Cancellation Watch: Sarah Connor Averts Termination; Moonlight Producers Plan for 2nd Season

FOX has placed an order for thirteen more episodes of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles for the 2008-09 season. The series drew respectable ratings in its nine episode run as a mid-season replacement during the Spring 2008 season and was expected to receive a renewal. The current speculation is that this series might be teamed with two new genre series, Dollhouse from Josh Whedon and Fringe from J. J. Abrams, to make a sci fi block.

FOX’s other genre entry for the current season, New Amsterdam, is also expected to receive a pickup for next season.

Meanwhile, the producers of the CBS vampire series Moonlight are currently making plans for the second season. They will be pitching their ideas to the network which has yet to give the nod for renewal. Moonlight has pulled respectable ratings this season and returns with the first of four new episodes on April 25^th.

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Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
New Amsterdam
Moonlight

Review – Stargate: The Ark of Truth

Direct to DVD Movie

Rating: 2 ½ out of 5 Stars

The direct-to-DVD movie, Stargate: The Ark of Truth, carries on the Stargate SG-1 storyline from where viewers were left hanging after its tenth season when the Sci Fi Channel chose not to renew the series (shades of Farscape and a warning to Jericho fans looking to Sci Fi as their savior). The movie provides a conclusion to the Ori story arc which ran through seasons nine and ten of the series.

We check in on the SG-1 team as they are searching for a relic called the “Ark of Truth” which will reveal the true nature of the Ori to their believers and thus unseat them from their throne of power. They must travel to the Ori galaxy in pursuit of the Ark with IOA officer James Marrick in tow who steps on multiple toes and generally mucks up the mission. Once there, they have run-ins with several Ori warships, a Replicator menace, and Vala’s contemptuous, would-be goddess daughter.

This may sound like a lot to digest for new-comers to the franchise, but the movie does manage to stand up pretty much on its own and fill-in the uninitiated pretty quickly (the DVD also offers a prelude option which provides a quick summary of the back-story). This doesn’t make up for the fact that the movie gives us very little that we have not already seen before on Stargate: SG-1 or Stargate: Atlantis or some other science fiction franchise. Not that this is a bad movie, it just has a very familiar feel to it.

I should qualify by stating that I am not what you would consider a devoted Stargate fan. I have watched both Stargate: SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis and I have enjoyed both series, but I have watched no more than a third of the episodes of either and catching the ones I missed is not high on my to-do list. I have seen enough to know the characters and basic storylines and to know that this franchise is a good one, but not a great one.

And Stargate: The Ark of Truth exemplifies why the franchise has failed to earn a spot among the elite of Science Fiction and Fantasy television. The movie has a decent story highlighted by interesting characters, good acting, and excellent special effects. What it lacks is substance. So often Stargate has presented interesting ideas but failed to really delve into their potential. This movie offers the interesting premise of revealing to the followers of the Ori that these seemingly all-powerful beings are nothing more than false gods. But it does little with that and instead gives us grand space battles, dire circumstances, heroes in constant jeopardy, end of the world scenarios, and a last minute, miraculous ending (and Teal’c inexplicably walking across half a planet in a matter of hours). Ho hum, our heroes beat all odds and save the day once again, as expected.

Perhaps I am being a bit hard on the movie, because it’s not bad, it is just nothing new. It does provide a decent enough excuse to pass a couple of hours time while chowing down on some popcorn and placing your brain in neutral. What’s more, this movie has proved that the Direct-to-DVD option is a viable way outlet for continuing beloved series that the networks and/or cable channels have given up on (Firefly and Jericho producers take note). The DVD has already more than recouped its production costs in sales and rentals and a second DVD installment in the Stargate franchise is already planned for Summer 2008.

It’s worth checking out for Stargate fans and those curious about the franchise. Visually very appealing and doesn’t require too much cranial matter to enjoy it.

-JJJ


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Jericho Comcast Deal Possible

An article on the Sci Fi Wire website claims that CBS Paramount has talked with the cable provider Comcast about Jericho. The article provided no additional detail, but an article by the New York Times suggested that they may be seeking a similar deal to the one NBC made with DirectTV for the Friday Night Lights series. With that deal, the satellite provider would share the productions costs but would also receive first-run rights for the series with NBC rebroadcasting the episodes several months later. A similar deal for Jericho could ensure a third season despite the recent cancellation announcement by CBS.

