SciFiAndTvTalk

Sci-Fi Blast From the Past - Ingrid Kavelaars (Code Name: Eternity)

Actress Ingrid Kavelaars.

In today's Sci-Fi Blast From The Past, actress Ingrid Kavelaars talks about her starring role as Dr. Laura Keating in the Canadian-made Sci-Fi TV series Code Name: Eternity.

Dr. Laura Keating has no idea what she’s letting herself in for when she hooks up with a stranger named Ethaniel. An alien creature from a far-off galaxy, Ethaniel assumes human form in order to search for Banning, a fellow alien who plans to destroy all life on Earth. As a psychiatrist, Laura is able to guide Ethaniel through the ups and downs of everyday human life while also helping him on his mission. This is the premise of the 1999 Canadian Sci-Fi TV series Code Name: Eternity, which stars Ingrid Kavelaars as Laura Keating. Just as her character’s life changed when she crossed paths with Ethaniel, being cast on the show was a major turning point in Kavelaars’ acting career.

“I was living in Vancouver at the time, having moved there about a year earlier from Toronto,” says the actress. “The casting agent for Code Name: Eternity, Jon Cumerford, came to Vancouver to audition people, including myself, for the role of Laura. About a week after my first reading, they flew me to Toronto to test with a few other actresses for the role. It actually turned out to be quite a process. Usually you find out the day after you test whether or not you’ve been hired, but in this case the producers were having a hard time making up their minds.

“They brought us back the following day to audition again, which is a rather tense situation. You’re standing in front of a room full of people and have one shot to convince them you’re the best person for the role. So I did my thing and then went home to Ontario to spend the weekend with my parents. That night my agent phoned to tell me I got the job and it was perfect timing as I was able to celebrate with my family. This was my first time getting a lead in a series and it’s something I’ll always remember.”

In the Code Name: Eternity pilot, appropriately titled Ethaniel’s Story, viewers as well as Laura meet Ethaniel (Cameron Bancroft), an extraterrestrial assassin who holds the future of humankind in his hands. It may have been over six years ago, but Kavelaars still vividly recalls working on that first episode.

“We filmed the pilot and then wound up going back and re-shooting a great deal of it around the same time we were filming episode 16 [Sold Out For a Song],” explains Kavelaars. “What probably sticks out in my mind most about that is how the writers and producers changed the format of the first episode from the original script to what viewers ultimately saw on their TV screens.

“I thought the opening teaser was especially interesting. I had to do some voiceover work for the pilot and I just remember sitting there and watching that first scene where our heroes have already been arrested. Both they and the audience are thrown right into the story and I loved that. With the original script I think the producers felt it was too much of a slow build. They wanted the viewer immediately caught up in what was happening. So in the pilot, the actors, the camera, the action, everything moves along at a quick pace and I really enjoyed telling a story in that way.”

Her relationship with Ethaniel may have started out as platonic, but Laura soon developed deeper feelings for the alien. “Initially I think she was intrigued by Ethaniel,” says Kavelaars. “Laura was all about figuring out people, but here was a guy who she couldn’t quite figure out, and that piqued her curiosity. Also, Laura was attracted to Ethaniel, which I feel is partly why she befriended him. Again, as we saw in the pilot, she really didn’t have much of a choice in the beginning, but as the show unfolded Laura became more in control of her situation and chose to stay with and help Ethaniel.”

When you’re risking your life to save the world it doesn’t hurt to have all the help you can get. In episode three, The Hunted, Laura and Ethaniel gain an ally in a conspiracy theorist named Byder (Joseph Baldwin).

“Byder got under Laura’s skin,” jokes Kavelaars. “She respected him but didn’t respect the way he worked, and that made their relationship fun. What you saw onscreen with those two characters wasn’t much different from my off-camera relationship with Joe Baldwin. We were like two siblings who got on each other’s nerves but still cared about one another. Joe is such a pleasure to work with and he would crack me up every day. There’s an episode where Laura and Byder are trapped onboard a boat and trying to escape. They’re both arguing non-stop and Joe and I were in fits of giggles trying to get through that scene.”

Out of the 26 Eternity episodes she worked on, one of Kavelaars’ favourites is 24 Hoursin which Laura races against the clock to find a cure for a disease that threatens to kill Ethaniel. “Steve DiMarco directed that episode and he’s not only a very intelligent man but also someone who’s always prepared,” notes the actress. “One day we had six pages of script to film and Steve walked onto the set and said he wanted to shoot everything in one continuous shot. That meant the actors would be walking, talking and moving from room to room as the camera followed them.

“Cameron wasn’t in that day, so I was the lead actor in the scene. Just before we began filming, Steve came to see me in my trailer. I said to him, ‘What are you doing to me,’ and he was like, ‘You can do this.’ Steve believed in me so much. He challenged me as an actress throughout the entire shoot and I relished every minute of it.”

When it comes to her Eternity costar Cameron Bancroft, Kavelaars is quick to point out she couldn’t have asked for a better mentor or friend. “Because Cameron had been a series regular before and been through that whole process, I looked to him for guidance and really respected him, and still do,” she says.

“Cameron is a very charismatic and generous person as well as a class act through-and-through. I learnt so much from him, especially about how to conduct oneself on a set and with the cast and crew. It’s like a pyramid effect, and if your lead actor is always on time and prepared then that trickles down to everyone else and establishes a tone.

“I’ve continued to keep in touch with Cameron and we’re very good friends. In fact, my husband and I got together with both he and his wife a few times this past summer for dinner. Every so often we’ll bring up Eternity and I always make a point of thanking Cameron for all he taught me, not only as an actor but also how you should treat people in that [work] environment.”

Although she wasn’t chasing after aliens, Kavelaars recently returned to Toronto to film a guest-star role in a new Canadian-made TV series called This is Wonderland. “I play a stripper who’s on trial for kidnapping, drug possession and prostitution. She also has a temper and is completely unaware of the social graces,” laughs the actress,” which made her a blast to play.”

Steve Eramo 

Sci-Fi Blast From the Past - Lisa Sheridan (Invasion)

Actress Lisa Sheridan.

In today's Sci-Fi Blast From The Past, actress Lisa Sheridan talks about playing investigative reporter Larkin Groves in the short-lived ABC Sci-Fi TV series Invasion.

If you think small town America is all white-picket fences and homemade apple pies, then you obviously haven’t made a recent visit to Homestead, Florida. The setting for the ABC Sci-Fi series Invasion, Homestead is experiencing more than its fair share of weird happenings, all of which are connected to hundreds of strange lights that fell from the sky. Among those trying to figure out what’s going on is Larkin Groves Varon, an investigative reporter for the local Channel 7 I-Team. Always up for a challenge, she has a great deal riding on uncovering the truth to this conundrum, as actress Lisa Sheridan, who plays Larkin, explains.

