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December 27, 2006 The Official UK Theatrical Trailer of Scott Walker: 30 Century Man is now available. Get the link on the Film Blog, and then look for Gale Harold's name in the credits (2nd line, listed as Associate Producer) -- it's tiny, but it's there! ;)From Televisionista: Midway through November sweeps, FOX realized their slick, yet often preposterous abduction drama "Vanished" lost all steam on Friday nights (surprise, surprise) and decided to ditch the series, streaming the final 4 unaired episodes over MySpace. So, how was the Sara Collins case resolved? [read more]Medialife Magazine online published an article about how series that generate pre-season chatter can tank in " Reading the buzz: When shows lose it." Before the show premiered, star Gale Harold, formerly of "Queer as Folk," was a significant driver for the show, as females 18-49 and gay males 18-49 were huge supporters when the show was originally picked up. Since premiering, "Vanished" continued to trend sharply downward. Viewers complained that the show's plot was slow and the supporting characters were unable to create any significant discussion. It appears that NBC's breakout hit "Heroes" may have stolen many of the "Vanished" audience who may have been on the fence in terms of giving the show another chance.More on Randy Harrison in The Glass Menagerie from Playbill.com: Tony Award winner Harriet Harris — of Thoroughly Modern Millie and "Desperate Housewives" fame — will join "Queer as Folk" star Randy Harrison for the Guthrie Theater's upcoming production of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie.Randy has a new venture that he co-founded with friend and fellow actress Marci Adilman. the Arts Bureau (tAB) is a Brooklyn based collective of artists whose mission it is to produce and nurture the creations of its ensemble members. A multifaceted organization, tAB encompasses theatre, visual, film, music, and writing. tAB is committed to utilizing all media in order to expand the relevance of its members’ work and to reach a community of diverse, ever-expanding interests. Find out more at theArtsBureau.com.December 12, 2006 The Scott Walker film, of which Gale is an associate producer, has been invited to screen at the 57th Berlin International Film Festival, February 8 to 18, 2007. The documentary is in the prestigious Panorama section of the festival. Apparently Germany is the second largest market for sales of Walker Brothers & Scott Walker CDs (after the United Kingdom). The UK theatrical release has been pushed back to April, which, according to director/producer Stephen Kijak, gives the film a better chance of hanging onto more screens for a longer period of time.It has been confirmed that Randy Harrison will be part of the cast for The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, being performed at Minneapolis/St. Paul's The Guthrie. Preview performances begin January 20; the play opens January 26 and plays through March 25 on the Guthrie’s McGuire Proscenium Stage. The play is directed by Joe Dowling, and also features Tony Award-winning actress Harriet Harris. Rounding out the cast are local and Guthrie favorites Jonas Goslow, Tracey Maloney and Bill McCallum. Melodie Bahan, Director of Communications at the Guthrie Theater informs us, "In the text of the play, Williams makes it clear that at times Tom is the narrator of the story - telling about a memory, and at other times, he's part of the memory itself. Randy will be playing Tom in the memory scenes and Bill McCallum will be the narrator Tom." Tickets are priced from $22 to $52 and are on sale through the Guthrie Box Office at 612-377-2224, toll-free at 877-44-STAGE, and online at www.guthrietheater.org.Thea Gill will star in the Australian drama "HONOUR" written by Joanna Murray-Smith and directed by Brian Richmond, who happens to be Thea's husband. HONOUR is a co-production of The Belfry Theatre (Victoria) and the Prairie Theatre Exchange (Winnipeg). Please visit both theatre's sites for more information. Check out Thea's photo gallery for new additions (launch the gallery, choose "misc", then gallery one). Starting around photo number 26, you can see shots of a mosaic of Thea done by artist Beth Purcell, as well as a couple pictures of Thea with Sharon Gless and other friends.A group of friends from Valencia, Spain have created a Spanish-language online gay soap opera based on Queer as Folk. The seven Valencian communications students reached the height of popularity in a few short weeks with their online miniseries Lo que surja (LQS), a replica of QAF. Although the series attempts to break from stereotyping that exists about gay world, like on QAF, each of the characters has a somewhat stereotypical role, but that doesn't make it any less real. The actors say that to play the roles they based their performances on their own experiences as gays. You can check out the pilot and all the subsequent episodes on the LQS site.From blog.itvt.com: This Wednesday, UK terrestrial broadcaster, Channel 4, will launch a branded broadband VOD/catch-up service, called 4oD (www.channel4.com/4od), making it the first UK broadcaster to make all its commissioned programming available on-demand. The service will allow UK viewers to catch up with any Channel 4 shows they have missed: registered 4oD users will have up to 30 days after a program's initial broadcast to access it on the new service. In addition, the service will provide viewers with hundreds of hours of classic Channel 4 programs, such as "Queer as Folk," "Trigger Happy TV," and "Drop the Dead Donkey."December 04, 2006 According to the Scott Walker film blog, the Curzon Soho in London will the be cinematic home for the film's official UK theatrical run. Other cinemas will be added soon. Stephen Kijak says it's his favorite spot in London for a coffee and a movie (very nice mince pies this time of year as well). The release date for this documentary of which Gale Harold is an associate producer is April 27, 2007, by Verve Pictures. Robert Gant, along with fellow actor and Mythgarden partner Chad Allen, will make an appearance on December 5th at the BBar and Grill (also known as the Bowery Bar) in New York City at a party to benefit SoulForceNYC, a group whose mission is to realize freedom for LGBT people from religious and political opression through the practice of relentless nonviolent resistance. A collection will be taken to benefit the 2007 Equality Ride, where young adults travel on buses touring the country to confront colleges that ban the enrollment of openly LGBT students.According to PatrickAntosh.com, Thea Gill was in Toronto recently and arranged a little reunion. Patrick and Thea had a great laugh reminiscing and catching up! Check out the photos on Patrick's news page, and see what else QAF's costume designer has been up to.Rumour has it that Randy Harrison will be playing the part of "Tom" in the upcoming production of "The Glass Menagerie" at