Category: TV Action (Page 106 of 145)

Best moment from the TCA Awards…?

July 22, 2007 /

When David Chase took the stage to accept the Television Critics’ Association Heritage Award for the cumulative run of “The Sopranos,” he said that he’d considered making a comment about the meaning of the finale of the series, then decided against it, but he did offer a very telling anecdote about the first time he ever saw “Planet of the Apes.”

“When the movie was over, I said to my wife, ‘Wow, so they had a Statue of Liberty, too!’ So, uh, that’s what you’re up against.”

Other Chase one-liners from the evening:

* “Here’s another clue for you all: the walrus was Paulie.”
* To critic Alan Sepinall, from The Star-Ledger, in Newark: “Would you explain to these people that it’s very possible to be sitting in a restaurant in New Jersey and everything just stops?”

Chase, by the way, wasn’t the only winner tonight:

Individual Achievement in Drama: Michael C. Hall (“Dexter”)
Individual Achievement in Comedy: Alec Baldwin (“30 Rock”)
Outstanding Achievement in News and Information: “Planet Earth” (Discovery Channel)
Outstanding Achievement in Children’s Programming: “Kyle XY” (ABC Family)
Outstanding New Program: “Friday Night Lights” (NBC)
Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials: “Plant Earth” (Discovery Channel)
Outstanding Achievement in Drama: “The Sopranos” (HBO)
Outstanding Achievement in Comedy: “The Office” (NBC)
Career Achievement Award: Mary Tyler Moore
Program of the Year: “Heroes” (NBC)

To bookend this posting with “Sopranos”-related anecdotes, Alec Baldwin accepted his award for his performance on “30 Rock” by telling a story about how he actually changed management because his new managers told him that they could get him on “The Sopranos.” A year later, there’d still been no meeting with David Chase…but an encounter finally came about rather accidentally. Baldwin was in NYC, on his way to a meeting about some charity work he was going to do, and due to an error, he ended up at the Four Seasons Hotel rather than the Four Seasons Restaurant. He made a mad run from one place to the other, ending up at the restaurant drenched in sweat. Upon meeting his party, he apologized and made a dash to the men’s room, where he promptly removed his shirt and stood topless as he held the shirt in front of the hot-air dryer…and who should walk in?

Suffice it to say that Baldwin never made it onto “The Sopranos.”

(Chase’s version of the story: “All I thought was, ‘Omigod, that’s Alec Baldwin, the famous actor!’ I didn’t even notice he wasn’t wearing a shirt!”)

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TCA Press Tour: A few random CBS tidbits…

July 21, 2007 /

…courtesy of the solo panel by CBS President of Entertainment Nina Tassler…

* “The Amazing Race” and “The New Adventures of Old Christine” will not return until mid-season.

* Tony Scott will be directing the season premiere of “Numb3rs.”

* Finally, three seasons into “How I Met Your Mother,” we will finally begin to get some hints as to who the hell “your mother” actually is.

* The season premiere of “Cold Case” will be an all-Nirvana episode, so I guess that means the case in question must take place in the early ’90s, presumably in Seattle. (Tassler hadn’t actually seen the script yet.)

* Jake, the half-man on “Two and a Half Men,” will be starting junior high.

* Writer P.K. Simonds, late of “Party of Five,” will be re-teaming with Jennifer Love Hewitt and become co-runner of “Ghost Whisperer” with John Gray; apparently, Simonds and Gray are reinvigorating the series by creating a new mythology which indicates that main characters Jim and Melinda didn’t choose the town of Grandview but, rather, vice versa. (I don’t know what this means; I don’t watch the show. I’m just spreadin’ the info.)

* There will be a “C.S.I.” / “Without A Trace” crossover this year, with William Petersen and Anthony LaPaglia appearing on each others series…and to alleviate the possibility of missing one half or the other, the episodes will air on the same night.

* On “C.S.I.: Miami,” Horatio Cane will discover that he has a biological son…and although this isn’t confirmed yet, Premium Hollywood is going out on a limb and predicting that Caine’s tip-off to his child’s identity is his red hair and stilted acting skills.

* They are in talks with Drew Carey to host “The Price Is Right,” but, then, they’re in talks with several people to host “The Price Is Right.”

* There is, at least in Tassler’s eyes, no reason to expect that “NCIS” will change dramatically in this, its first season with Don Bellisario at the helm. “It’s the natural evolution of a show that you groom your writers on your staff to take over the mantle so you can move on to develop other shows. It’s time that Don developed another show for us which is what we’re looking to do. The look of the show is not going to change, and it’s, again, a part of changes that happen on virtually — in many of the show. Personality aside, it’s time for Don to do something else for us, and the show will go on. It’s in very capable hands.”

* The network has been in talks with Rosie O’Donnell about a show. Some show. Don’t know what show. But definitely some show.

* Tassler conceded that the lengthy hiatus between the two half-seasons of “Jericho” “maybe…wasn’t good for the show.” Y’think…?

