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.
SciFi Diner Classic Ep. 1 – Our Interview With John Broughton from Starship Farragut - See more at: http://scifidinerpodcast.com/2011/08/scifi-diner-classic-ep-1-our-interview-with-john-broughton-from-starship-farragut/#sthash.yxHvyXtQ.dpuf
SciFi Diner Conversations 89 - Elysium Bangs The Political Drum; More On The Honorverse; Under The Dome Divides Listeners; And We Perform Surgery On M's Throat.
Direct download: SFDP89.mp3
Category:general
-- posted at: 6:30am EST
SciFi Diner Conversations 87 - A Kate Mulgrew/Mira Furlong Smack down, Wolverine Reviewed, Why Morality Is Important For Superman, and Why The Falling Skies' Finale Failed.
SciFi Diner Conversations 85 - Gaming Defiance, Falling Skies is Losing Steam, After Earth's Predictability, Creepy Junior in Under the Dome, and More.
SciFi Diner Conversations 83 - More Star Trek Thoughts; A Plug for After Earth; Thoughts on the Once Upon A Time Finale; and Scott Thinks The Arrow Finale was One of the Best In a Long Time.
SciFi Diner Podcast Ep. 171 - Our Interview with John Billingsley (Dr. Phlox from Star Trek: Enterprise) and Bonita Friedericy (General Beckman from Chuck)
SciFi Diner Podcast Ep. 165a - Joss Whedon on Avengers 2, X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Iron Man 3 Trailer, and Why LeVar Burton calls 'bull$#%!' on J.J. Abrams.
The SciFi Diner Podcast Ep. 162b - Our Interview with Teras I. Cassidy & Larry Nemecek From Geek Nation Tours, Bringing You The Ultimate Star Trek Tour.
SciFi Diner Conversations 73 - Continuum Proves Orwellian Theory; Fringe's Love Letter to the Fans; Arrow Didn't Start the Fire, and on Once Upon a Time, Regina Searches for Redemption.
The SciFi Diner Classic Ep. 28 – Our Interview with Tahmoh Penikett (Karl "Helo" Agathon in Battlestar Galactica, Paul Ballard in Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, Nick Salva in Arrow, and Emerson in Man of Steel)
Direct download: sfdc28.mp3
Category:general
-- posted at: 6:39pm EST
SciFi Diner Podcast Ep. 159 - Star Trek Goes Into The Darkness; The Haunting Man of Steel; The Potential of After Earth, and What Might Happen When Netflix Sleeps with Disney.
If you have listened to the show for sometime, we would love to have you leave feedback on iTunes. We know not all of you use iTunes, but for those that do, it helps us become more visible. If you don’t use iTunes, your feedback is still valuable. Visit our webpage at http://scifidinerpodcast.com and leave a comment on the show notes or email us at scifidinerpodcast@gmail.com We want to know what you are thinking about what we are saying and what shows you are watching.
New Trivia:
Trivia:Trivia
Question: Who was Starman, in the movie by that name?
You will have until December 11th to send us your answers. Please include the code word mentioned in the first 15 minutes of the show. Send your answer with your mailing address to scifidinerpodcast@gmail.com, call us at 18885084343, or DM us on Twitter at @scifidiner. Make sure you include your e-mail with all entries! Only one entry per person. The SciFi Diner is not responsible for any injuries occurring if you secretly decide to go all shiny and dress in a browncoat and walk into your local bar.
Nicholas Eftimiades is an American government official, author, and educator best known for his work Chinese Intelligence Operations (1994). He currently resides in the London area.
Education
Eftimiades graduated from George Washington University with a B.A. in East Asian Studies and the National Defense Intelligence College with a M.S. in Strategic Intelligence. He also did undergraduate and graduate work in Asia. He is a Visiting Research Fellow at Kings College, War Studies Department, London, United Kingdom.
Government career
Nicholas Eftimiades’ 28 year government career includes seven years at the National Security Space Office leading engineering teams designing "generation after next" national security space capabilities. He was also Senior Technical Officer in the Defense Intelligence Agency, Future’s Division, and Chief of DIA’s Space Division. He served as DIA's lead for national space policy and strategy development.
Mr. Eftimiades has provided numerous briefings and testimony on national security, technology, and space exploration issues to senior policy officials and the U.S. Congress. He testified before the President's Commission on the Moon, Mars, and Beyond. He has sponsored and chaired international conferences on U.S. and foreign defense policy issues. He is a frequent lecturer and public speaker on future technology and societal changes and national security issues.
Chinese Intelligence Operations
Eftimiades first came into public view in 1994 with the publication of his book Chinese Intelligence Operations (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD., March 1994). The book is an examination of the structure, operations, and methodology of the intelligence services of the People's Republic of China. The book received worldwide recognition with the Chinese government declaring Eftimiades “an enemy of the people” in the People’s Daily newspaper. To date, the book remains the only scholarly analysis of China’s intelligence services and operational methodology.
Chinese Intelligence Operations gained worldwide attention when one of the Chinese companies identified as having a relationship with China’s intelligence services was caught giving money to the Clinton presidential campaign through the Democratic National Committee. That set off a media firestorm with Eftimiades appearing on TV, radio, and quoted in newspapers. He appeared on CBS Evening News with Connie Chung, Dateline NBC, ABC's Day One, BBC America, National Public Radio and dozens of other television and radio broadcasts. Some organizations protested the CBS news broadcast as being racist. Eftimiades testified before the U.S. Congress on several occasions.
Science Fiction
Eftimiades’ most recent work is a political and philosophical satire entitled Edward of Planet Earth. The book is influenced by authors such as Alexander Zinoviev and Ignazio Silone—names not normally associated with science fiction. The story takes place 200 years in the future and centers on a man, his computer friends, a female companion and their quest to communicate with the Almighty.
Non-Profit Activity
In 2001 Eftimiades founded a non-profit educational organization called Federation of Galaxy Explorers to inspire youth interest in science and engineering. Students in the Galaxy Explorers program attend after school "Mission Team" meetings where they participate in hands-on lessons that support National Science Education Standards. Mission Team members are rewarded for participation and achievements with ribbons, patches, medals, and certificates. Synopsis for Edward of Planet Earth
200 years in the future Edward Temple, a "uniquely ordinary person" becomes caught up in a zany world where self-aware super-computers are as argumentative, egotistical, demanding, and emotionally needy as the humans they serve. Everything is fair game as Edward navigates befuddled governments, psychotic software, greedy corporations, overly attentive robots, and romance. And of course jelly donuts find their way into the story.
Edward is drawn into a quest to discover the true nature of God, which computers believe to be more software than spiritual. Joining him in this adventure is Amanda Schoor, an attorney who Edward befriends, and Mega Brain, an advanced artificial intelligence software protocol that has uploaded itself into Edward's brain.
The science and technology that characterizes the environment in the book is an extension of the today's most advanced research and development efforts. Computers with Artificial Intelligence drive cars, taxicabs, buses, and aerospace planes. Technology development taken to extreme conclusions places the characters in outlandish, comedic situations. The quest to discover God challenges society's philosophical and religious underpinnings, also placing the characters in outlandish, comedic situations.
So buckle up and put your seat backs and tray tables in the upright positions and join the adventure today.
Praise for Edward of Planet Earth
"With his comedic dystopian future history populated by hapless reluctant heroes and lovesick artificial intelligences, Nick takes a big step toward becoming the American Douglas Adams." -Bill Prady, Co-Creator, The Big Bang Theory
"Edward of Planet Earth"is a delightful, informative, unusual, satirical and unique story, challenging both our imagination and reality as we look 200 years into the future. At times Edward's and Earth's future may seem universally outrageous and over the top from our present day perspective, but as in all good science fiction, we can easily find ourselves transported to Edward's world and that alone is a big part of enjoyment coming from reading this book." -Dr. David Livingston, The Space Show
In this listener feedback show, listener's discuss Skyfall (The latest Bond flick), Walking Dead, Arrow, Fringe, Revolution, the end of Merlin, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, And More.
One of our listeners, Kahless, also started his own Science Fiction blog which you can find here.
If you have listened to the show for sometime, we would love to have you leave feedback on iTunes. We know not all of you use iTunes, but for those that do, it helps us become more visible. If you don’t use iTunes, your feedback is still valuable. Visit our webpage at http://scifidinerpodcast.com and leave a comment on the show notes or email us at scifidinerpodcast@gmail.com We want to know what you are thinking about what we are saying and what shows you are watching.
New Trivia:
Trivia:Trivia
Question: Who was Starman, in the movie by that name?
You will have until December 11th to send us your answers. Please include the code word mentioned in the first 15 minutes of the show. Send your answer with your mailing address to scifidinerpodcast@gmail.com, call us at 18885084343, or DM us on Twitter at @scifidiner. Make sure you include your e-mail with all entries! Only one entry per person. The SciFi Diner is not responsible for any injuries occurring if you secretly decide to go all shiny and dress in a browncoat and walk into your local bar.
In association with Farragut Films and Dracogen Investments, Vic Mignogna (a Farragut Films principal), is set to direct this new web series based on the original (and still the best) Star Trek series.
The premise of the series is based on the original 5-year voyage. The original series ended three years into the journey. Vic and his team are starting this new series right where the original left off.
This new series is being brought to you in partnership with Farragut Films and DracoGen Investments – creators of the award-winning web series, Starship Farragut. The series is being shot in the original 4:3 format to keep the authenticity of the framing of the original series. It is very important to us that we provide a quality show and ancillary products, such as our website. Website development is provided in association with Stupidcat.com.
Farragut Films is a film group headquartered in Washington D.C, which produces Starship Farragut, an award-winning webseries based on The Original Series of Star Trek. Farragut Films has completed four live action films, two animated episodes, and one comic book. Farragut Films is in post production of their latest episode, “The Price of Anything” slated for an August 2012 release and are in pre-production of a new webseries entitled, Star Trek Continues. Farragut Films is a non-profit entity within the State of Maryland. For more information, please visit www.farragutfilms.com
Dracogen Strategic Investments is the creation of Steven Dengler – entrepreneur, pilot, co-founder of XE.com Inc., and all-round geek. Dracogen is committed to making awesome things happen whenever it can. Besides backing some pretty amazing tech companies, it also supports fun creative projects and has a particular affinity for Child’s Play Charity. Learn more about Dracogen atwww.dracogen.com.
Stupidcat.com is a unique and successful web development firm with 15 years of experience having built large-scale web solutions generating millions of dollars in revenue. Semi-retired from web development, they hand pick projects and provide free web design support to anyone via Twitter (@stupidcatdesign). Stupidcat.com is the brainchild of Steve Crandall. Steve is currently writing several ebooks on web design and producing video tutorials to help others in the industry. Learn more about their work at Stupidcat.com
If you have listened to the show for sometime, we would love to have you leave feedback on iTunes. We know not all of you use iTunes, but for those that do, it helps us become more visible. If you don’t use iTunes, your feedback is still valuable. Visit our webpage at http://scifidinerpodcast.com and leave a comment on the show notes or email us at scifidinerpodcast@gmail.com We want to know what you are thinking about what we are saying and what shows you are watching.
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Interview: Thomas Dekker of Secret Circle, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, and Heroes fame
Trivia: Trivia this week! Win Thomas Dekker
TV News: Screw You Classic Who!; Arrow News; Battlestar Blood and Chrome Rocks It
Movie News: New Hobbit Trailer, Lucas has the Force, Star Wars Episode 7 has a writer, Darth Vader Might Be Back, and Fox’s Comic Series Bonaza
TWIST: The Shat App, JJ directing Star Wars 7
SciFi 5 in 5 : Top SciFi women who could kick our @$$
New Trivia:
Trivia:Trivia
Question: Who was Starman, in the movie by that name?
You will have until December 11th to send us your answers. Please include the code word mentioned in the first 15 minutes of the show. Send your answer with your mailing address to scifidinerpodcast@gmail.com, call us at 18885084343, or DM us on Twitter at @scifidiner. Make sure you include your e-mail with all entries! Only one entry per person. The SciFi Diner is not responsible for any injuries occurring if you secretly decide to go all shiny and dress in a browncoat and walk into your local bar.
Thomas Alexander Dekker (born December 28, 1987) is an American film and television actor and a musician. He is also a singer and has written and produced two albums.
He is best known for his roles as John Connor in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Nick Szalinski on Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, and Zach onHeroes. He also did the voice of Littlefoot in The Land Before Time V-IX (singing voice in The Land Before Time V) and as Fievel Mousekewitz in An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island and An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster. He is also known for playing Jesse Braun in the 2010 remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street, and recently, Smith in Gregg Araki's film Kaboom. Dekker most recently starred as Adam Conant on The CW series The Secret Circle.
Early life
Dekker was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. His mother, Hilary, is a concert pianist, acting coach, actress, and singer, and his late father, David John Ellis Dekker, was an artist, set designer, opera singer, and actor.His mother is Welsh and his father was an American with Dutch ancestry. As a child, he and his parents moved all over the world, spending time in the United States, Europe (Yorkshire, England, in particular) and Canada.
Career
Early career
Starting his acting career at age six, Dekker was first seen in the soap The Young and the Restless. He then appeared in Star Trek Generations and Village of the Damned. Later, in 1997, he became a regular on the Disney Channel Original Show Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show based on the movie of the same name where he played Nick Szalinski for three years. After the show ended in 2000, he went on to appear in Run of the House, Fillmore!, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, House, Boston Public, Reba and 7th Heaven. He appeared in films such as Campus Confidential and An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster. He has won three Young Artist Awards for his work in The Land Before Time films and one for his guest appearance on Boston Public.
