Defiance returns

ON SCREEN:

DEFIANCE
Showcase -- Thursdays, beginning June 19


Defiance

Julie Benz Gets Set To Take
Her Character Down
A Darker Path As "Defiance"
Rolls Out Its Second Season

By Eric Kohanik 

Somehow, the future never seems to be pretty in the world of science-fiction TV shows. And Julie Benz says there are good reasons for that.

“I think, with the sci-fi genre, we're able to explore issues that we're all faced with today,” the 42-year-old actress points out. “We're able to explore them in a deeper, darker way.”

Benz is no stranger to the deeper, darker realm of the horror/thriller/sci-fi genre. Perhaps still best known for her role as Rita on Dexter, her TV credits also include such other gems as Roswell, Supernatural, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Buffy's spinoff/sequel, Angel.

“I love working in 'genre' material, I really do,” says Benz. “The given circumstances are so extreme that they really challenge you, as an actor, to bring them to life and make them believable. And that is exciting.”

Benz's most recent “genre TV” job has been in Showcase's sci-fi adventure, Defiance. Filmed in Toronto, the series is set in a radically transformed Earth in the not-too-distant future, where the city of St. Louis has been renamed as Defiance, a town where humans and extraterrestrial species manage to live side by side.

Much of the core action in Defiance revolves around Joshua Nolan, played by New Zealand native Grant Bowler. Nolan is a former marine who became the town's chief lawkeeper during the show's first season. At Nolan's side for much of the show has been his adopted alien daughter, Irisa, played by English actress Stephanie Leonidas. Others in the cast include Canadian actors Graham Greene and Jesse Rath.

The Pittsburgh-born Benz plays Amanda Rosewater, the mayor of Defiance who ended up losing her bid for re-election as the series wrapped up its first season. The show's season finale also saw the disappearance of Irisa, as well as Amanda's sister, Kenya (Canadian actress Mia Kirshner).

According to Showcase, Defiance was the channel's No. 1 program in 2013. The series kicks off its second season on June 19 (moving to Thursday nights this season), with the residents of Defiance in turmoil in the aftermath of the town election.

Meanwhile, Nolan is out in the badlands on a quest to find the missing Irisa, a storyline that the show's producers have already been priming viewers for online (on Showcase.ca), via five “webisodes” entitled Defiance: The Lost Ones.

As the new season of Defiance opens, Amanda is setting off on a journey of her own as well, embarking on “a much darker path,” according to Benz. “Amanda starts in a completely different place than where she ended at the end of Season 1,” she explains. “Her sister disappeared. She lost her job. And she has to redefine herself in a town that is redefining itself. It's nine months later and she's really struggling. She's having a hard time. You get to see her start to unravel a bit.”

Although Amanda is no longer the mayor of Defiance, that won't necessarily keep her out of the political scene. “I don't think Amanda could ever be separated from the town,” Benz laughs. “I think the town is always a part of her. Her love for the town of Defiance is always going to be present, no matter what role she has in the town. I don't think she could ever fully be away from the politics of the town.”

Benz has been pleased with the fan response to the first season of Defiance. She has also been pleased with her character's journey on the show.

“I love Amanda's strength,” says Benz. “And that she's still feminine but very strong. She is basically surviving in a very masculine world. Even though she's the heroine, she's not perfect. She's deeply flawed. She's an alcoholic. She obviously has commitment issues. She's very controlling. Sometimes, her idealism gets in the way. She's extremely flawed, but she's still a woman. We don't really see many female characters that can be as flawed as she is and still be loved.”

Defiance – Showcase – Thursdays, beginning June 19

(Published in Channel Guide Magazine -- June 2014.)

Unusually Thicke

ON SCREEN:

UNUSUALLY THICKE
Slice -- Wednesdays


Unusually Thicke

Alan Thicke Offers Viewers 
A Peek Behind The Curtain

By Eric Kohanik 

Alan Thicke likes to keep busy. And he has come up with lots of ways to do that.

“I describe it as a 'productive insecurity,'” the 67-year-old native of Kirkland Lake, Ont. jokes over the telephone from his ranch in Santa Barbara, Calif. “You don't wait for the phone to ring. You have to be proactive and you go out and try to create things.

“My background was as a writer. That was the first thing that I was really able to make a living at. Consequently, I've always been able to create some credible pitch or idea that would, at the very least, garner some meetings and put you in the right offices. I never took it for granted that I could be in the gym or by the pool and get 'that call.' I was out promoting and creating. And much of what I tried to do in that vein, fortuitously, got green-lighted. So, it's given me a good life.”

Thicke's accomplishments are numerous, ranging from credits as a writer (Fernwood 2-Night), game-show host (Pictionary) and talk-show emcee (The Alan Thicke Show, Thicke of the Night) to theme-song composer (Diff'rent Strokes, The Facts of Life), sitcom actor (Growing Pains, Hope & Gloria, How I Met Your Mother) and even reality-show participant (Celebrity Wife Swap).

Thicke's latest idea goes back into the world of reality shows – or, rather, pseudo-reality shows. He admits that a show capitalizing on the popularity of his son, singer Robin Thicke, would have been “an easy sale,” but he opted for something different: Unusually Thicke, a series for the Slice network in Canada that was also picked up by the TV Guide Network in the U.S.

Although it does feature cameo appearances by Robin as well as Thicke's eldest son, Brennan, Unusually Thicke is a reality/sitcom hybrid about Thicke's day-to-day life with his third wife, 39-year-old Bolivian-born fashion model Tanya Callau. Rounding out the show's core is Carter Thicke, the 16-year-old son from his second marriage.

“We always knew that we had kind of a Modern Family cast here,” Thicke explains. “We had the older, more reserved patriarch. We had the hot Latin wife, decidedly younger. And we had a cool, envelope-pushing teenager. That was the basis for us saying, 'Well, what could we do with this group that would make sense?'”

According to Thicke, several people were “sniffing around” with reality-show ideas. “We kind of held out for what I thought would be a more original, inventive, challenging format,” he says. “That was to combine the real-family 'cast' with a sitcom format. I thought if we took real stories from our real lives and embellish those in a story-telling format such as a sitcom, then maybe we'd have something that's a little different, a little bit of a hybrid.”

The dialogue in Unusually Thicke is not scripted, but episodes are mapped out to enhance storylines. “We had to plan a lot of scenes in order to tell stories instead of just letting stories happen,” Thicke explains. “We wanted to be proactive storytellers, not passive storytellers.”

Thicke also wanted to set the record straight on his family life. “It really does kind of pull back the curtain on much more of Alan Thicke in real life than Alan Thicke the sitcom actor,” he says. “I think that people who see this family together, some will be surprised. I'm clearly older than my wife and we deal with things and have situations which are not typical. Our age difference does create challenges.

“I like to think that I'm grounded enough from my family history in Kirkland Lake to appreciate where I came from and try to teach my kids that sense of normalcy or decency or gratitude. But we are clearly living the good life here and I think part of the challenge here is how you balance all of those opportunities and influences.”

Unusually Thicke – Slice – Wednesdays

(First published in Channel Guide Magazine -- May 2014.)