SciFiAndTvTalk

This Week On Luther - 10 - 31 - 10

SPOILER ALERT!! - Kirsten Ross (Catherine Hamilton), a young mother, has been abducted. Luther (Idris Elba) realizes it’s the work of Lucien Burgess (Paul Rhys), a collector and writer of the occult, suspected in the murder of another woman, Grace Allen, 10 years previously, but Burgess was never charged.

Meanwhile, Zoe’s (Indira Varma) partner, Mark (Paul McGann) is beaten up. With relations already strained between Zoe, her ex-husband Luther, Mark automatically assumes that Luther is responsible and reports the assault to his boss, Detective Superintendent Rose Teller (Saskia Reeves). But the culprit is not as suspected, and a further twist emerges as Luther receives a recording of the assault from an unknown source.

To complicate things, Martin Schenk (Dermot Crowley) from police complaints is brought in and, realizing that Schenk is going to suspend him, Luther escapes to buy himself some extra time. On a deadline to find the young mother before it's too late, Luther and Ripley (Warren Brown) work into the night to piece together clues and link Burgess to another murder committed 20 years earlier.

Luther and Ripley's investigation leads them to the canal, where they find Burgess's narrowboat. They discover Kirsten inside. Ripley wants to call it in, but Luther stops him, knowing that Burgess will wriggle out of it once again if they stick to the rules. Episode 3 airs Sunday, October 31st @ 10:00p.m. EST/PST on BBC America.

Chuck's Scott Krinsky And Vik Sahay

 
L-R: Chuck's Scott Krinsky (as Jeff) and Vik Sahay (as Lester). Photo by Justin Lubin and copyright of NBC.

WHEN it comes to TV "odd couples," NBC's Chuck has its very own - Jeffrey "Jeff" Barnes and Lester Patel. The two best friends are employed at Buy More and members of the Nerd Herd, specializing in Apple products. While not "officially" spies like Chuck (Zachary Levi), the two often find themselves unknowingly caught up in their co-workers espionage capers. Outside of work, Lester is the lead singer and Jeff is the keyboardist, composer, rhythm section, sound technician and former manager of the two-man band Jeffster!

A couple of weeks ago, actors Vik Sahay and Scott Krinsky, who play Lester and Jeff, respectively, chatted with myself and other journalist about their work on Chuck and their self-proclaimed "odd couple" status. The following is an edited version of that Q & A. Enjoy!

You're both really great comedy guys, and that kind of brings me to a couple questions I have for you. First one - we don't really know what it's like making these shows, and I was curious about your shooting schedule and the time it takes for you guys on an episode, especially one where your characters have a lot to do.

SCOTT KRINSKY -The episodes are scheduled for 7 1/2 days per episode. So we usually work about on average about two days per episode.

VIK SEHAY - Sometimes it can be two or three days, especially if we have, as you mentioned, a heavy episode for our characters. And even then, because a lot of our stuff happens sometimes in one location we'll shoot five or six scenes in one day.

I know you've been to Comic Con and as Jeffster, but I was curious if either of you are science fiction fans?

SK - Yes, I love it. I love all the Sci-Fi movies. I grew up on Star Wars and Dune, and I also love movies like Jeff Bridges' Starman.

VS - For me, everything always boils down to acting and stories. So when people ask me about genres I tend not to say I like this or I don't like that. That said, the films that Scott has mentioned are just pure favorites. But, you know, I can find as much fault as well as great things in the Sci-Fi genre as I can with drama or comedy. So for me it always boils down to the acting; I watch the acting and that's where my heart lies.

Going back to that first question a little bit. In some ways you guys have the best of all worlds. You've got steady jobs, steady paychecks, and you only work two days or so an episode. Obviously you can’t schedule a long movie in-between. I was wondering what you do with your other days?

VS - You're right, you're right. We can't do long movies or other television series, obviously, but the rest of the time for me is spent creating projects. I’m working on a couple of independent films. I myself am not a writer, but I'm working with writers and we’re in development, so that's going on. I box as well, so I do a lot of that. I read novels constantly, too. I just finished Jonathan Franzen's latest novel Freedom which is amazing by the way, and now I’m reading Philip Roth's latest Nemesis. So that's kind of how I spend my time.

I should mention, too, that while we my only shoot for two days an episode, we’re often on hold for the other days. Also, sometimes we don't get to a certain scene because the day goes long, which means we're on call for the next day and have to go back in. So it's not like we’re walking around with all kinds of immense amounts of free time, although it might seem like that. But the rest of the time for me is, again, spent working out, creating my own projects and reading a lot. But yes, you're right, it's a pretty fortunate life.

