Sci-Fi Under The Dome by Stephen King (CBS)

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Title: Under the Dome

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

First aired: 2013-06-24

Creator: Brian K. Vaughan

Cast: Mike Vogel, Rachelle Lefevre, Alexander Koch, Eddie Cahill, Colin Ford, Kylie Bunbury, Dean Norris, Mackenzie Lintz

Overview: A small town is suddenly and inexplicably sealed off from the rest of the world by an enormous transparent dome. While military forces, the government and the media positioned outside of this surrounding barrier attempt to break it down, a small group of people inside attempt to figure out what the dome is, where it came from, and when (and if) it will go away.
Under The Dome by Stephen King (CBS)

 
An extended behind-the-scenes preview trailer for CBS networks' 2013 mini-series Under The Dome, based on the book of the same name by Stephen King, has been released.

On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester’s Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener’s hand is severed as “the dome” comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when—or if—it will go away.

Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens—town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician’s assistant at the hospital, a selectwoman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing—even murder—to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry.

But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn’t just short. It’s running out.​
 
cool. i've been waiting for it too much))
I'll be interesting to see if CBS keeps the dark undertones of the original source or if they cut it back a bit to make it more family-friendly for airing on their broadcast TV network.
 
No, not the dog! Never get between a boy & his dog! :(

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If you've been watching Under The Dome this summer than prepare to be a bit disappointed because it looks like they won't be sticking to the book and there won't be a resolution the dome this year. CBS has "renewed" what was supposed to be a mini-series for a second 13-episode "season" next year. :banghead:
Under the Dome will return next summer for 13 more episodes, CBS announced today.

The drama based on Stephen King’s bestselling novel is averaging 13.84 million viewers this summer and a 3.5 rating/10 share in adults 18-49, according to Nielsen. The series has also enjoyed a big boost on DVR playback and Amazon’s Prime Instant Video, which says Under the Dome has been watched by more customers than any other series on the service.

“It’s the way television should be,” CBS Corp Chairman Leslie Moonves told reporters this morning at the Television Critics Tour in Los Angeles. “It’s the way television can be.”
 
One has to wonder if that many viewers were watching because they knew they wouldn't get another chance to see the entire series...and now that they're going to drag it out into another season, ratings fall?
 
TV - Under the Dome (2013) and other series

Based on a Stephen King novel (which I haven't read), Under the Dome is set in the present day and concerns events inside a small American town that is suddenly and mysteriously sealed off from the world by an invisible dome-shaped force field several miles across. Cue some dramatic crashes and slicings-in-half as the dome arrives.

The focus in the early episodes (I've seen the first three so far) is entirely on the impact of this event on the townspeople and visitors who are caught there, with all sorts of personal stories and devious schemes being gradually revealed and people showing their true colours under the stress of the situation. We are not shown anything about what's going on outside the dome (except for the sight of biohazard-suited people performing tests on it) nor is there any hint as to how or why it might have appeared. Bizarrely, there is no attempt by those outside the dome to establish communications with those within, which if anything like this happened in reality would be a first priority. While radio waves don't reliably penetrate the dome, it would be simple and obvious to erect message boards on both sides.

Also, apart from one brief mention, no-one has so far expressed any concern about what would rapidly become the priorities as a result of the shut-down of mains electric power. First there is the piped water supply. If the source were outside the dome, it would be cut off immediately. If inside, the towers providing water pressure would soon run dry as they need electric pumps to keep them filled. Then there's the availability of food. Shops normally keep only a few days supply of food (rather less for perishables) and much of that will be frozen or refrigerated, as will be the food in people's homes. With no power, except for a few places with their own generators, that will quickly spoil, so only dried and tinned food will be available, plus whatever happens to be growing – and ripe – in fields and gardens. While there seems to be plenty of farmland and a lot of cows within the dome, it takes months to raise crops, and people might get tired of nothing but beef to eat. And incidentally, when the generators run out of fuel, how will they be refuelled? Without power, the gas stations won't be able to operate. You could probably get around that issue by moving one of the generators to a gas station, but nothing like this has even been mentioned. In fact, the main problem with the loss of power identified so far is that teenagers can't recharge their phones and media players (without which, of course, their world comes to an end), and the only response to potential shortages has been someone bulk-buying cigarettes.

As a result of this peculiar omission of such obvious practical issues, so far it's just a routine "disparate group of people trapped in isolation" story, with the mysterious dome being merely an excuse for this. There's no evidence in the first few episodes of anything that we haven't seen before, but it's just about interesting enough for me to persevere with for the time being, in the hope that it improves.

