So like Sam Tyler's 1973 head trip, it turned out The Village was all in Number 6's head. Except that The Village was a shared head trip, and everyone inside it was also awake in the real world. Because The Village took place on another level of consciousness — not the subconscious, but one of the many other levels that Number 2's wife discovered. So in fact, the Village was a dream, and the dreams people were having were of the real world. Whoa! (This was pretty telegraphed in the episode where 2's wife wakes up, and holes start appearing in the Village.)

And all of the people in The Village were damaged in the real world, and going to this idyllic, old-fashioned place in their heads was making them more conformist and well-behaved in reality. Oh, and Number 2's son was sort of a figment of WTFery.

So I guess all those scenes of Number 6 in New York, which we thought were flashbacks, were actually all happening at the same time as the main action — Michael really was running around trying to find out the truth about SummaKor at the same time as he was in the Village, and his behavior in the "real" world changed as his other self got changed by the Village. And the whole thing took place over the course of less than a day. And even while he was fighting the Village, he was being co-opted by it. Or something.

And then we get the shocking twist that, in order to redeem Sarah, the mentally ill girl in the church who's also Number 313 in the Village, Number 6 is willing to take Number 2's place and keep the Village going. Number 2 wins in the end.

As endings go, it's actually not bad — I like it slightly better than Harvey Keitel striding down onto the surface of Mars in his white shoes. It has a similar feeling to the Life On Mars ending, a sense that the producers were sitting around going, "Well, we can't serve up the same ending as the original, so let's shake things up." But it's gutsy, and it does put a different spin on what's come before. This wasn't just an evil surveillance system, spying on people — it was more akin to a pharmaceutical company, putting everyone on anti-depressants. Or something.

It's a neat concept, on paper. And a good ending, in theory. I don't think the show earned it — if I'd ever, even for a moment, felt invested in the struggle between Number 2 and Number 6, I would have been shocked to see Number 2 win. Instead, I felt a vague sense of, "Oh, that's interesting." If the show had wanted me to buy into the idea of The Village as a kind of institutionalized environment where people's individuality is suppressed in order to make them more well-adjusted, then Number 6's arrival should have been in a cloyingly comforting institutional setting, not the "running through the desert" thing that made no sense but looked vaguely cool.

In the end, like the American Life On Mars, this is going to wind up being a curious footnote to discussions of the original, not something people talk about in its own right.

So now that the first two hours of AMC's remake of The Prisoner have already aired, you've had a chance to form your own impressions of the sandy, angsty reimagining of the 1967 classic. (The remaining four hours air tonight and tomorrow night.)

Maybe it's unfair to compare this show to the original — but if the producers didn't want that, they should have called it something different. And honestly, even if you pretend that the original show never existed, this snorefest still wouldn't be winning me over, with its vacuous mysteries and uninvolving plot twists. After reading the comments on my preview post yesterday, I'm aware that some people are really enjoying this remake so far, and I'd love to hear more about what you liked about it. Maybe you'll even change my mind — but for now, I'm still on the side of the haters.

So here are the six main changes from the original that really didn't work for me at all.

6) Humanizing Number 2. I really would have loved to have seen Sir Ian McKellen portraying Number 2 as he was in the original series — especially the Leo McKern version. Instead, we got McKellen playing a much more human figure, who's got a comatose wife and a rebellious teenage son. I can see how this felt like a great idea, because it lets McKellen do more Acting, switching from smiling patriarch of the Village to tormented father and husband. But it also kind of erases the point of Number 2, which is that he's a kind of archetypal authority figure. I also couldn't quite bring myself to care about Number 2's son, and his relationship with Number 2. There was just too much staring into space for my liking.

And when Number 2 managed to be more like the classic version, it was great. The bit where Number 6 says "If I open my mind, you'll take it away from me," and Number 2 responds "Maybe we will. But we always give it back," was great and left me wishing for more of those moments. Why couldn't we have had more of a battle of wills — and wits — between 6 and 2? Which brings me to:

5) Wimpifying Number 6. Science-fiction author Steven Barnes puts it best: This show should have given us Jason Bourne in the Village. If you're going to update the premise, give us an updated James Bond-esque superspy battling against the one enemy he can't overpower: excessive normality and niceness.

Instead, we get a Number 6 who's just sort of a schlubby, ordinary guy, a pencil pusher at some big corporation who resigned because he felt kinda bad about stuff. And nobody even cares why he resigned anyway, they just want him to settle in and live in the Village. It's all a bit underplayed — and because Number 6 is so non-formidable, the Village becomes less scary as well. It doesn't take that much to keep this Number 6 down, and that means the Village doesn't need to muster much power or cleverness.

4) Bringing in the evil corporation. I get it — the Cold War is over, and now the biggest threat to our individual liberty is evil corporations. Which is why they've become such a cliche of late. But the evil SummaKor, the company that Number 6 resigns from, feels like the blandest stereotype of a corporate monster, and we never really fear it. We never really know who's behind the original 1967 Village, but it feels like Brave New World mashed up with 1984. Knowing (or at least suspecting, after two hours) that Enron is the Big Bad this time around just feels a bit cheap somehow. Good job, Ralph Nader.

3) Toning down the surrealism. Every now and then, this show lets rip with the surrealistic, bizarre touches. I love the fact that the only food that you can eat in the Village is "wraps" — it's like my worst airport food nightmare. I utterly adore the psychiatrist and his weird doppelganger in episode two. And I'm completely obsessed with the freaky soap opera that everyone in the Village watches obsessively.

If the whole show had been more like that, I would be singing its praises. But those moments are few and far between, sadly, and the rest of the show feels too pedestrian and, weirdly, too anchored in our reality. There are basically two ways to go with a Prisoner reboot — in an era that's already seen David Lynch and David Cronenberg, you can try to out-Lynch Lynch and go for the full-on crazy. Or you can go for a more conventional spy thriller, of the type Patrick McGoohan would have sneered at. But this show didn't really commit to either direction.

2) Toning down the totalitarianism. The Village should be oppressive and conformist, and above all creepy, with everyone playing their parts with apparent cheer and good humor. Instead, everyone in the 2009 Village seems a bit grumpy, and nobody is particularly subtle about their dislike of the place. It's never entirely clear how these people are being kept down, also — we glimpse the giant balloon, Rover, a few times, but not enough to make the single bubble seem like enough to keep everyone down. Every now and then, someone is dragged off to the Clinic or other terrible locations, never to be seen again — but the Village just doesn't feel powerful enough to keep down the resentment that emanates from every single person in it. These people don't seem to be co-opted enough, for the Village to feel believable. (And generally, the show is so low-energy, that you wind up wondering if people are just too sleepy to fight back against the Village.)

1) That whole "OMG the Village is hollow and I haz touched the sky" thing. When I said yesterday that there was one major change that bothered me more than any other, this is what I meant. We're hit over the head, in those first two hours, with the idea that everyone in the Village believes it's the only place in the world. You might as well believe in aliens as believe there's such a place as New York or London, Number 2 says at one point.

