Stargate Planner: Week of January 31-February 6

We’ll update this article if something comes to our attention during the week. Also, if you’ve got more to add, please don’t hesitate to announce them in the comment section below.

Calendar

Monday,   January 31 Claudia Black makes the first of three episode appearances as Guru Sona in the 90120 episode “It’s Getting Hot in Here” tonight at 8 PM ET on The CW. TV Guide’s summary: “Emily sabotages Annie’s relationship with her friends when the girls go on a weekend getaway; Dixon interrupts Debbie and Ryan’s romantic dinner; Silver and Navid continue their affair; and Adrianna goes to the tabloids with an exclusive story.”

HULU has scheduled today to be the last day to offer all episodes of Stargate SG-1.
Tuesday, February 1 VES Awards are being given out tonight. Good luck to our VFX team!
Wednesday, February 2 Michael Shanks‘s Arctic Blast is being released on DVD for rental in Australia today. The movie is currently airing on Canada’s Movie Central as well.
Thursday,   February 3 Jamil Walker Smith‘s 80-minute war drama Make a Movie Like Spike premieres at the Santa Barbara Film Festival at 8 PM. Smith wrote the original screenplay and directed the film. From Little Plow Films: “Armed with dreams that extend beyond their block, Luis and Ronald, two best friends from Los Ange­les, video­tape their last 36 hours before ship­ping off to Afghanistan. One hun­dred days before Obama’s inau­gu­ra­tion, these young men have joined the Marines together to face the obsta­cles and cir­cum­stances that seem to over­whelm their pas­sage into man­hood. Luis wants to be a film­maker and Ronald wants to travel the world and raise a fam­ily. Through the lens of Luis’s video cam­era, they cap­ture their friends, fam­ily mem­bers and places they call home — to remember who they are and where they come from. In their dark­est hour, they turn on the video cam­era for the last time and doc­u­ment the final moments of their jour­ney home. They soon real­ize that their dreams and promises of a new life mean noth­ing in a place called War.” For more information about this project, visit its Facebook page or the Little Plow Films‘ projects page.
Friday,   February 4 Alaina Huffman in SMALLVILLEAlaina Huffman returns to Smallville in the episode “Collateral” at 8 PM ET on The CW. The storyline: “The VRA releases Clark, Oliver, Lois and Dinah, who all have flashbacks of Chloe’s involvement in their capture. Trust becomes an issue when Chloe returns to town and Dinah fears she is now a traitor.” Pictures of Huffman in her role as Dinah may be seen at 411 Mania.
Saturday, February 5
Sunday, February 6

News Notes

Solutions News Blog Round-Up

Our News Blog posts since the last Stargate Planner (most recent listed first):

Solutions LJ Companion Background Articles

Last week, we posted a few background articles in our LJ Companion that you might be interested in. The articles listed in this section don’t have a companion piece in our News Blog here:

Reminders

For news as it happens, make sure to visit the Stargate Twitter Superfeed for tidbits directly from the Stargate stars and production crew. And don’t forget our new feature Beyond the Event Horizon, which consists of “home pages” with dynamic feeds from our LJ and Blog for the stars of SG-1 and Atlantis.

Our LJ Companion has news bites, polls, and glimpses into the lives of the actors that we don’t necessarily cover here in our more formal news blog. Make sure to visit the LJ’s feed on our front page or visit the site directly to see its mostly fun little tidbits.

For the latest in convention appearances, which are subject to change, make sure to visit Stargate Actor Appearances.

Mallozzi: Third Season "Less Likely" for Stargate Universe

SGU StargateExecutive producer Joseph Mallozzi has been keeping his readers informed about what’s going on behind the scenes in the effort to save the Stargate franchise. His most recent bit of news: “Still no definite word on the Stargate front although I am being cc’d on the various emails concerning meetings, etc. Alas, a third season looking less likely, but there are other scenarios that would allow us complete this incredible journey.”

In the meantime, Robert C. Cooper, Mallozzi, and Paul Mullie are entertaining the possibility of joining an established franchise in Toronto. A third season of SGU would most likely have kept Mallozzi and Mullie with Stargate in Vancouver, but if it is not likely, these long-time writers/producers may be moving on, leaving executive producers Brad Wright and Carl Binder, who penned the SG-1 movie script Stargate: Revolution together, to continue Stargate in whatever form it is likely to take.

The final ten episodes of Stargate Universe are still slated to air on Syfy in the spring (most likely April).

Reminder: Alaina Huffman Returns to "Smallville" Tonight

ETA: Oops! We just got word that The CW has postponed the return of Smallville until next Friday! So, watch for Alaina Huffman’s return on Friday, February 4, at 8 PM ET on The CW!

Stargate star Alaina Huffman returns as Dinah/Black Canary in tonight’s episode of Smallville, “Collateral.”

