Fans are in for a spectacular treat this year! In honor of the Christmas holiday, Syfy’s hottest shows whipped up a fun and fantastic episode just for the occasion. On HAVEN, the inhabitants of the supernaturally-afflicted town of Haven start believing that it is Christmas in July – leaving Audrey Parker to track down the “troubled” person virtually on her own as she is the only one who knows that it could not possibly be Christmas. Then on EUREKA, things take on a different look entirely as an adventure with a special storybook turns its inhabitants into all forms of animated cartoon and Claymation characters. It’s a wild ride of misadventures until everyone can figure out how to return to the non-animated world for their holiday celebrations. Then on WAREHOUSE 13, Pete steps in an alternate reality where he does not exist – or rather Pete Lattimer has not been born. It is adventure for him as he works to persuade the Warehouse 13 team that he is indeed a Warehouse agent and that an artifact must be behind his new reality.
In a recent conference call with press, stars Emily Rose from HAVEN, Colin Ferguson from EUREKA and Eddie McClintock from WAREHOUSE 13 shared a bit about these fun holiday episodes and what it was like living in these alternate holiday worlds.
Based on the season finale of HAVEN, how does the Christmas episode fit into Audrey’s life and how things were left off?
EMILY: It’s similar . . . It’s non-linear essentially. It’s not in order. It’s an out-of-time sort of episode. Essentially some of what I’ve said before about the episode is: it’s kind of like a little gift to the fans — kind of a holdover type of intermission episode where it’s kind of just its own little gem of an episode. So if you miss the characters and you’ve missed the world, you could hop into it. But we’re really hoping that the fans know not to put it in any kind of sequential order because it won’t pay anything off or reflect on anything. We kind of took all time references out of it so it would just be its own little episode.
All three shows probably filmed their holiday episodes in July, but HAVEN is the only one that actually built that into the story line. Can you talk about what it was like just trying to get into that Christmas spirit so early in the year?
EMILY: Yes, well we laughed because we film in Nova Scotia, Canada in a small town called Chester. We kind of were laughing. We were like, “We really should have filmed this one first because it’s so cold there the majority of the time that it would have been nice to start out with the Christmas episode and then launch into the rest of the season.” But we had a very, small window of warm weather when we were in Chester. So to be filming it in the middle of the warm weather season, even though that was still pretty cold in Nova Scotia, it was really, really funny. And it’s always fun to see the town sort of come out and taken in the Christmas decorations. We refaced one of our main theaters in town that a lot of great little shows go on at with a huge marquee and just kind of pumped the town up to this next, like holiday Christmas level. It was fun because we’re not there in Chester over the holidays, so to sort of get a glimpse ahead of what that would be like was really, really neat — although it was totally sunny and no snow anywhere. But still fun; everybody gets in the holiday spirit when you say, “It’s Christmas.” It was great.
Since Audrey has no real memories of her past Christmases, what’s the meaning of Christmas for her?
EMILY: That’s a great question . . . It’s something that launches Audrey into her journey for that time and that’s what makes her so resistant to be on the journey and that is the thing for her that she has to sort of overcome. I think that’s the great “chestnut” about that character is that the past for her is something that is really hard for her to literally wrap her head around. But what she does remember, whether they’re her memories or not her memories, what she does remember isn’t exactly the most pleasant thing. So how does she overcome that and deal what’s going on in the day? And I think it makes for a pretty interesting episode.
With your character kind of being slightly out of place and slightly out of sync with the rest of the characters in HAVEN, did you find that there were a lot of parallels between Audrey’s experience in the town and this holiday kind of happening at the wrong time?
EMILY: Yes, that’s an interesting question. I mean if there’s a common theme with Audrey consistently feeling like an outsider, and we revisit that scene frequently in the show. It kind of has disappeared a bit in the second season as she’s belonged more in the town. But this holiday episode is definitely one that revisits that because she’s the only one that’s experiencing – or should I say, “Not experiencing Christmas.” She’s the only one that doesn’t think that it’s happening and thinks that it’s foolish and why would it be happening in July? So again, she’s feeling on the outside and has to try to solve things and kind of get everything back on track on her own. But she’s pretty good at that, so nothing to worry about.
