Question: is it possible for Heroes to add enough actors and actresses from cool, hip shows so it also becomes cool and hip again?
Kate Vernon, who played Ellen Tigh (and a Cylon - hope that wasn't a spoiler!) on the Battlestar Galactica remake, is joining the cast of the NBC show. Greg Grunberg first unveiled the news on his Twitter account a couple of days ago. Seems like that's where a lot of breaking news happens nowadays, eh?
Leoben, that tricky toaster, was right: All of thishas happened before, and all of it is happening again.
Battlestar Galactica: The Plan retells major events from the first two years of the celebrated sci-fi series through the eyes of the Cylons. It weaves together recycled scenes from the series with new footage to reveal a first-hand account of the Cylon agenda, or "plan."
The result is a film that feels incomplete, episodic and disjointed. It plays less like a movie and largely like a disk full of high quality bonus material. Most of what happens here feels irrelevant to the series -- almost like it was tacked on to the BSG mythos to satisfy completists and hardcore fans. Still, it's worth watching to see Dean Stockwell carry the film with a fearless performance as the scheming and duplicitous Brother Cavil. The veteran character actor takes center stage in The Plan, and your enjoyment of the film will rest largely on how much you like, or dislike, Cavil and his major role in the series.
Mike will have a review of the new Battlestar Galactica: The Plan film soon, but I wanted to show you a couple of clips from the straight-to-DVD movie directed by Edward James Olmos.
The first clip is a meeting of the Cylons, and after the jump is a look at some of the visual effects.
The geek-friendly guest stars just keep rolling into Big Bang Theory central ... Battlestar Galactica's Katee Sackhoff will appear in the Nov. 23 episode of the CBS comedy. This news comes less than a week after former Squadder Wil Wheaton showed up to crush Sheldon's spirit and help boost the show's ratings.
Sackhoff will play herself in the episode, but don't expect her role to be as big as Wheaton's or Summer Glau's last season. The former Starbuck is only dropping by for a cameo, says the Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan, but that won't stop Wolowitz from stalking her, and I doubt it'll stop her fans from tuning in and boosting the show's ratings again.
In celebration of the upcoming DVD and Blu-ray release of the Battlestar Galactica movie "The Plan," Maxim is having a cover and series of photos of the two sexiest Cylons in the 12, Tricia Helfer and Grace Park. Not that we need anything to be released in order to appreciate the half-naked bodies of Ms. Helfer and Ms. Park. Dictionary Day would be an adequate reason for me to admire these hard-working actresses.
Notice how all the female Cylon models are quite attractive and the males ... aren't quite. For the females, we have Grace Park, Tricia Helfer, Lucy Lawless, Rekha Sharma and Kate Vernon (who is older, but still quite the knockout). On the male side there are more attractive male-model types (Callum Rennie and Michael Trucco, most notably), but we also have folks like Dean Stockwell, Michael Hogan and Aaron Douglas. When will the latter three be posing for Maxim?
The "Ask TV Squad" column, published every Wednesday, answers your questions about current and past TV shows, as well as about the celebrities appearing on TV. Every week, I will pick a question (or more) sent to us and provide answers in the column. If your question is not picked for a column, it may be answered in a subsequent column or in TV Squad's APB Podcast. To submit questions to the "Ask TV Squad" column, you can post them below in comments or email them at asktvsquad@gmail.com.
This week, I answer questions about Battlestar Galactica, 30 Days, Trauma and how to find titles of songs that played in episodes.
Ron Moore owes a lot to Richard Hatch for keeping the Battlestar Galactica franchise alive long enough for his marvelous reboot. So much so that he gave Mr. Hatch a significant role in his series (Of course his character did end up being killed in front of a firing squad. Make of that what you will).
With that in mind, I present to you the promotional trailer for the 1999 reboot of the franchise that never happened. Subtitled "The Second Coming", it was intended as a continuation of the 1970's series (I'm not sure whether it ignored the mistake that was Galactica 1980). The concept starred Hatch as the new fleet commander (with a cameo by the original Commander Adama, Lorne Greene) as well as a few other familiar faces from the original series. Sadly, it never got picked up. That's a shame because it was around the time of Babylon 5 and the explosion of CGI use on television. It looked more mature and less kitschy than its previous incarnation and might have made for fine television.
Warehouse 13 has welcomed a number of geek-friendly guest stars during its first season, including Battlestar Galactica's Tricia Helfer and former Stargate Alantis lead Joe Flanigan. Another BSG alum, Michal Hogan is set to play Agent Myka's father later this season.
