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03-23-2009, 10:46 AM
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
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SCI FI/Syfy Plans Three New Miniseries
So The Phantom won't be The Phantom then, huh?
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/...fbe8a0cd8d42fe
Quote:
Sci Fi sets up three RHI miniseries
Trio includes 'Wonderland' retelling, new 'Phantom' take
By James Hibberd
March 22, 2009, 11:00 PM ET
Related
More pilot news
Sci Fi has greenlighted a trio of miniseries fantasy projects, including two that will serve as potential series pilots, and two of which are based on classic titles.
The network has ordered a retelling of "Alice in Wonderland"; a fresh take on the comic-book hero "The Phantom"; and "Riverworld," from a series of fantasy books by Philip Jose Farmer. All the projects are four-hour movies from prolific production company RHI Entertainment.
"Riverworld," about a photojournalist transported to a mysterious world occupied by everyone who has ever lived on Earth, and "Phantom" will air as backdoor pilots -- titles under consideration for a series order contingent on drawing a large enough audience. It's the programming model the network has used with success before, as in the case of "Battlestar Galactica."
"The four-hour format allows us to command large dollars around the world for our shows that puts about ($4 million-$6 million) of production on the screen per hour," said Robert Halmi Jr., president and CEO of RHI entertainment. "It gives the network a chance to try a concept with the same production values, if not better, than you'd get for a series."
The new "Alice" promises to be different than previous incarnations (more than a few of which were produced by RHI). The project is written and directed by Nick Willing, who also did Sci Fi's highly rated "Wizard of Oz" revamp "Tin Man."
"We thought 'Alice' was the perfectly underlying material to tell a classic story with a modern twist," Halmi said. "We'll have new incredible worlds and a more grown-up feel."
Sci Fi Channel executive vp original programming Mark Stern pointed out that weaknesses in the original "Alice" story, which often was more about the passing scenery than character development, allow for more leeway and modernization than most fantasy tales.
"Lewis Carroll was more concerned about politics and satire then telling a mythological story," Stern said. "You're not really engaged with Alice in a proactive and emotionally fulfilling way."
"Phantom" has been adapted a few times without much success, but Halmi said the previous stumbles are a good reason to try again.
"That there hasn't been a successful 'Phantom' leaves the door wide open for us, since nobody has made it their own yet," Halmi said.
Sci Fi appreciates that the crusader doesn't have superpowers and is more in the grounded vein of Iron Man and Batman. "It's not a guy in purple tights," Stern said.
"Riverworld" could have the most series potential if producers pull off the novel's tricky combination mixing a modern protagonist with reborn historical figures.
" 'Riverworld' has a little bit of everybody's' idea of heaven and everybody's hell," Halmi said of the setting.
Characters in the story's world will be portrayed by actors in their 20s, so somebody like Napoleon wouldn't be "a balding man with his hand in his coat."
"Part of the fun of this is the reveal of who each character is," Stern said.
"Alice" is planned for the winter, "Riverworld" and "Phantom" coming next year. RHI also is doing "Meteor" and "The Storm" for NBC in the summer. The Sci Fi backdoor pilots are part of RHI's effort to expand from movies to series programming.
"They're one of the few production companies that are still doing longform and really doing it well," Stern said. "They have an economic model that most of us are mystified about, the way they're able to fund their shows and make a deal very attractive for us."
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"Art is a house that tries to be haunted." - Emily Dickinson
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03-23-2009, 10:50 AM
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Seacoast NH
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Just promise me that RDM will not have ANYTHING to do with Philip Jose Farmer's excellent "Riverworld" and I'll be happy. I'm slightly concerned that the protagonist is an oh-so-trendy photojournalist though.
As to "Phantom" I'm not much of a fan of comic book stuff since elementary school. I'll admit the latest Batperson movie was good though.
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03-23-2009, 10:57 AM
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#3
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
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Quote:
Originally Posted by philw1776
Just promise me that RDM will not have ANYTHING to do with Philip Jose Farmer's excellent "Riverworld" and I'll be happy. I'm slightly concerned that the protagonist is an oh-so-trendy photojournalist though.