Fringe continues to impress (I'm now in Season 3) with Anna Torv playing Agent Olivia Dunham (actually two of them, in parallel worlds) still very much the highlight of the series. The way she shifts body language and expressions depending on which Liv she's playing is fascinating; the uncertainty and vulnerability of the "original" Liv, the result of experiments she was subjected to as a child, being replaced by the bold swagger of the confident "alternate Liv" who did not experience that. The progress of the plot threads is somewhat erratic, with some episodes focusing on carrying forwards the intriguing parallel worlds mystery while others take a time-out for more or less unrelated X-Files type weird events. I am becoming a bit irritated with the increasingly overt product placement, though. I don't mind the characters driving around in cars provided by a sponsor, but it's too much when they start commenting on them too.

I am impatientily awaiting the arrival on DVD in the UK of the third season of Game of Thrones(due February) and the second season of Continuum(due who knows when?).


(This entry is cross-posted from my science-fiction & fantasy blog.)
 
I wonder if CBS made the right choice by turning leaving the storyline hanging until next season as a few people I know who aren't normally sci-fi/horror/fantasy fans were watching it but lost interest when it became apparent that it was not going to end. They could've made an anthology series set in the town but had each season stand-alone a bit like the way American Horror Story is doing it.
 
some of the food/power issues were addressed; there was a huge stash of propane (involving some illicit drug manufacturing) that was used to run generators (seems like half the town has back-up propane-burning generators), and the farmers agreed to swap food for propane.
I was disappointed at how many characters they killed off, including Dody the radio woman. it's going to be hard to run 13 eps with that small handful of people, and no realistic way of adding new charax.
 
It is a small town, but it isn't so small that they can't bring in new characters.
Which is exactly what they plan on doing in order to extend the episodes past the material covered in the original King's writings. With the second season episodes we are already starting to see a shakeup with the characters as some go away and new ones are added. It looks like some characters like Big Jim will be used to act as the common connection between the various groups.
 
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So... when is an Easter Egg not an Easter Egg? When the props department screws up. :banghead:

In the first episode of the second season of Under The Dome there is a scene with a flatbed truck. The side of the truck has "Big Jim's Motorcars" written on the doors; "Big Jim" is character in the show who owns a car business. What caught my attention was that in the back window of the truck is a huge QR code barcode that seemed to be purposely included in some of the shots. The pic above is a quick screen cap that I took using my phone so that is why it's a bit fuzzy (though it's not bad considering it is the result of pointing a cell phone camera at a TV).

Seeing as how no effort was made to hide the QR code, it is huge, and it clearly seen in some shots I figured "Easter Egg!" that might point to a web site or other PR campaign related to Under The Dome.

Wrong.

The QR code translates to "http://www.irvingsusedautoparts.com" which is a real junk yard business near Wilmington, North Carolina. When you visit the site there is a video on the front page featuring.... yep, you guessed it... a red flatbed truck with yellow warning lights that happens to look exactly like the one shown in the scene.

My guess is that the props department hired out the truck from a local business and, while they put a logo over the real business name, they either missed the huge QR code in the back window or the person responsible for obtaining & prepping the truck had no idea what it was since it didn't have a usual business name, telephone, or web site on it. Whoops. :facepalm:
 
Wasn't the only problem. At the end of Episode 5(? I think) - after they've denonated the bomb. Big Jim and the Rev are seen talking at the edge of the dome. There's what appears to be a gale force wind blowing the trees behind them (which presumably are INSIDE the dome - because outside looks blown up) yet not a single hair on the Rev's head moves. . . .
 
Adding to that - it also begs the question of where the wind is coming from, since the dome is sealed and - one would think pretty airtight - also suggesting there's a limited amount of oxygen.
 
Wasn't the only problem. At the end of Episode 5(? I think) - after they've denonated the bomb. Big Jim and the Rev are seen talking at the edge of the dome. There's what appears to be a gale force wind blowing the trees behind them (which presumably are INSIDE the dome - because outside looks blown up) yet not a single hair on the Rev's head moves. . . .
Be sure to pay close attention to the scenes where there is rain; in a few of them the actors never get wet. :LOL:

Adding to that - it also begs the question of where the wind is coming from, since the dome is sealed and - one would think pretty airtight - also suggesting there's a limited amount of oxygen.
Ooh, ooh, I know the answer to that one. In the earlier episodes it was determined that the dome is actual permeable and allows air & other elements through. It is not at the point where something could be easily passed through it but air thinly does.
 
Be sure to pay close attention to the scenes where there is rain; in a few of them the actors never get wet. :LOL:

So, are they using green screens for a lot?

Ooh, ooh, I know the answer to that one. In the earlier episodes it was determined that the dome is actual permeable and allows air & other elements through. It is not at the point where something could be easily passed through it but air thinly does.
Yeah i thought that.. but they said it's like a sieve, so I can understand a small degree of air.. but not enough to cause a gale :D... and what about rain? The holes clearly cannot be big enough to allow it to rain properly. That was shown in an early episode where outside they're spraying it with a hose and the kid presses his hand against the wall from the inside (where they're not getting wet) and his hand comes away slightly damp). No way, that kind of hole placement would allow proper rainfall.
 
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