Monday, May 12, 2008

Battlestar Galactica: "Faith" Reviewed


The tempo has slowed considerably since the season premier. While that's to be expected after a cliffhanger and the need to tie up some loose ends, it also makes the weekly task of finding something worthy to talk about that much harder. After all, my job as a critic is to critique the story, not tell it.

This weeks episode had a special guest star, Nana Visitor (aka Major/Colonel Kira of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). I'm not even sure they listed her in the opening credits. Another frequent guest they do not list credit is Keegan Connor Tracy; she starred in "Jake 2.0" that ran on UPN 2003-2004.

Nana Visitor plays a fellow cancer patient, named Emily, whom President Laura Roslin shares some spiritual moments. The conversations dance around the idea "gods" vs the "God", and you can hear Baltar's speeches in the background.

From last weeks episode, we knew something was gonna happen on the command deck of the Demetrius, and it did. Mr. Gaeta was shot in the leg by Sam during a mutiny attempt. In the scuffle, Kara concedes the stakes are too high for the entire crew to be at risk. So she decides to take the Cylon bayship with Leoben (and a few crew members) to see the hybrid, while the Demetrius jumps back to the fleet.

The bayship jumps to the (almost) destroyed Cylon fleet, Kara can hear the music. Is she a Cylon? They get aboard the other Cylon ship with the Hybrid. One of the six's kills a human woman that killed her on New Caprica. Then another six her the six that killed the human. No Resurrection ship - no download, the cylon is dead. Also, Athena has a not so happy reunion with the other surviving Eights. The Eights say Athena is the one that showed them to ignore their programming and be something else. Athena responds by telling them they need to pick a side and stick with it, not to change when things get tough.

The scenes on the Cylon ship is where the story lines builds on their journey to Earth. First Sam tempts fate by nearly touching the water, he really wants to, but did not. His Cylon side is trying to emerge. With the Hybrid spouting nonsense, as we have seen many times before, one of the Eight's (that's a Sharon/Boomer/Athena model) tries to unplug her. A cylon soldier goes on the offensive. Before it can be gunned down, one of the Eight's is killed. Just before she dies, Sam goes to her. Since we haven't seen any connection between Sam and Boomer or Athena, I think the others may find it suspicious.

Kara leans over the Hybrid and pleads for information. The Hybrid says, among other things:
The children of the one reborn shall find their own country.
The dying leader will know the truth of the opera house.
The missing three will give you the five who have come from the home of the thirteenth.
You will be the harbinger of death, Kara Thrace. You will lead them all to their end.

Riddles, I tell you, riddles. But I'm sure it all means something in the context of the journey to Earth. So who is the "one reborn"? We know who the dying leader is, and we have some insight into the opera house, the place where she kept seeing Athena's child. But what truth? Who are the missing three? We know four of the five, but the hybrid is implying the final five came from the home of the thirteenth (Earth)? The statement "You will be the harbinger of death, Kara Thrace. You will lead them all to their end." is the most puzzling. We probably will not know what that means until the last minute of the final series episode.

The producers have made it clear they do not want to leave the door open for a BSG movie. While we are all expecting a happy ending to a long and sad journey, it could all end with finding Earth, and the Cylons finally kill everyone left, including the inhabitants of Earth. Or not. We may find Earth to be ALL Cylons, kinda like the Earth of all Borg from Star Trek: First Contact.

On the other hand, we don't know when or what kind of Earth they will find. Maybe they will find an advanced Earth, something futuristic from now. Maybe something prehistoric. God (the one true God) knows that it won't be our 2008 Earth, overrun with crime, war, famine, disease, and the need to satisfy our own selves. They can't possibly have the Colonials make such a horrific journey just to find a 2008 Earth as we know it. (Note to the producers: That would be very disappointing). There are thousands of possibilities to tie into realities we know, TV shows and movies, and so many other options that have never been dramatized.

At the end of the episode, Laura goes to the Admiral quarters, says she needs to speak to him. She shares about her shared dream with Emily, and of her conversations with Emily. Laura's beginning to crack, she's beginning to see her spiritual beliefs are not so true, and their maybe something to what Baltar is peddling. Finally, she believes there is an Earth, and they will find it. The Admiral smiles with a small laugh under his breathe, saying he used that line as a carrot in front of the fleet, but he never believed Earth existed. Now it's their singular mission to find it.