For various reasons, this just doesn't work for me at all, and feels like a really bad decision — if the Village is the only place in the world, then escape really is impossible. And questions like whether Number 6 is a number and why he resigned become sort of academic — the only context in which Number 6 could ever exist is here. It also makes the Villagers seem a bit idiotic, since they never ask the obvious questions like where all their food and gadgets and things come from — we never see enough farms or factories to make all that stuff.

But mostly, it turns the conflict between Number 2 and Number 6 into a debate over whether the outside world exists. Which feels really dull and done to death, in ways that the original 2-versus-6 conflict never did. We've gotten a million stories where people are stuck in an isolated enclave and taught that nothing else exists, and it's one of the dullest plots you can do. Plus, for us the viewers at home, there's never any doubt that yes, New York does exist. So any potential ambiguity or ability for us to identify with the Villagers goes out the window.

But enough of my blasphemous free-thinking critiques. What did you guys think?

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 won't provide any spoilers for The Prisoner 2009 here — we'll save those for tomorrow — but suffice to say, the remake of the paranoid thriller, starring James Caviezel and Ian McKellan, is dreadfully dull. It feels as empty and as dry as the endless deserts that provide its main setting. The "WTF" of the original has been replaced by a listless, unengaging "What the hey."

(To be fair, I haven't yet watched the last two episodes (out of six total). But I'm not getting my hopes up at this point. The first four episodes are so screamingly dull, I'm only still watching out of a sense of duty and masochism.)

To be honest, I went into this remake with severe doubts that The Prisoner could be remade — it's so odd, so quintessentially 1960s, that it's hard to imagine it working for a 2000s audience. The core message, about distrust for the artificial, conformist institutions of a braindead society, feels both too dated and too true for current television to handle. On the other hand — Ian McKellen! A man I would watch read the ingredients off a cat food label!

Sadly, it's worse than I feared. The makers of this new Prisoner apparently realized that they couldn't really recapture the gonzo spirit of the original — so they made radical changes to the basic storyline. And some of these ideas sort of make sense, whether you agree with them — but the most important change to the original is something that makes no sense whatsoever. They really wrecked the most basic element of the show, in a way that feels both baffling and heartbreaking.

As for McKellan, he's definitely the one saving grace. In tonight's two hours, he gets all the best lines and has a few genuinely classic moments. But there are also long stretches of McKellen that seem to be intended to deepen or humanize his character, but instead just make him feel less iconic and less interesting.

Sadly, Caviezel is not nearly as interesting to watch, and you'll quickly find yourself missing Patrick McGoohan's savage conviction.

There are a few other bright spots, though — the cinematography is great, the desert looks really vivid and beautiful, and the production values are amazing. There are one or two moments of amazing subversiveness and cleverness sprinkled in, and you wish the rest of the show could have been more like them. The show seems on the verge of saying something really interesting once or twice.

But for the most part, watching this new version of The Prisoner feels like you're doing hard time. I would avoid at all costs.

The Prisoner airs tonight, and for the next two nights following on AMC at 8 PM.

Were you a fan of the original? Is that why you got involved with AMC's Prisoner series?

No, I never knew anything about the original, I had just read the six screenplays that were brought to me and I was actually going to shoot another movie and I was able to get out of that to do this. What got my attention first was Ian McKellen.

The second part of that was AMC and what they were doing, but I didn't really fully understand everything AMC had been doing with Mad Men. I hadn't seen Mad Men yet, and I became a huge fan of the network because I really got to see the ins and outs of what they were doing in The Prisoner. But what truly brought me to The Prisoner was the first two screenplays... I had no idea where the story was going, at any time as an actor when you get a role like this, it's kind of like one of those little trophies you can put on your mantle and be proud of. I'm definitely very proud of this.

One of the interesting things about AMC and their shows right now is their attention to detail in their production design, it's really evident in The Prisoner, it's sort of "sandy sleek". What was your favorite little world-building moment that AMC or the production crew created?

Well, I can be more specific to you, and in fact when I see movies like Giant, when I see George Stevens or any classic fimmakers, or when I see Gregory Peck and Charlton Heston but it [The Prisoner] reminded me of classic Hollywood great fimmaking... Every time I get a movie I think, "oh I'm never gonna be working in this town again if I don't get this one right," and I certainly felt that way making this because of the rapid fire of all the screenplays that were there and also the reediting and rewriting the scenes literally right there but I think we were able to pull out something pretty special here.

I'm so focused on the story and just trying to survive and the frustration of wanting it to be good and not knowing if it's going to turn out and in fact I remember one day we got to one particular scene with Ian McKellen and myself and we realized in that moment that I'm not supposed to be in this scene. So there's an element of running around like a chicken with your head cut off. So I'm sitting here acting, thinking what did I take away from that, I think the most valuable thing I got from it is I can work in some of the most extraordinary circumstances and be able to pull up performances in dire strait situation and I really kind of like that.

It was roughing the elements out there, wasn't it?

Yes, the lack of sleep, number one. Last night watching it [The Prisoner screening] and talking to Bill Gallagher [the writer], for me, it was a bit of a surreal experience, it looks so easy but knowing that what looks easy is usually rather difficult, there were hours and hours of rehearsing and then saying let's throw that out and try something else and being able to have a director come in with literally very little time... it's really a six hour film with two intermissions.

How many on site rewrites do you think you guys did?

Thousands, I can't even… at the last minute we'd say, "Do I need that line?" "Yes you do." "okay, what about this?" Then we'd try but you know for the most part, I thought that we were able to. It's like putting a square peg into a circular hole and that's what we do, and we get paid well for it and part of it is you gotta be a little bit of an adrenaline junkie.

Now your character, one of the things that's different abut him in the new series is there's a little bit more revealed about his life before The Village. Do you think that you're still "every man" even though you go into specifics running around in the desert?

I knew what Patrick McGoohan did. I knew that he was a legend, I knew who he was and I didn't totally understand the whole Prisoner thing, I never watched any of the episodes but wanted to bring something to my own performance that was original, that I wouldn't be compared to, and even I was I could say well it was a coincidence because I never watched any of his previous stuff. I remember talking to Mel Gibson one time about Patrick McGoohan and I said, I happened to ask him about Longshanks in Braveheart and he says "Well that's McGoohan" and he told me the whole story, he tried to have a run at making The Prisoner.

Mel Gibson tried to make The Prisoner?

Yeah he looked at it. Yeah, it's been attempted by several people.

Finally the political undertones in The Prisoner, do you think it's more like a friendly Gitmo, or a warning sign?

JC: Absolutely. You know its how you look at mornings. Mornings can either be a good thing or a bad thing sometimes. Some people just get disturbed and would rather be an ostrich and put their head in the sand. And you know, this is an allegory for peace...Nowadays you have one guy walking around who's willing to exchange his life for millions and for an ideal. And I think people can relate to that. At the same time, very much juxtaposed to that, this is Disney Land, the music, the way they feel, it is a bit of a ride and there's a romantic element to it too, and I hate to go too far to the right and say well understand from the left here you also have this romantic undertone, you're also going to be drawn to these characters, you're going to love these characters.

