With not even one season under its belt, SyFy has decided not to renew the struggling Battlestar Galactica prequel Caprica for a second season. Not only that, they will stop airing episodes immediately and the remaining five for this season will air sometime in 2011 and, you would imagine, be included on any eventual DVD release.

“We appreciate all the support that fans have shown for Caprica and are very proud of the producers, cast, writers and the rest of the amazing team that has been committed to this fine series,” said Mark Stern, Syfy’s EVP of original programming. “Unfortunately, despite its obvious quality, Caprica has not been able to build the audience necessary to justify a second season.”

Never a ratings hit, the show debuted with relatively low ratings at the beginning of the year and once it returned for the second half of the season, the ratings were even lower. In fact, the show had only 889,000 viewers and a 0.4 rating with adults 18-49 so speculation about cancellation began almost immediately. Now, that speculation is proven correct.

Even with the show’s cancellation, there’s still one bright spot for fans of the BSG Universe. As we mentioned previously, SyFy still has plans to go forward with at least a pilot for another BSG prequel called Blood and Chrome. This show, which will deal with a young Willliam Adama during the first Cylon war, will hopefully fare better than Caprica.

So long Caprica, we hardly knew you.

As a fan of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica I’ve been giving the prequel series Caprica as much benefit of the doubt as I can. I’m not sure I’m completely in love with the show or that I just miss the actual BSG so much I’ll take pretty much anything as a substitute. Either way, I’m still watching.

Toniught sees an all-new episode on Syfy and to get you ready we’ve got three previews for the episode to share today. The episode, entitled “False Labor,” has this for a plotline according to our pals at Syfy:

A gloomy theme heats up as Graystone Industries provides an opportunity to never lose a loved one thanks to breakthrough technology. Others are staring down the same path as the deceased when held at gunpoint, and even still others are doing the gun-holding against another life-force. What the frak will they do?

What indeed? Check out all three clips after the jump. Caprica airs on Syfy tonight at 10/9C.

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Excellent news for fans of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica that were disappointed when the show ended its run on SyFy a couple years back, a new show called Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome is coming that’s sure to make you happy. This new show, which we mentioned previously as just a possibility for the web, has now been given the greenlight for a two hour pilot by the powers that be at SyFy.

In case you forgot or didn’t hear about this new show before, it deals with the young years of Ensign William Adama as he begins his journey through the first Human Cylon war. It takes place between the events of the first BSG series and those of the currently running show Caprica and is being produced by David Eick.

While this is good news for fans of the show who wanted more, one question remains. Will this new show be given the treatment it deserves or will it, in fact, be a web show as was previously reported? Obviously, we would prefer a full blown series with all that entails instead of a web series. Not that we have anything against web series, we certainly don’t.

However, if we have a choice we would prefer the show to be much like the previous BSG series and have that kind of budget and scope. A two hour pilot seems like a promising start so I guess we’ll find out soon enough what’s going to happen. In the meantime, we’ve always got our BSG complete series on Blu-ray.

Check out the full press release from SyFy after the jump.

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Just this weekend, Saturday Night Live returned with its 36th season to a 15 percent ratings bump from last season’s premiere. Amy Pohler and Katy Perry were the guests, along with a whole slew of former cast members dropping by throughout the show.

The premiere had its funny moments. But one of the main things the episode also accomplished was to make the audience look back and fondly remember the classic episodes of the series over its rich 35 year lifespan. Fortunetely, we don’t have to scrounge YouTube or Hulu for old episodes as Netflix and NBC have signed a deal to get every episode of SNL available on Netflix’s streaming service.

But that’s not all as according to the press releasing announcing the deal, along with SNL, we’ll also be treated to tons of other NBC Universal properties coming to the service.

Episodes from every season of NBC’s signature comedy franchise “Saturday Night Live,” including day-after broadcast of the upcoming 2010, 2011 and 2012 seasons plus hundreds of episodes from the first 35 years of “SNL.”

Every episode from the last season of the multiple Emmy® Award-winning series “30 Rock,” “The Office” and “Law & Order: SVU,” as well as earlier seasons of those shows renewed for streaming from Netflix under the current deal.

All prior seasons – and eventually next year’s final season – of “Friday Night Lights,” the small-town drama surrounding high-school football in Dillon, Tex.

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The Syfy Network has confirmed that Caprica will return on October 5, three months earlier than originally planned. Previously, it was announced that season 1.5 of the Battlestar Galactica spinoff would not air until January of 2011, which really didn’t make much sense.

