Caprica marathon & some general updates

A quick round of updates before the year ends, in random order.

The last five episodes of Caprica will air on Tuesday, January 4, from 6 pm to 11 pm on Syfy. If you're not tuning in live, check your DVRs because several people have tweeted that they're listed as re-reruns.

Doug Drexler posted a cool clip (demo reel from "Unvanquished") over at Drex Files the other day:



Geek Life has included "Ghosts in the Machine" among the best episodes of the year.

The Comic Book Nerd has posted the press release for The Official Caprica Prop and Costume Auction, which starts on January 2.

Bear McCreary tweets that the Battlestar Galactica piano book will be released in late January or early February.

Patton Oswalt wrote an essay that's been causing some controversy in the collective geekdom this week. You can read it on Wired.com: Wake Up, Geek Culture. Time to Die

Alessandra Torresani hosted Attack of the Show again this week. She posted a couple of clips at The Bambola Factory.

Brian Markinson has a supporting role in Frankie and Alice, Halle Berry's MPD movie, out in a limited release on February 4. IMDB has the trailer.

Peter Wingfield is on CSI: Miami, episode "Match Made in Hell," this Sunday at 8 pm on CBS. You can see the teaser at SpoilerTV.

A quick glimpse of Sasha Roiz choking Amber Tamblyn in the new teaser for House (back on Monday, January 17):



The teaser for Blackstone, with Carmen Moore, which premieres on January 25 in Canada:



Daemon's TV has the teaser and a behind-the-scenes clip for HBO's Game of Thrones. (Jane Espenson is on the writing team.)

Hellcats is definitely back on Tuesday, January 25. TV Fanatic has an extended promo.

TV Overmind has the trailer and promotional pics for Falling Skies, Mark Verheiden's new show that kicks off next summer on TNT.

And that's it for the week (and year). Hope everyone has a good New Year's Eve and see you in 2011!

Campaign update, Caprica DVD, and new cast projects

There is an update on the apple campaign at the Save Caprica blog.

Associated Content has a lengthy review of the Caprica 1.5 DVD. Here are a few more details about the bonus features if you don't have it yet.

They include Deleted Scenes; Re-Caprica: Viewers can catch-up on the recap of "Caprica" Season 1.0; 7 Video Blogs that include Global Defense: Join Agent Duram (Brian Markinson) as he lifts the lid on the GDD, Next Generation: The cast and crew discuss the emerging talent and technology on the show, One True God?: Viewers take a journey into the religious aspects of the show as the cast and crews discuss the creation of the STO and how it shapes the world of "Caprica", Caprican Evolution: Executive producers David Eick and Jane Espenson take fans on a journey back to where it all began at the creation of "Caprica", Sounds of Caprica: Go behind the scenes with executive producer David Eick and music editor Michael Baber to hear how the unique sounds of "Caprica" are created, The Music of Caprica: Composer Bear McCreary discusses the sounds of "Caprica" and the music that forms the show, and Visual Effects: A discussion with executive producer David Eick and visual effects supervisor Gary Hutzel on the techniques involved with creating the world of "Caprica"; Podcasts with executive producer David Eick, director and series stars, Eric Stoltz, Magda Apanowicz, Esai Morales and Sasha Roiz; and Feature Episode Commentary with executive producer Kevin Murphy for "Unvanquished" and "Apotheosis."

Ryan Robbins did an interview for this week's Innerspace podcast. It starts about 10 minutes in and he mostly talks about his experience working on Caprica and Battlestar.

Alessandra Torresani wraps filming the pilot for Circling the Drain today. She tweeted a pic from the set here.

Showcase has an article about Blackstone, Carmen Moore's new show that premieres on January 25 in Canada. The official site is up at www.blackstonetheseries.com.

Chris Heyerdahl, John Pyper-Ferguson and Michael Eklund (who made a brief appearance at The Dive in "Rebirth") start shooting a new film, Gravity's Pull, in January. The Vancouver Sun has the details and an interesting story on how the film came about. Several people (other than JPF) who worked on A Night for Dying Tigers are also involved in this one (Gil Bellows, Kathleen Robertson, Tygh Runyan, Terry Miles). No word yet on a release date for Tigers.

TV Fanatic has the teaser for Private Practice 4x11.

TheRealSOCOM.com has a new interview with Bear McCreary, mostly about his score for SOCOM 4.

And here is the video that Magda Apanowicz did with Team Unicorn, A Very Zombie Holiday: How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse During the Holidays, which made its way to BoingBoing.

Caprica 1.5 DVD is out tomorrow

The Caprica Season 1.5 DVD finally gets released tomorrow. Another review showed up at HamptonRoads.com. Here are a couple of snippets:

Despite the intended niche audience of sci-fi fans, the heady show was perhaps a bit too brainy for mass consumption. Because of that, it was admittedly slow getting out of the starting blocks. Then again, so was Fox’s "Fringe." Yet even that show, helmed by name brand J.J. Abrams ("Star Trek"), still managed to make it to a third season. If a science fiction cable network can't cater to its audience, what a series doing there in the first place? Perhaps SyFy needs to change its marketing slogan from "Imagine Greater" to "Expect Less." (...)

The extras include a treasure trove of commentaries ‒ some recorded prior to the DVD as podcasts, others recorded for the DVD collection. There are about a dozen mini-featurettes (called “video blogs”) created for the website. Executive producer Jane Espenson joins other writers and cast members in covering topics such as music, effects and the show’s mythology and religion. Finally, there’s "Re-Caprica," a snarky and fun five-minute catch-up on previous episodes.

Another great article appeared at Flimgeeks.com, check it out: End of Line: A Farewell to Caprica (and soon enough, most other smart science fiction.)

And Boston Herald is giving away a free Caprica DVD. The contest ends today at 5 pm.

Elsewhere, Spoiler TV has the press release for Private Practice 4x11, "If You Don't Know Me by Now," directed by Eric Stoltz, which definitely airs on Thursday, January 6 at 10 pm on ABC.

Caprica DVD review, interview with Ryan Robbins & The Killing preview

The first Caprica Season 1.5 DVD review showed up at IGN on Friday. Here are a couple of snippets:

The final episodes ramp up the Caprica story in a big way. The show, criticized early on for being too slow-paced and ponderous, ups the tension considerably, as Daniel (Eric Stoltz), Amanda (Paula Malcomson), Joseph (Esai Morales) and Sam (Sasha Roiz) all find their lives in danger – I especially loved a Panic Room type scenario that has two characters locked inside a room, with a group of people with murderous intent trying to get in - which is even more frightening because those in danger are in the VR world, and don't realize what is going on with their physical bodies. (..)

There are a few deleted scenes and video blogs exploring different aspects of the show. More interesting are the podcasts, which include different participants, including Magda Apanowicz, whose enthusiasm and love of the show are wonderful to hear. There also are some very candid comments from executive producer David Eick, as these were recorded while the first few episodes of "Season 1.5" were airing and the show was clearly in danger.

Best though are the commentaries from Kevin Murphy, particularly on the finale. -- Read the rest at IGN

Dorkshelf has a really great interview with Ryan Robbins, who wraps filming his new crime thriller, Cold Blooded, today. He mostly talks about Sanctuary and Riese (going international in January), but also (at 3:45) about Caprica, Battlestar, Ron Moore & David Eick, and where season two might have gone. There is another new video interview with him, just as fun, at Cast TV.



Chicago Now has an interview with Chris Heyerdahl, who is still filming Twilight: Breaking Dawn. It's mostly about Twilight and Sanctuary, but he briefly mentions Caprica too.

Final reminder: Alessandra Torresani is hosting Attack of the Show again tomorrow.

If you are in Vancouver, you can still catch Hiro Kanagawa's The Patron Saint of Stanley Park (trailer) this week.

Still time to vote for Caprica in the SpoilerTV Awards if you haven't: Best Lead Actor in a Drama, Best Guest Star, Best Show Cancelled in 2010, and Best Episode of 2010.

And here is a behind-the-scenes clip from AMC's The Killing, which kicks off in March, with a few glimpses of Michelle Forbes, Richard Harmon and Kacey Rohl:

Caprica Season 1.5 DVD & cast updates

The Caprica Season 1.5 DVD is out this Tuesday (Dec. 21) and you can still pre-order it on Amazon. NBC has sent out copies for review and the first interesting bits about the commentary tracks come from IGN's Eric Goldman; one about plans to have James Callis and Tricia Helfer appear in the second half of season one, and another about one of the Final Five appearing in season two (if the show hadn't been pulled).

If you haven't seen the last five episodes, the general consensus is that they're the best part of the season. For better or worse, the show got a lot more prequelized and the hour that was cut last year can be felt, especially in the last two episodes, but the storylines, characters, dialogue and everything else stayed as frakking inspired as it always has been. Be warned, though. The finale wraps up the most prominent storylines of the second half of the season, but it leaves an even bigger continuity hole with Battlestar than the one it started with in more ways than one and may leave you with a sense of a beginning rather than ending. Which sucks, with the cancellation and all.

That said, on a more subjective note, with all the continuity issues between Caprica and Battlestar (and the way they 'fixed' one in particular toward the end of the season), I can't help but feel that Mark Stern et co. are being a little disingenuous about the possibility of Blood and Chrome ever going to series. With less ground to cover than Caprica, even more shackles in the story department, not to even mention character, and general insistence on more ties to the mother ship from the network (and hardcore BSG fans - most of them anyway), I am not really convinced that Syfy's plans to keep milking the franchise will extend beyond the movie. If anything, the news of Stargate's cancellation doesn't exactly spell faith in established franchises, or established fan bases for that matter.

Either way, you can catch the unaired episodes of Caprica on Syfy on January 4 or get them on DVD in a few days. I know there's been some resistance to buying the DVD, with people still not getting any less pissed off about the cancellation, but this isn't exactly a show that will get discovered by the masses as it should and, with Syfy keeping mum on all fronts, that's not gonna change any time soon. Not for anyone to profit from the show in any meaningful way anyway. Beyond that, unlike marketing and scheduling, the DVDs are the one thing they (NBC Universal, that is) actually do right. And besides, there are other ways to kick Syfy where it hurts.

UGO.com has an exclusive clip from the DVD, cleverly subtitled “Never before seen anywhere.” It includes a couple of scenes from "Blowback;" one with Magda Apanowicz and Ryan Kennedy travelling to Gemenon, and Chris Heyerdahl going batshit on the STO recruits, and the other with Brian Markinson and Tom McBeath in the GDD archives. The clip is embedded at the end of the post.

Alessandra Torresani is on TWoP's list of TV's Most Valuable Performers. And she'll be hosting Attack of the Show again this Monday.

You can vote (only once and until Monday) for Caprica in the SpoilerTV Awards polls in several categories: Best Lead Actor in a Drama (Eric Stoltz), Best Guest Star (John Pyper-Ferguson), Best Show Cancelled in 2010, and Best Episode of 2010 ("Ghosts in the Machine").

Elsewhere:

Yes, Stargate Universe has been cancelled halfway into its second season. The news came yesterday via Deadline and, in another good stroke of good judgement, Syfy had forgotten to inform the cast beforehand and took the opportunity to use the news as a springboard to promote its upcoming shows. Other than the Tuesday death slot, SGU shared writer/producer Remi Aubuchon and the occasional cast member (Mike Dopud, Anna Galvin, Zak Santiago, Ryan Kennedy) with Caprica. The remaining episodes of season two will air in the spring. More details at GateWorld.net.

Things are looking brighter for Sanctuary, which is still in negotiations for season four. Spacecast has a new video interview with Ryan Robbins and Chicago Now recently talked to Chris Heyerdahl. Polly Walker guest stars in the mid-season finale tonight (Friday) at 10 pm.

Sundance.org has posted the screening schedules for all the films premiering at the festival in January, including Gun Hill Road with Esai Morales and Vampire with Ryan Robbins. You can find them here: Gun Hill Road, Vampire.

The Battle of the Bulbs, with Teryl Rothery, premieres tomorrow (Saturday) at 8 pm on the Hallmark Channel. You can find several behind-the-scenes clips on YouTube: clip 1, clip 2, clip 3, clip 4.

Luciana Carro has landed a leading role in The Icarus II Project, an independent web series which will premiere at the San Diego Comic Con next summer. They start shooting in February. Michael Taylor is credited as script consultant on the official site. You can find more details about the project at LucianaCarroFans.com.

