Sci Fi Alert

Apparently, Billy Campbell is begging the producers of Battlestar Galactica to write him into the show for a story arc.  Anyone who watches The 4400 knows Campbell as Jordan Collier, the man who gave the world promicin and gave thousands special abilities.  Jordan Collier has really become the heart of The 4400, as anyone who watched the previous season can attest, and much of that is owed to Campbell’s excellent embodiment of this character.  Placing into the Galactica universe would be a win-win for the series.

I’m going to attempt to keep this spoiler free, but in case I slip you are forewarned.
Well, as series finales go this was pretty good; not perfect, but good considering we have two movies heading our way this year and next.  There were fantastic space battles, the Asgard made an appearance (as did the Ori), the acting was it’s usual greatness, the writing was top-notch, and it was just a nice ending.  Here’s a spoiler:  there was no resolution to the Ori problem, but we’ve known that was coming with that resolution being saved for the DVD movie.  If you’re a fan of Stargate (and I’ve been a fan since the original movie) you’ll like this finale.  Sure, it’s a little sad to see the series go, but I would rather leave a good note rather than slouch toward oblivion.  I eagerly await the first DVD movie.

SyFy Portal is reporting there’s a good chance Sci Fi Channel will not renew The Dresden Files.  I can’t say I’d be surprised by this development.  The series was not all that good and I never — ever — liked Paul Blackstone in the role of Harry Dresden.  Rumor has it the job was offered to James Marsters (Buffy and Angel’s Spike), but Marsters turned it down because he didn’t want to live in Canada to film the series.  While Marsters is, like Blackthorne, too old for the part I think he would have been a better choice; could have inhabited the role better.  Another issue I had with the series was it’s lack of magic.  Sure, I get the series is probably made on a shoestring budget, but it seemed like the writers and producers were more interested in making a police procedural drama with a smidgen of magic, and to me that’s just not the Dresden novels Jim Butcher created.  Magic in inherent to these novels and it should be inherent to the series.  Additionally, the people behind the series changed too much of that what made these novels interesting and a joy to read.  The novels would have been better served as several made-for-television movies.

According to Sci Fi Wire, Kara Zor-El (aka Supergirl) will be joining the cast of Smallville for several episodes, making her first appearance in the seventh season premiere.  Apparently, the writers are going to go with the current DC Comics version of the Supergirl mythology, which has Kara Zor-El having been in suspended animation for several years and actually being the older of the two, relatively speaking.
This may turn out to be a good move on the part of the creative team behind Smallville.  Season six was, I thought, rather hit and miss.  After the initial great run of Green Arrow things kind of petered out to only pick up again and end on an exciting season finale.  Adding a Kryptonian who seems to be in better control of her superpowers may be just what Clark needs to finally embrace his destiny As Superman; especially if this will be the final season of Smallvile (and it probably should be).

I’ve never been a big fan of the alternate history sub-genre of science fiction; in fact, I’ve never been a big fan of author S. M. Stirling.  However, some friends who are fans of Stirling suggested I read his latest novel, The Sky People.  We don’t always agree on novels, but I thought I’d give it a chance since I didn’t have much else to read at the time.  The basic plot of the book is the Soviet Union sends a probe to Venus in the 1950s.  Crash landing on the planet, the probe not only finds a very Earth-like planet with rolling green hils and blue skies it finds people, some of whom look very much like Earthlings!  The discovery of life on Venus, and later Mars, changes nearly every aspect of Earth history for the nest 30 years (the novel is placed in the 80s):  JFK is not assassinated and serves two terms, the Cold War peters out and his replaced by a Space Race between a Soviet-China alliance and an American-Britian alliance, the Vietnam and the 1967 Arab-Israeli Wars end in enforced armistaces, technology that only recently began appearing in our late 20th century world (laptops and digital cameras are two examples) appear in Stirling’s 1980s timeline because so much technological and industrial effort is geared toward winning the space race.
As the American and Soviet space programs begin setting up separate colonies on Venus (the first American colony on Venus is appropriately named Jamestown), the Earth immigrants discover some interesting difference in Venus’ evolution.  Humans are barely Bronze Age technologically, Earth-like animals evolved differently, and several different varieties of dinosaurs are still roaming Venus.  This book is very much an homage to the pulp science fiction stories of the 1950s with monsters and beautiful women in loincloths, but it is also something very different.  The characters are three dimensional and while the plotting is a little slow at first, it really becomes an exciting adventure as we barrel towards the end with an interesting twist to explain why there are humans on Venus and Mars.
The Sky People is actually the first in a possible series for S. M. Stirling with the second novel, In the Halls of the Crimson Kings, set on Mars.  If the second novel is as interesting at the first it will definately be on my reading list.

