In the new issue of Entertainment Weekly now on newsstands, you’ll find a story written by yours truly in which I geek out on my new TV obsession, the ABC sci-fi drama FlashForward. If you’re new to the show, here’s what you need to know: On Oct. 6, the planet blacked out and for 2 minutes and 17 seconds, and everyone on earth saw a brief vision of their respective futures. The saga’s center is FBI agent Mark Benford (Shakespeare In Love’s Joseph Fiennes), who during his brief quantum leap saw himself investigating an elaborate conspiracy behind mankind’s perplexing power nap. The day glimpsed in all the flashes: Thursday, April 29, 2010. (Yep, the show will air that night.) Will Mark’s faithful wife Olivia (Lost’s Sonja Walger) find herself in bed with another man? Will vaguely sinister scientist Simon Campos (Dominic Monaghan, another ex-Lostie) strangle a dude to death? And will FBI agent Demetri Noh (Star Trek’s John Cho), who saw only darkness during his flash, be (gulp) dead? “The high concept pitch is simply this: if you were given a glimpse of your future, what would you do with it?” says FF’s exec producer David S. Goyer. “If you see something bad, can you change it? If it’s good, how do you make it come true?” (Read full post)
Category: Lost (1-10 of 208)
'FlashForward': Why you should watch tonight's episode -- and scoop on what lies ahead
My favorite new show of the year is ABC’s FlashForward, an immersive sci-fi mystery filled with poignancy and wit. It launched with a great deal of “The Next Lost!” hype, and I can say the show has at least one thing in common with its network sibling: the ability to encourage passionate even obsessive interest. At least for me. I am driven to rummage through its text for clues, but even better, I am deeply moved by its characters. The premise: On Oct. 6, everyone in the world blacked out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds, causing global catastrophe, and during their inexplicable power nap, everyone got a quick glimpse of the same future date, April 29, 2010.
The best episodes of the series so far have been the ones that take the time to imagine, in detail, how this mysterious calamity would have truly affected the real world and its people. Tonight is one of those episodes. I got the chance to see it early, and it’s a top-notch outing. It focuses on Dr. Bryce Varley (Zachary Knighton, pictured), who in the pilot was seen trying to shoot himself at the moment the blackout occurred. Since then, he has found reason to live, thanks to what he saw in his flash-forward. To date, all we know about his vision is that it involves a young Japanese woman and a Japanese character for the word “Believe.” Tonight’s episode, which is entitled “Believe,” will reveal the “heavy stuff” that drove Bryce to his suicide attempt and what he really saw in his vision. You will also meet the young Japanese woman — and if she has the same effect on you as she did on me, she’ll instantly become one of your favorite characters on the show. I’ve been one of those FF fans who’ve griped that the show has been slow in getting to this story. Having seen it, I can say it was worth the wait. Come back later and let me know if you feel the same — or don’t.
(Read full post)
Elizabeth Mitchell, 'Lost' producers talk about Juliet's fate
Elizabeth Mitchell will attempt to save the world from an alien invasion in ABC’s new drama V, a reboot of the memorable 1983 miniseries that debuts tomorrow. She’s also dealing with some deadly serious business on another freaky ABC series. In Lost’s season 5 finale, Mitchell’s Juliet seemingly met her end after plunging down a hole and triggering a hydrogen bomb that may or may not have reset the timeline. SPOILER ALERT: While Lost exec producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse confirm that death becomes her (“The decision to kill Juliet was absolutely brutal,” says Lindelof), they note that she’s scheduled to appear in multiple episodes this season (“There’s still something very significant that we have not yet learned about the character,” hints Cuse). As you speculate away, enjoy these juicy quotes from Mitchell, Cuse, and Lindelof:
On shooting Juliet’s final scene in the season 5 finale:
MITCHELL: “At the time, I didn’t think I was ever coming back. So for me it was just a really big goodbye and easily heartbreaking. It wasn’t one of those things to think about it. Also, Josh [Holloway] is really strong, so I was on this pulley, and I had them loosen the pulley so he’d really be holding me up, and it killed both of us every time. When my hand slipped from his, it was because he couldn’t hold on any longer. So that hit us with a real punch. And then, to be trapped in that cave and to have no way of telling anybody and to be too hurt to move—who does that happen to? Is that not your deepest, deepest nightmare? So that was very easy to play because it was so big…. We were all broken-hearted and crying quite a bit. Evangeline [Lilly] couldn’t have been more supportive about all of it. Everyone came to say goodbye. I think Jorge [Garcia] brought champagne. It was a cathartic and amazing experience.”
On why she enjoyed that scene: (Read full post)
Doc Jensen's 'Lost' meets 'The Lost Symbol' Book Club, part 2
A few weeks ago, I began a project comparing Dan Brown’s latest blockbuster crypto-thriller The Lost Symbol to ABC’s crypto-drama Lost. My sketchy hypothesis: Even though they are completely different stories, both entertainments share similar mystic / mythological / philosophical / conspiracy theory-ish reference points. I envisioned an academic endeavor with absolutely no redeeming intellectual value, that wallowed in being ridiculous and illogical. Just me, screwing around for geeky-silly giggles. Whoo-hoo! Screw screw screw! Giggle giggle giggle!
