SF Tube Talk News & Info - July 14th This file archives news and info from the SFTV mailing list for July, 1999. From July 3rd edition: Ron Moore Leaving Star Trek: Voyager After having been moved over to Star Trek: Voyager after the end of Deep Space Nine, Ron Moore has left Voyager in what appears to have been a falling out with Branon Braga and Rick Berman. More details on www.trekweb.com. MANIA DROPS LONG-RUNNING COLUMNIST In response to an announcement in the popular online column Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, that the week of June 29-July 5 would be the final week of the historic column, Mangels had this to say: "To my dismay, and after over two years of service (since March 1997), Mania Magazine has decided that Hollywood Heroes is redundant and that their site no longer has need of my column. Since I started doing the Backstage column in the late 1980s in Amazing Heroes, then moved to doing Hollywood Heroes at Wizard [which in turn went to Fan Magazine, Hero Illustrated, England's Fantazia, Italy's Edizione Star, and spin-off columns for Cinescape, Marvel Age, and Marvel Vision] I have seen a number of similarly- themed film/television columns appear in print magazines, and on the world wide web. Indeed, many of those columnists have acknowledged me over the years, and I have enjoyed reading the work of my successors. Mania has told me that they are "downsizing" several columnists, but the only other person I'm aware of that has been "downsized" is Rob Worley and his informative "Comics 2 Film" column [www.comics2film.com]. After over a decade of producing Hollywood Heroes (and its predecessor and spin-off columns), I am disappointed in Mania's decision. I was told that my column was one of the more popular on their site, and I know that a great number of Hollywood and comic industry professionals regularly read my column. Mania has been my happy 'home base' for two years, and I'd be more than pleased to continue with them, if they chose to reverse their decision. At present, I have not found another home for Hollywood Heroes, and am looking for potential sites that might wish to host the popular column. Interested parties who wish to contact me may do so at AMangelsSW@aol.com." Anyone interesting in registering their feelings about Mania's decision to drop Hollywood Heroes after two successful years may email to editor@anotheruniverse.com "Weird Al"'s The Saga Begins "Wierd Al" Yankovic has released his new CD, "Running With Scissors", which features "The Saga Begins", a telling of the story of Star Wars Episode One to the tune of "American Pie". You can catch the video online at www.sagabegins.com and should be able to catch it on VH1 during their "Weird Al" Video Timeline shows as well as MTV. VH1 is also having a "Weird Al" Behind the Music special as well. For more info, check out the official "Weird Al" site at www.weirdal.com. VH1 - Behind the Music (one hour) Times (all times ET) July 4 - 11 am, 9 pm, 11 pm, July 5 - 4 pm, July 6 - 9 pm, 11 pm July 7 - 7:30 pm, July 8 -1 pm, July 10 - 8 am and 4 pm VH1 - Video Timeline (half hour) Times (all times ET) July 4 - 10 pm, midnight, July 7 - 8:30 pm, July 10 - 3:30 pm July 12 - noon, July 24 - 10:30 pm Only known MTV airing is during "Total Request" on July 7th CNN Showbiz Live on July 9th 4 pm ET/ 1 pm PT and 3 am ET/mid PT USA Network's "Happy Hour" July 10 - 9 pm ET/PT, and July 12 - 11 pm ET/PT. The Doctor Demento show this weekend (July 3rd) features cuts from the CD and will have an interview with Al on July 17th. Monty Python returns to cable (and home video). On Saturday, July 10 at 11 p.m. ET / 8 pm PT, in a "Year of the Python" campaign, A&E Network brings "Monty Python" back to cable in one-hour programs that each combine two half-hour episodes. In addition to the weekly telecasts, A&E will also release home video, DVD and on-line (www.pythonshop.com) versions of the show. I know that having two episodes edited into one hour with commercials won't be the best way to view the shows, but this arrangement means that the shows will become available on home video again, including DVDs. When they were released to home video by Paramount, they never did complete the series on laserdisc, which I've been grumbling about for years :) The WB Reschedules Buffy's Season Finale for July 13 The WB announced that they will air the Season Finale episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer on July 13th. Still no