We’ve been following NBC’s freshmen drama Mercy a bit here at the site and so far, it seems to be doing pretty well and has not been canceled — at least so far. With an interesting premise and a cast that includes relative newcomer Taylor Shilling and Buffy alum Michelle Trachtenberg, the show continues to be one of the surprises of the season and will hopefully last until season two.

In contrast to Mercy, Law & Order: SVU is not a freshmen show and is still going strong after several seasons. Both shows returned to the air this week after the holiday break. In case you missed the premiere of these shows, or even if you saw them and still want to relive the magic, we’ve got lots of video for you today — courtesy of our pals at NBC.

In addition to the recaps, we’ve also got previews of upcoming episodes of both shows featuring guest appearances by The Soprano’s Michael Imperioli, Lost’s Naveen Andrews and Studio 60’s Sarah Paulson.

Check out all the clips and interviews from both shows after the break.

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Before you get too excited let me say that this post is not about a new Buffy TV series or about the movie that others are making without Joss Whedon’s participation. No, this particular bit of news concerns yet another way in which the characters we all know and love from Buffy can live on in another form. In this case, it is via a series of motion comic webisodes based on Whedon’s highly successful series of Buffy Season Eight comics from Dark Horse.

Based on casting notices highlighted by Sci-Fi Wire, we know that the series will be based on the comics and feature the characters Twilight, the Big Bad of Season Eight, and evil British socialite Slayer Lady Genevieve Savidge, who wants to take Buffy’s place atop the Slayer food chain. The webisodes are also looking for actors to voice some other more familiar Buffy TV series characters as well including Faith, Kennedy and Robin Wood. Plus, they’re looking for a bunch of other new characters including a James Bond type.

Over at the Sci-Fi Wire site, they’ve got the full breakdown of exactly what the producers of this project are looking for. So, if you’re interested in getting involved and pursuing those voice acting aspirations, better get your headshots and tapes ready. Or, if you just want to watch, these webisodes go live sometime early next year.

Over at the blog run by the network formerly known as Sci-Fi, they have a new trailer for the upcoming series Caprica featuring a glimpse, albeit a brief one, of James Marsters in character as terrorist leader Barnabus Greeley. Not sure I’m in love with that name yet, sorry Jane.

Anyway, this is one of those situations where if you blink, look away or sneeze, you will miss Marsters’ appearance. Still, its kinda cool to seem him and know that the premiere of Caprica is only a short two months (or so) away. Plus, his “Someone’s dying today” line is also pretty darn cool. Also, there’s some other stuff in the trailer that’s worth watching so do, please, watch it — after the ever-present jump of course.

Caprica, featuring the cool James Marsters as well as Eric Stolz, Esai Morales, Sasha Roiz, Polly Walker and Paula Malcomson, premieres on the SyFy network on January 22nd of next year.

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Fans of Dr. Horrible rejoice! If you have been laying in bed at night, unable to sleep at the prospect of one day hoping to hear Neil Patrick Harris belt out some more power chords as a devious super villain, then look no further than last week’s episode of Batman Brave and the Bold.

For those who don’t watch the show regularly, Brave and the Bold is a different, younger take on the DC animated universe. The show’s creators have managed to take elements from the Silver Age of comics, such as a young Green Arrow, and the Modern Age, such as the new Blue Beetle. The animation also borrows and references styles from the Bruce Timm animation to the undertone of the Adam West Batman series.

In the episode, Mayhem of the Music Meister, NPH guest stars as the villain Music Meister, who has the power of hypnosis through the sound of his voice. Much like in the musical episode of Buffy, the characters all succumb to song and dance due to the villain, which makes for an easy one-shot story.

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Our love for Dollhouse and all-things Whedon has no bounds. We’re big fans of pretty much everything Joss does and followed along through all the trails and tribulations during the Buffy and Angel years, with Firefly and Serenity and now with his latest TV project Dollhouse.

The show has had its ups and downs and it looked for a while that it would not be coming back for a second season at all. Fortunately, it was renewed, although a bit changed from its first season. We’ve spoken to Jane Espenson about the changes for season 2, featured an interview with the man himself and series star Eliza Dushku and now, via the folks at Access Hollywood, we’ve got another video here for you today showcasing more with Eliza about what fans can expect from season 2 of Dollhouse.

In typical cryptic fashion she doesn’t reveal too much more than what we already know such as upcoming guest stars will include Jamie Bamber, Keith Carradine and Angel alum Alexis Denisof. She did say, however, that season two will be shot entirely on HD. Dushku said the change makes the show feel more real and less “science fictiony.”

