Sci Fi Ramblings

By John J. Joex

Alcatraz is the latest offering from genre mogul J.J. Abrams, and he once again manages to deliver a show that rises above most of the other sci fi shows on the broadcast networks and cable channels. In the pilot episode, we discover the reason that Alcatraz was shut down in 1963 is because all of the inmates (as well as the guards and wardens) mysteriously disappeared. But now in 2012, they are beginning to reappear (apparently one at a time) and resume their criminal ways. A task force is put together (which includes Dr. Diego “Doc” Soto played by Lost’s Jorge Garcia) to track down these criminals and to also find out why they have returned and who may be guiding their actions.

Admittedly, premise sounds rather convoluted and high concept, but so far it has succeeded. The show has followed a mostly procedural format through its first four episodes (which network execs like), each of which involves the arrival of an ex-Alcatraz inmate, but framing those episodes are elements of a larger story arc (which appeals to the show’s sci fi fans). Flashbacks are also included, in typical Abrams style, and these are used to flesh out the back-stories of the inmates and also expand on the story of the 60’s Alcatraz setting in general.

I have enjoyed this one so far, finding it well-scripted with engaging stories. Some genre fans may be put off by the procedural format which delivers little in the way of sci fi elements, but I’m thinking patience will reward us with a deeper dive into sci fi as the series progresses, much like what we saw with Lost. And the cast is spot-on excellent with Sarah Jones, as Detective Rebecca Madsen, giving us a strong female lead and Sam Neil, as the mysterious leader of this team, delivering a creepy and at times sinister presence. And then Garcia is onboard as a criminologist/Alcatraz expert, evoking some of the traits of his Hurly character, but still establishing Dr. Diego as his own person (he has yet to utter “Dude” through four episodes).

The show has a lot of promise and can attract a cross-section of viewers, appealing to those who like crime dramas while still offering plenty for sci fi fans to enjoy as well. And it started out strong in the Nielsens, pulling a 3.3 rating in the 18-49 demo and ten million total viewers with its initial outing. It has slipped some since then, but not bad and currently looks like it has a good chance of earning itself a second season.

FOX also gave us a preview last week of another of their new genre entries Touch, from Heroes creator Tim Kring and starring 24’s Kiefer Sutherland (Jericho’s Carol Barbee is also on board as an executive producer). In this one, Sutherland plays a former journalist who’s autistic son is a math genius and can apparently see patterns that predict the future. The pilot episode gives us a first look at this young savant and shows his father first understanding the boy’s talent to predict future events.

I have to say that the preview episode was rather convoluted and confusing, a Tim Kring trademark, and I’m guessing that if you broke it down and tried to thoroughly analyze it then it would not hold up. But then it was not guilty of gaping leaps of logic like we saw in the later seasons of Heroes and for the most part I rather enjoyed the episode. Sutherland heads up a fine cast that also includes Danny Glover, and Lost’s Man in Black Titus Welliver shows up in the episode in a guest-starring role.

My question at this point, though is how are they going to get a weekly series out of this? Does Jake predict a new event each week that his father tries to prevent? And at what point does Jake predict one of Tim Kring’s trademark apocalyptic futures? The series has some potential if approached correctly, but we all know how Kring went far astray with Heroes starting from that show’s second season. Maybe Barbee’s presence will act as a guiding force to keep the series on track, as she did a good job with Jericho. In any case, the series got off to a strong start with a 3.9 rating in the 18-49 demo and twelve million total viewers, so it has piqued the interest of viewers. It will start its regular run on Mondays in the 9 PM EST slot beginning March 19th, after Alcatraz wraps up its first season.

You can watch episodes of Alcatraz and Touch online for free at Hulu.com

Sci Fi TV on Blu-ray and DVD at Amazon.com:

The Sci Fi Web: There’s a lot of great sci fi/fantasy web series out there that too many genre fans don’t know about. This column is dedicated to filling you in on what you are missing. Currently, we are focusing on the winners and nominees from the 1st Annual IAWTV Awards.

