Heroes - Sylar Sex Switcheroo

Sylar is having fake sex with Matt Parkman's wife, meanwhile we dry heave in the corner at sight of Sylar's sexy face.

Kyle XY - Drunk Dance Rapping

In the midst of a terrible montage of Kyle and his boys getting their drank on, one moment of pure WTF-ness stands out, when the gang attempts to half rap. I think even the crew was embarrassed for them.

Smallville - Twitter Torture

Chloe wields her mighty power of the delete key.

Stargate Universe - Boob Lens

The moment that angered the masses - who needs a plot when you can frame the shot against one character's giant rack? Need to change it up? Frame the shot with her underwear.

Battlestar Galactica - Cry-Painting

Possibly the worst scene to come out of BSG is Adama's cry-painting moment. Mixing fear, awkwardness and general horror, we sat and watched our mighty leader have a fit in a bucket of paint like a 5-year-old who's been given a time-out.

Lost - Ben's Smoke Monster Home Movie

After years of wondering what the smoke monster would look like one-on-one it's finally revealed! Sadly it's a lot like watching home movies in your chain smoking Uncle's basement.

Fringe - Peter Knows Everything

We're on board for Walter knowing everything, but when you lump Peter on top, come on - now you're just being a dick.

Eastwick - Vibrator Talky Talk

Women and their vibrators, we just can't stop talking about them in public at a family fair outside with co-workers. We can't help it! Vibrators Vibrators Vibrators, oh and we name them after real people we work with, naturally.

Torchwood - "I'm BAAAAACK"

Nothing like ruining an otherwise well directed, edited and written special Torchwood series with some crappy shtick. You just can't help yourself can you Torchwood?

Vampire Diaries - You Need Death

Ah Damon, you old over-dramatic softie. Now, tell us some more about you vampire man jewelry.

Dollhouse - Diva or DIIIIIIIVA?

First off that singing, my god, plus this meant we had to listen to said "freedom" song over, and over, and over. Second, what is the difference between a Diva and a DIIIIIVA?

V - "I'm a cool Mom"

Juliet is hip with the teen scolding lingo - also if your child is "tagging" things but has no real talent and is a rich suburban know-nothing, do yourself a favor: drop him down a well.

Dr. Who - The Master Is Hungry

All. The. Time.

The Prisoner - The Prisoner In Its Entirety

This clip pretty much sums up what we feel was accomplished or learned in The Prisoner reboot, nothing.

True Blood - Goodbye Godric

Watch as the ancient vampire Godric Quantum Leaps himself to death. So long, fey baby vamp.

From Fringe to FlashForward to V, with sidesteps into Dollhouse and Warehouse 13, the FBI were all over 2009's science fiction television (And yet, none of these activities make their list of top cases of 2009. I smell cover up). But why are so many of today's heroes working for The Man? And the same Man, at that?

Positive media portrayals are nothing new for the FBI; since its creation, the agency has actively participated in various projects, including 1935 radio show G Men and the wonderfully-titled This Is Your FBI. We remember Special Agent Dale Cooper from Twin Peaks, or Mulder and Scully from The X-Files, but this year's federal fetishism seems to have hit a new high. Part of it could be put down to a mix of comforting the audience while pretending to ramp up the excitement at the same time: They're risking their necks to make your life a safer place like the cops... But more extreme!

There's something to be said for the post-9/11 wish-fulfillment aspect of the new rash of FBI heroes; it plays directly to the idea that, even when the threat is literally unimaginable on a human scale, the people charged with protecting us will (in whatever small way) be able to recognize it first, and mobilize to stop it even if said threat is internal, which it so often seems to be. In fact, today's FBI dramas seem a particularly backhanded compliment, if they're meant to reassure; in most of the shows our new G Men and Women idols appear in, they're faced with an institution that's against them and, in some cases, implicit in the "bad stuff" that's going on around them. How many times, after all, has an FBI agent turned out to be an undercover bad guy (V, Fringe) or mentally unstable in some way (FlashForward, Fringe, Dollhouse because, let's face it, Ballard has problems) this year?

Besides the apparent ease of infiltrating the FBI, the new wave has also produced other 21st Century FBI cliches: Apparently, emotionally distant blonde women advance up the ranks easily, especially when paired with joking-yet-caring male partners. Department heads are often African American and gruff, yet ultimately caring. And new taskforces will be created at seeming random, but have to answer for budget overruns just before important breakthroughs happen. Are these really things that happen all the time in the real FBI? If so, I think someone in HR needs to find the moles immediately (Here's a clue: They're probably the ones from an alternate dimension).

Maybe the FBI-zing of science fiction is just a way of making everything into a procedural, making it easier for non-genre fans to get to grips with the new shows, turning everything into a CSI: Aliens or the like, and we're reading way too much into it. Perhaps it's a fad, and next year, every new show will have firemen. But for whatever reason, 2009 has been the year when only one kind of government employee could save the world, and we were happy to have them. Viva la FBI.

Get The Nostalgia While The Nostalgia Getting's Good
The failure of Jennifer's Body at the box office punctured the myth of Megan Fox, but in doing so left Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen's epic success even more inexplicable. You mean that everyone who went to see that genuinely wanted to see giant robots fighting for the right to appear in a story that made sense instead of Megan Fox's ass? Really? (To be fair, maybe it was John Tuturro's ass they couldn't resist.) Of course not; they wanted to relive memories of their childhood/the first Transformers movie/the Go-Bots by proxy. Same reason that Star Trek was such a hit, and the dismal Terminator Salvation made money at all. The problem with this for movie studios is that there's only a limited number of things to be nostalgic about, and they're burning through them quickly (Next year's Tron Legacy and The A-Team show that we're already up to the mid-'80s); when there're already plans to reboot Battlestar Galactica as a movie franchise months after its conclusion as a (rebooted) television show and restarting the Fantastic Four movies from scratch just a few years after the failure of Rise Of The Silver Surfer, you can tell that there's nervousness. With good reason; the lawsuit over the rights to Superman show that nostalgia could get more expensive for filmmakers in years to come. Maybe one day, Disney's $4 Billion buyout of Marvel Entertainment's IP will look like a bargain.

