MSN TV Blog: Sci-fi

I Want to Believe...the 'X-Files' Movie Won't Suck

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:53:12 GMT

Seems to me that the "X-Files" movie coming out Friday is just going to run into a certain Dark Knight and get destroyed at the box office.

That'd be alright, if the movie were as good as the series at its best.

It has a tough road ahead of it. It needs to be accessible to people who've never heard of the show as well as people who viewed every episode obssessively.

Seems like there's been relatively little publicity for it, a sign that the studio doesn't have the greatest of confidence in it.

Also, there's the question of whether the old magic just dried up.

Toward the end of the series, the old Mulder-Scully chemistry seemed to be mostly gone. Now it could have regenerated, having lain fallow for a half-dozen years.

Right now, with the down time from a slower TV season, I'm watching the entire "X-Files" series on DVD. And I really, really want to believe that it's going to be worth the wait.

We'll see this weekend.

- posted by Raoul

Deja Vu All Over Again: 'Dollhouse' to Get a New Pilot

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:07:36 GMT

Some of you fellow Joss Whedon fans may remember how his last TV series, "Firefly," had network complaints about its pilot being too dark prompt Whedon and crew to write a new pilot late in the game. The original pilot got shelved and "The Train Job" became the world's introduction to the series. Some fans blame that decision for the show's failure to build enough of an audience, or at least as a symbol of network interference/foolishness that they feel contributed to the show's cancellation.

So when Whedon announced he was going back to FOX for his new series, "Dollhouse," some fans were concerned that he would likely be the victim of the network's itchy cancellation finger again.

Now comes a development where Whedon's announcing he's putting together another pilot after the original one was completed. The original one is going to be tweaked and made the second episode.

Whedon says, with his signature humor, that this is all his idea and hints that panic is premature.

Is this spin? Or should we just relax and enjoy the notion that the show will have co-ed showers?

- posted by Raoul

The 'Middleman' Speaks

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:58:52 GMT

One of my favorite new shows this summer is ABC Family's "The Middleman," which is about a square-jawed science hero and his artist sidekick who contend with all the Mexican wrestlers, aliens, and super-intelligent gorillas that life can throw at them.

Here's an interview with "Middleman" actor Matt Keeslar about the role. I'm not sure if he's trying to have the same gosh, golly persona as his character but it's an interesting read.

I particularly like the point he raised about there needing to be an opposite number. It's so very true. I was thinking that to myself while watching last night's episode.

Superman has Lex Luthor. Batman has Joker. The Fantastic Four has Dr. Doom. A hero's only as good as his top villain.

So judging from the interview, the writing staff hasn't gotten around to making one yet.

I'd love to see a foul-mouthed Goth chick whose mission is to help all the bad guys get away with their various schemes.

- posted by Raoul

Bring on 'Justice League'!

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:00:32 GMT

"Smallville" in its upcoming eighth season is going to feature Green Arrow in about a dozen episodes and have some of the proto-Justice League (GA, Aquaman, Flash, Cyborg and now Black Canary) in search of Clark, who is AWOL.

Which brings to mind a thought: At this point, I would much rather see the adventures of the neo-Justice Leaguers than another season or two of this Clark Kent.

No disrespect intended to Tom Welling, who has done a good job overall, or even the writing staff, whose efforts have been more mixed.

But part of what the show has always had to struggle with is that Superman is pretty much the most powerful guy around. Even in his learning phase, he's pretty hard to stop. Another is that there's something like 70 years of comic book stories, a bunch of cartoon series, some live-action movies and TV shows giving various takes on who Clark Kent is.

All that hems the writers in. A lot.

Contrast that to the guys in the Justice League. Even as a comic book geek, there's not much I can tell you about who these Justice Leaguers are, beyond a few scattered characteristics and their identities. And all of them are very much human.

I'm hoping that this will be a test run for a potential spinoff. How about you?

- posted by Raoul

Your Showcase Includes a 'Battlestar' Movie and a Cruise

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:20:51 GMT

"Battlestar Galactica" fans rejoice! The LA Times' Showtracker blog has Grace Park on record as saying the first BSG TV movie has gotten the green light:

"'I just heard about the first Battlestar movie being greenlit,' said Grace Park, 'Battlestar's' Cylon No. 8, yesterday by phone from Vancouver, Canada. 'A TV movie, but still! But this -- it's like, yeah, it's over but we're ready to move on but nobody's manager or agent has been called. It's supposed to start in August.'

We'll have to keep our fingers crossed until August.

Fans of the original "Battlestar Galactica" might want to consider taking the Galacticruise from Los Angeles to Ensenada in September. Lots of the cast members will be on board to hang out with fans.

- Posted by Kate

'Chuck' Gets Some Cool Guest Stars

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:51:21 GMT

It's never too soon to start thinking about the fall TV season, and a huge favorite for Kate and me, "Chuck."

Word's come out that former New York Giant Michael Strahan will be guest-starring as the owner of the Mighty Jock sport store.

Also coming our way: Nicole Richie as a mean girl who used to torment Sarah. I'm thinking a) we're going to see Sarah in a fat suit and b) Sarah will get her revenge at their high school reunion.

ETA: Now comes a report that Michael Clarke Duncan and Melinda Clarke are going to appear on the show. And John Laroquette, who has been on "Boston Legal," has apparently landed himself a recurring gig on "Chuck."

I'm a little dismayed at the negativity toward the show in the report, but we'll have to see if it pans out.

- posted by Raoul

'Supernatural' and the Fairer Sex

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 23:46:27 GMT

TV Guide has news that Katie Cassidy, who played semi-friendly, snarky demon Ruby, won't be returning to the C-Dub's "Supernatural" for budgetary reasons.

Which raises the issue of when the show will get a recurring female character who sticks around.

Of course, the show is really about Dean and Sammy and their travels, and any recurring characters of any background are just a bonus.

But it seems to me that "Supernatural" has really tried to showcase some female characters, whether to attract female viewers or to give some dramatic balance. And from Bela to Ruby to Meg to Ellen, none have worked all that well.

I wish I had a better line on why the show -- so successful in most other phases -- falls short here.

Any ideas? Or do you think I'm being too harsh on creator Eric Kripke and his minions?

- posted by Raoul

Weird Science: J.J. Abrams' 'Fringe' Rocks the House

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:55:57 GMT

I checked out J.J. Abrams' new sci-fi procedural "Fringe" this morning, and I have to say it's kind of "X Files," kind of "Alias," but mostly its own brand of awesome.

In the pilot episode FBI agent Olivia Dunham finds herself in the middle of a very strange situation. A plane has landed - through the magic of autopilot, natch - at Boston's Logan Airport, and all of the passengers and crew are dead. Really dead, like messy dead. They fell victim to some particularly virulent chemical virus. When Dunham and her partner/lover John Scott are sent out in the field to gather intel Scott becomes infected with the mysterious virus. So now it's personal for Dunham. She tracks down Dr. Walter Bishop, a scientist who is Agent Scott's best hope for survival. Bishop has spent the last 17 years in a mental institution and Dunham needs the help of his son, Peter Bishop, to meet with him. For your own good, that's all I'm giving away.

The pilot delivered everything I've come to expect from J.J. Abrams: strong female characters, excellent dialogue, and mind-blowing twists. The acting and pace were right on, but that was no surprise. Joshua Jackson was especially strong as brilliant jack-of-all-illegitimate-trades Peter Bishop, and Anna Torv held her own as FBI agent Olivia Dunham. Lance Reddick - who you'll remember as Lieutenant Daniels from "The Wire" and Matthew Abbadon from "Lost" - turned in a nicely understated, even enigmatic, performance as crusty team leader Philip Broyes.

