A few leftovers from The Strong Box.
"ROSWELL" LOSES AN EPISODE?
TV Guide Online indicates that "Roswell" returns to its old WB timeslot with new installments on April 16, and also that the first new show to air will be the big prom episode, 2.17, titled "Heart of Mine."
If TV Guide got it right, it looks like the continuity-heavy sci-fi series will skip airing 2.16 (titled "Off The Menu") which explains, among other things, why Liz goes on a date with Maria’s cousin Sean in 2.17.
UPDATE: Oops, it looks like TV Guide Online may indeed have it wrong -- at least in its listings. If you click for details of the April 16 episode in the listings (at least for Los Angeles' KTLA), you get this:
Heart of Mine (60 min.) Max and Liz agree to go to the prom together as friends, while Michael tells Maria that the festive event is “totally bogus.” Isabel considers asking Alex to the dance and Kyle sets his sights on taking Tess. Sean: Devon Gummersall. Amy: Diane Farr. Max: Jason Behr. Liz: Shiri Appleby. Michael: Brendan Fehr.
But if you click on TV Guide Online's "Roswell show page," and scroll down to "Upcoming Episodes" you get this:
Apr 16: Off the Menu: An electrical shock knocks out power throughout Roswell and causes Brody to recall his alien abductions. The frantic man then takes Max, Tess, Maria and her family hostage at the UFO Center. Michael and Isabel come looking for Max...and stumble into the crisis.
UPDATE II: An insider offers this:
Well, actually [2.16] is not lost. It's being moved to just before the finale (yes, between "Baby it's You" and "Departures"). Yes, all logic has seemingly been tossed out the window. Anyhow, you can get anybody with credentials to the WB media site to confirm the move of 2.16 to just before the finale. The memo went out on April 2nd (and many thought it was a joke a day late).
There were rumors floating around the set on the last few days of filming that some serious re-editing was going to be done to multiple already finished episodes. I'm not sure how this could be saved in editing continuity wise, but who knows. They also did quite a few cleanup shots on earlier episodes before filming wrapped. No clue on content except that one of the scenes was another Maria with a blackboard explanation.
For more details on the balance of "Roswell’s" second season, consult Coax’s reliable "Roswell" Spoilerama.
"THE TICK" GETS A DATE?
"Dish" star Patrick Warburton told Craig Kilborn on CBS’s "Late Late Show" Thursday night that Fox’s very funny live-action primetime version of "The Tick," announced as a mid-season show last May, will now premiere this autumn.
For more details on the show (which stars Warburton in the title role), consult Herc’s review of the "Tick" pilot , posted way back on June 16, 2000.
TNN Goes Trekkie?
It sure ain’t "The Nashville Network" anymore!
Those who have demonized Rick Berman will be wise to avoid a newly-rechristened "The National Network" this autumn, as the producer’s handiwork will soon consume the Viacom-owned cable channel.
The Hollywood Reporter relayed confirmation Friday morning that TNN will begin airing "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and "Star Trek: Voyager" in October, beginning with a weeklong (!) marathon offering five "Star Trek" movies and episodes from the "Next Generation" series. Will Herc immediately program his dozens of televisions and VCRs to block TNN?
He will not!
Let me conclude here by (girding my loins and) expressing just a few very unpopular views, as I did to RoboGeek the other week.
While recent episodes of "Voyager" admittedly do not to me represent the creative acme in the "Trek" franchise’s 35-year history, I will always harbor a great deal of respect for how Berman (and Michael Piller and Ron Moore and, yes, Brannan Braga) helped turn "The Next Generation" around. The first season, the only one with which Roddenberry was actively involved, was pretty horrible; it was only when Berman didn't have Gene looking over his shoulder that the show began to hire better writers, pick up some steam and evolve into, if you’ll excuse the pun, a really brainy enterprise.
Berman also had a great deal to do with the creation and management of "Deep Space Nine," my favorite "Trek" series to date. And one might give Berman kudos for overseeing the feature "Star Trek: First Contact," which I consider hugely entertaining (even as Berman’s "Generations" and "Insurrection" remain pretty fucking mediocre).
After nearly 15 years as televised "Trek's" guiding force, should Berman surrender control of some or all of the franchise to others? Sure. Maybe. But one thing one shouldn’t take away from the guy: an enormous amount of entertaining television was nurtured under Berman's watch.
