TVSquad

The writers and producers of Syfy's Stargate Universe could've played it safe and got along just fine with their latest series.

After Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin's 1994 feature film from MGM, the series' first TV adaption (SG1) arrived in 1997. When you throw in the follow-up series, Infinity and Atlantis, the Stargate franchise has run on TV in one form or another for more than 12 years.

When the time came to invent the next step in the franchise, show-runners Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper could have trotted out more of the same and done perfectly well. Instead, they upped the ante -- bringing a bigger budget and updated production techniques to Stargate Universe.

MGM and Syfy welcomed journalists to Vancouver's Bridge Studios to explore the show's starship Destiny set and discover how this series cruises beyond its successful predecessors.

One of the highlights of Friday's press tour day was a visit to the set of The Office. During that visit, various cast members took groups of critics through the entire office set (Angela Kinsey was my group's guide, as you can see in the photo). After the tour, the entire cast, except for the ailing Rainn Wilson, joined creator Greg Daniels in the warehouse to answer our questions.

Executive producer Paul Lieberstein (who also plays Toby) took the bulk of the questions about what's going to go on this season. One tidbit that he readily dropped (probably because it had been published already) was that there's going to be a special event in the fourth episode. Details after the jump.

TV Squad -- at least the part consisting of Joel Keller and myself -- recently visited the set of Scrubs, and were lucky enough to score interviews with Zach Braff (J.D.), Sarah Chalke (Elliot), and Bill Lawrence, the creator and executive producer. The hardest part about doing this video is not revealing who dies in the episode that was being shot. Seriously, it's driving me a bit mental. However, NBC lawyers and corporate drones would descend upon us so fast if we were to reveal which long-time cast member unfortunately passes away in the episode. So, we'll keep mum.

Scrubs has been shooting for six seasons now, and has an extremely tight cast and crew. However, they couldn't have been nicer to us, and we were treated to a fun day on set. In between takes, we picked up some interviews that drop hints at a possible seventh season, insights into the characters, and even some news about the Nobody's Watching show. Looks like a special on NBC is in the works!

Watch the video after the jump, and also check out AOL's gallery of photos from the very same set visit. We really want one of those Dr. Kelso paintings hanging in the palatial TV Squad lobby. He manages to look both regal and downtrodden at the same time.

It's odd. You ask a person a question enough times, you sometimes end up hearing a range of answers that makes things even more muddled in your mind than if you never asked the question at all.

And I know it's been two days since NBC day at the Television Critics Association press tour, but what Zach Braff said at the Scrubs session is still making me scratch my head. He told the gathered lunch crowd that "Scrubs could go on without me," and that he'd love to keep working on the show if possible. He even joked with creator Bill Lawrence, who said that if he left and there was a season seven, he'd force Zach to come back and explain why he left. "I'd come back for one episode to die," said Braff.

Hm... the day before, when I visited the set for a video feature we're putting together, he gave a more affirmative answer. Granted, he never said the words, "Yes, I'm coming back," but he did tell me that he was recharged by doing this season, including the musical, and would love to come back if the opportunity presented itself. So what changed between Tuesday and Wednesday for him to say the show could go on without him?

When a New York-based PR firm sent Keith an invitation to a press day for the new NBC drama Kidnapped, which premieres on Wednesday at 10, he asked me if I wanted to do it, since I live reasonably close to the show's Queens studios. I paused to think about it for two seconds before I responded, "Damn skippy!"

Why not? Set visits have always intrigued me: will the sets look as good up close as they do on TV? How do they pull off some of the visual aspects of a show? Is the craft services table as good as they say? I was able to answer all those questions on August 30, when a group of reporters and I visited the Kidnapped set. We also got to have roundtable interviews with stars Dana Delany, Timothy Hutton, Delroy Lindo, and Jeremy Sisto, which was an experience, but not for the reasons you think. So, after the jump, here's the visual story of my morning on the Kidnapped set, complete with the requisite wise-ass remarks: