Mia Maestro

Question: All this talk about Michael Vartan and Greg Grunberg's exits from Alias, what's the story behind Mia Maestro leaving?

Answer: The story is that she's returning on Nov. 17. Here's a tease ABC put out about the ep: "When the group claiming to have a cure for Nadia continues to play mind games with him, Sloane struggles for control."

Question: Is Alias planning on bringing Mia Maestro back at all this season? I figured they would be able to cure Nadia as quickly as they cured Jack last season.

Answer: I'm going to let exec producer Jeff Pinkner take this one: "Jack's illness and Nadia's illness are apples and oranges. Coming into the season, Sloane's agenda is to find a cure for his daughter. The question for Sloane is, how far will he go to cure her? You will definitely be seeing Nadia this season, but ultimately, it will be up to Sloane how often we see her and in what condition." Hey, that's some major-ass prattle! (And with that, I rest my case.)

Question: A friend of mine says there are two remakes of The Poseidon Adventure (1972) in the works, one for theaters and one for TV. How can that be? It's not like Titanic, where the source is a historical event anybody could draw on. If my friend is right, what gives?

Answer: Your friend is right: A four-hour miniseries version of The Poseidon Adventure is scheduled to air on NBC in November 2005, and Warner Bros. has a theatrical remake called Poseidon due out in 2006. Because neither project is finished, I don't have access to contractual credits, but my guess as to how it happened is that the theatrical version is a remake of the first film and the TV version is an adaptation of the original novel by Paul Gallico. The why is another matter; I can't even begin to say. In any event, the $150 million thea read more