geekosystem

While the actual number of downloads has dropped, both LOST and Heroes topped the list of TV's most downloaded shows, proving that geeks watch the most popular sci-fi shows on TV, just not on the actual TV machine. Heroes had actually topped the list in 2009, but the media surrounding LOST's final season most likely drew more viewers than Heroes' cancellation. According to TorrentFreak, "the most downloaded episode of Heroes is still exceeding the average viewership on US television." Dexter, which moved up to third on the list, also experienced more downloads than TV viewers.

When Jeph Loeb appeared to no longer be taking up the writing reins on The Hulk, comics fans speculated wildly as to what he might be doing next. Perhaps the writer behind Long Halloween and Batman/Superman had even been poached back by DC. Turns out it was actually something rather different: Loeb has been put in charge of television projects for Marvel Comics.

Comic creator Jazan Wild claims that many elements from the fourth season of Heroes were plagiarized directly from him comic Carnival of Souls, and is suing for $60 million. Robot 6 summarizes the evidence presented by the plaintiff in the lawsuit between Wild and NBC.

"The settings and the storylines are virtually the same," the complaint states. "The main character in both stories leads a carnival of lost souls and outcasts. This dark character seeks to make his carnival more powerful by recruiting new members with special abilities. The appearance of some of the characters is also virtually identical to those in the plaintiff's books. [...] Even the dialogue is similar. Indeed, some of the scenes in Heroes appear as if plaintiff's books were used as storyboards by the defendants."

NBC is certainly not done with the superhero drama genre, but I'm forced to wonder just how long they can beat this horse. In a post- Dark Knight and Kick-Ass world where men in long underwear and capes can go toe-to-toe with dirty cops and criminals realistically, isn't it time to bring some of that to the small screen? Enter: The Cape, a drama about a good cop in a bad city who must become the beloved hero of his young son when he's framed for murder and assumed dead by both those he loved and those who betrayed him. Because Heroes, obviously, wasn't grounded in reality enough.

Andre Meadows from Black Nerd Comedy thinks so.  Here's his hilarious take on why black people keep getting the shaft from science fiction television shows: Some commenters seem to have missed the whole "comedy" aspect of the video, accusing Andre of using race to grab attention:

Oh, Heroes: how quickly you went from "the best pilot of fall 2006" and drawing comparisons to LOST to all-purpose punchline. Even when you were the most-pirated show of 2009, Wired still found a way to say it was because of your "lameness." Now, in a recent interview, the show's creator, Tim Kring, presents one possible explanation for the show's downslide into mediocrity: meddling execs at NBC, who Kring says not only called the shots about how many episodes each season of the show would have (too many, according to Kring), but called the shots on several plot points and forbid the killing off of popular characters.

Apparently there's a budding movement to make science fiction movies less awesome. Imagine watching your favorite space battles on the big screen WITH NO SOUND.  +1 for scientific accuracy, -100 for awesomeness. Sidney Perkowitz, a physics Professor at Emory University, and The Science and Entertainment Exchange have proposed a set of guidelines holding science fiction movies to more rigid standards of scientific accuracy. The prime directive of Perkowitz and Co. is that only one law of physics should be broken per movie: