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SciFi Diner Podcast Ep. 130
Our Interview with Michael Hogan
from Battlestar Galactica, Warehouse 13
and More.
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The SciFi Diner Podcast
Please call the listener line at 1.888.508.4343,
Email us at scifidinerpodcast@gmail.com
or visit us on Twitter @scifidiner.
And check out our YouTube channel.
Tonight’s Diners: Scott & Miles
Welcome to the Diner.
If you have listened to the show for sometime, we would love to have you leave feedback on iTunes. We know not all of you use iTunes, but for those that do, it helps us become more visible. If you don’t use iTunes, your feedback is still valuable. Visit our webpage at https://scifidinerpodcast.com and leave a comment on the show notes or email us at scifidinerpodcast@gmail.com We want to know what you are thinking about what we are saying and what shows you are watching.
Music at the end of this week’s episode is the song Nothing Longer by 2Desperate.
Our Menu Tonight:
- Our Interview with Michael Hogan at Farpoint 2012
- Trivia: Win Star Trek Comics
- TV News: Ratings, News on the new SyFy series Defiance
- Movie News: Why Lindelof says Prometheus is not a prequel and Trailer; Total Recall Trailer.
- TWIST: The walls go up
- Sci Fi 5@5: Great Walter Bishop quotes
Trivia:
- Question: Name an actor who’s guest starred in such shows as Leverage, Dr. Who, Supernatural, Doll House, Firefly & Star Trek Voyager.The Prize: Issues 3 – 6 of the new JJ Verse Star Trek ComicsYou will have until April 16th to send us your answers. Please include the code word mentioned in the first 15 minutes of the show. 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.
Podcast Promos:
TV News:
Where shows stand:Everyone’s already looking ahead to the season premiere of Game of Thrones Sunday, but there’s lots of other genre TV out there worth considering too. Many of the shows we’ve been following all year are moving into their final weeks fighting for as many viewers as possible, while others are simply trying to stay afloat.
This week, The River ended with disappointment, while Touch returned to very strong numbers for its second episode. Meanwhile, Alcatraz and Fringe are both still struggling on Fox, and Awake is dealing with a big numbers drop that it might never recover from.
Check out our chart and commentary for more on how your favorite shows are doing in Live + Same Day viewers and ratings.
MONDAY
Alcatraz (FOX)
5.04 million viewers/1.6/4 share
One week before its season finale, Alcatraz hit its lowest viewer mark yet, officially more than 5 million viewers down from its series premiere. The show held on to last week’s rating and share score, but that’s likely not enough to keep the series afloat. Sorry, Alcatraz fans, but it’s looking like this show will go the way of Terra Nova.
Being Human (Syfy)
1.42 million viewers/0.7
Being Human picked up a few more viewers and one tenth of a ratings point this week, and it’s earning 200,000 more viewers than it had the same time last season. Good news for this show as it heads into the final month of season two.
Lost Girl (Syfy)
1.08 million viewers/0.4
Lost Girl dropped a few viewers but held on to its rating. It’s not quite where Being Human is, but it is showing some encouraging consistency. Chances are good we’ll see the second season of this show imported to Syfy.
The Vampire Diaries (CW)
2.69 million viewers/1.3/4 share
The Vampire Diaries broke even in viewers but picked up a tenth of a point this week. It’s not quite where it was this time last year, but the show remains the most reliably watched thing The CW has on the air.
The Secret Circle (CW)
1.72 million viewers/0.7/2 share
The Secret Circle picked up 100,000 viewers but broke even in rating and share. It might look bad when you stack it up against Vampire Diaries, but this show is still performing solidly for the network it’s on. Season two is very likely.
Awake (NBC)
4.73 million viewers/1.2/3 share
Awake dropped back below 5 million viewers in its fourth week, but the big news is its rating score. It lost nearly half a point, taking it to a total loss of .8 since the series premiere. The big loss could have something to do with the NCAA basketball it was competing with, but this show’s been struggling for weeks. We’ll see if the next episode can fare any better.
Touch (FOX)
11.81 million viewers/3.3/9 share
After two months of waiting we finally got a new episode of Touch last Thursday, and Fox has to be pleased with the results. The show didn’t quite pull in the same viewers as the premiere, but it came close, and the rating score was still impressive despite a .6 dropoff, some of which we can chalk up to basketball. We’ll have to see how the next few episodes do, but it’s very likely Fox has finally found a new drama it can hold on to.
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Fringe (FOX)
2.87 million viewers/0.9/3 share
Sorry, Fringe fans, but we have some bad news for you this week. After a three-week break, the show returned last Friday to its lowest-rated broadcast of the fourth season so far, and the least watched since mid-January. Again, we can chalk some of this up to basketball, but it’s not good news for a show fighting to stay alive for another year. We’ll see if Fringe recovers next week.