Regards
John Crawford

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Sunday, May 04, 2008

Premonition - A Movie Review


OK, I'm partial to anything with Sandra Bullock in it. But I was with my daughter at Suncoast, and "Premonition" was on sale for $10, so I bought it. I liked it, and it kept me in suspense till the end. While most who watched this movie would just call it a suspense/thriller, I look at it as science fiction. "Premonition" is about time travel, but the person involved doesn't know where they are supposed to be.

Premonition focuses on a married woman named Linda, played by Sandra Bullock. She is a mother of 2 daughters. She is your average housewife and mother that drives the kids to school in an SUV. One Wednesday afternoon, she is visited by the local Sheriff who informs her that her husband was killed in a car accident. She picks up her daughters from school, then later at home she informs them of their fathers untimely death. Linda's mother is also there to help with the girls, and after they are asleep, her mother settles in on the couch in the den. Linda falls asleep in the other room holding a pictures of her and her husband.

The next morning she awakes to find her husband with her. She shakes it off as a bad dream, but is confused by the fact it is Tuesday. There's also an empty Lithium prescription bottle. She researches the doctors name only to find the page with the listing has been torn from the phone book. (Who uses the phone book these days, right?).

Each morning she wakes up it's a different day of the week, but the days are not in order. Linda is beginning to put some of the pieces together, she takes some crayons and a large piece of drawing paper, then draws out a calendar with all the facts and key players. She folds it up and lays it under the table cloth of the dining room table. It's interesting how that calendar is still there in different parts of the story.

Throughout the movie the facts are changing. If you've seen enough of these type of movies, you will undoubtedly think it's an elaborate conspiracy. But to what end? She's meeting people that know her, but she has no clue who they are. She's missing days from her memory, such as how her daughters face got cut up. The mysterious woman watching from afar at her husband funeral. Then there is her friend, Annie, played by Nia Long.

Linda has her doubts about her husbands death, which feed on the conspiracy theory. There's the closed casket funeral, she didn't understand why. She found out when the they pulled the casket out of the hearse and it fell to the ground, and her husband's head came out. She doesn't know it at the time, but she is missing days of her life, she hasn't lived them yet so she does not have the memories. Such as how her daughter 's face was cut up. We later find out she ran through a glass door. But when Linda cannot explain it, her mother and friend call the authorities.

One fact that is off during the movie is that she is told that her husband was killed on a Tuesday afternoon. The sheriff comes by on Wednesday afternoon, and says it happened yesterday. But, Linda has a voicemail from her husband on Wednesday morning. Her husband also visited the insurance company on Wednesday morning to raise their benefits. But in later "premonitions" he dies on Wednesday. So I was sure it was some type of conspiracy.

In the end, Linda discovered her husband was planning to have an affair, but he backed out at the last minute (hence the mysterious woman at the funeral). In her attempt to reach him before he does something he will regret, she actually causes his death, just the way it was told to her and how she was having it projected to her. The alternative was that he would have lived but cheated with another woman, and who knows beyond that. Linda certainly had it figured out, she even asked her mom if there's a difference between letting him die or killing him. Of course, this is after he was killed and her mom is confused by the question. But Linda knew.

I like this movie for two reasons. First and foremost it's a good story, it will keep you guessing until the end. Also, it's a departure for Sandra Bullock to play a mother and housewife, and I think she does a great job.


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John Crawford

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Battlestar Galactica - Review of "The Road Less Traveled"


From the opening scene with Captain Kara "Starbuck" Thrace and Captain Karl "Helo" Agathon, it is clear that life on the Demetrius is tense. Kara has a hunch to try an already scanned part of space, Helo is skeptical. She decides to fly with the CAP to search it, and finds a crippled cylon bayship with the cylon Leoben on board.

The once cylon hating Kara is now focused on finding Earth, and if taking up with the cylons can make that happen, so be it. Leoben offers a truce between humans and cylons; Kara bring him aboard to her quarters. When Sam returns from his mission, he is quickly informed that Kara and Leoben are together in her quarters. Sam busts in to find Kara and Leoben painting, but he is holder her a bit more intimately than Sam can tolerate, so he bashes leoben. Helo rushes in and order the Marine guards to contain the cylon, and take him to the brig. It's hard to keep track of who's in charge on that ship, the two captains seem to be locked in a power struggle. Kara is determined to find Earth; Helo believes she is dead wrong and just wants to get back to the fleet. You factor in the other junior officers like Lt. Gaeta, there's definitely trouble brewing.

