Steve Pearlman, one of the sci-fi series' executive producers, e-mailed to say that, "yes, the designs of the white hallways in the Mothership were inspired" by the museum designed by architect Santiago Calatrava.
Some Milwaukee viewers of last Tuesday's pilot of the remake of the 1980s story of an alien invasion of earth noted the similarity in the Mothership hovering over New York City.
"One of the things we loved about the design is the "V" built into the architecture," Pearlman says.
Ian Thomas, production designer on the show's pilot -- he was unable to stay with the show -- showed photos of the museum to director Yves Simoneau and executive producers Pearlman and Scott Peters, "as concept art when we were in the design phase of the Mothership and we loved its scope and the simplicity."
Pearlman says the idea was tailored to the Mothership and tied "to other areas of the ship that we were also creating (i.e. The Grand Atrium and Anna's Executive Office)."
Last week, museum spokesman Adam Horwitz told me that no filming had been done at the museum.
In the end, none was necessary, since the sets are computer-generated and projected on green screens.
Notes Pearlman: "The size of our sets is much larger than what we would have been able to achieve had we gone to the museum and shot the location practically."
The second episode of "V" airs at 7 p.m. Tuesday on Channel 12.
The winners are: A handful regional Emmy Awards were handed out over the weekend to Milwaukee area broadcasters at a ceremony in Chicago.
Channel 12 won for spot coverage and breaking news. Channel 4's Brian Gotter won in the individual excellence in the weathercaster category and Channel 6's Brad Hicks won for individual excellence in the reporter category.
Discovery Mediaworks won an Emmy in the Children's / Teen category for "Into the Outdoors -- Derailing Aquatic Hitchhikers," which aired across Wisconsin.
Fox Sports Net Wisconsin won a sports Emmy for its Milwaukee Bucks pre- and post-game coverage. OnMilwaukee.com's own Drew Olson is a part of that "Bucks Live!" coverage.
In the college student production category, Milwaukee Area Technical College / Channel 36 won an Emmy for "Students in Action "Roller Derby."
On TV: Susan Boyle sing "I Dreamed a Dream" one more time on Tuesday's installment of ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" at 8 p.m. on Channel 12. Michael Buble will also perform.
- A&E will debut "The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty" at 8 p.m. Dec. 13, as the six-episode "reality" show chronicles Michael Jackson's family after he died in June.
- Showtime says "The Tudors" won't start its fourth and final season until April 11. "Nurse Jackie" and "United States of Tara" return to the premium cable channel on March 22. "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" and "Tracey Ullman's State of the Union" resume Jan. 25.
- Since today marks the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Berlin Wall, there's obviously plenty of coverage, including BBC anchor Matt Frei returning to the site of the story he covered on Nov. 9, 1989 to anchor tonight's 6 p.m. newscast on BBC America.
Taylor Swift saves "SNL": Singer Taylor Swift showed a genuine flair for comedy on the weekend's "Saturday Night Live," making it the best episode of the season. We already know she can sing, but Swift showed a wide range of comedy skills.
The video of her sweet and simple little monologue follows below.
Tim Cuprisin is the media columnist for OnMilwaukee.com. He's been a journalist for 30 years, starting in 1979 as a police reporter at the old City News Bureau of Chicago, a legendary wire service that's the reputed source of the journalistic maxim "if your mother says she loves you, check it out." He spent a couple years in the mean streets of his native Chicago, and then moved on to the Green Bay Press-Gazette and USA Today, before coming to the Milwaukee Journal in 1986.
A general assignment reporter, Cuprisin traveled Eastern Europe on several projects, starting with a look at Poland after five years of martial law, and a tour of six countries in the region after the Berlin Wall opened and Communism fell. He spent six weeks traversing the lands of the former Yugoslavia in 1994, linking Milwaukee Serbs, Croats and Bosnians with their war-torn homeland.
In the fall of 1994, a lifetime of serious television viewing earned him a daily column in the Milwaukee Journal (and, later the Journal Sentinel) focusing on TV and radio. For 15 years, he has chronicled the changes rocking broadcasting, both nationally and in Milwaukee, an effort he continues at OnMilwaukee.com.
When he's not watching TV, Cuprisin enjoys tending to his vegetable garden in the backyard of his home in Whitefish Bay, cooking and traveling.
