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Extant - CBS - July 9
Just saw the first trailer last night
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJLVC3fHV_E
Prepare for extinction.
EW has the first official trailer for the sci-fi horror “Extant,” starring Academy Award winner Halle Berry.
“ ‘Extant’ is a mystery thriller about a female astronaut (Berry) trying to reconnect with her family when she returns after a year in outer space. Her experiences lead to events that ultimately will change the course of human history.”
It sort of plays out like a Rosemary’s Baby with an alien fetus!
CBS has set the series for premiere on July 9.
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I've been interested in this for awhile. But I'm still unclear on whether this is a new on-going series or just a mini series. I can't picture Halle committing to TV when she still has mileage left in Big Screen movies.
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What We Think of Extant - Channel Surfing Podcast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEg38NhcNVU
Uh oh, this doesn't sound very promising. As soon as they started talking about Boy Robots, my mind went straight to A.I., which they allude to as well.
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Re-Entry
(http://i.imgur.com/mzsSogL.gif)
Well, the Pilot doesn't suck which is what I was expecting after IGN's podcast about the early screening of the episode. There are a couple of cool moments that give me hope that this could be something good. I think my issue here is that based on this episode alone, they don't know exactly what the series is about. Well, maybe they do, they just didn't do a very good job in pacing it out. As it stands, I'd say about 3/4 of the episode had to do with the A.I. Boy and the potential of a Robot uprising and the rest of the time went to Halle Berry' Space romp that leads her to becoming pregnant. Just felt kind of odd that their entire Publicity Release for the show was mainly about that very thing, and yet, it felt like that part of the story was tacked on. Like I said, this episode doesn't suck and it has the potential to be something great if they can find the right balance between both stories. I'll stick around for a bit.
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I tend to agree with the discussion.
It's got something, but I need more clarity. I do have my fingers crossed that Berry has finally picked a good project. I've pretty much lost hope for her.
but...
... Let's see where this leads us. I'll give it a little while.
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Extinct
(http://i.imgur.com/SW1TShG.gif)
This was a bit better overall. I like that they are going to go with some sinister conspiracy. I kind of expected. We all did. Whenever you have Aliens and some Science Lab and Government Officials, you HAVE to have conspiracy of some sort. I wasn't expecting to see that there was a romantic relationship between Hiroyuki Sanada and Annie Wersching characters. Is one spying on the other? That could give us something good as it plays out. Still having issues with both stories though. The Alien pregnancy has a sense of urgency, but the Kid Robot does not and it's odd to see Halle Berry's character be in a deep mystery, looking for answer and then play doting Mom in the next scene as if she doesn't have a care in the world.
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Wish You Were Here
(http://i.imgur.com/mzsSogL.gif)
Started off damn slow, but it finished off great, which leads me to believe (hopefully) that the family will stay on the run from here on out, which will add much needed tension to what is suppose to be a thriller. Even though the episode finished off strong, for me, they haven't been able to find the right balance for an entire episode. And this time it had nothing to do with opposing stories, but weak "character" moments. Also, they aren't doing a good job of keeping any kind of suspense for what is, dare I say again....a thriller. They are telegraphing every move. I just kept waiting for the Company to whack Camryn Manheim's character every time she kept saying she'd 'be right back'. I am wondering if the week long wait is having an impact on truly getting into this 100%. Maybe it would be better binge watching on DVD.
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Shelter
(http://i.imgur.com/SfhcoSn.gif)
Meh. I actually found this episode to be boring. I was losing my interest throughout the entire episode. Really not engaging at all. However, it was cool to see Louis Gossett Jr pop up as Halle's father. I can't remember the last thing I saw him in. Maybe Iron Eagle?
