Bionic Woman

Don’t forget the new issue of TV Guide hits the stands today, with Michelle Ryan and Bionic Woman on the cover! Michelle talks about being star struck by Jennifer Garner, and all of the focus on the show, in the magazine’s article.

Bionic Woman premiered in Australia last night, complete with a flurry of publicity for the show down under.

Want to buy a thirty second spot on Bionic Woman? According to MediaWeek the show is NBC’s most expensive new offering, with rates of $185,000 a spot.

SFGate.com is not happy with Bionic Woman’s faux San Francisco setting, noting that the show “does not even try” to look like the location where Jaime & Co. supposedly work, live, play, and fight.

Based on the comments on TVSquad, a lot of people are just as upset as Ryan about the idea of Isaiah Washington claiming he may get a Bionic Woman spin off … especially since he said it before his character was even on the air. Remote Access is also interested in Isaiah’s comments about how the government sees Jaime as a military weapons property.

Michelle Ryan talks with FitSugar.com about her workout routine, and A Socialite’s Life has pictures of her working out. She also speaks with The Scanner about how she would not like to be bionic or have a mind-reading bionic boyfriend in her own life.

Ryan wrote about how he thought Katee Sackhoff should not be smoking on Bionic Woman, and apparently she agrees because this weekend she told some guests at the Sacramento Comic-Con that she has asked the producers to air some anti-smoking public service announcements during the show.

Katee fans are also thrilled about her role in Halo 3, including lines in the game that sound suspiciously like lines from her Battlestar Galactica character Kara “Starbuck” Thrace. If you are a Katee Sackhoff fan, be sure to vote for her as “Best Female Action Star” in the poll that is up over at Slice of SciFi.com. Claudia Black from Farscape and Stargate SG-1 and Summer Glau from Firefly and Serenity are in the lead right now, followed closely by Amanda Tapping from Stargate: SG1 and Stargate: Atlantis.

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Slate finds Katee Sackhoff to be the best villain on T.V.Roco at Bionic-blog likes what he sees.

Margie liked the episode but found it a little too fast paced.

Ryan found Katee Sackhoff the best part of the episode.

Bob Sassone at TVBuddy.com thinks too much happens in the first 15 minutes.

Gillian Flynn of Entertainment Weekly hated the contrived scene with the little girl almost as much as I did, but gives the episode a B.

Tim Goodman of SF Gate is lukewarm, but he’ll give it a couple of my episodes.

James Poniewozik over at Time.com wishes for a better show, but has faith Eick and Co. can turn it around.

G. Arnold at Blogcritics.org liked the high quality production value of the pilot and thinks it’s got potential.

Adam Buckman of the NYPost found the pilot cliched and so depressing he wanted to slash his wrists.

Mathew Gilbert of the Boston Globe found the pilot sleekly engaging.

Besides Adam Buckman of the NYPost, most critics liked the pilot, but do hope for some improvement. 

Katee Sackhoff is one of our favorites actresses, as she routinely captivates us when she is on our television screens. Whether she is playing Starbuck on Battlestar Galactica or Sarah Corvus on Bionic Woman, Katee specializes in fierce and fearless performances while playing tough yet flawed women.

Over the weekend, E!’s Top 10 Weekend Countdown caught up with the spirited actress as she conquered her fear of sharks and showed us how she learned how to surf.  Sackhoff is clearly an athletic woman as it appears she picked up surfing almost instantly.

Take a look at the clip, if for no other reason than to see how amazing she looks in a wetsuit.

In the interview she attributes her athletic physique to running on the beach and to limiting herself to one Krispy Kreme donut once a week.  Whatever she’s doing, she should keep it up because it’s definitely working!

Katee Sackhoff’s amazing hair at the TV Guide Party last Sunday won her kudos from Hairstylewatch.com.

In Vancouver? Bionic Woman is filming street scenes this week, according to The Vancouverite.

A Colorado television station has an interview with the woman who played the toddler that was rescued by Max, the Bionic Dog, in the clip from the original series we posted on Tuesday. Like us, she was struck by the 1970s idea of leaving a toddler in a car alone and a German Shepherd in a car with the windows rolled up … with all of our modern safety obsessions, Max’s rescue task on the new series would have to be more complicated to be as impressive as it was thirty years ago.

In related news, at least one cast member has threatened to leave the show if they bring back the Bionic Dog. Miguel Ferrar, who plays shadowy Jonas Bledsoe on the show, recently told The West Australian that he would see the addition of a bionic pup as a blow to the credibility of the modern version of the show. As it is, he expects the show to be one of the best science fiction shows ever made. We like your optimism Miguel!

