Being Human: Episode One Review

As one British TV show disappears from the airwaves in the US as a result of it being canceled, another one takes its place on BBC America. As with other shows airing on BBC America, those of us in the US are seeing it more than half a year after it aired in Britian.

The concept of the show is that a vampire (John Mitchell) and a werewolf (George Sands) become friends and move into a flat together, only to find that it is haunted by a ghost (Annie Sawyer), who joins their unusual friendship. Complicating matters is that the landlord of the flat is Annie's fiance.

In Britian, a pilot was filmed, and by the time it was picked up for series, most of the cast had already moved on to other projects and not available for the series anymore. The pilot was aired in Britian, but not in the US. Therefore, the first episode does suffer somewhat, as there are particulars that are never shown in the US--such as the back stories of the characters, or how they met and ended up living together, or such. Therefore, at the beginning of the series, you get the feeling that you are starting to watch the series at some point after episode one.

But such is life--in life you don't often get to see how things are from the very beginning. You have to learn about your friends as you go along and get to know them better.

And if you can get passed the beginning of the episode where you feel that you are missing out on a good chunk of their backstory, the episode does get better. You learn that Mitchell, though being a vampire, is trying to be human once again and live his life like a human working in a hospital. It is clear early on that despite being a vampire and needing to feed, he has turned away from the vampire caste. That is something that the other vampires don't like and they want to bring him back to their side. He looks after his friend, George, especially during times of his transformation, telling him that he can't separate his two halves, that it is something that is apart from him.

The main two elements of Episode One are the vampire caste trying to bring Mitchell back into their fold, and this includes an ex-hospital worker that Mitchell had turned into a vampire showing up while he is on a date with another hospital worker. Lauren showing up makes Mitchell realize that he can't turn this new young lady into a vampire and tells her that he won't be going home with her. She gets mad and storms off; unfortunately, Lauren attacks her and attempts to get Mitchell to "save her" by turning her into a vampire. The other element of the episode centers around Annie and her desire to see her fiance, Owen, again. She texts him with George's phone to lure him to the flat but then is disappointed by the fact that he can't see her.

Primeval at an end

The final episode of Primeval has aired in the United States. Yes, the final season may have had it's ups and downs as it progressed through the longer, ten-episode season this year. The series lead, Nick Cutter, was killed as his ex-wife supposedly tried to prevent the future from whence the predators came from. This put Jenny Lewis--who was part of the team only as a way to spin the events that the ARC team had to deal with for public consumption--as the leader of the team. I didn't understand that at all, but she, too, eventually left the series. Enter Danny Quinn, an ex-cop whose brother had been killed by a creature that had come through an anomoly and who had spent the first half of the season trying to get onto the team.

The last three episodes were a closely tied arc leading to the finale of the season, and unfortunately of the show as well. An anomoly was found that lead to the future. In the last episode, the team follows Helen Cutter through the anomoly into the future, where they discover the abandoned ARC building. Helen uses the computers there to control the anomolies and allows her to travel back through time in a plot to wipe out humanity by killing off the first hominids. Danny, Abbey, and Conner manage to follow her into the past; however, their handheld device fails, and they are trapped in the past whereas Sarah and Captain Becker think that the team is still in the future and not returning to our time.

Clearly, this was meant to be a cliffhanger leading to next season. Unfortunately, ITV chose to cancel the series for budgetary reasons.

At this point, it is still uncertain what the possible future may hold for Primeval. Jonathan Drake from Impossible Pictures and Tim Haines, one of the series creators, are trying to pitch the idea of a North American version of the series for this side of the pond, which if successful may find resolution of how our team gets its way back from the past.

Warner Brothers has acquired the rights for doing a movie based on the series as well, with the action being moved to the US.

So while the first stage of Primeval is over, hopefully it will just be entering a new phase of its existance.

Transylvania TV

Every once in a while, something comes along that really stands out from the crowd.

Transylvania TV is just one of those things. Filmed in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, the show was filmed with the idea of selling it to a network, but that hasn't been too successful, so instead, it's done as an online TV show. And while the characters are puppets, it isn't meant for kids.

The show is set in the castle of the vampire Le Shoc, and it deals with his running a TV station deep in Transylvania, Furry J. Akermonster--an orange yeti who graduated college in the US, the appropriately named bat, Batfink, and Dwayne Frankenstein--a new take on the Frankenstein monster.

With this show, the laughs just keep on coming, and it's one of those things you really shouldn't miss.

Transylvania TV website and Episodes.

