The Sci Fi (SyFy? If we all refuse to acknowledge that, will they change it back?) channel has already far and away proven that they can take an old TV series, completely restructure it, and create one of the best shows of all time. Now that Battlestar Galactica has come and gone, Sci Fi is developing a new potential series based on Alien Nation with fanboy favorite Tim Minear writing.

Alien Nation first started as a movie starring James Caan in 1988 that turned into a 1989 TV series on Fox. The show was canceled after one season, but has seen five new TV movies made since then, as well. The show is basically a social observation using a fictional setting and aliens known as “Newcomers” who were at first made to live away from humans, but now have been allowed to reside among us; of course this doesn’t stop racism from continuing. The original movie for which this new project is being based followed an L.A. cop (Caan) whose partner is killed while investigating the Newcomers. When the first alien police officer comes to his department, he volunteers to join up with him in order to sneakily try and investigate the death of his former partner. [...]

LOST
The Complete Second Season, Blu-ray Edition
Starring: Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway, Dominic Monaghan, Terry O’Quinn
Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Release date: June 16, 2009

I didn’t start watching Lost until the second season was underway. All I knew about it before then was that everyone who watched the show was on the edge of their seats talking about numbers and hatches and “others.” All I saw was some people staring down a metal shaft with confused looks on their faces. Oh how little I knew back then.

Things really change in the second season. The survivors learn a lot more about the history of the island, the Dharma Initiative, and “The Others.” The writers also found a plausible way to introduce several new characters into the series as we see what happened to the people in the tail end of the plane (though off camera issues would result in many of the having short lived stints on the show.) We also get to meet Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick), the man whose fate is intricately tied to the island and who knows what caused the crash of Oceanic 815 in the first place. Then there’s ‘Henry Gale’ (Michael Emerson), possibly the best addition to a TV show’s cast… ever.

Season two also showed the first signs of weakness in the show’s writing. While entertaining, some episodes seem to drag on, rehashing the same plot over and over in an attempt to fill in the gaps between the first and last episodes [...]

It’s been a while since we heard that Guillermo del Toro was attached to remake the 1973 TV movie Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark. Recently the project has begun to heat up with the announcement of Katie Holmes being cast, and now comes word that Guy Pearce is in final negotiations to star in the movie. Nine-year old Bailee Madison — who already has almost 20 IMDB listings — has also been cast.

The movie was about a man whose young daughter moves into his creepy house with him and his girlfriend. Eventually the young girl discovers that the house is also inhabited by demons who want to make the little girl one of their own — though her father refuses to believe this to be true.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, Pearce will of course play the father; Holmes will play his girlfriend, while Madison will naturally play his daughter. Guillermo del Toro wrote the script with Matthew Robbins and he is producing with Mark Johnson. One of del Toro’s understudies, Troy Nixey, will be directing the movie adaptation. [...]

As we all know, this past week or two has been incredibly unfortunate with the passing of many beloved celebrities, including David Carradine, Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson. As depressing as all of this loss was, at one point in the chaos that occurred on the day that Fawcett and Jackson were lost, there were also various reports that actor Jeff Goldblum had also died after falling off a cliff in New Zealand while filming. This news never really seemed legit and we later found out that it was in fact false — but it had actually gotten as far as foreign news programs reporting that police in New Zealand had confirmed it as true.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to bring a little laughter to us at a time where many are mourning, Stephen Colbert decided to report the sad demise of Jeff Goldblum on The Colbert Report while touching on the journalistic accuracy of Twitter. [...]

The Gold Box spotlight deal of the day over at Amazon today is the Stargate SG-1 - The Complete Series Collection for only $131.99 (reduced 60% from $329.98).

This is a 54-disc set with all ten seasons of the scifi series, with four of those discs being hours’ worth of bonus features like commentaries, video diaries, behind-the-scenes footage, and much more [...]

LOST
The Complete First Season, Blu-ray Edition
Starring: Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway, Dominic Monaghan, Terry O’Quinn
Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Release date: June 16, 2009

Remember when the average Lost episode had a plot about finding drinkable water, shelter, and learning which survivors could hunt and which could help build shelter? Those were the days, the days before the average plot revolved around time traveling, ageless strangers, ancient Egyptian statues, and electromagnetic anomalies.