Bionic Woman, Vancouver, Max, Bionic Dog, German Shepherd, Colorado, Katee Sackhoff, Miguel Ferrar

Then you need to be able to play smart. Bionic Woman executive producer David Eick recently talked about ongoing casting process for the show, which needs a continuous stream of actors to play guest roles:

Eick will work with Ulrich/Dawson/Kritzer Casting in Los Angeles and Coreen Mayrs Casting and Heike Brandstatter Casting in Vancouver, where Bionic is filmed, to populate Jaime’s distinctive world. Given that the show is about technology run amuck, he’s looking for actors with the ability to exude intelligence and sophistication but who are able to keep their performances “grounded in reality.”

“What we’re really doing is a drama that happens to have this superhero element to it,” he says. “[Actors] should come in playing it real, playing it grounded, playing it like you would play that role on an episode of ER or West Wing. That’s what we’re looking for.”

This makes sense, as the Bionic Woman concept could easily become cartoon-ish with the wrong casting. It is good to know that Eick & Co. are going for a more realistic approach with their actors, although the comparison to the West Wing is a bit unsettling … it brings to mind a long, continuous shot of the Bionic Woman cast walking quickly through the tight corridors of a concrete bunker while talking very, very fast. Somehow I don’t think that is the “realism” they are going for here.

Bionic Woman, casting, actor, David Eick, cartoon, West Wing, ER, Los Angeles, Vancouver

Michelle Ryan was in Parade magazine last weekend, looking pretty, promoting Bionic Woman, and dropping the tabloid tidbit that she loves her electronic toothbrush.

Bionic Blog has some links for fans who want to learn more about Krav Maga, the fighting style Michelle Ryan has been studying to prepare for her role in Bionic Woman.

Metromix opines that Katee Sackhoff’s Sarah Corvis walks off with the pilot with “style, wit and relish.”

Viewers in Australia will get to see Bionic Woman faster than expected.

SyFyPortal.com loves the talent that is behind Bionic Woman, but blogger TheSlug is not so optimistic about the show and its chances for success.

Compact Cinema reviews Michelle Ryan’s independent film Cashback.

And it seems that Katee Sackhoff is a big Kenny Chesney fan.

Bionic Woman, Katee Sackhoff, Michelle Ryan, Cashback, review, cinema, fighting, Krav Maga, scifi, science fiction, Australia, Kenny Chesney

Roco at Bionic-Blog has the info on this NBC pilot preview DVD, available from Blockbuster; as well as some thoughts on Michelle Ryan’s sexiness in Bionic Woman in the wake of recent criticisms that the show is downplaying her looks in the early episodes.

IGN has an interview with Bionic Woman executive producer Jason Smilovic, where he reveals that most of the episodes this season will be self-contained.

And check out this parody post from Funnimetric, reporting the CIA is going to create its own Bionic Woman for free using rebate offers on electronic parts. “Better … faster … stronger … cheaper?” Maybe, but do those rebates cover leather pants?

USA Today is certainly rooting for more humor in BW, offering this hope that the series will eventually return to its camp classic roots:

Doesn’t anyone know how to have fun anymore?

Perhaps fun is too much to expect from the folks behind Battlestar Galactica, who took a camp castoff and turned it into a well-respected, serious drama. With Battlestar, however, they had an already-functioning allegory to adapt. Bionic Woman was never anything more than a hoot, and the attempt to give it added weight only weighs it down.

The load certainly seems to be too much for EastEnders import Ryan, who has trouble holding the stage against her co-stars. Blame the script and the director for making her pout so much, but the actress does nothing to make the pouting palatable.

Hey, people, she has bionic super-powers. Let her enjoy them a little, and maybe we will, too.

Note from Margie: Sorry about the technical issues this morning. Ryan is posting from London and his post did not come through properly … hopefully his trip home will be smoother!

Bionic Woman, Jason Smilovic, Michelle Ryan, NBC, Bionic Woman, London, USA Today, EastEnders, Battlestar Galactica

If you are interested in more info on the original Bionic Woman series, be sure to check out BionicWomanFiles.com which has some great pictures of original star Linsday Wagner. This photo was taken when the paparazzi caught Lindsay dining at Mr. Chow’s in 1978.

Still struggling to make the grade on the Bionic Aptitude Test? No worries, Bionic Blog has screenies of the additional content for folks who have yet to make the grade.

The Paley Center for Media will be hosting a Bionic Woman Preview Party in L.A. next month, and some of the folks at whedonesque.com say it will be a good time.

TVDeuce.com lists Six Reasons Why You Should Watch Bionic Woman This Fall.

And not everybody dislikes the leaked pilot, “Optimus Playa” thought it was great … although he did advise Jamie to stop “hatin on her robotic parts.”

Bionic Woman, Paley Center, party, Bionic Aptitude Test