2:27 pm ET, 20-Feb-98
'Chinga' King Of The X-Files
Stephen King's X-Files episode "Chinga" may not have been a hit with fans or with Files creator Chris Carter (who reportedly did an extensive rewrite on the script), but it scored big in the Nielsens, earning a 12.7 rating during its Feb. 8 airing. That was nearly four points better than second place finisher 3rd Rock from the Sun and more than enough to place The X-Files firmly atop the Sci-Fi Wire Top 20 list of speculative fiction TV shows for the week of Feb. 2-8.
On the other end of the spectrum, UPN's The Sentinel continued its poor showing in the Top 20, earning a lowly 1.8 rating to give the series a firm grasp on last place for the week. UPN's Star Trek: Voyager also underachieved among Nielsen households, finishing in the 14th spot with a 2.9 rating. Meanwhile, Xena: Warrior Princess and Buffy, The Vampire Slayer continued their ratings romp by posting a 6.1 and 4.0 respectively.
Below is our complete Top 20 list for the week ending Feb. 8, based on the Nielsen Galaxy report. The HH Rating is the average number of households tuned in to a particular show, expressed as a percentage of all television households.
| RANK |
NETWORK/
SYNDICATOR |
PROGRAM |
HH RATING |
| 1 |
FOX |
The X-Files |
12.7 |
| 2 |
NBC |
3rd Rock |
8.7 |
| 3 |
NBC |
The Pretender |
7.6 |
| 4 |
NBC |
The Profiler |
7.4 |
| 5 |
Universal TV |
Xena |
6.1 |
| 6 |
Universal TV |
Hercules |
5.6 |
| 7 |
Fox |
Millennium |
5.4 |
| 8 |
Warner |
Buffy |
4.0 |
| 9 |
Paramount |
Star Trek: DS9 |
4.0 |
| 10 |
MGM |
The Outer Limits |
3.6 |
| 11 |
Tribune |
Earth: Final Conflict |
3.4 |
| 12 |
Buena Vista TV |
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids |
3.1 |
| 13 |
Tribune |
Nightman |
3.0 |
| 14 |
UPN |
Star Trek: Voyager |
2.9 |
| 15 |
Rysher |
Highlander |
2.5 |
| 16 |
Universal TV |
Team Knight Rider |
2.4 |
| 17 |
Eyemark |
Psi Factor |
2.3 |
| 18 |
MGM |
Poltergeist: The Legacy |
2.1 |
| 19 |
Paramount |
Viper |
2.1 |
| 20 |
UPN |
The Sentinel |
1.8 |
| Source: Nielsen Galaxy 2/2-2/8. Nielsen data subject to qualifications to be supplied upon request. |
9:43 pm ET, 19-Feb-98
Duke Nukem Headed For Stardom
Duke Nukem, the fictional star of several best-selling computer and video games, is on his way to stardom. GT Interactive, 3D Realms and Threshold Entertainment announced that they had reached an agreement to exploit the Duke Nukem game franchise across several media, including film, television and home video.
Threshold would seem to be a good choice to shepherd Duke's leap into the "real" world, since the company has been highly successful in translating Mortal Kombat from a game into a media franchise. Duke's first non-game role will be in the Duke Nukem feature film, which will be produced by Threshold chairman and CEO Larry Kasanoff, with digital imagery supplied by Threshold Digital Research Lab.
8:01 pm ET, 18-Feb-98
Trek Fans Can Phone Home
AT&T announced that starting in April it will offer pre-paid Star Trek phone cards to fans. The cards will come in four varieties, each depicting a scene from one of the four Star Trek television series.
The offerings include a 15-minute card with a picture of Star Trek's Captain Kirk; a 100-minute card with a picture of Star Trek: The Next Generation's Lt. Data and Lt. Worf; a 30-minute card with a picture of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Commander Sisko and Jadzia Dax; and a 60-minute card with Star Trek: Voyager's Seven of Nine. The cards can be pre-ordered now by calling 1-800-467-1756, extension 52740, or by visiting AT&T's Web site beginning March 16.
4:48 pm ET, 18-Feb-98
Internet Guru To Appear On Earth
Vint Cerf, one of the founding fathers of the Internet, will make his acting debut on an upcoming episode of Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict, according to Interactive Week. Cerf, who serves as the science advisor for Earth in real life, will play a White House chief of staff who announces the selection of the first alien cabinet member.
Cerf is a legend in the Internet community for his role in developing some of the basic communication protocols the Net was founded on, and he is also the recipient of a National Medal of Technology. Interactive Week quoted him as saying, "For an old college professor, nothing could be more fun than getting in front of a camera with people who are fun, friendly, creative and slightly crazy."
2:03 pm ET, 18-Feb-98
Police Investigating Clarke Allegations
Sri Lankan police are investigating allegations that legendary science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke is a pedophile, according to Variety. The allegations appeared in an article published in the British tabloid the Sunday Mirror, which named four people who supposedly have knowledge of Clarke's alleged illegal activities.
Police said they have questioned the four people cited by the Mirror, although they have not said whether there is any substance to the allegations. The Mirror broke the Clarke story earlier this month to widespread public skepticism as well as vehement denials by Clarke himself. Officials have not said if they will question Clarke in the matter, and the author has said he will not discuss the allegations publicly.
Clarke has lived in Sri Lanka for the past 30 years.
