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Drama

“Fringe”: The Same Old Story

Posted by SH You know, the more this episode went on, the more I was reminded of an episode of that short-lived WB series Birds of Prey. And that’s never a good thing. But among the detritus of that failed Batman spinoff, there was a surprisingly effective story about a rapid-aging human who burns through his life span in a matter of days. He was bred to be an assassin, one who does not have to wait a couple of decades before being ready for battle. OK, it also sounds a little like Blade Runner and Attack of the Clones. […]

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Drama

Scary with the “Fringe” on Top

Posted by SH Fair warning: I’m not a Lost watcher. I’ve only seen a couple episodes of Alias (who could resist that post-Super Bowl ep?). So I come at Fringe a relative J.J. Abrams neophyte. But I think that’s a good thing. Never will you hear me comparing whatever mythology Fringe ends up following with the tangled tapestry of those island survivors. On the down side, if there’s something along the lines of a smoke monster crossover, I may not get it. Which brings me to the opening of Fringe. There’s an airplane going through some rough weather — wait, […]

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Drama

True Blood: Southern Vamp Meets Sookie

By Elaine B Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer with director Alan Ball There is something very wrong in the rural Louisiana town of Bon Temps. Women of questionable moral character are being strangled and, it turns out, they all had a history of being fang-bangers*. There are a few bad apples harvesting and dealing V-juice** and, oh yes, a vampire named Bill has returned to claim his ancestral home and a bottle or two of Tru-Blood*** at the colorful (and I’m being polite here) roadhouse Merlotte’s. There he catches the eye of blond, leggy, mind-reading waitress Sookie Stackhouse. And what […]

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Drama

Comic-Con ’08: TV on the “Fringe”

Posted by SH J.J. Abrams brought a sneak peek of his new offering, “Fringe,” which bows on FOX Sept. 9. The first scene is a plane in distress, but no worries, there is no deserted island on the horizons. Smoke monsters, maybe, but none was visible in the pilot. The plane manages to land, but not until everyone on board is turned into goo so that all that’s left is skeletons. It’s a harrowing sequence, assuring that the effects will be feature-film quality. Newcomer Anna Torv is among the FBI agents called to investigate, and things quickly become personal when […]

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Animation

Cloning Success?

Posted By RabbitEars As you may have heard, the Clone Wars have started up again. George Lucas, who “felt there were a lot more Star Wars stories left to tell” (and money left to make), is further exploring this period of the famed sci-fi saga’s history in a new animated series set to debut this fall on Cartoon Network. The network had already aired an impressive series of traditionally animated shorts dealing with the Clone Wars a few years back, in anticipation of Episode III, but this new series — which debuts following a theatrical release August 15 — enters […]

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Drama

Moonlight: Mick Vamps Out

One thing I understand is those bloodsucking night hunters (heck, after writing so many novels about them, I ought to). But until recently, I did not have much love for Moonlight vampire Mick St. John. But the writers strike has a way of making marginal series far more interesting and I’ve been paying closer attention to this series of late (what else is there to pay attention to when I’m ready for an hour that doesn’t involve looking at a computer monitor?) and the timing is right because this series just keeps getting better.

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Drama

“Battlestar Galactica: Razor” A Detailed Recap

Razor opens with a visual and a voiceover: someone’s dragging a knife blade up and down their arm, speaking to us in an accent we don’t recognize from any of the characters we know so far. “You’re born, you live, you die.” Flashback to Galactica‘s meeting with Pegasus, the Cylon we know as Six killing Cain, the murder of Cain’s successor, Fisk, and the heroic death of his successor, Garner. Lee is promoted to Commander. “You make your choices and you live with them. In the end, you are your choices.” Opening credits: 49,579 survivors remain. Lee addresses the crew […]

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Drama

A Preview/Review of “Battlestar Galactica: Razor”

Raise your hand if you were bummed to hear that Razor would be about Pegasus instead of Galactica. Quite a few, okay … Now raise your hand if you were even more bummed to hear that it would be about events that had already taken place. Almost everyone, wow … All right, now raise your hand if you yelled “oh, come ON!” when you heard that it would mainly be about Admiral Cain and focus on a character we’ve never heard of before. Thought so. I was just like you. Kind of thinking, “As much as I desperately need a […]

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Magazine Archive

Paul Blackthorne Plays A Magic Man In SCI FI Channel’s “The Dresden Files”

If you’re familiar with Paul Blackthorne, it’s likely from his days as a biological terrorist. The 37-year-old Englishman threatened to unleash a deadly virus on Los Angeles as villain Steve Saunders on the third season of 24. Now Blackthorne’s back on TV, playing a good guy — at least, relatively speaking — as crime-solving wizard Harry Dresden in the new SCI FI Channel series The Dresden Files. “He has an element of reluctance to him,” Blackthorne says of Dresden. “He’s not your out and out ‘let me save the world’ kind of hero; he’s more of the ‘well, I suppose […]

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Magazine Archive

Peter Krause Checks Into SCI FI’s “Lost Room”

A comb that can stop time. A pen that incinerates anything it touches. These and over 100 other everyday objects are scattered across the globe and all seem to emanate from a mysterious motel room that can be accessed by any door thanks to one simple key. This key falls into the unwitting hands of Detective Joe Miller (Emmy nominee Peter Krause, Six Feet Under) and kicks off the action in SCI FI Channel’s latest December miniseries event, The Lost Room. As possessor of the key, Miller finds himself the target of various groups (led by costars Julianna Margulies, Kevin […]