@wilw As promised, here is #NoelTheChristmasWalrus atop my tree. He displaced Jack Skellington, who doesn't mind a bit.

Happy New Year one and all! Twitter traditionally slows down over the Christmas break, with most sci-fi celebs presumably stuffing their faces with copious amounts of Turkey and Quality Street, much like us normies, but this year the Twittersphere seemed just as active as ever.

Wil Wheaton had a Walrus on his tree, everyone in the UK cried at the end of Doctor Who and Felicia Day spent the entire Christmas break playing Skyrim it seems (just like us!) The most exciting news came just two days ago though, when Simon Pegg posted this wink wink, nudge nudge update:

@simonpegg #Sherlock was awesome tonight. Can’t believe I have to boldly go and miss the next two. My kingdom for a slingbox!

Coupled with Damon Lindelof’s equally “cryptic” tweet not long after, we wonder what they could be up to?

@DamonLindelof Something really, REALLY cool just happened. #BoldlyGo

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The SFX Twitter Stream

@Jon_Favreau Meryl Streep was fantastic in Iron Lady in spite of no red and gold armor.

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@NoelClarke Yo @BradleyJames for BOND. say.ly/Lca1acq

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@Josh_Friedman I know I’m very late to the WHO party…but saying good-bye to Rose Tyler last night in DOOMSDAY was tough on me and the wife.

@Sethrogen Accidentally shoved arkham asylum in ps3 while modern warfare was in there. My attempt to salvage: yfrog.com/keh4zbej

@ZacharyLevi There’s a lot of speculation out there, but my recent twabsence is due to hard work and charity.

The charity being my own sanity, and the hard work is running Link’s ass around Skyloft for 35+ hours. Oh, and I beat Uncharted 3. Noel!

@jamesmoran Russell was the most brutally honest with notes- but always left you laughing, feeling like the best writer in the world.

He also has this strange ability to name characters, instantly. I’m terrible with names. I think he may be a warlock.

@simonpegg They call the Nativity ‘the greatest story ever told’ but for me, the absent father motif is far more affecting in The Empire Strikes Back.

Watched Star Wars last night. Got original 3 on Blu for Christmas. The CG additions seem more dated and incongruous than Han’s sideburns.

Trek marathon. Did 3 & 4 tonight and enjoyed them both. 4 is a guilty pleasure but a pleasure nonetheless. *picks up mouse* Hello computer?

@feliciaday Can I marry more than one person in Skyrim? It’s gonna factor in whether I hook up with this innkeeper or not. He’s OKAY, but…ya know.

#Skyrim: I think I might marry an Argonian and move him to my Solitude house, just so the snotty neighbors can gossip about us.

#Skyrim: Heartbroken cause I got that Xbox bug where a Stone of Barenziah doesn’t appear in Fellglow Keep. 23/24 gems. #MAJORSOBBING

@therealcliffyb We considered “G3ARS” at one point. We then sobered up.

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TAKING THE PISS OF THE YEAR

It’s the Sega Wee – although sadly that’s not what it’s actually called. Sega launched a game machine in Japanese men’s public urinals that’s controlled by streams of piss. It’s called the Toylet, and comes with a screen mounted above the urinal, which has a target on it. Hit the target to play such games as:

Mannekin Pis – wee as hard as you can
Graffiti Eraser – remove paint by weeing on every part of a picture
The North Wind And Her – the harder you wee, the more a girl’s skirt gets blown up by the wind
Milk From Nose – a multiplayer game where you try to wee harder than the guy next to you (and while you’re winning a guy on the screen blows milk out of his nose… answers on a postcard please)

Now we can’t smoke in pubs, all the fun of trying to get a fag end down the plughole has gone, so the sooner we get these in the UK the better.
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COVER VERSION OF THE YEAR

Proving that some people can create genius even with the most limited of tools, here’s an oddly appealing version of the Doctor Who theme tune that a certain Chris Harwick has generated using Mario Paint. We prefer it to the elastic-band twanging version the show used during the “Trial Of A Time Lord” series.

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DULLEST FIGHT OF THE YEAR

The not-missed The Cape came up with the exciting idea of the hero and villain having a fight on top of a moving train. Unfortunately, one was in a black costume, the other in a dark suit and the fight took place at night. Hello? Anybody there? Has the screen just done a fade to black? No wonder it was cancelled.
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SIGN OFF OF THE YEAR

In January, a show that lasted seven years, but never jumped the shark, disappeared from our screens with little fanfare and much dignity. SFX had always been fond of Medium, even if, after all that time, they still kept the bedroom phone on Joe’s side of the bed (those midnight calls were never for him) and Allison still always blindly accepted what she saw in her psychic dreams, even if nine times out of ten they were playing mindgames on her (ghosts must be great at cryptic crosswords). The show ended with a unique final sign-off with all the cast waving goodbye as the sets were being struck around them. Tears? We had a few. Bye bye Medium.
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WIKILEAK OF THE YEAR

The dark secret of Superman revealed, courtesy of Cracked.com.
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SUBLIMINAL ADVERTISING OF THE YEAR

Remind us again – which channel was Bedlam broadcast on?
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ALTERNATIVE DOCTOR WHOS OF THE YEAR

Early in the year we were treated to this Turkish take on the Time Lord that swept the internet, and we’re still not sure what it’s all about. Then later in the year, Community gave us another alternative universe slice of Who…

US sitcom Community has a slightly different of Doctor Who to the one we know.
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BEER GOGGLES OF THE YEAR

Been a bit tipsy and done something you’ve regretted over Christmas? You’ve probably got nothing on this chap in a wonderfully warped episode of Being Human. After all, did you stick your tongue down the throat of a rotting zombie? Despite a glue, Polyfilla and staple-gun makeover she still looked like the roughest “yours is the one on the right” ever seen in Welsh nightclub. He’s lucky her tongue didn’t come away in his teeth.

More Spurious Awards on the next page

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@GroovyBruce “@supercolin13: Will 2012 be a blessed year, will the AOD II script at last be upon us!!??!!!” Starring Ash the Aged?

There’s a reason you may have noticed Chuck featuring fairly frequently in this regular roundup of sci-fi celeb tweets over the past few weeks. That’s because around about now the crew will be filming the final ever scenes of the show, which airs in the States on 27 January 2012 after five years on the air. It’s been a tumultuous half-decade on this side of the screen, with the show constantly teetering on the brink of cancellation due to its so-so ratings, but on-screen it’s been nothing but a success. There isn’t a sweeter show in all of science fiction, and it remains one of the few guaranteed fun 45 minutes of the week, with a band of lovable misfits to pick up the slack even when the mission of the week disappoints.

The other reason Chuck features fairly frequently in Tweets Of The Week is that it happens to have one of the most active casts on Twitter. All of the key players tweet regularly (though if you follow @adamsbaldwin, you’ll know why he doesn’t appear as often as the others) which means we’ve been given an unusual amount of access to the final few days of a series for the price of a few “follows”. Needless to say, for the cast and fans of the show it’s been a teary week:

@Y_Strahovski We wrapped the Buy More last night around 1am. Said our final goodbyes as we walked out of stage 17 for the last time

Shot the very last scene of the series yesterday… Woke up with puffy eyes this morning from crying all day AHH!! Five more days ……..

@ZacharyLevi And that’s a wrap on the Buy More. She was a good ship, and served us well. pic.twitter.com/2LMefCoc

@Scott_Krinsky Putting in some final hours with @MarkChrLawrence & #VikSahay twitpic.com/7mfxsm

The “LAST” night in the Buy More:(. Jeff and Lester tired from a hard days work.#VikSahay http://twitpic.com/7myz4n

@MekennaMelvin “@wendilynnmakeup: Warm goodbyes to @MekennaMelvin last Night! twitpic.com/7mr8cf” great now I’m crying again!!

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It’s not all been puffy eyes though. Chuck wouldn’t been Chuck without a couple of laughs and some happy memories:

@JoshuaEGomez “@jualdeaux: @Y_Strahovski @ZacharyLevi @JoshuaEGomez @adamsbaldwin Are you going to keep any “Chuck” souvenirs?” My beard.

@Y_Strahovski #FavChuckFightScenes THAILAND EPISODE TRA LA LA!!!! Chuck vs phase three !!!! And the catwalk fight with model Karolena Kurkowa :):):):):)

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The SFX Twitter Stream

@steven_moffat To clarify: any Doctor Who movie would be made by the BBC team, star the current TV Doctor and certainly NOT be a Hollywood reboot.

Movie thing: David Yates, great director, was speaking off the cuff, on a red carpet. You’ve seen the rubbish I talk when I’m cornered.

Also a true fact: @murraygold will break your heart in The Doctor, The Widow And The Wardrobe. Stuff the writing, it’s all about the music.

@WilliamShatner @TheRealNimoy I don’t know about her hair buns but @CarrieFFisher‘s buns are better than Spock’s ears. And they can hear better. MBB

@jwrinzler Saw last five reels of Director’s Cut of Jedi–some scenes different/longer. Saw Lucas’s re-cut of sarlacc scene. Writing, up to page 40…

@BryanFuller TODAY’S MOOD: LICK THE LIGHT SWITCH pic.twitter.com/RpJxJcOp

Where the deer and the antelope shoot you in the face. pic.twitter.com/rhR8gCuS

@DamonLindelof If you name a movie “War Horse” there is a reasonable expectation said horse will wear armor and/or shoot flames from its nostrils.

@jarpad “@OhKelleh: Do you ever make fun of Jensen for his bow-legs?” YES, but when you push his knees together, he’s taller than I am!!!!

@ERICBALFOUR #Haven family on our way to the @Syfy Holiday event in NYC! Bangerang!!! pic.twitter.com/ceuDLjjP

@jamesmoran Ooh, day 3 of Children of Earth on Watch tonight, at 00.40. On Watch, so probably cut to bits with ad breaks mid sentence.

@AntoniaLThomas Just bought a nice new pair of @Converse, definitely essential footwear!

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@MoTancharoen Reunion. #Dollhouse twitpic.com/7o2y8d

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Read back over the year in Tweets

New “The Doctor, The Widow And The Wardrobe” pictures

Hello and welcome to this weeks bargains round up, as ever we, the super vigilant SFX, have made it our mission to bring you a weekly selection of bargains with a Sci-fi twist.

To begin with we’ll mention these two excellent sales that are still ongoing, first we have Play’s Blu-Ray 2 for £15 which includes a fair number of sci-fi films, so it’s definitely worth checking out to see what bargains you can find.  Another sale we’ve pimped heavily over the last few weeks is the big HMV pre Christmas sale, with well over 2000 DVDs and Blu-Rays to hunt through it’s another one worth checking out.

Over on Amazon there’s a boxed set of sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf 1-8 (just the shows) for £22:47. If you’re in the mood for some classic sci-fi TV then how about Lost in Space? You can get all 83 episodes for £29:99. Or maybe you’d prefer The Quatermass Collection, with all three of the classic sci-fi horror films for just £8:49.

Yet another classic on offer is the eerie 80s children’s TV show Chocky for £6:26. Amazon have a DVD boxed set of all three series of the show for £11:99 but we reckon you should just stick with series one, that’s the one that terrified us when we were little…

On our wander round Asda this week we found The Lord of the Rings (theatrical versions, not the special editions) trilogy DVD boxed set for £16 and a boxed set of all four Indiana Jones films for £20. Season one of the BBC’s Saturday night tea time wonder Merlin for just £10. We also spotted the bizarre Cats and Dogs for £3 and the fantastic How to Train your Dragon for a cheaptastic £7, although Amazon do have it for 60p cheaper.

On the Blu-Ray shelves we found Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man 2, Zack Snyder’s muscle fest The 300 and Mr Downey Jr. again in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes all for £10 each.

If you’re looking for big fighty robots we have both Transformers and Transformers 3 going cheap… Transformers is available on DVD for £5 and on Blu-Ray for a £10. Dark of the Moon is available for £10 on DVD and £11 on Blu-Ray. No sign of the middle film and its big clanking robot balls, but who really cares about that one?

And finally from Asda we have two double play (DVD and Blu-Ray in the same shiny box) bargains for you. Joe Cornish’s excellent hoody versus aliens romp Attack the Block can be yours for £10:97 and Nicholas Cage can Drive Angry for you (crazy wig optional) for just £9.

Lots of suggestions from the forum this week; first off we have our Ian Berriman with a bargain find: Lost seasons 1 to 6 over at HMV for £48:99. Whether or not you think that’s a great find is another thing entirely…

Wee Little Puppet Man found convoluted spy fun with Alias seasons 1 to 5 for £29.47 at Amazon. SimonG found the complete series DVD of Fantastic Voyage for £9.99 at sendit.

Radical Edward found classic cartoon Sci-fi in the form of Star Trek: The Animated Series on DVD for £10:99 on Amazon and also Lance Henriksen looking moody in Millennium – Season 1 to 3 for £17.99 from Play.

And finally from the forum we have Jedit who found so much on Amazon he should get his own segment here. He found boxed sets of several sci-fi series including The Complete Heroes for £43 and The Complete classic Star Trek for £90 on Blu-Ray. On the DVD boxed set front he found The Complete Smallville for £65, The Complete Farscape for £45; unlike the recently released Blu-Ray version of this set, this DVD version includes the concluding Peackeeper War mini-series and is half the price of the Blu-Ray too, which we think makes this the better buy. Jedit also found The Complete Battlestar Galactica remake for £46. None of these are exactly cheap, but they are bargains for what you get in the sets and some of them are definitely worth splashing out for. Thanks to all out forumers for these finds.

We have two random but related suggestion of the week this week; in this time of tightening purse strings more and more of us are opting to take packed lunches with us to work and you can do it in style with this Lego lunch Box, available in a range of colours from Play for £6:99 for red and £7:99 for yellow, green or blue. But remember food is not included. And a perfect companion to this cool lunch box is the Lego Drinking Bottle from Play for just £5:49. Unfortunately these two items don’t click together; another trick missed there Lego.

If you find anything we’ve brought you this week cheaper somewhere else mention it in the comments section below. We want as many bargains for our readers as we can get. If anyone out there spots a sci-fi bargain they want to share then please pop over to the forum and mention it in the relevant thread. This thread is for bargain films and this one is for TV bargains. Keep your eyes peeled for great offers for your fellow geek and maybe your bargain will be in the list next time.

20 Connor MacLeod

Highlander

Okay, let’s get the crappest sci-fi Scotsman out of the way first. He may have worn a kilt, but that accent was fooling no-one. Who had the bright idea of casting a Frenchman as a Highland warrior? Of course, the irony was that his Spanish mentor was played by a Scot – Sean Connery – who sounded more Scottish than Connor did. Oh, and don’t worry – we’re not going to fill half this feature with mentions of all the various Highlanders (Quentin from the animated series, Colin from the anime, Duncan from the live action TV series, etc). Consider this an entry the whole bunch of ’em. .

@terryandrob Okay, on this occasion we can't deny that we DID meet @steven_moffat and what a thoroughly decent chap. Thank you.

Sometimes working with a group of like-minded colleagues, or hanging out with a group of friends who share similar tastes in all things sci-fi, can give a misleading impression of just how popular a film, TV show, computer game etc actually is. After all, if everyone around you is talking about it, then everyone in the world must be. Maths says so.

Maths isn’t always right though (especially when we’re the ones number-crunching). But when it comes to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, we’re willing to give it the benefit of the doubt as it seemed the whole world was dragon slaying along with us this weekend, including a significant number of sci-fi celebs. It’s a geeky time for human history.

@terryandrob Sorry Vilja; put your feet up for a while, #Skyrim lands tomorrow @elderscrolls – we might be quite some time…

@charltonbrooker Is he telling the truth? If so, Skyrim sounds good RT @NathanRB_61: I threw a bear over a castle today in Skyrim. Shit was preposterous.

I now urgently need to know whether you genuinely can throw a bear over a castle in Skyrim. If you can, I’m going to get it.

@feliciaday Skyrim = Goodbye world for a while.

Ok restarting my Skyrim character because I’m not into being an archer, and wood elves are made for that stuff. Gonna prolly do Breton.

Guys, I just had a realization. I think it’s because my character isn’t a redhead. IS THAT CRAZY VAIN AND WEIRD?! #rerolling

@radiomaru Remind me to do “fanart” of Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyim’s progression of ugly weird poorly lit monster people

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The SFX Twitter Stream

@M_E_Winstead Attack the Block on bluray! Plus the bts. I love those kids so much.

