early cancellation of Farscape all those years ago. But thanks to Apple’s iPhone, there’s good news for Farscape fans. From Rockne S. O’Bannon (the creator of Farscape) and Keith DeCandido, comes the Farscape #1 Preview app. This free digital graphic novel picks up where the Peace Keeper wars left off and continues the story of John Crichton, Aeryn Sun and all your favorite characters. The full issue of Farscape #1 is heading for the App Store soon, but until then, fans can head on over and download this free preview. Don’t miss it!

[Hat tip to Andreas for this post]

Announcing the first (and last) annual Toastie Awards for our favorite science fiction show, Battlestar Galactica. What just are the Toasties you ask? The Toasties are a fun and completely arbitrary award bestowed on our very favorite parts of BSG. We’ll be handing out Toasties like algae during episode 28 of The Sci-Fi Cast and we need your help!

We have some pre-determined Toastie categories that we’ll be mentioning during the podcast, but we’d also love to hear your nominations for any and all funny BSG categories you might have. We encourage you to post them, along with who you think should win, either in the comments thread of this post or by tweeting them to us @scificast. Be sure to include the search term #bsgtoastie in your tweet so we don’t miss it when categories and nominees are tallied.

Here are some of the Toastie Award categories we’ll be mentioning during episode 28. If you’d like to add nominations for fun categories, go for it! We’ll pick the best fan categories and announce the winners for each in our podcast the week of April 13th.

Toastie Award Categories:

• Best episode of BSG
• Best Tag Line or Saying
• Fan Favorite Character
• Best Frak
• Best Death Scene
• Sexiest Cylon
• Best BSG Shock
• Most Annoying Character
• (other fun ones you nominate!)

You know who they are. They’re the ones typically written into stories to give the plot that “human” touch, but who usually end up grating on your nerves like nails on a chalk board. Sci-Fi writers love them, and with very few exceptions, fans almost always hate them. They come in all shapes, sizes and ages and we’ve dug though our repressed memories to bring you a list of the best (or worst) of them. Here are our picks for some of the most annoying children in sci-fi.

Star Trek’s Alexander Rozhenko
Cousin Oliver. Olivia Kendall. Spike Fonzarelli. Seemingly unrelated characters with one thing in common: They appeared on prime time TV shows to increase the cuteness factor. It’s a problem as old as television itself:  Adorable child actors become awkward teens (or suave leads grow a gut). Desperate, producers have enlisted cute kiddies to revitalize shows like The Brady Bunch. And The Cosby Show. And Happy Days.

And Star Trek.

When everyone’s favorite Klingon, Worf, did the nasty with K’Ehleyr, the result was Alexander Rozhenko, who returned to the Enterprise to live with dear old dad in the episode New Ground. Worf … and the rest of us … were never the same.

I love Michael Dorn’s Worf. When he’s in costume, I believe that he is that character. By contrast, Brian Bonsall just seems like a litte boy with a turtle on his head. Whether he was taking the fall for some other kid’s imaginary friend or receiving messages from his full-grown future self (you knew that had to happen eventually), poor Alexander’s stories rarely moved me to an emotion beyond impatience. The pinnacle was the episode A Fistful of Datas, in which the holodeck went crazy (Again. Why they didn’t just dismantle that damn thing is beyond me) and the crew dressed like cowboys in the wild west.* Ugh.

I’m sure you were a good kid, Alexander, and you did have your tender moments. But all in all, I wish you had remained where no Klingon child had gone before.

Battlestar Galactica’s Hera
Not since V’s “Star Child” has there ever been such an important, and utterly annoying child character on a major science fiction show as BSG’s Hera. Hailed as the key to the survival of both the cylon and human races, Hera ended up being little more than a deux ex machina that mattered little and usually got underfoot.