Meanwhile back on Galactica, Galen and Tory converse on how Cally died. Galen's not buying the suicide story, and vows to get to the truth. (And we know that Tory killed Cally).

Galen also confronts Colonel Tigh about his frequent visits to the Six. They revisit their conversation they had when they discovered they were cylons, that they are still the people they were born as, and will be that person until the day they die.

Galen and Baltar have a rather public fight. Galen is conducting maintenance outside one of Baltar's meetings. He peaks his head in, as he goes to leave he is called out by Baltar. Baltar offers an olive branch by asking Galen to take his hand, to reflect and somehow make Cally's death easier to deal with. Galen attacks Baltar,
but is quickly subdued by his guards.

There is an increase in the number of references to the "gods" and the God. Galen's fight with Baltar is preceded with the accusation that God doesn't exist. Galen is an outspoken non-believer, although he comes from a religious family (from the episode "The Eye Of Jupiter").

After the conversation with Tigh, and the fight with Baltar, Galen realizes he's changing. His life, the person he was and had been his entire life is changing, and fading away. Baltar makes a bold move by going to Galen's quarters and confronting him. He is honest and straight forward. Galen, who did not say a word the whole time, reaches out his hand as Baltar turns to leave his quarters. Is it possible that Baltar suspects he is a cylon?

Back on the Demetrius, a crew member is killed while investigating the bayship. Probably a self destruct mechanism set off before Leoben left the ship. Kara goes to the brig and beats on Leoben, swearing he set them up. Leoben manages to convince Kara that it was not and that she needs to concentrate on finding Earth.

Kara returns to the CIC to give a condolence speech about the fallen crew member. She admits it's her fault. She says there is nothing that will make it easier to deal with, nothing to grab onto to make the pain go away. She renounces any faith she has or had, and proclaims that in this war deaths have no meaning, they're all accidents. Then she proceeds to tell the crew they are not rejoining the fleet, but continuing to look for Earth. The crew is divided to say the least. She goes back to her quarters.

When she returns from her quarters, Helo informs her the FTL drive is "spooled" and ready to jump. But Helo prods Kara to reconsider her actions one more time, but she actively ignores him. When Helo is ordered to commence jump, he refuses. Kara tries to relive him of his post, but the crew has drawn sides and preparing to stage a mutiny. Kara is relieved instead.

From next week's previews it looks like a fight breaks out in the CIC. My guess is Leoben is loose on the ship and waiting to come to her aid. The other scenario I see is Helo taking over the ship, but something else happens, maybe another cylon ship appears. Something will keep them from jumping back to the fleet. Maybe the fleet will jump to them. The preview also indicates President Roslin having to decide on whether to form an alliance with the cylons.We won't know until next week...


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John Crawford

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Sunday, April 27, 2008

Battlestar Galactica: Escape Velocity - Busted Is The Word!

The episode opens with Chief Galen Tyrol speaking at Cally's memorial service. As it breaks up, the guests pay their respects and offer condolences to Galen on his loss. As the President and Admiral approach, Galen has one of those brief cylon hallucinations we've seen Colonel Tigh have. It's a brief thought about Admiral Adama saying that Cally was a cylon. Then as fast as it came, it left, he comes back to reality to shake the Admirals hand and accept his condolences.

Busted - would be the keyword in this episode. While we are still no closer to knowing who the 12th cylon model is, Colonel Tigh mixes it up with the Number 6 in the brig, and I think she knows he's a Cylon. He desperately wants to engage her in what it's like to be cylon, he even dismissed the guards and turns off the cameras. All the while he is fading in and out of seeing Helen (his dead wife whom he killed for collaborating with the cylons). Number 6 takes the opportunity to inflict a bit of pain on Tigh, but realizes that may not be what he needs. At that point I believe she realizes he is a cylon. She's already told the President the other cylon models are close, possibly in Galactica. I think he suspicions have been confirmed. The last
images we see of Number 6 and Tigh, they are kissing. Busted!

