Maia Goes Back to the Future! Plus Vote for Your Faves, More 'Futurama' and TV on DVD Monday

We're only three episodes into the third season of The 4400 and already, things are seriously heating up. Not only was Maia kidnapped and all memories of her erased, but we also learned that the future's plans have failed to prevent whatever catastrophic event we seem to be on a collision course with. And this was only part 1! When Maia's "sister" first showed up, I had my suspicions, but I figured she had to be the real deal because she knew so much about Maia's childhood. I did think that her motives were sinister, but I just couldn't figure out what she wanted from Maia. Then when she kidnapped her and held her in that house with the other missing 4400 children, I started to fear the worst. I didn't know if the NOVA group was behind the kidnapping or someone trying to hurt the 4400, but things certainly weren't looking good. How tricky that they showed Maia unlocking what appeared to be the same door that Diana and Tom were about to bust through! I was so confused when the two didn't meet and Maia wound up in that creepy dark circular room that we saw last season. For all intents and purposes, we'll just call it The Future Room. Imagine my further shock when we learned that Maia wasn't in any danger, but rather, her services were needed to ensure the future of the human race. Because the future's plans with the 4400 aren't working, they need Maia to go back further in time and be the catalyst that evokes the change needed to veer this catastrophic event off course. Her sacrifice comes at a high price, though, because it means losing all memories of her time with her "mother" Diana, and Diana losing all memories of Maia. In the closing moments of the episode, we watched as all traces of Maia literally disappeared from Diana's apartment as she and Marco came back home. It was creepy, and it left me wondering how they'll ever be able to turn things around next week, and do we want them to if it means endangering our future?


In other 4400 happenings, a wedge seems to be driving itself between Tom and Alana. That wedge is called her 4400 status and her sudden decision to embrace it by working at the 4400 Center. I'm not sure how I feel about this story line because I really like Tom and Alana and their story of how they came together. I'm hoping that it's leading somewhere good, even if it doesn't appear to be right now. Meanwhile, Isabelle seems to be getting more and more powerful, which is why Matthew Ross tried to exert some power over her from the beginning. Too bad for him, she realized that she was the one with the power. After all, he needs her more than she needs him, especially since he pushed her to get involved with Shawn and that seems to have backfired on him. I loved the way she realized that all the crap he fed her was just lies. Shawn encountered some trouble at his first mass healing. A member of the Nova group splashed him with paint forcing the truth about his funneling money to the group in the past came to the front. I like the idea of having Richard share the leadership responsibilities at the 4400 Center with Shawn, but the fact that he seems ripe to be Matthew Ross' next pawn concerns me. Yes, things sure are heating up on The 4400. All of the photos in today's entry are from the show's official site over at usanetwork.com. Click over there to read Maia's diary to unlock some of the clues to what's going on with her.

FRIDAY FUN: SUMMER STYLE (Trivia Answer)
On Friday, I asked you guys a trivia question for the latest edition of Friday Fun: Summer Style. Now, it's time to reveal the answer!

Q: The upcoming DVD release of the hit NBC comedy My Name is Earl will feature an alternate pilot episode where Earl gets the karma message from someone other than Carson Daly. Who is this "someone?" HINT: Think 2-dimentional.


A: This "someone" is Family Guy's Stewie Griffin. [source]

And the alternate pilot is just one of the special features on the hit freshman comedy's first season DVD, which will hit stores on September 26th. Click on over to tvshowsondvd.com to read about all of the features on the DVD set. Unfortunately, there weren't any correct answers this week, but Scooter's Daffy Duck was a pretty good guess. Be sure to tune in every Friday for more rounds of Friday Fun: Summer Style.


QUICK CUTS

*You chose the categories and the nominations, and now it's time to vote for your winners. Zap2it's TV Gal has tallied all of your entries and the top 5 nomination getters are now duking it out in their respective categories in the annual Amy Awards. Click on over there and vote for your favorites for each of the 12 categories. I'm not going to tell you who to vote for in the Most Overlooked category, not even subliminally (jehrekrhhrgyrgwefbKATHRYNMORRISdhskjdhkf). You have until this Thursday (June 29th) at 9 p.m. (EST) to cast your votes. The winners will be announced next Monday. In other TV awards news, E! Online's Kristin Veitch has tallied your votes for her annual Tater Top Awards. Click on over there to see who won! And, next week is Emmy Nominations Week here at Pass the Remote. Look for my Emmy nom wish lists and comprehensive coverage of the BIG nominations announcement next Thursday, July 6th!

*Comedy Central is bringing back Futurama. The cable outlet is reviving the animated series for 13 episodes that are expected to air along with the off-network reruns that Comedy Central acquired in 2005. The entire original cast is expected to return for the new 13-episode order. Look for the off-network run to begin sometime in 2008, no start date yet for the new episodes. Futurama is the second canceled animated series to get a reprieve. Fox recently brought back The Family Guy after cancelling it back in 2002.

*And finally, it's TV on DVD Monday! Look for the first (and most likely only) season of Commander In Chief to hit shelves tomorrow along with Columbo (season 5), Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman (movies), Fear Factor (season 1), Monk (season 1) and Project Runway (season 2). For a list of all of tomorrow's releases, visit tvshowsondvd.com.

To get more of today's biggest TV news and headlines, visit the TV News section at PassTheRemote.Net.

That's all for today. Be sure to tune in tomorrow for another Flashback Edition featuring Veronica Mars. Plus, all the latest television news! And don't forget to tune in Wednesday for the next set of episodes of PTR's list of The Best Episodes of the '05-'06 TV Season!!


To get more television coverage, including the network's new fall schedules and a complete archive of the best of Pass the Remote with a photo gallery featuring pictures from the set of Veronica Mars, click on over to PassTheRemote.net.