Battlestar Galactica

According to TV Guide, Katee Sackhoff was virtually a lock for a steady role on the mega-hit show CSI … until the producers changed their mind at the last minute.  What happened?  The official word was that Katee was just not right for the role, but one has to wonder if Bionic Woman tanked her chances.

Katee won rave reviews for her portrayal of Sarah Corvus, Jaime’s bionic nemesis on Bionic Woman.  But many people felt she overpowered her costars and stole the scenes simply by using her natural charisma. 

It is possible that her potential CSI costars worried she would overpower them on the procedural drama, especially since she has a proven ability to make even the most technical dialogue worth watching on Battlestar Galactica? 

There is a vast difference between Galactica and BW, of course, especially since the cast of BSG includes Academy Award nominees Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell.  Nothing against Will Yun Lee or Michelle Ryan, but EJO and MM are simply in a class of their own.  And nothing against William Peterson and Marg Helgenberger, but Katee’s charisma beats the pants off Jorja Fox any day.

We have no doubt that someone will soon realize the brilliance that is Katee, and cast her in something worthy of her talents.  In the meantime Katee-Sackhoff.org is reporting that she will be back on Jimmy Kimmel at the end of May.  Her last performance was pretty memorable, so if you are in the area and would like to try to get tickets, click here.

ABC gave Life on Mars, Stephanie Chaves-Jacobsen, a fabulous time for the fall.  The remake of the critically acclaimed BBC show will air on Thursdays at 9 CST, right after ratings titan Grey’s Anatomy. 

Life on Mars is the network’s only new scripted show for the fall as well, which pretty much guarantees the show (and hopefully Stephanie) will receive great media attention and publicity.

But everything is not golden yet.  As Katee Sackhoff learned with Bionic Woman, even a great pedigree and a great time slot can’t guarantee success.  There are already a few warning signs that the show may have some of Bionic’s problems, as insiders admit the pilot is more serious than they would like (this was a huge criticism of the Bionic pilot). 

Also producers from a character-driven soap have been brought in to take over Life on Mars.  It was announced earlier this week that the producers of October Road are supposed to humanize Life, in the same way Jason Katims from Friday Night Lights was supposed to strengthen the characters on Bionic Woman.

Hopefully the similarities between the show’s fates will end there, as it would be great to see more people discover Stephanie Chaves-Jacobsen … and another quality show is always a welcome addition to the world around here.

Stephanie’s new horror movie, currently known as “Untitled Gehennis Project” is now is post production.  The movie stars a huge cast that includes Cuba Gooding Jr. and is directed by Jason Connery.  If all goes as planned the movie will have an official title in the next few months and a release date in 2009.

Last week we saw another a puzzling prophesy from a Cylon hybrid: 

“It’s really coming to pass.

A dying leader will know the truth of the opera house. 

The missing three will give you the five, who have come from the home of the thirteenth. 

You are the harbinger of death, Kara Thrace, you will lead them all to the end.”

The hybrid said all of this while smiling at Starbuck and stroking her face, which made the prophesy even creepier than normal. 

Anders, Natalie, Leoban, and Athena all heard these words as well and immediately latched on to line three, struggling to puzzle out the meaning of that part of the prophesy.

Their interpretation is that D’Anna, the boxed Cylon model which is also model number three, is the three.  The five is “the final five,” which only Anders knows is really “the final one” at this point.  And the thirteen is the thirteenth colony, the lost colony of Kobol, also known as “Earth.” 

Makes sense to me, but it also makes me suspicious.  This line seems oddly easy to interpret, but perhaps the hybrid set her speech on “easy mode” since there were humans in the chamber.

Why they ignored the fourth line of the prophesy is not clear, because if I had heard the person I am traveling with is “the harbinger of death” I would be a bit concerned.  Especially given the usual clarity of line three. 

But as many people have pointed out, the prophesy may not mean death in the sense of a second holocaust.  Kara could bring death to the dying leader, something that has to happen for the prophesy to be fulfilled.  She could also bring death to a way of life, or to the war between the Cylons and the humans.  What do you think?

Are you really Watching BSG this season?  I ask because I recently discovered that every single one of the friends that got me into this show have not been watching Season Four so far. 

Every one.  They have them recorded, but they have not been watching … how is this possible?