* Oh, and here’s what Tassler had to say about the whole Mandy-Patinkin-leaving-“Criminal Minds” thing: “Mandy came to us and came to me and asked to be released from the show, and we were able to accommodate that request on his part. And right now, it’s a personal issue. And, you know, I think the show is accommodating his needs. The creative on the show is very strong. The stories, as we know about the audience on ‘Criminal Minds’ — people come to that show for the ‘E ticket,’ you know, that white-knuckle ride that they’re going to get every week. And in the legacy of ‘ER’ and ‘Law &
Order,’ the show will go on. But right now, it’s personal.”

Tassberg couldn’t (or wouldn’t) provide any insight as to why Patinkin chose to make his departure from the second CBS series of his career. “I can only hope in the very near future that Mandy himself will be able to answer those very questions. I do not mean to sound like I’m avoiding the question. It is a personal issue. I wish I could say more. I just — I don’t feel that this is the forum in which I’d like to have that conversation.”

What about the fact that the CBS press release said it was “creative differences,” not “personal issues”?

“Well, I think ‘creative differences’ is a euphemism for ‘personal issues,'” said Tassberg…and then winked!

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TCA Press Tour: You’re up, “Chuck.”

July 19, 2007 /

I don’t know why NBC is so insistent about calling its new show, “Chuck,” a drama. It’s not a drama. It might have hints of drama; ultimately, though, it’s an action-comedy…with considerable emphasis on the comedy, thanks to the tag-team efforts of Zachary Levi and Joshua Gomez. You might know Levi from his work on the ABC comedy, “Less than Perfect”…but, then again, as Levi himself admits, you may not. (When referencing the show during the panel, he began by saying, “For anybody who watched ‘Less Than Perfect’…so, what, probably 5 or 10 of you…?”) Gomez, however, comes off stints on “Invasion” and “Without A Trace,” but even without a solid comedic background, he nonetheless comes across a lot like Seth Green on coke. (That’s a good thing…or, at least, I think it is, anyway.)

In the long run, though, most people will be interested in “Chuck” because it’s the handiwork of Josh Schwartz, late of “The O.C..” Certainly, that was the case with several of the reporters in attendance, one of whom brought up the fact that Chuck works in a Best-Buy-like store, then asked, “Is the store big enough that it will one day have a stage on which indie bands can perform?”

“Absolutely,” said Schwartz, with a grin. “In-store promotion, we’ll get it done.”

Going on, however, Schwartz made it clear what appealed to him about “Chuck.” “After ‘The O.C.,’ I was definitely looking to do something that would have more of a genre element to it, but still be able to do it in the style in which I like to write and the kind of characters that I very much enjoy. And Chris (Fedak, co-producer) and I, we went to film school together. We sat down, and he had the initial concept for the show, which I thought was really interesting and could also
be really funny and would give us really the spine we needed to tell this story and to do it in a way that could speak to the ‘quarter-life’ crisis that our character of Chuck is undergoing and also be able to do it with a lot of humor as well.”

Speaking of humor, it’s clear that Levi learned quite a few comedic chops while on “Less Than Perfect,” whether anyone was watching it or not. When asked if he considered himself to be smart (if not necessarily as smart as his character), Levi responded, “He went to Stanford and is this crazy brain of a guy and can figure out algorithms. I can’t even spell
‘algorithm.’ I always have the excuse that I would’ve gone to college if I had applied myself. So, no, I’m not as smart as Chuck…but I like to think I’m decent, right? Maybe? I hope!”

Executive producer McG (he was behind the “Charlie’s Angels” movies, you know) went on to acknowledge that “Chuck” owes a certain debt to the work of William Gibson…if not necessarily the film version of “Johnny Mnemonic.” “It’s called a seminal performance of Keanu Reeves,” McG said, with a laugh, before explaining that he’s had a long association with that film’s AD staff, who used to tell horror stories about the difficulty of the shoot.

As the panel wrapped up, Schwartz was asked if there was anything he might’ve learned from his experiences on “The O.C.” that he would make a point of not repeating on “Chuck.”

“What are you implying?” he snapped. Then, after offering a smile, he admitted that he’d learned quite a lot during his time on the show. “‘The “O.C.’ was my first experience doing anything that was, you know, out there. It was a great experience, but it was also a tremendous learning experience. So there’s a lot of things that I will take from that and apply here.

“I think most of all, it’s staying focused on the work itself and not trying to worry about all the other things. We have a great group of people that we’re doing the show with. I’m really fortunate to work with Chris and McG and we’re having a blast making this show, and that’s the thing I just real wanted to be able to stay focused on.”

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TCA Press Tour: I am so totally pro-“Bionic Woman”

July 19, 2007 /

I know, you’re skeptical. You’re thinking, “It’s the freaking Bionic Woman! How good can it be?” It can be very good, my friend. It’s a dark re-invention of the franchise, and – like “Battlestar: Galactica,” it’s a re-invention so dramatic that, if my hazy memory of the original series serves me well, the only thing that’s made the transition from old series to new is the name of the lead character: Jamie Sommers, played by British actress Michelle Ryan. (Ryan also appears in BBC America’s new series, “Jekyll,” as it happens.)

