just twenty years ago a fledgling
network was launched with tried-and-true
programming from the earlier days of
television
I loved Twilight Zone I loved Outer
Limits they freak the bejesus out of me
spreading its wings the network picked
up beloved series abandoned elsewhere
the three of us have looked at the gate
for the first time in but whoa check
this out this is huge and began to fly
with new original programming that was
bold innovative and you need me
I think everyone thought it was far too
ambitious and that it was going to be
impossible
climbing higher and higher with
award-winning event miniseries they also
wanted to do something that was
surprisingly different and soared as the
reimagining of a 30-year old space opera
redefined the genre
I remember edward james olmos telling us
during the miniseries kids this is gonna
go five years success built upon success
and new and different types of programs
propelled the network to new heights
this very limitless landscape where
anything could be possible but always
remained grounded by finding innovative
ways of exploring what it means to be
human science fiction allows us to
explore these issues in these metaphors
he requires a return to this childlike
sense of imagination leading to a bright
future of promising new types of
entertainment as hugely ambitious its
its insanely ambitious
show has no business being on television
for the last two decades there has been
one destination for imagination on
television a place to expand your mind
explore new frontiers and to imagine
greater
[Music]
the sci-fi channel exploded onto cable
television September 24 1990 - we're
still in Federation space Star Trek next
generation is on it speaking we have
that but you don't have the x-files yet
there's a void and when sci-fi arrives
it fills that void with mostly reruns
the Cartoon Network's getting started
the comedy channels are getting started
and so is the sci-fi channel it's
looking to have a niche looking for its
place on all the cable systems all
across the country and eventually the
world but doing it because it's tapping
into a deep love of a certain type of
entertainment it was going to be
basically a place to watch the classics
battle for the Planet of the Apes a week
of simian superiority hosted by Roddy
McDowall place to play movies the Star
Wars trilogy aired their famously at one
point early on in its life there are
some shows that they produced the news
of sci-fi you know those kind of things
we think about Nick at night and TV land
and those kind of networks and the fact
that it makes sense for there to be a
sci-fi nostalgia channel in sci-fi
channels early years they concentrated
obviously on reruns of classic
science-fiction programming you're
traveling through another dimension a
dimension not only of sight and sound
but of mind a journey into a wondrous
land whose boundaries are that of
imagination
that's the signpost up ahead your next
stop the twilight zone
there's something that's all
encompassing about the twilight zone all
the big questions and mysteries of life
and put it all together in a fantastic
framework and make it also very
accessible digestible and entertaining
that is to me the epitome of what great
television can be and that epitomizes I
think the mission statement of something
like a sci-fi channel in the beginning
there was this freewheeling anarchy
because they didn't have a template most
of the programming were acquisitions
reruns foreign pieces experimental
pieces that kind of thing in the early
years the sci-fi channel picked up
programming that had been cancelled by
its original network coming from Comedy
Central Mystery Science Theater 3000 was
one of the first the scholnik mst3k was
a perfect show to rescue because it
wouldn't cost anybody very much money to
just film that thing but it was great
fun and it fit the brand now what you're
thinking and no looting this time when
Fox cancelled fan favorite sliders in
the third season sci-fi picked it up and
continued for two more years I have this
massive massive fan of sliders the
acquisitions that they got a shows like
sliders and Andromeda it fit the brand
for sure and they're not like a regular
network I mean these were the only shows
they were producing to sci-fi channel
came in
they worked out okay this is how it's
gonna work we get the first run on it
and then wherever you air it on your
other channels they get the second run
on it that show should have been on Sci
Fi from the start it becomes
economically feasible for them to rescue
these shows and also helped establish
the brand as a place to watch your
favorites be able to have a continued
life that they weren't able to get some
of them continue just one or two more
seasons like sliders some have continued
on almost indefinitely like the Stargate
brand
it was Stargate sg-1 that helped
establish the fledgling sci-fi channel
as a new voice in original programming
Stargate which began on pay cable on on
Showtime ran for five years totally
respectable run showtime was done with
it but the people who made the show and
the fans who loved the show weren't done
with it yet and so sci-fi comes in says
we'll provide you a safe haven we had
two lives two full lines really five
years is a long time for any television
show you get beyond 200 episodes here in
rarified air the fact that we moved to a
new network gave us a renewed energy
that network now it was invested in us
that helped boost the show the reruns
played really well on the sci-fi channel
there was a point in time in season 67
where we were we were the show that was
on site if you clicked a sci-fi chances
were Stargate was on we came in at a
time that they were also going through
some transitions growing in terms of
their own internal machine and figuring
out not just how to produce a show but
also how to market a show and get a show
like ours out on the air he was such an
ambitious show from production
standpoint and from a creative
standpoint it took a little while for us
to figure out what we could and couldn't
do and also figure out the tone of the
characters there was always fun to be
had among the group it really translated
through the shows I can remember when we
first started how Rick was playing
O'Neill when Richard Dean Anderson
became
the idea of doing a completely
straightforward serious military science
fiction series went out the window
because Rick doesn't do that they're not
human you think Rick is Rick he is funny
it just can't help himself he wasn't
going to take on that kind of level of
stoic arch character for any length of
time because that's just not him
sometimes I just look in about what do
you do like but he from day one got that
the O'Neil character had to have a sense
of humor he wanted to drag his character
over in that direction to be more this
sort of humorous goofball kind of you
know airhead the Jack O'Neill character
was slightly befuddled but still you
know very much in command and would
maybe ask me to explain things a little
bit further and you know by season 7 he
was like what what what
what what that was kind of it yeah it
was definitely a tongue-in-cheek
kind of show once he started to take
licensed and improvised and that gave
the other actors the only thing we could
do is improvise because we're off the
page now with Rick the script was kind
of just like the expiration date on milk
it was just a suggestion he was gonna
say what he's gonna say and do what he
was gonna do anyway so we might as well
make everything else work around him
you could play these great gravitas
moments as an actor and that he would
say something flip she wouldn't let me
go back and watch the cub to win the
World Series we were that close to the
giggle all the time just below the
surface how as much fun as possible tell
us many jokes you can time track each
other up and in the process if the day
happens to get done so be it despite the
fun when the show changed networks
Michael Shanks didn't come along for us
there seemed to be less and less a place
for the character I thought illness good
time to part ways I said to him on our
last meeting I said look here's what
we're gonna do you're gonna leave in a
way that you can come back we understood
Michaels decision and where it was
coming from and then found a way to make
it work to bring him back
Danny was resurrected naked it was like
Rob Cooper's payback for me leaving the
show in the first place March third like
in the morning in Vancouver where this
frost on the ground I have no idea how
many times Daniel actually died
I pretty much have died and
three-quarters of the things I've been
in but Daniel himself probably died it's
definitely over 20 but I'm not sure the
entire head count we joked about him
being nicknamed Kenny for southpark oh
my god Daniel just kept descending and
coming back and we just kept finding new
ways to kill him a lot of them died a
lot of times
speedy science fiction and the designers
of most of those deaths were the
colorful villains the main thrust of the
show for the longest time with a cold
race of people we believe were called
the gold Goa'uld really impossible to
pronounce every guest star who came on
the show said it different like a cooled
gold gold whoa this became this joke
who is gonna pronounce it the girl ha
who no one could ever say it I just like
when I called him the Gould but they
were like the go I would go out Chris
judge can say it a lot better than
everything the pronunciation of anything
gold or Joe or Jafar was was kind of up
to me tech Nikki tells talk to unit Ali
minutes Ron Gould yeah yeah that's right
the villains that were most fun of
course were the Replicators he had
pathes the hilarity of that characters
he almost suffered as many indignity as
as daniel did over the course the show
with his glowing eyes and burger guard
voice hey pops it's kind of comical a
lot of a time costume is very I mean you
know I drag queens dream later we had a
new nemesis called the or I they weren't
as kind of comic book II as ago he had