Naturally, given the great ambition and high stakes I set for myself (read: sarcasm), I found this project pretty easy to back-burner when my editors decided to assign me, like, real work (see: this week’s feature on Where The Wild Things Are, opening this Friday, and — taking off my impartial journalist’s hat for a sec — one of the best films of the year). Still, I have always remained tickled by the prospect of connections (loose or otherwise) between Lost and The Lost Symbol, and with extra time again on my hands, I return to the game with vigor and restored sense of fun: I’m finding that Brown’s slow-starting story is much more enjoyable when read through the cracked lenses of my bizarre Lost bifocals. To wit (or not): (Read full post)
Emmys: All the backstage action
Backstage this year at the Emmy awards, the pressroom was privy to American Idol predictions, shout outs to former Beatles, and some seriously stylish lounging by the stars of Mad Men. Here are the highlights.
Live! From the press room!
Two and a Half Men star Jon Cryer’s time backstage after his win for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy was dominated by his bit with Emmy host and category rival Neil Patrick Harris, which required a special lighting rig and some consultation with show production assistants. As he waited for the set-up to finish, Cryer explained to the press, in a high, Jewish-lady voice, “Tawk amongst yourselves.” When the bit was over, Cryer shrugged and said, “OK, that was the bit, I hope it was worth waiting for, folks.” When the actual Q&A commenced, Cryer joked that when he said to co-star Charlie Sheen, “This [Emmy] is for you,” he meant he would give a copy of his Emmy to Sheen, not the actual thing. As for how he finally won after being nominated four times? “They gave up: ‘He’s not going to leave us alone until he gets one of those things!’” (Read full post)
Doc Jensen's 'Lost' meets 'The Lost Symbol' Book Club, part 1
Welcome, Lost fans, to our most timely — and possibly most ridiculous — theory-hunting adventure ever. Earlier this week, I postulated that perhaps Dan Brown’s new novel The Lost Symbol might share much in common with a different kind of crypto-thriller, ABC’s Lost, and I pitched y’all on reading through the blockbuster book together to search for potential overlap with the show’s spooky-bizarre mythology. Think of it as a comparative literature class… at an underground university run by The Lone Gunmen from The X-Files.
Today, we’ll look at the first five chapters of The Lost Symbol — and we’re going to start with the very first sentence: The secret is how to die. (Read full post)
'Lost': Ian Somerhalder (Boone) en route to Hawaii!
Ian Somerhalder phoned EW this morning to chat about his role as Damon on The CW hit The Vampire Diaries (look for his answers to reader questions on Thursday), but thanks to his apology for calling 25 minutes late due to the security at an airport in Atlanta, where the show films, being very, very thorough, we found out that he’s about to shoot Boone’s final-season return to ABC’s Lost. “I’m literally getting on a plane in 45 minutes to fly to Hawaii,” he said. “The only thing I can say is that I’m going back for several episodes….I have a script that weighs like 200 pounds, but I don’t really know what’s happening.”
Asked if he was psyched to return to Hawaii, he added, “I am, but you know what? I always have this romantic notion. Usually, when I would go back, I would have a week there, a great room at the Kahala, a convertible, a per diem, and what have you. And now, I wrapped [an episode of The Vampire Diaries] last night, I’ll fly there, I’ll work tomorrow, and then I’ll fly straight back and then come straight back to work on The Vampire Diaries. So it’s a 10-hour flight each way, and I’ll be on the ground for 24 hours….But I wouldn’t complain if you paid me.”
Photo credit: Wild1/PR Photos
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- Next
Blog Roll
- Best Week Ever
- BuzzSugar
- Coolfer
- Dark Horizons
- Deadline Hollywood Daily
- Digital Music News
- Gold Derby
- Hits Daily Double
- Hollywood Elsewhere
- Hollywood Wiretap
- Huffington Post
- Hypebot
- Idolator
- jaded insider
- Lost Remote
- Movie City News
- Movie List
- MTV News
- Pop Candy
- PopBytes
- Popeater
- reality blurred
- Salon: Arts & Entertainment
- Stereogum
- The Beat
- The Programming Insider
- Thompson on Hollywood
- Tuned In
- TV Barn
- TV Tattle
- TVFanatic.com
- TVNewser
- Velvet Rope
Featured Video
Realite: Reality TV justice!
Worthy winners on ''Runway,'' ''ANTM''; just desserts on ''Top Chef'' and ''SYTYCD''; bonus Kris Allen!
More 
Today's Most Popular
-
-
-
The Ausiello Files Exclusive: 'FlashForward' shuts down production -
-
The Movie Critics 'New Moon,' 'Twilight,' Bella Swan, and me
Special Coverage
'Twilight' Saga: 'New Moon'
It's almost here! Get all the latest news, photos, video, and fan commentary leading up to the big premiere
More
