SciFi Diner Podcast Ep. 127

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Music at the end of this week’s episode is the song Pure Moods by Sunsearcher.

On The Menu Tonight:

Our Interview with Chris and Charity Wood of Bye Bye Robot.
Trivia: Tricia Helfer
TV News: TV ratings for sci fi genre shows.
DVD Reviews: In Time & The People vs George Lucas
Movie News: New Avengers trailer & Poster
You can live for ever.
TWIST: Leonard Nimoy To Finally Do Big Bang Theory Cameo
SciFi Five in Five with Chris and Charity Wood

Promos

Tuning Into Scifi TV Promo

Fringecasting with Wayne and Dan Podcast

Trivia:

Our trivia question appears in the first 10 minutes of the episode. The clips are all from Tricia Helfer shows. Identify the shows in order.

Prize: A signed Tricia Helfer print.

You will have until March 15th to send us your answers.. Send your answer with your mailing address to scifidinerpodcast@gmail.com, call us at 18885084343, or DM us on Twitter at @scifidiner. Make sure you include your e-mail with all entries! Only one entry per person. The SciFi Diner is not responsible for any injuries occurring if you secretly decide to go all shiny and dress in a browncoat and walk into your local bar.

Our Interview:

BYE BYE ROBOT BOLDLY GOES ONLINE WITH A NEW SITE FOR ORIGINAL STAR TREK™ FINE ART

Visual Art and Star Trek™ Fans Now Have New Works to Add to Their Collections

Austin, Texas – February 29, 2012 Bye Bye Robot is launching a new web site today – www.byebyerobot.com – to sell original, licensed prints with imagery from Star Trek: The Original Series™. These will soon be followed by new paintings ofStar Trek: The Next Generation™, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine™, Star Trek: Voyager™, Star Trek: Enterprise™, and the subsequent original series and Star Trek: The Next Generation™ movies.

“Today marks the start of Bye Bye Robot’s online presence. It is the culmination of our passion – and the passion of all the great fans – for Star Trek that is truly being displayed,” says Charity Wood, Co-Founder and Artist of the new small business.

Chris Wood, Co-Founder of Bye Bye Robot, adds, “We started with Subspace Communique, our fansite, years ago and have watched the fanbase of Star Trek™ grow stronger ever since. They want more and now we have the opportunity to provide a bit more for them. It’s a very exciting time for us.”

The prints, licensed by CBS Consumer Products, are completely original works which will be sold in limited runs, hand signed and numbered by the artist. Based on demand, the original paintings may also be sold in the future. To see images of the art and for more information, go to www.byebyerobot.com

Both Charity and Chris Wood will be attending conventions throughout the upcoming year, including Creation Entertainment’sStar Trek™ Las Vegas Convention, with plans to have a booth at each for Bye Bye Robot.

# # #

About Bye Bye Robot, LLC

Founded in 2011 by Charity and Chris Wood, Bye Bye Robot is an independent publisher of art. Currently, they are a licensed seller of original works of art based on all of Gene Roddenberry’s live action Star Trek™ TV series plus Original Series and Next Generation movies. Bye Bye Robot is dedicated to creating deeply immersive, visually spectacular pieces of art that will amaze and inspire viewers for generations.

TV News:

Walking Dead rises, The River stays low and 20 other genre shows

We’ve been talking a lot lately about which shows will stay and which ones will go. As far as the numbers are concerned, some shows are making those decisions easier than others. Both Alcatraz and The River continued to lose viewers this week, while Fringe only managed to break even.

Meanwhile, over on AMC, The Walking Dead shows no signs of slowing down, and CBS continues to rule Thursdays with the double threat of The Big Bang Theory and Person of Interest.
Check out our chart and commentary for more on how your favorite shows are doing in Live + Same Day viewers and rating.

MONDAY

Alcatraz (FOX)

5.98 million viewers/1.8/4 share

More bad news for Alcatraz. Last Monday the show dropped only a few more viewers, but it’s where it finished that’s worth noting. If you leave out CW shows (which always have lower viewership than major network shows), Alcatraz finished dead last for the night in both viewers and demo rating. As for how far it was behind, it finished three tenths of a ratings point behind the second-lowest-rated major network show of the night (ABC’s Castle) and about 500,000 viewers behind the second-least-viewed (NBC’s Smash). In six weeks on the air, the show has lost more than 4 million viewers, dropped 1.5 rating points and cut its share in half. Very bad news indeed.

