Hoping to fill the science-fiction void left by Battlestar Galactica's conclusion, Warehouse 13 premieres on July 7.

In a recent conference call with reporters, producers Jack Kennedy and David Simkins spoke on various aspects of the show...

Kennedy, on combining the stars with their characters: One of the things is we brought [the stars] Saul [Rubinek], Jo [Kelly] and Eddie [McClintock] into the writers' room, all sat together, and we had a session. And we talked about the characters. We talked about them personally: What do they like? What do they do? What are their hobbies? Do any of them speak languages or play instruments? You know, what are their relationships with family members and things, so that we could mine who they were as individuals.

Because my approach has always been that every show I've ever done is a family show, whether it's a workplace comedy or an actual family show, and so in building this family of this brother, sister and father team that we've got going, we wanted to sort of bring who they were to the roles.

Simkins, on inspirations for the show: I wouldn't say so much inspiration as opposed to just touching upon cultural and dramatic touchstones. Jack and I, in going back and sitting with the characters, and with the characters in the writers' room, we talk a lot about the Thin Man series, Myrna Loy, William Powell, Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy.

Simkins, on the series mythology: I don't want the idea of this 13th warehouse to feel like I'm going to need a history book to enjoy the show. These are colors that we're layering in onto the series just to give it a sense of reality and a sense of depth should someone go looking for that depth.

But, for the most part, you can come to it—I hope you don't—but you can come to it in episode three or four or seven and still really have a great ride. You won't have missed much, if anything. There's a couple of B plot runners that we're running through the series, but for the most part, when you tune in, and there's Pete and Myka and they're going off on a mission, you'll get it. It's pretty accessible.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.