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Which supernatural objects you'll see—and one you won't—in Warehouse 13
Forget those old Ark of the Covenant and Holy Grail relics that Indiana Jones used to obsess over. In SCI FI Channel's upcoming Warehouse 13, Secret Service agents Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock) and Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly) have a more eclectic group of artifacts to track down.
"I would have to say that my favorite episode so far has been Lewis Carroll's mirror, probably because it was the biggest acting challenge," Kelly told reporters in a recent conference call. "It was a huge challenge, and it was a lot of fun. I got to kick up my heels a little bit. So that's probably been my favorite, along with the fact that I'm such a Lewis Carroll fan and have been for years and years. ... Through the Looking-Glass and [Alice's Adventures] in Wonderland are two of my favorite books, so that was really kind of special."
For co-star McClintock, it was the items that stretched his acting muscles that proved the most enjoyable.
"'Breakdown,' where we end up kind of trapped in the warehouse, was a favorite for me, because it was so much fun and we just had such a great time," McClintock said. "And there was a lot of physical stuff for me to do, which is just stuff that I love to do. I love physical comedy. I love being able to do it, and hopefully I do it well. And then there was 'Burnout,' where we discover this artifact called the Spine of the Saracen. I won't get too specific, but it was an episode for me where I really got to explore where I am right now as an actor, who I am as an actor, and so that was kind of the biggest challenge."
After saving the life of the president, the two agents find themselves abruptly transferred to Warehouse 13: a massive, top-secret storage facility in windswept South Dakota that houses every strange artifact, mysterious relic, fantastical object and supernatural souvenir ever collected by the U.S. government. The Warehouse's caretaker, Artie (Saul Rubinek), charges Pete and Myka with chasing down reports of supernatural and paranormal activity in search of new objects to cache at the Warehouse, as well as helping him to control the warehouse itself.
"We keep coming up with cool areas to explore in the warehouse, too," executive producer Jack Kenny said. "We've got the Dark Vault coming up, where the super-dangerous stuff is kept. We've got the Gooery, where the purple goo is pumped throughout the warehouse to keep the objects in line with themselves. Our production designer, Franco De Cotiis, is just a genius. Every week we're on an entirely different set, an entirely different location, and he builds these things, these big mechanical scary-looking things, that are just the coolest stuff to work with, and it just looks amazing."
Kenny also praised cinematographer Derick Underschultz. "They have created this incredible world, every week we throw new stuff at them, and they create more stuff," he said. "It's amazing."
Other parts of the Warehouse include the mysterious bronze sector, Kenny said. "We've got this area where the most frightening people in the world have been preserved, people you never heard of: Not the Hitlers, but the people that would have become the Hitlers," he said.
The creative team did put one particular artifact on the back burner. "There's an artifact that we've been kicking around the writers' room for quite a while, Hitler's microphone," executive producer David Simkins said. "And, yeah, I've got to tell you, it's a really interesting concept to sort of take something from history that we're all very aware of and the incredible, tragic worldwide consequences of that. But what would happen if somebody got a hold of that microphone, and it possessed some sort of ability or power to transfer the ability to convince people to do very, very wrong things? It was an artifact that circled the writers' room quite a bit, and I think it's still circling."
The writers have one guiding principle with regard to the artifacts they will build an episode around. "It really comes down to what artifacts can we explore that will reflect on our two characters in a really cool and interesting way," Simkins said, adding: "If we can do an artifact that really sort of forces Pete and Myka to look at themselves, look at the world around them in a different way, or to get the audience to sort of reconsider something, then we know we've landed on our artifact that we can run with. It really comes down to the artifact serving the story, as opposed to letting the artifact run the story."
Warehouse 13 will premiere Tuesday with a two-hour pilot starting at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
By TauCetiPrime at 7:56 AM ON 07/02/09
OK, so this is sounding more and more like a blend of The Librarian, X-files and Friday the 13th:The Series. I'm wondering if there may be cross-overs to Eureka planned.
By Lornaco at 8:54 AM ON 07/02/09
What makes me irked about all this was I play a d20 modern game and two years ago my DM came up with this very concept... only he set it in the UK. I'm looking forward to the show though, even if I'm now suspicious that my DM's house may be bugged. lol
By Noneofyourbusiness at 11:22 AM ON 07/02/09
You don't need a mystical artifact to convince people to do very wrong things. I think Hitler's microphone is a very bad idea. As though it wasn't the German populace's fault that they heeded him, when, in fact, it was.
