Robert Picardo
Robert Picardo has made an indelible mark as a successful character actor in Hollywood for the last 30+ years, starring as such beloved characters as Dr. Dick Richard on China Beach, Coach Cutlip on The Wonder Years, The Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager and most recently as hard-ass Richard Woolsey on Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. Now that Atlantis is airing its finale Friday, Picardo talked with TVGuide.com about his time on the show, whether he'll be in the upcoming Atlantis TV movie, and his new gig on Chuck.
TVGuide.com: How you feel about the show ending?
Robert Picardo: Well, there were a lot of disappointed fans. I've met a lot of them at personal appearances, and I did a Christmas charity event and got a lot of sad eyes coming up to me. There was a certain amount of sadness that I saw in the regular fans, but I assured them that we would be making a television movie for Sci Fi channel. So, there will be more to come.
TVGuide.com: Do you know whether you get to be a part of that movie?
Picardo: I've been told so, yes. And, I'll still be the commander of the Atlantis expedition.
TVGuide.com: Speaking of fans, and being the commander, did you get some eggs thrown at you after taking over for Amanda Tapping (Col. Samantha Carter)?
Picardo: Oh yeah...
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David Hewlett
David Hewlett has played the arrogant and often irritating Rodney McKay on Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis since 2002. As the series comes to an end Friday (9 pm/ET, Sci Fi), David reminisced with TVGuide.com about his adventures playing the obnoxious McKay, what is was like smooching pal and cast mate Jewel Staite (Dr. Jennifer Keller) and the possibility of appearing in the upcoming Stargate movie.
TVGuide.com: I spoke to your costar Jewel Staite—
David Hewlett: She's a liar. Everything she says, absolute lies! Don't believe a word of it!
TVGuide.com: Good to know because she said kissing you [on the show] was kind of torturous because you're more like a brother.
Hewlett: (Laughs) OK, that's kind of true! We're kind of like Statler and Waldorf from The Muppet Show. You know, the two old guys in the top balcony? That's basically Jewel and I on set. Basically the ones standing there cutting up everybody on set and saying how stupid our jobs, our lives and the world is. And, we take great glee in that and usually end up cracking each other up and hopefully the people around us as well. But all the sudden [the producers] said, "You guys are in a relationship." And we were like, "What?!" The best way, honestly, to do a romantic scene in anything is...
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Stargate Atlantis by Eike Schroter/Sci Fi Channel Photo
Stargate fans, rejoice! Sci Fi has just announced plans to order a third iteration in the hit franchise, beginning with a two-hour movie. Stargate: Universe will premiere early next year and then slide into a regular hourly slot in the summer. This is welcome news for long-time fans – the show has been on in some form since 1997 – since Stargate Atlantis was not picked up for another season, says The Hollywood Reporter .Universe will introduce a team of explorers who find an ancient unmanned ship called the Destiny. For some reason, they cannot return to Earth, so the crew must fend for themselves aboard the ship. Sounds familiar, right Battlestar Galactica fans?The head of Sci Fi, Dave Howe, is hoping to bring a newer, younger audience to the franchise especially due to the fact that Star Trek: Enterprise repeats are faring well, and BSG will be signing off in 2009. He says, "There's an opportunity to keep the space opera as part of our programming strategy." The series ...
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Stargate SG-1's Don S. Davis by Eike Schroter/Sci Fi Channel Photo
Don Sinclair Davis, an Army vet turned character actor best known to TV fans for his roles as Stargate SG-1's General George Hammond and Twin Peaks' Major Garland Briggs, died on Sunday of a heart attack. He was 65. A family friend tells the Vancouver Sun that Davis — who called Gibsons, British Columbia, home — had dealt with heart problems for years, and suffered from diabetes. Davis leaves behind his wife of five years, Ruby, and a son from a previous marriage. — Matt Mitovich
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Blu-ray Disc
Next week, and just in time for Father's Day (Sunday, June 15th), Wal-Mart is making it much easier to afford a high-definition Blu-ray player!The original standard DVD format went on sale in the United States back in 1997, and consumers quickly shifted over to the new format from VHS. But in 1998, HDTVs went on sale, and every year since then the high definition sets have gained in popularity. But something was missing...hi-def on home video!While DVD was noticeably better than VHS, it was noticeably not-as-good as the hi-def broadcasts of TV shows and films that people could get from cable, satellite and over-the-air HD. Folks clamored for an HD home video format, and by February 2008 the Sony-developed Blu-ray Disc ("BD") format had just won a bitter hi-def format war. But at the time, prices of a BD player started at $400, and typically ran quite a bit higher.Beginning this coming Sunday, June 8th, Wal-Mart is kicking off their newly remodeled electronics departments in their st...
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Firefly on Blu-ray Disc, Courtesy of Fox Home Ent.
Right at this moment we're nearing the end of a mini TV shows on Blu-ray "drought". Did you realize there even WAS one? Oh, yeah: the January 29th release of Damages marks the last time a TV season set came out on the high definition Blu-ray Disc format.But if you own a Blu-ray player, then never fear! The dry spell is over in just a few weeks, when Lionsgate releases Weeds - Season 3 on June 3rd. And other titles are on the way, too, including the just-announced 3rd Season of Prison Break, arriving day-and-date with the DVD version on August 26.There's much more, too. Among the upcoming titles are July 1st's Mad Men from Lionsgate, BBC Video's July 29th release of Robin Hood, and MGM's direct-to-video return of Stargate SG-1, titled "Continuum," on the same date. August 26th sees the first *TWO* seasons of Heroes on BD and, just a week prior to that, the first season of the Cartoon Network's Justice League comes to stores. The fourth seasons of both Grey's Anatomy and Lost have bee...
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Stargate: Continuum courtesy MGM
New releases announced today, April 16:Stargate - Continuum (Blu-ray) will be coming out July 29 Visit TVShowsOnDVD.com for the complete stories on these and other news items.
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Stargate Atlantis - Season 4 by Matthias Clamer/Sci Fi
New releases announced today, April 3:Stargate: Atlantis - Season 4 will be coming out July 8 Stargate - Continuum will be coming out July 29 Visit TVShowsOnDVD.com for the complete stories on these and other news items.
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Michael Shanks and Claudia Black courtesy MGM
March 11th is D-Day for Stargate: Ark of Truth, the eagerly awaited made-for-DVD movie that ties up the storylines left dangling when the Sci Fi Channel cancelled the longest running series last June. "We hadn't really resolved the story," says producer-writer Robert C. Cooper, "so we felt a responsibility to wrap things up in the way they did with Farscape, when it came back as a miniseries." TV Guide got a peek at the $7 million feature-length DVD-movie, and we're happy to share that it's all about SG-1's search for a fabled weapon that's reportedly the only chance to stop the Ori from taking over Earth. As if chief Ori Adria and her ilk don't provide enough danger, a creepy crawly from the past threatens the team on the USSS Odyssey from within. Keep your eye on guest star Currie Graham, the ubiquitous actor most recently seen on Men in Trees and Boston Legal. (And, yeah, Ben Browder fans, Lt. Col. Mitchell takes plenty of lumps.) Although Ark concludes the series, at least one m...
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