Ben Browder / Matthew Fox - Video: Party of Five 'Point of No Return'

Courtesy of HULU, Party of Five's 'Point of No Return,' starring Scott Wolf, Matthew Fox, Neve Campbell, Lacey Chabert, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Alexondra Lee. Guest stars include Ben Browder, Matthew Carey, Clifton Davis, James Sloyan and Tamara Taylor. (This the last Party of Five episode that Ben Browder guest starred in.)





Bailey's drinking disrupts Owen's birthday party; Grace bristles at the arrival of her parents; Julia suspects Sam of harboring racist views.

Los Angeles Times: SciFi Channel Creates TV Series AND MMORG

From The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA):

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-scifi2-2008jun02,0,3454022.story

(Please follow the link for the complete article.)

TELEVISION

Sci Fi Channel is game to join the virtual world

The channel is teaming with a gaming company to create a TV series that also plays out on the Web. Fans would help shape the story arc.

By Geoff Boucher, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

June 2, 2008

Can two alien cultures coexist in one writers room? Sci Fi is entering a brave new world by teaming television writers with video-game designers to create a franchise that is both a television series and a massive multiplayer game on the Internet -- more than that, the fans who play the game will actually help shape the show's story arc with their virtual exploits.

"This is the Holy Grail for us, without a doubt," said Dave Howe, president of the Sci Fi Channel, which has teamed with Trion World Network, an on-the-rise gaming company based in Redwood City, Calif. "This is groundbreaking, and I don't say that lightly."

Sci Fi Channel executives are mum about the title of the show and game and their premise, but they do hint that it will be set 80 to 100 years in the future on an Earth that looks very different from today. The team has summer 2010 as the targeted launch; more details are expected to be announced in July at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

**snippage**

Buck Rogers - Video: 'Twiki is Missing'

Courtesy of HULU, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century's 'Twiki is Missing,' starring Gil Gerard, Erin Gray and Tim O'Connor. Guest stars include Anne-Marie Martin, John P. Ryan and David Darlow.

When an uprising by miners on Belzak threatens the national output, the ruler kidnaps Twiki to duplicate the machannoid and replace the planet's miners.

Moonlight - SciFi Weekly: The Franchise-Premise Differentiation

From the SciFi Channel's SciFi Weekly's Cassutt Files:

http://www.scifi.com/sfw/column/sfw18951.html

(Please follow the link for the complete article.)

COLUMNS

June 02, 2008

The Cassutt Files

The Franchise-Premise Differentiation

By Michael Cassutt



On Friday, May 23, fans of the canceled CBS series Moonlight gathered at Warner Studios in Burbank, Calif., to protest the network's decision to end production. They hoped to duplicate the results of an effort by the fans of Jericho a year earlier, which resulted in a change of heart by CBS and a revival of that series ... at least for a while.

Moonlighters are pushing on two fronts, hoping to get CBS to issue a stay of execution—or to convince some other outlet to pick up the series. (Among those our own SCI FI Channel.)

Now, even though it ultimately failed, I applauded CBS and the fan community for giving Jericho a second chance.

Moonlight is different. I doubt that it will succeed.

And, frankly, don't believe it ought to.

Moonlight was created by Trevor Munson and Ron Koslow. Munson had developed the concept as a novel and screenplay and had been teamed with Koslow by CBS for the 2006-07 development season. Koslow, of course, is revered by many sci-fi and fantasy fans for Beauty and the Beast, the 1988-90 CBS series starring Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton as a pair of unlikely lovers. (Disclosure: I wrote an episode of B&B.)

Moonlight starred Alex O'Laughlin as Mick St. John, a private investigator of two generations past—1952, in fact—who was turned into a vampire by his then wife.



**snippage**

Dollhouse - SciFi Weekly: Joss Whedon Interview

From the SciFi Channel's SciFi Weekly:

http://www.scifi.com/sfw/interviews/sfw18953.html

(Please follow the link for the complete interview.)



Go behind the scenes with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly creator Joss Whedon as he discusses the hearts and reprogrammed minds of Eliza Dushku, Amy Acker, Tahmoh Penikett and the rest of the cast from his upcoming midseason replacement series, Dollhouse.

INTERVIEWS

June 02, 2008


Joss Whedon offers a sneak peak at his brand-new Dollhouse

By Ian Spelling


Whedon, creator/producer of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly, will return to series television with the show Dollhouse. However, Fox won't debut the show until early next year. Dollhouse reunites Whedon with Eliza Dushku, who kicked butt and cracked heads as Faith on both Buffy and Angel.

