Getting to Know Nathan Fillion

Would you like to know a bit more about Nathan Fillion than he Tweets? USA Today’s PopCandy got the chance to chat with him over lunch, recently. It’s a two-part interview with the second part made up of fan’s questions.

Believe everything you’ve heard about Nathan Fillion.

He’s incredibly kind, funny, talented and good-looking. He’s also quite easygoing when it comes to picking a restaurant and eager to show you photos of his cat, Spartacus.

I met Nathan for lunch on Saturday. He’s in town promoting the second season of ABC’s Castle, which premieres tonight at 10 ET. After ordering some coffee and pierogies at East Village diner Veselka, we chatted about the show, Joss Whedon, video games, Dr. Horrible — actually, we talked so much that I’m splitting this interview into two parts. (Continue reading.)

Here is the link to part 2.

Quick Takes with GLEE’s Cory Monteith & Jane Lynch

Louise caught up with Jane Lynch and Cory Monteith at the FOX TCA party last month and asked them about working on Glee and joining the Twitter revolution.

Just from talking with two of the stars of Glee, I came away with the sense of how much the cast cares for each other. When first talking to Jane Lynch, she mentioned how much she had to feel like an adult with the rest of the cast being younger, and how much they look up to her. Lynch admitted that while she loves working on Glee, she will miss playing Constance on Party Down.

When talking to Cory Monteith, the conversation focused mostly on finding ways around playing the stereotypical jock by adding subtlety to the role. Monteith also admitted that Finn is naïve – Will succeeded in blackmailing him – but he won’t be fooled by Lynch’s Sue Sylvester.

For those who can’t seem to get enough of the cast, you can follow Cory Monteith on Twitter via @FrankenTeen. Glee premieres (again) tonight on Fox at 9/8c.

Exclusive Interview: It’s Eddie McClintock, Not David Boreanaz

Talking to Eddie McClintock is like gabbing with your neighbor over the garden fence. You’re comfortable talking about anything from this year’s tomato plants to Living In the Shadow of David Boreanaz. Melissa and I had the wonderful opportunity to talk with one of our Nice Boys recently, and that’s the best way I can describe our conversation.

Eddie McClintock has been told countless times that he looks like David and Craig Sheffer, but all that is changing. After working with David on Bones and meeting Craig once or twice, Eddie finally has his own series, and no one looks like him on it. Warehouse 13 has been a wonderful treat for us during the summer and a decided hit for SyFy. So much so that the series has been renewed for another season. Eddie plays secret service agent Pete Lattimer, who often flies by the seat of his pants, with a quirky sense of humor at the worst moments.

Eddie is having a lot of fun with Warehouse 13. One of the things he loves about the show is “the way the writers will switch things up between drama and comedy within the same scene. It’s never too much one way or the other. It’s a well balanced show. ”

In an episode that’s coming up in a couple of weeks called “Nevermore”, Pete and Claudia leave Myka with her father and mother and go off and solve the case. “We had so much fun!” recalls Eddie. “[In tonight's episode] it’s Claudia, Myka and Pete in the warehouse together and we got to do a lot of fun stuff. That episode (“Breakdown”) was the funnest episode. You know this last one (“Regrets”), was pretty serious. There was a lot of serious, emotional stuff, so we’re going to go back to some light.”

Of course, the inevitable question will always come up about whether or not Pete and Myka will ever have a romantic relationship. Eddie explains, “I like to think that there is one developing. Maybe not necessarily a romantic relationship. I think that once the leads of the show get romantic the show is over. I think that they have such a great respect for one another and really an admiration and love. I mean Pete loves her and I think she loves him, and right now it’s more like brother and sister. I hope they keep it there for a little while. Once it goes romantic the audience moves on. They want to see the next couple get together. There’s no more mystery once they jump in the sack together. It’s like Bones or Moonlighting or any great show.” He goes on to say that he has “such great confidence in our writer and our exec producer Jack Kenny. They’ve been able to find the perfect balance, in my opinion, in drama and comedy, so wherever they decide. They really have they fingers on the pulse of what they want to show to be.”

