Monday, September 15, 2008

Eureka - Publicity Stills from "Here Comes the Suns'

Eureka's new episode, 'Here Comes the Suns,' airs Tuesday, September 16 at 9pm on the SciFi Channel.



Vincent (Chris Gauthier), Allison Blake (Salli Richardson) and Douglas Fargo (Neil Grayston)



Henry Deacon (Joe Morton)



Zoe Carter (Jordan Hinson)



Allison Blake, Zane Donovan (Niall Matter), Sheriff Jack Carter (Colin Ferguson) and Deputy Jo Lupo (Erica Cerra)



Carter and Henry

Stargate Atlantis - David Hewlett - Last Day of Filming

From David Hewlett's Twitter site:

Shooting the last scene, of the last episode, of Stargate Atlantis...2 more days of filming but this is it...thanks so much everyone!

Sanctuary - SciFi Weekly: 2008 Fall Preview: Part I

At SciFi Weekly:

(Please follow the link for the complete column.)



REVIEWS: SCREEN

September 15, 2008

2008 Fall Preview: Part I

By Kathie Huddleston


While it wasn't a fun year, it was an important year for television, which kicked off with a devastating writers' strike that killed shows, affected storylines and reminded the studios that writers have the power to bring Hollywood to a grinding halt. Beyond that, the Internet continued to play an important role by offering episodes online and creating original content that has its own entertainment value, including comic books and Web series that added to the mythology of a show.

While we lost a couple important shows (The 4400, The Dead Zone), there were also some series that never really clicked with audiences (Cavemen, Bionic Woman) and those that could have used more time to reach their potential (Moonlight, New Amsterdam). Jericho proved that while fans may have the power to resurrect a series, they can't always gather the necessary viewers to keep that series on the air.

Fall still remains the prime landscape when it comes to launching new shows. And while cable prefers to launch during other seasons, some of the bigger cable outlets felt comfortable going up against the big networks this fall with series like HBO's True Blood and SCI FI's Sanctuary. The other big development had to do with the resurrection of syndication for scripted drama, thanks to Legend of the Seeker.

One of the main trends in new shows has to be the continued use of a sci-fi or fantasy element in otherwise mainstream shows (The Ex List, My Own Worst Enemy). This blurring of what is sci-fi or fantasy and what is mainstream continues to become increasingly acceptable to the mainstream audience.

However, the most notable trend this season involves where the new series ideas are coming from. Most of the new shows are based on foreign television series (Eleventh Hour, Life on Mars, The Ex List), novel series (True Blood, Legend of the Seeker) or a past television show (Knight Rider). Only four scripted series offer original material (Fringe, My Own Worst Enemy, Valentine). We'll throw Sanctuary in the original category even though it started life as a Web series, since the original creative team is still behind the series.

And, as always, irony plays a part this year. Considering it takes years to get a series on the air, how odd that we end up with two shows about cutting-edge science gone wrong (Fringe, Eleventh Hour) in the same year. Or shows about organizations that download personalities into people so they become more effective spies, only to have the personalities become aware that they are not who they think they are (My Own Worst Enemy and Joss Whedon's midseason entry, Dollhouse).

All in all, it seems like a good season with enough variety, even among the similarly themed shows, to give viewers something to sink their teeth into. And better yet, when we add these new series to the continuing shows (Stargate Atlantis, Primeval) and the returning shows (Heroes, Pushing Daisies, Terminator, Smallville), it adds up to a great fall season where our biggest issue will be "How do we find the time to watch it all?" And that's not a bad problem to have.

Check out next week's "2008 Fall TV Preview: Part II" to find out the scoop on all the returning shows, midseason replacements, movies and miniseries.

New Shows

Sanctuary

SCI FI, Fridays, 9 p.m. ET/PT
Premieres Oct. 3

Sanctuary is billed by SCI FI as the first television series to feature live actors against primarily virtual sets, along the lines of 300 and Sin City. While it began life as an eight-episode Web series, the television show features a two-hour premiere that starts at the beginning of the story. While investigating a murder case, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne) begins to suspect the explanation offered at a murder scene. Will soon discovers that his suspicions are right. When a woman named Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping) approaches him, she takes Will to a place she calls the Sanctuary and tells him an amazing tale. According to Magnus, the world is filled with Abnormals, fantastic creatures that are the stuff of fairy-tale books and incredible legends. The world needs to be protected from some of them, while others need to be protected from the world. Magnus has made it her mission to find and study these creatures, and to offer them sanctuary if they want it. She is joined on her mission by her fearless daughter, Ashley (Emilie Ullerup), a loyal butler who looks a lot like Bigfoot and their technical wizard, Henry. As Will learns more about Magnus' world and her nemesis, John Druitt, he must decide if he can "dare to believe in the unbelievable." Sanctuary is executive-produced by Tapping, creator Damian Kindler, Martin Wood and Sam Egan.