Julian Sands played when he was really
cool
in the latter season we had Adria played
by the lovely Miranda Baccarin at the
end of season seven of sg-1 the
producers had a plan to continue the
franchise at the end of season seven was
a lost city which was sort of an
introduction to Atlantis
with a few adjustments that could have
been a series finale it's very rare for
astro to go beyond seven seasons very
rare we had conceived a complicated
scenario in which we would essentially
hand the ball off from sg-1 to Atlantis
never in a million years did it occur to
us to try and produce 40 episodes of
television a year wouldn't be pitched
Atlantis in fact I thought it was as a
transition they said both anyone are you
crazy
I said can you do it we kind of thought
about it for two seconds and said sure
of course we can do that I was actually
going to move to Atlantis because we
didn't know if we'd be renewed Daniel
and Jack's first interaction in that
show was to pass the baton over to these
people and take all the sort of build-up
that we had done for the first seven
years and hand it off to them and have
them take the ball and run with it -
Atlantis - shows managed to co-exist for
three years and on the same line I can't
believe we managed to do that for three
years but we did after ten seasons of
sg-1 they pulled the plug on the
flagship series we actually found out
while we were filming the 200th episode
which other than that was like the most
glorious week we'd ever had on said it
was just a magical week and then we find
out we're cancelled
that's showbiz that's amazing and every
year we were sort of blown away that we
kept getting picked up and when it was
finally over it was like no way come on
it was the end of a large chapter of a
lot of our lives
he made sure that they boarded it so
that the last scene of the last episode
was going to be shot on the last day and
on the last in the last shots
everyone just gathered in the gate room
as the team went through the gate for
the final time and a lot of people were
quite choked up I just bawled the rest
of the day I mean it was ridiculous
Michael and Christopher and I snuck
upstairs to the briefing room just the
three of us and we stood there and we
kind of put our arms around each other
and went well that happened at the end I
mean it was truly just a collective
celebration of what we had accomplished
[Music]
Stargate Atlantis would continue for two
years more but even after that show was
cancelled Stargate wasn't dead the
universe was born out of a desire by MGM
to have another Stargate brand of series
the network wanted it to be a different
show this is not your grandfather's
Stargate they wanted something more
visually different more viscerally
different less the adventure that
Stargate wasn't more of a drama whether
that was a mistake or not I'm still not
sure I still Stargate to me and it was
still a very strong shell I'm very proud
of us to you we wanted it to feel like
there was genuine jeopardy and human
struggle and to maybe a little bit a
little bit more reality maybe it wasn't
the best mix of franchise and tone but
you can understand why they did it
because Battlestar Galactica created so
much noise we will honestly work trying
to be balanced our galactic oh I love
the sophistication and the character
relationships this was something that we
all wanted to do
Stargate Universe only lasted two
seasons but the crew of sg-1 also
soldered on we knew at some point we
were gonna do the movies because I think
that was the thinking even from the
pilot that we wanted to do these
episodes and then start doing movies
continuum an arc of truth had been
incredibly successful from gen we
expected to do one or two a year of each
brand and just grow it out that one an
unforeseeable thing happened that bottom
fell right out of the DVD market it was
interesting that you could take that
name Stargate and create different shows
within the franchise and it was just a
completely powerful brand for sci-fi
it's on television constantly just flip
the dial star sorry sorry we're a show
that parents could watch with their kids
where those kids are now have their own
kids they have introduced their children
to it I cannot tell you how many mothers
and daughters or fathers and daughters
come up to me and say we watched your
show together that was our family night
dads who would say you know my daughter
was really inspired by your character we
never
gonna say okay done we're all going home
now we were never gonna do that because
we like to imagine that there will
always be a Stargate program somewhere
happening even right now even though
there's no Stargate on the air somewhere
maybe on the other side of the Moon is a
base where sg-1 whoever they are are off
doing their thing that's where the
character lives in my imagination is
continuing to travel continuing to to
journey and going those adventures
coming up next
I think everyone thought it was far too
ambitious and that it was meant to be
impossible
[Music]
in 1999 the sci-fi channel was still
finding its way it was the home of the
old and familiar and no one foresaw the
explosion of original creativity that
would come a sci-fi channel at the time
was still kind of a burgeoning infant it
wasn't really known as an original
programmer it was primarily known for
rerunning things and they were trying to
make a push into new material scripted
material some original programs were
developed at USA a sister network there
was this sort of programming doctrine at
the company to distinguish sci-fi
channel from USA Network that became
sort of counterintuitive to program
science fiction shows or science fiction
ideas on USA even if they had been
developed for USA the cult classic good
versus evil was one of these transfers
the concept of good versus evil was sort
of cops who worked for God another show
developed at USA was the Invisible Man
what was interesting to sort of get to
the idea of the power of invisibility
and how that could be used or abused the
special effects were obviously such a
huge portion of the show the
invisibility really was the diva of the
whole show as far as like how much
attention it got yeah but it was worth
the content of being the most fun part
of the show as well
other early original programming such as
welcome to paradox and mission Genesis
barely lasted a single season but sci-fi
was about to make their mark in the
genre Farscape was too sci-fi what Star
Trek was to broadcast television it was
a real shot across the bow we are
serious about doing great sci-fi
television
I've always contended that Farscape
wouldn't have existed unless television
had come up with exactly what we needed
which was a network totally devoted to
speculative fiction Brian Henson had an
agenda he wanted to prove that the
Henson Company could make really
high-end makeups on first turn around a
lot of the animatronic character and
creature techniques that we've been
doing in movies we wanted to bring to
television so we were looking for what
would be the coolest idea Rock wanted it
to be highbrow and literary and
something different something special
and something special is what sci-fi was
looking forward to all right we don't
understand the r2d2 craft we're gonna
use the Star Trek system one blink for
yes two blinks for no and I at that
point didn't know that sci-fi was even
thinking of commissioning original
programming like this and particularly
on this scale it was impressive the
courage took sci-fi to jump in and
Commission the show we had 13 episodes
ordered in the first block that was the
only way to make it viable given all the
sets and the creatures we had to build
was to have 13 episodes they just
totally could go for it we want to show
that pushes the envelope a sci-fi who's
really very bold in saying we love this
premise we're looking for something that
we could present as uniquely our own
what are you all looking at a vision
that shows the greater audience that
this is not a regular Network
suggestion I think everyone thought it
was far too ambitious and that it was
meant to be impossible producing the
show in Australia was one way to stretch
the budget the Australian financial
structure helped us to put a lot more
money on screen
it was the most ambitious project I
think Australia had ever seen in
television to that point I don't know if
the show could have been made anywhere
else the budget to do and have as much
of the production values end up on
screen as they did nobody knew where we
were the time zones were wrong once we
got there and discovered its incredible
pool of artisans behind the scenes were
just champion of the bit for chance to
ply their trade it would never have been
Farscape it would never have achieved
what had achieved without those people
it wasn't us
it was actually them we made it a
democracy and voting would decide what
went in the show I don't know how that
will ever be recreated somewhere the
finances of television and film don't
allow for that kind of anarchy it was a
collective process directors had ideas
riders had ideas sometimes actors have
ideas but literally right down to the
grips the sound guys the caterer if they
had a really good idea we then did sort
of an amazing thing on set all the time
all the way through Farscape if a set
looked ridiculous he would try to put it
in the dialogue he always found clever
ways to embellish add change alter
everything I have seen so far is
despicable
welcome to the Federation starship SS
buttcrack
Crichton is proxy for the audience in
the vast unknown distant universe he's
the one that knows the references that
they know I don't want to stoop that low
Kirk runs a little it was a television
show John he is actually a science
fiction geek he is that generation that
watched Star Trek and then went I want
to be an astronaut but one of the most
exciting parts of the show were the
amazing creatures created by the Jim
Henson Company
these are million-dollar creations we
had a couple of rattles we had the
