NEW SHOWS START!

With February sweeps on their way, many shows are finally rolling out new epiosdes, after almost two months of reruns. Here's what's coming up on many of your genre favorites:

NEW SHOWS: PRETENDER

Jan 10th / Pretender (Repeat) "Keys"
Miss Parker tracks Jarod in a hurricane.

Jan 10th / Pretender (NEW) "Hazards"
Jarod joins a HazMat team, while Sidney faces a Nazi who experimented on he and his twin brother in a concentration camp during World War II.

Jan 17th / Pretender (NEW) "F/X"
Jarod rigs a special effects fireball for a SuperBowl stunt, and Miss Parker explores SubLevel 27 in the Centre, searching for clues about her mother's death.

Jan 24th / Pre-empted

Jan 31st / Pretender (NEW) "TBD"

Feb 7th / Pretender (NEW) "Gigolo Jarod"
Jarod's latest "pretend" sends Miss Parker and Sidney to a "love emporium," while Jarod himself romances a female real estate developer.

NEW SHOWS: PROFILER

Jan 10th / Profiler (NEW) "Victims of Victims"
Sam's case points to an unsolved series of ritualistic slayings 40 years ago, and Jack Of All Trades goes to visit his mother!

Jan 17th / Profiler (NEW) "Birthright"
A group of men, all born on the same day at the same hospital are being killed, and Sam must stop the killer. And both Sam and Jack have confrontations with their mothers.

Jan 24th / Pre-empted

Jan 31st / Profiler (NEW) "TBD"

Feb 7th / Profiler (NEW) "Ties That Bind"

NEW SHOWS: HERCULES

Week of Jan 12th / Hercules (NEW) "If I Had A Hammer"
The legendary blacksmith Atalanta creates a metal duplicate of Hercules, which is brought to life by Hephaestus, and seems all-too-willing to kill the man it was modeled after.

Week of Jan 19th / Hercules (NEW) "Hercules On Trial"
When a man impersonating Hercules is killed in a cave-in, Hercules is arrested for causing the death and put on trial, causing him to evaluate his life.

Week of Jan 26th / Hercules (NEW) "Medea Culpa"
The second pilot for this fall's Young Hercules series comes in this fishing story, as Hercules, Iolaus, and Jason recall a battle against a fire-breathing monster in their youth.

Week of Feb 2nd / Hercules (NEW) "Men In Pink"
Things get to be a drag on this episode, when Salmoneus and Autolycus must disguise themselves as women and join an all-girl dance troupe to escape a murder charge. Hercules and Iolaus don't even appear in this one, though Michael Hurst does play the female widow, "Twanky."

NEW SHOWS: XENA

Week of Jan 12th / Xena (NEW) "Warrior. . . Priestess. . . Tramp"
Lucy Lawless does triple duty when she teams-up with her lookalikes (also played by Lucy Lawless), Hestian Priestesss Leah and lusty barmaid Meg, to foil an evil plot by Balius.

Week of Jan 19th / Xena (NEW) "The Quill Is Mightier"
Aphrodite casts a spell on Gabrielle, so that everything she writes comes true!

Week of Jan 26th / Xena (NEW) "Maternal Instincts"
Everything goes to Hell as Xena returns to the centaur village to see her son, Callisto attacks, and Gabrielle's demonic daughter, Hope, decides to hatch some evil plans of her own.

Week of Feb 2nd / Xena (NEW) "The Bitter Suite"
The relationship between Xena and Gabrielle reaches its breaking point, so what better time for a musical episode? Set in the dreamland of Illusia, expect at least one major girl-girl kiss this episode, but I won't tell you who it's between.

NEW SHOWS: NIGHTMAN

Week of Jan 19th / NightMan (NEW) "You Are Too Beautiful"
NightMan must save a professional wrestler, Golden Boy, from his manager, while someone has been murdering women in Bay City!

Week of Jan 26th / NightMan (NEW) "Do You Believe In Magic"
NightMan must fight the sorceress Selene, who is invading the minds of everyone close to Johnny Domino.

Week of Feb 2nd / NightMan (NEW) "The House Of Soul"
There's a buried treasure hidden beneath the House of Soul, and everyone -including guest star Jerry Springer - wants a piece of it! But NightMan finds that guarding the treasure is a ghostly Chinese warrior!

NEW SHOWS: EARTH:FINAL CONFLICT

Week of Jan 19th / Earth: Final Conflict (NEW) "Sandoval's Run"
Freed from the Taelon mind control when his CVI implant degenerates, Sandoval is reunited with his family, but finds he is not safe!

Week of Jan 26th / Earth: Final Conflict (Repeat) "Float Like A Butterfly"
Boone and Lili investigate deaths in an Amish community.

Week of Feb 2nd / Earth: Final Conflict (NEW) "The Secret of Standhill"
When an ancient Taelon grave is discovered in Ireland, the truth about the Taelons' plan for Earth occupation begins to unravel!

NEW SHOWS: SINBAD

Week of Jan 12th / Sinbad (NEW) "City Under Plague"
The crew help an old girlfriend of Farouz when the plague-carrying Death Riders attack her city.

