Producer talks Katee Sackhoff and the importance of strong villains
There’s a new BIONIC WOMAN in town played by actress Michelle Ryan coming to NBC this fall. Jamie Sommers is still her name, but now there are several changes to the character and her world. One of the most important to the ongoing arc of the series is the introduction of a “first BIONIC WOMAN” played by Katee Sackhoff. IF MAGAZINE chatted with series writer and executive producer Jason Smilovic about what this season is going to be like and how this show is different from the original.
iF MAGAZINE: Katee Sackhoff is in the cast and you aren’t altering her role from the pilot?
JASON SMILOVIC: We aren’t re-shooting anything of that. The only things that we are re-shooting are with Becca, the sister. So, it’s about five or six scenes. About two days work.
iF: What was the decision behind doing the origin story in one episode instead of over the course of a couple of episodes?
SMILOVIC: I think that’s what they’re used to now. I think that you need to really figure the best way to get as much of the story in the pilot as you can especially when you are dealing with a genesis. A genesis story always burdens you with telling the whole story in that first episode. Imagine in SPIDER-MAN, if they left it to be continued. I think very few shows could go the route of STAR WARS where you just see Luke Skywalker begin to know he’s a Jedi in the first story. I think now you have to start with that jumping off point of she is THE BIONIC WOMAN and that’s the name of the show. You’re starting off with the title THE BIONIC WOMAN, so everyone knows she’s going to be THE BIONIC WOMAN. [Laughs] I think that you are compelled to do that origin story all at once.
iF: So there will be individual stories that people can watch, but also an overreaching story arc?
SMILOVIC: The idea being a show that is a hybrid of a serialized show and a self-contained episodic show. The self-contained episodes can be watched and comprehended whether or not you came the week before and the week before that. If you did come in the weeks before there’s going to be more for you; there’s going to be a greater comprehension. Every story is going to have a beginning middle and end. There’s going to be a resolution in each episode, but with an undercurrent of mythology running throughout the season.
iF: You have two bionic women in the pilot, any chance of seeing a bionic person of another gender in this first season?
SMILOVIC: No comment.
iF: As far as cameo appearances any chance of the original BIONIC WOMAN, Lindsay Wagner ?
SMILOVIC: We’re open to anything. I would never categorically say no to anything. I love Lindsay Wagner.
iF: The original series didn’t really have a main nemesis for the BIOINC WOMAN, it was more episodic. You establish not only one villain but a few in the pilot. Is that setting up the overreaching arc?
SMILOVIC: Yes it is, but I think when you have a protagonist that is bestowed with these wondrous powers that you really need to bring forth a formidable bad guy; you don’t want her to be clunking the heads of two bank robbers together. You want her going after real formidable villains that pose a threat to our way of life. I think you want strong villains so that while you have a heightened hero you also have villains who can challenge and pose a threat to her.
iF: After all a hero is only as good as their villains?
SMILOVIC: Absolutely. Heroes are the mirror image of their villains. They have more in common with one another than with other people. A villain and a hero could go either way. I think what we’re going with here is a balance between the good and the evil. I don’t necessarily mean the way that they interact with each other, but rather in the individuals themselves. There needs to be a balance of good and evil. These people are in a very dangerous atmosphere and because of that they have learned to maintain their secrets and to not keep other people’s council the way that others do and they have altered kinds of intimacy. It’s important that you never look at someone on the show and say, “that’s the good guy and that’s the bad guy.” I think from week to week we want to keep the audience guessing. We want good guys to do bad things and vice versa.
iF: Do you feel that shows like BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER with a strong super powered lead affected the ability for you to make a new version of THE BIONIC WOMAN?
SMILOVIC: I would say that just by virtue of its existence that no show in this genre doesn’t owe something to BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER or ALIAS, or any of those shows.
iF: David Eick said that there is a picture deal in the works for the SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, but if they decided to make it a series instead would you be interested?
SMILOVIC: That’s a question that is well above my pay grade. [Laughs] Like I said though, I am open to anything, and I would love to do it.
iF: What would you sum up this new series as?
SMILOVIC: The one thing we’re trying to get across is that this is first and foremost a human drama, and the Science Fiction elements are a texture or a color within that framework. We don’t want the Sci Fi elements to overwhelm what we are doing with the story.
