(Note: some of these scenes contain spoilers and / or some serious violence. Beware!)

Serenity

Serenity is Joss Whedon's sort-of-final-chapter for his much beloved television series, Firefly. But it's also a stand-alone story, offering any new viewers a chance to discover the crew and the world of the show anew. And what better way to throw a new audience into the world than a wandering tour of Serenity herself. In the opening shot of the movie, Whedon uses a long-take to fully draw us into his world. You can watch the first minute and a half of the six minute masterpiece here.

X-Files - Triangle

In this episode of the X Files, most of the on-screen action is depicted in a series of long takes and uncut sequences. There are some edits, but they are disguised to make the whole episode feel seamless. And the effect is pretty impressive.

Oldboy

It's not strictly sci-fi, but the action-filled, vengeance-fueled martial arts epic, Oldboy, has garnered a lot of praise for its unflinching take on violence and anger. That's pretty evident in this fight scene. It includes a hallway, a giant gang, and an enraged man with a hammer. And it's visceral impact is heightened by the fact that it all takes place in one seamless take.

Children of Men

Children of Men is a movie that relies on the long single take for a couple of breathtaking scenes, including the particularly moving one from which the picture above comes. But the one that is most impressive is the roadway assault scene. Watching it, its brilliance isn't immediately clear. It's not until you realize that there's no way a camera could fit inside the car that you realize the casual scene took enormous innovation and patience to pull off.

Contact

The introduction to Contact serves as a quick reminder that the universe could be an empty place that is entirely indifferent to humanity. It's almost like a counterpoint to the rest of the story that follows. And it's accomplished with a tracking "shot." It's technically a visual effect, but the purpose is clear, and it's accomplished relatively seamlessly.

Battlestar Galactica

As with Serenity, Battlestar Galactica needed to find a way to draw in the audience and show them the characters and the world they would be a part of for the rest of the series. In one of the earliest scenes in the miniseries, we get just that: a long tracking shot through the interior of the ship, showing us most of the important players of the rest of the series. A fitting beginning to a show that aimed to do things with space opera that were as-yet untried.

Cloverfield

Cloverfield's main conceit was that it was found footage, mostly untouched, from one long night of filming. As a result, most of the film is meant to look like a one-take sequence. You could choose any sequence from the movie, but this one is particularly terrifying, since being confined to one point of view makes the danger seem even more close and real.

Shaun of the Dead

The beauty of the long take in Shaun of the Dead is not the artistry of the camera movement or its length. It's that the same tracking shot was done twice, once before the zombie outbreak and once after. At the :40 mark in this video, you can see the two takes intercut with each other, showing just how carefully the two scenes were constructed.

This list is by no means exhaustive. What are your favorite long-takes in sci-fi cinema in television? Did we forget any greats?

The shaky cam, which finds its origins relatively recently, has become synonymous with mockumentaries and "realistic" approaches to fiction.

Movies that use the shaky camera technique strive for a realistic approach to better "connect" with the audience. Sure, in theory it's realistic. People move and so do our eyeballs. But our eyes are so well adapted that trying to replicate them is useless. No camera even comes close to capturing the details our eyes can.

The Good:

The beauty of film for me has always been seeing and picking up on things you wouldn't in everyday life. Shaky cams are agonizing because you miss as much as you get from a film. Most films that use the technique require atleast a rewatch or even a careful inspection of stills.

That being said, there do exist films which use the realism to their advantage.

District 9 used the shaky cam well, sparingly using the camera to "replicate" the human eye. When it did use the realistic technique, it wasn't distracting and actually added to the storyline.

The camera is not as shaky as in other films and even serves to enhance the viewing as it switches from a relatively still camera taking documentary statements to the 1980s-esque hand held shaky cam.

Even with these action-packed clips from D9, even with their more distracting movements, you don't miss any of the action.

Director Neill Blomkamp keeps the action front and center, never sacrificing the story for "authenticity." Perhaps that's why his shaky cam is less distracting, because Blomkamp seems to understand that while some movement is accepted by the human eye, too much loses viewers as they look away to readjust their eyes.

The recent reincarnation of Battlestar Galactica was critically hailed for it's inventive use of the shaky cam realism, featuring jumps and surprise zooms and using the camera as a translator of the action.

It was quick and fast and yet you never felt as though you missed any part of the important action scenes. Again, a careful juxtaposition of still and shaky shots combined to give us an easy, even pleasant to watch story. BSG and Firefly put shaky cam back on the map for inventiveness and District 9 is taking it even further by using it as an actual enhancement instead of an authenticity booster.

Too often filmmakers seem overly excited by the thought of realism and forget that some people want to watch a movie for the fiction of it all; but yes, the realistic shaky cam does have its advantages.