Cell: The Web Series

Web Series (One Season of 13 Episodes Completed)
Credits: Mark Gardner (Creator/Writer/Director), Danny Cameron (Brian), Jourdan Gibson (Woman), Kevin McCarthy (Man)
IAWTV Nominee: Best Drama Web Series, Best Writing (Drama), Best Female Performance (Drama), Best Male Performance (Drama), Best Cinematography, Best Original Music

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)

Synopsis: This Prisoner-esque series begins with a man named Brian waking up in a cell, but not knowing why he is there. He screams to be released before he discovers that another person is in the neighboring cell; a woman who claims she does not remember her name and she warns Brian to keep his temper under control. A man then shows up, we do not get his name, and proceeds to punish Brian for his misbehavior with an electric cattle-prod and other means. The man tells the woman that it is her job to teach Brian and keep him in line and from there follows a progression of humiliations to break the will and identity of both the inmates in an at times nightmare setting.

Review/Commentary: This production delivers a series in the vein of The Prisoner and Lost, though in much tighter quarters, giving us engaging drama, confounding mysteries, and an emerging mythology, and accomplishes all that on a single set with no more than three actors (until the final episode at least) and practically no special effects. And while this is definitely a small, intimate, claustrophobic story, it also has plenty of hints toward a grander tale much like what played out on Lost.

The synopsis above basically gives you the set up for the series, but you’ll want no more information than that going in because this tale does not follow the direction you would expect and delivers several shockers. And it also gives us some intense, riveting, drama. There were times that I found myself just staring wide-eyed at the screen with my jaws agape because I was so astounded by the events transpiring. The series runs thirteen episodes of around eight to twelve minutes each (some shorter and the finale goes twenty minutes) and I sat through it all in almost one sitting because I found myself so engrossed. It reminded me of the way I reacted to the early episodes of Lost, amazed by the subtlety and complexity that the writers weaved into the stories. I should note that the acting falls short in a few places and the series kind of drags in the middle, though count those only as nitpicks. For the most part the actors do an excellent job and the few stumbles barely detract from the overall excellence of the production. And Cell definitely manages to outshine much of the more “professional” work we see on television and delivers a much more challenging viewing experience.

Mark Gardner, who has some professional, work on his resume, created, wrote, and directed the series, and I would definitely count him as an emerging talent. And this series has received several awards and many accolades since it first came out last year. It recently received quite a number of nominations (six total) from the IAWTV awards, but unfortunately no wins, which I consider a travesty. While the other web productions that took away multiple awards like RCVR (more about that one at this link) and Aidan 5 have their merits, I consider Cell one of the best productions that I have encountered on the web and this is the one that should have walked away with multiple trophies. Still, the nominations alone speak to the show’s accomplishments and will hopefully bring more attention to Cell: The Web Series and help it move forward with production of its second season.

Links/More Information: Another area where this series succeeds is its website. So many web series out there have barely adequate websites at best and quite a few have next to nothing in the way of a homepage making it difficult to figure out where to view the videos and which one to start with. Not so with Cell: The Web Series. This show’s site (link below) gives you everything you need. It provides a brief description of the show, gives information on the cast and crew, links to reviews, and more. And most importantly, you can watch all thirteen episodes from this site. More web productions should follow Cell’s example and set up a similar, easy to navigate, all-encompassing page like this. You can also watch the entire series on YouTube, if you prefer, at the link below.

Visit the Cell Homepage at this link.

Watch Cell on You Tube starting from episode 1 at this link.

Watch the Trailer:

Cancellation Watch: Tracking the weekly ratings and the cancellation prospects of the science fiction and fantasy shows currently airing on broadcast and cable networks.

By John J. Joex

FOX’s Alcatraz took another drop in the Nielsens this past Monday, slipping to a 2.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic (down from a 3.0) with 8.4 million total viewers. So is that a sure sign that fans are jumping ship and this one will not make it past a half season run?

Not at all, at least not at this point.

It’s not uncommon for a show to trend downward after its premiere, especially one that has a serialized component to its story. Thus the decline is not unexpected, but the question is where does it stop. The series started out with a healthy 3.3 rating in the 18-49 demo and has since dropped off by 15%. That’s not too bad and neither is a 2.8 rating (at least these days it’s not). It’s also important to note that Alcatraz‘s latest numbers are only one tick behind it lead-in series, the venerable House. And it has so far performed well compared to the other shows on FOX. If it keeps dropping, then there will be some concern. But I would expect to see it level off pretty soon. As long as it stays above a 2.5 rating, then it should be okay. If it starts to go south of that, then it’s venturing into bubble territory.