Week of Jan 19th / Sinbad (NEW) "The Gift"
A group of murderous dolls try to kill Sinbad's crew.

Week of Jan 26th / Sinbad (NEW) "The Empress"
An eternally young Roman empress waits within the walls of a fabled city, but what happens when Sinbad and crew find it?

Week of Feb 2nd / Sinbad (NEW) "Castle Keep"
Pirates crash a castle, where Sinbad and his friends are attending a party.

COMIC NEWS

The original direct-to-video animated Gen 13 movie has wrapped production, and will have a special industry-only screening in Hollywood on January 21st, hosted by director Kevin Altieri. No word from Wildstorn as to when the video(s) will be released, as the distribution deal with Disney is controlling the timetable.

Kevin Smith will be writing a script for Matt Wagner's Mage as a prospective feature film. There is currently no studio bidding on the project, but Wagner hopes that the attachment of Smith as writer will help sell the project.

TV NEWS

Starting this week on ABC is the new genre series Prey. A genetics researcher, Sloan Parker (Debra Messing) discovers that there is a new breed of human which has evolved, and that it is higher up on the evolutionary scale than homo sapiens. One big problem though: they're determined to wipe out the lower form of humanity! Check Prey out on Thursday nights, beginning January 15th.

Look for Buffy, The Vampire Slayer star Sarah Michelle Gellar to host Saturday Night Live on January 17th. The following week, Buffy will air on both Monday and Tuesday night with a two-part episode, spotlighting her move to Tuesdays!

Cindy Crawford will get romantically linked with Harry in a special post- SuperBowl episode of 3rd Rock From The Sun. The episode, airing January 25th, will be titled "36! 24! 36! Dick!"

David Duchovny will be returning for his third stint as a guest on The Larry Sanders Show when the final season debuts in mid-March.

FILM NEWS

Hot off the success of George of the Jungle (and before the obligatory sequel starts) Brendan Fraser may play a role in Universal's The Mummy remake. Stephen Sommers scripted, and will direct the film starting the April. Fraser would play the American who joins the French Foreign Legion, and who is responsible for waking the mummy up from its sleep.

QUICK REVIEWS

If you're a fan of Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, you'll want to check out a new line of books that has recently been published by Scholastic. A line of monthly young adult paperbacks is currently up to 6 volumes, with all-new stories, including one book (#3) by comic/animation writer David Cody Weiss and Bobbi JG Weiss. #1 is a novelization of the pilot, #2- "Showdown At The Mall" finds Sabrina competing against a more powerful witch, and #3-"Good Switch, Bad Switch" catches Sabrina with a case of spellfluenza which transfers her powers to Libby. #4-"Halloween Havoc" finds Sabrina's cover about to be blown when a mischievous aunt crashes her Halloween party, while in #5- "Santa's Little Helper," Sabrina gives Harvey the voice of Elvis for Christmas, and in #6- "Ben There, Done That," Hilda's hiccups bring Benjamin Franklin to live in Sabrina's house!

Scholastic also has three over-sized Sabrina photo books which are much harder to find in stores. "Salem's Guide To Life with Sabrina, The Teenage Witch" is a large-format trivia and sticker book with lots of pictures from various episodes, while the comic book-sized "Becoming A Witch" and "Dream Date" are photo-novels of specific episodes.

Another cool book I recently picked up was Men In Black Official Agents' Handbook, written by Dawn Margolis. This slim pocket-sized book features Alien Penal Codes, guides to spotting aliens, a look at some of the more common aliens, a rundown of MIB transportation, weapons, dress code, and even a short section on sexual discrimination at the MIB offices! Everything you'll need to know to protect the Earth from the scum of the universe. It's from Newmarket Press.

UPCOMING FILMS

Phantoms (January 23, Dimension) Dean Koontz hopes for a better viewing audience for his latest film, which stars Peter O'Toole, Joanna Going, and hot young star Ben Affleck. When two women go back to their hometown to visit, they discover that some...thing has happened to the missing townspeople.

Andy Mangels is the writer of Star Wars: The Essential Guide To Characters (Del Rey),the Star Wars Finest trading card set (Topps), the Star Wars: Art of Ralph McQuarrie metal card set (CUI), and Boba Fett: Twin Engines of Destruction (Dark Horse). He's written comic books for the last eleven years, as well as articles and columns for almost every major genre magazine. Look for his "All New Andy Mangels's Reel Marvel" column in most issues of Marvel Vision, and look for him as co-writer for Marvel's Star Trek: Deep Space Nine series!

