Sleestaked!

My love of all things Sleestak got a mild boost today when USA Today published this shot from the upcoming Land of the Lost movie. Now I've been wary of this film since it was announced, and I've still got massive reservations about it. The article that accompanied the shot did little to ease the discomfort. As expected, the film's going to be played for laughs, and since it stars none other than WF, it was always likely that was the way it was going to go. Unlike most of the other Sid & Marty Krofft shows, there's nothing intrinsically funny about the concept. It was often well written sci-fi given its targeted Saturday morning kid audience, and the David Gerrold-helmed first season in particular is worth trying to take seriously if you can get past the often hokey acting and cheesey effects. (I've often said that my interest in the show at age five paved the way to Doctor Who when I became a teenager.) Interestingly, by the third season, both Wesley Eure (Will) and Kathy Coleman (Holly) had matured into pretty good actors...but unfortunately by that time the show's scripts had also devolved into utter nonsense. In a perfect universe, Land of the Lost would be reimagined as a serious sci-fi TV series with good actors and big budget effects. If Battlestar Galactica can get a new lease on life, then with the right visionary at the helm, anything's possible.

Yet in all fairness to a film that I've yet to see, some of director Brad Silberling's words give me a vague hope that the finished movie might at least be something that Land of the Lost fans can laugh along with, rather than feeling as though the concept is being laughed at. One thing's for sure - those Sleestak look incredible!

Don't forget to check out the previous Morgue entry, Sleestak: An Appreciation, if you missed it when it was published last year.

A Slim New You

After more or less trashing “Voyage of the Damned” last week, it’d be all too easy to start a trend by picking apart Season Four’s first proper episode, “Partners in Crime.” The series has followed a predictable pattern with its season openers. They’re romps that acquaint (or reacquaint) the lead characters. The antagonist threat seems mild in comparison to typical Doctor dilemmas. There’s always an emphasis on humor, some mild social commentary, loads of running around and an easily resolved finale. “Partners in Crime” does adhere to the formula, but last week I stated “…Who should, at the very least, recycle the old into something vaguely new.” Where “Partners” succeeds is in its mild tweaking of the norm. If the season continues playing with established formula (which I’ll try to address in the coming weeks), then it could end up the best batch of episodes yet.

Read the rest of this piece by taking the pill offered at The House Next Door.

Abe the Babe

My ongoing quest to find hot nudie shots of Abe Vigoda on the internet has been a fruitless endeavor. There aren't even any decent fakes, which mystifies me. I mean, can there possibly be a better use for Photoshop than to at least create the illusion that Vigoda's goods are on display for all to bask in? (To do it myself would destroy the fantasy.) The travesty to the left is not only an insult to Abe's studlinesss, but it doesn't even make any sense. Abe in drag!?!? It's just not funny, and flies in the face of his quiet masculinity.

Anyway, I inadvertently stumbled across something on YouTube today that comes closer to fulfilling my dreams than anything else I've encountered. Strangely, I wasn't even looking for His [B]Abeness at the time - I was doing a search on Bea Arthur. It's a parody sketch of Sex and the City, starring Maude as Carrie Bradshaw. Sally Struthers, Katherine Helmond, and Charlotte Rae round out the rest of the self-centered foursome. (My feelings about Sex and the City are a whole different entry, but suffice it to say, I hate those bitches.)

But as I viewed the video, imagine the beats my heart skipped when it played its trump card in the closing seconds: Fish himself as Mr. Big.

While it's a huge tease and a massive shame that he doesn't appear au naturel, the idea of Abe banging Bea Arthur over and over throughout the night is enough to fuel my fantasies 'til the end of summer.

See the video for yourself by clicking here, and you'll no doubt know the feelings I'm experiencing as I type.

Blake's 7...finally?

Here's a project that's been on and off again so many times, I'm skeptical about it coming to fruition - but maybe now the time is actually right.

From today's Hollywood Reporter:

LONDON -- Hoping to cash in on the success of classic sci-fi revamps such as the BBC's Doctor Who and Battlestar Galactica, Sky One is planning to remake cult '80s space series Blake's Seven.

Sky has commissioned two 60-minute scripts with the intention of creating a new sci-fi series of the hugely popular show, which followed the intergalactic tales of a small band of rebel fighters struggling to evade the dark forces of the Federation.

Memorable for its cardboard sets and leather-clad arch villainess Servalan, the show was the creation of sci-fi legend Terry Nation, himself responsible for Doctor Who's arch-nemesis the Daleks.

Sky One commissioning editor Elaine Pike said Seven was "ripe" for a revival, which will be jointly exec produced by Andrew Mark Sewell at B7 Prods. Most recently the show was released as a successful series of audio books starring a modern cast including This Life star Daniela Nardini.

Revamped television formats have proved a huge success in the U.K., with a reworking of Doctor Who also generating original spinoff Torchwood. But the cultural politics of revamps can be tricky, said Sky One head of programs Richard Woolfe, who two years ago abandoned much-trumpeted plans to remake The Prisoner.

A Public Stoning

With the premiere of Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay looming on the horizon (it arrives in theaters on April 25th), we here at Bullz-Eye found ourselves considering some of our other favorites who’ve fired up on film over the years. Originally, we were going to have 15 entries, but after we hit 13 we just didn’t have the energy to do much of anything except lie on the couch and scarf some munchies. Go figure. In the end, though, we realized that all we had to do was slap a “G” in front of the number, and we had ourselves an instant tribute to the most legendary strain of cannabis in history. (It’s killer stuff, man. Not that we’ve had it ourselves, y’know, but Lester Burnham swears by it, and that’s good enough for us.)

Check out Bullz-Eye's list of 13 iconic cinematic stoners by clicking here.

Damned Doctor

The chefs in the Doctor Who kitchen get more technically ambitious with each new season, and the annual Christmas specials are appetizers dished up to satiate diners between the seasonal main courses. “Voyage of the Damned” is first and foremost a spectacle echoing the infamous disaster movies of the sixties and seventies (especially The Poseidon Adventure). Clocking in at 72 minutes, it’s the longest single episode of the new series yet. It also snagged 13.31 million viewers upon its Christmas day BBC broadcast – one of the highest figures in Who history and the largest audience for the new series so far. (I believe the number translates into something like 50% of the TVs in Britain being tuned in.) Clearly Doctor Who isn’t losing any steam as far as the general public goes, but aside from all the flashy effects, frenetic pacing and high profile guest stars, is “Voyage of the Damned” any good?

Read the rest of this piece by clicking here to collide with The House Next Door.

Bullshit

Battlestar Galactica - Season Three

If you’re not already into the Sci Fi Channel’s revival of Battlestar Galactica, Season Three is probably not a good place to start – unless you don’t mind being utterly confused and left feeling like you’ve arrived late to a very intense party. The season begins more or less where the second left off: The majority of the human survivors had settled on a habitable planet they dubbed “New Caprica,” and within a matter of months found themselves enslaved by the Cylons and living in less than humane conditions. At the top of the conflicted heap is the newly elected President Gaius Baltar (James Callis), who’s forced to aid the Cylons in their takeover for fear of his life. Meanwhile, somewhere out in space resides Galactica, with a patient Admiral Adama (Edward James Olmos) at the helm, strategically devising a plan to rescue the New Capricans from their dire situation.

Read the rest of this DVD review by clicking here and visiting Bullz-Eye.