“When we first meet Larkin at the start of the series she’s juggling a lot of different balls in the air,” says Sheridan. “She’s working fulltime as a TV reporter and is newly married as well as very newly pregnant. Larkin is also a first-time stepmother to two stepchildren, both of whom she’s trying to adjust to and find a way to build a relationship with.

“Add to that a hurricane and the various mysteries that have cropped up since it struck. Larkin is dealing with everything the best she can. Prior to all this, my character was someone who could roll with the punches really well, but I feel she’s just been pushed to the limit because of the story’s turn of events. Of course, seeing how Larkin handles herself in these situations is what makes playing her so interesting, not to mention enjoyable.”

In the Invasion pilot, a powerful hurricane makes landfall in Homestead, bringing with it a barrage of glowing lights that rain down on the town and land in the local everglades. Following the storm, a number of residents are found lying naked in shallow waters around the everglades. They have no recollection of what happened, but know that somehow they are “different.” Filming the series opener was not so much a baptism of fire for Sheridan and her fellow cast members as it was one of all the other elements.

“It was late March [2005] and we were shooting in this tiny little town about an hour-and-a-half outside of Los Angeles,” recalls the actress. “It was freezing cold and although we had wetsuits under our street clothes we were still shaking. There were four fans about eight feet in diameter that were facing in different directions and they were blowing on us all the time. Every so often, some of the crew would throw branches and leaves in front of the fans so that they would hit us, which is what would happen during a real hurricane.

“Then there was the rain. There were these gigantic sprinklers that were strung up on top of a crane. The whole apparatus was attached to a water tank on a truck. They’d turn on the taps and in order to see rain on camera it has to be a deluge. In-between takes the water would be turned off, and that was because we had a few complicated resets that took time to do. One of them involved a car door that needed to be rigged in such a way that it would blow open on me. While we were waiting, the crew would come over to us with towels and hot tea and sympathy. Just when you had almost forgotten about the rain, wind and the cold, the director would say, ‘OK, everyone, quiet. We’re ready for another take,’ and on would go the fans and the water.

“I remember standing there with Tyler Labine [Dave Groves] and Evan Peters [Jesse Varon] and we‘d stare up at these sprinklers as the water started to come out of them. You could see the drops slowly coming down towards you and your whole body would just tense up in anticipation of that cold water. Thank God for Tyler and Evan. They’re such funny guys and between the three of us we kept our spirits up while getting rained on.”

Larkin’s brother Dave first theorizes that the lights in the sky may have extraterrestrial connections. He subsequently convinces his brother-in-law and park ranger Russell Varon (Eddie Cibrian) of this by showing him what appears to be an alien corpse. They suspect that Russell’s ex-wife, Dr. Mariel Underlay (Kari Matchett), may be one of those “affected” by these lights. Wanting to keep Larkin and their unborn child safe, Russell tells her nothing. This, however, doesn’t stop the inquisitive reporter from checking out her own leads at a local military base in the first season story Unnatural Selection.

“Pretty much every scene we shot at the base was tricky because we had a limited time frame in which to do it,” notes Sheridan. “We had that location for just one day, and, unfortunately, these freak thunderstorms broke out. So we couldn’t shoot for a couple of hours and once we were able to start back up again we were fighting the fading sunlight. There were one or two scenes we just didn’t get to do, but that sometimes happens with episodic TV.

“In episode seven, Fish Story, we also dealt with a weather-related issue. On one of the days we were shooting in the middle of this parking lot and the Santa Anna winds were blowing in. These winds come in from the east about the same time each fall in Southern California and they are hot, really hot. So it was 105 degrees and the winds were whipping through the set. I’d been wearing this jacket for the entire episode, which was basically like wearing a Ziploc bag. In the particular scene we were filming, I was supposed to be falling down, going into shock and on the verge of passing out. Well, it was so hot that I actually did pass out. The next thing I know I’m waking up on the ground. Now that was a bit of a surprise,” chuckles the actress.

Invasion fans can rest assured that despite all obstacles, Larkin remains determined as ever to get the answers she’s after. “In the episode we’re doing at the moment [late January], my character’s skills and curiosity as a reporter start coming into play,” says Sheridan. “One way or the other, Larkin is going to figure out what’s going on in Homestead with regard to all the survivors.”

Born in Juliette, Georgia and raised in Macon, Lisa Sheridan once entertained the idea of becoming a zoo veterinarian. “My dream was to work at the San Diego Zoo,” she says. “Looking back now, though, I think I was always acting even if I didn’t realize it. I was the kid who more often that not would be running around in the woods and playing make-believe.”

An honours graduate from the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University, she won the Thomas Auclair Memorial Scholarship Award for most promising student actor. Sheridan continued her studies in Moscow and performed in Fringe theatre in London before relocating to Los Angeles where she booked her first TV role as Vivian Winters in the short-lived UPN series Legacy.

“It was a period piece about families in the South who were raising horses,” says the actress. “I’m a Southern girl and we shot on location in Virginia, so I was in heaven. I’d be outside surrounded by this beautiful countryside and wearing a big flowing dress complete with a hat and a parasol. I also got to ride horses every day, and because I was already an experienced rider, they taught me how to ride sidesaddle. It was just an incredible time.”

Along with Legacy and Invasion, Sheridan was also a series regular on the Sci-Fi/Horror series FreakyLinks. “That was a blast,” enthuses the actress. “Probably the most fun thing about the show was that as part of the storyline, all our characters carried around video cameras wherever they went.

“There were portions of each script that our characters shot on video, and the show’s producers realized pretty quickly that it was far too time-consuming to have a cameraman dress up as one of us and shoot those sequences as opposed to us doing it ourselves. So little by little my fellow actors, Ethan Embry, Karim Prince, Lizette Carrion, and I wound up shooting a chunk of each episode. Funnily enough, there was a lot of improv on the show because of that. We’d be playing around with different shots and the editors would like what they saw and keep it in the show.”

With Invasion having received a full-year pickup, what are Sheridan’s hopes as this season continues to unfold. “Shaun Cassidy [series creator and executive producer] has an incredibly far-reaching vision for this show,” explains the actress. “It’s a big story and one that’s very much about humanity and our species. I don’t think many people writing episodic TV would set themselves such an ambitious goal, and I have a great deal of respect for Shaun for doing that. So my hope is that he gets to tell the story he wants to tell, and I’m excited to be a small part of that process.”

Steve Eramo

Sci-Fi Blast From the Past - Richard Dean Anderson (Stargate SG-1)

Actor Richard Dean Anderson.

In today's Sci-Fi Blast From The past, former MacGyver leading man Richard Dean Anderson talks about taking charge as Colonel Jack O'Neill on Stargate SG-1. 

