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Will “Surface” Ever … Resurface?

Posted on January 9, 2008 by Brian under Reviews.

If you ask any average person if they saw “Surface” on Monday’s in 2005 most would say no. If you asked any fan boy, comic book geek or just all around sci-fi fan they would not only tell you yes, but give you a hundred reasons why it was one of the best sci-fi series on TV to date. However, not even the panicked screams of 10,000 virgin geeks could stop the preplanned conclusion of the series. It was reported on several sci-fi forums that the writers were told from the start that the series may not go further than a year, and that they should write the final episode to go either way. This to me says that they TV exec’s were not interested in the ever growing popularity of sci-fi based series. Instead they worked on producing more over 50’s crowd or reality niche TV shows that seems to be ever expanding and increasingly more ridiculous. You can look out on the net and find forum after forum and article after article of people complaining about the loss of what could have been a series equal to that of the current “Hero’s” (NBC’s redeeming quality) or the over 20 years and still going in syndication “Star Trek” franchise. But the upper echelon’s of TV God-hood don’t care about the niche market or the hoard’s of faithful sci-fi viewers that would kill for anything that has great effects and a rich story. I would have to say that this was one of the biggest mistakes that NBC made and in the log run it could have cost them millions of viewers that will now go to other channels instead of NBC. “Star Trek the Next Generation”, was on TV for a long time and managed to spin off “Star Trek, Deep Space Nine”, Star Trek Voyager and the prequel series “Star Trek: Enterprise”. All with decent track records (over 5 years) and all starting on Fox and now in syndication. Fox is not afraid to give something a chance it seems. Something I think other stations should try and not for just one season either. Actually give a show a chance! Anyone that watches a serious TV series, especially one with an ever growing plot and an in depth character make-up knows that it may take half a season or even a full season for a series to pick up speed. They really should have signed “Surface” for no less than 3 seasons. I think this would have given the series adequate time to build a following and prove its worth, and quite possibly still be running to date. With any luck this will go the way of Stargate SG-1 (originally shown on Showtime) and get picked up by the Sci-fi channel and they will continue on with the series, the story line itself had so much potential. Then fan boys like myself will finally get to enjoy the rest of the story (because we know there is more) and have some resemblance of closure to what could have been a resounding hit. Look for the DVD set in your store and be sure to pick it up, I promise that it will keep you interested and you will want more.

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Stargate Atlantis, Season 4

Posted on January 8, 2008 by Brian under Reviews.

Season 4 of Stargate Atlantis continues tomorrow January 4th and I am excited as always. This year is being promoted as one of the better seasons. With the war between the Replicators and the Wraith reaching explosive proportions and the Atlantis team trying desperately to stay out of the cross hairs of both parties. However, it looks like an alliance with the Wraith is going to be needed in order to defeat the greater threat of the Replicators. Look for the Atlantis team to be weary of there new alliance with the Wraith, due to past encounters that the Wraith have tried to exploit. I am sure that the Wraith are going to do everything in there power to find a way to turn the alliance in their favor while the replicators will put up a fight in order to save the existence that they have created for themselves. I also look forward to see how they incorporate this new rouge group of replicators that want nothing to do with this war but instead want to ascend like the Ancients that created them. I will be curious if this new band of replicators will get wiped out with the rest of them or will they in time see that their counter parts were correct and be a threat to the Atlantis team again, possibly worse this time. All-in-all I think that this season is going to be great and action packed. I would like to see them incorporate more of the SG-1 team into the mix and possibly down the line merge the two series as one with multiple story arc’s from the Earth side as well as the Pegasus galaxy. I think that if they want to keep this franchise alive and mimic the success of the SG-1 series, they will have to broaden the story arc’s and incorporate a more complex format. I can see this series going for quite some time with fan’s clamoring for anything that is produced. I look forward to tomorrow and will provide you with an update to this after I watch the episode.

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Battlestar Galactica, Season 4

Posted on January 6, 2008 by Brian under Reviews.