Not sure what's happening, but damn that hospital is nice. Plus, it looks like AMC is going all-out with set design yet again, check out those classic cars and the rest of the amazing details in this interactive Village map. The attention to detail in this city is insane, right down to the "village white" and "village red" wine bottles.

The Prisoner begins its three-day run on Nov. 15.

Doctor Who:

Why is "Waters Of Mars," airing Sunday, so scary? Says Russell T. Davies:

It's the intensity – it's trapped, claustrophobic, desperate – which really ups the stakes. Towards the end, the monsters aren't the scary things: it's the humans and the Doctor who really give me a chill.

[Daily Telegraph]

Shifting forward to 2010, here are some set pics showing Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, on set at the Temple Of Peace (first featured in "The End Of The World,") which is rumored to be the Silurian Senate in a new two-parter. A couple of these photos give glimpses of what might be a Silurian head poking through a window. What do you think? (For those who aren't steeped in the lore, Silurians were prehistoric lizard people who turned up in 1970's "Doctor Who And The Silurians," and then made a comeback in 1984's "Warriors Of The Deep.")

According to one poster who claims to have inside info at the Gallifrey Base forums, those really are Silurians, but they look like crap and don't have a third eye. And there's an "overweight senate Silurian" who will make us want to facepalm. (Note: Everything not supported by photos is purely a rumor at this point!)

This is believed to be the same two-parter that the earlier graveyard scenes were from, and some fans say there was a lizard woman with a Predator-style mask in the graveyard sequences. The pics also include Alan Raglan, who plays Mo Northover, the father of the little boy from the graveyard scenes. Also, there's a huge rig shining a light from an upstairs window in one of these pics. Photos by Alun_Vega on Flickr [Gallifrey Base]

Lost:

Here's a casting call for a scientist we'll be meeting in episode 6x08:

[SEAMUS] Any ethnicity, 30s-40s. A scientist with some physicality to him. Not afraid to take charge and give orders. Looking for someone interesting. CO-STAR, POSSIBLE RECUR

[SpoilersLost]

In episode 6x07, there's a big scene where Sun, Ben, Frank, Ilana and Miles are on the beach, and they're surprised to see Jack, Hurley and Richard suddenly appear out of the jungle. This could be the big reunion of the 1970s and 2007 timelines — except then why would Miles already be there? And why is Richard arriving with Jack and Hurley? In any case, everyone embraces, and Claire is there, looking tough with straight black hair. [The Transmission via SpoilersLost]

V:

Sleazy anchorman Chad Decker won't be meeting up with Elizabeth Mitchell's FBI agent character, Erica, any time soon, says actor Scott Wolf. [USA Today]

Morena Baccarin says Anna doesn't have a huge un-masking moment in the first four episodes, but there may be some effects added to her face to give a glimpse of the lizard beneath. She meets Tyler, Erica's son, setting up a plotline in which Erica may have to challenge Anna to save her son. In the next few episodes:

We get to see more about how the Vs live. There are more hints at how they do certain things and there's some really great plot twists. [There are] characters' worlds that collide that you wouldn't expect.

[TV Guide]

Here's what happens in the last episode of 2009, "It's Only The Beginning":

Erica works with newly-formed allies to uncover a biological threat they suspect the Visitors have been plotting. Aboard the Mothership, Anna meets with a special guest while managing the investigation into the murder of a V. And Chad does a segment on the V Healing Centers, demonstrating their amazing medical abilities, but then finds himself conflicted by some of his findings

[SpoilerTV]

Dollhouse:

An interview with Eliza Dushku, where she talks about getting shot, green goo, G.I. Jane, and duking it out with Summer Glau. Most of the spoilery stuff is towards the end. [SpoilerTV]

The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus:

Here's a new U.S. poster for Terry Gilliam's next film — click on the link to see the whole thing. [Slashfilm]

Fringe:

Here are some promo pics for episode seven, "Of Human Action." [Fringe Television]

Supernatural:

A new clip from Thursday's episode, in which Chuck the Prophet gets manipulated. (You'd think his prophetic powers would prevent this sort of thing.)

And here are the first four episode titles of 2010, all of which have a definite movie theme going on: "Sam, Interrupted," "Being Sam Winchester," "Back to the Future II," and "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid". [SpoilerTV]

2012:

A fairly damning review at Hollywood Reporter includes a few spoilers. This movie steals sequences from "Earthquake," "The Poseidon Adventure," "Volcano," and even "Titanic." And it follows a dozen characters through various scrapes. There's a corrupt presidential aide (Oliver Platt) who has to choose who gets to go on the nuclear version of Noah's Ark and survive the devastation. You'll know who's going to die in this movie — it's anyone who's committed any sort of "extramarital transgression." [THR]

The Prisoner:

James Caviezel and Jamie Campbell Bower are interviewed about their roles in this remake of the classic series.

True Blood:

Looks like we'll be meeting Bill's ex, judging from this casting call:

[CAROLINE COMPTON] 20's. Seen in 1866, a lovely, very strong, brave, well-bred and well-spoken Southern woman, Caroline pulls a shotgun on the intruder into her house—clearly prepared to use it—till she realizes it's her husband Bill (Stephen Moyer), whom she was sure had died in the War sptv050769. THIS IS A GREAT SCENE...ACTRESS SHOULD RESEMBLE THE ACTRESS IN THE ATTACHED PHOTO

And here's the photo in question. [SpoilerTV]

Smallville:

The season's 13th and 14th episodes, respectively, will be called "Hubris" and "Conspiracy." [KryptonSite]

And here's a clip from Friday's episode, "Idol".

Additional reporting by Josh C. Snyder.

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?

Iron Man 2:

Sam Rockwell says his character, Justin Hammer, is sort of like Lex Luthor (the Hackman and Spacey versions) mixed with Bill Murray in Kingpin and Richard Gere in American Gigolo. And in case we didn't cover this before, Rockwell also says his character is the one who builds Rhodey's War Machine armor, and Rhodey has no choice but to work with Hammer. But Rhodey doesn't let Hammer try the armor on. [MTV]

Tekken:

At a party for distributors, the studio showed off some footage from this live-action movie adaptation, starring Luke Goss, Jon Foo, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Gary Daniels, Ian Anthony Dale, Kelly Overton, Cung Le, and Tamlyn Tomita. The movie follows Jin Kazama as he struggles to get revenge on Tekken Corp. chairman Heihachi Mishima for the death of his mother. And the only way to get revenge is to enter Tekken's Iron Fist Tournament. Just because.

So the trailer/sizzle reel included captions saying:

One tournament ... decides the fate of millions. ... They fight for power ... They fight for honor ... They fight for pride ... But one man ... fights for revenge. ... Courage fuels him ... Rage drives him.

We see a flying car soaring over an arena in a futuristic city, and a bloodthirsty crowd waits for the action to begin. We see a montage of the movie's fighters, including Raven, Eddie Gordo, Bryan Fury, Craig Marduk, and Yoshimitsu. They all look sort of like their game counterparts. And there's lots of fighting, punching, kicking and general mayhem. Jin Kazama runs along building tops, parkour style, and fights in a cage match, rising up from the streets to the Iron Fist competition. Woo!

