Michael Shanks joins Twitter; Saving Hope airdate announced

Most Stargate fans already know that when it comes to the usage of Twitter, Stargate SG-1 actress Lexa Doig (“Dr. Carolyn Lam”) is pretty prolific. Follow her on Twitter and you’ll often get a humorous, unfiltered and witty take on Doig’s day-to-day activities.   But when asked whether her husband — fellow SG-1 actor Michael Shanks (“Dr. Daniel Jackson”) — would ever jump onboard the social networking giant, Doig was once quoted as saying “[he] would rather pick his own eyeballs out with a toothpick.”

Perhaps it’s time for someone to do an eye exam on Shanks, as he sent his first Tweet to an unsuspecting world today.  The actor can be found at @MichaelShanks.  The Twitter handle is now in his own hands, but had previously been held by his official Web site, Michael Shanks Online.  That site can now be followed on Twitter at @MShanksOnline.

In other Michael Shanks news, the actor is still very busy in Toronto, Canada where episodes of his new series Saving Hope are currently being produced.  The series has an initial thirteen episode order, and features Shanks as a chief of surgery who gets into an automobile accident and ends up in a coma, yet whose spirit resides in his hospital where his fiancee (Smallville‘s Erica Durance) also works.  Originally produced for CTV in Canada, the series was recently picked up for a summer run in the United States on NBC.

Recently, trade publication Variety reported that Saving Hope now has an official airdate.  The series premiere will air on NBC on June 7 at 10 PM Eastern/9 PM Central.  Should ratings for the drama be solid, the network is expected to show the season run in its entirety.