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May 31

Breaking News Broke
Starfest guest (Starship Troopers) Clancy Brown is just as confused as anyone about the abrupt "cancellation" of Breaking News. The series, an original one-hour drama series about a 24-hour news network was produced by Gardner Stern (Chicago Hope, NYPD Blue, Law & Order) who wrote the original pilot and served as the show's executive producer. Ken Olin (thirtysomething, The West Wing) also is an executive producer on the series.

TNT had ordered 13 episodes to start airing in August of 2001, but mysteriously shelved the show before it ever aired. The ensemble cast of the show includes Tim Matheson (The West Wing), Paul Adelstein (ER), Scott Bairstow (Party of Five) Myndy Crist (ER), Vincent Gale, Rowena King (The Wide Sargasso Sea), Jeffrey Sams (Soul Food), Lisa Ann Walter (The Parent Trap), Patricia Wettig (thirtysomething) and Clancy Brown (The Shawshank Redemption and Buckaroo Banzai).

TNT has recently spent a lot of money picking up "Charmed" -- a show that the WB is ditching. TNT is reportedly hunting for a younger demographic and therefore doesn't need a West Wing in it's slate of new shows. Too bad.

New Line is currently shopping the show to other networks and will, undoubtedly, find one willing to (at least) air the episodes already filmed.

One More Lone Gunman
That headline is not a mistake, there is one more new Lone Gunmen episode that will be airing tomorrow. They made thirteen Lone Gunmen episodes and skipped one so the finale would air during sweeps. "Cap'n Toby" will run on Friday and then FOX will be repeating the series in that time slot beginning June 8th with the pilot episode. It'll serve them right if the show picks-up viewers and becomes a rerun hit like Wild Wild West did.

May 30

Wake Causes Comic Ripples
Michael can find no fault with this French import. The art in this reprinted European title is magnificent; the writing is no less impressive. So what creates the ripples?.. The nipples - or the lack thereof. Not one to find himself on the uncensored side of the line too often, Mike makes an argument for and against the censorship in the US edition.

The Winners Have Been Chosen!
All the entries have been processed for our Thursday, May 31st screening of The Animal. Everyone that entered should be receiving an email confirmation - win or lose.
Click here to see the list of winners.

May 21

Basic Enterprise
In a LA Times article today, the creators of Enterprise talked to
reporter Dan Cray about how the new show will be returning to the
Basics of 'Star Trek'. The fifth series, set in the 22nd century, takes place just after the invention of the warp drive and 100 years prior to the voyages of Kirk's original Starship Enterprise. "You'll see the first guys who go out into space, the Chuck Yeagers of space exploration," said Rick Berman. "Fans will see all the things they recognize from 'Star Trek,' but in the developmental phase."

According to Berman and co-creator Brannon Braga, "Enterprise" will voyage in a fresh direction to evade Gene Roddenberry's difficult character restrictions. "The next season will bring a bending of the rules without losing Roddenberry's vision of a hopeful, uplifting future," Berman says. "The Roddenberry perfection of humanity is in the process of happening but will be not completed when the series begins. That will enable us to do a show within the general umbrella of 'Star Trek,' but eliminate some of the stumbling blocks."

My, my, sounds alot like my May 16 comments. For more insite on the plans for the series, visit the Official Star Trek Site.

May 18

Season Finale Season
Get ready for a bit of a dry season. The season finales of most of our favorite shows are airing this coming week. This couldn't come at a worse time for me. I've finally caught-up on all the shows I've been taping and won't have anything to watch on those late, sleepless nights this summer. The only bright spot on the tube will be the Sci-Fi channel shows in June. I guess Cubby will be happy... she'll be fetching the ball a lot this summer instead of sitting beside the couch.

Say goodbye to 7 Days and The Lone Gunmen. Roswell will be moving to UPN next season to join Buffy and Enterprise. I'm not sure about The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne, Phil's the only person I know that admits to watching it.

The Sci-Fi channel will have a new B5 Rangers series next season. Isn't it interesting that UPN and Sci-Fi are starting to pickup the other network's leftovers? This is obviously good news for genre series.

I am really puzzled by the announcement of another season for Earth Final Conflict. Who's going to be on the show? EFC has to be just behind NYPD Blue and Law & Order for the all-time TV cast change over record.

Here's the season finale schedule. Alas, some great shows have already ended.

May 21	Roswell - Departure
May 22	3rd Rock From the Sun - The Thing That Wouldn't Die (1 hour)
	7 Days - Born in the USSR
	Angel - There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb
	Buffy The Vampire Slayer - The Gift
	Dark Angel - ...and Jesus Brought a Casserole
May 23	Star Trek: Voyager - Endgame (2 hours)
May 29	7 Days - Live: From Death Row
	Special Unit 2 - The Brothers (Pilot repeat I didn't see)

And here's what we have to look forward to in June (thank you Sci-Fi channel)!