Do you get lots of shippers telling you whom they’d want Audrey with?
EMILY: Oh, yes. I wasn’t aware of that term until – well I’d never heard it until we actually started our show – and then when I got on Twitter and was made aware of all of the fan videos that people were making for Audrey/Nathan and Duke/Audrey, and I heard that term floating around a bunch — which is kind of very funny for our show and where we film. But I’ve been made aware of each and it’s really interesting like to see all the new fan videos and things that pop up for people wanting which relationship to work out. It’s fun for me. It’s good to keep the tension on both ends and it’s a fun thing for me to sit back and watch.
[SPOILER ALERT] What do you think was going through Audrey’s mind once she saw Nathan vanish right before her eyes in the holiday episode?
EMILY: What would we all think if we saw Nathan vanish? Probably the same thing. I think everybody, hopefully, will feel the same way. I think for her it always has to be life or death for her. If she doesn’t believe that it’s really a reality then we really wouldn’t have much of a story or much of a character. So for her, it’s just that sort of initial freak out that one of the only people that kind of walks through this life with her could really be gone. And considering her past and that she’s always lost people and that she’s never had a family, it’s a really big deal when someone like him disappears.
For the HAVEN Christmas episode were there extras hired from the local area in Nova Scotia? And if so, what was it like to work with them and to celebrate Christmas with them in July?
EMILY: It was really fun, because we end up building great relationships with a lot of the locals that live in Chester. And so the Christmas episode was fun – it was neat for us. We had a writer that was an assistant writer for the entire season as well as for the company for a very long time, and he wrote the episode. This was a fun experience for him. Then we had our producer directing the episode, and then it was kind of like anybody that had been helping us for a while, we kind of threw them into different scenes and got locals involved in any way we could — whether it be like the dog walker or dressing up the local shop a bit differently, or the theater people — all of that. So it was really fun because there was this big communal feeling of just this was a fun episode. It was a blast to do. It’s always weird doing them in July and it’s the last episode we’re doing so we kind of are anxious to get back home, but then we’re also sad that it’s ending for the season. But it’s always a lot of fun. I think we film like right outside of the Christmas tree capital of the world or something, at least that’s what they claim at Landenberg. So it’s a very holiday festive area anyway in these little tourist towns. So it’s right at home but also a little out of place in July, but a lot of fun nonetheless.
Can you talk about what’s planned for HAVEN coming up after this holiday episode?
EMILY: After the holiday episode? I have no clue what’s going to happen in Season 3! We have not been informed. We’ve just been gearing up for the Christmas episode, which we’re actually excited we got to do this year. I know it’s a Syfy tradition with their other flagship shows they have, and it’s just that it was exciting to get invited to do that because we got invited to do that before the season started this last year — so I was kind of thinking I was like, “Well, that’s a good faith little move on their part”. And it was really fun to actually be able to do a holiday episode, being that I kind of grew up on them as well. But in terms of what we have beyond the actual Christmas episode, I don’t know what’s coming up. The way this town works with shows shutting down and starting back up again it’s very, kind of kept under wraps for quite a bit, and from us, as well.
Now that HAVEN has shot its first Christmas special do you feel the series has finally come into its own within the Syfy Network?
EMILY: Yes, very much. I feel really honored to be on this call with Colin and Eddie, and feel honored to be so welcomed into the Syfy family. They did an amazing job of that and I felt the same way when the network asked us to do a Christmas episode. I mean it was kind of like a good faith gesture in I thought to us before the season even started like that, “We want you to be around during the holidays.” It’s like getting invited to a party. It’s like, “Sure, I’ll come. That’s great. You want me to be there? That’s wonderful.” So I do feel like HAVEN is the kind of small town environment that’s conducive to a Christmas episode. So I think that those two things go hand-in-hand. But the fact that it’s sort of like a Stephen King show, it is kind of interesting to be doing like a Christmas episode in that sort of genre. But, definitely, I feel very much welcomed into the Syfy family. It’s neat to be included in that lineup over the holidays; it’s neat to have people want to sit with the characters through that experience, and it’s definitely an honor and a blessing. And I’m super thankful for it!