It’s been a busy week for Stargate SG-1’s leading man Richard Dean Anderson. As Colonel Jack O’Neill, he spent the first three days trying to ease tensions between the Jaffa and Tok’ra in the episode Allegiance. This morning, O’Neill and the SG-1 team travelled to the planet Pangar to talk with its people about a miracle drug in The Cure. Behind the scenes, Anderson’s time is taken up with everything from phone calls to talking with the show’s publicist about an upcoming TV appearance. The actor takes it all in stride, though, especially since he knows that in one more day he’ll be with his daughter Wylie.

“She remains my reason for living,” says Anderson. “I’m still commuting every weekend to see Wylie because she’s down in California and I’m up here in Vancouver. Coming back into her life essentially after a week’s separation is absolutely glorious. She’ll go horizontal in her leap to grab onto my shoulders and neck. It’s the whole kissing, smothering thing, which I just love. Wylie and I have a sweet, gentle understanding of our rhythms. She’s three-and-a-half – she’ll be four in August – and this is the time when her personality is just exploding. So it’s become imperative to me that I not only be a part of that and help it along but also be there to observe it. She’s genuinely funny, and the scary part is I think she knows it. She’s even cracking jokes. She’ll be ready for Reno if not Vegas soon,” he laughs.

“One of the things we do when we’re together is put on puppet shows. When I was in Chili I bought her 20 of these little hand puppets. I brought them back and she found them totally fascinating, so we take turns doing characters. We’ll play off each other in many respects and it’s fun to watch her. You can see her mind working and, of course, she has a child’s impulses and spontaneity. I’ve been accused of having some child-like qualities myself,” smiles Anderson, ‘and I think Wylie actually recognizes them in me. So it’s a romp. She and I are about the three R’s – romping, reading and real cool stuff.”

Back in February, the actor returned to the Stargate SG-1 studios in Vancouver for one more romp – at least on the small screen – as Colonel Jack O’Neill in the show’s sixth and final season. However, unlike past years, this one had a few differences, the biggest being that the programme now had a new home on the Sci-Fi Channel. Also, Michael Shanks (Daniel Jackson) had left the series and Corin Nemec had come onboard as the newest member of the SG-1 team, Jonas Quinn. Besides having all these changes to think about, Anderson also had a personal issue to deal with.

“I’d injured my knee and I had to have surgery about three weeks before filming began,” recalls the actor. “I wasn’t sure whether or not it was going to be in good enough shape for me to come back to work. So I was concerned about that and a bit distracted by my own little ambulatory world.

“When it comes to how I was feeling about the show itself, first off, I was OK with the change of network thing, and second, I wasn’t worried about a new character coming in. This was the fate of the series and the reconfiguring of our cast was born of a natural evolution for people. Michael Shanks wanted to move on. He’d expressed some concerned about being here and about being, I guess, underutilized to a certain degree, and there’s some validity to that, I suppose. So after he expressed those feelings we heeded the signs and wheels were put into motion.

“It’s not like Brad Wright sits around in his office twiddling his thumbs. He’s busy working and can’t do things overnight. To make a decision to change or alter the course of a show takes some time and thought. Mike moved on, we made the adjustment. Obviously, Corin Nemec coming in was the result of that. We needed to be able to fill a gap. That’s not just business, it’s also a fact of life. People move on. You can miss them, you can grieve, all that stuff, but just make sure you take forward steps as well.”

Having already played the part of O’Neill for five seasons did Anderson make any conscious effort to change his performance this year? “I can’t honestly say that I’ve made any massive adjustments,” notes the actor. “I mean, there’s a natural growth, hopefully, and an evolution of character that seems to be fairly organic. That’s such a pompous word to use but it’s the only thing that comes to mind. It remains to be seen at this juncture exactly where O’Neill is headed and what he’s going to end up doing with his life. For now, he remains this smart-ass, glib, irreverent military guy who loves The Simpsons. The writers have thankfully written to that affection. As far as larger matters go, especially personality, O’Neill hasn’t changed too much, yet. There’s still a dozen or so scripts left and then, if all goes well, a feature film, so we’ll see what happens.”

In Stargate SG-1’s sixth season opener Redemption, Colonel O’Neill has a great deal on his plate, not the least of which is trying to stop Anubis from blowing up the Stargate and destroying Earth in the process. Besides that, he is still trying to deal with the loss of his friend Daniel Jackson and at the same time choose a replacement for him on the SG-1 team. Not surprisingly, the least likely candidate is Jonas Quinn. However, after Jonas helps figure out a way to stop Anubis, O’Neill reluctantly decides to give him a chance to prove if he has what it takes to be a part of SG-1.

“I think O’Neill feels that Jonas is directly responsible for the demise or at least the damaging of Daniel Jackson,” says Anderson. “As a result, he harbours some resentment towards Jonas. It’s been tempered a little bit over time primarily because of the fact that he has to be around him. So O’Neill has finally come to the point of accepting Jonas but not entirely. It’s like, ‘Yes, you can be on our team but I’m going to be watching you, and, oh, by the way, don’t expect me to show any overt signs of friendship towards you.’

“O’Neill is suspicious of aliens in general. The only exception is Teal’c. He has a wonderfully odd relationship with the Jaffa, who he sometimes forgets is an alien despite the gold patch emblazoned on his forehead. For some reason, though, he refuses to or isn’t able to forget that Jonas is an alien. It doesn’t help that the guy has become a walking computer. He’s memorized everything since coming to the SGC. That immediately makes O’Neill leery because he has no aptitude or patience for that kind of thing. So he’s always socially on-guard around Jonas and consequently deals with him in a somewhat brusque, professional way. I could be wrong, God knows I’ve been before, but I really don’t think O’Neill is going to warm up to Jonas very much at all.”

The colonel is forced to set aside his distrust of aliens in the episode Frozen. When O’Neill becomes gravely ill he agrees to serve as host to a Tok’ra symbiote but only long enough for it to heal him. In the following story, Nightwalkers, he is convalescing on a Tok’ra base. O’Neill has no idea that his symbiote plans to use his body in order to finish the last mission he was on. The symbiote then abandons O’Neill and leaves him at the mercy of Baal in Abyss. Anderson enjoyed not only pretending to roll around in the Goa’uld’s gravity well prison cell but also working once again with Michael Shanks.

“There were some things I physically couldn’t do or chose not to do in Abyss because of my knee injury,” he says. “I wanted to be able to tumble down the sides of the walls and out onto the floor. Not to give away any secrets but one of the sets was built to move, so I could roll down and look like I was splattered up against a vertical wall. That was kind of cool. Besides those technical tricks of the trade, I had a great time working with Michael. First of all, I always had good moments with him. Michael is a very competent and capable actor. He’s also flexible enough to deal with my irreverent spontaneity and inability to stick to the script. I was really glad to have him back in Abyss. It was just the two of us doing a lot of talking in a jail cell that was the size of a kitchen. As intense and, perhaps, as convoluted as those scenes were to me, Michael helped make them a good experience.”

