As much as I took issue with last week's episode, at least we got some bona fide monster action. This week's guest-starring abnormals were of the humanoid variety, which made for less of that sometimes lovely Sanctuary weirdness. In trying to get a hold of a rare fire elemental, the Sanctuary team is pit against a crew of Chicago gangsters led by a type of human-looking abnormal called a Dyukon named Duke. Apparently, the Dyukon's key racial features are bouts of uncontrollable rage and they emit a radiation from their hands that makes contact with them very...unpleasant.

Seriously? Rage and radiation hands? Does the Sanctuary universe have a lot of radiation deaths whose victims have handprints burned into their bodies? It seems like it would be a widespread problem. Anyway, this particular Dyukon managed to become a mob boss thanks to a pair of shiny rage-suppressors worn on his temples. When the mob boss's rage levels get too high, his lieutenant presses a remote that relieves the rage with a vaguely animalistic groan. The effect makes our mob boss resemble a low-rent Frankenstein.

But most of the action focuses on our second abnormal, Jimmy, played by Amanda Tapping's Stargate SG-1 co-star Michael Shanks. Jimmy, a former hoodlum turned Sanctuary courier. Jimmy has a sort of lopsided kangaroo's pouch, but instead of using it to hold babies, he smuggles abnormals inside it. Jimmy spends most of the episode nursing a wounded Kate Freelander. By the way, is Kate an abnormal? She gets shot an awful lot and never seems in much danger of bleeding to death, nor does she have much trouble standing or raising a gun afterward. In one of those improbable television coincidences, it turns out that Jimmy killed Kate's father many, many years ago (and wore a really odd hat while doing it). And the guilt from meeting his victim's daughter is potent enough to make him sacrifice his life.

It seems like there was something missing from this plot, or perhaps I'm missing something. Henry mentions that, just a few months ago, Duke the Dyukon was a pit fighter and now suddenly he's a high-ranking mob boss. The problem is, this guy's not exactly the brightest bulb on the strand. How did he manage to become a mob boss? Since he died at the end of the episode, we won't hear it from him. The optimist in me hopes that someone else is pulling the strings, and that we'll find out in a later episode that someone is setting up easily manipulated abnormals in positions of power to thwart the Sanctuary Network. If so, could the next abnormal gangster please have tentacles or something?

Monday

With Heroes and House both taking a break for the holidays, it falls to Syfy to keep us entertained today, and they're definitely trying their hardest, with Stargate: The Ark of Truth at 9am, followed by Stargate: Continuum at 11.

Meanwhile, if you went down the rabbit hole last night, you'll be happy to know that Alice continues (and concludes) at 9pm.

Tuesday

Even if the day wasn't almost entirely otherwise devoid of SF entertainment, the return of ABC's Better Off Ted (ABC at 9:30pm) would still be at the top of our to-do list. In the first episode of its new run, the employees of Veridian Dynamics find their thoughts turning to reproduction, as Ted and Linda meet their genetically compatible matches, while Veronica tries to convince Lem to donate to a sperm bank. Oh, Ted. How did we get by without you?

If satires on corporate America are a little too close to the bone, then try the first episode of Outer Space Astronauts on Syfy (also 9:30); it's a new sitcom set in outer space - Maybe you missed that in the title - but we're a little worried about it based on the episode description being "Capt. Ripley invites aliens over to the O.S.S. Oklahoma for a pizza dinner, but the aliens want the ship, too." Uh, hilarity may ensue?

Wednesday

Oh, Syfy. With a Jericho marathon from 8am through 3pm, you know how to spoil us. From there until 9pm, it's a bit of a science fiction wasteland in terms of things that aren't re-runs, so consider it the Television God's way of telling you to leave the house and go and do some holiday shopping or something. Then be back in front of the visual entertainment box in time for 9 o'clock, when Discovery has a new episode of Mythbusters, with Jamie and Adam putting more gunslinging myths to the test.

Thursday

Remember 1990s SF vampire series Kindred: The Embraced? I definitely don't, but Syfy is looking to remedy my oversight with a marathon of the entire 1996 series starring former Soul Man C. Thomas Howell, starting at 8am.

Otherwise, with FlashForward, Vampire Diaries and Supernatural already in reruns, it falls to Fringe to keep the science fiction flag flying with its new episode "Grey Matters" at 9pm on Fox. Featuring the return of Leonard Nimoy as William Bell:

Friday

Get your day started off in the right way with Syfy's Outer Limits marathon, starting at 8am. You'll only wish it was Twilight Zone a couple of times, honest.

Depending on who you believe, there's either a rerun or new episode of Batman: The Brave and The Bold on Cartoon Network at 7pm (If it's a new episode, then it'll be the Plastic Man-guesting "Long Arm Of The Law," but some schedules have last season's "Duel of The Double Crossers!" listed. Your guess is as good as mine at this point).

But even if it is a new episode, that might not be enough to steal your attention away from Syfy's Sanctuary mini-marathon, starting at 7pm and ending with a brand new episode, "Penance," guest-starring Amanda Tapping's fellow former Stargate cast member Michael Shanks, at 10pm.

Or you can keep up with the latest double bill of Dollhouse on Fox at 8pm, with the "Meet Jane Doe"/"A Love Supreme" match-up offering Topher discovering the potential effects of science, Echo losing control of her multiple memory downloads, and the return of Alpha.

Once that's done, you might find yourself switching over to Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow on Cartoon Network at 10pm, just to look at how shiny the whole thing is.

Saturday

It's All Disaster Movies All Day on Syfy, starting with Earthstorm (9am) before offering up Meteor (11am), miniseries 10.5: Apocalypse (1pm), Ba'al: The Storm God (5pm), Ice Twisters (7pm), Annihilation Earth (9pm) and finishing with Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York at 11pm. Why so many disaster movies? Why not? Over on BBC America, there's a Doctor Who triple bill of edited versions of "Journey's End", "The Next Doctor" and "Planet of The Dead" starting at 7pm, but you should really wait until tomorrow, for reasons you'll discover in a second.

Sunday

...What's that, you say? A Doctor Who marathon on BBC America starting at 1pm, including 1hr 15 minute (ie, unedited from U.K. broadcast, apart from ad breaks) versions of The Next Doctor and Planet of The Dead? I thought you'd say yes. The full rundown of episodes is:

1pm: Voyage of The Damned
2pm: Turn Left
3pm: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End
5:30pm: The Next Doctor
6:45: Planet of The Dead

All of this is a lead-in to next week's premiere of "The Waters of Mars," and the following week's "The End of Time," of course. But do you care why it's happening, as long as it's happening?

Mad Max: Fury Road:

Just how big is the set for this film? Says star Tom Hardy:

It's massive. It's enormous," he continued. "It's like turning a mountain upside down and pouring it through a sieve.

Any clue what that means? It sounds epic, anyway. [MTV]

Avatar:

Not sure if we've already run this clip or not, but if not, then enjoy:

And here's a clip we definitely haven't shown you before. I love Neytiri wearing her sunglasses to ride her dragon. [Cineplex via Slashfilm]

The Lovely Bones:

Weird nitpicks: After Stanley Tucci's creepy pedophile murderer tosses his victim Susie Salmon's charm bracelet in the water, but keeps the "house" charm. But then we see all the charms expand into ice sculptures or clouds or topiaries — but the house charm is still among them. Also, before Susie dies we see her reading Seventeen magazine, but after she dies, she fantasizes she's the cover girl in Groovy Teen magazine. Towards the end of the movie, Susie sort of inhabits the body of a goth girl who looks like Emly the Strange, and makes out with Emily's boyfriend, whom Susie loved before she died. Then Susie goes to heaven permanently, and we see Emily and her boyfriend spooning, with no mention of the weird ghost possession make-out that just happened. [Black Book Mag]

Kick Ass:

A new character poster gives us a better look at the Red Mist. Bigger version at the first link. [AICN via Cinemablend]

Endangered Species:

A few new details about Eli Roth's Transformers-meets-Cloverfield movie. It's set against an urban backdrop. He's tweaking the script at Quentin Tarantino's suggestion. He's going to do some visual-effects tests, the results of which will determine how he shoots the thing. It's very character-driven, and he has some actors he's dying to work with. [MTV]

Eclipse:

A new picture of your favorite couple, Edward and Bella. [SpoilerTV-Movies]

Doctor Who:

As you may have heard, the show was filming in Croatia this past week, with the Doctor, Amy and new companion Rory in tow. (And some are claiming that Rory is Amy's boyfriend — is he the new Mickey Smith?) The Croatia filming appears to be for an episode taking place in the past, judging from some of the costumes. But don't believe the British media chatter that it's an episode about vampires — it's almost certainly the Van Gogh episode that Richard Curtis wrote. More pics at the links. [Sky and Hello!]

Here are a bunch of promo pics from "The End Of Time," David Tennant's swansong, one or two of which we may have shown you before. They include your first look at the alien, shapeshifting Vinovicci. [BlogtorWho and BSCReview]

Meanwhile, Britain's Radio Times has another cast list for "End Of Time" part 2, which conflicts with the IMDB version. Notably, no Harriet Jones. Hmmm...