An American Castle

Who says that castles are only something to be found in Europe? Case in point, The Loveland Castle, also known as the Chateau LaRoche, located in Loveland, Ohio, just outside of Cincinnati. Getting there may be slightly easier than flying to Europe, though narrow roads through a hilly region make it only slightly so. Nevertheless, taking a trip to visit the Loveland Castle is definitely worth the time and effort.

Every second weekend in the summer, the castle hosts a Knights Tournament, and they also have other activities to do on the grounds once you get there. And they have a Haunted tour in the fall as well.

Located throughout the castle, you will find a fine collection of period swords and other weapons, as well as suits of armor that will take anyone who is fascinated with the age of kings and knights back in time.



The Loveland Castle was built by hand by Harry Andrews, essentially all by himself following his tour of duty during World War I. He had been declared dead during the war, for six months' time, during which time his fiance married someone else. Following the war, he stayed in Europe, visiting many different castles there. When he returned, he decided that he would build a castle for the youth, who he thought were getting into too much trouble and needed some place to go. It is a full-size keep, except for the ballroom, which is a 1/5 scale replica. Mr. Andrews kept working on the castle, and lived there until his death in 1981, at the age of 91.

More about the Loveland Castle can be found HERE.

Do You Remember: Dungeons and Dragons Animated Series

The Dungeons & Dragons cartoon from 1983 ran for three seasons on CBS before being cancelled, with our teen-aged adventurers never getting home. It was successful enough that it lead its time slot for two years. Of course, it was not without controversy--particularly one episode where the characters considered killing their nemesis Venger. In 1985, the National Coalition on Television Violence called the cartoon the most violent show on TV.

It begins with our six heroes getting into a roller coaster ride at a theme park and are magically transported to the world of Dungeons & Dragons, where they meet the Dungeon Master, who gives them their powers and outfits to help them survive the Realm. Though the Dungeon Master is their mentor while they are there, he also seems to be manipulating them as well to do what he wants them to do. They also encounter Uni the baby Unicorn there, as well as Venger--the show's main antigonist. The teens try to make their way home over the course of 27 episodes, though it's not as easy as they thought it would be as they try to help the people they meet along the way.

You can buy Dungeons & Dragons on DVD--there is a five-disk package that contains a lot of extra features including a radio-type program of the final, unaired episode; or you can wait until August 25 and buy the bare-boned 3-disk compilation that won't have the extra features.

Defying Gravity

A new sci-fi drama will be airing on ABC starting on August 2. It will be 13 episodes long.



It comes from creator/executive producer James Parriott, who served as an executive producer on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and "Ugly Betty," and executive producer Michael Edelstein, former executive producer of the network's "Desperate Housewives." Parriott says that he has three seasons of the series planned out, in case it does well, and knows how he plans to end the series.

It will center around eight astronauts--four men and four women--from five countries who are on board the spaceship Antares on a six-year mission. From the ABC website:
Maybe, just maybe, some of them will even hook up. How cool is that? ABC is calling the series a "sexy, provocative thriller set in the very near future" that is set against the backdrop of being in space. Despite the fact they are in space and billions of miles from the nearest people, there is still room for guest appearances, though, as it is in Lost, because as the crew heads to Venus, there will still be flashbacks that reveal the effects of past actions have consequences in their present situation.

To me, it sounds like it will be a drama/thriller that could probably be set anywhere, but they just chose to set it on board the spaceship Antares.

Being Human

On July 25, BBC America will begin airing the series Being Human. This is a series that deals with the day-to-day struggles of a vampire and a werewolf who decide to start off on a new life together and move into a home, only to find it haunted by a ghost. Given who and what they all are, they quickly realize that they need to depend on each other to cope.

Some information from the BBC America website:

VAMPIRES:
*Vampires don't necessarily make humans into fellow vampires by simply biting them. Vampires must allow some of their own blood into the mouth of their dying victims to transform them into vampires.

*The "dead" human bodies are collected by the vampires.

*Vampires cannot have their images captured by mirrors or photographs.

*Vampires can venture out into daylight, but they are extremely sensitive to light.

*Vampires prefer blood from a living human body; stored blood from a donor does not create the same satisfaction.

*Vampires can be killed by a wooden stake to the heart, but the vampire can be saved if the stake is removed quickly enough.

WEREWOLVES:
*A fully transformed werewolf resembles an actual wolf, with fur and a wolf's nose and mouth.

*Werewolves have their transformations only one night a month, during a full moon.

*Werewolves don't remember anything that has happened after they have transformed.

*Werewolves often have strong sexual desire in the days prior to a transformation.

*For a human, the transformation itself is a painful process in which several vital organs begin to shut down.

