Screen Rant » caprica

Poster Friday: Avatar, Kick-Ass, Lost, Salt & More!

Rob Keyes — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:59:09 +0000

Happy Friday everyone!

We missed last week due to the launch of our sister site, GameRant.com and the fact that there was quite a few less one-sheets than normal so instead, I’ve combined them all from the last two weeks into this edition of Poster Friday.

Screen Rant’s wall this week now includes new one-sheets for Avatar, Precious, Crazy on the Outside, Daybreakers, Lost, Salt, Alice in Wonderland, Crazy Heart, Kick-Ass, The Yellow Handkerchief, Caprica, All About Evil, The Wolfman, Ong Bak 3, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, From Paris with Love and Wonderful World.

In addition to that we have some neat stylistic posters for some popular television shows.

Let’s get to it.

To start, here are a pair of French posters for Avatar, both of these we had lesser quality early looks at before, but now we have the full versions.

http://screenrant.com/wp-admin/media-new.php

Source: Latino Review, /Film

You Might Also Be Interested In:

Poster Friday: New Moon, Caprica, The Crazies & More!

Rob Keyes — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 07:07:42 +0000

Happy Friday everyone! For our first Friday of October 2009, we’ve again gathered the latest posters to come out for this week’s poster round-up.

Screen Rant’s wall this week now includes new one-sheets for The Princess and the Frog, Caprica, The Crazies, The Mechanic, Stone, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Saw VI, The Twilight Saga’s New Moon and Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant.

In addition to that we have two bonus posters from two major upcoming films that you need to check out! Also, there’s some very creative road sign parody posters of classic films, as well as some older and strange looking posters from Ghana.

Let’s get to it.

To start, here’s another new poster for The Princess and the Frog that looks nearly identical to last week’s The Princess and the Frog poster except for the blue background. Again, note the classic and beautifully hand-drawn art for Disney’s next addition to its 2D library:

Source: IGN

The Princess and the Frog opens December 11, 2009.

You Might Also Be Interested In:

The Caprica Marketing Never Stops

Bruce Simmons — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:29:32 +0000

With Caprica due out on the Syfy Channel in early 2010, they’ve already generated interest in it by releasing screeners of the premiere episode to industry critics and selling the DVD.

Now they’re taking it a step farther and taking the Battlestar Galactica prequel to film festivals.

The film festivals they’re scheduled to appear at are the upcoming Woodstock Film Festival on October 2nd and 4th and the Austin Film Festival on October 24th

As much as I’m looking forward to the series because I was won over by the pilot, I feel this is starting to border on marketing overkill.

I have to admit that since the network has changed its name to Syfy, the advertising schema has changed a bit – they’ve gotten more aggressive and pervasive on their own and other networks.

How do you feel about this new avenue of marketing Caprica? DO you even feel like it is marketing?

Source Chicago Tribune

You Might Also Be Interested In:

What’s Up With The Caprica Production Rumors?

Bruce Simmons — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 04:44:21 +0000

So, when you say that a trusted industry insider told you that production on Caprica faces suspension due to script issues, you had better be ready for the storm that brews from that kind of news. According to CinemaSpy, they’ve had no reason to doubt their source.

But that report prompted Michael Hinman of Airlock Alpha to get to the bottom of the matter, and he did so with a fairly reliable source, Jane Espenson, the executive producer of Caprica.

She said that she’s thrilled with the product her writers have put out. She also added that there will be a possibility of a production shut down up in their location of Vancouver… but that would be due to the mass of athletes showing up for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

So if you’ve heard one thing, and another thing – don’t worry. Things are on track for Caprica, according to the trusted sources!

Sources: CinemaSpy, Alpha Airlock

You Might Also Be Interested In:

TV News & Notes: Fringe, True Blood, Alien Nation & More

Kofi Outlaw — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:32:31 +0000

It’s a new week and today your TV news includes a look at Fringe’s second season; Superman will be teaming with Chuck; The Alien Nation is rising again; True Blood takes a big bit of DVD sales; Patton Oswalt talks life on Caprica; and could Supernatural rise from the grave?

Let’s get to it:

FRINGE

Got a few pics from Fringe’s upcoming second season. The pics include The Bishops (Joshua Jackson, John Noble) and Astrid (Jasika Nicole) up to their usual hijinks in the lab, as well as guest star Meghan Markle, who will play junior FBI agent Amy Jessup – I’m guessing while Sr. Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) is hanging out with Leonard Nimoy in alternate dimensions.

If you haven’t caught up on Fringe, you really need to. Here are the pics:

Should I even ask what’s up with the cow in a birthday hat? Of course not! It’s Fringe!

For the full gallery head over to Sci-fi Wire.

Fringe Returns on September 17 (Thursdays now) @ 9pm ET/PT on Fox.

CHUCK

Superman Returns star Brandon Routh will be joining the cast of Chuck for a multi-episode story arch in the upcoming season. Routh will join the show during its fourth episode where he will be playing a new spy named Shaw who takes over Operation Bartwoski and naturally starts competing for Sarah’s affections.

Chuck returns this spring on NBC.

Source: EW

ALIEN NATION

Alien Nation is still making its way back to television. Syfy (and parent company NBC Universal) are working with Twentieth Century Fox to reboot the 80s-90s cult hit show, under the creative direction of Tim Minear, a TV vet with shows like Firefly and The X-Files under his belt.

Minear has claimed that he was the new Alien Nation to be ‘The Wire with aliens,’ and after seeing all the great stuff that director Neil Blomkamp milked out of the premise for District 9 (a film undoubtedly inspired by shows like Alien Nation), I’d say a retooled Alien Nation definitely has potential.

As for contemporary relevance, Minear claims that examples like the culture clashes happening in many European countries would be a good starting point for the series (transplanted to the US of A, of course).

Head over to Earth’s Mightiest for the full interview with Minear. Alien Nation hopes to be in production sometime next year.

Source: Cinemastatic

TRUE BLOOD

True Blood has “glammed” the masses! The DVD of the HBO Series’ first season is slowly gaining on Flight of the Concords as the best-selling TV DVD. True Blood has sold almost $46 million in DVDs as of the middle of August.

Personally, I think True Blood deserves to be crowned king of DVD, considering how explicitly adult-themed the show is. Guess sex (mixed with violence and vamps) still does sell…

If you still haven’t seen True Blood season 1 (shame on you!) you can snag the DVD for cheap by going here.

Source: TV By The Numbers

SUPERNATURAL

Seems Supernatural still has its neck on the chopping block. Said show creator Eric Kripke in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly:

“I did set out [to] tell a five-season storyline…Quite frankly, I never expected [the show] to make it to five years. But now that we’re in our fifth year, I have every intention of ending the story with a bang and not drawing it out or watering it down.”

Well… Kripke at least makes a kind of concession do Supernatural die-hards out there, claiming that is finale for the series will leave room for a whole new installment of the show, with a whole new mythology to build on, in case it gets an eleventh-hour stay of execution. As Kripke points out, Buffy did it, The X-Files did it, so can Supernatural.

The show returns on September 10th @ 9pm ET/PT on the CW.

Source: EW

CAPRICA

Wanna hear actor/comedian Patton Oswalt talk about his role on the upcoming Battlestar Galactica series, Caprica? Oswalt will play Baxter Sarno, a talk show comedian who snags an interview with Cylon creator Daniel Graystone and his wife. There are a couple of good tidbits of the series for you BSG fans who have been wondering what’s coming your way.

Caprica starts with a two-hour premiere on January 22, 2010, @ 9 p.m. ET/PT and will air Fridays at 10 p.m. on Syfy.

Check out the interview with Oswalt over at AV Club.

That’s it for now. Talk to you again during the commercials.

