Helo Season 2 Costume Card available now

Thanks to Jeff over at Kindreds for pointing out that the BSG S2 trading cards are now available.

Included in the set is a Helo costume card, featuring what they're calling "Karl Agathon's Caprica Vest," though it was seen more prominently in "Home" (see a better photo of the vest in the ep here).

Only one Helo costume card is up on ebay currently, but more should surface.

See more details on the Galactica Season 2 trading cards.

New poll: Who do you most like to see Helo interact with?

Though Helo sadly wasn't in Sunday's ep, here's a new poll for you nonetheless. Who do you most like to see Helo interact with? Kara? Hera? Sharon? Anders?

Vote now! ------>

Photos and clips of Tahmoh on "Smallville" [2004]

Thanks to Jeff over at the excellent Helo/Sharon fansite, Kindreds, you can see Tahmoh's guest appearance on Smallville from 2004. He's made clips of Tahmoh's scenes and posted 10 screenshots as well.

Go see the clips and the photos.

Tahmoh has talked about shooting this episode in several interviews. With all the lying in bed in the hospital scenes, he apparently fell asleep between takes!

I previously posted screencaps here.

Article about Tahmoh's upcoming film, The Green Chain

There's an interesting interview in Reel West with the director of the docu-style flick about trees, The Green Chain, in which Tahmoh and Tricia Helfer star.


Tricia's on the cover of the issue and the 5-page article inside details the movie's development from a play to a screenplay. In the film, each character delivers their monologue to camera in one scene, which had to be pretty intense. It also means though, that unfortunately Tahmoh and Tricia don't share any scenes. The article uses the same photo of Tahmoh as "Brett Hall" (above) as the website, but includes 3 new shots of Tricia as "Leila Cole."

Click here to download the article, "Tree Line" (pdf, 1.9mb).

Hopefully, the film will start showing up at festivals soon. The article mentions a possible Earth Day premiere (March 20th).

Yet more Pier 39 photos (now with added silliness!)

Thanks to Francis (aka PurpleDrazi) for these pics of the boys being goofy. (See many more in his gallery.)

Thanks also to Jeremy (aka Sephiroth144) for sharing his great photos.

See more photos and discussion in this thread over in the Sci-fi Battlestar forum. (This earlier thread also has some pics).

Thanks so much to everyone for sharing! Looks like a very fun event.

More photos and a report from Pier 39 !

Thanks to Adam and Rae, you can read a report from last weekend's signing event and see some terrific photos, including this fantastic one of them with the stars.

"Despite the time crunch, Rae was able to ask Tahmoh about his favorite martial arts movie (Enter the Dragon), get his opinion on Tony Jaa (he does the real stuff!), and his desire to feature more martial arts action in BSG."

See more pics and read the full report.

"A Day in the Life" reviews & screencaps

Helo may have only been in one scene, but it was definitely a memorable and hilarious one. Helo screencaps thanks to bsg-caps. Here's what the critics had to say about the episode:

• Entertainment Weekly
  
• TV Guide
• TV Blend
• BuddyTV
  

What'd you think? A reaction poll at right!

Ron Moore podcast is now available here. Sci-fi episode recap here.

If you missed it, Sci-fi is re-airing "A Day in the Life" tonight at 11pm.

More photos from Pier 39 (& a new ep reaction poll)

Here are two more great shots from Gary (with Trucco and Douglas in the background):

Thanks to Stephen Jacob for these pictures (see more at his Flickr page).

Thanks to Alice for this sweet pic of the boys with her and her brother!

Photos from today's signing in San Francisco

Thanks to Gary, here are some photos of Tahmoh at the Pier 39 signing event today.

Tahmoh in San Francisco tomorrow

If you're in the Bay area tomorrow, don't forget to stop by Pier 39 to see Tahmoh, Aaron Douglas and Michael Trucco.

Saturday, February 17, 2007
@ Pier 39 Antiquities of California
(across from the carousel)
from 12p-7p
(415) 421-8400

See the flyer for the event.

If anyone goes, please let us know what it was like and share your photos! You can email me at all.about.tahmoh[at]gmail.com or comment here.

