Category: TCA Press Tour (Page 53 of 56)

TCA Press Tour: It’s Showtime!

So I’m officially more than 24 hours behind at this point. So sue me. (Note to readers: this is, in fact, should not be considered to be a legitimate suggestion that you incur legal action towards either myself or PremiumHollywood.com.)

Anyway, I enjoyed four consecutive Showtime panels – “Dexter,” “Weeds,” “Brotherhood,” and “Californication” – and, frankly, what I got out of it was that I really ought to be subscribing to Showtime rather than HBO. I know, them’s bold words, but it’s true. “The Sopranos” and “Deadwood” are both gone ’til their respective creators get off their respective arses and put together movies, “John in Cincinnati” hasn’t done anything for me as of yet, “Tell Me You Love Me” is officially the running joke of the press tour (although, to be fair, I haven’t actually seen it yet, personally), and God bless ’em, but “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Flight of the Conchords” are both funny shows that will inevitably come out of on DVD, at which point I watch them at my discretion. Meanwhile, Showtime is offering new series like “Californication,” returning series like “Dexter,” “Weeds,”” and “Brotherhood,” and, in the future, will be bringing back “The Tudors” and “This American Life.”‘

Seriously, what’s not to like about Showtime?

Anyway, here are some highlights:

Dexter:

* Michael J. Hall describes the world of his character, the serial-killing Dexter, as “pretty rocked.” Expect him to encounter an unexpected visitor, says Hall, “someone who sees him for who he is, accepts him as such, and he really has no choice but to do him in. And so, yeah, I think — I think when we meet Dexter at the top of season two, he’s still reeling from that, and — and any footing he’s able to establish for himself is pretty much immediately pulled out from under him.”

Executive producer Clyde Phillips explains, “We’re sort of playing the beginning of the season, picking up obviously where the first season left off. And then, it’s maybe four or five weeks later in the world in which these characters inhabit. So all of the emotional resonance of what each of them went through, particularly with what Dexter went through, will continue as if that were the actual passage of time, so they’re still dented and rocked by what has happened.” (Adds fellow associate producer Daniel Cerone, “The nice thing with Dexter is it’s actually the lack of emotional resonance. So in episode one of the second season, he discovers his sort of emotional vacancy and his reaction to the death of his brother.”)

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A few one-liner newsflashes from NBC to get you started.

* Isaiah Washington will be appearing in a 5-episode stint on “The Bionic Woman.” (Co-chairman Marc Graboff said, “He’s a wonderful actor, and he became available…” Naturally, the audience burst into laughter. “…and, just to address that laughter, we did start talking to him about appearing before he ‘became available.’ He met the writers, the role was thought of for Isaiah, but it’s now been more specifically tailored to him.”)

* Norman Lear is returning to TV, overseeing a new, as-yet-uncast sitcom. (Graboff: “His belief in telling great stories and drawing attention to issues that are real inside American society through emotion and comedy are what inspired me to go into television. Potentially, Norman would write as the show gets going.”)

* The network’s upcoming new reality series: “Phenomenon,” starring Uri Geller and Criss Angel.

* The network is forging a new association with Charlie Corwin, executive producer of “The Squid and the Whale.”

* Donald Trump will indeed be returning with another season of “The Apprentice,” but it’s going to be done with celebrities this time, with all challenges and winnings being done for charity. (Graboff: “Donald has personally asked me to extend an invite to Rosie (O’Donnell).”)

* Both Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan are committed to “30 Rock” and will be back.

* It sounds like “Friday Night Lights” was saved partially because the network execs liked it, but mostly because it’s a fiscally solid show, i.e. it’s a hell of a lot cheaper to produce than, say, “Heroes”; as such, they could afford to believe in the show a little longer. (Hey, whatever. As long as it’s still on, right?)

* NBC’s adaptation of the Australian series, “Kath & Kim,” is on the fast track, and both Graboff and his fellow chairman, Ben Silverman, are both aware that it’s gonna depend on the casting as far as whether it’ll be another “Office” or another “Coupling.”

* NBC is definitely looking to keep Jay Leno within the network after his departure from “The Tonight Show.” (Silverman: “We love Jay, and we’d love him to stay with NBC forever.”)

A TCA posting on both Premium Hollywood AND ESDMusic?

Sure, why not a crossover…?

