Sci-Fi TV Sunday: Caprica, FlashForward, Fringe, LOST, Smallville + more

This week in Sci-Fi TV, we have the latest news on LOST (including the return of two castmembers), updates on FlashForward and Fringe from each show’s respective creators, plus some good news for fans of Smallville and Supernatural, which each appear more likely to be headed for renewal. All that and more, including the latest television ratings (strong numbers for Fringe and Chuck), casting bites, images and videos.

GENRE TV NEWS

More LOST Cast Returns Announced + Cast and Crew Talk Season Six
During their sit-down with critics at last week’s Television Critics Association winter press tour, "LOST" producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse revealed that both Harold Perrineau ("Michael") and Cynthia Watros ("Libby") will be returning for the show’s sixth and final season.  The two characters will appear in the latter half of the season.  Cuse also confirmed that Dominic Monaghan ("Charlie") will appear in four episodes this season and that they’re still trying to figure out how to bring back Shannon (Maggie Grace is busy with her movie career) and Walt (Malcolm David Kelley has aged and doesn’t resemble his character as much any more).  Meanwhile, here is what Cuse had to say about whether we’ll get revelations to certain mysteries, such as the numbers, plus his thoughts on the "vibe" of the final season:

Obviously, you can’t answer every single question, but some things like the numbers—

Cuse: "No, obviously, if we said nothing about the smoke monster, if we said nothing about the numbers, we would be killed, but we believe that we recognize what the major questions are, and we will be providing some answers to those questions."

What is the vibe of the final season?

Cuse: "I’d say it’s a lot like the vibe of first season—the actors talk a lot about how they’ve reconnected with each other—there’s almost a nostalgic quality. I think the first season of any show, the actors get together, they bond, and then there’s a drift over time. But because the show has an end, the actors have a chance to sort of rebond, much like they did in the first season when they screened the episodes every Wednesday at each other. There’s a real sense that the connections between these characters is a huge part of the show: Why did these characters cross [paths with] each other?"

More TCA highlights from the cast and crew here and here, and to close out this week’s "LOST" news, here are some bites.

• In an upcoming episode, some more mystery behind the "numbers" on the show is revealed.  Some characters go on a trip into Otherton and find a place with several names and with lines through them.  They all have numbers attached, some of which correspond to the numbers: Locke (4), Hurley (8), Sawyer (15), Sayid (16), Jack (23) Sun or Jin Kwon (42). [DarkUFO & DarkUFO]
• Ian Somerhalder (Boone), who appears in the season premiere, says he expects the remainder of his scenes to "be spread out throughout the season." [Fancast]
• Just to clarify things, there will be 18 hours of new "LOST" this season, airing over the course of 16 weeks (which includes the two-hour season premiere and the two-hour season/series finale).
• The Kate/Sawyer/Jack triangle will be "downplayed" in season six to service bigger plot points. [@kristinalert]

Promotional images of Ilana and Frank [more at DocArzt]

Scan of Entertainment Weekly’s breakdown of the "Last Supper" image [via The ODI]

Lost "Untangled": Five Seasons in Five Minutes [THR Feed]

SkyOne interview with Terry O’Quinn (Locke) [via DocArzt]

Josh Holloway on the Ellen Show [YouTube]

J.J. Abrams Talks Fringe: Possible Fixed End Date? + Nimoy May Return
"Fringe" co-creator J.J. Abrams told reporters at the Television Critics Association winter press tour last week that, like what they did with "LOST", the show may get a fixed end date:

"Just as with Lost, we didn’t get to a place until the third season where we were saying, ‘OK, we need to know where halfway is,’" Abrams said. "And I feel like that’s something that, … if we’re lucky enough to continue going, I do think that at a certain point it would be a really smart thing to start to say, ‘OK, let’s figure out … what the actual date is so we sort of know … how far we should push things.’"

Meanwhile, Abrams says the second season has actually seen an acceleration of certain storylines:

"Especially the Walter/Peter story, but certainly with … Olivia as well, I think there are certain things that we were actually going to play out longer and we kind of jumped to and did sooner," he said.

"And then there are other things that … we’ve talked about doing— … her stepfather story—that … we’re putting off. So I feel there’s a lot of … opportunity for where we’re going beyond this season, and I’m going to be bullish and optimistic about that. And I feel like we have a long way to go still, but I think … that the show … has sort of found a kind of rhythm that is nice to see, … and I’m really proud of what we’re doing with it."