Find A Voice With Something To Say, Then Let It Speak
2009 was a year of extremes when it came to the creation of movies and television that didn't (entirely) rely on IP graverobbing. On the one hand, it was the year when the phrase "production hiatus" became widely known as code for "The Powers That Be don't like what's being done and are about to 'fix' it" as the trains seemed to come off the usually-smoother-running TV production track more often, and more publicly, than usual (See: Dollhouse, FlashForward and V, which has had two such hiatuses, and "coincidentally" switched showrunners twice, as well). On the other, it was the year when smaller movies like District 9 and Moon garnered critical acclaim - and, in the case of D9, a pretty amazing box office haul - for being individual, unusual and something other than generic production line blockbusters. Avatar, too, is being hailed for being the singular vision of James Cameron and, maybe most importantly, that being a good thing. Maybe this was the year that started a renaissance in an appreciation for the auteur theory after all?

On Television, Burying The Lede Will Kill You
We've said this more than once recently, but the fact that Dollhouse's second season was promoted to critics with its lackluster first episode may have damaged the show's chances irreparably. You can't blame the promotions people, because it makes sense to sell something based on the product itself; the "blame" lies with those making the show, who thought that they had the time and space to ramp up the season slowly, reiterating the central concept of the series with episodes that (sadly) repeated the rhythm of the first season. As the creative teams behind V (Put on hiatus after its first four episodes, and before we'd even seen a complete lizard reveal and/or any rodent eating) and the upcoming Day One (Restructured from a full season to a four episode mini-series to test the waters for a regular show) can attest to, there's no time for a slow build on network television anymore. Both Fringe and FlashForward sped up their timetables to try and meet demand for near-instant gratification, and both are still dogged with rumors of cancellation. Remember, television people: Put your best foot forward immediately.

Goodbyes Should Always Be Brief
Yes, yes: We loved Russell T Davies' run on Doctor Who as much as anyone, but the year of special episodes seemed weighed down by a sense of its own self-importance that reached epic proportions during this weekend's "The End of Time, Part One" (On the plus side, Now we know that Barack Obama will save the world with his economic announcement or something. Not that that'll seem horribly dated, oh, anytime after February 2009). Battlestar Galactica, too, approached epic levels of pomp and pretension during its final days. It's not that we would rather have rushed either show offstage unfinished, but there's something to be said for brevity and not getting too wrapped up in your own ego. Lost, consider yourself on notice.

Just Because You Can Doesn't Mean You Should
One word: Watchmen. Yes, we get it; we have the technology to make Doctor Manhattan look like he exists in a particularly shiny version of reality. But, months after all the hype, hoopla and multiple versions on DVD, it's still worth asking: Did Watchmen gain anything from the transition from comic to movie? Besides Zack Snyder's bank account, did anything? Sometimes it's okay to leave the original alone.

Avatar:

A few new TV spots. Spot #13 includes some sexy heavy walker action.

And an early review from someone who's seen the film says its plot is almost non-existent, but it's like the biggest first-person shooter ever. And:

What we have is: Boy meets alien through marines, boy loses aliens and marines, boy fights marines and gets girl. And I was also told that despite all the trappings of special effects, blue people and CGI skies, Sigourney Weaver still manages to register strongly with warmth and a commanding presence.

[Hollywood Elsewhere via Slashfilm]

Lost:

So, trying to piece together all the clues in E! Online's latest spoiler column... Charlotte (Rebecca Mader) is back from the dead, but the timeline in which she's suddenly alive is not the same one in which Flight 815 landed safely in L.A. — it's the other timeline, which we'll be visiting concurrently. Charlotte will be revealed to be alive in the same time period where we saw her die. And the explanation of Charlotte's survival will blow your mind (and presumably has nothing to do with Juliet's hydrogen bomb.) Also, Jack and Rose will be reunited, and it will feel so good. [E! Online]

So if you've been paying attention, you'll have heard there's a "Temple" set being built for the sixth season, and we've only glimpsed its exterior so far. But now, some fans seem to have stumbled on the full Temple set, and it includes the expected Egyptian imagery (Anubis) , but also the Hindu Trimurti. Given that there was a little campfire with a cauldron out front, with some rotting potatoes and an old blanket, the eyewitness suspects these scenes take place on the Island in ancient times — and the Island may be a paradise for many different religions. And there are some pics. (More at the link.) [SpoilersLost]

A new promo for season six is truly "Amazing." Okay, maybe not.

Doctor Who:

Here's another new clip from "The End Of Time Part 1," in which the Doctor explains about the Blinovitch Limitation Effect (sort of) to an uncomprehending Wilf. [BlogtorWho]

Dollhouse:

The show is looking for someone to play "T," a six year old with mixed Asian/Caucasian heritage, who's fearless, precocious and adorable, in the finale. And speculation is, this might be Sierra and Victor's son in the future. [E! Online]

Fringe:

Here's a new promo for this show plus Bones. [Fringe Italia]

Kick Ass:

Matthew Vaughn says this movie won't feature the typical boring action sequences — rather, every action sequence will tell a story:

It's 11-year-old girls slicing and dicing people, and getting shot. I mean, I'm very bored of the way most of the big movies shoot action, all this shaky camera, handheld, close cutting, quick cutting. So I've tried to put a narrative story into every action sequence.