In its new timeslot, Caprica will air following new episodes of Stargate Universe, which makes a heck of a lot more sense considering they are both Sci-Fi shows and Stargate is a great lead in. Syfy EVP Mark Stern obviously agrees.

“Though we initially announced the January return of Caprica, we still had hopes of finding a way to get the series back on the air sooner,” said Stern. “We’ve been able to successfully re-work our schedule, and are thrilled to bring the show back during what is traditionally Syfy’s most-watched time of the year.”

Sadly, while this is good new for fans of the series, the fact that no decision has been made on a second season for the show makes this news not quite as good as it could be. It seems Syfy is trying to give the show a chance by moving the premiere earlier but will most certainly be watching the ratings carefully to see if a second season is warranted.

So, if you’re a fan of the show and want to see it come back for a second season, you had better encourage everyone you know to watch the show when it comes back.

Yes, you read that headline correctly. Syfy is preparing a new Battlestar Galactica series, currently entitled Blood and Chrome, that will follow the exploits of William Adama during the Cylon War.

However, before you start to get too excited the series won’t actually be a full blown TV show airing on Syfy. Instead, it will be a web series with about 10 episodes, each around 9 minutes long. Not that I have anything against web series, in fact I kinda love them. I was just hoping for a new network show with a big budget and lots of awesome Cylon heads exploding and big space battles.

Oh well, here’s more on the show from Syfy:

According to Mark Stern, Syfy’s executive vice president of original programming and the co-head of original content for Universal Cable Productions, “Battlestar Galactica” and “Caprica” co-executive producer Michael Taylor will write the the script for the new venture.

“Blood & Chrome” is “about a young man’s initiation into war: both the realities of war as fought by soldiers on the ground (and in Battlestars and Vipers), and the somewhat less real version portrayed in the media,” according to Taylor.

“Blood & Chrome” would consist of nine or 10 episodes of nine or 10 minutes each, and it would make use of cutting-edge digital technology and special effects to depict the Cylon War. If it is greenlit to production, it will be filmed using green screens and virtual sets, not unlike Syfy’s “Sanctuary” or James Cameron’s “Avatar.” Before “Battlestar Galactica” ended, high-tech scans were made of all the show’s sets, so that the special-effects team will be able to re-create them (possibly even in 3D).

But wait, there’s more:

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You might have noticed that we’re big fans of Battelstar Galactica here at The Flickcast, so we were thrilled at the chance to sit down and discuss the reimagined world that he has brought to life with fellow producer, Ron Moore. At a roundtable at this year’s Comic-Con, Eick discussed the future of Caprica over a bottle of Don Julio and when fans can expect another season to be announced and ready to go.

“I think we just finished what we’re calling Season 1.5. You will hear about the next season by August 15 or before. We’re still working out contracts, among other things.”

Since there are wildly divergent opinions between fans of Eick’s last creation, Battlestar Galactica, and fans of his current endeavor Caprica, we were curious to get his take on this on-going schism and if there was a way to keep both camps happy, or if it was something that they were even worried about.

“We knew to expect a greater mix with this, because we knew we were not going to develop it or market it as a spin off of Battlestar. We knew those fans might have expected it would be much more intensely easter eggy in terms of well, here’s how Laura Roslin got her name and all that kind of stuff, but we just knew we weren’t going to do a show like that.  We very consciously tried not to market it or complicate it like that. We just believed that the audience would discover the show, let the show find its way, finds its legs, tighten its focus and get better, which it does.

“By the way, Battlestar was initially just as divided but for completely different reasons. So, I think we had this whole contingency of fans of the original show who are boycotting it, so it doesn’t feel any different to me. The very first Comic-Con for Battlestar was like George W. Bush going up at an ACLU rally. We felt like pariahs the first time.”

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At first when Caprica, the prequel to the awesome Battlestar Galactica, was announced I have to admit I was a bit skeptical. I was (and am) such a big fan of BSG that any other show, especially one that didn’t involve my favorite characters and a war with the cylons, just seemed like a pale imitation of the original.

However, once I learned more about Caprica and then began to watch and enjoy it, I realized it was a great show on its own and I have since become a big fan. With the first part of season one already aired, Syfy is finally bringing back the second part and will begin airing new episodes in January.

No specific date has been set for the premiere but if you happen to be at Comic-Con this week, Syfy will be debuting a brand new trailer for season 1.5 on Friday, July 23rd. We will, of course, bring you that trailer as soon as we can. It will also be available on the Zune Marketplace on XBox Live on June 26th.

