“Phenomenon” Game Will Bend Your Mind

Though it is my job as a television critic and analyst to provide commentary on television shows and their spinoff media, some things just don’t need comment. For instance, Phenomenon. No words are necessary. It stars Uri Geller and Criss Angel. No further words are necessary. That says it all.

To participate in the Phenomenon experience, follow this link to play their interactive game Bend Your Mind. 

Colbert Begins Presidential Campaign

Stephen Colbert kicked off his presidential campaign in style yesterday, receiving the key to the city of Columbia, South Carolina and promising to destroy Georgia. “I promise, if elected, I will crush the state of Georgia,” Colbert stated according to this AP article; his sentiments were lustily cheered by the pro-destruction crowd on hand. Colbert, you may recall, is planning to run only in his home state of South Carolina and is trying to get on ballots as both a Republican and a Democrat, the better to mock politicians, the political process and people in general.

For now, anyway, the state and its citizens are happy to help Colbert in his quest; chances are they are just as bored with real politics as everyone else, which may explain not only the key to the city but also the declaration of yesterday as “Stephen Colbert Day”. Here’s hoping that Colbert’s attempts to provide material for The Colbert Report end up popular enough to land him on one of the debates. Now that would be worth watching.

[Image credit: © Comedy Central]

Fox Plans More Prison Break

Amid all the network scrambling for mid-season replacements and insurance against the possible writers strike, Fox has come up with an unusual idea: a Prison Break spinoff show. Now, spinoffs have been a staple of television for decades, so you may be wondering what’s unusual about this, and here’s the answer—the proposed spinoff will star a Prison Break character who has never actually appeared on Prison Break.

According to this article from Zap2It.com, the show, tentatively titles Prison Break: Cherry Hill, will feature a character named Molly who will be involved in some of those all-female prisons featured in classic 70’s cinema. However, Molly has yet to appear on Prison Break; the plan is, if the show is given a greenlight, they will write Molly into the main show next spring to set up the spinoff. While some people may think that this is a case of the cart pulling the horse, other people would have to agree.

[Image credit: © Fox]

Science Fiction Television Continues Growth

These are heady days for science fiction programming on television, as more and more projects from both minor and major networks have overt or covert science fiction leanings. For fans of science fiction, there has never been a time where there was more variety and better production values than now. And the trend shows no sign of slowing down, as two more new projects have been announced: Warehouse 13 and 99 Stories.

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“Lost” Adds More Cast, More DUIs

Honestly, this is starting to get silly. Perhaps the Hawaii tourism board should have a long sit down with the actors from Lost, because we on the mainland are starting to get the decided impression that the only thing there is to do in Hawaii is get hammered. The latest proof comes courtesy of Daniel Dae Kim, who was arrested yesterday for suspicion of driving while blitzed. Normally we here at UGO don’t like to get into the celebrity gossip business, but Lost has a record of having their storylines reflect real life troubles, so this could signal problems for Jin on the program. Kim’s arrest marks the fourth time a cast member has been rung up by authorities for traffic violations, and the third time alcohol has been involved. The previous three cases resulted in the actor’s character getting killed off. We all love Jin, so we hope this isn’t the case.  On the other hand, if Sun needs any comforting, I am very prepared.

In non-drinking news, Lost has added yet another cast member, this time Zoe Bell, a stuntwoman who appeared in Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof. Ain’t It Cool News has a nice refresher course on the vast list of new cast members that have been added, one assumes, as possible replacements in case more regulars get DUIs.

[Image credit: © ABC]

“Battlestar Galacica” Pushed to April

Yeah, you read the headline correctly. The final season of Battlestar Galactica, which fans have been waiting for since approximately ten minutes after Charlemagne was crowned, has been pushed back to April. Though SciFi never actually gave a premiere date for the final season, simply saying “early 2008”, most fans assumed this meant, you know, early 2008. According to this article, however, which mostly talks about Ron Moore directing his first episode, the series won’t start until April. Even then, of course, there are plans for a mid-season hiatus that could extend into 2009. Gosh, this is really getting me pumped to watch SciFi.