As to "Phantom" I'm not much of a fan of comic book stuff since elementary school. I'll admit the latest Batperson movie was good though.
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I was one of the three people, apparently, that thoroughly enjoyed the 1996 film version of The Phantom.
I guess due to the intense criticism of their initial attempt at adapting Riverworld (I've never read it so I'm merely a casual observer.), SCI FI/Syfy's farming it out to a third party.
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"Art is a house that tries to be haunted." - Emily Dickinson
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03-23-2009, 11:00 AM
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#4
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Lighten Up!
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Melmac
Posts: 26,475
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Three new reasons why I don't watch Sci Fi channel....
Ok...I lied...we DVR Ghost Hunters on Sci-Fi.... 
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03-23-2009, 11:29 AM
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#5
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I am Groot!
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 27,415
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Quote:
Originally Posted by philw1776
Just promise me that RDM will not have ANYTHING to do with Philip Jose Farmer's excellent "Riverworld" and I'll be happy. I'm slightly concerned that the protagonist is an oh-so-trendy photojournalist though.
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Well, the Sci-Fi Channel has already proven it doesn't need RDM to screw up Riverworld.
Maybe SyFy Channel will do a better job!
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“I trust the Doctor.”
“You think he knows what he's doing?”
“I wouldn't go that far.”
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03-23-2009, 11:30 AM
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#6
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2004
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob Helmerichs
Well, the Sci-Fi Channel has already proven it doesn't need RDM to screw up Riverworld.
Maybe SyFy Channel will do a better job! |
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"Art is a house that tries to be haunted." - Emily Dickinson
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03-23-2009, 01:00 PM
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#7
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Enjoying being a Dad
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Chicagoland
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Quote:
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Characters in the story's world will be portrayed by actors in their 20s, so somebody like Napoleon wouldn't be "a balding man with his hand in his coat."
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To me this is reason enough not to watch this show. To me it sounds like it is aimed at kids (hey look everyone is in their twenties!). I'm sick of shows that think they'll be successful if everyone looks young and pretty (but otherwise have no talent).
I want to see real people with character lines and little make up. Basically, someone who you would think of as a real person.
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03-23-2009, 01:35 PM
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#8
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I am Groot!
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 27,415
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kjnorman
To me this is reason enough not to watch this show. To me it sounds like it is aimed at kids (hey look everyone is in their twenties!). I'm sick of shows that think they'll be successful if everyone looks young and pretty (but otherwise have no talent).
I want to see real people with character lines and little make up. Basically, someone who you would think of as a real person.
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Of course, that would make no sense.
Why would the aliens create new bodies for famous people that are exactly the age of the most famous portraits of them?
Logically, the bodies would be at their physical prime. (I can't remember how the books dealt with that...)
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“I trust the Doctor.”
“You think he knows what he's doing?”
“I wouldn't go that far.”
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03-23-2009, 01:59 PM
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#9
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Custom User Title
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Location: Location:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob Helmerichs
Of course, that would make no sense.
Why would the aliens create new bodies for famous people that are exactly the age of the most famous portraits of them?
Logically, the bodies would be at their physical prime. (I can't remember how the books dealt with that...)
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The bodies were 20-ish and in perfect health* (congential diseases and defects cured, physical deformities for the most part corrected, though psychological issues remained intact as they had brain-state from just prior to their death). And they remained that way (short of death, they could regenerate to their original state and death was merely followed by a subsequent resurrection). All the women were "born" virgins and all the men were circumcised. (I did a paper once on its symbolism and allegory for one of my comparative religion courses.)
*unless they died younger than that, in which case they were regenerated at their death age and aged to the 20-ish state.
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03-23-2009, 02:17 PM
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#10
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Devout Tivonian
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Brookline, MA
Posts: 707
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I liked Tin Man, so the Alice remake has potential. The other two, not so much.
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03-23-2009, 02:34 PM
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#11
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Registered User
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Location: Seacoast NH
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mrmike
The bodies were 20-ish and in perfect health* (congential diseases and defects cured, physical deformities for the most part corrected, though psychological issues remained intact as they had brain-state from just prior to their death). And they remained that way (short of death, they could regenerate to their original state and death was merely followed by a subsequent resurrection). All the women were "born" virgins and all the men were circumcised. (I did a paper once on its symbolism and allegory for one of my comparative religion courses.)
*unless they died younger than that, in which case they were regenerated at their death age and aged to the 20-ish state.
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Precisely. That's how Farmer wrote it. Of course having a good looking, 20 something cast is a perfect fit for a TV series. And unknown 20 somethings work cheaper than name players.
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03-23-2009, 02:59 PM
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#12
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Huntersville, NC
Posts: 243
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Quote:
Originally Posted by philw1776
Precisely. That's how Farmer wrote it. Of course having a good looking, 20 something cast is a perfect fit for a TV series. And unknown 20 somethings work cheaper than name players. |
But they don't usually work better, though.
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03-23-2009, 03:35 PM
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#13
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Style and Panache
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Northern New Jersey
Posts: 45,487
TC CLUB MEMBER
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I also liked the Phantom movie with Billy Zane, although I would've vastly preferred Catherine Zeta-Jones as Diana Palmer instead of that insipid Kristy Swanson.
I don't have any faith, however, in SyFy's ability to reimagine the Ghost Who Walks in any way that I'd enjoy.
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03-23-2009, 09:04 PM
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#14
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Missed left turn
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Posts: 1,220
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Quote:
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"Lewis Carroll was more concerned about politics and satire then telling a mythological story," Stern said. "You're not really engaged with Alice in a proactive and emotionally fulfilling way."
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Aside from dishing on Lewis, I didn't see any mention of exactly how they're gonna make this more proactive and emotionally fulfilling. Nor exactly what that means. What, Miley Cyrus or Taylor Swift as Alice?
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Sci Fi appreciates that the crusader doesn't have superpowers and is more in the grounded vein of Iron Man and Batman. "It's not a guy in purple tights," Stern said.
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I never followed The Phantom all that closely, but isn't he a guy in purple tights? Maybe this version will be called "The Phantym".
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03-23-2009, 09:23 PM
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#15
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: sunnyvale
Posts: 13,827
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FilmCritic3000
I was one of the three people, apparently, that thoroughly enjoyed the 1996 film version of The Phantom.
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Five.. Well, maybe "thoroughly enjoyed" might be a TINY bit too much -- but basically I don't know why everyone else hates it so much. I remember enjoying it at the time. I have no great need to see it again.. and that is the first thing I think of when I hear of Billy Zane.
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03-23-2009, 09:35 PM
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#16
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mattack
Five.. Well, maybe "thoroughly enjoyed" might be a TINY bit too much -- but basically I don't know why everyone else hates it so much. I remember enjoying it at the time. I have no great need to see it again.. and that is the first thing I think of when I hear of Billy Zane.
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I can remember popcorn tubs at the theater back then had a tie-in with that film - Billy Zane in The Phantom garb with his ring featured prominently and the tagline "Slam Evil!"
I don't know why I didn't see it in the theater back then. I wanted to but I guess it just never worked out.
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"Art is a house that tries to be haunted." - Emily Dickinson
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03-23-2009, 09:38 PM
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#17
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Enjoying being a Dad
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Chicagoland
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mrmike
The bodies were 20-ish and in perfect health* (congential diseases and defects cured, physical deformities for the most part corrected, though psychological issues remained intact as they had brain-state from just prior to their death). And they remained that way (short of death, they could regenerate to their original state and death was merely followed by a subsequent resurrection). All the women were "born" virgins and all the men were circumcised. (I did a paper once on its symbolism and allegory for one of my comparative religion courses.)
*unless they died younger than that, in which case they were regenerated at their death age and aged to the 20-ish state.
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Okay, I can see where that is coming from. I'll give SyFy a little bit of grace then as that was how it was written in the book. Guess I was just feeling a bit old and a lot of people on TV are now beginning to look a significant bit younger than me... 
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03-23-2009, 09:54 PM
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#18
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Loosely wound
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Sinnoh region
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I enjoyed the Billy Zane Phantom as well. I never understood why it was so hated.
