Once a bad guy...

As the 4th season of Eureka appraches its start, life does not look like it will be improving for Sheriff Carter. Matter of fact, things are getting worse by the hour.

For those that are not yet fans of this science fiction comedy, located on the otherwise unwatchable SyFy Channel, I will recap a bit.

Sheriff Carter (Colin Ferguson) is the better than average good natured former Fed, that watches over the town of Eureka. The town is an ultra-secret think tank for the greatest minds in America. They have AI, fully functional green energy technology, basically the next closest thing to Star Trek techology on the planet. The townspeople also have a penchant for nearly destroying the planet via plagues, meteor storms, climate manipulation, mini suns and so much mmore. Thankfully Sheriff Carter, the dumbest man in town, comes to the rescue generally with common sense answers that the eggheads never consider.

Along the way Carter has the joy of raising his teenage daughter (Jordan Hinson), which any parent will state is as difficult as trying to avert a planetary collision. Add to that the difficulty of getting a date.

Carter's first love (Allison - Salli Richardson-Whitfield) interest wound up getting back with her ex-husband, who has only grudging respect for Carter. The ex (Stark - Ed Quinn) winds up dying saving the planet - try to compete with that - on his wedding day after he and Allison had become pregnant. Talk about hurdles to jump. Then his next love interest just disappeared from the storyline. His 3rd (Jaime Ray Newman) just left the show on a trip to Australia for years unknown.

All of this, comically done to near perfection, might be the best of times for Carter. Because in season 4 Baltar is coming to town.



James Callis, known for his great portrayal as Gaius Baltar in the revisioned mess that was battlestar Galactica, has joined the cast of Eureka. Already we have been made aware that his character is no ray of sunshine.

Callis will be Dr. Grant. Now given that Callis is loved as the devious, maniacal, virtually unrepentant, self-absorbed scientific genius that led to the murder of virtually all humanity in Galactica, what do you think his character will be like in Eureka? You bet he will be up to no good, and quickly will be a thorn in the side of Sheriff Carter.

This is especially true since the writers are once again going to focus Carter on being with Allison. But Dr. Grant is a ladies man with eyes on her as well.

The best part of all of this is that Callis is continuing on as a bad guy. He did a wonderful job of being compelling yet unlikeable. The kind of villian you just have to watch even as you hope he get killed off. Few actors get such a character to play and even less can do it right. Callis nails it with a penache akin to Vincent Price.

Will season 4 of Eureka be the best yet? That remains to be seen. Though having a character we love to hate, and a love triangle where we know the couple we want to see work out, makes for enjoyable television more often than not.

Television Review: Stargate Universe

It was coming and you had to say, 'Not another Stargate show'. It would seem that Stargate has a never ending run on SyFy Channel. But the question has to be, will this be worth watching?

Well having seen the opening episode, the answer is unclear. This is just another in a long string of Stargate spinoffs. But it has elements of something new and better (than the pervious Stargate spinoffs) as well. Not a lot of them, but some.

The show is focused on remnants of a dozen other sci-fi television shows and movies. Like most things from Hollywood these days, this is unoriginal rewriting of what you have already seen.

Obviously there is a huge reference to Stargate SG-1. Add to that a general feeling of the recent revisioning of Battlestar Galactica. A touch of Star Trek, a dash of Lost In Space (the television series and not the movie) too.

The show is focused around a group of people forced to run to an alien ship "several hundred billion light years from Earth". The people are a mix of techs, soldiers, mid-level bureacrats, and miscellaneous others. In total we start with 80 people and are down one before this episode ends.

The reason why they ran to this ship is unimportant. Suffice to say they beamed up to a ship on automatic pilot, that is on a mission of exploration of the Universe. They have no control over what the ship does, other than opening and closing various doors and looking at a schematic. Oh, and asking it for help.

The ship, called Destiny once translated, is 1000's of years old. It has been through a ringer, and as such has various holes in it - mostly bloclked by sealed doors and a force feild. It has air, though its air filtration system is broken after milenia of constant use. And we hit the first snafu in logic as well as the initial problem that must be resolved.

