Gaters everywhere are expressing their dismay upon learning that Syfy will not be airing a SGU marathon this Christmas. This year Syfy has decided to ditch its pre-planned Stargate Universe marathon, in lieu of old movies.

Not that we don't love Serenity, but we were hoping that the SGU marathon would build up some new fans. Sure, we've been pretty harsh on this new series, but now our theory that this show just needs to be watched in a giant lump to attract new fans can't be tested out, with a giant day of eating, drinking and catching up on Stargate.

So why did this happen? We haven't found the official answer just yet, but we're hoping that it doesn't mean a lack of faith in the show's marathon potential. It's been a bumpy road, but we hope many of our concerns about the shows pace and female characters has been heard and are being acted upon in the second season. SGU really just needs a few nips, tucks, cuts and a pretty bow to be a series worth of it's gritty realism label. But does canceling the marathon mean the higher ups at Syfy don't think they can depend on it to bring in the viewers Christmas day, more than old films will?

But do not fret fans, Hulu is currently hosting ALL of the episodes from Stargate SG-1. So that's a little something to tide you over the holiday season.

[via Gateworld picture via Joseph Mallozzi's Blog]

Right now, SGU is on a break after its midseason finale two weeks ago, and leaving us all with a giant cliffhanger. The first season will pick back up in April. And now that Syfy has announced that they will be ordering another 20 episodes, the second season of SGU will take off in the fall of 2010.

Sanctuary has also been given another 20-episode order for its third season, thus keeping Friday nights happily full of new SF television.

But will SGU begin to treat its female characters better? There appears to be hope, judging from a new interview with Executive Producer Robert Cooper, who owned up to the fact that the women on SGU are completely underutilized and underdeveloped. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Cooper addressed the show's female problem, and while he focused more on the sexualization of Stargate, we're happy he at least copped to keeping the women aboard Destiny in the back rows for far too long.

There's been criticism about the female characters. Some of it seems to suggest that having characters who are at all sexual automatically makes a show sexist, that anything less than a neutered "Star Trek" ideal is somehow bad.

Cooper: I think our female actors are playing strong female characters and they are proud of the characters they're playing. We didn't do a good enough job establishing them early on, it took too long for those traits to come to the forefront, and I think people are recognizing that in the later episodes. But that's the other big hot button — whether sex belongs in sci-fi. It's a huge deal with our fan base and I think its bizarre to ignore sex as a part of translating the human condition to fiction. If we're going to try and tell a more realistic character story we need to include those things.

Also, one comment, as a fan: a little bit of Kino-vision goes a long way.

Cooper: It's part of the language of TV now, that reality TV point-of-view that you're just sitting with those people and it helps bring reality to sci fi. I don't think we over-use it; I directed the Kino episode.

So hopefully merely realizing this problem means that they will make a conscience effort to tell us all who T.J. actually is, along with all the other background women aboard Destiny. So our final question, will you tune in for another season?

[THR]

"I have faith in our ability to repair this ship, and to work together." - Dr. Rush

When Stargate: Universe was released earlier this fall, I began to find some similarities between elements of the show and the final preparations within my own workplace, which was undergoing a reorganization to streamline its business processes. The very nature of SG:U has made it a very different animal than you'd expect from Stargate.

With earlier shows SG-1 and Atlantis focusing on exploration, diplomacy and intergalactic cooperation as major elements, Universe is a far more personal story that focuses on teamwork and team-building. The pilot saw our heroes escaping through the only route possible: an unknown open wormhole. With no preparation, the refugees reached the ancient ship Destiny, only to find that their problems were far from over, and that they were several billion light years from home, with no chance of rescue.

The business world has been evolving of late: strict hierarchies and military-like chains of command are shifting, in favor of a collaborative, team-oriented model, that's designed to increase productivity, but also foster innovation and creativity. Coming from a school and workplace deeply seeped in military tradition, I've found the combined civilian military workplace an interesting one, to say the least. Onboard the Destiny, there is a similar dynamic: a strict military hierarchy, mixed with a group of civilian specialists. In this particular environment, a strict military hierarchy isn't what will save the crew - only by fully utilizing the full strengths of each crew member can they survive.

"In boot camp, you have plenty of opportunity to learn from your mistakes." - Col. Young

So at its core, SGU is about teamwork, in ways that are far different than other shows such as Battlestar Galactica or Jericho. From the first episode, SGU's entire refugee population has been composed of a group of people who were not only completely unprepared for the planned mission, but even for the job of surviving.

And unlike Jericho's earthbound post-apocalyptic situation, survival aboard the Destiny is no simple task. In the pilot, we discover the refugees have no idea where they are, and the stability of their environment is also in question.

Once aboard Destiny, the makeshift crew gathers and audits its resources — crew members are vetted for their skill set and find their own roles within their new situation, making do with the supplies that they were able to bring on board.

To some extent, this isn't all that far off from any sort of business, aside from the unusual location and the immediate peril. Business processes exist in a fairly hostile and competitive world, one in which the survival of the business often depends on the efforts of the employees who work for it - especially in enterprises that depend on customer service. Trying to turn a business into a more inclusive team structure where everyone collaborates creates similar issues. In the old model, you had departments compartmentalized, and only limited information went from one area to another, which held the organization back. So newer structures use the collective strengths of everyone in the organization, with each section based on a specific task, instead of having many "microcosm" structures within the larger entity.

"Welcome back, SG-1." - Gen. Hammond

To some extent, we've seen this difference before, with the first Stargate show, SG-1. Stargate Command marshalled away teams of four people, each with a general specific function within the organization, but each containing smaller sub-specialties of combat, science and leadership. This worked for some missions, but at other points, it was a devastating mistake. Away teams would fall out of contact with Stargate Command, leaving other teams to investigate their whereabouts — at times, unclear on what the original team's specific mission on that planet had been, what their experiences were with locals and how they'd ended up going missing. Similarly, away teams would encounter issues that they were unable to cope with, because of a lack of specialization within their team — often, this created problems, diplomatically, scientifically and militarily. The SG-1 survived the longest, most likely, because of a diverse range of skills and the teamwork that prevailed within that particular group.

The characters of SG:U, despite the similarities with a combined military / civilian structure, approach things in a much different fashion: because they have to. Away teams aren't preset groups. In the first episode, we see a combined team that includes Rush, a military escort and several scientists - most notably, a geologist - to try and track down a specific type of rock that could be used in the ship's atmospheric filtering system. Other teams have included similar structures, based on the needs of the mission.

"You're in command of that ship. It's not a democracy." - Gen. O'Neill

SGU's Colonel Young has several major, somewhat conflicting responsibilities for those in his care — and the first, as demonstrated in the first couple episodes, is to preserve the lives of those onboard the failing ship, and this is precisely why he has butted heads with not only Rush, but also his immediate superiors on Earth. While the Icarus Project is something that the entire group seemed to be gearing up for, they're unprepared to fulfill some of the basic requirements of that particular mission: to stay alive.

With the immediate issue of survival seemingly taken care of — they have air, water and food, as dealt with in successive adventures — the crew can begin to look towards their second priority, ensuring their survival by either returning home, or repairing the ship. This would allow them to either fulfill the original mission, while they are on board the ship, or allow for a transfer of personnel to ultimately fulfill the mission.

How does this apply to the business world? To a large extent, this story is about survival and the ability to adapt, while keeping an original mission in focus. The military has numerous examples of this sort of leadership style and mentality, which occupy the extreme end of the spectrum, since these scenarios are often life-or-death situations. With a workplace, the same is true, although there will be less blood and few bullet holes in the walls. In the world of business, problems are to be expected. Supplies run short, vendors fail to deliver, markets drastically change, and so on.