CSI: Miami 9x10, "Match Made in Hell," with Peter Wingfield guest starring, has been pushed back to Sunday, January 2.

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, with Alex Arsenault (Philo) and Philip Granger (Tanner Willow), still has no release date for the U.S. but it has been released in Russia earlier this month. For updates on release dates elsewhere in the world, go to the movie’s Facebook page.

Patton Oswalt's book, Zombie Spaceship Wasteland, is out on January 4. AICN has a review.

The Chicago Sun-Times has a short interview with Malcolm MacIver, who worked as a science consultant on TRON: Legacy, which opens this weekend.

Spoiler TV has posted the returning dates for all network shows. Here is a round-up:

• V returns on Tuesday, January 4. Alison Araya guest stars in the season two premiere, "Red Rain."
• Private Practice is back on Thursday, January 6. The first new episode should be the one directed by Eric Stoltz.
• The Cape, scored by Bear McCreary, kicks off on Sunday, January 9 on NBC.
• Lie to Me returns on Monday, January 10. Paula Malcomson is probably appearing on the show that day.
• The Good Wife, with Scott Porter, is back on Tuesday, January 11. Spoiler TV has the synopsis for the next episode and a 2011 promo.
• House is back on Monday, January 17. Still no word in which episode Sasha Roiz guest stars, but keep an eye on his new official Facebook page for updates.
• Fairly Legal, starring Sarah Shahi and BSG’s Michael Trucco, kicks off on Thursday, January 20 on USA. Philip Granger and Ryan Kennedy will both appear on the show at some point.
• Hellcats returns on Tuesday, January 25, or possibly sooner. Heather Hemmens (Hellcat Alice) tweeted that the show will be back on January 4.

Last not least, check out How the Nerd Stole Christmas on Bear McCreary's blog.

The clip from the DVD:

Weekend wrap

10 days left until the Caprica Season 1.5 DVD is out.

A quick round of cast updates:

Alessandra Torresani starts shooting a new pilot this week, called Circling the Drain. It's a single-camera comedy about a reporter who gets demoted from the style section to the obits desk at a newspaper. You can read a message from Alessandra about the project on her blog.

Deadline writes, "The Circling the Drain presentation will be completed by Jan.1, giving the project a jump start on the broadcast pilot season where production usually starts in February. While the project was originally envisioned as a cable show, the producers are now looking to cast a wider net for it."

Esai Morales has wrapped filming the webseries Los Americans. The first photos from his new movie, Gun Hill Road, which premieres at Sundance in January, showed up this week at Daemon's Movies. There is also an interesting article about the film at Eclectique 916.

Polly Walker will make her first appearance on Sanctuary next Friday in episode 3x10, "The Hollow Men." Spoiler TV has the teaser (with Polly) and a sneak peek with Ryan Robbins and Christopher Heyerdahl.

Magda Apanowicz tweeted that she is filming a new Team Unicorn FTW project.

Scott Porter is back on Friday Night Lights next Wednesday at 9 pm in episode 5x07, "Perfect Record." Spoiler TV has the teaser. Patrick Massett and John Zinman have been nominated for a Writer's Guild Award for their work on the show, which is now entering its final run of episodes on DirecTV. 

Both Scott Porter and Sasha Roiz are on Buddy TV's list of TV's 100 Sexiest Men of 2010.

Tomorrow's episode of CSI: Miami, with Peter Wingfield guest starring, might get delayed because of football. David Caruso has swooped down on YouTube to say he'll make sure you know when the episode airs in time.

Leah Gibson did an interview for Twilight: Eclipse recently. You can watch it here. You can also see the teaser for The Fence, a short film she did with Matt Hamilton that will be out next year, on YouTube.

Also, her fans tweet (and IMDb confirms) that Rise of the Apes, the prequel to the Planet of the Apes series, with James Franco, Brian Cox, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Tom Felton and Andy Serkis, will be released on June 24, 2011. Caprica's James Pizzinato is also in it.

Three Inches, the pilot James Marsters shot with Stephanie Jacobsen and Naoko Mori (Toshi from Torchwood, you'll see her in Private Practice 4x11) for Syfy a few months ago, didn't get a series order, but - hold onto your sanity - Mark Stern says it still might. Deadline has the gory details about the show possibly getting retooled and the actors' contracts getting extended. In the meantime, you can see James on Hawaii Five-0 this Monday at 10 pm on CBS. Spoiler TV has a new promo.

Carmen Moore (that's Fidelia if you've seen the last few episodes) has recently wrapped a film called Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. You can see some stills on her Facebook page. She will also be a regular on Blackstone, a new show that kicks off early next year in Canada. (Hiro Kanagawa is credited as story editor.) For details and updates, hit Facebook.

Mike Dopud tweeted that he, too, is working on This Means War. Panou and Aleks Paunovic will also be in it. And Elisabeth Rosen, grandpa's foe from "The Dirteaters," will have a supporting role in his new movie, In the Name of the Father 2.

More updates as they come on Twitter, as usual.

Apples, letter campaign & cast updates

A lengthy round of updates today.

The campaigns to bring Caprica back for another season are still very much alive and kicking. The second round of apples will be shipped to Mark Stern this Thursday, and the letter campaign just got easier. If you want to send a letter to Syfy and NBC, head over to Caprica Times or the Battlestar Cafe for the addresses and info on the fastest way to do it.

Bear McCreary tweeted some great (unofficial) news about another Caprica CD, so keep an eye on him on Twitter for updates. These days, he is writing the score for Summer Glau's new show, The Cape, which kicks off on Sunday, January 9 at 9 pm on NBC. On other fronts, The Walking Dead season finale aired yesterday and Eureka is back with a holiday episode tomorrow night.

Caprica starts airing in Asia this week. The show will premiere on December 9 at 10 pm on AXN Beyond.

Cast updates:

Gun Hill Road, with Esai Morales, will premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival (January 20 – 30). Here is the synopsis, from Sundance.org:

Gun Hill Road (Director and screenwriter: Rashaad Ernesto Green) — After three years in prison, Enrique is back in his beloved Bronx, back in the arms of an estranged wife and back in the life of his teenage son, who is stumbling towards a transformation that will put the bonds of their embattled family to the test. Cast: Esai Morales, Judy Reyes, Harmony Santana, Vanessa Aspillaga.

