After covering the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo for four years and meeting all manner of creatures, it’s always refreshing to see the steadfast people who remain totally pumped throughout the entire convention. There are the fans and then there are the superfans. I’m talking about Morgan Hoffman, Ajay Fry, and Teddy Wilson from Space TV’s Sci Fi genre news program InnerSPACE.
Because these three are privy to some of the upcoming programming on Space, we were wondering what shows we should be watching this fall.
""...if you are not watching [Orphan Black] you are not a Canadian," Ajay states enthusiastically.
The group as a whole is so psyched about this show, after every episode on Monday night, InnerSPACE will list their top 5 favourite moments from that episode.
Other shows include The Return a great show from France, which puts a new spin on the undead mythology.
"Our programmer said it’s got the best pilot of any TV show pilot that she’s ever seen," Ajay says.
And "full frontal male nudity," Morgan adds.
Also look for a new series called The Last Ship, which has Michael Bay as executive producer. While based on the novel by William Brinkley, the plot differs. After a pandemic kills 80 per cent of the world’s population, the crew of an unaffected U.S. Navy ship must try to find a cure to save humanity.
Teddy mentions the program Salem, which just premiered on Space, as another must see.
"It’s doing great...and it’s kind of a different take on the witch mythology," he says.
Morgan heeds caution about viewing it by yourself at night.
"I watch it alone at 10:30 at night and I was freaking out," she says.
As to be expected, all four of us geeked out about what’s coming up this fall: the return of Doctor Who with new doctor, Peter Capaldi.
In terms of summer movies, the group is eagerly anticipating X-Men: Days of Future Past, Godzilla, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Spider Man 2.
Teddy will be keeping his eyes open for any good romantic comedies.
"I like rom-coms...don’t judge me," he quips.
Ajay is also looking forward to seeing An Honest Liar, a documentary film on James The Amazing Randi.
One serious topic I broached was how cable TV shows have been pushing the limit on what can be shown on television (nudity, showing adult relationships, etc.). The question we posed was how far can we go on Canadian television?
"Watch the second season of Orphan Black...I am not kidding," Ajay answers. "I cannot wait for what they are doing... I am talking things you have never seen on television before."
"...in terms of showing more skin, I think there’s more of a tolerance than we maybe thought ten years ago for actually having mature themes in our television...and I think it’s a great thing," Teddy shares. "I think people are a little less conservative and a little less uptight than sometimes the government thinks."
Finally, with the proliferation of expos and conventions, we wondered whether the market has been flooded.
"I think it’s a big tent and there is room for big cons, small cons, topic specific cons," Teddy answers.
"As long as the attendees aren’t being exploited, have cons all the time because there’s nothing wrong with people getting together to celebrate what they love." Ajay adds.
People should also be encouraged to vote with their dollars. Go to the cons and expos that treat you well.