For WAREHOUSE 13 this is a much heavier kind of a darker holiday episode. Outside of the more recent episodes involving his mother, Pete’s kind of a lighter character, in terms of happy, outgoing personality and stuff. Was it very hard or very different to do this episode?
EDDIE: No. I liked this year’s Christmas episode better because I just felt it was a little too, dare I say, “Schmaltzy, last year.” Not that it was a bad episode. I enjoyed it. But I just like this one better. I mean Roger Rees is back as Macpherson — there’s an actual bad guy and the stakes are much higher this year . . . But was it harder this year. Just more great writing from Jack Kenny and company to give Pete the depth that I think that he needs to have longevity in regards to the show.
Macpherson is back. Can you tell us who will or won’t be appearing in the WAREHOUSE 13 episode?
EDDIE: The episode exists out of time. It doesn’t exist within the timeline of the show, so Jinks and everybody is still alive. There’s been no deaths yet.
Were you a fan of that film “It’s a Wonderful Life” and did you try to incorporate anything from that into your performance in this?
EDDIE: I don’t know. I’ve seen it and I think it’s a great film. I haven’t seen it a bunch of times, so I wasn’t really able to try an incorporate anything into it other than for me just to try and make it an enjoyable show for the fans. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still some good lighthearted, funny stuff and there’s some good heartfelt moments as well. It’s not that dark, but I think what it primarily does is it kind of gives you the same feeling I think that “It’s a Wonderful Life” provided for viewers. Kind of that sense of redemption and struggle and at the end I think it’ll leave everybody nice and happy and ready to go see Santa.
In the WAREHOUSE 13 holiday episode there are some really touching moments, “What was your favorite moment and what was the most challenging?”
EDDIE: I’m trying to think. I think any chance for Pete to nestle his head between Mrs. Frederic’s ample bosom. I think that’ll be a fan favorite, and that kind of comes out of nowhere. That was really fun because everybody on the show, all the characters on the show are so afraid of Mrs. Frederic and the fact that she ends up spending Christmas with us and Pete gets to give her a big hug at the end. I don’t know if that’s a spoiler or not but that whole scene there at the end with everybody there, and when Pete tells them how happy he is to have them in his life and how much he loves them it was really nice for me because I really feel that way about my castmates. So it was a sneak chance for me to tell everybody how I felt about them and then just be able to say, “Hey it’s just my character.” So I would say the funnest part for me was the last scene there where everybody kind of comes together.
The WAREHOUSE 13 and HAVEN holiday episodes are kind of standalone and not really kind of part of the timeline of the show. Is the same true with the EUREKA episode?
COLIN: Yes, absolutely. It exists out-of-time, and part of that is a necessity for the writing staff because when you shoot it and all sorts of stuff like that. As well, you want it to be perennial. You want it to be something that can air every single year. So if you lock it in the continuum of a show, you almost make it outdated by the next year. So I think I you do a service to the holiday, so all of ours exist out-of-time.
EUREKA’s holiday episode deals with different forms of animation, what was that like?
COLIN: Well, for us it was sort of more of a concept than a reality. We took one of the sets that we usually shoot in, Café Diem, and we sat there for six hours one day and blew through 30 pages of dialogue or something like that. That’s awesome. I mean, if I could shoot like that everyday that’d be the greatest. So we loved that. We didn’t really adjust vocally for any of the animation that we were doing. So I’ve only seen I think the rough version. So I haven’t seen the final tightened version that’s going to go out or air I guess in a couple weeks. But it was really, really fun to see, for myself, to be a Rankin and Bass character like Fred Astaire when he was like S.D. Kluger and it brought me back to when I was a kid. I haven’t seen that stuff in a long time so it was really, really fun to watch.
What kind of is your favorite out of the different animation styles/slash characters in the episode for EUREKA, and why?