The child of Karl “Helo” Agathon and Sharon “Athena” Valerii, Hera could often be seen running through the Great Opera House in Laura’s visions and generally getting kidnapped every half a season or so. The show often centered around plots having to do with Hera or her parents but Ron Moore and company never gave us a reason to grow fond of the little tyke. We’ve counted a grand total of perhaps 3 lines of dialog for Hera in the entire four seasons of BSG and that just doesn’t cut it. In the end, even the ill-fated Boxey had more dialog than Hera did which made the final mission to rescue her in “Daybreak” even more difficult to swallow.

Star Wars’ Anakin Skywalker
If ever there was a poster child for the most annoying kid in sci-fi history, Jake Lloyd’s Anakin Skywalker has to be it. Born on the desert world of Tatooine as the son of a junk-yard slave, Anakin would later grow up to be the biggest heavy in a galaxy far, far away – Darth Vader. As a child however, Anakin had more in common with the Little Rascals than the Dark Lord of the Sith. Lloyd’s portrayal as Anakin had a whole range of annoying habits, the least of which was not knowing how to act.

Anakin also had tendencies to wear head protection that was 3 sizes too big, say annoying things like “Wizard!” all the time and piece together protocol droids for fun. But perhaps his worst trait was his in-ability to actually shed tears for his poor, abandoned mother. Upon learning the Jedi have agreed to whisk him away for life, young Anakin runs off to his room to pack yelling “Yipee!”, never for one second thinking “What about mom?” Call us crazy, but it’s no wonder this self-absorbed, sand rat eventually grew up to be the asthmatic villain that subjugated an entire universe.

*At least Counselor Troi looked good in her leather pants.

The universe of science fiction often dreams of technology decades before it becomes part of our every day lives. What seems one day like small screen fantasy, eventually gives way and becomes technological reality. So it was with Space: 1999’s iconic Commlock, which strangely foreshadowed Apple’s modern handheld device, the iPhone.

Now considered a sci-fi cult hit, Space: 1999 was produced by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson in the UK, ran from ‘75 to ‘77 and was heavily influenced by the visual designs of films like 2001: A Space Odyssey. Space: 1999’s production designer, Keith Wilson, looked to 2001 for inspiration and created spacecraft and devices which have since become fan favorites. Little did Wilson and Anderson know that one of their creations, the humble commlock, would so accurately represent today’s handheld devices, particularly Apple’s iPhone.

The concept behind the device was simple – commlocks were a sort of “electronic swiss army knife” that no member of Moonbase Alpha could be without. Like the familiar communicators of Star Trek, the commlock’s primary function was that of a communications device. But where communicators were limited to mere voice messages, commlocks featured a tiny CRT that allowed video calls with other crew members. Indeed the original prop was designed around what was then the world’s smallest TV screen (the 1971 “Integrated Circuit” Panasonic TR-001, 1.5″). Today video conferencing is common place, but in 1975 few could conceive of it, let alone on a mobile, hand-held platform like that shown in Space: 1999.

Commlocks also acted as electronic, one-touch “keys” which allowed authorized personnel access to their designated sections. Like the modern iPhone, the devices could be password protected with a personal code to prevent unwarranted use, could be “blanked” remotely for security purposes, and had the ability to download and run programs from the base’s main computer for specialized analysis. Programs that ran on the devices included one to automatically trigger condition red at the touch of a single button, and another that allowed the commlock to emit a high-pitched frequency.

Another fascinating iPhone parallel was the ability of an individual’s commlock to be “docked” at any of the hundreds of workstations around Alpha. This allowed the units not only to recharge, but to also send and receive information directly to the main computer core for faster data retrieval and upload.

Looking back at the series 34 years later, it’s fun to spot the parallels between what the writers of Space: 1999 thought our future held and what actually became reality. While the dream of a permanent, manned base on the surface of the moon has yet to materialize, smaller, more down-to-earth predictions such as the commlock have found their way into today’s technology. Who knows what fantastical aspects of modern sci-fi shows will be common place 30+ years from now? If all goes well, we won’t have to have our moon blasted out of earth orbit to find out.

Warning: This post contains spoilers for the series finale of Battlestar Galactica, ‘Daybreak’. If you don’t want to know what happens, then you should stop reading now.