You Might Also Be Interested In:

TV News & Notes: Caprica, Smallville & More

Bruce Simmons — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:36:22 +0000

Today we have some info about the ongoing cast additions to Caprica, some scary character add-ons to Smallville, A little tidbit about NBC. I also point something out about that tiny little paltry convention called Comic-Con. LOL. You’ll see what I mean.

Caprica

First up, some interesting Caprica casting tidbits. The last two roles I saw James Marsters in was Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Smallville.

Now, we will be able to add Caprica to my list.

James Marsters will portray a terrorist named Barnabus Greeley, who is driven by moralistic and carnal focuses.

The comedian Patton Oswalt has also been added to the cast list as a guest star, playing the role of Baxter Sarno, a Caprican comedian. Sarno has a talk show that Daniel & Amanda Graystone (Eric Stoltz & Paula Malcomson) eventually appear on.

James Marsters and Patton Oswalt

It will be nice to see how Marsters twists this role into something special, like he’s done to his other roles.

Sources: Sci Fi Wire, EW

Smallville

A few days ago, we reported on the first look at Brian Austin Green as Metallo and it was a cool first look.

On the frightening side of things, at least from what I’m feeling, we’re going to get a dose of the Wonder Twins next season on Smallville.

Yep, David Gallagher (7th Heaven) and Allison Scagliotti (Warehouse 13) have been cast as Zan and Jayna, the teenage alien superheroes.

I really can’t wait.

Source: io9

NBC Is Playing Nice

Before all the new fall shows begin, NBC is giving fans a chance to play catch up on whatever show they like. For a limited time, NBC is making many of their shows available on NBC.com.

The shows include:

30 Rock
America’s Got Talent
Chuck
Days of Our Lives
Friday Night Lights
Great American Road Trip
Heroes
Kings
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
The Listener
Merlin
The Office
Parks and Recreation
The Philanthropist
Southland
The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien
The Wanted

Source: NBC

Comic-Con Just Ain’t That Big!

I was in that mess of humanity called Comic-Con and I thought the lines were pretty long. Attendance this year has been estimated at up to 140,000 visitors by some reports.

In this pic, this one line started at point A in front of me, went up the stairs, turned right, weaved left and right down to point B at the other end of the convention center. It then U turned left, went inside and ended at point C. And there was a lot more line behind me!

Yea, I thought that was a long line. I might have been wrong.

In Tokyo, they recently held Comiket. It’s known as the world’s largest handmade comic book fair.

Now THAT, is a line!

The three-day attendance record for the 3-day Comiket event was estimated at 560,000 visitors, or 4.5% of the population of Tokyo.

I’m thinking I had it pretty easy in that line now!

Source: Sci Fi Wire

You Might Also Be Interested In:

Bryan Singer to Make Battlestar Galactica Movie [Updated]

Rob Keyes — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 11:11:40 +0000

[Update: It's confirmed that Bryan Singer WILL helm the Battlestar Galactica movie. See Bottom of the post.]

Drew McWeeny at HitFix has the exclusive on some very interesting developments on the Universal Pictures feature film adaptation of Battlestar Galactica.

The amazing television series brought to us by Ron Moore and David Eick gave fans new and old, a more realistic take on the classic series from the late seventies. Their show stood strong to complete its story on their own schedule, and after four full seasons, they’re now in the midst of launching the spinoff series, Caprica, that has already had its pilot released on DVD.

According to Drew, his sources have informed him that Bryan Singer (X-Men, Superman Returns, The Usual Suspects) is being brought in by Universal to produce the project. It’s possible he’ll be directing the film but there’s no word on that yet.

For those who don’t know, Bryan Singer and Tom De Santo actually had a plan for a new Battlestar Galactica television series years ago that would have been set up as a sequel of sorts, based 20 years after the classic series. That project was canned as the terrible events of 9/11 unfolded due to the introduction of the storyline being based on an all-our surprise attack, not a good idea around that time period.

Sadly, a lot of work was put into that and a bunch of CG animation had been worked on as they were only months away from shooting when they had to stop. The story of Singer’s series would follow the human survivors as they live on a colony after voting to abandon their search for Earth.

To read more details on that and see some concept work, head over to io9.

Back in February, we first learned that Universal’s new movie would be taking us back to the original Battlestar Galatica series and would still have the key characters of Adama, Starbuck and Baltar in it. They’d just have nothing to do with the Moore’s recent incarnation which is still pushing forward with a movie titled The Plan on its way as well as the Caprica series mentioned above.

We also learned at that time that creator and writer, Glen A. Larson, was in negotiations with Universal to work on a new BSG feature film.

So, are Larson and Singer working together on this and will it follow the original series, new series or be an entirely new take?

Since most mainstream audiences aren’t aware of the history of the Cylons, and since we know it’ll be separate from Ronald D. Moore’s vision, it would have to be an origin films of sorts and yet another different take on the franchise as we know it.

A concern for me is the story and how it could be told in two hours. There’s so much more to it than that and it’d be have to structured as a franchise set of films, likely as a trilogy.

If someone’s got to be chosen for this, Singer is the right choice. He has the sci-fi/fantasy roots with his Superhero film background, he’s a big name in the industry, and he already has worked on Battlestar Galactica before.

UPDATE: Entertainment Weekly has confirmed that Singer is onboard to helm the BSG movie, and that the film will be a complete re-imagining of the original 70s lore created by Glen Larson. Go here for details.

What do you think of Singer being involved and what would you like to see of a big budget BSG feature film?

Source: HitFix.com, io9

Update Source: Entertainment Weekly

You Might Also Be Interested In:

Caprica / BSG: The Plan – San Diego Comic-Con Panel

Bruce Simmons — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 18:57:42 +0000

Faith Salie moderated this panel and she did well. She took control and was very proactive on the questions, getting straight to the point. Exec producers Ronald Moore & David Eick, writer Jane Espenson were present as well as Esai Morales & actor/director of Battlestar Galactica: The Plan: Edward James Olmos,

Faith noted that right here on stage was father and son, at the same time. (Morales plays Joseph Adama, the father of William Adama.)

They played a preview for The Plan and we were reminded that it’s coming out on Blu-ray and DVD on October 27th. Then we were shown a preview of Caprica which is coming out in 2010.

Caprica is set 58 years before the attack on the colonies and we watched the Adama and Graystone families as they were brought together by tragedy. We also get to see the development of the Cylons; The first autonomous Cylon and the first sentient Cylon.

They pointed out that the show is planet-based, not space based like we’ve become accustomed to with Battlestar Galactica. They went out of their way to make Caprica approachable and stand on its own, so you didn’t have to had followed BSG to get into it. The relationships between the two shows are diffused.

Something to keep in mind for those who have seen BSG, there are Easter Eggs throughout where you’ll have those “Ah.” moments.

Esai Morales pointed out that taking on the role of Joseph Adama is not just a job, it’s a religion and he’s about to become an action figure.

Moore’s take with Caprica is to look at our society through a different prism. We realize the fall that society is headed towards. Eick said that the most universal question will be, what does it mean to be human?

As far as BSG movies go, Jane Espenson said there were hopes for more than one movie, but they put together one right away and found herself retelling details from what had happened already. Then The Plan came together.

As far as being the director of The Plan, Olmos said he was asked directly to be the director. He went on to note that it’s an overwhelming piece of work and it’s because of the writers that it is what it is. Moore is truly gifted.

Olmos made an interesting intersect of franchises: He said if you’ve watched the entire show (Battlestar Galactica), the very last thing that is said, by No. 6, is “This has happened before, this will happen again.” Where Baltar responds “Maybe not. Maybe we’ve learned.” Olmos adds, that at that moment, flash forward in time and “… slap in Blade Runner, boom!”

BSG ends around the year 2007-08, Blade Runner takes place in 2016. They fit like a glove Olmos said. It does sort of make sense as an alternate reality take on the BSG human evolution.

They said The Plan to BSG is like the bible to the mythos and after having seen The Plan, those of us who have seen BSG will need to watch it again.

