The Times is reporting that Ridley Scott, director of “Alien” and director of the venerable “Blade Runner,” has declared that science fiction is dead. In the article, Scott says that the genre has lost its originality and it’s all been written before.

I can see where he’s coming from. Yes, it’s pretty hard to think of a completely original science fiction story anymore. Want to write a story about an idealistic scientist’s struggle to save an aging observatory, only to make a world-changing discovery? Well, it was done in “Contact.” Or maybe a menacing alien robot bent on destruction? You’re bound to come face-to-face with the gleaming red eye of the “Terminator” sooner or later. How about a film that shows the consequences of altering the past? There’s the “Back to the Future” trilogy.

The truth is, no story is original—that’s what makes them accessible. All stories, be they historical fiction like “Gladiator,” Fantasy, like “Legend,” or Science Fiction, like “Alien,” explore themes that get at the heart of what it means to be human. Those themes are what give a story its draw and its power. It doesn’t matter if the story follows aliens, alimony, or aloe plants. If it gets an audience to think about a theme without being dull, it’s going to be a success.

I’m a huge fan of the style in “Alien”, so I’m sorry to see Ridley Scott leave us. I guess one positive thing we can draw from this is that “Alien” has already had an irrevocable influence on the genre. He may not be writing new science fiction, but the best elements of his style, like our most cherished themes, are unlikely to disappear.

You did good work, Sir Ridley. We’ll take it from here.

I woke up this morning in a cold sweat. Even though it’s last week’s news that “Anchorwoman” had been canceled after it’s first episode, I couldn’t help but have this sense of dread that I was missing something.

I grew up with Fox. I watched the “Simpsons”, “Married With Children”, and “Futurama”. If there is one simple truth in this world, it’s that Fox executives keep shows around that are good or worse. The great shows are canceled before their time. The cancellations of “Firefly” and “Drive” are the two best examples that I can think of.

This leads me to one simple conclusion.

“Anchorwoman” probably would have been the single greatest television show that they ever had the courage to air, if they had allowed it to continue.

Was it brilliant, insightful, or witty? Was the concept so deep and complicated that Fox executives couldn’t comprehend it? They say it was canceled because of ratings, but we’ll never know the truth.

Nothing big being aired or released this next week because of the holiday weekend. Enjoy!

Tuesday (Aug 28):

• Heroes - Season One released on DVD.
• Eureka - “E=MC…?” An experiment turns the town’s geniuses into a bunch of morons.

Thursday (Aug 30):

• Who Wants To Be A Superhero - The heroes have to match wits against a class of 4th graders.

According to Variety, Keanu Reeves has been cast as Klaatu in a remake of the 1951 scifi classic, The Day The Earth Stood Still. The movie is probably best known to people who haven’t actually seen it for it’s key line “Klaatu barada nikto”, parodied in Sam Raimi’s Army of Darkness.

This preliminary illustration by BriAnna depicts the hosts of the Surplus One audiocast that is soon to come here on Sci Fi Surplus!

IGN is reporting that J.J. Abams wants to have Tom Cruise appear as Captain Christopher Pike in the new Star Trek movie.  It’s unlikely that he would get the role because the Star Trek franchise is owned by Paramount, and Sumner Redstone and Cruise had a huge falling out which resulted in Cruise leaving Paramount and starting his own studio.