2006–present
In 2006, Dekker landed a recurring role on Heroes playing the character of Zach, (Claire Bennet's best friend). He played Zach for eleven episodes before leaving Heroes to take a starring role in Fox's new showTerminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles as John Connor, starring opposite Lena Headey and Summer Glau. That show debuted January 13, 2008 and was canceled on May 18, 2009. Dekker also played the lead character Nate Palmer in the web based science fiction series IQ-145.
In 2009, Dekker appeared in From Within, a thriller filmed in 2007, and My Sister's Keeper, a drama in which he starred alongside Cameron Diaz, Alec Baldwin, Abigail Breslin and Medium star Sofia Vassilieva.
Recent roles include Laid to Rest, which also stars Lena Headey, All About Evil, an indie horror film, Slaughter's Road, a werewolf film co-starring Ray Stevenson and directed by David Hayter, and Cinema Verite, a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the 1973 PBS documentary series An American Family in which he plays Lance Loud. He starred in the 2010 remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street, released on April 30, 2010. His character's name was Jesse Braun, loosely based on the character Rod Lane in the original.
Dekker stars in Gregg Araki's Kaboom. It is the first film ever awarded the Cannes Film Festival "Queer Palm Award" for its contribution to LGBT presence in cinema. Dekker was a "top candidate" for the lead role in Paramount's remake of Footloose but the role went to Kenny Wormald.
In April 2011, Dekker starred as Lance Loud in the HBO original film Cinema Verite, about the creation of America's first reality television series, An American Family.
As of 2011, he has been cast as Adam, the male lead on the TV series The Secret Circle developed by The CW.
TV News:
6th Doctor warns there'll be no classic Doctors back for Who's 50th
Sixth Doctor Colin Baker, who is best known for wearing a coat that looks like a rainbow threw up all over it, recently opened up about Doctor Who's 50th anniversary. Looks like he's not likely to appear in any future episodes ... and that's not all.
Specifically, when asked if he would reprise his role for the show's 50th anniversary, Baker said, "No. As far I know, neither of any of my erstwhile colleagues have been asked either." He didn't seem terribly broken up about it either, adding, "I think they would be scraping the bottom of the barrel if they asked me to do it. All you have to do is hold up a picture of what I look right now and what I look like then and you'd know why."
All right, Colin's not wrong. Still, though! Fifth Doctor Peter Davison has already successfully returned in the hilarious short episode, Time Crash, so surely there are ways around the age issue. 7th Doc Sylvester McCoy is enjoying a nice little resurgence as Radagast the Brown in The Hobbit, so surely he would be a contender for a return. Paul McGann's eighth incarnation could have been fighting the Time War for as long as the show needed, which is to say nothing of the fact that the dude is still looking pretty fit.
It seems, however, that despite all these reasons, the classic Doctors, as of this moment, shan't return for the 50th. Should they? Moreover, do you believe this news—or is Colin Baker fibbing?
Movie News:
Intense new Hobbit trailer shows off crazy Middle-earth action
As we inch closer to the opening of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit next month, the studio has released a new trailer showing off some intense new action footage from the Lord of the Rings prequel.
The new footage jumps right into the adventure, with orcs and tons of epic action on display. It looks fantastic and definitely has the same feel as the previous LOTR trilogy.
Here's the official synopsis for the first installment, An Unexpected Journey:
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey follows title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain, first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever... Gollum. Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum's "precious" ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities... A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.
George Lucas reveals how involved he'll be in Star Wars VII
After Lucasfilm's sale to Disney, the big question has been just how involved Star Warscreator George Lucas would be in the upcoming sequels. If a new interview with Lucas is to be believed, we have our answer—a lot.
In an interview explaining the deal, Lucas and Lucasfilm exec Kathleen Kennedy discuss the plan moving forward. Aside from reiterating that all those tie-in novels and comics are officially not continuity, Lucas explains what his role as "creative consultant" will be. Essentially? He's going to have his fingerprints all over that script Michael Arndt (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Little Miss Sunshine, Phineas and Ferb) is putting together.
Check out the interview below: It's not too surprising to hear that Disney wants the original architect involved in the scripting phase, but let's hope execs keep enough control to prevent a Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menacelevel meltdown of Jar Jar proportions. What do you think? Are you glad to hear Lucas will be heavily involved in scripting, or do you wish he'd just back off and pass the torch?
It's now official: Star Wars Episode VII has a writer!
We've been wondering who Disney and Lucasfilm would hire to write the new Star Warssequel, and now the higher-ups have confirmed that the job has officially been filled. So who will pen Star Wars VII?
As was rumored a few days ago, Michael Arndt (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Little Miss Sunshine, Phineas and Ferb) has been confirmed as the man who will bring one of the most beloved sci-fi franchises back to the big screen.
Lucasfilm released the news Friday evening at StarWars.com:
As pre-production of Star Wars: Episode VII begins, Lucasfilm has confirmed that award-winning writer Michael Arndt will write the screenplay for the new Star Wars film. As revealed in the ongoing video series posted here on StarWars.com, Kathleen Kennedy and George Lucas have begun story conferences with Arndt. Arndt won an Academy Award® for Best Original Screenplay for writing Little Miss Sunshine (2006), and was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for writing Toy Story 3 (2010).
Though he doesn't have a mountain of experience, Arndt's catalog is solid, and we're curious to see his take on Star Wars. Plus, with George Lucas staying on as a consultant, you'd have to think he'll also get a pass at this thing before it's all over (which could be a good or bad thing, it all depends). What do you think? Is Arndt the man for the job?
Rumor of the Day: Star Wars VII will bring Darth Vader back to life
Though a lot of the original cast have expressed interest in bringing their characters back for Star Wars VII, one of the franchise's most famous baddies bit the dust decades ago—but don't count Darth Vader out just yet.
The Express is reporting a rumor that Disney is keen to bring iconic evildoer Darth Vader back for the latest installment, which could be tough considering that he died in the climax of Return of the Jedi.
Here's what their anonymous insider had to say:
"He's an integral part of the franchise. Replacing him is virtually impossible. The plan is for him to return and play a significant role in the new films ... This is science fiction remember. Darth Vader will rise from the ashes."
It makes sense that they'd want to use Vader, one of the most iconic characters in film, in their new trilogy. But, if true, it could irk fans to have one of the biggest moments from the original films ret-conned just to use a popular character.
It'll be interesting to see how this one plays out, but you've got to admit, it would be cool to have Han,Luke, Leia and Vader all back in one film. What do you think? Should Vader come back from the dead?
Whoa! Fox may have 10+ Marvel comic book movies in the works
Could an X-Force, Deadpool or Cable movie be on the way soon? After seeing the success Marvel has had with The Avengers, the folks at Fox are happy to take a page from their playbook—saying as many as 10 new comic-book-based movies could be coming down the pike from the studio. Comic guru and creative consultant Mark Millar recently opened up to Comic Book Resources about Fox's long-term plan to capitalize on the Marvel properties in their stable (X-Men, Fantastic Four), and said the upcoming Wolverine standalone represents a fresh start for the company. If all goes well, as Iron Man did for Marvel, we could see as many as 10 new comic book movies out of Fox in the coming years: "I felt like Iron Man was really the beginning of something for the Marvel Studios movies, and The Wolverine will be a similar starting point to build a lot off of for the Fox movies ... X-Force or Cable or Deadpool -- all these amazing characters are things we haven't really gotten to yet. You go to any convention in the world, and you'll see 20 people dressed as Deadpool. In a lot of ways, these are Marvel's coolest characters, so I want to remind people of that and build on what we already have. I think there's a great foundation, and just from basic conversations, we've come up with ten movies we could do ... These things cost $150 million each to make, so we have to pick and choose what we want to do." With The Wolverine, Josh Trank's Fantastic Four and X-Men: Days of Future Past all in the works, we're glad to see Fox learning from what's been successful and finally taking their comic properties seriously. With Millar on board, here's hoping they can actually hit that quality sweet spot that Marvel has perfected with Phase One of their film plan. What do you think? Can Fox successfully build an expansive comic universe ala Marvel/Disney?
This week in Star Trek:
Want Shatner's voice in your pocket? There's an app for that
Even if we just love to hate it, there's no doubt that we all have love for William Shatner's legendary voice. In fact, some of you have probably been wishing you could just carry that voice around in your pocket all day long, right? Right? Well, this is your lucky day.
Blindlight Apps has just launched a new $2.99 download for your iPhone called "Shatoetry," which lets you create your own bit of William Shatner monologue based on pre-recorded speech from the actor himself. It's like having Shatner in your pocket, and he'll say (almost) anything you want.
Basically, you get to choose from any of the words Shatner pre-recorded, then arrange those words into a phrase or speech or poem for Shatner's voice to read back to you. You can even pick from three different cadences based on what tone you'd like to set. And best of all, you can insert a patented Shatner pause at any time to give that extra Shatnery feel.
For example, here's a "Shatism," as the app calls for them, perfect for that Friday evening commute home:
The app also comes with a "Create With Friends" mode, so you can collaborate on new Shatisms and even build on Shatisms your friends have already created. It's perfect for the die-hard Shatner fan, or for someone who just wants to really annoy a friend who's super into Patrick Stewart.
J.J. Abrams to Possibly Direct Star Wars: Episode VII
November 10, 2012 By TrekNews.net Staff In Celebrity, Star Trek 2013
Following last week’s surprising merger of Lucasfilm and Disney, it has already been announced that three new Star Wars films are already planned.
With Star Wars: Episode VII scheduled to begin filming sometime in 2014 and a release set for the following year, the search for a director has become a top priority for the Disney team. The official Star Wars website has already reported that award-winning writer Michael Arndt has been tapped to write the screenplay.
As pre-production of Star Wars: Episode VII begins, Lucasfilm has confirmed that award-winning writer Michael Arndt will write the screenplay for the new Star Wars film. As revealed in the ongoing video series posted here on StarWars.com, Kathleen Kennedy and George Lucas have begun story conferences with Arndt.
According to Vulture, some of Hollywood’s biggest names, including Star Trek‘s J.J. Abrams, The Incredibles‘ Brad Bird and Raiders Of The Lost Ark‘s Steven Spielberg will (or possibly have already) receive a 40-something page treatment of the film to gauge their interest in taking on the directing duties for the film.
UPDATE:
Hollywood Life recently discussed the possibility of directing the next Star Wars film with J.J. Abrams during an interview. While Abrams plays down the possibility, he doesn’t entirely rule it out.
Look, Star Wars is one of my favorite movies of all time. I frankly feel that – I almost feel that, in a weird way, the opportunity for whomever it is to direct that movie, it comes with the burden of being that kind of iconic movie and series. I was never a big Star Trek fan growing up, so for me, working on Star Trek didn’t have any of that, you know, almost fatal sacrilege, and so, I am looking forward more then anyone to the next iterations of Star Wars, but I believe I will be going as a paying moviegoer!
Scifi Five In Five
Top SciFi women who could kick our @$$
1. Zoe Warren-Washburne from Firefly & Serenity
2. Ellen Ripley from the Alien Franchise
3. Alice from Resident Evil Franshise
4. Sarah Connor-Terminator franchise
5. Summer Glau-Firefly/Serenity, Terminator Sarah Connor Chronicles
If you have listened to the show for sometime, we would love to have you leave feedback on iTunes. We know not all of you use iTunes, but for those that do, it helps us become more visible. If you don’t use iTunes, your feedback is still valuable. Visit our webpage at http://scifidinerpodcast.com and leave a comment on the show notes or email us at scifidinerpodcast@gmail.com We want to know what you are thinking about what we are saying and what shows you are watching.
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Interview: Our Interview with Robert Greenberger, author of Star Trek: The Complete Unauthorized History
Trivia: Trivia this week! Win Thomas Dekker
TV News: Blood and Chrome; Farscape and SG1 Alumni Joins CW’s The Arrow
Movie News: Man of Steel - NOW IN 3D!; (And Superman Quits His Day Job); Mark Wahlberg in T4? That’s Transformer 4); Howard Shore and The Hobbit; Princess Leia Wants In The Sequels
TWIST: The Only REAL Star Trek Captains and ST:NG Season Two on Bluray
SciFi 5 in 5 : Great Serenity Quotes
New Trivia:
Trivia:Trivia
Question: Who was Starman, in the movie by that name?
You will have until December 11th to send us your answers. Please include the code word mentioned in the first 15 minutes of the show. Send your answer with your mailing address to scifidinerpodcast@gmail.com, call us at 18885084343, or DM us on Twitter at @scifidiner. Make sure you include your e-mail with all entries! Only one entry per person. The SciFi Diner is not responsible for any injuries occurring if you secretly decide to go all shiny and dress in a browncoat and walk into your local bar.
A writer, editor, and project manager, Robert Greenberger has been working in publishing since 1980. A lifelong fan of comics and science fiction, he watched dreams become reality when he first joined Starlog Press in 1980. There, he created Comics Scene which he edited during its initial run. In 1984, he moved to DC Comics where he worked as an editor or administrator until 2000, earning plaudits for his work on the Star Trek comic book. After a brief sojourn to the Internet, he returned to comics in 2001, this time working as an executive at Marvel Comics. This turned out to be a stormy, frustrating year and in 2002 he returned to DC as a senior editor in their growing collected editions department. In 2006, he left DC and found himself having the time of his life as Managing Editor at Weekly World News unitl its clueless management shuttered the paper.
Since then he has been a freelance writer, working on media tie-in properties, original fiction, non-fiction for your young adults and adults, and whatever else has come his way.
Currently, he writes a weekly op-ed column for the Fairfield Patch and a semi-monthly column for Westfield Comics. He makes his home in Connecticut where he is a Fairfield representative to the Greater Bridgeport Regional Planning Agency. For more, check out his website: www.bobgreenberger.com.
We're just two days away from the debut of the new Battlestar Galactica prequel web series Blood and Chrome, and if you weren't already stoked, this clip will definitely put you over the edge. Long before he was an admiral with the fate of humanity in his hands, William Adama was just one damn good pilot.