The Guthrie in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota from January 20 to March 25. Cast will be confirmed in a week or two, but it seems Randy will be starting performances of this Tennessee Williams play just as Gale Harold is finishing up his run in another Williams work (Suddenly Last Summer).Commercial-Free.com is a site featuring television shows on DVD. Queer as Folk is included under the heading "The Collection". Click on the thumbnails to see larger images, as well as information about the show's place in Television History.December 01, 2006 Broadway Beat interviewed Gale Harold and his co-stars in Suddenly Last Summer for their November 27th episode. You need Quicktime to view the video on their website; the SLS segment is about halfway through the program. If you are unable to view it, there is a clip posted on youtube.Those who ordered a DVD of THE UNSEEN (starring Gale Harold and Michelle Clunie) have begun receiving their copies in the mail. It can be ordered from Moro Films.Emmy winner Sharon Gless (Debbie, QAF) will appear in the USA Network's drama pilot Burn Notice. The plot finds a blacklisted Special Ops agent (Jeffrey Donavan) who uses his elite training to find the reason for the "burn notice'' that ended his spy career, while helping the downtrodden who can't go to the police. Gabrielle Anwar will play Weston's ex, a former IRA terrorist who has a love-hate relationship with him. Gless will play Weston's mother, an aging chain smoker who has issues with her son. Bruce Campbell will play a former Navy SEAL who is an old friend of Weston's. The Fox TV Studios project will be directed by Jace Alexander. Filming is slated to begin Tuesday, December 5th in Miami.Mythgarden's first project, " Save Me," starring, Robert Gant (Ben, QAF) Chad Allen (End of the Spear) and Judith Light (Law and Order SVU), will have it's first screening at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Mythgarden was founded in 2003 by Gant, Allen, and producer Christopher Racster (Say Uncle, April's Shower). "Save Me," based on Craig Chester's original script, is a drama which chronicles the life of a young gay man who flees his life of drugs and sex to return home to find himself. His arrival at a Christian ministry makes him confront the truth of his heart and spirit. The Sundance Film Festival runs January 18th - 28th in Park City, Utah. Check out Greg Hernandez' blog entry which features a couple of Save Me images. For more information and a screening schedule, visit the Sundance website.November 22, 2006 In " Suddenly this fall, a smashing Tennessee revival," Linda Winer writes, "As drama, this is silly. As a demonstration of acting, it enthralls. As a cautionary tale against sex tourism, it really works." Read the full review.The Star-Ledger of New Jersey features another positive review of Gale's play: "'Suddenly' is honorably revived."On Monday, November 27th "Scott Walker: 30 Century Man" will screen at the Cinecity Film Festival in Brighton. Screening is at 6:30 and Stephen Kijak will be down to introduce the film with his producer Mia Bays and Brighton local Grant Gee, the film's DP and editor, who will hold a discussion afterwards.Now that " Vanished" has been cancelled, Fox will make the concluding episodes available streaming OnDemand on the network's MySpace platforms. For more information, visit the official Vanished website.This month, Peter Paige was presented with the "Equality Award" by the Human Rights Campaign at a garden ceremony in Palm Springs. The speaking notes for his acceptance speech are on his website -- very inspirational!Just for fun... if you think Robert Gant would make a great gay James Bond, PlanetOut has a poll on their website where you can vote for your favorite.From The Toronto Star: Thea Gill is featured in Richard Bell's new indie film, "Eighteen," which tells parallel stories of young men thrust unprepared into soul-destroying conflict. The film's score was recorded by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and composed by its musical director, Bramwell Tovey. The story follows parallel lines between two "wars" — the struggles of a homeless youth named Pip, and the actual war stories of his grandfather, passed on as a tape-recorded memoir on the day Pip turns 18. Ron Cowen, executive producer of QAF is quoted in an article published in the LA Times about gay actors in hollywood, and the changing attitudes of the public. Television industry insiders agree that in just the past few weeks, gay actors in Hollywood have reached a critical new turning point, one that will reveal what restrictions may or may not be placed on their careers if they brave coming out of the closet. Ultimately, what happens next is up to prime-time viewers. Ron Cowen, executive producer of Showtime's drama "Queer as Folk," said Neil Patrick Harris, known to millions from his years on "Doogie Howser, M.D.," and who recently came out, is furnishing "a test case" for other gay performers. "If not a big deal is made out of it, Hollywood will adapt to it," Cowen added. "But if it turns out it's not a good thing — if the ratings for 'How I Met Your Mother' drop, for instance — people will say, 'That hurts shows, that hurts the business.' "November 10, 2006 There are new photos of Gale and the cast of Suddenly Last Summer on the Roundabout Theatre website. In an article for the New York Daily News, director Mark Brokaw tells Joe Dziemianowicz what drew him to his cast: "Blythe brings great compassion, intelligence and a fierce motherly devotion to the role - as well as being very sexy and a sly seductress. Carla has that rare ability to project strength and fragility at the same time. She possesses a saucy survivor's streak and brings a wounded sensuality. Gale projects great intelligence and compassion, and most importantly the ability to embody the great conflict that resides inside of this man - a woman's life literally rests in his hands on this day."Gale's film " The Unseen" (in which Michelle Clunie also stars) is now available on DVD. You can order a collector's edition from Luis Moro Productions. There will be a special one-time free screening of the film at AMC Theatre Coco Walk, 3015 Grand Avenue, Coconut Grove, Florida on Wednesday, November 15th at 3:30pm, and an after-screening cocktail reception next door at Cafe Tu Tu Tango.October 13, 2006 Gale Harold was at the after-party for Broadway's "Heartbreak House" Wednesday night, held at the Marriott Marquis, according to Playbill.com. Harry Haun writes, "Most of the Roundabout cast rehearsing Suddenly, Last Summer, opening November 15 at the Laura Pels, took the night off and gave some glitter to the event—Blythe Danner, Carla Gugino, director Mark Brokaw, Becky Ann Baker, Wayne Wilcox, Sandra Shipley, Karen Walsh and the lobotomist in reluctant residency, played by Gale Harold, whose only previous New York theatre work was an Austin Pendleton play waaay Off-Broadway called Uncle Bob. This, he has discerned, is