Fan Rants

I hope with this news its not some elaborate April fools joke on the Fringe fans, but you can never be sure with Fox.

Here is the info that Fox sent out on the plans for its midseason. Premier date, timeslot, regular airing time:

24: Jan 17 & 18th, 8pm – Two night four hour event – Sundays 9pm EST
American Idol: Jan 12 & 13th, 8pm – Two night event – Tuesdays 8pm EST
Fringe: April 1st, TBD – Thursdays TBD
Glee: April 13th, TBD – Tuesdays TBD
Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares: Jan 29th, TBD – Fridays TBD
Human Target: (NEW!) Jan 17th, TBD – Wednesdays TBD
Our Little Genius: (NEW!) Jan 13th, TBD – Sundays TBD
Past Life: (NEW!) Feb 11th, TBD – Thursdays TBD
Sons of Tuscon: (NEW!) March 14th, 8:30pm – Sundays 8:30pm

Also of note is the fact that ‘Lie to Me’ has had nine more episodes ordered to round out the season. No date or time yet on those.

According to an article at Variety.com, Steven Spielberg will be teaming up with Stephen King to bring his newest novel, Under the Dome, to the small screen. It seems that DreamWorks TV has optioned the property and will be distributing it somewhere on cable.  Unsure if this will be a maxi or mini-series but I am thinking HBO will pick it up.

The book looks good and I am planning on picking it up this weekend. Here is the blurb from the publisher:
On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester’s Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener’s hand is severed as “the dome” comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when — or if — it will go away.

Today Production Weekly tweeted that a pilot for Global Frequency was being made for the CW, written by Scott Nimerfro (Pushing Daisys).

Now this is good news to me, I was a big fan of the Warren Ellis comic back in the early 2000′s. There was even a pilot made for the WB back in 2005, but it got dropped before it even officially got released (it was unofficially leaked to the net that year though, not bad if you can find it, I liked it).

The concept is a good one that can be translated easily enough to the small screen. Essentially its a covert agency that uses smart mob techniques to mobilize its 1001 agents. From wikipedia:
The purpose of the organization is to protect and rescue the world from the consequences of the various secret projects that the governments of the world have established, which are unknown to the public at large.

Well I have not been quite about my particular disdain for the new Stargate Universe series on our podcast, but it seems they are finally bringing in the big guns! Michael Shanks will be appearing on two episodes later this season that explores the backstory for why Dr Rush is such a prick.

Now, that last part wasn’t in the TV Guide Magazine article, but I don’t think anyone can watch the show and not have that opinion of the Rush character. Anyway, it is good to see that Shanks will be working on a franchinse that he is heavily endebted to. And its got to be better than putting on fake wings and a copper helmet like he is in the show Smallville.