Esai also attended the Artivist Film Festival Awards at the Egyptian Theater this weekend. You can see some photos on his Facebook page.

From ABC’s December schedule, it looks like Private Practice 4x11, directed by Eric Stoltz, won’t air until January. Until then, ABC will be showing specials and re-runs on Thursdays.

The same thing goes for Lie to Me. No new episodes until Monday, January 10, when the show returns with two episodes airing back-to-back. "Funhouse," with Paula Malcomson, should be one of them. (Fox has been known to shuffle episodes, so this is still unconfirmed.)

Teryl Rothery has a new TV movie, Battle of the Bulbs, which airs Saturday, December 18 at 8 pm on Hallmark. You can watch the teaser on Hallmark's site.

AMC has started production on The Killing this week. Richard Harmon will have a recurring role and Kacey Rohl will also make an appearance on the show. Michelle Forbes is one of the leads.

Riese, with Ryan Robbins, Leah Gibson, Alessandro Juliani, Ben Cotton, and Richard Harmon will have its Canadian premiere early next year. You can find the details at Spacecast.com.

Starz has set a tentative premiere date for Torchwood: The New World, with Jane Espenson on board this season. Movieweb reports that season four will start airing in July 2011.

And there are a few cast members you can catch on TV this week.

On Tuesday, Alessandra Torresani will host Attack of the Show again.

Jorge Montesi guest stars on Human Target on Wednesday in episode 2x04, "The Return of Baptiste." The show airs at 8 pm on Fox.

On Thursday, Genevieve Buechner will be on Fringe in episode 3x09, "Marionette." That's 9 pm on Fox. Spoiler TV has a teaser.

Alison Araya is in the next episode of Supernatural, "Appointment in Samarra," which airs on Friday at 9 pm on the CW. She will also appear in the the season two premiere of the V series, "Red Rain," which airs on Tuesday, January 4 at 9 on ABC.

Ryan Robbins and Christopher Heyerdahl are still on Sanctuary (Fridays at 10). Spoiler TV has the teaser and a sneak peek from the next episode. A side note here, since Syfy isn't releasing guest star info in advance: Polly Walker should appear on the show around the mid-season point, so if you've been waiting for that, episode 3x09 is as good a place as any to tune in. James Pizzinato (Drew, the lab guy) is yet another Caprica actor who will make an appearance on the show, but that won't happen until episode 3x13.

Peter Wingfield will appear on CSI: Miami in episode 9x10, "Match Made in Hell," which airs on Sunday at 10 on CBS. He also showed up on Sanctuary last Friday and mentioned he would guest star on the Canadian show Endgame.

James Marsters is back on Hawaii Five-0 in episode "Hana 'a'a Makehewa" (Desperate Measures), which airs next Monday at 10 pm.

More updates hopefully coming later this week.

Caprica season finale, "Apotheosis," airs tonight on Space

Caprica 1x18, "Apotheosis," airs tonight at 10 pm on Space in Canada. Here is the synopsis (spoilers):

Daniel (Eric Stoltz), Amanda (Paula Malcomson), and Zoe (Alessandra Torresani) race to stop Clarice's (Polly Walker) master plan and save thousands of lives before Caprica is changed forever.

The last episode of the season was written by Jane Espenson and directed by Jonas Pate.

Here is what they say about it at Spacecast.com:

This is the final episode of the series, and there will be surprisingly more closure than you’d expect for a series that didn’t get the life cycle we all hoped it would. The last bit of the episode has an amazing montage with a glimpse into the future and the ongoing mythology of the Caprica/BSG world.

And just so there is no confusion: "Apotheosis" was not written as a series finale. There was a detailed outline for season two before Syfy pulled the plug and this episode was not meant to conclude the story. Just something to keep in mind while watching.

A quick round of cast updates:

Richard Harmon will be on Tower Prep tonight at 8 pm on the Cartoon Network.

Magda Apanowicz makes her second appearance on Hellcats this Wednesday (Dec. 1) at 9 pm. The episode, "Think Twice Before You Go," was written by Matthew Roberts. You can also watch the second part of the Gemenon set tour clip with Magda (and Ryan Kennedy, and Stephen McNutt) on Hulu.

Mike Dopud (you'll see him in "Apotheosis" tonight -- or tomorrow, depending on which part of Canada you live in) will be on Human Target at 8 pm, also on Wednesday. You'll probably recognize him either from Battlestar or Stargate Universe, or both.

Luke Camilleri guest stars on Fringe on Thursday at 9 pm.

Sasha Roiz tweeted that his episode of House will air in January.

Aleks Paunovic has been cast as one of the leads in Uwe Boll's In the Name of the King 2.

John Pyper-Ferguson also has a new movie listed under his name on IMDb, Born to Race. According to the official Facebook page, the film is already in post-production.

Leah Gibson and Christopher Heyerdahl have supporting parts in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, which is out on DVD on December 4. Heyerdahl mentioned in an interview recently that he will also be in the third Twilight film, Breaking Dawn.

Hiro Kanagawa mentioned a few upcoming projects to The Vancouver Sun last week: the miniseries True Justice (aka Southern Justice), indie thriller Donovan's Echo, and TV show Blackstone (as story editor).

And if you've seen the trailer for Red Riding Hood this week (the one with the schizophrenic casting: Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman, Michael Shanks and Julie Christie), you probably don't know that Kacey Rohl and Michael Hogan are in it but, according to the IMDb, they are.  

Okay, that wraps it up for today. Hope your Tuesday is better than mine and see you after the finale. The season finale, that is.

You can rate "Apotheosis" here:

Synopsis for "Here Be Dragons," Gemenon set tour, and cast updates

Caprica episode 1x17, "Here Be Dragons," airs tonight at 10 pm on Space. Here is the synopsis (spoilers):

The Graystones (Eric Stoltz, Paula Malcomson) find Zoe (Alessandra Torresani) with a vengeful Clarice (Polly Walker) closing in, while the Ha'La'Tha turns on the Adama brothers (Esai Morales, Sasha Roiz).

Like last week's episode, "Here Be Dragons" was directed by Michael Nankin. You can rate it below.

There is a new(ish) behind-the-scenes clip on Hulu. It's a tour of the STO camp with Magda Apanowicz, with Michael Nankin and Christopher Heyerdahl also making brief appearances. If you haven't seen any episodes since "False Labor," there are probably some minor spoilers for "Blowback" and "The Heavens Will Rise" in the video (embedded below).

