Move over big, burly tough guys. You’re being replaced by “skinny, awkward, and studious looking” A-listers — the next generation of action heroes, according to the UK’s Telegraph. Citing up-and-comers Shia LaBeouf (Transformers, and of course the new Indiana Jones) and Emile Hirsch (Speed Racer), the Telegraph says younger actors appeal to a younger audience, especially now that “the geek is god in Hollywood.”
Indeed, the Telegraph speculates that the action genre is changing as well. “Who would think of Robert Downey, Jr. as a superhero? Where did that come from?” tony Angellotti, a veteran publicist, asked the Telegraph.
Why Geeks Are The New Action Heroes [Telegraph.co.uk]
Whether you love or hate the voice of Sendhil Ramamurthy — the actor who plays Mohinder and laid down the introductory voice-over throughout the first two season of Heroes — you may hear a new voice in season three: that of “an Australian Aboriginal actor in his fifties.” BuddyTV reported last week that series creator Tim Kring is said to be seeking such an actor “to appear in multiple episodes as a storyteller with great wisdom and a soft, soothing voice.”
BuddyTV also floated rumors that NBC may bless the third installment of Heroes with upwards of thirty episodes. One thing’s certain, though: Heroes will return September 15th.
Two weeks of new BSG material in a row feels like Christmas, doesn’t it? We jump head-first into the issues of this week’s episode Six of One. Highlights: we discuss the “it happened before, it’ll happen again” concept in terms of Cylons and “humanity’s grandchildren,” note Simon’s role as “the most underutilized Cylon,” rejoice over the Centurions’ “gift of reason,” question Tigh’s “send the woman” plan, realize that Baltar really is good with women, and laugh it up over the grand poo barge.
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For those of you watching BSG via SciFi or Hulu’s streaming offerings, here’s the trailer for next week’s episode Ties That Bind that aired on SciFi following this week’s episode.
(Thanks, Lucky!)
Here’s the new weekly presidential approval poll. Remember — even if you voted last week, you’ll want to vote again on this poll as this is a weekly feature and the results will vary from week to week. Let your opinion be heard (for free)!
- Approve 51 (22%)
- Disapprove 156 (67%)
- Unsure 26 (11%)
Total Votes: 233
It’s Friday night during Galactica season, which means new BSG and frak parties galore. To avoid spoilers, be sure to choose the correct frak party for your viewing time zone:
- Here’s the party for those of you who’ve already watched the show via SciFi’s noontime stream. The discussion is raging as it’s a hell of an episode.
- Here’s the party for everyone watching the show at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT tonight. The thread’s open, so feel free to get in the mood there (sans spoilers, of course).
- And here’s the party for those of you out on the West coast catching the PT broadcast.
And, of course, you’ve still got a little bit to slip in a last-minute call under the wire for tonight’s podcast by calling us at 214-296-9229. See you on the parties tonight!
Crown, a unit of Random House, paid a reported $3 million up front for a forthcoming “alternate history trilogy” to be authored by Heroes creator Tim Kring and writing partner Dale Peck. The New York Observer reports that an “industry source” told them “the book is set in America and runs from the 1960s to the near future. The protagonist is a man named Chandler Forrest whose participation in LSD experiences administered by the CIA has given him superpowers.”
It seems Crown bought the trilogy based solely upon a 25-page treatment and “what was described as a video trailer that editors had to log on to a web site to see.”
(Thanks to drustar for the great CC-licensed photo.)
Tim Kring/Dale Peck Trilogy Sold To Crown For $3 Million [NY Observer]
Following in the wake of Star Wars Galaxies and a supposedly-coming-soon Star Trek MMO comes Auran Games’ announcement of a BSG MMO which will take place during the first Cylon War. Sleuth site MMOCrunch says Sierra Online will publish, though no dates have been set.
One bit of bad news: you’ll only be able to play as human. No Cylons for you!
Battlestar Galactica MMO Announced [MMOCrunch]
We’re still in a holding pattern waiting for new Heroes episodes come September, but in the meantime NBC has greenlit additional weekly webcomics to help fill in some of the infamous “Company’s” back story. The new comics will debut each Tuesday, starting April 15th, on NBC.com.
