RICHARD CARTWRIGHT / ABCSpy Daddy is here! And yes, I know we're not here for Alias, but it still warms my heart to see Victor Garber sitting up there onstage with the fantastic cast and crew of the awesome Eli Stone.
Eli's press session at ABC's Press Tour was especially juicy, so here are the goods:
George Michael May Be Back: Executive producer Greg Berlanti said scheduling the show's iconic, pilot-episode guest star for more episodes has been tricky, but they are working on making it happen. "We've been talking about a Christmas episode [George Michael] would do around our ninth episode, so he may come back for that."
Katie Holmes Might Return: After the panel, Eli producer Marc Guggenheim told me exclusively that Katie, who is shooting in the next few days, might return. "There is absolutely the possibility for the character to recur. She's wonderful and if she wants to come back, she's more than welcome."
More on Katie: "We really wanted to bring eyeballs to the show and do anything we could to get people talking about the show," says Berlanti. "I said I can go ask Katie and see if she's interested, and I went and I begged her and she said, 'I'd love to.' She [plays] an attorney, [although] not practicing law in the episode. She is not just in one or two scenes. She is in a significant portion of the scenes. She is singing and dancing, but we do want to keep some of that a secret."
After the panel, Jonny Lee Miller (Eli himself) told me: "Apart from the fact that Katie is extremely hardworking and a really, really nice person to have around the set, we did 17 hours yesterday and most of her time was spent dancing. We had a big long scene to do, and she did not bat an eye. She was a really really great person to have, and for us, it's hopefully going to help us."
This Season, Eli Goes Public: "That was always our plan, to end the season with having the brain aneurysm removed," Berlanti said. "And in the season premiere, we'll find out definitively whether he is a prophet...This year is about Eli embracing being a prophet and how people around him embrace that as he becomes more public." Berlanti added that the visions and singing and dancing won't stop, especially because Eli is following Dancing With the Stars this year on ABC's fall schedule. "We will open a few episodes with dancing numbers, because we are shameless like that," he said.
Slightly Spoilery Scoop: Berlati told me that somebody other than Eli has a vision this season—that another character's life is in jeopardy. Actor Jason George (Keith Bennett) referred to the people surrounding Eli as his "apostles." Interesting, no?
That's all for now. Check back later for more...and post any questions/raves/rants you have below!