Torchwood, American Style

It seems that the American networks are finally realizing something that scifi fans have held true for years: Britain is a great source for genre programming. Following on the heels of Syfy’s announcement that they would be producing an American version of Being Human, Fox is now developing the pilot for Torchwood for the good old U.S. of A.

The good news, according to The Hollywood Reporter, is that the original’s producing team of Russell Davies, Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter are behind the “translation.”

While the article explains that the scope of the show will be global rather than “localized,” it also describes the premise as being about “a covert group that investigates and fights alien activity.”

The same article suggests that the long-running Doctor Who could also be a candidate for an American make-over (which would be the second attempt to do so).

Meet the “Human Target”: Mark Valley

Airing on Monday nights, and based on the DC comic of the same name, HUMAN TARGET is Fox’s big-budget midseason series. As evidenced by the first two episodes, it promises to up the action quotient on television. At the same time, it seems likely to elevate Mark Valley’s position as a leading man.

Born on Christmas Eve 1964 in Ogdensburg, New York, Valley’s early credits include the character of Jack Deveraux on the NBC soap opera DAYS OF OUR LIVES (a role which spanned 1994 to 1997), as well as Detective Eddie Arlette in the TV series KEEN EDDIE. BOSTON LEGAL, in which he played Brad Chase followed. In 2008 he appeared on FRINGE as FBI agent John Scott, and ultimately ended up marrying that show’s leading lady, Anna Torv.

In HUMAN TARGET (the comic of which was created by Len Wein and Carmine Infantino) he plays Christopher Chance, who steps in to take the place of people in dangerous situations, willing to take a bullet for them (though obviously he’d prefer not to) as he uncovers whatever mystery he’s involved with. And then there’s the action!

SCIFI MEDIA ZONE: You must be pretty tired, physically, from doing this show. I watched two episodes and was exhausted.

MARK VALLEY: Yeah, it’s pretty tiring making it. How did you like it?

SCIFI MEDIA ZONE: I had the same reaction to the second episode as I did to the pilot when I saw it at Comic-Con, which was how the hell are they going to do this on a weekly basis?

MARK VALLEY: Well, we’re doing it. That was one of the dramatic questions facing us in the beginning, too. But I think with the second episode we were able to prove that we COULD do it on a weekly basis. I think what’s working is we’re doing a couple of days second unit while main unit is shooting most of the dramatic material with the principals.

SCIFI MEDIA ZONE: When you read the script for the pilot, what was your feeling about the character? What was his appeal to you?

MARK VALLEY: What appealed to me is that it was an opportunity for some subtle humor, which is one thing that is rarely seen on television dramas. Being able to write that sort of irony, or having the willingness to have an ironic character in your show, is really something that attracts my attention. By that, I mean a dark sense of humor, a dark commentary on what’s going on around him. He’s got kind of a gallows humor about him, which is kind of cool.

SCIFI MEDIA ZONE: From what I’ve gathered, the attempt with this character was to create a hero who has his roots in the past and films like LETHAL WEAPON and DIE HARD.

MARK VALLEY: I asked Simon West [who directed the pilot and worked with Valley on KEEN EDDIE], “How do you think this character is different from Keen Eddie?” and he said, “Eddie was the one who took the beating, but this is the guy more likely to GIVE the beating.” I took that and kind of ran with it. He’s a little bit of a bad ass, and kind of fun. God knows I wasn’t a bad ass in high school, so I get to make up for it now.

SCIFI MEDIA ZONE: When you look at a show like this with so much action, is there a danger that there could be a lack of character evolution?

MARK VALLEY: If you look at it, once something becomes a real hook for the show, that becomes a risk where you say, “Oh, wow, we have to figure out where to put a chase into the episode.” I find that’s going to be more guidelines than a demand of the show, which inspires the writers to come up with some very clever material and a story that can kind of carry the conflicts that are set up. I’ve got complete confidence in those guys, and to be honest with you, I think that’s more their challenge. Mine is to be able to handle it all in the time we have available and to make the character believable.

SCIFI MEDIA ZONE: I guess what I’m getting at is that if you have a show that has action, action, action, it has a danger of repetition and, really, boredom if there isn’t a genuine character at the center of it all.

MARK VALLEY: The character is something that they’re very focused on, and it’s been so much fun trying to find this character. In every episode I learn a little bit more about him because you get an opportunity to see him in different situations. From an actor’s standpoint, I don’t think we’re going to have a problem with that, just by the way the writing has been coming out. We’re on episode six or seven right now, and I’m pretty happy about that. That was my concern as well; that was my fear: what if this guy turns into an enzyme for action? But he’s definitely his own organism and it’s working out pretty well.

