Scifiwire Television News - 3/10/2006
(Note from Granite: There was a lot of great TV stuff recently posted on scifiwire, so I thought I'd share it...enjoy!)

Battlestar Galactica Season 3
Notes on 4400 Season 3
Exec Producer of "Charmed" talks final season


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Battlestar Galactica Season 3

SCI FI Channel announced that its hit original series Battlestar Galactica will return in October with a full 20-episode third season. Production on the third season begins in Vancouver, Canada, in April.

Battlestar Galactica returns in its 10 p.m. ET/PT Friday timeslot and brings back the ensemble cast, which includes Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, James Callis, Tricia Helfer and Grace Park. As previously announced, Lucy Lawless will also join the cast for a 10-episode arc, reprising her role as D'Anna Biers, a Cylon.

Executive-produced by Ronald D. Moore and David Eick, Battlestar Galactica is from NBC Universal Television Studio.

Season three promises even more of the drama, intrigue and action that viewers have come to expect from the series, the network said. The 90-minute second-season finale airs at 10 p.m. March 10.

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Notes on 4400 Season 3

Ira Steven Behr, co-creator of USA Network's SF series The 4400, told SCI FI Wire to expect a new direction in the show's upcoming third season that will focus more on the show's mythology and main characters. He added that a new actress will join the regular cast: Megalyn Echikunwoke.

"We are definitely using the last two episodes of last season, 'The Fifth Page' and 'Mommy's Bosses,' as the engine to drive this season," Behr said in an interview. "In other words, last year we kind of alternated kind of big mythology type of episodes ... [with episodes in which] we'd introduce the 4400, they would have a problem that either affected them or affected society in general, and we would deal with that problem. ... What we're going to be focusing on basically this season [is] bigger sweep. I call it playing big ball rather than little ball. ... I think every story this year will have an impact on our people."

In a spoiler for the upcoming season, Behr also said that Echikunwoke would join the cast, playing an adult version of baby Isabelle.

(Note from Granite: Spoiler added )

"Isabelle is no longer that cuddly kid you can hold in your arms, which is, I think, probably great for production," Behr said, referring to the difficulty of working with an infant actor. Echikunwoke will be "a very popular addition to the cast," he added. "The character herself, I think, is going to surprise people. I think people have been arguing about or trying to figure out Isabelle at the end of the miniseries, and I think ... a portion of the audience is going to expect a fastball down the middle with her character, and I think they're going to be surprised. It's going to be more of a ride, more of a discovery, and not so clear-cut where you can say, 'She's the angel' [or] 'She's the devil,' you know? And I think that makes for really nice storytelling." The 4400 returns with 13 new episodes, starting June 4. USA Network is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM. —Patrick Lee, News Editor

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Exec Producer of "Charmed" talks final season

Brad Kern, executive producer of The WB's Charmed, told SCI FI Wire that he decided before the official announcement that this would be the last season for the series. The show, which stars Alyssa Milano, Holly Marie Combs and Rose McGowan, will end May 21.

Last year The WB held off making an announcement about Charmed's future until all the season's episodes had been shot. Kern said he found it challenging to create an ending for the seventh season that would honor the fans' desire for a satisfying ending for the series, while also leaving the door open in case Charmed got picked up for another season.

"I did make up my mind a long time ago, because ... I was not going to be in the same position that we were in last year," Kern said in an interview. "And I don't think that was right for the show or right for the fans. We got away with it once, but I was not going to let it happen a second time. ... I started on this path a long time ago, and it's merely just a formality to finally hear the official word."

Charmed, which has anchored Sunday nights for The WB for many years, is in its eighth season. According to Kern, the recent announcement that the series would end was "the biggest non-surprise in the history of its kind. Although, I do take issue—I've gotten a few phone calls with people asking, 'What's it like to be cancelled'—I said, 'We're not cancelled.' Shows do end. And this is ending at just ... the right time and just the right way. So it's really all good. It's heading in exactly the direction that I wanted it to. So I really have no complaints, other than being a little tired."

The long running supernatural series follows three sisters who must fight the forces of evil using their power as witches. Charmed has survived multiple timeslots, marginal ratings and major cast changes. While some have attributed Charmed's exit to the merger between The WB and UPN, Kern had made the decision to write this season as the show's last before the merger was announced.

"We all feel like we got a reprieve for the eighth season," Kern said. "And I think that, because of what happened last year, none of us felt very satisfied with the way we were forced to do kind of a hybrid season series finale. We've all looked at this as the last season, I mean, partly because the girls don't have any contracts, or their contract expire after this year. And they, rightly, want to move on. And I don't have a contract next year, and I'd like to move on. ... So we all felt very strongly like this was our second chance to end the series properly." For that ending, Kern promises a "valentine" for the fans. —Kathie Huddleston