FlashForward – According to Hollywood Reporter, the series is about to get another show runner but no one knows who it is. The first show runner left early on and was replaced by David Goyer. Now he’s leaving to return to films. The show runner revolving door is never a good sign for a TV production and I fear it will mark the end of this innovative series which returns on March 18.

In other fun news, Lost’s Daniel Dae Kim will be taking on the role of Chin Ho Kelly in the Hawaii Five-O remake. This casting implies that they will be using the original characters and not a new generation of characters as was previously discussed. That means that Alex O’Loughlin would indeed be playing Steve McGarrett if that casting goes through.

Jericho’s Emily Rose has joined the cast of Syfy’s new supernatural drama series Haven, based on the novella The Colorado Kid by Stephen King. She’ll play Audrey Parker, the shrewd and confident FBI agent with a lost past who arrives in the small town of Haven, Maine to solve the murder of a local ex-con.

FLASHFORWARD – ABC’s “FlashForward” stars Jack Davenport as Lloyd Simcoe, John Cho as Demetri Noh, Sonya Walger as Olivia Benford, Zachary Knighton as Bryce Varley, Christine Woods as Janis Hawk, Joseph Fiennes as Mark Benford, Courtney B. Vance as Stanford Wedeck, Peyton List as Nicole Kirby, Dominic Monaghan as Simon and Br’an F. O’Byrne as Aaron Stark. (ABC/BOB D’AMICO)

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The first season of the series aired on NBC in June of 2009 but low ratings bumped it from the air. The second season has never been aired here in the US but will be included in the run on Syfy.

BBC has commissioned a third season which will air in September 2010 in the UK.

If you missed it this past summer, you weren’t alone. Here’s the synopsis for the series:

An imaginative new twist on a timeless legend, Merlin is set in the mythical city of Camelot, before history began. It’s a fantastical realm of legendary beasts and mysterious peoples, and a dangerous world where magic has been banned by the ruthless tyrant, Uther Pendragon.

When Merlin, a young man gifted with extraordinary magical powers, arrives in the kingdom, he quickly makes enemies, including the heir to Uther’s crown, the headstrong Prince Arthur. But guided by Uther’s wise physician, Gaius, Merlin is soon using his talents not just to survive but also to unlock Camelot’s mystical secrets.

As he does, Merlin discovers that his destiny and that of the kingdom’s young leader in waiting, Arthur, are inextricably linked.

Merlin stars Colin Morgan as Merlin, Bradley James as Prince Arthur, Anthony Head as King Uther, Richard Wilson as Gaius, Katie McGrath as Morgana and Angel Coulby as Gwen.

Should be a great fit for Syfy.

Photo: NBC / Mike Hogan

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Yep, Syfy is going down the wooded fairy tale path but you can bet these won’t be the kind of bedtime stories you’re used to hearing. Think Alice. Think Tin Man, and then forget it. We’re talking Syfy Saturday Original Movies – the modern version of the old B-flick and mock if you will, but these movies are fun.

The new genre launch begins with the premiere of Beauty and the Beast on Saturday, February 27, at 9PM (ET/PM).

In this gritty celebration of Valentine’s Day, a young Beauty (Estella Warren, Planet of the Apes) with a gift for healing helps a deformed Prince (Rhett Gilles, Wraiths of Roanoke) regain his throne and defeat the ruthless nobleman who wants to be king — and then together they try to destroy a power-hungry witch. Beauty and the Beast was directed by David Lister and written by Gavin Scott.

Said Thomas Vitale, Executive Vice President, Programming and Original Movies, Syfy:

“By turning familiar timeless stories inside out — like retelling Little Red Riding Hood as a werewolf tale or envisioning a dark version of Shrek — we’re creating an entertaining new genre for our popular Saturday night movie franchise, which has become the television destination for fans of action-packed independent sci-fi, horror and fantasy films.”