Caprica question: Will the nudity from the pilot movie stay in the series? Moore said that sadly they will not, but there will be some new goodies added to the cable version to replace the pulled out ’skin’ scenes.

Trivia bit: The giant room that the virtual club (V Club) takes place in is the same place that the Opera House scenes from BSG was shot in.

The same design people from BSG are working on Caprica.

The show won’t be so visually chaotic because this is before “the fall of Rome,” so to speak and they can show the different cultures that make up the society we’ll be seeing.

There’s no equivalent to Laura Roslyn in Caprica. It’s a collaborative society.

Moore tossed out at one point how “It’s a fracking crime that the cast was never recognized and because of the ensemble of actors from BSG, Caprica is possible.”

Grace Park showed up near the end, much to the happy surprise of everyone.

She says that she was surprised they didn’t have more on-the-edge scenes in The Plan like Caprica did because Olmos kept pushing the envelope with the actors.

Esai Morales demonstrated his Admiral Adama impersonation, and it was uncanny good. They did get the right guy to play the dad! His resource for playing Father of Adm. Adama, was that he had to study where the power of his character came from.

In a recent filmed scene, Esai was complimented on how he channeled Eddie.

Someone asked about if there is some sort of legal agreement about keeping stories confidential… It was said that no there isn’t, then the joke came that “… But if you ever expect to work in show business again.” And left it at that.

Salie (the moderator) tried to get Moore to give up some inside info, but, “No.” was all we got.

The breaking information from the panel was the official air date for Caprica: Friday, January 22, 2010.

Is The Plan the last we’ll see of Battlestar Galactica? Olmos said that his gut is this is not the last project he’ll be working on.

The first 3 questioners just won a branded Caprica PSP.

Ancient Greek is used for the Tauron language in Caprica… In case you didn’t noticed.

Moore is going to do a commentary track for Virtuality, whether they add it or not. (He seemed to have an edge to when he said that.)

Morales called the fans of BSG the smartest intelligent fan base there is.

Morales was asked about Hispanics in space. He replied that he noticed in the original Dune, there were no Hispanics there. We didn’t make it. What happened!?

Eick said for those who couldn’t get past the title of BSG, ask your friends.

SPOILER PARAGRAPH:

Buffy fans may find something familiar in Caprica, with an angry teenage girl inside a robot.

END SPOILER

Then, for the Caprica / Battlestar Galactica: The Plan crowd, we were shown the preview from Stargate Universe. Syfy took serious advantage of their advertising opportunity.

We were watching a giant TV with Syfy ads, just like we were at home!

Some closing notes on the panel was generally speaking, the panel asked that we, the fans, spread the word… get people to check out Caprica. That and Olmos kept “reminding” the crowd to buy things on Blu-ray. He had a very focused message there throughout the session.

You Might Also Be Interested In:

Countdown To San Diego’s 2009 Comic-Con!

Vic Holtreman — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:51:53 +0000

Wow, Comic-Con 2009 is already less than three weeks away. Seems like only a couple of months ago since we were there. Last year was a ton of work but also a blast (click here for our wrap up of the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con), and this year we’ll be providing even more extensive coverage for you with additional staff to cover the event.

Unfortunately if you want to attend this year and don’t already have tickets you’re probably out of luck as it’s been sold out for a while. But fear not, we’ll try to give you all the goods here on the site over the course of the event. It starts with preview night on Wednesday, July 22nd and runs through Sunday July 26th.

Included among the movies and TV shows that will be covered this year are:

James Cameron’s Avatar (with 3D (rumored) footage from the film)
The upcoming Sci-Fi alien invasion flick with a twist: District 9 (including an appearance by Peter Jackson).
Mike Judge will be on hand to promote his new comedy Extract.
The premiere of Mystery Team.
Where the Wild Things Are.
Tron
Sherlock Holmes
Jonah Hex
2012
Thirst
Ninja Assassin
Lost
The pilot for the TV series remake V.
Doctor Who (with an appearance by David Tennant)
FlashForward
Caprica & Battlestar Galactica: The Plan

Oh, and of course Iron Man 2, for which I’m sure director Jon Favreau has something very special planned.

Also, this year Screen Rant has been invited to participate in the “Masters of the Web” panel (shocking, I know – I certainly didn’t expect it!). The panel will be moderated by director Kevin Munroe and will include an appearance by Brandon Routh and Sam Huntington, along with a preview of their upcoming film Dead of Night.

Here is the list of panelists:

Robert Sanchez (IESB.net)
Ryan Rotten (ShockTilYouDrop.com)
Mike Sampson (JoBlo.com)
Jeremy Smith (AintItCool.com)
Brad Miska (Bloody-Disgusting.com)
Drew McWeeny (HitFix.com)
Devin Faraci (CHUD.com)
Paul Christensen (MovieWeb.com)
Wilson Morales (BlackFilm.com/AOL Black Voices)
George Roush (LatinoReview.com)
and me, Vic Holtreman (ScreenRant.com)

It will be held Thursday, July 23rd at 3pm – 4pm in Room 32AB.

Robert Sanchez of IESB.net organizes the panel and puts together what is arguably the most awesome party every year at Comic-Con: The Wrath of Con party (one of my highlights of Comic-Con).

Last year at the Masters of the Web panel tickets to the party were given away to some lucky winners. Here’s my favorite pic from last year’s party.

Doug Nagy, Alex Billington and me with the beauties from the movie 'Bitch Slap': Erin Cummings, America Olivo and Julia Voth.

As Comic-Con approaches, keep up to date with our San Diego Comic-Con updates (check the logo on the right) here on Screen Rant and on Twitter.com by searching for #sdcc or #cc09. I’ll be there along with SR writers Kofi Outlaw, Bruce Simmons, Rob Keyes (and maybe) Paul Young. We’ll be doing live-blogging, panel summaries and hopefully we’ll get you an exclusive or two.

We may try to schedule an impromptu dinner, probably on Sunday night, where we’ll get together to decompress after the whole thing. If you’re around downtown San Diego maybe you can join us. We’ll firm this up as we get closer to the actual date.

Anyway, we’re all looking forward to it and we hope you are, too.

You Might Also Be Interested In:

Sci-Fi Channel Panels At San Diego Comic-Con ‘09

Bruce Simmons — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:16:05 +0000

We originally reported on the television panels at San Diego Comic-Con ‘09, we knew about the Sci-Fi panels that were going to be present, we did not have specific times.

Now we do.

As would be expected, We’ll be seeing cast and crew from Stargate Universe, Caprica, Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, Eureka, Sanctuary and Warehouse 13.

Friday, July 24th:

Stargate Universe in Ballroom 20 from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Those attending the panel will be Robert Carlyle, Brian J. Smith, Elyse Levesque, David Blue, Alaina Huffman, Jamil Walker Smith and Ming-Na. Co-creators Brad Wright and Robert Cooper will also be present.

Caprica / Battlestar Galactica: The Plan in Ballroom 20, from 11:45 a..m. to 12:45 p.m..

Ronald D. Moore, David Eick and Jane Espenson will be there, along with Esai Morales (Joseph Adama) and Edward James Olmos (Admiral William Adama) as they chat about these two new additions to the Battlestar Galactica mythos.

Eureka in room 6BCF from 3:15 to 4:15 pm.

Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Erica Cerra, Neil Grayston and Jaime Paglia (executive producer/co-creator) will be there to interact with the panel session.

Special Screenings from 8:30 to 10:30 pm:

In room 6DE, the newest episodes of Warehouse 13 and Eureka will be aired and there will also be some clips from Ghost Hunters.

Saturday, July 25th

Sanctuary can be found in the Bayside Hilton Indigo Room from 12:30 to 1:30 pm.

Amanda Tapping and Robin Dunne along with executive producers Martin Wood and Damian Kindler will be there for this session.