Jin Kazama meets Steve Fox (Goss) and the sexy Christie Monteiro (Overton), and then there's a training montage, showing him pummeling a wooden dummy. Steve Fox yells, and Kazuya Mishima (Dale) walks bare-chested in front of a wall of fire. There's a hero shot of Jin looking like his game counterpart, then he's fighting in the ring, and then chicks are fighting in the ring. Jin fights Bryan Fury (Daniels) and one of his blows causes an energy ripple across Fury's chest. Guards pull a distraught woman away, and then there's more fighting, including maces and half-moon axes. Even more details of fighting and posing at the link. [IGN]

Avatar:

This totally ridiculous Coke Zero ad and a couple of new TV spots include a teeny amount of new footage from the movie. [Thanks Slashfilm!]

Resident Evil: Afterlife:

Milla Jovovich is still Tweeting from the set of this movie, and among other things, she explains that her new costume includes a leather gun harness and a "butt bra." And those mysterious figures in all white are "Pod People," who've been subjected to horrific Umbrella Corp. experiments. [ShockTillYouDrop]

The Hobbit:

Guillermo Del Toro explains exactly what he'll be adding to Tolkien's original story:

We will be integrating Gandalf's comings and goings [into the script] because he does disappear in the book quite often. So, as opposed to the book, we see where he goes and what happens to him.

That means we'll see the battle against the Necromancer. And the Wargs will have "a certain beauty" so you don't get the message that everyone beautiful is good, and vice versa. And Smaug the dragon will be unique and look unlike any dragon you've ever seen. [Total Film via MTV]

Twilight:

The Wolf Pack come up on Access Hollywood to talk about their abs and explain why werewolves are better than vampires.

Dark Days: 30 Days Of Night:

Here's your first image from this sequel, showing Kiele Sanchez as Stella Oleson (played by Melissa George in the first film) waving a knife as she prepares to take the fight to the vampires. Also in the film are Lost's Harold Perrineau, Mia Kirshner (as the vampire Lilith), Diora Baird, Rhys Coiro, Troy Ruptash, Jackson Berlin, John De Santis, Marco Sorian and Katherine Isabelle. Full version of the image at the link. [AICN via ShockTillYou Drop]

The Prisoner:

Ian McKellen was on The View, where he showed a brief clip from this remake of the classic 1960s series... and put up with Whoopi Goldberg confusing him with Michael Gambon. Oops. [Cinematical]

Lost:

The show was filming at the Survivors' camp, and actors in attendance included Evangeline Lilly (Kate), Matthew Fox (Jack), Michael Emerson (Ben), Jorge Garcia (Hugo), Emilie de Ravin (Claire), Yunjin Kim (Sun), Jeff Fahey (Frank Lapidus) and Nestor Carbonell (Richard Alpert). [SpoilersLost]

Doctor Who:

Here's a brief new TV spot for this episode, premiering (in the UK) on Sunday!

And Russell T. Davies says this episode is "absolutely terrifying, one of the scariest things we've ever done." The things the Doctor and the people around him are forced to do are totally mad and it's a really exciting hour. [BlogtorWho]

V:

Here are some promo pics from the fourth and final episode of the year, "It's Only Just Beginning." It looks as though someone is getting pregnant... and the father is the last person you would expect! [VisitorSite]

And here are six clips from tomorrow night's new epsiode, including Morena Baccarin turning herself into a virtual paper doll to try out outfits on.

Fringe:

Here's some info about the Nov. 19 episode, "Observer":

An unusual abduction in Boston reveals information about the Observer and bizarre evidence that Walter, Peter and Astrid must sort out in the lab—-in between Walter's constant cravings for a milkshake.

[TV Guide]

FlashForward:

In upcoming episodes, we'll meet the adult version of the mysterious scarred Somalian child from episode three, and he may be played by The Wire's Michael K. Williams. Also, we'll be meeting Miles Fogel (Michael Ealy) who becomes a thorn in Benford's side and becomes a regular character starting in episode ten. Episode nine will be all about Dr. Bryce Yarley, and we'll be meeting the Japanese woman from his flashforward, Keiko. Callum Keith Rennie will be back at least a couple more times this season, says David S. Goyer. [MTV]

A new featurette focuses on Dominic Monaghan, showcasing his role as Simon and the actor's thoughts on quantum physics:

And here are a few stills from an upcoming episode — but we're not sure which one. [SpoilerTV]

And here's a sneak peek from the next episode, in which Monaghan talks about being oh-so-tawdry:

A casting call for episode 14 details a couple new characters we'll be meeting:

[DON SESTITO] 50s-60s, open to all ethnicities. Wry, very sharp. A veteran Federal judge for some 20-plus years, he's seen and heard it all and cuts to the chase. one scene

[JOSH BARKHAM] late 20s-early 30s, open to all ethnicities. Intelligent, well-spoken, argues in court. A once-idealistic attorney, experience has worn the shine off his former earnestness. one scene

[SpoilerTV]

Supernatural:

As you've seen already, Lucifer gets Castiel trapped in a ring of holy fire — but he doesn't just question the angel. He tries to convince Castiel to join him as a rebel angel, according to Misha Collins. Also, we might see Castiel using his supernatural tolerance for alcohol to win some drinking games. [Huffington Post]

Chuck:

Season three will be like "The Matrix," says Zachary Levi. Plus Brandon Routh explains his new character. [AOL via ChuckTV]

Smallville:

Zatanna will be back in an episode early next year, entitled "Warrior." [TV Guide Magazine]

And here's the description for the Nov. 20 episode, "Pandora":

Lois is kidnapped by Tess and forced to reveal what she learned during the weeks of her disappearance. She witnessed a future with Metropolis controlled by Zod and Clark left without his powers because of the red sun. With this information, Clark makes a big decision about Zod.

[TV Guide]

Stargate Universe:

Eli may get to handle some guns sometime soon, hints David Blue. And he would like to have a long scene where he and Rodney McKay geek out about stuff. [SF Universe]

And here are some pics from the episode "Time" — in which, I'm guessing, they're running out of time, until they get some more somehow. [SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Mary Ratliff.

Star Trek:

Zoe Saldana says she can't wait to take off her shirt again, although she presumably doesn't know if that's happening in the new movie. She also hints that filming may take place next year after all, despite all those delay reports. [E! Online]

So what's the new one about? J.J. Abrams offers some vague ideas:

The second one has an obligation to go deeper and maintain the fun and adventure in the sense of optimism and scale that [Gene] Roddenberry created. But I do think it has to evolve and not become some polemic over-the-top, on-the-nose allegory. It needs to be something that is not just about the characters meeting each other and having their first adventure; it needs to be about having their most meaningful one.

