Representatives of the play Six Characters in Search of an Author deny reports that the actor suffered a heart attack on opening night. (He did return to the stage a week later.) McDiarmid himself isn’t commenting, but of course we wish him the best.
Cows as a security hazard and JJ Abrams on Star Wars
Bonnie scored yet another cool interview. This time, she talks to JJ Abrams; he of Lost and Fringe and of another small series you might have heard about. (Star Trek, people! Not Felicity.)
So apparently JJ found out that you can’t take cows across the border from Canada. It had to have an American stand-in. And he loves creating interactive websites that expand his shows.
And as a long-time Star Wars fan, he had a really cool idea for StarWars.com: how about an online Galactic Senate where fans could debate issues? Star Wars fans love to debate things!
A Hero Loves the Star Wars Heroes
Heroes‘ own Peter Petrelli, Milo Ventimiglia, is a big ol’ Star Wars geek!
Bonnie gets the dirt on why he wanted to be Luke in Return of the Jedi (good taste) and how he has started using his ForceFX lightsaber to intimidate everywhere he goes. (Oh, get your minds out of the gutter!)
Bonus: Milo and his friend geeked out by making a video of a lightsaber duel. And he’s calling out Seth Green, next. Woo hoo!
James Earl Jones to be honored by SAG
The Screen Actors Guild will be giving the voice of Darth Vader a lifetime achievement award in January.
Gate Geek – Movies!
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!
Carrie Fisher memoir coming in December
Amazon now has a cover and a title for a new Carrie Fisher memoir, Wishful Drinking (based on her one-woman show of the same name, one assumes) and it gives a release date of December 2. The listing on Simon & Schuster’s site lacks the cover, but does give the same release date. See the full cover (from Amazon) under the cut. Continue reading “Carrie Fisher memoir coming in December”
No Emmys for Star Wars spoofs, Carrie Fisher
Neither Robot Chicken: Star Wars or Family Guy: Blue Harvest picked up Creative Arts Emmys yesterday, losing out to The Simpsons and South Park, respectively. And Carrie Fisher, who was up for her 30 Rock guest spot, lost out to some chick from Desperate Housewives. On the whole, it wasn’t a great night for genre, but Battlestar Galactica did pick up Special Visual Effects for a series.
George Takei Prospers
Congratulations go out to George Takei and his long-time partner Brad Altman who got married in California on Sunday.
A long-time staple of the sci-fi community, George has been a civil rights activist for many years.
Former Trek castmates Walter Koenig and Nichelle Nichols served as their witnesses.
Confirmed: Hamill to reprise Joker in video game
Yes, it’s true… Mark Hamill will be voicing the Joker in the Batman: Arkham Asylum game. It’s been posted on his website.
In the news: Live-action something, maybe; George; Amira Sa’id; Happy Meals; Mark Hamill
Rumorville: Perth Now is reporting that the music for a Star Wars TV series filmed in Sydney that “could have 400 half-hour episodes” (umm…) will be recorded in Perth by Malcolm Luker. Okay then! Of course, George Lucas (or a good impersonator) was spotted down under last week. I guess we’ll get the full story (or not) in November.
- But seriously… George is part of Vanity Fair’s New Establishment.
- Good luck with that: British comedian/TV personality Justin Lee Collins is attempting to reunite the Star Wars cast on a show airing this Sunday. (Warning: The Sun.)
- Fans of note: Underwire has a short profile of Slave Leia belly dancer Amira Sa’id. And video of her routines, natch.
- Licensees: The Clone Wars Happy Meals (and the Olympics) helped boost McDonald’s sales. We’re so proud.
- People: Word on the street is that Mark Hamill will reprise the Joker for the Batman: Arkham Asylum game.