David Tennant - The Doctor
John Simm - The Master
Bernard Gribbins - Wilfred Mott
Timothy Dalton - The Narrator
Catherine Tate - Donna Noble
Jacqueline King - Sylvia Noble
June Whitfield - Minnie Hooper
Claire Bloom - The Woman
David Harewood - Joshua Naismith
TRacy Ifeachor - Abigail Naismith
Lawry Lewin - Rossiter
Sinead Keenan - Addams
Alexandra Moen - Lucy Saxon
Karlo Collins - Shaun Temple
Teresa Banham - Governor
Barry Howard - Oliver Barnes
Allister Bain - Winston Katusi
Sylvia Seymour - Miss Trefusis
Pete Lee-Wilson - Tommo
Dwayne Scantlebury - Ginger
Joe Dixon - The Second
Julie Legrand - The Partisan
Brid Brennan - The Visionary
Krystal Archer - Neys
Lachele Carl - Trinity Wells
Paul Kasey - Ood Sigma
Ruari Mears - Elder Ood
Silas Carson - voice of Ood Sigma
Brian Cox - voice of Elder Ood
Nicholas Briggs - voice of Judoon

[BlogtorWho]

Caprica:

This Battlestar Galactica prequel just cast another actor to play William Adama — no, not the future Admiral, but his grandfather. Aleks Paunovic will play the father of Joseph Adama and grandfather to little Willie in some flashback scenes, and he'll be a recurring character. Paunovic already appeared on BSG, playing Sgt. Fischer. [Aleks Paunovic via Battlestar Blog]

Lost:

A deserted area of Hawaiian rainforest hides a new camp which has been set up for this show's sixth season. It doesn't look like much, though. More pics at the link. [SpoilersLost]

Another new set — a ship of some sort, or rather part of one. It's apparently designed so they can rock the deck back and forth and make it look like the ship is caught up in a huge storm. And considering that some prisoner types were hanging around in baggy brown clothes, it may be the Black Rock. More pics at the link. [SpoilersLost]

Jose Yenque tweeted that he's joining the cast of this show. [Twitter via SpoilersLost]

Also, Fionnula Flanagan told an Irish talk show she'll be back for two episodes as Eloise Hawking, not surprisingly. [SpoilersLost]

Fringe:

The cast reveals the names of the Observers, and discusses their significance. [Fringe Television]

Meanwhile, I'm hard-pressed to tell exactly what's going on in this new set video. I think Anna Torv is being blown across a parking lot by some mysterious force, but hard to say. There are seven more videos from the same person under this YouTube account. I do like one commenter who says the intrepid fan making these recordings should shave his/her head and wear a fedora. [Anon120409 on Youtube]

And here's a sneak peek and "scenemaker" for Thursday's new Walter-and-William episode. [FringeRus]

Supernatural:

The show is casting one of the Four Horsemen for the episode "My Bloody Valentine:

[FAMINE] 50 to 80 years old... He is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. He is withered, weak, raspy. This character is a creepy and destructive old man filled with a voracious hunger...GUEST STAR

[CUPID] 30s to 40s, doughy, out of shape, naked, his humorously loving character greets everyone with enormous bear hugs that almost break their ribs. He is overflowing with love and positivity to an almost humorous and narcotic degree (think Will Farrell in "ELF" sptv050769)...GUEST STAR

[SpoilerTV]

Also, Julie McNiven says that when Anna goes back in time and tries to kill baby Sam in episode 13, it's for the best reasons:

Everything Anna does is motivated by wanting to do the right thing, wanting to do what she feels is going to keep this apocalypse from happening. I see Anna as always doing what she thinks is right and she's very strong about that and doesn't want to hear anything otherwise.

And she says there's some great hand-to-hand combat and throwdowns in the episode, and hints that Anna does actually survive to try and kill more babies in the future. [AOL]

The Survivors:

There will be a "high octane" second series of this British remake at some point, but no date yet. And here's what happens:

The series picks up moments after the thrilling cliff-hanger to the first series and the survivors are now struggling not just with the difficulties of day-to-day life amidst the ruins of the post-virus apocalypse but also with the threat of other emerging communities and the machinations of the sinister Lab.

As the series begins, Abby is being held by Whittaker and Fiona at the Lab. There, she learns that the scientists have avoided infection and are looking desperately for a vaccine which they believe her unique immune system alone will generate.

Meanwhile, the family races to save Greg's life as he lies dying from a gunshot wound. Drawn into a burning hospital by their search for the necessary medical equipment, Al and Anya are caught in an avalanche of rubble as the building collapses around them. Tom is faced with the stark challenge of rescuing his friends from a seemingly insurmountable disaster, with only Sarah and Naj to help him.

Characters returning for this high-octane second series are Abby, a devoted mother with a missing son; Greg, a loner, hiding the pain of his past; Anya, a doctor who has seen too much; Al, a playboy who becomes a surrogate father to the young and headstrong Najid; Sarah, a hedonist used to getting her own way; Tom Price, handsome, dangerous and a high-security prisoner before the virus hit; and Samantha Willis, the last surviving member of the British Government.

[Survivors BBC TV]

V:

So just who are the Visitors? Laura Vandervoort explains that they're basically Canadians. Also, she says her character is definitely somewhat evil, but she's not sure how much yet. [Multipleverses]

FlashForward:

Apparently the reason why the show took a week off was simple: Major, huge developments happen in the episodes that were going to be episodes 15 and 16, and the network looked at those scripts and decided they should be episodes 13 and 14 instead (so, less treading water.) And it's not clear whether the original episodes 13 and 14 were scrapped, or just retooled to appear later in the season. Also, the biggest reveals of the season happen in the next two episodes, 11 and 12, says David S. Goyer. [EW]

Chuck:

Episode 3x11 will be "Chuck Vs. The Final Exam." [ChuckTV]

And one more new promo reveals that we'll be seeing a "Whole New Chuck." He's a reluctant spy no longer.

Sanctuary:

In next week's episode, "Penance," Michael Shanks guest stars as an abnormal named Jimmy who has a special David Cronenberg-esque pouch in his stomach, which he can use to smuggle things for the Sanctuary — including, in this case, a dangerous abnormal. Some bad guys get involved, and he's forced to go on the run with Kate, leading to a big secret for the two of them being revealed. And then in the following week's "Sleepers," Will and Magnus are in Mexico looking into some missing teenagers, and they run into vampire Nikoka Tesla, who's up to no good. [Sci Fi Wire]

Additiional reporting by Mary Ratliff.

Updated with squid-fighting action.

Admittedly, I was prepared to dislike this episode on principle. "Next Tuesday" (without the words "See You" in front of it) has always been teased as Magnus and Will getting stranded somewhere and having a potentially fatal encounter with an abnormal. Sound familiar? It should if you've seen the first season episodes "Kush" (in which Magnus and Will crash in the Himalayas and have to survive a killer abnormal) and "Requiem" (wherein Magnus and Will are stuck in a submarine while Magnus suffers a deadly parasitic infection). Does Sanctuary not pay their other actors enough?

Anyhow, while on a conservation mission to capture the rare vampire squid from the Gulf of Mexico, Magnus and and Will's helicopter crashes inside a decommissioned oil rig, causing the vampire squid to escape. However, we're quickly assured that the vampire squid isn't nearly as exciting as it sounds. Apparently, the descriptor "vampire" refers to it's intellect rather than a penchant for sucking blood (Why? Because Nikola Tesla is a vampire?), and the squid is quite docile. Immediately, I smelled another Big Bertha bait and switch.

"Next Tuesday" is also plagued by incredible crimes against logic, too many to fully enumerate here. Hatches on the helicopter that were open in one shot are mysteriously closed in the next. An acetylene torch similarly appears and disappears. At one point, the helicopter sinks rapidly, but fails to pull any people or objects down with it. And despite claims that the helicopter is soaked in fuel, it only explodes when it's convenient. For such a claustrophobic episode, there is remarkably little attention to detail.

But there was one redeeming factor. We actually got to see some abnormal-on-abnormal violence. It turns out that when the team lifted off, they were carrying an unexpected stowaway: a clever and vicious sea scorpion. And, as a bonus, the normally docile vampire squid becomes quite violent when faced with a turf war with the sea scorpion. After last week, it was refreshing to see a little monster action.

So who wins in the battle between scorpion and squid? As it turns out, no one. The squid bites it, the scorpion bites it, the helicopter bites it, and Magnus and Will are left treading water inside the oil rig (presumably, they'll eventually be rescued). So much for monster conservation.

Monday

It's the usual Monday evening decision between Fox's House, wherein the West Wing's Joshua Malina guests as a former patient of Wilson's who's now a little bit too close to dying for everyone's comfort, and NBC's Heroes, which promises an "unexpected destination" for Claire and Peter, who are struggling to come to terms with the truth. Both of them air at 8pm, so feel free to choose House and read our Heroes recap, instead. You know it'll be easier on everyone.

Tuesday

Prophets of Science Fiction on the Science Channel at 9pm is about it, now that V has slunk its way off-screen for a few months (And am I the only person who spent the last episode waiting for a big lizard reveal, only to be thwarted? They even talked about skinning an alien just to tease us, the bastards). But in many ways, this documentary about science fiction creators whose work predicted the future is likely to be less frustrating than ABC's alien drama, even if it may not be more entertaining.

Wednesday

While Mythbusters carries on Kari-less on Discovery at 9pm (Adam and Jamie look into whether you can escape from jail using antacids, while I continue to unfairly criticize newgirl Jessi Combs purely because of my love for the missing Ms. Byron), ABC's Eastwick begins to draw to a conclusion with new episode "Tasers and Mind Erasers."