different."Vanished moves to Friday nights beginning October 27. The New York Post says, "The television audience also rejected Fox' increasingly pointless serial Vanished, prompting the network not to cancel the show, but to kill off its glum lead character [hey! that's our Gale!], add a new character played by TV hunk Eddie Cibrian (Invasion) and shove the show off to Fridays at 8 p.m., a time slot that has killed virtually every drama Fox has ever run there. (Other than The X-Files, Fox' track record with scripted programming on Friday nights has been thoroughly dismal.)"In the October 23 episode of CSI Miami, " Curse of the Coffin," Lauralee Bell plays an unfortunate woman named Alissa Valone, who's the victim of a voodoo murder. Matt Battaglia (Drew, Queer As Folk) plays Alissa's husband, Trevor Valone.There is a great interview with Peter Paige at AfterElton.com, in which he talks about working on Queer As Folk, and his new project, directing a play in NYC. You can read a review of Say Uncle at the site as well. Outfest, a leading showcase for diverse, international lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) film and video, has announced that it's annual Honors gala will benefit the landmark Outfest Legacy Project for LGBT Film Preservation. The October 13th event will also salute Regent Media and pay tribute to 25 years of courageous and creative films about the AIDS crisis-specifically honoring the landmark television drama An Early Frost (1985), along with its creators, Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman, executive producers of QAF. [Read more] Sharon Gless (Debbie, QAF) will play the US Secretary of Defence in "The State Within", a six-part conspiracy thriller that takes place over 17 days in the life of the British Ambassador. The series airs on BBC1 in the UK this month. According to the Manchester Evening News, the opening episode features a stunning scene where a packed flight from Washington to London explodes just after take-off. All 262 passengers are killed with nine left dead on the ground as wreckage of burning Flight 113 plunges on to a freeway. The scenes were actually filmed on a road close to Toronto Airport in Canada - doubling for Washington - leading to fears of a real-life plane crash. Actor Jason Isaacs, who plays Mark Brydon, the maverick British Ambassador to Washington in the show, says, "It was a spectacular set, about a mile of upturned cars and flames and the carcass of the plane. It was right near the actual airport and all the people driving by thought they were seeing something real. They had to put it out on the radio all the time that we were filming. A lot of people turned round, panicked and phoned their relatives. It was an unusual thing to know that we were putting that fear into people's minds when they were about to get on a plane."September 29, 2006 Great news for Gale Harold fans who enjoy live theatre! The actor will be trodding the boards in the Big Apple once again this Fall, taking to the stage for the first time professionally since "Uncle Bob" in 2001. Gale will play Doctor Cukrowicz in the off-Broadway production of "Suddenly Last Summer," also starring Blythe Danner and Carla Gugino. Read the release at TheaterMania.com, and visit the official website for information on ordering tickets.From Broadway.com: "At the Roundabout Theatre Company's midtown rehearsal studio in New York City on Wednesday, September 27th, director Mark Brokaw (The Constant Wife) presented to the press a first look at the cast he's gathered for the revival of Tennessee Williams' dark one-act classic, Suddenly, Last Summer. With stars Carla Gugino, who dazzled in the revival of After the Fall on Broadway two summers ago, Queer as Folk heartthrob Gale Harold and the elegant (and Emmy Award-winning) matriarch of Showtime's Huff, Blythe Danner, how could we pass up the chance to take a few pics? We couldn't." Photos by Bruce Glikas. There are more pictures at Getty Images and Wireimage.A few weeks ago, we learned that Gale Harold and Ming-Na trained with real FBI agents in order to portray their fictional counterparts as realistically as possible in "Vanished." It seems that the actors weren't the only ones who needed a little expert advice. Josh Berman and his staff of writers consulted Janja Lalich, a Chico State University sociology professor who is an expert on cults, to work out parts of the storyline, which involves a complex conspiracy. Read her interview with Melissa Daugherty at orovillemr.com. Gale Harold spoke to Sean Elliott of iF magazine in a revealing interview about Vanished. Gale says, "This is a challenging part for me to play, an FBI agent. That is not something in my life. Ideologically and politically we are very different, but I already really like Kelton a lot. That has a lot to do with the agents I met here in LA and the research has given me a different perspective into the worlds of liberal and conservative. These people look after law and order at what ever means necessary, and I don’t really believe in that. To hold onto those beliefs and stay true to them and do a lot of work that most people in their lives will never ever have to get even remotely close to; you see it and respect it. When you try to embody it, it teaches you new ways to look at life. That’s why I love Kelton, he is such a new character for me, and has taught me so much."IGN.com interviewed Ming-Na about her role on Vanished and getting to play an Olsen twin on Robot Chicken. Talking about Gale's character, Graham, she says, "I think, the way we've done the backstory, is that she's a few years behind him as far as experience and all that's concerned. And he's the rebel, he's the one that's the maverick and kind of goes against the by the book kind of stuff. She is more by the book, but there's a rebel in her just dying to get out. So she really admires his methods and really wants to learn a lot from Agent Kelton, Gale Harold's part. So that's sort of how we've set that dynamic up." Read more. Variety reported a couple of weeks ago that Fox was giving "Vanished" an early vote of confidence, ordering three additional scripts, which was a sign that network executives were encouraged by the show's early ratings. FOX scored another victory on Labor Day in the adults 18-49 demographic with a 3.3 rating, but the numbers have dropped since then. There have been many mixed reviews, and rumours of Gale's departure, fuelled by his new role in an off-Broadway play this Fall. Movies Online says, "There is reason to tune in for this drama as it heats up and starts to sizzle. Harold leads the cast with a great sympathetic depth to his humbled yet take-charge government agent." The Toronto Star lists Vanished as one of its "five things worth watching." In "Confusion is Key in Fox's Vanished" Dave Murphy of Media Village writes, "Your brain might be a bit tired from processing so much info, but I guarantee that confusion you experience after watching Vanished will