Oh Em Gee! John Barrowman on Desperate Housewives! That show just... well, I'm lost for words! Hee! Can you imagine him on there? He's going to camp up the campest show on TV!
John Barrowman: 'I'm going to be a Desperate Housewife'
Torchwood actor jets to Los Angeles to join cast of hit ABC show
Torchwood star John Barrowman revealed today that he is to swap the BBC Wales sci-fi production for Hollywood with a part on Desperate Housewives. Barrowman revealed his career move in a phone chat on Chris Moyles's Radio 1 breakfast show this morning. "I'm off to Los Angeles on Sunday again," Barrowman announced. "I probably shouldn't say this but I've got a meeting with the execs of Desperate Housewives; can you believe it, I'm going to be a Desperate Housewife!" When Moyles's producer Aled Haydn Jones asked if he could come and hang out with him in LA, Barrowman replied: "You can come and be my lover, Aled!" Moyles wasn't having any of it, and instead asked if he could come and be his "roly-poly gardener". Barrowman replied: "You can be the roly-poly gardener or the handyman with the big butt crack." Monkey is guessing Moyles might somehow not fit in with the body beautiful edict on the ABC show.
I don't know what I was thinking, but I missed this the other day, so here's a link to NINE videos, which is the entire length of the LOST Q&A Panel at Comic Con plus a couple of others.
These are three more which ABC released today. My love for Josh just grew and grew watching this first video! He's as tongue-tied as my first love Gale Harold always is when being interviewed... well, almost! Jorge Garcia is adorable. So many people apparently turned up as "Hurley"! Love Michael Emerson too, especially when he's NOT looking all googly-eyed and bonkers! :)
This one has Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof talking about the Comic Con Panel Q&A and some other stuff.
I really hope they don't ruin the whole thing in this final season. Loose ends tied-up, no shitty cover-ups.
This one is about the set and props auction they are planning to hold around May next year. Couldn't think of only one thing I would want... maybe Sawyer's glasses! ;)
I don't know Michael Vick. I've never seen him play football. I only know that he was convicted of, and has only served 23 months for, financing the disgusting 'sport' of dogfighting.
I don't know Michael Vick. I wouldn't ever want to know Michael Vick. I feel sick when I think about what he did. I find it impossible to understand what reason he had to get involved in dogfighting? He wasn't poor. He wasn't unemployed. He wasn't trying to make a better life for himself and his family. So why?
I don't know Michael Vick. I just know that there's no reason on this earth why he needed to get involved in such an horrendous 'sport'. All I know is that he has to be a heartless, unemotional man to be able to do such a thing.
I don't know Michael Vick. I just think that it's appalling that he is being put in a position in which he can influence the lives of youngsters who see him and think that what he did can't be that bad. He's back after an abysmally short sentence. He's back to playing football for incredible amounts of money. Let's make sure no one forgets what he did. Most of all let's keep our eyes on him and not let him go back to drowning, hanging and otherwise torturing and causing terrible unimaginable pain and suffering to dogs again. We just cannot let that happen.
(Images capped from the National Geographic DogTown programme on Michael Vick's Dogs. You can see a clip of the programme on YouTube here. Visit the Vick Dog Blog to see how twelve of the dogs are doing now. Go to BadRap Blog and see what lovely dogs Pitbulls really are.)
Here's the Reuters Report:
Vick reinstated conditionally, may play by Week 6 Mon Jul 27, 2009 7:43pm EDT
By Larry Fine
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Quarterback Michael Vick has been reinstated to the NFL on a conditional basis and a decision on his return to action will come by the sixth week of the regular season, Commissioner Roger Goodell said Monday.
Vick, who completed a 23-month criminal sentence for bankrolling a dogfighting ring, was free to sign with an NFL team, participate in practice and play in the final two preseason games.
A decision on his return to regular-season competition would be based on the progress he makes in a "transition plan" laid out by the commissioner at a news conference.
"I will decide within the first six weeks of the regular season when and whether he will be reinstated to play," Goodell told reporters.