Thursday

With the CW shows on reruns, your evening viewing is wide open for a helping of Flashforward at 8 pm on ABC and Fringe at 9 on Fox. This week's FF promises to reveal more about Demetri's future death, Zoey's flashforward and, most excitingly, what actually caused the flashforward itself. Meanwhile, Fringe gets out the Lovecraftian influence as "Snakehead" reveals a spooky squidlike creature burrowing into host bodies. Calamari will never be the same again.

Friday

If new episodes of Ghost Whisperer and Medium on CBS (at 8pm and 9, respectively) or Stargate Universe and Sanctuary on Syfy (at 9pm and 10, respectively) don't float your boat — Although, SGU sees Young handing over command of the Destiny to Camille when he's accused of murder aboard the ship, so maybe you should tune into that just in case — then there's only one thing that could take your attention (Well, beside Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Cartoon Network at 9).

And that's the return of Dollhouse, with two new episodes starting on Fox at 8pm. "The Public Eye/The Left Hand" sees Senator Wesley From Angel finally stop talking and start doing something in his so-far-useless campaign against the Dollhouse, while Topher and Adelle meet a programmer with a connection to Echo and - Oh, never mind. All you want to know is this: It's the episode with Summer Glau. See? Now you'll tune in.

Saturday

NBC is showing the best Fantastic Four movie ever made, The Incredibles at 8:30pm. I'm sure most of you already own it on DVD though, right?

Sunday

Sure, Sunday night still belongs to The Venture Bros (a new episode is on Cartoon Network at midnight), but we're still kind of tempted by Syfy's Alice revival, from the people who brought you Tin Man. Bringing the story up to date and adding in various contemporary re-readings of famous scenes, there's always the possibility of things going totally wrong and it turning out to be another Prisoner, but we have hope nonetheless...

Last night's episode began with what was supposed to be the ultimate Sanctuary shocker: Bigfoot turns up dead in the Sanctuary's morgue. I can't imagine that we're supposed to believe for a moment that the Big Guy is actually dead; he already almost died once this season, and it's unlikely he'd get such an ignominious demise without some sort of build-up. But then there's the kicker: Declan Macrae (a character I constantly forget is on this show) believes that Helen Magnus murdered the Big Guy. Macrae, who's more than ready to hop in as head of the Old City Sanctuary, claims that Bigfoot discovered that Magnus was suffering from a degenerative mental disorder and that Magnus decided to silence him, permanently. Of course, Will is having none of this and, after shedding a few requisite tears for the Big Guy, launches an investigation to prove Magnus' innocence. It doesn't help matters that Magnus is increasingly batshit insane and that there's a video of Magnus actually shooting Bigfoot. By the time the Triad, a group of psychic interrogators from the Sanctuary Network, show up, Will is completely at a loss.

As it turns out, though, Magnus really is crazy — crazy like a fox. She's out to expose the Triad members, who are after Big Bertha, an abnormal capable of leveling whole cities. And why might the Triad want to get their mitts on such a creature? I'll let the lovely Erica Cerra (who's really been making the rounds on Syfy shows this year) explain above.

I definitely perked up at the description of Big Bertha. Tectonic plate-shifting abnormal? Yes, please. We may have had our zombie apocalypse a few episodes back, but we've never seen a single abnormal on such a large scale. I was looking forward to seeing Big Bertha, even if it was just a little glimpse. But sadly, Big Bertha was just a cataclysmic tease, and when Cerra's Triad member opened the shipping container that allegedly held her, there was nothing inside, nada. Instead, we were treated to a breakdown of just how clever Magnus' plan to expose the Triad was. Shooting Bigfoot with a paralytic chemical? Ah yes, very clever. Placing an insanity-inducing beetle in her brain so she could hide her true thoughts from the Triad psychics? Uh-huh, brilliant. Coding a message to Kate so that the team could snare Erica Cerra in Magnus' trap? Yes, we get it, Magnus; you're a genius. But I'm still miffed we didn't get our big earthquake-maker.

Monday

The week starts off softly, with nothing worth watching until 8 p.m., when you have too many shows even for TiVo to choose from. Shall it be the second night of the so-disappointing-I-may-cry The Prisoner on AMC? New episodes of House on Fox (in which House treats a porn star and decides to bring together his dream team of minions) or Heroes on NBC (in which Tracey loses control of her ability, Matt fights inside his mind with Sylar and OH MY GOD PLEASE MAKE IT STOP ALREADY)? Or a marathon of nature doc redux Planet Earth on the Discovery Channel, which offers six hours of stunning footage and soothing Sigourney Weaver voiceover?

I'm saying TiVo Planet Earth for when you need to be reminded how amazing life can be, and watch House, because you know they'll get some good jokes out've the porn star patient.

Tuesday

While The Prisoner finishes up its run over on AMC at 8pm, ABC's V decides that it's time to copy - Sorry, I mean, "homage" - another sci-fi classic as Erica is forced to team up with a Visitor officer to protect Visitors from death threats in this week's episode, "Wow, do you remember Alien Nation with its buddy comedy pairing of human and alien cops? We sure do." Oh, wait. It's actually called "A Bright New Day."

(If you're in the mood for something a little more classic, Syfy is running an Outer Limits marathon from 8am through 3pm.)

Wednesday

With no new episodes of Mythbusters, you might as well spend the day either (a) not watching television, or the much-more-likely (b) flipping between Syfy's The Twilight Zone marathon (8am through 3pm) and AMC's classic run of Young Frankenstein (1pm), Ghostbusters (3:30pm) and, um, Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines (8pm). Someone's told them that T3 isn't a comedy, right...?

Thursday

As if the traditional Thursday evening crush isn't enough, Syfy are willing to suck your life away with a First Wave marathon from 9am through 3pm, and AMC are willing to contribute with the original Stargate movie at 2:30. Before you know it, you'll be choosing between Flashforward on ABC (Everyone keeps trying to solve their FFs just like they've been for the last few weeks, except Bryce is finally getting off his ass and wondering about his future girlfriend a bit more) and Vampire Diaries on the CW (Jeremy takes up drawing and Elena discovers something terrible, which may just be a future script for the show), both at 8pm.

And then you have to choose again between Fringe on Fox (The truth behind the Observer! And Walter wants a milkshake, with guest-star Kelis. Okay, sadly that part about a guest-star isn't true) and Supernatural on the CW at 9 (The Winchester Bros. team up with Bobby, Ellen and Jo to send Lucifer back to Hell. Don't be surprised if things don't go to plan, considering it's still relatively early in the season). We might just watch Community and 30 Rock instead, though, and catch up with everything else online later, if that's okay with you guys.

Friday

Relive the first wave of post-Lost network television with Syfy's Invasion marathon (8am through 3pm), before switching over to watch Dustin Hoffman worry about his paycheck in Outbreak on AMC.

Let's be honest, Fridays are really all about the evening shows, though; Smallville finally tries to get to the bottom of Lois' future abduction/visions on the CW at 8pm (Kneeling before Zod is optional, I believe), while CBS' Ghost Whisperer is worried about someone dying at the same time, which makes no sense. Wouldn't that just mean she'd have someone else to whisper to? Why do they never think these things through?

At 9pm, you can choose between Medium on CBS, wherein Allison develops a strange sensitivity to light, or Syfy's Stargate Universe, wherein everyone catches their breath and uses those weird psychic projection stone things to talk to those they've left behind. Alternatively, you could switch over to Cartoon Network for a new episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, before ending the night with the latest episode of Sanctuary at 10pm on Syfy.

Saturday

Syfy tries to get your attention with a triple bill of cut-rate dragon movies (In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale at 9pm, Fire And Ice at 11:30 and Dragon Sword on Sunday at 1:30 in the morning), but there's no way that can compete with AMC's quadruple bill of the Alien movies: Alien starts at 5:30, followed by Aliens at 8pm, Alien 3 at 11 and Alien: Resurrection at 1:30 on Sunday morning. The first two, at least, are worth it.

Sunday

Oh, people. You all know by now that Sunday is Venture Bros day, right? I don't know what else to tell you aside from that, apart from the episode being entitled "Self-Medication". Oh, and that it's on Cartoon Network at midnight, and is really the most essential piece of television in the entire week. Don't leave home without it.

I'm not sure what I could have hoped for from this classic monster match-up — certainly not a cage match, but maybe abnormals playing poker? Alas, Sanctuary has not time for such frivolities. Our rubber-suited movie monster is Jack, a creature called a Plesky who has been living in captivity with werewolf Henry's pal Rachel. Rachel has been socializing Jack and teaching him sign language; he's basically like Koko the gorilla if Koko occasionally shot out deadly spores. Yes, Jack has shot his deadly, deadly spores into Rachel, who will die if Magnus and her team can't find a cure. Meanwhile, everyone is trying to figure out why the supposedly tame abnormal poisoned its foster mom. While it's true that people who keep dangerous animals around often wind up tiger chow, the Sanctuary team isn't paying enough attention to Rachel's twitchy husband who obviously has it in for Henry and at one point grabs a gun to shoot up the Plesky's containment cell (nice security, folks). It turns out that Rachel's husband set in motion the events that led to the Plesky's poisonous eruption, and once again we learn that humans are the real monsters. This struck me as a particularly bland entry from Sanctuary, but at least we got to see Henry wolf out a bit, and it was nice to have an abnormal that wasn't computer generated.

