Weekly Sci-Fi Thread (1/2/11)

01/02/11 | Kevin Davis

[Calvin Locke]

BBC-America.

[wally_bert]

Maigret was a good series and the first thing I had ever seen Michael Gambon in.

[6SJ7]

I believe it was Spielberg that said he felt cheated (as a youngster) after the movie, not seeing what the Krell really looked like, since the film teased him with the doorway architecture. "What did the creature look like that would need that shape of a doorway?" A trapezoid, iirc.

Sometimes "not seeing" is better than "seeing". Not seeing the Krell leaves them as mysterious beings. There are many movies where "not seeing" is in some ways the key to the movie. In "Alien", the alien creature is almost never shown except for a few seconds (Ridley Scott was afraid the actor-in-a-costume would become obvious). In "Jaws" the shark made few appearances (due, apparently to technical difficulties), but that worked to the movie's advantage.

[Mmogamer]

Thanks for the heads up, saw the last part... always good to see the movie that helped inspire Star Trek.

[Triton42]

Me too. The show has a great sense of humor, and the flying shark pulling “Santa Claus” was great.

[TomGuy]

The new season of Primeval just started in Britain.

It should show up on BBC America sometime in the near future.

[TomGuy]

Primeval is a fun show. Just don’t take it too seriously. Although, it can get intense.

[Calvin Locke]

Sometimes "not seeing" is better than "seeing".

Very true, but sadly, most films employing that technique by design, or by default in an effort to salvage "something", fail miserably.

[TomGuy]

Re: V

The promo showing Anna’s new dental work makes me curious.

I hope it improves over last season — which was too much soap opera and too little sci-fi action.

[GreenLanternCorps]

I have the last season of V on my DVR. However, I just bought a 32in HDTV as an emergency replacement for the 27in tube that died suddenly (I'm going to get a 46in 1080P LCD later this year, I just had to get a quick replacement now) and am planning to upgrade to an HD DVR this week. Should I watch it before the old DVR goes bye-bye? Or should I just pick up with this season?

[expat_panama]

please add me. tnx

[discostu]

By my reading of the SyFy channel website, Wiki and my DVR listing SyFy is marathoning the end of Caprica Tuesday night. Starting at 4 (Tucson, Cox HD feed, your time will vary) with Blowback (the first ep after the cancel decision) and cruising through to 9 (same provisos) when Apotheosis ends.

Also because these eps showed on Space they aren’t (again Cox, Tucson) flagging as New so double check your DVR program.

[Tanniker Smith]

New Primeval coming on the air. Two people from the past? Guess the other guy is stuck there. (Actually, I thought they were all stuck because I thought it'd been canceled.)

Finally started watching Being Human, but I'm only one the second episode. Getting ready for the US version.

[TomGuy]

Should I watch it before the old DVR goes bye-bye? Or should I just pick up with this season?

You might need to watch the previous episodes to understand what has taken place.

[TomGuy]

Finally started watching Being Human

I enjoyed the first series (Brit) of Being Human. It had a good balance of humor and seriousness. The second series was too dark and the humor came in only a few of the mid-season episodes.

I will definitely check out the US version to see how it compares.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Caprica on Tuesday At 6pm — I take it they are showing the remainder of the unseen shows?

[dangerdoc]

I saw the Dresden Files on SciFi a few years ago, I liked the show and was excited about the new series. Unfortunately I found out it was not a new series, it was a canceled series from another network and there were only a handful of episodes made. I purchased the DVD set and they are worth watching from time to time.

I recently found a Dresden File audiobook at the library. It was great! A little different than the TV series but I hope to find more books in the future.

[discostu]

It was a SciFi channel series which they then canceled after one season so they could do their incredible awful remake of Flash Gordon. As a side I find it hilarious that the DVDs are labeled “season 1” as if there might be a season 2 someday, instead of the more typical “complete series” that usually adorns a single season series.

The books it was based are excellent, rousing fun. And the author is a really fun guy.

[LibertarianLiz]

It is also being shown on Saturdays on BBC/America. I seriously miss the Nick Cutter character.

[Vanders9]

Lets hope its a good year for SciFi, but given the paucity of the titles its not a good start, especially as Merlin is a borderline entry - its really fantasy after all.