It wouldn't be a review if I didn't complain a little, so let me point out that the music might as well have been lifted from the Jack Nicholson/Michael Keaton version of Batman. And that's all I've got. I absolutely loved "Fringe" and I can't wait for fall.

- Posted by Kate

'The Middleman' Is Anything But Mediocre

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 01:43:30 GMT

Last night I caught the premiere of ABC Family's "The Middleman," which didn't seem to get all that much publicity beforehand.

That's a shame, because it's a light-hearted treat for comic-book fans.

In the pilot, we meet slacker artist wannabe Wendy Watson, who is temping at a lab when she gets attacked by a DNA experiment gone awry. She fights the thing off with a letter opener when along comes the Middleman to finish it off. The Middleman is an agent of an organization that even he doesn't know about, other than he's supposed to fend off all sorts of impossible comic-booky threats with an arsenal of high-tech weapons.

Impressed that Wendy managed to think on her feet when confronted with the threat, the Middleman drafts her, and she eventually accepts a job. Which is good, because elsewhere there's a plot afoot involving a super-intelligent gorilla and an attempt to take over the mob.

So the basic concept is a riff off of "Men in Black" and "Doctor Who" with a dose of the self-parody and campiness of the Adam West "Batman" series thrown in for good measure. The characters banter quickly about comic books, the Middleman's propensity to use words like "Crimeny" and whether he is allowed to date Wendy's roomie. The special effects aren't great, but it's more about the goofiness between the characters and the occasional winks that the writers will throw the audience. Or certain segments of the audience, anyway.

I'm getting a Season Pass for "The Middleman" on my TiVo. You should check it out.

- posted by Raoul

'Battlestar Galactica:' Revelations

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:20:39 GMT

No, it's not "Lost," but Raoul and I loved the "Battlestar Galactica" mid-season finale so frakking much that we decided to post our chat for you guys. There are spoilers galore, so if you haven't watched the episode yet stop reading right now.

Raoul: The thing about BSG's summer finale is that it had so much going on but it didn't seem cramped.

Kate: Yeah.

R: Spoilers for those who haven't yet watched: Now the fleet knows who four of the final five are, same as we do.

K: Right. Four Cylons are in the fleet, not five. So that is crazy!

R: What do you think that means about the fifth?

K: Well, I think it means that the last of the Five is either dead...or someone so crucial that D'Anna thinks it's better to keep his/her identity a secret from him/her.

R: I'm wondering if it's Billy or Ellen Tigh. Or, in keeping with Leoben's prediction that "Adama is a Cylon," either Carolyn or Zack Adama.

K: Those are good guesses. However, the Five were all in the fleet at one point but now there are only four, right? So I guess I'd be inclined to go with Ellen Tigh. Or Callie. Or Kat.

R: I'm unclear about that. At one point Athena said there were 8 Cylons in the fleet, and I'm not sure how many of the final five were there in addition to her, D'Anna and maybe a Six.

K: I was just thinking about that. We've got time, let's do the math. Was that before or after the D'Anna in the fleet did her expose?

R: That was before D did her expose. It may have been before Sam was brought into the fleet though.

K: Yes, it was. So, okay, I'll count.

1. Saul Tigh

2. Galen Tyrol

3. Tori...I don't know her last name.

R: I think it's "Scheming Wench"

K: 4. The Six who set off the nuke.

5. Was Boomer counting herself?

R: Re: the Six who set off the nuke, I can't remember if they had met up with the Pegasus yet, which is where she was from. I assume Boomer/Athena was counting herself.

K: Good point. But since Boomer was accessing some primal Cylon database she probably knew about the Pegasus Six.

R: So maybe we should move on for now and do the research on who exactly was known at that point sometime later. We do, unfortunately, have all summer and fall to go to the DVDs.

K: Yes. I think we're forgetting someone, though. Here's a thought. D'Anna obviously wanted all of the Five on the base ship. What if the fifth one was already there? Meaning: Roslin? Helo?

R: I think it would delegitimize the show if Helo or Roslin were Cylons. I could accept Baltar as one, possibly.

K: We know the Five age. Their bodies change. Do you think this means they can't reload? Or that they reload as babies? Or that they reload on Earth? (Probably not, though.)

R: Hmm. That's a mindblowing concept that there could be other Cylon kids we don't know about.

K: Exactly. But they couldn't be born in the traditional way. Probably. But it's just possible - though far-fetched, I think - that Caprica Six's pregnancy has nothing to do with Saul Tigh and everything to do with the last of the Five being killed and then rebooted in utero.

R: Hmm...I guess we'll have to see how things unfold when the new episodes get back. Interesting theory.

K: It will be forever...

R: Tell me about it.

K: That's what's bad about watching every episode of "BSG" pretty much at once. I have no reserve of patience.

R: I'm glad to see that Apollo has finally learned to man up.

K: Yeah. I hope Roslin won't die and leave him President any time soon, though. I like him better as a fighter pilot than as a politician.

R: I think I light him better as a politician than a fighter pilot. There's potential for a lot of interesting interactions with Zarek, Roslin and Bill Adama.

K: So...Earth!!!

R: You damned dirty Cylons! Damn you all to hell! I was very surprised we got Earth this early in the run. I thought we were going to only see it in one of the last two episodes. And then for it to be an apparent radioactive wasteland...hoo boy!

K: I know! But I think we'll find out that Earth did itself in.

R: Sometimes I think the whole of "BSG" is just Ron Moore saying, "Why I think 'Star Trek: Voyager' was a cop-out, parts I-60." And this is the latest example of that. Instead of giving the fleet the happy ending that a lot of fans might have wished for, it's now perhaps in a worst place than before.

K: But it's not the ending ending. In fairness, they landed on one part of the planet, probably near the equator. I think we'll find some survivors elsewhere.

R: I read somewhere speculation that the bridge we saw was the Brooklyn Bridge. Does that seem right to you, resident NYer?

K: That was my thought at first, but I wasn't sure.

R: Why must everyone destroy NY in apocalyptic scenarios? Why not just Pittsburgh or something?

K: Got me.

R: Where do you see the human-Cylon alliance going from here?

K: I think the Cylon civil war will have to play out. I see the "good guys" winning and then going on to integrate with humans.

R: It seems like there will be more material to play off of the betrayals that the final four needed to do to keep themselves concealed. I really liked how Tori slimed her way on the baseship without admitting she's a Cylon at first.

K: Yes, that was interesting. Obviously she has more to fear, because she actually killed someone to protect herself.

R: Thoughts on the Adama-Tigh reveal? Was it powerful or just a little too over the top? I'm leaning toward the latter.

K: I kind of liked it.

R: It seemed like the writers were like, "OK, Eddie, sell this and you can maybe get an Emmy nod."

K: I think "The Hub" was the Emmy episode.

R: How so?

K: All of those intense Roslin scenes. Emmy gold.

R: I'll keep my fingers crossed. Somehow I don't think that the Academy will ever fully appreciate the greatness that is "BSG."

K: No, but maybe it'll win a Peabody next year or something.

R: With the downtime between now and new episodes, I may go back and look at the various Hybrid predictions and see what to make of them.

K: That seems like a good idea.

R: Starbuck sure enough led the human race to its end.

K: I thought the scene of her running through the ship to stop Apollo from sending Tigh out the airlock was hilarious. Dude, they have intercoms.

R: Ha ha! But what fun would that be?

K: Exactly.

R: Am I the only one to see a Roslin-Baltar-Adama love triangle on the horizon? Not that I want one...