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@HamillHimself I sang the classic Platters tune, Only You for Arkham (a cappella) as a possible Easter Egg, not knowing if they’d use it or not #insidescoop

Joker manages to make the gorgeous Only You ultra-creepy, but the big question is: Who is he singing it to? HA!! I’ll never tell! #insidescoop

@TroyLonergan @kaybi @Molly23 @wilw The original pic isn’t loading for me now, so I borrow kaybi’s and…. pic.twitter.com/7hS9Snmk

@RobbieMcDunc My cake at the #chuck office. #startrek. pic.twitter.com/9KKsEIBO

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@simonpegg The PC World Star Wars ads are like watching the man that murdered a close relative, relieve himself on the grave of said murdered relative.

@DamonLindelof “I tried to get Chris Tucker in X3 as an original mutant named ‘RastaBlasta,’ but Fox wasnt’ready for that shit.” #DidRatnerSayIt

@Jon_Favreau Thank you all for the #elf twitter love!

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@pattonoswalt Just been told there’s a RATATOUILLE reference in tonight’s Simpsons. #nice

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@JaneEspenson The next episode of Once airs in two weeks and it’s MINE! I hope you like it! Hot cricket action! And in the meantime…

@rcjohnso Die 3D die.

Emilie de Ravin, who played Australian Claire in Lost, is set to guest star as Belle from Beauty And The Beast in an upcoming episode of Once Upon A Time, reports TV Guide.

It’s the latest Lost connection in a show that boasts lots of Lost connections. Not only are the creators and showrunners former Lost producrs and writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, but there are many in-jokes, including a clock stuck at 8:15 and a Geronimo Jackson car bumper sticker. So while we’re wondering who might the Beast in the show (wouldn’t it be great if it was Ron Perlman?) there’s every chance she may just fall for a smoke monster.

Apparently, Gaston will also appear in the episode (the twelfth to air, early next year), and Belle has a connection with Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle).

As a writer and executive producer on Lost for five seasons, Liz Sarnoff became adept at wrestling mythology and character storylines together into compelling hours of television.

Just before that celebrated series ended in 2010, Sarnoff was drafted by JJ Abrams to run a new show he was developing about another enigmatic island – legendary San Francisco prison Alcatraz. SFX’s Tara Bennett quizzed Sarnoff about how the two shows compare and where Alcatraz will differ.

Asked how working on different shows in the past has prepared her to run this series, Sarnoff explains, “I think you learn on any show that you do. I’ve never done a show that wasn’t an incredible learning experience for me. Even the ones I didn’t love so much are sometimes the best learning examples. It took two seasons of Lost for all of us to figure out what the show was and what the stories were. Lost was in some ways an experiment that gathered so much momentum that it was unstoppable but at the same time that doesn’t mean anyone knew what we were doing,” she laughs. “I would not have signed onto another show like that, because the idea of a ‘What’s the island?’ story every week was very challenging.”

While Alcatraz is first and foremost a procedural series about a government team reacquiring former Alcatraz inmates in present-day San Francisco, Sarnoff says a series mythology will also unfold from the characters – her preference.

“For me everything comes from character. I’ve never been on a show that wasn’t driven by character. It doesn’t hold a lot of interest for me without that, so every scene we look at when we are breaking stories we’re asking, ‘What’s the character moment in each of these scenes?’ Lost was a character show. At its heart it was about the characters and certainly that’s what this show is. Everyone has a personal investment in what is happening and the personal connections with Alcatraz. They are trying to work out their paths in some ways through this present day dilemma. That works very well for characters on the show. I want things grounded and don’t want things that don’t make sense or that we are struggling to explain.”

Sarnoff explains that the core team of Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones), Diego “Doc” Soto (Jorge Garcia) and, to a lesser degree at first, Agent Emerson Hauser (Jurassic Park’s Sam Neill) will have lives to deal with outside of their new secret mission. “[My writers and I] were just talking about that how they have a lot going on in their lives. They are very big, emotional characters to me. Rebecca, in particular, is driven by a lot of personal motivation and at the same time she has this drive to figure things out on a cop level.”

Interview by Tara Bennett. We’ve interviewed Liz Sarnoff on the site before. Get our Alcatraz issue of SFX as a back issue here.

STOP PRESS: According to Deadline.com, Alcatraz has put filming new episodes on hold to do reshoots on some of the completed episodes. The series will stay in production but will do additional principal photography on previous episodes before proceeding. The reshoots are expected to last one to two weeks.

Lost’s smoke monster makes a cameo appearance in Once Upon A Time

Watching Once Upon A Time I couldn’t but help have a feeling of deja vu. And I’m not just talking about the plots. Yeah, sure, it’s all been done before in The Tenth Kingdom, The Company Of Wolves, The Wizard Of Oz, Shrek and a zillion other shows and films that put a new spin on fairy tales, but it’s winning me over with its spirited performances and the wonderfully sparky antagonism between Emma Swan and The Evil Bitch Queen Town Mayor. I keep expecting a full-on, Dynasty-style cat-fight any minute. (And I loved the way the landlady at the guest house wore a floral dress which matched her wallpaper – she’s a stealth granny you’ll never see coming for you… as long as she stays indoors.)

No, the real problem are the special effects. Long gone is the era when Doctor Who’s washing-up bottle space ships and bubble-wrap monsters were upstaged every week by Battlestar Galactica’s slick motion-controlled models. These days, the FX in UK shows like Who and Merlin are often streets ahead of their US rivals. Oh sure, Fringe and Terra Nova will spend millions on their pilots, but after that, as the shows fall into a weekly production schedule, there is a real drop in quality. And Syfy shows like Sanctuary and Warehouse 13 (which I love, but let’s be honest here) have a reliance on virtual sets that look barely better than Knightmare and bendy CG creatures that can be downright embarrassing at times.

Specifically, though, the weekly production grind on US shows seems to have generated a growth industry in off-the-peg FX, and it’s something that’s becoming increasingly more obvious. And it stood out like a sore thumb in the second episode of Once Upon A Time.

Knightmare Sets

Aside from some iffy virtual sets (a step up from Sanctuary’s, sure, but still with that overly-smooth computer game feel whenever the camera is required to move) it’s astonishing how familiar some of the FX look. When the trees in the forest magically grow to threaten The Evil Queen’s cronies, the living branches snake about in a way that almost seems a cliché now (and reminds you that Haven did something that looked almost identical a few weeks back). And the black pillar of smoke that erupts later appears to be a distant relative of the smoke monster from Lost. Why? Well, I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing that there’s “rapid plant growing” and “evil black smoke” software that the FX team can buy and adapt for their own purposes.

We swear those trees were in Haven a few weeks back

It’s nothing new. A couple of years back you couldn’t switch on a telefantasy show without the air rippling with CG concentric circles whenever anyone touched a force field. And massive, fiery explosions ripping through the sky have been looking identikit for a while now.

You can’t help thinking that these off-the-peg FX are actually beginning to inform the script. I do wonder if the original script for Once Upon A Time episode actually specified “a huge column of black smoke”? Or did it actually say something like, “A hurricane spitting lightning bolts” until an FX bod said, “We can do it a lot cheaper using BlackSmokeGenerator 2.0”? Or do the producers go through a shopping list of what’s available and encourage the writers to stick to things on the list?

Sanctuary loves its bendy CG creatures

It’s a Stock Problem

It’s no great problem. Most viewers aren’t going to notice. And TV writers are past masters are writing within limitations. And it’s no worse than stock footage or reusing another show’s sets, in some ways.

On the other hand, I rarely get this feeling of deja vu when watching British sci-fi. Hell, even on the relatively low-budget The Fades, the visual style of Paul’s energy bolts and wings felt unique to that show, and Doctor Who and Merlin – while occasionally suffering from a few FX that don’t quite come off – seem to go out of their way to add new twists to existing effects. For example, I’m constantly amazed at how many different “beaming up” effects we get on Who.

I’m sure the UK FX teams are using just as much off-the-peg software as their American counterparts – economics of TV production anywhere on the planet makes bespoke CG an unaffordable luxury. Maybe somehow, they just seem to be able to customise with a bit more ingenuity. Maybe all those years of having to battle with bargain basement budgets have bred a little more creativity this side of the Atlantic.

Check out previous Pure Golder ramblings

BEST NEW WAY TO KILL AN EWOK OF THE WEEK

Professor Brian Cox in “tossing an Ewok” shocker.

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MERLIN SLASH BAIT OF THE WEEK

Piggyback? Yeah right. You have to wonder, did the script say, “Merlin mounts Arthur”? And while we’re in a smutty state of mind…
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UNBELIEVABLY CHEEKY LINE FOR CHILDREN’S TV OF THE WEEK

When you realise this message was being relayed on Mr Smith’s screen letter by letter, you can only agree with The Sarah Jane Adventure’s Clyde when he says with relief, “I’ve never been so glad to see a full stop…”
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NOVELTY BATH PLUG OF THE WEEK

A piece of Vampire Diaries merchandise we never expected to see – Matt Donovan bath plugs.
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POSSIBLE IN-JOKE OF THE WEEK

When Cassie’s gran tells the teen witch that she wrinkles her nose just like her mum did, was anyone else suddenly wondering if we’re going to discover that The Secret Circle is actually a spin-off from Bewitched?
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MISSED ALIENS HOMAGE OPPORTUNITY OF THE WEEK

This week’s US episode of Terra Nova featured a feral little girl who’s the spitting image of Aliens’ Newt (inset). They missed one crucial chance to homage the film, however – she didn’t say, “The dinosaurs mostly come at night. Mostly…”
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MOST UNEXPECTED COMMENT ON AN IMDB FORUM OF THE WEEK

Click on the image for the full story! (We’d like to think it wasn’t a reflection on the quality of the film, but considering we only gave it two stars…)

DOCTOR WHO REFERENCE OF THE WEEK

This one was spotted by SFX reader Peter Gray, who’s been playing the Easter Egg-filled Rage. “It’s a picture of what looks suspiciously like a TARDIS console room,” he tells us. “After being sent to find a mysterious ‘doctor’ who lives alone in the Wasteland you find him in his strangely familiar looking lab.”

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As you’ll know from the latest issue of SFX, we’re very excited about the new show from the mind of producer JJ Abrams. Alcatraz, an equal parts procedural/sci-fi mythology drama, is mostly set in the infamous island prison. It involves time travel, tells a good portion of its story through flashback narrative, co-stars Jorge “Hurley” Garcia and is being showrun by former Lost writer Liz Sarnoff.

“It’s the kind of thing where people go, ‘Alright we know this happened – Alcatraz was closed in 1963. We know everyone was taken off but they’re like why did it close?’” explains Garcia, speaking to SFX‘s Tara Bennett. “The idea was to come up with a crazy reason for why that happened and then create a show around it which is where this comes from. It’s pretty exciting to me. This is the kind of show that just the title alone will get some people interested, for sure. Everyone has heard of it and they know that really bad people were there. Bad people are intriguing!”

The high concept is that in 1963 the maximum security prison shut when all the convicts vanished. Then they start showing up in the present day. A team including Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones), Agent Emerson Hauser (Jurassic Park‘s Sam Neill) and Diego “Doc” Soto (that’s Garcia) track down and re-arrest the time-travelling prisoners. You can watch the trailer here:

“It’s actually easier to say how alike [Alcatraz] is to Lost in the sense that both are about an island, they were both shrouded in mystery and there is a guy who is on this show that looks a lot like a guy that was on Lost,” laughs Garcia, when asked about how different the two shows will feel. “That’s pretty much where the similarities stop. I do know that the producers had a meeting at one point with Fox execs with their show bible, so they do know the big picture story. I have gotten used to working in the dark and I dig it. I got a little hint of something that kind of revealed more about why my character is so obsessed with the criminal element and I’m excited about that. It comes pretty early in the first season.”

Alcatraz premieres on Fox in the US in the New Year. For more information about Alcatraz, and the other big new shows coming out of America, you should get hold of issue 214 of SFX while it’s still available – these quick links will take you through to our online order page, our US subscriptions page, or our Zinio page where a download of the mag is available now.

On sale Wednesday 21 September.

Head here to read online or take advantage of our September subscription offer…

Banged Up

The folks behind Lost talk us through Alcatraz, a show featuring a mysterious island, time-travel and Hurley. Sounds familiar? Don’t be too sure…

The Fall Guys

We take a look at the best new and returning TV heading our way this Autumn, including Fringe, Chuck, Supernatural, The Walking Dead, Once Upon A Time, Grimm and much, much more…

Merlin’s Beard

Our Dave G has a nose around on the set of the new series of Merlin, and discovers face-fuzz, new characters and testosterone aplenty…

Karen Gillan

The Doctor’s companion talks Scream, Inverness and Elvis in Heroes And Inspirations.

Holy X-box, Batfans

Batman is back, breaking bones with wild abandon as Arkham Asylum follow-up Arkham City finally nears arrival. Excited is not the word…

Don’t Miss

Spoiler Zone

Alphas, Eureka, Falling Skies, Haven, Teen Wolf, Torchwood: Miracle Day, True Blood and Warehouse 13 are  all watched and rated…

Red Alert

We get the inside skinny on The Three Musketeers, speak to Fringe’s Anna Torv, find out Dolph Lundgren’s favourite sci-fi and find out what to expect in the season four of The Clone Wars.

Rated

Conan The Barbarian, Real Steel, Midnight In Paris, Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark, Final Destination 5, Thor, Firefly, Fringe, Snuff, The Incal and Dead Island are all put through the SFX wringer, plus many, many more!

Get hold of issue 214 of SFX while it’s still available – these quick links will take you through to our online order page, our US subscriptions page, or our Zinio page where a download of the mag is available now!

@SethGreen Werewolf worlds collide as @JoeManganiello & I enjoy the Black Keys. #TrueBlood #Buffy

The film industry is driven by the PR cycle. Announcements, trailers, behind the scenes previews, magazine articles, TV interviews, every stage is carefully choreographed for maximum exposure and minimum leakage. Some campaigns are more successful than others, but what they all have in common is that (at least when it comes to studio movies) the suits call the shots.

The internet has changed that. Pap shots appear online almost daily from the sets of future blockbusters (The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers being the most obvious examples), forcing film studios into releasing imagery of characters in costume before the internet gets hold of them via a telephoto lens. Twitter has been somewhat immune to this so far, mainly because someone is always accountable, someone has to tweet it. In fact stars and filmmakers frequently have it written into their contracts not to tweet/announce any information about a film under threat of obliteration (or something similar).

Milla Jovovich obviously doesn’t have that clause in her contract (that or her obliteration is imminent) as she’s been making relatively huge Resident Evil: Retribution announcements in throwaway tweets and Twitvids for the past couple of weeks. For example in a pair of tweets last week she announced and confirmed that not only had Johann Urb joined the cast of the new film, but that he would be playing Leon Kennedy – a fan favourite character from Resident Evil 2 and 4.

@MillaJovovich Hey guys! Here’s a little vid of the 1st official RE cast read through! It’s so cool to hear every1 saying their lines! yfrog.com/mvgldkz

So here’s part 2 of the vid! yfrog.com/f52w6lz

AND if u checked out my vid yesterday from the table reading u wld hve noticed Johann Urb! He is our Leon Kennedy n looks jst like him BTW!!

It’s quite possible all this was cleared by the team at Sony pictures of course, in which case we applaud their open-minded approach to the virtues of social marketing, but it’s more likely there were a number of frantic phone calls after these particular tweets, which might explain why Jovovich’s tweets since have been much more innocuous:

@MillaJovovich How cool is this?! We’re shooting guns 2day! Check this vid! yfrog.com/musqaqz

Here’s the fun part! Vid 2! yfrog.com/fvdxdz

Still, for Resident Evil fans (there must be a few of you out there), it’s definitely worth staying tuned to Jovovich’s account, you never know what might turn up next.

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The SFX Twitter Stream

@leeunkrich The most impressive collection of Toy Story toys I’ve ever seen: img.photobucket.com/albums/v48/btf… (via @TPGP_Gamer)

@joe_hill 15 minutes until the Doctor. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m hangin’ around after for BEDLAM.

@stevendeknight Why aren’t more people watching Fringe?! It’s got double Anna Torv! Plus David Fury writing this season! Get on it!

@SethMacFarlane How come whenever I get a suit cleaned, it comes back with a Klingon bat’leth stuck through the buttonhole?

This. What the fuck are these things? lockerz.com/s/143280226

@jumblejim Maddie got all weirded out because I’m wearing an SPN fan tshirt. I think she thinks I can’t be a fan of my own show. campl.us/fvjn

@JasonRitter Ho hum. Today the updated ICO/Shadow of the Colossus comes out for PS3. Just stay calm, it’s not that big a deal. Stay Calm. STAY. CALM.