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Extant schedule shift
Schedule Shift: CBS has announced that effective July 30th new series Extant will move to the 10 PM EST timeslot. The series has been under-performing since its debut and dropped to a 1.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic based on the overnights last week. The Hollywood Reporter seems to think this is a good move seeing as Under the Dome performed well in the later hour last Summer (though it’s not doing great this year). I’m on the fence at this point because a Criminal Minds repeat seems like a rather week lead-in. But maybe CBS prefers not to see their much-hyped new series losing half or more of the audience of Big Brother which airs in the 8 PM EST timeslot. I do think this points to some potential rough waters ahead, but just how bad is hard to gauge at this point. Part of the production costs for Extant are put up by Amazon which gets exclusive streaming rights for the show, so that means that its overnight ratings don’t weigh as heavily on its chances for renewal. But CBS has to be disappointed in the numbers at this point and they made commitments to sponsors almost certainly banking on a larger audience tuning in live. The time shift is not akin to a burn-off move to Fridays or Saturdays, and the broadcast networks have a bit more flexibility with their schedules in the Summer when repeats dominate (these scheduling shifts are rarely made during the regular season). Keep an eye on this Wednesday’s ratings results which will hit on Thursday (posted first at the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site) to see if the move did anything to help Extant‘s numbers.
So I guess the writing between the lines is possible cancellation?
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Well, had I stuck with Under The Dome during its original air date and saw the move to 10pm, my first thought would be "it's getting cancelled". So, who's to say that Extant can't find the same audience. With that said, this is getting cancelled. I wonder if UTD got a free pass due to a lack of competing shows at the time. Wonder what shows Extant will be going up aginst.
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What On Earth Is Wrong?
(http://i.imgur.com/SW1TShG.gif)
Much better episode that was really on Halle Berry. Coincidence that the one episode that had the Boy Robot in a coma would yield a very engaging hour? I'd have to say that it's very telling that you take out one equation, it adds to the whole. Honestly, I don't get or understand the need for the Boy Robot character anyway. It's too much of a distraction. Anyway, having this one about Berry trying to convince her husband that the Corporation she works for extracting her fetus against her will was fun to watch. And having to do it with all eyes on here was even better. Get rid of the Robot! One interesting thing was discovering that the Husband assistant has robotic legs. What's unclear is if she is a full on Robot herself or just someone that has prosthetic's for legs. Whatever she may or may not be, one thing is for certain....she's a Bunny Boiler waiting to happen with her jealousy of Berry. This episode came at the right time because I was 100% certain that I would be calling it quits after this one had it been another sub-par episode.
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Nightmares
(http://i.imgur.com/SW1TShG.gif)
So, we finally get to see what the Alien can do and make other people do and that's just from what still looks to be a fetus in a box. He can project images of people, which can then tell those that directly affected by the image to become homicidal maniacs. It's getting interesting, but it's crawling at a snails pace in getting there. Still don't have any clue what the Robot Boy has to do with any of this. And now he is able to have Dreams? Sounds like Blade Runner. ;D
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More in Heaven and Earth / Incursion
(http://i.imgur.com/SW1TShG.gif)
Not sure what the deal is with a 2-hour night. Usually when a show has been notified that it has been cancelled, they start doubling up episodes together to burn them off as quickly as possible. I've done a search, but I haven't found anything to say that it has been cancelled. It would be a shame if they did because now the series is getting better and what was once 'weak' plot regarding the robot kid has suddenly gotten interesting with him becoming self-aware with impending free will, not to mention that he is the target of some terrorist organization that wants him for themselves. It looks like the seeds of a 'Damien' kid has been planted as he is becoming more agitated when he doesn't get things he wants immediately. Very interested to see where that goes. The ending of the second episode also shows that the alien / human hybrid entity has escaped and is wreaking havoc. Yeah, don't want to see this cancelled.
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Here's a site monitoring 'activity' (http://seriable.com/extant-cancelled-renewed-season-2/)on the show
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Following that link, it says the show creator has "hinted" that such and such might be returning for Season 2. Still no official word though.