[Crave Online via Comic Book Resources]

Daybreakers:

A new TV spot shows a bit more of the consequences of running out of human blood for this vampire-dominated future. [ShockTillYouDrop]

The Sorcerer's Apprentice:

Here's a new pic showing Nic Cage looking just as magical as he has in all the other pics you've seen. Bigger version at the link. [The HD Room]

V:

Morris Chestnut says the next episodes will be worth the wait (until late March). Things about the Vs will be revealed, and they'll be pushing the envelope. [E! Online]

Chuck:

As we mentioned before, the first 13 episodes of the season have their own arc which wraps up at the end of episode 13. But then the extra six episodes, which the network added to the season after the show was moved back from March to January, will have a totally different story arc, clarifies Zachary Levi. Yay for not trying to pad out the original 13-episode storyline to last another six episodes. [Sci Fi Wire]

Better Off Ted:

Someone sends out a memo with a typo, saying "Employees must now use offensive language," so everybody starts swearing up a blue streak to comply with it. "They think it's good for morale," says Jay Harrington. [E! Online]

Mad Max: Fury Road:

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

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

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

Avatar:

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

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

The Lovely Bones:

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

Kick Ass:

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

Endangered Species:

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

Eclipse:

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

Doctor Who:

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

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

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

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

[BlogtorWho]

Caprica:

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

Lost:

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

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

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

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

Fringe:

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

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

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

Supernatural:

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

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

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

[SpoilerTV]

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

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

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

The Survivors:

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

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

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

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

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

[Survivors BBC TV]

V:

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

FlashForward:

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

Chuck:

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

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

Sanctuary:

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

Additiional reporting by Mary Ratliff.

Okay, that's obviously not completely fair; after all, this last ten years have also seen things like Lost and Twilight winning over new fans, not to mention the end of the Harry Potter book series. But there's no denying that this has been a decade of recycling ideas: James Bond, Batman and Star Trek all got movie reboots (Trek also got a television one, if you count Enterprise), Star Wars gained new life as a TV show, Doctor Who and Battlestar Galactica was reborn to much acclaim, unlike fellow television reboots Bionic Woman, Knight Rider and V. We even have Tron waiting in the wings for next year, along with a new Charlie's Angels TV show. The most successful "new" media franchises were Transformers and Spider-Man - based on ideas that are over two decades old (You could even argue that things like Lost and Twilight are simply mashing up old ideas into relatively new forms; they're definitely standing on the shoulders of giants, at least). So what happened?

It's easy to just say "Well, the geeks are in charge of media now," even if it's not necessarily untrue. But that doesn't explain how they got there, and why they're not making us fall in love with all manner of new things, instead of retreads of old flames (Does Fringe count as new, or just an updated X-Files?). Personally, I think the blame is shared pretty much equally between creators and the audience. For all that we may cry YARM whenever someone talks about their dream to make the ultimate Logan's Run project, it's as much a desire to succeed as creative backwards-looking that's behind it; audiences, for the most part, tend not to support the new in numbers necessary to make it a big success. Look at the most successful movies of the last ten years: Each one is based on a concept that people grew up on.

So, is it simply nostalgia? Perhaps; it's tempting to play armchair psychologist and stroke the chin, commenting on a return to childhood things following the trauma of 9/11, but it doesn't quite fit, because how does that explain the domination of 2000's The Grinch or 1999's Phantom Menace? You can see definite post-9/11 tropes throughout the pop culture that followed (A simpler morality, where good guys always won and could save us from death from above, in many cases; stories of people dealing with increasingly familiar apocalypses in others), but I don't think that the prevalence of reboots was necessarily one of them. It's not laziness, either; some reboots (Battlestar Galactica, for example) put in as much work as any original concept in terms of worldbuilding and creation.

In the end, it may simply be the result of conservatism on everyone's parts: Audiences don't want to spend time or money on something they don't know will entertain them, and studios/creators don't want to spend time or money on something that they don't know will have an audience waiting for it. Movies like District 9 or Moon, web content like Dr. Horrible and the increasing use of comic books as source material for other media back this up, to an extent; the new ideas, and new voices, now have to find new - and cheaper - outlets through which to make themselves known, and become popular and proven enough for the big time. Maybe that'll have happened by the time they've been around long enough to be nostalgic about.

Around 2.1 million viewers watched Friday's double bill according to early reports, matching the series low and coming in last in its regular timeslot, behind a Muppet Christmas Special re-run and the soon-to-be-moved-to-Wednesdays Ugly Betty (It beat a Smallville rerun on the CW from 8-9pm, however; it was only last from 9-10pm).

Considering many were expecting some kind of ratings bump from the Summer Glau guestshot, we're wondering: Was there a Glau bump that offset what would, otherwise, have been another drop, or did the month-gap between episodes and cancellation announcement kill any potential enthusiasm in the show? As both FlashForward and V go off the air until March amid rumors of low ratings, ABC may want to think about that last option and think about ways to remind people about both shows during their three month-long breaks.

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.

Doctor Who:

In an interview with Bullz-Eye.com to promote Pirate Radio, fifth series writer Richard Curtis revealed who will be playing featured guest star Vincent Van Gogh:

Well, we've got a brilliant guy playing Vincent van Gogh – which is who it's about – who you should look up on YouTube. He's a guy called Tony Curran, who really could not look more like. He's a wonderful actor who was in this brilliant movie called "Red Road" that came out, a rather serious movie.

He also mentioned they start shooting the episode in about a month. [Blogtor Who]

Elsewhere, a very Scottish-sounding John Barrowman appeared on GMTV with Lorraine to promote his new concert DVD and talk about "The End of Time." Skip to 2:15 as he slips back into his American accent to discuss his role, which apparently is just "an appearance." [Planet Gallifrey]

Dollhouse:

I think it's been fairly well reported that Alan Tudyk is coming back as Alpha, but now we've got a photo of him and a description of episodes 2.7 and 2.8, in which he appears:

DOLLHOUSE season 2 episode 7 and 8 "Meet Jane Doe/A Love Supreme" - Echo struggles to control her multiple memory downloads; Topher discovers the dangers of science that will have devastating effects on the future; the Dollhouse fears Alpha has returned to seek his revenge; the Actives turn against their handlers.

