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Syfy Picks Up Ex-ABC Brainpower Pilot ALPHAS!!
I am – Hercules!!
After finding itself derailed by the writers strike, ABC’s action-adventure pilot “Section 8” has been reborn at Syfy as “Alphas.”
The 90-minute pilot penned by Zack Penn (“X-Men: The Last Stand”) and Michael Karnow “follows a team of ordinary citizens who possess hyperdeveloped neurological abilities,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The ABC version featured a hot girl who could bend people to her will, a “Rain Man”-type autistic savant, an ex-FBI agent who could use adrenaline to give himself super-strength, and a woman who could destroy stuff with her voice.
Find all of the Reporter’s story on the matter here.
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From Mike Nelson, Head Writer & Star Of MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000!!
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Makes a Heroes rip-off that sounds less cool, somehow? SyFy channel, that's about right.
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....means superpowers? As in 4400, or Heroes ?
Well, that's something new. -
You know who had hyperdeveloped neurological abilities? THE PHOENIX
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Hot chicks have always been able to bend men to their will.
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Seriously, Heroes on Syfy. Can't imagine anything worse.
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Sounds like a cheap ass copy of the Heroes model alright.
All it needs now is Dean Cain in it!
And swearing,
Deary deary me..... -
Can't we wait until this one dies a painful death?
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Are there no original ideas? GOSH!
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is a T'Pol spinoff of ST:E. It'll never happen but it should. In the meantime this show announced in this thread sounds generic - not really unique enough even to sound awful. Sci Fi (excuse me SyFy) likes these shows like Eureka about "regular" people, but they are so boring.
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I still watch it occasionally.
What I find annoying in it, isn't so much that an intellectual light-weight like the Sherrif is usually able to out think the geniuses with his "gosh darn good-old-boy" smarts. (That's a common enough theme in Americana and I'm used to it by now.) No, what's annoying is the way they treat science constantly as something which is dangerous instead of beneficial. It's a far more subtle and insidious message to hit Syfy's viewers with. -
I think we should be more clear on which show it is ripping off.
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Create a "Damage Control" series with occasional cameos from Iron Man, Spider-Man, etc.
It's already been mentioned in the Iron Man film, so why not? -
Just the name of the channel kills it for me. Which idiot decided on renaming the existing one to that silly, meaningless monicker?
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Given the guy's resume includes what was easily the poorest of the three X-MEN films, that's not a selling point either.
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I'm not the only one that thought of MISFITS OF SCIENCE god I loved that show
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Then it just convinced me that this is another Heroes. Destroying stuff with your voice is a very lame power. It makes the person with the ability look silly. Case in point, go watch "PUSH". Or even any power that uses sound waves to destroy things is inherently silly. I remember in X-Men 3 there's this gay guy that claps real hard and produces sound waves and destroys shit. That is a facepalm moment right there. What the writers of these tv shows need to understand is that they need work within the confines of suspension of disbelief. All the truly great tv shows work within these confines. Others that break away from it can become popular, but non of them are "great".
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Why doesnt "syfy" commission a writer to take the Alpha script and rework it into a pilot for a Mystery Men series?
And make it dark and quirky like a cross between Twin Peaks, The Lost Room and Angel. -
Why is that? Is it pandering to a borderline retarded audience that fears what it doesn't understand?
I would like to see a serious show where the protagonists are (non-stereotypical) geniuses at math, physics etc, and use actual science (please, just for once, no technobabble or mumbo jumbo) to solve the problem of the week / ongoing mystery . I suppose House is pretty close, but with hard science instead of medicine.
Surely that would get at least 3 or 4 viewers on, say, HBO :S
At least it would give us a decent talkback! -
Science is very dangerous. Atomic bomb scientists feared they may set the atmosphere on fire. Or the Tuskegee experiment and what horrible approach it took.
Eureka says science is dangerous but can be controlled or reversed. Unlike say Terminator or any biological pathogen flick.
The sheriff represents the every man average person, who may not grasp the jargon but understands the principle.
