THE ZOCALO TODAY – July 12, 2003

JMS PROJECT UPDATE

Here's the latest from JMS on his on-going projects:

Polaris is still making the rounds, so we'll see what happens on that
front. "World on Fire" is not do-able anymore because the events of
the world caught up with the story. (Essentially, it was about the
events leading up and following America getting into its next war,
starting with an attack on New York. Very eerily, nearly everything
that was in the script and the planned series has now happened, so
the show is now a moot issue.)

I've put my play "Among the Ruins" on a back burner for now, because
it got too clever for its own good, too slick, almost self-
consciously so...it needs time to season and develop the right kind
of maturity.

Comics: the first issue of Supreme Power comes out August 6th, and
it's going to be a terrific book. And Spidey continues apace, I'm
just about to start writing issue 500, a 38 page monster that
culminates a three-issue arc that encompasses much of Spidey's
history and some things that should be real surprises for people.

TV: I'm making the network rounds with the people at Marvel
Productions, pitching a new series, but that's all I can say about it
for the moment.

Audio: I've finished the 20 short scripts for "The Adventures of
Apocalypse Al" for a company that will be distributing them either
late fall or early Spring 2004. It's a very, very funny series.
Other than that, working on a novel, making the pitch rounds for
Midnight Nation as a feature, and taking some down time after
finishing season two of Jeremiah last month.

SAN DIEGO COMICON:

San Diego ComiCon will have some great guests again this year! Halle
Berry and Hugh Jackman, will be among the many stars appearing in San
Diego, July 17-20. July 18 will feature panels with Stan Lee and
Chase Masterson, Rob Zombie, cast members from Farscape, Edward James
Olmos and other stars from SCI FI's Battlestar Galactica. On July 19,
Halle Berry will talk about her upcoming supernatural horror film
Gothika. Angelina Jolie will preview Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The
Cradle of Life, and Robert Englund will discuss Freddy vs. Jason.
Director Sam Raimi will take part in a session about his upcoming
sequel film Spider-Man 2. Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman and
director Len Wiseman will preview their upcoming vampire vs. werewolf
film Underworld. Beckinsale will then join co-star Hugh Jackman and
director Stephen Sommers to sneak peek their upcoming monster mash
Van Helsing.

J. Michael Straczynski will, I'm sure, draw another huge crowd to
hear about Amazing Spiderman, Supreme Power and Jeremiah. I see JMS
on several panels on Saturday. The schedule can be found at
http://www.comic-con.org/Pages/CCI03-SatProg.html.

DISCUSSION TOPIC

With the new DVD for Season Three of Babylon 5 coming out on August
12, let's talk Season Three. What do you think was the most
significant episode of the season? What was the best episode?
Send in your comments to sgbruckner@... and I'll start posting
them on the Discussion Page for everyone to share.

RANGER SIGHTINGS

Ranger Tom reports that the May/June issue of "Audrey" magazine (a
magazine aimed at the Asian American community) contains an interview
with Daniel Dae Kim. The article also has several color photos of him
modeling trendy outfits. Evidently he had a small role in "The Hulk"
which due to editing is now a lot smaller.

KEEPING UP WITH CAST AND CREW

PETER WOODWARD: I talked to Peter on Thursday and he is very excited
about the second season of CONQUEST on the History Channel. New
episodes begin July 6. Peter is writer, co-producer and host of this
look at martial competition throughout history. It is a fun program
and airs on Sunday at 10:30pm.

MELISSA GILBERT: After some speculation, Melissa Gilbert's name was
placed before the SAG nomination committee Thursday with actor James
Cromwell for the new position of secretary-treasurer. No other
candidates have announced their intention to run. Gilbert was elected
in 2001 and has been involved in several tough fights, including a
push to adopt a new plan to regulate the relationship between actors
and talent agents. Gilbert and SAG staff strongly backed the plan,
which was overwhelmingly rejected by members. Gilbert also pushed a
consolidation with the American Federation of Television and Radio
Artists, a proposal that failed by a slim margin this week. Other
candidates have until July 24 to submit nominating petitions. Ballots
will be mailed to members Aug. 26 and are due Sept. 23.

BRUCE BOXLEITNER: Ranger Margaret reports some very good news for
Bruce Boxleitner fans. Bruce will have a recurring role in SHE SPIES,
a new series coming to us from MGM. According to Bruce's Fan Club, he
starts filming in July. SHE SPIES sounds like a Charlie's Angel-type
show and you can get more information at
http://www.mgm.com/shespies/main.html. I didn't see anything about
Bruce on the page, so that may follow as the site is updated.

SPECIAL B5 CAST ACTIVITIES

SCARECROW AND MRS. KING
20th Anniversary – 1983-2003
2003 marks the 20th anniversary of SCARECROW AND MRS. KING's debut on
CBS. A very special event is being planned. On October 17-19th at the
Beverly Garland Holiday Inn in Los Angeles, California, a celebration
is being planned. A number of guests have already confirmed --
including Bruce Boxleitner, Beverly Garland, Martha Smith, Paul Stout
and Greg Morton. For more information on activities related to the
anniversary, go to http://www.smk20thanniversary.com/.

CRUISE WITH PETER WOODWARD
Peter is considering cruising the Caribbean in early 2005 and wants
to invite his fans to join the fun. He would like to see if there is
sufficient interest before going too far into planning, so if you
would like to receive a brochure about Peter's upcoming cruise once
the details are finalized please advise of your:
Name:
Postal Address, City, State, Zip:
E-mail address:
Phone number:
Total number of guests in your party:
Age range of the guests including yourself:
Send this information to pwoodwardinfo@.... Any information you
send us will be handled respectfully. This is not a commitment from
you, just an indication of interest.

BOOKS OF INTEREST

BABYLON 5 NOVEL - RELEASE DATE JULY 29
TO DREAM IN THE CITY OF SORROWS
By Kathryn Drennan

Kathryn Drennan's TO DREAM IN THE CITY OF SORROWS is scheduled for
release on July 29, 2003. This is a re-print of the original novel –
but I love the new cover art! It can be pre-ordered from
www.amazon.com. For those of you who love Babylon 5, this one reads
just like an episode from the series. You just can't put it down.

SCIENCE FICTION TELEVISION SERIES: EPISODE GUIDES
Histories, and Casts and Credits for 62 Prime Time Shows, 1959
Through 1989
by Mark Phillips and Frank Garcia .

While this book has been out for a while (1996), there wasn't really
a lot of advertising or promotion for this reference book and you
could easily have missed it all together. However, copies show up on
e-bay every so often, so you may want to give it a look-see. You can
get more information on the book from the publisher's page at
http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/XJ&sdn=scifi&zu=http%3A%2F%
2Fwww.mcfarlandpub.com%2F and there is a review now posted at
http://scifi.about.com/cs/newsinformation/fr/scifitvseries.htm.
Looks like a terrific addition to any science fiction lover's book
shelf.

NEW SCI-FI PUBLICATIONS

CFQ 35.4: This issue promises a great deal for science fiction fans.
There is a big 16-page spread on SMALLVILLE. Also included Joss
Whedon looks back on BUFFY over it's seven-year run; Michael Shanks
returns to STARGATE SG-1 and drops a few hints about the seventh
season.

SCIFI RADIO

I-SCI-FI
I-SCI-FI will be re-broadcasting their interviews with The League of
Extraordinary Gentlemen cast and crew tonight from 7-9pm MDT (5-7pm
EDT). These are pre-recorded so you will not be able to call in and
be eligible for prizes. All of these people are special in different
ways. You are sure to enjoy Dave Lea, fight choreographer and cool
guy. He's been in several top flight movies and taught some of
Hollywood's 'A' list of actors and actresses how to fight and look
like they are fighting, including Sylvester Stallone, Sandra Bullock,
Ben Affleck, Colin Farrell and more. Check out his nearly one hour
interview! We had so much fun talking we lost track of time! He was
just here in Utah filming on the fourth Crow movie and you're going
to want to listen to every word he has to say.
If for some reason you have trouble getting the audio stream at I-SCI-
FI, try ufpgalaxy.org, cosmiclandscapes.com, and now at
radiostarfleet.com. Cosmic Landscapes, Radio Starfleet and UFPGalaxy
rebroadcast live Thursday nights from 7-9 pm MDT and Cosmic Redux
rebroadcasts the previous week's shows.

SCI-FI TALK
Tony Tellado has been very busy gathering interviews from the cast
and crew of MATRIX RELOADED. You can listen to interviews with Keanu
Reaves, Carrie Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburn Jada Pinkett Smith,
Monica Bellucci plus Producer Joe Silver and Efx Master John Gaeta
daily at Sci-Fi Talk At Live365.Com. The Matrix Page will feature
transcripts.
Be sure to check out Sci-Fi Talk's schedule on Broadcast Schedule -
http://hometown.aol.com/scifitalk/broadcast.htm.
Home Page - http://www.scifitalk.com
Listen To Sci-Fi Talk:
For 56K Modem or less connection -
http://www.live365.com/stations/211667
Cosmic Landscapes Radio - http://www.cosmiclanscapes.com
Broadcast Schedule - http://hometown.aol.com/scifitalk/broadcast.htm

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT

8:00 PM on the WB
Predator
Arnold Schwarzenegger and his commandos are stalked by a chameleonic
alien.

8:00 PM on ABC
Deep Rising
Just when you thought it was safe to get back on an extravagant,
unsinkable luxury liner, along came this 1998 horror flick about some
very hungry sea monsters. Treat Williams stars as John J. Finnegan,
whose boat is chartered by high-tech mercenaries plotting to pillage
a state-of-the-art cruise ship called the Argonautica.

"Minority Report" (2002) on HBO, 8:00pm - 10:30pm ET
John Anderton (Tom Cruise) is the Chief of "Pre-Crime," a police
division that taps into the brains of three pre-cognitive humans (pre-
cogs) to predict and stop deadly crimes before they happen. The
result is a society that hasn't had a murder in six years, but when
the pre-cogs deliver a shocking prediction -- that Anderton will kill
a man -- the stunned cop must run for his life while trying to prove
the prognostication is wrong. Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, and Max
Von Sydow co-star in this thrilling sci-fi flick from director Steven
Spielberg.

"Signs" (2002) on Starz!, 9:00pm - 11:00pm ET
Everything that farmer Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) assumed about the
world is changed when he discovers a message - an intricate pattern
of circles and lines - carved into his crops. As he investigates the
unfolding mystery, what he finds will forever alter the lives of his
brother (Joaquin Phoenix) and children (Rory Culkin, Abigail
Breslin). Writer director M. Night Shyamalan takes moviegoers on a
new journey with his films, a unique story that explores the
mysterious real-life phenomena of crop signs and the effects they
have on one man and his family. Cherry Jones and Patricia Kalember co-
star in this thriller.

"Critical Assembly" (2003) on NBC, 9:00pm - 11:00pm ET
In an effort to change national and global priorities, Aizy
(Katherine Heigl), a brilliant physics major, Bobby (Kerr Smith), the
activist son of a powerful judge, Allan (J. August Richards), a
standout scholar and Stoop (Jeff Roop), an enterprising go-getter,
build a nuclear bomb in order to prove that it can be done easily.
When they announce the news on the internet, terrorists kill one of
them, take the device and set it to explode somewhere in San
Francisco. It's up to FBI Agent Winston (Michael Beach) to find the
weapon before it's too late.

On SciFi Tonight:

7:00 PM
The Arrival
A complex plot concocted by extraterrestrials is uncovered when an
astronomer (Charlie Sheen) discovers an eerie sound on the radio
airwaves.

9:00 PM
The Second Arrival
It's a race to save Earth from a diabolical alien plot to eradicate
the human population by destroying the ozone layer.

On Syndicated TV This Weekend:

Adventure Inc.
Beyond the Missing Link
The search is on for the mummified remains of what may be the oldest
man who ever lived.

Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda
The Lone and Level Sands
As Beka and Trance try to find the mysteriously vanished Maru, its
crew is taken in by a fleet of deceptive Bellerophons in the midst of
a mutiny.

BeastMaster
Clash of the Titans
Zad provokes Dar when he captures elephants for use in his assault on
Xinca. To counter this measure, Voden threatens to kill Arina unless
Dar stops the elephants.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The Body
When this powerful episode first aired, its remarkably personal and
realistic take on death had fans and critics alike shouting its
praises. After ostensibly overcoming a brain tumor, Joyce (Kristine
Sutherland) dies unexpectedly and in a manner seldom seen on Buffy---
peacefully and quietly. Reeling from the shock of discovering her
mother's lifeless body on the living-room sofa, Buffy (Sarah Michelle
Gellar) manages to pull herself together enough to deliver the news
to an already emotionally fragile Dawn---whose overwhelming denial
makes fighting the boundless forces of evil look like child's play.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
Cordelia dumps Xander (Nicholas Brendon) on Valentine's Day, but
other Sunnydale sweeties want him, thanks to a witch's spell.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
Ice Age
The impact of a meteor causes the mercury to drop all along the
plateau, exposing the party to extreme cold and the threat of
outerworldly invaders who plot to use the freezing conditions to take
over Earth.

Mutant X
Whose Woods Are These
Adam and the others head to the Great Smoky Mountains, where a
strange beast has been attacking hikers. They soon determine that
it's actually a mutant infected with a deadly virus and attempt to
save it, despite its attempts to kill them.

Stargate SG-1
Threshold
In an attempt to free his mind from Apophis, Teal'c must undergo a
trying Jaffa ritual.

SCI-FI SCHEDULE

BABYLON 5

14-JUL-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) FALLING TOWARD APOTHEOSIS
15-JUL-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) THE LONG NIGHT
16-JUL-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) INTO THE FIRE
17-JUL-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) EPIPHANIES
18-JUL-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) THE ILLUSION OF TRUTH
21-JUL-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) ATONEMENT
22-JUL-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) RACING MARS
23-JUL-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) LINES OF COMMUNICATION
24-JUL-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
25-JUL-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) RUMORS, BARGAINS AND LIES
28-JUL-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) MOMENTS OF TRANSITION
29-JUL-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) NO SURRENDER, NO RETREAT
30-JUL-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) THE EXERCISE OF VITAL POWERS
31-JUL-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) THE FACE OF THE ENEMY

CRUSADE SCHEDULE:

08-AUG-03 11:00 AM CRUSADE THE MEMORY OF WAR
08-AUG-03 12:00 PM CRUSADE THE LONG ROAD
08-AUG-03 1:00 PM CRUSADE VISITORS FROM DOWN THE STREET
08-AUG-03 2:00 PM CRUSADE THE WELL OF FOREVER
08-AUG-03 3:00 PM CRUSADE EACH NIGHT I DREAM OF HOME

STARGATE SCHEDULE:

14-JUL-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 NEW GROUND
14-JUL-03 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 MATERNAL INSTINCT
14-JUL-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 CRYSTAL SKULL
14-JUL-03 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 NEMESIS
18-JUL-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) LIFEBOAT
18-JUL-03 11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) LIFEBOAT
21-JUL-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 SMALL VICTORIES
21-JUL-03 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 THE OTHER SIDE
21-JUL-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 UPGRADES
21-JUL-03 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 CROSSROADS
25-JUL-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) ENEMY MINE
25-JUL-03 11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) ENEMY MINE
28-JUL-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 DIVIDE AND CONQUER
28-JUL-03 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY
28-JUL-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 WATERGATE
28-JUL-03 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 THE FIRST ONES

FARSCAPE SCHEDULE:

13-JUL-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE DOG WITH TWO BONES
20-JUL-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE CRICHTON KICKS
27-JUL-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE WHAT WAS LOST -PT 1: SACRIFICE
03-AUG-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE WHAT WAS LOST -PT 2: RESURRECTION
10-AUG-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE LAVA'S A MANY SPLENDORED THING
17-AUG-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE PROMISES
24-AUG-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE NATURAL ELECTION

CONVENTION CALENDAR

Vulkon
July 18-19, 2003
Place: Tampa, Florida
Tampa Airport Hilton
B5 Guest: Robin Atkin Downes
Other Guests: James Marsters, Mercedes Mcnab, Jeams C. Leary, Andy
Hallett, Iyari Limon
For more information, visit their website at http://www.vulkon.com.

San Diego ComiCon
July 17-20, 2003
Place: San Diego Convention Center
B5 Guest: J. Michael Straczynski
For more information, visit their website at http://www.comic-
con.org/.

GenCon Gaming Convention
July 24-26, 2003
Place: Indianapolis, Indiana
B5 Guest: Richard Biggs, Robin Atkin Downes, Jason Carter
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.gencon.com/display.aspx?file=indy.

Official Star Trek Las Vegas Convention
August 1-3, 2003
Place: Las Vegas Hilton, 3000 Paradise Rd.
B5 Guest: Richard Biggs
Other Guests: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, James Doohan, Michael
Dorn (a ton of ST stars)
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/.

Bill Blair Birthday Celebrity Cruise
August 18-22, 2003
Ports of Call: Key West, Cozumel
Guest: Bill Blair, Peter "Chewbacca' Mayhew
For more information, visit Bill's website at
http://www.BillBlairFanClub.com.

DragonCon
August 29-Sept. 1, 2003
Place: Atlanta, GA
B5 Guests: Stephen Furst, Peter David, Bruce Boxleitner, Mira Furlan,
Walter Koenig, Peter Woodward, Brad Dourif, Julie Caitlin Brown, Bill
Mumy
Other Guests: Luke Perry, Ray Bradbury, Christopher Judge, John Rhys-
Davies, George Takei, Virginia Hey, Tony Amendola
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.dragoncon.org.

INSIDE SCI-FI THIS WEEK:

SCOOBY DO - 2: Production of SCOOBY-DO 2: MONSTERS UNLEASHED will be
completed soon in Vancouver. Sarah Michelle Gellar, who returns to
her role as Daphne told SCI FI Wire that her character goes through a
process of discovery that sounds almost like her own. "I think the
first story sort of revolved around Daphne finding her place, that
same in-between [place] that I think a lot of teenagers and young
adults find [themselves in], which is: Where do I fit in? What's my
place? What's my purpose? What am I good at? Because everything to
her was, she was the pretty one, she never really fit in." Gellar co-
stars with Freddie Prinze Jr. (Gellar's real-life husband, who plays
Fred), Linda Cardellini (Velma) and Matthew Lillard (Shaggy). The new
adventure take on a mystery in their hometown of Coolsville, which
will feature the return of several well-known monsters from the
classic Scooby-Doo animated TV series. Mystery, Inc.'s adversaries
this time around will include the Black Knight Ghost, the Pterodactyl
Ghost, the Tar Monster, the 10,000-Volt Ghost and others in an
adventure that also marks the return of Jeremiah Wickles (Peter
Boyle) and new characters played by Alicia Silverstone and Seth
Green. The projected release date for the movie is March 26, 2004.

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS: According to the Hollywood Reporter,
Owen and Luke Wilson are the latest to sign onto Walden Media's
AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS. They will make a cameo appearance
playing the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur. The project stars
Jackie Chan (Passepartout), Steve Coogan (Phileas Fogg) and Jim
Broadbent -- and will feature other cameos by Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Kathy Bates, Johnny Knoxville and Rob Schneider. Frank Coraci is
directing the film; Hal Lieberman and Bill Badalato are producing.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: This looks like a good weekend for the movies --
there is something for everyone. PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN looks like
a winner -- and LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN looks interesting,
but reviews are mixed (at best).

CLONE WARS: The Cartoon Network has announced an upcoming STAR WARS
cartoon short series, CLONE WARS. The shorts are a follow-up to
EPISODE II, and centers on Anakin and Obi-Wan leading forces against
Count Dooku. Mace Windu, Padme, and Yoda will also be featured.
Twenty shorts have been ordered: the first ten shorts will begin
airing November 7 at 8 PM and run weekdays through November 21. The
second ten will air sometime in spring 2004.

THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF THE ESCAPIST: Pulitzer-prize winning author
Michael Chabon has signed on with Dark Horse Comics to publish
Michael Chabon Presents…The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist. The
quarterly comic anthology will feature characters created by Chabon
in his critically acclaimed, Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Amazing
Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.

RATINGS: Top 10 SF Network Shows: Futurama 2.8; Charmed 2.1; Charmed
encore 2.0; Smallville 2.0; Smallville encore 1.5; Smallville encore
1.4; Enterprise 1.3, and The Twilight Zone 1.2. Source: Nielsen
Galaxy Report, 6/9/03 - 6/15/03.

DR. WHO: A new animated DR. WHO is set to air on British network BBCi
to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the original Doctor Who
series. Richard E. Grant (Gosford Park) will lend his voice to the
new adventure and become the ninth actor to take on the role of the
Doctor, who travels through space and time in a ship disguised as an
old-fashioned police box. Grant's interpretation of the character is
something of a "Sherlock Holmes in space," and said he immensely
enjoyed recording the story. The script was written by Paul Cornell,
who has some experience with the franchise, having authored several
well-received Doctor Who novels. "Just wait until you hear Richard,"
Cornell told the BBC. "He is the Doctor."

THE WOODS: The cast is building for M. Night Shyamalan's next
project, THE WOODS. William Hurt joins Joaquin Phoenix and Bryce
Dallas Howard in the Disney thriller set in 1897. WOODS revolves
around a close-knit community that lives with the frightening
knowledge that a mythical race of creatures resides in the woods
around them. Shyamalan, who penned the "Woods" script, is also
producing along with Scott Rudin and Sam Mercer.

MUTANT X: Thursday night, Tribune Entertainment confirmed with Comics
Continuum that Karen Cliche has joined the cast of MUTANT X. Cliche,
last seen on Adventure, Inc. as Mackenzie Previn, will play Lexa
Pierce, an "intriguing new character with a shadowy past." Lexa's
special powers allow her to manipulate light in amazing ways.
According to Tribune, Victor Webster (Brennan), Victoria Pratt
(Shalimar) and Forbes March (Jesse) are returning for the third
season. Tribune has not indicated if John Shea, who plays Adam, will
be back. Season Three begins in syndication the week of Sept. 29.

X-FILES: The TV Guide reports that the X-FILES David Duchovny has
landed a plum guest stint on the top-rating "Sex and the City",
with rumours he'll be playing Carrie's [Sarah Jessica Parker] new
love interest. No official word on this from HBO though.

NEW SCIFI ORIGINAL FILMS SLATE: Buoyed by the success of it's
original films, the SCIFI Channel is increasing it's production of
original films for 2004-05, putting into production 22 originals per
year, with about two premiering each month. SCIFI describes the films
as "a blend of special effects, bone-crunching fight scenes and out-
of-this-world creatures." The SCI FI Saturday Action movies are a
ratings success story for the channel: Since SCI FI introduced them
in 2002, they have averaged a household rating of 1.4, 40 percent
higher than the channel's average. Here are some of particular
interest:
•Dead Rail. A detective on board a bullet train on its inaugural run
to Las Vegas must overcome his haunted past to destroy hostile
aliens. Written by Brian Smith, founder of SCIFI.COM's Seeing Ear
Theatre, and produced by Glow Worm.
•Darklight. Lilith, a superhuman warrior cursed with immortality,
must battle an escaped genetically engineered creature carrying a
deadly virus. Directed by Bill Platt, former development executive
for the SCI FI Channel's Exposure. Production begins in Sofia,
Bulgaria, with UFO Films in July.
•Chupacabra. The mythical beast is captured and smuggled aboard a
cruise ship en route to America, but escapes, and Navy SEALs are
brought in to destroy the monster. Produced by Regent Films.
•Raptor Island. Raptors are discovered on a remote island when an
elite team journeys deep into the jungle to rescue a kidnapped
scientist. Produced by 100% Entertainment.
•Mansquito. A scientist trying to find a cure for the West Nile Virus
accidentally transforms herself and a junkie into mutant mosquito
creatures. Produced by Nu Image.
•Alien Blood. An alien army invades Earth, demanding the sacrifice of
1 million humans, and a small band of human prisoners rebels.
Produced by UFO Films.
•Larva. A dirty meat-packing company sells meat contaminated with
larvae, and the larvae begin to growing inside the customers.
Produced by Nu Image.
•Hammerhead. While working on stem-cell research, a scientist
transforms his subject into a mutant shark-beast. Produced by Nu
Image.

TWELVE: SCIFI has attracted some of the bigger names in the industry
to produce miniseries. Steven Spielberg's TAKEN set new records at
the network. This coming year, Martin Scorsese has signed on to
executive produce a Sci Fi Channel miniseries titled "THE TWELVE."
The miniseries chronicles an FBI agent's confrontation with a bizarre
series of events he suspects to be signs of an impending apocalypse
timed for the Twelfth Day of Christmas. "Twelve" will run at least
six hours, with its exact scheduling yet to be determined.

INDIANA JONES 4: There has been a lot of speculation regarding a
fourth installment of the INDIANA JONES saga. Entertainment Weekly
talked to Frank Marshall, producer of the upcoming fourth Indiana
Jones film, and he said that Harrison Ford, 61, doesn't need a
younger sidekick. "We're sticking with Indy on his own. He still gets
around pretty good." Writer Frank Daramont (The Green Mile) was also
praised by Marshall, saying "Frank understands who the characters
are." Darabont told the magazine, "I'm the world's biggest Indiana
Jones fan. I'll trip all over myself to work for Spielberg." Shooting
on the fourth Indy starts in mid-2004 for a 2005 release.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: At the recent TV Critics Association press
tour, Edward James Olmos, who plays Commander Adama on the new SCIFI
miniseries BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, had a message for die-
hard "Battlestar Galactica" fans of the 1970 series: "A person who
really has a strict belief in the original, I would advise them not
to watch this program. It'll hurt them." The tone of the series is
different.

STAN LEE: Stan Lee is co-creator of Marvel's biggest superheroes --
Spider-Man, The Hulk, The X-Men and The Fantastic Four. He has just
forged an agreement with childrens entertainment company DIC
Entertainment to develop a host of new shows under the banner of "The
Stan Lee Universe". The first property to be greenlighted is STAN
LEE'S THE SECRET OF THE SUPER SIX, an animated superhero series that
will feature Lee himself as one of the characters on the show.
Entertainment will produce the series for DIC.

RATINGS: Top 10 SF Syndicated Shows: The X-Files 2.6; Stargate SG-1
2.2; Buffy 2.1; Mutant X 2.0; Andromeda 1.9; 3rd Rock 1.8; Adventure,
Inc. 1.7; Beastmaster 1.6; John Edward 1.6, and Sabrina 1.3. Source:
Nielsen Galaxy Report, 6/9/03 - 6/15/03.

BEST SELLING SF BOOKS: 1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix;
2. The Da Vinci Code; 3. Potter paper box set; 4. D&D Player's
Handbook, Core Rulebook 3.5; 5. Angels & Demons; 6. Harry Potter and
the Sorcerer's Stone; 7. D&D Monster Manual, Edition 3.5; 8. The
Lovely Bones; 9. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and 10. Harry
Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Source: Amazon.com, 7/4/03.

THE PUNISHER: Rebecca Romijn-Stamos will play Joan, a character that
originally appeared in Garth Ennis' relaunch of the Marvel Comics
series THE PUNISHER. Described as an alluring woman who lives next
door to Frank Castle (a.k.a. The Punisher), she helped the anti-hero
clean up her block in Ennis' run. In a press release from Marvel's
Avi Arad, he said, "She is no stranger to the Marvel Universe on
screen and will have a chance to showcase her talents in a much
different role."

LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN: With the film's release this week,
the press is full of stories surrounding this production. Over at
SciFi.Com Peta Wilson and Shane West talk about reported clashes
between star Sean Connery and director Stephen Norrington. Over at
Comics2Film, producer Don Murphy talks about that situation and more
in a two-part interview.

SPIDERMAN: MTV's animated SPIDERMAN series premieres July 11 at 10pm.
You can get a glimpse of the series over at
http://www.mtv.com/onair/spider-man/. The site is complete with music
video and behind-the-scenes photos of the making of the animated
series, starring the voices of Neil Patrick Harris (Peter Parker),
Lisa Loeb (MJ) and Ian Ziering as Harry Osborn.

TOUCHING EVIL: USA Network has given a greenlight to filmmakers Allen
and Albert Hughes and Bruce Willis for a series entitled TOUCHING
EVIL. Set to join the network's primetime schedule early next year,
the show is described as a thriller about an elite FBI squad. The
pilot for "Evil" was directed by Allen Hughes (From Hell) and written
by Bruno Heller. The Hughes brothers will executive produce the
project along with Willis and Arnold Rifkin for their Cheyenne
Enterprises production banner. USA has ordered 13 episodes of the
series, which stars Jeffrey Donovan as a detective who survives a
gunshot to the head and then returns to work with a fearless attitude
and a relentless pursuit of justice. The project is based on a
British series from British Granada Television.

KING ARTHUR: http://www.thezreview.co.uk/news/news1086.htm has some
of the first set pictures from Jerry Bruckheimer's KING ARTHUR. The
film, starring Clive Owen, Stephen Dillane and Keira Knightley, is
currently shooting in Ireland.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: Disney's world premiere on June 28th for
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL is one a LOT of
people will remember. The site: Disneyland. The red carpet stretched
from the main gate all the way down main street to Frontierland where
a huge movie screen was draped across Tom Sawyer's Island where
seating was built to accommodate the stars and 1,500 guests. Hundreds
of fans, photographers and electronic press from all over the world
lined Main Street, trying to get a glimpse of the film's stars.
Guests included PIRATES stars Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira
Knightly (Elizabeth Swann), Jack Davenport (Norrington), director
Gore Verbinski, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and screenwriter Ted
Elliott, Jon Voight, Rachel Hunter, Jon Cryer, William Fichtner,
Shannon Elizabeth and husband Joe Reitman, ENTERPRISE Captain Scott
Bakula, Lea Thompson, Jonathan Lipnicki, Corbin Bersen, Rachel Welch,
Arlen Escarpeta, Jane Seymour and husband James Keach, Tommy
Smothers, WONDER WOMAN Lynda Carter, X-MEN's Rebecca Romijn-Stamos
and husband John Stamos, Travis Barker and Mark Hoppus from Blink
l82, David Hasselhoff and many others. Cinescape has photos you'll
not want to miss.

SPIDER-MAN 2: If you'd like a sneak peak of production on the new
SPIDER-MAN 2 movie, go over to SuperHeroHype.com . They have a ton of
pics taken on the streets of New York.

MUTANT X: Lauren Lee Smith, who plays Emma on the series, posted a
note on her website saying that she will not be a cast member for
Season 3. "I will not be returning to Mutant X for Season 3. Other
changes have been made on the show that you will find out
eventually...don't ask! Believe me, this came as a shock to me as
well! I truly enjoyed the two seasons I got to play Emma, and had
such a great time, and you guys made it all worthwhile...so thank
you. I'm currently working on a new series which I'm really excited
about, but I'm not gonna give too many details just yet." Karen
Cliche from Adventure, Inc. will join the cast as a character called
Lexa. Both Mutant X and Adventure, Inc. are produced by Tribune
Entertainment.

FANTASTIC FOUR: Talk about this project continues and is indeed
heating up! Comics Continuum reported that Ralph Winter, producer of
a proposed Fantastic Four movie, said that preproduction work could
begin as early as this summer. "Fan Four is heating up. [We] just got
a new outline, and we will probably start some concept work this
summer."

STAR WARS GAME: According to LucasArts, Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire
Divided, drew more than 125,000 users in its first week of operation.
The new multiplayer online game launched on July 4 with its first
coordinated in-game community-building event in which players set off
fireworks in the game itself. Simon Jeffery, president of LucasArts,
said "The game has broken all previous records for first-week
subscription totals, which bodes very well for the ongoing success of
the game."

ALIENS 5?: According to Horizons source, ALIENS writer/director James
Cameron is still contemplating breathing life into a fifth ALIEN
film. In a quote to the BBC, Cameron said, "We're looking at doing
another one. Something similiar to what we did with ALIENS. A bunch
of great characters, and of course Sigourney. I've even discussed the
possibility of putting him [Arnold Schwarzenegger] into the ALIEN
movie."

RATINGS: Top 10 SCIFI Channel Shows: Stargate SG-1 1.9; Stargate SG-
1: The Lowdown 1.4; Firestarter Rekindled, Pt. 2 1.0; Firestarter
Rekindled, Pt. 1 0.9; Sleepwalkers 0.9; Encrypt 0.9; Ice 0.9; John
Edward 0.9; Shining, Pt. 3 0.8, and Operation Sandman 0.8. Source:
Nielsen Galaxy Report, 6/9/03 - 6/15/03.

TERMINATOR 3: Yes, Arnold is back and Warner Bros. couldn't be
happier. TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES brought in an estimated
$44 million during the three-day Fourth of July holiday weekend. It
has amassed $72.5 million since its release Tuesday evening.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: T3 handily captured the #1 spot at the box
office. MGM's "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde," starring Reese
Witherspoon, won the #2 spot with a solid estimate of $22.9 million
($39.2 million since Wednesday). The first "Legally Blonde" opened on
a Friday and racked up a $20.4 million debut. DreamWorks' "Sinbad:
Legend of the Seven Seas" placed sixth with a disappointing estimate
of $6.8 million ($10 million since its Wednesday debut).
Sony's "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" slipped a sharp 62%, taking
in an estimated $14.2 million during the three days. The McG-helmed
sequel has grossed $67.2 million in 10 days, down slightly from the
$75 generated by the first film during its first 10 days. So far,
Buena Vista's "Finding Nemo" has shown staying power and placed
fourth with an estimated $11 million, off just 21% in its sixth
weekend while taking its total to a sterling $274.9 million. The
Pixar film continued to demonstrate its clout as "Nemo's" surpassed
Warners' "The Matrix Reloaded" ($271.9 million), making it the
highest-grossing film of the year so far and taking the crown as the
second-highest-grossing animated film in history behind Buena
Vista's "The Lion King" ($328.5 million). "Universal's "The Hulk" was
in the fifth spot with an estimated $8.2 million; the picture has
collected $117 million so far. Fox Searchlight's "28 Days Later" was
in 1,407 theaters, 147 more than last weekend, and took in an
estimated $6.1 million to take the seventh slot. The sci-fi horror
film from director Danny Boyle has accumulated about $20.7 million
after 10 days.

AMAZING SPIDERMAN: Issue #54 is out on stands now. It's a great issue
and I hope those of you who are reading JMS' Spider-Man will pick up
a copy. For a review of the issue, go to
<http://www.zentertainment.com/comicreviews.php?
op=showcontent&id=1027>.

B5 CAST IN OTHER ROLES

Wayne Alexander ( Lorien, others )

Spaced Invaders
Saturday, 12  9:15 AM EST ENCR
Tuesday, 15  10:05 AM EST ENCR
Tuesday, 15  6:15 PM EST ENCR
Sunday, 27  6:50 AM EST ENCR
Inept Martians invade a town on Halloween. Sam: Douglas Barr.
Wrenchmuller: Royal Dano. Kathy: Ariana Richards. Brian: J.J.
Anderson. Klembecker: Gregg Berger. Vern: Wayne Alexander. Blanzee:
Kevin Thompson. Pillsbury: Fred Applegate. Doris: Patrika Darbo.
Ernestine: Tonya Lee Williams. (VCR Plus+ 40938980)

Richard Biggs ( Dr. Franklin )

Touched by an Angel
The Impossible Dream
Monday, 14 7:00 PM EST HALMRK
A man (Luther Vandross) learns that his family interfered with his
pursuit of a music career by withholding key information for more
than 20 years that may have made his dream come true. Martin: Joe
Morton. Aunt Charlotte: Lee Chamberlin. Eleanor: Penny Johnson
Jerald. Winston: Thom Gossom. Gause: Sly Smith. Advon: Chris Clark.
George: Richard Biggs.

Bruce Boxleitner ( John J. Sheridan ) and Peter Jurasik ( Londo
Mollari )

Tron
Tuesday, 15  2:05 PM EST STZ
Thursday, 24  6:00 AM EST STZ
Special effects illuminate a plot about a scientist (Jeff Bridges)
imprisoned inside a video game. Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner.
Lora/Yori: Cindy Morgan. Gibbs/Dumont: Barnard Hughes. Ram: Dan Shor.
Crom: Peter Jurasik. Steven Lisberger directed. (VCR Plus+ 82435399)

Bruce Boxleitner ( John J. Sheridan )

Bare Essence
Saturday, 12 11:30 AM EST WE
An adaptation of the novel by Meredith Rich. Part 1 of two. Tyger
Hayes (Genie Francis) urges wealthy heir Chase Marshall (Bruce
Boxleitner) to enter the perfume business. The two fly to France to
find a chemist and set up production. Lady Bobbi Rowan: Linda Evans.
(VCR Plus+ 319251)

Perfect Family
Saturday, 12 5:00 PM EST COURT
A widow puts her family at risk when she invites her housekeeper and
the housekeeper's brother to stay in the guest cottage. Jennifer
O'Neill. Alan: Bruce Boxleitner. Janice: Joanna Cassidy. Olivia:
Juliana Hansen. Steff: Shiri Appleby. Terry: Bill Birch. Directed by
E.W. Swackhamer. (VCR Plus+ 4120893)

Passion Flower
Monday, 14 6:30 AM EST LOVE
Monday, 14  3:05 PM EST LOVE
Saturday, 19  7:30 AM EST LOVE
Saturday, 19  2:35 PM EST LOVE
Romance, wheeling and dealing, and murder in Singapore. Bruce
Boxleitner, Barbara Hershey. Coskins: Nicol Williamson. Gaitland:
John Waters. Churit: Dick O'Neill. Directed by Joseph Sargent. (VCR
Plus+ 6752578)

Wyatt Earp: Return to Tombstone
Saturday, 19 1:20 PM EST TRUE
Saturday, 19  10:30 PM EST TRUE
Friday, 25  8:10 AM EST TRUE
Friday, 25  4:35 PM EST TRUE
Hugh O'Brian reprises his role as the renowned lawman in
this "featurization" that combines new footage with colorized
flashbacks to the 1955-61 series "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp."
Sheriff Darling: Bruce Boxleitner. Spooner: Paul Brinegar. Digger
Phelps: Harry Carey Jr. Filmed on location in Arizona. (VCR Plus+
12925548)

Jason Carter ( Marcus )

3rd Rock from the Sun
11 Angry Men and One Dick
Friday, 18 3:30 AM EST FOX
Dick longs for the chance to administer his "unique brand of
jurisprudence" when he's called for jury duty; Sally falls for
an "artist" (much to Don's chagrin); and Tommy and Harry help
Albright with a "preverbal" project. Seth: Jason Carter. (VCR Plus+
654499)

3rd Rock from the Sun
A Friend in Dick
Saturday, 19 3:30 AM EST FOX
Sally has a new boyfriend (Jason Carter) and Dick has a new friend:
Don. Meanwhile, Harry goes to school. Connelly: Peter Krause. Dukes:
Spencer Vrooman. Sally: Kristen Johnston. Harry: French Stewart.
Dick: John Lithgow. (VCR Plus+ 202616)

Tim Choate ( Zathras )

Child in the Night
Wednesday, 16 4:00 PM EST LIFE
A psychologist (JoBeth Williams) treats an 8-year-old who witnessed
his father's murder but blocks out details that could help police.
Bass: Tom Skerritt. Luke: Elijah Wood. Valerie: Season Hubley. Os:
Darren McGavin. Curt: Tim Choate. Bobby: Michael Pniewski. Sharon:
Laura Langwell. Julia: Karen Trumbo. (VCR Plus+ 367245)

Claudia Christian ( Susan Ivanova )

Lies of the Twins
Friday, 18  2:00 AM EST USA
Friday, 18  9:00 AM EST USA
A model (Isabella Rossellini) becomes involved with twins who are
anything but identical. Jonathan/James: Aidan Quinn. Elle: Iman.
Felice: Claudia Christian. Dr. Gayle Meiner: Barbara Eda-Young.
Sandra Shearer: Lucinda Schiff. Directed by Tim Hunter. (VCR Plus+
172906)

Gary Cole ( Capt. Gideon )

The Switch
Sunday, 13   4:30 PM EST TRUE
Sunday, 13  11:35 PM EST TRUE
Thursday, 17  6:00 AM EST TRUE
Thursday, 17  4:40 PM EST TRUE
Friday, 18  1:30 AM EST TRUE
Tuesday, 22  7:35 AM EST TRUE
Tuesday, 22  4:40 PM EST TRUE
Wednesday, 23  1:00 AM EST TRUE
Saturday, 26  7:20 AM EST TRUE
Saturday, 26  5:20 PM EST TRUE
Saturday, 26  11:30 PM EST TRUE
A fact-based variation on the right-to-die issue that revolves around
a quadriplegic (Gary Cole). Fine: Craig T. Nelson. Dee: Beverly
D'Angelo. Larry's Father: Tim Scott. Larry's Mother: Kathleen Nolan.
Hank: Henry G. Sanders. Directed by Bobby Roth. (VCR Plus+ 7690810)

I-Spy
Multiple Pay Per View Listings
A secret agent (Owen Wilson) and a boxing champ (Eddie Murphy) try to
vanquish an arms dealer who has stolen a top-secret stealth fighter
jet. Gundars: Malcolm McDowell. Rachel: Famke Janssen. Carlos: Gary
Cole. Jerry: Phill Lewis. Based on the 1960s TV series of the same
name. Betty Thomas directed.

Miami Vice
Duty and Honor
Tuesday, 15 10:00 AM EST TNN
Castillo (Edward James Olmos) is not the only one to realize that a
series of prostitute murders matches the M.O. of killings in Vietnam
years ago. Trang: Dr. Haing S. Ngor. Killer: Michael Wright. Jack
Coleman: Brad Sullivan. Dr. Morris: Gary Basaraba. (VCR Plus+ 108844)

Kiss the Sky
Wednesday, 16 10:45 PM EST TMC
During a business trip to the Philippines, two friends decide to
relive their carefree and wild youth. Gary Cole, William L. Petersen,
Terence Stamp, Sheryl Lee, Patricia Charbonneau. (VCR Plus+ 86148413)

Surviving the Game
Thursday, 17  11:45 PM EST ENCR
Sunday,   27   3:05 AM EST ENCR
Brutal action saga about a homeless man (Ice-T) tricked into becoming
a human target for sportsmen. Rutger Hauer. Cole: Charles S. Dutton.
Hawkins: Gary Busey. Wolfe Sr.: F. Murray Abraham. Griffin: John C.
McGinley. Wolfe Jr.: William McNamara. Hank: Jeff Corey. Directed by
Ernest Dickerson. (VCR Plus+ 66167630)

Santa Fe
Friday, 18 8:00 PM EST WNDS New Hampshire
A cop who despises the rampant New Age characters overrunning his
town begins to fall under the spell of one. Paul: Gary Cole. Eleanor:
Lolita Davidovich. Crystal: Tina Majorino. Leah: Sheila Kelley. Dr.
Yates: Jere Burns. Andrew Shea directed. (VCR Plus+ 271596)

A Time to Heal
Wednesday, 23 4:00 PM EST LIFE
Fact-based story of a young mother's painful recovery from a stroke.
Jenny: Nicollette Sheridan. Jay: Gary Cole. Barbara: Mara Wilson.
Zelda: Lorraine Toussaint. Mr. Peterson: Ken Jenkins. Dr. Klein: Ben
Masters. Mitch: Tim Ransom. Maddy: Doris Roberts. Directed by Michael
Toshiyuki Uno. (VCR Plus+ 838743)

Bernard Cuffling ( Sindell )

Breaker High
Kiss of Shy-er Woman
Tuesday, 15 3:30 PM EST WAM!
In Panama, Denise (Persia White) fetes students whose school was
damaged by a storm; Tony and Nigel square off on the badminton court.
Tony: Richard Ian Cox. Nigel: Bernard Cuffling.

Melissa Gilbert ( Anna Sheridan )

Seeds of Deception
Saturday, 12 3:00 PM EST LIFE
Melissa Gilbert as a mother victimized by the fertility doctor who
brought about her pregnancy. Dr. Jacobson: George Dzundza. Sue:
Shanna Reed. Greg: Tom Verica. Bill: R.H. Thomson. Dr. Mason:
Geoffrey Bowes. Fowler: Jesse Collins. Jesse: Michael Charles Roman.
A.k.a. "Babymaker: The Dr. Cecil Jacobson Story." Arlene Sanford
directed. (VCR Plus+ 740251)

Lisa Picard Is Famous
Sunday, 13   3:00 PM EST SUND
Monday, 14  12:00 AM EST SUND
Wednesday, 16  8:30 AM EST SUND
Wednesday, 16  7:15 PM EST SUND
Thursday, 24  1:00 PM EST SUND
Thursday, 24  11:00 PM EST SUND
Friday, 25  5:15 AM EST SUND
Griffin Dunne directed and stars in this mock documentary about a
filmmaker who interviews aspiring actress Lisa Picard (Laura Kirk) on
her quest for fame. Nat: Tate Kelly. Boyfriend: Daniel Landon. Sandra
Bullock, Carrie Fisher, Melissa Gilbert and Buck Henry appear as
themselves. (VCR Plus+ 6130787)

Splendor in the Grass
Thursday, 17 1:00 PM EST OXYGN
Remake of the haunting story of teen love and passion in 1920s
Kansas. Melissa Gilbert, Cyril O'Reilly, Eva Marie Saint, Ned Beatty.
Angelina: Toni Kalem. Ginny: Michelle Pfeiffer. Del: Macon McCalman.
Toots: Jim Youngs. Juanita: Doran Clark. Coach: Peter Jason. June:
Gigi Vorgan. Richard Sarafian directed.

Blood Vows: The Story of a Mafia Wife
Sunday, 20  4:05 PM EST MYST
Monday, 21  1:00 AM EST MYST
Friday, 25  8:05 AM EST MYST
Friday, 25  9:45 PM EST MYST
Melissa Gilbert as the naive bride of a mobster (Joe Penny). Talia
Shire, Eileen Brennan. Di Luca: Anthony Franciosa. Uncle Sal: Carmine
Caridi. Frank: John Aprea. Directed by Paul Wendkos. (VCR Plus+
93160056)

Marjean Holden ( Dr. Chambers )

Steve Harvey
Just My Imagination
Tuesday, 15 9:00 AM EST UPN
Steve and Romeo both make a play for an attractive playwright
(Marjean Holden) whose latest work is being staged at the school.
Regina: Wendy Raquel Robinson. Ced: Cedric the Entertainer. (VCR
Plus+ 49689)

Peter Jurasik ( Londo Mollari )

Problem Child
Tuesday, 15 3:45 PM EST STZF
Tuesday, 15  11:05 PM EST STZF
Wednesday, 16  6:00 AM EST STZF
Sunday, 20  11:05 AM EST STZF
Sunday, 20  7:00 PM EST STZF
Friday, 25  11:20 AM EST STZF
Friday, 25  5:35 PM EST STZF
Saturday, 26  5:35 AM EST STZF
A couple adopt a devilish kid. Ben: John Ritter. Michael Oliver, Jack
Warden. Peabody: Gilbert Gottfried. Flo: Amy Yasbeck. Martin: Michael
Richards. Roy: Peter Jurasik. Lorraine: Charlotte Akin. Catcher: Adam
Anderley. Umpire: Eli Cummins. Clown: Vince Davis. Directed by Dennis
Dugan, who also appears as the All-American Dad.

Walter Koenig ( Bester )

Columbo
Fade-in to Murder
Thursday, 17  12:30 PM EST BRAVO
Columbo investigates a TV detective who murders his producer. Ward
Fowler: William Shatner. Claire Daley: Lola Albright. Sid Daley: Alan
Manson. Mark Davis: Bert Remsen. Sergeant Johnson: Walter Koenig.
Walter Gray: Frank Baxter. Tony: Timothy Agoglia Carey. (VCR Plus+
385814)

Sworn to Justice
Wednesday, 23 1:40 AM EST SHOX
A psychologist (Cynthia Rothrock) uses ESP to stalk the killers
responsible for murdering her family. Briggs: Tony Lo Bianco.
Nicholas: Kurt McKinney. Teddy: Brad Dourif. Young: Mako. Dr.
Breitenheim: Walter Koenig. Eugene: Kenn Scott. Lorraine: Katie
Mitchell. Megan: Mary-Margaret Humes. Whitman: Max Thayer. Roach:
Stephen Quadros. Moon: Vince Murdocco. Pete: Ian Jacklin. TV News
Anchor: Karen Eden. Storekeeper: Eric Lee. Dan the Man: Sid Sham.
Cop: Christopher Michael. (VCR Plus+ 22240120)

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
Soul Mates
Friday, 18 6:30 PM EST NTV
Sabrina tries to conceal her wedding-day jitters after waking up with
a case of cold feet (literally). The bride-to-be receives a measure
of comfort from her mother (Alley Mills) and Aunt Hilda (Caroline
Rhea), who arrive unexpectedly with an unrecognizable Zelda in tow.
Shirley: Faith Prince. Bob: Robert Picardo. Amanda: Emily Hart.
Aaron: Dylan Neal. Harvey: Nate Richert.

Tracy Scoggins ( Lochley )

Lois & Clark
Strange Visitor from Another Planet
Tuesday, 15 9:00 AM EST TBS
A probe into alien threats to national security leads to the Daily
Planet---and a search for Superman. Jonathan: Eddie Jones. Trask:
Terence Knox. Thompson: Joseph Campanella. Martha: K Callan. Newcomb:
George Murdock. Lois: Teri Hatcher. Cat: Tracy Scoggins. Perry: Lane
Smith. (VCR Plus+ 943318)

Lois & Clark
Pheromone, My Lovely
Monday, 21 8:00 AM EST TBS
Love is in the air in Metropolis, where a perfumer (Morgan Fairchild)
prepares to spray a dangerous pheromone over the city and throw
residents into uninhibited romantic frenzies. Lois: Teri Hatcher.
Lex: John Shea. Perry: Lane Smith. Jimmy: Michael Landes. Cat: Tracy
Scoggins. Clark: Dean Cain. April: Courtney Taylor. (VCR Plus+
343131)

Lois & Clark
Honeymoon in Metropolis
Tuesday, 22 8:00 AM EST TBS
The duo (Dean Cain, Teri Hatcher) sets up surveillance in a honeymoon
suite to catch a crooked Congressman and an arms dealer (Charles R.
Frank, Charles Cyphers). Sore Throat: Richard Libertini. Cat: Tracy
Scoggins. Luthor: John Shea. (VCR Plus+ 991358)

Wings
Too Beautiful for You
Thursday, 24 3:00 AM EST NICK
Suicide-hotline volunteer Antonio dates a caller; a lunch cart steals
Helen's customers. Elise: Tracy Scoggins. Eric: Philip Casnoff. Cart
Lady: K.T. Vogt. Antonio: Tony Shalhoub. Helen: Crystal Bernard. Joe:
Tim Daly. (VCR Plus+ 128182)

Patricia Tallman ( Lyta Alexander )

Night of the Living Dead
Monday, 14  3:00 AM EST ENCR
Remake of the 1968 cult thriller about strangers in a farmhouse
fending off flesh-eating zombies. Ben: Tony Todd. Barbara: Patricia
Tallman. Harry: Tom Towles. Helen: McKee Anderson. Tom: William
Butler. Judy Rose: Katie Finneran. Johnnie: Bill Moseley. Sarah:
Heather Mazur. Directed by Tom Savini. (VCR Plus+ 1740849)

Marshall Teague ( Captain Daniels, Ta'Lon, Nelson Drake , Ta'Lon )

Walker, Texas Ranger
Fight or Die
Tuesday, 15 2:00 PM EST USA
Wrestler Randy Savage and Ultimate Fighting champion Frank Shamrock
play inmates in a prison where the warden stages fights for profit.
Tracton: Marshall Teague. Warden: Charles Napier. Sandrine: Lennie
Lofton. Stout: Tony Brubaker. Munger: Richard Norton. King: Cliff
Emmich. (VCR Plus+ 307467)

Walker, Texas Ranger
The Final Show/Down
Thursday, 24 6:00 PM EST USA
Part 1 of two. Walker's 19th-century alter ego, Hayes Cooper, rides
again in a tale paralleling the 21st-century kung-fu Ranger's manhunt
of Emile Lavocat (Marshall Teague), a killer with an old score to
settle. As Walker embarks on a manhunt, the stressful circumstances
pose a threat to the health of Alex and her unborn child. Elsewhere,
Trivette reconnects with an old flame (Tammy Townsend). Mayor:
William Sanderson. Doctor: Vijay Amritraj. (VCR Plus+ 260231)

Fists of Iron
Tuesday, 22 2:00 PM EST SHOT
A kickboxer (Michael Worth) goes after the martial-arts promoter who
helped cause his friend's death. Nick Hill, Marshall Teague, Matthias
Hues, Jenilee Harrison, Eric Lee, Sam Jones. Directed by Richard
Munchkin. (VCR Plus+ 6127445)

Guardian Angel
Thursday, 24 4:00 AM EST TNT
After being marked for murder, a man hires a former detective
(Cynthia Rothrock) for protection. Daniel McVicar, Lydie Denier,
Marshall Teague, Ken McLeod, John O'Leary, Dale Jacoby. Directed by
Richard W. Munchkin. (VCR Plus+ 344873)

Bar routier
Thursday, 24 11:00 PM EST CANLD
Un videur est engagé pour remettre de l'ordre dans les affaires d'un
bar. Patrick Swayze, Kelly Lynch, Sam Elliott, Ben Gazzara, Marshall
Teague, Julie Michaels, Red West, Sunshine Parker, Jeff Healey, Kevin
Tighe. Un film de Rowdy Herrington.

Andrea Thompson ( Talia Winters )

JAG
Death Watch
Wednesday, 16 1:00 PM EST USA
Flashbacks recall the probe of the murder of Harm's Navy girlfriend,
a ringer for Mac, who now tries to stop Harm from avenging the crime,
despite an official conclusion to the case. Krennick: Andrea
Thompson. Turkey: John Ashton. Lamb: Mark Kiley. (VCR Plus+ 713535)

Baywatch
Nightmare Bay
Monday, 21 9:00 AM EST TNN
A reporter claims that Mitch rescued a photographer from
the "Creature of the Bay"; Shauni tries to help an inner-city child.
Part 1 of two. Devon Connor: Andrea Thompson. Shauni: Erika Eleniak.
Eddie: Billy Warlock. (VCR Plus+ 457353)

Fabiana Udenio ( Adira Tyree )

Journey to the Center of the Earth
Sunday, 13  5:00 AM EST STZF
Sunday, 13  5:20 PM EST STZF
Contemporary explorers are transported on a subterranean trek.
Inspired by Jules Verne's novel. Chris: Jeffrey Nordling. Margo:
Farrah Forke. Dr. Cecil Chalmers: John Neville. Briggs: Tim Russ.
Dallas: Carel Struycken. Sandy: Fabiana Udenio. Wentworth: Francis
Guinan. Prof. Harlech: F. Murray Abraham. William Dear directed.

Mad About You
Get Back
Thursday, 24 11:30 AM EST LIFE
One of Jamie's professional duties falls to Paul when a back injury
leaves her flat on the floor. Sophia: Fabiana Udenio. Burt: Louis
Zorich. Maggie: Judy Geeson. Nat: Hank Azaria. Mark: Richard Kind.
Lisa: Anne Ramsay. Paul: Paul Reiser. Jamie: Helen Hunt. (VCR Plus+
739811)

Peter Woodward ( Galen )

Conquest
The Medieval Broadsword
Sunday, 13   11:30 AM EST HIST
Saturday, 19  7:00 PM EST HIST
A history of the medieval broadsword. Host: Peter Woodward. (VCR
Plus+ 5461684)

Conquest
Knives and Daggers
Sunday, 13  10:30 PM EST HIST
Monday, 14  2:30 AM EST HIST
Monday, 21  8:30 PM EST HIST
Tuesday, 22  12:30 AM EST HIST
Saturday, 26  7:00 PM EST HIST
Sunday, 27  11:30 AM EST HIST
The history of knives and daggers. Host: Peter Woodward. (VCR Plus+
1104348)

Conquest
Early Firearms
Monday, 21  2:30 AM EST HIST
Early firearms are examined, including the matchlock rifle, flintlock
rifle and Kentucky rifle. Host: Peter Woodward. (VCR Plus+ 5202995)

Alex Zahara ( Dulann )

Kill Me Later
Saturday, 12 5:45 PM EST TMCX
Sunday, 13   2:40 AM EST HBOSG
Sunday, 13   2:40 AM EST HBOSG
Tuesday, 15  9:55 AM EST HBOZ
Saturday, 19 9:05 AM EST HBOZ
Sunday, 20   9:00 AM EST TMCX
Sunday, 20   7:00 PM EST TMCX
Monday, 21   9:00 PM EST HBOZ
Tuesday, 22  4:55 AM EST HBOZ
Wednesday, 23 5:45 PM EST TMCX
Thursday, 24  5:55 AM EST TMCX
Thursday, 24  6:00 AM EST HBOZ
Thursday, 24  7:25 PM EST HBOZ
A suicidal woman (Selma Blair) agrees to be a hostage for a fleeing
bank robber (Max Beesley) who promises to kill her at the end of the
ordeal. McGinley: O'Neal Compton. Reed: Lochlyn Munro. Richmond: D.W.
Moffett. Billy: Brendan Fehr. Jason: Tom Heaton. Ara: David Adams.
Off. Larry: Alex Zahara. Heather: Keegan Tracy. Lucy: Pam Hyatt.
Elizabeth: Stacy Fair. Lyle: Marcel Maillard. Suzan: Dana Lustig (who
also directed). (VCR Plus+ 5420544)

I guess that about wraps things up for this week.
Have a wonderful weekend and be sure to drop over to the website when
you have a bit (http://www.isnnews.net).

Take care,
Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN News:  The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net

THE ZOCALO TODAY – August 2, 2003

WHAT'S NEW

One of the first things waiting in my mailbox this morning was a
notice from Warner Bros. Reminding me of the release of the BABYLON 5
SEASON THREE DVD on August 12.  They are sending out reminders to
their mailing list and I hope that will be sending out special
graphics and clips soon that can be posted at the website for
everyone to see and enjoy.  You can  pre-order the set at the
official Babylon 5 website at <
http://www2.warnerbros.com/babylon5/home.html>.

DISCUSSION TOPIC:

Here's a discussion topic suggested by Ranger Helen:

Now that we've had a question regarding books made into movies, how
about reversing the idea? What Babylon 5 episodes, or arc of
episodes, would you like to see written up as a novel, or series of
novels?

Send in your comments to sgbruckner@... and I'll start posting
them on the Discussion Page for everyone to share.

KEEPING UP WITH CAST AND CREW:

MARJEAN HOLDEN: You'll find Marjean's name a couple of times on
today's TV Listing. She had a recurring role on BEASTMASTER for a
couple of years and SCIFI presents CODE RED: THE RUBICON CONSPIRACY
tonight at 9:00pm. Marjean stars with Brian McNamara in this drama.
While we're talking about Marjean, I note from her website at
http://www.marjeanholden.com that she starred in GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE
2 – and that film will be out on DVD this fall.  All these roles are
quite a bit different from our memories of her as Dr. Sarah Chambers
on CRUSADE.

ALEXANDER ZAHARA:  This wonderful actor that we saw too little of in
LEGEND OF THE RANGERS is turning up now and again on STARGATE SG-1.
I noticed his name in the credits last night's episode entitled SPACE
RACE.

FIONA AVERY: Fiona Avery got her start on Babylon 5. She wrote an
episode of CRUSADE and then went on to EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT. She
also developed a comic book entitled NO HONOR and that is now coming
to Showtime as a TV series. At San Diego ComiCon, Fiona explained the
premise of "No Honor." It's the story of an art thief who, in the
course of trying to steal an ancient Japanese katana, accidentally
cuts himself on the sword and frees the spirit of the samurai warrior
trapped within it... who then promptly enters the body of the art
thief. "But not completely," Avery added. "It's back and forth --
sometimes it's Tanin the samurai warrior in control, sometimes it's
Random, the art thief." Fiona will be working with Brent Friedman on
the series. In talking about their collaboration, she said "we
complement each other very well. I work from character to plot, and
he works from plot to character, and we sort of meet in the middle
without colliding." Showtime is expected to greenlight the final
script and begin casting for the series in November.

REMINDER OF SPECIAL B5 CAST ACTIVITIES

20th ANNIVERSARY OF SCARECROW AND MRS. KING

2003 marks the 20th anniversary of SCARECROW AND MRS. KING's debut on
CBS. A very special event is being planned. On October 17-19th at the
Beverly Garland Holiday Inn in Los Angeles, California, a celebration
is being planned. A number of guests have already confirmed --
including Bruce Boxleitner, Beverly Garland, Martha Smith, Paul Stout
and Greg Morton. For more information on activities related to the
anniversary, go to http://www.smk20thanniversary.com/.

CRUISE WITH PETER WOODWARD

Peter is considering cruising the Caribbean in early 2005 and wants
to invite his fans to join the fun. He would like to see if there is
sufficient interest before going too far into planning, so if you
would like to receive a brochure about Peter's upcoming cruise once
the details are finalized please advise of your:

Name:
Postal Address, City, State, Zip:
E-mail address:
Phone number:
Total number of guests in your party:
Age range of the guests including yourself:

Send this information to pwoodwardinfo@.... Any information you
send us will be handled respectfully. This is not a commitment from
you, just an indication of interest.

BABYLON 5 BIRTHDAYS

Daneil Dae Kim - August 4
Claudia Christian - August 10
Stephen Austin - August 11
Tim Earls - August 15
Nancy Tarczynski - August 16
Skip Beaudine - August 26

TOONS ANNOUNCEMENT

Tye Bourdony has brought us much enjoyment with his Babylon 5
cartoons.  He will have several cartoons published in the current
issue of Cracked Magazine. The issue features satire for Jeremy
Bulloch (Star Wars) and Grace Lee Whitney, BarBara Luna, & Celeste
Yarnall (Star Trek). All of these individuals have signed the satires
and Tye will be auctioning them off for the celebrities favorite
charity.  More information on the auctions and charities shortly.

JEREMIAH - SEASON TWO BEGINS SEPTEMBER 19.

JEREMIAH AND JMS FOR SEASON THREE - Here is a note from the B5
moderated newsgroup related to JMS continuing with JEREMIAH into
season three:

"There was a lot in that article on the Pulse that was really badly
reported, things were misphrased, two different sentences were put
into one, sections are wholly incomprehensible...it's just a train
wreck of a piece.

However, even though the article totally misstated the sentence so it
didn't make any sense, the last phrase is correct, in that I have
zero desire to return to a third season of Jeremiah. Showtime was
great, no mistake, but MGM has overall been the most heinous,
difficult and intrusive studio I've ever worked for. I've worked for,
and had great relations with, Viacom, Universal, Warner Bros., and a
bunch more. But I will never, ever, work for the present
administration at MGM.

I didn't know why so many other writers had a problem there and never
wanted to go back. Now I do."

To keep up with all that is going on with JEREMIAH, be sure to go to
<http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/>.  Monica has a newsletter that you
can sign up for as well so that information comes into your mailbox
on a regular basis. The "official" website is located at
http://sho.com/jeremiah/. It isn't terribly timely, but it does have
background about the show if you need it.

WHAT'S ON TV TONIGHT:

On SciFi Tonight:

7:00 PM
Primal Force
A troubled jungle guide (Ron Perlman) is recruited to lead rescuers
through an isolated Mexican island where survivors of a plane crash
are being hunted by mutant baboons. Tara: Roxana Zal. Davis: Mark
Kiely. Kelsey: Kimberlee Peterson. Eddie: Guillermo Rios.

9:00 PM
Code Red: The Rubicon Conspiracy
An elite military unit is sent on a mission to evict alien invaders
from an extraterrestrial research base equipped with a nuclear self-
destruct device. Brian McNamara, Marjean Holden.

On Syndicated TV This Weekend:

Adventure Inc.
Curse of the Neptune 307
An expedition to salvage the remains of a sunken battleship leads to
a bloody battle between Judson and a rival adventurer (John
MacDonald). Branscombe: Jonathan Walker. Margo: Patricia Collins.

Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda
For Whom the Bell Tolls
While battling an infestation of space maggots aboard the Maru, the
Andromeda team is haunted by the ghost of a former crew member.
Eddie: William Katt. Dylan: Kevin Sorbo.

BeastMaster
Chosen One
Dar travels to the forbidding Land of the Mists to search for his
family and encounters a village of people that regard him as
their "chosen one." Dar: Daniel Goddard. Tao: Jackson Raine. Arina:
Marjean Holden.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
I Only Have Eyes for You
To exorcise a pair of ghostly lovers, Buffy must face her tragic past
during a re-creation of the deceased duo's deaths. Angel: David
Boreanaz. Cordelia: Charisma Carpenter. Willow: Alyson Hannigan.
Xander: Nicholas Brendon.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
The Secret
An attack on Veronica convinces Marguerite (Rachel Blakely) that an
unsavory former associate has tracked her to the Plateau, forcing her
to reveal secrets about her past to Challenger and the rest of the
party. Callum: Ben Seton. Shanghai Xen: Ron Lee. Malone: David Orth.
Veronica: Jennifer O'Dell. Roxton: Will Snow. Challenger: Peter
McCauley.

Mutant X
No Man Left Behind
After a military plane is shot down in a war-ravaged country, Adam
and company race to recover a secret weapon hidden on-board.
Morrison: Vincent Walsh. Irina: Lina Felice. Pavel: Sean Orr.
Sperling: Philip Akin.

Stargate SG-1
Red Sky
The crew members of SG-1 discover that their wormhole may be causing
problems on a friendly world.

BABYLON 5 NOVELS:

Kathryn Drennan's TO DREAM IN THE CITY OF SORROWS has been reprinted
by DelRey and should be on shelves now! The new artwork on the cover
is terrific! If your local bookstore doesn't have copies, you can
order at www.amazon.com. For those of you who love Babylon 5, this
one reads just like an episode from the series. You just can't put it
down.

INSIDE SCI-FI THIS WEEK:

EMMY AWARDS: Congratulations for the SCIFI Channel for 10 Emmy Award
nominations. Steven Spielberg's TAKEN received six; Frank Herbert's
DUNE received four nominations. BUFFY, ENTERPRISE, ALIAS and FIREFLY
also received nominations in special effects categories.

TRU CALLING: Production has begun on Fox's TRU CALLING, a SF series
producer Neil Moritz characterizes as "our version of what Touched by
an Angel should be." "It's much hipper. It's got a great feel to it."
Eliza Dushku from BUFFY plays Tru Davies, a young morgue worker who
receives messages from the dead, then zaps back in time to prevent
their deaths. Moritz said in a recent interview, "Obviously we're
dealing with death, and there are some horrific images, but it's not
over the top by any means." Fox has ordered 13 episodes, but that he
hopes to produce a lot more. Tru Calling will air Thursdays at 8
p.m., starting in the fall.

DEAD OF NIGHT: According to the Hollywood Reporter, Oliver Hudson's
Workshed Entertainment has optioned the rights to remake Bob Clark's
1972 zombie thriller. The original DEAD OF NIGHT tells the story of a
soldier who returns from the Vietnam War as a bloodthirsty zombie.
The remake will be updated, having the young man return from a war in
the Middle East. After a series of murders occur in his town, the
people realize he has been brought back from the dead. Eli Roth
(Cabin Fever) will direct.

SMALLVILLE: Rutger Hauer will make several appearances on SMALLVILLE
this coming season as Morgan Edge, a shady media mogul from the
Superman comics. Hauer described his experience in working on the
series at his website .

Speaking of SMALLVILLE, there's a trailer for Tom Welling's new movie
CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN at
http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/cheaperbythedozen/. This is a
remake of a classic film starring Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt.

PEACEMAKERS: Described as a Western CSI, I kind of liked this new USA
Network series that premiered last Wednesday evening. Seems a few
other folks watched as well. According to the Hollywood Reporter,
PEACEMAKERS ranked as basic cable's most-watched series debut of the
year to date and the second-highest original series premiere in basic
cable history. PEACEMAKERS wrangled an average of 5.2 million viewers
in its 10 p.m. debut. That was strong enough to make it basic cable's
second best-ever original series debut, behind only USA's "The Dead
Zone," which opened last year with 6.4 million viewers. The debut
even outrated the return of the ABC reality series "The Family,"
which averaged 4.7 million viewers in its 9-11 p.m. slot and nearly
caught up with NBC's "The West Wing" rerun (5.5 million).

RATINGS: Top SF Network Shows: Alias 2.2; Smallville 1.9; Enterprise
1.3; Twilight Zone 1.3; Smallville encore 1.3, and Charmed 1.1.
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 6/30/03 - 7/6/03.

THE WINNING SEASON: Matthew Modine is in training with an active
minor league baseball team in preparation for his role as Honus
Wagner in a made-for-TV movie entitled THE WINNING SEASON. Based on
the book "Honus and Me" by Dan Gutman, it tells the story of a boy
who finds a valuable baseball card, but his parents will not let him
sell it. He travels back in time to the 1909 World Series and finds
himself transformed into an adult, played by Jerry O'Connell. His
relationship with the classic ball players teaches him that money is
not as important as he thought. Modine said that, "It's about
honesty, being a gentleman, [and] about manners, how perhaps people
had more manners and were more polite in the past. [It's about] the
values of the past and the game of baseball." The project is being
directed by TV veteran John Kent Harrison (Helen of Troy) and set to
premiere on TNT in the spring of 2004.

JEREMIAH: JEREMIAH's second season premiere is scheduled for
September 19. Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings), in a recent interview
at San Diego Comi-Con that "I'm really excited to see how it turned
out, actually. If Showtime picks it up [for a third season], they own
me for eight more. I directed an episode of that. That was great."
Astin appears in 13 of the 15 episodes as Mr. Smith, "He's sort of an
unwitting prophet or a fool." The character claims that God is
speaking through him.

ALIAS: According to the Hollywood Reporter, Jennifer Garner is
finalizing a new deal that will keep her on ALIAS through the 2007-08
season. Garner is expected to receive a substantial salary bump under
the new deal, which extends her commitment to the Touchstone
Television show by an additional year, through its seventh season.

PREMIERE DATES: Here are a few WB premiere dates to mark on your
calendar:
Smallville - October 1
Everwood Season Two September 15
Charmed -September 28
Angel - October 1
Tarzan premieres Sunday, October 5

STEPHEN KING'S KINGDOM HOSPITAL: According to Variety, Andrew
McCarthy, Diane Ladd and Bruce Davison will star in a 15-hour series
from ABC based on Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital. The series debuts
on Feb. 5 at 9 p.m. ET/PT with a two-hour premiere. According to the
trade paper, McCarthy will play Dr. Hook, a surgeon who lives in the
hospital basement and collects medical equipment. Ladd plays psychic
hypochondriac Mrs. Druse, a regular in Kingdom Hospital's emergency
room. Davison will star as Dr. Stegman, an arrogant, inept physician.
King wrote all 15 hours of the hour-long series, which is based on
the Danish miniseries Riget (The Kingdom) from Lars Von Trier.
Kingdom Hospital tells the story of a hospital where patients and
staff have chosen to ignore tell-tale signs of mysticism and unseen
powers. King describes the project as a cross between ER and The
Shining.

FINDING NEMO: This has been the little film that could for this year.
It has already grossed more than $312 million and continues to charm
theater-goers. On November 4, you can have your own copy of FINDING
NEMO. Buena Vista Home Entertainment will release a special two-disc
collector's edition DVD of the hit Disney/Pixar film. In addition to
both widescreen and full-screen versions of the movie, the DVD
edition will include an original short film with Jean-Michel
Cousteau, never-seen-before scenes, a Pixar studio tour, an
interactive game, virtual aquariums, an exclusive "making of"
documentary and other extras. The discs will also feature the classic
Pixar short film Knick Knack, which screened with the movie in
theatrical release.

FANTASTIC FOUR: According to the Hollywood Reporter, Marvel Studios
CEO Avi Arad announced that director Peyton Reed has exited Fox's
FANTASTIC FOUR movie project. The news story indicated that Peyton's
departure was due to "creative differences", but no specifics were
given. The studio still wants to release FF in December 2004 and it's
drafted a shortlist of replacement directors. A screenplay is still
being worked on by writer Mark Frost (TWIN PEAKS).

AMERICAN GOTHIC: DreamWorks has bought the movie rights to AMERICAN
GOTHIC, a novel by historian Gene Smith about Edwin, Junius and John
Wilkes Booth. The latter of the three Booth brothers would go on to a
place in American infamy as the man who murdered President Abraham
Lincoln. Smith's novel examined the background of the Booth family in
detail, including their roots in theater. Director Todd Field is
attached to the project which was adapted by Scott Smith. Filmmakers
Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella are also involved with the
project as their production company, Mirage Enterprises, is one of
three production houses involved. Both men will receive executive
producer credit on the film.

HARRY POTTER: As the third installment of the Harry Potter saga, THE
PRISONER OF AZKABAN, is being created for a June 4, 2004 release,
Newsweek reported that this Harry Potter will be darker than its
predecessors. New director Alfonso Cuarón (A Little Princess),
according to Emily Watson (Hermione Granger) "Alfonso is much more
gritty than Chris [Columbus] ever was. He's really into the idea that
[shooting] should be fluid and natural. People can be eating an apple
during a take." There will be other changes as well. For Hogsmeade,
set designer Stuart Craig labored to avoid a "pretty, chocolate-box"
village, creating a main street that swerves zanily. Honeydukes, the
candy store, is floor-to-ceiling psychedelia. And following the death
of Richard Harris, Cuarón reimagined the role of Professor
Dumbledore. British actor Michael Gambon now plays the Hogwarts
headmaster as an elegant old hippie (according to Newsweek).

FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX: According to The Hollywood Reporter, a remake
of the 1965 picture THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX is in the works at 20th
Century Fox. Actor Dennis Quaid (FAR FROM HEAVEN) is in advanced
negotiations to star in the project for director John Moore. The
original THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX told the story of a group of
airplane crash survivors trapped in the Sahara desert who had to try
and rebuild their vessel when no rescue is forthcoming. The remake
will follow the same premise except that the situation concerning how
the plane goes down will be modernized. The setting will also be
shifted to the Mongolian desert.

BLAKE'S 7: Actor Paul Darrow, who played the rogue named Kerr Avon in
BLAKE'S 7, has acquired the rights from Terry Nation's widow.
(BLAKE'S 7 took place in the 30th century, with a band of seven
outlaws trying desperately to overthrow a fascist regime that's taken
control of Earth. The series had a gritty and dark undertone to it
unlike much of the space opera from the late 70s-early 80s.) Together
with two producers, Darrow is planning on making a mini-series that
will serve as a sequel to the original show. Financing needs to come
together before the show becomes a reality but Darrow is hoping it
will air sometime in 2005. The BBC News website indicates that the
BLAKE'S 7 sequel will pick up the story 25 years after the events
seen in the original show, with Avon the only cast member set to
return. The final episode ended on a mammoth cliffhanger, with the
deaths of Blake's crew strongly implied.

THE INCREDIBLES: One of Disney/Pixar's upcoming projects is THE
INCREDIBLES, an animated superhero comedy from Brad Bird. According
to the Box Office Prophets website Craig T. Nelson, Samuel L.
Jackson, Holly Hunter, Jason Lee and Wallace Shawn are among those
cast. The site also claims that Nelson will provide the voice of Mr.
Incredible while Jackson's voice will be used for the superhero's
nemesis. We'll have to wait for official word from Disney or Pixar on
this one. The film is targeted for a November 2004 opening.

24: Wendy Crewson has been added to the cast of "24" for its third
season. Crewson ("Air Force One," "The 6th Day") will have a
recurring role in the show and is expected to appear in at least a
third of the show's 24 episodes. Details about her part are being
kept secret, although some reports have speculated that she'll play a
love interest for one of the lead characters. The third season
of "24," which premieres commercial-free on Tuesday, Oct. 28, is set
2 1/2 to 3 years after the events of last season's cliffhanger
finale, in which President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) was
poisoned by the germ-laden handshake of an assassin (Mia Kirshner)
after CTU agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) foiled a nuclear-bomb
plot. Other cast changes ahead include Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland)
will have a partner for this season and his daughter, Kim (Elisha
Cuthbert) has a job at CTU. DB Woodside ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer"),
Agnes Bruckner ("Blue Car") and Zachary Quinto have also joined the
cast.

RATINGS: Top 10 SCIFI Channel Programs: Shark Attack 3 1.3; Stargate
SG-1 1.3; Lake Placid 1.3; The Beast, Part 1 1.2; The Beast, Part 2
1.1; Octopus 2 1.0; Army of Darkness 1.0; Twilight Zone 'thon 1.0;
Crocodile 1.0, and UFOs Above & Beyond 0.9. Source: Nielsen Galaxy
Report, 6/30/03 - 7/06/03.

TERMINATOR 3: Reuters reports that Arnold Schwarzenegger will
concentrate on promoting his new TERMINATOR 3 movie before announcing
if he intends to challenge California Gov. Gray Davis in a recall
election this fall.

FUTURAMA: According to the Hollywood Reporter, Fox will air the final
three new Futurama episodes on Sundays at 7pm ET/PT through Aug. 10.

LORD OF THE RINGS: TWO TOWERS: November 18 is the release date for
the Special Extended Edition on DVD and VHS of The Lord of the Rings:
The Two Towers. This all-new version of the film includes over 40
minutes of never-before-seen footage integrated into the original
theatrical release. The DVD release is a 4-disc set, featuring two
discs loaded with extra features. For more information on the set, go
to http://www.lordoftherings.net/index_400_hv_home.html. Lord of the
Rings Shop, Wal-Mart and www.amazon.com will begin taking advance
orders on August 26.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: It was a very busy weekend at the movies. SPY
KIDS 3D: GAME OVER raked in close to $33 million this weekend and
about a quarter of tickets sales. Early estimates had predicted
that "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life," also a sequel,
would dominate the weekend totals; however, the Angelina Jolie
vehicle came in fourth, posting an estimated $22 mil. PIRATES OF THE
CARRIBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL held onto the #2 spot,
dropping only 34% in attendance. The Buena Vista flick has grossed an
impressive $176 million after three weeks of being in release. BAD
BOYS II brought in a respectable $22 million to secure the #3 spot
for the weekend. Although SEABISCUIT placed fifth, it grossed the
most per screen. Universal showed the film on only 1989 screens;
that's almost 1,000 less than the top four.

CHRISTOPHER REEVE: Superman Christopher Reeve is visiting Isreal this
week. Israel is a major center for stem cell study. Reeve hopes his
efforts will offer hope to people with spinal cord injuries. He is to
visit research institutions, tour facilities for the disabled and
meet Israelis paralyzed in terrorist attacks during the five day
visit. He also is expected to meet Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and
visit Jerusalem's Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site.

CRUSADE THIS COMING FRIDAY, AUGUST 8

11:00AM
Crusade
The Memory of War
An unseen force unleashes terror and death while the crew searches
planetary ruins. Technomage: John Saint Ryan. Duncan: James Parks.
Sogayu: Susie Park. (VCR Plus+ 7389069)

12:00PM
Crusade
The Long Road
The crew confronts terrifying "holo-demons" and dragons on a planet
believed to contain a mineral that can slow the effect of the plague.
Alwyn: Edward Woodward. Capt. Daniels: Marshall Teague. Lt. Myers:
Scott Peatty. Claire: Allison Lohman. Barkeep: Mik Scriba. Gideon:
Gary Cole. (VCR Plus+ 1896663)

1:00PM
Crusade
Visitors From Down the Street
Believers in an alien conspiracy are paranoid about humans. Durkani:
Harry van Gorkum. Lyssa: Francoise Robertson. Kendarr: Josh Clark.
(VCR Plus+ 1805311)

2:00PM
Crusade
The Well of Forever
The Excalibur sets a course for the mystical "Well of Forever" in a
search for answers. Mr. Jones: Michael Beck. Galen: Peter Woodward.
Gideon: Gary Cole. Lt. Matheson: Daniel Dae Kim. Max: David Allen
Brooks. Dureena: Carrie Dobro. (VCR Plus+ 2887885)

3:00PM
Crusade
Each Night I Dream of Home
The Drakh attack the Excalibur. Dr. Stephen Franklin: Richard Biggs.
Sen. Redway: Lance Legault. David Williams: Timothy Williams. (VCR
Plus+ 6101779)

SCI-FI SCHEDULE AHEAD

BABYLON 5

04-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) BETWEEN THE DARKNESS AND THE LIGHT
05-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) ENDGAME
06-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) RISING STAR
07-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) THE DECONSTRUCTION OF FALLING STARS
08-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) NO COMPROMISES
11-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) THE VERY LONG NIGHT OF LONDO
MOLLARI
12-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5  THE PARAGON OF ANIMALS
13-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5  A VIEW FROM THE GALLERY
14-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5  LEARNING CURVE
15-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5  STRANGE RELATIONS
18-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5  SECRET OF THE SOUL
19-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5  IN THE KINGDOM OF THE BLIND
20-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5  A TRAGEDY OF TELEPATHS
21-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5  PHOENIX RISING
22-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5  DAY OF THE DEAD
25-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5  THE RAGGED EDGE
26-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5  THE CORPS IS MOTHER, THE CORPS IS
FATHER
27-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5  MEDIATIONS ON THE ABYSS
28-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5  DARKNESS ASCENDING

STARGATE SCHEDULE:

04-AUG-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 SCORCHED EARTH
04-AUG-03 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 BENEATH THE SURFACE
04-AUG-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 POINT OF NO RETURN
04-AUG-03 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 TANGENT
08-AUG-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) AVENGER 2.0
08-AUG-03 11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) AVENGER 2.0
11-AUG-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 THE CURSE
11-AUG-03 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 SERPENT'S VENOM
11-AUG-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 CHAIN REACTION
11-AUG-03 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 2010
15-AUG-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) BIRTHRIGHT
15-AUG-03 11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) BIRTHRIGHT
18-AUG-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 ABSOLUTE POWER
18-AUG-03 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 THE LIGHT
18-AUG-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 PRODIGY
18-AUG-03 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 ENTITY
22-AUG-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) EVOLUTION -PT 1
22-AUG-03 11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) EVOLUTION -PT 1
25-AUG-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 DOUBLE JEOPARDY
25-AUG-03 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 EXODUS -PT 1
25-AUG-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 TBD
25-AUG-03 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 TBD

FARSCAPE SCHEDULE:
03-AUG-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE WHAT WAS LOST -PT 2: RESURRECTION
10-AUG-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE LAVA'S A MANY SPLENDORED THING
17-AUG-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE PROMISES
24-AUG-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE NATURAL ELECTION

UPCOMING EVENTS

Official Star Trek Las Vegas Convention
August 1-3, 2003
Place: Las Vegas Hilton, 3000 Paradise Rd.
B5 Guest: Richard Biggs
Other Guests: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, James Doohan, Michael
Dorn (a ton of ST stars)
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/.

Bill Blair Birthday Celebrity Cruise
August 18-22, 2003
Ports of Call: Key West, Cozumel
Guest: Bill Blair, Peter "Chewbacca' Mayhew
For more information, visit Bill's website at
http://www.BillBlairFanClub.com.

DragonCon
August 29-Sept. 1, 2003
Place: Atlanta, GA
B5 Guests: Stephen Furst, Peter David, Bruce Boxleitner, Mira Furlan,
Walter Koenig, Peter Woodward, Brad Dourif, Julie Caitlin Brown, Bill
Mumy
Other Guests: Luke Perry, Ray Bradbury, Christopher Judge, John Rhys-
Davies, George Takei, Virginia Hey, Tony Amendola
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.dragoncon.org.

B5 CAST IN OTHER ROLES

Bruce Boxleitner ( John J. Sheridan ) and Peter Jurasik ( Londo
Mollari )

Tron
Saturday, 2 10:00 AM EST WAM!
Saturday, 2  6:00 PM EST WAM!
Wednesday, 6  6:00 PM EST WAM!
Thursday, 7  2:40 AM EST WAM!
Monday, 11  12:00 PM EST WAM!
Tuesday, 12  8:00 AM EST WAM!
Special effects illuminate a plot about a scientist (Jeff Bridges)
imprisoned inside a video game. Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner.
Lora/Yori: Cindy Morgan. Gibbs/Dumont: Barnard Hughes. Ram: Dan Shor.
Crom: Peter Jurasik. Steven Lisberger directed.

Bruce Boxleitner ( John J. Sheridan )

Red River
Saturday, 2 9:00 PM EST HALMRK
James Arness stars as a trail boss in this remake of the 1948 horse
opera about a turbulent cattle drive. Garth: Bruce Boxleitner.
Valance: Gregory Harrison. Groot: Ray Walston. Byrd: Stan Shaw. Kate:
Laura Johnson. Cal: Zachary Ansley. Richard Michaels directed.

Kuffs: Patrulla Especial
Wednesday, 13 9:00 PM EST WUTF
Un hombre flojo (Christian Slater) reemplaza a su hermano asesinado y
pasa a formar parte de una fuerza especial de seguridad en San
Francisco. Tony Goldwyn, Milla Jovovich, Bruce Boxleitner, George de
la Pena, Troy Evans. Dirigida por Bruce Evans.

Jason Carter ( Marcus )

Behind the Red Door
Sunday, 3 9:45 PM EST SHOC
Monday, 4  4:45 AM EST SHOC
Friday, 15  2:00 PM EST SHOC
Saturday, 16  1:15 AM EST SHOC
Kyra Sedgwick and Kiefer Sutherland play estranged siblings in this
affecting 2003 cable drama.  Sedgwick plays Natalie Haddad, a New
York photographer whose agent (Stockard Channing) believes
her "cold, dark and mysterious" portraits would be perfect for a
fashion magazine's advertising campaign. Managing the Boston ad
agency that's handling the account is her brother, Roy (Sutherland),
whom Natalie hasn't seen in 10 years. Before long, the demanding and
manipulative Roy bullies Natalie into extending her stay. When she
learns why, memories of her fractious and abusive family life come
flooding back. Sonny: Jason Carter. Father: Chuck Shamata. (VCR Plus+
34704864)

Lois & Clark
Whine, Whine, Whine
Tuesday, 12  8:00 AM EST TBS
Clark considers leaving Metropolis when he's snubbed by Lois---and
when Superman is sued by a rock-star wannabe (Jason Carter). Elise:
Michele Abrams. Dan: Jim Pirri. Constance: Kay Lenz. Barry: Richard
Portnow. Retchen: Adam West. Knox: Steven M. Gagnon. Dr. Friskin:
Barbara Bosson. (VCR Plus+ 213522)

Tim Choate ( Zathras )

Jane Austen in Manhattan
Tuesday, 5 6:00 AM EST IFC
Tuesday, 5  12:00 PM EST IFC
Tuesday, 5  7:00 PM EST IFC
Friday, 8  2:00 PM EST IFC
Saturday, 9  12:00 PM EST IFC
James Ivory directed this comedy about two teachers who battle over
the right to produce a lost Jane Austen play, written when the author
was 12 years old. Anne Baxter, Robert Powell. Midash: Michael Wagner.
Jamie: Tim Choate. Gregory: John Guerrasio. (VCR Plus+ 8619330)

Claudia Christian ( Susan Ivanova )

Final Voyage
Wednesday, 6 11:20 PM EST AMAX
Monday, 11  12:00 AM EST AMAX
Friday, 15  1:20 AM EST AMAX
Saturday, 16  8:00 PM EST AMAX
A luxury liner becomes the target of a band of terrorists lying in
wait until the ship is out to sea. Dylan Walsh, Erika Eleniak. Josef:
Ice-T. Max: Claudia Christian. Chang: John Koyama. Millspawl:
Jonathan Fuller. Directed by Jim Wynorski.

Gary Cole ( Capt. Gideon )

In the Line of Fire
Sunday, 3 3:30 AM EST TCM
Clint Eastwood's portrayal of a veteran Secret Service agent drives
this 1993 suspense tale.  Frank Horrigan (Eastwood) is haunted by his
failure to prevent the assassination of President Kennedy. Now he's
getting phone calls from a mysterious psycho (John Malkovich) who's
targeting the current president and challenges Horrigan to stop him.
Directed by Wolfgang Petersen ("Outbreak"). Lilly: Rene Russo.
D'Andrea: Dylan McDermott. Watts: Gary Cole. Harry Sargent: Fred
Dalton Thompson. Sam Campagna: John Mahoney. President: Jim Curley.
(VCR Plus+ 4622319)

Family Guy
Brian Does Hollywood
Wednesday, 6 11:30 PM EST TOON
Brian heads to Hollywood to be screenwriter and the others follow
when Stewie is chosen to be on "Kids Say the Darndest Things."
Stewie doesn't exactly hit it off with host Bill Cosby but Brian does
make his mark in show business, if not in the way he had intended (as
a porn "auteur"). Guest voices include Ray Liotta and adult stars
Jenna Jameson and Ron Jeremy (as themselves). Michael Eisner: Gary
Cole. (VCR Plus+ 4126438)

For My Daughter's Honor
Friday, 8 2:00 AM EST USA
Chronicling the impassioned affair between an underage student
(Nicholle Tom) and a small-town, high-school coach (Gary Cole) who's
also a married father. Betty Ann Dustin: Mary Kay Place. Norm: Mac
Davis. Kelly: Alyson Hannigan. Alan Metzger directed. (VCR Plus+
397934)

The Practice
Home of the Brave
Sunday, 10 12:05 AM EST ABC
Three diverse and intriguing stories testify to the continuing
richness of the series.
In one plot, the trial of an accused rapist pits Helen (Lara Flynn
Boyle) against shrewd defense attorney Solomon Tager (Gary Cole, in a
recurring role), who has an ace up his sleeve: a very surprising
witness. In another courtroom, Lindsay (Kelli Williams) defends a
drug-possession suspect whose complex case turns out to be linked to
a murder investigation. Finally, Eugene (Steve Harris) is reunited
with Harland Bassett (Ernie Sabella), the well-intentioned but
bungling lawyer who now seeks the firm's help in a high-profile civil
suit. (VCR Plus+ 6608132)

La Cadete Kelly
Sunday, 10 9:30 PM EST DISLAN
Una adolescente de catorce años (Hilary Duff) batalla en una academia
militar para demostrar que sí puede con la disciplina. Gary Cole,
Christy Carlson Romano, Shawn Ashmore, Andrea Lewis, Aimee Garcia,
Linda Kash. Dirigida por Larry Shaw.

Family Guy
Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington
Tuesday, 12 2:30 PM EST TBS
A conglomerate buys Happy Go Lucky Toys and installs Peter (voice of
series creator Seth McFarlane) as president. The conglomerate also
owns a tobacco company, and before long Peter is on his way to
Washington to testify before Congress on the benefits of smoking.
Guest voices include Gary Coleman and Alyssa Milano (as themselves).
(VCR Plus+ 140676)

Stephen Furst ( Vir )

Melrose Place
With this Ball and Chain
Thursday, 14  11:00 AM EST E!
Friday, 15  9:00 AM EST E!
Jo's self-defense plea falls on deaf ears; Sydney moves into
Michael's professional life. Skyler: Stephen Furst. Benson: Matt
McCoy. Kovaks: John McCann. Jo: Daphne Zuniga. Amanda: Heather
Locklear. Billy: Andrew Shue. Michael: Thomas Calabro. (VCR Plus+
812004)

Melissa Gilbert ( Anna Sheridan )

Christmas in My Hometown
Saturday, 2 7:30 AM EST LMN
An exec (Tim Matheson) is torn between his job and his heart when he
falls for a factory worker (Melissa Gilbert) he may have to lay off---
just days before Christmas. Tom: Travis Tritt. Noel: Michelle
Trachtenberg. Cal: Gordon Pinsent. Happy: Jack Jessop.

Joshua's Heart
Tuesday, 5 4:25 PM EST LMN
Wednesday, 6  5:45 AM EST LMN
Sensitive study of commitment, responsibility and family values.
Claudia: Melissa Gilbert. Tom: Tim Matheson. Joshua: Matthew
Lawrence. Kit: Lisa Eilbacher. Nick: Jack Blessing. Claudia's Mother:
Debra Mooney. Mrs. Kent: Lorinne Vozoff. Rafe: Gregor Hesse.

Lisa Picard Is Famous
Monday, 11  6:45 AM EST STZ
Griffin Dunne directed and stars in this mock documentary about a
filmmaker who interviews aspiring actress Lisa Picard (Laura Kirk) on
her quest for fame. Nat: Tate Kelly. Boyfriend: Daniel Landon. Sandra
Bullock, Carrie Fisher, Melissa Gilbert and Buck Henry appear as
themselves. (VCR Plus+ 34092169)

Splendor in the Grass
Friday, 15 1:00 PM EST OXYGN
Remake of the haunting story of teen love and passion in 1920s
Kansas. Melissa Gilbert, Cyril O'Reilly, Eva Marie Saint, Ned Beatty.
Angelina: Toni Kalem. Ginny: Michelle Pfeiffer. Del: Macon McCalman.
Toots: Jim Youngs. Juanita: Doran Clark. Coach: Peter Jason. June:
Gigi Vorgan. Richard Sarafian directed.

Marjean Holden ( Dr. Chambers )

Code Red: The Rubicon Conspiracy
Saturday, 2 9:00 PM EST SCI-FI
An elite military unit is sent on a mission to evict alien invaders
from an extraterrestrial research base equipped with a nuclear self-
destruct device. Brian McNamara, Marjean Holden. (VCR Plus+ 2477918)

Suddenly Susan
Hoop Dreams
Wednesday, 13 12:30 AM EST WB
Vicki begs Susan to sub for a pneumonia-stricken player when her
basketball team makes the playoffs---not realizing Susan might steal
the show. Mr. T has a cameo. Brenda: Mary-Pat Green. Wendy: Marjean
Holden. Kim: Greta Fadness. (VCR Plus+ 704955)

Peter Jurasik ( Londo Mollari )

Problem Child
Thursday, 7 10:50 AM EST ENCR
Thursday, 7  10:50 AM EST ENCR
Saturday, 16  6:30 PM EST ENCR
Saturday, 16  6:30 PM EST ENCR
A couple adopt a devilish kid. Ben: John Ritter. Michael Oliver, Jack
Warden. Peabody: Gilbert Gottfried. Flo: Amy Yasbeck. Martin: Michael
Richards. Roy: Peter Jurasik. Lorraine: Charlotte Akin. Catcher: Adam
Anderley. Umpire: Eli Cummins. Clown: Vince Davis. Directed by Dennis
Dugan, who also appears as the All-American Dad. (VCR Plus+ 83150465)

Andreas Katsulas ( G'Kar )

Star Trek: The Next Generation
Future Imperfect
Friday, 8 3:00 PM EST TNN
After an aborted Away Team mission, Riker awakens in sick bay to an
aging Dr. Crusher, who explains that a long-dormant virus has wiped
out his memory of the past 16 years. Tomalak: Andreas Katsulas. Jean-
Luc/Ethan: Chris Demetral. Minuet: Carolyn McCormick. (VCR Plus+
603427)

Walter Koenig ( Bester )

Sworn to Justice
Monday, 4 4:15 AM EST SHOT
Sunday, 17  3:30 AM EST SHOT
A psychologist (Cynthia Rothrock) uses ESP to stalk the killers
responsible for murdering her family. Briggs: Tony Lo Bianco.
Nicholas: Kurt McKinney. Teddy: Brad Dourif. Young: Mako. Dr.
Breitenheim: Walter Koenig. Eugene: Kenn Scott. Lorraine: Katie
Mitchell. Megan: Mary-Margaret Humes. Whitman: Max Thayer. Roach:
Stephen Quadros. Moon: Vince Murdocco. Pete: Ian Jacklin. TV News
Anchor: Karen Eden. Storekeeper: Eric Lee. Dan the Man: Sid Sham.
Cop: Christopher Michael. (VCR Plus+ 35843592)

Marie Marshall ( Private, Elizabeth "Dodger" Durman ) and Patricia
Tallman ( Lyta Alexander )

Star Trek: The Next Generation
Starship Mine
Friday, 15 10:00 PM EST TNN
Picard is trapped aboard the Enterprise with a group of intergalactic
thieves after the rest of the crew evacuates the ship because of a
dangerous cleaning process. Kelsey: Marie Marshall. Hutchinson: David
Spielberg. Devor: Tim Russ. Orton: Glenn Morshower. (VCR Plus+
338863)

Marjorie Monaghan ( Mars Rebel, Number 1, Teresa Halloran )

Law & Order
Prisoner of Love
Tuesday, 12 7:00 PM EST TNT
The discovery of a corpse leads Greevey and Logan to the door of a
city commissioner (Larry Keith), whose alibi is a socialite (Frances
Conroy) with a dark secret. Stohlmeyer: Amy Aquino. Cathy: Marjorie
Monaghan. Sondra: Fran Brill. Greevey: George Dzundza. (VCR Plus+
657102)
Cast: Frances Conroy, Marjorie Monaghan, Fran Brill, Larry Keith,
George Dzundza, Michael Moriarty, Amy Aquino
Rating: TV-PG
Category: Drama

Beata Pozniak ( President Susanna Luchenko )

Melrose Place
Duet for One
Monday, 4 9:00 AM EST E!
Sydney goes to work for Lauren; Michael is moved to a no-frills
rehab; Matt helps Katya during an emergency; Jake tries to avoid
Amanda. Robert: Steven Eckholdt. Ken: Nicholas Walker. Roger: David
Kagen. Nikki: Mara Wilson. Sydney: Laura Leighton. Lauren: Kristin
Alfonso. Matt: Doug Savant. Katya: Beata Pozniak. Amanda: Heather
Locklear. Jane: Josie Bissett. Sydney: Laura Leighton. Alison:
Courtney Thorne-Smith. (VCR Plus+ 583520)

Tracy Scoggins ( Lochley )

Highlander
Prophecy
Thursday, 14  4:00 PM EST TNN
Friday, 15  1:00 AM EST TNN
A woman (Tracy Scoggins) who saved MacLeod's life when he was a
teenager comes back into his life to ask that he fulfill a prophecy
to defeat a powerful evil force. Roland Kantos: Gerard Plunkett.
Young Duncan MacLeod: Jeremy Beck. Ian MacLeod: Matthew Walker. (VCR
Plus+ 669202)

Marshall Teague ( Captain Daniels, Ta'Lon, Nelson Drake , Ta'Lon )

Pensacola: Wings of Gold
Tip of the Spear
Wednesday, 6 6:00 AM EST TNT
Ice, Spoon and Burner receive orders to return to Pensacola, where
they join Kelly (James Brolin) as part of a new squadron called the
Flying Bandits. Meanwhile, Burner (Kenny Johnson) begins a romance
with a woman (Kathy Ireland) he met at the Bucket. Capone: David
Quane. Cricket: Felicity Waterman. Rapaport: Benjamin King. Drayton:
Marshall Teague. Spoon's Dad: Ben Masters. (VCR Plus+ 231877)

Pensacola: Wings of Gold
Officers and Gentlemen
Tuesday, 12 6:00 AM EST TNT
Kate (Barbara Niven) is a victim of a sexual assault; Spoon and Ice
(Michael Trucco, Sandra Hess) look for a new roommate. Capt. Hartley:
Mike White. Col. Drayton: Marshall Teague. (VCR Plus+ 697015)

Road House
Saturday, 9 7:00 PM EST TBS
Patrick Swayze as a bouncer hired to clean up a bar. Doc: Kelly
Lynch. Wade: Sam Elliott. Brad: Ben Gazzara. Jimmy: Marshall Teague.
Denise: Julie Michaels. Red: Red West. Emmet: Sunshine Parker. Cody:
Jeff Healey. Tilghman: Kevin Tighe. Rowdy Herrington directed. (VCR
Plus+ 696267)

Andrea Thompson ( Talia Winters )

X-Files
The Walk
Thursday, 7 5:00 PM EST TNT
An Army officer who has repeatedly tried to kill himself claims that
an apparition prevented him from succeeding. Callahan: Thomas
Kopache. Stans: Don Thompson. Rappo: Ian Tracey. Roach: Willie
Garson. Mrs. Callahan: Andrea Barclay. Mulder: David Duchovny.
Scully: Gillian Anderson. (VCR Plus+ 680910)

Arliss
Visionary for a New Millennium
Friday, 8 10:30 PM EST HBOC
Arliss is in the market for romance, and finds it with a marketing
expert (Andrea Thompson) who may be in the market for some of his
clients. Features cameos by soccer star Alexi Lalas and sportscaster
Jim Lampley.

