...are coming to the Sci-Fi Channel and NBC. It is interesting to note which series are coming to which channel.First up we have the new Bionic Woman series coming to NBC. Premiering on September 26th, the series loosely follows the original plot to the seventies Bionic Woman show which starred Lindsey Wagner as Jamie Sommers. In the original series, which was a spin-off of the popular Six-Million Dollar Man show (which itself was inspired by the novel CYBORG by Martin Caidin), Jamie Sommers is a tennis player who is injured in a skydiving accident and has the cyborg treatment done to her by the US Goverment. In her operation, she had both legs, one arm, and one ear replaced. She was set up as a teacher and worked for the Office of Scientific Investigations. She battled the same type of enemies as her male counterpart, and often teamed up with him.In the new series, Jamie Sommers (portrayed by Michelle Ryan) is a bartender who is struggling to make ends meet as she raises her sister. Interesting to note that the sister was originally deaf, but "negative" feedback from test audiences convinced them to change her to non-handicapped and make her a hacker. How original. Seems like I also read that the doctor who does the operation is/was/will be her boyfriend. Of course, she has to become a government agent, and struggles to find a happy median between cyborg and surrogate motherhood, blah, blah, blah....Color me unimpressed. The one reason that I will watch this show is because of one of the big twists. In the original series, Sommers was the first female cyborg. In the "re-imagining", she is at least the second. And, in keeping with sci-spy cliche', the original is EVIL. Dum-Dum- DUUUM! LUCKILY, she is also played by Kate Sackhoff, of Battlestar Galactica fame.Sorry to sound like a fanboy, but she is the only reason I will be checking this out. Funny how they didn't put Sackoff as the lead though. Guess they wanted an "unknown" (to American tv) as opposed to a sure ratings grabber.The next show up is from The Sci-Fi Channel. Yep, somebody dusted off the license to FLASH GORDON. Lets see, it started life as a comic strip in 1934, later became a radio series, novel, comic and movie phenomenon, and then disappeared until the 70's, when a campy movie was made and a marginally successful cartoon series and a failed "hover boarding teen" version. The main character also was a member of the Defenders Of Earth (along with the other King Features heroes) in several comic, cartoon, and toy lines. What most people remember most about it is the theme song from the 70's movie by Queen.FLASH! Ahhh-aaaahhhhhhh!Sorry, had a little "Flash"back there.I saw the movie in theaters back when. I was already familiar with the character thanks to an uncle who loaned me books that where much to old for me to have been reading. The character always had a special little place in my heart, and I am a fan of Alex Raymond's art.So, what does the new series from Sci-Fi look like?Borderline. First off, the claim to have kept a retro-original look is worrisome. Next, we have the acknowledgement of the serial nature of the comics, radio show, cartoons, movies and serials (not to mention the old TV shows), but a statement that they new series won;t be as serialized. I am sure this means that there will not be as much "cliffhanger" moments as in the original.And a statement made at Comic-Con that Ming the Merciless was not going to be an “evil for evils sake” just doesn't make sense. They say that he was a stereotype. With that, I can only assume they are referring to the Asian/Mandarin look of the character over the years, and that he was truly evil. Well, these characters where conceived in a time when you could have a villain who sported a Fu-Manchu style mustache and not have everyone up in arms about it. The only saving grace for the series may be that it is on Sci-Fi. But, when yo notice that the guards in the pic to the right are wearing helmets made of paintball masks, you kinda start to worry.So, what is the big deal about what channels they will be on?NBC and Sci-Fi are part of the same company. Occasionally, you can see a Sci-Fi show re-broadcast on NBC, as was the case with several episodes of Battlestar Galactica. NBC has had a big hit with Heroes, which shows that a smart intelligent "comic inspired" series can be done. But, if you look at the two shows, Flash Gordon is clearly the one which is intended to be "the next Stargate SG-1", while Bionic Woman seems to be going for a more traditional "thinking" show with the beautiful woman struggeling to make her way in the world despite outside forces trying to stop her" type near daytime soap opera stuff that has gone all the way back to the original Dark Shadows. You don't get what I mean? Well, think about it a little. If you don't get it, I am not sure I can help.So, will I be watching either of these shows? As I said before, I'll check them both out. Although I have more connection to the Flash Gordon, I think that it will be a disappointment to people who actually know anything about it. The series seems to be aimed more at the Smallville crowd than at the science fiction community. Besides Flash Gordon being played by Eric Johnson (Whitney of Smallville) it seems to just have that glitz style that is popular with the public, but not so much with the actual fans.But I'll give anything a chance. Except Army Wives. Give me The Unit any day. ;-)