Eureka is the opposite of what you stated. Plus it is consistent.
And they had a North Dakota joke in the Green episode. How fucking slick was that. -
there was a spectacular one over the weekend with dragons. my brother and i MST3Ked through it and killed a good hour of our day.keep em comin, syfi. they serve their purpose.
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Science is not "very dangerous".
This is an oft-quoted falsehood, spread by just those very same people I was talking about. People who denigrate science for fears sake.
The same sort of people who love to talk about how the Large Hadron Collider could destroy the world or something.
With regard to the Atom Bomb, all of the scientists were utterly convinced that even the most optimistic estimate of the bomb's power would not produce temperatures high enough to ignite the atmosphere.
When the bomb exploded, the confidence of *one* physicist was briefly tested. Emilio Segre wrote: "We saw the whole sky flash with unbelievable brightness in spite of the very dark glasses we wore...I believe that for a moment I thought the explosion might set fire to the atmosphere and thus finish the earth, even though I knew that this was not possible."
Amazing how many people leave off that last part of the quote.
He was the only scientist to *briefly* fear it might be possible, even though he intellectually knew it was not possible. And I suppose he can be forgiven for that. He's only human after all. We can't all be like Richard Feynmann, who stood by the science so completely that he ditched the dark glasses and watched the explosion from behind the windshield of his car because visible light couldn't hurt his eyes, and UV was stopped by glass.
So why did they know it was impossible to ignite the atmosphere? Because the calculations said so. Calculations scribbled on blackboards and countless pads of paper. Calculations based on mathematical theories of the atom, of gas mechanics, of thermodynamics, of electromagnetism. Calculations based on three hundred years of experiments.
And why do people like you continue to trot out such falsehoods in the name of fear?
Fucked if I know. I just wish you (and shows like Eureka) would get a grip. -
Nice one and you are right; we cannot ll be like the bongo playing prof. The mold was broken when that bloke was stamped out.
The dangers of science are not of science itself more they are the ineptitudes, ignorance and prejudices of man. -
Too bad, seeing that all the best sci-fi on television is currently on BBC America.
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Aug 05, 2009 9:51:41 AM CDT
V'Shael, Right only the APPLICATION of science is DANGEROUS.
by evilwizardglick
For every story you rel;ate there are application stories that scare the shit out of you. Biological contaminants for one.
Plain and simple shit happens. Shit happens in REAL WORLD applications.
That doesn't mean I'm anti-science, I just understand how many "accidents" occur daily.
Here are some examples of science gone bad
Is there anything radium can’t do? In the 1920s and early 1930s, companies tout it as a cure-all and put the radioactive element in toothpaste, ear plugs, soap, suppositories, and even contraceptives.
One of the biggest sellers is a radium-laced water called Radithor. Steel magnate Eben Byers drink approximately 1,400 bottles of the stuff over the course of several years, believing that it is the key to longevity.
The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male[1] (also known as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, Public Health Service Syphilis Study, or the Tuskegee Experiment) was a clinical study conducted between 1932 and 1972 in Tuskegee, Alabama, by the U.S. Public Health Service. Investigators recruited 399 poor, mostly illiterate,[citation needed] African-American sharecroppers with syphilis for research related to the natural progression of the untreated disease in hopes of justifying treatment programs for blacks.[2]
The 40-year study was controversial for reasons related to ethical standards, primarily because researchers failed to treat patients appropriately after the 1940s validation of penicillin as an effective cure for the disease. Revelation of study failures led to major changes in U.S. law and regulation on the protection of participants in clinical studies, including the necessity for informed consent, communication of diagnosis, and accurate reporting of test results.[3]
Lobotomies
On the morning of July 14, 1959, Sodium Reactor Experiment trainee John Pace received the bad news from a group of supervisors who had, he recalled, "terribly worried expressions on their faces."
A reactor at the Atomics International field laboratory in the Santa Susana Mountains had experienced a power surge the night before and spewed radioactive gases into the atmosphere.
