Michael Imperioli Moving To Mars
Interesting little bit of news popped up on Hollywood Reporter this morning.
Michael Imperioli who played Christopher Moltisanti in the brilliant Sopranos has been cast as Detective Ray Carling in ABC US remake of ‘Life on Mars’.
I can see Imperioli doing a good job as Ray, and if it’s any indication of how the 2nd pilot is shaping up, i look forward to seeing it.
The casting is part of a revamp after David E. Kelley (L.A. Law, Ally McBeal, Boston Legal) left the project and ABC requested some major changes (and with good reason, as anyone has seen the 1st pilot would probably agree – it’s floating around on the interwebs if you want to see it.)
Updated as rumour: There are rumours, that they are also recasting Annie Cartwright (Rachelle Lefevre) and Gene Hunt (Colm Meaney).
If true, it’d be a shame about Colm. I felt he could have done a good job there, but was being reined in by US censors (or the writer/production team). They removed all the Geneisums that helped make the Gene “Let’s go play slappyface” genie so great, so it was a rather neutered version of Gene Hunt. I still find it hard to see anyone bettering Philip Glenister in the role though.
It looks like Jason O’Mara has survived and is still playing Sam Tyler. He didn’t strike me as anything outstanding in the 1st pilot, but it’s hard to tell, as Sam is supposed to pretty dazed and confused in the 1st episode.
The other major change has moved the shows setting from a pretty non-discript Los Angeles to a far more interesting ‘The French Connection’ era New York.
I know a lot of people would say ‘why remake such a great show’, but the original is SO British, (as with ‘The Office’) i can see why they’d like a US version for a US audience. I wasn’t overly impressed with David E. Kelley stab at Life on Mars, so i’m glad it’s getting a 2nd chance.
First Look Into Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse!
Dollhouse Trailer (Updated higher quality link)
Life On American Mars!
It’s looking like the US remake of the genius UK series Life On Mars is being picked up by the US ABC network. David E Kelley (Boston Legal, Ally McBeal) looks to be the show runner. Interesting for a US remake, they’ve picked 2 irishmen to play the leads.. Having said that, they did offer the roles to Phil Glenister and John Simm to reprise, but they turned it down due to family, and fear of becoming “a nutter in The Priory if i’d gone to Hollywod” as Phil put it!
The setting is switched from 1973 Manchester UK, to 1972 Los Angeles. Sam Tyler, Gene Hunt and Annie Cartwright are all there, it doesn’t look like Ray or Chris’s characters make the transition though. The pilot appears to stick pretty faithfully to the plot of the UK show from what we can see. I’d expect that to vary more as the season progresses though.
Colm Meaney as has been cast as Gene Hunt – To scifi fans, Colm is best know as Miles O’Brien from Star Trek:TNG and DS9, and more recently Cowen, leader of the Genii in Stargate : Atlantis. His film work also includes Con Air, Layer Cake, and The Commitments.
I really feel Colm’s a very good fit for the US portrail of the ‘Gene Genie’. Gene is an Irish American cop, but still has UK Gene’s no-nonsense approch to police work! Colm’s proved over the years how good he is at switching from serious, to rough, to comic, all of which are interweaved aspects of Gene’s character.
Jason O’Mara is playing Sam Tyler. Got to be honest, don’t know this guys work at all…
You can see some of the all in action in the trailer below after the jump…
Blake’s 7 Taking to the Sky Again!!
Cult scifi tv show Blake’s 7 could be on it’s way back to the screen!
Sky have green lit the development of two 60-minute scripts for a “potential event series”. There have been a couple of attempts to bring Blake’s 7 back to tv over the years but nothing has made it till now. It did however make it onto BBC7 radio as an audio drama last year.
Given the success of the shows like the new Battlestar Galactica, and the revitalised Doctor Who, it makes sense for Sky to be looking around for something homegrown it could remake, and Blake’s 7 is a decent choice. Elaine Pyke, commissioning editor for drama at Sky One, Two and Three, said:
“The time is ripe for a revival of a show that represents the best traditions of the genre, not to mention one of the best-loved and most successful dramas of all time.”
Not sure about the ‘of all time’ bit, but i am pretty psyched to see Blakes’s 7 get an update as i loved the original! It had all the elements that could make it into a massive hit for Sky. It’s about time the UK started making scifi to sell back to the US market too! 
24 Season 7 Cast Photo
The cast photo for the looonnnnng awaited season 7 of 24 emerged on the interwebs today. After Kiefer’s *ahem* troubles with the law in real life, and the writers strike (coupled with script issues prior to that), it’s nice to see it finally on track.
So, who do we have. Well, the four in the middle (left to right) are Tony Almeida, Jack Bauer (obviously!), Bill Buchanan (least, i think that’s him!), and Chloe O’Brian.
Who are the rest of them…
To the left of Tony is FBI agent Renee Walker (played by Annie Wersching), who has “an adversarial relationship” with Jack Bauer (hey, who doesn’t at some point on this show!). Next to Renne in the red tie is FBI Agent Larry Moss (Jeffrey Nordling). To his left is FBI Agent Janis Gold (Janeane Garofalo), and on the far left FBI Agent Sean Hillinger (Rhys Coiro).
On the right in that group of 3 we have President Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones), with her husband Henry Taylor (Colm Feore) to her left and White House Chief of Staff Ethan Kanin (Bob Gunton) on her right.
No doubt there’ll be a few less of them alive by the end of the 24hrs (that’s usually the way), but still has me looking forward to another days worth of twisty turny plot!
Amy Acker is the Doctor in the Dollhouse!
This is awesome news!
Angel alumni Amy Acker (say that fast 5 time in a row!) is setting up residency in Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse as Dr. Claire Saunders. Dr. Saunders is described as “The dolls doctor with an an acid wit” (usually aimed at the Dolls programming genius/computer geek, Topher.)
Amy proved her acting range in Angel with the incredible switch from the shy and geeky Fred to the awesomely powerful demon Illyria. Should be a great addition to the rest of the cast. There’s still a few spaces in the Dollhouse left. We’ll let you know as soon as we find out whos filling them!
UPDATE: Harry Lennix has also joined the cast as Boyd Langton the gruff, fatherly, ex-cop bodyguard of the dolls. Miracle Laurie also joins the Dollhouse playing November. Another doll, described as “a comforting, radiant presence, who tends to get fewer of the criminal gigs and more of the personal ones.”
For a full cast list so far, click here!