Supernatural (CW)
1.63 million viewers/0.6/2 share
Supernatural dropped one tenth of a ratings point again this week, but it’s still performing well enough for the CW. And of course, that pesky basketball continues to throw a wrench into everyone’s numbers.
Once Upon a Time (ABC)
8.82 million viewers/2.9/8 share
Once Upon a Time picked up a few viewers, but couldn’t come close to the more than 10 million it had just three weeks ago. That meant it gave up its most-viewed crown to The Good Wife on CBS this week. Don’t worry too much, though, because it still won the ratings battle.
Everything we know about groundbreaking new Syfy series Defiance
With Battlestar Galactica and Lost now distant memories, there’s a gaping hole in the “epic sci-fi” category on television. Enter Syfy’s Defiance.
The television series is being developed in conjunction with a massively multiplayer online game, and the two will be launched simultaneously. They’ll be connected by the same overall storyline, to the point that events from the show will play a part in the game, and vice versa.
Here’s everything we know about it so far:
What is it?
Defiance is set on a future Earth ravaged by war, and will feature human and alien cultures attempting to rebuild civilization in a post-terraformed Earth. If done well, the premise has the potential for politics, action, love and all the great aspects of amazing television.
Both the game and show will take place in the same universe, with the TV action set in a mining boom town outside St. Louis, Missouri, while the videogame will follow a cast of characters in California.
The television series is being developed by Syfy (obviously) and will air on the cable network. The videogame side is being handled by Trion Worlds, and the game is being developed for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. Though the project is still in development, a demo showed off at the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) generated a good bit of buzz and won the Best of Show award in the MMORPG category.
Who’s writing it?
The show comes from a solid stable of writers, highlighted by Farscape creator Rockne O’Bannon. Farscape was a seminal work of modern science fiction, and I’m sure fans are psyched to see what he can do in this setting. Kevin Murphy (Caprica) is attached as showrunner, along with writer Michael Taylor (Battlestar Galactica) and director Scott Stewart (Legion, Priest).
Each of them comes with a very solid background in sci-fi TV.
Who’s starring in it?
This is where the real fun begins. The recently announced cast is a veritable who’s who of sci-fi stars, with everything from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Warehouse 13 represented.
Julie Benz (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, No Ordinary Family), Graham Greene (Dances With Wolves), Jaime Murray (Warehouse 13), Tony Curran (Underworld: Evolution, Gladiator), Grant Bowler (True Blood) and Stephanie Leonidas.
Benz plays Amanda Rosewater, mayor of a mining town barely clinging to the rule of law.
Bowler plays Nolan, a current law-keeper and former Marine who fought in the alien war and lost his wife and child along the way.
Leonidas plays Irisa, a beautiful alien warrior of the Irathients race, who was adopted by Nolan (Bowler) after he killed her criminal father.
Curran plays Datak Tarr, a cunning member of the Castithans alien race, who schemed his way onto an ark ship to escape his own planet’s destruction.
Murray plays Datak’s cunning wife Stahma, a powerful Castithan before her home planet was destroyed.
Greene plays Rafe McCawley, a rich man who has to play politics to stay that way.
The character descriptions are definitely intriguing, and there seem to be quite a few threads to mine for all kinds of drama once this show finally arrives.
Syfy hasn’t released an air date for the show or a publication date for the game, but new announcements about casting are coming fast and furious, so there’s definitely a lot of activity going on. In the meantime, there is a preliminary trailer for the game that looks pretty awesome.
Movie News:
Here’s why Damon Lindelof believes Prometheus isn’t an Alien prequel
There’s been a lot of back-and-forth from the Prometheus camp about whether Ridley Scott’s big summer sci-fi flick is a forerunner to the first facehugger/chestburster chapter. Writer Damon Lindelof wants to clear it all by defining, for us and for himself, precisely what he thinks a prequel is.
Sitting down for an wide-ranging, in-depth interview with Ben Blacker for the Nerdist Writers Panel, Lindelof explained his problem with “prequel,” both as a term and as a kind of entertainment.
The thing about a prequel is, as fascinating as it may to watch Anakin turn to the dark side of the Force, there’s an inevitability to it. You know when you go in the prequel can only cover A to Y and then Z is gonna be the preexisting material. You can’t end it in an exciting or surprising way. You can only end it in the inevitable way. …
When I went to go see The Thing prequel, for example, I’m assuming this movie is going to be the sequence of events that led up to a dog being infected by the Thing and then being chased by a helicopter across the frozen tundra—because I know then what happens next because I saw The Thing. And that’s exactly what it was. On a certain level, you’re satisfied because if you’re calling a movie a prequel, that’s what you’re expecting. On another level, you sort of walk out going, “Boy I wish there was a little bit more room for me to not exactly know what I was walking into.”
