Category: TV (Page 335 of 595)

TCA Press Tour, Day 1: Style / G4 / E!

July 9, 2008 /

Okay, I’m not going to lie to you: I’m not going to spend a whole lot of time regaling you with information about Style’s new show, “Ruby,” which focuses on Ruby Gettinger, a woman in Savannah, GA, who’s battling with weight issues…like, to the point where, at her highest, she weighed 700 pounds. I’m not anti-Style by any means, but…okay, look, here’s the thing: I’m a heavyset guy, and I need to lose weight, too, but I’ve never been terribly overly interested in “The Biggest Loser” (I thought I had become a regular viewer this season, but it just didn’t end up keeping my attention), and, ultimately, I’m just not that enthralled with the idea of watching Ruby’s quest to lose weight. I wish her well, sure, and she seems like a really nice lady, but based on what I saw in the clips they provided before the panel and the things that were said during the panel, I’m not very fond of her “you skinny people” and “us fat people” mindset. I don’t get the impression that she means it in a bad way, but, still, it somehow feels like sides are being drawn…and I’m a little concerned about what side I’m on, frankly.

Thankfully, I was far more interested in the proceedings when G4 put the spotlight on their signature series, “Attack of the Show,” hosted by Kevin Pereira and Olivia Munn. I’ve really only caught the show a couple of times, but I’ve always been entertained by it, and having gotten more than a few laughs from Kevin and Olivia (as well as their producer, Gavin Purcell) during the course of their panel, I’m thinking I might need to check it out more often in the future. At the very least, I’ll be pursuing an interview with them as soon as I get back.

I was approached by one of my peers after the panel, and since he’d never seen the show before, he asked me if it was really as much about frat-boy humor as it was made to appear by the footage they offered up during the panel. Funny thing is, I’d never gotten the impression that it was that kind of show. I’d always gotten the impression that it was more a show for people who might ordinarily be labeled as nerds or geeks but refuse to let themselves be dragged down by a description like that…so, yeah, they focus on gaming and technology and shows like “Heroes” and “Lost,” but they also get a giggle from a fart joke, too.

Purcell acknowledged that it was a difficult balance to maintain sometimes. “(It) really has to do with the intelligent angle you try to take on things,” he said. “We always try to think of things the smarter way. We’ve got to believe our audience has come up, and a lot of them are not the guys that were on the football team. They’re the guys that were on the chess team or the AV club…and the funny thing is that those guys are the popular people now. So it’s really
important for us to be smart and serve that audience.”

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

TCA Press Tour, Day 1: BBC America

July 9, 2008 /

When the BBC America panels began, we were pleasantly surprised to be blessed with a heretofore-unmentioned appearance by Ted Koppel, who has joined the BBC World News America team. Granted, Koppel’s appearance was via satellite, and it only lasted for a few minutes (he had to get back to other activities which were, we can reasonably presume, far more important than talking to a bunch of lousy TV critics), but let it be said that the man left an impression one simple exchange…

Reporter: How did all this come about for you? How did you get involved with these guys?
Ted Koppel: Well, I was off in a sleazy back alley, buying pornographic magazines…

And here I thought I couldn’t respect a newsman more than Brian Williams, who was heard to say during last year’s tour how such-and-such “really made my sphincter tighten.” But I think I’ve gotta give the title to Koppel now. (The reporter who asked the question thanked him for that quote, by the way…as well she should have.)

But, really, you have to like a guy like Koppel, anyway, if only because he’s not afraid to speak his mind, an opportunity he was given on a silver platter when he was asked why American viewers were being denied the kind of news coverage being provided by BBC America.

“Well, as you all very well know, that’s the subject of a very long discussion,” he admitted, “but the simple answer is economics. As there have been more and more outlets and the competition has become greater and the audiences have
become smaller and the amount of money that news divisions are making still has to remain high, there’s been a tendency to focus more on that demographic that brings in the largest amount of advertising dollars, and that’s the young demographic…and for reasons I never quite understood, the assumption is that young people don’t care about overseas news. And the other half of the answer is that the bean counters decided that one way to save money for the news divisions was to close down these very expensive foreign bureaus which are not necessarily on the air every day. And so, where in my heyday as a foreign correspondent, ABC, for example, may have had 30 or 35 correspondents, now they’ve got maybe five or six. And that’s the same with NBC and the same at CBS. There are just far fewer correspondents, far fewer bureaus, and that’s the one area in which the BBC remains preeminent.”

Preach it, Ted. Oh, and if you’re wondering, Koppel still considers the Discovery Channel to be his primary employer these days…but given how enthusiastic he sounds about working for BBC America, I’m left wondering how long that will prove to be the case.