The Bad:

Remember when Paul Greengrass was set to direct Watchmen? It would have been an entirely different movie if the master of shaky cam action sequences had been at the helm of the greatest graphic novel film. Instead, he tackled the Bourne trilogy.

Greengrass's The Bourne Ultimatum is filled with shaky, "realistic" jumps and serves and zooms. And while, they're not always as bad as those in previously mentioned mockumentaries, there's still something lacking, there's still some action you're missing out on.

The film isn't half as distracting as Cloverfield, but it still never seems to stop moving. There's no break, no pause, very few still shots. With so much movement, you can assume Greengrass wants his audience involved in the action, engaged and invested with his hero. And yet, if I can't see the man I'm supposed to be supporting, how can I root for him?

Bourne is better at giving the audience a glance at the actual action, and yet there's still something missing. An improvement over the shaken more in post-production fests of above, but still not quite perfection. And the problem is that many have tried to imitate what didn't work even for Bourne and end up shelved in the Ugly section.

The Ugly:

The ugliest shaky cam abusers are those which have little regard for the actual film they're making and instead are more concerned with the look and visceral feel of the movie.

Mockumentaries have a terrible habit of using the shaky cam to its shakiest to make a scene scarier or more believable. Instead they merely make you angry you're missing what they're supposed to be documenting.

Ever watch an actual documentary? They don't shake half as much as these mocking films would have you believe.

Quarantine coupled the shaky cam with a terrible night vision green hue giving you not only jerky, hard to follow camera shots, but a sickly color throughout much of the film. Of course the camera was often not focused on the scary source of crazy sounds to build suspense and fear, but when it was focused on the action it wasn't even worth it.

Cloverfield is another mockumentary that relied on it's jerking camera shots to make it's realism wildly apparent.

In this clip, the camera is constantly tilted and always moving to remind us that this is "found footage" from a dig site and it was recorded by an regular human being instead of, say, a photographer with a steady hand.

Why eschew established filming techniques in an effort to ruin my experience? Cloverfield had one of the best premises for a monster movie in recent history, the story was engaging and mysterious and required a lot of imagination and extrapolation. It was inventive and steeped in the same lore than makes serials such as Lost work.

So why'd that get thrown out the window when it came time to film the movie? Director Matt Reeves constantly threw around the word "authenticity" when discussing the filming.

If this camera feature is supposed to be so authentic and realistic, how come I always feel like I'm missing so much of the action? Action movies are great; the adrenaline, the jumps, the fights. But with a shaky cam, I feel as though the movement detracts from the pivotal action. I want to see the bad guy getting his face kicked and during car chases; I want to see the car we're supposed to be chasing; I definitely want to see the monster I've been waiting for all movie.

So where do you draw the line; when does realism impede getting the shot?

I'm not discounting every use of shaky cam ever, simply asking for it to be used sparingly, especially with shows like Stargate Universe and the threat of movies like Cloverfield 2 and another Blair Witch on the horizon. Until filmmakers learn to keep us engaged and literally unable to look away, I vote for a moratorium on shaky cam use.

We already showed you the concept drawings for Star Trek's snow-planet monster, but now Page has posted a portfolio of Cloverfield sketches as well. His new site includes some amazing sketches of random beasties and weird characters he's designed, including Ozymandias' pet in Watchmen. And we can't wait to see what he's come up with for James Cameron's Avatar.

Here are more of those preliminary sketches and digital models for Cloverfield, including the very first sketch (with the glasses and T-shirt. It's a joke... thank goodness.) Plus a couple of the digital images of Bubastis, Ozymandias' weird pet:

There's much more over at Neville Page's new site. [via Super Punch]

I know most of you are split on Eli Roth, but I'd like to start out saying that I am a fan of the man. For the jokes in Cabin Fever alone. That being said, I don't know if I can get behind this bastard-child-of-Michael Bay movie, especially if it's PG-13, which there have been numerous rumors about. I want blood in my Roth science fiction, and he knows how to deliver it. Roth says he'll be directing the $80 million science fiction disaster movie after he finishes up his Thanksgiving murder movie. Our new scifi villain is supposedly:

It is not aliens or robots or a virus - it's a little more grounded. But when people hear it they are going to be like ‘That is going to be insane!'.

I hope so Roth because we've been hearing about this monster invasion for sometime now and it is time to start filming already, which will supposedly happen this fall.

[MTV]

Films:

Freejack (1992)
According to Wikipedia:

In the polluted, dystopian year 2009, the super-wealthy achieve immortality by hiring "bonejackers," mercenaries equipped with time travel devices, to snatch people from the past, just prior to the moment of their deaths, for use as substitute bodies.

Those who resist being used as substitute bodies are, of course, the titular "freejacks." One of these freejacks is a Formula One racecar driver snatched up from 1991, played by none other than Emilio Estevez, being chased down by the ruthless mercenary, Mick Jagger. Yes, Mick Jagger. If that's what 2009 has in store, sign me up. Then again, you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you get . . .