And here's that picture. [Spoiler TV]

Michael Ausiello reports English actor Adam Godley, probably best known to American audiences for his role as Father Ybarra in The X-Files: I Want to Believe is joining the cast as Clyde, "a genius who holds secrets to the Dollhouse." The role is recurring as any role can be when there are less than ten episodes left in the series. He also has a complete breakdown of the air dates for the remaining episodes: [EW.com]

Dec. 4: two episodes
Dec. 11: two episodes
Dec 18: two episodes
Jan 8: one episode
Jan 15: one episode
Jan 22: one episode (series finale)

Finally, here are a bunch more promo pics for the next four episodes. [Spoiler TV]

Thor:

Another day, another casting possibility for Kat Dennings. Apparently, Dennings twittered something about "loving Hell", which naturally means she will play Hela, the Asgardian goddess of death. [Spoiler TV]

Meanwhile, Variety reports she's playing "Darcy, who works with Natalie Portman's Jane Foster character." That's probably the same person as the previously reported Marcy Lewis, but who really knows? At this point, it's probably just safe to assume Kenneth Branagh has actually turned Thor into a one-woman show, starring Dennings in all the parts, including Thor. [IGN]

Chuck:

Here's a six-minute preview of the third season, complete with clips from the first five episodes:

According to Michael Ausiello, co-creator Chris Fedak says Anna Wu won't be in the first thirteen episodes, but she could be in the newly ordered last six, if only because they haven't been written yet. He also notes that her character's absence from the Buy More will be mentioned early next season. Finally, Fedak says the extra six episodes forced them to either slow down the story they were already telling or expand it. They opted to expand it, and are treating those last six as "Season 3.2" of Chuck. [ChuckTV.net]

And, last and sort of least, here are a couple photos tweeted from a season 3 photo shoot.

Fringe:

Here are three promo pics for episode 2.10, "Grey Matters", in which Walter gets a glimpse of the past: [Spoiler TV]

Heroes:

Here's a sneak peek and a promo for episode 4.11, "The Fifth Stage": [Spoiler TV]

For those who prefer to keep their audio and their visual separate, here are some promo pics:

And here's a scoop from Adam of TV Guide Mega Buzz: [Spoiler TV]

Todd Stashwick (The Riches) kicks off his guest role in Monday's episode. He plays Eli, who fills the void as Samuel's right-hand man now that Edgar (Ray Park) has split from the carnival. Also, expect to see a lot of Eli: He has the ability to replicate.

Smallville:

Michael Ausiello has the scoop on whether Warrior Angel is really going to be Chloe's love interest:

He is, but per exec producer Brian Petersen, "There's a wink behind it." And what about a real, non-winky love interest? "I have promised that we're going to give Chloe a relationship this year, and rest-assured, that was not just a tease. She will have a relationship this year." Does this guy have a name? Teases BP: "We'll know [who he is] in ‘Warrior.'"

Also, there will be Justice Society members seen in the upcoming movie Absolute Justice beyond Hawkman, Doctor Fate, and Stargirl, but these will be only glimpses. Brian Peterson does promise there will be several of them, though. Let's hope Ma Hunkel finally gets her due. [EW.com]

Finally, though V is on a break, there's apparently no chance Laura Vandervoort will return as Supergirl, much as she might like to. [Spoiler TV]

Green Lantern:

Ryan Reynolds spoke to MTV about his next big movie, and he mentioned how awesome the constume is: [IGN]

"Seeing the prototypes for the Green Lantern costumes was a huge moment," he says. "It was a moment when I was like, 'This is happening, and it's happening in the right way.' That's a pretty cool, definitive moment for me."

Deadpool:

Reynolds also talked about what he wanted to see in his upcoming Deadpool spinoff movie: [IGN]

"Everyone is always looking for that one line, 'What is that character?' and for me it's kind of like, 'There's a guy, and he's in a highly militarized comedic fame spiral,'" the actor explains. "That's not an easy thing to write — an entire screenplay, let alone a franchise. I had a blast playing Wade [in Wolverine]. Every line I had in that was stuff I thought he would say. It wasn't something that a writer said to me. It was fun to really create that character, including everything he spits out of his awful mouth."

V:

As the series heads into hiatus, star Morena Baccarin talked to E! Online about the dynamic she has with Scott Wolf's character, the conflicted newsman Chad Decker: [E! Online]

The relationship is definitely going to keep going in whatever strange direction it's going now. You don't really know if they're going to fight each other, love each other, or if she's going to eat him. You don't know what's going to happen! It gets really interesting in the episode that comes out on Tuesday. Something happens to his character that makes him very dependent on us. He has to sort of battle with his will to see what he's going to do. It's a very interesting dynamic.

Lost:

A tweet-sized filming update for season six. Apparently, "characters Sun, Locke & Claire spotted at Manoa trail head yesterday." [Lyly Ford Blog]

Avatar:

Here's a new Norwegian poster that's all about the disembodied heads.

Wolfman:

Benicio Del Toro's upcoming Wolfman movie has a new international poster:

The Book of Eli

Denzel Washington's post-apocalyptic thriller has a new poster out that is long on Denzel Washington, short on the post-apocalyptic:Cinema Blend

Watching "It's Just The Beginning" a second time, I definitely had a sense that this was a show with reams of potential, that just needs to find its footing. Some nice groundwork has been done, but the storytelling has been a bit choppy so far — maybe as a result of scrunching six episodes down into four, or maybe just because the producers were in a hurry to get past the obvious plot points like the aliens being up to no good.

The bottom line, for me, is that this is a show with tons of potential, if it can get past the sometimes overly obvious dialogue. (And now I'm dead curious to know what one of the Vs has been doing living undercover as a Buddhist monk — what's his mission? And has the Dalai Lama endorsed the Vs, just like the Vatican did?)

The good news is, V's ratings slide stopped last night — the show got 9.2 million viewers and a 3.1 rating, the same as last week.

Obviously, ABC thinks this show is iconic enough that they can afford to poke fun of it after only a few episodes, as seen in this Scrubs ad which ran during last night's episode:

But anyway, what did you think?

Thor

Although initial speculation had Kat Dennings playing the Enchantress, some folks think it's more likely that she'll be playing college student Marcy Lewis based on the previously mentioned casting call:

[MARCY LEWIS] (20) Is a college student. Aloof, jaded beyond her years, she thought her internship with scientist Kate Spelling would be an easy 6 college credits. However, she's been stuck for months in this small New Mexico town and relegated to a wide range of unglamorous activities. Kate has been particularly hard on Marcy, making it her personal project to see that Marcy lives up to her potential. Marcy deals with her situation both by using subtle irony and by being an overt wiseass.

After all, Dennings is known for playing overt wiseasses. [Cinema Blend]

Iron Man

The latest issue of Empire Magazine has our hero on the cover. It looks like the new Iron Man is essentially the same as the old Iron Man. [via Cinema Blend]

Avatar

We get another good look at Pandora in CNN's feature on the film. [CNN]

And, in case you didn't get enough of him on 60 Minutes, CNN does an interview with James Cameron. [CNN]

Zoë Saldana says that to prepare for the role of Neytiri, she had to study wushu, a Shaolin kung fu that bases its stances on wild animals. [Details]

The Wolfman

The latest behind-the-scenes featurette plays on our nostalgia for old Universal horror flicks. [via Cinema Blend]

The Hobbit

Peter Jackson says that the studio has seen the first script for Guillermo del Toro's The Hobbit, and they're happy with what they've seen so far. [/Film]

Zombieland 2

Sony is very interested in making a sequel to the hit zombie comedy, and it looks like we'll see it in 3D, with zombies, weapons, and teeth flying around the screen. [Cinema Blend]

The Lovely Bones

Two new clips from Peter Jackson's heavenly movie introduce us to the soon-to-be-murdered Susie Salmon and the man who kills her. [via Collider]

Doctor Who

The TV magazines take a quick look at David Tennant's last episode. [Blogtor Who]

More significantly, we get a fresh image from "The End of Time." Is this one of Tennant's final scenes with the TARDIS? And notice the book Tennant is holding — Finding The Future by Joshua Naismith. You might recall the bus in "Planet Of The Dead" had ads that mentioned Naismith's telecommunications company, Neon by Naismith. Naismith turns up as a character in "The End Of Time." [Den of Geek]

Clone Wars

Uh-oh. It looks like that Geonosian zombie infection might be catching. The Galactic Senate has issued the following health warning:

Lost

More confusing comments are emerging about these darned alternate timelines. Although everyone's been seeing tons of spoilers about the timeline where Oceanic 815 lands safely, supposedly something necessary for he alternate timeline to occur doesn't happen. Is that vague enough for you? Also, it's not a coincidence that the season premieres on Groundhog Day. [E!]

Fringe

After February 11th, the producers are apparently going to leave us hanging for a seven-week hiatus. Bah. [E!]

But before that happens, we get a whole mess of interviews from Lance Reddick, Anna Torv, John Noble, Michael Cerveris, and executive producer Jeff Pinkner. [Fringe Television]

V

Morris Chestnut talks a bit about being a human-aligned Visitor and audience feedback.

And Morena Baccarin explains a bit about Anna, and why she's drawn to science fiction projects.

Chuck

We get a four-minute preview of the new season, and witness how Chuck's new Intersect powers can make Sarah swoon. [via Screen Rant]

FlashForward</>

Joseph Fiennes creates a hostage situation in this clip from "A561984."

Heroes

Peter tries to save Nathan in this still from the November 30th episode, "The Fifth Stage." Incidentally, the fifth stage of grief is acceptance. [Spoiler TV]

The season's sixteenth episode is titled "The Art of Deception," and the seventeenth is "The Wall." [Spoiler TV]

Outer Space Astronauts

Syfy's new quasi-animated series premieres December 8th, but you can watch the first episode in its entirety below. [via Cinema Blend]

Additional reporting by Josh Snyder and Charlie Jane Anders.

This news follows both the show's steady fall in the ratings — last week saw the series beaten by Fox's Bones for the first time; overall, FlashForward has lost a third of its audience since its premiere — and co-showrunner Marc Guggenheim leaving staff last month. An ABC spokesman said that the reason for the production halt was because the network wanted "to maintain the high quality of the show, and this gives the writers the opportunity to do so."

This shutdown follows ABC's similar decision for V in August, a halt that grew in length and led to two different replacements of showrunner before the series even premiered. Is FlashForward co-creator and current showrunner David Goyer about to find himself ousted in favor of someone that ABC feels more comfortable taking the show to April 29th 2010?

ABC halts 'FlashForward' [Variety]

There are minor spoilers for tomorrow night's episode, "It's Only The Beginning." But don't worry — I won't give away any huge plot twists or revelations from the episode.

Baccarin, as alien leader Anna, gets most of the best scenes in tomorrow night's episode, and the camera follows her around lovingly, lingering on her ankles in one early scene and dwelling on her perfect cheekbones. We get to see how Anna deals with traitors in her midst, and how she handles those who harbor doubts about her leadership. And we get to experience Anna's "Bliss" — the happy communion that keeps all of the other Visitors in her thrall. (The Bliss involves Morena Baccarin stripping naked, which is also lovingly filmed and probably quite similar to something she would have done as the Companion Inara on Firefly.)

But also, the episode highlights the contrast between two mothers: Anna and Erica. Last week, we learned that Anna is the mom of Lisa, the blond Visitor who is seducing Erica's annoying son Tyler. Tomorrow night, we get to see Anna and Erica's contrasting parenting styles — apparently Visitor women are seem to be better at juggling family and career than their human counterparts — and Anna works on winning Tyler over, for some nefarious purpose of her own. To Tyler's selfish, weaselly brain, Anna is a better mom than Erica — but the episode also lets us wonder if there might not be a grain of truth to that.

Erica, meanwhile, gets to do even more ass-kicking tomorrow night, stepping up to a leadership role in the resistance and helping to deal a blow to the Visitors. I really like how fast this show is moving, and I like how unapologetically heroic and bad-ass they're letting Erica be. (Let's hope they don't feel the need to counterbalance this by having her cry in every episode.) Elizabeth Mitchell is having a field day with playing a tough FBI agent who can't reveal to anyone what she knows about the most important event in human history.

It's pretty rare and awesome that we get a TV show built around two such strong female characters, even if their main field of battle is over who's the better mom.

Meanwhile, Father Jack is showing a definite pattern of being the "state the obvious" guy. A few times in tomorrow night's episode, he literally makes observations like, "I'm wearing clothes" or "I'm walking on a floor." Maybe he's there for the really slow viewers who can't spot these things on his own. Tyler and Georgie have a contest to see who can be more annoying, and Tyler mops the floor with Georgie. Lisa simpers a lot, and Chad shows signs of having a mind of his own — and then the Vs suck him in even more.

