Category: Television

Up (to no good) Sinclair.

The Sinclair Broadcast Group fires their Washington bureau chief, Jon Leiberman, after he makes his displeasure about their right-wing proselytizing known to the Baltimore Sun. Whatsmore, the wingnut network is playing hardball: “Sinclair would not waive his noncompete agreement, which means he cannot work for a broadcast outlet in any market that has a Sinclair station.” Hmmm…well, two (and more) can play at that game. Update: Sinclair buckles.

Frellin’ A.

It’s finally here…at 9pm tonight and tomorrow, Sci-Fi will air Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars, the long-awaited and warmly reviewed conclusion to what TV Guide long ago correctly deemed “the best science-fiction series on TV.” Apparently, it’s still fun even if you don’t know the continuity, so come on aboard…there’s lots of room on this here interstellar bandwagon.

If you never saw Blake’s 7, which is ‘Scape‘s immediate ancestor, then here’s the basic gist: Smart-ass, gung-ho astronaut John Crichton (Ben Browder) was inadvertently sent through a wormhole to the far corner of space several years ago, whereupon he fell in with a bunch of rag-tag aliens aboard the living prison ship Moya. For the past four years or so, Crichton has been battling the nefarious Peacekeepers (Think Star Trek‘s Federation gone bad) while falling in love with one of their number, Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black), refining his knowledge of wormhole tech in order to get back home, and annoying all manner of extraterrestrial species with his inveterate pop culture referencing. (He’s already made it back to Earth a few times now…don’t worry, this ain’t Quantum Leap, and the show never takes quite the tack you expect.) In recent seasons, however, Crichton and his band of cranky shipmates have discovered that there’s a much bigger danger lurking in the far regions of space than the Peacekeepers…the reptilian, take-no-guff Scarrans. There’s obviously been a lot of twists and turns along the way, which I highly suggest you check out on DVD, but basically the Moya crew has had to align with some of their most dangerous past enemies (namely, the Scarran half-breed Scorpius) in order to outwit, outfox, and outlast the new Big Bads. Where it goes from here is anyone’s guess…but if you’re a fan of either quality sci-fi or smart, funny, sexy television in general (I’m looking at you, B5’ers, Buffyites, and Whedoniacs), you owe it to yourself to check Farscape out. Update: Brief, spoiler-filled thoughts in the comments.

He Fights for Us.

“CARLSON: You need to get a job at a journalism school, I think. STEWART: You need to go to one.” Sent to me by a friend in the program here, Jon Stewart and Tucker Carlson battle it out on Crossfire. (More here.) I wish I’d seen this live…the transcript is definitely worth a read. “CARLSON: You had John Kerry on your show and you sniff his throne and you’re accusing us of partisan hackery? STEWART: Absolutely…You’re on CNN. The show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls.” Update: See it here, via High Industrial.

Once Merry, Now Lost.

You’ll have to sit through a clip from ABC’s Lost (which I tried to get into on account of Monaghan, JJ Abrams, and Party of Five‘s Charlie, but it didn’t grab me) and some morning-show chatter with Dominic Monaghan on his post-LotR ups and downs, but buried in this Good Day interview is our first look at Merry pledging fealty to Theoden in the RotK:EE, a scene which was glimpsed in the pre-Thirteen Days teaser way back in early 2001 and now finally sees the light of day.

Fox News One Further.

So apparently the Sinclair Broadcast Group, a right-wing-flunky television conglomerate who previously refused to air a Nightline on fallen soldiers in Iraq, will show an anti-Kerry hatchet-job on its swing state affiliates in the next two weeks. Well, I must say, that’s quite an end-run around the equal time rule, if not a blatant misuse of the public airwaves. Perhaps the FCC can extricate themselves from their shock over Janet Jackson’s breast long enough to look into this.

The Travels of Crichton.

For frell’s sake, don’t forget to set the Tivo, ’cause – as Quiddity notes, Sci-Fi will be showing all 88 episodes of Farscape (“the best science-fiction series on TV” – TV Guide) beginning this Friday at 8am. Seriously, if you’re looking to catch some of the funniest, sexiest, best-written sci-fi out there in recent years, check Farscape out while you have the chance. (And remember to boycott Sci-Fi once again as soon as they air The Peacekeeper Wars.)

Red Quadrants, Blue Quadrants.

“‘A good war is based on honor, not deception,” says K’tok (Earth name: Clyde Lewis), a 40-year-old Klingon from Lair Hill.’” Finally, some good news on the political front…Kerry is winning handily among Portland-area Klingons. Hopefully, they can offset Dubya’s considerable pull with the Ferengi in and around Salem.(By way of Usr/Bin/Girl.)

Homer and the Butterfly.

The trailer for Ray Bradbury’s A Sound of Thunder, starring Ed Burns and Ben Kingsley, shows up online, and I’m getting the sense the Treehouse of Horror V version might just be more entertaining. And what’s up with Kingsley’s flat-top? With this, Thunderbirds, and Suspect Zero, he must be making a huge down payment on a house or something.