Anderson was equally complimentary about the episode’s director and Stargate SG-1 creative consultant Martin Wood. “He and I have been through quite a wonderful sociological ark,” smiles the actor. “We both fancy ourselves relatively bright, although I think Martin is smarter than I. The two of us butted heads once early on and it was over an ethical scenario. From that point I think we both realized we had met in each other an intellectual equal, although, again, with the preface that he’s smarter than I. I should say ‘smarter than me,’ so he’ll get the message.

“I love working with Martin. First of all, he’s someone who’s up on technology and technique, and over time has created a [filming] style all his own. Conversely, he’s remained flexible enough to make adjustments on the fly. A big part of the problem with directing episodic TV is that you’re under not one but two guns. There’s the time clock plus the financial responsibility, both of which are under the larger umbrella of being creative. You have to juggle a lot of things, and Martin knows how to do that quite well. He understands what the game is all about, as does Peter DeLuise.  Peter has grown by leaps and bounds in this business. He started out as an actor, then became an actor’s director and continues to flourish that way. Again, when I talk about flexibility in this genre, Peter knows how to do that very well. He also makes sure I get out early on Fridays so I can go see my daughter,” laughs Anderson, “so I give him a lot of Tommy Bahama shirts.”

Being the lead on a long-running TV series has its perks as well as challenges. Besides having to establish the tone on the set, an actor must also sustain his or her character over a long period of time and keep that character fresh and interesting. Anderson succeeded in doing both with MacGyver and Stargate SG-1.

“The challenge for me has always been to make sure that when I go to work I create a fun environment in which everyone can do his or her job,” he says. “As an actor I come in as prepared as I can be and make sure my performance remains as true as possible to what the franchise is all about. MacGyver was an instant reflection of my curiosities and interests in real life. The writers started to pay attention to and tap into that. I was also able to do most of my stunts because I was capable of doing them and liked doing them. Whatever it was I was game for it. So that was always fun.

“When Stargate came around I didn’t necessarily know if I wanted to get into episodic TV again because I knew what a grind it was,” continues Anderson. “When I was working on MacGyverI lost touch with my family and friends. I was floundering around because I was so inundated with work. So I made sure when I came onboard for Stargate I was surrounded by an ensemble cast. I wanted to ensure that I wouldn’t be carrying the whole load and blessedly it’s worked out beautifully.

“As for O’Neill, when MGM approached me to be part of this project I had to first look at the Stargate feature film. Once I did, I called MGM and told them that I’d be interested if they were amenable to some alterations with the character. I knew there was no way I would be able to replicate what Kurt Russell had done in the movie. It was impossible for my hair to stand up like that. More importantly, Kurt’s take on the O’Neill character or his creation of it was far too serious and stoic for me to be able to pull off week after week. I had to make MGM realize that there was a lighter side to this character that they were asking me to play.

“Happily, they did and I’ve since been able to bring some of what is, I guess, innately me to the role including a sense of humour, a denseness and a certain irreverence. The latter might be a bit of an anachronism when it comes to the military. However, I’ve researched it through General Ryan, who’s a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I asked the general if he had colonels in the Air Force who were like O’Neill and he said, ‘Yes, and worse.’ I think I then said something like, ‘Not better.’ He reiterated, ‘No, worse,’ then patted me on the shoulder and said, ‘You’re doing a good job, son.’ I couldn’t ask for a better endorsement then that.”

In between trips through the Stargate, Anderson has spent some of his time over the past couple of years working on a project very important to him. “I met a gentleman who’s since become a friend, Eric Hertz. He owns and runs Earth River Expeditions. Eric asked me if I’d like to be part of a documentary film group that would chronicle the great rivers of the world. What we hope to do is educate and enlighten the outside world as to what could be lost if such places were developed by big business as well as suggest a number of alternatives that could take the place of such development. So far we’ve gone to rivers in British Columbia, Chili and Tibet. It’s a work in progress. Everyone is busy so it’s hard for all of us to get together. So right now we’re compiling our own film library of footage taken of the rivers and interviews with people living along those waterways. Once it’s finished we’re hoping to be able to interest The Discovery Channel, PBS or even National Geographic in it. We’ll have to wait and see, though, what happens.”

Having worked almost constantly for the past 15 years, Anderson has some big decisions to make with the Stargate SG-1 series coming to an end in October. “It’s going to be kind of a stepping off for me or moving on, I guess, is a more positive way of putting it,” muses the actor. “I’m done after this year. I’m not pursuing work, at least not another TV series. I know, ‘Never say never,’ but I’m tired. It also comes from wanting and needing to be a dad. I want to really be available and there for my little girl, and that means being in California where she’s growing up. So that’s the transition I’ll be making.

“Wylie’s godfather, who’s a very dear friend of mine, said to me recently, ‘It’s about time you think about enjoying what you’ve worked so hard to achieve.’ I really want to explore and embrace that which is life because I love it so much. Come October when I take a step into the real world without the encumbrances of my addiction to work I hope it will be liberating and elating. Short of saying I’m retiring, because that’s a crock. Everyone who really knows me knows that. However, I’m going to take a least a year to relax a little bit.”

Anderson chuckles when asked what he’s going to miss most about Jack O’Neill. “I won’t miss Jack at all because I get to take him wherever I go. I think what I’m going to miss the most is just having the venue in which to play him. I’ll no longer have a stage upon which Jack can stand and be Jack. Once Stargate is over and the character is gone he’s going to be a lost soul, the poor little guy. And that means Richard Dean is going to have to deal with real life, which is even a scarier notion. I’m sure I’ll be fine, though.”

Steve Eramo

Sci-Fi Blast From the Past - Ivan Sergei (Charmed)

Actor Ivan Sergei.

In today's Sci-Fi Blast From The Past, actor Ivan Sergei talks about his recurring role of Henry in the hit supernatural TV series Charmed.

When it comes to conjuring up some romance in their lives even the beautiful and bewitching Halliwell sisters on Charmedneed a little bit of help every now and then. Eldest sibling Piper found Mr. Right in her husband and ex- Whitelighter/Elder Leo Wyatt, but her two sisters, Phoebe and Paige, are still looking for their ideal man. Both, however, may have just found their perfect match this (eighth) season; Phoebe has fallen for a socially conscious artist named Dex, while Paige has crossed paths with Henry, a San Francisco parole officer played by Ivan Sergei. He’s an actor who Charmed executive producer Brad Kern had been keeping an eye on for some time.