She stars in Dollhouse as Echo, an "Active" who lives in a top-secret, for-profit, majorly illegal facility called the Dollhouse, where the Actives are assigned all manner of missions, and with each mission they're reprogrammed, with earlier memories wiped out and replaced by the information necessary to carry out the latest job. So, for example, Echo might be someone's dream date on one mission and an assassin the next. Crises arise, though, when Echo begins to retain memories from past assignments and to question who she really is.

Co-stars on the series will include Olivia Williams, Fran Kranz, Enver Gjokaj, Dichen Lachman, Harry Lennix and two genre favorites: Angel veteran Amy Acker and Tahmoh Penikett of Battlestar Galactica. SCI FI Weekly recently caught up with Whedon in New York City, and he excitedly offered a preview of things to come on Dollhouse.

How ready were you to jump into another TV show?

Whedon: I guess I was totally ready. I just had no idea it was going to happen. It literally did happen after lunch with Eliza, which is a tale that sounds like a bad biopic but is actually true. I went home and said to my wife, "Honey, I accidentally created a Fox show." And she just said, "Fine." She knew it was right, that this was very organic, and the timing was right. I'd been aware a while. I'd mourned for my last show [Firefly]. I'd been working in movies and then not working in movies for a while. And then it's just all flowed so naturally that even though I didn't know I was ready, I was clearly ready.

What will we see on a weekly basis?

Whedon: On a weekly basis we will see Eliza as a different person. On a weekly basis she'll have a different engagement every week, and she'll have a different purpose and a different personality. The exciting thing and part of the other reason I created the show is that Eliza is very versatile, and this will be a chance for her to play 100 different people. They'll all be her. She's not going to wear old-person makeup or anything like that, but they'll all be from very different social strata, with very different agendas and very different motivations and very different things. Every week she'll have an agenda that's evil or decent or sexual or romantic or altruistic. It can be anything. But there will be a flow-through of the show as well, about her and the characters surrounding her and how the Dollhouse works, how it doesn't work, and her burgeoning self-awareness. Between these engagements she's this complete innocent and starts to go, "Hey, here I am in the Garden of Eden. What's this apple, and what do I do with it?"

**snippage**

The Invisible Man - Video: 'Money For Nothing - Part 1'

Courtesy of HULU, The Invisible Man's 'Money For Nothing - Part 1,' starring Vincent Ventresca, Paul Ben-Victor, Shannon Kenny and Eddie Jones. Guest stars include Brandy Ledford, Jay Acovone and Joel Bissonnette.

Darien uses his invisibility to help his fellow employees break the bank at a casino Arnaud runs in Mexico, and Darien decides to steal five million dollars for himself.

Stargate Atlantis - NEW Photos from The Seed

Courtesy of Andreas at GateWorld Forum, MGM publicity stills from Stargate Atlantis' season five episode, 'The Seed' (please follow the link below for the full-size, high-resolution version of the photos below):

http://forum.gateworld.net/showpost.php?p=8333316&postcount=37

Nine photos from The Seed, SGA's second episode.

Dr. Carson Beckett (Paul McGillion)



Teyla Emmagan (Rachel Luttrell) and Richard Woolsey (Robert Picardo)



Dr. Jennifer Keller (Jewel Staite)



Teyla, Dr. Rodney McKay (David Hewlett) and Carson Beckett



Rodney McKay



Lt. Col. John Sheppard (Joe Flanigan), Carson Beckett and Jennifer Keller



Carson Beckett



Shep



Woolsey, McKay and Teyla



'The Seed' airs on the SciFi Channel (US) on Friday, July 18 at 10pm.

Don S. Davis - Highlander - Video: 'The Return of Amanda'

Courtesy of HULU, Highlander's 'The Return of Amanda,' starring Adrian Paul, Jim Byrnes and Stan Kirsch. Guest stars include several actors from Stargate SG-1, including Don S. Davis (Lt. Gen. George Hammond), Robert Wisden (Col. Samuels) and Mitchell Kosterman. Other guest stars include Elizabeth Gracen, Jason Isaacs and Joe Maffei.

Amanda returns and announces her retirement, but it soon becomes clear she's involved in something nefarious.

Stargate Atlantis - Cool Toy Review: Photo Galley Field Ops Rodney McKay

From Cool Toy Review:

http://www.cooltoyreview.com/story/front/Photo_Archive_Stargate_Atlantis_Field_Ops_Rodney_McKay_115052.asp

Photo Archive: Stargate Atlantis - Field Ops Rodney McKay

Posted by Curto on June 1, 2008 at 12:00 PM CST:



Today's Photo Archive updates turn the spotlight back on the Stargate Atlantis action figures series by Diamond Select Toys. Here's another version of Rodney McKay...this time in his Field Ops gear.

http://www.cooltoyreview.com/DST_Atlantis_McKayFieldOps.asp



Ten photos of the Rodney McKay action figure, and an additional seven photos of accessories, packaging and more.


Retail: $14.99

UPC Number:
6 99788 13056 8

Accessories:
# P90 Assault Rifle
# Z.P.M.
# Controller
# Vest
# Datapad
# Wraith Blaster
# Piece of the Atlantis Stargate


Note:
There is also a regular edition Doctor Rodney McKay figure that uses the same base body as this figure, but with different accessories.

Stargate Atlantis - Cool Toy Review: Photo Galley of Teyla Action Figure

From Cool Toy Review:

http://www.cooltoyreview.com/story/front/Photo_Archive_Stargate_Atlantis_Field_Ops_Teyla_115053.asp


Photo Archive: Stargate Atlantis - Field Ops Teyla

Posted by Curto on June 1, 2008 at 04:00 PM CST:



Today's Photo Archive updates turn the spotlight back on the Stargate Atlantis action figures series by Diamond Select Toys. The next member of the team in the line is Field Ops Teyla, who joined the team as a representative from the Athosians.

http://www.cooltoyreview.com/DST_Atlantis_TeylaFieldOps.asp



Retail: $14.99

UPC Number:
6 99788 13054 4

Accessories:
# P90 Assault Rifle
# Pistol
# Controller
# Wraith Blaster
# Practic Staves
# Piece of the Atlantis Stargate


Note:
There is also an exclusive variant Athosian Teyla figure that has an all-new sculpt and different accessories.



There are nine photos of Teyla, and an additional seven photos of accessories, packaging and more.

Stargate Atlantis - Update on Craig McGill's Paul McGillion Interview

Back in February, I posted a link to a Paul McGillion interview, courtesy of Craig McGill:

http://tinyurl.com/4upkxl

Unfortunately, the complete interview was lost when Craig McGill moved to a new website:

http://craig-mcgill.com/

And I'm unable to find Paul's interview at the new website.

So...I'm now posting a recap of the interview, previously provided by Craig McGill himself (at the link that doesn't work now):



Craig McGill said, in March 7th, 2008 at 12:08 pm

Right, here we go. To avoid repetition, I'll try and address repeating questions under topic headings. He answered as best and honestly as he could, some questions slipped through and others I've held as they are part of the main interview.

Anyhoo, thanks everyone for your questions. I hope these help your Paul fix until I can post up the interview:

CONVENTIONS:

No, Paul won't be off to DragonCon this year. He normally does it every second year, but won't be there this year. So far the only convention he is firmed up for is on in Milton Keynes in May.

Paul said the best way to find out where he is going to be is through regular checks on his website.

http://www.paulmcgillion.com/

As for what ones he goes to:

"I've been incredibly lucky with the fans so I try to make sure that I get to see as many as possible to thank them for their support over the years - but sometimes you can't get along because of filming or other work-related matters."

APPEARING IN SEASON 5:

"I'm delighted to be coming back and seeing everyone again - and I don't know what's planned for me past these five episodes, but I would like to think that I'm not getting killed off again. Take from that what you will."

MOVIE CLASSICS:

"Classics are called classics for a reason and shouldn't be touched. Having said that, who wouldn't want to be Steve McQueen in Bullitt? What an incredible film that was - and how cool was he in it?"

TOP MOMENT/MOST EMBARASSING MOMENT:

"The one that alway sticks in my mind was when I was to do a kissing scene with Rodney and there we were before the take and he just grabbed me and planted one on me. Totally took me by surprise and everyone got a big laugh out of it. (laughing) It's quite worrying that I can't shake that memory"

THE IVORY TOWER:

"I live in a really nice flat and he's always called it that. As for children in my future, well let's just wait and see. I'm single just now and have my fun."

ARE THE FANS A BURDEN:

"Totally. They keep sending me underwear and phone numbers."

(sorry folks, he didn't say that. Just wanted to see if I could get anyone to splutter out their coffee)

What Paul did say was:

"I could never see the fans as a burden or a problem. As an actor, you want people to appreciate the work that you do, so how could I ever moan about people getting so engaged in the characters I play - it's a compliment to me and to the people who write/create the characters. Meeting with fans is a joy as well because they show you what they think of the character and their take can sometimes be totally different from yours.

There's also another point of view that shows - from a business perspective - that I have an audience and a fanbase. But no, fans will never be a burden to me. I'm flattered that they take the time and spend the money to enjoy my work."

LEAVING ATLANTIS:

"I was obviously shocked and surprised at it, but I quickly realised that I should be grateful for the time I had instead of being bitter - I made some wonderful friends - both actors and fans.; "I'm not trying to sound too humble or anything, but I did realise that instead of being annoyed, angry or bitter, I should look for the positive. Lots of actors have never even had the chance, so how could I moan after three years?"

STARCROSSED/WRITING/OTHER WORK

"At the moment I'm concentrating on the Atlantis episodes and then it's into Pilot season, so we'll see what comes up. I'm also going to seeing about getting more work in the UK and Europe when I am over in May. I'd love to be in Doctor Who or Torchwood. I don't think they'll have a second Paisley boy in the role as the Doctor though - but I'm available for an audition if they want me. "My rule is if a project interests me then I see what I can to be available for it."

FAMILY:

"My brother just became a doctor not long after I did - on Stargate - and I used to call him and ask him how to pronounce jargon and then when he finished his studies I said `well done, now there's two doctors in the family' and the response was `piss off!'

But yeah, they rip the mickey out of me all the time."

Stargate SG-1 - Big Finish: 'Shell Game' available for download

From James Swallow's blog, Red Flag, update for June 1, 2008:

http://jmswallow.livejournal.com/59190.html

Stargate SG-1: Shell Game available now!



As mentioned [previously], I recently wrote a Stargate SG-1 audio drama starring Claudia Black (in the role of Vala Mal Doran) and Michael Shanks (as Daniel Jackson) for Big Finish Productions; I'm pleased to say that the direct digital download release has just gone on-line several weeks ahead of schedule, and is available for purchase by clicking here. I believe the CD version is currently being pressed and will be in shops by the end of the month.

http://www.bigfinish.com/13-Stargate-SG-1-Shell-Game

(If you haven't already purchased Shell Game, a trailer from the audio drama is available for download:

http://www.bigfinish.com/trailer/487fae87-9a84-4ef5-8587-52f3e143ade2.mp3 )

I'm really pleased with the way Shell Game turned out; there are some great performances from Claudia and Michael, good work by our audio ace Steve Foxon, a neat cover by Alex Mallinson and some spot-on direction by Sharon Gosling. I'll be returning to Stargate audios in the coming months with an Atlantis tale called Zero Point, featuring David Nykl (as Radek Zelenka).




http://www.bigfinish.com/16-Stargate-Atlantis-Zero-Point

RELEASE DATE: September 2008


The NEXT scheduled release of a Stargate Audio Drama is:

Stargate Atlantis: Perchance to Dream -- Narrated by Paul McGillion



http://www.bigfinish.com/14-Stargate-Atlantis-Perchance-to-Dream

RELEASE DATE: July 2008

Stargate Atlantis - Cool Toy Review - Photos of McKay Action Figure

From Cool Toy Review:

http://www.cooltoyreview.com/story/front/Photo_Archive_Stargate_Atlantis_Doctor_Rodney_McKay_115051.asp

Photo Archive: Stargate Atlantis - Doctor Rodney McKay



Posted by Curto on June 1, 2008 at 08:00 AM CST:

Today's Photo Archive updates turn the spotlight back on the Stargate Atlantis action figures series by Diamond Select Toys. Up first is Doctor Rodney McKay, the smartest man on the team in Atlantis...just ask him!



Photo Gallery:

http://www.cooltoyreview.com/DST_Atlantis_McKay.asp

There are ten photos of McKay's action figure, plus an additional seven photos of accessories, packaging, and more.



Photos courtesy of Cool Toy Review

Firefly - Video: 'Our Mrs. Reynolds'

Courtesy of HULU, Firefly's 'Our Mrs. Reynolds,' starring Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Adam Baldwin, Jewel Staite, Sean Maher, Summer Glau and Ron Glass. Guest stars include Christina Hendricks, Benito Martinez, Erik Passoja and Bob Fimiani.

Mal inadvertently marries a village girl during a job in the backwater. His new bride stows away on board the Serenity, while the crew is forced to figure out what to do with their new discovery.

Stargate Atlantis - 5pm Weekday Rotation Episodes week June 2 '08

From the SciFi Channel schedulebot, the Stargate Atlantis 5pm weekday rotation episodes for the week of June 2, 2008:

6/02/2008 5:00P HOME



6/03/2008 5:00P THE STORM



6/04/2008 5:00P THE EYE



6/05/2008 5:00P THE DEFIANT ONE



6/06/2008 5:00P HOT ZONE



Photos courtesy of GateWorld