Warehouse 13 in Room 6A from 2:15 p.m.-3:15 p.m.

Eddie McClintock (Pete Lattimer), Joanne Kelly (Myka Bering), Saul Rubinek (Artie Nielsen) and Allison Scagliotti (Claudia Donovan) will be there, as well as Jack Kenny (executive producer/show runner) and David Simkins (executive producer).

These panels should keep you focused on their products, though I am still super curious about why I’m not seeing any Ghost Hunters panels scheduled for SDCC09? I’ve dropped a line with SyFy in hopes of getting an answer. I’ll let you know what they say.

Bonus Note:

The 5th in a series of DVD series releases for Green Lantern, titled Green Lantern: First Flight will have its world premiere at San Diego Comic-Con in Ballroom 20 at 8 p.m. on July 23rd.

That’s 5 days before it’s released to DVD!

This information will be added to my original article on the myriad of TV panels at Comic-Con.

Now you know!

Sources: Sci Fi Wire, Sci Fi Wire

You Might Also Be Interested In:

The Television Presence At San Diego Comic-Con 2009

Bruce Simmons — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:38:32 +0000

UpDated 7-2-09

Last year at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con, the event was ruled by several big named movies that ranged from youthful vampires to illegal vigilantes. TV was more a side-note than anything else.

This year at the 2009 Comic-Con, things will be a bit different as television programming seems to have a bigger presence than last year.

For instance, the Warner Brothers Television Group will have 11 different panels for their shows. That’s a studio best for them. ABC Studios will have 7 panels. 20th Century Fox will have 9 panels.

Do you think your favorite television show will be represented?

This year, I’m ready… I hope. So in preparation, I’ve started sifting through the network press releases and other resources, pulling it all together for myself. I decided… OK, maybe I was nudged a bit by Vic, to actually put it all prep info together here, for you, our loyal readers.

I’m done chatting. Let’s take a look at what television panels are lined up for the 2009 San Diego Comic Con.

Wednesday Evening, July 22nd:

6-9 p.m.:
Warner Brothers Television will be airing pilot previews this evening for the early-arriving crowd.

Human Target, V and The Vampire Diaries are the shows being previewed on this evening.

Thursday, July 23rd:

Burn Notice, Time To Be Determined (TTBD)
This panel will feature Bruce Campbell and writers from the series.

Legend of the Seeker, TTBD

Psych, TTBD

5-6 p.m.: Dexter

8 p.m. – Special Screening – Green Lantern [UPDATED]
Catch a special screening of the 5th DVD in the Green Lantern series, titled Green Lantern: First Flight. It will have it’s world premiere in Ballroom 20. That’s 5 days before it’s released to DVD!

Continue to the next page for Friday’s schedule

You Might Also Be Interested In:

Caprica DVD – Winners!

Vic Holtreman — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:47:32 +0000

Here are the lucky winners of our Caprica DVD contest:

Joseph Allgren – Youngstown, OH
Miguel Lopez – Miami, FL
D. Jappsen – Spruce Grove, Canada

Thanks to everyone who entered and keep an eye out for our next giveaway!

Lucky you, it’s time for another Screen Rant giveaway. Caprica is premiering 04/21/09 on DVD & Digital Download, and we’re giving away three (3) copies of the series that is the prequel to the wildly popular, but now gone Battlestar Galactica.

Here’s the official description of Caprica on DVD:

An astonishing breakthrough is taking shape on the planet Caprica. The rapidly evolving spheres of human and mechanical engineering have collided, along with the fates of two families. Joined by tragedy in an explosive instant of terror, two rival clans led by powerful patriarchs, Joseph Adama (Esai Morales, Jericho) and Daniel Graystone (Eric Stoltz, The Butterfly Effect) duel in an era of questionable ethics, corporate machinations and unbridled personal ambition as the final war for humanity looms. The latest phenomenon from the executive producers of Battlestar Galactica (Ronald D. Moore and David Eick), set in a time over 50 years earlier, Caprica is entirely its own world – provocative, thrilling and startling relevant to our own.

Three (3!) lucky winners will receive the Caprica DVD which includes the following Bonus Features:

Commentary with Director Jeffrey Reiner, Executive Producer/Writer Ronald D. Moore and Executive Producer David Eik
Deleted scenes
Video blogs

Our own Bruce Simmons wrote a spoiler-free Caprica review, and he rained praise upon it. Here is an excerpt:

“If you enjoy true character driven stories, you won’t be disappointed. It’s like Moore and Eick practiced with Battlestar Galactica and used their honed skills on Caprica. It’s believable and if you’re inclined to purchase this gem of a DVD, I think you will be pleased with this product.”

“It’s dark and desperate, on a completely different level than BSG was. Where society was running for its life in Battlestar Galactica, these Caprica families desperately pursue misguided dreams that make society what it will be.”

From the Executive Producers of Battlestar Galactica

Click Here to Unlock Exclusive clips from Caprica: DiscoverCaprica.com

To learn more about the this Battlestar Galactica prequel visit CapricaDVD.com.

Good luck!

You Might Also Be Interested In:

Caprica DVD Review

Bruce Simmons — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:00:44 +0000

Bruce here, your resident Battlestar Galactica reporter. After reporting on Battlestar Galactica (BSG) for the last few years, it seemed only natural that I continue my coverage of the mythos, with the prequel Caprica.

What Is Caprica About?

Caprica is about the rapidly evolving spheres of human and mechanical engineering that collide in the BSG universe. It focuses on two families are brought together by the tragedy of an explosive act of terrorism. These two families are led by powerful patriarchs, Joseph Adama played by Esai Morales (Jericho) and Daniel Graystone played by Eric Stoltz (The Butterfly Effect) who find themselves in a conflict of questionable ethics, corporate machinations and intense personal ambition as we watch the beginning of what we know will be the end for humanity. It’s brought to us by executive producers of Battlestar Galactica (Ronald D. Moore and David Eick), set in a time 58 years before the fall. Caprica is entirely its own world.

When I was asked to write something up, but with “No Spoilers,” I thought how the frak am I going to do this? I came into this hoping that they’d captured the essence of what I came to enjoy about BSG. This show brought me right along and actually took me way from what BSG was. I had forgotten that this was a prequel as I found myself wanting more of these characters as the show moved along.

I was surprised. Well, surprised is an understatement… within a half hour, I was anxiously looking forward to the next scene and the scene after that, etc..

Observations From Watching Caprica

The characters are rich in detail and compelling. Each scene gave us something new about their past, and their impending future. As one of the creators, Remi Aubuchon said, “It’s not a space drama, though space will be involved.” This is about a society that can travel in space, but the plot takes place on Caprica.

After reading bits about Caprica and watching BSG, I thought I knew what to expect. I was right and wrong. There was the society that has been hinted at, with characters that had only been referenced in passing throughout BSG. Yet, I was thrown for a loop with some surprises and twists about things I that I thought I knew.

Yes, there are what I call “anchor references” to Battlestar Galactica. Yet this show doesn’t depend on BSG at all. It doesn’t need to, but there are the obvious connections. Adama, Graystone, and of course, the slow, well crafted development of the “Cybernetic life-form node”, the Cylon.

Some Bits Without Spoilers

Holobands are little devices that kids use to connect to a virtual world, like MySpace and Facebook, but on a Holodeck. But this “V Club” they go to in the Holo world is pretty intense, with rooms for every “interest.” Warning: The uncut, unrated DVD is EXPLICIT. If you thought that Battlestar Galactica had some sex going on, you haven’t seen anything – this is far more… detailed than BSG. This DVD is not for kids, folks!

There is distinct angst amongst races from different planets, and there’s the usual assortment of organized crime, terrorism, industrial espionage and subterfuge that takes place. But not overdone.

The society believes in multiple gods, but there is a splinter of society who only believe in one god. Yet to make their point, they seem to resort to violence.