@OldRoberts953 Sad for all the folks on Confidential. Happy for the general public seeing less of my stupid face every year.

@JamesGunn RT @ClareGrant Eating ur friend’s brain first, then coming for your brain @JamesGunn. Beware. yfrog.com/hsslatbj – Uh oh

@DamonLindelof Context is everything, folks. Yes. We made up the pilot as we went along. Because we wrote it in TWO WEEKS. bit.ly/oycyCd

That link I just tweeted all had quotes from my FIRST meeting with J.J.. Yes. In that meeting we made things up. As we went along.

However, I did read that SURFACE, THE EVENT and FLASH FORWARD worked out a complex bible for multiple seasons, so shame on me.

HEADLINE OF THE WEEK

Forget love-sick Cybermen. There seems to be a whole other drama going on in Colchester that deserves a show all of its own – talent show-related poisoning! And what about that other headline in the top right – the subtlest piece of foreshadowing in Doctor Who ever? Sure beats Tennant looking up at some fireworks and going, “You know what they make me think about, Rose? That you’re going to sucked into an alternate dimension in a couple of weeks…”

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BIGGEST DRIP OF THE WEEK

Take your pick. Secret Circle’s full of ’em.
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PERVIEST SCENE OF THE WEEK

In The Vampire Diaries, Tyler locks his mum in a cell, strips naked in front of her and chains himself up. Apparently he’s trying to prove that he’s a werewolf. Likely story. And while we’re on the subject – and we can’t think why we’ve never noticed this before – The Vampire Diaries is another of those increasingly common shows and film where werewolves transform into common or garden mutts, rather than big, monstrous werewolves. Which rather begs the question: what’s the point in chaining themselves up with human-sized manacles? When they turn into skinny-legged doggies, surely they can just slip out?
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PARALLEL UNIVERSE OF THE WEEK

US sitcom Community has a slightly different of Doctor Who to the one we know.
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FASHION TIP OF THE WEEK
The Vampire Diaries star Nina Dobrev proved to have a sanguine attitude a nasty bump on the head she received while filming the show last week. “Still feeling side effects from the concussion I got on set,” she tweeted on Monday. “Ouchie. Good thing purple is a good color on me…”
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POTENTIAL OLYMPIC SPORT OF THE WEEK

Hobbit boxing. It beats dwarf tossing any day of the week. Dominic Monaghan and Elijah Wood face trouble from a different kind of ring at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas last week.
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RETRO GAMES OF THE WEEK

De-imaginings courtesy of GeekTyrant, where you’ll find loads more.

MORE SPURIOUS AWARDS ON THE NEXT PAGE…

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After toiling for six seasons as feisty Kate Austen on Lost, actress Evangeline Lilly ended the first mainstream, long-running acting gig she’d ever had and asked herself the familiar question, “What next?” Always candid about looking for a life outside of acting, Lilly has spent the last year and a half writing, reconnecting with her life and giving birth to her first child. However acting is still beckoning Lilly and she’s taken some choice roles in projects she couldn’t pass up. First up, she co-stars with Hugh Jackman in Real Steel opening in October. And right now, she’s living in New Zealand for the duration of Peter Jackson’s dual Hobbit shoots, playing a newly-created character not from the books – Tauriel the Elf.

SFX got an exclusive chat with Lilly about life after Lost, working with Peter Jackson and bringing The Hobbit to screen.

You’ve been off the media radar for the last year but you’re about to go back into the fray with Real Steel being released. Are you trepidatious or excited?

“Right now I’m sort of holding my breath the same way before Lost went on the air because there’s been this beautiful calm after the storm. I don’t get harassed anymore and generally speaking I can kind of get away with not too much trouble from the paparazzi; a little but not on a large scale. I sort of felt like this is what I was working towards and why I say I’m not going to act anymore – I want this! I want this peace, this normalcy, to visit my family and go for walks on the beach. I’m hoping it lasts because I’m not sure what will happen when Real Steel comes out and The Hobbit comes out. I’m not sure if I’ve just totally f**ked myself.” [Laughs]

Real Steel came around right after the end of Lost. Since you wanted an acting break, what about the film or the character was enticing enough for you to jump into it?

“After Lost and having a character that was so complex, layered, nuanced and constantly running in fear, crying in sorrow or screaming in terror, when I got the script of Real Steel – and was reading Bailey Tallet – one of my prerequisites was that she be someone I could relax into and just do it. I didn’t have to put my heart and soul and guts into it. Bailey is sort of the anchor from which a lot of the story pivots around.”

The grind of one-hour TV is what wipes out most people, so going into a film right after Lost, was the experience very different?

“With Real Steel, I was so focused on what I was doing outside work and being so excited to be finished with Lost. I was spending a lot of time in Africa and my focus wasn’t so much on Bailey’s back-story or learning about boxing as much as it was my work outside of the film. I was sort of like a day player in that I came in and gave everything I had every day I was there and committed on set. When I was home, I focused on the other things in my life.”

Now you’re in New Zealand filming The Hobbit with Peter Jackson. It’s a long commitment which would make some actors balk. Was that a concern?

“I will be in and out of New Zealand for the course of a year. It worked out well. For a lot of actors, being that tied down would be problematic for their careers because they wouldn’t have the freedom to take any other part in the meantime. For me it’s perfect because I want to have time to spend with my family and relax and focus on my writing. This role gives me a framework within which to do that because I’m not working all the time but I’m working enough. When you’re not working at all, you get lost in space and time and don’t accomplish anything. It’s a flexible work environment and I don’t have to be estranged from my family.”

When you played Kate you were always doing physical scenes and stunts. How are you prepping for The Hobbit?

“With every film, you have to educate yourself on the material and it’s often things you don’t know a lot about. Right now I’m studying Elvish and having conversations with people about learning how to be an archer, a swordsperson and how to fight like an elf instead of a gritty convict.” [Laughs]

Did you have any reservations about joining The Hobbit cast?

“With The Hobbit, it was a no-brainer because I have been a fan of those books since I was 13-years-old.”

Being a fan of the books, what did you make of Jackson’s Lord Of The Rings trilogy and all the changes he mad to the story?

“When the original came out in theatres, I swore up and down that I would not see them because I thought it was sacrilege that anyone would adapt Tolkien’s work. I didn’t think anyone would justify films by making them as good as they should be. Then my entire family when I was visiting went to see the movie and so I relented and went. We were all fans of the books and we were all blown away! It was a little piece of magic what Peter Jackson accomplished because it was truly a homage to the books rather than an offense.”

Tauriel is a new character in the mythology so as a book purist yourself that must be frightening to ponder how fans will react to your part?

“Yeah! I am very concerned to this day that people will watch the film and I’ll be the black mark on the film. I know how adamant the purists are and I’m one of them! That said, upon reading The Hobbit again, as an adult, I can see why additional characters were needed to round out the story as an adaptation – especially female characters! The Hobbit didn’t include female characters at all and was a very linear story, a book for children, really. What Peter, Fran (Walsh) and Philippa (Boyens) have done is all in perfect keeping with Tolkien’s world, while adding a third dimension to an otherwise very two-dimensional story.”

Real Steel opens in the UK on 14 October 2011.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens 14 December 2012.

@ZacharyLevi Twitter is fun. :)

Goodbyes are never easy, but they’ve become even more difficult in an age of instant mass communication. Imagine if Twitter had been around when Firefly was cancelled, the internet still wouldn’t have recovered from the sudden explosion of geek outrage.

Plenty of shows have been cancelled since the birth of Twitter, but few shows with as much of a presence in Twitsville as Eureka. Most of the stars are on there as well as several of the writers and creators, which explains why the streams were quite a sombre place this past week as those involved in the show tweeted their final farewells from the set.

@sallirichardson WOW I just came home from a 7 year journey. Thank you Eureka. You have taught me many things . Thx to the fans you are the best.

@jaimepagliaJust wrapped the #Eureka series finale. Seven years, 77 episodes. It’s been an amazing journey. Thanks to everyone for making it possible.

@wilw That’s a series wrap for #Eureka. I feel like I should say something profound, but I’m just overwhelmed with sadness and gratitude.

@neilgrayston Aaaand that’s a series wrap on #Eureka. Weird.                                                                                                                          .

@colinferg Goodnight everyone. Thank you. yfrog.com/kfnj2mvj

The life of a sci-fi celeb never stops though, with many of the cast hoping on planes mere hours after wrapping to attend ginormo-US convention Dragon*Con. For a flavour of the event you could do no better than checking through @feliciaday’s gallery of costumes from the show floor, including this familiar looking oversized hat:

@feliciaday Super-sized!!! #Dragoncon instagr.am/p/MCUOx/

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The SFX Twitter Stream

@GroovyBruce “@katupnorth: @groovybruce What drink do you find best accompanies an Evil Dead Marathon?” The “inhaled” kind!

@simonpegg It’s a shame Darth Vader didn’t say “NO” to slaughtering all them little kids. He’s alright though because he threw an old man down the bog.

“Stop it! I want to show Luke that I look like a boiled egg under this mask!” #whatvadersays

@DamonLindelof @simonpegg “Looks like you just ran outta PalpaTIME!!!” #whatvadersays

I wonder if the finale will be better appreciated if we have Vincent shout “NOOOOOOOOO!” over the final shot.

@wilw Make sure to search your Blue Ray of Stand By Me for the special, enhanced scene where Gordie cries,”Nnnnnoooooooooo!!!!”

@trutriciahelfer Omg, @edwardjolmos, Hogan and Tahmoh having dinner. My lovley men!! yfrog.com/kft1oijj

@hitRECordJoe No, this is the first I’ve heard about that one. :oD RT @RamfusBrock: Any truth to the rumors of a sequel to “Conception”

@alan_tudyk Considering wearing my IRobot green screen body panty for the Malibu triathlon. Can I be digitally turned into a panther or a cheetah?

@HamillHimself Off to Vegas for a Arkham City event on Wednesday- the more they show me of this game, the more mind-blowing it is-can’t wait until it’s out

@feliciaday Super Excited that they announced Mass Effect 3 FemShep is a redhead! Not that I wouldn’t have customized her as such anyway, but still :)

@ManMadeMoon Just finished Deus Ex… thank god! Got that out my system. Bloody game has kept me up for nights.

@Mike_Dougherty Together again. twitpic.com/6eqyrr

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@RhettReese They missed an opportunity with Human Centipede 2 not calling it Human Millipede.

Alan Dale, probably best known to Americans as Charles Widmore on Lost, but forever Jim Robinson from Neighbours to the rest of us, has been cast as Prince Charming’s dad in ABC’s big new fantasy show Once Upon A Time (thus creating another notch on his telefantasy bed-post).

“It’s a really pivotal role, and a pivotal part of the Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming story that we don’t think has been told yet,” Horowitz tells TVLine, adding that Dale is booked for one episode “but we’re leaving the door open for a larger tale to potentially tell with him.”

It’s yet another link between Lost and the new show, which has been created by Lost producers Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, who are also the showrunners. We’re also promised lots of Lost-flavoured “Easter eggs” in Once Upon A Time, such as a clock stuck at 8:15 and a Geronimo Jackson bumper sticker.

@jumblejim Okay now, who stole Bobby's ceiling? Bring it back now and you won't get in trouble..... I'm WAITING.

Twitter has been a scary place over the past week with the riots plaguing English cities dominating streams. At least now we know what the world will be like when the inevitable zombie apocalypse hits.

Things are feeling similarly apocalyptic over at the Syfy channel where Eureka received a very public execution this week with many of the stars seemingly as confused as fans were, as the network seemed unable to make its mind up about the show’s future. The bad news: one of Syfy’s longest running shows is toast (presumably to make room for another reality show or another hour of wrestling), the good news: there’s another one and a half seasons worth of episodes to go, huzzah!

With many of the stars, writers and show runners on Twitter there was a great deal of thanks poured through the internet pipe. And if you’re so inclined you can sign a twitition here to save the show. You never know…

@bergopolis Everyone is asking why. It’s simple, really.

We are the network’s golden child in every way, except profit margins. Fact is, #Eureka is an expensive show to make.

@sallirichardson I guess the word is out that Eureka is ending. I have loved being part of the Eureka family and the last day is going to be very sad.

@neilgrayston Seriously awed at all the kind words peeps! You guys make me fist pump/transition to air guitar so hard! #Eureka loves you!

@wilw Saying goodbye to #Eureka: is.gd/V1ootZ

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@colinferg Thanks for the outpouring of affection everyone. YOU made the show. YOU made it special. YOU made it worth being part of. Thank you so much

@jaimepaglia Thrilled that our network and studio are giving us another episode to make a #Eureka series finale. The fans and show deserve it. Thank you.

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The SFX Twitter Stream

@martinoxon Listing my favorite top ten horror comedies for an article: Shaun of the Dead, Shaun of the Dead, Shaun of the Dead, Shaun of the Dead…

@simonpegg Fab stories from Paul Freeman today. Apparently there maybe a community of snakes living at Elstree Studios descended from Raiders escapees.

@OliverPhelps Shame we had to give our wands back when we finished filming. That would sort these riots out.

@MonasticProds I never thought I would say this and I know it sounds trite – but I want Raymondo, Chris, Alex and The Guv out there tonight. I do.

@Eastbournepol To dispel another rumour, Godzilla hasn’t destroyed the #Eastbourne Pier We dispersed him before he had the chance

@edgarwright I wrote four pages today. At this rate, I will have a new film out by 2018. See you at the cinema!

@DamonLindelof Futuredharma! twitpic.com/612xcf

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@GroovyBruce I. Am. In. Oz. Sam Raimi refuses to tell me what character I will portray. Just know that the role is PIVOTAL. yfrog.com/gzsvmlbj

@David_Boreanaz Remember Andy Hallett.A great person who could light up a room,and turn a bad day into a day of Love and Laughter

@ZacharyLevi Dear @HamillHimself, It was an honor having you come play in our sandbox my friend. You’re welcome anytime. #maytheforcebewithusall :)

@alan_tudyk cowboys and aliens is okay for a space western but suffers from a painful lack of chinese

@TheRealNimoy Had dinner with Zachary Quinto. Great conversation, always. LLAP

Chuck is continues to a veritable hub for anyone playing a sci-fi specific game of Six Degrees Of Separation. As the show enters its final season it’s still finding new fanboy-pleasing guest stars to sign up.

TVLine reports that latest pair sci-ficons recruited for the show are Smallville’s Justin Hartley (Oliver Queen/Green Arrow) and Lost’s Jeff Fahey (pilot Frank Lapidus – though those with longer memories will also recall that he was the original Lawnmower Man).

Now the spoilery details, if you want to avert your eyes…

Fahey will play Karl Sneijder, president and CEO of Natal Jewellers, a man who’s been on the CIA radar for a while now. He comes to Chuck and Sarah’s spy agency Carmichael Industries for help when his innocent little brother, Wesley (played by Hartley) is kidnapped.

@ThatKevinSmith Good SMorning! The greatest image you will see all day is Heath Ledger Joker giving a Bale Batman a bit of the ol' ollie

Twitter is a fertile ground for breeding new ideas, so it was only a matter of time before THE GREATEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME was conceived in the 140 character stream of consciousness. It all started when Edgar Wright (always good value for anyone not following the Scott Pilgrim director yet) tweeted former WWE superstar Dwayne Johnson aka @TheRock about joining his “club”…

@edgarwright Dear @TheRock, I would like to join Team Bring it. Is there an entry fee? A minimum height? Should I bring my gym kit? Sincerely, Edgar.

@TheRock Dear @edgarwright – No entry fee, height or age requirement. Just puttin our boots to asses daily. Welcome to Team Bring It brother.

If that wasn’t awesome enough, things took a turn for the, er, awesomer when one member of joe public had a flash of inspiration.

@lewiswaltoncent @edgarwright please make an awesomely geeky action hero movie starring @TheRock with @simonpegg as his evil nemesis – that’s a wet dream!

@edgarwright @lewiswaltoncent @TheRock @simonpegg I concur with this idea.

I say the movie also stars @NickJFrost. But even with all three onboard; top billing still goes to The People’s Elbow.

@simonpegg I’m in @edgarwright but only if I can smell what @therock is cooking. Otherwise it’s deeply unfair.

Actually if @TheRock can smell what @nickjfrost is cooking, the film will be more like My Dinner with Andre. Nick’s exceptional at cookery.

@TheRock @simonpegg @edgarwright – I do indeed smell what @nickfrost is cooking.”The Frost” as I call him when we’re drunk. I smell a big hit boys.