"They were terrified that some of the gas had blown over their own San Fernando Valley homes," recalled Pace, who was 20 at the time. "My job was to keep radiation out of the control room."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-rose/los-angeles-nuclear-meltd_b_231105.html
Still, according to Hirsch, the meltdown released enough radioactive isotopes to cause over a thousand cancers. While the SRE melting may have fallen short of other large scale catastrophes the nuclear industry didn't want the public to know about what happened in LA's backyard.
There are stories about diseases escaping safe rooms at research facilities.There was Flu testing on both coasts by the CIA to follow spread patterns. There have been parts failures at NORAD which almost started an all out nuclear war.
Paper science is benign but APPLICATION is frequently flawed.
Again those were just the easy ones to recall. -
Science is dangerous, when you go far enough to confirm you are right, and not far enough to confirm you may be wrong.
Fear of science is just as bad. The nuclear discussion for example. More folks die in the coal industry every year than have been killed in nuclear accidents EVER.
As for hard science TV show: it's called NOVA Science now. PBS. It's that network that plays tons of music twice a year during pledge week.
As for Science narrative TV. CSI is actually close. Most of the technology is current. The suspension fo disbelief happens in the time compression aspect. But you get time compression in any show: CSI, House, Law & Order. House is a procedural hybrid, as it is character-driven. Characters are mostly irrelevant/interchangeable on most procedurals. So the question is, do you want a narrative show about Science? Which you sort of have. Or narrative show about Scientists? Which would probably be boring as shit.
Now for the important part: This proposed show sounds like shit. I can't believe you people run down the Stargate franchise and jack it over this proposed dreck.
Mad Men back in Eleven DAYS!!!! WOOT!!! -
http://www.cracked.com/article_16583_5-scientific-experiments-most-likely-end-world.html
The 5 Scientific Experiments Most Likely to End the World
The U.S. program of atmospheric nuclear testing exposed a number of the population to the hazards of fallout. Estimating exact numbers, and the exact consequences, of people exposed has been medically very difficult, with the exception of the high exposures of Marshallese Islanders and Japanese fisherman in the case of the "Castle Bravo" incident in 1954. A number of groups of U.S. citizens — especially farmers and inhabitants of cities downwind of the Nevada Test Site and U.S. military workers at various tests — have sued for compensation and recognition of their exposure, many successfully. The passing of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 1990 allowed for a systematic filing of compensation claims in relation to testing as well as those employed at nuclear weapons facilities. As of June 2009 over $1.4 billion dollars total has been given in compensation, with over $660 million going to "downwinders".[8]
http://www.amazon.com/Plague-Wars-Story-Biological-Warfare/dp/0330367536
In South Africa and Zimbabwe, biological weapons have already been used to kill innocent victims. To reveal these stories, the authors have secured the co-operation of the American Department of Defence, the United Nations and various civilian and military intelligence agencies. Here is a factual account that reads like fiction: a taut investigation behind the headlines which identifies the real Plague Warriors, those behind the new weapons of horror, and the men and women dedicated to defending us against them.
http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Zone-Terrifying-True-Story/dp/0385495226/ref=pd_sim_b_1
The dramatic and chilling story of an Ebola virus outbreak in a surburban Washington, D.C. laboratory, with descriptions of frightening historical epidemics of rare and lethal viruses. More hair-raising than anything Hollywood could think of, because it's all true.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6070345
Robert McNamara and 1960s secret biological weapons' testing in US.