SK -I love doing stand-up and alternative comedy shows. Sometimes what I do isn't exactly stand-up but more like storytelling nights. And I like to surf, too, and do some yoga. I go to a lot of movies and read, but, like Vik said, sometimes the schedule changes and things come up during production. So it's not like you can leave town or anything. So you kind of always feel like you're working even when you're not working because something could come up tomorrow and you have to go in to work. A lot of things can come up last minute. But it is great to have time off sometimes, and I said, I love going to movies. I just saw the latest Woody Allen film, Let Me In, which is the remake of the vampire thriller from Sweden. So yes, we do sort of have the best of both worlds right now and I feel really fortunate.

Vik, you mentioned you box; do you do it competitively or just for fun?

VS - Well, I would never say that I box competitively, but I box more than you would just normally for a workout. I do spar and stuff like that which I'm not exactly allowed to do during the season when we’re filming because of insurance purposes.

But, you know, to expand on that a little bit, and this might sound a little wonky, but I've been boxing for a long time now, and I also played tennis for a long time, and I've kind of always found a great parallel or kindred spiritness between boxing, tennis, and acting. By that I mean there’s kind of a solo preparation that goes into all of these things. There’s the roadwork/the research, the training of the body and prepping of the script. From there, you kind of come up with a game plan to hook your body and mind up as best you can. You trust yourself. You come up with where you want to go to and you try to plan for the unknown. And then when the bell rings or the first ball is served or the director calls, "Action," you kind of let go of all the work and you start operating on instinct and you're receiving, you know, punches or a tennis ball or another actors' line and you're playing in the moment.

So when I'm boxing I kind of feel very connected to my actor, which is why I feel like it's a great thing to do when I'm not shooting.

Chuck has had a ton of really good guest stars including recently Robert Englund. I'm just curious, what it was like having him around on set and working with him? Also, has there been particular favorite actor of yours either to work with or just because they're somebody you've sort of admired or like their work and got the chance to meet them?

SK - We didn't really get to work with Robert Englund, but we did get to meet him briefly. It's really exciting to have people like him on-set, especially as I grew up watching the Nightmare on Elm Street movies. So it's always a real thrill and great to have people like that who want to come be on our show. Again, though, sometimes we don't always get to work with all these wonderful guest stars because they're part of the spy plot.

VS - When we met Robert Englund, who played Freddy Krueger, it was amazing to see such a gentle being who portrayed that kind of a character. For me, in terms of favorites it comes down to acting more than celebrity. When you have actors like Linda Hamilton and Timothy Dalton, and going back the John Larroquette’s and people like that, that's when my heartbeat quickens because they've done some great work as actors. So that's really where the thrill is for me.

Obviously you guys have been doing Chuck for four years now. You started out kind of just as the background characters and now you’re involved in the main plot and doing all these things, including spy missions like we recently saw. What has it been like for you guys taking that journey with these characters, especially when they first told you that you were going to be a band. You must be a little surprised with how it's all turned out.

VS - It has been an absolute thrill ride and an interesting exploration of these two characters for me, personally. We've kind of emerged through this band and as this twosome as like the "odd couple," and I guess the word "odd" can be applied in many different ways to us. But in my mind we’re kind of following a long line of mismatched duos in entertainment, from Neil Simon's The Odd Couple to Cheech and Chong to Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. Scott likes to say we're [Laverne and Shirley's] Lenny and Squiggy, though I’m not especially well-versed with that. But, yes, Mork and Mindy, Batman and Robin, Beauty and the Beast. Please forgive, though, my perhaps romanticized theatrical background heart -- and I've not even said this ever to Scott -- but I really see our characters as Vladimir and Estragon from Waiting for Godot.

I feel that, yes, we've become a bigger part of the show, but at the same time our characters kind of exist in their own void, in their own world, their own show, if you will. And it just feels like they’re occupying time while waiting for something to save them, for some kind of divine intervention. And to pass the time in that kind of existential void, I feel like they attach themselves to the minutia of their lives with life and death and passion and panache.

And to build a bridge to the Halloween episode -- and I'm not sure really how much I should say here -- but suffice it to say that Jeff and Lester are asked to take care of a certain aspect of Halloween for the store. They put everything they have into it, and the actor in me kind of always asks, "Why? Why do we care? Why are we doing this? What's our motivation? Are we afraid of being fired? Not really. Do we care about the store? Not really? Are we trying to impress somebody?"

Maybe Lester has that in mind. However, the real answer seems to always be just because it takes up their day. In the same way that Vladimir and Estragon play word games and hat games while waiting for Godot, so too does it feel like our Chuck characters are occupying their time. It's almost like we've created a bubble around ourselves. In a previous question we were asked about guest-stars and we said we don't interact much. In fact, we have our own circle of a world with our own tree that is perhaps growing leaves like in Godot.

And so it's been kind of an amazing journey in terms of creating this separate world for Lester and Jeff, for me anyway. I’ve silenced everybody into tears, haven't I? I apologize for that diatribe, but that's how I see these two characters, as kind of Vladimir and Estragon waiting for something.

If you guys ever got a spinoff series of your own, what would you want it to be about?

SK - I always thought it would be really interesting to take our characters and their work at Buy More and make it like a modern day telling of The Odd Couple with Jeff and Lester because they are so different, such opposites. I think it would be a lot of fun seeing them living together as roommates and seeing what sort of keeps them together along with their job pursuits. There's a lot of comedy to be mined out of that. And I think it would be a lot of fun to sort of...

VS -Maybe, Scotty, it could be like The Odd Couple but on the road doing gigs as Jeffster!

SK - Yes, that could be that could be great, too.

VS - The Odd Couple only in a van doing these tours. I don't know who would be Felix, though? Are either of us particularly that organized? I don't know. We'd have to find different opposites, of which there are many.

We've seen a bit of Jeff's past in "Chuck versus Tom Sawyer." Vik, what are your thoughts on your character of Lester outside of Buy More and maybe his family life, his history?

VS -Well, I have a huge notebook filled with his history and his family life, much of which I don't want to talk too much about. I will say that I think Lester comes from a very well-to -do family that were jetsetters and traveled the world. The influence on him was one of neglect and trying to win love and trying to prove himself. I really see him as a guy whose insides are broken and there’s a pursuit of trying to prove himself to his mother. Hence, he goes about things in an overly heavy handed way. Lester tries too hard. He pushes too hard. If only he would kind of just settle down a bit, then maybe you could see that he's actually got a very delicate inside, a very soft or breakable heart. And that's where I see his kind of snarkiness, jackassidness, nastiness and anger coming from - all that is part of a shell that's covering a place in him that’s very, very wounded.

I actually find it kind of exhausting to play him in a true sense because he's got this engine of rage that I have to "turn on" before I come into work and build up and then keep going for however long we’re shooting. Sometimes it's days in a row and an anger that I myself don't actually have. So that's where I think he's coming from. You know, without getting into too many of the specifics in my notebook - I think that he's got an incident or a few incidents in his past where there was a void or something missed in his upbringing. And he's kind of trying to scream at the world and say, "Look at me, look at me," you know? He's almost raging now at a world that he sees as hating him.

As noted above, photo by Justin Lubin and copyright of NBC, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Felicia Day Is Red: Werewolf Hunter On Syfy

 
L- R: Greg Bryk (as Marcus Sullivan), David Reale (as Jake Sullivan), Felicia Day (as Virginia Sullivan) and Kavan Smith (as Nathan) in Red: Werewolf Hunter. Photo copyright of The Syfy Channel.

Felicia Day, star of The Guild and Joss Whedon’s "Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long" Blog, who also played “Vi” in the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, will portray a descendant of Little Red Riding Hood in Red: Werewolf Hunter, debuting Saturday, October 30th @ 9:00 p.m. EST/PST.

Red (Day) brings her fiancé home, where he meets the family and learns about their business -- hunting werewolves.  He’s skeptical until bitten by a werewolf.  When her family insists he must be killed, Red tries saving him.  Red: Werewolf Hunter also stars Kavan Smith (Stargate Atlantis)and Stephen McHattie (Watchmen). Red: Werewolf Hunteris produced by Angela Mancuso and Vesuvius Productions in association with Chesler Perlmutter Productions.

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

This Week On Law & Order: UK - 10 - 29 - 10

 
L-R: Jamie Bamber (as DS Matt Devlin) and Bradley Walsh (as DS Ronnie Brooks) in Law & Order: UK. Photo copyright of Kudos, Wolf Films and NBC Universal.

SPOILER ALERT!! -The discovery of a child’s body, buried inside a wall for 20 years, leads to a harrowing and emotive case for DS Ronnie Brooks (Bradley Walsh) and DS Matt Devlin (Jamie Bamber). As the residents of the house all fall under suspicion, the key to the case rests in the memories of Julia (Holly Aird). But in court, James Steel (Ben Daniels) must fight against defense lawyer Doug Greer (Colin Salmon) to prove that the memories are genuine. Episode five airs Friday, October 29th @ 9:00 p.m. EST/PST on BBC America.

As noted above, photo copyright of Kudos, Wolf Films and NBC Universal, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Sanctuary's Agam Darshi - Part Of The Family

 
Agam Darshi as Sanctuary's Kate Freelander. Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of The Syfy Channel.