The Sci Fi Wire article also mentioned that Jericho producer Carol Barbee has held talks with several networks about picking up the series. It did not mention which networks, but it appears that Barbee is diligently pursuing a continuation of the series.

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Fan Support for Moonlight gets Bloody

Fans of Jericho bombarded CBS with peanuts last year to convince the network to pick up the series for a second season. Fans of Roswell sent bottles of Tabasco sauce. Fans of Journeyman sent boxes of Rice-a-Roni. So now, fans of the CBS vampire series Moonlight are sending . . . blood?

Well, sort of. Fans of the series are working with the Red Cross on a nationwide blood drive to show their dedication to the show and to send a message that CBS should pick it up for a second season. As of 4/4/2008, over four thousand fans had signed the online petition at youchoose.net pledging to give blood. Impressed by the fan initiative, series star Alex O'Loughlin has announced his intention to become a spokesman for the Red Cross.

Moonlight has actually not been cancelled and is considered a strong candidate for renewal. It returns in April with four new episodes. The ratings for the series have been somewhat marginal, though, and it has typically lost a fair number of viewers from the 8 PM timeslot where Ghost Whisperer gives it a strong lead-in. Therefore, fans do not want to take a chance and are trying to get the message to CBS that plenty of people are watching the show.

All of this has to make NBC nervous about the biblical series Kings they have scheduled to bow in Spring of 2009. If that suffers an early cancellation, will fans send plagues and locusts to the network in protest?

-JJJ

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NBC Announces Sci Fi/Fantasy Shows for 2008 and 2009

Getting an early jump on the other networks, NBC has announced its schedule for Summer 2008 through Summer 2009 which includes an amazing nine Science Fiction and Fantasy series plus a mini-series with genre interest. Holdovers from this season include Heroes and Chuck which will be returning to the same timeslots they held in fall 2008, Mondays at 8 PM and 9 PM EST respectively. Both shows will bow in September 2008. Medium will return in January 2009.

On top of the three returning series, NBC has six new genre entries that will bow throughout the year. Fear Itself will debut in Summer 2009. It is a horror anthology from the makers of Masters of Horror, and like that show will showcase the talents of directors well know for their work in horror cinema. The updated Knight Rider, which already had a successful debut with its backdoor pilot in February 2008, has secured itself a spot on the Fall schedule. Also in Fall, Christian Slater will make his debut on the small screen with the Jekyll-and-Hyde-like My Own Worst Enemy. Heroes veteran David Semel will executive produce the series.

In Spring 2009, Merlin will bow in what sounds like a Smallville-like take on the early years of the infamous sorcerer and the young King Arthur. Also in Spring, Kings will bow with a modern-day retelling of the biblical King David story. Michael Green, another Heroes veteran, will executive produce. In Summer 2009, The Listener will air with Toby Logan (Thirteen Ghosts) playing a paramedic who also happens to be a telepath. Lastly, at some point in 2009 we will get the mini-series The Last Templar, a Da Vinci Code-like story dealing with the secrets of the Knights Templar.

Noticeably absent from the schedule is Journeymen, apparently confirming assumptions that NBC would not bring back the low-rated fan favorite. Also, the peacock network has announced that they will not go forward with the Heroes: Origins spin-off believing that it would stretch the creative talent behind Heroes too thin.

More information on the upcoming NBC shows is available at the Sci Fi Wire and Zap2it.


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Cancellation Watch: Journeyman not on New NBC Schedule, Heroes: Origins Axed

NBC has announced its schedule of shows from Summer 2008 through Summer 2009 and the time-traveling series Journeyman is noticeably absent. When the network failed to pick up the option for additional episodes in December 2007, it was generally assumed that the show had been cancelled, but no official announcement was forthcoming. They still have not officially confirmed the fate of the series, but its absence from their schedule would seem to put the last nail in the coffin unless they want to keep it in the wings as a possible mid-season replacement.

Also, NBC has officially announced that the planned Heroes spin-off will not fly. Heroes: Origins was originally planned as a six-part mid-season filler that would take up the main series’ timeslot during its hiatus. Each episode would introduce a new Hero and the fans could then vote on which one they wanted to become a regular character on Heroes. Originally set to bow in December 2007/January 2008, it was delayed because of the writer’s strike. The network had planned to fit it into the 2008-2009 schedule but then changed their minds fearing that the additional episode commitment would place too large of a burden on the creative talent behind Heroes. At this point the project is considered dead, though the peacock network could change its mind if Heroes has an upswing in the ratings next season.


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