SCIFI MEDIA ZONE: I’ve been enjoying the interplay between you, Chi McBride and Jackie Earle Haley.

MARK VALLEY: I think they cast this thing really well, to be honest with you. Jackie, Chi and I both have experience, but from different angles, and we all share this attitude of enjoying ourselves and making the most out of every day and every scene, and let the cards fall where they may. The attitude is kind of infectious and everybody seems worried about the right things, and not what the numbers are going to be or selfishly only worrying about their own character.

SCIFI MEDIA ZONE: You can’t control the numbers anyway, so all you can do is make the best show you can.

MARK VALLEY: Like Chi says, “I want you guys to like us, not love us.” We’ve all done shows we’ve fallen in love with but really didn’t get the majority of votes with the Senate, so to speak. Whatever happens, we’re making a show we’re proud of and that’s something I’m pleased with.

SCIFI MEDIA ZONE: Now that you’re playing an action hero, who were the ones that you looked up to when you were younger?

MARK VALLEY: I liked Indiana Jones. Harrison Ford as Han Solo was pretty cool, too. When I was a little older, probably in high school, I thought Bruce Willis was great. On television, I used to watch shows like MAGNUM P.I. and SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN. I loved those guys, and the way they played it with that kind of shrugging the shoulders, ROCKFORD FILES kind of casualness. I used to really enjoy that. Of course, there was William Shatner in STAR TREK, too. Those are the heroes. Now I’m meeting them out here in Hollywood.

SCIFI MEDIA ZONE: Is that exciting, given your own celebrity?

MARK VALLEY: Oh my God, yeah. It’s like you’re a kid and somebody saying, “You’ve got a phone call.” “From who?” “Santa Claus. He wants to talk to you.” It’s sort of a two-edged sword. On one hand it’s such a thrill to meet them, but then you also have to kind of give up on the illusion that the characters they played actually existed.

SCIFI MEDIA ZONE: In watching the show, I’m often wondering how many of the stunts you insist on doing and how much of it they’ll allow you to do.

MARK VALLEY: It’s worked out pretty well. We’ve got good riggers and stunt people, so by letting me do stunts it doesn’t me that they’re shoving me off of a cliff. It’s all pretty safe.. well, except for a couple of things [laughs]. On one hand, I like to do as many of the stunts that I can because, in kind of a selfish way, it makes it a little bit easier for me to play Chance, having really experienced some sort of facsimile of the thrill that he is experiencing. That’s probably why I like to do it. Also, if I’m able to engage myself physically in the job as well, it’s that much more rewarding. I like to keep moving on the set. It’s not like I’ve been turning down a bunch of film offers by any means, but I really like television. Especially this show, because we’re always moving and always shooting something or moving on to something else, so you have to trust your first instincts and stay engaged. It’s a real vigorous production.

SCIFI MEDIA ZONE: So what are your war wounds, I’m wondering?

MARK VALLEY: Well, I got kicked in the face by the stunt girl, but that was more of a wound to my ego than my lips, even though I was bleeding a little bit. I found out from the other stunt people that a stunt person never complains, they just kind of quietly walk off the set as though they’re walking into the woods to lick their wounds like a dog. But I’ve been hanging in it pretty well. I had a really good trainer in Los Angeles, who kind of prepared me with a variety of exercises to keep my general core strength up. I haven’t had any problems with my back or anything like that.

SCIFI MEDIA ZONE: Of the six episodes you’ve shot so far, what has been the highlight?

MARK VALLEY: Oh, wow! A couple of scenes in Spanish was a lot of fun, because it takes place in a South American country and Chance is helping out this beautiful revolutionary he knew before. He has to go back and work his way in. Then of course driving the jeep through an army camp, which turned out to be one of the comedy milestones I think I’ve reached in my career. Then there was flying down an elevator shaft. There’s a scientist held captive by this defense contractor inside this huge building. We had to make our way out of it, and one of the things we had to do was slide down an elevator shaft attached to a cable in a kind of makeshift little harness. THAT was exciting, because I was actually flying down an elevator shaft, firing blanks at an imaginary enemy down below. That was really a thrill!

SCIFI MEDIA ZONE: In a role like this, you kind of get to be a little kid again, don’t you?