@edgarwright @TheRock @simonpegg @nickjfrost ‘The Rock & The Frost’ sounds like a stone age caveman buddy flick. Get a red Sharpie out and DATE IT.

@simonpegg Let it be known that the baddest movie of all time was birthed on Twitter and shall star @TheRock @nickfrost and me (dir. @edgarwright) :-D

The Avengers better watch their back.

The SFX Twitter Stream

@DamonLindelof To every entertainment journalist preparing to run some version of “Cowboys Get Smurfed!”… I beg of you, please — Don’t.

@NathanFillion When my brother and I watch #GameOfThrones together, we make up lyrics. And background vocals.

@ManMadeMoon At Attack the Block screening. Crowd of Americans brought me as a translator, just in case.

Attack the Block made me homesick. I used to have a job chasing down and beating up on extra terrestrials.

@JaneEspenson “end of the worldy” — more of a Buffy line than Torchwood. Couldn’t help myself.                                                                                                       x

@Scott_Krinsky All done with with my first day of season 5 #Chuck. The Buy More is in good shape. Though not necessarily the employees:)

@JoshuaEGomez First day of season 5. So far so good. @Y_Strahovski yfrog.com/kezx9qbj

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@EmilyroseLA Of corse!!RT @Slimz09: @EmilyroseLA Would u consid. audish. for Elena in Uncharted movie? U ARE Elena! Can’t really see anyone else in it!

@RhettReese Franchise I’d most like to get a crack at writing someday: The Matrix.                                                                                   x

@edgarwright Knock knock. Who’s there? Doctor… twitpic.com/5vzjrl

Some shows give us the spin-offs we deserve – series that are as good, or even better than, the original programme (think Star Trek: The Next Generation or Angel). Other shows give us spin-offs that we watch and think, “Did someone really think that was a good idea?” (See: Young Hercules, Galactica 1980). Others have been mooted but never materialised, much to our despair.

In honour of all those shows we can’t get enough of, we defy the laws of time, space and logic to take a look at 12 delicious fantasy spin-offs we’d love to have in our lives… Some of them were seriously mooted, others are just ones we daydream about.

By Jayne Nelson and Dave Golder .

1 Sideways

Spun off from: Lost

Who’s in it? James Ford and Miles Straume, two ordinary cops with extraordinary secrets…

What’s it about? Ford works for the LAPD alongside his partner Straume, catching crooks, fightin’ crime and nailing the bad guys. But he’s secretly on a mission to find out who killed his parents – and why is it that he sometimes allows criminals to escape (clue: they’re usually pretty)? Meanwhile, Straume is struggling to do his job when he’s constantly hearing voices from beyond the grave. Ghostly connections come in handy when he’s trying to solve a murder, but it plays havoc with his love-life!

Watch these two oddballs as they peel back the layers of their lives to discover that they’re not really who they seem to be… And why the heck are there polar bears in LA, anyway?!

Why do we want it? Lost’s final season was a divisive one, with the show’s controversial “flash sideways” showing us a brand new side of our beloved heroes, but all for no good purpose, ultimately. Of all the flashes, Sawyer and Miles’s little law-enforcement double-act was the most intriguing – wouldn’t it be cool to see them again? It would be odd hearing Sawyer being called “Ford” all the time, though, and we’d miss him calling Kate “Freckles” (unless he used it on Miles, which would be…er… forget that).

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@NathanFillion Together at last. @wilw and @NathanFillion. Thank you, @feliciaday

In an exhausting week for Twitter-dominating news stories (phone hacking/piegate, the tragic events in Norway, Amy Winehouse’s death…) you’d been forgiven for not even noticing that the biggest show on the geek calendar has just wrapped up Stateside – San Diego Comic Con.

Arguably this was the year that Twitter came of age at SDCC, with every news nugget from the show floor tweeted to death (and the next story broken) before most websites could even load up their CMS. For a handy summary of the biggest happenings be sure to check back through our own Twitter feed (@SFXmagazine) and of course for more thoughtful, 140+-character-reporting our own website has you covered.

In no particular order then, here are some of favourite tweets from in and around the show floor.

@EddieMcClintock #Warehouse13 crew shares a ride with @JewelStaite, on our way to #SDCC! instagr.am/p/IX6U3/ (Thanx @djcrewe1 4 the pic)

@iansomerhalder Damon, Stefan and Klaus all on the same plane right now- not a good plane to be on… IF we were vampires. Or hungry.

@SethGreen Super @DaveFiloni let me crash the #CloneWars panel where @TeamUnicorn cos-played the Night Sisters. #SDCC2011 http://twitpic.com/5tskgg

@edgarwright Braving the SDCC floor. Sadly I don’t fit into my old Doctor Who costume anymore. Partly because I was eight years old when I had it.

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The SFX Twitter Stream

@HamillHimself I’m on Chuck? My good luck! #NBCChuck

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@iamchrisjudge: I can finally confirm: I have been cast in “The Dark Knight Rises”                                                                                    x

@simonpegg Really enjoyed HP7 and credit where it’s due the 3D did an extraordinary job of making everything really dark, blurry and difficult to see.

I’d love to make a sequel to Paul. Nick & I had a funny idea but even if we started writing it 2day. With shoot and post it’d be 3 yrs min.

@TheRealNimoy Remembering Jimmie Doohan. Unforgettable. May his memory LLAP                                                                x

@BRIANMBENDIS Yeah, were officially filming powers on the set of the untouchables #powerstv x

@CarltonCuse Dreamt about Nikki and Paulo last night. They were saying to me, “No matter what, don’t do it.” What is that all about?

@JaneEspenson I’m told only diffs in Torchwood content are a 10 second trim in the UK version of ep.3 and a three-second cut in the UK ep.6

@alan_tudyk Rupert Murdoch looks like a Star Wars character. The Emporer and Adm. Ackbar’s love child genetically spliced with a Ton Ton’s nut sack

@serafinowicz “Emperor Rupert, is it true that you are actually Darth Murdoch?”                                                                                 x

@Markgatiss BREAKING. Brooks and the Murdochs sentenced to the Phantom Zone.                                                                            x

@DonCoscarelli JOHN DIES AT THE END- the first movie I’ve made chosen by a ‘bot. 3 yrs ago an amazon email came “if you liked —, you’ll like John Dies!”

@trutriciahelfer Off to play EDI in #MassEffect3 today. Might get to finally work with @SethGreen for a little bit too, instead of always solo in the booth.

@Mruff221 I have a first edition of Frank Miller’s Wolverine that he signed for me about 20 years ago.                                              x

@edwardjolmos I have a fit whenever anyone, be it, republicans, democrats or cylons, support the ability of corporations to freely pollute our waterways

@TheRealMissUSA Aww whoever started this is very sweet :-) http://on.fb.me/qr0zz6 #missusa #starwars

As any pub quizzer knows, there are some truly bizarre genuine collective nouns out there: a bellowing of bullfinches, a parliament of owls, an aurora of polar bears, a labour of moles, the list goes on. But when someone on our Twitter feed last week pondered, “What do you call a group of Dwarves?” that set us wondering – why don’t SF and fantasy races and groups have their own collective nouns? So we put out a request on our Facebook page, and had an amazing response (and a few emails too – what are you afraid of our Facebook page? We’re very friendly!). Here are some of our favourites, but feel free to add more in the comments section:

A shortage of Dwarves (Dave Repoman Rowson)

A clank of Cybermen (Rad Kerriga)

A Glittering of (sh*t) vampires (Steve R Mainwaring)

A stench of zombies (Simon Mills)

A mince of Elves (Simon Mills)

A carpet of Wookies (Steve R Mainwaring)

A massacre of red shirts (Steve Cooper)

A cancellation of Browncoats (Telekinetic Firetruck)

An excretion of gungans (Stephen Elsden)

A kitchen showroom of toasters (Peter Watkinson)

A pepper of Daleks (Rob Hickling)

A cannon of Whovians (Ian Hayles)

An ego of wizards (Simon Mills)

An imagination of SFX readers (Damien Kelly)

A bemusment of Lost fans (Dean Smith)

An udder of Marvel superhero movies (Jayne Greenacre)

A sound of Silence (Simon Garfunkel*)

(* We think this may be a pseudonym)

Here are the great people you’ll be able to meet on SFX‘s stand, number 1502 in the San Diego Convention Center, next week.

THURSDAY 21 JULY

12 noon
Bonnie Burton is the author of such books as The Star Wars Craft Book, You Can Draw Star Wars and Draw Star Wars: The Clone Wars. In addition to writing for SFX magazine she also writes for Star Wars Insider magazine and is a senior editor and writer for StarWars.com. Bonnie became an SFX columnist in 2011 and her latest piece, tips for dating during the zombie apocalypse, is in issue 211 on sale now. At Comic-Con, Bonnie is appearing on our SFX panel, above, and is also a panelist on “Oh, You Sexy Geek”, a cosplay and feminism and geek girls panel (10:45 Thursday in room 6A), plus is running a Star Wars craft demo on Sunday. Follow her on Twitter as @bonniegrrl.

5pm
Joseph McCabe is the US editor (west coast) of SFX magazine and the associate editor of FEARnet.com. In addition he’s probably best known as the author of the Bram Stoker and International Horror Guild Award-nominated book Hanging Out With The Dream King: Conversations With Neil Gaiman And His Collaborators. He is on Twitter as @JMaCabre.

Tara Bennett is the author or co-author of several movie and TV companion books including The Lost Encyclopedia, The Art Of 300 and The Art Of Terminator Salvation. She has also written nearly a thousand features for print and online publications such as: Lost: The Official Magazine, SCI FI Magazine, Newsarama and VFXWorld.com. She is the US editor (east coast) for SFX. She moderated the last two 24 panels at San Diego Comic-Con (featured on the 24 Complete Box Set) and is also an adjunct professor at Rowan University in New Jersey, teaching Film and Television studies. Follow her on Twitter as @TaraDBennett.

(Don’t forget to go to the SFX panel about sci-fi journalism at 6.30pm in room 4!)

FRIDAY 22 JULY

11am
Mr Tony Lee will be signing on the SFX stand – he is a #1 New York Times best selling list writer, writing Doctor Who comics for IDW, and also The Gloom and Agent Mom for MTV. You may remember him from his excellent presentation at the second SFX Weekender. Visit his website at www.tonylee.co.uk.

SATURDAY 23 JULY

11am
All SFX readers will have heard of writer Paul Cornell; a former columnist in the magazine and regular attendee at events including the SFX Weekender, he is now writing for DC; his upcoming titles include Demon Knights and Stormwatch (which he’ll also be talking about on the DC Dark and Edge panel at 12.45 on Saturday). Visit his website at www.paulcornell.com.

2pm
Since 2002 Mark Buckingham has been the regular artist on Fables for DC Comics, working with its writer and creator Bill Willingham, for which they have earned numerous comic industry awards. He has also illustrated Willingham’s Down The Mysterly River prose novel released this summer by Tor books. In addition Mark is also the regular cover artist on IDW’s Doctor Who comic and is currently working with Neil Gaiman on a comic strip for the Brilliant Book Of Doctor Who 2012 for BBC Books.

4.30pm
Toby Whithouse is the creator, lead writer and executive producer of Being Human, currently filming its fourth season. He has also written for Torchwood and is a regular writer on Doctor Who. SFX readers will remember him from panels and discussions at both previous Weekender events.

SUNDAY 24 JULY

2pm [NOTE NEW TIME]
Mira Grant was also signing books on the SFX stand at Comic-Con last year so this is a welcome return for a popular novelist. Her Newsflesh trilogy is a smart, contemporary take on the zombie apocalypse beginning with Feed last year and with Deadline just out now. It’s planned as a trilogy with the final instalment due for release in 2012. In her alternate guise as urban fantasy author Seanan McGuire, she was the recipient of the 2010 John W Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Her website is at http://miragrant.com.

See you there, and remember to follow SFX on Facebook, Twitter and RSS for our as-they-happen updates from the show.

It’s the highlight of the sci-fi calendar and it’s almost upon us! San Diego Comic-Con International kicks off next week, and SFX is pleased to announce our schedule including some brilliant signings on our booth. Please note an alteration on the Sunday.

Look out for the SFX panel! Yep, editor-in-chief Dave Bradley will be hosting a panel in room 4 at 6:30pm on Thursday 21 July entitled “So, you want to be a sci-fi journalist?” More on that in an upcoming post, but be assured it features insight from Richard Edwards (SFX deputy editor), Tara Bennett (author and SFX‘s east coast US editor), Joseph McCabe (associate editor of FEARnet.com and SFX‘s west coast US editor) and Bonnie Burton (author, SFX columnist and senior editor for Starwars.com).

Moreover, we are extremely pleased to announce that you’ll be able to meet the following fantastic writers and comic creators on our SFX stand (#1502) – click the picture for more details about them…

THURSDAY

12pm-1pm – author and blogger Bonnie Burton signing
5pm-6pm – journalists and authors Joseph McCabe and Tara Bennett signing
6.30pm-7.30pm - the SFX panel, “So, you want to be a sci-fi journalist?” in room 4

FRIDAY

11am-12pm – comics writer Tony Lee signing

SATURDAY

11am-12pm - comics writer, screenwriter and novelist Paul Cornell signing
2-3pm – comics artist Mark Buckingham signing
4.30pm-5.30pm – screenwriter Toby Whithouse signing

SUNDAY

2pm-3pm – horror novelist Mira Grant signing [NB this is a change in the schedule]

There’s more information about them all here. That’s a brilliant line-up of SFXy stuff at Comic-Con in San Diego this year so if you’re about, don’t forget to drop by stand 1502 – there’s free stuff. And our Dave, Rich, Ade, Hannah and Senel will also be around the stand for most of the week, not to mention a few other of our writers, so look out for us. See you out there!

The Trek Terrors

Janice Rand
Bad Barnet Rating: 5/5

Poor Ensign Rand. The unfortunate lass had to wander around the Enterprise wearing some kind of wicker basket/chessboard weave on her head that made her look as though her skull had elongated, HR Giger-Alien-style. Okay, so perhaps by the 23rd century women really could change the shape of their skulls to accommodate stylish ‘dos; maybe it was all the rage? But honestly, it must have weighed a ton. Three years of that and the poor woman would’ve had a crushed neck. Let’s hope Starfleet covered wig-related injuries in their pension scheme.

Elaan Of Troyius
Bad Barnet Rating: 4/5

Another Star Trek horror, this time from guest star France Nuyen as the titular Princess Elaan. Lord only knows how she heard a word anybody said to her with those woolly flaps hanging over her ears. On the plus side, however, apparently Captain Kirk had a thing for follicular fakery (can’t imagine why) because they ended up doing the horizontal space tango during the episode. Result!

We do have one question: why hasn’t Lady Gaga ripped off this look yet? It’s so very her…

@JonahHill Coolest. Photograph. Ever.

A big part of the celebrity-stalking joy on Twitter is using the social networking megalith to eavesdrop on conversations between celebrity chums. Take for example this glorious exchange between Lost’s Damon Lindelof and Pushing Daisies’ Bryan Fuller, reacting to news reports Lindelof has sold a script to Disney for a seven figure sum.

@DamonLindelof The seven figures are: Jawa (vinyl-caped), Han in Hoth gear, Bossk, Lobot, Greedo, Admiral Ackbar and Obi-Wan (with telescoping saber).

@BryanFuller These seven figures?

x

@DamonLindelof This is why you are the GREATEST HUMAN ALIVE. x

x

We couldn’t have said it better.

In other news you may have heard ear-drum bursting screams of joy echo around Twitsville over the past week. That’s because Supernatural’s Jared Padalecki has signed up and taken to posting pictures of himself looking hairy, drinking in a bar and getting a piggy back from his wife. Hey, it’s early days yet! We’re rather in awe at the name his Supernatural co-star @mishacollins has come up with for his followers:

@mishacollins Hey, @jarpad, I’ve found a good handle for your twitter followers. It’s got a nice ring that captures the spirit. We’ll call ‘em “Maxi-pads” Gross.

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The SFX Twitter Stream

@neilhimself And for those asking, No, 6 years of AMERICAN GODS on TV doesn’t mean just the 1st book. It means I need to write the 2nd now, for a start.

@BryanFuller “@hawaii: @Syfy How is the adaptation of “The Lotus Caves” by @BryanFuller coming along?” Yes, good question! Please let us know!

@David_Boreanaz When does True Blood start up? I’d like to Direct an epp of that…                                                                        x

@pattonoswalt @PLOTthickenr: @pattonoswalt @elizadushku seeing you two tweeting makes me miss DollHouse // Think of our Tweets as Season 3

@Mruff221 Bruce Banner is looking promising, everyone. Today was the first time I turned in to the great green one. It is going to badass.