actual mechanical right or that was
full-service all working and then we had
a doll version that we could kind of
throw over cliffs and I think we did
that quite regularly you don't have five
of them you have one of them so we had
some unit ations like Rigel didn't get
to go swimming he was like our little
diver on set we could we had to be
really careful with right George
I know buddy's pumped the actors are
very aware of all the operation of and
all that and we're very hands-off and
kept their distance and it was Ben
Browder who one day actually put his
hands on Rigel it just totally worked it
just imbued Rigel because he could react
to that he needs help
lots of help I don't think the mind
cleansing is working smack the puppet
and people laugh the puppet smacks you
it's even funnier it's a very bold thing
for him to do as an actor and stroke of
genius because it kind of changed the
game for everybody
the kids would come to set children of
the people working on the show they
would never look at the six puppeteers
on the ground they would look dead in
the eyes of the puppet and it was so
touching really sort of melted my heart
to see how important imagination is to a
kid and how they live in that world
where they wanted to believe that the
creature was real wasn't hard for the
actors though either to believe that
these creatures were real because they
were so beautifully designed now it's
impossible to watch the show and not
just think of them as characters you
really do think of them as other members
of the crew whatever you've heard forget
it
critically the show was a smash yet the
reviews were really really positive it's
a little bit more brutal than the other
science fiction as well as it's a little
more sexy and it's a little more
emotional and the characters are a
little less stable despite critical
acclaim Farscape couldn't last sci-fi I
don't think wanted to cancel us at least
that's what we were told we were
wrapping the day of season four thinking
we automatically had a season five when
I got the word from Brian there would be
no season five finally we see John
Crichton proposed on a boat to Aeryn Sun
only to have them both be killed
[Music]
that was potentially going to be the end
of Farscape forever we can't change what
we're doing so we'll just leave it with
a cliffhanger and we'll leave the to be
continued
sci-fi had the option they could have
cut those last two minutes off and let
the episode finish was Crichton an heir
and they're gonna get married and live
happily ever after
they understood how we found and they
also understood that was always the
unpredictability of Farscape was always
the appeal we were sad for the fans we
were sad for everyone who worked on the
show because we were a family the cast
and crew at that point there were grips
big burly hairy guys crying over the
cancellation of the show because of the
crew was invested in this show all the
people who worked in the Creature Shop
the makeup artists the lighting guys
straight down to the set nurse were
emotionally invested in making this
piece of art there was a massive
response from the fans and I think
really this show was on that first wave
of the internet becoming a very powerful
tool for audiences I was shocked I could
not believe it I cried
they sent protesting media outlets so
that I ended up being on CNN discussing
the fan outrage they were very creative
in their protest the fans just joined us
in kind of a big streak of not now this
is not the time for the stand the
passionate nature of the fans was a
positive that showed everybody wow these
people care it isn't just the TV show
that they're clicking on these people
have invested something in the show
[Music]
the fan response led to a four-hour
miniseries to wrap up the story Brian
Henson said were it not for the power of
these fans we would not have been able
to make peacekeeper Wars it was someone
from outside of the normal Hollywood
circles that brought this investor money
to Brian and said we want to see at the
end of the story they did finance a very
lavish miniseries to finish the series
properly and to tell if the final story
the way we really wanted to peacekeeper
Wars I'm certain allowed us to get this
group and troupe to a good place where
we can complete kind of the first cycle
on Farscape
there's been a comic book series that
we've done that's been very successful
there's always talk of rekindling the
show in some incarnation with us online
or even features I don't believe far as
Ava's done I still don't but I think
there's a bigger audience out there for
first cape than we that we really know
even to this day
let's see that every day coming up next
Beaver face leasing sharks take out the
Jersey Shore cast and that's like a wish
fulfillment fantasy for many people
[Music]
Syfy's original miniseries are always
huge events whether produced by
world-renowned filmmakers inspired by
classic literature or adapted from
famous genre novels the sci-fi
miniseries has become a grand tradition
dune is considered such a classic
because the themes that Frank Herbert
was dealing with seemed to be pretty
Universal and they outlive the era in
which it was originally written I think
taking on a project like dune was a kind
of thing that they need to do and needed
to do to prove that they were serious
about science fiction it got huge
ratings it was very successful and the
ratings actually went up night after
night it ended up winning Emmys well as
soon as the first one aired they wanted
the next one right away so I pitched the
idea that we could take the next two
books and turn them into another
six-hour miniseries hugely successful
overseas another Emmy winning miniseries
for the sci-fi channel the environment
changes the technology changes but we're
still people it's not necessarily about
space travel it's about how all of those
things affect the human condition the
miniseries taken was an amazing moment
for them it was such an ambitious
project had Steven Spielberg's name
attached it wanted to do something that
was surprising and different
and push the boundaries was a really
good idea for a miniseries
multi-generational covered like from the
40s to the 2000s as in many ways kind of
Spielberg's ending to like 18 Close
Encounters it was kind of like the third
chapter his storytelling of alien life
where do they exist yes they do exist
and and this is how it would be in a won
the miniseries Emmy for that year I mean
you think that's the kind of thing only
HBO does I mean how in the world is
sci-fi when an Emmy for Best miniseries
all their event got tremendous ratings
well they had to I mean to justify the
enormous effort and expense they make
these miniseries whether it's based on a
literary classic like dune or exploding
a literary classic like they did with
The Wizard of Oz with 10-man that is
again part of their mission sci-fi
continued to produce quality miniseries
such as River world earth see the lost
room and the Triangle
but their most popular event miniseries
have come from partnering with Robert
Halmi senior on reimagined classics from
literature he really admires the
classics and so he has jumped remaking
them over and over again the sci-fi
Network they have come at they're
reimagining from a position of
modern-day fantasy and science fiction
they can take ancient worlds and set
them in the future or in modern day and
by doing that they bring them to life
all over again it's an all Maj and I
think it's tipping a hat and I think
it's bringing these classic stories to a
new audience and a new generation who
might not necessarily have been exposed
to them such as with the Wizard of Oz
you do 10-man the show itself was so
edgy and sort of almost steampunk ish
and really bizarre we kind of ended up
developing this Edwardian cyberpunk look
which had one foot in the original
material of The Wizard of Oz and the
other foot in something more modern and
daring and new it was very well received
and I think that's another indication
that we had done something new fresh and
different we got nominated for nine
Emmys they've continued that path with
turning Alice and wonderland on its head
it was 150 years later and this was
Alice Hamilton coming back to the same
Wonderland and now Wonderland has become
this entirely different beast just as
we've evolved over that time so to his
Wonderland and where is it now these
aren't safe fantasies that they that
they present so you've taken the comfort
zone of Wizard of Oz and you've sort of
exploded it out into this really weird
and jagged kind of a world they create
with something like ten man and that's
become the template for some of their
things and they've done it with Peter
Pan most recently with Neverland again
telling a different kind of a story it's
a story that's been done many many times
before one thing I've never seen is
where he came from
they had cause this guy Peter and this
perhaps tells you something else about
the sci-fi Network is that they want to
move on to do something entirely
different on the other end of the
spectrum from the lavish miniseries
events are the Saturday original movies
it's the most dangerous on on television
for many of us the most ridiculous night
on television I'm actually really loving
the Saturday night movies with the
original movies now you get the feeling
that someone it's sci-fi or sitting in a
room doing Mad Libs
they're taking let's see Debbie Gibson
and sharks and zombies and let's put all
these things together they appeal to the
sci-fi original is is that they don't
take themselves super seriously they're
meant to be cheesy and campy and
ridiculous with monsters like Sharktopus
they know what they are you're not
watching it going like they did that
wrong no that's not that science is
factually incorrect I love that stuff
and the fact that you know it's always
winking at you and you're along for the
ride is amazing the audience that those
things actually have where people either
love to watch actors suffer or love to
have a good chuckle while they watch