Chief Tyrol is has a meltdown with Admiral Adama and is busted to specialist. Galen has a bar room argument with the Admiral. He begged for the Admiral to take some action against him. Earlier, Galen nearly caused the death of several Viper pilots and crew because a key component was not replaced during the last maintenance
cycle, busted!. Combined with too much too drink, the revelation that he's a cylon, and the death of Cally, he wasn't in the mood for any one's sympathies. Like his fellow sleeper cylons, he's dealing with some intense changes and emotions. With the help of alcohol, his true feelings for Cally come out, he still carry a torch for boomer, which fuels the argument with Admiral Adama. Busted!

Tory visits Baltar. There is a struggle, and she pins him down. She's trying to tell him something when the same group of men that tried to kill him before break in. They are unsuccessful though, as the attackers cannot find him. Did his evasion have anything to do with Tory's visit? Busted! I think Baltar may sense her cylon identity, and how long will it be before his "imaginary" Number 6 spills the beans about the sleeper cylons.

Tory's the wild card, her cylon programming is beginning to surface. She is responsible for Cally's death, which everyone thinks was suicide. It will be interesting to see what will happen if and when any of the 4 sleepers die, download, then re awake on the Cylon mother ship.

My earlier confusion about Lee is clearer now. Apparently he is the political representative for one of the colonies. After the last attack on Baltar, the President tries to put restrictions on the number of people that can assemble. This would be a big problem for many of the colonists who are living in very large groups,
such as Baltar. When Baltar tries to get into his quarters, ha has to fight the guards over this issue, he is repeatedly beaten to the ground. That's when Lee comes to his rescue. He and the other Colony reps overturned the the Presidents decree. He orders the guards to stand down. Baltar lives on another day...

No news on the hunt for Earth, but from the previews those key characters will be in next week's episode.

Here's a prediction. Specialist Tyrol will have his rank restored back to Chief. I think cooler heads will prevail when the alcohol wears off. While Admiral Adama does not know that Galen is a cylon, he knows he's facing a great loss, and emotions run high, and that he may just need to get some things out of his system.


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John Crawford

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Monday, April 21, 2008

A Cylon Civil War, Who'da Thunk It?


While we've seen bits and pieces of internal strife within the Cylons, that strife has grown into an all out civil war. First we had one of the Six's reprogram the Raiders so they were self aware, in turn they killed some of the skin jobs that tried to lobotomize them. The question of whether those models would just download again was answered, and while they played coy with those that opposed their vote, they initiated an attack on their vessels. This is certainly a change from the main story line, but it's uncertain if this helps or hurts the Colonials. Neither side appears to be for NOT destroying the humans, just protecting the final 5.

After Kara confronts the President and by rights should be dead, Kara convinces the Admiral that she might be right and to take chance. The Admiral sends Kara and a few crew members on one of the fleets vessels, with the goal of finding Earth.

Lee refused to reinstate his commission, and sets off on a personal journey. Not sure where he's going or how he might get there. According to the shows creators there's no other intelligent life outside the 12 colonies (13 if you count Earth). If there are no inhabited planets, no space faring vehicles other than the Colonial Fleet, where is he going?

The four Cylon sleepers are meeting regularly now. They are trying to find the 12th Cylon, thinking he or she might be among the fleet as well. They devise a plan for Tory to work her sexual magic on Baltar and see if he gives up any usable information. Tory finds herself under the sheets with Baltar, he's quite intuitive about her feelings, but doesn't seem to suspect her as a Cylon. But Baltar does have an insight into what and how Cylons feel emotion, so he is suspect.

Meanwhile Cally became suspicious of her Cylon husband. She finds him at the bar sitting across from Tory, somewhat embraced. She freaks out and swears her husband is having an affair. She spies on our 4 sleeper agents only to discover they're all Cylons. She confronts Galen with a huge wrench across the head and face. She proceeds to take her baby to the airlock where she runs into Tory. Tory tries to calm her down and reason with her. When Cally lets down her guard, Tory takes the baby and kicks Cally away. Tory then goes to the controls of the airlock and ejects Cally into space. Is Tory's Cylon side showing? What do we know about her or her past before she became the President's aid after Billy was killed? Who was she prior to the attacks on the colonies?

One thing's for sure, they'll be more action in the next episode.


