Here's my mini week-in-review, with a few pieces of prattle mixed in...* It almost happened. Michael Vartan was thisclose to returning to TV. According to a fresh batch of intel from one of my APO moles, Vartan was in talks to join the cast of one my five current favorite shows. But sadly, the deal fell through. * Just weeks after Oprah revealed that she had never heard of a little thing called the Kinsey Scale (WTF?), Gayle's BFF confessed on yesterday's Oprah that she wasn't aware that an HIV-positive person could be re-infected with a different strain of the virus (double WTF?). I seriously hope this whole dumb act is just her attempt to appear more relatable to the average viewer. * In related news, The View needs to put Elisabeth Hasselbeck out of her freakin' misery. I have to shield my eyes from the TV whenever she opens her mouth — especially when the topic turns to politics. It's not her stance on the issues that I have a problem with (OK, maybe that's part of it), it'...
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Question: Will Michael Vartan be in any more Alias episodes?
Answer: He'll be in four more, including the finale.
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Question: This interminable waiting game that ABC is playing regarding the fate of Alias is not to be had! What can we, the fans, do about it? Anything?
Answer: ABC confirmed late Tuesday that Alias is returning in just seven short weeks on Wednesdays at 8 pm. There are eight episodes remaining — reduced from 13. Here's how they're being scheduled:
- April 19, 8-10 pm/ET: Two-hour episode. Syd's baby is born and Vaughn's fate is revealed. Michael Vartan, Lena Olin and Greg Grunberg return.
- April 26, 8-9 pm: The 100th episode. Bradley Cooper returns.
- May 3, 8-9 pm: Currently in production. Devlin returns.
- May 10, 8-9 pm: TBD
- May 17, 8-9 pm: TBD
- May 24, 8-10 pm: Two-hour finale.
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Question: Michael Vartan is supposedly signed to do four more episodes of Alias. Will it be as a ghost?
Answer: OK, major-ass prattle here: According to Pinkner, Vartan is actually returning for five, possibly six, episodes, beginning with the second one back this spring (that's Episode 99, for those keeping track at home). And I'll let Jeff address the second part of your question: "As we've said from the beginning, the rumors of Vaughn's death were nothing more than rumors. In this world, don't take anything at face value. We'll know by the end of the 99th episode exactly where he is and if he's alive or not."
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Question: Please tell me that when Michael Vartan returns to Alias, it won't be a dream or anything but it's for real!
Answer: Sorry, sworn to secrecy. This much I can say: He'll probably be doing four more episodes this season.
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AliasJack cut off Desantis' ear and then let Renee Reinne kill him! That's the kind of fatherly and grandfatherly protection you definitely want to have if you are eight-months pregnant. The look on Jack's face when he saw the nursery that his ex had carefully crafted was just priceless. I think when he finds out that Syd's mom is the one who took his daughter and had her tortured in a supposedly "safe for baby" procedure that hacked into her memory, things are going to get really ugly. I'd love a showdown between Mama and Papa Bristow — the chemistry between Lena Olin and Victor Garber is insanely intense and fabulous. Here's hoping that plays out well. Gotta love that Syd was able to fight through the pain and confusion to give her captors false info about Horizo
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Question: Anything big planned for Alias' 100th episode?
Answer: More like huge. I don't know the specifics yet, but I hear producers are pulling out all the stops (read: bringing back all your faves) for the milestone episode, which starts shooting on Feb. 22. Oh, and a little birdie just told me the exact day Michael Vartan's Aussie action flick, Rogue, wraps: Feb. 10. Talk about perfect timing.
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I've missed Kitchen Confidential. I know it isn't really groundbreaking TV, and I know its goose is pretty much cooked, but it is just plain funny. Reuniting Alias pretty boys Bradley Cooper and Michael Vartan was a genius idea on this too-many-cooks-in-the-kitchen episode. The writers even tossed in a little aside where Cooper (as his character Jack) says they are so close it is like they've worked together before. Clever. And there was a nice lesson learned — in a feud like this one, it is always the innocent ones who get hurt. Poor Jim in that ice chest, after his friends had previously banished him to the "idiot hole." But at least the dopey newbie who makes Woody on Cheers look worldly got the line of the night: "Can you help me get
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Michael Vartan
As teased weeks ago by Ask Ausiello, Alias star Michael Vartan has joined the cast of Rogue, a bigger-budget follow-up to the Aussie thriller Wolf Creek, Moviehole.net has officially confirmed. Backed by prolific producers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, Rogue concerns an American journalist who encounters a man-eating crocodile in the Outback. (And no, not the steakhouse.)
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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."
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