More Fodder For My Viewing List

04 October 2006 | Hisham | | TV
 
When I have time to spare, I don't really sit down and watch TV like I used to in days of old. So I haven't seen every new series that's come out on TV this season, but two's caught my eye so far: Heroes and Dexter.
 

A Trekkie I Was Til A Threshold I Crossed

30 September 2006 | Hisham | | Misc Sci-Fi, TV
 

I used to religiously catch every episode of Star Trek whenever it was on the air to watch episodes a couple of times. The Original Series. The Next Generation. Deep Space Nine. They were all my regular TV consumption.

Even when I was working in the East Coast and out of the station's broadcast area, Atok Irfan - long before he was designated Atok Irfan - taped the shows for me for my viewing when I was on my 5 days off period from work.

It was during the middle of the second season of Star Trek: Voyager that I finally realised something.

 

Beast Wars - A Series Review

07 July 2006 | Hisham | | Transformers, TV
 
Rattrap,Optimus Primal, Rhinox and Cheetor... no-prize for guessing who's whoIt was just past the mid-90s. X-Files was at its prime on TV and there was news of a brand new CGI Transformers series that will be airing on TV. Being an 80s child, the original Transformers series was one of the shows I followed fanatically. The thought of giant alien robots being able to hide among us in the form of Porsches, Lamborghinis, Lancia Stratos and VW Beetles was very exciting to me and my friends.

But after reading the synopsis of Beast Wars Transformers my interest waned. What's so hot about robots being able to transform into Earth animals on an supposedly uninhabited alien planet? Why is there even a need to hide?

I passed on the pilot. But sometime during the middle of the first season, I happened to catch an episode, thanks to the proddings of my friend Ishak.
 

Abrams Bloodbath Week

06 May 2006 | Hisham | | TV
 

Apart from the release of Mission Impossible III this week, J.J. Abrams seems to have both his TV series Alias and Lost slated for bloodbaths where major characters die violently in surprising turn of events, and those who die do so in similar ways within each show even if they don't die at the same time and place.

And there are four more hours to each series until their respective season finales... and for Alias the series finale.

Cue Michael Giacchino music for both opening titles

A fine week for television.

No, I ain't posting spoilers.

 

We'll Be Back October

09 March 2006 | Hisham | | Misc Sci-Fi, TV
 
Not "we" as in Hishgraphics.

Have a dolly to play with til OctoberAccording to the press release, we have seven months to sit around, twiddle our thumbs and tap our toes to catch the third season of Battlestar Galactica. The 90-minute second season finale will be aired on Friday. I guess I can wait, watch the news or the cool, flashy ads they air on TV until then.

Scott Collura of Now Playing Magazine wrote of the impending third season: "The network press release promises “even more of the drama, intrigue, and action that viewers have come to expect from the series,” which sounds like typical PR talk – until you remember that Battlestar Galactica has so far provided us with more drama, intrigue, and action than we could ever have hoped for."

Amen to that.

To BB, Jo-Jo, Reilly, Beano, Dipper, Flat Top, Chuckles, Jolly, Crashdown, Sheppard, Dash, Flyboy, Stepchild, Puppet, Fireball...

To all of 'em.

 

The Legion on JLU

04 February 2006 | Hisham | | TV
 
No, not the French Foreign Legion. The DC Universe's 30th century team the Legion of Super-Heroes finally get to shine in an episode of Justice League Unlimited titled "Far From Home". Sure, Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy and Chameleon Boy travelled back in time in Superman the Animated Series before, but this episode features a busload of Legionnaires, all in the 30th century. Additionally, their arch-villain teams, the Fatal Five, also appear (with the Emerald Empress voice by Joanne Whalley). Both Legion HQs were also shown!

Unfortunately, only Brainiac 5, Bouncing Boy and Phantom Girl have speaking roles. There is a good reason, however, why the others don't speak for most of the episode.

Click on the thumbnails below for a who's who picture.

The Animated Legion

Apart from John Stewart and Kara in the foreground, we also see between them from top to bottom: Shadow Lass, Colossal Boy and Ultra Boy. On the other side of Kara, clockwise from top left: Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, Phantom Girl, Blok, Wildfire, Timber Wolf, Bouncing Boy, Chameleon Boy and Lightning Lad.

