sciencefiction

(S04E07) So far in season four we've had Ronon, McKay, and Sheppard episodes, so it was high time Teyla got one of her own. If that wasn't enough, she brought along Keller for some much needed screen time and character development. Of course, if Teyla was just heading home for a bit of the slap and tickle with her beau, it wouldn't make for much of an Atlantis episode. Luckily, for the viewers, it all went to hell and the whole gang got involved by the end.

(Continued from Part One...)

After checking in (and eating my own weight in free press-room pizza), I went down to see what there was worth seeing...

(It should be noted that from this point forward I will only be referring to the actors on The Office by their character names and not their real names. You could make the argument that this is disrespectful, but I think that it's actually a testimony to how good the actors on this show are. Even when you're in the same room as them, you're not thinking, wow, look, I'm standing in the same room as Leslie David Baker, you're thinking: hey look, it's Stanley!)

Sci FI Channel has recently announced that they've ordered a new one-hour dramedy entitled Warehouse 13, described as "part The X-Files, part Raiders of the Lost Ark and part Moonlighting." Word is the show should hit cable/satellite waves next summer. Hm... cable/satellite. Cabelite? I mean, come on, do we really call cable/satellite-only shows as hitting the "air waves" anymore? Sorry, anyway...

Jane Espenson is one of the featured writers for the new show, which no doubt excites the hoards of other Buffy fans out there like myself. And for Farscape fans, Rockne S. O'Bannon is also writing for the series.

ComicMix has an interesting comparison of the Warehouse 13 idea and a "Warehouse 23" from an RPG companion book. If you ask me, Warehouse 13 immediately reminded me of the 1980 movie Hangar 18, though only when I initially incorrectly remembered it as Hangar 13. Oh well.

So, you've been enjoying those "Razorettes" we've been posting here lately, have you? Good. Good. There will be more of those in the coming weeks. And... AND... then, the Battlestar Galactica: Razor movie! Woo!

I've also heard some other potentially good news lately regarding our beloved series. It turns out that, due to the looming writers strike and how it could put a halt to new television for a while, there are reports that NBC may consider airing old episodes of Battlestar Galactica... on NBC!

OK, now for the bad news...

The Battlestar Galactica: Razor Flashback videos keep coming in, though this one's a little late. Like I said, this is where things really get good with these "Razorettes" (as they're being called. Sounds like candy). There's no doubt that Adama was and still is one bad ass mofo. Oh, and if the fight looks over to you at the end of this clip, guess again.

Check out the third video after the jump. You can also go back and check out the rest of the razorettes. Mmm, razorettes.

"You are capable of setting aside your fears, setting aside your hesitation ... and even your revulsion. Every natural inhibition that, during battle, could mean the difference between life and death.

When you can be this -- or as long as you have to be -- then you're a razor." -- Admiral Helena Cain, Battlestar Galactica: Razor

Yes, I was as shocked as the rest of you that, when I got to the TV Squad package drop the other day, one of those magical purple binders was waiting for me, emblazoned with a big white "IF", which could only mean one thing -- SciFi Channel goodness.

Before you continue, I will warn you that some of this is a little spoilery. I don't think it's much, but I'd rather warn you now than incur your wrath later.

The days are ticking down to the Battlestar Galactica: Razor movie, coming to SciFi on November 24. Until then, SciFi is releasing what they're calling "Battlestar Galactica: Razor Flashbacks". I'm told we'll get these about every week until the movie premieres.

This one features a couple of seemingly new characters who were once on board the Galactica during the First Cylon War. Check it out after the jump.

After hitting the guide button on my HR20 DVR, my jaw hit the ground. After months of promises, DirecTV finally came through on one to deliver the SciFi Channel and many other channels in HD. Instead of grouping them together below channel 100, the new HD channels show up just above their SD counterparts.

Unfortunately, if you own an older HD DirecTivo, you won't be enjoying the new channels - you can only view them with one of the newer mpeg-4 HD receivers, like the HR20. If you think you're missing out, use your search engine to hunt down the DirecTV customer retention phone number. They'll usually upgrade existing customers for a minimal fee.

Last month we told you of Sci Fi Channel's poll for choosing the cover art for the DVD of the upcoming Battlestar Galactica - Razor TV movie. We posted our own poll and, as it turns out, the votes match up. The winning choice, seen right, is 'B'. I actually chose 'C' myself (which came in second in our poll), maybe because when thinking of the word "razor" I thought the split images matched along with that. But in all honesty, I don't really care what the cover looks like -- they were all fine choices.