Series writer Chuck Kim, who also wrote the story arc for these latest comics, told Entertainment Weekly, “We’re basically focusing on a group of agents within the Company. We’ll be touching on HRG [Noah Bennett]. The story will start right about the end of season two.” He goes on to say that the story will include Bob, Elle, and The Haitian, as well as introduce new Company characters. Some of the new characters may turn up in new episodes, like Hana, who made a very brief appearance in season two.
And if you haven’t yet read the Heroes webcomic, jump right over via the link below and start at the beginning where 80 comics await to help plug the gaps between season one and two episodes and expand the Heroes universe.
Heroes WebComics [NBC]
‘Heroes:’ Exclusive Peek At New WebComic [EW.com] [via]
The Enterprise’s mission was to “seek out new life.” Greg of BarBlog.co.uk’s mission is simpler: to visit and rate every pub, club, and bar in the UK. Today he took a little time out, though, to rate a more far-out bar: Quark’s watering hole from Star Trek: Deep Space 9. What’s this experienced expert’s take?
“Overall quite a pushy venue, almost more of a sales house than the most popular bar on the outskirts of civilisation. People are obviously in dire need of a drink and Quark should stop trying to sell him punters rare Cardassian jewelery while they slurp drinks through nostrils in the back of their heads — 5/10.”
Who am I to argue with a man who’s drank in more bars than I’ve likely ever seen? Check out the rest of his site for Greg’s run-down of bars all over the world. In the meantime, we’ll be at the Irish Rover Pub in Frisco, TX tonight doing some of our own research if you’d like to join us. Here’s the meetup thread from the forum.
Quark’s Bar [BarBlog.co.uk]
We’re receiving (and seeing) so many great BSG theories that I thought we’d just round ‘em up for you in one big post. Here’s this week’s crop:
- GWCers picked up on the fact that Tigh shot Adama in his right eye — the same one Tigh sacrificed during the New Caprica occupation — and series writer David Weddle later commented that this is, indeed, significant. Since then, GWCers have torn apart the scene in slow motion and discovered that a) the hole looks a little like the mandala that received so much attention in the end of season three, and b) numerous characters throughout mythology are missing an eye. Check out this thread on the forum for the gory details.
- Also on Weddle’s tip, GWCers have hyper-analyzed the now-infamous Last Supper photo, and found a few tidbits. And now everyone’s cross-eyed.
- Listener “Lord Ray” emailed us to suggest that the show isn’t a re-make, it’s a sequel, basing this on the concept that the original show’s colonial decedents “put a trace in the Cylon operating system that overruns their programming. Some humans were born Cylons. Genetic manipulation from the Bright and Shinies has led to four humans being born as Cylons. The Toasters couldn\’t managed to do this on their own. The best they could do was Hera. This is why none of them were able to see the final five.”
- Listener “Dale” says, “Is it possible that Virgil’s Aeneid plays in this somewhere? IN both the Illiad and the Aeneid, the gods mingle with the mortals just like BSG. On a connected note, I think that Gaeta was the wetnurse to Aeneas. Perhaps Gaeta is the last Cylon, quietly helping certain people when they need him, quietly guiding the fleet.”
- GWCer “RGS” thinks the final Cylon might have known that he or she is a Cylon all along, suggesting that maybe the final four/five aren’t more complex than the rest, but rather older and simpler and that the Cylons cut and run reaction in last week’s episode is more pre-programmed than thought out. He offers more detail here in the forum.
- Long time GWCer “StevieSpin” wonders if maybe we can’t find out more about the final four by looking into their parents’ histories. You can help him out with the project here.
And don’t forget that you can drop us your own theories any time via our special “Submit A Theory” page.
It seems that Fox wants to get in on the phenomenon that is Tricia Helfer, signing her to a one-year “talent holding” agreement, which entertainment blog Digital Spy believes may “see her appear in a series for the network, probably a drama, though she has yet to be cast to a particular project.”
One thing’s certain: BSGs talent list is so strong and deep that I’d bet we haven’t seen the last of any of the major actors come 2009.
Fox Secures ‘Galactica’ Star Helfer [Digital Spy]
GWCers on Flickr
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