Battlestar Galactica: Edward James Olmos by Carole Segal/Sci Fi Channel Photo, Mary McDonnell by Carole Segal/Sci Fi Channel Photo
I’ve finally come back down to Earth—or more precisely, to the world of TV (after a few weeks abroad and way out of the loop)—and am thrilled to find the planet, for all of its problems, in better shape than the explorers of Battlestar Galactica did upon the conclusion of their long and arduous journey. A powerfully downbeat, and thus hardly out-of-character, wrap for the first half of the final season of one of TV’s all-time-greatest science-fiction dramas.Because of my long absence, I had the rare experience of devouring Lost’s first-rate season finale (capping a wow of a comeback season) and the final awesome handful of Battlestar episodes within a 36-hour time span. My head is still reeling.What strikes me about both of these shows is how, for all of the mind-blowing fantasy and murky geeky mythology and eternally unanswered (possibly unanswerable) questions, they are essentially grounded in such rich character and intense emotion. The passionate investm...
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Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm courtesy HBO
'Fess up, fellow Curb Your Enthusiasm fans. Your first response to Sunday night’s pivotal episode was: What took her so long?When Cheryl left the TV version of Larry David in this blisteringly funny episode (reflecting, though one has to imagine far more humorously, the recent real-life split of Larry and wife Laurie David), you’ve got to admit that you’ve often wondered, as most of their acquaintances have, why she ever stayed with this misanthropic, myopically self-obsessed, shriekingly miserable kvetch-aholic.It took a turbulent plane flight for long-suffering Cheryl to wake up to the unnecessary turbulence in her domestic life. In a scene I’ve seen in promos since before the season began, but without a hint at the repercussions, Cheryl has the misfortune of calling Larry from her terrifying flight, to pass on some petrified final thoughts of love and whatnot, only to be hung up on by her distracted mate because he’s too busy with the TiVo repairman (an i...
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Knowing what any good Curb viewer already knows about Larry David's real life — namely that he and Laurie, his actual wife, recently divorced due to "irreconcilable differences" — this episode was uncomfortable to watch. Yes, if I called my husband from a rolling airplane and he asked me where the warrantee was for the TiVo, I'd be pissed, and I'd probably leave him, too. Actually that's a lie; my DVR means more to me than any man ever could. I'd probably be the one to be left. Like Larry, there's no other side to Leah. This is pretty much it.Can we blame Larry's friends (and restaurateurs) for siding with Cheryl? This is, after all, a man who wants to talk about the difference between real and fake crab during sex, and then claims he's complex. In the settlement, Cheryl gets Ted Danson, the Funkhousers (so much for Marty being Larry's best friend, eh?), Primo's, the cleaning woman, Simon, and by extension, the $10,000 Larry lent to Simon, since he's not getting it back. W...
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I enjoyed the U.S. Open but I’m not nearly as passionate about tennis (well, any sport really) as I am about this show.... I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking: Stop your yappin’, Kara, and get to recappin’. Well, here I go.I enjoyed Evelyn the client turning into Evelyn the assassin. And what do you know? She’s got some history with Michael. We don’t see enough of Lucy Lawless in general (I can’t wait for her return on Battlestar Galactica next year). It was nice, if not a little strange, to see her mix it up and play a different type of character even though her facade didn’t remain in place for long. But let me back up. Michael is pulled into his latest case because he needs his friend Lucy, whom he trained in the fine art of spying, to set him up with a fake identity, or a "false flag," after an earlier plan falls through. Even though he’s not supposed to leave Miami, Michael wants to travel to D.C. to confront Cowan. Luc...
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Lucy Lawless sports a shiner on Burn Notice.
Lucy Lawless as a damsel in distress? Say it ain't so! In a wild departure from her usual badass roles, the former Xena: Warrior Princess star will appear on USA Network's Burn Notice (tonight, 10 pm/ET) as a weepy, needy, emotionally frazzled mom who hires Michael (Jeffrey Donovan) to track down her missing husband and son. A much ballsier Lawless plays herself on Curb Your Enthusiasm in an episode airing Oct. 21. We gave the actress a call to discuss both gigs, plus the one that got away — the disastrous American version of Footballers' Wives.
