Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Must nOT STRAYYYYyyyy....ah, ok...TV

Alright, alright...OMG, I just had to do this.

Anyways, this year sees a plethora (mm...love that word..) of new Sci-Fi shows coming, with some major cred behind them as well.
I want to make sure to throw out a shout, about these and ask that you put your DVR's into overdrive, or watch religiously...as this is some great stuff..

Fringe
This show has gotten some flack due to its premise being very close to X-Files. Not only that, it is a JJ Abrams piece, who I think is incredible. But, JJ also has received criticism by sticking to some semi generic formulas and show mechanics (no he does not make MMO's, but would probably sell a ton if he did..).

An Evil Corporation? Check.
A new ingenue for his series? Check.
Really cool 3d TITLES (for instance it is used for the names of cities)? Check.

But, if anything is done right in ALL JJ Abrams shows is this. Weird science abounds, cool effects, and most importantly?
Characters.
You feel for his players. You feel for the Father/Son issues.
The main leads loss of her loved one, and so on.
Luckily he has decided to downsize his cast, which has been an issue for JJ.
This should narrow his focus.
This will REALLY build up these main players, instead of the huge casts of Lost and Alias where too many stories are involved.

The episode two alien stomach crawl and the results after lead to some creepy fun.
Give this one time to grow on you. You will be glad you did.

Sanctuary
Amanda Tapping from Stargate gets her own series on the Sci Fi network.
And it is a doozy.
An ageless immortal who keeps track of all the little beasties of our world...
To protect them!

Oh yeah.

A unique item is this was based on a web series (webisodes) and all backgrounds, effects, EVERYTHING was green screened. Minor props were used and thats it.
Now, whether they continue this path is unknown, as I have no more info for the new series.
It has been noted that as the series progresses, we will find that most of these "beasties" are from various literary works, or mythology.
For example the launch webisode dealt with a certain time traveler, who as we meet him in Victorian times, resembles a certain "Jack the Ripper".
This looks to be quite fun, and I anxiously await this launch.
Oct. 3...be there

Legend of the Seeker
One of my favorite picks. Based on the set of novels from Terry Goodkind Sword of Truth series. It is masterminded by the awesome Sam Raimi.
The team on the production is the same who did Xena and Hercules. YUM!
From what I have heard though the tongue has been removed from the cheek, so this will be a more serious and well produced series.
The cast is full of newer players who are a great looking cast, with special effects to dazzle.
And really, how long has it been since a "Fantasy" series has been on TV.
This is in syndication, which is hit or miss though, as syndicated series have not had much success since Herc or Xena.
Once we see Bruce Campbell and Ted Raimi in an episode then geek nirvana will be reached.

Watch for this in November.

Nerd -a-vision at its finest folks...
Make sure to check these out..

Cheers

5 comments:

Mordiceius said...

Woo! Another person excited for legend of the seeker! after reading the book series, I can't wait!

Elementalistly said...

Indeed.
I cannot wait. I am also a Sam Raimi fanatic.
I have followed his and Bruce Campbells career since the first Evil Dead.
But, the fact that these guys are willing to do Fantasy, which is a genre that just has not been used much in TV land.
And if it was, they made fun of it...

So, here is to serious Fantasy TV.

Also just started watching this
Merlin on BBC
This series includes Anthony Head from Buffy fame (and more of course...) and Eva Myles who is on Torchwood. She was the special guest for the first episode...playing a baddie!

Cheers

Gamer Hudson said...

Did not know about Legend of the Seeker. That looks good. More posts like this this is good nerd stuff!

Stray stray stray!

Anonymous said...

A TV series based on Terry Goodkind? Ugh. I found his books to be laughably bad, offensive and preachy at the same time. I've read D&D novels that were better.

On the other hand, I've always felt that Goodkind is an inspiration to would-be writers - if he can get published, anybody can.

Aspendawn said...

We watched the web version of Sanctuary and can't wait for the new series.

I remember hearing about Legend of the Seeker awhile back and had completely forgotten about it. It's hard to find a fantasy series done well so hope they pull it off.