For all the cool TV/Web hybrids that broadband technology has hinted at, the history of entertainment crossing over from the Web to the boob tube is actually fairly short and grim. (Anyone remember the “quarterlife” TV series? No? Didn’t think so.) But there’s an exception to every rule, and so far, that exception is “Sanctuary,” the Web series-turned-Syfy Network hit. With the first season of “Sanctuary” arriving on DVD, Bullz-Eye’s Will Harris thought now would be a great time to talk to one of the show’s stars, Amanda Tapping.
With time served in the “Stargate” universe — Tapping debuted with the original “SG-1” series cast in 1997, and has stayed with her character ever since, bringing her over to “Stargate: Atlantis” — she’s definitely got the geek cred to draw an audience with the Syfy crowd, not to mention enough mojo to help make a Web phenomenon. And attracting all those eyeballs is what helped “Sanctuary” make the jump from monitor to screen so successfully. As Tapping tells us:
We made this kick-ass web series for a lot of money, and that was great, and we got a huge number of eyeballs watching it. 3 or 4 million people ended up watching the web series, I think, which created a huge amount of buzz. But we ultimately ran out of money, and we went, ‘Uh-oh, this is cool, but what now?’ But because of all the buzz we got, television networks started calling us, saying, ‘You know, it may not work on the web, but what about doing it as a TV series?
But even though “Sanctuary” is finding success, that doesn’t mean Tapping is done with “Stargate” — in fact, as she makes clear in the interview, she’s planning on popping up in “Stargate: Universe” soon. To read more about plans for her character — and for the second season of “Sanctuary” — click on the above image or follow this link!