Shrinking Violet and Invisible Kid could well be in that picture and we wouldn't have any idea. ;-)

The Animated Fatal Five

The Fatal Five, clockwise from left: Tharok, the Emerald Empress (with the Eye of Ekron), Validus, Persuader (with his Atomic Axe) and Mano.

Great script throughout:
Kara: "What power do you have? Super strength? Speed?"
Brainiac 5: "I have a 12th level intelligence."
Kara: "Great. You can hit him with your diploma."

With JLU ending this season, I hope we get a Legion of Super-Heroes series. Anything by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini would be a series not to be underestimated.
 

"I Didn't Want To Make It Back Alive"

15 January 2006 | Hisham | | Misc Sci-Fi, TV
 

Spoiler Alert. This is an essay concerning the actions of Lee “Apollo” Adama of Battlestar Galactica in the episode Resurrection Ship, Part 2. If you’re adverse to spoilers it's strongly suggested that you read no further. And if you're local and want to catch it on TV, they're starting to show the first season on 8TV at 10pm Sundays, the same time as Smallville on TV3.

 

Stargate Atlantis on TV2 tonight

01 December 2005 | Hisham | | Misc Sci-Fi, TV
 
Stargate Atlantis is on TV2 Thurdsay nights at 9.00 pm. It started 2 weeks ago with the two-part pilot episode "The Rising".

Score one for sci-fi television on Malaysian TV. The last time a Stargate was on it was the fourth season of Stargate SG-1, probably 3 or 4 years ago on TV3, so I'm guessing anyone who has a passing interest in it would miss out on Daniel's ascendancy (and back), Jonas Quinn, Anubis, alliance with the Asgard, the new Earth warship Prometheus and the X-302 fighters, and the Battle of Antartica that led to the discovery of the Zero Point Module and the DHD coordinates that enabled the Cheyenne Mountain Stargate to open a wormhole to Stargate at the Ancient city of Atlantis in the Pegasus Galaxy.

Beware of Spoilers!

 

Serenity Appreciation Entry

07 October 2005 | Hisham | | Misc Sci-Fi, TV
 

Serenity Movie PosterOnce upon a time, Joss Whedon created a science fiction TV show called Firefly that had great characters, a fantastic millieux and a witty script. It got cancelled by Fox Network. Then its DVD sold faster than hotcakes. Fans wrote to revive the show. So, he wrestled the rights of the show from Fox and transferred it to Universal.

One thing led to another, last Friday saw the release of Serenity, the motion picture continuation of the TV series Firefly, was released to critical acclaim.

I can't wait to watch this because I was also won over by Firefly when TV3 showed it last year, on Wednesday night 12.30 am... sometimes pre-empting it for several weeks for football, or pushing it even further to 1.30 am. But the bad news is there is not a trace of Serenity appearing in Malaysian theaters any time soon. Hopefully we'll get to see it early 2006.

Here are some images of Malcolm Reynolds' Firefly class cargo transport Serenity at various places in the TV series, beautifully rendered by Zoic Studios, who also did some of the visual effects of Battlestar Galactica.

 

Instinct on Atlantis

08 September 2005 | Hisham | | Misc Sci-Fi, TV
 

Once upon a time I read the premise of Stargate Atlantis before they aired its pilot episode "The Rising". I never would have thought the simple premise of an international team of civilian and military explorers sent to the lost city of Atlantis that happened to be on an uninhabited planet in the Pegasus galaxy without the power to return to Earth can be so engrossing. It's all thanks to its great writing, actors, character interaction and humour, and more than adequate visual effects; and it's held its own as the spinoff from Stargate SG-1.

Last week's episode "Instinct" was notable for two reasons:

 

JLU Avatars

03 September 2005 | Hisham | | TV
 

It's cartoon avatar month on ACS Sitiawan Forums. My current favourite animated series now is Justice League Unlimited. So here are some JLU avatars for anyone's use. No heavy hitters like Clark, Bruce and Diana. The only founding members here are John and Wally. The rest are second stringers, but what colourful second stringers they make, eh?