Goodell said he would evaluate how Vick conducted himself in terms of court-mandated conditions and promises the former Pro Bowl quarterback made to him in a four and a half hour meeting he had with him last week in the New York area.
Vick said he was grateful for the chance to play again.
"I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to Commissioner Goodell for allowing me to be readmitted to the National Football League," the 29-year-old said in a statement.
Vick played six seasons with the Atlanta Falcons but was released by the club following his conviction and indefinite suspension by the NFL.
"I fully understand that playing football in the NFL is a privilege, not a right, and I am truly thankful for the opportunity I have been given," he said.
Vick, a former top overall pick in the NFL Draft and a three-times All-Pro, said he would continue to receive mentoring from former NFL coach Tony Dungy, who steered the Indianapolis Colts to a Super Bowl title.
Dungy visited Vick in prison and also saw him during a final two-month period of home confinement in Virginia.
Commissioner Goodell said working with Dungy was a key component in Vick's transition plan.
"One of the most important things that we talked about is that nobody gets through life alone," Goodell said. "You always have to have a mentor, someone who can give you guidance and support at critical moments.
"Michael needs that right now and I've asked Tony Dungy to play a more formal role on my behalf and on Michael's behalf."
Vick is currently a free agent and able to sign with any team. Besides evaluating how Vick might help on the field, teams will also consider potential backlash in their community from people outraged by his role in the dogfighting ring.
Goodell told Vick in a letter that the conditional reinstatement allowing him to practice with his team should not be viewed as punishment.
"It is intended to maximize the prospect that you can successfully resume your career and your life," Goodell wrote.
"You have submitted to me a written plan concerning your proposed living arrangements, how you will manage your financial affairs, counseling and mentoring plans, and your proposed work with the Humane Society (animal protection organization) and other groups.
"You have committed to me that you intend to abide by this plan, and as I said when we met, you are accountable for doing so."
I think we're squeezing the life out of Gale's appearance at the Campus Moviefest, aren't we! We can't possibly watch him doing the same thing from any more angles, um, can we? Well yes, yes we can! :)
Another video, I can't even tell if we've seen some of this stuff before or not, but anyway Gale is on from about 2:10 to 2:18...
As usual I've made some caps and they all get larger:
Gale delivering his speech.
Blah, blah, um, you know...
Watching the movie. Capped that last one at an unfortunate point! ;)
The rest I'm sure I've capped before, but you can't have too much Gale, right? Anyway, these are all of Gale totally losing the will to live. Hee. When the interviewer starts talking with Oded Fehr, Gale's eyes glaze over and start wandering around. God knows what he's looking at! Poor man, he really hates these things, doesn't he?
Okay, so where the hell is Gale's video. With audio! Come on, everyone has their own individual vid, so why not Gale?
The new trailer for the Doctor Who special "The Waters of Mars" was shown at the San Diego Comic Con this weekend. I haven't heard anything new, so I assume the air date is still sometime in November.
It's looking very, very good, but remember it is a trailer so it does contain spoilers...
Okay, so here's a fan video made at the SDCC showing a clip of "The End of Time" which will be showing at Christmas. It's pretty bad, but I love it because you get the full force of the atmosphere there when the clip was shown. If I can find a better video I'll post it later. Remember, spoilers again...
Russell T. Davies, David Tennant and John Barrowman at the San Diego Comic-Con. I adore David and John, but this... this is just wonderful! Just after the five minute mark David rushes John and kisses him! John's reaction is hilarious. It all happened yesterday apparently, but I was too busy looking at GH! Anyway it's great. Just watch...
Lovely interview with Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet on LOST) at the San Diego Comic-Con. I shall really miss her each week on Lost. The last season her character had wonderful chemistry with Sawyer and, although I loved him with Kate, I shall really miss that relationship between him and Juliet. Thank god she's going to be appearing in 'additional' episodes!
Elizabeth Mitchell on Lost's Juliet: 'She Had Found This Kind of Peace that I Fought Very Hard Against'
Written by Kyle Buchanan | 24 Jul 2009, 5:00 AM
There’s this thing about women named Juliet: They’re famous for meeting tragic ends. Elizabeth Mitchell’s character on Lost was no different — after finding unlikely love with Sawyer (Josh Holloway), she sacrificed herself to set off a crucial bomb — but luckily, Mitchell’s career has new life after that death. In addition to a mysterious number of additional episodes she’ll shoot for Lost’s final season, she’ll be seen later this year toplining ABC’s reboot of the alien miniseries V.