For more info, click through to read the entire press release from Syfy. So say we all!

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With Stargate Universe and Merlin having their season finales it’s time to turn our attention to two other shows airing on Syfy. One, Eureka, is a returning show coming back for another season and the second, Haven, makes its debut tonight.

In support of these two shows we will do what we usually do and bring you previews for both of them so you can get ready for tonight’s episodes. First up on Eureka, the gang is back and starting the 4th season with a twist. Also, a brand new cast member joins the show and we’re pretty excited about it. That’s right, James Callis (Battlstar Galactica‘s Baltar) comes to Eureka to shake things up this season.

Next up is Haven, which is based on The Colorado Kid from author Stephen King. It follows FBI agent Audrey Parker who arrives in the small town of Haven, Maine to solve the murder of a local ex-con. However, things are not what they seem and Audrey soon discovers the people of Haven are hiding a dark secret.

Check out previews for both shows after the break. Eureka airs tonight at 9/8C followed by Haven at 10/9C only on Syfy.

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So, it begins. The powers that be in control of San Diego Comic-Con have announced the Thursday schedule. We were going to wait and put all of these schedules together but Thursday is such a full day you might need more time to digest it.

Some of the highlights we are looking forward to include the Tron Legacy panel, a City of Heroes panel, Summit Entertainment’s RED panel, several USA show panels including Burn Notice and White Collar, Caprica, Battlestar and Beyond, the Mondo Marvel panel, the EW Visionaries panel with J.J. Abrams and Joss Whedon and a panel about The Expendables. There’s also a ton of other stuff with conflicting times that’s sure to drive any fans of movies, tv, comics, games and geek crazy trying to work it all out.

Be sure to check back at The Flickcast for all of our coming Comic-Con coverage. We will be there in force to bring you all the sights, sounds, events, news and smells from Sand Diego. Now to go get in line at Hall H for the J.J. Abrams/Joss Whedon panel.

See you in San Diego! Click through for the complete Thursday schedule as of today.

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This week sees the release of several new movies and TV shows, some for the first time ever on Blu-ray. Of the ones coming out this week, we’re excited for a few of them in particular.

These esteemed examples of entertainment include Crazy Heart, Batman, Batman Returns, Fist of Legend, the first season of Merlin, the DVD release of the classic Battleship Potemkin and  an obscure direct t0 dvd movie called Crimes of Fashion featuring Big Bang Theory‘s Kaley Cuoco and Megan Fox. And, of course, the non-3D Blu-ray release of Avatar hits stores this Thursday (pictured above with Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana).

Movies

Avatar ~ Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver (Blu-ray and DVD)

Battleship Potemkin ~ Alexander Antonov, Vladimir Barsky (Blu-ray)

Batman ~ Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson (Blu-ray)

Batman Returns ~ Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Christopher Walken (Blu-ray)

Cheech & Chong’s Hey Watch This! ~ Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong (DVD)

Crazy Heart ~ Jeff Bridges (Blu-ray and DVD)

Crimes of Fashion ~ Kaley Cuoco, Megan Fox (DVD)

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Since Battlestar Galactica ended, fans of that world and characters have had to content themselves with watching the show on DVD or by watching the BSG prequel show Caprica. That show started strong but then floundered for a time finally hitting its stride over the last few weeks with some truly excellent episodes. Obviously, the quality of these recent episodes has paid off as the rating for the show have improved as well.

Now, the mid-season finale is upon us and to give you an idea of what’s going to happen, the folks at Syfy have sent us a little preview. Of course, we’re going to share it with you. Here’s what to expect from tonight’s episode, entitled “End of Line”, directly from Syfy:

Daniel (Eric Stoltz) finally sets a deadline for resetting the U-87 Cylon – and unknowingly ending Zoe-A’s (Alessandra Torresani) existence as she knows it – she makes a desperate attempt to save herself. But when her plan backfires, she finds herself out of time and out of options. Furious with a recent comeuppance, Barnabas (James Marsters) ignites his feud with Clarice (Polly Walker) into an all-out war. Trapped in the middle is Lacy (Magda Apanowicz), who is forced to make a decision she may regret forever. Daniel makes a confession to an already reeling Amanda (Paula Malcomson) that sends her over the edge.

Mmmm, sounds very interesting. Can’t wait. Check out this preview of tonight’s mid-season finale after the jump. Caprica airs tonight at 9/8C on Syfy

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