The playful relationship between Pete and Myka is very real. “Joanne and I just get along. It’s like even though I’m older, somehow I play the role of the younger brother. Literally, she punches me all the time. We’re really not doing a whole lot of acting. We’re just kind of hanging out and picking on each other. It’s all out of love. We have a great time together. We’re lucky!”

We asked Eddie what direction he’d like to see Pete go, now that Warehouse 13 is guaranteed a second season. Eddie had, at one time, thought he’d like to join the Marine Corps, so he’d like to see Pete in the Marines in his back story. He’d like to see Pete explore his relationship with his mother and then go on a vacation in Hawaii on the company’s dollar.

Eddie talked about the amount of promoting and viral campaigning that SyFy put into this series. He was so impressed at how much they got behind the show, although he did express a bit of concern over the fact that Warehoiuse 13’s final two episodes this season will go up against Melrose Place and the new NCIS: Los Angeles. He’d hate to see the show end its first season in the shadow of those two shows. This Nice Girl doesn’t think he has anything real to worry about.

Warehouse 13 airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on SyFy. Watch tonight’s episode, “Breakdown”, and come on back and tell us what you think!

Bradley James Talks Myth and “Merlin”

I’ve been quite enjoying my Sunday night television with wizards (Merlin) and vampires (True Blood). Even more fun is the fact that my son looks forward to watching Merlin with me. It’s the only show he and I watch alone. Of course, being a nine year-old boy, he likes the sword-play and I like the romantic fantasy. I am, forever, a hopeless romantic.

As fans of Merlin have seen, this is not your typical King Arthur story. Jenna Busch caught up with Bradley James, who plays young Prince Arthur in the show. James talks about season one and season two (now filming), Merlin and Guinevere.

We’re only part way into the first season, but in England, the show has been renewed for a second season. As a huge fan of the myth in all it’s forms, I watch it weekly. I was pleased to be able to chat with James about his character, the changes in the story, and working with the amazing Head. (Obviously I’m a Buffy fan as well.)

This myth cycle has been re-imagined many times. What is it about this particular Arthur that makes him unique?

(Continue reading interview here.)

Merlin airs Sunday nights on NBC. Watch for the wonderful, very talented, Alexander Siddig in this week’s episode, The Moment of Truth, immediately followed by another episode, Labyrinth of Gedref.

The Moment of Truth

The Labyrinth of Gedref

Psych’s Dule Hill & James Roday: The Comic Con Interview

The last of our interviews for Psych were the boys themselves, Dule Hill and James Roday. Watch Dule rant about a certain video camera (the Flip which we used to record the interview). Listen to them be all coy about Psych Outs and nudity. Hear James reveal this year’s XXX theme. Oh yeah, we got it all on tape.

Be sure to check out our other video interviews with Corbin Bernsen, Maggie Lawson & Timothy Omundson and Chris Henze & Steve Franks. Psych returns TONIGHT, August 7 at 10/9c on USA Network.

Psych’s James Roday and Dulé Hill, Just Having Fun

While talking with James Roday and Dulé Hill, you get the feeling they are sharing a secret joke between the two of them. It’s not a bad thing, but you do have to resist the urge to just burst out laughing.  They are just too much fun! I don’t know if Roday and Hill are more like Shaun and Gus, or if Shaun and Gus are more like Roday and Hill. The two merge almost seamlessly, and you begin to wonder how much of the show is written and how much is ad-libbed. “Unlike, I think, the majority of shows on television right now we actually have a frighteningly high amount of say in what we do with the dialog.  A lot of times it comes in great and all we have to do is say it, but any time we sort of recognize an opportunity to throw something in or add something or if we have a better name for Gus than the one that came in we just pull the trigger,” says Roday. Hill adds, “Yes.  And the names that we come up with most of the time it has to do with somebody that we know, somebody in the cast knows or somebody that one of the writers knows or a producer, something like that.  I would say pretty much eight times to of ten there is some relation to the crazy name that Gus is being called.”