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John Crawford

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Saturday, April 05, 2008

How Cisco lost out in networking Battlestar Galactica

Network World has obtained a memo written by a Cisco sales rep of his attempt to sell an upgrade network to Galactica senior officials. What happened when Cisco trainee J. Cox met Admiral William Adama just months before the start of the second Cylon War?

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Billy Campbell Cast in Sci-Fi Channel’s 'Revolution'

Billy Campbell (The 4400, Rocketeer) has just signed to be the lead in the Sci-Fi Channel’s Revolution. Campbell will play Tom Hart, a colonial leader and soldier-turned-farmer.

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Stargate: MacGyver

Exclusive leaked intro video of the all-new Stargate spin-off named 'Stargate: MacGyver' (and it's not a Rickroll).

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TV to See: Can They Rebuild Her? The Remake of Bionic Woman

Desperate for that next big hit, TV studios have been mining the past for ideas. Fall 2007 saw the premiere of the remake of Bionic Woman.

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'Knight Rider' Gets 'Bionic Woman's' Old Spot

Just call Wednesday evenings on NBC retro night."Knight Rider," the new series that recently found its showrunner in Gary Scott Thompson, will take on the Wednesday 8 p.m. ET timeslot for NBC's fall schedule.

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New comedy role for Michelle Ryan

The bionic woman returns

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Silverman Wants 'Knight Rider' To Avoid 'Bionic' Mistakes

NBC is hoping to avoid the mistakes made with the cancelled "Bionic Woman" to ensure the upcoming reboot series "Knight Rider" has a better chance of succeeding.

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Battlestar Galactica Season 4: FINALLY SCI-FI Worth Watching


With the ending of Stargate SG-1, the cancellation of The Bionic Woman, Jericho, The 4400, Dead Zone, and waiting through the writer's strike, the quality and sheer selection of science fiction shows has suffered. While we still have Stargate Atlantis, it wanes behind it's big brother in many ways. But at least for one more season we have 22 episodes of Battlestar Galactica.


Almost a year after season 3 ended, and delays due to the writers strike, Battlestar Galactica returned to television last night with a solar-system-sized bang. The much anticipated remake of the 1978 era television show of the same name opened it's fourth and final season right where it left off. Starbuck (Kara) mysteriously shows up off Apollo's (Lee's) wing. She returns to Galactica's hanger deck thinking she's only been gone "6 hours and change". Lee and Sam greet her with hugs, and with their confusion of her whereabouts. But when they tell her she's been gone for more than 2 months, and that Lee saw her Viper explode, she's clearly surprised. The Admiral orders the guards to take her to sickbay, where Doc Cottle proceeds to examine her and gives her a clean bill of health, and confirms her identity.

Back on the hanger deck, Kara's Viper also gets a clean bill of health, too clean in fact. The Viper has no marks, scratches, or any damage at all; like it came off the showroom floor. The on board computer is completely empty, no record of where she'd been. But she did gets photos of a planet she says is Earth; it has a large sister gas giant planet with rings around it.

Meanwhile, our four crewman that discovered they were Cylons at the end of last season are living with the realities of it's secret, not knowing if at any moment a switch will go off and make them do something terrible. While in the Command Center, Colonel Tigh has a daydream about shooting the Admiral in the head. Sam is worried that he will turn on his fellow Vipers. All four are certain that's how the Cylons (again) found the fleet, and maybe that's why the Cylons stopped attacking and retreated when it finally looked like defeat was imminent.

President Roslin is enduring the pain of her cancer. Sharon, Number Six, and the President had several shared visions, which neither can determine the meaning. The Number Six they have prisoner can sense the four new Cylon models nearby.

The President is also adamant about the fleet's path to Earth, and although Kara says she's need there and knows the way, the President ignores her. But Kara has acquired a sixth sense about the way to Earth, and with every jump of the fleet, the sense fades. Sam and her guards become the latest victims of her ball-busting behavior as she knocks them out, takes the guards sidearm, and heads to the President's quarters.

After taking down a few more guards, the episode ends with Kara in the President's quarters pointing a weapon at the President.

Twenty-one (21) episodes till the series finale, and it's a good bet they won't reach Earth until the very end. Until next week...


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John Crawford

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Friday, March 21, 2008

5 Facts About Batman, TV’s Campiest Action Series

The production techniques used for Batman were far different than those used on the Superman series; bright colors, stilted dialog, and the POW! BAM! graphics used during the fight scenes all combined to make the series look like a comic book brought to life.

