What's New at ISCNI?

Volume 18.2 - May 11-17, 1996
Published by the ISCNI News Center
Compiled and edited by Rebecca Schatte

WELCOME to ISCNI's MEDIA WATCH. This edition covers the week from Saturday, May 11 to Friday, May 17. A new weekly edition of MEDIA WATCH is posted here every Friday afternoon.

Here's what's happening this week.

TELEVISION...

Hints are popping up again that an interview is about to take place with the cameraman from the "Santilli Autopsy" footage. I have not spoken with anyone connected to the production but I have received reports from people who claim to have been in contact and the interview is said to be taking place this week. It is said the cameraman will not be disguised in any way. I hear reports that the cameraman's name is "Jack Snow" but I have been unable to confirm that. The Jack Snow name is one that has not been mentioned often until recently. I will try to keep you posted as to when the alleged interview will be televised. No doubt if the interview does indeed take place, you won't need me telling you about it though, because the news will be all over the place.

SYNDICATED TV...
-- "Babylon 5" -- Sheridan asks Kosh to attack the Shadows in the hope that a victory would encourage more governments to join the alliance; Garibaldi confronts Franklin about his use of stimulants.
-- "Deep Space Nine" -- An attack on the station by renegade Jem'Hadar drives Sisko to form an unlikely alliance with a group still loyal to the Dominion to pursue the rebels.
-- "Nowhere Man" -- In Washington DC, Veil trades information with his newfound allies in the FBI and joins in the agency's search for more clues regarding the "super-secret security organization."
-- "Sentinel" -- Jim's miffed when a Federal agent is assigned to help him track down an illegal-weapons dealer. Meanwhile, Blair tries to get the scoop on the suspect by befriending his daughter.
-- "Sightings" -- Week of May 6 -- Voices from Beyond; Korean UFO; Roswell Report: Fact or Fiction; Rising Tide; Shealey's Healing Miracle; Psychic Warrior; Blind Vision Update.
-- "Sightings" -- Week of May 13 -- Colorado's Mysterious Valley; Alien Universe; Free Willy; HK Feng Shui; Great Gadsden; Master Healer.
-- "Star Trek: Voyager" -- When a deadly virus infects Chakotay and Janeway, she turns command over to Tuvok, ordering him to abandon them on a planet that will shield them from the disease's effects.

SATURDAY 5/11
6:15 am ET (also later today at 7:20 pm ET; Friday night/Saturday morning at 12:45 am ET). The Movie Channel (TMC) -- "Barbarella" -- Jane Fonda portrays the comic-strip heroine of this bizarre, futuristic sex farce.
10:00 am ET. The Disney Channel (DIS) -- "The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones" -- Elroy Jetson develops a time machine for a science project and his entire family is transported to the stone age where they wind up in Bedrock.
10:45 am ET (also Friday morning at 10:45 am ET). HBO -- "The Philadelphia Experiment 2" -- This oft-shown melodramatic (that's an understatement) sci-fi "what-ifer" has Germany winning WWII by dropping a bomb on Washington. So Southern California is now one big labor camp with an evil mad scientist and a beleagured hero who must time-travel back to 1943 to prevent the Germans from dropping the bomb. Yeah, but must he do it every week?! <grin>
12:30 pm ET (also Wednesday afternoon at 4:30 pm ET). HBO -- "The Man Who Saw Tomorrow" -- Dramatic reenactments of the prognostications of Nostradamus, the 16th century poet, many of whose predictions have come eerily true in subsequent centuries. Orson Welles' narration adds an awe-inspiring tone.
2:00 pm ET. The Discovery Channel (DSC) -- "Mysterious World" -- No information.
3:45 pm ET (also Sunday morning at 5:45 am ET; Tuesday morning at 11:45 am ET). TMC -- "Stargate" -- Imaginative special effects enhance this tale about two explorers who discover another world after deciphering a code on an ancient Egyptian artifact.
5:45 pm ET (also Thursday night/Friday morning at 12:55 am ET). TMC -- "Galaxis" -- To prevent a villain from destroying her world, a heroine must return to 20th century Earth to retrieve a magic crystal.
9:00 pm ET. CBS -- "Touched by an Angel" -- A surrogate mother carrying the child of a terminally ill man and his wife is distraught when she meets the unborn baby's old-fashioned grandfather, who's ashamed of the surrogacy.