The success of Psych has partly been in the wonderfully fresh comedy in their crime investigations, and the obstacles the duo sometimes overcome in their partnership/friendship. We’ve seen partners in crime before in television, but James and Dulé have brought back the humor. “You know what, I go to this movie called Without a Clue that not a lot of people saw.  It was Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley, and the idea behind the movie was that Watson was the brains of the operation and Holmes was just this very theatrical sort of charlatan that diverted people’s attention and got all the ladies.  It’s a very, very funny movie that not a lot of people have seen. But I love the fact that it was sort of rooted in the idea that these two guys absolutely, positively were dependent on one another to solve a crime, because Holmes was sort of the face of the franchise but Watson was the guy that sort of kept their feet on the ground and did a lot of the thinking.  That’s not exactly what the dynamic is on Psych, but the sort of ying yang element of it of there’s no way that either of these guys could work on their own and there’s no way that they could accomplish what they were doing without the other one is definitely sort of a big element of what we do on Psych.”

Dulé has a different source. “I guess for myself it’s not any real I guess template that I came in to with a preconceived notion about like in terms of a previous detective team.  I guess if I had to choose one I would say Cosby and Poitier in Uptown Saturday Night.  I want to say that would be the equivalence that I could think of, but besides that there’s not really anything that I’ve thought about before to say yes, this is what the template is.”

Psych is famous for its references to pop culture. Nothing is safe from a good spoof. In the season 4 premiere, we will see them have a little fun with The Mentalist. James talks about it. “No one is off limits when it comes to us, including ourselves.  We’ve made fun of our own sort of resumes on this show.  As long as they have a sense of humor over there I would think that they would be sort of flattered and get a kick out of it. Obviously, it’s not malicious in any, but it’s what we do on our show and if you’re going to go make a bigger show that’s kind of like our show and get four times as many viewers and Emmy nominations then you should expect to hear about it when our show airs.”

What we can expect from season 4 is more of what we’ve already had, but it never gets old because there’s so much more to spoof! “In terms of sort of themes for episodes you saw that we’re doing sort of an expedition Canada, catch a jewel/art thief episode, and we’re doing sort of a Shawn and Gus save an old western town and everything that comes along with that that you could imagine, including a grizzled, gray bearded James Brolin,” says James. “We’re paying tribute to the Exorcist with our exorcism episode featuring the aforementioned Ray Wise, who is just fantastic in the episode I have to say. Just really came in and knocked it out of the park. A little love letter to American Werewolf in London and werewolf movies in general featuring David Naughton, obviously, and Josh Malina. And lots of other fun stuff. I have to say I think we’re kind of storming out of our gates this year with some really good stuff. I think last year we stormed in our heads, but we were actually like trotting at a casual pace, and this year I actually think we’re storming out of the gates for real.”

I thought it was hilarious that Dulé doesn’t really get a lot of the pop-culture references. “I would say about 99.9% of them do not come from me. Maybe if there’s something in the ‘70s that might be something that I came with, but most of the ‘80s references I have no idea what I’m talking about. It’s not until after I film it that I turn around and say, “Okay, now what was that about?” ”

Mapping out the season for us, James and Dulé give a brief rundown of what we may or may not get to see. “Well there may or may not be a continuation of the story that capped off our season last year, An Evening With Mr. Yang.” Dulé: “And there may or may not be something big coming.” James: “There may or may be our biggest guest star ever appearing on the show down the stretch. And we may or may not be getting another dose of what Gus’ hair looked like in the ‘90s. How’s that?” Perfect, guys!

The Friday night lineup of Psych and Monk make for great family television. At least, it does in my house. Join me this Friday, Aug. 7, at 10/9 Central, for the season premiere of Psych on USA.

