The Box: T.V. & Electronic News – 5/21/08

1) Actor Eric Stoltz will join the cast of the Sci Fi Channel's two-hour Caprica pilot, a prequel series to Battlestar Galactica. Stoltz will play Daniel Graystone, a wealthy computer engineer who, after suffering a family tragedy, uses his technological prowess to change the future of Caprica. Alessandra Toressani, Paula Malcomson and Esai Morales also star.

In related news, the Sci Fi Channel announced in the New York Times that they are trying to increase their female viewing audience and females don’t like spaceships, so they will be having less Galactica-type fare in the future, and more non-genre fare like reality shows. A significant number of the channel’s staff is reputed to have been fired or have quit. No, we’re not joking.

2) The Weinstein Co. will adapt the Jim Henson former HBO series Fraggle Rock into a live-action musical feature film. Cory Edwards will direct the film and write the screenplay. The Jim Henson Co. will produce. The film will be a mix of human characters and muppets, like the show, which ran for five seasons in the 1980’s. The first three seasons have been released on DVD.

3) Freshman scifi series Chuck on NBC is getting a tie-in six-issue comics series through DC Comics branch WildStorm, with stories independent from the t.v. episodes. The show concerns Chuck Bartowski, a computer repairman at an electronics store, whose brain becomes a high-tech database of government spy information when his estranged college pal sends him a piece of advanced research. The comic book will be released in June, while the series is on summer hiatus. Actor Zachary Levi, who plays Chuck on the show, will contribute a piece for the comic.
 
4) U.S. Network Television SFF Shows:
 
Shows Cancelled:
 
Bionic Woman (NBC)
Cavemen (ABC)
Jericho (CBS)
Journeyman (NBC)
Moonlight (CBS)
New Amsterdam (FOX)
 
Shows Renewed:
 
Chuck (NBC)
Family Guy (FOX)
Ghost Whisperer (CBS)
Heroes (NBC)
Lost (ABC)
Medium (NBC)
Pushing Daisies (ABC)
Reaper (CW)
Smallville (CW)
Supernatural (CW)
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (FOX)
 
New Shows:
 
Eleventh Hour (CBS)
Fringe (FOX)
Knight Rider (NBC)
Life on Mars (ABC)
My Own Worst Enemy (NBC)
The Ex-List (CBS)
Dollhouse (FOX)
Merlin (NBC)
The Cleveland Show (FOX)