"The Sentinel" is finally out on DVD, and more and more reviews and interviews keep appearing online.

What really killed me, though, was this one UGO.com did with Richard Burgi:


Richard Burgi of The Sentinel

Interview by Troy Rogers, contributing editor

The Sentinel TV series was part paranormal, part cop show for the then young upstart network UPN. The series starred Richard Burgi as Jim Ellison, an extra-sensory agent, and Garett Maggart, an academically gifted anthropology major. Now that the first season of The Sentinel is coming home to DVD, we had a chance to talk with Richard Burgi about the chemistry between the show's cast, the state of television today, the cancellation of Firefly, his role as Cole Riccardi on the short-lived series Action, and what life is like now that's he's been hanging out with those famous Housewives.

UGO: What was it like shooting The Sentinel in Vancouver?

RICHARD: I love working up in Canada. I love the people and the city. I'd live there in a heartbeat, but my wife, however, is not as enamored with it, the weather. We both had an extraordinary experience up there and I've been wanting to go back for quite some time, so my experience there was really great.

UGO: In what ways did you connect with your character Jim Ellison?

RICHARD: Well, I had to completely live it and be it. I've always had a primary relationship with nature, because that's where I go to make peace with this crazy life. I grew up in a household that was essentially a militaristic environment. My mother served in the cause, my father served in WWII, but there was also a lot of creativity and a little sensibility around our approach to life. I was well versed in the ways of the military, so I got a sense of what he was all about and I spent a lot of time around cops and people in the military. So it wasn't too much of a stretch to really take that on and I've always had a strong sense of discipline in terms of my own work ethic and physical regiment.

UGO: How did the relationship between you and Garrett evolve?

RICHARD: [laughs] Well I'm a lot bigger than him, and I overpower him when I need to get my way or have him see my way, which, of course, is the way. We had a great time, he's a really smart guy, he's funny and he might not know it, but he taught me a lot. We disagreed and had all sorts of great discourse on various subjects, and we played music together in the down time. I had a drum set up there and he had a guitar. He's a great athlete and a ladies man as well, and that's the only thing we didn't do together was go out knock back a few, because he doesn't drink and that's the main reason why I didn't trust him.

UGO: What was it like working for a young network that was trying to find its way?

RICHARD: Like you said, they were trying to find their way at a time where they were probably in fear and everybody was scrambling for some toehold of viewership. It's because of the fans, really, at the onset that persuaded them to think twice about it. It was a good product, it just didn't make sense not to... I've been in the business for a little while so I understand content and demographics to a degree, and I also know that certain shows like Friends were disastrous in their first years. So I think that there is an unfortunate myopia that permeates the industry in many areas, and I'm glad that there is some overview that gave it a second look and a little bit more time. Had it been on a [major] network, I don't know if it would have lasted so long. Maybe it would have actually lasted longer, because on UPN with all their scrambling to try and gain the market share, gross and demographics, they kind of lost the focus or support we had early on.

UGO: How did you feel about the abrupt cancellation back in 1998?

RICHARD: I don't think it was abrupt. I think they were doing these packages of 65 episodes for shows and it met a certain criteria, and once that was fulfilled, I think it was just a business decision. Good or bad, it was just a decision.

UGO: How important is closure on a series, for the cast and the audience?

RICHARD: Everything that has a beginning eventually has an end, it's just a matter of time. Fortunately, we were able to have closure that a lot of shows don't have. I've been on shows that I was there when they were canceled. I remember doing Firefly and I remember when Joss Whedon came on to the set and announced that, unfortunately, the show was canceled. He announced it in a very heartfelt way, so I know what it's like to have something left in the lurch, and I'm also grateful to be a part of something that was actually given the grace of space before it was ended.

UGO: You're now into similar fanbase territory with the popularity of Desperate Housewives. In your experience with The Sentinel, how has TV changed since then?

RICHARD: I don't think it really changes that much. I think the zeitgeist sort of shifts and Desperate Housewives kind of picked up where Sex in the City left off and has expanded that story, or telling of life from a female perspective. I think we keep growing in ways that are really interesting to me. The Sentinel was an interesting blend of sci-fi, comedy and drama, and there was a realism to it that people could relate to and I think that is the mark of any good show.

UGO: So what's it like working with the Housewives?

RICHARD: It's a lot of fun, it's lightning in a bottle. You're working with these divergent entities in terms of their emotional makeup. Each one on them is delightful in their own way and it's just a joy to go to work. I really love this job. I loved working on The Sentinel as well, but the days were long and arduous due to the stunts and the action component of the show. Desperate Housewives, I get to lay around languorously with these lovely women and goof around, and I get to really exercise another part of myself.

UGO: Do you ever miss playing Cole Riccardi from Action?

RICHARD: Now that was another wonderful show that met its demise way too early, but it was pretty wacky and out there. Do I miss it? Yeah, I think there is a part of me that just loves that wacky, out there stuff. You know, John Cleese in a woman's wig, I just saw Monty Python last night and seeing those guys in drag, it's so much fun. I'm throwing a little bit of that around in everything. Jim Ellison had a little bit of vamp in him too. I don't know if you picked up on it, but he had some cross-dressing tendencies people never knew about.

