Home Featured TV Shows All TV Shows Movie Reviews Book Reviews Articles Frequently Asked Questions About Us

Doux News: March 29, 2015

This week: Another Star Trek series? -- Summer goodness: The Walking Dead and Continuum -- Alberta Watson -- This week in casts and a bit of Whedon-related news -- This week in cats

According to an article on CinemaBlend, there's a possibility that we may get more Star Trek on television. The rumor is centered around Bryan Singer, who is no lightweight in the science fiction world. The new series might even be about a darker version of the future, with the Federation nearing dissolution.

I'm somewhat divided about this. Part of me thinks that since this is pretty much the golden age of television, maybe it's time for another group of talented people to tackle a new Star Trek. Another part of me is discouraged by and frustrated with the hypercritical state of some of the bitter and entrenched Star Trek fandom. Many of them hated the last series, Star Trek: Enterprise (it ended in 2005, after only four seasons), and many despise the new J.J. Abrams movie franchise, too. How would they feel about a new Trek? Would they support a new series or constantly trash it? And does it matter if new fans love it?

I'll admit that part of me thinks that maybe there has been enough Star Trek. (I said 'maybe'.) Six live action series (and one cartoon series that no one mentions). Twelve movies, with another on its way. There is plenty of Star Trek to be had. Do we need more? Do we want more? I'd be interested in what you all think. Post a comment!

Summer Goodness: The Walking Dead and Continuum

The much discussed Walking Dead prequel series that starts airing this summer just got a title: Fear the Walking Dead. Really? They can't find a better title than that? I absolutely hate it. What do you guys think?

According to showrunner Simon Barry's twitter feed, Continuum's fourth and final season has begun production and will air on Showcase starting July 26. We don't know when it will air on Syfy, but hopefully not much later than that.

Alberta Watson

I am sad to report that Alberta Watson, probably best known for her roles on 24 and La Femme Nikitahas died after a battle with cancer. She was also fighting cancer during the run of La Femme Nikita (1997-2001), one of the first shows that I fell wildly in love with and reviewed.

This week in casts and a bit of Whedon-related news

Since we're talking about Star Trek this week, Sir Patrick Stewart has landed a new role on a series called Blunt Talk on Starz. Personally, I think Patrick Stewart can do anything, but am I ready for him playing a jerk in a half hour comedy?

TV Line did an interview with John Noble that isn't long enough, but includes some enjoyable tidbits. My favorite is that he could have played Walter Bishop forever because he loved the character so much. He was also unhappy with the second season of Sleepy Hollow, not a surprise.

James Marsters will be playing a reverend during the Salem witch trials in Jenji Kohan's pilot for HBO, The Devil You Know. The cast also includes Eddie Izzard and Karen Gillan.

Masi Oka will return as Hiro Nakamura in Heroes Reborn. I'm just reporting the news. I sort of have this snake bird fascination with Heroes Reborn, which I am expecting to turn out to be a huge train wreck.

The Russo brothers (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) will be directing the Avengers movies three and four. That's good news, since Joss Whedon cannot clone himself.

This week in cats

Roving Doux Reviews correspondent Josie Kafka has discovered the existence of an undoubtedly expensive cat condo in the shape of the Titanic. I think it's adorable, but I also find it just a little ... I don't know. Fate-tempting? Maybe I'm being silly, though. No one is about to take a cat condo out on the open water.


---
Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

19 comments:

  1. I would totally be up for a new Star Trek show! That said, Im a huge fan of the JJ Abrams films so I'm definitely not representative of the traditional fans.

    Also, I noticed that you didn't mention the biggest news of the past week - the X-Files mini series being officially ordered! Sooo excited :)

    Sancho

    ReplyDelete
  2. I would also love any new star trek and I like Enterprise and the new movies so perhaps I am not rabid enough of a fan. All things should grow and change - if Walking Dead has taught us anything it's that clinging to the past is a bad thing :). I'm not sure I'm up for something with ambiguous heroes though. I need my Enterprise to be full of the enlightened good guys. A rotten apple is okay but not a whole ship of them.

    As for the Titanic, it seems a bit morbid although the cats seem to really enjoy it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I would love a new Star Trek series and I think we can make as much of it as we want, with the format being so flexible. I really hate the suggestion it's going to be 'darker' though. Star Trek's format - idealistic, with the emphasis on Space Wedgies of the Week rather than arc plots - isn't very fashionable at the moment, but that's what Star Trek *is*, that's *why* we love it. Part of Enterprise's problem was trying to be like other things and failing. So I would love a new series, but only if it reflects what I love about Star Trek, which is fun, good humour, likeable characters and a neat little SFF story or parable each week.

    ReplyDelete
  4. (I realise that makes me sound like a dinosaur that hates change, which isn't entirely true! More women in the regular cast who don't have to wear catsuits would be a good change to start with. I don't want a series mired in the 1960s - but change for the sake of change isn't necessarily a good idea either and the optimism of Star Trek is what's so appealing about it for me).

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have been saying for years they should make a Trek set after DS9 and the Dominion war. I will watch whatever they decide to make, but I hope for something more mature with relevant stories rather than the action movie-y stuff of the JJ Abrams films.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh holy frak..I'm gonna miss Alberta Watson..Madeline from Nikita was a classic character.
    I'd be game for a new Star Trek series..

    ReplyDelete
  7. Juliette, I hate to disagree with you about why Enterprise failed, but the reason was exactly the opposite of what you said. The first season was a carbon copy of what we had gotten before, and without much thought put into the characters or premise. It wasn't until season 3 and 4 when they started to innovate that some viewers returned, but unfortunately it was far too late to save the series. All the major fanbase had jumped ship.

    I would love to see another Trek, and I think a bit of darkness is fine. Star Trek is a wonderful series about optimism, but the world is awfully sterile. If things were a bit rough around the edges, and the world itself had darkened somewhat. In that context there could be somewhat weightier characters, which might make the idea of optimism and fighting for the Federation standard of life a bit more worthwhile.

    Since the Russo brothers are getting a lot of praise for Captain America: The Winter Soldier and they are also helming Civil War, having them take over for Joss might be perfect. It might also free Joss up to direct the Captain Marvel movie, although I understand Marvel is looking for a female director.

    Fear the Walking Dead is just a horrible title. Patrick Steward as an ass, I'm not sure I wanna watch that. Titanic cat condo is so cute, and so morbid, I love it.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I would love to see a nre Trek series but only if they could find a fresh angle so it doesn't feel like a carbon copy of what has gone before. it doesn't have to be dark, but I bit of grit wouldn't be unwelcome. Above all else, it has to have a rich cast of characters who we can become invested in, something VOY and ENT lacked IMHO.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I lean towards wishing for new things in new 'verses, rather than continually going back to old wells --- hence my tepid reaction to this week's X-Files news --- but ultimately it all comes down to characters (as Mark says) and execution. Even old wells can give us great new material sometimes. I was fairly skeptical about the whole notion of Better Call Saul when it was announced, and remained pretty skeptical until after I had actually seen a couple episodes. But now I'm really enjoying it. So we'll just have to see what transpires.

    Hopefully, whatever they do, the creatives find a way to be respectful to the existing fan base. The optimistic v. darker tone discussion going on here keeps making me think of the debacle in the Stargate 'verse when they ended SGA and introduced SGU. Not the way to handle a change in tone, folks!

    I really hate that title for the new Walking Dead show.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I suppose ENT's main problem was that early episodes were quite dull, it's true. And I like the 2009 movie a lot. But VOY is my all time favourite, which I guess just proves that I like different things than everyone else anyway!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Totally agree with you, JD. I'd definitely be up for that kind of Trek. I'm not a fan of the new movies just because I don't think we needed a reboot of TOS. Let's see something different! And the (slightly) darker DS9 is my favourite Trek after TOS.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I haven't been brave enough to watch the new Star Trek movies, but I couldn't watch Enterprise because they seemingly threw out Roddenberry's back story. If they're going to do a new Star Trek series, I hope they at least get the universe's history right.

    And does anyone else think the digitally added ships to TOS look worse than the old models? Stupid CGI, the ships on a string looked better!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Billie:
    Thank you for including Alberta Watson here. She will be missed. To me, there's never been a female character even close to Madeline. She was just outstanding in LFN.

    ReplyDelete
  14. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Alberta Watson as Madeline was a tour de force. It was the first show (to my recollection) that didn't pander... to audiences... to networks... to make bad and/or ambiguous characters good. You usually see a popular character that starts bad, gradually change to become good. They steadfastly refused to do that with Madeline. And week after week, I was amazed. 60 is simply too young, especially for someone like Ms. Watson.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I'd love a new Trek series, but not from JJ please. I'm done watching any TV from him after the travesty that was lost.

    Manny Coto did great work in Enterprise's S4 (except the horrible HORRIBLE ending), just hire him.

    As for the films, the first one was very nice, even if it had a couple of big holes (nobody would let Kirk stay as captain), it only had a bit too much fanservice. ST2?. There is a reason everybody calls it STAR TREK: INTO STUPIDITY. I fear both what ST3 and SW7 will bring after ST2.

    PS.- RIP Alberta :(

    ReplyDelete
  17. I think the main problem with Enterprise is the producers told themselves, "We have Star Trek... we have Scott Bakula... our work here is done." I could literally feel the utter lack of effort when the show premiered. Then after 9/11 the show became all terrorism, all the time. Who wanted to see that on an entertainment show as well as the evening news? Remember the aliens who were thinly veiled allegories of the Israelis and Palestinians, complete with relocation camps? Ugh!

    I also agree that making a show "darker" and "edgier" is gruesomely cliched at this point. Do writers really come up with something like that and then congratulate themselves on their "fresh thinking"?

    ReplyDelete
  18. I sort of have this snake bird fascination with Heroes Reborn, which I am expecting to turn out to be a huge train wreck.

    I had never heard the expression "snake bird fascination" before, and although context clued me in to the meaning, I googled it and came up with some fairly cool, and entirely irrelevant, stuff about Aztec gods.

    That google search was probably more fun than Heroes Reborn will be.

    And yet I will watch it anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Sad to hear about Alberta Watson. Her Madeline will forever be one of the greatest TV villains ever.

    ReplyDelete

We love comments! We moderate because of spam and trolls, but don't let that stop you! It’s never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.