So it's no wonder that teams need to be dynamic, fluid and attentive, rethinking the mission parameters on the fly. When the American 4th Infantry Division had to land at Normandy Beach, General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. knew he had to land his troops, or the rest of the Normandy invasion would fail. But he also used his own judgment from observations of the field, rather than sticking rigidly to the original plan or waiting for instructions — doing what it took to achieve the objective of the day. So too, has Col. Young, by using his judgment to ensure the safety of his crew. Without them, the Icarus Project would be wasted, and the mission would fail. Col. Young clearly understands the priorities of the mission, and so demonstrates a positive example of leadership under fire.

Any company faced with major problems such as these might find themselves unprepared for a new business environment that threatens its survival. In these instances, there is a responsibility on the part of the leaders to ensure that survival continues, whether that is on the part of a CEO, a General in the field or a fictional Colonel on a ship several billion light years from home.

This is the type of humor I really miss from this Stargate series, so I'm happy this is back, even if he is talking into a Kino. But this week's SGU isn't about non-sweet potatoes, it's all about murder aboard the Destiny. And sadly, I don't think it involves a group of role playing Southerners at a fancy dinner party.

The new SGU titled, "Justice" (ugh), will be on Syfy at 8 PM, this Friday.

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...

Avatar:

Did you know Warehouse 13/The Shield's CCH Pounder was in this movie? I didn't, until I was looking at the film's imdb page. I was curious, so I dug up this interview with her from April 2007, in which she explains:

I'm playing Moha and she is the queen of the Na'Vi nation, and so it's an environmental love adventure in another time and space.

I'm glad the Na'Vi have some solid leadership. Maybe this is the answer to who's really running the warehouse? [IGN]

Doctor Who:

You may have noticed Timothy Dalton narrating the recent trailers for David Tennant's final two-parter, "The End Of Time." And apparently this is apt, because he plays a character called The Narrator, who may or may not be a villain. (But that doesn't the earlier reports of him playing a Time Lord are untrue — note that he's wearing a Time Lord robe in the one photo we've seen of him so far.) So the Doctor and the Master meet... the Narrator? Okay. [Scotsman]

Also, according to the Radio Times preview, we'll be seeing a more desperate incarnation of the Master this time around. John Simm describes his newest portrayal as "emo Master." (Oh dear.) He's sporting punk-white hair under a hoodie and looking lost, while flashing in and out of "skeleton mode." This is a Master "who's lived and died, and now lives again — although he's seen healthier days," explains Simm. "He's desperate, and desperate means dangerous." Both he and the Doctor want to survive, but they're both heading for death. And here are some scans. [PlanetGallifrey and BlogtorWho]

Lost:

It sounds like episode 6x08 will be all about the mysterious Richard Alpert, and will be called "Ab Aeterno," (or "from eternity.") It's filming now, and it seems like a big chunk of it has to do with the Black Rock, that crashed British trading ship. Supposed inside sources say that the show will be filming a ton of Black Rock scenes using a greenscreen in the studio on Monday. (As always, take any reports that claim to be based on unnamed "inside sources" with a pinch of salt.)

According to these sources (some of whom are posting in the comments over at DarkUFO, but have apparently been authenticated somehow according to the site's owner) Richard Alpert arrives on the Black Rock, and he sails on that ship after his wife dies. And we discover that Alpert really is immortal. Besides Alpert, the crew of the Black Rock includes Father Suarez and Captain Whitfield. And after Alpert arrives on the island, he meets the Man In Black, who was last seen playing with Jacob in the season finale. Also present when the Black Rock crashes: the smoke monster.

There's also a rumor (which apparently is less well authenticated) that some of the castaways from Flight 815 turn up on the Black Rock, although it's not clear whether this happens in the present or back in the 19th century. And one of those supposed inside sources is saying there'll be some developments which make the Kate/Sawyer relationship less likely. [SpoilersLost]

Spanish channel Quatro aired a new trailer for season six as well as a lengthy segment where they visited the set and interviewed many of the stars. [SL-Lost]

Also, there are more photos of the hole in the ground that's supposed to be Locke's grave. It looks just like a hole in the ground, really. [The ODI]

The Lovely Bones:

Here's a TV spot for this Peter Jackson film that I don't think we've shown you before:

Daybreakers:

And there's a pretty neat TV spot for this vampire dystopia movie too. [Cinemablend]

The Wolfman:

Here are three new international posters. [Empire Online]

True Blood:

Ugly Betty's Grant Bowler is joining the cast, but he won't say what role he's playing. [Daily Telegraph via True-Blood]

Fringe:

Here's the official description for the Dec. 10 episode, "Grey Matters":

During the investigation of strange circumstances surrounding brain surgeries at a mental hospital, Olivia finds a reason to believe the leader of the shape-shifters may have something to do with it. Leonard Nimoy guest stars as William Bell

[TV Guide]

Stargate Universe:

Here are some promo pics for episode 10, "Justice." [SpoilerTV]

Chuck:

One more promo showing you a checklist of cool spy items:

FlashForward:

In episode 14, we'll be meeting two more FBI agents: Special Agent Buckner, who's backslappy but has a serious dark side, and Agent Danforth Crowley, who's a family man with a patriotic streak. Plus alpha-male businessman Corey Liebman, and Caitlynn, a little girl who screams when her bithday party is disrupted. [SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Mary Ratliff.

Thor and The Avengers

Someone posted a ton of rumors about the plot of these upcoming Marvel movies. Thor apparently starts with six warriors in Asgard: Thor, Loki, the Warriors Three and Sif. Loki, Odin's adopted son, usurps the throne and Thor is cast down to Earth. Thor crashlands in the desert, where he's run over by a PhD cosmology student (Natalie Portman) and her Norwegian professor (Stellan Skarsgard), who are driving out to study a strange cloud in the cosmos through a telescope.

When they realize that Thor really is the Norse thunder god, Skarsgard, who grew up with Norse mythology, can't deal with it and he goes on a drinking binge.

The screenplay ends with a five-page battle, showcasing Thor's and Loki's contrasting fighting styles — Thor is all about raw power, but Loki is all about the fluid grace and slipperiness. And the closing battle is the first thing they'll film.

But Loki survives the end of that movie, to become either the main villain in The Avengers, or one of the main villains. The Avengers opens with twenty minutes of Loki mind-controlling Bruce Banner and sending the Hulk on a murderous rampage, thus causing Captain America, Iron Man and Thor to come together.

Bear in mind, these are Internet rumors, so the usual wheelbarrow full of salt is indicated. [Comic Book Movie Fansites]

Elsewhere, fresh off being unspeakably awesome in The Hurt Locker, Jeremy Renner is apparently in serious talks to play Hawkeye in both Thor and The Avengers. Apparently he would cameo in two movies before The Avengers, and then have a proper role in that one. Considering Iron Man 2 has almost finished production, that would likely mean appearances in Thor and Captain America. [Slashfilm]

Lost:

EW.com has a status report on the show's final season. The first episode is definitely "LA X" and the key question fans should ask heading into the season is whether Juliet succeeded in changing history, pointing to that famous continuity-rewriting Oceanic Airlines safety video from ComicCon as a key clue. The article confirms Claire is coming back for a big arc, after haunting Kate's dreams and hanging out in Jacob's shack, while Charlie, Boone, and Charlotte will all be putting in somewhat inexplicable reappearances. Juliet is indeed dead, but that doesn't mean Elizabeth Mitchell won't come back in some capacity, and in fact she's set to return at least twice.

