Short-Run Sci-Fi

Another link from io9: This one is a list of 10 short-lived but entertaining science-fiction series that you could watch in a weekend. Having seen and enjoyed 6 of the entries on this list,* I'm interested in checking out the others.

* Firefly, the Battlestar Galactica mini-series, Torchwood: Children of Earth, Jekyll, Life on Mars, and Cowboy Bebop.

Torchwood. Now with Espenson

It appears that Jane Espenson, a well regarded writer for Buffy and Battlestar, has been added to the writing crew of the new, fourth season of Torchwood, which scheduled to air in 2011 and will feature a stongly serialized storyline like that of Season 3's Children of Earth mini-series.

Audiobook Review: Metatropolis

(This review contains no significant spoilers.)

A few weeks ago, I finished the audiobook Metatropolis, and here is my review.

The Setup

Metatropolis is an anthology of novellas written by Jay Lake, Tobias Buckell, Elizabeth Bear, John Scalzi, and Karl Schroeder. Scalzi also edited the book. One feature that sets this anthology apart is that all the stories take place in the same universe, one that was collaboratively built by all the authors. Another unusual feature is that the compilation was conceived as an audiobook. The stories are read by two famous audiobook narrators and three Battlestar Galactica veterans.

The title gives some clue to the shared universe of these stories. The novellas take place sometime in the middle of the Twenty-First Century, when the nature of cities is changing, evolving into something new. The final story, in particular, shows how even the words we use to describe cities may have to change to keep up.

What I Liked

• The plots of the five stories are all very engaging. They are all distinct, but, since they take place in a single imagined universe, they feel like components of a single whole. The last story was easily my favorite; listening to it was a mind-expanding experience.
  
• The future envisioned in this book is realized thoroughly. The details really bring the world of the book to life for the listener.
• The voice acting is top-notch. All of the narrators do excellent jobs of not simply reading but acting the stories. For example, each narrator gives each character his or her own voice.
  

What I disliked

• The first story contains a character with a poorly justified, almost supernatural ability to charm the other characters. I just didn't buy it.
  

The Bottom Line

Overall, I give Metatroplis 8.5 out of 10. I really enjoyed this audiobook, and I recommend you download it or buy in on CD. You can even read it, if you want to be old-fashioned. If my recommendation is not enough for you, you might be interested in reading Scalzi's reasons you should buy it.

Dragon*Con 2009: Battlestar

Photos from Battlestar Galactica:

Although this shot includes 3 different franchises, it does show off Alison's Starbuck costume. Please note the tattoo and the dog tags, which I made for her.

This is a close-up of the tattoo. It's certainly not perfect, but it looks enough like the original to make it clear that this is Starbuck's arm you are looking at.

Generic Battlestar folk, as seen in the parade.

An old-school Cylon.

Check out all those Roslins!

This photo is self-captioned.

Let's Play Dollhouse

It looks like* several interesting alumni of Whedonverse shows and Battlestar Galactica will appear on Dollhouse in Season 2:

• Jamie Bamber, Lee "Apollo" Adama form Battlestar.
• Michael Hogan, Saul Tigh from Battlestar.
• Alexis Denisof, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce from Buffy and Angel.
• Summer Glau, River Tam from Firefly and Serenity.**

In addition, Amy Acker and Alan Tudyk will be reprising their roles on the show.

I'm quite excited about this development.

* There are minor spoilers on the linked-to page.

** Once the Sarah Conner Chronicals was cancelled,*** you had to know it was just a matter of time before this happened.

*** Say that three times quickly!

I <3 BSG

Do you love Battlestar Galactica so much you want to sing about it?  Here's how.

Does this Mean the Galactica Runs on the Mac OS?

It seems that humorist, author, corespondant, and personified PC John Hodgeman will be apper in one of the episodes of Battlestar Galactica to be broadcast in 2009.  I'll certianly keep and eye out for him

In Popular Culture

xkcd is great, if for no other reason than because it allows me to put up a one-sentence, one-link entry with eleven* tags.

* Well, it would have been eleven, but I reached Blogger's 200-character limit at ten. Can you guess which one is missing?

What Do You Call Fans of Battlestar Galactica, Anyway?

Fans of Battlestar Galactica may be interested to know that a new prequel telefilm has been greenlit. The movie will be written by Jane Espenson and follow Cylon Number One, Sam Anders, and Chief Tyrol during the aftermath of the initial Cylon attac featured durring the first minutes of the pilot miniseries.

Unsolicited Opinions: Post 326

Well, we are now a few weeks into the cascade of fall TV premiers,* and I thought I'd share my opinions with you. Not because you asked, of course; I'm just very opinionated.

So far:

• Chuck. I checked out this lead-in to Heroes on Nick's recommendation, and I enjoyed it. The premise is rather silly but fun, and, importantly, the title character is quite charming and well portrayed. Plus, it's always nice to see Adam Baldwin (Jayne Cobb from Firefly) getting work. Some of the plot points were unrealistic, however. I'll tune in tomorrow and decide then whether to stick around for more.
  