(Example)The Defense Department sprayed live nerve and biological agents on ships and sailors in cold war-era experiments to test the Navy's vulnerability to toxic warfare, the Pentagon revealed today. The Pentagon documents made public today showed that six tests were carried out in the Pacific Ocean from 1964 to 1968. In the experiments, nerve or chemical agents were sprayed on a variety of ships and their crews to gauge how quickly the poisons could be detected and how rapidly they would disperse, as well as to test the effectiveness of protective gear and decontamination procedures in use at the time.
http://www.democracynow.org/2005/5/2/hundreds_of_hiv_foster_children_in
Hundreds of HIV+ Foster Children in NYC Subjected to Experimental Drug Trials
Aidsgeneric
New York City’s child welfare department opens an investigation into whether they forced HIV positive children in foster care to submit to experimental AIDS drug trials. We speak with the commissioner for New York’s Administration for Children’s Services, New York City councilman Bill Perkins and Vera Sharav of the Alliance for Human Research Protection
Maybe you should read more real world materials. -
I find it hard to define just what is immoral in scientific applications. If it saves a million lives is it alright to kill a single child while testing?
They main problem is we have steered away from people like this
http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-researchers-who-experimented-on-themselves.php
Top 10 Researchers who Experimented on Themselves
Either way science is not totally benign. -
Fox passes on it and SyFy's golden boy Ron Moore created it. Plus it's movie/pilot was fantastic even according to all the critics. Come on SYFY.
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If you have hyperdeveloped neurological abilities, you're not ordinary. In fact you're pretty far from ordinary. For example: ordinary is the power to order a cup of coffee in a coffee shop. Of course no one wants to watch that show...or will they? Hello NBC!
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It blows me away how many of you are a bunch of sheep and follow the new corporate name for Science Fiction.
Lame! -
What the fuck. My friends and I have ideas ten times better than the rehashes they crap out. Who's getting paid for coming up with this crap?
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The circle of derivative entertainment continues...
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It sounds rather bland. Although so did the "Warehouse 13" concept when I first heard about it and so far I'm enjoying it.
What SyFy SHOULD do is pickup "The Middleman". A better bit of writing and absolute fun I've NEVER seen. -
That's all I got to say.
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I picked up SyFy myself once...
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godaweful low budget Canadian produced X-Men rip-off? Because that is a fucking masterpiece compared to this piece of Zak Penn produced shit.
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Now there's a super-power!
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Now they will have a Heroes rip-off to go with their Fringe rip-off.
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Make the woman sing to defeat her foes?
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Heroes. X-Men. Wow, how fucking original.
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That's not really a super power though, is it?
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There's no professional wrestling in it.
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Maybe this one will actually be better.
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When for 5 mil and an executive with some balls, or at the very least a true opinion not based on numbers or what other people think, they could get great "Sci-Fi" like MOON, instead of shit like "Aztec Rex" or "Attack of the Sabretooth"
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But hopefully this won't be so drunk with its own mythology.
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since everyone is so scientific in this talkback, how about we get all scientific on scyfi's ass and boycott their show, then we can watch again next week and see the aicn overweight basement dwelling scientist nerd effect on viewer numbers. We can do some biostatistical analysis and shit, positive and negative trials, yo. Or how about we all jack off and mail our semen to scyfi? Would that be scientific?
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The X-Files rip-off.
Un-originality is the current trend for today's TV. -
"I would like to see a serious show where the protagonists are (non-stereotypical) geniuses at math, physics etc, and use actual science (please, just for once, no technobabble or mumbo jumbo) to solve the problem of the week / ongoing mystery"
Well, have you tried watching Numb3rs? Naturally, that series has its own share of facepalms, but at least it tries :) -
caused heroes to learn nothing at all which has lead to this.
i reserve judgement but its scifi, so anything could happen. for gods sake get some comic book writers in. -
All those syllables could've been broken down with only this ---> Super Powers.
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a shower after watching the "Syfy" Channel. For crying out loud, pick up the rights to MST3K and just air 'em again. Sci-fi's biggest fuck up.
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Haven't really watched Numb3rs, always got the impression it was a bog-standard police procedural with a 'wacky brother' thrown in...
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Aug 06, 2009 11:59:45 AM CDT
A hot girl that can bend over in front of people? Wow!
by mrmysteryguest
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Aug 06, 2009 12:41:07 PM CDT
"Woman who could destroy stuff witn her voice = Celine Dion
by mrmysteryguest
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So there.
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Everything else is just filler...
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