Before They Were Cursed

My wife and I just finished rewatching Once Upon a Time again. Other than the last season or two we’ve seen it enough that we can have it on for 10 minutes at a time or in the background (which was nice when we were packing and moving last month). Created by the same people as LOST, I always take note of the actors and actresses that they brought back for this show. But even besides Anton the Giant and King George, there are plenty of other actors that my wife and I recognize all the time from their other appearances before they ended up in Storybrooke. So in honor of them, let’s take a look at their work.

Jennifer Morrison (Emma Swan) - Star Trek

She appeared as one of Ted’s many girlfriends in How I Met Your Mother. Though she appeared for thirteen episodes in that series, I want to spotlight her appearance with StarFleet. In the opening scenes of JJ Abrams’s Star Trek movies, she gave birth to James T. Kirk as her husband (the mighty Thor) saved them and hundreds of others, giving his own life. Gosh. I need to watch that movie again.

Lana Parilla (Regina Mills) - LOST

As I said before, lots of actors in Once Upon a Time were previously stars on LOST. However, Lana wasn’t a star on LOST. In fact, she only appeared in one season finale as one of the Others. But even with only one appearance in the supposedly flooded DHARMA station, she was an intriguing addition to LOST, later to return as the Evil Queen.

Ginnifer Goodwin (Snow White) - Ramona and Beezus

Before she was a princess or school teacher, Ginnifer Goodwin played the cool aunt in this Walden Media movie. When it showed up on Disney Plus, my wife wanted to watch it. It’s a nice feel-good movie about a young girl and her explosive imagination. So if you want to see Mary Margaret as a fun aunt, check this movie out on Disney Plus.

Josh Dallas (Prince Charming) - Thor

Before he was a shepherd or a prince, he was Asgardian by the name Fandral. As one of the Warriors Three, he traveled with Thor to fight the Frost Giants before the God of Thunder was banished to Earth. Along with the others, Fandral fought in New Mexico. Fortunately/unfortunately, due to his work on Once Upon a Time, Josh Dallas did not return in Dark World or Ragnarok, so the role was re-casted with Zachary Levi.

Rebecca Mader (Zelena) and Emilie de Ravin (Belle) - LOST

And of course since I brought LOST in, I couldn’t do this post without mentioning the Wicked Witch and Belle being Charlotte and Claire. They didn’t share a ton of scenes in LOST, but I’m sure they spent plenty of time together off camera. In contrast, they spent plenty of time on camera together in Storybrooke, often making themselves a tag-team th at I didn’t know I needed.

Dania Ramirez (Cinderella) - Heroes

She didn’t appear in Once Upon a Time until the final season, which I affectionately call the “spin-off season”. As we’ve been finishing that season of Once Upon a Time, I’ve also been watching Heroes on my own, where she appears as Maya Herrera in Season 2. Unfortunately, her storyline in Heroes was cut short due to the writers’ strike that year. She was supposed to play into the finale, instead of being written off in the next season. But I guess that’s just how it goes.

There are plenty of other actors and actresses I could reference from Storybrooke. For example, did you know Tinkerbell was a Power Ranger, the Snow Queen was Mrs. Claus, or that the White Rabbit was Lord Farquaad? But this list is good for now. So chime in with your favorite role that a Once actor or actress has played outside the Enchanted Forest. 

Before They Were Heroes (and Heroes Reborn)

I'm finishing up with my re-watch of LOST and it's making me nostalgic for shows I watched back in the day. One of those shows is Heroes and I swear I still see those actors showing up every once in a while (like Mohinder showing up in The Flash this year). But for now I want to flashback to before Heroes (and its sequel, Heroes Reborn) aired and to what some of our heroes were up to before they were heroes.

Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli) - Gilmore Girls
Long before he was Jack on This Is Us, he was Peter on Heroes. Before he was Peter, he was Jess on Gilmore Girls. When my wife had me watch Gilmore Girls, I absolutely hated Jess. That being said, his character development is one of the most intriguing. He's actually one of my favorite characters from A Year in the Life because his development seemed so natural and flawless. Just goes to show how great of an actor Milo is.