The Outlook: SCI FI's big new sci-fi entry, Sanctuary, offers to put Amanda Tapping back in action in a very different role than that of Stargate's Col. Samantha Carter, and that's a good thing. Beyond that, it's dripping with mythology and has loads of action and extremely cool visuals, not to mention some nicely drawn characters. Along with Fringe, Sanctuary has more of a fully realized world than any of the other fall offerings. Taking up residence on Friday nights, the series should be an excellent match for Stargate Atlantis. With 13 episodes ordered, look for Sanctuary to do very well for SCI FI.

Stargate Atlantis - MGM Stargate: Behind the Scenes: The Queen

At MGM Stargate:

(Please follow the link for the complete article.)



Behind the Scenes: The Queen

September 15, 2008 (Episodes)

"The Queen" gave us Teyla as we've never seen her before! Rachel Luttrell reveals what it took to make the episode a reality.


A brief excerpt:

...Despite the hardships, however, the actress [Rachel Luttrell] reports that the script itself was intriguing. After five years of playing Teyla as a strong yet spiritual woman, "The Queen" suggested the potential for something else – something darker, which had often been hinted at.
"Once I got beyond the fact that it was very difficult to be in all that make-up, and I was in the midst of the script, I saw that it afforded me a unique opportunity to play the character but in a completely different way. She was shaded by a completely different energy," Luttrell explains. "Most of my conversations about character took place between me and Christopher Heyerdahl. Chris is such a wonderful actor, and he does such a tremendous job on the show – as Halling to begin with, and now as Todd. I love working with him because he's so thoughtful and he puts a lot of effort into his roles. It was interesting, because it gave me an opportunity to explore another side of Teyla. Clearly, she has Wraith DNA. So, Chris and I talked about how much of this power that she's gifted in being the Queen, does she actually enjoy? The easy thing to do would be to just play it one note: Teyla hates the Wraith, and I'm here to complete my mission and blah-blah-blah. But there's this other aspect that speaks to a part of who she is – the shadow that we all have ¬– that maybe she actually likes it. At the end of the script, [for example,] when she's leaving the Wraith ship and hundreds of them stand up and salute her as she walks out. It's a sense of power, and it's not a huge aspect of who she is but it's certainly a part of her. So it was neat to play her as she is, but balanced with this darker side of herself."

Stargate Atlantis - MGM Stargate: 'Tracker' Episode Trailer

At MGM Stargate:

(Please follow the link to view the trailer in its original format.)

Tracker

0:26 3MB

Tune into Sci Fi Fridays at 10/9c for all new episodes of Stargate Atlantis. This week: "Tracker"



Stargate Atlantis' 'Tracker' airs Friday September 19 at 10pm on the SciFi Channel.

Battlestar Galactica Classic - Video: 'Lost Planet of the Gods - Part 1'

Courtesy of HULU, Battlestar Galactica Classic's 'Lost Planet of the Gods - Part 1,' starring Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict, Lorne Greene, Herb Jefferson Jr., Terry Carter, John Colicos, Maren Jensen, Noah Hathaway and Laurette Spang. Guest stars include Tony Swartz, Ed Begley Jr., Sheila DeWindt, Jane Seymour and George Murdock.

Apollo and Starbuck discover a void in space. Boomer and Jolly discover a Cylon listening outpost on an asteroid. Jolly is critically dizzy at the return to Galactica.

Sanctuary - Pop Culture Zoo: Talking ‘Sanctuary’ With Amanda Tapping And Robin Dunne

At Pop Culture Zoo:

(Please follow the link for the complete interview.)

Talking ‘Sanctuary’ With Amanda Tapping And Robin Dunne


By Joseph Dilworth Jr. - September 15, 2008

At this year’s San Diego Comic Con I had the pleasure of speaking to both Amanda Tapping and Robin Dunne about their new web series turned SCI FI show, “Sanctuary.” Amanda plays Helen Magnus, who was born sometime in the Victorian era and through an as yet undisclosed accident became immortal. In the present day she hunts various terrifying monsters that lurk in the dark. In the pilot she encounters Robin’s character, Will Zimmerman, a respected psychiatrist who eventually becomes Magnus’ assistant. Though he aids her in her battle against the supernatural forces, Zimmerman still holds to a scientific explanation to all mysteries. “Sanctuary” premieres on October 3rd. Check back for our follow up interview with Amanda Tapping and possibly others in the cast and crew in mid-October. For now, here’s what we talked about back in July:

Amanda Tapping



...PCZ: Yeah, definitely. So, with “Sanctuary”, you’re Executive Producer still? Are you also involved in doing any of the writing? Maybe possibly directing?
AT: I’m the go-to director. So, for example, Martin was away at a television festival and I directed Sanctuary while he was away. As far as writing, I’m involved in the white-boarding of a story, and the concepts, but I leave the writing up to the people that are good at it. I don’t have the time and I don’t have the aptitude for it. I really enjoy the concept and sitting down and going “Okay, but then what if this happened, and what if this happened.” And then I let other people flesh it out.




Robin Dunne



PCZ: Can you talk a little bit about how you became involved with “Sanctuary”?
RD: Absolutely. Actually it’s a very integral part to the show I think because - you know, Martin Wood called me, we’d worked together years ago. He called me and said “Look, there’s a script, we want to shoot some scenes. We don’t know what it is.” I read the script, I said, “Look, this is great. I’d love to be involved.” We shot, like, a promo. And we waited, you know. We got to do some webisodes. We did a bunch of webisodes and took the show to the next level. After that we waited, and waited, and kind of hung in, and turned down other work because we all really wanted to do this show. Now here we are lending it the perfect home – SCI FI Channel. It really is a dream come true, but more importantly it really galvanized in us a feeling of believing in the show. Really recognizing that this is something different, that this is not just your average job that you get as an actor or director, that this is something different. Hopefully, that feeling, that excitement that we all have – we’re working on the show, but we’re huge fans as well, and for me the excitement of talking about it that I’ve experienced this really cool thing and I can’t wait for you to as well. Hopefully that’s a feeling that comes through and people can - it’ll transcend and people will hook into it as well and say, “Hey, this is different, this is something..” because that’s how we see the show and that’s what we believe in.

Stargate Atlantis - MGM Stargate: 17 Stills from 'Tracker'

At MGM Stargate:

(Please follow the link to view all the photos in their original format. Some of the photos have been previously released from other sources.)

17 publicity stills from 'Tracker.'



Kyrik (Mike Dopud)



ubiquitous Wraith



Kyrik and Dr. Jennifer Keller (Jewel Staite)



Stargate Atlantis' 'Tracker' airs Friday September 19 '08 at 10pm on the SciFi Channel (US).

Stargate Atlantis - MGM Stargate: NEW Behind the Scenes Photos - Tracker

At MGM Stargate:

(Please follow the link to view the photos in their original format.)

Four new behind the scenes publicity stills from 'Tracker.'



Jewel Staite and crew



Mike Dopud (Kyrik), Jewel Staite and Director Will Waring






SFX Supervisor Wray Douglas to the immediate right of Will Waring


Stargate Atlantis' 'Tracker,' premieres Friday, September 19 at 10pm on the SciFi Channel (US).

Stargate SG-1 - Begins (again) in US Syndication

Please check your local listings for channel, date and time, as Stargate SG-1 will return to US Syndication with season one, beginning the weekend of September 20-21 '08, with 'Children of the Gods, Part 1.'

In an article in the Fresno Bee from September 8, the series will be designated as 'MGM Presents.'



Photo courtesy of GateWorld.

Stargate Atlantis Season 4 Begins in US Syndication

Beginning the weekend of September 20-21 '08, Stargate Atlantis season four will begin airing in syndication in the United States. Please check your local listings for the channel, date and time.



First up: the fourth season syndication premiere of 'Adrift.'



Dr. Elizabeth Weir (Torri Higginson) and Ronon Dex (Jason Momoa)

For more information, please see GateWorld:

Atlantis Season Four hits syndication market