MARK VALLEY: Oh my god, yeah! I just have to pinch myself sometimes. I really, really get to be a kid again and run around and do these things, and then be the tough guy you always wanted to be. While not taking any of it really that seriously. That’s been fantastic.

SCIFI MEDIA ZONE: How would you describe this show for someone who is unfamiliar with HUMAN TARGET?

MARK VALLEY: First of all, clear the slate of expectations, because it’s not something you’ve seen on television for a while. It’s not a movie and it’s not a TV show, but it has elements of both. It’s a one-hour drama about an unorthodox security company that protects people who are marked for death by someone. Based on a DC Comic, I play Christopher Chance, Chi McBride is Winston and Jackie Earle Haley is Guerrero. Together we help figure out a way and a plan to insinuate ourselves into the client’s life, to appear vulnerable, draw out the threat, identify it and eliminate it by whatever means necessary. And you know what? We don’t do any more violence, action, explosions or fight scenes than is absolutely necessary to accomplish the task at hand [laughs]. It just happens that there’s a lot of them. — Interview conducted by Edward Gross

Fringe: Anna Torv Video Interview and Peter Bishop’s Mom Is Cast

Actress Orla Brady, who played James Wood’s ex-wife on the series Shark, has reportedly been cast in the role of Peter Bishop’s mother (and therefore Walter’s wife). Question is, which world is she from, “ours” or the parallel version that William Bell (Leonard Nimoy) seems to be running? Jeff Pinker teased to E!’s Watch With Kristin, “In a show exploring two alternate universes, there is more than one of everything… and everyone.”

Meanwhile, Anna Torv sat down for a video interview with MTV in which she discusses forthcoming events in the show, as well as the possibility that Peter will discover the truth about where he’s from and how he came to be on this earth.

Fringe On Set Video Interviews

Korbi Ghosh, a reporter for Zap2it.com, recently visited the set of Fringe, where she had the opportunity to interview actor John Noble (Walter Bishop) and actress Anna Torv (Olivia Dunn). What follows is the interview with Noble. For Torv, click HERE.

Fringe: First Two Minutes of “August”

This Thursday’s episode of Fox’s paranormal drama Fringe is called “August,” and what follows is a sneak preview of that episode’s first two minutes.

Fringe Video Promo: “Of Human Action”

Although its taken a hit in the ratings folllowing its move to Thursday nights, Fringe nonetheless remains one of TV’s most innovative series. This promo is for tonight’s episode, “Of Human Action.”

Fringe: Behind the Scenes Videos

To coincide with the debut of season two of Fringe, Britain’s Sky1 offered up an extensive behind the scenes look at the making of the series, exploring different aspects of the show.

Fringe Recap

After the momentous revelation that William Bell had been hiding in an alternate universe – the same universe that Walter had kidnapped Peter from after his son died — the first season of Fringe seemed like it would be a hard act to follow. But as the second season has already shown, Fringe has a few more surprises up its sleeve.

Starting off with a bang, we were immediately thrown into a head-on car crash. Car accidents are routine, but not when one of the drivers disappears into thin-air. Thus, in the second season opener, “A New Day in an Old Town,” the sole survivor of the accident was a man who soon revealed himself to be anything but a man. He was a shape-shifter – and clearly not from our universe. It was his mission to kill Olivia. Olivia, in the meantime, had been yanked out of our universe and into the alternate universe for a meeting with the mysterious William Bell. It was because the auto accident failed to stop that meeting from occurring that Olivia had a bulls-eye on her back. For whatever William Bell had told her was apparently worth killing for. However, Olivia’s return to our universe was not gentle as the car accident continued where it “left off,” with Olivia being thrown through the windshield of her car and sustaining a nasty head injury. This left her unable to remember the vital information that William Bell had shared with her. Because Olivia was in a coma, Peter stepped forward to take command and was instrumental in getting the Fringe Division reinstated. It was touch and go for most of the episode, but in the end, Olivia miraculously awoke and Peter saved the Fringe Division from bureaucratic extinction. And Walter made Peter a custard cake for his birthday.