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Actress Juliet Landau is probably best known for two things. One, she played Spike’s somewhat eccentric love Drusilla on Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel. She’s also the daughter of Hollywood icon Martin Landau, who’s career has spanned several decades and includes stage and screen.

However, in addition to the lovely Ms. Landau’s on-screen accomplishments, she’s also a respected comic book writer, having co-written some issues of IDW’s Angel comic book, and she’s also an accomplished voice actor who has lent her talents to projects such as Ben Ten: Alien Force and Justice League. He most recent voice acting project is Green Lantern First Flight, wherein she voices the character of Labella,  a flirtatious alien with ties to both Hal Jordan and Sinestro.

We caught up with Landau at the recent San Diego Comic-Con to get all the details of her role in Green Lantern First Flight — which drops on DVD today.

Check out the video of that interview after the jump.

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Writer and producer Jane Espenson has written, or co-written, episodes of some of the most popular and successful TV shows in recent memory. Getting her start on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Espenson also worked on hugely popular shows such as Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, Angel, and one of the most celebrated series ever on TV, Battlestar Galactica.

More recently, Espenson has written for Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse, wrote the BSG TV movie The Plan and she is now Executive Producer on the upcoming BSG prequel series Caprica. Recently, I had an opportunity to talk with Espenson about, among other things, The Plan, Caprica, Dollhouse budget cuts and the move to the internet from traditional media.

CHRIS ULLRICH: What can you tell us about The Plan? It supposedly shows Battlestar Galactica entirely from the Cylon perspective, correct?

JANE ESPENSON: Technically, that’s correct, but perhaps misleading. It shows events from the series from the POV of two very specific Cylons, not from the point of view of them as a group.

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Besides Marvel and DC, one of the biggest comic book companies around is Portland based Dark Horse Comics. With a diverse lineup of titles such as Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, Hellboy, B.P.R.D., Star Wars, Umbrella Academy and Solomon Grundy, and a lots of movie and TV tie-ins as well, the company is a major player.

Fortunately, Dark Horse is bringing pretty much everyone they work with to Comic-Con in San Diego next week so if you happen to be there and are a fan of one or more Dark Horse properties, you’ve got lots of opportunities to see and interact with your favorites.

Here’s all the info about Dark Horse’s plans from the official press release:

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Our good friends at NBC have graciously dropped a bunch of new Merlin clips and cast interviews on us today. And of course, we’ve decided to share them with you. In case you’re not familiar with the show, its a drama that, according to NBC: “updates the story of the infamous sorcerer of Arthurian legend for a new audience. ”

In addition, the show takes place in “the mythical city of Camelot, in a time before history began; a fantastical realm of legendary beasts and mysterious people; a dangerous world in which magic has been banned by the ruthless tyrant, Uther Pendragon.”

The videos we’ve got to share today include a long preview of the show broken into two parts, a discussion of the real-life castles the cast gets to work in while filming the show and interviews with the cast themselves. Speaking of the cast, Merlin features Colin Morgan as Merlin, Bradley James as Prince Arthur, Anthony “Giles” Head as King Uther, Richard Wilson as Gaius, Katie McGrath as Morgana and Angel Coulby as Gwen.

Merlin premieres Sunday, June 21st 8/7c on NBC. Be sure to check out all the videos after the jump.

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As you probably know, we were quite disturbed by the fact that the original producers of Buffy the Vampire Slayer were going ahead with a new movie and were not going to involve Joss Whedon. In fact, we couldn’t imagine it going forward at all without the man who basically invented the character and made the TV series what it was. But apparently, that man can imagine it going forward without him because Whedon was recently asked to participate, according to an interview over at EW Online, and pretty much gave the producers, Fran Rubel Kazui and Kaz Kazui, the finger.

Said Whedon:  “I believe [the producers] did ultimately reach out to my agent after the news broke. I think that’s something better left untouched by me. So, I wish them luck.”

Well, there you have it. No Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie with Joss Whedon. With that done and rumors flying around about Megan Fox taking on the Buffy role in the new film, you have to wonder if fans are going to embrace this new film or not. Or, if its going to even get made at all given the negative buzz already surrounding it.

My guess is it may not. It looks like a tough, uphill battle now for the Kazui’s, especially if you take into account results of a poll over at EW Online stating that only three percent of their readers would see the film if Whedon wasn’t attached. Ouch, that’s gotta hurt. I guess the producers underestimated the power of the Whedonverse. Big mistake.