TVGuide.com: It's downright surreal seeing you — a fem
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Michelle Ryan, Skeet Ulrich, Masi Oka and Matt Dallas by Sean Smith/jpistudios.com
At the 38th Annual Comic-Con International, fans of the sci-fi and fantasy genres proved they're no longer on the fringe. The mammoth convention, held this past weekend at the San Diego Convention Center, attracted more than 125,000 people, and in a nod to the fact that the event has gone far beyond comic books, it has billed itself as "celebrating the popular arts." Movie studios and TV networks packed huge rooms with rabid fans eager for exclusive scoop and swag.On the first day it was officially confirmed that Zachary Quinto, Heroes' slithery villain Sylar, will indeed be playing Spock in the next Star Trek movie (opening Dec. 25, 2008). Director J.J. Abrams made the announcement during a Paramount Pictures panel, and in a symbolic passing of the ears, Leonard Nimoy, who originated the role on TV and in previous movies and will play an elder Spock in Abrams’ movie, joined the discussion. "People have been asking me why I’m doing this movie," Nimoy said. "We have a great...
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Battlestar Galactica's Lucy Lawless, Mary McDonnell, Jamie Bamber, Katee Sackhoff and Edward James Olmos
Admiral Adama, President Roslin, Apollo and Kara finally made it to Earth. Well, at least to the Arclight Theater in Hollywood, California, where on Wednesday night stars and producers of Battlestar Galactica met with roughly 1,000 fans of the critically acclaimed Sci Fi Channel series.
Rather than focus on the recently announced sad news that the show's upcoming fourth season, which begins in January, will also be its final one, cast, producers and devotees of the show spent hours praising the space opera's past — and contemplating its immediate future.
Attendees erupted into applause upon seeing a trailer for Battlestar Galactica: Razor, a two-hour TV-movie that tells the stor
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Question: Is there any chance of a Battlestar Galactica feature film after the show ends next year?
Answer: A slim one. Ronald Moore told reporters last week that "the plan is to end the show to bring us to a definitive conclusion. There are no plans, or even thoughts in our heads, of doing a full-on feature or miniseries or anything beyond that. But it is the kind of thing where you never say never." Moore and David Eick also confirmed that they've approached Lucy Lawless — newly sprung from ABC's passed-on remake of Footballers Wives — about returning for the final season.
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Up-to-the-minute casting news for the upcoming pilot season, courtesy of Variety and the Hollywood Reporter:• Why didn't we see this coming a mile away? Lucy Lawless has scored the role of "ruthless, bitchy" Tanya in ABC's Football Wives. UPDATE: Speaking of BSG.... Some fresh Ausiello scoopage!• CSI's Louise Lombard has landed the title role in Judy's Got a Gun, ABC's drama about a woman juggling single motherhood with her job as a detective. I like to think of it as "Close to Homicide."• 24 alumna Sarah Clarke is Famke Janssen's younger sister and best bud in NBC's drama about a female cop.• Bridgette Wilson-Sampras is (kinda of course) a promiscuous neighbor in ABC's Mr. & Mrs. Smith.• Ana Claudia Talancón (The Crime of Father Amaro) has the title role in Whitney, HBO's comedy about a beautiful, self-confident woman who manipulates men.• Big Day's Miriam Shor has joined CBS' 1970s-set Swingtown.• John Francis Daley (Kitchen Confidential...
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SPOILER ALERT for those Rob Lowe-aholics who have not yet watched Sunday night's episode of BSG....She had it coming. Battlestar Galactica's D'Anna Biers, the bossy, rule-busting Cylon played by Lucy Lawless, has been terminated. But the deed wasn't done by her human enemies — it was by her fellow Cylons, who "boxed" hundreds of D'Annas into a container the size of an iPod Nano and put it into permanent cold storage. "D'Anna shattered their peaceful little lives," Lawless says. "By discovering that knowledge is power, she had become their Saddam Hussein, and they wanted her out of the way." D'Anna, who had defied the Cylon collective with her messianic convictions, believed that she could make a personal connection with God by repeatedly allowing herself to be killed and resurrected. Her quest took her far: She was ultimately able to look into the faces of the final five Cylon models, whom no one else on the show — or in the audience — has seen.What's next for Lawless...
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