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Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External TV, News, TCA Blog 2008, TCA Press Tour, TV, TV Action, TV Comedies, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

Secret Diary of a Call Girl: Season One, Ep. 4

July 9, 2008 /

“Call Girl’s” fourth episode was easily its best yet. An odd mixture of S & M and tests of friendship and trust, it delivered a tight story over its typically brief running time. It begins with Belle (Billie Piper) in bed with her accountant (Simon Kunz), who apparently trades his services for hers. They appear to have a friendly, relaxed relationship, but it seems the accountant (who I believe went unnamed in the story) wants something a little different. He has thoughts and fantasies that fall outside her typical business dealings. Yes, the guy wants to delve into the arena of sadomasochism, which is hardly Belle’s specialty.

So she visits her manager, Stephanie (Cheri Lunghi) for some advice, and the woman clearly doesn’t have any, but she knows someone who does. During an outing with Ben (Iddo Goldberg), Hannah finds a new source of frustration that rivals her inability to be honest with him: He reveals that he’s marrying Vanessa, and that the engagement was made at least six weeks ago when he was on holiday. Hannah’s enraged. Why is this the first she’s heard of it? Ben explains that much of it has to do with her own secretive life.

Back at Belle’s flat, Mistress Sirona (Sally Dexter) arrives, with a slave (Darren Clarke) in hand (so to speak). She’s there to give Belle tips on how to be an effective mistress. As soon as they enter, she orders the slave to undress, as he’s not allowed clothes indoors. Belle offers them something to drink, and Sirona gives the slave permission to answer. He says that yes he would like something to drink, and Sirona tells him he’s welcome to drink from Belle’s toilet, but Belle instead gives him a dish to drink from. At this point, the scene is funny, sad, or erotic (I suppose) depending on your tastes and prejudices. I’ve never quite understood the whole S & M scene myself, but this episode did a really good job of explaining its quirks and why it’s at all appealing to anyone. Sirona shows Belle all the various places where a slave can be safely whipped, as well as pointing out the many areas that should be avoided – after all, this is fantasy role play; nobody’s in it to actually get hurt. Afterwards, as the slave cowers beneath the dining room table licking his mistress’ boots, and the two women converse, Sirona unveils her S & M wisdom. For a slave, it’s the release from power that’s the turn on. It’s not he who is doing all these filthy, degrading acts, it’s his mistress who’s making him do it. Belle gets it and is ready to give it a spin.

She goes about redecorating her living room into a makeshift dungeon and purchases a variety of whips and paddles as well as kinky leather mistress outfit. When the accountant arrives, she orders him to undress just as Sirona did her slave, and gives him only a thong to wear. The pair go through many of the same motions that Sirona used, although Belle admits to us that she has no idea whether or not he’s even enjoying it, or when the session is over. Since there’s no sex involved, and therefore no orgasm, how is she to know when he’s satisfied? In the midst of her boredom, she calls Ben, has a conversation which infuriates her, and she ends up taking it out on the accountant through a series of beatings that become just a tad too intense for the poor guy, and he ends up yelping the agreed upon safe word, “Red.” Both people seem embarrassed and humiliated, and the session clearly didn’t work out the way it was meant to.

As the episode draws to a close, Hannah again visits Ben, and her secrecy is still the hot topic. As she leaves, she texts him the information to her website, giving up her secret life and finally sharing it with someone. We don’t see Ben’s reaction; we can only assume that he’s now in the know.

For an episode that could have been played for laughs, the goings-on here seemed to be treated with an awful lot of respect, which is a good thing. The scene with Belle beating the accountant over her frustrations with Ben was in particular very strong, and kudos to Simon Kunz for being brave enough to convincingly play this complex man. Mostly though, the episode really kicked into a higher gear the relationship between Hannah and Ben, which is the area of the series that continues to be the reason for tuning in. Where are these people going together, and is it somewhere we’ll also want to visit?

Actresses, TV, TV Comedies, TV Dramas

TCA Press Tour, Day 1: HDNet

July 9, 2008 /

If you’re not familiar with HDNet, it’s time for you to get informed. Mark Cuban, chairman of HDNet (not to mention owner of the Dallas Mavericks), came out and gave the assembled audience a brief summary of the network’s “Sneak Preview” program and Ultra Video On Demand program, which provides a unique opportunity for indie films to be seen both theatrically and on cable simultaneously.

“We’re particularly proud of this not only because of the great movies that we’re showing and the opportunity to really take on independent film and create a home for them when the market for independent film is so bad,” said Cuban, “but more importantly because it’s unique. We also own Magnolia Pictures Distribution and Landmark Theatres, (which) puts us in a very unique position. We’re the only organization that can do this, and the reason is that the big movie chains, AMC and Regal, will not play a movie once it’s appeared on TV or once it’s appeared on a cable channel of any sort. So despite the fact that people want to be able to see movies where they want them, when they want them, how they want them, the big chains aren’t going along with it, but Landmark Theatres and Magnolia and HDNet Movies are.”

HDNET’s big-ticket flick at the moment is “Humboldt County,” co-directed by Darren Grodsky and Danny Jacobs and starring Fairuza Balk, Brad Dourif, Madison Davenport, Francis Conroy, and – perhaps most awesomely – Peter Bogdanovich as Professor Hadley. IMDb’s description of the film reads thusly: “A disillusioned medical student is stranded for a summer in a remote community of counterculture pot farmers, the last place in the world he imagined he would discover himself.”