The apple campaign continues this week. You can find an update on the Save Caprica blog. 

From the description on Amazon, the European Caprica 1.0 DVD (out on January 3, 2011) will have the same extras as the region 1 release. Too bad that it's too late for international sales to count.

Cast updates:

Alessandra Torresani and Sasha Roiz filmed a hilarious short video against gay bullying. You can see it on YouTube.

The last two episodes of Riese have been posted at syfy.com/riese.

The Arts Club blog has a really great interview with Hiro Kanagawa about his play, The Patron Saint of Stanley Park, which opens later this week in Vancouver. (Geek alert: it's science fiction.) For the entire media kit, go here.

Panou tweeted a few days ago that he is in rehearsals for a staged reading of a play called Ruined, written by Lynn Nottage.

You can listen to She Stoops to Conquer, with James Marsters, on L.A. Theater Works' site: part 1, part 2.

Marsters will be back on Hawaii Five-0 on Monday, December 13. The press release is here.

Genevieve Buechner will guest star on Fringe in episode 3x09, "Marionette," which airs on Thursday, December 9 at 9 pm.

Jorge Montesi will make an appearance on Human Target as "Don Miguel Cervantes" in episode 2x04, "The Return of Baptiste." The episode airs on Wednesday, December 8 at 8 pm.


Tonight's episode of Stargate Universe, "Visitation," was written by Remi Aubuchon.

And I leave you with the weekly poll and the Gemenon clip:

Last five episodes to air back-to-back on January 4, 2011

Syfy posted a brief update on Facebook saying that the last five episodes of Caprica will air back-to-back on January 4th.

We've just confirmed the schedule for Caprica's final five episodes and, as promised, it’s posted here first. They’ll air back-to-back on Tuesday, January 4th from 6p to 11p on Syfy.

Just the last in a long line of insults to both the show and the viewers. Not only will the best part of the season not be discovered by anyone who doesn't already know when and where to look for it, but also by dumping the episodes in a single day, Syfy execs have proven once and for all that the only remaining thoughts they have about the show is how to best make people forget it ever existed. Why? Because apparently things have gone so wrong and there is something just too frakking basic missing at Syfy Programming (hello, Mark Stern) that giving the story an ending is somehow not even an option anymore.

Well, it should be. Doing the right thing (or, hey, just learning basic communication skills) just shouldn't be that hard.

As long as the franchise is still getting milked with another spin-off, concluding Caprica's story in a miniseries is the only acceptable option. And yet somehow, in the last few weeks, Syfy's silence (except in cases where there is demoralizing news to deliver, like props being auctioned and such) has made it clear that, as far as Caprica is concerned, they are only out to discourage fan efforts and sweep the show under the rug entirely.

I haven't addressed my frakking open letter after the show got cancelled to anyone in particular, but it sure would be nice to hear from someone at Comcast or NBC Universal who can explain why they are even keeping a channel run by people whose only recent contributions to the genre (the serious shows, anyway) they're supposedly marketing boil down to pissing off (or at the very least alienating) the existing fanbase and simultaneously failing to draw new audiences for their only franchises with any name recognition. It happened with Stargate Atlantis/Stargate Universe, it happened with Battlestar and Caprica, it's happening with Caprica and the Spartacus makeover for BSG, and, from the teaser for what looks like a new teeny dramedy with a bunch of vampires trying to be funny, I can see how it might just happen with Being Human too. (Haven't seen the teaser? Sign up for NBC's consumer panel at ContemporaryConsumer.com. They really do need all the help they can get.)

Seriously, Bonnie Hammer, what gives?

Synopsis for Caprica 1x16, "The Heavens Will Rise," and some cast updates

Caprica 1x16, "The Heavens Will Rise," airs tonight at 10 pm on SPACE. Both this week's episode and the next one, "Here Be Dragons," were directed by Michael Nankin.

Beyond that, there isn't much info out there about the last few eps, but there has been a lot of speculation about some massive plot points that happen toward the end of the season, so whether you are DVRing, downloading, waiting for the DVD, or waiting for Syfy to air the episodes, if you don't like reading major spoilers, stay away from reviews and discussion forums. Great choice there for most people: either steal or be spoiled. Thanks for that too, Syfy.

That said, SPACE has posted the synopsis for "The Heavens Will Rise:"

The Graystones (Eric Stoltz & Paula Malcomson) search New Cap City for Zoe (Alessandra Torresani), while Lacy (Magda Apanowicz) uncovers a mystery about the Cylons. Clarice (Polly Walker) learns the truth about Amanda.

No info on the guest stars, but Meg Tilly will definitely be back either this week or the next.

If you're watching the show live, you might wanna catch the Innerspace podcast at Spacecast.com right after the episode airs. There is a bit of a preview at SexBombsBurgers.com. And you can rate the episode below.


On other fronts:

You can find some campaign updates at The Caprica Times and the Lil Cylons site.

Alessandra Torresani is hosting Attack of the Show again later today.

Ryan Robbins talked to Airlock Alpha about the last five episodes of Caprica. Hit the link for the whole interview, here is a snippet:

"That was a great character and I hope everybody gets to see it because unfortunately those last five episodes that Syfy pulled are probably the five best episodes of the season ironically," Robbins told Airlock Alpha. "The last episode was so great. And I'm not just saying that because I was in it, I watched the episode 'cause I'm in Canada and I can see it. It was such a good episode and I hope everybody can see it."

You can catch Ryan in Sanctuary every Friday at 10 pm, and also in Riese: Kingdom Falling, which is now available on Amazon too. Richard Harmon joins the cast in the last three episodes.

Scott Porter did a couple of interviews too recently, mostly for The Good Wife. One is at TVGuide.com and the other at the Orlando Sentinel. Here is a cool quote:

How does being on "The Good Wife" compare to "Friday Night Lights"?

They're both extremely intelligent shows. They don't speak down to the viewer. They allow viewers to come to their own conclusions about characters. I've been on nothing but good television. I was on "Caprica," too. I think there was a miss there in marketing. People who stuck around saw some smart writing.

The Good Wife airs Tuesdays at 10 pm on CBS and Scott will be back in Friday Night Lights in episode 5x07, which will probably be out on Wednesday, December 8 on DirecTV.