ABC’s Once Upon A Time continued its up and down trend as it jumped to a 3.5 rating in the 18-49 demo (up from last week’s 3.2) this past Sunday with right at 11 million total viewers. It looks like this one will continue to fluctuate somewhere around the mid-threes and as long as it does it will be safe.

I will have the full ratings results for all of this week’s shows in the regular Monday column next week.

Ratings Source: TV by the Numbers

The Audio Files: Reviews of audio adaptations of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror works. Note that these reviews may contain spoilers.

Book Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)
Audiobook Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Synopsis: A strange and enormous creature is sighted by many ships at sea and an expedition is dispatched to hunt down what is thought to be a giant whale or a mysterious beast. The U.S. ship the Abraham Lincoln confronts the creature and is seriously damaged in the encounter. Professor Pierre Aronnax, his assistant Conseil, and Canadian harpoonist Ned Land are thrown overboard in the skirmish only to discover that their quarry is a giant submarine. Its commander, Captain Nemo, brings them unboard, lest they drown in the ocean, but tells them that they can never leave the ship. The three then accompany Captain Nemo and his crew on many adventures beneath the ocean in his submarine known as The Nautilus.

Review/Comments: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is of course the world famous early science fiction novel by Jules Verne and a true masterpiece from among his works in my opinion. The story of the self-exiled Captain Nemo carrying out his vendetta against the surface-dwelling human race in his infamous submersible is widely known and many people who have never read the novel can at least rattle off the highlights of its plot. But how many readers today have actually gone back and journeyed through Verne’s original page-turning tale? If you have not, do yourself the favor. If you have, then perhaps it is time to revisit the story, and the audiobook version gives the perfect means of re-encountering it.

This early genre work delivers a true science fiction tale as the technology behind its premise is rooted firmly in the scientific knowledge of the time. And Verne employs the fantastic elements of his story to also deliver a very human tale of a man torn by the suffering he has seen the human race inflict and that he seeks to avenge. With this novel, Captain Nemo unfolds as one of the great tragic characters of literature and it is his tale that engages the reader and draws us into the world that Verne creates, even if it is told at a distance from the perspective of Professor Aronnax. As a bit of a warning, this book can be quite wordy and at times reads almost like a textbook on oceanography. You may find yourself skimming through several passages (or your attention fading if listening to the audiobook), or you may find the scientific information enlightening (even if parts of it are outdated). But the meat of the story comes with the tale of Captain Nemo and that is what makes this book truly soar and a must-read for all science fiction fans and students of literature.

Comments on the Audiobook: Seeing as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is now in the public domain, there are several audiobook versions available (including an adaptation from Librivox.org read by a volunteer voice cast for free download). I went with the edition read by British actor James Frain (who recently had a stint on True Blood as the psychotic vamp Franklin Mott). I picked the version read by him over others probably for no other reason than I liked the timbre of his accent, but I found he did a very good job with the material and with distinguishing the different characters. As mentioned above, Verne tends to go pretty heavy into the detail on oceanography and the other science he works into his tale, but that’s not too much of a problem when listening to the audiobook version. Maybe some facts interest you and maybe others just fade into ambient noise for a while. But there is still plenty of story here to keep you engaged between the science lectures and Frain’s voice-work succeeds in easing us through the dryer parts of the novel. This version is available from Audible.com and there are several other versions also at Audible as well as eMusic.com and BooksFree.com. And the free version is available from Librivox.org.

Cancellation Watch: Tracking the weekly ratings and the cancellation prospects of the science fiction and fantasy shows currently airing on broadcast and cable networks.

By John J. Joex

FOX’s latest genre series Touch, from Heroes creator Tim Kring and starring 24‘s Kiefer Sutherland, scored a big win in the Nielsens with its special preview airing this past Wednesday. The show pulled a 3.9 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 12 million total viewers. That gives this show bragging rights for the highest premiere of a genre series so far this season, out-pacing Once Upon A Time debut which pulled a 3.6 rating (although that one pulled more total viewers with just short of 13 million). The bad news, though, is that Touch will not be back until March 19th, taking over Alcatraz‘s Monday 9 PM EST timeslot when that show wraps up its first season run. So we will see then how much of the audience that tuned in for the preview returns more than a month and a half from now.