Still, next time, I'd like to see abnormals playing poker — or at least a few rounds of Go Fish.

Monday

What better way to start off the week than with a Syfy marathon of Stargate SG-1 running right now, from 8am all the way through to 3pm? Sure, there's that whole "work" thing, but come on. It's Stargate!

Otherwise, your television thrills are limited to an 8pm conflict between new episodes of House on Fox (A teenage girl can't distinguish between fact and fiction "after a wild night out." Am I the only one who feels like this could be either awesome or hideously embarrassing for all involved?) and Heroes on NBC, where Sylar is still trying to take control of Matt's body and Claire has to face off with her father's Sorority Girl Army. And, yes, I did accidentally make that sound more interesting than the actual show. Sorry, everyone.

Tuesday

For those calling in sick, I'd recommend skipping Syfy's Tru Calling marathon (8am through 3pm for those whose love of Dushku overpowers their bad-show gag reflex) and tuning into AMC, which goes dragon crazy with a 12:45 airing of Dragonheart (Dennis Quaid and a dragon voiced by Sean Connery!) followed by a 3pm re-run of Reign of Fire (You could stay tuned for a 5pm Batman Begins and 8pm Terminator 2: Judgment Day as well, if you were feeling particularly lazy).

If you'd rather get a delayed British take on the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, then James May On The Moon (BBC America at 8pm) takes Top Gear's Captain Slow and puts him in the driver's seat for an hour long look back at those heady days where men were men and the Moon seemed an obtainable destination.

Otherwise, click over to ABC for the second episode of V and see whether it still feels like FlashForward meets... Well, the old V, really (The official PR for the episode says "A seeker among the Visitors tracks Erica and Father Jack. Chad seeks redemption by investigating the aliens ahead of his next newscast while law enforcers press Erica for information concerning Dale M…").

Wednesday

Thank God for Mythbusters on the Discovery Channel at 9pm. Without their investigation into whether cars will automatically burst into flames after crashing (Surely we have empirical proof that the answer is no already?), I'd have to find some way to pretend that Glee (Fox at 9) was a scifi show just to have something to write about for today. I figured I could always claim that it was set in an alternate reality where people aren't creeped out by Will Schuester trying to rap.

Thursday
If it's Thursday, then it's time for all the shows to run up against each other again. Sure, you could pretend that the networks aren't showing anything and watch a double bill of Demolition Man and End of Days on AMC (Sly and Arnold! In two of their most underrated - for a reason - movies! It starts at 8pm, if you're tempted), after spending the day watching Syfy's Star Trek: Enterprise marathon (8am through 3pm, as ever), but come on. I know that you can't resist the big shows people are talking about.

On FlashForward (ABC, 8pm), Aaron discovers the truth about his daughter's death, Janis returns to work and Mark and Olivia's martial troubles bring everyone down yet again, man. Things are much more fun over in Mystic Falls where Vampire Diaries (the CW at 8pm) brings a mysterious new teacher, arguments over medallions and, according to the CW, "Damon finally reveals to Stefan the stunning reason he has returned to Mystic Falls." If I watched the show and/or cared, I couldn't wait!

9pm brings the real reason to wrestle over the remote; Fringe on Fox gives Olivia, Broyles and Peter a new reason to be suspicious of Massive Dynamic when the impossibly shady corporation turn out to be involved in a kidnapping case, but Supernatural (The CW) looks much more fun than even Walter Bishop could provide:

Super fan Becky uses Chuck's phone to trick Sam and Dean into attending a Supernatural fan convention, complete with fans dressed up as Sam and Dean. One of the activities is a live action role-playing game, but things quickly turn sour after a real ghost appears on the scene.

Seriously. How could anyone resist that?

Friday

Jericho fans! You have the Syfy marathon of the day (8am through 3pm, which I'm sure you already know by now) to keep you happy during the daylight hours; the rest of us will be watching the original The War Of The Worlds movie on AMC at 10:15am (And avoiding the following Star Trek: Nemesis at 12:15pm, a movie which can best be described by blogger Kevin Church here), instead.

Still, Friday evening starts the weekend off right with the double bill of Batman: The Brave and The Bold ("The Fate of Equinox!" Yes, the exclamation point is part of the title) and Star Wars: The Clone Wars (following last week's surprisingly brutal, "Are Jedi really advocating using flame throwers against living beings what the hell?" episode) on Cartoon Network, starting at 7:30pm (Clone Wars is at 8pm, if you have an aversion of Batman. And if you do, then I'm very, very sorry.)

If you're in the mood for MOR dramas teasing the supernatural, then CBS is the place to be tonight, with new episodes of both Ghost Whisperer (8pm, with Jennifer Love Hewitt "pulled into a murder mystery by a real estate power couple" - Yes, this is what people want to watch, apparently) and Medium (9pm, which at least includes a potentially amusing-for-the-wrong-reasons subplot about posting videos of someone on the internet and "getting into trouble") on offer.

The rest of us, we'll be considering Smallville on the CW at 8pm (It features the Wonder Twins! You know you want to), Stargate Universe on Syfy at 9pm (The crew of the Destiny get a message from their future selves from the past. Or something) and Sanctuary on the same channel at 10pm.

Saturday

If you're not looking forward to Syfy's Ice Twisters at 9pm ("A sci-fi novelist is summoned to help scientists after an experiment in weather manipulation goes awry and produces deadly tornadoes made of ice," apparently), then we'd suggest that AMC's double bill of trilogies is the best way to spend your day. Start with the Mad Max trilogy (Movies starting 1:30, 3:30 and 5:30pm) before a night of The Matrix trilogy (The three movies begin at 8pm, 11pm and 1am on Sunday, respectively). Otherwise, the only thing left is Discovery's Surviving 2012... which is about all the prophecies, and not, sadly, advice on making it through Roland Emmerich's latest.

Sunday

It's the best night of television this week! Who knew, right? Start things off right with Syfy's latest screening of Serenity at 6:30 before switching over midway through - Hopefully missing Alan Tudyk's least favorite scene ever in the process - to catch the premiere of AMC's brand new take on The Prisoner at 8pm. If Ian McKellan and Jim Caviezel can't bring Patrick McGoohan's classic paranoiafest back to life, I'm going to be very depressed.

Of course, the best way to finish the evening off is coming at midnight, with the latest episode of The Venture Bros on Cartoon Network. Can we all just admit that it's the smartest and funniest show on television already?

Avatar

The latest TV spot shows one of Pandora's monsters taking down an AMP suit. [First Showing]

Star Trek:

Think we've seen the last of Christopher Pike? Maybe not. Bruce Greenwood says he's spoken to J.J. Abrams about Star Trek 2. And he says "J.J., one of the nicest guys on the planet, has indicated there will be a place in the project for me." At the same time, Greenwood cautions, "there are no guarantees." [Hill Country Times via TrekToday]

Kick-Ass

The movie about superheros in the real world gets a series of interlocking character posters. More at the link. [IGN]

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

An Italian magazine claimed that Daniel Radcliffe would channel his Equus performance and bare all for the penultimate film. Alas, the rumored "sensual" scene seems to be just that, a rumor. Radcliffe's representative says it's an utter fabrication. [Digital Spy]

The Hobbit

According to Ian McKellen, the movie draws not only from the novel The Hobbit, but also from other works by Tolkien. [MTV Movies Blog]

Lost

A Lostie took some fresh picture of Dharmaville looking less than fresh. The houses were intentionally dirtied and the playground's swingset haf been nearly demolished. But the rec room had a fresh coat of paint. [Dark UFO]

And someone snagged a photo of Ben Linus dressed as a teacher for the seventh episode "Dr. Linus." [Dark UFO]

Fringe

Olivia will meet the Observer in the episode "August." Anna Torv calls it "a really, really, beautiful, beautiful episode." William Bell and Walter Bishop will have a confrontation. John Noble, who plays Walter, says that he just filmed "a lovely scene" and that something very shocking will be revealed. And there's also the sense that of a breach, and that breaking the laws of nature comes with repercussions. The cast also had some things to say about the season that are more speculative than spoiler. Joshua Jackson believes that we'll see the alternate Walter and that Peter will discover he's from "over there" (although he doesn't know if Peter will return to the Fringe team or if he'll want to burn the whole universe down). Noble believes that when we meet the alternate Walter, he'll be thoroughly pissed off. And Torv hopes we'll see an alternate Olivia. [SCI FI Wire]

V

Anna gets her tourist visa — and a convenient photo op — in November 17th's episode "A Bright New Day." [VisitorSite]

Stargate Universe

Here's the official description for tonight's episode:

With the situation onboard the Destiny dire, General O'Neill and Home World Command orders Col. Young to execute a high risk plan concocted by the I.O.A. scientists which, in theory, could return the crew to earth. Col. Young tries to buy more time so that he can consult those on the ship whose lives are at stake. While using the communication stones, Camile Wray is approached by I.O.A. representative Dale Strom who suggests that she steer opinion on the ship in favor of the plan.

Eli and Chloe are allowed to use the communication stones to visit Earth and their loved ones for what may be the last time. Their homecoming is not what they expected and the two try to drink away their worries at a club (featuring Janelle Monáe), but are unable to ignore the looming fate of the Destiny that they have left behind.

