Also, listen to find out how you can win a copy of RIFT. You know you want it.

Download the mp3 here.

As always, we encourage you to check out our partners in GamingAngels Presents: The Married Gamers, Game Dames and PrincessCast.

Be sure to take a listen to Blood Angels, our True Blood podcast.

If you want to see her, Elizabeth will be on a PAX Prime panel called “Infinite Respawn,” which examines gaming improving relationships. (It’s at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. Just getting you ready early.)

If you want to contact us, you’ve got tons of options!

Twitter: @GamingAngels

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You can also leave us a voicemail at (209) 874-6555.

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!

Her Universe is taking over geekdom one area at a time. SyFy just announced that they will be working with Her Universe to create SyFy branded collection of apparel and accessories for women. Items will be sold under the Syfy Gear label.

“This deal with Her Universe is especially exciting as Syfy’s audience continues to expand and become more gender balanced,” said Alan Seiffert, Senior Vice President, Syfy Ventures. “Her Universe has tapped into exactly what our female fans are looking for in cool genre apparel, and Syfy is uniquely positioned as a brand to partner on creating innovative collections in the space.”

“Today, close to half of all sci-fi fans are women,” said Ashley Eckstein, founder of Her Universe. “I created Her Universe to produce merchandise for this growing number of female fans. I am so excited to now expand our brand with Syfy Ventures to create a special collection that reflects the creativity and imagination of their eager female audience.”

Items will be sold at SyFy.com and HerUniverseShop.com and at conventions around the company during 2011. Can’t wait to see the new collection. In the meantime, check out the HerUniverseShop.com for the Star Wars collection.

WCG Ultimate Gamer is back for a second season and it starts this Thursday at 11/10c on SyFy. This season 12 competitors meet up to see if they have what it takes to be the Ultimate Gamer.

This season should be really interesting. Based on the lineup shown at wcgultimategamer.com, this season is all about hardcore. Starting with Justin Wong, well known Street Fighter 4 champion. We’ll have to see if he can compete on other games just as well.

The women represent with Vanessa who played in the now defunct, Championship Gaming Series. Vanessa was much feared by all the women in that league. She’s joined by Kat and Princess Aura, both who are leaders in the games they play.

Hopefully the drama will be left at home and all we’ll see is amazing game play.

Back again this year is our live blog! That’s right, in the pop culture blog on Thursday, we will have a live blog of the show (on east coast feed). Join us for the fun!!

There have been some epic battles in the past. Battles where you are forced to take a side. But kids of the 80′s might have never taken a side in the Debbie Gibson versus Tiffany pop queen battle. Or at least until the rumors about Tiffany dating a New Kid came about.

Syfy has sent over a video showing what the battle of the 80′s pop divas would be like. This is a clip from the upcoming film “Mega Python vs Gatoroid”.

The girls fight against each other and there is some fan service for guys. Which is weird since it was young female teens that idolized these two. But I have to admit that the end is funny.

Mega Python vs Gatoroid comes to SyFy in 2011. Enjoy the clip!

With a screenplay by Andrew Kreisberg of Warehouse 13, Fringe, Vampire Diaries and Boston Legal fame (one of these things is not like the other…) based on a story from Paul DeMeo (The Rocketeer, Flash, Viper, The Sentinel), Syfy seems confident that the movie will extend the world of Red Faction satisfactorily for fans.

This is all part of THQ’s initiative to introduce the Red Faction franchise to new audiences and increase public awareness of Red Faction Armageddon. (So, basically, they probably weren’t satisfied with sales of Red Faction: Guerilla. But you didn’t hear that from me.)

Here’s a quick summary of the movie:

Twenty-five years have passed since Alec Mason led the Martian Colonies to freedom…and ten years since vengeful enemies killed his wife, kidnapped his daughter Lyra, and left a broken hero in their wake.

Jake Mason, Alec’s last surviving son and a ranger in the Red Faction Militia, had never abandoned hope that somewhere in the raw outlands of Mars, his sister was still alive. Now, just as a powerful new enemy swarms across the planet, he’s found her, only to learn that his long lost sister is one of them…a cold-blooded soldier sworn to destroy the Red Faction and conquer the planet in the name of a madman.

Jake must now battle the relentless regime and somehow reunite a family torn apart by war.

Felicia Day noted on Twitter today the following:
I can finally say what I’m doing in Canada! RT: @georgeruiz: I see the word’s out about @feliciaday and @syfy: http://bit.ly/aFzZ2M

That’s right, the internet darling is going to be staring as Little Red Riding Hood in SyFy’s Original Movie Red. The movie is slated to premier in 2011.

Red is the first of a series of new films that will be taking on classic fairy tales. Maybe this is spurned by Alice. The new films will be launched with Beauty and the Beasts: A Dark Tale on February 27. Future tales include Aladdin, Sinbad the Sailor and Hansel & Gretel. It probably won’t stop there if they get a good amount of viewers.

In Red, Red brings her fiance home where he learns that her family hunts werewolves. But when he’s bitten by a werewolf the family insists that he has to be killed. Red tries to save him.

Very happy for Felicia that she has a staring role on SyFy and hopefully we’ll also hear about the next season of the Guild soon!

[source scifiwire

Don’t know the story? Here’s a synopsis:

What would you do if a child you saved grew up to be a Monster? An ice-cold killer is on the loose, and Dr. Kenzo Tenma is the only one who can stop him! Tenma, a brilliant neurosurgeon with a promising future, risks his career to save the life of a critically wounded young boy named Johan. When the boy, now a coldhearted and charismatic young man, reappears nine years later in the midst of a string of unusual serial murders, Tenma must go on the run to uncover the story of Johan and stop the Monster he set loose upon the world. Conspiracies, serial murders, and secret government experiments set against the grim backdrop of the former East Germany are masterfully woven together in this compelling psychological drama.

The series has also been nominated for a 2009 Eisner Award, and  you can still catch it on SyFy‘s Ani-Monday block or a week later on the Chiller channel. Just to be safe though, check your TV listings rather than take my word for it.

If you’d like info on the anime series be sure to visit monster.viz.com, and don’t forget that there is also a manga series which you can check out at www.vizsignature.com/monster.

The 1st DVD box set of Naoki Urasawa’s “Monster” contains 3 DVDs (episodes 1-15), is rated “M” for Mature Audiences, and is expected to cost about $59.90 U.S. / $85.99 CAN. This edition will also include an exclusive digital booklet – which is a digital version of the original Japanese booklet.

I had no idea that SyFy has an anime Monday block. Starting tonight on the SyFy Ani-Monday block is the premier of Naoki Urasawa’s Monster.

The title is definitely one for Halloween month! It’s a psychological suspense thriller that will air each Monday night and then be re-broadcast on channel Chiller the week after.

Here is some information on Monster:

What would you do if a child you saved grew up to be a monster? An ice-cold killer is on the loose, and Dr. Kenzo Tenma is the only one who can stop him! Tenma, a brilliant neurosurgeon with a promising future, risks his career to save the life of a critically wounded young boy named Johan. When the boy, now a coldhearted and charismatic young man, reappears nine years later in the midst of a string of unusual serial murders, Tenma must go on the run from the police who suspect him to be the killer to find Johan and stop the monster he set loose upon the world. Conspiracies, serial murders, and secret government experiments set against the grim backdrop of the formerly communist Eastern Europe are masterfully woven together in this compelling work of suspense.

Also tonight is Street Fighter Motion Comic (series) and Voltron Motion Comic (series).

Caprica

SyFy has announced the start date for Battlestar Galactica prequel, Caprica. The show is set to run January 22. The prequel takes place 58 years before Battlestar Galactica and stars Esai Morales, Eric Stoltz, Paula Malcomson and Polly Walker.

The pilot is two hours and SyFy has ordered another 20 hours for the show. “Caprica” will air at 10 p.m. Fridays. Visit the official Caprica site to ask the stars your questions.