June 15	Farscape - Thanks For Sharing
	The Invisible Man - Johnny Apocalypse
	The Outer Limits - Think Like a Dinosaur
June 16	The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne - Secret of the Realm
June 22	Farscape - Green Eyed Monster
	The Invisible Man - Going Postal
	The Outer Limits - Alienshop
June 23	The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne - The Victorian Candidate
June 29	Farscape - Losing Time
	The Invisible Man - Brother's Keeper
	The Outer Limits - World's Within
June 30	The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne - The Book of Knowledge

May 16

Bakula - In A Commanding Position
Voyager's last regular episode airs today and filming on the latest Star Trek series has just started. Star Trek: Enterprise starring Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer is now filming for its fall TV debut. We've known for some time that Paramount was hoping to sign Scott and that negotiations on his contract have been difficult. Now in it's fifth incarnation, generating excitement for yet another Star Trek series become a prime directive for Paramount. That's why it was so important that the new show have a well-respected and well-known actor in the lead role. The studio knew that and so did Scott Bakula. As part of his final deal, Mr. Bakula's production company now has a development agreement with the studio for possible future TV series, telefilms, features and specials. That's a much better deal than just a paycheck.

Over the years, several of the Next Gen cast members worked their way into the directing chair during the run of their series. Moving behind the camera is the usual path to creative control on a series. But getting a production deal is even a better step in any actor's journey up the power ladder. Patrick Stewart was able to command a production deal when NG went to the big screen, but only after playing the captain for seven seasons. With his clout, Mr. Bakula gets to start from that position. It remains to be seen if he will eventually get a producer credit (and the requisite power) on Star Trek - that could be negotiated in three years or so, if the show is a success.

In any event, I'm sure we'll see a much different series in this Star Trek incarnation. If his previous work on Quantum Leap is any indication, humor and light-heartedness will play a much bigger role on the new show. Set before the Classic series, the new Enterprise will be freed from much of the Prime-Directive stodginess that prevented Captains Picard and Janeway from playing by the seat of their pants. As Captain Archer, Bakula will be able to make his own rules and interfere with the aliens he encounters in ways that would have never been acceptable in the more civilized Star Trek's we've seen before.

Suspended Animation
Imagine a world where all heroes have been slain, all hope has been lost, and harsh law is enforced by human/mechanical hybrids. A dark vision to be sure, but also the setting for a very exciting, extremely different kind of comic book story, The Foot Soldiers. March on over and read Mark Allen's review in this week's column.

Starland Screening
Vin Diesel (Pitch Black) and Paul Walker (The Skulls) star in the action-adventure film The Fast and The Furious a fierce and frenzied look at rival Los Angeles street teams who use street racing as a means of establishing power. The film co-stars Jordana Brewster (The Faculty), Rick Yune (Snow Falling On Cedars) and Michelle Rodriquez (Girlfight). Walker stars as a rookie cop who goes undercover, posing as a racing team member, in order to investigate truck hijackings. Managing to ingratiate himself with the team's leaders at first, he finds himself in jeopardy when the other members begin to suspect an imposter within their ranks, setting the stage for an exciting climactic showdown. Directed by Rob Cohen (The Skulls) and produced by Neal H. Moritz (Cruel Intentions), The Fast and The Furious will feature the sleek and powerful designs of the modified vehicles along with the heart-pounding adrenaline rush of the most amazing racing action ever seen on screen.

Click here to register for tickets...

May 15

More Starfest 2001 Photos
I know, I've been slow in posting additional photos from Starfest. Please forgive me. I've posted a few more in the Post Convention Report. Click there to gander new pictures and additional commentary.

If you haven't entered the Shrek quiz yet, you have until 5pm Tuesday to do so. I'll be correcting the last entries and emailing the winner notices on Tuesday night. Wednesday we'll have an all new movie quiz posted for next week's screening of The Fast & The Furious with Vin Diesel.

May 14

Production of Play Inspires HBO Movie
HBO is filming The Laramie Project, a story based on the events surrounding the production of a play about the murder of Matthew Shepard, a 19 year-old gay student who was strung to a post near Laramie Wyoming.

The film is about the Tectonic Theatre Project production which garnered substantial critical acclaim. Many of the actors in the production spent time in Laramie interviewing locals to prepare themselves for their roles and to add authentic dialog to the play.