But he says it definitely won't be called Star Trek 2.[MTV]

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows:

There's an insanely detailed description of Bill Weasley's wedding scene, at the link. [HP4U]

Doctor Who:

The Eleventh Doctor lands in a graveyard and has a jolly chat with his new companion Amy, in some new set pics. Theories suggest this is for a two parter starring Sam Davies, a child actor, playing Elliott. And there are a couple of Youtube videos of the filming as well. Photos by the amazing Scooty, more at the link. [Gallifrey Base and BlogtorWho]

And the writer of the next animated adventure, "Dreamland," talks about the creation of an American companion for the Doctor, Cassie Rice. [BlogtorWho]

Sarah Jane Adventures:

Digital Spy has more details about this week's long-awaited two-parter, guest-starring David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. Tennant doesn't show up until the end of part one, and his first words are, "Stop this wedding!" Sarah Jane's relationship with businessman Peter Dalton moves quite quickly, although there is liberal use of cue cards saying "One Week Later." The Trickster appears to behind the whole business, and when the Doctor shows up, he's quickly parted from Sarah Jane as well as his TARDIS. He's got the kids to help out, though, and one of them receives a massive electrical shock. The Doctor says "Allons-Y" and "I'm so sorry." And he's referred to as "the man of ice and fire," and told "the gate is waiting for you." At the end, Sarah Jane tells the Doctor (I think) that nobody will ever forget him. One more pic at the link. [Digital Spy]

The Prisoner:

A big batch of new stills from the AMC miniseries remake. Fingers massively crossed! [UGO]

Fringe:

A bunch of pics from the Nov. 12 episode "Of Human Action." The gang investigates a kidnapping that rapidly turns into a hostage situation in New York, and discovers an unknowable force has "mind-blowing consequences." And they go to Nina Sharp for help. [Fox]

And here's a casting call for a character we'll be meeting in episode 2x12:

[CDC FIELD HEAD ARNOLD MCFADDEN ] Male. Open Ethnicitys. This authoritative man in his mid 40s is brought in to help prevent a potential bio-terrorism event...GUEST STAR

[SpoilerTV]

Supernatural:

I'm pretty sure this is a new clip from Thursday's episode, featuring a super-aged Dean. [TrekMovie]

And here's the synopsis for the ninth episode, which I would be dreading if it wasn't written by Eric Kripke himself:

IT'S A SUPERNATURAL CONVENTION! Super fan Becky (guest star Emily Perkins) uses Chuck's (guest star Chuck Benedict) phone to trick Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) 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.

[SPNSite]

Smallville:

We'll be meeting a new villain in episode 9x12. Could this be Amanda Waller?

[ANDREA POTTER] 35 – 55 yrs old. A heavyset, imposing and ruthless African American woman. She has sinister plans for the citizens of Metropolis…Do not limit your suggestions to heavyset. This role is established in Episode #912 but is a RECURRING GUEST STAR role.

[SpoilerTV]

Producer Kelly Souders warns: "You will see more people than you can imagine die in the first 12 [episodes]. Luckily it's Smallville, so not all of them stick." He says some of these deaths may take place in the future, and we also may see some people snuff it in some of Lois' visions. [TV Guide]

Geoff Johns twittered that his episode featuring the Justice Society is actually "an insane DCU infused two-part epic. Part I is 'Society' and Part II is 'Legends.'" And yes, it features Stargirl, Dr. Fate and Hawkman. [Twitter via SpoilerTV]

Heroes:

Another episode, another flashback. Here's a casting call for episode 4x15, one of the truncated season's final episodes:

[20 YEAR OLD SAMUEL] 20 Male. Caucasian. A passionate rock & roller in love with his childhood sweetheart. Dangerous and charming. We are casting the young version of the actor Robert Knepper…Please see attached photo. Actor will not have lines but will be featured and paid.

[SpoilerTV]

And the episode before that, 4x14, will be called "Let It Bleed." [The ODI]

Stargate Universe:

Here's a clip from Friday's new episode, "Water," that I don't think we've shown you yet.

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

Additional reporting by Mary Ratliff.

We're all really excited about Ian McKellen in this role, you really couldn't ask for a better new Number Two. The miniseries premieres on AMC November 15 and lasts three nights.

Ian McKellen plays the devious Number Two, leader of "The Village" a place where retired agent Number Six (Jim Caviezel) is sent to against his will. The Village is made up of exiled a exotic collection of folk, each with a secret past with numbers for names.

Can't wait until November? Right now AMC is hosting the entire 60s show on their site. The reboot will air at 8 PM.

[Variety]

Leaving aside characters with alphanumeric names (like Star Wars' R2-D2 and C-3PO), characters who also have serials number imparted to them by their governments but are not generally addressed as such (as in Nineteen Eighty-Four and The Giver), and characters whose first names happen to mean a number in a different language (as with many of the characters in Stardust and Mobile Suit Gundam), there are several characters who are either designated with or often called by a number:

Number One (Star Trek "The Cage"/"The Menagerie"): More than two decades before Captain Picard started referring to William Riker as "Number One," Majel Barrett filmed the original Star Trek pilot, where her character was known only as Number One. Like Riker, Number One was the Enterprise's first officer, but the novel Vulcan's Glory suggests Number One was her actual name, given to her because she possessed the top intellect of her planet's generation.

Number 5 (Short Circuit): Although roboticists Newton Crosby and Ben Jabituya were out to create artificial intelligence, they probably didn't expect any of their prototypes to suddenly gain sentience, and so assigned them numbers in lieu of names. But after prototype Number 5 becomes self-aware (and escapes the clutched of the US military), he decides that, as a living being, he should have a name, and calls himself Johnny Five.

Fifth (Stargate SG-1): One of the few characters with an ordinal number for a name, Fifth gets his name in a fairly straightforward manner: he's the fifth human-form Replicator to be created on the planet Halla.

V (V for Vendetta): Most people who live through encounters with the mysterious anarchist V think they're addressing him by a letter, and his propensity for using V-based alliterations when introducing himself seems to confirm this. But it's much more likely that V derives his name from the source of his vendetta; when he was subjected to medical experimentation at the Larkhill Resettlement Camp, he was the man in room five — marked with the Roman numeral "V."

Number Six (The Prisoner): Residents of the mysterious Village are known by a number rather than their actual names — including at least 16 individuals known only as "Number Two" — probably to protect the secrets they all inevitably carry. Number Six, the titular prisoner, protests in the opening that he's a free man, not a number, but it's implied that Number Six may be known by yet another number: Number One.

The Cylons (Battlestar Galactica): The creators of Battlestar Galactica have said that cylon Number Six is a tribute to The Prisoner, and it follows that each humanoid cylon model would have its own number, with the notable exception of the Final Five. Most cylon models are known collectively by a human name as well (the Sharons, the Leobens, the D'Annas), but individual Sixes tend to have individual human names, like Natalie, Caprica, Shelly, and Gina, perhaps because of they are so often used as infiltration agents.

Seven of Nine (Voyager): Names designate individuality, a concept the Borg have no use for, but sometimes it is convenient for the Collective to identify individual Borg drones. So when the formerly human Annika Hansen was assimilated into the Collective, she was given the designation Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero-One. Even once she was unhooked from the hive mind, she preferred the shortened "Seven of Nine" to her human name, the latter of which she does not take up again until her Borg implants are completely destroyed.

Eight (The Specials): It's fairly obvious how Eight earned its superhero name. A hive mind, Eight consists of eight individual bodies who can physically act independent of one another, but share a single consciousness.

Thirteen (House): As long as we're labeling House as science fiction, we may as well mention Dr. Remy Hadley, better known as Thirteen. In one of his trademark moves to dehumanize his fellowship applicants, Dr. House assigned each applicant a number (and occasionally a humiliating nickname). Thirteen really took to the numerical naming system, refusing to divulge her actual name to her fellow applicants, and continuing to answer to Thirteen long after she'd earned a place on House's team.

Henchmen 21 and 24 (The Venture Bros): With the exception of the ill-fated Speedy, each of the Monarch's henchman is known only to their boss as a number. Henchmen 21 and 24 (the former is known to his mom as Gary) are genre-savvy enough to be content with their numerical positions in the Fluttering Horde. When they learn their new teammate is Henchman 1, they rightly assess that he's marked for death.

84 (P.S. 238): In a school filled with superheroes, Julie Finster has a pretty routine set of superpowers: flight, invulnerability, speed. In fact, her power set is so ordinary that instead of getting a cool superhero name, she's just called "84," since she's the 84th person to possess that particular grouping of powers. Needless to say, it's a tad demoralizing.

Agent 99 (Get Smart): James Bond may have been called 007 from time to time, but Agent 99 takes use of her code number to the next level, never answering to any other moniker (okay, in one episode, her fiance calls her Susan Hilton, but that isn't actually her name). In fact, she married Maxwell Smart and bears him twins without him ever learning her real name, proving once and for all that she's the better spy.

Agent 355 (Y the Last Man): In the historical spy network known as the Culper Ring, there was a female agent code named 355, whose identity has never been definitively determined. Similarly, in the fictional Culper Ring of Y the Last Man, Agent 355 is a highly competent spy whose name is never revealed (at least not to the reader). Her odd relationship with her name parallels that of Alter Tse'elon, the Israel commando whose real first name is not spoken (until the end) for fear of attracting the Angel of Death.

Experiment 626 (Lilo and Stitch): The alien mad scientist Dr. Jumba Jookiba created 626 strange and dangerous lifeforms. The wanton destruction caused by the final experiment, 626, condemns them both to life in exile, but the experiment escapes to Earth, where a young Hawaiian girl names him "Stitch." Of course, once Stitch's destructive nature has been reigned in, there are still 625 other experiments to contend with.

1812 (Farscape): In terms of numbered names, the DRD robot 1812 gets his from a fairly unusual source. Instead of 1812 being a serial number or a numbered designation, it's a reference to the 1812 Overture, which Crichton teaches the little service bot to play.

Subject 781227 (Kyle XY): Zzyzx, the company funding Adam Baylin's research, saw the child-shaped being Adam Baylin developed in his lab as a biological computer rather than a person, reflected in him getting a serial number in lieu of a name. It's only after 16 years, an escape, and a bout of amnesia that Subject 781227 finally gets a name: Kyle Trager.

It's going to be weird seeing Rover in the middle of the desert — it doesn't feel quite as intuitive. But at least it looks like they kept the same basic design and classic milky evilness. Glad to see the new show isn't throwing all of Patrick McGoohan's style points out the window.

Update: Thanks to PVIII for pointing it out: There's also a nine minute preview video of the new series!

[Posters via SpoilerTV]

On whether or not he pictured original series lead Patrick McGoohan when writing the series:

No, I deliberately didn't do that, I didn't think of an actor at all... I won't cast it in my head, because then I box myself in, and I can't do that. It has to be this imaginary character. I didn't have McGoohan in my head because [this Prisoner] is a different kind of Number Six, he's a different character, he has different attitudes. In the beginning of the series, Six wakes up the middle of the desert, no idea where he is, no idea how he got there, no idea what to do, and immediately he's hurled into an event, which is this old man is trying to escape, he's being pursued by soldiers. And he rescues this old man. For me, in my head, that's McGoohan, the old Six. And that old man dies. In my head, he dies to allow us to imagine a new Number Six. McGoohan said that the end plate on the old series should've said "The Beginning," because the cycle goes on, and so in my imagination, [that scene is where] one cycle ends and another cycle begins. And so that scene allowed me to imagine my own Number Six.

On easter eggs from the old show:

There are lots of little things. Some of them are visual, some of them are story, stories that we were inspired by, and also some of them are little lines of dialogue. One of the difficulties we have is that we're aiming for 45 minute episodes and some of them come in very long, we have to cut for story, so some of that gets lost, unfortunately. But there's still a good deal of it in the show. Partly as a way of building on that series, partly as a little fun thing, and partly thematic... This bloody place goes on and on and on, you know? In episode two, Six gets involved in a trip to a place called Escape Resort, and when you go to Escape Resort, it's like the original Village, and people are dressed like they were in the original Village.

On whether the new show is a sequel:

I can see why you'd say that, I talk about it being cyclical, but I have to think about it on different layers and different levels, to imagine it. It's not sequential in that, this happens then that happens, not at all, and my approach was not to recreate it, and not to reinvent it, but to respond to the original. If they said that, what do we say?

On the thematic differences between the original and the new series:

McGoohan's piece was based upon the assertion of the individual, and I allowed myself to look at it in the polar opposite way. What happens if the cult of the individual is allowed to run? We're all obsessed with self, we're all obsessed with more, and now, and me, and gimme... and what happens if that's affected us, and what if that kind of world, what are the consequences of that? McGoohan says, 'Look. We live in a world which is authoritarian, and we've got to break it.' What if we live in a society now that's selfish and dangerous?

On who the bad guys are:

There is a strand of fear in [the series], but that fear comes from the world that Six comes from. He fears the people around him: Who are you, you know? He doesn't know who he can trust, so trust is a big theme of the series... If you were to say that [in the era of the original series] it was Communism, it was West versus East, then what is it now? It's a different kind of threat, it's an unknowable threat. How do you battle that? In terms of the Village, when Six first comes to the Village, there are acts of terrorism, and what he comes to believe is that the terrorism is by the state itself within the village... That 'State versus State' thing seems to have gone, we have to come at the kind of threats at a different level.

On the way the series ends:

The final episode has a climax, it has a conclusion, there's a reversal, and there's explanations and revelations, but they're not conventional, and I hope they'll be shocking, you know, that people will not expect this ending at all. What I hope is that, what we get in the end is more disturbing than where we were at the beginning... When we get to the end, what I hope is that people will get challenged by it, and disturbed by it, in the way that the original challenged and disturbed. What I hope people will feel is that there's a sense of, 'I know what that's about, I think I know, oh my God, this was that and that was this, so that's how it works. But I don't like it.

Gamer:

Here's a sneak peek from this deadly video game movie, showcasing the rapport (or lack thereof) between Kable and his young "player":

G.I. Joe:

New TV spots cover the basics. Legs, boobs, nanomites, disaster, explosions, super-power-armor, grim faces — it is on.

Green Hornet:

The Green Hornet's car will be the original 1966 model, but with huge massive weapons that weren't around in 1966, like Gatling guns and stuff. And Seth Rogen talks how campy the film will be. [Cinematical]

Jennifer's Body:

Here's another new image of the sexy-but-deadly-but-sexy Megan Fox. [Cinemablend]

The Time Traveler's Wife:

Here are a few new TV spots that show off this movie's tormented love story:

Asteroids:

Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura says he was attracted to this film because "it tells you that there's going to be this big thing in space." And he explains more about the film's storyline:

We've crafted a really strong, deep mythology for the thing. Without divulging too much about it, it's two lead characters – two brothers – who have to go through a seminal experience to figure out their relationship, against this huge backdrop.

[Sci Fi Scoop]

2012:

Some new stills, plus a new poster. [Sci Fi Scoop]

G-Force:

They're guinea pigs. And they fight evil. Behold:

Harry Potter:

And finally, a Harry TV spot:

The Prisoner:

Wired had a one-on-one interview with Sir Ian McKellen, who plays Number Two — although, really, he's actually Number One. And this version of Number Two has a wife and son, and his family is crucial to the reason for the Village's existence. McKellen described his character:

Number Two is very ironic. At times, he's very loving and bewlidered, because he's confused. He's not convinced that he's doing the right thing, because it causes him a lot of pain. And that's the sign of a mature script. Jim was saying in an interview that it is easy to see Number Six is right and that Number Two is a dreadful man. But then, in the next scene, one can see it from a different point of view.

[Wired]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.

1. Douglas Quaid, Total Recall

The Setup:

After visiting Rekall in the hopes of going on a virtual vacation of Mars, unassuming nobody Douglas Quaid learns he's actually Hauser, a mindwiped secret agent. He then proceeds to get his ass to Mars, whereupon he becomes embroiled in a tangled web involving evil government operatives, psychic mutants, ancient aliens, and triple-breasted prostitutes. It's all very tense and exciting until a man claiming to from Rekall shows up to point out this is all just the memory implant he ordered gone horribly wrong.

Quaid dismisses this possibility, but the question remains - did he ever actually make it out of Rekall?

The Case For:

Director Paul Verhoeven has occasionally confirmed that the movie really happened, but that was mostly when it looked like the film was going to get a sequel. Perhaps the best evidence that the events seen actually happened is that Arnold Schwarzenegger played Quaid. In the end, is it really any more believable that a guy as impossibly ripped as Schwarzenegger was just a lowly construction worker than that he was a secret agent? And there is the fact that Quaid was dreaming about something similar to his supposedly recovered memories before he ever went to Rekall, but even the movie acknowledges how weak it is to use a dream to disprove virtual reality.

The Case Against:

The guy who claims to be implanted by Rekall to get Quaid out of his broken mind trip not only correctly points out everything that had happened was in line with the adventure Quaid chose, but he also accurately predicts the rest of the movie. (Quaid's logic in this scene also leaves something to be desired. People in virtual reality can't possibly sweat! Shoot him in the head!) For that matter, a Rekall technician at the beginning of the movie says the memory simulator has brought up the unprecedented element of blue skies on Mars for Quaid's trip. And guess what we see at the end of the movie right before the scene fades to white...

Chances That It Really Happened:

10%. Sorry, Quaid, I don't believe you'll be seeing Richter at the party after all.

2. Sam Tyler, Life On Mars (US Version)

The Setup:

The final episode of the American version of Life on Mars offered a rather unexpected resolution to just what had been going on with Sam Tyler all this time. As it turned out, he was neither a cop from 1973 nor one from 2008. Instead, he was part of the first manned expedition to Mars in 2035 and the virtual reality simulation meant to keep his mind busy during the two year trip to the red planet had gone haywire, accidentally sending him from his chosen reality of 2008 to 1973. His friends in 1973 had really been his fellow crew members, and Gene Hunt was really his father, Major Tom Tyler. But was this real, or just another coma fantasy?

The Case For:

To be fair, the makers of Life on Mars had set up this possibility for much of the series, what with all the Mars Rover stuff. Say what you will about the ending, but it wasn't completely random, and the act that Sam immediately accepts this new reality suggests it's the one he expected to find all along, deep down.

The Case Against:

For a start, there's that shot of the loafer as they step out onto the Martian surface right at the very end. It doesn't prove anything, but it undermines the supposed reality of the situation. And then there's the fact that this vision of 2035 really, really seems like the kind of thing a dude in 2008 would come up with. I mean, President Obama? I've already dealt with the logical gymnastics you have to do to get Malia Obama into the White House for her to send off a space mission in 2033. It seems just as likely that 2008 Sam simply came up with one of the very few recognizable names who could be president in 2035.

Then there's the fact that not-Ray describes his virtual reality trip as a deserted island full of women who looked like Splash-era Daryl Hannah or Scarface-era Michelle Pfeiffer. You know, pretty as both of them were in those films, I'm not sure I buy an astronaut fifty years later singling out those specific women for his two year porn dream. (By the way, does his haircut really look like NASA regulation? You'd think he'd have something more like Sam's crewcut in 2035.) Oh, and do we really want to deal with the implications of Sam sleeping with the daughter of Gene Hunt, when Gene Hunt is really his father? I don't think we do.

Chances That He Really Escaped:

30%. The whole thing just seems too contrived to be real, even if I'm pretty sure the creators intended it to be the actual solution.

3. Neo, The Matrix

The Setup:

I don't really need to recap The Matrix, do I? The main thing we're concerned with here is whether ever really got out of the Matrix once he took the red pill, which was briefly a matter of some fan debate back when the film first came out. So, how about it - did he really wake up?

The Case For:

This should be open and shut, really. Even if Neo's adventures are all illusory, the Matrix itself seems to be real. After all, the first scene of the movie features Trinity and the Agents doing impossible things, not Neo. That's fairly objective proof that the Matrix exists. There's also the fact that there were two sequels and an entire anthology of animated spin-offs made after the original Matrix, which would seem to remove any doubt the original actually happened. Why are we even discussing this?

The Case Against:

Well, there are a couple of loose ends worth considering. How, exactly, did Neo shut down all those sentinels at the end of The Matrix Reloaded using only his mind when he was in the supposed real world? I suppose it could have been some sort of residual link, but it certainly raises the question as to whether that world is any more real than that of the Matrix. Then there's what the Architect explains to Neo in Reloaded. He explains that 99% of humanity accepts the Matrix because they can't face the alternative, and the remaining humans wake themselves up and go to Zion.

But what if Zion itself is just another aspect of the Matrix, one that this tiny sliver of humanity is prepared to accept because it's suitably bleak? It certainly wouldn't be the most ridiculously convoluted plan the Architect came up with. As for the argument that the existence of the sequels proves the originally happened as it appeared to, I can't get away from the fact that, in the end, this is the Wachowskis we're talking about. I long ago stopped expecting them to play by the rules of fairness and logic.

Chances That He Really Escaped:

80%. A lot of weird stuff happens in the sequels that doesn't make a lot of sense, but that probably has more to do with them being terrible movies.

