Some sad news to impart, alas.

Cliff Simon, known to many as the actor who played opposite Michael in quite a number of episodes of "Stargate SG-1" (and in the tele-movie "Stargate Continuum"), as the character of fan-favorite bad guy/Goa’uld System Lord Ba'al, has sadly passed away.

Cliff's wife, Collette, shared the sad news on his Facebook page:

To Friends, family and fans,

It is with unimaginable heartbreak that I am sharing with you, that my beloved husband, Cliff Simon, passed away at 12:30pm on Tuesday March 9, 2021. He was at Topanga Beach, California and sadly passed away after a tragic kiteboarding accident. He was known to most of you on this page as the villain you loved to hate, Ba'al, from Stargate SG-1. But as he said, "acting is what I do, it's only a part of who I am."

And he was SO much more - a true original, an adventurer, a sailor, swimmer, dancer, actor, author. There is a gaping hole where he once stood on this earth. He was loved by too many to mention and had a great impact on so many lives. He was an amazing and much loved brother, uncle, nephew, cousin and friend.

He was and always will be the love of my life and there is unimaginable heartbreak.

A small saving grace to this tragedy is that he was doing one of the things he loved most and passed away on the beach near the water, which was his temple.

I know this is a shock and will hit hard but we hope you can respect our need for privacy at this time.

You can read the rest of the post - and leave tributes - here: https://www.facebook.com/cliffsp

Industry news site, Variety, have also reported the sad news: https://variety.com/.../cliff-simon-dead-stargate-sg-1.../

Our deepest condolences to Cliff's family and friends.

RIP, Cliff. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

Michael Shanks, Richard Dean Anderson, Amanda Tapping and Chris Judge in Stargate SG-1.

Good news for those who have missed Stargate SG-1 being on the ‘small screen’, good news from Netflix: the series is about to be added to the streaming media service’s on-demand catalog.

According to a recent tweet from the U.S. arm of Netflix, SG-1 will be available from 1 December 2020. No details yet if all seasons of the series will be available, nor if the rollout will cross country borders (a quick check on Netflix Australia does not, currently, show it under their “Coming Soon” listings) so be sure to check your local access.

2020 has been - and continues to be - something else, eh? It’s been a long dry spell on news for obvious reasons, but we hope this update finds you and yours safe and healthy.

On to news!

OzComicCon [ComicCon365] have announced via Twitter that Michael has joined the list of those offering personalized video messages, including Mark Sheppard (Supernatural, Battlestar Galactica, Doctor Who), Jewel Staite (Firefly, Stargate Atlantis), Karen David (Galavant, Once Upon A Time) and Michael’s Stargate SG-1 co-star, Amanda Tapping.

Check out the OzComicCon website - ComicCon365 - for more details. And if you have any questions about access to the offer for those outside Australia, per their recent Twitter replies, drop a note to them via email.

A quick heads up for UK-based subscribers, Unspeakable is now available free on Amazon Prime.

A series described by the New York Times as one of the best (international) of 2019, Unspeakable is a Canadian mini-series created by writer/producer Robert C. Cooper (Stargate) and is based on the books Bad Blood by Vic Parsons and The Gift by Andre Picard which chronicle the early emergence of HIV and hepatitis C in Canada in the 1980s as thousands of people were infected by tainted blood.

Nominated for multiple awards including numerous Leo Awards for which it won “Best Dramatic Series” and earned Michael a nomination for Best Lead Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series, this 8-part series dramatizes what would become one of the largest medical disasters in Canada's history.

Gut-wrenching as it is in what the blood scandal inflicted on so many people, be sure to add this to your watch list.

As shared by IONPusTV on Twitter, Dr. Charlie Harris and Dr. Alex Reid are returning to the screen Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Check out the details and schedule on the ION Plus website, and be sure to check your local guides for channel/time variations.

This one slipped under the wire in March for most folks, but those in the U.K. have a chance to watch it tonight!

The penultimate episode of Season 2 of the U.S series, “Project Blue Book” - in which Michael had a guest starring role - is scheduled to air on SYFY UK at 7:00pm. Check your local guides as channel numbers may vary depending on your service provider (Virgin, Sky, Freeview etc).

Co-produced by the History Channel and A&E Studios, ‘Project Blue Book” was based on the real-life Project Blue Book, a series of studies on UFOs conducted started in 1952 by the US Air Force. The series - recently cancelled after completing its second season - starred Aiden Gillen (“Game of Thrones”) and Michael Malarkey (“The Vampire Diaries”).

Michael’s episode - “Broken Arrow” - originally aired on the History Channel on 17 March, so if you missed it, look for repeats or *cough*other sources*cough* for a chance to watch.

Thanks to the lovely Carol in the U.K. for the heads up on tonight’s SYFY airing.

Ready to watch “Mr. Hockey: The Gordie Howe Story” tomorrow night? Whether you can tune into CBC, have the blu-ray or DVD - or have some other *cough*download*cough* version - be ready at 7pm ET to follow along to Michael’s tweets!

And check out the video preview posted by Hockey Night in Canada on Twitter.

As many may know, NHL games are currently suspended due to the COVID-10 outbreak.

In response, CBC has replaced its “Hockey Night in Canada” with “Movie Night in Canada” for the foreseeable future.

Per the Toronto Star, the new “movie” night unofficially kicked off last weekend with a couple of ‘good cop, bad cop’ comedies, but this weekend it kicks into high gear with a repeat of the telemovie in which Michael played the role of legendary hockey player, Gordie Howe.

“Mr. Hockey: The Gordie Howe Story” will air on CBC on Saturday, 21 March at 7pm.

Be sure to check your TV Guide for local listing/air times.

For more information about the move to “Movie Night”, check out CBC’s press release.

Michael was set to appear at the Wales Comic Con event next month, on the weekend of 25-26 April.

For those who missed it on Twitter or their website, the organizers of Wales Comic Con have confirmed that, in light of the current concerns around the world about the spread COVID-19, the event has now been postponed until August this year.

Below is the announcement shared by the organizers on their Twitter account a few days ago.

Note: Michael is still currently scheduled to appear at the event for the new dates, 22-23 August.

Michael’s “interesting if somewhat mysterious character” in “Altered Carbon”, now has a name!

According to the folks at The Innersane, Michael’s character is called Mr. Axley, a man whom Takeshi Kovacs is tasked to protect. Still no word on which episode Michael will appear in first, but it’s a good bet given Kovacs’ role as security for Axley that we may see him in the first episode.

Don’t forget, the new season of “Altered Carbon” begins on Netflix in 3 days, on 27 February.

And for those who don’t mind a few spoilers, even of the ‘summary’ kind, check out IGN’s review of the upcoming season below. (Note, no reference to Michael’s character within.)