September 4, 2008
When someone new is cast on Lost, fans cannot help but be excited. There's no other show that inspires such immediate and intense speculation when a new character is announced. Fans try to figure out how the new actor will fit into the overall Lost puzzle, who this character will interact with, and why they are popping up at this specific point in time. Michael Ausiello has the exclusive scoop on Lost's newest addition to the cast. Actress Zuleikha Robinson will play the important role of Illeana, a European femme fatale who's both smart and incredibly dangerous. Robinson was previously seen on The X-Files spin-off The Lone Gunmen, as Nikolaj Coster-Waldau's sidekick on the now-canceled New Amsterdam and as Gaia on HBO's Rome. Illeana will begin as a recurring character on Lost, but there is a possibility for her to become a regular on Lost's sixth and final season.
September 2, 2008
Lost might be my favorite show on television. I say might, because making a declarative statement about a television show like Lost is both silly and pointless. A TV series can be judged both as a whole and on the merits of individual episodes. For comedies, it's much easier to say that The Office or 30 Rock or It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is your favorite show because comedies don't rely on what might happen next. Sure, there is the occasional cliffhanger, but we like comedies because they make us laugh, and generally we can peg the ones that make laugh the most and call them our favorites. For Lost, our judgment has to constantly be updated. Events that occur in every episode inform events that occurred in previous episodes, sometimes greatly altering their meaning and significance. This is why, in this long and torturous Lost hiatus, I'm starting to get a little bit scared.
September 2, 2008
Unless you've been living under a rock this summer, you all know by now that Fringe, J.J. Abrams' new brainchild, will be premiering in exactly one week. This new science fiction drama stars Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson and John Noble, an unlikely trio who band together to investigate strange and often frightening events occurring on the fringes of traditional science. And as talented and as interesting as these actors are, I really have to give props to J.J. Abrams, who collaborated with Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci to come up with the whole thing.
I got the chance to catch up with J.J. last week in New York at the Fringe red carpet premiere. First, let me tell you about the red carpet. It was totally wild. I mean, for one thing, the “red” carpet was actually a nice, tasteful midnight blue. A FOX/Fringe backdrop was set up against a barbed wire-topped chain-link fence, and the various news outlets set up their crews along the carpet. The entire cast and creators were present and made their way along the assembly line of journalists, giving interview after interview. I was relegated along with the other online press at the end of the line, so I had to wait a long time before talking to Abrams.
August 27, 2008
Voting for the Emmys is an interesting process. For the Best Drama and Best Comedy categories, all the potential nominees send one episode (one hour, so no two-parters) to the Academy members. Once the final nominations come out, each nominated show then resubmits six hours of television. They put those six hours on three two-hour tapes, and Academy members are sent only two of those tapes. They are distributed randomly, meaning that different Academy members will see different episodes. Why they do this, I have no idea. They just do. Today, our friends at Gold Derby released the episode submissions for each Best Drama nominee. You can find those listed below, with commentary at the bottom.
August 25, 2008
Ana Lucia was easily one of the most divisive characters in Lost's history. After the Tailies crashed on the island in season 2, fans thought that the tough Los Angeles cop might be paired up with Jack due to their flirtatious interaction in the season 1 finale. However, that relationship ended up going nowhere. Just like the islanders themselves, not many fans warmed up to Ana Lucia. Most found her to be sullen and obnoxious, and the fact that she accidentally killed Shannon certainly didn't help matters. When Michael ended up murdering the character at the end of season 2, few fans felt the need to mourn for her loss or the absence of Michelle Rodriguez.
No matter how you feel about Ana Lucia, there's no denying that she's an important piece of Lost's history. The producers must think so too, as Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly is reporting that the character will be returning for one episode in season 5.
August 20, 2008
As season 5 of Lost approaches (who am I kidding, we're still months away from the season 5 premiere), there are questions to be pondered. Because TV is a business, and actors sign contracts, not everything about Lost can be kept a secret. We know, for a fact now, that Henry Ian Cusick will return for season 5 as Desmond Hume. The last time we saw Desmond he was reunited (finally!) with his true love Penelope Widmore. The way season 4 ended makes the return of Desmond a mystery. There is no easy return for the man, no slam dunk opening. Where, then, will he fit in? At this point, we can only guess.
August 14, 2008
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Poring over the salaries of television actors can be somewhat depressing. The highest paid stars on the tube rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars per episode, which usually adds up to a mere seven or eight days of work. Meanwhile, those of us who are average mortals must pinch every penny just to afford a gallon of gas. Such harsh realities make me frown every time I check the contents of my bank account.
The obscene piles of cash are definitely a perk for those working in the entertainment industry, but there's no denying that they often deserve the money. TV stars help networks and studios earn millions of dollars every year, so of course they tend to get whatever they ask for. With only two seasons left before the series comes to an end, Lost stars Matthew Fox and Evangeline Lilly are now looking for a bigger slice of the financial pie. Do both stars deserve the raise?
August 12, 2008
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Back in the days when I was ridiculously obsessed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I used to find out every episode title in advance and try to theorize what the actual episode could be about. I find theorizing about a show a lot more fun than reading spoilers, and episode titles often provide an intriguing hint about what's to come. The clever writers behind Lost never fail to give each installment a title that has a little bit of meaning, especially when it comes to the season premieres. Season 2 began with "Man of Science, Man of Faith," the season 3 premiere was "A Tale of Two Cities," and season 4 fittingly started off with "The Beginning of the End." Each of these titles not only summed up the first episode, but the themes of the entire season.
Entertainment Weekly's Jeff Jensen recently unveiled the title for the premiere of Lost's fifth season. Let the theorizing begin.