Delirious
Saturday, 9 11:00 PM EST WB
A blow to the head transports a soap-opera writer (John Candy) into
the fictional world of his characters. Louise/Janet: Mariel
Hemingway. Laura/Rachel: Emma Samms. Carter: Raymond Burr. Blake:
Dylan Baker. Ty: Charles Rocket. Dennis/Dr. Kirkland: David Rasche.
Nurse Helen: Andrea Thompson. Directed by Tom Mankiewicz. (VCR Plus+
152642)

Fabiana Udenio ( Adira Tyree )

NYPD Blue
Don We Now Our Gay Apparel
Friday, 8 1:00 PM EST TNT
A suspect is sought for a gay-bar robbery-homicide; Medavoy sets up a
sting on a fraudulent fortuneteller; Dan Breen (Peter Boyle) wants to
see his son, against Sipowicz's wishes. Dan Jr.: Enrico Colantoni.
Candace La Rue: Jahna Steele. Mauro Graciale: Ray Buktenica. Ramona:
Fabiana Udenio. Sipowicz: Dennis Franz. (VCR Plus+ 229514)

Walker, Texas Ranger
On Deadly Ground
Wednesday, 13 5:00 PM EST USA
Walker goes to Mexico to rescue a DEA agent (Carmen Argenziano) who
once saved his life. Durazo: Yul Vasquez. Maria: Fabiana Udenio.
Chuchu: Alberto Vazquez. Vargas: Gary Cervantes. Trivette: Clarence
Gilyard. (VCR Plus+ 615874)

Peter Woodward ( Galen )

Conquest
Early Firearms
Saturday, 2  7:00 PM EST HIST
Sunday, 3  11:30 AM EST HIST
Early firearms are examined, including the matchlock rifle, flintlock
rifle and Kentucky rifle. Host: Peter Woodward. (VCR Plus+ 5393208)

Conquest
Pirate Weapons
Saturday, 9  7:00 PM EST HIST
Monday, 11  8:30 PM EST  HIST
Tuesday, 12  12:30 AM EST HIST
The history of pirate weapons is examined, including cannons, pistols
and the cutlass. Host: Peter Woodward. (VCR Plus+ 5122712)

Conquest
Urban Ops
Sunday, 10  11:30 AM EST HIST
Host Peter Woodward trains in police SWAT team procedures at the
Direct Action Resource Center in Little Rock. Included: climbing down
a rope from a helicopter and moving through an enemy-held building.
(VCR Plus+ 9587584)

Conquest
Weapons of the Civil War
Sunday, 10  10:30 PM EST HIST
Monday, 11  2:30 AM EST HIST
Civil War weapons are examined. Host: Peter Woodward. (VCR Plus+
6086045)

Alex Zahara ( Dulann )

Kill Me Later
Monday, 4  8:00 AM EST SHOT
Monday, 4  7:30 PM EST SHOT
Wednesday, 6  5:25 AM EST HBO2
Wednesday, 6  5:25 AM EST HBO2
Thursday, 7  1:30 PM EST  SHO
Thursday, 7  1:30 PM EST  SHOHD
Thursday, 7  1:30 PM EST  SHO
Sunday, 10  2:05 PM EST SHOT
Monday, 11  3:15 AM  EST HBO2
Monday, 11  3:15 AM  EST HBO2
Monday, 11  10:45 AM EST SHO
Monday, 11  10:45 AM EST SHOHD
Monday, 11  10:45 AM EST SHO
A suicidal woman (Selma Blair) agrees to be a hostage for a fleeing
bank robber (Max Beesley) who promises to kill her at the end of the
ordeal. McGinley: O'Neal Compton. Reed: Lochlyn Munro. Richmond: D.W.
Moffett. Billy: Brendan Fehr. Jason: Tom Heaton. Ara: David Adams.
Off. Larry: Alex Zahara. Heather: Keegan Tracy. Lucy: Pam Hyatt.
Elizabeth: Stacy Fair. Lyle: Marcel Maillard. Suzan: Dana Lustig (who
also directed). (VCR Plus+ 6156013)

Well, that's about it for now.
Here's hoping you have a fantastic weekend and a wonderful week
ahead.
Take care.
Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN News:  The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net

THE ZOCALO TODAY – August 16, 2003

WHAT'S NEW

This has been a great week.  The Babylon 5 Season Three DVD was
released and it is terrific.  WB is doing a lot of promotion for the
DVD – including creating the screensaver found below.

I hope only a few of you were affected by the major blackout here in
the East Coast.  Sounds like a thriller novel, but I'm sure if you
were affected, all you wanted was to have the power back on!

If I missed something, be sure to drop me a note at
sgbruckner@....  You are my eyes and ears.  If you see someone on
TV that was involved with Babylon 5, pass that information along.  As
you can see from the news below, quite a few folks are keeping
themselves very busy!

Take care,
Sandy

BABYLON 5 SCREENSAVER

I received a wonderful note from Warner Bros. this week. It said:
"we also got this link from WHV for B5 screensavers, if you want to
post this anywhere: <http://www.eyetide.com/download/?p=104117>."

The graphics are awesome and it will add a certain measure of class
to any desktop. Don't miss the preview feature. You can see what
graphics have been included for your viewing pleasure. Thanks WB.

BABYLON 5 ROLE PLAYING AND FACT BOOK

The Babylon 5 Roleplaying Game and Fact Book
"Signs and Portents"
By Matthew Sprange
Mongoose Publishing
ISBN: 1-904577-11-3
MSRP: $49.99

From the review written at
<http://www.scifi.com/sfw/current/games.html> B5 fans might want to
pick up this game whether they actually play it or not. Based on the
first season of the series, the "fact book" portion of the book
includes an overview and maps of Babylon 5 and an episode-by-episode
breakdown of the first season.

BABYLON 5 SEASON THREE DVD - OUT NOW!

Season Three of Babylon 5 was released on August 12. A review can be
found over at http://www.imdb.com/Recommends/Rec2.html and the DVD
series is on their recommended list. It was a featured item on
http://www.imdb.com/.

BABYLON 5: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON
DVD Order Date: 7/15/03 Street Date: 8/12/03
Catalog #: 24243

WB Synopsis: The long-running Emmy Award-winning television series
Babylon 5 takes place in the year 2257 A.D. on an immense spaces
station floating in a stationary orbit in a neutral corner of a
distant galaxy. Staffed by a crew of peaceful Earthmen and women,
Babylon 5 serves as a non-political economic and social hub for the
four alien races - the Narn, Centauri, Vorlon and Minbari - who fight
to control the galaxy. Starring Bruce Boxleitner, Claudia Christian,
Jerry Doyle, and Bill Mumy.

Special Features and Specifications:
o Six-disc DVD collector's set
o Introduction from series creator J. Michael Straczynski,
o Commentary on three key episodes by series creator and stars,
o"Behind the Mask: Creating the Aliens of Babylon 5" Documentary
o"Designing a Better Narn" Documentary
o"Designing Tomorrow: The Look of Babylon 5" Documentary
o Data and Personnel Files
o 16X19 Anamorphic Widescreen
o Dolby Digital 5.1
o English, French Spanish subtitles
o Running Time: 968 minutes

For a look at Season Three, go to
<http://www.isnnews.net/zocalo/season3.shtml>. Here you will find
individual synopses of each episode and a graphic provided by Warner
Bros.

SPECIAL "BUDDY" AUCTION

Ranger Jan asked that I post this information for anyone who is
interested in Babylon 5 memorabilia:

I'm holding some auctions to benefit Kitten Rescue.* The first one is
a Dutch Auction for 3 copies of 'Tribulations'. There's a twist,
though, because *one* of the copies is autographed by JMS himself.
After the auction, the name of the person who wins the signed copy
will be drawn by somebody uninvolved in the auction. That auction can
be found at: <http://tinyurl.com/jiwo>.

There will be another listing starting shortly for a Sleeping in
Light CD signed by Bruce Boxleitner and Christopher Franke. Maybe a
couple of others, too.

I have some of my 'regular' auctions going too, but any items to
benefit Kitten Rescue will have "Buddy" in the auction title if those
are all they're interested in.

Check out my auctions of rare Babylon 5 scripts and memorabilia at
http://tinyurl.com/bhkk

* For those of you who are curious about "Buddy" -- drop over to
http://jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu/~bfrazer1/buddy/. You'll find pictures and
the story behind the kitten befriended by JMS.

KEEPING UP WITH CAST AND CREW

GARY COLE: Gary Cole has continued to stay quite busy since the
demise of CRUSADE. This week he turns up in the latest episode of
MONK. The plays a playboy -- quite far from his B5 character of
Captain Gideon.

ANDREA THOMPSON JOINS 24: B5 fans know her as Talia Winters; others
remember her from her days on NYPD Blue. Now Andrea Thompson is
joining the cast of Fox's 24. She'll have a recurring role as Nicole
Duncan, a tech specialist brought in by the series' counterterrorism
unit to play a key role in what the network says is "an ominous
terrorist attack." Thompson is to make her first appearance on the
show's November 11 episode, a few weeks after the show begins its
third season on October 28.

STEPHEN FURST: On August 21, most of the cast members from ANIMAL
HOUSE will be in front of the Kodak Theater on Hollywood Blvd. at
noon to celebrate the DVD release of that classic slob comedy.
Universal Studios Home Video will present a block party fit for a
toga crowd. Event highlights will include the "World's Shortest
Parade" with cast members riding on the famous cake float, a massive
food fight, an entire production number set to "Shout" (performed by
Otis Day And The Knights), and a sizzling new rendition of the theme
song "Animal House" performed by MxPx, whose remake of "Shout"
appears exclusively on the DVD. Cast members scheduled to attend
include Tim Matheson, Stephen Furst (Flounder), Verna Bloom (Maron
Wormer), Karen Allen (Katy), Peter Riegert (Boon), Bruce McGill (D-
Day), John Vernon (Dean Wormer).

CATCHING UP WITH JERRY DOYLE: Jerry is currently filming a feature
film titled OPEN HOUSE and just completed an HBO original feature
titled LOST TREASURE. In 2002, three independent features Jerry
starred in, CODE HUNTER, DEVIOUS BEINGS and THE LONG RIDE HOME, were
released. Jerry has done extensive voice over work on animated
television series' such as Duckman and Captain Simian, along with
numerous national commercial voice campaigns. Jerry is a "political
junkie" and is considering running for Congress in Florida's 16th
District. For those of you in the Chicago area, here's a bulletin.
Jerry Doyle will be sitting in with MANCOW Thursday/Friday, August 15
and 16, at Q101 and can be heard on many stations across the country.
This is a morning drive format, 5:30A - 10:00A, CST.

JASON CARTER/RICHARD BIGGS UPDATE:: Jason Carter's Fan Club passed
along the following update for Rick & Jason:

Convention Reminder: September 26-28, 2003: MSFFA in Merrillville,
IN. See details below.
Book on CD: Jason Carter has completed narration work on "Ill Met by
Moonlight" by Sarah A. Holt. The 8 unabridged CD set is available for
pre-order from Buzzy Multimedia (www.buzzymultimedia.com) and are
scheduled to ship 10/01/03. Audio clips and additional information
can be found at The Official Jason Carter Fan Club site at
www.jasoncarterfanclub.com.

Film Project: Jason Carter and Richard Biggs are currently working on
the film Revenant: (which also features Anita La Selva from Earth:
Final Conflict). Film synopsis: Five years ago, six cops did the
unthinkable. One of them returns home for the funeral of his partner,
and finds himself confronted by the past-the woman he abandoned and
the friends who share his guilty secret. When those friends are
murdered one by one, his search for answers will lead he and his
former lover to a final confrontation with a secret that refuses to
be kept, an evil that won't stay buried, and a restless spirit that
reaches out to claim them all. Principal photography begins in Fall
2003. The current trailer for this film can be found at The Official
Jason Carter Fan Club site at www.jasoncarterfanclub.com. Investment
opportunities are also available, information at the fan club site.

Behind the Red Door (Jason Carter appears as Sonny) is still airing
on Showtime (check your local listings) but is also available for
rent on VHS and DVD from Blockbuster. Check your local stores or
their website (www.blockbuster.com) for availability.

The Mesmerist (Jason Carter appears as Dr. Pretory, the Mesmerist) is
no longer showing in theaters and negotiations for a DVD release are
still in the works.

There is another film project from Magick Films (www.magickfilms.com)
in the works for Jason (Victor where Jason Carter will be playing
Victor Frankenstein). Details will be posted at The Official Jason
Carter Fan Club site when available.

DISCUSSION TOPIC:

With the third DVD of Babylon 5 having hit stores, I thought it might
be interesting to hear what you have really liked – and disliked –
about the DVD product.

Drop your comments to sgbruckner@... and I'll post them on the
Discussion Page at http://www.isnnews.net/discuss.shtml so that you
can all share opinions.

COMIC BOOKS

SMALLVILLE
News from Comics Continuum indicates that Smallville #5 from DC
Comics will include a lead story that bridges the gap between Seasons
2 and 3 of the television series. Editor Tom Palmer Jr. said, "We'll
get to see what 'Bad Clark' has been up to in Metropolis and it ain't
too nice!" The lead story is written by Mark Verheiden and Clint
Carpenter, with art by Tom Derenick and Adam DeKraker. The back-up
story, written by Clint and Jake Black with art by Pete Woods and Ron
Randall, focuses on Whitney. "We saw that he died on the show, but
there are some interesting events that lead up to it," Palmer said.
Smallville #5 will arrive in stores in November.

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT

8:00pm on ABC
Mission to Mars
A team goes to Mars to recover an earlier expedition.

On SciFi Tonight:

5:00pm
Tremors II: Aftershocks
The Mexican government hires two handymen to battle big man-eating
worms plaguing an oil field.

7:00pm
Tremors 3: Back to Perfection
Townspeople battle giant man-eating worms which burrow under the
desert in Nevada.

9:00pm
Monster!
A boy discovers that a monster from a 1950s movie filmed in his town
is real.

11:00pm
Dune (1984)
Paul of Atreides leads the fight for vital spice on a desert planet
in the year 10191; long version.

On Syndicated TV This Weekend:

Adventure Inc.
The Angel of St. Edmunds
The team attempts to retrieve a golden, bejeweled angel, believed to
carry protective powers.

Andromeda
The Point of the Spear
The crew battles the Pyrians in order to save planet Samsarra and
avoid war.

BeastMaster
Tiger Tiger
Dar must race to rescue Ruh before he is sacrificed in a ritual meant
to earn the favor of Balcifer.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Part 1 of 2: Becoming
Buffy resolves to destroy the evil Angel at last.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
Suspicion
When archaeologists are murdered on the plateau, each Challenger
member is a suspect.

Mutant X
Hard Time
The team goes under cover to a prison to investigate the recent
deaths of many inmates.

Stargate SG-1
Beast of Burden
Daniel goes into action when his Unas friend Chaka is taken by slave
traders.

SCIFI TV SCHEDULE

BABYLON 5

18-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) SECRET OF THE SOUL
19-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) IN THE KINGDOM OF THE BLIND
20-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) A TRAGEDY OF TELEPATHS
21-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) PHOENIX RISING
22-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) DAY OF THE DEAD
25-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) THE RAGGED EDGE
26-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) THE CORPS IS MOTHER, THE CORPS IS
FATHER
27-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) MEDIATIONS ON THE ABYSS
28-AUG-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) DARKNESS ASCENDING
02-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) AND ALL MY DREAMS, TORN ASUNDER
03-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) MOVEMENTS OF FIRE AND SHADOW
04-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) THE FALL OF CENTAURI PRIME
05-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) THE WHEEL OF FIRE
08-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) OBJECTS IN MOTION
09-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) OBJECTS AT REST
11-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) THE PARLIAMENT OF DREAMS
12-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) SLEEPING IN LIGHT
15-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) THE GATHERING -PT 1
16-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) THE GATHERING -PT 2
17-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) MIDNIGHT ON THE FIRING LINE
18-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) SOUL HUNTER
19-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) BORN TO THE PURPLE
22-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) INFECTION
23-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) MIND WAR
24-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) WAR PRAYER
26-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) AND THE SKY FULL OF STARS
29-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) DEATHWALKER
30-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) BELIEVERS

CRUSADE:
07-SEP-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE THE LONG ROAD
14-SEP-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE VISTORS FROM DOWN THE STREET
17-SEP-03 11:00 AM DAYTIME ROTATION - CRUSADE PATTERNS OF THE SOUL
17-SEP-03 12:00 PM DAYTIME ROTATION - CRUSADE THE PATH OF SORROWS
17-SEP-03 1:00 PM DAYTIME ROTATION - CRUSADE RULING FROM THE TOMB
17-SEP-03 2:00 PM DAYTIME ROTATION - CRUSADE THE RULES OF THE GAME
17-SEP-03 3:00 PM DAYTIME ROTATION - CRUSADE WAR ZONE
21-SEP-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE THE WELL OF FOREVER

STARGATE SCHEDULE:

18-AUG-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 ABSOLUTE POWER
18-AUG-03 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 THE LIGHT
18-AUG-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 PRODIGY
18-AUG-03 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 ENTITY
22-AUG-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) EVOLUTION -PT 1
22-AUG-03 11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) EVOLUTION -PT 1
25-AUG-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 DOUBLE JEOPARDY
25-AUG-03 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 EXODUS -PT 1
25-AUG-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 TBD
25-AUG-03 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 TBD
01-SEP-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
01-SEP-03 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
01-SEP-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
01-SEP-03 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
05-SEP-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 FALLEN -PT 1
05-SEP-03 11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 FALLEN -PT 1
08-SEP-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
08-SEP-03 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
08-SEP-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
08-SEP-03 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
12-SEP-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 HOMECOMING -PT 2
12-SEP-03 11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 HOMECOMING -PT 2
15-SEP-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
15-SEP-03 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
15-SEP-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
15-SEP-03 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
19-SEP-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 FRAGILE BALANCE
19-SEP-03 11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 FRAGILE BALANCE

FARSCAPE SCHEDULE:

17-AUG-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE PROMISES
24-AUG-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE NATURAL ELECTION
02-SEP-03 11:00 AM DAYTIME ROTATION - FARSCAPE DNA MAD SCIENTIST
02-SEP-03 12:00 PM DAYTIME ROTATION - FARSCAPE THROUGH THE LOOKING
GLASS
02-SEP-03 1:00 PM DAYTIME ROTATION - FARSCAPE A BUG'S LIFE
02-SEP-03 2:00 PM DAYTIME ROTATION - FARSCAPE NERVE
02-SEP-03 3:00 PM DAYTIME ROTATION - FARSCAPE HIDDEN MEMORY
07-SEP-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE JOHN QUIXOTE
14-SEP-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE I SHRINK THEREFORE I AM
19-SEP-03 11:00 AM DAYTIME ROTATION - FARSCAPE MIND THE BABY
19-SEP-03 12:00 PM DAYTIME ROTATION - FARSCAPE CRACKERS DON'T MATTER
19-SEP-03 1:00 PM DAYTIME ROTATION - FARSCAPE THE WAY WE WEREN'T
19-SEP-03 2:00 PM DAYTIME ROTATION - FARSCAPE MY THREE CRICHTONS
19-SEP-03 3:00 PM DAYTIME ROTATION - FARSCAPE THE LOCKET
21-SEP-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE A PREFECT MURDER

WHAT'S NEW IN SCIFI THIS WEEK:

TOP SF DVD SALES: 1. The Two Towers regular edition; 2. The Two
Towers widescreen edition; 3. Adventures of Indiana Jones; 4. Babylon
5 season three; 5. Futurama volume two; 6. Finding Nemo; 7. Angel
season two; 8. Stargate SG-1 season four; 9. Chronological Donald,
and 10. The Lion King. Source: Amazon.com, top-selling genre DVDs,
8/11/03.

FUTURAMA: According to the TV Guide, Fox's FUTURAMA has blossomed
into a cable and DVD hit. As part of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim
lineup, Futurama averaged 2.2 million viewers in June. The series is
scheduled to return Nov. 2.

NEW STAR TREK? William Shatner (Captain Kirk) told the Sioux City
Journal that he has an idea for a new direction to take TREK. "I'm
trying to interest the powers -- and that has many levels to it --
for me to conceive another STAR TREK manifestation. It would be a
concept for a series." Of course Shatner didn't reveal any additional
information about what his series would be or which timeframe his
TREK would take place in. Hopefully we'll hear more over time.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict will be
returning to BATTLESTAR GALACTICA -- but not the new mini-series
coming to SCIFI. They are among the actors who have been hired to
provide voices for characters in Vivendi Universal Games' upcoming
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA video game. Hatch and Benedict will not only
reprise their characters of Apollo and Starbuck from the original TV
series, but they will provide the voices for multiple characters in
the game. Also providing voice talent are Dwight Schultz (Lt. Barclay
from THE NEXT GENERATION) and Kristanna Loken (the T-X from
TERMINATOR 3). Schultz's character is named Erebus, who is the
Imperious Leader of the Cylon battle fleet. Loken plays Iphigenia, a
fellow Viper pilot and the love interest for Adama. The game is set
40 yahrens before the destruction of the Twelve Colonies and the
Galactica's quest to find Earth. The BATTLESTAR GALACTICA game tells
the story of a young Ensign Adama and his first deep space posting
aboard the Battlestar Galactica. Gamers face hordes of Cylon attack
fighters as they conduct the daily defense of humans in their Vipers.
Missions range from escort sorties to search and destroy to
reconnaissance. Over the course of the story-driven game, you'll be
at the controls of five different spacecraft each with their own
flight style and weapon armaments. The game will be released this
winter for PlayStation 2 and Xbox game systems.

OLD FLICKS REVIVED: I am happy to see old films being resurrected and
their quality enhanced by new methods for DVD distribution. One of my
favorites, CASABLANCA, has recently been released by Warner Home
Video in what Roger Ebert describes as a sensational new double-disc
set (retail $26.99) with four-plus hours of bonus materials. Some
extras are new, others are simply recycled from previous "Casablanca"
videos. Most viewers won't care. Go to
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/reviews/review_display.jsp?
vnu_content_id=1954662 for Ebert's entire review.

RED DWARF: Dark Horizons reports that the film version of the Brit
sci-fi/comedy sitcom RED DWARF is set to begin production in October.
The £12 million film project will last 4-5 months and almost
certainly will be done at the Warner Bros. Gold Coast Studios in
Australia. Craig Charles said that "It's been five years in the
melting pot and it looks like it's finally going to happen. The
script is excellent and everyone is looking forward to making it."
Winchester Films have already provisionally sold it to Australia,
Britain and Japan and it should do well in America as it's shown on
US TV. Money is still a stumbling block but I think BBC Worldwide is
putting cash into it. The budget of £12m is massive for a non-
Hollywood movie".

RATINGS: Top SF Network Shows: Alias 2.7; Futurama 2.5; Smallville
2.2; Smallville 2.2; Enterprise 1.7; The Twilight Zone 1.7; Charmed
1.5, and Buffy 1.2. Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 7/14/03 - 7/20/03.

KINGDOM HOSPITAL: According to the Hollywood Reporter, a seasoned
veteran has been chosen to portray the head of KINGDOM HOSPITAL when
it comes to ABC in midseason. Ed Begley Jr. (St. Elsewhere) joins the
cast as hospital chief Dr. Jesse James in this Steven King
supernatural horror series. The 15-hour series also stars Andrew
McCarthy and Diane Ladd.

THE HULK: Screen Daily reports that "The Hulk" opened big in India.
The movie grossed $214,000 from 81 theatres in India for Universal's
ninth biggest opening ever in the territory.

FREDDY VS. JASON: Robert Englund returns as FREDDY this weekend in
FREDDY VS. JASON. For an interview with Robert Englund, go to
http://www.comingsoon.net/news.php?id=1115 . It is his eighth time
playing Freddy Krueger and he reflects on the impact Freddy has had
on his career. Some may lament a typecast, but Englund embraces it.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: A number of movies premiere this weekend. New
Line's FREDDY VS. JASON is set to take over the weekend box office.
Launched in 3,014 theaters on Friday, there is a review at
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/reviewsnews.php?id=1105.
Are Westerns back? This weekend, Kevin Costner (who also directed the
film) joins Robert Duvall and Annette Bening in OPEN RANGE. It will
debut in 2,075 theaters. For a review, go to
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/reviewsnews.php?id=1107.

BUFFY: The new BUFFY video game, CHAOS BLEEDS hits shelves August 29.
For a quick peek, go to http://www.cinescape.com/0/editorial.asp?
aff_id=0&this_cat=Games&action=page&type_id=&cat_id=270351&obj_id=3939
4 for a few screenshots from the game. Take a look at what Buffy,
Faith, Spike and Willow look like as colorful game graphics!

DARKSIDE: According to the Hollywood Reporter, emmy-winning director
David Nutter (X-Files, Smallville, Tarzan) has been tapped by New
Line Cinema to direct the vampire thriller "Darksiders." Penned by
Tom Parker and Jim Jennewein, "Darksiders" revolves around a band of
bloodsuckers who are turned into special operatives for the FBI.
Given the bloodlust they show for their work, the vampires are
closely monitored by the government agency. The project is being
produced by Tracie Graham and Alison Rosenzweig, with New Line
production execs Kent Alterman and Michelle Weiss overseeing for the
studio.

EPISODE III: Many actors have already finished their sequences for
the upcoming STAR WARS: EPISODE III film. However, Peter Mayhew, who
reprises his role as Chewbacca, told SCI FI Wire "You've got to have
a link between Episode III and Episode IV. Consequently, the older
characters have got to be there. Otherwise it doesn't gel. And what
better character to have, as one of the older members of the
[original trilogy's] cast, than Chewbacca to come back and connect
everything together? I was very surprised and very pleased to get
that phone call." Episode III will be released in 2005.

MY SOUL TO KEEP: Variety reports that Fox Searchlight has acquired
film rights to Tananarive Due's supernatural novel MY SOUL TO KEEP
and has locked Blair Underwood to star and Rick Famuyiwa to direct.
Famuyiwa (The Wood) will rewrite a draft by Frank Underwood, the
brother of the film's star. The book deals with a man from an ancient
Ethiopian village who has lived for five centuries and who wants to
make his wife and child immortal.

MARVEL PROJECTS: Marvel Enterprises announced its slate of upcoming
projects, which includes an animated MTV series based on its Blade
vampire franchise. Marvel also projected release dates for several
upcoming feature films based on Marvel properties, including
Artisan's THE PUNISHER (spring/summer 2004), Sony's SPIDER-MAN 2
(July 2, 2004), New Line's BLADE 3 (August 2004) and Fox's FANTASTIC
FOUR (December 2004). Other movies in development include Fox's X-MEN
3, Universal's THE HULK 2, Universal's NAMOR, New Regency/Fox's
ELEKTRA, New Line's IRON MAN, Sony's GHOST RIDER and Paramount's
DEATHLOK.

RATINGS: Top 10 SF Syndicated Shows: The X-Files 2.3; Buffy 2.1;
Stargate SG-1 2.1; Mutant X 2.0; 3rd Rock 1.8; Adventure, Inc. 1.7;
Andromeda 1.5; Beastmaster 1.5; John Edward 1.4, and The Outer Limits
1.4. Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 7/14/03 - 7/20/03.

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA: Andrew Lloyd Webber's PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
marked its 7,000th performance in London on Tuesday. The musical has
grossed $2.6 billion worldwide. Filming begins soon on a movie
version.

WONDER WOMAN: The revolving door of writers on this project
continues. Philip Levens ("Smallville") is out and Warner Bros. has
hired Laeta Kalogridis to whip the Amazonian princess into shape.
Kalogridis was writer and executive producer on the "Birds of Prey"
series. She also wrote the screenplay for Oliver Stone's
epic "Alexander" which stars Colin Farrell as Alexander the Great.
Kalogridis is known around town for writing tough, female action
heroes and will be starting "Wonder Woman" from scratch, writing a
completely new script, which deals with the origins of the character.

RANGER DANGER: Variety reports that writer/director Kevin Smith has
renewed his first-look deal with Miramax Films and will begin
shooting "Fletch Won" in January. It's a new film based on the
mystery-solving journalist played by Chevy Chase before. In the fall
of 2004, Smith will also take on the sci-fi adventure RANGER DANGER
AND THE DANGER RANGERS for Dimension films. Smith says it's his "stab
at a comicbook/sci-fi movie. It's in the vein of 'Flash Gordon,'
something I've noodled with a couple of years. Now I feel we are
mature enough filmmakers to tackle it."

FIREFLY: Ranger Michael reports that the Amazon.com page for FIREFLY
has changed. They've removed the expected release date and put in
something that sounds a bit like a petition drive. Here's the text:

From Amazon: Availability: NOT YET RELEASED: The studio is currently
not producing this title on DVD, but to be notified when it is
available, enter your e-mail address at right. You'll also be voting
for this release; we'll let the studio know how many customers are
waiting for this title. If you would like to see FIREFLY out on DVD,
I suggest you sign up at www.amazon.com and we'll see what happens.

LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN: While there is still a LOT to
choose from at the box office, the LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN
placed 11th at the box office over the weekend with $1.5 million,
pushing its total to $62.1 million.

KING KONG: Universal Pictures will pay Peter Jackson (LORD OF THE
RINGS director) $20 million against 20% of the gross from the new
KING KONG, marking one of the largest deals ever made with a
director. Jackson will share that fee with Fran Walsh and Philippa
Boyens, the duo with whom he wrote "The Lord of the Rings" films. The
trio shares writing duties on KING KONG. And part of the compensation
goes to Walsh for producing the film with him. The $20 million
advance puts Jackson in the same territory as stars like Tom Cruise
and Mel Gibson. There will be no other gross players on the film,
which has been greenlit and is slotted for Christmas 2005. Jackson's
payday is tied to bringing in the film at an agreed-upon budget. The
compensation doesn't include funds Universal will invest to shoot the
film in New Zealand.

RATINGS: Top 10 SCIFI Channel Shows: Stargate SG-1 1.5; Alien Hunter
1.3; Death Becomes Her 1.1; Stargate 1.1; Tremors: The Series 1.1;
Red Planet 1.1; Meet Joe Black 0.9; Clan of the Cave Bear 0.9; Alien
Cargo 0.9, and Witches of Eastwick 0.8. Source: Nielsen Galaxy
Report, 7/14/03 - 7/20/03.

HELLBOY: Ron Perlman should be an old hand at heavy makeup and
prosthetics. After years on BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, he certainly was
prepared for the title role in the upcoming film HELLBOY. While
shooting in Prague, Perlman told SCIFIWire "I realized from the get-
go that I didn't need to make any adjustment. Because the mask
absolutely mirrored everything that was going through my mind and
what was going through my heart. It's just a question of playing
Hellboy at that point." Perlman was the first choice for the role for
both director Guillermo del Toro and Hellboy creator Mike Mignola.
HELLBOY opens April 2, 2004.

NEW INDEPENDENT FILM COMPANIES: DreamWorks and Warner Bros. will open
new film distribution firms to release art house and independent
motion pictures. DreamWorks is calling their new indie arm Go Fish,
most likely as a play on the company's familiar boy-fishing-in- the-
moon logo. The new division will be led by Joan Filippini. Warner
Independent Pictures will be led by Mark Gill in an effort to acquire
or make up to ten different films under $20 million dollars in
budget. Creating a separate, autonomous film division allows the
studio and filmmakers a better opportunity to focus on the production
and marketing of their product.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Sony's "S.W.A.T" overpowered the boxoffice this
weekend as the Samuel L. Jackson-Colin Farrell starrer took an
estimated $37 million on its debut, landing well beyond pre-release
expectations. Buena Vista's FREAKY FRIDAY took the second slot,
turning in an estimated $22.3 million during the weekend and a solid
$33.2 million since its release on Wednesday. Last weekend's
boxoffice champ, Universal's AMERICAN WEDDING moved into the third
slot, slipping a steep 55% from its debut and grossed an estimated
$15.1 million. Buena Vista's crowd pleasing "Pirates of the
Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" continues to do exceptional
business as the Johnny Depp starrer placed fourth with an estimated
$13.1 million -- down only 30% in its fifth frame while losing 220
theaters. The period actioner has buccaneered an estimated $232.8
million so far. In the fifth spot was Universal's "Seabiscuit" with
an estimated $11.9 million and a third weekend drop of a mild 32%.
The Tobey Maguire-Jeff Bridges starrer, co-produced with DreamWorks
and Spyglass Entertainment, has an estimated purse of $69.5 million
to date. Dimension's "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over" took a 48% hit in its
third weekend as the mini-Bonds took in an estimated $10.1 million.
The Robert Rodriguez-directed picture's cume reached an estimated
$87.4 million.

HARRY POTTER: Warner Bros. Pictures announced Sunday that director
Mike Newell will begin work on "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"
in April. "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," the third film
in the series, is currently being filmed under the direction of
Alfonso Cuaron. Producer David Heyman said Newell was the "perfect
choice" for the new film. "He has worked with children, made us
laugh, and had us sitting on the edge of our seats, he is great with
actors and imbues all his characters, all his films, with great
humanity. I'm thrilled."

EVENTS CALENDAR

Bill Blair Birthday Celebrity Cruise
August 18-22, 2003
Ports of Call: Key West, Cozumel
Guest: Bill Blair, Peter "Chewbacca' Mayhew
For more information, visit Bill's website at
http://www.BillBlairFanClub.com.

DragonCon
August 29-Sept. 1, 2003
Place: Atlanta, GA
B5 Guests: Stephen Furst, Peter David, Mira Furlan, Walter Koenig,
Peter Woodward, Brad Dourif, Julie Caitlin Brown, Bill Mumy, Robin
Atkin Downes (Bruce Boxleitner – cancelled)
Other Guests: Luke Perry, Ray Bradbury, Christopher Judge, John Rhys-
Davies, George Takei, Tony Amendola
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.dragoncon.org.

Vulkon
September 5-7, 2003
Place: Cleveland, Ohio
B5 Guest: Mira Furlan, Julie Caitlin Brown
Other Guests: Michael Dorn, Dominic Keating, James Doohan, Richard
Herd
For more information, visit their website at http://www.vulkon.com.

To Be CONtinued
September 26-28, 2003
Site: Radissosn Hotel & Star Plaza Theater
Place: Merrillville, Indiana
B5 Guests: Richard Biggs, Jason Carter, Julie Caitlin Brown
Other Guests: Rockne O'Bannon (Farscape Creator), & Ray Park (Darth
Mall)
For more information, visit their website at www.2becontinued.com.
Sign up for the Biggs & Carter Experience. The first 140 people who
register for Friday will have a free dinner with Richard Biggs and
Jason Carter). For more information on the convention, please visit
www.msffa.org. For more information on the Biggs & Carter Experience,
please visit www.biggsandcarter.co.

That's it for now.  Be sure to drop over to the website and keep up
with the news each day.  Enjoy the weekend and be careful.  It's a
jungle out there.

Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN News:  The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net

THE ZOCALO TODAY – September 13, 2003

WHAT'S NEW

BABYLON 5 DVD: John Snider, Editor of www.scifidimensions.com
announced a BABYLON 5 DVD: Season Three DVD give-away. Details on how
to register can be found at
<http://www.scifidimensions.com/Sep03/b5s3dvd.htm>.

BABYLON 5 REVIVAL FOLLOW-UP: For the last couple of weeks, there has
been a "discussion" on the Babylon 5 moderated newsgroup about
statements made by Jerry Doyle during an interview in which he
indicated he was working toward something in the Babylon 5
environment. Rather than give you just the fine points of the
discussion, go to
<http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/436/436980p1.html> and read the
follow-on interview from Jerry and JMS' response.

ENTERPRISE: Daniel Dae Kim from CRUSADE has won a regular part on
ENTERPRISE. Daniel portrays Corporal Chang, one of the recurring
crewmembers joining the series as part of MACO, an elite military
group. In a recent Dreamwatch interview, Daniel talked about his work
on the series. "So far, I've interacted with a lot with 'Hoshi',
Linda Park's character, and 'Trip', Connor Trinneer's character, and
Scott Bakula ['Archer'], of course. We have a scene with [Dominic
Keating's] 'Reed' in the episode we're shooting now. I think we'll be
interacting with everybody." When asked about what he'd be doing on-
screen, Kim said, "I don't think I'm allowed to go into specifics,
but lots of rifles and guns – all sorts of neat toys." Daniel has
kept busy since his role as John Matheson on CRUSADE ended. He has
had recurring roles on ANGEL and 24. So far, his presence has been
confirmed for the first and third episodes of Enterprise season
three.

SPIDER-MAN 2: In the latest announcement from Del Rey -- there is
some good news. Del Rey will be publishing the official novelization
for SPIDER-MAN 2 and they have signed PETER DAVID to handle the
project. Peter is one of the most popular writers in comic books
today. He has written for Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, and The
Incredible Hulk comics and a host of novelizations for the recent
movies based on those properties. For Babylon 5 fans, he wrote the
novelization for IN THE BEGINNING and THIRDSPACE. He also wrote the
Centauri trilogy - "Armies of Light and Dark", "The Long Night of
Centauri Prime" and "Out of the Darkness".

JMS AND WORD ASSOCIATION

Here's an excerpt from the newsgroup I thought you might enjoy. It's
a little word association from JMS:

1. What's your favorite word?
Terrific.

2. What's your least favorite word?
Goodbye.

3. What sound or noise do you love?
Water.

4. What sound or noise do you hate?
Leaf blowers.

5. What turns you on?
A sharp wit.

6. What turns you off?
Being patronized.

7. What's your favorite curse (word)?
F...

8. What profession other than your own would you like to try?
Musician.

9. What profession would you NEVER like to do?
CPA.

10. IF there is a heaven, what would you like to hear God say when
you arrive?
"Okay, your turn."

KEEPIN UP WITH CAST AND CREW

ROBIN ATKIN DOWNES: Robin (Byron from Babylon 5) has been quite busy
since the end of the series. His latest project, the BATTLESTAR
GALACTICA video game where he provides the voice for Ensign
William "Husker" Adama . To read more, go to
<http://www.galactica2003.net/videogame/downes081603.htm>.

PETER WOODWARD: Ranger Spiffy reports: The History Channel UK website
has a simple on-line game of Peter Woodward's Conquest. The setup is
hilarious! Peter's character challenges the player to a duel
involving crossbows, longbows, and battle axes. The design is not
morbid--it is cartoonish and the quips from Peter's character are
very comical. I think that the game would appeal to anyone who likes
history and especially the Conquest tv show. (It may also be a good
stress-reliever!) Go to
<http://www.thehistorychannel.co.uk/index_continue.htm>, select games
and go to CONQUEST.

DISCUSSION TOPIC:

Here's a sort of daydream question for you. If you were SCIFI, what
would you evening line-up be? You have a number of good science
fiction shows. How would you pull them together? For example, here is
my dream line-up for SCIFI:

Monday - 4 episodes of Stargate SG-1
Tuesday - 4 episodes of Farscape
Wednesday - 4 episodes of Babylon 5
Thursday - 1 episode of Crusade, Invisible Man, The Chronicle, First
Wave
Friday - 1 episode of Babylon 5, NEW episode of STARGATE SG-1, switch
episodes of some old favorites like The Hulk, Knight Rider.

Send in your ideas and comments to sgbruckner@... and I'll start
posting them on the Discussion Page for everyone to share.

I see that Babylon 5 is starting all over again at SCIFI this week.
Ahhhh, to have it at a different hour -- say 9pm instead of 9am!

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT

8:00pm on AMC
Alien Resurrection
Cloned Ellen Ripley and others aboard a spaceship battle rampaging
aliens.

On SciFi Tonight:

7:00pm
Pythons 2
Genetically enhanced snakes go on a killing spree inside a Russian
military base.

9:00pm
Boa
In the future a giant snake terrorizes inmates and workers at an
Antarctic prison.

On Syndicated TV This Weekend:

Adventure Inc.
The Price of the Oracle
When Judson's friend contracts a mysterious illness, the team sets
out to find a cure.

Andromeda
Twilight of the Idols
Dylan and the crew set out to find the Croatoan colonly.

BeastMaster
Rites of Passage
While searching for the Golden Auryx, Dar struggles to defeat the
Lord of Darkness.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Faith, Hope & Trick
An ancient, cloven-hoofed villain and his bloodsucking sidekick
threaten Sunnydale.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
Legacy
Veronica discovers her parents' fate and her own destiny.

Mutant X
Reality Check
The team investigates the mysterious mental breakdown of a prominent
physicist (Romano Orzari).

The Outer Limits
The Tribunal A time-traveler helps bring a war criminal to justice.

Stargate SG-1
Meridian
Daniel is exposed to deadly radiation.

BABYLON 5 MERCHANDISE

Are you looking for Babylon 5 merchandise? Would you like to possess
some of the wonderful patches or pins sold by the B5 Fan Club? Do you
want to put in an order for the latest DVD? Bruce at Uncomyn Gifts
still has one of the best collections around. Check out
<http://www.uncomyngifts.com>. You may just find the magazine or t-
shirt or patch you are looking for.

NEW SCI-FI PUBLICATIONS:

Shivers #107: As the new season approaches, everyone is speculating
about the fireworks that could occur between Spike and ANGEL. Shivers
takes a look at that this month -- along with Freddy vs. Jason,
Underworld, and House of the Dead. There is an interview with Jeffrey
Combs -- who most will know from Babylon 5 and Star Trek.

SCI-FI SCHEDULE

BABYLON 5

15-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) THE GATHERING -PT 1
16-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) THE GATHERING -PT 2
17-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) MIDNIGHT ON THE FIRING LINE
18-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) SOUL HUNTER
19-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) BORN TO THE PURPLE
22-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) INFECTION
23-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) MIND WAR
24-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) WAR PRAYER
26-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) AND THE SKY FULL OF STARS
29-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) DEATHWALKER
30-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) BELIEVERS

CRUSADE:

14-SEP-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE VISTORS FROM DOWN THE STREET
17-SEP-03 11:00 AM DAYTIME ROTATION - CRUSADE PATTERNS OF THE SOUL
17-SEP-03 12:00 PM DAYTIME ROTATION - CRUSADE THE PATH OF SORROWS
17-SEP-03 1:00 PM DAYTIME ROTATION - CRUSADE RULING FROM THE TOMB
17-SEP-03 2:00 PM DAYTIME ROTATION - CRUSADE THE RULES OF THE GAME
17-SEP-03 3:00 PM DAYTIME ROTATION - CRUSADE WAR ZONE
21-SEP-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE THE WELL OF FOREVER
05-OCT-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE EACH NIGHT I DREAM OF HOME
12-OCT-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE PATTERNS OF THE SOUL
19-OCT-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE THE PATH OF SORROWS
26-OCT-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE RULING FROM THE TOMB

STARGATE SCHEDULE:

15-SEP-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
15-SEP-03 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
15-SEP-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
15-SEP-03 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
19-SEP-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 FRAGILE BALANCE
19-SEP-03 11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 FRAGILE BALANCE
22-SEP-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
22-SEP-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
22-SEP-03 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
26-SEP-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 ORPHEUS
26-SEP-03 11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 ORPHEUS
29-SEP-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
29-SEP-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
29-SEP-03 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
29-SEP-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
29-SEP-03 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
30-SEP-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1

FARSCAPE SCHEDULE:

14-SEP-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE I SHRINK THEREFORE I AM
19-SEP-03 11:00 AM FARSCAPE MIND THE BABY
19-SEP-03 12:00 PM FARSCAPE CRACKERS DON'T MATTER
19-SEP-03 1:00 PM FARSCAPE THE WAY WE WEREN'T
19-SEP-03 2:00 PM FARSCAPE MY THREE CRICHTONS
19-SEP-03 3:00 PM FARSCAPE THE LOCKET
21-SEP-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE A PREFECT MURDER

EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT

16-SEP-03 11:00 AM CONFLICT DEATH SUITE
16-SEP-03 12:00 PMATAVUS HIGH
16-SEP-03 1:00 PM DEEP SLEEP
16-SEP-03 2:00 PM ART OF WAR
16-SEP-03 3:00 PM GRAVE DANGER
19-SEP-03 5:00 AM BLOOD TIES
26-SEP-03 5:00 AM HEARTS AND MIND

INSIDE SCIENCE FICTION THIS WEEK:

QUESTOR: Executive Producer of the proposed television series Gene
Roddenberry's Questor, told SCI FI Wire that the show has found
financing and is moving forward. You may remember THE QUESTOR TAPES --
  an NBC pilot that Star Trek creator Roddenberry co-wrote and
produced in 1974. This new series is based on that premise. "We're
financed. We have more meetings, because we've not yet chosen what
broadcaster will carry us, whether it will be network or cable. We
may still go with syndication." QUESTOR will follow the plight of an
android on a mission to help save mankind from itself. The show will
launch with a two-hour episode rather than a standard pilot. "It's
not really a pilot, because a pilot means that everyone needs to see
it and see if they like the numbers before they go forward. In fact,
we're thinking we'll start off each season with a two-hour show. But
after the first two-hour, we're planning 24 hourlong episodes. We're
doing this show on a prime-time level, with a prime-time budget, so
it's obviously of high class, and it's not going to be done low-
budget like some of the more recent Roddenberry projects." Joining
Wright as co-executive producers are Michael Ewing (Anger
Management), producer-director Peter Segal (Nutty Professor II: The
Klumps) and Roddenberry's widow, Majel Barrett Roddenberry. "Peter
will direct the first two-hour [episode]," Wright said. "Peter is
probably known for his comedies, but Nutty Professor II was also sci-
fi. We're not going to make QUESTOR a comedy, but we are going to
have a lighter tone to this. The original pilot that Gene did also
had a lot of funny moments. One of the things that Gene and I had
discussed 30 years ago, and also while we were doing Next Generation,
was lightening the mood with appropriate comic moments." Wright
expects that Gene Roddenberry's QUESTOR will be ready in time for the
2004-2005 television season.

ENTERPRISE: Over at Trek Today , you will find information about the
ninth episode of ENTERPRISE. Entitled "North Star", the crew of the
Enterprise visit a planet in the Delphic Expanse where humans from
the 1880s old west were captured, transported and relocated on an
alien world, to be used as slave labor. When Enterprise visits the
planet, they find that the humans have modeled their society after
the western frontier and still have cowboys, ranchers, sheriffs and
saloons. Archer also finds that the aliens who brought them to the
planet are now on the receiving end of the society and are treated as
second-class citizens by the humans. "North Star" will likely be
broadcast closer to the end of the year or possibly in early 2004.

24: The second season DVD of 24 came out this week. The seven-disc
second season set features all 24 episodes plus tons of bonus
features. In addition to having at least one commentary track per
episode per disc, there are alternate scenes included that weren't
shown in the broadcast episode. The bonus disc includes four
featurettes: "On the Button" showcasing the destruction of the
CTU; "Making of an Episode: Production"; "Making of an Episode:
Post-Production"; and a multi-angle scene study. There's also two
additional commentary tracks with directors John Cassar and Rodney
Charters as well as executive producer Howard Gordon where they
discuss 22 deleted scenes from the season. For a peek at some of the
extra material, go to www.cinescape.com.

HI-SCI TECH: This year there is an increasing number in line for
Academy Awards in special effects and visual arts. According to the
Hollywood Reporter, silicone movie makeup, a massive crowd animation
system, a digital audio workstation and a computer graphic imaging
technique based on century-old photographic principles are each in
the running along with 10 other achievements for 76th Annual Academy
Awards consideration. The 14 scientific and technical achievements
have been selected for review by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences' Scientific and Technical Awards Committee. "Publicizing
the selections under consideration gives people or companies with a
similar technology the opportunity to submit that technology for
review by the Sci-Tech committee; these additional entries are often
also considered," committee chair Richard Edlund said.

WEEKEND AT THE MOVIES: There are some interesting match-ups this
weekend. Three films opening in wide release this weekend are: The
gore-horror flick CABIN FEVER opens along with Nicolas Cage in
MATCHSTICK MEN and Robert Rodriguez's ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO. A
number of noteworthy films also debut in select cities this weekend,
including Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation, and the anime
Millennium Actress. For reviews of these films, go to
<http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/437/437935p1.html?fromint=1>.

RATINGS: Top SF Network Shows: Futurama 2.8; Charmed 1.7; Charmed
rerun 1.6; Smallville 1.6; Enterprise 1.4; Enterprise rerun 1.3, and
Buffy 1.1. Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 8/11/03 - 8/10/03.

BATMAN: At long last, word has come regarding a new Warner Bros.
BATMAN film. Christian Bale (Equilibrium) has been cast in the
starring role of Bruce Wayne, to be directed by Christopher Nolan and
produced by Emma Thomas. Jeff Robinov, president of production for
Warner Brothers Pictures announced principal photography on the film
is expected to begin in early 2004. The movie is written by David
Goyer (Blade) and Nolan (Insomnia) and will follow the early career
of The Dark Knight. "What I see in Christian is the ultimate
embodiment of Bruce Wayne," Nolan said in a statement. "He has
exactly the balance of darkness and light that we were looking for."

THE FLASH: The WB's Fall 2004 schedule will include THE FLASH, the
story of an ordinary man with superhuman speed. Writer/producer Todd
Komarnicki is writing the pilot and will executive produce. Just like
The WB's SMALLVILLE, the new take will have a "no tights, no flights"
philosophy, which means the character won't be clad in the classic
red suit. He'll also have a cool 21st-century mantra that will guide
his life. "Once our hero gets his calling, he's given the
advice, 'Live fast so others don't die young,' " Komarnicki tells
Variety. The new version will also add another element - time travel.
The hero will be a fresh-out-of-college Gothamite who discovers he
has the ability to move very fast - so fast, in fact, that he can
travel backward or forward in time. He'll use that skill to right
wrongs, save lives and kick ass. Each week will have self-contained
storylines, or missions, in addition to ongoing plot points. A mentor
will train him and there's a legacy of Flashes before him.

SMALLVILLE: There had been word that we would meet Perry White
(future editor of the Daily Planet) in an upcoming episode of
SMALLVILLE. Who will play Perry? SmallvilleFans.com reports that
Michael McKean, the husband of Annette O'Toole (Martha Kent in the
show), will play Perry White in Smallville this season. His episode
was filmed the week of August 28 - September 9 and will air sometime
in November.

KING SOLOMON'S MINES: Here's an old favorite that will be back on the
big screen soon. HBO has remade the Henry Rider Haggard's novel into
a new mini-series. Filming was completed earlier this summer in South
Africa and stars Patrick Swayze (Ghost) and Alison Doody (Indiania
Jones III).

TOP SF DVD SALES: 1. The Two Towers regular edition; 2. The Matrix
Reloaded; 3. The Two Towers extended edition; 4. Finding Nemo; 5.
Stargate SG-1 season four; 6. Angel season two; 7. Adventures of
Indiana Jones; 8. Sleeping Beauty special edition; 9. The Lion King
platinum edition, and 10. The Fellowship of the Ring extended
edition. Source: Amazon.com, top-selling genre DVDs, 9/5/03.

ANGEL: During a recent interview, ANGEL's David Boreanaz said that
the upcoming fifth season will feature more stand-alone episodes and
shorter story arcs. "It's not going to be so heavy as it was in the
past," Boreanaz said. "The arcs are going to be shorter. There are
going to be more stand-alone shows." "You're going to see a group of
characters investigate something [and] get through it," he said. "It
will be more light stuff happening. A lot of dark humor going on. ...
It's action. ... There's adventure. There's love. ... It's fast-
paced, [with] special effects. ... It's going to be packed with quick
jabs rather than long punches this year." Angel returns to its
regular Wednesday 9 p.m. ET/PT timeslot on Oct. 1.

THE JACKET: Keira Knightley (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN) and Adrien
Brody (THE PIANIST) have been cast in the film THE JACKET. Brody
plays a soldier-turned-murderer who suffers from delusions that he is
a time traveller. While at an insane asylum, Brody's character meets
Knightley's, where he believes he met her in her past when she was
still a child. The film will be directed by John Maybury from a
screenplay by Marc Rocco and Massy Tadjedin.

GOTHIKA: Halle Berry is showcased in her latest thriller, GOTHIKA.
She's locked away in the same mental institution that she once worked
at, except no one believes her story. That's the premise behind
Warner Bros. upcoming horror film GOTHIKA starring Halle Berry,
Penelope Cruz and Robert Downey Jr. Berry plays criminal psychologist
Dr. Miranda Grey who awakens one day to find she is now an inmate at
the asylum where she once worked, accused of murdering her husband
and with no memory of that night. Has Miranda lost her mind or is she
the victim of another individual or force residing in the asylum? The
film opens October 24 -- but there are previews available for you at
www.cinescape.com.

SMALLVILLE: On September 23, Warner Home Video will release
Smallville: The Complete First Season on DVD. For a complete rundown
of what will be included, go to
<http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0309/11/smallville.htm>.

GEMINI AWARDS: STARGATE SG-1 has received three Gemini nominations.
The Gemini is the Canadian equivalent of the American Emmy.
Nominations include: Best Sound in a Dramatic Series - "The Warrior";
Best Production Design or Art Direction in a Dramatic Program or
Series - "Summit" and Best Visual Effects - "Revelations". Actor
Jason Schombing ("Robert Rothman") was also nominated for Best
Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic
Series for his work in the series "Just Cause".

ENTERPRISE:  There is a review of the Third Season Premiere at
<http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/437/437350p1.html>. There are
probably spoilers included, so you may want to read this after you've
seen the premiere. Even if you don't mind spoilers, you may want to
read the review until after you've seen the premiere!

RATINGS: Top 10 SF Syndicated Series: Mutant X 2.2; Stargate SG-1
2.2; Buffy 2.0; The X-Files 2.0; Adventure, Inc. 1.7; Andromeda 1.6;
Beastmaster 1.6; 3rd Rock 1.5; John Edward 1.4, and The Lost World
1.2. Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 8/11/03 - 8/17/03.

ALIAS: Is J.J. Abrams taking ques from the James Bond movies and
bringing in his own version of Q? Kevin Weisman, who plays techno
geek Marshall Flinkman on ALIAS said in a recent interview that his
character will have more personal storylines in the upcoming third
season. "[Show creator J.J. Abrams] is always looking for ways to
evolve, not only the show, but the characters." "He always
promised, 'You will be integral to the technical end of the show in
terms of the missions and the gadgets and stuff, but once we've
really had an opportunity to explore emotionally most of the
characters on the show, we will get to you. And hopefully the show
will still be on the air at that point.' And luckily it is."

THE FEW: Tom Cruise became a megastar when he starred in Top Gun. He
is getting ready to return to the skies, this time as Billy Fiske,
the first American pilot killed fighting the Germans in World War II.
The project, entitled THE FEW, is being produced by Paramount
Pictures. Michael Mann will direct, and John Logan, who wrote the
upcoming Cruise-starrer The Last Samurai, is in talks to write the
script, based on a book proposal by Alex Kershaw. Variety describes
the story in this way: Fiske, an Olympic athlete and fighter pilot
who was half-American and half-British, led a small group of American
pilots who broke U.S. neutrality rules in the early days of WWII to
fight with the British against the Nazis. In 1940, expert German
fighters had decimated the Royal Air Force to the point that there
weren't enough pilots left to fly the Spitfire planes sitting idly in
hangars. Unable to rouse the U.S. into action, a desperate Winston
Churchill hatched a covert effort to recruit civilian American pilots
to join the RAF. Risking prison sentences in the then-neutral U.S., a
ragtag bunch of pilots answered the call.

INTO THE BLUE: Fans of Jessica Alba (DARK ANGEL) can catch her next
in the female lead of INTO THE BLUE with Paul Walker. This
MGM/Mandalay Pictures drama will be directed by John Stockwell and
begins shooting in the Cayman Islands and Florida next month. Written
by Matt Johnson (Torque), "Blue" is about a young treasure-hunting
couple who come upon a stash of cocaine that puts them in the path of
unsavory salvagers.

ALIAS: With the new season of ALIAS slated to begin September 28 at
9:00pm ET/PT, fans are anxiously awaiting to pick up where the season
ending cliffhanger ended -- Sydney awoke in Hong Kong with the
realization that two years have passed since her last memory. At a
recent press conference to preview prime-time shows, ALIAS stars
Michael Vartan and Jennifer Garner talked about an onscreen fight
they have early in the upcoming third season. "We already shot the
scene," Garner said. "It was, as you can imagine, incredibly intense.
And I did give him an actual pretty good wallop to the stomach, which
I felt a bit guilty about later."

CONSTANTINE: According to the Hollywood Reporter, Rock star Gavin
Rossdale and actor Djimon Hounsou are poised to join Warner Brothers'
CONSTANTINE, based on the DC/Vertigo comic series Hellblazer starring
Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz and Tilda Swinton. Director Francis
Lawrence tells the story of John Constantine (Reeves), a man who
dabbles in the occult and teams with a female police officer (Weisz)
to fight evil forces. Rossdale will play Balthazar, a nemesis of
Reeves' character; Hounsou will star as Papa Midnite, the owner of an
occult club who was once a demon fighter like Constantine, but is now
trying to get out of the business. Kevin Brodbin wrote the original
script, with a rewrite by Mark Bomback and Frank Cappello.

TARZAN: The Hollywood Reporter indicates that Lucy Lawless (XENA),
has been signed to co-star in the WB's series TARZAN. Lawless will
play Kathleen Clayton, a publishing magnate and younger sister of
Mitch Pileggi's Richard Clayton, the acting head of Greystoke
Industries. Kathleen and Richard have very different ideas of how to
handle their recently rediscovered nephew Jack (Travis Fimmel).
Richard believes that Tarzan must be rehabilitated and reintroduced
to non-simian society, while Kathleen wants to give the monkey man
time to find his own way. Additionally, Lawless has inked a
development deal with the network for a series project targeted for
fall 2004.

BUFFY/SIMPSON: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sarah Michelle Gellar is
taping an episode of THE SIMPSONS to air in early 2004 according to
the TV Guide. Gellar will play a bad girl named Gina, who befriends
Bart when he's sent to juvenile detention and later helps him escape.

JOHN DOE/BLADE: Dominic Purcell (JOHN DOE) will play Wesley Snipes'
vampire nemesis in New Line Cinema's Blade: Trinity. Purcell is the
latest addition to a cast that includes Kris Kristofferson, Jessica
Biel and Ryan Reynolds. The third installment of the Marvel Comics-
based franchise is being written and directed by David Goyer.
Production is scheduled to start this month in Vancouver.

ALEXANDER: Writer/director Oliver Stone has signed Val Kilmer to play
the Macedonian king Philip in ALEXANDER, the Intermedia/Warner Bros.
drama that begins filming Sept. 22 in Morocco. He will play the
father of Alexander (Colin Farrell) and the husband of Olympias
(Angelina Jolie). Lensing of the film moves to London on November 10
and then wraps in early January in Thailand. Warner Bros. is expected
to release ALEXANDER in North America in November 2004.

OLIVER TWIST: Roman Polanski and screenwriter Ronald Harwood have
reteamed for a feature adaptation of Charles Dickens' OLIVER TWIST.
It will be Polanski's next film which he plans to shoot in Europe
next summer, using a British cast. Polanski said it would be a
challenge to condense Dickens' 456-page book into a two-hour film,
but he was inspired to make the film by his own children, now 10 and
5 years old. Also joining Polanski on OLIVER TWIST are "Pianist"
producers Alain Sarde and Robert Benmussa. Charles Dickens' story is
that of an orphan who runs away from a workhouse and meets a
pickpocket on the London streets. He joins a household of young boys
who are trained to steal for their master.

RATINGS: Top 10 SCIFI Channel Shows: Stargate SG-1 1.5; Monster 1.3;
Scare Tactics 1.0; Anaconda 1.0; Deep Shock 1.0; The Faculty 1.0;
Cherry Falls 0.9; Tremors 3 0.9; Tremors 2 0.8, and Tremors: The
Series 0.8. Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 8/11/03 - 8/17/03.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: A pretty lack-luster weekend for the movies this
week. David Spade's DICKIE ROBERTS: FORMER CHILD STAR opened at No. 1
with estimated ticket sales of $7 million for the three days. Last
weekend's champion, the teen horror "Jeepers Creepers 2" (United
Artists) slipped to No. 2 with $6.7 million. The top 10 contained one
other new entry, "The Order" (20th Century Fox), a thriller starring
Heath Ledger as a priest, which opened at No. 6 with $4.3 million.
Rounding out this weekend's top five were the Johnny Depp
swashbuckler "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl"
(Walt Disney Pictures) at No. 3 with $5.5 million; the Jamie Lee
Curtis comedy "Freaky Friday" (Walt Disney Pictures) with $5.1
million; and the cop thriller "S.W.A.T." (Columbia Pictures) with
$4.6 million. The weekend following the U.S. Labor Day holiday is
traditionally one of the slowest of the year: the studios unleashed
all their big guns in the summer and are preparing to release the
prestige films they hope will be awards magnets. Sales for the top 12
films totaled $50.9 million, the lowest tally since September 21-23,
2001 ($43.5 million), according to tracking firm Exhibitor Relations.

24: For fans of this series, you'll want to get a sneek peek at the
coming season at <http://www.fox.com/24sweepstakes/preview_hi.htm>.
This preview is really intense -- like the series.

STARGATE SG-1: SCIFI will begin running the series daily at 6:00pm
beginning September 29. That means you will be able to catch them
during the week at 6; Monday from 7-11 and on Friday from 9-10:00pm
with season seven episodes.

CONVENTION CALENDAR

To Be CONtinued
September 26-28, 2003
Site: Radissosn Hotel & Star Plaza Theater
Place: Merrillville, Indiana
B5 Guests: Richard Biggs, Jason Carter, Julie Caitlin Brown
Other Guests: Rockne O'Bannon (Farscape Creator), & Ray Park (Darth
Mall)
For more information, visit their website at www.2becontinued.com.
Sign up for the Biggs & Carter Experience. The first 140 people who
register for Friday will have a free dinner with Richard Biggs and
Jason Carter). For more information on the convention, please visit
www.msffa.org. For more information on the Biggs & Carter Experience,
please visit www.biggsandcarter.co.

Archon
October 2-5, 2003
Place: Collinsville, IL
B5 Guests: Andreas Katsulas, Julie Caaitlin Brown
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.stlf.org/archon/.

Maquis Gras 2003
October 4-6, 2002
Place: Ramada Inn, Portage, Indiana
B5 Guest: Bill Blair
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.maquis.com/mfa/gras1.htm.

Point North
October 5-6, 2003
Place: Salem Civic Center
Salem, VA
B5 Guest: Stephen Austin
For more information, visit their website at http://www.point-
north.com.

FantiCon
October 10-12, 2003
City: Wilmington, NC
Place: Hampton Inn
B5 Guest: Peter Jurasik
Other guests: Lisa Wilcox, Pat Hingle, Henry Darrow, Juliet Cesario,
Scott Simpson, Frank Capra, Jr.

For more information, visit their website at
http://www.fanticon.org/ .
JVL-CON 2003
October 24-27, 2003
Jainesville, Wisconsin
Place: Ramada Inn
Guest: Barbara March
For more information, visit their website at www.si-fi-nut.com .

Galacticon 2003
October 24-26, 2003
Place: Sheraton Universal Hotel, Los Angeles, CA
Guests: Stars, Producers, Writers and Crew fro the Original
Battlestar Galactica
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.galacticonevents.com/index2.html .

Vulkon
October 31-November 2, 2003
Place: Nashville, TN
B5 Guest: Robin Atkin Downes
Other Guests: Julie Benz, Robia LaMorte, George Hertzberg
For more information, visit their website at http://www.vulkon.com.

I guess that about wraps things up.  Be sure to drop over to the
website (http://www.isnnews.net) and follow along with what is
happening each day in the world of science fiction.  Tell your
friends about the site as well.  They may enjoy it!

If you have a bit of news -- an upcoming convention, a sighting of a
B5 cast member on the tube -- drop me a line.  Share the information
with other Babylon 5 fans.

Have a fantastic weekend,
Be safe,
Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN News:  The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net

THE ZOCALO TODAY – September 28, 2003

BABYLON 5 NEWS:

BABYLON 5: SEASON THREE DVD REVIEW: Over at www.cinescape.com you
will find a review of the B5 Season Three DVD. Tony Whitt does a
good job of pulling all the elements together -- and looking at the
entire epic of Babylon 5.

STRACZYNSKI UNPLUGGED: Straczynski Unplugged, to be released in
April 2004, is a collection of published and all-new short stories,
including a number of dark tales adapted from his episodes written
for the TV series The New Twilight Zone. You can pre-order this
title now at www.amazon.com.

PAT TALLMAN: Pat Tallman is doing a HALLOWEEN CONVENTION, Oct. 31
and Nov. 1 at the HALLOWEEN CONVENTION at the Pasadena (Calif.)
Convention Center!

SEASON FOUR OF BABYLON 5
Warner Brothers have announced that January 6th, 2004 (Region 1) is
the release date for Babylon 5: The Complete Fourth Season ("No
Surrender, No Retreat"). There is no information at this time about
when region 2 will be released.

DESCRIPTION:
The future begins -- or ends -- here and now. Here is the huge space
station Babylon 5. Now is the fateful year 2261. Commander John
Sheridan has already declared the station free, breaking the ties
between it and Earth Alliance. It was perhaps only a matter of time
before he would have to fight to remain free. That time has come in
this complete 22-episode fourth-season adventure presented on 6
discs and featuring an exciting array of

Exclusive Extras.
This six DVD set will include (preliminary listing):
Introduction to Babylon 5 - Season 4 by series creator J. Michael
Straczynski
Two commentaries by series creator J. Michael Straczynski and
another from director Mike Vejar
Commentary by cast members Bruce Boxleitner, Jerry Doyle, Peter
Jurasik and Patricia Tallman
"Celestial Sounds" featurette about series composer Christopher
Franke and the making of the series music
"No Surrender, No Retreat" DVD Suite, original music composed
exclusively for the DVD
"The Universe of Babylon 5"
Personnel Files and Data Files
Gag Reel
Episode Previews
16x9 Anamorphic Widescreen
Dolby Surround 5.1 (English only)
Subtitles in English, French, and Spanish
Closed Captioned for the hearing impaired
Pre-orders should be available soon.

KEEPING UP WITH CAST AND CREW:

STEPHEN AUSTIN: I got a wonderful note from the Pa'Ka'Ma Ambassador,
saying that he will be appearing at UNITED FAN CON, November 7-9 at
the Sheraton Hotel, Springfield, Mass. (For more information on the
convention, go to http://www.unitedfancon.com/.

In addition, he's been quite busy with a number of projects. He has
has completed work on two CDs and is putting the finishing touches
on a DVD/Video -- a compelation of several of his stand-up comedy
performances. Another CD is a work done by an ensemble group of
comedians including Stephen, Vic Dunlop and The Unknown Comic
titiled "Lunatics and Losers" a lampoon about our war on terrorism.

JASON CARTER: Jason will appear this season of SHE SPIES as an
assassin named Morgan Porter. The episode was to begin shooting
09/10/03. Jason's new audio book, ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT (written by
Sarah Hoyt) began shipping on October 1.

SPECIAL CAST MEMBER ACTIVITIES
PAT TALLMAN: THE PENNY LANE VOICES OF OUR CHILDREN EVENT!
This year's Masters of Ceremony are PATRICIA TALLMAN and Edd Hall.
The event takes place at The Center at Cathedral Plaza, 555 West
Temple Street in Los Angeles. The evening includes a silent auction
and performances of the children's writings. In addition to Pat and
Edd, other celebs appearing include Yvette Freeman from ER, Marg
Helgenberger from CSI, Simon Baker and Alan Rosenberg from The
Guardian and Juliet Mills from Passions.
For tickets and more information, call 818.892.3423, ext. 344. Or
visit www.pennylane.org.

Speaking of Pat Tallman and Penny Lane, each year, she conducts a
Christmas drive -- providing items for each resident of the center.
Her, "BE A SANTA" program has been highly successful in the past and
it is something that we support each year as well. Pop over to
www.beasanta.org for more information about this very worthwhile
endeavor. Pat needs your support.

DISCUSSION TOPIC:
Here's an oldie but goodie!  What is your most memorable moment from
Babylon 5.  I know this is hard, so let's break it up into seasons --
  starting with Season One.

Send in your most memorable moments to sgbruckner@... and I'll
post them on the Discussion Page to share with other readers.

JEREMIAH
SEASON TWO TWO-PART OPENER- OCTOBER 10 at 10PM
Showtime has released synopses for "Letters From the Other Side,"
the two-part second-season opener of Jeremiah.

Ranger Monica has been capturing promo clips from Showtime for
JEREMIAH and has them listed at
<http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/gallery/clips_s2.html>. PART 1
Over at <http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0309/26/index.htm>
you can see the photos released by Showtime of the second season of
JEREMIAH. There are two cast photos and seven episodic photos. The
cast photos show Luke Perry as Jeremiah, Malcolm-Jamal Warner as
Kurdy and new cast member Sean Astin as Mister Smith. The episodic
photos are from the second episode, "Letters From the Other Side,
Pt. 2," which is scheduled to premiere on Friday, Oct. 2.

Here is a description of what awaits in the second season:
"While Valhalla Sector prepares to exchange Markus (Peter Stebbings)
and Erin (Indrid Kavelaars), Lee Chen (Byron Lawson) and Kurdy
convince a group of dubious Thunder Mountain volunteers to undertake
a mission to attack Valhalla Sector. Although they still do not
trust Lee, the group has faith in Kurdy and agrees to the mission.

"The leaders take Devon (Robert Wisden) prisoner and place him in
the cell next to Jeremiah. Father and son know the leaders are
exchanging Markus and Erin but they cannot imagine what Thunder
Mountain is offering in exchange -- except that it must provide a
key to the Big Death.

"When the exchange takes place, Markus sees Meaghan (Suzy Joachim)
but is unable to stop her from carrying out her part in the drama.
Meanwhile, the Thunder Mountain forces launch their attack on
Valhalla Sector. Mister Smith makes his way to the battle just in
time to save Kurdy from a sleeper agent within the attack team as
the Valhalla Sector leaders return to the base and lock it down with
Jeremiah, Devon, Libby (Joanne Kelly) and Meaghan inside. As the Big
Death spreads through Valhalla Sector, Libby's quick thinking
provides a way for Jeremiah and Devon to try attempt survival amidst
the turmoil."

The episode was written by J. Michael Straczynski and directed by
Martin Wood.

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT

8:00pm on CBS
Cold Case
Pilot
Kathryn Morris stars as Lilly Rush, the lone female detective in the
Philadelphia homicide squad who finds her niche when she's assigned
to "cold cases" -- crimes that have never been solved. In the
premiere episode, she encounters a woman who claims to have
witnessed a murder that took place more than 25 years ago. While
working as a maid for a wealthy family, she tells Rush that she
witnessed the murder of a teenage girl who she says was beaten to
death with a tennis racquet. With series regulars John Finn, Thom
Barry and Jeremy Ratchford

8:00pm on the WB
"Charmed" ("Valhalley of the Dolls")
Piper (Holly Marie Combs), Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) and Paige (Rose
McGowan) return in an episode that finds them on the Island of
Valhalla, a mythical place ruled by warrior-maidens, in search of
Leo (Brian Krause). Evan Mariott guest stars.

9:00pm on ABC
Alias
The Two
With no memory of her life during the past two years, Sydney
(Jennifer Garner) struggles to come to grips with a reality that is
both foreign and frightening. She confronts Vaughn (Michael Vartan)
about his marriage and learns the shocking fates of Jack and Sloane.
Greg Grunberg joins the cast as Agent Eric Weiss. Amanda Foreman
guest stars.

10:00pm on Showtime
Dead Like Me
Rest in Peace
George tries to get her job back; Mason hits on girls.

"The Lyon's Den"
(Pilot) on NBC, 10:00pm - 11:00pm ET
John "Jack" Turner (Rob Lowe) has managed to evade the career
expectations of others by working at his small pro-bono law clinic
helping those without means who need legal representation. When the
senior partner, Daniel Barrington (Kevin Cooney) at Lyon, LaCrosse
and Levine suddenly dies, Terrence Christianson (James Pickens Jr.),
the head of the firm, calls on Jack to take Barrington's place. With
the sudden death of his mentor, Jack begins not only to question his
future role within the firm but the intentions of everyone around
him. Rip Torn guest stars as Turner's father, U.S. Senator Harlan M.
Turner.

On SCIFI Tonight:

6:30pm
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
A suburban California boy befriends a harmless, homesick alien
stranded on Earth.

9:00pm
Taken Part 1 of 10
Beyond the Sky
Members of three families encounter UFOs and alien abductions.

On Syndicated TV This Weekend:

Adventure Inc.
Trapped
With no way out, the team is ambushed by an unidentified foe
searching for treasure.

Andromeda
Shadows Cast by a Final Salute
Tyr's disloyalty generates the destruction of the Commonwealth.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Part 1 of 2: Welcome to the Hellmouth
Buffy moves to Sunnydale, Calif., meets her new watcher, Giles, and
makes new friends.

Mutant X
Lest He Become
The team learns Shalimar's fathers company is involved in genetic
testing and manipulation.

Stargate SG-1
Part 1 of 2: Redemption
An off-world weapon transforms the Stargate into a doomsday device.

INSIDE SCI-FI THIS WEEK
ALIAS: The long wait is about to end. The season premiere is tonight
and we'll find out what happened to Sydney and the others. If you
want to catch up on the series, you'll find a series overview at
Zap2It.com.

SPY HUNTER: With the success of his movies, like THE RUNDOWN showing
now, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is making the transition from
wrestler to action star. Johnson is set to play the lead in the big
screen version of the videogame that first debuted as an arcade
favorite in 1983 and was recently revamped for PlayStation 2, Xbox,
GameCube and Game Boy Advance. In the game version, Spy Hunter is a
road rage adventure featuring Alec Sects (the driver of a weapons
laden super-car) who is out to stop a group of evil businessmen
known as the Nostra.

RATINGS: Top SF Network Shows: Futurama Special 2.7; Futurama 2.3;
Smallville 1.8; Charmed 1.7; Charmed rerun 1.6; Enterprise 1.5;
Enterprise rerun 1.4; Smallville 1.3, and Buffy 1.2. Source: Nielsen
Galaxy Report, 8/18/03 - 8/24/03.

THE BROTHERS GRIMM: Currently filming in Prague, Terry Gilliam's
fantasy film THE BROTHERS GRIMM stars Matt Damon, Heath Ledger and
Jonathan Pryce. According to Variety, Monica Bellucci (The Matrix
Reloaded) has signed to portray the forest's ruler, a woman who has
found eternal life, but not eternal beauty. She turns to the forest
in order to procure the young virgins whose blood she needs to stay
lovely. A Dimension Films-MGM co-production, Brothers Grimm
transforms the famed fairy-tale authors into traveling con artists
who perform bogus exorcisms and pretend to protect people from
enchanted creatures, until they encounter a real magical curse in a
haunted forest. Written by Gilliam, Tony Grisoni and Ehren Kruger,
the production is expected to continue through mid-November.

DOCTOR WHO: The BBC has given a greenlight to begin work on a new
DOCTOR WHO TV series. Writer Russell T. Davies has begun working on
several new scripts for the new show, which should air on the
network in, at the bare minimum, two years from now. No other
details about the new show, storylines or who will play the new
Doctor have been announced except that the series will be a family
show. Davies commented, "The new series will be fun, exciting,
comtemporary and scary. Although I'm only in the early stages of
development, I'm aiming to write a full-blooded drama which embraces
the DOCTOR WHO heritage, at the same time as introducing the
character to a modern audience."

CSI: Thursday's season premiere of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
ranked as the most-watched program of the night with an average of
26.6 million viewers and 9.7 rating/24 share in the adults 18-49
demographic, according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen Media
Research.

MUTANT X: Next week, season three beings for MUTANT X. There are
many changes ahead -- and if you don't mind spoilers, you can read
all about the season premiere at
<http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0309/19/index.htm>.

BEYOND BORDERS: There is a wonderful new website available for the
new Paramount Pictures BEYOND BORDERS, starring Angelina Jolie and
Clive Owen at www.beyondbordersmovie.com. Not only are there some
wonderful photos, there is a taste of composer James Horner's music
from the film. Here's a description of the film: "Set against the
backdrop of the world's most dangerous hot spots, this thrilling
romantic adventure stars Jolie as Sarah Jordan, a sheltered American
socialite living in London. When she meets Nick Callahan (Owen), a
renegade doctor, his commitment to humanitarian efforts in war-torn
nations moves her deeply. Driven by her passion for Nick and his
life's work, Sarah risks everything to embark on a perilous journey
that leads to the volatile far corners of the earth." The film opens
October 24.

SMALLVILLE: If you haven't seen the trailer for the season two
premiere of SMALLVILLE yet on the WB, go to
<http://thewb.com/Shows/Episode/0,8201,||1530,00.html>. The season
premiere is this Wednesday at 8:00pm.

BLADE: TRINITY: Parker Posey has just been cast as a vampire in the
upcoming BLADE: TRINITY. No word on what her character's name is yet
or what role she might play in the film's storyline. Posey joins
Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Jessica Biel, Ryan Reynolds,
Dominic Pursell and wrestling star Triple H in the film. Director
David Goyer will get production moving before the end of the month.

INDIANA JONES: A new site has been opened for Indiana Jones,
including information about the upcoming DVD (available October 21),
games, an Indy scrapbook and much more.

LOST IN SPACE: LOST IN SPACE is coming to DVD. The 8-disc set will
be released on January 6, 2004 by 20th Century Fox. While there are
no features mentioned, Disc 8 contains the un-aired pilot - "No
Place To Hide" plus CBS Network presentation.

FIREFLY: As you can see below, FIREFLY is on the Top 10 SF DVD Sales
list. It won't hit shelves until December 9, but the four-disc set
is packed with material, including commentary for eight
episodes, "Heres How How it Was" featurette, "Making of"
featurette, "Serenity: The Tenth Character" featurette, Joss' Tour
of the set, Alan Tudyk's audition, Gag reel, Joss (Whedon) Sings the
Firefly theme, Deleted scenes, and Easter egg: Adam Baldwin
sings "Hero of Canton".

TOP SF DVD SALES: 1. Firefly; 2. Buffy season five; 3. Finding Nemo;
4. The Two Towers extended edition; 5. The Matrix Reloaded; 6.
Adventures of Indiana Jones; 7. X2; 8. The Two Towers regular
edition; 9. Smallville season one, and 10. Pirates of the Caribbean.
Source: Amazon.com, top-selling genre DVDs, 9/19/03.

LOST IN SPACE: Kevin Burns and Jon Jashni's Synthesis Entertainment
is teaming with film director John Woo and writer Doug Petrie to
bring back LOST IN SPACE to TV. According to Variety, Regency and
20th Century Fox TV will produce the show, with Fox TV Studios-based
Synthesis and Woo's Terence Chang-headed Lion Rock Productions.
Multiple networks have been pitched the project by packaging agency
Endeavor, and network insiders said there's been strong response to
the idea.

SMALLVILLE: SPOILER WARNING: In issue 4 of the Smallville comic,
Executive Producer, Al Gough, said that the upcoming third season
will show how Clark (Tom Welling) deals with all the new information
he has received about his origins. "How does he process it, and how
will it help him on his road to becoming Superman?" Gough also
revealed a number of spoilers for the upcoming season. "We'll see
Lex take a very dark turn early on," Gough said. He added: "Clark
will get a new superpower. There aren't that many left, so I'll
leave you to guess which one. But he gets it in a very interesting
way." Smallville makes its second season debut Oct. 1 in its new
Wednesday 8 p.m. ET/PT timeslot.

ALIAS: SCIFI.COM has an interview with the cast of ALIAS at
<http://www.scifi.com/sfw/advance/22_interview.html>. They talk
about changed coming for this season.

STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE: UPN has confirmed that they will be changing
the name of "Enterprise" to STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE with the Sept. 24
episode. UPN sources said in an interview, "It's just a natural tie-
in. Everyone calls it Star Trek anyway." A September 23 memo written
by UPN's director of communications, Diane Kuri, told affiliates of
the change, saying, "Over the past few weeks our marketing and
publicity efforts have been using Star Trek: Enterprise for
promotional purposes, and by formally changing the show's title, we
will be able to further capitalize on and form a stronger connection
to the famous and highly successful Star Trek franchise."

BEST SELLING SF BOOKS: 1. The Da Vinci Code; 2. The Time Traveler's
Wife; 3. Angels & Demons; 4. Harry Potter and the Order of the
Phoenix; 5. The Slippery Slope (Lemony Snicket); 6. Quicksilver:
Volume One of The Baroque Cycle; 7. Sandman: Endless Nights; 8. The
Machine Crusade (Dune); 9. Wolves of the Calla, and 10. The Lovely
Bones. Source: Amazon.com, 9/19/03.

SANDMAN: ENDLESS NIGHTS: Sandman has returned to the Top 10 Best
Seller List and author Neil Gaiman talked to USA Today about coming
back to SANDMAN after a seven year break. "When I stopped doing
Sandman in 1996, people said, 'Why? Do you hate the character or
something?' Gaiman added, "Sandman was always a big resilient
structure that was never about superheroes. The giant 2,000-page
story is an enormously upbeat tragedy, if such a thing is possible."

TARZAN: The Hollywood Reporter indicates that Shaun Cassidy has left
COLD CASE to join WBTV's TARZAN. Cassidy will serve as an executive
producer alongside Laura Ziskin, David Gerber, P.K. Simonds and
David Nutter. Eric Kripke, who wrote the pilot, is co-executive
producing. Sources said the move was amicable and prompted by the
greater need on "Tarzan," an ambitious new addition to the WB
schedule that has a logistically complicated production, with
filming based in Toronto. Cassidy is expected to help the show's
producing team with overseeing the writing, production and
postproduction on the series.

SAG PRESIDENT: MELISSA GILBERT: To Babylon 5 fans, she will always
be Anna Sheridan; or Mrs. Bruce Boxleitner. However, Melissa Gilbert
has been re-elected to a second two-year term as president of the
performers guild, defeating SAG treasurer Kent McCord Tuesday.
Gilbert's running mate, James Cromwell, was elected to the position
of secretary-treasurer, defeating board member Esai Morales, who ran
on McCord's slate. Gilbert received 15,670 votes, or 49.7% of the
31,500 national ballots tallied, while McCord received 13,242 votes
(42.6%). Third-party candidate Gordon Drake got 2,418 votes (7.7%).

LORD OF THE RINGS: The two minute and 30 seconds theatrical trailer
for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King will make its
worldwide debut September 26.

RATINGS: Top 10 SCIFI Channel Shows: Spiders 2 1.6; Congo 1.4;
Creature 1.3; Spiders 1.3; Stargate SG-1 1.3; Sometimes They ...
Again 1.2; Trucks 1.0; Fangs 1.0; The Swarm 1.0, and It, Part 2 0.9.
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 8/25/03 - 8/31/03.

911: Brandon Camp and Mike Thompson's spec script 911, a
supernatural thriller about an emergency operator who may be
receiving calls from her deceased sister has been purchased by
Columbia Pictures . Mark Gordon will produce the project. Both
writers will also get executive producer credit on the film as well
as somewhere between half-a-million and a million dollars for their
screenplay. The story centers around a female 911 operator that
answers a string of the mysterious phone calls and begins to believe
that her dead sibling is warning her about a serial killer and
alerting her to who's next on the killer's list. When no one else
believes her story she seeks the help of a homicide detective to try
and track down the murderer herself before she becomes his next
victim.

THE HORROR CHANNEL: There is the Food Network, SCI Channel -- why
not the HORROR Channel? Entrepreneurs Nick Psaltos and Kim Bangash
are pitching their concept of The Horror Channel, a 24-hour cable
specialty network that will broadcast the darker side of
entertainment. To help them scare up investors, Psaltos and Bangash
have signed veteran horror film directors Wes Craven (SCREAM), John
Carpenter (HALLOWEEN) and Tobe Hooper (THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE)
to serve on the channel's advisory board. The Horror Channel needs
about $4 million dollars from investors to get off the ground in
time for a Halloween night, 2004 launch date. So far only $750,000
of venture capital has been confirmed. As well, another uphill
challenge is to convince cable operators to take on the network and
offer it to their subscribers.

LORD OF EVERQUEST: When Sony Online Entertainment's LORDS OF
EVERQUEST hits shelves this fall, this new real-time strategy (RTS)
game inspired by the massively successful EVERQUEST online game will
have some really familiar voices associated with it. Taking place in
the fantasy land of Antonica, players assume control of one of 15
Lords and manage massive armies in their quest for domination. The
game's roster of voice talent has just been announced -- a virtual
who's who from genre television and film. Among the voice talent
taking part in the game are Kate Mulgrew (STAR TREK: VOYAGER), Ron
Perlman (HELLBOY), Claudia Black (FARSCAPE), Kevin Conroy (BATMAN:
THE ANIMATED SERIES), Fairuza Balk (THE CRAFT), Hudson Leick (XENA:
WARRIOR PRINCESS), Dwight Schultz (STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION),
Katey Segal (FUTURAMA), John Rhys-Davies (the LORD OF THE RINGS
movies), Michael T. Weiss (THE PRETENDER) and Cree Summer (RUGRATS!
GO WILD).

EMMY AWARDS: The folks at the SCIFI Channel must be beaming this
morning -- they received an Emmy for the Best Miniseries. "Steven
Spielberg Presents Taken" not only racked up record ratings for the
channel in December, but brought them home an Emmy -- their first in
their 11-year history. "The West Wing" beat out "The Sopranos"
and "Six Feet Under" for honors as Best Dramatic Series. For a
complete rundown of the night's honors, go to The Hollywood
Reporter.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: It was a weekend of Vampires, Werewolves and
Matrix-swiped F/X. Kate Beckinsale in UNDERWORLD took the #1 spot at
the box office, gathering in $22 million since opening Friday. Other
new releases this weekend did reasonably well; The Fighting
Temptations pulled in $13.2 million (second); Secondhand Lions
receipts totalled $12.9 million (third), and Cold Creek Manor
gathered $8.3 million (fifth). :ast week's champ, Once Upon a Time
in Mexico came in fourth with $11.5 million.
1. Underworld, $22 million
2. The Fighting Temptations, $13.2 million
3. Secondhand Lions, $12.9 million
4. Once Upon a Time in Mexico, $11.5 million
5. Cold Creek Manor, $8.3 million
6. Matchstick Men, $7.8 million
7. Cabin Fever, $3.9 million
8. Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, $3.8 million
9. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, $3.5
million
10. Lost in Translation, $2.8 million

ANGEL: Over at Comics Continuum you will find new ANGEL cast photos
for the upcoming fifth season, which begins October 1 at 9pm. The
two-part opener was written and directed by series creator and
executive producer Joss Whedon.

SCI-FI SCHEDULE

BABYLON 5
29-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) DEATHWALKER
30-SEP-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) BELIEVERS
27-OCT-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) SURVIVORS
28-OCT-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY
29-OCT-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) SIGNS AND PORTENTS
30-OCT-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) TKO

CRUSADE:
05-OCT-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE EACH NIGHT I DREAM OF HOME
12-OCT-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE PATTERNS OF THE SOUL
19-OCT-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE THE PATH OF SORROWS
26-OCT-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE RULING FROM THE TOMB

STARGATE SCHEDULE:

29-SEP-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
29-SEP-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
29-SEP-03 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
29-SEP-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
29-SEP-03 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
30-SEP-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1
01-OCT-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 UPGRADES
02-OCT-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 CROSSROADS
03-OCT-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 DIVIDE AND CONQUER
03-OCT-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) FALLEN -PT 1
03-OCT-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) REVISIONS
03-OCT-03 11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) REVISIONS
06-OCT-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY
06-OCT-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 CHILDREN OF THE GODS -PT 1
06-OCT-03 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 CHILDREN OF THE GODS -PT 2
06-OCT-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 THE ENEMY WITHIN
06-OCT-03 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 EMANCIPATION
07-OCT-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 WATERGATE
08-OCT-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 THE FIRST ONES
09-OCT-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 SCORCHED EARTH
10-OCT-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 BENEATH THE SURFACE
10-OCT-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) HOMECOMING -PT 2
10-OCT-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) LIFEBOAT
10-OCT-03 11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) LIFEBOAT
13-OCT-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 POINT OF NO RETURN
13-OCT-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 THE BROCA DIVIDE
13-OCT-03 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 THE FIRST COMMANDMENT
13-OCT-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 COLD LAZARUS
13-OCT-03 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 THE NOX
14-OCT-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 TANGENT
15-OCT-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 THE CURSE

FARSCAPE SCHEDULE:
14-OCT-03 8:00 AM FARSCAPE MARATHON PREMIERE
14-OCT-03 9:00 AM FARSCAPE MARATHON I, E.T.
14-OCT-03 10:00 AM FARSCAPE MARATHON EXODUS FROM GENESIS
14-OCT-03 11:00 AM FARSCAPE MARATHON THRONE FOR A LOSS
14-OCT-03 12:00 PM FARSCAPE MARATHON BACK AND BACK TO THE FUTURE
14-OCT-03 1:00 PM FARSCAPE MARATHON THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY AGAIN
14-OCT-03 2:00 PM FARSCAPE MARATHON PK TEK GIRL
14-OCT-03 3:00 PM FARSCAPE MARATHON THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC
14-OCT-03 4:00 PM FARSCAPE MARATHON DNA MAD SCIENTIST
14-OCT-03 5:00 PM FARSCAPE MARATHON THEY'VE GOT A SECRET
15-OCT-03 8:00 AM FARSCAPE MARATHON TILL THE BLOOD RUNS CLEAR
15-OCT-03 9:00 AM FARSCAPE MARATHON RHAPSODY IN BLUE
15-OCT-03 10:00 AM FARSCAPE MARATHON THE FLAX
15-OCT-03 11:00 AM FARSCAPE MARATHON JEREMIAH CRICHTON
15-OCT-03 12:00 PM FARSCAPE MARATHON DURKA RETURNS
15-OCT-03 1:00 PM FARSCAPE MARATHON A HUMAN REACTION
15-OCT-03 2:00 PM FARSCAPE MARATHON THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
15-OCT-03 3:00 PM FARSCAPE MARATHON A BUG'S LIFE
15-OCT-03 4:00 PM FARSCAPE MARATHON NERVE
15-OCT-03 5:00 PM FARSCAPE MARATHON HIDDEN MEMORY
16-OCT-03 8:00 AM FARSCAPE MARATHON BONE TO BE WILD
16-OCT-03 9:00 AM FARSCAPE MARATHON FAMILY TIES
16-OCT-03 10:00 AM FARSCAPE MARATHON DREAM A LITTLE DREAM
17-OCT-03 8:00 AM FARSCAPE MARATHON MIND THE BABY
17-OCT-03 9:00 AM FARSCAPE MARATHON VITAS MORTIS
17-OCT-03 10:00 AM FARSCAPE MARATHON TAKING THE STONE

EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT
03-OCT-03 5:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT EPIPHANY
10-OCT-03 5:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT DARK HORIZONS
17-OCT-03 5:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT POINT OF NO RETURN
24-OCT-03 5:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT UNEARTHED

CONVENTION CALENDAR

Archon
October 2-5, 2003
Place: Collinsville, IL
B5 Guests: Andreas Katsulas, Julie Caaitlin Brown
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.stlf.org/archon/.

Maquis Gras 2003
October 4-6, 2002
Place: Ramada Inn, Portage, Indiana
B5 Guest: Bill Blair
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.maquis.com/mfa/gras1.htm.

Point North
October 5-6, 2003
Place: Salem Civic Center
Salem, VA
B5 Guest: Stephen Austin
For more information, visit their website at http://www.point-
north.com.

FantiCon
October 10-12, 2003
City: Wilmington, NC
Place: Hampton Inn
B5 Guest: Peter Jurasik
Other guests: Lisa Wilcox, Pat Hingle, Henry Darrow, Juliet Cesario,
Scott Simpson, Frank Capra, Jr.
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.fanticon.org/ .

JVL-CON 2003
October 24-27, 2003
Jainesville, Wisconsin
Place: Ramada Inn
Guest: Barbara March
For more information, visit their website at www.si-fi-nut.com .

Galacticon 2003
October 24-26, 2003
Place: Sheraton Universal Hotel, Los Angeles, CA
Guests: Stars, Producers, Writers and Crew fro the Original
Battlestar Galactica
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.galacticonevents.com/index2.html .

Vulkon
October 31-November 2, 2003
Place: Nashville, TN
B5 Guest: Robin Atkin Downes
Other Guests: Julie Benz, Robia LaMorte, George Hertzberg
For more information, visit their website at http://www.vulkon.com.

Well, I guess that is about it for now.  Be sure to visit the
website (http://www.isnnews.net) to get the latest news on Babylon 5
and the world of science fiction.

If you have suggestions about what should be included in the
newsletter, please drop me a note.  I love hearing from readers.

Take care, have a great week ahead.
Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN: The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net

THE ZOCALO TODAY – October 19, 2003

WHAT'S NEW

BABYLON 5: Everyone is picking up on JMS' comment on a coming
project for BABYLON 5. Yesterday, Cinescape had a main page story;
today a comment is out on Prevue Magazine. What did he say?
To the many questions that have arisen here of late...yes, as I
mentioned before, there is the possibility of something Babylon 5
related on the horizon, but again I don't want anyone getting
excited until we know if either one of these two projects is going
to actually come to fruition. We should know where this lands in the
next few weeks. The only thing I will say is that they're not print
projects, so if you were to assume it's for TV or film you wouldn't
be too far off...but that neither of them are series. And that's all
I'm going to say about them for now.
Let's all keep our fingers crossed on this one.

IN THE NEWS

Ranger Frank sent along the following report:

On page 44 of the September 2003 issue of Popular Science, there's a
story titled "The Mote Invasion" and it's talking about using tiny,
tiny solar-powered embedded networks all over the place to monitor
refrigerators, pipelines, and zillions of applications in the
future. And, yes, cameras too.