• Heroes. The premiere of the sophomore season of this show didn't disappoint, and I'm excited to see more tomorrow night. I found out today that even my mom likes it. Interestingly, her favorite and least favorite characters are the same as mine. Weird. Anyway, last season, it was a toss-up as to whether this series or Battlestar was the best show on TV, at least in my opinion. I'm expecting good things.
  
• Bionic woman. This show is yet another '70s remake brought to you by one of the minds behind Battlestar Galactica. I wasn't completely happy with the show. Not surprisingly, some of the science was a bit too much to believe, but I'm willing to let that go. What really irritated me, though, was how the security procedures were portrayed. For example, the characters frequently discuss classified material over the phone with uncleared individuals. What is that? Additionally, I was really unhappy with the recasting of the deaf, punkish kid sister as a hearing, all-American girl. I felt that replacement made her quite a bit less interesting. I did find the lead actress quite likable, though her character is rather inconsistent. Speaking of actresses, I really enjoyed seeing Katee Sackoff (Starbuck on the aforementioned Battlestar) as the prototype bionic chick; she did a good job of being creepy and intimidating. As long as the writers don't make her the best pilot, sharpshooter, poker-player, and smoker in the show, as they did on Battlestar, I'll be happy with her recurring role. Lastly, I should mention that the reimagined Bionic Woman is much darker than the original, much like David Eick's other remake, and it really works for the show. I'll tune in Wednesday to decide if I'll make it regular viewing.
• My Name is Earl. The third-season premiere of My Name is Earl indicates that the amusement level provided by this show isn't falling. As long as we get a good dose of Randy and a dollop of Darnell in every episode, I'll be happy.
  

Upcoming (definitely):

• Pushing Daisies. I've already posted about my extreme affinity for this show after seeing it's pilot, so I won't say much here. But if you like off-beat, dark comedy, then for the love all that is pure, holy, and good,** watch this show Wednesday night. If you don't like it, I'll give you your money back.
  
• Battlestar Galactica. OK, so Season 4---the final season--of Battlestar doesn't premier until early next year. But the semi-prequel telefilm Razor will be broadcast in November, ao I'm going to include the series in this post. Battlestar has been good for all the way from the pilot mini-series through the end of Season 3. Granted, I wasn't as happy with the main plotlines in the second half of Season 3, but I'm still stoked to see the Pegasus-centered TV movie and the final season.
  

Upcoming (maybe)

• Aliens in America. No, this show isn't about the type of aliens I'm usually interested in, but I might DVR it tomorrow and check it out after Heroes is over.
  
• Reaper. On the one hand, this could be simply a rip-off of Dead Like Me. On the other, I've heard good things about it, and I might check it out. Technically, this show isn't upcoming, since it premiered last Tuesday, but I haven't seen it, so I placed it in this category.

So there you have my take on this new season so far. Your feedback is, as always, appreciated.

* And it's not a moment too soon. Now that Monk's and Psych's seasons are over, there's some free space in my tube-watching schedule.
** I've stolen this phrase from Alison by the way.

Battlestar Galactica to Conclude Next Season

According to the creators and executive producers of Battlestar Galactica, Ronald Moore and David Eick, the series will come to an end at the conclusion of the upcoming 22-episode Season 4. A special 2-hour Battlestar movie entitled Razor will be broadcast in November and the final season will begin airing in 2008.

In other BSG news, it looks like the Caprica spin-off has been tabled for now.

The 6-Million-Dollar Starbuck

(Spoiler warning: this post contains no spoilers, but the second link contains a significant spoiler for Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica.)

In other Battlestar-related news, Katie Sackhoff, who is most famous for playing Starbuck on the re-imagined Battlestar, will guest star in the pilot for David Eick's re-imagined Bionic Woman. Sackhoff will "an evil bionic woman and nemesis to [title character Jamie] Sommers. Doesn't sound to me like she'll be stretching her acting muscles much.

BSG: S4, DTV, and Caprica

The Sci Fi Channel has just increased their order for Season 4 of Battlestar Galactica from the 13 episodes I reported earlier to 20. Their announcement also mentions "a special two-hour extended episode that will air during the fourth quarter of this year and be released on DVD." This special episode sounds to me like the stand-alone telefilm that's been rumored.

In other Battlestar news, I haven't heard much about the Caprica spinoff series lately, leading me to wonder if it would happen. However, according to this article from the 'Pedia, the rumors of its abortion have been explicitly denied by the producers. Meanwhile, Joseph Adama, William's father and Lee's grandfather, who will be a central character in Caprica, has been mentioned several times recently on Battlestar. I guess that's no coincidence.

BSG S4

The Sci-Fi channel is apparently happy with the ratings Battlestar has received since moving to Sunday nights; they just announced that the series will return for a fourth season. Interestingly, the order is only for 13 episodes, the same number as the first season, and far fewer than the 20 ordered for the second and third seasons. Might Battlestar be nearing its end?