And finally, Abrams revealed that although nothing has been ironed out yet, he believes there’s a chance Leonard Nimoy will return to reprise his role as William Bell: "Without saying either way, I think there’s a chance he’ll be back," Abrams teased.  Elaborating further in an interview with iFMagazine, Abrams said regardless if Nimoy returns, the storyline won’t be changed: "No, we’re right on track with the story that we’re going to tell, and there’s a strong chance he’ll be back."  Abrams also discussed the show’s upcoming season finale:

"There’s a great story at the very end. You might say that it’s a cliffhanger, but it’s also a revelation. I think that it’s a story that we’ve wanted to tell from the beginning of the season, so I’m excited to see it."

And on the ratings front, the special Monday episode last week succeeded in attracting a few more eyeballs to the series.  The show drew 7.72 million viewers and a 2.8 A18-49 rating.  That was up 22% among both viewers (from 6.32M) and adults 18-49 (from a 2.3 rating) from the prior episode.  More importantly, the show conquered fellow sci-fi drama "Heroes" (which aired in the same time slot) by 64% among viewers and by 33% among adults 18-49.  It lost a little steam when it aired again on Thursday in its normal time slot but again, gained more viewers than the Thursday episode prior (6.60 million viewers and a 2.6 A18-49 rating). "Fringe" airs Thursday’s at 9:00 p.m. on FOX.  "What Lies Below" airs this Thursday.  Check out a press release for the following episode, "The Bishop Revival" (January 28th) here.

Episode 2×12 – "What Lies Below" [more at SpoilerTV]

Episode 2×13 – "The Bishop Revival" [more at SpoilerTV]

Promo for episode 2×12 – "What Lies Below" [YouTube]

Smallville 10th Season Chances Improve
When The CW moved "Smallville" onto Friday nights — long considered a death slot for programming (especially genre) — many expected season nine would be its last.  But a strange and somewhat unexpected thing happened: ratings didn’t plummet.  Sure the show is off from its year-ago numbers, but the current state of viewership is acceptable for Friday nights and now the chances for renewal have improved, according to The CW president Dawn Ostroff:

“I’m really pleased with the show,” she says. “Creatively, I think they’ve done a great job. And the ratings are [strong] on Friday night. I have to commend [the producers]… It’s not easy in season 9 to keep a show fresh. And you know what I think? The fans have really liked the show this season.

“I don’t know which way we’ll go,” she continues, “but if you would’ve asked me [over the summer whether it would end this season] I would’ve said, ‘Oh, probably.’ But I can’t say that now.”

"Smallville" returns on January 29th with the episode "Disciple" (check out the official description at KryptonSite).  Two bites are included below.

• It appears as if Callum Blue (Zod) won’t be appearing in either chapter of the upcoming "Smallville" TV movie "Absolute Justice", while Cassidy Freeman (Tess) will appear in only the second hour… [KryptonSite]
• …And lastly, episodes 17 and 18 have been titled ("Checkmate" and "Upgrade", respectively), while episode 14 has been renamed its original title, "Persuasion". [KryptonSite]

Episode 9×11 – "Warrior" [MundoSmallville via SpoilerTV]

Answers Upcoming for ABC’s FlashForward
"FlashForward" executive producer and co-creator David Goyer promises that when the show returns with new episodes this March, we’ll get answers to several of the show’s most sought-after questions:

"Who Suspect Zero is will be our first episode back," Goyer said in an interview. "Even in that first episode back, we answer a ton of big questions, and pretty much every episode afterwards. I can’t think of a question we don’t answer by the end of the season."

Even the special recap episode — scheduled to air sometime before the show’s March 18th premiere — will offer some new footage:

"If you’re a loyal viewer, we’re going to drop a bomb at the end of that one, too," Goyer said. "If you watch that episode and you’re a loyal viewer, you’re going to get a critical piece of information a lot sooner than you would in the life of the show," Goyer explained. "If you don’t watch it, you’ll get it in the life of the show anyway."

In terms of what’s to come, Goyer says the show may feature another blackout:

"The other thing is we had always, always planned on there being another blackout," he added. "We had always planned on revealing that there was going to be another blackout before the end of the season. That was part of the plan even when we wrote the pilot. So we go past April 29th in the first season, and I feel pretty confident in saying what happens past April 29th is, I think, more interesting than what happened before."

New cast photo [TV Fanatic]

Strong Debut for Season Three of Chuck
The two-night / three-hour "Chuck" season three premiere was a success for NBC.  The show premiered with a two-hour episode last Sunday which drew a solid 7.45 million viewers and a 2.9 A18-49 rating.  That was up 9% and  7%, respectively, from its season two premiere back in 2008.  Then on Monday, hour three held steady with 7.35M viewers and a 2.6 A18-49 rating.  To put that in perspective, the episode out drew Monday lead-out "Heroes" by a hefty 56% among viewers (7.35M vs. 4.72M) and 24% among adults 18-49 (2.6 rating vs. 2.1 rating).  Executive producer McG said the strong debut bodes well for the future of the series:

"I’m happy," McG said. "I just believe in that show, and we actually got rewarded [Sunday] night. [Warner Brothers Television head] Peter Roth seems really happy with the numbers. We’re happy with what it did, so hopefully it’ll keep on trucking."

"We were mid-3s, and that was above [expectations]," McG continued. "They wanted to have a 3 in front of it, so we were right around a 3.4 with the men 18-49, and I think they’re really happy with that, especially because I think the football game got a really good number on the other network and led into a big, strong Simpsons/Fox night."

Episode 3×04 – "Chuck vs. Operation Awesome" (features the first appearance of Brandon Routh’s character) [more at ChuckTV.net]

Promo for episode 3×04 – "Chuck vs. Operation Awesome [YouTube]

Sneak peek from "Chuck vs. Operation Awesome" [YouTube]

Watch more sneak peeks here, here and here

Interview with Yvonne Strahovski (Sarah) and Adam Baldwin (John) [EW]

Alessandra Torresani Talks Caprica
"Caprica" star Alessandra Torresani plays the character Zoe in the upcoming "Battlestar Galactica" prequel and says that audiences will see five fully different versions of her character:

"I’ve done a scene where I play three characters in one," Torresani said. "Season 1.5, the second half, third episode into it. Besides just that, I get to play five completely different characters, which is not like any female 16-year-old show character that I’ve ever seen before in my life."

Here’s a rundown of the five different versions of Zoe [courtesy SCI FI Wire]:

Zoe O: "Zoe 0 is the original Zoe, who’s the daughter of Amanda and Daniel Graystone," Torresani said in an interview this week in Pasadena, Calif., at the Television Critics Association winter press tour. "She’s the rebellious girl that’s trying to find the Soldiers of the One and is trying to find the One True God on Gemenon."

V World Zoe: "She creates the avatar, which lives in the virtual world. The avatar is the childlike version of herself, but when original Zoe’s in the V club, she’s this wild, crazy [girl], has tons of sex, drugs, does all this but now is trying to clean up her act and clean up the V world. Does that kind of make sense to you?"

Cylon Zoe: Daniel Graystone figures out how to put his daughter’s memories into the very first Cylon. The show will portray the machine both as a robot (depicted with visual effects) and as Torresani herself (representing the character’s inner personality, which only the audience sees).

Zoe 4 and 5: Torresani is keeping the remaining two Zoes a secret. "It’s going to get really interesting, really interesting," she said.

Check out another interview with the actress at the LA Times. "Caprica" premieres next Friday, January 22nd on Syfy.

New clip [via Galactica Sitrep]

NEW IMAGES

Being Human

Season two, episode two [more at SciFiPulse.net]

Heroes

Episode 4×16 – "Pass/Fail [more at SpoilerTV]

Episode 4×17 – "The Art of Deception" [more at SpoilerTV]

Supernatural

Episode 5×13 – "Back to the Future II" [more at SPNsite]

The Vampire Diaries

Episode 1×12 – "Unpleasantville" [more at VampireSite]

CASTING BITES

• British actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw ("Doctor Who") has been cast as the female lead in J.J. Abrams’ NBC pilot "Undercover".  She’ll play opposite Boris Kodjoe. [THR]
• A casting call for episode 3×04 of "True Blood" features eight characters, four of which are listed as recurring. [SpoilerTV]
• Episode 5×17 of the "Supernatural" is now called "99 Problems".  Check out a casting call for the episode (looking for two guest stars) at SpoilerTV.
• Brent Spiner denied rumors that he has been cast in "Torchwood": "Now how about those Torchwood rumors, hmm?–I think I would’ve heard something about it. Haven’t." [@BrentSpiner]
• Check out a casting call for episode 3×14 "Chuck vs. the Honeymooner" over at SpoilerTV.
• Producers of ABC’s "FlashForward" are looking for eight characters to appear in the show’s 17th episode.  Two characters are listed as recurring. [SpoilerTV]
• And rounding out this week’s various casting calls, three recurring characters are listed on one for "V". [SpoilerTV]

NEW VIDEOS

Being Human

Preview clip from episode 2×02 [YouTube via SciFiPulse.net]

Better Off Ted

Outakes (NSFW) [YouTube]

Heroes

EW interview with Robert Knepper (Samuel), James Kyson Lee (Ando) and Jack Coleman (Noah) [EW]

Legend of the Seeker

Promo for episode 2×09 – "Dark" [YouTube]

