Entries Tagged 'scifi channel' ↓

Another solid episode of Battlestar Galactica this week, with some great intensity between characters, a nice couple of goodbyes for Apollo, a truly “ick” moment between Balter and one of the new Cylons, and some sweet Cylon versus Cylon tension that builds to a excellent climax.

But what made this an especially memorable episode was one killer line of dialogue at the beginning. During an argument, Cavil (Dean Stockwell) said to the other Cylons, “Go take a cleansing walk.” Man, I can’t wait to use that line the next time someone gets in my face, so I can say, “Hey, why don’t you go take a cleansing walk, pal!”

When a girl moving into a new neighborhood with her divorced father sees the local crazy lady talking to what must be an alien, she decides the crazy lady mustn’t be so crazy after all. Soon, Maria learns that Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) has an attic full of alien gadgets and a knack for getting space invaders riled up. That’s the premise of The Sarah Jane Adventures, a Doctor Who spinoff that premiered tonight on Sci-Fi Channel. Doctor Who fans will probably be curious–and there is something amusing about having a black hole in the attic that needs sealing–but anyone who doesn’t already know that Sarah Jane traveled with the Doctor in the 1970s will probably feel lost. The family-friendly series is mostly harmless, not as scary as Doctor Who can be, but not as inventive or witty either. Moreover, Sarah Jane’s pining for a lost love from outer space (the Doctor, of course) could get really tiresome really fast.

It does leave me with a question, though: Do all of the Doctor’s former companions run into aliens once a week?

Sarah Jane Adventures will run on Fridays at 8 p.m. on Sci-Fi Channel.

It might seem a bit strange to hear a commentary track before you have a chance to see the show, but BBC7 radio online is featuring David Tennant and Catherine Tate as they talk about the new season’s episodes of Doctor Who. The shows are live at 6:30 p.m. London time (1:30 p.m. EST, I believe), with reruns on the Listen Again feature for six days starting sometime Monday. They’re also running episodes of Paul McGann’s Doctor Who audio drama. The BBC radio sites block sports programs, but there’s no problem with the rest of the lineup.

The first episode has some good stuff, like Catherine Tate talking about how she felt about getting a regular gig and seeing her name on that “iconic credits sequence.” David Tennant drops hints about an end-of-season shocker that will be teased throughout the season (”Bad Wolf,” anyone). They tend to do specifics of the episode in a way that’ll leave you baffled and curious, instead of spoiling the surprise, so it’s more like a half-hour advert if you haven’t seen the episode yet. These two laugh a lot.

It’d be great if Sci-Fi Channel and CBC put these up on their sites after their runs, but that could be too much to hope for.

You can catch the Doctor Who commentaries at Listen Again under Sunday here.

The final season really started off with a roar, didn’t it? The opening battle sequence is yet another in a ridiculously long list of stunning battle sequences. I like that they never forget that battlestars and basestars are essentially combinations of aircraft carriers and battleships–the tactics are built around those identities. Every battle has its own money shot–this time out, it was the view of the basestars from the POV of Galactica’s heavy guns.

The rest of the episode had a variety of tones and rhythms, but everything grew from what has gone before.

Spoilers ahead–don’t go to the rest unless you’ve seen the episode.

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I just finished watching the Season Four premiere of Battlestar Galactica. While I’ve been sworn to plot point secrecy by the powers that be at SciFi Channel and NBC Universal, I can say this: The episode felt uneven. Opening at a blitzkrieg pace, then settling into an exposition piece, “He That Believeth in Me” does its best to touch on the heightened story lines we’ve been waiting to see resolved. Unfortunately, like Season Two of Lost, I get the distinct impression we’re going to see more flash than substance from this first block of episodes. Michael Rymer’s direction is, as always, top-notch. Defining the look and feel of the series from the get-go, he continues to raise the bar on modern scifi. The visual effects team puts forth another mind-numbing space battle sequence. And the acting ensemble, lead by Eddie Olmos, Mary McDonnell, and Michael Hogan (whose Col. Tigh has become a personal favorite) is one of the finest on television. However, while there is character development and a fair amount of humor to balance the otherwise despondent nature of their quest for Earth, the script by supervising producers David Weddle and Bradley Thompson left me surprisingly unfulfilled. As the old saying goes, “the journey is more important than the destination.” And yet, one can only hope we don’t get lost along the way.

The new season kicks off tonight at 10 / 9c on SciFi Channel.

Things are heating up for next week’s Season Four premiere and we have a sneak peek at the new documentary Battlestar Galactica: Revealed airing tonight on SciFi Channel…

DownloadPart One
DownloadPart Two
DownloadPart Three
DownloadPart Four

We all have bad days. Sometimes a day can be ruined by rude or thoughtless people, and other times it can be destroyed by our own clumsiness. And while most of us can just get upset and shrug it off, David Bruce Banner always seemed to handle things differently. More often than not, when Banner gets upset, his skin bulges, his height grows, his clothes rip, and he starts talking like a caveman. David Banner gets angry and becomes The Hulk.

Now if you’ve only ever seen the Ang Lee movie, you have no good perception of the kind of crap Banner has to deal with. For a true example, you must return back to the 1980’s, and that magical television series: The Incredible Hulk. The show was just like The Fugitive, except rather than Dr. Kimble running from town to town because he’s too good-natured, Banner must travel across North America because he keeps turning green. While that may be trendy today, it definitely wasn’t back then.

Thankfully, the immensity of the internet has yielded an invaluable list, explaining in hilarious simplicity the reasons David Banner turns green. Posted on the series creator’s website, The Hulk-Out List features over 115 instances, taken solely from the television series, of Banner “Hulking out.” The list is hysterical, of course, and even funnier if you’ve ever seen the show. Here are some prime excerpts:

44. Kicking over a beehive and then being surprised when the bees are mad at him

78. Being thrown under a New Orleans Mardi Gras parade float by a mean guy in a gorilla suit who gives David a few kicks for good measure

86. Beaten up and thrown in a closet, and while thrashing around and trying to get out, sticking his hand in a box of broken glassware

97. Trapped on a platform with the worker who is having a heart attack, and being showered with electrical sparks

Reading the list, it becomes very obvious that if Banner wasn’t so darned clumsy, he wouldn’t have these problems. Sure he might get locked in a room, but does that mean he has to freak out, slip, and fall into boiling water? No. If he was just more patient, careful, and observant, these things wouldn’t happen to him. But I guess the same could be said for any of us.

In case you were wondering, TV Verdict is in actuality not a Battlestar Galactica fan site, but you would be hard pressed to know this.

There has been a lot of pent-up excitement around here lately about the new season debut, and I see no reason not to continue the trend by sharing the latest comic from Slackerz, which pretty much sums up the past three seasons in a few short comic panels.

Warning: foul (possibly NSFW) language, and your mom might scold you if she sees you reading it.

(via Slackerz)

The cast of BSG delivers the Top Ten List on Letterman.

Two more weeks, people…

The countdown begins. BSG: Season Four kicks off April 4 at 10/9c. Here’s a sneak peak…

Download Battlestar Galactica: Season Four