The show returns after its winter hiatus at 8 PM ET on The CW. The last time we saw the superheroes, they had suffered a blackout while laying to rest their fallen comrade Carter Hall/Hawkman (Stargate‘s Michael Shanks). In tonight’s episode, “The VRA releases Clark, Oliver, Lois and Dinah, who all have flashbacks of Chloe’s involvement in their capture. Trust becomes an issue when Chloe returns to town and Dinah fears she is now a traitor.”

Trailer For The Other Side With Joe Flanigan

The trailer for the upcoming Syfy movie The Other Side, starring Joe Flanigan, is now up on YouTube. Joe filmed this movie in Ireland in August of 2010.

The premise of the movie is:

It was a groundbreaking device designed to glimpse alternate universes and government commissioned by a brilliant physicist. But the machine malfunctioned on its first presentation, transporting a group of observers into a nightmarish new dimension. The team quickly must use ingenuity and courage to outwit, outplay and outlast the native man-eating creatures of this bizarre new world while doing their best to repair the damaged machine. Even if they stay alive, without a working transport, they may never make it back home. •••• Starring Joe Flanigan (Stargate: Atlantis) John Rhys-Davies (Lord of the Rings) and Catherine Walker (Leap Year) ••• Premieres on Syfy in 2011.

At the 2010 LA Creation Con, Joe said that he and the director decided to add a lot of humor that wasn’t precisely in the script. A bit of that is present in the trailer, but it overall has a more serious tone than Joe had described.

We’ll keep an eye out for any news of the movie airing on Syfy in the US, where it will premiere sometime this year.

Stargate Planner: Week of January 24-30

We’ll update this article if something comes to our attention during the week. Also, if you’ve got more to add, please don’t hesitate to announce them in the comment section below.

Calendar

Monday,   January 24 Dead Space AftermathChristopher Judge‘s animated movie Dead Space: Aftermath gets released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK today.
Tuesday,   January 25 Christopher Judge‘s animated movie Dead Space: Aftermath gets released on DVD and Blu-ray in the USA today.

Corin Nemec‘s Syfy movie House of Bones gets released on DVD today.
Wednesday, January 26
Thursday,   January 27
Friday,   January 28 Alaina Huffman in SMALLVILLEAlaina Huffman returns to Smallville in the episode “Collateral” at 8 PM ET on The CW. The storyline: “The VRA releases Clark, Oliver, Lois and Dinah, who all have flashbacks of Chloe’s involvement in their capture. Trust becomes an issue when Chloe returns to town and Dinah fears she is now a traitor.” Pictures of Huffman in her role as Dinah may be seen at 411 Mania.

The 13th California Independent Film Festival begins today and runs until February 3. Lou Diamond Phillips is an honoree.

Paul McGillion will be in London for Wolf Event’s Gateway to Sanctuary, which begins today and runs until January 30.
Saturday, January 29 Alaina Huffman and Morena Baccarin will be guests at SciFi Expo‘s Women of Sci-Fi convention being held this weekend in Plano, Texas.
Sunday, January 30

News Notes

Stargate Universe Press

  • Lou Diamond Phillips is currently filming the movie Filly Brown in LA with Edward James Olmos. Synopsis: “A young Latina musician on the verge of shooting to hip-hop stardom finds herself having to choose between the people she loves and her dreams.” According to fansite Olmos Perfect, this film is directed by Olmos’ son Michael and is produced by his son Mico.

It should be noted that whenever spoilers come out for SGU, they are placed in the episode guides in the Stargate Wiki without much fanfare here in the News Blog. To keep on top of such updates, visit the main page of the Stargate Wiki to see the “Recent Updates” list of links.

Solutions News Blog Round-Up

Our News Blog posts since the last Stargate Planner (most recent listed first):

Solutions LJ Companion Background Articles

Last week, we posted a few background articles in our LJ Companion that you might be interested in. The articles listed in this section don’t have a companion piece in our News Blog here:

Reminders

For news as it happens, make sure to visit the Stargate Twitter Superfeed for tidbits directly from the Stargate stars and production crew. And don’t forget our new feature Beyond the Event Horizon, which consists of “home pages” with dynamic feeds from our LJ and Blog for the stars of SG-1 and Atlantis.

Our LJ Companion has news bites, polls, and glimpses into the lives of the actors that we don’t necessarily cover here in our more formal news blog. Make sure to visit the LJ’s feed on our front page or visit the site directly to see its mostly fun little tidbits.

For the latest in convention appearances, which are subject to change, make sure to visit Stargate Actor Appearances.

Judge in London for "Dead Space: Aftermath" Launch

According to Coventry Telegraph, Stargate star Christopher Judge is in London today to launch the new animated movie Dead Space: Aftermath, which will be released next week on DVD and Blu-ray in both the UK and the US (January 24 and 25, respectively).