There are excuses that make sense, of course.  Busy schedules, lack of time, or a desire to watch them all in May in one marathon day when there will be fewer frustrating cliff-hangers to foil the blood pressure.

But I wonder how many more fans out there are like that, and if there is not something larger at work?  Perhaps, like Admiral Adama, my friends want to prolong the end.  Perhaps they are not alone.  So I ask the readers of this blog - are you watching Season Four?

If you don’t mind a couple spoilers, check out these preview clips for this week’s Battlestar Galactica episode “Guess What’s Coming to Dinner.” 

Monday night on the ShaunOMac radio show I made a wish for something to happen in this episode, and based on these clips it looks like it will come true … I can’t wait!

This episode will be the seventh of the ten episodes we were promised this year.  Only four more weeks of Battlestar Galactica remain before the long, cold summer months stretch out before us.  

The final ten episodes will not be aired until 2009, which is a harsh punishment for fans.  If we are lucky we will be treated to another set of webisodes between now and then, or perhaps some additional footage on Hulu or a preliminary DVD release.  Dare to dream.

Tricia Helfer was in New York this past weekend for the NBC Universal Experience, a party held at Rockefeller Center in celebration of the network’s upcoming shows.  The Universal Television family of networks includes the SciFi Channel, home of Battlestar Galactica.

Upfronts parties are not only a celebration of new and returning network shows, they are also an opportunity for large advertisers and influential media buyers to party with the eye candy that stars on the show.  Given that underlying purpose it is no wonder Universal chose Number Six to represent the BSG cast and crew.  Well, that and Tricia is reportedly very nice and charming in person - even among the many stars in attendance, we have no doubt Tricia could hold her own.

Other celebrities in attendance included Brooke Shields of Lipstick Jungle, Ali Larter from Heroes, Tina Fey of 30 Rock, Zachary Levi of Chuck, Alison Sweeney of Days of Our Lives and The Biggest Loser, Jenna Fischer from The Office, Jane Krakowski from 30 Rock, Minka Kelly from Friday Night Lights, Mariska Hargitay from Law & Order: SVU, Kathy Griffin from My Life on the D List, Jimmy Fallon (who will be replacing Conan O’Brien), various Trumps, Sam Waterson from Law & Order, Tim Gunn from Project Runway, and many many others. 

It was definitely a night to see and be seen, so kudos to Tricia for landing an invite to that glitterati party.  In addition to starring in BSG, Tricia will have a significant story arc on USA this summer when she plays a CIA handler on Burn Notice.

It is official!  Stephanie Chaves-Jacobsen’s new show, the David E. Kelly remake of the BBC drama Life on Mars, has been picked up by ABC.  While industry experts considered this to be a predictable move, fans of Stephanie’s performance as Kendra Shaw in Razor were still relieved to have ABC confirm the commitment at yesterday’s Upfronts in New York City.

Life on Mars was a huge critical hit on the BBC, and the remake will continue the original’s combination of elements of scifi time-travel theories with classic police procedural plot points.  The premise is that an car accident causes a police detective to go back in time to the 1970s, but audience is never sure if the guy has gone into a coma, gone back in time, or gone to a mental institution. 

The BBC drama ended without the question being answered to everyone’s satisfaction, but the remake is more likely to emphasize the drama of human relationships than the drama of time travel.  David E. Kelly is not known for his scifi/fantasy roots, and the primary executive producers are reportedly from October Road.  While I was one of the few viewers who loved October Road, primarily because the great lighting and fascinating supporting cast made up for the fact that the leads were as charismatic as manufactured sponges, I am not too confident in their ability to manage an intricate scifi serial.

For the sake of Stephanie and all of the scifi fans out there who are already rooting for this to succeed, I hope I am wrong.  Life on Mars has a lot of potential … it would be great of the show lived up to its promise.

A character named Emily was featured prominently in “Faith,” the most recent Battlestar Galactica episode.  If you thought Emily looked familiar, it is because she is played by Nana Visitor, an actress who has a long list of scifi and television credits to her name.

Nana’s fans call themselves “Nanites” and they run a variety of fan pages dedicated to her and her work.  Her official fansite is called Nanavision.com, but sites devoted to Nana can be found all over the web.

Fans of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine will remember her as Kira Nerys.  Ron Moore is not her only connection between DS9 & BSG, as apparently got the role of Kira after Michelle Forbes, who plays Admiral Cain on BSG, turned it down.  Like Cain, Kira had a brutal past.  Unlike Cain, she did not succumb to the madness.  But the two characters did share a fascination with war and a leadership style that would make an essay about the two interesting.

