Networks pull violent episodes in wake of Littleton school shooting. In light of the horrible events that occurred on April 20th in Littleton, Colorado, virtually every television outlet re-examined their schedule of upcoming episodes. The WB hurriedly yanked a new episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, titled Earshot, in which Buffy overhears about a mass-murder plot being planned by fellow students. Similarly, UPN quietly shuffled their schedule, replacing a new episode of Seven Days with a repeat of the Parkergeist episode which aired in February. The unaired episode, For The Children, centered around a terrorist attack which results in the deaths of several children and a politician; when the politician later turns up to be hiding out with a woman other than his wife, the NSA cancels a Backstep rescue mission, and Parker goes against orders so he can carry out the mission himself for the children's sake. (Actually, it sounds like an interesting episode.) Other non-SF shows, such as a school shooting episode of CBS' Promised Land, were also removed from the schedule. There is no word yet on when any of these segments will eventually air, if at all.

Best Brains close up shop. Having completed the final episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, Best Brains is closing up shop and vacating their building in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, according to a report on the Satellite News web site, the official online newsletter of the MST3K fan club. The report mentions that smaller quarters will probably be set up elsewhere, primarily to store some of the show's key props, though many of the props will be auctioned off by Best Brains this summer, and that the cast and crew are now officially unemployed.

Another line of action figures disappearing? Last week, this site reported the news that Playmates is abandoning its popular range of 5-inch Star Trek action figures so it can concentrate on larger-sized (and larger-priced) "collectors' item" figures in 9-inch and 12-inch sizes. Now it appears that another line of action figures is about to become extinct. After releasing five new characters in its six-inch Babylon 5 series, Exclusive Premiere has announced no plans for any more figures, and its internet presence, formerly found at www.exclusivepremiere.com, has vanished from the web. Additionally, the third and fourth waves of B5 toys were very hard to find, since Toys R Us decided not to carry either of them. Wave 3 consisted of Garibaldi, Lyta, Lennier and Franklin, while the fourth wave included Bester, Captain Lochley, a Gaim character, a Pak'ma'ra, and a Drazi. It would be a shame for collectors to miss out on such characters as Sinclair, Zack Allen and others, but given the intellectual nature of the series, it's probably quite an accomplishment that action figures hit the shelves at all. Many Toys R Us stores, unable to get rid of the first and second wave figures, are discounting them to very low prices in order to sell out their remaining stock.

New Babylon 5 soundtrack announced. As if anyone will be thinking of Babylon 5 on the day before the release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Sonic Images will release the complete CD soundtrack from the Babylon 5 TV movie River of Souls on Tuesday, May 18th.

Starfest Denver, April 16-18, 1999. This season's guests were not as many as we had hoped because the work commitments of two of our scheduled guests, Kari Wuhrer (Sliders) and Richard Chevalleau (Earth: Final Conflict), caused them to cancel virtually last minute. Happily, we were treated to the company of the best of the confirmed guests! The weather held out nicely, if one overlooks the Friday night snowstorm (can't beat Colorado in the springtime!). The dealer room hasn't changed at all, still the same vendors, the same merchandise, the same prices. I only picked up the 8x10 head shots for autographs and a Blade Runner t-shirt this time around, but my almost 14-year-old son announced he'd like an Earth Force uniform - before next fall. Hmmmm...

The theme of the convention was Plan 99 from Outer Space, but I really didn't see evidence of said theme being carried through as well as the folks at Starland have at past cons. At least there could have been a tribute to Ed Wood or something...of course, I did hear about the Klingons spiking the "blood wine" with Everclear, but that may have been merely a rumor. Klingons don't do things like that, do they? The guest list was quite good: Robert Duncan McNeill (Tom Paris, Voyager), Max Grodenchik (Rom, Deep Space Nine), Leni Parker (Da'an, Earth: Final Conflict), Robert Trebor (Salmoneus, Hercules and Xena), Arnold Vosloo (Imhotep, The Mummy) and Mira Furlan (Delenn, Babylon 5). A majority of the guests were there both Saturday and Sunday and everyone signed autographs.

Unfortunately I spent a great deal of my time waiting in interminable lines for signatures, but I did manage to pick up tidbits of relevant information from time to time. The advance look at The Mummy generated much conversation, mostly favorable. The movie version of Wild, Wild West also became a hot topic, with most women agreeing that Will Smith is too sexy for his shirt! [Commentary note: I feel that Smith was an anachronistic casting choice when one considers the racial history of America, particularly in the era portrayed in the film - but then I'm not a Hollyweird casting director, am I? And be honest, who doesn't love Will Smith? They're in it for the cold cash anyway, not dramatic realism. I'll likely see the film in any case, since I have been a die-hard WWW fan since way back when. I always loved Ross Martin's Artemus Gordon and good old Dr. Michelito Loveless - and I adore Kevin Kline.] Rumor has it that Robert Trebor said there would be only 8 more Hercules episodes made and that Xena is in her last season. When asked if there are Herc movies in his future, he reportedly held up both hands with fingers crossed and grinned. Star Wars: Episode I was the very hottest topic of all, but I didn't really learn anything I didn't already know from the promos on TV and the net. As far as I can tell, every SF fan in the entire Denver metro area is going to the theater on May 19th...!! To my great sorrow, I missed virtually all of the stage appearances, the one exception being Mira Furlan's.