have you back on the couch next Monday night." With Gale starting rehearsals in New York, however, viewers are wondering if the handsome lead will soon "Vanish" from the show." Scott Walker: 30 Century Man" (of which Gale is Associate Producer) will have its World Premiere on Tuesday, October 31st at 6:00pm as part of the 50th London Film Festival. The screening will take place at the National Film Theatre (NFT1), with a second screening on Wednesday, November 1 at 2:15pm in NFT2. Tickets to the festival are now on sale to the general public at lff.org. The Independent included the Scott Walker documentary in their list of the "Ten Must-See Films" at the London Film Fest.The Rhinoceros Eyes DVD is now available in video stores across Canada and for purchase worldwide on Amazon.ca as well as other websites. Also available on DVD are Robert Gant's project "April's Shower" and Peter Paige's "Say Uncle".EDGE (Boston) has copies of " Say Uncle" on DVD from TLA. Enter at the website for your chance to win a copy; giveaway ends on October 8, 2006. Logo network has begun presenting all five seasons (84 episodes) of Queer As Folk sequentially with two new episodes airing back-to-back every Thursday night at 10 PM ET/PT. Queer as Folk will be rated TV-MA and edited for broadcast on Logo. Viewers can learn where to find Logo on their cable or satellite system at http://logo.mcsqd.com/index2.htmlPeter attended the launch party for photographer Lewis Payton's limited-edition book " Perfect 10" at a loud and lavish party in I-Candy on Santa Monica Blvd. The featured models include cover star Ryan Daharsh, Sean Harley, Caleb Lane and Jeff Wilson from Survivor. For more on Peter, check out his demo reel at youtube.com, and his interview on Ring My BellM.According to the Washington Blade, usually when a show is classified as a “fantasy” series, that means that there are some magic, mysteries and monsters involved, like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” or “Charmed.” But Here! TV’s “ Dante’s Cove ” takes fantasy to a whole new level. They have the supernatural angle covered, but they also show plenty of flesh and same-sex action that will have viewers creating some fantasies of their own. Thea Gill (Lindsay, QAF) shot a few upcoming episodes of Dante's Cove in Hawaii. She will play Diana Childs, a mysterious newcomer to "Dante's Cove" who will tangle with Grace (Tracy Scoggins) as revelations of their secret past threaten to change Dante's Cove forever. Michelle Clunie appeared in the premiere of Without a Trace on Sunday, September 24. Patrick Antosh has spent the last few months on his second picture for Disney, "Jump!" with Corbin Bleu from High School Musical and Keke Palmer from Akeelah and the Bee. Jump is about competition double dutch and jumpers came from all over to be in the show. Patrick says he had to design over 25 competion outfits for the teams.On January 21, 2007, Sharon Gless will star in "Remembering Amy" for The Chamber Music Plus Southwest season of Star Studded Sundays at the Berger Performing Arts Center, 1200 W. Speedway Blvd., Tuscon, Arizona. Only now is Amy Beach, 1867-1944, receiving recognition as one of America's great composers. There is a pre-concert discussion at 2:30 p.m.August 21, 2006 The wait is nearly over; Vanished premieres tonight at 9PM ET on FOX. The reviews continue to pile in; some positive, and some -- well, not so much. ;) One critic described Agent Kelton as "dour for the whole hour." Considering he's haunted by a failed former case in which a kidnapped boy was blown to pieces, I don't really blame him! Another refers to him as the "lantern-jawed, stoic hero." The Boston Globe calls him a "no-nonsense hero who is willing to offend anyone to solve a crime" but also says "Harold makes him likable." Here is a sampling of the bunch (note: you may need to register with some of the websites in order to access the articles):Kate O'Hare shares some insightful quotes from Gale Harold and Josh Berman in 'Vanished' Reveals Season-Long Mystery from Zap2it.com:Creator Josh Berman says, "It is dark and it is twisted, but it is historical. Somebody joked that it's part History Channel, this show. When we ultimately reveal the conspiracy, everything that we are going to talk about is real. You can look this stuff up. We're not making things up as we go along. What makes conspiracies more compelling is when they're rooted in some form of history. There's actually a clue in the pilot episode that if you went to the Internet and type it in, something comes up. We have a couple of story points that no one will believe are real. Something comes out in episode six or seven that, when we were researching our conspiracy theory, the results came back in a way we just couldn't believe. It's so scary. I don't want to tell you what it is, but you're going to love it. A lot of this storytelling is about how much you choose to believe is coincidence and how much is a pattern. In this day and age, there has to be a little conspiracy theorist in all of us. It can't always just happen randomly. I think there are puppet masters out there controlling things."Gale has a few things to say as well. "Anything that doesn't make sense, that seems to be counterintuitive and nonsensical, that's like life. Investigators deal with stuff that doesn't make sense all the time. They can very quickly cut through it and start to track it and make sense of it. But there are random events that happen that can screw up an investigation -- or if someone starts planting random information or stitching something together for you or manipulating you. I'm not talking psychotic, but you can become paranoid and start second-guessing everything you see. That's where Kelton's going to go. That's what's interesting about him as a character. He's isolated from everyone else in the show."Gale continues, "One of the concerns in this show is going to be, how can you be a maverick in your approach and still be the guy that believes in the Stars and Stripes and absolutely believes that the United States is doing the right thing and believes in God and believes in Roman Catholic tradition, all those things, wholeheartedly, but still will stick it to a senator and get right in his face? It's a test to see if they're going to keep him or let him go. For him, it feels like a big test. 