In stores now, get your copy of Beyond Mulder & Scully: The Mysterious Characters of The X-Files, written by Andy Mangels. It's a keeper!

previous hollywood heroes

Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Jan. 9, 1998
Andy Mangels Hollywood Heroes, Jan. 2, 1998
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Dec. 19, 1997
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Dec. 12, 1997	The first 13 episodes of the Silver Surfer animated series!
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Dec. 5, 1997
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Nov. 26, 1997
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Nov. 21, 1997
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Nov. 14, 1997
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Nov. 7, 1997
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Oct. 31, 1997
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Oct. 24, 1997
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Oct. 17, 1997
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Oct. 10, 1997	The Spider-Man animated series launches its new fifth season!
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Oct. 3, 1997
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Sept. 26, 1997
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Sept. 19, 1997
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Sept. 12, 1997
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Sept. 5, 1997	Fall movie preview!
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Aug. 29, 1997
Andy Mangels Hollywood Heroes, Aug. 22, 1997	An interview with Neil (Sandman, Neverwhere) Gaiman!
Andy Mangels Hollywood Heroes, Aug. 15 1997	Fall Animation Series!
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Aug. 8, 1997	Details on Voyager's upcoming season, X-Files advance word, and the final, no-kidding, straight-from-Lucasfilm cast for the Star Wars prequels!
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes July 25, 1997	Tia Carerre of Wayne's World is slated to play Shi in the movie!
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes,July 18, 1997	COMIC CON CRISIS
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, June 27, 1997	June 27, 1997 -- Showtime opens the Stargate, Spider-Man movie maybe moving forward.
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, June 20, 1997
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, June 13, 1997
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, June 6, 1997	Upcoming movies, films and TV shows.
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, May 30, 1997	May 30, 1997 -- Scott Rosenberg isn't waiting around to see Men in Black go through the roof, he's already working on his next hit. This time he's playing with Cowboys and Aliens. Plus, more fall programming and the fate of Lois & Clark.
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, May 23, 1997	May 23, 1997 -- David Hasselhoff, Agent of Shield! Believe it. Plus, the fall schedule for all the major networks.
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, May 16, 1997	May 16 ,1997 -- Batman's animated series gets a bit lighter this season, while Superman's second season keeps up the hijinks with visits from Guy Gardner, Green Lantern, Mr. Mxyzptlk and the New Gods!
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, May 9, 1997	May 9, 1997 -- Dark Skies, and a look at The Odyssey.
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, May 2, 1997	May 2, 1997 -- Andy has the scoop on Marvel Film's planned production schedule. Get the latest on the transformation of all your favorite Marvel characters to the big screen.
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, April 25, 1997	April 25, 1997 -- Stephen King, who has always been unhappy with Stanley Kubrick's version of The Shining, has taken it upon himself to re-script the movie scheduled to appear on ABC. Plus, season-finale spoilers!
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, April 18, 1997	April 18, 1997 -- The JLA cast has been finalized. It's not Kyle or Hal, but Guy. The biggest surprise: Charles Winchester III, Martian Manhunter?!?
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes April 11, 1997	April 11, 1997 -- Tim Burton on Superman Reborn? And what does that mean for the Kevin Smith (Mallrats) script? Find out!
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Apr. 4, 1997	April 4, 1997 -- Warner Bros. is planning feature animated films for most of DC's second string characters. Plus the latest Star Wars casting rumors, Nick Fury, and more.
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, March 28, 1997	March 28, 1997 -- Disney has a bunch of features on the slate. Take a look at what's on their schedule.
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, March 21, 1997	March 21,1997 -- Justice League of America on TV! We've got the entire scoop, not just what characters will appear, but what actors and actresses will play them.
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes March 14, 1997	March 14,1997 -- Justice League of America on TV? Well that ,and many other pilots are on the slate for the new fall season.
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, March 7, 1997	March 7, 1997 -- Buffy the Vampire Slayer returns.
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Feb. 28, 1997	February 28, 1997 -- Upcoming movies for 1997, plus roundups of animation, tv, and movie news.
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Feb. 21, 1997	February 21, 1997 -- The Networks haven't announced the schedule for their new Fall cartoons, but if you're smart like us you can figure it out. Plus more Spawn: TAS news.
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Feb. 14, 1997	February 14, 1997 -- In 1997, Spawn will come to the big screen, and appear in his own animated series on HBO. Now you can learn all the behind the scenes secrets as we take you on a tour of both productions.
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Feb. 7, 1997	February 7, 1997 -- Batman will return to Saturday mornings in a whole new show Batman: Gotham Knights. Also Fall '97 cartoons.
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Jan. 31, 1997	January 31, 1997 -- The Night Man television show has been cast. Also the inside scoop on all the twists and turns that you can expect during February's sweeps.
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Jan. 24, 1997	January 24, 1997 -- Alien: Resurrection to revive the Aliens franchise; Babylon 5 signed for feature film prequel.
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Jan. 17, 1997	January 17, 1997 -- All the details on the Gen13 direct-to-video animated feature, starring the voices of Jon DeLancie, Mark Hamill, Cloris Leachman and others.
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Jan. 10, 1997	January 10, 1997 -- The new fall TV season has lots of science fiction, fantasy, superheroes and animation, if you know where to look. And once you read Hollywood Heroes, you'll know!
Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes, Jan. 3, 1997	January 03, 1997 -- Andy knows what is going to happen on the next two seasons of Spider-man the animated series and he is willing to tell you all about it.