Long before he was the swashbuckling, incestuous, damaged brother of Tyrion and Cersei Lannister, Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau starred in the amazing space TV show Virtuality. Which, if the gods were not cruel, would have been a TV series.

The fall TV season is beginning, and that means one thing — you're finally going to get to see the TV pilots that the networks have been sweating over for a year. Most of them will totally suck — even if the shows they launch wind up being good. But a few of them will be amazing, full of killer action and interesting…

Is science fiction doomed on television? Hell no! Here are 18 TV series in the pipeline that could recharge your love of the fantastical, including alien invasions, dinosaurs, superheroes, time travel, super-spies, government conspiracies, zombies and changelings. Minor spoilers ahead.

First Virtuality, and now Defying Gravity, predict we'll someday watch the adventures of cloistered astronauts broadcast from space. But why wait? Some suggest the upcoming simulated Mars missions offer the perfect opportunity to introduce the space program to reality television.

Some of the hottest hot-shot pilots in space opera are women. It's a longstanding tradition in science fiction to show women taking the controls of starships, space fighters and star-cruisers, and here are our favorite badass female cockpit jockeys.

Yes, Dollhouse may have lowered the bar for "success" for Fox's Sci-Fi shows, but even with that in mind, the audience for last night's Virtuality airing suggests that the show will never make it to series.

Dollhouse's second season renewal surprised many in the television industry, but did it also change the way that executives view success for science fiction TV? Virtuality co-creator Michael Taylor thinks so - and hopes that his show will benefit.

Virtuality is a reality-TV space opera and the newest television idea from Ron Moore, co-creator of the recent Battlestar Galactica reboot. But the show may never make it past the pilot that airs tonight. Is that really a loss?

Today's spoilers include film-makers talking about their adaptations of the classic Lensmen novels and the Cowboy Bebop anime series. Plus David Tennant talks Doctor Who, and there are new True Blood and Scott Pilgrim pics. Plus Impact and Virtuality spoilers.

Spoilerati, rejoice! An Iron Man bombshell says she'll be back in the new movie, and an extra describes Tony Stark's public appearance. Also, J.J. Abrams talks Star Trek, and there are loads of Virtuality pics. Plus Inception, BSG and Heroes.