K: Wha? I don't think so. I think it'll be more of a Roslin-Adama-Death love triangle.

R: He's got his way with the ladies, and he's starting to show her some attention.

K: I think he's only got eyes for Cylons.

R: Nah, he's hooking up with his groupies. He's a total playa. It'll take a lot of patience to wait for next year's episodes.

- Posted by Kate and Raoul

'Battlestar Galactica:' Good News, Bad News

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:33:46 GMT

Good news: The Sci Fi channel is streaming tonight's episode of "Battlestar Galactica" on their web site. Right now. Seriously, the whole thing. It'll be up until 4:00 EST. (No spoilers here, I promise.)

Bad news: This is the last new episode of "BSG" we'll see for quite a while. Ron Moore told TVGuide.com that the show won't be back to finish out its fourth and final season until January 2009 - at the earliest. Apparently Sci Fi doesn't want to compete with new fall shows and baseball and football. Um, hello? This is a show that's on at 9:00 on Friday nights. Sports I can see, but that's pretty much the death slot for a network sitcom or drama.

- Posted by Kate

Sci Fi Branches Out Into Gaming

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:40:06 GMT

Last week, Sci Fi announced it was creating a website for gamers called Fidgit.

Today, it announced it's going to offer a series with a massive multiplayer online roleplaying game attached, a la World of Warcraft.

The story doesn't say what the series/game would be about, and the game company they've paired up with is one I've never heard of. But there's still reason to get excited about the prospect. If done right, it could make for a really immersive experience.

Of course, part of me is all crochety and thinks the network should focus on, I don't know, sci-fi programming rather than putting all this effort reaching out to other types of markets. I really don't want Sci Fi to abandon its roots in the way that MTV is no longer about music.

- posted by Raoul

Sci Fi's Summer Plans

Fri, 30 May 2008 02:23:35 GMT

Today Sci Fi also announced what it plans for the summer, with new seasons of "Ghost Hunters International," "Scare Tactics," "Eureka" and "Stargate Atlantis."

Sadly, there was no mention of "Who Wants to Be a Superhero?" so I think it's clear that we've had our last dose of all that cheesy goodness. I was really hoping there'd be another round so there'd be a winner better than Feedback and the Defuser.

The press release doesn't go into great details as to what's going to happen in the two series that I care about. But it does say that there'll be a woman on a mission to clean up "Eureka's" Global Dynamics.

As for "Atlantis," Bob Picardo of "Star Trek Voyager" fame is going to reprise his "Stargate" character and be the new nominal head of Atlantis who (presumably) will either just rubber-stamp Shep's decisions or be wrong. Beckett will be around for a couple episodes. And there will be a powerful new race introduced.

Is that enough to get some anticipation flowing? Personally, I can't wait till July, when "Atlantis" and "Eureka" are set to return.

- posted by Raoul

Save 'Dollhouse' Before It Airs? Please!

Wed, 28 May 2008 03:54:31 GMT

Before episode 1 of Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse" has aired, some fans are already talking about trying to find ways to save it from cancellation.

I love the power of positive thinking, guys.

Yes, I know that networks are having itchier cancellation fingers than in the past. And it's no secret that FOX has been guilty of premature cancellation of series ranging from "Family Guy" to Whedon's own "Firefly."

But Joss decided to do business with FOX with every bit of information that we have and then some. And for the most part, I think he knows what he's doing.

Let's first see if the show's any good before deciding whether it's worth fighting for. I'd like to think that any show with Eliza Dushku and Joss Whedon would be, but hey, every slugger strikes out from time to time.

And then let's see how it does in the ratings.

If "Tru Calling" could survive for basically two seasons, I'm thinking "Dollhouse" is going to have a healthy run.

- posted by Raoul

'Reaper' Ends Season on High Note

Thu, 22 May 2008 21:39:19 GMT

So it seems that Sam is more than just a bounty hunter for Hell. Unless we're being massively misled, Sam's the Devil's son.

I think this plot twist is interesting because it shores up one of the weaknesses in the premise. What, after all, does Satan need some random punk kid to do his work for him?

But if Sam is indeed the devil's son, it seems like the whole reaper gig is a way to get him introduced into the family business gradually.

The demon insurrection has guessed that Sam is the devil's kid and tests out the theory by dropping an appliance on him on the theory that his evil powers would save him. Sam is indeed spared, which has the rebel demons planning to trap Sam in a cage and bury him alive. It might have worked, too, if it hadn't been for one of the Big Gay Demons. His partner has become an angel, and by appearing first to Sam and second to his former lover, he inspires a last second rescue of Sam. Sam's seeming biological dad was not so lucky though. And while Sam, Sock and Benjy mourn, Sam's mom dug his dad up hours later, and he's apparently no worse for the wear.

The Soul of the Week is a fortune teller who reveals to Sam that there are lies about Sam's birth.

On the girl front, Andi proves herself good at legwork, but for some reason gets left out of the actual soul hunting. Sock breaks up with Josie just in time to have a fling with a succubus who shaves a year off his life every time they kiss. But the temporary high from making out is so great he tries to turn Benjy on to it, only to have the demon be a little disappointed that he's so Sock-y.

I'm a little sad it's going to take till January for "Reaper" to return with new episodes (assuming that the CW doesn't have many shows outright flop.). I think the show has been steadily improving.

- posted by Raoul

The Freighties vs. the Losties vs. the Others: The Brawl for It All, Part One

Fri, 16 May 2008 20:23:28 GMT

So on last night's "Lost," we saw a little of how the Oceanic Six fared immediately on being rescued. Jack had a funeral for his dad and learned Claire was his half-sis. Sun got revenge on her dad for hating Jin by taking over his company. Hurley's family threw him a luau and freaked him out a little. Sayid hooked up with Nadia. Back on the island, Jin and Sun made it to the freighter to be surprised by Michael. Sayid and Kate are going after Jack (and Sawyer, unbeknownst to them), who was going after the copter, which was full of people going after Locke, Hurley and Ben. Sayid and Kate get captured by the Others. Locke, Hurley and Ben get near a new station, the Orchid, but the mercs have beaten them there.

Here's some of what Kate and I had to say about the latest outing:

Kate: I thought this was a placeholder episode - what did you think?

Raoul: It'll be hard to judge until next week.

One thing that struck me as odd was that it was one of the few ensemble episodes. We had flashforwards from so many different characters. A little jarring, I'd say.

Kate: I thought so too. Did you happen to notice who was on the boat besides Faraday, Sun, and Jin?

Raoul: I didn't. Who?

Kate: I think just people we never meet.

(Who will probably die soon.)

Raoul: Yeah, I think a lot will turn on how the show will get the Oceanic Six together again.

Kate: Right.

I think we'll also find out who's in the coffin, right?

Raoul: Hopefully.

I did like that the episode had some meat to it: we see everyone reunited with loved ones. Poor Kate has no one to show up. I was wondering if we were going to see her husband.

Kate: Yeah, that would have been interesting. I loved Hurley's parents so much.

Raoul: What do you make of the car having the numbers on its odometer?

Kate: It's the Island's way of saying howdy.

Raoul: I wondered if it were that or just Hurley's craziness.

Kate: I think they were really there, but you never know with this show.

I absolutely loved Sun's power play. I bet you weren't expecting me to say that.

Raoul: "Jesus Christ is not a weapon" is one of the best lines in the episode.

Kate: Yes, that was great!

I just loved that they threw him a luau. Soooo funny.