At Comic-Con, I talked to the actress about Juliet’s journey, the tumultuous period after she learned of her Lost fate (then had it somewhat revoked), and the alien-hunting yet to come.
Congratulations on the smooth transition between Lost and V. I know! Who would have thought?
How did it go down? When you were told you’d be coming to an end as a regular on Lost, were you immediately offered V by ABC? Basically, the two things happened within days of each other, which I was very surprised by. And, of course, the decisions were left to people more powerful than me. [Laughs]
But surely you had some input. Well, V was actually a very personal choice on my account. It was somewhat brought to me, but it was along the lines of, “Oh, and then there’s this.” But I’ve always loved the idea of playing a female protagonist on a sci-fi show. I just like it — that’s the kind of thing I watch. [Gesturing to her husband, seated nearby] Like, we’re huge Battlestar Galactica fans. I think sci-fi is sexy, I think it’s fun. I love watching procedural shows, but I’m not as fascinated by them — not really at all. Being in them and acting in them is not really my thing, so I realized that if I was gonna do [a TV show] again for a long time, I would want it to be fun and incredibly challenging for me, something I’d have to stretch to reach.
So what’s the stretch for you in V? First of all, the thing that was really fun about Juliet is how still she was, and how she watched everybody. For three years now, I’ve been in her mindset, which is a really unique and bizarre and kind of wonderful place to be and I’ve loved every minute of it. The character I play now [on V] — which I’ll be doing at the same time as Juliet [in future Lost episodes], which is going to be really interesting — is incredibly intelligent but vulnerable at the same time. Her anger and her emotions are far more forthright than mine or even Juliet’s are. There’s an honesty to the way she does things that’s fascinating.
And I think the idea of my character having a son who’s sixteen is gonna be…I mean, I have a son who’s four, and already, I can’t believe the words that come out of my mouth. There’s a thing about motherhood that I have never had a chance to play, which is weird at 39, right? You would think that I’d have played so many mothers by now. [Her husband interrupts: “You don’t look 39.”] Ah, that’s nice. [“Getting there, though,” he adds, as she laughs.]
Are you happy that you have a role where you can wear different clothes, as opposed to Lost, where you’d wear the same thing for multiple episodes? I think my mom is happiest about the makeup. She’s like, “You get to wear makeup, you can finally look pretty!”
That can be kind of jarring — it’s like when people from Survivor appear on the reunion show, and you’re like, “Why did you put on all that makeup?” I always feel that way! What I always enjoyed about Lost is that we’re there with almost no makeup on our face, we’re emotionally naked, we’re sweating, we’re hot, and we’re generally pretty disgusting, and the camera catches it. There’s a certain beauty to seeing people the way they are.
Even before this last season of Lost, you talked about how you thought Juliet would probably have a tragic ending. Yeah, I always figured that she would. I actually had thought that she would end up doing something terrible, but then as it went on, I kind of thought she would end up doing something incredibly noble, which is what she did by sacrificing herself. The character was insanely complex and insanely fun. As she started going more in one direction, I thought, “Well, obviously this is going to come to its natural conclusion.”
Do you mean she finally became happy, and that never lasts long in Lost? Yeah! Happy and not as complex, do you know what I mean? She and Sawyer had found this kind of peace that I fought very hard against and Josh fought very hard against, and we were so wrong, which is really nice. When I watched it, I liked it, and I don’t usually like anything I do.
Why didn’t you think it would work? Well, I had always liked Sawyer with Kate! I mean, not to be a fangirl — which I am — but I just really actually liked them together. I liked their chemistry, their passion. What I didn’t anticipate is how Josh would play it and how he made it so honest and so happy and so real. When I was watching him, I was like, “That’s why that relationship works.”