4. Buffy Summers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

The Setup:

The episode "Normal Again", the Trio unleashes a demon on Buffy that causes her to suffer severe hallucinatory episodes. She suddenly imagines herself in a mental institution, where she is told she has spent much of the last six years in a catatonia. Her doctor and her parents, who are still alive in this world, take advantage of this rare lucid moment to advise her how she can escape forever. The way to do this, however, is to allow all her friends to die, which is ultimately not something she can do. Returning to Sunnydale and taking an antidote to the demon's attack, Buffy commits to her vampire-slaying life as the real one. But did she choose correctly?

The Case For:

Well, that demon who attacked her did have hallucinatory powers. It's also questionable whether she could plausibly develop such a strong connection to the people she knew in her supposed fantasy world, and you'd kind of think the reality of the mental institution would have intruded just a little bit in the preceding six years.

The Case Against:
But all of those supposed arguments are countered and dealt with in the episode itself. And if she did just hallucinate the whole thing, then who exactly is issuing into existence the last scene of the episode, where the doctor sadly informs her parents that Buffy is gone forever? That happens after she took the antidote, so her mind should no longer be creating anything in that reality.

Chances That She Really Escaped:

50%. Because, in the end, it doesn't really matter which world is real and which is an illusion. What really matters is that Buffy chose the world she wanted to be real, and so the answer can remain safely ambiguous.

5. Batman, Batman: The Animated Series

The Setup:

In the 1992 episode "Perchance to Dream", Batman wakes up to find out he isn't really Batman at all. His parents are still alive, he's engaged to Selina Kyle, and someone else is playing the role of Gotham's Dark Knight. After initially rejecting the possibility that this could actually be real and the life he thought he knew nothing more than an intense dream, Bruce realizes he finally has a chance to be happy and have everything he always wanted.

But this moment of contentment is fleeting, as his sudden inability to read tips him off that this is a dream after all. In the final showdown with this world's Batman, he learns the Mad Hatter has him trapped in a dream machine from which there is no possible escape. Which he then escapes from...because he's Batman. But did he really?

The Case For:

It's pretty simple, really. Like I said, this is Batman we're talking about. Mind like a steel trap doesn't even begin to describe Bruce Wayne's intellect and inner resolve, so is it really likely a two-bit villain like the Mad Hatter could trap him for all eternity in a VR machine? When the comic book version of Batman faced a similar situation during Final Crisis, he managed to reassert control and destroy Darkseid's machine before he even woke up. There's just no way you can win in a battle with Batman's mind.

The Case Against:

Well, let's think about this for a second. When "Perchance to Dream" came out, Batman: The Animated Series was still a relatively grounded show. There had certainly been elements of science fiction before that, such as Man-Bat, Mr. Freeze, Clayface, and an invisibility cloak, but by and large the show had remained true to its film noir roots. It's only after this that Batman starts tangling with completely impossible characters like the immortals Ra's Al Ghul and Jason Blood, and it's not long before actually superpowered heroes like Superman start showing up everywhere.

In less than five years, Batman goes from barely defeating a guy who hides in the sewers with a bunch of alligators to confidently leading a Justice League of literally unlimited membership in wars with Brainiac and Darkseid. Maybe Batman's mind could never accept a world where he was completely happy. But what about a world where he could share his burdens with other heroes, a world where anything could happen and it frequently did, a world where he could stand toe to toe with evil gods...and win? That might be exactly the kind of world Batman wanted, and it's just possible the Mad Hatter gave it to him.

Chances That He Really Escaped:

98%. It's a nice theory and all, but come on...Batman doesn't lose.

6. Number Six, The Prisoner

The Setup:

In the series's penultimate episode, the unspeakably brilliant "Once Upon A Time", Number Two made the big push to crack Number Six by subjecting him to a lot of drugs and insane recreations of his life story. This backfires, as Number Six gains the upper hand and instead manages to break Number Two. The final episode, "Fallout", finds Number Six before a bizarre masked court, and then a bunch of crazy (but kind of awesome) stuff happens.

Finally, things take a turn for the incomprehensible as Number Six, the rebellious Number 48, the recovered Number Two, and the Village butler gun down the entire court as the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love" plays. They then destroy the Village with a big rocket and find themselves on a motorway back to London, signaling that they've all finally broken free. But did any of that actually happen, or did Number Two really manage to break Number Six back in "Once Upon A Time"?

The Case For:

It's somewhat paradoxical to criticize anything that happened on The Prisoner for being impossible or nonsensical. The entire series is littered with little moments that make absolutely no sense whatsoever and go completely unexplained, even compared to the vaguely understandable main plots. This episode just happens to be nothing but absurdity, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's any less tethered to The Prisoner's fractured take on reality.

The Case Against:

"Fallout" is insane, even by the standards of The Prisoner. (The revelation of Number One's identity is just the bonkers icing on an already demented cake.) And it's not as though the Village hadn't successfully trapped Number Six in illusory worlds before, as seen in "A, B, and C" (which used virtual reality) and "Living in Harmony" (which used a lot of drugs).

For what it's worth, the followup Prisoner comic miniseries, Shattered Visage, ran with the premise that the events of "Fallout" were indeed the Village's last, successful attempt to break the mind of Number Six. Considering Patrick McGoohan read Shattered Visage and said that he didn't hate it - which, by McGoohan's standards, qualified as a rave review - there might actually be something to its version of events.

Chances That He Really Escaped:

Pick a number. Any number. Now divide it by zero. Whatever that number is, that's the probability that Number Six escaped.

Check back this weekend as we examine a few more characters who may well still be trapped in virtual reality, even if they don't know it any more.

This is the first glimpse of actual footage from the miniseries, which stars McKellen as Number Two and Jim Caviezel of Outlander fame as Number Six. It's hard to tell much from such a short promo, although it does look like this new version of The Prisoner is making the most of its location work. Considering they went to the deserts of Namibia for much of shooting, you'd really expect nothing less.

As much as nothing can ever match something as iconic as the original Prisoner's Portmeirion setting - hell, nothing can ever match the original Prisoner, period - this new version has found something in the desert locations that's almost as impressive in its own right.

Being a diehard fan of The Prisoner, I'm pretty sure I should hate this new miniseries on principle, but the stars seem to keep aligning for this project, and this promo only makes me more excited. Ian McKellen looks awesomely malevolent as Number Two, I've been looking forward to more from Jim Caviezel ever since he teamed up with the Vikings to defeat the Moorwen, and AMC's other original projects, Mad Men and Breaking Bad, are two of the best shows on TV. You know what, Prisoner remake? I'll definitely be seeing you this November. I can't believe I just wrote that...

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These new posters come from the MiPTV gathering in Cannes, where the producers are trying to sell both shows to international audiences. The Prisoner is done filming, and airs later this year on AMC. As we've mentioned, it stars James Caviezel and Ian McKellen.

Check out the pretty amazing cast list for Triffids, which is still filming. (Actor Joely Richardson seems to have taken a few days off filming because of the death of her sister, Natasha Richardson. No clue if their mother, Vanessa Redgrave, had already completed her filming.)

[Broadcast Now]