In this clip from the 10-part series, a partnership between Syfy and Machinima, young William Adama (played by Luke Pasqualino) finds himself in a dogfight with two Cylon fighters, and his Viper is a little worse for wear. To even his odds, he pulls off a daring, almost suicidal and seriously badass maneuver.
Pretty cool, right? And in case you wanted another primer, here's the official description:
An all-new chapter in the Battlestar Galactica saga, Blood and Chrome takes place in the midst of the first Cylon war. As the battle between humans and their creation, the sentient robot Cylons, rages across the 12 colonial worlds, a young, talented fighter pilot, William Adama, finds himself assigned to one of the most powerful battlestars in the Colonial fleet: the Galactica.
The first installment of Blood and Chrome will hit Machinima's YouTube channel Friday, with the rest following over the next month. Then, next year, we're getting a full-length movie follow-up from Syfy. What do you think? Does this clip have you more pumped for the show?
Farscape and Stargate SG-1 fan favorite joins The CW's Arrow
When it comes to sci-fi alumni, Arrow is the place to be. The CW hit has added another guest star to its growing roster. What would be better than a visit from Captain Jack Harkness? How about one from Cmdr. John Crichton? It's being reported that Ben Browder is heading to Arrow. The actor's been cast as the DC Comics character Ted Gaynor. He'll make his debut in episode 11, where he comes between Oliver and Diggle's budding partnership. Gaynor and Diggle served together over in Afghanistan. At the time, Gaynor was his commanding officer. Now he's in Starling City, working as a bodyguard for the Blackhawk Squad Protection Group.
Browder's best known for his roles as John Crichton on Farscape and Cameron Mitchell on Stargate SG-1. He's recently appeared on episodes of Chuck and Doctor Who. Browder makes his Arrowdebut early next year. Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW. What do you think of Browder joining the show?
Movie:
Zack Snyder says we'll get the chance to watch Man of Steel with 3D glasses
You didn't ask for it, but you're getting it anyway. Superman's latest outing, Man of Steel, will be released in 3D. Warner Bros confirmed the decision on Wednesday.
As we all know, Man of Steel wasn't shot in 3D. Therefore, the film has to be converted in post-production. It's a process that doesn't have the best reputation. But the studio has more than seven months to get it right.
In the press release, director Zack Snyder said, "The film is going to be a visually exciting experience in all formats: 2D, 3D and IMAX. Anticipating how audiences today embrace 3D, we designed and photographed the movie in a way that would allow Man of Steel to captivate those moviegoers, while respecting fans who prefer a more traditional cinematic experience. We've taken great measures to ensure the film and the story come first, and 3D is meant as an enhancement."
Hmm, do you trust his judgment?
Man of Steel stars Henry Cavill as Superman/Clark Kent, with Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Michael Shannon as General Zod, Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Laurence Fishburne as Perry White and Russell Crowe as Jor-El.
Man of Steel hits theaters June 14, 2013.
Will you be watching Superman in 3D?
Clark Kent quits newspaper job
Writers says character is likely to start his own blog
DC Comics (CNN) —
In the comic book series' latest issue, which went on sale Wednesday, an outraged Clark Kent quits his job at The Daily Planet after his boss berates him.
"I was taught to believe you could use words to change the course of rivers -- that even the darkest secrets would fall under the harsh light of the sun," the superhero's alter ego says in a newsroom outburst. "But facts have been replaced by opinions. Information has been replaced by entertainment. Reporters have become stenographers. I can't be the only one who's sick of what passes for the news today."
In Wednesday's issue, Kent tells his editor he's been a journalist for barely five years.
But for decades, his job as a reporter at The Daily Planet has been a mainstay of Superman's story.
Word of the superhero's career move drew attention from media critics and others who've watched the newspaper industry's struggles.
"It seems very overly dramatic," said Erica Smith, a former newspaper employee who's tracked U.S. newspaper industry layoffs and buyouts on her Paper Cuts blog since 2007. "It doesn't seem to me to fit either the industry or the character."
If he'd been laid off or taken a buyout, like more than 2,000 others in the U.S. newspaper industry this year, "it would have been a little bit more realistic," Smith said with a laugh.
The proportion of Americans who read news on a printed page is declining, according to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. The center said in a September study that just 23% of those surveyed said they read a print newspaper the previous day -- an 18 percentage point decrease over the past decade. But online and digital readership is growing, the study said.
Did the Internet just land Mark Wahlberg that Transformers gig?
A couple of weeks ago we heard whispers that Michael Bay's next Transformers flick could star Mark Wahlberg, a rumor that Bay himself promptly quashed. But now it seems Bay might be reconsidering, and we really could be headed for a Marky Mark-headlinedTransformers 4 thanks to ... well, you people.
The initial rumor that Bay and Wahlberg could be teaming for the next Autobots vs. Decepticons showdown seemed to be a misunderstanding of actual news, as Bay did confirm that he and Wahlberg were doing a different project together. But now it seems that their previous work may be inspiring a future collaboration of the Transformers kind.
Here's what Bay had to say on his blog: "I squashed a rumor that was on the internet last week. It was about Mark Walhberg. Mark was rumored to be staring in Transformers 4. We are working on another movie together, not T4. I had such a great time working with Mark on Pain and Gain, and he gave such a great performance - well let's say that very internet chatter gave me some ideas. We are at the inception of our story process right now on T4. Let's say some ideas are gaining traction with me and my writer - so I'm here to say thanks internet chatter."
So it would seem Bay has reconsidered ruling out Wahlberg for his next alien robot superblockbuster, thanks (at least in part) to all you guys out there who wouldn't stop spreading and discussing the rumor (and hey, we'll take some of the credit for that too). The question now is whether we really want a Wahlberg Transformers flick, since it's a little closer to really happening.
So, how about it? Is Bay heading in the right direction?
1st gorgeous cut from Hobbit soundtrack sets Middle-earth mood
Aside from the stunning visuals, Howard Shore's gorgeous soundtrack to Lord of the Rings was one of the greatest parts of Peter Jackson's trilogy. The legendary composer has thankfully returned for the Hobbit prequels, and now the first full track has leaked online. Want to hear?
Dubbed "Radagast the Brown," the atmospheric orchestral track definitely evokes the same vibe as the classic Lord of the Rings tunes. The track's title refers to the animal-loving wizard played by former Time Lord Sylvester McCoy. Judging by the title alone, it's likely this tune will pop up at about the same time as McCoy's character. This tidbit also implies that we'll meet Radagast in the first installment of the Hobbit trilogy when it opens Dec. 14.
And now Princess Leia wants back in for new Star Wars trilogy
We already know that Harrison Ford is willing to come back and play Han Solo one more time, but he ain't the only icon who's interested. Could it be that Han's soulmate in a galaxy far, far away would come back, too? Looks like it!
Carrie Fisher was accosted on the street by TMZ (as they are wont to do) and asked what, frankly, we all wanted to know—will she come back, if asked, to play Leia? Well, first they asked her how it felt to be a Disney princess, to which she answered, "Fantastic. Made my day." Then they asked if she'd be in the new Star Wars movie. "Yes, sure," was her response. Then, just to be obnoxiously sure, TMZ pressed on with, "So you will be in the new one?"
"Wouldn't you?" was her dry response.
So Disney would basically be fools to not sign Han and Leia up for a return. After all, that means Jaina and Jacen Solo (Han and Leia's twins in the expanded-universe novels) can also appear. How awesome would that be?
This week in Star Trek:
Kate Mulgrew says Picard and Janeway were only REAL Trek captains
It is a truth universally acknowledged among fans everywhere that there are five captains in the Star Trek universe: James T. Kirk from The Original Series; Jean-Luc Picard fromThe Next Generation; Benjamin Sisko from Deep Space Nine; Kathryn Janeway fromVoyager and Jonathan Archer from Enterprise.
However, according to actress Kate Mulgrew, who played Janeway for seven seasons onStar Trek: Voyager, that's not exactly true.
What the heck is this? "What in the Alpha Quadrant is Kate Mulgrew prattling on about?" is what you guys must be thinking right about now, right?
In an interview with Splitsider, Mulgrew was asked about a certain comment she made "that there were only two real captains, yourself and Mr. [Patrick] Stewart."
To which Mulgrew replied, "No, this is gonna go viral."
Then the journalist also mentioned that Shatner was not necessarily one, to which Mulgrew then said:
Well, there are only two captains who were lost in space who did seven years, okay?Deep Space Nine was a space station. Shatner only did three seasons. [Scott] Bakula was cancelled after four.
As you guys well know, Picard was never "lost in space," but he did do seven seasons of Star Trek: TNG and four films, so he was relatively busy in space as the captain of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D and E).
Then the journalist mentioned that Avery Brooks was only a commander (which was true at first, but fans will recall that he was promoted to the rank of captain in the season-three episode "The Adversary").
That's what I'm saying, it was a space station. He wasn't in space, lost in space. Patrick Stewart and I — Picard and Janeway — were the only two intrepid, lost-in-space captains. I really think that's true, right?
For all of you TNG fans, (and come on, who isn't?), Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 is headed to blu-ray December 4th. Hey, just in time for Christmas, or Picard Day, or whatever. The new release will include a special edition of "The Measure of a Man" that includes deleted scenes and different angles from the broadcast version. Pretty cool. Also included in this special release; a must-see reunion of the cast, who were brought together earlier this year in Calgary in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the series. Produced exclusively for the series' Blu-ray, this never-before-seen reunion roundtable chat features all of the best known cast regulars, joining together for the first time in years to tape a discussion about the legacy of the series. You can get your copy of Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2 on Blu-ray from Amazon .
Scifi Five In Five
Great Firefly/Serenity Quotes
5. Inara: (pissed) "What did I say to you about barging into my shuttle?"
Mal: "That it was manly and impulsive?"
Inara: "Yes, precisely. Only the exact phrase I used was 'don't'."
4.Kaylee: (pointing to a pink frilly dress) "Say, look at the fluffy one!"
Zoe: "Too much foofaraw. If I'm going to wear a dress, I'd want something with some slink."
Wash: "You want a slinky dress? I can buy you a slinky dress. Captain, can I have money for a slinky dress?"
Jayne: "I'll chip in."
Zoe: (to Jayne) "I can hurt you."
3.Mal: "So, she's added cussing and hurling about of things to her repertoire. She really is a prodigy."
Simon: "It's just a bad day."
Mal: "No, a bad day is when someone's yellin' spooks the cattle. Understand? You ever see cattle stampede when they got no place to run? It's kind of like a...a meat grinder. And it'll lose us half the herd."
Simon: "She hasn't gone anywhere near the cattle."
Mal: "No, but in case you hadn't noticed, her voice kinda carries. We're two miles above ground and they can probably hear her down there. Soon as we unload, she can holler until our ears bleed." (to River) "Although I would take it as a kindness if she didn't."
River: "The human body can be drained of blood in 8.6 seconds given adequate vacuuming systems."
Mal: (to Simon) "See, morbid and creepifying, I got no problem with, long as she does it quiet-like."
2.Mal: "Cut her down."
Villager: "The girl is a witch."
Mal: "Yeah, but she's our witch-" (cocks gun, points it at him) "-so cut her the hell down."
1.Bandit #1: "And I think maybe you're gonna give me a little one-on-one time with the missus."
(Husband) Jayne: "Oh, I think you might wanna reconsider that last part. See, I married me a powerful ugly creature."
(Wife) Mal: "How can you say that? How can you shame me in front of new people?"
(Husband) Jayne: "If I could make you purtier, I would."
(Wife) Mal: "You are not the man I met a year ago." (they suddenly draw their guns on the bandits, Mal slowly pulling his bonnet off)
Mal: "Now think real hard. You been bird-dogging this township a while now. They wouldn't mind a corpse of you. Now you can luxuriate in a nice jail cell, but if your hand touches metal, I swear by my pretty floral bonnet: I will end you."
In our twenty-sixth episode of the SciFi Diner Classic, we interview Dr. Star Trek (Larry Nemecek). Since we do a news and interview show, it goes without saying that the news portion of our episodes often date themselves fast. And while the interviews with the people that make Science Fiction happen remain relevant and in our opinion important, most listeners will not listen back 100 episodes and wade through old news just to get to the interview. So what the SciFi Diner Classic aims to do is to share these interviews with you. If you have been with us from the beginning, then bear with us as we introduce some of our newer listeners to voices from the past. We're bringing you just the interview and nothing else.
Larry Nemecek
Larry Wayne Nemecek (born 18 January) is a noted Star Trek author, editor, archivist, consultant and producer. He is married to onetime script coordinatorJanet Nemecek.
A native Oklahoman, Nemecek began considering news and communications as a career in high school after being inspired by a teacher in his journalism class. He majored in theater at college with a journalism minor, and began writing aboutStar Trek because "all the Will Rogers and Sooners football books had been written." He also cites Stephen Edward Poe's classic The Making of Star Trekand Bjo Trimble's Star Trek Concordance as seminal influences in entertainment and genre writing.
As an undergrad at East Central University, Nemecek started a science fiction fan club with his best friend Kevin Hopkins, called "Starbase ECU." His favorite TOS character was Leonard McCoy and in make-up class chose a Tellarite for his non-realistic character project.
While a young newspaper reporter and editor, he chaired publicity for Oklahoma City's SoonerCons and in 1991founded ThunderCon there as an all-media/Star Trek charity convention. In 1993, after the publication of his first professional book, Nemecek began sharing his stories and archives with humor as a guest at conventions worldwide.
Nemecek had a long-distance correspondence with fellow Star Trek fan and artist/author Geoffrey Mandel growing out of points in the Starfleet Medical Reference (Ballantine). Nemecek's early drafts of Star Trek star maps led them to work together when Mandel intended to publish them in fanzine form, but when Mandel was asked to finish the incomplete Star Trek Maps for Bantam Books he managed to include Nemecek's data in the revised format scale.