The cast for the HBO production includes: Amy Madigan, Peter Fonda, Camryn Manheim, Summer Phoenix, Christina Ricci, Lois Smith, Frances Sternhagen, Mark Webb, Dylan Baker, Clancy Brown, Steve Buscemi, Kathleen Chalfant, Mark Webber, Nestor Carbonell (playing Moises Kaufman - the play and film's director), Jeremy Davies, Clea DuVall, Noah Fliess, Edward Furlong, Janeane Garofalo, Bill Irwin, Joshua Jackson, Terry Kinney, and Laura Linney. All are playing in the film for scale and alphabetical billing.

Trek Spying Revealed
John Cook shows us the underbelly of Star Trek in this week's edition of Sev Trek. It'll be your belly that will be shaking with laughter when you take a peak by clicking on the image.

May 10

Shrek Screening
Once upon a time, in a far away swamp, there lived an ornery ogre named Shrek whose precious solitude is suddenly shattered by an invasion of annoying fairy tale characters. There are blind mice in his food, a big, bad wolf in his bed, three little homeless pigs and more, all banished from their kingdom by the evil Lord Farquaad.

Determined to save their home--not to mention his own--Shrek cuts a deal with Farquaad and sets out to rescue the beautiful Princess Fiona to be Farquaad's bride. Accompanying him on his mission is wisecracking Donkey, who will do anything for Shrek... except shut up. Rescuing the Princess from a fire-breathing dragon may prove the least of their problems when the deep, dark secret she has been keeping is revealed.

Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and John Lithgow head the voice cast of Shrek, the irreverent comedy from the computer animation wizards at PDT/DreamWorks ("Antz").

The Starland Screening will be held May 17, 2001 at the UA Pavillions Theater in Denver. We have a very limited number of tickets available. The quiz isn't easy, but the movie will be worth it!

The Shrek Ticket winners have been selected. Thank you to everyone that played!

May 9

Atlantian Tale Holds Water
Michael Vance feels this comic is doomed due to its reliance on the comic hero format. He also thinks that anyone that takes the time to investigate its epic storytelling and beautiful art will appreciate the tale for what it is - beyond its classification.

May 8

Voyager Having Trouble Beaming In
Due to the Avalanche second round playoffs running into a seventh game, UPN 20 has been forced to pre-empt the Wednesday, May 9th episode of Star Trek: Voyager. UPN 20 apologizes to all their loyal Star Trek viewers for the inconvenience and disappointment this will cause. They appreciate your patience, especially in light of it being the final season of Voyager. They will make two opportunities for you to enjoy the all-new episode on Saturday, May 12 - at 7pm and 10pm. The station hopes you will be able to join Captain Janeway as she says a final goodbye to a valued crewmember and friend in Saturday's episode.

May 7

Starfest Model Show
Unfortunately, I only got a couple of shots in the Model Show before a crisis took me away. Once again, Vern did a great job pulling together a wonderful model show at this year's Starfest. I did manage to snap a photo of a great Buckaroo Banzai Jetcar and the convention's People's Choice Award Winner. All the the entries in the event showed incredible talent and patience and should be applauded. If anyone was at the show and snapped some shots of some of the other models, please forward them to me so everyone can appreciate the hard work and ingenuity that went into them.

I'm starting to put together the pages for the upcoming Starcon 2001 convention. Click here to take a peek...

May 5

Stone Trek
Brian Matthews is ready to rock you with an all-new Stone Trek cartoon episode.

Click here to see it now!

May 4

Sorbo Coverage
Susanne Jasker sent me on the trail to a couple of sites that have done reports on Kevin Sorbo's Starfest 2001 appearance. I don't mind saying that they did a great job covering his appearance. You'll find the reports of great interest. They can be found at: Slipstream and Chrissy's. Of course, there is also my own convention coverage in the Post Convention Report.

May 3

Sci-Sev
John Cook is still simmering down-under with some great Sci-Fi cartoons you should add to your weekly diet. They are a regular part of our Features section here at Starland.com. Gobble-down this week's dish by clicking on the image to the left.

May 2

Suspended Animation
Mike serves up two reviews in this week's column. The first Think Outside the Cat Box is a compilation of comics about - surprise - cats. Mike says the book is a humorous take on cats that both cat lovers and haters will like. The second review (actually a mini-review) is on Zoot Soot. Zoot is an underground-style comic that pays homage to science fiction.

May 1

Buffy Trek?
By now, you've probably heard that UPN has snagged Buffy the Vampire Slayer from the WB. In the fine tradition of crossovers between Voyager and the WWF, I think we can expect Sarah Michelle Gellar to make an appearance on the new Star Trek show - during its first season. In fact, due to recent comments by UPN, about Joss Whedon (Buffy's creator), I'd be surprised if we didn't see an episode or two of the new show written by The Joss. No kidding, that's what his friends call him.