Were you worried about incurring the wrath of your fellow fangirls? I mean, I came on the show incurring that. I immediately hooked up with Jack and they were like, “Uhhh, no!” [Laughs] So I wasn’t as worried about that — I think as an actor, if you’re worried too much about people liking you, then you don’t really get to play the character so much. It’s not that it’s not great when people do like you or love the character or any of those things — it’s the most amazing thing ever to have that — but if I went into it thinking something like that, I don’t think I could have done it.
This year, though, the fan approval for your character and her relationship with Sawyer seemed to shoot through the roof. Yeah, it was surprising.
Do you think it’s partially because audiences started trusting Juliet? During your first two seasons, it never seemed like she laid all her cards on the table, but this year, she felt complete. We finally felt like we kind of knew everything [about her]. Every time something would come up before, she always had a wealth of new information and you kind of got the feeling that she shared it when she needed to.
On a show like Lost, was it a nice thing to think, “Oh, I think I finally know everything important there is to know about my character?” I think I didn’t, because I have this crazy active and oddly weird little mind that tries to find all the wiggle room in places, so I think that I was still going through all the ways that things could be more complicated than it was. And when it turned out to be very simple, I was very happy. I was happy watching it more than I was playing it.
It’s funny that you began your tenure on the show sharing scenes almost exclusively with Matthew Fox and Michael Emerson, and you finished by sharing them almost solely with Josh Holloway. I was very, very sad — and I hope that it’s rectified — that I didn’t have a final scene with Michael Emerson. I thought that built to a crescendo that then just died. There was a reason for that, but as an actor, that was hard for me because I just loved him so much. The same thing happened with Jack and Juliet — they got to a certain point and then they disappeared. But I love the fact that [the writers] do their thing and kind of just write whatever they want. It’s great.
Obviously, when you started shooting V before the season finale of Lost aired, speculation began that Juliet would be killed off — so much so that you were being officially billed as a “special guest star” in V, even though ABC has now confirmed you play the lead. Were there machinations involved to try to keep all that secret? There were some machinations, but the thing that’s so fantastic about Lost is that they tend to keep things mysterious. I mean, I literally don’t know what’s going to happen and no one else does, and that’s what’s fun about it. As an actor, they asked us to sign all this confidentiality stuff and I don’t think we ever did, so it really comes down to the moral question of, “Who are you loyal to?” And where I’m finally loyal to always is the work. It’s more fun for me when people don’t know what’s going to happen.
I mean, the thing about Lost is that you may say, “Well, Elizabeth’s on V now, so we’ll never see her on Lost again,” but that’s probably not the case. As it is, it’s a complete surprise, and anything that happens further on in the series is a complete surprise, and I wanted that to be the case. When Lost is over and V is over, then we’ll have to have a big chatfest and talk about everything and that’ll be great, but for now, I was very happy that no one was saying anything one way or the other. One thing happened with Lost, and then another thing happened with V, and then something [else] happened with Lost…
You mean, they came back to negotiate for additional episodes after you booked V? It’s been a rollercoaster, yes.
So originally, you didn’t know you’d be coming back to Lost? I didn’t know what was going to happen. They also said that they didn’t know either, at the time. It happened in three weeks, it was just crazy…When V came up and everything happened that happened, it was at the very, very end [of the season]. No warning, kinda. [Laughs]
When you do your additional episodes next year, you won’t be a regular anymore, which means that these scripts will sort of exist in a context-less vacuum for you. Are you afraid that you won’t have any idea where your scenes fit into Lost lore when you film them? No, I trust those guys. I trust those guys to write beautifully. The way they write those characters and scenes and emotions, it’s very wise to trust in their words.
Nothing much new here, but when you're dying of thirst...
Another video, taken from a different angle this time, of Gale presenting an award at the Campus Moviefest. There are individual 'highlights' videos of guest speakers and presenters, all except Gale Harold for some reason! So Gale is in this video from 0:19 seconds to 0:22 seconds so please don't get excited! ;)
I don't suppose there are many of you who haven't seen this, but just in case there are, here's a video taken of John, Eve and Gareth arriving in Cardiff yesterday afternoon for the HMV DVD signing. Thanks to Taff TV.