“Apparently, Brad Kern had been a fan of my work for a while,” says Sergei, “and he’d made a couple of offers to me before about coming onto the show. For whatever reason, usually because I was doing another project, it never worked out. This year, though, I happened to be available and Brad and the Charmed people approached me with an offer. I was not only flattered that they were still interested in me, but also very happy to accept. The best part of all was I didn’t have to audition, which was a relief. No matter how long you’ve been at it [acting], it’s always a nerve-wracking thing to have to audition, so this made for a pleasant change.”

Sergei’s character of Henry is introduced in season eight’s Battle of the Hexes. In the episode, Agent Murphy (Brandon Quinn) from Homeland Security enlists The Charmed Ones to sift through cold case files and weed out any they feel could have supernatural connections. Meanwhile, Paige tries to help her new Whitelighter charge, a young man who’s gotten mixed up with a bad crowd. Her efforts, though, are being hampered by Henry.

“One of the interesting things to me about my character is that when audiences first meet him he has no knowledge of witchcraft or any of the things that the Halliwells are involved in,” notes Sergei. “Henry is a parole officer who gets involved with Paige [Rose McGowan] when she decides to save this young man who’s one of his parolees. Henry’s been working with this kid for a long time and he’s convinced that he’s headed down the wrong road. Paige, on the other hand, believes that this young man is destined for greatness, and in the end she’s right. From that first encounter, she and Henry strike up a little relationship.

“You could say my character is a bit hardnosed and somewhat cynical in terms of his job. Henry is no stranger to being around and working with inner city youths as well as kids who have been in and out of jail and/or juvenile detention. He’s witnessed a lot of things, many of them bad, but Paige has seen even more and, perhaps, with her being part Whitelighter she’ll get Henry to see the light, no pun intended,” jokes the actor.

Although he’s worked on TV series before, including a two-year stint on NBC TV’s critically acclaimed Crossing Jordan, Sergei didn’t know quite what to expect when joining Charmed. “My experiences on the show have been great,” he enthuses. “This series has been on the air for over seven years and a success all that time. So it’s had a place within the network, and that always helps to make a show run better when you know the network is pleased with it. Charmed is a well-oiled machine and its three stars are strong women who know what they want to do with their characters and take their work very seriously. At the same time, there’s plenty of laughing and joking that goes on throughout the workday.

“Initially, I think I was more nervous coming onto a new set and working with Rose McGowan. It’s always a challenge when you’re trying to create a new character. There are all these people looking at you and watching your performance and it’s up to you to make them believe in what you’re doing. So my first few days on Charmed really stand out for me because I was treading on unfamiliar ground. However, it’s since become like second nature to me.”

With his boyish good looks and charismatic nature it’s no surprise that Sergei has managed to carve out a successful niche for himself as a feature film and TV actor. Prior to deciding to pursue acting, though, his career path was littered with a few other choices.

“When I was a kid I always wanted to be whatever I’d just seen on TV or at the movies,” says Sergei. “If LA Law was on then I wanted to be a lawyer, or if I had just been to the latest Rocky movie I was like, ‘I want to be a boxer.’ When I turned 16 it finally dawned on me that as an actor I could pretend to be more than just one thing. So I enrolled in my first acting class in New Jersey and after putting myself through all the paces went to New York for a while to find acting jobs and then came out to Los Angeles.”

Sergei’s big break came in 1996 when he was cast as Mac Ramsey, the lead role in John Woo’s action/adventure series Once a Thief. “Man, I was on top of the world back then,” he recalls. “Of course, I didn’t take the time to think about just how quickly a TV show can get cancelled and all that sort of stuff. The experience itself was very surreal for me. I mean, I’d traveled to various places to work on TV and film projects, but here I was moving to Toronto where I lived for 10 months while shooting this program.

“It was quite a change to go from being a series lead to then six years later and starting work on Crossing Jordan where I was number nine on the call sheet. The TV market had changed significantly and here was this excellent show that I was invited to be a part of, but yet my character wouldn't be the main focus. Both series were such different animals. I thought of Once a Thief as my ticket to stardom – if it turned out to be a hit – whereas Crossing Jordan was already a top 20 show and, again, there were eight other characters above mine. As much as I enjoyed playing Dr. Peter Winslow, I actually asked to be released from Crossing Jordan when the pilot for a series called Hawaii came up. Here was another case of, ‘This could rocket me to stardom.’ Unfortunately, that show was cancelled and I wound up back in yet another pilot season. This business is full of ups and downs, but you know what, I still love it.”

Back over on Charmed, Henry and Paige may have started out as acquaintances, but it won’t be long before things heat up. “I’m having more and more fun than ever flirting with Rose’s character in the scenes we’ve recently been doing,” says Sergei. “There’s a definite romance brewing between Henry and Paige and I couldn’t be more excited with where the writers are taking that relationship. I’m pretty sure the show’s fans will be, too.”

Steve Eramo           

Syfy And Trion Worlds Release Defiance "Making Of" Video

  

Syfy and Trion Worlds today released an all-new trailer detailing the production of the highly-anticipated transmedia event, Defiance™.  Featuring cast from the series (Grant Bowler, Julie Benz, Jaime Murray and Tony Curran) as well as members of the visionary creative teams from both the game and show, this making-of video is a first look behind the scenes in developing the most immersive entertainment experience ever produced.

Defiance is a visionary enterprise in collaboration with Trion Worlds, with the Syfy series and Trion’s multi-platform shooter MMO poised to debut simultaneously.  Set in the near future, Defiance introduces a completely transformed planet Earth, inhabited by the human and alien survivors of a universal war.  Forced to co-habitate, the disparate group struggles to build a new society among the devastation. The dramatic tapestry of the series and the intense action of the game will exist in a single universe where their respective narratives will inform one another and evolve together into one overall story. 

The series has begun production on the pilot in Toronto, with an eye towards an April 2013 premiere.

Sci-Fi Blast From the Past - Callum Keith Rennie (Battlestar Galactica)

Actor Callum Keith Rennie.

In today's Sci-Fi Blast From The Past, Canadian-born actor Callum Keith Rennie talks about playing humanoid Cylon Leoben Conoy on Battlestar Galactica.

Of all the relationships on Battlestar Galactica, the one shared by Leoben Conoy, a humanoid Cylon, and the human Captain Kara “Starbuck” Thrace is certainly among the strangest. During their first encounter, Leoben delighted in playing mind games with Kara and he appeared to have an obsessive interest in her future. Naturally, she was repulsed by the Cylon, but little did Kara know the influence that he would have on her life and, ultimately, death. Neither did Callum Keith Rennie, who plays Leoben. For the Canadian-born actor, his Galactica stint started out as just another job.

“I was actually offered the Leoben role, which was a welcome change of pace from having to audition.” says Rennie. “My manager had put me up for the part, and Michael Rymer, who directed the 2003 Galactica miniseries, watched my demo reel and agreed with my manager that I’d be perfect for the role. As you know, though, when you do a pilot you never know where it will end up, and I’d never really worked like this before in the Sci-Fi genre. I mean, I’d done smaller guest-spots on TV series, but back then I had no idea that this show would one day take off the way it has.”