The trend continues tonight with Eureka's Erica Cerra and Niall Matter guest starring as a pair of grifters looking for a big score in Las Vegas. Another Eureka vet, the awesome Joe Morton, will appear on the show in episode nine. (Minor spoilers ahead...)
Apollo has landed ... in Joss Whedon's Dollhouse. The first (very tiny) promo pics of the season premiere of Dollhouse, "Vows," have popped up online. The pics feature former Battlestar Galacticacast member Jamie Bamber apparently tying the knot with Eliza Dushku's Echo.
The ep follows Echo on her latest engagement as the bride of a wealthy financier who might be involved in arms trafficking. The engagement is set up by do-gooder and former FBI agent Paul, played by Bamber's former Battlestar co-star Tahmoh Penikett, who wants to use the Dollhouse to do some good for the world.
The folks at Capricacentral are making a lot of geeks happy this week. First, we heard that comedian and professional nerd Patton Oswalt was joining the Battlestar Galactica prequel series as a Caprican talk show host. Now comes news that Buffy the Vampire Slayer vet James Marsters is joining the show for a sizeable arc.
Marsters will do what he does best on Caprica: play a dangerous and unpredictable baddie driven by his carnal and moralistic desires. EW tells us that Marsters will play a terrorist leader named Barnabus Greele in at least three episodes of the upcoming Syfy series.
Patton Oswalt will be joining the cast of Capricaon SyFy. He will have a recurring role of Baxter Sarno, a Caprican comedian and talk show host. I can see how the building of artificial life forms such as the Cylons could provide him with a wealth of material.
One plot point revealed in the article is that Daniel and Amanda Greystone will appear on his talk show. If you're going to sell to the public the concept of robot slaves, a talk show is the place to do it.
Oswalt has long since revealed himself to be a sci fi nerd. Other than his role on King of Queens, he's also appeared on sci fi shows like Dollhouse. He's also had a recurring role on The United States of Tara, which while not exactly science fiction is pretty close to it. I think the true reveal for me of his nerdiness was when he co-wrote a Justice League of America comic (he's also written Batman).
Keep in mind that, according to lore of Battlestar Galactica from the mind of Ron Moore, we're all now descendants of Patton Oswalt.
There have already been rumors, but we all know how studios have this annoying tendency to milk franchises until they're dead, and then milk them some more before the corpse gets too cold. Well, Universal seems to think that now that Ron Moore's operatic space war version of the show is done, now would be a great time for Bryan Singer to direct yet another reboot of the Battlestar Galactica franchise.
Singer is said to be a big fan of the original 70's series, but the supposedly $10 million dollar paycheck for Singer probably also has an effect on his directorial willingness. Despite the talent behind it, this reboot is a bad idea. Singer did X-Men, but he also did Superman Returns. Plus, too many reboots in too short a time would only be confusing to people.
Of course, this time creator Glen Larson is on board to produce. While it didn't turn out so bad last time Larson wasn't involved, not having him would be like remaking Buffy without Joss Whedon. Oh, wait.
Battlestar Galactica's Luciana Carro is returning to Syfy with a role on the BSG prequel series Caprica. Fans will remember Carro as Kat on BSG, the cocky Viper pilot and "stims" addict who became a thorn in Starbuck's side. Carro is the first BSG actor to join the Caprica cast, says Battlestar Blog, who heard the news at a recent Wizard World Chicago Q&A.
Kat succumbed to radiation poisoning after flying her last mission in season three of BSG. Carro will most likely be playing a new character on Caprica, since the show takes place more than fifty years before the events of BSG. The news has fans wondering whether or not Carro's Caprica character will be related to Kat.
Michael Hogan isn't done with Battlestar Galacticajust yet. The actor who played the show's hardest drinking toaster will appear in the upcoming BSG TV movie The Plan, directed by Edward James Olmos. Hogan is sticking with sci-fi for his next two TV outings, a possible recurring role on Syfy's Warehouse 13 and a guest spot on Dollhouse.
Hogan will join former BSG actor and Dollhouse cast member Tahmoh Penikett in a season two episode of Dollhouse. He won't be the only BSG alum guest starring on Dollhouse this year. Jamie Bamber, who played Apollo, will show up in the season premiere, set to air September 25.