It's about miniature wireless computer networks go commercial by a
company called Dust.

If this sounds very familiar, this is the same tech that will make
possible for Techno-mages to secretly plant tiny, tiny cameras at
any location of their choice, and get their information across the
universe, as described in Jeanne Cavelos' trio of  Babylon 5
Techno-mage novels! Wowza!

KEEPING UP WITH CAST AND CREW

JERRY DOYLE: Over on the SCIFI B5 site, I noticed a message saying
JERRY DOYLE would be on an upcoming episode of JAG. Filming was
underway so we can keep an eye out for the episode in 4-5 weeks.

BRUCE BOXLEITNER: Bruce has just finished filming an independent
movie entitled THEY ARE AMONG US. SNAKEHEAD TERROR was filmed for
the Sci-Fi Channel, also starring Carol Alt and William B. Davis.
That project is currently in post-production.

COMIC BOOKS:

Amazing Spider-Man #500 will arrive in stores on Wednesday from
Marvel Comics. The issue is written by J. Michael Straczynski, with
art by John Romita Jr. and John Romita Sr. and a cover by J. Scott
Campbell.
Here's how Marvel describes the issue:
"It's Peter Parker's birthday ... but how do you throw a surprise
party for someone with a Spider-sense? Someone figures out how and
Spidey spends his special day looking back at his career and every
villain he's faced over those years ... against his will. A special
story for Spidey fans new and old. "
Amazing Spider-Man #500 will be 48 pages and will cost $3.50.

INSIDE SCI-FI THIS WEEK:
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: New Line's horror remake THE TEXAS CHAINSAW
MASSACRE, starring Jessica Biel, slaughtered the competition on
Friday, earning an estimated $11 million in one day from 3,016
theaters. The film looks to be headed for a weekend take of about
$28 million. Quentin Tarantino's KILL BILL: Vol. 1 added $4.3
million from 3,102 theaters on Friday for a total of $35.1 million.
Coming in close on third was RUNAWAY JURY, the adaptation of John
Grisham's novel. The movie debuted with $4.1 million for the day in
2,815 locations. Jack Black's SCHOOL OF ROCK took fourth place, with
$3.5 million for a total of $47.4 million. Clint Eastwood's
critically-acclaimed drama MYSTIC RIVER made $3.2 million from 1,467
locations for the fifth spot.

BROTHER BEAR: While this weekend's offerings at the theater seem to
be more blood and goar, next week offers some terrific family
entertainment. BROTHER BEAR marks the end of an era at Disney. This
will be the last 2-D or cel animated feature cartoon to come out of
Disney for a long time. Whether Disney will ever return to
traditional animation is an open question. Disney bids farewell to 2-
D in fine style. For "Brother Bear" is a playful movie that
celebrates nature and the spirit world with striking imagery and a
smooth blend of drama and comedy. The film should attract solid
family business at the boxoffice. For a complete review, go to The
Hollywood Reporter.

MELISSA GILBERT: HOLLYWOOD WIVES: THE NEXT GENERATION premieres on
CBS tonight at 9:00pm. This film, starring Melissa Gilbert, Farrah
Fawcett and Robin Givens is reviewed at The Hollywood Reporter.

TOP SF NETWORK SHOWS:
Enterprise 2.4
Smallville 9:00 2.3
Smallville 8:00 2.0
Jake 2.0 1.9
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 9/15/03 - 9/21/03.

THE TIMELINE: A new site has been opened for Paramount's THE
TIMELINE movie from Michael Crichton. You can see a couple of dozen
stills from the movie, read a synopsis, learn more about the
filmmakers, download TIMELINE screensavers, go behind the scenes
with production photos and watch the film's trailer. There's even an
option that allows you to send in a question that can be answered by
the film's director, Richard Donner. The film is set to open on Nov.
26.

NEW SEASON PICK-UPS: Competition is really tough in the TV world and
a number of new series are already in jeopardy. A few look very
promising and they have gotten orders for more episodes. These
include JOAN OF ARCADIA -- the CBS show about a young girl who talks
to God. CBS wants six more teleplays for "Joan of Arcadia." It seems
that gone are the days of ordering a full season at the start of
production.

THE PUNISHER: Here is a new poster of the upcoming PUNISHER movie
from Artisan Entertainment. For more from Thomas Jane, the start of
the film, go to ComicsContinuum. Principal photography wrapped this
week under the direction of Jonathan Hensleigh, with an April 16
release now set. In addition to Jane, John Travolta, Rebecca Romijn-
Stamos, Laura Harring and Samantha Mathis as the main actors. There
is a strong supporting cast as well, featuring Roy Scheider, Will
Patton, Ben Foster, James Carpinello, Mark Collie, Eddie Jemison,
Russell Andrews, John Pinette and Kevin Nash.

WEEKEND MOVIES: Three new movies open in wide release this weekend.
There's the remake of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE with Jessica Biel,
Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman in RUNAWAY JURY, and Katie Holmes'
PIECES OF APRIL. For reviews, go to
http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/455/455436p1.html.

LORD OF THE RINGS: The final installment of the Lord of the Rings
trilogy debuts on December 17. On December 16, there will be
marathon screenings of the Rings trilogy of films, featuring the
extended versions of the previous two movies and the debut of the
third installment, The Return of the King, at selected theaters.
Fans lined up around blocks and jammed online sites last week to buy
tickets to New Line Cinema's "Trilogy Tuesday." Demand has proven
overwhelming, and tickets sold out in a matter of hours at the 99
U.S. locations that will host the marathon. According to the
Hollywood Reporter, tickets, which went on sale Oct. 9, ranging in
price from $25-$49 each and drew so many fans that online ticketing
sites became clogged, forcing theaters to open up their box offices
to handle the demand for what had been originally designed as an
online promotion. Unfortunately, New Line has no plans to expand the
promotion. New Line also plans separate theatrical bookings of the
extended version of the first Rings movie, The Fellowship of the
Ring, from Dec. 5-11, followed by the extended version of the second
film, The Two Towers, Dec. 12-15.

DAWN OF THE DEAD: Although it is only expected in theaters on March
26, 2004, the first trailer for Universal Pictures' DAWN OF THE DEAD
is now available at
http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/dawnofthedead/. If you
download the trailer, you'll get your first look at the mall where
the survivors are holed up in, a taste of what kind of scares you
can expect to see, and your first glimpse at the film's zombies.

KEVIN COSTNER HONORED: In honor of the Autry Museum of Western
Heritage's merger with the Southwest Museum of the American Indian
and the creation of the new Autry National Center, the combined
organizations presented their first annual gala, Rendezvous, at the
Autry Museum on Friday, October 3rd, with more than 800 people in
attendance. The Western Heritage Award was presented to Academy
Award-winning actor, director and producer Kevin Costner for his
smash hit western-themed motion pictures that include DANCES WITH
WOLVES, WYATT EARP, SILVERADO, THE POSTMAN and the recently released
OPEN RANGE. The Humanities Prize for American Literature was
presented to Buffalo Trust founder, poet, playwright and
storyteller, Dr. N. Scott Momaday. Celebrities on hand included SAG
President Melissa Gilbert and Bruce Boxleitner. Past recipients of
the award, prior to the merger of the two museums, included Melissa
Gilbert and Bruce Boxleitner. Gilbert commented to the press "I feel
the West holds values that we should focus on more."

SUPERMAN: Rumors abound about the lead in the upcoming SUPERMAN
movie. The latest is Henry Cavill (Count of Monte Cristo). According
to Superman-V.com, rumour is building that Henry Cavill will be
offered Superman if the McG/Peters/Abrams SUPERMAN goes forward. I'm
sure we'll hear more as this project develops further.

THE BOY FROM OZ: X-MEN star Hugh Jackman opens today on Broadway. It
tells the dazzling, funny and heart-breaking story of the great
entertainer Peter Allen. For more information, go to
http://www.theboyfromoz.com/intro.html.

ANGEL: In an interview with AP, ANGEL creator Joss Whedon says he'd
like to bring Charisma Carpenter back to the show sometime this
season, even if it's just to achieve an end to her character's
story. "We definitely want to see Charisma again. She has an
important part to play this season to bring some closure." If things
work out, there's a chance viewers could see Cordelia around the
midway point of the season. While the odds are against seeing BUFFY,
it is more likely that viewers will again see Willow (Alyson
Hannigan), who appeared on the show last season.

TOP SF DVD SALES:
1. The Matrix Reloaded widescreen edition
2. The Lion King platinum edition
3. Finding Nemo
4. Adventures of Indiana Jones
5. The Two Towers extended edition
6. Pirates of the Caribbean
7. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
8. X2
9. The Matrix Reloaded regular edition
10. Buffy season five
Source: Amazon.com, top-selling genre DVDs, 10/13/03

THE TALISMAN: According to The Hollywood Reporter, Vadim Perelman
(The House of Sand and Fog) is near a deal to direct THE TALISMAN,
to be produced by Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, based on
Stephen King and Peter Straub's 1984 fantasy novel; Universal
Pictures and DreamWorks will co-produce. THE TALISMAN centers on 12-
year-old Jack Sawyer, who goes on a quest in both the real world and
a parallel world known as the Territories to acquire a talisman that
will save the lives of his dying mother and of the queen of the
Territories. The book marked the first collaboration between King
and Straub and spawned the sequel Black House.

CSI: MIAMI: You can now tag along with Horatio Caine from CSI: Miami
in a new interactive feature courtesy of GoldPocket Interactive (and
sponsor American Express). Every week, viewers will be able to
follow the evidence trail, weed through suspects and ultimately
solve the mysteries along with (or ahead of) the CSI team. "CSI:
Miami" interactive features include "Weekly Web Investigation,"
which will test viewers' ability to investigate the crimes and
analyze forensic evidence. A series of "Crack the Case" quiz viewers
on the facts of the night's episode. Finally the "Evidence Tracker"
feature helps accumulate all of the week's evidence for easy
reference. "This is the only interactive drama series on network
television, and passionate fans of the show will really enjoy the
chance to get more immersed in the cases and to receive more in-
depth information on the tools, techniques and procedures used by
the investigators," says David Katz, senior vice president of
strategic planning and interactive ventures for CBS. "The tight
integration with the show makes for a very compelling experience."

CATWOMAN: There have been a number of pictures released of Halle
Berry as Catwoman. Over at
http://www.superherohype.com/catwoman/index.php?id=277 you'll find
some great close-ups. Set for release on July 30, 2004, the Warner
Bros. film, stars Berry and Sharon Stone, Benjamin Bratt and Lambert
Wilson. Halle plays Patience Price, a mild mannered graphic artist,
who is murdered in order to keep her silent about an accidental
discovery she made. An ancient myth is played out, when an Egyptian
Mao cat, indebted to Patience for saving her it's own life, breathes
life back into the young woman. Patience is reborn with an
independent attitude, carefree behavior and the heightened senses of
a cat. Now she must investigate the circumstances behind her murder
and learn to accept both parts of herself.

INVISIBLE MAN: Starting tomorrow, October 17, Ebay will begin
bidding on INVISIBLE MAN scripts. Included will be writers first
drafts (these are RARE) and production drafts. According to sources,
these are real scripts, in good shape, that were used by cast or
crew. Six to ten scripts will be put online at a time, to be
auctioned over a three day period.

BEST SELLING SF BOOKS:
1. The Da Vinci Code
2. Eragon Inheritance, Book I
3. Angels & Demons
4. The Slippery Slope (Lemony Snicket)
5. Wolves of the Calla
6. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
7. Quicksilver: Volume One of The Baroque Cycle
8. The Time Traveler's Wife
9. The Lovely Bones
10. Loamhedge (Redwall)
Source: Amazon.com, 10/13/03

A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS: From the list above, you can
identify a number of film properties -- either in the movie houses
or under production. In a recent interview, Liam Aiken, who stars in
the big-screen adaptation Lemony Snicket's A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE
EVENTS, talked about the close match in tone of the movie and the
best-selling children's book. "It's pretty good," Aiken said. "I
read the script and it's pretty close." Aiken was impressed with the
humor in the script and looks forward to the start of filming in
November. "It's pretty funny," he said. "It's kind of a dark comedy.
It sounds like it's going to be really good." Aiken plays one of a
trio of orphans sent to live with relatives after their parents die
in a fire. Is he apprehensive about working with Meryl Streep and
Jim Carrey? "I've heard the best about everyone," he said. "I'm
blessed to work with anyone, really. What I do is a privilege, and I
treat it as such."

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING The soundtrack for THE
LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING will be released Nov. 25.
The official LOTR web site has been updated with new interviews with
cast members Viggo Mortenson and Karl Urban, as well as director
Peter Jackson.

MASTER AND COMMANDER: Russel Crowe's new movie, MASTER AND
COMMANDER, has a new website at
http://www.masterandcommanderthefarsideoftheworld.com/. If you like
swashbuckler movies, this is one you'll not want to miss. Check out
the trailer.

ALONE IN THE DARK: Fresh from completing filming the upcoming video-
game adaptation of ALONE IN THE DARK, Christian Slater told SCI FI
Wire that the film will recreate the spooky atmosphere of the
game. "It's loosely based on the game. I played it a little bit, but
I like to say that it scared me too much, so I had to stop. The
movie is in a similar type of vein to that." Slater plays a
detective who uncovers an ancient demon-worshiping cult planning to
literally raise hell in the 21st century. "I play Edward Carnby, a
paranormal investigator" he said. "So it's like a cross between The
X-Files and Blade Runner. ... I just had a great time with the
character. Really loved it. It was a lot of fun." Atari (formerly
Infogrames) is currently working on a fifth ALONE IN THE DARK game,
which will be released in conjunction with the film in the fall of
2004. Slater said that he would love to be involved in making of the
game. "I'm a video-game nut," he said. "I'm hoping that I'll be able
to do the work in the game as well."

RIDING THE BULLET: The adaptation of Stephen King's short story,
RIDING THE BULLET, will begin shooting in Vancouver next month, with
Mick Garris (The Shining, The Strand) on board to direct. Jonathan
Jackson (Tuck Everlasting) has the lead role of Alan Parker, a
college student who hitchhikes his way home one Halloween night to
visit his dying mother. David Arquette (Scream, Eight Legged Freaks)
will also star as the driver who gives Parker the ride of his life.
Rounding out the rest of the cast is Erika Christensen (Swimfan) as
Parker's girlfriend and Charles Durning as Old Man Farmer. The film
is set to begin shooting in Vancouver in 2004.

MATCH MADE IN SUNNYDALE: Over the weekend, former Buffy the Vampire
Slayer costars Alyson Hannigan and Alexis Denisof tied the knot.
It's the first marriage for both. More good news for Buffy lovers,
Alyson Hannigan has signed a deal with NBC to star in her own comedy
for the network that will debut in fall 2004.

THE WB WEDNESDAY: The WB loves Wednesdays. Their new line-up with
SMALLVILLE and ANGEL did better in the second week of the season
than it did during its initial outing. The WB's Wednesday
outperformed its premiere week performance in adults 18-34 (3.6/11),
women 18-34 (3.5/10), men 18-34 (3.7/12), persons 12-34 (3.6/11),
women 12-34 (3.4/10), men 12-34 (3.8/12), adults 18-49 (2.8/7),
women 18-49 (2.7/7), men 18-49 (2.9/8), teens (3.7/13), male teens
(4.2/13) and household rating (4.0/6). From 8-10 p.m. The WB placed
#2, behind only the baseball playoffs on Fox, in men 18-34 (3.7/12),
men 12-34 (3.8/12), #3 in adults 18-34 (3.6/11), persons 12-34
(3.6/11), women 18-34 (3.5/10), women 12-34 (3.4/10) and #1 in teens
(3.7/13). Smallville improved on, or maintained, its audience from
Week 1 in adults 18-34 (3.8/13), persons 12-34 (4.0/13), men 18-34
(4.0/14), women 12-34 (3.6/12), men 12-34 (4.3/15), adults 18-49
(3.0/9), women 18-49 (2.8/8), men 18-49 (3.1/9), teens (4.4/16),
male teens (5.1/17) and household rating (4.4/7). Smallville was #2
in its time period in adults 18-34 (3.8/13), persons 12-34 (4.0/13),
men 18-34 (4.0/14), women 12-34 (3.6/12), men 12-34 (4.3/15) and men
18-49 (3.1/9), #3 in women 18-34 (3.6/11) and adults 18-49 (3.0/9)
and #1 in teens (4.4/16) and male teens (5.1/17).

THE PUNISHER: As principal photography comes to an end, THE PUNISHER
is getting more and more press. With a release date scheduled for
April 16, a small group of journalists were premitted to observe
shooting in downtown Tampa on Sunday. The scenes included the
Punisher (Thomas Jane) beginning his strike against the film's
villain, Howard Saint (John Travolta), invaded Saint WorldWide's
building and forcing his men to throw money on the streets below.
Dozens of extras were involved, trying to grab money that was shot
from air cannons to simulate falling from the penthouse offices. A
new trailer is in the works but has not been completed yet, it is
expected for the holiday season.

RATINGS: Top 10 SCIFI Channel Shows:
Deadly Swarm 1.5
Dragonheart: New Beginning 1.4
Stargate SG-1 1.3
Dragon Fighter 1.3
Waterworld 1.2
Dragonheart 1.1
Prophecy 3 1.0
Prophecy 2 0.9
Screamers 0.9
John Carpenter's Vampires 0.9
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 9/15/03 - 9/21/03

PITCHING UNPLUGGED: On September 25, writer Frank Garcia had a
chance to watch a new creative format at the Vancouver International
Film Festival Trade Forum. Two budding screenwriters had the
opportunity to stage their own one-hour dramatic TV series before
the president of MGM-TV and Mutant X producer Peter Mohan. Eleven
acators were invited to participate in the exercise -- you'll
recognize a number of the names involved: Jim Byrnes (Highlander)<
Alex Zahara (Babylon 5: Legend of the Rangers, Jeremiah, Stargate SG-
1), Michelle Harrison (40 Days and 40 Nights), J.R. Bourne (Stargate
SG-1), Peter Williams (DaVinci's Inquest), Gabrielle Rose (Taken),
Ken Tremblett (Caitlin's Way), Jacqueline Samunda (First Target),
Mackenzie Gray (Babylon 5: Legend of the Rangers), Pamela Perry
(Twice Upon a Christmas) and John Taylor (DaVinci's Inquest). After
an hour, critiques were given and there were lessons to be learned.
All in all, a very worthwhile experience for all involved. To read
all about it, go to
http://www.hollywoodnorthreport.com/pages/interviews/pitching1.htm.

DIEHARD 4: DIE HARD 4 has a new writer -- screenwriter Mark Bomback.
The Hollywood Reporter announced Bomback's job yesterday but had
little information about the project. The good news is that Bruce
Willis seems to be interested in playing Detective John McClane
again; Willis' production company Cheyenne Enterprises is producing
DH4. Bomback is credited with a rewrite of the CONSTANTINE script as
well as full credit on the upcoming Lions Gate supernatural thriller
GODSEND.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: KILL BILL, Quentin Tarantino's kung-fu
extravaganza, opened as the weekend's top movie with an estimated
$22.6 million, according to preliminary figures Sunday. Helping KILL
BILL bury the competition was last week's number one SCHOOL OF ROCK,
which only rolled back 22 percent from its opening weekend. Down to
second place Jack Black's comedy earned $15.4 million, bringing its
current gross to $39.5 million. Last week's number-two movie, Denzel
Washington's OUT OF TIME, plummeted 47 percent, down to fifth place
with just $8.6 million to reach a two-week gross of $28.7 million.
In limited release, MYSTIC RIVER, Clint Eastwood's dark drama of
broken friendships and murder starring people like Sean Penn and Tim
Robbins, proved it will be a talking point at least through Oscar
time. Debuting at just 13 sites, the R-rated Warners release
averaged a major $45,492 per screen to earn $591,390. It has made
$778,997. since opening Wednesday. Here are the earnings estimates:
1. Kill Bill: Volume 1, $22.6 million
2. School of Rock, $15.4 million
3. Intolerable Cruelty, $13.1 million
4. Good Boy!, $13 million
5. Out of Time, $8.6 million
6. House of the Dead, $5.5 million
7. The Rundown, $5.3 million
8. Under the Tuscan Sun, $4.8 million
9. Secondhand Lions, $3.2 million
10 .Lost in Translation, $2.8 million

JAKE 2.0: UPN is encouraged by the ratings so far for both
ENTERPRISE and JAKE 2.0. Enterprise is earning a 2.6 rating share,
and Jake 2.0 is keeping most of the lead in audience with a 2.3
audience share. SMALLVILLE and ANGEL are killing them in the ratings
though.

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT

8:00pm on The WB
Charmed
Love's a Witch
Vengeful ghost stirs up trouble between two feuding families.

8:00 on The Cartoon Channel
Duck Dodgers
The Green Loontern, Parts 1 and 2
Duck Dodgers gains a Green Lantern uniform after a dry cleaner mix-
up.

9:00pm on The WB
Tarzan
Wages of Sin
Tarzan uses his extraordinary tracking skills to help Jane find a
missing child.

9:00pm on ABC
Alias
A Missing Link
Sydney meets a man who might hold the key to her missing years.

On SCIFI Tonight:

7:00pm
Taken
Part 3 of 10: High Hopes
A frequent abductee pays Capt. Crawford a visit.

9:00pm
Taken
Part 4 of 10: Acid Test
Crawford's sons take opposite positions on their father's project.

On Syndicated TV This Weekend:

Andromeda
Waking the Tyrant's Device
The crew tries to stop the maker of the Magog Worldship from
unleashing his android army.

Angel
I Fall to Pieces
A demonic neurosurgeon (Andy Umberger) stalks a young woman (Tushka
Bergen).

BeastMaster
A Simple Truth
Shortly after reuniting with Dar, the sorceress captures Kyra.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Teacher's Pet
Xander falls for a substitute teacher; Angel warns Buffy of a claw-
handed vampire.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
More Than Human
Earth suddenly engulfs Roxton when he is running from a tyrannosaur.

Mutant X
The Breed
The team is brought in to help when a military base becomes infected
with a deadly disease.

Stargate SG-1
Frozen
The team struggles to survive in Antarctica with a young woman found
in the ice.

SCI-FI SCHEDULE

BABYLON 5

27-OCT-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) SURVIVORS
28-OCT-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY
29-OCT-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) SIGNS AND PORTENTS
30-OCT-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) TKO
04-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) EYES
05-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) LEGACIES
06-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) A VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS -PT 1
07-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) A VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS -PT 2
10-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) BABYLON SQUARED
12-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) THE QUALITY OF MERCY
13-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) CHRYALIS
14-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) POINTS OF DEPARTURE
17-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) REVELATIONS
18-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) THE GEOMETRY OF SHADOWS
19-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) A DISTANT STAR
20-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) THE LONG DARK
21-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) SPIDER IN THE WEB
23-NOV-03 3:00 AM MOVIE BABYLON 5: IN THE BEGINNING (LBX)
24-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) SOUL MATES
25-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) A RACE THROUGH DARK PLACES
26-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) THE COMING OF SHADOWS
29-NOV-03 3:00 AM MOVIE MARATHON BABYLON 5: A CALL TO ARMS (LBX)

CRUSADE:
19-OCT-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE THE PATH OF SORROWS
26-OCT-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE RULING FROM THE TOMB
02-NOV-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE THE RULES OF THE GAME
09-NOV-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE WAR ZONE
16-NOV-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE APPEARANCES AND OTHER DECEITS
20-NOV-03 11:00 AM DAYTIME ROTATION - CRUSADE
23-NOV-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE RACING THE NIGHT
30-NOV-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE THE NEEDS OF EARTH

STARGATE SCHEDULE:
20-OCT-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 2010
20-OCT-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 BRIEF CANDLE
20-OCT-03 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 THOR'S HAMMER
20-OCT-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 THE TORMENT OF TANTALUS
20-OCT-03 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 BLOODLINES
21-OCT-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 ABSOLUTE POWER
22-OCT-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 THE LIGHT
23-OCT-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 PRODIGY
24-OCT-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 ENTITY
24-OCT-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) ORPHEUS
24-OCT-03 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) REVISIONS
27-OCT-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 DOUBLE JEOPARDY
27-OCT-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 FIRE AND WATER
27-OCT-03 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 HATHOR
27-OCT-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 SINGULARITY
27-OCT-03 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 COR-AI
28-OCT-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 EXODUS -PT 1
29-OCT-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 ENEMIES -PT 2
30-OCT-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 THRESHOLD -PT 3

FARSCAPE SCHEDULE:
10-NOV-03 11:00 AM DAYTIME ROTATION - FARSCAPE PICTURE IF YOU WILL
10-NOV-03 12:00 PM DAYTIME ROTATION - FARSCAPE HOME ON THE REMAINS
10-NOV-03 1:00 PM DAYTIME ROTATION - FARSCAPE OUT OF THEIR MINDS
10-NOV-03 2:00 PM DAYTIME ROTATION - FARSCAPE BEWARE OF DOG
10-NOV-03 3:00 PM DAYTIME ROTATION - FARSCAPE WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN

EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT
24-OCT-03 5:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT UNEARTHED
07-NOV-03 5:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT
12-NOV-03 11:00 AM DAYTIME ROTATION - EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT
14-NOV-03 5:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT
21-NOV-03 5:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT

That's about it for now.  As soon as I see anything related to
Babylon 5, I'll drop you a note.

Take care and have a nice weekend.
Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN News: The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net

THE ZOCALO TODAY – NOVEMBER 8, 2003

A CALL TO PENS!

JEREMIAH IS IN TROUBLE:

Over at Cinescape.com, you'll find a front-page article on JEREMIAH,
indicating that Showtime is calling last night's episodes the "season
finale", after airing only 7 of the 15 episodes ordered -- and
produced. When will you see those yet unaired episodes? Only Showtime
will be able to tell us. Showtime doesn't release viewer numbers but
multiple tracking services have confirmed that the ratings for the
long-delayed second season have increased with each new episode and
are higher than those for the first season. See details below for
adding your voice to tell Showtime you support JEREMIAH and want to
see the rest of season two.

To show your support of the show and to let Showtime know we are
behind the series, drop over to
<http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/excl/buzz.html>. You will find
sample letters and all the information you need to write Showtime in
support of JEREMIAH.

The B5 community knows all about letter-writing campaigns, so sharpen
your pencils and get writing.

KEEPING UP WITH CAST AND CREW:

ALEXANDER ZAHARA: Alex has been very busy since the close of LEGEND
OF THE RANGERS. He turns up every so often on STARGATE or JEREMIAH.
He just opened a new website at http://www.alexzahara.com/. He's got
a contest going -- he's offering up t-shirts from LEGEND. You'll note
that he has just finished a number of projects -- including OPEN
RANGE -- in which he gets to shoot Kevin Costner and a recurring role
in Stephen King's KINGDOM HOSPITAL.

STEPHEN AUSTIN: I got a wonderful note from the Pa'Ka'Ma Ambassador,
saying that he will be appearing at UNITED FAN CON, this weekend --
November 7-9 at the Sheraton Hotel, Springfield, Mass. (For more
information on the convention, go to http://www.unitedfancon.com/. In
addition, he's been quite busy with a number of projects. He has has
completed work on two CDs and is putting the finishing touches on a
DVD/Video -- a compelation of several of his stand-up comedy
performances. Another CD is a work done by an ensemble group of
comedians including Stephen, Vic Dunlop and The Unknown Comic
titiled "Lunatics and Losers" a lampoon about our war on terrorism.

BABYLON 5 BIRTHDAYS:

Robert Foxworth - November 1
John Vickery - November 4
Damian London - November 12
Tracy Scoggins - November 13
Dwight Schultz - November 24
Louise Turenne - November 26
Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. - November 30

DISCUSSION TOPIC:

In this crazy world we live in, it's always fun to share everyday
items that make us think of Babylon 5.  For example, there's a new
book on shelves entitled BABYLON RISING  by Tim Lahaye.  What did you
think of when you first saw the title?

Send your comments and observations to sgbruckner@... and I'll
post them on the Discussion Page for everyone to share.

NEW SCI-FI PUBLICATIONS:

ALIAS: Previews Exclusive Cover Edition! In this issue we de-classify
some scorching season three secrets, as well as re-visiting some
favorite episodes from Seasons past — as voted for by the readers.
Alias creator J.J. Abrams will be on hand to answer your questions.
Available in Newsstand and Previews Exclusive cover editions! (Titan)

Dreamwatch: In stark contrast to what we know the future to hold, Lex
and Clark have forged a close friendship on Smallville. This month we
chat with archenemy in waiting, actor Michael Rosenbaum. Nicole
deBoer, a.k.a. The Dead Zone's Sarah Bannerman, discusses the taut
psychological thriller and reveals visions of the show¹s future.
Plus, new season news from Angel, Alias and Stargate SG-1. (Titan)
Magazine, 84pg,

Cult Times #98: Everyone is a-buzz about the revival of DOCTOR WHO.
Who will portray the good doctor? When will it actually go into
production? Also in this issue, writer/producers Alex Kurtzman-
Counter and Roberto Orci talk about the coming season of ALIAS. Lisa
Ryder talks about the new season of ANDROMEDA and Mandy Patinkin and
Jasmine Guy provide some information on their show, DEAD LIKE ME.
TV Zone #169: In this issue, J. Michael Straczynski continues to
reminise about the final days of the fourth season of BABYLON 5.
Conner Trinneer from ENTERPRISE talks about his job as chief engineer
Trip Tucker and they look at the departure of Rob Lowe from THE WEST
WING.

TV SCHEDULE ON SCIFI CHANNEL

BABYLON 5

10-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) BABYLON SQUARED
12-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) THE QUALITY OF MERCY
13-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) CHRYALIS
14-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) POINTS OF DEPARTURE
17-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) REVELATIONS
18-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) THE GEOMETRY OF SHADOWS
19-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) A DISTANT STAR
20-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) THE LONG DARK
21-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) SPIDER IN THE WEB
23-NOV-03 3:00 AM MOVIE BABYLON 5: IN THE BEGINNING (LBX)
24-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) SOUL MATES
25-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) A RACE THROUGH DARK PLACES
26-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) THE COMING OF SHADOWS
29-NOV-03 3:00 AM MOVIE MARATHON BABYLON 5: A CALL TO ARMS (LBX)

CRUSADE:

09-NOV-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE WAR ZONE
16-NOV-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE APPEARANCES AND OTHER DECEITS
20-NOV-03 11:00 AM DAYTIME ROTATION - CRUSADE
23-NOV-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE RACING THE NIGHT
30-NOV-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE THE NEEDS OF EARTH

STARGATE SCHEDULE:

10-NOV-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 THE TOMB
10-NOV-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 POLITICS
10-NOV-03 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 WITHIN THE SERPENT'S GRASP
10-NOV-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 THE SERPENT'S LAIR
10-NOV-03 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 IN THE LINE OF DUTY
11-NOV-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 BETWEEN TWO FIRES
12-NOV-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 2001
13-NOV-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 DESPERATE MEASURES
14-NOV-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 WORMHOLE X-TREME!
14-NOV-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 ENEMY MINE
14-NOV-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 AVENGER 2.0
14-NOV-03 11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 AVENGER 2.0

FARSCAPE SCHEDULE:

10-NOV-03 11:00 AM DAYTIME ROTATION - FARSCAPE PICTURE IF YOU WILL
10-NOV-03 12:00 PM DAYTIME ROTATION - FARSCAPE HOME ON THE REMAINS
10-NOV-03 1:00 PM DAYTIME ROTATION - FARSCAPE OUT OF THEIR MINDS
10-NOV-03 2:00 PM DAYTIME ROTATION - FARSCAPE BEWARE OF DOG
10-NOV-03 3:00 PM DAYTIME ROTATION - FARSCAPE WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN

EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT

12-NOV-03 11:00 AM DAYTIME ROTATION - EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT
14-NOV-03 5:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT
21-NOV-03 5:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT

5:00pm on HBO
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
An orphan attends a school of witchcraft and wizardry. Based on a
book by J.K. Rowling.

7:30 on FX
Alien 3
Lone woman finds thugs, zealots and horror on prison planet.

8:00pm on HBO
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
For Harry Potter and his friends, life at Hogwarts School of
Witchcraft and Wizardry is about to get even more thrilling -- and
dangerous! Young Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) is back at Hogwarts for his
second year of training and it's an education he'll never forget,
especially when he and his pals Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma
Watson) discover that someone has opened the school's much-feared
Chamber of Secrets. It's up to the young wizard to get to the bottom
of an eerie mystery that leaves him hearing voices and some of his
fellow students literally petrified.

8:00pm on UPN
Star Trek: Enterprise (repeat)
Twilight
After an accident on the Enterprise, Archer loses his short-term
memory.

On SCIFI Tonight:

7:00pm
Boa
In the future a giant snake terrorizes inmates and workers at an
Antarctic prison.
9:00pm
Python
A massive snake stalks the residents of a small town.

11:00pm
Pythons 2
Genetically enhanced snakes go on a killing spree inside a Russian
military base.

On Syndicated TV This Weekend:

Andromeda
Soon the Nearing Vortex
Capt. Dylan Hunt comes up against former crew member Tyr for
possession of a map.

Angel
Offspring
Darla (Julie Benz) arrives on Angel's doorstep, inexplicably
pregnant.

Angel
The Bachelor Party
Doyle's estranged wife comes to town to divorce him so she can marry
another man.

BeastMaster
The Last Unicorns
Dar and Tao set out to protect the last unicorns from Terrons who
seek magic in their horns.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
Paradise Found
The adventurers follow a map to a paradise that feeds off the lives
of others.

Mutant X
Shadows of Darkness
The team investigates strange activities occurring at a local
hospital.

The Outer Limits
Final Exam
A college student blackmails the government with a cold-fusion bomb.

INSIDE SCI-FI TODAY:

RATINGS: Top SF Network Shows:
Joan of Arcadia 7.2
Alias 5.7
Smallville 4.4
Angel 3.6
Charmed 3.3
Star Trek Enterprise 2.9
Tarzan 2.7
Jake 2.0 1.8
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 10/6/03 - 10/12/03.

RIDING THE BULLET: Production starts this month in Vancouver on the
film adaptation of Stephen King's RIDING THE BULLET. Jonathan
Jackson, David Arquette, Barbara Hershey and Erika Christensen will
head the cast to be helmed by writer-director Mick Garris (The
Stand). The story takes place on Halloween in 1969, when college
student Alan Parker (Jackson), distraught over a breakup with his
girlfriend (Christensen), fails a suicide attempt and is then picked
up by a mysterious driver (Arquette) while hitchhiking through rural
Maine to visit his ailing mother (Hershey).

HARRY POTTER: A teaser trailer for the upcoming HARRY POTTER AND THE
PRISONER OF AZKBAN will be attached to prints of LOONEY TUNES: BACK
IN ACTION, on Nov. 14.

CSI: The Hollywood Reporter indicates that Thursday night's episode
of CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION propelled the network to a virtual
tie for the night with NBC in the key adults 18-49 demo. "Friends"
opened up the night for NBC with an average of 20.3 million viewers
and 9.2 rating/25 share in adults 18-49, according to preliminary
estimates from Nielsen Media Research. CBS' 8 p.m. entry "Survivor:
Pearl Islands" (21.3 million, 8.0/21) had another strong night,
topping "Friends" in viewers and running a solid second in adults 18-
49. NBC's momentum slipped at 8:30 p.m. with a "Friends" rerun (18.2
million, 8.2/21) allowing the second half of "Survivor" to take the
demo lead.

RETURN OF THE KING: Over at Dark Horizons you can get a glimpse of
the awesome new poster for the upcoming LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF
THE KING.

PEACEMAKERS: USA has decided not to renew PEACEMAKERS starring Tom
Berenger. The Western's 90-minute premiere on July 30 earned a 4.0
rating in USA homes (5.2 million viewers). However, a relatively
small portion of that audience came from the key 18 to 49 group (1.4
million viewers), and the show's ratings ultimately petered off while
continuing to draw the bulk of its audience from older demos. Guess
this goes to show who counts and who doesn't! I liked this show.

WEEKEND MOVIE OFFERINGS: There is quite a range to choose from this
weekend. The highly-anticipated conclusion of THE MATRIX series
opened this week and has been setting records around the globe. Will
Ferrell's ELF starts today. The ensemble romantic comedy LOVE
ACTUALLY opens in select cities. For reviews, go to
http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/458/458573p1.html or
http://www.hollywood.com/movies/reviewsroundup/id/1732641.

TOP SELLING SF DVD TITLES:
1. Finding Nemo
2. The Two Towers extended edition
3. Adventures of Indiana Jones
4. Pirates of the Caribbean
5. Looney Tunes golden collection
6. The Matrix Reloaded
7. T3: Rise of the Machines
8. Lion King platinum edition
9. Hulk
10. X2
Source: Amazon.com, top-selling genre DVDs, 10/31/03

5 DAYS TO MIDNIGHT: According to The Hollywood Reporter, Michael
Caton-Jones has been tapped to direct the upcoming Sci Fi Channel
limited series "5 Days to Midnight." A five-part thriller set to
begin production next month in Vancouver, "Midnight" will be produced
by Lion's Gate Television in association with David Kirschner Prods.
and Hallmark Entertainment Distribution, which has worldwide rights
to the project. Caton-Jones, whose credits include "City by the Sea"
and "This Boy's Life," is the latest in a string of behind-the-camera
talent Sci Fi has recruited from the movie world, including Martin
Scorsese, Bryan Singer and Dean Devlin.

TARZAN: The WB's TARZAN has been put on a production hiatus. The show
will air three more episodes throughout November sweeps. Five
episodes have already aired and eight have been produced. The ratings
have been disappointing. It is averaging a 1.7/4 in adults 18 to 49,
a 1.7/5 in persons 12 to 34 and 3.9 million total viewers. The WB
will continue to evaluate the show's ratings before deciding if the
show will return.

RATINGS: Top 10 Syndicated Shows:
Mutant X 2.1
Andromeda 2.0
Stargate SG-1 2.0
She Spies 1.7
Beastmaster 1.5
3rd Rock 1.4
Angel 1.4
Buffy 1.4
The X-Files 1.4
The Outer Limits 1.1
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 10/6/03 - 10/12/03

THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW: Roland Emmerich's latest, the post-
apocalyptic film THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW has a new trailer at
http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/dayaftertomorrow/. The film,
starring Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Sela Ward and Emmy Rossum,
opens in theaters on May 28, 2004.

LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS Now here is a perfect Christmas
gift for that special someone. Available November 18, this Four-Disc
Platinum Series Special Extended Edition of Peter Jackson's stunning,
Academy Award-winning THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS features
40 minutes of extra footage woven into the theatrical release of the
film and new music by Howard Shore. The movie is presented on two
DVDs in Widescreen (2.35:1) format with Dolby Digital EX 5.1 Surround
Sound, DTS ES 6.1 Surround Sound, and Stereo Surround Sound. Discs 1
and 2 titled, "The Feature", include the film itself along with four
audio commentaries from Peter Jackson, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin,
Orlando Bloom and Academy Awardr winners Richard Taylor, Howard
Shore, Randy Cook.and many more. The remaining discs are titled, "The
Appendices". These two discs contain hours of original content
including multiple documentaries and design/photo galleries with
thousands of images to give viewers an in-depth behind-the-scenes
look at The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Disc 3 includes
features on adapting the book into a screenplay, planning the film,
design and inspiration for locations in Middle-earth, storyboards to
pre-visualization, a Weta Workshop visit, an Atlas of Middle-earth,
an interactive map of New Zealand highlighting the location scouting
process, galleries of art and slideshows with commentaries by the
artists, and much more! Disc 4 consists of sending actors to battle-
preparation for sword fighting, Principal photography: Stories from
the set, digital effects including motion capture and "Massive" (a
program to create armies of Orcs), "Bigatures"-A close-up look at the
detailed miniatures used in the film, galleries of behind-the-scenes
photographs and personal cast photos, post-production, sound design
demonstration, and much more!

THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS: According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner
Bros. Pictures' "The Matrix Revolutions" plugged into theaters around
the world Wednesday in the largest day-and-date hour-to-hour feature
film release in history. "Revolutions," the final film in
the "Matrix" trilogy, went out worldwide with a record 18,013 prints
in 96 countries. "The worldwide day-and-date openings look to be a
huge success," said an upbeat Dan Fellman, president of domestic
distribution at Warners. Internationally, "Revolutions" was in a
record 94 countries, or 107 territories, on Wednesday, and there were
10,013 prints in 43 languages, including 14 dubs. The international
print count includes 18 Imax prints. Before the release
of "Revolutions," the biggest international rollout was 20th Century
Fox's "X2: X-Men United," which was in 80 countries and 93 markets,
with 7,585 prints, in May. At the end of "X2's" first weekend, that
film had collected $69.3 million internationally.

JAKE 2.0: The Hollywood Reporter says that despite a shaky start, UPN
has given JAKE 2.0 a full-season pickup. The show has struggled in
the post-"Enterprise" slot, but the critically praised show has been
on a rebound lately, following a dip during the baseball postseason.

FINDING NEMO: Disney and Pixar reported today that a record 8 million
DVDs and Videos were sold in FINDING NEMO's first day (Tuesday) in
North American retail stores. This surpasses the studios' own
previous record of 5 million DVDs and Videos sold for "Monsters,
Inc." It also swims past the previous overall record set by Sony
Pictures last November 3rd with Spider-Man. Spidey sold 7 million
DVDs and Videos that Friday.

TOP 10 BESTSELLING SF BOOKS:
1. The Da Vinci Code
2. Wolves of the Calla
3. Angels & Demons
4. Blood Canticle (Vampire Chronicles)
5. Eragon (Inheritance, Book 1)
6. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
7. The Slippery Slope (Lemony Snicket)
8. Quicksilver (The Baroque Cycle, Vol. 1)
9. The Lone Drow (Forgotten Realms)
10. Dark Melody
Source: Amazon.com, 10/31/03

THE DA VINCI CODE: Dan Brown's best selling thriller has been on the
Top 10 List for quite a while. Now Oscar-winning director Ron Howard
is set to helm a film adaptation of THE DA VINCI CODE. Howard will
begin once he has finished his next project, CINDERELLA MAN. THE DA
VINCI CODE tells the story of a cryptographer and a symbologist
investigating a murder in the Louvre. The clues lead to secrets of
Western history, including the Holy Grail.

CARNIVALE: It has been a while since anyone talked about a story arc.
Ronald D. Moore, co-executive producer of HBO's supernatural drama
series CARNIVALE told SCI FI Wire that the upcoming final first-
season episodes will answer some questions raised —but not all of
them. "By the end of the first season you're going to understand a
lot more about 'Management,'" Moore said. "You'll know who's running
the carnival." Moore added, "People aren't in the carnivale by
accident. You'll start to go, 'Oh my God, that guy is connected to
the backstory, and that guy isn't.' You'll start to see that Brother
Justin (Clancy Brown)) is on an arc, on a climb to power, and that
Ben (Nick Stahl) is trying to grapple with a role he didn't want, but
was born into. That's where you'll be by the end of the first season.
You'll start to understand where it's all going. But it's not really
going to answer every single question." Carnivale airs Sunday nights
at 9 ET/PT on HBO.

ALONE IN THE DARK: Here is the first official images of the remaining
main characters from the ALONE IN THE DARK movie due out sometime
next year. Directed by Uwe Boll (HOUSE OF THE DEAD) and starring
Christian Slater as paranormal investigator Edward Carnby, the
horror/action movie is based on the popular series of computer video
games released by Atari. Tara Reid (AMERICAN PIE) also stars in the
film as Carnby's partner, Aline Cedrac, and Stephen Dorff (BLADE) is
Commander Richards.

WOLVES OF THE CALLA: The long-awaited fifth novel in Stephen King's
DARK TOWER series arrives in hardcover in bookstores today. WOLVES OF
THE CALLA reunites readers with Roland the Gunslinger and his troupe
of four comrades as they make their way ever toward the Dark Tower
for their showdown with the Crimson King. At stake are entire worlds,
if not all of reality. King continues to connect the dots between his
other stand-alone novels and the Dark Tower, further proving that all
of his stories are interconnected. Roland and his friends find
themselves called to the farming community of Calla Bryn Sturgis, a
town where all the women give birth to twins...and every twenty
years, a group of frightening beings come into the town and take one
twin away from the parents, only to return and present the child in a
horrifying condition. This time, as Calla prepares for the visitation
of the "Wolves", the town's leader asks the Gunslinger for assistance
in protecting the innocent. What Roland doesn't realize is that
Calla's problem is connected to events unfolding in our world,
specifically for a New York City land owner who is being pressured by
petty criminals to sell off a lot of vacant land he owns...and where
a rose that connects our world to the Dark Tower, and thus our
world's very existance, grows. Fans of King's early vampire
novel 'SALEM'S LOT will discover there's a highly surprising
connection at play in WOLVES OF THE CALLA. To say more would ruin the
surprise...

PETER PAN: You can catch a glimpse of the new PETER PAN movie,
starring Jason Isaacs, at http://www.peterpanmovie.net/index.html.
The movie opens Christmas Day.

SUPERMAN: There have been a number of names rumored as in the running
for the upcoming SUPERMAN movie. Brendan Fraser, who is out and about
promoting his latest LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION, said, "I'm
interested. I have been approached about it. It is a possibility. It
really comes down to, I think, decisions made [at the] studio level
way up on high." Fraser said that he is also taking into
consideration the drawbacks of playing the iconic superhero. "Whoever
it is who plays that role is historically forever more known as that
character," he said. "I mean, that's a superhero who isn't masked,
and he's also of a duplicitous nature. It's Clark Kent and Superman.
So I've read the script for it. It's very good. We'll see. Stay
tuned. No pun intended."

NEW RELEASES: Besides the surprise favorite of the summer, FINDING
NEMO, there are a ton of new releases coming out today. FINDING NEMO
from Buena Vista offers a two-disc THX-certified edition with Making-
Of, galleries, a Cousteau documentary, special virtual aquarium,
Pixar short "Knick Knack", games, studio tour, etc. Includes both
widescreen and fullscreen formats. Here are some others that may be
of interest:
FRIENDS: Complete Seasons 1-5 (Warner Bros.) The one with the first
five sets all collected together with extras.
THE LOST WORLD: Complete First Season (Navarre) TV series based on
the Arthur Conan Doyle classic. Includes Doyle bio, galleries, and
bloopers from the third season.
ROBOCOP: PRIME DIRECTIVE: The fourth disc of ROBOCOP: PRIME
DIRECTIVES is now out on DVD. © Lions Gate Crash & Burn (Lions Gate)
Part three of the made-for-cable miniseries.
ROBOCOP: PRIME DIRECTIVE: Resurrection (Lions Gate) Part four of the
made-for-cable miniseries.
STAR TREK DEEP SPACE NINE Complete - STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE
season six. © Paramount Home Video. Sixth Season (Paramount) Seven-
disc box set includes all 26 episodes in which Captain Sisko guards
his wormhole. Includes featurettes and "hidden files".
X-FILES Season 8 (Fox) Sci-fi TV classic with commentraks, deleted
scenes, international clips and DVD-ROM game.

HELLBOY: The special effects company that creates the digital effects
for ENTERPRISE, Eden FX, has been hired to create 125 visual effects
shots for HELLBOY. Eden will provide a range of shots from enhancing
backgrounds to touching up characters and making the impossible look
believable. The company states that several of their shots will be
seen in the HELLBOY trailer, slated for release later this month.

TOP 10 SCIFI CHANNEL PROGRAMS:
Stargate SG-1 1.5
Terminator 2 1.3
Death Machine 1.1
Total Recall 1.1
Running Man 1.1
Red Planet 1.0
Hercules 1.0
Conan the Destroyer 1.0
Tremors: The Series 0.9
Taken: Part 3 0.9
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 10/6/03 - 10/12/03

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Dimension Films' SCARY MOVIE 3 held onto the
number one spot at the box office. In its second weekend of release,
the sequel scored $21.1 million dollars, bringing its total take to
over $78 M in just ten days. The second sequel has now earned more
money than SCARY MOVIE 2 did during its entire theatrical run.
Despite the lack of a traditional Friday night opening, Disney's new
animated film BROTHER BEAR had a terrific opening weekend. With a
gross of $18.5 M over just two days, Disney execs have nothing to
frown over. THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE managed to capitalize on
Halloween, netting nearly $11 M more. With holidays approaching,
movie grosses should start to climb. On Wednesda, we have the release
of THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS. Will the third MATRIX movie come close or
break the $91 M opening weekend of THE MATRIX RELOADED last May? Here
are the estimated box office receipts of the top ten films from
October 31 to November 2, their weekend gross and the film's total
domestic gross to date:
1. SCARY MOVIE 3 $21,100,000 $78,600,000
2. BROTHER BEAR $18,500,000 $18,900,000
3. THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE $10,900,000 $66,129,000
4. RADIO $10,200,000 $26,800,000
5. RUNAWAY JURY $6,800,000 $33,600,000
6. MYSTIC RIVER $6,270,000 $33,590,000
7. KILL BILL VOLUME 1 $4,700,000 $60,980,000
8. SCHOOL OF ROCK $4,400,000 $69,122,000
9. INTOLERABLE CRUELTY $2,658,000 $32,055,000
10. GOOD BOY! $2,500,000 $35,246,000

STRANGE DETECTIVE: Daniel Baldwin has signed with Tribune
Entertainment for a cop series with a supernatural twist. Tentatively
titled "The Strange Detective," the miniseries centers on a San
Francisco detective who, during a car chase on the Golden Gate
bridge, plunges into the ocean. He survives, but begins to
experience "rips in time," having visions of events that have
occurred in the places he visits, which are sometimes related to the
cases he is working on. The project was originally developed for
syndication, but because the subject matter and the tone of the show
are much closer to a primetime cable offering than the typical
weekend afternoon syndicated fare, it is now targeted for cable
distribution.

CONSTANTINE: Keanu Reeves is interviewed in the latest issue of
Entertainment Weekly, for which he is on the cover for "The Matrix
Revolutions". Reeves talks a little about his role in CONSTANTINE,
among other things. In Constantine, he plays a bloke who's on barely
speaking terms with both heaven and hell. 'And he hates them both,'
Reeves reports with great satisfaction. 'I think that was actually
always the attractive thing about Batman--he had some kind of inner
demon.' He contemplates this for a second, then grins wistfully. 'But
I didn't get to play that guy. Now I'm too old.'"

HARRY POTTER: A new trailer for Warner Bros.' HARRY POTTER AND THE
PRISONER OF AZKABAN is set to hit theaters with the studio's own
LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION on November 14. The trailer is
reportedly around 1 minute and 26 seconds long and a description of
the clip can be found at
http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/h/harrypotter3.php.

CONVENTION CALENDAR

United Fan Con
November 7-9, 2003
Place: Marriott Hotel, Springfield, MA
B5 Guest: Stephen Austin
Other guests: Michael Shanks, Mercedes McNab, Peter Davison, Gary
Graham, Katy Manning, Matthew Waterhouse
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.unitedfancon.com/.

Montreal Science Fiction Expo 2003
November 14-16, 2003
Place: Palais des Congres, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Other Guests: Marina Sirtis, Ethan Phillips, Peter Mayhew, Lou
Ferrigno, Kirby Morrow
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.hobbystar.com/montreal-eng/index.html.

Alternate Universe POSTPONED UNTIL JULY 23-25, 2004
November 14-16, 2003
Place: London, UK
Site: Thistle London Heathrow
B5 Guests: Andrea Thompson, Sarah Douglas
Other Guests: Kent McCord, JRBourne, Peter Stebbings, Marc Cass,
Brian Aldiss
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.l3conventions.co.uk/alternateuni.htm.

Vulkon Orlando
November 14-16, 2003
Place: ORLANDO HILTON NORTH
Orlando, FL
B5 Guests: Julie Caitlin Brown, Jeffrey Combs
Other Guests: William Shatner, John Billingsley, Chase Masterson,
Lolita Fatjo, Walt Cunningham, Boby Clark, Arne Starr
For more information, visit their website at http://www.vulkon.com.

Farscape Convention
November 14-16, 2003
Location: Hilton Burbank Airport & Convention Center
Place: Burbank, CA
Guests: Most of the Farscape Cast
For more information, visit their website at " TARGET="_new">
http://www.creationent.com"> .

Slanted Fedora Convention
November 28-30, 2003
Location: Indianapolis Marriott
Place: Indianapolis, IN
B5 Guests: Richard Biggs, Jason Carter
Other Guests: Tony Amendola, Julie Benz, Teryl Rothery, Robert Duncan
Mcneill
For more information, visit their website at " TARGET="_new">
http://www.sfedora.com"> .

Be sure to check the referenced websites to make sure there have been
no changes in dates, locations or guests attending.

I guess that is about it for now.  Have a terrific weekend.
Take care.
Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN News:  The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net

THE ZOCALO TODAY – NOVEMBER 22, 2003

WHAT'S NEW

Everyone has been waiting to see what would happen with JMS'
JEREMIAH on Showtime.  This morning, I found several notes regarding
Malcolm-Jamal Warner's signing on for a series pilot.  The note is
below.

JEREMIAH: With the fate of JEREMIAH up in the air, news comes from
the Hollywood Reporter that Malcolm-Jamal Warner is taking a part
opposite Jason Alexander in a CBS pilot. Warner will play the co-host
of a sports talk show, based on the life of Washington Post sports
columnist Tony Kornheiser. Alexander will play Kornheiser, who also
co-hosts ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" with fellow Post writer
Michael Wilbon. Warner will be Wilbon's fictional counterpart. The
project was originally developed for this season but didn't make it
past the pilot stage because of casting issues. It got new life when
Alexander signed on. Lindy De Koven, who pitched the concept to
producer Regency TV, is executive producing the pilot with writer
Jeff Martin ("Maybe It's Me").

SPECIAL HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES

For a number of years, Pat Tallman (Lyta) has been heavily involved
with Penny Lane, a family treatment center that cares for the most
difficult to manage children with the highest quality care. These
kids have been so sexually, emotionally and physically abused, they
cannot be placed in regular foster care. Children come from all over
California, Nevada and Arizona. This program focuses on kids who are
the 104 in residence in the North Hills main facility and 9 satellite
houses. Penny Lane also services over 700 young children in foster
care. Pat would like to focus this year on the 104 teens in residence
and provide Target gift cards to the 40 young adults in Penny Lane's
revolutionary Transitional Living program. To learn more about Pat's
efforts at Penny Lane, go to the Be A Santa page. Here you will find
a note from Pat and some responses from children who are current at
the Penny Lane facility.

At this special time of year, open up your heart and make one of
these children feel special.

If readers would like to join together and present Pat with a number
of gift certificates, I can coordinate the effort. Just let me know
if you are interested -- and what you would like to donate. We can
get gift certificates for Target, Tower Records, Borders and Barnes
and Noble Books. Let's pull together and show the kids that the
Babylon 5 community really does have the holiday spirit.

SLANTED FEDORA

CONVENTION WOES:  I know a lot of readers have attended conventions
put on by Dave Scott.  I got this note in the mail and thought I
should forward on the information.

On September 19, 2003, the State of Kansas issued a press release
related to Slanted Fedora Entertainment. The statement indicates that
Attorney General Phill Kline has filed a suit against the company for
alleged violations of the Kansas Consumer Protection Act. The company
was previously ordered by the court to shut down their website which
promoted their events and to refund moneis to consumers who had filed
complaints with the Kansas Attorney General and the Better Business
Bureau of Kansas City, MO. If you want to contact the Kansas Consumer
Protection Division regarding this suit, the phone number is 1-800-
432-2310. Online you can go to http://www.ksag.org or e-mail the
Kansas Consumer Protection Division at cprotect@....

KEEPING UP WITH CAST AND CREW:

GARY COLE Jason Bateman teams up with Gary Cole in Fox's upcoming
dodgeball comedy. The untitled project centers on a group of
neighborhood residents who challenge the developers of a giant
fitness center. The dodgeball picture stars Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn
and Christine Taylor.

SEAN ASTIN: Sean Astin went directly from LORD OF THE RINGS to
JEREMIAH. He has been marvelous in the role as Mister Smith and Frank
Garcia caught up with him as he was busy directing an episode of
JEREMIAH this summer. Read all at
http://www.scifi.com/sfw/current/interview2.html.

JASON CARTER: Jason appears in SHE SPIES episode, entitled "Love
Kills" the week of November 10 (check your local listings). He
portrays an assassin named Morgan Porter.

JERRY DOYLE:  Jerry was spotten on JAG last week.

DISCUSSION TOPIC

Have you read any good books lately?  There seem to be a ton of
science fiction books in stores these days.  Do any of them stand
out?  You can post a review -- or just let us know what you have
found interesting, exciting, intriguing.

Send in your comments and observations to sgbruckner@... and I'll
post them on the Discussion Page for everyone to share.

NEW SCIENCE FICTION PUBLICATIONS

Cult Times #99: Michael Shanks talks about his return to STARGATE SG-
1 and his recent marriage to Lexa Doig from ANDROMEDA. Also in this
issue: Connor Trinneer talks about 'Trip Tucker' of ENTERPRISE and
Kevin Sorbo looks at the changes for the fourth season of ANDROMEDA.

TV Zone #170: DOCTOR WHO returns! A new TV series is getting closer
to reality and the BBC has a new webcast "Scream of the Shalka
starring Richard E. Grant as the good doctor. Also in this issue:
David Greenwalk talks about JAKE 2.0 and we look back at HERCULES:
THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS.

Starburst Special #60 Starburst takes a look at vampires -- on the
big and little screen -- from Dracula to Angel. In addition to ANGEL
and BUFFY features, you'll find production designer for LORD OF THE
RINGS Grant Major talking about THE RETURN OF THE KING and
UNDERWORLD's director Len Wiseman breathing life into vampires and
werewolves.

Expose #81: Mercedes McNab talks about her roles on BUFFY and ANGEL.
Gerard Butler talks about the transition from LARA CROFT to TIMELINE.
Mary Steenbergen reveals how she's developed a talent for motherhood
and her transition from ELF to JOAN OF ARCADIA.

COMIC BOOKS
AMAZING SPIDERMAN
Amazing Spider-Man #501 will arrive in stores on Wednesday from
Marvel Comics. The issue is written by J. Michael Straczynski, with
art by John Romita Jr. and a cover by Tony Harris.

Here's how Marvel describes the issue:
"A brand new story arc starts following the historic issue #500. The
drive to Amazing Spider-Man #1000 starts here."
Amazing Spider-Man #501 will be 32 pages and will cost $2.25.

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT

On SCIFI Tonight:

9:00am
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Overdrawn at the Memory Bank
``Overdrawn at the Memory Bank'' Rebel ODs on ``Casablanca.''

11:00am
Twilight Zone: The Movie
Four tales: bigot, oldsters, bad boy, man on plane.

1:00pm
Kecksburg UFO: New Evidence
Host Bryant Gumbel shines light on an investigation of a UFO incident
in Pennsylvania.

3:00pm
The Road Warrior
Loner lawman Mad Max fights barbarian bikers for gasoline in the
wasteland future.

5:00pm
The 13th Warrior
Unknown foes devour the flesh of their Viking victims.

7:00pm
Code Red: The Rubicon Conspiracy
A military man finds a base used for alien contact.

9:00pm
Sasquatch
A rescue team encounters the legendary creature while searching for
survivors of a plane crash.

On Syndicated TV This Weekend:

Andromeda
Conduit to Destiny
Fate brings Dylan full circle in order to fulfill a planet's destiny
300 years in the making.

Angel
Lullaby
Darla begins childbirth, and Angel faces paternal responsibilities.

Angel
Hero
Angel and Doyle protect mixed-blood demons from an army of pure-
bloods bent on eradicating them.

BeastMaster
The Slayer
Dar is attracted to Zuraya, a woman cursed with loneliness.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
Creatures of the Dark
Veronica, Challenger, Malone and Marguerite find evidence of
cannibals in the jungle.
MacGyver
Jack in the Box
Another attempt to rescue Dalton (Bruce McGill) lands MacGyver in an
Arkansas labor camp; guest Lance LeGault.

Mutant X
Wasteland
The team learns that Jesse's company is involved in the genetic
manipulation of crops.

The Outer Limits
Zig Zag
A columnist leads an attack on a society-controlling computer.

INSIDE SCI-FI THIS WEEK:

TOP SF NETWORK SHOWS:
Joan of Arcadia 6.8
Alias 5.8
Smallville 4.4
Charmed 3.4
Angel 3.1
Futurama 2.8
Tarzan 2.1
Enterprise 1.9
Jake 2.0 1.3
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 10/20/03 - 10/26/03.

SEAQUEST DSV: Jonathan Brandis, Lucas Wolenczeck from SeaQuest DSV,
died Nov. 12 at the age of 27. The Los Angeles County Coroner's
office confirmed to the site that Brandis died and that his death was
reported as a possible suicide. Final determination of a cause of
death will depend on the results of an autopsy and other tests.
Besides Sequest DSV, Brandis appeared in THE NEVERENDING STORY II:
THE NEXT CHAPTER and Stephen King's IT.

TWO TOWERS DVD: Reuters reports that the extended-version DVD of THE
LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS sold 750,000 to 1 million units
during its first 24 hours in release on Nov. 18. But the DVD did not
set a record, as was expected by several national video buyers. The
Two Towers Special Extended Edition carries a suggested retail price
of about $40, but most national retail chains are selling the set for
about $30. Besides containing an additional 43 minutes from the
original feature, two of the special edition's four discs sport all-
new extras.

WEEKEND AT THE MOVIES: It looks like another great weekend for going
to the movies. This weekend a number of new films hit the box office.
Among them are: THE CAT IN THE HAT, GOTHIKA and 21 GRAMS. The Mike
Myers' CAT IN THE HAT is almost assured to take the #1 spot but
GOTHIKA looks like a wonderful thriller. For reviews of these three
flicks, go to http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/441/441714p1.html.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT RATINGS BATTLE: It seems as if Wednesday night is the
only night of the week with a LOT of good things to watch! According
to the Nielsen Overnight Metered Market ratings, "Enterprise" scored
a 4.1 rating/6 share, matching last week's new episode as
well. "Smallville," on The WB, scored a 5.9/9, also matching last
week's output. "Angel," which follows "Smallville," was up slightly
with a 4.2/6, ahead of last week's 4.0/6. "Jake 2.0" was down on UPN
with a 2.4/3. Last week, it earned a 2.7/4. For the
year, "Enterprise" is still down 7 percent from its season premiere
while "Smallville" is down 12 percent. However, it's ratings are now
only 30 percent off "Smallville," based on the season premiere
comparison of 34 percent.

INSIDE SCI-FI THIS WEEK:

TOP SF DVD SALES:
1. The Two Towers extended edition
2. Finding Nemo
3. Pirates of the Caribbean
4. Adventures of Indiana Jones
5. Two Towers regular edition
6. T3: Rise of the Machines
7. X2
8. Looney Tunes golden collection
9. The Matrix Reloaded
10. Lion King platinum edition
Source: Amazon.com, top-selling genre DVDs, 11/17/03

MATRIX REVOLUTIONS: Despite Warner Bros.' best efforts, Variety
reports that pirated DVDs of The MATRIX REVOLUTIONS hit the streets
of Malaysia within two days of the Nov. 5 global release of the
sequel movie.

DISNEY MOVIES: Candidates for the Best Animated Feature for next
year's Academy Awards were given out recently and The Walt Disney
Company is at the head of the candidates. Disney has four nominated
films including FINDING NEMO, THE JUNGLE BOOK II, BROTHER BEAR and
PIGLET'S BIG MOVIE. Other nominees include two pictures from Japanese
director Satoshi Kon: DreamWorks' MILLENNIUM ACTRESS and TOKYO
GODFATHERS, a forthcoming release by Samuel Goldwyn Films. Warner
Bros. has one candidate (LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION), Miramax has
POKEMON HEROES, Sony Pictures Classics has THE TRIPLETS OF
BELLEVILLE, and the German-produced JESTER TILL and RUGRATS GO WILD
round the rest of the contenders out. The Academy Awards will be held
on February 29, 2004.

STEALTH: Jessica Biel will join HULK co-star Josh Lucas in STEALTH, a
high-tech action/thriller gearing up for Columbia Pictures. Filming
on STEALTH is scheduled to begin on January 19, with location
shooting in Australia, Thailand, New Zealand and China for an
anticipated Memorial Day 2005 release. XxX director Rob Cohen will
make the picture from a W.D. Richter penned screenplay. Laura Ziskin
and Mike Medavoy are the film's producers. Biel will play a military
pilot assigned to try and stop a state-of-the-art artificial
intelligence-manned plane from going rogue and ending human life.
Lucas will also play one of the human pilots assigned to bring down
the malfuctioning machine.

MONK: MONK, starring Tony Shalhoub, returns to the line-up at ABC
beginning January 17 at 10:00pm. It will replace the departed "L.A.
Dragnet." Fresh episodes of the series will return to USA the night
before that. Shalhoub won an Emmy for the role this year, portraying
a brilliant detective who was forced to resign from the San Francisco
police after developing obsessive-compulsive disorder following his
wife's murder. He now consults with the department while keeping his
neuroses barely in check.

ASTRO WORLD: Variety reports that Producer Ben Barenholtz, comicbook
author Kurt Busiek and screenwriter Jonathan Alpers, under their
newly formed Panama Leo banner, have acquired rights to develop a
feature from superhuman comicbook series ASTRO WORLD.

CODE NAME: ETERNITY: Prevue Magazine reports that CODE NAME: ETERNITY
is the latest show to be added to the Sci Fi Channel's roster. The
cabler has purchased 26 episodes of the series about an alien
creature who assumes human form. ETERNITY is shot on the Isle of Man
and features Billy Dee Williams in a recurring role. Sci Fi plans to
premiere "Eternity" on Fridays, starting in January.

HELLBOY: Set for release on April 2, Sony Pictures and Revolution
Studios have unleashed the new trailer for writer/director Guillermo
del Toro's HELLBOY. The comic book adaptation stars Ron Perlman, Doug
Jones, Selma Blair, John Hurt and Rupert Evans. The trailer will be
in theaters with THE MISSING on November 26, but you can see it now
at http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&id=1808404362&cf=trailer. Born
in the flames of hell, and brought to our world in a pagan ritual,
the fierce red hero, Hellboy (Perlman), was saved by his friend and
mentor, the benevolent Dr. Broom (Hurt). Raised in Broom's Bureau for
Paranormal Research and Defense, Hellboy joins the likes of the "Mer-
Man" Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman (Blair), the woman he loves who can
psychically control fire, and Myers, the FBI agent who is his rival
for Liz's affections. Together, our heroes must come to terms with
fantastic powers that prove to be both a blessing and a curse. In the
process they discover that their abilities serve to benefit mankind
but may also keep them forever isolated from the society that only
they can protect.

RATINGS: TOP 10 SF SYNDICATED SHOWS:
Stargate SG-1 2.3
Mutant X 2.0
Andromeda 1.9
She Spies 1.8
The X-Files 1.6
Angel 1.5
Beastmaster 1.5
Buffy 1.5
3rd Rock 1.4
The Outer Limits 1.4
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 10/20/03 - 10/26/03

MARVEL PROJECTS: According to the Dark Horizons website, Avi Arad,
Marvel Studios Chief Executive, recently gave an update to financial
analysts on the company, providing an upcoming slate of comics-to-
film and TV projects. Here is a summary of projects:
•NICK FURY and TALES OF THE ZOMBIE are being developed as feature
films.
•WEREWOLF BY NIGHT will be directed by John Fasano.
•MORT THE DEAD TEENAGER will be Marvel's first comedy film.
•FANTASTIC FOUR has been pushed back until summer 2005. 2005 will
also see the release of IRON MAN and GHOST RIDER, and DAREDEVIL
spinoff ELEKTRA is eyeing a 2005 release.
•X-MEN 3 and HULK 2 are set for release in 2006, as are NAMOR,
CAPTAIN AMERICA, NICK FURY and IRON FIST.
•BROTHER VOODOO is in active development for a live-action television
show, as is 1,000 DAYS for the SCI FI Channel and NIGHT THRASHER at
UPN.
•Two new TV animated series, BLADE and HULK, will premiere.

STARGATE ATLANTIS: Yesterday, the Sci-Fi Channel and MGM Television
Entertainment announced today plans for their proposed spinoff series
of STARGATE SG-1 titled STARGATE ATLANTIS. Twenty one-hour episodes
of ATLANTIS have been ordered to debut on SCIFI in the summer of
2004. The new series will air back-to-back with new episodes from the
eighth season of STARGATE SG-1. Here is SCIFI's description of the
setting of ATLANTIS:
"SG-1 centers on the Stargate, an ancient portal that allows
instantaneous travel across the galaxy. STARGATE ATLANTIS will take
viewers on a brand new adventure, with a whole new team. In the new
series, a secret base left by the originators of the Stargate is
discovered in the most unlikely of places – on Earth, buried among
the ruins of the legendary city of Atlantis. The implications of this
amazing discovery lead the Atlantis team to a distant galaxy where a
primitive human civilization is threatened by a sinister new enemy."
Although no cast has yet been named, fans will be glad to hear that
SCIFI also confirmed the appearance of SG-1 cast members in ATLANTIS
episodes. The premiere episode of STARGATE ATLANTIS will be as a two-
hour movie and definitely feature SG-1 characters. Brad Wright and
Robert Cooper will serve as executive producers on the new series.
Cooper is currently executive producer on STARGATE SG-1 while Brad
Wright is co-creator of SG-1, and served as the original series'
executive producer for six seasons.

STAR TREK: VOYAGER: On February 24, Paramount Home Entertainment will
release the first DVD set of STAR TREK: VOYAGER. The five-disc
collector's set will include 15 episodes and bonus features. New sets
will be introduced every couple of months throughout 2004.

FARSCAPE: Variety reports that Universal Studios Networks has inked a
deal with German license trader EM.TV, under which all four seasons
of the SCI FI Channel's FARSCAPE series will air on its new German
Sci Fi channel.

THE COVEN: The Hollywood Reporter indicates that Lifetime is in final
talks to pick up THE COVEN, a TV pilot centered on a group of
witches, from executive producers Charlie Craig and Gale Anne Hurd
(Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines). Lions Gate TV and Hurd's
Valhalla TV are producing the pilot, to be directed by David Wu.
Wendy Grean (Lifetime's What Makes a Family) also will produce.
Casting is under way and production will begin soon in Toronto.

MOVIE MONEY MAKERS: This weekend proves sequel movies can be
profitable. "The Matrix: Revolutions" (aka "Matrix 3") and "Scary
Movie 3" both crossed the $100 million mark this
weekend. "Revolutions" and "Scary Movie 3" became the 22nd and 23rd
films released in 2003 to cross the box office landmark, according to
Exhibitor Relations, meaning that 2003 will probably break 2002's
record year of having 24 films grossing over $100 mil. Scoring over
$339.6 million at the box office, "Finding Nemo" is increasingly
closer to moving up a spot to the No. 7 all-time moneymaker, thus
beating "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" with $339.7 million.
Meanwhile, "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,"
currently in 16th place on the box office's all time money makers
list, made another half million at the box office this weekend,
helping it close in on the Top 15. No. 15 is currently held
by "Independence Day" with $306.1 mil.

SPIDERMAN Sony will release MTV's animated Spider-Man on DVD with a
two-disc set on Jan. 13. Features will include Blooper Reel, Music
Featurette, Cast and Crew Filmographies, Photo Gallery, Post-
Production Featurette and Multi-Angle Playing.

DOCTOR WHO: So much for popular opinion -- at least where the new
DOCTOR WHO is concerned. In a recent poll of readers of the British
Radio Times, Anthony Stewart Head from BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER was
voted as the favorite to play the next DOCTOR WHO. Although the BBC
has not announced who will play the SF legend, British media say
Richard E. Grant, Bill Nighy and Eddie Izzard are being considered
when DOCTOR WHO returns to TV in 2005.

HARRY POTTER: According to a Reuters report, J.K. Rowling has started
work on a sixth Harry Potter book. Christopher Little, Rowling's
agent, added that Rowling's best-selling Potter books set a new
record, with the first five titles having sold a quarter of a billion
volumes in more than 200 countries. "As yet no date is fixed for its
release." He added, "We look forward to introducing Harry Potter to
yet more readers in the furthest parts of the globe."

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS: Jackie Chan's AROUND THE WORLD IN 80
DAYS has been acquired by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution for
domestic distribution. The film, directed by Frank Coraci (The
Waterboy, The Wedding Singer), is slated to be released under the
Walt Disney Pictures banner and will be one of the Studio's major
offerings for Summer 2004. The film's impressive cast also includes
Steve Coogan, Cecile De France, Owen and Luke Wilson, and a star
studded cast of celebrity cameos. Hal Lieberman (Terminator 3) and
Bill Badalato (About Schmidt) served as producers. Disney and Walden
Media successfully partnered on two films in 2003: the critically
acclaimed hit Holes, and the innovative James Cameron-directed 3-D
Large Format film, Ghosts of the Abyss.

ZOOM'S ACADEMY FOR THE SUPER GIFTED: Revolution Studios has hired
Adam Rifkin (Small Soldiers and Mouse Hunt) to pen ZOOM'S ACADEMY FOR
THE SUPER GIFTED, based on the popular graphic novel by animator
Jason Lethcoe. The "Harry Potter"-like project revolves around an
unpopular high school girl who is whisked away by her mysterious
father to a school for burgeoning superheroes, where she discovers
that she also has hidden talents.

TOP 10 SCIFI CHANNEL SHOWS:
The Bone Snatcher 1.6
New Roswell: Kecksburg 1.5
Stargate SG-1 1.4
Lost Voyage 1.3
Dagon 1.2
Village of the Damned 1.1
The Ninth Gate 1.1
Soulkeeper 1.1
Amityville Horror II 1.0
The Wraith 1.0
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 10/20/03 - 10/26/03

DOCTOR WHO: The BBCi Web site has begun posting new episodes of an
animated Web-only Doctor Who series, Scream of the Shalka, featuring
the voices of Richard E. Grant as the Doctor and Derek Jacobi as the
Master.

FARSCAPE: With all the rumors of the revival of FARSCAPE this past
weekend, the FARSCAPE convention in Burbank this weekend was an
opportunity to ask Rockne O'Bannon what was going on. Cinescape.com
reports that when show creator Rockne O'Bannon took to the stage on
Saturday, he told the crowd that there wasn't any news he could give
about the FARSCAPE rumors. Indeed, he went on, he really shouldn't
even be at this con because he should be "at home right now writing
hour three." O'Bannon added that FARSCAPE producers Brian Henson and
David Kemper are in Australia at the moment working on something.
When Claudia Black took questions from the crowd, someone asked if
the actress had found any new work. Black said that there was indeed
a project that she had to commit for and had to turn down other work
for it -- but that she couldn't reveal what it was at the moment.
There also may have been a few winks and nudges delivered to the
crowd as well.

CURSED: Wes Craven's CURSED will get back into production this week,
with Portia de Rossi added to a cast that includes Christina Ricci,
Skeet Ulrich, Omar Epps, Shannon Elizabeth and Scott Foley. The
project was put on an extended hiatus during the summer so the
filmmakers could plan for more special effects than originally
anticipated and further develop the ending. Set in Los Angeles, the
film puts a modern inventive twist on the classic werewolf tale. The
story unfolds when a werewolf attack unites three strangers who must
fight for survival against the beast and its curse.

A FEW GOOD GHOSTS: The LA Times reports that Walt Disney Studios
halted production Friday of its long-troubled animated project A FEW
GOOD GHOSTS, raising questions about the fate of the company's
Orlando, Florida, animation facility and its staff of some 258
artists who were working on the project. Disney confirmed Friday that
the movie was being shut down and that "over the next six weeks we
are going to examine all our options going forward," including
shuttering the Florida studio. Disney recently laid off 50 animators
in Orlando, closed its Paris animation studio and shuttered its
animation unit in Tokyo, laying off more than 100 employees. In all,
Disney has slashed more than 700 jobs in recent years, leaving the
company with a total of about 900 animation workers, including those
in Orlando. Escalating production and labor costs have forced Disney
to slice animators' salaries as much as 50%. A FEW GOOD GHOSTS, a
combination of computer animation and traditionally drawn 2-D human
characters, went into production this summer. It would have been the
fourth feature produced entirely at the Florida studio, the others
being Disney's BROTHER BEAR, LILO & STITCH and MULAN. The story is
about two star-crossed lovers reunited by a family of ghosts who
inhabit the bodies of folk-art dolls.

TV SCHEDULE ON SCIFI CHANNEL

BABYLON 5
23-NOV-03 3:00 AM MOVIE BABYLON 5: IN THE BEGINNING (LBX)
24-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) SOUL MATES
25-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) A RACE THROUGH DARK PLACES
26-NOV-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) THE COMING OF SHADOWS
29-NOV-03 3:00 AM MOVIE MARATHON BABYLON 5: A CALL TO ARMS (LBX)

CRUSADE:
23-NOV-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE RACING THE NIGHT
30-NOV-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE THE NEEDS OF EARTH

STARGATE SCHEDULE:
24-NOV-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 THE WARRIOR
24-NOV-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE
24-NOV-03 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 FAMILY
24-NOV-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 SECRETS
24-NOV-03 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 BANE
25-NOV-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 MENACE
26-NOV-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 SENTINEL
01-DEC-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 MERIDIAN
01-DEC-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 THE TOK'RA -PT1
01-DEC-03 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 THE TOK'RA -PT2
01-DEC-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 SPIRITS
01-DEC-03 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 TOUCHSTONE
02-DEC-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 REVELATIONS
03-DEC-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 CHILDREN OF THE GODS -PT1
04-DEC-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 CHILDREN OF THE GODS -PT2
05-DEC-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 THE ENEMY WITHIN
05-DEC-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) AVENGER 2.0
05-DEC-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) BIRTHRIGHT
05-DEC-03 11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) BIRTHRIGHT

FARSCAPE SCHEDULE:
07-DEC-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE COUP BY CLAM
08-DEC-03 11:00 AM FARSCAPE LOOK AT THE PRINCESS PT 1: A KISS IS BUT
A KISS
08-DEC-03 12:00 PM FARSCAPE LOOK AT THE PRINCESS PT 2: I DO, I THINK
08-DEC-03 1:00 PM FARSCAPE LOOK AT THE PRINCESS PT 3: THE MALTESE
CRICHTON
08-DEC-03 2:00 PM FARSCAPE THE UGLY TRUTH
08-DEC-03 3:00 PM FARSCAPE A CLOCKWORK NEBARI
14-DEC-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE UNREALIZED REALITY
16-DEC-03 11:00 AM FARSCAPE LIARS, GUNS, AND MONEY PT 1
16-DEC-03 12:00 PM FARSCAPE LIARS, GUNS, AND MONEY PT 2
16-DEC-03 1:00 PM FARSCAPE LIARS, GUNS, AND MONEY PT 3
16-DEC-03 2:00 PM FARSCAPE DIE ME, DICHOTOMY
16-DEC-03 3:00 PM FARSCAPE SEASON OF DEATH
21-DEC-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE KANSAS
28-DEC-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE TERRE FIRMA

EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT :
05-DEC-03 5:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT BOONE'S AWAKENING
12-DEC-03 11:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT DECISION
12-DEC-03 12:00 PM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT TRUTH
12-DEC-03 1:00 PM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT MIRACLE
12-DEC-03 2:00 PM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT THE JOURNEY
12-DEC-03 3:00 PM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT FINAL CONFLICT
12-DEC-03 5:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT TERMINATION
19-DEC-03 5:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT GUILTY CONSCIENCE

CONVENTION CALENDAR

Creation Second Annual STAR TREK CONVENTION
January 9-11, 2004
Location: Hilton Metropole Hotel
Place: London, England
Guests: Robbie McNeil, Nana Visitor, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Beltran
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/calendar.htm.

Creation Entertainment
February 6-8, 2004
Location: Doubletree Bellevue Hotel
Place: Seattle, Washington
Guests: Robert Beltran, Amanda Tapping, Tim Russ, Robert Picardo,
Ethan Phillips, Peter Mayhew, Jeremy Bulloch
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/calendar.htm.

Creation Entertainment
February 14, 2004
Location: Phoenix Hilton East/Mesa
Place: Phoenix, Arizona
Guest: William Shatner
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/calendar.htm.

Creation Entertainment (Buffy & Angel)
February 15, 2004
Location: Phoenix Hilton East/Mesa
Place: Phoenix, Arizona
B5 Guest: Robin Atkin Downes
Guests: Stephanie Romanov, Julie Benz, Iyari Limon, John Kassir,
Jacqueline Lichtenberg
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/calendar.htm.

Farpoint
February 13-15, 2004
Location: Marriott's Hunt Valley Inn
Place: Baltimore, MD
B5 Guests: Bill Mumy, Brad Dourif
Other Guests: Peter David, Liliana Mumy

For more information, visit their website at
http://www.farpointcon.com.

Best of Both Worlds
Date: March 13-14, 2004
Place: Canberra, Australia
Theme: Lord of the Rings
Guests: Dominic Monaghan - Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck (The Lord Of
The Rings Movie Trilogy)
For more information, visit their website at " TARGET="_new">
http://johnvb.tripod.com/asn2.html.

Creation Entertainment GRAND SLAM: THE SCI-FI SUMMIT
March 26-28, 2004
Location: Pasadena Center
Place: Pasadena, CA
Guests: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Brent Spiner, Sally
Kellerman, Connor Trinneer, Alexander Siddig, Dominic Keating,
Anthony Montgomery, Walter Koenig, Andrew Robinson, Armen Shimerman,
Kren Auberjonois, Cirroc Lofton, John Rhys-Davies, Amanda Tapping,
Michael Shanks, Corin Nemec, Michael Rosenbaum, Mark Verheiden,
Anthony Michael Hall, Nicole de Boer, Chris Bruno, John L. Adams,
Kristen Dalton, Andy Hallett, Mercedes McNab, Robia La Morte, Iyari
Limon, Mark Lutz, James Leary, Julie Benz, Jeremy Bulloch, Kenny
Baker, Rusty Goffe, Ken Colley, Peter Mayhew, Leni Parker, Gina Torres
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/calendar.htm.

Well, that is about it for now.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone.
Take care,
Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN News:  The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net

What's New Today

EEP -- For those who have been on-line with JMS for a while, you
will recognize this word (is it a word?)  An EEP has been given and
the B5 community is abuzz with excitement and anticipation.  Read
the JMS Update below for more information.

Saturday, December 6

SNOW: Buried under a winter storm, the snow looks heavenly -- until
you have to deal with it however. The East Coast is being pelted by
the first real winter storm of the season (it isn't winter yet!). A
good time to gather up a good book or some B5 DVDs and just savor
the series we all fell in love with. Speaking of the series, Ranger
Karen has a wonderful suggestion for how to celebrate the upcoming
10th anniversary of the series. Check it out below and start sending
in your letters. I'll start collecting them so that they can be sent
along to JMS in January.

JEREMIAH: I read somewhere that the series will return on March 4. I
have to see where I read that and we'll wait for official word on
that. The Jeremiah website has a synopsis for all of the Season 2
episodes. Looks like a lot of delightful drama ahead -- whenever
that comes.

PENNY LANE:  Don't forget about helping out Pat Tallman with her
Penny Lane project.  There are still a few days remaining to make
some abused children happy for the holiday.  Go to www.beasanta.org
for more details.

JMS UPDATE
I just caught this on the B5 moderated newsgroup and thought I'd
best post this ASAP, so that everyone can start thinking ahead
toward January when we will hear more from JMS regarding Babylon 5.
This latest update from JMS gives us a lot to be thankful for:

RISING STAR:
Yes. There were a number of conditions set before Top Cow in order
to resolve this, and those conditions were met. So the final three
scripts will be turned in by late January/early February, and the
Rising Stars story will be complete.

DOC STRANGE:
Well, lessee...the first issue of the Doc Strange mini is nearly
done, and I've turned in the first issue of a new series for Marvel
which will have to await a more formal word from them, I'm afraid,
since PR is properly their venue on things like this, and the next
Supreme Power comes out next week. Spidey 501 came out a few days
ago (and the last page is kind of a goof from what I'd originally
scripted...it's a long story, but it doesn't look like it should.)

BABYLON 5:
On the B5 front, there has been something of rather substantial
proportion that's finally gone from talk to money, such that I'm now
working frantically to meet some deadlines, but there's nothing I
can say about this until after January 15th, probably closer to the
end of that month.

The only thing I can say is that phase one of the new project is a
go, hence the furious writing schedule at this end of things, which
is why I've been silent until deciding to kick up some dust on the
political discusion. I've been writing my little brains out.
I know the immediate result of this will be speculation, but if we
could keep that to a low roar on the nets to avoid precluding
anything, that would be a wonderfulness. But trust me: I wouldn't go
on about something in this way if it wasn't a significant
development. Just trust me on this one for a bit and hold fire until
further word.

(Longtime followers of the various news groups know that an eep
means that something significant has happened, but that I can't talk
about it...the eep is just a way of saying, on the QT, that
something has, indeed, happened and it's real, not just speculation
or maybe-gonna-happens. So on that basis, you may consider this an
eep.)

And on the topic of fans for a moment...I'm happy to mention that
we've included a thanks to Steve Grimm (Lurker's Guide) and our
resident moderator Jay Denebeim on the Season 5 DVD. Just a way of
saying thanks for years of help and support.
Oh, yeah...and next year you can expect two new DVD sets that a)
include all of the TV movies in one package (with commentaries from
me on "The Gathering" and "In the Beginning") and b) package all 13
of the Crusade episodes into one box.

BABYLON 5 ANNIVERSARY

Ranger Nick pointed out that on January 24, 2004, we will celebrate
the 10th anniversary of Babylon 5 coming to the airwaves. As I
thought about this, I wondered how we might best mark this event --
making it special in some way! Send along your ideas and we can see
what we might be able to do.

Perhaps a special page with reflections of what Babylon 5 has meant
to us? Perhaps we could suggest to SCIFI -- a special day of special
episodes! Give it a little thought and let's see what we can come up
with.

Here is the first suggestion on how we can celebrate the 10th
Anniversary of Babylon 5.

Ranger Karen wrote: Why not collect "thank you"s that could be
compiled & sent to Joe from the community that he created? Perhaps
some of the cast and crew members would enjoy participating in
something like that as well. We love the world Joe created so much
that almost 11 years after the pilot was first aired, we excitedly
anticipate new B5 projects. I can't think of a better way to
encourage him than to let him know we are still with him.

BABYLON 5 BIRTHDAYS:

Mary Woronov (Kka'Dath) - December 8
Sarah Douglas (Jha'Dur) - December 12
Kim Holly - December 25
Dark Hoffman - December 28
John C. Flinn III - December 2

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT

6:00pm on FX
Mad Max
A leather-clad lawman with a sawed-off shotgun hunts outlaw bikers
in a barren future.

8:00pm on USA
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Mercenaries and scientists pursue genetically engineered dinosaurs
inhabiting a Costa Rican island.

8:00pm on UPN
Star Trek: Enterprise
Anomaly
Waves of destructive anomalies cripple the Enterprise while its crew
is searching for the Xindi.

8:00pm on FX
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Aunty Entity will return Mad Max's camels if he fights the giant
Blaster in a barbaric caged arena.

10:00pm on FX
Predator
A sneaky alien monster attacks commandos on a jungle mission in
South America.

On SCIFI Tonight:

6:30pm
Stargate
A portal takes a crew to another planet.

9:00pm
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Two killer cyborgs battle over a teen's life. Directed by James
Cameron.

9:00pm on NBC
"It's A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie"
This fun-filled holiday movie pays homage to all Christmas movies --
with a dash of "Moulin Rouge," "Cirque du Soleil" and "Fear Factor."
On Christmas Eve, Kermit struggles to save the Muppet Theater from a
Scroogish bank owner (Joan Cusack) who plans to demolish it and open
a trendy nightclub in its place. Some of the stars along for the
festive ride include Oscar-winners Whoopi Goldberg and William H.
Macy, David Arquette, Carson Daly, Kelly Ripa, Joe Rogan, the cast
of NBC's "Scrubs" and Triumph the Insult Dog. The lead talent
appears courtesy of The Jim Henson Company.

On Syndicated TV This Weekend:

Andromeda
Pieces of Eight
Dylan must defeat a false prophet who seeks to usurp power from the
Triumvirs.

Angel
Somnambulist
Angel discovers he may be committing murders while asleep.

BeastMaster
The Chameleon
Dar and Tao must protect a mystical baby from the evil King Zad.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
As You Were
Riley returns to Sunnydale in search of a renegade demon.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
Absolute Power
The adventurers come upon the ruins of a civilization destroyed by
an enormous explosion.

Mutant X
Wages of Sin
The team must stop the auction of a lethal substance that terrorists
are vying to acquire.

INSIDE SCI-FI THIS WEEK:

THE GRID: According to The Hollywood Reporter, TNT has cast Dylan
McDermott and Julianna Margulies to star in its upcoming series "The
Grid." A six-hour chronicle of the aftermath of a terrorist attack
on London, McDermott ("The Practice") and Margulies ("ER") will play
American counterterrorism agents who partner with their British
counterparts to foil a dangerous cell (HR 10/28). TNT will team with
BBC on the project, which will be produced by Fox Television Studios
and Carnival Films.

DAREDEVIL: THE DAREDEVIL live-action movie will debut on HBO on
Saturday, Feb. 7, nearly one year after it bowed in theaters. Air
dates and times include: Saturday, Feb. 7 at 8 p.m.; Sunday, Feb. 8
at 4:45 a.m.; Tuesday, Feb. 10 at noon and 9 p.m.; Sunday, Feb. 15
at 11:45 a.m. and 11:40 p.m.; Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 4 p.m. and 11:50
p.m.; Friday, Feb. 20 at 12:45 p.m. and 9 p.m.; Sunday, Feb. 22 at 2
p.m.; Thursday, Feb. 26 at 8:45 a.m. and 9 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 28
at 8:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. HBO's Making of Daredevil special will be
shown Thursday, Feb. 5 at 3 p.m.; Sunday, Feb. 22 at 3:45 p.m.; and
Saturday, Feb. 28 at 6 p.m.

LORD OF THE RINGS: The official "The Lord of the Rings" website is
featuring a new video segment on Samwise Gamgee, played by Sean
Astin. Just Christopher Lee's brief opening and closing comments are
worth a listen - he has us choked up already! The clip also has some
new footage from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,
particularly dialogue between Frodo and Sam about Gollum.
The site also has up a text interview with Sean on the role at the
same link above. Here's a clip...
In the hands of an actor like Sean Astin, the character of Samwise
Gamgee is much more than a simple caretaker to the beleaguered Ring
Bearer. Over the course of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings
trilogy, Astin's gardener from the Shire evolves from Frodo's
companion to his confidant and, at times, his pillar of strength.

TOP SF NETWORK SHOWS:
Joan of Arcadia 7.3
Alias 5.9
Smallville 4.2
Charmed 3.1
Angel 2.8
Tru Calling 2.7
Enterprise 2.6
Tarzan 2.0
Jake 2.0 1.6
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 11/3/03 - 11/9/03.

ANGEL: On December 4, the cast and crew ANGEL celebrated the show's
100th episode with a cake and ceremony on the Wolfram & Hart set in
Los Angeles. The episode will also mark the return of former cast
member Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia) to wrap up her character's
storyline; Carpenter, who left the series at the end of last season,
showed up on the set with her new infant son in arms. Also at the
festivities was creator Joss Whedon. Whedon told the gathered crowd
on Stage 5 at Paramount Pictures, where the show is filmed, "It's
gone through a lot of different permutations. A lot of characters. A
lot of different styles. But ultimately that has never left. Angel,
to me, is so important, because it's about how an adult faces what
they've done with their life, goes forward with it, overcomes it.
These are things that have a great deal of meaning to me. Plus,
awesome fights. And, you know, if I have any message for Americans,
[it's that] you can solve problems through fisticuffs." Angel airs
Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

TOP SF DVD SALES:
1. Pirates of the Caribbean
2. Finding Nemo
3. The Two Towers extended edition
4. Adventures of Indiana Jones
5. X2
6. Buffy season five
7. The Fellowship of the Ring extended edition
8. Looney Tunes golden collection
9. Alien Quadrilogy
10. Lion King platinum edition
Source: Amazon.com, top-selling genre DVDs, 12/1/03

THE 4400:   Variety reports that USA Network has give the green
light to THE 4400, an SF pilot for a drama series, from executive
producers Francis Ford Coppola, Rene Echevarria (Dark Angel) and
Maira Suro (Platinum). THE 4400 centers on 4,400 missing people who
are returned to Earth after being abducted by UFOs, with no memory
of their experiences. Each has been gone anywhere from a few months
to several decades, but hasn't aged a day. USA has ordered the pilot
plus five episodes of the hourlong show, which is created and
written by Scott Peters (The Outer Limits). Viacom Productions and
Renegade 83 are producing. Peters also will produce. Casting is
underway and filming is likely to begin in February with a likely
air date sometime in the summer of 2004.

DOCTOR WHO: Russell T. Davies, the producer who is reviving Doctor
Who for the BBC, told the British TV Times that the new Doctor's
companion will be different from those in the original series. "A
screaming girly companion is unacceptable now," he told the
magazine. "I love the Daleks, but I wouldn't load the series with
lots of old monsters. We want to make brand new ones," Davies said.

THE WEATHER MAN: Hope Davis (THE SECRET LIVES OF DENTISTS) has
joined the cast of THE WEATHER MAN. Davis will play the separated
wife of Nicolas Cage's weatherman character who is remaining behind
in Chicago while her soon-to-be ex-husband moves to a plum network
position in New York City. Gore Verbinkski (PIRATES OF THE
CARIBBEAN) will direct the film which starts shooting next February.

EMPIRE: The Hollywood Reporter reports that ABC has ordered eight
one-hour episodes of EMPIRE, a limited series about the rise of
Gaius Octavius, who became the first emperor of Rome in 27 B.C. The
historical epic is scheduled to shoot on location in Rome in the
spring, with a premiere set for sometime during the 2004-05 season.
Touchstone Television is the sole distributor, although a producing
partner will likely be added later. EMPIRE was created by
screenwriter Tom Wheeler, who will serve as executive producer. Also
on board as executive producers are Chip Johannessen ("24," "The X-
Files") and the producing team of Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who
are executive producers of the ABC comedy "It's All Relative" and
also recently executive produced the controversial CBS/Showtime
movie "The Reagans."

ALIEN QUADRILOGY: The new nine-disc set is moving steadily off the
shelf since yesterday. If you're looking to pick up a set for
Christmas check our Costco or Price-Costco where they are selling
the impressive set for just $61.99. The MSRP on the set is $99.99. I
believe Wallmart has the set for $69.99.

TOP 10 SYNDICATED TV SHOWS:
Mutant X 2.0
Andromeda 1.9
She Spies 1.9
Stargate SG-1 1.9
Buffy 1.6
Angel 1.5
Beastmaster 1.5
The X-Files 1.4
3rd Rock 1.3
The Outer Limits 1.2
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 11/3/03 - 11/9/03

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: The cast and crew of the SCI FI's upcoming
original miniseries BATTLESTAR GALACTICA were joined by some 500
guests at the premiere screening in Hollywood on Dec. 2. The first
two hours of the four-hour miniseries was screened at the Directors
Guild of America to an audience that included stars Edward James
Olmos (Adama), Mary McDonnell (Laura Roslin), Katee Sackhoff
(Starbuck), Tricia Helfer (Number Six), Grace Park (Boomer), Aaron
Douglas (Chief Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo) and others, as well as
director Michael Rymer and executive producers Ronald D. Moore and
David Eick. SCI FI Channel president Bonnie Hammer told the
assembled guests, "We love it. We hope you're going to love it,
too." Edward Olmos told SCI FI Wire that it was the first time he'd
viewed a finished cut of the show. "I enjoyed it, and sometimes
that's hard for me to say. It's really exciting, much more so than I
had hoped." Olmos added that the miniseries is likely to appeal to
viewers eager for a strong rendition of the familiar story. "The
integrity of the piece is very strong," he said. BATTLESTAR GALACTIC
debuts on SCI FI at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Dec. 8.

FIREFLY: The FIREFLY DVD is slated for release on December 9. The
DVD set will feature three previously unaired episodes, and creator
Joss Whedon offered Science Fiction Weekly a preview. "One brings
back the character of Saffron [Christina Hendricks] we had in 'Our
Mrs. Reynolds,' who we loved very much, for a caper episode," Whedon
told SFW. "One is kind of a dark episode from Mal [Nathan Fillion]
and Zoe's [Gina Torres] war days. And one of the episodes is them
defending a whorehouse. And you can never have enough episodes about
people defending a whorehouse." Whedon added that the DVD, which
includes all of the truncated series' episodes, will run widescreen
and in the order they were intended, not the order in which they
aired on the Fox TV network. "The show was always built to try and
surprise, to try and let people think they know where they are going
and then head in the opposite direction," Whedon said. "That's kind
of my theory of TV. [The new episodes] fit in the canon, and one of
them has a very important plot point that was never seen. But apart
from that they are just more of Firefly." For those who still resist
the idea of putting Western conventions in outer space, Whedon
says, "It's all 'Stagecoach.' At the end of the day, whether or not
there are horses -- which, in my case, there were -- it's
all 'Stagecoach.' "You take people, you put them on a journey, you
give them peril, you find out who they really are. If there's any
kind of fiction better than that, I don't know what it is."