'They're bringing me back, they're giving me this job, I shouldn't be handed this, but I am, so I've got to prove myself.' But it rapidly becomes some other thing. It's the push-pull thing, 'You put me here, but you won't let me do my job.' You rapidly get the sense that this is all a charade. What's really happening?"There's more from Josh Berman in this article from Buffalo News: "Our order is 13 episodes and we're hoping to do 22," said Berman. He wouldn't say whether the FBI characters played by Harold and Ming-Na will investigate other cases of people vanishing in a potential second season after this one is solved. "We haven't decided that yet. The reason for that is because we have so many stories to tell with this family in this case." He had a good answer for why so many series, including "24" and "Prison Break," with political corruption elements are the rage now. "I do think that there's a distrust for our government right now that we certainly tap into," said Berman. "The distrust of people in power, the puppet master, so to speak. So we're absolutely taking inspiration from the media. And I think just our own fears at living in the post-9/11 world is scary."The idea of public mistrust of government is continued in this article from Vancouver Sun: A dark sense of foreboding permeates Vanished, the tightly wound conspiracy thriller that unofficially raises the curtain on the fall TV season tonight, four full weeks before the season's official start. A U.S. senator's wife vanishes from a swanky fundraiser on the eve of an all-important confirmation hearing of an unnamed justice to the U.S. Supreme Court. The senator, Jeffrey Collins (John Allen Nelson, familiar to TV conspiracy buffs as White House Chief of Staff Walt Cummings last season on 24), is under pressure to declare his intention to vote for the president's pick. Collins, however, values his independence -- "I'll vote as I see fit,'' he tells one of the president's aides, moments before his wife disappears -- and the chill is palpable as the two part ways. By the time the first hour is over, that scene, which comes in the first two minutes, may prove pivotal to the drama's central mystery. Or it may not. [read more]There's a mention of Gale in another positive review from the Gilroy Dispatch: The spotlight is on Harold, though. He's a good small-screen brooder and he extends the angst he infused in Folk's popular Brian Kinney character here, playing an emotionally complicated guy who struggles to find balance in his home life - he's a loving dad - and his job - he's still recovering from internal battle scars from a previous case. Graham's a likable character - torment and all - and while the pilot episode suffers only slightly for some over-dramatic surges in writing and delivery - Harold's - there's plenty here in the yarn's beginning to hook enough viewers in for the long haul.This one from Entertainment Weekly says "Vanished seems more interested in keeping us spinning than pulling us in."Mark Dawidziak tells us to "Show up for 'Vanished'": It gets off to a lightning start with Monday's premiere, which introduces us to Sara Collins (Joanne Kelly), the popular young wife of Georgia Sen. Jeffrey Collins (John Allen Nelson). Sara and Jeffrey seem to be a devoted, loving couple. They are about to leave for a gala banquet where Sara will be honored for her charity work. "Jeff, there's something I have to tell you," Sara says to her husband. Never say that in a suspense thriller. You're just asking to be interrupted. She is, of course, and we never get to hear what's on her mind. At the banquet, Sara is summoned to the telephone by a concierge who sports a goatee. "I'll be right back," she tells Jeff. Oh, yeah? Never say anything like that, either.She walks out of an elegant Atlanta hotel's ballroom and disappears. Where's the concierge with the goatee? The hotel doesn't have a concierge with a goatee. The assumption is that Sara has been abducted. Still haunted by a kidnapping case that went tragically wrong, ace FBI agent Graham Kelton (Gale Harold) is put in charge of the investigation. He and partner Len Mei (Ming-Na) get tossed one surprise revelation and bizarre turn after another in Monday's debut episode. Almost nothing is as it seems. Graham and Len inhabit the kind of world Mulder and Scully moved through for the FBI on "The X-Files." That means dark, badly lighted offices, even the autopsy rooms. That means murky, often disturbing territory out in the field. And that means the scent of conspiracy hanging heavy in the air. Could the senator be involved? What about his supposedly vindictive first wife? What about the suspicious boyfriend (Chris Egan) of their rebellious daughter (Margarita Levieva)?Determined to beat Graham to answers is ambitious television reporter Judy Nash (Rebecca Gayheart), who smells a career-making national soap opera in the making. By the end of this dazzling first episode, you're wondering who Sara Collins really is. You're actually wondering if she was kidnapped. Fox's 'Vanished' will keep you on the edge of your seat according to Jeanne Jakle of the San Antonio Express-News. "Anyone who needs a "24" fix should get more than a little relief Monday night, when a smashing new Fox drama debuts. "Vanished," the 8 p.m. show following "Prison Break," is not only marked by a similar intensity but also contains loads of political and other sorts of intrigue. The pilot episode, revolving around the apparent kidnapping of a senator's wife, is full of interesting characters with their own agendas, twists to keep you on your toes and action to leave you impatient for the next installment."Gale speaks to the New York Post about his new role, and how different it is for him. "This is an absolute and complete variation from what I was doing. Being naked all the time does get trying after a while. My whole world view expanded by doing this [role] because I’ve really had to be much more realistically sympathetic to the other side of the table than I have been previously. It’s forced me to get some social maturity and to expand my ability to think critically about what’s really going on in the world." Describing Kelton, Harold says, "He’s very wound up. He’s been betrayed by his own people, so he has some anger, frustration and fear. He has to make a conscious decision to keep his emotions in check, but they break free every once in a while. He gets ashamed when he lets his emotions get the best of him." "Outlining the entire plot would spoil your fun," writes Dusty Saunders of the Rocky Mountain News. "If you like to follow stories that have more twists than a lonely Georgia dirt road. But I can tell you this: By the end of the premiere you'll know Vanished is not your typical politically-oriented kidnapping caper." "The appealing Harold makes a successful jump from a much different leading role in Showtime's 'Queer as Folk'," writes John Maynard in this article from The Detroit News Online.Since some of the filming for Vanished takes place in Atlanta, Georgia, The Atlanta Journal Constitution features a few quotes from the show's EP and the lead, Gale Harold. "I think Atlanta's fascinating," "Vanished" executive producer Paul Redford said in a recent interview. "It's totally modern in the way most big cities are, and yet it's sitting on a base of all this mystery. We hadn't really seen it done." Blame that on Yankee ignorance, suggested one "Vanished" star. Of course, being Georgia-born and bred, Gale Harold puts it more politely. "I think the sleepiness that's often attributed to that part of the country, it's just Northerners or Easterners taking for granted they know