them if you make these things outrageous
yeah you know like Tiffany versus Debbie
Gibson it's so ridiculous that you
actually get people tuning in at Jersey
Shore shark attack I mean who wouldn't
want to see that because really you're
basically seeing sharks take out the
Jersey Shore cast and that's like a wish
fulfillment fantasy for many people
there's just such a sweet spot the
entertainment of a monster movie in that
the stakes are real enough that it's
scary but also preposterous enough then
it's fun to watch I don't know if people
watch these films to laugh at them but
the titles indicate that they shouldn't
be taken too seriously it reminds you of
that kind of drive-in mentality that is
also part of one's affection for the
sci-fi brand I had made a picture called
Dyna Croc and they said the
have another one what we want is
something similar but a slightly
different title and I said did I say
Dynacraft - I meant of course super
Gator but Roger wasn't sure about a
title sci-fi suggested to him I have a
theory that you go up to a certain level
of insanity and the audience is with you
you go over the acceptable level of
insanity and the audience's hope what is
that I was wrong the acceptable level of
insanity is higher than I thought
because shocktopus got the highest
rating of all I like the ones that blend
names like like Dino shark and Dino croc
think they figured out that sort of the
dinosaur thing works the shark thing
works and I think people do have a
giggle at the Dino shark come on that's
so funny
just the name how can you not be there
for a chuckle just called mega snake
[Music]
they take these outrageous ideas and
they put them together and have actually
amazing actors play against them I have
done two Syfy original movies and I am
proud of them
I just did my third original sci-fi
movie they sucked me in a few times they
sucked me in a few times because I'll
read that script I'll go that's not bad
I like that why did I do that a sci-fi
creature feature I owed the Mafia some
money - that was an excuse for a while I
get to hang out with Roger Corman this
is gonna be the funniest thing I've ever
done I've always been a huge horror fan
all the great b-movie horror movies and
I wanted to be a part of it I had to
like fly off a jet ski I throw a grenade
and my jet ski hits a wave and I have to
like fly through the air to kill the
monster shark and I'm trying to shut it
fear I'm like so it's like a stunt guy
gonna do this like how are we gonna do
this and you know magic was well no era
you will thrive the jet ski at a boat
the crew is you know mostly from you
know local guys from Puerto Verta and
they're all just like hey that's gonna
be cool man there was triassic attack
directed by mr. Colin Ferguson I tricked
Syfy they letting me direct my other
movies I agreed to act in Lake Placid
for in exchange for directing the movie
that was next on the slave there's
somewhat cheesy at times but as an actor
you go into it and you fully commit and
you pretend that everything is real no
that is kind of silly but don't play it
syllable I think that's what makes them
successful do i watch the movie at times
and kind of cringe and go oh yeah maybe
a little bit I will see
and arctic blast swarmed and lost
treasure of the Grand Canyon till I die
coming up next they're talking about
everything that's wrong with our society
in the world right now and they're
getting away with doing it in a very
political way because it's science
fiction
[Music]
sometimes the planets align and
greatness can arise from the unlikeliest
of sources in 2004 that happened for
sci-fi with the reimagining of a 30-year
old space opera sometimes when you put
your neck out and try something is when
you get something fabulous really is
about catching lightning in a bottle
there is this freedom that battlestar
had because everybody dismissed us
because we were science fiction sci-fi
channel was exceedingly loose in terms
of what they allowed us to do and
actually invited us they did not really
care what we did with the original
Battlestar Galactica
I think they saw it primarily as a title
that was recognizable and that they
could mark it there was a wealth of
space opera on the air and so the
immediate question was why does the
world need another one the show that was
predicated on this idea of the
destruction of the human race and this
massive genocide that takes place in the
pilot and that the show is about the
survivors that escape and run off into
the night and are pursued by the enemies
this is the commander moments ago this
ship received word of a Cylon attack
against our home worlds is underway I
started thinking about it from a more
old-fashioned standpoint what the
original science fiction writers like
Asimov and Heinlein and philip k dick
had done with the genre as a metaphor
for contemporary society in January or
February of 2002 just a few months after
the 9/11 attacks I realized immediately
that if I retold this story today they
would having a completely different
emotional context from the audience and
it would be a powerful metaphor for the
world that we were living in right now
and we could do a science fiction piece
that was relevant to today that could
comment on things we were going through
as a society and I thought that was a
powerful powerful opportunity we could
go there further with discussions on
abortion discussions on suicide bombings
who's the bad side and who's the good
side they're talking about everything
that's wrong with our society in the
world right now but everything that's
current and they're getting away with
doing it in a very political way because
it's science fiction
you could see in the miniseries that
this was not juvenile escapism I mean it
was about a civilization getting
annihilated and then having to reinvent
themselves you couldn't do all that in a
real political social context but you
can do it in sci-fi and in really good
sci-fi people will actually get it
believe it and start debating and
talking about are you alive
yes even if it's a robot it's still a
being it still has a mind and it still
thinks it's not being told what to do so
I think we kind of always approached it
in in a basic humanistic way the
decision to change the Cylons into
something altogether different from what
the original show had done was very much
a kind of simultaneous conclusion that
was driven both by pragmatism and by a
creative agenda at the same time we also
knew that from a digital effects
standpoint we weren't gonna be able to
create authentic looking robots
reasonably within the budgets that we
were gonna have and certainly putting
guys in suits wasn't an option so making
the Cylons look like us
seemed like a masterstroke thanks if we
go that route let's embrace that let's
say there's a fundamental reason why
they look like human beings why would
you do that well maybe it's because the
humans created them in the first place
maybe they're really angry with us for
creating that way
and maybe they consider us to be their
parents and they're angry at their
parents and there's a dynamic we start
to play where they're the children of
humanity striking back against their
parents the treated him badly God loved
you more than all other living creatures
and you repaid his divine love with sin
with hate corruption
evil so then he decided to create the
Cylons now there's all these layers that
I can play and that's great but it all
kind of came from a very practical
production problem if you can make your
villain is interesting as your hero if
you can make your villain as sympathetic
as your hero then you've got some
interesting drama to show everyone what
they intended the creators added a
manifesto to the pilot script the
manifesto was a mission statement that
said here's what we're intending to do I
kind of went through what the philosophy
of the show was you know our goal is
nothing less than the reinvention of the
science fiction television series a
world where science fiction the bells
and whistles and the escapist aspects of
science fiction are muted in favor of
emotional realism and a believability
almost as though you were watching a
documentary that took place in space I
was blown away by the foot spur of
someone starting off his pilot script
with a manifesto Edward James Olmos
would later reveal to me that he never
would have turned past page one if he
hadn't read that top sheet the best
thing we can do is get this ship into
the fight Edward James Olmos tis truly a
phenomenally beautiful human being he
took this job and I think that is a
large part of why it was successful he
knew that we had something special from
the day we showed up he told us we were
making serious television when you know
an Academy Award nominee he tells you
that this sci-fi show called Battlestar
Galactica is serious television first of
all you think he's you know he's out to
lunch to Paris
when you look in his eyes and you see
the conviction you saw that he was
taking it that seriously and it made us
take it seriously and don't you dare
forget that that importance was
recognized by the world both critically
and as a cultural milestone I was very
humbled and tremendously honored by the
acclaim that the show got the UN summit
was such a heady experience
representatives from the United Nations
came and spoke along with cast members
and creators of the show to talk about
what we can learn from the show there's
but one race and that is it so say we
all you know literally went to the UN
and talked about real-life terrorism
adages betrayal of terrorism of media
they were really like interesting
fascinating topics we were talking about
things that were important and things
that were related to the nation's
mission and that this was an opportunity
to sort of bring people into that
conversation by using this pop cultural
show I can't believe that we're being
recognized for this show about running
around shooting robots we got a Hugo
Award we won the FI award a couple of
years Merricks Crick's Awards I mean the