[GateWorld]

Smallville

The Wonder Twins make their purple debut in stills from next week's episode, "Idol." [Operation Save Clark Kent]

Heroes

Sylar and Matt are getting in trouble in Monday's episode, "Shadowboxing." [The ODI]

Adrian Pasdar is alive for now, and we see him in the photos for "Brother's Keeper." [Spoiler TV]

On Carson Daly, Masi Oka said that the fourth season is his second favorite season (after Season One), saying it tells smaller, more character-oriented stories. [Multipleverses]

Sanctuary

In the show's post-apocalyptic episode, Helen Magnus wakes up on the floor of the Sanctuary with no memory of what happened. Her office is riddled with bullet holes and her lab appears to have been the site of a horrific battle. With no one else around, she foes to the roof to see that the entire city of New York has been decimated, filled with craters. She'll eventually encounter two heavily armed men, one of whom fires a stun gun at Magnus. She wakes in an abandoned warehouse, where the men hose her down until her skin is raw. She'll feel exhausted and defeated when a third man enters the room. The man will be older and scarred, but she'll recognize him as Will Zimmerman. But just as she starts to ask him questions, he cuts her off and accuses her of being an imposter. He explains that Helen Magnus died three years earlier. [Pop Culture Zoo]

Additional reporting by Josh Snyder and Charlie Jane Anders.

Doctor Who

Digital Spy has a ton of teasers from "The Waters of Mars." The first line of the episode is, "Hello mum. Susie says hello!" which apparently holds great significance. The exact date the Doctor lands on Mars is November 21, 2059. Captain Adelaide Brooke is the head of Bowie Base One, the first human colony on Mars, and the Doctor recognizes her as the pioneer of humanity's colonization of space. He calls her, "The woman with starlight in her soul."

This episode will show a lot of behavior from the Doctor that we haven't seen before. For one thing, as soon as the Doctor arrives, he realizes he needs to leave. He tells the folks at the base, "Whatever has started here, I can't see it to the end. I can't." But before he has a chance to leave the water plague starts. We get some references to two stories from season four and the recent Easter special. There's also a flashback that hasn't been previously mentioned. There's also the quote: "It's taken me all these years to realise *** **** ** **** *** **** - and they **** **** **."

Additionally, an Ood makes an appearance (and it's significant that it's an appearance), and it's also significant that the human body is 60% water. And, at the end of the episode, the Doctor says something incredibly shocking, both in its content and in the way he says it. Apparently, the Doctor's odd behavior will tie into David Tennant's eventual departure. [Digital Spy]

True Blood

Want to see Lafayette's vamp blood-fueled sex dreams about Eric? Actor Nelsan Ellis says we might get a scene or two in the new season. [Den of Geek]

The Host 2

We get another piece of monstrous concept art from The Host sequel. We'll also be seeing a video game tie-in, a first person shooter featuring mutant humanoids with superhuman abilities. [ShockTillYouDrop]

The Hobbit

Ian McKellan has read the script. He can't spill much about the content, but he does say that Guillermo del Toro's directing style is eerily similar to Peter Jackson's:

They were separated at birth. They're twins. They have the same attitude. Neither likes working in Hollywood. They're both fascinated by fantasy and violence on the screen, and gore, and things that frighten you. They like going into the psyche. They're both brilliant storytellers in very much the same way. And I think the script, because I have read it, plays very much to Guillermo's strengths, as I've seen them. I have seen his other movies, and people act very well in them. So I think it's all fine. And Peter will always be there.

[SCI FI Wire]

New Moon

We meet some more violent vampires in a featurette, introducing the Volturi. [via Cinema Blend]

Lost

Zuleikha Robinson, who plays Ilana, and Jeff Fahey, who plays Frank Lapidus, has been confirmed as series regulars for Season Six. [Lyly Ford]

While Boone is returning to Lost, he may not be getting quality time with his stepsister Shannon. Maggie Grace is the much-speculated-on holdout from the original cast, and hasn't signed on to return. Her rep says she's just filmed three movies back-to-back and just got back from filming last week. [E!]

The season's seventh episode will be called "Dr. Linus" and will naturally center around Ben. [Spoiler TV]

There is a new casting notice out for the eighth episode:

[SELENA] Any ethnicity, early 30s. A striking beauty who knows how to use it, mischievous, confident in tense situations. Ends up in bed with an attractive man, all by her own choosing. But after corporate negotiations, she finds the terms of the deal have changed and doesn't know who to trust to save her job...ONE DAY GUEST STAR

[Spoiler TV]

We already know that, despite being dead, Juliet will play an important role in the new season. Elizabeth Mitchell says that she's already shot some scenes with Sawyer and "It's one of those things where it appears to be one thing, and then it turns into something else." [LA Times]

The Lost crew was spotted at the Hawaii Medical Center East, which was playing the role of St. Sebastian Hospital in the timeline where Oceanic 815 lands safely. But the non-castaways are still running into one another as Jack was at the filming, along with Sayid and his girlfriend. Fans spotted another set of scenes filming at Papailoa Beach with Ben, Frank, Ilana, Miles, and Sun. In on scene, Frank was gathering wood and working in the sand, but in another he was carrying a gun. Then Ben was digging in the sand. Eventually, Ilana was holding Ben at gunpoint and marching him down the beach.

And below are photos from the Papailoa Beach filming. [Hawaii Blog]

Supernatural

There will be much lampooning of Grey's Anatomy in this week's "Changing Channels" episode. On the set of Seattle Mercy Hospital, Sam and Dean will run into Dr. Sexy, MD and the show's waifish lead Ellen Piccolo. The characters use the word "seriously" a lot and there will be some "seriously" melodramatic music. Plus, Dean will explain the "dead Denny" character (Jeffrey Dean Morgan plays dead Denny on Grey's, in addition to playing Sam and Dean's father) to an exasperated Sam, who will ask, "This show has ghosts? Why?!" [E!]

V

We seen some of these before, but here is the full set of marketing posters for V. [Spoiler TV]

Heroes

Now we know that Adrian Pasdar, who plays the deceased Nathan Petrelli, will be leaving the show, but how does he take his final bow? As Sylar, in a battle with Matt and Peter.

Yes, once again not really a death since Nathan was dead already, but it seems like there will finally be a battle between not only Sylar and Nathan and Sylar and Matt but Peter and Sylar (as Nathan). At the end of everything apparently Sylar takes over the body and that is the end of Nathan.

[The ODI]

There's a new promo for next week's episode, "Shadowboxing."

In the eleventh episode, aptly title "Thanksgiving," HRG hosts an unconventional Turkey Day dinner and the Petrellis receive a surprise guest. Meanwhile, Lydia searches for the truth. [Spoiler TV]

Fringe

We get a little more background on the Broyles-centric episode in a new featurette. A Russian cosmonaut brings something back from space that is turning people to ash. And it's all linked to an old case Broyles worked on. [via Spoiler TV]

We're going to learn more about the Observers in the upcoming episode "August." All of the observers are named after months, and the Observer we've come to know and hunt for is named "September." Walter is able to communicate with the Observers because of his experiences and the things they have done. John Noble, who plays Walter, believes the Observers were transporting a photo of Walter because he's their only contact, and the Observers aren't generally supposed to make contact with people. We'll also learn what the Observers' weakness is. And we're coming up on the Walter/William Bell meetup, and an upcoming episode will answer some of the questions from when Charlie died. Plus, Olivia will remember more about what William Bell said to her, especially about the supersoldier leader with the mark on his head. [Fancast]

We also get a couple of images of September from "August." [Spoiler TV]

Chuck

Yvonne Strahovski says that Sarah won't be happy about the new Intersect in Chuck's head. She always admired Chuck for his innocence and as Chuck becomes more of a superspy like her, she wants him to hold on to that more normal person that he once was. It's especially disheartening for her, since she was starting to feel that it was time for the two of them to run away and be normal. She also says we'll be seeing more action this season. [Chuck TV]

Stargate Universe

We're going clubbing in a clip from this week's episode, "Earth."

Smallville

There's some good buzz going for the two-part Justice League episode airing in January, and some folks are saying Michael Shanks as Hawkman could be Smallville's most entertaining DC Comics import. [Fancast]

FlashForward

Here is the UK promo for this week's episode, "The Gift." [Flashforward Blog]

And there's a fresh casting call for the fourteenth episode:

[AUDREY] 50s-60s, Caucasian. No-nonsense, pragmatic retired school administrator who cares very deeply about her family. Possesses a good sense of humor and has a grace about her. Thoughtful and measured in her actions, her manner is infused with an underlying warmth...GUEST STAR. WILL RECUR

[Spoiler TV]

Sanctuary

In this week's episode, "Pavor Nocturnus," Magnus wakes to find the Sanctuary mysteriously destroyed.

Additional reporting by Josh Snyder.

Monday:

Heroes -
Matt takes a risk trying to rid himself of Sylar as Noah, newly launched on his "helping" kick, asks Tracy to help a boy who's similar to her younger self, on NBC at 8 PM. Gretchen and Claire are, of course, headed for some good old-fashioned hazing, but they definitely have larger problems facing them.

Castle -
Novelist Castle (Nathan Fillion) learns that a dead man wearing vampire teeth is discovered in a graveyard ... with a stake through his heart. The ensuing investigation leads him and his partner to uncover a group of vamp fetishists, and a victim who was writing a graphic novel. Also, Fillion changes back into his familiar browncoat while discovering the faux-vampire's body.

Bloodlines: The Dracula Family Tree -
It's not a new special, but in the interest of Halloween on Saturday, on the History Channel at 10 PM is a look at the historical roots of the Dracula legend, not surprisingly tracing it back to the Romanian Vlad Tepes (aka Vlad The Impaler) from the 15th century.

Tuesday:

Ghost Lab -
The brothers visit Chicago on Discovery Channel at 10 PM to probe a tattoo parlor, and ghostly prostitutes who haunt a bed-and-breakfast that used to be a bordello.

<em.2009 Scream Awards -
The fourth annual show awards the best in horror, scifi and fantasy genres, and this year, on Spike at 10 PM, George Romero receives the Scream mastermind Award, to be presented to him by Quentin Tarantino. Footage from New Moon will be aired, though it's not clear whether it will be new or a mash of the same stuff we've seen.

Movies:

The classic Peanuts movie It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is on ABC at 8 PM.

Wednesday:

MythBusters -
The team tests out kitchen myths on the Discovery Channel at 9 PM, including cheese's suitability as cannon fodder.

Ghost Hunters -
Colorado's Briarhurst Manor is home to a ghostly child and female spectre, on Syfy at 9 PM.

Destination Truth -
Are there werewolves in Romania? On Syfy at 10 PM, the team investigates Romanian sightings and heads to Chile to file reports on a dinosaur-esque creature.

Eastwick -
On ABC at 10 PM, as the magic-ridden town prepares for its own version of Christmas, the women are floundering: Roxie has visions of a funeral, while Kate tries to help Joanna win Will back. (Do you think the women will defy expectations and dress for Halloween as a psychic, a man-eater and Mother Earth? That'd be unexpected.)

The Real Wolfman -
Stories of a wolfman terrorizing the French countryside get aired, on the History Channel at 9 PM. Criminologist George Deuchar and cryptozoologist Ken Gerhardt use modern tech to figure out the truth about the "real" wolfman.

Movies:

Hayden Panettiere, Tim Curry, Jay Leno and Lauren Bacall give voice to Scooby and the gang in Scooby-Doo an the Goblin King, as they try to stop a carnival magician from turning the gang into Halloween monsters, on Cartoon Network at 6 PM.

Thursday:

FlashForward -
The team works to figure if the attacks on Mark, Demetri and Janis were a coordinated effort by the same group, on ABC at 8 PM. Of course, at home, Olivia is all abuzz over her discovery about Mark's own future glimpse. Lloyd's autistic son Dylan goes missing, and Simon makes contact again. Plus not only does Dominic Monaghan join the show, so does True Blood's Bon Temps pot-stirrer Daphne.

Vampire Diaries -
Vicki the Vamp can't resist her own blood lust and ends up making the school's haunted house extra scary. And on CW at 8 PM, psychic Bonnie surprises Damon with her ability when he tries to repossess a necklace that she has.

Supernatural -
A witch plays high-stakes poker with Bobby, letting him wager 25 years of his life up against freedom from his wheelchair. When he loses and Dean tries to save him, he begins to age into an old man too — on the CW at 9 PM.

UFO Hunters -
On the History Channel, beginning at 8 PM, is an hour of interviews about UFO sightings and those close to them. First, an investigation of mysterious men threatening eyewitnesses, followed by an examination of Area 52, a theorized UFO research base in Utah.

Movies:

Thir13en Ghosts is on AMC at 10:45 PM. A collector dies, leaving his fortune, which happens to include some ghosts on his property, to his nephew.

Friday:

Ghost Adventures Live! -
On the Travel Channel at 8 PM, a crew is locked inside the Trans-Alleghey Lunatic Asylum in West Virginia, reportedly one of the nation's most haunted sites.

Smallville -
Mia (a.k.a. Speedy), a young girl Oliver offers to train, double-crosses him, on the CW at 8 PM. And Lois asks for Clark's help pursuing an on-air TV news host gig, but matters get complicated when the station offers the gig to both of them as a pair.

Stargate Universe -
The water supply dwindles (Seriously? Yes.) on Syfy at 9 PM. As such, Col. Young and Lt. Scott visit a frozen planet for drinkable water, while the crew tries to track an intruder.

Sanctuary -
A superhero gets trapped by Magnus on Syfy at 10 PM, but his lack of finesse throws the team off. Meanwhile, the discovery of remnants of an eggshell puts Will and Declan on the trail of a creature loose in the city.

Movies:

Meet the immortal Lestat on Syfy at 6:30 PM, in Interview with the Vampire.

Saturday:

Ghost Hunters Halloween Live -
On Syfy at 7 PM is a six-hour special that allows you to give feedback during the program. This year, the annual Halloween investigation is at the Essex County Hospital and hosted by Josh Gates of Destination Truth.

Movies:

AMC is running all-day marathon of spooky delights including Young Frankenstein, Amityville Horror, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, 13 Ghosts, and Return to House on Haunted Hill to name a few.

The Syfy Channel will be running a marathon as well with Final Destination 1 & 2, Interview With A Vampire, and lots of helpings of Ginger Snaps.

Spike is playing Friday The 13th Part III at 12 PM.

FX is running I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, Ghost Ship, The Invisible, and Constantine on repeat for the morning then, of course Halloween and Halloween H20 starting at 4 PM.

The 1941 Spencer Tracy version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is on TCM at 8 PM.

Sunday:

Movies:

V -
Beginning at 1 PM on Syfy, revisit the original 1983 miniseries about aliens invading Earth and the humans trying to stop the takeover. Both parts are showing, and are immediately followed by 1984's sequel miniseries, V:The Final Battle, picking up with L.A. alien fighters.

Inception:

Michael Caine spills the beans about what part he plays in Christopher Nolan's first post-The Dark Knight` project:

I play a professor who's teaching a guy science. It's Leonardo diCaprio. He's going off to do a science project and he speaks to me before he goes.

But it sounds like he's only in the film for a few brief moments.[Empire Online]

Venom:

Spider-Man 4 director Sam Raimi, not surprisingly, has no clue whether this spin-off will take place in the same "universe" as his movies. (The same universe as in the same continuity — I'm fairly sure the laws of physics will apply, more or less, in both films.) [MTV]

Star Trek 2:

Writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman give another vague interview. This time around, they hint that there will be more exposure for characters other than Kirk and Spock in movie #2:

Kurtzman: For sure. In a sequel, you have even more of that burden, because the first movie is about introducing characters, but the second movie is about digging deeper into them. So you've got to make sure your story is giving everyone a moment… More than a moment. An arc.

Orci: We've always thought of the bridge crew as a family, so it's not just, "What are we gonna find for them?" It's part of the DNA of doing Star Trek right, I think - to make sure all the characters represent a significant part of the family.

[IGN via TrekWeb]

The Road:

Here's the final poster for this apocalptic funfest. [Cinemablend]

2012:

This new Adam Lambert music video seems to include some scenes from what must be the end of this movie, showing John Cusack and company emerging from storage containers unharmed. [Cinemablend]

Twilight:

Jackson Rathbone says Jasper Cullen's Civil War flashbacks in Eclipse don't take up quite as much time as they do in the book, but it's nice to see Jasper when he was still a bad dude. Also, as in the book, Jasper's the only one who knows how to combat the vampire army being raised by Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard). [MTV]

Also, director Chris Weitz says New Moon will follow the book's storyline, so we won't see that much of Edward. (Nooo!):

We didn't want to shoehorn him into the story. I did alter the visuals of the story in the sense that in the book, Kristen [Stewart]'s character has aural hallucinations — she hears his voice — and we've built in a very beautiful subtle effect so that we see him as well. But those are brief, if impactful, moments. A lot of the film is sustained by her loss and Taylor [Lautner]'s character bringing her back to life.

[IGN]

Lost:

Emilie de Ravin will be in every episode of season six, and we'll find out what happened to her. And we'll be seeing a different version of Claire — one that's more Rousseau-ish. As for the real Rousseau, we won't be seeing her in the final season — the producers asked Mira Furlan to return for the final season, but she turned them down due to a prior commitment. [EW]

Also, episode six is called "Sundown" and probably revolves around Sun and/or Jin. The show seems to be copying season one's pattern of character-centric episodes, but probably that will change with episode seven — unless we're really getting a Charlie-centric outing. [SpoilersLost]

Fringe:

We may not have seen the last of Charlie, since his duplicate in the alternate world is still running around. The show got rid of him because the producers wanted to get out of the FBI offices and more underground. And by the same token, we may not be seeing that much of new FBI character Special Agent Jessup (Meghan Markle) in the upcoming episodes — she's available if the show wants her, but she may not turn up that often, by the sound of things. We'll be getting to know our core characters more. Also, we may meet Olivia's evil stepfather this season. [EW]

Supernatural:

You won't have to wait much longer for the big showdown. Sam and Dean fight Lucifer in episode 10, and two characters die! [EW]

FlashForward:

Three sneak peeks from tonight's episode, "Gimme Some Truth":

Stargate Universe:

Just how angry is Sgt. Ronald Greer? Let Jamil Walker Smith explain:

And here's a sneak peek from Friday's new episode, "Light."