SUNDAY 5/12
1:45 pm ET (also Friday evening at 7:15 pm ET). Encore (ENC) -- "The Legend of Hell House" -- Parapsychologists discover that the windowless house they're investigating is truly haunted. Familiar story is genuinely frightening here, thanks to creative horror scenes and well-plotted script by Richard Matheson (adapted from his novel, "Hell House").
8:00 pm ET. A&E -- "Where Are All the UFOs?" -- A new 2-hour documentary about UFO sightings. I think this one will not be "pro-UFO."
8:00 pm ET. CBS -- "Lois and Clark" -- Just as two visiting aliens bring Superman a new-found knowledge of his past and his destiny, an assassin is dispatched to dispose of him. Meanwhile, Lois fears that Clark is drifting away from her for good.
8:00 pm ET/PT (again at midnight ET). DSC -- "Discover Magazine" -- Exploring the concept of time.
10:45 pm ET. Showtime (SHO) -- "Outer Limits" -- A man begins to find his wife repulsive.

MONDAY 5/13
3:40 am ET. Cinemax (MAX) -- "Ghoulies IV" -- Cheesy sequel is so cheap that the original "Ghoulies" don't even appear; the story instead focuses on a seductive sorceress, a couple of dwarf creatures, and a young man trying to raise a demon. This is the kind of movie that gives cheap thrills a bad name.
4:15 am ET. HBO -- "Nostradamus" -- Lavish biopic about the 16th century doctor best known for a string of strikingly accurate predictions about future world events. Made in 1994.
5:10 am ET. SHO -- "Short Circuit 2" -- The talking robot returns with an Indian scientist in an empty-headed chase from toy manufacturers and bad guys. Lots of silly slapstick will turn off adults and the reliance on obscenities makes this film questionable for children.
7:00 am ET. MAX -- "A Guy Named Joe" -- A superb Spencer Tracy as "Joe," a deceased WWII pilot who returns to Earth to help a younger pilot run missions and win the heart of the girl who was once Joe's. This movie was remade in 1989 as "Always." Excellent cast includes Tracy, Irene Dunne, and Van Johnson.
7:30 am ET (later today at 3:00 pm ET). ENC -- "Brainstorm" -- An extraordinary invention, which reads into the human soul, may fall into the hands of a ruthless colleague in this implausible but better-than-average sci-fi thriller. Stars Christopher Walken and Natalie Wood (who died during the filming of this movie), but the real stars of this flick are the special effects.
9:00 pm ET. The Learning Channel (TLC) -- "Ancient Journeys: Secrets of the Mummy" -- An Egyptian mummy enters the world of modern science as researchers carefully remove the shroud that preserved the body for thousands of years. An autopsy unlocks secrets about an ancient way of life.
10:30 pm ET. TLC -- "Mystic Lands: Anasazi--The Ancient Ones" -- The Great Anasazi culture of the American Southwest thrived from roughly 900 A.D. to 1300 A.D. Little is known about their origins or their demise.

TUESDAY 5/14
1:00 pm ET (early Wednesday morning at 3:30 am ET). DIS -- "The Cat from Outer Space" -- Fanciful Disney fare about a space-traveling feline forced to make an emergency landing on Earth.
4:00 pm ET. MAX -- "Being Human" -- Robin Williams stars as the "gentle everyman" meandering through time.
8:00 pm ET. FOX -- "Dr. Who" -- The good Doctor faces his archenemy, the Master, in San Francisco. It's the last day of 1999, and the Master is planning to steal the Doctor's remaining lives -- a scheme that also threatens the existence of time and space as we know it. This made-for-TV movie is based on the BBC series and follows that story rather faithfully, according to "TV Guide."
8:00 pm ET. NBC -- "3rd Rock from the Sun" -- Albright gets a new office, much to Dick's chagrin; and a concussion lands Sally in the hospital -- where she, Harry and Tommy pretend to be "ER" doctors.
9:00 pm ET. CBS -- "The Stepford Husbands" -- Turnabout is fair play in this new made-for-TV movie, reminiscent of the classic "The Stepford Wives." Here, a wife is distressed by the insensitivity of her macho-man hubby, so she subjects him to a medical procedure that transforms him into a subservient spouse. Then she has second thoughts -- but it's too late.
9:00 pm ET/PT (again at 1:00 am ET/PT). DSC -- "Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious Universe" -- Are malevolent paranormal forces responsible for turning the Bermuda Triangle into a graveyard for ships and aircraft? Arthur C. Clarke investigates the Bermuda Triangle.
9:00 pm ET. UPN -- "Paranormal Borderline" -- Segments on a medium who claims to communicate with the restless spirits of Japanese and nisei detained in an internment camp during WWII; a woman who says prophets appeared to her during meditation and informed her of important events in Earth's future.
9:30 pm ET. SHO -- "Outer Limits" -- A school plants chips in students' brains. (repeat)
10:15 on ET. SHO -- "Poltergeist: The Series" -- Alex is troubled by visions of a trapped woman.