show was showered with critical acclaim
and awards which was very very
gratifying galactic won a Peabody they
rule it's you know the award and
television and the business and suddenly
we were we had scored it it was really
an extraordinary moment it's just an a
tribute to how different this was as a
science fiction show and how creative
and inventive and how good it was and I
think that that was that kind of first
moment where I realized that we were
actually doing something that mattered
it's fun seeing Battlestar referenced in
pop culture I love it when Katee
Sackhoff goes on sitcom
Salma Hayek showing up on 30 rock with a
frack t-shirt I'm so sorry to tell you
such a dark tale while wearing such a
silly t-shirt now we've really arrived
that's that's fantastic
frack was the best invention ever the
fraks sakes the thing I love about it is
that you don't have to have pilots
fighter pilots going forget you doc you
like what frak me
frack was incredibly difficult for us
because it made no sense I mean same
frack sounded like a foreign language I
used to have to do the scene one time
with the f-word in it to figure out how
it would be said in that moment and then
put frack in on every subsequent take
and we got so good at it it was
basically used in every verbal and
grammatical context it could be
biological did you track her it could be
an expletive Oh Frank
she fracked them are you frakking
kidding me I'm gonna frak you up let's
frack I frakked him frack you frack
affect this number times in 10 episodes
used it's probably more than any other
single word a time Battlestar Galactica
created a legacy and changed the
perception about what sci-fi could be I
think it's a show that's going to live
on because the social allegory and
everything is not just for that time
it's something that's gonna be continued
to be able to be watched and enjoyed it
was the most satisfying experience I've
ever had professionally and creatively
and I'm very very lucky to have fallen
into a situation where I was allowed to
help create something like this but I
never tire of hearing that someone's
just discovered Battlestar Galactica
more people are looking at it watching
it today than ever watched it when it
was on the air it's got one of those
shelf lives that doesn't seem to end
the follow-up to Battlestar Galactica
was a prequel about the rise of the
Cylons Caprica was a very respectable
thoughtful attempt to add another
chapter to the story but it wasn't the
chapter that a lot of people wanted was
always this idea of doing a best sort of
sci-fi soap you know kind of Dallas set
in the world of artificial intelligence
there was a very conscious effort to
make it different the Battlestar
here's a stand-in for a company like
Apple that's doing great creative
interesting technology and gadgets and
that watching that scientific progress
start to outstrip them morally and
ethically and where that is going to
pull them as a society this world's at
its greatest right before it implodes
when humanity can't grow as fast as
technology what happens at the core of
it was that the destruction of
civilization came from an angry teenage
girl I fucking hate you so much
disgusting cow yes I'm the first I'll
the end of the day it's still all a
fifteen-year-old girl trying to make a
point in life she was hiding a horrible
secret that she actually was a
self-loathing robot that was looking to
destroy all the other robots I felt like
there was such grandiose potential in
that show the children of humanity
[Music]
we have made such a big thing in the
press and in the creation of the show of
saying this is not Battlestar Galactica
forget about Battlestar this is not
Battlestars not Bowser started that
Battlestar fan said okay coming up it
doesn't have to be scripted to be sci-fi
this cemetery was three hours outside of
civilization deep deep in the desert you
gotta be honest
audiences are fascinated by the infinite
possibilities in the world whether it's
ghosts mysterious remote locations or
testing the limits of their own
capabilities and reality television can
play a part and stretching the
imagination they have a full week of
programming to fill they can't do it all
with scripted programming not even ABC
NBC and CBS can fill an entire schedule
nowadays you need to have a blend of
reality and it has to stay on brand I
think reality shows that touch on
aspects of filmmaking storytelling with
prosthetics or reality shows about
ghosts or houses I think it's all still
storytelling these are reality concepts
that are working and they found a way to
sort of led them to the world of sci-fi
and fantasy
whether it's collectibles whether it's
sci-fi makeup whether it's sci-fi set
design and a competition kind of a
series whether it's paranormal kind of
storytelling where people go into real
places and people tell their real
stories one of the first reality shows
on sci-fi was crossing over with John
Edward a lot of people questioned why I
was going on the sci-fi channel to do my
work and it's funny I have great
Opposition in every place because people
are like you're taking what you've
worked so hard to bring credibility and
integrity to and you're going on the
science-fiction channel like everybody
would emphasize the fiction of sci-fi I
went yes but I'm getting the opportunity
to do what I do in a non TV way Michael
Logan from TV Guide
Rodan oracle and crossing it over
started and said dude how do you feel
about launching a paranormal genre I
left I thought he was crazy I have to
say I think he was pretty precognitive
paranormal shows exploded in popularity
and the longest-running is ghost hunters
ghost hunters I find amazing because I
love all of that and I really really
hope that ghosts do exist it's such a
phenomenon how that show does so well
based on the WOWT quality which for
anybody who's not savvy is what was that
[Music]
it was definitely a weird mix having a
sci-fi channel and Ghost Hunters but
honestly I think it's been a great
relationship that's lasted nine years
and it is still going strong over 80% of
the time most claims can be disproved a
lot of times the claims that people give
us worry about as simple things from
electricity issues down to plumbing
issues we've dealt with people who were
mixing old prescriptions with a new
prescription creating hallucinogens
every investigation has that personal
connection where as long as you're able
to figure out what's going on and you
can bring some answers or some closure
to the homeowner or the business owner
and the ghost hunters use
state-of-the-art technology in their
investigations we're using everything
from electromagnetic field detectors
which can pick up high magnetic fields
right down to zero Lux cameras can see
in total darkness there's just an
endless amount of equipment that we're
using these days and that equipment has
helped uncover some startling phenomena
we were able to catch what appeared to
be a child running across the hallway at
Waverly Hills we were able to catch what
appeared to be somebody walking right in
front of us at the Samuel Mudd house
some of the best evidence I've caught in
the time doing the shell has been the
glass shattering from the inside out in
my hotel room at the Stanley Hotel drank
another one I've seen st. Augustine
lighthouse was another phenomenal
experience that we were able to catch
some incredible evidence other members
of the sci-fi family have helped in the
ghost hunt we've had the chance to work
with a lot of great celebrities we went
to this abandoned train station and I
was genuinely terrified because I
believed in that stuff and I was just
down like I wasn't down to find some
ghosts so if I asked me to go co-host
the Halloween ghost hunters live special
which was really nerve-racking but great
we've enjoyed when we've had a chance to
do the live episodes the interaction
with the fans is phenomenal a show that
complements ghost hunters brings a new
flavor to world travel Destination Truth
really was one of the first shows I
think on sci-fi that really stepped
outside of that traditional what you
thought of when you thought of the
sci-fi brand the channel really wanted
to make a show that could maybe sit
alongside Ghost Hunters that would be
somewhat paranormal but that would have
a really unique flavor and would
approach these stories in a unique way
whether you believe that the creature is
real the story is real but these are
people who really had an experience and
that's the hook that's what we want to
go find is what happened to these folks
what did they say there have been a lot
of episodes of Destination Truth we're
at the end we can say you know that's a
bear that's a crocodile that's a snake
and there are a lot of episodes where we
can't do that and that's okay by me the
whole point of the series is to expose
our viewers to these very very
interesting stories hopefully to get
people excited about travel and about
adventure you're not gonna be able to
throw a net over Bigfoot at the end of
every episode the show is really about
going to these places where folks have
had these experiences and see if we can
substantiate them for ourselves or maybe
explain them away and Josh has brought
along other sci-fi stars on his travels
we've had some great guests on
Destination Truth we've had allison
scagliotti from warehouse 13 has been on
which was amazing she came with to join
us in the field in Chile this cemetery
was three hours outside of civilization
deep deep in the desert
Josh gates my main man told me on camera
okay so gonna sit here with the camera
on you and a walkie-talkie in the dark
and I was like what now I just heard a
voice it was so it was just I mean
pitch-black infrared camera and about I
don't know 20 minutes and I got a weird
feeling Josh said he saw something on
the monitor over my shoulder I refused
to turn around I feel a really strong
presence behind me you guys I'm ready
for this to be over I was like guys come
on get me out of this I'm done it's over
that's curious but paranormal isn't the
