Premiere Week!

Hey, coming up with this blog entry title was easy!

Here we are. Season Two is less than 72 hours away. It seems only fitting to give you some insight into what exactly to expect with regard to the new season:

Season Two will start off with the big 90 minute season opener "A Time To Rise." This episode will see the return of an old enemy, the rising of a new enemy, and threats on two fronts. In addition to that, it will introduce new series regular, De'van Callen, as well as Zach Hoffmann, a new recurring character. As a lot of you know, we cast Dennis Haysbert and Armin Shimerman, respectively. We all think they're a great addition to the show.

Callen is a great leading figure, with an interesting background, which should be fun to explore. He'll make a really good base/station commander. Zach Hoffmann is...well, an interesting character as well. Zach is a reporter from Earth, and he reminds us that very often it does indeed take some getting used to being in space, on a space station. We'll see some "Zach moments," Callen will be faced with a serious challenge, two of our team members will be running into this old enemy, I mentioned before. That about sums it up. Well, not really. But it's all I can tell you right now. Hey, in three days from now, it's likely you'll already know what exactly is going on in this episode. That's if you read it right when it comes out.

There'll be a news release on GateWorld, and you can also expect a new installment of the Making Of series. It will be a bit shorter than the one for "Collision," but my plan is to do them on a weekly basis now. I'd love to do a podcast for "A Time To Rise," but I'm still having some trouble with the recorder. Does anyone of you know of some good and free audio recorders? If you do, feel free to let me know. Post a comment into this blog; I do check for comments. If I have a working recorder, you can expect a podcast audio commentary. That I can promise you.

With regard to production, I'm proud to say that last week I've set up my new personal record. I wrote the first draft for an episode called "What Comes Before The Dawn..." in four days. I don't know if I remember this correctly, but I think I also wrote "Rise Of The Aschen" in about that much time. Well, technically it wasn't four full days. So I guess I could argue if you count the hours together it was less than four days. Hm. Nah, four days sounds okay to me. How could I do that, you might ask. Well, truth is, I've had some extra time available, and I made sure to put it to use. I'm pretty happy with the script. It's a great story for Callen; it gives us some more insight into his character. The Season Two opening two parter will also be doing that of course.

A new staff writer has joined us as recent as last week; well, technically Sunday, which in a way makes it...uh, yesterday. Okay, maybe it's not as recent as last week. Anyway, his name is Michael Coakley. He's already pitched some ideas, so we'll have to see what you'll end up reading.

The art department is hard at work. We're aiming for releasing a surprise very soon. The earliest release would be Thursday along with the premiere, but if we don't have it ready on time, it'll just be a few days later. Okay, here's a little hint: you ever wonder what the uniforms on Horizon look like? Hm. I personally think they look great. On the CG front, things are making progress, but that might still take a while. But I think it will be worth the wait. We've made some adjustments to the Horizon design, and I think it'll make it look just wonderful.

Well, things are moving along quickly, as we fight to stay ahead or at least on schedule. So, I've now started working on an outline for an episode called "The Fantastic Three." The episode features the surprise return of not one, but TWO old friends. One of them was in Season One of Horzion, the other one was...in one or two SG-1 episodes. You add our own Major Reynolds to the mix, and you have The Fantastic Three. It will be a fun episode, and looking at the concept, it has the potential of becoming the funniest episode we've done so far. It's currently slated as episode 2.09. "What Comes Before The Dawn..." is 2.07.

With regards to other topics, I've come to the conclusion that I'll have to check out "Lost." It seems to be a pretty good show. Hey, it won an Emmy, didn't it? But seriously, a lot of people tell me that it's really good. Once I've seen it, I'll fill you in on what I thought. Speaking of great shows, I finished re-watching Season One of 24 just last night. What a finale! What a twist! I've seen it several times, but I still think it's great. For me, that's when the show really takes off. I'm already feeling the urge of grabbing that Season Two DVD set, and re-watching that season. Of course I'll do that very soon.

I never told you that I have a weakness for Nutella! I figured I'll just throw that in tonight. I've always loved it; it's great. Very delicious. So, you also know that I tend to drink Diet Pepsi or Diet Coke. Hey, I'll have to talk about something. Isn't that what a blog is all about? You talk about various things. I tell you what: why don't you let me know what topic you'd like me to address in my next update (besides Horizon of course), and I'll do that. Not sure what will come out of this, but I promise whatever anyone suggests, I'll address it...in one way or the other. You'll see.

Well, time to sit back and enjoy the evening. I'm thinking about starting Season Two of 24 tonight, but I don't know for sure yet. I'll definitely let you know next time. Right now, I'll say I hope you'll enjoy the Season Two premiere of Stargate: Horizon. I'm really looking forward to seeing the reactions to the new season.

Until next time! Good night!

Alex