Set visit and interview with Tahmoh in Starburst

Here are scans of the Battlestar set visit and interview with Tahmoh that appeared in the recent Starburst Dr. Who special. He talks about his role in "The Woman King," though the interview refers to the episode as "A Day in the Life." Not spoilery if you've seen the most recent ep.


Thanks to um, me, as I made like Helo in Dr. Cottle's office and scanned them covertly. Lol. If you repost, please credit.

Two more Eternal Sunshine... premiere pics

Thanks to dryope, here are two more photos from what she confirmed is the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind premiere. A nice Valentine's Day bonus.

September 3, 2004 - Tahmoh Penikett at the Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind Premiere in Beverly Hills, California

44 High-res photos of Tahmoh

dryope has posted forty-four high-resolution photos of Tahmoh at various public events, from 2005 Comic-Con to last year's Emmy parties. Many have been posted here before, but this one is new:

It seems to be from a movie premiere in LA.
Thanks to anonymous for pointing out the poster next to Tahmoh is for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004).

See the rest of the photos...

26 August 2006 - BAFTA/LA-Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Tea Party

16 July 2005 - Comic Con

Battlestar officially renewed by Sci-fi

Here's the official announcement from Sci-fi Wire:

SCI FI Channel announced that it has renewed its Peabody-winning original series Battlestar Galactica, ordering 13 new episodes. Production will resume this summer in Vancouver, Canada, with an eye toward a January 2008 premiere.

The decision comes after the series' successful move to a new 10 p.m. timeslot on Sundays. Since moving, Battlestar Galactica's audience has grown over its third-season average by 8 percent in total viewers, by double digits in female viewers, by 19 percent in the show's target demographic of adults aged 18-49 and by 14 percent in adults 25-54. The Jan. 28 episode, "Taking a Break From All Your Worries," delivered 2.5 million total viewers and 1.6 million adults 18-49, the largest audience for any episode since the season-two premiere.

"We're thrilled to bring Battlestar back for another season," Mark Stern, SCI FI's executive vice president of programming, said in a statement. "This series has delivered on every level, from the writing to the acting to the production values. SCI FI is proud to be the home of the best show on television."

The series is from NBC Universal Television Studio and is executive-produced by Ronald D. Moore and David Eick. Its cast is led by Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, James Callis, Tricia Helfer and Grace Park. Battlestar recently returned with the second half of its third original season, immediately following SCI FI's newest original series, The Dresden Files.

"While we never had any doubt that SCI FI would get behind a fourth season of Battlestar, it's thrilling to finally make it official, and for Ron and I to continue using this great genre to investigate the darker corners of society, politics and humanity," executive producer David Eick said in a statement.

Battlestar (unofficially) gets 4th season!

According to Denise Martin of the LA Times, Season 4 of BSG has been given the greenlight. 13 episodes and DVD movie will be produced, with a proposed debut for the movie in Sept. and the new season in January.

'Battlestar' will be back for four

The Sci Fi Channel is expected to renew the acclaimed "Battlestar Galactica" for a fourth season.

"'Battlestar' is a cachet show. It gives us a lot of credibility with the creative community," said Mark Stern, head of programming for the cable network. "It's the kind of series we want to continue producing in the future."

Stern also pointed out that 510,000 additional viewers in the 18-to-49 demographic are watching the show on digital video recorders. They bring the total demographic average closer to 1.6 million, the show's highest numbers since Season 1.

Read the full article (requires registration).

"The Woman, King" reactions & poll

A Helo-centric episode at last! Here's what the critics had to say:

• Entertainment Weekly
  

This episode of Battlestar Galactica is brought to you by Tahmoh Penikett's crazy oblique muscles. Man, I'd have bad dreams too if I were the mayor of cubicle city, like poor Helo. Could you read the longing on his face when he kissed Sharon goodbye and she ran off to the (relatively) carefree life of a pilot?...


• TV Guide

This show never disappoints...


• TV Blend

There wasn’t any overall plot progression this episode, but that’s made up for by a great little episode to expose more of Helo’s character...

• BuddyTV
  

Tahmoh Penikett as Helo ROCKS. If this episode said anything it's that we should definitely see more Helo on Battlestar Galactica. He is sort of omnipresent anyways, but 'The Woman King' proved that Helo can carry a Battlestar Galactica arc all on his own...


