You know, there has been some seriously terrible Sci-Fi on television throughout the years. This list is not the absolute WORST of the bunch - that’s almost incalculable. This does, however, showcase 5 truly terrible sci-fi series, none of which lasted very long - and a few of which I’ll bet you haven’t ever heard of.

Future Cop

Ernest Borgnine starred in this terrible, terrible series about a robotic police officer “a cop from the future, a future cop”. Ernest played the steadfast father figure to the Data-like robotic cop, while John Amos screamed a lot, made “white boy” jokes, and continued to be flabbergasted at the amazing things that the new rookie cop could do.

Surprisingly, the show ran from 1976-1978.
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Here we stand at the last day of 2007. It’s been a roller coaster ride of highs and lows, and I hate that we have to say goodbye to the year with the shadow of the strike hanging over us, but such is life.

So, I’ll take this opportunity to look back at the year with our First Annual Jabbie Awards, where we highlight the ups and downs of 2007. Here we go…

Worst New Show (Comedy) - Cavemen

The original pilot was so mind-blowingly, awfully unfunny that it made my eyes bleed. Though it was so poorly received, the powers that be decided, “It must be the…cast. Yeah, yeah that’s what’s wrong with this show.” So they did a bit of recasting and retooling. But it did nothing to save this train wreck. It’s not funny, and not watchable.
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If you’re an active member of the WGA, then Strike TV wants you.

The rest of us can take a hike.

Active WGA members are invited to spend their own money to produce web-based tv series that will premiere during Feb. sweeps. The WGA members will be able to own their videos and could potentially take them elsewhere to make them profitable in the future - but right now it’s a “do it for nothing” deal.

Oh - and while you’re doing it for nothing you have to work within union guidelines and deal with SAG, DGA and WGA requirements.

Good luck with that, folks.

In the mid to late 90s there was one name that meant professional wresting, and that name was ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin. Austin has retired from the wrestling ring, but recently made his debut on the big screen with the surprisingly excellent “The Condemned” (if you haven’t seen it, I suggest you Netflix it now). We may be hearing more from old ‘Stone Cold’ too, as it appears he has a pilot or two in the works.

For whatever reason earlier this month, Steve made a major change in his life. See, his real name used to be Steve Williams…but not anymore. It has now legally been changed to “Steve Austin”. There is no word on if this is a move that was done because of issue with the WWE, who I believe have a trademark on the ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin name, or if it something he simply wanted to do.

Either way - it’s done.

Anyone who reads this site probably knows by now that I’m psyched for NBC’s upcoming Knight Rider tv-movie/backdoor pilot. I’m hoping the show is well produced, and entertaining - and I also hope that (if its good), it gets picked up for a 2008-2009 series (depending on when the strike ends).

What you might not know, however, is that this is not the first Knight Rider tv-movie/backdoor pilot. In fact, almost every incarnation of Knight Rider has been brought to television this way. The original series pilot was a 2-hour tv-movie. In the mid-90s there was a basic cable tv-movie for a series called Knight Rider 2010 that had absolutely nothing to do with the original series, but before that, there was an attempt to relaunch the Knight Rider franchise by NBC.

It was called Knight Rider 2000, and in a lot of ways it was similar to the project currently being developed by NBC. The pilot introduced a new KITT, although with the original voice, and a new driver for him. While David Hasselhoff was the star of the tv-movie pilot, it clearly set up Shawn McCormick (played by Susan Norman) as the star of what would have been the regular series.

The movie borrowed heavily from Robocop and several other sci-fi films, and really kicked the science fiction element of Knight Rider into high gear…with some really terrible results. In fact, this thing is gawd awful. I remember liking it as a kid, and wondering why it was never picked up as a series, but looking at it now, it’s easy to see why.

Let’s take a closer look…shall we?
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The Late Show with David Letterman and The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson will join the multitude of late night shows returning on January 2, though they will have one thing that separates them from the rest of the herd.

They’ll have writers.

Worldwide Pants, the owner of both shows, has been working to establish a separate deal with the Writers Guild that would enable the scribes to return to work. Apparently the two parties came to what is essentially an eleventh hour agreement, in which it was said that Pants was willing to concede to virtually any requests by the writers. This puts them at a distinct advantage over their competition, as they will have a full writing staff while the other hosts will most likely be doing a lot of the legwork themselves.

It should be an interesting time to tune in, as many stars have been hesitant to cross the picket lines to appear as guests on the shows. Letterman’s guest on Wednesday will be Donald Trump and musical guest Shooter Jennings, but there’s no word on who will grace the other shows.

Looks like the Lost viral marketing campaign is gearing up again. Here’s an email that went out today:

Oceanic Airlines announced today their return to the airways. Beginning December 31, operations and flights to nine markets will resume, ‘Taking You Places You Never Imagined.’ Destinations include Los Angeles, Calif., Tustin, Calif., Ames, Iowa, Miami, Fla., New York, NY, Portland, Ore., Knoxville, Tenn., Seoul, South Korea and Sydney, Australia.

“We are very eager to resume flying and apologize for any inconvenience our temporary closure may have caused our loyal customers,” said Michael Orteig, president of Oceanic Airlines. “Oceanic Airlines is proud to be a top-tier flight provider and looks forward to providing travelers with many more years of unparalleled service.”

You may remember during the summer break between Seasons 2 and 3, ABC launched a viral ad campaign called the “Lost Experience”, which was a large online scavenger hunt that ended up rewarding players with a meaning to the famous “4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42″ numbers (read up on it here).

So, starting Monday, we should be able to expect some new fun to be had on the Lost front.

It’s more of the same as CBS once again dominates in the ratings, with the notable Sunday Night Football in the top spot. Still, it’s clear that the Americans that have Nielsen boxes are really loving their crime shows.

I can’t wait for a new ratings system. I just can’t wait.

1. Sunday Night Football (NBC)
2. CSI: Miami (CBS)
3. 60 Minutes (CBS)
4. NCIS (CBS)
5. Criminal Minds (CBS)
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Picketing has ceased in New York and Los Angeles. I speculate that this could just be the writer’s taking a break between now and the new year, but I have read no official word on it at this point. I’m sure we’ll see writer’s back out on the picket lines eventually, but its not encouraging to see that they’re no longer there as a daily reminder to the studios that this thing isn’t right.

When this first started I thought, “there’s no way it’ll last as long as the last one did.” Now I’m wondering if there will be any scripted television written in 2008…or 2009.

‘American Idol’ returns on Jan 15th and 16th with a special two-night kick off showcasing some amazing talent…and some not so amazing talent.

‘American Idol’ is almost as famous for its ridiculous auditions as it is for the amazingly talented competitors that end up in the competition. This year, those wacky auditions will be airing on Tuesday night for four consecutive weeks. Jan. 15 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT); Jan. 22 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT); Jan. 29 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT); and Feb. 5 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT). The auditions will continue on Weds as well: Jan. 16 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT); Jan. 23 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT); Jan. 30 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT); and Feb. 6 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT).

The Hollywood Round will then air on Tuesday, Feb. 12 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) and Wednesday, Feb. 13 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT). The 24 semifinalists will be announced on Wed, Feb 13th.

The Top 12 male singers will then perform on Tuesday, Feb. 19 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), and the female singers will perform on Wednesday, Feb. 20 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) with a LIVE results show airing on Thursday, Feb. 21 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT)

After that the competition kicks into high gear. You can read the full schedule of every single episode of ‘American Idol’ this season right after the jump.
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