No matter what business you happen to be in, it is always a mistake to get on your boss’s bad side. For Sanctuary’s Kate Freelander, it became a matter of life and death. When the global criminal organization called the Cabal thought the con artist had betrayed them to its archenemy, namely Dr. Helen Magnus and the Sanctuary network, they put a price on Kate’s head. She had no choice but to turn to the Sanctuary for help. What began as a temporary hideout became a new home for Kate, and she has since filled a void in Magnus’s team following the death of Helen’s daughter Ashley at the hands of the Cabal. 

Given her background and tough-girl persona, it took Kate time to win over not only her new colleagues but also Sanctuary fans, the latter of which actress Agam Darshi, who plays Kate, saw as a challenge when first stepping into the role in the show’s second season.

“My character was a very controversial one for sure last year because when we first met her she wasn’t very likable,” says Darshi, “and with Sci-Fi, especially, it’s not easy to make someone like Kate likable. However, all that felt very real to me, you know? It felt like something that a girl like Kate would actually go through insofar as having to prove herself and gain the trust and friendship of others. So I liked the complexity of her story arc and the honest direction that the show’s writers took her in.

“Besides trying to make Kate likeable, I think the physicality of who she is, was another challenge for me last year. Getting comfortable firing guns and doing all that sort of stuff was pretty hard at first because it’s not something that I’m used to at all. I call Kate my alter ego because she’s very, very different from who I am, and my initial impulse was not to react the way she would. So it was quite tricky to play someone that tough and who has all these balls in the air and is fearless in a lot of ways. I tried my best to get there at the beginning of last year, and then towards the middle and by the end of the second season I felt like I finally settled into who she is.”

 
Kate's (Darshi) particular skill set, and her contacts, have proven to be valuable assets to Sanctuary's primary mission to protect Abnormals. Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions. 

In the season two Sanctuary episode Penance, Kate accompanies Magnus (Amanda Tapping), Dr. Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne) and Henry Foss (Ryan Robbins) on a mission to protect an Abnormal, Jimmy (Michael Shanks), who is transporting an elemental Abnormal inside him. When they are attacked in Chicago by a gang of Abnormals, Kate is shot and forced to take refuge with Jimmy in one of the rooms at an abandoned hotel. As Helen and the others search for them, Kate is shocked to learn that Jimmy is connected to her father’s death, which she witnessed as a child.

“I was thrilled when I received the script for Penance,” enthuses Darshi. “I had heard rumblings about an episode involving Kate’s backstory, and [co-executive producer/writer] Alan McCullough did such a great job of writing this episode. It was so honest, raw and sexy, and you get to see not only these skeletons in Kate’s closet but also discover this sad reality of how her father died at the hands of this man. Naturally I wanted to give nothing but my best performance possible with a story such as this.

“What was really cool about Michael Shanks, too, is that because he’s been in the industry for so long, it would be easy for him to kind of wave it off and make it up as he goes along. However, like me, Michael was determined to get it right from the start. So when we first met, he wanted to go over the story beats with me as well as our scenes together and discuss the relationship between Kate and Jimmy. I was so impressed by all of that because it brought another layer of truthfulness and honesty to our two characters. It was obviously important that the audience saw that connection between Kate and Jimmy in order for them to sympathize with what happens to the two of them at the end of the story.

“Working with the episode’s director, Brenton Spencer, was really interesting as well, in that Michael and I basically filmed an entire master of our scenes all at once. I don’t even know how many scenes it was, but the camera was rolling and we went through everything that happened in the hotel room between my character and Michael’s from beginning to end. It was neat to play out those scenes in such a natural way and see how everything came together. It was a different way of filmmaking and a lot about the characters and their stories, which is my favorite type of work. I mean, I love comedy and doing the physical stuff, but my favorite acting is the gritty, one-on-one scenes.”

 
Darshi (as Kate) and Michael Shanks (as Jimmy) in season two's "Penance." Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions.

Darshi had the opportunity to do that same type of acting once again in a later Sanctuary season two episode, Haunted, when her character and Bigfoot (Christopher Heyerdahl) are trapped together in an elevator while helping investigate a malevolent energy phenomenon that is attacking the Sanctuary.

“Kate and Biggie have a fun relationship. At the start of last season you kind of sensed that they didn’t necessarily get along and he’s probably the most leery of her out of everyone because of his animal instincts,” says the actress with a chuckle. “However, as the second season progressed, they began to develop a bond, and I think both of them realized that they had more in common with each other than they originally thought. I enjoy getting to play that dynamic with Christopher. He’s a very intense, gifted actor, and I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but when he steps inside Biggie’s costume he becomes Biggie and has this wonderful, sarcastic sense of humor.

“So I had a ball being stuck in that elevator with his character for that amount of time [in Haunted]. Christopher is such a professional and quite a perfectionist as well. When it comes to comedy, he knows where the beats are and when you’re supposed to look at one another and when you’re supposed to look away, because much of what we were doing in that elevator was comedic and required specific timing. Fortunately, Christopher is really good at that, and I learnt a great deal when shooting those scenes with him, together with, of course, further developing Kate’s and Bigfoot’s relationship.”