Being Human (Syfy)

1.42 million viewers/0.6

Being Human gained a few viewers but dropped a tenth of a ratings point. Last Monday’s episode was the lowest-rated of the season, but a 0.6 for this show in this timeslot is not a bad number.

Lost Girl (Syfy)

1.20 million viewers/0.4

Lost Girl also picked up a few viewers but lost a tenth of a point. This show could be doing better with retaining some of its Being Human lead-in, but it’s still not too shabby.

Terra Nova (FOX)—DONE FOR SEASON

News about Terra Nova these days isn’t exactly encouraging, but at least it’s vague enough that there’s still hope for fans.

TUESDAY

Touch (FOX)—OFF

This week, Fox opted to shift the return of Touch to Thursday, March 22, rather than Monday, March 19, giving it a chance to follow American Idol and capitalize on the massive lead-in audience that show has to offer. If you didn’t see the special preview of the series premiere, you can catch a repeat after Idol on Thursday, March 15.

THURSDAY

The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

16.20 million viewers/5.3/16 share

Last week, The Big Bang Theory tied American Idol in their continued battle for ratings supremacy. This week it beat it, jumping half a million viewers and two tenths of ratings point. But hey, even in weeks when it doesn’t win that battle, this show is still a powerhouse.

Person of Interest (CBS)

14.56 million viewers/2.1/8 share

Person of Interest bounced back from a big drop last week with a 1.5 million-viewer gain this week. It remains at the top of the drama heap on Thursday nights.

Fringe (FOX)

3.08 million viewers/1.2/4 share

Fringe fans might not have a lot of hope left for a fifth season (though there’s always a little hope), but the show continues to fight for every inch it can get. This week it picked up a tenth of a ratings point and a full share point, but it still finished dead last in terms of viewership for major network broadcasts. At this point, though, it doesn’t seem that viewership is going to change anything. The bigwigs have the show’s future in their hands.

Grimm (NBC)

4.79 million viewers/1.5/5 share

Grimm returned from a week off to a slight dip in all its numbers, but it still won the ratings battle in its timeslot. It’s not a powerhouse, but Grimm is managing to stay strong.

Clone Wars (TOON)

1.46 million viewers/0.4

The Clone Wars came back from a week off to slightly fewer viewers, but we’re just a few episodes away from Darth Maul action. Expect a bump in numbers for the season finale.

Sanctuary (Syfy)—DONE FOR SEASON

We still don’t know if we’ll see a fifth year for Sanctuary, but it managed to end its fourth with a nice little numbers spike. For now, we leave it with good news.

The Walking Dead (AMC)

7.04 million viewers/3.8

The Walking Dead picked up a little less than 200,000 more viewers this week, and two tenths of a ratings point, cementing it once again at the top of Sunday night cable. Earlier this season it was hovering right around the low end of 6 million viewers. Now it’s hovering around the low end of 7. Let’s see if it can stay there, and if the season finale can top the midseason return and set a new record.

DVD Reviews: In time. & The People vs George Lucas

Movie News:

Behold! Awesome New Trailer and Posters for THE AVENGERS

Wednesday, February 29th, 2012

Over the past month, we have brought you a new TV spot and pictures from director Joss Whedon’s forthcoming Marvel Studios film The Avengers. Now we have the brand new trailer and two new posters for the film, featuring Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston).
I know you’re likely thinking “Hey, those posters are the same“, well you’re right with one exception. Marvel Studios is reportedly going to title the movie “Avengers Assemble” in the U.K., in order to avoid confusion with the 1960′s Spy-Fi series called The Avengers.
Now, in other news regarding The Avengers… Each of the stars of the film recently spoke with EW about the characters and the film. Check out what they said below!
Synopsis:
Marvel Studios presents in association with Paramount Pictures “Marvel’s The Avengers”–the Super Hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson, and directed by Joss Whedon, “Marvel’s The Avengers” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since. Prepare yourself for an exciting event movie, packed with action and spectacular special effects, when “Marvel’s The Avengers” assemble in summer 2012. In “Marvel’s The Avengers,” superheroes team up to pull the world back from the brink of disaster when an unexpected enemy threatens global security.

Russian Mogul’s Plan: Plant Our Brains in Robots, Keep Them Alive Forever

The Pentagon’s new Avatar project, unveiled by Danger Room a few weeks back, sounds freaky enough: Soldiers practically inhabiting the bodies of robots, who’d act as “surrogates” for their human overlords in battle.
But according to Dmitry Itskov, a 31-year-old Russian media mogul, the U.S. military’s Avatar initiative doesn’t go nearly far enough. He’s got a massive, sci-fi-esque venture of his own that he hopes will put the Pentagon’s project to shame. Itskov’s plan: Construct robots that’ll (within 10 years, he hopes) actually store a human’s mind and keep that consciousness working. Forever.
“This project is leading down the road to immortality,” Itskov, who founded New Media Stars, a Russian company that runs several online news outlets, tells Danger Room. “A person with a perfect Avatar will be able to remain part of society. People don’t want to die.”
Itskov’s project, also called “Avatar,” actually precedes the Pentagon’s. He launched the initiative a year ago, but recently divulged more details to a group of futurists — including Ray Kurzweil — at a three-day conference, called Global Future 2045, held in Moscow.
Until now, most of the work on Itskov’s Avatar has taken place in Russia, where he claims to have hired 30 researchers — all of them paid out of his own deep pockets. Now, Itskov plans to take the mission global. “I want to collaborate with scientists from around the world,” he says. “This is a new strategy for the future; for humanity.”
So how would Itskov’s “Avatar” work? Well, he anticipates developing the program in stages. Within the next few years, Itskov plans to deploy robots that can be operated by the human mind. That’s actually not too wild a proposition: Pentagon-backed research has already demonstrated a monkey controlling a robotic arm using some nifty mind-meld tech, for example. And one study on human patients, out of Johns Hopkins, is using brain implants to control artificial limbs.
After phase one of “Avatar,” however, Itskov’s ambitions arguably eclipse even those of the Pentagon’s maddest mad scientists. In 10 years, he anticipates “transplanting” a human mind into a robotic one. After that, Itskov wants to do away with surgical procedures and instead upload the contents of the mind into its brand new, artificial robo-body. And, last but not least, within 30 years Itskov anticipates developing hologram-type bodies — instead of tangible robotic ones — that can “host” human consciousness.
“Holograms give plenty of advantages. You can walk through walls, move at the speed of light,” he says. “Remember in Star Wars, Obi-Wan’s hologram? That was pretty amazing.”
Amazing, yes. Scientifically feasible? Certainly not right now, and maybe not ever. “I understand these are some very big challenges for scientists,” Itskov acknowledges. “But I believe in something you call ‘The American Dream.’ If you put all your energy and time into something, you can make it a reality.”
Itskov, who plans to open two American offices this year, even hopes to collaborate with Darpa on the agency’s ‘Avatar’ program. And he’s keen to talk to agency scientists about the next, more far-out stages of brain-machine interfaces that he plans to develop. “I’m sure someone at Darpa is interested in taking this further,” he says.
So far, at least, Danger Room hasn’t come across any Darpa-funded ventures to develop immortal hologram-brain interfaces. But the agency just might find a little extra blue-sky inspiration in Itskov, who likens Avatar to Darpa’s best-known innovation: The internet.
“Years ago, people didn’t believe the internet could work,” he says. “I think of Avatar in the same light. Right now, the idea is new and radical. It won’t always be that way.”

This week in Star Trek:

Leonard Nimoy To Finally Do Big Bang Theory Cameo

by TrekMovie.com Staff , Filed under: Celebrity, Humor, Nimoy , trackback The Big Bang Theory’s have finally convinced the actor to do a cameo (of a sort) on the show. More details (and TBBT spoilers) below.

Leonard Nimoy To Finally Do Big Bang Theory Cameo
According to TVLine, Leonard Nimoy is doing a cameo on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory…or at least a sort of cameo. According to a source, Nimoy will be providing the voice for Spock in a dream sequence for Dr. Sheldon Cooper (played by Jim Parsons). The episode will air on March 29th.
Of course Big Bang’s Sheldon is a Spock super fan, bordering on obsessive. Just last month he was seen getting bent out of shape after he was sent the wrong Spock. Watch it.
There have been many other Spock jokes and references on the series, but the closest Sheldon has come to meeting Mr. Nimoy in the past was when he got a gift from Penny.

SciFi Diner Podcast Ep. 127 – Our Interview with Chris and Charity Wood from Bye Bye Robot, Subspace Communique, and Life After Trek.