If this thing is as old as they say, and it has been constantly running, with a constant leak, how is there any air left? And how ironic that it is just enough to keep these 80 people alive for just a couple of hours before someone makes the ultimate sacrifice. Which was supposed to be dramatic and pull at your emotions, but winds up being just another plot device that you really don't care about.

But logic is not a big requirement in most sci-fi shows these days. Which is funny as that should be the most important thing in a show of this nature. Setup rules by which viewers can understand how things work in this entertaining fluff, then stick with them. But back to the program itself.

Skip to the characters. This is sort of like Gilligan's Island. We have a professor - who happens to be the morally ambiguous twin of the revisioned Giaus Baltar (Battlestar Galactica). We have a Maryanne - the daughter of a Senator. We have a Gilligan - Eli the kid who won a trip that he was never ready for. We have a Skipper - the Colonel that will run things (actually he is more like Adama from Galactica). The rest have yet to be sorted out yet.

The acting is bland at best. You really don't care about any of these people at any point in the show. You never get a sense of imminent danger or doom. If they all died you wouldn't care, and you know they won't because this is only episode one.

The writing for the show is basic. Even with lots of speeches by the major characters, you never hear anything that grabs you. The lines are by and large forgetable. Which matches the tone and acting.

The scenery is a nice Star Trek-ish warp speed rip off. And you get multiple chances to see that as the show moves along. Beyond that it is basic as well. Big box rooms with some gadgets here and there. It could easily be the extra sets of Galactica, and/or several other sci-fi shows and movies.

This has a lot working against it. But as I watched the program and caught problem after problem, I admit that I kept watching. More than once I was waiting for someone to get killed, usually because they were messing around with some alien device they did not know or wandering somewhere that has a function they don't understand.

The inclusion of Eli (Gilligan) is perhaps the most vital character at this stage. He is the viewers that haven't watched every episode and spinoff of SG-1. And thus he is told various vital items that a viewer at home would love to know. Though he also takes all of this very well considering he just found out about spaceships aliens and being on the other side of the universe in about 48 hours.

I suppose that is one of the reasons I kept watching. To see what Eli would do next. That and waiting for Baltar.. excuse me, the proferssor - Dr. Rush - to screw over everyone in the pursuit of exploration and science.

There are 2 seperate love stories in the series. There is a bunch of political and leadership issues. There are a surprising number of women, and a bit of diversity in the cast. So most general factors are covered.

Basically I think this show needs to pick up on everything by episode 3 or they will lose whomever is left after this preimere. The slow pacing, the copied characters, the overall blandness and boring acting just aren't enough to capture viewers.

The Cylons are coming - again

You just have to love Hollywood. Because the only thing better than a hit original idea is someone else’s hit original idea that you can copy and revision over and over again. Like Halloween, The Brady Bunch, Dukes of Hazzard, Alien Vs. Predator (2 different great movies, one horrible waste of time), Mission Impossible, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (redone 4x now), Star Trek, and Battlestar Galactica. Every single one of these examples has been remade from generally a better original. Some remakes and revisioned films have even been done over 2x or more.

That is the motivation to the just announced Battlestar Galactica movie. Revisioning the original classic sci-fi television show. Again.

This time Bryan Singer will be at the helm of the movie. Which bodes better for the film since he is very successful at making conversion movies (he made the original X-Men movie and the sequel X-2). Plus he is just a good director. The Usual Suspects and Apt Pupil are great examples of a job well done.

Of course he has had his mistakes too. There was Valkyrie (mostly Tom Cruise’s fault – is an even British accent that hard for an actor?) and Superman Returns. Though the Superman series has been run into the ground long before Singer got to it.

Still I can’t imagine this next version of Battlestar Galactica being worse than the television series made by SyFy Channel. Back when they were still playing with the concept that they were a scifi channel (ie Sci-Fi). In that fiasco of a series, the entire story was butchered.

The SyFy version took every concept of the original and threw it out. About the only thing it had in common with the original was the name of the ship and some of the characters. The major Black characters were eliminated as were several female characters, the gender of the main characters was switched, the bad guys were given a convoluted and incomprehensible motivation, and the ultimate outcome was dumb. The sub-plots were almost all boring, the main plot took twists that were generally illogical, and all but 2 of the characters were worthless.