Judge’s character Nick Kuttner is featured in the following preview clip called “Kuttner Flashback”, which is described as follows: “After the crew of the USG O’ Bannon lands on Aegis 7, they separate out, and soon Nick Kuttner discovers ‘the shard'” (Warning: profanity):

David Hewlett Begins Blogging at Blastr

Rodney McKay in GHOST IN THE MACHINE
David Hewlett as Dr. Rodney McKay (MGM)
Stargate star David Hewlett has joined fellow SGA star Jewel Staite as a guest blogger at Blastr, formerly known as Sci Fi Wire. Visit My ‘hilariously unhappy’ life as Dr. Rodney McKay for his first post.

Highlights:

I thought I might start by introducing myself, but then I realized that if you don’t know who I am (star of film & television—legend in my own mind), then I’m not sure I want you hanging about. The reality is that any highly intelligent, attractive, world-changing, leader-types should already be following me on Twitter!

Then again, who am I to pass up an opportunity to talk about myself …

A lot of hair ago, I showed up on the set of Stargate SG1. Thanks to some fantastic writing and the support and patience of the lovely and talented Amanda Tapping, I became Doctor Rodney McKay. Rodney’s snarcastic genius and lack of social skills seem to have appealed to a lot of people. I like to think that McKay is what a grumpy Grover would look like in the role of C-3PO. Rodney showed up for another episode or two of SG1 and then went on to five wild and wonderful years on the hit show Stargate: Atlantis. During the run of SGA I wrote and directed my first feature film A Dog’s Breakfast. I married my wife Jane (twice in fact). My son Sebastian (“Baz” as we insist on calling him) was born the day after we wrapped season 4 (I was still peeling pieces of 10,000 year old Rodney McKay makeup off my face while Jane was in labour). I am Stargate’s biggest fan for life.

In the hopes of having something to complain about in future blogs I welcome any and all questions (that I like) right here on Blastr. And I also welcome you all to follow me on Twitter, where I do my utmost to make my mind-numbingly dull life sound wildly interesting and potentially life threatening … try me!

Hewlett’s Twitter is at http://twitter.com/dhewlett. Here at Solutions, we have a David Hewlett homepage, and you can always follow his conversations on Twitter via our Stargate Twitter Superfeed. Make sure to watch Stargate Universe when it returns to Syfy in the spring to see Dr. Rodney McKay in action once again in the episode 2.15 “Seizure”.

Brian J. Smith Gets Lead Role in Syfy’s "Red Faction"

Brian J. SmithStargate Universe star Brian J. Smith has the leading role in Syfy’s movie adaptation of the video game Red Faction, currently filming in Bulgaria.

Smith is playing Jake Mason, and another Stargate veteran, Robert Patrick (Stargate Atlantis, Col. Marshall Sumner), is portraying his father Alec.

From Chicago Now: Show Patrol Exclusive: Brian J. Smith takes lead role in ‘Red Faction’ movie:

Twenty-five years have passed since Alec Mason (Robert Patrick) led the Martian Colonies to freedom …and 12 years since vengeful enemies killed his wife, kidnapped his daughter Lyra (Tamzin Merchant), and left a broken hero in their wake.

Jake Mason (Brian J. Smith), Alec’s last surviving son and an officer in the Red Faction Militia, has his world turned inside out when he discovers that now, 12 years after her kidnapping, his sister is still alive. As a powerful new enemy swarms across the planet, Jake goes out to find her, only to learn that his lost sister is one of them…a cold-blooded soldier sworn to destroy the Red Faction.

Jake must now battle the relentless regime and somehow reunite a family torn apart by war.

The Red Faction: Origins screenplay was written by notable writer and producer Andrew Kreisberg (Warehouse 13, Fringe, Eli Stone), based on a story developed by Paul DeMeo (The Rocketeer, The Flash, Viper), THQ Director, Fiction Development.

Follow Smith on his Twitter as he shares his experiences while filming far from home in Bulgaria.

Tapping's "Sanctuary" Gets Season Four

Cast of SANCTUARY (Syfy Photo: Pete Tangen)
Congratulations to the cast and crew of Amanda Tapping‘s Sanctuary for getting the go for a fourth season on Syfy!

Here’s the official press release, reported by Chicago Now’s Show Patrol:

New York, NY – January 18, 2011 – Syfy has greenlit production on a fourth season of Sanctuary, it was announced today by Mark Stern, President, Original Programming, Syfy & Co-Head, Original Programming, Universal Cable Productions. Sanctuary season 4 is slated to commence production on a 13-episode season in spring 2011 in Vancouver, BC with an eye towards a fall 2011 premiere on Syfy.