The-then Commander William Adama (Edward James Olmos) first meets Leoben Conoy in the Galactica miniseries, where the Cylon is posing as an arms dealer looking to replenish his stock at the Ragnar Anchorage supply depot. After an explosion traps them together, the commander discovers who Leoben really is and ends up bludgeoning him to death with a flashlight.

“Whenever I think back to the pilot, the first thing that comes to mind is that we filmed a bunch of sequences involving Leoben, including the fight with Adama, in this dingy sugar refinery,” recalls Rennie. “So we spent two or three days in this dark, dusty, nasty environment, which was ideal for the project, but not what you’d call a dream location,” he jokes. “What made it bearable, though, was getting to meet and work with Edward Olmos. That was such an honour. I really dig people who’ve been in the industry for a while, so spending that time with him on the pilot was a wonderful learning experience for me.”

Because he wasn’t sure what the future held for his character. Rennie stuck to one basic rule when playing Leoben in the Galactica miniseries. “I did my best not to come across as the bad guy,” explains the actor. “To play a bad guy as just that is typically not a great acting choice. Instead, you need to show your ‘villain’ as a person who has an agenda and needs to get something done, as well as someone who truly believes he’s right.

“With Leoben, I made some simple choices in the beginning and from there have done my best to build upon that. The biggest challenge has been to try to humanize what is basically a robot, and thanks to the material I’ve been given, I’ve been able to reveal some of Leoben’s humanity.

“The thing is, though, I’ve never actually seen the villainous side of my character. Sure, he might say some odd things every so often, but he’s never really done anything bad. That might not be true of the humanoid Cylons as a whole, but as individuals, I think Leoben is an exception. In fact, there’s something very sweet in how he deals with Kara in Maelstrom, particularly in their final scene together.”

Loyal Galactica fans know that when a humanoid Cylon dies, its consciousness downloads into a new body. Whether or not that happened with Leoben in the miniseries is unclear, but another Cylon copy of him is found aboard a civilian ship in the first season story Flesh and Bone. Leoben is arrested and claims to have hidden a nuclear bomb somewhere among the fleet. Starbuck is given the task of questioning him, and despite his character’s uncomfortable onscreen interrogation, Rennie enjoyed his first time in front of the camera with actress Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck).

“It’s great to work with someone as generous as Katee, and almost all my scenes on the show have been with her,” notes the actor. “The torture sequences involving Leoben were a little harrowing because you know it’s going to be a very physical day and a technical one, too. However, prior to the actual filming, we ran though those scenes more than once and made sure we were on the same page. That’s the thing about having trust in someone and believing in each other during scenes like this. You can always check in with the other person if you think things are getting a little weird or awkward.

“During the interrogation, one of my goals was to try to create sympathy for my character. Some of the scenes changed with the writing as we got closer to doing them, like the dunking of Leoben’s head in the pail of water. Originally, I wasn’t supposed to have my eyes open and be cognizant for the viewer to know that my character was being mischievous. With this particular scene I wanted the actors who were holding my head under the water to keep it there long enough to make it look convincing, but not enough to hurt me. As an actor I love that type of physical stuff. It makes for a tough day and you’re a bit sore the next morning, but when it works, which it did here, it’s actually quite satisfying.”

After Leoben admits to lying about the bomb, President Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell) has him jettisoned into space in Flesh and Bone. However, another copy of Leoben turns up on New Caprica and is looking for Kara in the Galactica year two finale Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 2. When season three opens, he is keeping her prisoner in an apartment where the two are living as a “couple.” Needless to say, Kara is unhappy with this arrangement and keeps killing copy after copy of her captor.

“I actually enjoyed the assorted stabbings and deaths,” chuckles Rennie. “It goes back to that whole physical thing I just spoke about. When Leoben was stabbed that first time at the dinner table I decided I wanted the character to die like a goldfish gasping for air. As human beings, we would react a certain way in that situation, but what about a Cylon? How is dying different for them? I tried to illustrate that in the acting choice I made here.”

In season three’s Maelstrom, Leoben visits Kara in her dreams and not only facilitates a reconciliation between her and her dead mother, but also helps her on a journey to somewhere he says is between life and death. “This was the culmination of all the knowledge that my character had been trying to impart on Kara,” explains Rennie. “This story has a Ghost of Christmas Past sort of feel to it, where Leoben is present without judgment or an ‘I told you so’ attitude and is just guiding her along.”

Kara Thrace might be MIA, but that doesn’t mean Galactica fans have seen the last of Rennie’s character. “Hopefully I’ll be back,” says the actor, who also has roles in a number of upcoming feature films including Case 39, Silk and Ferris Wheel. “I haven’t spoken yet with the show’s producers, so I have no idea what their plans are for next season, but absolutely, I’d love to reprise my role.”

Steve Eramo

Sci-Fi Blast From the Past - Jason Momoa (Stargate Atlantis)

Jason Momoa as Stargate Atlantis' Ronon Dex. Photo copyright of Syfy.

In today's Sci-Fi Blast From The Past, actor Jason Momoa talks about playing Ronon Dex and working on Season Three of Stargate Atlantis.

Things are rockin’ and rollin’ today – literally and figuratively – on the set of Stargate Atlantis. The show’s cast, including Jason Momoa who plays tough guy Ronon Dex, fight to stay on their feet as the city supposedly shakes beneath them. In fact, they’re in the middle of shooting a scene for the season three finale First Strike in which Atlantis is attacked once again by the Human Replicators.

“This is my first day of work on this episode,” says Momoa, sitting on the steps of his Airstream trailer, which is parked on the show’s Bridge Studio lot in Vancouver. “We’re introducing some new characters in this story, and our heroes are caught up in a very unusual type of battle, which Ronon is having a little bit of a problem with. He doesn’t know much about science and he’s not that good when it comes to fighting in outer space. As much as Ronon hates to admit it, there are some things he can’t do, and in this episode he feels kind of helpless because he can’t contribute in the way he wants to.

Momoa’s character may take a bit of a backseat in First Strike, but Ronon sees plenty of action in Atlantis’ penultimate year three episode Vengeance. “That’s an amazing story with bugs, a whole bunch of them, and, in particular, one big bug,” enthuses the actor. “We shot a number of scenes in the underground boiler rooms out at Riverview, which is an old mental hospital. We tend to get stuck on-set too much, so it’s always nice to go out on location. With this episode it was a little tricky because we were working in these small tunnels, but it was worth it the final cut is going to look awesome. Andy Mikita directed this story and it’s always a joy working with him because he lets you contribute [ideas] if you want and he’s not afraid to bump up the action quotient.