SPOILERS FOLLOW (which are actually given away in the trailer for the DVD)

The death of the daughters of Adama and Graystone (and Adama’s wife) instigate the decision processes that initiate the development of what we now know as Cylons, but not quite like you think. The event only precipitated the chain of decisions. Decisions with twists.

END SPOILERS

As it is, robotic assistants are a part of society. Caprica civilization is much on par with ours, except of course, they’re just a little bit more advanced.

The above screen cap from an online trailer is a laptop computer that a like folded up pieces of paper. Zoe Graystone pulls out a piece of paper, unfolds it and sends her mom an email.

Throughout the film, we get bits and pieces of field tests of what will be the Cybernetic life-form node… or Cylon. Showing the earliest predecessor of the Cylon Centurion was fulfilling to some degree and what I would say is well done. Well envisioned.

DVD Extras

As far as DVD extras, the deleted scenes impressed me. They weren’t just scenes that had to be cut for time that might make us go “ooh” & “ahh.” The deleted scenes filled in gaps of info that you either didn’t know was missing or confirmed suspicions on other ideas you might have derived from watching the movie. The deleted scenes did something I’ve never seen before. They made the show even more complete.

Video Blogs gave tours of a few sets, showed us the director at work and a rough outline of how he approached some things. It wasn’t a huge time filler, but it was fine for what it was.

Sci Fi had their hand in the DVD too. There was a full episode of Ghost Hunters in the extras, titled “Hometown Haunts.”

They do have an option for feature commentary with director Jeffrey Reiner (Friday Night Lights), Ronald D. Moore and David Eick. I’ve seen some good and not so worthwhile “feature commentary” on DVDs before. What I will say is that the first time you watch the movie, you do not want to play it with this feature on. Why? Because they NEVER shut up! And that’s a good thing. You won’t hear over 90% of the movie as they constantly chat about the scenes, their inspirations for the scenes, the locations, etc…. it’s awesome. But like I said… watch the movie first!

What things do they mention?

The “V Club” was filmed in the same place as the Opera House we’ve seen time and time again in BSG. The glasses that William B. Davis (The smoking man from X-Files) was wearing were the same that Dr Tyrell wore in Blade Runner because they had a Blade Runner fan high up in the production crew.

In Summary

When I first heard they were releasing a DVD as the pilot of the series way before the series started, I didn’t have a very constructive thought about that. It seemed odd. After watching it, I was amazed.

If you enjoy true character driven stories, you won’t be disappointed. It’s like Moore and Eick practiced with BSG and used their honed skills on Caprica. It’s believable and if you’re inclined to purchase this gem of a DVD, I think you will be pleased with this product.

It’s dark and desperate, on a completely different level than BSG was. Where society was running for its life in BSG, these Caprica families desperately pursue misguided dreams that make society what it will be. I think the casting of many of the characters was dead on and that makes this experience complete. Both Stoltz and Morales are Graystone and Adama. Additionally, I think this could have been a stand alone movie and that it would have been incredibly satisfying. And yet, they have 20 more episodes. I find that enticing and I can’t wait until it airs in early 2010.

I don’t think this is a spoiler but: After watching this movie, I think I see the potential explanation as to why Cylons only believe in one god. For those of you who do buy the DVD and watch it, I want you to come back and tell me if you don’t see it also. But do it in such a way that leaves no spoilers.

Now the only question I have is how will Sci-Fi handle this show? Do we get one season or are we going to see two 10-episode seasons? I hope they do the smart thing. That’s all I have to say.

The Caprica DVD comes out on April 21st on both DVD and Digital Download.

Visit the official site CapricaDVD.com for more info.

You Might Also Be Interested In:

Weekly TV Wrap Up – February 26th, 2009

Bruce Simmons — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:54:09 +0000

Hello Screen Rant readers. There isn’t a lot of TV stuff going on, but I did manage to dig up some noise on a few things. Namely some info on the upcoming Caprica DVD, Tin Man, The Mentalist, Dollhouse, Heroes and ER.

Let’s get to it.

The CW

Earlier this week we reported that The CW renewed Smallville and Supernatural. In addition to those tentpole shows, they also renewed Gossip Girl, 90210, America’s Next Top Model (cycles 13 and 14) & One Tree Hill. They’ve also ordered a prequel to Gossip Girl, titled Lily, and 2 other new shows, the Vampire Diaries and something called Light Years.

Source: TV Week

Caprica

Last week in this column I reported that the Battlestar Galactica prequel, Caprica, is being release on DVD before it airs. Way before it airs. The uncut, unrated version will be coming out April 21st, 2009. The show isn’t due out until its 2010 premiere date. The bonus features on the DVD include:

Behind the scenes of the show
Commentary from directors Jeffrey Reiner, Moore and Eick
Deleted scenes
Video blogs
Featurettes What the Frak is Caprica? and other video bits like The Birth of a Cylon.

Sounds like it has a lot for the daring soul who might cough up the dough on a new unproven show. Releasing it on DVD long before it airs doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense…

Here’s a shot of the DVD cover:

Source: SciFi Wire

The Mentalist

I personally haven’t watched The Mentalist, but it is pulling some serious ratings numbers. For the 2nd week in a row, it was the #1 scripted show. For the week ending Feb. 22, it brought in over 18 million viewers. Does anyone out there have anything to say about this show? Notice they now have to differentiate it as a scripted show. Reality TV has definitely changed the TV landscape.

Source: CBS

Tin Man

Anyone remember the mini-series Tin Man on The Sci-Fi Channel? It was a nice twisted take on the Wizard of Oz and was one of the biggest, most watched shows on the Sci-Fi Channel. Sci-Fi is in talks to make the mini-series into a series. At least that’s the word from Neal McDonough. If you ask me, I think they’re looking for another dark series to step in and take the place of Battlestar Galactica, but that’s OK by me. I like the dark.

Source: io9

Dollhouse

Dollhouse already has a new bad guy in the form of a rogue active named Alpha. Alpha is the person who went “Charlie Manson” all over the residents of the Dollhouse a while back (flashback on the show). He will be played by Alan Tudyk. If anyone recalls, he was the pilot of the Serenity on Firefly.

Get ready for some crazy from Alpha: He’s described as having multiple personalities and is fragmented and twisted from his time in the Dollhouse. I probably would be too from sleeping in those power-lid coffins they go to sleep in! Did you know that like “the Watcher” in Fringe, we’ve already seen Alpha in the background? Weird, in a stalker kind of way.

Source: New Film Dimension

When ER was heading into its final season, NBC was a little hard pressed to get a few personalities back on for a final ratings-grabbing scene. Once George Clooney finally agreed to come back, others piled in with him. But it’s a costly appearance that Dr. Ross will be making – to compensate for paying the venerable George Clooney, NBC is trying to sell some expensive ad time to pay for his half million dollar appearance. And it’s reported that he will be on screen for only a few minutes (nice work if you can get it).

The final episode will air April 2nd. There will be a one hour retrospective, then the two hour finale.

Source: TV Guide

Heroes

Is Heroes getting hurt by 24? 24 has been pretty intense this season and as Vic puts it, after 24, Heroes seems a little less exciting. But can that perception be hurting Heroes?

Heroes viewership dropped below seven million viewers this week, losing one million viewers from the week before. In fact last week’s episode performed worse than the show that ran during the writers strike, My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad.

Ouch. What’s your take? Is the show holding up for you?

Source: E Online

And that’s it for this week!

You Might Also Be Interested In:

Weekly TV Wrap Up – February 12th, 2009

Bruce Simmons — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 19:11:31 +0000

This week, we chat about Caprica, Supernatural, the NCIS spin-off, a new vampire pilot from The CW, Criminal Minds, Ghost Whisperer, Bones, Grey’s Anatomy and some bits about ABC renewing some shows. Also, since we reported that Dave Letterman was announcing the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover model last week, it’s only right that we finish what we started with a little something at the bottom of this post. Shall we get on with it? I knew you’d say that.