COLIN: Probably my favorite is the old Rankin and Bass Claymation style. It’s just not something that anyone does anymore, and nor will they probably ever do it anymore because it’s so low-tech. Like it’s that chunky way that they move, that sort of stutter way that they move. And it’s so cool, I mean it’s so warming, that that was one of those things, when you see all your friends all done up with their Claymation characters, it’s a really sort of amazing thing to see. And we asked for our little dolls — the Claymation dolls — if we could have them afterwards and Curious Pictures said, they said, “You can have them but they’re so beaten by the time they’re done, like they just – they’re completely falling apart.” So they said they wouldn’t even survive a shipping, so we don’t get to have them. But that’s definitely my favorite. Although the anime is really cool, it’s sort of sexy and fun. But as far as a nostalgia thing I would say the Rankin and Bass.
Do you have any say in how Jack’s animated character was made? And what was your reaction when you saw how he was portrayed as an animated character?
COLIN: I didn’t have any say in it. It was a really long process for them. So to add one more sort of cook in the kitchen would have been a really bad idea. But I was really pleased with how it came out. I mean they’re still not done. They don’t have the final for some of the animation and it airs in like a week. I know that they’re all racing to get it done. I really liked it. I thought it’s really cool to see, where like you have a vision of yourself and I guess what it is for me is my forehead is all wrinkly, because they said like, “Yes, it didn’t look like you until we put wrinkles all across your forehead.” And I was like, “Oh really? Thanks, thanks. Okay, there’s that then.” It’s my face, but apparently without the wrinkles, it’s not quite me. So that’s sort of the indicator that I learned about myself. But it was really, really cool to see other people’s interpretation.
What was it like working on an episode that was produced so radically different from previous episodes?
COLIN: It was really hard. I mean it’s a different prep procedure to do it. It needs way more lead time, it needs way more — I was talking to Matt about it, who directed it, and he was saying, “It’s really fun in an egotistical way,” because he sort of comes up with a shot and like that’s the shot, like full on, that’s the shot — no one else chimes in, it’s like that’s the shot that tells that these are the stories. So it was a very, very different way to prep and shoot than we’re used to. It was much easier on us as actors and much harder on the production staff — particularly the post-production staff who had to keep sort of a live animation. I mean, a live action wing going as well as all this animation stuff. And so it stretched them I know, and they’re tired. But for us it was way easier.
Is there anything you can tell us about next season for EUREKA?
COLIN: Yes, I can spoil everything. Well, it’s good. I mean, I think that the season premier for next year should have been the season finale from this year because not only do they address what went on, it makes this crazy left turn that they deal with for the rest of the time. And it’s a really, really cool idea. It’s not what you expect. You could never guess that it’s coming and it’s the best ending of any episode we’ve had for a season premier.
Is there anything that you would say that we can expect, beyond the season premier of EUREKA?
COLIN: Yes, I guess this season, it’s a great little run that they constructed. All the guys in LA, the writers — and I like it because everyone sort of comes back. I mean, we have Wallace Shawn coming back. We have Felicia coming back. We have Wil Wheaton coming back, and for long stretches. It really sort of feels like we set up our family finally, and it’s a great way to send it off. We actually got an episode where we closed everything off, which is cool. I know the guys are writing, hopefully some sort of spinoff, a next generation EUREKA show that they’re pitching to Syfy. Who knows if that’s going to get picked up or anything. But, hopefully, the idea will continue. And there’s some really fun, fun stuff that happens this year. It was a good way to send it off so that’s part of it.
With EUREKA, being now essentially being over once these next episodes have aired, can you actually see the Christmas special continuing with crossovers between EUREKA and WAREHOUSE 13?
COLIN: Oh, that would be great!
EDDIE: Yes, I would. It would be nice if Pete could actually go to another show. It’s just tough because I’m pretty much in almost all the scenes. I think for the same reason Colin never crossed over is because we’re kind of in every scene of our show so if we can find time to go, I’d love to travel to HAVEN or to ALPHAS, or any of the shows. But I guess it just comes down to network desire and availability for us.
COLIN: Yes, I mean I know that we’re all free. I’m assuming Fargo will come back at some point because that seems to be a popular thing. I’m like Eddie, I’d love to join in. I’d love to jump around and do some stuff wherever people see that it fits. And especially knowing all the guys at this point, I mean it’s great to jump on a plane and go work with your friends for a week so. We really enjoyed it when Allison used to come in, so yes, absolutely!
