Category: TCA Press Tour (Page 35 of 56)

TCA Press Tour, Day 7: Fox, Pt. 1

July 16, 2008 /

Okay, now that the Executive Session is out of the way, let’s get into the show-specific panels.

So You Think You Can Dance: Proving yet again that I’m not the target demographic for reality shows, I don’t think I’ve ever watched a full episode of this series…or, if I have, it was almost certainly one of the first episodes of a season, solely so that I could get a laugh out of the auditions by the various not-ready-for-prime-time dancers from around the country. Those of you who are fans, however, will probably be impressed by the fact that we were gifted with performances by Matt and Kourtni as well as Thayne. Heck, I’m not even a fan, and I was impressed by their moves.

As to the comments made during the panel, the only one that really caught my ear occurred when Nigel Lythgoe was asked if he thought that America ever got it wrong when voting off contestants.

“From my point of view, the public often gets it wrong…on this program and ‘American Idol,'” he said. “At the end of the day, they sort of put things right; it’s along the way they get things wrong. It’s like losing Tamyra Gray or something. But at the end of the day, Kelly Clarkson justly deserved to win. With dancers, it’s the same. I think we’ve lost some really good dancers along the way, but at the end of the day, when you look at Benji and you look at Travis and you think one’s a brilliant dancer and one’s a brilliant performer, the brilliant performer won. Last year, brilliant performer in Sabra and her whole story. Brilliant dancer in Danny. Sabra won. I have never seen the best dancers necessarily win ‘So You Think You Can Dance.’ Personalities have got so much to do with it, as in any form of competition on television. It’s about your charisma. What’s the difference between a brilliant actor and a star? Charisma.”

True enough.

Well, I’ll just close with the comment I made in a Facebook update I posted during the panel: I don’t really care anything about “So You Think You Can Dance,” but I could watch and listen to Cat Deeley all day…and while I can’t readily provide you with a soundbite, I can at least provide a picture:

Fringe: J.J. Abrams, creator of “Lost,” comes to Fox with his mysterious new show which – you may or may not be pleased to know – is nowhere near as impenetrable as the series for which he’s most recognized. Bill Harris and I were discussing it, and I was considering approaching Abrams and saying, “Hi, I watched ‘Fringe,’ and…I was able to follow it. Are things okay at home?” Bill’s plan, meanwhile, was to indicate to Abrams that he wasn’t at all confused while watching the pilot, then ask, “Is this a problem with me or with you?” In the end, neither of us asked our questions, mostly because Abrams tackled head-on the issue of his shows being problematic for casual viewers.

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TCA Press Tour, Day 7: Fox’s Executive Session

July 16, 2008 /

You know how these executive sessions work, so I’ll just do a quick run-through of the tidbits offered up by FOX’s President of Entertainment, Kevin Reilly:

* On the origins of “Fringe” coming to Fox: “We knew J.J. (Abrams) had made his new deal at Warner Bros. last year. We knew he was coming out with a show. Before he even started, Peter Liguori and I talked about who’s at the top of our list. We made the call, like, day one. We offered him a series day one. We knew the logline, that it was sort of an ‘X-Files’/’Indiana Jones’ kind of thing. Sounded good to us. And, you know, he was going to write it with Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci. We brought Jeff Pinkner in now to run the show. And I’m happy to say that this show just feels right. You know, sometimes with these big showrunners, it’s all hype and no delivery. I actually am very happy to say that I think this one is going to deliver the goods.”

* Coming to Fox sooner than later: “Lie To Me,” created by Sam Baum and starring Tim Roth, “Courtroom K,” created by Paul Attanasio (executive producer of “House”), and “Boldly Going Nowhere,” a sitcom from Rob McElhenney (creator of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”).

* On Joss Whedon coming back to Fox, even though he’s been burned before: “Joss was a gift. The only reason Joss wasn’t on my list is because I thought there was no way he was coming back. And every time I’ve called about him, they said, ‘He’s busy. He doesn’t want to do it.’ Joss will tell you himself that he got hit in the head with a lightning bolt of an idea. He’s respected Eliza Dushku as an actress. He’s wanted to work with her. They got together. He left that lunch and said, ‘Dammit, I’ve got an idea. Now I’ve got to do it.’ And he just showed up, and the answer was yes. And I have not seen any skittishness. In fact, I’m really enjoying working with the guy. His reputation is well-earned. We’re having a good time.”

* The upcoming “24” movie – not the theatrical one that’s been rumored for awhile, but a TV movie – will be a self-contained entity which encompasses a separate day’s events…specifically, the day of the swearing in of America’s first female President. It will, however, help to set the scene for the upcoming season.