Jack Coleman (Noah Bennet) - Cow Belles
Before he was the senator on The Office or the mysterious company man on Heroes, he was on a Disney Channel movie: Cowbelles. My wife stumbled across this appearance when we were binging Disney Channel movies. He's definitely got the loving dad character down.

Hayden Panettiere (Claire Bennet) - Remember the Titans
"Save the cheerleader, save the world." It's the catch phrase that got us hooked on Heroes, right? But before Claire was a cheerleader, she was an avid football fan. You may or may not have recognized her though, because of how young she was, but she was Coach Yoast's little girl Sheryl. We love this movie in our house, so it makes it even better than she was in it.

Masi Oka (Hiro Nakamura) - Scrubs
Besides being a master of time and space, Hiro (in another life) was a lab tech at Sacred Heart Hospital. On Scrubs Masi played the snarky (often manipulated) lab tech that plays a recurring role throughout the adventures of JD and his colleagues. It was kind of a small role, but it was very different from Hiro, which made me happy for some reason.

Greg Grunberg (Matt Parkman) - LOST
So as I was starting to watch Heroes, I'd barely started watching LOST. So two shows in a row I had Greg Grunberg showing up as a pretty important character. He was the pilot Captain Norris on LOST (plane wouldn't have crashed without him) and the he was the mind-reading cop Matt Parkman when he started appearing on Heroes. Loved his character!

Cristine Rose (Angela Petrelli) - Friends
She does such a great job playing angry, pretentious rich ladies. She was on How I Met Your Mother, Gilmore Girls, Heroes, and Friends. Every time she was stuck up and I loved it. I chose to single out her appearances on Friends because she played Paul Rudd's mom and I absolutely love Mike Hannigan on Friends. Also she was great being drugged up at Mike and Phoebe's the wedding.

Zachary Levi (Luke Collins) - Tangled
He didn't appear in the original series, but in the reboot/miniseries he appeared as a new hero. Though at first he was a bounty hunter for powered individuals. That's what a change from where we've seen him before. Previously he'd played one of Thor's comrades in The Dark World and Ragnarok. However, my favorite he's been in: Tangled. Who doesn't love Flynn Rider? Disney prince and superhero (twice over if you count Shazam). If you ever get a chance to see his panel at a Comic Con, do it. You won't regret it.

Robbie Kay (Tommy Clark) - Once Upon a Time
Another newcomer for Heroes Reborn. Although he played one of the twin heroes here, he was one of my favorite villains on Once Upon a Time. He played Peter Pan and wow he's menacing. I had my critiques of the Neverland arc of Once Upon a Time, but Robbie's portrayal of Peter Pan was the best part of that storyline.

Who were your favorite actors on Heroes? Writing this post has definitely made me want to pull out my Heroes DVDs and start binging it again. If you like Heroes, don't forget to check out the post Ryan did about the series.

Father/Daughter Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine’s Day! I could spend this post talking about more awesome TV couples, but I’m gonna take a twist on it. While growing up, my wife loved that her parents made Valentine’s Day about more than just romantic love. This continued through college and then into her professional life, as her elementary school students give her cute little Valentines. And now that we have our little girl Lucy, I definitely have more on my mind than just my wife (make no mistake, I’m still getting my wife something for Valentine’s Day). So with Valentine’s Day today and Lucy’s baby blessing this Sunday at church, I’ve got father/daughter relationships on my mind. So in no specific order, here are some of my favorite father/daughter relationships in fandom.

Pete and Rose Tyler (Doctor Who)
The original Pete died when Rose was just a baby, as seen in Father’s Day. When the Ninth Doctor and Rose traveled back in time to see him, she ended up saving him and messing up the timeline. But then Pete made the greatest sacrifice a father can, literally giving his life for his daughter’s life. Later on when an AU Pete arrived, he saved Rose from oblivion and basically adopted her as his daughter in his universe.

