After watching the first few episodes of the 2nd season of Sanctuary, we all started to wonder if Ashley was dead, as in “dead dead”, or dead as in, “for dramatic ratings and she’ll be back dead.”

Yet the clues were obvious – even before our confirmation.

Though they drew out Ashley’s (Emilie Ullerup) death out for 2 episodes, she is dead.  And she’s been replaced by one of the most dead-pan characterizations of a character I’ve ever seen, in the form of Kate Freelander (Agam Darshi).

Syfy had themselves a record-setting month in October.

The 5th season of Ghost Hunters is averaging 3 million viewers.

The much debated Stargate Universe is averaging 2.85 million viewers, and doing much better than the last season of Stargate Atlantis. SGU is currently bringing in 36% more total viewers than SGA, but then again, it’s early in the season, so I’m not holding my breath on any numbers holding up for the entire season.

Destination Truth’s 3rd season is averaging 2.2 million viewers.

Scare Tactics, though only averaging 1.56 million viewers in the Fall 2009 season, it’s up 42% from the 2008 season.

Just a brief update on this Monday: Plan your prime time with the 2009 TV Fall Schedule; Smallville is getting another new guest star; A certain “Foxy” lady might be kicking off SNL this year; Learn how to catch up on all the NBC shows you missed last year (for free!); and speaking of NBC, how about a first-look photo of Jim and Pam getting married on The Office?

And as a bonus (because I love you) I let you know about the government’s “Cash for TV Clunkers” program.

Let’s get to it!

On hand for Syfy’s Sanctuary panel were executive producers Martin Wood & Damian Kindler along with actors Robin Dunne (Dr. Will Zimmerman) & Amanda Tapping (Dr. Helen Magnus).

Some of the highlights pointed out in the panel were:

Two years ago, this was just an internet series, and now it’s a TV series heading for season 2. No internet project has ever made it into a second season on TV.

We’ve all been wondering when some of the newest shows will be starting up on Syfy, and now they’ve us a little bit of info on the following upcoming programming:

• Stargate Universe
• Sanctuary
• Scare Tactics
• Destination Truth

Stargate Universe will be debuting with a 2-hour premiere on Friday, October 2nd.  The series will air on regularly on Fridays, starting October 9th.

It’s Thursday. That means another round of news from the TV landscape. This week, I’ve got some conjecture and observations with the occasional possible SPOILER in place.

There are some new shows coming up this weekend, some Dollhouse noise, Law and Order cast updates, Dr. Who tidbits and observations or questions about Life On Mars, ER and other shows. And FYI, my ratings aren’t missing: I’ve moved the ratings section down towards the bottom of the post, right before my zany entries of the week!

Welcome! This is the first rendition of Screen Rants Weekly TV Wrap Up. This is where we pass on some of the TV news we come across, keeping you on the edge of news and updates. Our regularly scheduled day will be Thursday mornings, so be sure to check in every week with us.

When there’s TV news, it will be here!

The green-screen based sci-fi show Sanctuary has done well enough in the ratings department for Sci-Fi to pick up a 2nd season with 13 episodes.

Sci-Fi must be happy with it, as apparently are the fans of the show.

The first few episodes tested my patience… but that’s because they tried to fit so much developmental detail into those first few hours that it was blatantly obvious and painful.  I personally wanted to find sanctuary from the show.

There will be outline/story spoilers in this review, so be aware!

Bruce’s First impression: If you’re more action-centric, Sanctuary will drive you crazy waiting for it. If you are story driven and enjoy detailed development, you’ll be fine. In the premiere, detailed story development seemed favored over action but if you’re looking for full time continuity in the story line, you might also be disappointed.

The new 2008 Fall TV season is almost upon us, with the first new show of the season premiering on September 1st. Screen Rant has put together an extensive list of new and returning programs along with their premiere dates, along with descriptions and recommendations.

So what’s up this fall? What are we anticipating, what are we, well… not anticipating?

The panel for Stargate: Atlantis was lighthearted and fun to watch.  The actors in the panel were Joe Flanigan, Jewel Staite, Robert Picardo and show scribe Brad Wright and Chris Sanagustin, the VP of Original Programming from the Sci-Fi Channel.

The crowd was pretty animated with the introductions and when Jewel Staite was introduced the energy of the crowd easily tripled.  The Firefly demographic was well represented.

“There are monsters loose in the world. And they are the key to the future of our race.”

That’s the tag line for Sanctuary over on IMDb.

Sanctuary is about one Dr. Helen Magnus who is on a quest with her protege, Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne), to track down, aid and protect strange creatures that walk the earth (I’m resisting a smart aleck remark here).

Sci Fi is picking up this seasoned show and it will be the first TV series to use live actors against virtual sets, in much the same way 300 and Sin CIty were done.

If you’re wondering where this show comes from, it has eight webisodes under its belt and has been playing on a computer near you!