Here’s a look at some of the other films in development:

Red — A young woman who is a descendant of the real Little Red Riding Hood brings her fiancé home, where he meets the family and learns about their business – hunting werewolves. He’s skeptical until bitten by a werewolf. When her family insists he must be killed, Red tries saving him.

Hansel – Twenty years after his encounter with the witch, a grown-up Hansel returns to the haunted forest, seeking revenge. But there’s a surprise waiting – his sister Gretel (who he thought had been killed) is the witch’s protégée. (My favorite of the bunch.)
8TH Voyage of Sinbad — Sinbad searches for the golden head of the long lost Colossus of Rhodes and, instead, discovers an island where the mythical Minotaur still rules, protecting a vast treasure. Sinbad and his crew have to battle the creature and its minions to get the treasure and save their own lives.
Aladdin (working title) — After accidentally releasing an evil genie from an ancient lamp, Aladdin must find a way to imprison the genie again before it wreaks havoc on the world.

Black Forest – A group of naïve tourists take a sightseeing tour into a supposed enchanted forest, where they encounter evil creatures from the world of fantasy. Trapped in the Black Forest, their only hope of survival is fighting their way out.

There’s a reason these stories have stuck with us all these years and I think they make a great addition to the Syfy Original Movie roster.

What classic story would you like to see re-imagined as a dark and scary Syfy Original Movie?

Photo: Syfy

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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

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The Invaders was a series that was aimed at the more sophisticated scifi viewer. There were no rubber-suited aliens, few special effects and very little action. Instead, they went for the intense feeling of paranoia that you get from movies like Invasion of the Body Snatchers with an emphasis on story and character.

The series follows architect David Vincent (Roy Thinnes), who stumbles upon a UFO in a field off of a dark, country road. The aliens who arrive in the ship look just like us except for an odd angled pinkie finger which becomes the only way of distinguishing them from actual humans.

Throughout the course of the series, Vincent tries to alert the world, one small town at a time but as you can imagine, most people think he’s plain crazy. Except for the aliens, of course, who want him silenced.

Think of The Invaders as the scifi version of The Fugitive. The series has an amazing array of 60’s guest stars including Edward Asner, Suzanne Pleshette, Michael Rennie, Dabney Coleman, and Harold Gould, and the storytelling is always top notch.

Check out a few episodes during Monday’s marathon and if you like what you see, you can purchase both seasons of the series on DVD.

“Alien beings from a dying planet. Their destination: the Earth.”

Photo: Amazon

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It was a tough for Chuck at first, dealing with the two agents assigned to protect him, going along on dangerous missions while still maintaining his “secret” identity at home. This year, it’s all going to change. This year, it’s no more Mr. Nice Spy, as Chuck learns that he can actually act upon the info in his brain, turning him into one dangerous weapon. Now, if only he can get rid of those pesky, emotions – then he’d become the US’s number one spy.

Ready for a new season of Chuck? Start by reliving last season with the Chuck marathon on Syfy.

The 8-Hour marathon begins on Thursday, January 7 and runs from 5PM-1AM (ET/PT). It’s all to hail the new season of Chuck, which begins with a two-hour premiere Sunday, January 10, at 9PM on NBC.

The “Chuck” marathon on Syfy includes episodes featuring a wide range of guest stars, including Michael Clarke Duncan (“The Green Mile”); John Larroquette (“Boston Legal”); Melinda Clarke (“The O.C.”); Tony Hale (“Arrested Development”); Chevy Chase (“Community”); Scott Bakula (“Quantum Leap”); Morgan Fairchild (“Falcon Crest”); Bruce Boxleitner (“Babylon 5”) and former New York Giants star Michael Strahan.

So the Syfy tie-in is tenuous – but it’s still a fun show with a great mix of action, comedy and drama.

