There was also a TV show that premiered last night called The Event. I watched it. It intrigued me enough to keep watching, but I’m still annoyed about the failures of the . . . → Read More: The Event]]> The main “event” around here lately is that this website was down for two days while we switched servers. Apparently there were issues with the process. I’m not convinced everything is back to normal yet, so let me know if you experience problems.

There was also a TV show that premiered last night called The Event. I watched it. It intrigued me enough to keep watching, but I’m still annoyed about the failures of the last few sci-fi tinged shows that were cancelled … Heroes, Journeyman, FlashForward, etc. … and I’m wary about getting involved in another one only to have it pulled out from under me.

Minor spoilers and a major guess follow.

The gimmick in The Event is that it is told (at least in the pilot) by jumping around a character’s timeline. For example, we start in the present with Sean on a plane being chased by what appears to be the government, and then pulling a gun, apparently hijacking the plane. Right after he pulls the gun we jump back to 23 minutes earlier, and shortly thereafter to 11 or 13 days before that. Then it’s back to the present, but from a different character’s perspective, and we jump through his backstory as well.

We’re introduced to about 6 or 7 main characters in the episode ranging from “everyman” Sean to the President of the United States, some apparently covert military personnel, and military prisoners who have been held for years in Alaska. The prisoners seem to know about the coming “event” but don’t want anyone in power to know.

There is a sci-fi component to the show that isn’t obvious until the end of the episode. There is no evidence one way or the other at this point, but I’m going to guess that the element is time travel and that the prisoners are the travelers. It fits with the gimmick of telling the narrative by jumping around the timeline for each character, and it could explain how the prisoners seem to know something is coming. Frankly, I hope I’m right. I don’t think the show will be nearly as interesting if it turns out to be aliens or something like that. And if it is time travel, that still leaves the door open for plenty of surprises.

I do hope they cut back significantly on the narrative format of jumping around the timeline, though. It worked for the pilot, but I think jumping around as much as they did here would get seriously annoying week to week. I can take a couple of jumps per episode, but 8 or more in a half-hour is getting excessive.

Did you see the premiere? What did you think? Does it earn a spot in your viewing queue? What new or returning shows are you most looking forward to? (For me, it’s Smallville’s final season. I’m a bit of a junkie.)

The companion here is Adelaide, played by Lindsay Duncan. The notes on her is that she is the very strong-minded head of Mars Base, and is not too happy about the Doctor’s interference.

This special is set to air in November. My guess would be around Thanksgiving, but as that’s not . . . → Read More: The Doctor is all wet… on Mars – Tuesday TubeWatch]]> On the heels of the success of Torchwood: Children of Earth, the following clip has been released for the next Doctor Who special:

The companion here is Adelaide, played by Lindsay Duncan. The notes on her is that she is the very strong-minded head of Mars Base, and is not too happy about the Doctor’s interference.

This special is set to air in November. My guess would be around Thanksgiving, but as that’s not a British holiday it’s certainly not a given. Two other specials are set to air this year, but no details are available beyond the spoiler for the Christmas special previously mentioned.

Just from this short clip, it looks like a classic episode. Running around, and weird, passive, yet obviously dangerous aliens taking over human bodies. This could be a creepy one.

And since we’re on Doctor Who, here’s an unsubtantiated rumor via Slice of Sci-Fi about the annual Children in Need Doctor Who segment:

It could be the moment that “Doctor Who” fans have dreamed about for years or it could be another rumor.

British newspaper, the Daily Mirror is reporting that this year’s “Doctor Who” segment will feature the first-ever on-screen meeting of all eleven incarnations of the Doctor. Yes, that includes future Doctor Matt Smith and the most popular classic series Doctor, Tom Baker.

“This is a momentous episode for all Doctor Who fans,” the report says. “Never before have all the Doctors been in the same room, let alone in the same show. It’s been a logistical nightmare getting all the actors together and available for shooting on the same days. But the script has already been started and it’s classic Doctor Who – really witty and very sharp. Viewers will see the Time Lords regenerating and emerging one by one from the TARDIS, each with their own quirky opening line. David Tennant is the central character in the episode. He’s trying to hunt down some special time travel apparatus. What he’s actually lost has not yet been decided, but the idea is for all the other Doctors to club together to help David find it. The actors who are no longer with us, William [Harntell], Jon [Pertwee] and Patrick[Troughton], will make special cameo appearances, with footage from original shows being flashed up on screen. It’s a really exciting project – and all for a good cause.”

The BBC has not confirmed the latest rumor, saying that any plans for this year’s Children in Need segment have not been finalized.

Sounds cool, but this kind of rumor has surfaced almost every year. I’m not holding my breath.

Usually, that kind of statement is either a joke or a major spoiler, but then, this is a time travel movie, so I really haven’t told you anything of any importance. Or have I? In a time travel movie, it’s all about when you die that matters.

Stargate: Continuum is a fun return to the lives of the SG-1 team. There were two main story threads left . . . → Read More: Review: Stargate: Continuum]]> Everybody dies. Some of them more than once.

Usually, that kind of statement is either a joke or a major spoiler, but then, this is a time travel movie, so I really haven’t told you anything of any importance. Or have I? In a time travel movie, it’s all about when you die that matters.

Stargate: Continuum is a fun return to the lives of the SG-1 team. There were two main story threads left unresolved when the television show was canceled in its record-breaking 10th season. One was the completion of the Ori story (told in the movie The Ark of Truth), and the other was the fate of the final Goauld System Lord, Ba’al. This movie delivers a nice slice of Ba’al totally eradicating Stargate Command and executing his plan for the dominion of Earth. It’s all up to our intrepid team of heroes, who must once again come from behind to save the Earth.

Time travel movies are tough to pull off. It’s easy to get trapped in a paradoxical loop of events. I think this movie handled that very well, with only one hole that immediately comes to mind, and it’s a minor one.

There are also some excellent action sequences. The effects, while not perfect, were very good.

While almost every SGC character (and many Goaulds) from the series makes at least a cameo in this film, the story centers around Daniel, Carter, and Mitchell. All 10 seasons from the show are represented in one way or another, but you don’t have to know any of it to appreciate this story. It really is a good story that proves that SG-1 still has legs (most of them, anyway), and I’d be happy to see more movies in the future. However, if this were to be the last SG-1 story, I think it serves as a good conclusion to the series.

Oh, and when I said everyone dies? I lied.

Okay, if you’ve ever participated in an online forum or newsgroup, you’ve gotta read this mock-forum discussion of the International Association of Time Travelers.

I love this bit:

At 02:29:49, SilverFox316 wrote: PS to SneakyPete: your Hitler paintings aren’t worth anything, schmuck, since you probably brought them directly here from 1907, which means the paint’s still fresh. Freaking n00b.

It’s not that long, and pretty funny. Click . . . → Read More: Forum update on time traveling interference with Hitler]]> Abyss & Apex : Fourth Quarter 2007: Wikihistory

Okay, if you’ve ever participated in an online forum or newsgroup, you’ve gotta read this mock-forum discussion of the International Association of Time Travelers.

I love this bit:

At 02:29:49, SilverFox316 wrote:
PS to SneakyPete: your Hitler paintings aren’t worth anything, schmuck, since you probably brought them directly here from 1907, which means the paint’s still fresh. Freaking n00b.

It’s not that long, and pretty funny. Click on through.