only type of reality show on sci-fi
whether it's hidden camera behind the
scenes of filmmaking or game shows with
a twist
sci-fi brings a new direction to genre
television the show's I particularly
like are these competition series that
they've done the one that Stan Lee they
were trying to create your own superhero
I love that show it was so full of
imagination it's mainstream television
fused to the sci-fi Sensibility scare
tactics was a sci-fi his first kind of
foray into the hidden cameras Janvrin
we try to shoot our show like little
individual horror films
and to remind people of maybe some of
their favorite scary movies anything
with a monster or Bigfoot or vampire in
it it's not really a scary show for the
audience it's scary for the one person
who's in the bit who doesn't know what's
going on scare tactics is a comedy show
we went to Tracy Morgan as the host of
scare tactics where friends get friends
and you get hurt because we wanted to
embrace I guess our comedy side and
really say hey come and watch this
people are in scary situations but it's
funny
the idea of scare tactics is it's a
roller coaster ride and at the end of it
we want you to get off and go wow that
was fun let's do it again one of the
most popular sci-fi programs delves into
the secrets of moviemaking magic face
off is one of the great ones when you've
got a full creature created in front of
you created out of just whole cloth it's
pretty inspiring face off is really cool
god I wish I could do that the things
that they are able to do I can really
put mascara on and you think it's a
really really smartly conceived show and
Bravo it's a sci-fi for creating it and
also for recognizing that it would be a
cool idea
it is it's the search for the next great
name in movie magic
we've had several contestants go on to
do other things here we have a reality
show but people are actually getting
employed after this and they're not
always the winner which is also a
beautiful thing to say what these
contestants pull off in 15 is 17 hours
is outstanding I mean it really is
amazing and it does push them above and
beyond face off doesn't dive into drama
or the reality of what goes on in the
house because they're more focused on
the artistry and the craft of what's
happening it's a show about creativity
and you see what they can create are
these time deadlines and you are
awestruck I've been approached several
times by parents
I've said thank you thank you for having
a show like face-off on air because now
my son or daughter knows what they want
to do when they grow up and I love
seeing that fire igniting a child really
does feel like you're an insider in the
world you have made a contract to come
into when you go into the sci-fi world a
game show that makes contestants battle
their own imaginations also fits the
sci-fi mold there's something that
happens when you turn off the lights and
you see people in the dark and how
they're freaking out I could watch that
for hours it's Punk'd meets fear factor
in pitch-black darkness air
kitty-kitty-kitty the show is famous for
its reaction there was a particular
episode the contestants had to move down
a line and smell different objects one
of the objects might have been blue
cheese full second thing might have been
shoe polish and the third thing was kind
of peculiar oh that smells like ass
nailed it
just like the clip that plays everywhere
before all the contestants go in I want
your mind is your worst enemy your
imagination is your biggest foe in this
competition some listen something your
imagination is infinite and this is a
game show that essentially takes your
imagination and makes it your enemy
apparently it was the number one
unscripted show to debut on Syfy
the genre lovers have also been
memorabilia lovers oh my god so sci-fi
shows us the highs and lows of
collecting I have a show on sci-fi
called Hollywood treasure the dock
reality series were I travel the world
hunting down Hollywood's lost treasures
it's amazing that you kept this stuff
you're meeting filmmakers directors
writers producers he's seeing where
these items came from a really iconic
pieces of Hollywood history you're
seeing the process that we go through to
authenticate them sometimes repair them
restore them and eventually sell them so
the best entertainment involves
stretching the imagination to new
heights
and these different types of reality
shows allow us to do just that what they
have built is a more inclusive brand
that makes room for all these things
that were already there fantasy and
horror and paranormal and an imagination
based programming that feels organically
natural but that I think needed a bit
more room to breathe coming up next we
walk a tightrope consistently between
dramatic and comic not phony episodes
but moments
the increase in original reality
programming was part of an ongoing
initiative to transform the nature of
the network sci-fi
not only changed the spelling of their
name but also launched new shows taking
us to places that may look familiar but
actually Harbor magical secrets there
was a lot of flack about going to sy FY
I think the hardcore classic fans of
science fiction were upset with that
terribly when they did it fine I
completely get it
it was very polarizing thing I remember
fans either were on board or they
thought it was insane people were making
fun of us saying it looked more like
Sippi I think the rebranding largely had
to do with getting away from this narrow
idea that science fiction is only space
based future based programming what they
have built is a more inclusive brand
that makes room for all these things
that were already there fantasy and
horror and paranormal and an imagination
based programming that feels organically
natural on the channel by giving
themselves a name that is new that isn't
wedded to tradition like say sci-fi with
the - that they don't have to be
traditional they can be anything they
want to be and it includes a reality is
somehow includes wrestling and their
branding of imagine greater which is it
could be anything in that regard as long
as it is something other something
extraordinary rebranding in a lot of
ways was just about including this stuff
that already was part of sci-fi these
things that were these imaginative
genres that fall under that big broad
sci-fi umbrella naturally the smart
thing they did was the rebranding was
done on the back of original programming
and they were very lucky that the night
that they rebranded the show they put on
the air as warehouse 13 which turned out
to be an instant hit for them
I like to think of it as America's attic
we became an emblem of their rebranding
and we did suddenly become their most
watched show in your history warehouse
13 is about finding magical historic
artifacts but really it's the characters
that have made it so popular this is a
show that you're gonna smile and you're
gonna have fun while you're watching it
[Music]
we walk a tightrope consistently between
dramatic and comic not only episodes but
moments trying to limit warehouse 13 -
is genre is impossible I mean I think
it's a great hybrid of adventure and
comedy and suspense and a little bit of
romance and mystery and at its core is a
family show
Marcia Renner calls it an adventure ah
MIDI the artifacts are all great they're
always gonna be there the sci-fi of it
is just in its bones you can't lose it
it's really a show about this family of
misfit toys do you care about these
people do you care about their lives you
care about how they feel about each
other
we are very much a family unit and with
the idea of family comes the words
lovingly dysfunctional we bicker but we
love each other
I never gonna hear the end of that how
many shows can you sit down with the
entire family and the younger members
can still enjoy it you know they love
Pete
they love Claudia and they love the
gadgets
I'm recognized maybe for Frasier or
Unforgiven or true romance Ron some of
the other bigger shows that I've done in
my career but now from a t28 they're
recognizing me from warehouse 13 I made
cookies it doesn't talk down to the kids
and it's still smart enough for the
adult
favorite artifacts I love them all it's
hard to pick a favorite cuz they're all
so magnificent
warehouse 13 has embraced the mash-up of
Victorian style and modern technology
known as steampunk steampunk is the meat
and potatoes of this show it's just
another layer of hip depending on if
you're standing in the nerd section or
in the college cheerleader section it's
just incredible how much work and
thought goes into the sets and the props
it's it really is incredible I think
about rheticus as compass a lot because
it's such a beautiful twelve thousand
dollar prop it was made out of like
solid brass or copper or Sun just so
complex yeah they're dealing with
artifacts and with supernatural events
and all that sort of a thing but there
is the banter there is the comedy there
is the action it is a show that plays
alongside any other kind of accessible
television welcome to warehouse 13 Syfy
allows you to explore bigger stories
because it's beyond the realm of soap
opera it's beyond the realm of crime of
the week warehouse 13's mix of adventure
and whimsy have endeared it to audiences
but blazing the comedy trail was the
show about a town full of quirky
geniuses Eureka was the same way Eureka
had a light tone the notes that we were
getting especially first season were
don't be funny
we got a problem don't play it funny
it's not a funny show this is a serious
show but if you get people like Colin
there it's very hard to just make
something completely seriously problem
so like someone like myself like just
the whole cast basically injected as
much comedy as we could aim to the show
to the point where season two they were
like for your consideration any people
the best quality series they said we you
know we do this space and aliens thing
but wouldn't it be great if we could
also have a terrestrial show no space no
aliens and have that also be considered