Well, it’s now official, CBS has renewed Jericho for a seven-episode order with the potential for more if the ratings are good.  There’s no word on when the series will return to the schedule, but CBS seems committed to giving the show some publicity in order to bring in new viewers.

Warner Brothers has purhcased the films rights to Terry Brooks’ Shannara series.  This is certainly good news for Terry Brooks, who I believe is one of the most underrated fantasy authors of the 20th century.  Granted, his novels are, like many fantasy novels, a variation on Tolkien’s classic Middle Earth novels (elves, dwarves, etc.), but he has infused them with enough originality, especially in the later novels, to make them a worthy successor to Tolkien.
That being said, I’m not sure how well these novels will translate into film in terms box office.  Sure, Terry Brooks is a bestselling author whose books always make the New York Times Bestsellers List, but it is still a limited audience.  Look at Eragon; here’s a book that sold millions of copies, but couldn’t break $100 million in US box office.  Granted, the people behind that film did a crap job of adapting the novel, but still there is a limited audience for fantasy films.  You can’t use the succes of Lord of the Rings as a example.
Regardless, the Shannara books would make good films.  It looks like they are going to start with Elfstones of Sharnnara, which I think is the strongest book in the first triology.  I would actually like to see the Heritage of Shannara series brought to the screen.  Of all the Shannara series Brooks has written it is by far the most well-written and exciting.  The four books in the series would make excellent films that would appeal to the broad range of movie-goers.

TV Guide’s Michael Ausiello is reporting that CBS is this close to renewing Jericho for a possible 8-episode limited run to tie up the story lines left hanging at the end of season one when the network unceremoniously cancelled the series.  This is an unconfirmed rumor, but still good news.  With the way the writers and producers ended season one it’s doubtful Jericho could have lasted past a second season, at least creatively, so this opportunity would be nice.  And if the series does good in the ratings, well, you never know.

So, I’m reading this really great article that discusses how Ronald D. Moore and David Eick came to the decision that season four of Battlestar Galactica would be it’s last and I’ve away with a very big impression.  David Eick is a smart-ass, and not in a good way.

Now that her pilot, Football Wives (based on the British football (soccer to us) series, Footballer Wives) was surprisingly not picked up by ABC, Lucy Lawless just might be available for a return as everyone’s favorite Number Three Cylon.  I hope this can be pulled off; not because I was such a fan of Number Three and her storyline from season three, but because I’m a huge fan of Lawless.  I think people tend to write her off because of her former role as the titular Xena, Warrior Princess, but anyone who’s ever watched that series knows that Lawless can be one hell of an actress when she has the right material; not to mention versatile with both drama and comedy.  It would be great if someone could give this great actress a series she could really bite into.  In the meantime, she would be a welcome return to BSG.

***SPOILERS***
Well, this was the episode we already knew was coming.  The episode in which Dr. Carson Beckett dies.
I have to say this was the most emotionally resonant episode this series has ever done.  It’s sad to see such a fun character like Carson Beckett bite the dust, not to mention a great actor like Paul McGillion, but they did him well.  The character went out doing what he always did, putting the life and safety of his patient foremost. 

Producers David Eick and Ronald D. Moore have made an official statement that Battlestar Galactica will end with its fourth season.  While I’m certainly sad to see one of television’s finest dramas leave the air, I’m also OK with it.  The way Eick and Moore conceived this series it couldn’t go on forever; otherwise, we would have had more season like season three.  Using the glass-half-full analogy, at least we have 22 more hours of television before the end.