 
In "Haunted," Kate (Darshi) and Bigfoot - or Biggie (Christopher Heyerdahl) - get to spend some quality time together. Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions.

When Magnus begins receiving reports from around the world of docile Abnormals suddenly attacking human beings, she and her people travel to Mumbai, which appears to be the source of these bizarre behavioral changes. Their investigation leads them to the Cult of Kali, and a group of mercenaries who are trying to locate and take control of a super-powerful Abnormal nicknamed “Big Bertha” in Sanctuary’s two-part second season finale Kali.

“Those were a couple of very ambitious episodes to shoot,” recalls Darshi. “[Executive producer] Martin Wood was our director, and the most amazing thing about these episodes is that they had re-created Mumbai on the studio’s back lot. They constructed all these amazing buildings and dressed the set to make it look exactly like Mumbai. On top of that, it was around 35 degrees [Celsius] during the couple of weeks that we shot, so it was incredibly warm, which made things all the more authentic.

 
L-R: Martin Wood directs Robin Dunne (Dr. Will Zimmerman) and Darshi (Kate) in "Kali." Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions.

“I think everyone was genuinely excited about the fact that we were wrapping up the season with a bang and, again, it was incredibly ambitious for all those involved, from the crew to the cast, especially Robin, who had to perform that big dance sequence. Everyone came together, though, and blew it out of the water. As for Kate, she’s evolved from the person we first met at the start of the season to this pillar in the Sanctuary who tries to help save Will’s life. I just love how she’s become this real heroine and I’ve come to admire my character quite a bit.”

A humongous (and temperamental) spider, a deadly tsunami, and a visit to the afterlife – it is just another day on the job for our heroes in the Sanctuary third season opener, Kali, Part 3. Like her colleagues, Kate hit the ground running and risked her life in order to evacuate all the locals and save them from the approaching tsunami. For Darshi, filming this story was much like returning home to her second family.

“The Sanctuary set has a very warm, family feel to it, so coming back to that was really wonderful, and I felt equally as fortunate, if not more so, than I did last year to be a part of it all,” explains the actress. “In terms of playing Kate, I felt a bit wobbly at first just because I’d been away from her for six months or so. After we finished filming season two, I actually went off and did another show in Canada where I played a character who was the total opposite of Kate.

 
Kate (Darshi) finds herself in the middle of the danger zone in Sanctuary's third season opener "Kali: Part 3." Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of The Syfy Channel.

“So jumping back into Kate’s shoes was a little shocking at first, but Martin Wood, who directed the season opener, is a terrific guide as well as director, and he recognized that I was nervous during that first week back. One day he came up to me and said, ‘It’s OK, you’ve done this before. We love you, so just do it,’ and that really helped me. Once I got my bearings I was like, “OK, now I remember how to do this.’ It’s like riding a bike and I was able to go forward, but that first week, as happy as I was to be there, it took a bit of getting used to again.”

Her association with the Cabal well and truly over, Kate has worked hard to gain the trust of and establish relationships with Helen Magnus and her Sanctuary teammates. “There wasn’t a lot of trust from Magnus towards Kate at the beginning of last season,” says Darshi. “I think my character was even a little bit unsure about her role in the Sanctuary and not altogether certain if she could trust these people. This year, however, she definitely thinks of them as family, and I consider Magnus to be a maternal figure of sorts as well as teacher towards Kate.

“With Henry, I know some fans want to see more of a romance going on, and there’s certainly chemistry between the two of them. Theirs is quite an easy relationship, too. At the beginning of last season I felt it was more of a brotherly/sisterly thing, but, again, there’s a definite chemistry and sense of play with Kate and Henry. I think my character knows that she can pretty much get her way with Henry and ‘manipulate’ him. It’s a very friendly, flirtatious way of being. Also, Ryan Robbins and I have a fun relationship off-screen, and our writers have been working that into the episodes more and more.

“As for Robin, his character of Will challenges Kate in a very cerebral sort of way,” continues the actress. “She has never really been challenged in this way before, and there’s definitely a respect there that Kate has for Will. She also wants to prove herself to him. It’s more of a serious relationship than the one she has with Henry, and it’s nice to play that side of Kate where you can perhaps see her growing one day into more of a leader.”

 
Kate (Darshi) and Henry (Ryan Robbins). Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of Sanctuary 2 productions.

When asked about her favorite season three Sanctuary episodes, a few immediately come to the actress’ mind. “There’s one [Bank Job] that brings to light some of Kate’s past and gives you a better idea of who she was back in the day,” she reveals. “Any story that reaches into her past is a joy for me to do, because she’s trying to change and be a better person, but her past continues to haunt her.