and embraced by the sci-fi phantom and
so that's what we were trying to develop
when we all sort of got together and
made Eureka we kind of ended up being a
little more blue sky than I think we
even intended to but it sort of evolved
I think in some ways into a family show
and we were embraced that way and so we
we kind of kept on you know driving that
direction it went more comedic and the
audience sort of was cheering for it as
well so it found its way to what it
became which was a very funny show point
there was a sweetness about it and a
kind of a sense of kind of whimsy about
it that it held on to from beginning to
end which is a lot due to Colin Ferguson
and his kind of comic could slash
dramatic acting ability
the thing about Colin is he really set
the tone for the way the whole show went
about we had the best crew in the
business I had the best writing staff
and an amazing cast and I think we're
still like the number in the top five of
Netflix downloads while Eureka was a
town full of runaway technology on the
other coast of the US the town of Haven
has secrets and problems of its own
Haven is based on an on a novella by
Stephen King called the Colorado kid so
we took sort of that and expanded it and
sort of made it about the Stephen King
universe Stephen King's work was much
more intrinsic of the darker sides of
humanity and and and there's also this
quirky kind of humor to his worlds than
they're a little bit off-kilter okay
what am I gonna do pull out another gun
and I think that's one of the my
favorite things about our show is we
have this sort of strange McCobb
Korky
realities the network was was very
receptive to the idea of making the show
a little bit grittier and a little bit
darker and a little bit realer a little
bit more Stephen King you know a little
bit creepier and scary the writers are
always throwing in little Stephen King
homage --is we had an episode where all
the characters started envisioning their
worst fears and one person's worst fear
is a clown and of course it was penny
wise from it we've had a kid reaching
into the sewers the gun & Rose diner and
and different shoutouts to a lot of his
work on the website at sci-fi an
opportunity for people to see for
themselves and catch those little clues
and those little homage --is as in any
King story there are troubles brewing
under the surface of this idyllic place
the Haven is a show about a cursed
talents the show as it were starts when
this veil of protection is lifted and
the town of Haven becomes a Molotov
cocktail for cursed and troubled people
we thought that was a clever way to have
this sort of myth that lives within the
town and the community no one really
wanted to admit that they even knew
about this these curses so they just
call them the troubles it's something in
Haven that is cyclical that seems to
come back and every 27 years what is the
trouble somebody whose emotions may
color the weather a taxidermist
whose animals spring to life or someone
created huge cracks in the ground and
explosions
why are all these trouble people in
Haven it's kind of it's really the core
question of the series how did they get
there what's Audrey's connection to them
why is she there she started as an FBI
agent coming to investigate a murder in
this town my character and the character
of Audrey Parker played by Emily Rose
and Eric Balfour who plays Duke Crocker
are trying to figure out what is going
on and stopped the town from imminent
doom it's a really cool thing being on
sci-fi because like no other network it
has a built-in fan base Haven really has
a wide audience and I think it
exemplifies the potential of sci-fi and
where it's growing that our audiences
are is equal to women as it is equal to
men we tend to edge a little bit more
towards women but I'm very proud of that
because that shows the show had the
series has heart you can talk about some
pre hard-hitting stuff and just say oh
don't worry this we're just talking
about vampires it's like we're not
talking about heroin addiction
imaginative television shines a light on
what it means to be human
whether it's monsters trying to fit into
normal society or people with
extraordinary abilities trying to make a
difference in the world and sci-fi
explores these characters which shows
that comment on the human condition how
did it go start living with a vampire
and a werewolf they end up living
together basically because Josh the
werewolf and Aidan the vampire really
wanted to have a go basically at having
a normal life we end up moving into a
haunted house my character the ghost she
died in the house the vampire and the
werewolf move into the house so the
friendship blossoms being human is an
American version of a popular BBC show
we watched that UK show just the first
season and it was so innovative and
exciting to us we felt like we could
really take the core of it and and tell
our own stories tell our own versions of
that the heart of the show is really
sort of 20-somethings dealing with stuff
that all of us might deal with identity
and destiny and what am I gonna be and
what does the rest of my life
only they happen to be monsters which is
really the whole point of the show every
each of the characters just would be
normal what our show is about really or
is that these supernatural issues are
grounded in something really real and
relatable the idea of addictions and
rage problems and
loneliness and disease these are all
things that people deal with all the
time but we get to sprinkle it in a way
that's more acceptable than then
straight dramas on TV all these
supernatural characters are really just
metaphors for very human conditions the
werewolf being kind of a rageaholic that
has to bottle in repressed Sally being a
ghost and feeling like she's trapped and
invisible and she just wants to be heard
I think Aidan perhaps is the most in
your face metaphor which is really he's
just an addict it's a lot easier to sort
of explore really dark very human issues
through metaphors the advantage to doing
something as a science-fiction element
is that you can talk about some pretty
hard-hitting stuff and just say oh I
don't worry we're just talking about
vampires it's like we're not talking
about heroin addiction despite the pain
and tragedy the show has it's lighter
moments our show at its best kind of
rides the line between comedy and drama
now the comedy doesn't undercut the
drama and the drama doesn't you know
destroy the opportunity for comedy
cael's great it's really good it's good
for digestion it's this kind of lovely
drama that's undercut with these really
really funny and real moments that you
can't help but laugh out what's always
appealed to me is just those moments of
great humor lying within the moments of
deepest pain Oh ladies and gentlemen the
Bobbsey Twins that's what human nature
is and we worked really hard to find the
right tone because it could have been
super campy if we did too much humor and
it could have been supermodel and if we
went too much in the drama direction
these are like the characters of
she writes of the vampires especially
and the werewolves and ghosts all
romantic and in some way living this
double life and I think people like that
but vampires werewolves and ghosts
aren't the only supernatural creatures
on sci-fi both grew up thinking that she
was a human but finds that she's
actually not human that she's a succubus
and that she's part of a whole Bey
underworld a producer a prodigy came to
me with a very interesting proposition
she said we have an idea that somebody
has tried to develop and that's it's not
working for us yet but what we want to
keep is that it's about sort of a female
superhero and it's about sex fa is any
variety of mythological creature
creatures that feed off of humans in
some way or feed off of each other in
some way so the Fae live amongst humans
for the most part they look unit and one
of the most powerful faith is the
succubus a succubus is a in The Lost
Girl world is a mythological creature
that feeds on sexual energy so she needs
sex to survive the interesting thing
about a succubus is that it really is
something that hasn't been done to my
knowledge certainly not as a as a
protagonist taking somebody that you
know feeds heals and kills with sex
which is kind of a crazy idea and making
that person your star is an interesting
challenge she has a lot of sex
with men with women with humans with
nonhumans and it's a power that she
learns to control there's definitely a
really interesting love triangle on our
show that is set up very early on in the
series between beau a character named
Dyson whose face and it was male and a
character named Lauren who's human and
female the great thing for me is when I
actually got to meet fans a lot of what
people were thanking us for was that it
was a sex-positive show you know that it
was basically saying this is a part of
humanity it's a part of life I'm glad
that if if that relationship is
presented in a really real and loving
way even though it's at a crazy fantasy
world that's important and that's
something that's always been important
to Zoe and I who plays Lauren I think
that this story that I am
unintentionally telling through Lost
Girl is the story of of that sort of
liberation and empowerment being a
female I interested in exploring through
my female protagonists which is you know
a whole lot of people are telling her
what to do a whole lot of people have
expectations of her body of how she
should live in this world and she's
basically flipping them the mighty
finger and saying I actually don't need
your permission to be who I want to be I
don't need your help to live the life
that I want to live just back off the
strong female protagonists continue with
the groundbreaking show sanctuary
sanctuary got started on the web and
honestly are very naive idea back when
we started it was that we would have a
multi-platform web site we would have a
show merchandise a gaming component and
a social networking site all combined
into one