But before I say anything else, I would be remiss to not remind you that Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles are coming to your TV this Friday night!

Caprica, the prequel to Battlestar Galactica:
The two-hour prequel of Caprica is not due to air until the series launches in 2010. That isn’t all that far away but if you can’t handle the wait, you can actually buy it earlier than that on DVD or digital download beginning April 21st.

Caprica will be starring Eric Stoltz, Esai Morales, Paula Malcolmson and Polly Walker. Also Joss Whedon fans are spinning in joy because Caprica is being executive produced by noted Buffy The Vampire Slayer and BSG alumni Jane Espenson.

Stoltz, in his ever dead pan sort of approach said:

“I’m very excited about it. We’re all sort of surprised that something with this kind of rich interesting content is actually going forward.“

Hopefully it’s not too deep of a content filled show to drag it down. We all know how intellectual story lines can kill a show these days with our much valued Nielsen families! Source: E Online,

A Supernatural Brother Is Cast!
It’s finally happened! The CW cast the third Winchester brother for Supernatural! Jake Abel (Threshold) has been tapped to step into this critical role as the third Winchester brother, an 18-year-old named Adam Milligan. He will be joining Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles in the April 23rd episode.

Adam is the product of an affair that John Winchester had while he was off on one of his demon squashing trips. And John knew about him.

He’ll only be in one episode and the episode has got some surprises for us. Hmm.. What do you think girls? Source: E Online.

The NCIS spin-off is getting its cast:
The NCIS spin-off is staffing up nicely. Chris O’Donnell has been tapped to play Callen, a character who changes personalities often! And the other cool cat looking at a role in the show is LL Cool J, who was reported to be in final talks to play the role of Sam Hanna, an ex-Navy SEAL.

CBS still has four other roles to fill and the new team will have their spin-off introduced as an episode of NCIS to air later this season before getting their own show slot. Source: EW.com.

The CW Jumps On the Vampire Bandwagon:
Before the much vaunted series of Twilight books, there was a four-book series called Vampire Diaries written by L.J. Smith. With Twilight having gone all agog, the publisher has released the books again.

At first I thought they were only trying to cash in on the vampire craze, but the books have hit the NY Times best seller list and three more books have been ordered.

Now The CW has ordered a pilot based on the 1993 book series. They’ll be bringing together Kevin Williamson (Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer) and Julie Plec (Kyle XY) to both executive produce and write the pilot.

It will be about a young woman who’s torn between two vampire brothers. There is a good brother and an evil brother and they’re battling for the souls of the young woman, her buddies, her family and the small town where they live in. Sounds like a Mongolian barbecue run to me! Source: Variety

Criminal Minds Guest Star
If you’re an Alex McLoughlin fan, and a Criminal Minds fan, go crazy if you want! McLoughlin will be guest starring in an episode of Criminal Minds where he will be playing the role of a serial killer. Dang, if you think about his demeanor, that just sounds perfect now, doesn’t it?

The episode is going to be unique attempt at seeing things from the killers Point of view.

It’s also been hinted at that we’ll be seeing more of Loughlin on CBS soon. No more details were available. No, don’t get your hopes that high. I doubt it’s Moonlight, but heck, that sure would be nice though, wouldn’t it? Source: EW.com.

Ghost Whisperer
It’s about frackin’ time! Melinda will be finally telling the new Sam about her abilities and she’s going to be letting him in on his own secret issues in the March 6th episode. Now, let’s see how he handles that one!!! Melinda will also be encountering some ghost hunters. LOL… Too bad it’s CBS. NBC could have brought Ghost Hunters International across the set for one episode. Now that would have been an awesome cross-over! Source: CBS Press

Bones News:
Any Bones fans out there? Just a tiny tidbit: Booth and Brennan will be getting “together” before seasons’ end. Something to look forward to… I guess. Source: EW.com.

ABC Will Be Renewing Some Shows
Despite not willing to announce the pickups, it’s being reported that ABC is renewing the following shows:
Ugly Betty,
Grey’s Anatomy,
Desperate Housewives,
Brothers & Sisters,
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,
America’s Funniest Home Videos, and
The Bachelor.

Speaking of Grey’s Anatomy
During an interview, James Pickens Jr. who plays Dr. Richard Webber gave up the ghost and revealed that Katherine Heigl and T.K. Knight are both leaving the show. This news has been floating around as rumors since July on Knight and December on Heigl. I won’t miss Heigl, but it’s a shame about Knight. Source: Us Magazine.

And Finally, The 2009 Sports Illustrated Cover Girl!
How do I put this? Leonardo DiCaprio is one lucky ****. Her name is Bar Refaeli. There ya have it!

You’re welcome!

You Might Also Be Interested In:

Battlestar Galactica News And Episode Recap

Bruce Simmons — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 05:54:12 +0000

Last Week on Battlestar Galactica
Friday night’s (Jan 23), episode No. 414 of Battlestar Galactica, written and directed by Ronald D. Moore, continued the dark path that humanity is spiraling down. This was Moore’s directorial debut.

Adm. Adama is hoping to form a permanent alliance with the Cylons – the alliance would benefit both sides. Humans would be able to infuse the superior technology of the Cylons, while the Cylons would have Adama’s protection when Cavil’s splintered faction attacks. However there’s dissent amongst the humans about the alliance and Tom Zarek is stirring that pot of angry emotion.

Gaeta is incredibly angry at all Cylons and is looking to Zarek for help with a mutiny… A mutiny that looks to be very ugly indeed.

Yet another shocker: Galen Tyrol finds out he’s not the father of his child. Cally knew that, but didn’t tell him. This means Nicholas is not a hyrbid, removing that curiosity from our minds! That never even crossed my mind.

From what I see, the old relationship between Adama and Tigh has survived the revelation of Tigh’s true nature – it’s good to see that amongst all the trauma that humanity is going through, the underlying past between these two seems to have survived.

Speaking of surviving! Tigh and No. 6 seem to be happy, proud parents of a developing fetus within No. 6. It is definitely weird to see Tigh beaming. It’s eerie, even.

Speaking of eerie, we see that Adama and Roslin “tapped” it as we’re shown them in bed afterward. For these two, it’s about time, but oh my, this is like seeing your parents in bed… ack!

Next Week
The next episode it titled “The Oath.” The idea of a permanent alliance with the Cylons brings out the worst in people as the issue becomes one of violence.

A Thought About Caprica
Here’s something to swirl around in your head: The prequel Caprica takes place 50 years ago, when the Cylons are developed. If that is so, then isn’t it really a sequel of sorts since Cylons lived 2000 years ago on the fabled Earth. My mind is twinning! (twisted + spinning)

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA TIDBITS AND NEWS

Anastasia “Dee” Dualla suicide
With Dualla’s suicide, I’m sure you were as shocked as I was – it was completely out of the blue and yet what a powerful representation of the despair in the fleet. It turns out that the actress who plays Dualla, Kandyse McClure, knew something was up early on, but not what.

She had a clue something was up during her contract negotiations for the last season. The last season had 20 episodes, yet she was in negotiations for only 13 of them. She didn’t know exactly what was up until she got the final script for her character.

After seeing what happens, McClure did some research to find the best way for her character, Dee, to approach the moment. McClure thought that for Dee, “… it was the ultimate act of surrender and the final act of control over her own life. She really wanted to find some kind of peace.”

McClure is bummed to not finish out the series with the rest of the crew and she even missed the wrap party. OK, now that is a bummer, I like wrap parties. I’ve been to a few and everyone blows some serious steam at them.

Kate Vernon on being Ellen Tigh, the “Final Cylon
First off, Kate Vernon had been on the set of the Battlestar Galactica filming for the last season and we will be seeing Ellen Tigh in seven of the final nine episodes. So knowing she was alongside everyone else while filming for season 4.5 has definitely been one of the best kept secrets I’ve seen in a long time.