@ZacharyLevi At the Sony press conference. Just saw new Bioshock Infinite trailer. I likey. I wanty. http://t.co/qg6BJTb

@RealReeceShears Me, in Hoity Toity’s – posing as the owner of a similar “local” shop: http://t.co/7qzNWjG

The Silent Singer emerges for the first time (on set photo) : http://t.co/0a3ITM0

Re a third series… the dust has to settle, and the BBC will decide. Not up to me and Steve. x

Alfred Hitchcock was the master of suspense, of course, but also the master of the cameo. But who are SF & fantasy’s greatest Hitchcocks? We’ve collected together 33 of the genres greatest examples of creators appearing in their own creations, some quite famous, others not so obvious. It’s not exhaustive: we had problems finding some examples we wanted to use. We were never entirely sure who Terry Gilliam was in Brazil, or where William Gibson appeared in The X-Files episode “First Person Shooter” (hell, we listened to the whole DVD commentary and Chris Carter doesn’t even mention it!). So feel free to suggest more examples!

33 Ed Bye

Red Dwarf “Only The Good”

Ed Bye was one of Red Dwarf’s most prolific and long-running directors, and he finally made it in front of the camera for the final episode of the show‘s original BBC run, “Only The Good…” Not that his mum would recognise him. He plays the Grim Reaper who comes to claim Rimmer. But Rimmer has other ideas, narrowly avoiding Death by kicking him in the balls.

32 Frank Miller

Daredevil

Frank Miller didn’t create Daredevil, but (as with Batman) he did reinvent him to great popular acclaim during his acclaimed on the title. So he has every right to appear in the Mark Steven Johnson-directed movie, even if it is only long enough to get stabbed in the forehead by Bullseye, who then nicks his motorbike. Miller also pops up in RoboCop 2 (for which he wrote the script), Sin City and The Spirit (both of which he directed).

31 Ridley Scott

Alien

When John Hurt first peers into the alien egg in Alien, he can see something moving about inside. An alien embryo? Nah, director Ridley Scott’s hands inside some special gloves.

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Damon Lindelof, best know for showrunning Lost for six seasons with Carlton Cuse, has signed a deal with Disney to write and produce a new SF film with the working title, 1952.

Other than that, reports Deadline, very little is know about the project other than it, “isn’t just being conceived for movies only, but that it has multiple platform aspirations.” It’s not even clear if the working title is necessarily a date. The only kind of SF related event we can connect with that year is a flurry of UFO sightings and the creation of Project Blue Book. But that could just be us putting two and two together and coming up with Area 51.

Since Lost finished, Lindelof has been a busy man, working on Cowboys & Aliens and Ridley Scott’s Prometheus as well as the Star Trek sequel, work on which he is expected to complete before beginning work in earnest on 1952.

Some actors can’t seem to get enough of sci-fi TV, and even if they’ve never landed themselves a regular gig on a show, their faces become so familiar, they almost feel like honorary members of the sci-fi family. Here we celebrate those serial science fiction guest stars who can raise the standard of an episode just by putting in an appearance.

NOTE: You may notice there aren’t as many women as there are men on this list. We tried. We looked everywhere. We found a few potentials – Emanuelle Vaugier, Teryl Rothery, Lucy Lawless, Christina Cox – but weren’t sure they justified full entries due to quantity or quality of guest-star roles (and including them for the sake of it would be positive discrimination and we don’t want to open that can of worms). Did we miss anybody obvious? Or is this just a sad reflection of the way the acting industry works: men are able to build up careers as character actors, but women, who are sadly often judged by their looks more than their abilities, come and go? Tell us what you think in the comments…

First up…

Bubbling under

Those that didn’t quite make it into the Top 10, but who deserve a mention for their services to telefantasy…

Tony Todd

The booming-voiced Candyman’s TV guest spots include The Event, Chuck, Masters Of Horror, Stargate SG-1, Charmed, Andromeda, Smallville, Angel, Babylon 5, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek Voyager, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Xena, Warrior Princess. So he certainly has quantity on his side, but be honest – how many of those roles can you actually recall? He mainly gets cast in parts in which require being either tall or growly, or both. Which doesn’t exactly stretch him much. He was fun in Chuck, though…

Brian Thompson

Best known as The X-Files’ alien bounty hunter, Thompson’s small screen sci-fi CV also includes Alien Nation, Superboy, Hercules The Legendary Journeys, Kindred The Embraced, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Seven Days, Crusade, Birds Of Prey, Charmed, Star Trek: Enterprise and Chuck. Doesn’t make the Top 10 because although it’s always great spotting him in a show, he doesn’t usually do much other than glower and grunt.

James Marsters

Yeah, yeah, we know he wasn’t a guest star on Buffy and Angel, but since then he’s embraced the guest star gavotte with gusto: Smallville, Caprica, Torchwood.

Steve Railsback

First hit the SFX radar as alien abductee Duane Barry in two episodes of The X-Files, and has since made memorable guest appearances in Charmed and Supernatural among others.

Steven McHattie

If you’ve never seen Canadian zombie flick Pontypool you really need to. McHattie is brilliant as a shock jock in that, but it’s a movie, so it doesn’t really count here. On TV he’s graced such shows as Haven, The Listener, Reaper, The 4400, Mutant X and Star Trek: Enterprise with his not inconsiderable presence.

Emanuelle Vaugier

You might not know the name but chances are you’ll have seen her in Lost Girl (where she was clearly having a whale of a time playing the Morrigan), or Supernatural, or Masters Of Horror, or Painkiller Jane, or Andromeda, or Smallville (Dr Helen Bryce), or Charmed, or The Outer Limits, or Seven Days, or First Wave, or Highlander. Things made in Canada, usually.

Terry O’Quinn

Sure we know him better now as Locke from Lost, but before that he was earning his stripes on the guest star circuit: Alias, Masters Of Science Fiction, The X-Files, Earth II, Tales From The Crypt, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Twilight Zone.

Teryl Rothery

Stargate SG-1’s petite medic didn’t turn her back on small screen sci-fi after the producers killed off Janet Fraiser. You may have seen her since in Supernatural, Kyle XY, Smallville or Caprica.

Tony Amendola

Simply a great, great character actor, Amendola appears in so much telefantsy simply by dint of the fact he makes so many film and TV appearances. By law of averages, some have to be telefantasy: She-Wolf Of London, Space Rangers, Raven, Space: Above And Beyond, Kindred: Te Embraced, Lois And Clark, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Crusade, Star Trek: Voyager, The X-Files, Angel, Charmed, Alias, Stargate SG-1, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Lucy Lawless

She’s never quite rediscovered that Xena high, but we still get a thrill seeing her in things like The X-Files, Battlestar Galactica, Spartacus Blood And Sand and No Ordinary Family (she also had a cameo as a punk in Spider-Man 2, dontchaknow?)

Vaughn Armstrong

A special mention for a man who has appeared as 12 different characters across every Trek show except the original. He’s also cropped up in Babylon 5 and Quantum Leap.

David Collings

Serial sci-fi guest stars are thinner on the ground in the UK, mainly because we produce fewer sci-fi shows, but if any Brit thesps can stake a claim in this list it’s Collings who managed to complete the Doctor Who/Blake’s Seven/Sapphire And Steel hat trick. He was Silver in Sapphire And Steel, if that jogs your memory.

Alex Price

He’s still young, so he hasn’t built up much of a sci-fi CV yet, but he’s going great guns already having clocked up memorable appearances in Being Human, Doctor Who and Merlin in the past couple of years.

Terry Walsh

Another honorary mention for one of classic Who’s stunt guys (he often doubled for Jon Pertwee) who’d occasionally find himself getting a bona fide bit part, usually as a guard, often in the background, with maybe one or two lines at his artistic peak.

Now on with the Top 10…

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All good things must come to an end and TV shows are no exception, including Smallville. Yes, after 10 years it was beginning to look like this show about the “early years of Superman” was going to carry on until his zimmer frame years. But no, the final curtain for Smallville falls this Friday in the States. How should it end? We’ve taken a look at how some other telefantasy shows have called it a day to look for clues. Whether they’ve had time to prepare beforehand or were axed unexpectedly, that final hour of telly is always going to be interesting. We take a look at the best and worst of these final destinations…

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10 A Massacre!

If your show’s going to end, why not go out with a bloody big bang – emphasis on the “bloody”? Simply kill off your beloved characters (bonus points if they die in slo-mo), then sit back and watch the fans freak out!

Blake’s 7 was never more exciting than when, after a plethora of hilarious slo-mo deaths (finally after four series the Federation could shoot straight), the screen went dark and we heard all those gunshots – see the clip above. The heroic gang of do-gooders on Angel had already lost Wesley and were clearly about to be polished off (by a dragon, no less!) at the end of “Not Fade Away”.* Xena was even beheaded in the final episode of her show, much to everybody’s surprise – things don’t get more attention-grabbing than that!

What better way to break the hearts of a loyal audience, eh? Not to mention ensuring your show lives on forever in infamy…

*We’ll overlook the fact they lived on in the comics, seeing as we didn’t know that at the time the episode aired. As far as we were concerned, they were all doomed…

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@DamonLindelof No comment. RT @BryanFuller Can you please confirm or deny this LOST theory?

What were you doing last Saturday? The correct answer is watching Doctor Who of course, but what were you doing just before settling in on the sofa? Basking in the uncharacteristically glorious April sunshine? Ducking indoors to avoid the sudden thunderstorms? Solving just one more room on Portal 2? If you’re Edgar Wright or Mark Gatiss you were watching the BBC’s frankly unsettling new Saturday tea-time gameshow Don’t Scare The Hare, presented by The Gadget Show’s Jason Bradbury and starring a giant animatronic/sometime-shonky-CG bunny.

Yes, we would have much preferred to see the brilliant Lis Sladen tribute and Don’t Scare The Hare switch places too, but Don’t Scare The Hare provided ample entertainment in the run-up to the eleventh Doctor’s second coming thanks to the animated commentary between Wright and Gatiss:

@edgarwright Will kids come back from behind the sofa for Doctor Who after Don’t Scare The Hare? Am convinced this quiz will end in an ED-209 massacre.

@edgarwright ‘Don’t Scare The Hare’ on BBC1 looks like the first prime time game show to be made on mushrooms. I am getting a contact high.

@Markgatiss @edgarwright I am frightened.

@edgarwright @Markgatiss Can you do a DW episode where this terrifying Hare trundles off the game show set & into the Whoniverse to f**k up some Daleks?

The Weeping Angels ain’t got nothing on the Hare.

The SFX Twitter Stream

@OldRoberts953 It’s funny when adults say ‘kids won’t understand the story in Doctor Who’. If there’s one thing kids understand, it’s a story.

@NoelClarke I quite rate @Elizadushku was always a faith fan rather than the blonde one. Suppose I’ll never get to work with her though… Hmmmmmmm!

@charltonbrooker People who don’t invert the Y-Axis on 1st person videogames shouldn’t be allowed to play videogames.

@Mark_Sheppard You’ve all been very kind. I got to be on the Tardis, say “bigger on the inside” AND “Doctor…Who exactly? Not bad.

@wilw I may have jumped out of my seat and danced like an idiot when the #DoctorWho theme started tonight, but I’d never admit it.

@russelltovey I am proudly, officially, the voice of “Doctor who Confidential”…. Eeee… I love DW x

@warrenellis #doctorwhospoilers the 12th Doctor, Ray Winstone, beats alien to death with sonic screwdriver, yells “oo’s the Doctor now?”

@stevendeknight Hmm… Maybe… RT @ryan_curtis @stevendeknight hey can you write in a shoutout to fringe in the next season. Maybe someone called astrix?

@BBC_Torchwood This was right before the elevator debacle. We love our #Torchwood family. http://img.mu/a95uoZ

@ZacharyLevi You’d rather kiss a Wookie? I can arrange that. twitpic.com/4nr5yq ……………………………………………………………………………………………..

@RAYPARKACTION Of course I would love to do Maul again! In a heart beat!!! Come on George;) ……………………………………………………………………………

@simonpegg I bought an old skool style Dengar action figure from Toys R Us today. It cost about 700% more than it did in 1980. #galacticinflation

@Paul_Cornell ‘Twin Destinies’: another excellent Stargate Universe episode. Terrible that the best Hard SF in… ever, really, is already axed. #fb

@BryanFuller For all those inquiring about the PUSHING DAISIES comic book, here is a peek at PAGE ONE UNCOLORED! yfrog.com/hs4lwchj

@neilhimself Beware of the Dalek

Twitter wouldn’t be half as much fun without twitpics. No one wants to hear about the time a donkey piloted a bi-plane – after all no picture and it didn’t happen. The same goes for last week’s Robot Chicken 100th episode bash (though sadly there were no donkey driven aircraft) – hearing about the guests in attendance and cupcakes on offer is no substitute for actually seeing them:

@SethGreen Our friend @RealMichelleT sees @wizmatts thru a brave drinking nite #RC100 http://twitpic.com/4j12hp

My love @ClareGrant & Mr BillyDee Williams enjoy the #RC100 http://twitpic.com/4j15db

@wizmatts Thanks to everyone who helped #RobotChicken hit 100 episodes! Crew, cast & fans! Amazing night! http://twitpic.com/4jbs1e

Nathan Fillion was there too, but best of all, Captain Tightpants brought along a pair of familiar looking pistols:

@SethGreen Thank you @NathanFillion for making this happen the other nite #OhCaptainMyCaptain http://twitpic.com/4jgdfd

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The SFX Twitter Stream

@EddieMcClintock Note 2 “Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark” • Not sure hiring guy from Nickelback 2 rewrite Bono’s music is gonna do the trick. #ASGOODASGIVINGUP

@ZacharyLevi Let’s be honest. Aside from the couple of nut jobs and mini genocide, we’d all like to be a part of a real life DHARMA Initiative. Right?!

@ManMadeMoon Sure many of you’ve seen this before, but I find it very useful when Im feeling lost. http://bzfd.it/qTyih

@TheRealNimoy Working on Transformers. Isn’t it about time ??!! LLAP                                                                                                   x

@bonniegrrl I’m drunk on Skywalker Ranch wine. That means I am full of midichlorians, right? #drunktweets twitpic.com/4jj00c

@steven_moffat Ohh, Doctor Who press night tonight. Nervous now… Okay, from tonight, spoilers everywhere. Duck, it’s the only way.

@KTANCH Since everyones been asking. “Get over here!” April 12th on Machinima!!! #mortalkombatlegacy http://moby.to/ioyuka

@DamonLindelof George RR Martin is terrified of “pulling a LOST” by ending Game of Thrones shittily. In related news, my therapist just hit the jackpot.

@simonpegg I soooo just met Tahmoh Penikett from BSG! Squeeeee!

New Zod Talks About Getting The Part
Michael Shannon, Man Of Steel’s recently-announced supervillain, interviewed at RunRiver International Film Festival.

Matt Reeves To Adapt Eight O’Clock In The Morning
Cloverfield and Let Me In director Matt Reeves is set to adapt Ray Nelson’s short story Eight O’Clock In The Morning, which was also the inspiration for John Carpenter’s They Live.  It’s the story of a man who begins the see an alien invasion taking place that is invisible to everybody else.  According to Deadline, we shouldn’t think of the new film as a remake. “Carpenter took a satirical view of the material,” says Reeves, “and the larger political implication that we’re being controlled. I am very drawn to the emotional side, the nightmare experience with the paranoia of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers or a Roman Polanski-style film.”

Intriguing New Fringe Trailer
Spoilers, if you’re not up to date with the US screenings. But if you are – woooooohoooooo!

Battle Of The Merlins
Camelot’s audience fell by 23 per cent to 850,000 viewers for its third Stateside episode, which is still a decent figure for Starz, but a worrying trend. On the other had, Merlin’s third season finished with a an all-time high viewing figure for the show on Syfy – 1.9 million (that’s an incredibly good figure for Syfy).