WEDNESDAY 5/15
8:45 am ET. American Movie Classics (AMC) -- "The Old Dark House" -- Based on J. B. Priestley's novel about stranded travelers who seek refuge in a Welsh mansion inhabited by strange characters. This is the original 1932 version of this creepy movie, starring Boris Karloff, Charles Laughton, and Melvyn Douglas.
Noon ET. MAX -- "Journey to the Seventh Planet" -- Space explorers find trouble when they land on Uranus.

THURSDAY 5/16
7:00 am ET (Check local listings, please). CBS -- "This Morning" -- The CBS morning show takes a look at this summer's movies. We should see clips from several CNI-related blockbusters including "Independence Day."
8:00 pm ET. MAX -- "Star Trek: Generations" -- Captain Kirk meets Pickard, as two crews of the Enterprise unite to battle the inevitable mad scientist. This seventh voyage may be a bit confusing to non-Trekkers but builds up to warp speed for an exciting climax.
9:00 pm ET. A&E -- "Ancient Mysteries" -- A look at voodoo.

FRIDAY 5/17
Noon ET. ENC -- "The Time Machine" -- A British inventor journeys forward in time to find man has evolved into a placid race of people enslaved by vicious neanderthals called morlocks. Highly entertaining treatment of the H. G. Wells story that won an Oscar for its special effects.
8:00 pm ET. FOX -- "Goosebumps" -- A 14-year-old boy finds himself mired in the mystery of "The Werewolf of Fever Swamp" when he and his family move to a rural region reputed to be haunted. From the R. L. Stine book for young people.
8:00 pm ET. HBO -- "Cyborg Cop II" -- While seeking government revenge for the killing of his partner, a DEA agent finds his druglord quarry has been transformed into a cyborg.
8:00 pm ET. NBC -- "Unsolved Mysteries" -- A trail guide's mysterious vision helps locate a missing hiker in the mountains near Truckee, California. Also, the search for supects in the 1991 murder of a Venice Beach (CA) videographer; an L. A. TV reporter tries to find his biological mother.
9:00 pm ET. FOX -- "X-Files" -- Part one of two of the season-ending cliffhanger (sorry, part two airs as the first episode next season!) that offers "all kinds of possible outcomes," according to series creator and executeve producer Chris Carter. During a hostage situation at a fast-food restaurant near Washington D.C., a man comes forward whose actions prompt Mulder to track him down "at all costs," says Carter. He also hints that tonight's installment "involves the cast of characters that hard-core fans of the show have come to know and hate, including the Cigarette-Smoking Man. Much more is revealed about his character, and how he may have impacted Mulder's life in ways we never expected."
10:00 pm ET. SHO -- "Poltergeist: The Series" -- Derek and Philip must lift a deadly curse attached to an ancient manuscript.
10:45 pm ET. SHO -- "Digital Man" -- A team of Army combat experts tries to stop a robotic soldier on a destructive rampage.
11:30 pm ET. USA -- "Vampire Vixens from Venus" -- Outerspace drug smugglers hide out on Earth in seductive human guise.

ONLINE on AOL...
ISCNI Chats every Monday in the EUN Conference Hall from 9:00 to 10:30 pm ET. To find the Conference Hall, use the keyword EUN, click on Continuing Education, and then go to the Conference Hall. Open discussion on "Hot News of the week" plus topics of participants' choice.

See ya'll next week!
Rebecca Schatte, Editor
rschatte@aol.com

=========================================================

Media Watch is a weekly publication of the ISCNI News Center, compiled and edited by Rebecca Schatte and copyright 1996 by ISCNI, Inc. Permission granted to reproduce and redistribute on the condition that the entire text is included without alteration or omission.

=========================================================

Webmaster: D. Oszuscik - - Design: L. Lowe - -Content: M. Lindemann
This page served 5222 times.