what's going on," said Decatur native Harold ("Queer as Folk," "Martha Behind Bars"), who portrays Graham Kelton, the FBI agent assigned to find Sara Collins (Joanne Kelly) while battling his own demons. "It's a much more sophisticated and sensitive way of operating culturally than [the South] is given credit for. It's more European in that it's all more about signs and symbols and image."August 17, 2006 USA Today has an article about TV serials which includes a new photo of Gale and Ming Na from Vanished, and some comments from the actors.Here's another article from MSNBC titled "Ming-Na packs heat on 'Vanished'." "I love my gun," exclaims Ming-Na, as a prop man secures a heavy weapon in the holster under her neat, brown jacket.Former "Third Watch" and "Invasion" star Eddie Cibrian has joined the cast of "Vanished" to play an FBI agent with a complicated backstory. Daytime soap fans may remember him as Matt Clark from "The Young & and the Restless," and his vocal group "3Deep" with Y&R co-star Joshua Morrow and Chris (CJ) Huyer. The Vanished cast has grown some since the show's pilot was shot in the spring. Cibrian is the third actor to join the show since then, following Josh Hopkins ("Pepper Dennis") and Penelope Ann Miller ("Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story").Wireimage.com features the FOX Broadcasting Fall 2006 Portraits taken July 24 at the Hollywood Center. Some cast members from Vanished are featured. "A dark sense of foreboding permeates Vanished, the tightly wound conspiracy thriller that unofficially raises the curtain on the fall TV season tonight, four full weeks before the season's official start." This is from The Vancouver Sun. "Vanished is full of red herrings and blind alleys. It is the latest in a growing line of paranoid TV political thrillers -- in the vein of 24, Alias, Prison Break and Lost. We get to know the story of our missing woman through the eyes of six of our main characters over the first six episodes. What we end up with in the end is a private memory. It's a really interesting way to get to know a character, and tell a story at the same time." Vanished will air for 13 weeks, until "24" resumes in the same time period in January. If initial ratings hold up, Vanished will be expanded to a full 22 episodes, with a change to a new day and time in the new year. [read more] Rhinoceros Eyes is available for pre-order at the Capri Films website, with what appears to be new cover art. Jack Wetherall (Vic Grassi, QAF) plays John Rutka, a gay activist known for outing prominent citizens, in "Third Man Out," now on DVD from Genius Entertainment. The film is directed by Ron Oliver (Queer As Folk) and is written by Mark Saltzman. Check out the review at Now Playing Magazine.August 8, 2006 The extras on the Season One DVDs for FOX's Prison Break include a trailer for Vanished, which will air in the Monday night time slot following Prison Break this Fall. More information available at DVD talk. Steven Kijak, producer of the Scott Walker: 30 Century Man documentary on which Gale Harold is an associate producer, is looking for input from fans. "As we're editing the film we've come across a little section that would actually benefit from the inclusion of a few photographs of old homemade Scott Walker cassettes/mixtapes - handwritten labels, old cracked covers, that sort of thing. The ones friends gave you, or compilations you've made yourself...I know one or two of you have some lying around." For more information, visit the "calling all scott walker mix tapes" entry at Kijak's myspace blog.The Global Television Network brings the year's most talked-about new lineup to primetime - For audiences across Canada, television's top mix of new and returning hits has arrived. Monday, August 21st kick-off features return of Prison Break and the premiere of Vanished.I've beein reporting on Sharon Gless and Peter Paige quite a bit since QAF ended, but what have the rest of the QAF gang been up to? Read on... Michelle Clunie (Melanie Marcus, QAF) will make a guest appearance on the season premiere of CBS's "Without a Trace". Check the CBS website for air date Fall, 2006. Theater Mania has announced Scott Lowell's run in the Berkshire Theatre Festival production of Wendy Wasserstein's The Heidi Chronicles, August 15 to September 2. The show will be directed by Maria Mileaf, whose credits include the Off-Broadway productions of Going to St. Ives, Lobster Alice, and Private Jokes Public Places.The Motion Picture Industry Charitable Alliance (MPICA) has announced its guest list for the Lights, Camera, Auction, Take 9! event taking place September 15-17, 2006, in Toronto, Ontario. Carlo Rota (Gardner Vance, QAF) will be on hand along with many of his former La Femme Nikita co-stars. Robert Gant (Ben Bruckner, QAF) posted a message to fans on his message board, thanking them for the birthday wishes and the donations to SAGE in his name. Robert has finished shooting SAVE ME in New Mexico, and will be editing it soon. He also indicated that he has "some cool projects on the burner that I hope to be able to share with you very soon!" Peter Paige (Emmett Honeycutt, QAF) posted to his fans as well earlier this summer: "SAY UNCLE is off and running at various venues around the country, catch it if you can. we got some amazing reviews, and some killers - i mean, wow, i knew the movie would polarize people, but holy smoke. it's been quite a ride. it also comes out on dvd and video this fall. if you get a second to pre-order it or request it from your favorite video sales agent, i'd be ever so grateful."Theater favorites Jean Louisa Kelly, Eric Millegan, Peter Paige, and Holland Taylor will be among the TV stars participating in Hot in Hollywood, a benefit for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, to take place at 8pm this Saturday, August 12 at the Henry Fonda Music Box Theater in Los Angeles. The event, which will include dancing, food, and a silent auction, will be hosted by Jamie Pressly, an Emmy Award nominee this year for My Name Is Earl. For more information, visit the Hot in Hollywood website.Christina Radish has a new article on Media Blvd about Peter and his movie ' Say Uncle,' including some great photos. "I had originally written it for me, as an actor, not as a director," says Peter of the film. "Then, when I decided I was going to direct it, I thought, 'Well, maye I won't act in it.' But (1) I was the only actor I could afford, and (2) I understood it and I knew that, if ever I was going to dare to wear all these hats, then I might as well just bit the bullet and do it for Say Uncle."From Out in America: "The transgender sportscaster wears a miniskirt, the porn is gay, lesbian and bisexual, and Wonder Woman will be on every night at seven. France's first gay television channel, PinkTV, is an eye-opener. And that's the point. Pink's founders believe there's a ready audience for the channel, and not just among France's estimated 3.5 million gays. Pink's 'a giant leap for television, a small step in high heels,' said presenter Eric Gueho in a promotional clip shown at the channel's unveiling Tuesday, which was feted with pink champagne. Aside from daily doses of Wonder Woman and Japanese 'manga' cartoons, Pink plans to broadcast movies, documentaries, music programs, experimental video and series including 'Queer as Folk.' "
