Bon jour, mon ami! Welcome to a belated edition of Eberts Files! A big apology to those of you wondering where I’ve been. The combination of a heavy shooting schedule and a weeklong trip to France totally took me out of the loop. Sorry about that, guess I’ll just have to make it up to you with a double file!

Couple of things before we start. First, I’m happy to say that I-Man is doing quite well in France. I met some fans of the show and they were thrilled to meet someone on I-man. For the record, Darien is "Damien" in their version, The Keeper is simply "Claire" and you don’t pronounce the ‘H’ in "Hobbes". The dubbing of our voices is quite good, although I go from a tenor to a baritone in the translation.

Secondly, I want to thank Brandy Ledford for posting last week. I had mentioned it to her during the comic-con and evidently she took me up on the idea. It also filled in for my file while I was out of the country. She did a great job and hopefully showed everyone what a wonderful person she is.

So let’s start up on our two-for-one file here with "The Choice"! At last we get to learn a bit more about Alex and her struggle to get her child back. This was a fascinating story that continued the plot line of both Alex and Chrysalis. Brandy really gets to strut her stuff and really shows us some acting ‘chops’. We also see the home life of the much hated Stark. All that and babies! How can you go wrong!

And now the bits...

In the script, when Darien greets all of us in the file room, he does so by raising his hand with the post-it note on it in a Vulcan salute (the "V" formed between middle and ring fingers). He did it on a couple of takes but not the one that made it to the final cut. If you look closely, you will see me doing the Vulcan salute in response to his salute. It looks weird out of context, but now you know why it’s there!

When Hobbes bursts into the room to throw out the water cooler/bomb, he bumps into me. Cut from the scene was my "ouch!" reaction. Funny, but not necessary.

Speaking of Vulcans, we had an ‘almost Vulcan’ in our midst. The woman who played Stark’s wife (and as always, her name escapes me.) was originally cast to play the role of the Vulcan T’Pol (although it was T’ Pau when she was cast) in the new Star Trek series "Enterprise". Ultimately, Paramount chose to go in a different direction with the role and re-cast it. A mistake in my opinion, because she is one hell of a talented actress. I may get in trouble for saying all this, but she really blew us a way on set and so I need to give her ‘props’.

I’d like to take this opportunity to ask a moment of silence for my dear departed turtle "Alonzo".... Thank you. I had tried to change the name from "Alonzo" to "Eustace". I thought that since the sci-fi website called me Eustace Eberts for a while it would be fun to actually have a "Eustace" on the show. Michael Grossman cleared and we were all set to add it in. So what happened? Eddie couldn’t pronounce "Eustace" when the cameras rolled. We went through about four takes before we cut it and wen back to script. Afterward Eddie figured out how to say it. BTW, Alonzo was in the car because I was teaching him how to drive ;-).

Two sets of twins were used for this episode. The reason is that child labor laws prevent children from being overworked. Therefore the younger the child, the less time they can be on set. Babies are two hours and then that’s it. Two sets of similar looking twins gives you eight hours of shooting if needed. Fortunately, the kids were pretty well behaved and so rarely pushed the time limit.

The station that Stark’s wife walks through is the Santa Fe Train Station in downtown SD. It was originally built in 1887. Vince loved that shot and really wished he was in it instead of Stark’s wife.

And now let’s switch to "Immaterial Girl"! Our second ‘ghost’ story (both by David Levinson) for I-man and a definite creepy addition. IG harkens back to the first season on many levels and succeeds on many. Without too much at stake, it’s a fun, dynamic episode.

And here’s some more bits!

Eddie looked very creepy in those eyes! As with all the contacts, they are not comfortable and can only be worn for a short time.

Many of you will recognize the nerdy scientist in the accelerator as the mime beaten to a pulp in "MFN, pt2". That’s my friend Ryan Drummond. He also recently appeared in an episode of The Chronicle as a nerdy tech guy. There is a pattern emerging.

We had some ghosts of our own in this episode. The lights that were supposed to flicker in the office basically had a mind of their own. Sometimes they’d flicker, sometimes not. Occasionally they’d flicker when they weren’t supposed to! Spooky!

Ah, the fabulous lint brush! Often I’m put in a scene with little or nothing to do. In the beginning I’d basically just stand in the background and do nothing. The result would be that I’d get cut out of the scene or only seen on the background. Not too exciting. Gradually, I’ve begun to find things to fill those dull moments. Michael Grossman placed me at the far end of the room so that the "Shut-up Eberts" line would work. This basically left me in limbo with nothing to do. I asked Michael what I would be doing. Michael said filing or something; it was up to me. I looked down at the fabric on the chair and it hit me. I asked josh props for a lint roller and cleared it with Grossman. The reason I go into detail with this story is that when Eddie saw me lint rolling the chair, he thought it was the goofiest thing he had seen. He was from that point on convinced that I was always doing something that silly behind him that upstaged him in the scene. He now jokingly looks over his shoulder at me for lint brushes during every take.

We finally admit that we’ve moved to the BWM. Sharp-eyed fans will notice that the office has been decorated with antique weights and measures!

Well, two files in one, each half as long! Not exactly a bargain, but I’m a little rushed, as I have to be on set pretty soon. I just didn’t want to leave you guys high and dry any longer. Don’t worry though, I’ll make it up to you. I may have a fun idea for a chat on Labor Day. We’ll see if I can pull it off!

So until next episode (egad, tomorrow!) I bit you adieu. In any language, you are the best.

Thanks,

Mike