Said Grodsky, “Danny and I have long been influenced by our favorite era of filmmaking, which is Hollywood filmmaking from the ’70s, so for us to be able to work with Peter, whose films we have long admired was, A) sort of a dream come true, and B), a great link for us to have to the era of filmmaking and the era that we really tried to emulate in terms of tone of making a film.”

“And,” added Bogdanovich, “they paid us in pot. I have no memory of the entire thing.” He was probably just kidding…but I’m pretty sure I saw him wink when he said it.

Well, with that being the case, let’s jump back to Cuban, who’s clearly quite happy about the way HDNet’s plans have been working out, based on the fact that their film “Flawless,” which starred Michael Caine and Demi Moore, did more than a million at the box office but actually did more than that via Ultra VOD. Nowadays, an Ultra VOD film has the potential to pull even bigger numbers.

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

TCA Press Tour, Day 1: Hallmark Channel

July 9, 2008 /

You’ve got to love David Kenin, the Hallmark Channel’s Executive VP of Programming. Like his boss, Henry Schleiff (Hallmark’s President and CEO), who emceed the network’s panel last year and introduced their new dog mascot, Herschel, by saying, “Herschel is seven years old…which, even in dog years, would bring our demographic down,” Kenin had his own self-deprecating wit ready to roll for the crowd.

“You will not see on our channel ‘Confessions of a Call Girl’ or ‘Bachelor Threesomes,’ said Kenin. “But I have TiVo, so I’m okay on that.”

What’s not to like about the Hallmark Channel? Whether you watch the network personally or not, they’re very much a name that you recognize and a place that you know you can go to get a certain kind of entertainment. Perhaps more importantly, though, they’re keeping a lot of actors working who might not otherwise be getting work…but let me clarify that, because it sounds like an insult, but it isn’t intended as one. I think we can all agree that prime-time broadcast television is a virtual wasteland when it comes to providing programming for any demographic over the age of the mid-40s, and drawing a line at that particular spot in the sand is probably pushing it. There have been countless jokes over the years about shows like “Matlock,” “Diagnosis Murder,” and “Murder She Wrote” and how they cater so specifically to an older, gray-haired crowd, but the older you get, the more you begin to realize that the familiar faces from your own era are being shuttled off the broadcast networks and onto cable. (The best possible proof of this: Molly Ringwald is playing the mom of a pregnant teenager on an ABC Family Channel series.) So when you look at the Hallmark Channel and you see that they’re providing clean, wholesome entertainment that makes our parents and grandparents happy and provides work for the actors of their generation that have been demographically driven off ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and The CW, what else is there to do but applaud their efforts?

Here are some programming highlights that should help you keep Hallmark under consideration in the future weeks and months to come…

* “Dear Prudence,” where Jane Seymour plays a Martha-Stewart-styled advice columnist who helps to solve a murder. (“She’s not supposed to be solving murders,” explained Seymour. “She just happens to stumble across one that needs to be solved and manages to do so.”) It’s perhaps no surprise that the first question asked of Ms. Seymour was not about her new movie but, rather, about the one and only “Dr. Quinn.” Okay, fair enough, the show’s in reruns on Hallmark, so it wasn’t so out of line to wonder if the network might consider doing a new “Dr. Quinn” movie. It’s probably not going to happen, though. “Les Moonves (President and CEO of CBS) does not want to make any more ‘Dr. Quinn”s,” she said. ” But I have all the clothes, (so), you know, Prudence could pretend to be Dr. Quinn. And, you know, I think Sully is available…” Nice try, Jane. But, hey, it could happen: Hallmark is viewing this movie as having serious franchise potential, and given Seymour’s fanbase, there’s every reason to believe that they’re right.

* “For the Love of Grace,” a film about the relationship between a firefighter and a woman he saves, starring Chandra West (“John from Cincinnati”), Corbin Bernsen (“Psych”), and Mark Consuelos (“Husband for Hire”). And if you thought a room full of TV critics was going to miss a chance to quiz a former “John from Cincinnati” cast member on just what the hell that show was about, you’re sorely mistaken. “God, people ask me that all the time,” said West, “and I think the only person truly who can respond to what the show is about is David Milch, of course. But you know what? I think, to put a fine point on it, the short answer is no.” This line of questioning eventually led to a discussion about how Milch is an incredible speaker, to the point where you may have no idea what he’s talking about but you still believe him unequivocally. “I spent New Year’s 2000 with him,” admitted Bersen, “and he convinced me that the world was coming to an end in the following week. New Year’s Eve 2000 celebrations everywhere, and this man had me in a corner with my wife completely freaked out that we had one week left to live on this planet…and I believed it.” With testimonials like that, is it any wonder that “John from Cincinnati” was as weird as it was?

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

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