Whereas Richard Burgi has evidently read too much badfic, Garett Maggart, also interviewed by UGO.com, had nothing new to say:


Garett Maggart of The Sentinel

Interview by Kyle Braun, contributing editor

During the '90s, the action series The Sentinel drew a huge cult following on UPN and was one of the network's first hit shows. The series was so popular with its audience that to some degree it was partly responsible for UPN gaining an initial foothold in the industry.

Actor Garett Maggart (half-brother of singer Fiona Apple) played anthropological brainiac, Blair Sandburg, alongside the show's lead character, Jim Ellison played by the versatile Richard Burgi. Find out what it was like to be a part of The Sentinel, the differences between Garrett's real persona and his character Blair, and how his father was an original on Sesame Street.

UGO: How often do you get back to Vancouver, where The Sentinel was filmed?

GARETT MAGGART: The first couple of years when the show was over I went up there quite regularly. I have some friends up there that I would go up and visit quite often, but I actually haven't been there in about a year and half to two years.

UGO: During the '90s in Vancouver, The X-Files, The Outer Limits, and Sliders were all shooting at the same time. Given The Sentinel and its extra-sensory elements, how was the vibe in the city for you guys?

GARETT: It was wonderful, I loved the experience up there. I thought it was great. I thought the crews were wonderful, very professional, and they knew what they were doing. For me, I had a blast and just being in Vancouver was great, because it lent itself to what I like to do. I used to go fly fishing all of the time and then I'd go play a round of golf in the afternoon. It was wonderful. It's hard to do that down here in L.A.

UGO: Did you feel that you were ready for a series, or were you hesitant about taking the role?

GARETT: I don't know if that's correct, I was jumping at it. Maybe they thought about passing on me, but I had no hesitation about it at all.

UGO: In real life you seem vastly different from Blair Sandburg. What actually drew you to the character?

GARETT: Oddly enough, it was that he was very academically inclined, which I am not. I'm dyslexic and I didn't have a very good time in high school academically. I did have a very good time in high school other than studying, and in college it was the same way. He was a complete departure from who I was in school, and what he represented was somebody that I always, in the back of my head, wanted to be. I wanted to be the better student and wanted to be more excited about book knowledge, but it never really came to me that easily, so it was always a point of frustration for me. Just playing someone who was, basically, an exact opposite of what I was, was a huge draw.

UGO: Jim Ellison and Blair Sandburg grew within themselves throughout the series, but saw each other as reflections of each other given their differences. Did that translate to your off screen chemistry as friends and actors?

GARETT: Sure, of course. I think our characters, along with our personal relationship, grew virtually simultaneously because we didn't know each other prior to doing the show. Within the pilot episode, we meet for the first time. Basically, it was parallel and as our friendship grew, the depth between our characters was able to grow too because we knew each other personally. We were also able to improv and riff a little bit more at the end. It was a lot more natural than it can be in some situations where you're forcing it and because we became such good friends, the written dialogue flowed a lot easier. We understood how each other was going to be working, almost how each one of us would deliver that line to some extent. So the timing was always very easy between the three of us, Bruce Young included, and Richard and myself.

UGO: The pilot deals with the terrorist bomber, The Switchman. Looking back now from our current political climate, how do you think the show would be received today?

GARETT: Since it was more of a homegrown... I think it would probably be received, hopefully, the same way that it was, if not to a larger audience. I think it would be received the same as it was, because it wasn't... it's a very touchy situation. I wouldn't even know how to phrase that correctly. It's not what I would think most Americans would perceive as a terrorist, it was more of a personal vendetta against one person, as opposed to an ideology or a country.

UGO: What was the vibe like at the time seeing as how UPN was just finding its legs?

GARETT: For me it was great... They poured a lot of money into the show and they banked a lot of the success of the network within the show. They also had their flagship with Star Trek: Voyager, which remained after us. Then when the new regime came in, I think they wanted to put their own stamp on it and that was the ultimate deciding factor of why we left. They wanted to keep the UPN flagship, Voyager, but I think we did them well, they kept us on for 3 to 4 seasons.

UGO: The show's fanbase actually made a difference on bringing the series back from cancellation. Do you think network executives are more aware of fans reaction?

GARETT: I think they were aware of them at the time. I heard through the grapevine that virtually every fax machine and e-mail bank at UPN was inundated and almost stopped from fans begging for the last eight episodes, and for more. I think we were on the cliff, on the brink heading out, before we did those last eight. I actually think that the fans had a great deal to do with being able to finish those last eight.

UGO: Your character was actually left in limbo for a time during that season. As a young actor at the time, how did you deal with that?

GARETT: I was in such a great mood, it didn't even phase me. I was like, "Whatever," because if the show came back, I was going to be coming back. I was a little upset that if that's the way the show was going to end, that I was dead. I mean, that's a drag. That thought never really crept into my mind about a fear of being out of work or anything like that. I was young and excited to be working.

UGO: What was it like working with Larry, the monkey that was on the show?

GARETT: He was wonderful. You know, they say don't ever do scenes with kids or animals, but that was wild. I've always been an animal lover, and I had a great time with him.

UGO: Your father, Brandon, is also an actor. There's some pretty funny artwork on his website. Is it true that he was an original cast member of Sesame Street?

GARETT: Yes. My mother actually had to go in for a parent teacher conference because my kindergarten teacher thought I was a little crazy, because I kept telling her that my father lived in the television set. She thought a vivid imagination was good, but that might be going a little too far.