(Read the full transcript here.)

Sharon Gless: On Being ‘Madeline’

When I got the invitation to join in a conference call with Bruce Campbell and Sharon Gless, I jumped at it, largely because of Sharon Gless. I mean no disrespect to Mr. Campbell, but I had just had the chance to chat with him at Comic Con and I was on two previous conference calls already for this season. To be honest, I was out of questions for him that hadn’t already been asked and answered. So, I turned my attention to Sharon Gless, whom I had been a fan of for many years, since seeing her on Marcus Welby, M.D. That was before Cagney and Lacey.

Sharon and Bruce together were quite entertaining. They played off each other just like their characters on Burn Notice. Campbell shows a lot of respect for Sharon, queuing her to answer the questions first. Well deserved respect, too. Everyone knows her first from Cagney and Lacey, but Sharon has been quite active over the years before she landed Burn Notice. Or Burn Notice landed on her. “I was actually sitting in the fat farm and this script arrived and I was sitting all alone in  my room and it made me laugh out loud and I was all by myself.  And I thought, this is funny.  This is fun, I like this.  It had substance to it, too.”

I had been curious to know what she thought and felt about Madeline. “I’ve never actually had children, myself, but I just connected with Jeffrey’s character and every week it’s different and as the show goes along, Madeline, my character, first she’s totally in the dark and very needy and very sort of just all sort of emotional things that are unattractive.  And as time went on, Matt Nix said, “Sharon, she’s smarter than what I was writing.”  And he gave me one clue, he said, “Remember, he gets his smarts from her.”  I said, “Oh, okay.”  So I just took that information and it gave me and my character a little more confidence.  But I don’t know, how do you prepare for playing someone who’s manipulative?  Is it built in?  I don’t know.”

One of the things that is becoming clearer is that Madeline probably strongly suspects what Michael does for a living by now. “ I think Madeline is slowly figuring it out.  I don’t think, to this day, she really understands the full impact of what it is he really does.  But she knows he helps people.  That’s how she phrases it.  That’s how she lives with it.  And yes, she is getting more informed.  I think there are moments where she does trust him.  She has to, she is, despite what you see, she loves him.  It’s her boy.  But I think there’s always a bit of doubt because he’s never completely forthcoming.  So what she finds out she sort of finds out on her own.  He’s a little vague when he explains things, enough to calm her down or to get her to help in an indirect way.”

Madeline is one kick-ass momma, too. “The only bad guys I have to find my way around are Jeffrey (Donovan) and Bruce.  I mean, my job on the show is the mother from hell.” But Madeline is starting to get more involved with Michael’s cases. Interrogating a bad guy when her son was kidnapped was pretty awesome to watch. it was fresh and exciting and I hope we get to see more of that as the season continues after the break. Campbell agrees. “What’s amazing is she turned out to be a very good interrogator and then who knew.  I actually think we’re going to see in the scenes that come – because Sharon, you were also on a stakeout and you had to spot somebody.   You had to be a lookout. So don’t kid yourself.  You’re going to be an operative before too long maybe.”

“And Maddie is, she is smart, she can be very keen and if she’s, sometimes she plays a little manipulative,” Sharon says. “She’s not totally informed as to what he’s (Michael) doing, but she knows him.  It’s her boy, it’s her son. I think the story would start to end soon if she was totally understanding of what has happened to him and what it is he’s attempting.  Do you know what I’m saying?  Attempting to find his way back.  So I don’t think she knows all of that yet.  She just knows that he’s doing stuff that’s not ordinary and I think she fears for his life, I’m sure.”