Though I am not religious today, I was raised Catholic and the topic of religion interests me. After 16 years of Catholic school (that’s right), I feel I’m qualified to comment on the subject. There’s so much that’s ripe for comment here. For example, the humans are polytheists while the cylons belive in one God. The humans tend to keep their religious beliefs to themselves, while the cylons are missionaries.

However, I’m going to talk about how the show depicts God’s relationship with both human and cylon. Today, there are many people who subscribe to the belief that God is a hands-on kind of guy, directly affecting the lives of we humans. “God will provide,” you might hear some say, or even “Why would God do this?” In this scenario, God himself* makes things happen in our lives, and does things to people. He’s active.

Others feel that God is passive. Consider a child playing with a top. He gets it spinning good and fast, then lets go. The top turns and spins, traveling across the floor, powered by nothing but its own momentum.

In much the same manner, some say God “sets us down” and lets us go. This seems to be the notion adopted by the writers of BSG (me, too). Over and over humanity is set down and given a chance to get it right. Angelic Six and Giaus watch the top spin from a distance, hoping that it’ll travel in the right direction. When the whole thing falls apart, they then step into a more active role, pushing humanity towards their next opportunity to try again (Kobol, Earth I, Caprica, Earth II).

Others have commented on the religious aspects of BSG more elloquently than me, and I suggest you check those articles out. The best TV shows are thought-provoking and leave a legacy that extends beyond their run on television. BSG stands proudly among them.

*I use “himself” as a gender-neutral pronoun in this instance.

Warning: This post contains spoilers for the series finale of Battlestar Galactica, ‘Daybreak’. If you don’t want to know what happens, then you should stop reading now.

With the airing of last night’s series finale, Battlestar Galactica has passed from the realm of “what is” into “what was”. Even though the show ran for only 4 short seasons, its run lasted almost 6 full years. Watching the end of BSG last night among my friends, I was reminded that as with the end of many great TV series, it’s not always about the destination, but rather the journey.

Overall Daybreak was a very satisfying end to the grand experiment that was Ron Moore’s Battlestar Galactica. The finale was filled with much of the action that has been missing in recent weeks, a final confrontation with Brother Cavil, and answers to some important questions about Kara, Baltar and Six. The parts I enjoyed the most were the ones I knew were coming – the heart-pounding attack on the colony, learning the fate of Galactica itself and particularly the final moments between Bill Adama and Laura Roslin. I’ve really enjoyed the Laura/Bill subplot since the very beginning and their last flight together to find their “cabin on the hill” was moving and everything I had hoped it would be.

In contrast, Starbuck’s story line left me disappointed. From the series’ inception, Katee Sackhoff’s skillful turn as Starbuck made even the most stubborn old-school BSG fan a convert. Her performances as Kara Thrace proved to be a favorite of mine time and time again, until her fateful encounter with the Eye of Jupiter. Her “death” in Malestrom fundamentally changed Starbuck’s character and not in a good way. Call her what you will, angel, ghost or guardian, Kara Thrace died, was reborn and sent back to the Colonials a shell of her former self. It’s now clear that Moore’s intentions for the character were meandering at best, and deeply unsatisfying at worst. Starbuck started BSG with a bang but ended as only a whisper on the wind, and for that I’m sad.

On the good side, Tory finally got what was coming to her, Cavil ended up buying it even if he did take the coward’s way out (something very out of character for him), Sam was sacrificed at the altar of technology and the fleet finally found Earth. Not the ball of radiation soaked sand that Starbuck originally led them to, but the lush green Earth of eons past. With this discovery, humanity decides to make a clean break from the fleet that has sustained them since the genocide of the 12 colonies and fans out across the planet to start anew.

I honestly didn’t think coming into the finale the fleet would find a new home, but I’m glad I was wrong. These scenes on Earth were a welcome change from the dark, gray days on New Caprica or the nuked earth of Crossroads. How sad that even this crowning moment was scarred by the main characters deciding to take separate journeys from each other. It would be great to think of Bill, Lee, Galen, Baltar, Six, Sol and Ellen sitting around some campfire on a young Earth toasting marshmallows and finally getting a chance to relax, but that’s just a fantasy. Lee is left utterly alone. Tyrol decides to isolate himself and become the sole inhabitant of Ireland and Adama would rather spend his days grieving over the body of Laura than be with his surviving son. Bittersweet to the end.

Although I still believe the final season of Battlestar Galactica to be the weakest of the entire season (especially the run-up to the finale) in my heart, I can’t fault the series. On its worst days, BSG was head and shoulders above where 99% of other TV dramas reside. Those shows usually rack up undeserved awards and accolades for being nothing more than the cop or doctor show of the week. Battlestar Galactica gave viewers a fresh look at subjects like politics, terrorism, morality vs security and religion. I feel sorry for anyone who won’t take a chance on Galactica simply because they “don’t like sci-fi”. They will never know what they’re missing. Although I wasn’t blown away by the finale as some seem to have been, I did enjoy it. And although I didn’t find the final destination to be everything I had hoped for (probably a self-constructed impossibility), none-the-less I still had a hell of a fun time getting there. For that, I will always be grateful.

Caprica

We’ve been expecting Caprica, the BSG spin off series. While watching the trailer, we’ve gathered that Joe Adama (Bill’s dad, Apollo’s granddad) loses his daughter in a train crash on Caprica. The wreck also takes Daniel’s daughter. Daniel is a scientist of sorts whose focus is on high tech and artificial intelligence. Grief-stricken, he creates artificial replacements for the dead girls. But that’s not all …

What hath Eric Stoltz wrought? Why, it’s the first cylon!

Of course, this is all conjecture based upon an extremely limited amount of information, but it looks like Caprica will focus on the moral, religious and social ramifications of a world at the height of its technological achievements.

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan

Also waiting in the wings is Battlestar Galactica: The Plan. Written and directed by Edward James Olmos, The Plan tells the story of the destruction of Caprica from the cylons’ perspective. It will air on SciFi* and be released on DVD sometime in 2010.

Some familiar toasters will return, including Michael Trucco, Aaron Douglas, Dean Stockwell, Tricia Helfer, Grace Park, Rick Worthy, Matthew Bennett, Callum Keith Rennie, Michael Hogan and Rekha Sharma. I can’t help but think that this could have been the bulk of BSG’s fifth season, and I’m glad it’s not. While I would have considered it a re-hash if used as a season of BSG, I’m more than happy to watch it as a stand alone movie. Bring it on!

*We refuse to use the new name until the change becomes official

The Doomsday Machine from Star Trek: TOS

Who wouldn’t be afraid of a giant space robot that looked like the tornado that swallowed Dorothy’s house in The Wizard of Oz? Now imagine that tornado swallowing more than just houses. The Planet Killer from Star Trek The Original Series was so massive it gobbled up whole star systems, spaceships and anything else that got in its way including my favorite childhood hero, Captain Kirk.

The Doomsday Machine is one of my all-time favorite Star Trek episodes perhaps because of the story’s incredible sense of danger. The Enterprise is sent to investigate a missing starship Captained by Kirk’s friend Matt Decker. Kirk and Spock find Decker alone aboard his badly damaged ship. Still in shock from his ordeal, Decker tells of a monster that killed his crew and destroyed the entire population of a nearby star system. The monster turns out to be an automated and seemingly unstoppable alien weapon that destroys whole planets. Of course, we learn the weapon just happens to be on a collision course with the heart of the Federation and must be destroyed at all costs.

Spock and Decker return to the Enterprise and once there, Kirk is cut off from his ship by the Doomsday Machine. The story follows Kirk, Spock and Decker’s attempts to destroy the weapon and features tense battles both on and off the bridge of the Enterprise. The episode was written by Norman Spinrad, and directed by Marc Daniels and is a great example of drama that results when Kirk and Spock are out of their element. It’s difficult to put into words why this gigantic destroyer of worlds was so scary as a kid. Perhaps it was its automated, faceless nature that made it so creepy. All I know is that it gave me more than a few nightmares late at night.

