As the countdown continues to my departure for Los Angeles and the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour, the most recent schedule for the event has emerged, and there’ve been a few changes and several adjustments. I won’t waste your time running through the entire list again, but here are some of the new additions that caught my eye:
The Hallmark Channel: There will be a panel which focuses on the four new films set to premiere in the next few months. There’s “Claire,” starring Valerie Bertinelli, who stars as a suburban soccer mom who reluctantly uses her clairvoyant powers to solve a cold case in which a serial murdered threatens to strike again. (Awesome.) Then there’s “Murder 101: If Wishes Were Horses,” a mystery movie which stars three generations of the Van Dyke family: Shane, Barry, and Dick. “Final Approach” is a three-hour mega-movie about a terror plot at the World Bank which somehow ties into an airplane that’s flying at 40,000 feet…but all you need to know is that Dean Cain, Anthony Michael Hall, Lea Thompson, and Ernie Hudson are in it. And, lastly, there’s “A Grandpa for Christmas,” starring Ernest Borgnine. C’mon, who doesn’t love Ernest Borgnine…?!?
HBO: A panel has been added for the network’s new documentary, “Alive Day Memories: Home From Iraq,” which, in addition to including several of the US soldiers featured in the hour-long look at those wounded in the war thus far, will also feature the documentary’s narrator, James Gandolfini.
CMT: The panel for “Ty Murray’s Celebrity Bull-Riding Challenge” has been updated, and it now includes a couple of the contestants. Now appearing will be Rocket Ismail, Jonny Fairplay, and Francisco Quinn, but, inevitably, I’m most interested in seeing Vanilla Ice.
TV Land: The “Elvis Presley Month” panel has been announced. Having gotten past my depression that it doesn’t include Ann Margaret, I’m pleased to see that it does include Joe Esposito, one of the members of the Memphis Mafia, as well as another one of the King’s pals, Jerry Shilling. Also on the bill are Pamela Keogh, an…or perhaps the…authorized biographer of the Elvis Presley estate, as well as actress Sue Anne Langdon, who co-starred with Elvis in “Frankie and Johnny.”
VH-1 Classic: There’s a panel for the network’s new documentary series, “Seven Ages of Rock,” which will include original MTV VJ Mark Goodman, as well as Steven Van Zandt. I know, I really should’ve led with Little Steven, but, c’mon, Mark Goodman? He’s almost as good as Alan Hunter!
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