Sanctuary:

And a clip from tomorrow night's new episode, "Eulogy." Put those two episode titles together, you've got a Funkadelic song title.

Smallville:

In the episode called "Disciple," Steve Bacic will play The Dark Archer (bwa ha ha ha) who's Green Arrow's mentor and teaches him everything there is to know about archery. And darkness. Fans are speculating this is the same character as Merlyn The Archer from the comics. Also, Emilie Ullerup will play Cat Grant, and she appears in episode six, "Crossfire," the episode that also introduces Speedy. [ComicBookMovie and ComicBookMovie]

Heroes:

Here's the official description of episode 4x08, "Shadowboxing":

Claire is determined to get to the bottom of the attacks; H.R.G. realizes he may be the source of Claire's troubles; Peter's new ability is the perfect fit for his job; Sylar's battle at gaining full control of Matt's body escalates.

[SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.

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.

Monday:

House</em -
On FOX at 8 PM Foreman's preparing to explain the death of a dictator to the review board, while King Midas incarnate is realizing just how cursed he is when his son falls under House's care ... or, Foreman's care, as the team remains his for now.

Heroes -
Lydia's alarmed on NBC at 8 PM, when Samuel tries to extend his brood. Peter makes a connection with a reluctant Emma over some swooshy lights, and Sylar tries to remember who he used to be. Also, Gretchen reveals her hidden agenda to Claire, and we get the lesbian kiss many people have been watching this season for. But then what will we watch it for after that?

Big Bang Theory -
Immigration is coming for Raj unless he gets a new job, so Sheldon hires him. When did Sheldon start a business? Also, Howard really doesn't get the concept of third wheel with Leonard and Penny on CBS at 8:30 PM.

Movies:

Global warming attacks the planet and Dennis Quaid must save ... as many as he can in The Day After Tomorrow on FX at 5:30 PM. Psyche yourself up for 2012 with a reminder of Emmerich's appetite for destruction.

Tuesday:

Ghost Lab -
The brothers examine the evidence of ghosts in Arizona, including a full body photograph of an apparition, on Discovery Channel at 10 PM.

STARZ: INSIDE ZOMBIEMANIA -
Move over vamps — zombies have risen to take over. Richard Roeper hosts a look at Zombies through the film lens of history on Starz at 10 PM. The piece takes look at zombies and their starring roles in films being with 1932's White Zombie and up to 28 Days Later. Writer/director/zombie aficionado George A. Romero and the author of Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z, Max Brooks, are featured along with others influential in the zombie movement.

Movies:

After zombies on Starz, at 11 PM watch a plague infect residents in Quarantine.

Wednesday:

Ghost Hunters -
TAPS heads north of the border on Syfy at 9 PM to investigate Canada's Fort Henry, the nation's most haunted locale.

Destination Truth -
The team enjoys a Turkish dance troupe on Syfy at 10 PM.

Eastwick -
Joanna's ex-fiance (wait, what?!) surprises her before her date with Will tonight on ABC at 10 PM. Meanwhile, Roxie starts investigating her killer roommate, and Kat turns to a divorce attorney — finally.

Movies:

Joshua Jackson is a photographer who's haunted by mysterious images of a woman who supposedly died in a car crash in Tokyo, in Shutter, on HBO at 5:30 PM.

Thursday:

FlashForward -
Remember Bryce? The suicidal doctor? On ABC at 8 PM, he thinks a flash is the key to a patient's recovery but Olivia's skeptical (and with her trouble with flashes, who wouldn't be?). Demetri and Mark's flashes are dividing them and Nicole (the creepy kid's babysitter) shares her flash: murder. Wait, wasn't she trying to atone for the future previously?

Vampire Diaries -
Stefan's on a truth kick and reveals to Elena his family's history, and how his rivalry with Damon got started. Damon, meanwhile is trying to take control of Vicki's life, causing, well, some problems obviously. And the sheriff and mayor try to keep every safe-ish on CW at 8 PM.

Supernatural -
The boys are traveling again, this time to see an 11-year-old boy whose beliefs all come true. Too bad his conjurings also include the monsters of lore. Cas thinks this child's a threat and wants him... taken out, on CW at 9 PM.

Fringe -
On FOX at 9 PM the team started decoding dreams when people are being turned into monsters via what sounds like a backdoor in their brains. And Broyles meets with Nina Sharp — whoa, is more lip-locking action in store?

Movies:

On Cinemax at 5:45 PM is the Edward Norton-version of Incredible Hulk, featuring two spectacular cameos by Lou Ferrigno.

Friday:

Batman: The Brave and the Bold -
The Dark Knight returns to Cartoon Network at 7:30 PM, to fight the metal man Shrapnel, with OMAC by his side.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars -
On Cartoon Network at 8 PM, Padmé is investigating a Separatist conspiracy, when the Jedi Council asks for her help.

Ghost Whisperer -
Melinda heads to the morgue when she's haunted by the ghost of a surgeon who's stuck reliving a failed operation on CBS at 8 PM.

Smallville -
The Blur is becoming an outlaw, and who knows how he'll react when Jor-El gives him the power to hear people's thoughts. Elsewhere, the Toyman is crashing a Queen Industries party to get to Oliver and force him to admit he killed Lex on CW at 8 PM.

Stargate Universe -
On Syfy at 9 PM, the ship's power reserves dip to a critical level, and the crew is ordered to use the power for essential services only — but we've seen how well they obey orders already. Plus, Rush announces they won't survive past a few days, so that should help with the whole "morale" thing.

Sanctuary -
The Cabal attacks sanctuaries around the world, using Ashley in support of their cause. Tesla an Henry try to defuse the the onslaught, without killing Ashley of course, on Syfy at 10 PM.

Movies:

Gene Hackman stars as a man fending off death in the ocean in The Poseidon Adventure on FMC at 6 PM.

Saturday:

In lieu of their usual Saturday night movie, Syfy is doing a Saw mini-marathon. The puzzle begins at 4:30 PM and covers the first three movies.

Sunday:

Super Hero Squad Show -
A bratty little kid gets control of the world with the help of a sparkly magic tiara. Time for the squad to think like kids if they want to save the world, on the Cartoon Network at 7 PM

Venture Brothers -
The Bros. are back, and Captain Sunshine is joining them. Plus, is Brock seriously gone for good?!? Find out on Cartoon Network at 11:30 PM.

Movies:

Wolvesbayne is a new movie about a werewolf hero who takes on a vampire cult, on Syfy at 9 PM.

Sasquatch Hate Vampires: We've apparently abandoned the Lazarus virus plotline from last season. The villainous Cabal had created the Lazarus virus, which infects Abnormals with a sort of rabies, so that they go mad and attack normal humans before sputtering out and dying. As interesting as the monster apocalypse would have been, if the writers felt they couldn't do anything with it, it's just as well that they've ditched it. Nikola Tesla (who's been a vampire for the last 100+ years) managed to develop a cure, and has been trotting the globe to deliver it to infected Abnormals. The only critter who won't take it is Bigfoot, because apparently Sasquatch and vampires don't mix. This means that Bigfoot is sitting in quarantine, suffering and gradually going crazy. What fun.

Vampires Can't Get Drunk (as Much as They Might Want To): I'm so terribly glad that the writers had the good sense to keep Nikola Tesla around. He's just the right kind of obnoxious to lighten up the often drearily serious cast. He's taken to calling Will (still the show's least interesting character) "Huggy Bear," and he's managed to empty out Helen Magnus' wine cellar, even though alcohol doesn't affect him in the least.

There's Such a Thing as Perfect DNA: So the Cabal's latest nefarious plot involves kidnapping people who were once part of a government project to create children with "perfect" DNA. These kids had their genomes scrubbed of any mutations, making them perfectly normal in contrast to the genomes of those wacky Abnormals. Really? What on Earth was their baseline for that?

The Crazy Monster Maker Just Wants to be Your Mommy: Since the Cabal isn't going to be a huge part of season two, I guess we won't be seeing much of the Cabal's monster making scientist after the next episode. That's a real shame, because this lady is batshit crazy in the best way. She's gradually transforming Magnus' brainwashed and kidnapped daughter Ashley into some kind of superbeast, but it's okay because she kind of loves Ashley (in a maternal way) and doesn't want her to ever feel any pain. She stole the show with each creepy stroke of Ashley's hair.

Don't Feed the Sexy Mercenary: Since Ashley's gone AWOL, the Sanctuary needs a new hot girl to be its resident badass. Enter Kate Freelander, with the line, "Yes, that's my real name, even though it sounds made up." Oh, Sanctuary, how I wish you were always so self-aware. At the moment, though, Miss Freelander is working as a kidnapper for the Cabal, at least until she gets captured by Magnus and company. Henry is briefly left the guard her, but screws the pooch when he falls for her seductive brownie bar-eating ways:

Hanging Out with Jack the Ripper Makes You Violent: Who knew? Magnus has been spending an awful lot of time with John Druitt, her sometimes crazy husband who also happens to be Jack the Ripper, sometimes by moonlight. And when, in an inspired moment of violence, she shoots Kate Freelander in the foot, boring old Will is convinced that Druitt is rubbing off on her. Oh look, actual conflict between the characters that has nothing to do with mind control or insanity! There may be hope for them yet.

All Monsters Have Terrible Yellow Eyes: If it worked for Where the Wild Things Are, it must work for Sanctuary, too. Ashley's monstrous transformation is complete, signaled by her eyes turning a rather awful shade of mustard. Oh, and she's got retractable fingernails, giant incisors, and the ability to rapidly heal her wounds. Basically, she's Wolverine with more eyeshadow. And the Cabal's big plan is to overwrite the genetic code of the people with "perfect" DNA to make more monsters just like her.

Sanctuary is Still Kind of Ridiculous: I tend to knock Sanctuary for not owning its weird ideas enough (maybe I just want to see more aphrodisiac Tribbles) and giving its characters way too much down time. But last night's episode was surprisingly watchable, even if it opted to play things fairly straight rather than go for over-the-top weirdness. Still, the powers that be can't seem to decide if the show is serious or a bit B-movie campy, as evidenced by this final scene:

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.

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.

Hancock 2:

So much for those reports that the sequel would focus on Jason Bateman's character developing his charity project, and working on his relationship with his superhuman wife. Bateman says he hasn't been contacted about being in the sequel, and it's implied that he may not be in it. (Of course, he may get a call next week, but it's still surprising.) [Collider]

Deadpool:

Rob Liefeld Twittered about his meeting with the producers of this spin-off film, including Lauren Shuler Donner. And Ryan Reynolds, to nobody's surprise, is on board. Also:

Deadpool movie checklist- DP in costume-check! Breaking 4th wall-check! Loads of killing-double check!

And he was excited to talk to the producers about the possibilities of featuring Cable in future X-films. [Twitter via Cinemablend]

The Box:

Here are a few more stills from Richard Kelly's Twilight Zone-esque movie set in the 1970s. [Sci Fi Scoop]

Planet 51:

A new poster for the movie about The Rock accidentally invading an alien planet. [Teaser-Trailer]

2012:

And here are some new stills from Roland Emmerich's latest disaster film. [Movies-Spoilers]

Dollhouse:

Fox released three clips from tomorrow night's season opener, "Vows." [Fox via Whedonesque]

Lost:

More set pics and reports — here's a pic of Jack and Kate at the LAX airport set, plus Claire looking very pregnant. And one pic shows the construction of an elaborate temple set, and another shows the construction of a "rugged rock face." One scene being filmed today involved three gunshots ringing out and a bunch of extras, many of them dressed in the distinctive garb of the Others, running out of the temple. More pics at the link. [Hawaii Weblog]

A source claims both Juliet and Sawyer get "closure" on the island in the season premiere. And the cab driver whom Kate car-jacks is played by David H. Lawrence XVII, the "puppet-master" from last season of Heroes. (And yes, the number 17 is really part of Lawrence's professional name.) [SpoilersLost]

Warehouse 13:

It's not too soon to talk about season two of this hit show, which will air in 2010. Producer Jack Kenny says he's already got some ideas about how to deal with the huge cliffhanger at the end of season one — Leena has been made into "some sort of sleeper agent" and we'll have to "unsleeper her" or use her to trap McPherson. We'll find out where Claudia went and what she's doing, whether trying to clear her name or find McPherson. And we'll deal with the apparent death of Artie.

And then in season two proper, we'll mix it up some more. We may see Pete and Artie go out on a mission together, or Myka and Artie. We'll explore the core foursome (Pete, Myka, Artie and Claudia) in greater detail. We'll find out more about Pete's past alcoholism and possible drug addiction, and the lingering effects of Claudia's instituationalization. And both Pete and Myka will date people — maybe we'll see more of Jeff Weaver, Joe Flannigan's character from "Elements," and Myka can date him. And we'll see their reactions to each other's dating. Also, Claudia will possibly date a "local kid in the town," and maybe Pete, Myka and Artie will have different reactions to him. And we'll see more of the Regents, but maybe not all of them — maybe they'll have a spokesperson.

Also, Kenny says he wants to do an episode about "Hitler's microphone." [iFMagazine]

FlashForward:

Speaking of recovering alcoholics, apparently FBI agent Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes) is one. And his nanny is a devout Christian, who's making out with her boyfriend on the couch when the "flash forward" happens — so she takes the "flash forward" as a sign of divine retribution. [NY Times]

The Benfords' daughter Charlie says "I had a bad dream. I dreamt that there are no more good days." (And that's where the episode's title comes from.) By the end of the first episode, we get our first hint as to who/what is responsible for the flash. [Boston Herald]

Sonya Walger's surgeon character, Olivia, is put out that the entire surgical team flops to the floor in the middle of an operation. And her fellow doctor Bryce, played by Zachary Knighton, has gone to a pier to contemplate suicide when the flash happens. [Washington Post]

Here's the official synopsis of episode four, "Black Swan":

Olivia struggles to accept Bryce's suggestion that a patient's flashforward holds the key to a correct diagnosis and treatment. Meanwhile, Demetri accuses Mark of waiting for the future he saw in his flashforward to come true without incident, while Mark feels Demetri is letting his fear of what he witnessed envelop his life; and Nicole returns to work as Mark and Olivia's daughter's baby-sitter, and discloses her shocking future vision - involving a murder.

And some pics. [TV Overmind]

House:

In episode nine of this season, House tells someone he loves Cuddy. [EW]

True Blood:

And it's not too soon to talk season three of this show. Alan Ball says he's currently seeking someone to play Talbot, the "trophy husband" of the queer "vampire king of Mississippi" (played by Denis O'Hare). [EW]

Chuck:

Emmy winner Armand Assante guest stars as a Castro-esque dictator whom Casey has tried to assassinate numerous times. [EW]

Viktor Sakhay says that there will be more tension with the management at Buy More. And Lester will temporarily change something drastically about himself. [E! Online]

Sanctuary:

Here's a new trailer for season two of this Syfy show:

Smallville:

In his new quest to become the perfect hero, Clark is pretty icy to everyone, but especially to Chloe, for whom he refuses to go back in time and save Jimmy. But he does come to Lois in her hour of need. And Lois has sex on the brain — at least when she's sleeping. [TV Guide]

More on that: Lois has a scary/sexy dream sequence at the end of tomorrow night's season premiere, full of sweat, sex and blood. And death. And Jor-El tells Clark the reason he still can't fly is because he still thinks he's human. [E! Online]

We'll learn exactly where Lois went when she was missing for three weeks — and it'll look remarkably similar to the red dust storm sweeping over Sydney. [EW]

Here are two sneak peeks from tomorrow night's season opener:

Eastwick:

Rosanna Arquette will play Greta Noa, a New York gallery owner who's connected to Darryl Van Horne. She'll appear in two episodes, and there's more to her than we realize at first. [TV Guide Magazine]

Pandorum:

Excited about Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster's space horror romp yet? How about after you see this German trailer? It's Teutonic!

And here's a new featurette where the stars actually explain a bit more about the movie:

Zombieland:

A couple TV spots I don't think we've featured before:

The Fourth Kind:

Here's a new poster for this alien abduction/Blair Witch mashup. [IGN]

Twilight: New Moon:

The L.A. Times has a ton of set photos and promo photos from this film. More at the link. [L.A. Times]

Doctor Who:

There's a new Q&A with Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner about the new animated adventure "Dreamland." (It's the third part of three, and the other two parts are here and here.)

Lost:

One new set pic shows Matthew Fox at the airport, dressed in his suit from Flight 815. And there are other set photos showing a new structure being built, which appears to have some ancient walls, and could be a new entrance to that temple. More pics at the first link. [The ODI and The ODI]

FlashForward:

And here's a new description for episode three, "137 Sekunden":

MARK AND JANIS MEET WITH AN IMPRISONED NAZI WHO CLAIMS TO HAVE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE BLACKOUTS, DEMETRI RECEIVES A TIP ABOUT HIS FUTURE, AND AARON WANTS TO EXHUME HIS DAUGHTER'S BODY TO RE-TEST HER DNA AND CONFIRM HER IDENTITY, ON ABC'S "FLASHFORWARD"
Gabrielle Union Guest Stars as Zoey

"137 Sekunden" - Mark and Janis travel to Germany to speak with an imprisoned Nazi who claims to have knowledge about the blackouts, and an anonymous tip leads Demetri to believe his deepest fears about his future. Meanwhile, Aaron pleads with Mark to help him get the approval to have his daughter's body exhumed in order to re-test her DNA and confirm the identity of the remains.

[SpoilerTV]

Smallville:

Here's a new sneak peek from Friday's season opener.

Batman: The Brave And The Bold:

Henry Rollins will guest star as Robotman, the cyborg member of the Doom Patrol, in an upcoming episode. [MTV]

Sanctuary:

Some new promo pics from the season two premiere. [SpoilerTV]

Eastwick:

Here's the official synopsis for episode three, "Madams And Madames":

Haunted by the ghost of her daughter's ex-boyfriend, Roxie questions her sanity and turns to a local psychic for help. Declining Darryl's offer of a high-powered - and high-priced - divorce attorney, Kat decides to give Raymond another chance, but is she only delaying the inevitable? Joanna's quest to find the truth about Darryl leads her to a new and different scandal, and then she realizes her discovery was no accident. Meanwhile, Roxie's daughter, Mia, reluctantly attends her boyfriend's memorial, and though Bun has lost her memory, her mind is consumed with a mysterious symbol.

[SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.