Alan and Maria Jackson (Sarah Jane Adventures)
This Doctor Who spin-off had an interesting take on a father/daughter relationship. In the first episode, Maria and her dad moved in across from Sara Jane Smith after an interesting divorce. Throughout Season 1, Maria dealt with her mom, who is a bit of a narcissist. Her dad supports her and loves her throughout the whole ordeal, even after he discovers that Maria has been running around with Sarah Jane fighting aliens. He even helped a bit, all the way up until they moved to America. It was refreshing to see a good dad during a messy divorce, just trying to do his best.

Noah and Claire Bennet (Heroes)
“The Company” may have coerced Noah into the adoption in the first place, but Noah became an ideal father for Claire over the years. There were definitely times that their relationship was strained, usually when Noah started lying to his family again and again. But Claire and Noah always reconciled. When it came down to it, Noah’s priority was definitely his family, even to the point of going on the run from “The Company” to keep Claire safe.

Emma and Charming (Once Upon a Time)
Being the same age post-curse, Charming didn’t exactly have a lot of opportunities for traditional parenting. That being said, he definitely made those moments happen still. Typically it came out when it pertained to Emma’s romantic life (especially with Hook) and her grief (losing Henry or Neal’s death, but some of my favorite father/daughter moments with Charming and Emma were when she was hurting and her father was the one who rushed to comfort her. Also, let’s just talk for a second about how awesome it was to see Charming fight to save newborn Emma.

Hank Pym and Hope Van Dyme (Ant-Man)
After the death of her mother, Hope’s relationship with her father was immediately strained and it never really recovered until after he told her the truth during the events of Ant-Man. Between the events of that film and its sequel, Hank and Hope obviously reconciled and pooled their intelligence to rescue Janet from the Quantum Realm. Seeing them work together so flawlessly in Ant-Man and the Wasp was a beautiful sight. I love that movie in general, but the father/daughter relationship was definitely a highlight among the rest of it.

Phil Coulson and Daisy Johnson (Agents of SHIELD)
From the very beginning, Coulson had a special relationship with Skye/Daisy. As things progressed, especially in Season 2 as Daisy met her parents, Coulson definitely became a pseudo-father to her. With how Jekyll/Hyde her birth father was, it only made Daisy cling harder to Coulson. After letting her father go, she didn’t have a father anymore per se, except for Coulson. So it was natural that when Daisy needed guidance, she ran to Coulson. Unfortunately, that also meant that Daisy was the most heartbroken (except maybe for Agent May) when Coulson was dying.

Wilf Mott and Donna Noble (Doctor Who)
Donna had a great father growing up, from what we know. However, after her father, Geoff Noble, died, her grandfather Wilf really stepped up and became the prime father figure to her. Despite her mother’s taunting and criticism, Grandpa Wilf never ceased to encourage Donna to follow her dreams and her passions, even when it meant that she traveled with the Doctor to potentially life-threatening worlds. It was also Wilf who was there for her after the Doctor wiped her memory, watching out for her since the Doctor couldn’t.

Quentin Lance and Laurel Lance-2 (Arrow)
Two years after the death of his daughter Laurel on Earth-1, Quentin was “reunited” with a version of her from Earth-2. This alternate-universe Laurel was a villainous lackey when we first met her. However, over time with her new “father” she changed. Even after Quentin’s death, Laurel-2 continued to honor his memory by fighting the bad guys and continuing to change, even when the world thought she was a lost cause. Her new father’s encouragement changed her for the better and made her into a new hero Laurel.

Shawn Hunter and Maya Hart (Girl Meets World)
When we left off Shawn Hunter at the end of Boy Meets World, he was single and living life. When Girl Meets World picked up, Shawn was nowhere to be seen, but when he came back into Cory and Topanga’s life, she quickly took a liking for their daughter Riley’s best friend Maya. At first it was just a matter of affection, as Maya’s family life reminded Shawn of his own. Later on, as Shawn got to know Maya and her mom, it became about family, as Shawn married Maya’s mom. As a pseudo-father or a step-father, Shawn was amazing with Maya, treating her as though she were his daughter. Eventually that happened, as he adopted Maya in the series finale.