*Werewolves cannot cross bodies of water.

GHOSTS:
*A ghost results when a person dies but has "unresolved issues" in the living world. When a ghost is ready to move on to the world of the dead, a door will appear out of nowhere, allowing passage to the nether world.

*Ghosts can sometimes be seen by the living. In Episode One, Annie is seen by a pizza delivery man. A ghost's visibility may be linked to his or her subconscious desire to hide from or be seen by other humans.

*Ghosts cannot ingest food or drink.

*Ghosts can "will" themselves to move instantaneously to other locations.

*Ghosts that are in emotional distress can become poltergeists, moving and throwing objects with their minds.

Torchwood: Children of Earth

BBC America will be airing the epic, five-part "Torchwood: Children of Earth" miniseries starting on July 20. Torchwood: Children of Earth, though a miniseries, could be considered the third season of the show.

What is Torchwood? As a series, it is a spin-off from the recent incarnation of the Dr. Who series. As an organization, it is a secret organization that was created by Queen Victoria to fend the planet Earth from alien threats.

Children of Earth starts as all of the children of the world stop to deliver the chilling message: "We Are Coming!"

Check it out.

Primeval

I'm sure this is really no big news to those who follow the ITV series Primeval, but I just found out officially that it will not be returning for a fourth season. This was apparently reported a month ago, and while the last two episodes of the season have yet to air in the US, apparently the series ends with a cliffhanger, as the creators say they had no reason to suspect that they would not be returning for another season. This despite the fact that half of the cast left between the second season finale and the first half of the third season.

Primeval is my favorite series on TV right now, as its special effects and character interactions made this a really great show, and I'll be sad to see it go.

There is some hope, however, of its return. There are ongoing talks supposedly for a US production of the show, which would hopefully resolve the third season cliffhanger. There is also discussion of a possible Primeval movie.

If you've missed this season of Primeval, you will have another chance to see it on BBC America, which will be airing the 10-episode season in its entirety on July 25.

Review: Goblin Quest

I just finished reading the book "Goblin Quest" by Jim C. Hines. Overall, this was a book that I enjoyed. it is an older book, but one that I just happened to come across at the bookstore as I looked for new books from authors I hadn't read before.

The attraction of the book: 1) I have a cat named Goblin, for which the title drew me in, and then 2) a little blue goblin with a small knife no bigger than his hand facing down a dragon.

The story is told from the perspective of Jig, who is a puny runt of a goblin who has never been able to move beyond the chores assigned to younger goblins and has never been out on patrol. One day, he finally gets his chance, even if it is just so that the other goblins in the patrol can have a good time and not have to worry about routine patrol. Unfortunately, the patrol is anything but routine as he stumbles upon a group of adventurers who are on a quest to find the Rod of Creation, a powerful magical device. The group ends up taking him prisoner, assuming he can help them navigate the tunnels and lead them to the Rod, while at the same time killing the other goblins who were on patrol.

The members of the adventure party aren't what you'd expect to find in a normal adventure epic--you have Barius, an arrogant prince who is out to prove himself to his family after feeling like he has been overshadowed by his other siblings; Ryslind, the prince's younger brother and the group's wizard--but there's something not quite right about with his mind; Darnak the dwarf, who can yield his weapons greatly and also the mapmaker on the quest, though he is a bit overzealous in his religious knowledge; and Riana, the outcast elven teen-aged thief, herself caught by Barius as she tried to rob him and then forced to come along on their little adventure. As the ragtag group makes its way through the tunnels of the mountain, the story feels very much like a Dungeons & Dragons-type adventure, with a group of teenagers playing the various characters with all of their shortcomings, as they battle many of the monsters that one would tend to find in a classic Dungeons & Dragons campaign--hobgoblins, carrion warms, animated skeletons, giant bats, a necromancer, ogres, and eventually a dragon itself.

Since I remember playing Dungeons & Dragons in my youth, I considered this to be a good read and brought back the memories of many such games and adventures. The cover of the book claimed that it was the "one of the funniest dungeon-delving epics ever!" That may be true, given the mismatched characters involved, and the conclusion of the book was cleverly worked out. That said, it wasn't a hilarious book along the lines of Tom Holt or Robert Asprin or Douglas Adams, though it really did not take itself too seriously, and after reading this book by Jim Hines, I found myself thinking of this author as one of my favorites and put him in the same category as those mentioned above as my favorites. The book had its moments, especially near the end, after the dragon had been defeated. None of the games I played growing up ended quite like this little adventure ended.

Goblin Quest is the first of a trilogy, of which I will be sure to pick up the other two books.