DEAD LAWYERS: Here's a new pilot SCIFI is developing. "Dead
Lawyers," from Zanuck Co. and Sony Pictures TV has Sean Patrick
Flanery and Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham signed on to star in the
project. The drama, which sounds like a cross between "Dead Like Me"
and "The Guardian," features Flanery as Jimmy Quinn, a ruthless,
soulless attorney to the rich and famous. When he dies in a car
crash, Quinn is sent back to Earth where he must work pro bono cases
until he can undo all of the harm he has apparently done to society.
He joins mentor Abraham at a law firm of dead attorneys, all of whom
are similarly trying to atone for their corporate sins. Emmy winner
Paris Barclay ("NYPD Blue") will direct the pilot, written by
Christopher Murphey. Production on "Dead Lawyers" is set to begin
this month in Toronto.

THE PUNISHER: If you are curious about the soundtrack for THE
PUNISHER, you can hear "Eyes Wired Shut" by Edgewater
http://www.punishermusic.com/ featured in the movie. The music CD is
scheduled for release March 24, 2004.

STAR WARS: TheForce.net is reporting a rumor that Fox has told
retailers to expect DVD versions of the classic STAR WARS trilogy of
films on Nov. 4, 2004.

PAYCHECK: In a recent interview discussing his upcoming movie
PAYCHECK, Ben Affleck said the film departs from the Philip K. Dick
short story upon which it is based. "We've taken some liberties with
it, obviously, and updated it. But it's great. It's fun. We have
this really great, strong story and a really strong script." Affleck
plays Michael Jennings, a computer expert in the future, who is
hired for a top-secret project. At the end of it, he has his memory
erased, only to discover that he is now a hunted man. Using only a
handful of clues, he must try to reconstruct his whereabouts for the
last three years before it's too late. Hong Kong action director
John Woo directs Affleck and co-star Uma Thurman. PAYCHECK opens
Dec. 25.

THE MISSING: Ron Howard's THE MISSING is one of the first five films
chosen to compete in next year's Berlin Film Festival.

PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARDS: Announcements are being made regarding the
30th Annual People's Choice Awards. Top vote-getters include
Jennifer Aniston, Beyonce Knowles, Eminem, The O.C., The Bachelor
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Survivor: Pearl Islands. Winners
will be announced January 11 on CBS. The complete listing can be
found at http://www.tv-now.com/daily/news.htm.

BEST SELLING SF BOOKS: Hey, any of these would make a wonderful
Christmas gift:
1. The Da Vinci Code
2. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
3. Wolves of the Calla
4. Eragon (Inheritance, Book 1)
5. Angels & Demons
6. The Slippery Slope (Lemony Snicket)
7. The Time Traveler's Wife
8. The Cat in the Hat
9. Final Fantasy X-2 Strategy Guide
10. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland pop-up
Source: Amazon.com, 12/1/03

TOP 10 SCIFI CHANNEL PROGRAMS:
Stargate SG-1 1.4
Boa 1.4
Python 1.4
Species II 1.3
Species 1.2
Pythons 2 1.2
Robin Cook's Invasion, Part 2 1.0
Meet Joe Black 1.0
Taken, Part 7 0.9
Unforgettable 0.8
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 11/3/03 - 11/9/03.

STEPHEN KING: The king of horror, Stephen King, spent the holiday in
a Maine hospital. He was treated for pneumonia, underwent a surgical
procedure and is now recovering. He is expected to remain at the
Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor for several days, but is
expected to make a full recovery.

X-FILES: While writing a guest review for the Razor gaming web site,
David Duchovny said that a second X-Files movie is in the works,
with shooting to begin possibly next year. Duchovny also voices
Mulder in the upcoming PlayStation 2/Xbox video game The X-Files:
Resist or Serve, with his longtime co-star, Gillian Anderson,
voicing Scully. "I'm proud of The X-Files, and I'm very pleased to
see how the video game will help extend the life of the series,"
Duchovny wrote. "We're also working to put together the next X-Files
movie. I'd imagine we'd get into shooting in the next year or so,
depending on when the script is written." Duchovny said the new
video game title is the next best thing. "I think people will like
the game as much as the show, because we all enjoy mysteries where
everyone thinks that there's just one final answer that'll be
uncovered at the end," he said. "Plus, games are an acting challenge
for their favorite stars, who want to be tools for the people
shaping the product. With TV and movies, actors have more control
over the performance." The X-Files: Resist or Serve will be
available Feb. 18, 2004, with a suggested retail price of $49.99.

LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING: Over 100,000 fans lined
the streets of Wellington, New Zealand as the stars and filmmakers
of THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy attended a celebration parade
marking the premiere of the film's final chapter, THE RETURN OF THE
KING. Stars Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Orlando Bloom
and Elijah Wood were greeted by the masses with claps and cheers as
they were transported in cars flanked by horsemen decked out in the
costumes used in the movies. "I'm feeling incredibly humbled by this
wonderful reception," director Peter Jackson said at the movie's
premiere. "You feel like you're the first people to land on the moon
or something." Giant banners showcasing the film adorn skyrises
while posters for the film are seemingly plastered on every street
corner. Coverage of the event can be found at MovieWeb.com.

THE HOBBIT: According to The BBC, Peter Jackson spoke breifly about
his next project, King Kong, as well as the proposed big screen
adaptation of The Hobbit! Jackson said he was looking forward "to
becoming a New Zealand film-maker again" after his next project, a
re-make of King Kong. He also said he would be "keen" to make a film
of Tolkien's The Hobbit - but he had not been asked. "I'm obviously
busy for the next couple of years with King Kong," he said. Lord of
the Rings executive producer Mark Ordesky, chief operating officer
of film studio New Line, told a press conference: "There could be a
movie about The Hobbit." So stay tuned.

CURSED: SMALLVILLE regular Michael Rosenbaum has joined Joshua
Jackson, Portia de Rossi and singer Mya opposite Christina Ricci in
the cast of horrormeister Wes Craven's CURSED. Production shut down
on the film during the summer, four weeks before shooting was
scheduled to wrap. The break allowed concerns over the ending to be
addressed, further f/x sequences to be planned and new roles to be
written before extensive additional shooting is begun. Completion is
now set for early 2004, with release planned for the third or fourth
quarter. CURSED is an updated werewolf thriller, centering around an
estranged brother and sister dealing with the recent loss of their
parents, whose lives are irrevocably altered one dark night in Los
Angeles by a vicious animal attack.

GENCON: Ranger James has passed along information about GenCon in
Anaheim, CA December 10-14. Some familiar names are listed as
guests -- Richard Biggs, Jason Carter, Jerry Doyle and Robin Atkin
Downes. Check out the calendar below for more details.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: It was a battle for the #1 spot this weekend at
the box office -- and Universal's DR. SEUSS' THE CAT IN THE HAT
managed to hold off THE HAUNTED MANSION to remain the top box-office
draw this holiday weekend. A last-minute revision by Universal put
Dr. Seuss' THE CAT IN THE HAG ahead of Disney's THE HAUNTED MANSION
for the three day weekend, $25.5 million to $25.3 million.
Continuing the trend of fun family fare is ELF in third place with
an estimated $22.2 million, actually increasing its ticket sales
from last weekend by 18 percent. The Will Ferrell Christmas comedy
also passed the $100 million mark this weekend, unwrapping a nice
$130.1 million total since its release on Nov. 7. For those looking
for a change of pace, there were a number of options. Halle Berry's
thriller "Gothika" and Russel Crowe's seafaring adventure
drama "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," brought
their five-day earnings to $18.3 and $17.5 million respectively. New
films entering the fray this Thanksgiving holiday came in sixth
through eighth places. Miramax's dark comedy BAD SANTA bagged $12.5
million, Ron Howard's western thriller THE MISSING uncovered $11.7
million and the Michael Crichton-inspired TIMELINE gathered in $12.6
million. "Love Actually" and "Brother Bear" are still holding
strong, dropping less than 10 percent from last weekend. The British
ensemble comedy earned $11.1 million while the animated animal film
brought in $6.4 million. Warner Bros.' "The Matrix Revolutions"
and "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" round out the Top 12 with $6.4
and $3.0 million respectively.

HOLIDAY WEEKEND: Not a lot of news out this holiday weekend. If you
are a lover of football and other sports, you are having a hard time
deciding which game to watch. If you love hitting the mall for some
shopping, this definitely the time to find bargains as you search
for a gift for that special someone. As you surf through the
listings, you'll find a mix of holiday specials and movies. STAR
WARS and HARRY POTTER are featured as well as a number of other, old
classics. I watched HIGH NOON yesterday. I love that movie! I hope
you all enjoy the remainder of the weekend.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

GenCon
December 10-14, 2003
Location: Anaheim Convention Center
Place: Anaheim, CA
B5 Guests: Richard Biggs, Jason Carter, Jerry Doyle, Robin Atkin
Downes
Other Guests: William Shatner, original Battlestar Galactica cast
members

For more information, visit their website at
http://www.gencon.com/socalhome.aspx?file=socal.

That looks like it's about it for today.
Have a safe weekend,
Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN: The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net

THE ZOCALO TODAY

Happy Holidays

I, like many others, will be taking some time off for the holidays to
see friends and family.  Updates to the website will probably be
erratic based on my access to time and a machine.

Have a most joyous – and safe – holiday season.  See you in 2004!
Sandy

What's New

The folks at Warner Bros. are starting their advertising campaign for
the Season Four DVD for Babylon 5.   I got some images the other day
along with the Press Release announcing the 6-disc set.  More images
are on the way, so be sure to pop over to the website
(http://www.isnnews.net) to see what has been added.

SEASON FOUR OF BABYLON 5 - JANUARY 6, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

On The Edge of Space. On The Frontiers of Tomorrow.
No Surrender, No Retreat.

BABYLON 5:
THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON

Collectible Six-Disc DVD Set Featuring All 22 Episodes
Fully-Loaded with New Bonus Materials
Remastered in Widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio
Available January 6 from Warner Home Video

Burbank, Calif., October 14, 2003 - The future begins - or ends -
here and now. Here is the huge space station Babylon 5. Now is the
fateful year 2261. Commander John Sheridan has already declared the
station free, breaking the ties between it and Earth Alliance. It was
perhaps only a matter of time before he would have to fight to remain
free. That time has come on January 6, 2003 with the complete 22-
episode fourth season adventure of the acclaimed Babylon 5 sci-fi
series from Warner Home Video (WHV). Presented on a must-have six-
disc collector's set, Babylon 5: The Complete Fourth Season is priced
to own at $99.98 SRP. Orders are due December 9.

Packed with out-of-this-world DVD bonus materials including a
featurette about the series composer and the making of the series'
music, an original music suite composed exclusively for the DVD
release, in-depth audio commentaries from cast members and the series
creator, personnel files and a gag reel.

"The Babylon 5 series has consistently been one of Warner Home
Video's most in-demand DVD collections, proving the loyalty and
strong fan base for this acclaimed sci-fi series," said Jeff Baker,
Vice President, Non-Theatrical Franchise Marketing. "The TV to DVD
trend has been very strong in the marketplace and WHV plans to
continue releasing fan-favorite series throughout the year."
Babylon 5 has won two Emmy Awards for Groundbreaking Visual Effects
and Makeup as well as the 1998 Science Fiction Writers of America Ray
Bradbury Award. It also earned the 1999 Saturn Award for Best Genre
Cable/Syndicated Series from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy
& Horror Films. Currently, Babylon 5 continues to be seen by legions
of fans with episodes syndicated on the Sci-Fi Channel.

Ordering:  There are a lot of places where you can put your order in
for this DVD.  The official Babylon 5 site at www.babylon5.com is one
place, as well as www.amazon.com and www.uncomyngifts.com.  While it
isn't here for Christmas, finding a pre-order coupon in an envelope
would make a LOT of Babylon 5 fans very happy for the holiday.

BABYLON 5 ON THE BIG SCREEN: DarkHorizons.com reported this week
the 'big thing' JMS was hinting at the other week  may in fact be a
movie.  A UK source indicates that Winchester Films is rumored to be
in talks with the show's creator about doing a movie which would be
shot late next year.

Many fans have been speculating, but you know JMS will tell us what
he is working on when the time is right. He has done that in the past
and he will do it this time as well. The EEP given was a very good
sign and does indicate something significant -- it is premature to
even speculate.  Joe gets far too much enjoyment in leading us down
one path and then taking an abrupt right turn just as we are getting
comfortable.   JMS promised us news in mid-to late January.  Stay
tuned.

JMS UPDATE

From the B5 moderated newsgroup:

Nothing major, more under the headings of FYI....

1) For those who follow my prose stuff...I've written a new short
story, "The Salvation of Lyman Terrell," which will be made available
for reading for free on amazon.com in the next few weeks (I'll try to
remember to let folks know when it goes up) as part of a series of
such bonuses they're offering to customers.

2) Thanks to a series of industry screenings, I've had the
opportunity to see the final Lord of the Rings movie...and for those
wondering, it's spectacular. I loved the first one and considered it
a masterpiece; wasn't quite as happy with the second one, which I
felt (and despite some corrections made via the extended cut, still
feel) that it suffered where it diverged from the book, and where it
replaced story logic with movie logic.

But "The Return of the King" is magnificent on every level. There are
times you feel you're looking at some forgotten history come to life,
the imagery is almost painfully beautiful at times, breathtaking and
awe-inspiring other times. I remember sitting there, thinking there
are some things one feels priviliged to have lived long enough to
have seen. This is one of them. It's brave, heroic, tragic, moving,
funny, inspiring and wistful all at the same time.

So for those who were hoping for the best...your hopes will be
realized. It's just freaking magnificent.

BABYLON 5 ANNIVERSARY

Ranger Nick pointed out that on January 24, 2004, we will celebrate
the 10th anniversary of Babylon 5 coming to the airwaves. As I
thought about this, I wondered how we might best mark this event --
making it special in some way! Send along your ideas and we can see
what we might be able to do.

Perhaps a special page with reflections of what Babylon 5 has meant
to us? Perhaps we could suggest to SCIFI -- a special day of special
episodes! Give it a little thought and let's see what we can come up
with.

Here is the first suggestion on how we can celebrate the 10th
Anniversary of Babylon 5.

Ranger Karen wrote: Why not collect "thank you"s that could be
compiled & sent to Joe from the community that he created? Perhaps
some of the cast and crew members would enjoy participating in
something like that as well. We love the world Joe created so much
that almost 11 years after the pilot was first aired, we excitedly
anticipate new B5 projects. I can't think of a better way to
encourage him than to let him know we are still with him.

DISCUSSION TOPIC

What did you think of the latest LORD OF THE RINGS movie? How does it
compare to the original Tolkien novels?

Send in your comments and observations to sgbruckner@... and I'll
post them on the Discussion Page for everyone to share.

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT

8:00pm on UPN
Star Trek: Enterprise
Rajiin
A slave girl uses her mental powers on the crew to steal information
on humans.

On SCIFI Tonight:
5:00pm
The Prophecy II
A fallen angel tries to prevent the birth of a child who will save
mankind from the forces of evil.

7:00pm
The Prophecy 3: The Ascent
Now mortal, Gabriel helps to save the human race.

9:00pm
Revelation
Billionaire sends son on hunt for religious relic.

On Syndicated TV This Weekend:

Andromeda
Double or Nothingness
Dylan responds to the destruction of a ship but soon realizes that
scenarios are computer-generated.

Angel
She
Angel helps a princess save women in another world from a destructive
society.

BeastMaster
Gemini
Dar and Tao must discover what is killing humans and animals in the
forest.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
When She Was Bad
Xander and Willow worry over Buffy's cold, distant behavior.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
Unnatural Selection
Challenger meets up with a former scientific rival.

Mutant X
Where Evil Dwells
The team must stop a serial killer who leaves clues to his next
victims in the form of puzzles.

HOLIDAY SPECIALS:

"Robbie the Reindeer Double Fun"
CBS, 8:00pm - 9:00pm ET
Two adventures featuring the voices of Ben Stiller, Hugh Grant,
Britney Spears, Jim Belushi, Leah Remini, Jerry Stiller, James Woods,
Brad Garrett, Dan Dierdorf and Dick Enberg. "Hooves of Fire" is the
heart-warming and hilarious tale about Robbie's quest to become a
reindeer on Santa's sleigh team. "Legend of the Lost Tribe" follows
Robbie as our reindeer pal battles his nemesis, Blitzen -- with the
help of an elusive tribe of Vikings -- in an effort to stop Blitzen's
launch of a reindeer theme park.

"A Merry Mickey Celebration"
ABC, 8:00pm - 9:00pm ET
Ever since Mickey Mouse debuted in the first synchronized sound
cartoon, "Steamboat Willie," on November 18, 1928, he has remained
one of the most beloved characters on the planet while also presiding
as the face of The Walt Disney Company around the globe. This special
will feature many of Mickey's Hollywood celebrity friends saluting
him through music and song as well as looking to his future. The
beloved holiday classic "Mickey's Christmas Carol" will be the
centerpiece of the hour-long celebration. Enjoy the little guy
another 75 years.

"The Littlest Reindeer""
Animal Planet, 9:00pm - 10:00pm ET
Aurora was the smallest reindeer in his Arctic herd, a runt. He
proves his worth to all when the little fellow is called on to lead
his herd to safety. He might have been small, but he had a huge
heart. Features live-action footage of reindeer in their native
habitat. This one is worth saving.

NEW SCIENCE FICTION PUBLICATIONS

Starburst Special #61 It is the end of another year and time to look
back on 2003. This Starburst Yearbook offers quite a bit -- with 132
pages! Orlando Bloom talks about the end of LORD OF THE RINGS;
Bernard Hill discusses acting and his King Theoden role in LOTR. It
has been a year of great movies, including X2, LORD OF THE RINGS,
MATRIX. This issue also looks at BATTLESTAR GALACTICA with Dirk
Benedict (Starbuck).

Expose Special #24: Sir Ian McKellen talks about Gandalf in LORD OF
THE RINGS and there are highlights from 2003. This issue includes a
32-page farewell to BUFFY.

Cult Times Special #28: The magazine looks back at 2003; at BUFFY's
end and DOCTOR WHO's return. It also includes previews for such
favorites as ALIAS, JEREMIAH, SMALLVILLE, 24 and TRU CALLING. Angel's
Jeffrey Bell talks about the changes ahead for this year at Wolfram
and Hart. Christopher Gorham from Jake 2.0 answers the
question, "what is it like being the ultimate human upgrade."

TV Zone #54: This issue offers a 12-page review of the highs and lows
of 2003. Also in this issue, Joss Whedon talks about FIREFLY. John
Schneider, Jonathan Kent on SMALLVILLE, tells us about life, family
values and the future of his hit show. Stargate SG-1's Prop master
Dave Sinclair takes us into his world, including a look at some
amazing hardware.

COMIC BOOKS

SMALLVILLE
Written by Clint Carpenter; art by Tom Derenick, Adam DeKraker, Tom
Grummett and Kevin Conrad; cover by John Van Fleet.

A special issue kicking off a 3-month-long cross-media event. The
story begins here, continues online, and concludes in May¹s
Smallville #8. In the lead story, Chloe reopens her secret files
after gaining information from a fugitive member of Lionel Luthor¹s
Deletion ForceŠand her investigation leads to new secrets concerning
Kryptonite! In the backup, Jonathan and Martha deal with the hazards
of raising a super-powered teen. Plus, a report from Christopher
James Beppo sheds new light on the enigmatic founder of Smallville.
48 pages, $3.95, in stores on March 17.

SUPREME POWER

SUPREME POWER #7
Written by J. Michael Straczynski, cover and pencils by Gary Frank.
Jump on board one of the biggest hits of the year as it starts a new,
second major story arc! Another new super power rises out of
the "depths" of obscurity -- Amphibian! Plus: witness the first (and
possibly last!) climactic meeting of Hyperion and Doctor Spectrum!
32 pages, $2.99, in stores on Feb. 4.
* New story arc.
* Marvel's latest hit series.
* Coming next month: Supreme Power Vol. 1, collecing #1-6.

NEW CSI GAME

You can now become part of Gil Grissom's CSI team! Check out the
latest video game featuring CBS' CSI series. Here is the storyline:
Master the Tools. Solve the crime.

A murdered woman…a slain police officer…a mysterious arson case.
What do these crimes have in common? Enter the gritty world of CSI
and search for the truth with Grissom, Catherine, and the entire
Crime Scene Investigation team. Armed with high-powered forensic
equipment and razor-sharp wits, delve deeply into the mysteries of 5
baffling crime scenes to reveal the truth. Don't just watch the
action. Live it!
For more information, go to http://csi.ubi.com/index.php.

INSIDE SCI-FI THIS WEEK:

SKY CAPTAIN: A trailer for this new project is now on-line at
<http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/skycaptainandtheworldoftomorr
ow/.> Looks interesting. If you liked THE ROCKETEER and the idea of
futuristic technology in the America of the 1930s, SKY CAPTAIN is for
you. The trailer is also where we get our first good look at the
film's extensive CGI backgrounds that director Kerry Conran chose to
use. The reports emerging about this film's production are that just
the actors were filmed against bluescreen backgrounds and every set
you'll see in the film was created using computer graphics. With the
Stargate SG-1 music in the background, I couldn't help but think Jack
O'Neill should be jumping out at any moment instead of Jude Law,
Gwyneth Paltrow or Angelina Jolie.

BABYLON BABIES: GOTHIKA director Mathieu Kassovitz's next assignment
is the science fiction film BABYLON BABIES and that he has already
cast leading man Vincent Cassel (BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF) in the main
role. The movie, based on a novel by French author Maurice G. Dantec,
is set in the near future and incorporates cyberpunk elements in its
complex narrative structure. It's about the clash in cultures between
those that can afford to pay for good genetic tailoring for their
children and those that cannot.

MERGER AHEAD: Time Warner may soon add three famous letters to its
name: MGM. According to published reporters, Time Warner, which
recently said that it is again in the market for prominent
acquisitions, has held preliminary merger talks with Metro Goldwyn
Mayer. Time Warner, which already owns the Warner Brothers and New
Line Cinema studios, is reportedly interested primarily in MGM's vast
library that includes some 4,000 titles.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: There is a lot to see this weekend -- and it
covers the spectrum of delight and amazement. Besides the concluding
chapter in Peter Jackson's Tolkien trilogy, THE LORD OF THE RINGS:
THE RETURN OF THE KING, what else opens this weekend? You may want to
take in Mike Newell's lighthearted drama MONA LISA SMILE with a jam-
packed ensemble cast of hot Hollywood actresses or HOUSE OF SAND AND
FOG with Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly. You can find reviews
over at <http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/446/446865p1.html.>

VISUAL EFFECTS OSCAR: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
announced the seven films being considered for Achievement in Visual
Effects for the 76th Academy Awards. They are Universal's THE HULK,
New Line's THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING, 20th
Century Fox's MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD and X2:
X-MEN UNITED, Universal's PETER PAN, Walt Disney Pictures' PIRATES OF
THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL and Warner Bros.'
TTERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES. The finalists will be announced
along with nominations in 23 other categories on Tuesday, January 27,
at 5:30 a.m. PST. Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of
2003 will be presented on Sunday, February 29, 2004, at the Kodak
Theatre at Hollywood & Highland and televised live by the ABC
Television Network at 5 p.m. PST, beginning with a half-hour arrival
segment.

TOP SF NETWORK SHOWS:
Joan of Arcadia 7.1
Alias 5.2
Smallville 3.8
Charmed 3.7
Enterprise 3.0
Tru Calling 2.7
Angel 2.7
Tarzan 1.8
Jake 2.0 1.6
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 11/17/03 - 11/23/03.

GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS: The Golden Globe awards were announced yesterday
by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. THE LORD OF THE RINGS:
THE RETURN OF THE KING brought in four nominations, including best
drama and best director, the most of any SF&F movie of the year. The
Golden Globes will be presented in a Jan. 25, 2004, ceremony in
Beverly Hills that will air live on NBC. A list of nominees among
science fiction, fantasy and supernatural horror films and television
programs are below:
Film
Best Picture, Drama
•The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Best Picture, Musical or Comedy
•Big Fish
•Finding Nemo
Actress, Musical or Comedy
•Jamie Lee Curtis, Freaky Friday
Actor, Musical or Comedy
•Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Supporting Actress
•Mario Bello, The Cooler
Supporting Actor
•Alec Baldwin, The Cooler
•Albert Finney, Big Fish
Director
•Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Original Score
•Danny Elfman, Big Fish
•Howard Shore, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Original Song
•"Into the West," The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
•"Man of the Hour," Big Fish
Television
Actress in a Television Series, Drama
•Jennifer Garner, Alias
•Amber Tamblyn, Joan of Arcadia

LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING: The final installment of the
RINGS trilogy is setting records around the world posting a first-day
worldwide gross of $57.6 million. Wednesday's opening of KING left a
trail of broken boxoffice records in its wake on both the domestic
and international fronts -- quite an accomplishment for a film that's
3 1/2 hours long. In its first-day, the domestic gross for KING was a
sensational $34.1 million from 3,703 theaters and more than 7,000
prints. The debut marked far and away the biggest Wednesday in
history as well as being the biggest single day in December, the
third-best opening day ever and the sixth-biggest single-day of all
time. Internationally, KING generated a powerful $23.5 million from
19 territories. Opening-day records were broken in 13 of those
territories, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and
Scandinavia.

HARRY POTTER: When HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AKZKABAN opens in
theaters in June, it will also open to Imax theaters. A deal struck
by Warner Bros. Pictures and Imax Corp. represents the second Imax
film commitment from Warners in the last year using Imax's
proprietary DMR technology and marks the first time the two companies
will experiment with a PG-rated film -- an opportunity that could
spur additional cross-promotion by institutions housing Imax
theaters. "Our partnership with Imax has been extremely rewarding and
has allowed our films to expand their reach beyond our traditional
audiences by offering viewers a whole new way to see Hollywood event
films that is uniquely immersive and exciting," Warners' domestic
distribution president Dan Fellman said.

TOP SF SYNDICATED SHOWS:
Stargate SG-1 2.3
Andromeda 2.1
Mutant X 2.1
She Spies 1.7
The X-Files 1.5
Beastmaster 1.4
Buffy 1.4
3rd Rock 1.3
Angel 1.2
The Outer Limits 1.2
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 11/17/03 - 11/23/03

LORD OF THE RINGS PREMIERE: The LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN TO THE
KING make it's North American premiere yesterday. The highly
anticipated debut at midnight Wednesday reaped a stunning estimate of
$8 million. The midnight shows were offered at 2,100 theaters. The
Peter Jackson-helmed picture is in 3,703 theaters with about 7,205
prints starting Wednesday. New Line president of domestic
distribution David Tuckerman said, "People are asking me what kind of
business are we going to do, not only for the opening day but for the
weekend? I just don't know, but the matinees have been monstrous. We
are in uncharted waters. But we will exceed the business of 'Two
Towers.' " The gross for the first day of "Two Towers," which also
opened on a Wednesday but in 3,622 venues, was a sterling $26.2
million. By the end of the first weekend for "Two Towers," the film
had taken in a staggering $102.0 million in its first five days.

LORD OF THE RINGS MUSEUM EXHIBIT: Boston's Museum of Science will
feature an exhibit about the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy using
techniques from the films to transform visitors into hobbit
dimensions in their own photos. The exhibit will run Aug. 1-Oct. 24,
2004 and also feature massive models, an "armor corridor," a display
of prosthetics, original costumes, the One Ring, jewelry and videos
of the cast, crew and director in behind-the-scenes interviews.

NEW SCIFI FRIDAY LINE-UP: On January 9, SCIFI Friday returns with the
first of 11 new episodes of STARGATE SG-1 and the premiere of CODE
NAME: ETERNITY. Stargate SG-1 will air at 9 p.m. ET/PT, Code Name:
Eternity at 10 p.m.
In the first new Stargate SG-1 episode of the year, Maj. Carter
(Amanda Tapping) leads a dangerous mission to Anubis' homeworld in a
desperate attempt to prevent him from breeding an army of super
warriors. O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson), meanwhile, goes to
Honduras to rescue Daniel (Michael Shanks) and retrieve an ancient
device that might be their last hope for defeating Anubis.

CODE NAME: ETERNITY is a new action-adventure series starring Cameron
Bancroft as a shape-shifting alien who crash-lands on Earth and loses
his memory. With the help of a beautiful doctor (Ingrid Kavelaars),
he begins a long journey to figure out his mission on Earth, while
attempting to elude otherworldly enemies. The show also features
Andrew Gillies, Olivier Gruner and Billy Dee Williams.

CRASH: According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jason Isaacs and Jennifer
Esposito have joined Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Brendan Fraser,
Matt Dillon, Ryan Phillippe, Thandie Newton, Larenz Tate, Nona Gaye
and rapper Ludacris in CRASH, for Bull's Eye Entertainment. The
project is in production with Paul Haggis at the helm. Scripted by
Haggis and Bobby Moresco, CRASH follows a multiethnic cast through
the streets of Los Angeles as they careen in and out of one another's
lives. Isaacs plays Detective Grace, the chief detective responsible
for solving a wrap-around murder case that is part of the plot, while
Esposito will star as the love interest of Cheadle's character who
also is his partner on the police force.

CHRISTOPHER REEVE: The Hollywood Reporter indicates that Christopher
Reeve has been tapped to take an animated look at America's pastime --
  baseball. The Emmy-nominated director will helm an untitled computer-
animated feature film for IDT Entertainment "Many projects cross my
desk, but only a few are truly captivating," Reeve said. "With the
perfect blend of warmth and wit, this is a story with universal
appeal that both children and their parents will love." Set in the
1930s, the story revolves around a father and son and two legendary
urban baseball teams and is based on an original treatment that was
internally developed at IDT.

FIVE TO MIDNIGHT: SciFi Channel has signed Oscar winner Timothy
Hutton to play the lead in FIVE DAYS TO MIDNIGHT, an upcoming
original five-hour thriller that is set to begin filming next month
in Vancouver. Hutton plays J.T. Neumeyer, a physics professor who
receives a police file from the future with a detailed description of
his own murder. Amidst a list of suspects and pictures of his bullet-
strewn corpse, Neumeyer discovered that the date of his presumptive
death is only five days away. With only five days until he meets his
demise, Neumeyer has to catch this own killer. It's a structure that
Sci Fi describes as "a cross between 'D.O.A.' and '24.'" The cable
network will air "Five Days to Midnight," fittingly, over five
consecutive nights. Each night will represent a day in Neumeyer's
quest to save his live.

TRU CALLING: Last year, Jason Priestley was seriously injured while
driving a practice lap for an Infiniti Pro Series race. He has signed
to appear in seven episodes of FOX's drama TRU CALLING. He starts
work in January in Vancouver, B.C., where the show films and where he
was born. The seven-episode arc will be his longest run on a series
since he left "Beverly Hills, 90210" in 1998. He has worked on
numerous TV movies and feature films since then, as well as making
guest appearances on series like "Spin City," "Grosse Pointe", "8
Simple Rules" and JEREMIAH.

PARAMOUNT PICTURES: According to Variety, Paramount is gearing up for
a number of new projects. They have bought the spec fantasy script
THE GIRL WHO COULD FLY by Victoria Lakeman for Michael Aguilar and
Dean Georgaris to produce. The studio also optioned Michael Marshall
Smith's SF novel SPARES for Aguilar and Georgaris to produce, along
with Vertigo Entertainment partners Roy Lee and Doug Davison. THE
GIRLD WHO COULD FLY is a fantastical story about an 11-year-old farm
girl who discovers she can fly and is then detained by the Ministry
of Anomalous Developmental Needs and Extra-normal Social Services
(M.A.D.N.E.S.S.). The ministry seeks to normalize children by barring
them from using their abnormalities. SPARES is set in a world of
wealthy individuals who arrange for their children to be cloned at
birth for future use in a medical emergency. Aguilar and Georgaris
are searching for a writer for SPARES.

PETER PAN: The new PETER PAN movie opens on Christmas Day and Jason
Isaacs, who is playing the dual role of Mr. Darling and Captain Hook
in the film hearkens back to the traditional casting of J.M. Barrie's
1904 play and is in keeping with the story's psychological roots.
Neverland represents not only Wendy's (Rachel Hurd-Wood) imagination,
but also her fears of growing up, and it's natural that the villain
there would resemble her father—"someone who represents the very
worst and the very best things about being grown up." At a recent
press conference promoting the film, Isaacs said "Barrie is quite
clear that if ... you could stay awake when you're asleep, you would
find your mother tidying up your mind much like she tidies up
drawers. She takes all the pretty thoughts and puts them at the top,
and takes all the evil dark ones and hides them at the bottom so you
can't find them in the morning. And ... Neverland [is] a place inside
children's minds [with] not just pirates and adventures, but first
days at school and nasty-tasting medicine and math sums. And it's
kind of this strange, surreal land."

SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW: The first traces of SKY
CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW (formerly known as THE WORLD OF
TOMORROW) are turning up on the net; a trailer is expected to debut
soon. This pulp adventure sci-fi film stars Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow
and Angelina Jolie. Directed by first-timer Kerry Conran, the film is
set in a 1930s full of action and adventure straight out of the
theater serials from that period. Law plays the so-called "Sky
Captain", a daring aerial hero and Paltrow is a inquisitive reporter
who uncovers a plot involving the world's scientists. The film is
unusual in that director Conran shot all the scenes with the actors
against blue screen. All of the backgrounds are being added digitally
with computer effects to recreate the 1930s New York City time
period.

CRITICS CHOICE AWARDS: Announcements of nominations are out for the
Critics Choice Awards. For a full listing, go to
<http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/article_display.jsp?
vnu_content_id=2053204 >. Clint Eastwood's "Mystic River" leads the
list of nominees, scoring eight nominations, including best picture,
best director and composer for Eastwood, best actor for Sean Penn,
best supporting actor for Tim Robbins, best supporting actress for
Marcia Gay Harden, best acting ensemble and best writer for Brian
Helgeland, who adapted Dennis Lehane's novel on which the film is
based. Other leading contenders include "In America" with seven
nominations, "Big Fish" and "Lost in Translation" with five noms
each, "Cold Mountain" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the
King" with four noms each and "The Last Samurai" and "Master and
Commander: The Far Side of the World" with three noms each.

LORD OF THE RINGS: THE LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING has its
first major award, it was named "year's best film" by the New York
Film Critics Circle.

KINGDOM OF HEAVEN: Liam Neeson is in talks to join Ridley Scott's
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, an epic love story at 20th Century Fox. Neeson
would step into the role of the father of the film's hero, played by
Orlando Bloom ("The Lord of the Rings"). The 20th Century Fox/Scott
Free production with a script by William Monahan is scheduled to
begin filming in Morocco in January.

BEST SELLING SF BOOKS:
1. The Da Vinci Code
2. Angels & Demons
3. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland pop-up
4. Eragon (Inheritance, Book 1)
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
6. Wolves of the Calla
7. The Time Traveler's Wife
8. The Slippery Slope (Lemony Snicket)
9. The Cat in the Hat
10. Inkheart
Source: Amazon.com, 12/8/03

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: This was a good weekend for romantic movies.
SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE took the #1 spot raking in $16.1 million at
the box office. The romantic comedy knocked off THE LAST SAMURAI,
which slipped to #2 with $14.1 million after one week in first. The
Farrelly brothers' conjoined twins farce STUCK ON YOU didn't stick
with too many moviegoers. The Matt Damon-Greg Kinnear coupling only
managed to make $9.4 million, according to final studio figures
released Monday. Popping into fourth place was the youth-oriented hip-
hopped-up romance LOVE DON'T COST A THING, starring Nick Cannon,
which earned $6.3 million. In limited release, Sony's PG-13 BIG FISH
began fishing for Oscar attention Wednesday. Tim Burton's fantastical
look at the blurry line between truth and fiction, depicted by a
dying Albert Finney, Ewan McGregor as Finney's younger self and Billy
Crudup as Finney's son, earned $207,377 from Friday to Sunday,
reeling in a whopping $34,563 per-screen average at each of its six
sites. Here are the numbers:
1. Something's Gotta Give, $16.1 million
2. The Last Samurai, $14.1 million
4. Love Don't Cost a Thing, $6.3 million
5. The Haunted Mansion, $6.1 million
6. Elf, $6.02 million
7. Bad Santa, $6.01 million
8. Honey, $4.9 million
9. Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat, $4.2 million
10. Gothika, $2.7 million

LORD OF THE RINGS: We haven't much longer to wait! THE RETURN OF THE
KING opens tomorrow - December 17. Director Peter Jackson said that
he will restore a deleted seven-minute scene with Christopher Lee's
Saruman in the DVD version of the movie. "It was a scene we shot for
The Two Towers, and when we cut that movie last year, we tried [to
include it] then. But we felt it was anticlimactic. ... We had some
Gollum scenes that we had to wrap up the film at the end with, so the
seven minutes of return to Isengard didn't feel like it was a good
place to have it." Jackson added that he then considered adding the
scene to the beginning of Return of the King, rather than include it
in the extended DVD version of Two Towers. "It's been in this movie
as we've gone through various cuts through the year," he said. "We
had a four-hour, 15-minute cut of Return of the King, with everything
in there that we shot, but it was too long. It felt like the
emotional impact of the film was being diluted. ... So we started
trimming the film back, and the Saruman scene was one of many scenes
we cut."

TOP SCIFI SHOWS:
Sasquatch 1.7
Code Red: Rubicon 1.4
Stargate SG-1 1.3
Primal Force 1.2
Creature, Part 1 1.0
13th Warrior 1.0
Taken, Part 9 1.0
Creature, Part 2 0.9
The Beast, Part 1 0.9
The Beast, Part 2 0.9
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 11/17/03 - 11/23/03

LORD OF THE RINGS: According to Variety, The Lord of the Rings
director Peter Jackson will receive this year's Modern Master Award
at the Santa Barbara Film Festival. Jackson, who also co-wrote and
produced the Rings trilogy, will accept the award at a ceremony on
Jan. 31, 2004, at the Arlington Theater.

SPIDER-MAN 2: As promised, a new treaser is up and available at
<http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/sony/spiderman2/>.

THE GRUDGE: BUFFY's Sarah Michelle Gellar will topline THE GRUDGE,
the English-language remake of the Japanese horror thriller Ju-On.
Columbia Pictures has secured domestic distribution rights for the
film, which is being produced by Ghost House Pictures, a genre
division of Senator Intl. launched with Sam Raimi. Shooting is set to
begin at Tokyo's Toho Studios in late January. Takashi Shimizu, who
wrote and directed the original film, will helm the remake. THE
GRUDGE is about a murderous supernatural curse born of a grudge held
by someone who dies angry. The curse passes like a virus to its
victims.

X-3: After Ian McKellen watched X-2 on DVD, he couldn't wait to talk
to Bryan Singer and the X-Men writers about doing another sequel --
and he wanted to make sure his character, Magneto, was in it! "I've
only just seen [X2] on DVD, because I was fearful that I wasn't going
to enjoy it as much as the first, and I enjoyed it more." McKellen
added, "I e-mailed [Singer] and said, 'Are you making number three,
and am I going to be in it?' And I sent the same thing off to the
writers [Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris and David Hayter]. And
positive replies came back.

CARNIVALE: According to The Hollywood Reporter, HBO has asked for a
second season of CARNIVALE, their Depression Era supernatural themed
drama produced by DEEP SPACE NINE and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA's Ronald
D. Moore. Thirteen new episodes will start to be filmed in the spring
of 2004, with the cable network planning on airing them sometime next
fall.

TV SCHEDULE ON SCIFI CHANNEL

BABYLON 5
22-DEC-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) A DAY IN THE STIFE
23-DEC-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) PASSING THROUGH GETHSEMANE
24-DEC-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) VOICES OF AUTHORITY
29-DEC-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) DUST TO DUST
30-DEC-03 9:00 AM BABYLON 5 (LBX) EXOGENESIS

CRUSADE:
21-DEC-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE EACH NIGHT I DREAM OF HOME
28-DEC-03 2:00 AM CRUSADE PATTERNS OF THE SOUL

STARGATE SCHEDULE:
22-DEC-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 FIRE AND WATER
22-DEC-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 ONE FALSE STEP
22-DEC-03 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 SHOW AND TELL
22-DEC-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 1969
22-DEC-03 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 OUT OF MIND
23-DEC-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 HATHOR
24-DEC-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 SINGULARITY
29-DEC-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 COR-AI
29-DEC-03 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 INTO THE FIRE
29-DEC-03 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 SETH
29-DEC-03 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 FAIR GAME
29-DEC-03 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 LEGACY
30-DEC-03 6:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 ENIGMA

FARSCAPE SCHEDULE:
21-DEC-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE KANSAS
28-DEC-03 12:00 AM FARSCAPE TERRE FIRMA
04-JAN-04 11:00 PM FARSCAPE (LBX) TWICE SHY
08-JAN-04 3:00 AM FARSCAPE PREMIERE
08-JAN-04 4:00 AM FARSCAPE BACK AND BACK TO THE FUTURE
08-JAN-04 5:00 AM FARSCAPE EXODUS FROM GENESIS

EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT
02-JAN-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT DECISION
05-JAN-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT TRUTH
06-JAN-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT MIRACLE
07-JAN-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT AVATOR
08-JAN-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT OLD FLAME
09-JAN-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY

CONVENTION CALENDAR

Creation Second Annual STAR TREK CONVENTION
January 9-11, 2004
Location: Hilton Metropole Hotel
Place: London, England
Guests: Robbie McNeil, Nana Visitor, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Beltran
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/calendar.htm.

Creation Entertainment
February 6-8, 2004
Location: Doubletree Bellevue Hotel
Place: Seattle, Washington
Guests: Robert Beltran, Amanda Tapping, Tim Russ, Robert Picardo,
Ethan Phillips, Peter Mayhew, Jeremy Bulloch
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/calendar.htm.

Creation Entertainment
February 14, 2004
Location: Phoenix Hilton East/Mesa
Place: Phoenix, Arizona
Guest: William Shatner
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/calendar.htm.

Creation Entertainment (Buffy & Angel)
February 15, 2004
Location: Phoenix Hilton East/Mesa
Place: Phoenix, Arizona
B5 Guest: Robin Atkin Downes
Guests: Stephanie Romanov, Julie Benz, Iyari Limon, John Kassir,
Jacqueline Lichtenberg
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/calendar.htm.

Farpoint
February 13-15, 2004
Location: Marriott's Hunt Valley Inn
Place: Baltimore, MD
B5 Guests: Bill Mumy, Brad Dourif
Other Guests: Peter David, Liliana Mumy
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.farpointcon.com.

That's it for now.  If you have a special event coming up and would
like to see it listed on the calendar, be sure to drop me a line.

Take care and have a wonderful holiday.
Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN News:  The Zocalo today
http://www.isnnews.net
E-Mail:  sgbruckner@...

THE ZOCALO TODAY – January 3, 2004

Babylon 5 News

BABYLON 5 DVD PREVIEW: Over at www.scifi.com, you can get a preview
of the Season 4 DVD arriving soon. JMS talks about the fourth season
and pushing back -- No Surrender, No Retreat. You'll also hear Bruce
Boxleitner talk about one of his favorite lines.

SHORT STORY BY JMS: As promised in his B5 moderated newsgroup entry
awhile back, a short story by JMS entitled "The Salvation of Lyman
Terrell" is now available at www.amazon.com.

BABYLON 5 ON DVD

SEASON FIVE OF BABYLON 5 - APRIL 13, 2004
Over at TV Shows on DVD, you'll find a notice that Season 5 of
Babylon 5 will be available on April 13. Nothing official from the WB
yet. Here is the information available so far:

Description:
From the beginning, both were running out of time. The space station
that was the last, best hope for peace was sooner or later certain to
be eclipsed by new political coalitions and technical advances. And
John Sheridan, who guided the massive freeport through its most
tumultuous days, knew that his own fate had been inalterably
prophesied.

Now both storylines converge in a 22-episode final season (with
dazzling Exclusive DVD Extras!) whose events also include Sheridan's
attempts to wage peace for the Interstellar Alliance, the tragic fate
of the telepaths and the ultimate fireball destruction of the
outmoded station after it is declared to be a spaceway navigational
hazard. You're cleared for final approach...to Babylon 5.

Features:
Introduction to Wheel of Fire (Season 5 of Babylon 5) by series
creator, J. Michael Straczynski
Two audio commentaries by J. Michael Straczynski
Movements of Fire and Shadow commentary by cast members Bruce
Boxleitner, Peter Jurasik, Patricia Tallman and Tracy Scoggins
Digital Tomorrow - a featurette about making the special effects for
the series
Beyond Babylon 5 - a featurette focusing on the fans, their reactions
to the show and available Babylon 5 merchandise
The Universe of Babylon 5 including: Personnel Files, Data Files and
Gag Reel
Episode previews
Easter Egg: Marcus Cole: Dead or Frozen
Additional and Extended Scenes

SEASON FOUR OF BABYLON 5 - JANUARY 6, 2004

PRESS RELEASE:
BABYLON 5:
THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON
Collectible Six-Disc DVD Set Featuring All 22 Episodes
Fully-Loaded with New Bonus Materials
Remastered in Widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio
Available January 6 from Warner Home Video

Burbank, Calif., October 14, 2003 - The future begins - or ends -
here and now. Here is the huge space station Babylon 5. Now is the
fateful year 2261. Commander John Sheridan has already declared the
station free, breaking the ties between it and Earth Alliance. It was
perhaps only a matter of time before he would have to fight to remain
free. That time has come on January 6, 2003 with the complete 22-
episode fourth season adventure of the acclaimed Babylon 5 sci-fi
series from Warner Home Video (WHV). Presented on a must-have six-
disc collector's set, Babylon 5: The Complete Fourth Season is priced
to own at $99.98 SRP. Orders are due December 9.

Packed with out-of-this-world DVD bonus materials including a
featurette about the series composer and the making of the series'
music, an original music suite composed exclusively for the DVD
release, in-depth audio commentaries from cast members and the series
creator, personnel files and a gag reel.

"The Babylon 5 series has consistently been one of Warner Home
Video's most in-demand DVD collections, proving the loyalty and
strong fan base for this acclaimed sci-fi series," said Jeff Baker,
Vice President, Non-Theatrical Franchise Marketing. "The TV to DVD
trend has been very strong in the marketplace and WHV plans to
continue releasing fan-favorite series throughout the year."

Babylon 5 has won two Emmy Awards for Groundbreaking Visual Effects
and Makeup as well as the 1998 Science Fiction Writers of America Ray
Bradbury Award. It also earned the 1999 Saturn Award for Best Genre
Cable/Syndicated Series from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy
& Horror Films. Currently, Babylon 5 continues to be seen by legions
of fans with episodes syndicated on the Sci-Fi Channel.

I have put together a listing of the episodes and pictures from each
episode of Season 4 with a synopsis from the Lurker's Guide. Enjoy

NEW BABYLON 5 WEBSITE

A new Babylon 5 website is up and ready for your use! Babylon 5
Command (www.b5command.com) offers forums and chat rooms. You will be
able to join teams, create units, play games, earn points and ranks.
Everyone is welcome.

KEEPING UP WITH CAST AND CREW

STEPHEN AUSTIN: Stephen has added a couple of additional dates to his
schedule. This wonderful Pak'Ma'Ra Ambassador is multi-talented and
has a wonderful stand-up comedy routine that you can enjoy if you are
in the area. Here is the schedule:
THE IMPROV, Jan 6th, Ontario, CA, 909-484-5411
THE ICE HOUSE (special CD tapping), Jan 18th, Pasadena, Ca, 626-577-
1894
HENNESSEY'S TAVERN, Tuesday, Jan 27th @ 9pm, 2777 Rosevelt St.,
Carlsbad, CA, 760-729-6951
TIO LEO'S, Weds., Jan 28th @ 8:3pm, 5302 Napa St., San Diego, CA, 619-
542-1462

JEFFREY COMBS: You'll remember Jeffrey as telepath Harriman Gray in
the B5 episode EYES -- and he's done a ton of Star Trek episodes,
including ENTERPRISE as an Andorian. He will provide the voice for
The Question in the third season of Cartoon Network's Justice League
animated series. Combs did the voice of The Scarecrow in 1997 for the
Batman animated series on Kids' WB! and provided secondary characters
for MTV's Spider-Man series. He also starred as Lt. Dan Margolies in
Faust: Love of the Damned, the live-action movie based on the David
Quinn/Tim Vigil comic. The Question is one of numerous DC heroes to
appear next season on Justice League. According to Comics Continuum,
we'll also see Green Arrow, Black Canary, Red Tornado, Captain Atom,
Firestorm, Atom and Hawk and Dove.

JERRY DOYLE: Over the holiday, I received a note from Jerry. It
announced 'The Jerry Doyle Show" launched in syndication, coast to
coast, on 12/6 through Talk Radio Network. It's on Saturday nights, 8-
11 PM PST. According to Jerry, it's about "Politics, pop culture and
things that tick me off is the general theme. It's been a great ride
and the folks at TRN have been fantastic. This week, I've been
sitting in this week for "The Rusty Humphries Show", 1-4 PM PST. I
guess it went well enough that the brain trust at TRN are having me
sit in for Savage this Friday, 4-7 PM PST. He's got over 9.9 million
listeners. Should be fun."

BABYLON 5 BIRTHDAYS

January 9 - David Allen Brooks
January 24 - Peter Woodward
January 27 - Julie Caitlin Brown
January 27 - Tamilyn Tomita

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT

8:00pm on UPN
Star Trek: Enterprise
Exile
A lonely telepath begs Hoshi to visit his faraway planet, then
refuses to allow her to leave.

On SCIFI Tonight:

7:00pm
Deadly Swarm
After traveling to a jungle, a man must recover a shipment of deadly
wasps lost in a plane crash.

9:00pm
They Crawl
A former soldier and a detective battle a horde of mutated
cockroaches.

On Syndicated TV This Weekend:

Andromeda
Soon the Nearing Vortex
Capt. Dylan Hunt comes up against former crew member Tyr for
possession of a map.

Angel
The Prodigal
Images of the past haunt Angel; Angel spots Kate's father at a crime
scene.

BeastMaster
Revelations
Qord vows to kill Dar and capture Kyra.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Halloween
Buffy loses her slaying abilities while wearing a Halloween costume.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
Birthright
A mummified corpse comes to life; a tyrannosaur pursues Summerlee.

Mutant X
Shadows of Darkness
The team investigates strange activities occurring at a local
hospital.

JEREMIAH

For those of you looking for more information information on
JEREMIAH, visit the JEREMIAH PORTAL (www.jeremiahportal.com). You'll
find a lot of new information for the series, including a photo
gallery, wallpaper, links to other JEREMIAH sites and much more.

NEW SCI-FI MERCHANDISE:

STARGATE SG-1 DVD:

Season 5 is to be released on January 20.  Here are the details:
22 episodes on five discs: Redemption parts 1 and 2, Descent, Frozen,
Nightwalkers, Abyss, Shadow Play, The Other Guys, Allegiance, Cure,
Prometheus, Unnatural Selection, Sight Unseen, Smoke and Mirrors,
Paradise Lost, Metamorphosis, Disclosure, Forsaken, The Changeling,
Memento, Prophecy, Full Circle
Audio commentary on each episode
SG-1 Directors Series featurettes on each disc
Season 6 of STARGATE SG-1 is scheduled for release on March 2, 2004.

PUBLICATIONS:

Cult Times #100: This huge, 100-page issue is full of great articles
and interviews. Among them, you can read about STARGATE SG-1's
Richard Dean Anderson as he approaches Season Eight of the show;
Linda Park from ENTERPRISE talks about her role as a translator and
Alfred Gough provides some hints on what we'll see in season three of
SMALLVILLE.

Starburst Special #61 It is the end of another year and time to look
back on 2003. This Starburst Yearbook offers quite a bit -- with 132
pages! Orlando Bloom talks about the end of LORD OF THE RINGS;
Bernard Hill discusses acting and his King Theoden role in LOTR. It
has been a year of great movies, including X2, LORD OF THE RINGS,
MATRIX. This issue also looks at BATTLESTAR GALACTICA with Dirk
Benedict

COMICS:

SMALLVILLE:
Written by Clint Carpenter; art by Tom Derenick, Adam DeKraker, Tom
Grummett and Kevin Conrad; cover by John Van Fleet.

A special issue kicking off a 3-month-long cross-media event. The
story begins here, continues online, and concludes in May¹s
Smallville #8. In the lead story, Chloe reopens her secret files
after gaining information from a fugitive member of Lionel Luthor¹s
Deletion ForceŠand her investigation leads to new secrets concerning
Kryptonite! In the backup, Jonathan and Martha deal with the hazards
of raising a super-powered teen. Plus, a report from Christopher
James Beppo sheds new light on the enigmatic founder of Smallville.
48 pages, $3.95, in stores on March 17.

SUPREME POWER #7
Written by J. Michael Straczynski, cover and pencils by Gary Frank.
Jump on board one of the biggest hits of the year as it starts a new,
second major story arc! Another new super power rises out of
the "depths" of obscurity -- Amphibian! Plus: witness the first (and
possibly last!) climactic meeting of Hyperion and Doctor Spectrum!
32 pages, $2.99, in stores on Feb. 4.
* New story arc.
* Marvel's latest hit series.
* Coming next month: Supreme Power Vol. 1, collecing #1-6.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #504
Written by Fiona Avery with J. Michael Straczynski, cover and pencils
by John Romita Jr.
"Chasing a Dark Shadow," pt. 2 (of 2). In the aftermath of the inter-
dimensional rift caused by Spider-Man and Doctor Strange's battle
with Dormammu, a sorceress of limitless power is set free from years
of captivity ... and sets forth on a quest through Manhattan to
properly thank the one responsible for it: Spider-Man. And if that
weren't bad enough, guess who's on her trail? Loki...
32 pages, $2.25, in stores on Feb. 25.

NEW CSI GAME

You can now become part of Gil Grissom's CSI team! Check out the
latest video game featuring CBS' CSI series. Here is the storyline:
Master the Tools. Solve the crime.

A murdered woman…a slain police officer…a mysterious arson case.
What do these crimes have in common? Enter the gritty world of CSI
and search for the truth with Grissom, Catherine, and the entire
Crime Scene Investigation team. Armed with high-powered forensic
equipment and razor-sharp wits, delve deeply into the mysteries of 5
baffling crime scenes to reveal the truth. Don't just watch the
action. Live it!
For more information, go to http://csi.ubi.com/index.php.

STARGATE SG-1 SEASON 6 CARDS

This 72-card set features three cards per episode for each of the 22
in Season 6. Signers include Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping, Ronnie
Cox, John Billingsley, Musetta Vander, Bruce Harwood, Enid Raye-
Adams, Jacqueline Samuda, Exec. Producer brad Wright, and more! Look
for "Behind the Scenes with Brad Wright" cards, "In the Line of Duty"
cards, "Stargate Galley" cards, and more! Also available is the
album, custom designed to store the entire collection, including
plastic pages, bonus promo card, and a Colonel O'Neill "From the
Archives" costume card. 7 cards per pack. 40 packs per box. MSRP:
$2.00 per pack.

INSIDE SCI-FI THIS WEEK:

TOP SF NETWORK SHOWS
Joan of Arcadia 7.1
Alias 5.2
Tru Calling 3.1
Smallville 2.5
Enterprise 2.0
Angel 1.9
Jake 2.0 1.3
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 12/01/03 - 12/07/03.

SECONDS: Director Jonathan Mostow (T3) will helm a remake of the 1966
John Frankenheimer thriller Seconds. The original film starred John
Randolph as an older man who gets a new lease on life with a new face
and identity. Even though he's reconstituted in the handsome visage
of Rock Hudson, the change brings its own problems..

X2: X2's baddie Kelly Hu has landed a recurring role on ABC's THREAT
MATRIX. She tapes the first of five episodes on Jan. 5; her character
debuts later this season.

NEW JMS COMICS: I picked up new issues of AMAZING SPIDERMAN and
SUPREME POWER yesterday. If you are following these stories, you
won't want to miss these.

TOP SF SYNDICATED SHOWS:
Stargate SG-1 2.5
Andromeda 1.9
Angel 1.8
She Spies 1.8
Mutant X 1.7
Buffy 1.6
The X-Files 1.6
3rd Rock 1.3
Beastmaster 1.2
The Outer Limits 1.2
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 12/1/03 - 12/7/03

BEST SELLING SF BOOKS:
1. The Da Vinci Code
2. Angels & Demons
3. Lord of the Rings
4. The Time Traveler's Wife
5. Hobbit Rings set
6. The Hobbit
7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
8. Eragon (Inheritance, Book 1)
9. The Chronicles of Narnia
10. Don Quixote
Source: Amazon.com, 12/24/03

FIVE DAYS TO MIDNIGHT: Some familiar names have turned up as cast
members in SCIFI's upcoming original miniseries 5 DAYS TO MIDNIGHT.
Nicole de Boer (The Dead Zone), Angus MacFadyen (Miracles) and Randy
Quaid (Independence Day) join Oscar-winning star Timothy Hutton in
the five-hour miniseries. Hutton plays J.T. Neumeyer, a college
professor who learns that he is about to be murdered and has five
days to figure out who is trying to kill him. De Boer will play
Chantal Hume, the wife of Brad Hume, the brother of J.T.'s deceased
wife. McFadyen will take on the role of Roy Bremmer, a shady figure
and a suspect in J.T.'s future murder. Quaid plays Irwin Sikorski, a
homicide detective whose aid J.T. enlists. The cast also includes
David McIlwraith as Brad Hume and Kari Matchett as Claudia Whitney,
J.T.'s girlfriend, who has a mysterious past. 5 DAYS TO MIDNIGHT will
air as five one-hour episodes over five consecutive nights and
premieres in June 2004.

TOP 10 SCIFI CHANNEL SHOWS:
Stargate SG-1 1.4
Terminator 2 1.3
Event Horizon 1.1
Red Planet 1.1
Tremors: The Series 1.0
Interceptor Force 2 1.0
Interceptor Force 0.9
Supernova 0.8
Wing Commander 0.8
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 12/1/03 - 12/7/03.

FIREFLY: On December 21 at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science
Fiction Convention, fans had a chance to meet Joss Whedon, the
creator of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, ANGEL and FIREFLY, along with
FIREFLY cast members Nathan Fillion (Capt. Malcolm `Mal' Reynolds),
Morena Baccarin (Inara Serra), Adam Baldwin (Jayne Cobb), Ron Glass
(Shepherd Book), and Gina Torres (Zoe Warren). They were joined by
Tim Minear (Executive Producer) and Ben Edlund (Writer/Producer) who
were there to promote the release of the FIREFLY DVD.

NEW COMIC BOOK PRODUCTIONS: They brought us JEREMIAH, now Platinum
Studios has added Steve Miller's RUST and Eman R. Torre's THE DARK
FRINGE to their list of possible film and TV shows. RUST was
originally published by Now Comics back in the mid-80s but also later
by Malibu Comics before Marvel acquired the company. Scott Baker was
an ordinary cop until a bizarre industrial accident transformed into
a strange creature of living rust and granted him control over all
forms of metal. THE DARK FRINGE is an original graphic novel created,
written, and inked by Eman R. Torre, with pencilled artwork by John
Kissee. After his wife is murdered by a mysterious assassin named
Garrett, policeman Allen Stone retires from the force. But Stone is
called back by the department and given new information that should
lead to the whereabouts of his wife's killer, leading him to a
dramatic confrontation with Garrett. Or has he been set up to believe
that Garrett is the killer of his wife -- and if so, for what
purpose?

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING is
helping Hollywood end a year during which it saw its first drop in
total revenue in 12 years on the upswing. THE RETURN OF THE KING
tallied an estimated $51.2 million at the box office to bring its two-
week total to $224 million. The new Steve Martin comedy, CHEAPER BY
THE DOXEN, opened in second place with $28.2 million. Three other
films debuted well behind: COLD MOUNTAIN with $14.5 million, PAYCHECK
with $13.9 million, and PETER PAN with $11.4 million. Here are the
numbers:
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, $51.2 million
2. Cheaper By the Dozen, $28.2 million
3Cold Mountain, $14.5 million
4. Something's Gotta Give, $14.2 million
5. Paycheck, $13.9 million
6. Mona Lisa Smile, $11.5 million
7. Peter Pan, $11.4 million
8. The Last Samurai, $8.4 million
9. Bad Santa, $4.5 million
10. Elf, $4.3 million.

AQUAMARINE: According to the Hollywood Reporter, John Quaintance has
been tapped by Fox 2000 to pen a rewrite of the studio's big-screen
adaptation of AQUAMARINE. Based on the novel by "Practical Magic"
author Alice Hoffman, "Aquamarine" follows two best friends who find
a brokenhearted mermaid in the swimming pool of a deserted beach
club. Director of production Rodney Ferrell is overseeing for Fox
2000. Quaintance is a staff writer on NBC's "Good Morning, Miami."

CONVENTION CALENDAR

Creation Second Annual STAR TREK CONVENTION
January 9-11, 2004
Location: Hilton Metropole Hotel
Place: London, England
Guests: Robbie McNeil, Nana Visitor, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Beltran
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/calendar.htm.

Creation Entertainment
February 6-8, 2004
Location: Doubletree Bellevue Hotel
Place: Seattle, Washington
Guests: Robert Beltran, Amanda Tapping, Tim Russ, Robert Picardo,
Ethan Phillips, Peter Mayhew, Jeremy Bulloch
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/calendar.htm.

Creation Entertainment
February 14, 2004
Location: Phoenix Hilton East/Mesa
Place: Phoenix, Arizona
Guest: William Shatner
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/calendar.htm.

Creation Entertainment (Buffy & Angel)
February 15, 2004
Location: Phoenix Hilton East/Mesa
Place: Phoenix, Arizona
B5 Guest: Robin Atkin Downes
Guests: Stephanie Romanov, Julie Benz, Iyari Limon, John Kassir,
Jacqueline Lichtenberg
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/calendar.htm.

Farpoint
February 13-15, 2004
Location: Marriott's Hunt Valley Inn
Place: Baltimore, MD
B5 Guests: Bill Mumy, Brad Dourif
Other Guests: Peter David, Liliana Mumy
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.farpointcon.com.

SF Ball
February 13-15, 2004
Location: Carrington House Hotel
Place: Bournemouth, UK
B5 Guests: Richard Biggs, Jason Carter
Other Guests: Linda Thorson, Dwight Schultz, Carolyn Seymour, Scott
Macdonald, Celeste Yarnall, Michael Sheard, Michael Dorn and
Alexandra Tydings
For more information, visit their website at http://www.sfball.com.

That is about it for now.
Have a safe and Happy New Year!
Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN News:  The Zocalo  Today
http://www.isnnews.net

THE ZOCALO TODAY – January 17, 2004

WHAT's NEW TODAY:

TOP SF NETWORK SHOWS:
Joan of Arcadia 5.4
Charmed 2.1
Smallville 1.7
Enterprise 1.1
Jake 2.0 1.1
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 12/22/03 - 12/28/03.

CATWOMAN: A website has been registered by Warner Bros. for the new
CATWOMAN movie. All that is there right now is the logo, but I am
sure more will come soon at http://catwoman.warnerbros.com/. The
movie is set for a release in July.

JAKE 2.0 CANCELLED: According to Variety, UPN has pulled the plug on
JAKE 2.0. Production has been halted and the program has been pulled
from the network's schedule. In it's place will be shown repeat
episodes of AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL. Even though the series was
picked up for a full season's worth of episodes, the broadcast of
the new shows (of which at least four are known to be in the can)
are now in doubt. A letter-writing campaign has begun to show
support for the show. Go to http://www.loony-
archivist.com/j20/campaign.htm if you'd like to join.

FANTASTIC FOUR: After directing episodes of JEREMIAH and ANGEL, Sean
Astin revealed he is in the running to direct live-action FANTASTIC
FOUR film. In a Brazilian interview, Astin also said his ideal
candidates for Reed Richards and Johnny Storm are George Clooney and
Orlando Bloom, respectively. "I got a meeting scheduled but I can't
talk about it yet," Astin told the reporter.

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT

10:00pm on ABC
Monk
"Mr. Monk Goes Back to School"
The network returns for another season of adventures with Adrian
Monk (Tony Shalhoub). When an English instructor dies of an apparent
suicide, Adrian Monk signs on as a substitute teacher so he can
check on the rock solid alibi of the man he suspects committed
murder. Andrew McCarthy guest stars as Derek Philby.

On SCIFI Tonight:

7:00pm
Mosquito
Feeding on an alien corpse makes mosquitoes big, aggressive and
thirsty for human blood.

9:00pm
Skeeter
From a toxic pool comes a new strain of mosquitos that infest a
California town.

On Syndicated TV This Weekend:

Andromeda
Machinery of the Mind
An assassin tries to steal the minds of the Commonwealth's most
brilliant scientists.

Angel
Forgiving
Angel seeks revenge on Wesley for kidnapping his son and giving the
boy to their enemies.

Angel
Eternity
Angel tries to rescue a popular young actress (Tamara Gorski) from a
stalker.

BeastMaster
Iara
Dar and Tao search for missing men on an island inhabited by the
deadly serpent demon Iara.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Two to Go
Willow returns to the use of dark magic to avenge Tara's death.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
Barbarians at the Gate
Drakul and the Raiders shoot down the adventurers' balloon,
beginning a game of cat and mouse.

Mutant X
No Exit
A cybernetic mutant uses his powers in a plot to destroy Mutant X.

The Outer Limits
Think Like a Dinosaur
A space station technician lives with aliens to learn the secrets of
long-distance space travel.

The X-Files
FBI agents Mulder and Scully probe events that may prove the
existence of aliens on Earth.

DISCUSSION TOPIC
What are some of your favorite DVD special features? With more and
more films and TV series coming out on DVD, what do you think are
the best add-ons? Do you like the behind-the-scenes interviews with
the cast? How about learning how some of the special effects were
created?

Send in your comments and views to sgbruckner@... and I'll post
them on the Discussion Page for everyone to share.

SEASON FOUR OF BABYLON 5 - ON SALE NOW

BABYLON 5:
THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON
Collectible Six-Disc DVD Set Featuring All 22 Episodes
Fully-Loaded with New Bonus Materials
Remastered in Widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio
Available January 6 from Warner Home Video

Burbank, Calif., October 14, 2003 - The future begins - or ends -
here and now. Here is the huge space station Babylon 5. Now is the
fateful year 2261. Commander John Sheridan has already declared the
station free, breaking the ties between it and Earth Alliance. It
was perhaps only a matter of time before he would have to fight to
remain free. That time has come on January 6, 2003 with the complete
22-episode fourth season adventure of the acclaimed Babylon 5 sci-fi
series from Warner Home Video (WHV). Presented on a must-have six-
disc collector's set, Babylon 5: The Complete Fourth Season is
priced to own at $99.98 SRP. Orders are due December 9.

Packed with out-of-this-world DVD bonus materials including a
featurette about the series composer and the making of the series'
music, an original music suite composed exclusively for the DVD
release, in-depth audio commentaries from cast members and the
series creator, personnel files and a gag reel.

"The Babylon 5 series has consistently been one of Warner Home
Video's most in-demand DVD collections, proving the loyalty and
strong fan base for this acclaimed sci-fi series," said Jeff Baker,
Vice President, Non-Theatrical Franchise Marketing. "The TV to DVD
trend has been very strong in the marketplace and WHV plans to
continue releasing fan-favorite series throughout the year."

Babylon 5 has won two Emmy Awards for Groundbreaking Visual Effects
and Makeup as well as the 1998 Science Fiction Writers of America
Ray Bradbury Award. It also earned the 1999 Saturn Award for Best
Genre Cable/Syndicated Series from the Academy of Science Fiction,
Fantasy & Horror Films. Currently, Babylon 5 continues to be seen by
legions of fans with episodes syndicated on the Sci-Fi Channel.

I have put together a listing of the episodes and pictures from each
episode of Season 4 with a synopsis from the Lurker's Guide. Enjoy.

If you have found bargain prices out there on this set, let us know.
If you have had problems with the set, here is an address to use to
report them: Send any complaints/issues directly to Sherri Bogard at
sherri.bogard@.... She handles all DVD problems
with "Babylon 5".

SEASON FIVE OF BABYLON 5 - APRIL 13, 2004

Over at TV Shows on DVD, you'll find a notice that Season 5 of
Babylon 5 will be available on April 13. Nothing official from the
WB yet. Here is the information available so far:
Description:
From the beginning, both were running out of time. The space station
that was the last, best hope for peace was sooner or later certain
to be eclipsed by new political coalitions and technical advances.
And John Sheridan, who guided the massive freeport through its most
tumultuous days, knew that his own fate had been inalterably
prophesied.

Now both storylines converge in a 22-episode final season (with
dazzling Exclusive DVD Extras!) whose events also include Sheridan's
attempts to wage peace for the Interstellar Alliance, the tragic
fate of the telepaths and the ultimate fireball destruction of the
outmoded station after it is declared to be a spaceway navigational
hazard. You're cleared for final approach...to Babylon 5.

Features:
Introduction to Wheel of Fire (Season 5 of Babylon 5) by series
creator, J. Michael Straczynski
Two audio commentaries by J. Michael Straczynski
Movements of Fire and Shadow commentary by cast members Bruce
Boxleitner, Peter Jurasik, Patricia Tallman and Tracy Scoggins
Digital Tomorrow - a featurette about making the special effects for
the series
Beyond Babylon 5 - a featurette focusing on the fans, their
reactions to the show and available Babylon 5 merchandise
The Universe of Babylon 5 including: Personnel Files, Data Files and
Gag Reel
Episode previews
Easter Egg: Marcus Cole: Dead or Frozen
Additional and Extended Scenes

JEREMIAH
SEASON ONE DVD
On January 20, the first season of JEREMIAH will be available on
DVD.  Be sure to go to the website to download a copy of the $5
COUPON FOR JEREMIAH.

For information on the season one DVD of JEREMIAH, read the Season
One Press Release at http://www.isnnews.net/zocalo/jeremiah-
press.shtml  which describes the DVD set in detail. You will also
find links to clips from the DVD here.

NEW PORTAL PAGE FOR JEREMIAH:
For new information on JEREMIAH, visit the JEREMIAH PORTAL at
http://www.jeremiahportal.com . You'll find a lot of new information
for the series, including a photo gallery, wallpaper, links to other
JEREMIAH sites and much more.

For all that is new with JEREMIAH, go to JEREMIAH page. Showtime
does not have the show on it's schedule right now. Fans are putting
pen to paper and writing to voice their support for the series and
their desire to have it back on the airwaves. Check out how you can
help.

Nothing official, but I read somewhere that Showtime will return
JEREMIAH to their schedule in March of 2004. Hopefully we will get a
date on that soon.

STARGATE SG-1
SEASON FIVE DVD
For information on the season five DVD of STARGATE SG-1, read the
Press Release  at http://www.isnnews.net/zocalo/stargate-press.shtml
which describes the DVD set in detail.

More information on both of this DVD, go to Stargate Season 5 DVD
http://www.isnnews.net/zocalo/stargate-season5.shtml . You will find
photos from episodes as well as a TV trailer.

DVD BUYING TIPS

Ranger Brian sent along a terrific tip for purchasing any DVDs. Go
to http://www.dvdpricesearch.net/. You can do a search on any title
and it will find the lowest price for you. It includes mailing
information as well. Thanks Brian!

Ranger Frank in Seattle indicates that again, CostCo is saving
Babylon 5 fans money!

Costco stores have a limited time sale on the Babylon 5 DVD sets. I
went into a Costco in the Seattle area today, and they have seasons
1, 2 and 3 for $59.99 each -- about $25 less than Amazon.com, and
$40 less than list price, as I recall. Season 4 is $64.99. But the
deal is that if you buy Season 4, you get $20 off any one of the
other seasons.

Thanks Frank for passing along the info. Other folks should check
out CostCo for Babylon 5 and other DVDs. They usually have very
competitive prices.

KEEPING UP WITH CAST AND CREW

ROBERT FOXWORTH: Robert Foxworth has been on tons of sci-fi shows.
He recently was on the JEREMIAH (as the President) and STARGATE SG-
1. He will provide the voice of Professor Emil Hamilton in the third
season of Cartoon Network's Justice League animated series. In
animation, Foxworth was the voice behind Race Bannon in the mid-90's
The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest.

MICHAEL YORK: You can't forget Michael York in the Babylon 5
episode "A Late Delivery From Avalon." He will provide a guest-voice
during the third season of Cartoon Network's JUSTICE LEAGUE animated
series. York will portray Ares next season. He previously provided
the voice of Count Vertigo in Batman: The Animated Series. York is
also appearing in a few episodes of GILMORE GIRLS; he's already been
in one episode. He's playing a Yale professor who has a fling w/ one
of the students (a secondary reoccuring character).

STEPHEN AUSTIN: Stephen has added a couple of additional dates to
his schedule. This wonderful Pak'Ma'Ra Ambassador is multi-talented
and has a wonderful stand-up comedy routine that you can enjoy if
you are in the area. Here is the schedule:
THE ICE HOUSE (special CD tapping), Jan 18th, Pasadena, Ca, 626-577-
1894
HENNESSEY'S TAVERN, Tuesday, Jan 27th @ 9pm, 2777 Rosevelt St.,
Carlsbad, CA, 760-729-6951
TIO LEO'S, Weds., Jan 28th @ 8:3pm, 5302 Napa St., San Diego, CA,
619-542-1462

JEFFREY COMBS: You'll remember Jeffrey as telepath Harriman Gray in
the B5 episode EYES -- and he's done a ton of Star Trek episodes,
including ENTERPRISE as an Andorian. He will provide the voice for
The Question in the third season of Cartoon Network's Justice League
animated series. Combs did the voice of The Scarecrow in 1997 for
the Batman animated series on Kids' WB! and provided secondary
characters for MTV's Spider-Man series. He also starred as Lt. Dan
Margolies in Faust: Love of the Damned, the live-action movie based
on the David Quinn/Tim Vigil comic. The Question is one of numerous
DC heroes to appear next season on Justice League. According to
Comics Continuum, we'll also see Green Arrow, Black Canary, Red
Tornado, Captain Atom, Firestorm, Atom and Hawk and Dove.

JERRY DOYLE: Over the holiday, I received a note from Jerry. It
announced 'The Jerry Doyle Show" launched in syndication, coast to
coast, on 12/6 through Talk Radio Network. It's on Saturday nights,
8-11 PM PST. According to Jerry, it's about "Politics, pop culture
and things that tick me off is the general theme. It's been a great
ride and the folks at TRN have been fantastic. This week, I've been
sitting in this week for "The Rusty Humphries Show", 1-4 PM PST. I
guess it went well enough that the brain trust at TRN are having me
sit in for Savage this Friday, 4-7 PM PST. He's got over 9.9 million
listeners. Should be fun." You can go to Talk Radio Network for more
information.

INSIDE SCI-FI THIS WEEK:
Friday, January 16:
CSI: NEW YORK: Yes, it was only a matter of time. According to The
Hollywood Reporter, the city that never sleeps will soon be the
backdrop of the next incarnation of CBS' "CSI" franchise. The drama,
expected to be titled "CSI: New York," will be created by the "CSI"
brain trust of executive producers Anthony Zuiker, Ann Donahue and
Carol Mendelsohn. Zuiker is expected to serve as showrunner.

SAG AWARDS: Nominations for this year's SAG Awards were announced
yesterday. Here are a few of the nominations: The Jerry Bruckheimer-
produced CBS drama "Without a Trace" was the only first-time nominee
to break through in the best ensemble drama and comedy series
categories. "Trace" star Anthony LaPaglia nabbed his first SAG
acting nomination for his work on the show, now in its sophomore
season.
Jennifer Garner, star of ABC's "Alias," and Mariska Hargitay of
NBC's "Law & Order: SVU" were the newcomers in the drama actress
field.
NBC's "The West Wing" nabbed four nominations.
In the drama series ensemble category, "Without a Trace's"
competitors are CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," which has
been nominated the past three years, NBC's nine-time nominee "Law &
Order" and five-time nominee "The West Wing" and last year's winner,
HBO's "Six Feet Under," with its third consecutive bid.
Among drama actors, LaPaglia's competitors are Peter Krause of "Six
Feet Under," Martin Sheen of "The West Wing," Kiefer Sutherland of
Fox's "24" and Treat Williams of the WB Network's "Everwood."
Vying for drama actress glory against Garner and Hargitay are
Stockard Channing and Allison Janney of "The West Wing," Frances
Conroy of "Six Feet Under" and Tyne Daly of CBS' "Judging Amy."

TRAILERS: Over at MovieWeb.com you can see trailers for three
upcoming movies. They are:
VAN HELSING: Set in the late 19th century, monster hunter Dr.
Abraham Van Helsing (Jackman) is summoned to a mysterious land in
East Europe to vanquish evil forces... evil forces with names like
Count Dracula (Roxburgh), the Wolf Man (Kemp), and Frankenstein's
Monster (Hensley). Assisting him once he gets there is Anna
(Beckinsale), the heir of a long-running family committed to hunting
down and destroying Dracula. (Anaya, Colloca and Maran play
Dracula's brides; Wenham plays a friar, Carl, who escorts Van
Helsing through the dangerous wilderness).
STARSKY & HUTCH: In Starsky & Hutch, the origins of the charismatic
crime-fighting duo David Starsky and Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson are
explored when these undercover Bay City detectives are partnered for
their very first assignment. Ben Stiller plays the tightly wound
Detective David Starsky who is thrown together with Owen Wilson's
easygoing Detective Ken Hutchinson on a high-stakes case. Platinum-
selling rapper and actor Snoop Dogg plays their savvy street
informant Huggy Bear. Vince Vaughn also joins the cast as Reese
Feldman, a smooth-talking entrepreneur with an eye towards the
future.
THE PASSION OF CHRIST: Sometime around the year A.D. 30, in the
Roman province of Palestine, an obscure Jewish carpenter named Jesus
of Nazareth began to teach publicly and to proclaim the coming of
a 'Kingdom of God.' For centuries, the Jewish people had expected
the appearance of a promised deliverer known as the Messiah --a
figure who would restore their ancient dignity, and free their
sacred homeland from all evil and despair. In the minds of many,
Jesus appeared to be this Messiah. Surrounded by a core group of
twelve disciples, Jesus began to attract a massive following from
among the common people of Galilee and Judea, who eventually praised
him as their Messiah and King. However, Jesus also had many enemies
in Jerusalem. The Sanhedrin, a governing senate composed of the
leading Jewish priests and Pharisees, conspired to put Jesus to
death.

SON OF THE MASK: According to The Hollywood Reporter, Veteran
British actor Bob Hoskins has joined the cast of New Lines' MASK
sequel, SON OF THE MASK. Hoskins will portray Odin, king of the
Norse gods, in the follow-up. Jamie Kennedy is headlining the sequel
to the 1994 Jim Carrey flick about a mask that gives remarkable
superpowers to the wearer. Kennedy plays an aspiring cartoonist who
isn't quite ready for fatherhood but finds himself raising a baby
that is endowed with the powers of the mask of Loki, the god of
mischief. Loki himself also appears in the film. He's played by X2's
Nightcrawler, Alan Cumming.

FOR HIS SICK KID: Here's some news for Harrison Ford fans. According
to Variety, producers Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher, whose Along
Came Polly opens today and Garden State bows at Sundance, have
closed development deals for a project the actor. Ford's project is
a medical drama drawn from FOR HIS SICK KID, a Geeta Anand book the
studio just acquired, about a man who finances a cure for a rare
disease that is killing two of his kids -- then has to fight to get
them access to the drug. Judith Regan will publish the book.

HOTEL RWANDA: Joaquin Phoenix has joined the cast of the thriller
HOTEL RWANDA, a film directed by Terry George. Filming began
shooting in Johannesburg on Monday. Based on true events, the
project is set in Kigali during Rwanda's genocidal civil war and
tells the story of hotelier Paul Rusesabagina who saved the lives of
thousands of helpless Rwandas. Don Cheadle plays Rusesabagina, while
Sophie Okonedo and Nick Nolte join the cast of mainly South African
actors. Over 10,000 South African extras will be used in the film.

Thursday, January 15:
TOP SF DVD SALES:
1. The Two Towers extended edition
2. Pirates of the Caribbean
3. Finding Nemo
4. Fellowship of the Ring extended edition
5. Babylon 5 season four
6. Underworld
7. Stargate SG-1 season five
8. Lost in Space season one
9. Fantasia
10. The Last Unicorn
Source: Amazon.com, top-selling genre DVDs, 1/12/04

STARGATE SG-1: As new episodes of STARGATE SG-1 returned to the SCI
FI Channel last week, it drew a 2.2 rating (2.7 million viewers),
the highest rating for an original SCI FI episode of SG-1 to date.
The network reported the 9 p.m. ET/PT broadcast of "Evolution, Part
2" was also the most-watched original episode of Stargate SG-1 in
the series' entire six-and-a-half season run. The episode delivered
more viewers than any episode of any original series in SCI FI
Channel history.

ANGEL: A number of familiar faces will be turning up on ANGEL as the
fifth season winds down. Creator Joss Whedon indicated that Andrew
(Tom Lenk from Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Cordelia (Charisma
Carpenter) and the possible return of Connor (Vincent Kartheiser)
could happen. Kartheiser's character—the son of Angel (David
Boreanaz) and Darla (Julie Benz)—left the series at the end of last
season after Angel made a deal with the nefarious law firm of
Wolfram & Hart. All of the above is affected by scheduling and other
issues. At the television critics' winter press tour in Hollywood,
Whedon said Lenk, whose nerdy character survived the apocalyptic
finale of Buffy last spring, will definitely show up in a Slayer-
themed episode due in February. Carpenter's Cordelia will return to
wrap up her character's storyline in the series' 100th
episode, "You're Welcome!" which is schedule for Feb. 4. "That's
very much kind of an opportunity to sum up and sort of go, 'Good
lord, we've been doing this for a while,'" Whedon said. "And without
being sly and postmodern about it and winking at the audience,
really using it as a milestone and having her—because she was there
at the beginning—come and say, 'Well, where are you now? Where were
you when we started, and where are you now and how do you feel about
that?'"

ANDROMEDA: The Sci Fi Channel and Tribune Entertainment have made an
agreement to broadcast the fifth and final season of GENE
RODDENBERRY'S ANDROMEDA next fall as an original series. The deal
also calls for Sci Fi Channel to have the rights to broadcast the
first four seasons of ANDROMEDA plus all three seasons (66 episodes
total) of the now-cancelled BEASTMASTER series. ANDROMEDA will begin
airing on the Channel starting in March 2004. The episodes will be
from the fourth season, currently airing in syndication. When the
fifth season starts in the fall, SFC will air the new episode of
ANDROMEDA a week to ten days ahead of its broadcast in the
syndication market. According to Thomas Vitale, Senior Vice
President for Scheduling Acquisitions & Planning, "ANDROMEDA has so
much going for it that attracted Sci Fi to the series. The Gene
Roddenberry name, the talents of Kevin Sorbo and the rest of the
cast, and the quality that Tribune Entertainment and its partners
bring to the screen, makes this an exciting addition to the Sci Fi
Channel schedule. We're particularly looking forward to airing new
original episodes first on Sci Fi as part of our Friday original
lineup."

VAN HELSING: Universal Pictures has confirmed that we will finally
get a glimpse of the new VAN HELSING movie, starring Hugh Jackman
soon. The first trailer is reported to be ready for release on
Friday.

KINGDOM OF HEAVEN: Reports indicate that former STAR TREK: DEEP
SPACE NINE star Alexander Siddig has joined the cast of director
Ridley Scott's KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. Filming on the Crusades epic is
currently underway in Spain and Morocco. Sid City (internet fan
site), says Siddig portrays "Imad, Saladin's aide de camp."

Wednesday, January 14:
BEST SELLING SF BOOKS:
1. The Da Vinci Code
2. Angels & Demons
3. New Spring (Wheel of Time)
4. The Time Traveler's Wife
5. Eragon (Inheritance, Book 1)
6. Hobbit Rings box set
7. Silmarillion
8. The Hobbit
9. Lord of the Rings
10. Wolves of the Calla
Source: Amazon.com, 1/12/04

BUFFY/X-MEN: For weeks, a rumor has been floating around in the
comic book community that has every X-MEN fan buzzing. BUFFY THE
VAMPIRE SLAYER creator Joss Wheden is considering writing a series
of X-MEN comics for Marvel. "There is a rumor out there," Whedon
said in an interview at the television critics' winter press tour in
Hollywood. "It's something that could happen." Whedon added that he
would approach such a project with trepidation, knowing the "legacy"
of the decades-old franchise and fervid fan loyalty. But it wouldn't
be Whedon's first foray into comics—he previously wrote the Buffy-
related FRAY series for Dark Horse—nor would it mark Whedon's first
dealings with the venerable X-Men universe. Whedon wrote a draft of
a screenplay for the first X-Men movie, which wasn't used. "It was
brilliant," Whedon said, with tongue in cheek.

SMALLVILLE: Last season, Christopher Reeve starred in one of the
most pivotal episodes of SMALLVILLE. He will be returning to play
astronomer Dr. Virgil Swann in an upcoming episode set for broadcast
in April. The announcement was made at the Television Critics
Association Winter Press Tour in a press release issued by The WB
Television Network. The episode was described by the network in this
way:
"Just as he did in his first appearance on the hit drama last
season, Reeve's Dr. Swann will help advance the Superman mythology.
As Lionel Luthor (John Glover) closes in on Clark Kent's (Tom
Welling) secret, he approaches Dr. Swann for information. Concerned
for Clark's safety, Dr. Swann warns him that Lionel is getting
closer to the truth. Last season, Dr. Swann came into contact with
Clark and filled him in on his origins and home planet of Krypton.
The episode was one of the highest-rated in the history of the hit
series."

REVELATIONS: According to The Hollywood Reporter, NBC has given a
six-episode order to REVELATIONS, a limited series from Pariah TV.
This thriller is about a small group trying to forestall the
Apocalypse, described as "The X-Files" meets "The Da Vinci Code," is
being written by David Seltzer who is executive producing with Gavin
Polone.

MEDIUM: NBC has also ordered MEDIUM, a supernatural drama pilot from
writer-producer Glenn Gordon Caron about a suburban mom and her
three daughters, all possessing psychic powers. Gordon is executive
producing the Grammnet Prods./Paramount Network TV project with
Kelsey Grammer and Steve Stark.

SECRET WINDOW: A new trailer for SECRET WINDOW, a movie based on one
of the stories within Stephen King's novella compilation "Four Past
Midnight" is now online at
http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/secret_window/. The film
stars Johnny Depp and John Turturro and is described as:
Depp plays Mort Rainey, a writer fresh out of a rough divorce from
his ex-wife, Amy (played by Maria Bello). Mort's already troubled
life takes a disturbing turn when a seemingly psychotic stranger
(John Turturro) begins stalking him at his lake house. The man, John
Shooter, claims that Mort stole his most valuable story idea (merely
altering the ending). The film also stars Charles S. Dutton, as a
detective that Mort hires for protection, and Timothy Hutton, as
Bello's new beau.

Tuesday, January 13:
HITCHHICKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY:: Douglas Adams' cult novel, THE
HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY is coming to the big screen. BBCi
Films website reports that British actors Bill Nighy (Love Actually)
and Martin Freeman (TV's The Office) are set to star in the feature
film. Nighy said he has been cast as alien planet designer
Slartibartfast; Freeman will play Arthur Dent, the everyday
Earthling thrust into an interplanetary adventure. Nighy added
that, "It's a really good script. It's really, really faithful [to
the book]. All the jokes are there, and they're big fat jokes. It's
wonderful. And with all the technology we have now, it can not only
be a big satisfying comedy, but I figure it could be quite exciting
as well."

A DAY WITH WILBUR ROBINSON: Walt Disney Feature Animation has
announced a new CGI theatrical project based on childrens book
author William Joyce's A DAY WITH WILBUR ROBINSON, which tells the
story of a young boy who makes a time machine. Steve Anderson, who
developed the stories for BROTHER BEAR and THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE,
will direct the film. Dorothy McKim will produce the film with Clark
Spencer executive producing. Production is set to start in June for
an anticipated 2006 release date.

TRUMPET OF THE SWAN: Paramount Pictures is turning E.B. White's THE
TRUMPET OF THE SWAN is being turned into a movie. White, who wrote
the classic childrens novels CHARLOTTE'S WEB and STUART LITTLE,
wrote SWAN in 1970. It was his final childrens book before passing
away in 1985. Paramoutn has hired screenwriter Katie Ford (MISS
CONGENIALITY) to adapt the book into a screenplay. White's story
follows a trumpeter swan named Louis who can't seem to make the
distinctive noise that trumpeter swans do, and so he's unable to
croon his love for the beautiful swan he idolizes. After a string of
unsuccessful attempts, Louis manages to procure a real trumpet and
make his own call to woo the lovely Serena. But soon Louis finds out
that life with a musical instrument isn't as fantastic as he had
hoped it would be. The film will be primarily live-action with some
CGI effects used.

KING STILL REIGNS: Tim Burton's BIG FISH didn't claim the top spot
at the box office last weekend as original estimates claimed.
Instead, New Line Cinema's THE RETURN OF THE KING held on to the
throne for its fourth straight week, besting Burton's FISH by over
$400K.

CAVE: Cole Hauser (2 Fast 2 Furious) has signed on to topline Screen
Gems' horror thriller, CAVE. Hauser will play an expert cave
explorer who leads a spelunking team on an undersea expedition.
Disaster strikes when a cave collapse mysteriously transforms them
into mutant cavemen.

KINGDOM OF HEAVEN: Production began Monday on this FOX project which
stars Orlando Bloom as a young peasant who becomes a knight, saves a
kingdom and falls in love with a princess (Eva Green) during the
crusades. Liam Neeson, Marton Csokas, David Thewlis and Brendan
Gleeson also star. Latest word is that Jeremy Irons has joined the
romantic epic set in 12th Century Europe and the Far East. The film
will shoot in Spain and Morocco, with direction from Ridley Scott.

LOST IN SPACE: The first season of LOST IN SPACE is out on DVD.
Catch all 29 uncut first season episodes with a few extras thrown in
on this boxed set.

STAR WARS: EPISODE III: On January 8, Director George Lucas turned
over the first major action sequence of STAR WARS: EPISODE III over
to the visual effects crew at Industrial Light & Magic. The official
website says the film will open with a thrilling space battle that
pits the forces of the Republic against the battleships of the
Separatists. Although ILM has already completed around 23-25 shots --
  made up of small scenes of short duration -- the "turnover" of the
space battle is significant as it represents one of the major action
sequences in the film. It has been edited together with placeholder
visual effects done by the Animatics Department, forming a
sophisticated starting point for the finished shots to be delivered
by ILM. There are an estimated 2,000 visual effects shots in the
film. Producer Rick McCallum has set a goal of at least 160 visual
effects shots to be completed by May 2004, inspired by the benchmark
set by "Episode II". In May of 2001, approximately 160 visual
effects shots were completed for "Attack of the Clones," a year
before release.

Monday, January 12:
TOP 10 SCIFI CHANNEL SHOWS:
Stargate SG-1 1.6
Monster 1.1
Millennium Man 1.0
Shark Hunter 0.9
The Shadow 0.9
Tremors: The Series 0.9
Octopus 2 0.9
Highlander Endgame 0.9
Batman 0.9
Tremors 3 0.9
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 12/22/03 - 12/28/03.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: This weekend not only had close competition on
the football field -- but in the box office as well. BIG FISH and
THE RETURN OF THE KING were neck and neck, but Tim Burton's surreal
comedy/drama edging past Peter Jackson's conclusion to Tolkien's
fantasy epic. Preliminary figures show BIG FISH netted approximately
$14.5 million dollars or about $400K more than KING for the weekend.
The weekend's two new releases, MY BABY'S DADDY and CHASING LIBERTY,
both took in moderate hauls. CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN has cracked the
$100 M barrier. Here are the estimated box office receipts:
1. BIG FISH $14,500,000 $24,100,000
2. THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING $14,125,000
$312,237,000
3. CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN $12,000,000 $101,396,000
4. SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE $8,200,000 $92,990,000
5. COLD MOUNTAIN $7,914,000 $55,373,000
6. MY BABY'S DADDY $7,839,000 $7,839,000
7. CHASING LIBERTY $6,015,000 $6,015,000
8. PAYCHECK $5,200,000 $46,497,000
9. THE LAST SAMURAI $4,530,000 $97,160,000
10. MONA LISA SMILE $4,500,000 $57,000,000

PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARDS: The winners of this year's People's Choice
Awards were:
Favorite Male Television Performer: Ray Romano
Favorite Female Television Performer: Jennifer Aniston
Favorite New Television Dramatic Series: Joan of Arcadia
Favorite New Television Comedy Series: Two and a Half Men
Favorite Television Dramatic Series: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Favorite Television Comedy Series: Friends
Favorite Reality-Based Program: Survivor: Pearl Islands
Favorite Talk Show Host: Oprah Winfrey
Favorite Male Musical Performer: Tim McGraw
Favorite Female Musical Performer: (tie) Faith Hill and Beyoncé
Knowles
Favorite Musical Group or Band: Matchbox Twenty
Favorite Music Video: Toby Keith, "I Love This Bar"
Favorite Motion Picture: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the
Black Pearl
Favorite Comedy Motion Picture: Bruce Almighty
Favorite Dramatic Motion Picture: The Lord of the Rings: The Two
Towers
Favorite Motion Picture Actor: Mel Gibson
Favorite Motion Picture Actress: Julia Roberts
Favorite All-Time Entertainer: Tom Hanks

Sunday, January 11:
ALIAS: It sounds like we won't have to wait for the season finale to
find out what happened to Sydney during the 2 years missing from her
memory. ALIAS creator J.J. Abrams told Zap2it.com that the secret
will be revealed in the upcoming new episode, "Full Disclosure,"
airing Jan. 11. "It felt like at this moment in the show, the
midpoint of the year, that we had this story that this allows us to
tell," Abrams told the site. "It sends the story in a direction that
we needed to go."

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING: Today, A&E has a
special on the making of the trilogy. It is shown here on the East
Coast at 9:00pm and again at 2:00am. You'll want to check your local
listings to see when it will be shown in your area.

ANGEL: Wednesday's episode of ANGEL is entitled "Harm's Way." The
network describes the episode in this way:
"Angel (David Boreanaz) arranges an important truce meeting between
two warring demon tribes through a Demon Rights Activist (guest star
Bryce Mouer) whom both clans trust. Feeling already unappreciated at
work, Harmony's (Mercedes McNab) life in the office gets worse when
she finds the Demon Rights Activist dead in her bed one morning
after a night of drinking. She must find out who's framing her for
the murder before Angel kills her for causing the summit
negotiations to break down."
The episode was written by Sarah Fain and Elizabeth Craft and
directed by Vern Gillum. The Jan. 21 episode, "Soul Purpose," marks
the directorial debut of Angel star David Boreanaz.

TV TONIGHT: There is a LOT on the tube tonight. Besides the special
on A&E about LORD OF THE RINGS, you'll find a Biography on Paul
Neuman and Inside the Actor's Studio with Tom Cruise.

MATRIX REVOLUTIONS: Warner Home Video has announced that THE MATRIX
REVOLUTIONS will be released on April 6. The 2-Disc DVD will be
available in separate anamorphic Widescreen and Full Screen
versions. It carries a suggested retail price of $29.95.
The DVD Features Include:
DVD ROM Features: Links to The Matrix Online test site and the
official Matix website
Documentaries: "Revolutions Recalibrated": The making of the final
chapter of The Matrix trilogy, including a segment on Neo Realism:
The Evolution of Bullet Time
Documentary: "CG Revolution": The incredible special effects
arsenal, including the segment Super Big Mini-Models
Featurette: "Super Burly Brawl": Behind the final Neo/Smith
showdown, including the segments Double Agent Smith and Mind Over
Matter: The Physicality of The Matrix
Other: "Before the Revolution": A 3-D Matrix timeline
"Future Gamer: The Matrix Online": an introduction to the massively
multi-player game
Photo gallery: "3-D Evolution": Multidimensional stills gallery
Theatrical Trailer

DISNEY CLOSES ANIMATION STUDIO MONDAY: Disney is expected to close
its feature-animation studio in Orlando, Florida, on Monday,
jeopardizing the jobs of nearly 260 animators. Some artists will be
transferred to Burbank, California, where Disney's corporate
headquarters is located, but most of the employees, whose credits
include the films Brother Bear and Lilo & Stitch, are expected to
lose their jobs. However, a number of those animators who were let
go have formed their own company, Legacy Animation Studios, and
announced Thursday that they plan to set up shop in Winter Garden,
Florida later this month.

DIE HARD 4: Bruce Willis, while promoting his latest film, HOSTAGE,
told USA Today that he still plans to revisit the role of tough cop
John McClane in DIE HARD 4. "We're working on it. Fox wants to do
it. I want to do it. It depends on the script," says Willis.

THE RETURN OF ZORRO: Sources at Sony Pictures indicate that a Zorro
sequel is in the works. Director Martin Campbell is working hard on
at the moment with the screenwriters on pre-production, ready for a
April 2004 production start in Mexico. Antonio Banderas recently
said that "The script is fantastic. Way better than the first one.
Everyone will be back." Explaining how Hopkins' character Don Diego
will appear, he added that the film "has a supernatural element. He
has a lot more to tell me."

Well, that's enough for today.
There's a lot more information available at the website.  Be sure to
visit http://www.isnnews.net for the latest on Babylon 5 and other
science fiction favorites.

Have a terrific weekend.
Be safe.
Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN News:  The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net

THE ZOCALO TODAY – January 31, 2004

BABYLON 5 NEWS:  Nothing from JMS yet on the B5 something he talked
about in his November post (see below).  As soon as I see something,
I'll send out a special notice.

"On the B5 front, there has been something of rather substantial
proportion that's finally gone from talk to money, such that I'm now
working frantically to meet some deadlines, but there's nothing I can
say about this until after January 15th, probably closer to the end
of that month.

The only thing I can say is that phase one of the new project is a
go, hence the furious writing schedule at this end of things, which
is why I've been silent until deciding to kick up some dust on the
political discussion. I've been writing my little brains out.

I know the immediate result of this will be speculation, but if we
could keep that to a low roar on the nets to avoid precluding
anything, that would be a wonderfulness. But trust me: I wouldn't go
on about something in this way if it wasn't a significant
development. Just trust me on this one for a bit and hold fire until
further word."

KEEPING UP WITH CAST AND CREW

BILL MUMY: Bill has a new CD out entitled, "Redwood, Lost, But Not
Really, the history of tree music". It captures and preserves the
music that Paul Gordon, Gary David and Bill made together from 1969
through 1974. As Bill writes at his website, "It will always be
special to me. I think what makes it unique was for the most part
there was an innocence and purity in our songwriting back then that
simply cannot be duplicated." For more about this project, go to
http://www.billmumyfanclub.com/ .

PETER WOODWARD: Peter has been a busy fellow! CLOSING THE RING, a
feature film written by Peter, and to be directed by Lord Richard
Attenborough, is now scheduled to start official "prep" the end of
February. It is expected to begin shooting in May in Ireland and
Canada. Peter has completed shooting a 3-part special on ALEXANDER
THE GREAT. The documentary is for The History Channel and is
currently expected to air sometime in 2004.

DISCUSSION TOPIC

Let's talk favorites -- favorite music, books, movies, and of course,
TV series. Why is it your favorite? Does it take you away from it all
and transport you to a safer, friendlier place? Does it awaken your
imagination and stretch your mind?

Send in your comments and views to sgbruckner@... and I'll post
them on the Discussion Page for everyone to share.

SEASON FOUR OF BABYLON 5 - ON SALE NOW

BABYLON 5:
THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON
Collectible Six-Disc DVD Set Featuring All 22 Episodes
Fully-Loaded with New Bonus Materials
Remastered in Widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio

Burbank, Calif., October 14, 2003 - The future begins - or ends -
here and now. Here is the huge space station Babylon 5. Now is the
fateful year 2261. Commander John Sheridan has already declared the
station free, breaking the ties between it and Earth Alliance. It was
perhaps only a matter of time before he would have to fight to remain
free. That time has come on January 6, 2003 with the complete 22-
episode fourth season adventure of the acclaimed Babylon 5 sci-fi
series from Warner Home Video (WHV). Presented on a must-have six-
disc collector's set, Babylon 5: The Complete Fourth Season is priced
to own at $99.98 SRP. Orders are due December 9.
Packed with out-of-this-world DVD bonus materials including a
featurette about the series composer and the making of the series'
music, an original music suite composed exclusively for the DVD
release, in-depth audio commentaries from cast members and the series
creator, personnel files and a gag reel.

"The Babylon 5 series has consistently been one of Warner Home
Video's most in-demand DVD collections, proving the loyalty and
strong fan base for this acclaimed sci-fi series," said Jeff Baker,
Vice President, Non-Theatrical Franchise Marketing. "The TV to DVD
trend has been very strong in the marketplace and WHV plans to
continue releasing fan-favorite series throughout the year."

Babylon 5 has won two Emmy Awards for Groundbreaking Visual Effects
and Makeup as well as the 1998 Science Fiction Writers of America Ray
Bradbury Award. It also earned the 1999 Saturn Award for Best Genre
Cable/Syndicated Series from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy
& Horror Films. Currently, Babylon 5 continues to be seen by legions
of fans with episodes syndicated on the Sci-Fi Channel.

I have put together a listing of the episodes and pictures from each
episode of http://www.isnnews.net/zocalo/season4.shtml with a
synopsis from the Lurker's Guide. Enjoy.

If you have found bargain prices out there on this set, let us know.
If you have had problems with the set, here is an address to use to
report them: Send any complaints/issues directly to Sherri Bogard at
sherri.bogard@.... She handles all DVD problems
with "Babylon 5".

SEASON FIVE OF BABYLON 5 - APRIL 13, 2004

Over at TV Shows on DVD, you'll find a notice that Season 5 of
Babylon 5 will be available on April 13. Nothing official from the WB
yet. Here is the information available so far:

Description:
From the beginning, both were running out of time. The space station
that was the last, best hope for peace was sooner or later certain to
be eclipsed by new political coalitions and technical advances. And
John Sheridan, who guided the massive freeport through its most
tumultuous days, knew that his own fate had been inalterably
prophesied.

Now both storylines converge in a 22-episode final season (with
dazzling Exclusive DVD Extras!) whose events also include Sheridan's
attempts to wage peace for the Interstellar Alliance, the tragic fate
of the telepaths and the ultimate fireball destruction of the
outmoded station after it is declared to be a spaceway navigational
hazard. You're cleared for final approach...to
Babylon 5.

Features:
Introduction to Wheel of Fire (Season 5 of Babylon 5) by series
creator, J. Michael Straczynski
Two audio commentaries by J. Michael Straczynski
Movements of Fire and Shadow commentary by cast members Bruce
Boxleitner, Peter Jurasik, Patricia Tallman and Tracy Scoggins
Digital Tomorrow - a featurette about making the special effects for
the series
Beyond Babylon 5 - a featurette focusing on the fans, their reactions
to the show and available Babylon 5 merchandise
The Universe of Babylon 5 including: Personnel Files, Data Files and
Gag Reel
Episode previews
Easter Egg: Marcus Cole: Dead or Frozen
Additional and Extended Scenes

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT

12:30pm on BRAVO
Page to Screen
Lord of the Rings
J.R.R. Tolkien's ``The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy.

8:00pm on UPN
Star Trek: Enterprise
Twilight
After an accident on the Enterprise, Archer loses his short-term
memory.

On SCIFI Tonight:

5:00pm
John Carpenter Presents Body Bags
The filmmaker presents a morbid trilogy: ``The Gas Station,''
``Hair'' and ``Eye.''

7:00pm
John Carpenter's Vampires
Vampire killers pursue a 600-year-old specimen in the American
Southwest.

9:00pm
The Breed
Modern vampires live among humans until a rogue killer threatens the
peace.

On Syndicated TV This Weekend:

Andromeda
The Torment, the Release
Dylan is arrested and tried for high crimes against the Commonwealth.

Angel
Sanctuary

Buffy comes to Los Angeles seeking vengeance on Faith.
BeastMaster

Orpheo
Arina's lover returns from beyond the grave to take her back with
him.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Lessons
When Sunnydale High reopens, Buffy discovers that the school still
hides the secrets of years past.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
Amazons
Roxton, Malone and Challenger are saved by Amazon women from an
attack by a flock of pterodactyls.

Mutant X
Possibilities
Brennan and the team join forces with a time-traveling mutant in
order to diffuse a bomb.

Star Trek: Voyager
The crew of the Voyager, lost in space, searches for home.

HOT TIPS

BookCloseOut.com
Ranger Dave writes that books by Bruce Boxleitner, John DE Lancie(Q),
and William Shatner are available on Bookcloseouts.com in hard cover.
They also now have a paperback listing and book prices are greatly
reduced. Check it out.

DVD BUYING TIPS
Ranger Brian sent along a terrific tip for purchasing any DVDs. Go to
http://www.dvdpricesearch.net/. You can do a search on any title and
it will find the lowest price for you. It includes mailing
information as well. Thanks Brian!

Ranger Frank in Seattle indicates that again, CostCo is saving
Babylon 5 fans money!

Costco stores have a limited time sale on the Babylon 5 DVD sets. I
went into a Costco in the Seattle area today, and they have seasons
1, 2 and 3 for $59.99 each -- about $25 less than Amazon.com, and $40
less than list price, as I recall. Season 4 is $64.99. But the deal
is that if you buy Season 4, you get $20 off any one of the other
seasons.

Thanks Frank for passing along the info. Other folks should check out
CostCo for Babylon 5 and other DVDs. They usually have very
competitive prices.

JEREMIAH
SEASON ONE DVD
$5 COUPON FOR JEREMIAH Here's a great value for you. Download this $5
coupon that can be applied to your purchase of the season one DVD set
of JEREMIAH from <http://www.isnnews.net/zocalo/images/jeremiah_DVD
Coupon.jpg>

For information on the season one DVD of JEREMIAH, read the Season
One Press Release at <http://www.isnnews.net/zocalo/images/jeremiah-
seasonone.shtml> which describes the DVD set in detail. You will also
find links to clips from the DVD here.

NEW PORTAL PAGE FOR JEREMIAH:
For new information on JEREMIAH, visit the JEREMIAH PORTAL . You'll
find a lot of new information for the series, including a photo
gallery, wallpaper, links to other JEREMIAH sites and much more.

For all that is new with JEREMIAH, go to JEREMIAH page. Showtime does
not have the show on it's schedule right now. Fans are putting pen to
paper and writing to voice their support for the series and their
desire to have it back on the airwaves. Check out how you can help.

Nothing official, but I read somewhere that Showtime will return
JEREMIAH to their schedule in March of 2004. Hopefully we will get a
date on that soon.

STARGATE SG-1

Season Five is now out on DVD.  For details on what is included, go
to <http://www.isnnews.net/zocalo/stargate-press.shtml>.    Also at
http://www.isnnews.net/zocalo/stargate-season5.shtml you'll find
clips and episode synopsis.

Season Six will be out on DVD March 2.  It is already available for
pre-order out at Amazon.com.

NEW SCI-FI PUBLICATIONS:

TV Zone #172: JMS concludes his series on BABYLON 5 in this issue. He
reminisces about the making of the series during the final season.
Also in this issue, Amanda Tapping talks about things coming up for
her character, Maj. Samantha Carter during the final season of the
series and set dectorators Mark and Robert Davidson explain how a
blank canvas can be transformed into a scene for the hit TV series.

Expose #83: In this issue, we get a look at ALIAS thru the eyes of
Agent Weiss - Greg Grunberg. Sean Astin tells us about how LORD OF
THE RINGS has been a life-changing experience. Co-producer of
CHARMED, Peter Chomsky, looks back over six years of special effects.

Starburst #306: This 100-page issue is full of exciting interviews --
including Sir Ian McKellen and Viggo Mortensen from LORD OF THE
RINGS. Also in this issue, Neil Gaiman talks about his upcoming
projects and Linda Park discusses Ensign Sato's story arc on
ENTERPRISE.

Cult Times #100: This huge, 100-page issue is full of great articles
and interviews. Among them, you can read about STARGATE SG-1's
Richard Dean Anderson as he approaches Season Eight of the show;
Linda Park from ENTERPRISE talks about her role as a translator and
Alfred Gough provides some hints on what we'll see in season three of
SMALLVILLE.

COMIC BOOKS:

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #507
Written by J. Michael Straczynski, cover and pencils by John Romita
Jr.
Concluding a 3-part arc, featuring the mysterious Ezekiel!
32 pages, $2.25, in stores on April 28.

SUPREME POWER #9
Written by J. Michael Straczynski, cover and pencils by Gary Frank.
The world is still shaking from the titanic battle of Hyperion and
Dr. Spectrum. Is Earth big enough for two such powerful beings? And
who is Power Princess? Find out here!
32 pages, $2.99, in stores on April 7.

INSIDE SCI-FI THIS WEEK:

SNAKE PLISSKEN: While out promoting his new film MIRACLE, Kurt
Russell said that his iconic Snake Plissken character, from the films
ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and ESCAPE FROM L.A. is alive and well in other
media, including a new game. "There's some stuff going on with the
whole Snake Plissken world, with a video game and an anime full-
length motion picture out of Japan and some comic books." The
bimonthly Hurricane Entertainment comic of John Carpenter's Snake
Plissken Chronicles is doing well. Meanwhile, Namco Hometek recently
sealed a deal with Russell, Escape director Carpenter and producer
Debra Hill to create Plissken-oriented video games, with the first
due out around Christmas 2005. And a Japanese anime Escape film is in
the works. "I love that character, so I love to see him living again
in that world, in those different worlds," Russell said. "I think
it's where Snake should be. I get to be with John and Debra. We sat
down recently in talking about the video game. It was a laugh. It was
fun. I'm going to do the voice for the video game and probably for
the anime as well." Russell doesn't believe a third feature film will
come to pass. "No, I don't think so," he said. "I doubt that. It
won't happen unless we decide we're going to spend an awful lot of
money on post-production cleaning up."

INDIANA JONES 4: In a recent Variety article, screenwriter/director
Frank Darabont brought us up to date on his screenplay for INDIANA
JONES 4. "I've finished my work, so now it's in the hands of God, or
Spielberg and Lucas if you prefer." He is presently working on a new
draft of FAHRENHEIT 451, which he intends to direct for Warner Bros.

THE PUNISHER: Wizard World Los Angeles will have a number of people
associated with THE PUNISHER on hand. Thomas Jane, star of movie will
be joined by writer/director Jonathan Henseligh and producers Gale
Anne Hurd and Avi Arad. Professional wrestler Kevin Nash, who plays
The Russian hopes to attend as well. The convention will also
spotlight HELLBOY stars Ron Perlman and Selma Blair and director
Guillermo del Toro.

STAR WARS: CLONE WARS: The Cartoon Network announced that chapters 11-
20 of STAR WARS: CLONE WARS will air at 8 p.m. (ET/PT) from Friday,
March 26 to Thursday, April 8. Here is the network's description of
the new chapters:
"Taking center stage is the battle between Anakin Skywalker and his
would-be assassin, the Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress, protégé of the evil
Sith lord Count Dooku. Meanwhile, on the desert planet of Dantooine,
Mace Windu must single-handedly take on an army of Droid soldiers.
And Yoda undertakes a mission to rescue two fellow Jedi, Barriss
Offee and Luminara Unduli, who are trapped on the icy planet Ilum. He
is joined by Padme Amidala, C-3PO and R2-D2 on this dangerous
mission."

3001: Luke Wilson is set to star in this sci-fi comedy. After being
selected for a suspended animation experiment, Wilson is revived only
to find that he's far smarter than everyone else since the world has
been getting ever dumb and dumber.

ANONYMOUS REX: According to Production Weekly, ANONYMOUS REX, a novel
series by Eric Garcia about dinosauars who live in the human world
donning latex disguises, will be made into a two-hour pilot in March
for the SCIFI Network. Julian Jarrrold will direct the project. Joe
Menosky provided the script that follows Vincent Rubio, a Los Angeles
private investigator.

HOUSE OF WAX: Production is set to begin mid-April in Australia on an
updated version of the 19853 Vincent Price horror classec HOUSE OF
WAX. Spanish director Jaume Collet-Serra is set to direct the remake
written by twin brothers Chad and Carey Hayes. The script follows a
group of friends that need to rely on each other -- or be added to
the House of Wax..

CINDERELLA MAN: Production of CINDERELLA MAN has been haulted for a
month due to an injury to Russell Crowe. Crowe sustained a dislocated
shoulder while being trained in boxing for the role. He will
immediately undergo arthroscopic debridement and repair surgery in
Australia, followed by intense physiotherapy. In the film, directed
by Ron Howard, Crowe stars as the legendary athlete, a once-promising
light heavyweight boxer forced into retirement after a string of
losses in the ring. As the nation enters the darkest years of the
Great Depression, Braddock accepts a string of dead-end jobs to
support his wife, Mae (Renée Zellweger), and their children, while
never totally abandoning his dream of boxing again. Carrying on his
shoulders the hopes and dreams of the disenfranchised masses,
Braddock, dubbed the "Cinderella Man," faces his toughest challenger
in Max Baer (Craig Bierko), the heavyweight champion of the world,
renowned for having killed two men in the ring.

THIS WEEKEND AT THE MOVIES: Three new movies arrive in North American
movie houses this weekend. We'll see MTV Films' teen heist comedy THE
PERFECT SCORE, Owen Wilson and Sara Foster in THE BIG BOUNCE and the
hip-hop dance flick YOU GOT SERVED. For reviews of all three, go to
http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/479/479921p1.html.

TOP SF NETWORK SHOWS:

Joan of Arcadia 7.9
Alias 5.3
Charmed 3.1
Tru Calling 2.8
Smallville 2.5
Enterprise 1.8
Angel 1.6
Jake 2.0 1.2
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 1/5/03 - 1/11/03.

SHREK 2: Although the movies only opens in North America on May 21,
SHREK 2 has already been selected for the main competition at this
year's Cannes Film Festival, which runs May 12-23. DreamWorks is
planning to screen the movie on May 15 at 7:30 p.m. local time.

BLACK DAHLIA: With the film set to begin shooting on May 24, Brian
DePalma's BLACK DAHLIA now has a leading lady. Scarlett Johansson has
been cast as the mysterious lady named Kay. Johansson's character is
a lookalike of the slain Black Dahlia woman, 1940s starlet Elizabeth
Short, and she also proves to be a femme fatale for the two Los
Angeles policemen (Mark Wahlberg and Josh Hartnett) investigating the
Dahlia murder.

HAVE SPACESUIT, WILL TRAVEL: According to The Hollywood Reporter,
David Reynolds (FINDING NEMO) has closed a deal to adapt the Robert
A. Heinlein science fiction classic HAVE SPACESUIT, WILL TRAVEL for
Warner Bros. Pictures. David Heyman is producing the live-action film
through his Heydey Prods. shingle. Originally published in 1958,
SPACESUIT tells the story of Kip, a high school senior who yearns to
go to the moon. He wins a real spacesuit in a contest but is forced
to sell it for college tuition. Deciding to take one last walk in the
suit in his backyard, he playfully calls out on the radio only to
unexpectedly contact a passing spaceship. The adventure that follows
finds the very fate of Earth in the his hands.

ALIAS: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced
Thursday that ALIAS' Jennifer Garner will host the Scientific and
Technical Awards on Feb. 14 at the Ritz Carlton Huntington Hotel in
Pasadena. The Valentine's Day event precedes the overall Oscar
ceremony on Feb. 29. Garner will appear on the ABC telecast two weeks
later to introduce a run-down of the sci-tech honorees.

PIXAR/DISNEY SPLIT: Pixar Animation Studios said Thursday that it has
broken off its talks with the Walt Disney Co. and will not extend its
distribution agreement with the studio once it expires in 2005 after
the completion of two more films. The move could have a dramatic
impact on Disney's standing as the industry's leading distributor of
animated films. It is sure to set off a fierce competition among its
rival studios, all eager to distribute Pixar's lucrative product.
Pixar chairman Steve Jobs said: "After 10 months of trying to strike
a deal with Disney, we're moving on. We've had a great run together --
  one of the most successful in Hollywood history -- and it's a shame
that Disney won't be participating in Pixar's future successes." In a
statement, Disney's Michael Eisner wished Jobs and John Lassiter,
Pixar's creative head, "much success in the future,"
adding, "Although we would have enjoyed continuing our successful
collaboration under mutually acceptable terms, Pixar understandably
has chosen to go its own way to grow as an independent company."

BUCK ROGERS: According to TVShowsonDVD.com, Universal is planning a
DVD boxed set release of BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY for the
shows 25th Anniversary later this year. The Digital Bits website has
confirmed that the discs are indeed in production. Gil Gerard & Erin
Gray have also been contacted to record audio commentary. The boxed
set would also include the movie which started it all. No word if it
will be the entire 37 episode run, or just the 24 (including the
film) episode first season.

SMALLVILLE LEDGER: Here's a cool newsletter for you. Visit this site
at <http://www2.warnerbros.com/web/smallville/ledger/home.jsp>. It is
full of nifty information -- as well as a ton of SMALLVILLE data.

STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE: Beginning March 10, STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE will
take over their old timeslot -- 9:00pm on UPN. The network is shaking
up their Wednesday line-up. They cancelled JAKE 2.0 and will start
off the evening with the return of THE MULLETS and insert a new video
game-themed series titled GAME OVER at 10:00pm. Nothing from UPN to
indicate this is a permanent change.

CLASSIC STAR TREK COMICS: Checker Book Publishing has announced plans
to reprint several of the now-classic Gold Key STAR TREK comic books.
First published when the series was still on the air, Gold Key
printed sixty issues of STAR TREK over 12 years, continuing on the
adventures of Kirk and his Enterprise crew even after NBC had
cancelled the show. Today the books are highly desired collectibles
and fetch prices in the hundreds of dollars if their condition is
very fine to near mint. The first STAR TREK trade paperback will go
on sale in March 2004 and comprise issues #1 through #8 of the Gold
Key run.

HIDE AND SEEK: Filming has begun for 20th Century Fox psychological
thriller HIDE AND SEEK. The cast includes Oscar-winner Robert De
Niro, Dakota Fanning, Famke Janssen, Elisabeth Shue, Melissa Leo and
Robert John Burke. John Polson (Swimfan) directs from a screenplay by
Ari Schlossberg. Barry Josephson produces. Hide and Seek follows "a
widowed father who desperately tries to break through to his 9-year-
old daughter when she creates a creepy, maniacal imaginary friend
with a terrifying vendetta."

HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY: According to Variety, Martin
Freeman ["The Office"], Zooey Deschanel and Mos Def will top the
cast of the film, based on the book of the same name by Douglas
Adams. The story centers on Arthur Dent (Freeman), who is whisked off
the planet by Ford Prefect (Def), an undercover alien
researching "The Hitchhiker's Guide" just before Earth is destroyed
to create a new hyperspace freeway. Deschanel plays Trillian,
girlfriend of Zaphod Beeblebrox, a two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie
and current president of the Galaxy. Garth Jennings and Nick
Goldsmith will direct the film, which starts shooting April 19 in
London.

TREK AND PICCARD: According to SyFy Portal, Patrick Stewart will not
be appearing in any more "Star Trek" movies as Jean- Luc
Piccard. "The last one didn't do too well," Stewart said of the
film. "That was one of the best two movies we made, and it didn't do
well. When we finished filming that movie, I realized that up until
then, I've done 15 years of Jean-Luc Picard. And I'm very proud
of 'The Next Generation.' But now that is past, and it is an
excellent time to hang up my space suit." Stewart soon will be doing
several productions, including voice work for "Racing Stripes," "The
Water Warriors" and the upcoming Disney movie, "Bambi II."

TIME TUNNEL: Beginning in June, fans of the series can look watch the
series on the pay per view Encore Channel. The series will be uncut
and yes, digital if you have digital cable.

SCIFI NETWORK: January was a very good month for the SCIFI Channel.
It delivered a 1.1 prime-time rating, making it the best January in
the network's history and the second highest-rated month ever. The
1.1 household rating was second only to December 2002, which drew a
1.65 rating partly as a result of the premiere of the Emmy-Award-
winning miniseries Steven Spielberg Presents Taken. Overall, SCI FI
ranked 10th among all non-news, advertising-supported cable networks.
The Channel's 1.1 prime-time rating (951,000 households or 1.4
million viewers) was 10 percent higher than the previous January. The
January 9 premiere of STARGATE SG-1 episode drew a 2.2 rating, the
highest for an original SCI FI episode of SG-1 to date. With 2. 66
million viewers, the episode was the most-watched original segment of
the show in the series' cable run and delivered more viewers than any
episode of any original series in SCI FI Channel history. SCI FI's
Saturday Action Original DRAGON STORM (directed by Stephen Furstj)
was the most-watched original movie in the channel's history, with
3.03 million total viewers and a 2.3 household rating, tying Epoch as
the network's highest-rated original movie ever. Dragon Storm will
air again Jan. 29 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

TOP 10 SF SYNDICATED SHOWS:
Stargate SG-1 2.3
Andromeda 2.1
Mutant X 2.0
She Spies 2.0
The X-Files 1.7
Beastmaster 1.5
Buffy 1.5
3rd Rock 1.3
Ripley's 1.3
Angel 1.2
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 1/5/03 - 1/11/03

ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS: THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE
KING led the Academy Awards race on Jan. 27, with 11 nominations,
including best picture and director. RETURN OF THE KING also earned
nominations for best original score and song, visual effects, film
editing and adapted screenplay, for Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and
Philippa Boyens' script based on J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy trilogy of
books. Among the other nominations were Johnny Depp for best actor
for his performance in PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE
BLACK PEARL. Contenders for supporting actor included Alec Baldwin as
a sleazy casino owner in THE COOLER. FINDING NEMO was nominated for
animated feature film, along with BROTHER BEAR and the French film
THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE. NEMO also got a nod for best original
screenplay.

SILVER LAKE: Variety reports that UPN has ordered a pilot for SILVER
LAKE, a supernatural drama series from producer Aaron Spelling
(Beverly Hills 90210). Justin Tanner (Gilmore Girls) will write and
executive produce the pilot with Spelling and E. Duke Vincent. The
drama revolves around a record-store owner who uses his psychic
abilities to communicate with the dead and help them resolve issues
they left behind.

CARS: According to Variety, Paul Newman, a long-time racing
enthusiast, will lend his voice to Pixar Animation Studios' upcoming
computer-animated film CARS. The project will be helmed by John
Lasseter (Toy Story). Newman will voice the lead car in the movie,
which also features Bonnie Hunt, Owen Wilson, Dan Whitney and NASCAR
vet Richard Petty. CARS deals with a variety of autos as characters
who get their kicks on Route 66. Darla K. Anderson (A Bug's Life) is
producing and they are eyeing a 2005 holiday release. As part of
Newman's participation, Disney and Pixar also will sponsor the
actor's Porsche as he races in the Rolex 24 at Daytona on Jan. 31 and
Feb. 1, attempting to break his own record at the age of 79 as the
oldest man to ever win a professionally sanctioned race. Newman
already has a cheering section for him in Lesseter. He says, "Paul
Newman is an acting and racing legend," remarked Lasseter of the
announcement. "He is one of the greatest actors of all time, and his
love and close attention with automobiles makes him the perfect
choice for our film. I can't wait to see him beat his own record at
Daytona and he'll have a lot fans here at Pixar cheering him on."

TOP SCI-FI CHANNEL SHOWS:
Stargate SG-1 2.2
Code Name Eternity 1.7
Dark Waters 1.5
Sabretooth 1.4
Crocodile 2 1.2
Tremors: The Series 1.2
Shark Attack 3 1.1
Storm of Century, Pt. 3 1.0
Shark Hunter 1.0
Storm of Century, Pt. 2 1.0
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 1/5/03 - 1/11/03.

THE GRUDGE: Production gets underway later this month on THE GRUDGE,
a project that stars Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jason Behr. Also in
the cast is INDEPENDENCE DAY's Bill Pullman, THE FACULTY's Clea
DuVall and William Mapother (SWORDFISH).

JOHNNY BRAVO: Jessica Biel, who is playing Abigail in BLADE: TRINITY,
will be providing a guest voice in JOHNNY BRAVO GOES TO HOLLYWOOD, a
30-minute special that premieres on Cartoon Network on Friday, Feb.
20 at 8 p.m. Alec Baldwin and Don Knotts also provide guest voices.

STAR WARS: EPISODE III: In an interview with Scotland Today, Ewan
McGregor talked about the Star Wars: Episode III script and says
things tie-up nicely with Episode IV. "I tell you what's very
difficult about it is that it's difficult to...know really. I hope, I
think what it does nicely is it ties up all the ends, all the loose
ends and it meets Episode 4 with Alec Guinness and the crew very
nicely I think. I don't think there's anything left unsolved and
there's a huge but enormous fight at the end of it Enormous, I've
never been more exhausted in my life. We spent weeks and weeks
shooting this fight!" In other STAR WARS news, a number of clips
taken from the set of the movie have turned up on the internet. One
12-minute segment shows a light-saber battle between Hayden
Christiansen (Darth Vader) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor).

DARK WATER: According to Variety, Tim Roth has been cast in Disney's
remake of the Japanese thriller DARK WATER. The story
reportedly "revolves around a mother and daughter who escape a
custody battle by retreating to a run-down apartment building. There,
they are haunted by the ghost of a former resident. Roth will play
the mother's attorney, an odd lawyer who works out of his car." The
cast includes Jennifer Connelly, Pete Postlethwaite and John C.
Reilly. Walter Salles will direct for producer Bill Mechanic's
Pandemonium from a screenplay by Rafael Yglesias (From Hell).

GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS: Peter Jackson and LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF
THE KING were the big winners at last nights Golden Globe
Awards. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of King" seized "the
precious" -- a win for best dramatic motion picture. Among the year's
leading actors, "Mystic River's" Sean Penn and "Monster's" Charlize
Theron took home top drama honors, while the comedy kudos went to
Bill Murray for "Lost in Translation" and Diane Keaton
for "Something's Gotta Give." In television, HBO's epic
miniseries "Angels in America" led the field with five wins,
including best miniseries/telefilm and lead actor and actress
trophies for Al Pacino and Meryl Streep.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: According to The Hollywood Reporter, New Line
Cinema's THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT took over top spot at the boxoffice on
its premiere weekend and brought home an estimated $17.1 million. The
time-traveling sci-fi thriller, starring Ashton Kutcher and Amy
Smart, attracted a mostly young audience, despite its R-rating. Last
weekend's boxoffice champ, Universal's ALONG CAME POLLY, starring Ben
Stiller and Jennifer Aniston, fell into the second spot with an
estimated $16.6 million. The romantic comedy, from Jersey Films and
director-writer John Hamburg, was off a soft 40% from its debut while
moving its 10-day total to a solid $53.5 million. The other new wide
release this weekend was DreamWorks' WIN A DATE WITH TAD HAMILTON!
arrived in the third slot with a disappointing $7.5 million. The teen
romantic comedy found its target audience of mostly females but just
not in the numbers hoped for. The PG-13-rated film stars Kate
Bosworth, Topher Grace and Josh Duhamel and was helmed by Robert
Luketic. Sony's BIG FISH pulled in an estimated $7.3 million to come
aboard the fourth spot, down a slim 29% from a week earlier. The Tim
Burton-directed fable has netted an estimated $49.1 million so far.
New Line's THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING came in at
fifth position with an estimated $6.9 million. The epic fantasy-
adventure is now the ninth-highest-grossing film of all time in North
America with an estimated $337.9 million in revenue. 20th Century
Fox's CHEAPER BY THE DOXEN placed sixth and was down only 27% from
the previous session with an estimated $6.6 million. The Steven
Martin starrer has accumulated an estimated $122.8 million to date.

CATWOMAN: You think being a leading lady in an action film is fun!
Ask Halle Berry. A report out at Hollywood North indicates that Berry
was rushed to St. Paul's Hospital in Downtown Vancouver around
midnight on Saturday. She was hit by a boom while doing some physical
work at the Performing Arts Center (formerly Ford Center). CATWOMAN
has been at this locale for the last week and a half doing special
effects/stunt work and was set to move on this week. Thankfully
Berry's stay at the hospital was brief (a few hours) and she was more
shaken than anything.

STEPHEN KING'S KINGDOM HOSPITAL: Ed Begley, Jr. is once again doning
the lab coat of a doctor for ABC's upcoming limited series STEPHEN
KING'S KINGDOM HOSPITAL. You will remember Begley from his days on
ST> ELSEWHERE and he also had a recurring role as a doctor on 7TH
HEAVEN. He says the new role brings things full circle. "St.
Elsewhere was a pretty bizarre hospital when you think about it. The
final episode it was decided the whole hospital was a dream in the
mind of an autistic child. So this is probably a little weirder than
that." Begley plays Dr. Jesse James, whom he describes as "the chief
administrator of the hospital, a highly ineffectual man. His idea of
medicine is to paint the walls a bright color and put little happy
buttons on people and make them feel better that way. I don't think
he's the best doctor around." The cast also includes Andrew McCarthy,
Diane Ladd and Bruce Davison in a story about a haunted hospital.
Begley added that the story reflects King's own bad experiences with
the health-care system following his near-fatal accident in 1999, in
which he was struck by a van as he walked on a road near his Maine
home.

CONVENTION CALENDAR:

Creation Entertainment
February 6-8, 2004
Location: Doubletree Bellevue Hotel
Place: Seattle, Washington
Guests: Robert Beltran, Amanda Tapping, Tim Russ, Robert Picardo,
Ethan Phillips, Peter Mayhew, Jeremy Bulloch
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/calendar.htm.

Creation Entertainment
February 14, 2004
Location: Phoenix Hilton East/Mesa
Place: Phoenix, Arizona
Guest: William Shatner
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/calendar.htm.

Creation Entertainment (Buffy & Angel)
February 15, 2004
Location: Phoenix Hilton East/Mesa
Place: Phoenix, Arizona
B5 Guest: Robin Atkin Downes
Guests: Stephanie Romanov, Julie Benz, Iyari Limon, John Kassir,
Jacqueline Lichtenberg
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/calendar.htm.

Farpoint
February 13-15, 2004
Location: Marriott's Hunt Valley Inn
Place: Baltimore, MD
B5 Guests: Bill Mumy, Brad Dourif
Other Guests: Peter David, Liliana Mumy
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.farpointcon.com.

SF Ball
February 13-15, 2004
Location: Carrington House Hotel
Place: Bournemouth, UK
B5 Guests: Richard Biggs, Jason Carter
Other Guests: Linda Thorson, Dwight Schultz, Carolyn Seymour, Scott
Macdonald, Celeste Yarnall, Michael Sheard, Michael Dorn and
Alexandra Tydings
For more information, visit their website at http://www.sfball.com.

Marcon
March 5-7, 2004
Location: Hilton Mpls/St. Paul Airport Hotel
Place: Bloomington, Minneapolis
B5 Guest: Richard Biggs
Other Guests: Dr. Demento, John M. Ford, Davina, David E Romm, the
Great Luke Ski, The Nick Atoms, Tri-Destiny
For more information, visit their website at http://www.marscon.org.

Megacon
March 5-7, 2004
Location: Orlando, FL
Place: Orange County Convention Center
B5 Guest: Bill Mumy, Brad Dourif
Other Guests: Allison Mack, Lost in Space cast: Angela Cartright,
Mark Goddard, Marta Kristen, June Lockhart, Bob May, and many more
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.megaconvention.com/.

Best of Both Worlds
Date: March 13-14, 2004
Place: Canberra, Australia
Theme: Lord of the Rings
Guests: Dominic Monaghan - Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck (The Lord Of
The Rings Movie Trilogy)
For more information, visit their website at
http://johnvb.tripod.com/asn2.html.

I-CON 23
Date: March 26-28, 2004
Place: SUNY, Stony Brook Campus
Location: Stony Brook, NY
B5 Guests: Peter Jurasik, Bill Blair
Other Guests: Vaughn Armstrong
For more information, visit their website at http://www.iconsf.org.

United Fan Con East
Date: March 26-28, 2004
Place: Marriott Hotel
Location: Quincy, MAbr> Guests: Teryl Rothery (Maj. Janet Frasier,
STARGATE); Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi from Star Trek: The Next
Generation); more guests to be announced
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.unitedfancon.com/.

Creation Entertainment GRAND SLAM: THE SCI-FI SUMMIT
March 26-28, 2004
Location: Pasadena Center
Place: Pasadena, CA
Guests: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Brent Spiner, Sally
Kellerman, Connor Trinneer, Alexander Siddig, Dominic Keating,
Anthony Montgomery, Walter Koenig, Andrew Robinson, Armen Shimerman,
Kren Auberjonois, Cirroc Lofton, John Rhys-Davies, Amanda Tapping,
Michael Shanks, Corin Nemec, Michael Rosenbaum, Mark Verheiden,
Anthony Michael Hall, Nicole de Boer, Chris Bruno, John L. Adams,
Kristen Dalton, Andy Hallett, Mercedes McNab, Robia La Morte, Iyari
Limon, Mark Lutz, James Leary, Julie Benz, Jeremy Bulloch, Kenny
Baker, Rusty Goffe, Ken Colley, Peter Mayhew, Leni Parker, Gina Torres

For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/calendar.htm.

Be sure to check websites for conventions to keep up on changes in
guests attending.  Scheduling conflicts often prevent people from
coming to conventions so you want to make sure your favorite person
is still going to be attending.

I guess that's about it for now.  Be sure to visit the website to
get more information as it becomes available.

Have a terrific weekend – stay safe.
Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN News: The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net

As soon as I hit the send button, I got a message from a newsgroup
that offers an update to the project JMS talked about.  Still not a
lot of information, but here is what is available:

"It's taken longer than hoped for to be able to talk about this,
because it's taken longer than hoped for to go through all the
machinations of the deal.  Depending on the nature of a given deal,
it can take a few weeks to a couple, three months to actually cut the
deal and finalize the language in terms everybody can agree with.  We
only literally finished the deal last week.

Writing on B5:TMoS is complete, and as soon as the powers that be sign
off on everything, it can be turned in and we can start moving.  At
that point, I can say more about this.

Figure another couple of weeks."

That's it.  No idea what B5:TMoS means, but we should find out in a
couple of weeks.

Take care.
Sandy

THE ZOCALO TODAY – February 14, 2004

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

What's New
We are all patiently waiting for JMS to give us more information on
his new B5 project – whatever that might be.

The news today is the cancellation of ANGEL.  Yes, read about it in
the News Section.

KEEPING UP WITH CAST AND CREW

GARY COLE: Gary Cole (Captain Gideon from CRUSADE) is featured in
Sunday's Parade magazine. His new role as Vice President on THE WEST
WING gives him enough extra time to take on other parts, including
WIN A DATE WITH TAD HAMILTON. Did notice one omission from his bio
though -- no mention of CRUSADE at all.

BRUCE BOXLEITNER: Bruce will star in an upcoming SCIFI Channel
original movie "Snake River". Bruce portrays a Sherriff in the
project. There is an article about the feature in the new SCIFI
magazine.

STEPHEN AUSTIN: Our favorite Pak'Ma'Ra Ambassador has a wonderful of
stand-up comedy routine that he takes on the road. His latest dates
are: THE COMEDY SPOT, Feb. 13th-14th
Scottsdale, AZ. 480-945-4422
THE IMPROV Tues., Feb. 24th - 8p
Ontario, CA 909-484-5411
MALONE'S Thurs., Feb. 26th - 8p
Santa Ana, CA 714-979-6000

JERRY DOYLE RADIO SHOW:   "The Jerry Doyle Show", now heard Saturdays
from 8-11PM PST on the Talk Radio Network, will be adding a weekday
show starting April 5th. Jerry is working on an affiliate list for
the 95 stations across the country.

"The Jerry Doyle Show" launched in syndication, coast to coast, on
12/6 through Talk Radio Network. It's on Saturday nights, 8-11 PM
PST. According to Jerry, it's about "Politics, pop culture and things
that tick me off is the general theme. It's been a great ride and the
folks at TRN have been fantastic. You can go to Talk Radio Network
for more information.

DISCUSSION TOPIC:
There are a number of science fiction shows on TV. Many of them are
so-so; others are pretty good; few are outstanding. Which ones do you
watch -- and why?

Send in your comments and views to sgbruckner@.... I post them on
the Discussion Page for everyone to share. See what has come in so
far. If you see an old topic you want to respond to, go right ahead.
We enjoy hearing from you.

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT

7:00pm on UPN
Star Trek: Enterprise
Harbinger
Feuding disrupts an investigation of a rescued alien; T'Pol confesses
her feelings for Trip.

8:00pm on UPN
Unexplained Mysteries
Target: Earth
Frightening accounts of UFOs and their possible intention to attack.

On SCIFI Tonight:

5:00pm
Bride of Chucky
An evil doll and its mate seek human form.

7:00pm
Faust: Love of the Damned
A troubled artist seeks revenge for his girlfriend's death.

9:00pm
Final Destination
A teen and his friends try to thwart death.

On Syndicated TV This Weekend:

Andromeda
The Warmth of an Invisible Light
Dylan is transported to an alternate reality.

Angel
Blind Date
Angel works to save children from a demonic assassin.

BeastMaster
Heart Like a Lion
Dar goes to battle to save a village from the forces of the evil
despot Arkon.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Same Time, Same Place
Willow's homecoming is more problematic than anyone anticipated.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
Divine Right
Roxton saves a young woman and steps right into Balar's trap.

MacGyver
The Walking Dead
Mac aids a collegian who faces extortionists.

Mutant X
Art of Attraction
The team works to retrieve a code hidden in a series of paintings.

The Outer Limits
Caught in the Act
A college student develops an insatiable sexual appetite.

NEW SCI-FI PUBLICATIONS

Cult Times #101:   Go behind the scenes of CHARMED in this issue.
Stunt co-ordinator Noon Orsatti, costume designer Eilish Zebrasky and
special effects genius Tim Jacobsen provide some of the secrets to
the show. Also in this issue, Don S. David, General Hammond from
STARGATE SG-1 talks about 7 years of the series and why it may be
time for him to call it a day. With BATTLESTAR GALACTICA getting
series status, the article with Katee Sackhoff is timely as she talks
about her role as Starbuck.

INSIDE SCI-FI THIS WEEK:

Saturday, February 14:
TOP SF NETWORK SHOWS:
Joan of Arcadia 6.0
Tru Calling 3.6
Smallville 3.1
Alias 3.0
Charmed 2.7
Enterprise 2.3
Angel 2.3
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 1/19/03 - 1/25/03.

ANGEL - CANCELLED: Word has just come down that this year will be the
last season for ANGEL. The show follows a list of old favorites that
are departing the airwaves. When asked to confirm the information,
ANGEL co-creator and producer David Greenwalt said "It's official
enough to know it's real but I haven't talked to anybody at the
network or the studio. I can tell you that it's real, that it makes
Mr. Whedon and myself very sad, that we wish it had kept going and we
thought it was only getting better." Nine new episodes remain unaired
in ANGEL's full season commitment at The WB. The cancellation
announcement would seem timed to provide Joss Whedon and his staff
time to wrap up the series in the remaining episodes left which would
still be in the early stages of planning and writing.

STARGATE SG-1: MGM Studios has opened the first theme-park ride based
on STARGATE SG-1, at the Space Center in Bremen, Germany. The theme
park has allowed visitors into the Stargate SG 3000 simulator ride
since a soft opening on Dec. 19, but officially launched the ride at
a VIP celebration on Feb. 11. Stargate SG 3000 features a four-minute
simulation film that lets audiences experience what happens when the
Stargate allows them to jump to different dimensions. Thirty-five
people at a time can ride in one of three simulators, trying to
recapture the Gate Key from the evil Satra, a character created
especially for the ride. The attraction also includes a themed
queuing area and a retail shop. The Space Center Bremen is Europe's
largest indoor adventure park, with space-themed attractions and
entertainment.

STARGATE: ATLANTIS: Production is set to begin in Burnaby, BC (near
Vancouver) on February 23. The series is set to joing the SCIFI line-
up in June. While the character profiles can be found at the
Gateworld website, there is no information about actors slated to
portray them.

ENTERPRISE: Rumors about ENTERPRISE have been surfacing for months.
Leslie Moonves, the CBS chief who also oversees sister network UPN,
told the Scripps Howard News Service that the fate of UPN's STAR
TREK: ENTERPRISE is uncertain and will remain so for the next several
months. Despite a change in the series' storyline and the addition of
Star Trek to its title, ENTERPRISE has seen little improvement in
ratings over last season. "We just picked up three drama pilots.
We'll pick up a few more after that," Moonves said. "You see the new
stuff, you see the old stuff, and you compare and say, 'What is the
better schedule?' So it's not like, 'Gee, if ENTERPRISE is up 10
percent between now and May, it will get picked up.' ... It's, 'All
right. How do we build Wednesday better?' 'Does it include
ENTERPRISE?' Very possibly. 'Does it not?' Possibly as well." It's
possible that, instead of being canceled, ENTERPRISE could move to
Friday nights, Moonves added.

RESIDENT EVIL 2: Set to open on October 1, Milla Jovovich, star of
the upcoming sequel film RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE told MTV.com that
the movie picks up where the last one left off. "At the end of the
first movie my character survives by the skin of her teeth, and she
enters this city, and it's completely destroyed, and we don't really
know what's going on. At the beginning of this one we pick that up,
and we see the back history of how the city became deserted, and we
meet all of the characters." RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE is based on
the hit video game series. It introduces the new character of Jill
Valentine, the heroine of the game series, to be played by Sienna
Guillory. The new movie pits the two heroines against zombies, their
corporate creators and a giant monster called Nemesis.

MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD: 20th Century Fox
Home Video has announced that MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF
THE WORLD will be released to DVD on April 20. The Oscar-nominated
picture will arrive in an unusual choice of three different DVD
versions: a full-screen version, a widescreen version, and a
collector's edition two-disc set. The deluxe DVD will be a two-disc
set and contain the widescreen version of the film on disc one. The
second disc will hold a 70-minute documentary showcasing the making
of the Peter Weir film; three 20 to 30-minute long featurettes; a 28-
page book; and multiple-angle versions of four different battle
sequences shot for the film. By switching between angles, you will be
able to see all of the footage that Weir shot with as many as six
multiple cameras to capture the action. Additional bonus material
will also be included on this set, to be revealed at a future time.

JAMES BOND: 21: There has been continual speculation regarding Pierce
Brosnan's return for the 21st JAMES BOND film slated for November
2005. Those rumors have been put to bed. Brosnan had stated in past
interviews that he would like to play the character again for the
fifth time and even possibly one more adventure after that. The
Hollywood Reporter and Variety stated yesterday that Brosan's film
production company, Irish Dreamtime, had reupped their first-look
deal with MGM, the Bond studio. MGM made a point of mentioning that
they have Brosnan in mind to play James Bond in the next as-yet
untitled 007 film, effectively ending the current rumor du jour.
Brosnan has plans for a sequel to THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, the
thriller MATADOR and the action-adventure MEXICALI. The Irish actor
has just finished work on a new thriller for New Line Cinema called
AFTER THE SUNSET.

LORD OF WAR: Nicolas Cage is set to team with writer-director Andrew
Niccol in LORD OF WAR, a drama that will shoot this summer. Niccol,
who scripted "The Truman Show" and wrote and directed "Gattaca"
and "Simone," has penned a drama that casts Cage as a ruthless global
arms dealer who is trying to stay a step ahead of a relentless
Interpol agent.

SMALLVILLE: Warner has announced the release of SMALLVILLE Season Two
for May 25. The six-disc set will feature: Anamorphic Widescreen
Presentations
English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Tracks
Audio Commentary on Episodes Red and Rosetta
Multiple Deleted Scenes & Gag Reel
The Chloe Chronicles Featurette
Faster Than a Speeding Bullet: The Visual FX of Smallville
Christopher Reeve: Man of Steel Featurette
English, French and Spanish Subtitles

MORE DVD NEWS: DEAD LIKE ME - Season One on DVD is getting pushed
back from May 4th to June 15th. And THE DEAD ZONE: The Complete
Second Season is moving from March 16th back to June 8th.

Friday, February 13:
TOP SF DVD SALES:
1. Angel season three
2. Pirates of the Caribbean
3. Finding Nemo
4. The Two Towers extended edition
5. Fellowship of the Ring extended edition
6. The Lion King 1 1/2
7. Alice in Wonderland
8. Red Dwarf series three and four
9. Firefly
10. Stargate SG-1 season five
Source: Amazon.com, top-selling genre DVDs, 2/6/04

POPEYE: Variety reports that Kathy Bates will supply a character in
an upcoming computer-animated TV special Popeye's Voyage: The Quest
for Pappy, marking the character's 75th anniversary. Due to air at
the end of the year, Bates will supply the voice of Popeye's
archenemy, the Sea Hag/Siren, in the Fox network special. Former Devo
frontman Mark Mothersbaugh is slated to whip up a new version of the
classic theme Popeye the Sailor Man. Hearst-owned King Features
Syndicate is relaunching the Popeye franchise in honor of the
anniversary. Mainframe Entertainment is animating the special. Billy
West (Ren and Stimpy) will supply the voice of Popeye. Paul Reiser
and Jim Hardison co-wrote the 30-minute special.

DOCTOR WHO: According to the BBCi Web site, Phil Collinson has been
hired to produce a proposed new U.K. DOCTOR WHO TV series, with plans
for an initial 13-episode run. Russell T. Davies, the man behind the
Who revival, will write seven of the proposed episodes, the site
reported. Other writers will be contracted soon.

SATURN AWARDS: Cinescape Magazine announced the nominees for the 30th
Annual Saturn Awards yesterday. These awards, given by the Academy of
Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, single out their favorite
movies, series, actors, directors and creators who have entertained
and delighted audiences with their tales of the extraordinary. For
this special anniversary year, this year's theme for the Saturn
Awards is "A Celebration of the Fantastic".

Not unexpectedly, J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy series, THE LORD OF THE
RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING led the nominations with a total of 13,
including Best Picture (Science Fiction), two nominations for Best
Actor (Viggo Mortensen and Elijah Wood), and three nominations for
Best Supporting Actor (Sean Astin, Ian McKellen, and Andy Serkis).
Peter Jackson has received Saturn nominations for Best Director and
Best Writing (along with his co-writers Fran Walsh and Philippa
Boyens).
Other films making a strong showing includE Gore Verbinski's PIRATES
OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL (a total of 9
nominations); Bryan Singer's X2: X-MEN UNITED (7 nominations);
Quentin Tarantino's KILL BILL VOL> 1 (6 nominations) and Ed Zwick's
THE LAST SAMURAI (5 nominations.) A total of 32 films are represented
this year with nominations.

In television, The WB leads all other networks this year with 11
nominations for their television series, including 5 nominations each
for both SMALLVILLE and ANGEL. In second place is The Sci Fi Channel
with 9 nominations (4 for STARGATE: SG-1), while UPN and ABS both
garnered 6 nominations apiece (ALIAS has 4.)
For a full run-down of nominations, go to http://www.cinescape.com.
The 30th Annual Saturn Awards will be held May 5.

CASTING NEWS: According to the Hollywood Reporter, Mike Erwin
("Hulk") has joined the WB Network's drama pilot "The Robinsons: Lost
in Space," playing Don West.

SESAME STREET TAKES WEST WING: The Wednesday, March 3 episode of WEST
WING will feature cameos by the characters from Sesame Street. This
will mark the first time that these Muppets have guest starred on a
prime time series. In the episode, President Bartlett (Martin Sheen)
enlists C.J. (Allison Janney) to try to improve the First Lady's
(Stockard Channing) image. As a solution, the First Lady films a
public service announcement where she gives Elmo a checkup. This year
marks the 35th anniversary of "Sesame Street." Way to go Elmo!

THE GRID: Robert Forster is teaming up Dylan McDermott (The Practice)
and Julianna Margulies in the six-hour miniseries for TNT and BBC.
Forster plays the mentor of a counterterrorism agent (McDermott) out
to save humanity from global annihilation. The drama is scheduled to
air this summer.

A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE: Variety reports that David Cronenberg
("Spider") will direct A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE at New Line Cinema, the
first book in the Paradox Graphic Mystery line of books published by
Paradox Press/DC Comics. The second book in the series was ROAD TO
PERDITION, on which the Tom Hanks film was based on. The plot of the
graphic novel follows an ordinary family's life after the father
receives unwanted national attention for a seemingly vigilante self-
defense killing at his diner and his previously unknown past is
dredged up. The novel was written by Judge Dredd creator John
Wagner. "Violence" was adapted by screenwriter Josh Olson, who also
wrote "Three Gun Blues," set up at Paramount.

Thursday, February 12:
SHREK: According to Variety, NBC will premiere a new trailer for
SHREK 2 following the broadcast debut of the original Shrek in
February. The 2 1/2-minute trailer will promote the computer-animated
sequel, which opens May 21.

BATMAN: Cinescape.com reported trusted sources had informed them that
had either signed -- or was close to closing the loop -- to star in
BATMAN: INTIMIDATION GAME. Neeson would join Bale -- set to play
Bruce Wayne, aka Batman -- and Michael Caine, who is appearing as
Wayne's butler, Alfred. Katie Holmes and Cillian Murphy also have
been cast. The Hollywood Reporter indicated that the studio declined
comment on Neeson's role. Neeson, who was nominated for an Oscar for
his portrayal of Oskar Schindler in "Schindler's List," was most
recently seen in "Love Actually." Villains rumored to be in David
Goyer's screenplay include R'as al Ghul, Jonathan Crane (a.k.a. The
Scarecrow) and crime boss Carmine Falcone.

STAR WARS: There is a new solicitation from Amazon.com for a
forthcoming STAR WARS novel for young readers, set during the Clone
Wars and featuring a young Boba Fett. STAR WARS: BOBA FETT - A NEW
THREAT is scheduled for an April 2004 publishing date, but what's
causing STAR WARS fans to take notice is the cover artwork depicting
a new villain that audiences will see in EPISODE III. SPOILER
WARNING:
Insiders indicate that a new villain called General Grievious.
Grievious is commander of Count Dooku's Separtist armies, and we will
see him in combat during the opening sequence of EPISODE III. The
buzz is that Grievious is a 100% computer generated character who is
said to have a mysterious appearance undernearth the cloak that he
wears. Fans have been speculating for months what Grievious will look
like -- and now it appears that the character is front and center on
the cover for A NEW THREAT. According to our sources, the grey-
skinned being standing between Boba Fett (wearing his father's armor)
and Techno Guild official Wat Tambor (on the right) is none other
than Grievious. No specifics are mentioned in the Amazon.com
announcement.

ANGEL: The WB has released information for next week's episode of
ANGEL, "Smile Time." Their description of the episode follows:
"When a popular children's show begins to steal the life forces of
children by hypnotizing them, Angel (David Boreanaz) goes directly to
the studio to uncover the evil doings. Upon entering the building,
Angel triggers a spell that transforms him into a puppet. In a race
against time, puppet-Angel and company must find a way to reverse the
spell, save the lives of hundreds of children and return Angel to his
normal vampire state. Meanwhile, Nina (guest star Jenny Mollen), the
werewolf Angel befriended, returns to declare her romantic
intentions, but puppet-Angel is too embarrassed to reciprocate."

ZEROMAN: Variety reports that Leslie Nielsen, who's appeared in both
dramatic and comic roles on stage, TV and movies, will now be
caricatured as the star of ZEROMAN, a half-hour animated series in
which he'll voiceover his own image, a superhero with the same faults
and virtues as his Frank Drebin character in "Naked Gun."

FIREFLY: Fireflymovie.com provides an update on the FIREFLY feature:
"...we knew that the movie became held up back at the end of
December. The original script was shelved and Joss wrote something
else entirely. Something less of an epilogue and more of a potential
springboard to a series return. Due to that and some other time
constraints and projects, there was significant delay. Distribution
stuff bogged down the works. Look for a few more official type
snippets at the usual sources... "

Wednesday, February 11, 2004:
TOP SF SYNDICATED SHOWS:
Stargate SG-1 2.4
She Spies 2.1
Andromeda 1.8
Mutant X 1.8
Buffy 1.5
Angel 1.4
The X-Files 1.4
Beastmaster 1.3
3rd Rock 1.2
The Outer Limits 1.1
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 1/19/03 - 1/25/03

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: It's official! SCI FI Channel has announced
that it has given the green light to produce 13 episodes of a new
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA series, based on the channel's "reimagined"
Galactica miniseries that aired in December 2003. The network has
ordered 13 one-hour episodes of the show, which will bring back cast
members Edward James Olmos (Adama), Mary McDonnell (Laura Roslin),
Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck) and Tricia Helfer (Number Six). The network
announced that production is slated to begin next month in Vancouver,
B.C. Ronald D. Moore (Carnivale, Roswell) returns as executive
producer. Galactica will be produced exclusively for SCI FI, in
association with Sky One and distributed by USA Cable Entertainment,
where David Eick, an executive producer of the miniseries, serves as
executive vice president.

As SCIFI announced the greenlight for BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, Executive
Producer Ronald D. Moore told SCI FI Wire that the 13-episode first
season will pick up where the December miniseries left off and will
build on that show's characters and situations. As the new series
begins, "a few days have passed and we're in sort of a dire situation
right from the get-go," Moore said in an interview. "I think one of
the hallmarks of the series will be that it's always going to be a
tense situation. These people are always going to be one step away
from disaster. Which doesn't mean that the Cylons will be attacking
them every week. But I think the nature of their situation and the
reality of what they're facing out there alone, with most of them
left with the clothes on their back and whatever food and supplies
they happen to have on those ships when the events of the pilot occur
is only, God, the beginning. And it's going to take a long time for
them to get to any kind of stability or normalcy." Moore said that he
is currently assembling a writing staff for the series, which may
include colleagues from Moore's old series Roswell, Star Trek: The
Next Generation and HBO's Carnivale. Moore is drafting the script for
the series' first episode, has roughed out stories for the first
three and has written a series bible, with story and character arcs
for the first season.

ENDERS: According to Variety, X2 writers Dan Harris and Michael
Dougherty will adapt Orson Scott Card's beloved SF novels "Ender's
Game" and "Ender's Shadow" for the screen, to be directed by Wolfgang
Petersen. Warner Brothers will produce. The Hugo Award-winning book
series begins on Earth after an alien attack, when gifted children
are recruited for war, with a prodigy leading the assault against the
aliens. Card signed the Warner deal not only for a potential film
franchise, but also for potential computer and video games with the
Warners Consumer Products division.

ANGEL: The third season of ANGEL is now available on DVD. All 22
episodes from the show's 2000-2001 season are spread out over six
discs, including commentaries by series creator Joss Whedon, writers
Tim Minear and Mere Smith, screen tests for Amy Acker and Vincent
Kartheiser, outtakes, three new featurettes and more ways to spend
your free time staring at the television. To celebrate the release of
ANGEL - SEASON THREE, Fox Home Video and M80 have made six clips to
Cinescape.com. Three of the clips highlight key moments from the
season while the remaining three preview the bonus material to be
found on the DVDs. They are:
Highlight: the son of Angel is born
Highlight: Angel confronts Wesley shortly after the kidnapping of his
infant son
Highlight: Angel says hello to the demon known as Skip
An overview of ANGEL season three
Julie Benz discusses her role as Darla
David Boreanaz talks about the return of Darla to Angel's life
All clips are in Windows Media format.

XENA: The third season of XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS has arrived on store
shelves. This nine-disc set contains all 22 episodes digitally re-
mastered in 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound, and with over nine
hours of supplemental and bonus material including commentaries by
Lucy Lawless (Xena), Renee O'Connor (Gabrielle), Hudson Leick
(Callisto) and Ted Raimi (Joxer). Included on the third season of
XENA are: interviews with actors Lucy Lawless, Renee O'Connor,
Hudson Leick, and Ted Raimi plus executive producer R.J. Stewart and
other key crew members; video and audio commentaries from the
aforementioned Lawless, Leick, O'Connor, Raimi, plus producers
Steven L. Sears, R.J. Stewart, Robert Tapert and Elizabeth Friedman;
a blooper reel of third season foul-ups; deleted, alternate and newly-
discovered scenes; and a 30-minute featurette on the two
part "Sacrifice" episode that changed Gabrielle's life forever. There
are also storyboards, design sketches, a trivia game, screensaver,
cast, director and writer biographies, and digital games made
exclusively for the DVD set.

MUTANT X: Two more new episode titles have been released by Tribune
Entertainment for MUTANT X. "Age of Innocence" will be the new
episode airing the week of April 5, followed by "She's Come Undone"
the week of April 12. John Shea will return as Adam Kane in "A Normal
Life," the episode scheduled to air next week. The episode is
described in this way: "Mutant X tracks down a rogue scientist while
Shalimar (Victoria Pratt) breaks away from the team to help Adam
(John Shea) save the scientist and uncover the real bad guy."

Tueday, February 10:
BEST SELLING SF BOOKS:
1. The Da Vinci Code
2. Angels & Demons
3. Seduced by Moonlight
4. Tale of Despereaux
5. Hobbit Rings box set
6. Eragon
7. The Time Traveler's Wife
8. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
9. Fool's Fate (The Tawny Man)
10. Glorious Appearing (Left Behind)
Source: Amazon.com, 2/9/04

LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING: Entertainment Weekly
magazine reports that director Peter Jackson indicates that some of
the hour's worth of extra footage cut from the theatrical release of
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King could find its way into
the upcoming DVD edition. "I'm going to work on an extended DVD
version, though I don't think all of that will make it in, because
the pacing would be really weird. But there's some good stuff that's
not in the book." Among the excised scenes: a humorous bit between
Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) and Legolas (Orlando Bloom) having a
drinking competition. "I really quite liked [it]," Jackson said. "But
we felt [it was too comedic] at a point when we wanted to set up the
tension of the story. And there's a sequence of Sam [Sean Astin] and
Frodo [Elijah Wood] disguised as orcs, where they end up in the orc
army for a while."

STAR WARS DVD: According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Star Wars
Trilogy," one of the most-requested DVD episodic film franchises, is
expected to be released as a four-disc DVD box set Sept. 21, with a
global rollout on DVD expected within days of the domestic release,
according to Lucasfilm Ltd. and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
The trilogy featuring the classic franchise films "Star Wars," "The
Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi" will be released on
three DVD discs, with a fourth disc likely to hold a newly made
documentary about the "Star Wars" franchise and never-before-seen
footage, among several other bonus materials, said Jim Ward,
Lucasfilm's vp marketing and distribution and the DVD trilogy's
executive producer. "We are currently in the process of restoring and
remastering all three titles for the DVD release, so we're still
working on details of the marketing strategy," Ward said. "But I
believe that it is safe to say that it will receive tremendous
exposure across all media."

ALIAS: Buena Vista Home Entertainment have sent over the final
details on season three of ALIAS starring Jennifer Garner. This six
disc package will be available on September 7. Each of the included
twenty-two episodes will be presented in anamorphic widescreen along
with Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Extras will include a Burbank to
Barcelona production design featurette, deleted scenes, a blooper
reel, an inside look at the gadget lab where you can see Marshall
Finkman's gadgets go from script to screen, audio commentaries
(including one with the Biggest ALIAS fan who will be chosen in a
national promotion) a script scanner and the ALIAS Diaries where you
can meet the unsung craftsmen and technicians who bring the show to
life.

ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13: According to Production Weekly, Ethan Hawke
will star in an updated U.S. version of John Carpenter's cult classic
ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13, to be distributed domestically by Focus
Features. He replaces original star, Mark Wahlberg. Slated to begin
production on April 5 in Toronto, the new version of this story,
directed by Jean-Frans Richet and written by James DeMonaco, takes
place in the present day, in a police precinct made obsolete by the
industrialization of its surroundings. Inspired by Howard Hawks' RIO
BRAVO, the 1976 "Assault" took place in an isolated, nearly abandoned
Los Angeles police station, in which officers, staff and prisoners
are forced to negotiate a partnership when a vengeful street gang
lays siege to the building. Laurence Fishburne has also joined the
cast.

Monday, February 9:
TOP SCIFI CHANNEL SHOWS:
Dragon Storm 2.3
Stargate SG-1 1.9
Dragon Fighter 1.6
Dragonheart 1.5
Dolly Dearest 1.5
Leprechaun 1.4
Idle Hands 1.3
Devil's Prey 1.3
Dog Soldiers 1.2
Bride of Chucky 1.1
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 1/19/03 - 1/25/03

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: MGM's BARBERSHOP 2: BACK IN BUSINESS took the #1
spot this weekend, bringing in an estimated $25.1 million -- the
fourth-biggest opening in February. According to The Hollywood
Reporter, the debut of the Kevin Rodney Sullivan-helmed "Barbershop
2" was nearly 22% higher than the $20.6 million opening of the
original "Barbershop" in 2002. Buena Vista's MIRACLE was not far
behind with an estimated $19.4 million in the second spot. The PG-
rated sports-set drama stars Kurt Russell and is directed by Gavin
O'Connor. MIRACLE chronicles the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team's
unlikely defeat of the heavily favored Soviets and their eventual
winning of the gold medal. 20th Century Fox's CATCH THAT KID was the
widest release of the weekend's new films but had the worst
performance, finishing sixth with an estimated $6 million from 2,844
theaters. With an estimated budget of $12 million-$15 million, the PG-
rated film was aimed at a younger audience, but missed that target in
the numbers department. Last weekend's boxoffice champ, Sony's YOU
GOT SERVED, placed third with an estimated $7.7 million, dropping 52%
in its second frame. The big drop for the hip-hop comedy can be
directly linked to "Barbershop 2," which appeals to the same
audience. "Served" has stepped up to an estimated $26 million in 10
days. Universal's ALONG CAME POLLY finished in the fourth spot with
$7 million, down a skimpy 25% from a week earlier. The Ben Stiller-
Jennifer Aniston starrer has generated around $75.2 million to date.
New Line Cinema's THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT landed in the fifth spot with
an estimated $6.7 million. The sci-fi thriller was off a respectable
30% in its third frame, taking the cume to an estimated $41.5
million.

SECRET SERVICE: Fans of the short-lived TARZAN series on the WB last
year will be happy to see Sarah Wayne Callies as the lead in the ABC
drama pilot THE SECRET SERVICE. From Touchstone TV and exec producers
Alex Kurtzman-Counter, Roberto Orci and Francie Calfo, SERVICE is a
character-driven procedural drama that centers on a young woman
(Callies) who struggles to balance her marriage with the demands and
dangers of her career in the Secret Service.

JULIUS SCHWARTZ: Julius Schwartz, a familiar face for many science
fiction convention goers here on the East Coast, was one of the
founding fathers of science-fiction fandom and later of comic book
fandom. For a time, he was an agent for science-fiction authors where
among other accomplishments, he sold the first stories by a kid named
Ray Bradbury. He passed on Sunday at the age of 89. If you would like
to read more about Julie, go to http://www.newsfromme.com/index.html
for a wonderful tribute.

SUPREME POWER: Issue #7 is out on news stands now along with Issue
#503 of AMAZING SPIDERMAN.

SCIENCE FICTION: According to Variety, Columbia Pictures has picked
up remake rights to the Dutch family film SCIENCE FICTION, for
producer Lauren Shuler Donner. The original 2002 movie, directed by
Danny Deprez, is the story of a boy who arrives in a new neighborhood
and makes friends with the local kids by convincing them that his odd
parents are actually aliens. Kevin and Dan Hageman, whose credits
include the upcoming Charlie Dills for Steven Spielberg and The
Wizard of Oz Project for Jerry Bruckheimer, have been hired to write
the Hollywood version. The brothers are expected to keep the
storyline and atmosphere of the original film intact.

SCIFI SCHEDULE:

STARGATE SG-1

16-FEB-04 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 WATERGATE
16-FEB-04 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 THE FIRST ONES
16-FEB-04 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 SCORCHED EARTH
16-FEB-04 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 BENEATH THE SURFACE
20-FEB-04 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 HEROES - PT 2
20-FEB-04 11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 HEROES - PT 2
23-FEB-04 7:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 POINT OF NO RETURN
23-FEB-04 8:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 TANGENT
23-FEB-04 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 THE CURSE
23-FEB-04 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 SERPENT'S VENOM
27-FEB-04 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 RESURRECTION
27-FEB-04 11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 RESURRECTION

FARSCAPE SCHEDULE:
15-FEB-04 11:00 PM FARSCAPE (LBX) WE'RE SO SCREWED - PT 2: HOT TO
KATRATZI
19-FEB-04 3:00 AM FARSCAPE (LBX) TWICE SHY
19-FEB-04 4:00 AM FARSCAPE (LBX) MENTAL AS ANYTHING
19-FEB-04 5:00 AM FARSCAPE (LBX) BRINGING HOME THE BEACON
22-FEB-04 11:00 PM FARSCAPE (LBX) WE'RE SO SCREWED - PT 3: LA BOMBA
26-FEB-04 3:00 AM FARSCAPE FAMILY TIES
26-FEB-04 4:00 AM FARSCAPE DREAM A LITTLE DREAM
26-FEB-04 5:00 AM FARSCAPE MIND THE BABY
EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT
17-FEB-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT ISABEL
18-FEB-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL
19-FEB-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT THE GAUNTLET
20-FEB-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT ONE MAN'S CASTLE
23-FEB-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT SECOND CHANCES
24-FEB-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT PAYBACK
25-FEB-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT FRIENDLY FIRE
26-FEB-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT VOLUNTEERS
27-FEB-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT BLISS

CONVENTION CALENDAR

Creation Entertainment (Buffy & Angel)
February 15, 2004
Location: Phoenix Hilton East/Mesa
Place: Phoenix, Arizona
B5 Guest: Robin Atkin Downes
Guests: Stephanie Romanov, Julie Benz, Iyari Limon, John Kassir,
Jacqueline Lichtenberg
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/calendar.htm.

Farpoint
February 13-15, 2004
Location: Marriott's Hunt Valley Inn
Place: Baltimore, MD
B5 Guests: Bill Mumy, Brad Dourif
Other Guests: Peter David, Liliana Mumy
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.farpointcon.com.

SF Ball
February 13-15, 2004
Location: Carrington House Hotel
Place: Bournemouth, UK
B5 Guests: Richard Biggs, Jason Carter
Other Guests: Linda Thorson, Dwight Schultz, Carolyn Seymour, Scott
Macdonald, Celeste Yarnall, Michael Sheard, Michael Dorn and
Alexandra Tydings
For more information, visit their website at http://www.sfball.com.

Marcon
March 5-7, 2004
Location: Hilton Mpls/St. Paul Airport Hotel
Place: Bloomington, Minneapolis
B5 Guest: Richard Biggs
Other Guests: Dr. Demento, John M. Ford, Davina, David E Romm, the
Great Luke Ski, The Nick Atoms, Tri-Destiny
For more information, visit their website at http://www.marscon.org.

Megacon
March 5-7, 2004
Location: Orlando, FL
Place: Orange County Convention Center
B5 Guest: Bill Mumy, Brad Dourif
Other Guests: Allison Mack, Lost in Space cast: Angela Cartright,
Mark Goddard, Marta Kristen, June Lockhart, Bob May, and many more
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.megaconvention.com/.

Best of Both Worlds
Date: March 13-14, 2004
Place: Canberra, Australia
Theme: Lord of the Rings
Guests: Dominic Monaghan - Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck (The Lord Of
The Rings Movie Trilogy)
For more information, visit their website at
http://johnvb.tripod.com/asn2.html.

I-CON 23
Date: March 26-28, 2004
Place: SUNY, Stony Brook Campus
Location: Stony Brook, NY
B5 Guests: Peter Jurasik, Bill Blair
Other Guests: Vaughn Armstrong
For more information, visit their website at http://www.iconsf.org.

United Fan Con East
Date: March 26-28, 2004
Place: Marriott Hotel
Location: Quincy, MAbr> Guests: Teryl Rothery (Maj. Janet Frasier,
STARGATE); Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi from Star Trek: The Next
Generation); more guests to be announced
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.unitedfancon.com/.

Creation Entertainment GRAND SLAM: THE SCI-FI SUMMIT
March 26-28, 2004
Location: Pasadena Center
Place: Pasadena, CA
Guests: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Brent Spiner, Sally
Kellerman, Connor Trinneer, Alexander Siddig, Dominic Keating,
Anthony Montgomery, Walter Koenig, Andrew Robinson, Armen Shimerman,
Kren Auberjonois, Cirroc Lofton, John Rhys-Davies, Amanda Tapping,
Michael Shanks, Corin Nemec, Michael Rosenbaum, Mark Verheiden,
Anthony Michael Hall, Nicole de Boer, Chris Bruno, John L. Adams,
Kristen Dalton, Andy Hallett, Mercedes McNab, Robia La Morte, Iyari
Limon, Mark Lutz, James Leary, Julie Benz, Jeremy Bulloch, Kenny
Baker, Rusty Goffe, Ken Colley, Peter Mayhew, Leni Parker, Gina Torres
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/calendar.htm.

That's about it for now.  Be sure to visit the website
(http://www.isnnews.net) for the latest information from the world of
science fiction.

Take care,
Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN News:  The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net

THE ZOCALO TODAY – February 28, 2004

What's New

Sunday night is the BIG night – Oscar night.  Everyone hopes that
THE LORD OF THE RINGS gets the recognition it is due.  Right now, it
is running as the favorite for BEST PICTURE.  Let's hope it wins.

JMS UPDATE:

I know you all have been waiting for something – anything – from JMS
on the new project.  Well, here is the latest – we're still waiting,
but I suspect the timing of an announcement is closer:

JMS writes:
Y'know, if there's anything more annoying than having to sit on good
news, I can't think of what it might be. (Well, okay, being staked
to an ant hill at high noon is a pretty obvious one, but you get the
idea.)

The only things I can say right now about B5:TMoS is that now that
all the correct agreements have been signed, sealed and delivered,
the draft has gone in, met with great enthusiasm all around, notes
have been received, and the next draft is in process and has to be
delivered within two weeks so that certain other steps can be set
into motion.

I still can't tell you what it *is* because that has to come from
the proper people through the proper channels at the proper
time...but I can tell you a few cases of what it *isn't*...it isn't
a novel, or a short story, a comic, an animated series, a radio
drama or a stage play. Beyond that, deponent sayeth not.

Except to say that it's pretty cool.

On a side-note...for those following the Supreme Power books...as
good as the series has been to date, and selling in the top 15
pretty consistently, the next two issues, 8 and 9, the first of
which goes on sale March 3rd, are going to put this book on the map
in a big way. They're just stellar issues. If you haven't gotten
into the book yet, now (or backtracking to issue 7, the start of the
new arc) would be a good time to do so, because it's going to start
kicking some serious ass.

TIDBITS

PAT TALLMAN FANS: Two promotional copies of Patricia Tallman's
little seen horror short from 2002, JENNIFER IS DEAD, is now up for
bid on Ebay. The auction ends in just 4 days, on March 1st!

CONVENTION UPDATE: The Grand Slam XII in Pasadena, California March
26-28 has added 19 new guests to their roster. There are guests from
STARGATE SG-1, STAR TREK, LORD OF THE RINGS, SMALLVILLE, DEAD ZONE,
BUFFY, ANGEL, STAR WARS -- and many more. For more information, go
to http://www.creationent.com/cal/.

THE ZOCALO TODAY

I am glad to say that the number of subscriptions to this electronic
newsletter is growing!  The number of folks visiting the website has
increased as well – and I hope that means you like what you see/read
and want more.

I know this newsletter can get pretty long – and all I'm really
doing is stripping things off the website and putting them into word
format so that people who can't visit the website
(http://www.isnnews.net) often won't miss anything.  If it's too
long and you'd like me to drop out something, let me know.  I hate
long e-mail messages and I hope that by putting in categories it
makes it easier to skim over things so you can go to what interests
you most.

If I am not covering something, let me know.  I'll see if I can get
more information.  I enjoy getting mail from people, telling me
about upcoming conventions, sighting B5 cast members in show, etc.
This is information that we can and should share.  Along with that,
if you have favorite websites, they can be included on the links
page so that others can review them.

I don't always have a lot of time to spend on the newsletter, but I
want to make sure is worthwhile for you as a reader.  So let me know
if you have a problem – need something added – whatever.

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT

7:00pm on UPN
Star Trek: Enterprise
Hatchery
Archer goes to extremes to save an abandoned nest of Xindi-Insectoid
eggs.

On SCIFI Tonight:

5:00pm
Riverworld
Hundreds of people are resurrected in a strange environment. Based
on books by Philip Jose Farmer.

7:00pm
The Odyssey
Odysseus tries to return home after the Trojan War. Based on Homer's
epic.

On Syndicated TV This Weekend:

Andromeda
Fear Burns Down to Ashes
The Collectors trap Dylan in a life-or-death situation using Rev Bem
as bait.

Angel
Deep Down
Fred and Gunn hunt for clues to their friends' whereabouts.

Angel
Judgment
Angel discovers he may not be immortal; Darla recovers from her
resurrection.

BeastMaster
Golgotha
Dar fights when a village starts losing young women to the river's
starving crocodiles.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Selfless
Buffy and the gang confront Anya after she grants an unusually
gruesome wish.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
London Calling
The adventurers recover an ancient map showing the escape route from
the Lost World.

MacGyver
The Prodigal
A protected witness risks a confrontation with his mobster brother
by visiting their ailing mother.

Mutant X
Divided Loyalties
Brennan must revisit his criminal past.

The Outer Limits
Glyphic
Hypnosis unravels the mystery of an ailment that killed a town's
children.

The Outer Limits
Straight & Narrow
A student's controlling computer chip malfunctions.

Star Trek: The Next Generation
Half a Life
Troi's mother falls for a scientist (David Ogden Stiers) who must
commit ritual suicide.

NEW SCIENCE FICTION PUBLICATIONS:

Starburst Special #62: It's all about LORD OF THE RINGS. This
special issue brings you continued coverage of the trilogy. Included
are interviews with Elijah Wood, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd
and Dominic Monaghan. Also in this issue, you'll get an insight into
VAN HELSING. The magazine talks to the cast and crew, including Hugh
Jackman and Kate Keckinsale.

Cult Times #102: ANGEL's Alexis Denisof looks back on over five
years as Wesley Wyndam-Price and how his character has evolved from
wimp to high-powered executive at Wolfram & Hart. Also in this
issue, Steve Bacic talks about ANDROMEDA and his return as
Relemachus Rhade and Michael Gross talks about TREMORS - the movies
and TV series.

COMICS:

Star Trek : THE Key Collection Volume 1
The original full-color Star Trek comics reprinted in paperback at
last! Star Trek comics debuted in 1967, the same year as the
original television series and outlasted the TV version by 10 years.
This volume collects the first eight issues of the original
Enterprise crew in adventures to be found nowhere else. SC,
FC ..........$22.95

Smallville Yearbook magazine
The official, 100-page Smallville Yearbook is your indispensable
guide to Season Three! As the third season comes to a close, we
bring you a fantastic magazine packed with brilliant Smallville
features and exclusive interviews with all of your favorite
characters  including Clark, Lana, and Lex! Smallville creators Al
Gough and Miles Millar tell us about how they reinvented Superman
for a modern audience. Plus the writers, directors and crew reveal
behind-the-scenes secrets! (Titan Publishing Group) NEWSSTAND—
Magazine, 100pg, FC..........$9.99

AMAZING SPIDERMAN #504

Arrives in stores on Wednesday from Marvel Comics. The issue is
written by Fiona Avery with J. Michael Straczynski, with art and
cover by John Romita Jr.
Here's how Marvel describes the issue:
""Chasing a Dark Shadow,' part 2 of 2. In the aftermath of the inter-
dimensional rift caused by Spider-Man and Doctor Strange's battle
with Dormammu, a sorceress of limitless power is set free from years
of captivity ... and sets forth on a quest through Manhattan to
properly thank the one responsible for it: Spider-Man. And if that
weren't bad enough, guess who's on her trail? Loki..."
Amazing Spider-Man #504 will be 32 pages and will cost $2.25.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #507
Written by J. Michael Straczynski, cover and pencils by John Romita
Jr.
Concluding a 3-part arc, featuring the mysterious Ezekiel!
32 pages, $2.25, in stores on April 28.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #508
Written by J. Michael Straczynski, pencils and cover by John Romita
Jr. The enigmatic Ezekiel returns to Peter's life. But is he the
same man who stood by Spider-Man's side in his hour of need, or will
he prove to be something much deadlier?
32 pages, $2.25, in stores on May 26.

SUPREME POWER #9
Written by J. Michael Straczynski, cover and pencils by Gary Frank.
The world is still shaking from the titanic battle of Hyperion and
Dr. Spectrum. Is Earth big enough for two such powerful beings? And
who is Power Princess? Find out here!
32 pages, $2.99, in stores on April 7.

INSIDE SCI-FI THIS WEEK:

TOP SF NETWORK PROGRAMS:
Joan of Arcadia 7.6
Smallville 3.4
Tru Calling 3.3
Charmed 2.9
Angel 2.8
Enterprise 2.7
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 2/2/04 - 2/8/04.

HARRY POTTER: Reuters has reported that HARRY POTTER author J.K.
Rowling joined the Forbes list of world billionaires. Once an
unemployed single mother, Rowling saw her wealth rise to $1 billion
after the publication of the latest HARRY POTTER novel and the
success of the movie franchise.

TAMARA: Variety reports that Armada Pictures has come onboard to
finance and co-produce the supernatural horror film TAMARA with City
Lights Pictures. With shooting to begin in May, Sarah Thompson
(Angel) stars, with David Sporn (Final Destination) directing from
Jeffrey Reddick's script.

FOUNTAIN: X-MEN's Hugh Jackman is a HOT property. Interest in him
may be all that's needed for Darren Aronofsky's THE FOUNTAIN movie
project to get a second chance. Originally, the film's original
leading man was Brad Pitt, but he left the project in September
2002. Sets constructed in Australia were put into storage and later
scrapped. Should Jackman decide to make FOUNTAIN with the PI
director the budget for the feature will be somewhere between $35
million to $40 million dollars, about $30 million less than when
Pitt was involved with it. THE FOUNTAIN is set in three different
time periods: the past (during the time the Spanish conquered South
America), the present (in a modern day city) and the future (onboard
a starship 500 years into the future.) Pitt and then co-star Cate
Blanchett were to play different characters in these three time
periods that are linked together by similar events.

THE PRACTICE: William Shatner, Star Trek's Captain Kirk, has signed
to appear in four episodes of "The Practice". His story arc will
play out over the final six installments of the season. He'll play a
lawyer named Denny Crane, a self-aggrandizing but powerful man whose
firm is squaring off against Young, Frutt & Berlutti in a case.

AEON FLUX: According to Variety, Oscar nominee Charlize Theron
["Monster"] is set to star in AEON FLUX. The Lakeshore Entertainment
and Paramount Pictures-financed sci-fi film is based on a futuristic
MTV animated series. MTV Films and Gale Anne Hurd's Valhalla
Productions are producing. Karyn Kusama (Girlfight) is directing a
script by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi. AEON FLUX is set 400 years in
the future in a world where humans have nearly been wiped out by a
virus, with the remains of mankind living in a city encased in a
protective bubble. The title character, an acrobatic superheroine,
is assigned to kill the government leader. The film will shoot near
Berlin in July.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: With production on 13 episodes slated to begin
in Vancouver shortly, Edward James Olmos, who will reprise the role
of Cmdr. Adama in SCI FI's BATTLESTAR GALACTICA series, told SCI FI
Wire that he looks forward to deepening the character introduced in
the miniseries last December. "I'd like to see the complexity of
what we've gotten ourselves into come about and really be able to
understand it for what it is," Olmos said in an interview. "You've
got to remember what happens when people are pushed to a level of
unexpected changes. ... We can go to some places where the
characters have never gone before." He said, the characters in
Galactica will try "to hold onto their humanity as it is completely
taken away from them. If any indication was given to us as to where
we're going in respect to the [series], I must tell you, it's going
to be very explosive."

SMALLVILLE: Do you have a favorite episode? Now The WB is giving
Smallville fans a chance to vote on which of their favorite episodes
will air as reruns over the next five weeks. The show's creators, Al
Gough and Miles Millar, picked their 10 favorite episodes from the
show's first two seasons, and viewers can select their top five at
TheWB.com through March 9. The winning episodes will be announced
March 10. The 10 episodes up for fan voting are "Pilot," "X-
Ray," "Hourglass," "Rogue," "Zero," "Nicodemus," "Stray," "Red," "Lin
eage" and "Rosetta." The top five picks will air at 9 p.m. ET/PT on
Wednesdays while ANGEL, which normally airs in that timeslot, goes
on hiatus before beginning its final run of episodes later in the
spring.

BATMAN BEGINS: Cinescape.com reports that after months of rumors and
speculation regarding the title of Christopher Nolan's new BATMAN
movie, word has filtered out that Warner Bros. will be referring to
the film during the duration of its shoot (which begins next month)
and as it moves ever forward towards its release in the summer of
2005 as BATMAN BEGINS.

MARVEL MOVIES: Lions Gate Entertainment and Marvel Enterprises
announced a deal that would see the development, production and
distribution of two new Marvel superheroes film projects, IRON FIST
and BLACK WIDOW. This latest turn in the partnership between the two
firms will mean the comic book company and the movie studio will
share "certain revenues" from the two properties. Marvel retains the
rights for all related merchandising connected to the films.
Although the opening for their first collaborative effort, THE
PUNISHER, is more than a month away (April 16), the two companies
announced that work on a sequel to THE PUNISHER has already
commenced. "Working with Lions Gate on THE PUNISHER was a great
experience and we feel very comfortable expanding this relationship
to include two more exciting franchises," said Avi Arad, CEO of
Marvel Studios. "We believe that the nationwide launch of THE
PUNISHER and access to two more cutting-edge Marvel characters will
kick off a long-term relationship between Lions Gate and Marvel that
is rich with opportunity across all of our core businesses," added
Lions Gate CEO Jon Feltheimer.

X-MEN: The Hollywood Reporter reports that filmmakers Joss Whedon
and Bryan Singer are in final negotiations to write X-Men comics for
Marvel Comics. Whedon, best known for creating "Buffy the Vampire
Slayer," will author "Astonishing X-Men." The first issue is slated
to hit stores in May, with John Cassaday handling artist
duties. "There are three reasons why I'm doing this," Whedon
said. "One, I get to write the X-Men, a comic I grew up reading.
It's probably the biggest influence on my work there is. Two, I want
to personalize things and figure who these characters are to me now.
And three, (the character) Kitty Pryde. She was not a small
influence on Buffy. I get to use her, and that sealed the deal."
Singer, who helmed the two "X-Men" movies, is teaming up with "X2: X-
Men United" scribes Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris to write for an
existing title, "Ultimate X-Men." Singer's role will be more as an
overseer, though he will write some issues, and the title of the
book will include the words "Bryan Singer Presents."

SIN CITY: Variety reports that director Robert Rodriguez (Once Upon
a Time in Mexico) will helm the big-screen adaptation of Frank
Miller's graphic novel series SIN CITY for Dimension Films. Miller
will co-direct the film as well. Filming starts next month in
Austin, Texas. Casting is currently underway. Variety reminds us
that SIN CITY "interconnects storylines that involve the unsavory
inhabitants of the town. Rodriguez has already shot the film's
opening with Josh Hartnett and Marley Shelton, and he's now casting
the remaining roles as the rest of the film gets under way in
March."

TOP SF SYNDICATED SHOWS:
Stargate SG-1 2.3
She Spies 2.1
Andromeda 2.0
Mutant X 2.0
Buffy 1.7
Beastmaster 1.5
The X-Files 1.5
Angel 1.4
The Outer Limits 1.3
3rd Rock 1.2
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 2/2/04 - 2/8/04

TOP SF DVD SALES:
1. Star Trek: Voyager season one
2. Pirates of the Caribbean
3. Finding Nemo
4. Stargate SG-1 season six
5. Spy Kids 3-D
6. The Two Towers extended edition
7. The Lion King 1 1/2
8. Angel season three
9. Roswell season one
10. The Matrix Revolutions
Source: Amazon.com, top-selling genre DVDs, 2/24/04

FINDING NEMO: According to Zap2It.com, FINDING NEMO will be
recognized by The Humane Society of the United States at its annual
Genesis Awards promoting animal protection issues.

UNDERWORLD 2: Despite lackluster returns from the first UNDERWORLD
film, the story of the clash between werewolves and vampires will
continue this fall. UNDERWORLD 2 will start filming, with the first
film's director (Len Wiseman) behind the camera lens. Kate
Beckinsale is returning to play her vampire character of Selene in
the sequel, with Scott Speedman likely to also come back. Danny
McBride is working hard on the script right now and should have it
all done come April. According to what Wiseman and his UNDERWORLD
screenwriters said shortly after the release of the first film, the
second movie was to open with the last great battle between vampires
and Lycans from hundreds of years ago.

PASSION OF THE CHRIST: According to the preliminary Ash Wednesday
box office figures, Mel Gibson's THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST stands to
make somewhere between $15 to $20 million dollars by the end of the
day. That total also includes any advance screenings held for church
groups earlier in the week, which factor in somewhere between $2 to
$3 million. Gibson's film has opened at just over 3,000 screens
across North America. The $25 M production was paid for by Gibson
himself, with film distributor Newmarket earning a small percentage
of the gross.

BLADE: TRINITY: Writer, director David Goyer told SCI FI Wire that
the upcoming sequel film, BLADE: TRINITY, is a month ahead of
schedule and is going well enough that he's contemplating a future
spinoff based on characters introduced in the film. TRINITY brings
back stars Wesley Snipes (Blade) and Kris Kristofferson (Whistler)
and puts them with a crop of young new actors. Blade: Trinity deals
in part with Blade's teamup with a new breed of vampire hunters,
called the Nightstalkers, played by Jessica Biel (Whistler's
daughter, Abigail), Ryan Reynolds (Hannibal King), Natasha Lyonne
and Patton Oswalt. If the film is successful, a Nightstalker spinoff
is very probable. BLADE: TRINITY is set for release on August 13.

LOST IN SPACE: Variety reports that the WB has set the cast for THE
ROBINSONS: LOST IN SPACE, its upcoming pilot updating the classic
1960s SF series. Brad Johnson (Left Behind: The Movie) has joined as
John Robinson; Ryan Malgarini (Freaky Friday) will play Will
Robinson. The duo join cast members Jayne Brooke, Mike Erwin and
Adrianne Palicki.
SPELLBOUND: Fox gave a green light to the pilot SPELLBOUND, which
had originally been set up at NBC. Rob Greenberg and Suzanne Martin
will write and executive produce the sitcom, about a male witch who
falls in love with a mortal woman. Andy Ackerman will direct and
also executive produce.

LORD OF THE RINGS: Reuters reports that THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE
RETURN OF THE KING became the second film (after TITANIC) to break
the $1 billion worldwide box-office mark. New Line Cinema, which
distributed the movie, also reported that King reached the mark in
record time. RETURN OF THE KING now ranks as the second-highest-
grossing film of all time, after 1997's TITANIC, which rang up $1.8
billion in global receipts. But King crossed the 10-figure threshold
in less time, getting there in fewer than 10 weeks from its Dec. 17
opening, compared with Titanic, which hit the billion-dollar mark at
the start of its 11th week of release. All three Lord of the Rings
films have now racked up combined receipts totaling nearly $2.8
billion globally.

THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE: Director Wolfgang Petersen (The Perfect
Storm) and television producer Mike Fleiss are teaming up to remake
the 1972 disaster film POSEIDON ADVENTURE using state-of-the-art
technology. The picture is set up at Warner Bros. and both men will
act as producers on the new picture. The original movie was the
first of a string of event pictures about disasters and featuring an
ensemble of celebrity actors among their casts. THE TOWERING INFERNO
led to EARTHQUAKE which led to the sub-genre of animal disaster
movies like THE SWARM.

THE TERMINAL: ALIAS supporting cast member Kevin Weisman has joined
the cast of Steven Spielberg's drama THE TERMINAL, now filming in
Los Angeles. Weisman joins Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stanley
Tucci and Chi McBride. Hanks plays a European traveller who, after
his country dissolves practically overnight, suddenly cannot travel
internationally and is forced to live in an airplane terminal while
he awaits a decision on his nationality. The film is scheduled for
release on June 18.

BLACKWATER: According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Sci Fi Channel
is giving a hard look at BLACKWATER, a four-hour miniseries in
development, that could be co-produced by Sony Pictures Television,
Mandalay Television and the Orphanage. BLACKWATER is based on a set
of six serial novels of the same name from the late Michael
McDowell, a prolific writer whose movie and TV credits
include "Beetlejuice" and "Amazing Stories." The task of condensing
six volumes into four hours fell to Scott Stewart, co-founder of the
Orphanage, a San Francisco-based production company specializing in
visual effects for such films as "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over" and
the "Matrix" trilogy. If "Blackwater" is greenlighted, he will
likely executive produce with Orphanage head of production Amy
Israel.

BEST SELLING SF BOOKS:
1. The Da Vinci Code
2. Angels & Demons
3. The Passion
4. Seduced by Moonlight
5. Unearthed Arcana (D&D)
6. Tale of Despereaux
7. Glorious Appearing (Left Behind)
8. Hobbit Rings box set
9. Wicked
10. New Spring (Wheel of Time)
Source: Amazon.com, 2/23/04

THE EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING: On February 22, Renny Harlin's reshoot
of EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING wrapped after 13 weeks on Rome's
Cinecitta Studios backlot. Harlin's 13-week effort equals the amount
of time spent by Paul Schrader on his original shoot, but according
to Variety, none of the footage will be used. Schrader quit the
Morgan Creek production last year due to creative differences.
Still, his name is reportedly meant to stay on the prequel film.
Three original key cast members—Clara Bellar, Gabriel Mann and pop
star Billy Crawford—are not likely to appear in the final version,
since they didn't return for reshooting. Alexi Hawley (Grimm) was
brought in to rewrite the William Wisher and Caleb Carr script, and
a new editor is working only with Harlin's material for the recut.
Stellan Skarsgard still stars as a younger Father Merrin.

BATMAN: Best Supporting Actor nominee for The Last Samurai, Ken
Watanabe, has been will be squaring off against Christian Bale in
the upcoming new BATMAN movie, directed by Christopher Nolan.
Scheduled to begin production in London next month, the Warner Bros.
project has Watanabe playing the villainous Ra's Al Ghul, an
immortal strategic mastermind who wants to bring his own brand of
order to the world. He joins Bale, cast as Bruce Wayne/Batman;
Michael Caine as Wayne's trusted butler Alfred; Katie Holmes as a
childhood friend of Wayne's; Liam Neeson as Wayne's mentor Henri
Ducard; and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, a former board member and
sidelined employee of Wayne Enterprises.

KING KONG: The Hollywood Reporter has published an excellent
interview with "The Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson in
which he talks in-depth about the KING KONG adaptation he's working
on now for Universal. Jackson is working with a number of LOTR
veterans. Weta Workshop, led by Richard Taylor, and Weta Digital
have been at work on KONG for some months now. Howard Shore is doing
the music.

TOP 10 SCIFI CHANNEL PROGRAMS:
Stargate SG-1 1.9
Volcano: Fire on Mountain 1.6
Fatal Error 1.6
Alien Lockdown 1.5
Inferno 1.5
Ice 1.3
Species II 1.2
Creature, Part 1 1.2
Creature, Part 2 1.1
Species 1.1
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 2/2/03 - 2/8/03

FIREFLY: Rumors abound related to the proposed FIREFLY movie. Over
at Firefly Movie.com it was discovered that Universal Pictures has
quietly added a listing for a project called SERENITY to its Coming
Soon section on the studio's website. The domain registry for
SerenityMovie.com is held by Universal Pictures. Last week another
website stated that the working title for the FIREFLY movie was
SERENITY (the name of the crew's vessel) and that the project's
first meeting took place in the second week of February. Another
website devoted to FIREFLY actress Summer Glau, has heard that the
movie is slated to commence filming this coming May. If that last
report is indeed accurate, an official release from Universal should
be happening in the following months. Universal announced that it
had purchased the rights to do a FIREFLY movie last September, and
Whedon has already finished writing the screenplay.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Sony's 50 FIRST DATES held onto the number one
spot at the box office this weekend, earning another $21 million
dollars. Disney's teen offering, CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE DRAMA
QUEEN earned $9.2 M playing on just under a dozen fewer screens than
ROADTRIP which made $6.6 M and came in fifth position. Ray Romano's
WELCOME TO MOOSEPORT debuted in fourth spot with $7 M in earnings
while the weekend's other new opening, AGAINST THE ROPES, rang in at
eighth spot. After a commanding run, New Line's THE RETURN OF THE
KING has slipped to #10. The final film has now earned $361 M
domestically and stands at $979 M internationally, nearly at the
coveted billion dollar accumulation mark. Here are the box office
estimates from February 20 to 22:

1. 50 FIRST DATES $21,000,000 $72,311,000
2. CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE DRAMA QUEEN $9,217,000 $9,217,000
3. MIRACLE $8,000,000 $50,549,000
4. WELCOME TO MOOSEPORT $7,000,000 $7,000,000
5. EUROTRIP $6,600,000 $6,600,000
6. BARBERSHOP 2: BACK IN BUSINESS $6,300,000 $53,236,000
7. MYSTIC RIVER $3,120,000 $79,152,000
8. AGAINST THE ROPES $3,000,000 $3,000,000
9. THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT $2,875,000 $53,107,000
10. THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING $2,800,000
$361,068,000

SAG AWARDS: Last night's 10th annual SAG Awards were presented with
a few surprises. New Line Cinema's "The Lord of the Rings: The
Return of the King" brought home the prize for best ensemble cast of
a motion picture; Johnny Depp was named best male actor in a leading
role for his swaggering performance as Capt. Jack Sparrow in the
popular summer hit "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black
Pearl" from Walt Disney Studios. Charlize Theron was chosen best
female actor in a leading role for transforming herself into serial
killer Aileen Wuornos in "Monster." In the supporting film
categories, the victors were Zellweger for "Cold Mountain" and Tim
Robbins for "Mystic River." On the TV front, HBO was dominant,
picking up five awards, including two for Mike Nichols'
miniseries "Angels in America," honoring stars Meryl Streep and Al
Pacino, and two for Alan Ball's drama "Six Feet Under," with wins
for Frances Conroy and the show's ensemble cast. The cast of "Sex
and the City" delivered the fifth nod for HBO, while Tony Shalhoub
landed the first series SAG Award for a basic cable network for his
USA Network's "Monk" series.

THE PUNISHER: Set for release on April 16, Lions Gate Films and
Marvel Studios' THE PUNISHER has received a R rating from the MPAA
for pervasive brutal violence, language and brief nudity. The comic
book adaptation tells the story of FBI undercover agent, Frank
Castle (Thomas Jane), who until now has beat considerable odds. A
former Special Forces operative, he is finally moving out of the
field and into a desk job -- and a normal life with his wife and
son. Then Castle's world is shaken to its core by a nightmare he has
longed feared: his family is executed as a repercussion from his
final undercover assignment. Castle seeks to punish the murderers --
and finds the one thing he least expected: redemption. The Punisher
also stars John Travolta, A. Russell Andrews, Samantha Mathis, James
Carpinello, Jeff Chase, Mark Collie, Russell Durham, Ben Foster,
Laura Harring, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and Roy Scheider. For a sneek
peek, go to http://movies.yahoo.com/movies/feature/thepunisher.html.

STAR WARS: EPISODE III: Over at http://www.starwars.com/episode-
iii/bts/me3/1.html you will find a "Behind-the-Scenes" segment of
George Lucas and others going over footage from the upcoming movie.
You can see they are using video conferencing equipment to transmit
images back and forth between Skywalker Ranch and Sydney, a method
used by Peter Jackson on the LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE
KING.

BATMAN: Variety reported Friday that Liam Neeson was indeed being
cast in the upcoming BATMAN film, but he is not a villain. Indeed,
he would be cast as businessman Henri Ducard, a friend and mentor to
billionaire Bruce Wayne.

HELLBOY: Over at
http://www.latinoreview.com/films_2004/sonypictures/hellboy/featurett
e.html you'll find a number of clips from the upcoming HELLBOY movie
with Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, John Hurt, Mike Mignola and director
Guillermo del Toro.

CONSTANTINE: At http://www.superherohype.com/articles/index.php?
id=578 you can get more information about the upcoming CONSTANTINE
movie starring Keanu Reeves. THere are interviews with Reeves and
Director Francis Lawrence, set photos, and more.
TV SCHEDULE ON SCIFI CHANNEL
BABYLON 5 and CRUSADE are not currently listed on any SCIFI
schedule.

STARGATE SCHEDULE:

05-MAR-04 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) INAUGURATION
05-MAR-04 11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) INAUGURATION
12-MAR-04 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) LOST CITY - PT 1
12-MAR-04 11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) LOST CITY - PT 1
19-MAR-04 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) LOST CITY - PT 2
19-MAR-04 11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) LOST CITY - PT 2
26-MAR-04 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) EVOLUTION - PT 2
26-MAR-04 11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) EVOLUTION - PT 2

FARSCAPE SCHEDULE:
04-MAR-04 3:00 AM FARSCAPE VITAS MORTIS
04-MAR-04 4:00 AM FARSCAPE TAKING THE STONE
04-MAR-04 5:00 AM FARSCAPE CRACKERS DON'T MATTER
11-MAR-04 3:00 AM FARSCAPE PICTURE IF YOU WILL
11-MAR-04 4:00 AM FARSCAPE THE WAY WE WEREN'T
11-MAR-04 5:00 AM FARSCAPE HOME ON THE REMAINS
12-MAR-04 11:00 AM ROTATION - FARSCAPE THANKS FOR SHARING
12-MAR-04 12:00 PM ROTATION - FARSCAPE GREEN EYED MONSTER
12-MAR-04 1:00 PM  ROTATION - FARSCAPE LOSING TIME
12-MAR-04 2:00 PM  ROTATION - FARSCAPE RELATIVITY
12-MAR-04 3:00 PM  ROTATION - FARSCAPE INCUBATOR
14-MAR-04 1:00 AM FARSCAPE BAD TIMING
18-MAR-04 3:00 AM FARSCAPE LOOK AT THE PRINCESS - PT 1: A KISS IS
BUT A KISS
18-MAR-04 4:00 AM FARSCAPE LOOK AT THE PRINCESS - PT 2: I DO, I
THINK
18-MAR-04 5:00 AM FARSCAPE LOOK AT THE PRINCESS - PT 3: THE MALTESE
CRICHTON
21-MAR-04 1:00 AM FARSCAPE PREMIERE
25-MAR-04 3:00 AM FARSCAPE OUT OF THEIR MINDS
25-MAR-04 4:00 AM FARSCAPE MY THREE CRICHTONS
25-MAR-04 5:00 AM FARSCAPE BEWARE OF DOG
28-MAR-04 1:00 AM FARSCAPE BACK AND BACK TO THE FUTURE

EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT
01-MAR-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT HIJACKED
02-MAR-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT DEFECTOR
03-MAR-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT HEROES AND HEARTBREAK
04-MAR-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE
05-MAR-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT CROSSFIRE
08-MAR-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT CRACKDOWN
09-MAR-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT THE VANISHED
10-MAR-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT EMANCIPATION
11-MAR-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT DEJA VU
12-MAR-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT THE ONCE AND FUTURE WORLD
15-MAR-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT THICKER THAN BLOOD
16-MAR-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT A LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN
17-MAR-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT PAD'AR
18-MAR-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT IN MEMORY
19-MAR-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT THE CLOISTER
22-MAR-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT INTERVIEW
23-MAR-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT KEEP YOUR ENEMIES CLOSER
24-MAR-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT SUBTERFUGE
25-MAR-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT SCORCHED EARTH
26-MAR-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT SANCTUARY
29-MAR-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT THROUGH YOUR EYES
30-MAR-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT TIME BOMB
31-MAR-04 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT THE FIELDS

That's about it for this issue.  I hope you have enjoyed it.
Have a wonderful weekend.  The weather here on the East Coast is
supposed to be BEAUTIFUL!

Be safe,
Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN News: The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net

THE ZOCALO TODAY – March 13, 2004

BABYLON 5 NEWS:

ON SCIFI TONIGHT:  Catch Bruce Boxleitner as he stars in the SCIFI
original telefilm called "Snakehead Terror". The movie debuts
tonight at 9pm ET. Carol Alt co-stars with Bruce in a story inspired
by actual events you might remember from the news. Someone dumped a
Chinese Snakehead fish (former pet) into a Maryland waterway.

PAUL WINFIELD: Versatile stage, film and TV star Paul Winfield died
of a heart attack this week. Babylon 5 fans will remember him as
General Franklin (Dr. Franklin's father) from the GROPOS episode.

SUPREME POWER:   I picked up Issue #8 at my comic store last night.
Issue #9 is due out April 7.

KEEPING UP WITH CAST AND CREW

CLAUDIA CHRISTIAN: Ranger Michael reports that Claudia Christian
announced at the London Film and Comic Con she is in a new sci fi
film. She got the lead role in Starhyke. For more information, go to
www.starhyke.com . Not a lot of information there yet, but more news
will be posted soon.

STEPHEN AUSTIN: Our favorite Pak'Ma'Ra Ambassador has sent in an
update. "Everything is progressing well towards the production of
our first episode of BUENA PARK AFTER DARK. I've been brought on as
the Associate Producer of this weekly satirical talk show (think
Fernwood Tonight meets Larry Sanders) starring L..A. radio icon and
legend (just ask him) Frazer Smith. We're looking to premier in
April on the Pax-owned station, KDOC-TV here in the Orange-Los
Angeles County Area.
Post production is finally finished on REPTILE RANGERS. This is a
film I worked on with J.G. Hertzler, Robert O'Reilly and Aron
Eisenberg this past summer." Stephen will keep us posted as to when
and where you will be able to see it.

DISCUSSION TOPIC

With all the speculation about what JMS is currently working on, I
thought it might be fun to get a look at what everyone here would
like to see -- on the Babylon 5 front. (This is pure speculation and
has nothing to do with what JMS might have in the works.) I find it
fascinating to see which Babylon 5 universe people enjoy the most.
Is it the early Babylon 5? Crusade? Technomages? G'Kar and Lyta's
trip into the galaxy? I think Galen's journal would make fascinating
reading. With a story as rich as Babylon 5, there are tons of story
lines that could be possible jumping off points.

Send in your comments and ideas to sgbruckner@.... I post them
on the Discussion Page for everyone to share. See what has come in
so far. If you see an old topic you want to respond to, go right
ahead. We enjoy hearing from you.

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT

7:00pm on UPN
Star Trek: Enterprise
North Star
Archer and crew discover a human colony seemingly straight out of
the Old West.

8:00pm on Showtime
Star Trek: Nemesis
The crew of the Enterprise must prevent a replica of Capt. Picard
from overtaking Earth.

On SCIFI Tonight:

6:00pm
The Beast
A fisherman and a Coast Guard lieutenant seek a sea monster
terrorizing a seaside community.

9:00pm
Snakehead Terror
A small-town sheriff defends a town from killer "Frankenfish" known
as the Snakehead Terror. Bruce Boxleitner and former Elite model
Carol Alt star in this tale based on a horrifying true story of
nature run amok.

On Syndicated TV This Weekend:

Andromeda
Machinery of the Mind
An assassin tries to steal the minds of the Commonwealth's most
brilliant scientists.

Angel
First Impressions
Cordelia appoints herself as Gunn's protector.

BeastMaster
Fifth Element
Dar and Tao must save the world from destruction.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Conversations With Dead People
Gang receives a wave of ominous visitations; dead mother visits
Dawn; Buffy chats with vampire.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
The Source
The Lost World is in the grip of a crippling drought.

Mutant X
No Exit
A cybernetic mutant uses his powers in a plot to destroy Mutant X.

NEW SCIFI PUBLICATIONS:

TV Zone #173: Green is his favorite color -- Andy Hallett wears a
lot of the color in his role as Lorne in ANGEL. He talks about his
life as a demon in this issue. Also included: John Billingsley talks
about his role as Dr. Phlox on ENTERPRISE and Karen Cliche gives us
some insight into Lexa Pierce on MUTANT X.

Expose Special #24: This special 2003/2004 Yearbook issue presents
88-pages of special material. Sir Ian McKellan reflects on
differences between the two Gandalfs and how it feels to see his
image on a stamp and coin. This issue also looks at Buffy, Angel,
Harry Potter and much more.

TV Zone Special #55: This issue takes a special look at the Worlds
of Stargate. Special attention is given to the second half of season
7 and looks at the changes ahead. Interviews include Richard Dean
Anderson, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge and Michael Shanks.
Looks like a keeper for STARGATE SG-1 fans!

COMIC BOOKS:

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #505

Amazing Spider-Man #505 will arrive in stores on Wednesday, March 17
from Marvel Comics. The issue is written by Fiona Avery and J.
Michael Straczynski, with art and cover by John Romita Jr.

Here's how Marvel describes the issue:
"A new story arc begins as Peter delves further into the mysterious
totemistic origin of his powers when the enigmatic Ezekiel returns!
Is he truly Peter¹s mentor and ally, or something much more?"

Amazing Spider-Man #505 will be 32 pages and will cost $2.25.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #507

Written by J. Michael Straczynski, cover and pencils by John Romita
Jr.
Concluding a 3-part arc, featuring the mysterious Ezekiel!
32 pages, $2.25, in stores on April 28.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #508

Written by J. Michael Straczynski, pencils and cover by John Romita
Jr. The enigmatic Ezekiel returns to Peter's life. But is he the
same man who stood by Spider-Man's side in his hour of need, or will
he prove to be something much deadlier?
32 pages, $2.25, in stores on May 26.

SMALLVILLE:

Smallville #7 was set to arrive in stores on Wednesday, March 17
from DC Comics. The issue is written by Clint Carpenter, with art by
Tom Derenick, Adam DeKraker, Tom Grummett and Kevin Conrad and a
cover by John Van Fleet.

Here's how DC describes the issue:
"A special issue kicking off a 3-month-long cross-media event. The
story begins here, continues online, and concludes in May's
Smallville #8. In the lead story, Chloe reopens her secret files
after gaining information from a fugitive member of Lionel Luthor's
Deletion Force...and her investigation leads to new secrets
concerning Kryptonite! In the backup, Jonathan and Martha deal with
the hazards of raising a super-powered teen. Plus, a report from
Christopher James Beppo sheds new light on the enigmatic founder of
Smallville."

Smallville #7 will be 48 pages and will cost $3.95.

INSIDE SCI-FI THIS WEEK:

SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS: JOAN OF ARCADIA fans will be
happy to see star Amber Tamblyn in the lead for SISTERHOOD OF THE
TRAVELING PANTS, a coming-of-age fantasy film based on the best-
selling novel. According to the Hollywood Reporter, writer/director
Ken Kwapis will helm the project for Warner Brothers Pictures and
Alcon Entertainment. Shooting is scheduled to begin in mid-May.
Written by Delia Ephron from the novel by Ann Brashares, the film
centers on four friends who vow to keep in touch over the summer by
circulating a magical pair of second-hand jeans that fits each of
them perfectly.

STEPHEN KING'S KINGDOM HOSPITAL: Ratings for Stephen King's KINGDOM
HOSPITAL fell 35 percent this week from its premiere. According to
Variety, KINGDOM HOSPITAL's second Wednesday-night episode saw a
preliminary 3.7 rating in adults 18-49 and a total viewership of 8.5
million. That was down more than one-third off its key demographic
audience and a staggering 40 percent off its total audience from the
previous week. KINGDOM HOSPITAL's two-hour premiere scored a 5.5
rating in the demographic and 14.1 million viewers.

CENTURY CITY: CBS' new drama series CENTURY CITY is set in a high-
end Los Angeles law firm in the year 2030. It premieres Tuesday at
10 p.m. followed by a second episode at 10 p.m. Saturday. It is
described as a high-tech playground where blended ethnicity is the
multicultural and women hold as many, if not more, positions of
power as men. Viola Davis exudes a steely authority as head of the
firm Crane, Constable, McNeil & Montero and the show's ensemble
cast, which includes Ioan Gruffudd, Nestor Carbonell, Hector
Elizondo and Eric Schaeffer. Katie Jacobs is executive producer of
the Universal Network TV series along with her husband, writer-
producer Paul Attanasio, and CENTURY CITY creator/exec producer Ed
Zuckerman.

DARK SHADOWS: The WB has announced the first cast member for it's
upcoming DARK SHADOWS series. Marley Shelton has been cast in the
gothic soap opera.

WEEKEND AT THE MOVIES: Three new films open in wide release this
weekend. Frankie Muniz is back as Cody Banks in AGENT CODY BANKS 2:
DESTINATION LONDON, Johnny Depp and John Turturro star in the
thriller SECRET WINDOW, and David Mamet's SPARTAN also opens with
Val Kilmer in the lead. To help you choose which one you might want
to see, go to http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/498/498573p1.html
for reviews.

TOP SF NETWORK SHOWS:
Joan of Arcadia 7.5
Smallville 3.4
Charmed 3.2
Angel 2.7
Enterprise 2.6
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 2/16/04 - 2/22/04.

STAR WARS: EPISODE III: New images from the upcoming STAR WARS
EPISODE III are making their rounds across the Internet today.
SPOILER ALERT: The new Star Wars Insider magazine has General
Grievous on the cover. This provides the best look so far at the
Separtist alien military leader, and the Insider will have more info
about what we can expect to see from this new character come May
2005. The biggest news was created by London's Daily Mirror tabloid
newspaper which published two images that have been the subject of
rumor for months. The Mirror published part of what is allegedly pre-
production artwork fans have dubbed "The Birth of Darth Vader" which
shows Anakin Skywalker in a sinister medical chamber being attended
to by medical droids and observed by Darth Sidious. The other image
is a photo of what is supposed to be Anakin Skywalker after his
burning and before being placed in the Vader armor. In fact, what
the Mirror has published is a composite image that one STAR WARS fan
put together from multiple photos available on the Web.

UNLEASHED: According to Variety, Platinum Studios has picked up
another comic book property -- Myatt Murphy's graphic novel and
series TWO OVER TEN. Platinum will develop Murphy's story into
proposals for movie and television projects, the first one titled
UNLEASHED. Described as "THE FUGITIVE meets FIRESTARTER", the story
is about a man who has the power to cause any item he touches to
explode. Unable to control his power, he goes on the run from the
authorities and an enemy that wants to wield his power for their own
purposes. Platinum Studios' Chairman, Scott Rosenberg says, "The
comic is a gold mine of characters and story hooks. The story is
action and drama, but the core has to do with just what ordinary
people do when tossed into extraordinary circumstances." Recently
Platinum set up the science fiction tale UNIQUE at Touchstone
Pictures, with David Goyer (BLADE: TRINITY) attached to direct. The
company is also the producer of Showtime's JEREMIAH television
series.

EARTHSEA: The Hollywood Reporter indicates that Isabella Rossellini
has been cast in the Sci Fi Channel miniseries EARTHSEA. Rossellini
will play High Priestess Thar, a pivotal character in the epic
chronicle of a young wizard in a mystical land. EARTHSEA is written
by Gavin Scott ("The Mists of Avalon") and executive produced by
Robert Halmi Sr. ("Merlin"), Lawrence Bender ("Kill Bill-Vol. 1")
and Kevin Brown ("Roswell"). The four-hour miniseries, a joint
production of Hallmark Entertainment and Bender-Brown Prods., is
scheduled to air over two nights in December. The miniseries is
adapted from author Ursula K. Le Guin's "Earthsea" novels. The first
in the series, "A Wizard of Earthsea," was published in 1968.
EARTHSEA follows the tale of a reckless youth destined to become the
greatest sorcerer that the mystical land of Earthsea has ever known.
When the young wizard Ged discovers that he possesses infinite
magical powers, he seeks to master the ancient arts. As he journeys
to manhood, he will combat dragons, fall in love, cross death's
threshold, and ultimately wield the power to reunite a kingdom. For
more information, read the press release from SCIFI at
http://www.scifi.com/earthsea/.

THE PUNISHER: Avi Arad, Marvel Studios CEO and chairman, will be
honored with a new award, the Robert W. Selig Showmanship Award, at
ShoWest 2004, which gets under way March 22 in Las Vegas. Arad will
receive the award March 23 at the opening-day luncheon, which will
be co-hosted by Christie Inc., which specializes in film projection
and displays, and Lions Gate Films, which will release THE PUNISHER,
on which Arad is one of the producers, on April 16. It will screen
for ShoWest attendees Tuesday morning before the luncheon
ceremonies.

THE WHEEL OF TIME: EYE OF THE WORLD: Red Eagle Entertainment has
optioned worldwide feature rights to Robert Jordan's 11-book
series "The Wheel of Time." Deal includes all ancillary rights. Red
Eagle will initially work to produce an adaptation of the first
novel, "The Eye of the World." Once that's achieved, adaptations of
the others will follow. "Eye of the World" begins when villagers of
Emond's Field are attacked by minions of a force known as Dark One,
forcing three young men to confront their destiny and begin a
quest..."

BEOWULF: Darclight Films has announced the pre-production of
BEOWULF, an epic tale based on the famous Old English poem,
Beowulf , which inspired Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings. The medieval
adventure, part fable, part horror-story is loosely based on the 9th
century Anglo-Saxon poem, Beowulf, telling the blood-soaked tale of
a Norse hero's battle with a great and murderous troll. BEOWULF is
written and co-produced by Andrew Rai Berzins and will be directed
by Sturla Gunnarsson (Such a Long Journey, Rare Birds). The film
will be shot in the stark and primal landscape of Iceland as a
production between Canada, the United Kingdom and Iceland. The
producers include Paul Stephens and Eric Jordan of The Film Works of
Canada, Michael Lionello Cowan and Jason Piette of the Spice Factory
in the UK, and Fridrik thor Fridriksson of The Icelandic Film
Corporation. Scott Speedman from UNDERWORLD and FELICITY has signed
on to the project. The producers are out to Sean Connery to play
Hogarth.

ELEKTRA: Elektra, starring Jennifer Garner, has set up shop at Lions
Gate Film Studios in North Vancouver and has set production dates of
May 3rd thru July 15th 2004. SAI Productions Ltd is the production
companies name and Brent O'Conner (Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed,
Good Will Hunting) is currently listed as Executive Producer.
Renowned Vancouver Production Designer Graeme Murray (The X-Files,
Smallville, Wiseguy) has been hired along with Production Manager
Simon Abbott.

PRIME EVIL: Morris Chestnut and Eddie Cibrian (Third Watch) have
joined Cole Hauser in the Lakeshore Entertainment production PRIME
EVIL for Bruce Hunt, who is making his feature directorial debut on
the project at Sony's Screen Gems. Slated to start shooting in April
in Eastern Europe, the film centers on a group of cave divers who
get trapped in an underground cave system. They are then forced to
battle demonic creatures when they attempt to escape. Chestnut and
Cibrian play members of the diving troupe. Michael Steinberg and
Tegan West wrote the screenplay for the 2005 release.

STARGATE: ATLANTIS: A few folks have mentioned they have already
seen promos for STARGATE: ATLANTIS on SCIFI. For the press release
issued by SCIFI on the upcoming series, go to Atlantis page here at
The Zocalo Today. The series is set to premiere with a 2-hour event
on July 16.

STARGATE SG-1: While we will see part one of the seventh season
finale, word comes that season eight will arrive on The Sci-Fi
Channel on Friday, July 9!

TOP 10 SF DVD SALES:
1. Pirates of the Caribbean
2. Stargate SG-1 season six
3. Finding Nemo
4. The Two Towers extended edition
5. Futurama volume three
6. The Matrix Revolutions
7. Fellowship of the Ring extended edition
8. Angel season three
9. Buffy season six
10. Firefly
Source: Amazon.com, top-selling genre DVDs, 3/5/04

NEW DVD SETS: Warner Home Video will release DVD collections of the
classic Hanna-Barbera TV series THE JETSONS: The Complete First
Season and JONNY QUEST: Season One on May 11. The DVD sets will
feature digitally remastered shows in four-disc collectors' sets,
each featuring more than 11 hours of original TV programming and new
enhanced content. Each set will carry a suggested retail price of
$64.92. THE JETSONS set will include all 24 season-one episodes, as
well as "Rosey the Robot" commentary by Janet Waldo, "A Date with
Jet Screamer" commentary by Janet Waldo, "The Jetsons: The Family of
the Future" featurette, character bios, "Space Age Gadgets"
featurette and "Rosey the Robotic Maid" featurette. The JONNY QUEST
set will include all 26 episodes from the show's first year,
featuring Tim Matheson as the voice of Jonny. The set will also
include "Quest Files: Fun Facts & Trivia," "Adventures in Animation:
A Cartoon Called Quest" featurette, The "Jonny Quest Video Handbook"
and an original P.F. Flyer sneaker commercial.

THE BORG IN LAS VEGAS: Las Vegas is being assimilitated! On March 18
at the Las Vegas Hilton, Paramount Parks will open "Star Trek: Borg
Invasion 4D," a new state-of-the-art attraction that promises to
break technological ground. It will replace an earlier
attraction, "Star Trek: The Experience," which has been at the
Hilton since January 1998. Like the Borg itself -- part machine and
part living organism -- the new attraction is a hybrid, part ride
and part movie. As the attraction's visitors tour a futuristic
research facility, the drones of the Borg collective will try to
capture them using 24th century technology. In the movie portion,
the Borg queen, played by "Star Trek: First Contact's" Alice Krige,
attempts to assimilate the visitors. The day is saved when the
Enterprise arrives, along with its commander, Adm. Janeway (Kate
Mulgrew), and the doctor (Robert Picardo) from the "Star Trek:
Voyager" TV series.

THE RING 2: Variety reports that director Noam Murro has dropped out
of THE RING 2. DreamWorks Pictures head Walter Parkes said, "This is
a mutual parting based on two creative differences. Noam Murro is an
extraordinarily gifted director and we intend without hesitation to
try to work with him in the future." The release date for the film
remains November 10. A new director is expected to be named as soon
as this week. Naomi Watts and David Dorfman are returning for the
sequel, written by Ehren Kruger, who also penned the original. Late
reports indicate that Japanese director Hideo Nakata, the man behind
the original Ringu upon which the 2002 horror film THE RING was
based, is in negotiations to helm The Ring 2 for DreamWorks.

SMALLVILLE: The WB has announced which five episodes of SMALLVILLE
will be aired on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. as part of the "You Say It, We
Play It" stunt. Winners in the voting include "The
Pilot," "Nicodemus," "Red," "Rosetta," and "X-Ray."

TWILIGHT: MTV Films has teamed with Maverick Films to jointly
acquire feature film rights to the forthcoming novel TWILIGHT from
Phoenix-based author Stephanie Meyer. Set for publication in
September 2005 from Little, Brown, the high school-set novel centers
on Bella, who falls in love with a vampire. The new couple leads a
rival vampire clan to pursue them and attempt to force her to decide
if she, too, wishes to become one of the undead. The project is
slated to be released through MTV's Viacom sister company Paramount
Pictures.

THE 4400: USA Network has firmed up casting for its sci-fi drama THE
4400. Peter Coyote (ET), Joel Gretsch (Taken) and Jacqueline
McKenzie (Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood) have signed on to
lead the ensemble cast. In addition, former Law & Order regular
Michael Moriarty (Taken) is also slated to appear. Alien-abduction
is the theme of the series. THE 4400 centers on the return of 4,400
missing people to Earth. The series kicks off with an apocalyptic
ball of light sailing toward earth. In place of the expected
catastrophic event, however, thousands of returned abductees are
left with no memory of their otherworldly experiences. Each has been
gone anywhere from a few months to several decades, but hasn't aged
a day. USA ordered the pilot plus five episodes of the hourlong
series last year. Yves Simoneau is on board to direct the project
from a script by creator Scott Peters (The Outer Limits).
Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, Laura Allen, Kaj-Erik Eriksen and Chad Faust
round out the cast. Production is set to begin next week in
Vancouver for a summer premiere on USA.

BEST SELLING SF BOOKS:
1. The Da Vinci Code
2. The Passion
3. Angels & Demons
4. Glorious Appearing (Left Behind)
5. The Journals of Eleanor Druse
6. Tale of Despereaux
7. Eragon
8. Harry Potter box set
9. Hobbit Rings box set
10. Wicked
Source: Amazon.com, 3/5/04

JAMES BOND 21: Empire Online reports that James Bond screenwriters
Robert Wade and Neal Purvis (Die Another Day) have begun work on the
upcoming 21st 007 movie. "We started writing the new one two weeks
ago, ... so obviously all the cliches are already in place," Purvis
said. At the Orange Screenwriters Seminar at the British Library in
London, Purvis also confirmed that Pierce Brosnan will return as the
superspy. "As far as we understand it, Pierce Brosnan is Bond," he
said. "He's a great Bond, and he gives you a lot to work with as a
writer, because he's very good looking. Seriously, he is very good
at suggesting an undercurrent of ... you don't know what. He shows
that there is a shadow on this man." Wade told the site that it's a
challenge coming up with a fresh angle on the franchise. "I don't
think there's a more difficult task. It's all been done. The 20th
film was harder than the 19th. It's very difficult to think of new
ways to blow things up! But character is the thing; it's finding new
ways to explore the character."

ASIMOV STAMP: Science Fiction & Fantasy fans are being urged by
Gordon Van Gelder, editor of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science
Fiction, to join a letter-writing campaign to get legendary SF
author Isaac Asimov on a U.S. postage stamp. Van Gelder has already
received a letter from the U.S. Postal Service saying that it is
considering an Asimov stamp for 2006. Van Gelder's editorial on the
matter will appear in the May issue of the magazine. "Just as Albert
Einstein became a familiar icon as a physicist, so too did Dr. A
represent the genre of science fiction to the world at large—more so
than any other individual, I'd say," Van Gelder writes. He suggests
that letters be sent to: Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, c/o
Stamp Development, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW Room 5670, Washington,
D.C. 20260-2437.

DOCTOR WHO: The BBC reports that writers behind the British TV shows
THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN AND COUPLING are joining the team working on
the new U.K. DOCTOR WHO series. Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffatt will
join a select group of writers, led by Russell T. Davies, producing
scripts for the 13-part series for BBC One. Other new writers will
be Steven Moffatt, Mark Gatiss and Paul Cornell. Filming starts in
Cardiff this spring for a 2005 premiere. Gatiss created the satiric
League of Gentlemen (not to be confused with the film and graphic
novel The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen). Moffatt's credits
include BBC Two's Coupling, winner of the sitcom of the year at the
British Comedy Awards and adapted into an abortive NBC series of the
same name. Other writers involved in the project include Rob
Shearman, author of three Big Finish Doctor Who stories, and
Cornell, who wrote several original Doctor Who novels and two Doctor
Who series.

CHAOS: Wesley Snipes, Ryan Phillippe, Jason Statham and Justine
Waddell are teaming to star in the Tony Gigolo-directed action
thriller CHAOS. Filming will start next week in Vancouver. The story
follows a rookie and veteran cop, played by Phillippe and Statham,
respectively, in pursuit of bank robber (Snipes) who knows too much
about the inner workings of the police department."

CANDYMAN 4: Tony Todd talked to Fangoria magazine about an upcoming
big-budget CANDYMAN 4 as well as a third FINAL DESTINATION
flick. "Right now we're prepping a fourth CANDYMAN film," reveals
Todd. "It's going to be big-budget—we're looking at $25 million.
There have been a lot of successful horror films made since we did
the last movie, and Clive [Barker] and I have had three or four
meetings about the film, talking about storyboarding ideas. It's
going to be set in New England, and the initial image will be of
Candyman in a blizzard. The story is about a double identity. I can
tell you that it's set at an all-girls college where there is a
descendant of Candyman—a professor who doesn't actually know who or
what Candyman is."

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: For the second week in a row, Mel Gibson's THE
PASSION OF THE CHRIST topped the box office and netted over $50
million dollars. This pushes its total past $200 M. Warner Bros.
made $29 M from its movie remake of the classic 70's cop show
STARSKY & HUTCH while Buena Vista's HIDALGO came close to taking in
$20 M. Combined, the top three films earned $100 M at the box
office. THE RETURN OF THE KING came back into the top ten,
undoubtedly as a result of the 11 Oscars the picture won at last
week's Academy Awards. Here are the estimated box office receipts of
the top ten films from March 5 through to March 7:
1. THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST $51,392,000 $212,034,000
2. STARSKY & HUTCH $29,050,000 $29,050,000
3. HIDALGO $19,600,000 $19,600,000
4. 50 FIRST DATES $7,700,000 $99,411,000
5. TWISTED $5,025,000 $16,382,000
6. CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE DRAMA QUEEN $4,000,000 $21,800,000
7. THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING $3,175,000
$368,347,000
8. DIRTY DANCING: HAVANA NIGHTS $2,850,000 $10,040,000
9. MIRACLE $2,600,000 $59,900,000
10. MONSTER $2,250,000 $30,080,000

POSSESSION: Darclight, the genre label of Arclight Films, has given
the go-ahead for POSSESSION, an adaptation of a Peter James' novel.
Stuart Baird ("Star Trek: Nemesis") will direct the supernatural
thriller about a young man who, after being killed in an auto crash,
reappears to his mother to reveal a dark secret.

SWORD OF DRACULA: The feature film and TV rights to SWORD OF DRACULA
have been optioned by Chuck Gordon's Daybreak Prods. and Adrian
Askarieh's Prime Universe Productions. Based on the comicbook series
created by Jason Henderson, the series, published by Image Comics,
is a contemporary revamp of the Dracula story in which competing
military forces find themselves racing to excavate the great vampire
himself.

LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING arrives on DVD and VHS on
May 25, 2004. The home video debut of The Lord of the Rings: The
Return of the King will follow the groundbreaking success of the
multi-tiered platform releases of both "The Fellowship of the Ring"
and "The Two Towers," and will be available on a two-disc DVD and
VHS for $29.95 and $24.97, respectively. A special extended edition
of "The Return of the King" will follow as planned in time for the
holidays.

CSI: NEW YORK: With the second spin-off of the popular CSI coming to
New York this fall, the Hollywood Reporter indicates that Gary
Sinise is being courted for the lead role. CBS needs to nail down
the casting for the show soon because it intends to introduce the
CSI: NEW YORK main characters in this season's second-to-last
episode of CSI: MIAMI, to air in May.

NEW RELEASES:
Schindler's List: (DVD)
Mona Lisa Smile: (DVD)
"SpongeBob SquarePants": SpongeBob Goes Prehistoric (DVD)
"Mystery Science Theater 3000": Vol. 5 (DVD)

Special Editions and Box Sets:
Futurama: Volume 3
The Raquel Welch Collection
One Million Years B.C.
Bandolero!
Myra Breckinridge
Mother, Jugs, and Speed
To Serve Them All My Days
The Mike Leigh Collection: Volume One
Hard Labour
Abigail's Party
Grown Ups
Farscape: Season 4 Collection 1
Farscape: Season 4 Collection 2
Stargate SG-1: Season Six
Little House on the Prairie: Season 4
Dark Shadows: Collection 10

CLASSICS AND CULT
Dawn of the Dead: (Special Divimax Edition)
The Ten Commandments: Special Collector's Edition
Vanishing Point
Bed and Sofa
Brother Sun, Sister Moon

CONVENTION CALENDAR
Best of Both Worlds
Date: March 13-14, 2004
Place: Canberra, Australia
Theme: Lord of the Rings
Guests: Dominic Monaghan - Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck (The Lord Of
The Rings Movie Trilogy)
For more information, visit their website at
http://johnvb.tripod.com/asn2.html.

Cult TV Expo
Date: March 20-21, 2004
Place: Rosemont, IL
Site: Ramada O'Hare
Guests: Richard Hatch,Anne Lockhart,Sarah Rush,Laurette Spang, Jack
Stauffer and Herb Jefferson, Jr.
For more information, visit their website at www.dg-
promotions.5u.com/galactica.htm.

I-CON 23
Date: March 26-28, 2004
Place: SUNY, Stony Brook Campus
Location: Stony Brook, NY
B5 Guests: Peter Jurasik, Bill Blair
Other Guests: Vaughn Armstrong For more information, visit their
website at http://www.iconsf.org.

United Fan Con East
Date: March 26-28, 2004
Place: Marriott Hotel
Location: Quincy, MAbr> Guests: Teryl Rothery (Maj. Janet Frasier,
STARGATE); Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi from Star Trek: The Next
Generation); more guests to be announced .
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.unitedfancon.com/.

Creation Entertainment GRAND SLAM: THE SCI-FI SUMMIT
March 26-28, 2004
Location: Pasadena Center
Place: Pasadena, CA
B5 Guest: Stephen Austin
Guests: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Brent Spiner, Sally
Kellerman, Connor Trinneer, Alexander Siddig, Dominic Keating,
Anthony Montgomery, Walter Koenig, Andrew Robinson, Armen Shimerman,
Kren Auberjonois, Cirroc Lofton, John Rhys-Davies, Amanda Tapping,
Michael Shanks, Corin Nemec, Michael Rosenbaum, Mark Verheiden,
Anthony Michael Hall, Nicole de Boer, Chris Bruno, John L. Adams,
Kristen Dalton, Andy Hallett, Mercedes McNab, Robia La Morte, Iyari
Limon, Mark Lutz, James Leary, Julie Benz, Jeremy Bulloch, Kenny
Baker, Rusty Goffe, Ken Colley, Peter Mayhew, Leni Parker, Gina
Torres
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/calendar.htm.

Concourse
April 9-12, 2004
Location: The Winter Gardens
Place: Blackpool, UK
Guests: Philip Pullman, Christopher Priest, Danny Flynn, Mitchell
Burnside Clapp, Sue Mason
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.eastercon.com/concourse.

That's about it for now.
Have a wonderful weekend and be sure to visit the website when you
have a few minutes.  It is updated daily and has a lot more
information.

Take care.
Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN News:  The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net

THE ZOCALO TODAY – March 27, 2004

WHAT'S NEWW

JMS UPDATE: You all know how much JMS loves toying with our
emotions! He is in 7th Heaven these days. Here is his latest coded
message:
The trade paperback containing the first six issues of Supreme Power
hit the stands this past week, for those who want to jump on.
Oh...and starting around the Ides of May, look to the wrong side of
the river for word from Harry, Jack and Albert.
Not that I'm enjoying this, of course....
jms

AMAZING STORIES: Paizo Publishing announced that it will resurrect
the classic pulp magazine AMAZING STORIES in July. The magazine,
which was first published in 1926, will be relaunched as a monthly
magazine with both cutting-edge fiction from top authors and
coverage of the entire spectrum of SF, fantasy, superheroes and
supernatural horror, the publisher said. The first issue of Amazing
Stories this century will run 84 pages and carry a cover price of
$5.99. Dave Gross, editor-in-chief of Star Wars Insider, will also
helm Amazing Stories.

DISCUSSION TOPIC

Ranger Gary suggested this topic.
"I thought that because B5 Season 5 DVD set will be released on 4/13
it would be a good time to dicsuss this season. This is definitely
the least watched (many have never seen it) as well as the least
discussed of the 5 year arc. So, my thoughts are why not ask B5 ers
what their favorite new character and story arc that were introduced
during this season.

Or an alternative question: Do you feel that many of the Season 5
storylines (such as Lyta's anti-psicorps, G'Kar's need to escape his
cult-like status from Narns, Garabaldi's Bestor revenge, etc..) were
sufficiently tied up?

Send in your thoughts, comments and ideas to sgbruckner@.... I
post them on the Discussion Page for everyone to share. See what has
come in so far. If you see an old topic you want to respond to, go
right ahead. We enjoy hearing from you.

KEEPING UP WITH CAST AND CREW

CLAUDIA CHRISTIAN: Claudia has landed the lead in a play called WHAT
THE NIGHT IS FOR by Michael Weller. At the Laguna Playhouse from 3
April 2004 - 2 May 2004 there will be previews 30 March – 2 April.
The play charts the night when two former lovers - both married -
meet again for dinner in a hotel bedroom. It's truthful, powerful,
and funny, and explores territory many of us have had to face - or
chosen to ignore. Reservations can be made on-line by visiting the
Laguna Playhouse website and clicking on tickets or calling them at
1-800-946-5556. Thanks Ranger Jim for the information.

Ranger Michael reports that Claudia Christian announced at the
London Film and Comic Con she is in a new sci fi film. She got the
lead role in Starhyke. For more information, go to
www.starhyke.com . Not a lot of information there yet, but more news
will be posted soon.

STEPHEN AUSTIN: Our favorite Pak'Ma'Ra Ambassador has sent in an
update.
"Everything is progressing well towards the production of our first
episode of BUENA PARK AFTER DARK. I've been brought on as the
Associate Producer of this weekly satirical talk show (think
Fernwood Tonight meets Larry Sanders) starring L..A. radio icon and
legend (just ask him) Frazer Smith. We're looking to premier in
April on the Pax-owned station, KDOC-TV here in the Orange-Los
Angeles County Area.

Post production is finally finished on REPTILE RANGERS. This is a
film I worked on with J.G. Hertzler, Robert O'Reilly and Aron
Eisenberg this past summer." Stephen will keep us posted as to when
and where you will be able to see it.

SPECIAL CAST ACTIVITY

STEPHEN AUSTIN: Stephen has a fantastic stand-up comedy routine.
Here is his latest appearance schedule:
T.B. SCOTT'S FOOD AND DRINK - Weds., Mar., 31st - 8p
Corona, CA
909-340-3474

CRUISE WITH PETER WOODWARD
Peter is considering cruising the Caribbean in January 2005 and
wants to invite his fans to join the fun. He would like to see if
there is sufficient interest before going too far into planning, so
if you would like to receive a brochure about Peter's upcoming
cruise once the details are finalized please advise of your:
Name:
Postal Address, City, State, Zip:
E-mail address:
Phone number:
Total number of guests in your party:
Age range of the guests including yourself:
Send this information to
Susan Helfrich, Director
Cruise Events LLC
www.CruiseEvents.net
Susan@...
800 695 5253 - phone
215 322 0515 - phone
215 355 6664 - fax
Any information you send us will be handled respectfully. This is
not a commitment from you, just an indication of interest.

JERRY DOYLE RADIO SHOW:
Here's the latest from Jerry:
I'll be sitting in for Michael Savage today 4-7P PST, 350+
affiliates, 9.9 million listeners.Details on the show are at
talkradionetwork.com. Call in if you have anything to plug.
My weekday show, launching April 5th, is moving up into the 7-10P
time slot.

The weekend show will continue to be heard on Saturdays, 8-11P PST.
All the best.
JD

On Saturday evening, March 27, Jerry Doyle will host a LIVE radio
show from 10:00 PM to 1:00 am from:
American Bandstand Restaurant
10975 Metcalf
Overland Park, KS 66210
(913)451-1600

For more information on Jerry Doyle, Talk Radio Show Host, you may
visit www.talkradionetwork.com

"The Jerry Doyle Show", now heard Saturdays from 8-11PM PST on the
Talk Radio Network, will be adding a weekday show starting April
5th. Jerry is working on an affiliate list for the 95 stations
across the country.

"The Jerry Doyle Show" launched in syndication, coast to coast, on
12/6 through Talk Radio Network. It's on Saturday nights, 8-11 PM
PST. According to Jerry, it's about "Politics, pop culture and
things that tick me off is the general theme. It's been a great ride
and the folks at TRN have been fantastic. You can go to Talk Radio
Network for more information.

SAVE THE HUBBLE

The Hubble project is in jeopardy. Please visit
http://www.savethehubble.org/petition.jsp and sign the petition to
have NASA reconsider funding for the project.

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT

8:00pm on UPN
Star Trek: Enterprise
Carpenter Street
Archer and T'Pol travel to the 21st century to stop the Xindi from
destroying Earth.

8:00pm on NBC
A Knight's Tale
A commoner jousts with nobles in 14th-century France.

6:00pm on AMC
Conan the Destroyer
An evil queen wants Conan to fetch a wizard's magic key to the horn
of a huge statue.

8:00pm on AMC
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Adm. Kirk and the crew seek an intelligent alien entity.

10:30pm on AMC
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Kirk, Spock and the Enterprise crew battle an old foe who blames
Kirk for the death of his wife.

On SCIFI Tonight:

5:00pm
Interceptor Force
A soldier leads an elite team against aliens.

7:00pm
Interceptor Force II
Soldiers battle a huge shape-shifting alien.

9:00pm
Phantom Force
A squad of soldiers must protect the human race from the
supernatural.

On Syndicated TV This Weekend:

Andromeda
Soon the Nearing Vortex
Capt. Dylan Hunt comes up against former crew member Tyr for
possession of a map.

Angel
Supersymmetry
A portal opens while Fred addresses a symposium on her recently
published physics article.

Angel
Dear Boy
The friends fear Angel's dreams may push him toward a life of evil.

BeastMaster
Birds
An avenging angel causes an imbalance in nature that Dar must
correct.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Never Leave Me
Buffy gives Spike the third degree; the gang grills Andrew about
evil forces.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
The Guardian
Challenger, Marguerite and Veronica follow tracks through gas
defenses, looking for Challenger.

Mutant X
Into the Moonless Night
The surviving members of Mutant X emerge encounter a beautiful,
mysterious woman.

The Outer Limits
Unnatural Selection
A couple considers an illegal procedure to produce a perfect baby.

NEW SCI-FI PUBLICATIONS:

TV Zone Special #56: The big topic in this issue -- the new DOCTOR
WHO! Meet Christopher Eccleston and see what qualities he will bring
to the role. Also in this issue, Terrance Dicks, writer & and former
script editor for DOCTOR WHO, offers some advice for the new
production team. Colin Baker played the sixth Doctor and gives you
some insights into his memories of the series.

Cult Times Special #29: The theme of this special issue, "Defense of
the Realm" -- and we are given profiles of folks like ALIAS' Sydney
Bristow, ANGEL's Wesley Wyndam-Price; THE AVENGERSs' John Steed,
24's Jack Bauer and THE MAN FROM UNCLE's Napoleon Solo. Also in this
issue, hear from Michael Shanks and Christopher Judge about STARGATE
SG-1 and upcoming ATLANTIS.

COMIC BOOKS:

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #505
Amazing Spider-Man #505 will arrive in stores on Wednesday, March 17
from Marvel Comics. The issue is written by Fiona Avery and J.
Michael Straczynski, with art and cover by John Romita Jr.
Here's how Marvel describes the issue:
"A new story arc begins as Peter delves further into the mysterious
totemistic origin of his powers when the enigmatic Ezekiel returns!
Is he truly Peter¹s mentor and ally, or something much more?"
Amazing Spider-Man #505 will be 32 pages and will cost $2.25.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #507

Written by J. Michael Straczynski, cover and pencils by John Romita
Jr.
Concluding a 3-part arc, featuring the mysterious Ezekiel!
32 pages, $2.25, in stores on April 28.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #508
Written by J. Michael Straczynski, pencils and cover by John Romita
Jr. The enigmatic Ezekiel returns to Peter's life. But is he the
same man who stood by Spider-Man's side in his hour of need, or will
he prove to be something much deadlier?
32 pages, $2.25, in stores on May 26.

Star Trek : The Key Collection Volume 1
The original full-color Star Trek comics reprinted in paperback at
last! Star Trek comics debuted in 1967, the same year as the
original television series and outlasted the TV version by 10 years.
This volume collects the first eight issues of the original
Enterprise crew in adventures to be found nowhere else. SC,
FC ..........$22.95

SUPREME POWER #9

Written by J. Michael Straczynski, cover and pencils by Gary Frank.
The world is still shaking from the titanic battle of Hyperion and
Dr. Spectrum. Is Earth big enough for two such powerful beings? And
who is Power Princess? Find out here!
32 pages, $2.99, in stores on April 7.

SMALLVILLE

FIRST LOOK: SMALLVILLE #7
Smallville #7 will arrive in stores on Wednesday, March 17 from DC
Comics. The issue is written by Clint Carpenter, with art by Tom
Derenick, Adam DeKraker, Tom Grummett and Kevin Conrad and a cover
by John Van Fleet.
Here's how DC describes the issue:
"A special issue kicking off a 3-month-long cross-media event. The
story begins here, continues online, and concludes in May's
Smallville #8. In the lead story, Chloe reopens her secret files
after gaining information from a fugitive member of Lionel Luthor's
Deletion Force...and her investigation leads to new secrets
concerning Kryptonite! In the backup, Jonathan and Martha deal with
the hazards of raising a super-powered teen. Plus, a report from
Christopher James Beppo sheds new light on the enigmatic founder of
Smallville."
Smallville #7 will be 48 pages and will cost $3.95.

INSIDE SCI-FI THIS WEEK:

TOP SF NETWORK SHOWS:
Kingdom Hospital 8.7
Joan of Arcadia 5.9
Alias 4.6
Smallville 3.4
Tru Calling 3.0
Angel 2.6
Enterprise 2.5
Charmed 2.4
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 3/1/04 - 3/7/04.
PHANTOM FORCE: On SCIFI tonight at 9pm, Richard Grieco stars as the
leader of a paranormal task force called PHANTOM FORCE. The movie is
a spinoff of the popular INTERCEPTOR FORCE movies, which earned high
ratings for the network in the past. Like its predecessors, the film
centers on an elite task of specialists investigating a threat to
humankind. This time, however, the threat is paranormal rather than
supernatural. Also starring are Tangi Miller and Nigel Bennett,
reprising the role he played in IF2: Interceptor Force 2. Grieco
plays Marcus Dupree, a soldier with a special gift who must lead the
crew of a submarine in a fight against an ancient supernatural
force.

FOX AND SF: At ShoWest, Twentieth Century Fox previewed an SF-heavy
summer slate of movies to conventioneers. The Hollywood Reporter
indicated that Fox unveiled a preview reel that included Roland
Emmerich's big-budget disaster picture THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, Peter
Hewitt's computer-animated/live-action GARFIELD: THE MOVIE, director
Paul Anderson's ALIEN VS. PREDATOR, and the Isaac Asimov adaptation
I, ROBOT, starring Will Smith and directed by Alex Proyas, among
other movies.

HERCULES: This week, the third season of HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY
JOURNEYS arrived in stores bringing all 22 episodes plus hours of
new bonus material for fans to watch. For the DVD set all of the
episodes were remastered in 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound and new
interviews with the show's cast, like Kevin Sorbo (Hercules),
Michael Hurst (Iolaus) and producers Eric Gruendemann and Robert
Tapert, are contained on the nine-disc set.

ALIAS: SPOILER ALERT: ABC's ALIAS series has been full for surprises
this year. With hints that Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin) could be
Sydney's (Jennifer Garner) father, we're about to discover she has a
sister as well. Mia Maestro ("Frida") has signed on to play Sydney's
sister in three episodes of she show, beginning Sunday, April 25.
It's also likely that she'll be a regular on the series next season.

THE INTERPRETER: Universal Pictures' THE INTERPRETER with Nicole
Kidman and Sean Penn are filming in Manhattan the next few days. THE
INTERPRETER is a suspenseful thriller of international intrigue set
inside the political corridors of the United Nations. Kidman stars
as South African U.N. interpreter Silvia Broome, who inadvertently
overhears a hushed, after-hours conversation in the General Assembly
Hall. And what she hears could topple a government...if she can just
survive long enough to get someone to believe her. The studio is
targeting a November 19 release.

ELEKTRA: With filming set to begin in May, ELEKTRA's star Jennifer
Garner and producer Gary Foster are giving hints about the upcoming
DAREDEVIL spin-off. Garner says, "I'm getting ready to train to
battle Typhoid Mary." Producer Gary Foster, who with co-producer Avi
Arad helped choose the supervillain, says, "Typhoid Mary is a
psychotic. By day she's this normal woman, and at night she loses
her mind and drives you into this disease, where you literally get
typhoid."

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Four new films open in wide release this weekend
along with a number of limited release flicks. Opening everywhere,
there's the SCOOBY-DOO sequel, Kevin Smith's JERSEY GIRL, Tom Hanks
in THE LADYKILLERS and DMX's NEVER DIE ALONE. For reviews of all
these features, go to
http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/502/502149p1.html or at
http://www.imdb.com/news/.

TOP SF DVD SALES:
1. Return of the King
2. The Matrix Revolutions
3. Stargate SG-1 season six
4. Pirates of the Caribbean
5. Brother Bear
6. Buffy season six
7. The Last Unicorn
8. Futurama volume three
9. Finding Nemo
10. Fellowship of the Ring extended edition
Source: Amazon.com, top-selling genre DVDs, 3/22/04

SPIDER-MAN 2: In order to take maximum advantage of the July 4 box
office weekend, Sony has moved up the release date of Spider-Man 2
to June 30 from July 2. According to Variety, Sony made the surprise
announcement at a ShoWest session promoting the sequel to 2002's
action blockbuster. The studio also confirmed its intent to shoot a
third installment in the comic-book movie franchise. The original
Spider-Man opened over a three-day May weekend with a then-record
$114.8 million.

BATMAN BEGINS: More veterans have signed up for Warner Brothers'
BATMAN BEGINS movie. Oscar nominee Tom Wilkinson and Rutger Hauer
have joined the cast, according to The Hollywood Reporter. According
to the trade paper, Wilkinson plays Falcone, one of the leading
crime figures in Gotham City and Hauer portrays Earle, a business
contemporary of Bruce Wayne's murdered father, who has designs on
the Wayne corporate empire.

ANGEL: After much speculation about Sarah Michelle Gellar coming
back as Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the finale of ANGEL, TV Guide
Online reports that this will not happen. Gellar was reportedly
asked to appear in the second-to-last episode, airing May 5, but was
working on her upcoming supernatural movie THE GRUDGE while that
hour was being shot. Gellar was free to appear in the finale, which
airs May 19, but ANGEL executive producer Joss Whedon told the site
that he didn't want the send-off to "revolve around a guest
star." "We will deal with the issue of Buffy and how much she means
to Angel and Spike, but I want to end the show with the people
who've been in the trenches together, the characters who have lived—
and occasionally died—together: the regulars." Though Geller will
not appear, the May 5 episode will reportedly resolve the Angel-
Spike- Buffy triangle. "Angel and Spike arrive at an understanding.
That's all I'll say about that," executive producer Jeffrey Bell
told TV Guide. "And without her being involved, Buffy's character
has come to some sort of understanding, too."

CARTOON NETWORK: The Hollywood Reporter indicates that actor Seth
Green (Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed and BUFFY) will be stepping
behind the camera as executive producer of a new animated series for
the Cartoon Network. With an order for 20 episodes of the untitled
project, Green is moving forward on this stop-motion cartoon that
depicts iconic toys acting out satirical vignettes. "It's like
Saturday Night Live with toys instead of actors," Green said. "We're
ecstatic to be doing it with the Cartoon Network."

SMALLVILLE: The Hollywood Reporter reports that ABC Family has
acquired rerun rights to the WB's SMALLVILLE and JKX: THE JAMIE
KENNEDY EXPPERIMENT from Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution.
SMALLVILLE topped a long list of Warner Bros.-syndicated series,
movies and specials that ABC Family has acquired in a wide-ranging
deal that could signal a shift in programming strategy for the cable
network. ABC Family has spent the past year weathering rocky ratings
and executive turnover with the departure last year of president
Angela Shapiro and the death in December of programming head Linda
Mancuso.

USA NETWORK: KAREN SISCO fans will be thrilled to learn that USA
Network has picked up unaired episodes of the critically hailed
KAREN SISCO and Dick Wolf's DRAGNET. Starting on March 31, the three
unaired episodes of KAREN SISCO will get their premieres. On
Wednesday, April 21, the five remaining fresh episodes of L.A.
DRAGNET will hit the small screen.

STAR TREK PREQUEL: Rumors are floating around about an early Star
Trek trilogy at Paramount. This one does not involve Rick Berman and
Brannon Braga. Jordan Kerner (SNOW DOGS, INSPECTOR GADGET, THE
MIGHTY DUCKS and D2 and D3) is being brought in to produce. Word is
that he is in the early stages of developing a prequel trilogy. The
first film's about a civil war, the second film's devoted largely to
the galactic switch-over from a fission standard to fusion, and then
there's a third film where we'll finally see an Ensign Kirk show up
for all of about the last 20 minutes.

TOP 10 SF SYNDICATED SERIES:
Stargate SG-1 2.6
Mutant X 2.1
The X-Files 2.0
Andromeda 1.9
She Spies 1.8
Buffy 1.7
Angel 1.5
Beastmaster 1.4
The Outer Limits 1.4
3rd Rock 1.3
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 3/1/04 - 3/7/04

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: 3: According to The Hollywood Reporter,
writer/director Frank Darabont (The Green Mile) has been tapped to
write Mission: Impossible 3 for Cruise/Wagner Productions and
Paramount Pictures. He replaces original writer Robert Towne. Towne
had begun writing the third installment of the action franchise, but
is now focusing on his long-gestating pet project ASK THE DUST. Joe
Carnahan is directing M:I-3 after David Fincher withdrew this year.
Set for release next year, M:I-3 finds Tom Cruise returning to the
role as secret agent Ethan Hunt.

STAR WARS TRILOGY: Set to hit shelves on September 21, the STAR WARS
TRILOGY DVD will be available in both widescreen (silver box
artwork) and full screen (gold box artwork) versions. The four-disc
set features STAR WARS characters Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han
Solo and the two droids similar to their appearance on the artwork
used in the 1977 novelization and poster. The reverse side of the
box features a profile of Darth Vader, the legendary screen villain
of the trilogy.

TRU CALLING: Tonight, Jason Priestly (Beverly Hills 90210, Jeremiah)
begins a stint on Fox's TRU CALLING. Jason joins the cast for seven
episodes, playing Jack Harper, a former EMT who joins the morgue
staff, working under Tru's boss, Davis, played by comic Zach
Galifianakis. Eliza Dushku stars in "Tru Calling" as Tru Davies, a
morgue assistant who can travel back in time 24 hours and prevent
deaths.

10.5: Emmy-award winning actor Beau Bridges is set to star in NBC's
four-hour miniseries 10.5 when the original production debuts on the
network Sunday, May 2 at 9pm. The title of the telepic refers to the
strength of a deadly earthquake that just might shatter the register
on the noted Richter scale. Bridges stars as President Paul
Hollister, charged with assigning the proper government agencies to
deal with the tragic event. Emmy winner Kim Delaney stars as the
earthquake research scientist who just might have the answers that
will save the West Coast.

HARRY POTTER: With the new Harry Potter movie, HARRY POTTER AND THE
PRISONER OF AZKABAN ready to hit theaters on June 4, Warner Bros.
has launched the newly designed website which includes the brand new
trailer and lots of features worth checking out! Harry Potter and
his friends Ron and Hermione return as teenagers to Hogwarts School
of Witchcraft and Wizardry for their third year of study, where they
delve into the mystery surrounding an escaped prisoner who poses a
dangerous threat to the young wizard.

CSI: MIAMI: The first season of CSI: Miami is headed to DVD in June
2004.

MATRIX REVOLUTIONS: Coming to DVD on April 6, the MATRIX
REVOLUATIONS Neo (Keanu Reeves), Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), and
Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) continued to fight for the human race
in the face of the overwhelming power of the Matrix, while Zion
fought the onslaught of the machines. The third installment of the
series by the Wachowski brothers arrives as a two disc set
with "Revolutions Recalibrated," a behind-the-scenes feature which
includes "Neo Realism: The Evolution of Bullet Time." There are
several other featurettes as well, including a segment on the "Super
Burly Brawl," the ultimate showdown with Agent Smith. Also included
is "Future Gamer: The Matrix Online," an introduction to the massive
multi-player game, photo galleries and much, much more.

E-MAIL PROBLEMS: I've gotten a number of notes from folks who have
gotten mail on the B5Fan Mailing List from a Lady Day. Delete the
mail. The B5Fan Mailing list is mine and I only use it on extreme
occasions -- when something important needs to be announced. I
suspect someone hacked into the Yahoo list and captured the e-mail
addresses there. So please, delete any messages from a Lady Day.

DUNE: Kevin J. Anderson, co-author of six DUNE prequel books with
Brian Herbert, has just signed a deal with Tor Books to write two
final novels intended to conclude the series according to Frank
Herbert's recently discovered outlines. "This wraps up everything we
can envision in how the story ends," Anderson said in an
interview. "People have honestly been waiting 18 years to get to the
end of this story." The two volumes, entitled "Hunters of Dune"
and "Sandworms of Dune", are based on an outline left behind by the
elder Herbert before he died. "When we started going through all his
notes we found these keys to a safe deposit box, and inside the safe
deposit box was Frank Herbert's full and complete outline for what
he called Dune Seven," Anderson said. "In it is his giant outline
for the grand climax, which wraps up everything in the whole story."
Anderson and Herbert are also working on a compendium entitled Road
to Dune, which will contain lost chapters written by Frank Herbert
for the original Dune novel, as well as new stories from Anderson
and Brian Herbert. Also included are a few letters that should
provide encouragement to aspiring writers. "One other thing we hope
to include in the Road to Dune is a stack of the original rejection
slips that Dune got," Anderson said. "One of them, I can't remember
which publisher, said, 'I might be making the mistake of my career,
but I just can't see how anybody would ever read a book like
this.'" "Road to Dune" will be released next fall. "The Battle of
Corrin", the sixth and final Dune prequel written by Anderson and
Herbert, is due in August.

STARGATE SG-1: The SCIFI Channel reports that the March 19 seventh-
season finale of STARGATE SG-1, "Lost City, Part 2," drew a 2.1
rating (2.56 million viewers). The finale sets up SCI FI Channel's
newest original series, STARGATE ATLANTIS, which will debut in July,
alongside SG-1's eighth season.

THE MARK: Nickelodeon Movies and Will Smith's Overbrook
Entertainment are moving forward on sci-fi actioner THE MARK. After
a long time in development, Will Smith will star in the project,
that will launch first as a feature and then as an animated TV
series on Spike TV. Variety says the project was first set up in
1998 by Overbrook and Centropolis at Universal with a script from
Rob Lifield. The producers have tapped the writing team of Gregg
Chabot and Kevin Peterka (Reign of Fire) to adapt THE MARK. Smith
will star as an everyman who discovers a strange mark has
transferred to his body from the corpse of a Confederate soldier.
Although the mark grants him special powers, he also struggles with
the impulse to use it for evil purposes.

CSI: NEW YORK: According to The Hollywood Reporter, Melina
Kanakaredes (Providence) will star opposite Gary Sinise in CBS'
latest CSI spinoff, CSI: New York. Kanakaredes and Sinise will play
forensic investigators working in the Big Apple. CBS plans to
introduce the characters in this season's second-to-last episode of
CSI: Miami with a story line that involves the Miami forensic crew
traveling to New York to investigate a case. Vanessa Ferlito and
Carmine Giovinazzo also star in CSI: NEW YORK.

SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS: Nickelodeon Movies has signed up Scarlett
Johansson, Alec Baldwin and Jeffrey Tambor for voice work in
Paramount's animated The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, opening on
November 19. Directed by Stephen Hillenburg, creator of the series,
the story centers on the irrepressible SpongeBob's efforts to
retrieve King Neptune's stolen crown. The film was written by
Hillenburg, Derek Drymon, Tim Hill, Kent Osborne, Aaron Springer and
Paul Tibbitt.

BEST SELLING SF BOOKS:
1. The Da Vinci Code
2. Angels & Demons
3. Glorious Appearing (Left Behind)
4. Song of Susannah (Dark Tower 6)
5. Potter hardcover box set
6. Hobbit Rings box set
7. New Spring (Wheel of Time)
8. The Time Traveler's Wife
9. Seduced by Moonlight
10. Wicked
Source: Amazon.com, 3/22/04

STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE: According to Variety, UPN will begin airing
double episodes of STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE on Wednesdays. The network
will pull GAME OVER from Wednesdays and will shift it to Fridays,
where the network will air a mix of original and repeat episodes
from 8-9 p.m. ET/PT, effective immediately.

STARSHIP TROOPERS 2: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment announced
that STARSHIP TROOPERS 2: HERO OF THE FEDERATION will debut on a
special-edition DVD and VHS on June 1. This straight-to-video sequel
to Paul Verhoeven's 1997 hit SF movie offers oscar-winning visual-
effects master Phil Tippett making his directorial debut, which will
star Kelly Carlson, Ed Lauter, Richard Burgi and Sandrine Holt. Ed
Neumeier, who wrote the first Starship Troopers, also wrote the
script for Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation. It picks up
the story where the original film left off, back on the front lines
of the battle against the arachnid warrior bugs at the desolated
outpost of Zulu Angel. A small group of mobile infantry troopers,
led by Gen. Shepherd (Lauter), finds itself taking refuge in an
abandoned Federation outpost. There, they discover the last
remaining soldier, Capt. Dax (Burgi), who helps them fight off the
encroaching arachnids. The original STARSHIP TROOPERS will also be
release with Troopers 2 in a special two-pack DVD set with a
suggested price of $36.95. Bonus features include commentary by
Tippett, Neumeier and producer Jon Davison; a visual-effects
featurette, From Green Screen to Silver Screen; commentary from
visual-effects supervisor Eric Levin; a making-of featurette, Inside
the Federation; and interviews with cast and crew.

FRANKENSTEIN: Variety reports that Parker Posey will star in the USA
Network drama FRANKENSTEIN, the update of Mary Shelley's classic.
USA has ordered a two-hour pilot and four scripts of the project
earlier this year. Executive producers are Martin Scorsese, author
Dean Koontz and Flame TV topper Tony Krantz. Marcus Nispel (The
Texas Chainsaw Massacre) is set to direct from a script by Koontz.
Lions Gate Television is on board to produce in association with
Flame TV. According to the trade paper, Posey will play a female cop
who unravels the myth of Frankenstein, alongside her partner,
through a seemingly standard homicide investigation. The weekly
series finds doctor Victor Frankenstein and his creature residing in
present-day Seattle, having survived the past two centuries through
the doctor's genetic tinkering. Casting for Victor, the creature and
the partner of Posey's character is still under way. Production is
scheduled to begin in May in Toronto. USA will probably debut
Frankenstein in the fall.

DEEP SPACE NINE: On April 9, Spike TV will air the two-hour premiere
of STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE uncut from 9pm to 11pm. DEEP SPACE
NINE premieres on Spike TV beginning April 5th in a week long
marathon.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Universal's DAWN OF THE DEAD, a remake of the
1978 zombie horror-fest pulled out a higher-than-expected estimate
of $27.3 million this weekend to easily claim the top spot at the
boxoffice. After holding down the #1 spot for three consecutive
weekends, Newmarket Films' THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST slipped to the
second spot with an estimated $19.2 million, down 40% in its fourth
weekend. The Mel Gibson-helmed drama has earned a domestic cume of
around $295.3 million to date. Warner Bros. Pictures' TAKING LIVES
debuted in the third spot with an estimated $11.4 million. The
suspense thriller starring Angelina Jolie and Ethan Hawke and
directed by D.J. Caruso, was produced by Village Roadshow and
arrived in the area anticipated. Warners' STARSKY & HUTCH came into
the fourth spot with an estimated $10.7 million, slipping a modest
33% in its third session. The action-comedy, based on the 1970s
television show, has sped off with an estimated $67.8 million in 17
days. Sony's SECRET WINDOW looked at similar demographic as TAKING
LIVES. WINDOW, starring Johnny Depp, placed fifth with an estimated
$9.6 million and has picked up an estimated $33.1 million so far.

WIZARD WORLD: There were a number of panel discussions this weekend
in Los Angeles at Wizard World ComiCon. Of interest to B5 and J.
Michael Straczynski fans, Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Joe Quesada
confirmed a J. Michael Straczynski Dr. Strange project and said
several writers are showing interest in Cloak and Dagger. He also
said Joss Whedon "hits the ground running" when talking about the
writer's work on Astonishing X-Men.

BEWITCHED: Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine are joining Nicole
Kidman and Will Ferrell in the film version of BEWITCHED. Variety
reports that MacLaine would play Endora, meddling mother to witch
Samantha (Kidman). Agnes Moorehead played the role on the TV show.
Caine would star as Samantha's father. Red Wagon partners Douglas
Wick and Lucy Fisher are producing the film, which begins shooting
this summer. Nora Ephron and her sister Delia are co-writing the
script.

DOCTOR WHO: Ranger Gary reports that the new Doctor Who series
headed up by Russel T. Davies has just selected Christopher
Eccleston to be the new Doctor. Eccleston's roles include being in
the BBC TV series Cracker and movies such as The Others, 28 Days
Later, and Gone in 60 Seconds. Gary indicates that everyone over at
the BBC and Outpost Gallifrey websites are very excited about this!

VAN HELSING: Hugh Jackman's VAN HELSING is set for release on May 7.
There is a new trailer up for your viewing enjoyment at
http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/van_helsing/trailer/. You
will need Quicktime 6.0 to view. In the latest issue of
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, they talk with Hugh Jackman about his latest
role. Universal has invested $148 million in this project and
expects that it will help launch its most synergistically ambitious
entertainment franchise ever. Plans are already are in the works for
a sequel, a TV show, and a videogame based on the studio's ancient
horror archives.

ANDROMEDA: ANDROMEDA is coming to SCIFI on March 26 at 7pm. The
SCIFI network will begin showing the series from the beginning so
that everyone can see the origins of the series -- and changes that
have taken place over time.

CONVENTION CALENDAR
I-CON 23
Date: March 26-28, 2004
Place: SUNY, Stony Brook Campus
Location: Stony Brook, NY
B5 Guests: Peter Jurasik, Bill Blair
Other Guests: Vaughn Armstrong
For more information, visit their website at " TARGET="_new">
http://www.iconsf.org.

United Fan Con East
Date: March 26-28, 2004
Place: Marriott Hotel
Location: Quincy, MA
Guests: Teryl Rothery, Marina Sirtis, Erin Gray, Virgnia Hey,
Elisabeth Sladen, Arne Starr, Michael Cuneo
For more information, visit their website at " TARGET="_new">
http://www.unitedfancon.com/.

Creation Entertainment GRAND SLAM: THE SCI-FI SUMMIT
March 26-28, 2004
Location: Pasadena Center
Place: Pasadena, CA
Guests: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Brent Spiner, Sally
Kellerman, Connor Trinneer, Alexander Siddig, Dominic Keating,
Anthony Montgomery, Walter Koenig, Andrew Robinson, Armen Shimerman,
Kren Auberjonois, Cirroc Lofton, John Rhys-Davies, Amanda Tapping,
Michael Shanks, Corin Nemec, Michael Rosenbaum, Mark Verheiden,
Anthony Michael Hall, Nicole de Boer, Chris Bruno, John L. Adams,
Kristen Dalton, Andy Hallett, Mercedes McNab, Robia La Morte, Iyari
Limon, Mark Lutz, James Leary, Julie Benz, Jeremy Bulloch, Kenny
Baker, Rusty Goffe, Ken Colley, Peter Mayhew, Leni Parker, Gina
Torres
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/calendar.htm.

Planet ComiCon
March 27-28, 2004
Location: Overland Park International Trade Center
Place: Kansas City
B5 Guests: Jerry Doyle, Julie Caitlin Brown, Andrea Thompsonn
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.planetcomicon.com.

To be CONtinued
April 9-11, 2004
Place: Rosemont, IL
Location: Radisson O'Hare
B5 Guests: Tim Choate (Zathras), Jeffrey Willerth, and Peter David
Other Guests: Chase Masterson, Max Grodenchick, James Wilson
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.2becontinued.

Concourse
April 9-12, 2004
Location: The Winter Gardens
Place: Blackpool, UK
Guests: Philip Pullman, Christopher Priest, Danny Flynn, Mitchell
Burnside Clapp, Sue Mason
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.eastercon.com/concourse.

I guess that is about it for now.  The Cherry Blossoms are coming
out here in Washington.  Spring is finally here!  Have a terrific
weekend.

Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN News:  The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net

THE ZOCALO TODAY – April 9, 2004

WHAT'S NEW

The SciFi Channel has scheduled "The Legend of the Rangers" for
April 17, at 9:30 am ET.

SEASON FIVE OF BABYLON 5 - APRIL 13, 2004

I have begun to receive materials from Warner Bros. and will be
posted shortly related to the release of the Season 5 DVD for
Babylon 5.

For the press release, which includes all the details for the DVD
set, go to <http://www.isnnews.net/zocalo/season5.shtml.>.

KEEPING UP WITH CAST AND CREW

DANIEL DAE KIM: Daniel (Lt. Matheson from CRUSADE) has landed a role
in the upcoming series PARTY OF FIVE, being produced by J.J. Abrams
from ALIAS.

ALEX ZAHARA:  Alex (Dulann in LEGEND OF THE RANGERS and frequent
guest on STARGATE SG-1), chatted with fans on April 2.  A transcript
is available over at
<http://forums.delphiforums.com/chatters12/messages/?msg=459.1.>

BABYLON 5 BIRTHDAYS

Christopher Franke - April 6
Maggie Egan - April 11
Tony Dow - April 13
Warren Takeuchi - April 19
Peter Jurasik - April 25

AUCTION OF NOTE

Alan Zimmerman, who hosted many signings for Michael O'Hare in the
early days of Babylon 5, is starting to auction off the contents of
his store, Science Fiction, Mysteries and More! Most of the items
posted now are paperbacks (some of which have autographs). Many of
these books are out of print. Books include science fiction,
fantasies, mysteries, spy novels, true crime, romance novels,
westerns, action adventure, environmental, political horror, young
adult, media tie-ins, new age and the ever popular miscellaneous.
Not all categories are in each lot and this is just the first lot
more will come. The hardcovers, used and collectibles will be
offered latter. Check out the website at www.lotauctions.com . Look
for the featured auction. Science Fiction, Mysteries and More. You
can bid on a single book or the whole lot.

FAN CLUBS

UNITED FEDERATION OF PLANETS
Ranger Anne reports that in January, another chapter was added to
the fold... EAS Winter Wolf (in Texas). For more information, go to
their site at http://www.ufphq.com/chain_of_command.htm. You will
find a great deal of interest in Babylon 5 -- with position
currently available on the sector staff--EarthDome, EarthForce and
the Alliance. Check it out.

STAR TREK CLUB VENEZUELA
Ranger Andres dropped a note to say that a new club has been formed -
- Star Trek Club Venezuela. It is small right now, but they are
ready for recomendations, opinions, and/or any other comments. They
are plannig our first expocon at the end of the year, into the
facilities of Humboldt Planetarium in Caracas. Visit their site at
www.trekvenezuela.net.

We have a number of Fan Clubs listed here at the Zocalo. They are
those associated with a particular actor -- and there are those
devoted to Babylon 5 or science fiction. Be sure to check out the
Clubs Page to see if there is an organization near you.

SCIENCE FICTION PUBLICATIONS

Starburst #309: SKY CAPTAIN captures the cover of this month's
issue. This retro movie set in the 1930s, stars Jude Law and Gwenyth
Paltrow. Read about how the movie was created, using some
interesting new techniques. Also in this issue, a look at this
summer's big monster flick, VAN HELSING with Hugh Jackman. Also see
what James Marsters is up to now that ANGEL has been cancelled.

Expose Special #25: CHARMED is the focus of attention in this issue.
Alyssa Milano, Holly Marie Combs and Paige McGowan look ahead to a
seventh season. Others featured in the issue include co-star Dorian
Gregory and producer Brad Kern

NEW BOOKS ON THE HORIZON

Stargate SG-1: The Essential Scripts TP
by Sharon Gosling
Far more than a script book, this essential Stargate SG-1 series
guide is packed with bonus material including an in-depth
introduction about writing for the show, deleted scenes, commentary
and background, plus exclusive interviews with the writers,
directors, and cast members. The following original Stargate SG-1
shooting scripts — complete with annotations — were specially
selected for this volume: "2010," "Abyss," "The Fifth Race," "The
Torment of Tantalus," "Window of Opportunity," and "Wormhole
Xtreme."
(133/1-84023-887-9) (CAUT: 4)
SC, 6x9, 352pg, b&w..........$17.95

STARGATE SG-1 Comic Issue #2 now in stores

MARCH 31, 2004
The second installment of the new Stargate SG-1 comic book series is
now available at retailers worldwide. "P.O.W." #2 tells part two of
a 3-issue story, in which Colonel Jack O'Neill finds himself a
captive of the Goa'uld. "This is meant to be our introduction to the
Stargate world for new comic fans and a fun treat for the hardcore
fans," said author James Anthony Kuhoric. The issue features a
recounting of the events of the original "Stargate" film, as well as
the beginning of the TV series. "In addition to establishing the
background as a starting point for future comic book series, this
feature amalgams the two universes [of the film and the TV series]
into SG-1 continuity. We get to see Richard Dean Anderson as O'Neill
during the first Abydos mission!"

With a story by Kuhoric and art by Renato Guedes, "P.O.W." #2
carries a $3.50 price tag and is available in several different
covers. Fans who can't find the issue can order it from the
publisher's online store, at ComicCavalcade.com.

"P.O.W." #3 is expected in April, followed by a brand new 3-part
series, "Fall of Rome," which will introduce new characters and
expand the Stargate universe.

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT

6:00pm on HBO
Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones
Obi-Wan Kenobi and his apprentice protect the former queen. Directed
by George Lucas.

8:00pm on NBC
Men in Black
A veteran agent and a rookie protect mankind from dangerous
extraterrestrials roaming the Earth.

On SciFi Tonight:

6:00pm
The Odyssey
Odysseus tries to return home after the Trojan War. Based on Homer's
epic.

9:00pm
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Mad Captain Nemo takes people aboard his submarine.

On Syndicated TV This Weekend:

Andromeda
Lost in Space That Isn't There
The Abyss takes over the mind of a crew member, causing betrayal of
Dylan.

Angel
Apocalypse, Nowish
Bloodied and broken, Angel and his friends try to rout the Beast.

BeastMaster
Game of Death
Dar sets free the sacred tigers and releases Queen Lyoka from her
reign of terror.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Showtime
Buffy trains slayers, while searching for ways to pulverize the
Ubervamp and save Spike.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
The Quality of Mercy
Challenger, Marguerite and Ty set out on a rescue mission for Malone
and Veronica.

Mutant X
Age of Innocence

The Outer Limits
Worlds Apart
The survivor of a spacecraft lost for 20 years makes contact from
another world.

INSIDE SCI-FI THIS WEEK:

SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW: Novice director Kerry Conran
has taken on the live-action/computer-animated SF movie SKY CAPTAIN
AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW and is using some unique production
methods. "I think it's minimally an evolutionary way to make a
movie," Conran said in an interview. "I hope it opens up the door a
little bit for [filmmakers]." Conran created the movie's story and
backgrounds in a computer, then went out and shot real actors
(Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and Angelina Jolie) against blue screens.
The actors were then digitally composited into the film's
environments, which were enhanced in post-production. SKY CAPTAIN is
set in a mythical 1930s-era New York and deals with a spunky
reporter (Paltrow) who researches the mysterious disappearance of
prominent scientists when a squadron of giant flying robots invades.
The movie owes its look and feel in part to old-time film serials.
Using computer-generated environments greatly reduces the cost of
making movies, Conran said. "It's hard to say whether or not
Hollywood would embrace this wholesale, but I think it's a very
viable thing for the independent market," said Conran. "I do think,
given how expensive films have gotten, to some extent, they're going
to have to [embrace it]. They have to start thinking of something to
do a little differently. I don't think they can keep edging up these
budgets the way they are. ... I'm [not so much] concerned about how
much these films cost, [but] that they can't afford to be terribly
risky with them, and so what you get are films that ... may be very
entertaining, but they're very safe. And they're very much generic
in their own way." SKY CAPTAIN opens June 25.

TRU CALLING: The first season of this series will wrap with back to
back episodes on Fox April 29th. There is still no word on the
series fate. CALLING's ratings have not been stellar, keeping the
series on the cancellation bubble for most of the season.

BLACK WIDOW: Lions Gate Entertainment is developing a feature film
based on the Marvel Comic book character. X-Men producer David
Hayter is in talks to script as well as make his directorial debut
with this espionage thriller. The project is envisioned as a low
budget film set in during the Cold War. BLACK WIDOW centers on KGB-
trained Russian spy Natasha Romanoff, who becomes the Black Widow
after the death of her husband.

ICON: Friday, Marvel Comics announced the launch of ICON, a new
publishing imprint that will produce projects utilizing properties
outside of the Marvel Universe. ICON will launch with two titles
currently published at Image Comics: Brian Bendis' Powers and David
Mack's Kabuki. Marvel says the ICON imprint has been created with "a
mandate to pursue both these creator and licensed projects, while
maintaining the highest level of talent and the brands that readers
have come to expect from Marvel." Dan Buckley, Publisher, said, "We
had been considering this kind of imprint for a while before talking
to Brian and David. But once we did, everything fell into place.
Starting with Brian and David on Powers and Kabuki really sets the
standard for the whole line. We are very excited about this
initiative, and are thrilled that Powers and Kabuki are launching
it."

TOP SF NETWORK SHOWS:
Joan of Arcadia 6.0
Kingdom Hospital 5.7
Alias 4.7
Wonderfalls 3.1
Charmed 3.0
Smallville 2.6
Enterprise 1.7
Game Over 1.4
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 3/8/04 - 3/14/04.

MAGICK: Dreamworks has announced that Tommy O'Haver will direct the
supernatural romantic comedy film MAGICK -- a body-swapping story
with a twist. O'Haver said in an interview, "It's totally sick,
because it's a guy and a girl who switch from the neck down only. It
will be PG-13, maybe R, so I'll get away with a lot more." Robert
Zemeckis is producing the film, and script development is underway.
The title might change to avoid confusion with other similarly
titled films.

GREEN HORNET: Filmmaker Kevin Smith's official View Askew Web site
has opened The Hornet's Nest, a page that will track the production
of Smith's upcoming Green Hornet movie. The site should be a good
way of checking rumors against official word from Smith on the
project.

ALIAS: Jeffrey Bell, veteran from ANGEL and X-FILES has joined ABC's
ALIAS for next season as part of his new two-year, seven-figure
overall pact with Touchstone Television. Bell will sign on to ALIAS
as a writer and co-executive producer. His Touchstone pact calls for
him to be upped to executive producer on the drama series in the
2005-06 season.

SPIDER-MAN 2: An absolutely AWESOME trailer for Columbia Pictures'
SPIDER-MAN 2, which will take over the box office on June 30 is now
on-line at http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/spider-
man_2/trailer/. Sam Raimi directs the sequel starring Tobey Maguire,
Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons, and
Alfred Molina. Here is a brief description of where the movie begins:
Two years have passed, and the mild-mannered Peter Parker faces new
challenges as he struggles with "the gift and the curse,"
desperately trying to balance his dual identities as the web-
slinging superhero Spider-Man and his life as a college student.
Tormented by his secrets, Peter finds that his relationships with
all those he holds dear are in danger of unraveling. His life-long
yearning for M.J. (Dunst) becomes even stronger as he fights the
impulse to reveal his secret life and declare his love. His
friendship with Harry Osborn (Franco) is complicated by the young
Osborn's bitterness over his father's death and his growing vendetta
against Spider-Man. Even Peter's beloved Aunt May (Harris), who has
fallen on hard times after the death of Uncle Ben, begins to have
doubts about her nephew. Peter's life is about to become even more
complicated as he encounters a formidable new foe -- Dr. Otto
Octavius (Molina). Peter must use all the powers at his disposal to
try to stop this diabolical madman in his octagonal tracks.

WEEKEND AT THE MOVIES: Disney's long-delayed THE ALAMO has an army
of adversaries at the box office over the Easter weekend. Analysts
expect it to claim a victory with receipts in the range of $16-19
million, a win is nevertheless likely to be regarded as costly,
given the $100-million expenditure on the film. Moreover, if such an
outcome does in fact ensue, it will almost surely follow by one week
the disappointing take for Disney's HOME ON THE RANGE. The film's
chief competitor is believed to be Warner's THE WHOLE TEN YARDS,
starring Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry, a sequel to THE WHOLE NINE
YARDS, in which Willis played a former mob hit man, and Perry, his
skittish dentist. It also faces rivalry over the year's most
strictly religious holiday from Mel Gibson's THE PASSION OF THE
CHRIST. On its opposite flank, THE ALAMO will be struggling against
Sony's HELLBOY, last weekend's No. 1 film. On another front, two new
films aimed at female moviegoers will be battling it out -- 20th
Century Fox's THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, and Miramax's ELLA ENCHANTED.
There is also Fox Searchlight's JOHNSON FAMILY VACATION (which
opened Wednesday), starring Cedric the Entertainer and Vanessa
Williams, directed at the urban audience.

A PRINCESS OF MARS: According to Daily Variety, Robert Rodriguez's
decision to resign from the Directors Guild of America rather than
conform to its "one director-one film" policy has now imperiled
Paramount's A PRINCESS OF MARS, which Rodriguez had been slated to
direct. Under terms of its agreement with the DGA, Paramount may
only hire directors who are members of the guild. "We are in
discussions with Mr. Rodriguez and are trying to come up with a
solution," Paramount COO Rob Friedman told the trade publication.
Rodriguez quit the DGA last month so that he could co-direct
Dimension Films' SIN CITY with Frank Miller, who wrote and
illustrated the graphic novel series on which the movie is based.
Rodriguez had sought a waver from the DGA so that he could work with
Miller, but the guild had refused, maintaining that it has a firm
position that only one director may receive screen credit on any
film. Further complicating matters, Rodriguez has said that he wants
Quentin Tarantino to direct part of SIN CITY as well.

ANONYMOUS REX: According to The Hollywood Reporter, Stephanie
Lemelin has joined the cast of SCI FI Channel's two-hour ANONYMOUS
REX pilot. Sam Trammell and Daniel Baldwin star as private
investigators who are evolved dinosaurs; Lemelin will play Baldwin's
daughter.

FLIGHT OF THE DEAD: With box office successes for 28 DAYS LATER and
DAWN OF THE DEAD, zombie movies are making a comeback. Lions Gate
Films is put FLIGHT OF THE DEAD on the fast-tracking for a September
start date. FLIGHT follows the tale of two zombies being shipped
back to their homeland after they are captured. But when the deadly
creatures come unexpectedly to life aboard an airplane, they begin
to wreak high-altitude havoc. The project is being developed by
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. chairman Andre Link with John
Dunning. The two were partners in Cinepix Film Properties, the
precursor to Lions Gate Films, and have teamed on such features
as "Buffalo '66" and "The Daytrippers." The original draft of
the "Flight" screenplay was penned by Gary Parker and Tom
Lavangnino, with rewriting done by Dunning and Lorenzo Ozouri. No
director is on board "Flight."

PUNISHER: Although THE PUNISHER is set to hit theaters later this
month, Lions Gate already has announced plans for a PUNISHER sequel
as well as two more Marvel films in "Iron Fist" and "Black Widow".

CINEMAX AIR DATES: X2, the X-Men sequel, will premiere on Cinemax on
Saturday, June 5 at 10 p.m. Other airings of X2 will include Sunday,
June 6 at 5:45 a.m.; Monday, June 7 at 8 p.m.; Tuesday, June 8 at
3:30 a.m.; Wednesday, June 9 at 12:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.; Friday, June
18 at 7:45 p.m.; Thursday, June 24 at 9:30 a.m. and at 10 p.m.; and
Tuesday, June 29 at 10:15 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Cinemax is also airing Max on the Set: X2 on Wednesday, June 9 at
7:45 p.m.; Wednesday, June 23 at 5:45 p.m.; and Monday, June 28 at
9:45 p.m.
BATMAN FOREVER will air five times, including Tuesday, June 1 at
4:30 p.m.; Wednesday, June 9 at 8 p.m.; Monday, June 14 at 8:05
a.m.; Saturday June 19 at 2:30 p.m.; and Friday, June 25 at 7:45
p.m.
THE CROW CITY OF ANGELS will air five times, including Tuesday, June
1 at 6:30 p.m.; Monday, June 7 at 10:35 a.m.; Saturday, June 12 at
5:30 a.m.; Wednesday, June 16 at 12:30 p.m.; Sunday, June 27 at 6:35
p.m.
DAREDEVIL will air seven times, including Friday, June 11 at 6:30
p.m.; Saturday, June 12 at 2:10 a.m.; Thursday, June 17 at 11 a.m.
8:15 p.m.; Tuesday, June 22 at 3:15 p.m.; Saturday, June 26 at 6:15
p.m.; and Sunday, June 27 at 1:45 a.m.

CSI: NEW YORK: The Hollywood Reporter indicates that Hill Harper has
joined the cast of CBS' new drama series CSI: New York. A spin-off
of CSI: Miami, with a cast headed by Gary Sinise and Melina
Kanakaredes, the series revolves around a team of crime scene
investigators in New York. Harper will play the coroner working with
the team.

TOP 10 SYNDICATED SHOWS:
Stargate SG-1 2.3
She Spies 1.8
Andromeda 1.7
Mutant X 1.7
Buffy 1.6
3rd Rock 1.5
Angel 1.5
The X-Files 1.5
The Outer Limits 1.3
Beastmaster 1.1
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 3/15/04 - 3/21/04

SCIFI CHANNEL PROJECTS: Yesterday in New York City, the SCI FI
Channel unveiled its slate of future programming. Among the talents
who will be involved in projects on the network during the 2005-2006
season are Joel Schumacher, Bryan Fuller, Mike Mignola, Stan
Winston, Natasha Henstridge, Stan Lee, Bruce Campbell, Nicolas Cage
and Clive Barker. SCI FI will be producing DRESDEN FILES, a two-hour
backdoor pilot film based on the Jim Butcher novels and co-executive
produced by Nicolas Cage; HISTORY OF THE DEVIL, a six-hour limited
series about the devil's struggle to litigate his way back to
heaven, with Clive Barker on board as executive producer; and
WITCHHUNTER ROBIN, a live-action adaptation of the popular Japanese
anime series, with Joe Menosky writing and executive producing.
Alternative and reality series projects will include AMAZING SCREW-
ON HEAD, a half-hour comedy based on the Mike Mignola (Hellboy)
comic-book and executive produced by Bryan Fuller (Wonderfalls); and
MONSTER SMASH, a monster-versus-monster show that teams SCI FI with
Oscar-winning creature maker Stan Winston. Movies that will air as
part of SCI FI's new Saturday Action slate in 2005-2006 include
SLIPSTREAM, starring Sean Astin and Vinnie Jones; SPECIES III,
starring Robert Knepper, Sunny Mabrey and original Species actress
Natasha Henstridge; THE MAN WITH THE SCREAMING BRAIN, to be written
and directed by and star cult favorite Bruce Campbell; and STAN LEE
MOVIES, a trio of action movies to be produced by the comic book
legend.

DARK SHADOWS: According to The Hollywood Reporter, Alec Newman will
play Barnabas Collins in The WB's upcoming DARK SHADOWS remake.
Newman starred as Paul Atreides in the SCI FI Channel minseries DUNE
and its sequel, CHILDREN OF DUNE.

FANTASTIC FOUR: A director has finally been named for the big-screen
version of FANTASTIC FOUR. Tim Story is on board to direct the big-
budget live-action adaptation of the Marvel Comic for 20th Century
Fox. Producing are Chris Columbus' 1492 Pictures, Constantin Films
and Marvel Studios' Avi Arad. Executive producers are Stan Lee and
Ralph Winter. FANTASTIC FOUR follows the adventure-seeking quartet
of scientist Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic); his love interest, Susan
Storm (the Invisible Girl); her brother, Johnny (the Human Torch);
and Reed's best friend, Benjamin Grimm (the Thing). The four develop
superpowers when their spaceship is exposed to cosmic radiation.
Their archnemesis is Dr. Doom, who turns out to be Reed's old
college friend. The comic first appeared in 1962 and ushered in the
Marvel Age of comics, a time when comics began dealing with familial
issues. The movie will be set in the present day.

REVELATIONS: The Hollywood Reporter indicates that John Rhys-Davis
(The Lord of the Rings) will play a wheelchair-bound Harvard
professor emeritus and mentor to Bill Pullman in the NBC pilot
REVELATIONS. The show centers on an effort to forestall the
apocalypse.

PINK PANTHER: Blake Edwards's PINK PANTHER series is one of the most
enduring and popular. Starring Peter Sellers as the bumbling
Inspector Clouseau, and Herbert Lom as Dreyfus, his increasingly
frustrated superior, the PINK PANTHER films are a must for anyone's
DVD collection. This six disc DVD set includes The Pink Panther/A
Shot in the Dark/The Pink Panther Strikes Again/ Revenge of the Pink
Panther and Trail of the Pink Panther. The sixth disc has the
featurettes, "The Pink Panther Story" (with interviews with Blake
Edwards and much Panther lore) and "Behind the Feline: The Cartoon
Phenomenon" and there is a collection of the award-winning
original "Pink Panther" cartoons.

FARSCAPE RETURNS: SCI FI has announced it will bring back FARSCAPE
with an all-new miniseries — called FARSCAPE: PEACEKEEPER WAR —
slated to air in the fourth quarter of this year. The four-hour
miniseries picks up where the cliffhanger series finale left off and
will reunite John Crichton (Ben Browder), Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black)
and the rest of the Moya crew. FARSCAPE creator Rockne O'Bannon and
executive producer David Kemper wrote the miniseries, which was
directed by Brian Henson. PEACEKEEPER WAR was produced by the Jim
Henson Company and Hallmark Entertainment, and executive produced by
Robert Halmi Jr.

SCIFI CHANNEL: At Monday's news conference in Manhattan, Sci Fi
president Bonnie Hammer said in her presentation that 2003 was the
best year yet for the channel, which has been repositioned as
the "imagination" channel and has succeeded in picking up a new and
younger demographic group of viewers. With an average of 22 new
movies a year, Sci Fi said it now produces more original movies per
year than any TV network.

EARTHSEA: Shawn Ashmore (X-Men), Danny Glover (Predator 2) and
Kristin Kreuk (Smallville) are set to star in and Rob Lieberman has
signed to direct SCI FI's upcoming EARTHSEA four-hour miniseries.
Lieberman just completed work on the Fox summer reality series THE
CASINO. No stranger to SF and fantasy, Lieberman's credits include
those as a director and/or producer for the feature FIRE IN THE SKY
as well as episodes of such series as THE X-FILES, THE DEAD ZONE and
JAKE 2.0. Based on the award-winning Ursula K. LeGuin novels,
EARTHSEA is an epic fantasy that centers on the adventures of Ged
(Ashmore), a young wizard destined to become the greatest sorcerer
that the mystical land of Earthsea has ever known. When Ged
discovers that he possesses infinite magical powers, he seeks to
master the ancient arts with the help of the legendary wizard Ogion
(Glover). As he battles unimaginable evils, Ged finds an ally in
Tenar (Kreuk), the vibrant and devout pupil of High Priestess Thar
(Isabella Rossellini, Merlin). EARTHSEA will be written by Gavin
Scott (The Mists of Avalon and produced by Hallmark Entertainment,
with Robert Halmi Sr., Lawrence Bender and Kevin Brown on board as
executive producers. Production will begin next month in Vancouver
and the miniseries will debut on SCI FI in December.

SPIDER-MAN 2: According to USA Today, the new two-and-a-half-minute
SPIDER-MAN 2 trailer will debut on Thursday, during THE APPRENTICE.
The newspaper reported that the trailer would air about 40 minutes
into the show.

TV PRODUCTION IN LA: According to The Hollywood Reporter, television
continued to account for the bulk of production in greater Los
Angeles last month, while other categories including feature film
were down compared with a year ago. Figures were released Monday by
the Entertainment Industry Development Corp. The 46.6% increase in
TV production was enough to drive overall production up to 3,761
days in March -- the second consecutive month producing a 21% total
gain. March TV production in the city of Los Angeles and
unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County included "24," "CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation," "The District," "Alias," "Cold Case"
and "The Shield." Feature film work accounted for 549 production
days, down from 558 in March 2003. Those projects included MGM's "Be
Cool" with John Travolta, Paramount's "Coach Carter" with Samuel L.
Jackson, Fox's "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" with Brad Pitt and Angelina
Jolie, and New Line's "The Wedding Crashers" with Owen Wilson and
Vince Vaughn. Commercial production fell 8.8% to 644 days, and music
video production was off 29% to 102 days.

THE PUNISHER: Lions Gate Films and Marvel will celebrate the
premiere with a giveaway reprint of Amazing Spider-Man #129, the
1974 Marvel Comic book that featured The Punisher's first
appearance. Participating theatres will give away one comic book
with one paid admission to The Punisher, while supplies last. The
original Spider-Man #129 is a collector's item and sells for over
$900 on eBay. The Lions Gate special edition marks the first time
the book has been reprinted. "We wanted to celebrate the premiere of
The Punisher in a way that specifically honored the character¹s
comic book roots and acknowledged his many fans," said Tom
Ortenberg, president of Lions Gate Films Releasing. "As a film, The
Punisher harks back to the classic action films of the 1970s, so it
made perfect sense to re-print the 1974 comic that started it all."

STAR WARS: EPISODE III: Lucasfilm has announced that STAR WARS:
EPISODE III will be released to theaters in the United States and
Canada, with a near-simultaneous release around the world, on
Thursday, May 19, 2005. In Japan, EPISODE III will be released in
July, the traditional month for Star Wars premieres. Exact
information for other countries outside of the U.S. and Canada will
be coming shortly.

HARRY POTTER: ABC will be airing HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF
SECRETS on Sunday, May 9th at 7/6c, along with a sneak peek at HARRY
POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN. In exclusive interviews from the
Great Hall on the Harry Potter set, the film's stars -- Daniel
Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) and Rupert
Grint (Ron Weasley) -- will talk about their work in the movie in
interstitials to be featured throughout the telecast. The telecast
itself will present an extended version of Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer's Stone, including materials not seen in the original
theatrical release. And by exclusive arrangement, at the conclusion
of the broadcast, ABC will air a 10-minute sneak peek at the highly
anticipated third film in the blockbuster Harry Potter series, HARRY
POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN, opening in theatres on June 4.

TOP 10 SCIFI CHANNEL PROGRAMS:
Stargate SG-1 2.1
Sasquatch 1.8
Project Viper 1.5
Dog Soldiers 1.4
Waterworld 1.3
Boa 1.3
Silent Predators 1.3
Legend Leprechauns 2 1.3
Snakehead Terror 1.3
Mad Mad House 1.3
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 3/15/04 - 3/21/04.

BOX OFFICE NUMBERS: Sony's HELLBOY brought in some impressive
numbers this weekend -- an estimated $23.5 million on a crowded
weekend at the boxoffice. The Revolution Studios-produced picture,
which was based on the Dark Horse comic book hero and directed by
Guillermo del Toro, easily nabbed the top spot and did slightly
better than expected. MGM's WALKING TALL strutted into second place
with an estimated $15.3 million in hand. The action-drama, starring
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and helmed by Kevin Bray, is a remake of
the 1973 film that starred Joe Don Baker, and met prerelease
expectations at the boxoffice. There were four new wide releases --
the same as the previous weekend -- which, with some solid
holdovers, helped boost the boxoffice for the top 12 films to a
stunning 39% increase on the comparable session in 2003. In
addition, five films grossed more than $10 million each; it marked
the sixth consecutive up session; and four films were playing in
more than 3,000 theaters each, which has happened on three weekends
so far this year, as compared with zero by this point in 2003.

WONDERFALLS: It looks like FOX has decided to cancel WONDERFALLS.
Posting a note on a BUFFY website, Executive Producer Tim Minear
writes, "[W]e're cancelled. Effective at once. The cow creamer will
be silent this Thursday and forever forward." Though the reviews for
the show were generally quite good, ratings were meager, at best.
Thirteen episodes of WONDERFALLS have been completed, and Minear
says he and creators Todd Holland ("Malcolm in the Middle") and
Bryan Fuller ("Dead Like Me") will try to find a home for the
remaining shows, either on DVD or at another network.

MONSTER IN LAW: According to Variety, ALIAS star Michael Vartan has
been cast as the male lead opposite Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda in
New Line Cinema's MONSTER-IN-LAW. Vartan will play a man whose
overprotective mother ruthlessly tries to derail his engagement. The
film is directed by Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde) from a script by
Anya Kochoff and a revised draft by Richard LaGravenese. Filming
will begin this May in Los Angeles.

HOSTAGE: Variety reports that Miramax has acquired North American
distribution rights to the Bruce Willis thriller HOSTAGE, currently
shooting in Los Angeles. Willis plays an LAPD hostage negotiator who
withdraws to the countryside after a bloody standoff to become chief
of a two-man police department. Instead of achieving a sense of
peace in the small town, he must call upon his negotiating skills
again in order to save his kidnapped wife and daughter. French
director Florent Siri (The Nest) makes his English-language debut on
the adaptation of Robert Crais' novel, scripted by the author. The
film also stars Kevin Pollack, Ben Foster, Jonathan Tucker, Serena
Scott Thomas, Marshall Allman, Michelle Horn and Jimmy Bennett.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: HELLBOY is on track for a $25-30 million dollar
opening weekend. The early figures are in from Friday night's box
office and it appears that HELLBOY led the competition. According to
preliminary results the comic book adaptation netted approximately
$8,967,500 from its Friday showings (including any midnight
screenings from Thursday.) That would put the red-skinned monster
hunter on track for a $25-30 million dollar opening weekend. Second
place went to The Rock's new action flick WALKING TALL which earned
about $5.2 M. Disney's new animated film HOME ON THE RANGE was in
third with $4.0 M and last week's champ, SCOOBY-DOO 2, grossed $3.7
M. Meanwhile, Paramount's new teen romance THE PRINCE AND ME scored
an OK $3.4 M.

ALIAS: While not an "official" announcement of renewal, ALIAS star
Jennifer Garner says that she and the spy series will be part of the
line-up for next year. "We are coming back for next year, which we
are thrilled about. I don't know if it's been announced, but I'll be
back. We hired new writers, we hired new cast members, so it's
happening." ALIAS has been a critical favorite since its premiere
and has a devoted fan following. One of the new cast members is Mia
Maestro ("Frida") who will play the sister of Garner's character in
the last three episodes of this season and will more than likely be
a regular come fall. The additions to the writing staff will also
help "Alias" creator J.J. Abrams manage his time, since he currently
has two pilots in the works for the network: "Lost" revolves around
a group of plane crash survivors building new lives and stars
Dominic Monaghan ("The Lord of the Rings"), Matthew Fox ("Party of
Five"), Ian Somerhalder ("Smallville") and Daniel Dae Kim
("24," "Angel"); "The Catch" (for midseason) follows the adventures
of a bounty hunter played by "Alias" supporting cast member Greg
Grunberg.

SCIFI SCHEDULE AHEAD:

STARGATE SCHEDULE:
04/16/2004 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) FALLOUT
04/16/2004 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) ENEMY MINE
04/16/2004 11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) FALLOUT
04/16/2004 1:00 AM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) ENEMY MINE
04/23/2004 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) CHIMERA
04/23/2004 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) SPACE RACE
04/23/2004 11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) CHIMERA
04/23/2004 1:00 AM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) SPACE RACE
04/30/2004 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) DEATH KNELL
04/30/2004 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) AVENGER 2.0
04/30/2004 11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) DEATH KNELL
04/30/2004 1:00 AM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) AVENGER 2.0

FARSCAPE SCHEDULE:
11-APR-04 1:00 AM FARSCAPE THRONE FOR A LOSS
15-APR-04 5:00 AM FARSCAPE TILL THE BLOOD RUNS CLEAR
18-APR-04 1:00 AM FARSCAPE PK TEK GIRL
22-APR-04 5:00 AM FARSCAPE A BUG'S LIFE
25-APR-04 1:00 AM FARSCAPE THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY AGAIN
29-APR-04 5:00 AM FARSCAPE RHAPSODY IN BLUE

EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT
04/12/2004 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT LIMBO
04/13/2004 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT MOTHERLODE
04/14/2004 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT TAKE NO PRISONERS
04/15/2004 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT SECOND WAVE
04/16/2004 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT ESSENCE
04/19/2004 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT PHANTOM COMPANION
04/20/2004 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT DREAM STALKER
04/21/2004 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT LOST GENERATION
04/22/2004 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT THE SUMMIT
04/23/2004 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT DARK MATTER
04/26/2004 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT KEYS TO THE KINGDOM
04/27/2004 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT STREET CHASER
04/28/2004 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT TRAPPED BY TIME
04/29/2004 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT ATONEMENT
04/30/2004 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT BLOOD TIES

CONVENTION CALENDAR

StarFest, Denver
April 16-18, 2004
Location: Marriott Denver Tech Center
Place: I-25 and Bellevue, Denver. CO
Guests: Sean Astin - Michael Shanks - Dominic Keating - Lexa Doig -
Lance Henriksen - Gary Graham - Lani Tupu - Peter Mayhew - Richard
Hatch - David Franklin Director: Roland Emmerich Authors: Christie
Golden - Dayton Ward - Kevin Dilmore - Dave McDonnell Also: Walt
Faulconer - Jeff Walker - Kevin Atkins
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.starland.com.

April 16-18, 2004
CHIMERACON
Location: San Antonio, TX
Guests: Brent Strait,
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.chimaeracon.com/ .

April 16-18, 2004
ARMAGEDDON PULP CULTURE EXPO
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Guests: Corin Nemec
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.pulpexpo.com/ .

April 24-25, 2004
CREATION CONVENTION
Location: Chicago, IL
Guests: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/ .

April 30-May 1-2, 2004
WONDERCON 2004
Location: Moscone Convention Center
City: San Francisco, California (USA)
Guests: To be announced
For more information, visit their website at http://www.comic-
con.org .

April 30-May 3, 2004
COLLECTORMANIA 5
Location: Milton Keynes, England
Guests: Corin Nemec, Sarah Douglas, Robert Picardo
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.collectormania.com/ .

Creation Entertainment Cruise 2
May 14-21, 2004
Location: Ft. Lauderdale, FL
7 day Caribbean Cruise
Guests: Salute to Star Trek, Stargate and Xena
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/calendar.htm.

May 15-16, 2004
BEST OF BOTH WORLDS 22
Location: Canberra, Australia
Guests: Don S. Davis, Carmen Argenziano, Frida Betrani, Alex Zahara,
David Winning
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.bobw.com.au/.

May 15-16, 2004
LONDON EXPO
Location: London, England
Guests: Alexis Cruz, Marina Sirtis
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.londonexpo.co.uk/.

May 21-23, 2004
Fed con
Location: Bonn, Germany
Guests: Anthony Montgomery, Rene Auberjonois, Armin Shimerman, Terry
Farrell, More Guests TBA
For more information, visit their website at http://www.fedcon.de/.

May 28-31, 2004
MEDIAWEST*CON
Location: Lansing, Mi
A SF/Media fandom convention
For more information, visit their website at
http://members.aol.com/MdiaWstCon/mwc24.htm .

I guess that is about it for now.  I hope you all have a marvelous
weekend.
Be safe.

Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN News:  The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net

THE ZOCALO TODAY – April 24, 2004

WHAT'S NEW

Well, I'm off to Vienna, Austria for a training class, so don't be
concerned if you don't hear from me for a couple of weeks.  I will
try to stay up with me e-mail, but posting items to the website may
not be possible.

WAITING

Everyone is waiting to hear from JMS regarding a new project.  He
said that we should hear something shortly, so we'll just need to be
patient.

KEEPING UP WITH CAST AND CREW

ALEX ZAHARA: Alex (Tulann from Crusade) has been a guest on STARGATE
SG-1 for years. He has played a number of characters and he chatted
with fans over at the Gateworld website in early April. For a
transcript of the chat, go to
http://www.gateworld.net/sg1/index.shtml.

BRUCE MCGILL: Bruce McGill (Major Ryan in SEVERED DREAMS) will star
in Universal and Miramax's CINDERELLA MAN, directed by Ron Howard.
He will play a boxing promoter who is instrumental in guiding the
career of Russell Crowe's title character. McGill next can be seen
in DreamWorks' COLLATERAL opposite Tom Cruise as well as SLOW BURN
with Ray Liotta.

DANIEL DAE KIM: Daniel (Lt. Matheson from CRUSADE) has landed a role
in the upcoming series PARTY OF FIVE, being produced by J.J. Abrams
from ALIAS.

DISCUSSION TOPIC

Here is a great discussion topic suggested by Ranger Anne.  What
would you like to see as a future JMS/B5 movie?  To start things
off, here are her suggestions:

If I had my way, I'd turn Kathryn Drennan's novel "To Dream in the
City of Sorrows" into a movie.  I think it would be fascinating to
see how frustrated Sinclair felt at not being able to function as an
Ambassador; the verbal showdown between him & Neroon before the
Council of Caste Elders.  I'd especially like to see Sinclair
getting into the role of Anla'shok Na (&Entil'Zha), his reunion with
Catherine Sakai and the mission in Sector 14.

If not, I'd like to see Valen & the Great War.  How Valen
established the Rangers, the Grey Council and marshaled the forces
of light against the Shadows. Besides I haven't been able to
see "War Without End" yet but would like to see Michael O'Hare as a
Minbari.

My third option is to see the development of the Interstellar
Alliance, Sheridan & Delenn's relationship balanced with their
duties as the ISA's "First Couple."  I'd also include more of how
the Rangers' traditional duties expanded during this time.

Wow, that should give you something to think about!

Send in your thoughts, comments and ideas to sgbruckner@.... I
post them on the Discussion Page for everyone to share. See what has
come in so far. If you see an old topic you want to respond to, go
right ahead. We enjoy hearing from you.

BABYLON 5 SIGHTING

Ranger Anita sent in the following report:

Daniel Dae Kim was in this week's episode of "24" playing Agent
Baker, the same role he had on a few episodes last season. He made
it through the episode in one piece, so maybe he'll return! Andrea
Thompson has also been in a few episodes this season as a
doctor/scientist who specializes in viruses and biological agents.

Have you seen any other Babylon 5 favorites in other roles?  Tell us
about it – just send a note to sgbruckner@... and I'll post the
information to share with others.

Ranger Neil reports that Wayne Alexander (Jack, Lorien and a ton of
other B5 characters) was spotted in a recent Ditech commercial.  He
portrays an optician working on the "Bank's Loan Officer".  Thanks
for the sighting report.

NEW MAGAZINE – PYR

Ranger John passed along this information related to a name from the
B5 past!  Lou Anders was the on-site reporter for the Babylon 5
magazine from Titan and later managing editor at Bookface.com.  Lou,
good luck in your latest endeavor.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 19, 2004

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jill Maxick, Director of Publicity, Prometheus Books
800-853-7545, jmaxick@...
or Lou Anders, Senior Editor/Editorial Director, Pyr
Landers@...

Prometheus Books Introduces Science Fiction/Fantasy Imprint
Pyr Poised to Set the Science Fiction World on Fire

Prometheus Books is proud to announce the launch of Pyr, a new
science fiction and fantasy imprint, with titles anticipated in
Spring 2005.  Prometheus Books is entering its thirty-fifth year of
successful independent publishing; since 1969, Prometheus has been a
leader in publishing books for the scientific, professional,
library, educational, popular and consumer markets.

For founder Paul Kurtz, the progression from popular science
nonfiction to science fiction and fantasy is a natural one.

Science and science fiction have a long history of mutual
inspiration and admiration that stretches back at least as far as
the 19th Century, says Kurtz, Science fiction is vital for the human
person. It feeds the mind, the heart, and the creative imagination.
At its best, it can inspire positive images of the future.

Prometheus Books took its name from the courageous Greek god who
gave fire to humans, lighting the way to reason, intelligence, and
independence. Pyr, the Greek word for fire, continues this
connection to fire and the liveliness of imagination.

Prometheus Books has tested the waters of science fiction before,
most notably with the well-reviewed Nothing Sacred (2004) and its
prequel, Galactic Rapture (2000), by Tom Flynn. Launching a
dedicated imprint proves the commitment Prometheus Books is making
to the genre.

Lou Anders has been named Editorial Director of Pyr. Anders joins
Prometheus with over nine years of experience in science fiction and
fantasy entertainment and media. He is the editor of four
anthologies, including Live Without a Net (Roc, July 2003) and has
published over 500 magazine articles. Previously, Anders was
Executive Editor of online publishing site Bookface.com and the Los
Angeles Liaison for Titan Publishing Group.
Currently, he serves as the Senior Editor of Argosy Magazine.

The challenge of developing a new imprint from the ground up with
its own identity yet one that complements Prometheus is an exciting
prospect, notes Anders. Since the start of the new millennium, we've
been seeing a renaissance of speculative fiction. With Pyr, we'll be
looking to create science fiction for the Next Age.

WRITING OPPORTUNITY

I received a note from Bob Furnell, publisher of a fan magazine
called TELLYVISION dedicated to American, British and Canadian
television.  He writes:

I'm looking for individuals who might be interested in writing
articles for the magazine on any aspect of "Babylon 5, Crusade" or
any other tv show that your interested in.

As its a fan magazine, unfortunately we aren't able to pay you for
contributing, but what we are able to offer contributors, is a place
to have your material published, a chance to have that material
exposed to an audience in Canada, the US and the UK, and a free
contributors copy of the issue that your article appears in. Plus,
if you run a TV-related website, I'm even willing to give your site
a plug in the magazine.

So if you're interested in writing for the magazine, I would love to
welcome new contributors/writers on board. You can visit the
magazine's official site at: <http://www.tellyvision.tvheaven.com>,
and I can also be contacted by email through the site too.

Thanks for letting me take a few minutes of your time.

Cheers,
Bob
Editor/Publisher

BOOK REVIEWS
Here is a new feature for your enjoyment.  I received some new book
reviews that I've posted on a separate Book Review Page at
<http://www.thezocalo.com/zocalo/review.shtml>.  Let me know if you
enjoy this new
feature -- and we'll continue to offer them as they are received.
Agree with the review?  Disagree?  We can post those as well.

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT

4:00pm on Spike TV
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Part 1 of 2: Past Tense
A transporter malfunction sends Sisko, Bashir and Dax to 21st-
century Earth.

5:00pm on Spike TV
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Part 2 of 2: Past Tense
Trapped in the past, Sisko must risk his life to preserve the
future.

6:30 on HBO
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Young wizards investigate a dark force at their school. Based on a
book by J.K. Rowling.

8:00pm on UPN
Star Trek: Enterprise
Damage
Archer sacrifices his ethics in order to intercept the Xindi weapon.

9:00pm on UPN
Unexplained Mysteries
Real People, Real UFOs Stories of people who have encountered UFOs.

On SciFi Tonight:

5:00pm
Crocodile
An angry mother crocodile stalks college students.

7:00pm
Crocodile 2: Death Roll
A giant crocodile stalks a band of criminals after their plane
crashes in a Mexican swamp.

9:00pm
Dinocroc
Several townspeople step forward to save their community from the
jaws of a prehistoric reptile.

11:00pm
DNA
DNA expert, fed try to stop scientist's monster.

On Syndicated TV This Weekend:

Andromeda
Trusting the Gordian Maze
The Triumvirate sends a beautiful spy to tempt Dylan and retrieve
the star map.

Angel
Long Day's Journey
The gang learns that the one who can stop the Beast is among them.

BeastMaster
Clash of the Titans
Dar is drawn into a battle between Zad and Voden in order to save
Tao and Arina.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
Survivor
Supernatural forces threaten to destroy the explorers when they
enter an ancient temple.

Mutant X
In Between
Brennan must connect with Jesse and guide him through past
experiences in order to save his life.

Stargate SG-1
Abyss
O'Neill becomes the prisoner of a system lord, with no memory of how
he got there.

The Outer Limits
The Surrogate A struggling artist signs up to be a surrogate mother.

SCIENCE FICTION PUBLICATIONS

Cult Times #104: SMALLVILLE star Tom Welling is the focus of this
issue. The interview focuses on the latest changes in the life of
Clark Kent and how it may affect the relationship with Lex Luthor.
Also in this issue -- Amy Acker, J. August Richards and Andy Hallett
talk about the cancellation of ANGEL.

Starburst #310: SPIDER-MAN 2 will be upon us soon and the magazine
takes us for a look at the new menace, Doc Ock, Alfred Molina. Also
in this issue, producer Bob Ducsay talks about dealing with famous
monsters in VAN HELSING and William Shatner talks about James T.
Kirk, movies, legends and a lot of other things.
Expose #85: This issue is full of ANGEL interviews. James Marsters
and David Boreanaz discuss Spike and Angel's rivalry; Sarah Thompson
looks at Eve from Wolfram & Hart and producer Steven S. DeKnight
talks about the shocking cancellation. Also in this issue Richard
Roxburgh gives insight into becoming Dracula for VAN HELSING and
Cary Elwes tells us about his role as the villain in ELLA ENCHANTED.

COMIC BOOKS

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #507
Written by J. Michael Straczynski, cover and pencils by John Romita
Jr.
Concluding a 3-part arc, featuring the mysterious Ezekiel!
32 pages, $2.25, in stores on April 28.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #508
Written by J. Michael Straczynski, pencils and cover by John Romita
Jr. The enigmatic Ezekiel returns to Peter's life. But is he the
same man who stood by Spider-Man's side in his hour of need, or will
he prove to be something much deadlier?
32 pages, $2.25, in stores on May 26.

STARGATE SG-1 Comic Issue #2 now in stores
MARCH 31, 2004
The second installment of the new Stargate SG-1 comic book series is
now available at retailers worldwide. "P.O.W." #2 tells part two of
a 3-issue story, in which Colonel Jack O'Neill finds himself a
captive of the Goa'uld. "This is meant to be our introduction to the
Stargate world for new comic fans and a fun treat for the hardcore
fans," said author James Anthony Kuhoric. The issue features a
recounting of the events of the original "Stargate" film, as well as
the beginning of the TV series. "In addition to establishing the
background as a starting point for future comic book series, this
feature amalgams the two universes [of the film and the TV series]
into SG-1 continuity. We get to see Richard Dean Anderson as O'Neill
during the first Abydos mission!"
With a story by Kuhoric and art by Renato Guedes, "P.O.W." #2
carries a $3.50 price tag and is available in several different
covers. Fans who can't find the issue can order it from the
publisher's online store, at ComicCavalcade.com.
"P.O.W." #3 is expected in April, followed by a brand new 3-part
series, "Fall of Rome," which will introduce new characters and
expand the Stargate universe.

TV SCHEDULE ON SCIFI CHANNEL

BABYLON 5 and CRUSADE are not currently listed on any SCIFI
schedule.

The SciFi Channel has scheduled "The Legend of the Rangers" for
April 17, at 9:30 am ET.

STARGATE SCHEDULE:
04/23/2004 1:00 AM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) SPACE RACE
04/30/2004 9:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) DEATH KNELL
04/30/2004 10:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) AVENGER 2.0
04/30/2004 11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) DEATH KNELL
04/30/2004 1:00 AM STARGATE SG-1 (LBX) AVENGER 2.0

FARSCAPE SCHEDULE:
25-APR-04 1:00 AM FARSCAPE THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY AGAIN
29-APR-04 5:00 AM FARSCAPE RHAPSODY IN BLUE

EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT
04/26/2004 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT KEYS TO THE KINGDOM
04/27/2004 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT STREET CHASER
04/28/2004 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT TRAPPED BY TIME
04/29/2004 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT ATONEMENT
04/30/2004 8:00 AM EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT BLOOD TIES

INSIDE SCI-FI THIS WEEK:

TOP NETWORK SF PROGRAMS:
Joan of Arcadia 6.1
Century City 5.2
Kingdom Hospital 3.5
Tru Calling 3.4
Wonderfalls 2.0
Charmed 2.0
Smallville 2.0
Enterprise 1.5
Game Over 0.9
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 3/29/04 - 4/4/04.

THE FOUNTAIN: While out promoting his latest film, VAN HELSING, Hugh
Jackman confirmed that he will have a major role in Darren
Aronofsky's SF epic movie THE FOUNTAIN. "I play three characters,
and it's basically about the search for the Fountain of Youth."
Jackman had high praise for writer/director Aronofsky (Requiem for a
Dream). "It is really an extraordinary [film]," he said. "I think
Darren could become, in the final analysis, another Kubrick. I think
he's an amazing director, and he's written a script that is just
phenomenal. I'm honored to be a part of it, I really am; I'm very
excited about it." The movie was also delayed for a year when co-
star Cate Blanchett got pregnant. A number of actors have been
associated with the movie, including Brad Pitt.

HELLBOY: HELLBOY's leading man, Ron Perlman, has been cast in the
indie movie COLDWATER. Perlman plays Morris Timberland, a harsh
youth center leader known to his charges as "The Colonel". He
oversees a detention facility for young offenders. The project was
written by Vincent Grashaw and Mark Penney and draws inspiration
from the tough environments of youth boot camps, places where the
punishment can exceed the crime. Music video director Sean Michael
Beyer is behind the camera and filming kicks off on June 1.

MILLENIUM: July 20 has finally been selected as the Regiona 1 street
date for the first season of Chris Carter's MILLENNIUM. This
thriller debuted on Fox in 1996 and contained storylines that were
even darker than Carter's other creation, THE X-FILES. MILLENNIUM
went on for three seasons before being cancelled by the network. The
show starred Lance Henriksen as Frank Black, an ex-FBI serial killer
profiler who was recruited by a clandestine organization known as
the Millennium Group. Black's abilities to "see" into the minds of
killers made him a valuable addition to the team but left him
unsettled about where society might be headed. Eventually Black
began to suspect the Millennium Group of holding secrets and a
belief that some kind of apocalyptic event would be shortly
happening, and that the crimes Black and the other Millennium
operatives investigated were signs of the coming end of the world.
The DVD set will contain six discs featuring all 22 episodes from
the show's first season. Each of the episodes will be presented in
1.33:1 full-screen format with English, Franch and Spanish Dolby
Surround sound. TV promo spots for all 22 episodes will also be
included. Bonus features include a commentary by series creator
Chris Carter on the pilot episode; a commentary by director David
Nutter on "Gehenna"; and a commentary on "The Judge" (with
unspecified individuals.) Three featurettes are also in the
set: "Order in Chaos: Making MILLENNIUM Season One"; "The Academy
Group"; and "Main Title Design". As well, trailers for several Fox
DVDs will be bundled on the set including ones for PREDATOR: SPECIAL
EDITION and the X-FILES season sets.

HOVER CAR RACER: SMALLVILLE's executive producers Alfred Gough and
Miles Millar have taken on the sci-fi/actioner HOVER CAR RACER for
the big screen.

TOP SF DVD SALES: 1. The Matrix Revolutions
2. Return of the King
3. Star Wars Trilogy
4. Buffy season six
5. Big Fish
6. Babylon 5 season five
7. Pirates of the Caribbean
8. The Two Towers extended edition
9. Brother Bear
10. The Monster Legacy Collection
Source: Amazon.com, top-selling genre DVDs, 4/19/04

STARGATE: ATLANTIS: SCIFI has put up a new website for it's upcoming
original series STARGATE ATLANTIS which premieres July 16. This
preliminary site includes a welcome message from "President Henry
Hayes"; cast and crew biographies; a gallery of images; wallpaper, e-
card and IM icon downloads; and a bulletin board. A spinoff of
STARGATE SG-1, the new series features a new cast led by Joe
Flanigan, playing a crew that undertakes humanity's greatest and
most dangerous mission yet. ATLANTIS will debut with a two-hour
premiere in July and feature crossover appearances by members of the
SG-1 team. Following its premiere, 18 additional original episodes
of ATLANTIS will air during the show's regular Friday 10 p.m. ET/PT
timeslot as a companion series to the new eighth season of SG-1,
which airs at 9 p.m. STARGATE ATLANTIS is featured in the current
issue of TV Guide, with new photos inside and on the cover. The
issue, covering the week of April 25, is now on newsstands.

FLASH GORDON: Two different sources no report that VAN HELSING
director Stephen Sommers is presently attached to produce a new
FLASH GORDON movie. Inside word is that the gentleman is waiting to
see how his new movie, VAN HELSING, fares at the box office come
May. If VAN HELSING proves to be a monster-sized hit, Sommers may
have to pass on writing and directing FLASH in favor of VAN HELSING
2.

NEW TREK FEATURE: STAR TREK producer Rick Berman has finally dropped
the first hints of a new theatrical project for the franchise. In
the latest issue of "Dreamwatch" magazine, Berman confirms for the
first time that he is now developing a STAR TREK feature film
project: "I am involved in the very early stages of what could be
the next STAR TREK movie," reveals Berman, in an excerpt provided by
Dreamwatch. "It's something I will be producing with two other
producers." He cryptically describes it as "a prequel" without any
further elaboration. The names of his producing cohorts will have to
remain unknown for now, as well. This follows a report earlier this
week from Dark Horizons that Paramount may be working on a project
the site described as "Starfleet Command." Coincidentally, former
TREK producer Harve Bennett (STAR TREKs II-VI) revealed recently
that several years ago he had pitched a Starfleet Academy-based STAR
TREK movie concept. On the television front, while the future of
their first series remains in limbo, Berman confirms that he is
developing a non-STAR TREK sci-fi series with partner Brannon Braga.
Both Berman and Braga have development deals with Paramount. If a
new series begins development in earnest, TrekWeb insiders suggest
Berman and/or Braga might take a reduced role in a fourth season of
ENTERPRISE, though this is entirely speculation."

AMERICAN GOTHIC: Gary Cole will be returning as Sheriff Lucas Buck
in "American Gothic : The Movie". Producer Craig Marquardo ["Sway"]
says Cole was on board the moment he heard that it was a go picture.
The film – which will be a re-telling of the events of the
television series – has also signed original cast members Brenda
Bakke, Nick Searcy and Jake Weber. It's believed many of the other
original players – including young Lucas Black, who's now too old to
play the role of the child, Caleb – will be replaced. Sam Raimi is
circling the film as a possible directing gig. "American Gothic"
aired from September 1995 to July 1996. Executive Prodced by Sam
Raimi and Robert G. Tapert and created by Shaun Cassidy, it told the
story of a charming small-town Sheriff who seems to be posses a
hellish power that's used on anyone who gets in the way of his
plans. It was axed after only one season, but developed quite a
following in that short amount of time. It's planned that a new
season of the series will follow the eventual film.

PATTERN RECOGNITION: Director Peter Weir (Master and Commander: The
Far Side of the World) is attached to direct PATTERN RECOGNITION, a
thriller at Warner Bros. Weir will co-write the script with David
Arata. The film follows the adventures of a marketing expert who
finds herself in a dangerous puzzle when she's hired to track down
the source of a strange collection of video footage on the Internet.
William Gibson published the novel last year through Penguin Putnam.

THE VILLAGE: According to the ComingSoon website, Director M. Night
Shyamalan will host an April 26 ABC telecast of THE SIXTH SENSE,
during which he will present a world-premiere trailer for his next
film, THE VILLAGE, which opens July 30. On May 3 at 8 p.m. ET/PT,
Shyamalan hosts the ABC debut of UNBREAKABLE, during which he will
showcase never-before-seen material for THE VILLAGE.

TOP VIDEOS: The Hollywood Reporter indicates that MASTER AND
COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD sold more than 2 million
combined DVD and VHS units during its first day in release Tuesday,
according to 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment executives.

SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW: SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF
TOMORROW, will have to wait until September to take flight.
Paramount Pictures' retro-futuristic action-adventure movie starring
Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, has postponed the film
originally scheduled for release on June 25. Paramount said the
shift comes because of moves on the part of its competitors. "Sky
Captain," which first-time director Kerry Conran shot with his
actors performing in front of green screens with elaborate CG
settings and effects added in postproduction, had been scheduled to
open a week before Sony Pictures' "Spider-Man 2," which was
originally set to bow Friday, July 2. However, at last month's
ShoWest convention, Sony said it was moving "Spider-Man's" debut up
two days to Wednesday, June 30. With "Spider-Man" previews expected
to take place Tuesday night, June 29, that would have left "Sky
Captain" just four days before it had to fend off "Spider-Man."

24: FOX has issued renewals for a number of programs, including the
real-time drama "24". "24" received full-season orders -- 24
episodes in the case of "24".

THE WRONG ELEMENT: Harrison Ford has decided to jump into a new
thriller from writer Joe Forte. According to Variety, THE WRONG
ELEMENT, will have Ford play a security chief for a global bank
whose family is kidnapped. He's asked to topple his own security
safeguards and steal $37 million from the bank to save his family.
Then he has to stop the kidnappers, who've created a complex trail
that will make him look guilty of embezzlement.

DERAILED: Variety reports that Clive Owen (King Arthur) has joined
DERAILED for Miramax Films and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura.
Swedish helmer Mikael Hafstrom is making his English- language
directing bow on the thriller, in which the life of an advertising
executive takes an unpredictable turn when he misses his morning
train to the office. Stuart Beattie (Collateral) adapted the
screenplay from James Siegel's novel.

IRON MAN: According to The Hollywood Reporter, X-Men and X2: X-Men
United screenwriter David Hayter has signed on to rewrite IRON MAN,
New Line Cinema's adaptation of the Marvel Comics character. In the
comic, IRON MAN's real identity is that of billionaire industrialist
Tony Stark, who develops an armored suit that lets him fly and shoot
repulsor rays. The comic debuted in the 1960s, and IRON MAN's origin
involved Stark being a prisoner of the Viet Cong. The comic evolved
into Stark fighting spies, both political and industrial, while also
battling alcoholism. The film will reportedly reflect a modern world
climate, as well as modern technological, political and societal
trends.

TOP SF SYNDICATED SHOWS:
Stargate SG-1 2.3
Andromeda 1.7
Mutant X 1.7
She Spies 1.6
The X-Files 1.6
3rd Rock 1.4
Angel 1.4
Beastmaster 1.3
Buffy 1.3
Ripley's 1.1
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 3/29/04 - 4/4/04

STAR WARS: The official Star Wars website announced that Lucasfilm
will open a Star Wars pavilion at the International Comic-Con in San
Diego, July 21-25. The pavilion will occupy the front row in Hall D
at the San Diego Convention Center. Friday is Star Wars day at Comic-
Con, featuring seminars on everything from toys and collectibles to
books and comics.

BEST SELLING SF BOOKS:
1. The Da Vinci Code
2. Angels & Demons
3. The Confusion (Baroque Cycle)
4. Glorious Appearing (Left Behind)
5. Expanded Psionics Handbook
6. The Song of Susannah (Dark Tower 6)
7. Wicked
8. The Time Traveler's Wife
9. New Spring (Wheel of Time)
10. King of Foxes (Conclave of Shadows)
Source: Amazon.com, 4/19/04

ASIMOV'S SCIENCE FICTION: According to Dell Magazine, Gardner Dozois
is stepping down as editor at Asimov's Science Fiction magazine
to "pursue other projects, including his own writing." Current
executive editor Sheila Williams will replace Dozois, who will
remain as a contributing editor. The magazine, under Dozois, earned
the Hugo Award 14 times in the Best Professional Editor category.

THE PUNISHER: Producers are already talking about a sequel to THE
PUNISHER. The modest production could film again in Tampa, Fla., the
Tampa Tribune newspaper reported. Hillsborough County Film
Commissioner Edie Emerald told members of the Tampa Downtown
Partnership that the producers are interested in doing another film
there. The movie brought in $20 million to the Tampa economy when it
shot there for 11 weeks. THE PUNISHER opened in second place at the
April 16 weekend box office, with about $14 million in ticket sales.

Looking for more information on Thomas Jane who portrays Frank
Castle in THE PUNISHER. Catch the interview over at Prevue Magazine.

HENSON/MGM: Variety reports that the Jim Henson Co. has signed a two-
year first-look deal with MGM to produce live-action films. Jim
Henson Pictures is already developing a sequel to last year's
Henson/MGM-produced SF dog movie GOOD BOY!, which was made for $18
million and generated $38 million in domestic box-office receipts.
Henson has a similar deal with the Walt Disney Co. to produce
animated films.

STARGATE SG-1: STARGATE SG-1 won the award for Best Canadian TV
Series from viewers of Canada's SPACE: The Imagination Station this
past weekend! Congratulations to everyone.

Speaking of STARGATE SG-1, have you been over to the STARGATE at
SCIFI website lately. You will find a host of material -- including
deleted scenes from some of the latest episodes.
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: Production begins this week in Vancouver for
SCI FI Channel's BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. GALACTICA returns to SCI FI
Channel as a one-hour weekly drama in early 2005 after an auspicious
debut in December, when they were the most-watched cable miniseries
of the year. Richard Hatch, who starred as Apollo in the original
1970s BATTLESTAR GALACTICA TV series, will make a special guest
appearance in an early episode of the new show, playing a Nelson
Mandela-like figure, Peter Zarek. Having spent the last 20 years in
jail for inciting civil unrest against the government of the 12
Colonies of Kobol, Zarek and his followers riot against the
leadership of the ragtag fleet, taking over the vessel on which they
are being held and creating a hostage situation, which Adama (Edward
James Olmos) and President Roslin (Mary McDonnell) must resolve. The
show reunites miniseries stars Olmos, McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff
(Starbuck) and Tricia Helfer (Number Six) with the rest of the
Galactica cast. The series is executive produced by Ronald D. Moore
and David Eick. Michael Rymer, who directed the four-hour mini,
returns to direct the series' premiere episode.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3: According to The Hollywood Reporter, THE
MATRIX trilogy star Carrie-Anne Moss has signed on to MISSION:
IMPOSSIBLE 3, which is aiming for an August start date. Moss will
take a leading role in the sequel, which will see Tom Cruise reprise
his role as secret agent Ethan Hunt. His Paramount-based
Cruise/Wagner Productions has recently been scouting locations in
Ghana and Berlin.

THE RING 2: Variety reports that EVERWOOD's Emily VanCamp (Amy) is
in final talks to play the young female lead in DreamWorks' horror
sequel THE RING 2. VanCamp joins Naomi Watts, David Dorfman and
Simon Baker in the film, being directed by Japanese helmer Hideo
Nakata. Sissy Spacek will have a minor role in the film. Shooting
begins next month. VanCamp also stars in the upcoming Lions Gate
film A DIFFERENT LOYALTY, with Sharon Stone.

HARRY POTTER: HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN opens on June
4. Mark your calendars now for May 4. On that date, ABC will air a
10-minute sneak peek at the third film. It'll air following HARRY
POTTER AND THE SORCER'S STONE on Sunday, May 9 at 7/6c. Four new
character-themed posters for PRISONER are up at the Hpana website.
They're a nice compliment to the recently released international
posters. Potter collectors are gonna be all over them. AZKABAN
centers around infamous inmate, Sirius Black, who escapes from the
dreaded wizard prison of Azkaban. Convicted of killing thirteen
people, Black was said to be Lord Voldemort's right-hand man. And
word on the street is that he's out to take revenge on Harry Potter.
Alfonso Cuaron directed POA from a script adapted by Steve Kloves.
New additions to the cast include Michael Gambon as Albus
Dumbledore; Gary Oldman plays Sirius Black; and David Thewlis
(Timeline, Dinotopia) is Professor Remus Lupin. Emma Thompson is
Professor Trelawny. Timothy Spall (Nicholas Nickleby) is Peter
Pettigrew. Pam Ferris (Matilda) plays Harry's Aunt Marge.

SPY-HUNTER: The Rick is set to star in this project as Alec Sects, a
former military pilot who becomes a secret agent. Using his fully-
armed vehicle, the G-6155 Interceptor (it can morph into a
motorcycle and a boat), he pursues a slew of dangerous individuals,
who take him on in tricked-out vehicles of their own.Who will
direct? Rumor has it that John Woo has been wooed to another game-to-
film adaptation. Woo, whose directing credits include Face/Off, M:I-
2 and Broken Arrow, was recently linked to the big-screen adaptation
of Metriod. At last report, Universal was eyeing a June production
start for SPY-HUNTER with a summer '05 release in mind.

NEWS: Quite a bit of new material for you today. Below find out what
Lou Anders (B5 magazine) is up to these days. Also, if you have an
urge to write, there's an offer you may find hard to refuse below as
well. AND, some new book reviews are available as well. Be sure to
check them out and let us know what you think. Cheers!

TOP SCIFI CHANNEL PROGRAMS:
Stargate SG-1 1.8
Merlin, Part 2 1.6
Merlin, Part 1 1.3
Andromeda 1.2
Taken, Part 10 1.1
Tripping the Rift 1.0
Taken, Part 9 1.0
Taken, Part 8 0.9
Phantom Force 0.9
Battlefield Earth 0.9
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 3/29/04 - 4/4/04

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Quentin Tarantino's KILL BILL VOL. 2 emerged as
the victor of the weekend box office, earning an estimated $25.5
million from Friday to Sunday. In second place was Lions Gate's THE
PUNISHER with a gross of $14 M from a little more than 300 screens
less than KILL BILL. JOHNSON FAMILY VACATION is hanging in there at
the third spot and Guillermo del Toro's HELLBOY took fourth. HELLBOY
still has about $15 M to go before it recoups its production budget,
which it should do before it departs from theaters. Disney's HOME ON
THE RANGE and Warner Bros.' SCOOBY-DOO 2 both moved up one spot to
fifth and sixth position, respectively, while MGM's WALKING TALL
slipped two spots to seventh position. Last week's top grosser, THE
PASSION OF THE CHRIST, fell to number nine this week and will
probably fall from the top ten in the near future. This week's other
new release, Universal's CONNIE AND CARLA, opened with $3.2 M and at
position thirteen. Here are the estimated numbers from the top 10
films from April 16 through to April 18:
1. KILL BILL VOL. 2 $25,565,000 $25,565,000
2. THE PUNISHER $14,000,000 $14,000,000
3. JOHNSON FAMILY VACATION $6,425,000 $21,453,000
3. HELLBOY $5,700,000 $50,357,000
5. HOME ON THE RANGE $5,404,000 $37,679,000
6. SCOOBY-DOO 2: MONSTERS UNLEASHED $5,135,000 $72,216,000
7. WALKING TALL $4,600,000 $36,633,000
8. ELLA ENCHANTED $4,418,000 $13,757,000
9. THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST $4,193,000 $360,904,000
10. THE ALAMO $4,052,000 $16,316,000

THE RING 2: Sissy Spacek has joined the cast of THE RING 2 for
DreamWorks and director Hideo Nakata. The Oscar-winning actress
joins Naomi Watts and Simon Baker in the film, due to start shooting
in mid-May. Sources close to the film said the filmmakers want to
keep a level of mystery around Spacek's character. DreamWorks co-
heads Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald are producing, with
production executive Mark Sourian overseeing at the studio. Ehren
Kruger wrote the script.

DELGO: SCOOBY-DOO's star Freddie Prinze Jr. is the voice of DELGO in
the upcoming computer-generated movie from Fathom Studios. The film
is set in a divided land where a troubled youth and some unlikely
friends must save the world from itself. Prinze Jr. leads the all-
star voice cast that includes Jennifer Love Hewitt, Chris Kattan,
Anne Bancroft, Michael Clarke Duncan, Val Kilmer, Kelly Ripa, Eric
Idle,Burt Reynolds and Louis Gossett Jr.

TEKWAR: The William Shatner series is heading to DVD for $29.95.
It's a Canadian only release, but you can purchase the item from
Amazon.com. The set is the 18 episodes, but does not include the
telefilms.

WILL SMITH: Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment bought a screenplay
from writer Sid Quashie about the real-life exploits of Harvard
professor Dr. S. Allen Counter and his explorations around the
world. Smith would play the adventurer in the proposed movie. Not
many details on how Quashie adapted the doctor's travels into a
movie script are known but two possibilities include Counter's trips
to Suriname where he made contact with the tribes of the rain forest
and his time spent living among Eskimos in Greenland. The story line
is described by the Hollywood Reporter as a "adventure romance." The
project is set up with Columbia Pictures.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Early reports indicate that THE PUNISHER opened
in second place Friday with $5.2 million from 2,649 theaters. The
film, which only cost $33 million to make, was topped by KILL BILL
VOL. 2, which made $10.7 million from 2,971 theaters. JOHNSON FAMILY
VACATION took third with $1.7 million from 1,326 theaters for a
total of $16.7 million, while HELLBOY added $1.5 million for a total
of $46.2 million. Disney's HOME ON THE RANGE rounded out the top
five with $1.49 million for $33.8 million total.

CONVENTION CALENDAR

April 24-25, 2004
CREATION CONVENTION
Location: Chicago, IL
Guests: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/ .

April 30-May 1-2, 2004
WONDERCON 2004
Location: Moscone Convention Center
City: San Francisco, California (USA)
Guests: To be announced
For more information, visit their website at http://www.comic-
con.org .

April 30-May 3, 2004
COLLECTORMANIA 5
Location: Milton Keynes, England
Guests: Corin Nemec, Sarah Douglas, Robert Picardo
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.collectormania.com/ .

April 30-May 3, 2004
Pittsburgh ComiCon
Place: Pittsburgh ExpoMart
Location: Monroeville, PA
Guests: Virginia Hey (Farscape), John Romita, Jr. (Amazing Spiderman
artist)
For more information, visit their website at
www.pittsburghcomicon.net .

William Shatner Charity Horse Show
Date: May 1, 2004
Location: Los Angeles Equestrian Center
Place: Burbank, CA
Guests: William Shatner, Brad Paisley
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.horseshow.org/.

Creation Entertainment Cruise 2
May 14-21, 2004
Location: Ft. Lauderdale, FL
7 day Caribbean Cruise
Guests: Salute to Star Trek, Stargate and Xena
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/calendar.htm.

May 15-16, 2004
BEST OF BOTH WORLDS 22
Location: Canberra, Australia
Guests: Don S. Davis, Carmen Argenziano, Frida Betrani, Alex Zahara,
David Winning
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.bobw.com.au/.

May 15-16, 2004
LONDON EXPO
Location: London, England
Guests: Alexis Cruz, Marina Sirtis
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.londonexpo.co.uk/.

May 21-23, 2004
Fed con
Location: Bonn, Germany
Guests: Anthony Montgomery, Rene Auberjonois, Armin Shimerman, Terry
Farrell, More Guests TBA
For more information, visit their website at http://www.fedcon.de/.

May 28-31, 2004
MEDIAWEST*CON
Location: Lansing, Mi
A SF/Media fandom convention
For more information, visit their website at
http://members.aol.com/MdiaWstCon/mwc24.htm .

Well, I guess that is about it for now.  Be sure to drop over to the
website <http://www.isnnews.net> when you can to get up to the
minute news.  Also, if you have discussion topics you'd like to
explore with readers, be sure to send them along.  It is a terrific
way to share your love for Babylon 5 -- and science fiction.

I will be back from Vienna on May 14, so if you don't get a response
from me via e-mail quickly, you'll know why.  I will get to you
though.

Take care.
Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN News:  The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net

THE ZOCALO TODAY – May 22, 2004

WHAT'S NEW

I had a marvelous time in Vienna, Austria.  The classes I taught
were wonderful and the weather was just awesome.  It is good to be
back, however.  Let's see what's new!  Everyone is still waiting to
hear something from JMS on Babylon 5 projects.  Here are a few items
of interest.

REPORT FROM NEW JERSEY

Ranger Jan traveled to New Jersey to where JMS appeared at a small
comic con held by Hawthorne High School on 5/8 to benefit their art
department that is sorely in need of funds. JMS traveled there at
his own expense and he removed his 5 item cap and charged a $1 per
autograph fee to benefit the school. Jan flew up from Florida for
the day and meet up with several folks from the moderated newsgroup,
JMSNews and B5TV. She has posted a report, which I have copied to
the Reports Page at http://www.isnnews.net/zocalo/reports.shtml.
I know I've been absent for a while now, but there are reasons,
especially in regards to B5:TMoS. In a project of this nature, and
this size, there's stage one (let's do this) stage two (let's make
everybody's deal) and stage three (making it). We're hip-deep in
stage two just now, and it's taking a freaking long amount of time
to get through it all. Stage two is also the most unnerving and
nerve-wracking stage when there's a lot of money involved, as there
is in this situation.

So every day is a case of "Are we there yet?" and being told
yes...almost.

I swear, it's the kind of thing that could lead a monk to murder.
Thing of it is...there's a LOT happening right now in the B5
universe, on a multitude of fronts, some of it in response to TMoS,
some of it coming up completely on its own. All I can say at this
moment is that if you've been waiting for new stuff in the B5
universe, you may be getting your wish in spades very soon.
Soon, I promise, all will be made clear. I don't like being Mr.
Mysterioso on this, but if I say too much, the-powers-that-be will
use my head to make a 2.35:1 sized hole in the wall.

More of this update can be found at JMS Speaks at
<http://www.isnnews.net/zocalo/jms.shtml>.

BABYLON 5 MOVIES ANNOUNCED

Ranger Neil O. sent along the following item from
<http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=1539>.

Warner Bros Home Video will continue the popular Babylon 5 DVD
releases with "Babylon 5: The Movies," news we brought you back in
November, 2003. This 5 disc set will contain all 5 movies as well as
special features. The set will carry a $59.98 SRP and will be
available in stores and online August 17th. "The Gathering" will be
presented in 4:3 (original aspect ratio) while the other movies will
be 16:9 anamorphic widescreen; all movies will feature Dolby Digital
5.1 tracks. The sets will be closed captioned and be subtitled in
English, Spanish and French.

Each movie will contain commentary from the creator (J. Michael
Straczynski), cast and crew, as well as an introduction for each
movie by JMS. Rounding out the special features is the
featurette, "Creating the Future - How Science Fiction and the show
influenced each other."

The Gathering (1993): Alien envoys come to the giant space station
in the pilot that launched the five-year TV series.

In the Beginning (1998): The B5 prequel! It's humans vs. aliens in
the battle that led to the station's creation.

Thirdspace (1998): Is there a realm beyond hyperspace? Discovery of
a million-years-old gateway technology may hold the answer...and
more.

River of Souls (1998): After death, then what? Questions of eternity
arise when a supposedly infallible harvester of souls proves to be
very fallible.

A Call to Arms (1999): The torch is passed. A race against time to
save Earth links the B5 mission with the Rangers' new interstellar
efforts.

I have asked the WB about CRUSADE and LEGEND OF THE RANGERS.
Nothing yet.  When I hear something, I will pass it along.

DISCUSSION TOPIC:

Here is a great discussion topic suggested by Ranger Armen:

If you won the lottery, or became insanely successful on the order
of at least a net worth of $100M or more, what would stop you from
bankrolling your favorite show? We all know Hollywood is driven by
money. If I won a huge lottery, I'd ask JMS if he'd be willing to
contine production of "Crusade" or more B5 movies if I helped
guarantee someone a profit. First, do you think this is right,and
second, what would you bankroll if you could?

Send in your thoughts, comments and ideas to sgbruckner@.... I
post them on the Discussion Page for everyone to share. See what has
come in so far. If you see an old topic you want to respond to, go
right ahead. We enjoy hearing from you.

KEEPING UP WITH CAST AND CREW

HE'S GETTING MARRIED:  Yes, Robin Atkin Downes is tying the knot
soon – to sweetheart Michelle.  They plan to marry in Puerto
Vallerta in November!  Congrats Robin!

BRUCE BOXLEITNER: Bruce's movie SNAKEHEAD TERROR will be shown again
on SCIFI June 27 at 9:00pm ET. Bruce portrays Sheriff Patrick James.

MARJORIE MONAGHAN: Ranger Anne reports that Marjorie Monaghan
(Number One from B5) will have a guest appearance in part one
of "The Dissonant Interval," the two-part season 4 finale of "Gene
Roddenberry's Andromeda." Monaghan's character, Louisa Messereau, is
a Nietzschean & has some moments with Telemachus Rhade (a
Nietzschean member of Dylan Hunt's crew). The SciFi Channel will
show part one of "The Dissonant Interval" on 5/21/04 at 8pm ET
(repeat 5/22/04 12am ET). Part 2 of "The Dissonant Interval" will
air in syndication beginning May 22; SciFi Channel will air it on
May 28 at 8pm ET. "The Dissonant Interval, Part 2" will be replayed
on SciFi on May 29 at 12am ET. Yes, early Saturday morning on the
East Coast of the USA.

DANIEL DAE KIM: Daniel (Lt. Matheson from CRUSADE) has landed a role
in the upcoming series PARTY OF FIVE, being produced by J.J. Abrams
from ALIAS. Ranger John also reports that Daniel Daniel has a role
as a non-English speaking character in JJ Abrams's new pilot, LOST.

BILL BLAIR: Bill Blair (I don't know how many aliens he played on
Babylon 5) has been a busy fellow. He and wife Toni were on this
weeks episode of THAT '70s SHOW. Bill can be seen on 'THE DIVISION
on The Lifetime Network - Sundays 9PM eastern and pacific. He also
turns up on the new movie GARFIELD opening June 11th (he plays
a "vet tech" that grooms Garfield:-).

ROBIN ATKIN DOWNES: Robin dropped by an update and I'm sure you'll
want to check out a couple of his current projects. He is currently
working post production for an independent film he directed
entitled "For Pete's Wake." Some production stills can be seen at
http://babylon5.jeffcushen.com/sighcorps.php?id=peteswake-
onset&keyword=various&pg=1. Be sure to look for familiar faces --
like Pat Tallman! Robin is also in the process of completing an
animated film called "Geppettos Secret ." Starring with Eric
Roberts, Rene Aubergenois and Tom Bosley... For more information, go
to http://www.geppettossecret.com/actors%20and%20characters2.htm
KEN FOREE: Ken (Pvt. Thurow in B5's Gropos episode) and Michael
Berryman recently joined the cast of THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, which
centers on a band of bounty hunters led by Sheriff Wydell's brother
who is fueled by revenge when he finds out that his kin was slain by
the Firefly family. The film will pick up shortly after HOUSE OF
1000 CORPSES with the Firefly clan going on the road after their
house is burned down and a few family members have been gunned down
during a police raid.

SPECIAL CAST ACTIVITY - CRUISIN' WITH BABYLON 5

STEPHEN AUSTIN - Here is a vacation idea you may enjoy. Vic Dunlop,
Bruce Baum, Stephen Austin's 2005 Comedy Circus Cruise. Sailing
March 6-13, 2005 on the Carnival Valor, from Miami, Florida visiting
Belize, Isla Roatan, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. Visit:
www.cruiseevents.net/Dunlop,%20Baum,%20Austi/index.htm for all the
info!

PETER WOODWARD - Peter Woodward is cruising the Eastern Caribbean on
Jan. 9-16, 2005 and wants YOU to join the fun!!! Sailing January 9-
16, 2005, on Holland America's Westerdam, the roundtrip from Ft.
Lauderdale, Florida will visit Nassau, St. Marteen, Tortola, & Half
Moon Cay. Experience a week in the Caribbean sharing laughs and fun
with your new friends. Peter's cruise is unique! The group consists
of friendly, people looking to have fun and share experiences. For
more information, go to http://www.cruiseevents.net/celebrity.htm
and then press Peter's photo. Space is limited! Don't delay, call
today! 800-695- 5253 or e-mail: Susan@....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Theodore Bikel - May 2
Michael O'Hare - May 6
Stephen Furst - May 8
Melissa Gilbert-Boxleitner - May 8
Bruce Boxleitner - May 12
Andreas Katsulas - May 18
Andrea Thompson - May 22
Doug Wise - May 21
Douglas Netter - May 23
Paul Winfield - May 22
Roy Dotrice - May 26
Harlan Ellison - May 27

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT

On Cable or Network TV:

2:00pm on Spike TV
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
In Purgatory's Shadow
Jem'Hadar captives Worf and Garak learn of an imminent Dominion
invasion of Alpha Quadrant.

3:00pm on Spike TV
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
By Inferno's Light
Gul Dukat and the Cardassians join the Dominion and prepare to
invade Alpha Quadrant.

8:00pm on NBC
Jurassic Park
Experts and others are invited to a theme-park site featuring
dinosaurs man-made from DNA.

8:00pm on UPN
Star Trek: Enterprise
Countdown
Archer and his new Xindi allies attack the superweapon. CC Stereo

9:00pm on UPN
Unexplained Mysteries
Destination: Earth
Evidence gathered outside the United States leads to speculation
about extraterrestrials.

9:00pm on STARZ
Finding Nemo
In the colorful and warm tropical waters of the Great Barrier Reef,
a Clownfish named Marlin lives safe and secluded in a quiet cul-de-
sac with his only son, Nemo. Fearful of the ocean and its
unpredictable risks, he struggles to protect the young one. Nemo,
like all young fish, is eager to explore the mysterious reef. When
Nemo is unexpectedly taken far from home and thrust into a dentist's
office fish tank, Marlin finds himself the unlikely hero on an epic
journey to rescue his son. This delightful animated adventure from
Walt Disney Pictures features the voices of Albert Brooks, Ellen
Degeneres, Geoffrey Rush, Allison Janney, Elizabeth Perkins and
Barry Humphries.

On SciFi Tonight:

5:00pm
Python
A massive snake stalks the residents of a small town.

7:00pm
Pythons 2
Genetically enhanced snakes go on a killing spree inside a Russian
military base.

9:00pm
Boa vs. Python
Gigantic snakes slither to a deadly confrontation.

On Syndicated TV This Weekend:

Andromeda
Part 2 of 2: The Dissonant Interval
The crew makes a last stand against the Magog onslaught.

Angel
Salvage
Wesley frees Faith (Eliza Dushku) from prison to help capture
Angelus.

Angel
Happy Anniversary
Angel and The Host try to keep a deranged physicist from stopping
time.

BeastMaster
The Veil of Death
Dar protects a white tiger, which embodies his long-lost sister
Lycia (Louise Crawford).

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
Into the Fire
An escape route opens to the expedition when an airship lands on the
plateau.

Mutant X
The Assault
The team uncovers many mysteries surrounding Mutant X after the
Dominion captures Lexa and Jesse.

She Spies
Remember When
Shane suffers acute memory loss after being injected with a drug.

Stargate SG-1
Full Circle
The SG-1 team races to prevent Anubis from capturing a powerful
necklace.

The Outer Limits
Dark Rain
Chemical warfare leaves humanity unable to reproduce normally.

INSIDE SCI-FI THIS WEEK:

TOP SF NETWORK SHOWS:
Joan of Arcadia 5.2
Alias 5.1
Tru Calling 2.9
Smallville 2.8
Angel 2.6
Charmed 2.6
Enterprise 2.3
Kingdom Hospital 1.8
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 4/26/04 - 5/2/04.

STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE: Along with word of the renewal for STAR TREK:
ENTERPRISE came word of its move to the Friday night line-up on UPN.
UPN's president of entertainment, Dawn Ostroff, said that fan clamor
was partly responsible for the network's renewing the series for a
fourth season. "By the amount of mail and calls that we've received
from loyal Star Trek fans, we have every reason to believe that the
viewers will follow Enterprise to its new night and time." The new
timeslot "is the same night and time where X-Files found its
following and thrived for years," Ostroff added. The network said
that the new season will be "more action-packed, with spectacular
special effects," and "will take Star Trek: Enterprise into further
uncharted territory, while advancing last season's critically
acclaimed storylines, including Vulcan Sub Commander T'Pol's (Jolene
Blalock) blossoming relationship with Chief Engineer Charles 'Trip'
Tucker III (Connor Trinneer) and mysterious twists in the familiar
timeline." The third-season finale is just ahead. "Zero Hour" airs
May 26 at 8 p.m.

SHREK 2: According to Reuters, Shrek 2 debuted May 21 to a record
$11.8 million at the domestic box office, marking the best
performance by an animated film opening at midweek ever. The first
Shrek raked in $267 million at North American box offices and a
total of around $455 million worldwide. DreamWorks has high hopes
that the sequel, which has earned solid reviews, can perform at
least as well.

STAR WARS: More Star Wars novels will be on shelves for quite some
time to come! Del Rey Books and Lucas Licensing have renewed their
agreement to continue publishing more original novels set in the
STAR WARS universe. Del Rey's contract has been extended all the way
to December 2008 and covers 18 new novels. Beginning in 2005, each
year will see three new hardcover and three new paperback STAR WARS
books published by Del Rey. Additionally, the company will also
release two oversized non-fiction paperbacks each year. Sue Rostoni,
the Managing Editor of Lucasfilm Licensing, revealed on the official
STAR WARS message forums that nine of the new novels will "form a
[series] set in the Old Republic era, somewhere between 1,000 and
4,000 years before SW: ANH." Rostoni also added that Lucasfilm is
hoping to sign three authors to write the nine Old Republic books.

CBS THURSDAY: With the help of two season finales ICSI: Crime Scene
Investigation and Without a Trace), CBS soared on the final Thursday
of the May sweep (April 29-May 26). NBC served up a super-sized
repeat of "Friends" at 8 p.m., which drew 7.2 million viewers and
2.9/10 in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to preliminary
estimates from Nielsen Media Research. That was followed from 8:43-
8:52 p.m. by the nine-minute short "The Adventures of Seinfeld and
Friend" (7.1 million, 3.2/10), and neither did much business even
against CBS' 8 p.m. repeat of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (14.1
million, 4.0/13). At 9 p.m., CBS' the fourth-season finale of "CSI"
brought in 25.1 million viewers and 8.6/24 in adults 18-49. "Without
a Trace" wrapped its sophomore year at 10 p.m. with a series-record
19.7 million viewers and 6.4/18 in adults 18-49.

ZORRO 2: Antonio Banderas confirmed that he will return as the
masked swashbuckler in a sequel to "The Mask of Zorro," which starts
shooting in Mexico on July 26. Banderas also confirmed the return of
co-star Catherine Zeta-Jones as well as Martin Campbell, who
directed the first film. Steven Spielberg is producing.

DEAD LIKE ME: Showtime will provide us with some original
programming this summer. DEAD LIKE ME is set to return Sunday, July
25. It will pick up the story of Georgia "George" Lass (Ellen Muth),
an unmotivated 18- year-old who dies unexpectedly but finds work and
a purpose in the afterlife, where she becomes a grim reaper. Mandy
Patinkin, Laura Harris ("24"), Jasmine Guy and Callum Blue play
George's fellow reapers.

TOP SELLING SF DVDS:
1. The Return of the King
2. Buffy season six
3. Smallville season two
4. Lord of the Rings trilogy
5. Disney Treasures, Vol. 1
6. Star Wars trilogy
7. Disney Treasures, On the Front Lines
8. The Matrix Revolutions
9. Disney Treasures, Mickey Mouse Part 2
10. Triplets of Belleville
Source: Amazon.com, top-selling genre DVDs, 5/17/04

THE WBTV: The Hollywood Reporter reports that for the second year in
a row, Warner Bros. Television has emerged at the end of a marathon
week of upfront presentations as the leading supplier of primetime
series to the six major broadcast networks. Warner Bros. TV's 2004-
05 season roster comprises 10 new series and 15 returning series
with committed fall and midseason time slots for the upcoming
season. Warner Bros. TV's tally totals four new comedies --
including NBC's "Friends" spinoff, "Joey" -- and six new dramas.
20th Century Fox Television ranks No. 2 with eight new and 10
returning series, including a spinoff of "The Practice" from David
E. Kelley and a new animated comedy, "American Dad," from "Family
Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane. Touchstone Television's tally came in
at 13 shows, including five new entries for ABC and one new drama
for UPN, "Kevin Hill." Paramount Network Television has nine new and
returning shows, including NBC's new Friday night drama "Medical
Investigation."

CATWOMAN: A new trailer for the upcoming CATWOMAN movie starring
Halle Berry can be found at
http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/catwoman/.

SPONGEBOB: Here's a fun trailer for you. Over at
http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/spongebobsquarepantsmovie/
you can get a glimpse of the SpongeBob movie, to be released on
November 19. Nickelodeon's most absorbing character is making his
way to the big screen. Here's the setup for SpongeBob's feature-
length adventure... It's seems there's trouble in Bikini Bottom.
Someone has stolen King Neptune's crown, and it looks like Mr. Krabs
is the culprit. Though he's just been passed over for the promotion
of his dreams, SpongeBob stands by his boss and along with his best
pal Patrick sets out on a treacherous mission to Shell City to
reclaim the crown and save Mr. Krabs' life. The journey takes
SpongeBob and Patrick through some of the darker recesses of the
ocean floor; including Thug Tug, a rough bar where few fish dare to
visit, and a monster-filled trench. All the while, the pair are
pursued by a relentless hitman named Dennis. Back in Bikini Bottom,
Plankton carries out his evil "Plan Z," designed to help him steal
the top-secret Krabby Patty formula and ultimately rule the world.

TOP 10 SF SYNDICATED SHOWS:
Andromeda 1.9
Mutant X 1.8
Stargate SG-1 1.8
She Spies 1.7
Buffy 1.6
The X-Files 1.5
3rd Rock 1.4
Beastmaster 1.3
Angel 1.2
The Outer Limits 1.1
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 4/26/04 - 5/2/04

SMALLVILLE: If anyone watched last night's season finale, you know
that everyone's fate is in the hands of the writers for the coming
season of SMALLVILLE. Nearly all of the cast members were left in
jeopardy. Michael Rosenbaum, who so wonderfully plays Lex Luthor on
the show, enjoys playing the bald genius and added in a recent
interview that he is eager to develop the villain-in-waiting further
next fall, when the show returns for its fourth season. "The great
part is that fans embrace the character," Rosenbaum said. "He's not
just going from good to bad right away. It's the journey to try and
prevent the inevitable." Rosenbaum confirmed rumors that Lex will
head down a darker path next season and that fissures in the
friendship between Lex and Clark Kent (Tom Welling) will begin to
reveal themselves. "Lex is just trying to stay focused and do the
right thing," Rosenbaum said. "But he keeps going and drifting off.
The powers that be—one of them being his father [John Glover as
Lionel Luthor]—just push him further and further to the dark side.
That's where they're heading. People always say, 'Oh, what's going
to happen with Lex? We saw a little sparkle in his eye.' There's
always that, and there's always finding out the truth. I think the
finale is very important."

WB FALL SCHEDULE: As the new fall schedules are being announced, The
WB had little to offer science fiction fans. CHARMED and SMALLVILLE
return, but the remake of LOST IN SPACE and DARK SHADOWS was not on
the list of new shows that will make an appearance. The WB did
announce that production was to begin this summer on GLOBAL
FREQUENCY, a midseason replacement action/conspiracy series based on
the Warren Ellis/DC Comics graphic novel of the same name. John
Rodgers (Catwoman, The Core) is writing and producing, with Survivor
impresario Mark Burnett co-producing. Nelson McCormick (Alias,
Sheena) will direct. The network also announced that it will air the
network television premiere of THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP
OF THE RING in November. And The WB revealed that it is developing a
new version of Stephen King's IT, but did not elaborate as to
whether it would be a series, miniseries or made-for-television
movie.

STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE: Variety reports that UPN has renewed STAR
TREK: ENTERPRISE for a fourth season, though it's likely to move to
Friday night. UPN is expected to make the formal announcement as
part of its prime-time schedule in its "upfront" presentation to
advertisers today. The fate of Enterprise has been up in the air,
with ratings having stagnated despite changes in the show's
storylines.

ALIAS: ABC announced that the fourth season of ALIAS will air
without repeats next year, but that it won't begin until January.
ABC made the announcement yesterday during presentations to
advertisers in New York. Location-heavy shooting schedules for the
series have made it difficult to deliver a large number of
consecutive episodes, network executives said. Stephen McPherson,
ABC's president of prime-time entertainment, said that Alias creator
J.J. Abrams came to him at the end of this season and said he wanted
to "get back to some of the stuff that first inspired [Abrams] about
the show." The third-season finale of Alias, "Resurrection," will
air May 23.

STAR WARS EPISODE III: There is just one year left until the
premiere of STAR WARS EPISODE III, the final film in the sci-fi
series. The fall of Anakin Skywalker and the rise of Darth Vader is
just ahead and rumors abound regarding the actual title of the film.
The Sun newspaper in the UK announced that the most popular title
thusfar is The Birth of the Empire. May 19, 2005 is the date and
EPISODE III will soon be upon us. The STAR WARS site informs that
ILM is in the thick of post-production, striving to meet a hard
April 1, 2005 deadline to complete more than 2,000 effects shots.
Reshoots are scheduled to take place in August but some second unit
work, such as addition shots of Wookiee for background usage, are
being done this week, and director George Lucas will be overseeing
dialogue recording sessions for Bruce Spence and Temuera Morrison
via high-speed phone connection to Australia. EPISODE III's teaser
poster and the first trailer will be coming before the end of the
year.

THE NEW WORLD: Wes Studi, August Schellenberg, Michael Greyeyes and
Raoul Trujillo have joined the cast of Terrence Malick's THE NEW
WORLD. This 17th century drama/adventure is about the colony at
Jamestown, its struggle to survive in the new wilderness of America
and the clash of cultures between the European newcomers and the
Native Americans. Colin Farrell will play John Smith, the explorer
that falls in love with Indian princess Pocahontas while Christopher
Plummer will play Captain Christopher Newport, Jamestown's leader.

RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD: The Hollywood Reporter indicates that
Anatoly Fradis' Los Angeles-based Aurora Entertainment Corp. is set
to start back-to-back shooting from June 7 in Romania on the fourth
and fifth sequels to the "Return of the Living Dead" series of
films, with Ellory Elkayem attached to direct and Peter Coyote
headlining. Both films have been fully financed by a $35 million
equity fund that Fradis ("Eight Legged Freaks") set up last year.
The fund is based in America but backed by a group of private
Eastern European and Russian investors. They set the scene for plans
to make six or seven films a year in the $6 million-$10 million
budget range through the fund, Fradis said. Titled "Return of the
Living Dead 4: Necropolis" and "Return of the Living Dead 5: Rave
From the Grave," the films were written by William Butler and Aaron
Strongoni and feature a relatively unknown cast drawn from TV.
Special effects will be done by Optic Nerve Studios.

CSI: NEW YORK: Gary Sinise and CSI: NEW YORK scored big numbers for
CBS in his first run on a high-profile television series. Starring
along with Melina Kanakaredes, CSI: NY is the new drama from CBS
that was introduced to viewers via the Monday night CSI: Miami
episode that found Horatio David Caruso on his way to the big city
to track down the person who killed two people in Miami. Over 23
million people tuned in to see what the fall season will look like
through the eyes of Detective Mac Taylor (Sinise) and his team of
forensic investigators. The lofty total proved to be CSI: Miami's
most-watched night, beating the series premiere on September 23,
2002.

MEASLE AND THE WRATHMONK: According to Variety, Warner Bros. and
ImageMovers have purchased MEASLE AND THE WRATHMONK, the first of
what will be a three-book series by Ian Ogilvy. This picture is eyed
as another opportunity to use the "performance capture" animation
technique to be used this fall in "The Polar Express". "Measle"
concerns a young boy who, after his parents go missing, is sent to
live with an eccentric uncle who turns out to be a crazy wizard.
Before the kid knows it, he's been shrunk and banished to be a
villager in the wrathmonk's toy train set..."

TOP 10 SF BESTSELLERS:
1. The Da Vinci Code
2. Song of Susannah (Dark Tower 6)
3. Angels & Demons
4. The Confusion (Baroque Cycle)
5. Dead to the World
6. Tale of Despereaux
7. Eragon (Inheritance)
8. Dead to the World
9. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
10. Wicked
Source: Amazon.com, 5/17/04

TRU CALLING: According to Variety, Fox has renewed TRU CALLING, the
supernatural series starring Eliza Dushku, for a second season. Like
many series, it has struggled in the ratings and was considered "on
the bubble," meaning its fate was in doubt. TRU CALLING centers on a
woman (Dushku) who relives days at the request of dead people who
seek her help. Fox will make its full schedule presentation to
advertisers on May 20.

GLOBAL FREQUENCY: Joining SMALLVILLE on the WB Wednesday night line-
up will be GLOBAL FREQUENCY. Based on the suspenseful and action-
packed graphic novel franchise, GLOBAL FREQUENCY marks the dramatic
television debut of successful producer Mark Burnett. The GLOBAL
FREQUENCY is an independent, illegal, covert intelligence agency
determined to prevent international politics from undermining the
security of the global community. Led by the former NSA agent
Miranda Zero, GF is everywhere and nowhere -- and it's mankind's
best defense against everything that occurs outside our peripheral
vision. This marvel of brains and machinery is hacked into every
satellite, mainframe, cell phone and database across the globe. With
the help of her central command dispatcher, the feisty but brilliant
Aleph, Zero is just a phone call away from tapping anyone anywhere
to volunteer their skills to help save the world. GF's
newest 'recruit,' suspended cop Sean Ronin, is paired with
introverted Kate Finch, a mastermind of the scientific inner
workings of the covert network. Described as "The most original
conspiracy saga since The X-Files", GLOBAL FREQUENCY shows us that
one person can make a difference in the battle against the dangers
of the modern world. From Warner Bros. Television Production Inc.
and Cloudbreak Entertainment with writer/executive producer John
Rogers (upcoming film Catwoman, The Core) and director Nelson
McCormick (Alias, Third Watch)."

X-MEN 2: X2 will air on Cinemax five times in July. Air dates
include Sunday, July 4, at 4 p.m.; Friday, July 9 at 10 p.m.:
Saturday, July 24 at noon; Sunday, July 25 at 12:10 a.m.; and
Tuesday, July 27 at 3:15 p.m.

ALIBI: The Hollywood Reporter indicates that James Marsden will join
fellow "X-Men" series star Rebecca Romijn-Stamos in ALIBI, an
independent film about a man (Steve Coogan) who runs an alibi
service for men and women who cheat on their spouses. One specific
client (Marsden) gets into a situation over his head, and Coogan's
character must help him fix it. In the process, he relies on and
falls for the woman (Romijn-Stamos). Shooting starts in July in Los
Angeles, with Kurt Mattila and Matt Checkowski making their
directorial debuts.

HALF LIGHT: Demi Moore (Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle) will star
in Craig Rosenberg's romantic thriller HALF LIGHT, reports Variety.
Lakeshore is handling international sales for the film, which starts
shooting August 23 in England, Ireland and Wales. HALF LIGHT, based
on Rosenberg's original screenplay, is described as a Hitchcockian
thriller with a supernatural twist. Moore will play Rachel Carlson,
a successful mystery novelist whose life falls apart when her 5-year-
old son drowns at her country home. A year later, in an effort to
heal her wounds and help her to start writing again, her best friend
rents her a secluded cottage in a remote fishing village. But events
unfold that rock the tranquil village and cause Rachel to fear for
her sanity and her life. Australian-born Rosenberg most recently
wrote After the Sunset, directed by Brett Ratner for New Line, and a
remake of Korean hit A Tale of Two Sisters for DreamWorks.

JAMES BOND: Reports coming in from Britain indicate that Pierce
Brosnan has patched up his differences with the Bond stable and
they've worked out an agreement that will see Brosnan headlining the
next Bond movie. It looked like the actor (currently starring
in "Laws of Attraction") wouldn't be back for Bond 21, with everyone
from Heath Ledger to Clive Owen being either mentioned or approached
to take over.

KING ARTHUR: With the release of TROY last weekend and epic films
making a come-back, you'll want to take a look at KING ARTHUR. Set
for release this summer, KING ARTHUR has an impressive website -- at
http://kingarthur.movies.go.com/mainsite.html. There are two
trailers, a gallery of photos and a lot of information about the
movie itself.

JMS COMICS: I picked this up from the newsgroup this
morning. "Amazing Spiderman (ASM) 507 is hitting stands this week,
and I'm about to turn in 511 (Supreme Power) SP 9 hits next week,
and I'm about to turn in issue 13. In addition, I've just turned in
the first issues of the DOC STRANGE, plus a new series I'm doing for
Marvel. "

TOP 10 SCIFI PROGRAMS:
Flying Virus 1.4
Stargate SG-1 1.3
Marabunta 1.2
Night Flier 1.1
Deadly Invasion 1.1
Mad Mad House 1.0
Van Helsing Special 0.9
House of Frankenstein 2 0.9
Andromeda 0.9
Deadly Swarm 0.9
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 4/26/04 - 5/2/04.

REVELATIONS: Variety reports that NBC has put two supernatural shows
on its fall 2004 schedule. REVELATIONS, an eight-episode limited
series, could air during the fall sweeps period. REVELATIONS, from
executive producers David Seltzer and Gavin Polone, is an end-of-
days thriller.

MEDIUM: NBC has also ordered an eight-episode run of the
supernatural-tinged MEDIUM, with five backup scripts ordered as
well. From Paramount and Kelsey Grammer's Grammnet, MEDIUM stars
Patricia Arquette as a housewife who's also psychic. Glenn Gordon
Caron, Grammer and Steve Stark executive produce.

X-FILES: Robert Patrick from X-FILES revealed at this past weekend's
London Expo that he has joined the cast of WALK THE LINE, writer-
director James Mangold's biopic of country music icon Johnny Cash.
Patrick will reportedly portray Johnny's father Ray Cash. Joaquin
Phoenix will star as Johnny Cash and Reese Witherspoon plays his
wife June Carter Cash.

THE INCREDIBLES: A new trailer has just been released by Walt Disney
Pictures for Pixar's THE INCREDIBLES -- check it out by clicking
this link to theIncredibles official site. THE INCREDIBLES, due out
on November 5, is the story of a family of superheroes, struggling
to live a quiet, suburban life, who are forced to save the world.
Iron Giant filmmaker Brad Bird is directing the film. Oscar-winning
composer John Barry (Dances with Wolves, Out of Africa) is
delivering the musical score. The movie features the voices of Craig
T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson, Jason Lee, and Pixar
favorite John Ratzenberger.

TIDBITS:
GREEN HORNET: Kevin Smith confirmed on his messageboard he's 1/3 of
the way through the script's first draft for the GREEN HORNET
feature.
STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE: Over at Dark Horizons website, a post
indicates that a couple of fans saw Connor Trinneer at the London
Expo this past weekend and asked him if he had any word on the show
being renewed. He told them that he and Dominic Keating, who was
also at the event, had received calls to report back to the set.
24: 24's Kiefer Sutherland, Cliff Curtis and Temuera Morrison will
headline Vincent Ward's new historical drama RIVER QUEEN, set to
start shooting June 28 in New Zealand. Samantha Morton is in talks
to star in the feature..."
MADROX: Peter David announced at the Motor City Comic Con he is
teaming with Pablo Raimondi on a Madrox five-issue series.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Much as expected, Warner Bros. Pictures' TROY
marched through the gates of the North American boxoffice this
weekend with an estimated $45.6 million to claim an easy victory in
the top spot. In addition, the film starring Brad Pitt debuted
internationally in 47 countries, where it pulled in an estimated $55
million, bringing the worldwide boxoffice for the epic Greek tale to
$100.6 million. Universal's VAN HELSING dropped 61% from its debut
to take the second spot with an estimated $20.1 million. The Stephen
Sommers-helmed monster-filled thrill ride has generated an estimated
$84.5 million in 10 days. Including international grosses, which
total about $95 million, the worldwide tally for VAN HELSING is an
estimated $179.5 million to date. Paramount's MEAN GIRLS occupied
the third spot with an estimated $10.1 million, slipping a very nice
26% in its third weekend. The Lindsay Lohan-starring comedy has
scored an estimated $55.3 million since its release. The only other
film debuting in wide release this weekend was Screen Gems' BREAKIN'
ALL THE RULES, a low-budget comedy starring Jamie Foxx. Directed by
Daniel Taplitz, RULES took in an estimated $5.3 million from 1,318
theaters, averaging a moderate $4,021 per theater.

FARSCAPE: In an interview with SFX Magazine, executive producer
Brian Henson spoke about the upcoming FARSCAPE mini-series and
revealed "It's great, it's big, it's epic. I think it's going to be
the biggest thing there has ever been. It was tough to figure out
how to make a big event mini-series of Farscape when on every
episode we were trying to make a movie a week". So what did he
reveal? "It's basically the continuing love story of Crichton and
Aeryn... set against a backdrop of a full, all-out, intergalactic
was between the Scarrans and the Peacekeepers". He also indicated it
opens up all sorts of other possibilities for the franchise.

MUTANT X: The season & series finale will air this weekend. The
episode, entitled, "The Assault" is set for a cliffhanger -- but
Tribune has not picked up the series for renewal. For a synopsis and
pictures, go to http://www.comics2film.com/FanFrame.php?f_id=7197.
SPOILER ALERT.

HBO SPECIALS: CATWOMAN: HBO First Look, a behind-the-scenes special
for the upcoming movie starring Halle Berry, will premiere on HBO on
July 14 and air seven times in July. Air dates include: Wednesday,
July 14 at 8:45 p.m.; Saturday, July 17 at 6 p.m.; Thursday, July 22
at 10:45 p.m.; Friday, July 23, at 10:15 a.m.; Sunday, July 25, at
11 a.m.; Tuesday, July 27 at 6 a.m.; and Friday, July 30 at 3:45
p.m. The special runs 13 minutes.

SPIDER-MAN 2: HBO will also air Spider-Man 2: HBO First Look twice
in July. Air dates are Friday, July 3 at 1:45 p.m. and Wednesday,
July 7 at 12:15 a.m.

DEAD LIKE ME: With the second season of the show set for launching
on Showtime in July, Grim Reapers Ellen Muth and Callum Blue (George
and Mason) don't believe a romantic relationship between their
characters is in the cards. "I think they're steering away from any
kind of involvement," Blue said in an interview. "There's always a
bit of a flirtation between Mason and George. They pretend not to
like each other, but they've got a deep affection for each other. He
was her first friend, so she won't forget that. I think he's going
to be like a big brother to her most of the time." Muth explained
that she thinks the upcoming second season of DEAD LIKE ME will
eclipse year one, particularly as far as George is concerned. "The
reason I love this season so much more than last is that George has
gained so much more confidence. She's really become a Reaper. She
still has trouble with authority, but I'm not bothered by the deaths
anymore, unless it happens to be someone that I know. But my
character is very confident this year."

STARGATE ATLANTIS: Over at www.scifi.com, they have revamped the
STARGATE ATLANTIS site, putting in new cast bios and a teaser. If
you haven't visited recently, you will want to drop over to
http://www.scifi.com/atlantis to see what's new. STARGATE ATLANTIS
will introduce viewers to a new galaxy. Executive Producer Paul
Mullie said, "The franchise is Stargate, right? So it's still people
who go through a gate to other worlds," Mullie said in an
interview. "The difference with Atlantis is that it's in another
galaxy, with a new set of villains, a new set of heroes, a new set
of adventures. The hero crop is still the same."

NEW SCIENCE FICTION MERCHANDISE

STAR WARS TRADING CARDS
This September, Topps will release a new card series, encompassing
all six Star Wars movies -- including a sneak peek at the
forthcoming final film, Star Wars: Episode III. Titled, Star Wars
Heritage, the series is timed to coincide with the eagerly awaited
Star Wars Trilogy DVD release.

"The melding of Star Wars with Topps Heritage is a great, natural
fit," said Ira Friedman, Topps VP of Publishing and New Product
Development. "The timeless appeal of Star Wars imagery -- combined
with the nostalgia sensibilities of the Heritage brand  all adds up
to one retro-cool collectible."

As with the sports-based Heritage releases, Star Wars Heritage
features vintage card designs printed on greyback stock and a
wrapped piece of bubblegum in every pack.

Topps selected photography that has never been seen before on its
past cards. This required the editors to view many reels of actual
footage and countless images from Lucasfilm's digital archives.
Insert cards include a new assortment of artist sketch cards, only
included in hobby boxes. A select number of well-known Star Wars
actors have agreed to come on board and provide their signatures for
autograph cards. Participating artists, celebrity signers and other
exciting content will be detailed prior to publication through the
Company¹s website, www.topps.com.

NEW SCIENCE FICTION PUBLICATIONS

ANGEL:  The 100-page Angel Yearbook serves up a feast of Angel
goodies for you to enjoy! There are exclusive chats with the entire
cast and a complete guide to Season Five — the last season.
Following Angel's transformation into a puppet in Season
Five's "Smile Time," we take an in-depth look at creating an Angel
Muppet! Plus the A-Z of Angel — everything you ever wanted to know…
and more!

Starburst #311: CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK -- the stormy sequel to PITCH
BLACK, returns to the wide screen. Vin Diesel returns and talks
about his love for science fiction and his views on what makes a
great sci-fi movie. Also in this issue, FARSCAPE - PEACEKEEPER WAR --
  an update on the new mini-series. SMALLVILLE's Executive Producer
Mark Miller also talks about what is ahead.

Writers On Comics Scriptwriting Volume 2 tp
by Tom Root & Andrew Kardon
Packed with fascinating behind-the-scenes information, anecdotes,
and stories from the hottest writers working in comics today, this
second volume of Writers on Comics Scriptwriting offers insider
insight into every aspect of the creative process from the likes of
Kevin Smith, Mike Mignola, Mark Millar, Brian Michael Bendis, Geoff
Johns, Bruce Jones, Greg Rucka, and Bill Willingham, among other
notable comics luminaries.

CONVENTION CALENDAR

May 28-31, 2004
MEDIAWEST*CON
Location: Lansing, Mi
A SF/Media fandom convention
For more information, visit their website at
http://members.aol.com/MdiaWstCon/mwc24.htm .

Slanted Fedora
Date: June 13, 2004
Place: Washington, DC
Site: Days Inn & Conference Center, Dulles
Guests: Dwight Schultz, Elizabeth Dennehy, Hallie Todd, Douglas
Arthurs, Robin Curtis, Robert O'Reilly, J.G. Hertzler, Max
Grodenchik, Mary Kay Adams, Aron Eisenberg, Casey Biggs
For more information, visit their website at
http://sfedora.com/washington_dc.htm.

Trek Expo 2004
Date: June 18-20, 2004
Location: Tulsa, OK
Site: Exposition Square
B5 Guest: Jeffrey Combs
Other Guests: Other Guests: Brent Spiner, Michael Shanks, Lexa Doig,
John Billingsley, Teryl Rothery, John Glover, Katee Sackoff,
Jennifer Lein, Mark Alamo, Casey Biggs, Vaughn Armstrong
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.starbase21ok.com/.

June 18-20, 2004
JAMES DOOHAN FAREWELL CONVENTION
Location: Los Angeles
Guests: James Doohan, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei,
Walter Koenig, Grace Lee Whitney and Majel Roddenberry.
More Guests TBA
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.planetxpo.com/ .

June 24-27, 2004
ORIGINS
Guests TBA
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.originsgames.com/ .

That's about it for now.  Be sure to drop over to the website for
the latest news.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Take care.
Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN News:  The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net

Here is information on the loss of Richard Biggs as given to us by
JMS:

I was awakened today with several phone calls from cast members and
Doug to pass along the terrible news that this morning, Richard
Biggs passed away.

We're still gathering information, so take none of this as firm
word, but what seems to have happened, happened quickly. He woke up,
got up out of bed...and went down. The paramedics who showed up
suggested it was either an aneurysm or a massive stroke.

His family members have been informed, and all of the the cast have,
as far as we can determine, also been informed.

This is a terrible loss for all of us. Richard was a consummate
professional but more than that he was an honorable, stand-up guy.
If he gave you his word on something, you never had to wonder about
it afterward. He was always helpful and supportive of all the cast,
even those who only came in for one episode, always with a ready
smile and determined to do whatever it took to make the scene work.
He was, quite simply, a terrific guy, and everyone here is just
devastated at the news.

More word as this develops. We may try to have some kind of fund
raiser to help give whatever assistance may be helpful for his kids.

We all miss him terribly.
jms

++++++++++++++++++
When more information is available, I will post it out at the
website.  Since I know a lot of you don't have a chance to visit as
often as you would like, I'll send out another now via this
newsgroup to keep you informed.

Take care.
Sandy

This is an update on information about the passing of Richard Biggs:

MEMORIAL SERVICE

A memorial service for Rick will be held Wednesday, May 26, at 1
p.m. at Emmanual Lutheran Church, 6020 Radford, North Hollywood, CA.

MEMORIES OF RICK

Letters about Rick are being collected for a special memory box for
his sons, RJ and Hunter. They can be sent to:

Mrs. Lori Biggs
c/o Patricia Tallman
6433 Topanga Canyon Blvd.
Canoga Park, CA 91303

Notes and letters are also being collected at The Galactic Gateway
forum. Go to
http://www.thegalacticgateway.com/phpbb/ and post a note. Pat
Tallman will be printing out the notes and taking them to the
memorial service for the family.

MEMORIAL EFFORTS

-- Pat Tallman will be conducting a memorial event at The Galactic
Gateway, so please visit the website to post a note and to get
current information.

-- A number of efforts are underway to help Rick's family in this
especially hard time. Ranger Laura has some up with a unique way of
showing her support.

Jan, you've inspired me. And I'm going to take it a step further,
because when charity is involved, one-up-manship is a good thing. As
some of you may recall, back in 1998, the Starship Modeler website
(www.starshipmodeler.com) held a "Starfury Wing Art" competition. My
entry, a follow-up to a customized, fully-lit, hand-painted version
of Sinclair's 'Fury from the Battle of the Line (I sold an article
to Fine Scale Modeler Magazine about the construction of that model,
which I was paid for but which sadly never ran. See photos and
details on this model at
http://nova.umuc.edu/~friedman/b5md/models/starfury3.html) was a
design for the Starfury I imagined Valen flew from Babylon 4 (see
photos at
http://nova.umuc.edu/~friedman/b5md/models/starfury4.html). It won
the contest by a landslide, was featured in Fine Scale
Modeler's "Great Scale Modeling 1999" special magazine, and earned a
shout-out from JMS. After that, I was contacted by many collectors
who wanted me to build and customize their models. Unfortunately, at
that same time, I developed severe ulnar neuropathy in my right arm
and had to stop painting and modelling. Two surgeries and six years
later, I'm finally capable of returning to the game. And I have an
unbuilt Revell Starfury model kit in my stash of "B5 collectibles I
was saving for posterity."

So ... I am hereby announcing a fund-raising auction of *the
winner's choice of any design of custom, fully-lit Starfury model*
to be constructed by yours truly, and with all proceeds going to
whatever Memorial Fund is established for Richard Biggs' sons. Pick
a 'fury from the series, and I will build it and you *will* be
impressed. Bidding starts at $150 ... but please realize that way
back in '98, the going rates for custom-built science fiction models
by other artists were more in the realm of $300-500 a model. And
need I say, it's for a very good cause.

Please feel free to disseminate this offer at any B5 or other SF
sites you, the reader, may frequent, or send it to any friends you
think might be interested, as I want to raise as much money as is
possible in memory of an actor who brought us all so much enjoyment.
Bidders should send their Starfury Requests and bid amounts to l-
appelbaum@.... At the end of June, I'll announce the
winner here (unless they want anonymity).

-- Ranger Jan has begun an effort to raise money for a memorial
fund. Richard has two small children, and I am sure everyone in the
B5 community will want to show the family how much Rick meant to us -
- not only as a fine actor, but as a wonderful human being. Here is
Jan's note explaining her efforts:

Upon hearing how young Richard Biggs children are, I didn't want to
wait to begin raising money for his memorial fund. I'm hoping that
you'll be able to help me spread the word and assure people that I'm
on the level.

What I've done so far is to begin a new Ebay account called
RBiggsMemorial and a new PayPal account to email address
RBiggsMemorial@.... I've started two auctions so far and have
several more planned.

What I'm asking: If at all possible could you help me spread the
news of what I'm doing to your friends/colleagues/ forums/websites
etc. I will be happy to list any items that you'd like auctioned off
for this also.

Please note that this is so far quite unofficial but I have already
written to JMS telling him what I wanted to do. If for any reason he
or Richard's family have reservations I'll stop immediately or
relinquish the accounts to them. Upon finding out information for an
official memorial account, I'll see what I can do about linking the
PayPal account to that so that the funds will be immediately
available to them.

Thanks for your help and friendship.
Jan

Auctions to benefit a Richard Biggs Memorial fund:
http://tinyurl.com/2az5w. PayPal Account: RBiggsMemorial@...

--------------
As more information becomes available, I will post it out at the
website <http://www.isnnews.net>.

Take care.
Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN News:  The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net

RICHARD BIGGS TRIBUTE VIDEO

Here is something from John Hudgens:

Some of you may know my work on the official Babylon 5 music videos -
  I haven't done one in four years, but Rick's passing got me
thinking about scenes and connections, and I made a new tribute
video for Rick I'd like to share with the community...

Joe Straczynski gave me permission to post this online, so here
goes... you can download it here:
<http://www.theforce.net/theater/temp/RickBiggs.html>

Rick will be missed...

John Hudgens

======
John/Fenn -- you have created a very special video to bring some
special memories back of Richard.  Thank you so much.

Sandy

Memorial Service for Richard James Biggs II

The service was held today, Wednesday May 26, 2004, at the Emmanuel
Lutheran Church in North Hollywood. It is a HUGE church, and I am
happy to report that it was packed wall to wall with family, co-
workers from Days, B5, and Strong Medicine. Rick was born on March
18, 1960, and passed away on May 22, 2004 - a mere 44 years old.
There were many beautiful bouquets of flowers, with an especially
beautiful one having sunflowers located on the floor, right at the
head end of the casket. Rick is the only brother, and he has four
sisters. His family is very large, very close, and very loving - and
he has produced two beautiful children, RJ and Hunter.There were
several pictures of Rick, the moss striking (IMO) being a portrait
with his sons.

Service began with a beautiful rendition of "The Prayer" by
Christina Ashford and Norman Large, accompanied by Sonia Ruud on the
piano. Next, the welcome and opening prayer, then Rick's Life by one
of his sisters, Alicia (who is known as Kathy.). Jerry Reddinger
read from Job 19: 23-27, followed by Michael Lynch reading 1
Corinthians Chapter 13.

Peter Levine, Rick's friend for over 20 years, from when they
attended USC together, told about what it meant to BE Rick's friend,
and some of their activities... not all looked upon benevolently by
the administration. Pastor Ken Frese told about The Father of RJ and
Hunter, and then a tearful Andrea Lynch, one of Rick's nieces, read
the Letter to Uncle Rick.

Some short prayers, followed by The Lord's Prayer (sung exquisitely,
but I didn't get the lady's name!), the Benediction, and the
hymn, "Joyful, Joyful." The attendees then lined up to pay their
last respects to Rick and visit a moment with his lovely wife Lori
and his family.

The following is transcribed exactly from a card inserted in the
program:

******
In honor of Richard's most prized contributions to this world, his
children, a special fund has been set up for their education. In
lieu of flowers or gifts, please send donations to:

The Benefit of the Children of Richard James Biggs II
Washington Mutual Bank
840 N. San Fernando Blvd
Burbank CA 91502.

To help his children remember what a wonderful man he was and how
many people's lives he touched, please send your special memory or
photo to:

RJ and  Hunter Biggs
1052 W. Alameda Ave #350
Burbank CA 91506.

******
From Babylon 5, I saw the following people: This is from memory, and
just because I didn't SEE someone does not mean that s/he wasn't
present, okay?

Andreas Katsulas
Pat Tallman and Jeff Willerth
Bruce and Melissa Boxleitner
Jerry Doyle
Jason Carter
Walter Koenig
Claudia Christian
joe
Doug Netter
John Copeland

I don't know anyone from any of Rick's other shows, but as I said,
the church was PACKED. A fitting tribute to a wonderful man.

Doctor Stephen Franklin, May your walkabout be a pleasant one. Rest
in Peace.

A private memorial followed at a home.

Richard "Chats" Feldman

++++++++++++
For more information on memorial efforts to benefit the family of
Richard Biggs, be sure to visit http://www.isnnews.net.

Take care.
Sandy

MEMORIAL CHAT FOR RICHARD BIGGS:
On Wednesday, June 2, the Galatic Gateway will host a chat in memory
of Richard Biggs.  The chat will be conducted at The Galactic
Gateway's Yahoo site, located at
<http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/thegalacticgateway>.

The chat will begin at 10pm EDT (7pm PDT). At 10:10 EDT (7:10),
there will be a moment of silence in honor of Rick. At the end,
everyone will be asked to light a candle in Rick's memory.

The chat will give people (cast members included), a chance to
reminisce about their friend, Richard Biggs. For more information
about the chat, go to The Galactic Gateway
<http://www.thegalacticgateway.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=445">The
Galactic Gateway>. The chat will last about 30 minutes, but people
can remain afterward to chat as well.

For those who will be unable to attend the chat, we encourage you to
take a moment to remember Richard Biggs.  He was a fine actor, a
loving father and husband, and a wonderful friend.

Take care,
Sandy

MEMORIAL CHAT FOR RICHARD BIGGS:
The chat we had on June 2 to remember Richard Biggs was a great
success.  Thanks to everyone who got into the room -- and to those
who tried!  We will hold another chat on Sunday night -- at 8:00pm
EDT for those who want to share their thoughts about Richard Biggs --
  or those who just want to get together again.  We will use the same
chat site at The Galactic Gateway's Yahoo site, located at
<http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/thegalacticgateway>.

Hope to see you there.  Be sure to drop over to the website.  I am
just finishing the daily update.  New e-mail newsletter next week.

Take care.
Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN News:  The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net

THE ZOCALO TODAY – June 12, 2004

WHAT'S NEW

Since our first chat in ages on June 2 was so successful, we held
another one on June 6.  About 20 people had a wonderful time passing
along stories of Richard Biggs and talking about shows we like to
watch on TV (thanks Lyndonbarry for bringing in the UK interests
like Red Dwarf). Since everyone seemed to enjoy the company, we
decided to do it once a month at 8:00pm EDT. Go to
<http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/thegalacticgateway/chat> to join
the chat.

The next chat will be on July 7 (since a month from now would be the
4th of July weekend and the following week is Shore Leave's
convention.) So we'll meet on Wednesday, July 7 at 8:00pm EDT. Hope
to see you there.

JEREMIAH: THE LAST EMPIRE: Platinum Studios and Jeremiah Portal are
putting together a special online session with Andrew Foley, the
writer of the upcoming JEREMIAH: THE LAST EMPIRE comic book. The
session will take place tomorrow, Saturday, June 12, 2004 at 12:00
PM Pacific Time in a special chat room on Yahoo Chat. Details on
which room the chat will take place can be had by emailing the
JEREMIAH Portal Webmaster, Dan Forcey, at dan@....
Foley will be discussing his work on the upcoming comic series and
the effect it will have on the universe of JEREMIAH as a whole. The
comic series will pick up the story from where the TV series left
off. To read more, go to http://www.comics2film.com/StoryFrame.php?
f_id=7672.

DISCUSSION TOPIC
With the passing of Richard Biggs, I started to think of all the
conventions I've attended -- Chicago, Los Angeles, Sydney, Brisbane,
Berlin, New Orleans and more. Richard is part of those memories and
I thought now might be a wonderful time to pull those memories
together. What are some of your convention memories. Share those
memories with us here at The Zocalo Today.

Send in your thoughts, comments and ideas to sgbruckner@.... I
post them on the Discussion Page for everyone to share and enjoy.
See what has come in so far. If you see an old topic you want to
respond to, go right ahead. We enjoy hearing from you.

All the material related to the passing of Richard Biggs has been
moved to several pages devoted to him inside The Zocalo Today.
Please visit often, to see what has been added to
<http://www.isnnews.net/zocalo/rbiggs.shtml>.  We will not forget
Richard and let you know as new efforts are put forth in his memory.

