It's been a wild ride for Julie Benz lately. Her character Rita Morgan was tragically killed off in the season four finale of 'Dexter,' and now she's playing a stripper taken in by Susan on 'Desperate Housewives.' Her run on that show has just been extended.

She also has a Hallmark Channel movie, 'Uncorked,' airing March 6. She plays a high-powered executive who's not looking to fall in love, but fate has a different plan when a business conference takes her to wine country.

We caught up with Benz and got the scoop on all her upcoming projects, including several feature films.

Is it just me, or does the phrase "A Sci Fi Original" kind of make you cringe? They use it a lot when promoting the very special Saturday night movies, and let's be honest, a lot of them are really bad. Rick Schroder is hoping to change all that. He's signed on with RHI Entertainment to direct Hellhounds. Scott Elrod gets the starring role. He'll play Kleitos, a Greek warrior, who leads his men in a battle against the hellhounds of Hades in an effort to rescue his bride from the Underworld. It appears they nixed the idea to have S.S. Doomtrooper make a cameo.

The gig makes a lot of sense for Schroder. He's been slowly building up his directing resume with music videos and the feature Black Cloud. He also has a long history with RHI. They were the ones behind Lonesome Dove. I don't know if it's resentment over the cancellation of Stargate Atlantis, or if I have finally just seen one too many bad movies on Sci Fi Saturday, but I have trouble giving this one the benefit of the doubt. The best thing I can say about it at this point is that it sounds like a better idea than Aztec Rex, but then, that's not saying a whole lot. That said, I'll still probalby end up watching it. I just can't look away from Sci Fi Saturday. So here's hoping Schroder can buck the trend.