• Alan Sepinwall
  
  Kept me fairly engaged throughout. A lot of credit for that goes to Tahmoh Penikett, who's really matured as an actor as the series has gone along and was able to carry a fairly trite and predictable storyline.
  

What'd you think of the episode? A new reaction poll at right!

You can watch a longer version of the Helo-Adama deleted scene here.

Ron Moore podcast now available here. Sci-fi episode recap here.

If you missed it, Sci-fi is re-airing "The Woman, King" tonight at 11pm.

Tahmoh to appear Feb. 17th in San Francisco

Michael Trucco (Anders on BSG) recently announced he will be appearing with Tahmoh and Aaron Douglas (Chief Tyrol) this Saturday, February 17th from 12-7pm. Here are the details:

Just wanted to let you know if you're on the West Coast or going to be in San Francisco, Aaron Douglas, Tahmoh Penikett (both from BSG) and myself are going to be doing a personal appearance/signing on the 17th of this month.

Saturday, February 17, 2007
@ Pier 39 Antiquities of California
(across from the carousel)
from 12p-7p
(415) 421-8400

See the announcement on Trucco's message boards.

Here's a map of Pier 39.

Here's a flyer for the event:

Thanks to Gary for the heads up!

Tahmoh talks about tonight’s Battlestar episode

Paul Florez from Wizard Entertainment spoke with Tahmoh recently about tonight's BSG ep, "The Woman, King," in which Helo plays a prominent role. Tahmoh also discusses his roles in the upcoming films, The Green Chain (which also stars Tricia Helfer) and Trick 'r Treat.

WIZARD: So this upcoming episode is going to center around Helo, correct? What can you tell us about it?

PENIKETT: It’s a great episode. It’s the best to have a Helo-centric episode after three years. I’m put in charge of the very difficult job of trying to organize all the refugees. We lost so many of the ships during the Exodus. So basically, Helo is trying to organize this whole refugee camp down in the hangar bay of Galactica with these hundreds and hundreds of refugees with specifically this one group of people, the Sagitarrons, who are despised by many for their specific religious beliefs.

Read the full interview. (includes spoilers)

ETA: Full text of the interview.

---

TV Q&A: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA—TAHMOH PENIKETT
As Helo on the hit Sci Fi Channel show, the actor finally gets his day in the sun
By Paul Florez, posted February 9, 2007 6:20 PM

“Battlestar Galactica” actor Tahmoh Penikett has much to celebrate. His character on the critically acclaimed Sci Fi series, Helo Agathon, is finally stepping into the spotlight with the first-ever Helo-centric episode, “The Woman King,” airing at 10 p.m. this Sunday. On top of that, he just wrapped up two flicks, “Trick ’r Treat” and “The Green Chain,” the latter of which also stars fellow “Galactica” actor Tricia Helfer (Number Six).

The 31-year-old actor graciously took time from his hectic schedule to talk with Wizard about Sunday’s episode and his upcoming movies.

WIZARD: So this upcoming episode is going to center around Helo, correct? What can you tell us about it?

PENIKETT: It’s a great episode. It’s the best to have a Helo-centric episode after three years. I’m put in charge of the very difficult job of trying to organize all the refugees. We lost so many of the ships during the Exodus. So basically, Helo is trying to organize this whole refugee camp down in the hangar bay of Galactica with these hundreds and hundreds of refugees with specifically this one group of people, the Sagitarrons, who are despised by many for their specific religious beliefs.

Besides religious ideology, why are the Sagitarrons despised?

PENIKETT: Well, they are quite extreme with their views. They don’t believe in modern medicines, they brew and drink very potent-smelling tea, which drives people nuts. They also don’t believe in outsiders, and can be quite difficult and negative toward anyone who tries to help them; to anybody who is not a Sagitarron, they are very untrusting. They start to get a lot of animosity and anger pointed toward them on the ship, and especially because we get this disease that starts to spread amongst them, pretty much an epidemic. This disease is spreading fast amongst them and part of the reason is because they’re refusing the vaccine.

Wow, sounds like hell down there.