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Letterman: Top 10 reasons to watch Battlestar Galactica

The cast of BSG reads the "Top Ten Reasons to Watch the New Season of 'Battlestar Galactica'" in "The Late Show with David Letterman."... the #1 reason is PRICELESS! :)

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Monday, March 17, 2008

NCIS: Fictional Science Or Science Fiction?


Have you ever wondered how much of what Agent Gibbs and company do on NCIS is based on real science? While the producers do a superb job of pulling story lines from the headlines, and incorporating real world scenarios, anyone who knows anything about crime solving would call some of NCIS's crime solving techniques science fiction. Not the REAL NCIS, of course. The realities are much more harsh, and of course, crimes are rarely solved within 42 minutes of when they occurred.


So where did I get 42 minutes? If you've ever taped a one-hour show, and cut out the commercials, including the beginning and ending credits, there is about 42 minutes of actual air time. Agent Gibbs, my friends, is the master of solving a crime in 42 minutes. Right up there with Columbo, Kojak, Monk , and generations of one-hour crime dramas we know and love. NCIS silently blurs the lines between fact, fiction, science, and science fiction. OK, you won't hear any other TV critic call NCIS science fiction. Admittedly NCIS has no aliens (non-Earth people), no monsters, no space or time travel, no super secret government plots, No futuristic settings, no doomsday or apocalyptic scenarios. There are no story lines about super-human or unusual abilities.

In fact, each episode is your classic cop story. In the opening scene someone is usually killed. The other 40 minutes are spent investigating it. But it's how they go about solving the crimes and catching the bad guys that so far off but completely imaginable with just the right mix of science and fiction. For example, every piece of technology is right at their fingertips. The best any of them could hope for is they have a halfway decent computer of their desk and it doesn't crash just trying to get their email. And breaking into another network, especially another government agency's network, is a crime. Just to attempt a hack is a crime, the Navy would send their sorry butts to Leavenworth and let them rot.

Then they have the ability right at their fingertips to tap into any traffic camera, trace any phone call - even tell you what cell tower they are connected to. They can drive from the Washington Navy Yard to Quantico, VA in a few minutes, and they never once got on the Capital Beltway or Interstate 95! Also, as far as I can figure, Gibbs must live in the most crime infested neighborhood in Southeast DC. They can call him anytime at home and he's in the office in 5 minutes. (He could have a secret energy/matter transporter, wouldn't be that big a stretch). But that's not science fiction, that's episodic television being unrealistic.

In spite of it's super-scientific ways to solve crimes, NCIS is definitely a show worth watching, It recently went into syndication on The USA Network. NCIS is a spin-off of JAG, which was based stories about the U. S. Navy's Judge Advocate Generals Office.


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John Crawford


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Monday, March 03, 2008

Do Networks Ignore Sci Fi Fans?

Neilsen Ratings are the measurement of selected "families" who actually sit down to watch television programs. This tells me that networks tend to rely on the black and white data, and not consider what the "unnoticed" audience watches.

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Sunday, March 02, 2008

Engadget: lovable and lame gadgets from the world of cinema

Previously on Movie Gadget Friday, we traveled across war-torn galaxies in the 1978 version of Battlestar Gallatica. Moving forward a few years to 1982, we'll take a look inside the computational arcade culture of TRON. Saturated with neon suits and Pac-Man blips and bleeps, the sci-fi cult Disney film has achieved pop culture status over the years

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William Shatner Announces Contest to Find Next Sci-Fi Star

William Shatner announced this week that he is holding an online contest to find the most talented sci-fi personality in the United States. To enter, contestants just have to create a short video clip that shows why they are the heir apparent to William Shatner, and upload it at http://shatner.blip.tv/ by September 30th.

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The Sci-fi Channel: A Review

The Sci-fi Channel review

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Friday, February 29, 2008

Top 50 Hottest Moments of The 4400

A list of the Top 50 Hottest Moments of The 4400, ranging from Jordan Collier (Billy Campbell) skinny dipping, to Isabelle (Megalyn Echikunwoke) getting intimate with Shawn and Kyle. Some of those moments are also sweet but hot nevertheless.

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A sequel to "The Last Starfighter"!