The SyFy Channel

As of yesterday, the SciFi Channel has rebranded itself as the SyFy Channel, with the tagline of "Imagine Greater". Below, find a reprint of another blog entry I had posted back on April 13 regarding the SyFy Channel as a whole.



First off, I will say that I enjoy watching the SciFi Network. It has had some very good programming in the past, and of course, the present, and I hope the future. It was home to such shows as Farscape--one of the first of the original programming that it did. It brought back such shows as Lost in Space, Land of the Giants, Sliders, Quantum Leap, X-Files, V, Space Rangers, and the like. Granted, not all of the older shows were the greatest television or even the greatest science fiction. But it was fun to see those shows again, and the SciFi Channel was one of my all time favorite channels. It's gotten a couple of the Star Trek series, which is a good fit for them. And then it's also getting shows such as Lost and Primeval and Doctor Who.The SciFi Channel is now also home to such shows as Ghost Hunters, which has been successful enough to spawn numerous copy cats and even the spin-off show Ghost Hunters International. There's Battlestar Galactica or the Stargate Series, both of which have been successful, and they've had some slightly less successful but still good original TV shows.


The point I'm trying to make is that there is enough in the world of science fiction that this channel should become a repository for all things sci-fi. I think that was the original intent for the network, but they have started to move away from that concept, and as a result, are alienating some of its fans.Take Ani-Mondays. Okay, fine, I'm willing to accept that anime fans and science fiction fans may cross. But you know, there is already an anime network out there. I don't know how many of us get it on our providers, but it does exist. Charter in my area offers it as an On-Demand pay subscription only, but it is there for me should I chose to watch it.

But, okay, I'm willing to give up one night (and I believe it is later in the evening, anyway) for the anime genre. But what's with the ECW wrestling being aired on the SciFi Network? In no way can anyone make the argument that it belongs on the network. Are there sci-fi fans who watch wrestling? Yes, probably. I watched some of the wrestling myself, back in the day before it was aired on SciFi. But it doesn't fit into the genre, and shouldn't be wasting schedule time.

Paranormal? Yes, that does belong on the SciFi network. There may be those who may differ, who say that there is a difference between paranormal activity and science fiction. They may claim that paranormal activity is real whereas science fiction is, well, totally unbelievable. However, I think that overall a science fiction fan is going to be a paranormal fan as well, though I could be wrong on that. So shows like Ghost Hunters does belong on the SciFi Network.

The horror concept has always been a component of the SciFi Channel. In one way, this make sense. I mean, where do you draw the line between the paranormal with Grant and Jason investigating ghostly sightings and horror movies such as the Exorcist. Or between the movie Cursed and a TV show such as Wolf Lake or She-Wolf or American Werewolf in Paris. And once again, a science fiction fan may also be a fan of horror movies. But I, for one, am not a fan of most horror movies. There have been a few that I have enjoyed, if they fit a certain specification. And the argument can therefore be made that the two genres do tend to blur a little bit around the edges. While they may blur, though, the two are still distinct genres, and being a fan of one doesn't necessarily make you a fan of the other. The horror genre is a big one...why isn't there a Horror channel out there? Or maybe there is but it's not well known. And, I suppose such a channel would almost exclusively be movies, as there aren't a lot of TV shows that would fit a horror genre, except things like Wolf Lake or Moonlight or Dark Shadows--shows that I would watch and would give a place on the SciFi Network. So, I once again would compromise, and allow some of these shows to remain on the SciFi Network. But only some.
(July 9 EDIT: It has been pointed out that there is in fact such a channel--Chiller TV--also owned by NBC who owns the SyFy Channel, and to me, only serves as another reason why the two genres can and should be divided. It does apparently air some of the series that I listed above such as Wolf Lake and the newer Dark Shadows as well as some anthology series--including Twilight Zone (?)).

What's missing from the SciFi Channel? Plenty. Bring back some of the older shows--even the campy ones. Even the ones that lasted only a few episodes in first run. Let them live forever in science fiction heaven, i.e., the SciFi Network. Also missing--fantasy shows. Granted, I can't think of many--Hercules and Xena spring to mind immediately. And there are fantasy movies that can easily fill this void. There are a few Robin Hood series as well, or the old Dungeons and Dragons cartoon from the 80s. At least the SciFi Network does do an occasional fantasy-related movie or mini-series which helps fill this void, and generally these are done on a relatively qualitative scale. But still this genre seems to generally be lacking. Also missing is the superhero genre, which is essentially a subset of the sci-fi genre. What about bringing back the campy 1960s Batman series (which I currently enjoy laughing at on the American Life Network). And there are other hero TV programs. Anyone remember Birds of Prey or MANTIS?