2009 Lost Memories (2002)
This is a scifi action thriller from South Korea, taking place in an alternate 2009 where the Koreas are still part of the Japanese empire. The plot involves terrorists, an archaeological artifact of some kind, and, eventually, trying to restore history to its rightful path. More importantly, however, the plot also seems to involve a couple of good-looking Korean guys, which is always a plus of sorts.

I Am Legend (2007)
Although the film primarily takes place in 2012, it begins in 2009, when a supposed cure for cancer doesn't go quite as well as planned. Will Smith, welcome to the zombie apocalypse. (Using the term "zombie" kind of loosely, I guess.)

Cloverfield (2008)
The film takes place on May 22, 2009, presented as a recovered camcorder found in what used to be Central Park. This camcorder tracks the attack of a giant monster in New York City from the point of view of five people attending a going-away party. Here's where you make a note to avoid the city on May 22.

Eagle Eye (2008)
The events occur between January and April, as Shia LaBeouf plays a young guy terrorized by a terrorist organization, teaming up with a single mother (Michelle Monaghan) to do whatever the voice on the telephone tells them, in the hope of getting out alive. Meanwhile, Billy Bob Thorton and Rosario Dawson play the feds trying to get to the bottom of all this.

Television:

Family Matters: "Father of the Bride" (Season 5, Episode 17, 1994)
Carl falls asleep and wakes up fifteen years in the future (2009), where his daughter, Laura, has married Urkel and given birth to four little Urkels. Talk about a disheartening vision of the year 2009. (Especially since they all seem to play the accordion . . .)

Charmed: "Morality Bites" (Season 2, Episode 2, 1999)
Phoebe Halliwell (Alyssa Milano) has a vision of her own death: burning at the stake on February 26, 2009. The three sisters then travel ten years into the future and see their future selves, with Prue as a single workaholic, Piper as a divorced mother, and Phoebe, well, burning at the stake. At least they all now have really good answers to the question, "Where do you see yourself in ten years?"

Blue Gender (1999-2000)
In this anime, Yuji Kaido is diagnosed with a disease called the "B-cells" and therefore put into a cryogenic state in 2009. When he's brought out of it twenty-two years later, however, he finds himself in a world where heavily armored soldiers are fighting a war with "insectoid beings" known as the Blue. As it turns out, the soldiers are from a place called Second Earth and are also trying to recover any left behind humans, known as "sleepers."

Batman Beyond: "Out of the Past" (Season 3, Episode 5, 2000)
As it turns out, back in '09, Batman had a run-in with Ra's Al Ghul that was loving referred to as the "Near Apocalypse of 09." Although, since the series takes place in the future, it's good to know that it was only a near apocalypse. Meanwhile, Ra's Al Ghul is once again voiced by David Warner, who is, scientifically speaking, constructed entirely out of awesome.

Dark Angel (2000-2002)
At the age of nine, the genetically-enhanced supersoldier-in-training, Max Guevara, escapes from their secret government training center with a group of her peers. That same year, an electromagnetic pulse destroys the country's computers and communications, thereby throwing us into chaos and disorder. Ten years later, the country still isn't what it was and Max (now Jessica Alba) is still trying to avoid the secret government organization that created her.

The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007-present)
The series takes place a year and a half after the Doctor Who episode "School Reunion," thereby placing it in 2009. Elisabeth Sladen reprises the role of Sarah Jane Smith, former companion to the Doctor. This time around, she's fighting aliens with the aid of her adopted son, Luke (Tommy Knight), and a few other neighborhood kids, not to mention Mr. Smith, a giant, flashy, sentient computer. The series is intended as a more child-friendly, lighthearted counterpart to Doctor Who, and the Brigadier himself appeared on the show in the two-part story "Enemy of the Bane."

Books:

The Year of the Quiet Sun by Wilson Tucker (1970)
Set partially in 2009, the novel is about (according to Wikipedia):

Brian Chaney is a demographer and futurist approached while on vacation with the news that his contract has been purchased and he is required for a physical survey of the future via a secretly constructed time displacement vehicle. At a military installation south of Joliet, Illinois, the reluctant Chaney is teamed with two diversely talented military officers and a civilian liaison.

The Postman by David Brin (1985)
Set in a post-apocalyptic country, Gordon Krantz dons a postal uniform for lack of better clothes, and finds people desperate to believe that he is, in fact, an actual postman. As he travels about the country, he assumes the persona of the postman in order to help keep hope alive. The novel was made into a film in 1997 (and set in 2013), directed by and starring Kevin Costner.

Research by Nick Denton

Here's a little video from the panel and you can hear him talking about Cloverfield 2 (please let this happen) and see the T-shirt in action.