The Last Starfighter is a great, classic sci-fi flick. A classic which is on its way to being revisited. It is currently on the production schedule and is being distributed by Warner Brothers and Universal Pictures. It involves original director Nick Castle, writer Jonathan Betuel and actor Lance Guest. It’s about to start shooting next month.

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The Best Scifi Songs To Yell At The Karaoke Bar

Hey, it's Friday! And if you're like me, you're heading out to the Karaoke to guzzle $1 PBRs and holler into a super-echoey mic at a crowd of people who (hopefully) are even drunker than you are. But being an enlightened, forward-looking person, what you really want is to bellow a science fiction song into the mic.

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The Top Sci-fi TV Shows that Even a Non-Geek Will Love

Think sci-fi is just for the socially-challenged? Think again. These five shows prove you can like science fiction and still be cool.

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Thursday, February 28, 2008

BSG news: Season 4 production is about to resume

The last few episodes of Battlestar Galactica's final season could begin filming at the end of March, and more tidbits.

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The Law & Politics of Battlestar Galactica

An interview with the creators.

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First Spoiler Video Of 'Battlestar Galactica' Season 4 Out

So wondering who is holding a gun to President Roslin's head? Guess no longer. io9 has been able to get its hands on about three minutes of footage from the upcoming fourth season of "Battlestar Galactica."

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Starbuck’s tattoo & new Battlestar Galactica photos

It’s been nearly four months since Razor hit the small screen and a month shy of a year - a frackin’ year - since SciFi aired a new Galactica ep. So, yeah, excuse me while I scream and jump around while checking out these just-released promotional photos and the new video promo for Season 4, which starts April 4th.

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Sunday, February 24, 2008

Back To Life With The Best of the Worst Scifi Resurrections

Returning from the grave is common in comics and horror films, but strangely it doesn't happen as much in science fiction, even when you have plot devices that should make returning from the state of deadness quite easy. Of course when we do get a scifi resurrection, it's often so lame that you wish the character had stayed dead.

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Walter Skinner's Depicter Back for 'X Files' Sequel

The actor who is well known for his character in the 'The X Files' television series, Mitch Pileggi, is being reported to be reprising his role in the sequel of the sci-fi film.

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The elements of good sci-fi

"The story has to start out in place where everything makes sense, obviously, but sense has to be balanced by wonder. "

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Thursday, February 21, 2008

The Most Anticipated Movies of 2009

"Yeah, yeah, we know - it’s 2008. So why talk about the movies of 2009 so soon? With the advent of viral marketing and extremely early teaser trailers being leaked eons before a movie is scheduled for release, you can never be too early to start talking about films."

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5 Reasons SciFi Does Better In Movies Than In TV

Why is science fiction so much hotter at the movies than on television? People have wondered for a while. Recently, the universally panned Jumper and the blah I Am Legend and Cloverfield have hit big. But the well-received Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is on the brink of cancellation. We explain this strange phenomenon.

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Sunday, February 17, 2008

McGillion returns to Stargate Atlantis

Carson Beckett fans can finally dry their tears: The Scottish doctor will return for five episodes in Season Five, SCI FI Channel and MGM announced last week

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Five Reasons Why You Need to Watch 'Battlestar Galactica'

4) It Has Sex Appeal: Sure, BSG has depth, nuance, and robots, but who cares about all that if the cast is unattractive? Thankfully Battlestar Galactica has one of the hottest casts on television, so even if you want to turn your brain off you'll still have something pretty to look at. Even better, they can act too!

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Exclusive Interview with Lucy Hale

We recently had a chance to catch up with Bionic Woman star, Lucy Hale. Playing the younger sister (Becca Sommers) of a hero has it's perks, and it's good to be Lucy right now. Charming and vivacious, we couldn't get enough of her easy laugh and laid-back manner. She was only too happy to gush about everything from her career, to her future...

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Saturday, February 16, 2008

Jericho: Sifting Through The Ashes

A ton of tension surrounded the premiere of Jericho’s second season. Summarily cancelled last year, and famously rescued by a successful fan campaign, the post apocalyptic drama needs to make a strong showing in order to win a full season order from CBS next year. Figuring out whether the premiere was a success is not an exact science. [...]

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Beam Me Up Scotty? Why teleportation is nothing like Trek

The