By Photoprinter at 11:37 AM ON 07/02/09
I think this is going to get old real, real fast. I give it two seasons.
By AgentRoscoe at 11:52 AM ON 07/02/09
This show is hardly an original concept. Steve Jackson Games has had Warehouse 23 on its website for about the last 20 years.
By Mandy at 7:26 PM ON 07/02/09
From what I read (I got a hold of the pilot script about four months ago) it seems to be Friday the 13th meets The Dresden Files. They took the plot of Friday the 13th and the bound, snarky, semi-lecherous ghost from The Dresden Files, got a younger actor and replaced the rune covered skull with a wallet. Umm... If you guys wanted Bob of The Dresden Files so badly why not just continue The Dresden Files? Now we have to deal with the knock off version of Friday the 13th the series with Bob 'version 2.0'. Dresden Files fans have nicknamed the Warehouse 13 character Wallet boy or Bob 2.0. If you don't believe me, check out the fan made forums.
By Mandy at 5:14 AM ON 07/03/09
I have to agree with Nonofyourbusiness. To blame the nazi movement on a microphone seriously downplays a real historic tragedy of human folly. We want to pretend humans can't be that horrible on their own but they can. And we need to remember the truth to make certain nothing like it ever happens again. We mustn't ever forget. To claim Hitler's microphone was the cause of it all down plays the tragedy, belittles historical continuity and is an insult to the suffering of those who survived it. To relieve blame and pretend it was some sort of enchanted device that caused what happened is an insult to all who fought and suffered. It was too real a tragedy to be blamed on an enchanted microphone.
The fact that they're still toying with the idea is an insult. David Simkins, I loved what you did with Dresden Files but this turned my stomach. Warehouse 13 has potential but the story is clearly borrowing from Friday the 13th and your recycling of Bob from The Dresden Files with a new name was just cruel and rubbing salt in the wounds of the displaced Dresden Fans in an effort to lure them to this.
I want to give this show a chance but the moment I see Hitler's microphone become a plot device for mind control i'm shutting the TV off out of respect for those that suffered and the memory of humanity's inhumanity. The real horror is that there was nothing magical about what happened in World War 2. It was just a mob mentality cruelty. Maybe if the microphone gained that power AFTER World War 2 so that it was not magical when Hitler used it but only then would I accept it.
By Woo at 7:05 AM ON 07/03/09
I think that mandy has blown the idea of Hitler's Microphone out of proportion a bit. i do agree that it could be a good excuse for the writers of a science-fiction show to wright some science-fiction for a chage.
it is very foolish to want to pretend that if we don't talk about and make movies and TV about painful things than they are not as painful. the memory of survivors is never going to be free of what happen and neither should ours.
P.S. I looked in my copy of SJ Games Warehouse 23 and it was published in 1997.
P.P.S. Friday the 13th sucked but not because of the plot.
By Noneofyourbusiness at 2:52 PM ON 07/03/09
Mandy didn't say we shouldn't depict painful things. I think we should depict painful things and I think Mandy would agree. They said it was wrong to blame it on a magic microphone instead of the thousands of people who did it.
I agree that it would acceptable if this was a power that had rubbed off on it because of what it was used for.
By Mandy at 8:58 PM ON 07/03/09
Woo, Noneofyourbusiness is right. I NEVER said not to depict tragic or terrible events but blaming real human horror on a magical microphone is just wrong.
By Mandy at 9:00 PM ON 07/03/09
Woo, maybe you should have... I don't know... actually read why I didn't like the microphone idea. I did thoroughly explain it in my post and yet somehow you still got my reasoning dead wrong. Do you read... anything? Ever?
By Noneofyourbusiness at 11:41 PM ON 07/03/09
Let's avoid getting personal. Sometimes people simply read things into the text that aren't there.
By AgentRoscoe at 11:04 PM ON 07/05/09
Woo: The Warehouse 23 book is from 1997. The Warehouse 23 feature, that you can use to look at and even contribute items to the warehouse, is at least a 6-8 years older.
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AgentRoscoe:
Woo: The Warehouse 23 book is from 1997. The Warehouse 23 feature, that you can use to look at and even contribute ...More »