A lot of people were totally surprised at who the final Cylon turned out to be… It was almost a let down to see it wasn’t someone already in the middle of the focal point of attention. It would have been very satisfying to see any number of characters turn out to be the final Cylon, almost poetic for some of the possible choices. But it seems Ronald D. Moore didn’t want to go the easy route.

Ellen, the final Cylon is coming back. As Ron Moore puts it, “she would return as a dark vision of her husband’s tortured mind.” A centerpiece presence. Dark? Great. Like he needs a critic going off in his head right now.

In the early days of BSG, Ellen was originally written into a four episode arc, but her character really hit it off and, well, you know the rest there.

But seriously, why shouldn’t she come back with a vengeance? Saul killed her in the third-season episode “Exodus, Part II,” by poisoning her for giving up information on the alliance on New Caprica. All I know is that Moore and Eick better really pull this one out of the hat to stifle our air of disappointment that Boxey wasn’t the last Cylon.

As Moore put it regarding why he’s bringing Ellen back: “There were layers and depths that I felt were really fascinating, about guilt and blame and memory and responsibility, and I just really liked the way that all tied together.”

Moore said if it was anyone else, it would have taken something away from this entire journey everyone has been on. In a closing statement in an interview on Sci-Fi Wire, he said

“The trick is that from now until the end of the series it’s pretty much one continuous story. And so we don’t want to give any of the building blocks away, because then you’ll kind of know where the current story arcs to. So we’re just trying to be as opaque about what’s left as we can.”

Keeping Secrets
Speaking of keeping secrets, Kate Vernon has known she was the last Cylon for the last two years. How would you have liked to carry that around with you for two years?

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan
In July of ‘08, we told you about the possibilities of three BSG movies movies on the table and if/when they happened, they’d cover events that happened during the series. It would not further the story line, just add to it. I mean how can they further it? Oh, never mind… we can’t spill anything. In regards to a movie, Ronald D. Moore tossed out that the movie Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, is in the can with a lot of post production work to do. Battlestar Galactica: The Plan is an original movie written by Jane Espenson and directed by series regular Edward James Olmos.

If you remember, back in August we filled you in on this flick, but back then it didn’t have a title. The outline of the film is that it will take place just before the nuclear attack on the human race, with the Cylons dealing with the one thing they did not anticipate: Human survivors. Humans… We are so pesky!

If they stick to their original plan, you need to NOT miss it when it airs on TV. Like Battlestar Galactica: Razor, it will air on Sci-Fi then go direct to DVD, which will be distributed by Universal Studios Home Entertainment. It sucks when you miss the tight air-to-TV window. I had to borrow Razor from someone because I was going crazy hearing about it in different venues.

At the moment, no air-date has been set, but you know the moment I find out, you will find out!

This is your Battlestar Galactica reporter signing off!

Sources: Sci-Fi Wire, LA Times, LA Times, Sci-Fi Wire, Sci-Fi Wire, images: nbcuni

You Might Also Be Interested In:

Caprica Is A Go On The Sci-Fi Channel

Bruce Simmons — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 05:26:40 +0000

(Paula Malcomson as Amanda Graystone and Eric Stoltz as Daniel Graystone)

Over the weekend, I had been pointed to a snippet on TV Guide.com that the Battlestar Galactica (AKA BSG) prequel, Caprica, was being delayed to air after the end of season 4.5, 5 or whatever the heck you want to call it. It also intimated that there was a possibility that it would air after BSG, -> if at all. <-

I tend to believe TV Guide… They’ve steered me in the right direction many times but I couldn’t find any collaboration for this information ANYWHERE. So I held my tongue for a bit.

I’m a little disappointed, but I’m glad I held still on the mis-news because the Sci-Fi Channel has indeed ordered 20 hours of Caprica and will star Eric Stoltz as Daniel Graystone, Esai Morales as Joseph Adama, Paula Malcomson as Amanda Graystone and Polly Walker as Sister Clarice Willow.

It’s set 50 years before the events in BSG and will follow the Graystones and the Adamas in the vibrant world of the 12 Colonies.

As society in Caprica is in the midst of technological advancements, the ever developing technology of artificial intelligence and robotics will eventually come together, leading to the creation of the Cylons.

Through it all, the Graystones and Adamas will go toe to toe amidst a blend of action, corporate conspiracy and sexual politics that’s bound to set us into a tizzy. Well, I’d like to go into a tizzy. I fully anticipate a tizzy. Yeah yeah, I know. Number Six won’t be in it. Whatever. Wouldn’t that be a cool guest appearance?

Anyway, the families will face each other off as Joseph Adama, the father of William Adama (Sina Najafi) is a renowned civil liberties lawyer who’s an active opponent of the experiments undertaken by the Daniel Graystone.

As the prequel begins, the creation of the first cybernetic lifeform node, or “Cylon”–the ability to marry artificial intelligence with mechanical bodies, will take place.

Production begins in the summer of 2009 in Vancouver, Canada with a premiere date set for 2010. Jeffrey Reiner (Friday Night Lights) directed the pilot.

Caprica will be produced by Universal Cable Productions and will be executive-produced by those evil, inventive geniuses who re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, Ronald D. Moore and David Eick. Remi Aubuchon (24) will also exec produce. Dang… Is this sounding as good as I think it is? The 2-hour pilot is co-written by Aubuchon and Moore.

I’ve been pretty positive through this whole article so far, but dare I dredge up the fact that even though Sci-Fi has ordered 20 hours, how will they air it? Are they going to break it up into two different 10-hour segments, or have maybe Moore and Eick perhaps had a little pull and made some SIMPLE requests to not torment or diss the fans… again.

We’ll see in 2010 just what they do with it, but I’m not holding my breath. Two years is too long to do that – I’d turn funny colors.

(Esai Morales (left) as Joseph Adama and Eric Stoltz as Daniel Graystone)

News and image source: Sci-Fi Wire

You Might Also Be Interested In:

Upfronts And The New 2008 Fall TV Season

Bruce Simmons — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:34:00 +0000

[UPDATE: Check out our up to date Complete 2008 Fall TV Preview!]

I was wondering about all the news out and about regarding what’s coming up on television next season with regards to fantasy, sci-fi and action type shows, so I tracked down the announcements from various networks that distribute them to whet our appetites via the “upfronts“. EH? I know. You’re asking, “What’s an upfront“?

Upfronts are when networks publicly announce their new shows to the press and the advertising world. It’s during the upfronts that networks give advertisers the chance to get advertising time at a discount, versus paying premium dollar during the season. It could also be looked at as the time when advertisers hedge their bets with shows that look promising to them. Basically, get in on the action up in front of the new season. Sadly, it’s the driving force behind everything we love and love to hate about TV programming.

The upfronts can also give you some insight into the minds of the network execs and the trends they either think will happen or help actually develop. By trends I mean setting the mark. IE: After ABC’s Lost or Fox’s Prison Break became hot commodities, we saw a rash of similar type programs pop up in the ensuing seasons.

With that being said let’s go through the developments that have come out of the upfronts, where I focus on shows on the tube that you the Screen Rant reader might be interested in knowing about, with no particular order to the networks:

NBC:

New NBC shows:
My Own Worst Enemy, with Christian Slater as a spy who explores the duality of a man who is literally pitted against himself.
The Philanthropist (with David Eick as showrunner) about a rebel billionaire who uses his money, connections and power to help people in need.
Merlin – Yes, it’s based on the Arthurian legend.

Returning NBC shows
Medium,
Chuck,
Heroes,
All the Law and Orders &
Friday Night Lights. (With a disclaimer!)

Gone from NBC: Bionic Woman (Proof the system sometimes works!), Las Vegas & Journeyman. (Proof the system doesn’t always work.)