Raoul: No, I was expecting you to question it. I mean, no matter how big a settlement Oceanic gave, it would be hard to afford to buy a controlling interest in a company as powerful as Paik (at least, as powerful as we were led to believe.)

Kate: But she probably also has some money that got settled on her when she got married. Plus, she probably got twice as much money because Jin is "dead."

Raoul: Hmm. So why is this kind of manipulation ok by you and not the other things Sun has done?

Kate: It's not what she does, it's the way she does it. She was being ballsy and honest with her dad.

Raoul: Have we seen Jack's mom before?

Kate: Yes. We saw her in a flashback when she asked him to go to Australia to find his dad.

Raoul: Jack did pretty well at playing off the news that Claire was his half-sis, huh?

Kate: Yeah. He did.

I wonder if Christian Shepard had anything to do with Claire's mom coming out of her coma. Wasn't she in a coma for at least 5 years?

Raoul: Yeah, she was comatose. Claire could have been responsible too.

Kate: I don't think Claire would have left if her mom was awake.

Raoul: But it's good to know that to the world at large, Christian is indeed dead, as opposed to having somehow come back.

Kate: Ya think?

Raoul: I'm thinking Puffier Ghost Claire in Jacob's hut, assuming that's what she is.

Kate: But he didn't have to be a ghost. He could be an immortal Other, like Alpert. It would explain a lot.

Raoul: Re: Christian, I'm assuming that the funeral means that Jack and co. think he's dead.

Kate: OK...I just don't think it means he's really dead. But yeah, I think Jack thinks he's dead.

Raoul: One thing that I thought was shortchanged a little was the Nadia-Sayid reunion. They get one not-so-passionate kiss, an appearance at the luau, and that's it.

Kate: Yeah. Well, we know they get married right away, so maybe we'll see their wedding in 2 weeks.

Raoul: I was hoping that there would be more to the Michelle Forbes character than we saw. She's such a good actress that it would be kind of a waste for that to be all that she was about. On a plus note, she can say she's starred in four of the best shows from the last two decades of TV: "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "24," "Battlestar Galactica" and now "Lost."

Kate: Yeah, I know what you mean. I was also a little disappointed.

Raoul: Any ideas on what the Orchid station is or how it relates to moving the Island? And doesn't Ben know that taking Locke to a hatch is bound to result in that hatch's destruction?

Kate: I don't know. I think Ben's and Locke's interests are almost perfectly aligned at this point.

Raoul: Any predictions for part II? I think it's about time Michael got to fulfill his death wish.

Kate: I think Michael is going out a hero...and I'm worried that Jin's going with him. I think Sun and Des get off the freighter somehow. I think Faraday and Charlotte get stranded on the Island.

Raoul: Hmm. I don't know if I would particularly want to watch Faraday and Charlotte on a regular basis next season. But we'll see what we'll see.

Kate: Next season will be kind of crazy, because we'll have two separate worlds.

We'll have the Oceanic 6 at a point where they no longer know what's going on on the island, and vice versa.

It should be interesting.

- posted by Raoul and Kate

'Smallville' Bids Farewell to Lex (and Lana)

Fri, 16 May 2008 16:49:43 GMT

So in the last "Smallville" episode featuring Lex and Lana as regulars, a lot happens. Unfortunately, not a lot of it makes sense.

- Lex learns from a Brainiac disguised as Kara about Clark's true nature and has one last confrontation with him, quipping about how the Fortress of Solitude is a step up from the barn and bringing it crashing down around the two of them.

The whole Traveler plot line was poorly planned out. Why would Jor-El (or anyone else) care about humans enough to make a device to protect them from Kryptonians? Why wasn't its existence revealed during any of the times when Kryptonians were threatening Earth previously in the series? Seeing as how only Lex was in the running to put it together, how hard would it be to keep him from doing that, given all of Clark's abilities?

Putting that aside, I don't think the control aspect was really established. It wouldn't have killed them to do either some better direction or CGI to show that Clark wasn't able to move or something.

And then finally, I don't see how destroying the Fortress is equivalent to controlling the Traveller. (Or for that matter, how the "fortress" can be considered such when everyone who wants to can waltz right in there.)

Still, Michael Rosenbaum showed why he'll be missed next year.

- Lex owns Jimmy Olsen, making him deceive Lois, and when Jimmy refuses to be an ongoing lackey for him, sics the authorities on Chloe (just as Jimmy is proposing to her, no less).

Let's push aside for a moment that as Lois's boss, Lex can simply shut her down as he did Chloe, and so this whole "feeding information" deal isn't necessary.

Jimmy was annoying to the extreme. Gosh, Lex, you want me to lie? Given that he had no trouble lying to Chloe, I don't understand why this presents such hardship. Also, I wish one of these characters would when blackmailed would develop half a brain and tell other people about it. If Jimmy had told Chloe and Lois what Lex was up to in advance, the situation would have been much better for all of them.

Also, how is Lois supposed to be this great reporter and she can't tell when someone's blatantly lying to her. "Oh, I overheard some reporter -- sorry, don't know which one-- talking about this same story. Also, I intercepted some photos that Lex for some inexplicable reason was having printed at the Daily Planet instead of at Luthorcorp."

Finally, I hope Chloe doesn't say yes to Jimmy when she gets out of the slammer.

- Brainiac tries to zombify Chloe, only to be weakened and wondering what the heck her deal is. Clark then is able to easily beat him. Unbeknownst to him, the real Kara is stuck in the Phantom Zone.

It's nice to see Chloe get some respect, but I really don't like the whole "Chloe is a k-freak with powers of life and death" deal.

I don't really get how Clark found Brainiac, or how Clark feeding him electric power (which is what he presumably wanted) didn't strengthen Brainiac. It would have been nice for Brainiac to be more about brains and less just an entity that has Clark's powers but none of his weaknesses.

I also don't really get what Brainiac gets out of setting up the Lex-Clark conflict. He mentioned something about being unable to kill Clark, but that seems pretty ridiculous on its face. All Brainy has to do is walk up with some of the amply amounts of kryptonite and mission accomplished.

I really hope Kara remains in the Phantom Zone. No offense to the actress, but I think the writers never really knew what to do with her character. Overall, she was a net loss.

- Lana wakes up from her Brainiac-coma only to leave Clark a "Dear John" video saying that the world's need of him is more important than her needs.

If only this were guaranteed to be the last we'll see of Lana, I could be happy. But we know that like a horror movie villain, she'll be back when we least expect it.

I suppose it seems pretty classless for Lana to break up with yet another boyfriend by video. But that's Lana for you.

Maybe it's my antipathy for the character, but I have a hard time buying that she has suddenly come to the realization that she's holding Clark back. It seems much more likely sthat she woke up, decided that being brain-fried by random aliens came with the territory of being involved with Clark, and she'd rather not really do that.

- Lois tries to get Clark to apply for a job at the Daily Planet freed up by Chloe's firing. She also has taken to doing her work at an annoying techno-club down the street.

Last and quite possibly least, Lois acts all chirpy about how her cousin's firing has created opportunity for Clark.

To work in a field that he's not demonstrated any interest in since high school.

At a paper run by a guy he hates, who hates him.

While he has a farm to run by himself.

What sense does any of this make?

- posted by Raoul

'Reaper' Escapes Cancellation Scythe

Tue, 13 May 2008 01:32:30 GMT

Now we're starting to get a lot of renewal (or not) news, and one of the first pieces of good news is in: The CW is going to allow "Reaper" at least another 13 episodes to prove itself.

I'd prefer a whole 24 or so, but beggars can't be choosers.

The socks worked.

The bottom line is that the CW made the best decision. The show has a ton of potential, and it's starting to make good on it. Having Andi know the secret means that we don't have to waste time with "When will she discover the truth."

The introduction of the fallen angels gave a nice little boost, as did the notion that Sam might run across people who have deals with the Devil and try to undo them.

What I would love to see in the next season (besides an additional slew of episodes:

1. Angels. If there are demons among us, it seems like there should be a counterpart. I'm curious what they'd be like.

2. Forward movement in the parents' secret arc. Sam deserves to know a little more about what his contract says.

3. Tougher souls to track. One of the problems thus far with the show is that it ran the risk of being too formulaic. A soul's escaped, the Devil acts smug, Sam gets a new vessel, he has a hard time in the first go-round, but eventually gets his man, and the Devil gives him thanks and grief at the same time. I would love to see an arc where a soul manages to remain on the loose for more than just one episode.

4. More evil humans. There are a range of possibilities: devil worshippers, witches and just plain bad guys.

- posted by Raoul

Locke's Knife Fixation Started at an Early Age

Fri, 09 May 2008 18:08:26 GMT

After a pretty dreadful Jackcentric episode (sorry for the redundancy), "Lost" seemed to return to form with an exploration into Locke's past. It seems Dharma/Richard/various Island-related factions had their eyes on him since he was a young 'un. But early recruitment of him failed because he wanted to be one of the cool kids.

In the present, Locke, Hurley and Ben go on a crazy road trip to the Open Pit of Dharma Skeletons, where Locke gets a clue to lead them to Jacob's cabin. Inside, he meets up with Christian (Jack's dad) and Claire (Heftier Ghost Claire?). The Freighties have somehow gotten wise to Michael being a mole. (If only some of them worked for CTU, the nation would have been far more secure.) They try to cap Mike to no avail. While the mercs are gearing up for Round 2 with Lostzilla, Sayid is heading to the rescue of the Lostaways. Having been lost for years, Des says wisely he's had enough of the Island and isn't going back.

So here's some of Kate and my thoughts about how things shook out.

Kate: I thought last night's episode was pretty great.

Raoul: So this time around we got the story of Li'l Locke.

Kate: Do you think Richard is his daddy?

Raoul: Who knows with "Lost," but it would totally undercut the whole big Oedipal drama with his con man daddy, the real Sawyer.

Kate: I don't see why. And I don't see how Richard ended up at the hospital if it wasn't his baby.

Raoul: My take on this episode is that it confirms a long-held suspicion of mine: Locke has the same sort of quasi-psychic abilities that Walt had. And somehow Richard and Dharma detected that and sought him out.

Kate: Okay, but as a baby? I don't disagree with what you're saying at all, I just think Richard is the daddy.

Raoul: It's a little creepy that they were apparently watching him all his life. But a little cool too.

Kate: I think the ways in which Locke skirted his destiny as a kid/teen were really interesting.

Like, he picked up the knife because he wanted it to be his.

Raoul: I'm trying to remember if we heard the song Locke's mom was dancing to out of the original hatch. And if it means anything beyond the producers really having a jones for the 60s.

Kate: He didn't go to Mittelos Biotech because he wanted to be a jock.

I don't know the song...want me to try to Google it?

Raoul: Yeah, that personality test was a little crazy. I wonder what the different items meant.

Yeah, if you'd like.

Kate: Anyway, though, I think free will is actually a pretty important thing even on the island, and I think it might even be why the island has "chosen" Locke over Ben.

Raoul: I think it was "Downtown" which may have been featured in a prior episode.

Kate: The sand was probably sand from the island, and the compass had to do with being a leader and a "finder."

The knife, on the other hand...

Raoul: Also, does it mean that there are X other kids out there that Richard's trying to track down, with each item "belonging" to one of them?

The comic book to me seemed a callback to Walt.

Kate: I bet the comic book is significant, too. Any insight there?

Kate: I'm also wondering about the Baha'i holy book.

Raoul: Re: the comic book, it looked like one that the "Lost" people made up, and it was about a hidden city.

Kate: The song was "Everyday" by Buddy Holly, BTW.

Raoul: It's interesting to speculate on what would have happened if Locke picked the one that really "belonged" to him.

Kate: Even then, I think he messed up on purpose.

Raoul: Oh totally. I think he picked up the sand and the compass first because they were more attuned to him.

Kate: Right, they were his.

So, what did you think about Christian and Claire in the cabin?

Do you think Claire is dead?

Raoul: That was my second reaction. My first was, "Man they're desperate to try and give Emilie de Ravin something to do." And my third was, "Man Emilie is looking a little puffy. What's up with that?" Sorry for the departure into mild sexism there...

Kate: I wonder if the actress is pregnant.

Not that relevant to the story, though.

Raoul: I wonder why Jacob chose Christian to "speak" for him. And does that mean the Christian Jack sometimes sees is real?

Kate: I think so. Weren't you saying that you thought Christian was one of the original pirate crew?

Slave ship, I mean.

Raoul: No, but that's an interesting theory.

Kate: Who was it? I guess it was my dad. Hi, Dad!

Raoul: You know I do think was part of the pirate crew? Daniels!

Kate: Yes, that makes sense, though if we really think that through he was probaby part of the cargo.

Raoul: True. I'm scared of him. He's going to show up again and Locke's gonna be in TROUBLE

Kate: I'm not sure that he's a bad guy now. He could just be another lost soul looking to make his way back to the island.

Raoul: The way he had Locke positioned at the stairs made me think he was going to push him down them.

Kate: Me too! And it was totally on purpose...but maybe not malicious.

Raoul: I wonder if he's got a separate agenda from Richard and/or Widmore.

Kate: I think he might. He keeps appearing in sort of low key ways.

Sooo...moving the island? Really?

Raoul: Yeah, it'll be interesting to see what that involves.

Kate: Well, it makes me wonder if the island isn't completely artificial, like someone built it.

(Shades of Rambaldi)

Raoul: And back on the freighter, did I miss something or forget something? I don't remember the crew being wise to Michael's double-agent status. Maybe I'm just getting old.

Kate: No, I don't think the captain knew, anyway.

I had a "did I miss something" moment too...and I refuse to admit I might be getting old.

Raoul: Oooh, going back to Locke, he somehow depicted Lostzilla back in the day. How cool is that?

Kate: Right! And I think that's really key. Alpert saw that, so he absolutely knew that Locke was bona fide, but because Locke refused to pick the objects that were his, he couldn't take him. Thus, free will matters.

Raoul: Wasn't Ben a tad bitter this week?

Kate: He just lost his kid. I think he'll be bitter from "now" until he dies (which won't be that long, I think.)

Raoul: What??? NOOOO!!!! Blasphemy! Take that back!

Kate: You don't think he's going to die?

Raoul: I think he has a long, bunny-killing, snarky comment-making, evil-manipulating life ahead of him. As long as Michael Emerson knows to stick with a designated driver.

Kate: Ha. I wish I agreed, but I think we'll see Ben bite it in a flash forward very soon. And I think he was in the coffin.

Raoul: That could make sense. My original speculation was that it was Michael, since it was a black neighborhood (seemingly), and since he was on the outs with our Lostaways. But it could have been Ben.

Kate: Michael isn't a bad guess. However, I think he's likely to die on the freighter and get thrown unceremoniously overboard. Also, if it was Michael I think Sayid would have come to the funeral. (Though maybe he was on a secret mission for Ben, except I think Ben is dead by June, 2007.)

Raoul: Yeah, how about the multiple attempts to kill him? I thought Harold P. played it slightly off. Michael should have been hopeful for death rather than appearing scared at the prospect.

Kate: Yeah, that makes sense. He is there to die.

- posted by Raoul and Kate

Two Thursday Night Blondes Planning Exit Strategies?

Thu, 08 May 2008 22:12:27 GMT

Two actresses who have been mainstays of a couple of my favorite Thursday night programs are apparently looking to bolt.

TV Guide's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Allison Mack is making noise about not coming back for another season of "Smallville."

Which all could be a negotiating ploy to get a big payday. As the article points out, Michael Rosenbaum isn't going to be back as Lex in a full-time capacity. Neither is Kristen Kreuk as Lana.

Without Chloe, what does the show do? Give more screentime to Lois, who a lot of fans call "Nois" because she doesn't meet the qualities of the iconic Lois Lane? Have Kara as a regular and potentially upstage Clark? Bring Pete back full-time? Invent some new character?

I am partially hoping that Allison Mack does leave. For many years, she's made the best of subpar writing. She deserves to find a gig that would maximize her talents. Also, I think that I would finally be willing to break with a Lex-less, Chloe-less "Smallville" and be able to use my time more productively. Like by watching "Ugly Betty."

It's also rumored that Katherine Heigl is eager to put behind the crazy hours of "Grey's Anatomy" and build on her film career.

Time was I'd have been really sad about the news, back when I thought Izzie was a fun and loving character. Then time was that I would have been glad, when Izzie was written to be an adulterous ho-bag who killed her fiance and whined constantly about how unfair life was to her.

But a strange thing has happened over the last two episodes of "Grey's." Suddenly my hate of Izzie does NOT burn with the heat of 10,000 suns. I've mostly enjoyed her character the last few episodes. (Although on a side note, I really, really hope they don't try to hook George up with Lexie romantically, because ewww.)

Anyway, it seems like her departure from "Grey's" is probably not imminent. So she'll just have to be patient and make mediocre movies in the off-season like she's been doing.

- posted by Raoul

Some Musings about 'Battlestar Galactica'

Tue, 06 May 2008 01:11:06 GMT

I feel bad, because "Battlestar Galactica" is one of my favorite shows and one of the best on television. And yet, because it comes on Friday night and because we generally take the weekends off, I tend to not post about it.

But a few episodes into the final season, I thought I would just vent some of what was on my mind. All this is spoiler-free speculation, so don't feel to nervous.

Remember how the opening sequence for the first three seaons used to talk about the Cylons having a plan, and now, not so much? I don't think I'm too paranoid to think Ron Moore, David Eick and co. are trying to weasel out of their obligation to establish what the Cylon plan was. If so, they should be forewarned: it won't work.

Anyone prefer politician Apollo to flight jockey Apollo?

It's interesting that Anders is the only one of the Final Four Cylons to be acting essentially as he did prior to finding out his true nature. Possible theories on why that is: 1. His character is just inherently boring whether he is a Cylon or a human, so there's no reason to expect a change. Or more seriously 2. He is the only one of the four who is in LOVE and somehow that isolates him from the crazy-making of discovering that he's a Cylon.

I'm mixed on whether the Original Recipe Cylons are able to detect the Extra-Crispy Cylons. A couple of times things have been said that suggest they might be clued in (Cavil saying to Tyrol that Tyrol was a Cylon, Athena saying to Anders what else would he be but human, and now, Leoben's confrontation with Anders.). Come to think of it, when Athena said way back when that there were eight Cylons within the fleet, who all did she mean? (I'm presuming she didn't just pick a number out of her butt.)

I have to same I'm somewhat impatient in wanting the final Cylon to be revealed. Could it be that Leoben was telling the truth when he said Adama was a Cylon? If so, which Adama?

A short list of those who it would completely undercut the series for me if they were actually a Cylon: Bill Adama, Lee Adama, Starbuck, Baltar, Roslin, Doc Cottle (because he's awesome).

How many episodes will it take for Tyrol to realize that Tory spaced Cally? And how will he take his vengeance?

I'm also on the fence as to whether Cally and Tyrol's baby is another hybrid or if Cally just had an affair with someone else and pretended the baby was the Chief's.

Has anyone else considered making the leap to rooting on the Cylons? I pretty much love all the models, except maybe the Dorals, whereas I sometimes find myself getting tired of the humans.

The rise of Baltarism is kind of interesting to me. I'm still not sure if Baltar himself is believing what he's saying or if he's doing it for the groupies. Also, it seems like we have our first proof that the versions of Six and Baltar that Real Baltar has been talking to are real entities somehow, after the episode where he got the crap kicked out of him and yet got pulled up to his feet by something.

There's been precious little Bill Adama up to this point this season. They really should do something about that.

Any thoughts on how things are going so far?

- posted by Raoul

Out with the Old, In with the New on 'Smallville'

Fri, 02 May 2008 02:19:53 GMT

The CW sent out a release about "Smallville" today mentioning that Michael Rosenbaum would not be on hand as a regular to play Lex Luthor in its next season, and that they would be bringing on two new villains.

They also sent out Michael's farewell note, in which he not only gave the standard thanks to the fans but also a shoutout to John Glover for "helping me feel more comfortable touching other actors" and Greg Beeman for "directing the 'Oh Sherry' video."

I'm sure we'll see Lex again on "Smallville," but I'd be remiss to not wish Michael the best wherever his career may take him, unless it's "Kickin' It Old School II."

As for what "Smallville" producers have planned to fill the villain void, they are bringing in two people. Because that's how much Lex requires.

First, they're bringing in Doomsday. Yes, that Doomsday. The guy who "killed" grown-up Supes.

Second, they're bringing in a female villain with whom fans are familiar, and who will have a flirtation with Clark.

I'm mixed about the newcomers. After all, the introduction of Doomsday this early really shakes canon up a little too much for my liking. Plus, Doomsday as he was initially portrayed was kind of a dumb brute. That doesn't make him a good antagonist, particularly while Clark doesn't have the high profile of Superman.

As for the woman, any thoughts on who it could be? There aren't too many female villains in Superman's Rogues Gallery. I'm thinking that it could be Maxima.

- posted by Raoul

'Terminator' Bigwig Talks about the Show's Pickup

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 03:15:39 GMT

Earlier this week, the announcement came out that "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" would return in the fall for a second season. Creator Josh Friedman chatted with online outlets, and here are some of the highlights:

On what happened to help the show get picked up:

What we did is pretty much what’s standard on all shows. It’s an opportunity for the studio and the network and the production team to sit down and sort of talk about the show and kind of look at what we did right, what we did wrong, and kind of how we would keep doing the right things and stop doing the wrong things.

We went in and we made a presentation to Kevin Reilly and his team. We kind of have a conversation about the direction we want to go. And in this case we actually, about six weeks ago, the writing team was all brought back on to start working on episodes. So even though we didn’t have the official pickup, we were being paid to start working and generate stuff so that when the pickup came we would be basically, on schedule for a fall debut.

On whether the budget for the show threatened the possibility for a second season:

No, I don’t think there was a ... FOX pause at all. I don’t think, despite what a lot of people thought, I know I guess in a weird way I’ll take it as a compliment. I think people thought that we were spending more money than we were. I think that the show was incredibly responsible and stayed within the parameters that Warner Brothers and Fox and we had agreed to from the beginning. So if the show looked big, then it was just because we’ve done our jobs well, I think.

... I think it was everyone just, it’s a pretty standard kind of process, I think, by which I don’t, I think everyone gets all anxious when are we getting the pickup? When are we not getting the pickup? But the renewal, it’s I mean Fox hasn’t, it’s not like they’ve announced their other shows. I mean I think they like to sort of see what they have coming in and I think they felt pretty good about the show. And so no, it wasn’t, money definitely wasn’t a factor at all, I think it’s just a process, it’s just there’s corporations involved and they like to torture us.

On personnel changes to expect in second season:

As everyone’s wondering, we are getting rid of Summer Glau. No, I’m kidding. You know better than that. Anyone who’s worried we blew her up in the end and she’s not coming back, I will reassure you, she is coming back and eventually in full force. I will say, I brought the entire writing staff back, every single person from last year ... brought back. I was really happy with what people did last year I think we were ... in a weird way it’s sort of like any other sports team kind of thing, you’re just getting--consistency and kind of continuity is a big part of it, so I think we’re looking to make as few changes as we can.

And I think we feel pretty good where we ended up and I think there’s wherever we’ve little dropouts of people, some people go get other jobs some of the crew because we’re not schedules are different, but on the whole I think it’s pretty much going to be the same group from last year. People in terms of Brian, I think that character and Brian’s portrayal of it was, I think, people really responded to him last year and we have some stuff we’re interested in doing with him this year.

And I think one of the kind of ironies is you put someone on your show and they do a really good job then all of a sudden everybody else wants to hire them, so you sort of have to lock them up. And Brian was becoming a little popular, I think, based on the show. So we moved as quickly as possible to make sure he was going to stay in Terminator-land as long as we needed him.

On Derek Reese:

It’s sort of an evolution. I think, with characters that are new, you just don’t know, you never know. I mean, I certainly don’t. I’m not experienced enough to really be able to know right away. And I don’t know that you can, so I think I had hopes that that character would really work, but I also knew that just in terms of expanding the sort of mythology a little, it was a pretty, it was a somewhat risky step and I think-- and Brian ... was a surprising choice I think for a lot of people. So I was really hoping that would work.

On the good and bad from the first season:

One thing that I was really happy with, well, this is going to sound kind of generic, but I love our cast. I really--you never know what you’re going to get with people. You audition them and you hope you’ve done the right thing and I really was happy with the cast. I really think that they really did what I needed them to do, and they, and even took it to a different level. And I love the people that we brought on, I love what Dean did and even Sonia in her little parts, I’ve spoken about Brian, Garrett Dillahunt is very close to my heart.

In terms of things we didn’t do well. I don’t know, I think sometimes we might have like gotten a little confusing a little more. I think I want to write a show that’s complicated and sophisticated and subtle. That’s at least, everyone does I guess, but I tried to write something that was--it’s very serialized, it’s not--there’s definitely you have to do some thinking. And I definitely that there were points where the story telling was a little muddy, where I think we could probably do a better job at least of not trying to keep 800 balls in the air, maybe we can keep 500 balls in the air.

But I used to have this saying that I was like I instituted a program last year called no plot point left behind, where every single thing that I introduced I kept trying to bring forward and pay off, and I didn’t want to let anything drop. And I think we started accumulating a lot of stuff, which most of it paid off and some of it didn’t. And so I’m going to try to make sure that everything that I need communicated is communicated this year.

On launching in the fall as opposed to midseason:

Well I’ve, again, last year was my first year of television. So that’s the only thing I’ve done. I haven’t ever done it this way so it’ll be interesting. I think that it’s nice to have a bit of a dialogue back and forth. You’re sort of, you do sort feel a little helpless when it’s just all done. And I think it also, it lets people--everybody is sort of guessing in a vacuum, you don’t really know how people are going to respond.

But I also think there’s something to the fact that you don’t, there’s something about having a vision for your show, doing it the best you can, and not kind of panicking like if one week things dip a little bit and then you’re constantly trying to do it. So I think there’s pluses and minuses to it. I’m happy to be on the Fall because I’m happy to be on, I’d rather be on sooner rather than later and I’d like the opportunity to do 22 episodes So in that I’m glad, and we’ll see about the whole other thing. I don’t know, it could turn me into a neurotic crazy person.

On whether the writers' strike affected "T:SCC":

Well, not really. In a weird way, we worked up until the day of the strike, so there was no--I didn’t know for sure there was going to be a strike. We worked as if we had a full season. We didn’t change anything around. Then the strike happened and at that point, there’s nothing I can do. So it sort of is what it is. I mean, I think there’s two parts of it. I think that part of it is there are things that we shot for storylines that were there that just got cut out that we had. So there’s things that seemed like they were just dropped, but they were ultimately they were dropped for time or whatever, clarity, but there was other material that we shot and there was decisions made to take them out.

And then yes, there’s part of it is, we had a plan for a whole season and I had certain incidents paced out for the whole season and we lost them. And I think coming back to season two, I think it’s--part of the process coming back to season two is deciding how many of those things are you going carry over, how many of them aren’t that important. You have all the fans and you’re also bringing in, hopefully, new people. And you have to kind of pick and choose; you have to sort of prioritize what’s important, because you also want to move forward. And that’s kind of been a lot of the discussions in the last month and a half, sort of what--how many of those plot point are, what do we carry over, what do we don’t carry over or how much, how different are things going to be?

On rumors of a second "Terminator" series:

I haven’t heard them. ... I’m being completely serious. I have no idea what that would be. I think that’d be really cool if someone would tell me what that’s supposed to be, I’ll go write it. But at this point I’m just working on the--I’ve just got the one in front of me. But I think that they’re excited about the possibility of cross-promoting with the movie. But there’s not necessarily any cross-pollination with the movie. ... I think that’s kind of a hard target to hit.

On the Future War:

I’m hoping to revisit the Future War, I love the Future War. I had plans last year to do a number of Future War episodes. They’re expensive. They’re the most expensive episodes we do and they’re the most time consuming. And certainly the CGI--the hard part is the CGI, not does it cost a lot of money, but it takes time. And it just it takes ... production time.

And it’s hard to kind of turn those things around on the schedule. I mean the Future episode that Reese did last year was, it was shot as a last episode even though there were three episodes after it. But we pushed it until the end. And it was actually the episode that we pushed and pushed until I had left for the strike. I wasn’t on the set for a single frame of the Future episode. I was gone. So it was shot without me. But well we had to push it because it just, we kept moving it because of the amount of prep for it, and it’s a lot of post too. I’m hoping for more. I love the future.

On whether the car bomb will affect Cameron:

She’ll still be pretty. ... That’s one of the hard things with her, it’s like to beat her up but you can’t mangle her too much. But I think that car bomb, it definitely will mess her up.

On whether there will be more action in the second season:

Yes. I think so. I think we will be incorporating more action this year. I think the show, that’s one of the things that the network and the studio and I have been talking about, as we were talking about the pickup is sort of how much action versus drama versus ... facts. And I think that everyone is excited to try to do a bit more of everything. But it’s money, and I think that’s always the issue, you have to stay within the confines of what works economically for everybody. But I think that we’re def—and I think we did some nice stuff last year. I also think you can’t, in a weird way if you do too much I think people kind of get bored of it, I think people like a balance. But I think this year we will try to do a little bit more.

On tie-ins to the upcoming "Terminator" movie:

I’m sure that it’s a wonderful marketing ... opportunity for both to cross-promote. It’s not something that I spend a lot of time dealing with right now. I think, I know McG a bit and we’ve had a couple talks about it, but and we both think that it can benefit everybody.

Narratively, I think from my point of view, I think it would be very complicated. And I also think, as I said, as I’ve always said, I think the TV show, the TV show and we try to be respectful of the canon as it relates to the first two movies, kind of what’s come before us, but after that, I think we’re sort of we do what we do. And I would hate to try to hit-- I think for us to try to hit the T4 target or for them to try to hit us is really challenging. So it’s, and I don’t think necessary. I think it’s, people can kind of look at these two things and just think I’ve got a lot of Terminator that I can absorb, and it doesn’t have to all fit together. I think we understand that there’s different things going on in the TV and movie universe.

On upcoming plotlines:

I’m not going to give you any spoilers, just because I never do. But I think, the show was about this family and I think that kind of everything that concerns the family is something that still concerns us. And it’s, I think we were sort of lucky to end where we ended in the sense that there was at least a cliff hanger and it was sort of, it was dramatic and I’m not going to ignore that cliff hanger and just pretend it didn’t happen. So I think the ramifications of the end of the season are something that I’m really determined to explore, kind of the ramifications of it. So I think the big ones are all stuff that’s definitely fair game. I can’t promise that every single plot line from last year will be resolved to people’s satisfaction because there’s so many, and I think at some point you just have to move forward.

On having a strong woman as heroine:

I think that obviously, I’m cheating to some degree because the Sarah Connor character existed before me, and has always been sort of a big strong inspirational female character. So it’s Jim Cameron and it’s Linda Hamilton, first and foremost. I think it’s, I’m sort of standing on their shoulders and seeing what I can do. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about kind of what that character means.

And also, it’s also just trying to make a show that’s actually about the emotional aspects of it, and sort of what--I became a parent right before I started working on the show, maybe a year before and so a lot of the stuff is sort of about my own feelings of parenthood, and kind of and mothers and sons, and watching my wife deal with my son. And so I think that there’s a lot of personal stuff that finds it’s way into these storylines. And I don’t know, maybe that’s why it resonates. Again, I think it’s, she’s a cool character and it’s trying to make a show that’s really about people, and I think when you do that it’s, I don’t know you have a good shot at least, I don’t know, why do you think it resonates?

I think you have to keep it I think even though you have scary robots and time travel and with the apocalypse, I think you really need to, you just have to keep the show on a human level. You really, which I think again, I think that’s what Cameron, that first movie was a love story and that’s like a movie as a mother/son story with stepfather. They’re family stories and I think that you can’t forget that about the franchise, is at the core of them they’re very strong emotionally.

On Agent Ellison:

I think he’s certainly seen some things that make him reconsider all of his, everything that he’s done before. I think that he’s certainly much less of a doubting Thomas than he was. And you’ve pretty much almost got him up to speed on what’s going on.

On trying for cameos:

I’m not a big fan of the cameo. I feel like it’s really distracting. And I know that fans like it, but I feel, and I think most of it just goes to the fact that we have a different Sarah Connor and I think we’ve worked very hard to have Lena be Lena and not be Linda Hamilton. And I think that when you start bringing in characters from the show, either from the movies, I just think it becomes sort of this weird kind of ... "Where’s Waldo" thing, that makes people, it distracts people. I think it’s like you want to have a world, you want that world to be sort of self contained and real, and I think when you start doing that it just I don’t know, I find it distracting. But I love Michael Biehn and I think he’s cool as hell. I don’t know what I would do with him that wouldn’t feel like I was just saying, hey look, it’s Michael Biehn.

On where the Connors get their cash:

I could track it through, but they mug some frat guys in the beginning. I always felt like when they mugged the frat guys, I always felt like they got a couple thousand bucks, they maxxed out their credit cards, they got some cash, and they got this cheap crappy little squatter’s house with no furniture. And then they found diamonds in the safe. And my theory has always been they’ve just been cashing in those, hawking those diamonds and buying stuff when they need to.

It’s one of those things. You either have a show that’s all about process or you have a show that’s takes certain things for granted. And I kind of felt like we spent a couple episodes on process and then I wanted to sort of move into a place of, you know what, they can have some stuff.

Now, if you look they’ve got a pretty crappy TV with a pretty crappy VHS player. They have a second hand sofa most of their clothes are surplus army surplus clothes or hand sewn. I do have a theory that Cameron stays up all night making her own clothes, but I‘ve never really gotten into that. So I think, and then they went out and bought a car but look what that did.

But I figure they got about $300,000 in diamonds sitting around. So they can buy a little stuff. And I also think and I’ve never had to show it but we’ve talked about it a lot, which is there’s certainly, we’ve seen John previously rip off ATMs and things like that. And I think they kind of, they can get it when they need it. So they’re not going to be knocking over any banks, but I think they can get what they need when they need it. I think it’s, they’re not living in the lap of luxury I think that would be sort of abusing the setup.

On future shock from jumping from 1997 to 2007:

There was a few things that I felt like that were important to me and I think that whereas I think maybe Cameron’s, part of Cameron’s reversion to a more, I don’t want to call it awkward way of dealing with life, but a little less affected because maybe she had a way, she knew how to deal with 1997. She’d been there for three months, she’d been told by John when John sent her back kind of what the world was like when he was back there. They go forward I think she’s sort of out of step with whatever 2007 is. So she’s sort of taking a step back and started re-learning what the new world is.

I think John had to do a little bit ... computers, but at the end of the day you don’t want it to be too much a fish out of water technologically. And then I think the one big thing that we dealt with in the second episode was 9/11. We had a lot of discussion about whether to even have a conversation about that, whether we should ignore it. For me it was important to kind of brig it up and realize that this is something that they have to experience, and there is a voice over Sarah kind of trying to process what that meant.

To me that seemed like the big thing that when you jump over, you jump over 9/11 that’s, the world has changed and that’s something that’s worthy of at least spending a scene on. So I think they’re very adaptable people. They’ve moved around a lot through different time and space and I can’t, I didn’t want to spend too much time on it but I think that still we’ve spent some, I certainly wanted to hit it, it’s not something I wanted to ignore.

On John's development:

I think that that character does have to grow and move. You sort of try to pace that out. I think last year he was still sort of almost in denial and didn’t really want to--there was problems of being a hero that we was sort of like facing. But I think that this year is sort of more, I would say it’s kind of maybe his coming of age year, maybe kind of becoming a man.

I’m saying that having not finished writing a single episode yet. But yes, I think moving forward, and I think hopefully, you move everybody forward, it’s not just him. And as it relates to it kind of being a mother/son story I think that you want to see growth in the characters and maybe conflicts in their relationships and certainly the more a boy grows into a man, the less he needs his mother. So I think it’s certainly stuff that we’re going to work on.

On the high school plot:

The high school storyline is the one storyline that sort of--we shot more of that stuff than we showed and it ended up every time we had an episode that was running a little long, it was like the high school stuff always ended up on the cutting room floor. And it’s unfortunate because I actually had a big plan for it, and I think that it’s probably at least in the short-term, yes, stuff that we’ll, we’re not going to emphasize as much. I liked it, but I think that it just every time we ended up long, that what was ended up getting cut.

- posted by Raoul

'Terminator': I'll Be Back...for a Second Season

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:04:48 GMT

Good news, as far as I'm concerned: "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" has been picked up for a second season. Or at least, 13 episodes worth.

Variety makes it seem like it's no big surprise, but any time a sci-fi series appears on FOX, I get nervous.

So there's a lot of loose ends for the writers to play with: Whether John will get to know his dad. Whether Cromartie is going to get any closer to our heroes. What Ellison will do now that he's witnessed a Terminator first-hand. What Cameron is really up to. What happened to the Turk. Whether a romance will blossom between Sarah and Derek Reese. And of course, can our heroes stop Judgment Day

I'll keep my fingers crossed that the show can build up an audience to stay on long enough so we get to find out.

- posted by Raoul