In 1989, after beginning an annual episode guide and concordance fanzine for the new Star Trek: The Next Generation, Nemecek met with Gene Roddenberry in his office. He was personally thanked by Roddenberry for writing the reference works, which the staff used as an ongoing update to their writer's guide.
From 1998 until 2005, Nemecek served as managing editor of Star Trek: Communicator, overseeing the planning, writers, content and look of the licensed magazine of the Official Star Trek Fan Club. He has been a regular contributor to Star Trek Magazine since 1995, and contributed dozens of articles to Star Trek Fact Files, for which he worked all six years as Los Angeles photo editor and consultant. The topics researched and obscure references and sources tracked fueled the work of the UK-based Fact Files, later seen in the US in Star Trek: The Magazine.
Since 1986, Nemecek has conducted over 500 archival interviews of Star Trek writers, designers, crew and actors, most of them multiple or annual updates over the years and unpublished.
He also appeared in two episodes of the fan film Star Trek: New Voyages, in 2004 and 2006, and in the recently-released vignette No-Win Scenario as a Tellarite.
Contributions to Star Trek
Nemecek appearing as a 22nd century civilian
In 1990, the shuttle Nenebek, featured in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Final Mission", was named in his honor by Jeri Taylor. She had not yet met him but, like other writing staffers, had his fanzine concordances on her desk. She did not think to tell him the story until 1998.
In 1992, Nemecek was the author of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion. He would later update this in May 1995 and in 2003. His text commentary also appeared in the CD version.
In December 1994, Nemecek and his wife Janet pitched and sold a story, "Reflections," for the yet-to-air series Star Trek: Voyager. It was shelved for six years before being updated and written as "Prophecy", an episode for Voyager's last season in 2001.
Nemecek co-wrote The Making of Star Trek: First Contact, published by Titan Books in the UK from material he,Ian Spelling and Lou Anders wrote for Titan's magazine specials on the film. He also wrote the chapter openers and other research for Star Trek: Star Charts – a reunion of sorts with onetime Star Trek Maps colleague Mandel. He authored the original museum artifact placards and recent timeline update in the museum area of Star Trek: The Experience, and was a consultant there as well as on such projects as the Star Trek: Federation Science European tour and the Star Trek World Tour guidebooks and image references.
In 2002, Nemecek was interviewed for the bonus features (Star Trek Moments and Memories) on the seventh season DVD for Star Trek: The Next Generation. He spoke again in interviews for the new 20th anniversary DVD set for TNG in 2007, and served as Special Consultant on the overall project.
In 2005, Nemecek appeared with other cameo guests and crew in "These Are the Voyages...", the last episode ofStar Trek: Enterprise. His costume was a reuse of Avery Brooks' suit from DS9: "Far Beyond the Stars". Nemecek recounted his experience filming the episode in his "Endgame" column in Star Trek Magazine issue 124.
For many years, Nemecek was a contributor and producer on the official Star Trek website. In 1996, he was its first-ever chat guest. In December 2007, however, he and the rest of the StarTrek.com production team were laid off by CBS Interactive, the result of restructuring at the company.
He is also the sole contributor to Star Trek - Best Episode Collection, a Fact Files DVD project for Japan, and continues his two columns for Star Trek Magazine. He hopes to work again soon with Communicator publisher Dan Madsen as well.
In our twenty-fifth episode of the SciFi Diner Classic, we interview with Kevin Sorba ( Hercules and Andromeda). Since we do a news and interview show, it goes without saying that the news portion of our episodes often date themselves fast. And while the interviews with the people that make Science Fiction happen remain relevant and in our opinion important, most listeners will not listen back 100 episodes and wade through old news just to get to the interview. So what the SciFi Diner Classic aims to do is to share these interviews with you. If you have been with us from the beginning, then bear with us as we introduce some of our newer listeners to voices from the past. We're bringing you just the interview and nothing else.
Kevin Sorbo
Kevin David Sorbo (born September 24, 1958) is an American actor best known for the roles of Hercules in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Captain Dylan Hunt in Andromeda and Kull in Kull the Conqueror.
Early life
Sorbo was born in Mound, Minnesota, where he attended Mound Westonka High School. He is the son of Ardis, a nurse, and Lynn Sorbo, a junior high school mathematics and biology teacher. He is of Norwegian descent and was raised in a Lutheran family. Sorbo attended Minnesota State University Moorhead and worked as a model for print and television advertising in the 1980s.
Career
Sorbo started his acting career in the late 1980s making guest appearances in several television series such as 1st & Ten, Murder She Wrote and The Commish. He was considered for and lost out to Dean Cain as Superman in Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and was a possible contender for the role of Agent Mulder in The X Files which went to David Duchovny.
In 1994, he shot to fame when he played the role of Hercules in the television film Hercules and the Amazon Women. This was the first in a series of television films that served as pilots for the TV seriesHercules: The Legendary Journeys, which ran from 1995 to 1999.
Sorbo also guest-starred as Hercules in episodes of the 1995-2001 spin-off series Xena: Warrior Princess and provided the voice of Hercules in the 1998 direct-to-video animated film Hercules and Xena - The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus.
Other voice-over work followed, with Sorbo providing the voices of Reiko and Quan Chi in the 1997 video game Mortal Kombat 4. In between the years playingHercules, he played his first leading film role in Kull the Conqueror (1997).
In 1997, while on a publicity tour for Kull the Conqueror and between the 4th and 5th seasons of Hercules, Sorbo experienced an aneurysm in his shoulder, which led to three strokes. As a result, he was weakened for the next several years, a condition that he and the producers of Hercules kept secret from the public. (Sorbo only revealed the details in 2011.) During the last two seasons of Hercules, the 5th and 6th, which aired in 1998 and 1999, Sorbo was given a reduced filming schedule to accommodate his condition, and more guest stars were brought in.
After Hercules came to an end, Sorbo played the starring role of Captain Dylan Hunt in the science-fiction drama series Andromeda from 2000 to 2005. In 2006, he played a recurring role on the final season of The O.C and guest-starred in the sitcom Two and a Half Men. In 2007, he starred in the direct-to-video film Walking Tall: The Payback, which was a sequel to the 2004 film Walking Tall. He reprised his role in the second sequel, Walking Tall: Lone Justice which released later that year. He also starred in the Lifetime Channel film Last Chance Café, the Hallmark Channel film Avenging Angel, co-starring his real life wife Sam Jenkins and guest starred as a bounty hunter in the season-two episode "Bounty Hunters!" of the series Psych. He appeared in the 2008 spoof film Meet the Spartans, which was a box office success despite being universally negatively reviewed by critics. He starred in the Albert Pyun directed SciFi Vampire flick Tales of the Ancient Empire.
Sorbo voiced one of the main protagonists, Prometheus, in the Wii video game The Conduit.
Sorbo returned to the role of Hercules, albeit in a more sinister portrayal, in the video game God of War III released for the PlayStation 3 in March 2010.
If you have listened to the show for sometime, we would love to have you leave feedback on iTunes. We know not all of you use iTunes, but for those that do, it helps us become more visible. If you don’t use iTunes, your feedback is still valuable. Visit our webpage at http://scifidinerpodcast.com and leave a comment on the show notes or email us at scifidinerpodcast@gmail.com We want to know what you are thinking about what we are saying and what shows you are watching.
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Interview: Our Interview with Mackenzie Mason (Cortana from Halo 4)
Trivia: Kate Mulgrew Give Away
TV News: Last night's Walking Dead S3 premiere shambles to a HUGE record, Rumor of the Day: Firefly Animated Series?, Defiance Trailer
Movie News: Movie News: Robocop movie delayed. James Bond: Sky Fall Trailer
TWIST: Wil Wheaton and LeVar Burton To Guest Star Again On Big Bang Theory
SciFi Five in Five: Top 5 Philip K. Dick movies from Wayne Henderson
New Trivia:
Trivia: Since no one, and I mean NO ONE was able to answer last months trivia, we're trying a different tactic to give away an autographed picture of Kate Mulgrew, Captain Janeway of Star Trek: Voyager. All you need to do is write in and explain why you are the biggest fan of Kate Mulgrew. Please include your address and the code word mentioned in the first 15 minutes of the show. We'll be drawing a name the middle of October.
Prize: An Autographed copy of Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway)
Mackenzie was born in the Philippines and since has lived in Puerto Rico, Germany, Virginia and San Diego. After attending The International School of Stuttgart, Mackenzie went on to finish high school at the prestigious Miss Porter's School in Farmington Connecticut. She continued her higher education at The University of Southern California where she studied Communication and Theatre.
In college she began appearing in many performances and plays, and was quickly noticed for her stage presence and on set natural abilities.
Mackenzie has a very strong sense of comedy and has a natural ability to make people laugh. She trains at the improv schools, The Groundlings and The Second City and is currently writing sketches with a comedy group she formed with fellow classmates.
She is a self-proclaimed bookworm, spiritual guru, Sci-Fi geek, and horror fanatic who doesn't take herself too seriously.
To see a video of Mackenzie in action, click here.
TV News:
Walking Dead S3 premiere shambles to a HUGE record
Last season, The Walking Dead opened and closed its second year with record-setting numbers for a basic-cable drama. Now the season-three numbers are in, and they're enough to make even the broadcast shows quake with fear.
Last night, the third-season premiere, "Seed," racked up 10.9 million viewers and a powerful 5.7 demo rating. When you factor in the encore showings late last night, the episode was seen by more than 15 million people (and that's not even counting the people who recorded it to watch later), a number second only to prime-time football viewership on the night.
If you're wondering how that stacks up with last year, it's about a 50 percent increase in viewers from the kickoff of season two. In terms of ratings, the episode has eclipsed the season-two finale as one of the highest-rated basic-cable dramas in the 18-49 demo ever, surpassing the finale demo score by a full point. We were expecting the show to post gains, but this is just ridiculous.
Though we've still got a few more premieres on the horizon in the coming weeks, The Walking Dead's definitely got our top vote for most impressive debut of the 2012-2013 season so far. They've gotta be having a party over at AMC right now.
Rumor of the Day:
There's a Firefly animated spinoff in the works?
It's been nearly a decade since Fox canceled Firefly, and the show's rabid following still hasn't stopped clamoring for more. We've got a movie, we've got comic books, and a reunion special is on the way, but could we get something else? Could Firefly go animated?
Just as they did at San Diego Comic-Con over the summer, Firefly cast members reunited at New York Comic-Con over the weekend to talk about the show's past and future. This time it was a smaller group, featuring only Nathan Fillion, Jewel Staite and Sean Maher, but during their session they managed to unleash a tidbit of maybe-news that's liable to get Browncoats everywhere excited.
"If we're dreaming, tell me what you think about this: Firefly the animated series," Fillion said during the panel.
Really? Could our beloved Serenity fly back onto our screens as a cartoon, or was Fillion just messing around? According to Maher, the idea's actually been toyed with.
"I know somebody who is actually trying to get that done, who has approached Joss [Whedon about it," Maher said after the panel. "He used to work with Guillermo del Toro."
Just who this person might be remains a mystery (for now), but this actually seems like a viable way to carry on the series without worrying about the ages of the characters. Plus, voice acting takes less time for the cast (and you don't have to build sets and coordinate locations), which could mean that even the always-busy Fillion might make time to play Cartoon Mal and star in his hit series Castle simultaneously.
Of course, it's just a convention rumor at this point, but what do you think? Could Firefly continue in the cartoon world, even with someone other than Whedon at the helm?
You'll have to wait a little longer for that RoboCop reboot
It's a bad day for sci-fi. Sony Pictures is pushing back two of its most anticipated releases: RoboCop and Elysium. We'll have to wait a little longer for Jose Padilha's remake and Neill Blomkamp's follow-up to his Oscar-nominated District 9.
According to THR, RoboCop has been delayed a year. Instead of debuting Aug. 9, 2013, it will hit theaters Feb. 7, 2014. We're not sure why the move was made, but the extra six months will give the film ample time for post-production.
After shuffling the schedule, RoboCop's old release date has been given to Elysium. The film was originally slated for March 1, 2013, and will now open Aug. 9. The film is "set on a space station occupied by the very wealthy while the rest of humanity lives on a ravaged, overpopulated Earth." Elysium stars Matt Damon, Jodie Foster and Sharlto Copley.
What do you think of the scheduling shakeup? Is it a good or a bad move?
Wil Wheaton and LeVar Burton To Guest Star Again On Big Bang Theory
By Crewman Becky | October 5, 2012 - 10:14 pm
Short but sweet! …short story…sweet news.
Turns out that on an upcoming episode of The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon is making a new “Fun With Flags” webisode, this time focusing on the flags of Star Trek. While it’s not totally clear how Wil and LeVar will play into it, we’re guessing we won’t be disappointed.
This newest Star Trek heavy episode is currently scheduled to air November 8th.
If you have listened to the show for sometime, we would love to have you leave feedback on iTunes. We know not all of you use iTunes, but for those that do, it helps us become more visible. If you don’t use iTunes, your feedback is still valuable. Visit our webpage at http://scifidinerpodcast.com and leave a comment on the show notes or email us at scifidinerpodcast@gmail.com We want to know what you are thinking about what we are saying and what shows you are watching.
Our Interview:
Our Fair City is a campy post-apocalyptic science fiction radio epic…for the internet.
A darkly funny, highly whimsical look at corporate consumerism all grown up, Our Fair City is set in the not so distant future: the skies are stormy, and the landscape is a vast frozen tundra. Lightning rigs high above the city gather energy from thunderstorms, mad scientists walk the earth, and adorably monstrous Molepeople dig tunnels deep underground to expand the city’s habitable space.