NBC’s Chuck had its series finale this past Friday, wrapping up that fan-favorite, but low-rated show after five seasons. The two hour finale averaged a 1.3 rating in the 18-49 demo, delivering a season high for the show in its last year. Over on FOX, Fringe edged up a tick opposite Chuck‘s swansong, pulling a 1.3 rating.

I covered Once Upon A Time and Alcatraz in my mid-week update last week and most of the other shows were preempted or in repeats this past week.

Following are the ratings results for all of the genre shows from this past week. In some cases, the numbers below are based on the preliminary returns and could change slightly when the final results are tallied.

Ratings Results for the Week of January 22nd:
Once Upon A Time (ABC Sun 8 pm) Rating: 3.2 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Low
The Walking Dead (AMC Sun 10 PM) Rating: On Hiatus | Trend: Down | Renewed
Alcatraz (FOX Mon 8 pm) Rating: 3.0 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Low
Being Human (Syfy Mon 9 PM) Rating: 0.7 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Low
Touch (FOX Wed 8 PM) Rating: 3.9 | Trend: n/a | Cancellation Alert: Low
Vampire Diaries (CW Thur 8 PM) Preempted | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Low
Person of Interest (Repeat) (CBS Thur 9 PM) Rating: 2.1 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
Secret Circle (CW Thur 9 PM) Preempted | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
A Gifted Man (Repeat) (CBS Fri 8 PM) Rating: 1.0 | Trend: Steady | Cancellation Alert: High
Nikita (Repeat) (CW Fri 8 PM) Rating: 0.4 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Elevated
Chuck (NBC Fri 8 PM) Rating: 1.3 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Final Season
Supernatural (Repeat) (CW Fri 9 PM) Rating: 0.4 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Low
Grimm (NBC Fri 9 PM) Preempted | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
Fringe (FOX Fri 9 PM) Rating: 1.2 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Elevated

Ratings Source: TV by the Numbers

Sci Fi Ramblings

By John J. Joex

Sci fi fans often lament the many reboots and remakes of television shows that keep cycling through the networks and cable channels, claiming these as unabashed proof that the entertainment industry has fallen into a creative drought. Currently in the works, there are reboots of The Munsters (spearheaded by Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller) and The Beauty and the Beast (The CW’s version is a remake of the 80’s TV series, the ABC version draws from the original tale). And over the past few years we have been subjected to failed reboots of shows like V, The Bionic Woman, The Night Stalker, and Knight Rider.

But reboots aren’t always a bad thing, just take a look at Battlestar: Galactica for indisputable proof. That 2003 series gave us a completely new spin on the campy, failed show from 1978 and delivered what has been heralded by many as one of the all-time best science fiction series. So reboots and remakes can breathe some new life into a concept that was poorly executed or failed to take flight upon its initial attempt. And a recent poster on the r/scifi Reddit pointed out a series that offers a perfect candidate for a modern day reboot: the 1973 Canadian-made series The Starlost.

For those unfamiliar with the property, it was conceived by genre-legend Harlan Ellison and gave us the tale of a multi-domed, generational starship that has lost its way in deep space. Each dome houses a separate society placed on the ship (known as The Ark) to escape from a doomed Earth. However, an accident killed off the crew and sealed off each dome from the other and centuries later these societies have forgotten that they are on a spaceship. But a small group of people from one of the domes discovers the truth about their home in space an also uncovers the fact that it is on a collision course with an approaching star. The series, which ran for sixteen episodes, starred Keir Dullea (2001: A Space Odyssey) and Star Trek’s Walter Koenig even showed up in a couple of episodes playing an alien known as Oro.

Ellison penned the original pilot for the series, but his story went through several rewrites and he quickly soured on the direction the series was taking. In fact, he ultimately disowned himself from the project and had his name replaced with his pseudonym Cordwainer Bird in the credits (a name he has used to indicate his distaste for a production he worked on). The show also had an inadequate budget to handle the required special effects (even though 2001’s Douglas Trumball worked on the series) and it was filmed on video tape giving it a similar look to the low-budget Doctor Who episodes of the day.

All of this aside, and despite some of the contrivances and leaps of logic in the story, there was a good idea at the core of Starlost’s premise. It just suffered from technology that was not quite up to speed with the show’s grand premise and from poor execution from studio execs who had little experience or patience with genre productions. But for this reason, The Starlost makes a perfect candidate for a reboot. A good idea (the excellent pilot script was novelized in 1975 and recently adapted to a comic book mini-series) that was poorly executed the first time around but that has achieved some notoriety. The technology today could easily supply the special effects needed to bring the concept to life, but it would not necessarily have to be a big-budget production because a lot of the action is “land-based”, either inside the ship or moving from dome to dome. This would be a reboot that would actually make some sense and could give us a good spaced-based (sort of, that is) science fiction series. I wonder if any of the networks or cable channels would consider it?

And there are several other genre shows from years past that would provide good candidates for a reboot as well. The Saturday morning series Land of the Lost is one I would love to see revisited. That series suffered from super-cheesy special effects (though it did have decent stop motion animation), bad acting, and at times infantile plots. But original showrunner and sci fi author David Gerrold (who penned the infamous Trek “Trouble with Tribbles” episode) worked hard to create an over-arching mythology for the show and he brought on several science fiction writers to contribute stories (including Larry Niven, Norman Spinrad, Ben Bova, and Gerrold himself). This series had a lot of strengths at its core and has lived on as a cult classic. An updated version that drew upon those strengths (and delivered a much less annoying Holly) could turn into a modern day winner (we will just ignore that the Land of the Lost movie with Will Ferrell ever happened, and that horrid 90’s version of the show as well).

Another potential candidate (and another former Saturday morning show) is 1976’s Ark II. That series about a group of people (and a talking monkey . . . no really) traveling around a post-apocalyptic Earth in the ultra-cool Ark II rover was actually not bad in its original incarnation. But it was mostly geared at kids, so it relied too heavily on nice, happy episode wrap-ups and never really delved into the potential moral ambiguities that would abound in an Earth where society had collapsed. A remake of this series could be produced relatively inexpensively, and could attract a decent audience if done right.

I could go on picking out past series ripe for a modern day remake, and may just revisit this in a future post. But the fact is that reboots and remakes (or continuations for that matter) are not necessarily anathema if done right. There were some really good ideas out there that didn’t quite fly the first time around but that could rise again through a remake done right.

Buy These Series on DVD from Amazon.com:

The Sci Fi Web: There’s a lot of great sci fi/fantasy web series out there that too many genre fans don’t know about. This column is dedicated to filling you in on what you are missing. Currently, we are focusing on the winners and nominees from the 1st Annual IAWTV Awards.

RCVR
Web Series (One Season of Six Episodes Completed)
Credits: David Van Eyssen – Creator/Director, Daniel Bonjour (Weber), Lexi DiBenedetto (Charlene)
Winner IAWTV Awards: Best Drama Web Series, Best Male Performance (Drama), Best Cinematography.  Also Nominated for Best Writing (Drama), Best Directing (Drama), Best Design (Art Direction/Production), Best Makeup/Special Effects, Best Visual Effects (Digital), Best Editing, Best Web Site Design

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Synopsis: Taking place in 1974, a mysterious organization known as SIGMA investigates UFO sightings and alien contact and tries to convince people who have had these experiences that extraterrestrial beings are not involved. The agents of this organization, though, are actually looking for people known as RCVRs, humans who receive knowledge from alien intelligence that results in huge leaps in the human race’s technical skills.

Commentary: This 2011 web series snagged the Best Drama Web Series category at the recent IAWTV Awards, and I can see why as it has first rate production values (it also won Best Cinematography), decent special effects, and good acting as well (picking up the Best Male Performance Drama award). Think of it as somewhat of a retro-X-Files, but with Mulder and Scully demonstrating a more sinister intent (at least based on what we saw from the first season). The six episodes from Season 1 (which average about seven to eight minutes each) set up the premise and establish the main characters and the central mystery driving the story. And Van Eyssen’s very professional directing helps propel the series forward so that it never wanders or goes astray. It does fall a bit short of fully exploring its potential during its first season, but that effectively just leaves the viewer eager for the story to continue with a second set of episodes.

