Just hours after the major networks finished making their fall and spring schedule presentations, Airlock Alpha added six -- yes, I said six -- television shows to its coverage schedule. That's six new genre television shows, and that's not even all of them that are airing. They just happen to be six that we chose, for whatever reasons, to make a part of our own schedule.

It is very, very exciting to see the networks finding stories and concepts in the bounds of science-fiction and fantasy. But really, how many times will the networks try to dip into this pot only to come out empty-handed?

For the last few years, the networks have given us the opportunity to latch onto different shows, but like tadpoles swimming near fish, only a lucky one or two actually had a chance to hear the most coveted words in television: "You're renewed."

For every "Invasion," for every "Threshold," for every "Jericho," we do see the occasional "Lost" or "Heroes." As I take a look at what is being fed to us for the upcoming 2007-08 season, there is nothing that seems even remotely capable of making me think that this season will be different from any others.

Judging by what I have seen and heard about the genre shows, I think I can safely say that by this time next year, "The Bionic Woman," "Pushing Daisies" and maybe, just maybe "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" will be looking at how they will approach second seasons. Everything else? Just hope you at least get a full-season order.

Remakes of campy 1970s series seems to be David Eick's specialty, and even without music, some of the fighting scenes between Katee Sackhoff and series star Michelle Ryan looked beautifully shot and very interesting. For some reason, I kept expecting to hear the old bionic sound noise, but I should know better. I mean, this is the guy who made sure there was no casino planet on path to Earth in "Battlestar Galactica."

I have a hard time believing that Bryan Fuller can make a dud, and "Pushing Daisies" on ABC won't be any exception. In a way, it seems awfully reminiscent of one of his other series, "Dead Like Me," but if we can get even a tiny piece of that Showtime energy into this series, not only will "Pushing Daisies" survive -- but it could be the fall's breakout hit.

I have always been a fan of the Terminator franchise, and I like seeing that some of that will survive in the "Sarah Connor Chronicles." I also feel that the show is very well casted with actors such as Lena Headey and Thomas Dekker. But sadly, this is a series airing on Fox, a network that seems to kick its genre shows to the curb before they even have a chance to turn the key. And don't even get me into the marketing side of it.

The rest of the fare ... I will wait until I see it, but right now, it doesn't really have my interest. I think "Journeyman" has the most promise of the rest of these series, but alas, it's in the dead timeslot that many people thought "Bionic Woman" was going to get after "Heroes." For whatever reasons, NBC can't get anything to work in its Monday 10 p.m. slot, and has already killed some very high profile shows like "Studio 60 in the Sunset Strip" and "The Black Donnellys." Let's hope that curse is lifted by the time fall rolls around.

And then we have "Moonlight" and "New Amsterdam." Both sound like halfway interesting premises, but both have sadly already been done. To me, "Moonlight" is too much like "Blade" (you pick ... the trilogy or the series) or even as one reader suggested, "Forever Knight." And many of us have seen "New Amsterdam" the first time it was made ... as "Highlander."

As always, we simply have to wait and see. No one thought "Lost" would ever get the following it did. And most people overlooked "Heroes" before it premiered. I don't mind at all being wrong ... let's just hope that I'm wrong in a good way.

SyBits

Earlier this week, we reported that "Battlestar Galactica" writer Anne Cofell Saunders was leaving the show to join the staff team for the new NBC series "Chuck." I had come across the news that Anne was leaving through a source when I was pursuing another completely different story, so I contacted Anne, she confirmed it, and we ran a story.

Apparently, a short time before, a Web site called Battlestar Wiki had beat us to the punch.

I wanted to take the unusual step of mentioning that these guys did have the story before us. And while our story did not come from them at all (thus, why they were not being credited), I thought they deserved a little credit, even if it's here.

Good job guys, and continue with all the great work!

I know that I for one will miss Anne's work on the show. She brought us episodes such as "Pegasus" and, with Jane Espenson, "Dirty Hands," but I know she will do her part to make "Chuck" fascinating and entertaining all at the same time.

So, enough of that. Let's read some letters!

Yeah ... I will actually be sending a letter to Sony asking for my girlfriend and I's money back after seeing "Spider-Man 3."

I wanted to love this movie so much, but I was so dissapointed, we actually walked out an hour and forty minutes in, we just couldn't take it any more.
-- Howard

Good luck in getting your money back, Howard. I still want Sony to pay me back for "Star Wars Galaxies." Sure, I never played the game, but they still owe me pain and suffering.

Hey Michael, not sure exactly how old you are, but I just read your article on your time with Edward James Olmos(very cool, would have killed to be on that set). And yes he was great as Jaime Escalante. But how can you write an article about Eddie and not mention him as the chief in the original "Miami Vice." That's where I, and many others I'd bet, first saw Edward and he's been one of my favorite actors ever since.
-- Bill Barber of Orlando, Fla.

I like the easy questions! I just turned 31, and the only thing I remember about "Miami Vice" is that Eddie played a lieutenant, not a chief. Or did he?

If you do want to send me a letter, just drop me an e-mail at mhinman@airlockalpha.com and you might find your words rigt in this very spot

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Michael Hinman, named Time magazine's Person of the Year in 2006, is the founder and site coordinator for Airlock Alpha, writing out of Tampa, Fla. He can be reached at mhinman@airlockalpha.com