Richard Alpert is now a regular, although Desmond Hume isn't. Still, we'll probably see some more of him, too. New faces this season include Hiroyuki Sanada, a Japanese actor best known stateside for his work in Speed Racer, as Dogen, John Hawkes of Deadwood as Lennon, along with Sheila Kelley and William Atherton. [EW.com]

Here's another Twitter-based filming update:

Lost film production on North Shore of Oahu near Turtle Bay beach scene with Evangeline Lilly (Kate), Matthew Fox (Jack) & Terry O'Quinn (John Locke) filming on Tue, 11/24/09 & Wed, 11/25/09

[DarkUFO]

The title of episode 6.9 will be "Ab Aeterno." [Lyly Ford]

Caprica:

Sci Fi Wire has a preview of one of the five behind-the-scenes videos SyFy is releasing over the next couple of days to promote Caprica. In this one, Esai Morales and Eric Stoltz discuss the complex relationship their two characters share: [Sci Fi Wire]

Chuck:

NBC has released a couple more promos for the upcoming season of Chuck:

[ChuckTV.net]

FlashForward:

Here are five sneak peeks for the upcoming tenth episode "A561984", set to air on December 3: [FlashForward.PL]

V:

Robert Englund of Nightmare on Elm Street fame revealed he might make a cameo appearance in an upcoming episode. Englund played the good-hearted alien Willie in the original 1983 miniseries. [HeyUGuys]

Stargate Universe:

A press release is out with more details of "Justice", the tenth and final episode of this half of the show's first season:

Everyone is shocked when a member of the crew is found dead from a gunshot wound. While at first glance it appears to be suicide, the gun is nowhere to be found. The crew is confined to quarters while a search is performed and when the gun shows up in Col. Young's (LOUIS FERREIRA) quarters, he becomes the number one suspect. Fearing a mob scene, Young agrees to a trial and cedes command to Camile Wray (MING-NA).

Dr. Rush (ROBERT CARLYLE) convinces Wray to give him control of the science team and carte blanche with the new Ancient interface, previously kept under guard. But before Rush can unlock its secret, or Young's trial can conclude, both are needed to explore a planet hiding a secret that threatens the Destiny and her crew.

The episode is set to air December 4. [Spoiler TV]

Wolfman:

Two more new international posters have been released: [Shock Till You Drop]

Additional reporting by Charlie Jane Anders.

Don't get me wrong, we're almost as happy as the next man that Spider-Man is getting his long overdue day in the sun this year, but it's not enough. The Thanksgiving Day parade we'd want to be watching would have to include some of the following:

A Yoda Balloon
To be honest, we have no idea how this hasn't happened already. If ever there was a fictional character more suitable for translating into giant inflatable form that isn't named Pikachu or Snoopy, we'd like to meet them. It's not like Star Wars isn't popular enough, or that George Lucas doesn't have the Clone Wars TV show to promote. Why hasn't this happened yet?

A Partially-Deflated Superman Balloon
Because who doesn't want to see more of this?

A Brock Samson Balloon
Yeah, you heard us. And he can be pulled by lots of people dressed as the Monarch's henchmen. Admittedly, this may just be part of our Venture Bros-filled dream lives that would also include a Venture musical, complete with singing Hank and Dean and Nathan Lane as Phantom Limb. But until then, we can comfort ourselves with the dream of a giant, mulleted balloon of black t-shirt-wearing pain smoking and floating throughout the streets of a cold New York November morning, terrifying evildoers and NBC announcers alike.

Scenes From The Spider-Man Musical Being Performed In Front Of Macy's For An Unenthusiastic Audience
Just as every year's parade features special guests from the latest Broadway hit miming a song from their show while jumping about trying to desperately keep warm, why not give everyone a chance to see what U2 and Julie Taymor have cooked up for the perpetually-troubled Spider-Man musical Turn Off The Dark, thereby convincing everyone once and for all that Arena Rock and outsider superheroes really isn't a good fit after all. After all, given all the troubles the production has gone through already, this kind of performance may be the only time anyone will see anything from the show.

Stargate Universe Float
This is another no-brainer. What better way for the newest Stargate to win over new audiences than with a float filled with cast members to sum up what the series is all about? This is what I picture: The float itself looks like a scale version of the Destiny, with Scott and Chloe having sex on one side, Rush and Eli looking at computer screens and frowning, before Young walks up and shouts at them, leaving TJ to one side, looking on concerned. At the back of the float, Greer can look crazy and shoot his gun in the air, and somewhere, Camille can have multiple showers because that's what she seems to do if last Friday's two shower scenes are anything to go by. How could that not make everyone want to tune in on a regular basis?

Make those changes, and all it'd take would be the addition of Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell as replacement Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieiras (with Mark Sheppard taking the Al Roker wandering reporter role, of course; he has to be in everything, after all), and the show would be perfect. Well, for us, anyway. What changes would you need to make you have to tune in?

So here are the most insane SF soaps we could think of — but I bet we missed some good ones. What are your favorites? Pipe up in comments with the lurid details!

Top image by Dennys Ilic. Additional reporting by Josh C. Snyder.

Heroes

You can pick any character from this show and get a headache trying to figure out all the story twists he or she has gone through. Take Matt Parkman: He's trying to keep his marriage together — No, wait! Now he's living with Mohinder and co-parenting Molly the mutant-detecting girl! — No, wait! Molly is out of the picture! And now Matt is becoming an African-esque shaman! — No, wait! Now Matt is in love with Daphne the speedster, who's the Love Of His Life! — No, wait! Now Matt is back with his wife, and will never think about Daphne again! — No, wait! Etc. etc. etc. My favorite, though, is probably Peter's girlfriend trapped in an alternate dystopian future — whom we will never mention again! Ha ha ha ha urk. (Matt Loves Daphne wallpaper from Fanpop.)

Alias

This show started off pretty coherent — but around the third brainwashing or the tenth revelation that Sidney's mother's cousin was really the spy behind brainwashing Sidney to think her half-sister was a chicken. I defy anybody to explain to me the tangled backstory of the Bristow family.

The Cat Who Walked Through Walls by Robert A. Heinlein:

I made a dreadful mistake: This was the first Heinlein book I ever read — and it may have ruined me for Heinlein forever. In the late Heinlein novels, every character ever shows up, and they mostly have sex together, interspersed with a lot of drama and philosophizing. It's a sequel to The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress as well as Number Of The Beast, and features characters from several other books — including Jubal Harshaw, Lazarus Long and Hazel Stone, and it turns out that all of Heinlein's characters have previously unsuspected connections to each other. As reviewer James W. Harris puts it:

Having all of his "good" guys sound like a convention of smarmy talking wife-swappers is just gross. I hate to sound like a teenage girl, but damn, Heinlein's kissy-kissy talk and innuendo just made me want to puke. And making his classic characters act out in this limp-dick porn flick is just tragic. Having them go on and on about how they were going to kill people for bad manners is just a little psycho to me. Evidently a lot of people and situations annoyed the hell out of Heinlein and he used this book to vent. Some people want to call this satire but I think that's whitewash.

Maybe Heinlein lost his mojo and these multiverse stories were the best he could do. Personally, I thought The Rolling Stones was a perfect novel, and bringing back Hazel Stone was a fictionally fuck-up of an idea, ditto for the cast of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Maybe I am a prude because I just don't want the Hazel Stone, grandmother of Castor and Pollux, joking about being stretched out of shape by giant 25 centimeter cock.

All of Heinlein's personally favorite characters get put into a fictional juicer and blended into weird rabble of sex obsessed mob that chirp a weird innuendo patter and are almost impossible to tell apart. When I read these multiverse stories I can't help but believe that horniness was driving Heinlein crazy. These later stories are preoccupied with sex, killing people, responding to annoying people, the reliability of witnesses, rude people deserving capital punishment, and so on.

Venture Bros.:

At least this show is ridiculous on purpose — the ultra-demented story of the Venture clan has gotten more and more involved, with Sergeant Hatred's struggle against his pedophilic past taking center stage, and deformed clones and weird villain love affairs aplenty. Most of all, there are the labyrinthine family elements crossing over into everything, like the revelation that Dean was also the head of the Guild. The same characters and their families end up being connected in ever more improbable and weird ways, making our heads spin.

Battlestar Galactica:

I have four (or possibly five) words for you: "Hotdog is the father." Whaaa? There's also the great way Baltar went from being a slimy scientist to being a slimy politician to being a slimy cult leader — and what happened to the baby that Baltar and Six were going to have together? Oh and while we're on the subject, what about Saul Tigh being crazy-chicken in love with Caprica Six — until she has a miscarriage, and then he never thinks about her again? It all makes you want to grip your television and scream (in a Krazy Starbuck voice) "You're going the wrong way!"

Sonic The Hedgehog (comics):

According to the always great TVTropes website, this comic-book tie-in to the popular video game went whirling off on crazier tangents than a flying hedgehog on crack. To quote TVTropes:

The Archie Comics Sonic The Hedgehog series twisted Sonic's love life into a Gordian Knot: Originally hooked up with Sally Acorn, she got stuck ruling the country and shoved the relationship to the side to focus on her new duties, prompting Sonic to fall in with Mina Mongoose, starting a rivalry between the two women for Sonic's affection. He then started seeing Fiona Fox on the side, which not only pissed off Mina and Sally, but Tails, as well, who had a crush on her due to falling in love with a robotic duplicate created by Robotnik several years earlier (don't ask). Eventually, Mina got her own boyfriend, Sally got Sonic once again, and Tails got tossed into a brick wall by Fiona, who gave them all the finger to have a relationship with Sonic's evil clone from another universe. And that's not even counting the mini-tangle between Antoine, Sally, Bunnie Rabbot, and Antoine's evil clone from the same universe Fiona's new beau comes from.

Got it? Great.

Gundam Wing:

Okay, let's get this straight... Relena Darlian discovers she's really adopted, and her real name is Relena Peacecraft, one of the last survivors of the pacifistic (duh) Peacecraft tribe. And then it turns out that Zechs Marquise is her long lost older brother. Meanwhile, she gets obsessed with Heero, a young whackjob who keeps announcing he's going to kill her, not unlike the "I'm going to rape you" guy in Welcome To The Dollhouse. And that's just scratching the surface of the most confusing, tangly saga of all time, involving endless backstory and weird family crap.

Angel:

I was going to do Charmed, Angel's fellow WB series which had the whole "my ex-husband is a half-demon" thing, but Angel is so much more ridiculous — mostly because of Cordy, who is in love with Groosalugg, until she's in love with Angel instead, but meanwhile she's turned into a half-demon and then she becomes a Higher Power, until she comes back and has sex with Angel's son — who, as someone points out, is practically her stepson since she helped care for him as a baby — and then becomes pregnant and evil — until she gives birth to an evil god. Nothing on parent show Buffy was as incestuous and ridiculous as Cordy's arc on Angel. Oh, actually, wait — Cordelia was pregnant twice on Angel.

Robotech:

Sure, it was supposedly about the giant mechas, but it was really all about the tragic loves and the tormented Rick-Minmei-Lisa love triangle. To quote Wikipedia,

In early 2013, while sitting at an outdoor cafe, [Lisa] contemplates the love triangle between the three of them when she overhears two men talking about how women were "dealt all the aces" when it comes to relationships, to which Lisa says to herself "that's all you know...here's one woman who would trade every ace in the deck for one Rick Hunter.

Sigh. Twoo Love. Here's a great fanvid featuring the music of White Town. Yay!

X-Men (comics):

This, of course, is the most insane soap opera imaginable. At this point, the X-men have had illegitmate babies from the future, secret love affairs, doomed passions and multiple bad transcriptions of all sorts of accents, from Cajun to Scottish. My favorite ridiculous soap-opera twist might be Madrox's night of passion with two female members of X-Factor: Siryn and Monet, resulting in a pregnancy that isn't quite a normal pregnancy. But then there's also the whole insane Rogue/Gambit thing, the Scott/Jean/Wolverine/Emma love doodaddle, and of course Professor X turning out to be secretly in love with Jean Grey. That's just scratching the surface, really. If you want more info, check out the X-Men relationship map — which is probably already out of date!

Transformers 3:

Megan Fox doesn't die in the third giant robot epic, says Michael Bay, who pooh-poohs the whole "Megan Fox compared Michael Bay to Hitler" thing and says it's all been blown out of proportion. "She's got a great part in Transformers 3," says Bay, who's working on the script now. [USA Today]

Star Trek:

Roberto Orci says he and co-writer Alex Kurtzman are preparing to write the next Trek movie by re-watching the original series — but also by reading classic SF, including works by Arthur C. Clarke. Rendezvous with Rama, anyone? [TrekMovie]

And J.J. Abrams says he's determined to get Greg Grunberg in the next movie — maybe as a red-shirt. [Newsarama]

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:

A few pictures of Xeno Lovegood have surfaced. [Cinemablend]

Resident Evil 4:

Will Jill Valentine be back? Producer Don Carmody won't say for sure. But he says "It's going to be surprising, and it's going to make people think what's going to happen next."[ShockTillYouDrop]

Lost:

There's been a ton of new filming, for episode 6x08, which appears to be all about Sawyer. There were some scenes involving Sawyer and Charles Widmore, aboard that submarine that we've seen so much of in the past. They went down the hatch and the crew filmed some scenes on board, then filmed them coming out of it together.

And then Sawyer had some scenes with Miles — and it looked like the two were partners in law enforcement. Sawyer had a badge on his belt, Miles had a gun on his hip. Sawyer is sitting in a nondescript Mercury parked outside La Brea Property Management in Pacific Tower. Sawyer beckons to Miles, who tries to blow him off and walk away, but Sawyer yells out and stops him, and then opens the passenger door. So Miles gets in the car, and Sawyer gives him one of two cups of coffee, then shows him a folder full of photographs. Miles looks through them, and then pauses to look at one of them in more detail. (If Sawyer really is a cop, it's odd that they were filming a scene where he "cons" Charlotte earlier.)

And then a woman driving a blue car crashes into Sawyer's cop car, and then the woman gets out and runs away — and it's Kate, wearing a hoodie to hide her face. She runs down an alley, knocking over a pile of boxes. Here's a bit of set video:

And then there's a scene where Sawyer grabs Kate by the collar and pushes her up against a doorway. Here are some set pics. More at the links. [Hawaii Weblog and Hawaii Weblog]

Also, this won't be much of a surprise to those of you who've been paying attention, but Rebecca Mader is indeed back as Charlotte, as a producer confirmed on his Twitter feed. [Sci Fi Wire]

Here's a German promo for season six, which as far as I can tell gives absolutely nothing away.

Doctor Who:

Here's a trailer for the animated adventure "Dreamland," which may actually be watchable in spite of the horrendous CG graphics.

And David Tennant speaks:

Dollhouse:

We have actual descriptions for the next two episodes, featuring Summer Glau:

Part 1 of 2. Echo's assignment: prevent Sen. Daniel Perrin from exposing the Dollhouse secrets. Meanwhile, at the D.C. Dollhouse, Adelle and Topher meet Topher's counterpart (Summer Glau), who has a link to Echo.

Conclusion. Echo and Bennett (Summar Glau) have a shocking reunion; Adelle squares off against the D.C. Dollhouse's leader (Ray Wise); Topher recruits Victor for his espionage; Perrin discovers a surprising witness in his crusade against the Rossum Corporation.

[TV Guide and TV Guide]

Fringe:

Jasika Nicole explains what's coming next for Astrid, on her excursions with Walter. [BuddyTV]

V:

Here are a couple of new videos of the final episode of 2009, tomorrow night's "It's Only The Beginning."

Supernatural:

It's unlikely that Jeffrey Dean Morgan will ever return to this show, but God is much more likely to show up — but not immediately. However, Sera Gamble says she'd "do backflips" if JDM did turn out to be available. Also, Michael will show up even though his vessel, Dean, isn't cooperating — but Michael will only be in "borrowed" bodies, of no consequence or permanence. The show will be "creative" in how it introduces Michael.

Also, in the first episode of January, the Winchesters are contacted by a hunter who worked a case that was so traumatic, he went crazy. He's checked himself into an insane asylum and something is awry there, so he asks the Winchesters to help — so they check in there, too. The episode explores the idea that "You don't have to be crazy to be a hunter, but it helps."

Also, we'll be seeing a lot more of Lucifer — we'll find out how he chose Nick, his current vessel. And we'll understand way more of Michael's perspective. There will be a "dark and twisted" Valentine's Day episode. [E! Online and TV Guide Magazine]

And here's a casting call for episode 14: Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid:

[SHERIFF MILLS] In her mid 30s to mid 40s, tough and no-nonsense while on the job, but tender and loving toward her family, she's the Sheriff in a small town, she's calm under pressure even when things turn very personal...please submit all ethnicities...GUEST STAR

[KAREN SINGER] In her late 20s to 30s. Blonde, young and attractive, she's wise, direct, a straight shooter and nobody's fool...GUEST STAR

[SpoilerTV]

FlashForward:

Could this show be looking to duplicate The Prisoner or X-Men? A new casting call for episode 13 is looking for a new Number 2:

[PHILLIP] Late 60s. Caucasian, Ian McKellen-esque. A bit eccentric and unrepentantly set in his ways, his intellect is unmatched. Enjoys a good academic tussle...Guest Star

[LORRAINE] – 53, Caucasian, Brenda Blethyn type. British, sassy, working class. A widow and mother of four mostly grown children, she dotes on them when she's not telling them what to do. Must speak with an authentic Manchester accent. Guest star.

[CHRIS] - 30's.. Any Ethnicity. A former radio on-air dj, now working in a dead end job. Concealing a secret to his co-workers, he is ultimately forced to reveal his true identity...Co-Star

[ANDREW] – 22, Caucasian. An athletic, burly, blue-collar blockhead. A typical 20-something guy, he and his brothers like to prank each other. Must speak with a subtle Canadian accent. Co-Star.

[GRAHAM] – 20, Caucasian. An athletic, burly, blue-collar blockhead. A typical 20-something guy, he and his brothers like to prank each other. Must speak with a subtle Canadian accent. Co-Star.

[ANNABELLE] – 14.. Caucasian, Blonde. Sweet, vulnerable, almost ethereal. Fair and slight, she is the baby of the family but her good nature has helped her avoid becoming bratty. Must speak with a subtle Canadian accent. Co-Star/Possible Guest Star. Potentially recurring.

[DAISY - 18, ANY ETHNICITY. A VERY SMART AND CUNNI] - 18, Any Ethnicity. A very smart and cunning young woman who can play mental games with the best of them. If crossed, Daisy has the ability to bring great harm to all those around her. Co-Star.

[SpoilerTV andSpoilerTV]

Smallville:

Some screencaps from the JSA teaser give our first look at Justice Society members Doctor Fate, Sandman... and is that Green Lantern? [Forces Of Geek]

Also, Metallo (Brian Austin Green) will be back in episode 9x18, producers confirm. [TV Guide]

Chuck:

Here's a preview clip where Zachary Levi thanks the fans for watching. [Den Of Geek]

Stargate Universe:

In episode 10, "Justice," a member of the crew is killed, and the murder weapon is found in Col. Young's quarters. He cedes command to Camille Wray. And here's a sneak peek.

Additional reporting by Mary Ratliff.

Spider-Man 4:

Are we going to meet Peter Parker and Mary Jane's baby in the fourth movie? There's a casting call for a baby boy (aged two to three years) with red hair. (Actually, they want twins, so that they can keep filming and swap them out when one of the kids has to take a break. But it's almost certainly for just one kid.) A lot of fans are jumping to conclusions, assuming this means Spidey will have a kid — but as SpoilerTV points out, this could be a baby Cletus Kasady, who grows up to become Carnage. Or it could be any number of other things. All we really know is that they're starting to cast this movie, and apparently there's a red-headed kid in it. [SpoilerTV-Movies]

Superman Returns Again:

James McTeigue is still super-interested in directing the next Superman film, but sounds less certain that it'll ever happen. But he does offer one more hint of how he'd approach the Man of Steel: "It's ripe for a retconning." Whatever that means. [MTV]

Planet 51:

But screw all this superhero shit — you really want to know about this animated film, in which The Rock is an astronaut who lands on a 1950s planet where he's the alien invader. Right? Apparently in the movie, an alien teenager decides the only way to protect himself from an anal probe is by using a champagne cork. There's a cute Mars Rover robot named Rover (who probably doesn't say "Gadget Gadget," alas) and an alien Chihuahua shaped like the creature from Alien, and something quasi-hilarious happens when he pees.

When The Rock first lands, he hums "Thus Spake Zarathustra," and then realizes he's interrupted an alien barbecue in which all the 1950s aliens are dancing to old-time rock 'n' roll. Chuck (The Rock) says to himself that "Kennedy's going to freak" when they find out about "sea monkeys dancing to the oldies." Other classic SF movies referenced in this film include Plan 9 From Outer Space and E.T. [Kansas City.Com]

Lost:

A new and exciting twist on the "alternate universe where Flight 815 landed safely" concept: a dapper Sawyer was spotted filming a scene at the upscale Diamond Head restaurant, part of the Lotus hotel, and his lunch companion? Was Charlotte (Rebecca Mader) last seen dying on the island. [Hawaii Weblog]

Fringe:

Here are the first two minutes of this week's Observer-centric episode. Plus a new photo. [Fox]

And here's a new promo for the episode. [Fringe Television]

And a load of promo pictures from episode 2x09, "Snakehead." [SpoilerTV]

Supernatural:

Mark Pellegrino explains more about his approach to playing Lucifer and what's coming up:

As you know, the angels in the show can be, well, a—-holes. It is Lucifer who is kind and empathetic and truthful. So, play the "Prince of Lies" as the most sincere one of the bunch and you have a fresh take. But I have a feeling things are gonna change. Lucifer has a big chip on his shoulder and that can't be restrained for long... The proverbial crap is gonna fly. Hell, it's the apocalypse for crying out loud. Something's gotta give. If I tell you more than that I'll have to kill you.

[PopStar via SpoilerTV]

FlashForward:

Here are some promo pics from episode 10, "A561984". [SpoilerTV]

Assuming this show gets a second season, we'll see more of Mark Benford in season two — there will be new mysteries, but the second season is definitely a continuation of the first, says Jessica Goyer. [PopCorner.PL via FlashForward.PL]

Smallville:

Lois arrives in the future, in a new clip from Friday's episode:

Michael Shanks explains about his version of Hawkman, appearing February 5:

When we first meet Carter Hall he's in his museum. We'll learn he's a reincarnated prince from a thousand years ago. There is a reference to The Justice Society's time in the ‘70s, but we have since disbanded.

And apparently there's lots of flying and mace-swinging, but no bare chest — instead Hawkman has a weird bronze chestplate thingy. And here's a picture. (Full version at the link.) [TV Guide Magazine]

Stargate Universe:

But Shanks isn't just flying around Metropolis and giving Clark Kent advice — he's also a figment of Dr. Nicholas Rush's imagination in the upcoming Rush-centric episode "Human," in which we discover more about how he recruited Rush into the Stargate program. Shanks and Richard Dean Anderson also appear in the 18th episode, "Subversion." [Gateworld]

And here's a sneak peek at Friday's episode.

Heroes:

And here are five clips from the "Thanksgiving" episode. What are you thankful for? [The ODI]

Additional reporting by Josh C. Snyder.

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.