“There’s an episode [Hero 2: Broken Arrow] where Kate develops certain abilities and that was a blast to do because I got to showcase a very sassy side of my character that I don’t think anyone has seen before. It was fun to wear a costume and play that type of personality and be very unapologetic. I absolutely loved it.

“We did another episode [Metamorphosis] that revolves around Robin’s character and was shot from Will’s point of view. It was something that, at first, takes you a little off-guard as an actor because you’re trained never to look at the camera. So it initially felt a bit strange, but as the week went on I realized that it was a neat way of shooting. This episode, which was written by Alan McCullough, has a real humanity to it and some cool scenes between Kate and Will.

“There’s an episode that I wasn’t in [Breach] – it was just Amanda and [guest-star] Ian Tracey – and it was a really physical and well-scripted one. It was written, I believe, by [series creator/executive producer] Damian Kindler, and to be honest I was surprised that the network gave them the go-ahead to do it because it’s quite intense. I really admire the producers and writers when they allow themselves to do something that’s risky. When you see them do something like that, it makes you want to up your game even more as an actor, and there is nothing wrong with that.”

 
Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping), Kate (Darshi) and Will (Robin Dunne) in season three's "Bank Job." Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of The Syfy Channel.

As Darshi already mentioned, during the hiatus between seasons two and three of Sanctuary, she booked a regular role on another series, a half-hour sitcom entitled Dan for Mayor. “I played a really sweet girl named Brianna, and it was just fun to be doing comedy and working with really funny people. It was a very different set-up from Sanctuary, but it was great for me to take what I’ve learned on that show as far as the professionalism and work ethic and apply it to my work on another show. At the same time, I learnt some new things on Dan as well that I was then able to take with me and use on Sanctuary.”

Steve Eramo

As noted above, all photos by Carole Segal or Jeff Weddell and copyright of The Syfy Channel or Sanctuary 2 Productions, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Syfy's Caprica To End Its Run

THE remaining first run episodes of Caprica, airing Tuesdays at @ 10:00 p.m. EST on The Syfy Channel will be removed from the schedule as of next Tuesday, November 2nd. These final five episodes of the season will be re-scheduled to air at a to be announced time in the first quarter of 2011, and will conclude the run of the series.

"We appreciate all the support that fans have shown for Caprica and are very proud of the producers, cast, writers and the rest of the amazing team that has been committed to this fine series," said Mark Stern, Executive Vice President of Original Programming, Syfy and Co-Head of Content for Universal Cable Productions. "Unfortunately, despite its obvious quality, Caprica has not been able to build the audience necessary to justify a second season."

Torchwood's John Barrowman Helps Judge I'd Do Anything

 
L-R: I'd Do Anything's Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Denise Van Outen, Graham Norton, Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, Barry Humphries and John Barrowman. Photo copyright of the BBC.

FOLLOWING on the heels of last year’s How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria and Any Dream Will Do, I’d Do Anything again brings together the dream team of talk-show host Graham Norton and Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber. This time the duo are on a mission to find new talent for the roles of Nancy and a total of three youthful protégés to play orphan Oliver in the London West End production of the much-loved musical Oliver!

To help choose their Nancy and mentor the hopeful aspiring Olivers, Norton and Webber are joined by Torchwood star John Barrowman, Broadway and West End leading lady Denise Van Outen, producer  Cameron Mackintosh and, for the first time, actor and star of musical theatre Barry Humphries, who has appeared in several productions of Oliver! both in the West End and on Broadway. I’d Do Anything premieres Wednesday, October 27th @ 9:00p.m. EST/PST.

From open auditions across the UK, 100 girls are whittled down from thousands to perform before the panel. At the London call backs they have to prove their worth by performing two contrasting songs –a contemporary pop number and one of the Nancy songs from Oliver! – before the panel make their deliberations and reduce the successful group to just over 40 girls. The girls then enter the “Nancy School,” where a team of coaches work with them to hone their vocal, acting, movement and improvisation skills. The rigorous regime of individual scrutiny and group tasks reveals who among them has the sheer guts as well as performing potential to survive to the final selection of just 12 girls.

Meanwhile 50 young boys aged between nine and 14 are selected to work with musical theatre experts before they perform for Webber and Mackintosh. 12 are then chosen to continue onto the televised shows.

Each week the wannabe Olivers will be given a musical task and also perform as a group.They will not face a vote, but must continue to impress Andrew and the panel to guarantee a place in the semi-final. And in time-honored tradition, the Nancys will be vying to make their mark on the panel, but they will also need to gain the UK public’s support to keep them in with a chance of winning the coveted role to play Nancy in the West End production of Oliver!