August 6, 2006 FOX Broadcasting now has an official website for VANISHED, which includes biographies, picture galleries, a message forum, and more. Check out the new "goodies" on my Vanished page as well. Tonight, Gale makes his second appearance as Wyatt Earp on HBO's "Deadwood." The Winnipeg Sun included this write-up: David Hiltbrand, Inquirer Television Columnist, had this to say about the new arrival in Deadwood: The recently concluded 2006 Television Critics Association summer press tour gave the TV press the chance to question the network honchos/stars about the upcoming season and what is in store for viewers. A recurring theme was the trend toward more serialized shows, and what that means for loyal fans. Inevitably, parallels were drawn between Fox's "Vanished" and NBC's "Kidnapped," although the creators maintain that the two shows are very different. Fox Entertainment president Peter Liguori addressed concerns about "the dark side of serialized TV" stemming from last year's new series "Reunion" being pulled from the lineup due to low ratings. Liguori said Fox is trying to incorporate the viewer's mindset into its programming decisions. The chance that viewers might mistrust serials, he said, is one reason why Fox has scheduled three serial dramas -- "24," "Prison Break," and "Vanished" -- on Monday nights. "An appointment night, an appointment location, that should pretty much hedge our bets," he said. He also talked about Fox's commitment to running as many continuous episodes of a serial as possible, as the network did with "24" last season and will do again when the series returns in January. "Our strategy has been, when on air, to go as continuously as possible, and it's paid dividends," he said. [more of this article at boston.com Another take on this discussion came from the Philadelphia Daily News: "I do think the audience deserves some closure," Liguori said. Whether that closure comes on the air, in an online episode or in a Web site-hosted chat with producers, something ought to be done, and "we do have some plans," he added, without revealing any specifics. Answering the same questions that have been put now to four other entertainment presidents in the past couple of weeks, Liguori sounded a little more conciliatory than the others - who basically insisted that they don't plan for failure - but that shouldn't necessarily assure the serial-wary that it's safe to go back into those murky waters. He said he hasn't had conversations with producers of "Vanished" about how they'd resolve the mystery if the show were canceled for lack of viewers. Nevertheless, "I'd have some fear for next year" if viewers feel let down by some of the many serialized shows the networks are putting on this season," he said. Mark Dawidziak, "The Plain Dealer" TV critic explains that Fox is trying to correct its poor ratings in the latter part of the year in this article from Cleveland.com: "Fox does an outstanding job from January through August," the network's entertainment president, Peter Liguori, told TV critics gathered for their semi-annual press tour. "We're pretty much a dominant network. For us, the whole ball of wax is really about improving our fourth quarter. The task at hand is how to continue to build that." One problem is that each fall, the network's coverage of post-season baseball games throws Fox's prime-time schedule a wicked curve. New series have only been on the air for a few weeks when they must give way to the playoffs. That can put a serious dent in the momentum of even the most promising newcomers. But Liguori said he believes Fox is finding the way to fine-tune its fall campaign strategy. A key move has been to jump the traditional mid-September start of the TV season, premiering shows as early as mid-August. That maneuver paid off last year, with "Prison Break" emerging as a breakout hit. With Hugh Laurie's "House" continuing to post robust ratings, Fox saw about a 14 percent audience increase last fall. So Liguori has good reason for thinking he's on the right track. And if the early start worked for "Prison Break," perhaps it will work for another ambitious serialized drama, "Vanished." One of five new shows Fox will introduce for the first half of the 2006-07 season, "Vanished" will premiere at 9 p.m. Monday, Aug. 21, following the 8 p.m. second-season opener for "Prison Break" on WJW Channel 8. That will give them several weeks on the air before they need to vanish for baseball. From the Clarion Ledger: Prison Break and Vanished both start early, on August 21. They'll air six episodes then step aside for baseball. Liguori says he doesn't know how long their break will be but episodes will be clumped into consecutive bunches. He was reminded again this summer that serialized dramas don't do very well in reruns. Fox tried 24 reruns on Fridays but they sputtered. Now that there are more serialized shows on the air, Liguori says, all the networks must deal with exit strategies. "We all have to address the question of what do we do if the shows don't work," he says. Fox failed in that last year, he says, when it simply ended Reunion without solving its mystery. If that happens again, he says, some method - possibly online -will be found to give viewers closure. Tim Goodman (SFGate) didn't have an optimistic outlook. He wrote, "There's worry in the air that "Vanished," probably the drama I liked best from Fox, doesn't have a clear direction or purpose. When that fear arises (as it did with Fox's failed series "Reunion" and a number of series on other networks), there's usually merit in the concern. Especially in this upcoming season when open-ended serials will dominate viewers' time, it's always helpful to find out the creator of a series knows how to drive the bus." From Philly.com: John Allen Nelson, whose turn as the duplicitous presidential aide Walt Cummings on "24" pretty much eclipsed his "Baywatch" background, told reporters that "it turned my whole career trajectory around." Nelson, who'll play a U.S. senator whose wife disappears in Fox's "Vanished," said, "I haven't been able to be the most proud of the stuff that I've done" over the past 20 years or so, before playing Cummings. "Vanished" executive producer Mimi Leder, a "24" "addict," chimed in: "I was watching the show... and I said, 'Get me that... guy for the senator.' He was the man. He was the only man for that role. And I'm so glad he did '24.' " There's a great interview with Nelson in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, written by Michael Storey. "If you stick with [Vanished] two or three episodes,” Nelson promised, “you’ll be completely