Sanctuary follows brilliant scientist Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping) and her team, who use their unique combination of instinct, medicine and cutting-edge science to find and aid a clandestine population of beings that the world refuses to believe exists. The series also stars Robin Dunne as forensic psychiatrist Dr. Will Zimmerman, Agam Darshi as the quick-witted Kate Freelander, Ryan Robbins as tech wiz Henry Foss and Christopher Heyerdahl as the sinister John Druitt.

One of television’s most groundbreaking series, shooting almost entirely on green screen, Sanctuary was the first television series in North America to use the RED camera exclusively. Its stunning visual effects were nominated for a 2008 Emmy Award.

Created by Damian Kindler (Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis), Sanctuary is produced in association with Syfy and is distributed by Tricon Films and Television. Season three of the series is executive produced by Damian Kindler, Amanda Tapping, Martin Wood, Keith Beedie and Tricon Films.

Sanctuary is currently in winter hiatus, but will be returning to Syfy in April.

Stargate Planner: Week of January 17-23

We’ll update this article if something comes to our attention during the week. Also, if you’ve got more to add, please don’t hesitate to announce them in the comment section below.

Calendar

Monday,   January 17 Today is David Blue‘s birthday.
Tuesday,   January 18
Wednesday, January 19 Today is Rachel Luttrell‘s birthday.
Thursday,   January 20 Tonight at 10/9c is the premiere of the new USA network series Fairly Legal in which Richard Dean Anderson will be making five appearances over the first season as David Smith. Fairly Legal is the new title of the series; it was formerly called Facing Kate. The pilot is 90 minutes and the remaining nine episodes will be one hour each. The premise: “Kate Reed (Sarah Shahi) is a firm believer that justice can always be found-even if it’s not always in the courtroom. Once a lawyer at her family’s esteemed San Francisco firm, Kate’s frustration with the legal system led her to a new career as a mediator. Thanks to her innate understanding of human nature, thorough legal knowledge, and wry sense of humor, Kate is a natural when it comes to dispute resolution. Except, it seems, when it comes to conflicts in her own life” (Show’s official homepage).

Beau Bridges will be among the hosts at the premiere of the documentary Elephants and Man: A Litany of Tragedy at Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood.

From PR-USA: The film, executive produced by Melya Kaplan and directed by Jacek Kropinski, chronicles the history of elephants in captivity. Kaplan, founder of the nonprofit Voice for the Animals Foundation, contends that zoos and circuses are not capable of properly caring for elephants due to their size and their need for vast amounts of space in which to roam. Many celebrities have joined Kaplan in a campaign to persuade zoos to close elephant exhibits and transfer the pachyderms to larger sanctuaries.

The host committee for the premiere of “Elephants and Man” includes Cher, Alec Baldwin, Kathy Griffin, Billy Bob Thornton, Jane Fonda, Robin Williams, Ed Begley, Jr., Paul Haggis, Fisher Stevens, Ric O’Barry, Karen Black, Lainie Kazan, Ken Davitian, Sally Field, Beau Bridges and others. Special guests will include actresses Lily Tomlin and Tippi Hedren, who have been outspoken on the issue of elephants in captivity. They will participate in a panel discussion, which will follow the screening.
Friday,   January 21
Saturday, January 22 Today is Jennifer Spence‘s birthday.

Robert Picardo will be at the opening review of “Star Trek: The Exhibition” at the Louisville Science Museum, which formally opens January 23 and runs until May 22. This evening review is part of the Museum’s largest fundraiser event, which will include a screening of Quantum Quest, an “animated IMAX movie featuring the voice talents of several Star Trek alums, including William Shatner,” according to Louisville’s Courier Journal.
Sunday, January 23 Today is Richard Dean Anderson‘s birthday.

News Notes

Stargate Universe Press

It should be noted that whenever spoilers come out for SGU, they are placed in the episode guides in the Stargate Wiki without much fanfare here in the News Blog. To keep on top of such updates, visit the main page of the Stargate Wiki to see the “Recent Updates” list of links.

Solutions News Blog Round-Up

Our News Blog posts since the last Stargate Planner (most recent listed first):

Solutions LJ Companion Background Articles

Last week, we posted a few background articles in our LJ Companion that you might be interested in. The articles listed in this section don’t have a companion piece in our News Blog here:

Reminders

For news as it happens, make sure to visit the Stargate Twitter Superfeed for tidbits directly from the Stargate stars and production crew. And don’t forget our new feature Beyond the Event Horizon, which consists of “home pages” with dynamic feeds from our LJ and Blog for the stars of SG-1 and Atlantis.

Our LJ Companion has news bites, polls, and glimpses into the lives of the actors that we don’t necessarily cover here in our more formal news blog. Make sure to visit the LJ’s feed on our front page or visit the site directly to see its mostly fun little tidbits.

For the latest in convention appearances, which are subject to change, make sure to visit Stargate Actor Appearances.