Robbie McNeill was at the con to promote a film he's written, produced and directed, called The Battery. From what I gather, it's a story about baseball and two young boys, and stars Ethan Phillips and Josh Jackson. The tickets for the screening were $2 each, with all proceeds going to benefit Pediatric AIDS. Attendee reviews were generally favorable. I never had the time to see the movie or RDM's stage appearance (because I was waiting in the stupid line to get his autograph) but all indications point to him being a very personable guy with a great sense of humor. Gales of laughter could be heard coming from the main events room while he was on stage. He was very kind to my daughter, asking her name and shaking her hand, giving her a little bit of extra attention when she proved to be too shy to even face him when it was her turn for the autograph. He's a good-looking guy, seems like a nice man.

Max Grodenchik seemed a bit standoffish and aggravated on Saturday, but his mood improved a good deal on Sunday. He even apologized for my long wait in line, when actually I spent less time in his line than any other! He reportedly did not hold out a lot of hope for a DS9 movie. Surprisingly there were many more DS9 fans in the general throng than there usually seem to be, and the people treated Max with a lot of respect. In person he looked a lot like he usually does in the movies, which I've found is not always the case with actors who work on TV. (For example, Nana Visitor and Claudia Christian are much prettier in person than they are on the small screen.) Alas, I did not get to see a great deal of his stage appearance.

Mira Furlan. Now what can one say about her? She is beautiful inside and out. She was tremendously generous to the fans waiting in line, and very forthcoming in her stage appearance. She said she couldn't believe it has been an entire year since B5 folded up its tents. (She had no idea if there were plans for more B5 films but would be willing to do them.) Since then she has recorded her own CD of songs and played Delenn in an upcoming Babylon 5 CD-ROM game. She also participated in recording a "bluesy-jazz type" CD of tunes, due out in general release in May, with several former B5 castmates, namely Bill Mumy (she called him "Billy" a few times; I got the feeling he's one of her favorites), Andreas Katsulas and Peter Jurasik. Oh yes, and she became a first-time mother! Her baby boy, Marko, was born on December 15, 1998 and she has been reveling in her new role as "Mommy" ever since. When asked what her husband is doing now, she responded with a grin, "Babysitting!" Actually, her husband, Goran Gajic, has been working on various directorial gigs and did direct one episode of B5 (And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder). She didn't particularly want to talk about the current situation in Kosovo, understandably, but did say that she doesn't think bombing people solves anything. She hails from Zagreb, Croatia, is an only child, had a grandmother who was a professor of languages and she speaks 3 languages fluently. Mira did say that she often refused to learn new languages from her grandmother but appreciates the fact that she persisted. She began acting in high school when her English teacher decided her class should do a play to help them learn more English. She played a flamboyant character and enjoyed it so much that she went on to audition with, and win a spot in, the Croatian National Theater Company. While with them she played many different roles, including Shakespeare. She has done over 25 movies in the former Yugoslavia and was once on a soap opera there called Little Big Town. She said she became so recognizable in the role that people would accost her in the grocery store! Mira is an avid reader, loves to hike and climb, and prefers "slow, solitary" exercises like yoga. She did look pretty darn fit for a lady with a 4-month-old. She said she would never forgive herself if she didn't get out to the Rockies (mere minutes from lovely downtown Denver, don't ya know) and do some hiking before returning to L.A. She seems a very empathetic and spiritual woman, but not overly so. A little backstory here: There's this guy here in town who attends all the cons, and every time we have a B5 guest he goes to the microphone to tearfully tell the celeb of the time when his mom, who was almost dead from the cancer and loved stuffed bears, got a great big chuckle out of the B5 ep with the teddy bear that got spaced. (Sorry to sound so cynical about it, but I've heard the story four times now over the course of 2 years time and I fail to believe this dude doesn't stand there and actively work up his emotions so he can somehow sound more sincere to the person on stage.) Anyway, he told Mira the story and about how he's made it his goal to tell everyone associated with B5 how that so cheered his mother - and she openly wept! She was truly moved by his emotion. I gained a lot of respect for her right there; she didn't have to empathize, but she did. She regrets that she did not get to work too much with Claudia Christian and Jerry Doyle but she cherished her work with the other cast members - she would not pick a favorite when asked to do so. When inquired as to how much of herself went into Delenn, Mira stated that Joe liked to incorporate personal eccentricities and character traits of the actors back into their characters, so while she professed to lack Delenn's "wisdom and serenity," she did confess that much of her personality was in the role as well. She said the bonehead make-up really hurt to wear so she was greatly relieved to lose it. There was still a lot of time spent in the make-up chair, so Bill Mumy made tapes to play while they were getting done up. They called it their "Minbari Morning Music." He made one tape called the "All Dead Band," which of course consisted of the music of people who are all, well, dead. She would love to play roles in most any genre but only if they are strong female roles. She disdained the American way of stereotyping actors because now she's considered a "sci-fi actress," which is so limiting. All in all, Mira Furlan is a very lovely woman and an actress whose work I truly hope we see more of.

That's it folks! Next fall's theme is The Last Convention B4Y2K; guests include Andrew "Garak" Robinson and Robert "HoloDoc" Picardo. Your intrepid con reporter thought this spring's con was probably going to be one of her last, but then they hit me with this guest list...

Cindy Hill
theLogBook.com correspondent