Sci-Fi Storm

Syfy has signed actress Valerie Cruz, who most recently starred on ABC’s Off The Map along with stints on True Blood, Dexter and The Dresden Files, as a recurring guest star on its newest original series Alphas, it was announced today.

Valerie Cruz will portray Special Agent Kathy Sullivan, an employee of the Department of Defense whose exact role and intentions are a mystery. She will first appear in the third episode of the series entitled “Cause and Effect” premiering Monday, July 25, 2011 at 10:00 PM ET/PT.

Cruz is well known for portraying multiple complex roles on the small screen over the last decade including Grace Santiago on FX’s Nip/Tuck and Sylvia Prado on Showtime’s Dexter. She also starred in the Syfy original series The Dresden Files. Most recently she portrayed Dr. Zita Alvarez in ABC’s midseason entry Off the Map. She is represented by David Rose of Innovative Artists and Pearl Hanan.

Alphas follows a clandestine group of average everyday citizens with amazing abilities operating within the U.S. Department of Defense. Led by preeminent neurologist and psychiatrist Dr. Lee Rosen (Emmy Award-winner and Academy Award-nominee David Strathairn), the team investigates cases that point to others with abilities like theirs, and as they work against the clock to solve this new brand of crime, they must prevent their own personality differences and disparate backgrounds from interfering with their missions. Alphas premieres on Monday, July 11th at 10/9c, behind the season premieres of Eureka and Warehouse 13.

So, that Torchwood web series starring Eliza Dushku that ties in to the upcoming Torchwood: Miracle Day? Seems it is a bit more than a web series (can we even call it that if its only available via iTunes for a charge? Perhaps the term “micro-series” is better?) – it’s actually an episodic interactive game! It will be released as “10 3-minute chapters” (a 3 minute game?), sold in bundles of 3 for 99 cents or all 10 for $2.99. Still not sure how they package 10 chapters in bundles of 3…but here is a bit more:

“Torchwood: Web of Lies” is an episodic interactive experience for iOS that fuses together motion comic and gameplay elements to tell an original and digitally exclusive Torchwood story. Players will participate in a parallel storyline to “Torchwood: Miracle Day” that includes lead characters Captain Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper – voiced by John Barrowman and Eve Myles.

“Torchwood: Web of Lies” runs alongside weekly premieres of “Torchwood: Miracle Day”, providing fans with a way to engage in the world of Torchwood between episodes. It reveals a past day in the lives of Captain Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper – a day they’ve both forgotten. The events of that day fuel a modern day conspiracy-laced treasure hunt, as Holly Mokri, voiced by Eliza Dushku (“Dollhouse,” “Tru Calling,” “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”), labors to uncover the secrets of Miracle Day. Each week a new episode unlocks, allowing players to access another piece of original motion comic narrative and game which ties into and extends plot developments of the show, as well as providing new twists in its own narrative.

So, it is apparently animated (so I guess we won’t see Eliza…), and runs only on iOS, so I guess I won’t be seeing it for a while…and again makes me think it can’t be called a “web” series.

Like yesterday’s preview for Warehouse 13, here is a sneak peek preview for the upcoming season of Eureka, which also debuts July 11th at 8/7c. And don’t forget the upcoming season includes returning guest stars Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton, plus special guest star Stan Lee!
(continue reading…)