PENIKETT: I’ll give you a little tidbit from the episode. My fellow pilots start to nickname me “The Mayor of Dogsville,” calling the area Dogsville because it’s really bad. I’m in charge of it, so it’s a very difficult job. So yeah, I’ve been given that title. Of course, there are things that happen in this episode. Some distrust and some almost very violent confrontations I have to come in between.

We’ve seen themes of genocide this season and now discrimination. Does the show seem to be getting darker to you?

PENIKETT: I don’t know if I would agree with that. We aren’t a light, fluffy show, and that’s not to say we’re negative all the time. But we deal with some heavy issues, and a lot of it is a reflection of what’s going on in the world today. I feel a lot of it is quite relevant, and it’s important that we touch on these issues.

One thing I always find in our series is the constant theme of no matter what everybody goes through, it’s that the human spirit is always strong. We pick up and move on and hopefully we learn from those things. And this episode can have some dark things about it, but at the same time it’s a great little mystery. It’s a neat episode, and I think it will be different and a unique change of pace, compared to all the episodes this season.

What was it like to work with guest star Bruce Davison?

PENIKETT: I had a little experience when I was doing one of the opening scenes of the episode and I’m sitting there with Bruce, Michael Hogan [Colonel Tigh] and Edward James Olmos [Commander Adama], and I’m looking at these guys and thinking, “Okay, each of these guys has been in the business for 40 years. I’m sitting here with about 120 years of acting experience.” I’ve had some great scenes over the years, but this episode very much was an amazing opportunity to work with the likes of Bruce, who happens to be an Academy Award nominee. [ EDITOR’S NOTE: Bruce earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role in 1990’s “Longtime Companion.”]

Does the title of the episode, “The Woman King,” have anything to do with your character?

PENIKETT: It’s the name of a woman I encounter, one of the Sagitarrons, who is affected by the sickness.

Speaking of being sick, how is Helo and Sharon’s baby, Hera, doing? Is Dr. Cottel reluctant to help Sharon and the baby out?

PENIKETT: Maybe Sharon is the one who is very suspicious of Cottel, considering everything we’ve gone through with him. I mean, Cottel was involved with the president in hiding the fact that our baby didn’t die.

Is the fleet outraged that the Cylon-human hybrid is alive?

PENIKETT: I think it’s safe to say that anything on this fleet, especially on this ship, spreads like wildfire. Regardless of what has happened recently, I think people respect Helo and Sharon now to know they are competent, able and committed in their way. When it comes to family, they’re just going to leave them alone. Like I said, I think one hard lesson the entire fleet has to learn constantly is that we have to move on.

You know, Helo has really changed this season. He used to be a pretty passive and compliant officer.

PENIKETT: Well, it’s interesting that you use the word “passive.” I’ve never really felt Helo has been passive. If he is, I think part of the reason he has been is because he realizes in many ways the adversity, the animosity, the prejudice, the distrust he’s going to be facing. He realizes he’s really a minority, it’s him and his lady. So he’s got to be cautious in his step.

I don’t think we ever doubt Helo’s loyalty to the fleet, to human beings and his survival. Over these three years, everyone has faced so much hardship and death. Helo is on the fast track of growing up really quick, and he’s on a mad survival course. He is the type of guy who only needs to learn the lesson once, and he’s willing to go to any lengths to protect his family.

Is it hard to play a character who, for lack of a better term, has dual loyalties? To humans and his Cylon family?

PENIKETT: It’s definitely difficult. Every once in a while, they’ll give me a line that really throws it off. Sometimes, as an actor, they’ll write something for you that I don’t truly believe, and I don’t think Helo believes.

When [President] Roslin and I had the confrontation over whether it was justifiable to use a biological weapon to wipe out the Cylons completely, I have a line in there where I say, “Well, they tried to live with us on the planet.” Helo didn’t believe that when he said it. I know they didn’t try to live with us. He’s grasping, and he’s trying to come up with something on the spot, because literally they just said, “Okay, we’re going to annihilate your wife’s race.” Imagine trying to fathom that idea.

We’re a bit confused with your XO status. Now that Col. Saul Tigh is back as XO, has Helo been demoted?

My rank is still captain. I’m not XO. You can be any rank for XO. But yeah, Saul is definitely XO again.

You just finished shooting “Trick ’r Treat,” which contains four different stories all occurring on Halloween. What can you tell us about that?

I can’t tell you much. My character’s name is Henry. I play the loving husband to my wife, who is played by Leslie Bibb [“Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby”]. Basically, Henry is a big kid, he loves Halloween, the spirit of it, he knows the history. He is very much into dressing up and having a good time, and I can’t tell you much more than that.

You’ve also worked with fellow cast member Tricia Helfer on another project, correct?

Yeah, a movie called “The Green Chain.” It’s a very PC story about the forest industry, all aspects of it. They touch on the old-lady conservationist, they touch on the tree-hugger who lives in the tree. I play a firefighter, and Tricia plays the movie star who lends her name to try and preserve the trees. Tricia and I didn’t share any scenes at all, though.

Have you had any scenes with her recently?

Nothing since the beautiful woman kissed me [in Season One].

One last thing: Does Helo trust Sharon? Should he?

He wouldn’t have taken their relationship to this point if he didn’t. I think definitely in the second season there was always doubt, and I think there will always be a doubt like anybody in any relationship has, but I think he very much trusts her.

Updated Tahmoh bio, now with tags!

I recently updated Tahmoh's biography (always accessible in the sidebar at left) with the most recent filmography and convention information. I improved the formatting of the bio and also added links from each film/movie to all the posts about the project, for easy browsing.

See the newly updated bio.

If there's anything you'd like to know that the bio doesn't cover, comment below and I'll try to answer. That is, unless your question is 1) Can I have Tahmoh's email/phone number? or 2) Is he dating anyone? (in which case the answers are no and you'd have to ask him).

Over the past few months, I've been trying to go back and tag old posts, so most all of them are tagged now, with the possible exception of early ones on BSG, which I'm still working on. If you have any suggestions of new tags, please let me know.

New Helo/Sharon fansite & forum

While waiting for Sunday's episode, you should be sure to check out Kindreds, a new Helo/Sharon fansite. It's been built for and by Helo/Sharon fans and includes an archive of fan music vids, Helo/Sharon moments, and fan fiction. Forums allow discussion of episodes, fanfic and anything Helo/Sharon related!

Kindreds is a community devoted to the relationship between Sharon "Athena" Agathon and Karl "Helo" Agathon. If you support this ship and want to see it thrive and galvanize into something more positive and continue to be an integral part of the Battlestar Galactica series, then Kindreds is the place for you.

Visit now! (warning: a video with sound will autoplay when clicked)
Visit Kindreds with autoplay off.

Two preview clips for Sunday's "The Woman, King"

Though the ep is purportedly Helo-centric, neither feature Helo, unfortunately. They're still fun to see though.

AOL: Roslin, Zarek, and Tory

Yahoo: Six, Sharon, and HeadGaius (right side of the screen, click "Eavesdropping" video)

Enjoy! Remember the episode airs this Sunday at 10pm on Sci-fi. Be sure to watch!

Thanks to nicole_anell for the heads up!

Ron & Terry Moore talk about Helo in "Rapture" podcast

At the end of the podcast for episode 312, the midseason cliffhanger, "Rapture," the Moores gush about Helo and Tahmoh's performance.

Here's what they say (at 40:00):

TM: I'm so glad you kept him on the show.

RM: He's one of my favorite players.

TM: He's a delight. He adds a really lovely balance of humanity.

RM: Yeah, he's a very different color than the rest of them. It's really interesting what he adds to the show. I love the fact that we made him and Kara buddies way back. He's the purest friend that she has because the friendship with Lee is complicated by so many other things.

TM: He's the simplest and most pure of all of them.

RM: Yeah.

Download the podcast.

Speaking of podcasts, the podcast for Sunday's Helo-centric Battlestar episode, "The Woman, King" is now available for download... [spoilers, obviously]

Helo in the Season 2 BSG trading cards

Here are the two "Alliances" cards from the season 2 BSG trading cards that feature Helo.

Thanks to Michelle of the excellent Aaron Douglas Fans for the scans!