Cynthia: Let’s talk about some of your other roles. You are in my absolute favorite Big Bang Theory episode, “The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis.”

Michael: It is probably one of their best episodes of the series, having absolutely nothing to do with me. I just coincidently fell into one of the greatest episodes that they’ve made. It had everything to do with Jim Parsons, and that’s really where he captured the nation’s attention. There’s something about that episode and his performance that’s like ‘oh my god’ but all of them, I mean those kids are funny. I remember sitting there on that set going ‘this is awesome ‘ you just have to shut up look pretty and let the funny happen around you. I dug it. I was kinda hoping that guy would come back, you know.

Cynthia: I’m kinda surprised he didn’t ‘cause it was a great character.

Michael: Well, they tease you and say ‘well maybe you should come back,’ ‘yeah right,’ but it was a lot of fun. I’m usually not down with the sitcom genre because they make me very nervous, too many cooks in the kitchen, but this one was very relaxed.

Cynthia: And that’s done before a live audience right? You do it like a stage show?

Michael: Yes, that one we shot in front of a live audience. I just did another  sitcom called ‘100 Questions’ which I think is yet to air on NBC, and that was also a multi-camera sitcom but there was no live audience, so that was a little less pressure. But there’s something about the audience that I kind of miss, because being from a theatre background.  I haven’t been on a live stage for a long time and a sitcom in front of a live audience is as close as you can get in this field.

Cynthia: And now I have to ask you one Galactica question, I’m wondering just what do you think you took away from that whole experience of working on the show?

Michael: I think I took away a better career, I don’t mean that to sound superficial, but literally,  that was such a gift. It put me on a different plane, not just by association, being on a show that was noted, but I learned a lot. I was surrounded by people like Edward Olmos and Mary McDonnell and Michael Hogan and Katie Sackhoff. These are the people who I feel raised my game. I was surrounded by talent and Ron Moore and David Eick were the top of that food chain and we had the writers and we had a crew that was jaw-dropping at times to watch this crew work. Two cameras all the time, like a choreographed dance sometimes. I’d say 99% of our stuff was handheld.  I don’t think they ever had their cameras on sticks or on a dolly and these two guys would be weaving in and out of each other getting the shots.  There was a certain level of talent that was omnipresent, so what I took from that raised my game, and by association opportunity has opened up.

There’s a certain respect that comes with getting in a room full of producers now on different projects and they all want to jump up off the couch and say ‘Battlestar’s my favorite show, thank you for being here.’  I didn’t have that respect five years ago. I’d go in a room and they’d go ugh… next’. Now there’s a certain respect that comes from being associated with a show as good as Battlestar, and you can’t put a price on that, it’s just pure luck and it’s a gift and I’ll never lose sight of that fact.

Cynthia: And a lot of people are nervous about genre shows like that and they feel it’s kind of a pigeon hole. Have you had that experience?

Michael: We were fortunate enough, or unfortunate depending on what way you see it, that our show ended on five years. We’re not going to be all stuck, I’m not going to be Anders for the rest of my life.  More often than not I’ll get stopped and people will go ‘hey, you’re Michael Trucco’ and they don’t go ‘hey, you’re Anders.’  I was surprised but they’ll know the actor as opposed to being on a show that runs for ten twelve years, the ‘Friends’ and the 90210’s where those characters become so iconic that people look at the actor and all they can see is that character.

As many people come up to me and go ‘hey man, I love One Tree Hill’ and I only did like five episodes of that show. That mystified me and they wanted me to do more and I thought that if I had come back on One Tree Hill that might have been the only thing I’d ever be known for.  That show has a huge audience and that’s the other side of the coin that you get instant recognition but will that be the only recognition? So I’m trying to keep enough diversity.  It’s nice to have people to go ‘hey I saw your work’ or ‘this is great’ you know Big Bang Theory whatever, I want to keep mixing it up. I don’t want to get stuck in one rut.

Cynthia: And along those lines do you have a band, did I read? You’re musical as well?

Michael: Yeah I did, yeah ‘Simpleworld.’ We were a band mostly through college, then post college there was a little bit of a resurgence there when I was in L.A.. We were doing the gigs around L.A. for a while, the Viper Room, the Cat Club, that kind of thing. You know, we’re just too old. You get to that point where you’re like ‘who you kidding man, you can’t be in your 30’s and hitting the club scene. These guys out there are like 19’, and that’s what it takes. We had a blast, you invite a few of your friends, it fills up with people and you play your tunes, people clap and they dance and you go ‘alright that was cool.’ I lived my rock star moment. I miss it. There’s definitely a creative outlet to music that can’t be matched by anything else, but I’ve said this before, I’m not a great guitar player…I was a great guitar player in that band, but I don’t have a penchant to go and just jam.

Cynthia: And you did it which is more than a lot of people can say, they kind of wish they had that moment.

Michael: Yeah, no regrets, definitely no regrets. It’s not to say that… the singer and I are very close still, we’ve been close friends since college and since we started the band, and the bass player and we’ll get together and play. Put three guitars in our hands and it’s like old times you know, do the proverbial sit around the campfire and start playing tunes and two people start singing along and it’s like ‘Oh yeah, this is fun’. We still got it. We might not look like Mick Jagger, but we still got it.

Cynthia: Hey Mick’s still got it…

Michael: Damn straight! (laughs) Exactly!

Cynthia: Ok here’s the last one for you, what’s the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?

Michael: I jumped out of an airplane—

Cynthia: With a parachute I hope.

Michael: Well, yeah that helped, It was right at the end so the guy goes here grab this. ‘Oh cool this will slow me down’ (laughs)  I’ve been to racing school.  I’ve done two races lately called 24 Hour Lemons, which is a riff off of ‘24 Hour Le Mans’, with $500 junker cars. But my gut reaction was throwing myself out of an airplane at 12,500 feet with some guy strapped to your back going ‘pull this’ ‘Are you sure man?’ It was crazy because it was something I always said I was going to do. I was like one of those guys the big braggart in the crowd like ‘Ahh I’d jump out of a plane’, but I never did it you know, so I think it was my 33^rd birthday that I realized I had to put up or shut up, so I went out to Lake Elsinore and they have those schools out there and they have those places and you can get some schooling for half a day and you can go up in an airplane.

Cynthia: Nothing you’d ever want to do again? I mean it was a one time thing?

