Author: Will Harris (Page 122 of 261)

Will is a member of the Television Critics Association and has written for Decider.com, the Onion A.V. Club, The Dissolve, Indiewire, Rhino.com, TV Week Magazine, The Virginian-Pilot, Popdose.com, and EW.com along with writing for Bullz-Eye.com and Premium Hollywood.

TCA Press Tour, Day 4: Lifetime

July 14, 2008 /

Sorry, but this won’t be as quick an entry as you might think.

First off, I have to announce the Lifetime news that made me legitimately happy: they’ve already committed to a third season of “Army Wives.” Yes, I really am a fan of the show, and I’m psyched to hear that Lifetime is going ahead with Season 3, though given the absolutely crazy ratings success of the early episodes of Season 2, it’s certainly one of the least surprising revelations of the tour. Still, it’s nice to have the confirmation. Stay tuned to Bullz-Eye for my Q&A with Sally Pressman, who plays Roxy LeBlanc on the show and was more than happy to answer my question, “Why should guys watch ‘Army Wives’?” (Unsurprisingly, though, the first words out of her mouth were to point out that there are four females leads and not a one of them is hard on the eyes.)

Okay, on to the three panels.

First panel: the second season of Carson Kressley’s series, “How to Look Good Naked.” Great concept, wonderful for helping women build their self-esteem, but ultimately not really something that I need to talk up but so much.

Second panel: “Rita Rocks,” the new sitcom from executive producers Stan Zimmerman and James Berg, last seen as consulting producers on “Gilmore Girls.”

Okay, with credits like that, we’ll give this panel a little bit more love. Nicole Sullivan (“Mad TV,” “The King of Queens”) stars as Rita, an overworked mother in the middle of a full-blown identity crisis. She’s happily married to Jay (Richard Ruccolo, a.k.a. the guy in “Two Guys, A Girl, and a Pizza Place” who wasn’t Ryan Reynolds), but while juggling her marriage, her job, and her maternal duties, Rita realizes that to reclaim her sanity, she has to carve out time for herself. At the encouragement of her nosy postal carrier, Patty, (Tisha Campbell-Martin), Rita forms…a garage band? Okay, c’mon, how are we defining “garage band” here? Because when I think “garage rock,” I think of Little Steven’s radio show, and what we see in the pilot – Rita kicking out a not-bad version of “Try A Little Tenderness” – only falls into the descriptor of “garage rock” because it’s actually performed in a garage.

“We’d love to do a lot of covers,” said Zimmerman, “and then maybe eventually she’ll put a song up maybe that she’s written when she was 17 and be real exciting.”

“We don’t want it to become kitschy in that it’s all ’80s music,” clarified Sullivan, “because that tends to lead to that sort of feeling. We don’t want it to all be silly. We want it to be emotional.”

At this point, a writer asked Sullivan what she listened to while growing up?

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Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External TV, News, Reality TV, TCA Blog 2008, TCA Press Tour, TV, TV Comedies, TV Dramas

TCA Press Tour, Day 4: Starz

July 14, 2008 /

It’s taken the Starz Network quite a while to get on its feet as one of the major movie networks. Okay, fair enough, some would argue that they’re still not there yet, but they’ve been doing some great work with their original documentaries about various film genres, and now that they’re making the move into producing their own original dramatic series as well, it’s clear that they have every intention of playing with the big boys.

The first series on the slate is an adaptation of the Oscar-winning film “Crash,” so you can imagine that there’s going to be a pretty sprawling ensemble cast involved, but there’s one actor’s name that handily stands out above the rest: Dennis Hopper, who plays Ben Cendars, a successful and respected record producer whose fight to remain relevant in the hip-hop world is made more difficult by his self-destructive tendencies. Most intriguing about this particular character, however, is that when placed against all of the total nutjobs on Hopper’s resume, he claims that this guy is “as crazy and probably crazier than any of them. He’s totally out of control. He’s a music mogul who wants to get one last big hit going, and he’s totally off the wall. He changes directions about 20 times in a minute. He seems to have a tremendous empathy and understanding of things, and at the same time, he has no limitations how he addresses other people or other races or other genders. He’s totally a loose cannon; he doesn’t have an edit button. It’s a great part, beautifully written, and we have no language barriers or sexual. It’s as free as television will ever be.”

The proof in that particular pudding would seem to come via a scene between Hopper’s character and, uh, John Thomas, if you take my meaning. And if you don’t…well, I’ll let Hopper describe the scene:

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Actors, External Entertainment, External TV, Movies, News, TCA Blog 2008, TCA Press Tour, TV, TV Dramas

TCA Press Tour, Day 4: Fox Reality Channel

July 14, 2008 /

A few days ago, I pondered whether or not I was getting Planet Green in my area. Well, I have since confirmed that Cox Communications does indeed offer the station (note to self: program Channel 102 to the Favorite Channels line-up). Unfortunately, I also confirmed that they don’t offer the Fox Reality Channel, so I’m now on a quest to get that added sooner than later.