“In Vengeance there’s one of my favourite Ronon scenes of the season where Sheppard [Joe Flanigan] gives him an order and my character is like, ‘No, I’m not going to do it.’ It’s really short and sweet and in the end they both come to an agreement, but initially Ronon tells him, ‘Forget it, no way.’ My character used to be a military officer and now he isn’t and sometimes he’ll take orders and other times he won’t. He’s fed up with Sheppard telling him what to do and in this case he makes that known. It was just a neat little scene and, in fact, Joe actually had a really good idea and after speaking with the producers we were able to change the dialogue around slightly to make it more fitting for both our characters.

“Oh, I have to tell you, too, that our friend Michael [Connor Trinneer] is back in this story, and we all know how Ronon feels about him. He hateshim,” chuckles Momoa, “so that’s sure to make for some fun moments.”

Looking back at all of Atlantis’ third season, Momoa is proudest of his work in Sateda. In it, Ronon is recaptured by the Wraith and returned to his now post-apocalyptic home world to be hunted once again by his enemy. “This story was my biggest challenge yet on this programme, physically as well as mentally,” he notes. “I relished every moment of that. When you get to really chew on something dramatic, emotional or even comedic, it’s great. I mean, for example, some of the stuff I did with Richard Kind [Lucius Lavin] in Irresistible was so out of character for Ronon and I loved that. I was able to put a humorous spin on my performance and as a result we got to see him laugh and smile.

“This season has been amazing for me and my character, but Satedais the episode I most enjoyed doing because it’s all about Ronon,” continues the actor. “He’s become part of Sheppard’s team, one of the gang, and more than once in this story he risks his life to save Teyla [Rachel Luttrell] and Sheppard. It’s not easy either, given the condition Ronon is in. I remember this one scene where I spent half an hour in front of the camera crying and screaming as my character is trying to pull something out of his leg while at the same time thinking about his dead wife. Out of all the footage we shot they only used three quick clips, but I thought the scene turned out beautifully.

“So it was cool to go on that big [emotional] journey with Ronon. I have a couple of ideas about my character for next year that I’d like to run past the guys upstairs. Hopefully I’ll get the chance to do that and we’ll see what happens from there.”

Like a child anticipating Christmas morning, Momoa is eager to find out what’s in store for the Atlantis characters in season four. “We end this year on a real Lost in Space-type note in that our heroes are disconnected from Earth and everything and everyone they’ve come to depend on,” says the actor. “The basic idea is pretty neat, so it’ll be interesting to see where our characters are at when we kick off next season.”

Steve Eramo

As noted above, photo copyright of Syfy, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Lost Girl Sneak Peek (Syfy US)

Next week on Lost Girl, Bo (Anna Silk) gets caught between the Morrigan (Emmanuelle Vaugier) and Vex (Paul Amos) as things with Lauren (Zoie Palmer) get complicated. Check out the sneak peek below and make sure to watch It's Better to Burn Out Than Fae Away, Monday, May 21st @ 10:00 p.m. EST/PST on Syfy.

    

Eureka Sneak Peek (Syfy US)

In next week's all-new Eureka episode Worst Case Scenario, the town's disaster drill goes awry after someone sabotages the G.D. computers. Take a sneak peek at the ensuing mayhem and make sure to tune in for the entire episode on Monday, May 21st @ 8:00 p.m. EST/PST on Syfy.

 

Syfy Late Spring/Summer 2012 Line-Up

Featuring a record number of primetime original programming hours, Syfy’s hot Summer 2012 will be highlighted by the premiere of the new unscripted series School Sprits (from executive producer Mark Burnett), Insane or Inspired? and Paranormal Highway (working title) starring Jack Osbourne; new seasons of hits Warehouse 13, Face Off, Alphas, Destination Truth and Haunted Collector, along with the eagerly anticipated Saturday Original Movies Jersey Shore Shark Attack and Bigfoot, plus the series finale of the beloved Eureka.

Syfy will also present a Memorial Day weekend movie festival highlighted by the premiere of Super Shark on May 26th, followed by the semi-annual Twilight Zone marathon on July 4th. Lost Girl will move to Fridays @ 10:00 p.m. EST/PST on Friday, July 20th.

INSANE OR INSPIRED? (New Original Series - premieres Friday, May 25th @ 10:00 pm. EST/PST): This new series features the most exciting videos from the Internet that celebrate the world of imagination, invention and extreme experience. Actors Amber Benson (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Samm Levine (Freaks & Greeks), Brooke Hogan and Ralph Garman as well as television personality Josh Gates, host of Syfy's Destination Truth, join comedians Ben Gleib, Owen Benjamin, Jodi Miller, Elliot Chang, Jermaine Fowler, Adam Ray,Christiana Pazistky, KT Tatara and Janet Varney to provide their unique commentary on each of the clips. The result is a fast-paced hour-long countdown of hilarious viral videos.

HAUNTED COLLECTOR (Season Two premiere - Wednesday, June 6th @ 9:00 p.m. EST/PST): Haunted Collector features eminent paranormal collector John Zaffis, who searches for objects that have become home to paranormal spirits and/or energy.  Each week Zaffis and his family help someone who’s terrorized by something strange in their own home, using the latest technology to identify the source of the paranormal activity. On the Season Two premiere of Haunted Collector, the team heads to Warsaw, Kentucky, where a woman’s home is suffering hauntings, possibly from two steamboats which crashed in a fiery collision, killing more than 60 people in 1868.  Next, they travel to Huron, Ohio, in a race against the clock to remove the dangerous energy from an abandoned silo, scheduled to be destroyed in 48 hours.

SCHOOL SPIRITS (New Original Series - premieres Wednesday, June 20th @ 10:00 p.m. EST/PST): From executive producer Mark Burnett, School Spirits travels to schools and universities all across the country to recount the true ghost stories experienced on these academic campuses. The stories will be told in first person narratives through the testimonials of real students, teachers, parents and staff that have encountered the paranormal activity, blended with bone-chilling cinematic reenactments to further bring the haunting experiences to life.

SATURDAY ORIGINAL MOVIES (ALL-NEW MOVIES)

Jersey Shore Shark Attack – Saturday, June 9th @ 9:00 p.m. EST/PST– Led by an all-star cast of Tony Sirico (The Sopranos), Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas), Jack Scalia (Dallas), Joey Fatone (‘N Sync), William Atherton (Die Hard) and Vinny Guadagnino (Jersey Shore) the movie unfolds during the July Fourth weekend at the Jersey Shore, where angry sharks are on a rampage, devouring residents, leaving it to the local Guidos to save the day.  The movie also stars Jeremy Luke as The Complication, Melissa Molinaro as Nooki, Joey Russo as Donnie, Daniel Booko as Balzac, Audi Resendez as B.J., and Alex Mauriello as J-Moni.