But what does it all mean, J.J.? According to the site MarketSaw, it's:

exploded parts schematic of the Power Suits (as referred to in the scriptment).

A Power Suit, you say? Are these "power suits" in this Avatar set pic prey tell? Will our human heroes have to walk about in this suit, or will this be the gadget that makes their Avatars?

Picture from 2009 WonderCon Flickr share via, Inkyhack.

We were starting to wonder if Outlander would ever open in U.S. theaters, after it had showings around Europe last year but nothing was scheduled in the U.S. But the delay in getting the film released here was just the tail-end of a long struggle by co-writers McCain (who directed it) and Blackman (who produced it.)

Outlander tells the story of an alien (Jim Caviezel) who crashes on Earth, near a Viking town. And with him comes the Moorwen, a deadly monster that threatens to kill everyone in its path — if Caviezel's character can't enlist the Vikings to help him. Also starring in the film are Sophia (Doctor Who) Myles, John Hurt and Ron "Hellboy" Perlman.

Their mission to create a viking-alien adventure story began years ago — they had both read Beowulf in high school and loved it, unlike most of their peers. So they wanted to make a Beowulf-esque saga. Early drafts of the script actually named the hero Beowulf and the monster Grendel. But their Hollywood agent, "in true Hollywood style," told them nobody wanted a Beowulf movie.

Since then, of course, there's been Michael Crichton's Beowulf clone The 13th Warrior, the Robert Zemeckis Beowulf, and an Icelandic version, among others. But by that time, McCain and Blackman had already revamped their script to make the Beowulf references less overt.

They wanted to have an alien and his monster foe crashland in Viking times, because it removed the whole issue of historical accuracy from their "historical epic." Whether or not you can believe there was a monster named Grendel, anybody can tell that a crashed spaceship is made up.

Over time, the studio execs pressured Blackman and McCain to change some of the more authentic Viking names. And in every development meeting, Blackman and McCain had to explain that their Vikings would not have horned helmets, they wouldn't be goofy, and this wasn't going to be something out of Asterix.

The story McCain and Blackman ended up with clearly borrowed from Lord Of The Rings — another epic that nobody was considering filming, back then. And since LOTR lifted heavily from Beowulf, "we cribbed from a cribber. We stole from the best, who was already stealing," says McCain. "We knew what we were doing. For better or worse, whether anybody likes the movie or not, we knew what we were stealing from."

They also did tons of research into Viking culture — an earlier draft of the script spent way more time going into local Viking politics, including blood feuds and a battle over the throne. "There was a deeper tapestry." Blackman and Howard amassed a four-inch thick notebook with a D-ring binder, full of notes on belt buckles, tattoos, sword hilts, buildings and hairpins. They visited the Viking ship museum in Norway and took copious notes. In the end, of course, they had to decide which details to represent faithfully and which to sacrifice for the sake of a good story.

"It's a monster movie," says Blackman. "You're not there to recreate history, you're there to create a world that's fun to enter into and live in."

Their dedication extends to including some of the Viking warfare and politicking — plus a fight with a bear — before Caviezel's character even shows up. That way, you feel as though it's a real world, which was already having a life before the story begins.

The duo had a stroke of luck, when they managed to get Ninth Ray studios, a group of artists formerly from Pixar and ILM, to work on art and designs for the movie. (Including some of the concept art featured with this interview.) Ninth Ray had just done a first pass on a John Carter Of Mars movie, and had time to work on Outlander. So by the time the film actually had a budget, it already had detailed designs for every prop and building. (See more of that stuff here.)

One of the great parts of the film is that when Caviezel's alien visitor shows up, the Vikings pretty much understand him right away. They get the idea of his ship having crashed, and the fact that he's hunting a monster. McCain argues that the Vikings would have been pretty cosmopolitan — they had raped and pillaged so many other cultures, and traded with so many as well, that they had an idea of what other cultures were like. Vikings reached as far as Constantinople and Africa. Plus they had a rich mythic life, including valkyries as well as dragons.

On the other hand, Blackman says, if E.T. had visited the Vikings, "they would have eaten him."

In coming up with the Moorwen, the alien monster Caviezel and the Vikings fight, Blackman and McCain were mindful that only a few classic alien monsters had beocme icons, like Giger's alien and the Predator. So they came up with the idea of making the creature bioluminescent — something they think will also turn up in James Cameron's Avatar later this year. And they focused on giving the creature a rich backstory. But then they were lucky enough to have input from Patrick Tatopoulos, who worked on Dark City, I Am Legend and several other big films.

They wanted the creature to look like it could fit into the more natural world of the Vikings, as opposed to Giger's alien, which looked more mechanical and could only look at home in a world of conduits. "We had to thread a needle where it looks like an alien, but it could actually have a presence in the Viking world," and the Vikings could mistake it for a dragon.