David Lyle, President of the network, gave a nice synopsis of his baby for those of us who aren’t fortunate enough to have actually experienced it firsthand. “We’re not all Fox programming and we’re not all reruns,” he clarified. “Fox Reality Channel has the best of acquired programming from the U.S., like ‘Amazing Race,’ ‘Hell’s Kitchen,’ ‘Last Comic Standing.’ In fact, what really distinguishes us and continues to make us stand out are the originals. We celebrate reality in all its styles, from the Really Awards, jam-packed with reality stars behaving as only reality stars can. ‘Gimme My Reality Show,’ where reality hams compete to win their own show. ‘My Bare Lady,’ it’s back for a new season. TV’s toughest competition, ‘Solitary.’ The documentary-style look at police training, ‘The Academy.’ These all fit our mandate for original shows on Fox Reality Channel, and that’s to be loud and to be real.”

Funny how Lyle didn’t clarify what “My Bare Lady” is, but since he didn’t, allow me: the series follows four American female porn stars as they take acting lessons and perform in scenes from classic drama alongside British actors in London’s West End. Or, at least, that’s what Season 1 was about. Whatever Season 2 involves, however, I think we can presume that it will still involve female porn stars, so I say bring it on.

Also worthy of your attention is “Long Way Down,” in which actors Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman hop on their motorbikes and take an epic ride ride from the north of Scotland to the southern tip of Africa. McGregor’s fascination with burning rubber is pretty well documented, given his appearance on “Top Gear” as well as his narration of the Mark Neale documentaries “Faster” and “The Doctor, The Tornado, and the Kentucky Kid,” but his fascination with bikes goes back much farther than that.

“My father was in a charity organization called The Round Table. My father’s called Jim, and he did this thing called ‘Jim’ll Fix It,’ where he tried to help people with kids who were ill or do something special for them. When I was about five,” McGregor said, “this little boy who was ill wanted to ride a motorbike, and they got this little tiny Honda monkey bike, it was called, and the kid rode it all around the field. And I was there, so I asked if I could have a shot afterwards. And I think it’s true to say I never got over the feeling of going like that. It’s a thrill that I still have to this day. I really love it. I can’t tell you how thrilling it is.”

“Long Way Down” is a trip which is less about the speed at which he and Boorman are traveling and more about their experiences along the way, something which was decidedly enhanced by their mode of transportation.

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Actors, External Entertainment, External TV, News, Reality TV, TCA Blog 2008, TCA Press Tour, TV

TCA Press Tour, Day 4: TNT

July 14, 2008 /

The USA Network has made a name for itself as the best place on the basic cable dial to find new dramatic series, but given TNT’s current slate, it’s beginning to look as though USA had better start watching their ass; they’ve already got two solid entries in “The Closer” and “Saving Grace,” and now that they’re bringing in “Raising the Bar” and “Leverage,” things are looking even more impressive.

“Raising the Bar” is the latest contribution from Steven Bochco, the man who brought you such television classics as “Hill Street Blues,” “L.A. Law,” “NYPD Blue,” and…yes!…”Cop Rock.” (Hey, he likes it.) As you may have guessed from the show’s title, Bochco is returning to the judicial system again, and he’s bringing another fantastic ensemble with him, including Mark-Paul Gosselaar (“NYPD Blue”), Jane Kaczmarek (“Malcolm in the Middle”), Gloria Reuben (“E.R.”), and J. August Richards (“Angel”).

“This is a show that’s not just about criminal attorneys or prosecutors,” clarified Bochco. “It’s a show about the judicial system. We wanted to access legitimate points of view, not just from the defense side or the prosecution side, but from the judge’s point of view as well; we felt that we really needed to have a consistent representative voice for the series.” Enter Kaczmarek, who’ll be playing a judge for the second time in her career…though she’ll be a little less animated this time. (Her previous judicial role was as Judge Harm on “The Simpsons.”)

Seeing Gosselaar in the cast isn’t as big a surprise this time as it was when Bochco hired him for “NYPD Blue” back in 2001, but Bochco stands by his decision then and now. “Mark-Paul is one of the small, handful of best actors that we have in television today,” he said. “I hate to talk about a guy who is sitting here, but Mark-Paul has a big heart, and it’s been evident in his work ever since we got together, so when David and I started working on “Raising the Bar,” we always had Mark-Paul in our heads as an image for this guy. I’ve never worked with anybody who gives more of himself to the work process. He’s a wonderful professional; the ego gets checked at the door. That’s very refreshing.”

After he shook off the compliments, Gosselaar addressed Bochco’s comments, revealing that his first encounter with the legendary producer was when he auditioned for Bochco’s short-lived ABC series, “Philly.” “I knew the name,” he said, “(but) I had never seen an episode of ‘NYPD Blue.’ I didn’t see ‘Hill Street.’ So I just did my work, and then I remember him saying right in the room, ‘You are good.’ He had such an honest quality about him. To say that to an actor…I didn’t know how to take that. And then from that, I didn’t get ‘Philly,’ but three weeks later, he said that he would think about another character on ‘NYPD Blue,’ and half a year later, I was on that show. I’m in shock from that meeting, that he is able to see a quality in an actor and take him through a process. I feel like I blossomed and developed on that show to do the work that I’m doing now. He creates an environment that allows actors to do that, and you feel safe being with him. That’s what he does.”

Okay, enough back-patting. Let’s talk about the show itself.

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Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External TV, News, TCA Blog 2008, TCA Press Tour, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

What did I ever do to you, Ray Richmond?

July 14, 2008 /

I almost hate to give this any attention whatsoever, but, y’know, if I don’t, it’s just gonna fester.

Yesterday, I was talking to my buddy Michael Jensen, editor of AfterElton.com, and he asked, “Did you hear about the column that Ray Richmond wrote?” I had not. Apparently, Richmond had written a column on July 6th about the then-impending TCA Press Tour, and the premise of the piece had involved the fact that there was precious little buzz about the tour for an event that hadn’t occurred in a year. (The winter tour had, of course, been canceled as a result of the WGA strike.) Beyond that, however, he vented about how the good old days are dead and gone, that the networks don’t pay to fly the writers out to the tour any more, and – worst of all – now that newspapers have been cutting back on their expenses, too, many of the spots in the TCA have been replaced by…horror of horrors…bloggers.

Now, it’s one thing to throw out this line:

…the sessions too often devolve into a two-pronged affair: those who are too consumed with their live-blogging to participate in an intelligent discourse and those repping lightweight blogs whose queries are of the trivial, “Have you always been so hot?” variety.

It’s quite another, however, to offer up this sneered sentence:

With several major newspapers refusing to send anyone to TCA because of the expense, the registered attendees now feature the likes of BuddyTV.com, Bullz-Eye.com, AfterElton.com, GirlPower.com and Visimag.com.

Now I see why Michael was up in arms…and I don’t blame him. Nor would I blame any of the other sites from getting miffed about finding themselves cited in Richmond’s piece. But right this second, I’m only going to respond on my own behalf.

Really, Ray? You’re going to call me out…and, yes, when you cite Bullz-Eye.com, it is me you’re calling out, since I’m the one who’s attending on behalf of the site…as an attendee who’s unworthy of attendance? Look, man, I went to college and earned my Bachelor of Arts in English, Journalism & Communications. I’ve spent the better part of two decades doing the freelance writing thing – sometimes paid, sometimes not – and I’ve finally found my way to an organization that’s sufficiently appreciative of my efforts to provide me with a full-time opportunity to write for a living. For that matter, I’m also a freelancer for The Virginian-Pilot, offering up articles about the local television market in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. In short, I’m a writer. Yes, I have my computer open during the panels, but calling my contributions “live blogging” is really overstating things; I’m a one-man operation, so I’m generally listening to one panel while writing about one from the previous day…or possibly two days ago, depending on how far behind I’ve fallen. I’m asking questions during the panels when I think they can add something to the conversation, and when the panels conclude, if there’s a panelist for whom I have additional questions, I’m hot on their heels. I don’t think I’ve ever asked anyone if they’ve “always been so hot,” though I admit that it was on the tip of my tongue when Ed Asner was talking about how well “Lou Grant” has held up over the years as a portrait of life in a newspaper bullpen and discussing his feelings on the possibility of an SGA strike. (Grrrrrrr, baby!)

Okay, I’m not going to spend any more time on this, except to close by saying this to Mr. Richmond: I think it was pretty crass of you to call out specific sites as examples of the lowered standards of the TCA membership. I get that you think that the good old days are gone, but yesterday I had the opportunity to listen to Joan Leslie discuss working with Gary Cooper on “Sergeant York,” and today I thrilled to Mark Oliver Everett chatting about his father’s work in the field of parallel universes. For me, the good old days are right now, and I hope to utilize them to educate and entertain both myself and the people who read my stuff.

Sorry if that doesn’t meet your rigorous standards.

TCA Blog 2008, TCA Press Tour

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