I know, I know. It's old news to most of you die hard BSG fans, but in case you haven't heard, Kevin Smith is no longer going to be directing an episode of Battlestar Galactica as we mentioned earlier.

The initial news we got was via a message board post left on Sci-Fi's forums by the wife of executive producer and creator Ron Moore (thanks commenter Akbar!) Given that there were some people less than thrilled to hear of Smith's involvement with the show, I wanted to get confirmation myself first in case of shenanigans, thus the wait. Unfortunately my contacts couldn't get official word themselves, most likely because even Moore himself has come out to say it's not that big of news, something that "only registers on message boards."

UPDATE: Smith talks about it on his own blog.

Rich told you a year ago about ABC's new anthology series Masters of Science Fiction. It starts on Saturday, August 4 at 8pm. This is great news. We need an anthology series like this, even if it's just a series of specials and not a permanent weekly show.

There will be four episodes altogether, at least for this first go around. I'm sure ABC will make more if there's an audience for it. There are some great names involved, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. Keith will be reviewing the show starting August 4. Full schedule and details after the jump.

This afternoon I listened in on a conference call with Battlestar Galactica Executive Producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick, announcing news regarding the series' fourth season. Just as mentioned earlier in the month -- and as many had already figured out -- the forthcoming season of the show will be the series' last.

Highlights from the call after the jump.

Word has come down from Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama) recently that, indeed, Battlestar Galactica will end after its fourth (next) season. This should be of not much surprise to many fans of the show, since the New York Post made mention of the high probability of this scenario back in March. I also seem to recall creator Ron Moore making mention of this in one of his podcasts.

Again, I applaud Moore and anyone else responsible for such a decision, as the series can be cleanly wrapped up in a way that will make it enjoyable to watch repeatedly for generations, unlike the other crap out there that has no idea when to call it quits. Thankfully Lost has made a similar decision, and hopefully its quality will improve as a result (with the exception of the latest episode, it's been a crappy season for Lost).

(UPDATE: For all you naysayers and doubters, here's the proof that should settle this now. And I took out the question mark from the title because of it.)

Title: Haven
Original Air Date: November 30, 1987
Teleplay By: Tracy Torme
Story By: Tracy Torme and Lan Okun
Directed by: Richard Compton
Episode: S01E011
Stardate: 41294.5

Synopsis: The Enterprise is in orbit around a planet known as Haven, a planet so beautiful, Picard tells us, legends say it has mystical healing powers. Data intelligently points out that the legend is entirely unsupported by fact, so Picard gives him a copy of Loose Change and The Secret to straighten him out on the whole "Facts vs. Bullshit" thing.

Yar calls Riker out of his quarters, where he's been watching two holographic young women play the harps together. (Uh, yeah. I have an easier time suspending my disbelief for faster-than-light travel and kids on the bridge than accepting that a dude, alone in his quarters, pulls up two pretty young holographic women to play harps together.) Riker arrives in the transporter room and wants to know what was so goddamn important that Yar had to call him away from his harp watching thing. It turns out that there's an object from Haven waiting to be beamed aboard the ship. Riker, vision of harp playing nymphs dancing in his head, tells her to beam the stupid object over, already.

Transporter Chief Buffalo Bill puts the lotion in the basket, and beams over . . . a mysterious box. What's in the box? Should they trade the red snapper for what could be inside? Red snapper is very tasty, but there could be anything inside! There could even be a boat in there!

Before we get to open the box and find out what it contains, a face on the front of the box (played by Armin Shimmerman, in a cool non-Ferengi role) announces that it has a message for Troi: Lwaxana Troi and the Miller family are pretty excited for a big event of some sort. Ah! It's a Betazoid Gift box, of course, and it's there to announce the joyous joining of Wyatt Miller and . . . someone. The box then takes a big jewel shit all over the transporter. While Tasha rubs the box's nose in it so it can think about what it's done, Troi tells Riker that the box didn't contain a boat after all. They should have kept the red snapper, because that someone getting married is her. Gulp.

Oh boy. Is it going to be one of those episodes?

(S01E19) It's Linderman's voice we hear over the "previously on Heroes" opening segment, rather than that of previous narrator Mohinder. That's an improvement. To tell you the truth I didn't know what to expect tonight. Heroes seems like it has been gone so long, I started worrying that its return would inevitably fail to live up to my anticipation.

I needn't have worried. I quickly found myself falling right back into the groove of the show. My favorite storyline was the Texas one. I enjoyed HRG's orchestration of the escape, using his knowledge of Matt and Ted's powers. As the Eric Roberts character will later say of HRG to the Artist Mohinder: "Glasses? Tall fella? He's no longer with the company." No doubt.