And of course, there are huge revelations and twists and explosions, and things I'm not allowed to talk about yet. It's a pretty fun hour of television, but more importantly, it left me curious about the clash between these two powerful women — and here's hoping we get more of that when the show returns in the distant era known as March 2010.

Monday

If you'd rather not think about Turkey Day, you may want to skip both House (Fox, 8pm) and Heroes (NBC, 8pm) this week; both shows are having holiday-themed episodes.

House and his team treat "an exceptionally brilliant physicist" more successfully than they handle their own relationships, and the Petrellis have a "surprise guest" for their special turkey dinner. Maybe we'll see Sylar eat some turkey brains or something.

Tuesday

V wraps up its four-episode mini-run on ABC at 8pm with the lying title of "It's Only The Beginning" Here's the official network blurb:

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. Chad does a segment on the V Healing Centers, demonstrating their amazing medical abilities, but then finds himself conflicted by some of his findings.

Findings like them eating mice, Chad? We can but hope.

Meanwhile, BBC America provides a non-fiction alternative with Apollo Wives (8pm), a documentary where the wives of the Apollo mission astronauts talk about what it was like for them to watch their husbands risk their lives flying to the moon and then return as some of the most famous people on the planet.

Wednesday

If you're not interested in Mythbusters taking on dumpster myths on the Discovery Channel at 9pm (Kari fans, it's her last episode before maternity leave), and the idea of another episode of ABC's Eastwick at 10pm leaves you cold (Roxie gets seduced by Darryl's art world connections, Joanna learns about the magical version of Einstein's theories and Kat stays away from the dating world, if you care), then all is not lost.

Cartoon Network's latest live action Ben 10 movie, Ben 10: Alien Swarm debuts at 7pm and, to be honest, you could watch worse this week.

Thursday

It's Thanksgiving, which means all of the usual Thursday night confusion takes a break to go eat with its family, and we're left with the choice of two marathons. The Discovery Channel lets rip with a Mythbusters marathon from 9am through to 3am, while Syfy, surreally, goes with a James Bond movie marathon, starting at 8am. Because... someone had to?

Even stranger is the order of the movies they're showing: Dr. No at 8am, License To Kill at 10:30am, Live And Let Die at 1:30pm, The Spy Who Loved Me at 4pm, Tomorrow Never Dies at 6:30pm, Casino Royale at 9pm, For Your Eyes Only at midnight, and The Man With The Golden Gun at 2:30am. Um... Okay?

Friday

Thanksgiving takes out all of today's regular programming as well, leaving us with the second day of Syfy's Bond In No Obvious Order Whatsoever Marathon, again starting at 8am. Today's movies are Thunderball at 8am, From Russia With Love at 10:30am, You Only Live Twice at 1pm, Diamonds Are Forever at 3:30pm, Casino Royale again at 6pm, GoldenEye at 9pm, Goldfinger at midnight and, finally, Never Say Never Again at 2:30am.

Seriously, are these being shown in order of someone's particular preference or something?

Saturday

Things begin to get back to normal with the appearance of a crazy gimmicked Syfy Original Movie: Beyond Sherwood Forest takes Robin Hood and his Merry Men and then puts them head to head with magic and monsters. It's kind of genius in its simplicity, really. Plus, look! Lois Lane!

Sunday

Of course, as usual, the week ends with a new episode of The Venture Bros on Cartoon Network at midnight. You're all watching this by now, right? It's probably the best season to date, even if we haven't approached anything as compelling as The Nozzle yet...

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.

Written by David Grossman

Everyone gets nostalgic. What's odd is when an entire society wants to relive a specific moment in its history. Where we want to go says a lot about us as a society. In the 70's, the 1950's suddenly became big with Grease and Happy Days- it seemed like a friendlier time when Americans could worry more about jumping over buses in motorcycles than crises in the Middle East. Here in the 21st Century, America has been dreaming of the 80's. It's a trend that's taking on a very different tone then the 50's craze. Rather than re-imagining an idealistic version of the time period, we have taken the liberty of re-appropriating the time period's stories for ourselves. But why?

Maybe because so many parts of the current decade look familiar. Culture in the 80's was, in general, based on the concept of dehumanization. It's no coincidence that electronica and synth first really became popular during the 80's- it's also when the computer first started becoming at least somewhat commonplace. Machinery was becoming more of a factor in day-to-day lives and in some cases, like cell phones, changing the way people interacted. Neuromancer captures the moment and its fears with its black organ clinics and razors popping out under fingernails, but William Gibson didn't have to be that inventive to describe what was happening. The spectacle of hair metal, the androgyny of David Bowie and Prince, big shoulders- people were interested in looking and being more than, or at least different than, humans.

The 2000's have had a similar transformation. Rather than turn our bodies into machines, we've placed ourselves inside them. We've trusted our personalities to Facebook, clever hashtags and ironic avatar pictures. Our knowledge of people is increasingly becoming second-hand, told through online arbiters. It's not necessarily a bad thing, of course- a Facebook page can show off intelligence and humor in a non-threatening fashion, the same is true of Twitter or online comments. It's just that we're not deciding the parameters of our conversation- someone else is.

Enter V. The original and the new one version share the same basic story- aliens trapping humanity under false pretense. It's a story that's been told before, but never with the specific V uses. The aliens sought first to change human society by maligning the scientific community, and eventually destory nearly all of it, reducing humanity to slaves, cannon fodder and food. The Visitors and the technology they use are undoubtedly evil, except when we use them:

It's not hard to take this idea and expand it to a larger theme- technology is evil, but only when it is out of our control. Outside forces will try to deceive, but we- as humans, and specifically Americans- can use it properly.

While the new V hasn't focused on technology or a total shakeup of societal structure yet, it has looked at the importance of visual deception. There are sleeper Vs, but they aren't like Boomer in Battlestar Galactica, who had no idea of her true origin until later on. They willingly mislead humanity with their good looks and calm demeanor. In "There Is No Normal Anymore," Anna shuffles through outfits in which to present herself to different countries. This isn't that different from sifting through pictures for the perfect Facebook profile shot, the one that really brings your smile out. Sure, Anna's also hiding a hideous reptilian skin, but the core principle is the same.