The Moorwen also got some backstory, as we learned that humans had destroyed the Moorwen's homeworld. The Moorwen becomes more of a sympathetic character — right before everyone goes back to trying to kill it. Blackman and McCain said they wanted to add some depth to the storyline, and make Caviezel's space traveler less of a clear-cut good guy. In an earlier draft of the screenplay, the monster actually talks towards the end, so you realize it's not just a mindless beast. You have to feel for the Moorwen a bit, just like you feel sorry for King Kong.

"We may still have to kill it, but it's not entirely a good thing," says Blackman.

They also wanted to include a bit of a political message about invading other people's homelands and stirring up trouble — even though when they first wrote the script, Bill Clinton was still president, they felt it was a timeless theme about the "cycle of violence" perpetuating itself.

So is Outlander an action movie? A horror movie? A monster movie? An adventure film? I asked, and it turned out Blackman and McCain have been arguing this exact same point for years, partly in the process of figuring out how to market their baby. "We had a lot of deep arguments, ten years ago," says McCain. Blackman is very clear in his own mind that it's an adventure film, but McCain sees it as more of a monster movie with adventure elements.

But their biggest genre influence, originally, in coming up with the story, was all of the Chinese movies of the 1980s and early 1990s. "All those Chinese action movies, where they'll throw in everything," says Blackman. "I mean, there's gods and there's demons and there's kung fu fighting, and when we thought about that, we decided, 'what'll be fun?'... There was a certain amount of influence there, in terms of saying, 'Okay, we'll have some mythology, we'll have some scifi. Why not?'" But unlike some of those Chinese films, they think they found a narrative thread that ties it all together.

They're still sad that the film was kept out of the U.S. for so long, and didn't get a wider release. This weekend, it's opening in a bunch of cities around the country, but not L.A. or New York. The film did really well in Spain, "a country which isn't known for loving its Viking films," where it made $3 million on 200 screens. If it had opened wide in the U.S., and gotten a similar per-screen average, it could have made $30 million. It's not impossible that its U.S. run could get bigger if the film does well in its first weekend. (So tell your friends!) At this point, though, they mostly hope it gets a new life on DVD.

Meanwhile, the duo also have another movie opening this weekend — they rewrote the script for Underworld III: The Rise Of The Lycans. They were involved with a Conan reimagining that's still looking for a director. They have a World War II film, based on a true story, in development. And they're talking about a host of other genre projects. Let's hope their next movie doesn't take another 18 years to come out.

Yes, it was inevitable that giant monsters would meet the world of porn at some point. The truly shocking part is that these stills make it seem as if the movie won't be half bad in terms of special effects.

I'm still not exactly sure why those buildings are wrapped around each other like twisty-ties. But perhaps all will be revealed later . . . heh.

via Undead Backbrain, thanks to Kaiju Search-Bot Avery!

Talking to MTV about next year's reinvention of Gene Rodenberry's future, this exchange appears:

MTV: I couldn't help but notice the Slusho! reference from "Cloverfield" in the bar scene where Kirk first meets Uhura. Will we see other J.J.-isms peppered throughout the film?

Abrams: No. That was sort of the only one, and it was just sort of a goof.

So, let me get this straight: Slusho is part of Cloverfield, even though it never actually played in the actual movie itself, and now it's showing up in Star Trek as well? This isn't the first time that "Slusho" has crossed over between Abrams' projects; prior to its Cloverfield mention, the drink had been mentioned in Alias. I give it six more episodes before it appears in Fringe, and we discover that Walter Bishop created the Cloverfield monster back in the sixties and then forgot all about it.

'Star Trek' Director J.J. Abrams Says Film Has Plenty For Fans And Newcomers To Enjoy [MTV]

One of the main characteristics of Clovie was his dangly leg action, with those giant freaky backwards joints propelling him everywhere. Star Trek monster, known familiarly as Trekmon, has bizarre legs that appear to have joints over its head. Trekmon's mouth is also remarkably similar to Clovie's. It has both the vertical shape and spike-shaped teeth that made Clovie's chompers so dorky-dangerous.

Not only do we find legular and mouthular similarities between the two kaiju, but they also share a pallor. Both have hairless skin that looks sort of pale and pinkish. I think Trekmon is pretty much Clovie's galactic relative. Of course, when Trekmon opens its mega-mouth, it looks a bit more like Hostie from The Host.

Thanks, Avery "Master Kaiju Wrangler" Guerra!