Lindelof Declares Fued
Seems producer/writer Damon Lindelof has taken exception to George RR Martins comments last week about his disappointment with the final episode of Lost. “What if I do a Lost?” said the Game Of Thrones writer, contemplating how he was going to end his book series. “Then they’ll come after me with pitchforks and torches.” Lindelof responded by in a series of tweets: “George RR Martin is terrified of ‘pulling a LOST’ by ending Game of Thrones s***tily. In related news, my therapist just hit the jackpot … George? You got yourself a feud, motherf—er… I’ve just been informed George is working on his feud response. I’ll have it in FIVE YEARS!… trust me, he knows he’s in a feud… I don’t take issue with his opinion, I take issue with the fact that he coined ‘Pulling a LOST’ as empirically ‘f—ing up the ending.” Seems Martin may have touched a raw nerve… UPDATE: Jut to make clarify matters… Lindelof was being tongue in cheek

FANTASY CASTING OF THE WEEK
Misha Collins makes his bid for the role of Gene Simmons in a Kiss biopic (image courtesy of Sebastian Roche’s Twitter account – @sebroche). Right, who’s gonna Photoshop the make-up onto him?

MAGIC FIRE EXTINGUISHER OF THE WEEK
One minute the house in the US version of Being Human is a raging inferno of hellish proportions. Next minute, it’s just looking a little singed, with nary a flame in sight – the average aftermath of a British barbecue. All thanks to Josh and his lone CO2 fire extinguisher. Every home should have one. Just think how much shorter Backdraft would have been.

IDENTITY PARADE OF THE WEEK
When asked to name his prime suspects in the case on this week’s The Mentalist, Patrick Jane reeled off the list, “Jabba The Hutt, Ming The Merciless, ALF…” which is an Unusual Suspects line-up we’d really like to see. Jane’s typically smug comment was inspired by an “alien”-themed episode, in which the murder victim claimed to have been abducted by aliens, and featured Star Trek: Voyager’s Ethan Phillips, as dodgy UFOlogist who gets arrested. It’s only fitting after he sentenced us to seven years’ hard Neelix.

LOST CAUSE OF THE WEEK
Grand Designs’ Kevin McCloud might have a thing or two to say about Merlin’s overambitious project to renovate Camelot in the new Starz Arthurian series that started this week: “When you bought the place, did the survey mention anything about subsidence caused by coastal erosion?” We give the place two years, tops.

UNCUSTOMARY JOVIALITY OF THE WEEK

We were stunned to see one fan refer to last week’s US instalment of the unremittingly-dour Stargate Universe as, “the comedy episode”? Good grief! What could have caused this unlikely proclamation? Rush performing a Punch And Judy show? Young having a bean-related, unwanted gas problem? We had to know. Oh, hang on, the episode appears to be about Dr Volker suffering renal failure. Hilarious. But wait! After 19 minutes somebody mentions erectile dysfunction, and the cast goes into double-take frenzy, before jointly sniggering like naughty schoolboys using the F-word for the first time. Then, 12 minutes later, there’s a gag about the music from 2001: A Space Odyssey not being very relaxing. This is comedy iron pyrites here, folks. Some people might complain that the show is too grim much of the time, but this was like watching your granddad trying to breakdance. We’ll settle for grim, thank you.

CRITIC OF THE WEEK

Game Of Thrones author George RR Martin talking to The New Yorker about Lost and how it’s made him worry about finishing his own A Song Of Ice And Fire book series: “I kept watching it and I was fascinated. … They’d introduce these things and I thought that I knew where it was going. Then they’d introduce [something new] and I’d rethink it. …We watched it every week trying to figure it out, and as it got deeper and deeper I kept saying, ‘They better have something good in mind for the end. This end better pay off here.’ And then I felt so cheated when we got to the conclusion. What if I f••k it up at the end? What if I do a Lost? Then they’ll come after me with pitchforks and torches.”

FANTASY FILM TITLES OF THE WEEK
X-Men: First Class rather fittingly being given an authentic Saul Bass makeover. The music is apparently a melancholic rendition of the 90s cartoon theme song.

X-Men: First Class Title Sequence from Joe D! on Vimeo.

REBOOT OF THE WEEK
Rick Deckard has to cope like the rest of us have to cope – in a world dominated by Microsoft…

IWOOT OF THE WEEK
The George Takei “Oh my!” ringtone (all proceeds in aid of The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego which will be premiering Takei’s “Allegiance”). Inspired. Don’t pretend you aren’t going to download it…

Myxer: Privacy Policy | Terms – More from George Takei

But that’s not all the booming-voiced ex-astronavigator has been up to. He’s also been taking part in a series of (uniformly quite dreadful) ads for US Social Security website. We’ll only “treat” you to one here (mainly because the final subtitle is hilarious – “Significant raised eyebrow and nod”) if you really feel the urge to watch the seven others, you’ll find them, all here.

KICK-ASS PRINCESS OF THE DAY
One of these poppets is not like the others…

@JoshuaEGomez Seriously. We kind of know how to use these. hulu.com/bestinshow #voteordie

Neil Gaiman is Twitter royalty, which made his brief reappearance last week from a Journey-To-The-West-induced social network blackout of particular note. What made it a cause for mass wooping and vworp vworps was that Gaiman was in the UK to talk Who. In particular episode four from the imminent sixth series which Gaiman wrote.

@neilhimself @steven_moffat @murraygold @rclarkie @michaelsheen Just watched Episode 4. I am happy. Thank you all very much.

Gaiman is refreshingly frank when it comes to adaptations of his work, so his own seal of approval should be taken as more than mere marketing guff. Head writer Steven Moffat gave it the thumbs up too, but it’s the cryptic final words in this tweet that have had us speculating in the office:

@steven_moffat @neilhimself Ohh, just watched your one again! It’s really good, isn’t it? And look who it is! LOOK WHO IT IS!!!

@neilhimself @steven_moffat each time I watch it I’m more impressed with Matt and Suranne, & less able to believe that you let me get away with it.

The pair of teases. Gaiman even took the time for a quick question and answer session during the first leg of his journey home before falling off the radar again to write the $300 million Monkey Journey To The West movie trilogy. It’s going to be a significantly less fantastical year on Twitter.

@neilhimself THE ZARBI when i was 4. Daemon at 12. @PeteBottomley: What Dr Who monster scared you most when you were younger? Or were you very brave?

@neilhimself Sure: motorcycle bedroom junkyard @jamesmcgraw: Can I have three words from your Doctor Who episode?

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The SFX Twitter Stream

@JasonRitter The King’s Speech was a great movie, but Prince’s Speech was always in another castle. #nintendopun #newlow

@GhostPanther In a hundred years will they remake The Skeleton Key as The Skeleton Plastic Pass Card?                               .

@JimCameron Sorry I’ve been away. I’ve been head-down writing Avatar 2 & 3 but had to leave Pandora for the real Pandora RT @KrissOnYT: TWEET SOMETHING!

@CLCarpenter1970 Sad because SECRET CIRCLE pilot I was hoping to test for was a role offered to someone else. I really was hoping to be a part of that show

@Mark_Sheppard If SPN gets a seventh, I would like to think that Crowley would return…                                                         x

@SethMacFarlane Reminder: in Back to the Future, Biff is a rapist. And not even a well-he-was-getting-mixed-signals rapist. Just a plain ol’ rapist.

@JaneEspenson @Torchwood4Fans We are sharing the writing credit on episode ten. It’s still very much his baby– he’ll do all the final writing on it.

@OldRoberts953 Shada will be out March 2012. Just got to write it first. Adapting an absolute genius and personal hero – no pressure then.

@DamonLindelof If I busted windows and tore off my shirt every time someone brought up “past shit” (coughFINALEcough) I would have no windows nor shirts.

@ManMadeMoon Seriously thinking that if there was ever to be a direct Moon sequel, it may work best as a point and click adventure.

@theThomasDekker First day of work in the beautiful woods of Vancouver. #theSecretCircle x

@gregmottola On the eve of Paul opening: here is the dorkiest thing I ever made. self portrait, age 17, 80s hair #humiliating

By its nature Twitter is a public forum. There’s always direct messages, but when the only thing between your private thoughts and a broadcast to an army of followers is a tiny capital “D” it’s a wonder everyone hasn’t spilled their secrets at some point.

When Buffy’s Charisma Carpenter did just that this past weekend it sent speculation spirals internet news vultures into overdrive. It’s easy to see why:

@CLCarpenter1970 What? Why? No NOF? Cancelled?

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Alas, this wasn’t confirmation of No Ordinary Family’s all-but-inevitable banishment to the cancellation junkyard in the sky, but a mis-directed direct message, as Carpenter later clarified herself:

@CLCarpenter1970 I was responding to a DM. Still Twitter challenged. U weren’t supposed to c. Ugh. Plus, I was asking! Don’t know answer to that.

It’s the kind of stuff trending topics are made of, if only people actually cared about No Ordinary Family. It does still have at least some concerned fans though as all the speculation prompted star Michael Chiklis to clear things up:

@MichaelChiklis #NOF fans listen up! We will NOT know about season 2 until May. It’s in ABC’s hands. It does not look good because the live #’s are too low.

Who needs moles when you’ve got Twitter?

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The SFX Twitter Stream

@pattonoswalt “@nerdist: Moderating panel w/ @elizadushku & Tamoh Penikett 2 day. Got any questions?” Why was our 3-way butter orgy scene deleted?

@jwrinzler Random House has announced, so now I can: The Making of Return of the Jedi is a go. Starting research next week… Pub date: fall 2013.

@stevendeknight Ill conceived money grab. RT @highwayagain @stevendeknight And what do you think about this upcoming Buffy reboot?

@steven_moffat Okay, okay – THREE Amys next time.                                                                                                                               x

@ManMadeMoon Wearing my fav Japanese wolverine T-Shirt today just to mess with people. ;) …and the answer is no… A wicked man weaves his wicked web… http://twitpic.com/4aosc4

@dhewlett May have to hang up my geek mantle! Had to ask for a refund on Battle LA after a mere10 mins because of motion sickness…so ashamed!

@RealReeceShears Those asking -”Psychoville” is coming back for a 2nd series; I just think they’re waiting 4 everyone to absolutely forget it exists first.

@BBC_Torchwood The amazing Greg Nicotero is building an alien. We’re dying to see what he creates.                              x

@danieldaekim #H50 shooting at police beach 2day. 4 u #LOST fans it was the site of the survivors’ camp for 4 seasons. I think I’m living a flash forward.

@rainnwilson The wife and I are both reading “Game of Thrones” by George R R Martin at the same time. #geeks x

@JamesGunn Can’t believe that a couple people telling me the Avengers script is great is worldwide news. Ah, fandom!… In other news, I took a shit the other day shaped just like Thor.

@elizadushku The Dollhouse is real… http://twitpic.com/4ag5rx

RETRO GAMER OF THE WEEK

Pete on Fringe discovers a version of Space Invaders created before computers were even invented.

MECHANICAL BALLERINA OF THE WEEK

V’s Anna is just too late to enter her version of The Dying Swan for Let’s Dance For Comic Relief.

UNEXPECTED CROSSOVER OF THE WEEK

Narnia meets Being Human. The extras on the Being Human Series Three DVD include a set tour by Sinead Keenan, where she sweetly gets so lost she can’t even find Nina and George’s bedroom (“I usually have a PA to get me there!”). She then reveals that there’s a whole other world through those wardrobe doors. Though not a very exciting-looking one, to be honest.

EXQUISITE TIMING OF THE WEEK

The creators of the new Voltron Force ’toon have been releasing images onto their Facebook page for a while now. But with what we hope was a witty bit of marketing and not just a pure coincidence, they released a pic of the Green Lion on St Patrick’s Day.

HYPERBOLE OF THE WEEK

“This may very well be the greatest thing to ever derive from Lost.” Not our words. The words of former Lost producer Damon Lindelof. Luckily he was Tweeting it, not saying it, otherwise it might have come out as, “Mmmmffff…mmmffff… mmmffff” as he tried to speak through that tongue in his cheek. And there are more where these came from.

COOLEST HOME CINEMA VIEWING ROOM OF THE WEEK EVER

Created by Custom Home Systems of San Diego for a Honolulu mansion, it’s designed to make you feel like you’re in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon (though we reckon it has more of Trek vibe, not that that diminishes its awesomeness) and boasts an 107-inch screen. Right, if we all have a whip round…?

BEST-DRESSED FORMER X-FILES STAR OF THE WEEK

From this week’s Californication: Hank Moody (David Duchovny) is preparing to go to court. He’s wearing a suit. In walks his missus.
“You look great,” she observes.
“I look like a f**king FBI agent,” he replies.
We get the feeling Hank wouldn’t like Mulder very much.

CRIME INCIDENT RECREATION OF THE WEEK
We prefer it to Crimewatch.

IMAGE OF THE WEEK
What if The X-Men had starred in The Hangover? By Rubio, via Geek Tyrant.

GENRE MASH-UP OF THE WEEK
What if Mario were to star in an arty indie film? A great little short film that did the rounds at the SXSW film festival.

Sometimes there just isn’t room in SFX to go into the detail we’d like on a hot topic. So six times a year we produce special editions (the “SFX Collections”) that focus on a single theme – in recent months we’ve covered anime, vampires, Doctor Who, Lost and more. Each issue comes in a pack with branded gifts, and delivers 132 pages of in-depth interviews and features.

And you can subscribe to them – which is a massive saving, especially since we’ll be knocking an extra 10% off the price until the end of this month!

Editor-in-chief Dave Bradley says: ‘The bi-monthly SFX Collections are perfect packs for sci-fi fans who want more detail and exclusive free gifts. And until the end of the month it’s cheaper than ever to subscribe!’

Hoorah! But you’ll want to know what’s coming up before you sign up, right? Fair enough – so here’s the list of what you can expect in the rest of 2011.

SFX COLLECTIONS

Issue 50: The Complete Guide To Anime (available in May)

Issue 51: Top 100 Sci-Fi icons (available in July)

Issue 52: The Ultimate Guide To Zombies (available in September)

Until 31 March you can subscribe to the SFX Collections and save an extra 10% on our usual subscription rates. (Please note that SFX special 49, The Best Of British, is too soon to be included in this offer – it comes out in March.)

OFFER PRICES (includes extra 10% off)

UK – £7.75 by quarterly Direct Debit, or £30.99 a year
(fact: that’s a total saving of 35% on the shop price!)

Europe – £36.99 a year

USA – £41.40 a year

Rest of World – £45.00 a year

Visit the shop here to take advantage of this offer. Remember, you only have until the end of March 2011!
www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/SFSX11

Join us. The specials are brilliant and right now it’s a bargain.

@leeunkrich Homecoming. #toystory3 #oscar

There’s only one news story dominating Twitter this week, and that’s Charlie Sheen’s uncomfortably public meltdown. So imagine how excited we got when Sheen revealed, live on American TV, that he had “Tigerblood”, the son of President Bartlet a superhuman animal hybrid? Alas it wasn’t to be as Sheen’s Tigerblood is firmly of the non-SF, stir crazy variety.

So in lieu of genuine sci-fi related Sheen news – a public service announcement for fans of Kevin Tancharoen’s (bro of Dollhouse writer Maurissa Tancharoen) gritty Mortal Kombat short from a little while back. He’s currently shooting the multi-part live action web series spinning off from the short, Mortal Kombat: Rebirth, and is keeping fans updated by posting pictures from his Twitter account, including first looks at many characters. The first episode will be available until sometime in the spring but for now, fatality fans, you’ll have to make do with this:

@KTANCH Friendship or Fatality? Which do you prefer? http://moby.to/m6l4ld

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The SFX Twitter Stream

@jamesmoran Is it wrong that when I see 80 year old dictators with glossy jet black hair and armed flunkies, I think: Goa’uld

@Mark_Sheppard How about Crowley as Charlie’s replacement on Two And A Half Men?

Dr. Who was definitely a dream job for me… Matt is my favorite Doctor… but I really want Sherlock.

@nickjfrost If you think Paul was good you should see Close Encounters of the Third Kind!                                                       x

@SteveMartinToGo There’s a rumor that a recent Oscar host is going to play Catwoman. Waiting by my phone for the call.

@DamonLindelof @JoshSchwartz76 Something tells me I’m gonna be watching CHUCK live tonight — http://yfrog.com/h8fqyahj

@therealKidKoala @edgarwright shooting his next film in Tokyo. T5: Rise of the Spaghetti. http://twitpic.com/46ask2

@radiomaru blog post: script and thumbnails from the ENDING of Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour!!! bit.ly/hNweSp x

@wilw Watching Firefly on Science Channel, and it’s better than much of what’s on now. It is a fucking crime that this show was cancelled.

@edgarwright Back in Los Angeles on Sunday morning after leaving Japan on Sunday night. This is as close as I will become to being Doctor Who.

@Markgatiss These new Sontaran action-figures are uncanny. http://twitpic.com/46dcv9

@stephenfry Hard not to look mean and aggressor when all made up and dressed up as a Klingon.