Honorable Mentions:
There are so many other father/daughter combos that I wish I could include. This post would be forever long if I included them all. But here are a few honorable mentions. Cory and Riley, Rory and River, Joe and Iris, Jack and Monica, Tony and Morgan, Scott and Cassie

I hope you have a great Valentine's Day, however you spend it. Personally, I have an 8-week old date that I can't wait to snuggle.

Heroes are ordinary people who make themselves extraordinary

In October 2006, I discovered a show called Heroes on NBC, along with about 17 million other people. I was a little late to the game: there were five episodes that were released, and I voraciously watched all five. I liked it from the beginning, but I was totally hooked when Future Hiro showed up and delivered that famous message, “Save the Cheerleader, Save the World”. Simple and direct, but cryptic and confusing. And ultimately exciting!

I quickly searched for information about Heroes online, and I came across Heroes Wiki, a fan-based encyclopedia modeled after the successful Lostpedia. Editing the wiki quickly became an obsession for me to chronicle every detail of an amazing show. I became an admin on the site, and Heroes Wiki became the go-to source for fans of Heroes, averaging about 60 million hits a month at its peak. Even NBC started to take notice. They wanted to recreate our success and so NBC started their own wiki, but it never reached the success that the original Heroes Wiki reached. So instead, NBC decided to partner with our site, giving us a small amount of money to pay for the servers, and the rest of which we donated to worthy charities.

In chronicling information for the wiki, I decided it would be a good idea to reach out to some of the writers, crew, comic book artists, and even actors to get insights. I conducted 27 interviews over the years, sometimes getting good insight into show, sometimes understanding an actor’s motivations, always geeking out on a show I’m passionate about. One of the comic book artists, the incredibly talented Jason Badower, really appreciated my geekiness, and would throw Easter eggs in some of the Heroes comics for me, like naming nightclubs and hotels after me, or naming a character after me. What an awesome guy Jason is!

I got a call one day from a producer I had interviewed, and they wanted me to appear as a guest host on a new show they were starting on G4 called “The Post Show”. It was basically a recap of Heroes that aired after each episode. I was on four times, usually talking about what I predicted would happen next, or debating topics and conspiracy theories. What a trip that was, to set up a little studio in my living room, with a backdrop of original prints that Jason Badower made for me, and wearing my Heroes Wiki shirt! Total geekdom!

The producer wanted to hire me to do some digital writing for some of the online content on NBC, to help expand their expanded universe. I wrote texts that would go out furthering the story, online messages that helped guide fans, and content on some of the ability choosers that NBC created (kind of like the Sorting Hat at Pottermore). I did a ton of research for NBC, which was easy since I was drowning in information I had collected over the years. NBC asked me to write a choose your own adventure type story, which I did. I may or may not have named a character after my daughter! As a 6th grade teacher, it was fun to see the writing process in action, to watch all the drafts get passed back and forth, and to see how decisions were made for clarity, for creative content, and for legal reasons.

Heroes starts with Peter Petrelli asking the question that guides the entire series, “You ever get the feeling like you're meant to do something extraordinary?” I love this question, and I think it’s one that most people have asked at some point in their lives. I know doing research for NBC and writing about obscure characters in an extended universe might not be everybody’s idea of a super fun time, but for me it was! I didn’t save the cheerleader or save the world, but I was lucky enough to be hired to do something extraordinary.

The True Nature of the Eclipse

So apparently there was an eclipse that happened today. I didn’t get the whole hype of it, but I had a few thoughts that made it a bit more exciting. Choose your head-canon for the eclipse.

The eclipse is a sight that the gate to the Digital World is opening. (Where did I put my Digivice?)

The Eight Digi-Destined hear the meaning of the eclipse.

Seemingly random people are about to get some crazy superpowers.

They also had another eclipse where everyone lost powers.

It’s time to attack the Fire Nation.

The Death Star is about to kill us all.

Nice knowing you guys.

What else guys? Did I miss any other meanings of the eclipse?