Pegg told Empire magazine about the movie, which starts shooting next April with Superbad's Greg Mottola directing:

I’m very, very excited about it. I think it’s a bigger film than probably Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz put together... We’re figuring [the logistics of the alien] out at the moment and having real fun, working closely with Double Negative who did Shaun and Hot Fuzz and Cloverfield and Hellboy II. We’re looking to really work to find the best way to do it and to create something which is utterly believable and sympathetic and has gravity and presence and is somebody that you totally buy. He’s the eponymous hero, so he has to be amazing.

As great as this movie will undoubtedly be, it's not the much-talked about third movie in the Shaun/Fuzz trilogy with co-writer and director Edgar Wright. That movie, currently titled World's End, is still in pre-production, while Wright works on his adaptation of cult comic Scott Pilgrim.

Exclusive: Simon Pegg Talks Paul [Empire]

Cloverfield 2:

Cloverfield director Matt Reeves is still talking about a sequel, and the studio definitely wants one. There are a couple of sequel ideas floating around, but nothing definite yet. One idea is to do a film set in Japan, which after all is the source of the movie's giant-monster inspiration. (And maybe we could learn more about the mysterious Tagruato corporation, and why its name isn't actually Japanese.) One thing's for sure: the sequel won't pick up where the first film left off, and may not feature the survivors from the first movie. Instead, it may be tangentially related, but "intersect" with that night's events somehow. No matter what, the sequel — which Reeves may not direct — won't happen unless it's something awesomeriffic that he and J.J. Abrams would want to watch. [MTV]

Doctor Who:

Another batch of rumors that the time-travel show's main overseer at BBC Wales, will move to Los Angeles to join her current boss, Jane Tranter. And the newest reports are suggesting that two of next year's one-off Doctor Who stories could film in the U.S. under Gardner's supervision. Previous reports only suggested that one of the specials could happen on our shores. How this jibes with the other rumors about next year's specials, like the one about filming in Tunisia, is hard to say. [Guardian via Planet Gallifrey]

Meanwhile, John Simm (The Master) is emphatically not ruling out a return to the BBC's time-travel soap-comedy. [Planet Gallifrey]

Heroes:

Here are some pics from episode 11, "The Eclipse Part 2." Nathan in bondage! Sadly, no pics showing Seth Green and Breckin Meyer helping Hiro get his memory back with the aid of comic books, which is the greatest plot idea ever. [NBC]

Here's a sneak peek from Monday's episode, where Nathan tries to psych himself up to meet his dad. [SpoilerTV]

And here's the Canadian trailer for Monday's episode, which gives way more of the whole Claire-is-the-catalyst-to-the-superpower-serum plot:

Smallville:

Here are some promo pics from the wedding episode, "Bride," featuring the return of Lana, plus Lois wearing an unfortunate orange thingy. [FanPop]

And "Bride" will end with more than one cliffhanger, says TV Guide. The episode (the last before a long break) will have several "shockers" that the audience will have to wait until next year to see resolved. Chloe's wedding day is "a doomed day for Davis Bloome." (Oh, a pun. I get it. Ha.) [OSCK]

Supernatural:

Some more casting pages came our way, this time from episode 13, "After School Special." They're casting Young Dean, Mr. Wyatt, Amanda and "Dirk Senior." Enjoy!

And in tonight's episode, as you've heard already, guest star Julie McNiven (Mad Men) plays Anna, who can hear the voices of angels. Ruby is the one who finds out about Anna's gift, and she tells Sam and Dean. Anna is locked in a mental institution, because she says she can hear angels. (Duh.) She knows it's the voices of angels, because it's all about the brewing war between Heaven and Hell. And she gets to hear how Lucifer will bring the Apocalypse. A demon named Alistair wants to take Anna to Hell, where he can torture her for information. The angels want her dead, and the demons want her alive. [TV Guide]

Star Wars: The Clone Wars:

Here's another promo image from Friday's new episode, where Anakin and the gang go to rescue Artoo. And it looks like Captain Rex and the R3 unit get trapped in a nasty spot. [Warner Bros.]

My Own Worst Enemy:

In episode 7, "Down Rio Way":

Edward (Christian Slater) risks committing treason while confronting Alistair Trumbull (guest star James Cromwell, “Six Feet Under “) over the facts surrounding his parent’s death. Meanwhile, Raymond (Mike O’Malley) is forced to interfere in the relationship between Tom (O’Malley) and his wife Mary Grady (Missy Yager, "Boston Public") in order to clear up a potentially catastrophic accident. Henry (Slater) disagrees over the validity of his son Jack’s (Taylor Lautner) purchase of a used car.

I watched this show the other day, and I think the whole rebellious-son subplot is the weak link, by the way. [NBC]

Additional reporting by Katharine Duckett.