word, howver, when The WB will air the other pulled episode, "Earshot". Crusade - Now is the Time The first two episodes of Crusade pulled in decent ratings, a 2.0 household rating for the premier and a 1.4 for the second episode with stiffer competition. There is still the possibility that the Sci-Fi Channel will pick up a second season and now would be the best time to write them. The addressees to write are: Barry Diller, CEO - USA Networks Stephen Chao, President USA Networks Ms. Bonnie Hammer, Senior V.P. of Programming, USA Networks 1230 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020-1513 Walker Leaving Profiler Ally Walker, star of NBC's Profiler is leaving the show to pursue film offers. The show will continue without her. Latest word is that Walker will appear in the first two episodes of the new season. GvsE on USA Starting Sunday, July 18h at 8 pm ET/PT on the USA Network is a new series called "GvsE", short for Good Versus Evil. Reports from several sources are that the show is worth catching. USA has set up a website for the show at www.gvse.com. There's been several articles about the show on Ain't it Cool News (www.aint-it-cool-news.com). From AICN's review, here's Glen Oliver's description of the show: GvsE - shorthand for "Good versus Evil" - is a new entry from brothers Joshua and Jonas Pate (The Grave, Deceiver). The show's premise is simple but compelling: unbeknownst to most of mankind, an ongoing battle between "good" and "evil" is being fought "beneath the facade of everyday life." Just about every social institution has been infiltrated by the forces of darkness - whose soldiers are called Morlocks (yes, that is from H.G. Well's The Time Machine). Fighting these factions of despair is an army of "good" guys called "The Corps" - whose membership consists primarily of undead folk who have behaved less-than-admirably during their time on Earth, and are being asked to work their way into heaven as part of a holy Secret Service. Heavily armed and well-knowledged, these agents regularly skim beneath the surface of society in their every day crusade to "whoop Evil's ass!" A&E Horatio Hornblower movies special showings Starting July 5th, A&E will be running the four Horatio Hornblower movies on the A&E Classroom service at 7 am ET / 4 am PT Monday - Friday. When a program is run on their Classroom service, it is aired without commercials. Each movie will be aired over two days and it is possible there may be material included that was cut to make room for prime-time commercials. July 5 & 6 - The Duel July 7 & 8 - The Fire Ships July 9 & 12 - The Duchess & The Devil July 13 & 14 - The Wrong War Various Scheduling Notes: UPN has scheduled two episodes of Mercy Point in their Thursday night at the Movies block for July 8th. Despite TV Guide listings that these are repeats, these episodes never aired in the U.S. UPN is also showing a repeat of The Sentinel on Monday, July 12 at 8 pm ET/PT with a Monday airing of 7 Days at 9 pm ET/PT. New season start dates : Sliders Season 5 June 11 (SFC - 18 episodes) Stargate SG-1 June 25 (Showtime - Season 3) GvsE July 18 (USA Network) SFTV Scorecard for the class of 98/99 Updates on July 3rd - Viper, Conan & Mortal Kombat Renewed/Continuing Batman Beyond (season 2) Buffy (Season 4) Charmed (Season 2) Dilbert (Season 2) Early Edition (Season 4) Earth: Final Conflict (Seasons 3 & 4) Farscape (Season 2) First Wave (Season 2) Futurama (Season 2) Honey I Shrunk The Kids (Season 3) La Femme Nikita (Season 4) Lexx (Season 2) Men in Black (Season 3) Outer Limits (Seasons 5 & 6) Profiler (Season 4) Pretender (Season 4) Psi Factor (Season 4) 7 Days (Season 2) Sliders (Season 5) Stargate SG-1 (Seasons 3 & 4) Star Trek: Voyager (Season 6) 3rd Rock From the Sun (Season 5) X-Files (Season 7 - Last?) Xena (Season 5) Unknown Total Recall 2070 (Season 2) Special Circumstances Batman/Superman Adventures (No new production, will continue airing) Crusade (Not renewed by TNT, Could move to SFC for Season 2) The Net (Season 2) cancelled by USA Network, may move to syndication The Crow: Stairway to Heaven (Season 2) - New studio owners have pulled the plug. Producers are looking to move it elsewhere. Conan: The Barbarian (Season 2) Still in Development Mortal Kombat (Season 2) - Not renewed for syn, may continue on cable. Cancelled/Not Picked Up/Not Returning Brats of the Lost Nebula Brimstone Cupid Fantasy Island Hercules (8 episodes, ending in December) Highlander: The Raven Mercy Point Millennium (Season 4) MST3K (Season 10) Nightman (Season 2) Poltergeist (Season 5) The Sentinel (Season 5) Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Season 7) Strange World (Still talk of other network pickup for mid-season) Viper (Season 4) Young Hercules (Season 2) July 22nd Edition (plus some updates) Walker Leaving Profiler Ally Walker, star of NBC's Profiler is leaving the show to pursue film offers. The show will continue without her. Latest word is that Walker will appear in the first two episodes of the new season. Replacing Walker will be Jamie Luner (Melrose Place) as Rachel Burke, a former prosecutor who becomes an FBI profiler. Jamie's character will be introduced in the two-part season opener. MST3K - The Final Episode The Sci-Fi Channel will air the final episode of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 twice on Sunday night, August 8 at 9 pm ET / 6 pm PT and in its regular time slot at 11 pm ET / 8 pm PT. It ends the ten year run of the show, but won't be the final new episode to air. Episode 3 of the last season featuring "Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders" was held back due to screening rights and will finally air on Sunday, Sept 12th at 11 pm ET/ 8 pm PT. With the end of new episodes, the Sunday night airing will be scrapped in favor of additional episodes in their "Chain Reaction" specials so MST3K repeats will only be aired in the Saturday 11 am ET / 8 pm PT slot. Sci-Fi Channel Scheduling News Starting August 15th, the Sci-Fi Channel looks to be doing a weekly "Chain Reaction" where they run 6 or more episodes of a specific series. Here's the upcoming schedule. For current series, check the listings for while episodes will air. For older series, check the Sci-Fi Channel web page at www.scifi.com . Aug 15 - First Wave - 6 episodes starting at 5 pm ET/ 2 pm PT Aug 16 - First Wave - 6 episodes starting at 1 pm ET/ 11 am PT Aug 22 - Alien Nation - 8 episodes starting at 7 pm ET / 4 pm PT Aug 29 - Sliders - 8 episodes starting at 7 pm ET / 4 pm PT Sep 5 - Lost in Space - 8 episodes starting at 7 pm ET / 4 pm PT Sep 12 - First Wave - 6 episodes starting at 5 pm ET/ 2 pm PT Sep 13 - First Wave - 6 episodes starting at 1 pm ET/ 11 am PT Sep 19 - Quantum Leap - 8 episodes starting at 7 pm ET / 4 pm PT Sep 26 - Farscape - 8 episodes starting at 7 pm ET / 4 pm PT Also, the week of Sept 13, they will be running episodes of Farscape at 7 pm ET & 11 pm ET / 4 pm PT & 8 pm PT Mon-Thu Sci-Fi Channel - Renewals, Drops and Pickups Farscape has been renewed for a second season. The SFC announced that Sliders will end with its current season. The SFC picked up " The Invisible Man" series, to join Sci-Fi Prime early next year. From Sci-Fi Wire: In this version of the invisible man concept, a small-time thief named Darian avoids a prison sentence by undergoing an experiment that allows him to become temporarily--and often accidentally--invisible. While an evil scientist tries to hunt down Darian to learn his secret, the misguided thief is forcibly enlisted into a ramshackle, underfunded intelligence agency. The SFC will have a SCI FI Short Film Series starting in first quarter 2000. From Sci-Fi Wire: The series will showcase visually and artistically provocative film work by unknown movie producers, with the goal of providing first-time filmmakers an entre into Hollywood. SCI FI noted that, "emerging sci-fi cinema auteurs whose short works dazzle SCI FI talent scouts can also look forward to possible production deals with the network." Interested film producers can download a submission form on the SCI FI Web site . Submissions and inquiries should be sent to: Dave Brody, Supervising Producer SCI FI Channel/USA Networks 1230 Ave. of the Americas New York, NY 10020 dbrody@usanetworks.com. New season start dates : Secret Agent Man Sept 14 (UPN - Debut) 3rd Rock From the Sun Sept 21 (NBC - Season 5 - Moving to 8:30 pm Tue) Star Trek: Voyager Sept 22 (UPN - Season 6) Futurama Sept 26 (FOX - Season 2) Hercules Sept 27 (Syndicated - Week of - Season 6) Xena Sept 27 (Syndicated - Week of - Season 5) Charmed Sept 30 (WB - Season 2 - Moving to 9:00 pm Thu) Earth: Final Conflict Oct 4 (Syndicated - Week of - Season 3) Dilbert Oct 5 (UPN - Season 2 - moving to Tues 8 pm) Buffy The Vampire Slayer Oct 5 (The WB - Season 4) Angel Oct 5 (The WB - Debut) Roswell Oct 6 (The WB - Debut) Harsh Realm Oct 8 (FOX - Debut) The X-Files Oct 31 (FOX - Season 7)