Michael: Yes, you know I’ve gotta be careful what I say, I’m not going to be that talker. I’m not saying never, but now that I’ve done it I’ve scratched that itch. Yeah, that’s a good time.

Michael also had a good time filming Meteor Storm along with co-stars Kari Matchett and Eric Johnson. You can see them battle to save the people of San Fran as a hailstorm of fire rains down upon them in this Syfy original moive. Meteor Storm airs tonight, January 30 at 9:00.

Photos:

THE BIG BANG THEORY — “The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis” — Christmas is a source of stress for Leonard (Johnny Galecki, right) – whose handsome colleague (Michael Trucco, center) starts dating Penny. Photo: Cliff Lipson/CBS ©2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA — Pictured: (l-r) Michael Trucco as Sam Anders, Katee Sackhoff as Kara “Starbuck” Thrace — SCI FI Channel Photo: Justin Stephens

Post from: SF Universe

This weekend, Michael runs headlong into danger as the star of Syfy’s original movie Meteor Storm. Having survived the rain of fire from the sky, he and I both were muddling through the worst LA rainstorm in recent years when we sat down to chat.  Bright, funny and immensely welcoming,  Michael talked with me about the challenges of making a disaster film, his biggest roles on TV and the career change that changed his life.

Here’s ten minutes with Michael Trucco:

Cynthia: Let’s start by talking about what goes into making a disaster movie. What are some of the challenges involved and how close were you to some of the explosions?

Michael: There’s a lot of discussion of the scene before you start to shoot something, there’s a lot of storyboards, our director and our special effects guys, they get together and they did a really good job of explaining it to us before each shot. They would show us renderings done on the computer of what the final scene was going to look like once they had put all the plates in, but at the end of the day you gotta roll up on a motorcycle and look at a bridge collapse that’s just not there, and it’s a little bit daunting at times. So the challenge in making a movie of this scale is being able to conjure and fabricate images of impending doom that will be seen on screen but at the time you just get talked through it and the director’s going… ‘and then that blows up, and there’s collapsing and there’s devastation and there’s fire’ …you know, because there’s only so much you can do.  I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but you can’t actually destroy the city of San Francisco to make a movie

Cynthia: Really?

Michael: Yeah, they won’t let you do it, it’s weird. We were gonna just kind of carpet bomb and they said no.

Cynthia: I’m pretty sure Irwin Allen did it when he made Towering Inferno, and I loved the little shout out to that film in Meteor Storm.

Michael: There you go, that was intentional so I’m glad you said that.  We’ve been talking about this as sort of in the vein of those 70’s disaster movies, this is certainly not some big you know, Roland Emmerich disaster 2012. We don’t have that kind of a budget, nor do you need it. I think in a good disaster movie you have your story, you put the world in to some sort of impending doom and hopefully all’s well that ends well.

Cynthia: I was particularly surprised by the storm strikes so quickly and then it’s over, and I thought now what are they going to do for an hour and a half?

Michael: Yeah, when I read that is was like, ‘wow they don’t waste any time here,’ they just get right in it. In it to win it. Which I like.  I like that we don’t mess around, just boom and then things start falling, but then there’s. . . you know it goes on in certain ways and it gets more intense and a hell of a lot of fun dodging fireballs coming out the sky that just aren’t there.

Cynthia: Was anything real?

Michael: We did some stuff. There was that guy tossing me out of a car, we lit some things on fire and we had our fair share of explosions and used pyrotechnics for certain explosions. They can throw things with debris cannons, which is basically compressed air and they put a bunch of cork and dirt and dust in them and blow those out of the cannon and that looks pretty realistic. We crashed some cars and turned them on their side and got flame bars and stuff, I like that and for me that just heightens the stakes, heightens the reality.

Cynthia: So I wonder, are you calm under pressure?

Michael: Yes, absolutely.  I was raised the son of a policeman. My father retired as a police captain after 40 years and there’s something inherently stoic in his mannerisms that I think I, in turn, received in my DNA.  I’ve never seen anyone as collected under pressure as my dad, but I think that it just came with his job you know. You have to be able to keep your head clear, and the more you are, the less you incite panic, and that’s generally where things go awry in a dramatic or traumatic situation. I’m a good ballast to my wife. She’s on the other end of the spectrum. She can jump from 0 to 60 just like ‘bang!’… ‘What’s going on?’ I’m just like, ‘wait, hold on a second, it’s just the alarm. Let’s just figure out why it went off, the cat maybe opened up a window. Let’s assess the situation and deal with it accordingly.’ I got that from my Dad, he was like that growing up and I think I have inherited some of that to a degree, and I like that, playing characters like that.

Cynthia: Did you ever consider going into law enforcement yourself?

Michael: Oh yeah absolutely. Before I was a theatre major I was a criminal justice major, because at the time, you know, if your dad’s a cobbler it’s not unlikely that you’re going to make shoes.

Cynthia: So how’d you end up becoming an actor?

Michael: Because he said ‘nah man, you should go try out for one of those plays at the university there. I’d done some high school stuff and I think his intention was ‘be a well rounded individual, extracurricular activities, a new environment. He was saying socialize a little bit. That first audition for a theatre production at Santa Clara University, the chair of the theatre department talked me into taking a class called ‘Theatre for Non Majors’ and upon completing “Theatre for Non Majors” she talked me into changing my major into acting. You can imagine that phone call home.  ‘Hey dad, mom, guess what? Remember that college education we talked about? Yeah? Well mines going to be studying Shakespeare.”

Cynthia: You could say ‘I’m not a police officer but I play one on TV.’

Michael: That’s it exactly. For years that’s always been another dream, like eventually I’d love to be able to play a cop, a beat cop, like a uniform, in the car, the motorcycle cops at my back, because I have a keen insight into that world. When I watch cop shows, I always take my cue from my dad and he would say what’s a good cop show? NYPD Blue, that’s a good cop show, they got it right. See the way those guys interrogate that suspect, see the way those detectives…that’s right, that’s the way you do it. He hated when they put on funny dialogue, or when the cops are yelling on the radio, like they would never talk that much on the radio. You know so, so yeah, one day somewhere down the line I’d love to be able to play a cop; that would be great.

Come back tomorrow for Part Two, where Michael talks about what he’s taken away from his time on Galactica and the most adventurous thing he’s ever done.

Don’t forget to set your DVR for Meteor Storm with Michael Trucco, Invasion’s Kari Matchett and Flash Gordon star Eric Johnson. It premieres on Saturday, January 30, 2010 at 9:00 on Syfy.