I know that there's more than a small amount of apathy and hatred towards Abrams out there - Yes, I'm talking about you, haters - but that shouldn't stop the triple threat writer/producer/director of Felicity, Alias and Mission: Impossible III get what's coming to him. In an era where Joss Whedon is reduced to making ballet and webshorts in order to get fulfill his muse the way he wants, we've come up with some reasons to consider Abrams' place as the new Joss.
He Makes The Mainstream Understand.
Yes, he's not necessarily a trailblazer like Whedon - although his projects tend to do well when it comes to ARGs - but let's face it: His shows are more popular with both audiences and networks. Not for Abrams are there multiple pilot episodes due to network concern, or shows cancelled due to low ratings. What's more impressive is that this success has come without truly sacrificing the integrity of his work - Fringe may be somewhat insane (and inane), but it's very much true to its own weirdness; the same can definitely be said of the Abrams-produced Lost. Through aiming lower than Whedon, perhaps, he nonetheless manages to introduce mainstream America to some wonderfully unusual ideas.
He Made Simon Pegg Cry With Star Trek.
No, really. Abrams explains:

I showed Simon Pegg [footage] when we were at Comic-Con. I showed him this little trailer thing and it was my favorite thing ever. He literally started weeping. It was ridiculous. He was sitting there, I mean he must have been plastered. Because he was looking at my iPhone [crying].

Maybe it's because I find it easy to forget Run, Fatboy, Run, but I tend to consider Pegg someone with reasonably good taste; if he started crying when he saw footage of a movie that he'd worked on himself, that's got to be a very good sign for one of the most anticipated movies of 2009.

(Or, admittedly, a truly, truly bad one. But somehow I don't think it was meant like that.)
He Plays Well With Others.
Whether it's Cloverfield's team of Drew Goddard and Matt Reeves, Lost's Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse (or the impressive writers' room for the show) or his Fringe collaborators Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Jeff Pinker, Abrams has a proven legacy of putting aside his ego and assembling strong teams of creators able to carry out his creative vision - or improve on it, as needs be (Hi, Lost writers!).
Who Else Has Had A Better 2008?
Put any anticipation of Star Trek out of your mind - or, for that matter, worry about the moved release date for the movie from this Christmas to next summer - and look at the trinity of 2008 releases bearing Abrams' stamp: Cloverfield, Lost and Fringe. Who else has had as strong a year in terms of quantity, success and quality?

The role of being the largest mover and shaker isn't a lifetime position, of course; Joss Whedon's length as fanboy figurehead has probably been lengthier than many would've expected, perhaps because of the lack of appropriate replacement. Abrams may not deserve the role past the release of next year's Gene Rodenberry lovefest, but between now and then? We should all just finally embrace the truth, and throw away our shame: JJ Abrams Is Our Master Now.

On Fringe:

We have a big picture which we are working to. We have a six chapter idea. That inevitably changes along the way. You make discoveries which you can't anticipate... We are still finding our rhythm. If you look back at the early episodes of your favourite shows you will find they are a little bit to the left of what the show ultimately became. I feel we are still arriving. The fourth episode, "The Arrival," is closer to what the show will be... [E]pisode 4 begins it, the over-arcing mystery of the show. The goal is to do both - to tune in and enjoy without knowing anything that comes before it but also if you watch every week you will see things you understand and that are connected to the larger picture.

On Star Trek:

[What interested me about the project] was the opportunity to tell a story that was based on a world and characters that I felt were just compelling and optimistic and the opportunity to treat that universe with a kind of energy and excitement and the resources we had. It didn't feel like a classic reboot or prequel. It is a brand new thing inspired by characters that are poised to make a big comeback.

On Lost:

We had a lot of possibilities as to where the show would go. The truth is, I haven't been running it since i went off to do MI:III. The evolution of what the show has become now is something that we could never have completely planned out. Like any great showrunner, Damon Lindelof has been decisive as he has become flexible. As to what the ultimate resolution is, there is just a vague resemblance to what we decided when we first started doing the show... There are some elements close to what Damon and I discussed when we first discussed it. Damon has taken it in a far more sophisticated and interesting direction because he has had to. Damon has brilliantly expanded upon that and created an amazing narrative for that. The only thing I regret is that i have ADD and I have been so busy with other things that I miss being there full time. I miss hanging out with Damon. I miss the actors with whom I had such an incredible time on the pilot. If I have any feelings about the show it is pride and amazement in what Damon has done.

On Cloverfield 2:

There is an idea that we are working on that I hope will come to fruition. We are playing with it right now. Obviously we don't want to commit to something we don't love and feel inspired by but we have a pretty cool idea we are playing with.

