- News Archive June 1999 -
CELEBRITY SCI FI FANS COME OUT - Jun 7
From UltimateTV
You don't have to be a geek to like SCI FI.
In an effort to get this message across, defying traditional stereotypes regarding who and what represents science fiction, the SCI FI Channel is launching a campaign called "I Am SCI FI" featuring spots of cool celebrities asserting their "sci-fi-ness."
The mini commercials feature stars in short action sequences that close with them declaring "I AM SCI FI." The SCI FI loving celebrities include Traci Lords (The Matrix), WWF vixen Sable, rapper Busta Rhymes, the rock band Everclear, Virgin founder Richard Branson, Austin Powers babe Cindy Margolis, tennis champs Venus & Serena Williams, and the first computer-generated pin up girl Lara Croft.
Each member of the design team for "I Am SCI FI" has experience working for MTV.
LAST BOY SCOUT - June 3
X-Pose #35
By David Basson
The Sentinel recently returned to UPN for a fourth season of extraordinary extrasensory exploits.
Last May, news of The Sentinel's cancellation came as a shock to even the show's most perceptive viewers. Not only had the stylish fantasy-adventure saga consistently been one of the highest-rated series on the fledgling UPN channel, but its heavily-publicized third season finale, Sentinel, Too, concluded the show on a cliffhanging note, with the apparent death of Detective Jim Ellison's friend and partner, Blair Sandburg.
Fortunately, however, Sentinel, Too's closing words, "To Be Continued ...," were destined to prove prophetic. In the months that followed the series' cancellation, fans from across the globe embarked on a no-holds-barred campaign to see Ellison resume his super-human battle against the forces of darkness. And according to the show's cast and crew, the viewers' tireless efforts played a key role in The Sentinel's return to American screens at the beginning of this year.
"I like to credit the fans [for the show's resurrection]," says executive producer Danny Bilson. "There's a huge fan element that is very loud and has put a lot of pressure on everybody."
Bilson's fellow executive producer, Paul DeMeo, feels that the fans' use of the Internet particularly served to advance their cause. "It certainly revolutionizes this sort of fan-based support for any show," he notes. "And in particular, our show. I think it really did make a big difference."
Of course, fan pressure alone was not enough to revive The Sentinel. Its return ultimately required the Powers-That-Be at UPN to re-evaluate their original treatment of the property, as Jim Ellison's rugged alter-ego, Richard Burgi, points out.
"I'd like to think that one of the reasons it's back on is the people that are running the network are flexible," the actor explains. "And I think that in order to be flexible in this day and age is a very necessary quality, to admit that you've mad a mistake and look at something that's a good product and support it as such."
Thanks to UPN's change of heart, a fourth season of The Sentinel was commissioned in July 1998, and began shooting in Vancouver, Canada, on August 26th. Although many campaigner were disappointed to learn that the series had been revived as a mid-season replacement of just eight episodes, its cast and crew all shared Bruce A Young's joy at resuming work on the show.
"As actors, you never are depressed about work," maintains Young, who stars as Captain Simon Banks in the series. "I mean, for myself, any chance to get out and, once again, recreate what we felt was a very good product was a pleasure to do."
Undeterred by the limited nature of the series' return, its staff vowed to make all of season four's eight episodes as good as they could possibly be. With each instalment budgeted at an all-time high of $1.85 million, the cast and crew were able to realize some of The Sentinel's most ambitious storylines and most elaborate set-pieces to date.
Season four also managed to attract several familiar guest-stars, including Man from UNCLE icon Robert Vaughn and Star Trek: Voyager's resident Borg Jeri Ryan. Vaughn appears in the season's sixth instalment, The Real Deal, while Ryan reprises her role as the amoral female Sentinel, Alex Barnes, in the season opener, Sentinel, Too - Part ll,
"I think that there are among these eight some of the best episodes we've ever done for the show, seriously," says DeMeo of season four. "And some unusual ideas that we wanted to do for quite a while."
"What was said was, 'Let's do them for ourselves,'" adds Bilson. "What we are saying is that the pressure of the eight, of us all wanting them to be perfect and all wanting to save our show, created a lot of heavy emotions. Everything was a lot more important this year."
As a sign of gratitude to the show's loyal fans, Bilson and DeMeo decided to place an increased emphasis on The Sentinel's two most popular elements: namely the series' mythology and the relationship between Ellison and Sandburg. Significantly, when it came to developing the season finale, the executive producers also ruled out the idea of doing another cliffhanger and declared that the episode should provide the entire series with a sense of resolution, as a precaution against cancellation.
Bilson himself took the helm for the resulting episode, The Sentinel by Blair Sandburg, which is clearly designed to address many of the show's ongoing themes and issues. Yet, as Bilson insists, the episode's conclusion does not prevent future Sentinel adventures from entering production at a later date.
"[The finale] allows the show to continue, but wraps up the first 65 episodes in a lot of ways, both emotionally, and some of the situations that were set up in the pilot three years ago. We felt that for the fans and for ourselves, if we're not going to go on beyond the eight, we wanted to have something that would work as a series finale, and not just walk away after what happened with the cliffhanger.