Of course, this begs the question, “Why bother to re-make the series at all? Why not just create a brand new series that’s about a woman who gets bionic parts?” Accusations of the producers just trying to cash in on the vague recollections of children of the ’70s have been flying, but they swear that’s not the case. Then again, though, they don’t really do much to dispel the concept, either.

I’m sure the panel saw it coming that the reporters would eventually start throwing questions at them about Isaiah Washington’s upcoming stint on the show; if so, they weren’t disappointed. First, however, they had to get past the concerns that there was some ominous reason for Katee Sackhoff’s absence from the panel, possibly connected to the fact that doesn’t actually have a deal set yet. Smilovic calmed them down pretty quickly on that front, though, by stating matter-of-factly that “Katee is on the show. I’m not going to go into the specific natures of the deals. She’s on the show, and she’s not here today because of a scheduling conflict; that’s the only reason she’s not here today.”

The second half of the conference, however, was almost entirely dedicated to queries about Washington’s appearance and how much re-writing of the role – which existed before it was ever pitched to him – was required to fit him into it (the only change is that the character was originally sketched out to be around for an indefinite period of time; now, he has a definitive exit) and if casting Washington is an insult to the gay community. (Said producer Jason Smilovic, “Absolutely not. We embrace the gay community, we are hoping that they are going to watch the show, and we are in no way making any judgments or statements or assignations about what was said or what was done.”)

Is Isaiah Washington really worth all this discussion? I think the situation is abundantly clear: the guy’s great in front of the camera, but, when he’s off-camera, he’s got a nasty case of foot-in-mouth disease. So just get him to shut the hell up and stick to acting.

Anyway, Washington or no Washington, “Bionic Woman” looks awesome to me. It’s dark, it’s action-packed, and it has Miguel Ferrer in it. (Albert Rosenfeld rules!)

My only concern is that it was revealed that Jamie’s sister is being completely retooled from what we saw in the pilot; once, she was deaf, but now she’s not. She’s also now got a background in computer hacking. On the whole, I think the deaf angle was far more interesting. Plus, count on a lot of really annoyed deaf people wanting to know why the character was changed…

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TCA Press Tour: They call him…Tin Man.

July 19, 2007 /

The idea of updating L. Frank Baum’s classic “The Wizard of Oz” isn’t exactly a new one. Since the hard-to-top version with Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr…oh, hell, you know who’s in it. Anyway, point being, there have been several attempts at re-doing it, but most of them have fallen flat. I will say that “Tin Man,” Sci-Fi’s take on the story, has a few elements that make me cringe – Dorothy Gale (Zooey Deschanel) is referred to as D.G., and the land of Oz is constantly referred to as “the O.Z.” (ugh!) – but, damn, it sure looks awesome…and the fact that the cast includes the aforementioned Ms. Deschanel as well as Alan Cumming, Richard Dreyfuss, and others doesn’t hurt any, either.

(Don’t bother looking for Cumming and Dreyfuss; the latter apparently had a scheduling conflict, and the former, while represented, actually appeared via video, in a satellite link-up.)

The writers of “Tin Man,” Craig Van Sickle and Steven Long Mitchell, tried to deflect the references to the musical “Wicked” that several reporters wanted to throw at them, but they seemed legitimately enthusiastic about their script.

“For us, it was a labor of love,” said Van Sickle, “because the books were such a big part of our childhood. When SCI FI said, ‘Go, give it a shot, and let your imaginations run wild,’ we did, and it was just — I mean, it was just a labor of love. I mean, it was something we have always dreamed of doing.” Added Mitchell, “Since the book itself is such a classic, it allows itself to be re-interpreted or re-invented, and I think that we knew when we were attempting this that we were going to be compared to the original book and any other interpretations, but our feeling was the source material was so strong, the iconic nature of all those characters were so strong that we could bring it to a whole new generation in a new way, hopefully.”

There’s definitely been a considerable amount of re-envisioning of characters. In this case, the Tin Man is completely human; he’s so called because he’s a policeman…with a tin badge. Says Neal McDonough, who plays the character, “He was a sheriff in the outer zone, and I was then captured and put into this pod for eight years and watched my wife and son be murdered in front of me through this hologram for eight years. And that was the torture that I was put through. And then I come out of it, and I’m going to seek revenge. My character in particular — well, all of us, actually. We’re all very, very human…and very real.”

Yeah, but how will it work with such a dramatic re-imagination? Time will tell. (It doesn’t air ’til Decemember.)

Let’s close with the best throwaway line from the conference: one of the reporters asked Deschanel if there were any similarities between D.G. and her next role, Janis Joplin, and while Deschanel couldn’t imagine there were any, her co-star Raoul Trujillo quipped, “They’re both looking for the poppy fields.”

Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External TV, Interviews, News, TCA Press Tour, TV, TV Action

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