Personally, I think the problem can be traced to the same idiocy that caused the SciFi channel to change their name to Syfy. If you are trying to appeal to science fiction fans, why would you want to disguise the fact that you are showing science fiction on your channel? Especially since that just enrages SF fans. Of course, it wasn’t like they were really showing much SF by that point anyway, but still. This attempt to straddle the line–keeping the sound of the name while trying to move away from the SF genre doesn’t make anyone happy.

There certainly is some SF on network tv, but it is not as popular or as emphasized as it has been in the past. I really like The Event, but the extended hiatus combined with a big change in format took away a lot of the joy and the viewers. I really enjoyed the time jumps of the first part of the season–the complexity made the hour fly by for me. The straightforward, dumbed-down approach they took when they came back took out some of the excitement. I still liked it, though, and wish it had gotten another season.

Then there is Chuck, which is marketed as a spy show, but is totally science fiction, complete with the geek boys working in computers and still owning their collectible Star Wars action figures. But, although I love the cast, and there are a lot of really cool moments (I particularly love the brilliant casting of Linda Hamilton and Scott Bakula as Chuck’s parents! They are perfect scifi parents!), there is just a bit too much awkwardness in the plot for me. I watch it, because my mom comes over for dinner on Monday nights and she watches with my kids. If they weren’t there, I wouldn’t turn it on.

I do try not to watch too much tv, because I have too many other things to do, so I may be missing something, but I can’t really think of anything else on network television here in the States. It seems like I would know if there was, since I do watch tv and see commercials, but if anyone else has SF, they must be keeping it a secret.

On the other hand, BBC America agressively promotes their Supernatural Saturdays. I don’t have to be watching Doctor Who to see commercials about it. Doctor Who, Outcasts and Bedlam just wrapped up their season, and they will be re-airing Outcasts along with rebooting the entire Battlestar Galactica franchise starting next week. The front page of their website prominently displays a link to their new blog: The Supernatural. There is not a lot there yet, but it looks like they are regularly updating it every Thursday.

Doctor Who spoilers below – don’t read this if you aren’t caught up, or don’t want to be spoiled on the most recent episode!

I am just starting to realize how awesome this channel is, because I started really watching Doctor Who regularly this season. I had so much fun with this week’s episode, too! (This is where you should look away if you haven’t seen it yet, or seen a spoiler elsewhere.) I love that Amy and Rory accidentally created a new Time Lord (Lady?) by spending their wedding night on the Tardis! I love that they lost their baby and found her at the same time, although that has to be the weirdest parent child relationship ever. I kind of hate that we now know what River is in prison for, and that some of the big surprises seem to be revealed, but this is a show with time travel, so things could still change, right?

What I am really excited about, though, is the possibility that the death of this doctor, which we saw at the beginning of this season was a final death, no chance for reincarnation, does not have to be the end of the series. I know that River died in the first episode we saw with her, but now that we know that she is a Time Lord, that doesn’t have to mean she is permanently dead. A new series with a female Time Lord would be so very cool!

In the meantime, I will be checking out more of the BBC American SF offerings. I have seen them here and there, but I didn’t want to add another show to my TV time. However, if Primeval and Being Human start showing again, I think I will have to boot something else. The Brits know how to do high quality, intelligent SF, and they aren’t ashamed of it. That is my kind of TV!

Gaming hottie Zachary Levi, is set to return to his role on Chuck and it couldn’t be soon enough! We’ve waited all fall season for Chuck and The Watcher posted the press release with information about the new season.

The season launches on January 10 with a back-to-back original episodes for the premier. The show will then move to it’s normal time, Mondays 8-9pm starting January 11.

“Josh (Schwartz) and Chris (Fedak) and the writing team are doing a great job this season, and we think the loyal fan base for this show will be happy to see it back on the NBC schedule,” said Angela Bromstad, President, Primetime Entertainment, NBC and Universal Media Studios.

The cast is back for another season and will have more guest stars this season. In a previous interview, Zachary Levi told us that he will be directing an episode of Chuck this season.

