Welcome to the SciFi Diner where we serve up spicy conversations off the latest menu of SciFi Movies & Television Shows. For almost ten For almost fourteen years Scott Hertzog and Mile Mclaughlin began podcasting their love of all things sci-fi on the Sci-Fi Diner Podcast, informing their listeners on the latest sci-fi news and keeping the conversation going with them as they continue to celebrate this thing we call Science Fiction. Now they are joined by Dave, Chrissie, and M.

Star Trek: The Next Generation Pilot - Encounter at Farpoint In 2364, the new flagship of the United Federation of Planets, Starfleet's USS Enterprise, travels to the planet Deneb IV for its maiden voyage. Enterprise is to open relations with the simple Bandi people who have somehow been able to tap immense energy reserves and construct Farpoint Station, much to the surprise of the Federation. En route, the Enterprise is met by an omnipotent being who identifies himself as Q, a member of the Q Continuum and declares that humanity is being put on trial—posing in appearance as a Grand Inquisitor—and deciding that their actions in their upcoming mission will be used to judge their worthiness and determine their fate as a race. Before letting the ship resume its course, Q warns Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) that he is destined to fail. As the Enterprise arrives, the crew members explore the offerings of Farpoint Station and establish relations with their Bandi host, Groppler Zorn (Michael Bell). The crew becomes suspicious when items they desire seem to appear out of nowhere moments later, and are unable to identify the power source that feeds the station. Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), an empath, senses a being with powerful yet despairing emotions nearby, and the crew discover a strange labyrinth beneath the station, but Zorn does not offer an explanation. As the Enterprise crew continues its explorations, a large unknown alien craft enters orbit and begins to fire upon an older Bandi settlement near Farpoint Station, and abducts Zorn. Before Picard orders the ship's phasers to be fired at the craft, Q appears to remind him of humanity's trial and prompts Picard to send an away team to the alien craft. The away team discovers the craft has passages similar to those under Farpoint and they are able to free Zorn. Their actions cause the alien craft to transform into a jellyfish-like space creature, and Picard is able to deduce the mystery of Farpoint Station. He confirms with the apologetic Zorn that the Bandi found a similar lifeform injured on their planet and, while attempting to care for it, they also exploited its ability to synthesize matter to create Farpoint Station. The creature now in orbit is trying to help free its mate by attacking those who hold it captive. Though Q goads Picard into punishing the Bandi, Picard refuses, instead ordering the Enterprise to fire a vivifying energy beam onto Farpoint after the station is evacuated. The beam allows the land-bound creature to transform back into its jellyfish-like form, and it flies into orbit to join its fellow being. As the crew watches the reunion of the alien creatures, Q reluctantly tells Picard that they have succeeded in their test, but hints that they will meet again.

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We were fighting on the wrong side, of a war we couldn't win. And that was the good news. The Ruhar hit us on Columbus Day. There we were, innocently drifting along the cosmos on our little blue marble, like the native Americans in 1492. Over the horizon come ships of a technologically advanced, aggressive culture, and BAM! There go the good old days, when humans only got killed by each other. So, Columbus Day. It fits. When the morning sky twinkled again, this time with Kristang starships jumping in to hammer the Ruhar, we thought we were saved. The UN Expeditionary Force hitched a ride on Kristang ships to fight the Ruhar, wherever our new allies thought we could be useful. So, I went from fighting with the US Army in Nigeria, to fighting in space. It was lies, all of it. We shouldn't even be fighting the Ruhar, they aren't our enemy, our allies are. I'd better start at the beginning....

Direct download: The_Orbital_Sword__Expeditionary_Force__Columbus_Day_by_Craig_Alanson.mp3
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Indie Rights Picks Up ‘Star Trek’ Parody Film ‘Unbelievable!!!!!’ Featuring Former Cast Members Plus Snoop Dogg Indie Rights has acquired domestic distribution rights to Unbelievable!!!!!, the Steven L. Fawcette-helmed sci-fi film that stars Snoop Dogg and over forty former Star Trek cast members from the movies and TV series. The company will also launch foreign sales at the Virtual Cannes Film Market on June 24. The pic stars Kirk Stillwood, a puppet created by the Chiodo Brothers. It follows the crazy exploits of four off-beat astronauts (one is a marionette) who travel to the Moon on a rescue mission to determine the fate of two Space Agency comrades who have not been heard from in several days. The individuals they find at the Lunar Base are not who they appear to be and, through acts of trickery and deception, nearly succeed in killing them. Soon the astronauts find themselves trying to save the Earth from Plant Aliens! Additional co-stars include Michael Madsen, and Gilbert Gottfried, with cameos from Robert Davi, Sam Asghari, Casper Smart, and Nadia Lanfranconi, and newcomers Katarina Van Derham, Angelique Fawcette, who also produced the film, and singer/songwriter Emily L. Stanton. Former Star Trek stars and guest stars in the film include: Chase Masterson, Garrett Wang, Tim Russ, Nichelle Nichols, Robert Picardo, Linda Park, Manu Intiraymi, Armin Shimerman, Vaughn Armstrong, Gary Graham, Anthony Montgomery, Marina Sirtis, Nana Visitor, Walter Koenig, Michael Dorn, Julie Warner, Dina Meyer, Olivia d’Abo, Jeffrey Combs, John Billingsley, Max Grodenchik, Casey Biggs, Gary Lockwood, Michael Forest, Jack Donner, Connor Trinneer, Dominic Keating, Brenda Bakke, Patti Yasutake, Steve Rankin, Michael Dante, Sean Kenney, BarBara Luna, Beverly Washburn, Celeste Yarnall, Bobby Clark, Jasmine Anthony, Menina Fortunato, McKenzie Westmore, Crystal Allen, Christopher Doohan with original Star Trek composer Gerald Fried, and one of the harmonica players, Tommy Morgan, also from TOS. SUPERMAN: MAN OF TOMORROW animated release details announced It’s the dawn of a new age of heroes, and Metropolis has just met its first. But as Daily Planet intern Clark Kent – working alongside reporter Lois Lane – secretly wields his alien powers of flight, super-strength and x-ray vision in the battle for good, there’s even greater trouble on the horizon. Follow the budding hero as he engages in bloody battles with intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo and fights for his life to halt the attack of power-hungry alien Parasite. The world will learn about Superman … but first, Superman must save the world! Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Darren Criss (Glee, American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace) and Emmy nominee Zachary Quinto (Star Trek franchise, Heroes) lead a star-studded cast as the voices of Superman/Clark Kent and Lex Luthor, respectively. The cast also includes Alexandra Daddario (San Andreas, Baywatch, All My Children) as Lois Lane, Brett Dalton (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) as Parasite/Rudy Jones, Ryan Hurst (The Walking Dead, Sons of Anarchy, Remember the Titans) as Lobo, Ike Amadi (Mass Effect 3, Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge) as Martian Manhunter, Neil Flynn (The Middle, Scrubs) as Jonathan Kent, Bellamy Young (Scandal, Prodigal Son) as Martha Kent, Cristina Milizia (DC Super Hero Girls) as Maya, Petey & Kaylie, Eugene Byrd (Bones, LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures) as Ron Troupe, April Stewart (South Park) as Mrs. Ross, and Piotr Michael (The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle) as Perry White, as well as Cissy Jones (Firewatch) and David Chen (Gotham). Superman: Man of Tomorrow introduces a new producing vision to the DC Universe Movies series, which now numbers 41 films over its 13 years of existence. Supervising Producer Butch Lukic has a rich pedigree in DC animated productions, serving as producer on Constantine: City of Demons, Justice League Action and the Batman Unlimited franchise, as well as directing episodes of Justice League, Batman Beyond and Beware the Batman. Lukic brings a new visual aesthetic to Superman: Man of Tomorrow that departs from the animation styles – of previous producers Bruce Timm (23 films) and James Tucker (17 films) – thus far represented in the DC Universe Movies. Michael Keaton May Return as Batman in a Flash Movie, Because DC Just Wants to Watch the World Burn In yet another strange, but not unwelcome, move from Warner Bros.'s chaotic DC superhero universe, it's being reported that Michael Keaton—the best Batman—might return as the Dark Knight in the studio's upcoming Flash movie. According to The Hollywood Reporter: If a deal makes, Keaton wouldn’t just return for Flash but possibly for several other DC-oriented film projects. Sources tell THR that the role being envisioned for the veteran actor is akin to the role played by Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, something of a mentor or guide or even string-puller. Batgirl is one the projects in development that could fall into that category. After a number of twists and turns—with overlapping and sometimes independent movie universes containing multiple Batmen and Jokers—adding another Batman, played by the man who famously dawned the cowl in 1989, is deeply confusing and unexpected. It's a weird move from a studio that lacked any consistency in its tentpole superhero properties throughout the 2010s. Let's recap: In 2013, one year after Christopher Nolan completed his groundbreaking Dark Knight trilogy, DC launched its new era of interconnected comic book movies to compete with Marvel's MCU. This consisted of Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Suicide Squad (2016), Wonder Woman (2017), and Justice League (2017). During that time, DC introduced both a new Batman (Ben Affleck) and a new Joker (Method Actor Jared Leto). But, after only two movies, Justice League marked Ben Affleck's final movie, and after the disappointing results of DC's first Avenger's-like film, the studio switched gears. From there, the next DC superhero films consisted of Aquaman (2018), Shazam! (2019), Joker (2019), and Birds of Prey (2020). Some of these took place in this greater interconnected universe, others did not. Some of these starred returning characters, others starred new characters, and one starred an old character played by a new actor set decades in the past. From there, DC has a confusing list of films coming out, including the "Snyder Cut" of Justice League, a different Batman movie starring Robert Pattinson, and sequels for Aquaman, Shazam!, and Wonder Woman. Then, there's also this Flash movie, which marks the return of Ezra Miller as the titular character, and, reportedly, Keaton returning as Batman, but not Affleck as Batman (even though Miller and Affleck both starred in Justice League). I'm not sure how that will work out, but I also don't entirely care. After the rigid, predictable consistency of the MCU, it's nice to see that DC doesn't give a single fuck! And if it means Keaton as an old, grizzled Bruce Wayne, then I'm not going to complain. Some movie studios just want to watch the world burn, and maybe that's kind of fun. With Big Summer Films Delayed, AMC Theatres Puts Off U.S. Reopening The nation's largest movie theater chain is delaying its U.S. reopening until the end of July because film companies have postponed release dates of two anticipated blockbusters. AMC Theatres announced that a first round of approximately 450 locations will resume operations two weeks later than initially planned, to coincide with the updated August release dates of Warner Brothers' Tenet and Disney's Mulan. "Our theatre general managers across the U.S. started working full time again today and are back in their theatres gearing up to get their buildings fully ready just a few weeks from now for moviegoers," CEO Adam Aron said in a June 29 statement. "That happy day, when we can welcome guests back into most of our U.S. theatres, will be Thursday, July 30." The company said it expects its more than 600 U.S. theaters to be "essentially to full operation" by early August. AMC Theatres made headlines earlier this month when it announced patrons will be required to wear masks, reversing course on a controversial reopening plan that had only encouraged them to do so. AMC Theatres Will Now Require Guests To Wear Masks When It Reopens CORONAVIRUS LIVE UPDATES AMC Theatres Will Now Require Guests To Wear Masks When It Reopens "We will constantly monitor the scientific community's latest thinking as to the efficacy of mask usage," Aron said on June 19. "We also will be looking at the varying health conditions in specific localities around our theatres all across the country. This will help us to determine what our mask policy will be as we go forward, as well as to make any other needed changes to this policy." The company also released detailed health and safety steps that included reduced auditorium capacities, enhanced cleaning procedures and simplified menus with no refills. Still, face masks and disinfectant spray may not bring moviegoers back en masse, even in states where theaters are open. The company acknowledged in public filings that the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted its business and will adversely affect its future operations. "Even when the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, we cannot guarantee that we will recover as rapidly as other industries, or that we will recover as rapidly as others within the industry due to our strong footprint in densely populated areas," it said. As coronavirus cases surge in parts of the country, some states are rethinking their approach to reopening movie theaters. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo removed cinemas from the list of establishments allowed to open in Phase 4 of the state's reopening plan, and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announced on Monday a month-long pause on the operations of movie theaters and other businesses. Also on Monday, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti delayed movie theater openings in the city. The U.S. is AMC Theatres' last region to begin a phased reopening. The company operates in 14 European and Middle Eastern countries, and said theaters there either opened in June or are expected to open in July. UK Exhibitor Cineworld & U.S. Chain Regal Delay Re-Opening Until July 31 Cineworld, the UK cinema chain that also owns U.S. exhibitor Regal Cinemas, has delayed its re-opening plans by three weeks due to continued coronavirus disruption. The operator had been set to start re-opening theaters from July 10, but a number of important markets including Los Angeles and New York are yet to get the green light, so that date is moving provisionally to July 31. The film slate has also shifted, with key titles Tenet and Mulan delaying to August 12 and August 21 respectively. Russell Crowe thriller Unhinged, which is being touted as the first major release post-lockdown, recently shifted to July 31. Sony’s The Broken Hearts Gallery is set for August 7 and could become the first significant studio theatrical release if it holds.

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