Esai Morales has been presented with the Paragon Award at the 2010 Dream Awards. Star Magazine has a picture from the event and PRLog has the report.

Sasha Roiz has wrapped filming Extracted.

Eric Stoltz is still working on Private Practice. Kate Walsh tweeted a pic from the set earlier.

David Eick is definitely developing The Hulk series for ABC, together with Guillermo del Toro. Deadline has the report.

Ryan Kennedy and Ben Cotton are back on Hellcats this Wednesday. DaemonsTV.com has the previews.

Jorge Montesi did make an appearance in Outlaw 1x08 after all. You can watch him rock that beard on NBC.com.

And if you haven't seen last week's Supernatural with Aleks Paunovic, the episode is up at CWTV.com. Alison Araya mentioned on Twitter she'd be making an appearance on the show this season, so stay tuned for that.

Panou tweeted that he, too, is working on This Means War up in Vancouver.

And Luke Camilleri (you saw him take on Zoe in New Cap City in "Unvanquished") will guest star in Fringe 3x08, "Entrada," which airs on December 2. SpoilerTV has the press release.

You can rate "The Heavens Will Rise" here:

Friday wrap: Bear McCreary & cast updates

A few scattered updates today.

CapriCast has posted a video review of Caprica 1x15, "The Dirteaters." You can find it here.

Teresa Jusino over at Tor.com has a new interview with Bear McCreary. It's mostly about his work on Human Target last season, but he also mentioned some interesting things about the BSG piano book, Caprica score in season 1.5, and the possibility of the Caprica Season One soundtrack being released:

Will there be themes from Battlestar Galactica incorporated into upcoming episodes of Caprica? Will there be a connection musically as the show progresses?

Bear McCreary: Connection musically, yes. Themes, no. I will say this: starting very soon, the episodes of Caprica take a noticeable shift and the writing and the acting and editing and music is going to get tighter and more focused, and it begins a story arc that takes us to the end of the season. And you’re going to see that the music is going to shift and there is going to be a familiarity in that shift. That’s probably all I’ll say right now, but there are some cool musical surprises on the horizon for Caprica.

Will there be a Caprica soundtrack released that features the opening theme?

Bear McCreary: I suspect that yes, there will. I can say that the guys at La La Land Records and I are talking about this, and the more that we sell Human Target CDs, the more we can make the case to the higher-ups that we wanna release a Caprica Season One. So we hope that Human Target does as well as we think it’s gonna do.

You can read the rest of the interview here. Note: Human Target is back this Wednesday at 9 pm on Fox. Bear isn't scoring the show anymore, but Tahmoh Penikett will make an appearance in the season opener. And The Walking Dead still airs Sundays at 10 pm on AMC.

Aleks Paunovic is on Supernatural tonight (Friday) at 9 pm on the CW network. You can find the synopsis, previews and pictures from the set at TheWinchesterFamilyBusiness.com.

Alessandra Torresani will be hosting Attack of the Show again this Tuesday. And you might wanna check out her blog, too. She posted the trailer for Annie Goes Boating, a short film she did last year, which is now available at VideoHippy.com.

Sasha Roiz has posted a couple of pictures from the set of Extracted on Twitpic.

Rabid Doll has a new interview with Ryan Robbins, mostly about Sanctuary (new episode airs tonight at 10 pm), and Airlock Alpha talked to him about Riese.

This week's episode of Hellcats, with Magda Apanowicz, Teryl Rothery, Ben Cotton and Aaron Douglas will be available one of these days at CWTV.com.

Magda's next episode, "Think Twice Before You Go," will air on December 1.

Ryan Kennedy and Ben Cotton are back on the show next Wednesday (Nov. 17) in episode 1x10, "Pledging My Love." TV Overmind has the press release and promo.

And Jorge Montesi may or may not be on Outlaw tomorrow (Saturday, 8 pm, NBC).

Caprica Season 1.5 DVD - press release, bonus features

Universal Studios Home Entertainment has released the details for the Caprica Season 1.5 DVD, which you can pre-order on Amazon.Release date is still December 21, 2010. Details below.

OVERVIEW: The critically acclaimed drama from executive producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick comes to a thrilling climax in "Caprica" Season 1.5. Fifty-eight years before the events of Battlestar Galactica, mankind is wrestling with the question of what makes one human, and sealing its own fate of certain destruction. Alliances are made, secrets are revealed and lives are forever changed while the conflict between man and machine takes shape. As the season races towards its stunning conclusion the seeds are sown for the inevitable, brutal clash between the newly-born Cylon race and its human creators.

"Caprica" Season 1.5 stars Golden Globe®-nominee, Eric Stoltz (Pulp Fiction), Esai Morales ("NYPD Blue"), Paula Malcomson ("Deadwood"), Alessandra Torresani ("Happy Campers"), Magda Apanowicz ("Kyle XY"), Sasha Roiz ("In Plain Sight"), Brian Markinson ("The L Word") and Polly Walker (Clash of the Titans). Debuting on DVD on December 21, 2010 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment, "Caprica" Season 1.5 features the series' final five episodes, yet-to-be aired in the U.S., as well as video blogs, podcasts and commentaries.

BONUS FEATURES:

DELETED SCENES

RE-CAPRICA: Viewers can catch-up on the recap of "Caprica" Season 1.0

7 VIDEO BLOGS:

• GLOBAL DEFENSE: Join Agent Duram (Brian Markinson) as he lifts the lid on the GDD.
• NEXT GENERATION: The cast and crew discuss the emerging talent and technology on the show.
• ONE TRUE GOD?: Viewers take a journey into the religious aspects of the show as the cast and crews discuss the creation of the STO and how it shapes the world of "Caprica."
• CAPRICAN EVOLUTION: Executive producers David Eick and Jane Espenson take fans on a journey back to where it all began at the creation of "Caprica."
• SOUNDS OF CAPRICA: Go behind the scenes with executive producer David Eick and music editor Michael Baber to hear how the unique sounds of "Caprica" are created.
• THE MUSIC OF CAPRICA: Composer Bear McCreary discusses the sounds of "Caprica" and the music that forms the show.
• VISUAL EFFECTS: A discussion with executive producer David Eick and visual effects supervisor Gary Hutzel on the techniques involved with creating the world of "Caprica."