Photos: Screencaps from Meteor Storm

Post from: SF Universe

What can you tell us about your new Blu-ray & DVD, Surrogates?

The movie is a sci-fi, action thriller and I play an FBI agent called Peters. The device of the story is that there is a surrogate technology being used in the world and the population is addicted to using it. You plug into a device, which is basically a robot, and that robot goes and performs all of your daily tasks for you. When that happens, you can manicure your life. You can organize and control how you want to live and how you want to feel. However, something goes wrong in this society and my character works alongside Bruce Willis’ character to figure out who committed a murder.

What would you use a surrogate to do for you? Perhaps you’d like to jump out of a plane?

I think you’d lose part of the experience if you used a surrogate for something like jumping out of a plane. Part of the experience is about risking your own mortality. I’d love to use a surrogate to do all of the boring things in life that I’ve done thousands of times before, like cleaning or household chores. However, I think I’d want to do all of the exciting stuff for myself.

How much of the stunt work were you allowed to do?

I did some of the stunt work, but there was also a stunt girl on hand. The girl who did my stunts had to swing from ropes between buildings and things like that. There were lawyers on the set making sure I didn’t do too much, but I was allowed to run around in between fast cars and I was strapped to the top of the bus driving through the city. I discovered that I can jump from elevated sections onto targeted marks in high heels, which was fun.

Why is it difficult to play a robot?

It’s difficult to play a robot and still keep drama within a scene because what’s robotic is not necessarily dramatic. However, it’s certainly interesting to watch a bunch of robots sitting around talking to each other. It’s an interesting concept to say the least. Playing a robot was a tricky challenge because you have to cut out any idiosyncrasies we have as human beings. You can’t slouch or shake your arms when you move. Robots are clipped, manicured and purposeful in their movements – and there was always someone on set to tell us if we weren’t doing it right.

What DVDs should everyone have in their collection?

I love the way that you can watch a whole season of a TV show in one sitting on DVD. In that respect, I really like shows like True Blood and Mad Men. However, when it comes to movies, everyone should have Blade Runner, The Matrix and Surrogates in their DVD collection.

SURROGATES is Available on Blu-ray & DVD January 26^th!

Photos courtesy of Touchstone Pictures

Post from: SF Universe

In honor of the show’s return, Jeri Ryan sat down with reporters to talk about being the new kid on the block, her love of TV and the most adventurous thing she’s ever done. Listen in.

What was it like stepping into Leverage mid-way through the series?

Jeri: I grew up as an Army brat, we always moved around, I was always the new kid. So this is kind of old hat for me. I joke that I’m the designated pinch hitter for TV series because Shark is the only show that I’ve ever been with from the very beginning, from the pilot. My first series was Dark Sky that was added in the middle of that season. Boston Public I was added Season 2, Star Trek Season 4. So this was, you know, it’s nothing new for me to walk in, in the middle of a thing.

How did the cast respond to having a new member of the team?

Jeri: They’re so warm and funny and just a bunch of goof balls. And so it’s amazing that we actually got anything accomplished ever because all we did was sit around and laugh at each other. You know, this is a group that’s very tightly knit and they’ve been together for a year and a half at that point already. And, you know, obviously you can’t replace a character. You can’t – and we weren’t looking to. This was, you know, a temporary substitute while she was going on maternity leave.

You’ve worked on a lot of TV shows. Do you prefer doing TV over movies?

Jeri: I’ve done a couple of features and I’ve got to say it was tough. The pace is kind of mind numbing because in TV I’m used to doing – especially back in the day when I was on Star Trek those were seven and eight page days – script pages. That’s a lot. A feature film is about two pages a day. So you’re basically working on one scene all day long whether that’s a 14 hour day or a 16 hour day. It’s one scene.

And so I remember asking Renee Zellweger when we were shooting Down With Love and we were, you know, sitting around between takes one day and I said how do you do this if you’ve got a big emotional scene? And she said you just have to sit in it. You just live in it all day. You’re in your trailer by yourself and you just have to stay in that space. And I was like okay, yeah. I like the pace of TV. It’s a lot more comfortable for me. And I know that’s hard for feature people who are so used to doing features.

When they come into television they can’t stand it because they feel like it’s too fast and you don’t have enough time to whatever – enough different takes and enough time to explore things. But that’s the pace that I’m used to and I’m more comfortable with it.

Your character is pretty adventurous. What’s the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?

Jeri: Oh, I’ve got to admit she’s a lot more adventurous than I am. The most adventurous thing I’ve ever done – I guess it’s not that adventurous by most people’s standards but I’ve cooked in a restaurant kitchen during service behind the line during dinner. And that was the single biggest adrenaline rush I’ve ever gotten in my entire life. It was amazing. In every way terrifying, absolutely terrifying and so exciting and exhausting and muscles hurt that you didn’t know you had. By the time you finished service and it’s, you know, four or five hours of straight intense, hard, fast work you are – I was bouncing off the walls. I mean it was midnight, 12:30 and I was literally I was so excited I couldn’t even sit down. It was really fun.

So I presume that you enjoy cooking?

Jeri: I love it. But cooking at home and cooking in a restaurant are two entirely different beasts. I mean, the stress level – it’s really intense in a restaurant kitchen because it’s speed. Everything has to be done, done, done, done, done really fast. And of course it has to be perfect because it’s going out to the public. But it was so exciting. It was so much fun. So I actually did that every Sunday just for fun while I was working on Boston Public. That’s how I met my husband in fact. Yeah. I did that for a year. I cooked every Sunday in a restaurant kitchen just for fun. So that’s about as adventurous as I get.

Any chance we’ll ever see you go back to doing Sci-Fi again?

Jeri: Yeah. I think there’s a chance you’ll see me do Sci-Fi. (Sounds like there was a wink in that last answer.)

Catch Jeri Ryan, Christian Kane, Aldis Hodge, Tim Hutton, Beth Riesgraf on Leverage. The second half of the season begins on Wednesday, January 13 at 10:00 on TNT.

Photos: TNT /Darren Michaels

Post from: SF Universe

Jaime Campbell Bower

London-born Jaime has been jetting his way around the world these past few months, working and doing press for his projects, but he found time to talk with me one morning last week.  Me near the beach in Southern California and him at the top of a skyscraper in New York — it was, most definitely, a global conversation.

Anyone who reads this blog regularly will tell you that I’m often enchanted with the look of a TV show and The Prisoner is no exception. It’s simply beautiful to look at.