RCVR is an ambitious, transmedia property that also offers a conspiracy-laden Twitter account and blog (lings below) where the fictional Alvin J. Peters is tracking the government cover-up of the people who have had contact with alien beings. And Van Eyssen has visions of this branching out to a TV series and possibly a movie as well. And currently the web series has something that few other similar productions can boast: a corporate sponsor in Motorola. I’m not certain how much they contributed to the funding of the project, but they can definitely help this one get some good exposure, and with the show grabbing some big wins (and a ton of nominations) at the IAWTV Awards, a second season seems almost assured.

RCVR shows the potential of the web series format and it makes good use of supplemental content on the web to help build up its mythology. It is definitely worth checking out for all sci fi fans whether they are new to web series or well-seasoned with the format.

Links/More Information:

You can begin watching the series from episode 1 on YouTube at this link.

You can watch the entire first season in one video (46 min) on YouTube at this link.

Browse through the Sigma Agency mock website at this link.

Visit the ProjectRCVR website where Alvin J. Peters provides more info on the government conspiracy at this link.

Follow Alvin J. Peters’ Twitter site at this link.

Read an interview with series creator David Van Eyssen at AssignmentX.com at this link.

Trailer for RCVR:

Cancellation Watch: Tracking the weekly ratings and the cancellation prospects of the science fiction and fantasy shows currently airing on broadcast and cable networks.

By John J. Joex

In its second week J.J. Abrams’ Alcatraz slipped in the Nielsens to a 3.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic (down from a 3.3) and it had nine million total viewers (down from ten million). But those numbers are no cause for alarm because show’s usually slide in the week following their premiere. If it continues to slip in the ratings, a common trend for serialized shows, there may be some concern. But it’s too soon to make any dire predictions at this point. I’m thinking as long as this one stays above a 2.5 rating, it should be okay. I will keep a close eye on its returns for the next few weeks to see if it shows any signs of weakening.

ABC’s Once Upon A Time slipped a little from the prior week, pulling a 3.2 rating in the 18-49 demo. But those are still strong numbers for the show, especially considering the competition it had from the NFL playoff game.

Over on Syfy, Being Human slipped some from its second season debut, pulling a 0.7 rating and 1.7 million total viewers. That’s still above its first season average, though, so it is doing okay.

I will have the full ratings results for all of this week’s shows in the regular Monday column next week.

Ratings Source: TV by the Numbers

Cancellation Watch: Tracking the weekly ratings and the cancellation prospects of the science fiction and fantasy shows currently airing on broadcast and cable networks.

By John J. Joex

Two of this season’s new shows are showing some life in the ratings this mid-season. CBS’s Person of Interest pulled a 3.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic for a second week in a row and also drew 14.4 million total viewers this last Thursday. After that one’s somewhat lackluster ratings during the first half of the season, its fate seemed somewhat uncertain seeing as it airs on the top-rated network (and one that has shown little patience with genre shows). But it has done quite well in January so far and could be solidifying its position if it can keep up numbers like this. Over on NBC, Grimm returned this month with a slight dip from where it had been, but this past week it jumped up to a 1.8 rating with just under six million total viewers. Considering its Friday night timeslot (and the fact that it topped its hour last Friday), that’s definitely a step in the right direction for this show.

On Monday, Syfy’s Being Human returned with a strong performance, pulling a 0.9 rating and 1.8 million total viewers. That’s up considerably from the 0.6 rating it averaged during its first season. Canadian import Lost Girl debut in Being Human‘s lead-out slot pulling a 0.5 rating. As I mentioned in my mid-week update, that series is not as dependent on ratings in the U.S. because it is already heading to a third season up north (and I will not track it weekly in the chart here.). Chuck‘s second to last episode saw it rise to a season high of a 1.1 rating in the 18-49 demo. Fringe continues to languish, though, as its future remains in doubt. Also continuing to languish are all of the CW shows, with their “top rated” series Vampire Diaries sinking to a 1.1 rating this past week. The guys over at TV by the Numbers have pondered whether practically all of that network’s shows (except Vampire Diaries) should be considered at risk this season. The fact that the CW has ordered a record number of pilots definitely puts shows like Nikita, The Secret Circle, and even Supernatural on unsure footing.

Following are the ratings results for all of the genre shows from this past week. In some cases, the numbers below are based on the preliminary returns and could change slightly when the final results are tallied.