While Kira is probably the role that is most familiar to scifi fans, fans of Dark Angel will also remember Nana as Dr. Elizabeth Renfroe.  Over the years she has also performed countless guest roles on shows that include CSI, L.A. Law, Matlock, McGuyver, Doogie Howser, Frasier, Night Court, Knight Rider, and many others.

Nana currently stars on Wildfire, an ABC Family drama about redemption and horse racing.  She owns the farm that serves as the central hub for the characters of the show, which is currently in its fourth season.  If you are interested in watching more of Nana, you can watch full episodes of Wildfire on the ABC Family site.

Tricia Helfer loves cats.  So it should be no surprise that she appears in the latest campaign for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and pleads with her fans to treat their cats, and all animals, with dignity and respect. 

The new campaign is called Be An Angel for Animals, and it features various beautiful stars with their furry friends.  Tricia’s costar for the shoot is a handsome male named Mr. Nix, who is lucky enough to be Tricia’s costar at home as well.  Tricia has six cats in all, and has appeared in cat lover magazines as well as Playboy and Maxim.  Mr. Nix is a rescue cat, in keeping with PETA’s campaign to encourage people to rescue animals rather than purchase them from pet stores or breeders.

“I really just thought that this campaign ‘Angels for Animals’ is something that I feel is a good message to get out there,” Tricia said.  “That they are part of the family and you should treat them as part of the family.”

The site for the Angels for Animals campaign also includes some new video footage of Tricia taken at the photo shoot, and Tricia’s candid plea for people to treat animals more kindly.  She states that wearing fur is “ridiculous” and expresses her dismay that her home country of Canada still allows the clubbing of baby seals.

“I just don’t think you should ever hurt an animal,” Tricia says.  “You wouldn’t do it to you, so why would you do it them?  They’ve got little souls, and little hearts, and little minds, and they are precious.”

Tricia also offers her opinions about how Number Six would handle animal cruelty:

“She’s physically very strong, so she would probably smash someone’s head into the wall,” laughs Tricia.  “She would probably do to them what they were doing to the animal.” 

This is not a new cause for Tricia, who has been donating the proceeds from TriciaHelfer.com to animal causes for years.  She also auctions off rare finds from the BSG photo archives and donates the proceeds to cat rescues and other animal related charities.

The promotions for the Be An Angel for Animals campaign include giveaways for the first three seasons of Battlestar Galactica on DVD, as well as a DVD of the movie Razor.  If you would like to enter click the link above, which will also tell you more about PETA and how you can get involved if you feel inclined.

We are now halfway through the Battlestar Galactica episodes we will be able to see in 2008, and things are really moving.  Friday’s episode, “Faith,” was one of the vocally loud and visually soft episodes to date.  Click below if you have seen the episode, or if you do not mind being spoiled a bit.  If you have not seen the episode, feel free to watch the embedded version above.

Read the rest of this entry »

Or more accurately, Lucy Lawless wants you to vote for Marissa Jaret Winokur on Dancing With the Stars … watching is optional.  Although if you do watch, be sure to look for Lucy in the audience since she has been attending as many shows as possible to cheer on her friend. 

When Dancing With the Stars airs again on Monday it will feature the Final Four and some tough competition.  Marissa faces some formidable foes in dancing angel Kristy Yamaguchi, sympathetic heartthrob Christian De La Fuente, and the sexy duo of Jason Taylor and the often-underestimated Edyta.  If you are anywhere near a phone or a computer on Monday between 8:00 and 9:30 EST and then vote for Marissa and help make Lucy a happy woman (check the ABC.com site for the number to call or the address to e-mail.  You can send votes via text as well.

Lucy and Marissa have been photographed together on a wide array of red carpets since 2004, and they are close friends when they are not in the public eye.  Lucy has blogged several times about rushing back from a distant appearance in order to be in the audience to make Marissa more comfortable when she dances:

“I have to rush back to Los Angeles to be with Marissa, who is down to the final 5 in DWTS.  She was in the bottom two last week.  See what happens when I leave town?!  Usually I am there making rude gestures across the dance floor, like I’m pulling a noose tight, just to stop her taking it all too seriously.  Still, I want her to get through another week.  Please don’t forget to vote!  L”

Lucy’s devotion to cheering on Marissa is especially admirable since Lucy has been vocal about the fact that she is not fond of the show.  To devote this many hours to making sure your friend succeed on a show you don’t even like?  Now that is friendship!

These are the words Admiral Adama used to explain why he has never finished his favorite book, and they are a beautiful peek into the pain of a man who has had too much loss in his life. 

They are also words that describe many fans’ secret feelings about their favorite pop culture obsessions.  For a long time I thought I was the only freak who could not bring herself to watch the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or to read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows.  

But I recently discovered there are millions of people out there, just like me and Bill Adama, who just can’t say goodbye to their favorite characters.

When you really love something, it is hard to watch the series finale or read the final installment because you know that after that … there is no more.  It’s like how anticipation is half the fun of a vacation or a holiday, or looking forward to a party is almost as much fun as the party itself.

But because it is an ending, there is a bittersweet element as well.  A sharp pain, like the death of someone who you admired from afar or loved from a distance.  And since life can deliver enough death and pain on its own, it is understandable that some fans do not want to face the natural ending of their favorite characters.

Sometimes it is easier to avoid the end then it is to get creative closure, especially when the characters are ones that you have grown attached to over time.  I understand why Adama would not want to read the end of his favorite book, and admire him for the sacrifice he is making by reading it nonetheless.

This looks more fun than a cabinet meeting … while Lee Adama tends to stick to the more serious side of governmental affairs, Jamie Bamber found himself at the champagne-soaked launch of BritWeek 2008 at the British Consul General’s official residence in Los Angeles.

BritWeek celebrates the numerous connections between the Great Britain and the City of Angels, and features numerous parties, screenings, events and educational opportunities.  This year’s celebrations included a Duran Duran concert, a comedy festival, and a celebrity soccer match hosted by the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team.

Other celebrities who joined Jamie at the invitation-only launch included John Cleese, Dame Judi Dench, Eric Idle, Juliet Mills of Passions, Lucy Davis of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and the BBC version of The Office, fashion designer Zandra Rhodes, and Michael Keaton among others.  The photograph above shows Jamie with actor Tony Curran of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and a woman identified as Maingu Yen.

This may not be the most original tee bearing a frak-reference, but the description on the Think Geek web site makes it worth checking out:

“Meetings. They happen no matter what you do. Even in the future, they haven’t managed to find a cure for the common meeting.

Take Battlestar Galactica, for instance. Adama meets with the Cylons on Galactica. The resistance has meetings to review escape plans. The Quorum of Twelve holds meetings to decide upon new laws for the colonies. Meetings, meetings, meetings.

And they’re still unbearably long. And you’re sitting there, quietly, in the back thinking to yourself, ‘What did I do to deserve this?’ [chug coffee, time passes] ‘Any idiot knows that plan will never work.’ [doodle on notepad, time passes] ‘What the frak is that guy thinking?’

Wear this shirt and proudly ask “WTF?” without actually asking it. It’s perfect because nobody takes it personally if you’re wearing a Battlestar Galactica shirt to the meeting. But *you* know why you’re wearing it. And that’s all that matters.”

While the meetings I go to usually frown on tee shirts, I giggle at the idea of wearing the tee underneath my suit to one meeting in particular.  If you want to join me, Think Geek sells these babies for $16.99 to $18.99 depending on size, with a bit more added for shipping.

The link to this shirt was sent to me by the same friend who hearts this Think Geek girl gamer tee, which has the bonus of a retro-80s toy reference.  If you need a Mother’s Day gift for a woman who has traded in her girlhood collection of My Little Ponies for an obsession with MMO or console dominance, then this shirt is for you.

Many thanks to everyone for bearing with me while my father was so sick.  He is not out of the woods yet, but he is doing much better - home from the hospital after almost two weeks, and doing his best to get even better as quickly as possible.  I have a LOT to catch up on in life and on the blog, but hopefully everything will be back to “normal” soon!

I will be posting more in the next few days, and I will be back on the ShaunOMac show on Monday after three weeks off!  I have missed those guys, missed all of you, and definitely missed the BSG analysis. 

Once again, many thanks to everyone for your patience and good wishes … I hope you will extend me a bit more as I try to catch up! Battlestar Galactica news moves at the speed of a jump, and I am feeling very behind!