Was pointed in the direction of this video by someone on Twitter. Please watch it, there are some great sentiments in there and a whole load of very beautiful dogs too.
We have almost the same problem here as in America, except here the demonized dog is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. There are about 20 times more Staffies in dog shelters needing new homes than any other breed of dog. They're not 'devil dogs' they just need a good home,love and some proper training and handling, just like any other dog. If only people would listen.
So, I was in a doctor's surgery at the time I should have been standing in the queue at the HMV store in London this morning, waiting to get in to the Torchwood DVD signing, but that's another story!
All three, John Barrowman, Eve Myles and Gareth David-Lloyd turned up so that was a good start. The downside, the crowds were so large that a great number of people were bound to be disappointed as there were only 250 armbands at the London store and you know the drill at HMV - no armband no getting into signing!
Anyway, here are some pictures - minus the best kissy-kissy one of course because at the moment the only copy of that I can get my hands on is watermarked - so you'll have to put up with these. Oh,and by the way, there are no fan ones that I can point you in the direction of at the moment, well none that I know of anyway. :)
Okay, so this is the boring kissy-kissy one, John puckering up to Eve!
While I was out this morning, just browsing around the shops, I noticed that, here in the UK at least, Michael Jackson's album The Essential Michael Jackson is top of the charts.
The thing is, although I have a digital copy on my pc of practically every song and album he ever recorded, I couldn't resist buying this album because of this:
Not only did he have a beautiful voice, but at one time, he was a very, very beautiful man. Despite all the success he achieved, it all just feels very sad, doesn't it...
I'm so excited because tomorrow I'll be able to get my hands on the fabulous Imogen Heap's new album Ellipse! I've loved her music since around 2002 when, together with Guy Sigsworth, she formed the group Frou Frou and released the album Details. She's gone solo since then.
If you're lucky enough to live in the US or Canada you can get a digital download now on iTunes (if you pre-order the album) and as I said, tomorrow (15th July) we in the UK and the rest of the world can get it on iTunes. Apparently, it won't be until 24th August when it will be available in stores in the UK and 25th August for the US and Canada.
It hasn't got a Worldwide release date yet, so if you want it in your part of the World, it's best if you get in touch with your local store and request it. If you do have trouble getting it, you will be able to buy it straight from her site here. It'll cost a bit more though. :(
She has such a lovely voice and writes such beautiful lyrics. Go on give it a try. She's uploaded the first song from the album to YouTube, it's called First Train Home and I think it's beautiful:
I want to say thank you to everyone who's supported me throughout my time on Torchwood, and especially to everyone who's sent encouraging messages to me here in the last few days.
Torchwood: Children Of Earth was an amazing piece of TV. I got an exit I can be proud of, a job I really enjoyed over the past few years and I'd be honoured to work with anyone from the cast and the production side again on other projects in the future.
Ianto changed and grew a lot over the three seasons and your support was part of what made that possible. I'm looking forward to new projects and to meeting many of you at gigs and other events in the future. Keep watching!
Artist and photographer. Lover of G&le H&r@ld, some humans, dogs and cats. Avid fan of art, diets!, films, food, music, photography, plays, politics, reading, tennis, TV shows and a million other things, some of which are talked about at length here...
Torchwood star John Barrowman revealed today that he is to swap the BBC Wales sci-fi production for Hollywood with a part on Desperate Housewives. Barrowman revealed his career move in a phone chat on Chris Moyles's Radio 1 breakfast show this morning. "I'm off to Los Angeles on Sunday again," Barrowman announced. "I probably shouldn't say this but I've got a meeting with the execs of Desperate Housewives; can you believe it, I'm going to be a Desperate Housewife!" When Moyles's producer Aled Haydn Jones asked if he could come and hang out with him in LA, Barrowman replied: "You can come and be my lover, Aled!" Moyles wasn't having any of it, and instead asked if he could come and be his "roly-poly gardener". Barrowman replied: "You can be the roly-poly gardener or the handyman with the big butt crack." Monkey is guessing Moyles might somehow not fit in with the body beautiful edict on the ABC show.
