HE'LL SAVE EVERY ONE OF US!

Entertainment Weekly interviews Eric Johnson, star of the upcoming Sci Fi Channel's Flash Gordon.

Among the revealing tidbits that Johnson revealed:

"(Flash is) a marathon winner in his hometown, and he works on cars in his mom's garage. He's pretty regular.

He's got a pretty cool car: a '67 convertible Firebird.

He arrives on Planet Mongo at the end of Part 1 of the premiere. But the thing is, we're able to come back and forth using the old wormhole. Flash's father was a scientist who was developing the technology. I thought he was lost in a fire, but it turns out he was sucked through this wormhole that he created. So now after 13 years, something came back through, and that something is not so nice, and it's looking for me.

We're not going to see any spaceships at this point. But there is some pretty cool stuff on the planet Mongo, I have to say. I saw some early drawings of some things we have to battle. We're gonna have our hands full, that's for sure.
There will be creatures, ships, different types of ray guns...it's pretty intense. There's already been a probe that has gone through, and an android. I fight an android in my kitchen.

We meet Ming the Merciless in the second part of the pilot. We meet him fairly quickly, and we find out right away that this guy is not to be trusted.

Ming is not entirely evil. What's amazing about him is he's an incredibly good-looking, charming guy. He's very physically capable. I mean, this isn't some decrepit old despot. He's a very, very worthy adversary. Flash and Dale are gonna have their hands full. If it came to blows, things wouldn't be one-sided in Flash's favor. I really like [the writers'] take on that. That was something that came up early. They thought it would be far more interesting to make Ming someone that you could understand, to have him be a very capable adversary.

(Dale and Flash are) exes. The story is, basically, we dated during the Clinton administration. She left and went to college, and now she's back in this small town, a reporter from the local newspaper who's engaged to one of the detectives in town. And we have a history.

(They end up side by side) Quite by accident, but we end up spending a lot of time together. So there's a bit of a love triangle in there. And of course, we have the sexy princess Aura and sexy alien bounty hunter Baylin, who also throw a couple wrenches into the works."

SCI-FI HALL OF FAME INDUCTS "TREK" CREATOR

Yesterday it was announced that the "Great Bird" Gene Roddenberry, creator of television's Star Trek, was to be among those inducted into the 2007 Science Fiction Hall of Fame. This honor is to recognize the lives, work and legacies of science fiction's premiere contributors and visionaries.

Previous inductees include, Stephen Spielberg, George Lucas, Ursula K. Le Guin, Mary Shelley and Isaac Asimov.

The induction ceremony will be hosted by author Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash, The Diamond Age) and the event will also feature the exhibition, Out of This World: Extraordinary Costumes from Film and Television which will display costumes and props from a number of sci-fi film and television properties (including Star Wars, Blade Runner, Terminator, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica and Batman).

Among the other inductees are book cover painter Ed Emshwiller, motion picture Director Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner) and author Gene Wolfe (The Fifth Head of Cerberus, The Book of the New Sun)

I was really excited to hear that Roddenberry is being recognized. Ever since I was a lonely high school kid, Star Trek was always among one of my favorite shows. Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future gave me hope. I always looked up to the man who could look through all the craziness in our daily lives and see a future worth working towards. As a slightly less than popular kid I gravitated towards his stories, mostly of overcoming difficulties and accepting new and different cultures. He had a great vision and I'm glad it's being celebrated.

HE'LL SAVE EVERYONE OF US!

The Hollywood Reporter has announced that the Sci-Fi Channel has found their lead for their upcoming series, Flash Gordon.


Smallville alum Eric Johnson, who portrayed Clark Kent's nemesis Whitney Fordham, has signed to play the classic comic strip hero in the 22-hour series. Casting is still underway for Flash's allies Dale Arden and Dr. Hans Zarkov and arch-nemesis Ming the Merciless.




Flash Gordon was created by Alex Raymond. Flash Gordon the series is being is expected to premiere this August on the Sci-Fi Channel.

PREPARE TO BE AMAZED!!! THE RAYGUN BLOG!!!

There's something achingly beautiful about a retro-futuristic toy raygun. You look at those sleek Buck Rogers faux-deco designs, or better yet those fantastic steampunk Victorian knob and gear designs and you think of the world that was to be and isn't. I don't know if the future is what you wanted it to be when you were a kid, but is there anyone out there who, like me, would trade the internet and their iPod for a jetpack and a raygun?



Fortunately, there is a great blog that details these terrific toys in loving, high quality detail. One of them illustrates this post. The Toy Raygun Blog is described by it's owner thusly,
"This blog is simply a record & gallery of my toy ray / space gun collection. Each time I get a new addition to my collection I will post a picture & some info about it as well as estimated value. Hopefully other collectors will find this site of interest."

DOCTOR WHO SEASON 3: MARCH 31, 2007

Crank up your bit torrents and Gnutella search engines because Doctor Who returns to the BBC at 7PM on March 31, 2007. You can check out some trailers here. Following last years tearful goodbye to Rose (Billie Piper) and a new Christmas Special, The Runaway Bride, season one of the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood and a sneak peek at The Sarah Jane Adventures, it might seem to many that the Doctor, played by David Tennant, has never really left... but the best sci-fi show on television (take that, Battlestar Galactica drones) is returning with an all new companion (played by Freema Agyeman) and promises the return this year of one of the Doctor's greatest foes, The Master.

Anyone who watched Torchwood also remembers that series ended on a cliffhanger of sorts. After Jack Harkness saved the world he was picked up by the TARDIS and disappeared, leaving the team leaderless and adrift. His story will pick up towards the end of season three, and then, presumably, carry over back into Torchwood season 2.

This new idea, of turning Doctor Who into a cottage industry of BBC shows, The Sarah Jane Adventures for kids, Torchwood for adults and Doctor Who for everyone, is simply brilliant, and long overdue. The genius of the new shows is how perfectly they captures the essence of what made the old show so great yet still bring a fresh, modern sensibility to it.

Do yourself a favor and watch it.

FRAKKING GOOD NEWS FOR GALACTICA FANS

According to tvweek.com, the Sci Fi Channel has increased its fourth season order of Battlestar Galactica to 22 episodes. This extends the previously announced season order of 13 episodes and also includes a special two-hour Galactica "event" to air during the fourth quarter of 2007, prior to a dvd release.

The Peabody-Award winning series, currently concluding it's third season, is executive produced by Ronald D. Moore and David Eick. The fourth season will launch in early 2008.

So say we all.