AirLockAlpha.com

Earlier this month, Robert Seidman from the site TV by the Numbers made his stance clear: There was not a shred of reality in a report from Airlock Alpha that Fox could consider renewing the Joss Whedon series "Dollhouse." But maybe Seidman has softened a little since then?

On April 6, Seidman posted a story with the headline "Don't believe what you read, without ratings improvements 'Dollhouse' won't be renewed." He was referring specifically to an Airlock Alpha story that ran the same day saying that Fox was leaning toward renewal of the series.

"These kind of stories seem to suggest that while the ratings are worse than even Fox expected them to be on Friday nights, that Fox is mesmerized by the critical acclaim for recent episodes," Seidman said. "Simply put, that's complete BS."

More than a week later, Seidman added an exclamation mark when he said "barring an astronomically good forecast for 'Dollhouse' DVD sales by Fox's studio division to the point where it's so heavily discounted that the Fox broadcast network simply can't refuse it -- and that seems very unlikely to me -- or, roughly a 25 percent improvement to 'Dollhouse's' [live plus same-day viewing in the 18 to 49 age groups], I don't see any way this show is coming back."

Monday, however, Seidman was singing a slightly different tune.

"There is one metric I haven't seen that could play into it, and that's how well 'Dollhouse' does in households with high annual income," Seidman said. "I'm guessing that if it were faring particularly well by that metric, we'd already have heard some TV-speak about it. But I haven't seen those numbers, and if they're good, it could play a role."

However, Seidman maintains that DVR numbers and even potential DVD sales of the first season won't help "Dollhouse."

In the meantime, trade publication TV Week suggests that DVR numbers are helping the show, and that along with previous reports of a lower cost-per-episode production budget, could keep "Dollhouse" more on the bubble than in the cancel column. -- [TV By The Numbers]

Star Trek: The Weak Imitation?: Vince Horiuchi, the television critic for the Salt Lake Tribune in Utah says he's cautiously optimistic about the release of "Star Trek XI" on May 8, but that it's part of a Hollywood trend he hopes doesn't continue.

"Unfortunately, Hollywood is not exactly going to unknown regions of the galaxy here by taking a classic television series and transforming it to the big screen," Horiuchi said. "It's been done scores of times, and may have even started with Star Trek itself when 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' debuted in 1979."

The goal, of course, is to help capitalize on older audiences that remember the original and would be interested in seeing a big screen version of it, Horiuchi said. However, he struggled to find any recent remakes to his liking outside of "The Fugitive."

Then again, Horiuchi seems to only like the original "Star Trek" and calls its successors, including "Star Trek: The Next Generation" nothing more than "weak imitations" of the original. Wow. -- [Salt Lake Tribune]

Maybe Horiuchi prefers this DVD instead: Five students from Tampere, Finland are set to release a full-fleged parody movie called "Star Wreck" just days before the release of the actual film.

The parody follows the adventures of Capt. James B. Pirk on the Starship CCP Kickstart, and has become known for its popular Plingon dance that has made its way around YouTube.

The film is available on DVD, and believe it or not, you can find it at Amazon. -- [The Sun]

More titles for 'Stargate: Universe': Three new titles from the first season of "Stargate: Universe," set to premiere this October on the soon-to-be Syfy, have been released.

Consulting Producer Joseph Mallozzi said that Episode 12 will be called "Faith" while series co-creator Brad Wright has penned a two-parter called "Darkness" and "Light" set for the second half of the season.

Of course, titles can always change during the production sequence. And right now, filming is underway for the episodes "Water" and "Life." -- [GateWorld]

Now the Shat is interested: William Shatner reportedly turned down a cameo-level role in "Star Trek XI," but told Wizard Universe he might be more open to some involvement in a 12th film, if the franchise makes it there.

"I just regret that I'm not a part of it," he said. "But if it's successful, then maybe there will be a call."

Shatner said he had been in conversations with director J.J. Abrams and his people during the creation of the most recent film that is released May 8, but those talks broke off soon after they started. -- [Wizard Universe]

Stop it, storm!: Finally, former "Star Trek" actor and now gay activist George Takei has been spotted in a new spoof video from Funny or Die that pokes fun at a Web video being circulated by opponents of gay marriage calling recent legislative actions and court decisions supporting gay marriage as part of an oncoming storm.

While we simply love the parody aired by Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central's "Colbert Report," this one is just absolutely hilarious from the rainstorms of gay people to the need to construct a great big umbrella.