Piranhaconda – Saturday, June 16th @ 9:00 p.m. EST/PST – Part fish! Part snake! All killer! In B-movie icon Roger Corman’s latest, a hybrid creature – half piranha and half anaconda -- attacks a movie crew on location near her nest when her egg is stolen. Now they must outrun and kill the deadly piranhaconda as well as stop the mad scientist who stole the egg - before they all become dinner. Stars Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill: I & II) and Rachel Hunter (The Benchwarmers).

Arachnoquake – Saturday, June 23rd @ 9:00 p.m.EST/PST – In Arachnoquake, starring Tracey Gold (Growing Pains), massive earthquakes unleash giant albino spiders. Freed from their ancient subterranean prison, the spiders go on a murderous rampage through New Orleans. Joining Gold will be Bug Hall (The Little Rascals), Ethan Phillips (Star Trek: Voyager) and Edward Furlong (Terminator 2: Judgment Day).

Bigfoot – Saturday, June 30th @ 9:00 p.m. EST/PST – Television legends Danny Bonaduce (The Partridge Family) and Barry Williams (The Brady Bunch) star as life-long rivals battling over Bigfoot. Howard Hesseman (Head of the Class), Sherilyn Fenn (Twin Peaks), Andre Royo (The Wire) and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Alice Cooper (School’s Out)co-star in the movie, which is directed by Oscar and Emmy nominee Bruce Davison (X-Men).

DESTINATION TRUTH (Season Five premiere - Tuesday, July 10th @ 8:00 p.m. EST/PST): Season 5 opens with two special back-to-back episodes, as Josh Gates and his team lead viewers on a chase into one of the world’s biggest caves in the jungles of Vietnam to search for Bigfoot.  Then, at the overwhelming request of fans, they’ll travel to Romania for a return visit to the haunted Hoia Bachu Forest, the site of their most terrifying investigation to date, and then explore the reportedly haunted Mayan ruins of Tikal in pursuit of a monster known as the Belize Goblin.  They'll also lead viewers into a remote Transylvanian village on a hunt for vampires and journey to Kazakhstan (a Destination Truth first) to search for the legendary Kazakh monster.

PARANORMAL HIGHWAY (New Original Series - premieres Tuesday, July 10th @ 10:00 p.m.): Paranormal Highway puts the pedal to the metal as Jack Osbourne and his friend Dana Workman do their own first-person investigations of the most frightening claims of paranormal activity along America’s remote back roads.  Fueled by eyewitness interviews and evidence collected by Jack’s state-of-the-art equipment, he and Dana will travel alone, self-documenting their harrowing face-to-face encounters with the paranormal.

EUREKA (Series Finale - Monday July 16th @ 9:00 p.m. EST/PST) : After five seasons, Syfy's long-running original series comes to an end and the remarkable residents of Eureka say their goodbyes.  During the thrilling final season, the town is reeling after the Astraeus and her crew mysteriously vanished just before their planned launch to Titan.  As the town copes with the shocking personal changes caused by the Astraeus ordeal, they continue to uncover the truth about the forces behind the crew's bizarre disappearance -- with shocking results. Eurekastars Colin Ferguson (Sheriff Jack Carter) Salli Richardson-Whitfield (Allison Blake), Joe Morton (Henry Deacon), Erica Cerra (Jo Lupo), Neil Grayston (Douglas Fargo) and Niall Matter (Zane Donovan). Co-creator Jaime Paglia and Bruce Miller are executive producers.

WAREHOUSE 13 (Season Four premiere - Monday July 23rd @ 9:00 p.m EST/PST): Season Fourkicks off with the Warehouse Team still reeling from the shocking events of the climactic season three finale – the loss of Agent Steve Jinks (Aaron Ashmore), Mrs. Frederic (CCH Pounder), H.G. Wells (Jaime Murray) and the destruction of the Warehouse itself. Their only hope lies in racing to the other side of the Earth to hunt down an obscure artifact, which may or may not even exist – and if it does exist, what consequences will they face for using it? The most successful series in Syfy history, Warehouse 13 follows a team of government agents who work at a massive, top-secret storage facility in windswept South Dakota which houses every strange artifact, mysterious relic, fantastical object and preternatural souvenir ever collected by the U.S. government. The Warehouse’s caretaker Artie Nielsen (Saul Rubinek) charges Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock), Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly) and Claudia Donovan (Allison Scagliotti) with chasing down reports of supernatural and paranormal activity in search of new objects to cache at the Warehouse, as well as helping him to control the Warehouse itself. Sam Huntington (Being Human) will be among the star-studded array of Season Four guest stars. Warehouse 13 is produced for Syfy by Universal Cable Productions. Jack Kenny (The Book of Daniel) is executive producer and showrunner.

ALPHAS (Season Two premiere - Monday July 23rd @ 10:00 p.m. EST/PST): In Syfy’s action-packed hit drama series, an unlikely team of ordinary people with superhuman physical and mental abilities – known as Alphas – takes on mysterious cases the CIA, FBI and Pentagon are unable to solve and go head-to-head with criminal Alphas.

Season Two picks up eight months after last year’s finale with the stage set for an explosive turn of events at the Binghamton facility (the Guantanamo of the Alpha world) that could have devastating, far-reaching consequences.  Dr. Lee Rosen (Emmy Award-winner and Academy Award-nominee David Strathairn), having exposed the existence of Alphas to the unsuspecting public, finds himself discredited and imprisoned by a government desperate to cover up his revelation. The rest of the core team has disbanded and some, without Rosen’s guidance and care, have regressed to their old, destructive ways. They must now battle their individual demons in order to reunite and try to save their own.

Alphas also stars Malik Yoba, Warren Christie, Azita Ghanizada, Ryan Cartwright and Laura Mennell. Erin Way (Detroit 187, Private Practice) joins the cast this season as “Kat” a mysterious young loner whose Alpha ability allows her to pick up any skill at a glance. But while her skills are permanent, her personal memories are short-lived

PARANORMAL WITNESS (Season Two premiere - Wednesday, August 8th @ 10:00 p.m. EST/PST): Using a mixture of intimate first-hand testimony, actual home video and gritty realistic drama, the hit series Paranormal Witness returns to transport viewers into a world turned upside-down by extraordinary, terrifying and sometimes life-threatening paranormal events.

FACE OFF  (Season Three premiere - Tuesday, August 21st @ 9:00 p.m.): Syfy’s hit competition reality series returns for a third season with 12 aspiring special effects make-up artists and their unlimited imaginations, competing to create amazing works of living art. The eleven-episode season will feature some of the most difficult challenges ever attempted and high power special guest judges. It all culminates in one winner and one $100,000 grand prize that will launch a career. McKenzie Westmore returns as host.