And this is why the 80's keep coming up in pop culture. Unlike the 70's and the 50's, where nostalgia was key, the 2000's and 80's have a common robotic bond. Dehumanization is back in vogue- we don't have synth, we have autotune. As long as we continue to mix our personalities with internet coding (it looks to be a long time), stories about the non-human becoming like us will continue to fascinate. And where better to take stories from then the decade where it all began?

Thor

Idris Elba, whom fans of The Wire know as Stringer Bell, has been cast as Heimdell, the Asgardian who stands guard at BiFrost Bridge, always ready to defend Asgard from intruders. [/Film]

Iron Man 3

We haven't even seen Iron Man 2, but there are already rumors for the third movie. Faran Tahir, who played Raza in the first movie, was asked about the third film and mentioned that Favreau and the producers want to introduce the Mandarin as a villain at some point. Since both Raza and the Mandarin are leaders of the Ten Rings, that affects whether Tahir will return to the franchise. [Moviefone]

Star Trek 2

Karl Urban would like to see his character, Bones McCoy, become more the third part of the Kirk-Spock-Bones triumvirate. He also wants Bones to be a bit preachier:

"I would love to play scenes being essentially Kirk's moral compass or point of conscience. The way McCoy was written he really sort of verbalized the war going on in Kirk's conscience, and I certainly would love to see more arguments of passion versus logic with Spock because they're always fun. So it's going to be really interesting to see what they come up with."

[IGN]

Daybreakers

Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe prepare to take on the vampires (and the vampire virus) in two new stills.

Legion

Shock Till You Drop saw 20 minutes of the angel apocalypse, and they're still a bit on the fence about the film. In one clip, the archangel Michael crashes to Earth, slices off his wings, breaks the halo (as known as the heavenly LoJack system) from his neck. Then he heads off to a gun shop to load up on weapons and ammo. When a pair of cops try to stop him, we get to see the unpleasant effects of angelic possession: the possessed cop goes all twitchy, his eyeballs turn black, and his teeth sharpen. Another clip comes straight out of the trailer, with Gladys, the old lady who quickly transforms from sweet to demonic when she tells Charlie that her "fucking baby is gonna burn," and then starts scuttling across the ceiling. In another scene, the protagonists drive into a storm of flies (the first plague of Egypt), and a group of diner patrons head to the roof to take out a group of possessed folks, including the frosty treats man. [ShockTillYouDrop]

Doctor Who

It's official: the title of the first hour of the Christmas special is The End of Time Part One. No surprise there. [Den of Geek]

Lost

Season six officially has a premiere day: February 2 at 9pm. Lost now airs on Tuesdays. Adjust your DVRs accordingly. Also, Richard Alpert, Miles, Frank Lapidus, and Ilana are now series regulars, and Claire is back full-time. Desmond, however, is not a regulat this season. [E!]

Carlton Cuse confirmed via Twitter that Rebecca Mader who plays Faraday's deceased love Charlotte, has been filming, though he offered no indication of what context we'll be seeing Charlotte in. [Cinema Blend]

However, a source at Dark UFO claims to have the scoop on Charlotte's reappearance. Sawyer is trying to run his usual con on Charlotte, knowing that she has been to the island. However, Charlotte catches on to Sawyer's act and calls him out on it. Sawyer tells her everything: that she knows she was raised on the island and that everything connects back to Charles Widmore. He says he wants "on the boat," but Sawyer isn't acting alone; a man he talks to on the phone gives him instructions and seems to be in charge. Throughout their conversation, Charlotte keeps looking toward an Asian man, something Sawyer notices. Apparently, there is a fight scene in a different location involving Sawyer and the Asian man. [Dark UFO]

Michael Emerson described the final season as "very dark and bloody," and said of the episodes:

"I thought I would be able to see the ending that was coming, but I can't," he says of the series finale. "It's still so opaque."

As for Ben himself, Emerson said we will see Ben at his manipulative best, and that he will surprise the audience. [Starbulletin]

At yet another Lost shoot, fans spotted Sawyer and Charles Widmore filming a scene at the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum in Pearl Harbor. Is someone planning an underwater voyage, or is Widmore the one pulling Sawyer's strings? [Hawaii Blog]

Fringe

John Noble says that there have been discussions about Walter meeting his alternate self toward the end of the season. [Korbi TV]

Anna Torv also talks about what's in store for Olivia's family and her love life. [Korbi TV]

Chuck

The new season premieres Sunday, January 10th, with two back-to-back episodes. A third episode will air during its regular timeslot on Monday, January 11th, at 8/7c. Here's a promo to that effect, plus a new clip:

And here's the Season Three poster:

[Chuck TV]

V

Morena Baccarin talks about Anna and Chad's evolving relationship, and what happens when one of the Visitors is murdered. [Spoiler TV]

And we get a promo for the year's last episode, Tuesday's "It's Only the Beginning."

Heroes

A two-hour "event" airs Monday, January 4th, a 8pm EST; after that, the show's regular time slot will be Mondays at 9pm. [Spoiler TV]

FlashForward

The actors ask their questions about the show's mysteries, and manage to get some answers. [Spoiler TV]

Additional reporting by Josh Snyder.

Star Trek:

By all accounts, there's still no script for the sequel, so any predictions anyone might make are purely based on what they had for lunch. But after saying J.J. Abrams told him he'll be in the sequel a week or so ago, Bruce Greenwood is now saying he may not be there after all.

I'm not sure if we'll see Pike or not. He was mainly there to bring Kirk aboard the Enterprise and it's hard to say if he'll be popping up in the sequel.

[MovieWeb]

And co-writer Roberto Orci says that even if Khan is in the sequel, chances are it'll be a character they created, who they then decide to turn into Khan:

Cause in a way, even if we do Khan, or not, we're trying to approach the story as just what's best for it, and then [asking] can that character become Khan or not, you know. You're not trying to rely on previous knowledge or love of it, so you almost want to strip all the names away and just come up with the emotional forces and the scientific forces that are going to come into play, and then start letting the details kind of bleed in.