In other Battlestar Galactica news that doesn’t invlove dickishness, you can now register at this website for the opportunity to see the “Razor” movie in theatres on November 12, almost two weeks before the television debut.

[Image credit: © SciFi]

“Amazing Race” Gears Up

The Amazing Race is pushing into high gear to try and make up for lost time. Originally planned as a mid-season replacement, the 12th season of Amazing Race has abruptly been scheduled to premiere instead on November 4, thanks to the instant and completely predictable cancellation of Viva Laughlin. While this is good news for fans of The Amazing Race, it does present a challenge for CBS, as they now only have a little over a week to try and let viewers know that the Race is returning.

First up: the unveiling of the teams, which has been accomplished with the usual bios and photos on the Amazing Race website. Also now available: a brief teaser clip from the show, which, as usual, does a nice job of taking just a few seconds to make you love and loathe people you’ve never seen before in your life. For your viewing pleasure:

“Bionic Woman” Gets Sopranos Treatment

The creative shuffle over at Bionic Woman continues, as former Sopranos writer Jason Cahill has been tapped to become the new showrunner. Cahill, who won a Writers Guild of America award for his work on Sopranos, replaced interim showrunner guy Jason Katims, who was a loaner from Friday Night Lights. Katims, in turn, replaced Glen Morgan.

All of these changes add up to one thing: trouble. Bionic Woman has seen its promising start turn sour, as it has already lost nearly a third of its audience since it premiered. Some of the actors on the show have even publicly blamed the rough start on the creative changes and meddling from the suits upstairs. Hopefully this latest change can bring something new to Bionic Woman, such as, for instance, a remotely interesting main character or plot.

[Image credit: © NBC]

A Clip From “Phenomenon”

Here’s a clip from Phenomenon, the greatest Uri Geller vehicle since he fought Mind Wave and his fearsome Think Tank in Daredevil #133.

SciFi Extends “Stargate: Atlantis”

Get psyched, science fiction fans, cause that spastic wormhole known as Stargate: Atlantis has been renewed for a fifth season. According to this article from Variety, SciFi has decided to extend the Stargate spinoff thanks to relatively strong ratings; Atlantis has been averaging 1.8 million viewers, which is nearly 40% higher than the usual SciFi audience.

SciFi has made a number of moves recently to insulate itself against the upcoming loss of fan favorite Battlestar Galactica; as previously reported, they have also given Eureka a third season and have greenlit a new pilot called Revolution. And showing that they do have some clue what’s going on, the suits at SciFi have not yet committed to any more episodes of Flash Gordon. As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

[Image credit: © SciFi]

“Battlestar Galactica: Razor” To Premiere In Theatres

Here’s something interesting: the Battlestar Galactica movie “Razor” which chronicles the events of the Battlestar Pegasus and is scheduled to kick off Battlestar‘s final season, will premiere in theatres twelve days in advance. According to this article in the Chicago Tribune, exclusive free showings will be screened on November 12 in select cities; the rest of the nation will have to wait until November 24 to watch it on SciFi.

The cities scheduled to have screenings are Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, Philadelphia and Chicago. Multiple venues in each city will be showing “Razor” to allow more fans the opportunity to get in. The free tickets will be available only online, however; according to the article, a new website will be set up to accept registration beginning Friday. And don’t worry—we’ll bring you more information on this cool opportunity as it becomes available.

[Image credit: © SciFi]

“Pushing Daisies” Gets Full Season

Good news for fans of Pushing Daisies. The fall’s most cult-tastic semi-hit was assumed by many to be dead on arrival thanks to the fact that it is unique and interesting, two traits Hollywood frowns upon. TV Guide’s Michael Auseillo, however, is now reporting that ABC has picked up Pushing Daisies for a full season, ordering an additional nine episodes to bring the total to the usual 22. This comes despite the fact that the ratings, initially good, have continued to slide, from a premiere high of 13 million to a low of just under ten million for the last episode.

Still, the suits are apparently happy enough with the numbers to ask for more, something we can all heartily agree with.

[Image credit: © ABC]