Such is the path of a revisioned product 9 out of 10 times. So what is Bryan Singer planning for his movie version? Revisioning.

The good news is that the movie will have nothing to do with the SyFy television series. Which is very good news. The bad news is that it may well have little to do with the original series either. My expectation is that the latest version will strongly influence much of this new movie version.



I’m hoping that a few things from the original stick. Like the main characters, the mythology of the original, the motivations of the original, and the relationships of the original. From the new series I think that the graphical upgrades can be interesting. That’s about it.

Overall I tend to find that remakes are miserable these days in Hollywood. They may be cheaper and/or an easier bet than an original film but less than 2 out of 10 are actually worth seeing, even on cable let alone a movie theater. When the film is revisioned, the chances of a good film drop exponentially. So at least Singer will be starting off with really abysmally low expectations.

Will this film be a Dukes of Hazard? Unlikely since Singer is a good director and decent writer. The chance of an utter disgrace is pretty small. Will the film be a Mission Impossible? Most likely. A decent film that has little to do with the source material, but gives enough of a distraction to be worth seeing in a theater. Could it be a Fly? Few remakes ever equal, in quality, the original they are based on. Even less attain a better standing than the source material.

But there is always the potential when great actors, great writing, and a great director combine – without the influence of Hollywood execs involved. Still I don’t expect that at all.

Battlestar Galactica has ended

Well at least the Sci-Fi Channel (or now more accurately SyFy) revisioned version has ended. And I can’t say that I’m not happy about that.

Honestly I did not like the series. It’s not Battlestar Galactica. Some of the core elements were there, like the look of the ship and the names of some of the characters, but the heart of it was some other sci-fi show. Had they completely changed the name I might have even liked it. Though I doubt it.

Yes, I’m one of those guys that couldn’t get over the fact that the show wrecked the characters. From taking leading characters and changing their race to changing their sex, the show was about putting a new idea in an old shell. Which I dislike.

But on occasion, when I was really bored I watched an episode or 2. Mostly I watched to see one thing. The relationship between Baltar and Six. That’s it. To me they were the most interesting characters in the whole show. Everyone else was just mostly a waste of time.

So in seeing that Baltar was a messed up kid that resented his father and his past, and yet came full circle to become exactly that was interesting. To see that Six and Baltar ultimately were to be together, because they deeply love each other was a welcome end to their story arcs.

I do have to say I find it interesting that most of the surviving people were all in Africa, yet not one of them are Black. Funny how that works out.

And Kara Thrace is a ghost, or angel, or some other wacky unexplained thing. I can enjoy that since I couldn’t buy her character as Starbuck or anything else and she is gone.

It’s funny to see the series end in the way it did. I mean the very last scenes. Where the internal head Six and Baltar, rip-offs of Harvey (as in Farscape), turn out to be weak versions of The Architect and Oracle (Matrix). With a bit of quasi-religious meaning thrown in. I found it especially humorous that the Six was taking the Oracle route in proclaiming that it won’t be an endless cycle, that it will change and essentially,

“Everything that has a beginning has an end.”

Preachy and a rip-off. But that is the nature of the show. Maybe if I could have been sucked into the show I would think otherwise, but I wasn’t. I’m sure fans will have lots to say about all the characters and meanings of it all. I’m just stuck with the plot-holes and copying of other, far better, sci-fi work.

Of course it all won’t end here. This is the SyFy Channel after all. There are going to be spin-offs and other takes on the story forever. Kind of like the way that Stargate will never end. Talk about repeating forever.

Maybe the Caprica series will be good. I doubt it from what I have heard. But at least that will be a fresh start. It may be a spin-off but at least it’s not a revisioning.

At least Eureka still looks to be going forward. So far.

NBC tries a touch of honesty with SyFy Channel

Somewhere around 16 years ago there was a buzz on the internet. People were excited about a new cable network. Finally there would be some respect and attention paid to the tens of millions of fans (in just the U.S.) of science fiction. It was called the Sci-Fi channel.

That anticipation quickly became boredom and apathy as the line up of the channel was far from what most expected. Much of the original line-up of shows were unintelligent, unimaginative and low-budget at best. Still an early hit for the channel was the Lexx series. So they held on.