JJ Abrams live webchat [Guardian.co.uk]

The current craze for Vampires was probably kick-started by the success of last year's movie version of cult comic 30 Days of Night, which did for bloodsuckers what 28 Days Later did for the undead years before. That movie may have snuck in on the back of the comic book craze (starting, as it did, as a 2002 comic by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith), but it also heralded today's new lust for blood: While HBO's True Blood may not be entirely winning us over, the channel is happy enough with the ratings - or perhaps just the zeitgiest-surfing qualities of the show - to order a second season. And why not? Once the David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve made sucking blood weirdly sexy twenty years ago.
Maybe that explains why both Cloverfield director Matt Reeves and Hellboy's Guillermo Del Toro are turning to Nosferatu's children for their next projects (Reeves will be directing a remake of cult Swedish vampire movie Lat den ratte komma in, while Del Toro has just signed a deal to co-write a trilogy of vampire novels). We thought that it might've been pirates, or maybe ninjas, but no - it really is Vampires that are the new superheroes, who were the new zombies. Give it a year, and we'll all be bored of the sight of blood.

Cleavagefield is brought to you by Fallbrook Entertainment, the makers of spoofy soft core erotic porn like Alabama Jones and the Busty Crusade. But while this is an erotic parody, the plot line diverges a little from the original. Cleavagefield starts withe a surprise slumber party for Tiffany, who's moving to Sweden to make porn. Plus instead of the monster destroying New York, he invades Los Angeles. Also the parasitic tiny monster attackers only attack women, and their preferred method of assault is to chew off the tiny dresses of our heroines.

[Fallbrook Entertainment via Bloody Disgusting]

Never Go Through A Tunnel

It seems like a quick and easy way out, but dark and scary passageways usually house bad things that you don't want to bother with in the middle of fleeing for your life. It's simple: tunnels=death, for at least one person in the group. This is a tried and true fact of apocalyptic movies. Take for example the idiot drivers who decided to take the tunnel in Independence Day, toasted via fire ball (except for the ones who had that dog, but more on that later). Also who could forget the night vision moments in Cloverfield walking through New York's subway system. Avoid tunnels at all costs.

Do Not Join A Theme Gang

With the world ending, there will be many sad sacks who will try and recreate a Mad Max road warrior gang. Resist the urge to join anything theme-oriented. Basic rule of thumb: if you look like an idiot with a face tattoo or a fool running around in Medieval garb, you're going to get the sharp end of the death stick. Doomsday spelled this out pretty clearly: everyone who looked ridiculous got a ridiculous ending. Motorcycle gangs count too, don't forget even Romero's Dawn of the Dead leather riders got their just rewards for their hideous outfits and bad attitudes. Stick to the rag-tag refugee look, or lone wolf army motif. If you have to join a gang, stay in the back and never do anything you might later regret — like eat people.

Do Not Go Back For Loved Ones

If the world is ending, you may feel the need to find love ones that are in Princeton, a New York Library or a high rise apartment. This is a bad idea. Let go of your emotions and assume that everyone else in the world is dead, or trying to steal your food supplies. Going after loved ones almost always means your own death or the death of someone in the group. Look at it this way, it your loved one has survived and you meet up with them, bonus for you. But most likely they died from the plague, zombies, earthquake flood or whatever.

Never Be The First

I can't believe this even has to be said but no, do not go exploring in rooms, attic, caves, hallways or apartments where you are the first one in the door. My favorite character from Resident Evil Extinction, L.J., got bit by a zombie lady because he was checking out all the rooms to make sure it was safe. Let someone else do this, get a job as a medic or cook. There is no need for you to be first to go anywhere — let someone else do the exploring. If they find something really good, you can kill them and take it anyway.

Bring Your Pet

If you don't have a pet, I suggest you go to the pet store and steal one, looter style, or take care of your dead neighbors'. You may need this pet to help you keep your sanity or sacrifice its life for you, like in I Am Legend. Either way, animals are good luck when the chips are down for humans. You never know when a pair of love birds will come in handy to calm down a flock of murderous seagulls and crows. The same rule sometimes applies to children, but you will have to feed them considerably more.

Ditch The Biggest Guy In Your Group

They will turn into a zombie or rage machine, it's proven. Kill them before they kill you, or just ditch them at the next pass.

Don't Trust People In Uniform Unless They Have Defected From The System

Never trust the government, especially when the world is ending. It's a terrible idea, they would rather nuke the whole place than deal with people. If you see the military, run the other way or hide. Do not do what they say. The friendly people of Hollywood followed the advice of the government from Right At Your Door, and what happened to them? Same with the people of Raccoon City, from Resident Evil Apocalypse. Granted an ex-military person hell-bent on sticking it to the man can be a wonderful asset during the end of the world, just be sure to know the difference between the two.

Don't Barricade Yourself In

It always seems like a good idea, but 9 times out of 10 whatever you're trying to keep out gets in and now you're trapped. Think of the mess it caused for the cute little family in the beginning of28 Weeks Later and Shaun of the Dead. I say build a sky city in the trees.

Finally if all else fails, find the closest fridge, step in, and pray for a miracle.