In my opinion, in order to define Prometheus as a prequel, Is it set in the Alien universe? … If you just watch the teaser trailer, and you see how the word Prometheus reveals itself … or look at the production design, you don’t need me to tell you anything.
So then the next question is: Is it a prequel to Alien? To that, I can’t really answer the question because my definition of prequel, the A-to-Y definition, I hope it’s not. I hope that this movie can be surprising. The ending of this movie; the sequel to Prometheus is not Alien. The sequel to Prometheus, if it does well and people like it, would be another movie that goes off in its own direction, that runs tangential to Alien.
It’s worth listening to all 90-some-odd minutes to hear Lindelof describe the “thanks for making Lost with me” presents J.J. Abrams got him and to defend his youthful belief that Blade Runner was, in fact, a sequel to Alien.
Total Recall Trailer.
This week in Star Trek:
J.J. Abrams Raises “Shields” Around Star Trek 2 Set
By Captain Pyke | March 31, 2012 – 6:24 pm
J.J. Abrams Raises Sheilds Around Star Trek 2 Set
We all know how secretive J.J. Abrams can be with any film he’s directing. As a fan, I can appreciate this. I’m one of the few (it seems) that still likes to be surprised when I drop $47 to see the latest schlop that Hollywood has to offer (I’m not putting J.J’s Star Trek in the schlop category). Although, running a Star Trek website and reporting on the most recent Star Trek 2 happenings just adds to the problems, but I digress…
So in a military style effort, J.J. has “circled the wagons” so-to-speak and built a perimeter of 30 large shipping containers around an outside shooting location. Movie Web is reporting that the paparazzi accepted this as a challenge, promising fans that they will get a ladder and beat J.J. at his own game. Too be honest, the pic of the shipping containers reveals almost as much about the plot of Star Trek 2, as earlier leaks. Who knows, maybe they had the containers left over from a batch of Tribble props or Space Station K7 set parts…
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SciFi 5@5: More Great Walter Bishop quotes.
5.”Fringe: The Ghost Network (#1.3)” (2008)
Peter Bishop: You brought your own sweetener?
Dr. Walter Bishop: Don’t be ridiculous. My medication.
Peter Bishop: You’re not on any medication, Walter.
Dr. Walter Bishop: Of course I am. I’ve been making it myself in the lab.
Peter Bishop: Oh, I wish you were joking.
4.”Fringe: What Lies Below (#2.13)” (2010)
[last lines]
Astrid Farnsworth: Walter, um, inside, upstairs, when you said I can’t let Peter die again, what did you mean by that?
Dr. Walter Bishop: Some things are meant to be left alone, Agent Farnsworth.
Dr. Walter Bishop: When the Victoria, the last surviving ship, return to its harbor of departure after the first circumnavigation of the earth, only 18 of the original 237 men were on board.
Small Child: What happened to them?
Dr. Walter Bishop: They all died, young lady. Horrible and most likely painful death. You see, when you open new doors, there is a price to pay. Now imagine… tonight, you look under your bed, and, lo and behold, you find a monster! And you’re immediately eaten. Now, if you hadn’t looked for the monster, you wouldn’t have found it and you’d still be happy in your beds, instead of being slowly digested in the stomach sack of the creature. But, with any luck, your sister or your brothers might have heard your screams, and your endeavor will serve as a valuable lesson to them.
3. “Fringe: Dream Logic (#2.5)” (2009)
Astrid Farnsworth: [referring to experimenting on a drugged FBI agent] Walter, I do not think this is a very good idea.
Dr. Walter Bishop: Don’t be such a grinch. I told you – science should be fun!
Astrid Farnsworth: Walter, what’s wrong?
Dr. Walter Bishop: Either a green unicorn just raced across the lab, or I accidentally took some LSD.
2.Pee in the Pool
Later in the “Desirable Objects” episode, Sheriff Golightly is assisting with the investigation and expresses some confusion about recent events. In a moment of condescension, Walter says:
“Well, we’re all victims of our own gene pool. Someone must have peed in yours.”
1.Walter Loves Drugs
There’s another great Walter moment from “The Dreamscape” (an episode filled with wonderful Walter witticisms) where Walter says:
“There is little that makes me happier than taking drugs. Perhaps administering them, designing and carrying out experiments that bend the plane of what we consider reality. I’m rarely, if ever, opposed to such things…except now.”