Bionic Bigfoot from The Six-Million Dollar Man

Take one bionic hero, put him all alone in the deepest California forest and mix in the legendary Sasquatch and you have “The Secret of Bigfoot”, perhaps the best episode of The Six-Million Dollar Man. The story follows Steven Austin as he searches for a pair of missing seismologists in the rugged mountains of Northern California. One the scene, Steve and Oscar Goldman learn that the scientists disappeared under mysterious circumstances when tracks of the legendary Bigfoot are found nearby.

A local Native American guide adds some much needed credibility when one of the missing pair turns up in extreme shock. The guide lays eyes on the terrified man, and chillingly explains “He’s seen the Sasquatch!”. As a kid, I distinctly remember diving under the covers at this moment in the story. After a scary night attack on the team’s camp, Steve pursues the trail of the Bigfoot and a battle royalé ensues. Turns out Bigfoot’s bionic too and twice as strong as Steve! He’s the guard dog of an elaborate alien complex deep in the mountains designed to keep meddling scientists and bionic astronauts at arm’s length. Steve eventually gets captured by the aliens, befriends them and helps stop a major earthquake from destroying all the cities on the Pacific coast line, but all that was just window dressing for the real star of the show – Sasquatch himself.

It’s no surprise that Kenneth Johnson, the writer behind “The Secret of Bigfoot” would draw on the headlines and mythos of the day to create this all-time, fan-favorite story for the bionic man. Growing up in the 70’s, it was impossible to get away from documentaries, movies and news reports about Bigfoot, the Yeti and the Loch Ness Monster. I credit Steve Austin’s run-in with André the Giant’s Bigfoot as the reason why, even to this day, I don’t like to step into the woods alone at night.

The Dragon from Space: 1999

If there was a scifi show that felt creepy on its own, it was Gerry Anderson’s Space: 1999. The series followed the inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha as they hurtled across the universe. Due to a freak accident, the moon gets blasted out of Earth orbit on Sept. 13th, 1999 and Alpha goes with it. With its poorly lit sets, cold & sterile production design and a tendency toward dark story lines, the series always felt eerie and disconnected. In 1975, writer Christopher Penfold brought “Dragon’s Domain” to the screen, the first real monster story the series featured and it was a whopper.

The story, which could be a forerunner of Ridley Scott’s “Alien”, centers on astronaut Tony Cellini and his fateful encounter with a fierce creature. In 1996, Cellini is selected to head the Ultra Probe, a special mission to explore a new planet discovered out beyond Pluto. Cellini and his team make the journey without incident and arrive at Planet Ultra only to find a strange spaceship graveyard in orbit. Cellini makes the decision to dock with one of the derelict ships and what comes aboard could easily be described as pure evil.

Once the docking hatch is opened, a giant, green eyed, tentacled beast appears and promptly begins to kill the crew. The team tries to flush it back out into space or destroy it with their blasters, but the alien possesses a kind of mind control which compels them to approach. One by one the crew is pulled to a bizarre and gruesome death, all except for Cellini who manages to make it to the command pod, jettison himself and perform a brilliant maneuver to slingshot the pod back to earth in a mere six months.

Although Cellini survives to tell his incredible tale, he is practically laughed out of the space program, in part by Helena Russell, the chief medical officer of Moonbase Alpha. When Alpha encounters the very same space ship graveyard on it’s journey through inter-stellar space four years later, Cellini bolts for an Eagle to confront the creature and settle the score once and for all.

I remember watching Dragon’s Domain when I was just six years old. I also remember that I didn’t really sleep well for at least a week. Everywhere I looked I saw that giant green eyed monster with its tentacles reaching out to grab me. The thing also made a horrific scream, which I still remember, as it beckoned the crew to their deaths. As one might expect, re-watching the episode now on DVD is less traumatic, but the story is still intense by today’s standards. I’m not sure how I got the viewing of Dragon’s Domain past my parents as a kid. By the time they figured out how it had traumatized me, it was too late. Oh well, like all good ghost stories, it might have been scary, but it was still fun!