There’s nothing wrong with the new seasons of Lost, but even the most dedicated fans must admit the show’s plot has become increasingly complex over the years. The first season is possibly the only season Lost writers could refer to as “simple.” After all, this is a season where an entire episode is dedicated to looking for Sun’s (Yunjin Kim) missing wedding ring. Lost was the first TV series to be released on Blu-Ray, but they started with Season 3. So now they’ve gone back and released the first two seasons.

You would be hard pressed to find a better TV show to have in high definition than Lost, too. The beautiful Hawaiian backgrounds stand out more in the earlier seasons when the island’s natural scenery was still important. The picture quality is, not surprisingly, incredible at 1080p [...]

The LA Times is reporting that world famous product endorser Billy Mays was found dead in his home this morning by his wife. He was 50 years old.

Famous for his loud, in-your-face delivery of information of such products as OxyClean, Orange Glo, and Mighty Putty, Mays was also more recently featured on the fantastic Discovery Channel show Pitchmen, which followed him and Anthony Sullivan as they pitted “made for TV” products against one another, picking the superior one to provide their services to.

The cause of death is unknown, but a full autopsy is expected [...]

Squidbillies
Vol. 2 DVD
Created by Dave Willis and Jim Fortier
Written by Dave Willis
Turner Home Entertainment
Release date: April 21, 2009

So Adult Swim has come up with some odd cartoons in their time, but I think Squidbillies takes the cake. Squidbillies, created by Dave Willis (Aqua Teen Hunger Force) and Jim Fortier (Brak Show), follows the story of the Cuyler family, a clan of hillbilly squids that happen to live in a town in Georgia. The Culyers’ penchant for violence and racism are always getting them in trouble but their bacon is usually saved by the town sheriff, thanks to a previous federal law passed that makes them an endangered species.

If you are even a bit familiar with Willis and Fortier’s previous work, you should like this series. The episodes are short and concise, and always really have no continuity whatsoever. Characters from the cartoon are often shot, brunt to a crisp, and eaten in every episode, but show up unscathed later on, sometimes even in the same episode. The storylines are also outrageous and over the top. One of the episodes involves Grandma Cuyler getting into a botched tanning accident and rather than have plastic surgery, the Cuyler family kill various animals and sew the animal skins onto her. Though be warned: A lot of the comedy is broad, with jokes ending with the death or dismemberment of another character, and might not be for all viewers, even for yours truly who happens to like Aqua Teen and Brak [...]

Weeds
Season 4
Created by Jenji Kohan
Starring Mary Louise Parker, Justin Kirk, Kevin Nealon, Elizabeth Perkins, Hunter Parrish, Alexander Gould
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Release Date: June 2, 2009

Last year at about this time, when I reviewed Season Three of Showtime’s Weeds for this very website, I complained about how the DVD case trotted out that it was made from 100% recycled materials. I wondered who they could possibly market that fact to. People who hadn’t seen the show who felt they HAD to buy it because, well, those seasons of Six Feet Under wouldn’t allow them to be better people by having ITS packaging made from recycled shit? People who like the show and were gonna buy it anyway, even if the packaging were made from poodle ass and baby seal hymen? The point eluded me then and it eludes me now. I’m not saying you can’t make your stuff out of other folks’ leftovers, but quit being a dick about it.

Sure enough, another year, another packaging issue. Not with the packaging itself, I don’t give a fuck about that anymore, and yet I am mystified by the pull-quote from The Miami Herald that they put on the back of the box:

“Smart… Smug… And habit-forming.”

“Smug?” That’s what you’re saying to pull folks in? They… They know what that word means, right? I’m not necessarily saying the show isn’t smug (as mentioned, the show actively markets that its DVD sets are recycled), but there’s some shit you just don’t share with the rest of the class [...]

Farrah Fawcett, the ’70s bombshell with glowing blonde hair, has passed away at a hospital in California after her long battle with cancer. She was 62 years old.

Fawcett’s three-year battle had been very public, keeping fans well up-to-date on her progress in this incredibly difficult fight. She even appeared in a TV documentary called Farrah’s Story, which gave us a close-up look at the actress’s terrible struggles, and her determination to find beat it and find a cure.

Farrah Fawcett first showed up in the late ’60s, appearing briefly on legendary TV shows like I Dream of Jeannie and The Partridge Family. She made many other appearances as well, but it wasn’t until 1976 when she broke out in a big way with her highly-recognized run as one the beloved Angels on Charlie’s Angels, as well as her turn in Logan’s Run. Surprisingly, she only appeared in 29 episodes of Charlie’s Angels which ran from 1976 to 1981, yet she is known all over the world for it. After Angels, she became every man’s dream girl — her poster was on almost every young boy’s wall. She moved on from the show to do a lot more drama work, and she was in well-known movies like The Cannonball Run and Dr. T and the Women. [...]

