Cool News
SciFi Gets Back Into The RIVERWORLD Business!!
I am – Hercules!!
Never mind that SciFi Channel never made a series from its 2003 “Riverworld” pilot; the channel has just ordered a new four-hour miniseries based on the same Philip Jose Farmer series of novels.
The books are about the surprising place we all go when we die (hint: not the bellies of worms). The 2003 pilot focused on an astronaut. The 2009 version will center on a photojournalist.
SciFi announced also that it had greenlit two other miniseries based on famous franchises: a Zane-free superhero saga “The Phantom” and a Depp-free version of “Alice in Wonderland,” the latter from the writer-director behind “Tin Man.”
Both the “Riverworld” and “Phantom” minis could evolve into ongoing series.
Find all of James Hibberd’s Live Feed report on the matter here.
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Honestly, since we're dealing with Scif... Uh, I mean, Syfy... Let's just hope they don't suck. I'd be glad for that.
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oh dear...
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More like God save us all
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It was the Outer Zone. O.Z. Oz! GET IT?? And DG! How edgy! How can you go wrong with THAT little bit of gold??
Ugh. I've already given up on Alice. Even Zooey Deschanel and Alan Cumming couldn't save that Tin Man horseshit. -
I ended up dozing off twice while trying to watch it. One of these days I might end up finishing watching the whole thing to give an opinion on the complete story.
Riverworld and The Phantom might be interesting and SciFi... or *shudder* SyFy *end shudder* could use some interesting programs. I'm not sure Caprica or Warehouse 13 are going to do it for me after viewing the previews.
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At least it will be on July 7th.
http://www.syfy.com
(And that has to be the stupidest fucking channel "name change/rebranding" in history.) -
Give me more Farscape. Pair it up with Caprica and SG:U or W or whatever the hell it's called, and bring back Sci-Fi-Friday.
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It was barely acceptable. I loved the first three books in the series and with the grittier takes on sci-fi and fantasy of late can we hope for better things this time round?
The Phantom was very cool in it's day, but another costumed hero on tv?? -
yes, we need tin-man-like version of alice in wonderland, but god forbid they actually do a lost room series...
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as long as 25% of the film is new info that expands on some crazy metaphysical conundrum from the show...or big space battles, we'll buy it.
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Best series that sci-fi could do after the mini series and they didnt. sorry syfy but these project dont exactly fill me with hope
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It made me interested in reading the books. Didn't care much for the writing, but the concept was really good.
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New Zealand.
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...on the same cheap-ass sets located on the grounds of some public park in Vancouver.
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My nerd friends and I played GURPS Riverworld a looong time ago. Definitely a neat idea for a series, but it raises a lot of questions. Would the show focus on one guy as he unravels the secrets of Riverworld? Would it focus on a group who all arrive around the same time, which would give it a "Lost" sort of vibe? Or would it focus on a different new arrival with each episode? Each strategy would give the show a pretty different "feel" to it. Also, bad casting and stingy budgets could quickly turn it into an exercise in suck. Tread carefully SyPhy!
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Mar 23, 2009 8:19:23 AM CDT
The 2003 Riverworld pilot sucked because my wife liked it.
by leafar the lost
I remember reading the book a long time ago, so I was initially excited in '03 when the Riverworld pilot showed...and my wife liked it. My wife also liked "Mall Cop", so I don't need to write anymore on that. This new miniseries will probably suck to, unless you actually film the book. If you did that, then you would have a very interesting show that mixes sci/fi with religious concepts, kind of like BSG and the upcoming "Caprica", which will probably suck. Oh, the Phantom miniseries will definately suck. No way. It just doesn't translate from the comic strip, and the Phantom's costume is the gayest one of all time. DOA...
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The one Scifi did before was aweful. The books were excellent. The miniseries completely missed the mark on the potential greatness they COULD do with a series.
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Seriously.
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Oh yeah, we need this in teh vary capable hands of Sci-fi (er Scy-Fy). These are teh same peopel who shove trash on the air every weekend and call them original movies. I see this being Asylum Productions quality and Phantom deserves better.
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From the new homepage:
SyFy: Imagine Greater
"This is Sci Fi Channel's new brand identity.
"The brand evolution is reflective of our broader range of imagination based entertainment.
"It creates an ownable and extendable brand for the future."
To SciFi/SyFy
Firstly, shut the fuck up with all the Management Consultant shit. Do you know just how ridiculous that sounds?
Secondly, "ownable" is not even a REAL FUCKING WORD! Try using a goddamn dictionary.
Do you honestly think that having stuff on the SciFi Channel that isn't SciFi is too much for our tiny minds?
So, we're dribbling idiots, Oh I see ...
Oh and I don't know if you've noticed, by SyFy sounds EXACTLY the same as SCIFI.
If you were THAT bothered about it, why didn't you change you channel's name to something completely different, like KACHANGA?
At least THAT would have made SOME sense ...
Possibly the most stupid thing I've seen in quite some time.
COCKS! -
don't expect this to be much better.
Might have a little faith if they were following the novels -
Mar 23, 2009 11:05:19 AM CDT
why can't they just do the original story with the original cha
by brotherbradshaw
Well, why can't they? from wikipedia: ...including Sir Richard Burton, Alice Hargreaves, Samuel Clemens, King John of England, Tom Mix, Mozart, Jack London, Lothar von Richthofen and Hermann Göring
I loved those characters. -
started with intriguing situation, devolved into Road Warrior on the River with Mark Twain--nothing of value, just an empty shell.One would hope the second attempt will be better, but then this is the network with suits that complain about the lack of puppies on BSG and think Syfy Syphy is a good "branding"
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But I seem to be in the minority. It's a great premise for a series though, so here's hoping!
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Yeah, it was kind of corny and cheezy. But I thought the movie had some potential. It was a bit better than alot of the other movies SciFi cranks out.
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...text messaging slanf for "Shut Your F*ckin' Yap"? It should be anyway. Stupid network!
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...because their production rights are about to expire and they're hoping they might actually come up with something worth watching with continued attempts.
From pilot to photojournalist, and when this one is complete and utter FAIL! what interesting new profession will our protagonist have in the next iteration? I'm hoping for Bob from accounting FTW! -
Mar 23, 2009 2:45:05 PM CDT
"There's gonna be trouble, right here in Riverworld City..."
by mrmysteryguest
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In the books only fish and worms exist alongside man. They did such a great job with Children of Dune, but Shitworld was without redemption.
The new Riverworld will probably have computers, motorcycles, and cyborgs. -
or SyFy channel series. They so badly jerked everyone around with BSG, that I refuse to get stuck like that again.
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Totally and majorly underwhelmed and quite possibly disgusted with any or all of these upcoming "adaptations"....now that Battlestar Galactica is over...there really is no real valid reason to pay attention to a network that has taken a nosedive into the network cesspool of crap and is a festering Fuck You to all sci fi fans.
I think the only decent adaptation Sci Fi Channel has ever done well was the both Dune mini series...and even those left me feeling that Sci Fi didn't make them, some European Studio did so and Sci Fi just bought the rights for here in the US.
Until the current head of the Network is replaced or down right fired (and I hope she is forced to watch reruns of Lex and ALL of the Star-Crap SG1 Episodes over and over and over and over...stuck in a room that is a permanent form of pure purgatory and force fed the crap she ruined the network with from here to eternity!)? Expect to be nothing but disappointed with the myriad of "Adaptations" and made for Sci-Fi movies
Sorry to be so cynical...but.. -
I'm confused.
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Who am I kidding? It's gonna focus on Paul Revere, Lucius Varrus, King Louis XIV, and Clark from Lewis and Clark. Because, you know, they were in the book series. And they can use the joke Louis and Clark over and over.
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I knew the producers of Tin Man had also done the most recent Flash Gordon and a bunch of other crap so I IMDB'ed Tin Man to see who the director was. It turns out Nick Willing, the director of Tin Man, already did Alince in Wonderland back in 1999 http://is.gd/oCAc There's a trailer for it at the IMDB link too.Nothing like going back to the well one more time I guess...
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Am I missing something?
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...was Taken (the miniseries about UFO's, not the movie with Liam Neeson). Hell, that was what, 6-7 years back? The miniseries was overseen by Spielberg and even then it bordered on crapness. It was particularly humorous to watch the whiney film school chick from Blair Witch Project playing a villain, though. I also liked Emily Bergl as an early-90's riot grrl Seattle Grunge band girl (I got a thing for halfway-cute redhead chicks, what can I say?) It also had Dakota Fanning in all the "Children of the Damned" creepiness of her younger years as a human/alien hybrid kid with Hiro Nakamura's time-stopping powers. Of course it ended with the idiotic Spielbergian reveal that the aliens were experimenting on us in order to obtain the emotions and feelings they had lost long ago. An ending only a lame-o old fart like Spielberg and swishy emo kids could love. Craptacular, yes, but it was head and shoulders above anything Siffy has shoveled out in the last couple of years.
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My wife sucked because neither of us liked it..Ha Ha
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My wife loved Baby's Day Out and all of its sequels. That's right, fellas--Baby's Day Out.
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Unless they follow the book more closely - featuring Sir Richard Francis Burton, Joe the not-quite Neanderthal, Ulysses, etc. The concept of Burton committing suicide over and over to take the chance of getting closer to the source of the Riverworld river was awesome, as was continually running into Hermann Goring. The original Sci Fi attempt was truly abominable compared to the book - I never understood the argument of not using Burton as a character because no one would know who he was, so instead they use a totally new character (the astronaut) that no one knew who he was. I agree with one of the previous posters, however - the writing, especially the second book with all the whiny handwringing by Mark Twain, did get old real fast.
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now this dreck. Come on. Just -- come on. Bad. Evil. Stupid. The first Riverworld was ass on ass. There's billions of better stories than any of these three.
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The 2003 Riverworld was just crap. Horses in it? Just plain stupid!
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...was given to me by my grandfather and was the first sci-fi book i ever read...loved it and got me hooked on the genre.If they stick close to the book it could be ok...i will watch it regardless of whats said here as everything appears to be hated.
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...was just so Xenu, it's not funny. Farmer really threw a lot of good ol' Scientology into those books so why not get Tom Cruise to executive produce the thing? A name figurehead/producer might ensure better production values than the last version and a closer adherence to the books. Or maybe find another H/wood thetan to exec produce, except John Travolta because he's responsible for Battlefield: Earth. His science fiction privileges are permanently revoked!
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i could care less though. i'm pulling the plug on the channel at the end of the month. had my fill with the countless hours of unwatchable shit shoveled onto the "sci-fi" channel for the past 5 years.
bsg is done. law & order reruns are waiting in the que. reality tv is 1/3 of their programming. shitty movies are another 1/3. and the last 1/3 will be questionable to bad sci-fi series. not worth paying for the channel anymore.
bye-bye siffy. -
How could it be crap? Oh sorry, he was only the fanboy messiah until recently. I forgot.
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lets fuck that up
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Slam it baby!
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