By SEAN ELLIOTT, Senior Editor
IFmagazine.com
Published 7/18/2007
There’s a new BIONIC WOMAN in town played by actress Michelle Ryan coming to NBC this fall. Jamie Sommers is still her name, but now there are several changes to the character and her world. One of the most important to the ongoing arc of the series is the introduction of a “first BIONIC WOMAN” played by Katee Sackhoff. IF MAGAZINE chatted with series writer and executive producer Jason Smilovic about what this season is going to be like and how this show is different from the original.
iF MAGAZINE: Katee Sackhoff is in the cast and you aren’t altering her role from the pilot?
JASON SMILOVIC: We aren’t re-shooting anything of that. The only things that we are re-shooting are with Becca, the sister. So, it’s about five or six scenes. About two days work.
iF: What was the decision behind doing the origin story in one episode instead of over the course of a couple of episodes?
SMILOVIC: I think that’s what they’re used to now. I think that you need to really figure the best way to get as much of the story in the pilot as you can especially when you are dealing with a genesis. A genesis story always burdens you with telling the whole story in that first episode. Imagine in SPIDER-MAN, if they left it to be continued. I think very few shows could go the route of STAR WARS where you just see Luke Skywalker begin to know he’s a Jedi in the first story. I think now you have to start with that jumping off point of she is THE BIONIC WOMAN and that’s the name of the show. You’re starting off with the title THE BIONIC WOMAN, so everyone knows she’s going to be THE BIONIC WOMAN. [Laughs] I think that you are compelled to do that origin story all at once.
iF: So there will be individual stories that people can watch, but also an overreaching story arc?
SMILOVIC: The idea being a show that is a hybrid of a serialized show and a self-contained episodic show. The self-contained episodes can be watched and comprehended whether or not you came the week before and the week before that. If you did come in the weeks before there’s going to be more for you; there’s going to be a greater comprehension. Every story is going to have a beginning middle and end. There’s going to be a resolution in each episode, but with an undercurrent of mythology running throughout the season.
iF: You have two bionic women in the pilot, any chance of seeing a bionic person of another gender in this first season?
SMILOVIC: No comment.
iF: As far as cameo appearances any chance of the original BIONIC WOMAN, Lindsay Wagner ?
SMILOVIC: We’re open to anything. I would never categorically say no to anything. I love Lindsay Wagner.
iF: The original series didn’t really have a main nemesis for the BIOINC WOMAN, it was more episodic. You establish not only one villain but a few in the pilot. Is that setting up the overreaching arc?
SMILOVIC: Yes it is, but I think when you have a protagonist that is bestowed with these wondrous powers that you really need to bring forth a formidable bad guy; you don’t want her to be clunking the heads of two bank robbers together. You want her going after real formidable villains that pose a threat to our way of life. I think you want strong villains so that while you have a heightened hero you also have villains who can challenge and pose a threat to her.
iF: After all a hero is only as good as their villains?
SMILOVIC: Absolutely. Heroes are the mirror image of their villains. They have more in common with one another than with other people. A villain and a hero could go either way. I think what we’re going with here is a balance between the good and the evil. I don’t necessarily mean the way that they interact with each other, but rather in the individuals themselves. There needs to be a balance of good and evil. These people are in a very dangerous atmosphere and because of that they have learned to maintain their secrets and to not keep other people’s council the way that others do and they have altered kinds of intimacy. It’s important that you never look at someone on the show and say, “that’s the good guy and that’s the bad guy.” I think from week to week we want to keep the audience guessing. We want good guys to do bad things and vice versa.
iF: Do you feel that shows like BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER with a strong super powered lead affected the ability for you to make a new version of THE BIONIC WOMAN?
SMILOVIC: I would say that just by virtue of its existence that no show in this genre doesn’t owe something to BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER or ALIAS, or any of those shows.
iF: David Eick said that there is a picture deal in the works for the SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, but if they decided to make it a series instead would you be interested?
SMILOVIC: That’s a question that is well above my pay grade. [Laughs] Like I said though, I am open to anything, and I would love to do it.
iF: What would you sum up this new series as?
SMILOVIC: The one thing we’re trying to get across is that this is first and foremost a human drama, and the Science Fiction elements are a texture or a color within that framework. We don’t want the Sci Fi elements to overwhelm what we are doing with the story.
By SEAN ELLIOTT, Senior Editor
IFmagazine.com
Published 7/18/2007