“He did a wonderful job,” Fedak said. “Directing ‘Chuck’ is really difficult — the directors have to be proficient not only with the comedy but with the acting, and those are the two most time-consuming things. Our directors are really running a marathon for those seven or eight days that we’re in production. So when the person who’s at the center of the show on a regular basis — Zachary — is directing, it was, ‘Can he physically do that without somehow splitting himself and genetically producing another Zachary Levi?’ But he did it with such smarts and such energy.”

Liberty Mutual is sponsoring the Responsibility Project which uses entertainment to create a forum for people to discuss personal acts of responsibility. For the films they have asked a group of NBC stars to answer the question, What does responsibility mean to you? The stars were asked to come up with the concept, write and direct the 60 second short film. Those films will debut all week on NBC. Zachary Levi met with a few of us journalists to talk about his experience.

Zachary Levi is the star of Chuck and this holiday will be a voice in Alvin and the Chipmunks: the Squeakwil. He used his production company, Coattails Entertainment to work with him on his first time directing. The film is called, The Chase, and will be on October 13 during the Biggest Loser. Here is the Q & A with Zachary Levi:

Q: What is it like to direct for the first time and directing yourself (he’s in the film)?

A:Very interesting (laughs). I started directing a bit in theater but this is the first film that I’ve directed so I’m really excited about it. NBC brought the idea up and I wanted to use it as practice for directing Chuck (he will be directing an episode of Chuck). Hiring the crew from Chuck helped us accomplish a lot in a few days.

Q: What was the most challenging aspect of directing a one minute short film?

A: It’s very difficult because it’s only one minute. Having never directed before, it’s hard. It came down to the editing room and friends at NBC were able to put their input. I’m proud of the 60 second spot and I learned alot.

Q: What advice do you have for new directors?

A: There are so many aspects to directing. Be prepared. Don’t feel you can wing it.

Q: Have you ever lost a wallet or found one?

A: I have lost a wallet and found one. Sometimes you see a stray $20 and I try to put myself in the loser’s shoes. With the Chase, I wanted to make something that you didn’t know what it was about until the end. Returning a lost wallet is a perfect example of personal responsibility.

Q: When can we see Chuck on tv again?

A: Check will be on March 1 or around then. NBC picked it up for mid-season. Unless something unforeseeable happens.

Q: Do you have an interest in directing webisodes?

A: I feel like webisodes should be what everyone wants them to be which should be an answer to what television is but online. But not sure if it’s there yet. I have seen some well published webisodes, but people yearn for more than just 3 minute shows. I would like to direct webisodes but not necessarily in the way they currently are.

Q: What do you think of the Chuck Halloween costume?

A: Has to be the coolest thing I’ve seen in my life. There are few things that strike you. I saw the Chuck comic book and was awestruck. If they ever make a Chuck video game I might die on the spot because that would be incredible.

Q: What does personal responsibility mean to you?

A: I don’t know if it’s going to mean much of any different. It’s an universal truth and the first step is to realize you aren’t alone and we’re all living in this world together.

Zachary was amazing and completely humble and nice during our interview. We love getting to talk to him on GamingAngels.com any chance we get!

Here is the breakdown of all the shorts you can see this week on NBC:
Monday Milo Ventimiglia will be directing a short film staring Masi Oka
Tuesday is the Zachary Levi piece during Biggest Loser
Wednesday is Connie Britton from Friday Night Lights during the Jay Leno Show. Her piece is about giving back in your community
Thursday is Jack McBrayer during 30 Rock. His is an animated short about being a temp in an office.
We round up the week on Friday with Anthony Anderson directing Jeremy Sisto during the episode of Law and Order.

If you miss any of the commercials they will all be on NBC.com after they air.

Hooray it’s Friday! Well that’s what most of you are cheering! I hope you are all ready to have a great weekend. Why not get it off to a great start by listening to today’s edition of 5@5?

We talk about PSP minis cost, Zachary Levi is humbled, and Marge taking it all off?

Here’s to the weekend! I’m going to play MySims Agents, what are you playing?

xoxo,
Trina

[podcast]http://www.gamingangels.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/audio-recording-4.mp3[/podcast]

The star of Chuck stated in an interview that he would “die on the spot because that would be incredible” if a Chuck video game was ever created. Zachary Levi stars in Chuck which has heavy game influences and he is a fan of video games himself.

In an interview discussing his directorial debut in a 60 second film series for Liberty Mutual, he stated that the coolest thing he’s seen in his life were people dressing up as Chuck for Halloween. Which was brought up during the conversation as a popular costume choice.

Another geeky moment for Zachary Levi was seeing the Chuck comic book. Zachary described himself as “awestruck” when they came out.

We’ll be posting the full interview and more information on the short film on GamingAngels.com tomorrow!

Warner Bros. Interactive

Warner Bros. Television Group sent an email that shows they are returning to San Diego Comic Con with some heavy star power. With eleven series being showcased in various panels, screenings, media appearances and autographs you should be able to meet up with stars from some of your favorite shows.

Here is a list of the shows and stars scheduled to attend:
“The Big Bang Theory”: Johnny Galecki (“Roseanne”), Jim Parsons (“Garden State”), Kaley Cuoco (“Charmed”), executive producer Chuck Lorre (“Two and a Half Men”) and more

“Chuck”: Zachary Levi (upcoming “Alvin and the Chipmunks”), Yvonne Strahovski (upcoming “I Love You Too”), executive producer Josh Schwartz (“Gossip Girl”) and more

“Eastwick”: Rebecca Romijn (“X-Men”), Lindsay Price (“Lipstick Jungle”), Jaime Ray Newman (“Veronica Mars”) and more

“Fringe”: Anna Torv (“The Pacific”), Josh Jackson (“Shutter”), John Noble (“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”) and more

“Human Target”: Mark Valley (“Fringe”), Chi McBride (“Pushing Daisies”), Jackie Earle Haley (“Watchmen,” “Nightmare on Elm Street”) and more

“Past Life”: Kelli Giddish (“Damages”), Nicholas Bishop (“Above the Law”), Ravi Patel (“Scrubs”) and executive producer David Hudgins (“Friday Night Lights”)

“Smallville”: Erica Durance (“House of the Dead”), Justin Hartley (“Gemini Division”), Cassidy Freeman (“Finishing the Game: The Search for a New Bruce Lee”) and more

“Supernatural”: Misha Collins (“24”), Jim Beaver (“Deadwood”), executive producer Eric Kripke and more

“V”: Elizabeth Mitchell (“Lost”), Scott Wolf (“Party of Five”) and executive producers Scott Peters (“The 4400”), Jeffrey Bell (“Angel,” “Alias”) and more

“The Vampire Diaries”: Ian Somerhalder (“Lost”), Paul Wesley (“Killer Movie), Nina Dobrev (“Degrassi: The Next Generation”), executive producer Kevin Williamson (“Scream”) and more

“Batman: The Brave and the Bold”: Voice of Batman Diedrich Bader (“Surf’s Up”) and more

Warner Bros Entertainment booth will be huge this year. With 3,000 square feet and two floors they will be giving out tons of giveaways this year. Last year the big “exclusive” was the Warner Bros Comic-Con bags and this year they are back again. At the booth you’ll be able to step into the Where the Wild Things Are fort, play Lego Rock Band, and win exclusive Harry Potter items.

Warner Bros already has the special “sneak peek” pilot screenings scheduled. Here they are if you want to start planning your Comic Con schedule around them:

FRIDAY, JULY 24

“Batman: The Brave and the Bold”: screening complete ‘Mayhem of the Music Meister!’ episode, which features the voice of Neil Patrick Harris (“Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog,” “How I Met Your Mother”)
“The Big Bang Theory”
New series “Past Life”: screening complete pilot in session

SATURDAY, JULY 25
“Chuck”
New series “Eastwick”: screening complete pilot in session
“Fringe”
New series “Human Target”: screening complete pilot in session
New series “V”: screening complete pilot in session
New series “The Vampire Diaries”: screening complete pilot in session

SUNDAY, JULY 26
“Smallville”
“Supernatural”

We look forward to bringing you interviews and coverage at this year’s San Diego Comic Con! Who would you love for us to talk to? What can’t you wait to get information on? We’ll also be giving away exclusives to those who can’t make the trip on GA if we can grab any!