* On the controversy about there originally being no black voice actors on “The Cleveland Show” (and the subsequent addition of three black voice actors): That was the intention going in. I mean, the Cleveland character pre-existed, you know. They’ve been doing that…Mike (Henry’s) been doing that character for a long time, so we knew going in that was a fix: we’re going to have a white guy. But clearly, the idea was just to make an ethnically diverse show in front of and behind the camera, which we are. We’ve got a diverse writing staff. We’ve got an African-American guy playing a redneck character in the show. So the whole intention here was just to cast it, you know, with the best people we have, but clearly to create a largely African-American cast for the family.”

* On the negotiations with the writing staff of the new animated series, “Sit Down, Shut Up”: “I don’t mean to be evasive because I can’t really comment on it because I was hoping to have 100 percent finality on the thing by this meeting today. There are still T’s being crossed. It’s been a very, very tricky situation trying to resolve a deal on this. My presumption, what I believe is going to happen…? I know that Mitch Hurwitz is going to stay with the show. A couple of writers will probably exit the show. A couple of new writers will join or remain with the show. I’m very hopeful that, even by today, we will be moving forward with a writing staff and resolve this.”

That was the 14th, and today’s the 16th. Since there’s been no formal announcement as of yet, it seems that hope alone was not enough to score a resolution…and, frankly, I’m getting more and more depressed about it. Hurwitz’s name is, thanks to “Arrested Development,” an instant mark of quality; as far as I’m concerned, Fox should do everything in its power to get this thing wrapped up quickly, so we can see this show!

UPDATE: Nikki Finke just broke the story at Deadline Hollywood Daily that some – but not all – of the writers on “Sit Down, Shut Up” have indeed signed off on the Animation Guild’s offer, with the others “holding out for the ability to have their pension contributions applied to the WGA plan.” Hey, it’s a start, anyway…

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TCA Press Tour, Day 6: PBS, Pt. 2

July 16, 2008 /

“Frontline”: “The Choice” and “Heat”: Well, this’ll be short, as I was up in my room, writing blog posts when this panel was taking place. As to “The Choice,” you may have seen previous editions of this special in 2004 and 2000, as it’s become a regular tradition on PBS to provide a dual biography of the Democratic and Republican Presidential candidates, so if you’re a political junkie, you’re probably gonna want to check out the latest entry in the series of specials. “Heat,” as it happens, is produced by Martin Smith, who served as producer on an earlier edition of “The Choice,” but his latest work is all about global warning. with twelve countries from around the world participating in the special. That’s all I’ve got. Check it out if it sounds interesting to you.

“Nature: American Eagle”: Eagles are beautiful, beautiful creatures, and “Nature” is a gorgeously filmed program. Two great tastes that taste great together. ‘Nuff said. (Can you tell I was still up in my room for this panel, too?)

“Make ‘Em Laugh: The Funny Business Of America”: Even though the film buff in me is admittedly psyched about that Warner Brothers story doc, I’m way more excited about this series, which, per filmmaker Michael Kantor, “starts with Charlie Chaplin and ends somewhere in the Jon Stewart world.” I’ve been a huge fan of comedy for as long as I can remember – we’re talking TV, film, albums, and, God help me, I was even a dedicated “Dr. Demento” listener until his program stopped being aired in my area – and I positively foaming at the mouth with the clips they showed us. The breaking news came at the beginning – Billy Crystal has been signed to provide narration for this six-part series – and, from there, we were treated to some extremely funny comments from the panel, which included Richard Lewis, Anne Beatts (an original “SNL” writer as well as the creative mind behind “Square Pegs”), and Larry Wilmore (otherwise known as the Senior Black Correspondent for “The Daily Show”).

Richard Lewis on the appropriate use of profanity in comedy: “Listen, you know, when I would listen to a double album of Lenny Bruce at Berkeley, I mean, I had no idea I was going to become a comedian. I was about 18. But a bar was set, and it wasn’t the expletives that I was focused on. It was, like, these insanely brilliant routines in that double album, and it had a lot of his great bits. And once I, two years later, became a comedian and Pryor was already a star, basically, and he’s a genius. He’s arguably the greatest, to me, stand-up comedian. Lenny may be the most important, and Jonathan Winters in a lot of ways perhaps more spectacularly open-ended, hilarious human being I’ve ever known, but he was worked very, very clean…in fact, totally clean, Jonathan. The other two guys didn’t, but it was more street talk and character stuff for Richard. And for Lenny, the same. But, you know, there are a vast majority of comedians who use expletives almost as a punch line to get laughs at clubs or at a concert, and as a comedian myself…and I’m a little blue from time to time, it sneaks out, but it’s never a premise, or it’s never a punch line. Tragically, it cheapens the art form.”

Larry Wilmore on Bill Hicks: “He probably didn’t get a chance to really get into the mainstream, but all of the comics at the time during the ’80s respected Bill Hicks. I remember working with him in Houston, I think, in the mid-’80s, and I couldn’t believe how just raw and funny he was.”