happy multi-platform sanctuary was the
first series to use fully virtual sets
on average about 70% of the show was
shot against a green screen and so
everything was rendered in afterwards I
mean it was all over the world and we
were able to put Egypt and and still be
in stage one more question yes this
freedom allowed the show to do things a
TV budget may have otherwise prevented
it was not just that we had these crazy
great characters this wonderful
steampunky gothic kind of place but that
we did revisionist history everything
normal was abnormal or everything
abnormal was normal so to have Nikola
Tesla be a vampire to have James Watson
be the real Sherlock Holmes to have the
Invisible Man that it was trying to
reach a different demographic that it
wasn't just saying science fiction but
to open it up and make it more about
what defies imagination you know
anything is possible and sanctuary
definitely fit into that sanctuary was
about astounding beings living in secret
sci-fi hit alphas also looks at
extraordinary individuals alphas is the
show that's grounded in reality we're
not putting on masks we're not putting
on capes or clear humans with these
abilities they're born with these brain
anomalies that give them the ability to
do extraordinary things these are people
that can be heard there's no flying
there's no immense ability nothing like
that some people might think that
they're odd or awkward and they're not
necessarily heroes I like to call them
broken heroes
neurological advisor you know who's a
PhD and and neurologist and we try to go
from the real way of brain works we want
to take some liberties but you want to
keep it grounded so we would have to
figure out with the brain science and
her ability and her brain patterning
what does your brain do that's kind of
weird we tried to just start there and
extrapolate out and then it's just a
question of kind of limiting the big
thing is that each character usually has
a pretty big downside that goes along
with it whether it be psychological
physical or something like that Rachel's
a high percent of thesis she's actually
has hypersensitivity she can't super
hear taste touch smell and see but when
she uses one the rest of them dim how
does someone like that date how does
someone like that eat at a restaurant
how does someone like that you know live
in New York where it smells to her all
the time she doesn't really know how to
use her super abilities and she doesn't
feel very super most of the time my
character is Cameron Hicks he has
hyperkinesis which is perfect balance
perfect aim
perfect connection between in the mind
in the body that allows me to do things
multiple chant the stuns go hand in hand
with my ability and what happens is you
also see Malik yoga who plays Harkin
does a lot of things everyone's in it at
some point though you know doing
something the girls will tell you that
their stunt work is much more impressive
as they do it in heels
how does Rachel run in those high heels
she's just gifted the end of the day if
you take all the explosions and the
fights and stuff away you still need to
care about these characters and what
they're going through I think one of the
great things about alphas was kind of
this biting political undertone
or in the show because not only is it a
show about humans and office co-workers
and crimes and you know but it's a show
about good versus evil and right versus
wrong it's a show about revolutions and
the government it's a show that kind of
taps into this deeper idea of what's
going on in the world
one of my favorite things about science
fiction is that you can use the metaphor
especially of expanded human abilities
and expanded human horizons to kind of
dig in a different way get a different
angle on some human question that you're
trying to find some help with answering
next we look to the future of sci-fi
it's hugely ambitious since its insanely
ambitious the show has no business being
on television
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the future of sci-fi is even more
exciting with fan favorites returning
new series and major surprises
premiering in 2013 is the new Canadian
import continuum I am a cop from the
Year 2077 fighting the worst criminals
of our time we've been transported back
in time 65 years to present-day
Vancouver most of what you eat in 2077
is squeezed out of package there's no
running clean water and in 2077 the
corporation's freely owned and run the
government if you're a thinking person
and you get involved in the show you can
come up with many different theories as
to how were there why were there and are
we supposed to be in the year 2012 what
year is this where you're you from 2077
sci-fi is the network for it to be on
absolutely there is that procedural
element plus it's so character driven
even though the story on the
time-traveling the science behind it off
that is very important and anyone who
already is a huge sci-fi Network fan
will love the show
the legacy of Battlestar Galactica also
lives on in blood and chrome a sci-fi
movie event after having done Caprica
now what's the other big area that maybe
you could do a show and well it's the
first Cylon war one of the best pieces
of film I've ever been fortunate enough
to be involved in producing it
completely blows the wheels off of
what's achievable in green screen
compositing on a television budget and
schedule and premiering in April the
most ambitious transmedia event ever
attempted the idea of defiance is
something that we maybe haven't seen yet
on television it's an entirely new genre
they're calling it the holy grail of a
sci-fi office it's hugely ambitious it's
it's insanely ambitious the show has no
business being on television for the
resources that we put into it but what's
amazing is we're doing it anyway the
amount of work that the production has
prevented during the costume
special-effects prosthetics really depth
to the show if after a massive war has
happened between aliens and humans now
we're all trying to see if we can live
on this planet peacefully together it's
been plowed over by alien terraforming
technology and the show is set in a
frontier town with seven races of aliens
and human beings living together it's
more about humans and alien
now learning to co-exist and the
troubles that that faces the story
itself is very much a story about a
melting pot which i think is a story
that touches everybody in every country
these days now we're all trying to see
if we can live on this planet peacefully
together and then there is the feeling
of a frontier or Western drama about it
when the aliens came to earth they were
refugees that came in arcs much like
Noah and his animals and they're looking
for a home not so much to conquer as to
assimilate being the back story of most
of the events of our world
misunderstandings and mistrust arise the
themes of of defiance are very relatable
and human nature as well one of the
really interesting and exciting elements
about the show is that it's not just a
TV show
what Tryon and sci-fi are trying to do
for the very first time is to synthesize
gaming and television they're doing a
multi-platform launch where those two
portals into the same world there's a
real sort of cooperative element that
has arisen out of the necessity of
creating this world where it's really
been exciting because nobody's ever
really done it before
the online game is set in San Francisco
the television show is set and what was
formerly San Luis which is no defiance
it's the same post-apocalyptic earth and
there's certain things that happen in
San Francisco that then somehow affect
us in st. Louis and then
certain things that happen in st. Louis
that affect San Francisco characters
from the show will enter the game at
certain points and vice versa and any
kind of war that will happen will happen
across both climate events major
revolutions political events you can
have a train leaving the game and enter
this show this kind of mind blowing for
me really and really brings technology
and gaming into the future this is
definitely the future of television and
entertainment in general the great thing
about defiance is it's kind of this
wonderfully immersive experience where
you can play the game and you get a very
visceral connection and then when it's
time for the television series you can
now turn on your television and get the
emotional impact but if you do both you
get a new additive experience that
nobody's ever seen before it's all gonna
be evolving and obviously video gaming
has clearly created another kind of
interaction with the technology becoming
so real and so immersive you're gonna
see an opportunity for another level of
expression of creativity
[Music]
moving into the future sci-fi continues
to be a home for the imagination my hope
is that they always remember it's sci-fi
and anything can happen it encompasses a
great deal of types of shows and great
deal of types of tones whether it is
sci-fi or horror or fantasy like fantasy
dark fantasy it's all a mix so the
challenge of sci-fi now and in the
future is to satisfy as many of those
people as possible but give you some
variety within the brand it takes you to
another place and in going to that place
you learn something about where you live
and you learn something about yourself
not just escapism not just fantasy run
wild but a real look in the mirror a
real look at what sci-fi can do to push
our understanding of who we are now
allows you to think about the big
questions in life and go really outside
of the box and what if and where that
would take you as a person as a human
how it would destroy you or how you
would cope that's what they've done
extremely well with their shows is that
they have been able to explore sometimes
very complex emotions complex ideas
whether they be political or social or
personal in the framework of a
fantastical setting and the great thing
about sci-fi is that the notion of
science-fiction is limitless galaxies of
possibilities
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