The channel went on to create another growing success called The Invisible Man, with a new and unique take on the original movie concept. Still a low-budget enterprise, it too had a following, until they dropped it suddenly. First Wave also had a following. In fact I think at the time First Wave was the biggest hit the Channel had. The addition of Traci Lords didn’t hurt ratings either.

Through this entire time the management of Sci-Fi was in a battle. They knew they needed something to generate some buzz. They needed something new and fresh. They needed to make an impact with the fanbase responsible to comic book, Star Wars, and other conventions. The fans of science fiction were diverse, intelligent, and remarkably more inclined to spend money in the genre than just about any other. Yet they had no idea what sci-fi was, let alone good science fiction. But they did get lucky.

Thus came Farscape. A series that literally put Sci-Fi on the map. They grew their viewers and raised money for advertising. They were able to cross-promote other programs on the network that before never had notice. In fact the channel gained so much attention that they were bought by NBC.

Which brought the company solidly back into the realm of brain-dead, poll oriented, lowest common denominator programming. And one of the first blows in getting to a level where fans of watching grass grow could be on par with people that prefer the X-men, Terminator, Star Trek, and the X-files was the removal of Farscape. Because the management didn’t get it, and thought they were smarter than the core audience.

Thus began the now endless rotation of retreads, rip-offs, and anything but science fiction at the Sci-Fi channel.

Since that time the channel has brought on the over extended Stargate SG-1 series. A show that previously failed at 2 other networks. But it was the best and only sci-fi show they had – that they could wrap their small brains around. And that show created a spin off that no one I know has seen. And that will spin-off yet another show. Essentially the same show, just different locations and actors. How innovative.

But to fill the rest of the time slots, the NBC executives that were at their best with comedy shows based on nothing (Seinfeld) or delusions (Friends), decided to go with shows based on interpreting dreams, a scam artist that speaks with dead people, guys that moonlight as ghost hunters in rigged scenarios, a bad rip-off of Candid Camera, a reality contest based on video games, wrestling, and an unlimited supply of made-for-tv movies that are blatant copies of good/bad theatrical movies [ie. Alien Apocalypse was the horrendous copy of the new Planet of the Apes and Independance Day - a mix that did not work yet Sci-Fi called it their highest rated movie ever]. The alternative to a poorly scripted copy of a movie is the giant animal film (usually snakes, sometimes spiders) or nature-gone-wild films (a trip to the 1970’s, just done worse).

Suffice to say they accomplished one thing. They abandoned the core science fiction audience, with the exception of Eureka (which is original and decent) and Battlestar Galactica (an abysmal rendering of someone’s Cliff Notes version of the original popular series).

The final nail in the coffin is the news that Sci-Fi Channel will now be changing their name. It’s about time. They long ago stopped giving a crap about the purpose of the channel in favor of just another broadcast television channel on cable. They have some of the least intelligent, worst acted, rushed productions on television today. There is no cohesive theme to the channel. But they damn well reached the bottom of the barrel in terms of lowest common denominator.

So I’m happy to say that the channel will get a new name. Sadly it sounds the same as the old name, just spelled different. SyFy. I’m not sure who this is supposed to fool, or what they hope to inspire. But I’m not in the lowest denominator category so I’m sure it’s not meant to get my attention.

If I were them I’d call the channel – BDOA (Brain-dead On Arrival), or CPH (Couch Potatoe Heaven). Maybe the last one could have the slogan – “no need to think or act”.

So now the search will go on. One day there may be a channel among the over 500 that actually gets sci-fi fans. Maybe it will respect the intelligence of the fans. Maybe it will reward their support by keeping its word and programming that actually has something to do with its theme. We’ve gotten a glimpse of what that channel could be, so maybe one day.

At least NBC has stopped lying to the public and themselves and changed the name. Now if they could just go away altogether I’d be happy.