Generally, for a series to be considered viable for syndication, 100 episodes are required. If the show ends after the short fourth season, there will be 66 eps and the pilot mini-series. Since the mini is equivalent to about 4 episodes, there would be 70 eps worth of syndicationable material. Hmm.

TV Returns

Several shows are returning from winter "hiati" this weekend:

• Monk. The defective detective returns tonight (Friday night) at 9 Eastern Time on USA.
  
• Psych. The fake-psychic-detective/buddy-PI series begins airing new episodes again tonight at 10 EST on USA, right after Monk.
• Battlestar Galactica. The re-imagining of the 1970s space opera restarts in its new timeslot Sunday at 10 Eastern on the Sci Fi Channel.
• Heroes. They saved the cheerleader, but did they save the world? Find out beginning Monday at 9 EST on NBC.

All these shows warrant checking out.

BSG: DTV

It looks like the much rumored direct-to-DVD Battlestar Galactica movie is indeed going to happen. Well, unless the show doesn't get picked up for it's fourth season. You see, Battlestar's ratings have been slipping lately*, and there's talk of it being canceled at the end of Season 3. I'm not inclined to believe the cancellation rumors, though; I doubt anything else on the Sci Fi Channel is doing much better. Meanwhile, rumors are afoot that the spin-off series, Caprica, may not go forward. That, I'm more inclined to believe.

* I must admit that a few of the storylines in Season 3 have been below par for the series, but Battlestar is still probably the best show on television.

The Whedon Update

So I'm sure the Whedonites in the readership are wondering what's up with Joss' various projects. Here're are a couple of relevant links.

• First, Whedon just talked to TV Guide, mostly about the upcoming Buffy: Season 8 comic series, which will be cannon in the Buffyverse and answer Dawn's "What are we gonna do now?" Other topics discussed: Firefly/Serenity---nothing happening---Wonder Woman---rewriting now, no casting yet---and Battlestar Galactica---apparently Whedon's favorite show.
  
• Apparently, something is happening with Seren-ifly, just not what you might think: Multiverse is announcing today that they've signed a deal with Fox to bring a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the Firefly universe to market. Look for the game in 2008. As far as I can tell, Whedon's not involved, so I'm a little skeptical.
• In other Seren-ifly-in-other-media news, it looks like there's going to be another Serenity comic limited series. It will be called Serenity: Better Days, and it should be out next year.
  

Speaking of Buffy, Firefly, and Battlestar Galactica, you may be interested to know that the first Battlestar episode written by Jane Espenson airs tonight on the Sci Fi Channel.

Spool Up the FTL Drives

Battlestar Galactica is jumping to Sundays at 10:00 PM as of January 21, 2007.

Telly Tidbits

My last post reminded me that I've been meaning to give you, dear reader, an update on my latest TV watching. I'm sure you've been just dying to know what I've been tuning into lately. Well, here you go:

• Battlestar Galactica, Season 3. Battlestar continues to be not only the best sci-fi on television, but also the best series on TV. If you aren't watching it, start here.
  
• Heroes, Season 1. This show is a more realistic take on the superhero genre that's so popular these days, but with a heavy dose of mystery mixed in. It feels like Lost meets Rising Stars.
• My Name is Earl, Season 2. This series is 75% Wonderfalls---sniff---and 25% Raising Arizona, so it's qute amusing. The Randy character really pushes the show to the next level.
• The Dog Whisperer, all seasons. Since before the arrival of our new critter, Alison and I have been boning up on our dog training by watching new episodes and reruns. Cesar Millan, the whisperer from the title, has an uncanny ability to establish dominance immediately, with very subtle body language. Impressive.
• Dirty Jobs, all seasons. Mike Rowe finds out, first hand, what some people have to do to make civilization possible for the rest of us.

Additionally, here are some shows that I'm looking forward to seeing in the near future.

• Torchwood, Season 1. The anagramic Doctor Who spinoff debuted in the UK on Sunday, to mostly positive reviews. The setup is somewhere between The X-Files and Men In Black.
  
• Doctor Who, Second Christmas Special and Season 3. The second season was better than the first, which was quite enjoyable. I like that trend.
  
• The Lost Room, mini-series. This show looks pretty intriguing. It could be clever, or it could be stupid.
  
• Psych, Season 2. Alison and both enjoyed the first, short season of this fake-psychic detective comedy, and we are looking forward to the next.

You know, from looking at this list, I've decided that the NBC Universal family of networks, which includes Sci Fi, USA, and, of course, NBC, must be my favorite.

Colonial Public Radio

Shuaib pointed out this NPR story about how Battlestar Galactica has attracted critical praise and an audience outside the conventional boundaries of science fiction. Maybe this story will persuade whatever part of the NPR demographic isn't at least watching the show to check it out.