Jaime: Television has come along leaps and bounds in the last six years, everything is a lot more cinematic in a, the way it’s shot, b, the way it’s acted and c, the story lines. It’s either a really long film or a mini-series. (laughs) We did approach [this TV show] more cinematically and I think that’s great. It’s very unlike a lot of television that we, particularly in England, see.

I understand you filmed the series in South Africa.

Jaime: We shot the first two and half months in Namibia – bottom left, up a little bit, which was amazing but we all went a little stir crazy. We were in a rather small town and once you’ve seen the dolphins and the oyster farms and gone to the best restaurants in town for three weeks, you just have to do it again and again.

Then we had the shining light of Cape Town, the beacon of joy at the end of the two and half months. We spent two months in Cape Town having a great time seeing whales and doing all sorts of fun things, a little big of filming here and there, but it was mostly about the fun.

Ian McKellen plays your father. What was it like working with him?

Jaime: It was terrible (laughs).  He’s a lovely gentleman and very amazing actor and it was honestly a pleasure to be able to work with him. We’ve become friends and it’s just lovely, lovely, lovely.

I AM NOT A NUMBER

One of the themes of The Prisoner is this idea that we’re all becoming nothing but numbers. What are your thoughts?

Jaime: I think everyone suffers from a “lack of identity” crisis.  I’m sitting in New York now and out the window I can see some ginormous buildings and I feel like an ant in comparison to them. [I wonder] who is at the top of those buildings? What do they do? What companies are they running? Then there’s the idea of surveillance, the idea that we’re all being watched. Who’s watching?  All you need to do now is go on to Google maps and you can go to street view. If someone got hold of my address they could see my house and your house and see which would be the best way to get in if they wanted to steal something. It’s a pretty scary prospect.

It’s the evolution of man, maybe we’ll end up destroying ourselves, who knows, but I doubt we’ll be around to see it so we’ll be all right.

Another big part of the show is the idea of concept of freedom. No one is allowed to leave The Village but most people don’t want to since they have everything they need right there.

Jaime: For my character, having been born there and raised there, that’s all I know and who actually wouldn’t want to live in a society where everything is fine? That’s the idea of the village, everything is fine and everyone has a good time and smiles and hugs and sparkles. There’s something nice about that, but incredibly creepy as well.

Would I like to live in a world where I could have anything I wanted but I have to stay in the same place? I feel like that’s what I do anyway. Travel is so easy, but it doesn’t feel like you’re going very far and once you’ve been to a place before and you have to go back there, it doesn’t feel like much has changed.

A MUSICAL INTERLUDE

Moving away from TV for a moment, I understand you also play in a band. How do you manage to fit that in with your schedule?

Jaime: It’s whenever I get down time; I play with my band or write music.  It’s a different outlet. Performing a script is very different than performing one of your own songs. When you’re performing a script it’s someone else’s words and ideas but when you’re performing your own song you’re putting your balls on the line, effectively. It’s your opinion; your thoughts. They’re two different things, but I love them both equally.

Is there a band you like that you think everyone should be listening to?

Jaime: Yes, there’s a great Danish band called Kashmir who are incredibly progressive with their sound.  They started off sort of post-punk, kind of Radiohead-esque and then moved on to more Jeff Buckley kind of spacey sounds.  They released an album The Good Life, which I actually hold as possibly my favorite album of all time. And then they released an album in 2005 called No Balance Palace. I really think people should listen to them.

Wrapping up with The Prisoner — what would you like people to take away after watching the show.

Jaime: I’d love people to sit up and ask the questions, ‘who’s watching us,’ and ‘why are they watching us.’ I hold faith in humanity that hopefully they will, but who knows what they’re reaction will be.

The Prisoner premieres on Sunday, November 15 at 8pm/7c on AMC. The series will air over three consecutive nights, with two episodes each evening, from 8PM to 10PM.

A man, known as “Six,” finds himself inexplicably trapped in “The Village” with no memory of how he arrived. As he explores his environment, he discovers that his fellow inhabitants are identified by number instead of name, have no memory of any prior existence, and are under constant surveillance. Not knowing whom to trust, Six is driven by the need to discover the truth behind The Village, the reason for his being there, and most importantly — how he can escape.

Two-time Academy Award nominee Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings, X-Men) plays the role of Two, and Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ, The Thin Red Line) plays the role of Six.

Visit the official site for more info: http://www.amctv.com/originals/the-prisoner/

Photos courtesy of AMC

Post from: SF Universe

Are the spirits conspiring against me? Were they trying to prevent me from talking with the newest ghost hunters on the TV scene? If so, they should have broken my pencil, too because I took notes.

Brothers Barry (front) and Brad Klinge are good old Texas boys who use the “scientific method” approach to ghost hunting. They rely on “real-time” analysis, using equipment in their mobile lab to constantly monitor and evaluate data streams while they’re still on location and actively investigating a scene.

Says Brad, “Most groups don’t go over their data until days. . . sometimes months later. ‘Oh, I got an EVP but now we’re 500 miles away.’ Even if you can go back, hot spots change. You can’t recreate exactly what was happening then. So we work in real time. We have people in the Ghost Lab truck monitoring the video, audio, EMF and temperature for spikes so we can check them out right way.”

Real-time monitoring is important if you’re interested in determining the cause behind the effect. Be it a spike in the EMF readings, a drop in temperature or footsteps in the hall, having the data analyzed instantly gives the crew a chance to go back and see if they can recreate the event.

“We don’t just want to catch something, we want to know why we caught it,” says Brad. “That’s why we think of this as a “case study” not an investigation. It’s research and like any science experiment, you can’t do it once and say it’s true. You have to get the same result over and over again.”

Says brother Barry, “Our goal is not to disprove, but to prove the paranormal through science.” They do this by attempting to connect all of the corresponding data in order to get a bigger, clearer picture of what’s happening at a scene.

ALPHABET SOUP

Take the concept of EMF. Every ghost hunting reality show and even fictional shows such as Supernatural work on the premise that a spike on an EMF detector means paranormal activity (as long as the spike can’t be attributed to visible factors like power lines.) But who decided that this was the case? What does one thing have to do with the other?

“That’s a good question,” says Brad. “When we first got into this, we asked the same thing. All of our beliefs are that ghosts are natural energy and energy can’t be created or destroyed only transferred.” And that energy can be quantified and monitored with a meter.

The brothers go on to theorize that an area with a lot of electromagnetic energy from a natural source such as power lines or even camera batteries, is like a “ghost buffet.” Spirits need to energy to manifest so they are attracted to areas with high EMF readings. (I’m typing this from my notes, so if I’ve got this wrong, please do correct me.)

Next to EMF, EVP is probably the most known combination of letters in the ghost hunting vocabulary and the Klinge brothers have a doozy of an example coming up on tonight’s show.

While investigating the theater where John Wilkes Booth was supposed to have gone after assassinating Lincoln, the brothers picked up an EVP that left them literally dancing in the streets.

Says Brad, “We caught a voice saying, ‘yes, I’m John Wilkes Booth.’ What are the odds of getting something like that?”

What are the odds indeed? True to their scientific nature, the team sent the audio file to an audio forensics company with no indication of what they thought they had. The results? “Really good feedback,” says Brad but is that going to be good enough for the viewing audience?

I WANT TO BELIEVE

“You gather the evidence, then you present it to the public and say it’s for real,” says Barry. “People are going to doubt you but there’s nothing you can do about that. In the end, you only have your integrity.” And integrity is something that’s not taken lightly in the Lone Star state where the boys were raised.

If, as a viewer, you’re hoping for something a little more visceral, how about flying silverware? That’s what they say we’ll see next week when they visit the most haunted place in Texas

“It’s in Waxahachie, Texas near Dallas,” says Barry. “A café called the Catfish Plantation. We were there having a meeting and the silverware kept dancing on the table. You’ll see. It’s next week’s episode and it’s the most haunted place we’ve ever seen.”

Wrapping up the call, Barry and Brad Klinge spoke of the insane competition between ghost hunting groups and not just the ones vying for TV ratings. They say they’d rather work together so that their combined research can advance the study of the paranormal.

Says Barry, “To quote a phrase, we’re all in this together and if we can help bring ghost hunting into the mainstream than that’s good news for all of us.”

But I still have to ask the question: why another ghost hunting show?

The brothers’ answer? “Because they’re popular.”

You can’t get anymore honest than that.

So that’s it, SFUniverse readers. I know some of you had some passionate things to say about this latest foray into the world of TV ghost hunting but after talking with Klinge brothers, I’m ready to change my mind. The Ghost Lab series and the promo photos offered by the network make the brothers look like brutish biker dudes. But on the phone I found them both to be well-spoken, intelligent, and friendly people and never once did I feel like I was being given a song and dance. They seem to be genuinely interested in scientifically proving the existence of ghosts. And who knows, if they really did catch footage of flying silverware, then I’ll move them up to the top of my list of best ghost hunting shows on TV.

Ghost Lab airs Tuesdays at 10:00 on Discovery Channel.

Photographer: Jean-Marc Giboux
Credit: Discovery Channel

Post from: SF Universe

Let’s not waste any time here, Craig. Tell us what we can look forward to in this new season.

Craig: It’s literally hell on earth because the underworld has been opened now and the Keeper, which is Satan, if you will, is sending forth his minions. One thing we gotta watch out for are these things called Banelings, which are kind of like zombies. They’re basically people who get sent to the underworld and come back serving the Keeper, but they look exactly the same so you don’t know who to trust, what to do — how do you kill something that’s already dead.

For Richard’s character, he’s now been thrust into this new kind of world of leadership. You thought being the Seeker was hard enough but now he has to lead his enemies. Some of the Darkens are saying, you are our Lord Rahl, we’re going to follow you, what are you going to do? Now we’re not fighting each other, we’re fighting a bigger enemy; we’re fighting the devil.

I hear you have some great guest stars coming up this season.

Craig: Yes, Amy Teegarden from Friday Night Lights, Jolene Blalock from Star Trek. Oh, and Charisma Carpenter. I’m a massive Buffy and Angel fan so when she came on I was like, ohhh my god, I’ve now merged Buffy and my show together, this is a moment to remember. It’s great having these new flavors to spice things up.

So you a big fantasy fan before you joined the show?

Craig: Oh yeah, big time. I was that kid who everything single day was running around in the backyard pretending I was Ninja Turtle one day or Batman the next day or a Ghostbuster the next day or Kevin from Home Alone setting traps around my house or Luke Sykwalker on a speeder bike while I was on my bicycle. My imagination was absolutely wild. I would watch these films a million times and I would just love it. It’s really kind of crazy; Richard is kind of like that character I was pretending to be all those years ago.

Just when you thought you were too old to be running around with swords it comes right back at you and you get paid to do it.

IN THE MOOD

On the Season One DVD, you take us on a tour of the Legend of the Seeker sets. They’re so realistic, it must be easy to get into the mood of the piece.

Craig: Absolutely. We have a couple of massive studios. One is always a forest. You go in there and it’s literally a forest, you walk in and there’s a bit of work space but most of it is dirt and actual trees and we have to keep swapping them over every month because they die and get bugs. Then, you’re in a bar suddenly with all these extras dressed up in crazy outfits and all the crew is outside the bar and you look around and it’s actually kind of easy to imagine where we are. Then when we go outside and there are the real mountains and amazing lakes and sand dunes — we’re not shooting Jurassic Park 3 here. We can see what’s going on. We’re not talking to tennis balls all the time. Sure you gotta do it where you’ve got green screen you have to play off it, but it’s so much nicer when you’re sitting in the costume on the actual wagon that is made of real wood and brass with all the detail.

Your role is quite physically demanding. How did you take to it when you first began?

Craig: When Bridget and I got to New Zealand, we had about six weeks before we started shooting and in that time we could read the books for character research and we could also go horse riding to touch off on that and I wasn’t really good on a horse, I’d maybe been on a horse a couple of times. But these guys take it through like paint by numbers. Heels down, pull the reigns in and they’ll look at you and point out these tiny things and before you know it you’re riding a horse thanks to these amazing teachers.

The sword thing, as I mentioned, I was using a plastic sword for the first, give or take, ten years of my life and that kind of helped, believe it or not. If I was to step into a battle, I’d probably lose but to be able to make it look big and epic and have a little coordination came relatively easy to me, not to mention we have amazing stunt coordinators who choreograph these wonderful fights.

TAKING LIFE AS IT COMES

What’s been the best part of working on Legend of the Seeker?

Craig: That’s a tough question. I’ve never really been asked that. There’s so many pros. The schedule is incredibly grueling and when you’re tired, you’re tired. You can be a millionaire but when you’re tired that money ain’t gonna help you, you’re tired and you feel bad. But I look around and I go, this is fantastic. These are now my new family and friends. I had to go from Australia to here and we all get along really well. It’s such fast turn around, TV, you can’t spend so much time on things, we have to be moving fast and suddenly you’re doing a big life or death scene and then a fight scene and then go ride horses. It’s incredibly full on but enjoyable.

Are you as adventurous as your character?

Craig: I have a short attention span, if I’m in one place for a long time I have to move. I think, when I’m challenged with something I’ll try and rise to it but sometimes when you’re left on your own accord you could end up staying in one spot. You don’t know what’s out there so you just start assuming there’s nothing out there. Then suddenly someone will thrust you into something and it’s like, wow, I’m so glad I came here. Gosh, I think there’s nothing at all wrong with anyone saying, you know what, these three months I’m not going to work, I’m going to do it really cheap, I’m going to travel, rock up and see what happens. If you rock up with no expectations, you just go, this is life, life is about being here. . .I can’t really ask the world to give me anything, I’m just going to go and see what it is. . maybe things can happen.

Any final words?

Craig: If you can watch Legend of the Seeker, please watch it. We’ve had a fantasy void on our television for too long and I like to think of it as the fantasy void filler. Fantasy is a word that can throw people off. You say fantasy to my mom and she’s like, ‘no, not my thing.’ You say it to other people and they’re like, ‘it’s for dweebs and geeks, I’m not into wizards and dragons and all that stuff.’

But Legend of the Seeker is basically real situations that are set in an ancient time before you had cell phones and electricity.  It’s a world of steel and leather and so we don’t really make it too crazy. Magic only happens every once in awhile; it’s really about these relationships. So don’t be put off by the word fantasy, but at the same token if you do love fantasy, then come on and step inside, you’ll get your fantasy fill.

Legend of the Seeker is a syndicated series from ABC Television. You can find out when and where it airs in your local area by visiting the website: LegendoftheSeeker.com.

Photos:

1) “Legend of the Seeker” stars Bridget Regan and Craig Horner greeted fans in Times Square in New York City as they unveiled the Sword of Truth, a 9 foot custom faux sword protruding from a vehicle emanating smoke. The stars, who shoot the nationally syndicated action-adventure series in New Zealand, were in town promoting the second season.

2) “Legend of the Seeker” hottie Craig Horner who plays “Richard,” the Seeker, on the series, marked his presence during his visit to Times Square today, “slashing” a vehicle in the middle of Military Island with the Sword of Truth, a 9-foot custom faux sword. The actor, who shoots the nationally syndicated action-adventure series in New Zealand, was in town promoting the second season which premieres the weekend of November 7 (check local listings).

Photo credit: Anders Krusberg/ABC Studios

Post from: SF Universe

On the New Season:

Amanda Tapping: I think because it’s our second season you’re going to see a lot of changes in terms of the interpersonal relationships. I think Season 1 was very much about introducing everybody – introducing the Sanctuary itself, the creatures, what everyone does and where they come from. And so now we get to play within those parameters.

Things are changing at the Sanctuary. We are bringing in new characters. You’ll see a lot more of Henry this year than you did last year. We’re bringing in a wonderful new character named Kate Freelander. The relationship between and Druitt and Magnus changes and most importantly the relationship between Magnus and Will becomes, I think, so much deeper and so much more intense.

Robin Dunne: I think it’s because like, you know, everything is really falling apart around us. There’s going to be more of blunt relationship more of like a brutal honesty between all of the characters particularly Magnus and Will because really kind of our lives depend on it.

We can’t afford to be anything but brutally honest with each other. And I think there’s going to be definite strains in the relationship over this season. But because of those strains, I think all the relationships will get stronger.

What did you learn in the first season that you’ll carry through to Season 2?

Robin Dunne: I think my approach to Will. Season 1 for Will was a lot about sort of coming into this world and not really being sure about it and having one foot in his old life and one foot in his new life and not really sure which way he was going to go.

And I think definitely Season 2 for Will is he’s let go of his old life and he’s really resigned himself to the fact that he lives in this world and he just has to own it because this is where he lives. The approach to this job for myself was much the same. I’d never had a job that’s this size before, particularly this type of series with the green screen and everything that comes along with it. Season 1 it was a lot about me trying to get used to being in this world and working on this show. I think Season 2, from an acting standpoint, was more about being comfortable with it and trying to take the character to a deeper place.

Amanda Tapping: For both of us, there was a lot of confidence going into Season 2. Season 1, for me, Magnus is such an enigma, she’s such an eccentric, different character. There’s so many things that she does that I go, “What?” And it’s like I have to wrap my head around her and go, okay, okay I can figure this out, it has to make sense to me. And Season 1 was a lot of trying to figure out what makes this woman tick. And also just the physicality of her, she’s a far more sexual character than I’ve ever played and going literally from Army boots to stilettos was a transition.

Stay tuned for more from Amanda and Robin as Sanctuary gets going on their second season. The series airs every Friday at 10:00 on Syfy.

SANCTUARY — Pictured: (l-r) Robin Dunne as Dr. Will Zimmerman, Amanda Tapping Dr. Helen Magnus — Syfy Photo: Pete Tangen

Post from: SF Universe

As someone who’s watched Star Trek most of her life, it was a real thrill to talk with an actor whose voice carries so many memories. He was warm and thoughtful but the best part was his laugh, a sound he let loose right after he was asked the first question. I wish I had a tape of it to play for you, but you’ll just have to imagine that deep, vibrato as he chuckled over a question I’m sure he’s been asked many times.

Did you have any reservations on taking another role with the potential of such a fanatic following?

L. Nimoy: I love this question.  I can’t help but laugh because you’re absolutely right.  It’s an interesting set of circumstances.  What attracted me to it was several things.  J.J. Abrams, Bob Orci, and Alex Kurtzman, who I worked with on the Star Trek movie, I admire their talent and the work that they do. The series is at the very least to say intriguing.  The character was somewhat of a blank slate, but we began talking about it and, therefore, attracted because there’s an opportunity to build an interesting and unpredictable character.  I’m enjoying it a lot.

So lately it seems as if you’re J.J. Abrams’ muse of sorts.  Can you tell us a little bit more about your relationship with him?

L. Nimoy: Well, I first met him I guess about three years ago when he first contacted me about the possibility of working together, and I went to a meeting with he and Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman and some of his production staff.  They told me a very good and strong and touching story about their feelings about Star Trek and specifically the Spock character.

It gave me a sense of validation after all these years.  I had been out of it for some time, as you’re probably aware.  There were several Star Trek series in which I was not involved and Star Trek movies in which I was not involved.  This was a re-validation of the work that I had done, the work that we had done on the original Star Trek.  I felt very good about it and went to work for them.

I had a great time working on the movie.  I think they did a brilliant job, and I think the audience response shows that that was the case and has reinvigorated the franchise.  And when they contacted me about working on Fringe—the same people, the same attitude, the same creativity, the same creative team—it was very enticing.

You had not been acting for awhile, and then you’ve done Star Trek and Fringe pretty recently together. Have your feelings about acting changed at all?

L. Nimoy:  Well, I’m enjoying it.  I’m very comfortable in the two offers that I’ve accepted.  The Star Trek movie was a joy to do.  I admire the production team that made the film.  I admire the new cast.  Zachary Quinto I thought was a great choice for the new Spock, and it was a pleasure to work with him and with all the other people on the project.

The Fringe character was intriguing because, as I’ve mentioned, it was kind of a blank slate and we had some very interesting and intense conversations about who and what he could be and how we should perceive him, what we might or might not learn about him, what we might or might not trust about him.  These are intriguing opportunities for an actor, and they came at a time when I … and from a group of people that I had respect for.  They piqued my interest and I went back to work.   I did not expect to, frankly, be acting so much at this time in my life.  My concentration was on my photography, but I’m having a wonderful time doing it.

Have they mentioned anything about their needs for you on an upcoming Star Trek movie?

L. Nimoy: No.  My understanding is they’re working on a script right now.  I expect there’s going to be some time before they really know exactly who they need and what they need.  I frankly, frankly doubt that I will be called upon again.

I think I was useful in his last film to help bridge between the original characters, the original actors, and the new cast.  They have a wonderful new cast in place, and I’m sure they’ll move ahead with them.  I don’t see, at the moment, why they would need me in the next film, although, if they called me, I’d be happy to have a conversation about it.

How do you feel about the current state of science fiction on TV and film?

L. Nimoy: Well, I’m concerned about the positioning of story in terms of importance.  When I see a lot of explosions and a lot of chases, I’m not terribly impressed.  I think there are three terribly important elements that must be given a priority position in science fiction as well as in any other kind of drama.  The first is story, the second is story, and the third is story.  Story, story, story, story, story.  If the story is compelling and interesting, I think all the rest will find its place.

We have great technology in our industry, and that technology can be overused at the expense of story.  And that’s a problem for me, but when the story is in place, I think the special effects can find their proper place.  I think Fringe uses the technology brilliantly, but in the service of excellent story-telling.

Have you found that there’s anything different in the way television is done these days?

L. Nimoy: I think it’s safe to say that what an audience is seeing today on screen in the television episode is far more complex than what we were doing when we were, for example, making the original Star Trek series in the ‘60s.  We were very, very heavy on pages and pages of dialogue and very little special effects, but because the technology has advanced so greatly, it’s possible to do some very complex and very exciting and very useful technical stuff on the shows these days, so we don’t have to rely quite so much on the story being told by the actors speaking.

On the other hand, there is a danger, as I mentioned earlier, of going too far with the special effects at the expense of story.  But if the story is well done, if the story’s in place strongly, the special effects can be enormously helpful to the actors, far more so than they were years ago when we were making the original Star Trek series.

Will we ever see a face off between William Bell and Walter Bishop?

L. Nimoy: Unpredictable at the moment.  In the episode tomorrow night, the scene in between myself and Olivia, I think we will learn a lot more than we have known in the past about what their relationship is all about and what William Bell’s intentions are, or at least we will be told what his intentions are.  We’re not really quite sure that everything that he says is accurate or true.

As William Bell, is there a particular character flaw or even something good that you would like to have highlighted in future episodes?

L. Nimoy: This is a wonderful question.  I’m really looking forward to this character unfolding in a very interesting kind of way.  I think you’ll see, tomorrow night, one very strong aspect of him and certain idiosyncrasies that are being developed.  But I do think there’s a long way to go.  I think there’s a lot to be discovered, and I’m looking forward to discovering it with the audience.

And the final question went to me:

What is still on your “to do” list?

L. Nimoy: Well, I’m looking forward to developing the William Bell character further.  I hope the writers are interested in working with the character.  I am.  I don’t know how much further we’ll go with it, but the character, so far, has been very intriguing and the whole Fringe company has been very good to me.  I’m delighted to be involved.

I am still actively involved with my photography work.  I’m working on a current project, which is called Secret Selves, which is about hidden or fantasy or private personalities that people bring for me to photograph.  And there will be an exhibition of that name, Secret Selves, at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art opening next summer, a solo exhibition.  I’m excited about that.

Check out my Web site, LeonardNimoyPhotography.com.  Isn’t that an amazing title for a Web site?

It certainly is, Leonard. It certainly is.

Leonard Nimoy returns to Fringe tonight in Momentum Deferred. It starts at 9:00 on Fox.

CR: Liane Hentscher/FOX

Post from: SF Universe

Dollhouse

Dollhouse was pretty close to not getting that second season pick-up. Why do you think Fox changed their minds?

Joss: I think it’s the nature of the business and the nature of the fan base.  The nature of the fan base is they’re in it for the long haul, and they’re nurturing, and they’re intense about it and they will see it through.  They will stick with it and that means years after it’s cancelled.  Firefly still sells, Buffy still sells, and that’s also a business thing for the studio.  They’re in it for the long haul because they know the long haul is how my work pays off.  I don’t make hit shows.  I make shows that stick around that people come to long after they would have stopped generating revenue in the old system.

With the advent of DVD and the eventual monetization of Online, there’s a market there that exists beyond your Nielsen numbers, and the fans showing up and DVRing, and buying a DVD, and proving on all my other projects that they don’t do these things lightly, that it runs deep in them, means that the base doesn’t have to be as broad for the studio to think it’s worth it to try and eke out another season.

Eliza Dushku is a huge driving force in the series. How much of a hand did she have in developing the concept and the character of Echo?

Joss: Well, she really wants to dance burlesque.  We keep forgetting to put that in.  Eliza has specific things she’s interested in, specific things she feels comfortable with.  Sometimes I like to go to that place because I know that she can knock it out of the park and sometimes I like to go in the opposite direction to take her out of her comfort zone because that’s the best thing you can do with an actor. (DOLLHOUSE: Joss Whedon (R) directing on set with director of photography Ross Berryman (L). ©2009 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Greg Gayne/FOX)

There are many different aspects to [Eliza] the people don’t usually get to see how funny she can be, how elegant.  She doesn’t always have to play the tough girl, but she really just presents.  It was a conversation about all of the different things she was supposed to be, or had been, or was trying to be, or trying to get away from that led to the creation of the show.  It made me think, “Wait a minute.  That’s what the show should be about.”  So it wasn’t so much that she said, “I’d like to be the following things,” although we talked about what the characters are, it’s just that she is so many people that we pluck from them.  She did go bow hunting.  I understand, however, that she herself was not hunted.

Echo’s got a lot to deal with, how will she manage to come into her own?

Joss: Basically, through force of will.  She did have all those personalities dumped into her at once and as we pick up, we’re going to find out that that’s starting to affect her.  Rather than be at sea in between engagements, she’s much more directed and driven, and even in her doll state is growing, and learning and starting to try to access these personalities to see what they can help her with, because she has a mission that she understands now, which is to get back to her personality and get everybody back to theirs.

Let’s talk relationships:

Joss: Victor and Sierra just can’t keep their hands off each other, and they’re like monkeys and it’s something that we’re going to be treating, they’re going to be seeing through for a while.  It makes some people very uncomfortable and sometimes it’s just extremely sweet.  Sometimes it’s just funny.  But Echo is very much building herself and she sees it as an indication that they’re ready to be pushed to a level like hers.  She’s looking for allies and Paul is the first person she’s going to turn to for that.  But then a lot of the season is going to be her attempt to put together some kind of team, even though she has trouble articulating it at first.  She’s looking for the sense of family that I think the audience was looking for last season.  So we’re going to be seeing who’s on her side and who, not so much.

How is Dr. Saunders going to factor into the season?

Joss: Dr. Saunders would factor in much more in the season had we not lost her to another show.  She will factor inasmuch as we are allowed to factor her in, which is exactly three episodes worth.  They will, however, be three extraordinarily memorable episodes.  Amy Acker is ridiculously talented and the character’s dilemma is fascinating to us.  We grit our teeth that we didn’t have the funds, or the support, or the success, to just make her a regular and now we’re paying for it.  It means that every time we have her on screen, we’ll squeeze every drop out of her that we can.  We’re seizing the day.  We just don’t get to seize as many of them as we’d like.

How will the “lost” episode Epitaph One fit into the grand scheme?

Joss: It had originally been my intention to start in that era and then come back, but I just had too much information in my first episode.  What we’re talking about doing is perhaps revisiting that timeline towards the end of the 13 in a similar fashion, but we’re also looking at the show through the lens of that episode and saying, “Well, this is taking us to a more global concept of how this power is used and abused.”  That’s a lot of what informs the season.  You don’t have to have seen it to understand that, but it helps if you do.  I think it adds a layer.

THE GUEST STARS:

Summer Glau:

Joss: The casting of Summer was based on the knowledge that Summer existed and the character was created with the hopes that she would play it, which she is right on stage right now doing.  She’s playing the programmer of another Dollhouse.  It’s a somewhat eccentric part but hopefully different than what we’ve seen her do before.  The most useful part of that is that the writers work twice as hard to make sure that the character really pops and pays off because they know that it’s going to be played by somebody extraordinary.

Jaime Bamber (who “marries’ Echo in the first episode)

Joss: If you were those two, wouldn’t you get married?  They’re so cute.  He came in as the guest star in the first episode, which was just besides a geek dream for me, an extraordinary experience because he’s not just very professional, and precise and talented, but he fleshed out a character that could have been a little bit of a cardboard cutout.  He has such sincerity and gravitas that you feel terrible.  He makes you feel you’ve betrayed him, even if he’s completely in the wrong.  It’s something that he shares with Adelle.  Maybe it’s a British thing; I don’t know. (DOLLHOUSE: Echo (Eliza Dushku, R) and her new husband (guest star Jamie Bamber, L) have a dangerous honeymoon in the DOLLHOUSE season premiere episode “Vows” airing Friday, Sept. 25 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2009 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Isabella Vosmikova/FOX)

Ray Wise:

Joss: Ray Wise, I believe, will be appearing in episode six and he’s going to be playing the head of another house, so he’s going to interact with young Olivia and it should be very exciting.

Alexis Denisoff:

Joss: Yes, he’s got his own crusade going.  He’s a very different person than Paul but he’s in a similar position except that he’s gone public with it.  How much the Dollhouse loves a senator who has gone public with an attack on them, we will find out in later episodes.  But he’s not the Paul of the season because he’s going to have a different set of problems thrown at him, but he has a similar vibe in terms of he’s very tenacious and righteous.

Any other Buffy-verse guest stars coming up?

Joss: It’s a death match between Firefly and Battlestar and which of them is going to get all their people.  The fact of the matter is they’re people I admire and they’re people I know I love to work with and this season, I’m a lot less concerned with how the cast is perceived. Last season, we felt like we wanted to make sure that this was new territory and that people didn’t think of it as just, “Oh, it’s just these faces and he’s doing his old thing.”  Now I’m like, “I know these people can act,” and honestly, the people that are watching it are fans anyway.  If they know who these people are, they’ll be thrilled.  If they don’t, they’ll see good acting so it doesn’t matter to me as much.  So yes, I have no fear of throwing anybody that I have worked with or just want to work with in anytime I can.

The big question — Is everybody a doll?

Joss: I’ll tell you right now, everybody is not a doll because it would be very easy for us to pull that trick over and over and ultimately shoot ourselves in the foot, because you would find that nothing was at stake and that everybody would see the plot was coming.  We’ve actually grounded the show fairly heavily.  People who are dolls, are dolls and the other people, every now and then, I’m not saying never, I’m not saying we won’t question reality every now and then but basically, we’re taking the people we have and we’re pushing them around as much as possible.

We’re trying to keep it grounded so that people know that there is something at stake and if somebody did have their personality altered or taken away, that that would be a huge deal.  That’s like the attic; that’s like death.  That’s like the worst thing that can happen to a character so we want to make sure that the characters are grounded enough that people feel those stakes.  If we just make people dolls, Willie-Nillie, then it’s the rabbit hole and none of it really connects or means anything.

Post from: SF Universe