Blacks behind the camera, porn on stage, Rush Limbaugh and Anna Nicole Smith

Just a couple of thoughts I was thinking about over the weekend. First off is that the abysmal show, Battlestar Galactica (the revisioned version on SciFi channel) is not only looking like it will continue, but that it is spawning a prequel. Now I have mentioned before how little I like this cable television show, due to the loss of its significant African American actors, the introduction of a female Starbuck character and weak storyline. I just don’t find it involving with the exception of the Baltar character in his interactions with the female cylon lead. If you don’t know what this means, you haven’t missed much. This is just another budget rate program from SciFi that copies a good idea and make a horrendous program out of it. Examples such as the movie on the world killing hurricane, or the generous remake of the failed movie Deep Core, or programs such as Black Scorpion, Lexx or Witch Hunters and Scare Tactics. But as I mentioned they are taking a step in a worse direction, with a prequel to Galactica. I can’t wait to see if they might find one or 2 more cast members that might be African American or Hispanic. It won’t help the writing or acting (with the exception of Mr. Edward Olmos, or the above mentioned actors of interest) but it might at least give the impression that the alien worlds they are speaking of have more than a handful of people other than white. This series is more isolated than virtually all of network television programs, so much for diversity and freedom from the confines of the regular programming that science fiction promises.

On a somewhat related note, it seems the government is looking into another issue that Hollywood pursues with vigor. That issue is one of equal opportunity initially behind the camera. It is common knowledge in the industry that while Black African Americans. Hispanics, Asians and other minorities are occasionally used in various programs and movies (I would bet that if a survey were done the percentage of actors of color would be so far out of proportion to the population as to be insulting) there are even fewer (I’ve heard estimates placing it around the low single digit percentage) behind the cameras doing the work that makes these movies and programs possible. While I am no fan of Affirmative Action and I feel employment should be based on capability, the fact that the disproportion of any minority group being represented needs to be addressed. I doubt that anyone can make a case that there aren’t enough directors, cameramen, grips and others out there. Mr. John Singleton, Mr. Spike Lee, Ms. Kim Fields and the few other names I can mention now are hardly the only ones capable in this nation.

Since I mentioned acting and unique ideas in entertainment, here is one I would probably watch at least once. This is, believe it or not, a reality show. It will take place in Britain though on the BBC. The concept is that a group of porn stars will be selected and they will have to perform a regular play for a normal London crowd. The show is to be named “My Bare Lady.” This could be quite entertaining, and it would be wonderful if there is true raw talent that becomes exposed. Like Ms. Traci Lords, who has moved into mainstream work and has had decent results. I believe that there may be others who are capable of more than just a few words of bad scripting and flexible moves. Not that I’ve ever seen porn, and I’m sure no reader of mine has either. That’s why the industry made more money than all the movies in Hollywood combined last year. LOL

Much like porn stars making a move up to the stage, Ms. Anna Nicole Smith continues her fight to move forward on help claim for part of the inheritance of her late husband. Helping her in that effort was the Supreme Court. It was a nice reminder that anyone has the right to appeal to the highest courts in a legal matter they feel has merit. While I am sure this particular battle is silly and should have been settled long ago (tens of millions are plenty to receive as a benefit derived from nothing more than marriage to someone who had attained roughly over a billion beforehand) the lawyers must be happy for the fees they will garner that will be highly profitable. Still this case has more merit that placing hot coffee between your exposed legs in a moving vehicle, and blaming someone else when it spills in your lap. Or blaming someone for your childs’ extreme obesity when you take them to eat fast foods for every meal, and ensure they get no exercise, not that that could be your own fault. But I digress.

Lastly, since I am discussing the law, Mr. Rush Limbaugh has reached a deal on his legal battle. This man, who was found to have gained 2000 painkillers from 4 doctors in six-months, has had his single charge for 40 pills worked out such that he gets random drug-tests (which he already is undergoing), continue undergoing treatment, and cannot own a gun. This is stated as the normal deal for a nonviolent offender on the first drug offense. Though how or why the counts were dropped from 2000 to 40 has not been explained. Mr. Limbaugh has stated that the case was not strong, thus his punishment, though he fails to mention that the limited charges were enough to gain him a conviction. And I find it interesting that this (former) drug using talk radio host, who had no problem making accusations and insults about a mother and alleged rape victim he does not know on her choice of legal profession, cannot make a more honest or sweeping statement on his own problems. If I were him I’d shut up before accusing an alleged rape victims of being a ‘ho’, as he shouldn’t throw rocks inside his own glass house.

This is what I think, what do you think.