Ratings Results for the Week of January 15th:
Once Upon A Time (ABC Sun 8 pm) Rating: 3.3 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Low
The Walking Dead (AMC Sun 10 PM) Rating: On Hiatus | Trend: Down | Renewed
Alcatraz (FOX Mon 8 pm) Rating: 3.3 | Trend: n/a | Cancellation Alert: Low
Being Human (Syfy Mon ) Rating: 0.9 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Low
Vampire Diaries (CW Thur 8 PM) Rating: 1.1 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Low
Person of Interest (CBS Thur 9 PM) Rating: 3.2 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
Secret Circle (CW Thur 9 PM) Rating: 0.7 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
A Gifted Man (Repeat) (CBS Fri 8 PM) Rating: 1.0 | Trend: Steady | Cancellation Alert: High
Nikita (CW Fri 8 PM) Preempted | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Elevated
Chuck (NBC Fri 8 PM) Rating: 1.1 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Final Season
Supernatural (Repeat) (CW Fri 9 PM) Rating: 0.3 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Low
Grimm (NBC Fri 9 PM) Rating: 1.8 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
Fringe (FOX Fri 9 PM) Rating: 1.1 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Elevated

Ratings Source: TV by the Numbers

Sci Fi Ramblings

By John J. Joex

This last week the IAWTV (International Academy of Web Television) held their first annual awards which saw several sci fi web series getting some much deserved recognition.

The Best Drama Series category saw four science fiction series among the five nominees, and some pretty darn good ones at that. Two were among my all-time favorite web series: Pioneer One (see my thoughts on that one at this link) and Cell: The Web Series (see my review of that one at this link). The other two sci fi nominees were the X-Files-like RCVR and the futuristic detective mystery Aidan 5. RCVR ended up taking the award which I personally disagreed with because I believe that both Pioneer One and Cell were the superior choices. True, RCVR had much higher production values, but it lacked the originality of the other two and did not draw me in as much as those two did. Still, RCVR is a very good web series and definitely deserving of the attention. Watch this site for more on that one as well as Aidan 5 (which I have not watched yet) in the coming weeks.

The Best Comedy Series category went to Felicia Day’s The Guild. Technically, this is not a sci fi/fantasy series, but it has a lot of appeal to genre fans. It follows a group who spend much of their time playing MMORPGs, and it’s got Felicia Day in it. The show has now made it through five seasons and while I have not followed it, I have enjoyed what I have sampled from the series and plan on watching it all the way through in the near future. That series also won the awards Best Writing – Comedy Series, Best Directing – Comedy Series, Best Female Performance – Comedy Series (Day), and Best Web Site Design.

And speaking of Felicia Day, another web series that she starred in won several awards as well. Dragon Age: Redemption, based on the video game, won the awards for Best Design, Best Costume Design, and Best Makeup/Special Effects. I had not previously stumbled across that series and decided to sit down and watch it and found it to be a rather enjoyable little fantasy yarn with Day once again stealing the show.

The retro-sci fi series Mercury Men won in the Best Directing Drama category, another one that I had issues with. That series was a fun bit of throwback nostalgia, but I definitely thought the directing was plodding and choppy at times (you can read more of my thoughts on that one at this link). Again, I believe that Pioneer One and Cell (even RCVR) were much more deserving of the nod over that series. Not that I didn’t like Mercury Men, I just felt like there were better candidates for this category and some did not even get nominated. Mercury Men also won for Best Visual Effects (which I definitely agree with) and Best Supplemental Content.

Winning in the Best Animated Web Series category was the video game parody Red vs. Blue which has demonstrated some first rate CGI animation through its multi-season run. I would have liked to see Press Start Adventures at least get a nomination in this category, though.

All my grumbling aside, it is nice to see sci fi so well represented at these awards because there are some absolutely fantastic independent genre web productions out that too many people have not seen. Hopefully these awards will bring the some exposure they deserve. And speaking of which, I did let my Internet Connection column (which highlights web series like these) lapse last year, but I plan on starting up a new series of posts to pick up where that one left off which will begin with highlighting the winners and nominees from the IAWTV Awards.  Watch for that in the next week or two.

You can see all of the IAWTV Award nominees at this link and the winners at this link.

To watch and/or find out more information about the web series mentioned above, go the the following links:

Cell: The Web Series

Pioneer One

The Guild

RCVR

Aidan 5

The Mercury Men

Red vs. Blue

Dragon Age: Redemption