Tonight, the members of the Television Critics Association (including me) gathered at the Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena to give out its annual awards. The membership voted on the awards in the month leading up to the press tour; we were given a number of candidates to choose from in various categories. The membership was also asked to choose recipients for an individual Career Achievement award and the Heritage Award, which recognizes a past show that had a big impact artistically and on the industry.
The members gave ER its Heritage Award, which honors the impact the show has had on the TV landscape. As for current shows, the members gave Battlestar Galactica the Program of the Year award, Mad Men Outstanding Achievement in Drama. The Big Bang Theory won for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy, and Jim Parsons won the Individual Achievement in Comedy award for his performance.Bryan Cranston of Breaking Bad won the Individual Achievement in Drama award. True Blood won the Outstanding New Program Award. And, finally, the award I'm most excited about (because she'll likely be there): Betty White received the Career Achievement award.
Question: is it possible for Heroes to add enough actors and actresses from cool, hip shows so it also becomes cool and hip again?
Leoben, that tricky toaster, was right: All of this has happened before, and all of it is happening again. 
The geek-friendly guest stars just keep rolling into Big Bang Theory central ... Battlestar Galactica's Katee Sackhoff will appear in the Nov. 23 episode of the CBS comedy. This news comes less than a week after former Squadder Wil Wheaton showed up to crush Sheldon's spirit and help boost the show's ratings. 
In celebration of the upcoming DVD and Blu-ray release of the Battlestar Galactica movie "The Plan," Maxim is having a cover and series of photos of the two sexiest Cylons in the 12, Tricia Helfer and Grace Park. Not that we need anything to be released in order to appreciate the half-naked bodies of Ms. Helfer and Ms. Park. Dictionary Day would be an adequate reason for me to admire these hard-working actresses.
The "Ask TV Squad" column, published every Wednesday, answers your questions about current and past TV shows, as well as about the celebrities appearing on TV. Every week, I will pick a question (or more) sent to us and provide answers in the column. If your question is not picked for a column, it may be answered in a subsequent column or in TV Squad's APB Podcast. To submit questions to the "Ask TV Squad" column, you can post them below in comments or email them at asktvsquad@gmail.com.
Call it Syfy's answer to The Love Boat. 
Apollo has landed ... in Joss Whedon's Dollhouse. The first (very tiny) promo pics of the season premiere of Dollhouse, "Vows," have popped up online. The pics feature former Battlestar Galactica cast member Jamie Bamber apparently tying the knot with Eliza Dushku's Echo. 
The folks at Caprica central are making a lot of geeks happy this week. First, we heard that comedian and professional nerd Patton Oswalt was joining the Battlestar Galactica prequel series as a Caprican talk show host. Now comes news that Buffy the Vampire Slayer vet James Marsters is joining the show for a sizeable arc.
Patton Oswalt will be joining the cast of Caprica on SyFy. He will have a recurring role of Baxter Sarno, a Caprican comedian and talk show host. I can see how the building of artificial life forms such as the Cylons could provide him with a wealth of material.
There have already been rumors, but we all know how studios have this annoying tendency to milk franchises until they're dead, and then milk them some more before the corpse gets too cold. Well, Universal seems to think that now that Ron Moore's operatic space war version of the show is done, now would be a great time for Bryan Singer to direct yet another reboot of the Battlestar Galactica franchise.
Battlestar Galactica's Luciana Carro is returning to Syfy with a role on the BSG prequel series Caprica. Fans will remember Carro as Kat on BSG, the cocky Viper pilot and "stims" addict who became a thorn in Starbuck's side. Carro is the first BSG actor to join the Caprica cast, says Battlestar Blog, who heard the news at a recent Wizard World Chicago Q&A.
Michael Hogan isn't done with Battlestar Galactica just yet. The actor who played the show's hardest drinking toaster will appear in the upcoming BSG TV movie The Plan, directed by Edward James Olmos. Hogan is sticking with sci-fi for his next two TV outings, a possible recurring role on Syfy's Warehouse 13 and a guest spot on Dollhouse.
Tonight, the members of the Television Critics Association (including me) gathered at the Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena to give out its annual awards. The membership voted on the awards in the month leading up to the press tour; we were given a number of candidates to choose from in various categories. The membership was also asked to choose recipients for an individual Career Achievement award and the Heritage Award, which recognizes a past show that had a big impact artistically and on the industry.
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
Have any questions for Vik Sahay of Chuck? Ask them here!
Mike Henry and Daryl Hall on a Cleveland Show Thanksgiving
