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I felt exactly the same, but found the first season DVD for a really cheap price, and though "ah, what the hell!" and I was hooked within minutes! I think it also helped that because it was constantly in the news, and I read up on it, that I went in knowing what was going to happen, although I still laughed, gasped and cried when watching it. I'm holding back on the latest Xmas special until Season 4 has completed airing methink though.

are they splitting the season up? figured they would, like Sy-Fy did with "Eureka" and "Warehouse 13", but do we know how LONG the gap between halves will be?

no offence to Ben McKenzie but... LUCAS TILL!!!!! ::drools, then drops in a dead faint::

With the first season of the latest show to join the VPN’s interpretation of the Smallville universe in production, VSGuide has taken the time to talk to several of the show’s main stars about the characters, the plots and storylines planned for the season, and what they hope to see as the show grows and develops. Our first interview is with series lead star, Jill Teed, who reassumes the role of Maggie Sawyer that she portrayed in the original show.

VSGuide: Firstly, how does it feel to be back playing Maggie after so many years away from the role?

Jill Teed: You know, it’s not as hard as you might think. I mean, the last time I played her, it was only for a small scene with Michael Rosenbaum (back in Season 7’s episode, “Descent”), outside the building they used as the Luthorcorp headquarters. But, there’s always something about the character Maggie I’ve found to be easy to identify with - a woman trying to make her mark on the world, who doesn’t suffer fools easily.

VSGuide: That brings us to the next question: what was it that made you come back to the role?

JT: Honestly, Maggie is just an interesting character, and obviously she has a lot of history in the original comics. When I first booked the role, it wasn’t even identified as ‘Maggie Sawyer’, just as a police lieutenant who deals with a hostage crisis. It wasn’t until the costume fitting I even realised I actually had a name! The fact that Maggie was part of the Smallville universe, it appealed to the viewers and fans, and they just kept asking me to come back. When my agent called and said that they were putting together a spin off focusing on her, I was thrilled, even more so when I read the script, it really captured the essence of who I imagined Maggie was.

VSGuide: How does Maggie differ in M: SCU then from her time in Smallville?

JT: Well, it’s not only been about five years since I played the character, but also the same time has passed for the character as well. M: SCU is actually set more or less in the here and now, I know there is still some details about that to be hammered about because of the one-year time jump (occurring in sister show “Watchtower”) that’s been mentioned. When it comes to the character of Maggie in M: SCU, she’s a lot more developed and rounded then we saw in “Smallville”, she’s even got a girlfriend waiting for her at home, and a daughter who lives in another part of the country. I’m not just playing “Maggie Sawyer, the cop”, I’m also getting to be “Maggie Sawyer, the romantic” and “Maggie Sawyer, the mother” as well, and I’m really looking forward to exploring that personal side of her.

VSGuide: What can you tell us about Maggie’s interactions with the other main characters?

JT: Well, it really depends on the characters. I mean, with David [Paetkau]’s character, Danny, I see it that Maggie’s taken him under her wing, to roughen out some of these edges he’s developed because of everything that’s happened to him over the last few years. He’s like a protégé, in a way, but because she’s in charge of the whole department, she has to make sure she also looks out for all her officers. Tembi Locke [Dr. Beth Chapel] and I had some fun scenes filming the pilot, with stuff in the morgue, as well as at a crime scene location, and Fran Kranz, he’s an absolute charmer, and he’s as zany as his character! I haven’t spent much time with Felicia, but she’s definitely one of the jokers on the set, that’s for sure.

VSGuide: Can you tell us what’s in store for Sawyer this season?

JT: I think the biggest thing for Maggie is that she’s now under a lot more media attention, then before. The SCU, as a department, has always been treated as a joke, but because of things going on behind the scenes, everything she and her department do now is being noticed by a lot more people, and she’s under a lot of pressure to make it work. Maggie’s made a lot of enemies in her career, because she doesn’t suffer fools, as I said earlier, but she doesn’t pull her punches either, she’s pissed off quite a few powerful people. With all this extra pressure, and the fact she’s not out in the field as much as she’s used to, it’s going to take a tool on her friendships with other officers, and her relationship with Toby.

VSGuide: What do you hope to see from Maggie as the series progresses?

JT: I just want to see her have a life, and not get too swamped with her work, a lot of cop shows have that kind of storyline, where relationships suffer and breakdown because of the character’s investment in their career. But with Maggie, I’ve played as the cop so many times, I want to be able to show the viewers that she’s struggling to make it work, to find that balance, that a cop CAN have a life, and not loose everything to the job.

Thanks to Jill Teed for taking the time for this interview. Similar interviews with David Paetkau, Fran Kranz and Tembi Locke to follow soon!

well, M:SCU is proceeding apace, Episode 4's first draft outline is done, next to begin on Episode 5 - once the outlines for Episodes 2 through to 6 are done, I will start writing them properly - the planning is what takes me the longest, so want to get that out the way!
For those interested in audio works, my first draft outline for the 2 part finale episode of my Torchwood spin off is also complete, and I will be getting into writing those while I finish the outlines for M:SCU. Once the season is complete, production can begin again!

here's me flexing my meagre graphics skill in a couple of attempts at title cards for the premiere!



thoughts and opinions welcome!

seriously?!?! Veronica Mars fans are called "Marshmallows"?!?!?!? HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS BEFORE NOW?!?!?!

While I understand the idea of being 'efficient', let me put it another way - you go to all that trouble of setting up the Traveler in the dialogue, and how big it is, and how it takes so many criminals all in one go... and then suddenly, the two main characters have BELTS that can do the same job?!?

As an example, let me link it to transporters in Star Trek - they need all the platform and stuff to beam people down, and the targeting sensors to lock onto communicators in order to beam them back... from a scientific standpoint, it makes sense, at least in theory, if not practice. But then, later, suddenly, there are these ridiculously tiny 'site to site transport' units that apparently do the job WITHOUT a platform or targeting sensors. To me, that borders more on science-fantasy, then science fact.

If the belts acted as a homing beacon, that would make more sense, allowing those 'back home' to pull their target back, or even if the portal opened at set intervals. I think that the handing them back in would also reinforce the fact that they are on 'parole' every time they go on a dimension hop, and that their liberties are their only chance to have a semblance of freedom until the job is done. It wasn't very clear to me just HOW those security considerations would be effective once they make the dimension jump, because there didn't appear to be any real indication that the home dimension was keeping tabs on them somehow... I might need to reread it, just to have it fresher in my mind.