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

Riese: Kingdom Falling Premieres Today On Syfy.com

 
Riese (Christine Chatelain) and Fenrir. Photo copyright of The Syfy Channel.

JUST a reminder that today, Tuesday, October 26th, Syfy.com will premiere the award-winning, steampunk digital series Riese: Kingdom Falling on syfy.com/riese. Each episode runs approximately seven to eight minutes and going forward will air every Tuesday and Thursday. The series will also be available via Sony's PS3, Microsoft's Xbox and Amazon.

Narrated by Amanda Tapping (Sanctuary), the 10-part seriesstars a cavalcade of talent from the world of popular speculative drama including Christine Chatelain (The Bone Collector); Sharon Taylor (Stargate Universe); Ben Cotton (Harper's Island), Allison Mack (Smallville); Ryan Robbins (Sanctuary); Patrick Gilmore (Stargate Universe); Alessandro Juliani (Battlestar Galactica) and Emilie Ullerup (Sanctuary).

 
Trennan (Patrick Gilmore) and Amara (Sharon Taylor). Photo copyright of The Syfy Channel.

In Riese: Kingdom Falling, Eleysia is a dying kingdom where resources are dwindling and compassion is fading. Distrust and anxiety have clouded people?s minds, causing a regression into primitive ways of thinking. People have grown restless, almost feral. Rituals and mythology have resurged, and the darker side of mankind has begun to reveal itself.

Riese (Christine Chatelain), a wanderer, travels across the decaying lands of Eleysia with her wolf, Fenrir. Marked as a heretic by religious group The Sect and the new Empress, Amara, Riese must evade their assassins and discover their true intentions for Eleysia.

 
Riese (Chatelain), Fenrir, Amara (Taylor) and Trennan (Gilmore). Photo copyright of The Syfy Channel.

Riese is the Crown Princess of Eleysia, forced to flee into the wilds after her family was slaughtered. She will soon serve as a catalyst for a disparate group of supposed heretics, the Resistance, launching them into civil war.

As noted above, all photos copyright of The Syfy Channel, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

The Walking Dead Set To "Infect" A City Near You!

IN anticipation of the premiere of AMC’s new drama series, The Walking Dead, on Sunday October 31 at 10 p.m., AMC and FOX international networks plan to stage a worldwide zombie invasion stunt.  The Walking Dead’s international broadcaster, Fox International Channels (FIC), will kick-off the stunts with overseas invasions beginning at daybreak in Taipei and Hong Kong on Tuesday, October 26, and moving across the globe where the stunt culminates at the show’s Los Angeles premiere.

A week prior to the unprecedented global premiere of the show, AMC and FIC have planned to target one day multi-city events that will occur during morning commute peak hours.  Taking direction from The Walking Dead's legendary make-up artist Greg Nicotero, hundreds of zombies will consecutively take over major cities worldwide during a 24-hour period.  The planned global outbreaks will center in and around the world’s major landmarks, including the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City, the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., Big Ben in London, the Prado Museum in Madrid, the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, the Acropolis in Athens and more.  They will begin at daybreak in Taipei and Hong Kong, followed by Istanbul, Madrid, Munich, London, Sao Paolo, Buenos Aires, New York City and Los Angeles, among others. Attacking a total of 26 cities, each outbreak will be documented and shared with fans the world over as it happens.

“The Walking Dead” Global Zombie Invasion Attacks

New York City, USA; Washington DC, USA; Boston, USA; Chicago, USA; San Francisco, USA; Los Angeles, USA

Taipei, Taiwan; Hong Kong; Istanbul, Turkey; Athens, Greece; Sofia, Bulgaria; Estonia, Tallinn; Belgrade, Serbia; Munich, Germany; Madrid, Spain; Rome, Italy; Johannesburg, S. Africa; London, UK – Westminster; Lisbon, Portugal; Sao Paolo, Brazil; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Santiago, Chile; Caracas, Venezuela; Bogota, Colombia; Mexico City, Mexico; Guatemala City, Guatemala

Video and photo assets documenting the stunt will be delivered as released on the day of the stunt, and will also be available for download from:  http://www.beam.tv/workspace/viewFolder/sNxScWQjbV

The Walking Dead premieres on AMC on Halloween, Sunday, October 31 at 10 p.m. EST.  For the first time ever, the series will begin to premiere globally a few hours after AMC’s U.S. launch.  Similar to a theatrical film release, all FIC markets will launch the first episode during the same week, before the release of the second episode in the US. The Walking Dead will debut in 120 countries, air in 33 languages and be viewed in 250 million households when it premieres.

Gale Anne Hurd (The Terminator, Aliens, Armageddon, The Incredible Hulk), chairman of Valhalla Motion Pictures, serves as Executive Producer. David Alpert from Circle of Confusion serves as Executive Producer. Charles “Chic” Eglee (Dexter, The Shield, Dark Angel) serves as Executive Producer.

The Walking Dead, AMC’s original series, is based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics. Kirkman serves as an executive producer on the project and three-time Academy Award-nominee Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile) serves as writer, director and executive producer.

Battlestar Galactica: The Exhibition

I received an e-mail earlier today from Battlestar Galactica costume designer Glenne Campbell telling me what a wonderful time she had this weekend at the opening of Battlestar Galactica: The Exhibition at the Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum in Seattle, Washington. The BSG guest panel included Edward James Olmos, Richard Hatch, Glen Larson, Ron Moore, Michael Hogan, Kate Vernon and exhibition curator Brooks Peck. No flash photography is allowed inside the exhibition, but Glenne took some photos outside, a few of which I'm sharing, courtesy of Glenne, to whet your appetite.

 

 
Sci-Fi Museum BSG Exhibition Marquee. Photo by and courtesy of Glenne Campbell.

 
BSG Exhibition Logo in the "Sky Church." Photo by and courtesy of Glenne Campbell.

 
BSG flags in the "Sky Church." Photo by and courtesy of Glenne Campbell.

And here is the official press release:

Experience Music Project|Science Fiction Museum (EMP|SFM) is proud to announce its latest exhibition, Battlestar Galactica: The Exhibition. Organized by EMP|SFM and in partnership with Universal Cable Productions and Syfy, Battlestar Galactica features three stunning, full-size prop spaceships, iconic costumes, new exhibition films, music and other props from the original and reimagined series. Battlestar Galactica opens to the public Oct. 23, 2010 and runs through March 4, 2012 at EMP|SFM in Seattle.

“The museum is honored to be organizing the first exhibition devoted to both series,” said Brooks Peck, Curator of Battlestar Galactica: The Exhibition. “Battlestar Galactica is one of those rare science fiction shows that appeals to a wide range of people because it combines high adventure with very personal drama. It explores what it means to be human, and has a lot of fun doing so.”

Opening weekend (Oct. 22-24, 2010) will include museum member and public events with some of Battlestar Galactica’s most popular personalities.

"Over its four season run on Syfy, Battlestar Galactica became an iconic series that not only entertained, but fulfilled the promise of all great science fiction. It provoked us into examining our world and ourselves through its politically-charged, socially-relevant, religious and technological themes," said Mark Stern, Executive Vice President, Original Programming, Syfy, and Co-head, Original Content, Universal Cable Productions. "It is an honor for us to partner with EMP|SFM in this one-of-a-kind opportunity to experience BSG in an up-close and personal way."

The exhibition will be presented in the Milestones Gallery on EMP’s third level. Battlestar Galactica will become a traveling exhibition in 2012 after its premiere at EMP|SFM.

About Battlestar Galactica: The Exhibition:

Battlestar Galactica is an epic drama of interstellar proportions. The last vestiges of humanity flee a cybernetic Cylon horde, traversing the stars in search of the fabled promised land of Earth. The setting of Battlestar Galactica may be rife with spaceships and inhuman adversaries, but ultimately the show is a complex narrative about how we attempt to retain our humanity under desperate circumstances. The series acts as a science-fictional lens through which to examine difficult questions that we may encounter in our own lives.

Exhibition sections:

Creation of Battlestar Galactica
Explores the genesis of the two versions of the show (1978 and 2003) and introduces the story and central conflicts.

The Search
Focuses on one of the central elements of the shows, the human quest to find the lost colony of Earth. The Search is also a spiritual one, as the humans seek meaning in a dangerous galaxy and grapple with issues of religion, fate and freedom.

The Ships
Three life-size spacecraft from the later series—two human and one Cylon— are the exhibition show stoppers. Concept art, storyboards, props and films complement the ships.

Humans and Cylons
This section presents the major characters from the shows including: Commander Adama, Starbuck, Boomer, Number Six and the Imperious Leader. Costumes are featured, along with props and concept art.

Exhibition specifics:

• Three full-size (30-feet long) prop spaceships:
  • Viper Mark 2
  • Viper Mark 7
  • Cylon Raider
• Series props featuring:
  • 15 costumes
  • Dozens of props, concept sketches and storyboards
• Exhibition films
• Interactives:
  • Music interactives
  • Human/Cylon identity interactive
     
• Downloadable ship sketches available at: www.empsfm.org/press/bsg

If you are a BSG fan and planning a trip to Seattle in the near future, this is definitely worth a visit. Check out the official EMP/SFM website at the following link for more information - http://www.empsfm.org/index.asp

As noted above, all photos by and courtesy of Glenne Campbell, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!