There are few things that can out-popular fop-haired, perma-trending, tween sensation Justin Bieber on Twitter, but with over half a billion worldwide viewers, unsurprisingly it’s the Oscars that have been the talk of Twitsville for the past 24 hours.

Outside of the technical categories it wasn’t a golden year for sci-fi on the big screen. In fact if it hadn’t been for Inception the only academy-award-winning SF bastions would have been Alice In Wonderland and, er, The Wolfman.

But it was the year of Twitter at the Oscars ceremony with James Franco tweeting live on and off stage, but the story of the night? The director of upcoming sci-fi mindbender Looper Rian Johnson who seems to have actually created the time-travel tech from the flick, predicting every award correctly before blowing it at the final hurdle:

@rcjohnso OK ACADEMY DON’T LET ME DOWN NOW – THE ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST PICTURE WILL OBVIOUSLY GO TO…

@rcjohnso SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!

Snarf. There was also a treat for Chuck fans with Zach Levi singing live on stage with his Tangled co-star Mandy Moore. Sadly there were no Subway sandwiches in sight but it did prompt an intriguing thought-bubble from the Whedonverse’s Maurissa Tancharoen that we could get behind:

@MoTancharoen Where the hell have I been? I didn’t know @zacharylevi could sing. Maybe he could be in the next @DrHorrible…

Finally a piece of advice: if you weren’t following comedian and Dollhouse/Caprica star Patton Oswalt, make sure you do next year, trust us.

@pattonoswalt Wait – does this mean Batman has a tugboat captain’s beard in the 3rd movie? #Oscars

The SFX Twitter Stream

@bengcotton Aaaaand that’s a wrap on BSG! Wow.. What a ride… …………………………………………………………………….

@elizadushku Toolbox: RT @PiersMorgan And I think you just banned yourself from my show, congrats RT @elizadushku I think Piers Morgan is a tool.

@BRIANMBENDIS Powers pilot was just greenlit by FX! it’s official! your window of reading Powers while it was still cool is running out :)

@KTANCH Guess who we’re filming today. #mortalkombat. http://moby.to/gz5ffo …………………………………………………………………….

@Jon_Favreau #FollowFriday @DamonLindelof for telling me all about his script for Prometheus. Can’t say anything, but I’m buying a ticket.

@TheRealNimoy Coming to Fringe. William’s bell rings soon. LLAP …………………………………………………………………….

@NathanFillion A Browncoat? http://yfrog.com/h0vajguj …………………………………………………………………….

@murraygold Aw…Nick Courtney is trending worldwide. Feel the love. RIP #doctorwho …………………………………………………………………….

@Markgatiss Desperately sad to hear that Nicholas Courtney has passed away. A childhood hero and the sweetest of gentlemen. Splendid chap. All of him. x

@JewelStaite Is the pope catholic? RT: @Taxicr: Any comment on the group organized to get @NathanFillion the rights to Firefly? Would u be on board?

@radiomaru in honor of today, here’s an old convention sketch of Scott Pilgrim as Link and Ramona as Zelda http://flic.kr/p/4XVky6

More tweets…

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The nominations list has been announced for the annual Saturn Awards (they’ve been running since ’72 – you know, when things had to be really sci-fi or fantasy to get a mention in these awards… Dexter? Weeds? Oh well). The awards ceremony will take place in June. And how come no mention of anyone from True Blood in the best supporting characters category? Lafayette? Jessica? Eric? Come on…! Still, some interesting choices here, especially a well deserved and unexpected nod for the music in The Complete Metropolis.

Films:

Best Science Fiction Film

Hereafter (Warner Bros.)
Inception (Warner Bros.)
Iron Man 2 (Paramount/Marvel)
Never Let Me Go (Fox Searchlight)
Splice (Warner Bros.)
Tron: Legacy (Walt Disney Studios)

Best Fantasy Film

Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney Studios)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (20th Century Fox)
Clash of the Titans (Warner Bros.)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Warner Bros.)
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Universal)
Twilight: Eclipse (Summit Entertainment)

Best Horror/Thriller Film

The American (Focus)
Black Swan (Fox Searchlight)
Kick-Ass (Lionsgate)
Let Me In (Overture/Relativity Media)
Shutter Island (Paramount)
The Wolf Man (Universal)

Best Action/Adventure Film

The Expendables (Lionsgate)
The Green Hornet (Sony)
Red (Summit Entertainment)
Robin Hood (Universal)
Salt (Sony)
True Grit (Paramount)
Unstoppable (20th Century Fox)

Best Actor

Jeff Bridges (Tron: Legacy) (Walt Disney Studios)
George Clooney (The American) (Focus)
Leonardo DiCaprio (Inception) (Warner Bros.)
Leonardo DiCaprio (Shutter Island) (Paramount)
Robert Downey, Jr. (Iron Man 2) (Paramount/Marvel)
Ryan Reynolds (Buried) (Lionsgate)

Best Actress

Cecile De France (Hereafter) (Warner Bros.)
Angelina Jolie (Salt) (Sony)
Carey Mulligan (Never Let Me Go) (Fox Searchlight)
Ellen Page (Inception) (Warner Bros.)
Natalie Portman (Black Swan) (Fox Searchlight)
Noomi Rapace (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) (Music Box Films)

Best Supporting Actor

Christian Bale (The Fighter) (Paramount)
Andrew Garfield (Never Let Me Go) (Fox Searchlight)
Tom Hardy (Inception) (Warner Bros.)
Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy) (Walt Disney Studios)
John Malkovich (Red) (Summit Entertainment)
Mark Ruffalo (Shutter Island) (Paramount)

Best Supporting Actress

Scarlett Johansson (Iron Man 2) (Paramount)
Keira Knightley (Never Let Me Go) (Fox Searchlight)
Mila Kunis (Black Swan) (Fox Searchlight)
Helen Mirren (Red) (Summit Entertainment)
Vanessa Redgrave (Letters to Juliet) (Summit Entertainment)
Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom) (Sony Pictures Classics)

Best Performance by a Younger Actor

Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief) (20th Century Fox)
Frankie/George McLaren (Hereafter) (Warner Bros.)
Kodi Smit McPhee (Let Me In) (Overture/Relativity Media)
Chloe Grace Moretz (Let Me In) (Overture/Relativity Media)
Will Poulter (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader) (20th Century Fox)
Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) (Paramount)
Charlie Tahan (Charlie St. Cloud) (Universal)

Best Director

Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) (Fox Searchlight)
Clint Eastwood (Hereafter) (Warner Bros.)
Christopher Nolan (Inception) (Warner Bros.)
Matt Reeves (Let Me In) (Overture/Relativity Media)
Martin Scorsese (Shutter Island) (Paramount)
David Yates (Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows: Part 1) (Warner Bros.)

Best Writing

Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3) (Walt Disney Studios/Pixar)
Alex Garland (Never Let Me Go) (Fox Searchlight)
Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz, John McLaughlin (Black Swan) (Fox Searchlight)
Peter Morgan (Hereafter) (Warner Bros.)
Christopher Nolan (Inception) (Warner Bros.)
Matt Reeves (Let Me In) (Overture/Relativity Media)

Best Music

Daft Punk (Tron: Legacy) (Walt Disney Studios)
Clint Eastwood (Hereafter) (Warner Bros.)
Michael Giacchino (Let Me In) (Overture/Relativity Media)
Gottfried Huppertz (as conducted by Frank Strobel) (The Complete Metropolis) (Kino Lorber)
John Powell (How to Train Your Dragon) (Paramount/DWA)
Hans Zimmer (Inception) (Warner Bros.)

Best Costume

Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney Studios)
The Wolf Man (Universal)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (20th Century Fox)
Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Warner Bros.)
Tron: Legacy (Walt Disney Studios)
Robin Hood (Universal)

Best Make-Up

Splice (Warner Bros.)
Repo Men (Universal)
Let Me In (Overture/Relativity Media)
Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Warner Bros.)
The Wolf Man (Universal)
Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney Studios)

Best Production Design

How to Train Your Dragon (Paramount/DWA)
Shutter Island (Paramount)
Tron: Legacy (Walt Disney Studios)
The Wolf Man (Universal)
Inception (Warner Bros.)
Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney Studios)

Best Special Effects

Tron: Legacy (Walt Disney Studios)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (20th Century Fox)
Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Warner Bros.)
Inception (Warner Bros.)
Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney Studios)
Iron Man 2 (Paramount/Marvel)

Best International Film

The Complete Metropolis (Kino Lorber)
Centurion (Magnolia Pictures)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Music Box Films)
Monsters (Magnolia Pictures)
Mother (Magnolia Pictures)
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (Oscilloscope Laboratories)

Best Animated Film

Despicable Me (Universal)
How to Train Your Dragon (Paramount/DWA)
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (Warner Bros.)
Shrek Forever After (Paramount/DWA)
Tangled (Walt Disney Studios)
Toy Story 3 (Walt Disney Studios/Pixar)

TELEVISION

Best Network Series:

Fringe (Fox)
Lost (ABC)
Smallville (CW)
Supernatural (CW)
V (ABC)
The Vampire Diaries (CW)

Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series:

Breaking Bad (AMC)
The Closer (TNT)
Dexter (Showtime)
Eureka (SyFy)
Leverage (TNT)
Spartacus: Blood and Sand (Starz)
True Blood (HBO)

Best Television Presentation:

Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol (BBC America)
Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special (NBC)
The Pillars of the Earth (Starz)
Sherlock (PBS)
Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (Starz)
The Walking Dead (AMC)

Best Actor in Television:

Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) (AMC)
Matthew Fox (Lost) (ABC)
Michael C. Hall (Dexter) (Showtime)
Timothy Hutton (Leverage) (TNT)
Andrew Lincoln (The Walking Dead) (AMC)
Stephen Moyer (True Blood) (HBO)

Best Actress in Television:

Sarah Wayne Callies (The Walking Dead) (AMC)
Erica Durance (Smallville) (CW)
Elizabeth Mitchell (V) (ABC)
Anna Paquin (True Blood) (HBO)
Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) (TNT)
Anna Torv (Fringe) (Fox)

Best Supporting Actor in Television:

Michael Emerson (Lost) (ABC)
John Noble (Fringe) (Fox)
Dean Norris (Breaking Bad) (AMC)
Terry O’Quinn (Lost) (ABC)
Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) (AMC)
Lance Reddick (Fringe) (Fox)
Steven Yeun (The Walking Dead) (AMC)

Best Supporting Actress in Television:

Morena Baccarin (V) (ABC)
Gina Bellman (Leverage) (TNT)
Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter) (Showtime)
Laurie Holden (The Walking Dead) (AMC)
Lucy Lawless (Spartacus: Blood and Sand) (Starz)
Beth Riesgraf (Leverage) (TNT)

Best Guest Starring Role in Television:

Richard Dreyfuss (Weeds) (Showtime)
Noah Emmerich (The Walking Dead) (AMC)
Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad) (AMC)
Joe Manganiello (True Blood) (HBO)
John Terry (Lost) (ABC)
Seth Gabel (Fringe) (Fox)

MOST DISAPPOINTING MISDIRECTION OF THE WEEK
For a moment during the latest episode of No Ordinary Family we were convinced that Natalie has a very good reason for not wanting to date chipmunk-in-a-Bieber-wig, JJ. There they are, having a chat in a cafe and she says…

“You have been adorably persistent,” she tells JJ, “but you and me getting back together it’s…” Then she’s distracted by something.

“…Impossible?” prompts JJ through the nuts hidden in his cheeks. But Natalie appears to be ogling the waitress.

“What’s wrong?” asks JJ, as the camera gives us a loving shot from Natalie’s POV, peering straight down the waitress’s cleavage. “Oh my God!” thinks the audience, “Natalie’s a lesbian. That’s a bit daring for No Ordinary Family!”

“The locket!” gasps Natalie. “The LOCKET?!” groans the audience. “So much for the show actually doing something interesting for a change…”

DISCO DANCING OF THE WEEK

Outcasts’ Cass takes time out from rescuing a mate during a “whiteout” storm to strut his stuff and trip the light fantastic. That man is on fire.

PHILOSOPHER OF THE WEEK

Joint winners here. First we have the ever quipsome Damon Salvatore with, “There’s no such thing as a bad idea. Just poorly executed awesome ones.” And secondly, from the latest Jasper Fforde Thursday Next book One Of Our Thursdays Is Missing (the review copy came into the office this week): “For every expert opinion, there is an equal and opposite expert opinion.” (See “REVIEW OF THE WEEK” on the next page.)

SORRY, WE’RE NOT BUYING THAT OF THE WEEK

The Doctor Who Experience exhibition that’s just about to open at Olympia 2 in London is fab (especially the 3D flight through the time vortex with a Dalek sticking its plunger right out of the screen at you), but while the Doctor might “love a little shop” he might have something to say about the labels, “Great DVD OFFERS!” and “Planet Of Evil £24.42” sitting next to each other.

WEIRDEST RHINO-RELATED SCAVENGER HUNT OF THE WEEK

Anyone who follows Misha Collins on Twitter will already know that before Christmas he encouraged his 119,000 followers to vote in a poll for TV Guide to put Supernatural on their front cover. They did (ironically, Collins wasn’t included in the shot, although given how Ackles and Padalecki were so heavily Photoshopped that they looked like plastic dolls, that’s probably a blessing).

As a reward, Collins promised to send his followers pieces of a rhino – and he delivered (click on the image above for a larger, more readable version). He also launched a scavenger hunt, with a list of tasks for his rhino teams to perform that reads like… well, see for yourself below.

What we can’t understand is how sending him a photo of your parking tickets is worth more points than proof of the existence of life after death. Then again, that’s Misha Collins for you. His logic is not like our Earth logic…

MASTER LIST OF SCAVENGER ITEMS:
1. A photo of a person holding an authentic rhino puzzle piece standing near (or far) from an actual rhinoceros (or reasonable facsimile of a rhinoceros) – 9 points
2. A photo of a person holding an authentic rhino puzzle piece with any President, Prime Minister or Supreme Ruler – 8 points
3. A photo of a person holding an authentic rhino puzzle piece with Jim Beaver in which both the person holding an authentic rhino puzzle piece and Jim Beaver have cigars in their mouths – 14 points
4. A photo of a person holding an authentic rhino puzzle piece standing next to fully decorated as a Christmas tree – 13 points
5. A photo or video of a person holding an authentic rhino puzzle piece dancing the hora and lighting a menorah – 16 points
6. A photo of a person holding an authentic rhino puzzle piece, sitting next to a lime jello mold with a piece of the Berlin wall suspended in it – 19 points
7. A video of a person holding an authentic rhino puzzle piece(s) setting up a tent on a traffic island (must also unroll a sleeping bag and get in it and zip the tent shut) – 15 points
8. A photo of a person holding an authentic rhino puzzle piece and 3 parking tickets made out to the same license plate number – 17 points
9. A video of a live mouse or gerbil and an authentic rhino puzzle piece in a Barbie’s dream house – 9 points
10. A video of a 5 year old child (or younger) playing any song by the Sex Pistols on a saxophone – 17 points
11. A video of a person holding an authentic rhino puzzle piece singing an original song of 43 seconds in duration – 7.5 points
12. A photo of a cockroach on a croissant with the Eiffel Tower in the background – 19 points
13. A video of a person holding an authentic rhino puzzle piece bestowing an act of random kindness for a complete stranger – 30 points
14. A video of a person holding an authentic rhino puzzle piece(s) projecting an image at least 20 feet wide of the attached photo on an exterior wall of a federal government building at night – 30 points
15. A photo of a child swimming/bathing in a tub full of cranberries – 22 points
16. A photo of a man standing next to a sheep. The sheep must have a German flag draped over it’s back – 26 points
17. A photo of a skateboarder wearing a wig in front of Buckingham Palace – 21 points
18. Written or photographic proof of the existence of life after death – 16 points
19. A photo of a person holding an authentic rhino puzzle piece in a Russian MIG fighter jet (any class of MIG will suffice) – 31 points
20. A photo of a person holding an authentic rhino puzzle piece while being carried by a firefighter in front of a fire truck – 11 points
21. A photo of a person holding an authentic rhino puzzle piece in a small, motor-less watercraft on the Yangtze River – 27 points
22. A photo of a person holding an authentic rhino puzzle piece with me while I’m wearing a single glittering, fingerless glove – 33 points

More Spurious Awards (and rhinos) on the next page

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LANCE CORPORAL JONES MOMENT OF THE WEEK

Anybody else have visions of Clive Dunn running around the set of Dad’s Army shouting, “Don’t panic! Don’t panic!” during this week’s episode of V when the suicide bomber revealed himself? It has to rate as the funniest moment of mass hysteria on TV for a long while, as at least six people actually ran towards the guy – like that’s the reflex reaction in that kind of situation – while everyone else seemed to be playing a game of “who can do the best headless chicken impression?” To be fair, V has definitely livened up this season and there is one other Spurious Award we’d like to give it, but as it’s a bit spoilery, only those of you who’ve seen the episode, or couldn’t give a damn, should click here…

UNEXPECTED GUEST STAR OF THE WEEK

Message to the directors on new superhero caper, The Cape: if you’re going to spend lots of dosh on some swish aerial shots to use as stock footage, it’s probably best not the lest the sun get behind the helicopter.

