The major Fall and Spring TV seasons are over and the summer is plagued with repeats. So what do you watch? Here is a guide to some of the TV shows and movie coming on this summer. FOX is showing off the last new episodes of the canceled "Freakylinks" this June. Now what is there?

"Fear Factor"- a new show from NBC where three people face three challanges. Please let this go away now.

"Witchblade"- Detective Sara Pezzini wears an ancient weapon called the Witchbalde in 11 new episodes from TNT on Tuesdays from June 12th. It has promise as a show. "Witchblade" is based on a Top Cow comic.



"The Beast"- Jackson Burns (Frank Langella)is the owner of World News Service (WNS), a 24 hour all news cable channel that reports the news and turns the cameras on the reporters themselves while they're putting together the news stories. Alice Allenby (Elizabeth Mitchell) is a new WNS reporter who is torn between wanting to tell the news and thinking WNS goes too far into voyeurism. Six episodes have been made of the show and the pilot was reshot last November by Mimi Leder (also one of the show's executive producers). Langella is the only holdover from the original pilot's cast. The show looks interesting. I hope this show clicks with viewers. Starting June 13th and airing every Wednsday. Also on ABC this summer is the weird game show, "You Don't Know Jack" which airs on Wednesdays starting June 20th.



"Farscape"- Two Crichtons! Talon damaged! Crais in a coma! New episodes of one of the best sci-fi shows ever air all this summer from June 15th part of SCI-FI's Friday Prime line-up which also sees the start of the fourth season of "Lexx" from July 6th. "Lexx" is one of those weird sci-fi shows that you'll love or hate. "The Chronicle" is about a news reporter who joins a tabloid that reports about weird supernatural stuff only to find that the stories are true. "The Chronicle" premieres on July 14th apart of the Saturday line-up of SCI-FI.



"First Wave" continues with new third season episodes on July 21st. "First Wave" is about an ex-thief, Cade Foster, who is framed for the murder of his wife as part of some alien test by the Gua. Cade escapes from a mental institution to stop the Gua invasion and expose them. Cade was joined this season by Jordan Radcliffe (ex-porn star Traci Lords) who just wants to destroy the alien Gua.

Also airing this summer on SCI-FI is the four part "Robocop: Prime Directives" from July 16th to 19th. The mini-series takes place 10 years after "Robocop" and pays little attention to the sequels or short-lived TV series. The mini-series has already aired in Canada where some people like it while others don't.



"Mists of Avalon"- TNT brings the Marion Zimmer Bradley book about the King Arthur Legend told from the women's point of view (i.e. Guinveire, Morganna LeFay, The Lady of The Lake) on July 15th and 16th.



Other things on the summer TV schedule include "Night Visions"- a much-delayed horror anthology series which starts on FOX (July 12th), "Murder in Small Town X"- a new reality show from FOX that begins on July 24th, and "Big Brother 2" that airs on Thursday from July 5th. The first "Big Brother" bored me. "Night Visions" I have high hopes for.



In unrelated news, someone calling himself "The Phantom Editor" has edited a "Phantom Cut" of "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace". "The Phantom Cut" is about twenty minutes shorter and cuts many Jar Jar Binks scenes, the underwater creature scene, and many of Anakin's farm boy behavior. Only if I knew someone in L.A. who could send me a copy. For more info on "the Phantom Cut", go to "Zap2It.com".

If you ever wanted to edit your own movie, you could go to "AbsolutDirector.com" and edit together your own movie using an old 1960s Japanese sci-fi movie. Cut together what scenes you want to use, chose the dialogue and music, and you have a movie. If that doesn't interest you, you could also see rough dailies of some movies in production right now at "spe.sony.com/movies/dailies". Next time is a look at some of the movies that are coming out this fall and beyond.



this article (2.02) is (c)June 2001 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. revived on 7-7-2007. send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com