"I think it's one of our best episodes," Bilson states proudly.
"I think that the final episode that Danny directed opens the door for the show to go on in a completely different direction," adds Burgi.
Provided that UPN realizes the acute good sense of commissioning a fifth season of the show, Richard Burgi, Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo will be able to start scouting those new directions for The Sentinel later this year.
(Thanks Michelle)
IT'S ABOUT FRIENDSHIP - June 2
Translation from Tevel
Israeli TV Guide
It's About Friendship
Personal Opinion
by Sari ShineWhen I was a little girl, about 100 years ago, Israel Television was in its infancy and offered only two-and-a-half series on its schedule: a British series, the Mabat newscast, and Hawaii 5-0. There wasn't anyone who wasn't familiar with the phrase: "Book 'im, Dano!" Times have changed, the offerings on television have grown, and the fall season of American television is no longer so distant and inaccessible. The series that will entertain American audiences in the fall will arrive here during the winter. The networks have just issued "the list" - Who is continuing for another season? Who is canceled? Who is joining the schedule? And the "ratings" float over all of these decisions like a cloud, the determining pretext.
One of the series that was taken off this season was the charming show The Sentinel, starring Richard Burgi and Garett Maggart. The UPN network had already decided to remove Sentinel after its third season. Why? Who knows. Perhaps the ratings were not sky high, but they certainly didn't warrant removing the show from the screen, certainly not in the opinion of its thousands of angry viewers, who were apparently skipped over when they calculated the ratings.
Thousands of faithful fans bombarded the networks, Paramount and UPN, with protest letters. Apparently, this made the difference, and in a rare gesture, the network decided to return the show for a fourth season, but with only eight episodes. Why only eight? Who knows. The eight episodes were shown (hopefully we will see them soon), and during the course of these episodes, or perhaps even beforehand, the network decided that they would not renew the show for a fifth season. Continuing for a fifth season was apparently dependent on the success of the aforementioned eight episodes. And the ratings cloud floated over them all.
Aggressive public relations and promotion on screen, as is well-known, are crucial factors in the ratings of a series. The ratings for The Sentinel weren't spectacular, and the network, in a callous lack of caring, didn't do anything to promote this beloved series. Quite the opposite. Strangely enough, the show's time slot was switched, and it was forced to challenge, against all odds, the trendy and highly-rated show, Ally McBeal. Did UPN ever have any intention of returning The Sentinel to the screen? Did it give us the eight episodes merely to calm the faithful fans for a while? And now what?
If, indeed, they returned the series because of thousands of letters, then why have they taken the series off now? Politics? Perhaps! Can any one really understand the path of the decisions making? What exactly do they think happened to all those thousands of viewers, who are once again disappointed and hurt? Their opinions don't count anymore? Or is it that their opinion didn't carry as much weight as we thought? Who knows.
There are all types of television series. There are those you invite into your living room every so often, there are those you become friends with. The Sentinel was one of those series that make you feel good. It had everything: drama, action, entertainment, the right dose of science fiction in the form of Jim Ellison, the cop with the hyperactive senses. The wonderful Richard Burgi as Jim Ellison succeeded in using his fine acting skills to make a good script great, and Garett Maggart couldn't have been a better choice to play Blair, his anthropologist friend and partner.
Several weeks ago, a chat session was held on the Internet with the two stars. The chat was held before the broadcast of the last episode of the fourth season - and the last episode, period, for the time being. Thousands of distraught fans participated in the chat. The two actors, who are also full of humor and warmth towards their fans in their private lives, were quite entertaining, but it was impossible to shake the feeling of great despair felt by the viewers who bid the series farewell over the Internet. "Our role as actors is to entertain, and I hope that we did so as best as we could," said Burgi at the end of the chat. And indeed, he did.
In the midst of all the farewells there was still a feeling of optimism, that the Sci-Fi cable network would show The Sentinel in re-runs in its fall season, and perhaps even new episodes would be made. Faithful viewers are fixing their bayonets towards the network in an effort to influence their decision, and fans in Israel are invited to join the fight by voicing their protest and support. [S.O.S link]
It's very rare to find a show that you truly like, and when you talk about The Sentinel every one knows that it's about friendship, and for friends you fight, so open your computers and let the fight begin.
(Thanks to Z and The Richard Burgi Fan Club)
ULTIMATE TV READERS SELECT FAV DEPARTED SERIES - Jun 2
From Ultimate TV
Series finales of TV favorites like ABC's Home Improvement and NBC's Mad About You pulled big ratings as fans bid farewell to two of the series that enjoyed great success during the 90s. TV also said goodbye to several other series as the '98-'99 TV season came to a close last week.
UltimateTV asked TV fans which departing series they would miss the most and here is how they responded: 2% said, "Sister, Sister Come 'Back, Back;'" 7% said, "I want more Nanny;" 9% said, "I'm still mad for Mad About You;" 9% said, "Melrose Place, of course;" 15% said, "Home Improvement is the best;" a whopping 33% said, "Where's my Sentinel?" and 25% said, "Oh please! They Should All Rest in Peace!"