An extended preview of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ran on Sunday night during the premiere of the NBC miniseries Merlin.

Watch the clip here below.

The clip focuses on the dark elements of this sixth Harry Potter story, which sees the dark forces of the magical world crossover in our world, revealing themselves to “Muggles.” There’s also an emphasis on Harry himself as the “chosen one.” Those who know the story, know there’s a entire subplot on the light side, with all the romance amongst the teenagers of Hogwarts. There’s only a touch of that in this preview, which contains new footage from the film [...]

In quite the unexpected move, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science has announced that next year’s 82nd Academy Awards ceremony will have a massive adjustment to it: the normal 5 Best Picture nominees will instead be 10 Best Picture nominees.

This is another apparent move for the Academy to try and bring in new viewers after their shake-up last year, bringing in Hugh Jackman to host instead of the usual comedian host (which I still personally prefer). As mentioned, the typical number of movies that were nominated each year was five, but way back in the early years of the Oscars, there were many more — sometimes as many as twelve, so this is a really a return to classic form. The last year that this format was used was in 1943, when Casablanca took the top prize.

This is shocking to me, but something that I’m pretty excited about seeing. You can’t help but think of all the movies in past years that people wanted to get a Best Picture nomination and didn’t; namely — using 2008 as an example — the animated features like Wall-E, the not-so-traditional contenders such as The Dark Knight, as well as the flat-out snubbed movies like The Wrestler. [...]

Dexter
The Complete Second Season, Blu-ray Edition
Starring: Michael C. Hall, Julie Benz, Jennifer Carpenter, Erik King, Lauren Velez
Paramount Home Entertainment
Release date: May 9, 2009

One of the most original and entertaining shows on TV returned for a second season with vigilante serial killer Dexter Morgan (Michael C Hall). After following Dexter’s journey of self-discovery in the first season, this time around viewers watch Dexter struggle with new, complicated emotions as he tries to evolve as a person and a killer.

The second season of the hit Showtime series has some serious strengths and weaknesses. First and foremost, the plot goes to the obvious logical step in exploring Dexter’s world by seeing what would happen if Dexter’s crimes were discovered. When a group of scuba divers discover the bodies of Dexter’s victims, he must struggle with keeping up appearances while trying to cover tracks he never thought would be uncovered.

All the while, Sgt. Doakes (Erik King), who was simply suspicious of Dexter in the first season, is now convinced Dexter is hiding something, and stalks him everywhere. This makes Dexter’s usual nighttime activities impossible. The stress of controlling his impulses, avoiding suspicion, and coming to terms with having killed his own brother, Dexter’s internal turmoil is increased ten-fold [...]

Reaper
Season 2
Starring Bret Harrison, Tyler Labine, Rick Gonzalez, Missy Peregrym, Ray Wise
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Release Date: June 9, 2009

The second season of Reaper had the unfortunate disposition of being seemingly cursed from the very start. After a highly-acclaimed first season gained it a large cult following, the show’s future was still in danger, and the writer’s strike did not help their cause. Eventually, when the dust settled a bit, it was decided that the show would get more of a second chance than a second season with a shortened 13-episode run. Sadly, this uphill battle ended like the finale of Glory, and at this moment Reaper has been canceled with only a few small chances at another network being it’s savior (Read: ‘Reaper’ Canceled: The CW Decides It Wants To Be Just Like Fox When It Grows Up). This of course isn’t the first time a great show was killed too early, and even in this depressing hole, Reaper still has plenty to offer those who have yet to see it. [...]

Battlestar Galactica mastermind and general science fiction genius Ronald D. Moore has had another project in the works for a while now called Virtuality. Moore sold the property to Fox as a movie-length pilot for a new series, but since then, it’s been unsure whether it would actually become a full TV series, or if it would just be a TV movie. At the moment, it appears Fox wants to see the movie and how it does first and then decide on the show’s fate. This is not good as the movie’s premise is built specifically for a TV series, meaning this movie will merely set the series up, and many, many…if not all answers will remain mysteries unless a show is ordered. It’s hard to believe that any station — including Fox — would think twice about whether to order a new Ronald D. Moore show or not, but this appears to be the case here.

Virtuality tells the story of twelve astronauts who embark on one of the most important space missions of all-time — a decade-long task to find a habitable planet after it is discovered that Earth will no longer be able to support human life in one hundred years. [...]

Many fans still lay in bed at night, unable to sleep due to the end of Battlestar Galactica a few months back. We all know about and are excited that the new prequel series Caprica is on the way and has already started out with a fantastic opening movie (Read: DVD Review: ‘Caprica’); but when it comes to our beloved BSG, only one more story is yet to be told, and that story is called Battlestar Galactica: The Plan. Thankfully there’s now a new trailer and a video clip from the movie.

The Plan will combine old footage and new footage to revisit crucial points in the series and present them from the perspective of the Cylons. It’s presented by the usual suspects in Ronald D. Moore and David Eick; and it’s directed by Admiral Adama himself: Edward James Olmos.

Where the show ended is blanketed in finality and it would be nearly impossible to pick up from there and do something the fans would accept. However, there are so many layers and storylines to this world that they have created, it would not at all surprise me if more prequel movies like this come along down the road. [...]

Sci Fi Channel’s Warehouse 13 premieres on Tuesday July 7th at 9/8c. Starring CCH Pounder (The Shield), Eddie Mclintock (Bones), Joanne Kelly (Vanished) and Saul Rubinek (Eureka), the show follows a group of government agents assigned to retrieve strange supernatural objects for the U.S. Government. Once obtained, they are housed and safeguarded in a super-secret facility known only as Warehouse 13. According to the Sci Fi Channel, the show is a cross between the X-Files and Moonlighting, two very awesome shows in their own right.

In celebration of this super show, we came up with the Top 13 coolest objects from the comic-verse that would fit perfectly on the vast shelves in Warehouse 13. Get it? Because there’s 13 items and the Warehouse is numbered 13…and it is…uhh…funny…ha..umm..hah…..moving along…

On June 21, 2009 at 8PM EST, the hit BBC miniseries Merlin premieres in the U.S. on NBC — and not a moment too soon. We live in a world where TV is ruled by disgusting amounts of cop/authority dramas and hospital dramas and what we really need, is some good old fantasy! With Merlin, we will get just that.

As it is known, Merlin is the legendary wizard who is most-often associated with the tales of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table in Camelot. The truth to the character is hard to even put into words. He was first written about in the year 1136 and has shown up in an infinite amount of movies, TV shows, cartoons, games, artworks, and who knows how many other things. Quite simply put: when you think of a wizard, you most likely think of the greatest wizard of them all: Merlin..

So as not to be unoriginal, the creators of this 13-part miniseries, starring Buffy’s Anthony Head and Michelle Ryan (from the Bionic Woman reboot), have basically rebooted the world and the character to offer many fresh, wonderful new adventures to existing fans, and any new ones that may come [...]

Is there anyone out there who doesn’t like Betty White?

I didn’t think so.

White made an appearance this week on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon where the 87-year-old beloved actress went up against the host in a game of Beer Pong. I suggest you take a moment to watch the clip here below; it’s funny and quite enjoyable. I think I could have watched like an hour of Betty White playing Beer Pong. And I love how the audience loved White too, screaming her name like she was a rock star. Awesome.

White was promoting her new movie The Proposal, a rom-com starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds that I probably wouldn’t have given a second glance to had it not been for White’s role in it [...]

A couple of days ago, Collider got the scoop from an inside source that Comedy Central had ordered 13 new episodes of the ultra-popular sci-fi cartoon, Futurama. This was huge news that everyone had been anxiously waiting to hear about after we found out that Fox was pondering what to do with the show after a successful four-movie direct-to-DVD run. While I too was buzzing with excitement, I must admit, I was also incredibly skeptical due to the fact that this was the exact same order that Comedy Central made in 2006 before the four movies came out, and because when we last heard news, Futurama was waiting on Fox, not Comedy Central. Who was I to know they could tag team.

As it turns out, Collider’s insider was on the scent, and we can all now rejoice: Futurama is OFFICIALLY coming back to the air on Comedy Central, who have ordered not 13 episodes, but 26 new episodes!

20th Century Fox has put out a press release stating that due to the success of the four movies and the popularity of the show’s reruns on Comedy Central, they have made an initial order of 26 half-hour episodes that will also air on Comedy Central. [...]