PODCASTS with executive producer David Eick, director and series stars, Eric Stoltz, Magda Apanowicz, Esai Morales and Sasha Roiz.

FEATURE EPISODE COMMENTARY with executive producer Kevin Murphy.

• UNVANQUISHED
• APOTHEOSIS

TECHNICAL INFORMATION:

Street Date: December 21, 2010
Copyright: 2010 Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Selection Number: 61116038
Running Time: 6 Hours, 34 Minutes
Layers: Dual Layer
Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1
Rating: Not Rated
Languages: English Digital Dolby 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish and French

Poll: Caprica 1x15, "The Dirteaters"

All right, Caprica 1x15, "The Dirteaters," is finally out there. The episode was written by Matthew B. Roberts, who previously wrote "The Imperfections of Memory," and directed by John Dahl, who also directed "False Labor."

Returning guest stars include Scott Porter, Panou, Peter Wingfield, Teryl Rothery, Jorge Montesi, Sina Najafi and Genevieve Buechner. New faces are Aleks Paunovic (William Adama, Sr.), Alison Araya (Isabelle Adama, not Marie), Elisabeth Rosen (Kolibri), Daleal Monjazeb (Young Joseph), and Alexander Kambolis (Young Sam). Brian Markinson is back as Agent Duram.

The Thirteenth Colony has the recap. You can rate the episode below.

And you can find some campaign updates at the Save Caprica blog and LilCylons.com.

In other news:

Final reminder that several familiar faces are on Hellcats tonight at 9 pm on the CW network. Magda Apanowicz tweeted last week that this was her first episode on the show, Aaron Douglas is in the promos, and Teryl Rothery and Ben Cotton are among the credited cast on the IMDb. Next week's episode, says the IMDb, was written by Matthew Roberts.

Everyone (almost everyone, anyway) who isn't on Hellcats is on Riese. A new episode has been posted at syfy.com/riese.

Alessandra Torresani hosted Attack of the Show yesterday. You can watch a couple of clips at G4TV: clip 1, clip 2, clip 3. She also posted this gem on her blog, which you absolutely don't wanna miss. 

One of the execs on Private Practice mentioned that Eric Stoltz is directing episode 4x11 this season. No details out yet, but the ep will probably air on Thursday, December 9 at 10 pm. Just as probably, his episode of Off the Map is 1x05, "I'm Here," but that one won't air until February.

The Arts Club blog has an interesting new article about Hiro Kanagawa's play, The Patron Saint of Stanley Park, which opens in a couple of weeks in Vancouver.

And Ron Moore has a new project, an action adventure show called The McCulloch, which he just sold to NBC. Elsewhere, Deadline has some new details on the remake of The Wild Wild West, which he writing and producing with Naren Shankar for CBS.

You can rate "The Dirteaters" here:

Blowback, Save Caprica campaign, and cast updates

Caprica 1x14, "Blowback," finally had its international premiere yesterday, for lack of a better word. The episode was written by Kevin Murphy and directed by Omar Madha, and it's definitely one of the best episodes so far. If you have seen it, wherever you may have seen it, you can rate it below.

SPACE posted the Innerspace podcast on their website the other day and it's definitely something worth checking out, especially if you're also a fan of Stargate Universe. You can find it at Spacecast.com. Among other things, they explain why Caprica isn't available for viewing on their site and voice their surprise at Syfy's decision to pull the show off the air and alienate their BSG fan base the way they did.

They have also apologized to the Canadian viewers who missed last week's episode because their DVRs hadn't registered the last minute schedule change in time.

Next stop, Caprica 1x15, "The Dirteaters." The backstory of Joseph and Sam Adama, with flashbacks to the Tauron Uprising. There is nothing official out there about the guest cast, but we know from different reports that Aleks Paunovic and Alison Araya make their first (and only) appearance as William and Marie Adama. The episode airs tomorrow (Tuesday) at 10 pm on the SPACE channel.

The Save Caprica campaign is still going strong and the apples are going out to Syfy and NBC Universal tomorrow.

So here is a last minute shoutout: If you feel that the show deserves to have its story wrapped up, that Syfy is doing a huge disservice to the Battlestar legacy by not allowing Caprica to end on its own terms (or at all), that all the great work that has been put into making the remaining episodes of season one needs to be discovered by more people, and that, by showing episodes in blocks of 1 - 8 - 4 - 5 over the course of three years, Syfy is just not doing the right thing here, go to savecaprica.blogspot.com for more information on what they're doing and what you can do to help. At the very least, the campaign will keep the show on people's radars, despite everything that went down in the last couple of weeks.

You can also get more info on how to support the campaign and grab a banner at the Battlestar Cafe.

Some cast & crew updates:

Fort McCoy, with Eric Stoltz, will be screened at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival on Thursday, November 11. (Note: It's not the film's first screening at the festival, but I didn't get any alerts until now.) You can find more details at FLIFF.com.

Final reminder: Paula Malcomson guest stars on The Event (NBC) tonight (Monday) and John Pyper-Ferguson is on Castle (ABC). Both episodes air at 9 pm. DaemonsTV has the promos: The Event, Castle.

DaemonsTV also has the stills and teasers for tomorrow's episodes of Sons of Anarchy (also with Paula Malcomson) and The Good Wife (with Scott Porter). You can find them here: Sons of Anarchy, The Good Wife.

If you haven't checked out Riese: Kingdom Falling yet, four episodes (each about 10 minutes long) have been posted so far. The show has a bunch of familiar faces from Caprica and Battlestar - Leah Gibson, Ryan Robbins, Ben Cotton, Alessandro Juliani, Richard Harmon - and it needs a certain number of viewers to get picked up to series. You can watch it at syfy.com/riese. New episodes are posted on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Jorge Montesi's IMDb credit for his appearance on Outlaw has changed from episode 1x06 to episode 1x08, which should air this Saturday at 8 pm on NBC (unless it gets pre-empted or shuffled). If it doesn't, you can play hide and seek with the Guatrau on NBC.com once the show has finished its run.

Aleks Paunovic will also make an appearance in Supernatural 6x08, "All Dogs Go to Heaven," which airs this Friday (November 12) on the CW network. You can see the teaser and some behind-the-scenes pictures on his official Facebook page.

Peter Wingfield will guest star on CSI: Miami in episode 9x10, "Match Made in Hell," which airs on Sunday, December 12 at 10 pm. SpoilerTV has the press release. He has also tweeted some updates earlier on 10,000 Days, a new SF series that will hopefully get a release date (and medium) by the end of the year.

You can watch last week's episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, with Brian Markinson, on CBS.com. Katee Sackhoff is back on the show this week, in episode 11x08, "Fracked."


The Walking Dead, Bear McCreary's other show with a frakload of corpses, has been officially picked up for a second season.

Liberal Values Blog has some news about the next season of Torchwood (Jane Espenson is writing several episodes for the show) as well as a shoutout to the Save Caprica campaign.  

Mark Verheiden has a new blog entry up and says that Falling Skies, the show he's been working on for TNT,  is in the last week of shooting season one. 

And this just in from Broadway World: L.A. Theatre Works will air She Stoops to Conquer, a play by Oliver Goldsmith, with James Marsters, as part of their Radio Theatre Series starting November 13. Hit the link for more information.

You can rate "Blowback" below:

Campaign news and cast updates

A bunch of updates today.

The Thirteenth Colony has a recap and review of episode 1x14, "Blowback." If you're looking for spoilers, that's the place to go.

Ro_Me over at the Save Caprica blog has set a tentative deadline for donations for the apple campaign and it's this Tuesday. The campaign has been getting some press coverage, so keep an eye on her blog for updates.

Syfy has posted a statement about the show's cancellation on Caprica's official Facebook page. There is also a very good response over at Virgil's All-Night Diner. The only real news is that the announcement for the last five episodes and when they are coming back will appear on the Facebook page first, which may have over 103,000 fans, but isn't exactly a regular hangout for the media looking for news.

The Caprica Times tweeted a couple of links to some interesting articles at TV Tropes, which might shed some light on the reasons why networks sometimes frak around with shows, with a lengthy list of examples. See: Screwed by the Network and Follow Up Failure.

For a good farce, you can also check out Craig Engler (@syfy), senior VP of Syfy Digital, pat himself on the back for the great job he has done debunking conspiracy theories and rumours that said moving Caprica and Stargate Universe from Fridays to Tuesdays was a kiss of death to both shows, in a new article: 10 Reasons Every TV Exec Needs to Start Tweeting (see reason #2).

Other fronts:

Total Sci-Fi Online posted an interview with Eric Stoltz the other day that seems to be recent. I can't really decide on which part to lift, so hit the link.

Shadowlocked has a nice, long interview with Bear McCreary that is mostly about Human Target, but he also talks about Battlestar and Caprica. Here is a quote (go here for the rest):

With regard to Caprica, do you regret the show has come to an end so soon?

I’ll regret that we don’t get to go forward with these characters and learn more about them, but at the same time I have no regrets about the work we did. I think the work we did was exceptional, so a little bit of regret that we don’t get to do more of it. I think everybody involved made the absolute best show they could, but for whatever reason, whatever factors there were, that caused people not to tune in the same way they did for Battlestar, it wasn’t for lack of trying. I think everybody on the show did a great job, and I’m very proud of the soundtrack album of the pilot I had out.

I’m hoping we get to put out another album of the music I did for the series. It’s certainly a world that has a lot of life left in it. Whether or not they ask me to do Blood & Chrome, I really hope the series exists and continues to move the Battlestar Galactica story forward.

There is another interview with him on MTV's Splash Page, in which he talks about his work on The Walking Dead. The show airs Sundays at 10 pm on AMC.

PitchEngine.com has more details about Los Americans, the web series Esai Morales is working on, and Screen Crave has the final trailer for the movie Cherry, also with Esai, which opened in New York yesterday.

Paula Malcomson will appear in an upcoming episode of Lie to Me. Executive producer Daniel Sackheim tweeted a couple of pictures from the set here and here. The episode is called "Funhouse," SpoilerTV has it listed as episode 3x09, but no word yet on when it will air. Paula will also be back on The Event this Monday at 9 pm on NBC. SpoilerTV has a bunch of promotional pics.

Alessandra Torresani will be hosting Attack of the Show this Tuesday. She has also started a new blog, The Bambola Factory.

Still no details on which episode of Off the Map Eric Stoltz directed, but ABC scheduled the show's premiere for Wednesday, January 12 at 10 pm. SpoilerTV has some episode titles.

Magda Apanowicz tweeted that her first episode of Hellcats airs next week (she has filmed two so far). TV Overmind has the previews and stills (no Magda, but Aaron Douglas is in them).

Die, with John Pyper-Ferguson, doesn't have release date yet after all, but the trailer is finally out. You can watch it on The Cultural Post's site. And SpoilerTV has a sneak peek from Castle 3x08, "Murder Most Fowl," which airs on Monday at 9 pm on ABC.

The Arts Club Theatre Company posted a media release for The Patron Saint of Stanley Park, a new play written by Hiro Kanagawa, which opens on November 25 in Vancouver.

Leah Gibson mentioned on Twitter that her next job will be a TV movie with Heather Locklear. (Google says Locklear's next film is He Loves Me, a psychological thriller for Lifetime. Could be something else, though, so you can follow Leah on Twitter for more updates.) 

Daydream Nation, with Genevieve Buechner, has been picked up by Anchor Bay Films for release next year. You can see the trailer here.

James Marsters will be Mr. Fantastic in Marvel's Super Hero Squad Show, which airs on the Cartoon Network on November 13.

Richard Harmon will have a recurring role in AMC new series The Killing, which premieres next year. You can find more info and the teaser on the official site for the Judas Kiss movie.

Missed this earlier, but Aleks Paunovic said on his Facebook page that he was working on This Means War, McG's romantic comedy with Reese Witherspoon and Tom Hardy. 

Finally, Ryan Robbins, who is just about everywhere this week. He talked to Examiner about Marilyn, an indie he's been working on that will be released next year. Wrecked, a thriller he did with Adrien Brody, will be released in the spring. And at least one site claims that he is in Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch (no IMDb credit, though). The trailer has been making the rounds on movie blogs lately and it's nuts (great cast too). [Update: No, he is not in Sucker Punch after all. See this tweet for reference.] Last not least, you can still catch Ryan on Sanctuary and Riese every week.

And that wraps it up for today.