INSURANCE PAY-OUT OF THE WEEK

We need the number of George’s insurance company in No Ordinary Family. He has all the equipment nicked from his lair in the garage. But no hassle. He’s covered: third party, fire and theft. But while the original lair looked like a ramshackle recording studio, somehow George manages to convince his insurers to fork out for mission control at Huston. Hell, if you want your TV set upgrading give Sucker & Gullible Assurance a call, then leave your front door open.

STRANGEST ITEM FOUND HANGING ON A WASHING LINE OF THE WEEK

The lassoing scene in last Saturday’s Primeval had to be a homage to The Valley Of Gwangi, surely? But the scene with the treecreeper leaping up the side of tower block looked more like a homage to ’60s Spider-Man cartoons.

MAGAZINE COVER OF THE WEEK/AMBULANCE CHASERS OF THE WEEK
The cover of the latest issue of The New Yorker magazine amused us here on SFX. It lampoons the whole Spider-Man Broadway stage show debacle, where various actors have been getting injured by the show’s complicated stunts on a regular basis. The most high profile calamity so far involved stunt actor Christopher Tierney, 32, falling 30 feet and suffering a hairline skull fracture, four broken ribs, a bruised lung, internal bleeding and cracked three vertebrae.

But the feature inside was even more of an eye-opener, revealing that there may be a rather macabre factor behind its box office success (last week, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark was the number one ticket seller on Broadway, surpassing the Wicked with $1,588,514 in sales). It’s certainly not the reviews, which have generally been very poor. “[Are] people paying to see calamity?” ponders the article’s writer Michael Schulman, before going on to explain that several theatregoers he spoke to said that they were going to previews of the $65 million show in the hope of seeing yet another accident take place.

TRIUMPH OVER ADVERSITY OF THE WEEK
Proving that some people can create genius even with the most limited of tools, here’s an oddly appealing version of the Doctor Who theme tune that a certain Chris Harwick has generated using Mario Paint. It’s undeniably better than the elastic-band twanging version the show used during the “Trial Of A Time Lord” series.

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More Spurious Awards on the next page…

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Is real life reflecting sci-fi, or is sci-fi reflecting real life? Whatever the answer, we’ve spotted some major-league weirdness over the last month and thought we’d share our worries with you. Could these be prophetic signs that the Mayans were right and we’re facing the end of all things soon? Judge for yourself…

1 The Numbers From Lost Came Up!

As anyone who watched Lost can tell you, the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42 are cursed. CURSED, WE SAY! But that hasn’t stopped thousands of people around the world using those numbers in their local lotteries, on the off-chance that a series of digits made up for a telly show have some sort of special significance.

Well, it turns out that perhaps they have. Last week over 26,000 players in America’s Mega Millions lottery won $150 apiece after the numbers 4, 8, 15, 25, 47 and 42 came up – four out of six is pretty damn close, if you ask us.

However, were they jinxed? “When will you people learn? The numbers are bad!” Jorge Garcia, aka Hurley, wrote on his blog. And so, while we wait for tales of winners taking plane rides and disappearing off the face of the Earth, we’ll point out that yes, actually those numbers weren’t a good thing – because if so many Lost fans hadn’t been playing them, the winners would have pocketed a hell of a lot more dosh without having to share it around. CURSED, WE SAY!

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BBC memos reveal Hyperdrive was actually commissioned as a comedy series. #SFwikileaks

Leaked email reveals Simon Pegg owns world’s largest private collection of Jar Jar Binks merchandise. #SFwikileaks

Russell T Davies actually married with three kids, long-term subscriber to Nuts. #SFwikileaks

Mary Whitehouse is still alive and working in the States under the pseudonym Alan Ball. #SFwikileaks

Warner Bros execs “won’t work with men with ginger beards” because “they’re mentally unstable – just look at Van Gogh”. #SFwikileaks

All Steven Moffat’s scripts actually ghost-written by Pip & Jane Baker, who are imprisoned in his cellar. #SFwikileaks

William Shatner’s hair is 100% real, but the rest of him is plastic. #SFwikileaks

Latvarian ambassador calls Doctor Doom “impossible to work with”, “rubbish at keeping appointments” and “very well oiled, most of the time”. #SFwikileaks

Warehouse 13 staff slam Torchwood security as shoddy, unprofessional and slack. #SFwikileaks

Torchwood boss calls Warehouse 13 staff “horny… especially the tubby one. It’s great to have something to hang on to.” #SFwikileaks

Babylon 5 boss attempted to sue New Line claiming The Lord Of The Rings trilogy “ripped off all my ideas”. #SFwikileaks

George Lucas never existed until he was edited into the documentaries on the special edition DVD releases of Star Wars. He is, in fact, a CG character while the original creator of Star Wars, Wilfred Dillpickle III, has been airbrushed from history. #SFwikileaks

Alan Moore loves all the film versions of his comics and is paid by Hollywood to moan about them to create publicity. #SFwikileaks

Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse didn’t understand the ending of Lost. #SFwikileaks

Iain Banks and Iain M Banks are identical clones. #SFwikileaks

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry found in breach of more than 100 health and safety regulations, faces imminent closure. #SFwikileaks

K9 prop found to contain an arthritic terrier, imprisoned since 1977. #SFwikileaks

Report shows that Christopher Eccleston quit Doctor Who because of “too many softy Southerners”. #SFwikileaks

Twilight created by US government social engineers to cut down on teenage pregnancy. #SFwikileaks

Syfy bosses had secret plan to eliminate all sci-fi from Syfy. #SFwikileaks

All the cast and crew on Chuck have been on the payroll of Subway since series two. #SFwikileaks

Peter Jackson secretly bought New Zealand in 2006. The whole actors’ strike thing was an elaborate tax dodge. #SFwikileaks

Disney were planning a Tron prequel to be set inside an abacus. #SFwikileaks

BBC scrapped plans for a special Colin Baker section of the Doctor Who Experience where punters would face public humiliation before being unceremoniously booted out of the back door. #SFwikileaks

Emails from the BBC to Merlin producers reveal quotas for innuendo, topless shots and episodes featuring CG comedy characters. #SFwikileaks

Danny Elfman admits in letter to Hans Zimmer, “I’ve been using the same score on every film I’ve ever done with Tim; I suggest you do the same with Chris.” #SFwikileaks

Have you uncovered any more sci-fi secrets? Let us know!

Skiffyleaks uncovered by Ian Berriman, John Cooper, Dave Golder and Will Salmon

FRINGE

The Twin Dilemma

“There’s More Than One Of Everything” is the title of Fringe’s first season finale and boy, ain’t that the truth. The show that spent most of its premiere year trying to either out-gross The X-Files or dazzle us with science had also been sowing seeds along the way, letting us know that somewhere out there was another universe that kept intersecting with ours, but it wasn’t until the final few moments of this episode that we finally got to see what all the fuss was about.

This spectacular pan-out from one of the windows of the still-standing World Trade Center, bathed in JJ Abrams’ now trademark lens flare, is every inch what sci-fi is made of: impossible, beautiful and thought-provoking. It also signalled a brave new change of direction for the show, bringing Earth’s parallel twin even closer and paving the way for season three’s jaw-dropping, weekly world-swapping masterpiece.

Watch it here.

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First Pics Of The New Gwen Stacy

SuperheroHype has a bunch of images of Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy filming in Los Angeles for the new Spider-Man movie. Click on the image or the link to go to the gallery.

Walking Dead & Lost Up For Writers Guild Of America Awards
The nominations for this year’s WGA (Writers’ Guild Of America) Awards have been announced and The Walking Dead and Lost both receive nods. The zombie series is in the Best New Series category (where it’s up against Boardwalk Empire, Justified, Men Of A Certain Age and Treme) while Lost’s finale proves that somebody loved it: “The End” is nominated in the Episodic Drama category, alongside episodes of The Good Wife, Mad Men, House and Breaking Bad.

Muppets on The Move
According to The Hollywood Reporter Disney has been shuffling its release schedules around and The Muppets Movie has moved from Christmas to Thanksgiving 2011. Now shooting in Los Angeles, Muppets was written by Segel and Nicholas Stoller and is directed by James Bobin.

Wonder Woman TV Show Not Imminent
It seems that Ally McBeal mastermind David E Kelley’s much reported TV revamp of Wonder Woman may be quite a while off, if it happens at all. The respected TV producer tells Zap2It, “There’s no real deal in place yet, but yeah, my intent is to take a stab at it. I’ve been working on it between scripts for Harry’s Law. It’s a very, very different genre for me, a very tricky beast. I won’t know whether I’ve cracked it or not until I’ve finished it, but it’s going… I’m at the point where I’m trying to figure out if I can make the franchise work for me… If I can’t, I don’t want to delude Warner Bros or anybody else that I should be doing it. The way I’ve always worked has been to write a script and discover, in the process of the writing, if it’s a fertile and creative place where I want to live. If I feel I can make the characters my own and it’s a world rich enough for me to revisit, that’s a good sign to me that it’s a series worth doing.”

Fringe’s Sly Nod To Joss Whedon?
It could be a coincidence, but somehow we doubt it. In the States Fringe, as you may well know, is moving to a Friday night time slot on Fox from January. This normally wouldn’t be newsworthy for us lot on this side of the Atlantic, but in this case it is. Because that time slot on Fox is known as the death slot; it’s the place ion the schedule that killed off Joss Whedon’s Firefly and Dollhouse. So, you’ll never guess what the first episode of Fringe going out in that new time slot is called: “Firefly”.

For a while it’s been bugging me why I have problems totally embracing The Vampire Diaries. Well, apart from the fact I’m an decrepit old hack and the show is clearly aimed at teen girls, so, yeah, I’m not exactly the target demographic.

On the other hand, I like to think I’m a professional. There are loads of things I have to review which aren’t aimed at me but I can put personal afflictions (like age and gender) aside and consider them in context (though I’ve never quite worked out in what context you’re supposed to watch No Ordinary Family – a vegetative state, perhaps?). And on lots of levels, The Vampires Diaries succeeds admirably in not being just a TV Twilight. The dialogue is snappy, the acting’s great, Damon is a wonderfully watchable character, Elena has more character in her left earlobe than Bella has at all, the action’s good, the scares are decent enough for mainstream TV.

But something just didn’t ever quite gel for me. At first I thought it was the dull secondary characters like Caroline and Tyler. But then the show did a Jessica on Caroline and made Tyler a werewolf, and they’re infinitely more interesting. It could have been the constant emo music wailing away in the background, but to be honest, that’s just a minor irritation (and at least they haven’t had Hallelujah yet – great song, but god, I’m heartily sick of hearing it trying to beef up insipid emotional scenes in US dramas).

Then it suddenly struck me.

There’s no monster of the week.

Which is odd, because these days the phrase, “monster of the week” is used in a derogatory sense. “Monster of the week” shows are old-fashioned, episodic dinosaurs, made obsolete by the evolution of the arc-plot, right?

Well, no. That’s a vast oversimplification. There’s still a lot of value to “the monster of the week”, though maybe we shouldn’t get hung up on the word monsters. Let’s include “mission of the week” and “freak of the week” in this argument as well. Hell, just anything “of week”.

The Vampire Diaries desperately needs “something of the week” and this became painfully obvious recently when (spoiler alert for people not up to date with the ITV2 airing) the Katherine plot came to a mid-season head. A fine episode it was too. But in the same episode, mere minutes after Katherine has been plonked in the tomb, Elena is kidnapped and next episode we’re onto the whole next level of vampire evilness.

I’m like… woah! Hang on! Give me a chance to catch breath!

The show is in serious danger of giving you revelation fatigue. It’s just revelation after revelation as one more powerful evil succeeds another.

And the reason the show has to do this is because there’s no “…of the week”. If there had been, the entire Katherine plot could have been spread out over a season. That’s why Buffy worked so well. Whedon and co could pace the major, gamechanging plotbombs throughout a season. Episodes didn’t have to be about those revelations; the revelations were almost part of an ongoing counterpoint to the A-plot “monster of the week” shenanigans.

If Buffy had been all about the vampire soap – like The Vampire Diaries – with no “monster of the week” The Master would have been dead by episode four, Angel would have become Angelus by the end of season one, Mayor Wilkins would have been dead by early season two, etc, etc. We’d be at the Army of Potentials versus the First Evil and Reverend Tightpants by the start of season four.

And that’s a worry for The Vampire Diaries. If it keeps going at the rate it’s going, with no “…of the week” episode to pace things out, it could face burn out. How long can things keep escalating? Even if they’d had a couple of episodes concentrating on Bonnie’s developing witchiness or exploring Tyler’s newfound lycanthropy between Katherine being entombed and Elena getting kidnapped, that may have helped the pacing. But the show seems in an indecent haste to get to the next level all the time. It doesn’t have to be that way.

I’d also argue that the lack of an “…of the week” has been the downfall of FlashForward and will have a similar effect on The Event (which is losing viewers fast). Although it’s easy to call them Lost wannabes, the reason why Lost had more legs was that it did have an “…of the week” format – “flashback of the week” (or “flashforward of the week” or “flashsideways of the week” or whatever). Interestingly, the less episodic and the more serialised Lost became, the less interested the general audience became.

For some reason it seems that while soaps thrive on the serialised format, sci-fi and fantasy struggles. Maybe it’s because soap deals almost exclusively with relationships, while genre TV deals with relationships and high concepts. And high concepts are more difficult to serialise as they’re just so damned abstract.

Telefantasy and serialisation shouldn’t be an impossible combination, but it is a definitely a difficult feat to pull off. Maybe The Vampire Diaries will prove me wrong and last for another six seasons. But for the moment, I’m seriously wishing I didn’t have to review it so I could have a revelation holiday…

@OldRoberts953 Old Roberts' Advent Calendar DAY 4: Unused photo from TIME AND THE RANI. This is genuine!

One of the best/potentially life destroying things about Twitter is the ability to upload pictures instantly, whether random iPhone pap shot or a classic image from the archive. The virtues of both were displayed admirably this week by Who scribe Gareth Roberts with his somewhat suspect Advent treat (see above) and Simon Pegg who’s been hanging round with Starfleet chum Chris Pine while in Canada. 140 characters? Who needs ‘em when a picture speaks a thousand words?

@simonpegg Bumped into an old Starfleet buddy tonight. Good times …

@TheRealNimoy Leonard Nimoy Hard at work !! LLAP

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The SFX Twitter Stream

@EmilyroseLA Visited #haven 2day, meet new writers joining us! & this is a peak of what their coming up w/ zoom in if you can http://plixi.com/p/60595982

@JewelStaite Went thru our storage locker. Found my “Serenity” memento box w/script, set chair back, and a drawing of a middle finger from Nathan. Sigh.

@edgarwright Lying on the couch watching the extras from the Alien Bluray boxset. #whatsyourperfectsunday?        x

@bonniegrrl Thinking of designing a TARDIS corset. Or perhaps a Kraken bra. Smartass comments in 3…2….1. #DoctorWho

@theThomasDekker I’ve never watched Psych, but I had to watch their recent Twin Peaks themed episode. Oh. My. God. As such a TP fan, it is EPIC!!

@CarltonCuse Dreamt about Nikki and Paulo last night. Threw away all of my Four Loko this morning.                                    x

@GeoffJohns0 It’s Friday! Which means I’ll be working on my #Smallville episode this weekend — it’s episode 17 and it’s titled “BOOSTER” :)

@jock4twenty Olivia Thirlby looks fantastic as Judge Anderson in DREDD… very pleased                                                                   x

@EddieMcClintock Discovered the secret to a successful Creature Feature! …ambient smoke. …TONS of it!! :) #Syfy

@JaneEspenson Ep 5, page 49. JACK: “I need to talk to you.” RT @adrievdm can you be a right tease and give us a one line sentence from jack or gwen?

Just got back home from a notes session with Russell T. Davies on Torchwood:TNW hour five. I love notes that make it better!

Continue for a look at @Nathanfillion’s Christmas tree and some touching tributes to Irvin Kershner.