11:19 am ET, 17-Feb-98
Judge Dismisses Contact Suit
Last week a Los Angeles superior court judge dismissed a suit by famed director Francis Ford Coppola against Warner Bros. and the estate of Carl Sagan over rights to the film Contact, according to Variety. The
suit alleged that Sagan's book Contact was based on a television project Sagan and Coppola had jointly developed in the 1970s under an agreement that Coppola says entitled him to a cut of the proceeds from any such novel.
Sagan later sold the Contact movie rights to Warner, and Coppola contended that he was entitled to a share of the film's profits, as well as $250,000 in damages. Although the judge said that Sagan had broken the 1970 agreement, he dismissed the case because Coppola waited too long to file the suit, and because the agreement between Sagan and Coppola might not be enforceable. Coppola has said he will appeal the decision.
10:52 am ET, 17-Feb-98
Titanic Steams By E.T.
James Cameron's oceanic mega-hit Titanic has finally surpassed E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial as the most lucrative first-run domestic film in history, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Titanic took in an estimated $33 million over the Presidents' Day weekend--including $13 million on Valentine's Day alone--to push its total gross to $376.4 million, more than enough to beat E.T.'s first-run earnings of $359.2 million.
Box-office sales for Titanic were likely fueled by the 14 Oscar nominations the film received last week, and by the fact that moviegoers had a four-day weekend to kill. The holiday also helped Barry Levinson's Sphere--adapted from Michael Crichton's novel of the same name--which opened this weekend to sales of $16.6 million despite poor reviews.
5:33 am ET, 16-Feb-98
Players Set For Wing Commander
Digital Anvil has announced the final cast for its upcoming SF action film Wing Commander, which begins production this week under the direction of Chris Roberts. Freddie Prinze Jr. (I Know What You Did Last Summer), Matthew Lillard (Scream) and Saffron Burrows (Circle of Friends) will star in the film, which is based on the popular Wing Commander PC games Roberts created during his tenure at Origin Systems.
The Wing Commander movie will follow the adventures of Christopher Blaire (Prinze), a young space pilot fresh from the academy who has a shady past and a lot of secrets. He and his cohorts Maniac (Lillard) and Deveraux (Burrows) join the Confederation war against the alien Kilrathi, under the guidance of their commander, Paladin (Tcheky Karyo). The cast also features Malcolm McDowell, David Suchet, Jurgen Prochnow, and Ginny Holder.
4:02 am ET, 16-Feb-98
Author Jo Clayton Dies
Author Jo Clayton died Friday, Feb. 13, at Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland, Ore., after an 18-month struggle against multiple myeloma. Clayton, who was born in 1939, reportedly died peacefully among a small gathering of friends and family, a day after she had held a "leave-taking ceremony" in the hospital.
Clayton's illness and ongoing treatment were widely publicized in the SF fan community, which had rallied behind her during her hospitalization. Although bedridden and undergoing debilitating treatments, Clayton was able to finish two novels before her death, as well as a number of short stories.
During the past two decades Clayton had published dozens of fantasy novels, including the popular Diadem series, which sold more than a million copies. The Encyclopedia of Fantasy called her "a highly capable and vivid writer who can create convincing heroines and whose talents are at their best when she moves away from traditional plots into her own worlds." As per her wishes, Clayton's remains will be cremated and the ashes scattered in the California redwoods. Portland fans plan to set up an emergency medical fund in her honor.
8:53 pm ET, 12-Feb-98
Godzilla Heard, But Not Seen
This week Sony Pictures has been doing everything to promote the upcoming Dean Devlin/Roland Emmerich film Godzilla at New York's American International Toy Fair. Everything, that is, but show a picture of the giant radioactive lizard.
As part of its advanced hype campaign for the flick, Sony has kept a tight lid on the new Godzilla's looks, which have been described by Devlin as
meaner, sleeker and wilder than fans have seen before. Sony has, however, announced a slew of marketing tie-ins for the movie, including a massive contest by Hersheys that will feature a million prizes, ranging from a wide-screen TV to cash awards.
Sony also said Godzilla would debut on May 18 at New York's Madison Square Garden, which seems only fitting since Godzilla is said to destroy New York during the film.
12:41 pm ET, 11-Feb-98
Lucasfilm Plans Star Wars Children's Books
Lucasfilm Ltd. has tabbed Scholastic Inc. and Random House Children's Publishing to create a series of children's books based on both the original Star Wars trilogy and the upcoming prequels, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The deal includes plans for novelized digest books of the movies, coloring books, work books, pop-up books and more.
Further, Scholastic will expand its "Star Wars Missions" direct mail campaign to include the prequel films, and it will also target the program at children aged 6-8 in addition to its current focus on children aged 8-12. Scholastic will also create a new junior series of original fiction Star Wars titles.
11:39 am ET, 9-Feb-98
Fox Options Benford's Cosm
Twentieth Century Fox has optioned the movie rights to Gregory Benford's latest SF novel Cosm, according to Variety. Robert Collins will reportedly write the screenplay and Jan De Bont (Speed, Speed 2) may direct.
The book, which was one of the titles Avon used to launch its new Eos line in January, centers around a female physicist who accidentally creates a small universe, or "cosm," during a supercollider experiment. The story is equal parts hard SF and action adventure as the physicist attempts to discover exactly what it is she has on her hands even as various forces seek control of the cosm for their own ends.