Clayton Faits grew up in Southwick, Massachusetts, where the days are short and the winters are long. After studying theater and history at Tulane University, he moved to Chicago where conditions are much the same. In addition to writing for Our Fair City, he enjoys games of all kinds, toys that fly, and jokes that aren’t funny.
Jeffrey Gardner: Co-Creator/Director:
Jeffrey is a stage director, adaptor, and dramaturg living and working in Chicago, IL. During the day, he can often be found working as an Operations Coordinator at the Museum of Science and Industry.
In his copious spare time, Jeffrey enjoys playing folk music slightly faster than it was meant to be played, complicated board games, and commuting via bicycle.
If you have listened to the show for sometime, we would love to have you leave feedback on iTunes. We know not all of you use iTunes, but for those that do, it helps us become more visible. If you don’t use iTunes, your feedback is still valuable. Visit our webpage at http://scifidinerpodcast.com and leave a comment on the show notes or email us at scifidinerpodcast@gmail.com We want to know what you are thinking about what we are saying and what shows you are watching.
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Trivia: Win Kate Mulgrew
TV News: Fringe News & Walking Dead news. Revealed: 1st details for Whedon's new S.H.I.E.L.D. TV characters
Movie News: Siri on Robot Movies, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes has a directors, Iron Man 3 set pics show new Iron Patriot armor in all its glory
Special: The Earth Sings
Podio Book/Drama News: Our Fair City
TWIST: Title of Star Trek movie sequel announcement, Ron D. Moore on bringing Trek back to the small screen
SciFi Five in Five: Top 5 Warehouse 13 quotes
New Trivia:
Trivia: Since no one, and I mean NO ONE was able to answer last months trivia, we're trying a different tactic to give away an autographed picture of Kate Mulgrew, Captain Janeway of Star Trek: Voyager. All you need to do is write in and explain why you are the biggest fan of Kate Mulgrew. Please include your address and the code word mentioned in the first 15 minutes of the show. We'll be drawing a name the middle of October.
Prize: An Autographed copy of Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway)
You will have until October 15th to send us your answers. Please include the code word mentioned in the first 15 minutes of the show. Send your answer with your mailing address to scifidinerpodcast@gmail.com, call us at 18885084343, or DM us on Twitter at @scifidiner. Make sure you include your e-mail with all entries! Only one entry per person. The SciFi Diner is not responsible for any injuries occurring if you secretly decide to go all shiny and dress in a browncoat and walk into your local bar.
Fringe showrunner reveals surprising truth about amber's origins
Over five seasons, the team behind Fox's Fringe has built a dense sci-fi world full of quirks and nuance, all leading to the future-jump we saw this past Friday with the premiere of season five. But did you know one major plot point that has run the length of the series was actually retconned? In an interview promoting season five, producer J.H. Wyman told Collider that the concept of using amber to seal cracks between the universes, which showed up early in the first season encasing a bus and has been used and referenced numerous times in the show's run, wasn't actually "re-contextualized" into the larger story until later: "Well, it's been such a long road of twists and turns, and ideas come from all over. Sometimes something you thought wouldn't really be as big as it was blows up into something else. There are certain episodes that, all of a sudden, just really touched people. 'White Tulip' came from a dream. I thought, 'Why did that episode touch people?' We like to be clever and say, 'Well, we knew a lot of stuff,' because we did, but the truth is that we didn't know a lot of stuff, as well. We did not know, at the beginning on the bus, that the amber was amber from the alternate universe. It was re-contextualized. It just fits like a puzzle and you go, 'Wow, that's really interesting.' You find the things that work and the things that don't work, and you go from there. It's like a living, breathing organism that you listen to. Sometimes we don't hear so well, but if you listen to it, it indicates where you should go, naturally. So, that idea has changed where we're going to end up, even up until the last episode. My thinking on the episode was fluctuating and vacillating between several different ideas."
Considering how twisty the show has been the past few years, from introducing multiple universes to setting the final year in a future nanny state, it's not surprising to hear that the writers made some course corrections along the way to get us here. But it's extremely interesting to see just which concepts were adapted into the plan and not part of it from the start. The full interview is well worth a read, as Wyman discusses some of the big ideas behind the series. What do you think of where we've ended up in season five? Do the writers have us on the right track, or do you miss the alt-universes of yore?
Get ready for Walking Dead S3 with 4 creepy new webisodes
It may be two weeks until the highly anticipated third season of The Walking Dead begins, but the network is continuing its recent trend of whetting our undead appetite with a series of webisodes. This season? A claustrophobic tale of survivors seeking refuge at an abandoned storage facility. As the show has grown into its own, the webisodes have gotten more and more elaborate. They still feel a bit low-budget, but the storyline and casting are top-notch—with Lost alum Daniel Roebuck (Doc Arzt) in a co-starring role. Plus, we even got a peek at Rick Grimes' past life, via his old storage unit. Here's the synopsis: Cold Storage tells the story of a young man, Chase (played by Josh Stewart), trying to reach his sister in the early days of the zombie apocalypse. He finds temporary shelter in a storage facility run by a former employee named B.J. (Roebuck); however, things are not what they appear.
Revealed: 1st details for Whedon's new S.H.I.E.L.D. TV characters Joss Whedon and company sure don't mess around. It seemed like only yesterday that we started getting the first details on the TV series that would play home to the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and now we're already getting the first details on our main characters.
All right, let's dive right in and then see where we land. Our first character details are:
SKYE — This late-20s woman sounds like a dream: fun, smart, caring and confident—with an ability to get the upper hand by using her wit and charm.
AGENT GRANT WARD — Quite the physical specimen and "cool under fire," he sometimes botches interpersonal relations. He's a quiet one with a bit of a temper, but he's the kind of guy that grows on you.
AGENT ALTHEA RICE — Also known as "The Cavalry," this hardcore soldier has crazy skills when it comes to weapons and being a pilot. But her experiences have left her very quiet and a little damaged.
AGENT LEO FITZ and AGENT JEMMA SIMMONS — These two came through training together and still choose to spend most of their time in each other's company. Their sibling-like relationship is reinforced by their shared nerd tendencies—she deals with biology and chemistry, he's a whiz at the technical side of weaponry.
Is it just us, or do those first three characters sound an awful lot like Inara, Mal and Zoe from Joss's old show, Firefly? Not calling it a bad thing, just that it is a bit of a thing.
Otherwise, this is all very general. These are the kind of details that aid the writers as they map out where their characters' strengths and weaknesses might lie and how those characters will or will not interact with each other. They also serve as a nice little tease for us fans as we try to figure out what this show will be like or, even better, who should be cast in each part.
Movie:
It's official! Dawn of the Planet of the Apes has found its director
20th Century Fox has finally selected one of the seven names in contention to direct the sequel to last year's Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Can you guess which one it is? According to Deadline, the studio has made an offer to Matt Reeves, director ofCloverfield and Let Me In. Fox chose Reeves over a list of other highly touted filmmakers that included Guillermo Del Toro (Pacific Rim), Rian Johnson (Looper), Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter), Juan Antonio Bayona (The Orphanage), Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later) and J. Blakeson (The Disappearance of Alice Creed). The chance to direct the film came about quickly last month after Rupert Wyatt, who was behind the camera for Rise, dropped out of the sequel. Wyatt allegedly walked away because he wasn't sure he could make the movie's May 23, 2014, release date; Reeves apparently has complete confidence that he can. The writers of Rise, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, have already handed in a script for Dawn that the studio is apparently very pleased with, so it looks like a big old green light for the return of Caesar (Andy Serkis) as he leads his new breed of superintelligent apes into a full-scale, worldwide revolution against a human race decimated by the same virus that enhanced the apes' brains (at least, that's the story we want to see!) What do you think of Fox's choice? Is Reeves a good pick to usher in the Dawn of the Planet of the Apes?
This is what happens if you ask Siri's opinion about robot movies
Apple just keeps innovating. Last fall they released the personal assistant application known as Siri, and everyone's iPhones started answering questions and reading text messages out loud and giving directions. Now Siri's taken another step forward, into the realm of film criticism. Last month, Apple released iOS 6, the latest version of its mobile operating system, and it included a number of expansions to Siri's abilities. It can now dictate Twitter updates for you, tell you sports statistics, make restaurant reservations and launch apps. It can also pull up movie information, but apparently if you ask it about films that feature artificial intelligence, it gives a little added commentary of its own. Check out the responses to Blade Runner, Wall-E and 2001: A Space Odyssey. As you can see, Siri's very sympathetic to both the Replicants and HAL. That's why we're recommending to you right now that you never, ever ask it about The Terminator. There are too many iPhones out in the world to risk a Siri-led uprising.
Iron Man 3 set pics show new Iron Patriot armor in all its glory Marvel's next phase of films is well on its way, and flagship standalone series Iron Man is currently shooting its third entry in Florida. Luckily for us, some bystanders snapped some fantastic shots of the new armor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) and company will be rocking.
According to set reports, the filming took place at a replica of the restaurant Neptune's Net, and shows off both the new Iron Man armor and the mysterious Iron Patriot suit we've been seeing around.
The third film follows the popular Extremis storyline from the character's comic run, which should make for some great nanotech intrigue.
Sadly, we still don't know how the Iron Patriot suit fits in to the latest sequel, but rumor has it that it could be adapted as a new version of War Machine. That idea makes the most sense, as the comic version of the character is played by Spider-Man's Norman Osborn, who is currently unavailable due to a separate Spidey film deal.
Check out the new armor below and let us know what you think:
Special:
Listen to the sound Earth makes when its radiation belts sing
Unless you're a fan of Queen's soundtrack for the Flash Gordon movie (and really, who isn't?), you probably don't associate space with singing very much. But that's about to change. Thanks to NASA, we can now hear the music of the radio waves coming from Earth's radiation belts, and it's spectacular. Back in August, NASA launched a pair of Radiation Belt Storm Probes into the Van Allen radiation belts surrounding Earth. Each probe carries a device called an Electric and Magnetic Field Instrument Suite and Integrated Science (EMFISIS) receiver, designed by University of Iowa physics professor Craig Kletzing and his team. The probes, and the receivers, are in the radiation belts to study the effect that highly energized "killer electrons" might have on satellites and astronauts traveling through the otherwise harmless radiation. But there's something else out there worth checking out, and it's known as "chorus." Chorus is the term used to describe the audio version of radio signals emitted by plasma waves as they travel through the belts. "This is what the radiation belts would sound like to a human being if we had radio antennas for ears," Kletzing said. Radio operators have been able to hear low-quality versions of chorus for years, but this is the first time such high-powered instrumentation has captured the sound. Take a listen.
Weird, right? Like a combination of crickets and sonar. As spectacular as that is, though, it's actually only a mono recording from the testing phase of the probes. Kletzing said he hopes to get a stereo version of chorus after the probes complete their 60-day checkout phase in the coming weeks. It'll be like Pink Floyd in space.
Podio Drama:
Our Fair City
Our Fair City is a campy post-apocalyptic science fiction radio epic...for the internet. It is a collaborative work of prophecy, a story of the future told through the art forms of the past, a mashup of steampunk, cyberpunk, film noir, and classic horror that will blow your mind.
Exclusive: Sequel Title Confirmed – ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’
As for the title itself, "Into Darkness" does not reveal anything specific about the plot. So for those who Exclusive: Sequel Title Confirmed – ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ September 7, 2012
by Anthony Pascale , Filed under: Star Trek sequel (2013) , trackback
TrekMovie has an update on our earlier story regarding the title for the Star Trek sequel We can now confirm the title that has been chosen by JJ Abrams and Paramount for the 2013 movie. More details below.
Sequel title: "Star Trek Into Darkness"
TrekMovie has confirmed with multiple sources that "Star Trek Into Darkness" has been selected as the title for the 2013 sequel to JJ Abrams’ Star Trek movie. This is a title that comes out of a long process of discussion amongst the creative team. As reported earlier, Paramount tested a number of titles for the film over the summer, including at least one title that did not include "Star Trek." Also noted in our earlier article, the title (by design) does not include a colon, like were used for the past franchise films such “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” "Star Trek: First Contact," etc.
While Paramount will not officially confirm the news, multiple sources have told TrekMovie this is the title they are going with as of now. It has also been reported by ComingSoon that Paramount has secured the domain names to both www.startrekintodarkness.com and www.startrekintodarknessmovie.com, neither of which has any content.
If you were hoping for "Star Trek Khan" or "The Revenge of Gary Mitchell" you are out of luck. However, "Into Darkness" certainly gives us a hint that this film could have a serious tone and perhaps darker theme than the 2009 Star Trek film. On the other hand the title is also evocative of Star Trek’s core mission of going into the “darkness” of space, to seek out new life and new civilizations. Of course the current Trek team often point to Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy as inspiration, with the second film in that series being titled "The Dark Knight" which itself had some very dark themes. Is this Trek sequel Star Trek’s "Dark Knight"? As that film grossed $1B world wide, I imagine Paramount is certainly hoping it is.
According to sources, the creative team are still working on how they will officially roll out this new title. The first acknowledgement will likely be made with some kind of visual treatment, either a type treatment for the title or possibly even a teaser poster or image. Indications are that this official roll out should be coming soon.
What do you think?
Ron Moore explains what it would take to make a new Trek TV series
While Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller and X-Men director Byan Singer are still dreaming about bringing Star Trek back to TV, Star Trek vet Ron D. Moore explains what it would take to return the sci-fi series to the small screen.
Moore was a writer and producer on many Star Trek series and films, starting with Star Trek: The Next Generation, then Deep Space Nine and Voyager, before he went on to reboot Battlestar Galactica successfully for TV.
So what does Ron D. Moore think it would take to bring back Trek on TV now in the wake of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek films?
People have to understand that the Star Trek films are a different animal. And that goes for the original series' movies, as well as those from The Next Generation, and from J.J. By their nature, the Star Trek films are much more action-oriented, with space battles, big villains, lots of running and jumping. The stakes for Earth and the universe are always enormous.
But the lifeblood of Star Trek's television shows is its morality plays and social commentary. It's sci-fi that provides a prism on human society and culture. The movies are never really going to do what the episodes do, like split Picard into two in a transporter beam and then talk philosophically about the nature of humanity, which parts of our strength come from good and which from evil. The movies are never going to do that. Star Trek: The Next Generation was about those moral issues, about how societies grow and are differently affected. None of these are topics that the movies are going to tackle.
To create Star Trek in the form that people are familiar with requires another television series, and I think it will be successful again in that medium. You have to spend some time talking about its form and structure, and how to update it again for a new audience. You still want the "boldly go where no one has gone before" part with a ship, crew and ongoing mission. That's part and parcel of the franchise.
But you have to be able to tackle big ideas, which are larger than chasing the villain of the week. That's really not what the series was very good at. I mean, you could look back at the original Star Trek series or The Next Generation and find some cool action-adventure episodes with space battles, but the show is about so much more than that. If you were trying to do that flavor of Star Trek on television every week, it would just fail.
Do you guys agree with Ron D. Moore?
See an awesome Trek Gangnam Style parody done entirely in Klingon
We've seen a lot of sci-fi parodies of Korean pop star PSY's worldwide hit "Gangnam Style," but more keep beaming in. A new, extra-nerdy version of the tune just hit the 'net, and this time it's done in an alien language.
This particular version comes courtesy of the nerdy chicks at Comediva, who decided that getting into costume and doing the dance, or writing their own weird lyrics, just wasn't enough. No, this called for boldly going where no parody video has gone before. So they translated all the lyrics into Klingon, dressed up and gave the world "Klingon Style."
Scifi Five In Five
Warehouse 13 quotes
5. Artie Nelson: Y'know what the Talmud says? When someone's comin' to kill ya, get up early, kill 'em first.
4.Claudia: Does this mean i'm an agent now?
Artie: No it means i can reach you anytime of day or night.
Claudia: Okay not so good.
3."' I knew you were not Myka when you kissed me, Myka would never kiss me even if her life depended on it"
2.Steve: Wait, Pete and Myka get a dagger and we get a plague? Why don't we stop being the B-Team?
Claudia: We are not the B-Team fool, we are the second A-Team.
2.Myka: Listen, when Cody hit you, I think that I saw something.
Pete: All I saw were stars oh and little birds.
1.Myka: You sure you are ok? You still look a little woozy.
In our twenty-fourth episode of the SciFi Diner Classic, we interview with David Nykl (Dr. Radek Zelenka from Stargate: Atlantis, Sanctuary, and Fringe). Since we do a news and interview show, it goes without saying that the news portion of our episodes often date themselves fast. And while the interviews with the people that make Science Fiction happen remain relevant and in our opinion important, most listeners will not listen back 100 episodes and wade through old news just to get to the interview. So what the SciFi Diner Classic aims to do is to share these interviews with you. If you have been with us from the beginning, then bear with us as we introduce some of our newer listeners to voices from the past. We're bringing you just the interview and nothing else.
Davis Nykl
David Nykl (born 7 February 1967 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech Canadian actor of film, television, commercials and theater.
After the Soviet invasion in 1968, he and his family left then-Communist Czechoslovakia for Canada. Upon arriving at Victoria, British Columbia, his father found work as a structural engineer and his mother found work as a nurse.
Nykl attended the University of British Columbia, where he majored in liberal arts.
Nykl has appeared heavily in Vancouver and Prague in dozens of theater, film and television productions. Known for his versatility and depth as an actor, he has also produced theatre and film projects, and in 1994, he co-founded Prague's Misery Loves Company Theatrewith Richard Toth and Ewan McLaren.
He is known to science fiction fans as the recurring Stargate Atlantis character of Dr. Radek Zelenka, a Czech scientist on Earth's expedition to the "lost city" of Atlantis. His character often provides a foil to the main scientists, who forget the limits of their situation.
He is fluent in Czech, English, French and Spanish. Though his character on Stargate Atlantis speaks English with a Czech accent, Nykl normally speaks with a Canadian accent. Whenever Zelenka spoke Czech in Stargate Atlantis, Nykl was given the lines in English, and he translated them.
On this SciFi Rewind, Scott and Miles from the SciFi Diner Podcast and John Mierau from Serving Worlds.com rewatch Starship Troopers, a controversial film as far as its place in the Science Fiction, and share their favorite scenes and delve deep into the facts and stories behind it. The episode is rounded out with listener thoughts and feedback as well. In our next rewatch, we will be rewatching the iconic film Galaxy Quest. Be sure to watch Galaxy Quest with us and send in your thoughts by October 30th. If you want to share your SciFi Rewind with us and have us talk about it on the show or if you want to comment on our rewinds, please e-mail us at scifirewind@gmail.com (you can attach an mp3 audio file if you want) or call us at 18885084343.
Direct download: sfrw20.mp3
Category:general
-- posted at: 10:07pm EST
If you have listened to the show for sometime, we would love to have you leave feedback on iTunes. We know not all of you use iTunes, but for those that do, it helps us become more visible. If you don’t use iTunes, your feedback is still valuable. Visit our webpage at http://scifidinerpodcast.com and leave a comment on the show notes or email us at scifidinerpodcast@gmail.com We want to know what you are thinking about what we are saying and what shows you are watching.
TV News: Message from the Observers, Shannara book series comeing to TV, Nielsan revises how it does ratings.
Movie News: First look at RoboCop
TWIST: Star Trek celebrates 46 years; Life After Trek interviews with Mike Demerritt
SciFi Five in Five: Raul Ybarra's Most important Science Fiction television Shows of All Time
New Trivia:
Trivia: Since no one, and I mean NO ONE was able to answer last months trivia, we're trying a different tactic to give away an autographed picture of Kate Mulgrew, Captain Janeway of Star Trek: Voyager. All you need to do is write in and explain why you are the biggest fan of Kate Mulgrew. Please include your address and the code word mentioned in the first 15 minutes of the show. We'll be drawing a name the middle of October.
Prize: An Autographed copy of Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway)
You will have until October 15th to send us your answers. Please include the code word mentioned in the first 15 minutes of the show. Send your answer with your mailing address to scifidinerpodcast@gmail.com, call us at 18885084343, or DM us on Twitter at @scifidiner. Make sure you include your e-mail with all entries! Only one entry per person. The SciFi Diner is not responsible for any injuries occurring if you secretly decide to go all shiny and dress in a browncoat and walk into your local bar.
“’Buyer beware’ is the cautionary theme of Maurice Broaddus’ sublime ‘A House is Not a Home’ – the standout of the collection… Broaddus’ commanding use of language coats the story with a lushness that belies its short fiction format and places it in a class of its own.” – Vince Liaguno, Dark Scribe
“There are fewer greater pleasures in a reader’s life than witnessing a writer whose work they have enjoyed reached a new plateau in their storytelling skills, and such is the case here; with The Devil’s Marionette, Maurice Broaddus comes into his own as a writer of dark fiction. It is the brilliance we’ve all been waiting for, and Broaddus delivers in a voice that both whispers and roars and cannot be ignored.” – Bram Stoker and International Horror Guild Award-winner Gary A. Braunbeck
The Knights of Breton Court series King Maker – March 2010 (UK/Australia), October 2010 (US/Canada) King’s Justice – February 2011 (UK/Australia), March 2011 (US/Canada) King’s War – November 2011 (everywhere) The Knights of Breton Court (omnibus) – October 2012 (worldwide)
Maurice Broaddus graduated in 1993 from Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis and holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biology. He works as an environmental toxicologist for a local firm, Commonwealth Biomonitoring. He comes from a family that includes several practicing obeah (think: Jamaican voodoo) people, but is now the facilitator for the church, The Dwelling Place. He is married with two children.
His areas of interests includes religious studies, folklore, and myths. His previous book was the novella Orgy of Souls, written with Wrath James White. He says he only wants to get famous enough to be able to snub people at horror conventions.
When asked, “what kind of horror writer are you?”, Maurice said…
There are kinds of horror: atmospheric, supernatural, serial killer, splatter/”gross out” and other ways I could categorize it. But I tend to think that horror writers fall into two very general camps: traditionalists and extremists (for lack of better terms). It is the tools you use to scare that define what camp you find yourself in. Traditionalists tend to be more character driven, letting the horror arise from or intrude on the mundane. They are often more atmospheric, and explore the eerie or weird with a moral code. Oh yeah, traditionalists are good vs. evil moralists. Extremists are more visceral. Quicker to go for the blood and guts/gross out or the perverse. I’m actually disturbed by how much value-loaded (read: judgmental sounding) language I’m using, but it’s the easiest way I know to describe it. I’m more of a traditionalist, which is not to say 1) that I don’t occasionally enjoy a good extremist or 2) that traditionalists or extremists exclusively write with only that set of tools. It’s a pallette: You have a broad spectrum of colors and styles to choose from to create your painting. And sometimes it’s like your taste in music: most times I listen to 70′s R&B, but sometimes I need a little Rage Against the Machine or Dream Theater to get me going. Most times I naturally gravitate toward the traditionalist stuff – Ray Bradbury, Stephen King – but sometimes I need a shot of Clive Barker or John Shirley to shock the palate.
“KingMaker isn’t yet another retelling of the Arthurian stories. There are drugs and gangs and people who are almost too scared to breathe. If there’s a small world that needs saving, it’s the world of this novel: too many lives are in danger and too many people are willing to give up. What’s awesome is there is no guarantee that King is going to become the Arthur we know. His enemies understand where he comes from and what he can do before he does. ” - Gillian Polack
Jerry Gordon
Jerry Gordon: This is the spot where I’m supposed to talk about myself in the third person. It’s a strange but generally accepted way of doing things, fine for book jackets and magazine bios, but a little impersonal since you’ve come all this way to find out more about me.
There are a couple hundred Jerry Gordon’s mucking things up on this planet. I’m the one that’s a fiction author, editor, college instructor, computer programmer, and occasional grad student. If you’re wondering where free time fits into this equation, you just discovered the downside to being interested in everything. I have an undergraduate degree in English and Education from Ball State University. When I’m not writing, I’m daydreaming about my next trip… and a little apartment in Paris.
The most common question I get asked (when people find out I write fiction) is what kind. Truth is all kinds. I love just about every genre and hate labels. I tend to blur the lines between genres, writing mash-ups that combine the best of several. If you want to pin me down, I’ll admit to writing mysteries, thrillers, science fiction, fantasy, horror, and “literary” fiction. Usually, at least two at the same time.
If you’d like to check out my work, head over to the bibliography page.
Thanks for dropping in and don’t be shy about sending me a note via the contact page.
Jerry
Some fun facts…
At the age of fourteen, I was a DJ for WBDG in Indianapolis.
By sixteen, I was running that radio station.
I ditched my telecommunications degree in favor of an undergrad in English and Education.
It only took one semester to fall in love with storytelling and make the switch.
I’ve been on more movie sets than I can remember.
I was once a Klingon extra on Star Trek.
TV News:
Observers Continue to Boss Us in New FRINGE Featurette – Residency Protocol Monday, September 17th, 2012
Remember the early days of Fringe when we thought that the Observers were a curiosity but were basically benign or, at worst, maybe interlopers for good? Ah those halcyon days. Now we know that only one of them was like that, and the rest, at least in the season that is to come, are not.
Below we have the third of Protocols that have been issued by the Fedora-ed Ones. We’ve included the previous two for your ease of reference (and protection from scans).
Elfstones of Shannara to be made into a television show. Good news or Bad?
Nielsen Ratings
NEW YORK -- The number of U.S. homes that don't get traditional television service continues to increase, but that doesn't mean they don't have TVs. The Nielsen company said in a report issued on Tuesday that three-quarters of the estimated 5 million homes that don't get TV signals over the airways or through cable, satellite or telecommunications companies have televisions anyway. Many of these homes are satisfied to use their TVs for games or get programming through DVDs or services like Netflix or Apple TV, said Dounia Turrill, senior vice president for client insights at Nielsen. The company's report shows how the nature of TV service is slowly changing. Before the percentage started declining about three years ago, more than 99 percent of TV homes received the traditional TV signals. Now that has dipped just below 96 percent. Part of the decline is also economic – service deemed expendable by people struggling to make ends meet, Nielsen said. Because of the changes, Nielsen is considering redefining what it considers a television household to include people who get service through Netflix or similar services instead of the traditional TV signals, Turrill said. During the first three months of 2012, the average consumer spent about 2 percent less time watching traditional TV than the previous year, Nielsen said. They more than made up for that by spending more time watching material recorded on DVRs or on the Internet through TVs, computers and mobile devices. The typical consumer spends 14 minutes a day using gaming consoles, although it's more for owners of Wii, XBox and PlayStation 3, Nielsen said. Many of these devices are also popular sites for accessing video, Turrill said. "The gaming devices are becoming entertainment hubs," she said. People over age 65 spend nearly 48 hours, on average, watching television each week, Nielsen said. At the other end of the spectrum are teenagers aged 12 to 17, who spend an average of 22 hours per week watching TV. Blacks spend an average of 210 hours per month watching TV, more than whites (nearly 153 hours), Latinos (131 hours) and Asians (100 hours), Nielsen said.
Movie News:
1st look at a startlingly different suit for that RoboCop reboot
We've had a look at the handiwork of OmniCorp, we've read the official synopsis, and now it's time to get a look at the cybernetic crimefighter himself. On-set pics have just revealed what Joel Kinnaman's RoboCop reboot suit looks like, and it's definitely a departure.
It's definitely not what Peter Weller wore. The silver exterior with black accents at the joints has been replaced by an all-black theme that looks a bit like Christian Bale's Batsuit. And the bulky, muscled look has been replaced by something much leaner. Also, he seems to have saved one hand from robotic reinvention. Unless there's some kind of massive CGI overhaul coming in post-production, this is a very different RoboCop.
Of course, we've yet to really see this new suit in action, and this could just be a part of what director Jose Padilha is delivering us, but it seems clear that there's a very different look in store this time around.
What do you think? Is the new RoboCop look a refreshing, modern take, or just a remake dud?
This week in Star Trek:
Space, The Final Frontier... 46 Years Of Star Trek
46 years ago today, Star Trek launched its 5 year mission. Unfortunately it only lasted 3 in its original form, but Trek as we now know it consists of over 700 hours of television and movies. It seems that this year Star Trek is getting more press than usual on its anniversary. Google, Oreo, and websites the world over are celebrating the launch of Trek. Some even proclaiming today as Star Trek day. Of course, we're not complaining.
Where would we be without Star Trek? I've often wondered that, but really the world would be a much different place if Gene hadn't been offered a second pilot or Lucille Ball and Desilu had passed on the show. Could there have been a different show that took its place and inspired millions of people to boldly go on the human adventure? Who can say. I'm just thankful that Gene got the chance to express his ideas through a medium that was available to so many viewers worldwide. On this anniversary, I'll leave you with one of my favorite videos of Gene... For us, no limits. Happy Star Trek Day!
Life After Trek Podcast Episode 20 Featuring Michael DeMeritt
By Captain Pyke
We’re pleased to announce episode 20 of our “Life After Trek” podcast, featuring Michael DeMeritt. Many of you know Michael from his time on the full run of both Star Trek: Voyager & Star Trek: Enterprise as First / Second Assistant Director. He also worked, most recently, on hit shows like ABC Family's Make It or Break It, Showtime's Californication, NBC's Las Vegas, and many others. We met him at BayouCon 2012 in Lake Charles, Louisiana and got the chance to experience his inside Star Trek panels featuring many never-before-seen photos & stories. We knew, then and there, that he would be an excellent guest on "Life After Trek".
We ran the full gamut of Mike's Trek experience, on this episode, but also got to talk about his start in Hollywood and his early years as a DGA trainee. For those "Life After Trek"-ers out there, that love behind-the-scenes info, this is an episode you don't want to miss. If you would like to learn more about Michael and his work, you can check out his official website at MichaelDeMeritt.com and his full list of credits at IMDB.com.
Sci Fi 5@5:
The Five Most Important TV Shows In Science Fiction
By Raul Ybarra
A few weeks ago, I had made some Tweets regarding the most important TV shows
in science fiction. This generated a variety of responses that has nudged me into
writing a bit more reason behind my selections. Going into this, it's important to
note that my criteria here is "most important" rather than "best." I also am not
including non-SciFi shows though they often get lumped in together. Thus, you
won't see any fantasy, horror, or super-hero shows in the list. Likewise, you will not
see shows like Night Gallery, even though they did, at times, dip into science fiction.
So here's that list from the least to the most important.
5. Firefly
Yes, Firefly was *great* science fiction. Yet it only lasted 13 episodes, so why
is it so important. As I said, good does not necessarily equate to importance
though this show was both. It's the nature of what happened to the /show/ that
makes it so important. It's pretty universal that few shows had as raw a deal as
Firefly. The shows of this serial were aired out of order. The "Suits" interfered in
the production. It was summarily canceled without really being given a chance.
However, it was a critical reminder to both fans and network of the power of the
fans' voices. While not enough to save this show, the outcry certainly rattled Fox.
Fortunately, Fox seemed to learn its lesson. I believe that it's thanks to Firefly that
shows like Dollhouse got a second season, in spite of the terrible ratings or we are
getting a fifth season to finish the story in Fringe. Fox, as well as other networks,
pay a lot more attention to the fans as a result of Firefly.
4. Battlestar Galactica
I'm talking about the original "Classic" show rather than the 2000's reboot. People
today may not be aware of it, but introducing phrases like "Frack" or having a main
character, Cassiopia, as a "Socialator" (i.e. prostitute) were huge steps in prime-time
programming that caused considerable discussion. Equally ground-breaking was
the use of cinema-caliber special effects. Largely because of this, the show was also
the first show to break the $1,000,000 per episode barrier -- an enormous sum in
1978. The Bridge set was one of the largest regular sets ever for a show and was
functional with working electronics, communications and computer displays. It was
primarily the very high cost of the show that led to its cancellation after the first
season.
Unfortunately, BSG is important in one negative area. This is the show more
important than even Lost In Space for the "Cute Kid" problem. After BSG, every
serious SciFi show until Babylon 5 was crippled by having to have a "cute kid" for
the youngsters. I believe in my heart-of-hearts if we didn't have Boxey here, we
would have never been inflicted with Wesley Crusher a decade later.
3. Doctor Who
You cannot have a list of important SciFi shows without including the longest
running science fiction series of all time. Doctor Who will be celebrating its
50th birthday in 2013 having gone on the air in 1963. It's initial run was for 26
continuous seasons ending in 1986. It wasn't cancelled, but put on hiatus, with a TV
movie in the 90's and resuming regular airings in 2005.
Aside from the run time proving the staying power of a science fiction show, the
Doctor brought us such iconic items as sonic screwdrivers, K9 and the TARDIS.
Dimensional transcendence ("It's bigger on the inside than out."), time travel,
If you have listened to the show for sometime, we would love to have you leave feedback on iTunes. We know not all of you use iTunes, but for those that do, it helps us become more visible. If you don’t use iTunes, your feedback is still valuable. Visit our webpage at http://scifidinerpodcast.com and leave a comment on the show notes or email us at scifidinerpodcast@gmail.com We want to know what you are thinking about what we are saying and what shows you are watching.
Menu:
Interview: Jonathon Young (Nikola Tesla from Sanctuary)
Trivia: Win Kate Mulgrew
TV News: Contiumm renewed; Whedon back to small screen
Movie News: We say Good Bye to Michael Clarke Duncan; Former Dark Knight goes from hero to villain for RoboCop
Audiobook Review:No Small Bills by Aaron Rosenberg
TWIST: New Con of Wrath Teaser, Update on the Star Trek/Worf film
SciFi Five in Five: Kahless's Top Five McCoy Quotes
New Trivia:
Trivia: In the context of the episodes of Warehouse 13 that aired on 2/13 and 2/20, what does it have in common with Stargate Universe? (Hint: IMDB is your friend if you don't watch Warehouse 13)
Prize: An Autographed copy of Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway)
You will have until September 18th to send us your answers. Please include the code word mentioned in the first 15 minutes of the show. Send your answer with your mailing address to scifidinerpodcast@gmail.com, call us at 18885084343, or DM us on Twitter at @scifidiner. Make sure you include your e-mail with all entries! Only one entry per person. The SciFi Diner is not responsible for any injuries occurring if you secretly decide to go all shiny and dress in a browncoat and walk into your local bar.
Jonathon Young is a Canadian actor known for his role of Nikola Tesla on the SyFy show Sanctuary. Appearances include The Fog, Eureka, and Stargate Atlantis. Jonathon is a well-respected stage actor. He is the co-founder of Electric Company Theatre in Vancouver, Canada in which he is also the artistic director, playwright, and actor.
He was raised in British Columbia, along with his brother and sister. Their father was a school teacher who started acommunity theatre in Armstrong, British Columbia. At a "Q&A" after the play No Exit, Young told the audience that his father often brought him and his sister to watch him act and that this is where his love for theatre began. Becoming an actor was never a choice, but rather just something he knew he was going to do.
Young is a graduate of the Studio 58 theatre school at Langara College, Vancouver. In 1996 he co-founded Electric Company Theatre along with fellow Studio 58 alumni Kim Collier, David Hudgins, and Kevin Kerr.[4] He is a multipleJessie Richardson Theatre Award winner.His play Palace Grand was commissioned for production by Vancouver'sPuSh International Performing Arts Festival in 2008.
TV News:
'Continuum' Renewed For Second Season
Specialty channel Showcase has announced that sci-fi television show "Continuum" has been renewed for a second season. The phenomenally successful series, which performed very well over the usually slow summer season, will begin production on the 13-episode season 2 in Vancouver in 2013. Ratings for the show shattered all previous Showcase premiere records, and dominated its Sunday night 9-10 p.m. timeslot. "'Continuum' was a tremendous success for the channel," said Barbara Williams, Senior Vice President, Content, Shaw Media, in a press release. "We are proud to green-light such a prolific ratings hit and original series for a second season, and to continue Kiera's journey through time for our dedicated viewers." A one-hour police drama centered on Kiera Cameron (Rachel Nichols), a cop from the year 2077 who finds herself trapped in present-day Vancouver, "Continuum" follows Cameron as she searches for a group of convicted criminals from the future, known as Liber8. With unexpected assistance from teen tech genius Alec Sadler (Erik Knudsen), Kiera concentrates on bringing down the terrorists before they can change the course of history forever. Impersonating a local law enforcement officer to expedite her investigation, she forms an uneasy alliance with her new partner, detective Carlos Fonnegra (Victor Webster). In the season finale "Endtimes," Kiera raced against the clock trying to prevent a Liber8 bombing, which ultimately killed hundreds of innocent people. The shocking twist led to an explosive finale, leaving many unanswered questions. Seems that fans won't have to wait too much longer for some well-deserved answers.
Joss Whedon coming back to TV for Marvel S.H.I.E.L.D. series
Avengers and Firefly fans, rejoice! Joss Whedon is coming back to the small screen, and he's bringing the Marvel universe with him.
ABC and Marvel have confirmed that Whedon is developing a TV series spinoff from The Avengers, based around the top-secret Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division (S.H.I.E.L.D.) organization that recently brought Earth's Mightiest Heroes together on the big screen.
The series will technically be set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though Variety reports the storylines will be mostly "autonomous" from upcoming sequels such as Avengers 2 and Iron Man 3. That means it's unlikely that big-screen mainstays like Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury, Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow and Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye will be prominently featured on the show—but who's to say they can't pop up from time to time?
Whedon is signed on to co-write the pilot with his brother (and frequent collaborator) Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, and will stay on to help develop the broad strokes. Assuming it's picked up, Jed and Tancharoen would join Jeph Loeb and Jeffrey Bell as executive producers.
If some of those names sound familiar, they should, because virtually everyone Whedon is bringing on board has worked with him on his former TV projects Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.
For us, that means all these excellent writers are going to have big budgets and a bigger platform to play with, and with some autonomy from the films, they may get a long leash to really dig in and make this a compelling series.
Hoping to capitalize on the box-office love, ABC is putting the series into production immediately—so hopefully we'll have some more details soon.
Sound off: Do you think the Marvel universe is a good fit for live-action TV? Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D. series won't have much to do with The Avengers
It was recently announced that Joss Whedon is bringing S.H.I.E.L.D. to the small screen. With the exception of The Avengers, the agency has stayed in the background of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Now it's finally coming to the forefront.
The day after the news broke, Whedon revealed, "The S.H.I.E.L.D. show kind of dropped in my lap, and I love working in TV." His previous television credits include Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly and the short-lived Dollhouse. S.H.I.E.L.D. is a huge organization, with many stories to tell, most of which will steer clear of The Avengers.
"I get to really build a show with people I really trust and love. What we're building is entirely autonomous from The Avengers. It's gotta be a show that works for people who haven't seen the Marvel movies. It will please Marvel fans, I think."
Marvel's done a great job integrating their properties, but it sounds like S.H.I.E.L.D. will be a separate entity. We're excited to see what heroes they'll pull from the comics. It's time to share the Marvel spotlight.
Movie News:
RIP: actor Michael Clarke Duncan is dead at 54
Michael Clarke Duncan, the Oscar-nominated actor known for his massive frame and roles in The Green Mile, Daredevil and many other films, died this week at the age of 54.
Duncan passed away on Monday (Sept. 3), two months after first being hospitalized for a heart attack in July. Known for his gentle good nature, down-to-earth demeanor and—at 6 foot 5 and as much as 315 pounds—commanding onscreen presence, Duncan was born in Chicago and worked there for a gas company and as a security guard in clubs before heading to Hollywood.
There he pursued an acting career while continuing to work security for celebrities such as Will Smith, Jamie Foxx and the late Notorious B.I.G. It was the latter's shooting death in 1997 that led Duncan to quit that line of work for good.
After landing several bit parts in films—usually as a security guard or bouncer—Duncan got cast as Bear in Michael Bay's 1998 meteor disaster movie Armageddon. He struck up a friendship with star Bruce Willis, who in turn recommended Duncan for the part that would be his breakthrough—John Coffey in Frank Darabont's adaptation of Stephen King's The Green Mile the following year.
Duncan was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe as Coffey, the simple-minded giant with a supernatural gift for healing who is falsely sentenced to death for raping and murdering two little girls. Coffey brought deep emotion and empathy to the role, earning him wide acclaim and putting him on a career track that kept him working steadily in movies, animation and TV until his death.
Duncan's other genre-related outings included roles in director Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes remake (2001), Sin City (2005), Michael Bay's The Island (2005), The Last Mimzy (2007) and the voice of Kilowog in last year's Green Lantern. In 2002 he played Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin, in the Marvel Comics-based film Daredevil (2003)—a character that had been portrayed as white in the comics and anticipated Marvel's similar color-blindness when casting Idris Elba as Heimdall in 2010's Thor.
The actor played many other roles in movies and TV shows, while also lending his voice to a number of animated features and programs, and also acted as a spokesman for PETA and the American Stroke Association. His friend Frank Darabont told Ain't It Cool News that Duncan was "one of the finest people I've ever had the privilege to work with or know. Michael was the gentlest of souls—an exemplar of decency, integrity, and kindness."