[Newsarama]

Avatar:

Here's a new French poster for this James Cameron alien epic! [Slashfilm]

Daybreakers:

Here's a new European poster for this vampire epic. [ShockTillYouDrop]

New Moon:

Taylor Lautner admits the film never really addresses the fact that he should be naked when he changes back from a werewolf into a human. [MTV]

Planet 51:

More (mostly negative) reviews, more spoilers for this animated "we're the alien invaders" film. The 1950s jokes include a parody of "Duck and Cover" drills. The planet's skies rain rocks instead of water. Chuck's alien friend Lem is an astronomy nut, who's convinced the universe is only 500 miles wide and his planet is the biggest one. Also helping Chuck are a comic book geek, Skiff, and Lem's love interest Neera. The aliens sent to track down Chuck are led by General Grawl (Gary Oldman! What will Gary Oldman not do?). Chuck only has 48 hours to return to his spaceship, or it'll return to Earth without him. [Star Telegram and the Canadian Press and Alibi]

Lost:

Ian Somerhalder says the script for the season opener is so detailed, it weighed three pounds. And he had to wear the same clothes he wore in the original pilot. He'll be back for a couple more episodes after the first one. [ABC News]

Meanwhile, Lost was filming in the old Honolulu Police Station, which was previously seen as the lockup where Sarah bailed Jack out. Some filming included LAPD cruisers, and Josh Holloway was the main character on set. [Hawaii Weblog]

Doctor Who:

The BBC posted an eight-second audio clip from "The End Of Time":

Dollhouse:

Three new stills from "The Left Hand" showcase tons of destruction centering around Summer Glau. [SpoilerTV]

Fringe:

Olivia's niece is back in tonight's episode, but her sister remains MIA. [EW]

And here's a behind-the-scenes glimpse of tonight's episode.

Also, here's what happens in episode 2x09, "Snakehead":

After a cargo ship runs aground, the shoreline becomes littered with bodies hosting a giant squid-like creature. The Fringe team descends upon the scene to examine the bodies and discovers that the mysterious organisms are actually giant parasites.

And here are some pictures from the episode. [FringeSpoilers and FringeSpoilers]

And in episode 2x15, we'll meet a slightly overweight seven-year-old boy with brown hair and very blue eyes. [SpoilerTV]

V:

Now that Scott Rosenbaum is taking over as showrunner for the 2010 episodes, he says the series will become more fast-paced and we'll get more answers about the mythology of the Visitors faster. He adds:

Listen, my goal is that in every single episode there will be an "Oh my God, I can't believe that happened" moment, or a "Wow" moment – at least one – in every single episode. And I think that would not only be a mythology plot reveal, but also a character reveal. I want the characters to be able to make mistakes, to make the wrong choices sometimes, and that's where you get the most amount of drama. I would prefer that the stories come from them making mistakes, and the snowball effect of those mistakes, or, rather than mistakes, choices made for the right reason, but then there are consequences of that. I don't want people to watch this show and ever be able to guess what's going to happen next, because that's the problem with some of the TV I watch.

We'll delve into questions like what the Visitors eat, whether they're capable of love or empathy, and so on. [SciFiTVZone]

Supernatural:

The show's 100th episode, airing in March or April, will be a big one for Jensen Ackles. (Does he say "Yes" to Michael in it??) [EW]

Smallville:

Chloe's love interest is called Steven Swift, aka Warrior Angel. (Bwa ha ha ha.) And he's played by Carlo Marks, who played Chloe's "what if" fiance back in season seven's "Apocalypse." [EW]

Star Wars: Clone Wars:

Here's a new image from Friday's episode, "Legacy Of Terror," in which:

When Luminara disappears while tracking the Geonosian warlord, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker lead a platoon of clone troopers in search of her. Following her trail, the heroes descend deep into the lair of the grotesque Geonosian queen – Karina the Great – where they discover that the hive is alive and teeming with undead defenders

Additional reporting by Mary Ratliff.

You can sort of tell that the first six episodes of V were compressed into four episodes, judging from how fast-moving this one was. In one hour, we got to see Erica and Father Jack track down Georgie's shambles of a resistance movement, and by the end we saw Georgie, Father Jack, Ryan and Erica all come together to start forming their resistance cell. Meanwhile, the "fake death threat" thing only took up about half the episode, and got nicely wrapped together with Anna's publicity coup in handling the "CIndy Sheehan wannabe" protestor. (See? Anna's not Obama. She's George Bush.)

Possibly the best parts of last night's episode involved Alan Tudyk waking up and remembering bits about his life as a human — including the horror of living among us and being married to a woman who brushes her hair over the kitchen sink. (Although then the surprise reveal that the VIsitor treating Alan was actually part of the Fifth Column was actually a tad disappointing — especially if that really is the end for Alan this time.)

Oh, and the other best part was seeing Elizabeth Mitchell get to kick more ass and be extra-competent, taking down the shooter (fake though he was) with awesome professionalism, and then sneaking into the Visitors' Big Brother room. If this show proves, once and for all, that Elizabeth Mitchell deserves more roles as a butt-kicking action hero, that will be a great accomplishment by itself.

The worst part, as usual, involved Dylan the little twerp, and his date with the hot blonde visitor — who turns out to be Anna's daugher. And we learn that the Visitors have extra special plans for Dylan — is it too much to hope they'll result in his immediate death? Like, early in next week's episode? The other annoying thing was the show's continued habit of having characters repeat the same word or phrase several times in the episode — in the first episode, it was the word "devotion," spoken at key moments like a flashing billboard saying "THIS IS A THEME OKAY". In the second, it was "resistance." And last night, we got people saying "safety in numbers" a few times.

All in all, it was a pretty solid episode, and I'm intrigued by all the hints that the media-savvy Anna is using more direct means to control her own people. Here's hoping next week's installment delivers as well, since it's the last episode of the year — and let's hope the show's ratings slide doesn't continue.