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That's why I think 'Cancelled' is in the air. Other reports I read, say studio's try to tell viewers as soon as possible if their show is renewed so interest remains.
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...studio's try to tell viewers as soon as possible if their show is renewed so interest remains.
Normally I'd agree to that. But the way AMC kept the viewer in the dark about Halt and Catch Fire goes against that train of thought. So, if CBS is doing the same thing, it could backfire. People get a whiff that a show is on the bubble, they bail. I'm one of them.
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Care and Feeding / A Pack of Cards
(http://i.imgur.com/vtSznvh.gif)
Another week, another 2 hour episode. If this hasn't been cancelled (I haven't seen anything that says it is), I am ready for it to get the axe. I was beyond bored with this to the point that I don't even care anymore. The fact that they purposely teased us for both episodes that we were going to see this Alien/Human Hybrid only to be denied p*ssed me off. All we "see" is through it's POV. Yeah, I'm kinda done with the show because I see this is how it's going to go from here on out. Also, the story is becoming unwieldy and chaotic.
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A New World
(http://i.imgur.com/vtSznvh.gif)
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn.
Wacky show. Convoluted. Boring as f*ck.
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Before The Blood
(http://i.imgur.com/cTZ9poD.gif)
Who would have ever guessed that the series had in them to produce a 5 Star episode? Based on the past few episode, getting something like this one was the furthest thing from my mind. It had a lot going for itself with tons of twist and misdirection's to keep the viewer on it's toes, guessing along the way. I didn't know what was real and what was a manifested vision from the Alien/Human Hybrid. And speaking of said Hybrid, we FINALLY get to see what he looks like. A kid. Duh! Overall, this is easily the best episode of the season for the show. But this is probably a case of too little too late. I think the writing is on the wall that it won't come back. Had they only produced better, tighter episodes earlier in the season, this wouldn't be an issue right now.
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An article on io9 discussing why Extant was such an insult to our intelligence. (http://io9.com/why-extant-was-such-an-insult-to-our-intelligence-1636570408) Now I haven't seen the show so I can't agree/disagree, but I'm curious to hear what Chip thinks of this.
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Ascension
(http://i.imgur.com/vtSznvh.gif)
All season long I have been bemoaning the point of Ethan, the boy robot. He never really had a purpose story wise in the series other than to fill in for the child that Halle Berry wanted and lost prior to the start of the season. But with the season finale here, suddenly he is made the linchpin that saves everyone involved. I don't know if it was by design or not, but it sure felt like the writers had to make him pivotal in some way to justify his inclusion in the plot. They problem I had with this (other than lazy writing) is that it was so uneventful in every way possible. It's like, okay, the two kids are going to go at it and yet.....they don't, which kind of made the entire season a bust. So, in the end, everything that came between the first and last episode was pointless and you can basically throw in the finale as well because it didn't deliver. Also frustrating were characters that were introduced as having some larger role in the series and then disappearing with no reason why. I for one hope this is the end of Extant. I'm surprised I made it to the end. If it comes back (I highly doubt it), I won't be on board.
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An article on io9 discussing why Extant was such an insult to our intelligence. (http://io9.com/why-extant-was-such-an-insult-to-our-intelligence-1636570408) Now I haven't seen the show so I can't agree/disagree, but I'm curious to hear what Chip thinks of this.
Just read it. Pretty much hit the nail on the head. I want to bury this thread once and for all...................
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Sorry it sucked. I had hopes for it. But as the article says, it must have been a draft that they rushed into production. I imagine when it comes down to sci-fi, the studio walks the fence of being dumbed down to capture more audience and making a smart, interesting sci-fi.
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And of course, Extant is getting a second season.
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WHAT THE F*CK!!!! YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!! UGH!!!!! It goes without saying, I won't be returning. Not going to waste my time.
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If I had a better SF show idea for ya, I'd share.
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Word
I just wanted to say that. I don't know what it mean... just seemed appropriate at this time.