I got hooked on Friday Night Lights, and it’s been renewed for 13 episodes BUT the episodes will first air on DirecTV in the fall, and then on NBC in the winter. This is a great example of ratings being iffy, but DirecTV put up the money to continue producing the show, and NBC will reap the rewards by ‘rerunning’ them later. Is it me, or does The Philanthropist sound like Bruce Wayne? I’m just saying.

I don’t think too many people were sad to see Bionic Woman go back to the garage, but as we all know, none of us were happy to see Journeyman become a show of the past. Right Vic? But Las Vegas really upset the core fans because they pulled the plug on a cliff hanger. Way to go N-B-C. Of course I leave you with conflicting statements about the Neilsen system, but it is what it is – a fickle, money based, old school system. Of course, Journeyman’s curse was being put up against Heroes, where 3 other shows died trying to compete. Nice insight.
~

The Sci-Fi Channel:

New to the Sci Fi Channel:
Caprica, a prequel of Battlestar Galactica.
Reruns of series including Lost and Jericho.
stunt-reality series Scare Tactics.
The Stranded, the first joint venture by Sci Fi and Virgin Comics.
Deputized, a comedy drama about an intergalactic police force.
Alice. Which is to Alice in Wonderland as Tin Man was to Wizard of Oz.
True Believer about a comicbook nerd who hires a down-at-heels superhero to become crime fighters.
Ghost Hunters International, a spinoff of Ghost Hunters, and
Mind Control With Derren Brown
~

CBS:

Returning CBS Shows:
The Unit, Cold Case, Numb3rs, Criminal Minds, The Ghost Whisperer, all the CSI’s, NCIS, Without A Trace

CBS gave the boot to Shark, and eclipsed Moonlight.

New CBS shows:

Eleventh Hour: The latest from Jerry Bruckheimer about a scientific investigator working for the government to probe unsolved anomalies.
The Mentalist is about a man with innate ESP-like powers of deduction.
Harper’s Island is a murder mystery involving a group of friends who meet on an island near Seattle for a wedding.

I like The Unit – It spins special ops, the politics behind them and the stress on the members’ families and how they deal with the dynamics of it all. I was pretty upset when they dropped both Shark and Moonlight. I liked both these shows, and CBS was quoted as saying cutting Moonlight was a tough decision but they had to make room for new shows… I hate rhetoric. Eleventh Hour, being a Bruckheimer production, sounds like they’re playing the X-files fan base with the Bruckheimer afficionado. A cheap rip off of some other efforts? Who’s to say. The one surviving show that surprised me is Numb3rs. I thought sure all that mathematical math-a-ma-jig stuff would confound people, but they use it to accent the police investigations and mix it in nicely.
~

You Might Also Be Interested In:

Caprica, Smallville and Other Things

Bruce Simmons — Sun, 11 May 2008 05:30:34 +0000

Jericho’s loss is Caprica’s gain as I see it.

Fresh off of Jericho, an actor I really enjoyed on NYPD Blue, Esai Morales will be joining the cast of Caprica as Joseph Adama, the father of William Adama and I can’t imagine a more suited actor to play the father to Edward James Olmos. If you’ve ever watched Deadwood, then you might be familiar with Paula Malcomson who’s been cast as the female lead of Amanda, A surgeon who turns out to be a double agent in the film

In case you’ve lived in a cave and not accessed this or other sites chatting about the movie, Caprica is a prequel to Battlestar Galactica (BSG) and is set 50 years before the events that take place in BSG.

Mean while, back at the farm or more accurately, over on Smallville, it looks like Allison Mack who plays Chloe is in financial “debates” with the studio and may be leaving the show. Rosenbaum leaving helps her characters’ status on the show and with Kristin Kreuk reprising her role of Lana only in a handful of episodes next year, this puts the Chloe character in the limelight and Mack gets herself some decent leverage.

At this rate, the few regulars left will be either gaining momentum in the contract department, or excess fodder to the studio, depending on the studio’s perspective, and as you know, we can’t tell what they will really do.

I’m feeling like I need to fill this post out a little bit more, so here’s a non-TV thought for everyone:

Anyone remember Ghost Rider with Nicolas Cage? Was anyone fast enough to catch it in the theaters or on Pay-Per-View? Yeah, right. Have you wondered when the direct to VHS sequel is coming out? Last year Avi Arad said that there will be a sequel to Ghost Rider, but that tidbit of info has been countered now with Eva Mendes of all people saying it’s been stalled or completely dumped.

It’s crazy out there with cast additions and negotiations while we start hoping for sequels to some movies or in some cases, hoping a sequel never happens and all we can do is hope our dollars have spoken where they are spent!

Sources: Hollywood Reporter, SciFi Wire, TVGuide, MTV Movie Blogs,

You Might Also Be Interested In:

Battlestar Galactica Prequel ‘Caprica’ Is Greenlit

Bruce Simmons — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 02:13:35 +0000

Battlestar Galactica (aka to fans as BSG) is coming up on it’s fourth and final season, with the last 20 episodes slated to kick off on April 4th, 2008. I’m sure some of you are not looking forward to the show ending but there may yet be hope for your BSG addiction!

I’m sure that your rock solid memories recall that on April 27th 2006, the Sci-Fi Channel announced their plans for a spin-off prequel to it’s blockbuster hit Battlestar Galactica, to be titled Caprica.

Historically, I’ve been leery of prequels. I get enamored with a story and then someone wants to come along and try to tie some story line into what I’ve become accustomed in hopes that I buy into it. I hold my breath, and every now and then, I get surprised.

Well it’s a “go” for the BSG prequel!

Yesterday (Tuesday, March 18th, 2008) at the “upfronts” held at the Morgan Library in New York City the Sci-Fi Channel announced that they’ve green-lighted the production of a two hour prequel. It’s being brought to us by the creative forces of Ronald D. Moore and David Eick with writer Remi Aubuchon and NBC Universal Television. (In case some of you didn’t know, The Sci-Fi Channel is owned by NBC.)

Caprica takes place fifty years prior to the time frame we know on BSG, where life is a high tech, peaceful existence in the Twelve Colonies.

The colonists enjoy their lives that benefit from high technology and it’s here that we see the invention of artificial intelligence joined to a robotic body – to be called a Cylon. (Don’t do it!) I hope they get right into building Number Six… but alas, she may be numbered six for a reason, unless that’s one heck of a typo. Oh, sorry – back on track.

Caprica will follow two rival families. The Graystones and the Adamas. (Yep, those Adamas) and will be interweaving corporate mystery with techno-action and sexual politics into what I hope is another gripping story.

I expect more of a high tech type society in Caprica than we’ve gotten with Battlestar Galactica because if you recall, the Galactica survived the nuclear attacks and computer viruses because of it’s low tech, hard-wired technology systems. It was about to be moth-balled because it was so old, when the attacks came about.

Sci-Fi Channel is looking to make this show one of the first science fiction family sagas to hit television in the hopes of capturing the imagination of a new audience. Maybe the Nielsen families might want to watch Caprica and get dragged into the realm of Sci Fi fandom while kicking and screaming. Hehe.

Casting for Caprica has yet to be set, but will be soon with production slated to begin this spring in Vancouver.

With Caprica taking place in this idealistic society, I can only hope we get to see the underbelly of their life and not see the show stray into soap opera type antics. But then again, Lost is a big hit. (Crap.. I can’t believe I just mentioned Lost. I’m not a big fan, but if they would just explain just ONE of their freaking mysteries, like killer smoke tendrils, I could find myself jumping on board that show.)

IMHO Moore and Eick have done a fantastic job with BSG and I hope they will continue their track record with Caprica but I’m worried they aren’t going to be able to create the same desperation and anxiety in Caprica that we found ourselves fearing for in Battlestar while the human race struggled to survive.

Sources: SciFiWire & Variety

You Might Also Be Interested In: