If you are a process junkie, then the boxset is made for you; along with a lovely booklet full of production sketches, each episode has an additional mini-documentary with interviews from the crew involved, as well as seven episodes with new material added for "Director's Cut" editions (Spoiler: Han doesn't shoot first in any of them). More to the point, just rewatching the series shows how the show has evolved as everyone learns what they can, and can't, get away with; I watched the first few episodes in the set after watching "Landing At Point Rain," the most recent episode of the second season, and the difference is amazing - and, for a second, somewhat damning to the first season in comparison ("Point Rain" featured not just some wonderfully choreographed battle sequences that offered a fluidity and grace that the earlier animation lacked, it was also surprisingly brutal in tone - The clones and Jedi used flamethrowers on their alien opponents and you saw them burning to death, which really leaves the earliest episodes of the show, uncertain about the tone just yet, looking anemic). But to concentrate on how far the show's come is to miss the point, and the fun, of the first season.

Clone Wars season one was full of trial and error, yes, but even when things didn't work, they're still worth watching - even moreso on DVD, when the bad taste of the Jar-Jar-centric "Bombad Jedi" is quickly washed away by the double bill of "Cloak of Darkness" and "Lair of Grievous," both of which move more towards the self-assured tone of the movies. The show's mini-arcs make more sense when viewed together, as well (And episodes like "Storm Over Ryloth," "Innocents of Ryloth" and "Liberty on Ryloth" work better than the feature that introduced the series in the first place). But as much as the writing shifts and grows in quality and confidence throughout the series - Just compare the Ryloth episodes to "Ambush" to see what I mean - so, in a much more subtle way, do the visuals.

Never less than impressive, even from the get-go (Just look at some of the textures used! Or the lighting! Man, it's good stuff), the animators nonetheless manage to tighten things all the way throughout the season by, ironically, loosening up: The "acting" by the characters - especially the facial movements - gets more natural as the show goes on, making it easier to empathize with the characters despite (because of) their impressive and intentional cartoony quality (Again, this is something that's all the more obvious looking at newer episodes like "Point Rain," where Anakin has some great subtle smirking going on, adding to his "Yeah, you're a hero now but you're going to end up Darth Vader because of that assholishness, buddy" thing).

But even outside of the "Watch the show improve" aspect that made the boxset for me - I couldn't help it, I'd seen the shows before - there's a lot to like about The Complete Season One; yes, some of the episodes (Ahem, "Bombad Jedi") are clunkers, but the good outweigh the bad, and there's something to like in all of them. The bonus features, as I've said before, are worth watching (Especially the "Jedi Temple" extras, which I think are BluRay only?), and the format makes the multi-episode arcs much stronger than they were when first broadcast, even without the addition of the extra footage.

In the end, then, there's something in The Complete Season One for almost everyone: Complete nerds like me get to geek out over the evolution of the show and peeks behind the scenes, casual fans who liked the series on television can enjoy the Director's Cut episodes and watching the arcs in one sitting, and newcomers... Well, they just get a pretty good cartoon that's, for the most part, more enjoyable than the prequel trilogy. Me, I'm already waiting for the Complete Season Two boxset to hear how they managed to get away with torching their enemies on Cartoon Network prime time.

Star Trek 2:

It's been a few days since we've featured an almost koan-like vague utterance from one of the creators of this film, so here goes. J.J. Abrams says it would be a "challenge" to recast Khan Noonien Singh, but no more so than recasting Kirk, Spock and the others was. And he adds: "While I don't want to approach the second film as a remake of episodes we've seen in the past... nothing is off limits in terms of what we're discussing." So it won't be a straight-up remake of an original series episode, except that it might be. [MTV]

2012:

Roland Emmerich gives SciFi Wire a rundown on the monuments he destroys in this new movie. This time around, the White House gets pulverized when a tidal wave carries an aircraft carrier, the John F. Kennedy, into it. "I've got JFK kind of coming back to the White House, which I thought was ironic," says Emmerich, who's obviously a big Alanis Morrissette fan. Also, a big cruise ship, meant to evoke the Poseidon, rolls over. A big crack appears in the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The Basilica, in the Vatican, tips over and falls on people. Also, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro collapses "because I'm against organized religion," says Emmerich. (He wanted to destroy an Islamic monument, but feared a backlash.) [Sci Fi Wire]

Let Me In:

Matt Reeves has started filming his American remake of this Swedish classic, and Overture Films says it'll pay homage to the original, but reinvent it. [ShockTillYouDrop]

Doctor Who:

Here's the official synopsis for "Waters Of Mars," coming up Nov. 15:

Mars, 2059. Bowie Base One. Last recorded message: "Don't drink the water. Don't even touch it. Not one drop."...

Lindsay Duncan stars as Adelaide – the Doctor's cleverest and most strong-minded companion yet.

She and The Doctor face terror on the Red Planet as they battle against a mysterious alien living within the terrarium of life on Mars' surface which infects its victims using a water compound it creates.

Neighbours, Flying Doctors and Casualty star Peter O'Brien also guest stars as Ed, Adelaide's second-in-command at the base.

[Blogtor Who]

Someone else who went to the screening says that the "deadly water" storyline is clumsily executed. (The phrase "Water always waits. Water always wins" is spoken.) But generally it's great stuff. The dilemma the Doctor faces in the episode paves the way for his ultimate demise, and there are hints that the events of "The Runaway Bride" and "Fires Of Pompeii" will be important to the Doctor's future. Also, Russell T. Davies confirmed that Donna's mom and the Master's wife (Lucy Saxon) will be back in the final episodes, which we pretty much knew already. [Unreality TV]

Steven Moffat answered questions at the Screenwriters' Festival. He's a big fan of Peter Cushing's TARDIS from the 1960s movies, so don't be surprised if there are touches of that in the new TARDIS layout. He says the 1996 TV movie proves that you can't get too grown up with the series, and it should remain a children's show. And he's writing six episodes of the season, plus Richard Curtis is writing one — leaving six mystery slots. And Matt Smith is playing the Doctor as a much older man who just appears younger, not unlike Peter Davison. Moffat's biggest challenge? Writing the final episode.

[Den Of Geek and Digital Spy]

And here's the first clip from the animated episode, "Dreamland." I cannot get used to the look of this animation... [BBC]

Lost:

Even though Juliet is definitely dead, she's a major player in the final season, days Damon Lindelof:

Juliet basically birthed season 6 by the actions that she takes in the final seconds of season 5. She is completely responsible for the end game of the show. So the character is going to be seen in a slightly different light this year. We gave her that action for a reason, and that's because she's so important to the fabric of the story.

[EW]

Is Ben the Final Cylon? Damon Lindelof says the final season's mood, and maybe some of the storylines, are summed up by Bob Dylan's song "Visions Of Johanna":

I have that song on my iPod, and when I hear it I think about the show," said Lindelof. "There are certain lyrical phrases in that song that are very well-suited to 'Lost.'"

[MTV]

V:

Here's another sneak peek from tonight's premiere episode, which I'm pretty sure we haven't shown you. [E! Online]

Supernatural:

OMG here's the official synopsis for episode 10, "Abandon All Hope," the episode two major characters won't survive:

SAM AND DEAN FACE OFF AGAINST LUCIFER - Sam (Jared Padalecki), Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Castiel (Misha Collins) track down the Colt and head off to find Lucifer (guest star Mark Pelligreno) to send him back to Hell. It's a hunters' reunion when the crew joins forces with Bobby (Jim Beaver), Ellen (guest star Samantha Ferris) and Jo (guest star Alona Tal) for what could be their last night on Earth.

[Devoted Fans Network via SpoilerTV]

Caprica:

Three new TV spots include some new footage. [Galactica Sitrep]

Fringe:

This week's episode is all about Broyles,and revisits a case from his past. We learn that he chose the Fringe Division over his marriage four years ago, and has lived to regret it. [E! Online]

FlashForward:

Here's the official description for episode nine, "Believe":

BRYCE BEGINS SEARCHING FOR THE WOMAN SEEN IN HIS FLASHFORWARD, AARON BECOMES CONCERNED OVER TRACY'S ODD BEHAVIOR, AND MARK TRIESTO TRACK DOWN THE PERSON WHO ALERTED OLIVIA ABOUT HIS DRINKING DURING HIS VISION

[SpoilerTV]

Smallville:

Here's the official description for "Pandora":

BACK TO THE FUTURE - Tess (Cassidy Freeman) kidnaps Lois (Erica Durance) to find out where Lois went after she disappeared for weeks. Lois's memory of the future depicts a Metropolis under Zod's (Callum Blue) rule and Clark (Tom Welling) powerless under the red sun, while Chloe (Allison Mack) forms a resistance group with Oliver (Justin Hartley). After learning of these future events, Clark makes an important decision about Zod.

[Kryptonsite]

Clark's black suit is just a bridge to his classic Superman costume, and once the Justice Society convinces him to embrace his human side, he can don more of the red and blue again. The season may even see him creating a costume with a bit more color, like Tobey Maguire in first Spider-Man movie. [TV Guide Magazine]

Here's another clip from Friday's new episode, featuring Tess and Zod.

Twilight:

Here's our first glimpse, from Eclipse, of Xavier Samuel as Riley, a baby vampire whom Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) uses as a pawn in her revenge on Bella. [MTV]

Star Wars: Clone Wars:

Here's a new image from tomorrow night's all-new episode, in which:

Anakin, Ahsoka and Ki-Adi-Mundi lead a landing party to destroy a droid factory that Poggle the Lesser has rebuilt on Geonosis, but things go terribly awry when Separatist gunners shoot down the Republic ships. Despite heavy losses, Anakin and Ki-Adi-Mundi must rendezvous in time to destroy the enemy factory before it can begin production.

True Blood:

Even though Godric is dead, the show's creators are considering exploring his 1,000 year history with Eric through flashbacks. [E! Online]

Additional reporting by Josh C. Snyder.

Ghostbusters 3:

Don't count on Bill Murray being in this threequel — he tells Britain's Absolute Radio that he won't do the movie unless the script is really good. (How long have they been working on this script, and still nobody has read it, including the director?) [Latino Review]

New Moon:

Some more promo pics highlight the pasty-faced brooding. [Movies-Spoilers]

Snowpiercer:

We already wrote about this film, which Bong Joon-Ho is adapting from a French comic book. The official English title appears to be Snowpiercer, and Bong says he wants to film in 2011. The class-ridden survivors on a train traveling through the frozen world wind up struggling and fighting amongst themselves. [Collider]

Lost:

Set pics show that Randy Nations, Hurley's old boss at the Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack, is coming back — except this time around, probably Hurley will be Randy's boss. One more pic at the link. [SpoilerTV]

Fringe:

Leonard Nimoy returns as William Bell in the season's tenth episode. And Astrid is going to be getting out of the lab a lot more — and she has a big arc with Walter coming up. The writers know Astrid is a "diamond in the rough," and they are looking for ways to expand the character. [EW]

And here's a behind the scenes featurette on tonight's episode, "Dream Logic."

FlashForward:

In the Oct. 29 episode, Lloyd Simcoe knocks on the Benfords' door, and Mark is not happy to see his wife's future lover. Meanwhile, Lloyd's autistic kid Dylan recognizes the house, and the Benfords' daughter Charlie, from his own flashforward, and feels an immediate connection with the place. [TV Guide Magazine]

New set photos show Demetri on a bike. More at the link. [SpoilerTV]

How scary does episode six, "Scary Monsters and Super Creeps," get? Look at some new promo pics. [Pizquita]

Doctor Who:

One new still showcases the alien monster from this animated story, Lord Azlok (David Warner) as he menaces Colonel Stark (Stuart Milligan.) The other one shows the Doctor entering a 1950s diner. [BlogtorWho]

Supernatural:

A new pic from the "Changing Channels" episode shows Sam and Dean stuck in Grey's Anatomy. Full version at the link. [EW]

And here are a few pics from "The Curious Case Of Dean Winchester," in which Dean gets hella old. [SF Universe]

Smallville:

The episode "Roulette," in which Ollie gets drugged and beguiled by Roulette, also contains a twist involving Chloe and Oliver. [EW]

And here are a ton of pictures from the episodes "Crossfire" and "Roulette" — including what looks like Clark smooching Lois in the Planet offices. [Kryptonsite]

Star Wars: Clone Wars:

Here's a clip and new image from Friday night's new episode, "Senate Spy":

Heroes:

We'll finally get some more of Mohinder in November, and at least half his scenes are with Hiro Nakamura. (I'm guessing, he'll be concocting some magic fix for Hiro's brain problem.) Also, don't hold your breath for Sylar to get a love interest. [EW]

Todd Stashwick (The Riches) will join the show as Eli, part of the carnival storyline — he has close ties to Samuel. [THR]

And in case you really thought it was Hiro who was going to bite the dust, the show is casting three Japanese-speaking actors for episode 4x13. One is a policeman who detains a local citizen in Tokyo for outlandish and potentially dangerous antics. There's also a grumpy ramen vendor who encounters a confused hero, and a woman who is accosted by a teenage purse snatcher. [SpoilerTV]

Stargate Universe:

Here's a sneak peek from Friday's new episode, "Darkness":

Sanctuary:

And here's a sneak peek from Friday's episode of this Syfy show, "End Of Nights Part 2":

Now that the show has established its setting and characters, the second season will play around more with the interpersonal relationships. We'll see more of Henry, plus a lot of the newly introduced Kate Freelander. The relationships will all move around. [SF Universe]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.

Doctor Who:

Where to start? Today's set reports are almost too much to contain in one summary! First of all, it seems as though the "bachelorette party" thing was wrong — Amy Pond really is a policewoman, unfeasibly short skirt and all. There are some photos of her with her hair in a severe updo. And fans witnessed a scene where Amy tries to drag the Doctor to a black rover (not a police car.) The Doctor says there are just 20 minutes until the end of the world, and don't you know who I am? He also makes a comment about how you people are always trying to lock him up. In another take of the same scene, the Doctor stops and looks at something, and Amy shouts "Nooo!" and grabs him by the tie and drags him physically to the car. (And there's quite a striking pic of the tie-grabbing below.)

According to a call sheet, there's a man named Barney in the coma ward, and Dr. Ramsden bends over him and asks if he can hear her. Also, the guy in the hospital scrubs (played by Arthur Darvill) is named Rory, and according to the call sheet, the Doctor notices that Rory is taking pictures of the dog man. (And the dog is wearing a towel as a cape in one shot, oddly enough.) Also the dog gets a turn in front of the green screen (video by Mugimoe):

There is a phone booth (a red one, not the TARDIS) which explodes. And we get to see the Leadworth fire brigade swing into action. And there are little weird touches of Leadworth everywhere, including postcards and fake street names. The Beeb has really gone to town this time around — I'm wondering if Leadworth is a fictional town for a reason?

Amy runs through the front gate of a grand house, but the Doctor jumps over a flowerbed. Then later, he jumps out into that same flowerbed and runs away.

And then — and here's the really demented bit — the Doctor gives a speech about how he'll defend the human race once again, while Rory and Amy stare at something in the sky. The Doctor raises his sonic screwdriver up in the air, to do something heroic and dramatic — and then the sonic screwdriver explodes in a ton of sparks! The Doctor looks at the burnt-out screwdriver, looking distinctly perturbed.

Photos by Mugim0e, Alun_Vega, Thai Footsoldier, and others. You guys rule! [Gallifrey Base]

Lost:

We mentioned yesterday that Suzanne Krull, who played Hurley's fake fortune teller Lynne Karnoff, would be back this season. And now she's Tweeted that she has a scene with Terry O'Quinn (Locke). [SpoilersLost]

The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus:

A new trailer came out yesterday, and though it's pretty similar to the psychedelic international trailer we ran a while back, it does have some new snippets:

Gentlemen Broncos:

Some new stills show Jemaine Clement in a bookstore, and teaching a dynamic, exciting writing class. [Fox Searchlight]

Daybreakers:

Ethan Hawke plays Edward, a "human sympathizer" who was turned into a vampire agianst his will by his his younger brother Frankie (Michael Dorman.) Now Edward hunts for a synthetic blood substitute, a "Tru Blood" if you will. Frankie, meanwhile, is a soldier in the vampire army, happily hunting down the remaining humans. And then Edward encounters a group of human survivors led by Claudia Karvan, and this sparks him to search for a rumored cure for vampirism — one which Edward's boss (Sam Neil) wants no part of, because it might reduce the demand for blood, and that's bad for business. As the vampires have become more powerful, they've built covered sidewalks and customized their vehicles for daytime commutes. There are also mutant vampires, Subsiders, who live in the subways and wear latex outfits. One Subsider attacks Edward in his home, and we see he was still wearing his wedding ring when he transformed. [Horror Squad]

Supernatural:

Episode eight of the season will show us what it would be like if Sam and Dean were trapped inside an episode of Grey's Anatomy. (This is the same episode that plays like a sitcom, complete with laugh track. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think this show may actually be getting too metatextual. But I'm sure it'll rule in practice.) [EW]

Fringe:

The shape-shifting Charlie impersonator gets a bit desperate this week, because his new body is breaking down, and the Fringe gang is closing in. And of course, Olivia starts remembering more of her William Bell encounter. And finally, Olivia-Peter shippers will be thrilled by a scene where they discuss classic scifi movies, and in particular Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. [EW]

When we get more of the William Bell-Olivia meeting, Bell gives Olivia the name of the enemy, as well as very specific marching orders. [TV Guide]

Chuck:

Bryce Larkin may or may not be returning from the dead, but we'll probably see more of him in flashback sequences, says actor Matt Bonner. [ChuckTV]

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin guest stars in episode 3x05, "Chuck vs. First Class," playing Hugo Panzer, a master of close-quarters combat. And that's the episode that features Kristin Kreuk as a woman Chuck meets on an airplane to Paris, who winds up working at the Buy More. [ChuckTV]

In episode 8, "Chuck Vs. The Nose," Chuck has to impersonate Frankie, a sharpshooting chameleon and the worst kind of assassin. Chuck has some trouble convincing the Goodfellas-esque Matt and Scotty, two thugs, but finally wins them over. [ChuckTV]

Heroes:

NBC is really pushing this coming Monday's episode as the honest-to-gosh turning point for the series — they've sent out screeners, and want to make sure you see these clips, including Sylar's comeback and the famous Lesbian Kiss:

Also in Monday's episode, Peter falls for his deaf coworker, partly thanks to her amazing synesthesia powers. And the two of them even play a piano duet together, with the swooshy lights and stuff. But Peter must put his love on hold when an old friend (HRG, I'm guessing) shows up in need of his nursing skillz. [EW]

In Monday's episode, Claire thinks Gretchen is stalking her, but really there's a third party — another girl, who also has her eye on Claire — who is stirring things up. And even though they kiss, Claire doesn't really like Gretchen that way. [E! Online]

As you've probably gathered from the clips, a police detective questions an amnesiac Sylar, who has no clue why he has bullet holes in his shirt, or who he is. [TV Guide]

So now that Sylar has amnesia, what do we do with him? How about letting the Circus ringmaster, aka Fake Keith Richards, baptise him, in episode six, "Tabula Rasa"? And if that doesn't sell you on the episode, how about Hiro doing magic tricks in pajamas? Sold! Here are a ton of promo pics. [HeroSite]

And assuming the show is still on the air by then, here's what we'll see in the Nov. 2 episode, "Once Upon A Time In Texas":

HIRO GETS A SECOND CHANCE TO SAVE THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE – JAYMA MAYS RETURNS AS CHARLIE – When Hiro (Masi Oka) travels three years into the past, he has a second chance to save Charlie (guest star Jayma Mays) from the hands of Sylar (Zachary Quinto). However, Samuel's (Robert Knepper) presence serves to complicate Hiro's mission even further. Elsewhere, H.R.G.'s (Jack Coleman) past with his Primatech partner (guest star Elizabeth Rohm) is revealed.

[SpoilerTV]

Star Wars: The Clone Wars:

Here's what happens in Friday's new episode:

After outwitting his Jedi foes and escaping with the Holocron, bounty hunter Cad Bane sets into motion the next stage of his nefarious assignment: to find Force-sensitive younglings and take them to Mustafar for Sith training. But Bane is merely the instrument of evil, a deadly distraction to occupy the Jedi while the true source continues to plot from the shadows. While he has been glimpsed in previous episodes – and in his seemingly benevolent double-role as Supreme Chancellor of the Republic – Darth Sidious emerges in "Children of the Force" as a direct threat to the galaxy's future.

And here's a new clip from the episode:

And here's a new photo of Sidious himself. [Lucasfilm]

Smallville:

Oliver Queen will meet the evil version of himself, called (bwaaaa ha ha)... The Dark Archer. In episode 10 of this season. And seriously, this show needs Ambush Bug or Booster Gold and Blue Beetle to do a commentary track on every episode. [EW]

In tomorrow night's episode, when Clark gets the power of (bwaaaa haa ha!) thought-hearing, he hears all of the schmoopy things Lois has been thinking about him. And Clark reads Lois' mind and realizes she has a love of giant cars — and she's been dying to go to the Monster Truck Rally. So he takes her there, on their first official date. And fans will find her date-night ensemble "really funny," promises Erica Durance. But a threat to Oliver Queen's life will force Clark to put their date on hold. [TV Guide Magazine via SpoilerTV]

FlashForward:

Dominic Monaghan will finally turn up — briefly — in next week's episode. [EW]

And a casting call for episode 11 gives a few hints about upcoming plot lines:

[CASSIE] 30s-50s, open to all ethnicities. Earthy, off-beat, sharply intelligent. Witty, cuts straight through the bullshit. Involved in a revealing conversation with high stakes for a major player. Guest star.

[AGENT GALLOWAY] Female, 30s, open to all ethnicities. An FBI agent, she interacts with an arrogant expert, giving it right back to him when he condescends to her. Could recur

[GIANCARLO] 30's Italian, attractive. A professional photographer and solid family man who comes to recent renown. Gets caught up in his own hype and loses sight of his values. 3 scenes

[AGENT] Male, 50s, open to all ethnicities. Veteran FBI Agent whose light banter with a co-worker suddenly turns serious upon the discovery of some disturbing news sptv050769. 1 scene

[JONNY] Early 20's, Caucasian, boisterous and fun-loving to a fault. Gets in trouble for being careless and irresponsible. His saving grace is an underlying sweetness. 3 scenes.

[LIARNA KASSEL] Female, open age and ethnicities. NPR news reporter heard over the radio reporting standard daily news. Voice only, not photographed.

[DARNELL] Teenager. African-American. Good kid, future NBA superstar, wrestles with his conscience when he's asked to throw a championship game.

[SpoilerTV]

Monday:

House -
James Earl Jones plays an African dictator charged with crimes against humanity, who's checked into the hospital. Meanwhile, Wilson is still dealing with the crazy-addict-without-an-outlet House on FOX at 8 PM.

Heroes -
On NBC at 8 PM, Hiro tries to forget his own problems by helping strangers in trouble. Angela tiptoes with Nathan around his past and Tracey makes a splash in an effort to get her job back.

Big Bang Theory -
Furthering complicating your DVRing, on CBS at 9:30 PM Sheldon tries to Pavlov's Dog Penny, but using chocolate, instead of ... dog food or whatever. The other single boys try to pick up women at a Goth nightclub, and let's hope that Leonard and Penny actually have better sex soon.

Movies:

Please join me in reliving your childhood, and watch Halloweentown on Disney at 8 PM. Debbie Reynolds lives in a town where Halloween is a way of life. All Hallow's Eve is now threatened and she and her grandchildren must save the day in typical Disney fashion.

Tuesday:

The Universe -
Space based weapons and battles! Tonight on History Channel at 9 PM Universe covers the possibility of such awesome epicness — what it could look like, how it'd work, and and just how destructive it would truly be. Let's hope they cover lasers and death stars.

Ghost Lab -
Discovery Channel has their own paranormal/ghost hunting team now and this new show at 10 PM sends their team to Louisiana to investigate the haunting claims of Shreveport Municipal auditorium an Myrtles Plantation. Basically, this team uses tech and science to explain strange phenomena.

Movies:

Jurassic Park, where dinosaurs are the inhabitants and humans are the dessert, is on Cinemax at 5:45 PM.

Wednesday:

MythBusters -
The boys are back in town on Discovery at 9 PM, with bullets and socks. Tonight, they solve the question: which will hit the ground first, a falling bullet or a fired one? And they also try to determine if you can literally knock someone's socks off.

Ghost Hunters -
Tonight on Syfy at 9 PM the team investigates the USS Salem for bumps... and, oh yeah, ghosts.

Destination Truth -
The destination gang travels to Chile to probe about a possible UFO sighting on Syfy at 10 PM.

Eastwick -
Roxie's haunted by a ghost, and that creepy ant lady from the pilot, Bun, is awake from her coma. She knows more about Darryl than we're privy to yet, but now she's obsessed with a curious symbol (is it the same one as on Roxie's murdering neighbor?) and Kat is refusing a divorce lawyer ... and maybe even a divorce? And of course our trusty investigator Joanna is digging away on ABC at 10 PM.

Movies:

Milla Jovovich and female empowerment may be the only reasons Oxygen is showing the zombie/corporate greed-fueled epic Resident Evil: Apocalypse at 8 PM. But there are many, many reasons to check it out.

Thursday:

FlashForward -
That creepy German prisoner we've seen in previews is finally showing up, when Mark and Janis travel to Germany to ask him for some "important information" about the blackout. Demetri, with his newfound knowledge of his death day, is all abuzz over some more terrible news, and Aaron (Mark's AA buddy for those of you having trouble keeping up already) turns to Mark for help exhuming his daughter's body, or at least where it should be. The show's already large ensemble gets bigger, on ABC at 8 PM.

Vampire Diaries -
Stefan is carefully revealing bits and pieces about his past to Elena, who goes on to hear some strange and scary things about the Salvatore fam. Psychic Bonnie seeks out her grandmother for help discerning an learning more about her ... ability, on CW at 8 PM.

Supernatural -
The Paris Hilton episode is here! Rejoice in her self-satirizing willingness to be exploited on television. Or just revel in her terrible acting and incredible stung-casting as a celebrity-impersonating demon (or ghost?). Tonight on the CW at 9 PM, the citizens of a small town are dropping at the hands of dead icons, like ... Abraham Lincoln? And James Dean's car?

Fringe -
On FOX at 9 PM, Olivia and the Scooby gang are hunting down shape-shifters, and Walter is busy making a cocktail for Liv to help her remember what Spock told her in the other dimension.

Movies:

An army of vamps has a blood orgy in Alaska, in the graphic-novel adaptation 30 Days of Night on Encore at 8 PM.

Friday:

Star Wars: The Clone Wars -
Cad Bane's new mission, on Cartoon Network at 8 PM, is to kidnap kids who are force-sensitive and bring them to Mustafar for Sith training.

Ghost Whisperer -
Eli's father has a heart attack that leads him to a reunion with his dead mother. Turns out she had a secret before her death, and it must've been a whopper because she hasn't crossed over yet. The secret's out on CBS at 8 PM.

Smallville -
Lois is infected by a zombie plague that Zod has cursed upon the city. The cure is in the blood of a Kryptonian, but Clark can't get involved without revelaing his identity to Zod, on the CW at 8 PM.

Dollhouse -
On FOX at 9 PM, Echo is a free-wheeling coed and Victor is a psychotic nephew. So needless to say, they have a tiff while imprinted.

Stargate Universe -
On Syfy at 9 PM a search team combs a desert planet for a vital mineral necessary for restoring life support aboard the Destiny. But it turns out their window of opportunity is closing fast. Also, Chloe reachies out to her mother, using the communication stones.

Sanctuary -
Afterward, on Syfy at 10 PM, the season premiere gives us Magnus as she's searching for Ashley, putting her and her allies at odds with con-artist Kate Freelander: a woman with ties to the Cabal, who divulges secrets almost immediately.

Movies:

The sequel that should really only exist inside a sealed-off virtual world, The Matrix Reloaded, is on MTV at 7 PM. Have yourself a chocolate-cake orgasm, with the sequel that proved trilogies aren't such a great idea.

Saturday:

Movies:

The venerable Brittany Murphy stars in Megafault on Syfy at 9 PM. More importantly, Green Arrow himself, Justin Hartley co-stars. When an earthquake threatens to split the world, a seismologist and a miner get involved. What're they gonna do? Stitch it back together? Sure, why not.

Sunday:

Movies:

Did you know they made a Butterfly Effect 3? It's appropriately called The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations and is on Syfy at 7 PM. Basically, time-traveling boy accidentally unleashes a serial killer while trying to solve the mystery of his girlfriend's death.

The Bounty Hunters

Last season, we met Cad Bane, the blue-skinned bounty hunter working for Ziro the Hutt. And this season, the bounty hunters will take on a more central role, with Cad Bane and his fellows joining forces with the Separatists (for a price, of course) against the Jedi. Clone Wars creator Dave Filoni says the bounty hunters have given them an opportunity to get away from the clones vs. droids formula, and give Anakin, Ahsoka, and the rest of the Jedi a more colorful set of foes.

In tonight's two-part episode, Rise of the Bounty Hunters, we'll see plenty of Cad Bane when the bounty hunter infiltrates the Jedi Temple to steal a Holocron. You can also check out the concept art of Bane and the other bounty hunters we posted last week.

A New Padawan

Ahsoka isn't the only padawan fighting the Clone Wars, and this season we'll meet Luminara Unduli's padawan, Barriss Offee (who also appeared briefly in Attack of the Clones and featured in the 2003 Clone Wars series). With Barriss, Ahsoka gets a peer, and we will sometimes see how the two fare on missions together without their masters. Barriss' relationship with Luminara also provides a stark contrast to Ahsoka's relationship with Anakin. We'll get to consider the pros and cons of Anakin and Ahsoka's somewhat unorthodox relationship, and the consequences of Anakin's fierce attachment to his padawan.

Shades of Gray

Although many members of the Clone Wars team said young fans appreciate the show because the heroes are the good that triumphs over evil, Filoni says we'll see more shades of gray this season. We'll be breaking out of the clones good, droids bad mold, and exploring instances where our heroes do questionable things for what they believe is the greater good. Anakin, notably, will do something that horrifies his fellow Jedi because he fears Ahsoka's life is in danger, and we will start to see that slide that brought a once-committed Jedi to the Dark Side.

The Specter of Death

No, Ahsoka doesn't die this season, and Ashley Eckstein, who voices Ahsoka, doesn't know if her character's fate is sealed. But death is a very present force in the new season. Ahsoka and Barriss will be confronted with the reality that being a Jedi may mean a short life for both of them. And even as she's accustomed to death as a part of war, Ahsoka will be forced to consider killing an innocent person to prevent an even greater tragedy.

Zombies

As we get closer to Halloween, expect a fun horror episode, one with shades of Night of the Living Dead and the Alien movies. And, though zombified aliens are good for some gentle scares, there's a monster in this episode far more frightening than the walking dead.

The one-hour Clone Wars second season premiere airs tonight at 8pm on Cartoon Network.

We met with James Arnold Taylor, who voices Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Dee Bradley Baker, who voices all of the Clonetroopers as well as many of the show's more monstrous beings, at the Clone Wars press event last week.

Taylor has had an especially extensive and varied voice acting career. In addition to being the voice of Fox's "Animation Domination" promos and the current Fred Flintstone, Taylor is also an accomplished "voice double." He frequently stands in for celebrities when they aren't available for voice post-production, doing seamless imitations of actors like Nicolas Cage, Johnny Depp, and Michael J. Fox. Fortunately, his work voice matching Ewan MacGregor came in handy in his current role, as you can see in the video above.

Baker showed off the full range of his manic vocal talents, from serious and stolid clone to desperate child to fearsome alien creature:

The second season of Clone Wars premieres tomorrow night on Cartoon Network.

Avatar:

3-D movie blog MarketSaw says we'll be getting a second trailer for this movie soon, and it'll focus more on story, including a glimpse of Future Earth, and it'll showcase Sam Worthington's incredible performance as Jake Sully. Stephen Lang and Sigourney Weaver will also have more exposure. And the movie's viral site AVTR posted some new concept art, plus our first glimpse of Unobtanium, the miracle mineral they want to mine on Pandora. (I almost typed Pandorum. Bad, bad typo.) [MarketSaw]

Iron Man 2:

Entertainment Tonight aired a second video of their set visit to this movie... Mostly the same footage we saw before, but even more of Whiplash flailing around ridiculously. And Robert Downey Jr. spills that the racetrack scene is the first time in the movie that we see Whiplash in "his full glory." [Comic Book Resources]

Lost:

Another set pic confirms that the Oceanic Everybody are back on the island, despite that whole "alternate timeline" thing. An eyewitness (with colorful language) saw a scene being filmed at that elaborate temple set, with Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley and Claire. Sayid was there, and he was recovering nicely from his quasi-lethal gunshot wounds, but still covered with blood. Nobody was wearing Dharma jumpsuits. The gang got attacked by a group of "other Others," who looked sort of like Others except they were all wearing darker outfits with lots of red, plus bandanas, and they were vaguely Asian looking. They all had giant guns, and they got into a gunfight with our heroes, where Sawyer shot and killed someone. Jack is tending to Sayid's wound, and then Jack and Kate hug and kiss, and then our heroes get captured and taken into the temple. [SpoilersLost]

Also, Rob McElhenny from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, who appeared as Aldo in season three, will be back soon, apparently — he got an Aldo-ish haircut for the filming. [Lyly Ford]

Sarah Jane Adventures:

Here are the first pics of David Tennant as the Doctor, appearing in the Sarah Jane Adventures:

And here are the official descriptions for that episode, "The Wedding Of Sarah Jane" parts 1 & 2:

"The Wedding Of Sarah Jane": Sarah Jane has met Peter Dalton and wants him to become part of her life; to become a father to Luke perhaps. But Clyde thinks Peter is hiding a secret or two of his own, especially when he and Rani find an empty house where Peter says his home should be..."

Part 1: "The Doctor returns on the happiest day of Sarah Jane's life - but a deadly trap is waiting for them all! As the strands of a clever and careful plan draw together, can even a Time Lord save Sarah Jane, on the day of her arch-enemy's greatest triumph?"

Part 2: "The Doctor joins the battle - but is it too late to save both Sarah Jane and the Earth itself? As the power of the Pantheon of Discord grows in strength, the old friends are separated across different time zones, and must fight to save each other - but for one, there's a terrible price to pay."

[Digital Spy]

And Elisabeth Sladen reveals some details about the new season. K-9, her robot dog, is finally free of the black hole where he was trapped in seasons one and two — so he'll be around a lot more, making himself useful and getting into a rivalry with Mr. Smith, her computer. "He can sense things, he can shoot at things, and he can do mathematical things." Yay! And the kids can call K-9 on the telephone. Unlike Mr. Smith, who never got a phone line.

Sarah Jane gets a "reality check" in the wedding storyline, which is episodes five and six, and she realizes the Doctor really may come back into her life. There's a line where someone says "We'll face the future together." And then the Doctor gets a call or a signal that he's needed elsewhere. The Doctor has tons and tons of dialogue because they wanted to make the most of Tennant's presence. And this story was supposed to end the season, but will appear halfway through instead, due to Tennant's schedule. Also, there's a super-scary haunted house episode with a terrifying scene in a nursery, and Sarah Jane is not herself in the first two-parter, which involves the Judoon and another alien.[Digital Spy again]

Dollhouse:

Some cute new promo pics of our Big Damn Antiheroes. [SpoilerTV]

Fringe:

Sebastian Roche (General Hospital) landed a role as a new recurring baddie on this mad-science show. [SpoilerTV]

Here are some pics from episode 2x05, "Dream Logic". [SpoilerTV]

FlashForward:

A new poster makes this show look much dumber than it actually is. Heads in the clouds! [SpoilerTV]

Star Wars: Clone Wars:

Cad Bane is up to no good, in a new image from Friday's premiere. Plus there's a clip!

Smallville:

Here's your first clip of Brian Austin Green's Kryptonite heart from Friday's episode.

Also, in this episode, we learn that Lois still doesn't know Jimmy is dead. (Really?) Lois' worship of "the Blur" is at its peak, and she gets too carried away. The Blur keeps contacting her. And there's a visual "easter egg" for fans of Chlois. Chloe points out to Clark that he shouldn't wander around in his costume so much. And we see the long-awaited reunion between Lois and Tess. [KryptonSite]

Stargate Universe:

Brian J. Smith plays 1st. Lt. Matthew Scott, who's thrust into command when the ragtag group is stranded on the Destiny, a spaceship on the other side of the universe. Scott argues with Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle), saying their first priority should be returning to Earth. With one word, "Please," Scott conveys all the fear and uncertainty he feels. [Chicago Now]

Heroes:

Coming up in episode six of the show whose superpower is Not Getting Canceled:

SYLAR BEGINS HIS JOURNEY TO FIND HIS IDENTITY AND PETER COMES TO THE RESCUE OF ONE OF HIS OWN – ELLEN GREENE, RAY PARK, DAWN OLIVIERI, DEANNE BRAY AND ERNIE HUDSON GUEST STAR – Under Samuel's (Robert Knepper) guidance, Sylar (Zachary Quinto) starts on a path to rediscover his true identity. Hiro (Masi Oka) helps Emma (guest star Deanne Bray) accept and understand the great possibilities that go along with having an ability. Meanwhile, Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) enlists HRG (Jack Coleman) to help him find a healer who can save Hiro's life.

[SpoilerTV]

And here are bewildering set pics of Nathan and Peter in the air. More at the link. [The ODI]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.

Iron Man 2:

How is this movie different than the first one? Co-star Sam Rockwell explains:

It's a bigger scope. There's a lot more action and fighting. More characters. It's bigger and there's a lot more to get your head around, so it's a tougher job for [Jon] Favreau and Justin Theroux, who wrote it.

And in case it wasn't already clear, Rockwell's character, Justin Hammer, teams up with Whiplash (Mickey Rourke) to take down Tony Stark. And he says Hammer is sort of the "smarmy cousin" of the character he played in Charlie's Angels. [IGN]

Predators:

Frequent Robert Rodriguez collaborator Danny "Machete" Trejo says "we're" doing Predators soon — leading some to speculate that Trejo is in reimagining of the Predator movies. [Slashfilm]

Zombieland:

Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) first meets Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) while making his way down a highway strewn with car wrecks. And it's Tallahassee who insists that they not call each other by their names, due to their short life expectancy. Tallahassee agrees to give Columbus a ride, so Columbus can locate his estranged family. And after they hook up with Little Rock and Wichita, the foursome decides to go to L.A. [IGN]

Lost:

Inside sources say Alan Dale (Charles Widmore) will be heading to Hawaii soon to film some scenes for the show's final season, to nobody's surprise. [The ODI]

Boone (and the other Oceanic 815 passengers who've been lost to the show) won't be appearing that much in the new season, judging from Ian Somerhalder's interview, where he says his filming on the show was "very quick." (Maybe we just see most of the 815 passengers getting off the plane at LAX, and that's all we see of them?) [SpoilersLost]

Another set report says that after Kate drives pregnant Claire to visit Aaron's potential adoptive mom in L.A., Kate drives Claire to the hospital (in the stolen taxi) and Claire gives birth. [Lyly Ford]

Meanwhile, even though there are all these reports about Oceanic 815 landing safely in L.A. with Kate on board, another source swears he saw the filming of a scene in which Sawyer and Kate talk on a dock on the island — so are there two simultaneous timelines? Or does our gang get back to L.A. safely, and then somehow reset the timeline to the "original" version? [The ODI]

Dollhouse:

Eliza Dushku was Twittering a storm on Friday night. Among other things, Alexis Denisof has an "extraordinary DH arc," and "next week's Mommy" was one of her hardest imprints to play. "Russian is hard too." [Twitter]

Want to know how the Echo-Ballard relationship will play out now that Ballard is Echo's WatcherHandler? Let Eliza Dushku and Tahmoh Penikett elucidate: [BuddyTV]

And here's a new promo for Friday's episode:

And Joss talks Summer Glau's upcoming guest spot, plus Dr. Horrible. [Zap2It]

FlashForward:

Here are a couple of sneak peeks from this show's second episode, "White To Play". [Spoilers Guide]

Supernatural:

Here are three sneak peeks from this week's post-apocalyptic episode. [SF Universe]

And here's the official description for episode 5x06, "I Believe The Children Are Our Future":

FAIRY TALES DO COME TRUE - Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) investigate a series of odd murders that strangely resemble fairytales and urban legends. The brothers track down an 11-year-old boy named Jesse (guest star Gattlin Griffith) and realize that whatever Jesse believes is coming true. Castiel (Misha Collins) tells Sam and Dean that Jesse is a serious threat and needs to be eliminated.

[Devoted Fans Network via SpoilerTV]

Smallville:

Remember how we mentioned that Clark is getting the superpower of "thought hearing"? Yes, in Smallville, sharks jump over you. It's happening in episode four:

THE TOYMAN RETURNS AND TAKES OLIVER HOSTAGE - Tess (Cassidy Freeman) forces Oliver (Justin Hartley) to come to a Queen Industries gala to put the Board at ease, but things go awry when the Toyman (guest star Chris Gautheir) shows up with a bomb and a plan to take revenge on Oliver. The Toyman tells Oliver he must confess to murdering Lex or he will blow the place up. Meanwhile, as part of his training, Jor-El gives Clark (Tom Welling) the ability to hear other people's thoughts.

And here are some pics from the episode. [SpoilerTV]

Stargate Universe:

Here are some descriptions for the season's fourth, fifth and sixth episodes:

"DARKNESS": Dr. Nicholas Rush (ROBERT CARLYLE) has been working throughout the night to try and determine why the ship's power reserves are critically low. He reiterates his mounting concerns to Colonel Young (LOUIS FERREIRA), who advises the crew to limit their power consumption to essential services only. Suddenly the lights dim to emergency levels and everything but life support goes dead. Overwhelmed by fatigue and frustration, Rush declares that all on board will perish within days. But when Destiny's flight path towards a solar system reveals the existence of three planets, they hope that one of them is habitable.

Meanwhile Eli (DAVID BLUE) records individual messages from the crew in case they don't survive.

"LIGHT": The Destiny is still without power and an attempt to alter their collision course with a star has failed. The situation is now critical. A plan is born to abandon ship using the last working shuttle, with the hope that one of three planets in close proximity will be habitable. Although this strategy initially raises the crew's spirits, it is short lived when Col. Young (LOUIS FERREIRA) announces there is only room for seventeen people and a lottery will determine who goes and who stays. Stunned by the implication of this news, everyone considers their fate. Some, including Dr. Nicholas Rush (ROBERT CARLYLE) and Col. Young, opt to stay on board. Others, determined to survive, vie for a seat on the departing shuttlecraft.

In the short time that remains, alliances are forged and others damaged while Eli (DAVID BLUE) tries to create a message in a bottle with the aid of a Kino. But, unbeknownst to all, forces are at work that no one could have foreseen.

"WATER" Despite severe rationing and around the clock security, the water reserves on board the Destiny continue to drop. Dr. Nicholas Rush (ROBERT CARLYLE) has no explanation for this latest setback but, if they are to survive, they must find a new water source soon. The only planet within range is a frozen wasteland surrounded by a thin and poisonous atmosphere. Donning two of the ships deteriorated spacesuits, Col. Young (LOUIS FERREIRA) and Lt. Scott (BRIAN J. SMITH) head to the planet's surface, hoping to retrieve enough ice to replenish their water supply. But once there, tests reveal that the ice near the Stargate contains traces of highly toxic chemicals. Young and Scott take off in search of drinkable samples knowing they don't have long before their air will run out and Destiny jumps back to FTL.

Back on board the ship, Lt. Tamara Johansen (ALAINA HUFFMAN) works with the crew to catch an intruder they believe is responsible for the lost rations.

[TV By The Numbers]

Star Wars: Clone Wars:

Here are a couple promos for season two that you might not have seen before, focusing on the new bounty hunter characters. [Examiner]

Eastwick:

According to a casting call, we meet Roxie (Rebecca Romijn)'s mom Edie in episode eight when she comes for a visit, and Edie reveals a memory that explains why she was so aloof during Roxie's childhood. And there are some actual casting script pages, which include a bit where Roxie gets zapped from her bedroom at night to a frozen lake on a different night. Edie shows up late and misses Roxie's art show opening because one of the Barkers' dogs got out and stuff. Roxie tells Edie her art show sold out, and Edie says it's amazing what people will spend their money on. Then Edie undermines Roxie's authority with her daughter Mia, who's supposed to be grounded.

Meanwhile, Darryl Van Horne bursts into the ER with an unconscious Greta in his arms. Greta's having a heart attack and crashing, and Darryl tells Kat she's a healer and she can help Greta now, rather than letting the doctors do it. There's more magical soap-operatics at the second link. [SpoilerTV and SpoilerTV]

Sanctuary:

Here are the official descriptions for the season's first two episodes, "End Of Nights" parts 1 and 2:

2.01: In the season two opener of Sanctuary, Ashley (EMILIE ULLERUP) remains captured, in the dangerous hands of the Cabal. While desperately searching for her, Magnus (AMANDA TAPPING), Will (ROBIN DUNNE), Druitt (CHRISTOPHER HEYERDAHL) and Tesla (JONATHON YOUNG), encounter Kate Freelander (AGAM DARSHI) a quick-talking con artist with Cabal connections. Pressing her for information, Magnus gets the location of a secret Cabal facility that may lead them to her daughter. Although aware that Kate is less than trustworthy, the team takes a risk and moves in on the Cabal way station. They quickly discover they have been led into a trap and that the Ashley they once knew has made a formidable and alarming transformation, with no intention of coming home to the Sanctuary.

2.02: Furious at being duped into a trap, Magnus (AMANDA TAPPING) takes on Kate (AGAM DARSHI), demanding information and complete access to her Cabal contacts. The Cabal's true agenda is revealed and Magnus realizes that they are not only holding Ashley (EMILIE ULLERUP) as ransom to obtain complete control of the Sanctuary Network, but turning her into the ultimate weapon. Now transformed into a Super Abnormal with devastating powers, Ashley and her newly cloned fighters begin their onslaught, destroying Sanctuaries in cities around the world. Tesla (JONATHON YOUNG) and Henry (RYAN ROBBINS) attempt to create a weapon that can stop the attacks…without killing Ashley. As the team prepares to defend the Sanctuary with Tesla's new weapon, Magnus must come to the realization that they may not be able to stop the Cabal's attacks without harming Ashley. She realizes she might have to choose between saving her only daughter, or losing the Sanctuary and all the lives and secrets within it.

[TV By The Numbers]

Vampire Diaries:

And then there's a sneak peek from this high school vampire show's fourth episode:

And here's the official description for episode six, "Lost Girls":

IN A FLASHBACK SEQUENCE, STEFAN REVEALS THE SALVATORE FAMILY HISTORY TO ELENA - Elena (Nina Dobrev) demands that Stefan (Paul Wesley) explain the frightening events that have been happening in Mystic Falls. In flashbacks, Stefan explains how his rivalry with Damon (Ian Somerhalder) began. Back in the present, Damon impulsively takes control of Vicki's (Kayla Ewell) future, and a confused and frightened Vicki runs away. Finally, Sheriff Forbes (guest star Marguerite MacIntyre) and Mayor Lockwood (guest star Rob Pralgo) take steps to protect the town.

[Vampiresite]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.

At this week's Clone Wars press event, members of the press were treated to the eye candy that is Big Rock Ranch, where Lucasfilm Animation is housed. In addition to the tranquil ponds and sometimes cheesy Star Wars artwork, we also got a taste of the kitchen's culinary whimsy. Each dish at breakfast and lunch had a cheeky name, from Palpatine's Pizza to the Jabba Frittata (The Official Star Wars Blog has some great shots of the labels). Among the otherwise beige Wookiee Cookies were a set of Cad Bane cookies that turned out somewhat more green than blue, but with sufficiently evil sparkly eyes.

But the sugar rush didn't end there. The event happened to fall on Ahsoka Tano voice actress Ashley Eckstein's birthday, and at the end of the day, the staff wheeled out a tray of cupcakes decorated with Ahsoka sugar discs while the animators sang "Happy Birthday."

It was a very thoughtful gesture, but to be fair, those cupcakes don't hold a candle to some of the other Star Wars cupcakes professional and amateur bakers elsewhere have concocted. Here are some of our favorites:

Clone Wars creator Dave Filoni emphasized that the bounty hunters will add some color to the second season, breaking up the usual clone-versus-drone plotlines. Cad Bane, who will serve as one of the season's major antagonists, appeared at the end of last season, and this season we will see bounty hunters from other Star Wars media, including The Empire Strike Back's fearsome, carnivorous Bossk:

The Clone Wars second season premieres on October 2nd.

That's right — it's just like wife swappers, except it's writer swappers! So put the keys to the writers' room in a bowl, and let's get swinging...

Lost and Supernatural

In some ways these shows are opposites, even though they have so much in common — they both have long, pull-your-hair-out plots and complex characters who stray to the dark side regularly.

But Supernatural keeps it lean and mean — you pretty much just have the Winchester brothers, and one to four supporting castmembers at any given time. And Supernatural's big mysteries are relatively few, and relatively straightforward: What did the yellow-eyed demon want with baby Sam? What does Ruby want with grown-up Sam? Why did the angels pull Dean out of Hell? And we get answers to those questions on a regular basis. What's complex on Supernatural is the tangled theology of the Angel/Demon war. And few relationships on television are as barbed and complex as the troubled love between the two brothers.

Lost, meanwhile, thrives on complexity — there are easily two dozen characters you're supposed to be keeping track of at any given moment, and oftentimes, they all seem to be equally important. The show's creators have already told viewers not to expect answers to all the show's mysteries — You have to piece things together on your own, or just accept that some things are not knowable. Meanwhile, the show gives us characters whose family relationships are mostly dismal (except Hurley's, oddly) and whose relationships with each other are frequently defined somewhat straightforwardly by rivalry, love triangles, or unrequited love.

So we'd love to see the writers change places for a bit — the Supernatural writers could bring a bit of immediacy to Lost's slow-boiling storylines, and also show us a bit more of how all these people stuck on an island together have become each other's family, and have grown to love each other even as they piss each other off.

And the Lost writers could give us a world of spirits and monsters that's foggier, and weirder, than Supernatural has ever quite given us. Imagine Supernatural with more weird clues, and more of a sense that there's a massive chess game going on in which the Winchester brothers are just pawns. It could be quite a ride.

Dollhouse and Torchwood

These two shows both unkinked our brains, in different ways, last month. We finally got to see Dollhouse's unaired season finale, in which some brilliant new adaptations to the Dollhouse's business model end up destroying civilizaton itself. And Torchwood served up the shocking, twisted "Children Of Earth" miniseries, in which we find out just how valuable our children really are — and just how dark Captain Jack is prepared to get.

These shows both operate in murky waters, with heroes who have huge dark sides and make difficult (and frequently wrong) choices. They're the dark side of escapism, showing how becoming part of a secret world of amazing tech and cool fantasies can be dreadful as well as wonderful. But Dollhouse is a good deal nastier than Torchwood, giving us a for-profit venture that is bent on making people's dreams come true — but only at the expense of its "employees"' personhood. Torchwood, meanwhile, is about people who actually do try to save the world — but often as not, they make things worse.

So what would happen if Russell T. Davies and his gang started writing Dollhouse, and Joss and friends moved to Cardiff?

Well, for starters, Dollhouse would get a lot sexier. The relationship between Boyd and Whiskey/Claire Saunders would probably heat up quite a bit. (And the already-homoerotic tension between ex-cop Boyd Langton and ex-FBI agent Paul Ballard would become way more intense.) But more than that, the assignments would get a lot freakier — Just imagine what sort of missions Russell T. Davies' gnarled, twisted brain would come up with for the mindwiped "dolls" who can be anyone or anything. And if you think the Dollhouse is morally grey and disturbing now, wait until RTD wrote a few scripts. And what could RTD would do with Adelle DeWitt, the sly, wicked, frosty madam of the Dollhouse's empty-headed bordello?

As for Torchwood — sure, "Children Of Earth" was one of the best pieces of television we've seen in recent years. But just imagine Torchwood done in the style of Angel or Buffy, with more weird humor, more out-and-out struggle against the forces of evil, and more identity crisis for our heroes. Torchwood could use some more memorable villains, like the Mayor of Sunnydale or Glory. And Captain Jack needs to have a few episodes of spouting Whedonesque dialogue as he sluts around Cardiff and hits on every adult sentient being he meets. And even though Torchwood took a major leap into darkness this last time around, the show could always go darker and dirtier — especially now that the Hub and the team have both been wrecked. We can just see the story of Torchwood crawling out of the ashes and trying to figure out their role now, as told by Joss Whedon and co.? Where do they go from here?

House and Fringe

Two shows about unconventional teams who deal with weird science stuff — even as the most brilliant, curmudgeonly member of the team skirts the edge of insanity. Can't you just imagine J.J. Abrams and the rest of the Fringe team getting their claws into House's drug-addled, dysfunctional life, while the House gang goes full-throttle on Walter and the Fringe Division?

Of course, House has been on the air longer and has had more time to delve into the neuroses and relationships of its main characters. But also, one major difference between the shows is that House has romance and sexual intrigue — there's Foreteen, of course, plus the ongoing will-they, won't-they with House and Cuddy.

What the Fringe writers could bring to House: more weird science, and less weird psychology — in the most recent season, we've spent more more time figuring out the mysteries of House's mind than we have tackling medical mysteries, like weird parasites or insect-bites in unlikely spots that cause mysterious paralysis. Sure, House has been on for longer and we've been delving into the character more deeply, but the Fringe writers could pump up the show's weirdness levels satisfyingly.

Meanwhile, Fringe could use the opposite — we could use a lot more speculation about the psychology of its characters. Sure, we get hints about the weird experiments that characters like Olivia underwent as kids. But that's not psychology, it's plot development. Fringe could stand to delve a bit more into what makes its characters tick.

And think about it — this is the right time for the two shows to swap writing staffs, too — House is going into a mental institution (where we first met Walter Bishop) and Walter is going to become a lot more independent and autonomous, letting him become more like House.

True Blood and Heroes

What would happen if these two soap operas traded off writing staffs? Bringing Alan Ball and his gang to the perennially conflicted mutants might do them the world of good — and maybe Heroes' writers would get their groove back if they got to write for Lafayette, Eric and the rest.

It's weird to think that both Heroes and True Blood are soap operas, but they kind of are — the main difference is, True Blood is a lot stickier (both in the sense that people obsess a lot more about True Blood's characters, and in the sense that there are weird fluids everywhere), while Heroes often has much higher stakes and more of a comic-book, action-adventure feel.

So it's easy to think of ways that the True Blood team could revitalize Heroes. As Lauren points out, "Sylar would actually eat brains." The weird murder-flirtation between Sylar and Claire would get a lot deeper, and all of the show's relationships would suddenly be much more gothic and byzantine.

The dark, secret world of the Company, with its endless family drama going back decades, would gain a whole new layer of murkiness and detail, much like all the stuff we're learning about vampire society on True Blood. We'd get a lot more fun, quirky world-building moments on Heroes. And can you picture Alan Ball writing HRG, the tormented-but-suave-but-dorky family man? He would suddenly have a lot more layers. And he'd be naked.

But the much-maligned Heroes team could also bring some fun to True Blood. One of the things Heroes does really well is come up with out-of-left-field superpowers and then imagine how they would really work, and how they'd affect your life, in reality. If the Heroes writers ran True Blood, Jason would probably get powers similar to Sookies — except, of course, he would see the future. You might see a bit more of how the strange mixture of powers in Bon Temps actually messes with people's lives. Plus maybe the Heroes writers could cut loose and write the kind of beyond-dysfunctional, messed-up characters that they don't get to create that often. And it would be fascinating to see Heroes deal with the added theme of religion that crops up a lot in True Blood.

Breaking Bad and Eureka

These are both shows about science, and about the quirky people who make a living off science. In AMC's critically acclaimed Breaking Bad, we follow Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher who's got a pregnant wife and a son with cerebral palsy, and then he finds out he's got terminal lung cancer. His insurance won't pay for the treatments, so he decides to start making and selling methamphetamine to secure his family's future. Meanwhile, in Eureka, there's a whole town full of science geniuses who create oddball projects for fun and profit, with often disastrous (but never horrifying) results.

So they're both about people using science to get ahead, but Breaking Bad is about the dark, nasty side of science, while Eureka is happy and easy-going. Everybody's rich, or at least comfortable, in Eureka, while Walter White is barely getting by and needs to resort to drug-dealing to save his family from ruin. (Walter's drug-dealer name is "Heisenberg," and he uses mercury fulminate, an explosive, as a weapon. He also uses his chemistry-teacher knowledge to quadruple his meth production.)

So what would the writers of Eureka bring to Breaking Bad? Probably a lot more science shout-outs. In addition to using Heisenberg as his drug-dealer name, Walt would probably start finding himself experiencing things that are right out of classic science fiction movies. And the science would get a lot odder, with Walt possibly coming up with wild new additives to lace his meth with — meth that makes you start aging backwards? Maybe Walt would come up with some zanier ways of dealing with the drug lords he runs up against, like catching them in zero-gravity fields or something?

As for Eureka, the Breaking Bad writers might delve a little bit more into the underside of the little town of geniuses. Exactly how does their relationship with the Defense Dept. work? And what happens when some of their more potent inventions really do fall into drastically wrong hands?

Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Venture Bros.

These are two of the most vivid and fascinating animated shows on TV right now — so what would happen if you turned the Lucasfilm writers loose on the Venture Bros., and let the Venture staff have a crack at the Clone Wars?

The main difference between these shows, says Graeme, is that the Venture Bros. writers are deeply bitter whereas the Clone Wars' writers are, at their heart, very sincere.

So maybe if the Venture Bros. writers got to take a turn writing the Clone Wars, you'd immediately have more weird pop-culture humor. But you'd also get more investigation into the bitterness that's just under the surface of the Star Wars universe — the fact that Anakin is a jerk who's destined to become the scourge of the galaxy. Plus the fact that the clone army is made up of helpless slaves. All of the characters in Clone Wars would become a lot more neurotic, and the clones would become like the Venture Bros.' henchmen. Inevitably, the show would start pointing to more of the darkness in its premise, but also poking fun at it — and it might become like a better written version of Robot Chicken Star Wars along the way. Plus, it would be fantastic to see what the Venture Bros. scribes would do with Anakin.

Meanwhile, if the Clone Wars staff came over to Venture Bros., that show would become much more of a straightforward action-adventure show — it might become a bit like Johnny Quest, even. But we'd also suddenly see a lot more weird politics, and the show would start showing us different factions scheming and intriguing against each other. There might be less resolution in each episode — which is saying something, considering how little resolution Venture Bros. already gives us. And a revamped Venture Bros. would start giving us morals at the end of each episode, like "Remember, Brock, Sometimes violence ISN'T the answer."

Additional reporting by Graeme McMillan, Lauren Davis, Meredith Woerner and Annalee Newitz.

Superman:

James McTeigue, the rumored director of the next Superman movie, continues to make vague, forboding statements. This time, he says he thinks "the culture has sort of changed a little bit around Superman," and the next Superman movie "would have to be something a little darker." [MTV]

Iron Man 2:

We already linked to Kevin Feige's interview with Comic Book Resources where he talks about the Avengers, but there's also a bit where he said the climax to the second Iron Man movie will be a bit more spectacular and large-scale than the first one was. "On the highway and the rooftop in the last movie was great and the connection between Jeff [Bridges] and Robert was great but we wanted to give it a little more spectacle this time around for the finale." [Comic Book Resources]

Jennifer's Body:

Megan Fox sets her tongue on fire in a new image from the film. More images (from this film, as well as some other upcoming fall movies) at the link. [MTV]

Zombieland:

Jesse Eisenberg finally gets some quality time alone with his hot neighbor, in this clip – and if you don't see where this scene is going, you've never seen a zombie film. [MTV]

Spielberg's untitled alien invasion project:

This Dreamworks TV series (or miniseries) for TNT has got to get a catchier title. But anyway, it's filming now in Hamilton, Ontario, with star Noah Wylie playing someone who fights alien invaders. And the spoilery bit is that they're filming a lot at the Royal Botanical Gardens. So is there some kind of plant-themed menace here? Or are they hiding out in a garden? [THR]

Heroes:

The studio sent us a new picture of Hayden Panettiere, looking particularly squashed, from episode 4x02, "Jump, Push, Fall." [NBC]

Also, more about Jayma Mays coming back to the show — apparently, the original plan is: Hiro jumps back to the diner where Charlie works, and this time he succeeds in killing Sylar. This screws up the timeline, but it means Hiro can meet Charlie in a Tokyo bar later. (But this plan may be changed before this storyline gets filmed.) And meanwhile, Claire will be rushing a sorority at her new college. [E! Online]

Warehouse 13:

The guest stars keep coming. Looks like Joe Morton will be guest-starring in episode nine, and Mark Sheppard will pop up in episode 10. Yay! [SpoilerTV]

Supernatural:

Rogue angel Anna will be in the second episode of the new season, and is slated for more appearances after that. [E! Online]

Chuck:

There are no plans for us to find out Sarah Walker's real name, says Yvonne Strahovski. [E! Online]

Actor Matthew Bomer says it's possible he could still return as Bryce, and he doesn't believe Bryce is really dead. [ChuckTV]

True Blood:

Maryann won't stop coming for Sam, because she needs a sacrifice for her god. And Sam thinks maybe he should just give himself up, to spare everyone else in Bon Temps harm. But a savior is riding to Sam's aid. [E! Online]

Star Wars: The Clone Wars:

A new image from season two shows Cad Bane — the bounty hunter so wicked, both his names are naughty — leading his drones. [Lucasfilm]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.

Iron Man 2:

A few new pics of Tony Stark on a trashed, flaming race track, plus Pepper Potts and Rhodey, from USA Today's Comic Con preview. [USA Today via Slashfilm]

Tron:

Producer Sean Bailey told MTV News that the new movie is a "stand-alone sequel" and you don't have to have seen the original to appreciate it. But it takes the stance that the original movie happened in 1982, and since then there have been developments with ENCOM and Kevin Flynn and all the other characters. In the film, Flynn disappeared in 1989, and there are tons of theories about what happened to him. But no trace has ever been found. Flynn's son, Sam, grows up never knowing what happened to him.

Says Bailey, "At the beginning of the movie, [Sam is] given a clue or a prompt and starts to investigate, which leads him into the Tron universe. And things have really changed." You'll still see lightcycles and tanks, but they'll be streamlined and improved, plus there are also new vehicles. And it's a "darker universe" with more intensity. It'll push the limits of the PG rating. It'll be, like, PG-12. [MTV]

District 9:

Sony Pictures released a new still showing Wikus (Sharlto Copley) wielding a honkin big alien-looking gun. [Slashfilm]

And here's your first longer TV spot, showing a bit more of this movie's backstory:

New Moon:

OMG new photo of Jacob and Bella. D00d! [Bella And Edward]

The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus:

Ahead of this movie's panel at Comic Con, here are a couple new clips, plus a better copy of the one we showed you a while back.

Doctor Who:

Even more set photos of day two of the Matt Smith/Alex Kingston filming. This is rapidly becoming the most photographed TV set in history. More pics at the link. [SpoilerTV]

The final David Tennant specials won't mention the events of Torchwood's big miniseries, as such.[EW]

Torchwood:

This show will most likely be back, and Captain Jack will probably continue to be the main character, says Russell T. Davies. "I would hope so. He's absolutely fundamental to Torchwood." But when the show returns, Davies will also be inventing some new characters and stories. [EW]

Fringe:

Ari Graynor will be back as Rachel in the season opener, but there's no clue about her availability beyond that. [EW]

Heroes:

Here's a new set pic, showing Rick Worthy (aka Simon the Cylon) as Matt Parkman's new partner and mentor. [Heroes Spoilers]

Smallville:

Episode three of the new season will be called "Rabid." [Kryptonsite]

Star Wars: The Clone Wars:

Here's your first look at how evil bounty hunter Aurra Sing (glimpsed in Phantom Menace and featured heavily in the Dark Horse comics) will look in this animated series. Click the link for another pic of a new character in Clone Wars. [EW]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.

Now, we know that this list is going to upset more than a few of you (Especially if you disliked the three Star Wars prequels), but we're not ranking these killer robots in order of awesome - Because then you would have seen IG-88 and KARR, amongst others - nor even in order of evil, but literally in terms of estimated kill-rate. Which robot has killed the most living things? That's all we're interested in.

So, get started with the countdown, and feel free to dispute our choices in the comments. Just don't send a robot after us, to change our minds.

If you've been craving some superhero action but don't know what's going on with your old favorites, DC's Blackest Night #0 and Marvel's Free Comic Book Day Avengers both offer all-new stories that'll bring you up to speed in a fast and stylish manner; both books are written and drawn by the company's top talent (Night boasts story by Geoff Johns and art by Ivan Reis, while Avengers is a Brian Michael Bendis and Jim Cheung co-creation), and hint at what's to come fairly effectively. Other superhero thrills can be found in Wolverine: Origin of an X-Man (Just in time for this weekend's X-Men Origins: Wolverine release), Image's Savage Dragon #148 and Cyberforce/Hunter Killer Preview, and new indie comic Fist of Justice.

If you'd rather look for some more familar characters, Dark Horse and IDW have you covered; the former are putting out two books, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Aliens/Predator, while IDW have a Transformers/GI Joe flipbook ready and waiting for you. If that's not enough, the Dabel Bros. Showcase offers a new Dresden Filesstory as well as - weirdly enough - a preview of an upcoming Star Wars novel from publishing partners Del Rey, while Boom! have a new Warhammer preview (as well as a reprint of the first issue of their Cars series) and Mirage reprint the first issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to celebrate the characters' 25th anniversary.

Of course, there's also all manner of new work out there for you to discover tomorrow as well. Our pick would be Oni Press' Resurrection #0 (tying in with this week's Resurrection collection, offering up a view of life post-alien invasion), the Comics Festival collection of Canadian cartoonists and, of course, Fantagraphics' Love and Rockets Sampler... which may be neither new nor sci-fi, but is still some of the best comics out there.

A full list of the books available for Free Comic Book Day is available here, and as ever, your local comic book store can be found by clicking here. Visit, find some new favorite things to read, and take advantage of the freebies.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Decoded is just the latest show to adopt Pop-Up Video-style visual commentary to spice up re-runs, but don't worry; this won't be another Lost-style idiot-proof, spoiler-filled "enhanced" repeat. For one thing, the commentary will be created by the people responsible for making the show, and for another, nothing could be as bad as the commentary on the enhanced Losts.
You can see a sample of the revised show here; it starts its run on Cartoon Network on May 1st.

The Clone Wars: Decoded on May 1 on Cartoon Network [Star Wars.com]

Cartoon Network has long been a home for the quietly wonderful, whether it's Powerpuff Girls or Batman: The Brave and The Bold, and amongst the various reality shows (No, really) and Scooby Doo reboots, there are three new series that have caught our sci-fi eye:

Ben 10: Evolutions continues CN's favorite superhero franchise into another series, as Teen Titans' Glen Murakami and Justice League's Dwayne McDuffie give us a world where Ben Tennyson is now 16 and an "international mega-star super-hero," according to the network. But that's just the excuse for generational clashes as the kids love him and the adults want to control him. It's just like your childhood... but with superpowers!

Generator Rex is also from Man of Action, the collective who created Ben 10, and stars a teenage boy who's become infected by "molecular-altering nanites" that let him grow machines out of his body, and his worldwide mission to track down others infected by the same nanites.

Sym-Bionic Titan is easily the most exciting show; the new series from Samurai Jack creator Genndy Tartakovsky, it's described as a mix of "high school drama and giant robot battles," and centers around three aliens who try and escape their wartorn planet, only to become stranded on Earth. I foresee well-animated carnage ahead.

It's not only new shows that'll fill the network come September; the network also announced new seasons of Clone Wars, The Secret Saturdays and, thankfully, Batman: The Brave and The Bold.

A full list of the shows announced can be found here. As for the increasing amount of non-cartoons on the network, Stuart Snyder, the COO of parent company Turner Broadcasting's kids division, explained in a very unconvincing manner:

Our voice is changing... This is an evolution of our brand.

Dear Cartoon Network: Your brand is cartoons. While you may be going through brand puberty, that doesn't change the fact that non-cartoons theoretically doesn't belong with your brand at all. Still, at least we'll have new Batman....

Cartoon Network: 'Our voice is changing' [Hollywood Reporter]

Monday:

Chuck -
Chuck must choose between his brain powers and the love of his life, when he meets the scientist who created the mind meld machine. But more importantly Caprica Six is back to salve our BSG withdrawal symptoms - see Tricia Helfer meet Chuck, on NBC at 8 PM.

Chuck Promo:

Heroes -
The hunt for Rebel continues and poor misguided Tracy may be caught in the fight for Rebel's identity and Angela has a sexy mature ladies pow wow with her old buddy played by Swoosie Kurtz. Heroes is on NBC at 9 PM.

Heroes Clip:

Heroes Promo:

Movies:

Enjoy the worlds most disgusting alien abduction scene ever, in Fire In The Sky at 6:30 PM on HBO.

Tuesday:

Still no new Fringe this week. Walter, we miss you.

Reaper -
You're right, CW, nothing is more disgusting than a bug monster in an old person's skin, unless it has a cheerleader's wig and drives around in a Val Kilmer-voiced KITT, shudder... yes, that would be more frightening. This week Sam fights a old bug monster and feels guilty about lying to a girl way too hot for him, as boys often do. Reaper is on the CW at 8 PM.

Reaper Clip

Reaper Promo

Movies:

A exoskeleton tuxedo turns an unwitting chauffeur (Jackie Chan) into a secret agent. Laughs, karate and James Brown impersonations ensue, while Jennifer Love Hewitt gets a paycheck, so good for her. The Tuxedo is on at 10 AM on TBS.

Don't you hate it when your robot gets possessed by aliens? tTotally ruins the day. See how this wee boy deals with it in the 50s classic The Invisible Boy at 2:30 PM on TCM.

Wednesday:

Better Off Ted -
Phil and Lem are back, and making fake beef for their pretty bosses. Now that we've already fallen in love with the show's little geeks, it's Portia de Rossi's time to shine as their unflinchingly cold boss. Better Off Ted is on ABC at 8:30 PM.

Better Off Ted Clip:

Better Off Ted Clip:

Better Off Ted Promo:

Lost -
Ooooh, man, who's ready for the Juliet-versus-Kate "that's my man" throw down? To hell with Sayid's problems, I see a polar-bear-cage mud-wrasslin', hair-pulling fight in the future. Lost is on ABC at 9 PM.

Lost Promo:

UFO Hunters -
If we're to believe the Race To Witch Mountain theory, then all secret government alien-related bases are actually located underground, or in a mountain. This week The UFO Hunters try and track down the base in Dulce New Mexico, on the History Channel at 10 PM.

Life On Mars -
I fear Sam will continue on with this terrible mustached undercover work as this week the apparent murders of his colleagues Skelton and Carling lead directly to his door. LOM is on ABC at 10 PM.

Movies:
Ok here's a new fun game: take a shot every time you question Kevin Spacey's judgement, when he decided to take on the role of a sunglasses-wearing alien at a psychiatric facility. KPAX is on at 10:30 AM on USA.

Thursday:

Smallville -
The ridiculously attractive Zatanna makes her curvy cameo on this week's episode of the proto-Superman series. I'm going to have to give the a tip of the top hat to CW, the top heavy character looks like she was ripped out of the comic. Z shows up and grants Chloe's birthday wish (to be more like Lois), so they switch bodies - because there is some unwritten rule in TV series that the characters have to go all Freaky Friday at least once. Smallville is on the CW at 8 PM.

Smallville Promo

Smallville Promo

Supernatural -
Dean and Sam switch roles with the cast of The Office, but here's the kicker...they have no memory of each other. But not even the cubicle walls can separate the brotherly twosome when things start going all spooky and their office mates start offing themselves. Between Dean thinking Sam is hitting on him and the bowflex in Dean's apartment, this could be my favorite Supernatural ever on the CW at 9 PM.

Supernatural Clip

Supernatural Clip

Supernatural Clip

Supernatural Promo

No new Eleventh Hour.

Friday:

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles -
Hooray, Charley is back - and Sarah throws Cameron and Derek in the thunder dome to see who survives. In the battle between the vacant-staring hot girl and the 90210 icon, who will win? T:SCC is on Fox at 8 PM.

T:SCC Promo:

No new Batman: The Brave And The Bold.

Dollhouse -
It's back to school for Echo, as our forgetful hero heads to her old stomping grounds to fight a deadly virus, presumably with tight pants and high kicks. As the actives fight the big bad their memories start coming back to them, which could get interesting. Dollhouse is on Fox at 9 PM.

Dollhouse Promo:

Saturday:

Movies:

13 Ghosts, not to be confused with the idiotically titled remake Thir13en Ghosts, puts a family inside a haunted house with a real life murderer. That's on at 3:45 AM, over at TCM.

Sunday:

Kings -
Jack takes David out on a man-date, where Jack tries to dirty up his image with some harmless drug usage and open mouthed kissing. Meanwhile, in the other part of the kingdom, the son Silas really loves is sick. Kings is on NBC at 8 PM.

Movies:

A mysterious cone lands in Illinois filled with creatures that latch onto humans and seize power. Apparently this movie was adapted without permission from the author of the book with the same plot, and lawyer visits ensued. But I'm intrigued as to how The Brain Eater aliens "distorted" the men - view the classic film at 4 AM on AMC.

As much as the introduction of new character Cad Bane was trailed as being the selling point for "Hostage Crisis," he was nowhere near the best thing about it... In fact, he was worryingly generic, all machismo and mystery without much to make you that interested in him (He even lacked the visual impact of other Star Wars badasses like Boba Fett or Darth Maul; he was just a guy without a nose in a trenchcoat). Although the action of the episode was well-done and engaging - in part because, for once, the Jedi didn't obviously have the upper hand from the start - and the animation was (for the most part) as strong as ever, what satisfied so much was a surprising new-found maturity in the writing.

Yes, I said maturity. For Clone Wars. Get used to it.
It wasn't just the opening scenes of Anakin and Padme discussing their relationship displaying a subtlety in foreshadowing Anakin's dark side (Or the series coming close to admitting just how ridiculous their "secret relationship" is, in what had to have been a wink to the audience), and in the same episode that introduces Senator Organa to the series, knowing that he'll take one of Padme and Anakin's children in the future, for that matter; there was something oddly pleasing about closing the season with the bad guys just outright winning, and doing so by freeing Ziro The Hutt, everyone's favorite giant lizard Truman Capote from the Clone Wars movie. It brought a sense of closure (as well as a sense of continuity) to the season that it possibly didn't deserve, but was nonetheless very welcome. I'd love it if the show continued down this more... morally ambiguous if probably too generous a term, but almost fits, route, showing more of a darker side to its heroes and less of a constant stalemate between both sides in the war. If we need to bring in bounty hunters to do it, then I'm perfectly happy with that, as long as we don't see more Baby Boba along the way.

It wasn't a perfect season finale - the ending itself was very anti-climactic, perhaps a "to be continued" that failed to go off - but it was more than enough to make me look forward to what happens when the show returns next fall. Here's hoping that it'll include things going wrong a lot more often.

In the episode,

Count Dooku seeks to spring a Separatist prisoner from Republic captivity, but his profile prevents him from getting close enough to set in motion his malevolent plan.

Enter Cad Bane, the galaxy's most fearsome bounty hunter, as ruthless as he is deadly. He is quintessentially cold, cruel and calculating – and when the price is right, he can't be stopped. Backed by Dooku and the Separatists, he's bringing his unique skill set and impressive arsenal to bear against the very heart of the Republic. Bane brazenly brings the fight to the Senate's doorstep, with a rogues gallery of galactic scum as his allies...

Patterned after the laconic gunslingers of spaghetti Westerns, Bane is lethally cool and relishes being a bad guy. He is unflappable in the face of danger, and even welcomes the opportunity to pit his formidable skills against the legendary prowess of the Jedi Knights.

You know, they say this Cad Bane is one bad mutha... shut your mouth! Oh, and here's a couple pics.

Monday:

No new Chuck this week.

Kyle XY -
It's the last Kyle XY ever. So say goodbye to the cute confused super-boy and his Sound Of Music foster family, The Tragers. In this final episode, Kyle discovers Latnok's evil plan. So the Trager family combines to form Voltron, and together they stamp out the evil corporation with their cat hands. But more importantly who will Kyle pick for his genius-baby love-seed: Amanda or Jessi? Kyle XY is on ABC Family at 9 PM.

Kyle XY Clip

Kyle XY Clip

Kyle XY Clip

Kyle XY Clip

Kyle XY Promo

No new Heroes this week.

Movies:
Enhanced action figures come to life, thanks to modern technology, and say things like, "I love the smell of polyurethane in the morning." Small Soldiers is on TBS at 10 AM.

Tuesday:

There is an early morning Dark Angel marathon running on the Sci Fi Channel from 8 AM to 2 PM, if you can't wait until Friday to get your fill of ass-kicking ladies in tight pants.

No new Fringe this week.

Reaper -
Ben starts dating Nina — you know, the Demon that tried to kill Sam. But she's really hot and funny, in the way that reminds my of Anya so please keep her around. Reaper is on the CW at 8 PM.

Reaper Clip

Reaper Promo

Movies:

One of the top ten science fiction comedies of all time (in my book), Galaxy Quest, is on TBS at 10 AM today. Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub and Sam Rockwell find out their canceled Star Trek rip-off series has been recreated in space, thanks to an alien race.

Wednesday:

Better Off Ted -
The lovely Portia de Rossi and Jay Harrington run the slightly but comically corrupt company Veridian Dynamics in research and development. Where the two make sheep and weaponize pumpkins. It's pretty adorable, and hopefully very successful because we're in dire need of some actually funny scifi. Better Off Ted is on ABC at 8:30 PM.

Veridian Dynamics Promo:

Better Off Ted Promo:

Lost -
The gang is back, and Sawyer has to be all Con man smartypants again to figure out how to juggle two girlfriends and keep his new Dharma buddies from executing Kate, Jack, Ben, Locke, Hurley, Ben and Sun ....yeah that's about it. Let them kill the new characters — I'm not really invested in them yet.

Lost Clip:

Lost Clip:

Lost Promo:

UFO Hunters -
Get to the bottom of the giant triangle-shaped things that appeared overhead in Sonora, California. Aliens, or just giant floating triangles?

This is what they are talking about:

Life On Mars -
Sam dives once more into the funny mustache closet. This week, he's going undercover as a truck hijacker and needs to infiltrate a gang. LOM is on ABC at 10 PM.

Movies:

Here's a fun game: take a drink every time Halle Berry makes you wince, in Catwoman on AMC at 8 PM.

Thursday:

Smallville -
Clark gets stuck between a rock and a hard place, when Tess tries to con him into using his powers by wrecking their jet plane. In other Smallvillian news, Chloe is all understanding of Davis' "mood swings" and her beau is not. Smallville is on the CW at 8 PM.

Smallville Promo

Smallville Clip

Supernatural -
Castiel and the brothers get the angel killer in chains, now Dean gets to show everyone what he's learned in hell. Oh and I think Castiel may get to kick a little ass in this, and maybe emote a bit into the bargain. Supernatural is on the CW at 9 PM.

Supernatural Clip

Supernatural Promo

Supernatural Promo

No new Eleventh Hour.

Movies:

So who's the better magician: the rich Hugh Jackman, who convinces David Bowie to build him a devious device, or Christian Bale, the man who really knows how to keep secrets? The Prestige is on FX at 8 PM.

Friday:

There is an all day Battlestar Galactica marathon running on the Sci Fi Channel, as well there should be. I suspect people will be boarding up shops and schools will be closing down as well, to mark this momentous occasion.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles -
The second half of this two-parter episode lets us all know what's in the box, and why it made that incredibly hot, but crazy, lady come back from the future. T:SCC is on Fox at 8 PM.

T:SCC Promo:

Batman: The Brave And The Bold -
Jason Blood is framed for crimes committed by Gentleman Ghost, on the Cartoon Network at 8 PM.

Star Wars: Clone Wars -
Meet Cad Bane: apparently, he's the worst of the worst of all the bounty hunters and is going to kill all of the clones. He takes some hostages, and it's up to Anakin to save the day. Oh, and the TV Guide says Ziro is back in this episode to which I say, fantastic because everyone should start their weekend with gay Hutt! The finale of the Clone Wars is on Cartoon Network at 9 PM.

Star Wars: Clone Wars Promo:

Star Wars: Clone Wars Promo:

Star Wars: Clone Wars Promo:

And Just For Fun, Here's Ziro Again:

Dollhouse -
Patton Oswalt guest stars as an internet mogul who purchases Echo's brain. Echo plays the part of perfect housewife to Oswalt's meek internet persona (get it? Internet=nerd). Meanwhile, Sierra shrieks and Helo yells and throws a chair. That's great and all, but where's Alpha? "Man On The Street" is on Fox at 9 PM.

Dollhouse Promo:

Dollhouse Clip (skip ahead to 5:36 if you don't want to here Kimmel yammering):

Battlestar Galactica -
This is it: two hours of total Galactica-versus-Cylon action. Some will die, some will live (I'm guessing) and maybe, just maybe, we'll get some sort of conclusion out of this long five year journey towards Cylon-self discovery (Earth no longer being an option). BSG is on the Sci Fi Channel at 9 PM because it's two hours keeds.

BSG Promo:

Saturday:

Movies:

Go back to the classics with Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi on Spike at 8 PM, just close your eyes whenever the "new and improved" CG pops up on screen.

Sunday:

Kings -
Now that the little country-mouse has told Ian McShane that he ain't no redneck bitch, let's see what happens. What will the city-mouse girlfriend princess and the gaydilocks prince have to say about their new adopted brother, now that Silas has marked him out as the favorite? The second episode of Kings is on NBC at 8 PM.

Movies:

What would you do if you were forced to repeat the same day over and over again, like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day? Me, I would probably reenact Groundhog Day in its entirety. The movie is on FX at 12 AM.

Terminator Salvation:

Don't hold your breath for an Arnold Schwarzenegger cameo in T4, even with his face digitally pasted onto the prototype of the T-800 for a moment. Director McG has been hinting that he'll try and get Arnie to appear somehow. But TheArnoldFans.com quotes the California governor as saying, last weekend, that he doesn't want to have a brief cameo in the film, even one second, because then the studio can promote the film by claiming that Arnie is in it as the Terminator. So "they should try to find a way of doing a story that does not include me at all." [The Arnold Fans via Sci Fi Wire]

G.I. Joe:

More hints from Baroness actor Sienna Miller: She has a "really good girl-fight" with "Scarlett" O'Hara, played by Rachel Nichols, which involves rubber bullets and open flames. Meanwhile, that bit in the trailer, where two figures in jumpsuits catapult over rockets and jump through a bus, involves Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans). [MTV]

Iron Man 2:

Director Jon Favreau Twittered this picture of Tony Stark's house in the new movie under construction, our first set pic from the highly anticipated sequel. [Jon Favreau via Cinemablend]

Dollhouse:

Eagle-eyed reader Coaltrain2371 points out that IMDB lists the penultimate episode of season one as being called "Omega," and it includes Alpha... played by Alan Tudyk. So that settles that, unless someone else edited IMDB, which is possible. [IMDB]

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles:

Here are a few promo pics from episode 2x20, "To The Lighthouse." [Sarah Connor Society]

Also, in the two-parter that starts Friday, Yuri Lowenthal plays Christopher, a "sonar man" on the Jimmy Carter, Jesse's Terminator-captained nuclear submarine in the future. All he could say about the two-parter is that things aren't always fun on the sub, and something happens towards the end of the story that made him scream when he read it in the script. More and bigger set pics at the link. [Sarah Connor Society]

Stargate Universe:

The ninth episode of the show will be called "Justice" and will deal with shipboard justice and the developing interactions among the crew. [Gateworld]

Smallville:

Here are a couple more clips from tomorrow night's "Clark comes clean, is it just a dream?" episode. [EW]



Fringe:

Here are some minor characters being cast for episode 19:

[SUSAN & NANCY LUTZ] (FEMALE, 29) Twins; pretty but not striking, a loner, reserved. GUEST

[DRIVER] (MALE, 40-50) Bus driver with a frantic passenger. TWO SCENES – PLEASE SPECIFY IF ACTOR IS CERTIFIED TO DRIVE A BUS

[WINTERS] (MALE, 35) Non-speaking, threatening with an air of menace. TWO SCENES

[MICHAEL CARLIN] (MALE, 39) Informant Peter and Olivia go to. ONE SCENE

[MANAGER] (MALE, 55) Building manager, gives Olivia and Peter a tour. ONE SCENE

[FORENSIC TECH] (MALE or FEMALE, 30s) At a crime scene. UNDER FIVE

[SpoilerTV via Fringe Television]

Star Wars: Clone Wars:

Here are a couple more pics, and a clip, from Friday's continuation of the Ryloth storyline, with Mace Windu in a tight spot. [Lucasfilm]



Heroes:

David H. Lawrence, the "puppeteer" Doyle, says his character will have a romantic scene next week that we'll be talking about for a long time. Um, yeah. And we'll learn more about what the oyster-slurping Angela has been planning. We'll meet a character with an Earth-related ability, and it'll be "muddy." Claire and Sylar willl come to an understanding, since they'll both live forever. And the season finale will introduce a female baddie, and will include the word "pipeline" at some point. And here are some set pics showing the filming of the scene where Matt first meets Matt Jr. [The ODI]

Life On Mars:

The show's final episode didn't need too much of a rewrite to change it from a season finale to a series finale, says producer Josh Appelbaum. The show's storylines were mostly going to wrap up in this episode anyway, but the producers had to provide a bit more closure in the final act and get rid of the cliffhanger. It'll make you view everything that's already happened in a new light. Some viewers will hate the ending and some will love it, but either way, it's emotional and mind-bending. [Zap2It]

Additional reporting by Alasdair Wilkins.

President Obama is going to enforce strict guidelines for the stem cell research to detour human cloning and called the idea "dangerous, profoundly wrong."

I agree, until we've figured out a way to breed out the evil gene, this world will never truly be safe from the evil-twin threat, even though seeing a cooler, more evil version of oneself could be pretty thrilling (especially if they had an eye patch or slightly darker hair).

The president is staunch on his position and said he would never allow the government to use cloning for human reproduction. Could it be that he's already met his evil duplicate?

[Briet Bart]

X-Men Origins: Wolverine:

Here are some new character posters showing a better look at some of the movie's 10,000 mutant characters, including Deadpool, Gambit and Silverfox. [USA Today via Obsessed With Film]

Iron Man 2:

Shellhead's new movie put out a casting call for four minor characters. There's a U.S. Senator who's an imposing man and not easily amused. (Do you want to bet Tony attempts to amuse this guy?) There's a young Caucasian boy under 10 years old, and an young African American man in his mid 20s to early 30s. And a Russian man in his 40s or 50s. [SpoilerTV]

Star Trek:

So what's the deal with bar-brawling, shit-talking James T. Kirk in those new Star Trek trailers? Allow star Chris Pine to explain:

What was presented to me was this vision of Kirk in the script as an angry young kid who is dealing with some heavy family s—t and is angry at the world. He's a rebel without a cause. I think everyone can remember what it's like to be 15, and he's a 25-year-old 15-year-old! He has to mold all that energy and that drive and all that passion and obstinance and the spectrum of emotions into the man that Kirk then becomes, which is the captain of the ship.

[Sci Fi Wire]

Dragonball Evolution:

Here's a new featurette that includes some behind-the-scenes stuff and some clips from the most eagerly awaited movie of whatever week it comes out. [DB The Movie]


The Adjustment Bureau:

Some extra plot details about the Matt Damon-starring thriller inspired by the work of Philip K. Dick. Apparently Damon plays a "promising politician" whose romance with a lovely ballet dancer gets "disrupted by mysterious forces." [EW]

Doctor Who:

Some casting news: model Gemma Chan is in the 2009 Christmas special, now filming, and she plays a character called Mia Bennett. Also, former Neighbours star Peter O'Brien says he's filming for the series next month as part of David Tennant's final storyline. O'Brien says he plays a villain, and the story takes place on Mars. [Den Of Geek]

Lost:

Actor Sterling Beaumon says he's playing Young Ben for a four-episode arc starting when the show returns in two weeks, and it's a major storyline that changes Ben forever. There's a major trauma, which causes Young Ben to go from being a "nice, good kid" to the Ben we know. And over the course of that arc, we see Ben learn all of the island's secrets, including all of the island's backstory. Dude! [E! Online]

Dollhouse:

Fox released five (!) clips from tonight's episode.






Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles:

Fox also released a clip from tonight's episode, plus a new promo video for SCC and Fringe.

Fringe:

Peter has a new love interest - and she's a blonde. [TV Guide]

Smallville:

Wrestler Matt Morgan tells the Pain Clinic (a wrestling newsletter) that he's been cast as Doomsday for Smallville season nine.

They had just previously cast the Doomsday character - signed, sealed, delivered, it was concrete. The director said ‘Let's figure a way to recast Doomsday and maybe have this Matt Morgan kid play him'. In postproduction they are going to try to write around it, hopefully.

He adds that he's keeping his fingers crossed. And fans are speculating that this means Sam Witwer is disappearing, and "Davis Bloome" will be Doomsday full time in season nine. [OSCK]

Star Wars: Clone Wars:

Here are two awesome clips, and some new pics, from tonight's episode. Obi-Wan uses the Force the way it was meant to be used. [Lucasfilm]




Supernatural:

Do you love alternate reality stories? Me too. Here's the description for the March 26 episode, "It's A Terrible Life," written by the awesome Sera Gamble:

IF THE WINCHESTERS WEREN'T HUNTERS… - Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam (Jared Padalecki) are living very normal and separate lives. Dean is a corporate man who enjoys health drinks and listens to news radio vs. rock stations. He works at a company called Sandover Bridge & Iron Company alongside Sam (Jared Padalecki) who is in Tech Support. It seems as if the two do not know each other. However, after co-workers start committing suicide at an alarming rate, the two find themselves working side by side to solve the murders.

[SF Universe]

Kyle XY:

Going into the show's final episode (airing March 16), the Kyle/Jessi/Amanda love triangle will still be in flux... but Amanda will be realizing that Nate is not who he pretends to be. [TV Guide]

Heroes:

The last few minutes of the season finale will set up a whole set of new storyline for the show's characters - especially Claire. By the end of the season, you'll have a sense of where Claire's heading and what's going on with the Petrelli clan, says producer Bryan Fuller. [EW]

Reaper:

Here's the synopsis for episode 2x04, "The Favorite":

The Devil (Ray Wise) introduces Sam (Bret Harrison) to Morgan (guest star Armie Hammer), his charming, rich, perfect other son. The Devil tells Sam he must teach Morgan how to have a stronger work ethic as he's grooming him to take over the "family business" so Sam reluctantly takes Morgan with him to capture the next escaped soul. Meanwhile, Sock (Tyler Labine) uses Ted (Donovan Stinson) in his next Work Bench scheme and Ben (Rick Gonzalez) thinks Nina (Jenny Wade) is secretly disgusted by his human form.

[SpoilerTV]

And here's a sneak peek of (at? from?) Thursday's episode:


Additional reporting by Alasdair Wilkins.

Star Trek:

TrekMovie posted the cover and official synopsis for the movie's novelization, by Alan Dean Foster:

One grew up in the cornfields of Iowa, fighting for his independence, for a way out of a life that promised only indifference, aimlessness, and obscurity. The other grew up on the jagged cliffs of the harsh Vulcan desert, fighting for acceptance, for a way to reconcile the logic he was taught with the emotions he felt. In the far reaches of the galaxy, a machine of war bursts into existence in a place and time it was never meant to be. On a mission of retribution of the destruction of his planet, its half-mad captain seeks the death of every intelligent being, and the annihilation of every civilized world. Kirk and Spock, two completely different and unyielding personalities, must find a way to lead the only crew, aboard the only ship, that can stop him.

So Romulus gets destroyed? Also, didn't realize Nero's ultimate goal was to wipe out all intelligent life - that's a tall order. Full cover image over at the link. [TrekMovie]

Watchmen:

Here's the character profile of Ozymandias that aired during Ghost Hunters on Sci Fi, with some new glimpses of Adrian's fight scene against an assassin in his headquarters. [NBC]

Dragonball Evolution:

So a French press book included a couple of new photos from the film, of Mai and Gohan. Plus the best news about this movie in ages — its runtime is just 89 minutes. [DB The Movie]

Doctor Who:

Co-writer Gareth Roberts confirms the second of the 2009 specials, the one with the crazy-looking robot and Lindsay Duncan, will air at Christmas 2009 — which is an awful long wait, if you ask me. And Roberts says the first special, Easter's "Planet Of The Dead," takes some inspiration from his work for Virgin's New Adventures novels, especially my personal favorite, The Highest Science. And some "imagery" from that novel turns up in the final product. Roberts also says "Planet Of The Dead" features a character who is a "loving portrait" of the show's fandom. [Den Of Geek]

Dollhouse:

We'll get more into the show's mythology in the April 3 installment, where we learn more about Echo's backstory and how she got lured into her current shady occupation. (And I think this is the one where she goes on campus, where she used to be a student — and if memory serves, she and her boyfriend were illegally protesting an unscrupulous pharmaceutical company, which turns out to have ties to the Dollhouse itself. But I could be on crack again.) [EW]

Lost:

Here's a ton of promo pics from episode 5x09, "Namaste." [Doc Arzt]

Terry O'Quinn and producer Damon Lindelof talk to the L.A. Times about Locke, who seems more self-assured now that he's died and turned up on the island again. Locke will stick with the course he's chosen whether it turns out to be good or evil, says O'Quinn. And it's possible Locke will forgive Ben for strangling him, like he did for Ben shooting him in the past. At this point, Locke has "a pretty strong upper hand," O'Quinn says. We'll have to wait a few weeks before seeing him again. [L.A. Times via Doc Arzt]

Fringe:

A "main character" will become pregnant by the end of the season — but there's a twist. (I'm guessing it's a dude.) [EW]

Smallville:

The Legion will be back — in some form — in the season finale. And the last two episodes of the season will focus on a manhunt for Chloe and Doomsday. [EW]

The season's penultimate episode will be called "Injustice," and will probably feature Tess' gang of meteor freaks. But Lois isn't in the episode. [KryptonSite]

Heroes:

After we see Angela Petrelli's "Company Man"-style origin story (probably in that "1961" episode) we'll understand her in a way we haven't before, says Bryan Fuller. Also, there are three deaths coming before the end of the season, but one of them will be a fake-out. (Tracy will be one of the three, but could be the fake-out.) [EW]

Meanwhile, Katherine Boecher (Mad Men, Supernatural) will play a Russian sex worker named Alena, who gets involved with Matt Parkman and the Hunter. [OK Magazine]

Star Wars: Clone Wars:

Here's what happens in tomorrow night's episode:

The second in a three-part saga chronicling the liberation of a Separatist-held planet, "Innocents of Ryloth" looks at the civilians caught in the crossfire of the sweeping galactic conflict. When Obi-Wan Kenobi and his clones are sent to the surface to sabotage a powerful Separatist weapon, they encounter heavy resistance from the droid army – but they also come face to face with the humanity of those that they are sent to protect. Seeing the "human" side of the occupation helps to give the clones a new perspective on the war.

And here's an image of Obi-Wan meeting a Twi'lek orphan. [Lucasfilm]

Additional reporting by Alasdair Wilkins.