Overdone on the SciFi network? Originally produced movies. Usually, these take the form of killer crocs, rabid rats, or extremely hungry hippos. Which if the SciFi Network wants to produce its own movies, that's great. But instead of pushing these out at a dime a dozen rate, why not produce some better quality movies? Make them events to be seen rather than cheap filler? It's because of these cheap B movies that I usually ignore the SciFi channel when I'm seeing whats on TV. I can understand the desire to have a movie night, or at least air science fiction, paranormal, superhero, fantasy movies. But there are a lot of quality movies already out there. Obtain the rights to those movies instead of producing cheap movies.

So, if I ran the SciFi Network? Heralding back to an earlier programming design of the network, I believe, I would go back to theme nights:

Mondays: Anime. I'd try to through in some other animated genre-specific shows, too, like Invader Zim or Duck Dodgers. Even the Justice League/Superman/Batman/Teen Titans cartoons, or the Clone Wars.
Tuesdays: Super Heroes.
Wednesday: Paranormal.
Thursdays: Horror.
Friday: Original programming episodes.
Saturday: Fantasy. Saturday mornings could also be a re-run of some of the cartoons from Monday.
Sunday: Re-broadcast of first run shows (i.e., Lost, Primeval, Dr. Who--those shows that they have rebroadcast rights to that are also being shown on other networks).

Wow, I got through the week without even getting into the movies and reruns from the days of old. And that is what the day times can be filled with. Come on, SciFi Network. Return to your roots. Give us a true science fiction channel that we can once again enjoy watching.

Warehouse 13

Warehouse 13 made it's debut on the rebranded SyFy Channel last night. While I was not looking forward to the rebranding of the channel, I have been eagerly looking forward to the new series. And while I can easily criticize the direction of the channel and the fact that it tends to play third-rate horror and cheesy science fiction and fantasy made-for-TV movies, it generally does do a very good job at good new series. And so I looked forward to this new series with baited breath, despite reading some people criticizing it long before it aired as something that the SyFy Channel would likely ruin and poorly execute.

I have to admit to missing the first 15 minutes of the show, so I'm not sure if I missed anything really important (other than the fact that Myka Bering and Peter Lattimer--the two main characters--were on opposite sides of the action during a Presidential visit to a musuem), though for the first two hours of the show, Myka and Pete continued to get to know each other and learn about the other. I started watching the show just as the two show up at Warehouse 13 in South Dakota.

It didn't take long to realize, however, that there was something vaguely familiar about the premise of the show as it was unfolding. Two government agents, one an excited male agent who seemed to embrace the aspect of his job, and a skeptical, unenthusiastic female agent who balances out the other. Government cover-ups. Unusual and bizarre actions that can be explained by using the unexplained. I think we all know which other TV show this sounds like. Myka and Pete have an added gadget, though, that the other two government agents didn't have--a neutralizer, which only brought to mind aspects of the Ghostbusters, emptying ectoplasm into a storage container to transport it. Warehouse 13 also brings to mind something out of Wild, Wild West....all of their nifty gadgets seem to come straight out of the 1950s in their appearance, despite their being capable of things that we currently don't have the technology to do--or at least that hasn't really been mass produced and available on the open market. Even the keyboard Artie Nielsen (the agent in charge of Warehouse 13) uses for his computer seems to have a very antique look to it. I realize that this was all done on purpose--to make it seem that these items were actually invented at an earlier time and not necessarily coming from outer space, and to give them more of a musuem feel to it, and to make it seem like Warehouse 13 is something that has been going on for some time now. And maybe that concept will work. Maybe it won't. Only time will tell in that regard.

I will give Warehouse 13 more time to work it's magic on me before I decide whether or not it is something that I will use my time on. While the characters of Pete and Myka seem to be an over-used stereotype, and I'm not entirely sold on the character of Artie, I am a bit intrigued by the other supporting characters and what role they will play as the series matures.

Welcome

Welcome to the Sci-Fi and Fantasy Planet. Orbitting a star in the distant part of the galaxy, hopefully you will take up residence here and make this your new home--or at least a regular stop--for news and commentary on science fiction and fantasy in various media. What sorts of genre will you find here? There are a variety of sub-genres in the world of science fiction and fantasy that will be covered, from space operas to super heroes to magic to mythology. If it's querky, weird, or a little bit different from the norm, it just may be covered here as well.

So settle in to your new little planet in the galaxy and make yourself at home.