Hugh Laurie (House), Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: SVU) and Bret Harrison (Reaper)
Every week, senior editors Matt Webb Mitovich, Mickey O'Connor and Tim Molloy satisfy your need for TV scoop. Please send all questions to mega_scoop@tvguide.com.
I have to wonder if the psych hospital in the House finale was also a hallucination. It was pretty strange how the street and parking lots were empty. And it looked like he was going to one of those hospitals from the 1940s. — RSmith
MATT: How Vanilla Sky! But nope, sources assure me that House's rehab stint is the real deal. And that hospital's more retro than you think. Greystone Park State Hospital (in Morristown, N.J.) made its debut in 1876 as the not-so-subtly named New Jersey State Lunatic Asylum. The hospital has tended to such patients as singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie, and until the Pentagon was built, it boasted the largest foundation (674,000 sq. feet) of any structure in the U.S. I'd try to book a TVGuide.com Q&A with the building, but fear I'd be stonewalled.
Now that Reiko Aylesworth has been dropped from ABC's The Forgotten, could SVU bring back her ADA character, Erica Alden, from Season 1? —Walt
MICKEY: It's an interesting idea, but a very well-informed source tells me that Aylesworth will ...
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Amanda Tapping
Sci Fi's newest hit, Sanctuary — which was just picked up for a second season — is headed to a dangerous place: The Bermuda Triangle. In an intense and dramatic episode that airs on Friday (10 pm/ET), Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping) and her colleague Dr. Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne) get trapped in a submarine while investigating a deadly parasite attack on creatures living in the triangle. TVGuide.com spoke with Tapping, who is also executive producer, about the genesis of the episode, what it was like to film with Dunne 24/7, and what's next for the Sanctuary crew this season.
See the full Q&A after the jump.
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Christopher Heyerhahl, Amanda Tapping, Emilie Ullrep and Robin Dunne
Fear not, all forms of creatures, the "Sanctuary for all" will remain open for another season.
TVGuide.com has learned exclusively that Sci Fi channel has greenlit production on a second season of Sanctuary, ordering 13 new hours of the series.
"Sci Fi will continue to trail blaze the television landscape by further exploring the many worlds of Sanctuary through its unique green screen environments," said Mark Stern, Executive Vice President of Original Programming at Sci Fi. "Technology and great storytelling makes Sanctuary a fantastic addition to Sci Fi's 2009 lineup."
Sanctuary was created by Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis scribe Damian Kindler and stars the first lady of sci fi, Amanda Tapping...
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You adored her as Col. Sam Carter for 13 years on Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, but now Amanda Tapping is launching herself into a new show called Sanctuary (Fridays, 9/8c on Sci Fi). The intriguing show features Amanda as the enigmatic Dr. Helen Magnus who recruits the young and handsome Dr. Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne) to work with her in her home – which she calls a "Sanctuary for All." She houses and treats all forms of "abnormals" who most people would deem as monsters that should be destroyed. Erin Fox sat down with the First Lady of sci fi to discuss Magnus' background and the challenges of shooting a show almost solely against green screens.
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You adored her as Col. Sam Carter for 13 years on Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, but now Amanda Tapping is launching herself into a new show called Sanctuary (Fridays, 9/8c on Sci Fi). The intriguing show features Amanda as the enigmatic Dr. Helen Magnus who recruits the young and handsome Dr. Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne) to work with her in her home – which she calls a "Sanctuary for All." She houses and treats all forms of "abnormals" who most people would deem as monsters that should be destroyed. Erin Fox sat down with the First Lady of sci fi to discuss Magnus' background and the challenges of shooting a show almost solely against green screens.
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Robert Picardo in Stargate Atlantis by Eike Schroter/Sci Fi Channel Photo
He might not be as easy on the eyes as Amanda Tapping, but when Stargate Atlantis starts filming its fifth 20-episode season later this month, Robert Picardo will join the cast on a full-time basis, just as the officious (and heretofore recurring) bureaucrat Richard Woolsey assumes command of the expedition from Tapping's Samantha Carter.Tapping, whose Web series Sanctuary has been picked up by Sci Fi Channel for a 13-episode run, will appear in several Atlantis eps, as will her SG-1 costar Michael Shanks. Fan fave Paul McGillion (who was literally brought back from the dead by fan demand!) will also return for five shows. — Ileane Rudolph
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Amanda Tapping by Eike Schroter/Sci Fi Channel Photo
Si Fi Channel has greenlit a full 13-episode season of Sanctuary, a drama that originated online (as the first-ever hi-def Web series, no less) and stars the Stargate world's Amanda Tapping as Dr. Helen Magnus, a woman on a quest to protect "strange creatures that walk the earth." Tapping is exec-producing the TV port along with SG-1 writer-producer Damian Kindler and producer-director Martin Wood, and Sam Egan.Despite scoring this plum gig, Tapping will guest on at least several Stargate Atlantis episodes next season.Sanctuary will be the first TV series to shoot live-action actors against "virtual set pieces," à la 300 and Sin City.I've got Logan's Run now stuck in my head. Grr.
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Cat Deeley by Jeff Neira/Fox
Once again, adorable So You Think You Can Dance ringleader Cat Deeley will host Fox's New Year's Eve Live. She'll be aided by Spike Feresten, checking in from the Times Square ball watch.... ABC News has climbed into bed with Facebook to allow its 2008 presidential election coverage to be used on the site to spur debate among its (political) party animals.... To benefit the Carol (aka mother of Alec and William) Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund, Amanda Tapping and Joe Flanigan are auctioning off a walk-on role on Stargate Atlantis at CharityFolks.com/baldwin between now and Dec. 14.... NBC has made a first-of-its-kind deal with TiVo to use the digital-recorder company's ratings and somehow force us to see advertisers' names even if we are skipping the commercials. — Ben Katner
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Question: What is your take on the cast changes on Stargate Atlantis? I'm personally pretty happy that SG-1's Amanda Tapping is making the trip to Atlantis. It seemed pretty inevitable: Someone was going to cross over after Torri Higginson's role was minimized. Anyway, as an objective party who's never been all that entrenched in the series, what is your opinion? Also, have you heard the theory that Higginson wanted out of her contract?
Answer: I honestly don't know the circumstances of this cast change, but churn like this is inevitable on just about any long-running show — although experience has told me that any time a major change happens on a cult sci-fi/fantasy series, there will be some outcry. (Remember the fuss when Michael Shanks left SG-1 for a season? I certainly do!) From where I sit, as a detached observer who never got deeply involved in either series (they're enjoyable but, to me, not habit-forming), this all makes perfect sense. I think of Worf migrating from Star Trek:
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Well, its all come down to this: 10 seasons. Over 200 episodes. Adventure. Laughter. Tears. And as this is the last episode of our journey together, I will make this my last TV Guide blog entry.Thanks be to all of you who have grown with us over the years. It has been a true pleasure, and one I’m sure I will not see the likes of again. The years have gone by so fast… so fast. So much has changed, in my life, and in the lives of those around me. And I’m sure of yours too.I was reminded as recently as yesterday how much can happen in 10 years. I shared a conversation on the plane with Katee Sackoff (of Battlestar Galactica fame — for those living under boulders) who enlightened me that she used to watch the early seasons of Stargate with her father… when she was 17. Holy crap. That aged me.I was a single boy of 26 years when we took our first steps through the gate, and now I speak to you as a father of three at 36 years old. It really does fly, doesn...
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