This part makes me cringe:
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"Part of the fun of this is the reveal of who each character is," Stern said.
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That could turn each episode really stupid, really quickly.
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03-23-2009, 10:26 PM
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#19
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2004
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mars Rocket
I enjoyed the Billy Zane Phantom as well. I never understood why it was so hated.
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Nor did I. I think Ebert's review was spot-on, comparing it to an updated version of a serial from the 1940s.
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"Art is a house that tries to be haunted." - Emily Dickinson
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03-24-2009, 12:56 AM
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#20
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Registered User
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Count me in as liking the film version of "The Phantom" as well. It had a terrific, fun-loving spirit (no pun intended) to it and a nice sense of humor -- and visually looked great too.
I'm excited to hear that they're going to have a go at it!
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03-24-2009, 01:07 AM
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#21
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2004
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Quote:
Originally Posted by atrac
Count me in as liking the film version of "The Phantom" as well. It had a terrific, fun-loving spirit (no pun intended) to it and a nice sense of humor -- and visually looked great too.
I'm excited to hear that they're going to have a go at it!
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Let us hope it doesn't turn out like SCI FI/Syfy's TV series version of Flash Gordon.
The horror...the horror...
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"Art is a house that tries to be haunted." - Emily Dickinson
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03-24-2009, 05:07 AM
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#22
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Look 37" sideways
Join Date: Oct 2003
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As for them doing "The Phantom" with the intention of changing it, I wonder if anyone there remembers the "success" they had doing the same thing with Flash Gordon last season?
As for "Riverworld", they've already done a pilot movie for that a couple/few years ago, and nothing came of it. Why in the world are they doing another (no doubt with a different cast and an abandoning of the first one)?
EDIT:
Oops! Film Critic got there before me with regards to FG, and Rob Helmerichs regarding Riverworld!
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Last edited by gastrof : 03-24-2009 at 05:13 AM.
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03-24-2009, 06:54 AM
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#23
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Meh.
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: 15 mins from Philly
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FilmCritic3000
Let us hope it doesn't turn out like SCI FI/Syfy's TV series version of Flash Gordon.
The horror...the horror...
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Even though the first 9, 10 or so episodes were pretty terrible, Flash Gordon wasn't all that bad at the end. I was sad to see it go.
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03-24-2009, 05:09 PM
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#24
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Registered User
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The Riverworld thing was pretty bad if I recollect. Maybe they are giving the entire thing another try.
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03-24-2009, 05:36 PM
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#25
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Free Bradley Manning
Join Date: Aug 2003
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sieglinde
The Riverworld thing was pretty bad if I recollect.
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I could only watch it for about five minutes. When the guy rode up on his horse and gave his little speech... I was done. 
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03-24-2009, 05:41 PM
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#26
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I am Groot!
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 27,415
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sieglinde
The Riverworld thing was pretty bad if I recollect. Maybe they are giving the entire thing another try.
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They are. This is a new 4-hour backdoor pilot.
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“I trust the Doctor.”
“You think he knows what he's doing?”
“I wouldn't go that far.”
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03-25-2009, 07:09 AM
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#27
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KMT Soccer Playa
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Fairfax Station, VA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob Helmerichs
They are. This is a new 4-hour backdoor pilot.
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backdoor pilot...I don't know what that means, but it sounds...um...never mind
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03-25-2009, 07:19 AM
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#28
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I am Groot!
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 27,415
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Anubys
backdoor pilot...I don't know what that means, but it sounds...um...never mind |
If you're serious, a back-door pilot is a TV movie or miniseries that is designed to be turned into a series if it's successful.
If you're not... 
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“I trust the Doctor.”
“You think he knows what he's doing?”
“I wouldn't go that far.”
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03-25-2009, 07:24 AM
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#29
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KMT Soccer Playa
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Fairfax Station, VA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob Helmerichs
If you're serious, a back-door pilot is a TV movie or miniseries that is designed to be turned into a series if it's successful.
If you're not... |
I was both...I didn't know what it meant but I knew it would make a great title for a porn flick!
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03-25-2009, 09:33 PM
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#30
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Registered User
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