KEEPING UP WITH CAST AND CREW:

CLAUDIA CHRISTIAN: "What The Night Is For", a play starring Claudia
Christian (Susan Ivanova) closed on May 2 at the Laguna Beach
Playhouse. In the production written by Michael Weller, Claudia
played Melinda Metz, a woman who has met up with an old lover Adam
Penzius (played by Kip Gilman). Both of them are married now, but
this doesn't stop them from reigniting their passion for each other.
For a picture of Claudia in the play and more information about the
production, go to http://www.b5tv.com/greatmaker/news/287/.

TAMLYN TOMITA: Ranger Michael reports that Tamlyn Tomita, who played
Lt. Cmdr. Laurel Takashima so wonderfully in the "Babylon 5: The
Gathering", has a big part in the new movie "The Day After
Tomorrow", which May 28. She is listed about 15th in the credits and
doesn't even have her bio up on the movie's website. She plays a
NASA scientist who believes the forecast may be right and works with
Dennis Quaid's character.

BRUCE BOXLEITNER: Bruce's movie SNAKEHEAD TERROR will be shown again
on SCIFI June 27 and on July 22 at 9:00pm ET. Bruce portrays Sheriff
Patrick James.

BILL BLAIR: Bill Blair (I don't know how many aliens he played on
Babylon 5) has been a busy fellow. He and wife Toni were on this
weeks episode of THAT '70s SHOW. Bill can be seen on 'THE DIVISION
on The Lifetime Network - Sundays 9PM eastern and pacific. He also
turns up on the new movie GARFIELD opening June 11th (he plays
a "vet tech" that grooms Garfield:-).

JERRY DOYLE RADIO SHOW
Ranger Brian reports that: Bruce Boxleitner was on Jerry Doyle's
Radio Show on Saturday night for about half an hour reflecting on
the life of Ronald Reagan and how he impacted their lives. It was an
enlightening discussion with Bruce relaying his experience on a
visit to the White House during the Reagan administration and how
Ronald Reagan inspired him to become a Republican.

For more information on Jerry Doyle, Talk Radio Show Host, you may
visit www.talkradionetwork.com

The M-F show airs 7-10P PST. The call in number is 800/449-8255 and
the Saturday show, 8-11P PST. Same phone number for that too.

BABYLON 5 BIRTHDAYS

Jeffrey Willerth - June 5
Donovan Brown (Optic Nerve) - June 6
Ann Bruice Aling - June 8
Mark Walters - June 10
Susan Norkin (Post) - June 10
Adrienne Barbeau (Amanda Carter) - June 11
Mike Vejar - June 25

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT

CABLE AND NETWORK SHOWS:

4:00pm on The WB
Blade Runner
A 21st-century detective is ordered to terminate obsolete android
slaves ; original version.

7:00pm on UPN
Angel
Epiphany
Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn are hesitant to take back an apologetic
Angel.

8:00pm on UPN
Star Trek: Enterprise
Extinction
Archer, Reed and Hoshi are exposed to a contagious virus while
exploring a tropical alien world.

8:00pm on ABC
Field of Dreams
A voice tells an Iowa farmer to build a baseball field. Directed by
Phil Alden Robinson.

8:00pm on CBS
Mission: Impossible 2
An IMF agent tries to stop the release of a deadly virus. Directed
by John Woo.

8:00pm on HBO
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
A cyborg from the future must protect John Connor from a superior
model sent to kill him.

9:00 on STARZ
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black PearlNbr> For the
roguish, yet charming Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) the
crystalline waters of the Caribbean, like the high seas the world
over, present a vast playground where adventure and mystery abound.
But Jack's idyllic life capsizes after his nemesis, the wily Captain
Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), steals his ship, the Black Pearl, and
later attacks the town of Port Royal, kidnapping the Governor's
(Jonathan Pryce) beautiful daughter, Elizabeth Swann (Keira
Knightley). Her childhood friend (Orlando Bloom) and Jack head to
the rescue in this superb hit movie.

ON SCIFI TONIGHT:

7:00pm
Ice
A space event leaves much of Earth an icy wasteland.

9:00pm
Post Impact
A freak comet crashes to Earth, plunging the northern hemisphere
into a new ice age. One man braves the frozen wasteland in order to
return to his wife and daughter and possibly save all humanity. But
first, he must deal with important people who do not want him to
succeed. Starring Dean Cain and "Forever Knight" vampire sirer Nigel
Bennett.

11:00pm
Inferno
A solar explosion wreaks havoc in Los Angeles.

ON SYNDICATED TV THIS WEEKEND:

Andromeda
Waking the Tyrant's Device
The crew tries to stop the maker of the Magog Worldship from
unleashing his android army.

Angel
Players
Angel and the gang probe Cordelia's mysterious pregnancy; Gwen and
Gunn crash a black-tie affair.

BeastMaster
Slayer's Return
Dar embarks on a mission to save a wolf named Slayer and destroy
King Rolan, an ancient monster.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
True Spirit
To save Malone, Challenger and his team risk unleashing a
supernatural killer.

Mutant X
Art of Attraction
The team works to retrieve a code hidden in a series of paintings.

The Outer Limits
I Hear You Calling
A reporter overhears a cryptic cell-phone conversation.

The Outer Limits
Feasibility Study
Aliens study earthlings as a potential slave race.

NEW SCIENCE FICTION PUBLICATIONS

Starburst #312: Joss Whedon, creator of BUFFY and ANGEL, talks about
what the future holds. Also in this issue - The Top 20 Angel Events:
Take a trip back over the last five years and revisit some classic
moments from one of television's darkest dramas. SEE! Angel attack
Wesley in Forgiving! HEAR! The hilarious quotes from Epiphany!
THRILL! As Spike takes a beating in Damage! The magazine also looks
at HARRY POTTER and THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW.

TV Zone #177: The stars of STARGATE SG-1 and STARGATE ATLANTIS adorn
this month's issue. The magazine talks to co-producer and director
Martin Wood about what we can expect from the highly-anticipated
spin-off series - ATLANTIS. Also inside, ANGEL's James Marsters
talks to us about his character Spike's sacrifice and redemption,
his ongoing conflict with Angel, and the fang gang's.

Expose #86: As the latest HARRY POTTER film takes center stage,
Director Alfonso Cuarón and Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe
talk about their work on THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN, and the
relationship between actors and directors. We also get a look at all
the new characters and creatures introduced in The Prisoner of
Azkaban. Also inside this issues, ALIAS' Jennifer Garner chats us
about her latest big-screen outing, 13 GOING ON 30.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #508
Amazing Spider-Man #508 will arrive in stores on Wednesday from
Marvel Comics. The issue is written by J. Michael Straczynski, with
art and cover by John Romita Jr.
Here's how Marvel describes the issue:
"The enigmatic Ezekiel returns to Peter's life. But is he the same
man who stood by Spider-Man's side in his hour of need, or will he
prove to be something much deadlier?"
Amazing Spider-Man #508 will be 32 pages and will cost $2.25.

INSIDE SCI-FI THIS WEEK:

ENTERPRISE CHANGES: At a British convention recently, Dominic
Keating (who plays the ship's security chief) indicated that writer
Manny Coto will become the showrunner on ENTERPRISE when it returns
for its fourth season. Keating said executive producer Brannon Braga
would be taking a step back next year and letting Coto assume his
duties which would entail looking after the day-to-day business
affairs with the writing staff, crew and cast members and liason to
the network. Braga would still remain involved with ENTERPRISE,
probably by giving episode scripts a once-over, but essentially it
would be Coto's show. Coto joined the ENTERPRISE writing team this
past season after his own science fiction series, ODYSSEY 5, was
cancelled by Showtime. He wrote five scripts for ENTERPRISE's third
season including "Similitude" where a replacement being virtually
idenitical to the ship's engineer is grown by the doctor to heal the
injured Trip.

5 DAYS TO MIDNIGHT: If you missed any of this SCIFI mini-series, it
will be shown, in its entirety, on Sunday, June 12, beginning at
6:00pm ET.

KING KONG: According to Variety, Peter Jackson has cast LORD OF THE
RINGS actor Andy Serkis as the title computer-generated ape in KING
KONG. Serkis will also play a live-action character named Lumpy, the
cook on tramp steamer The Venture, which sails to Skull Island and
captures the ape. Serkis provided the voice and movements for the
computer-animated Gollum in LORD OF THE RINGS and was seen only
briefly in the finale as Smeagol. Serkis will return to New Zealand,
where Jackson will shoot the film for Universal Pictures. KING KONG
also stars Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody. Jackson wrote
the script with his Rings co-writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens.

TOP SF NETWORK SHOWS:
Joan of Arcadia 5.6
Alias 4.8
Smallville 3.7
Angel 3.4
Enterprise 2.4
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 5/17/04 - 5/23/04.

THE FOUNTAIN: According to the ComingSoon website, director Darren
Aronofsky's epic SF movie THE FOUNTAIN will start filming Nov. 1 in
Montreal. Hugh Jackman stars in the movie, about a quest for
immortality via a "tree of life" found in Central America.

SERENITY: Filming of the new Firefly movie, SERENITY continues. Over
at http://www.fireflyfans.net/feature.asp?f=56 you can see pictures
of some of the cast members behind a banner created by fans to
celebrate the opening of production on the movie.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: This weekend there is something for everyone.
Those challenging HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN for the
#1 spot this weekend are:
THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK is the second film built around actor Vin
Diesel's character of Richard Riddick, following 2000's "Pitch
Black," which did a modest $39.2 million and established Diesel as a
star. Judi Dench and Thandie Newton co-star in the PG-13 actioner
written and directed by David Twohy
THE STEPFORD WIVES, co-financed by DreamWorks and starring Nicole
Kidman and Matthew Broderick as the out-of-town couple who enter the
seemingly idyllic community of Stepford, Conn., is the latest
adaptation of the Ira Levin novel that was filmed in 1975. Directed
by Frank Oz ("The Score," "Bowfinger"), the film co-stars
Christopher Walken, Glenn Close, Faith Hill and Bette Midler.
GARFIELD, the popular feline star of cartoons and his own comic
strip, finally gets his first feature film. Bowing in 3,094
locations, the PG-rated CG/live-action feature boasts Bill Murray as
the voice of Garfield, while Breckin Meyer and Jennifer Love Hewitt
co-star as the human leads. The boxoffice appeal of family-geared
films can be difficult to predict, but insiders peg "Garfield's" bow
in the $12 million-$15 million range.

OLYMPIC FILM: Variety reports that director Steven Spielberg is
moving forward on his as-yet-untitled DreamWorks and Universal co-
production about the 1972 Munich Olympics. Eric Bana (THE HULK and
TROY) is the first to come aboard to star in the film, which will
begin shooting in European locations beginning in the next six
weeks. Spielberg was forced to push back the start five weeks so he
could lock the score and attach a new ending for "Terminal". The
trade paper adds that Spielberg, who's producing the Olympics
project with Kathleen Kennedy and Barry Mendel, will now begin
casting the project in earnest, even though actors are rumored to be
committing without getting to read the Eric Roth script.

BULLITT: According to Variety, Wolfgang Petersen (TROY) and Warner
Bros. are getting ready for a remake of the Steve McQueen film
BULLITT. The crime caper, centered on tough-guy detective Frank
Bullitt, will be contemporized by Cynthia Mort. The original drama
was based on the Robert L. Pike novel "Mute Witness," but the remake
isn't. Petersen sparked more to the character than to the original
storyline. Peterson told Variety, "Bullitt" is not about "remaking a
film or repeating a plot, it is about reviving a great character.
Frank Bullitt is a cool, no-nonsense man who doesn't compromise.
Bullitt walks his own path and his pursuit of the truth is
unrelenting."

STARGATE SG-1: STARGATE SG-1's Richard Dean Anderson told SCI FI
Wire that he has reduced his shooting schedule in the upcoming
eighth season, but not necessarily his appearances in the show's
episodes. Anderson (Jack O'Neill) said that he has reduced the
number of days he shoots in Canada to allow him to spend more time
at his home in Southern California, where he cares for a 5-year-old
daughter. "We worked out a schedule that has me working essentially
three weeks out of the month and then having a week off," Anderson
said. "And even, like, three or four days per week that I'm working,
and then that one week off. So I have weekends with my daughter, and
then I'll have some time in midweek. ... So it became very workable
and acceptable." Anderson appreciates the flexibility of the show's
cast and crew "by creating nothing but hardship for themselves,
primarily." Producers schedule scenes featuring Anderson's character
from several episodes on the days when he's in Vancouver and work
around him on other days. That allows O'Neill to appear in almost
all of the episodes. Season eight premieres on July 9 with a two-
hour premiere.
SPOILER WARNING: In talking about the upcoming two-hour season
premiere, Anderson talked about O'Neill winning a promotion and a
new job. "The cliche that I reference in talking about the character
now in his current position is that of a fish out of water,"
Anderson said. "O'Neill, on paper, really doesn't belong in [that]
position. ... But he's, you know, embraced it as much as he can. ...
[But] in so many ways [he] would rather be on the front lines. He'd
rather be a man of action than a man of great thought or great
organization. ... But ... we've made the adjustment, I think, and
accommodated the character quirks that I've developed over the
years, and to a great degree I think that it's been successful.
People are pretty happy. The writers were having a ball in the
beginning, because they all know me well enough to know that I'd be
putting a certain twist to it. But I still wanted to be respectful
to the Air Force."
Want to race ahead and see what the new season holds? Over at Dark
Horizons, you'll find an episode listing with a short synopsis of
each episode. You'll find a listing for STARGATE ATLANTIS there as
well.

DONALD TRUMBALL: Donald Edmund Trumbull, two-time winner of the
Academy's Sci-Tech Award, was renowned for his contributions to
visual effects cinematography. He has has died at the age of 95. He
was known for his technical innovations in the field of effects
photography and for his design of process projection systems, motion-
control camera systems and a range of special equipment for film
production. Trumbull's long career in the motion picture industry
included work as a young special effects rigger on the 1939
classic "The Wizard of Oz."

THE LOST CITY: According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bill Murray is
joining the cast of Andy Garcia's THE LOST CITY, a love story set
against the backdrop of the Cuban Revolution. Set in Havana and
centering on cabaret owner Fico (Garcia) who is slowly drawn into
the drama of the fall of the Batista regime and the rise of Fidel
Castro. Murray plays a character simply known as the Writer, an
American expatriate who is Fico's friend.

TOP 10 SYNDICATED SHOWS:
Stargate SG-1 2.0
Andromeda 1.9
Mutant X 1.7
She Spies 1.6
Angel 1.5
The X-Files 1.5
Buffy 1.4
3rd Rock 1.3
The Outer Limits 1.1
Beastmaster 1.0
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 5/17/04 - 5/23/04

SLIDERS: Universal Home Video has announced that it will release a
six-disc DVD set of SLIDERS on August 3 priced at $89.98. Each of
the episodes will be presented in 1.33:1 full-frame format in
English Dolby Digital 2.0. The set will contain all the episodes
from the show's first and second seasons as well as an audio
commentary track by the show's co-creators, Tracy Torme and Robert
K. Weiss; a making of SLIDERS featurette; and a photo gallery.

FINAL DESTINATION: According to Variety, New Line Cinema has given a
green light to FINAL DESTINATION 3 by reuniting with franchise
creators Glen Morgan and James Wong. Wong directed the original
film, which he wrote with Morgan and Jeffrey Reddick, in 2000. The
second installment was directed by David R. Ellis and written by J.
Mackye Gruber and Eric Bress. Both film cost only about $25 million
and made $90 million and $70 million worldwide, respectively. Co-
writer Morgan and writer-director Wong have not revealed what kind
of accident the third film will entail.

A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE: Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn from LORD OF THE
RINGS) will reunite with his LOTR studio New Line to topline A
HISTORY OF VIOLENCE for director David Cronenberg. Adapted by Josh
Olson from John Wagner and Vince Locke's graphic novel of the same
name, the film tells the story of an ordinary family's life after
the father receives unwanted national attention for a seemingly
vigilante-style self-defense killing at his diner. The Hollywood
Reporter indicates that Mortensen would play the father.

LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING: New Line Home
Entertainment will release the extended edition DVD of THE LORD OF
THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING in December. While previous
extended editions for the trilogy have been released in November,
consumers have been aware of the upcoming extended take on RETURN OF
THE KING, given the releases of ones for "Fellowship of the Ring"
and "The Two Towers". Video Direct added that the extended edition
took longer to produce because cast members, now filming new
projects, had to be rounded up from all over to complete their
commentaries.

GREEN HORNET: Rumors are coming out that Kevin Smith's GREEN HORNET
adaptation has stalled, for now. Kevin Smith confirmed that it'll be
a while before we see it in cinemas as he's already working on other
projects: At a Q&A session with Kevin Smith at the Prince Charles
Cinema in leicester square, London, Smith talked a lot about
upcoming projects and when asked how he was going to tackle the leap
into directing action scenes in GREEN HORNET he replied, "I may not
direct it now." He said he had talked to Miramax about just writing
it and then deciding if he will direct. Miramax have agreed to let
him just write it but are still eager for him to direct.

BEST SELLING SF BOOKS:
1. The Da Vinci Code
2. Song of Susannah (Dark Tower 6)
3. Angels & Demons
4. The Time Traveler's Wife
5. Potter paperback box set
6. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
7. A Feast for Crows
8. Potter hardcover box set
9. The Taking
10. Wicked
Source: Amazon.com, 6/6/04

ANGEL'S LORNE: Andy Hallett, who played the green-skinned demon
Lorne on ANGEL, has been hospitalized for an undisclosed viral
ailment after having to miss a scheduled convention appearance. Andy
wrote on his official website that, "I wish I had better news for
you at the moment; however, I am having a bit of a rough time right
now, medically speaking. As you know, it would take a lot for me to
miss a scheduled event (ya know what a ham I am ... ) but I'm unable
to fly or travel at the moment. Last week I was hospitalized due to
a minor viral infection that was complicated by exhaustion. This
minor problem turned 'not so minor' quite quickly and was causing
major problems with my lungs and breathing." Hallett was in the
intensive care unit in Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinair Medical Center for
five days, but doctors expect a "speedy recovery."

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY: The part of Grandpa Joe has been
cast in the upcoming Tim Burton film CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE
FACTORY. Actor David Kelly, the 74-year-old recently seen in LAWS OF
ATTRACTION and AGENT CODY BANKS 2, is on board. In the Roald Dahl
book, Grandpa Joe accampanies young Charlie on his tour of Willy
Wonka's candy factory, offering him a shoulder to lean on when
things get scary or difficult. Freddie Highmore has been cast as
Charlie and Johnny Depp will play the fantastical Mr. Wonka.

UNDERWORLD 2: According to The Trades website, UNDERWORLD
screenwriter Danny McBride, UNDERWORLD 2 is on track to start
filming this fall and come out sometime next year. McBride also
confirms that contracts for both of UNDERWORLD's two stars, Kate
Beckinsale and Scott Speedman, are closed and the actors will star
in the sequel. "The new film will carry the story further as well as
incorporate a few prequel sequences, which should be extremely
cool," said McBride. "Patrick Tatopolous (the creature designer)
has, par for course, created some fantastic new designs for the
film. Len [Wiseman] has been busy storyboarding and is gearing up
for location scouting."

KYRA: CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK director/writer David Twohy is currently
penning a two-hour movie for The Sci Fi Channel based on the Kyra
character seen in the upcoming RIDDICK movie. First introduced as a
boyish young teen in PITCH BLACK, the character has blossomed into a
beautiful but ferocious fighter. If the movie is a success, the
Channel will spin it off into an ongoing series. "They want to do a
sort of KYRA, THE LOST YEARS," explains Twohy at Sci Fi Wire. The
series would show what happened when Kyra chose to try and find
Riddick after PITCH BLACK and what "trouble befell her along the
way."

THE DEAD WILL TELL: According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jonathan
LaPaglia and Kathleen Quinlan have been tapped to star opposite Anne
Heche in CBS' original movie THE DEAD WILL TELL. Stephen Kay is on
board to direct this supernatural thriller, inspired by readings of
psychic James Van Praagh. The story centers on a woman (Heche) who
starts to have visions of a beautiful young woman shortly after her
fiance (LaPaglia) gives her an antique engagement ring. Quinlan will
play the fiance's mother.

SPIDER-MAN 2: Tobey McGuire and Kirsten Dunst are on OPRAH today to
talk about SPIDER-MAN 2. For a sneak peek, go to
http://www.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200406/tows_past_20040607.jhtml.

DEJA VU: According to Variety, Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer Films
have purchased Terry Rossio and Bill Marsilii's romantic thriller
spec DEJA VU. DEJA VU is described as a contemporary time-travel
thriller and love story. "It's a very exciting script that has
elements of suspense and yet romance," Bruckheimer said. It follows
an FBI agent who has the ability to travel back in time and falls in
love with a woman as her murder approaches.

TOP 10 SCI FI CHANNEL SHOWS:
Boa vs. Python 1.8
Maximum Overdrive 1.2
Fangs 1.2
Silent Predators 1.2
Python 1.1
Trucks 1.1
Boa 1.1
Stargate SG-1 1.1
Pythons 2 1.0
Skeeter 1.0
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 5/17/04 - 5/23/04

ZOCALO FORUM ANNIVERSARY: Would you believe it has been 5 years
since ISN opened up the FORUM area for discussion? Yes, indeed.
David has been doing a wonderful job of keeping things running and
topics active. For those of you who have been around for a while,
you are invited to share a "look back" over the years. Thanks to
everyone who participates as well.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: As anticipated, HARRY POTTER stormed the box
office this weekend. The studio has forecasted a $92.6 million
dollar opening weekend for HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN,
with a exceptionally strong $28.2 M opening day for Friday. If the
estimate holds up when Monday's final figures are released, THE
PRISONER OF AZKABAN will turn out to be the best opening weekend in
the history of the franchise. DreamWorks' SHREK 2 crossed the $300 M
barrier by adding an additional $37 M to its tally. The sequel has
already surpassed the $267 M that the first film took in
domestically and is still holding strong in each week of its
performance. 20th Century Fox is happy with the job being done by
THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW. With TOMORROW's grosses now at $128 M, this
event movie is proving to be one of the summer's successes.
Universal's VAN HELSING continues to plummet, down another 55% in
this weekend's ticket receipts. MEAN GIRLS and MAN ON FIRE are still
making a show and the indie documentary SUPER SIZE ME continues to
hang on to tenth spot. Here are the estimated box office numbers:
1. HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN $92,640,000 $92,640,000
2. SHREK 2 $37,000,000 $313,591,000
3. THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW $28,150,000 $128,759,000
4. RAISING HELEN $6,675,000 $24,189,000
5. TROY $5,740,000 $119,052,000
6. MEAN GIRLS $2,900,000 $78,130,000
7. SOUL PLANE $2,850,000 $11,080,000
8. VAN HELSING $2,347,000 $114,509,000
9. MAN ON FIRE $1,025,000 $75,354,000
10. SUPER SIZE ME $835,000 $6,201,000
TONY AWARDS: X-MEN's Hugh Jackman won the Best Actor award at the
Tony's tonight for his performance in THE BOY FROM OZ. Other
familiar names on hand included Alfred Molina, Donna Murphy, Anna
Paquin, and Patrick Stewart. For a full list of winners, go to
http://www.tonyawards.com/en_US/nominees/winners.html.

CALLING REVIEWERS: Have you seen HARRY POTTER or THE DAY AFTER
TOMORROW? What did you think? Read any good book lately? Pass along
your views?

HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN: The latest HARRY POTTER
movied opened this weekend to record numbers. On Friday, it brought
in an estimated $41.2 million becoming the all-time best first-day
opening for any film, beating the previous record holder, "Spider-
Man." The most any movie ever made in a single day was set recently
on "Shrek 2's" second day, at $44.8 mil on Saturday, May 22. Before
that, the one-day record for any film was "Spider-Man's" second day
box office of $43.6 million in 2002. With numbers like this, the
latest Potter book brought to film could beat the all-time movie box
office records for the entire weekend, originally set by "Spider-
Man," which made $114.8 million in three days.

SERENITY: Over at the FIREFLY site, you will find notes from Joss
Whedon about the opening production of SERENITY -- the big screen
return of FIREFLY. A release date of April 21 has been set.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: 3: Tom Cruise has gotten persmission to shoot
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 3 at the historic Reichstag in Berlin. A German
parliament spokesman said that after talks with Babelsberg Studios,
Cruise could shoot some scenes outside the Reichstag and on the
steps. The interior of the parliament building, including its famous
dome, is to remain off-limits, Speaker Wolfgang Thierse said,
fearing that shooting inside for Hollywood fiction would demean its
stature.

CONVENTION CALENDAR

DreamCon
Date: June 11-13, 2004
Place: Jacksonville, FL
B5 Guests: Stephen Furst, Peter David
Other Guests: Ron Perlman, Chase Masterson, Sam Jones III, Tony
Amendola, many more For more information, visit their website at
http://www.dreamcon.net/.

Slanted Fedora
Date: June 13, 2004
Place: Washington, DC
Site: Days Inn & Conference Center, Dulles
Guests: Dwight Schultz, Elizabeth Dennehy, Hallie Todd, Douglas
Arthurs, Robin Curtis, Robert O'Reilly, J.G. Hertzler, Max
Grodenchik, Mary Kay Adams, Aron Eisenberg, Casey Biggs
For more information, visit their website at
http://sfedora.com/washington_dc.htm.

Trek Expo 2004
Date: June 18-20, 2004
Location: Tulsa, OK
Site: Exposition Square
B5 Guest: Jeffrey Combs
Other Guests: Other Guests: Brent Spiner, Michael Shanks, Lexa Doig,
John Billingsley, Teryl Rothery, John Glover, Katee Sackoff,
Jennifer Lein, Mark Alamo, Casey Biggs, Vaughn Armstrong
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.starbase21ok.com/.

June 18-20, 2004
JAMES DOOHAN FAREWELL CONVENTION
Location: Los Angeles
Guests: James Doohan, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei,
Walter Koenig, Grace Lee Whitney and Majel Roddenberry.
More Guests TBA
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.planetxpo.com/ .

June 24-27, 2004
ORIGINS
Guests: TBA
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.originsgames.com/ .

July 2-4, 2004
Nexus: Rebellion
Location: Ramada Plaza Hotel
City: Bristol, UK
B5 Guest: Peter Jurasik
Other Guests: Paul Darrow - Blake's 7 and Robert Llewellyn - Red
Dwarf
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.enterthenexus.com/ .

July 2-4, 2004
TorontoTrek
Location: Double Tree International Hotel
City: Toronto, Canada
B5 Guest: Walter Koenig
Other Guests: Christopher Judge, Lani John Tupu (Farscape), George
Hertzberg (Buffy)
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.tcon.icomm.ca/tt18 .

July 2-4, 2004
Inconjunction
Location: Indianapolis Sheraton Hotel and Suites
City: Indianapolis, Indiana
B5 Guest: Jason Carter
Other Guests: Author Eric Flint; director David Winning
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.inconjunction.org.

July 2-4, 2004
Alias Rendevous
Location: Radisson Edwardian Hotel
City: Heathrow, London, UK
Guests: Bradley Cooper, David Anders, Merrin Dungey
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.wolfevents.com .

July 9-11, 2004
SHORE LEAVE
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Guests: Cirroc Lofton, Teryl Rothery, Nicole deBoer, Brian Thompson,
Michael Welch, Thom Christopher, Mercedes McNab, Clint Howard, Greg
Evigan, Chase Masterson
For more information, visit their website at http://www.shore-
leave.com/ .

July 14-19, 2004
GATECON 2004
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada)
Guests: Amanda Tapping, Michael Shanks, Corin Nemec, Teryl Rothery,
Colin Cunningham, Jr Bourne, Douglas Arthurs
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.gatecon.com/ .

July 22-25, 2004
COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL
Location: San Diego, California (USA)
Guests: To be announced
For more information, visit their website at http://www.comic-
con.org .

July 23-25, 2004
ALTERNATE UNIVERSE
Location: Thistle Heathrow Hotel - London
Guests: John Rhys-Davis, Colin Cunningham, J.R. Bourne, Andrea
Thompson, Sarah Douglas, Peter Stebbings, Marc Cass
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.l3conventions.co.uk/alternateuni.htm .

July 29-Aug 1, 2004
CREATION CONVENTION
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Guests William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Tim Russ, Ethan Phillips,
Nana Visitor, Robert Picardo, Walter Koenig, David Gerrold
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/ .

Be sure to visit the referenced sites to see if there have been
changes in dates/guests attending. Visit our Convention Calendar for
a full listing of upcoming conventions.

If you have information about conventions that are not listed,
please pass them along so that we can share that information with
readers.  Conventions can be a great way of getting together with
old friends – regardless of who the guests at the convention happen
to be.

Have a great weekend.
Take care.
Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN News:  The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net

WHAT'S NEW IN THE ZOCALO TODAY:

There is a lot of information in this issue for you today. Don't
miss the JMS comments about ENTERPRISE, new magazines, comics and
books that look interesting -- as well as our current discussion
topic.

JMS SPEAKS
Here are some exceprts from the B5 moderated newsgroup I think
you'll enjoy:

When JMS was asked if he were going to work on ENTERPRISE, his
response was:

A: No, just to clarify, though I got a call last year about coming
onto Enterprise, offering an EP position, and declined, the series I
mentioned has nothing to do with any current series, it's a new
show. As for Manny, he's a good writer, and left to his own devices,
I think he could be a big help over there without the other powers
that be impeding the process.

Amusingly enough, on the Trek front, Bryce Zabel (the creator of
Dark Skies) and I got together and wrote a treatment earlier this
year that specified how to save ST and develop a series that would
restore the series in a big way. I actually think it could be a hell
of a show. Whether that ever goes anywhere with Paramount, who
knows?

The newsgroup is also a great way to get help. Here's an example:
JMS writes: I just got a request from Tracy Scoggins, who inquires
if there's anybody out there who's done web site creation and design
who can come in and volunteer to help her out in creating a very
simple site on fairly short notice...nothing terribly elaborate,
just a simple informational kind of thing. Emails are fine to avoid
plugging up the newsgroup. Thanks.

Talk about response!

Well, it's like 16 hours later and I've had about 300 emails from
volunteers to help out Tracy, so I think we've got it covered. Many
thanks to all those who volunteered, I've passed on the information
to Tracy and she'll be in touch with whoever's work seems most in
line with what she wants to do.

JMS UPDATE

June 15, 2004:
Okay, let's try this again. Best to break the ice by just sort of
doing a round-up of what's going on and what's coming and suchlike.
I'll try to address some of the questions that have come up about
what's coming up.

On the movies DVDs, and what's inside: the main thing is that we've
got commentaries on literally every one of them. Mike Vejar and I
did a commentary on In the Beginning, I did one with John Iacovelli
on The Gathering, and another with Janet Greek and Tracy Scoggins on
River of Souls. I can't remember now if I solo'd on A Call to Arms
or if Mike was there as well (it all blurs after a while...I've done
something like fifteen of these things by now).

There's a separate cast commentary on Thirdspace with, I think, Pat,
Jeff, Jesus Trevino, and one or two others.

On the Crusade DVDs, there's one commentary I did on the original
pilot (once WB and I came to a meeting of minds, to wit, "I'm gonna
say what happened to the show, what *really* happened...you got a
problem with that?"). There's a second commentary track with Fiona,
Janet, Peter Woodward and Carrie Dobro.

(We interrupt this message with a coded message for our friends in
England and Australia: keep your eyes on the horizon.)
One oddity...constant readers will remember a while back when I was
asked what TMoS was, and I provided a list of things it *wasn't*.
The aforementioned oddity is...one of those things has come up as an
adjunct to TMoS.

Also, expect word fairly soon-ish about a new series of B5 novels.
Elsewhere on the prose front...Straczynski Unplugged is out now, and
Tribulations will be coming out in December.

I've turned in all three final Rising Stars scripts, and the first
issue of the last arc comes out in October, I hear.

Next week a new arc and a new artist starts on Amazing Spider-Man,
and it's a stinking cool issue. You can read a preview of the whole
issue for free at:
http://www.milehighcomics.com/firstlook/marvel/spidey509/

On other projects...I'm making sudden progress with the medieval
play I've been twiddling with for the last few years, and may have
it done in the next couple of months. Once that happens, my plan is
to do a limited, small production for two weeks or so here in LA,
just to see how the text works with an audience, then take it away
for another few months, twiddle with it some more, then go for a
larger venue. I may do something similar in London, since I may be
spending a bit amount of time there fairly soon.

And for those who've asked, I won't be in attendence at San Diego
Comic Con this year due to a variety of commitments.

Oh...and I've been offered an EP position on a network series, and
while I don't usually do that on shows I don't create or develop,
when I heard what this project was, I had to get on board. We still
have to negotiate a deal, and work out how that will interface with
the stuff that'll be going on later in the year, but fortunately the
start date for the series should work out, at least at this point.

PAT TALLMAN AUDIO/VIDEOS
Patricia Tallman is looking for any recordings of her speaking
appearances at conventions. She will reimburse anyone who can send
in a video or DVD of Pat telling stories at a convention. She will
also send along a new autographed photo (one that no one has yet)
and will pay postage and the cost of the vide tape. Here is an
address you can use to contact Pat:
Patricia Tallman
6433 Topanga Canyon Blvd. #207
Canoga Park, CA 91303

BABYLON 5 SIGHTING
CLAUDIA CHRISTIAN: Ranger Dave reports that he "saw HALF PAST DEAD
today on HBO. Claudia Christian has a fairly good part in it. It
will appear on HBO2 and HBO2W on June 18, 24, & 26.

REMEMBERING RICHARD BIGGS
Material related to the passing of Richard Biggs has been moved to
several pages devoted to him inside The Zocalo Today. Please visit
now, and often, to see what has been added. RICHARD BIGGS –
<http://www.isnnews.net/zocalo/rbiggs.shtml>. We will not forget
Richard and let you know as new efforts are put forth in his memory.
Ranger Jan has passed along an update on her auction efforts for
Richard's children. She is sending the first check for $2500 off to
the family shortly. She will be posting more items for auction soon.
For more information, go to:
Auctions to benefit a Richard Biggs Memorial fund:
http://tinyurl.com/2az5w
PayPal Account: RBiggsMemorial@...
Personal auctions: http://tinyurl.com/b36t

DISCUSSION TOPIC
If you came into a LOT of money and could hold the BEST convention
money could buy, who would you invite -- and where would you hold
the event?

Send in your thoughts and ideas to sgbruckner@.... I post them
on the Discussion Page for everyone to share and enjoy. See what has
come in so far. If you see an old topic you want to respond to, go
right ahead. We enjoy hearing from you.

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT

CABLE AND NETWORK SHOWS:
8:00pm on The WB
My Science Project
A teen and his girlfriend raid a military junkyard and find a time-
travel contraption from a UFO.

ON SCIFI TONIGHT:

5:00pm
Village of the Damned
A doctor battles mind-controlling children. Directed by John
Carpenter.

7:00pm
Final Destination
A teen and his friends try to thwart death.

9:00pm
Jeepers Creepers
A cloaked figure terrorizes two siblings in the country.

On Syndicated TV This Weekend:

Andromeda
Double or Nothingness
Dylan responds to the destruction of a ship but soon realizes that
scenarios are computer-generated.

Angel
Inside Out
Angel forces a demon (David Denman) to tell him why Cordelia has
turned to the dark side.

Angel
Disharmony
Angel and his reunited crew target a vampire cult leader.

BeastMaster
Destiny
Dar sneaks into Xinca to rescue an extraordinary horse, despite a
fortuneteller's warning.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
End of Days
Buffy rejoins the fray wielding a mystical new weapon; Angel fights
at the slayer's side.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
Fire in the Sky
Roxton and Marguerite travel upriver to save their friends from
Roxton's former mentor.

Mutant X
A Normal Life
The team tracks down a rogue scientist, while Shalimar and Adam try
to uncover the real villain.

Stargate SG-1
The Cure
A flawed miracle drug threatens Pangeran civilization, leading SG-1
to a discovery about the Tok'ra.

The Outer Limits
Paradise
A sheriff investigates the disappearance of several elderly women.

Unexplained Mysteries
This Strange Planet
Bizarre and terrifying forces at work on planet Earth.

INSIDE SCI-FI THIS WEEK:

STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES: Paramount Home Entertainment has
officially released the details on what will be included on the
first season of STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES when it arrives on
DVD this August 31. All 29 first season episodes from the show will
be included in an 8-disc collectible box set along with additional
bonus features exclusive to the set's release. Each of the episodes
will be presented in full-screen format and in Dolby Digital English
5.1 and English Dolby Surround, with English subtitles and a closed-
captioned feature for the hearing-impaired. There are a ton of
extras, including interviews with cast members and "Sci-Fi
Visionaries": A look at Star Trek's famous writers, featuring
interviews with Gene Coon, Harlan Ellison, George Clayton Thomas,
Richard Matheson, D.C. Fontana, Gene Roddenberry, Bob Justman and
John D.F. Black.

SPIDER-MAN 2: Like many movies these days, there are a ton of spin-
off products. Just check out your Cheerio box -- SHREK is on it
along with glowing stickers. As SPIDER-MAN 2's June 30 premiere
approaches, we'll see more of the stars on media programs. Kirsten
Dunst, who returns as Mary Jane Watson in SPIDER-MAN 2, will be a
guest on CBS' The Late Show with David Letterman on Monday, June 28.
Alfred Molina (Dock- Ock) will be on Jimmy Kimmell Live on Monday,
6/21 and Tobey Maguire will appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Tuesday, June 22. The premiere will also take place in Los Angeles
on the 22nd. E!'s Behind the Scenes special will air on July 1 at
4:30 p.m.; July 2 at 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.; July 4 at 3 a.m. and
7:30 a.m. and July 5 at 3:30 a.m. And product tie-ins! Here arejust
a few:
*Kellogg's tie-in campaign with the film is well underway, including
Spider-Man cereal and Pop-Tarts.
* Crayola's tie-ins are now in stores, including Character Maker,
Spider Writers, Color Wonder Limited Edition Art Set, Window Makers
and Velvet Visions.

THE CRAZIES: Paramount has hired horror specialist Scott Kosar to
write THE CRAZIES, a remake of George Romero's horror-thriller set
up at Paramount-based Penn Station. Variety reports the film will
update the storyline of the 1972 original, in which inhabitants of a
small Pennsylvania town are beset by death and insanity after a
plane crash lets loose a secret biological weapon into the water
supply.

UFOs: According to the Hollywood Reporter, Platinum Studios, the
comic book company that moved into film production with Men in Black
and the upcoming Cowboys and Aliens, has entered into an exclusive
deal with UFO Magazine to develop the publication's extensive
library for feature films, video games and comic books. The deal
encompasses more than two decades' worth of content related to UFOs
and unexplained phenomena. The first two projects in the deal
include ESCAPE VELOCITY, a present-day action-adventure about a
reporter and a pilot who steal an alien spacecraft from the Air
Force, and HIVE, which centers around a woman trying to escape from
a mysterious cult. Both projects will be produced as feature films
and graphic novels. Platinum has also struck deals with Fog Studios,
which will develop interactive games based on the properties and
Copyright Licensing Associates, which will handle the licensing of
the characters.

TOP SF NETWORK SHOWS:
Joan of Arcadia 4.5
Enterprise 2.6
Angel 1.2
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 5/24/04 - 5/30/04.

NEW JMS COMIC BOOKS: I picked up the latest issues of AMAZING
SPIDERMAN and SUPREME POWER last night at my local comic shop. Both
issues look fantastic.

SUPERMAN: Variety had some news regarding Warner Bros. SUPERMAN
movie project. The trade magazine indicated that, S.W.A.T. and FAST
AND THE FURIOUS producer Neal Moritz and Gilbert Adler (CONSTANTINE,
GHOST SHIP) are in talks to come serve as producers on SUPERMAN.
Reports also say that screen tests were held for half-a-dozen
possible SUPERMAN actors last week. Variety confirms the tests did
go down and that actors Jason Behr (ROSWELL), Henry Cavill (THE
COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO), Jared Padalecki (NEW YORK MINUTE) and
Michael Cassidy were among the actors that tried out for the part.
Director McG (CHARLIE'S ANGELS) remains involved with the
production. And if everything and everyone can gel together nicely,
filming could be underway before the end of the year.

ELEKTRA: Jason Isaacs (PETER PAN, PATRIOT, HARRY POTTER) has a cameo
role in 20th Century Fox's ELEKTRA movie, starring Jennifer Garner
in the title role. Isaacs will play the character McCabe, an agent
who works with Elektra. Story Description of ELEKTRA: Assassin-for-
hire Elektra Natchios (Garner) is revived by the Order of the Hand,
a group of assassins who helped train her. Assigned by the Hand's
current leader, Kirigi (Yun Lee), to kill a man, Mark Miller
(Visnjic), and his 13-year-old daughter, Abby (Prout), Elektra soon
befriends them and decides to stand up to her ninja peers.

MR. FIX IT: ANGEL star David Boreanaz is set to star in a romantic
comedy feature MR. FIX IT, written by Darin Ferrilola, who also will
direct. Variety says the film, about a lovelorn Casanova who tricks
women into returning to their ex-boyfriends and finds himself
falling for one of his marks, begins production this summer in
Southern California. Boreanaz also stars in Dimension's upcoming The
Crow: Wicked Prayer with Edward Furlong, Tara Reid, and Dennis
Hopper.

THE AMITYVILLE HORROR: Variety reports that Ryan Reynolds (BLADE 3)
is poised to take the lead in the remake of "The Amityville Horror".
Set to begin this summer, "Amityville" is about a man who moves his
family into a dream house only to discover it is haunted by an evil
presence from a past tragedy. Music video and commercials helmer
Andrew Douglas is making his feature directorial debut. The script
was written by Scott Kosar ["The Texas Chainsaw Massacre"].

MUTANT X: ADV Films has announced an August 17 release date for
MUTANT X: Season 2, Discs 5-6, a two-disc DVD release from the
second season of the syndicated television series. The episodes
include: "Understudy", "The Grift", "At Destiny's End" and "Within
These Walls". The DVD-only release in English 2.0 audio, closed
captioned. It includes four complete episodes and is presented in
anamorphic widescreen format. Extras include: interview with Victor
Webster (Brennan Mulwray); behind the scenes with producer Jonathon
Hackett; original TV promos; image gallery; behind the scenes: make-
up, behind the scenes: hair and ADV previews.

TOP SF DVD SALES:
1. The Return of the King
2. Star Wars trilogy
3. Buffy season six
4. Passion of the Christ
5. Lord of the Rings trilogy
6. Big Fish
7. Triplets of Belleville
8. Pirates of the Caribbean
9. Bubba Ho-Tep
10. The Two Towers
Source: Amazon.com, top-selling genre DVDs, 6/15/04

SMALLVILLE: We have seen various people turn up in young Clark
Kent's life. This year it was Perry White -- now a casting call has
gone out for the role of Lois Lane, Clark Kent's future love
interest, who will reportedly appear in four episodes of SMALLVILLE
this coming season. As SMALLVILLE gets ready to begin filming on its
fourth season in Vancouver, the Kryptonsite.com reported that a
twenty-something Lois Lane will travel to Smallville in search of
her cousin, Chloe Sullivan (series regular Allison Mack). Lois is
described in the casting breakdown as "Caucasian, smart, beautiful,
urban, headstrong, and no-nonsense. She is also described as being
tough as nails due to her upbringing by her U.S. Army father. "
Producers are also looking for a young actor to play a new character
named Jason Teague, a college student at Metropolis University who
will become a regular cast member. There is no word yet on which
actors or actresses are being considered for the two roles.

HUMANITAS: According to the Hollywood Reporter, writers on the
feature films "Dirty Pretty Things," "Finding Nemo" and "Seabiscuit"
and TV series "Joan of Arcadia" and "The Bernie Mac Show" were among
the finalists announced Wednesday for the 2004 Humanitas Prize. The
prize, now in its 30th year, honors writers whose work "honestly
explores the complexities of the human experience and sheds light on
the positive values of life." The award has become "all the more
important since television has taken a dehumanizing turn with some
of the so-called reality shows," Humanitas Prize president Frank
Desiderio remarked as he announced the finalists.

NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET: REAL NIGHTMARES: CBS and New Line
Television have ordered six episodes of "Nightmare on Elm Street:
Real Nightmares," an hourlong unscripted skein in which viewers will
be given the chance to confront their worst fears head-on. Freddy
Krueger (Robert Englund) has signed on to host the show, sans scary
makeup..."

TOP SF SYNDICATED SHOWS:
She Spies 1.9
Stargate SG-1 1.9
Mutant X 1.5
Andromeda 1.4
3rd Rock 1.3
Buffy 1.2
The X-Files 1.2
The Outer Limits 1.1
Angel 1.0
Beastmaster 0.9
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 5/24/04 - 5/30/04

THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW: Variety reports that a Harvard professor is
suing DAY AFTER TOMORROW director Roland Emmerich, charging that he
plagiarized plot elements from the professor's novel for the SF
disaster film. Ubaldo DiBenedetto filed a lawsuit in Germany against
the German-born director and the movie's local distributor, 20th
Century Fox Deutschland, for an as-yet-undetermined amount of
damages. A Cologne state court will review the complaint on June 16.

STAR WARS: Director George Lucas told USA Today that although fans
have already guessed the upcoming prequel's title—he won't
announce
it until November. This is when the first trailer are to hit
theaters.

SPIDER-MAN 2: With the June 30 release date coming closer, more and
more information is coming out for SPIDER-MAN 2. The official
website at http://spiderman.sonypictures.com has been updated with
new pictures and there is even a new Ana music video at
http://spiderman.sonypictures.com/soundtrack/ana_weare_video.html.

THE CHRONICLE OF NARNIA: Production will begin soon as Disney and
Walden Media bring an adaptation of C.S. Lewis's THE CHRONICLES OF
NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE to the big screen.
Filming will begin on June 28 in Auckland, New Zealand, where 2/3 of
the film will be shot. The production is tentatively scheduled to
move to South Island in mid-October where lensing will wrap. THE
LION, THE WTICH, AND THE WARDROBE is the first book (the second
chronologically) in the seven-part Narnia series. The story follows
four children who are sent to live with an old professor during the
WWII air raids in London. While exploring the professor's mysterious
old house, they discover a wardrobe that is actually a gateway to
the magical land of Narnia, a once-peaceful place that is filled
with all manner of mythic and fantasy creatures. The children soon
learn that Narnia is frozen in a state of perpetual winter, under
the spell of the evil White Witch. But when they meet Aslan, the
Great Lion, their lives, and the lives of every inhabitant of
Narnia, are changed forever. Andrew Anderson (SHREK) is set to
direct. Peter Jackson's WETA Digital will be creating the visual
effects.

TOP SELLING SF BOOKS:
1. The Da Vinci Code
2. Song of Susannah (Dark Tower 6)
3. Angels & Demons
4. A Feast for Crows
5. The Time Traveler's Wife
6. Potter paperback box set
7. Wicked
8. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
9. 1984
10. Wolves of the Calla (Dark Tower 5)
Source: Amazon.com, 6/14/04

STARGATE SG-1: Amanda Tapping, who plays Maj. Samantha Carter on
STARGATE SG-1 is eager to sit in the director's chair again in the
upcoming eighth season. Tapping directed the season-seven
episode "Resurrection" that was actually an episode based on an idea
by cast member Michael Shanks (Daniel Jackson). Tapping was recently
nominated for a Leo Award honoring film and television work in
British Columbia, for directing "Resurrection." It's an experience
that Tapping recalls with fondness. "I loved it," she said. "I still
get a huge grin on my face when I think about it. I was in the
episode more than I wanted to be. I kind of didn't want to be in the
episode I was directing. ... And I didn't have as much prep [time]
as I would have hoped, because we were shooting our season finale
prior to my shooting my episode. But having said all that, it was a
fantastic experience." Stargate SG-1 airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Season eight begins on July 9.

THE MARTIAN CHILD: Variety reports that Director Nick Cassavetes
(The Notebook) and John Cusack are set for New Line's SF movie THE
MARTIAN CHILD, which will shoot this fall. Adapted by Jonathan
Tolins and Seth Bass from a short story by SF author David Gerrold
(B5 episode BELIEVERS), MARTIAN CHILD tells the story of an unusual
father-son relationship. Cusack will play an SF writer who,
shattered by the death of his fiancee, adopts a 6-year-old, because
he wants to be a dad. His kid is a little different than most -- he
is convinced he is an alien from Mars. The studio wants filming on
THE MARTIAN CHILD to begin sometime this fall.

THE 4400: USA Network has launched the official website for their
upcoming science fiction drama series THE 4400 . Scheduled to
premiere on Sunday, July 11 at 9:00 PM, the show follows the
aftermath of 4,400 abductees after a mysterious ball of light
returns them back to Earth. With no memory of what happened to them
or where they've been, none of the abductees have aged a single day
even though some of them have been gone for decades. As the returned
individuals try to pick up the pieces of their former lives, two FBI
agents (Joel Gretsch and Jacqueline McKenzie), each with their own
personal connection to an abductee, are assigned to the
investigation of the phenomena. As the two agents unravel the enigma
behind the 4,400, they soon discover that the abductees may change
the human race forever. The website has overviews of three of the
show's main characters and the show's premise; a gallery of images;
a bulletin board and trailers can be downloaded. Don't miss the
sweepstakes going on right now where you can win an Apple iPod and
4,400 song downloads.

THE MAN WHO LOVED GRIZZLIES: Variety reports that Leonardo
DiCaprio's Appian Way has teamed with Columbia Pictures to produce
the biopic The Man Who Loved Grizzlies. The project will be
developed with an eye toward DiCaprio starring as Tim Treadwell, an
environmentalist who was fatally mauled by the bears he wanted to
protect. Based on Ned Zeman's article published in the May issue of
Vanity Fair, Zeman will adapt the film script with Daniel Barnz.
Treadwell was a controversial and charismatic figure, one Zeman
described as the bears' self-appointed goodwill ambassador who
looked like a Malibu surfer. Spending months at a time in the wilds
of Alaska, he took the anti-poaching cause as his own -- even
appearing on David Letterman's show -- but had no training beyond
his talents as a photographer and naturalist. When Treadwell and his
partner, Amie Huguenard, were killed in October, they came under
criticism for what some viewed as willful naivete, an insistence on
viewing the bears as a natural friend rather than potential
predator.

GAY SECRET AGENT: According to Variety, Revolution Studios will
begin production on the comedy GAY SECRET AGENT. Brendan Fraser is
in talks to play the title character, with Brad Hall and Andrew
Gottlieb writing the script. The film, whose tone will be equal
parts Our Man Flint, 007 and "Austin Powers," will be produced by
the Revolution-based team of Suzanne and Jennifer Todd, producers of
the "Powers" films.

CHASING VERMEER: Warner Bros. Pictures has acquired Scholastic's
best-selling children's' book CHASING VERMEER for Plan B to produce
and has tapped writer Matt Nix to adapt. Described as a "Da Vinci
Code" for tweens, VERMEER is a mystery adventure that revolves
around a boy and girl who attend the University of Chicago's
Laboratory Schools, a school for the gifted. The two sixth graders
team up to solve the theft of a painting by 17th century painter
Johannes Vermeer.

TOP 10 SCIFI CHANNEL SHOWS:
Deep Shock 1.3
Stargate SG-1 1.2
Shark Attack 2 1.1
Shark Attack 3 1.1
Sabretooth 1.0
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 1.0
Boa vs. Python 1.0
Lake Placid 1.0
Dinocroc 0.9
Andromeda 0.9
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 5/24/04 - 5/30/04

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: HARRY POTTER still rules at the box office this
weekend. The kid with glasses kicked the ex-con with goggles this
weekend, taking the #1 spot with an estimated $35 million dollars
from Friday to Sunday. That's about a 62% drop in receipts from the
picture's opening weekend, but still more than enough to eclipse THE
CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK. Universal's space opera actioner opened with
an estimated $24.6 M. With a reported budget of around $200 M, the
film made only one-eighth of its budget so far. In third spot was
DreamWorks' SHREK 2 which added another $24 M to its take, bringing
its total to $354 M and counting. On Saturday the movie pushed past
FINDING NEMO's total domestic box office earnings ($339.8 M), making
the SHREK sequel now the highest-grossing animated picture of all
time -- in just 25 days. Fourth and fifth spot are held by another
two new films, THE STEPFORD WIVES and GARFIELD: THE MOVIE. The
amount separating the two films is about half-a-million dollars, so
they might switch places when the final tallies are released on
Monday. Here are the estimated box office receipts of the top ten
films from June 11 through to June 13:
1. HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN $35,069,000 --
$158,134,000
2. THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK $24,606,000 -- $24,606,000
3. SHREK 2 $24,000,000 -- $354,016,000
4. THE STEPFORD WIVES $22,200,000 -- $22,200,000
5. GARFIELD: THE MOVIE $21,675,000 -- $21,675,000
6. THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW $14,550,000 -- $153,156,000
7. RAISING HELEN $3,821,000 -- $31,400,000
8. TROY $3,465,000 -- $125,652,000
9. SAVED! $2,550,000 -- $3,732,000
10. MEAN GIRLS $1,500,000 -- $81,318,000

5 DAYS TO MIDNIGHT: According to The Hollywood Reporter, this SCIFI
miniseries averaged a meager 1.69 total viewers in its premiere
window at 9 p.m. over four consecutive nights last week beginning
June 7. The average viewership was less than half that of Sci Fi's
previous big-budget miniseries, including "Battlestar Galactica"
and "Steven Spielberg Presents Taken." Though heavily promoted,
Bonnie Hammer, president of Sci Fi and USA Network had this to
say, "I would be lying if I said we weren't disappointed and really
surprised. But we've been so fortunate that at some point something
had to be lower than expectations."

STAR WARS CLONE WARS: The Cartoon Network has announced five nights
of a brand-new STAR WARS: CLONE WARS mini-series from animator
Genndy Tartakovsky beginning March 21. While the original episodes
of STAR WARS: CLONE WARS were just three minutes long, each
installment of the new Clone Wars animated mini-series, which has
yet to be titled, will be 12 minutes as they lead into the long-
awaited Star Wars: Episode III, which is scheduled for release in
theaters on May 19.

CSI: NEW YORK: This fall, New York City joins Las Vegas and Miami in
the line-up of CSI teams on CBS television. IDW Publishing, which
has released comic books and graphic novels based on both previous
series, will join in with its first CSI: New York release, written
by Max Allan Collins. IDW Editor-in-Chief Jeff Mariotte said, "CSI:
New York looks like a terrific addition to the line-up, and we look
forward to telling new adventures of Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise),
Stella Bonasera (Melina Kanakaredes) and their team."

FAN CLUBS

Intergalactic Consortium

To anyone who lives in and or in the area of Toronto, Ontario,
Canada I would like to invite you to attend or Join the
Intergalactic Consortium. The I.C. is a new science fiction /
fantasy group. We generally meet on the last Saturday of every month
and generally do not collect any dues. WE are always looking for new
members. If you have any questions, need more information or
anything else please feel free to e-mail torsf@... or visit our
yahoo group at http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/Intergalactic-
Consortium/ Hope to hear from some of you.

United Federated Planets

Ranger Anne reports that in January, another chapter was added to
the fold... EAS Winter Wolf (in Texas). For more information, go to
their site at http://www.ufphq.com/chain_of_command.htm. You will
find a great deal of interest in Babylon 5 -- with position
currently available on the sector staff--EarthDome, EarthForce and
the Alliance. Check it out.
United Federated Planets (UFP) has a Rick Biggs memorial page set up
at the following address:  http://www.ufphq.com/rick_biggs.htm

STAR TREK CLUB VENEZUELA

Ranger Andres dropped a note to say that a new club has been formed -
- Star Trek Club Venezuela. It is small right now, but they are
ready for recomendations, opinions, and/or any other comments. They
are plannig our first expocon at the end of the year, into the
facilities of Humboldt Planetarium in Caracas. Visit their site at
www.trekvenezuela.net.

We have a number of Fan Clubs listed here at the Zocalo. They are
those associated with a particular actor -- and there are those
devoted to Babylon 5 or science fiction. Be sure to check out the
Clubs Page to see if there is an organization near you.

NEW SCIENCE FICTION PUBLICATIONS

Cult Times #106: With season eight poised to begin in about 2 weeks,
producers Robert C Cooper and Andy Mikita talk about the many
changes ahead. Also in the issue, more about 24 and SHE SPIES.
Cult Times Special #30: This special issue lists the current 50
Feisty Fantasy Females. This issue finds interviews with Allison
Mack and Kristin Kreuk from SMALLVILLE, Amanda Tapping from STARGATE
SG-1, Torri Higginson from the new STARGATE ATLANTIS series, Lexa
Doig from ANDROMEDA, Victoria Prat from MUTANT X and Jasmine Guy
from DEAD LIKE ME.

KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER VOLUME 1 TP
by Various
This volume contains four complete stories of TV's first paranormal
investigator, Carl Kolchak (played to the hilt by Darren McGavin in
the 1970s)! Thrill again to the story of a vampire in Las Vegas,
based on the TV movie that still has one of the highest ratings of
all time! This comic story was adapted from the screen by Kolchak's
very own creator, writer Jeff Rice! Then, experience the terror of a
small mining town that has unexplained murders, in an adaptation of
an unfilmed script from the TV show! Then, get the chills from
horror/mystery novelist extraordinaire Stuart Kaminsky's original
Kolchak tale of experiencing your worst fears! And finally, thrill
to an all-new, never-before-seen original Kolchak tale from X-Files
comics scribe, Stefan Petrucha! Stories illustrated by Artists
Gordon Purcell, Christopher Jones, and Doug Klauba (who also
provides the cover image)!
SC, 7x10, 160pg, FC..........$17.95

SMALLVILLE MAGAZINE #1
The new magazine to bring you all the latest news, interviews and
behind-the-scenes secrets from Smallville is here! The first issue
of the monthly Smallville magazine includes an interview with the
star of the show Tom Welling, talking about life as the teenage
Clark Kent. Series creators Al Gough and Miles Millar discuss the re-
imagining of the Superman legend and we examine Clark¹s increasing
powers! Plus, a fantastic free Tom Welling poster! (Titan Publishing
Group)
NEWSSTAND-Magazine, 68pg, FC..........$5.99
EXCLUSIVE-Magazine, 68pg, FC..........$5.99

SMALLVILLE: THE OFFICIAL COMPANION SEASON 1 TP
by Paul Simpson
Packed with exclusive interviews, unseen photos, behind-the-scenes
secrets, and a complete episode guide, plus insights into the world
of Smallville, with excerpts from the town newspaper and even a look
at the mysterious LexCorp, this authorized companion tells fans
everything they need to know about the first season of the hit WB
television series, Smallville. (133/1-84023-795-3) (CAUT: 4)
SC, 6x9, 176pg, PC..........$14.95

COMIC BOOKS

STRANGE #1
Written by J. Michael Straczynski and Samm Barnes, penciled by
Brandon Peterson, cardstock cover by Brandon Peterson.
The master of the mystic arts is back -- as only J. Michael
Straczynski and artist Brandon Peterson could envision him. Brash
young surgeon Dr. Stephen Strange is on a collision course with
destiny -- a journey that will force him to search the deepest
corners of his own heart...and the outer reaches of the cosmos.
32 pages, $3.50, in stores on Sept. 15.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #512
Written by J. Michael Straczynski, art and cover by Mike Deodato.
"Sins Past," part 4 of 5. The worst defeat that Peter Parker ever
endured -- a moment frozen in the minds of Spider-Man fans
everywhere -- was supposed to be far in his past. But now, two
villains -- ripped, perhaps, directly from that very moment -- have
emerged and they threaten to destroy everything that he holds dear.
32 pages, $2.25, in stores on Sept. 29.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #509
Amazing Spider-Man #509 will arrive in stores on Wednesday from
Marvel Comics. The issue is written by J. Michael Straczynski, with
art and cover by John Romita Jr.
Here's how Marvel describes the issue:
"The enigmatic Ezekiel returns to Peter's life. But is he the same
man who stood by Spider-Man's side in his hour of need, or will he
prove to be something much deadlier?"

Amazing Spider-Man #509 is 32 pages and costs $2.25.
For a preview of the issue, go to
http://www.milehighcomics.com/firstlook/marvel/spidey509/.

SUPREME POWER #9

Written by J. Michael Straczynski, cover and pencils by Gary Frank.
The world is still shaking from the titanic battle of Hyperion and
Dr. Spectrum. Is Earth big enough for two such powerful beings? And
who is Power Princess? Find out here!
32 pages, $2.99, in stores on April 7.

AMAZING FANTASY #4
Written by Fiona Avery, art and cover by Mark Brooks.
Part 4 of 6. Being a freshman in high school is bad enough -- now
Marvel's newest hero has to survive her first week of training at
her new after-school "job" with a shadowy organization. It's out of
the frying pan and into the fire -- but will she get burned by a
jealous peer before she gets a chance to prove herself? Also, time
for a makeover: A brand-new costume debuts for summer's hottest
debut title.
32 pages, $2.99, in stores on Sept. 29.

MADROX #1
Written by Peter David, penciled by Pablo Raimondi, cover by David
Lloyd.
Jamie Madrox, stabbed, staggering off a bus. Jamie Madrox, setting
up a detective agency in the heart of Mutant Town. Jamie Madrox, a
peaceful Shaolin priest. Which is the real Jamie Madrox? In this
noir-esque thriller of a limited series, it's possible that even
Madrox doesn't know anymore. Peter David, acclaimed for his run on X-
Factor, reunites several of that title's most popular and whimsical
characters--Jamie Madrox, Wolfsbane, and the aptly named Strong Guy -
- and sends them on an adventure of light and darkness. Featuring
the incredibly moody pencils of Pablo Raimondi.
32 pages, $2.99, in stores on Sept. 15.

ASTONISHING X-MEN #5
Written by Joss Whedon, art and cover by John Cassady.
"Gifted," part 5 of 6. As demand for the "mutant cure" reaches near-
riot levels, the X-Men finally go head-to-head with Ord, with an
unexpected ally -- and some unexpected adversaries -- tipping the
scales.
32 pages, $2.99, in stores on Sept. 22.

CONVENTION CALENDAR

Trek Expo 2004
Date: June 18-20, 2004
Location: Tulsa, OK
Site: Exposition Square
B5 Guest: Jeffrey Combs
Other Guests: Other Guests: Brent Spiner, Michael Shanks, Lexa Doig,
John Billingsley, Teryl Rothery, John Glover, Katee Sackoff,
Jennifer Lein, Mark Alamo, Casey Biggs, Vaughn Armstrong
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.starbase21ok.com/.

June 24-27, 2004
ORIGINS
Guests: TBA
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.originsgames.com/ .

June 24-27, 2004
Escapade Convention
Location: Radisson Hotel
City: Boston, Massachusetts
Guest: Virginia Hey (Farscape)
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.escapadeboston.com/guests.

July 2-4, 2004
TorontoTrek
Location: Double Tree International Hotel
City: Toronto, Canada
B5 Guest: Walter Koenig
Other Guests: Christopher Judge, Lani John Tupu (Farscape), George
Hertzberg (Buffy)
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.tcon.icomm.ca/tt18 .
Toronto Trek will have a number of activities to honour the memory
of Richard Biggs at this year's convention. There will be a book of
condolences where fans can sign and leave messages to Richard's
family. We will also accept any photos or artwork (of reasonable
size) and this will be mailed to the family. In addition, we have
received a number of donations from various Babylon 5 actors to be
sold at the Charity Auction (Sunday Morning - FREE Event - No
membership required) with the money raised from these items going to
the education trust fund for Richard's children.
There will also be a general Donation Jar at the convention for the
trust fund. In addition, we have been granted permission to show the
Babylon 5 tribute video.

July 2-4, 2004
Inconjunction
Location: Indianapolis Sheraton Hotel and Suites
City: Indianapolis, Indiana
B5 Guest: Jason Carter
Other Guests: Author Eric Flint; director David Winning
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.inconjunction.org.

July 2-4, 2004
Alias Rendevous
Location: Radisson Edwardian Hotel
City: Heathrow, London, UK
Guests: Bradley Cooper, David Anders, Merrin Dungey
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.wolfevents.com .

July 2-4, 2004
HeroiCon
Location: Louisville, KY
Guests: Brian Downey (Lexx), Dick Durock (Swamp Thing), Jackson
Bostwick (Captain Marvel) & Ellen Dubin (Giggerota)
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.heroicon.com/.

July 9-11, 2004
SHORE LEAVE
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Guests: Cirroc Lofton, Teryl Rothery, Nicole deBoer, Brian Thompson,
Michael Welch, Thom Christopher, Mercedes McNab, Clint Howard, Greg
Evigan, Chase Masterson
For more information, visit their website at http://www.shore-
leave.com/ .

July 10-11, 2004
STARGATE SG-1 CONVENTION TOUR 2004
Location: Burbank Airport Hilton & Towers
City: Burbank, California
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.fansofstargate.com .

July 14-19, 2004
GATECON 2004
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada)
Guests: Amanda Tapping, Michael Shanks, Corin Nemec, Teryl Rothery,
Colin Cunningham, Jr Bourne, Douglas Arthurs
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.gatecon.com/ .

July 22-25, 2004
COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL
Location: San Diego, California (USA)
Guests: To be announced
For more information, visit their website at http://www.comic-
con.org .

July 23-25, 2004
ALTERNATE UNIVERSE
Location: Thistle Heathrow Hotel - London
Guests: John Rhys-Davis, Colin Cunningham, J.R. Bourne, Andrea
Thompson, Sarah Douglas, Peter Stebbings, Marc Cass
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.l3conventions.co.uk/alternateuni.htm .

July 29-Aug 1, 2004
CREATION CONVENTION
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Guests William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Tim Russ, Ethan Phillips,
Nana Visitor, Robert Picardo, Walter Koenig, David Gerrold
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/ .

Be sure to visit the referenced sites to see if there have been
changes in dates/guests attending. Visit our Convention Calendar for
a full listing of upcoming conventions.

Well, I guess that's about it for now.

Be sure to visit the website – http://www.isnnews.net.  There is
a
LOT more news there and it is updated daily.

Have a terrific weekend.

Be safe,
Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN News: The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net

What's New

No new information from JMS on any of his projects -- but there is
plenty of news through the science fiction world.  Did you catch
STARGATE ATLANTIS last night?  What did you think?

KEEPING UP WITH CAST AND CREW

PETER JURASIK: Peter Jurasik looks the part of the Arkansaw Bear,
whom Jurasik portrays in the Harwich Junior Theatre production of
the same name opening next Tuesday. It is a role with which he finds
great sympathy. For more information, go to
http://www.capetix.com/show.cfm?showid=102710.

BRUCE BOXLEITNER: Bruce Boxleitner is turning up in another SCIFI
Channel original movie this weekend, "They Are Among Us." The
description from the network is: A college-bound teen begins to
suspect there's a sinister conspiracy in his town — one evidenced by
whispered rumors, missing persons and, ultimately, murder. Is there
a savage, alien beast on the loose in the woods? And could his own
parents be connected to the dark secrets making their way to the
surface?

The film will be in the letterbox format & have two initial airings:
Saturday (7/17) 9pm ET & early Sunday morning (7/18) 1am ET.

GARY COLE: Ranger Anne reports that Gary Cole (Crusade's Matthew
Gideon) has a part in the new Ben Stiller comedy "Dodgeball." Cole
plays the TV announcer covering the big money Dodgeball tourney;
Jason Bateman plays his (extreme sports) color analyst.

DISCUSSION TOPICS

Here's a suggestion from Ranger Gary:
1) How would today's technologies including CGI, digital, computers
etc. enhance, devalue, and or change the way producers such as Irwin
Allen (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, Time Tunnel,
Land of the Giants) or Gerry Anderson (Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet
And The Mysterions, UFO, Space:1999 etc.) made these TV Shows?

2) The SCI FI Channel has been presenting us a number of LowDown
specials -- the latest being STARGATE SG-1 and ATLANTIS. HBO has
done specials on upcoming movies. Do you enjoy the behind-the-scenes
material presented? Do you wish there was more?

Send in your thoughts and ideas to sgbruckner@.... I post them
on the Discussion Page for everyone to share and enjoy. See what has
come in so far. If you see an old topic you want to respond to, go
right ahead. We enjoy hearing from you.

SPECIAL CAST ACTIVITY - CRUISIN' WITH BABYLON 5

STEPHEN AUSTIN - Stephen Austin (B-5's "Pak'Ma'Ra Ambassador") along
with comedy legends Vic Dunlop and Bruce Baum are cruising the
Caribbean and want YOU to join the fun!!! Here are the details:
Departing March 6-13, 2005
The Carnival V a lor
Sailing roundtrip from Miami Florida
visiting Belize, Isla Roatan, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel
http://www.cruiseevents.net/dunlop/index.htm.

CRUISE WITH PETER WOODWARD
Peter Woodward is cruising the Eastern Caribbean on Jan. 9-16, 2005
and wants YOU to join the fun!!! Sailing January 9-16, 2005, on
Holland America's Westerdam, the roundtrip from Ft. Lauderdale,
Florida will visit Nassau, St. Marteen, Tortola, & Half Moon Cay.
Experience a week in the Caribbean sharing laughs and fun with your
new friends. Peter's cruise is unique! The group consists of
friendly, people looking to have fun and share experiences. For more
information, go to http://www.cruiseevents.net/celebrity.htm and
then press Peter's photo. Space is limited! Don't delay, call today!
800-695- 5253 or e-mail: Susan@....

BABYLON 5 IN DELAWARE

Is there anyone in the Wilmington/Newark, DE region who might be
interested in having an occasional get-together to watch B5?  Drop
me a line!
- Tammy (KoshIII@...)

RISING STAR NEWS

Saw this in the B5 moderated newsgroup and thought I would pass it
along:
<http://previews.diamondcomics.com/support/previews_docs/orderforms/c
of.txt >
In The October 2004 Solicitations...
AUG04 1597 RISING STARS #1/2 (O/A) $2.95 = $
AUG04 1598 RISING STARS #10 (O/A) $2.50 = $
AUG04 1599 RISING STARS #12 (O/A) $2.50 = $
AUG04 1600 RISING STARS #13 (O/A) $2.50 = $
AUG04 1601 RISING STARS #14 (O/A) $2.50 = $
AUG04 1602 RISING STARS #15 (O/A) $2.50 = $
AUG04 1603 RISING STARS #16 (O/A) $2.50 = $
AUG04 1604 RISING STARS #17 (O/A) $2.50 = $
AUG04 1605 RISING STARS #18 (O/A) $2.50 = $
AUG04 1606 RISING STARS #19 (Of 24) (O/A) $2.50 = $
AUG04 1607 RISING STARS #20 (Of 24) (O/A) $2.99 = $
AUG04 1608 RISING STARS #21 (Of 24) (O/A) $2.99 = $
AUG04 1609 RISING STARS PRELUDE (O/A) $2.95 = $
AUG04 1623 RISING STARS #22 (Of 24) $2.99 = $
AUG04 1624 RISING STARS VOL 1 BORN IN FIRE TP (STAR12207) $19.95 = $
AUG04 1625 RISING STARS VOL 2 POWER TP (STAR15724) $19.95 = $
AUG04 1626 RISING STARS VISITATIONS TP (STAR16700) $8.99 = $
(The dates related to the issue of Previews and the item number in
the catalogue, not the release date which is OCTOBER).

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT

CABLE AND NETWORK SHOWS:
8:00pm on NBC
End of Days
An ex-cop must protect a woman chosen by Satan to be the mother of
the Antichrist.

8:00pm on Hallmark
The Gambler III: The Legend Continues
A poker player and his pal thwart a dishonest senator. Bruce
Boxleitner stars with Kenny Rogers.

10:00pm on AMC
Manhunter
Director Michael Mann's version of Tom Harris' novel "Red Dragon" is
better than the new one that starred Edward Norton and Anthony
Hopkins. In this movie, "CSI" star William Petersen stars as Will
Graham, a tormented former FBI agent who is called back into duty to
help catch a psychotic serial killer known as the Tooth Fairy (Tom
Noonan). Brian Cox gets his teeth into the Hannibal Lecktor role.

ON SCIFI TONIGHT:

6:30
Pitch Black
Crash survivors fight nocturnal alien creatures.

9:00pm
They Are Among Us
Daniel (Michael DiLallo), a normal teenager who is preparing to
leave for college, begins to notice that people around him are
acting differently as his 18th birthday approaches. Little does
Daniel know that his parents (Bruce Boxleitner and Nana Visitor) are
hiding a secret. The last thing they want their son to find out is
that his mother is a member of an alien colony…and that Daniel could
be the leader they have been waiting for.

ON SYNDICATED TV TONIGHT:

Andromeda
The Warmth of an Invisible Light
Dylan finds himself in an alternate reality.

Angel
Peace Out
Angel strives to prove Connor was not merely a vessel designed to
bring Jasmine into the world.

BeastMaster
The Hunter
King Zad needs Dar's help to stop the evil spirit of a ruler who is
murdering the citizens of Xinca.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The Witch
When cheerleaders start spontaneously combusting, Buffy suspects a
witch is in their midst.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
Ice Age
A meteor plunges the Plateau into a new ice age which threatens the
world.

Mutant X
In Between
Brennan must connect with Jesse and guide him through past
experiences in order to save his life.

The Outer Limits
The Haven
The supercomputer in a high-tech apartment complex malfunctions,
endangering residents.

INSIDE SCI-FI THIS WEEK:

TOP SF NETWORK SHOWS:
Stargate SG-1 1.9
She Spies 1.8
Andromeda 1.6
Mutant X 1.6
3rd Rock 1.3
The X-Files 1.3
Angel 1.2
Beastmaster 1.2
Buffy 1.2
The Outer Limits 1.2
Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 6/21/04 - 6/27/04

BEOWULF: According the the Hollywood Reporter, Warner Brothers is
developing a film based on the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf.
Newcomer Matthew Sand will write the script for the film version of
the story, about a knight who takes up the sword against a monster.
The eighth-century tale centers on Beowulf of the Geats, who is
called to slay Grendel, a monster that is attacking a Danish
kingdom. The poem is known to have been an influence on J.R.R.
Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings.

MARVEL SUES DISNEY: According to The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel
Enterprises Inc. is suing The Walt Disney Co. in a royalty dispute
over animation programs aired on Disney's ABC Family channel. Marvel
is asking for nearly $55 million in compensatory damages, interest
and other fees it says it is owed for royalties generated by made-
for-television episodes of "Spider-Man," "X-Men" and "The Incredible
Hulk." The agreements at issue in the lawsuit, filed late Thursday
in Los Angeles County Superior Court, were made before Disney
acquired Fox Family Worldwide in 2001. The lawsuit claims Disney has
not kept accurate records of royalties due under those inherited
agreements. Disney spokesman John Spelich said the company had not
yet seen the lawsuit and could not comment.

BRAD DOURIF: Brad Dourif was marvelous in the Babylon 5
episode "Passing Through Gethsemane" as Brother Edward. He has been
involved in a number of projects since then, including LORD OF THE
RINGS and DEADWOOD. Read an article on Brad at http://www.tv-
now.com/tesa/brad.htm.

THE MEMORY OF SHADOWS: Looking for all the information about JMS'
THE MEMORY OF SHADOWS? You can go to JMS Speaks here at The Zocalo
or visit The Lurker's Guide which has been updated with a new Memory
of Shadows page.

STARGATE ATLANTIS: Tonight is the long-awaited premiere of STARGATE
ATLANTIS. Robert C. Cooper, executive producer, indicates that the
show will be more than simply a rehash of its predecessor series,
STARGATE SG-1. "We want to appeal to the audience of SG-1, and we
wanted to capitalize on what we feel has made SG-1 a success and
made it this long-running show." Originally, ATLANTIS was designed
to replace SG-1 once it left the air, Cooper said. "There was a plan
to basically have SG-1 come to a close as a television series and
maybe roll into a series of feature films, and have that be more of
a passing of the baton into the new series," he said. "But SCI FI
asked us to do season eight [of SG-1] and season one of Atlantis at
the same time. So that caused us to rethink the concept a little bit
for the spinoff series, so that it would exist at the same time."
The result of this effort by Cooper and his team of writers was to
ship the Atlantis team of explorers to the distant Pegasus galaxy,
where they discover the lost city of Atlantis—but also find that
they can't return to Earth. "I think that made the spinoff series
better, made it stand alone a little bit more," Cooper said. "We
decided to set it in a different galaxy, which allowed us to kind of
wipe the slate clean and meant that the new team of heroes wasn't
going to be running into the same old enemies or crossing over …
with SG-1. We didn't want people to wonder, 'Well, why isn't SG-1
coming to save the day?' … And there was also something about why
hadn't we discovered where the lost city was? And the fact that it
was moved to a whole other galaxy, and there's this other new
frontier, so to speak: a whole new network of Stargates that you
can't really connect … easily with from the network in our galaxy.
And then coming up with a different enemy: That ultimately … set the
tone for the show." Instead of the Goa'uld, the bad guys are the
Wraith. "In many ways, the tone of SG-1 was set by the fact that the
Goa'uld had taken people from various times in Earth's history and
transplanted them in other galaxies, and we kind of went around
finding these little pockets of ancient culture. … The cultures in
the Pegasus galaxy are all being shaped by how they've dealt with
the overriding presence of the Wraith."

EMMY NOMINATIONS: A number of SF & F TV shows received nominations
this year, including CBS' JOAN OF ARCADIA with three nominations:
outstanding drama series, outstanding lead actress in a drama (Amber
Tamblyn) and outstanding guest actress in a drama (Louise Fletcher).
ALIAS received eight nominations, including outstanding lead actress
in a drama (Jennifer Garner) and outstanding supporting actor in a
drama (Victor Garber). SCI FI's BATTLESTAR GALACTICA received three
technical nominations, including outstanding visual effects for a
miniseries, and STARGATE SG-1 got one nod, for outstanding visual
effects for a series, for the season-ending episode "Lost City, Part
2." HBO's Carnivale received seven nominations; UPN's STAR TREK:
ENTERPRISE, with four; Showtime's DEAD LIKE ME, with two; the
canceled Fox animated series FUTURAMA, with two, including
outstanding animated series less than an hour; and ABC's Stephen
King's KINGDOM HOSPITAL, with two nominations.

SMALLVILLE: Executive Producer of SMALLVILLE, Miles Millar,
confirmed that star Tom Welling will be seen flying in the upcoming
fourth-season premiere—but not in a way viewers might expect. "He
doesn't fly as Clark. He flies as Kal-El," Millar said in an
interview at The WB's fall press preview in Los Angeles. "The first
episode is all about visualizing the internal fight between Clark
and Kal-El. Clark Kent represents his Earth-bound persona, the kid
who was brought up by the Kents. And Kal-El represents the person
that Jor-El wants him to be. This personifies that." This season
will focus on Clark's senior year of high school and will move
toward a big revelation toward the end, Millar hinted. "Clark Kent,
at the end of this year, will really graduate," he said. "And we're
introducing a whole new mythology as well that will involve Lana,
Lex and Clark. And at the end of the season we pay off something
that is huge in the Superman mythology. It all leads towards
something. Diehard fans of the mythology will realize what it is
pretty quickly, others won't." Smallville begins its fourth season
on Sept. 22 in its regular 8 p.m. ET/PT Wednesday timeslot.

DARK SHADOWS: The WB has abandoned development of the remake of DARK
SHADOWS. Garth Ancier, chairman of The WB said, "[It was]
wonderfully produced by John Wells, very well-written. [It] just
didn't quite gel the way we hoped it would gel, and we didn't go
forward, and we're not going forward."

XXX2: STATE OF THE UNION: Revolution Studios announced yesterday
that filming has begun on XXX: STATE OF THE UNION, the sequel to
2002's XXX. The movie is being directed by DIE ANOTHER DAY helmer
Lee Tamahori and stars Ice Cube as the leading man. Samuel L.
Jackson reprises his part as NSA Agent Augustus Gibbons. "XXX was a
tremendously rewarding experience for us, and we are thrilled to be
continuing this exciting franchise with XXX: STATE OF THE UNION,"
said Revolution Studios' Todd Garner. "Ice Cube is a talented and
diverse actor and Lee Tamahori is a gifted director, and their
unique abilities will make the second film in this franchise as
fresh and exciting as the first film." XXX: STATE OF THE UNION is
slated for a May 13, 2005 release.

STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE: Production on the fourth season of STAR TREK:
ENTERPRISE commenced this week. All of the show's seven principal
cast members are returning for more missions while the series moves
to Friday night at 9 PM starting this fall. The fourth season's
first episode is entitled "Storm Front Part I".

CSI: CSI's George Eads and Jorja Fox both received termination
letters, according to the Hollywood Reporter for what is described
as "breach of contract". Reportedly, the decision was made over a
salary dispute, after both actors asked for more money.

CATWOMAN: Catch a glimpse from CATWOMAN featuring Benjamin Bratt and
Sharon Stone by following this link to
http://movies.channel.aol.com/movie/main.adp?
_pgtyp=pdct&tab=trailers&mid=16232.

THE 4400: Sunday's telecast of THE 4400 was the highest-rated and
most-watched new series premiere ever on basic cable, with a 5.7 in
households, a 3.48 in P18-49, a 3.75 in P25-54. and 7.4 million
viewers watching in 5 million homes tuning in. "We're thrilled with
the extraordinary response to THE 4400 from critics as well as
viewers," said Bonnie Hammer, president, USA Network and SCI FI
Channel. "Its success is a result of a great product enhanced by
creative marketing and strong on-air promotion - in other words, the
total collaboration of a great team." THE 4400 now leads The Dead
Zone (4.7 household rating and 6.4 million viewers) and Peacemakers
(4.0 household rating and 5.2 million viewers) as the most-watched
original series premieres in basic cable history. USA Network now
boasts four of the five top original scripted series premieres in
basic cable history, including Monk (3.5 household rating and 4.8
million viewers). For more information about this new series, go to
http://www.usanetwork.com/series/the4400.

STARGATE ATLANTIS: With the premiere only a day away, you may want
to check out their website at
http://www.stargateatlantis.com/index.html. It has biographies, a
photo gallery, episode synopsis and more.
Some familiar faces will be turning up on ATLANTIS, namely Colm
Meany (Miles O'Brien on two "Trek" series), will guest-star in a
three-episode story arc late in the season, and X-FILES Robert
Patrick guests in the two-hour ATLANTIS premiere

STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE: UPN has announced that it will air STAR TREK:
ENTERPRISE at 8 p.m. ET/PT Fridays in the fall, instead of the
previously announced 9 p.m. ET/PT. UPN will begin airing reruns of
ENTERPRISE this summer in its new Friday timeslot beginning Aug. 6.

LOST: ALIAS' J.J. Abrams said in a recent interview that he wasn't
excited about the premise of his new show, LOST, until he and
executive producer Damon Lindelof added an element of mystery to
it. "In fact, I didn't even like the premise," Abrams said. "I mean,
the idea of a plane crash and people who land on an island, ... it
wasn't very interesting to me. But Damon came in, and we started
talking. And I started to think, '[What] if the island isn't just an
island, and if there's a story about the island, and if it very
slowly becomes about where they land and not just that they crash-
landed?'" In LOST, Matthew Fox leads a large cast playing survivors
of a devastating plane crash on a remote island. The survivors
slowly realize that they're not alone on the mysterious island,
which may harbor hostile creatures or worse. The cast includes
Dominic Monaghan (The Lord of the Rings), Harold Perrineau (The
Matrix Reloaded), Terry O'Quinn (Alias), Daniel Dae Kim (Angel-B5
Crusade) and Emilie de Ravin (Roswell), among others. Abrams said
that he and Lindelof were inspired by the works of Michael Crichton,
who often mixes science fiction with science fact in his
novels. "When [Crichton's] stuff works at its best, it's usually a
story that takes you in through the characters and explains stuff
sort of in a science-fact sort of way," Abrams said. "So by the time
you get to the science fiction, you've been sort of initiated. And
it felt to us that ... we can do the same and tell a story that's
from the inside out about these characters, something that interests
us, which is an aspect of science fiction, [and] not do a science-
fiction series, but ... have a show that has a thread of that in the
fabric of it. We need to do it in the beginning of the show and
not, 'Oh, by the way, we're now turning this into something that
also has science fiction.'"

SMALLVILLE: The WB has announced that the fourth season of
SMALLVILLE will begin on Wednesday, Sept. 22 at 8 p.m. (ET).

LAND OF THE DEAD: George Romero is set to direct LAND OF THE DEAD, a
horror film that picks up where NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD stopped and
continued with DAWN OF THE DEAD and DAY OF THE DEAD. Variety says
the film, from Romero's own script, will begin production in October
in Winnipeg or Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh was the site of shooting for
Romero's original 1968 zombie trilogy. The story is described as
following the zombies after they have taken over the world and those
left alive are confined to a walled-in city that keeps out the
corpse corps. Anarchy rules the streets, with the wealthy insulated
and living in fortified skyscrapers. The drama revolves around a
group of scavengers who must thwart an attempt to overthrow the city
while the dead are evolving from brainless slow-moving creatures
into more advanced creatures.

STARGATE SG-1: The SCIFI Channel was proud to announce that Friday's
two-hour eighth-season premiere of STARGATE SG-1 broke records with
a 2.4 rating in its July 9 initial airing. The two-part episode "New
Order" captured 3.22 million viewers, making it the most-watched
original episode of Stargate SG-1 in the series' history. The
episode also broke all of SCI FI's previous viewership records for
original series:
•It was the first episode of a SCI FI original series to deliver
more than 3 million viewers.
•It was the first episode of a SCI FI original series to deliver
more than 2 million viewers aged 25-54.
•It was the highest-rated and most-watched episode of Stargate SG-1
on SCI FI.
•It was the highest-rated and most-watched program on SCI FI in 2004.
•It was the most-watched Stargate SG-1 episode in its entire eight-
year cable run.
•It was the most-watched episode of an original series in SCI FI
history.
The Stargate SG-1 season premiere led SCI FI Channel to the top slot
for the night among viewers 25-54 and second place among 18- to 49-
year-olds.

REVELATIONS: In a recent interview, President of NBC Universal
Television Group, Jeff Zucker, talked about REVELATIONS, an upcoming
midseason replacement series. It will be an action-adventure series
in the style of Indiana Jones. "It's really … more about … the
search for whether or not the prophecies in the Book of Revelation
are coming true. That's really what it's about. It's more Raiders of
the Lost Ark in that respect and a thriller than it is about trying
to stop the end of the world." REVELATIONS, tentatively set to
premiere in January 2005, stars Bill Pullman and Natascha McElhone
in a one-hour drama about a group of people who are struggling to
forestall the prophecies in the Book of Revelation. When compared to
ABC's ill-fated supernatural-themed drama MIRACLES from last season,
Zucker said, "It's really an adventure. It's not similarly themed at
all. … There's maybe a religious underpinning to it, but it's not
that at all. It's an action-adventure. MIRACLES was not an action-
adventure. That was trying to do miracles. That's not what this is
at all. It's completely different."

SCARE TACTICS: Stephen Baldwin has signed on to host the third
season of SCARE TACTICS, replacing original host Shannen Doherty,
who has left to pursue other projects. SCI FI has ordered 14 new
episodes of Scare Tactics, a half-hour hidden-camera series produced
by Hallock Healey Entertainment.

FANTASTIC FOUR: According to the Hollywood Reporter, Jessica Alba,
DARK ANGEL, has won the role of The Invisible Woman in the FANTASTIC
FOUR movie. Alba beat out other potential candidates Rachel McAdams
(MEAN GIRLS) and Elizabeth Banks (SPIDER-MAN 2) for the part. Alba's
selection completes the quartet of superheros, which includes Ioan
Gruffudd as Mr. Fantastic, Chris Evans as the Human Torch, and
Michael Chiklis as The Thing. While no true details have leaked from
Simon Kinsberg's script, it's believed that the movie's villain
remains Doctor Doom. If that is still the case the character of Doom
would be the final major member of the production left to be cast.

A PHILOSOPHICAL INVESTIGATION: "The X-Files" creator Chris Carter is
set to direct the big-screen adaptation of British author Philip
Kerr's "A Philosophical Investigation" for Paramount Pictures. Mace
Neufeld, who has owned the rights to the novel for close to a
decade, is producing with Carter and "X-Files" collaborator Frank
Spotnitz. Carter and Spotnitz also will adapt the thriller.
Overseeing for Paramount is Brian Witten; Kel Symons will cover for
Mace Neufeld Prods. "The property was brought to me while (I was)
under contract to Paramount," Neufeld said. "It is one of my passion
projects, and they generally take a long time to get off the ground.
(Paramount chief) Sherry Lansing brought up the idea of Chris
Carter. I thought it was a great idea. I love 'The X-Files.' We had
an exciting dinner discussing it. We will be seeing a script
shortly. I'm a big fan of Chris and Frank and am very enthusiastic
about the project. There is a great role for a leading woman."

SHORE LEAVE: Reports have been received that SHORE LEAVE was again a
wonderful convention. The Tribute Video from John Hudgens for
Richard Biggs was very well received and a special auction to
benefit the memorial fund for Rick's children did well also.

MURDER, SHE WROTE: Ranger Jim pointed out that JMS' Season Eight
episodes of "Murder, She Wrote" have been airing on A&E recently.
Two episodes have already aired -- "Night Fears" (on 7/8) and "Lines
of Excellence" (today, 7/13) -- but three are still coming up --
  "The Committee" (7/19), "Incident in Lot 7" (7/23), and "To the End
Will I Grapple With Thee" (7/29). The A&E web site only lists
programming through 7/31, so, hopefully, Joe's Season Nine
episodes "The Wind Around the Tower" and "Final Curtain" will be
coming up too.

TOP BESTSELLING SF BOOKS:
1. The Da Vinci Code
2. Angels & Demons
3. Song of Susannah (Dark Tower 6)
4. The Time Traveler's Wife
5. Dark Destiny
6. Cravings
7. Potter paper box set
8. The Dark Tower (Dark Tower 7)
9. Eragon
10. Wicked
Source: Amazon.com, 7/9/04

SUPERMAN: More woes for SUPERMAN. Variety reports that Director McG
has dropped out of Warner Brothers' production after failing to
reach agreement on the movie's budget and location. McG becomes the
second director to abandon the film, after Brett Ratner. Warner is
reportedly already building sets at Australia's Fox studios. While
shooting outside the U.S. could save the studio tens of millions in
production costs, McG felt New York should be the location. He said
in a statement, "When I flew to New York to scout, I became enamored
with our greatest American city. It was clear to me that this was
Metropolis. As a filmmaker, I felt it was inappropriate to try to
capture the heart of America on another continent. I look at
Superman as a character that embodies all that is beautiful about
America." After many delays, SUPERMAN appeared to have new momentum.
Warner brought on producers Neil Moritz and Gilbert Adler, and McG
was testing actors and storyboarding the script by J.J. Abrams (TV's
Alias). Superman still has not been cast.

ENTERPRISE: While on the convention circuit, Marina Sirtis (Deanna
Troi) broke some news about upcoming STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE episodes.
She indicated that NEXT GENERATION actor Brent Spiner will appear in
three episodes next season in ENTERPRISE. Spiner, who brought to
life the character of Data, will be playing the human grandfather of
Data's creator, Dr. Noonian Soong. Rick Berman has stated that one
of his plans for next season is to bring "familiar" characters to
TREK fans onto ENTERPRISE. We'll have to see who follows Spiner.

UNIVERSAL HOME VIDEO: Here's an ambious schedule of releases from
Universal Home Video. The first season of several classic and modern
day television shows will be available on DVD before the close of
the year. Here's the upcoming lineup of TV goodness from USHV:
KNIGHT RIDER: SEASON ONE (August 3, 2004)
SLIDERS: THE FIRST AND SECOND SEASONS (August 3)
THE APPRENTICE: SEASON ONE (August 24)
THE MUNSTERS: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (August 24)
NIGHT GALLERY: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (August 24)
MAGNUM P.I.: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (September 7)
COLUMBO: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (September 7)
LAW & ORDER: THE FOURTEETH YEAR (September 14)
LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT - THE FIFTH YEAR (September 14)
LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT - THE THIRD YEAR (September 14)
DREAM ON: THE FIRST AND SECOND SEASONS (October 12)
AMAZING STORIES: SEASON ONE (November 2)
BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25th CENTURY: THE COMPLETE SERIES (November 16)
All of the DVD sets will be priced at $59.98 with the exception of
SLIDERS (priced at $89.98.) Universal also plans to release several
more TV shows on DVD before the close of the year; the programs
without a confirmed release date include the first seasons of MURDER
SHE WROTE, LAS VEGAS, MIAMI VICE, AMERICAN DREAMS, ALFRED HITCHCOCK
PRESENTS, THE BIONIC WOMAN and the television mini-series TRAFFIC,
SPARTACUS and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.

SMALLVILLE: According to the Hollywood Reporter, newcomer Erica
Durance has landed the coveted role of Superman's future love Lois
Lane on SMALLVILLE. On SMALLVILLE, Canadian actress Durance will
play Lois as a college freshman with no interest in journalism who
comes to Smallville to investigate the death of her cousin Chloe
Sullivan (Allison Mack).

DAY AFTER TOMORROW: Fox will unleash the single disc homevid version
of THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW on October 5th. Fox is creating a
lenticular box cover that appears to show movement of the storm
across the arm of the Statue of Liberty. Bonus features include two
filmmaker commentaries, deleted scenes and a DVD-ROM link to a
behind-the-scenes featurette.

FARSCAPE: The first trailer for the new mini-series FARSCAPE:
PEACEKEEPER WARS premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel during the season
eight premiere of STARGATE SG-1. The trailer is available for
download at Farscape Fantasy. The mini-series will premiere in the
US at 8pm US-EST on Sunday, 17th October 2004.

TRAILERS: Ranger Ky passed along the following links to two amazing
Asian sci-fi/fantasy trailers that may be of interest:
Casshern:
http://a1410.g.akamai.net/7/1410/1437/20040323/www.apple.com/jpred/qu
icktime/trailers/casshern_large.mov
D-War
http://www.younggu-art.com/dragonwars/index_dwar.htm
STARGATE SG-1: Richard Dean Anderson (Gen. Jack O'Neill) is both the
star and an executive producer of the show. He said in a recent
interview that one of the highlights of his career was shooting
scenes in a military helicopter in a glacier in Canada for STARGATE:
ATLANTIS. "Martin Wood [the pilot's director] and I took three
helicopters and went up to Pemberton Glacier [near Whistler, B.C.,]
and shot a sequence ... for ... the pilot of Atlantis," Anderson
said during a break in filming on the set of the show. It was "just
kind of the guilty pleasure of being able to ride around for 10
hours over the glacier, being chased by another helicopter," he said
with a smile. He said that he's able to keep things fresh after so
many years by finding the quirks in his character. "I've sort of
been blessed with the freedom to play and to find stuff and make
things as interesting as possible without fear of reprimand," he
said. "Blessedly I've had—how do I phrase it?—it's almost as though
some of my behavior has been condoned by the fact that in changing
lines or changing an approach to a scene or bringing really a tilted
attitude toward a scene and characterization, that that in itself
makes it fresh for me. There's the written page, the written word.
And then there's the voice of the character, which I know best, but
[executive producer] Brad Wright, I think, out of all the
writers ... has ... the voice of O'Neill closest. ... Coming to work
with what might seem like the same old stuff, [I] try to make it as
bright and as interesting as possible." STARGATE ATLANTIS premieres
with a two-hour episode, "Rising," at 9 p.m. ET/PT on July 16.

KING ARTHUR: There are a number of new movies opening this week,
including KING ARTHUR. The film brought in $4.8 million in domestic
ticket sales, a decent showing, but an unclear indicator of its box
office potential, Exhibitor Relations told the Reuters news service.
The revisionist tale of Arthur and his knights cost about $110
million to $120 million to make and is one of the biggest summer
movies for Disney, which lacks a runaway hit so far this year.
CONVENTION CALENDAR
July 22-25, 2004
COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL
Location: San Diego, California (USA)
Guests: To be announced
For more information, visit their website at http://www.comic-
con.org .

July 23-25, 2004
ALTERNATE UNIVERSE
Location: Thistle Heathrow Hotel - London
Guests: John Rhys-Davis, Colin Cunningham, J.R. Bourne, Andrea
Thompson, Sarah Douglas, Peter Stebbings, Marc Cass
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.l3conventions.co.uk/alternateuni.htm .

July 29-Aug 1, 2004
CREATION CONVENTION
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Guests William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Tim Russ, Ethan Phillips,
Nana Visitor, Robert Picardo, Walter Koenig, David Gerrold
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.creationent.com/ .

July 29-Aug 1, 2004
VULKON CONVENTION
Location: Doubletree Hotel Tampa Airport
City: Tampa, FL
B5 Guests: Patricia Tallman, Jeffrey Willerth
Guests: Christopher Judge, Connor Trinneer, Alexis Cruz, Dean
Haglund, Garrett Wang, Michael Forest
For more information, visit their website at
http://www.vulkon.com/ .

I guess that's about it for now.
Have a safe and happy weekend.
Be safe,
Sandy

Sandra Bruckner
Editor/Publisher
ISN News:  The Zocalo Today
http://www.isnnews.net