TV BITES

• Syfy has announced March return dates for "Ghost Hunters" and "Destination Truth".  The sixth season of "Ghost Hunters" will return on March 3rd, followed by the return of original episodes of "Destination Truth" on March 17th. [Syfy]
• "Pushing Daisies" creator Bryan Fuller has begun writing the graphic novel which will serve as a follow-up to the short-lived ABC series, says star Chi McBride (detective Emerson Cod): "It seems a little darker, which is a lot of things that Bryan couldn’t do," McBride said. "There’s one particular story that I hope he does called ‘The Head.’ I wished he could’ve done it during the series. It was awesome." [SCI FI Wire]
• New animated versions of "G.I. Joe" and "Transformers" are coming to Hub, a new cable TV network for kids by Discovery Communications and Hasbro (replacing Discovery Kids). [SCI FI Wire]
• HBO programming chief Michael Lombardo says prospects are high for a series pickup for the fantasy series "Game of Thrones": "Everything looks fantastic," said Lombardo, adding, "The director got great performances. Unlike a lot of projects like this, everything was shot on location. It has such a rich texture that it looks more expensive than it actually was." [THR Feed]
• "Supernatural" stars Jared Padalecki (Sam Winchester) and Jensen Ackles (Dean Winchester) each have six-year contracts, but series creator Eric Kripke’s contract expires at the end of the season. However, CW president Dawn Ostroff says Kripke is warming to the idea of a sixth season: “I think he’s in that state of mind,” she says. “I had lunch with Eric the other day and he’s really excited about the show right now. I think he feels this season has been really satisfying for him. He’s certainly not running out of ideas by any stretch of the imagination.” [EW]
• Syfy head of original programming, Mark Stern, revealed that "Riverworld" and "The Phantom", two backdoor pilot mini-series ordered by the network (which means they could be picked up to series if they do well), will debut this spring and later in 2010. They’ll be joined by "Haven" and "Being Human", the re-imagining of the U.K series of the same name. [The Futon Critic]
• Jane Espenson ("Caprica"), who wrote an episode of the short-lived Fox series "Firefly", revealed that Titan Books is putting together a collection of short stories for a new book and she is writing one of the stories.  Her short story features the characters Kaylee and Wash: "Titan Books is putting together a collection written by various of the Firefly writers. But [it’s a] very short story, … 2,000 words." [SCI FI Wire]
• ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson seems to suggest that "V" could live on in short chapter-type seasons: "The original [1984-’85] V was two minis and then a series," McPherson said. "The two minis did incredibly well, and the series did not do as well. Now there was a huge creative change between those two, but I think as long as you market them appropriately, I do think the audience is willing to come in for chapters." [SCI FI Wire]
• Greg Grunberg says his character Matt Parkman on "Heroes" will have to get darker and "more evil" in order to take on Sylar (Zachary Quinto) "The only way to get rid of or really handle the evil guy Sylar is to get more dark and more evil than he is, and that’s pretty much where my character goes.". [EW]
• The CW has released an official description for "Unpleasantville", the upcoming 12th episode of "The Vampire Diaries" (airing Thursday, January 28th).
• "Sanctuary" creator Damian Kindler talks about the just-concluded second season of the Syfy original series in an interview with SciFiPulse Radio. [ excerpts at link, interview goes live at 5ET/2PT at SciFiPulse Radio]
• "Epitaph Two Return", the season two/series finale of "Dollhouse" has been bumped a week to January 29th at 8:00 p.m. to accommodate the "Hope for Haiti" telethon… [FOX]
• …Meanwhile, when "Dollhouse" airs its series finale, that will definitely be the end, says creator Joss Whedon.  Whedon added that he’s not in favor of seeing the show continue in another medium such as comics: "I don’t think it’s a comic…It just makes no sense to do a comic with ‘Dollhouse.’ I don’t get it, and I’m not sure I’d read it." [CBR]
• Tonight is the "67th Annual Golden Globes" (8:00 p.m. on NBC), and although sci-fi/genre is better represented in the various Film categories, there are some thing to watch for tonight including: Best Television Series – Drama, where "True Blood" is in the running; Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama, where Anna Paquin of "True Blood" has been nominated, and Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, where Michael Emerson of "LOST" has been nominated. [Golden Globes]
• And finally, tonight is the series premiere of "Human Target", the new series starring Mark Valley, Chi McBride and Jackie Earle Haley.  The premiere airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. on FOX.  Check out a promo for the series below. [YouTube]

SCI-FI RATINGS (Based on final national numbers unless otherwise noted) [@TravisYanan]

CHART (1/4/2010 to 1/10/2010)

Follow Russ on his blog: Your Entertainment Now and on Twitter: Twitter.com/YourEntNow.