Pictured: Yvonne Strahovski as Sarah Walker, Zach Levi as Chuck Bartowski — NBC Photo: Greg Gayne

Chuck Marathon Schedule, Thursday, January 7

5PM “CHUCK VERSUS THE FIRST DATE” (Season Two Premiere)
6PM “CHUCK VERSUS THE SEDUCTION”
7PM “CHUCK VERSUS THE BREAK-UP”
8PM “CHUCK VERSUS THE SANTA CLAUS”.
9PM “CHUCK VERSUS THE PREDATOR”
10PM “CHUCK VERSUS THE DREAM JOB”
11PM “CHUCK VERSUS THE COLONEL”
12AM “CHUCK VERSUS THE RING” (Season Two Finale)

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From the people who brought you Tin Man, this 2-night event takes Lewis Carroll’s childhood tale to a place it’s never been before. An excellent cast of character actors are on hand to send you careening down the rabbit hole toward a dark and twisted path. It’s Alice — a four-hour Syfy event airing Sunday, December 6 and Monday, December 7 @ 9:00pm.

Click here to see all of the behind the scenes videos at Syfy.com

Pictured: (l-r) Andrew-Lee Potts as The Hatter, Caterina Scorsone as Alice Hamilton — Syfy Photo: James Dittiger

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The plot goes like this:

Deep in the heart of Maine, Haven (the new name for the series)  is a town where people with supernatural abilities have migrated for generations because it mutes their powers, allowing them to lead normal lives. At least, until recently. When hot-shot FBI agent Audrey Parker is called to Haven to solve the murder of a local ex-con, she catches the killer but uncovers a much deeper mystery about this town. Each week, as the town-peoples’ dormant powers begin to express themselves, Audrey will try to keep these supernatural forces at bay while unraveling the many mysteries of Haven – including one surrounding her own surprising past in this extraordinary place.

Okay, I’m back on board. So its Heroes meets X-Files and I can live with that, especially if it leans toward the creepy and away from the superhero. Looking at the line up of people working on the show, I have to admit it sounds like a winner. You have Scott Shepherd (Tru Calling, The Dead Zone) as showrunner along with his his partners Executive Producers Lloyd Segan and Shawn Piller (The Dead Zone, Wildfire, Greek). The pilot was written by Sam Ernst and Jim Dunn (Shrek the Third, The Dead Zone) who will also serve as executive producers on the series. Just overlook the Shrek the Third byline and it’s all good.

The studio is set to begin shooting early in 2010 for a 2010 release.

Photo: Amazon

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Right now, it’s only 5 episodes and they’ll run on Tuesday nights starting on December 8.

Here’s what Syfy has to say about the series:

Series creator and executive producer, Russell Barrett took a complete do-it-yourself / hands-on approach to the creation of the show by developing, executing and editing the series right in his very home. He also enlisted childhood and hometown friends as series stars including, Adam Clinton (Commander Dick Amos), Stephanie Clinton (Lieutenant Sunny Hunkle), Jay Wendorff (voice of Kyle 14) and Dana Kirk (Operations Officer Donna Kennedy).

”Syfy fans have never seen animation quite like this before! The graphics may be basic and simple, but combining them with live-action elements has never been done in a series before. To say that it was a grassroots endeavor is an understatement. Russell literally produced this in his basement for more than a year, and that allowed him to create a unique series with a sharp, sly sense of humor.” said Mark Stern, EVP Original Content Syfy & Co-Head Universal Cable Productions.

Outer Space Astronauts is a futuristic comedy series about eight vaguely courageous, highly distractable military personnel who journey to the far reaches of the galaxy, seeking knowledge, adventure and whatever else they can come up with. On board the O.S.S. Oklahoma, this legion of misfits are led by a lackluster captain who would rather be planning the next “margarita Monday” than leading a mission against evil, much to exasperation of his by-the-book second-in-command. Regardless of being a comedy of errors, this team will surprise even themselves as they navigate their way around the solar system.

“Russell Barrett is a very dry, very funny guy who created his own part animated, part live-action space ship world in a series of episodes using his own style and vision of animation,” said David O. Russell, Executive Producer. “What more needs to be said about outer space astronauts who are in outer space working as astronauts, in outer space?”

Outer Space Astronauts was created by Russell Barrett, and is executive produced by Barrett, Scott Puckett and David O. Russell (Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees).

Meet the series characters:

Captain Bruce Ripley (Russell Barrett) is the worst captain in the fleet with the best reputation. He’s uninterested, bored and sloppy, yet manages to always get the job done.

Commander Dick Amos (Adam Clinton) should be the leader of the ship since he holds the most credentials than anyone, but even with his top performance record, Dick is always stuck behind the eight ball.

Lieutenant Sunny Hunkle (Stephanie Clinton) With a name that equally matches her ‘sunny’ disposition, the sweetest girl in the galaxy gets along with everyone. She doesn’t mind that her ‘secret relationship’ with Dick should remain a secret, she’s cool, calm and easy going.

Intern Jimmy Peck (Peter Burns) has been Captain Ripley’s right-hand man since their college days. A bit simple-minded, or just eternally naïve, Jimmy has a way of coming through just when you thought he was completely useless.

Pilot Johnny Boothe (Benjamin Nurick) shouldn’t be flying or driving anything as he holds the most citations for reckless piloting out of anyone (a record he states proudly!). Boothe’s disregard for safety and his addiction to speed however has saved many a day on board the O.S.S. Oklahoma.

Kyle 14 (voice: Jay Wendorff) is one of the first artificial humans to be given a post on an OSA ship. He’s the most state-of-the-art android in existence and “waaaay better than the Kyle 13 model.”

Chief Weapons Officer Andy Matheson (Laura Valdivia) has saved the life of every crewman on the ship more times than they can count. His enormous stature and history of big time whuppin’ sometimes intimidates his fellow crewman except for Brimley.

Weapons Officer Chad Brimley (Tony Bravo) likes to find other’s weak spots and poke at it with a stick. He has excellent skills, and is highly intelligent in weapons development and ammunition science, but his motivation for work isn’t always top notch.

Operations Officer Donna Kennedy (Dana Kirk) and technology don’t mix. She tries in vain to hide her ‘fear of all things that plug in and beep’ from the crew, but on a ship which functions solely from the latest technology, her technophobia gets the best of her.

Chief Mechanic Pinto (Steve Millunzi) is a human monkey wrench. If something is broken, Pinto can fix it – which is great, because things tend to break quite frequently!

Ka’ak (Jacey Margolis) is from another planet and skilled in all areas of space travel. Despite her super-model looks, her mangled use of English is a good tip-off to her alien roots; not to mention her blood-red skin!

Logo courtesy of Syfy

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Though it sounds like the plot of a bad sitcom, Being Human is actually a startlingly real and emotional TV series that shows the very best and the very worst of our species.

Now, the company that produced the series is preparing a 13 episode American reboot to premiere on Syfy in Summer 2010.

“Being Human is a smart, contemporary, young and imaginative series that reflects Syfy’s new brand positioning. We are very excited to adapt this for an American audience and bring it into Syfy’s family of programming,” said Syfy president Dave Howe.

Mark Stern, Executive Vice President, Original Content for Syfy and Co-Head, Original Content for Universal Cable Productions added, “We’ve loved this project and been tracking it for a while. Being Human definitely distinguishes itself as something new and different in a landscape filled with familiar supernatural fare. In adapting it, we intend to work closely with RDF to keep the wit, insight, and humor of the original, while opening up the series for a new audience.”

“We’re incredibly proud of our British series and had a tremendous amount of interest in adapting the project for the States. With Syfy’s unwavering passion and dedication for the show, we’re confident it can be as successful here as it is in the UK,” said Chris Coelen, CEO of RDF Media USA.

Personally, I’m very curious about this idea of remaking a series for American audiences. We tried it with The Office and it worked, but Kath & Kim was a huge failure, and what happened to the US version of AbFab?

Being Human has a pretty basic plot that isn’t influenced by the country of origin, so adapting it should be pretty simple — as long as they manage to keep the balance between the dark sense of humor and the “human” drama.

Photo: Being Human from BBC America

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