hooked." Fanatical Productions Inc. is producing a 26-part documentary-style series that celebrates television fans for TVtropolis, a new Canadian Network launching under the Global Television Network family of channels (Global is also carrying Gale's new series, "Vanished" this Fall). FANatical (working title) tracks down the most ardent enthusiasts and brings them into the spotlight, shedding light on what makes a TV fan tick. Fans of Queer As Folk will be part of this new series. For more information, visit Peace Point Entertainment Group's website. From the Washington Blade comes this article: Bravo for Bravo! Logo could take a lesson in how to attract gay viewers from the tube’s queerest channel. For the past decade, gay shows have always found a place on television, even though the channel always seems to change. Such shows started on network television and quickly shifted to premium cable channels like HBO and Showtime. With most of those gay shows ("Will & Grace," "Queer As Folk," etc.) now wrapped, where can gay viewers find gay programs? The obvious answer would be Logo, the MTV-owned gay digital cable channel that launched one year ago. Despite its exclusively gay-oriented programming, Logo hasn’t yet made the impact on gay culture that its cable rival Bravo has. [read more] Sharon Gless is starring in State Within, a six-part miniseries being filmed in the Hamilton area for the British Broadcasting Corporation. The series is due to be broadcast later this year in Britain, and eventually in North America. From The Stage: The State Within is described as "24 meets The West Wing, following 17 days in the life of British Ambassador to the US, Mark Brydon (played by the always excellent Jason Isaacs, emerging as a top-flight leading man). This should be slicker than Jonathan Ross’s bouffant, and with the legendary Sharon Gless on hand as the US Defense Secretary, this has hit written all over it. AfterElton.com has a review of An Early Frost, the groundbreaking movie about AIDS from Queer As Folk creators Daniel Lipman and Ron Cowen. Filling the Bill: Creator Of 'Queer Duck' Faces Off Against Homophobia And Quacks Us All Up is an article about the Queer Duck movie and its creator, Mike Reiss. From Reuters/Hollywood Reporter: Paramount Pictures has acquired the spec "Swingles," a romantic comedy about a bachelor who is dumped by his wingman and teams with a sharp-tongued woman he can't stand in order to meet singles. The project marks the first spec sale for Duncan Birmingham, who said he concocted the idea for "Swingles" after "too many nights spent in karaoke bars." He added: "I wanted to write a hip romantic comedy about swingers who are anything but romantic. I wanted to write a film I would go see, and I hate romantic comedies." Birmingham, who started as a writer's assistant on Showtime's "Queer as Folk," recently finished his first novel, "Hacksville," about a womanizing writer who falls obsessively in love with the selfless, blind tree-sitter that he's struggling to write about for a movie of the week. From calendarlive.com: "Shock to the System," is a gay-detective yarn that plays it too straight. Donald Strachey (Chad Allen, Robert Gant's partner in Mythgarden), who we're frequently reminded is the most famous gay private eye in Albany, is hired by a nervous young man who promptly turns up dead. The detective's investigation leads him to an organization that claims to "rehabilitate" homosexuals, where he meets a host of potential suspects. "Shock" is the second movie to feature Allen as the detective from Richard Stevenson's books, with several more films planned. With its shadowy cinematography and '40s-style opening and closing music and credits, it's clear the filmmakers (led by director Ron "Queer As Folk" Oliver) are aiming for a gay noir. Unfortunately, what they settle for is less Mickey Spillane than movie of the week. The lack of grittiness in this would-be hard-boiled thriller is underscored by the preternaturally clean streets of "Albany," which look suspiciously safe and Canadian. From Dustin Dinoff: Temple Street Productions - producer of CHUM's Canada's Next Top Model and the Showcase comedy Billable Hours (starring Fab Filippo, who played Ethan on QAF) - will change hands on July 27 as its heads of dramatic production, David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg, acquire the Toronto prodco from principals Patrick Whitley and Sheila Hockin. [...] Whitley remains on with Dufferin Gate as chair of the board. Hockin, meanwhile, will become a freelance producer and will continue to work with Temple Street on Top Model for the remainder of its inaugural season. The new owners hope she will be back to oversee subsequent cycles. She is also a producer on the new Showtime series The Tudors. Under the Temple Street banner, Hockin and Whitley produced Showtime's Queer as Folk [2000 to 2005], the North American take on the British drama series that put the prodco on the map. Last year, the company generated approximately $32 million in production spending, placing it 13th on Playback's annual list of independent prodcos. Another great interview with Peter Paige is available at ebar.com. Peter says, "I am very proud to have been a part of Queer as Folk, and I'm glad it had five great seasons." He acquired the role by chance. "I was at the gym, and the casting director of Queer as Folk and I were talking. He told me that Showtime had just bought the rights to the US version of the British show, and that casting would start soon." The first thing Paige did was set up an audition, but the producers wanted him for Ted. "I walked in and read for Ted, but told everyone there to just trust me. I wanted to read for Emmett. After the first couple of lines, they were convinced, and it was Emmett for the next five years — shooting a show that supposedly took place in Pittsburgh, in Toronto! I am not one to sit around in my trailer on the set of a show or movie, so during the many breaks while filming Queer as Folk, I would pull out a script I was working on. And in 2004, I finally finished writing it." That script, Say Uncle, is now a feature film, on its way to a theater near you. In addition to having written the movie, Paige also stars in and directed it. When asked if there will be a Queer as Folk reunion, Peter says, "Do you really want to check in with those guys five years down the line? It would be depressing to go down that road and see them in the same place, but it would also be depressing to see them not as we saw them when we left them. I think it ended at just the right time, and I can't envision a reunion." But Paige is working on something else, now that Say Uncle is ready for release. "I just started working on MTV's upcoming animated show Rick & Steve. It's a gay animated show. I play Steve, and he's the top," he says. "Wilson Cruz is also one of the voices on the show. I think it's going to be a fun time." [read more] |
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