Author: Will Harris (Page 89 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 Tour, Jan. 2009: “Lie to Me”

January 21, 2009 /

Given how many iconic film roles Tim Roth has had over the years (Mr. Orange in “Reservoir Dogs,” Charles Ferry in “Everyone Says I Love You,” and Emil Blonsky in “The Incredible Hulk,” to name but three), it’s somehow weird to see him taking on the lead role in an American television series. But, hey, it’s Fox, and you can’t blame the guy for wanting to get in on a little bit of that Hugh Laurie action.

Plus, while the role of deception expert Cal Lightman in “Lie to Me” is a bit too close in feel to the character of Patrick Jane in “The Mentalist” for critics to avoid making the comparison, it’s nonetheless one that has the potential to serve Roth well…just as long as he can get past the nagging sensation that the show’s inspiration, Dr. Paul Ekman, sees right through him.

“I get really freaked out sometimes when I’m around Paul,” said Roth. “It’s like traveling with a critic from the New York Times, and wherever you go, there’s the guy going, ‘No, I don’t believe you. The performance was terrible.’ ‘I only said I’m going to go to the toilet.’ ‘Well, I don’t believe you. You betrayed the fact that you are completely piss-free at the moment.’ It’s an extraordinary feeling of of nakedness.”

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Actors, Celebrities, External Entertainment, External TV, News, TCA Blog 2009, TCA Press Tour, TV, TV Dramas

TCA Tour, Jan. 2009: “The Simpsons”

January 21, 2009 /

Now that I’m back from Los Angeles and have begun to recover from the nasty ear infection and sore throat which gripped me almost immediately after getting off the plane in Virginia, I’m finally able to get back to writing up the remainder of the panels I attended during the TCA Press Tour. Sorry for the delay, but I just naturally presumed you were more concerned about my health than in getting these updates. (And if I’m wrong, I don’t want to know about it.)

When we last left the tour, I had finished up my coverage of upcoming PBS programming and the various new and returning cable series, so now it’s time to move onward to the broadcast networks. We’ll start with Fox, which started their day off in a very fun way by offering up a “Simpsons” breakfast, complete with Bart, Lisa, Homer, and Marge – who was holding Maggie – wandering around and greeting us all.

Also on hand were a couple of real people involved with the show, most notably producer Al Jean, who was able to spare me a few minutes to provide a few tidbits about what we can expect from the show, which is now entering an almost-inconceivable 20th year on the air.

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Actors, Actresses, Celebrities, External Entertainment, External TV, Movies, News, TCA Blog 2009, TCA Press Tour, TV, TV Action, TV Comedies, TV Dramas

AskMen and Ye Shall Receive HotWomen

January 21, 2009 /

AskMen.com has announced its 9th annual list of the “Top 99 Most Desirable Women,” and, man, did their readers come out in droves to make their opinions known. More than ten million votes were cast in this, the site’s ranking of women who best represent the qualities of the ideal girlfriend or wife, but since this is Premium Hollywood, we thought we’d take a gander at a handful of the list’s actress inclusions and offer up a few of our favorite film and TV appearances by these women.

(#7) Scarlett Johansson

Best Work: The obvious pick here is “Lost in Translation,” of course, since it’s generally considered to be Johansson’s breakthrough performance, but she also received a great deal of praise for her turn in Peter Webber’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring.” With that said, however, let’s not forget about her work for Terry Zwigoff in “Ghost World,” which was strong enough to earn her the long-term career that her co-star, Thora Birch, was unable to maintain.
Guiltiest Pleasures: “The Perfect Score.” It’s a spiritual descendant of “The Breakfast Club,” but while it’s in no way as good as that John Hughes classic, it’s a pleasant teen comedy with a nice ensemble cast. Also worth catching on a rainy Sunday afternoon is “Eight Legged Freaks,” a slight but fun throwback to ’50s sci-fi monster flicks.
A Must to Avoid: “The Spirit.” 50,000,000 movie critics can’t be wrong.

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TCA Tour, Jan. 2009: “Trust Me”

January 16, 2009 /

TNT must be patting themselves on the back for being able to wrangle Eric McCormack and Tom Cavanagh to star in their new drama, “Trust Me.” They’re such instantly recognizable faces – McCormack for his eight seasons as Will Truman on “Will & Grace,” Cavanagh for everything from “Ed” to “Eli Stone” – that they might actually help get the show over the hump of being the first new TV series about an ad agency to appear since the debut of “Mad Men.”

“We’re prepared to deal with the ‘Mad Men’ comparisons,” said co-creator John Coveny, “because we’ve had them for the last year as we brought this to you guys.”

McCormack seemed stunned that anyone would make such a comparison. “Is anybody going to confuse the show with ‘Mad Men’? I think it’s a question that only comes up if you haven’t seen the show yet. Once you’ve seen them both, they’re very different shows.”

Despite having both been on NBC shows at the same time and both being Canadian, McCormack and Cavanagh had somehow never managed to work together prior to being teamed up for this series.

“I remember the first time we rehearsed,” said McCormack. “We literally had not met until the day we rehearsed the day before we started to shoot, and we did one of the scenes from the pilot together. Off the cuff, Tom threw some stuff in; I threw it back at him. We kind of looked over at these guys, and everyone seemed very, very pleased. It was one of those sort of, ‘Please let this work,’ and it was absolutely just a great chemistry…despite the fact that he’s a dick.”

Cavanagh sighed and shook his head. “You couldn’t end it on sincerity,” he said. “Did you see that? What does that say about you?”

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TCA Tour, Jan. 2009: “Rockville, CA”

January 16, 2009 /

I’ve long thought – and I think my old friend Brian Becknell would agree with me on this – that a concert venue would make a great setting for a TV series…and I’m not talking about, like, “Hey, ‘90210’ fans, get ready for ‘Nat’s Peach Pit!'” I’m talking about a show that takes the music and people’s love of the music seriously…and although I’m not putting all of my eggs in one basket and saying that that show has arrived, I think that Josh Schwartz’s new online series for TheWB.com, “Rockville, CA,” is at least heading in the right direction.

“I think this is a show about people in their early twenties who are finding themselves, finding their place as adults,” said Schwartz, who arguably covers similar territory in “Chuck.” “They’re in that transitional phase. I think a lot of times when you are young, when you’re in your early twenties, music and the people who make music have a really sort of powerful affect on you, and sometimes you believe that the artist is the man. And sometimes the guy on the sidelines who is criticizing the music might be the better catch.”

As a former music journalist who spent his twenties in the audience rather than on the stage, I think Mr. Schwartz may be onto something here.

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