Lost:

So we already mentioned that alternate-universe Ben is working as a teacher at a high school where his adopted daughter Alex is one of the students — but apparently Ben and Alex are still "close." And Locke is working at the school too! Also sighted around the school: Rose and Doc Arzt. But no sign of Bernard. And William Atherton's new character is the principal, but that may not be his only role. [SpoilersLost]

Doctor Who:

The second special episode "Waters Of Mars" already aired in the U.K. (and we'll have our recap later today) but it's still new to many of us — and here are some more promo pics that came out at the last minute. [BlogtorWho and BlogtorWho]

And here are some screencaps from the new trailer for "The End Of Time" that aired at the end of "Waters Of Mars." More pics at the link. [Life, Doctor Who And Combom]

And here's that trailer, in case you missed it:

John Simm says he will not be at all subtle as the Master this time around:

If you thought I was hamming it up in the last one, wait till you see this. I like to be quite subtle, but this doesn't call for subtle. The Master is insane. I also used a bit of Caligula and a bit of Tony Blair. But in this, The Master is off the leash. Unhinged. Totally unplugged!

[Digital Spy]

David Tennant tells Simon Mayo there's a chance he might get called back for a "three Doctors" special, and he keeps a version of his costume around under lock and key just in case, because if you come back, you have to bring your own kit. [BlogtorWho]

Russell T. Davies explains the meaning of the phrase "He will knock four times."

Fringe:

Here are some set pics, showing Joshua Jackson at the scene of a Boston accident. [SpoilerTV]

Anna Torv talks about Olivia's relationships on the show. [BuddyTV]

V:

Here are a whopping nine clips from tomorrow night's new episode!

Supernatural:

Some new clips from this Thursday's new episode, the last one of 2010. Mark Sheppard in full effect. [SF Universe and Chicago Tribune]

FlashForward:

A new set video shows people running down a street. Is it the present — or next April? [Flashforward.PL]

Episodes 12 and 13 will be called "Kairos" and "Better Angels" respectively. [SpoilerTV]

And the world's most globe-trottingest FBI agents are at it again in episode ten:

Against Wedeck's orders, Mark and Demetri travel to Hong Kong in search of the woman claiming to know details of Demetri's fate; Lloyd tries to come clean about his and Simon's involvement in the global blackout - against Simon's better judgment — and Zoey discovers the true meaning of her flashforward.

[SpoilerTV]

New Moon:

Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg says the second movie in a trilogy is the hardest to write, and explains what this film is about:

The second film in a trio of films is always the diciest because you don't want to do the movie as just a set-up for the [third film]. I was really conscious of wanting this movie to stand alone in its own right, and there is a very standalone story in this book. That is Bella's heartbreak and recovering from heartbreak and so the theme that comes out of that is that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I think it is Bella's evolution of becoming a stronger person; I mean, every book takes her further along that path of becoming her own person. So I think that is the standalone theme in this movie.

And she says she worked hard to make Bella sympathetic despite the fact that she takes advantage of Jacob's feelings for her in this film. [Cinematical]

Stargate Universe:

Amanda Tapping confirms she'll be back as Sam Carter towards the end of the first season, but she doesn't get to play with anybody. "I'm kind of off on my own ship." [Gateworld]

And here are a slew of promo pics from the episode "Life". [SpoilerTV]

Heroes:

Ellen Tigh is back! Kate Vernon has joined the cast of this show, according to Greg Grunberg's Twitter. [Digital Spy]

And here's a behind-the-scenes featurette for the "Thanksgiving" episode:

Additional reporting by Mary Ratliff.

With a flurry of zaps and one terrible brown tone filter, we're off and watching through the lens of a Destiny Kino. The teams on a new planet and gathering up food bit. What's edible here? No idea, but it's cute that Eli is the first to dig in (and fortuitous for him that he doesn't die). Within a few moments, you can tell this isn't going to be another "what did we run out of this week" episode, so phew and yay. Even though it's a food gathering mission, it's safe to say that food is not the number one priority of this episode.

The team's on the ground, and there's Chloe collecting food and talking about how hot it is on this alien planet. In fact, everyone talks about how hot it is, but no one takes off their sweatshirts or long sleeves? Inbetween giggles and flirting with Scott, Chloe manages to gather a few fruit like substances. And might I just point out that SGU is just going full throttle with this High School romance. They look like they're 5 seconds away from a tickle fight in front of the rest of the starving crew.

Anyways, the set looks great; I'm loving the steaming mounds of alien nests along with the plants. Eli makes a bad joke about aliens and this noise, "Raaaarrrrrhhhhh," and it just hurts. This moment right here perfectly demonstrates all of my problems with Eli. He's forced to be funny and awkward all on his own. So when he makes a bad joke, it sounds more like a failed attempt to be actually funny other than an awkward character moment. He needs help carrying the brunt of the funny, so that when he tells a bad joke, we know it's an intentional bad joke and not a failed attempt at humor. Also, it won't look as fake when T.J. starts laughing later, because we will have shared little glimmers of hope or happy previously with other members of the crew. Pass it around guys.

But then everyone starts throwing up, and we don't know if they got sick from the planet or from something on the ship. We find out later that a small amount of the water from the ice planet wasn't disinfected properly and now they are all slowly dying from a bacterial thingy. So that's convenient for the plot, but it's Stargate, so I don't really care and this seems like an interesting predicament. Sign me up.

Meanwhile, Greer is listening to Saul Williams "List of Demands." Why? I have no clue. Of all the songs they could have played, they picked this single from 2004? The reason escapes me. Because they are living "hand to mouth," and "they have demands?" I really hope that's not the case. If you know why they used this tun,e please explain it to me. If it's a random, why not? musical choice, why not pick something fun? Why not "Tiny Dancer"? Think about it, the song comes on and everyone is silent on the forest planet, avoiding each other's eye contact, then one person starts singing all alone, then a few people start singing (because how can you not? It's "Tiny Dancer"), and then a few more people sing, and all of a sudden, everyone is laughing and smiling. The whole crew has reconnected through the power of song. And maybe, just maybe, this crew will make it to the next stop and solidify their place in Rock and Roll history, as a family. Because *whoosh* "this is their home."

But I digress. Let's talk about the important stuff, like the fact that Greer even has an ipod and ipod docking speaker system. Two weeks ago, when Rush cued up his onboard ipod, we learned that the Destiny has music. Because he must have grabbed while he was running for his life, fleeing the Icarus Base? Right that makes sense, right? No. No, you do not grab your ipod and speakers when you are fleeing for you life. No, no, no. And second, let's say there was some asshole that decided to grab an ipod over a medicine kit whilst running for their lives, lets say that actually happened. Greer is a dick for taking that precious music bringer on a alien planet. They don't know if it's going to rain, thus ruining music for everyone. No. Bad.

Rush yells a bit because it's been seven minutes since he did something like that and then it all starts to get awesome....Eli and Rush have a brilliant odd couple moment under a tarp in the rain, and then Chloe dies. And the crowd goes wild.

This is what I meant by lightening the mood. Rush and Eli play really well off each other even if Eli's choices were pathetically pandering and predictable. He picks Hackers because he's a Hacker, I GET IT HA HA HA HA HA HA HA. If we play by these rules than Greer will pick "Diary of A Mad Black Woman" and "American Psycho," Scott would pick "Top Gun" and Chloe would pick "Wish You Were Dead" well that's just projecting but you catch my drift.

Movie titles aside, it was a great scene and, again Chloe dies!

Then SGU does the old flippero and, gasp, they aren't dead, they're dead in the future and now we're in the present time watching what will happen to the characters unless they can change it. I really enjoyed this whole idea. I thought the whole thing was executed very well. I didn't even mind Eli being the narrator.

The present day crew, still aboard Destiny, has nothing left to do but watch in horror as their own deaths are revealed on camera, or kino, or whatever. Tiny little bits are revealed about the characters, like why Eli's mom is sick, and where T.J. learned how to sew stitches which is something I guess for T.J. Sadly, it didn't reveal that much about Greer but it allowed the audience to watch Greer interact with people in a real way, as opposed to his dull confessionals or I'm crazy let's just shoot it moments. I think I may like Greer, and I'm pretty sure I like T.J. just give me more. It's not fair that I know so much about Eli, and none of that information has actually been a shock, and near nothing about T.J., Ming-Na, Greer, James and so forth. That being said, I loved watching Greer teach Eli how to fire a gun, after he shoots down his Kino. Those actions do help flesh out his personality beyond "psycho." Rush also has a little reveal about his opinions on the afterlife, but I think we all pretty much know where he stands for now.

Also, it was nice to see the Kino's being used in an engaging manner and not like the Real World confessional booth. There is nothing more tiresome than listening to a person tell you how their character feels. They're like youtube diaries bad, so I'm glad this episode was all interaction and very little "Dear Kino, I haz a sad." A few people expressed their disgust with Eli's constant Kino commentary. It didn't bother me in the slightest, when he gets uncomfortable he talks. It felt really natural for his character and David Blue can make it work when it's coming from a place of honesty.

And it just kept getting better. People started getting sick on the ship and for a split second I thought that SGU had finally killed off a real life character, James, but then when it started picking off other crew members one by one, I knew it was all a sham. Eli tells Chloe he loves/likes her because she's dying, and it's very, very sweet. He's a giant sweetheart for most of this episode. Sadly it doesn't mean much because, well we all know no one important stays dead on Stargate. They really had me when they killed off James, my mouth was on the floor realizing that this may the new dark Stargate we were promised, but the seconds Chloe kicked it I knew the time traveling reset button would be hit soon. That being said, when T.J. cried, I almost cried, it was incredibly convincing. Please give her more.

So back into the jungle, and the whole crew is depending on catching one of these little night monsters. What's going to happen? Death, and lots of it. The next thing we know Scott is screaming into the Kino and sending it back in time, hoping the next time the Destiny Crew happens upon this time traveling Kino they can use their death mistakes to their benefit. And that's it. That's the end. It's all wrapped up with a big question mark.

Where does that leave the viewer? Confused but rather happy that SGU is able to take these kind of risks. I guess it all depends on the next episode, and where they decide to pick up. Some of the time traveling wires don't really pan out in this episode, but it doesn't really matter. You have to take it with a grain of salt, like the fact that people have ipods on the Destiny. I'm hoping that they at least pick up next week at the very end of the new mission. Maybe everyone is getting their venom injections and Young is telling the people that found the old Kino to, never speak of this again. Bottom line, it was something risky and fun. We're exceedingly thankful for this even if it didn't move the story ahead. It showed us what SGU is capable of which is much better material than the past few weeks, and for a moment there I thought we were in trouble.

Robert Carlyle, Ming-Na and David Blue claim it's their mind-blowing favorite. But can it win back the fans that the series has lost?

The Watcher, a long time Stargate critic, had a run in with the Gate just this week. After criticizing the show she received a message in her comments section from the show's producer Brad Wright. The response is well worth a read. On top of that SGU writer Joseph Mallozzi took to his blog telling various trolls and SGU haters to back off, well technically, he called them idiots. And let's not forget when everyone called the new gate sexist.

So can the series still pull out from under all of this drama? We actually think so, if the show starts giving the fans what they want. So we rounded up a few hopeful ideas for how SGU could win back all the haters.

What We Want More Of

Colonel Everett Young

Louis Ferreira is the glue that is holding the Destiny, and this show, together. In these last few episodes, Young has become a much larger part of the story without revealing much, if anything, about his past. And yet I'm riveted. This character and actor haven't had a misstep yet. It's an absolute delight unraveling the secrets behind this character. Even when he's a bit gruff, Young has a reassuring and realistic manner that sets the crew at ease by merely saying, "I've done this 12 times, no big deal" mention. No need for the wink and nod routine, he sets the standards merely by being himself.

Plus, he can really pull off that something-is-boiling-underneath, tortured soul look — without being as cheesy as how I just described it. As opposed to Rush's character, who just screams, rants, and raves to a point where I don't really care what he's hiding. Rush's a petty little jerk who reminds me more of the Nick Burns IT guy than a tortured genius. Even when he's quiet he's just trying too hard to be a "frustrated dick." We know Robert Carlyle is a great actor, I'm just hoping they give him more to work with and soon. Because right now his mystery and ambiguous morals are lost in his Nick Burns antics.

Meanwhile, Young cheated on his wife and I still wish him obscene amounts of happiness. Either give us more Young, or invest in the other characters the way you have invested in Young.

The Women

What's Ming-Na's character's name? Seriously, what is it? I forget almost every time, because she has had absolutely no screen time or character development in this series. Apparently, because she's a hard ass and works for a company, that makes her important. Same goes for TJ. Sure it seems that she and Young had a thing going on at one time, but that's all I can tell you about her, besides the fact that she can keep a cool head under pressure.

Critics have been accusing SGU of being sexist for weeks now, and when the only female character with a large speaking role is sleeping with one male character and making out with another male character while crying and drunk, well... let's just say it's been a losing battle thus far. Let's hope tonight's episode changes all that, please? More women. I think I may like T.J., so write her into the story. Let me like T.J. please! Oh, and Ming-Na's character is named Camile Wray, by the way.

Flashbacks

While we're asking for more from our characters, whatever happened to all the flashbacks from the beginning of this series? I'd even take another super-religious flashback priest in the desert heat stroke flashback. Whatever, as long as it meant getting to know these people better. So how about it? More flashbacks please? You don't have to reveal all the secrets but maybe just a taste so we care when Greer continually acts like a psycho. Give us a reason behind it something not just a big "well he's damaged" stamp and expect us to just deal with it because he gets naked when he thinks it's death time. Even a blurry quickie jump similar to Eli's Mom vision helps. Something please.

Natural Humor

David Blue has been saddled with the amazingly huge task of bringing humor to this otherwise dark show. He's just about the only person who does anything light, and sadly it's usually incredibly forced. But that's his character, a socially awkward, but lovable dude. It's okay when his jokes come out forced, because that's what his humor was set up to do: act like a defense mechanism for the character.

So when you see Eli Wallace showing real emotion, it's hard not to get choked up. Even when they paint him as the panting, lovesick nerd, which they love to do, he cuts through his own BS with one killer knowing glance. This is why he actually works as a socially awkward sometimes funny, sometimes beating the joke to death character. But it get's muddled when SGU asks too much of Eli. It's near next to impossible to be funny, awkwardly funny, diffuse the moment funny and defense mechanism funny at the same time, and all alone. He needs some help here.

The show really needs a bit more unforced humor. This crew must lighten up somehow; that way, we won't be expecting everything Eli says to be funny. If we lighten his humor load, we could view him as a fully formed character with flaws, and not just the character who's supposed to make you laugh, because no one else is. Stargate writers are funny, we know this, so blend the darkness and the humor they way we know you can, and promised you would.

Team Adventures

The best part of a Gate series is putting the crew on a strange planet and watching what happens. Thankfully, I think tonight will welcome back this tradition. Sure, it's been fun seeing pairs here and there on the snow planet and desert planet, but I want to see the team flee for their lives from native beasts or angry hostiles. It's more interesting than "What has Destiny run out of this week?" Still, I think we'll be seeing a lot more of this in the future.

What We Want Less Of

The Slow Burn

It's high time some secrets were spilled. I think we all realize that survival is the first priority on Destiny, and watching humans freak out about a lack of air, water, or power is interesting, but only if I'm emotionally connected to the characters who could die. And they already killed off Shooter, so the only characters we're really invested in right now are Eli, Scott, the Senator's Daughter, and Young. I'd like to get to know the rest of the crew, so the next time there's a lottery for who gets to live and who has to stay and die, I'll be worried.

Destiny Taking The Wheel

The ship is jumping all over the universe, and there's nothing the crew can do to stop it. That should be all the work a mechanical being should have to do. But every time there's a problem or an issue, it seems like the ship figures out the solution. Meanwhile, every time the humans interfere with Destiny... disaster strikes. It would be nice to see the humans figure something out on their own for once.

Boob Lens

Show me the scenes where the other female cast members were subjected to this "yowzer" camera angle and I will take it all back. But as far as I can tell this little move was character-... nay, actress-specific. And not only did it cause internet outrage, it was disappointing. You have to treat each character equally, or else you're just undoing all the hard work this actress is trying to accomplish fleshing out a minor character. Just two episodes ago, Lt. Vanessa James was given a chance to show a little depth while battling with possible jealousy over her past broom closet fling, Scott. I wonder how many people were actually thinking about what James was going through as opposed to, "When is she going to take off that itchy jacket?"

She's gorgeous, that's for sure. But displaying this character in a different light than the other women sets her apart, in a bad way. And no, I'm not suggesting SGU institute a mandatory chest angle for each female (or male) character; to the contrary, they should do away with the image entirely. And hopefully that's that case, as "Darkness" was the last time I've seen the terrible boob lens. Perhaps this was just a fluke angle, but I highly doubt it. Still, if it's gone forever, great. Hopefully with one more episode, we can all put the Boobgate conundrum to bed and get to know more about this character.

Sex

I can't believe I'm saying this but, I could do with a lot less sex in this show. Much of the bumpin' and grindin' just feels like sex for sex's sake — especially with the Senator's daughter and Scott.

I get it: sex sells, and sideways naked shots of young people in front of a yellow window look pretty, but what's the point? I just can't see or feel the importance of this action. It just seems like, "We can have sex now on this Stargate, so we did." Especially when it's paired next to a Richard Dean Anderson scene with him being, well, his old adorable self, it's jarring and serves no purpose.

I honestly have no idea why these two kids are sleeping together. Is it a "We're young and wild" thing? A High Fidelity "put cigarettes out on me or sleep with me" emotion? Are they using each other, in love, in lust? All I we know is that Chloe feels "closer to Scott than anyone she's ever felt closer to ever," or something terrible like that. It's annoying, and they are annoying together whenever they start making out in a hallway like high school kids. "Hey remember when your dad died over there? We should make out." Same goes for the broom closet sex. What was the point of having it if James was only going to be jealous of Scott's new Saturday night lady for five seconds?

It's one thing to pull a gimmick like a mid-sex ancient stone partner switcheroo, which they did with Young and Colonel David Telford in "Earth." It may have been an exceedingly lame gimmick, but at least it meant something. There was build up for Young's character, and even the switch means something — well we hope so, or else would Telford show up at Young's wife's house at the end of the episode? Either way, I'm intrigued and entertained, but all this bland other sex should stop. It's ruining the good sex.

Just a few among many suggestions we've heard. Basically this show needs more time to build up these characters. I want to like every single Destiny crew member, I honestly do. It's just been a lot of watching with very little connection thus far. And while I'm happy everyone got water a few weeks ago, I'd really rather connect with another character the way I have with Young. Let's hope tonight's episode takes some of these caricatures and flesh them out into characters.

Here's the preview and a clip for tonight's episode, it kind of reminds me of old Gates, what with them shooting in the woods and all, so far so good.

This poll is simple: Which of the TV shows, listed below, do you feel guiltiest for being behind on? Your answer should be one of the shows you've fallen way behind on — but only the one you feel the greatest remorse about. Remember: if that show gets cancelled, it's your fault.

The Green Hornet

Reader Kyle sent us more exclusive photos from the Green Hornet set, where some havoc had occurred:

All the windows of the recruiting center to the right side of the door were blown out. They were cleaning glass off the sidewalk and cleaning up the inside of the room. Notice that the Marines poster in the window only has a silhouette of a Marine, when the one inside the center has an actual photograph. Interesting! The shoe store next door was really dusty inside, but there was no damage to it at all. Probably only for the outside shot, because there is an actual T-Mobile store to the other side . . . so they can't show that!

Avatar

It's not surprising that 20th Century Fox execs are touting James Cameron's film, but co-chairman Jim Gianopoulos emphasized that there are six specific scenes that simply blow him away every time, and the LA Times thinks he sounds genuine. [LA Times]

The Wolfman

New posters give us one werewolf and one distressed damsel. [ShockTillYouDrop]

Stargate SG-1

If the third DVD movie is made, it will be titled Stargate: Revolution. [GateWorld]

Stargate Universe

In the mid-season finale, "Justice," a crew member is found dead from a gunshot wound, and the gun is found in Colonel Young's quarters. Young will turn over command to Camille Wray. Meanwhile, Rush gains access to the Ancient interface, and a planet harbors a secret that threatens the Destiny. [GateWorld]

True Blood

Despite rumors, Rudy Reyes hasn't been cast as the werewolf Alcide. [EW]

Supernatural

In the November 19th episode, Castiel loses his virginity. Misha Collins talks about his character Castiel and the previously mentioned drinking episode, but says he's still looking forward to the angel losing his virginity. [TV Guide]

Dollhouse

Joss Whedon spilled a lot about the final episodes of the now-canceled show. Summer Glau's character Bennett, who works for the Washington DC Dollhouse, is a character from Caroline's past. We've known for a while that Echo will learn some unsavory details about her pre-wipe persona, and it appears that Bennett will be the person who reveals them. Whedon describes her as having morals, and explains that her arm is in a sling because she has a dead arm. As for Ray Wise's character Howard, he may be Adelle's DC counterpart, but he's not so big on the morals. We'll also be seeing more of Keith Carradine's Harding.

Alpha will be back in the December 11th two-part episode, and we'll see one of his personalities we haven't seen before: a violent Franciscan monk. And he'll have some very interesting questions to ask of someone, and rather unsavory ways of asking them. This time, we'll also see him interact with people at the Dollhouse other than Echo.

Claire Saunders will return for two episodes, and where she's been may come as a surprise. It sounds like Echo will be sent to the Attic, which Whedon describes as "Disneyland on really bad acid." Ballard and Echo's relationship will change in the remaining episodes (there will be a kiss), and Ballard's whole life will change more than once. Felicia Day will return in a later episode (Whedon said he would like to return to the dystopian future of "Epitaph One"). The remainder of the season will focus on Echo realizing that her larger battle isn't with the Dollhouse, but with Rossum. [TV Guide]

Also, a casting call for eleventh episode is out for a female test subject who can sing opera and speak German. [Spoiler TV]

Lost

The title for the eighth episode is "Recon." [Spoiler TV]

Apparently, there's a rumor that Alexis Bledel is going to be in an episode. She's not. [EW]

Fringe

The producers talk about several aspects of the show centered around "Momentum Deferred." They explain that the First Wave hybrids are more interested in intelligence-gathering than battle, and while William Bell may be telling the truth, he's probably out to serve his own interest rather than the Fringe team's. They also mention that Walter and Bell may have some sense of religion, and imply we'll see more of Rebbecca. As for the formerly disembodied leader of First Wave, we will eventually learn who stored his head and why he wasn't killed. [Fringe Television]

And here's a peek at the smooth-headed Observers. [TV Guide]

V

The Visitors get visas in a sneak peek of next week's episode.

And here's a lovely picture of Morena Baccarin. [TV Guide]

Heroes

The Nov. 23 episode, "Thanksgiving," is the one where Adrian Pasdar will take his final bow, and Angela will have to admit she was behind the Nathan-Sylar switcheroo. [TV Guide]

Smallville

Clark spends some quality time with the Army of Zod in stills from "Pandora." [Spoiler TV]

And here's the aforementioned sneak peek of "Pandora" with shirtless Clark.

Additional reporting by Josh Snyder.