What happens when you take a big-time movie director and mix him with someone who fans want to become a big-time movie director? What do you do if you take a piece of iconic history that was effectively dead, and suddently turn it into an international phenomenon? Will the world end if you take a television network that could and mix it with one of the sleeper hits of the season?

That sounds like a recipe for Airlock Alpha's Top Newsmakers of 2006, so let's see what it yields.

5. Heroes
The television networks scrambled to try and bring highly-serialized and very smart television shows to the airwaves, but they obviously missed the boat with the success of shows geared more toward science-fiction fans like NBC's "Heroes."

It's hard to believe that the premise is really nothing more than "The X-Men" meets "The 4400," but creator Tim Kring reminded Hollywood that it's not necessarily the concept and the complexity that draws in viewers, it's the characters.

"We have the only real hit of the fall, and it's growing," NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly told the New York Times last October about "Heroes." Just like "The X-Files" and "Lost" before it, every time the ensemble cast seems to answer one question or solve one adventure, 10 more open up. That means the show will be far more complex than simply saving a cheerleader, or finding out who is on the list and who isn't.

The show isn't immune from controversy, however. Most recently, "Heroes," NBC and the management team of actor Thomas Dekker, who plays Zach on the show, were criticized for suddenly converting his character from gay to straight. While the controversy likely will have little effect on the growing audience, it does show that even the most minor characters are watched very closely when it comes to this type of fandom.

4. SciFi Channel
In the past, if I were to name the SciFi Channel in the top newsmakers list, it would be for bad reasons, not good. But believe it or not, 2006 was a great year for the channel, even if it has to say good-bye to one of its early shows, "Stargate: SG-1."

Bonnie Hammer and her management team took a bold step by putting its premier show, "Battlestar Galactica," up against the fall lineup of network television, and while it did see some ratings erosion moving into its third season, the show has held its own. Its move to Sundays next month will only help to bolster some of those growths in key demographics, and it's highly expected that BSG will be renewed for a fourth season.

On the flip side, however, SciFi did become one of the homes of professional wrestling, which outside of its fictional concept, really has little to do with science-fiction and resulted in a sizeable set of negative feedback. It's unclear how long ECW will be on the channel, but it could be a while even though its ratings are really no better than "Battlestar Galactica."

3. Peter Jackson
Not a single person has been cast for "The Hobbit," and I bet good money that a final screenplay is not even in the works, but director Peter Jackson has had his name in the headlines, playing hardball with New Line Cinema, making it clear that if they don't pay what the director thinks he's owed from "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, then he won't return for the sequel films.

It seems like everyone and their white wizard have a say in this, so it's been nothing more than a table tennis match going back and forth on whether or not Jackson will be involved or not. Apparently, only time will tell.

2. Russell T. Davies
"Doctor Who" is a hit on BBC One, and who would've thought, but the more adult spinoff "Torchwood" is such a hit for BBC Three, that its second season will actually air on BBC Two. Of course, a lot of that credit -- if not all of it -- has to go to showrunner Russell T. Davies who some how found the right balance between campiness and the sophistication of today's audience to effectively rebirth a classic.

There have been some complaints about how sexual both series have become, especially when it comes to omnisexuality, but some say that what the Doctor was missing in the past was just a bit of sexiness.

Thanks to Davies, names like Eccleston and Tennant (as well as Piper) are household names not only in England, but overseas as well.

1. J.J. Abrams
I'm sure there's no surprise here. No one can create the see-saw news articles speculating back and forth about what he's doing than Abrams working on the new Star Trek movie.

Although Abrams is coming in to take over a project that has been in the works for at least a year and a half, it took someone high profile like the co-creator of "Lost" and the creator of "Alias" to kickstart the excitement back into this franchise.

Will it take place at Starfleet Academy? Will it feature Kirk and Spock? Will Matt Damon get naked?

And of course, most importantly, will Abrams himself direct?

Those are all questions we'll get to find out, especially as 2007 unfolds.

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