The premise of NBC's new summer filler, Persons Unknown, is very familiar: Abduct a group of seemingly unconnected strangers, have them wake up in some remote place, and let them try to either work together find a way out ... or force them to kill each other off to win their supposed freedom. This infamous cat-and-mouse game has been told and re-told in various venues and genres: the never-ending SAW franchise, the cult scifi indie CUBE films, and of course, the classic tv series, The Prisoner. And since the ABC series, LOST, has finally found some closure, folks may feel right at home with Persons Unknown (although, there is no plane crash, mysterious island, or a thousand other things that should never be compared to this new series). I wanted to post this on the All 4 Horror website, because I felt like this was the creepiest television show I have seen in quite sometime. And not surprising, as the creator for Persons Unknown is non other than Christopher McQuarrie, who wrote one of the finest mystery films of all-time, The Usual Suspects. And if you are wondering if the hairs on the back of my neck stood up while watching the premiere, just as it had for the aforementioned shows and The Usual Suspects ... the answer is HELL YEAH!

If you haven't seen the first episode, the following contains spoilers ...

WHAT DID YOU SEE?

Executive Producer David S. Goyer might get pissed at me for saying that his new ABC series, FlashForward, IS science fiction.

While the new series is only loosely based on the novel by Robert J. Sawyer, and the explanation of what caused every living human being to blackout for exactly 2 minutes and 17 seconds may or may not be the same as the book. Ummm, having the entire planet passed out at exactly the same time, only to wake up with a vision of their own future 6 months in the future, or not (you see your future if you are dead in it) ... sure sounds like science fiction to me, regardless of the cause. So, forget any preconceptions of the science fiction label being a death sentence to a new tv series. And BTW, WTF were they doing at comic con promoting the new series, if it wasn't science fiction ... hmmm?

ABC's Lost is science fiction and very successful, despite what ever fears the show will end next year without a proper explanatory conclusion. BattleStar Galactica (new one) was a successful science fiction tv series. Alias - successful. X-Files - successful. I could go on with a list of very successful science fiction television series, just as I could with fantasy or horror shows.

So, I said it, and stand by it ... FlashForward is a science fiction tv series. Then again, it might end up being fantasy, with the cause of the global blackout the work of naughty little magical faeries! Or, maybe it's horror, as Lucifer and his minions give us all a glimpse into the upcoming apocalypse ... oh wait, CW is already knee deep into demons and armageddon with the show Supernatural.

Enough of my babble, let's check out the story ...

If you are looking for a truly unconventional scifi/horror/fantasy film to watch this year, then check out Splice, a Canadian film premiering in theaters this Friday, September 18th, 2009. Splice is written and directed by Vincenzo Natali, who also cranked out the Canadian scifi classic, CUBE. The director has also cast, once more, his high school pal, David Hewlett (every-one's favorite Doc Rodney from Stargate: Atlantis), who starred in CUBE, as well. This story is a long time coming, as Splice was originally set to be produced following the release of CUBE. So, 12 years later, we finally get to taste this treat of a Natali film.

Science newest miracle ... is a mistake.

Adrian Brody (King Kong) and Sarah Polley (Dawn of the Dead) star as Clive and Elsa,  a pair of brilliant scientists who like to tinker with DNA ... in this case, animal and human. No, no, of course it's not legal, but hey ... all's fair in love and science. And when the duo make a breakthrough, it's a cute and cuddly lil female chimera-like creature. Now, how they found chimera DNA is beyond my limited intellect, but who cares ... it's a Chimera! Anyway, the two scientists now have to decide what to do with this rather unethical experiment cause it ain't gonna win them a Nobel. Plus, they quickly become attached to it, who wouldn't? ... and here is where the film stops being able to be viewed by children.

Armed with a new Toshiba Laptop (prettiest darn laptop I've ever seen), I am gearing up with the new television schedule for the Fall 2009 - Winter 2010 season. Obviously, with the economy still in the dumps, we lost a lot of good shows. At least, some were given some closure with an ending, others simply fell into the void of cancellation. I am still pissed over the dumping of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

On the bright-side, we do have some impressive new entries in the scifi, fantasy and horror genres for television:

ABC has a jump-start with the new scifi series, Defying Gravity (which is, to my surprise, REALLY FRAKKIN' GOOD), will brew up witches of Eastwick, a mysterious mass event in Flash Forward, and a re-imagining of aliens visiting, or invading, our planet Earth with V.

CBS inherits NBC's Medium, while NBC gives us a new apocalyptic tale with Day One, and the currently running early Camelot tale, Merlin.