In the second episode, “Night of Desirable Objects,” it was wish-fulfillment of the worst kind – answered with a twisted distortion. A doctor so badly wanted a baby of his own, he decided to play God and manipulated the baby’s DNA so that his wife’s disease-ridden body would not reject it. However, it is never a good idea to use cross-species in order to accomplish such a goal. The monster he created was worthy of a horror story of its own and it proceeded to stalk the town’s inhabitants. During that investigation, Olivia, still recuperating from her auto accident injuries and unable to recall what happened to her, nearly shot Peter. This prompted Nina to pay a visit and recommend that Olivia seek out a man by the name of Sam Weiss, who might have some answers to the medical problems Olivia was experiencing, including her accentuated hearing. In the meantime, with Olivia still unsure of herself and acting erratically, Peter continued to step up and fill the power-vacuum to lead the team. And Faux-Charlie (the shape-shifter who had killed and replaced Charlie) continued to lurk in the background with orders to find out what Olivia knows and then kill her.

Then, in “Fracture,” it was a race against time to locate several former military personnel who had been exposed to a nerve-agent that could be triggered and resulted in them turning into human bombs – for at just the right radio frequency, the genetically altered body would crystallize and then shatter. While Peter and Olivia took a quick field-trip to Iraq so that Peter could convince an old associate to assist in locating doctors familiar with the nerve-agent, Walter was preoccupied with and balking at the prospect of moving into a new apartment. After returning state’s side, Olivia continued her unorthodox treatment with Sam Weiss, who worked on rebuilding her confidence. There was also a surprise appearance by The Observer, who was seen sorting through photos from the briefcase – in particular, photos of Walter.

Concluding the 4-episode arc involving the shape-shifter posing as Charlie, in “Momentum Deferred” it was finally revealed what the shape-shifter’s handlers feared Olivia would remember — William Bell had told her the location of a cryogenically frozen head of their leader. With a facial recognition program on the verge of revealing the shape-shifter as Charlie, Walter called upon a former friend/lover to try to recreate an experiment where she could recognize those from the alternate universe. While Olivia killed Faux-Charlie, it was not in time to stop him from pushing the send button on his phone, thus telling his cohorts where the head was located. In the end, the head was retrieved by the shape-shifter and Walter failed to see that his experiment worked all too well with Rebecca recognizing Peter from the alternate universe.

Finally, in last week’s episode “Dream Logic,” we witnessed the power of dreams – or rather the power of addiction. A sleep therapist had created a brain chip that, once implanted, allowed him to steal a person’s dreams. However, rather than providing a person with a peaceful night sleep, it left them sleep-deprived and when he replayed the dreams at his leisure, they would experience them while wide-awake, leading to extreme violence. With Peter and Walter hard at work on solving the dream mystery, Olivia was back into therapy with Sam Weiss, feeling guilt-ridden over Charlie’s death and as though her entire life felt like a nightmare. Sam’s therapy methods, while unconventional, did have results as collecting business cards from everyone wearing a red shirt revealed a hidden message, “You’re gonna be fine” – which was exactly what Olivia needed to hear. Meanwhile, back at the lab, Walter was worried after Peter shared that his
recurring nightmare involved him being kidnapped in the night – which smacked awfully close to the truth.

With the loss of Charlie, Olivia doubting her abilities, Peter stepping up to lead the team and lots of typical Fringe weirdness going on, this season promises to be just as thrilling and mind-boggling as ever.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

“A New Day In The Old Town” was written by J.J. Abrams and Akiva Goldsman, and directed by Akiva Goldsman. Fringe stars Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble, Lance Reddick, Blair Brown, Jasika Nicole, Kirk Acevedo. Fringe airs Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. on Fox.

EXCLUSIVE: “Fringe” Executive Producer Jeff Pinkner

Jeff Pinkner, executive producer and showrunner of Fringe, brings with him the experience of, among other things, having served as co-executive producer of Alias and executive producer of Lost. In this exclusive interview, he discusses the evolution of Fringe as well as the challenges of doing the show.

Click To Play

Leonard Nimoy Talks “Fringe”

Following his appearance as Spock in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, Leonard Nimoy was asked to play the enigmatic William Bell on Fox’s Fringe, also produced by Star Trek’s triumvirate of Abrams, Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman. Although originally envisioned as part of a larger story arc, the trio were more than happy to reduce the number of appearances to secure Nimoy. William Bell, as fans of the show know, is the former partner of Walter Bishop who seems to have considerable sway over a parallel version of earth. Yesterday, Nimoy participated in a phone press conference, fielding questions on both Fringe and Star Trek.
QUESTION: I was wondering, did you have any reservations on taking another role with the potential of such a fanatic following?
LEONARD NIMOY: I love this question. I can’t help but laugh, because you’re absolutely right. It’s an interesting set of circumstances. What attracted me to it was several things. J.J. Abrams, Bob Orci, and Alex Kurtzman, who I worked with on the Star Trek movie, I admire their talent and the work that they do. The series is, at the very least, intriguing. The character was somewhat of a blank slate, but we began talking about it and I was, therefore, attracted because there’s an opportunity to build an interesting and unpredictable character. I’m enjoying it a lot.
QUESTION: When will William Bell and Walter Bishop face off?
LEONARD NIMOY: Unpredictable at the moment. In the episode tomorrow night, the scene is between myself and Olivia. I think we will learn a lot more than we have known in the past about what their relationship is all about and what William Bell’s intentions are, or at least we will be told what his intentions are. We’re not really quite sure that everything that he says is accurate or true.
QUESTION: I wonder, what does William Bell do when he’s over there? Who is he spending time with?
LEONARD NIMOY: William Bell is sort of a “master of the universe,” a brilliant man, very wealthy man, very powerful. We’ll find out a lot more about him in future episodes.
QUESTION: Don’t you find it remarkable how what is science fiction today can become science?
LEONARD NIMOY: It is remarkable. I was thinking as we began this conference call about the technology involved here. It is quite remarkable and so terribly useful. It’s a very convenient way to put out a lot of information, and this is the kind of thing that was only dreamed about 10, 15 years ago. And you’re right, science fiction very often leads the way for the scientists.
Scientists watch science fiction, see an idea being presented, and say, “Well, gee, I wonder if that’s really possible.” They go to work at it on the drawing board, and a lot of it comes to fruition.
QUESTION: So lately it seems as if you’re J.J. Abrams’ muse of sorts. Can you tell us a little bit more about your relationship with him?
LEONARD NIMOY: Well, I first met him I guess about three years ago when he first contacted me about the possibility of working together, and I went to a meeting with he and Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman and some of his production staff. They told me a very good and strong and touching story about their feelings about Star Trek and specifically the Spock character. It gave me a sense of validation after all these years. I had been out of it for some time, as you’re probably aware. There were several Star Trek series in which I was not involved and Star Trek movies in which I was not involved. This was a re-validation of the work that I had done, the work that we had done on the original Star Trek. I felt very good about it and went to work for them.

I had a great time working on the movie. I think they did a brilliant job, and I think the audience response shows that that was the case and has reinvigorated the franchise. And when they contacted me about working on Fringe—the same people, the same attitude, the same creativity, the same creative team—it was very enticing.
QUESTION: Had you been a fan of the show prior to that?
LEONARD NIMOY: I watched it periodically. I think it’s extremely well done. It’s very nuanced. It’s complex. It’s a mixture of science and science fiction in a very interesting and intelligent way. And I think it has a long way to go in story-telling. It tells a terribly interesting story, and the character that I was offered was potentially a very intriguing and controversial and fascinating character, very inviting for an actor.
QUESTION: How do you feel about the current state of science fiction on TV and film?
LEONARD NIMOY: Well, I’m concerned about the positioning of story in terms of importance. When I see a lot of explosions and a lot of chases, I’m not terribly impressed. I think there are three terribly important elements that must be given a priority position in science fiction as well as in any other kind of drama. The first is story, the second is story, and the third is story. Story, story, story, story, story. If the story is compelling and interesting, I think all the rest will find its place. We have great technology in our industry, and that technology can be overused at the expense of story. And that’s a problem for me, but when the story is in place, I think the special effects can find their proper place. I think Fringe uses the technology brilliantly, but in the service of excellent story-telling.
QUESTION: You had not been acting for awhile, and then you’ve done Star Trek and Fringe pretty recently together. Having stepped away for awhile and then returned, are your feelings about acting what they were, or have they changed, do you find?
LEONARD NIMOY: Well, I’m enjoying it. I’m very comfortable in the two offers that I’ve accepted. The Star Trek movie was a joy to do. I admire the production team that made the film. I admire the new cast. Zachary Quinto I thought was a great choice for the new Spock, and it was a pleasure to work with him and with all the other people on the project. The Fringe character was intriguing because, as I’ve mentioned, it was kind of a blank slate and we had some very interesting and intense conversations about who and what he could be and how we should perceive him, what we might or might not learn about him, what we might or might not trust about him. These are intriguing opportunities for an actor, and they came at a time when I … and from a group of people that I had respect for. They piqued my interest and I went back to work. I did not expect to, frankly, be acting so much at this time in my life. My concentration was on my photography, but I’m having a wonderful time doing it.