SyFy

The final season of the fantasy adventure series “Merlin” resumes on Syfy Friday evening after several weeks hiatus and the new episode, “With All My Heart,” focuses on Queen Guinevere. “Merlin” has been massively popular in the U.K., where it rivaled “Doctor Who” in ratings, wrapping up last Christmas with a tragic, two-part season finale. In the U.S., the fifth and final season is airing on Syfy. In the show, Gwen, played by Angel Coulby, is in many ways the moral compass of Camelot, influencing the decisions of her husband King Arthur Pendragon (Bradley James) and the secret sorcerer Merlin (Colin Morgan). She began as a maidservant to Morgana, now an evil sorceress, and now rules Camelot alongside Arthur. Hero Complex caught up with Coulby to talk about Gwen’s journey and the success of “Merlin.” Warning: Spoilers lie ahead. HC: […]

The fantasy adventure “Merlin” might have enchanted English fans for the last time in December, but the series continues to charm American audiences. Created by Johnny Capps and Julian Murphy, “Merlin” provides a fresh take on the Arthurian legend. Irish actor Colin Morgan plays Merlin, a servant to King Arthur and a wizard-in-secret in a realm where magic has been outlawed. The show was massively popular in the U.K., rivaling “Doctor Who” in viewership, before wrapping up on Christmas with a tragic, two-part season finale. Morgan was named best actor in a drama by the U.K.’s National Television Awards earlier this year, beating out “Doctor Who” star Matt Smith and “Sherlock” actor Benedict Cumberbatch. In the U.S., the fifth and final season of the BBC original series is airing on Syfy. In Friday’s episode “The Dark Tower,” the sorceress Morgana […]

Last year, Drew Struzan contributed portraits of the classic Universal monsters to a special exhibition organized by Mondo, Alamo Drafthouse’s collectible art division, designed to celebrate the ongoing legacy and influence of the studio’s horror canon. Now the legendary illustrator is back with a poster inspired by one of his favorite current TV series, Syfy’s “Being Human.” The show, adapted from the BBC series of the same name, centers on three supernatural roommates, ghost Sally (Meaghan Rath), werewolf Josh (Sam Huntington) and vampire Aidan (Sam Witwer), and it was Witwer’s friendship with Struzan that led to the creation of the unique poster, which also depicts Kristen Hager’s werewolf Nora. The duo recently spoke to Hero Complex about how their mutual admiration translated into the new image, which was unveiled this week at a special “Being Human” event at the Paley Center […]

BBC’s fantasy adventure “Merlin” cast its final spell in England over Christmas with a heartbreaking two-part finale that brought to a grand conclusion a series whose popularity rivals “Doctor Who” — the show drew about 7 million viewers each episode in the U.K., compared with around 1.7 million per episode in the U.S. For fans on this side of the Atlantic, though, it’s only the beginning of the end for the epic tale. The fifth and final season of the series, which traces the evolution of the relationship between young wizard Merlin (Colin Morgan) and future king Arthur Pendragon (Bradley James) in a realm where magic has been outlawed, premieres Friday on Syfy. Much in the way “Smallville” updated the story of Superman, “Merlin” brings fresh life and contemporary resonance to iconic characters from English myth. Hero Complex caught up […]

The Syfy series “Warehouse 13” kicks off its fourth season July 23 and there’s plenty of change in the air … as well as the smoke and ash from the show’s namesake structure. Brent Spiner of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” fame will be seen in a half-dozen episodes this season, too, which is music to the ears of star Eddie McClintock. We caught up with McClintock at Comic-Con International as he was preparing for the Friday panel devoted to the show where magical history is natural resource and compelling hazard. HC: That Season 3 finale really took the show to some intense places. What was it like for you filming it and then watching it? You guys think a lot about tone and balancing the light and the dark — do you think that makes the heavy stuff even […]

The next time Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark, Gale Hawthorne and Greasy Sae are seen onscreen in “The Hunger Games,” they will have a new landlord — and it could be you. The Henry River Mill Village in Hildebran, N.C. (outside of Charlotte), which served as District 12 in the post-apocalyptic nation Panem in the big-screen adaptation of the book, is up for sale. The 72-acre abandoned mill town, home of fictional spots like the Hob and the area known as the Seam, is valued at more than $1.2 million. It will be sold via sealed bids through the auction house Profiles in History, with a bidding deadline of July 31. The piece of “Hunger Games” history is also the subject of an upcoming episode of “Hollywood Treasure,” the SyFy series that follows Profiles in History owner Joe Maddalena as he […]

Here’s a wizard’s trick: Can “Merlin” get darker and stay light at the same time? It’s a question of tone and the obvious challenge for the SyFy series as its plots push into more sinister territory but the creative team tries to hold on to the humor that widens the show’s audience to an all-ages group. Here’s a look at an exclusive clip from the Feb. 13 episode, “A Servant of Two Masters,” which finds a bewitched Merlin acting as a reluctant assassin. I’ve written before that “Merlin” is a favorite in my house — it really is geared for family viewing — and apparently we’re not alone. The U.K. import is a hit at home (the finale of the fourth season aired on Christmas Eve to a record audience of 8.1 million) and it now has a foothold here with its biggest […]

The first season finale of “Alphas” airs Monday and the SyFy series has carved out its own personality after starting with a concept that sat somewhere between “The X-Files” and “X-Men.” The characters are a collection of oddballs and outsider souls and at the top of that list is Gary Bell, the autistic young man who can “see” energy and communication signals in the air, making him a walking antenna and the world’s supreme electronic eavesdropper. Ryan Cartwright, a familiar face to fans of “Bones,” plays Gary, and Hero Complex’s Geoff Boucher caught up with the 30-year-old Brit to talk about the show. This is Part 2 of the interview. GB: You made some memorable appearances on “Bones” as the doomed intern Vincent Nigel-Murray so you know the rhythms of a procedural. “Alphas” is aiming for something different, though, isn’t it? […]

The first season finale of “Alphas” airs Monday and the SyFy series has carved out its own personality after starting with a concept that sat somewhere between “The X-Files” and “X-Men.” The characters are a collection of oddballs and outsider souls and at the top of that list is Gary Bell, the autistic young man who can “see” energy and communication signals in the air, making him a walking antenna and the world’s supreme electronic eavesdropper. Ryan Cartwright, a familiar face to fans of “Bones,” plays Gary, and Hero Complex’s Geoff Boucher caught up with the 30-year-old Brit to talk about the show. This is part 1 of the interview. GB: Portraying a character with autism is a bit of a tightrope act especially in a show that values a grounded reality and humor. Talk a bit about finding the […]

The most promising new sci-fi series on television? Our vote goes to “Alphas” on SyFy, which lives somewhere between “The Office” and “The X-Men.” The show gives us a “misfits of science” team of special-ability civilians (along with one grouchy FBI agent) who would fascinate Fox Mulder — they could use his help, too, to sort out the slow-reveal conspiracies that are taking the Monday night show toward its two-part season finale. The series has some intriguing guest stars in the mix (Lindsay Wagner, Summer Glau and Brett Spiner among them) and our Geoff Boucher recently sat down with the show’s head writer, Ira Steven Behr (executive producer on both “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and “The 4400″) to talk about the sh0w’s ambitions. GB: One of the key things for any show in its early life is to pinpoint the tone that will be its signature. What […]