BET is running a new series entitled “Hip Hop vs. America,” and on the panel for the show was none other than the legendary Public Enemy front-man, Chuck D. The show focuses on the different sides of the hip-hop genre, and the social responsibility that its performers have to those who are listening. Great concept, and I’m psyched to see it…but, still, I had to ask what I knew lots of other wanted to know:

Yours Truly: Chuck, guys like you and KRS-One have taken rap and made political statements and aided it in being taken seriously as an art form. How do you think a show like, say, “Flava of Love” has affected you being taken seriously, I mean, as far as the rap community in general?
Chuck D: I come from a black family, and one thing black folks know, we always got that one in our family. But we take them in as family. Jimmy Carter had Billy Carter. You all remember him, right? It’s just that we outnumber Flava 12-to-one, but you might not draw focus on the other 11 — and Flava is a one-of-a-kind, believe that. He ain’t never ever changed and ain’t gonna change. So, hopefully, more shows — maybe we’ll get 11 guys to have shows that balance out the “Flava of Love.”

Word.

By the way, Chuck said he wasn’t really interested in getting his own show…although he said he did think that Professor Griff would do pretty good with one (though, personally, I have to wonder if that wouldn’t have the potential to be even more damaging to hip-hop’s reputation than Flav’s show)…but he admitted that, if he did get his own show, he’d want it to be a one-on-one interview format. I said, “Oh, kinda like Henry Rollins?” I knew he’d been on Rollins’ show…but, damn, boyee, I didn’t know how much he’d enjoyed it. Chuck just lit up and was, like, “Oh, man, Rollins, I love Henry Rollins, I love him, I love everything he does, and I’d love to do anything like that guy.”

In closing, another writer asked Chuck if he thought Flava would ever find love, and he instantly offered up a laugh and a scoff, saying, “Flava found love. Flava got more love than he know what to do with!”

TCA Press Tour: Relative Relaxation ’til Showtime

Howdy do. So yesterday was a bit of a wind-down day for me, thankfully…and good thing, too. I needed it. After running from panel to panel, then doing the obligatory schmoozefest at the end of the evening, only to return to my room and write for an hour or two, was getting a little exhausting, and I was really starting to feel it. (I know, I probably lessened the amount of sympathy I might otherwise have gotten by referencing the schmoozefest aspect of my day, but at least I was honest.)

The day started with a trio of Disney Channel panels: “The Wizards of Waverly Place,” “High School Musical: The Music in You,” and the long-awaited-by-just-about-every-kid-you-know “High School Musical 2.” “The Wizards of Waverly Place” seems cute enough, a standard Disney sitcom about two teenagers who are training to be wizards; not really my cup of tea, but if I was a kid, I’d imagine that the blending of teen comedy and “Harry Potter” – because, c’mon, who are we kidding, that’s what inspired this – would be something I’d want to check out. As far as “High School Musical 2,” I admit it: I’ve never seen the first one. That said, though, the songs they played from the sequel were immediately endearing and catchy, and the choreography was fantastic, so, God help me, maybe I should go check out the original before this new one premieres. Ultimately, though, the far more interesting program was “High School Musical: The Music in You,” a documentary by Academy Award winning documentarian Barbara Kopple (“Harlan County USA,” “American Dream”) which details two rival high schools who are putting on their own renditions of “High Schol Musical.” As a music geek, I was most fascinated / depressed by the information about how expensive it is to stage one of these productions, simply as far as paying the publishing royalties. I never thought about that before…but, geez, you can see that these people certainly do…

Julia Worthington, one of the teachers putting on the musical, explained that “it depends on, first of all, how many performances you’re going to do, the size of your venue.” Worthington’s school’s production usually only has an audience of about 100, and, based on that average, she says that “the licensing and the royalties and everything was about $2,300.” Apparently, the amount started at around $500, and it varies wildly depending on the number of seats, the number of performances, and so forth…but, of course, that’s only for “High School Musical.”

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“Far” out? No way, dude. “Far” IN!

Per the Sci-Fi Network’s panel at the TCA press tour…

“Sci-Fi.com has ordered a 10-part webisode series based on the multi-award-winning “Farscape” the fan and critical darling that has been widely recognized as one of the greatest sci-fi series in television history. Executive-produced by Brian Henson and Robert Halmi, Jr., and produced by The Jim Henson Company, in association with RHI Entertainment, the series will revive and expand the beloved “Farscape” universe.”

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