Anne Beatts on Tina Fey: “She’s great, hilarious, wonderful, talented, pretty, good legs, everything. She’s terrific. But I did misguidedly tell her not to wear her glasses on television. I was so wrong.”

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Best unexpected appearance at the TCA Press Tour to date

July 16, 2008 /

The ABC Executive Session Q&A began with a gentleman asking if there was any truth to the rumor that the network was courting Jay Leno for a late-night position, but Stephen McPherson, President of ABC Entertainment, responded that he didn’t really want to discuss it in this particular forum.

“Are you at all concerned,” the gentleman continued, “that, if you do pursue Mr. Leno, that Jimmy Kimmel might do something terrible to your car?”

At this point, it became very evident that this “gentleman” was, indeed, Jimmy Kimmel.

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TCA Press Tour, Day 6: PBS, Pt. 1

July 15, 2008 /

“NOVA: The Bible’s Buried Secrets”: It might’ve been appropriate to open the Sunday sessions with a Bible story, but it was pretty heady stuff for us to absorb so early in the morning. Paula Apsell, producer of “NOVA,” introduced “The Bible’s Buried Secrets” thusly: “Shot in Israel, Egypt, Syria, and the U.S., the film challenges viewers to think about the Bible in an entirely new way, one that exams the message and the meaning even as it looks for a historical core. What emerges is provocative new evidence surrounding the origins of monotheism and the ethical code that accompanies it, ideas that change the world and resonate for us today as it did then.” Fascinating stuff, sure, but way too much to take in at 9:00 AM. But there was at least one portion of the discussion that captured my attention: the question about whether God had a wife.

Professor William G. Dever responds: “The reason why God is so bad-tempered in the Old Testament is mostly he was lonely. And if he had listened to his wife, he wouldn’t have done those bad things. We know that in the minds of many ordinary Israelites, there was a pair of deities. Why shouldn’t there be? There was everywhere else in the ancient world. You have to remember monotheism is a difficult consideration. The development of monotheism is late, in some cases arbitrary and even artificial. A much more natural system is to have a plethora of gods, one for each need. And that’s what most peoples in the ancient world thought, and so did they in Israel. The very fact that the prophets and reformers condemned the worship of other gods means it was going on all over the place. Otherwise, why talk about it? So it’s clear that while those who wrote the Bible and edited it and passed it down were rigid monotheists, so to speak, all men, in the minds of many, God, of course, had a consort. And why not? If women had written the Bible, the portrait of God would be different.”

How would it have been different? Too…many…jokes. Must…move…on…to…next…panel…

“NOVA: Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives”: This one was actually even more headspinning than its predecessor, since it was about the late physicist Hugh Everett and his Many Worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, which predicts that every time we make a decision, a parallel universe splits off from our everyday reality (ow, my head just exploded!), but what made it stand out was the fact that it views Everett’s work through the eyes of his decidedly non-mathematical son, Mark…who you may know better as E, the heavily-bearded frontman for The Eels.

The key to the show is the relationship between E and his father…or, more specifically, the lack thereof. Hugh Everett died in 1982, so he never saw his son become a famous musician (at least from a cult standpoint), but…you’ll pardon the unintentional pun…they really were living in two different worlds. “I think it is a common thread with a lot of families that fathers and sons have their issues and maybe don’t always connect,” said E, “but we didn’t connect at all. I mean, it was sort of shocking the degree of how isolated he seemed to me, growing up in the same house with him all those years. But how do you relate to the rest of the world when that’s what’s going on in your mind, you know?”

E did have some fond memories of his father, despite their lack of a connection. “I remember him delighting in things like ‘Star Trek’ and ‘The Twilight Zone’ and science fiction books. We’d have neighbors come running over and…they’d be sitting in a hammock one summer day, reading a science fiction book, and it would have a reference to my father, and they’d come running over and knock on the door, all excited.”

There’s a scene in the film when the producers find some tapes of E with his dad, and for all his enthusiasm about working on this project (he calls it “an extraordinary process” and “probably the single-most life-changing thing I’ve been through”), there was clearly still a certain amount of annoyance about the way he found his way to hearing these tapes. “I didn’t want to listen to the tapes,” he admitted. “It was a really awkward moment for me when I walked into the room. The filmmakers had already listened to some of the tapes, and they were all kind of looking at me like…it was like they set a trap for me. I was scared. It was just the weirdest thing was hearing his voice for the first time in, whatever, 25 years or something. I couldn’t even remember his voice, but then as soon as I heard it, I remembered it really well.”

E’s comments make it pretty clear that the gene for physics skipped a gene, but he’s resigned to it. “I’m not bitter about not being a mathematics genius at all,” he assured us. “I’d much rather be a rock star. The groupies are a lot better.

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