What are you looking forward to from the holiday programming? What sort of determines whether or not you’ll watch a particular holiday special this time of year?
COLIN: Well, for me anything that’s good. I mean I’ll go dark or light or happy or sad as long as it sort of has integrity in and of itself and works as a pieces. I mean, I love the Grinch stuff and all the classics that you sort of see once every year and they bring you back to when you were a kid. But I think anything – myself, anything with a moral compass and integrity, I’ll go for that. How about you guys?
EMILY: I usually fall to kind of the old classics that signify like Christmas tradition. For me, sitting down and watching Rudolph and the Grinch, and all of those, all the classics. But I think for me it’s really about if I want to sit with the characters again and if I’ve been missing them for a while and I want to like fit into that place again that I will definitely tune into that.
EDDIE: It’s boobs for me — lots of boobs.
EMILY: Honesty! [Laughter]
Can your own personal insight to why holiday specials are such a big tradition in the television culture?
COLIN: That’s a good question.
EDDIE: I guess I’ll start. It’s a tradition because the television networks have created it and starting back as far as I can remember, like “Miracle on 34th Street,” and it’s a tradition at my house because we can put the kids in front of the TV and the adults can have some quiet time. I suppose that’s what my parents did with me.
COLIN: I think culturally it goes back so far at this point. . . . I mean, it goes to like the end of the year. It’s the most dark that we get solstice-wise of the year. I think it’s a really important time of year, sort of culturally and historically, and I think that’s why we put holiday’s there and that’s why we try to sort of put some brightness into our lives when it’s the darkest day that we get. So that’s what I think.
EMILY: I think one of the things we love culturally about traditions is it’s something that we all can relate to in different traditions and different ways, but we can all talk about it and all relate to it. I know, as a kid, I loved watching when television sort of merged into my own life. I don’t what that says about my vocation today. But I really loved watching the characters on television go through maybe the same things that we were going through at home — whether it was like getting the Thanksgiving turkey ready or you know, all of the Christmas mayhem. When these characters go through what our families go through every time we come to hang out. So I think there’s a bit of a joy of peering into an imaginary world with them kind of going through the same things that we do. It kind of joins our two worlds together. So I think it’s something that we all love to have something that we can count on that makes us laugh and that entertains us. So there’s the old traditional ones, but then it’s exciting to see what new will come about. It’s something to count on.
COLIN: That’s a great answer. I like that answer. I’m doing all my calls with Emily. That’s a great answer.
What would your Christmas wish be for your character’s futures?
EMILY: What an interesting question!
EDDIE: I guess I’d like Pete to find himself a good woman. He gets tired of being alone at night back at Leena’s.
EMILY: I think I would wish a great holiday online shopping for Audrey. That there would be some great accessible stores for her to go and shop in so that she can continue to have a really amazing wardrobe for the consecutive seasons [Laughter] No, I would always hope for Audrey that she would find out more about her mother or her previous memories or whatnot. I am always be begging writers to dive more into that because it’s so intriguing — and whenever I do get to look into her past, I get to dress up in really cool period costumes. So that’s what I would hope for her.
COLIN: I think for Jack it would be a simpler wish of just raising a family again. In a sense properly and continuing to do what he does in the town. I think he belongs there. I think the town should sort of go off, you know, and do what it does forever. So I – my wish would be that he gets to settle in and have a real family community small town life. I think it would do well for him to have that. 
To see what adventures and Christmas wishes come true in the wonderful worlds of HAVEN, EUREKA and WAREHOUSE 13, be sure to catch the special holiday episodes airing Tuesday, December 6th starting at 8PM on Syfy. (Sunday December 11th starting at 10PM on Showcase in Canada)
Tiffany Vogt is a contributing writer to TheTVAddict. She has a great love for television and firmly believes that entertainment is a world of wondrous adventures that deserves to be shared and explored – she invites you to join her. Please feel free to contact Tiffany at Tiffany_Vogt_2000@yahoo.com or follow her at on Twitter (@TVWatchtower).