Rest in peace, gentle giant.
Former Dark Knight goes from hero to villain for RoboCop
Hugh Laurie, you have been replaced. Jose Padilha's RoboCop remake has finally nailed down a villain. After Dr. House backed out, they went after the next best thing—Batman.
Michael Keaton has snagged the role of Raymond Sellars in RoboCop. His casting comes just in time, because the film begins production next month. According to Padilla, Keaton was the missing link to this sci-fi puzzle.
"Michael is the final addition to the amazing cast we have assembled for this film and it is so great to have the last puzzle piece in place," said Padilha. "It is thrilling that everything has come together to bring this innovative new vision of RoboCop to life. We've got a great script, a great cast, some killer ED-209's and I can't wait to get Alex Murphy back on the streets."
Keaton joins Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Samuel L. Jackson, Abbie Cornish, Michael Kenneth Williams, Jennifer Ehle, Jay Baruchel and Marianne Jean-Baptiste.
RoboCop is scheduled to hit theaters Aug. 9, 2013.
What do you think of Keaton as the bad guy?
(via Deadline)
This week in Star Trek:
The surprise premiere of a new teaser for THE CON OF WRATH at Comic-Con San Diego July 14 showed off a few more of the early faces who have talked to us so far about “The Ultimate Fantasy” gone wrong in 1982. Only fans in that room have seen it so far—not even at Vegas....
Until today, when we posted a version of that teaser at the conofwrath.com website. You'll know a lot of those faces, too.
Our documentary on the infamous Houston "glorious failure" Trek event ... and the human spirit... is still collecting faces and moments, and I just found a couple more Survivors at Vegas. Our live meetup-fundraisers at conventions have raised cash, spread the word and most of all been a lot of fun all year long as we add more fan donors to the screen credits and gift list. We still have a lot of funding and producing to go, though.
In the new mini-teaser, watch for a few words from the first of the original Houston crew to see daylight, in an uncredited appearance: You'll see Marc Dowman up in the arena catwalk—graphic artist for the event and a stage and pyro assistant for the show. He's just burning up to tell one of the best weekend stories ....
NOTE: This preliminary piece was put together for big-room conventions and does not feature final graphics, rendering looks and of course music score. Director of Photography Neal Hallford whipped it up in July, and edited it for this showing. So—just for fun and a little taste of what's to come...
--Larry Nemecek, executive producer/director
Michael Dorn spills the latest on his Worf-centric Trek spinoff
Earlier this year we heard that Star Trek: The Next Generation star, and everyone's favorite Klingon, Michael Dorn was pitching a new Trek flick centered on his character, Worf. We've already seen how fans have responded to the idea, but what about Hollywood?
Though he's also busy with other things, most notably a romantic comedy he's funding through Kickstarter, Dorn's Worf idea has been making the rounds among people who might want to help make it happen ... and it turns out there's quite a bit of interest.
"Once I started thinking about it, it became obvious to me that I wanted to at least put it out there, which I have, and the response has been pretty amazing. We've been contacted by different individuals-I can't say who and all that-about wanting to come on board and be part of this. Also, there's all the political stuff going on with the new movies, with J.J. Abrams and Paramount and all that stuff, which I have no clue about and what it all entails, but that's where it is right now."
According to Dorn, the film would be a darker take on Trek, and would feature a post-Next Generation Worf captaining a Federation ship, "out there in the front lines basically chasing terrorists." It's too early for even Dorn to really know if the idea will become a reality, but how confident is he?
"Interestingly enough it has gotten traction. I was very surprised, I was on a movie not too long ago, where one of the producers was basically lobbying to be part of it. He was like 'Michael, I'd love to write it, if you haven't.' So at this point, my agents and my manager are looking at all the avenues and trying to figure out which is the best one. My agent and manager have been in the business for awhile, so they're very savvy about where to start and how to get it going. Like I said, in this business you never know and I've been through pitching things and I never want to do that again [laughs]. It's pretty brutal, but definitely I think once again, if Paramount or CBS or anybody thinks this is a viable thing, they'll jump on it."
In the meantime, Dorn will no doubt keep lobbying for the flick. But what about other opportunities to put on the Klingon makeup one more time? When asked if he'd ever appear in a dream sequence or something similar on The Big Bang Theory, where co-stars Wil Wheaton, LeVar Burton and Brent Spiner have already had cameos, Dorn wasn't very intrigued. Worf might get his own movie, but sitcom life isn't for him.
"That's a long shot I think. Not so much about the process, but you're pushing the envelope by putting the Worf makeup on and going on another show in another genre, you're asking for trouble. Even in a dream sequence its one of those things where if you did that, I think you're driving the stake into his heart at that point-not into his heart, but into the character's heart."
So, what do you think? What are the chances that we'll see Worf again?
SciFi Diner Conversations 64 - Listener's Weigh In On The Doctor Who Season Premiere, Our Logan's Run Rewind, Warehouse 13, Zombie's Run, Grimm, And More.
In our twenty-third episode of the SciFi Diner Classic, we interview actor interview Catherine Hicks from Star Trek: The Voyage Home. Since we do a news and interview show, it goes without saying that the news portion of our episodes often date themselves fast. And while the interviews with the people that make Science Fiction happen remain relevant and in our opinion important, most listeners will not listen back 100 episodes and wade through old news just to get to the interview. So what the SciFi Diner Classic aims to do is to share these interviews with you. If you have been with us from the beginning, then bear with us as we introduce some of our newer listeners to voices from the past. We're bringing you just the interview and nothing else.
Catherine Hicks
Hicks was born in New York City, the daughter of Jackie, a homemaker, and Walter Hicks, an electronics salesman.She has Irish and English ancestry. Her family moved toScottsdale, Arizona during her childhood. She was a cheerleader at Gerard Catholic High School in Phoenix, Arizona and a member of The National Honor Society (NHS).She graduated in 1969. After attending Saint Mary's College (Indiana), where she studied English Literature and Theology, Hicks won a prestigious acting fellowship to Cornell University. While at Cornell, she was a member of the Ithaca Repertory Theater Company.
Career
After graduating from Cornell University with a Masters of Fine Arts degree, Hicks headed to New York in August 1976, where she immediately got work in television commercials. Two weeks after arriving in New York, she landed her first major TV role as the newly recovered pediatrician Dr. Faith Coleridge #3 on ABC soap opera, Ryan's Hope. A year and half later, she left her role on Ryan's Hope when she was cast to star alongside Jack Lemmon (as Scottie) in Bernard Slade's 1978 Broadway play, Tribute,[7] in which she played the young model Sally Haines,who Scottie sets up with his estranged son (Robert Picardo). That same year, she starred as Valerie in the CBS TV movie and TV series pilot called Sparrow.
When Tribute ended, Hicks moved to California and co-starred on the 1979–80 CBS sitcom, The Bad News Bears as junior high school principal and psychologist, Dr. Emily Rappant. She had roles in a few TV movies, playing an escort, Annie, in ABC's Love For Rent (1979), and as Beth, a camp counselor in CBS's 1980 film To Race the Wind, based on the Harold Krents' autobiography.
In 1980, Hicks beat out hundreds of actresses for the lead role of Marilyn Monroe in ABC's $3.5 million dollar production, Marilyn: The Untold Story, based on the Norman Mailer best seller. She earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Mini-series or Movie for her portrayal of the legendary star.
In 1981, Hicks starred in CBS's remake of Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls, as Ann Wells, an entertainment lawyer, and James Corburn's protege. She made her feature film debut in the 1982 comedy Better Late Than Never. That same year, she starred as Peter Billingsley's mom, Sally, in the thriller, Death Valley.
She took the lead role as Amanda Tucker in the 12-episode detective series Tucker's Witch opposite Tim Matheson as Rick Tucker. The program aired on CBS from October 6, 1982, sporadically into August, 1983. In 1983, she played Lisa Sage and co-starred with John Schneider in CBS's romantic comedy movie, Happy Endings.
In Sidney Lumet's 1984 film, Garbo Talks, Hicks was aspiring-actress Jane Mortimer. Hicks also played Bill Murray's socialite finacee, Isabel, in the 1984 remake of The Razor's Edge. For her work in 1986'sStar Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Hicks received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. That same year, she played Carol Heath in Francis Ford Coppola's Peggy Sue Got Married. In 1987's Like Father Like Son, Hicks played Dr. Amy Larkin.
In 1988, she played businesswoman Ella Frazier in a Yugoslavian comedy Tajna manastirske rakije (also released under the titles Cognac and Secret Ingredient). Hicks co-starred with Christopher Plummer, as his estranged daughter, Tina Boyer, in the Showtime movie channel's 1988 movie, Souvenir.She played Karen Barclay in the 1988 horror film, Child's Play. Her performance won her a 1988 Best Actress Saturn Award. In 1989, she starred opposite Tony Danza in She's Out of Control, as his girlfriend, Janet Pearson.
In 1991, She co-starred in the FOX-TV comedy-fantasy movie, Hi Honey - I'm Dead as Carol Stadler. She played Allison Ploutzer in the 1992, Jeff Franklin ABC comedy pilot, Up To No Good. She starred with John Bedford Lloyd in the 1993 ABC comedy pilot,The Circle Game as the mother, and schoolteacher, Nancy. Catherine played Julia Riordan, opposite John Lithgow and Lea Salonga, in the 1995 ABC Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, Redwood Curtain.
In 1996, she was cast as Annie Camden on The WB's family drama 7th Heaven. In 1997, Hicks played flight attendant, Maggie, one of Ray Liotta's victims in Turbulence. The same year, Hicks played next door neighbor, Ms. Lewis, in Michael Davis' coming-of-age film, Eight Days a Week.
In 2008, Hicks also starred in the Lifetime channel's movie Poison Ivy: The Secret Society as Dean Elisabeth Graves. Also in the 2009 Lifetime Movie Network film, Stranger with My Face, she played the widowed mother Shelley Stratton. She plays Mom in the 2009 independent short film You're a Wolf, co-starring with Michael Gross and Jesse Bradford. Hicks is featured in My Name Is Jerry, an independent film shot mostly in Muncie, Indiana. Hicks won the award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role from the 2009 International Filmmakers Festival for her portrayal as Dana.
In 2010, Hicks received positive reviews for her role as Hildegarde, in playwright Christopher Durang's Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them at the Stella Adler Theater in Hollywood. She was Texas family court Judge Harriet Krammer in the 2011 Hallmark Channel movie, A Valentine's Date, (which was also released under the video title Your Love Never Fails). She played Jean in the 2011 Lifetime Movie Network movie, Borderline Murder. Hicks co-starred as Anna Walker in the 2011 Walmart and Procter & Gamble Family Movie Night drama on NBC called Game Time: Tackling the Past with Beau Bridges and Ryan McPartlin. Catherine joined actors Noah Wyle, Virginia Madsen, Mike Farrell, and others, in a September, 2011 reading of Windows on the World,by Colette Keen, at Hollywood's Stella Adler Theatre, commemorating the 10th anniversary of 9/11. In November 2011, she starred as Irene Livingston in the Jewish Repertory Theatre of Nevada's Las Vegas production of the Moss Hart play Light Up the Sky.Hicks played Ellen in the 2011 Hallmark Channel movie A Christmas Wedding Tail.
In May, 2012, Hicks played Annette Bramble in the Lifetime Network movie Shadow of Fear.Also in May, 2012, and into June, she performed in the play Princess, in The Blank Theatre Company's 20th Annual Young Playwrights Festival at The Stella Adler Theatre.
Sorbo also guest-starred as Hercules in episodes of the 1995-2001 spin-off series Xena: Warrior Princess and provided the voice of Hercules in the 1998 direct-to-video animated film Hercules and Xena - The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus.
Thomas Alexander Dekker (born December 28, 1987) is an American film and television actor and a musician. He is also a singer and has written and produced two albums.
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Larry Wayne Nemecek (born 18 January) is a noted Star Trek author, editor, archivist, consultant and producer. He is married to onetime script coordinatorJanet Nemecek.
Kevin David Sorbo (born September 24, 1958) is an American actor best known for the roles of Hercules in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Captain Dylan Hunt in Andromeda and Kull in Kull the Conqueror.
Mackenzie was born in the Philippines and since has lived in Puerto Rico, Germany, Virginia and San Diego. After attending The International School of Stuttgart, Mackenzie went on to finish high school at the prestigious Miss Porter's School in Farmington Connecticut. She continued her higher education at The University of Southern California where she studied Communication and Theatre.
Clayton Faits grew up in Southwick, Massachusetts, where the days are short and the winters are long. After studying theater and history at Tulane University, he moved to Chicago where conditions are much the same. In addition to writing for Our Fair City, he enjoys games of all kinds, toys that fly, and jokes that aren’t funny.
Jeffrey is a stage director, adaptor, and dramaturg living and working in Chicago, IL. During the day, he can often be found working as an Operations Coordinator at the 
David Nykl (born 7 February 1967 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech Canadian actor of film, television, commercials and theater.
There are a couple hundred Jerry Gordon’s mucking things up on this planet. I’m the one that’s a fiction author, editor, college instructor, computer programmer, and occasional grad student. If you’re wondering where free time fits into this equation, you just discovered the downside to being interested in everything. I have an undergraduate degree in English and Education from Ball State University. When I’m not writing, I’m daydreaming about my next trip… and a little apartment in Paris.
Jonathon Young is a Canadian actor known for his role of Nikola Tesla on the SyFy show Sanctuary. Appearances include The Fog, Eureka, and Stargate Atlantis. Jonathon is a well-respected stage actor. He is the co-founder of Electric Company Theatre in Vancouver, Canada in which he is also the artistic director, playwright, and actor.