Little is out about the up-coming season 4 of Battlestar Galactica, other than a few promo trailers and the new premier date of March 2008. Looking around the web I am finding no leaks about the season other than rumor and speculation, nothing concrete. I anxiously await the premiere because of how season 3 ended, with Starbuck decked in white telling Apollo “Follow me” like some kind of messiah. It was exciting and spine tingling all at the same time. I literally had hairs standing up because I wanted to see what happened next. I scoped out the Sci-Fi channel web site and could not find anything other then the normal “Test your BSG Knowledge, take this quiz” stuff that they always do. From what I have seen of the previews and from what I have heard through the grape vine, I am sure that this season will be a great one. I know that they are going to incorporate more of the Pegasus crew into the story line and hopefully shed some light on what happened to Starbuck and maybe answer some of the questions that have now come up thanks to the “Razor” mini movie that was released. It seems to me that the creative team behind “Battlestar Galactica” is working to raise the bar of every new season. I just hope that they can keep up this momentum and the rumors floating around the water cooler about this being there final season are just that, rumors!

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Flash Gordon

Posted on January 5, 2008 by Brian under Reviews.

When this series started I had such high hopes for it. I am a big fan of the 1980’s Movie staring Staring Max Von Sydow as Ming the Merciless! Yes, it was a little campy, but what wasn’t back in the 80’s. The film captivated audiences then, and to this day the die hard fan boys like myself are still enthralled by its glitzy costumes and it obvious over acting! I myself went on the first day of the DVD release to buy a copy, and then forced my wife to watch it. I personally have watched the DVD 3 more times since (I’ve been busy or it would have been more). The series started on the Sci-fi channel in August of 2007 with hopes of competing with the likes of Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis and Battlestar Galactica all Sci-fi series and all doing successful. The series premier was less than desirable and left viewers wondering what the writers were thinking. I told myself that I would give it the same chance that I gave Painkiller Jane (another flop that could have been better). I would watch the first season and then make a choice to continue on, sometimes the seasons are off to a slow start, take SG-1 for instance. They really didn’t start to fly till the middle of the first season. However, the more I watched the more painful it got. With cheap looking costumes and and a complete rewrite of the story line itself it didn’t resemble the Flash Gordon movie or the 1930’s TV show (or the less popular 1950’s TV series). The Ming played by Max Von Sydow was ruthless in a very classy, imperialistic almost elegant way. The Ming in the TV series played by John Ralston is almost Nazi like. He dictates over the planet with an unrelenting Iron fist, taking neither man, woman or child into consideration and claiming his actions as “For the good of the people!”. This last episode was a perfect example of the Nazi like stylization of the character. Forcing genetic purification and purging (killing) anyone with even a 1% abnormality in there blood. I think the Sci-fi channel went way off base with this series. It could have been so much better with the proper writing and the proper budgeting. I would have liked to seen something that would rival that of the Stargate Franchise in story and effects. I am going to give it a little more time to see if Sci-fi can pull this series out of the pit that it currently resides in. I will give you more of my views on this show as the series progresses.

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Stargate: The Ark of Truth

Posted on January 5, 2008 by Brian under Reviews.

If you are a Stargate SG-1 fan (as I am) and felt that the final episode left more questions than answers. Well, never fear! The fine people in the Stargate franchise have decided to release a direct-to-DVD movie written by Robert C. Cooper called “Stargate: The Ark of Truth”. The movie went into production in April 2007 and will be released in the US on March 11, 2008. This movie will be what should have been the conclusion of Stargate SG-1’s Ori story arc, which began in “Avalon”. The Ori storyline was originally expected to continue into SG-1’s eleventh season, but the series was canceled by the Sci-Fi Channel in August 2006. Therefore, the movie’s storyline will pick up after “Unending”, the SG-1 series finale, but will take place before the fourth season of Stargate Atlantis. I had the pleasure to catch a screener of this DVD before it’s release and I have to tell you that I was impressed and felt a little more satisfied with the outcome of the story arc. The movie will cover SG-1’s attempt to recover the “Ark of Truth”, a piece of Alteran technology developed before the Ancients left for the Milky Way. In an attempt to prevent the Ori and their followers rising to power, the “Arc” was created to essentially “brainwash” individuals, for instance Priors, into believing whatever “truth” was programmed into the device. The Ancients’ non-interference policy and belief in free will resulted in the device never being used. Even though the gift of Ascension promised by Origin is a lie, the freedom to believe was something the Alterans ultimately decided they did not have the right to restrict. In the movie however, there is interference from an ascended being (as there always has been) to help guide the team in the right direction to find the “Arc”. However, they are not alone and the Ori’s army and legion’s of Priors are hot on their heals trying to get there hands on this piece of technology that they believe, will aid them in the effort to convert the universe to worship the Ori. This movie has all of the action and drama that you would expect from the TV series, so fans should not be disappointed. Look for this to hit the shelves in March of 08 and don’t be surprised if you see it still air on the Sci-Fi channel before the end of the year.