Club Jade

Tonight’s episode of Stargate Universe is Earth.  The cast are all a-Twitter about it; calling it one of their favorite episodes to shoot.  Joe Mallozzi says that Telford finally plays his hand.  (I am highly suspect of that character.)

In related news, another interview with actor David Blue who is doing his first con ever this weekend.  Be kind to him, UK!  (I always hear good things about Chevron, though.  I bet he’ll have a great time.)

By the way, have you been watching the Kino segments on the official site?  Intriguing stuff.

And finally, the lovely, charming and much-beloved Amanda Tapping has started a new charity drive called Sanctuary for Kids.  (Get it?  She stars in Sanctuary.  Sanctuary for kids?)  And to kick it off, there’s a really cool auction (just in time for your holiday gift-giving).

Stargate Universe is back tonight with the episode “Light.”  (As opposed to last week’s episode, “Darkness.”  Seeing a pattern?) 

Ratings were down 14%, but it was considered to be okay as it was in competition with baseball and a new horror film.  We’ll see if they’ll still be happy if the ratings are that way this week; although I think there’s more baseball.  Still, November will be critical as Dollhouse will be off the air.  I think they’ll be expected to gather some eyes from that audience.

At any rate, one of the more interesting parts of SGU are the Kino diaries.  The Official Site is now starting to post them.

In other Stargate news, Atlantis won two Gemini Awards.  One for makeup in the episode “Vegas,” and the other for writing in “The Shrine.”  (One of my favorite episodes ever.)  SG1 alum Amanda Tapping’s series Sanctuary won for VFX.

And finally, as reported on our Twitter feed, Jason Momoa will be in HBO’s Game of Thrones series.  (Women everywhere rejoice.  Nude scene!)

• US fans can catch the premiere of Stargate Universe on October 2nd at 9pm on Syfy.  They’ll be starting with a 2-hour show complete with a big send-off from some prior show folks.
• SG1′s Amanda Tapping will follow the next week with the season premiere of Sanctuary.
• Speaking of Sanctuary, look for Michael Shanks and Paul McGillion to show up, at some point.
• Joe Flanigan is showing up on Warehouse13 on their August 4th episode.
• And don’t forget that the Children of the Gods – Final Cut will be released on July 21st in the US.  (Although if they really cut out Sam’s Best Line Ever, I’ll be very sad.  “Just because my reproductive organs are on the inside…”)

This week is the biggest Stargate convention of the year:  Creation’s Stargate con in Vancouver.  So it stands to reason we’ll be getting lots of fun tidbits via GateWorld.

Best of all is the news from producer Brad Wright that Jack (Richard Dean Anderson) will be appearing in Stargate Universe!

Gary Jones has also confirmed that everyone’s favorite Chevron-counter, Walter, will be appearing. 

And rumors (totally con-based rumors…and you know how those get) are swirling that Michael Shanks (Daniel Jackson) and Amanda Tapping (Sam Carter) are also appearing because they suddenly had to push back their appearance at the con for filming.  (Probably have to nix at least Amanda on that one.  Sanctuary is currently in production.  And Michael is doing a pilot.  But I’ll take it, if it’s true!)

Either way, you can catch all of these folks tonight (Friday) on Sci-Fi SyFy as Stargate takes over this Friday with airings of The Ark of Truth and Continuum.  (If you haven’t seen Continuum, watch.  It’s a really good one!)

All sorts of nifties while I was away on vacation.  (A lovely thing.  I highly recommend.)

The big news is the sneak peak trailer and cast photo for Stargate Universe.  Kinda BSG.  I’m intrigued.  i09 kinda is, too. Star Robert Carlyle is pretty psyched about it. 

In old-school news, Amanda Tapping stopped by Joe Mallozzi‘s blog to do a Q&A.  She’s just as nice in her Q&A’s as she is in person.

Stargate Universe has, at long last, started production.   However, we still don’t have a clue which actors were cast in the female roles; even though they’re at the studio, right now.  (Can someone go over and look?) 

How delaying the announcement of the full cast helps with publicity?  Not a clue.

And speaking of Stargate women, the auction Amanda Tapping did for a school raised US$20k.  See, MGM?  Stargate women are powerful.

Still waiting for the announcement of the women of Stargate Universe that was supposed to be out by now.

In the meantime, CJer Michelle let me know that MGM is continuing to engage fans in their prep of Stargate Atlantis Best-Of compilation for Blu-Ray with a “design the cover” contest.  They are also announcing the episodes that won. (Most of the ones I wanted…yays)  Annoying Flash design prevents us from linking directly, so go click around.

In other fun Stargate-related news, Amanda Tapping continues to show that she is one of the nicest people in show business by offering up some really cool auction items to benefit a Vancouver-area school.

And the charming Cliff Simon (Ba’al) talks with GateWorld about Stargate and his ongoing interest in helping people get their brains going.

It’s no wonder genre shows are struggling when you have to wait so long to see new episodes.  But NBC is trying to rally us back around to their Monday night line-up with gimmicks and fun.

Chuck will not only be in 3-D, but will feature appearances by Dominic Monagahan and Scott Bakula (as Chuck’s dad?!).

And Heroes will try to stop hemorrhaging viewers by doing a spot during the SuperBowl in which we explore what it would look like if Heroes played football.  (It’ll also be the start of the supposedly-tightened-up Volume 4.)

Another NBC-owned show, Battlestar Galactica, gets some squee from the Watch with Kristin staff who are celebrating them some love.  (By the way, have you been catching the Best Of…series on the website?)

And finally, an interview with Sanctuary star/producer Amanda Tapping, who talks about having a great first season and what might be to come if they make it back on air by October.

During a press conference for her series Sanctuary (debuting tonight on SciFi), Amanda Tapping told reporters that both the SG1 and SGA movies will be filming at the same time next year.  Sounds like they’re shooting for late spring or early summer.

Just like a big ol’ family reunion!

In the meantime, Mitch Pileggi (Colonel Caldwell) is glad for his time on Atlantis and other series, but still gets frustrated that he’s still associated with X-Files after all this time.  You’ll always be the Colonel to the Gate Geeks, Mitch!

And finally, a big ol’ juicy set of spoilery SGA pictures and some fangirlish squee on io9.  I’m totally with you, Meredith!

Some fun stuff to tide us over while we wait for the new season and Continuum.

The official site is treating us to a Season 5 Preview with producer Joe Mallozzi.  (Here lie some spoilers, but not much you haven’t already heard about.)

Speaking of Joe, get out the insulin, the annual Chocolate Party went down last weekend. ::drool::

Rachel Luttrell‘s discovering the challenge of juggling mommy-hood and work.  But she’s having fun!  (A wee bit of spoilage for both Seasons 4 and 5.)

Another Stargate mom, Amanda Tapping, reveals her secret past as a baton twirler.

Stargate Worlds is now accepting beta testers.