I couldn’t ignore the fangirl in me any longer, so I asked Sharon about working with Tyne Daly in an episode due out after the break. “It was wonderful.  And I’m not just saying that.  Tyne Daly is one of the finest actresses I’ve ever met or ever had the pleasure of working with.  It was just like old times.   I mean they were different characters, but we know each other now and her mother had a great expression.  Okay, her mom said, “Sweat makes a great cement.”  And she and I sweat together for six years and we just know each other’s timing, we know, and we love, we love to rehearse, we love to work, and it was a real treat for me and I think for all of us to have her on the show.” Oh, to have been able to watch the two of them working together again. I’m so excited for that episode! I have so much respect for Tyne Daly’s work as well as Sharon’s.Sharon and Bruce would both like to have Tyne come back for another episode. Says Sharon, “I’d like to have Tyne Daly come back.  She wants to come back as a bad guy. Like Judy Dench on the James Bond things.  Not a bad guy, but she would be running the whole thing.”

I mentioned Sharon’s role on Marcus Welby, M.D., earlier, and she had a great story to share about that show. “Do you know I was put on Marcus Welby as a regular for a year because I was to be a love interest of James Brolin, and they said that there was absolutely no chemistry between James Brolin and me and I got fired.” I figured it was a good thing, since she ended up doing Cagney and Lacey not long after that.

And what would happen if Christine Cagney met Madeline? “I don’t see them going camping together. They’re so different.  I don’t know.  I think Madeline might have a little more respect for Christine and what she does, maybe not her attitude. Christine was highly competitive.  I don’t know if she liked any other women around.  There was an episode where they brought in a young cop who was going to observe and they became sort of comedic because Christine just didn’t want anything to do with her and all the men were all over the woman, of course.  I don’t think Christine sees anybody but herself, do you know what I’m saying, herself and her work.  That was part of her problem.  She was a raging alcoholic, I mean they were very different.  But I don’t know, maybe if you sat them down in a bar together that they’d get along.  That’s the best I can do I think.  I could see them just forgetting what either of them do and what their backgrounds are and just sitting down and having a drink.”

Well, count me in, ladies!

Watch the season finale of Burn Notice, Long Way Back, Thursday, Aug. 8, at 9/8 Central, on USA Network.

Psych’s Corbin Bernsen: The Comic Con Interview

The next in our series of interviews with the people of Psych is Corbin Bernsen, aka Henry Spencer. Which Gilligan’s Island actor does he wish would guest star on Psych? How much Henry do we see this season? Get the answers to these questions and more in the video below.

Be sure to check out our other video interviews with Maggie Lawson & Timothy Omundson and Chris Henze & Steve Franks. Psych returns Friday, August 7 at 10/9c on USA Network. Be there or be a pineapplehead!

Psych’s Maggie Lawson & Timothy Omundson: The Comic Con Interview

At Comic Con we had the opportunity to chat with Psych’s Maggie Lawson (Juliet) and Timothy Omundson (Lassie) about the new season. Check out what they had to say about guest stars this season, Tim’s favorite prop, Maggie’s non-favorite shoes, and which table is the coolest in the press room.

Psych’s fourth season premieres on USA Network Friday, August 7 at 10/9c.

Psych’s Steve Franks & Chris Henze: The Comic Con Interview

This year marked USA Network’s first appearance at Comic Con, and they decided to bring out the big guns: Psych. Season 4 premieres on Friday, August 7, and we got to chat with the main cast as well as the executive producers to get some scoop on what’s coming up this season.

Okay, so maybe “scoop” isn’t an accurate description of what we obtained from Psych executive producers Steve Franks and Chris Henze. It’s more like “Steve Franks’ Travel Guide to America’s Best Food”. Seriously, the guy has a favorite food for every city he’s ever visited. Our interview begins with Steve assisting a fellow interviewer figure out how to get his new digital recorder to work, then flows into introductions followed by a food travelogue, then comes the inevitable pineapple question. And then our time was up. We didn’t get much by way of spoilers, but no one cared. Watch and laugh along with us.

Note: Apologies for the jittery camcorder work here. Trying to keep the arm steady while laughing requires more practice than time had allowed!

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